making news in america this morning, late night rant. donald trump going off on twitter about his latest feud with hillary clinton and that sexually derogatory term blaming the media as other candidates break their silence on the comment. we're live in washington. wild weather on one of the busiest travel days of the year. heavy rain moving through the south. plus, summerlike storms shaping up. tornado warnings overnight. where the biggest risk is today. caught on camera, a bright light blazing over several states. experts this morning talking about what it likely was, and it's not a meteor. drone danger. look at this.

taken out during a race. and we do say good wednesday morning, everyone. we're going to start with the race for the president. the front-runners in both political parties showing no signs of blunting their attacks against each other. >> the latest volley between donald trump and hillary clinton is trump's twitter rant trying to explain what he meant when he used a sexually derogatory term while attacking clinton. >> abc's kenneth moton is following it all from washington, d.c. he's here with the details. good morning, kenneth. >> reporter: good morning, kendis and reena. no surprise, donald trump is not backing down. he says the, quote, dishonest mainstream media has it wrong. donald trump fired back at the media overnight for his use of a vulgar term to describe hillary clinton's 2008 loss. >> she was favored to win and she got [ bleep ]. she lost. i mean she lost. >> reporter: that bleeped word

described as a sexually degrading act. last night trump tweeted saying he meant clinton got beaten badly in the 2008 race. he then blamed the media. >> that's why it's important to stand up to bullies wherever they are. >> reporter: clinton didn't respond directly to trump during her iowa rally but bernie sanders did. >> donald trump is very upset, it's very hard for him to deal with. i don't know what his relationship with him has been in his life but he has discovered that women go to the bathroom. >> reporter: sanders making light of trump's attack on clinton after her bathroom break during the abc news democratic debate. it's not the first time trump's comments have insulted women. his public battling with fox news host megyn kelly and gop rival carly fiorina made >> it's the mark of a man who i believe has no respect for supporters are sticking with

>> i don't think he's insulting to women. i think there's a lot of women out there that are very insulting to other women and to men out there. >> reporter: the latest national poll has trump still at the top with 28% of gop voters. but quinnipiac university says six in ten women voters say they would be embarrassed to have trump as their commander in chief. reena and kendis. >> looking at that female vote very important. well, kenneth moton live in washington, thanks, kenneth. we're going to turn our gears and switch to our other top story this morning. a record-breaking travel day colliding with record-breaking weather. >> 40 million americans are in the storm zone facing violent storms, high winds, torrential rains and feet of snow. take a look. this is what philadelphia international airport looks like at this hour where during this busy travel week, the weather has been having a domino effect canceling hundreds of flights and delaying thousands more. >> and the weather radar, take a look, shows the whole picture for the eastern half of the country. a couple of powerful fronts

one in the midwest, the other blanketing just about everything south of pennsylvania. severe storms are hitting the deep south, even triggering tornado warnings overnight in mississippi and louisiana. abc's rob marciano tracking where the severe weather is expected today. >> reporter: the severe weather threat that starts in the arklatex and expands throughout the day across the midsouth, a wide spread from new orleans all the way to indianapolis with memphis in the bull's-eye. maybe tornadoes, this is spread by extreme warmth. better above normal. 62 in chicago. that's with rain and christmas eve over 70 in new york and d.c. records are going to be blown out. the eastern half will see wet interstates, the western half, the mountain west especially will see snow covered roads so be safe and travel slow. >> thank you so much, rob. and breaking overnight weather may have played a role in a plane crash in the san francisco bay area. officials have found the wreckage of a small plane in castro valley with a body inside, however, the terrain is

in fact, two firefighters received minor injuries while trying to reach the wreckage. recovery efforts will resume this morning. bowe bergdahl, the army sergeant held by the taliban for five years, made a brief appearance in his dress blues, this is the first look we've actually had of bergdahl since he was handed over in a controversial prisoner swap in 2014. he's facing charges of deserting his unit. he did not enter a plea and makes another court appearance next month. we're learning more about the six americans killed during a suicide bomb attack in afghanistan on monday. among those killed was major adrianna vorderbruggen, a 38-year-old gay rights activist and mother from minnesota. the others included four staff sergeants and a technical sergeant. they rank in ages from 28 to 45. the taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack. we're also getting new details about the san bernardino shooters from the wife's immigration file. syed farook, we're learning, was

