tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air this christmas eve. a holiday winter blast brings the coldest air of the season to parts of the country. new york city hoping for its i first white christmas in 15 years. the new alert about a massive egg recall. what you need to know. and that mega jackpot keeps growing. but first, ice and snow

blanket the i-95 corridor, from the nation's capital to maine. dangerous and deadly driving conditions. an inch of snow falling in central park. and the west, a powerful storm system producing heavy rain, gusty winds, and waves up to 35 feet, tossing boats like toys in this marina. last-minute travelers packing airports after a full american airlines ground stop. what led to the outage? and all eyes on the holiday forecast. lee goldberg standing by. will there be a white christmas? investigators search for the cause of a deadly boat explosion in florida. a livestream from an earth cam capturing the moment of the blast. first responders racing to put out the fire. what authorities are now saying. >> keep it on that fire right there. president-elect donald trump reacts to president biden's historic move commuting the sentences for nearly all federal inmates on death row. what trump is now saying about what he'll do when he takes office. support grows for blake lively after a complaint against "it ends with us" costar and director justin baldoni.

and the new lawsuit tonight. matt gutman with the latest. our abc news investigation. the potentially dangerous and deadly threat lurking in neighborhoods across the country. so-called zombie wells. abandoned oil and gas wells left to rot. kayna whitworth reporting. the mega millions billion. the jackpot reaches a new december record, with no winner since september. will a lucky ticket mean a christmas miracle? the news tonight on former president bill clinton's health, after he was admitted to a hospital in washington. the latest on his condition. the fda raises the alarm over previously recalled costco organic eggs. what you should know. nasa waits for word on its daring mission to the sun. the spacecraft faster than anything that's come before, going the closest humankind has gotten to the center of our solar system. and america strong tonight, on this christmas eve. norad has its eyes in the skies, while many of santa's elves send holiday cheer to our troops and veterans.

>> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight" with david muir. good evening, and thank you so much for joining us on this busy christmas eve. i'm rachel scott, in for david. we begin tonight with the holiday winter blast causing headaches for last-minute travelers, especially along the busy i-95 corridor. snow and ice making roads nearly impassable for millions in philadelphia, new york, and boston. and turning deadly for one commuter in new york city. american airlines briefly grounding all flights after a computer glitch, creating havoc for travelers across the country. in the west, massive waves battering the california coast, creating scenes like this one at a santa cruz marina. authorities warning people to stay out of the water. at least one person was killed. and more severe weather is coming to the west and to the south, with so many wondering, will there be a white christmas? lee goldberg is standing by with the forecast. but first, abc's erielle reshef leads us off. >> reporter: tonight, from

philly to new york to boston, a christmas eve winter blast making for slick roads for last-minute holiday travelers. near quakertown, pennsylvania, drivers like hunter sotung taking it slow before the sun came up. >> having a bigger vehicle helps a little bit, but the smaller vehicles are definitely going to be slipping and sliding. >> reporter: in new york city, a man was killed after he got out of his vehicle because of a minor accident on an off-ramp and was pinned by another vehicle. chaos and crowds at new york's laguardia this morning after american airlines, with nearly 4,000 flights scheduled just for today, grounded all of them for an hour, stressing passengers coast to coast. are you flying american? >> i am. >> reporter: david hamilton in houston trying to get to roanoke. >> i was a little worried when i saw the news, so -- looks good for now, so -- so santa claus is coming through for me. >> reporter: it lasted just over an hour. american says it was due to a computer issue that prevented pilots from getting necessary paperwork for departure. and in the west, authorities warning people to stay out of

the water, after scenes like this in santa cruz. enormous waves tearing apart the pier. multiple rescues. at least one person was killed. massive swells tossing boats like toys at this marina. tonight, authorities are warning of dangerous surf all the way down to southern california. and rachel, here in new york city, an inch of snow fell in central park. if it sticks around, it could be the first white christmas here in 15 years. rachel? >> rachel: so many dreaming of that white christmas. erielle, thank you. so, let's take that question over to chief meteorologist lee goldberg, he is back with us tonight from our new york station wabc. lee, you are tracking the major storms in the west and the severe weather in the south. first, though, that big question, will there finally be a white christmas for new york city? >> reporter: rachel, you heard erielle, if it sticks around. we have an inch on the ground now, but we're above freezing for half the night. so, the measure tomorrow morning at 7:00 may have to be in the spirit of giving. it's going to be awful close. how about white christmas across

