katie: you can go to our website for updated information on resources available for sandy victims and steve buscemi's friends for firefighters continues to provide support to families. you can go to katiecouric.com to see how you can help. up next they proudly served our country and now they are on a new mission. meet the veterans using their military skills to help those in need when disaster strikes. hat is right after this. >> up next -- katie: thank goodness for you

guys really stepping up to the plate. >> and later the truth about all of this extreme weather.

katie: welcome back. in her wake sandy left what looked like a war zone behind. who tackled this crisis more than the nation's veterans.

how many know of a group called team rubicon. a lot of people. for the viewers at home i hope you never get a chance to meet them. if you do you will never forget them. it all started with an urge to help. co-founders and marine veterans knew they could do just that. they left for haiti after the earthquake in 2010 and soon realized the impact that they could have. so they sent out a call to vets for help and the vets responded. >> you see bad things happening in the world. it is great to be a part of something that has nothing but good intentions. >> from hurricane sandy to the tornadoes in oklahoma to the oods in colorado, team rubicon is an army 12,000 strong that rebuilds houses,

launch rescue missions and help devastating communities recover. victims say they could not imagine disaster recovery without the help of team rubicon. volunteers say that in helping others they are actually helping themselves. william mcnuty is the co-founder of team rubicon international. is here with volunteers and veterans. [applause] first of all, can i say what a genius idea and thank goodness for you guys stepping up to the plate when so many people are suffering from all sorts of situations. what it was about your experience in hate that he made you realize we have a skillset that can be incredibly useful in disasters like these?

>> we identified that there is a time gap between a disaster and the conventional organizations. takes them a while to get their o guest cal network. katie: how do the galvanize the group and launch into action in such a short time period? >> we depend on home depot foundation which provides all of the tools and equipment. motorola solution which is gives us the radios we need to communicate with. the veterans live around the country. we pull in as many as we can after that response. katie: this has been incredibly important for all of the veterans that are involved. >> it is huge he important. when you take off the military uniform you lose three things, purpose or mission and community or identity. it is those three things we give back.

katie: i know mike you are a retired marine. your son, michael jr., was also a marine. >> yeah. >> michael jr. was tragicly killed in afghanistan in 2008. helping with the relief efforts for sandy was particularly meaningful for you, wasn't it, mike? >> yeah. yeah. excuse me. atie: it's ok. i miss my son every day. and i get a chance to work with guys that served right next to them in iraq like ryan. being a retired marine i have also lost some of the things hat william just talked about. it is very meaningful for me and brings me closer to my son every single day. it has been life saving for me.

and it is just a great opportunity. we love serving the citizens of the united states and the world for that matter. e just want to help. katie: ryan, you fought with michael jr., mike's son in iraq. did you all even realize that you had this incredible connection until you were out working with team rubicon? >> i didn't. when we got to new jersey, i saw mike and his big seattle firefighters' jacket and i saw washington on it. and it took me a little bit to get the courage to go up and is him. but when i did all i had to say is hey, i am ribeye. he knew it. he knew who i was. and that connection, you know,

it is still here today. katie: i just want to say that i am so impressed by your organization and i think i can say on behalf of all-americans grateful for your service whether both during times of war but also times of peace here in this country. we are really lucky that we have people like nuthe world. thank you for all that you do. i am sure other people are impressed by you guys as well. if you would like to help team rubicon, go to our website at katiecouric.com. from hurricanes to tornadoes, what is going on with this extreme weather? we will take a look at that ight after this. katie: is there anything to do

as normal citizens or is this just mother nature doing her thing? >> tomorrow, incredible moments on camera. >> i am seeing them walk around my house. >> what one homeowner saw while watching from work. >> bill o'reilly stops by tomorrow.

katie: welcome back. hurricane sandy raises critical questions busy increasingly severe storms. is the weather everywhere getting more extreme?

welcome, ginger. nice to see you. so, take us back a year ago. what were all of the events that made sandy such a powerful storm? >> you probably remember hearing sandy was the perfect storm. it really was. it wasn't just the strength. it was a category 3 by cuba. but by the time it got to us it wasn't the strength but the size. you had 8-12 feet of storm surge, big waves on top of it and chaos. on top of the size you had the direction. a lot of times hurricanes hug the coast and go out to the ocean. sandy got turned right back into us. and the full moon. a higher tide than we would have had any other time of the month. a perfect storm for horrible conditions. katie: tell us about trends in general. what concerns you the most? >> first, people taking responsibility. the personal responsibility of listening to warnings.

