this morning on "world news now," the northeast is frozen over. powerful winter storm is moving out, but not before leaving more than a foot of snow in some parts, and some of the worst coastal flooding boston has ever seen. images coming in. and flights impacted and now record cold. >> major developments in the russia probe as the white house hits back at a potentially damaging new book. the president weighing in year night saying he never met the writer. >> and the health scare for alex trebek. >> why he is taking a brief medical leave from the

and guess who's almost 26 years old. yep, you're watching it. we're cracking open the abc news vault, checking out some of the greatest moments of "world news now" history over the past 26 years. oh, lord. it's friday, january 5th. from abc news, this is "world news now." we say welcome to lynda here with us. that was one of the classic, rob nelson doing his farewell show and doing tina. because you can't do a farewell show nice and easy. >> like tina. we're going to start this half hour with millions of americans reeling from the monster storm. >> the snowfall is over, but the radar showing the snow moving out, what comes next is the bone-chilling deep freeze that sets the stage for the rest of the weekend. >> it unleashed record flooding in boston. emergency crews had to rescue

this woman who was trapped on her rooftop. look at that scene. they used a bulldozer to get her down. floodwaters froze around her house there. just incredible images we got from the northeast overnight. >> and a lot of places, whiteout conditions completely crippled air travel, stranding passengers at airports from coast-to-coast. that includes a group of rodeo riders on their way to new york for a major competition, finding themselves stuck in dallas. >> elizabeth hur joins us with more on the chaos this storm has created. good morning. >> reporter: kendis and lynda, good morning to you. it finally stopped snowing out here, all be it, it is still windy, it is about to get real cold where it could feel like 40 degrees below zero in new england. the east coast taking a beating from mother nature.

the powerful nor'easter dumping up to three inches of snow an hour in the region. some areas also hit with lightning, thunder and even flooding. in boston, fire trucks waded through floodwaters making rescues. in new york, mail trucks and buses were slipping and sliding. driving conditions so treacherous police kept busy pushing stranded drivers. >> coming down so fast, you're not able to clear. so underneath, it's getting real icy, plus you have people out here that shouldn't be driving. >> reporter: the slick conditions also wreaking havoc at airports. >> we're not sure that we're going to be flying out of here anytime soon. >> it's a mess, that's what i think. >> reporter: frustrations running high with more than 4,000 flights canceled across the country. >> it's a nightmare. >> reporter: the hardest hit? according to this misery map from flight aware, d.c., boston and new yo

laguardia and jfk airports first suspended then shut down for most of the day. and officials are blaming the strong wind and blowing snow for all the airport struggles. laguardia has resumed flights. jfk won't be back in business until later this morning, and already hundreds more flights have been canceled for today. >> that's creating quite a backup. there were some 26 flights, international wide-bodied flights that were diverted from jfk to dulles airport. there is an entire runway that is a parking lot for these big-bodied planes. it's going to take a while to get them out of there. >> and get it back on track. >> and now the entire country is bracing for brutal air. >> lots of single digit temperatures, and with the wind chill, temperatures will feel very sub-zero. forecasters say this bitter air will last through the weekend.

we'll move on to the other story we're following. there's an alleged report about an attempt by president trump to keep attorney general sessions from recusing himself from the russia investigation. >> mcgann was unable to keep hem from stepping away. >> as robert mueller looks into the possible obstruction, the times reports that four days before the president fired james comey, one of sessions' aides asked a congressional staffer for damaging information on comey, a claim the justice department is disputing. and the president is taking another swipe in the mean team at former adviser steve bannon. >> he says the book was full of lies, he never met the writer and referred to bannon as "sloppy steve." but the book is only benefitting, coming out today, earlier than planned.

here's abc's cecelia vega. >> reporter: we asked president trump about his old friend steve bannon. >> did steve bannon betray you, mr. president? any words about mr. bannon? >> he called me a great man last night. he obviously changed his tune pretty quick. thank you all very much. i don't talk to him. i don't talk to him. that's just a misnomer. thank you. >> reporter: in the past 24 hours, the president's former chief strategist did indeed take to the air waves, lavishing praise on his old boss multiple times. >> the president of the united states is a great man. you know i support him day in and day out. >> reporter: but damage may already be done, "fire and fury" quoted bannon attacking the president and his children. he called donald trump jr. and jared kushner treasonous and

