tonight, tonight, breaking news. the state of emergency right now. several major fires out of control in tennessee. thousands of families and tourists racing to escape. this hotel engulfed in flames. even dolly the path. some cabins catching fire. also breaking, the deadly plane crash. what we have just learned. what happened just before the crash. and the team onboard, the video of them celebrating before the fateful flight. and the six found outside the plane, alive. the attack at ohio state. the student on a rampage with a butcher's knife. what's now been discovered tonight. donald trump about to go to dinner at this hour with mitt romney and his wife. will romney get the job as

giuliani? and cameras in the court. the stunning moment. the officer who shot walter scott in south carolina. what he said on the stand, answering his own attorney. good good evening. and it's great to have you with us here on a tuesday night. and we begin here with the stunning images coming in from tennessee. several major fires fueled by 60-mile-per-hour winds, and we have just learned tonight that the fires are now turned deadly. it is hard scope of this disaster, just look through the windshield of this car, surrounded by flames there on both sides of the road. so many trying to escape tonight. an entire city evacuated. the flames creeping towards a cabin. a surveillance camera capturing it all. and tennessee state troopers guiding families away from their homes through the thick smoke and fallen trees. abc's linzie janis leading us off from tennessee tonight. >> hit the gas! hit the gas! >> reporter: tonight, the race

>> reporter: embers flying over the windshield. >> that [ bleep ] going to melt these tires in a heartbeat. >> reporter: michael luciano riding shotgun as he and another man drove through the massive fire in the great smoky mountains. winds gusting to 60 miles per hour fanning the flames. police rushing door to door, evacuating the entire city of gatlinbu gatlinburg. >> the police pounded on the door and said, you got to go right now. >> reporter: the wall of fire engulfing this cabin. terrified gues next door erupts. >> you had to lay like perfectly flat on the ground or the smoke was, like, just too thick. >> reporter: at least three dead. officials calling apocalyptic. >> this is a fire for the history books. because it is unlike anything most have ever seen. >> it's blotted out the sun. >> reporter: sunrise bringing images of the devastation in the hardest hit areas. just look at this home completely burnt to the ground. you can see this giant steel beam twisted and bent by the

it's still smoldering. more than 150 homes and businesses destroyed. >> there's areas in there it looks like a bomb has gone off. >> reporter: the great smoky mountains are a hugely popular tourist destination and the home of dolly parton's theme park dollywood. 12 cabins there burned, but the main park is safe. in a statement, parton saying she is praying for all the families affected, and the firefighters who are working so hard. david, the major of gatliur critical in putting out fires like this one at this burnt-down motel. the bad news? the winds are oceanxpected to w up tonight. some much-needed rain is on the way in the morning. david? >> linzie, thank you. and you heard me mention the winds at the top. so, let's get right to rob marciano. rob, when you hear about those 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts, that certainly does not help. >> reporter: no, it's a trigger, david. and just like last night, we've

take a look at this. high wind watches and warnings in the fire zone in advance of the next batch of rain, beneficial rains, but that system is spawning tornadoes tonight in louisiana and mississippi. a very dangerous situation. folks who live in and around monroe, jackson, tupelo, mississippi, need to be onguard now for the next four, five hours. it moves east tomorrow, over the fire zone as a beneficial rain, and across much of the northeast, including here in new york and new england, which, today, it's been raining all day. david? >> rob marciano with us tonight. rob, thank you. we turn next here to the other major story tonight, the deadly plane crash. the images of that team celebrating along the way on that journey. but then, the flight overnight crashing, nearly everyone onboard was killed. the flight was carrying a brazilian soccer team to a finals match, crashing on a hillside in colombia. and we have just learned here what happened right before that crash. that team had so much to look forward to. self-brating a cinderella rise

