this morning on "world news now," she blamed it on stress. >> the woman accused of slamming her car into crowds of las vegas pedestrians. the police revealing what was going on in her mind moments before the deadly crash. targeted by the taliban. militants taking aim at americans, killing six service members. the deadliest attack of its kind in years. >> sky high scare. theme park visitors stuck inside a popular attraction for hours. the challenging rescue and the frazzled nerves. and later saving money on gifts by waiting until the last minute. the deep discounts in the final days before the holiday. our experts show us the best bets on this tuesday, december 22nd. >> announcer: from abc news

this is "world news now." >> we do say good morning to you on this tuesday or happy winter. i'm kendis gibson. >> i'm reena ninan. we're going to get right to the investigation in that deadly sidewalk crash in las vegas. more information about the woman who was behind the wheel now coming to light. >> her name is ca lee shah holloway. she's in custody at this hour and is on suicide watch at a jail in las vegas right now. police say sunday evening's incident took place as she was feeling stressed over trying to find a place to sleep along withler daughter. abc's kayna whitworth has more from las vegas. >> reporter: terror on the streets of sin city, as this silver oldsmobile runs rampant over crowded sidewalks. >> at least 20 people were ran over. >> reporter: police say 24-year-old lakeisha holloway, with her 3-year-old daughter in the backseat, intentionally slammed her car into dozens of bystanders. injuring more than 30. killing jessica valenzuela, a mother of three. >> people were punching the window, trying to get -- apparently the child out of the backseat. but she accelerated again and just kept mowing everyone down.

>> it looked like she wasn't even trying to stop the car. she had both of her hands on the wheel and was looking straightforward and there were men running after her, trying to stop the vehicle and they couldn't get to her. >> we're going to need somebody to shut down traffic. >> reporter: the famed las vegas strip shut down. police believe she was previously living in oregon. in 2012 she was featured in a video that helps at risk youth there. >> boy have i come a long ways. >> police believe she drove from oregon to las vegas where she had been living in her car for days. police say there was no sign of alcohol but they do believe that she was under the influence of a stimulant at the time. it all finally came to an end here at a casino a few blocks away where police say she pulled up to the valet operator and asked him to call 911 that she had just hit people on las vegas boulevard. more charges are pending. kayna whitworth, abc news las vegas. >> enrique marquez friend and of

syed farook has been denied bail. a judge ruled marquez should remain behind bars. he has been charged in connection with two abandoned terror plots that he planned with farook and for illegally buying two assault rifles used in the massacre. >> now to another high profile court appearance. sergeant bowe bergdahl goes before a military judge today arraigned on charges of desertion and endangering troops. he was held captive by the taliban for five years. if convicted of the more serious charge he could spend the rest of his life in prison. six american service members are dead and two wounded in the deadliest attack on u.s. forces in afghanistan in three years. among them was new york city police detective joseph lemm a member of the air national guard. with more here's abc's terry moran. >> reporter: the attack happened this afternoon, not far from the huge bagram airbase, the largest american military facility in afghanistan. a suicide bomber on a motorcycle plowed into a group of u.s.

troops meeting with local afghan officials. six american soldiers, killed. two other americans, and an afghan interpreter, wounded. the taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on twitter. it was the deadliest day in combat for u.s. forces in afghanistan since august 2012. across afghanistan, the taliban are on the march again, and making gains in areas once secured by nato and american forces. last week, defense secretary carter, visiting troops in afghanistan, admitted things are not going well. >> the taliban's advances in some parts of the country, even if only temporary, underscore that this is a tough fight, and it's far from over. >> reporter: there are 9,800 american troops in afghanistan right now. that number is going down to 5500 by the end of next year. but president obama who last christmas declared an end to the american combat mission there, will leave this war to his successor.

terry moran, abc news london. and back here in the states the political showdown between donald trump and hillary clinton shows no signs of a christmas truce. last night at a rally in michigan trump seemed to up the ante a little bit using what some might consider a vulgar reference when describing her 2008 loss to president obama. their current heated rhetoric began with clinton's charge during saturday's abc debate. >> he is becoming isis' best recruiter. they are going to people showing videos of donald trump insulting islam and muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists. >> and it turned out to be a lie. she's a liar. no it turned out to be a lie. >> trump is demanding that clinton apologize for the statement that you heard right there. even though there's no evidence of trump appearing in isis recruitment videos clinton's

campaign spokesman said quoting here hell know when asked if an apology was forth coming. >> the scramble is on for lindsey graham's endorsement now that he's dropped out of the primary race. in dropping out, graham warned that drt would not be able to beat a democrat like hillary clinton without some major adjustments. former super model beverly johnson is speaking out about the defamation suit nild against her by bill cosby. she says accusers will do whatever they can to weaken their victims to force them to stop fighting." the suit claims that johnson lied when she said cosby drugged and tried to assault her in the mid-'80s. >> the certainly for the so-called affluenza drunk driving teen is now a major case for the u.s. marshals. that frees up resources to look for ethan couch who escaped jail time by pleading he was too spoiled to understand his crime. abc's elizabeth hur has the

