this morning on "world news now," breaking news. the stunning election in alabama. democrat doug jones is the projected winner in the senate race against republican roy moore. this is a seismic democratic victory in a deeply red state. we have team coverage with reporters in both camps. plus, republicans are putting the heat on the mueller investigation into russian meddling, saying it's flawed. the president's lawyers want another special counsel. this time to investigate the investigators. and new this half hour, we're sorting out potential delivery delays. >> what you should know before you shop online to make sure your packages arrive

age there's international acclaim this morning for the intergalactic superstars of "the last jedi," in "the skinny" on this wednesday, december 13th. from abc news, this is "world news now." both the new york post and the new york daily news on the front page saying four stars plus for the new "star wars" movie. >> it's getting great reviews. >> but we're going to start with the breaking news. you know in alabama they often talk about roll tide. this was a tsunami. the voters of alabama rejected roy moore to send a democrat to the senate. for the first time in a quarter century. >> democrat doug jones beat roy moore by about 20,000 votes. >> it was a scandal-plagued race that captivated the country. 61% say the allegations against moore are probably true. >> 41% say the

one of several factors in their decision. 54% say they were minor or not a factor at all. we have full coverage, starting with stephanie ramos with the jones campaign? birmingham, stephanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. after months of talking on the campaign trail, doug jones was almost speechless when he first took that stage last night. overwhelmed and thrilled that he and his team made it across the finish line. it's been a long road, the campaign, hosting more than 200 events, calling over a million voters, and doug jones said the people of alabama have spoken. >> this campaign has been about common courtesy and decency and making sure everyone in this state, regardless of which zip code you live in, is going to get a fair shake in life. >> reporter: there was a lot of excitement here in birmingham last night. doug jones has said from the start of this campaign that last night would be historic, a

is now the first democrat from the state of alabama to go to the senate in 25 years. kendis, diane? >> that's stephanie ramos for us from jones' headquarters. thanks, stephanie. >> understandably, it was a different scene at roy moore's headquarters. he has not conceded the race to jones yet, but tom llamas is there in montgomery. >> reporter: according to roy moore, it is not over. he came out and spoke to supporters, saying he's not giving up. and if the election threshold falls within half a percentage point that could trigger a recount. he told supporters to go home and sleep on it, but if it qualifies, they will ask for a recount. during the moore watch party, people were stonefaced by the end of the night. some people were crying and many were praying, hoping that the results weren't true. >> may god bless you as you go home and a safe journey, and thank you for coming tonight. it's not over with. >> reporter: even though presiden

biggest supporter already congratulated doug jones, moore says he's not giving up. kendis and diane, back to you. >> we do have a little bit more on what the president said. he congratulated doug jones shortly after he got the news. saying here, congrats on the hard-fought victory. the write-in votes played a factor. a win is a win. the people of alabama are great, and the republicans will have another shot at this seat in the very short period of time. it never ends. >> so senator-elect doug jones will have to wait at least two weeks before he is sworn in as the newest senator. that is according to the alabama secretary of state's office who will have to certify the results. >> and the president there referring to the fact that >> doug jones will only be the senator in this cycle until 2020 when there's another election, of course, to fill that seat. so another battle is brewing in a few years. >> it's politics, there always is, right? >> absolutely, but a rare, rare concession for the president.

>> which is surprising, given moore has not conceded yet. >> exactly. >> he decided to come forward with his congratulations. we're going to move on now to demands from the president's legal team for a special counsel. >> president's lawyers are pushing for a new investigation of robert mueller's russia investigators. the big focus seems to be on peter strzok. he was removed from mueller's team after the discovery of politically-charged text messages, many of those were sent to lisa page. >> so they reviewed several -- hundreds of texts that included attacks on the president. page writing, god, trump is a loathe some human. with strzok writing yet he may win. and this from the same day. strzok saying omg, he's an idiot, with page responding, he's awful. jeff sessions has assigned a senior attorney to review conflict of interest allegations

and make a recommendation on whether a special counsel is necessary. secretary of state rex tillerson says the u.s. is ready to talk to north korea. tillerson softened the u.s. position about speaking to kim jong un's regime just two weeks after north korea test-fired its most powerful missile to date. he called it unrealistic to ask them to come to the table ready to give up their nuclear program. he says the president endorses that position. >> we're ready to talk anytime north korea would like to talk. and we're ready to have the first meeting without precondition. >> tillerson later seemed to add one precondition, that north korea would need to hold off on any further weapons tests before talks could start. the suspect in the new york city bombing is expected to appear before a magistrate today from his hospital bed

necessary. abc's gio benitez has more. >> reporter: chilling new details about this man who police say deliberately walked among this crowd of unsuspecting commuters. before detonating that homemade bomb. >> the location and timing of his planned hattack was no accident. and his motivation was no mystery. >> reporter: officials find ullah on the ground saying he did it for the islamic state. federal authorities say on the morning of the attack, the suspect posted on facebook, trump, you failed to protect your nation and that they found a handwritten note in his passport, oh, america, die in your rage. authorities say ullah intended to die while killing as many people as possible in that tunnel. but before the attempted attack he was not on the fbi's radar. he had become radicalized in