these storms will happen. they happened for hundreds of years. they will happen again. we will see something like sandy again. we have sea level rises that have been alarming for some folks. you are seeing a graphic that shows the coast. ou are seeingreen and yellow areas and orange. new orleans or galveston, texas have seen in the last century, 2-4 feet of water rising. do that for 100 years and you will push even more water. katie: when you look at the maps projecting, you know 50 years from now the amount of coast line that has shown to be submerged is really shocking, isn't it? >> we are seeing it with erosion now. it is not just the gulf coast. miami beach this year dealt with so much erosion they basically ran out of sand. it is not just about having a

good time at the beach. it is protecting yourself from storms like sandy in the future. katie: is climate change, is that part of the mix that is making these coastal areas go underwater? rather intergovernmental panel on climate change said of course we have been seeing more record highs and they anticipate high confidence we will see more of this, more drought. they are seeing in the tropical or hurricanes low confidence. extremes on both sides. katie: is there anything to do as normal citizens or is this just mother nature doing her thing? >> mother nature is saying listen to and respect me. respect it. listen to the warnings. if you are asked to evacuate, do it. i have seen so many times that one holdout. you hate to lose life but you have the chance. we give you the warning. do take that. katie: ginger, thanks so much for coming by. we appreciate it.

we will be right back.

katie: everyone in our studio audience as we mentioned was affected by hurricane sand and he many are displaced living

with relatives or in rented homes. you have seen the pictures but now we want to talk about some of the comforts that they were missing the most in the ftermath of sandy. crissy is from shark river hills, new jersey. i know one of the things that you missed especially are some of the family traditions that you have enjoyed your whole life. they were pout hold after sandy, right? >> they were. some were physical, recipes, table cloths, decorations that we use with the holidays. i have four young girls. outings or certain things we did in the holidays fell by the wayside in the chaos of the moves. we have been in three rentals. nothing has been normal since sandy. katie: i know holidays are such important times for all families. our friends at stop and shop know that as well. they want to make sure everyone

has a special thanksgiving this ear. they are sending you home with -- $100 gift card. thank you. thank you so much. meanwhile deanna from long beach, new york, you lost almost all of your clothes to sandy. i also heard you did something special with the clothing that you had left. >> my sister also lost everything. whatever i had left i shared with her so we can split it and have something to go from. katie: one company that has been here with you all since the storm was macy's. .hey donated $1 million

you may want to buy clothes but macy's has more than clothes. you can find something you need from macy's or something maybe for your home. meanwhile, gigi is here. she is the owner of a bay restaurant in union beach, new jersey. the restaurant i know was destroyed by sandy. you also took 15 people into your home after sandy hit, right. >> we did. we took 15 people. >> you expanded your family in a big way. >> we have a big family. katie: are you going to be able to rebuild the restaurant or stick with the relocation? >> the relocation is temporary. we will not be staying there. the rebuild is still unknown. >> we wish you all the best. everyone in the audience. i think you all have been through so much. you know we are here.

we have each other. r friends at trump are inviting everyone in the audience today to stay for two days so you can get much needed r&r. it doesn't make up for what you veteran through but hopefully it makes things a bit easier. up next we follow up with a sandy survivor who is on a mission to find animals a home. we are going to see how she is doing today. that is right after this.

katie: welcome back. finally bobbi worked for more than 40 years to start her own animal shelt or long island. her dream came true when she started bobbi and the strays and then sandy hit. bobbi came on the show last year along with her friend and thanks to our friends from pedigree we were able to give her $100,000 to help rebuild her shelter. we wanted to see how she was doing a year able. what were you able to do with

the $100,000? >> we got all of the animals back in the shelter quickly. we did a lot of fixing, painting, repairing and have a lot more to go. they were wonderful to us. katie: now you are back in business with how many animals in the shelter? >> we have about almost 200 between dogs and cats. katie: wow. >> they all need homes. katie: tell us about the pickups you brought here today. >> the little girl you have there is diamond. she is about 11 years old. she is extremely sweet. she is wonderful. katie: very girlie. >> tell us about this guy. >> this little boy -- >> smores. e believe that he is a beagle-basset hound mix. he is about six years old and

is looking for a home. and this gorgeous girl, this is little girl, jane. she is a rescue from animal care and control. she is about six months old. >> she is pretty. >> yes. >> they are all great. we are so happy that you are back in business doing what you love and helping so many of these animals. by the way go to katiecouric.com for more information on how you can adopt one of these adorable dogs and many others who are currently with bobbi and the strays. we will have information about all of the organizations still helping those recover from hurricane sandy and resources from all of those in need. i want to say a huge thank you to all of my guests for sharing their stories of struggle and strength. we want to salute all of those first responders, neighbors, friends who rose to the

challenge to help each other and to continue to work together to rebuild. thank you so much for coming. we wish you the very best. thank you at home for watching. we will see you the next time.

