this morning on "world news now," big decisions ahead for the presidential transition team. >> president-elect trump met with the country's most prominent politicians with another full schedule today. who's being considered for the country's biggest jobs and why. breaking news, a gas explosion in the midwest kill at least one person. video there of the deadly blast. bystanders rushed to the hospital. we'll give you the very latest coming up. deepening mystery behind the death of a young man from connecticut found dead in the shallow grave in new jersey. see what police found inside a luxury manhattan apartment building that led them to a potential suspect. crying foul, kate upton is at odds with major league baseball firing off an x-rated tweet after her star pitcher

award. could this usher in a change to the voting system? what's this video that we're talking about -- we're talking about baseball. >> the video is about baseball. >> yes. >> man. it's november 17th. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> ensuring everyone's awake. >> wow. >> happy we'll have more on that baseball story. >> yeah. just imagine if we talk about carl's jr. what the video would be. wow. insane. >> well, we begin this half hour with president-elect donald trump denying reports that his transition is in disarray. >> so trump is meeting today with henry kissinger, possibly seeks advice from the 93-year-old former secretary of state and heading to trump tower today, haley, the name floated

the state department. trump is expected to sit down with japanese prime minister shinzo abe marking the first meeting with a world leader as president-elect. >> reporter: all eyes on this man, president-elect's son-in-law. abc news confirming trump's transition team requested national security clearance. >> it's appropriate whoever gets the daily briefing to security. it is not just appropriate, but necessary. >> reporter: he became a close adviser during the campaign, and he's now a key member of the transition team. seen here touring the white house on thursday. the revelation comes as the president-elect and his team are shooting down reports that the transition process is in turmoil. among those out, governor chris christie, a one-time trump adviser who sources say fell out of favor with the

work together for month, he prosecutes hi father, sending him to prison, and mike rogers connected to christie who worked on the team -- >> there is confusion going on about a chain of command coming out of new york. hopefully they'll get that settled pretty soon. i think they need to do it because there's this clock ticking, all the decisions become more important. >> reporter: and elliot cohen who worked for condoleezza rice at the state department sai had contact with trump's transition team, originally a never-trumper, came around to possibly working with the team, but that changed quickly, writing about the experience in the "washington post," a a bad boss can be endured, a gaggle of them poison all decision-making. trump allies admit it's not going as smoothly as trump describes. >> beginning of any transition like this has turmoil because it's the nature of the process, and i think that trump is very

transition team dealing with controversy surrounding the hiring of steve bannon who published headlines like, hoist it high and proud: the confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage. >> great to see you guys today. >> thank you. news, new york. >> mitch mcconnell ignoring questions on bannon, but house democrats sent a letter to trump asking him to resend bannon's apointment. the letter with 169 signatures say hiring him undermines trump's ability to reunite the country. hillary clinton urges supporters to continue working to make the country stronger. she made her first remarks since

washington. she acknowledged coming to the event was not easy to do, but everyone should stay engaged on every level. >> the divisions laid there by the selection run deep, but, please, listen to me when i say this. america is worth it. our children are worth it. believe in our country. fight for our values. never, ever give up. clinton's old boss, founder of the organization, called her the people's president, and vote now more than a million votes. skblmplgts students hold more anti-trump protests around the country. high schoolers in washington, d.c. or areas voubding it walked out of class for the third straight day to march the streets, and rallies held at dozen of campuses across the country, calling on school administrators to protect students against any immigration action trump could take. breaking news from illinois where a gas explosion left one

square in the small town of canton. 11 people taken to the hospital and expected to survive. the person who died was a utility worker called to the area about a gas week. a two block radius was evacuated, and engineers are going building to building to try to investigate this structural damage there. and another explosion near indiana. the home blown off its foundation. at least one person killed. debris, as you can see there, scattered throughout the area. spots. neighbors say the powerful blast made their homes shake. a gas leak is also suspected in this case. smoke from dozens of wildfires causing major problems with the air quality in seven cities. in charlotte, a haze over the city where there's a code red warnings prompting residents to stay inside. in kentucky, smoke is blamed for one death. a man died on mountain parkway where smoke decreased