2014 reading isis propaganda, in this brooklyn apartment building the pipe-bomb, using the pipe, a nine-volt battery and the wire from christmas lights. >> he did folsom of -- follow some of the instructions that you can find online unfortunately. >> reporter: a quarter of a million people go through port authority every day, including former home land security chief jeh johnson. >> we are resilient. we go on and we are not afraid. >> reporter: the bombing coming six weeks after the isis-inspired truck attack in lower manhattan and a year after the bombings in the chelsea neighborhood. police say he started planning the attack a year ago and gathering the components for that bomb three weeks ago. now he could face up to life in prison. gio benitez, new york. and the coldest air of the season is moving into the northeast overnight, and another alberta clipper storm is bringing more snow. to western new york and the midwest today

the heaviest know is like layly cities like detroit, pittsburgh and cleveland. it is likely to hit pittsburgh with light snow. but the time it reaches the coast, but the real story is the drop in temperatures. from wisconsin across to the atlantic, it will feel like teens. i got dressed up for this next story. it's lit. the hanukkah menorah is lit. >> about 200 people braved the cold weather in central park to mark the beginning of hanukkah. the menorah is 36 feet high. >> the national menorah was lit near the white house. its sponsors claim it's the largest. a number the candles will be lit up each night. >> traditional treats like jelly donuts were given out. delicious. >> in case you think this is just a party up here, it's a party all around as well. >> wow! >> oh! >> it's a full --

>> did you get a hanukkah romper? >> where did you find this beautiful ensemble? >> it looks like a cycling jersey. >> it does kind of. kendis. >> for the israeli team. >> i didn't see anybody else dressed like that. >> it was an a little cold. and i tried to recruit as many people as possible to do this. the first time wearing it, it was way tighter than i expected it to be. >> brave man, kendis. it's crunch time for online shoppers. we have tips to make sure your packages arrive on time. and in "the skinny," cher. she really wants to be part of your holiday. details ahead. you're watching "world news now." ♪ i'd take back those words cou. you give us comfort. and we give you bare feet, backsweat,

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doug jones is going to the senate. the democrat won a razor thin victory over republican roy moore in a very contested election. we'll have more on that all morning. >> all right, but we're going to continue to the other news we're following. the largest fire scorching

southern kwlaf california is expanding after nearly a week. the thomas fire is nearly 240,000 acres. it's moving into santa barbara and ventura counties. many residents are wearing masks to avoid breathing in smoke. here's new video overnight of embers raining down on firefighters. the fire is 25% contained, but you see why it's a difficult effort for many of those. the fire that forced people out of bel-air started at a homeless encampment, being blamed on an illegal cooking setup. the fire started last wednesday and destroyed six homes. and now to key advice for online shoppers. a record number of americans are shopping from home. there's something else to think about. >> absolutely. rebecca jarvis has tips to make sure your gifts arrive on time. >> reporter: for the first time ever, online sales expected to top $100 billion. >> record online sales. what does that mean? record numbers of packages. and unfortunately, i'd expect record numbers of delays. >> reporter: a

cyber monday, the company put drivers on extra overtime, to get back on schedule. walmart back on track, too, after a flood of orders thanksgiving weekend meant some deliveries took extra time. but with less than two weeks till christmas, time to order is running out. >> if in doubt, all that stress you might feel, pay a little extra for express shipping. >> reporter: or try the click and collect option. >> you can order on target.com and pick it up in the store. >> reporter: that is buy online and pick up in person. and remember the date december 19th. that is the deadline many retailers say you must order by in order to guarantee standard delivery by christmas. it is the earliest deadline we've seen in recent years, rebecca jarvis, abc news. >> tick tock. >> duly noted. when we come back, the cast of "star wars" receives a royal welcome in london. >> "the skinny" is next. royal

>> "the skinny" is next. and that's not a tissue protection. lysol kills over 100 illness-causing germs and viruses, even those that may cause runny noses. lysol. what it takes to protect.