the country? we have it in the northern rockies and northern plains. fargo, over to the twin cities, take i-90 east, you have it in syracuse, and then up into northern new england. we've got more snow coming into the west. there are two more storms that will slam the coast over the next few days. we could have up to a foot of snow in the intermountain west, maybe four feet in the washington cascades, and up to six inches of rain along the immediate coastline, with more wave action. the other trouble spot, the severe weather across texas. dallas county had flash flooding today. those storms move to houston tonight. the storms and santa could wake you up. the main threat is large hail. there will be another round thursday morning near dallas, and down in the evening toward houston, conditions will ease, as we go into the day on friday. rachel? >> rachel: tracking it all from coast to coast. all right, lee, thank you. we turn now to a deadly boat explosion in florida. one person was killed and several others were seriously injured when a small boat exploded in fort lauderdale. the fire then spreading to another vessel. here's abc's perry russom with the investigation. >> reporter: tonight, authorities in fort lauderdale,

florida investigating the cause of this deadly boat explosion. watch the video again. captured by an earth cam web cam. the boat nearly splitting in half, ripping apart in a ball of fire while docked at this marina monday night. >> we received multiple 911 calls from witnesses stating they saw a boat explode, there's a boat on fire, and there were people in the water. >> reporter: terrifying moments on the dock. people scrambling to safety. it appears one person on the boat was thrown into the water. the fire department says one person is dead, five others injured. three of them with traumatic injuries. >> there's two boats on fire. >> reporter: newly released video from a firefighter's helmet shows crews racing to douse the growing flames in the water. >> just keep it right there. keep it on that fire right there. keep it on the fire right there. >> reporter: hours after the blast, you can see the remains of the blackened boat barely staying above water, as fire and rescue crews work to get the situation under control. it's still not clear what sparked the explosion. officials say they'll get a better idea once they lift what's left of the boat out of

the water. and rachel, officials confirm the person who was killed is a 41-year-old man from quebec, canada. rachel? >> rachel: perry russom with the latest on that investigation. all right, perry, thank you. next tonight, president-elect donald trump slamming president biden over his controversial decision to commute the sentences of nearly all the federal inmates on death row. let's bring in abc's senior white house correspondent selina wang. trump is not the only one criticizing this move tonight. >> reporter: that's exactly right. some of the victims' family members are also slamming president biden's decision. this as donald trump tonight is criticizing president biden for sparing the lives of 37 federal death row inmates. in a post on social media, donald trump says he'll direct the justice department to vigorously pursue the death penalty when he takes office. now, when president biden took office, he paused all federal executions. as a devout catholic, president biden has said he believes the death penalty should only be used in cases of hate-motivated mass murder and terrorism.

now, only three men remain on federal death row, including the boston marathon bomber and the mass shooters who attacked the tree of life synagogue and the mother emanuel a.m.e. church. donald trump has said before that he wants to reinstate the death penalty, and to expand its use to include drug dealers and human traffickers. rachel? >> rachel: selina wang tracking this from washington. selina, thank you. we turn now to a new lawsuit in that bombshell hollywood scandal. justin baldoni, the director and co-star of the hit movie "it ends with us," is being sued by his former publicist for defamation and breach of contract. it comes just days after his costar, blake lively, accused him of sexual harassment and a smear campaign. baldoni denying those allegations. tonight, the hollywood a-listers taking sides. and here's abc's matt gutman. >> reporter: tonight, that new lawsuit in the scandal rocking hollywood. just days after actress blake lively filed an 80-page complaint against her "it ends with us" costar and director justin baldoni, accusing him of

sexual harassment and a retaliatory smear campaign, the actor is facing more backlash. >> i thought we were friends. >> we are friends. >> reporter: baldoni's former publicist, stephanie jones, is now also filing a lawsuit against the actor and two of her own former employees. jones alleging they sprang into action, scheming to bury and destroy costar blake lively to protect baldoni. their plan was covert, deliberately concealed from jones. lively, in her own complaint, alleges that baldoni and a producer showed her nude videos, discussed sexual conquests, and criticized her body and weight. and tonight, lively's costars showing their support for the actress. jenny slate, who plays lively's best friend in the film, telling today.com, "what has been revealed about the attack on blake is terribly dark, disturbing, and wholly threatening. i commend my friend. i admire her bravery, and i stand by her side."

