happy new year. just have fun in 2020. >> happy, healthy, bright new year to everyone out there. thanks >> that's what's making news in america this morning. thanks for watching. making news in america this morning. >> three, two, one, happy new year. >> ringing in 2020 with the biggest party in the world. more than 1 million people packing times square to count down the decade. ♪ straight up now tell me >> the performances and celebrations from around the world welcoming 2020. on the ready in the new year, the whithouse confirming overnight more troops are heading to the middle east following an assault on the american embassy in baghdad. what the president said about the attack during his new year's eve celebration. raging wildfires in

australia. the extreme conditions threatening every road in some towns. thousands of people trapped on ocean beaches and in boats. new video of the apocalyptic flames coming in. plus, pope francis slapping a woman's hand after he struggles to free himself from her grip. the big prize from prince william. why the royal is giving away millions of dollars and how you can get in. and -- >> this is "20/20." "20/20." "20/20." "20/20." "20/20." >> the year we've been waiting for to use that signature line from abc news legend barbara walters on this wednesday, january 1st, 2020. good wednesday morning, everyone, and happy new year. we begin with the world ringing in 2020. >> most of the celebrations went off without any major problems. a live look in times square right now where the cleanup is

already under way. >> more than a million people packed times square when the ball dropped. security was extremely tight with the police using drones for the first time. some of the revelers had been there since 11:00 a.m. with no bathroom facilities. >> seattle postponed its fireworks display at the space needle because of high winds. >> however, it still held its laser light show right on schedule. many other cities did have fireworks to celebrate the new year. >> three, two, one, happy new year. >> reporter: overnight millions of people gathering in times square to ring in the new year and watch the most famous ball drop. thousands of officers were patrolling new york city keeping the crowd safe with heavy weapons teams. units in the air, police dogs and for the first time drones. from new york to hollywood to miami and to new orleans. the party included performances from some of the hottest artists

of the year. ♪ you thought you're special special ♪ >> reporter: post malone. ♪ >> the jonas brothers. ♪ all right ♪ all right >> bts. ♪ i heard you cry aloud >> green day and alanis morissette with the cast of broadway's "jagged little pill" taking the stage and bringing the party from coast to coast. displays from all over the world, dubai, thailand, australia, france, celebrating the new year and the end of the decade. ♪ and that last image, that was firefighter michael terryberry, he proposed to his girlfriend on live tv. the fdny tweeted overnight that he proposed after helping new yorkers and visitors to our

great city safely ring in the new year, and she said yes. >> congratulations to them. now turning to our big story of the morning, the escalating crisis in iraq. defense secretary mark esper ordering 750 soldiers to the middle east after those violent protests at the u.s. embassy in iraq. this follows the arrival of 100 marines to the embassy. abc's ines de la cuetara joins us with more. ines, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, erielle and kenneth. about 100 marines have already been sent in, but we're just now learning hundreds of additional troops are on the way to protect americans on the ground in baghdad. overnight u.s. troops bracing for more chaos outside the u.s. embassy in baghdad. more than 100 marines arriving to reinforce security at the compound. two american apache helicopter flying overhead and firing flares in a warning to protesters. defense secretary mark esper announcing in a statement an infantry battalion of about 750 soldiers has been authorized to

deploy to the middle east immediately after hundreds of protesters attempted to storm the embassy on tuesday. shiite militia groups chanting "death to america" setting a security checkpoint on fire prompting tear gas and gunshots. the chaos began after weekend air strikes by the u.s. reportedly killed 25 members of an iranian-backed militia group. those air strikes in retaliation for an attack in northern iraq that killed a u.s. contractor. the standoff marking another escalation in tensions between the u.s. and iran. president trump accusing iran of orchestrating the attack and calling on iraq to protect the embassy. but iran has a tight grip over baghdad's government. iraqi security services allowing militia members to flood this diplomatic area normally off-limits. iraqi forces eventually arriving pushing protesters back.

