this morning on "world news now," the fire danger intensifies in california as strong winds return to fan those deadly flames. the death toll is rising and more people are forced to evacuate this morning. president trump lashing out and taking aim at the media over a report that he wanted to increase the number of nuclear weapons ten fold. his latest attack posted moments ago. and new this half hour, opening up the boy scouts to girls. >> yeah, the major shift for scouting. girls will soon be allowed in the cub scouts and in a few years may be able to reach the eagle scout rank. new reaction from the girl scouts. and the true story behind the slime. generations of kids know there n

slimed on national television. now we have nickelodeon's original recipe, and we're going to teach you how to make it on this thursday, october 12th. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> that was like one of those legendary things, like the kfc recipe and what exactly is in coca-cola. >> what is in the slime? >> what is in the slime? and we finally got the answers to that. >> yes. >> we'll get to that a little later on. but we do want to move on and begin with the ferocious wildfires tearing across california wine country for a fourth consecutive day. >> nearly two dozen fires have bloomed, burning nearly 200,000 acres and forcing whole towns to evacuate. ashes raining down on thousands of firefighters battling those fires around the clock. and red flag warnings issued. >> more than 23 are dead and

and 3500 structures have been destroyed. abc's matt gutman is in the fire zone. >> reporter: firefighters on the front lines are pushed to the limit. nearly helpless against their enemy, the wind. >> these fires are literally burning faster than firefighters can run. >> reporter: racing to save others while their own homes burn. >> myself. several of my friends, there are seven of us from santa rosa fire department, police department who did lose our homes. >> reporter: since exploding sunday night, the fires still out of control, torching 170,000 acres. this new video showing officers' terrifying escapes from the flames. and new evacuation orders in sonoma and napa counties and anxious moments for this mother. >> my son, i'm not sure if my son is there. >> reporter: soon learning, he'd

gotten out two. people with respiratory issues rushed from this veterans home. 2,000 residents of calistoga were told to immediate immediately. >> they just came and knocked on the door and let us know it's time to go. >> reporter: more than 3500 structures damaged or destroyed. what you see here is being called an urban assault. that fire melting the mobile homes down to the steel chassis. now what so shocked firefighters is that that firestorm leapt over this highway and engulfed other parts of santa rosa, and it's those conditions expected again. those winds forecast to gust up to 40 miles per hour. at least 21 dead, a number certain to rise. at that mobile home park. police officers cordoning off this area because they just found a body in the rubble. it was bob tunis's 69-year-old mother linda. >> probably just didn't hear people knocking on her door at 3:00 a.m., i don't kno

reported missing, and complicating things, the inability to communicate. those flames claiming 73 cell phone towers. only the heartiest things have survived, including the tab of steel in brady harville's hand. your personal dog tags? >> yeah. the ones i deployed with. >> reporter: wow. >> after i deployed, i gave them to my dad. he had them in his man cave. >> reporter: it took him two hours of digging to find his most precious possession. you have goose bumps right now. >> i do. it's crazy. it's mind-blowing. >> reporter: as for a possible cause of the fire here, pg and e, that's the utility company, and you see them reinstalling power lines. there were equipment issues at the time the fire started, caused by quote, hurricane-strength winds, but that's only one possible cause of the 22 major fires burning in california right now. matt gutman, abc news, santa rosa, california. >> our thanks to matt. those winds had whipped up at one point to 75 miles per

that separate fires will merge into larger one, around the weather is not cooperating. >> no, it's not. accuweather's justin povick has more on that. >> still talking about gusty winds for today. and that's the big concern for wildfire danger through north central california. further to the south, higher moisture content. the winds are not going to be as strong, but that will change as we work our way into friday and also heading into the start of the weekend. red flag warnings in effect today to the north. these go into effect as we work our way into thursday night. so wind gusts here, 40-50 miles per hour in the mountains and hills west of the sacramento valley. kendis, diane? >> justin, thank you. and a dramatic audio recording is shedding new light on the timeline of the las vegas massacre. maintenance worker, steven shuck said he had arrived to check out a report of a jammed door when he heard gunshots and called security for help. >> call

a gun up here, someone's firing a rifle on the 32nd floor down the hallway. >> now, according to a revised police timeline, that was about six minutes later that the shooter started firing on the concert crowd. the person who reviewed the records tells abc news that hotel security did not call the police until after the rampage had already started and that police did not reach the 32nd floor until after the shooting had stopped. president trump says the government will give las vegas $1 million to go toward the investigation. in the meantime, he's looking to drum up support for his tax overhaul by making his case to the american worker in person. he promised truckers in pennsylvania that his massive tax cuts for businesses and every day americans would lead to bigger paychecks and more jobs for the middle class. he also vowed that they'll reap big benefits as he rolls back regulations. >> i've ordered every agency across federal government to review and then remove the regulations that destr

and undermine your ability to compete. >> okay, so that said, the president's tax plan is facing an uphill battle in congress. democrats say the wealthy stand to gain the most and even republicans are opposed to certain provisions. president trump is strongly denouncing a report that he told military officials he wanted a nearly ten-fold increase in the nuclear arsenal. and jim mattis is backing up the president's denial. jonathan karl has the details. >> reporter: at an oval office photo op with canada's president prime minister justin trudeau, we asked about a report that he had asked for a ten-fold increase in the u.s. nuclear arsenal. >> you want to increase the nuclear arsenal? >> no, i never discussed increasing it. i want it in perfect shape, that was fake news by nbc which gives a lot of fake news lately. >> reporter: the report by nbc news said that dur

