america this morning. >> have a good one. making news in america this morning, miracle in the mine. >> this is the biggest lesson i've ever learned in my life. this is a life-changing experience for me. >> three people are found alive days after getting lost deep underground in the dark. the emotional reunions overnight and how search teams pulled off the rescue. the breaking news overseas, a high-speed train careens out of control crashing off the tracks. the mangled metal and rising death toll this hour. dirty deeds. new details about what michael cohen and the owner of "the national enquirer" are telling prosecutors after cutting their deals.

the hush money scandals surround the president and what happens next. rivalry renewed. a packers fan sues the bears. can the team stop him from wearing his packers gear on the field in chicago sunday? gas station glitch. the chaos after prices at one station go down to a penny a gallon. and the single mom -- >> there are times where i fall short. >> -- and the bank that agreed to pay off all her student loans. i got a few bills that bank could pay off. >> you and me both. >> as we say good thursday morning, everyone. we begin with the dramatic rescue that's being called a christmas miracle. >> three people trapped inside an abandoned coal mine in west virginia have been found alive. their families celebrating as they learn the news. the group surviving thanks to an air pocket hundreds of feet beneath the mountain. jubilation this morning in this

small west virginia town. >> thank you, god. >> reporter: as loved ones are told all three people missing inside an abandoned mine have been found alive. >> they're okay and that's -- that's all i wanted to hear, they're alive. they're out. i knew she wouldn't give up. she's too tough. >> reporter: the happy ending coming after more than four days of waiting and wondering if they could be found. >> i just want to say thanks to everyone who searched for us while we was down in that mine. >> all the effort everybody put in to get us out, we really appreciate it and thank god. >> reporter: the three people, kayla williams, erica treadway and cody beverly, had broken into the mine early saturday morning. family members admitting the group was scavenging for copper wire to sell. search crews staking out a rescue plan blowing air into the massive mine with large fans so they could enter first without a breathing apparatus, allowing them eventually to go deeper inside. they say that's what led to the breakthrough. the first person rescued was about 4,000 feet from where the three entered. the other two were found 30

minutes later. >> we drank mine water. we had no food. we just found a stream in the mine and started drinking it and hoping praying to god it wasn't contaminated. >> reporter: after the rescue an emotional governor jim justice saying the rescuers never gave up. >> it's a christmas blessings. that's all there is to it. you can see they're just -- loved ones and their friends and family, i don't know how you can do better. >> we knew our families were searching for us. >> we have great families. we knew they was going to find us. >> after being checked out at the hospital, those three could still face criminal charges for entering that mine illegally. now to the breaking news that we're following overseas. the death toll is rising after a high-speed train crashed into a pedestrian overpass in turkey's capital city of ankara. at least seven people are confirmed dead, but dozens are injured. the train struck another train engine that was inspecting the tracks at the time. right now the search teams are combing through the wreckage

hoping to find more survivors. and we turn to the legal jeopardy that is looming over president trump this morning. his former personal attorney, michael cohen, now facing three years in prison as he continues to cooperate with the russia investigation. now, cohen says that he repeatedly covered up what he calls donald trump's dirty deeds. the sentencing was followed by another plea deal announcement. the parent company of "the national enquirer" newspaper now admits buying and burying negative stories about trump as the lead-up to the elections. abc's kenneth moton is following it all. good morning, kenneth. >> reporter: good morning, kendis. michael cohen will have a few months to report to prison. for the first time we're hearing new details about the efforts to silence women who had alleged with donald trump. this morning, president trump publicly silent about his former personal attorney michael cohen taking full responsibility for his crimes.

