making news this morning, farewell to a dictator. >> gray skies and snowy streets. the dramatic backdrop, overnight, to kim jong-il's state funeral, now underway. we're live in seoul. air scare. tires on a packed jetliner explode, moments before takeoff. and mall brawl. new details after violence erupts inside the massive mall of america. good wednesday morning. i'm sunny hostin. >> and i'm dan koeffler, in for rob this morning. the world got a rare glimpse inside reclusive north korea overnight, during a highly-choreographed funeral, for the dear leader, kim

jong-il. >> some of the more puzzling scenes, broadcast to the world. american cars from the 1950ed. followed by a fleet of brand-new mercedes. >> and the soundtrack, constant wailing by north koreans that some suspect was staged. hi cho watched it all from seoul. >> reporter: as north korea's military elite, snow on the plaza, the body of kim jong-il made a brand entrance, escorted by kim jong-un, by the new leader, the man reportedly in control of power behind the scenes. the hearse drove around pyongyang, around places that kim jong-il worked. the display on television was emotional. but are the wailings genuine? >> i can't imagine anyone having genuine sorrow and condolences

for this leader. but they're scared. these are all staged. >> reporter: look closer. the crying is definitely proportional to the proximity of the cameras. will this young leader be able to keep an iron grip on the people? and how will he lead the 1.2 million-strong army? some amazing pictures here. what did they tell us about the successor, kim jong-un? >> when he made that entrance to the plaza, walking. his hands on his father's hearse, it was touching to me. and imagine yourself in your late 20s, surrounded by generals and people three-times your age. he has the whole world watching him. this weekend, in a rare moment, we saw him really crying. and today, he was back to a stoic mode. we'll have to see how he handles

the political vision. hopefully different from his weather. >> how do you read the raw emotion that we are seeing from the crowd at the service? >> reporter: well, look. say you're living in a tightly-controlled society, like north korea. and if you have a state tv camera, the one and only television camera right into your face, you have no other choice but to cry, in order to survive, basically. but there's a huge difference from when kim il-sun died in 1994. i talked to many analysts today and yesterday. they all think it's fake and somewhat staged. >> abc's joohee cho, live from seoul. thank you. to politics now here at home. and the countdown to iowa next tuesday. the republican candidates are lashing out at each other, with newt gingrich saying he wouldn't vote for ron paul, even if paul becomes the nominee. with more on the negative turn the race is taking, we're joined

by abc's tahman bradley. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: outside groups are spending millions on negative ads, hoping to persuade voters in this final week. with just six days before the iowa caucuses, it's getting nasty. the candidates are hammering away at each other, with some of their superpack doing some of the dirty work. >> the fact that gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. >> reporter: as his bus rolls across iowa, newt gingrich is trying to gain momentum, and fend off a barrage of negative ads from the romney campaign and outside groups. >> if you want to run a negative campaign and you want to attack people, at least be man enough to own it. that's your staff. and that's your organization. those are your millionaire friends paying for it. >> reporter: gingrich is referring to ads being run by a pro-romney superpack. superpacks are independent political action committees that can raise an unlimited amount of

money from donors. and they are forbidden by law from coordinating with campaigns. romney's also going on the attack personally. slamming the former house speaker for failing to get enough signatures to get on the ballot in virginia. >> i think you compare that to pearl harbor. i think it's more like lucille ball at the chocolate factory. >> reporter: while romney tries to pull off an upset in iowa, gingrich is also worried about ron paul. going so far to say that if paul's the nominee, he won't vote for him. >> i think the choice of ron paul or barack obama would be a very bad choice for america. >> reporter: texas governor, rick perry, and supporters have spent the most on ads in iowa, more than any other campaigns combined. but he's still behind in polls. dan and sunny? >> tahman, thank you. a man accused of working for the cia could face the death penalty. iranian prosecutors have called

for capital punishment in the case. he is accused of entering the iran intelligence department three times. his family in the u.s. says he's no spy. he was visiting his grandmother at the time of his arrest. stateside now. some scary moments at the airport in sacramento, california, last night, where a southwest pilot had to avoid takeoff. the plane blew two tires as it was departing for seattle. the pilot aborted takeoff, keeping the plane on the ground. no one onboard was injured. that whole incident, now, under investigation. it was a fun day at the beach for president obama and the first family. the obamas visited a popular snorkeling spot in hawaii, where they released four, green sea turtled raised in captivity. the president took daughters malia and sasha to a sea life park. their vacation wraps up next week. if only the entire country could have weather like that.