71 people killed. but miraculously, six were found outside the plane, somehow they survived. abc's david kerley on what happened in those final moments. >> reporter: only part of the fuselage of the jet was left intact, having slammed into a hil hill. through the day, the grim task of recovering the bodies of the 71 onboard who were killed. but remarkably, those six survivors found away from the fuselage. it was to be the regional brazilian soccer team, making a big tournament for the first time in its history. documenting their trip in the airport, then selfies onboard. and the tale of these two players. next to him, day nil la padilla, a goalkeeper, found alive. he was actually able to call his family, but then died from his injuries. and the heartbreaking story of

this video from just last week when he learned that he would be a father. in their hometown, fans stunned by the loss. the jet, a british arrow space 146, was owned by a charter company. it is often used to get into difficult airports. abc consultant steve ganyard has flown into that airport. >> even in the daytime, it's a very sporty place, because not only do you have this very rugged terrain, but there is oftentimes weather. >> repor its flight, the short haul jet starts circling around in bad weather. the crew reports an electrical failure, declaring an emergency, then disappearing from radar. the black boxes have been recovered, but with an electrical failure, did they continue to record? and did the crew have enough navigational instruments? >> if you are on battery power, you don't know where you are. in this case, when you throw weather, nighttime, high terrain and no navigation, it's a recipe for disaster.

top of a mountain, with the rest of the jet sliding down the other side. the question tonight, where were the six survivors sitting, and how did they survive when so many others perished? >> so the tail of the get hitting that mountain. and david kerley, who covers aviation for us, there were some members of that team that did not board that flight? >> reporter: two members, actually, david, because of injuries, stayed home. and were dejected, they were in the locker room today, having lost the majority of their team. also, supposed to be on the plane. he forgot his passport, he too survived. really a hole in that community in brazil tonight. >> just a horrible picture of the two team members learning of the news. david, thank you. we also do have new reporting tonight of that horrific attack at ohio state. the student who crashed into a crowd, and then went on a rampage with a butcher's knife. tonight, isis is now calling them one of their, quote, soldiers. but this evening, the video of the attacker just a few months

so, what or who got to him? here's abc's chief investigative correspondent brian ross. >> reporter: isis tonight is claiming the ohio state attack was carried out by what it called one of its soldiers of the islamic state. >> abdul razak artan. >> reporter: just five months ago, abdul razak ali artan was graduating with honors from community college in ohio. >> it was a jubilant young man. for this to happen, four, pooif months later, i would be curious about what the circumstances were. >> reporter: 14 young people linked to terrorist attacks in the u.s. in his statement posted on facebook before the attack in which he was shot dead, artan wrote, "if you want us muslims to stop carrying out lone wolf attacks, then make peace."

known to the fbi, and as agents now seek to learn more, victims are beginning the healing process. >> i could tell he was very angry. >> reporter: 28-year old army vet anderson payne served two tours in iraq unscathed, only to be injured on an american college campus. >> he turned and went to swing the knife at me, and i reached up with my left hand and i grabbed the blade so that it couldn't hit me and that gave me enough time to duck under his arm and make my way back into the building to get away from him. >> all rig because isis is now claiming this young man was one of their soldiers, is there any evidence to back this up? >> reporter: so far, david, there's not. that's what the fbi is doing now. going through his phone records, his computer, looking to see who he might have been in contact with. david? >> brian ross, thank you. at this hour, president-elect donald trump is set to go to dinner with mitt romney and his wife, anne. does this signal romney will get that role of secretary of state? it's become a very public

giuliani, general petraeus among the names. but mr. trump's own transition was overshadowed today by one of his own tweets about the american flag. here's abc's tom llamas. >> reporter: president-elect trump starting his day with an out of the blue declaration on twitter -- "nobody should be allowed to burn the american flag. if they do, there must be consequences. perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail." no explanation for what trigged trump, but the tweet came just 30 minutes after a fox news college removed all american flags, after someone set one ablaze to protest trump. >> they took down the flag after one flag was set on fire. >> reporter: flag burning is protected under the first amendment. 26 years ago, the supreme court decided it's a form of freedom of speech. one of the justices who agreed? the late antonin scalia, who trump has often praised. >> this this country, we have a long tradition of respecting unpleasant speech. >> we have a responsibility as a

