good morning. i'm reena ninan. >> and i'm kendis gibson. here are some of the top headlines we're following this morning on "world news now." fireworks on the democratic debate stage as hillary clinton and bernie sanders went head to head with just two weeks until the iowa caucuses. our political experts' take just ahead. five americans have been freed from iranian prisons after secret negotiations with u.s. diplomats. a prisoner swap brought four of them home. we'll have much more on the developments straight ahead. if you'd been in northern michigan yesterday, you could have filled up for less than 50 cents a gallon.

with oil about to come back on the market, you may get another chance soon. >> and peyton manning and the denver broncos one step away from the super bowl after defeating the pittsburgh steelers last night, 23-16. the broncos will host new england on sunday. in the nfc, it's carolina hosting arizona. those are some of our top stories on this monday, january 18th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." we do say good morning to you. we're going to get started with the last democratic debate it's now just two weeks away. sanders, martin o'malley sharing the stage in south carolina. abc's deputy political director shushannah walshe joins us now with the night's most memorable moments. morning. this final democratic debate before the iowa caucuses was full of fiery exchanges with

sanders quickly taking the gloves off. one of the night's earliest clashes was over gun control. blasted sanders for what she says is his opposition to strong gun safety measures. last night, he responded. >> well, i think secretary clinton knows what she says is very disingenuous. from the nra. >> i have made it clear, based on senator sanders' own record that he has voted with the nra with the gun lobby numerous times. >> another powerful exchange was over health care. clinton accusing sanders of wanting to undo obamacare. >> we finally have a path to universal health care. we've accomplished so much already. i do not want to see the republicans repeal it and i

again with a contentious debate. >> no one is tearing this up. we're going to go forward but what the secretary neglected to mention, not just the 29 million still have no health insurance that even more are understand insured with huge co-payments and deductibles. >> just hours before the debate, sanders surprisingly unveiled his own health care and tax plan. it has a $1.3 trillion a year price tag. but he downplayed that during the debate. and in another big moment, sanders was also asked about bill clinton's past but seemed to be annoyed with the question. >> yes, his behavior was deplorable. have i ever once said a word about that issue? >> no, i have not. i'm going to debate senator clinton on the issues facing the american people, not bill clinton's personal behavior. >> of course, there was another person on that stage, former maryland governor martin o'malley repeatedly pleaded for more time but was drowned out either by his competitors or the

reena, kendis? >> thank you so much. trump sharpening his attacks on rival ted cruz. >> shocking that he would do that. he's telling abc's george stephanopoulos that cruz is a nasty guy and pounded cruz for failing to disclose loans he got from big wall street banks, cruz calls it an oversight. company says he intends -- trump says he intends to spend because he says he's running millions of dollars ahead. the morning's other top story, five americans are tasting freedom after being released from prisons in iran. the extraordinary development comes after secret negotiations between the two nations that have been enemies for decades. abc's elizabeth hur has more. >> reporter: good morning to you. certainly a reason to celebrate of five americans are now headed home. and abc news also learning that this was the result of 14 months of negotiations.

even years behind bars in iran landing first in switzerland, then germany. >> this is a good day when americans are freed and reunited with their families that's >> reporter: the wife of saeed abedini tweeting, saeed just landed in geneva. saeed's getting ready to leave to germany. few hours. thank you for your prayers. the father of two was imprisoned for three years. another of the released, jason rezaian detained for 18 months charged with sponge in a closed door trial. by his side was safely out of iran, "the washington post" released a statement saying we are relieved that this 545-day nightmare for jason and his family is finally over. detained the longest, four years. the former u.s. marine arrested in iran while visiting his grandmother.