the personal ones to me, he said in federal court, and those involving the president of the united states. prosecutors say before the 2016 election, cohen at the direction of trump facilitated hush money payments to two women who had alleged affairs with trump years ago. before he was sentenced to three years in prison, cohen told the judge, because of blind loyalty to trump, quote, i felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds. >> mr. president, did michael cohen cover up your dirty deeds? >> reporter: the u.s. attorney's office revealed a bombshell cooperation deal with media company ami. prosecutors say after he announced his run, trump met with cohen and close friend ami ceo david pecker. documents say the publisher of "the national enquirer" worked with one or more people in the trump campaign to catch and kill negative stories about the presidential candidate's relationships with women. ami admitted it knew it would break campaign finance laws by paying $150,000 to buy "playboy" playmate karen mcdougal's story

to bury it at the same time publishing negative images of hillary clinton on the covers. top democrat on the senate judiciary committee richard blumenthal responded on cnn. >> the term co-conspirator is beginning to fit donald trump like a well-tailored suit. >> reporter: it remains to be seen how this will impact the president who says he didn't do anything wrong. now, the investigations continue with cohen, the cfo of the trump organization and that media company, ami all cooperating with federal prosecutors. kendis, janai. >> it's pretty telling. you haven't heard a word from the president on twitter since then. kenneth, thank you. in the meantime, the president's search for a chief of staff may now include newt gingrich. one report claims gingrich tops the list of candidates. he was seen at the white house yesterday but said he was only there advising the president. north carolina congressman mark meadows is no longer in the running for the job. authorities across europe are searching for the man accused of opening fire near the christmas market in strasbourg, france, killing two people and leaving a third brain dead. they say cherif chekatt who was born in france

has 27 previous criminal convictions and became an islamic extremist while in prison and yelled god is great during the attack. back in this country, stunning news about the murder of a north carolina teenager. prosecutors say the suspect in the killing of 13-year-old hania aguilar last month should not have been on the streets. dna apparently linked michael mcclellan to a rape back in 2016 but investigators never followed up about it. the district attorney handling the aguilar case was at a loss to explain it. >> i don't know what happened, if it got lost at the sheriff's department, if it got buried on somebody's desk. >> could that paper right there have saved hania aguilar? >> potentially, yes and probably yes. >> heart wrenching for the parents. aguilar was kidnapped while waiting to go to school. mcclellan is held without bond. time now for a look at your weather for this thursday morning. good morning.

a storm really strengthening here in the lone star state producing some heavy rain along the gulf coast and even one to three inches of snow for places like abilene but the winds will be a big problem. some wind gusts will be more than 40 miles per hour through the lone star state with the risk of fire danger along the rio grande. then the storm, it treks east here, and as it pushes across the southeast there's one to three inches of rain that could lead to flooding in the carolinas where it comes down on top of snowpack. i'm meteorologist melissa constanzer. coming up, amazon's big announcement overnight about free shipping. also, the bizarre scene as a man gets caught inside a grease vent for days while reportedly trying to break into a restaurant.

we're back with this suspected thief caught in a tight situation. police say he was trying to break into an old chinese restaurant and decided to enter the building through the grease vent and got stuck there for two days. someone heard him moaning and called 911 before the fire department finally rescued him. in the meantime, a utah man is under arrest all because he butt dialed 911. police responded to it. they say they found drugs on his nightstand and realized he was wanted for a felony and arrested four other people in the house for drug possession. we turn to rising tensions with china. half has been detained by the chinese government. it's believed to be retaliation for the arrest of a tech executive in canada. she is awaiting extradition to the u.s. the u.s. accuses her of violating savengss against iran. president trump is willing to intervene if it paves the way for a better trade deal with china.

chinese hackers are being blamed for the cyberattack against the marriott hotel chain which compromised the personal data of 500,000 people. well, the nation has a new deadliest drug. the cdc says fentanyl killed more than 18,000 people in 2016. that, by the way, is the most recent year for which figures are available. fentanyl replaces heroin, which was the deadliest drug for the previous four years. in all more than 63,000 americans died from overdoses in 2016. the boy scouts may file for bankruptcy. the organization is facing an increasing number of sexual abuse lawsuits. it's also being sued by the girl scouts for its efforts to recruit girls. "the wall street journal" says filing for bankruptcy would give the boy scouts time to negotiate the lawsuits. a big announcement from amazon. the company is extending its free shipping offer through december 18th. amazon says it won't charge for delivering orders no matter how small they are. it comes as the holiday shopping wars heat up with walmart,

