this morning on "world news now" taking action. >> the mayor of chicago firing the head of the police. swift move to try to gain back the public's trust over a year after an officer shot and killed laquan mcdonald. with the city's top cop now gone what's the next move? >> putting the pressure on terror. the obama administration announcing increased special forces to aid in the fight against isis. meanwhile, the president of syria speaking out against the u.s. and its allies saying no one is taking them seriously. as the world's leaders are trying to solve climate change many cities gasping for air. we'll take you inside the clouds to see what life is like in the smog zone. and the hot holiday gift that has many kids fired up.

the hoverboard has been found to spontaneously combust. what every gift giver should know before you cross this one off your list on this wednesday december 2nd. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." we do say good morning. great to have reena back with us. >> good to be back. >> didn't miss us. >> oh, you know, getting some sleep, thank you. they're doing a slow clap in the newsroom except for the people behind us who are working diligently like jack and cherry and -- oh, there. thank you, tony. thank you guys. it is good to be back. i do have to say you forget what it's like on the day side when you can actually sleep a little bit. >> and you see humans running around. >> you do. >> that's just kind of odd. >> we had a death in the family unfortunately. grandmother passed away. beloved matriarch. took a couple days off for that. >> well, good to have you. >> good to be back. and a lot of serious news. we're going to be out in chicago i believe. >> we start with the fallout

over the deadly police shooting. the city's top cop fired a week after the release of the dash cam video. >> protesters gathered after illinois attorney general asked for a federal investigation into the police department. the mayor moving forward saying the firing is the first step in restoring public trust. for more here's abc's alex perez. >> reporter: amid the rising tension in this city chicago's top cop out of a job. chicago mayor rahm emanuel bowing to public pressure shaking up his administration, firing his top cop, garry mccarthy. >> he has become an issue rather than dealing with the issue. and a distraction. >> reporter: the call-out comes on the heels of the release last week of that shocking dash cam video. investigators say it shows a chicago police officer jason van dyke shooting 17-year-old laquan mcdonald. 16 shots in 15 seconds. van dyke, who argues he fired his weapon because he fears for

his life, was released on monday monday night. a second dash cam video shows police pursuing mcdonald as he runs through a burger king parking lot before he was shot. the burger king district manager alleges officers deleted video from one of the restaurant's several cameras. but investigators who reviewed the surveillance video shows forensic footage was not tampered with. both sides say the cameras would not have captured the shooting. mayor emanuel announcing a huge task force. there's already an ongoing dpral investigation into how the mcdonald's case was handled calling for a dplees review of the chicago police department by the department of justice. alex perez, abc news, chicago. we turn our focus overseas now. the u.s. is expanding its fight against isis.

secretary of defense unveiling details on wednesday saying more special ops, troops are heading to iraq after cord kurdish forces'll iegs igs as well as providing better intelligence and conducting information into syria. carter didn't say how many troops would be heading into that fight. >> meantime syria's president is criticizing the u.s. over the effectiveness of the battle against isis. in a new interview bashar assad claimed that since the u.s.-led coalition start the fighting the terror group has grown but assad said isis has suffered losses since russia's bombing campaign began. assad also marked those working with the u.s. >> no one's taking the western officials seriously anymore. first of all they don't have credibility. second they don't have thigs, they are so slal hoo. ird third they're not independent. most of them europeans the

master is the americans. >> assad also criticized france's response to this year's terrorist attacks saying it didn't learn anything from the massacre at the satirical magazine chrld xhrld and he expressed sadness at seeing thousands of refugees leaving his country. >> a bipartisan group of former officials is expressing support for u.s. refugee program. they sent a letter to congress saying the u.s. must offer refuge to the world's most knuble regardless of religion or nationality. the group includes former secretaries of state henry kigser, george schultz, and mar binn albright. the move folds a house boat on tougher restrictions for refugees from syria and iraq following the paris terrorist attacks. document trump turning personally at a rally last night. truchl p told reporters he feels guilty for not serveling in the vietnam war.