latest. >> reporter: this video posted on twitter showing ethan couch at a boos party standing near a beer pong table although not seen drinking according to authorities may have prompt d him to skip his probation hearing and turn into a wanted fugitive. his mother tonya declared a missing person now officially part of the investigation, pictures of her pickup truck just released with investigators believingsley is with ethan which could land her in jail. >> if we can find out she helped him at all, i assure you, we will file criminal cases against her. >> reporter: couch was 16 when he killed four people while driving drunk but using the affluenza defense his lawyers essentially arguing he was too spoiled to know the consequences of his actions, couch got only probation. nowent grad he is not a major drug lord or a kingpin. but think about it. four dead bodies and this guy

walked with straight probation. >> i have never in my law enforcement career and that's 35 years now, seen a case that sparked such route outrange. >> reporter: calling an the sentence a miscarriage of justice, authorities say couch turns 19 in january and they had begun the process of moving this case to adult court even before he vanished. authorities say they cannot talk about what exactly they're doing or how it's being done but they're urging ethan to surrender adding they will find him and his mother one way or another. reena and kendis. >> thank you so much. now some sports starting with new york giants receiver o'dell beckham junior suspended by the nfl for one game following his nasty game long battle with carolina panthers defensive back josh norman on sunday. he drew three personal foul penalties. the league says his actions particularly a head to head hit

presented an unnecessary risk of injury. beckham already has appealed the suspension pop we kind of saw this one coming. > we did. he should give up that appeal because he will lose it. it was just an ugly 60 minutes of football there. speaking of football monday night football matched a couple of teams who will not be going to the playoffs but it was still pretty entertaining. detroit was in control against the saints in the first half. thanks to two short touch down catches by golden tate who attended the university of notre dame by the way. >> new orleans rallied in the second half with drew brees throwing three touchdown passes. brees became just the fourth quarterback in nfl history to throw more than 60,000 yards in his career. but wasn't enough. the lions hold on to this one. a win for them 35-27. >> it was close. they did kind of come back. near the end. >> coming up "the mix," age old holiday traditions that seem to be going away. will you miss them? >> curious about those.

also ahead, the space mission finished in a flash that made history overnight. what makes this rocket launch so significant. and the theme park visitor who's got more than a thrill at a popular attraction. the challenging sky high rescue. >> remember to check our behind the scenes pics on instagram, abcwnn. you're watching abc "world news now."

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>> that is the sight and sound of history being made last night at cape sa nav ral florida. the falcon 9 rocket blasting off, the first spacex launch since june when another falcon 9 exploded destroying two tons of cargo. this launch successfully deployed 11 small communication satellites but that's not the only success. the second triumph came when the first stage rocket flew back to the launch site. you hear the cheers there. >> wow. it landed upright. that's amazing. the first time a spacex rocket has ever achieved such a feat. how difficult will this maneuver. get this a spokesperson explained it this way. like launching a pencil over the empire state building and having it land in a shoebox on the other side during a windstorm. >> now it all makes sense. excitement makes sense. this is such a big deal to the

spacex folks. congratulations to them. big, big congrats to them. very big day. >> that's awesome. nice job guys. >> now to earthly drama for 50 seaworld guests and two employees in orlando. family trapped for nearly three hours in the sky power cabin. david kerley has all the details. >> reporter: their sea world holiday vacation, stuck. >> i want to get out of this thing. >> reporter: the more than 40-year-old rotating, 400-foot sky tower elevator -- >> the tower is stuck with approximately 50 people and two employees. >> reporter: -- didn't move for about three hours, leaving this view for passengers. firefighters -- >> establishing sea world command. >> reporter: -- arrive for the rescue, as parents try to calm children. >> i know you're getting tired. just chill out and rest. >> reporter: finally, a basket. >> they're bringing supplies up with them. >> reporter: carrying a technician, as well. once on top of the sky tower, that technician able to get the ride to move. >> the technician was able to jerk the ride free, which did

cause some people a little bit of panic as we jumped a little bit. >> reporter: but finally, the sky tower was lowered back to the ground. customers say they were told the emergency brake malfunctioned, it froze. sea world would not comment. of the 50 on board, none were injured. david kerley abc news washington. >> so they still don't know the exactly what caused that to happen. >> messenger being stuck up there for three hours. here's the cool part. some kids were actually using periscope to broadcast it live. >> you're kidding. > that is kind of -- it wasn't completely terrifying. >> that would have been fun to watch. >> that would have been entertaining and terrifying at the same time. good that it all worked out for them. coming up in our next half hour the best tips for booking air travel. simplend easy ways to make sure you're getting the best fares including the airlines that you won't be able to find on some sites. >> but first shopping spread. the best last minute deals that you can aim for today and why

you will actually be rewarded for your procrastination. interesting. you're watching "world news now."