target and others. offering more discounts. gas was pretty much flowing freely at a station in south of. gas was pretty much flowing freely at a station in south carolina thanks to a computer glitch. a circle k in west columbia doled out fuel at a penny per gallon tuesday night. fill up. the early christmas present lasted for about an hour until police showed up. reports say the glitch also affected circle ks in four other states. that company is now investigating. coming up, a new dilemma in the nfl. one team looking for a new home. melania trump's historic flight visiting the u.s. troops. her new interview and what she said about influencing the president. and i'm molly hunter in london. when we come back, the big decision here in britain. the prime minister gets to keep her job, but the brexit chaos is far from over. what happens next and why it's so crucial for the u.s. coming up. coming up.

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that's actually a vintage military plane that crashed during exercises. the pilot was ejected and was picked up by a passing sailboat. that plane was 60 years old. we turn now to that political drama that is just getting more interesting. >> prime minister theresa may has survived a no confidence vote that could have ended her government. but the chaos surrounding her plan to leave the european union is far from over and could have big consequences for the u.s. economy. abc's molly hunter is in london. molly, good morning. >> reporter: janai, kendis, good morning. that's right. total chaos and prime minister theresa may does survive apparently. she had two glasses of wine and some crisps last night to celebrate. but there are some good headlines today. "the sun" says, time to call it a may. i think that's a play on a day.

that could have been better. "the daily mail," now let her get on with the job and my personal favorite to "the daily mirror" saying her goose is cooked. it's lame duck for christmas. but, guys, this is a big deal. she did survive but barely. over a third of her own party voted against her. her party is still divided. the two parties are still divided. she's in a weaker position than she was a couple of days ago. all the same big challenges, all the same questions remain so if she is going to get this brexit deal passed she, has to do it before january 21st if that happens at all, so the question is will she run out the clock so there's only one opposite or will she actually be able to get some legal concessions that might get some more mps on her side. the other big date looming, march 29th. that is the legal date for brexit. that is also looking unlikely like it might be delayed right now. but, guys, what does it mean for you and me? a strong dollar right now means that my rent is cheaper, hotel rooms here are cheaper so book your christmas tickets but a strong dollar isn't all good news for u.s. businesses, of

course, that are selling products overseas, janai, kendis. >> molly, still fantastic. thanks for sharing those front pages with the big headlines. >> i like "the london metro." it says, keep may, carry on. thank you. the first lady back here in this country, the first lady melania trump has made history. she flew inside an osprey on her way to meet with troops in norfolk area. mrs. trump also rode aboard the aircraft carrier "george h.w. bush." in a new interview with fox news she was asked about her role as first lady and how she influences the president. >> i know exactly what's going on. i follow what's going on and i give my husband advice and my honest opinion and sometimes he listens and sometimes he doesn't. i don't agree with his tone sometimes and i tell him that. so as i said before, sometimes he listens. sometimes he doesn't. >> have you ever stopped him like he was going to say something and you said --

>> i said to him, you know, i don't think you need to be that out. but on the end it's his decision, he knows the consequences, he's an adult and, you know, but he's a fighter. he's the fighter. >> well, she said that she wishes the media would also focus more on her accomplishments than white house gossip. now to a boy who barely escaped a fire in dallas who's been reunited with the man would saved him. police body cams were rolling as officers urged 8-year-old kingston edmund to jump from the window of his second story apartment building knowing there was no time to spare. he landed safely in their arms. now kingston and his mom got a chance to meet one of the officers who saved his life. >> if y'all wasn't there, i wouldn't be here. >> well, i'm glad i could be there for you, kingston. glad we could be there for you and we'll always be there for you, okay? >> kingston's mom said god had several angels on the ground that night. in sports the oakland raiders are looking for a new home. they were supposed to play in oakland for one more year before

moving to las vegas. but the city is now suing to stop the move and now the team is refusing to extend its lease at the oakland coliseum. what a messy divorce. some speculate they'll move to san diego. yeah. we'll take them in san diego for one more year. a packers fan is suing the bears. russell beckman loves the rivalry so he bought season tickets for both teams and that gets him into a special event for bears fans on the field in chicago on sunday. but he wants to wear his packers gear, but the team won't let him. they argue it's a private company. but beckman argues that taxpayers own the stadium so the team is violating his first amendment. a court hearing is scheduled today into all of this. >> interesting. we'll see what happens there. well, up next, ellen considers moving on. also ahead, a new proposal to tax your text messages. later how a single mom got