dot various deferments. and trump is still refusing to back down from claims that muslims in new jersey celebrated after 9/11. with more here's abc's lana zak. >> reporter: donald trump is not backing down. >> i can say things that are fight. a lot of people are saying yeah, that did take place in new jersey. i wasn't going to apologize. >> reporter: following the endorsement of several black pastors donald trump was with herman cain. cain said he too was once considered an outsider. but -- >> you're born here, you're not an outsider. >> reporter: trump is taking fire on several fronts. racial leaders for racially provocative comments. feuding with the "new york times" after appearing to mock one of their reporters who was d disibld. did you sfj sfj zwafrn swiss swiss z. said he's tired of talking about trum. >> it's nothing i have any

interest in responding to. >> reporter: honestly republican candidates were discussion guns and violence crime, jeb bush making what some could see as a bold declaration in the gop. >> you have evidence of a single health problem. i don't think you should be able to get a gun. >> while 2ed cruz had a kif view of the routes of krein. >> overwhelming majority of violence criminals are dmgz. >> reporter: speaking of headlines one more coming from jeb bush. he suggested he might have a female vice president saying "she would make a very good partner." reena, kendis. >> she. interesting. >> south carolina? >> south carolina. >> bailey? another controversial statement by ted cruz is drawing reaction from the hillary clinton campaign. cruz accused of trying to maintain the republican party as being zmant birth control or the condom police. he accused driep of declaring war on women.

clinton was on the campaign trail in alabama yesterday recalling the historic montgomery bus boycott. she said the u.s. is still battling racial bias. >> there are still injustices perpetrated every day across our country. sometimes in spite of the law sometimes unfortunately in keeping with it. >> chelsea clinton, who's been mostly absent on the campaign trail is hosting a fund-raiser for her mom december 17th. actress drew barrymore will co-host the event. starting with some speculation that barry bonts could have a new baseball gill the game's home run king is said to be in talks to join the miami marlins. he's worked as greft instructor at the 2007. the the marlins could use some help with their hitting. they finished two games under .500 last season. in an flufs iexclusive

interview with be rohhin roberts kobe says it was a dream come true. bryant is rierlg at the end of the season. he spoke 20 years ago to the lakers loss. bette but he tells robin he knew it was tommy to hang it oup. >> normally my mind drifts to the game, always. i found myself sitting there. my mind wouldn't drift to the game anymore. that's when i realized you know, what it's getting close, it's n getting close. >> koebts speaking with "good morning america's" robin roberts. you can see the entire interview on "good morning america" -- i had in idea that he meditated. >> it's fascinating it to see kobe bryant come down to just meditating every day.

>> but continuity is interesting when i says his focus started being all about basketball it was time to hang it up. >> that also happens when your team was 2-15 on the year. >> i wasn't going to mention the lakers game in philadelphia. these two guys sitting courtside in their bryant jerseys, their sign was the the left part. they say they played 600 grand from these seats, 2500 from philly to italy. and they say quit k their jobs to see bryant priceless. they will court site seats. and they got to see the lakers lose to the 76ers. first time in 72 days the 76ers have won a baseball game. >> you never know. >> not necessarily -- a basketball game. sorry. this is why i don't do sports. >> i was going to let that one

ride. you might have a new sports with kendis segment. >> no. >> i might have to pass it on. >> at that pace. all right. coming up. baby names inspired by instagram. >> i never would have said baseball. and the popular christmas gift going up in smoke. some users getting hot flashes at their feet. blue first as the gloebl global clamt change fight takes place we'll go over to china. an ominous look at what many sfeez could be facing. fans.com and wnn. >> baseball guys tell us what you think about that. >> sorry about a think deep. for a dramatic transformation without the need for fillers your concert tee might show your age... your skin never will.

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that's 8,700 gallons of gasoline after a tafrker caught fire on a highway about 65 miles southeast of l.a. the blaze started as a tire fire. the driver escaped without injury and no other injuries reported. the 15 free bai was closed in both directions for several hours, causing traffic to back up for several miles as well. well, president obama is back in washington after attending the climate change conference in paris. meanwhile, china is dealing with a pollution crisis. >> incredible scenes out there. children in beijing being kept in doors and many people wearing face masks. abc's bob woodruff is there. >> this is today in china.

most people staying off the normally crowded streets. in tiananmen square the background barely visible. >> this is what it normally looks like here in beijing. as the sun goes down and the cars turn off their headlights. but the sad news is because of all this pollution this is noon. >> that heavy smog stopping traffic on the highways. that sign right there is a warning to drivers reading "visibility low. slow down the speed." the government issuing an alert advising residents to avoid being outdoors, ordering factories to shut down temporarily. schools keeping the kids inside. this playground empty. as we walked around the city, everywhere we looked masks. even on china's youngest. as this country desperately grapples with how to keep its people safe. bob woodruff, abc news, beijing. >> incredible. you know, you buy those mass nkz china that sort of helps clean up the air, make it easier to

breathe. but tuesday late afternoon it was 20 times what the world health organization recommends for air quality. 20 times worse than what they recommend. just to give you a sense. >> and they've had several days of this. hopefully today's a better day in china. coming up in our next half hour the new threat to computer users. hackers' software that holds your data hostage until you pay up. the big security challenge in the new year. but first one of the year's most popular toys is sometimes really hot literally. why this keeps happening. you're watching "world news now."