♪ ♪ waking up on christmas morning hours before the winter sun's ♪ >> okay. if you want to wake up christmas morning to some presents under the tree, got to get moving. you still have a little bit of shopping time. >> a few days. we want to leave it all up to santa, right? thankfully there home run still great deals out there. here is abc's rebecca jarvis. >> reporter: it's a christmas procrastination nation. the majority of americans haven't finished shopping. nearly half saying they're waiting until christmas eve.

while last minute shoppers may not have the time on their side they do have this going for them. extremely motivated retailers. >> the sales this year are looking better than ever. retailers are desperate to sell us things. let's make them work for it. >> reporter: while online sales are up nearly 14% from last year sales inside physical stores are down almost 6%. making this final push crucial to retailers' bottom lines. >> the best deal right now is to look for a stackable discount. that's when an item is already discounted but you see a big sign saying 20%, 30% off. anything that's already reduced. go straight to those stacked discounts. >> reporter: and after sluggish thanksgiving sales, right now it's better late than november. at best buy, this apple watch sports $50 off on black friday. now even more marked down. $100 off the regular price. and launching tuesday, just for

last minute shoppers microsoft offering $50 off the xbox one plus two free games with purchase. after a start to winter that feels a lot more like spring no deep freeze means the deepest discounts on cold weather clothes and accessories. many retailers trying to clear outer wear boots and knit wear marking them on sale now for 60 even 70% off. rebecca jarvis abc news new york. >> it's really something to think about that you can go out and get some winter clothing and gear. >> who would have thought? it's so warm still. >> exactly. >> which is why i wore my sleeveless day in the dead of winter. >> 11:48 p.m. last night. >> all right. got us thinking. we should kind of help each other out. what are other gifts that you can get us? tell us what your last minute shopping secrets are. share with us through social media and e-mail. the best tips will receive the

best christmas gift you could get, a "world news now" coffee mug. >> you've got tips for us don't you? >> i do. >> do tell. >> this got me thinking. >> do tell. >> this got me thinking what kind of gifts. >> thanks for the warning. >> can you get that make you feel good. i feel like you buy toys you buy luxury goods for family members. there are a lot of things that can help other people that are great gifts. kiva is a great organization that you can put $100 $50, you gift it to a person like a gift card. it allows them to pick a charity they like. it's like microfinancing. once they've reached their limit, that money comes back to you in the pot. you can finance somebody else. to help teachers it's called donor's choice. it helps teachers you can be pick things teachers need for their classrooms. they bought equipment. television equipment for a school in tampa florida. and also the project where you're helping families

suffering from hunger and poverty by buying cattle. >> some great tips all around. all right. we'll be back.

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and now it's time for "the mix." can you believe it or not, holiday cards people send them out. >> what are those. >> christmas cards, hanukkah cards, new year's cards. they've declined by nearly half. people are not sending them the way they used to. since 2002 apparently it's declined down to 1.55 billion. used to be 2.9 billion. comes out to about it was ten christmas cards per every man, woman and child. now it's one per bern. i did not send any this year. i didn't get around to it. hard on nightshift getting your act together. >> to sending holiday cards. here's another sad, sad fact. remember the good old days of like the mistletoe? you get a mistletoe and pop down

and you know you would have a mistletoe that would pop down and you would have a mistletoe pop down. thank you. and all of a sudden you'd make out as a result? >> oh. >> well. well. that is apparently no longer the case. i couldn't even get the mistletoe to make that work. >> so the new study says that only one in seven have. >> bring the mistletoe down. >> seriously. this is the worst mistletoe. >> rocco, you're fired. you're fired. you're not a good mistletoe man. >> 14% have kissed under the mistletoe. man. what's a brother got to do to get a kiss around here. >> you've got to bring it down a little bit more. right between the people right there. >> we've got to go to the next story. >> there you go rocco. >> back there brandon and jack. it's just for work. >> oh boy.

>> for -- yes. work purposes. >> for the work purposes. so moving on. >> the point is people are not doing it. >> people are not doing it. one in seven of us have snoged and 14% have kissed under the mistletoe. there's a deejay who was in love with wham's last christmas that he played it. a lot of times. take a quick listen. ♪ kiss me now i know you fool me again ♪ >> rocco, thank you. >> for two hours played it nonstop. >> i love the song. >> breaking a record for it. >> can't go wrong with this. >> i think we should challenge them and just do it an entire newscast with this in the background. >> that will be our last christmas newscast. >> look at this cute video of kids meeting santa. it's a horrifying thing for many, many kids. they did it all in slow mo here. look at these kids kind of like freaking out to santa. i feel

this morning on "world news now," campaign firestorm. donald trump calls hillary clinton a liar. as a political fact checker looks for truth in trump's own comments. the presidential race takes a tense turn overnight. serious charges. the woman accused of intentionally hitting crowds of people with her car along the vegas strip. new details from police including her state of mind. >> and new this half hour the dangerous search for an accomplished skier. >> the man missing for days and why rescue teams had to delay their search in the mountains. why there's still hope, however, that he will be found alive. and later, chelsea clinton's big announcement setting off social media. it's personal, not political. that's in "the skinny" on this tuesday, december 22nd.