surveillance programs, but the sparks never came.

that doesn't mean the fury has calmed down around the world. the nation's top intelligence officials went before congress to defend sweeping surveillance programs that have the obama administration under fire. >> we do not spy on anyone except for valid foreign intelligence purposes. >> we would rather be here telling you why we defended these programs than having given them up and having our nation or our allies being attacked. >> reporter: the pressure on the obama administration over the secret programs continues to grow. one small bit of vindication. over the last week, outrage in france and spain after the reports say that nsa swept up millions of phone calls in those countries them nsa director confirmed the report in the "wall street journal" that it was actually french and spanish intelligence agencies that did the surveillance and passed it on to the nsa. >> we need to look at and make sure that we are not just gathering intelligence because we can but gathering it because

we need it. >> the intelligence officials told congress yesterday allies spy on each other. it's part of the business. but the damage from these weeks has been done. john and diana. >> karen travers, thank you. just across the potomac at arlington national cemetery there was a solemn ceremony. the eternal flame at kennedy's gravesite was reignited. new gas lines were installed. the anniversary of kennedy's assassination is three weeks away. "wall street journal" reports blackberry executives met with those of facebook last week to gauge the social network's interest in a bid for the struggling smartphone maker. they say it is unclear if facebook is interested. the meeting could spark speculation about facebook starting its own cell phone and that is something that mark zucker berg has been cool to in the past.

the dow is trading at record highs the 32nd record of the year investors were spurred on speculation the fed will keep the economic stimulus program in place. an announcement about that will come out this afternoon. chris brown has checked in to a rehab facility to deal with anger issues. it comes a day after he was released from a washington, d.c. jail on assault charges. brown could face serious jail time if officials determine the d.c. arrest violates his probation. delta airlines pilot in custody in salt lake city this morning charged with groping a girl during a flight last week. 45-year-old michael james pascal was a passenger on the flight. he was seated next to a 14-year-old girl. she claims when she woke up he was groping her backside. pascal said he fell asleep and somehow his hand fell in to the girl's seat. he is due in court today. the cardinals are in boston for

game six. they had to wait out a long flight delay before flying. there the team's plane was grounded at the tarmac yesterday. six hours after getting on board think players switched planes and flew to boston. they land last night the cardinals trail the red sox 3-2. a new mexico lawmaker pushing to turn public schools in to yoga free zones them christian republican said he doesn't want his kids or other kids practicing yoga because of the hindu and buddhist roots and he wants parents to be told if they are participating in anything resembling yoga and choose whether or not they should take part. >> have an opportunity to opt their children out of an activity that may have implications or ties or undertones to a religious practice. >> i think what he parent needs to look at is the intention and the intention of the teacher, to me, is safety. >> advocates say pe teachers are

not preaching or teaching anything religious but strengthening and stretching exercises. pape al events are usually tightly scripted but it had to go out the window when a youngster got on stage this weekend. you see him in the striped shirt. pope francis gives him a pat on the face b he is not leaving. he tried to get between the pope and the man he was greeting. when that didn't work he joined francis' staff escorting the young girl to the pope's side. he got to give francis a tight hug around the leg. >> what's up with that? >> you know, over and over again we see stories where pope francis has this magnetic draw and people want to be around him for some reason. especially kids, i've noticed that. he has this warm thing going. >> he does. >> another pretty cool item about a rather talented youngster. he's 5 years old and from ireland. ♪

he can really pound those skins. >> here's the amazing thing. his mom says he has only been taking drum lessons five weeks. she claims he did the arranging for the song we hear him playing there. note to bono and you tube if they want to leave the band there's the irish replacement right there. not bad at all. coming up sweet memories of popular halloween candies from our past. and team usa olympic uniforms no longer made overseas. who stitched together a plan to create american jobs. burning red-hot battle in california over a hot sauce factory. why neighbors are crying and these are not tears of joy. you are watching "world news now." i've got a nice long life ahead. >> announcer: "world news now" weather brought to you by united