and brandon sklenar encouraging his followers to read lively's complaint, writing, "this film is meant to inspire. it is not meant to once again make the women the bad guy." and to that mass of lawsuits, rachel, you might add another one. the attorney for baldoni and that crisis pr group accused of trying to, quote, bury blake lively now alleging that confidential information was used against his clients and vowing that anyone involved will be, quote, sued into oblivion. rachel? >> rachel: matt gutman on the continued fallout. matt, thank you. we turn now to a groundbreaking abc news investigation. there are estimates that millions of abandoned gas and oil wells could be threatening communities across the country. many of the so-called zombie wells are leaking, posing a risk to groundwater and spewing dangerous chemicals into the air. some even blamed for home explosions. here's abc's kayna whitworth. >> reporter: tonight, a warning about a potentially dangerous and deadly threat that could be lurking in neighborhoods all over the country. abandoned oil and gas wells left to rot. many of them leaking. they can contaminate groundwater

and spew cancer-causing, even flammable chemicals into the air. experts say there are more than 3.5 million of them in more than 25 states. >> we found that around 14 million americans live within a mile of an abandoned well. >> reporter: abc news, along with six owned and affiliated stations, tested more than 70 abandoned wells across five states, and over half, 40 of them, were leaking oil or flammable gas. we are utterly surrounded in every direction by abandoned oil and gas wells. and last month, this abandoned well blew in the west texas town of toya. the geyser of water shooting hundreds of feet in the air. residents reporting a rotten egg smell for a time. texas being oil country has more abandoned wells than any other state. and just outside houston, trinity bay is home to more than 100 of them. this is hissing. i can hear it.

some of those wells have been forgotten about for years. a striking example of what happens when these wells are neglected for decades is this. it's lake beamer. this is a body of toxic water that has been formed by a leak that at times is spewing up to 600 gallons of water every single minute. it has proved dangerous to be around, and deadly for the wildlife. this well was drilled in the '50s, but it never struck oil. it became a well for water. lake beamer is right next to skyler white's family ranch. he has several leaking wells on his property, as well. >> this ground is dead forever. this ground will never grow anything on it. >> reporter: properly plugging an abandoned orphan well can cost millions of taxpayer dollars, and that's in part because the bonds oil and gas companies are required to post before drilling a well are rarely enough to cover the actual cost of plugging it.

leaving taxpayers to foot the bill. >> the industry can and must do more to make sure that this orphan well burden doesn't fall on the public. >> reporter: we wanted to get the industry's side of this, so, we reached out to the american petroleum institute and they gave us a statement that said, in part, "the proper sealing of oil and natural gas wells is paramount to ensure the safety, sustainability, and environmental protection, and they and their members are committed to the responsible development of our nation's energy resources from start to finish." >> rachel: kayna, thank you. and you can watch the full abc news live investigation, "zombie wells: the threat beneath," now streaming on hulu. we turn now to the christmas eve mega millions jackpot, soaring to $1 billion. it could be quite the stocking stuffer for one lucky winner. abc's melissa adan has more on tonight's drawing and your chances of winning. >> reporter: tonight, a christmas eve drawing for an estimated billion-dollar prize. the mega millions jackpot

soaring to more than $1 billion for only the seventh time in the game's history. the next drawing tonight in atlanta, where hopefuls are already planning how to spend the money. >> if i do win, when i do win, i would bless my family, i would bless myself, and i would bless anybody in need of help. >> reporter: the odds of winning are slim. just 1 in 300 million, according to lottery officials. and you are much more likely, as the saying goes, to get struck by lightning. but just yesterday, a new jersey player submitting the winning ticket for the previous billion-dollar jackpot, nine months after picking the lucky numbers. that player, who chose to remain anonymous, taking home a huge haul, $537.5 million before state and federal taxes. across the country, people hoping to turn their $2 ticket into a christmas miracle. >> you never know. you get lucky. >> reporter: rachel, drawings are held twice a week, and there hasn't been a winner since september. so, if our numbers aren't called tonight, the next chance to win it all is friday. rachel? >> rachel: yeah, christmas could