connected with tashfeen malik on the internet before meeting farook's pilgrimage to mecca and they became engaged the day they met. her file doesn't appear to support charges from some republicans that immigration officials failed to catch errors in her visa application. the woman charged in the deadly hit-and-run crash on the las vegas strip makes her first court appearance this morning. lakeisha holloway is facing charges of murder, child abuse and leaving the scene of an accident. her defense attorney says he expects her to plead not guilty. she told police she was stressed before intentionally driving onto the crowded sidewalk. just a few years ago she was honored in oregon for turning her life around. several people injured in the crash remain hospitalized. here in new york city an alleged hacker to the stars is the 23-year-old from the bahamas was busted for trying to sell movie scripts as well as personal information and sexually explicit videos of

such script hawkers are a common sight on the streets of new york but in this case u.s. immigration agents stepped in after getting a tip from an unnamed radio host. still ahead, another mishap for the u.s. secret service. this time items stolen from an agent's car. and falling from the describe, a drone nearly hits a world cup skier. streaking across the night sky spotted from las vegas to southern california, so what exactly is this? automated voice: to file a claim, please state your name. carnie wilson. thank you. can you hold on? hold on for one more day really? hey, i know there's pain. why do you lock yourself up in these chains? this would be so easy if you had progressive. our mobile app would let you file a claim and help you find one of our service centers where we manage the entire repair process. things will go your way if you hold on. [ sighs ] someday somebody's gonna make you wanna turn around and say goodbye.

no, you just made it weird. still not feeling well? no...you know when i got sick my mom used to make me chicken noodle soup. aw, ok... you should call your mom. bye. campbell's chicken noodle soup.

made for real, real life. ( ) just head around the corner to walgreens when you' re searching for that perfect little something. walgreens has great gifts like toys, beauty gift sets, and photo gifts, and it' s all just a hop, skip, and a bark away. right now, save 50% on the gift of the week. people from the california coast to las vegas and arizona saw this mysterious bright light in the sky last night. the image going viral on social media.

experts say, it was likely a piece of space junk from a russian rocket. all right, another secret service. a member of the presidential protective division had his gun, badge, radio and handcuffs stolen from his personal car. the vehicle was parked not far from secret service headquarters in washington, d.c. the agent could face disciplinary action. new census figures are out. can you guess the state with the biggest population growth? well, if you guessed in the south, you'd be wrong. thanks to a booming oil industry. in fact, the population there is just over 756,000. colorado, the district of columbia, nevada, florida and texas round out the top five. >> so we're moving to north dakota. the new york city department of consumer affairs finds women are paying more for everyday report, this scooter, take a look, the male version, $25 less

women. and the same shirt here, as well, $30 more for the female version. in the report, women's products carried higher price tags 42% of the time. so you need a last-minute gift? starbucks has your back. they predict to break a record and expect to sell more gift cards than ever as last-minute gifts beating last year's 2.5 million cards sold on christmas eve. more than half of us say we'd like to receive a gift card and starbucks has sold $25 billion worth of them in the past 15 years. hint, hint, partner, on this shift. >> oh, that's no problem. >> every bit of caffeine. >> a $2 starbucks gift certificate for you. >> you can't even get a coffee for $2 there. >> true. you got to see this a college basketball player with one arm with an amazing accomplishment overnight. and miss colombia, new comments on steve harvey's major

right when you feel a cold sore, abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. you could heal your cold sore, fast, as fast as two and a half days when used at the first sign. learn how abreva starts to work immediately at abreva.com don't tough it out, knock it out, fast.

