good morning. i'm eva pilgrim in for diane macedo. >> i'm kendis gibson with some of the top headlines we're following on this monday morning on "world news now." the power is back on at the atlanta hartsfield-jackson airport. you hear the cheers there when it went on. but there's huge mess to clean up after a 11-hour outage. thousands of passengers need to be rebooked. the massive thomas fire in southern california started two weeks ago today but it is still growing. it's destroyed hundreds of homes. the weather should be more favorable to firefighters. president trump is going to lay out his national security strategy in a speech this afternoon. the treasury secretary, steve mnuchin, refused to discuss whether trump will address chinese aggression. but said the president is looking for a fair trade relationship. and the referee in last

night's cowboys/raiders game used a folded piece of paper to measure for a dallas first down. the raiders coach seen saying no way afterwards. dallas went on to quick what was the winning field goal in a 20-17 victory. those are some of our top stories on this monday, december 18th. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> couple of weird calls in the sunday games yesterday, but uh, it is how it is. >> a lot on the line right now, too. >> exactly. we begin this half hour with the third largest wildfire in california history. >> some multi-million dollar homes in the santa barbara community of montecito have been leveled. >> one firefighter recorded flames and smoke surrounding his truck. we get more from abc's marci gonzalez. >> reporter: fire crews waging an all-out war against this massive, unrelenting wildfire. crews climbing the california hills with chain saws, axes and shovels, desperately trying to

get the upper hand. the inferno now burning for two weeks. the wall ott smoke at one point so thick it nearly blocked out the sun. nearly 800 homes destroyed. several more lost over the weekend as wind gusts topped 60 miles per hour. and you can see just how powerful the wind is here. it brought the flames in so quickly fire crews didn't have time to get up here to save this home. >> it was really the most severe fire behavior i've seen. >> reporter: that new threat forcing mandatory evacuations. celebrities among the thousands of people in the fire zone. rob lowe posting photos of his home and ellen degeneres writing our home is still standing. but so many have been lost. firefighters continue to be my heros. one of those hero hes, cory iverson who died fighting the fire last week. hundreds turned out to honor the husband and father who was set to welcome a new baby soon.

colleagues mourning but still on the front lines taking advantage of the short break in the winds. >> the winds are expected to kickback up severely on wednesday. >> reporter: a timely rush to stop this fire from spreading more. >> the holidays are coming. everybody just wants to really -- they want to get home. >> reporter: and you can see the holiday decorations still hanging at this home, overcome by flames this weekend. firefighters plan to be out here through christmas. but they expect the firefight to continue through the new year. marci gonzalez, abc news, montecito california. >> you can see the firefight continuing behind marci, despite that home seemingly a loss. now to the other big story and that massive outage at the atlanta airport. >> power has been restored to the world's busiest airport which had been shut down since afternoon. more than 1,000 flights were canceled into and out of atlanta. international flights to atlanta were diverted to other cities. some passengers were stuck grounded in airplanes in atlanta

for as much as nine hours. >> many travelers were evacuated to a nearby convention center to spend the night. others waited in the dark, and many say they were kept in the dark by officials. >> this is unacceptable. it is after 6:00 p.m. kids need to be reunited with their families. >> all the airlines that are canceled. they're saying we have to leave the airport, basically, so if our flight's canceled we have to go. but there are people here who have no where to go. so what do you want us to do? >> i could not get them because you can't get cell phone service in the building. there's no way to contact. we've waited four and a half to five hours and now got a $22 bill. and everybody just refers you to the next guy, the next guy, the next guy. >> there is no evidence of foul play in the power outage. it was caused by a fire at an electrical sub station that also destroyed the backup system. >> the airlines have canceled more than 300 flights today and

there are hundreds of passengers who must now be rebooked. >> it will be a couple days for the system. everybody's wondering exactly what took place in atlanta. "world news now" has exclusive video of what took place. so here. ♪ >> put down more flap. >> you know it was expected to be a real video. >> that's actually, that's a live scene from atlanta, how it all played out yesterday just brought back many memories of the classic "airplane" scene. it wasn't quite like that. let's hope it's a little more calm now. let's move on to the russia investigation and the president's transition team lawyer, accusing the special counsel of breaking the law. the attorney sent a letter to

congress claiming that mueller's office illegally obtained e-mails from the transition e-mails from the office that stored them. he said the documents were protected under attorney-client privilege. as the president returned from camp david he slammed the special counsel's office but dismissed reports that he plans to fire mueller. >> no, i'm not. to. what else? what, are you surprised? >> a mueller spokesman issued a rare response saying the special counsel's office had followed the lay when obtaining the documents. president trump is closing in on his first major legislative victory. congress is expected to narrowly approve a massive tax cut package as early as tomorrow. despite unified opposition from democrats. abc's gloria riviera has more. >> reporter: the president promising that a major new tax bill is just days away. >> this is going to be one of the great gifts to the middle income people. >> reporter: the bill slashes the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, a win for business. for the wealthy, it lowers the top tax rate from 39% to 37%.

