this morning on "world news now," the massive wildfire emergency in southern california. >> crews are battling several wildfires right now. thousands of people forced from their homes. countless houses and structures burned to the ground. the scenes we're seeing overnight. and the winds are not helping matters. we have team coverage. and president trump is expected to officially recognize jerusalem as the israeli capital. this would mark a change in american policy. the military is preparing for any possible violence. reaction is already pouring in. and also new this morning. the plot to kill the british prime minister in an attack on 10 downing street. how the aas

uncovered. plus, are you feeling the force? the countdown is on to "star wars," the last jedi. on this wednesday, december 6th. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> woooom, woooom. i think i just cut myself in half with a lightsaber. >> we'll leave it to the professionals. >> yes, we will. >> we'll get to that in a second. but we're going to start on the west coast. those massive fires in southern california. dozens of structures burned, destroyed. many of them homes. tens of thousands of people have been evacuated. >> and it's not just one fire. there are almost half a dozen, both within and outside the city of los angeles.

the ladies and gentlemen els the large els is tst is the fas thomas fire. >> the air quality has been declared in other areas. these are live pictures in the overnight hours. really, they go for thousands and thousands and thousands of acres, beyond the camera view that you're seeing there. now abc's marcus moore is right there on the ground on the fire lines. >> reporter: homes in flames. thousands evacuated. >> they're hacking it the best they can. the wind is moving in every direction. >> reporter: as wildfires burn out of control in california. >> we had a rough night last night. >> reporter: the hottest fire, the thomas fire expanding to 70 square miles in a matter of hours, the flames hiding right to the city of ventura. this entire apartment complex is engulfed in flames as fire crews try to put water on it. but look over here, there's

another large fire burning on the other side of this hill. first responders going door to door. evacuating more than 27,000 residents. many forced to drive out through an inferno. >> this is literally like 15 feet away from us right now. >> reporter: this group panicked as the flames started coming in. >> we need to get out of here right now. >> reporter: all patients and staff made it out in time. and by daybreak, they are able to make their aerial assault. the ferocious santa ana winds unrelenting. the wind is blowing the photographer right now, upwards of 70 miles per hour. the flames turning entire neighborhoods into cinders. this home burning from the inside-out. we watched tracy as she watched her home burn to the ground. >> i can't describe what i'm thinking. my mind is not really connecting with it all yet. and yet, there it is. >> reporter: the thoma

of multiple blazes scorching the state. the creek fire forcing more evacuations. that fire also out of control. and in santa clarita, the rye fire jumping interstate 5, shutting down that major highway. the winds have picked up again in ventura county, and the embers are skipping house to house and jumping over some and destroying others. the other problem, water pressure. firefight firefighters say they had to let some house the burn because they didn't have enough pressure in the hydrants, perhaps because of the power outages. >> at least 150 structures have been destroyed by that wildfire in ventura county. >> and that includes at least one large apartment complex and the psychiatric hospital. you saw it referred to there in the report. but officials expect the true number is much higher. >> thousands of people have been forced from their homes, and they're not

they might find in they return. >> at some point, you can't see because the smoke. >> i happened to get up at 3:00 in the morning and go out to have a cup of coffee and smelled the smoke. it was less than an hour and the canyon was involved. >> it was going all over the place. >> i just don't know where to g i don't know where to take them. no horses in trailers. if anybody is out there who can do the horse trailer, bring a horse trailer and help, once we get them out of our place it may still be going, we may have to move them from there. >> the neighbor's shed caught on fire and exploded into a fireball and set the roof on fire and i took off down the street. >> how many more horses do you have left? >> maybe 20 more. >> 20 more? 20 more. >> we've just been watching the news all day, and when we saw our house on fire, we knew that

true. >> i think we're in shock. i'm taking it, but christmas will go on. just not here. >> yeah, clearly tough on the people and tough on the animals, there, too. one kabc reporter helped rescue a lost dog. that dog is on its way to a shelter. a lot of people in this area also have horses. there are many ranches there and stables. so there's a major effort under way to evacuate all the horses as well. quite an undertaking. the weather conditions over the next 24 hours will be key to the firefighting effort. paul williams tracking the southern california outlook. paul? >> good morning, diane, kendis. we have big problems in southern california. the fire threat is very real and continuing to stay that way because of very gusty winds and the lack of moisture there in general with low humidity in the first place. behave activated red flag warnings. take