our rights that are enshrined in the constitution. >> reporter: trump's tweet taking some attention from a busy day for the transition team. republican congressman tom price of georgia picked as secretary of health and human services. price is an orthopedic surgeon, and a fierce critic of obamacare. >> this is bad for patients, for all americans. >> reporter: he's one of few republicans with a detailed plan for replacing the president's health care law. it includes repealing the expansion of medicaid, which of low income americans. >> nice to see you all. >> reporter: today, trump tapping former labor secretary elaine chao to head the department of transportation. chao, the wife of senate majority leader much mcconnell. and for treasury secretary, trump picking his campaign finance chairman steve mnuchin, who spent 17 years working for goldman sachs where he was a partner. but the powerful job of secretary of state still unfilled. today, trump meeting with

and tonight, the president-elect sitting down for a second time with mitt romney, who denounced trump during the campaign. >> do you still think he's a con artist, sir? >> reporter: tonight, romney joining trump for dinner with their wives. >> and tom llamas with us live tonight from trump tower. so, tom, we had that first meeting between mr. trump and mitt romney. then kellyanne conway deeply critical of romney on our own air. and now, tonight, this dinner with romney again so, is he in? is he out? >> reporter: well, david, no doubt mitt romney is at the top of that has been campaigning hard for the post. but tonight, it will be mitt romney who has donald trump's ear. the two successful businessmen who at one time hated each other, will be breaking bread tonight. david? >> tom llamas covering this transition every step of the way. tom, thank you. overseas tonight, and to syria, and to troubling pictures after a new round of air strikes killed at least ten civilians, trying to flee aleppo. video shows the bloody aftermath

of the final outposts held by president bashar al assad's opponents. the u.n. reporting tonight up to 16,000 people have been displayed in recent days, trying to escape the fighting. back here at home tonight, and to a stunning moment in court today. in south carolina, officer michael slager taking the stand in his own defense, charged in the shooting death of driver walter scott, after a routine traffic stop. here's abc's steve osunsami. >> i made the decision to use lethal force, becse >> reporter: this former police officer took a giant risk testifying. michael slager looked into the jury's eyes and told them that at this very moment, when he started firing at walter scott in the green shirt, he felt afraid for his life. >> i fired until the threat was stopped, like i'm trained to do. >> reporter: scott was unarmed, and is clearly seen in this cell phone video running away. prosecutors say it was murder,

how far scott ran. a whole 18 feet before slager started shooting. slager is claiming that scott grabbed his taser in a fight before the cell phone recording. >> and i saw that taser coming at me, coming at me like this. >> reporter: but he now admits that scott didn't run away holding it. people in the courtroom shook their heads as slager struggled to explain this -- why he picked up the taser from this location and moved it closer to scott's dead body. >> was it because i was policing my gear? i can't even answer to that. >> reporter: slager told jurors he wasn't trying to plant evidence. but outside this courthouse, in the black neighborhoods where he once worked, they don't believe him. david? >> steve, thank you. and there is a new turn this evening in the case of the missing mother, found alive, weeks later in california, bound and left by the side of the road. her husband speaking to abc news about her injuries, and tonight, authorities now revealing to abc that she was branded. and that whoever did it might

message. here's abc's kayna whitworth. >> reporter: tonight, sherri papini's husband speaking out, e vealing to "gma" his mixture of horror and elation upon first seeing his wife in the hospital. "the officers warned me to brace myself. her face covered in bruises ranging from yellow to black because of repeated beatings. the bridge of her nose broken." she has been b she has been branded. that branding on papini's skin now being scrutinized. >> it is not a simple. but it was a message. >> reporter: to who? >> it could be a message to her, it could be a message to others. >> reporter: authorities are still hunting for papini's captors, described as two armed hispanic women driving a dark suv. keith papini says his wife was released with a chain around her

tonight, he's pushing back against any speculation the other deal was a hoax, calling the rumors exhausting. david, keith saying his wife's long blond had hair been chopped off. the sheriff telling me that could have been some kind of psych loblg call warfare. david? >> kayna, thank you. there is still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this tuesday. the growing crime in america and the dramatic video tonight. thieving ramming their truck into a store, and then a whole team racing in, trying to get their hands on so many cities. where they are searching, at this hour. the abc news investigation, right after the break. the road rage battle in the parking lot. the drivers ramming into each other with their suvs. this was just incredible. and then, introducing america's newest millionaires tonight. 20 co-workers, factory workers, we loved this. now sharing a $420 million jackpot tonight. the question -- will they stay on the job?

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