unpatriotic. and he said of daughter ivanka trump, people finally realized she's dumb as a brick. and that she and her husband talked about her running for president one day. bannon scoffed at the prospect. from the white house, outrage. >> there are numerous mistakes, but i'm not going to waste my time or the country's time going page by page about a book that's complete fantasy and full of tabloid gossip. >> reporter: and the president's team waged war, threatening to sue bannon for libel. writing legal action is imminent. they also demanded the book's publisher halt publication. the threat didn't seem to matter much. the shock waves were already felt in washington, with early excerpts like this. wolff says behind closed doors, president trump critiqued top aides, calling his son-in-law a suckup, of kellyanne conway a crybaby. and former press secretary sean spicer stupid. and it claims his

concerns about his mental stability. wolff doesn't nail names, but he writes, the worry among staffers, trump's rambling and alarming repetitions have significantly increased and that his ability to stay focussed, never great, had notably declined. sarah sanders forced to defend the president's fitness to serve. >> it's disgraceful and laughable. if he was unfit, he probably wouldn't be sitting there. >> reporter: staffers are told they can no longer take their personal cell phones into the west wing. this is a personal cell phone ban that has actual lay bely be the works for some time. the white house says this is about security and complying with public records laws. this is not a reaction to all the leaks in the new book. cecelia vega, abc news, the white house. >> and the former press secretary called stupid in the book is casting the book as inaccurate. sean spicer will have much more to say this morning when he makes an appearance on good morning america. north and south korea will

meet next tuesday for their first formal talks in more than two years. representatives will get together at the border that divides them. items already on the agenda are how to improve strained relations and cooperating on next month's winter olympics. announcement of the talks came after the u.s. says it's delaying annual military exercises with south korean forces until after the olympics. meantime, former vice president joe biden says he agrees with a former head of the joint chiefs who said the u.s. and north korea have never been closer to nuclear war. last night on pbs, biden accused the trump administration of making fundamental miscalculations in foreign policy. >> three lawsuits filed in southern california are placing blame. the thomas fire burned more than 440 square miles so far and destroyed more than 1,000 buildings. many of them, the majority of them homes. lawsuits claim southern california edison started the blaze. either throu c

activities or faulty equipment. and that lack of water pressure hampered efforts to control the flames. and lass -- also in california. from fire to ice. the ice skating national championships are under way. the years of brian boitano, you had gershwin played. something classic. exactly. just now, moments ago, you had one skater who skated to this. >> this kind of shocked the crowd. ♪ >> that is skater jimmy ma. he likes to shake things up. last year he did this to a medley by eminem. >> very nice, i think i could go with this. the crowd is, looks a little bit shocked by that.

>> not singing along. coming up, why alex trebek is taking a break from jeopardy, and what he's now saying to his fans. and how fans of justin bieber will soon be able to get an up close and personal look at mementos from his formative years. but first, here's a look at today's forecast. ♪ "world news now" weather, brought to you by febreze. i love you, basement guest bathroom. your privacy makes you my number 1 place to go number 2. i love you, but sometimes you stink. febreze air effects doesn't just mask, it cleans away odors. because the things you love the most can stink. and try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up to 30 days.

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a live look at new york's time square where all that snow will be turning to ice from now through sunday. a record-breaking deep freeze is set to take hold today, lasting through sunday, not just in new york but all along the northeast. >> we are bundled up. >> yeah. so facebook's mark zuckerberg vowed to spend 2018 protecting his users. from abuse, hate and foreign interference. >> he promised to focus on those issues, because he said the world is, quote, anxious and divided. he also admitted facebook makes too many policy enforcement errors. last year the site found it took $100,000 in ads linked t

the 2016 election. he hopes a group of experts can help solve the problems. serena williams is sitting out the upcoming australian open. williams gave birth to her daughter in september. she played a tournament last weekend in abu dhabi to test her conditioning. williams says she's super close to being back in top form but still needs a little bit more time. she won last year's australian open while she was already pregnant. >> eight weeks pregnant. and alex trebek is giving an update on his health. he posted a video online, revealing that he had had surgery three weeks ago to remove blood clots from his brain. he says it was a complication from hitting his ned a fall last october. he says his prognosis excellent and expects to resume taping "jeopardy" episodes by the middle of the month. fl and when whee come when we come back, the big news and new look from justin timberlake.