spent time at iran's notorious allegedly subjected to beatings and psychological abuse. president obama remaining stead fast in his message that it was diplomatic negotiations that led to their release, that deal quietly played out outside of the international nuclear deal >> we've achieved this historic progress through diplomacy. in the middle east. >> reporter: as for the two remaining ex-prisoners one is believed to be still in iran and an american student who was released independently has already headed home. kendis and reena? one american who went missing in iran eight years ago was not among those released. robert levinson is a former fbi agent who was working as a private investigator when he disappeared after meeting with an islamic militant. he hasn't been heard from since 2011. his family was devastated that

the iranians say they don't know where he is. here at home, communities near sarasota, florida, resumed rebuilding this morning. two tornadoes struck within minutes of each other just the first picked up a mobile home and smashed it into the ground. the couple that lived there died. their son and grandchildren who were visiting were injured. the second twister for the roof off of an apartment building and damaged others. anxious hours for some passengers rushing for flights as the newark airport. air train services were suspended sunday evening after a power failure. the trains were evacuated and buses arrived to pick up stranded passengers. the power company says that the outage was due to a tripped power line. service was restored just at 7:00 p.m. a manhunt is on in philadelphia for a suspect in the murder of a homeless shelter employee. police say the man had been kicked out of the shelter and then returned with a gun.

residents say they were stunned to learn that one of the beloved shelter workers had been murdered. it's a tragedy that has left part of our abc family reeling. a popular producer at our station in chicago strangled while on vacation in belize. this morning, the hunt is on for her killer. more now from abc's marci gonzalez. >> reporter: k-9s searching the area in belize where an american tourist was found dead friday. as police try to figure out who killed 39-year-old journalist anne swaney, and why. >> chicago has lost an amazing person. >> the executive web producer from our abc stationing in check wls, was on a return trip to this retreat. volunteered to stay behind from a group horseback riding trip. instead, practicing yoga alone at this waterfront deck. by the time the group returned hours later, they say, she was gone. >> we did a quick search and she wasn't around, and we notified

>> reporter: police searched for hours. finally finding her body the next day in this river. >> there were bruises around her neck and on either side of her head there was lacerations. >> reporter: investigators are questioning a guatemalan fisherman who was in the area at the time and interviewing staff where swaney was staying. also looking into whether the killer took swaney's cell phone. her family saying it was missing from the scene. a possible clue -- friends mourning in chicago, hope could lead to the killer. marci gonzalez, abc news, new york. bowie. for the first time one of his charts. days before his death. it sold the equivalent of 181,000 albums knocking adele off the top spot. bowie died earlier this month after battling cancer for 18 months. >> congratulations to david bowie there. >> we said this would probably be a big hit, right?

very, very good album, as well. here's a guy who really and i mean like really knows how to get some attention for himself. we're talking about will forte. one of the stars on the fox show "the last man on earth." >> one of his most recognizable features is his long hair and bushy beard. guess what, not anymore. >> now his most recognizable feature is the fact that half his head has been shaved completely, hair, mustache, beard even his right eyebrow gone. he debuted the new look at a network friday night and getting strange looks ever since. >> what's the deal? why did he do it. >> i have no idea. it answers a debate about my own little personal hair growth. shave half the head. and do the other half. >> that would make for an interesting -- >> exactly. >> you have not decided what you're going to do with your hair. are you going to shave it all off by tomorrow? >> i don't know. might shave half of it. look at all those grays. >> you look young and youthful to me, kendis gibson.

doctors. >> oh, stop. >> coming up a close call from down under. then angry words about the water in one michigan city. some critics even calling for the state's governor to be arrested over the whole thing. and later in the half hour, the big debut at the zoo in washington over the weekend. everyone excited about bei bei. how did the new panda react to fans? the answer coming up on "world news now." >> "world news now" weather. brought to you by resolve. >> "world news now" weather. brought to you by resolve. brought to you by resolve. (ugh.) does your carpet ever feel rough and dirty? don't avoid it, resolve it. our formula with a special conditioning ingredient, softens your carpet with every use. it's resolve, so you know it cleans and freshens. but it also softens. resolve. a carpet that

and to clean pet messes, try resolve pet expert. that's a lot of dishes& no problem. i'll use a lot of detergent. dish issues? get cascade platinum. one pac cleans tough food better than 6 pacs of the bargain brand combined. cascade. >> i'm alex trebek. if you're age 50 to 85, so please, write down the number on your screen. the lock i want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. it's a rate lock for your life insurance that guarantees your rate can never go up at any time, for any reason. but be careful.