peaks between 60 to 80 miles per hour and stronger than that from los angeles to san diego. kendis, diane? >> those winds are staying strong. also breaking this among, intelligence officials in the uk have reportedly foiled a plot to assassinate british prime minister theresa may. sources say the plan was to detonate an improvised explosive device at 10 downing street. the prime minister's official residence, and then attack her during the chaos. two men believed to be linked to the plot are expected to appear in a london courtroom today on terrorism charges. also today, president trump is expected to recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel, up ending decades of policy and jeopardizing mideast peace efforts. they are bracing for violence. jim dolan has the latest. >> reporter: like the embassies of ever

nation's embassy is in tel aviv. they do that so they don't appear to be take being sides in the dispute over whether jerusalem belongs to israel or palestine. israel took control in 1967 and controls it still. donald trump will give some legitimacy to israel's claim on jerusalem, even though many nations around the world consider israeli presence in some parts of the ancient city an occupation. trump will announce that the ou u.s. bails embassy will move there. reaction was swift. egypt's president said it could undermine peace opportunities. jordan's king said it will provoke muslims and christians alike. and mahmoud abbas said it was unacceptable. the u.s. will scout locations in jerusalem and make sure security is as it should be and then make

in new york, jim dolan for abc news. >> thank you, and alabama senate candidate roy moore got high-profile help on the campaign trail. former white house strategist, steve bannon appeared on a rally. he attacked mitt romney who has said that moore would be, quote, a stain on the gop and the nation if he was elected to the senate. ban no bannon also noted his service in the army while calling romney a draft dodger. he railed against republican senator jeff flake who posted a picture of a $100 donation he made to the democratic opponent. he wrote country over party on that check. and if you have major holiday plans you might want to

flights are filling up quickly. 51 million passengers around the world will take at least one plane trip, 3.5% increase over last year. the biggest days will be december 21st, 22nd and 26th. the lightest days, december 16th, christmas eve, christmas day and new year's eve. >> all right. got it all down there. stay home. all right, so there are more than 27,000 starbucks locations all around the world. but with good reason, the newest shop that opened in shanghai is getting a lot of attention. >> it's the largest starbucks in the world at 30,000 square feet, 18 times the size of an average starbucks store in the u.s. >> the business is booming. look how packed it is in there. it's booming right there in china. the company opens a store in china every 15 hours. >> wow. >> and shanghai alone has more starbucks than any other city on

600. there you go. get some authentic chinese coffee and tea. >> authentic chinese coffee from starbucks? >> from seattle. >> hey, they like their coffee. coming up, we are traveling the galaxy at light speed. >> and not so far, far awachl the new "star wars" will be hitting theaters. so can we skreez out any secrets from the stars of the film? russia banned from the olympic games. hear their elaborate plot now exposed. also check out our behind the scenes pictures on wnn fans.com. you're watching "world news now."

we're keeping an eye on the southern california fires overnight, including this one in ventura county that has burned possibly hundreds of homes. nearly all schools in that county closed today. overseas, we're looking a look at the first dramatic attempt to detain an opposition leader. agents stormed his home, chased him onto the roof, took him down and loaded him into a van. se

surrounded the van triggering a tense standoff that lasted for hours. he was eventually freed. in a stunning new development, russia's olympic team hassan abo been banned fro 2018 olympics. >> but their athletes can still compete. here's terry moran. >> reporter: a powerhouse in sochi banned from next year's competition in sochi because of alleged doping. the international olympic committee's ruling means there will be no russian team, no russian flag. no russian uniforms, no russian anthem. the scheme exposed that a former hid of an anti-doping lab, they posed as maintenance workers, breaking into tamper-proof collection bottles, swapping dirty

vladimir putin has denied it was a state-sponsored cover up. it's unclear how the kremlin will response. only individual athletes who can prove they're not doping will be allowed to compete in the olympic games, wearing a neutral warmup. there's no word on whether the kremlin will allow that. terry moran, london. >> they're in south korea, with the conflict with the north. >> i'm guessing this isn't the only bit of controversy we're going to get with this. >> no, not at all. coming up, the "star wars" countdown is up. >> an interstellar preview next seriously? protection. lysol kills over 100 illness-causing germs and viruses, even those that may cause coughs. lysol. what it takes to protect.

