this morning on "world news now," the growing fire risk in southern california. fire officials just issuing this warning. the worst is yet to come. new evacuations ordered. our reporter literally in the middle of the firefighting effort. we have team coverage. al franken is expected to make a big announcement today, amid multiple allegations of sexual misconduct. this as a growing number of fellow democrats are calling for his resignation. and new this half hour, kimmel's kid. >> jimmy's son billy is recovering from his second open-heart surgery. we have an update on his condition and his wife talks about the outpouring of conce

over her newborn. and the british are coming! the british are coming! not really, "hamilton" making its london debut last night. but do they know what it's about? ahead of time? you know, that little war? that they lost? that we keep reminding them about? we'll see what the audience said in "the skinny." it's thursday, december 7th. from abc news, this is "world news now." they know we won that war, right? >> i don't think they realize. when they see like our lust for the royal family, they think, no, we won in the end. we got this. >> we will check out how "hamilton" is doing in the uk in a bit. but we're going to start in southern california where fires are spreading so quickly crews can barely keep up. this is how close the flames came to the 405 freeway. fire officials say they've now been able to reopen that road in

what a sight. >> an incredible sight to see traffic actually moving on the 405, if you know that area. officials say at least five active fires are burning now with more likely to be identified today as winds get stronger, up to 80 miles per hour. the ventura county fire has grown to 140 square miles, and now the wind-driven flames are spreading so quickly the sheriff's department has ordered new evacuations in ojai. marci gonzalez with details. >> reporter: those raging flames threatening commuters along the busy 405 freeway. and charring multi-million dollar homes in l.a's elite bel-air neighborhood. just one of four major fires burning out of control in southern california. >> of course i'm worried. that's why i'm putting everything in. >> reporter: nearly 200,000 people ordered to evacuate in los angeles and ventura counties, including at this nursing home.

the number expected to climb as the flames spread. more than 80,000 acres scorched so far. fueled by strong santa ana winds expected to intensify. >> the wind is expected to kick up in some places to70 miles per hour. that's hurricane-force winds. >> reporter: neighbors stepping in to help save pets. and homes. this horse rescued from a ranch where nearly two dozen others died. >> when they pulled him out, this stable was on fire. >> reporter: an emotional, exhausting few days for residents and firefighters. the firefighters are up against another long, tough morning. and the winds aren't expected to let up before the end of the week. aga again, kendis and diane? >> it's going to be a very, very long week ahead and days for the residents and firefighters. there have been so many fires in the forested areas, but of course they're burning hundreds and many, many more structures this morning.

concerns, how close these fires are in two residential neighborhoods. in some cases in residential neighborhoods. the latest one erupted right near bel-air where matt gutman learned first hand how quickly those flames can move. >> reporter: that house is completely engulfed. and the smoke coming out is noxious, like breathing in tear gas. a helicopter overhead right now dropping water, i might get wet! they're dumping everything they have on this fire. you can see from the helicopters, you can see that hose over there. right behind me, they're blasting away at this fire with whatever they can. trying to save these homes. >> yeah, trying indeed. firefighters have managed to stop the spread of that wildfire before it was able to reach the world famous getty museum in los angeles. that was a concern. >> yeah, but there are still many homes in danger there.

winery owned by media mogul rupert murdoch. a temperature-controlled wine storage shed burned but it's unclear how much wine was lost. the winery had been evacuated. >> just incredible images coming out of that area. >> and this man pulled over on the side of the road to save a wild rabbit from those fires. this is along a highway in ventura county. after a few minutes he did manage to grab the animal and save it. a risky move. frank is very proud of that. he wanted you to know. >> and it might just be a thing where the flames aren't necessarily as close as they appear. oh, oh. >> i don't know. for a wild rabbit to allow a man to pick it up, that rabbit's in trouble. he did a good deed. >> our senior rabbit correspondent. >> but unfortunately, fire crews will not get any help from today's forecast. >> let's check in with justin povick. >> those fierce winds ramping back up for today.

