this morning on "world news now," the main event. after a day full of emotional surprises, pope francis takes his message to capitol hill. will his speech to congress have enough tough words for both sides of the aisle? a live report from washington just ahead. breaking overnight, a house in maryland explodes, sending debris everywhere. the fire spreading to other homes. the neighborhood looking like a bomb went off with residents in the chaos. and new this half hour, donald trump on the offensive. >> his anger boiling over into a boycott of fox news and how he's blaming hillary clinton for his latest problems on the campaign trail. and a question, what is the world's most iconic song? one scientist says he's got evidence to back it up. here we are now, entertain us in "the skinny" on this thursday, september 24th. ♪ entertain us

from abc news, this is "world news now." >> you know, i just want to say, i always thought it was called "smells like teen spirit," like the deodorant teen spirit but it's actually team spirit, right? >> no, it's teen spirit. >> it is teen. >> it is teen spirit. >> he wasn't referring to the deodorant. >> no, just b.o. it was a throwback to like my head banger days when i had hair. it was nice. i love that clip a long time ago. >> how do we transition from nirvana to the pope? >> it's an interesting transition. we begin with the pope though. >> there you go. another busy day. it's a pretty remarkable first day though. very touching. the images were incredible. he is always so spontaneous. this morning pope francis will become the first pope to ever address a joint meeting of congress. after his speech, the pope will have a chance to meet with hundreds of homeless people.

>> a live look at capitol hill. francis is coming here to new york as we take a live look, as well at the big apple where preparations are fully under way for the gridlock that will come and the excitement that will come with the pope. he'll attend an evening prayer service at st. patrick's cathedral tonight. one of the lasting images from his day in washington yesterday, francis making his way down the aisle of the largest catholic church in the u.s. american bishops and thousands studying to become priests and nuns, welcoming him, many recording the event on their phones. >> the event took place after francis received a ceremonial welcome at the white house. the president and thousands of others were there along with abc's terry moran. >> reporter: on a glorious sun dappled morning at the white house, thousands gathered across the broad lawn. the president's cabinet, the honor guard marching in, the troops bearing the colors. it was the grandest of american pageantry.

then the trumpets blared and the motorcade arrived, the pope's little fiat bringing all an grandeur a bit back down to earth. every arm aloft taking pictures. the two men stood together for the national anthem's, a striking 21st century image, this first pope from the americas and first african-american president who praised francis as a force for change in the world and an ally especially on the environment. >> holy father, you remind us we have a sacred obligation to protect our planet. god's magnificent gift to us. >> reporter: and then francis spoke. >> good morning. >> reporter: in english, carefully, but with utter calm clarity. >> as the son of an immigrant family, i'm happy to be a guest in this country which was

largely built by such families. >> reporter: defying critics on the right, he called for action on climate change. >> that climate change is a problem we cannot no longer be left to our future generation. >> this man's humility in power somehow enhances his impact on people. >> we love you pope francis! >> reporter: they walked to the oval office for their private meeting. >> i notice all of you are much better behaved than usual. >> reporter: and then the pope was off into the popemobile and onto the streets of washington. >> it was so fun being in washington, d.c. for all of that. there was one little girl who stood out from the crowd, catching the eye of the pope and the entire world. >> we're talking about 5-year-old sophie cruz bravely made it past a barricade during the parade in washington,

security tried to lead her away but pope francis called her over. he blessed her and sophie gave the pope a t-shirt and a letter. >> sophie is from california and she's the daughter of undocumented workers from mexico. in her letter which she later read out loud, she said she was sad about hate and discrimination towards immigrants and she asked the pope to speak with the president and congress about approving immigration reform. sophie has now been invited to listen to the pope's address to congress today. >> what a beautiful picture. >> what an awesome sentiment there. >> uh-huh. an adorable snapshot from the pope's behind the scenes visit to the white house. >> take a look at this photo. pope francis has now officially met the entire obama family greeted by first dogs bo ansony in the blue room, the historic meeting was captured on camera by the official white house photographer and tweeted for everyone to see. >> dogs need blessings, too. >> they received it.

now we know why the pope was a little late getting out there. >> good reason, kendis. the pope is facing another busy morning in the nation's capital before heading to new york this afternoon. >> abc's karen travers joins us now live from washington. one of the final images from the pope's first full day was creating a saint on american soil. the church defending that decision despite some controversy surrounding it. >> reporter: that's right. it was the first time that somebody has ever been made a catholic saint right here in the united states. that person is junipero serra who was an 18th century franciscan monk who founded the california missions. now, there was controversy surrounding this pick, of course, because there is sarah's ties to the dark history of colonization and forced conversion of native americans. there were reports that there would be protests here today. we didn't see the anything like that. in fact, yesterday, pope francis used serra as an example in his

homily to talk about leading a life of action, not letting the force of habit hold you back and not letting apathy help stop you from making decisions. he said that serra's life goal was to move forward and everybody should look at that example and use that to make their own decisions. >> and karen, we also know there's a big speech to congress. what can we expect from that today? >> reporter: this is a very big speech and another historic first. the first time the pope has addressed members of congress like this. and we don't think that pope francis is going to shy away some of his controversial positions, his progressive agenda, especially on issues like immigration reform, income inequality and as we heard him at the white house yesterday, climate change. these are areas where democrats have certainly latched on to pope francis' views and agenda. president obama applauding him yesterday. but some republicans say it's too political. in fact, one member of congress isn't going to go. he's boycotting the speech.