i got you something to keep you warm... on the inside. at jared, we only sell one piece of jewelry for the holidays... the one that melts her heart. and it's waiting for you... at jared. when cigarette cravings hit, all i can think about is getting relief. only nicorette mini has a patented fast-dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. i never know when i'll need relief. that's why i only choose

this is probably one of the last places you'd expect to see a coyote. it was spotted inside a terminal at the myrtle beach airport in south carolina, it ran across the ticket check-in area before animal control stepped in, subdued it with a taster. morning road conditions wet across the pacific northwest. heavy snows will make for slippery driving across the

the entire eastern half of the country will be blanketed by rain and even flooding conditions in the south. flying, airport delays possible in memphis, new orleans, atlanta, charlotte, the district of columbia, new york -- just everywhere. just take a look. it'll be bad. panicked shoppers ran for cover when gunfire erupted at a mall on new york's long island. >> a suspect tried to rob a high-end store. the gun went off striking an employee. when people heard that shot they feared a terror attack. >> it was like pure pandemonium. everybody was running. tell you the truth once i seen everybody running i started running. >> the suspect was quickly taken down with the help of an off-duty new york city police officer who happened to be shopping. the injured mall employee is expected to be okay. robert durst will return to los angeles this summer for a trial on murder charges.

of killing a writer to keep her from cooperating with an investigation into the disappearance of his wife. his attorneys say he didn't kill the writer and doesn't know who did but first -- but his trial on federal weapons charges has to be wrapped up in louisiana. we've got dramatic images as a worker is pulled from the rubble 60 hours after being buried by massive landslide in china. rescue workers say the man was able to give his name before being rushed to the hospital where he underwent surgery. the survivor had been trying to escape when a door panel fell creating a space for him to survive. amazing. 70 people are still missing in this following the landslide strong enough to knock over a multistory building. >> wow. the nfl is denying a or the that it's backed out of funding a study about brain injuries. espn quoted sources reporting that the league is withholding millions of dollars of funding for research being done at boston university. according to the report, the nfl

objectivity of a professor who would be leading the research, but a new statement says the nfl is willing to pay $16 million for the study. the league has been criticized for its handling of concussions. okay, staying with sports i guess a little bit, it was very close call for an alpine skier during a race in italy. marcel hirscher on the slalom was nearly struck by a drone. >> it was carrying a tv camera when it crashed on the snow. wow. hirscher wasn't affected but afterward called it horrible. new york giants warriors dekker odell beckham jr.'s appeal will be heard. as for last night college hoops action, we get it from espn. >> welcome to our "sportscenter" set in los angeles. along with neil everett, i'm stan verrett. >> he's got the better sweater.

>> two chainz gave me this. true story. >> check this out. hodge hodge hodge hodgekins born with one hand. look at the fellas. man, that's just awesome. prior to this he was 0 for 5 in his gator career. basket and the foul. missed the freebie. still, you'll remember that. you're getting ready to go to work and talk to the people at the water cooler. man, that kid from florida, that's cool, man. >> michigan state, taking on oakland. oakland has a gray player, khalil felder. less than 30 seconds to go, oakland down four. knocks down the three. oakland down by just one, michigan state playing without valentine. going to be out for a couple of weeks with a knee injury.

michigan state up by one. forbes made sure that sparty finished the job, 32 for him, a career high as michigan state takes it 99-93. so they got some options you can see if -- well, valentine is out. >> and oakland is pretty good too so they gave them a good game. >> that's it. happy holidays to you. back to you. >> how do i get my twochainz severe weather. >> he has pull somewhere i guess. by the way, the holiday spirit was lacking last night when the blues and bruins got together on the ice in boston. >> so announcer jack edwards did what he could as two players dropped the gloves. we wish you a merry christmas we wish you a merry christmas >> that's funny. >> jack edwards of the new england sports network singing

tyler randall battles ryan reeves and the blues won the game, 2-0. >> i guess that doesn't work when talking about politic, right? can't be singing that between donald trump and hillary clinton. >> nothing merry about that. the new list showing the most overpaid actors. >> new this morning details emerging about steve harvey's contract with miss universe

all right, let's check "the pulse," shall we? and new developments in the mess at the miss universe pageant. >> well, believe it or not steve harvey is set to host the pageant for at least three more years.