danger. notice we're talking about wind gusts that could exceed 60, 70 or 80 miles per hour. then we have the warmth here along with the low humidity. look at that temperature in l.a. today, over ten degrees above normal. and even though the winds relax this weekend, we're still talking about fire growth here due to the very, very dry air in place. diane, kendis? >> temperatures, ten degrees above normal. that's helping these flames. justin, thank you. now to washington where the president's older son has been grilled by members of the house for nearly eight hours. >> sources say donald trump jr. was questioned on three topics, the june 2016 meeting, conversations with wikileaks, and past trump organization business. he refused to reveal details about conversations with his father after the trump tower meeting. committee democrats may seek a subpoena to compel trump jr. to

adviser michael flynn was reportedly texting with business associates about a nuclear deal during trump's inauguration. that's according to a whistle blower. who has spoken to congressional investigators. the whistle blower claims the texts sent a plan to build nuclear reactors with russian partners was good to go. flynn also said the sanctions would be ripped up. nearly a year later, that plan has yet to go. senator al franken is hours away from making an announcement on his political future. sources say he's expected to cave to pressure for him to resign. and women in the senate from his own party are now leading that charge, amid new allegations of sexual misconduct. abc's mary bruce has the details. >> reporter: the cascade of calls for al franken to go started with a handful of women senators. >> enough is enough. >> reporte

coordinated strike. one after another, they flooded social media. by the end of the day, at least 38 senators were calling on franken to resign. >> they're saying he should resign. >> i get no pride or pleasure in saying that, thank you. >> reporter: just days ago, most democrats were holding their fire. this is senator patty murray of washington. >> i think our committee should do an investigation, and that's where i believe it should go. >> reporter: but a starkly different tone, murray tweeting, i'm shocked and appalled by senator franken's behavior. it's clear to me that this has been a deeply harmful, persistent problem. and a clear pattern over a long period of time. what was the tipping point today? >> the numerousity and the type of complaints and accusations. >> reporter: just hours earlier another woman came forward saying he forcibly kissed her. the senator denies that allegation

eight women in total have accused franken of sexual misconduct, the first, leanne tweeden who released this photo. >> i think today's revelations just further add to a fact pattern here. this is unacceptable. >> reporter: franken has apologized and promised to make amends. >> i know there are no magic words that i can say to regain your trust. >> reporter: but the trust of his colleagues now appears lost for good. now franken is expected to make an announcement later today. his office tells us that no final decision has been made, but multiple democratic sources tell us he is in fact expected to announce his resignation. mary bruce, capitol hill. the whole world was watching as president trump officially recognized jerusalem as the capital of israel. >> and many were focussed on what the president said. but social media zeroed in on how he said it. he moved his mouth in an odd fashion at times. apparently slurring his words

toward the end of that 11 minute speech, let's listen. >> thank you. god bless you. god bless israel. god bless the palestinians, and god bless the united states. thank you very much. >> that united states, i guess is the issue. >> there were a couple words before that as well. so the president drew attention last month when he awkwardly paused to drink water during a speech. speculation went from dry mouth to dentures to more serious health issues. still no comment from the white house. >> that's what people are concerned about? >> hey, it is the internet. coming up in "the skinny," serena williams turning to twitter for parenting advice, but she might need help with something else. we'll tell you what this is in "the skinny."

after their infant son's surgery and opening up about the health care debate. you're watching "world news now." ry and opening up about the health care debate.

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tand, our adulte children are here. so, we save by using tide. which means we use less. three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. those are moms. anybody seen my pants? nothing cleans better. put those on dad! it's got to be tide. we're keeping an eye on so many fires burning out of

this one in particular is the creek fire burning in the area of sylmar, just northeast of los angeles. as you can see, it is still burning quite a bit of acreage, and thousands of acreage at this point. and tens of thousands of firefighters are on the front line. jimmy kimmel is off this week as his son billy recovers from another successful heart surgery. but we got an update overnight on the seven month old. he is eating, smiling, all of this after surgery. >> he was born with a heart defect and had emergency surgery in may. jimmy's wife molly has given a new interview now about billy's health and how it launched jimmy into the national health care debate. >> no parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child's life. it just shouldn't happen. >> so you see jimmy there

when after his son had the initial surgery. now molly says that she and jimmy hope that by talking about health care they're helping other families. now she says people ask about billy everywhere she and jimmy go. >> she also adds, i'm looking forward to the day that i get to tell him about all of this. i want to be the one to tell billy what his dad did for him. >> pretty cool. coming up in "the skinny," ryan reynolds is awesome. i think i soiled sold it. that was a good tease, right? crickets. we'll be right back. thanks for loading, sweetie. ...oh, burnt-on gravy? ...gotta rinse that. nope. no way. nada. really?