14 others injured in a series of wrecks. in atlanta, smoke improved, but smoke returns today as smoke shifts. urgent aide arrived in mozul in iraq, which is war-torn. for the first time in two years, u.n. officials have been able to deliver about 30 days worth of emergency supplies to 15,000 children and their families. the nearly month-long battle to reclaim mozul destroyed the city leaving more than a million people trapped with no way out. this is a scene in the dominican republic, too much rain creates flooding, mud slides washing away roads cutting off communities. around 20,000 people evacuated from their homes mostly along the country's north coast, and the forecast is not helping. rain will continue there through tomorrow. we're now learning chilling

police believe the attack was premeditated and the gunman waited in a parking garage for four hours before opening fire. abc's lauren lyster with more. >> reporter: operations getting back to normal after tuesday's deadly shooting that grounded planes and had travelers sheltering in place. >> ground stopped the airport. they've got some situation going on here. >> reporter: 1:00 p.m., shots fired. >> shot on the sidewalk. >> reporter:he passengers stranded on planes for hours. police in tactical gear search for the shooter going car to car for nearly three hours, and then -- >> suspect was located, deceased, with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. >> reporter: the suspected gunman identified as lloyd dean, buie, a former southwest agent who work at the airport. he showed signs of being under the influence of alcohol at work

instead, he resigned. >> it is possible that the suspect acted in retaliation against the circumstances leading up to his resignation. we know his sbintentions were t go to the airport and hurt someone. >> reporter: that victim? southwest airlines employee michael winchester, the 52-year-old's son, james, a football player with the chiefs. >> he's with the family, where he needs to be, and when he comes back, he comes to he and his family. >> reporter: the victim was not the suspect's supervisor and don't know if he was the gunman's intended target. kendis, diane? >> thanks to lauren there in los angeles. baseball's awards parade continues with honors for the best pitchers. scherzer easily winning the national league cy young award, well earned there, sixth pitcher to win in both leagues, and

cy young award in baseball, the most wins with 22, but there's controversy because he didn't get the most first place votes from baseball writers. >> that's right. first place votes went to justin verlander of the tigers, and his fiance, kate upton, thought he was robbed, and as she does, launched a flurry of tweets to express anger, and saying, bluntly, you didn't win. >> and then there was this, upton saying, baseball, i thought i was the only person allowed to blank justin verlander. >> she feels strongly about this. porcello won the votes, but it was not enough votes to cancel out the number of wins that he had. >> okay. >> confusing. closest award, second closest

justin verlander. >> robbed again. >> but won in 2011 unanimously, though. >> one thing to point out, so "sports illustrated," guess who had the more covers out of verlander, porcello, and -- >> upton. >> had the most covers out of all three of them. >> it is all about baseball. >> four covers, verlander three, porcello, zero. after plunking down thousands for a brand new home, imagine having nothing but problems after that. abc investigation coming up a little later. >> break out the eggnog, the christmas sweaters are back, and this time, with their own store. hallelujah. >> we promise to share our own ugly holiday outfits with you on instagram. you're watching "world news

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after a hot air balloon made a hard landing in philadelphia. the basket hit the ground before being dragged across the grass and lifted briefly again into the air before finally crashing to a halt on its side. no one was injured. the pilot insisted it was a perfect landing. >> further east, new developments in the murder mystery spanning three states. >> a young man from connecticut last seen with friends in an upscale manhattan apartment

now been found in a shallow grave in new jersey. here's the latest. >> reporter: police questioning a map after a mysterious murder in manhattan. investigators scouring this apartment building for crews surrounding the disappearance of joseph. police say the 26-year-old left his home in stanford, connecticut saturday night going with several friends to an upscale building. when the friends left, they say joseph willingly stay have happened is scary. >> reporter: a gruesome discovery 50 miles south of the new jersey shore, invaestigator finding what they believe is his body buried in a shallow grave. forensic clues seize possible evidence including one of the building's luggage carts with bloodstains. they are examining a surveillance video showing a tenant wheeling something out on the cart. >> there was a few units here,

>> reporter: and building employee told detectives that the same tenant asked about the surveillance system. the resident questioned by the police is 25-year-old james, held on an unrelated charge. abc news, new york. >> coming up in the next half hour, why it may be better for young children to have moms who work outside of the home. what we're finding out from a new study about why children of working moms may >> first, new home nightmares, homeowners across the country say they dished out money for the new homes only to get problems and defects in return. brian ross investigates.