for the middle class, it doubles the standard deduction but caps state and local income tax write offs at $10,000. previous analysis of the senate version found americans making $75,000 or less will actually pay more tax within a decade. >> this is a total betrayal. it's a huge give away to big corporations. >> reporter: the new bill eliminates the obamacare mandate, leaving a potential 13 million americans uninsured. according to congressional analysis. it expands the current 529 education credits to include kindergarten through high school private education. to get it done, corporate tax cuts will be permanent. individual tax cuts will expire after eight years. >> i'm confident we'll pass this bill probably on tuesday. we were determined to get this job done. >> reporter: reports that john

mccain will not be casting a vote but recovering from chemotherapy treatment in arizona. the white house still confident they have enough votes without him. the changes would take effect next year. the irs says you could see a change in your bottom line by february. gloria rivera, washington. and the president has received a thank-you phone call from vladimir putin. the two leaders spoke on sunday. putin thanking trump for a cia tip that helped russian authorities stop a bombing plot in the city of st. petersburg. putin said he would turn over information about any potential threats against the u.s. it was their second conversation since last thursday. and security forces in pakistan are on high alert after a suicide bombing at a church. at least nine people were killed in the attack. dozens of others were injured. you see some of the scenes. it wowing that attack.

ever claimed by an isis affiliate in pakistan. the eldest son of sarah palin has been arrested again. court records show 28-year-old track palin is facing several counts stemming an incident, including burglary, assault, criminal mischief. the circumstances are unclear. he was also arrested last year, accused of punching and kicking his girlfriend. a scare for skiers over the weekend when a ski resort near penn state opened for the season. an equipment failure put visitors in danger. abc's erielle reshef has that story. >> reporter: a dramatic scene as skiers and snowboarders dangled from a chair lift in central pennsylvania. >> approximately three fourths of the way up the mountain, there are approximately 20 people, kids. >> reporter: a malfunction causing the chair to slip and slide backwards to the ones behind it.

>> a total of 100 people need to get off the ski lift. they're about 20-25 feet up in the air. >> reporter: a domino effect, leaving four chairs teetering in the air. tussy mountain packed with weekend tourists. many like nicki lobiando watching in horror as ski patrol rushed to the scene. >> my jaw dropped, and i was like oh, my gosh and sat there for a while and was watch the emergency personnel come up. >> all the stuff fell off. people don't have their ski boots. >> reporter: at least five people hurt. rescuers lowering them one by one to safety. during the almost two-hour ordeal, staff evacuating all passengers from the lift. the resort saying we take the safety of our guests very seriously and are saddened to learn that there were non-life-threatening injuries as a result of this accident. statistics show chair lifts are normally very safe. national ski areas association says 12 deaths on lefts in 40 years. but accidents do happen. in maine, seven people were injured when this ski lift

suddenly started rolling the in reverse. rare, but scary moments above the sloefs. erielle reshef, abc news, new york. >> very scary. and we're entering the busiest time of the year for many of these ski resorts. all right, so a pair of uggs actually helped make a member of the pop group human league -- they're known for "don't you want me," feeling unwanted. >> a background singer on that 1981 hit. and qantas answered with a resounding no. catherals was denied access to the carrier's lounge in montreal because of this, her uggs. >> so it seems qantas has a dress code for the lounge, which doesn't include footwear. uggs are on the banned list. it's a similar-looking pair of uggs. >> it's what i'm wearing. >> and we let you in? >> well, i only took one off for you because they kind of smell

bad. >> that's the problem with uggs, isn't it? >> yes, that's the same shoe. these are perfectly acceptable. >> in a subway. >> they're not a slipper. >> walking the streets. >> these are a real shoe. look at the sole. they're not meant for the house or anything. they're not like a house slipper. >> it's not for the business class. >> i don't want to fly you anyway. coming up, we're turning back time. do you remember the hottest toys of the '80s? which ones stood the test of time and which ones should never have been made in the first place? we're opening the vault. and some people are trying to deter those englishs trying to steal christmas right from the front door. but first, a look at today's temps. and i'm putting the shoe back on my foot. >> please do. "world news now" weather, brought to you by breathe right. yea, so, mom's got this cold

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packages were sent flying, as you can see. no word on injuries or any charges in that case, but what a horrific incident. >> very scary to watch. now to extreme measures people are using to protect their packages against potential grinches. >> so you have those porch thefts that have become a real problem this holiday season. abc's stephanie ramos with tips to guard against them. >> reporter: police in minnesota searching for these porch pirates. caught on video, stealing packages right off the doorstep, then running back to their get away car. the same thing has happened to an estimated 26 million americans, including jeremy barrow. he came up with a booby trapped box to scare off would-be thieves. and he says this surveillance video proves it's working. >> i wanted a way to scare them safely. and when you scare them, hopefully they're going to drop the package and run away. >> reporter: with a record 2 billion holiday packages in the mail this year, there are steps you can take right now to protect your parcels. if you're using fedex, you can have your packages delivered to

nearly 8,000 walgreens nationwide. the postal office allows you to customize your delivery online and tell the carrier exactly where to leave your packages so they're out of sight. so even if your package already shipped,ite mott too late. fedex, usps and u.p.s. will let he reroute it to another location so it's not left unattended. if you order online, consider doing curb-side pickup. stores like nordstrom and sears will bring your purchases right to your car. stephanie ramos, abc news, new york. >> they should take it straight to your mom or grandma's house. >> you can also have like a neighbor pick it up. the interesting thing, some of these smaller towns are actually saying you can deliver it to the police station. >> that's a smart move. >> who wants to steal it from the cops. >> that's a smart move. coming up, it's time to check out the vault for the best and worst toys of christmas past. >> you're watching "world news now." >> you're watching "world news now." est and worst toys of christmas