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you know why, we know how. ♪ it is "pulse" time on this thursday. starting with ellen thinking about ending her talk show after a 15-year run. >> she says she may call it quits when her contract is up in 2020. she says she's torn between opposing advice from her family. her brother wants her to stay on but her wife portia derossi thinks it's time to move on. supporters say a plan to tax text messages in california is down but not out. >> the fcc just ruled that texting is an information service, not a telecommunications service and that means that states have no jurisdiction to tax them. supporters of the tax plan want to push ahead with the fee which would help fund mobile phones for the poor. but if you're the winner of

a contest, you may not care if taxed for using your cell phone and texting. vitamin water will pick someone to go cold turkey and not use fair phone for a year. >> if they can do it they'll get $100,000. to enter the contest, you have to post a photo on instagram or twitter that tells why you're a good choice for this contest. finally, the worst game of tic-tac-toe you'll ever see. >> the worst. it happened during halftime of the indiana pacers game. the rules are simple. make a basket then mark your place. >> the guy with the purple mark has a chance to win here. so does red. >> but he goes for the block instead. >> why? later that contestant got another chance to win but he puts his purple mark in the wrong spot again. >> do they know how to play? >> eventually it was a race to the finish and the contestant with the red mark is finally given the block. everybody is confused.

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hi, everyone. good morning. it is thursday, december 13th. i was ready for thursday yesterday. >> now it feels like friday. >> at least it's not friday, the 13th. think about that. >> i like that. good morning. the weather is not going to be scary this morning either. we have temperatures that are running cooler, as we talked about. inland in the 30s. around the bay, the 40s. fremont, 51. san francisco, 50 easily our warm spots. we end up low to mid-60s under a mostly sunny sky. we'll take a look and see if there's any fog in your accuweather 12-hour planner next. here's alexis. >> very quiet start to the roads this morning.

the bay bridge toll plaza. not seeing the fog that we had the last couple of days. hopefully that will not be a major factor for your commute this morning. we have a little stackup on either side. no can carpool lanes yet. no issues if you are paying cash or fast track. a quick check of a minor issue on eastbound 80, appian way. debris n roadway. breaking news from apple overnight. a brand-new campus in austin, texas. >> amanda del castillo is live at the company headquarters in cupertino. amanda >> reporter: is the austin expansion would make it the largeest employer and the campus the largest outside of its cupertino headquarters where we are this morning. early this morning, apple

announced it wd it would cover acres and hire 5,000 employees. the company will have the capacity to add 10,000 more jocks at the site as well. that suspect the only planned expansion. the tech giant said it would build new offices in seattle, san diego, and culver city expand campuses in pittsburg, new york, and pittsburgh. there are plans to invest $10 billion in u.s. data centers the next five years with plans to spend $4.5 billion this year and next. the company says it is on track to meet its u.s. jobs target after apple created 6,000 jobs in 2018. now, apple says there are 90,000 apple employees nationwide. more on this overnight development in an hour. live at apple headquarters in

cupertino, amanda dell abc 7 news. >> a quick check of weather and traffic. >> hi, everybody. 10 means unlimited e. there is fog in the central valley. we'll keep an eye on that. it may leak through the delta in the morning hours. this is absolutely gorgeous this morning. dry and definitely cooler. dress warmer. mid-30s to upper 40s from inland to the coast. we'll be around the mid-50s to 60 under mostly sunny sky at noon. hanging around the low 6 0s at 4:00. pretty comfortable evening on the way at 7:00. your commute planner and chances of rain coming up. >> out to tracy. we have a collision involving a motorcycle. it is down on the right-hand side of the roadway just past mountain house parkway. emergency crews are arrivin