. ♪ does seem like the sound track to times square. >> we sat down with a few of the stars to get inside

♪ >> reporter: young heroes at the crossroads. beloved characters come to a crossroads. and what? "star wars," the last jedi, the eighth episode of the franchise, the last to be filmed during carrie fisher's lifetime. it may show a sign of destructive change in the air. >> it's time for the jedi to end. >> what? >> the most optimistic, hopeful character in the entire trilogy is now this cynical, bitter, elderly recluse? >> reporter: it's a daunting switch for 66-year-old mark hamill. the embodiment of luke skywalker. >> it was really hard for me, very hard. as luke says and i agree with -- >> this is not going to go the

>> reporter: daisy ridley, last seen with luke at the end of "the force awakened." >> she is looking for belonging. she found it with the resistance. and han is torn away. and she's had to go away. >> she has new powers donning in her. >> reporter: what are the most importa important characteristics about luke? >> he's a jedi. when i read this, i said this isn't science fiction, this is a fairy tale. he wants to save the princess. what does she do? she complains. i thought its wi was hilarious. >> reporter: it has been decades since he's stepped

millennium falcon. >> it is an exact replica. i got welled up. it represented a monumental memory of my career. >> reporter: that career inexplicably linked to the late carr carrie fisher. her death in late 2016 is still being mourned. >> she was authentically her. there was no covering up. >> reporter: the secret weapon of the last jedi remains that rabid "star wars" fan base,i. >> not everybody loves "star wars," it's not their thing. not everybody loves bananas, but if you do love banana, we've got the best bananas in the galaxy. >> we should mention, disy

coming up, we found a pizza so bad that pineapple pizza actually sounds good by comparison. >> pineapple pizza's good. but this is extreme. >> would you eat it on air? >> the mix is next. only in my 6. i've got a nice long life ahead. big plans. so when i found out medicare doesn't pay all my medical expenses, i looked at my options. then i got a medicare supplement insurance plan. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare, you may know it only covers about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. call now and find out about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare surance company. like all standardized medicare supplement insurance plans, it helps pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you in out-of-pocket medical costs. to me, relationships matter. i've been with my doctor for 12 years.

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♪ time now for "the mix". and this mix is makings hungry. lots of food, starting with an avocado but a special avocado. over on the big island in hawaii, they found this sucker, five pounds. she sent pictures to the world records to see if it classifies as the world's largest. it looks like a big butter nut squash almost. >> it does. >> the executive director of hawaii tropical fruit growers organization says he has never seen anything like it, and he has seen a lot of

pounds. so, technically, this should qualify, but we will wait to hear from guinness. >> and until then. >> in the meantime, bring us some guac! >> we love pizza. >> we love pizza, yes, we do, we love pizza, how about you? >> we have spirit -- >> but this pizza does have spirit. >> it has the holiday spirit all over it. can you tell what's there? >> that's just gross. >> candy corn melted on top. a twitter follower posted this yucky-looking pizza. >> who would think of putting candy canes on a pizza, ew! so it gets all melty in the oven. it almost looks like weird cheese. once it cools it's all crunchy again. not to mention, mint, peppermint mixed with sauce and

>> one person tweeted out, don't compare this to pineapples on pizza, that's just nasty. this is awesome. it's a little bit of sweet and salty all in one. >> we may have found the one thing that i won't eat and you will. and somehow we don't have any on set. we're going to have to resolve that. also to oreo is revealing its mystery flavor. everybody tried to guess what it was for a chance to win $50,000. now they are revealing the mystery flavor was fruity pebbles. fruity pebbles oreos. however -- >> that's it? >> we have no oreos on set to taste, so moving on. >> i think i'm okay with that. >> moving on. i'm a little upset. >> so -- >> no pizza. no fruity pebbles. no avocados. >> but the buck stops here of super market here in p.a. just a

>> why is nobody reacting to this. >> there's a deer in the

this morning on "world news now," fires burning out of control, right now in southern california. homes destroyed. thousands of people evacuated. schools and even a nfl team impacted by all of this. how long will the high winds last? today president trump will announce a controversial shift in u.s. policy. he'll recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel and announce a plan to move the u.s. embassy there. that's a dramatic shift that some say could put the peace process in jeopardy, but the white house disagrees. and the alert for holiday shoppers. >> online sales