a winter storm dumping up to two feet of snow on the mountains in the northern rockies, from idaho to montana. rain in the pacific northwest. also, snowshowers in bismarck, fargo, duluth and northern wisconsin. couple of inches of lake-effect snow, falling from cleveland to buffalo. a wintry mix in northern new england, with gusty winds there. cape cod to coastal maine. >> 46 in boston. 44 here in new york. and 51 in atlanta. kansas city and omaha hover near 50 degrees. 68 in phoenix. 60 in sacramento. and a wet 50 in seattle. >> it's that time of year when you get that snow mix, wintry mess. a jackpot of 200 million bucks. >> i didn't buy a ticket. and troubling news for a retailing icon, ready to close dozens of stores. and that mall melee. beefed-up security after this violence inside mall of america. @ @

the verdicts are in on the holiday shopping season. the biggest loser was sears, which announced yesterday it is closing at least 100 sears and kmart stores because of poor sales. the macy's and walmart chains had a good holiday shopping season, thanks to savvy marketing and discounts. spending was up 50% from last year. looking at the markets now. asian markets down overnight, over worries about iran, italy and global economic growth. tokyo's nikkei average lost 17

points today. hong kong's hang seng, that fell 111 points. and in london, the ftse, that did open higher. on wall street, the dow slid three points yesterday. the nasdaq, that rose, though, seven points. and kraft foods is getting crafty with a sport vending machine. it's showing a free dessert intended for adults, not kids. so far, it's only in two locations. tourist attractions in new york and chicago. some good news for at least one person. there's been at least one lucky winner overnight in that megamillions lottery drawing. that jackpot had climbed to more than $206 million. it's not known where that winning ticket or tickets were sold. if you're checking your numbers, here they are. 23, 32, 33, 39, 43, the megaball was 8. good luck if you did play. if you didn't, well, better luck

next time, i suppose. >> did you play? >> i didn't. >> i didn't, either. >> someone has a big smile on their face today. coming up on this morning, investigators try to determine what turned a crowd violent inside the mall of america. and king james back in action. we'll get the highlights from espn. ♪ i think i'll grab me a bowl and spoon now ♪ ♪ crispy flakes calling my name ♪ ♪ i'm hungry now. ♪ ♪ who can resist those honey kissed bunches. ♪ ♪ gotta get a bowl, get me some of that yaaaaay! ♪ ♪ everybody's... ♪ imagine nutrition in perfect harmony with great taste. that's honey bunches of oats. four healthy grains come together in crispy flakes and crunchy granola bunches. honey bunches of oats.

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a stevia leaf erased my fears. it made my willpower a super hero. as for calories, it has zero. twinkle twinkle truvia® star, natural sweetness, i love just what you are. truvia®. honestly sweet. the northeast is drying out today, after getting battered by drenching downpours and gusty winds. nearly two inches of rain came down near philadelphia, making creeks and streams overflow their banks. winds hit 40 miles per hour. and drivers had to make their way through flooded roads. >> not a good situation there. that storm has moved offshore today. the soaking rain will stretch from seattle to northern california. snow on parts of i-84 and 90 in the rockies. and icy on i-94 from bismarck to

fargo. and i-5 from the twin cities to duluth. >> if you're flying, there could be delays here in new york and boston. i want to get to the brawl at the mall of america. right now, there's plenty of criticism of mall management on the facebook page. >> but security has been stepped up after monday's chair-throwing melee. joe mason of our minneapolis affiliate has more. >> reporter: the mall turned into the brawl of america. complete chaos, posted on cell phones and own youtube monday. and this kind of senseless violence gives some shoppers second thoughts. >> when i heard about it, i thought maybe i should call my daughter and think about not going. >> reporter: but the fights didn't stop donna from bringing her 1-year-old grandson, tyler, to shop. >> i noticed a lot of police officers walking around.

people watching. but i think people's on guard a little bit, too. >> reporter: she's right. you didn't have to look too hard to see security looking at you. and that gave many shoppers a sense of security. >> we just felt secure. >> reporter: but this type of random violence is a p.r. nightmare for the mall. more than 200 people involved, 10 arrested, and police, at this point, don't know what caused the fights. >> it's frightening. it's never fun to see something like that. and i understand when some guests are concerned. what i'd like to tell them is we have an increased security presence. bloomington has an increased security presence. and we're doing all we can to prevent this from happening. >> reporter: we know that fights are happening on black friday. but many shoppers here hope this monday melee was a one-time deal. as part of their investigation, police are looking at mall surveillance video, along with those youtube videos to see if they can identify anymore suspects that may have taken part in the violence. in bloomington, minnesota, joe

mason, abc news. >> it took an hour to get that situation under control. and in all that time, though, in serious injuries to report. connecticut officials say that christmas morning fire that killed a couple and their three grandchildren was caused by fireplace embers. and they say the house, which was undergoing renovations, did not have working smoke detectors. the mayor of sanford called the fire a tragic accident. a sad passing from the animal kingdom to tell you about this morning. chita, the chimp, from the '30s "tarzan" movies has died. chita was the comic relief in those old movies. he had been living out his golden years at a florida animal sanctuary when he died the day before christmas of kidney failure. now, some sport sports. college football's ball season starts kicking into high gear today with bowl games. there was one last night and some high-flying hoops we see

from espn news. >> good morning. my name's jorge andres. this is your espn news update. king james and the heat, at home against the celtics. first quarter, boston down three. lebron with the steal. it's highlight time. one dunk. miami up five. second quarter, d. wade puts this spin move in the lane. miami up seven. in the second, finding chris bosh down low for the jam. the heat are up 39-45. celtics down 16. heat coming up with the steal. wade, finding lebron. alley-oop time. and the heat are up 18. wade had 24 points. lebron, 26. fourth quarter, rashon rondo, finding ray allen for the sixth three of the night. celtics down just by nine. allen with 28 points. later in the fourth, boston down six. hitting the three. and the celtics cutting the lead to just three-points. just over a minute to play.