>> i think it's been handled very well. the marines came in. as soon as we saw there was a potential for problem, they got in, and there was no problem whatsoever. >> reporter: and according to a state department spokesperson, there are currently no plans to evacuate the embassy. erielle and kenneth. >> ines, thank you. a new year and a new threat from north korea. kim jong-un promising the world will soon witness a new strategic weapon. the north korean dictator says his country no longer feels bound by its self-imposed moratorium on testing nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles. last week the world braced for a so-called christmas gift from the rogue nation that never materialized. new developments overnight in the australian wildfires disaster. at least three more people have died bringing the death toll in the state of new south wales to seven, and the australian navy is now bringing supplies to ravaged communities. abc's maggie rulli has more. >> reporter: panic and chaos as devastating wildfires grip australia. mass evacuations are under way

as soaring temperatures fuel what's being called apocalyptic flames. the inferno tearing through homes sending tens of thousands of people fleeing. in victoria the blaze leaving a scar of charred houses, businesses, schools and cars in its wake. about 4,000 people in mallacoota on the country's southeast coast trapped armed with life jackets prepared to jump into the water at a moment's notice to escape the deadly flames. the scorching fires already killing at least ten people and nearly 500 million animals. >> pretty extreme. it was very scary. >> reporter: the fast-moving fire cutting off roads and powers for thousands of customers. the billowing column of smoke and ash visible from the air. the thick cloud choking the sky. >> it's apocalyptic. this is in the middle of the day. >> reporter: charging it with a deep red flow as the fire spreads. a small group of firefighters from the u.s. have been here

since early december, but now australia is pleading for any and all additional resources. maggie rulli, abc news, sydney, australia. time now for a look at your weather for this wednesday morning. the storms that caused this wind damage on the last day of 2019 are continuing into 2020. trees and power lines have come down, and at least one tree fell onto a house as you see there. as we mentioned, seattle couldn't hold its fireworks show at midnight because of the high winds. the northwest will hit highs in the low 50s today. phoenix won't get past a cool 62 degrees. minneapolis will squeak past freezing. miami will reach a toasty 79 and new york and boston will top out in the low 40s. coming up, the trump administration taking on vaping. the major ban that is expected to be announced. also ahead, the frightening scene that played out in front of a doorbell camera. the man who begged for help

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they stay up to 3 times drier, so babies can sleep soundly...all night. pampers. just about everyone is gone from times square after all those revelers, hundreds of thousands of people. this is what's left. >> the party is over. >> the workers dismantling and cleaning up what's known as the crossroads of the world. the sanitation department will pick up several tons of trash left behind by the spectators and soon traffic will be allowed through obviously at a very slow pace because there's always a logjam of traffic there in times square. >> it's times square after all. >> yep. the trump administration seems ready to issue a sweeping ban on some e-cigarette cartridges. the president referred to the

ban last night at his new year's party in florida. published reports say it will involve mint and fruit flavored cartridges but will allow tobacco and menthol flavors to remain on the market. the announcement expected this week. the president has suggested the ban may only be temporary. and federal investigators are going to look into the deadly crash of a tesla. two people were killed on sunday when the model s struck another vehicle after running a red light near los angeles. the national highway traffic safety administration isn't commenting on whether the tesla's automated driver assist feature was a factor in the crash. the agency has opened 13 investigations into tesla crashes believed to involve that feature. three teenagers have been arrested in phoenix in connection with a violent incident that played out in front of a doorbell camera. >> after attending the fiesta bowl, an ohio state footbal fan says he was carjacked, kidnapped and shot. abc's trevor ault has details. >> i've been shot. i've been shot. >> reporter: the terrifying

moments a man begs for help after being kidnapped and nearly killed. >> just call 911. i've been shot, swear to god. >> reporter: police say that man, anthony, told them he was in phoenix to watch ohio play in the fiesta bowl and after going to sleep in his car, a trio of suspects pointed a gun in his face then drove him to an atm to withdraw money and later opening fire as he tried to flee. >> gunshots, it sounded like five or six of them. >> reporter: after getting hit anthony desperately sought help from neighbors. doorbell video capturing this exchange. >> i've been shot. i've been shot. >> who is it? >> it's anthony, i've been shot. >> who's anthony? >> call 911. >> who's anthony? >> i've been shot. >> get the [ ble ] out of here. >> reporter: that man admitting he was concerned for his own family's safety but called 911 anyway. >> i'm glad to hear he is okay. i'm glad to hear that he is a righteous dude. >> reporter: three teenagers have now been arrested in this case. anthony is now recovering at a local hospital. trevor ault, abc news, new york. coming up, how you can win millions of dollars from prince

william. also ahead, a hero in the hanukkah celebration stabbing at a rabbi's house is honored for his bravery. what he did to stop the attack. what he did to stop the attack. t actually was. dust mite droppings! eeeeeww! dead skin cells! gross! so now, i grab my swiffer sweeper and heavy-duty dusters. duster extends to three feet to get all that gross stuff gotcha! and for that nasty dust on my floors, my sweeper's on it. the textured cloths grab and hold dirt and hair no matter where dust bunnies hide. no more heebie jeebies. phew. glad i stopped cleaning and started swiffering. mornings were made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis or psoriatic arthritis.