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back in 1983, the hot toys were cabbage patch kids and glo

worms, but there are some others that didn't exactly stand the test of time. so let's open up the abc vault to find out which it toys were on the naughty list, you might say, in that year. >> reporter: every year at holiday time, the americans for democratic action have a list of the best and worst toys. >> this year's list has been released, and as carol simpson reports, it provides a good idea of the kinds of toys parents will be looking for if they can find them. >> reporter: according to the survey, 1987 may be the best year for good toys for children but undoubtedly the worst year for parents to find those toys. no shortages are expected for what the americans for democratic action found to be the worst toys. >> this is a doll called baby skates. and she should be called baby wants to skate or she tries to skate or she hopes to skate. she really doesn't skate. >> reporter: baby skates was tossed into the trash box, soon joined by baby alive who eats glop and dirties her diaper.

and happy returns. >> this goes on for 20 seconds. >> reporter: also relegated to the trash box where the man fw alor mountain fort hes are, too messy, and e.t.'s lightup finger, too dumb. but they said there are good toys. topping the list were cabbage patch kids, the cuddly care and the glow worm and the surprise winner was lights alive, a toy which allows children to design patterns of colored lights. >> the problem with having lovely toys such as cabbage patch or glow worm is they're terribly hard to find. >> reporter: toy manufacturers blame the economy for the toy shortage. and the best advice to parents was to try to persuade your children they don't really want the toys you can't find. carol simpson, abc news, washington. >> you don't want those toys.

>> so horrible. >> did you hear? they're trying to convince them. >> convince the kids. we still have our classic toys. we'll be right back. kids. we still have our classic toys. we'll be right back.

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>> do i have to speak faster? i'm a slow speaker. >> no, not at all. >> okay. but i need a british accent? >> if you start using long pauses between the answers, you're probably going to get the face. let me see the face. oh, okay. i don't want to see that face. >> that is prince harry joking around with president obama in an interview that is set to air on the bbc later this month. >> yeah. harry, of course, also made news this weekend because he and meghan the have set a date.

we know a date that we're going to london! >> woo-hoo! >> it's in may. >> molly hunter with more. >> reporter: and the royal count down is on. kensington palace announcing prince harry and meghan markle will tie the knot on the 19th of may. the latest royals will say their i dos at windsor chapel. >> windsor is a special place. prince harry was baptized at windsor. >> reporter: inside the same gorgeous chapel, harry's father prince charles and his stepmother camilla received a blessing back in 2005. but who will do the honors for prince harry and meghan? >> we believe the archbishop of canterbury is going to marry the royal couple. he's spoke about their hopes for the wedding. >> reporter: for the modern couple, which royal traditions will they keep and which will they ditch? >> of course they're getting

married in windsor, which is more than an hour from london. it's actuallying looking very unlikely that they're going to appear on the buckingham palace balcony. >> reporter: princess diana and prince charles did it in 1981. >> a kiss, which receives a roar of approval. >> reporter: and william and kate in 2011. maybe a spin around windsor in an open carriage, giving the crowds a good look just like prince edward and countess sophie here back in 1999. in just a few weeks, the royal family will be having their traditional christmas celebrations and meghan will be the first royal fiancee ever to join them there. >> oh, she's breaking barriers. the first royal fiance. >> i wonder if that means the queen really likes her. >> i would imagine at this point. big wedding. >> or she really likes harry. >> i think that's what it is. likes harry. >> i think that's what if is.

this morning on "world news this morning on "world news now," power back on at the nation's busiest airport. >> after nearly 11 hours in the darkness, things are starting to move again at atlanta's airport, but the damage is already done. passengers describe their nightmarish ordeals as air traffic across the country struggles to get back on track. and mueller's still in charge, at least for now. the president says he is not firing the special counsel in charge of the russia probe even as trump administration officials hammer mueller's team over transition e-mails that they say were obtained illegally. and this is not how you want to start ski season, with the lift getting stuck causing a chain reaction and a frightening encounter. ordeal for mountain goers. and cheech and chong, eat your hearts out. this joint is so far out, you can't even see the the other

end. how do you even smoke a j of this magnitude? the answer? nice and slow. or so i'm told. it is monday, december 18th. man. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> it was not your mother's early morning newscast, is all we can say. >> i heard someone say that once. wasn't it bill clinton who didn't inhale? >> something that big, i assume nobody could inhale. but i don't know. practice. we'll get to that a little bit later. we begin with a massive power outage that crippled the nation's busiest airport for nearly 11 hours. >> take a listen here. [cheers and applause]

you hear that? atlanta's hartsfield-jackson airport as the lights came back on just before mid night. the sudden early afternoon power loss brought the hub to a stand still. >> passengers in the terminals were left in the dark. all outgoing flights were brought to a halt. but some passengers, get this, they spent as many as nine hours, trapped in planes stuck on the ground. >> the epitome of nightmare there. so atlanta may be the reddest. that's flight aware's misery map. but the entire air traffic system was impacted by this. domestic flights headed to atlanta were held at their original airports. international flights were impacted at other airports. >> more than 300 flights in and out of atlanta today have already been canceled. most of them deltas. >> so here's what we are told, the power outage appears to be accidental, the result of a fire that was so intense that not only damaged the power grid but the backup as well.

abc's marcus moore with more. >> reporter: the nation's busiest airport in the dark. thousands stranded when the power went out without warning at atlanta's hartsfield international airport. >> atlanta airport. no power. no lights. >> the lights flickered once. it was really scary. they flickered again and it's been about an hour and it's pitch-darkness in the airport. >> reporter: this worried parent unable to find his 10 year old son who was flying alone. >> i've been here stuck by myself with my daughter trying to get to my son. i'm not the only parent. >> reporter: passengers using flashlights to guide them. in some parts of the airport, the only sights and sounds, the emergency announcements. >> could i have your attention, please. an emergency has been reported in the building. >> reporter: officials saying a fire in an underground electrical facility may have caused the fire. reports of smoke coming from passengers. >> we could see fire trucks all along terminal e and black smoke coming from the back. >> reporter: the massive power outage shut down critical equipment and computer, stranding thousands of passengers.

