this morning on "world news now," the white house chief of staff defending his boss. >> john kelly, general john kelly, offering an impassioned take on the fallen soldier controversy. and two former presidents making rare appearances on the same day. george w. bush breaking his silence on what he sees in america today. and barack obama blasting the state of american politics. were their comments directed at the present president. a tourist killed after the piece of a ceiling came crashing down. >> sometimes you have to find another calling in life, especially if you're this black

lab. lu lulu flunked out of bomb-sniffing school because she just wasn't into it. where is lulu now? that's ahead on this friday, october 20th. from achebc news, this is "world news now." >> welcome back. it's been a while since -- >> july. >> but we've been looking forward to you having erielle back here. >> i have missed the slow clap so much. thank you for that. >> we're going to start this half hour in the meantime with the white house chief of staff and what was really an i am pass -- impassioned defense of his boss. >> he said president trump bravely reached out to the families of the four green berets killed in niger. >> and he lashed out at one of the congress women who

the account disrespectful. >> reporter: his own son was killed. and kelly says he personally counseled the president. >> he asked me about previous presidents, and i said i can tell you that president obama, who was my commander in chief when i was on active duty did not call my family. that was not a criticism. that was just to simply say i don't believe president obama called. that's not a negative thing. >> reporter: kelly says he and president trump spoke before those calls to the families of the four special ops soldiers killed in niger. >> and he said to me, what do i say? i said to him, sir, there's nothing you can do to lighten the burden on these families. but let me tell you what i tell them. let me tell you what my best

friend, joe dunford told me, because he was my casualty officer. he said kell, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. he knew what he was getting into by joining that 1%. he knew what the possibilities were. because we're at war. and when he died in the four cases we're talking about, niger, my son's case and afghanistan, when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. that's what the president tried to say to four families the other day. >> reporter: the president did tell the widow of sergeant la david johnson that her husband knew what he was signing up for, but the president's message and how it was delivered did not sit well with sergeant johnson's mother who told the "washington post," president trump did

husband. and democratic florida congresswoman frederica wilson who also listened to that call on speaker phone went public with her frustration. >> he kept referring to him as "your guy", that was even more painful. >> reporter: kelly defended his boss. >> in his way, tried to express that opinion, he's a brave man, a fallen hero. he knew he was getting himself into, because he enlisted. there's no reason to enlist. he enlisted. and he was where he wanted to be, exactly where he wanted to be with exactly the people he wanted to be with when his life was taken. that was the message. that was the message that was transmitted. >> reporter: and he lashed out at the congresswoman. >> stuns me that a member of congress would have listened in on that conversation. absolutely stuns me. and i thought, at least

>> reporter: i'm told this was john kelly's idea to come out and talk to these cameras. he very much publicly wanted to address this. abc news, the white house. >> and we need to qualify one thing the general stalktalked a where he criticized the congresswoman for listening in. the congresswoman has known that family very well for several years. she actually ran a mentoring program that la david johnson was in as a teenager. >> but the president lashed out just before 11:00 last night. in a tweet, he said the fake news is going crazy with wacky congresswoman wilson who was secretly on a very personal call and gave a total lie on content. >> so the president not ending it there. we thought we heard the last of it with john kelly, but not at all. that white house may be forced to provide more information on the ambush that left those soldiers dea

50 militants. the pentagon is facing questions over whether the unit had the possible intelligence and backup. sergeant la david johnson's body was recovered two days after the attack. they insisted they searched for him until he was found. >> the u.s. military does not leave its troops behind, and i would just ask that you not question the actions of the troops who were caught in the firefight and question whether or not they did everything they could in order to bring everyone out at once. and i would also ask you don't confuse your need for accurate information with our ability to provide it immediately in a situation like this. >> senate ir-joor john nmccain s are asking for more information and is suggesting it may take a subpoena to find out what really went wrong. former presidents