20th meeting at the pentagon trump told military leaders he wanted a bigger nuclear stockpile, what it was in the 1960s, nearly ten times the number of warheads today. secretary of defense jim mattis who was at the meeting flatly denied that happened. issuing a statement saying recent reports that the president called for an increase in the u.s. nuclear arsenal are absolutely false. nbc says it stands by the report. the president told us he wants to modernize the weapons, not add more of them. >> you want no increase whatsoever. you're happy with the current size. >> we won't need an increase, but i want modernization and total rehabilitation. it's got to be in tip-top shape. >> reporter: that's actually a change from december when he tweeted, quote, the united states must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability. until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes. the president didn't just dispute the nbc report, he went so far as to question their right to report it. >> it's frankly disgusting the

whatever they want to write and people should look into it. >> reporter: and on twitter he seemed to make a threat. with all the fake news coming out of nbc and the networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their license? bad for country. jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. >> we should point out, those reports are still clearly heavily on the president's mind because he revisited the subject again just a few hours ago tweeting network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that license must be challenged and if appropriate revoked. not fair to public. the white house is pushing back against allegations that the president is trying to shut down free speech saying the president is an incredible advocate of the first amendment. a texas democrat meanwhile has unveiled articles of impeachment against president trump but it doesn't appear his party is backing the move. al green says the president has undermined the integrity of his office. however he let it die before the full house could vote on it.

vote while the russia probe is unresolved. and facebook's chief operating officer, cheryl sandburg met on capitol hill discussing russia's efforts to influence the election. after that meeting they announced they would release russia's facebook ads. we know you can buy just about anything for your home on amazon. >> did you know you can use amazon to buy a home? the online retail giant is carrying a pre-fab, 360 square foot tiny house made from a new shipping container. it comes fully furnished, outfitted with a bedroom, bathroom, heat and air conditioning. >> what about cable? >> i don't know. >> for $36,000 it comes right to your door. >> your house? what door? >> all you need is a concrete slab to put it on. and access to water, sewage and electricity.

>> it comes to your slab. that's actually kind of neat, and the price not that bad. >> does it come with prime two-day shipping? >> kind of worth it with amazon prime, right? the same day? >> i like it. coming up, why the boy scouts will no longer be just for boys. the organization is about to open its doors to girls. but many men and women think that's a bad idea. plus a brand-new beyonce video that doesn't feature beyonce at all. we're going to check in with the bey hive later in "the skinny," but first, here's a look at today's forecast. ♪ ♪ i'ma keep runnin' ♪ cause a winner don't quit on themselves ♪ "world news now" weather, brought to you by sandals. als.

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>> we're back with some breaking developments in the sex assault investigation surrounding harvey weinstein. >> the "new york times" reports his company may have known about possible settlements with women all the way back to 2015. this comes as tmz posted new video of weinstein with his

daughter outside his house during what is called a family dispute. it's reported that he is now headed to a treatment facility. >> in the meantime, the number of women accusing him of sexual assault. take a look at these faces here, many of them accusing him of harassment, even rape in some cases, that number has now grown to more than 20. weinstein now fired from his company, denies any allegations of non-consensual sex. in the meantime, we move on, and the boy scouts of america have announced a new change in policy. starting next year, the boy scouts will start accepting girls and will even allow them on the path to eagle scout. the decision comes after years of requests from families and from girls themselves. but one of the most vocal opponents of the move is the girl scouts. >> we know how girls learn and lead best. so we want to make sure we utilize our expertise in that way. i don't think the girls are going to have the same experience in a boy

>> criticism is also coming from the other side with advocates for boys saying they need safe spaces as well to be free, to be boys. >> hmm. you don't want any of the boys to get beaten by the girls, is that what it is? >> that's probably what it was. i was a boy scout. i would have had my butt whooped if you, if there were some girls. >> i was such a tomboy. i think i would have fared quite well in the boy scouts, actually. coming up, the slime recipe revealed. >> "the skinny" is next. e revealed. >> "the skinny" is next. it traps and removes the waste that weighs me down, so i feel lighter. try metamucil, and begin to feel what lighter feels like. your toilet is germ-ridden with mineral buildup. clorox toilet bowl cleaner with bleach is no match against limescale. but lysol power toilet bowl cleaner has 10x more cleaning power against limescale.