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♪ feeling hot hot hot >> folks in a soek southern california neighborhood are getting hot over a nearby sglant the company happens to make hot sauce and as you can imagine, neighbors are complaining about burning ice and throats. >> reporter: if it looks big on the outside, wait until you see the inside. 650,000 square feet of chili hot sauce making machine richl cranking out bottles of this, sriracha sauce, but this whole process could come to a grinding

halt. >> we have residents that can no longer enjoy the outside. they have headaches. they have coughing. and obviously their eyes are irritated. >> reporter: irwindale city manager says the plant is the source of the problems and neighboring businesses and residents have been complaining about the fumes from all of those peppers. >> it smells strong and burns our eyes and lungs and stuff. >> reporter: but the officials aren't buying it. they brought us in to get a whiff of the sauce-making process. inside the plant there is no denying how pungent the smell can be. in fact, a lot of people here came with the media group are turning to these -- turning to these masks to help them breathe a little easier. but they also took up to the roof where six exhaust fans ventilate the plant. the fumes coming out considerably less spicy.

>> we have a filtration system already. >> the director of operations says the plant just cleared an inspection by the quality management district last week. irwindale is now asking a judge to temporarily shut down the plant until it agrees to install a half million dollar filtration system. rob hayes reporting for abc news. >> love that sauce. >> hot debate. >> yeah. still ahead, what's the best part of halloween, costumes maybe, no, the candy. >> we are celebrating 40 years of candy. we'll be right back.

>> i ate all of your halloween

candy last night. [ crying ] >> i ate it all. ♪ i want candy ♪ i want candy >> a classic clip to set up our next segment. next to christmas halloween is the best time of the year for kids to get good stuff as in piles of candy. >> through the years we all had our favorite. mine was anything chocolate but that nestle $100,000 bar came out. that was my favorite. what was yours. >> sugar daddies. no question in my mind. >> look at the boxes we got. >> to honor the annual tradition where scary and sweet come bind courtesy of candy warehouse.com we have a look at the classics. we will start in the '60s. of course, why not. take a look. >> i was looking at these and to me this is my '70s -- even though it says 1960s, this is

stuff i was getting in my bag. dots. the cigars that are chewing gum. sugar daddies. classic. red-hots. these things. never knew what they were but i ate them. love the tootsie pop. sweet tarts, tootsie roll and these goofy things. the bottles that you ate that had them. >> the lips. what were these things. >> you chew i on them. >> they fully refined food grade pair fin to be shaped in to hot lips. >> you want to read about the '70s. >> on the the '70s. that's great. who could forget pop rocks. >> pop rocks. >> my sugar daddies are coming with me. >> remember the mikey from life cereal. >> he's dead.

>> razzles. my favorite. look at the commercial real quick. >> hey, what's happenening? the crackling is what is happening. pop rocks! rob rocks pop rocks. >> remember very well. remember the day they showed up at my school. >> another one of those what the heck kind of candies. the kids love these, though. do you remember this, i'm sure you do. what makes them pop, though? let's see. >> can you hear that. >> they are amazing. they are processed with carbon dioxide that forms tiny bubbles in the candy and when it melts in your mouth the carbon dioxide is released from the high pressure bubble and they pop. >> that's what is happening in my mouth right now. >> and one of the favorite sour patch kids.

everybody loves them. >> i don't know what it is. >> we are going to eat them. >> bubble yum. hubba bubba. >> they were all delicious. how fun when you go trick or treating and be safe out there, please. have a good one, guys.

you may remember the controversy over team usa's uniforms they were made in china. >> not anymore. >> reporter: they are the pride of america. team usa. but so many americans were disappointed to learn those uniforms at the opening ceremonies in london were made in china. we were the first to tell you. >> what caught our eye here at world news was the label. the u.s. uniforms were made in china. how could it be? >> reporter: from the berets down to the shoes, every article of the all-american looks by ralph lauren was made outside of the u.s. >> i think they should take all