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♪ we have a theatrical skinny coming up for you, starting with one of the big els broadway productions of all time finding a new audience. >> yes, "phantom of the opera." >> no. >> of course we're talking "hamilton", winning every possible award out there. they're still waiting to hear from the nobel committee.

it's the hip-hop take, of course, on the life of alexander hamilton. and it is going international, opening last night for the first time in london, and kind of wondering go things got awkward. >> yeah, apparently the show was a hit. but do the brits realize the show centers on their defeat and our war for independence? let's see what they said. >> awkward. >> i can't even describe it. you just have to see it. just the movement. everything, ah, i'm literally speechless. >> the cast here were phenomenal. and they should be very proud. >> oh, my god, it was absolutely incredible. honestly, so, so worth it. you've got to go see it. >> amazing. i've been waiting for it to come over here. i'm speechless. you just can't quite describe what it is.

they all want to be american citizens soon as well. by the way, lin manuel miranda has taken the show for a three-week run. to puerto rico in january. >> hamilton everywhere. you get hamilton and you get hamilton. miranda will star in the role, but if he needs an understudy, we have a suggestion for you. >> i got to say, i slayed as hamilton. wow. >> i'm so glad we found this video. i forgot how bad you were. >> i forgot how bad you looked. >> i had makeup on. what's your excuse? next to new mom serena williams turning to the internet for advice.

alexis and asked, how long did you breast-feed? is it weird that i get emotional when i just think about when it's time to stop? >> lots of fellow moms offered heartfelt advice but none were able to help serena get out of a speeding ticket. we are just learning that this past weekend she was caught going 86 miles per hour in a 65 on interstate 95 in palm beach county. the fine, $281. >> i think she'll be able to scrape that together, especially since she's returning to the tennis court this year at the australian open, the same tournament she beat sister venus in the final while she was pregnant last year. >> exactly. so that's coming up in a few weeks. >> so excited to see her play again. turning to one of the truly great actors of our generation, the amazing man, my cardboard friend, ryan reynolds, soon to be oscar nominee for something.

is sure to earn him a well-deserved oscar. >> where is that cardboard? >> in my closet. >> let's see which character will have him captivating the hearts and minds of the academy. >> it's a real life person. >> pikachu! pikachu. >> yeah, definitely oscar bait. he will play pikachu from pokemon. >> just to be clear, pikachu is the most famous of the pokemon and women. and he will play the lead in a live action pokemon detective movie. >> let's see what this would look like, shall we? oh. >> it will be that good. no doubt, oscar bait, we'll be talking about ryan reynolds winning it all. so there. >> oh, geez. >> that's kind

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detergent alone doesn't kill bacteria but adding lysol laundry sanitizer kills 99.9% of bacteria with 0% bleach. lysol. what it takes to protect. ♪ we end this half hour with some of the most famous and powerful people in media coming together for the hollywood reporter's annual women in entertainment breakfast. >> yeah, and this year the event took on greater meaning, happening just as time magazine recognized the me too movement as part of its persons of the year. >> let's take a look at some of the more powerful moments of the day. >> this last year has been a trying and challenging time in our world and our industry specifically.

of headlines that deeply impact us from around the globe. i want to walk in the shoes of the women who are honored before me today. shonda. the restraining order is lifted. [ laughter ] as i look out at everyone here today -- and justin timberlake -- i'm reminded of the courageous beauty of all of us that we share. let's be outspoken. let's be resilient. let's all be silence breakers. >> i imagine many of us in the room began this morning making breakfast and listening and doing last-minute homework and listening. after you say you have to get ready now, and they say, why don't you just go like that? and you're so tired, you think, ah, maybe. but that's the life of a woman. to think of others first is our nature. >> watch me work. no.

not because of where we are. i was slipping out because of when we are, right now, this moment in time. this lightning-fast, brightly-lit, we handmaidens, we are reclaiming our time, swinging our lemonade baseball bats, we are done with this hot mess that makes men feel like they can put their hands anywhere on us. there's a door reckoning moment in time. >> i'd like to say to all of the women, strong, beautiful souls, i'm happy to be here to be your arm candy. [ laughter ] angelina warned me that i was basically only here to be objectified. that's absolutely fair. >> he seems like he's okay with that. >> i think he is. >> big day for girl power. >> absolutely. shonda rhimes' speech was amazing there.

this is abc news "world news now," informing insomniacs for two decades.

making news in america this morning, new evacuations overnight in the southern california inferno. historic winds fanning the flames. >> so scary. >> it was time to go. it was frightening. >> fire reaching one of l.a.'s most famous neighborhoods. cameras rolling as this building in the distance explodes. this morning the air quality concerns, the schools closed and the shocking video as a man runs into the flames to rescue a rabbit. what happened next. democrats turn on al franken. the senator set to make a big announcement today amid new calls for his resignation and new sexual misconduct allegations. >> enough is enough. >> the next step for democ