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lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of illness- causing bacteria detergent leaves behind. lysol. what it takes to protect. we're back with the man being hailed a hero after trying to stop that stabbing attack in new york. authorities say josef gluck prevented a massacre. five people were injured when a suspect stormed into a rabbi's home during a hanukkah celebration. gluck helped many escape and even threw a table at the suspect. he also wrote down the suspect's license plate number. key to that investigation. authorities in idaho are intensifying their search for two missing children. they haven't been seen since september. >> police believe they are in danger and that their mother knows where they are but is refusing to cooperate. matt gutman has the details. >> reporter: police in idaho fearing the worst for 17-year-old tylee ryan and her little brother 7-year-old j.j. vallow missing since september.

j.j.'s grandmother hasn't spoken to the boy since the summer. >> it was a 35-second facetime. we were able to talk to him for those few seconds. >> reporter: police now believe their mother, lori vallow daybell, knows either where the children are or what has happened to them. earlier this year lori vallow marred chad daybell after his wife tammy died. police are now investigating tammy daybell's death. chad and lori fled the state earlier this month after police found they had misled them about the children's whereabouts. lori allegedly lying to friends saying tylee had died over a year ago. investigators saying, we strongly believe that joshua and tylee's lives are in danger. >> i don't know why they're doing what they're doing. it doesn't make any sense. >> reporter: lori's family believes she joined a religious group created by her husband chad. an attorney for chad and lori daybell say they are both loving parents and spouses and that they look forward to addressing the allegations once

they've moved past speculation and rumor but police want the couple to come forward now. matt gutman, abc news, los angeles. >> our thanks to matt there. the faa is just starting its investigation into a small plane crash near kansas city. two people on board were killed when the plane crashed shortly after takeoff from a small airport. the wreckage you see there was engulfed in flames. the plane destroyed. overseas a security scare and rare display of anger from pope francis. here's the video. the 83-year-old was greeting visitors in st. peter's square when a woman grabbed his hand and yanked him towards her. a visibly annoyed pope francis slaps the woman's hand and tells her to let go. the pope's security detail quickly moving in. the woman made the sign of the cross shortly before that encounter. no word on what she said to the pope as she grabbed him. >> the pope not having it. now some college football starting with a big-time blow-out in the alamo bowl. texas quarterback sam ehlinger was the star of the show last

night against utah. he threw three touchdowns and ran for another as the longhorns dominated. the score of that one, 38-10. the rose bowl is all ready for today's showdown between oregon and wisconsin. there are three more bowl games also on the schedule. all of them match ranked teams. a long day of football wraps up with georgia and baylor in the sugar bowl. >> i know who won't be hanging out with me today. >> who? >> my husband. >> he's ready to watch some football. >> he's going to be really busy. >> yeah, while you're asleep after working this shift. >> that's perfect. up next in "the pulse," the royals' newest picture of baby archie. and it's a cute one. also a rough start to 2020 for mariah carey. she had a great 2019 but her twitter account was hacked. >> yikes. she's just like us. plus, honoring barbara walters and her iconic catchphrase now that it's 2020. my psoriatic arthritis pain? i had enough! it's not getting in my way. joint pain, swelling, tenderness... ...much better.

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>> announcer: so what year is it? tell them, barbara. >> this is "20/20." >> this is "20/20." >> announcer: and this week, "gma's" roaring into the '20s. live better, look better, feel better. now what's better than that? ♪ time to check the first "pulse" of the new year, and we begin with the entire world celebrating the start of a new decade, but here at abc news this year it's really special to us because this is "20/20." >> the legendary barbara walters using that iconic catchphrase when she co-hosted the tv news magazine "20/20" beginning in 1979. >> this is "20/20." >> this is "20/20." >> this is "20/20." >> i'm barbara walters. >> there was even a petition on change.org to get barbara to drop the ball in times square. i would have loved to see that. >> yes, and in her honor many

