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 new showdown in washington. trump versus gillibrand. >> i will not be silenced on this. >> calling on the president to

resign and accusing him of making a secoxist smear. and we do say good morning, everybody. wow, what a busy morning it is. we start with breaking news out of deep red alabama sending a democrat to the senate for the first time since 1992. >> doug jones beat republican roy moore by a razor thin margin of 21,000 vote, just 1.5%. jones won overwhelming support from women and african-americans, his victory will trim the republican majority in the u.s. senate to 51-49. >> moore had the endorsement of president trump but spent weeks denying allegations of sexual misconduct and overnight he refused to concede the race. abc's maggie rulli begins our coverage right now from montgomery. maggie, good morning.

>> reporter: dan and kendis, good morning, just one month ago a democrat winning a senate seat in alabama would have seemed impossible but the people came out in numbers rarely seen in a special election and made history. tears of joy from supporters of doug jones as overnight the democratic nominee for senate did the unthinkable. turn a deep red state blue. >> i think that i have been waiting all my life and now i just don't know what the hell to say. >> reporter: abc news projects jones to win the alabama senate seat over roy moore after getting a huge wave of support from african-american voters, young people and former lifelong republicans. >> i have felt empowered not only as a republican, i feel like holding my party to a better standard but as a woman who i think is making the right choice. >> reporter: the republican bloc on this was uppen sended 34 days ago when allegations of sexual misconduct against moore were made public including

accusations of sexual assault against two teenage girls when moore was in his 30s. >> at the end of the day, this entire race has been about dignity and respect. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: moore has denied all allegations and while at least 19 gop senators asked him to step aside before the election, he was backed by president trump. on twitter he congratulated jones saying the people of alabama are great and the republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. and it may be soon. moore says his fight is not over. >> when the vote is this close, it is not over. let this process play out. >> reporter: but moore's recount faces an uphill battle. the alabama secretary of state says it's highly unlike the outcome will change. >> looking at the polling numbers right now and it appears independent voters played a major role in this.

>> reporter: yeah, last night was a big shift for political independents here in alabama. they favored jones by 9 points. now, compare that to 2012 and 2008 when they voted overwhelmingly republican. we cannot underscore enough the significance of last night's win when it comes to donald trump. now, remember, here in alabama just last year, president trump won the state by 28 points, now just one year later and they can't even vote to get his guy into the senate. diane and kendis. >> all right, maggie rulli for us there in montgomery, thanks. many political experts are drawing parallels between the special counsel election in alabama and one in massachusetts, back in 2010. >> in that race republican scott brown won the election to fill senator ted kennedy's seat in that deep blue state. months later republicans swept the midterm elections. the question is will the same thing happen for democrats in next year's midterms? rick klein has more on the fallout from the alabama results. >> diane and kendis, a major

victory for democrats who somehow found a winning formula in deep red alabama and major setback for president trump, a rebuke to president trump and steve bannon with the defeat of their chosen candidate roy moore. the shock waves of this will be felt for a long time. first the ability to recruit insurgent candidates could be hurt. second, democrats may have an easier time bringing people into their ranks and the more immediate term it's going to make governing that much harder for republicans on capitol hill. their senate margin is now down to just a single vote with the election of a democrat in alabama, the shock waves will be remembered for a very long time because of the ramifications and essentially this was the movement of anti-trump forces joining forces with me too. a powerful formula for democrats moving forward and will change the political calculus for the remainder of the trump years in office if democrats have anything to say about it. diane and kendis.

>> it should make for aterestin. rick, our thanks to you. president trump's lawyers demanding that a second special counsel be appointed. >> they're claiming bias in robert mueller's russia investigation. overnight for the first time abc news reviewed the anti-trump text messages that were sent by a former member of mueller's team. gloria riviera has more on that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. how are you guys? well, you know, it's not exactly certain how much of these 375 text messages robin reviewed but a lot was said and now attorney general jeff sessions has asked a lawyer to review everything and make a recommendation to him as to whether that second special counsel ds need to be appointed to review the impartiality. a conflict of interest for the fbi. god, trump is a loathsome human from lisa page on march 4, 2016,

one day after the republican primary debate. her colleague spebl agent peter strzok replaying, he may win, he's an idiot. another reference to the absolute bigoted nonsense of trump. special counsel robert mueller dismissed strzok for allegedly sending anti-trump texts. page is also no longer on the team and lawyers are pushing attorney general jeff sessions to appoint a new second special counsel to investigate. trump has denied any collusion with russia during the campaign. in alabama this fall joking -- >> any russians in the audience? are there any russians in the audience, please? i don't see too many russians. >> reporter: the white house response -- >> i know he has great concern about some of the conduct that's taken place and something that we certainly would like to see looked at. >> reporter: now, the white house has also said it has no problem with robert mueller who

is a republican, democrats say the president is questioning the fbi's integrity because mueller is amping up the pressure. kendis, diane. >> an investigator to investigate the investigators. see how that pans out. >> sounds like washington. coming up a dangerous new promise from kim jong-un. secretary of state rex tillerson's surprising new approach with dealing with north korea. we'll explain why you may be paying more for g ♪ music

