this morning, president-elect is going after so-called fake news. he tweeted overnight using the term once again after spending the day shooting down claims he knew he was personally hacked. we investigate what was in that controversial report. and new developments in the west coast. a once in a lifetime storm dumping massive amounts of rain and leaving communities completely washed out. even kayaking in the living room. >> that's just ahead. that's insane. >> and new this half hour, a good samaritan saved a choking victim on the side of the road. >> the victim was trying to wave down cars until someone came to aide. wait until you find out what his day job is. >> reporter: and victoria beckham admitting to one big regret. hear what she says you should

not mess with. we have the full story in "the skinny." >> her husband? >> from abc news, this is "world news now." a letter to her 18-year-old self. she's saying this is what you should not mess with. >> sporty was trouble? >> wait and say. it's what we call a tease. >> there you have it. there was a tease. donald trump six months ago said he would hold a news conference and he produced. he conceded that russia was behind the cyber attacks against the democratic party. >> donald trump said putin shouldn't have done it and said he doesn't believe he will be doing it more once he is in the white house. but trump also added that it could have been others and he blasted the media for reporting unsubstantiated allegations that russia has news on him.

news conference. a couple of fake news organizations were there but the people truly get what's going on. earlier he blamed the intelligence community for leaking the information. >> i think it was disgraceful that the intelligence agency has allowed any information that turned out to be so false and fake out. i think it's a disgrace, and i say that, and i say that. and that's something that nazi germany would have done and did do. it's a disgrace. the information that was false and fake and never happened got released to the public. >> the director of national intelligence says he doesn't believe any leaks came from the intelligence community. >> clapper spoke with trump last night making it clear the unverified report is not a result of u.s. intelligence. abc looked into the claims and found they were filled with some inverified details.

that while the allegations about russia and donald trump are completely unsubstantiated they are the work of a former british spy hired first by republican operatives during the primary and later by democratic operatives who turned over these memos to the fbi last august. and we caught up with john mccain who confirmed he gave copies of the memos to the fbi director last night. >> i decided it was a matter for the fbi. >> reporter: a senior official says trump was directly told about the allegations last friday at trump tower when he received a classified briefing about russian hacking which contradicts which kellyanne conway initially said so seth meyers. >> i believe it said they briefed him on it. >> he said he's not aware of it. >> that concerns me. >> reporter: now an examination by abc news reveals serious flaws in the information. they claim a trump lawyer was

part of a secret liaison relationship with the russians and met with them in prague in august of 2016. cohen told abc news and his boss he has never been in prague. >> i said i want to see your passport. he brings his passport to my office. i said, wait a minute. he didn't leave the country. >> reporter: the report given to the fbi also claims that the father-in-law was a leading moscow property developer close to putin. but when abc news went to the home of the property developer in moscow, we found a case of mistaken identity. same name but no connection to trump's lawyer, cohen. other allegations revolve around trump's travel to moscow for a miss universe contest in 2013 and whether the russians filmed him with prostitutes to be able to blackmail him if they wished. trump strongly denied that saying he knows how to avoid russia's spy tricks. >> i told many people, be careful because you don't want to

cameras all over the place. >> reporter: authorities tell us the fbi continues to investigate the allegations saying they're just too serious to ignore. brian ross, abc news, new york. and trump is facing criticism over his plan to separate his businesses from the presidency. during yesterday's news conference he announced he is turning the leadership of the trump organization over to his two oldest sons. but will retain ownership. trump said he will pursue new deals in the u.s. as well, but he promised not to make new foreign deals. the director of government ethics is calling on trump to divest completely. trump's pick for treasury plans to sell off shares. an investment banker with a net worth of more than $160 million, the value of some of his assets may have already gone up. he sparked a rally in november when he said that privatizing mortgage giants would be a priority for t t

and one of the most controversial picks, rex tillerson faced sharp questions on capitol hill. lawmakers were relentless questioning him about his ties to russia and vladimir putin, of course. and in one especially contentious exchange with marco rubio, tillerson refused to say anything about the russian leader. >> is it possible for something like this involving the united states elections to have happened without vladimir putin knowing about it and his authorizing it? >> i think that's a fair assumption. >> that he would have? >> yes. >> is vladimir putin a war criminal? >> i would not use that term. >> mr. tillerson, do you believe that vladimir putin and his cronies are responsible for ordering the murder of countless journalists and political opponents? >> i do not have sufficient information to make that claim.

he'll vote for tillerson. jeff sessions also had a tough time. his colleague cory booker from new jersey and representative john lewis warned that sessions has shown hostility toward civil rights which makes him unfit to be the attorney general. and mr. trump's nominee for defense secretary set to testify on capitol hill immediately after. the senate armed services committee plans to vote on a waiver to exempt him from an existing law that mans former officers from becoming defense secretary. unless they've been out of uniform for at least seven years. mattis left active duty four years ago. shifting gears. we are seeing some incredible images from a flooding in california. >> want to show you this video. that's a guy kayaking in his living room. this is about an hour north of san francisco.