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♪ put your hands all over me ♪ so "the skinny's" starting with the breaking news. justin timberlake moments ago releasing his new single at midnight. >> yeah, and on j.t.'s new video, the new song is called "filthy." it features j.t. appearing to channel steve jobs with the turtleneck, throwing up his arms on the stage to an applauding crowd. >> it's "filthy", the first single out from his new album, "man of the woods." it is due to release just days before he makes his appearance on the super bowl. do we like the sound? word that j.t. had gone country, he certainly has not with that song. >> also steve jobs the movie, wasn't that what you were hating on a few minutes ago? i'm not getting the whole glass and turtleneck. >> it will have to grow on me. to another musician throwing

it back to the '90s. >> bruno mars teaming up. >> she makes money moves. >> she don't dance no more. she make money now. >> and with a "in living color" theme. >> it looks like the old show. >> it has bruno mars, recreating the opening credits. does everyone remember the opening credits of "in living col color"? >> mars pointed out that the video is in fact an homage to the popular tv show, which he ing nuts that this is new jack swing. remember that sound from the '90s? >> meantime, jennifer lopez instagramed this reaction. in living color, once a fly girl, always a fly girl. do you remember this? >> 26 years ago? no, i was barely born. i actually think i remember that exact dance number, because i

was fortunate enough to go to a number of tapings of "in living color", while i was still in my mother's belly. >> i have to say j. lo was not my favorite fly girl. dier drop. >> great fly girls. >> there were some good fly girls there. big news for fans of justin bieber. >> yeah, they will soon get a chance to see for themselves up close some of bieber's most personal mementos from his long, long years. in other words, stuff from a whole ten years ago. >> they will go on display in bieber's hometown of stratford, ontario. it was put together with the help of his grandparents. >> so the dales gave the museum access to a treasure trove of

items from the 23 year old's childhood. >> not even as old as this show. >> i forgot drake was in that video. >> bieber's one grammy award, his hockey bag and a stash of personal letters, including one from michelle obama. this is my favorite karaoke song. >> is it? >> embarrassingly. >> sorry might be mine. >> i'll have to listen to them. and despite the current deep freeze gripping the nation, we're hearing that winter won't be coming to of game of thrones. >> they have revealed that it won't come back until 2019. >> they haven't revealed an exact date for the show's return in 2019, but the final season will consist of only six episodes. >> you wait a year, you only get

>> that's a long time. all right, so coming up, "world news now" is throwing it back to 26 years ago. it's our birthday, almost. this, but i found bladder leak underwear that's actually pretty. surprised? it's called always discreet boutique. it looks and fits like my underwear. i know what you're thinking. how can something this pretty protect? hidden inside is a super absorbent core that quickly turns liquid to gel... ...for incredible protection. so i feel protected... ...and pretty. new always discreet boutique.

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♪ ♪ baby you send me >> i forgot how great pm dawn was. >> arrested development. >> yeah, where are you? it's hard to believe it's been 26 years since it was hitting the charts. >> also 26 years ago tomorrow television bliss on this set as "world news now" kicked off its inaugural edition. >> i don't though how you feel about this, but to me, among the things most tasteless in this business are the self-congratulatory, self-serving anniversary programs. >> i hate that.

>> hi, everybody, we're in new york. >> just a couple days before christmas. we had a little snow in new york. >> would you let me introduce myself? this is the part of the program where i introduce myself. >> go ahead. >> i'm anderson cooper. now go ahead. what were you saying? >> does juju have offensive body odor and can't keep a co-host for more than four weeks. >> this is my last day. >> very cute. >> that didn't sound right. >> oh! >> we never, ever do a farewell show nice and easy. we only do a farewell show nice and rough. >> you gotta go? i'm going to time you. >> can you actually take a moment of silence as i go tinky, okay?

[ toilet flushing ] >> i'm young, a healthy young 47-year-old man. >> i don't know what that sound was. >> frank is in the house again. >> "world news now" pet correspondent frank the bun. we can't sleep, which is the motto here on "world news now." i almost said "tonight." >> you forgot the name of your own show. >> you can't have fun and not get slimed. >> are you kidding me? >> woo-hoo! >> merry christmas, everybody. >> i love that that's what's going to go on our resume tapes. >> you guys are good sports. >> a little look back at our almost 26 years, jack has been there for a good part of it. >> a while. >> thank you all for being here for most of those 26 years, if not all of it. >> happy birthday, guys. >> almost.

this is abc news "world news now," informing insomniacs for

making news in america this morning, extreme flooding. the worst in 40 years in some areas. >> unquestionably the worst i've seen it down here. >> the east coast blizzard gives way to the historic deep freeze. this morning, the woman rescued from her roof in this front loader. the big city subway station flooded. the deadly danger of carbon monoxide taking a young girl's life and now the life-threatening record cold stretching all the way to florida. how long will it last? sloppy steve. president trump fires back overnight as his feud with steve bannon escalates. the bombshell book out this morning, earlier than expec