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northern florida. secretary of state rex tillerson is hinting at possible new talks between the u.s. and north korea. tillerson said they would be open to new talks without precondition, a sharp reversal of trump policy. tillerson's shift comes as kim jong-un is promising to create more nuclear weapons. the suspect in the new york city bombing expected to appear before a magistrate today from his hospital bed. he was the only person seriously injured in the explosion. prosecutors say he taunted the president on his facebook page before the attack writing, quote, president trump, you failed to protect your nation. this morning his wife in bangladesh told abc news she spoke to her husband the morning of the bombing and showed no signs of any unusual behavior. in california, the wildfire burning deeper into santa barbara county is now 25% contained. the smoke is creating what's

being described as the worst air quality they have ever seen. investigators say a wildfire that destroyed homes in the bel air neighborhood of los angeles started at a homeless camp much the next time you pull into gas station you may think twice about paying for premium fuel. they found it may slightly improve performance but the extra cost is not worth it for most cars. aaa says if your vehicle's manufacturer recommends but not require it you're better off just saving money. now you tell us. >> good tip. >> but it is. when we come back, how the white house is defending president trump's tweet about senator kirsten gillibrand. a tweet that critics call sex it. an 11-year-old girl handcuffed at gunpoint. see the police chief's reaction as the girl's family demands answers. ♪

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as dr. king liked to quote, the moral arc of the universe is

long but it bends towards justice. >> that's doug jones using martin luther king jr.'s quote about justice while declaring victory overnight in the alabama senate race. voter turnout around 35% far higher than the 20% predicted. >> alabama native and former pro basketball star charles barkley helped the jones campaign get out some of that vote. barkley who was famous for his fiery comments asked alabama voters to, quote, stop looking like idiots. he says this election is a wake-up call. he spoke to our stephanie ramos overnight. >> i've been so lucky and blessed in my life but this is one of the greatest nights in my life. i'm so proud of my state for rising up, doing the right thing. we can't have that idiot representing us in the senate. and i'm just so proud of doug and everybody who worked for him. but i'm really just proud of the people of alabama and let me make this clear. i'm a rich guy but my heart is -- i try to speak for poor people who don't have a voice

and doug got the job tonight but he's got to take advantage of it. >> you talked about roy moore as well on this campaign trail. how do you think they're feeling right now. >> roy moore should have never been in the election. think about that. any man who has eight allegations go answer him sexual harassment, molestation, talks about slavery was good, i guess it was good for him because he wasn't a slave, talk about all the amendments after the tenth should be abolished and gave black people the right to vote and women the right to vote should have never been in the election, period. >> charles barkley, always with an opinion and it was a very different situation in the meantime, at roy moore's headquarters overnight but moore said the race is not over. >> his campaign says it will fight for a recount if possible but that seems unlikely with the margin of votes near 21,000 right now. our tom llamas was at moorehead quarters. >> reporter: kendidise, according to roy moore it is not over. he came out an 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 and toldsuppo. during the moore party stone-fae crying hoping the results weren't though president trump, roy moore's biggest supporter, already congratulated doug jones the democrat in this race moore says he's not giving up. kendis and diane, back to you. >> tom, thanks. we turn to the growing controversy in washington. senator kirsten gillibrand is accusing president trump of maki sar against her. the new york democrat claims it was part of a tweet in which trump said gillibrand would, quote, do anything for a campaign contribution. the tweet was in response to

gillibrand's call for the president to resign because of the sexual misconduct allegations against him. it was attempting to silence voice and i will not be silenced on this issue. >> reporr: the president was asd to clarify what he meant in his tweet but he didn't answer so our asked >> many, many people see this as a sexually innuendo. what is the president suggesting? >> i think that the president is very obvious. this is the same sentiment that the president has expressed many times before when he has exposed the corruption of the entire political system. >> more than 100 democrats in congress have signed a letter saying the women who made sexual misconduct allegations against use overgh nt cannot be ignored. will not be investigating those claims. the committee's chairman says he will refer t ihessue the juice department. w trying to figure out wt are owa killing a l bus to catch