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♪ turn away, turn away from the thunder ♪ >> a little beyonce bringing us into "the skinny" today. >> absolutely. >> for some girl power, baby. >> this is her song "freedom" after her last year's best album of the year, in my opinion, "lemonade." but she's just put out a new video for it, but you won't see beyonce in it.

kickin' butt young girls, they singing, they're dancing, and they are showing off some fierce power moves. >> get it. the video was released yesterday as part of a push by the united nations to mandate freedom for girls worldwide by confronting problems like child marriage, human trafficking and a lack of access to education. >> look at them go. >> yesterday was a big day for girls. >> national girl day, right? >> yes, exactly. next to big news for some friends of our show. who have their own shows of course. we're talking about former "world news now" anchor emeritus, anderson cooper and his bff, andy cohen. >> cohen will join cooper live on new year's eve for cnn's coverage of the ball drop. they announced the big plans a few months after they terminated kathy griffin for that photo shoot with a severed head of the likeness of the president.

>> so the pals have been friends for 25 years and have recently been on tour together with their own stage show, similar to their tv appearances together. >> you are going to ask anderson and i trivia questions about each other. we are going to count to three, and we answer at the same time. >> what is anderson's favorite real housewives franchise. >> one, two, three, atlanta. >> what is andy's most disgusting habit. >> one, two, three, sucking the flavors off doritos. >> i didn't know how to vocalize it, but yeah. >> we say good luck to them, but a quick plug to abc on new year's, because we have the most incredible warmup act. ryan seacrest is doing the "world news now" preshow on new year's. >> uh-huh. >> be watching that one. it's a popular show for us. >> "world news now" preshow. >> new year's day. >> our warmup act, the whole point of the show.

all right, for the next story, we have to get ready, right? >> oh, yeah, let's do it. >> so, dare, double dare or better yet, let's take the physical challenge, baby. >> the show from the '80s and '90s on nickelodeon. they had to go through obstacle course to win prizes like british knights sneakers, et cetera. >> one of the things standing in the way of those bks is the trademark green slime. and mark summers co-host of the show revealed what was in the original recipe. >> so the show's insurance company made them guarantee if any of the kids got slimed it would be edible. here it is. the recipe. give it a whirl. you have -- >> vanilla pudding, applesauce, green food coloring. that's really all it is? >> that's it.

>> dip that out. >> here you go. >> no, you try it. it's totally edible. >> you wouldn't. you wouldn't. >> i wouldn't? you can't have slime and not get slimed. >> are you kidding me? slime and not get slimed. >> are you giding me?

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ir you guys! waffles are my favorite! ah! why take 4-hour cough medicine? just one mucinex lasts 12 hours. start the relief. ditch the misery. let's end this. ♪ all comes back to you ♪ ♪ back to you ♪ all comes back to you >> how are you doing? >> i think there's slime still on the microphone. >> we're going to end this hour with two young friends facing tough circumstances. >> so two teen swimmers. one diagnosed with cancer, the other with progressive vision loss are helping guide each other in and off the the water. >> my name's mcclain hermes. grace is my best friend. >> i have bone cancer.

incredible friends, huh? >> yeah, grace and i met at swim team practice. one day we were thrown in the same lane together and instantly became friends. >> reporter: you hit it off. >> yeah. >> i was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2014. did 18 rounds of chemo, rotation plasty which is a type of leg amputation. >> when i was 8 i had double retina detachment. i was left completely blind in one eye. and now i can't see anything. i use a cane when i walk. grace is sighted so she can guide me. i hold onto her arm. sometimes we get funny stares. >> reporter: what do you say to them? >> we can compete in a sport and kick butt. >> reporter: why swimming? >> we decided to do swimming to get my strength back. the first practice, it was so hard because the chemo made me so weak. now i'm just as

out there. >> it really just reminds you, whatever's happening, whatever you're going through to just keep swimming. >> reporter: how do you help her out? >> grace swims in front of me. and she has to feel my bubbles, so i don't swim crooked in the lane. >> reporter: so you guys are communicating constantly. when you're in that water. >> i was the youngest teen athlete. finished eighth in the world. and i'm about to leave for mexico city. >> this summer we found out that her cancer had come back. and the day we found out her cancer had come back i wrote grace on my hand, because she's my best friend. that morning i lay in bed crying because i don't want to lose my best friend. we're going to hope for a miracle. and write grace on your hand. i plan to write grace on my hand for every race and hopefully get a medal for grace. >> reporter: how does it feel to have friends and family rooting for you? >> i know they are going through it too.

so it's like everyone's fight. >> that's so cool that they found each other and now they get to help each other out. >> that's news for this half hour.

making news in america this morning, pure devastation, a new view of the disaster zone in california. nearly two dozen fires raging. >> we have at least a dozen guys that have lost their homes. >> an entire city evacuated. more lives lost. and now dangerous winds are picking up again. the president versus the press. trump takes aim at the tv networks suggesting broadcasts rights should be challenged and what steve bannon is now saying about the odds of president trump being removed from office. breaking overnight did harvey weinstein's company know years ago about sexual assault allegations against him? new questions as the scandal takes a new turn. the boy scouts for girls?