tonight on "nightline." the year that was. 2020 in perspective the. >> i have been to hospitals before where the census was over flowing, butthis was on another level. >> a monumental pandemic. a racial reckoning and the heroes giving us hope through it all. >> i'm grateful i am an essential worker and i get to work in a time like this. >> and a holiday tradition, whoopie goldberg's twist on a classic. >> not a creature was stirring, not even mickey mouse. >> and a secret santa serves up a surprise. >> hey, this is a joke right now, isn't it? >> it's not a joke. "nightline" will be right back. hey google, tell roomba to vacuum the kitchen counter. and offers personalized cleaning suggestions

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unleash your potential. uipath. reboot work. ♪ thanks for joining us. in the spirit of the holidays, some per speck oy a year that challenged us in every way imaginable. from health care workers risking their lives on the front lines to families worrying about putting food on the table. the pandemic colliding with a racial reckoning. forcing us to hold tight to hope and now, a look back. >> i can't breathe!

♪ >> virginia avenue and north avenue. >> it's been a year of historic struggle, upheaval. >> ourer "nightline" team working through an unprecedented crisis, to keep our awed informed. >> thank you for giving us a voice. we are grateful. >> we got touch because you were being open and pouring out your heart. >> if telling our story helps someone, i'm glad to do it. >> i am glad we can share stories like this, we are not alone. >> you are not alone. it was until i heard other people's stories that i felt seen. >> you are not alone and it sounds silly and cliche. >> i didn't ask for it, but i feel like i do have a voice. >> i can yell about this change. i can go to the meeting. i can demand this. >> make sure that you just go out and make your voice heard. >> 2020 did not happen in a

vacuum. there's been events in history that you read about and then there's moments and things happening around you and realize -- oh, my god. i'm witnessing history. >> amidst that hee turmoil heroes emerged. >> we got the news that we would quarantined for 14 days here. >> and we watched in disbelief as it spread across the united states like wild fire. >> we will once again devote "nightline" to the latest crisis. the covid-19 outbreak. >> from newsiursing homes i i ii washington. >> if she gets sick she will be gone. if she has to sit in a room by herself for days on hand, she will go down hill fast. >> so the epi-center in new york

city, we tracked the virus as it left tragic in its wake. >> he was still really in bad shape, temperature of 104. >> tell me that moment, amanda, where you had to leave his side. >> i got in the scar and drove away without him and i just felt panic. >> watching my son over a computer screen in icu, and not being able to be there with him is the most horrifying experience that we have. >> and we were on the front lines as the medical community scrambled to understand the virus while treating thousands of new patients. >> this patient tested positive for coronavirus at this time. you can see that there's mored a normal lung than normal lung. >> doctors, health care workers and volunteers we salute them all tonight, risking their own live looks and families to keep us safe. and joining us now, dr. randal curtis who is just coming off nine straight days of grueling 12 hour shifts in seattle's harbor view medical center.

>> this is different, usually we are completely open, visiting hours, families come and stay. that part of it is very difficult. >> michael has been an icu nurse for 25 years. but the past few weeks have left emotional scars. >> i had a 35-year-old patient die, you know, on me the other day with nothing significant in his medical history. and i had just spoken to his had wife. and you know, that his family loved him and missed him. and just tried to say the thing-ss that i thought i might want to hear if it was me. >> some went from one crisis zone to another, traveling nurse bridget harrigan, leaving a packed icu in queens to head to arizona. >> i have been to hospitals before, where the census was over flowing but this was on another level. seeing it in my opinion as bad as it can get, that compelled me

to come and help. >> we gained guided access in the medical center in brooklyn had. reporting on the pandemic and watching history unfold on our watch is the kind of reporting that is in our did dna. >> 40 years ago, "nightline" emerged from abc news coverage of the iran hostage crisis. >> ted koppel, this is a new broadcast in the sense that it is permanent and it will continue after the iran crisis t is over. >> and now we are reporting every night on the single most conseque consequential crisis in the country. family are struggling to put food on the table. >> these are applications for loans. e-mails that i reply to. the lovely unemployment letter of denial. >> army veteran danny smiley in

kansas lost his job as an athletic trainer in a school. >> quick update on how the meeting went. apologize, i'm still nervous and shaky and in shock, it went as expected. so, there you have it. 17 years in a box. >> and melanie martinez was laid off from a texas restaurant. what are you most in the worried about right now? what is most difficult for you right now? >> paying my bills. that's what i am most worried about right now? i have rent to pay and i'm the only income for my household, you know, me and my daughter, totally up to me to provide for my hope. >> while living in lockdown, we relied on essential workers who kept our country going. off and unsung and unseen. like jamelli kromwell, driver i met in the bronx, and

octavia french, a sanitation worker. >> what motivates me to come to work? i know what it feels like to not have a job. i have a 7-year-old son, he motivates me to keep going. >> i'm grateful that i'm an essential worker and i get a time to work and america needs us. >> holding on to hope as loved ones spent weeks and months on ventilators with precious stories of grateful reunions. >> i was ready to give up. then i had to remind myself of who i am. and whose i am. >> i'm the doctor that will take care of you. >> that as a nurse, it makes it worth it. risking our lives coming here every day, just seeing that reunion of a husband and a wife. that was pretty special. >>. ♪