as many as 100 flights on the tarmac. pilots and passengers relying on social media for updates. some passengers let off planes huddling for warmth. >> we were scheduled for a 4:00 flight. now we're being pushed over until tomorrow on a 7, 12:00 flight for a group of six. >> reporter: the drama unfolding in atlanta, at least 600 flights canceled, more than 500 delayed. >> so many cancellations in addition. the atlanta airport has an interesting setup. we've all been there. you have those trains that run between the terminals. it can be a hot mess on a good day. especially -- >> with a little bit of weather. >> especially on a sunday, then, during possibly a holiday travel week. this was a complete and utter nightmare. for many of the passengers not knowing what was taking place, it must have been very frightening.

>> and to have no power. >> yes. >> it is cold in atlanta. i mean, i know it's not as cold as it is here, but it is still not comfortable. >> no, not at all. it was a terrifying 11 hours, but the nightmare is going to continue for many of those passengers trying to get out. >> and for people not even in atlanta. we'll turn our focus to the west coast and california's third-largest fire. it is growing, even at this hour. >> the thomas fire northwest of los angeles is 45% contained but has already burned some 270,000 acres. more than 100,000 people have had to evacuate since the start of that blaze two weeks ago today. >> it has been fueled not only by the dry conditions but by gusty santa ana winds sometimes as high as 70 miles per hour. listen there. you can actually hear the winds. that's what's whipping up this fire. the winds are expected to calm down today to just 10-20 miles an hour. that plus higher humidity should be a plus for those firefighters out there. we move on right now to the

fight in washington, d.c. republicans are on the verge of passing their sweeping tax overhaul this week after appeasing what appears to be the final two holdouts. senator john mccain will not be there for the vote. he returned home to arizona after being hospitalized for a viral infection as he battles brain cancer. he doesn't plan to return to the washington until february. republican leaders believe they have enough votes to send the bill to the president before christmas. >> i'm confident we'll pass this bill possibly on tuesday. we were determined to get this job done, to cut taxes, to reform the tax code for the first time in 30 years. >> the bill doubles the standard deduction for the middle class. but analysts say people earning less than $75,000 a year will eventually pay more taxes. the corporate tax rate will be slashed to 21%. that's from 35%, you saw there. and the top tax rate for the wealthy will be lowered.

president trump says he is not considering firing special counsel robert mueller even as his transition team takes aim at mueller and the russia probe. they are accusing investigators of improperly gaining access to thousands of transition e-mails. abc's david wright has more. >> reporter: as he arrived back from camp david, president trump expressed concern about a new letter accusing the special counsel of illegally obtaining tens of thousands of e-mails from the president's inner circle during the transition including, quote, materials protected by attorney-client privilege. >> not looking good. it's not looking good. it's quite sad to see that. my people were very upset about it. >> reporter: the seven-page letter addressed to key committee leaders of the house and senate comes from an attorney representing the trump transition team, a new line of attack against robert mueller's

investigation. >> they're spending millions and millions of dollars. there is absolutely no collusion. i didn't make a phone call to russia. i have nothing to do with russia. everybody knows it. >> reporter: even before this, the president dismissed the investigation as a witch-hunt and a democratic hoax, even blasting the fbi. its reputation is in tatters. worst in history, read one recent tweet. >> the fix was in against donald trump from the beginning and they were pro-hillary. >> reporter: now this new letter raises concerns about career staffers in the agency that provides office supplies to the federal government, accusing them of breaking the law by handing over to the special counsel e-mails, laptops, cell phones and other materials. the special counsel's office insists it followed standard procedures and did nothing wrong. >> republicans should end their concerted effort to undermine the credibility of the mueller investigation. >> reporter: democrats worry the president is searching for a pretext to fire mueller. >> i really hope our republican colleagues will not join in subverting that process and

trying to end this investigation. the question is, what are they afraid of? what is the white house afraid of? >> reporter: the president insists he has no plans to fire the special counsel. >> no, i'm not. no. what else? what, are you surprised? >> reporter: separate from all of this, the russian president, vladimir putin, called the american president, donald trump, to thank him for a cia tip that helped the russians to foil a terrorist bomb plot in st. petersburg. both presidents expressing praise for the u.s. intelligence services for a job well done. david wright, abc news, the white house. a military investigation is providing some new details about the death of an army green beret in niger. 24-year-old la david johnson was killed by islamic militants in early october. according to "the associated press," an investigation of his death show that johnson fought to the end and died in a hail of gunfire. he reportedly was not captured alive or taken prisoner as peat where a reports officially

suggested. johnson was reportedly hit as many as 18 times. his body recovered two days after the ambush that killed him. hundreds of passengers are recovering after getting sick on a royal caribbean cruise. they were on a five-day cruise on board the independence of the sea, when a gastrointestinal bug took over the ship, quickly spreading. 332 cases were reported. but passengers said that number was probably higher, because some passengers were too sick to seek treatment. royal caribbean says the ship is getting an extensive deep cleaning before its next cruise. and dozens of skiers had to be lowered from a chair lift in pennsylvania by rope. the lift malfunctioned, causing a chair to slip backwards into a chair behind it. that chain reaction caused five minor injuries. it happened on the first day of the ski season at tussy mountain. a spokesman says the lift actually passed all its tests before it opened for business.