♪ ♪ everybody get up ♪ i

>> oh. little space jam. >> right, as in a galaxy far, far away. >> we're playing jedi mind tricks with you here. so tomorrow night, us mere mortals will get the opportunity, our first opportunity to see the much-anticipated "star wars," the last jedi. last night of course was the european premiere at albert hall in london. couple fellow mortals were there. prince harry and prince william in attendance. remember, there are some unconfirmed reports that the two suited up as storm troopers. >> and as the stars of the film filtered onto the red carpet, reporters tried their best to get top secrets on the story line. no one fell for it. >> one of the best moments of the night came when bb 8 rolled up and the princes gave a

bow. >> the newcomer playing rose and could not contain her excitement at her own premiere. check it out. >> i've cried out half my makeup. look at this! ah! it's so crazy! go see "the last jedi." please see my favorite people, in a movie, i can't believe i'm in it. >> that's a spoiler. >> did that ruin it for you? >> now that the film has been made available to critics we have the official rotten tomatoes score, ready for it? 93%. >> oh, that's good. >> that's out of 162 reviews. scored by the website. that's not bad at all. >> that's good. that is good. it's better than 92. but not as good as 94. >> excellent analysis. that's why we call you the and list -- analyst, jack. congratulations are due for my best friend, the rock.

that he's preparing to welcome his third child. now he's making another big announcement. >> he hinted as a run for president earlier this year, but now he says he's seriously considering it. and kevin hart says he's too big to run but that he would fully endorse him as long as there's no required donation to the campaign. >> i don't know. was that your impression? >> it was a mix of kevin hart and chris rock. >> i want to remind the rock that since he's seriously considering it, i am seriously still available to be your running mate. party ever the people's eyebrow. >> i fully support this. wait for that solo shot. >> there you go. i'm ready. >> if you still need to finish your holiday shopping, no panic, cher has you covered.

♪ if i could turn back time >> the sweatshirt is a standout and includes turn back. >> it should be noted that she said she really went out of her way to make them as ugly as possible. >> okay. so here's her ho, ho bleeps ornament to fill out your tree. >> and nothing says holiday like a vampire cher. >> this one says cartoon black tee shirt. sounds like some of beyonce's clothing. just a shirt. finally, imagine you're settling in for an overseas flight when a couple with a set of infant twins sit next to you. >> except the couple happens to be amal and george clooney, and according to page six, they gave every passenger noise canceling headphones along with a note apologizing ahead of time.

and the headphones had the brand name casamigos on them. which is funny, basecause, tequa helps children sleep. gos on them. i had this chest cold, but my medicine kept wearing off. oughs)! i missed you! then i discovered mucinex. one pill lasts 12 hours,and i'm good. why take 4-hour medicine? one mucinex lasts 12 hours. let's end this.

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and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now - and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. ♪ i, i will be here for you ♪ i, i will be here for you ♪ i, i will be here for you ♪ i, i will be here for you >> i had no idea we were going to go to a rave. this early morning. >> yeah, we had that light dick debartolo brought in the other day. we could have a party. we have a look at how the lives of the visually impaired are being revolutionized. it all comes together. the "here for you" and this. >> so virtual reality is allowing people to travel to distant places and help experience things that many of us might take for granted. >> our frien

sacramento station has more. >> reporter: we met up with high cohen at a barnes & noble. hi, a teacher who has been blind his whole life has been able to do something he's never been able to do before. >> today i came to the bookstore to do shopping for my little baby boy for christmas. >> reporter: i stood back and observed as he took out his iphone, these glasses. >> they have a camera in the front here, that a specially-trained agent can see out of. >> reporter: and opened up an app. on the other end is emily, an on-call agent who is able to see in real time what hi is seeing and describe it to him. >> i see we are in barnes & noble. how can i help you. >> i would like that go to the children's area and look for a board book for my little boy. >> okay, sounds like fun. could you do me a favor and scan around where you're at right now. >> reporter: emily, who is seeing thi

guide hi to a table of children's books. >> oh, this is something right here. >> this is "not my reindeer". >> oh, cool. read me a little bit about it? tell me what it is. >> so on the left hand page, it says that's not my reindeer. >> reporter: with emily's assistance, hi ends up picking out three books. after he paid, we called emily on face time. >> one of my all-time favorites was at a tango dance studio in latvia. in iron eastern europe. she's like, hey, can you describe what's happening right now? >> reporter: that is the goal of this app, to use augmented reality to help people see. >> you can ask store clerks to help you out, but they don't have time. to really sit counsel and -- down and read the book to me like that raagent did, right? >> he has

and read to her. >> i bet she misses out on these mornings when we have the studio at tv 3 going. >> the dance party?

making news in america this morning, political shake-up. democrat doug jones is declared winner in alabama. >> this entire race has been about dignity and respect. >> roy moore is not giving up yet. >> it's not over. >> this morning the chances for a recount, the blow to the trump administration and what the race could mean for your taxes and control of congress. also breaking overnight, text messages revealed. the anti-trump comments made by key players at the fbi prompting the president's legal team to demand another special counsel in the russia investigation. what one fbi lawyer said about hillary clinton. and this morning, the n