bush and barack obama are back in the spotlight, blasting the state of american politics. obama warned that our democracy is threatened, echoing a sentiment by former president bush earlier in the day. >> reporter: former president obama returned to the campaign trail to stump for gubernatorial candidates. mr. obama who has left a relatively low profile came with a message of inclusiveness. >> we are rejecting a politics of division. we are rejecting a politics of fear. that we are embracing a politics that says everybody counts. >> reporter: and america's place on the world stage. >> the world counts on america having its act together. >> reporter: former president george w. bush echoed that message. he blasted the divisive state of american politics and urged

americans to reject nativism, and white supremism. >> bullying sets a national tone. the only way to pass along civil values is to first live up to them. >> reporter: mr. bush weighed in on america's role in the world. >> we've seen the return of isolationist sentiments, forget egg that american security is directly threatened by the chaos and despair of distant places. >> reporter: also warning americans to regent attempts to underplay the role of russian interference in american democracy and the undermining of the free press. >> our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication. >> reporter: both former presidents trying to change the nation's political narrative without mentioning president trump by name. aaron katersky, abc news, new york. richard spencer all but silenced at a speech at the university of florida. demonstrators shouted chants drowning out his

>> a state of mm hemergency hadn declared prior to his visit. most of the people in the auditorium weren't there to hear him speak. >> now it's time for me to speak. i'll stand here all day if i have to >> spencer soon giving up, heading directly to the question and answer section before leaving the stage earlier than planned. outside the ougauditorium, two people were arrested. three sustained light injuries. and coalition forces are declaring victory after take the syrian sdi of raqqah from isis. but what a victory it is. most of the city reduced to rubble. and u.s. military officials warn as many as 100 militants could still be hiding in the ruins. mike pompeo says they are still capable of carrying out ait tacks

and to italy in florence. a tourist killed by a large piece of stone that fell more than 60 feet from the ceiling of this famous church. the basilica is where michelangelo and ma michelangelo is buried. the 14th century church is starting to show its age due to a lack of upkeep because of financial problems in that country. >> it really is a tragedy. moving to lighter news. a navy destroyer maid a big save in the persian gulf. >> two swimmers were out there and actually came encountered reque with a loggerhead turtle. the turtle had become entangled in a partially sunken fishing boat. sailors to the rescue. now to somebody else we were counting on. a young pup was going to be a memberf

cut it. >> couldn't hack it. this is lulu. she's adorable by the way. she was party of the agency's latest training class of bomb-sniffing dogs, but lulu had to bowwow out. see what we did? bowwow out? >> i'm just going to let that hang out there. >> got it right. >> according to a pupdate as it's called, lulu was dropped from the program after losing interest. ah. >> yesterday's post reads in part, sometimes even when a pup tests well, they make it clear that being of an explosive detection canine is just not the life for them. they couldn't dim her paw to be. it's early morning news. i got to have fun. >> they bought lulu and found out lulu was a lemon. coming up, how you can get paid to move to

the town shelling out big bucks for new neighbors. plus the hip restaurant using popeye's chicken in one of its dishes. oh, the humanity. jacking up the price. we're hearing more from the owner. >> find us on facebook at wnnfans.com and abc wnn. you're watching "world news now."

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look at that. five people were injured when that charter plane crashed onto a busy street in st. petersburg, florida. the cessna clipped two suvs as it it came down. the pilot may have run out of gas. different angle here. you can see the shadow. >> wow. >> he and his passenger and three people in the cars are expected to be okay in the end. we have new details about the critical moments just after the las vegas gunman opened fire. >> 12 minutes felt like hours. now we're learning which teams actually got there first, abc's matt gutman with the latest. >> reporter: new details about the 12 critical minutes as police

vegas rampage. abc news has learned that there were police officers in the mandalay bay hotel, securing another event when stephen paddock opened fire. but the hotel complex is so vast that police say officers who were across the street at the country music concert got there faster. running through the streets in that rain of bullets. >> one of the things that's most striking when you see this from the air is the vastness of that suite on the 32nd floor down to the concert venue below. by the time police arrived the shooting had stopped. 12 minutes after jesus campos was wounded and radioed for help. in his first interview, campos telling ellen degeneris that he'd been sent to investigate an open door in the stairwell. >> that door's closing and it's so heavy. it will slam. i'm walking down this way. and i believe that's what caught the shooter's