do not have one, but you can get a lifetime rate lock through the colonial penn program. call this number to learn more. this plan was designed with a rate lock for people on a fixed income who want affordable life insurance that's simple to get. coverage options for just $9.95 a month, less than 35 cents a day. act now and your rate will be locked in for life. it will never increase. your coverage can never be cancelled as long as you pay your premiums, and your acceptance is guaranteed, with no health questions. you cannot be turned down because of your health. call for your information kit and gift. both are free, with no obligation. don't wait,

choose to move freely. move free ultra has triple-action support for your joints, cartilage and bones in one tiny pill. move free ultra. get your move on. and now try move free night. the first and only 2-in-1 joint and sleep supplement. music throughout unlike ordinary diapers, pampers has 3 absorbent layers to stay up to 3 times dryer so your baby can sleepr soundly all night pampers an incredibly close call for an incredibly close call for a woman shopping at a gas station. watch this. whoa. hello. this is in australia. look at the force with which this suv crashes into the store. amazingly, no one inside the

three men inside the vehicle weren't so lucky. they were taken to the hospital. the driver fled. we call that segment impact video. it clearly is. >> real impact, huh? in michigan, at least two people are dead after a series of pile-ups on interstate 94. police blame the second pile-up on the first. vehicles were travel too fast and too close. they weren't able to stop due to limited visibility. there were more than a dozen injuries some serious. and also in michigan, there is now a new twist in the water crisis in the city of flint. >> amid high-profile calls for resignation, even the arrest of governor rick snyder over the city's contaminated water there are also new questions whether there was a cover-up. here's abc's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: angry residents demanding answers during a town hall in flint, michigan. reverend jesse jackson there to lend his support. >> people of flint have been betrayed. >> reporter: filmmaker and flint native michael moore even calling for the arrest of the

>> he committed a crime, he knew what was he was doing. >> reporter: president obama declaring a state of emergency over the contaminated water. the state now under investigation after it changed its public water source exposing its 100,000 residents to toxic levels of lead. families like the horns forced now to drink and cook with bottled water being trucked in daily. but lisa and her four kids and niece are still bathing in that water. >> it's hard to make sure everybody's been bathed properly, because we're really not supposed to use this water. >> reporter: water researchers point to this memo from the epa to city water officials back in june, saying it shows that officials knew that testing showed "high lead results" but didn't publicly admit it for another three months. >> it's a manmade tragedy that was completely preventable. >> reporter: professor marc edwards says for about $100 a day, the city could have made the water safe. instead, he claims they manipulated data and testing methods to make it look safe. so many families like the horns exposed to lead for more than a year, which can cause neurologic damage. local doctors are working to screen and help those children

the governor maintaining that he took action as soon as he knew of the elevated lead levels. eva pilgrim, abc news, new york. so president obama declared a federal emergency but didn't declare a -- make a disaster declaration which would have allowed more funds. people say you only do that during a natural disaster. disaster. and one that will continue. night debate were calling for more action by the governor there including senator sanders calling for the governor to resign entirely. >> a lot of angry people. rightfully so. >> understandably. coming up, the lunch emergency that put 911 on hold. >> the 911 dispatcher who got into trouble over forcing call force wait while she placed an order for pizza. oh, boy, that's next. >> how big of an order? >> announcer: "world news now" continues after this from our abc stations. "world news now"

okay. okay. so when you pick up your phone to dial 911, it's usually during an extreme crisis. and the last thing you would expect is no one picking up on the other end of the line. >> but that's exactly what happened in florida because the dispatcher on duty was apparently too busy trying to order pizza. here's abc's aditi roy. >> let me have one slice of cheese pizza. >> okay. >> let me have a lunch special. >> reporter: a broward county, florida, 911 dispatcher taking heat after calling a pizzeria while on the clock. while she's ordering lunch for tor couldn't hold him up, he dropped to the floor. >> reporter: an emergency at this optometry office. multiple employees try calling the dispatch center after a patient faints, but no one answers. >> first they called, from their office, no answer. i called from my cell phone,