certainly come early for one lucky winner. melissa, thank you. we turn now to christmas celebrations around the world. pope francis bringing in christmas eve with a special ceremony kicking off jubilee 2025. the holy door of st. peter's basilica, which is usually covered by bricks, is now open. millions of pilgrims are expected to pass through the door next year, in a symbolic gesture of forgiveness. and the war in gaza is once again muting christmas eve celebrations. in bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of jesus, the thousands of tourists and festive lights are nowhere in sight. the streets and shops are just empty and closed. notre dame cathedral in france welcoming worshippers just weeks after reopening from that devastating fire five years ago. when we come back, the latest on former president bill clinton's condition, after he was admitted to the hospital. and a new alert on that egg recall. my moderate to severe crohn's symptoms kept me out of the picture. now i have skyrizi. ♪ i've got places to go and i'm feeling free. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪

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♪ to the index now. tonight, an important update on a story that we have been following. the fda raising the alert over previously recalled costco organic eggs to its highest risk level. that means there is a reasonable probability of serious health consequences from possible salmonella contamination. more on our website. nasa tonight hoping a historic mission to the sun is successful. the parker solar probe spacecraft is expected to pass within 4 million miles of the sun's surface, traveling at over 430,000 miles per hour. it would be the closest any spacecraft has ever come to the sun. nasa hopes to hear back from parker this week. when we come back, america strong. two of the most important missions this holiday season. if you're living with hiv, imagine being good to go without daily hiv pills. ♪ good to go binge-watch. ♪ good to go out even later. ♪

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finally to finally tonight, america strong. two special missions to bring holiday cheer. tonight, on this christmas eve, tracking santa on his way. a tradition that goes back nearly 70 years. the north american aerospace defense command, manned by 1,200 volunteers tonight, ready to answer the call. >> you're so welcome. merry christmas. >> rachel: volunteers typically answer more than 130,000 calls, asking about the big man in red. >> we're able to track santa, we use satellites, we use airplanes, we use radars in order to track him. >> reporter: and in hollis, new hampshire, santa knows about another special gift. for u.s. troops, veterans, and service families. the nonprofit holiday cards for our military challenge, breaking their own record. sending out 365,000 cards this season.

they had help from volunteers all across the country. >> you should see what happens in a room when there's 5-year-olds and 95-year-olds coming together for our military. >> rachel: boxes and boxes of holiday cheer. many making their way overseas, to germany, south korea, and so many more destinations. and right here tonight -- the veterans touched by that special holiday surprise. bruce moran served two tours of service in vietnam. >> when you hear from someone back home that remembers you, it touches your heart. >> rachel: and world war ii veteran, 95-year-old bob smith. he joined the army air corps at 17. >> world war ii, army air corps. getting your mail meant the world to me. happy holidays to all america! to our troops who serve, and to all our veterans. >> rachel: and a very happy holidays to those veterans and all of you. thank you for watching. for david and all of us, i'm rachel scott.

good night. wharf be rebuilt tonight. the latest on the historic storm damage. >> i'm meteorologist sandhya patel. the storm has moved out of here in time for the holidays. the forecast is coming up. >> i'm cornell barnard in the north bay, where it's down to the wire for holiday shoppers. we'll tell you how an overnight storm brought some challenges today. >> and new at six. how the jewish community in oakland is making changes in order to protect their hanukkah celebration. >> always live abc seven news

starts right now. >> it's a silent night for christmas eve on live doppler seven. we're getting a break between storms just in time for the holiday. thanks for joining us on this christmas eve. i'm j.r. stone and i'm karina nova. >> we started the day with a level two storm on the abc seven news storm impact scale. it was pretty rough out there, but it cleared out by midday. >> abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel is here with a look at the forecast. sandhya. >> yeah, and you know what, j.r. and karina, it is one of those evenings where you couldn't have planned it better for santa to make those deliveries. let's take a look at live doppler seven right now. and you will notice that much of the bay area is in the clear. we have a few clouds around. certainly has been snowing in the sierra, and we do have thunderstorms over parts of the sacramento valley. looking at our local radar taking you back in time, you probably remember this earlier today. there were downpours. there were a few lightning strikes off the