>> so they're off to a rough start there in pennsylvania. the airport issues in atlanta leaving a time of air travelers aggravated. >> maybe some of them could dance their angst away like these two little girls in dallas. this happened in dallas. the two sisters found a dance partner in the southwest airlines employee. >> did a little chicken dance. then there was an airplane move. the dance party ended when the southwest worker ran out of gas. he got a little tired. you see the airplane move there. >> or maybe he had to go back to work. >> well, there is that. there is that. there is a certain southwest flight on the other side of dallas-ft. worth. coming up, impressive pasta. the noodle that's so long it broke a record. details coming up in "the mix." but first, the nfl owner under fire as the league investigates misconduct allegations. and he's just announced what he's planning on doing with the team. you're watching "world news now." w." about the team, you're

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welcome back. this morning there is a break in a seven-year old cold case u lorenzen wright was found shot to death in 2010. police say a recent tip led to the discovery of the murder weapon and then to the arrest of

his ex-wife.lli. >> reporter: new charges in the 7-year-old cold care surrounding the death of nba player lorenzen wright. sherra wright, his ex-wife. >> how could you have murdered my son? >> reporter: the arrest following billy turners who pled not guilty to the charge earlier this who. the case began seven years ago with this chilling 911 call interrupted by gunfire. >> 911. where is your emergency? hello? >> reporter: wright's body was found ten days later in memphis. it wasn't until last month that police say divers discovered the murder weapon in lake in mississippi. in this 2015 "sports illustrated" interview, sherra wright did not directly respond with when asked if she had anything to do with her ex-husband's death.

>> i'm a wife, then i'm a mother, and thirdly i'm an author. law enforcement should do what's best to find out who is the killer. >> reporter: right now, police are not saying anything about a motive or how the two are connected. sheera wright is expected in court. maggie rulli, abc news, new york. the owner of the carolina panthers is selling the team. all of this after claims that he sexually harassed workers and made racist comments. jerry richards announced in a statement that he's giving up the packeters after this season. he didn't mention the current scandal. according to "sports illustrated on," the team has made multiple payouts for harassment claims. richardson also directed racial slurs towards the league's black former scouts. the league is investigating all of this, and also along those lines of what were you thinking, the french soccer star says he's sorry for this picture. his name is antoine greaseman.

he apologized. he said if he hurt anyone with this photograph where he appeared in a basketball uniform and black face and his legs were also painted black. before the apology he responded by posting calm down, guys. i'm a fan of the harlem globetrotters. the team has not commented on this. >> never a good idea. there are so many people who have gotten in trouble for that. >> he doubled down. he had it on instagram and twitter. >> did he delete them? >> he did. he had it up for 30 minutes, though. coming up, a thriller in pittsburgh. the steelers and patriots face-off. >> but it was the wild end to the game that has many crying foul. you're watching "world news now." foul. you're watching "world news now." i can breathe again! i can breathe again! vicks sinex... breathe on.

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♪ so this was the last gasp attempt by derek carr to score at the end of last night's game against the cowboys. oh, man, dallas took over possession after this play, and they just ran out the clock. oh, well. >> goodness. earlier, the referee used a folded piece of paper to mess measure, a paper, a piece of

paper to measure for the first dound. that led to the cowboys field goal that was the difference in the game. the patriots and steelers played a regular season classic in pittsburgh. new england took the lead with less than a minute to go. >> yeah, then the steelers quickly got in scoring position. they thought they won it when big ben found jesse james who appeared to score. it looks like a score. he's over the line. but video review reversed that call. the next play roethlisberger was, well, intercepted, ending the game. gronk was back for the patriots. some called his end zone celebration a mad scientist impression. not really sure what that -- final score, new england 27, pittsburgh 24. it was a tough game for the steelers and their fans. >> such a close one. the team in eastern p.a. had another successful sunday.

st. nick. they were all cheering for st. nick. >> yes, mr. foley. the eagles flew up to new jersey to play the new york giants. they soared back to philly with their second victory in the last eight games. nick foles, as you said, threw four touchdown passes in a 34-29 win. >> one of them went to trey burton who came up with the new campfire celebration. warming his hands, after the game he explained it tweeting it's cold out here for a florida boy. >> okay. i dig it. >> i -- yeah. and it was a hot pass. there you go. kevin hart portraying 7'1" shaquille o'neil isn't natural. >> no. there's a bit of size difference. hart made up for being vertically challenged in this weekend's "snl." they put him on stilts. >> tall body with little arms, lure like the letter "f" came to life. little arms,

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even those that may cause coughs. lysol. what it takes to protect. ♪ okay, it's your monday mix right now, and we're going to say happy birthday, shall we, to pope francis who's had his 81st birthday. and if you're 81, you celebrate with a big balloon with the letters 8 and 1, of course. we also had images of the pope blowing out candles on a giant pizza. a massive crowd was on hand for the celebration, and they sang "happy birthday" to him. overall, the pizza, by the way, was 13 feet in length, in case you are wondering. the pope encouraged the children to eat all of it, saying it will help them growing. the pope is known to like his pasta and pizza. check this out. we teased this earlier. it's like the world's longest joint. 100-foot-long joint.