of the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them. >> reporter: back then ralph lauren promising to do better at this year's winter olympics and they showed us the proof, made in the usa. >> reporter: the uniforms entirely made in america, down to every last thread, button and zipper. the wool from this rancher in oregon. >> we are honored to be part of the project. >> reporter: the thread supplied by kramer yard in pennsylvania. and dyed by in north carolina. and all 40 american partners designing, sourcing and manufacturing the new look. more than a billion dollars and hundreds of jobs staying here. and this is the jacket that team usa's men and women will wear in the closing ceremonies. the wool is from oregon. it is manufactured and embroidered in new york city. and that's a lot of wool and a lot of american jobs. rebecca jarvis, abc news, new

york. >> that's the way it should be. >> absolutely. but back to the candy and the real important story at hand here. it takes us to our facebook question of the day. >> we want to know what is your favorite halloween candy log on the our facebook page wnnfans.com. >> and we want to see what you will be for halloween. e-mail your picture of you, your kid, the dog, cat, whatever. we will show them to the rest of our viewers. attach the pick and send them to wnn fans.com. >> the more i look at this pile the more i haven't seen in years and i want to eat. for example, who remembers hubba bubba bubble tape? >> i like these razzles things them flavor lasted ten seconds but incredible flavor for ten seconds. >> he refuses to take them because he doesn't want to eat it. calories. >> trying to -- >> this will be gone by the end

of the night. >> all right. i will eat them. just for y

this morning on "world news now," the big blame game over the obama care website. the health and human services secretary makes an apology. >> i want to apologize the website has not worked as well as it should. >> reporter: the controversy in washington to the health care confusion nationwide. painfully slow. the recovery one year after hurricane sandy. the terrifying memories, property damage and financial frustration. >> we have to rebuild, take out a mortgage. >> who's rebuilding and who's not. later, creative costumes our annual halloween fashion show and inspiration for kids and

grownups. dressing up has never been so fun. it is wednesday, october 30th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now" with john muller and diana perez. >> good wednesday morning, everybody. a lot of costumes we want to show you. i'm excited because those are costumes that are kind of trendy right now. everybody's gonna proet probably dress like this. a lot of people don't realize the costumes out there and a lot of classics, too. >> put ours to shame. i had an eye patch and that was it. >> i don't think that will work now. what is alexis for halloween. >> katniss. >> from hunger games. >> i made her a homemade bow. >> you have to bring in pictures. >> i will. >> this is exciting. damage control kicking in to high gear today as the president's point person on health care testifies on capitol hill. >> embattled health and human services secretary is expected

to blamt on contractors who built the site. >> her prepared remarks she takes no blame even though her documents show the main contractor warned the government about serious problems a month before the launch. here's abc's jim avila. >> reporter: for the first time the obama administration issued a direct apology for healthcare.gov. >> i want to apologize to you that the website has not worked as well as it should. >> reporter: there's no apology for the latest mess up over obama care. >> if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. >> reporter: but for 14 million americans who buy private health insurance, that may not betrue. >> now they are being told they can't. that's a lie. >> reporter: julie prince just received a letter from her insurance company saying her private plan no longer exists. >> i'm not going to be able to afford anything if i ever get sick. >> reporter: why is this happening? because insurance companies, which offer cheap insurance like julie's left out basics now

required by obama care like hospital coverage, maternity, mental health or prescription drugs and now are forced to cancel those plans and replace them. julie's new premium would be $210 a month. three times more than she pays now if she takes the insurance company's alternative. three independent health care experts tell abc news, julie and the others are likely to find plans just as cheap or cheaper on the marketplace when it is fully functional. and with better coverage. julie tells us that she doesn't have hospital care on this cheap insurance plan. is that dangerous? >> absolutely. that is an enormous hole in her coverage. >> reporter: over sold or big lie as the president's opponents contend. the white house says america's under insured will be better off with obama care. jim avila, abc news, washington. in other growing controversy also heard on capitol hill, the

head of national intelligence is defending the practice of spying on global leaders. james clapper says the practice is necessary in order to find out the intentions of foreign leaders, even our allies. he says it is perfectly legal. >> we do not spy on anyone except for valid intelligence parns only work within the law. >> we'd rather be here telling you why we defended these programs than having given them up and have our nation or our allies being attacked. >> abc news has confirmed reports that u.s. intelligence has listened in on phone conversations of the leaders of 35 american allies. that drew sharp criticism from both parties. the memory of hurricane sandy is unforgettable from many people one year after a devastated new jersey and new york. they gathered to mark the anniversary last night. in south jersey, lucy the elephant was lit up in 29,000