cole, hitting the jumper. heat hang on to win this one, 115-107. cole, 20 points and 4 assists off the bench. how about the bell bowl. louisville facing north carolina state. second quarter. n.c. state, down 10-7. mark brennan. finding palmer. it's a 35-yard touchdown. wolfpack up 14-10. n.c. state up 24-10. drops back. and it's a pick to david emerson. he goes right. no, wait. he goes left. how about right again? making another guy miss. and taking it all the way to the house, 65 yards for the score. north carolina state wins it, 31-24. that's your espn news update. i'm jorge andres. for more sports highlights and news, tune in to espn news. >> that was something. >> yeah. nice run there.

up next, "the pulse," and the latest celebrity marriage that lasted only 16 days. >> oh, yeah. plus, when a crocodile wants something, he gets it. even if it's a lawn mower. [ female announcer ] find yourself sometimes cleaning up after your dishcloth? bounty extra soft can help. it's super durable, and in this lab test bounty extra soft leaves this surface three times cleaner than a dishcloth. even with just one sheet. super clean. super soft. bounty extra soft. in the pink pack. and try bounty napkins. [ male announcer ] it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. ♪ that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars

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splitting from her husband, number four, by the way, after 16 days of marriage. o'connor tied the knot in las vegas this month. she said within three hours of the ceremony, the marriage was kiboshed. >> a short-lived romance. o'connor posted on her website that she was desperate for sex and looking for applicants to satisfy her desires. yeah. that's apparently why you're going to end a marriage after about three hours because when you put up that kind of criteria, that's what you're going to get. all right. it's the end of the year. maybe you're looking to put some parts of 2011 just firmly in your past. be done with it. today's the day to do it. >> that's right. in times square, the fifth annual good riddance day will be celebrated. it's for people that want to get rid of an embarrassing part of their lives that took place over the last year. >> it is embarrassment. there is an industrial-sized mobile shredder.

not to mention a sledgehammer if something really needs to be smashed. good riddance, permanently. bring in 2012. >> rid of the old, in with the new. >> it's a therapeutic way to say good-bye to the ugliness. what comes to mind if you say the words elvis, crocodile and lawn mower? yeah. kind of an odd mixture there. probably not this. a klepto crock downunder. after stealing the mower, elvis sat guarding it. >> and a maintenance guy lawyered elvis to the other end of the pool, with kangaroo meat. >> we didn't need to know it was kangaroo meat. and the lawn mower, obviously, a total loss right there. but maybe he's just trying to take on a new profession. >> who knows? for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, the

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welcome back, everyone. updating the day's top stories. remarkable pictures out of north korea, as tens of thousands line the streets today to say good-bye to dear leader, kim jong-il. an investigation is already under way into why two tires blew out on a southwest airlines jet at the airport in sacramento. the pilot aborted takeoff. and everyone got off the plane safely. there's at least one winning ticket from this megamillions lottery. the latest jackpot had grown to $206 million. still waiting to find out where that ticket or tickets were sold. and looking at today's weather. rain from seattle to portland, up to two feet of snow in the northern rockies. lake-effect snow from cleveland to buffalo. and finally, the viral video that we just can't stop talking about. it features a little girl, very unhappy with her toy choices. >> she can't seem to understand

why everything in her section of the store is one particular color. here's diane sawyer. >> reporter: so, here's the debate. do toy manufacturers manipulate little girls into wanting to be pretty princesses? while boys get to be super heroes, action figures? enter 4-year-old riley maida, who says princesses are fine. but she wants to be an action figure, too. >> girls buy princesses. >> reporter: and as she climbed on her soap box, right there in the store, her father started rolling. >> the companies who make these try to trick the girls into buying the pink stuff, instead of stuff that boys want to buy, right? >> right. but -- but you can buy either, right? and boys can buy either. if boys want to buy pink, they can buy pink, right? >> yeah. so, then why do all the girls have to buy princesses? some girls like super heroes. some girls like princesses. some boy likes super heroes.

some boys like princesses. >> reporter: and now, more than a million people have watched her tiny tirade. some of them cheering for the pint-sized norma ray. >> girls want super heroes and the boys want super heroes. >> reporter: and the new little internet sensation dropped by to say hello. who is your favorite superhero? >> ah, batman, robin and bat girl. >> reporter: superhero philosopher. and every inch, well -- i think you are going to skip that princess thing and go straight to queen. that's what i think. >> why do all the girls have to buy pink stuff? and all the boys have to buy different colored stuff? >> i love that. why do girls have to buy the pink stuff? >> i like the pink stuff. we have an example right there of that little girl's tirade. >> i love her. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." have a great wednesday.