stars did their impression of miss barbara introducing the show. >> this is "20/20." >> this is "20/20." >> this is "20/20." >> oh, you nailed it. this is "20/20." >> this is "20/20." >> oh, there's some good ones in there. we even saw the current hosts and anchors of "20/20" david muir and amy robach do it as well. they get to say it like every friday. >> let's hear it, kenneth. >> all right, here we go. i'll try it. i'm kenneth moton, and this is "20/20." >> i'm erielle reshef, and this is "20/20." >> no one really can do it like barbara walters. people were so excited about this, people were like we need barbara walters at the ball in times square to drop the ball and to say this is "20/20." >> barbara would never drop the ball. >> she would never drop the ball. i know. as soon as it came out of my head i was like, she would never. all right. next to some celebrity hacking news involving the queen of christmas herself. >> yeah, mariah carey's twitter account was apparently hijacked. a user reportedly appearing to

claim numerous identities and twitter handles started tweeting from carey's account yesterday afternoon. >> the user tweeting as carey fired off more than 50 tweets starting with rude comments about eminem and other comments we can't say. >> don't want to do that on television. >> not starting the new year like that. finally princes william and harry offering something new to open 2020. >> william has announced he is about to launch a new environmental prize. the so-called earthshot prize will be given annually to five people who create solutions to major environmental problems. it will include an undisclosed award that's reported to be millions of dollars. >> meantime, prince harry and his wife meghan posting a new photo of their son archie. how adorable is this. he's seen with dad bundled up next to a lake that appears to be in canada. so close yet so far. >> two things that we need more of in 2020. >> archie. >> archie and helping to save the world. those two things definitely go

together as well and so they're starting off 2020 right. how are you starting off the new year? more news after this. still fresh... ♪ unstopables in-wash scent booster ♪ ♪ downy unstopables

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talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424. checking more top stories this morning, defense secretary mark esper has ordered 750 soldiers to deploy immediately to the middle east. it comes after violent protests at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. 100 u.s. marines arrived to the embassy on tuesday in response to those violent demonstrations. hundreds of wildfires are still raging in southeastern australia. thousands of people are beginning the new year in evacuation shelters or on the beach. at least eight people died in two states. the stock market ending the last day of 2019 on a high note. the dow gained 76 points closing at 28,538 points overall. the dow was up 22% this year. that's its best annual performance since 2017. today's weather, heavy snow in the northern rockies. flurries farther south. rain sometimes heavy from texas

to arkansas. dry and chilly in the midwest and northeast. and finally, two new year's traditions that simply can't be ignored. resolutions that are bound to be broken and that classic new year's song, "auld lang syne." >> will ganss went to new york's times square to talk about both of them. excuse some of the language. >> reporter: so as we head into 2020 what new year's resolutions are you making if any? >> my new year's resolution is to just be happy and worry-free and to love my new fiance. >> as of last night? >> as of last night. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> to stay married to my fourth wife for at least one more year because if i get a fifth, i'm going to need a fifth. you know. >> i need to learn to say no because i always say yes to everything. i'm always very much a pleaser, and i think i'm going to do more for myself. >> what's your resolution heading into the new year? >> it depends. am i allowed to use profanity on abc news? >> we'll bleep it. >> okay. not let [ bleep ] boys be in my life anymore.

true story because in 2019 i had all these [ bleep ] boys in my life. 2020, no more of them. you know what i'm saying? >> we're done. you know the song "auld lang syne" that folks sing around the new year? >> yes. >> okay. i'm going to see if you know the lyrics. they're tricky, okay? ♪ should auld acquaintance be forgot ♪ ♪ and na, na, na, na, na >> and we got the melody. >> yeah. >> oh, god, no, we're not singing that. >> "auld lang syne." >> "auld lang syne." forget that. >> i don't even know the lyrics. ♪ and auld lang syne >> as long as you finish strong, i feel like that's it. ♪ should auld acquaintance be forgot and auld lang syne ♪ >> that was the best we've heard all morning. >> all: happy new year. >> does anyone really know all the worlds to "auld lang syne"? >> i don't think they even know what it means. >> we will have to google it. >> google it. figure it out. that's the way to start the new year right. it was a massive and incredible celebration here in new york city and across the globe, and

we are wishing all of you a happy new year. just have fun in 2020. >> happy, healthy, bright new year to