house speaker john bane area yesterday urging lawmakers to not do that, to look at pope francis' message and open their hearts and also reflect and learn from his example. >> they're supposed to be playing nice right about now. that said, what's the feeling in all of d.c. right now? how have americans in d.c. been greeting him? >> it's been electric. everywhere pope francis went yesterday, large crowds greeted him. you both have lived in washington. you know people down here can sometimes get jaded about road closures and motorcades. not anything like that yesterday. everybody was out taking their selfies, trying to get a glimpse of pope francis and i think they'll see the same exact thing today up on capitol hill. >> we're looking forward to it. >> the first day was pretty incredible, karen. thank you so much. karen travers live in washington. >> it was pretty exciting indeed. with pope francis just hours away from landing here in new york city, nypd isn't taking any chances with his safety. >> even though he made it clear

he didn't want fences they're going up anyway. eight feel tall now surrounding venues where the pope is set to appear. that includes a large section of central park and st. patrick's cathedral. 25,000 feet of this. they built it especially for this event and will ship it to philadelphia for the weekend events. >> busy weekend ahead. later today, live coverage of the pope's speech to congress and journey to new york city. look for abc news coverage on air and online. and breaking overnight, a terrifying explosion in a maryland neighborhood leaving one block looking like a war zone. fire ripped through four townhouses in the town of columbia. briefly trapping people. the force of the blast completely collapsed one home and blew windows 50 feet across the parking lot. two people were injured including an inspector who was looking into a complaint about a natural gas odor. >> on the west coast, it could take weeks before officials in california can tally the financial damage from the most destructive wildfires in years.

but they do know the death toll. a total of seven lives claimed so far. the latest casualty the body of a lake county man whose home was destroyed in the valley fire. and found in the rubble. the hack attack on the government personnel office was worse than thought. the fingerprints of 5.6 million people who applied for or received a federal security clearance were stolen. not 1 million as first believed. it's believed the chinese were behind the attack. the white house has said it's going to discuss cybersecurity with the chinese president when he visits the white house. so now a little bit of fun from the sidelines of yesterday's big papal mass in washington, d.c. a picture that's going viral. it can be summed up in two words. >> those two words, nuns tailgating >> yes. >> there they are sitting on folding chairs right next to their minivan. they were seated in the shade at washington's catholic university waiting to attend francis' mass. >> the nuns are from georgetown visitation monastery.

>> is that soy milk on the chair >> i would hope so. >> or almond milk or is that just rice? i can't tell. >> i think it's just milk. they seem to be having a good time. i did my own little tailgating about 24 hours ago to see the pope. that's my close-up view of francis there at the white house. >> that looks pretty close. >> there were some 11,000 invited guests. i was happy to get one of the invites. that is truly a meeting with the pope and president. >> front row. >> i am a big deal. >> jack said you were in the front row. >> me and terry moran. i brought you back some gifts. >> oh. you know, you're just like my mother. you left the plastic on so we can save it for years to come and your grandchildren. >> looks like your grandmother's couch. >> oh, my god, this is gorgeous. >> that's one of the many dolls that are really, really popular right now down there in d.c. >> looks just like him. >> if the pope and chucky from

the movies had a kid, this would be the kid. >> that's hilarious. >> and also if you prefer. >> bobblehead. >> pope bobblehead. >> that is classic. you know what we might have to do, kendis? phillip mena was here. his grandmothers are like walk to catholic church every day. we might have to ship them to the abolitos. >> they made about 50,000 of these. they're making a killing off these. >> we might be able to order them off amazon. >> this was in the presence of the pope. >> well done. coming up, the sound track to our lives. >> the science behind the world's most iconic song, but do you know the tune? that is in "the skinny." >> and donald trump's latest political punch line. who he has in his crosshairs. you're watching "world news now." "world news now" weather, brought to you by united health care. care. ♪ look how beautiful it is...

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after announcing her opposition to the keystone pipeline plan, hillary clinton is outlining her broader energy policy. clinton is proposing a major upgrade to the u.s. infrastructure which she says will create thousands of construction jobs. among those upgrades, making oil transport by railroad safer. and the latest polls indicate joe biden gaining support even though he has not decided whether to run for president. the bloomberg poll finds clinton with 33% support. biden with 25. and bernie sanders at 24%. we should mention that was taken before the pope met with him. >> yes. >> just in case people think there's divine intervention in that one. donald trump says hillary clinton is the one who started

the whole birther controversy involving president obama. instead of answering whether he believes mr. obama was born in the u.s., trump is going after clinton saying she is the original birther. >> and hillary who's become very shrill, you know the word shrill, she's become shrill. she was saying, what i said about obama, and yet in 2008, she was the original birther. she's the one that started that whole thing. hillary is a birther. by the way, don't switch your votes to hillary, please. >> oh, trump's latest rant seems to be based on a 2008 "60 minutes" interview in which clinton was asked whether she believed mr. obama was a muslim. and she responded by saying no, there is nothing to base that on as far as i know. the last part as far as i know is the likely source of trump's accusation." >> see where he's going there. "the skinny" is next.