? ? >> you love that song. >> i do. buying a new house is the exciting moment in life, but for some american families, the excitement is short lived. >> as you know, it's the midst of a building boom, and homeowners spending hundreds of thousands of dollars are finding what they is poor workmanship, turning dream homes into a nightmare. brian ross investigates. >> reporter: in suburban washington, d.c., the owner foundation and a snake that moved in underneath. >> you hear the same thing? >> reporter: people in this new subdivision in virginia say their great looking housings outside are full of defects on the inside. >> it's the most expensive purchase we make. >> reporter: in one subdivision after another -- >> water starts here, travels along the ceiling. >> reporter: homeowners claiming

>> settlement cracks, nail pops, paint issues, issues with the flooring. >> reporter: with big well-known builders often slow or refusing to fix the props, big and small. >> you continue living in something that no one can give you answers for, no one will fix it. it's our house, where we lived. we had to walk away from it. >> reporter: what they all had was a bad case of new home heart break. >> look at that. >> typical of the homes >> reporter: something these two men say they see far too often. >> you see the crack. >> reporter: the industry trade group says up happy homeowners are in the minority, and that americans have expectations that are just too high. >> the american consumer expects a perfect home. there's no such thing as a perfect home. >> reporter: yet documents show the home builders, including the biggest, drhorton, set aside

deal with claims, calling it the ordinary course of business. >> i think the quality of houses being built is as good as it's ever been, better. >> better than ever? >> yes, sir. >> are they shotty? >> i say no. >> reporter: again and again, it was only after the builders knew abc news or one of our stations was on the case that repair crews finally showed up. the bulldozer to redo the draping system in alabama didn't show up until after ab started to ask questions. >> it's only because abc news is here. or they would not have fixed it. >> reporter: in indiana, it was only after wrtv got involved that the builders sent an executive to check out roofing and draining issues. >> this is how we knew it was leaking. >> reporter: outside houston, the builder dr horton offered to buy this house back after our station ktrk began to investigate a homeowner's complaints of defects and

until you guys got involved. >> all that money, and that's

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delivers mega support. covering your thursday morning mix, and we're starting with art. might be pricey, though. you know. this is a monet. 1891. it was on the auction block, guess how m >> $10 million. >> it's pretty, come on. it's monet. if it was monet, that's $10 million. >> $30 million. >> so the 1canvas, bidding war for 14 minutes, $81.4 million. >> wow. slow clap for monet.

in 1999 for $11.9 million, but, you know, inflation. >> look up close, it's all monet. >> pretty from afar. >> pretty to ugly, shall we? >> yes. >> christmas sweater, the uglier, the better. we're fans. i thought the biggest fans of ugly christmas sweater, but we've been outdone by a man in dallas opening his shop dedicated solely to ugly from a bus, starting with sweaters, acquiring little by little, and they always sold out, so now pop-up shop, all christmas sweaters, business is going well. the slogan? come get ugly. >> i don't believe it. are you sure he just didn't put a sign up over good will? >> does look familiar, i will say. >> just walk in, sure you get all of those, but great idea. brilliant idea there.

the best photo with our babe or whatever the kids call it these days, you know, whatever pb so, yeah. so elaine and her boyfriend, a beautiful picture, all smiles. >> yes. looking great. >> they are happy. >> what's wrong with it? >> until they kind of slipped on that one? >> oh. uh-oh. >> -- >> oh, no! >> in the fountain. >> down goes dino! >> yes. >> not according to plan. >> so they spent the afternoon trying to find nino. >> all right. now to a cute video. really doesn't need explanation. see that dog in the back? not a dog, ladies and gentlemen. that's a pig. she's grown up around dogs since she was six weeks old, and she thinks she's just part of the

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this morning on "world news now," america needs you, the message from hillary clinton last night in her first and emotional speech since conceding the election and how she admitted to experiencing dark moments this past week. dramatic scene from the humanitarian crisis in syria. the video shows a young girl rescued from a building hit by an air strike. we have the latest on renewed violence in aleppo. >> new this half hour, tornado danger in an unusual location. >> check out this monster twister tearing through farmland sending residents underground for shelter. >> vin scully made calls over his career, but he was top by one call from the white house. that's in the skinny on this thursday, november 17th. from abc news, this is