signed the contract a few days before his embarrassing mistake when he crowned the wrong winner. >> signed it beforehand. i guess that is the key. miss colombia is weighing in on being miss universe for only a few minutes. she thanked people for their messages of support and says the goof has brought attention to her country, oh, and she says, quoting here, her deep thoughts, life continues and in the future we will find out why things happen the way they happen. >> i love that. you know, i said this yesterday, i thought both handled it with such grace, these right. great thing, spotlight is still on her. great things will happen for her. >> perez hilton said the things we didn't see off camera, she was a diva. >> yeah and that she was giving the side eye to her translator throughout the entire evening throwing serious shade -- >> i have faith in those two women. johnny depp being considered the most overpaid actor in hollywood according to forbes

based on the magazine's calculations, the actor's movie returned $1.20 for every dollar he was paid. depp was, you remember, box office gold as captain jack sparrow in "pirates of the caribbean" franchise but in recent movies not so much. >> followed by denzel washington. he brought in $6.50 for every $1 he was paid and coming in third is funny man will ferrell. >> all right. and jennifer lawrence the most underpaid actress out there. this is shaping up to be one seriously weird christmas in the northeast. record high temperatures and now robotic reindeer. >> the work of boston dynamic which make robots. it's the latest from the wmur wmur

wmur and that was amazing. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. test test test if you have any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse or of seizures. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you have these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have heart or blood vessel problems, or develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. decrease alcohol use while taking chantix. use caution when driving or operating machinery. most common side effect is nausea.

it. i quit smoking. ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. when heartburn hits fight back fast tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue and neutralizes stomach acid at the source tum, tum, tum, tum smoothies! only from tums just press clean and let roomba from irobot help with your everyday messes. roomba navigates your entire home cleaning up pet hair

are always clean. you and roomba from irobot . our top stories, donald trump says he meant hillary clinton was beaten badly when he used a derogatory term for her campaign loss in 2008 without mentioning trump by name clinton told iowa voters it's important to stand up to bullies. army sergeant bowe bergdahl held by the taliban for five years has made his first appearance before a military judge. he did not enter a plea on desertion and other charges. one of the busiest travel days of the year. nearly half the nation blanketed under two storm systems bring heavy rains, flooding and in the south the threat of tornadoes. looking at today's weather across the nation, feet of heavy snow for the inner mountain west and from eastern texas to maine, heavy rains with flooding in the south, some areas could see 7 inches of rain.

longest nights of the year, the skies lit up over florida with a milestone for private space travel. >> you might say one small step for man, one giant leap towards the stars. abc's david kerley has the story. >> two, one. zero. we have liftoff. >> reporter: this is spacex's return to flight after its last rocket blew up but this mission was to prove more than delivering 11 small satellites to space. this was about returning the main rocket, the first stage, to earth and land it to be reused. >> the first stage is returning to land. >> reporter: finally spacex workers at the california headquarters and at cape canaveral could see it returning. >> the falcon has landed. >> that was so awesome. >> reporter: spacex's ceo and tesla magnate elon musk called the reusable rockets one of the keys to going to mars.

after the falcon 9 first stage landed. but musk is not alone. there is a new space race, a private company space race under way call it the battle of the billionaires. a month ago this blue origin rocket stage landed after a test launch. a victory for that company's founder, amazon a jeff bezos. at the time musk needled him tweeting congratulations but adding there is a, quote, difference between space and orbit. the back and forth continued with bezos offering congrats to musk adding welcome to the club so the battle continues but for the first time rockets are reusable making reaching space even more affordable. david kerley, abc news, washington. >> very big accomplishment. >> yeah, billionaires and their toys. >> well, that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." have a great wednesday.