they rolled it on saturday in beantown greentown, a boston-based cannabis club. it was a pro-marijuana exhibition happening in worcester, mass. in order to do this, a lot of people are wondering, not that we know how to roll marijuana around here, they had a secret rolling technique, using 40 people to roll it, over 1,000 grams of pot. trimmings. i'm not sure what pot trimmings mean. but thousands of people attended this event and people crowded in to take pictures. my favorite part of this whole story, it was a 55-year-old woman who was like, are you going to smoke it? are you just going to let people look at it? it is legal. >> did they start smoking it? it was supposed to be a 200-foot blunt. but then they just kept tapping in along the way. we were going to broke the record, but then we got high. there in boston. not that we would know. but, in case they do smoke it and get the munchies, this is

something they might want to tap into. a noodle measuring nearly two miles long. it broke the record, a chinese company cooked its way into the books. guinness officials say they cooked up a single noodle strand measuring that whooping 10,119 feet. impressive. >> that is impressive. i would have broken that. i mean not broken the record but broken the noodle. >> oh, yeah. now for the holiday bit of this. check out this light show. this is epic. merry litmus to you. it is a dub accept christmas light show. kenny delaney and his family set this up in hillsboro, tennessee. it is synchronized with a remix of several songs. >> you can hear it.

this morning on "world news now," atlanta's airport is back up and running, but passengers still stranded. the busiest air hub in the u.s. brought to its knees after a power failure. so what caused the outage in the first place? the growing inferno in southern california. the third largest fire in state history getting whipped up by even more fierce winds with deadly results. and new this half hour, fresh reaction to the news out of charlotte. >> the owner of the carolina panthers selling the team overnight and under investigation. and guess who's putting in a bid? brother love. and it's the real-life x-files. a secret pentagon program looking into ufos is revealed. fighter pilots spotting strange objects in the sky. the truth is out there on this

monday, december 18th. from abc news this is "world news now." >> that was by far my favorite story of the entire weekend, because i always knew, knew they were among us. >> life? other life? >> yes. >> i want to see this life first. >> we have proof. we'll delve into that a little later. but, you know, atlanta is sometimes called hot-lanta? it was a hot mess all day sunday. >> we're laughing, but it wasn't funny for the people who were there. there was no electricity for nearly 11 hours, a major problem considering it handles more passengers than any other airport in the world. more than a thousand flights were canceled. and the effects of the power outage aren't over there yet, hundreds of flights into and out of atlanta today are canceled already. >> yeah. some passengers stayed in the

airport during the outage, determined to be the first online to try to fly out when the lights came back on. others are spending the night at a convention center downtown where a chick-fil-a is actually working on a sunday. they are providing food for them overnight. that's a big deal. abc's danya bacchus has more. >> reporter: atlanta's airport in near darkness after the power was knock out sunday morning. >> they went out, then they went back on and then they went out again. >> because of the intensity of the fire, that switch that -- the system caused damage to two rather than one. >> reporter: thousands of passengers stranded. >> this airport is moving kids that are unaccompanied minors to locations where parents don't even know where they're at. this is unacceptable. >> atlanta airport. no power you. no light. >> reporter: passengers forced to use flashlights. and in some parts of the airport, the only sights and

sounds, the emergency announcements. >> may i have your attention, please. an emergency has been reported. >> right now, we're just focusing on the comfort of our passengers because we know that they have had a very, very long and difficult day. >> reporter: up to 100 planes stuck on the tarmac. hundreds more canceled or delayed. >> i think for airlines that are headquartered in atlanta, like delta, it's going to have a cascading effect and it's going to take them a long time to figure out crew schedules, putting the airplanes in the right place. >> reporter: delaying more than 2,000 flights across the country. danya bacchus, abc news, atlanta. well, just when we thought the firefighters had the upper hand on that massive fire in southern california, the winds started whipping up over the weekend. >> the thomas fire has destroyed more than 1,000 buildings. and forced more than 100,000 residents out of their homes. it is now 45% contained after kicking up over the weekend in ventura and santa barbara counties.

>> thousands of firefighters working the blaze pause to pay their respects to a fallen comrade. a cal fire engineer corey iverson died on thursday. >> it's important for the fire service family to come together and show our support for cory and his wife and children and expected children and their extended family. to let them know that he's loved and there's a big team here to support him and his family. >> iverson was 32 years old with a 2-year-old daughter and another on the way. today's weather should help firefighters, calmer winds and higher humidity. we turn our focus to washington and president trump insisting he has no plans to fire the special counsel robert mueller, but as he returned from camp david last night, he criticized mueller over an allegation from a transition attorney that investigators illegally obtained thousands of e-mails sent and received by trump officials before he took office. mueller's office insists they

followed the law. and republicans are poised to take their $1.5 trillion tax bill across the finish line. they are confident they have enough support to get it to the president's desk even without john mccain. mr. mccain returned to arizona after spending days in the hospital from a viral infection as he battles brain cancer. his office says he's not going back to washington until after the new year. the president says that he'll return if necessary. >> he's going through a very tough time. there's no question about it. but he will come back if we need his vote. thank you very much, everybody. >> so the bill calls for deeper tax cuts for corporations. tax breaks for the wealthy and limited benefits for the middle class. a vote is expected as early as tomorrow. >> the president is set to

deliver a speech today outlining his national security strategy. after developing a relationship with the chinese president, there are reports that he will accuse china of being an economic aggressor, which some say could lead to a trade war. now the treasury secretary is saying he refused to comment specifically about what the president will say, but in an appearance on fox news he did not rule out tariffs on chinese goods. >> this isn't about trade wars. this is about reciprocal fair trade. if we have to protect american workers and put on tariffs and other things where they don't have fair trade with us, the president will do that. meanwhile, south korea appears to be ready to renegotiate a free trade deal that president trump had threatened to scrap. the trade ministry says it's pushing for talks with the u.s. within a month. and in australia, police have arrested a man they say was involved in a case of black market 101. the man in custody was born in south korea, but lives the in sydney.