calling and nobody picked up. >> reporter: the dispatcher, still on her eight-minute call, >> everything on those. all the fixings. >> reporter: five and a half minutes in, she's asking for final orders from her coworkers. >> no one else? okay, can you hold on for me one second, please. >> reporter: and seven minutes >> poppy's? poppy's? >> that's okay. department telling abc news the dispatcher violated policy and was disciplined. experts say don't let the phone keep ringing. call the nearest police station. you can also try texting. >> thank you for being patient with me. >> no problem. >> reporter: so those urgent calls don't get overlooked. aditi roy, abc news, san francisco. >> so her punishment, what was it? >> it was a letter of reprimand after all of that. an official letter of reprimand. i have put in an order for all of us here. and it's never taken that long

and get seamless. get an app. >> you could do that. >> exactly. >> multitasking. >> she was very particular about her order. need to have some pepperonis, a side of sausage. >> still complicated. >> gluten free dough because it's important. otherwise it gets all messed up. coming up, overuse of cuteness. >> coming up, overdose of cuteness. i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. yeah...but what about mike? he has that dry scratchy thing going on. guess what? it works on his cough too. cough! guess what? it works on his cough too. what? stop! don't pull me! spoiler alert! she doesn't make it! only mucinex dm relieves both wet and dry coughs for 12 hours with two medicines in one pill. start the relief. ditch the misery. let's end this. your heart loves omega-3s. but the omega-3s in fish oil differ from megared krill oil. unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body. megared. the difference is easy to absorb.

as it is for him... it's easy for me cause look at her. aw... so we use k-y ultragel. it enhances my body's natural moisture so i can get into the swing of it a bit quicker. and when i know she's feeling like that, it makes me feel like we're both... when she enjoys it, we enjoy it even more. and i enjoy it. feel the difference with k-y ultragel. your clever moves won't stop the cold and flu. because lysol wipes and spray to kill more types of germs than including those that can make you sick. for a healthy home this cold and flu season...

there's moving... and there's moving with move free ultra. it has triple-action support for your joints, cartilage and bones. and unlike the big osteo-bi flex pills, it's all in one tiny pill. move free ultra. get your move on. (ugh.) does your carpet ever feel rough and dirty? don't avoid it, resolve it. our formula with a special conditioning ingredient, softens your carpet with every use. it's resolve, so you know it cleans and freshens. but it also softens. resolve. a carpet that welcomes you. and to clean pet messes,

we've got trouble in tummy town. peptocopter! when cold cuts give your belly thunder, pink relief is the first responder, so you can be a business boy wonder! fix stomach trouble fast with pepto. oh, we love our pandas >> of course. weekend. there's a reason. >> we're talking about bei bei, a panda named after beyonce. >> no, it's not. >> in my mind. >> in your mind it is. >> yes.

joy made his big public debut, of course, on saturday to thousands of eager fans. and abc's gloria riviera was there. >> reporter: this was the moment. a panda cub making his public debut to squeals of delight. the first thing a sleepy baby bear does, shy away from the spotlight. meet bei bei, the national zoo's five--month-old panda. >> my heart is like -- >> since his birth, bei bei has enjoyed babyhood in private. >> okay. >> but thousands from all over the world waited for hours in line to see him for the very first time. >> it's a pandemonium. >> reporter: bei bei's name means precious treasure in chinese. the endangered bear is only the third cub to be thrive at the zoo. wild. like any superstar worth his bamboo, bei bei is a social media darling. 5 million hits and counting on the zoo's giant panda cam since he was important. >> he is immensely popular. >> said to be a charmer and a bit of rascal, he spent most of his big day snoozing flat on his

>> we're waiting for him to wake up. >> we really want him to wake up. >> reporter: after all, being that adorable has got to be exhausting. gloria riviera, abc news, washington. brother, twin brother who passed away unfortunately. it's so hard for them to get pregnant and then for the child to survive. this is a really big deal. >> we've both been to that little enclosure at the national zoo. while it's really cute, it's really smelly folks. it's a little secret. they're smelly animals. >> they are. they are. >> what always drove me nuts was you can't tell with female pandas if they're pregnant or not. >> there's no mood swing or anything like that. apparently they withdraw a little bit. maybe they have swollen feet. i don't know. >> no morning sickness. >> no cravings of pickles and ice cream either.

hour folks. >> do remember to follow us on facebook at wnnfans.com.