who just signed a new multimillion dollar book deal? stay with us. "world news now" continues after this from our abc stations. stations. and saves lives. [male radio operator] coast guard mayday... [narrator] we are the coast guard foundation and we support our united states coast guard. we provide scholarships and grants to help make college dreams a reality. we provide equipment and gear to promote fitness and health. and when the unthinkable happens, we're there providing relief to families of the fallen. go to coast guard foundation dot org to help support coast guard members and their families. everybody has a dream. mine was to see the ocean. and with a little help...

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"inside amy schumer," and her movie "trainwreck" is a hit. >> now she signed a book deal for $8 million to $10 million. the memoir working title "the girl with the lower back tattoo." >> that's funny. >> isn't there another term for those toots? it comes out late next year. also in the wings, a movie with her new best friend jennifer lawrence. >> they wrote the screen play together and will star in it as sisters. one sign of their friendship, this photo schumer after winning her emmy under a giant balloon bouquet. the caption "never tell jennifer l. your room number." >> that's awesome. >> good gift there. so what is the best rock song? >> the best rock song. >> best ever rock song. unfortunately it's not one of the one direction songs. a british academic came up with software that analyzed the all-time best list and decided this is the most iconic song ever. ♪

♪ entertain us >> yeah, that's nirvana, "smells like teen spirit." fiat commissioned the study hoping it would help them sell their 500 model car. can grunge really do that? you'll have to wait and see. i'm wondering, the grunge music or the pope with the black fiat. >> i'm pretty sure the pope is helping fiat sales. earlier this week we heard ryan ren nods was trying to sell pictures, a friend of his was trying to sell pictures of his new baby. now a new struggle. >> this new video from "gq" magazine shows reynolds trying to assemble an ikea crib for his daughter james. it starts out okay. ikea instructions don't use words, just pictures. >> they're difficult. beer doesn't help either. >> reynolds complains it has 10,000 pieces and is driving him to drink. finally he duct tapes the whole thing together.

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♪ well, if you've ever been to a college graduation in the past decade, you probably heard young people are told to follow their passion. >> now the author of the blockbuster self help book "eat, pray, love" has written a new one asserting following your curiosity is the key to a creative life. we're up "up all nightline" with abc's dan harris. >> reporter: she burst onto the scene a decade ago with her spiritual memoir "eat, pray, love," which sold more than 10 million copies and became a hit movie. now elizabeth gilbert is back with "big magic," a self help book designed to get all of us to harness our own creativity. >> what does the term big magic mean? >> that feeling of interacting with inspiration when it's working.

that's the big magic. >> reporter: she argues creativity isn't just for the elite which is why she started a podcast called magic lessons. >> i decided to try to coach people out of their fear and into their work. >> she put out a call on her facebook page asking people if they wanted her help getting unstuck in their creative lives and she got more than 2,000 responses including one from erin rawlings. >> i'll give you a super push. >> a stay-at-home mom in michigan who has been blogging for six years. erin now wants to write a book but is struggling. >> i was afraid that anytime that i took away from my kids to write was selfish. >> when gilbert put out the call, erin leapt. >> i'm ready to take my story telling to the next level and start the book. >> erin was chosen for the podcast. >> hi, it's liz gilbert. >> how did you walk her through it. >> essentially what i was saying is if you want to have children who are creative, they have to

see you modeling that for them. >> "nightline" flew her to new york city for a follow-up. >> you had been on the runway. did you take off that runway a little bit. >> i did. i went to the library and sat there and just wrote. as of today, i have 10,000 words written. >> that's incredible. >> reporter: gilbert knows intimately what it's like to struggle creatively. >> you could spend the rest of your life trying to top something that could not be topped or what if you let the outcome be what it's going to be. >> reporter: now she's sharing her hard won wisdom with the world. >> will you share with me what you've written when it's done? >> yes, i have goose bumps. an. >> reporter: dan harris, abc news, new york. >> i love this. >> she said she thinks discipline is overrated in the creative field and self-forgiveness is underrated. i like that. >> why did it take her so long to get this book out though? >> this one? i don't know. >> maybe she wasn't that motivated? so negative. >> no. she's very motivated. >> that's great advice. >> don't miss our updates on facebook. we'll be back.

making news in america this morning, making history. pope francis arriving with the message. >> god bless america. >> his first visit to the u.s. kicking off with a visit to the white house. the encounter with a 5-year-old. the letter she gave to francis and today's schedule. we're live with the details. new feud. donald trump lashing out, this time aiming at fox news again, in full attack mode in a half-filled ballroom. >> breaking overnight, a pile of smoldering rubble where homes once stood. people surveying the damage this morning after a massive explosion. caught on camera. emergency landing giving new meaning to flying through the intersection.