he's accused of trying to broker international sales of ballistic missile components in order to raise money for north korea. if convicted, he could face a decade in prison. homicide police in toronto are leading the investigation of the deaths of a drug industry billionaire and his wife. barry and.honey sherman were found dead inside their home. investigators say their deaths were consistent with those suffered from hanging. that led to a theory that the case was a murder-suicide. but the victims' family say that would never happen. they urge police to conduct a criminal investigation. the shermans were known for giving away hundreds of millions of dollars to charity. uber is having an impact on emergency calls. kansas researchers say the ride-sharing service has cut ambulance use by 7% and that number may double. users found its cheaper to go to the hospital calling uber. some insurance companies also offer gift cards on to uber users. the company emphasized the service is not a substitute for first responders in an emergency. >> so you have an injury, you're bleeding, you call an uber as

opposed to an ambulance. >> you know they carve you when you throw up or bleed in their car, right? it has to be minor injuries. >> and also they give you a lower rating. you have to gauge how much, the level of your emergency. last half hour, we were talking about the carolina panthers and the owner, jerry richardson, selling the team at the end of the season as the nfl investigates misconduct allegations. >> but a potential bidder has come forward. hip hop mogul diddy has come forward. he says, i would like to buy the panthers. spread the word. retweet. and then he took to instagram. to make his case. >> i will be the best nfl owner you can imagine. i will immediately address the colin kaepernick situation and put him in the running for next year's starting quarterback. it's just competition baby. it's just competition. i will have the best halftime show, the best selection of music. and we will win super bowl after super bowl. >> we'll win super bowl after

super bowl. >> that's a lot to promise. >> that is. but the halftime shows will no doubt be good. he's worth $800 million. so he's got the money. >> well, but he has to be voted in. don't the other nfl owners have to say, yes, we'll let you own an nfl team? >> it's a bit of a boys club. >> so maybe he should be lobbying them and not his instagram users. no offense, diddy, nice try, keep trying. >> i think the halftime would be lit. it would be great. coming up in "the skinny," the prince and the former president, harry, sitting down with barack obama. so what did they talk about? and the object that left two navy pilots weirded out. an aircraft that moves unlike any the pilots have ever seen. but first we take a look at today's forecast. "world news now" weather, brought to you by tide. somehow we always leave

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want to make a statement! >> making all kinds of experiments on me! finding our weaknesses. we've got to stop them.

they're going to kill us all! >> he was right. we've known all along we are not alone. and now there's proof! >> woo! >> this tickles. >> does it tickle? >> it really does. video just released to the public from american fighter pilots. we're going all in. >> very trippy. >> raising a lot of questions. >> and we're learning about a secret pentagon program that spent millions looking into ufo sightings. >> they're out there. >> my gosh. >> reporter: an unidentified flying object. >> look at that thing, dude. >> reporter: spotted by two navy pilots flying high above the clouds. these newly-released videos from

the department of defense published by the "new york times" and "washington post," part of a once-secret government program to investigate sightings of so-called anomalous aerial vehicles in the skies. it sounds like a plot out of the "x-files." >> the truth is out there. >> reporter: or something the "men in black" would zap from your memory. but according to reports in "the washington post" and "new york times," the department of defense has spent $22 million since 2007 looking for ufo sightings. former senator harry reid telling the "new york times," i think it's one of the good things i did in my congressional service. i've done something that no one's done before. >> something like this was a pet project by senator reid and some of his colleagues. something they thought needed to be investigated. but the real question was, was it worth $22 million for two or

three fascinating videos? >> reporter: and now the pentagon officially acknowledging the advanced aviation identification threat ram for the first time, telling abc news they ended the program in 2012 in favor of other higher priority projects that merited funding but that the d.o.d. takes seriously all threats and potential threats to our people, our assets and our mission and takes action whenever credible information is developed. >> so the bottom line is, they're out there. we have been visited. >> but it cost us $22 million to figure it out. >> it was worth every, every penny. for real. sully was wrong all this time. >> i want to see what they look like. they might not be humany. do they have two eyes? >> this is an actual video in from the pentagon, by the way. that's what they look like. when we come back, prince harry abducts barack obama. >> not exactly. and justin bieber shows us his spirit. "the skinny" is next. us his spirit. "the skinny" is next. justin bieber shows us his spirit. "the skinny" is next.

♪ look at that.

despite getting some pretty bad reviews, it was an epic weekend at the box office for "star wars," opening with $220 million in ticket sales. were you laughing at the shade? >> no. i was laughing. i think brian, the producer, just says wrong. bad review, wrong. >> limited to your ear. true. that makes it the second largest opening ever after "star wars: the force awakens," which had $250 million. there were some bad reviews for it. >> "the last jedi" currently has a score of 93% on rotten tomatoes. >> so that means 7% were not happy. >> that's a good thing. some spoilers have hit the web, but don't worry. we're not going to go there. but we are going to get info about some of those potential cameos we've been hearing about. >> we're still not getting any word about the royals, and their

storied role. but mark hamill, who plays luke skywalker, also had another role in the movie. we don't want to give it away, but his name pops up at the end of the film. >> actor jason gordon levitt made an appearance. he appeared as yoda at "the force awakens" premier. but we can say with certainty he did not play yoda. >> he makes such a great yoda on the carpet. >> the late great carrie fisher's dog, gary, went to see the movie over the weekend. you know gary is a prolific tweeter. we're told he perked up every time she was on-screen. >> oh. >> very cute. >> very sweet. speaking of the royals, prince harry is used to giving interviews, but now he's turning the tables on former president barack obama. the two sat down for a chat that's set to air later this month. >> so obama joked with harry, asking if he needed to do a interview in a british accent. the two seemed like old friends.