>> flooding caused water levels to reach as high as three feet in some areas in the hollister area. 13 inches of rain fell in three days of downpours. rain wasn't the only problem. in portland, oregon, snow forced drivers to abandon their cars on a busy highway there. some areas received more than a foot putting the storm in the top ten snow storms in portland history. wow. they're not used to this in portland. what's in store for the west coast today? >> we take a look at the forecast. thanks and good morning to you as well. it's the last in a long series of storms here out west. low pressure working its way off toward the east. no tropical connection. that's some good news. we're still going to have rain. additional flooding problems, a big concern along the 5. we will catch a well needed break later on friday and also in toward the upcoming weekend. exceptional warmth in the east with showers.

thanks, justin. occupants of the portland zoo took advantage of the snow day. >> the zoo was closed but that meant the animals had play time on their hands. polar bears, seals, even an elephant got in on the act. the elephant looked like it managed to toss a snowball with its trunk. >> i like the seal trying to make snow angels. there's a polar bear making snow angels of its own. enjoy. it's like they're no kids knocking on the glass and bothering me. >> we're going to hang out and enjoy this thing. >> nothing says love like a $100,000 necklace. the generous gift ahead. and plus a driver who stops his car because he's choking. he's in need of help. you'll see what happens next. and who are you going to call? the video that has many people wondering who what is going on here when some things that maybe shouldn't start moving around.

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member in your home. but lysol kills 99.9% of germs including 8 cold and flu viruses. to help protect your home lysol that. two hostages are making a dramatic plea in a video released by the has been. an american professor was kidnapped last august near the american university in afghanistan. timothy weeks of australia was abducted at the same time. in their video both men call on president-elect donald trump to negotiate with their captors for their release. back in this country, ten students hurt after their school bus rolled over near boston. police say the bus made contact with a pickup truck in weston and went over a guardrail.

it was carrying about 20 middle schoolers and a couple of teachers. all the injuries we're told were minor. in western massachusetts take a look at this surveillance video. wait. there you have it. that's a bus veering off a road into a field and then into a house. ouch. it happened after the bus clipped an oil truck. the driver and one of his passengers suffered minor injuries there. a few men in rochester are bonded forever because of an incident caught on camera. that's william harris standing behind his car. he's actually choking. other drivers pass him by but luckily someone drives up behind him. he saved harris with a heimlich maneuver. they parted pretty quickly after that. >> to get a sense that he was in a hurry and that nobody else was helping him and i said, hey, god bless you, and he just kind of in the video took off.

>> thanks, buddy. >> for anyone wondering who is this guy? he's been a contestant on american ninja warrior. he says he -- harris would like to properly thank him for saving his life. >> yesterday onset you had something wrong and i kind of patted you. >> i started laughing while drinking water and i actually choked to the point of -- anyway, it was bad. he sat there like are you serious? are you serious? >> are you acting? >> thought i was joking.

season. the rams return to los angeles before the start of the season, and hang onto your hat, this was at a golf tournament in the baa bahamas. one player lost 36 balls. the wind drove players' scores through the roof. only the winner was under par. basically like we would play normally. it's the wind. mini golf, always the wind. >> you're indoors. >> and let's say this right up front. there's plenty of unsubstantiated stuff going on in the next video. let's just roll it and let you decide. >> a young girl sitting on the floor playing. but watch the doll to the right. oh, my god. it seems to move its head to the side and back again and all by itself. >> later the same girl is drawing when you see the paper start fluttering around. heavier objects also start flying around onto the sofa. the table gets shoved across the

can't see what's doing it. >> marketing campaign for a movie. >> you think? >> got to be. >> a little paranormal activity part 11? >> yeah. weird. when we come back, victoria beckham's letter to her 18-year-old self and what she says never to mess with. >> and who is stripping down to his tidy whities. "the skinny" is next. "world news now" continues after this from our abc stations. his tidy whiteys. "t

♪ ♪ ♪ >> we're going to start "the skinny" with a revolution by victoria beckham. >> the former spice girl is opening up about her changing looks over the years. in a letter written to her 18-year-old self now revealed. >> she tells her teenage self-about regrets she has about altering her body image. >> she wrote learn to embrace your imperfections and don't mess be your boobs. just celebrate what you've got. >> married 17 years to david beckham. also advised herself on how to stay happily married by having patience, biting your tongue, being supportive and preserving a bit of mystique. >> you are never getting married. >> those wouldn't work. next to a steamy new ad campai