hoverboards are this year's hottest gift for the gadgets. a cool gadget and ride all rolled into one. >> but there is a down side. a big one. falling off, for one. and even worse there are some reports of hoverboards catching

fire. we're on "nightline" with mbs's matt gutman. >> reporter: hoverboards. what once seemed to be the stuff of science fiction in "back the to the future." has morphed into the must-have holiday gift of the presence. >> you've got that turned down. that's like a race track. >> reporter: more than a million watched kendall jenner slalom through this house. and the beeb himself gave it a whirl. hoverboards also known as self-balancingshoot scooters are flying off shirt veflz. on cyber monday one every 12 seconds just on e buy. >> they're flashy, ostentatious, they're kind of practical in that you can move a little faster on them but really they're fast and zippy. >> on youtube unboxing videos are scoring millions of views. but with every new craze come new rules. the cleveland cavaliers banned them from their arena. sorry, lebron. they're already banned from the streets and sidewalks of new york city and starting january

1st they'll also be banned here in california from sidewalks. the only place you'll be able to ride them pathways and bike lines. >> some even calling them dangerous. the owner of this scooter claiming it spontaneously combut theed and burst into flames. hayden horn got a scooter for his birthday but a day later his mother says something went wrong. >> sparks were flying and the middle of the part of the board flames were poof. >> reporter: his mother says she couldn't put out the fire and it consumes their entire home. the cause of that identify still under investigation. >> so many different knockouts put out. some feels like if it's hundreds of dollars less than the next model there's probably a reason. >> reporter: another concern to deal with wiping out, as we learned the first few moments. and youtube is filled with far worse hoverboard fails. experts urge kids to wear

helmets and their parents to avoid the cheaper knockoff versions. you might have to shell out a few hundred extra bucks to get the real thing. >> as with other new technologies they're likely to improve vap rapidly and the cost is likely to come down rapidly. if they can't come down this year don't be upset. they'll be ahalf the price. >> reporter: lots it it's popular you could get something even cooler. lexus is skredeveloping this on that actually lev states. >> you've got everything you know. >> reporter: and skateboard legend tony hawk is helping experts at hen dachlt with their design. but for now i'm just going to keep working on figuring out this one. no. matt gutman, abc news, for "nightline." >> he's fine. some of these things go for like 500 bucks. >> i think casey kasem had it

right. keep your feet on the ground. keep reaching for the stars. >> we're quoting casey kasem? >> yeah.

♪ time now for "the mix." and the official baby center list of the 2015 hottest baby names are out. and there's something strange going on. we know that instagram has really infiltrated all of our alliances but now they're infiltrating baby names. some of the top names are filtered. but by using princess charlotte's photo we'll show you the most popular names. lux. that fit filter was up 75% since 2006 as a babe yes names. >> they named clux asit as -- >> ludwig. that was up 42%.

and for girls valencia. was up 26%. and juno was up 30%. you go to instagram, look for a filter, have your baby. >> whatever works. politicians always like to send out christmas cards. take a look at this christmas card. you see over there? 3-year-old zachary, he was not happy. he didn't know why everyone wanted to look straight into the camera. he chose to pout because he wanted to play. and apparently the politician said, it was andrew lee, and he said he wasn't in the mood. there was a pond in the back and the family stopped taking photos and went rung after them. but the 3-year-old didn't want to play. >> that kid's going to be out of the will. he probably looks like many

cleveland browns fans did after the ball game. the ending of the game. they were about to win it all. and then the field goal got run out all the way by the reechbz. cleveland browns browns were recording that moment thinking 29s it's going to win. now look at the block and the disappointment. near tears. >> aw. >> and these other guys in the stands they're like, no, just the typical you browns. it didn't go well at all. that guy's like forget about, it i'm just going to rip my jersey. >> he's ripping his jersey. >> yep. it really is a big deal. the team's going to go up 3-8. instead now they're 2-9. they're browns fans. they're used to disappointment. too bad. >> that

this morning on "world news now." getting personal. with the primary race under way, campaign politics getting ugly. donald trump challenging the rest of the gop pack and speaking candidly last night about not going to vietnam. the mysterious death of a mayor. found dead just weeks after his election. the town shocked by the news. and well-liked new mayor. and what police are hoping they'll find out today. and new this half hour, the growing cyber threat. ransomware. >> what experts say is a top crime tactic by hackers, disguising e-mails to steal all of your files and hold them for ransom. rld, giving away all of their facebook fortune to charity.