>> okay. i'm ready when you guys have sound. >> you're sounding great. >> are we all good? >> you're excited about this. >> it's fun. i'll interview you, if you want. >> no, let's keep it this way, i'd much prefer that. >> the two became bffs during the recent invictus games. you see them there all chummy. kensington palace is not giving away all the details, but the interview will focus on their shared interests. obama also reportedly shared some post-presidency info, as well. >> very cool seeing them. it's obvious they have a comradery. in the meantime, "snl's" pete davidson is known for "weekend update." now we're getting an update from pete that has nothing to do with the show. it turns out pete is a fan of hillary clinton. like that big of a fan of hillary clinton. >> that's so crazy. he got her face permanently tattooed on his leg. that's like a big place to get a

tattoo. he shared the pic on instagram with this caption, wanted to give hillary clinton a christmas gift, so i got a tattoo of my hero. >> so clinton proved she's got a sense of humor responding, this makes it significantly less awkward that i've had a pete davidson tattoo for years, but seriously, i'm honored. merry christmas my friend. >> he's from staten island, not the bluest of boroughs in new york city. >> that's like a big tribute to someone. >> yeah. okay. >> whatever. >> not judging. justin bieber really getting into the holiday spirit and he is not afraid to show it. the singer gave his mercedes-benz a very special makeover. >> his g-wagon is covered with pictures of santa, christmas trees, even a polar bear family. >> it looked like a wrap. the whole thing complete, as you can see, with the bow right there on the hood. >> and you you know we saw him decorating his tree shirtless. so he's really getting into the whole spirit. >> he was like dancing around. >> yeah. >> very strange but whatever. >> merry christmas. coming up, we have you covered in this weekend's

weekend review. coming up, we have you covered in this weekend's weekend review. it's never much, just what's left after i break a dollar. and i never thought i could get quality life insurance with my spare change. neither did i. until i saw a commercial for the colonial penn program. imagine people our age getting life insurance at such an affordable rate. it's true. if you're 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance life insurance through the colonial penn program for less than 35 cents a day, just $9.95 a month. there's no medical exam and no health questions. you know, the average cost of a funeral is over $8,300. now that's a big burden to leave your loved ones. as long as you're 50 to 85, you cannot be turned down because of your health. your premium never goes up and your benefit never goes down due to age.

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even those that may cause coughs. lysol. what it takes to protect. ♪ here comes the weekend ♪ >> okay. so depressing start. the weekend is over, really. >> hey, we made it to monday. >> and it was a busy one, from the fire battle in california to more squabbling in washington. >> among those stories, we have omarosa on snl. >> relentless wildfire exploding in southern california. more than 10,000 acres burning just since friday. >> the major concern out here is the wind. you can see how strong it is gusting right now. >> president trump is on the verge of his first major legislative victory. the tax cuts that he promises will be quote, rocket fuel for the economy, clearing major last-minute hurdles.

>> overall, the benefits will go primarily to the people in the middle class. >> this is good news any way you cut it. >> special counsel robert mueller has obtained thousands of e-mails from officials who took part in the transition from the campaign and the administration. >> the president insists he has no plans to fire the special counsel. >> no, i'm not. what, are you surprised? we're about to show you a moment in congress that is going viral this morning. >> it involves one of president trump's nominees for federal judge who gets grilled by a senator and he flounders through the questioning. >> have you ever tried a jury trial? >> i have not. >> civil? >> no. >> criminal? >> no. >> bench? >> no. >> state or federal court? >> i have not. flames ripping through the upper floors of a new york city apartment building. residents waking up to firefighters pounding on their doors. some 400 firefighters battling those flames and the frigid temperatures.

one woman who was pregnant was injured. >> lindsey vonn winning her first world cup race this season. clenching the super-g. it was vonn's 78th world cup win. she was rebounding from a back injury in switzerland just last week. donald, you heard that noise out on the lawn? >> could it be santa or the rapture? >> or even worse! it's omarosa. >> hey, let me in! >> quick, someone turn off the lights. >> too late. i see you in there, donald. nobody kicks omarosa out the white house! >> hey, get away from the window! let's go! >> the funny thing about it, that's exactly how it played out at the white house. >> that's what everybody was picturing. she says that's not what happened. >> that's it for this half hour. this is abc's "world news now." informing insomniacs for two decades.

the apartment building where the fire was. when things like this happen, i think you find a new perspective on life. hi. red cross put us in a hotel so we were able to stay together. we're strong and, if we overcame that or if we can overcome that, we can overcome anything, so. [ sniffle ]

making news in america this morning, travel nightmare. atlanta's airport, the busiest in the world, shut down, plunged into darkness. >> the lights flickered once. it was really scary, and then they flickered again and they didn't come back. >> tens of thousands of travelers stranded with no place to stay. this morning the lights back on, but why the headaches are only just beginning on this busy holiday travel week. also overnight new details about senator john mccain's condition as he battles brain cancer. the veteran senator returning home to arizona. how it could affect the republican tax bill with the first crucial vote expected tomorrow. team for sale. the new fallout as the owner of one of pro football's top teams is accused of sexual harassment and using a racial slur. the allegations prompting the sa