16-year-old student and the 74-year-old driver. they were the only ones on board when the bus somehow ended up in a ditch. > for the second timin weeks a c ice appareny llom plane crashing throug of a in southern california. this time the ice chunk land in a n san beno. residents say it sounded le a bomb. the police chief in grand rapids, michigan, calling for change after an officer handcuffed an 11-year-old girl at gunpoint. the girl and herot cuffed while having their home searched by police searching for a suspect in an attempt case but the poled the by c footage of the little g$ol in cuffs disturbing. an internal investigation is now under way. >> to medical news. we have the new list of the healthiest state, massachusett ha vermont are at the top of the list. states were judged on factorsui availability of doctors, at the other end, mississippi,

louisiana, arkansas were ranked as the least healthy. p next goe top seares of 2017. also ahead, the new discovery from scientists you won't believe how big penguins once were. the christmas lights still twinkling aft nrl50 years. and pause. not even in your vocabulary. so when a cold sore tingle strikes you act on it. only abreva can heal a cold so in as little as two and a half days when used at the first sign. it starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. nothing heals a cold sore faster. and because abreva acts on it... you can too. act on it, with abreva. hellooo, ho ho ho ho! brg ur pet to petsmart this weekend from 12-4 pm for a free photo taken with santa! and, buy 2 get 1 free on all petholiday toys, treats and, chews. say petsmart!

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♪ time for "the pulse" and we'llta with "star wars" mania, of course, it is growing the minute. fans already for the premiere a days away. outse theater this hollywood. >> the critics have seen "the last jedi" and reviews are out of this world so to speak getting 93% positive reviews on rotten tomatoes. >> they held a big premiere party in london last night.

princes william and harry were joined by bb8 on the red carpet. even slightly bowed. the royals are not confirming reports that they suited up as stormtroopers during the filming. >> bb8, gre manners. etiquette. >> waited to be touched first before touching the royals as is customary. >> also, no limbs. >> that too. next to a shocking discove >> so, most are cute and funny and small and you jt to cuddle up, but apparently they weren't always that way. >> fossils of an ancient giant penguin indicate they were nearly six feet tall the. >> fst investigation of a penguin being as tall as a human right after the dinosaurs died out. >> are we sure it wasn't a guy six feet tall in a tuxedo they found. overnight google releasing its list of the top searches of 2017. >> number three, tom petty after

thsinger passed away in >> matt lauer, nbc news fired him after allegations of sexual misconduct. >> and most googled topic of the year hurricane irma that hit in september. we stepped it up with the google searches. a british man keeping his christmas bright with a string of lights 48 years old. >> he says his mom bought the lights in 1969, ten years before he was born. they're still going bright. >> merry christmas. early. hey, need fast heartburn relief?

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>> ♪ >> good morning everyone, i'm matt o'donnell. it's 4:27 a.m. we're following breaking news on this wednesday morning. police say two people including the driver took off after causing this deadly crash. one car ended up on the front yard of a tacony home. accuweather is tracking wind with cold this morning. meteorologist, david murphy details the frigid temperatures that you will endure when you head outside. a member of the philadelphia eagles a being honored for his work off the field. plus, the outcome of that alabama senate race, all next on "action news." >> ♪ detectives could use evidence to prosecute other cases. looking at today's weather there is more snow around the great lakes and temperatures are dropping in the east. it'll be warm and dry again in the southwest and in southern california. and finally this morning, we take a look at the alabama

senate race that has tested the limits of party loyalty. >> yeah, so democrat doug jones celebrating that major victory in trump territory while roy moore waits to see if a recount is necessary. moore could ask for a recount but it must be requested within 48 hours. >> when the vote is this close, then it's not over and we still got to go by the rules about this recount provision but we also know that god is always in control. you know, part of the thing -- part of the problem with this campaign is we've been painted in an unfavorable and unfaithful light. but the votes are still coming in and we're looking at that. >> i got to tell you, i think that i have been waiting all my life and now i just don't know what the hell to say. this entire race has been about

dignity and respect. [ cheers and applause ] this campaign, this campaign has been about the rule of law. this campaign -- [ applause ] 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. >> alabama has been at a crossroads. we have been at crossroads in the past. and, unfortunately, we have usually taken the wrong fort. tonight, ladies and gentlemen, you took the right road. >> doug jones there celebrating and then walking off to the song "teach me how to dougie." the last time you had a candidate do that. >> that's what's making news in

. >> ♪ >> "action news." delaware valley's leading news program with matt o'donnell, tamala edwards, karen rogers and meteorologist, david murphy. >> ♪ >> good morning, everyone, it's 4:30 a.m. on this wednesday december 13th. tam is off, nydia han joins us. >> we're following breaking news. a driver takes off running after a deadly crash with another car. >> democrat doug jones wins the senate election in the traditionally red state in alabama. >> bitter cold wind chills have moved in. you'll need hats scarves gloves and winter jackets when you head out this morning. >> we've been outside. we know how cold it is out there. let's turn to matt pelman and karen rogey.