welcome home! >> daddy! >> yeah! >> what was the first thing that you said to your daughters? >> that i love them. >> hi! [ sobbing ] >> i'm so proud of you, how are you? >> i'm good. >> what did it feel like to put your arms around aaron? >> amazing. i felt so lucky to my husband and so in love after ten years. yeah, it's wonderful. d the pandemic spotlighting the social divide in our saw the virus's disproportion

nate impact on families. >> i was wearing a mask in my house 24/7. >> i blame america and the health care system. that's who i blame. i feel like it could have been prevented. >> and then on may 25th, another seismic shock. >> the calls for justice for george floyd growing louder. >> when george floyd called out for his mother. it was a cry to all mothers and the nation responded with outrage and empathy. >> after months of being locked inside. the it was like a damn had burst. thousands of people flooded in to the streets wearing gas masks instead of face masks. >> there's an endless sea of protesters. >> they are let willing you go. >> calling out systemic racism and inequality. demanding justice and change. >> what word do you describe george floyd? >> enormous. he was a person that filled the

with love. >> and iknow we are all men here. raise your hand if you shed a tear after you watched the video? >> absolutely. >> after hearing from countless grieving mothers. br families, loved ones, had our nation reached a had moral awakening? >> from the question came the landmark series, a special broadcast under the title "turning point," focused on what merer owes in reparations, from intimate perspective. >> no more! >> when i first found out that my ancestors were enslaved, i felt there should be justice that comes out of it. >> the only way we can over come our past is we have to confront and acknowledge what happened and then we have to fight to make it right. >> a whole community filed away

in the box. closed until i decide to open it and talk about it. people are misinformed about what native people look like. how native people are supposed to look. there are native people on the subways, there's native people walking down the streets. >> we are a land based people. half of on our soul was here before columbus hit the sand. it's the first latino issue in the country and it's still unresolved. >> when you go to give birth as a woman of color, you should not be four types more likely to die than our white counterparts. after everything we did to plan, after every precaution was taken this was still the outcome. that she is dead. like gone. with the distribution of

covid-19 vaccines under way, vulnerable communities over-riding their history in hesitation with hope. >> we have to step forward and not be afraid to the make our lives better. >> this year, like all the years, we have tried to tell stories often ignored by others. it's the passion of our team of journalists that brought us to the end of 2020, telling your stories, our stories with heart, compassion and hopefully some understanding. and so on this this christmass eve. we thank you for going on this journey with us. we wish you and yours strength and good health in 2021. >> here is hoping for a better and brighter new year. coming up a twist on a christmas classic. with whoopie goldberg. e a sign that your digestive system isn't working at its best. taking metamucil everyday can help.

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saint nicklaus,ly also claus, mama in her kerchief and i in my cap had settled for a long winter's nap. away to the window, i flew like a flash, tore open the shutters and threw up the sash. it was to bright you could see stuff. when what to my wondering eye appeared, a miniture sleigh with eight tiny reindeer. with a little old driver, i knew it had to be saint nick. he whistled and shouted and called them by name.

now dash away, dash away, i said, dash away, all. he is very pushy. up to the house tops they flew, with a sleigh full of toys and saint nicklaus to. and on the roof, i heard the prancing and pawing of each little hoof. i drew in my head and was turning around and down the chimney saint nichohas came with a bound. let's think about that for a second. do you think he asked, hey, make sure the fire's out if you happen to have a chimney. i think he does. i think he e-mails and says, turn all the chimneys down, take -- cool it down so i can come down there. these are things i think about when i read this. he was dressed all in faux fur,

a bundle of toys had he on his back and he looked like a pedaler just opening his sack. his eyes how they twinkeled, his did drol little mouth was drawn up like a bow and the beard of the snow was at white as snow. and the stump of a pipe he held in his teeth and the smoke encircled his head like a wreath. well it's a certain time, you know, where guys had pipes and stuff. so, it's okay. santa does not smoke. i'm just saying. it's all good. he a broad face and a round belly that shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly. he was chubby and plump. no, he was plus size and a jolly old elf and i laughed at him in spite of myself. he spoke not a word, he went

straight to the his work, and filled all the stockings except for the one with for the jerk. and he laid had his finger aside his nose and gave a nod and up the chimney he rose. to his team he gave a whistle and away they flew like the down of a thistle, but i heard had him exclaim as he flew out of sight. yo, whoopie! merry christmas. to everyone else, good night. merry christmas, y'all. ♪ >> thanks whoopie, and up next, one of santa's little helpers is a big tipper. did you know the source of odor in your home... ...could be all your soft surfaces? odors get trapped in your home's fabrics and resurface over time. febreze fabric refresher eliminates odors. its water-based formula safely

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♪ finally tonight, a tip for a joyous holiday season. restauranteur has been struggling. enter meghan birkshire, out with her family for dinner and all of

her friends sending secret money. >> mission that ended up in my venmo account, was a blessing that night. >> a tip that ended up being beb $1500. >> merry christmas, god bless. >> oh, my god. >> the reason for the season. that's "nightline," we will see you back here same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us, good night, america. merry christmas eve. ♪