>> we're talking about joe jonas, the new face of guess underwear, and he's showing off not only the magic of perfect lighting but carefully applied body oil. >> all right. >> what do you think? >> way to go, joe. i still think of him as being little teenagers. i think i need to get that out of my head to appreciate the photos. you might remember two years ago his brother nick made a splash in a tribute to mark wahlberg's underwear campaign. which brother wears it better -- or doesn't wear it better? >> that's our unscientific poll of the day on twitter. twitter twitter joe or nick? >> it's very important. >> it actually came from brian ross who e-mailed us that question. can you please ask that. next to a pricey bobble,

block. >> would some people? >> sources have confirmed to people that jennifer lopez in this snapshot that she shared on instagram is rocking a necklace given to her by drake. >> okay. the 17-inch necklace is rumored to have cost a cool $100,000. >> she reportedly flashed it at his concert in las vegas. and a slippery start to the new year caught on camera. for meek mill. >> he'd just broken up with his girlfriend nicki minaj when he took a coupleable down ice covered stairs. whoops. oh. >> the end of it, though, is the best part. you can hear him laughing at himself while he's watching it. >> oh, man. he's having the worst decade ever. >> but i love that he's a good sport about it. he didn't have to post it. he shared it. he's laughing it off.

>> it's better to laugh than cry.

from surfaces for up to 48 hours. you can pick up the flu it's like having a sick family member in your home. but lysol kills 99.9% of germs including 8 cold and flu viruses. to help protect your home lysol that. cough doesn't sound so good. take mucinex dm. i'll text you in 4 hours when your cough returns. one pill lasts 12 hours, so... looks like i'm good all night! some cough medicines only last 4 hours. but just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. let's end this. you knmegared omega-3s... but did you know your eyes, your brain, and your joints really love them too? introducing megared advanced 4in1... just one softgel delivers mega support. from surfaces for up to 48 hours. you can pick up the flu it's like having a sick family member in your home. but lysol kills 99.9% of germs

to help protect your home lysol that. ♪ ♪ >> a book about a dog's purpose. you might be interested in this. even man's best friend needs a helping hand from time to time. >> we're hearing about mary the fox hound who found herself stranded six stories up a cliff hanging on from just a narrow ledge. linsey davis has more. >> reporter: a treacherous climb. >> down slow. >> reporter: in freezing temperatures. >> if i'm going to slip it's going to be here. >> reporter: volunteers hike half a mile for man's best

>> reporter: they find the fox hound mary on a narrow ledge with a 60 foot drop. despite the lure of treats, mary is skittish. >> we thought this dog has been overnight in the coldest night of the year. it's going to be hungry and happy to see us. >> reporter: but this pooch perched above city lights couldn't be coaxed, not even by the passage of another sunset. >> i'm worried she's going to jump off the cliff if i get close. >> reporter: they leave treats but the cliff hanger doesn't end. she made it back to her homeowners giving us all a bit of pause. >> fed mary dog treats. >> she's got some sort of secret way. >> this is cool. >> i'm going to go to my cave over here. >> just hanging out here. this is great. >> well, props to that climber. in arizona man's best friend let down his owners in a big way.

released surveillance video from a couple of burglars invading a home. >> the suspects knock. there's no response. the man jumps the wall and enters the home from the back. through the dog door. >> but not before he makes friends with the dog feeding him treats he unlocks the front door and he and his accomplice load up boxes and load up their cars. >> and look at the dog. he's wagging his tail. hey, friends, what's going on? >> is something wrong in are you okay? >> that dog is grounded. police are looking for the two suspects. they probably still have dog treats on them. >> the dog still doesn't know anything went wrong. >> what's going on? >> they took his doggie bed. he's still like i'm cool with it. >> this is abc's "world news now" informing insomniacs for two decades. it. >> this is abc's "world news now" informing insomniacs for two decades.

making news in america this morning, donald trump holes his first news conference since becoming president-elect. and after the release of unsubstantiated allegations of about ties to russia he's now attacking the intelligence community and the media. >> you are attacking our news organization. >> not you. >> can you give us a chance. >> your organization is terrible. your organization is terrible. let's go. >> hear the new concerns about trump's plan for his businesses with just eight days until he becomes president. >> plus, trump's pick for secretary of state grilled for hours on capitol hill facing tough questions from marco rubio about his ties to russia. and to the severe weather, we're watching part of a home slide down the hollywood hills. the snow in some parts is so deep it's closing ski resorts and here's some footage