as i was walking down, i heard rapid fire. >> reporter: the gunman shooting through his hotel room door, hitting campos in the leg. with that timeline better defined, the major remaining mystery is why did stephen paddock do this. police tell me he was so secretive, we may never know his motive. matt gutman, abc news, los angeles. >> still so many questions there. coming up in the next half hour, the nationwide amazon headquarters sweepstakes just came to an end overnight. we'll check out the wild, last-minute pitches from cities across the country hoping for a chi condomini economic boom. but an extra crispy "world news now."

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"old mcdonald"? the re-mix version? >> i should know, because i play that for my 2-year-old. we have the scandalous story about fried chicken. >> a brunch spot in southern california is owning up to using popeye's chicken in its chicken and waffle recipe. local foodies are crying fowl. >> the haters come home to roost. feathers and chicken puns are flying. at sweet dixie kitchen, the $12.95 chicken and waffles comes from -- ♪ popeye's >> reporter: locally sourced, i guess. so you're owning this. >> i am owning this. >> reporter: this chicken run is blown up like

mel milli vanilli. the waiter admitted that they do in fact use popeye's. angela w. wrote, popeye's, really? it's a full-on larry david situation. >> you say the pastry shop made this? this is a pepperidge farm cookie. >> i love their chicken. it's the best i've ever had. >> reporter: this is not a secret. >> no. >> it comes with this habanero sauce. you pay for the ambiance. because it's coming from this boutique place. >> reporter: and listen. restaurants don't make their own bread, butter, wine, coca-cola. where do you draw the line? is it above or below fast food chicken? i can't decide. >> i think it's brilliant.

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♪ sometime for your friday mix, and we have an amazing offer that i dare say you would not want to refuse. this beautiful, picturesque town. it's in central italy, look at this. it's beautiful there, right? so the problem with this town is people are moving out and aren't moving in. so the mayor has amazing, amazing solution. he is offering up cash for people who want to move there. so about $2300 to encourage some folks to move to the town, 800 euros or about $1,000 for singles and $1400 for couples who want to move to that beaufu

>> your mail might be an a little slow to arrive to that town. but here in the u.s., ups drivers joining up to show their love of a dog. they come together with a facebook page showing all the different pups they see on their routes. it's so sweet, look at them. that's a dog gone good idea. >> awesome. here you go. brand new polka. ♪ ♪ politics and foreign wars ♪ all the weather, all the scores ♪ ♪ that's the world news polka ♪ tapes that roll in way too slow ♪ ♪ stuff on koppel's show ♪ that's the world news polka ♪ it's late at neight, you're wide awake and you're not wearing pants ♪

and do the world new the polka ♪ everybody! ♪ ♪ that's the world news polka ♪ insomniacs only ♪ that's the world news polka ♪ who cares what the bosses think, they're a goofy crew ♪ ♪ and if the neighbors call the cops here's all you have to do ♪ ♪ when they yell ♪ it's half past 3:00 ♪ tell them it's news to me ♪ that's the world news polka ♪ they make us work the graveyard shift ♪ ♪ five whole days every week ♪ we're here with a tongue-in-cheek ♪ ♪ and the world news polka ♪ it's not lip synched ♪ it's the world news

this morning on "world news now," the defense secretary lashing out, defending the military's response to the ambush in africa that left four young americans dead. and the growing demands for details about that tragedy, and one senator says it may take legal action to get answers. and the new bombshell in the harvey weinstein scandal. the oscar-winning actress sharing her own story, accusing him of harassment. it comes as the lapd says it's investigating the disgraced movie mogul. and what a game, also in this half hour, the wild night in sports. the raiders and chiefs go down to the final buzzer. it was actually an exciting thursday night football game. and that's news in itself. >> as l.a. celebrates a return