our thanks to sharyn alfonsi. >>> just ahead, what does it take to find a snow leopard in afghanistani had enough of feeling embarrassed about my skin. [ designer ] enough of just covering up my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. i decided enough is enough. ♪ [ spa lady ] i started enbrel. it's clinically proven to provide clearer skin. [ rv guy ] enbrel may not work for everyone -- and may not clear you completely, but for many, it gets skin clearer fast, within 2 months, and keeps it clearer up to 9 months. [ male announcer ] because enbrel®, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal, events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have

sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new york. >> and thank you for watching. "nightline" will be along later.e leave you tonight with the national christmas tree. 28 feet tall, the lights just switched on. good night. you won't take my life. you won't take our future. aids affects us all. even babies. chevron is working to stop mother-to-child transmission. our employees and their families are part of the fight. and we're winning. at chevron nigeria, we haven't had a reported case in 12 years. aidss strong. aids is strong. but we are stronger. and aids... ♪ aids is going to lose. aids is going to lose. ♪

sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new york. >> and thank you for watching. "nightline" will be along later.e leave you tonight with the national christmas tree. 28 feet tall, the lights just switched on. good night. /jok;v <o

here's abc's sharyn alfonsi. >> reporter: millions of us watched it.n eagle swoops in and picks up a toddler. >> oh, [ bleep ]. >> reporter: the internet video leaving us all wondering, is that real? today, word that it is an internet hoax. the work of animation students in montreal. part of a school project. and while most of us saw an unbelievable but visually convincing video, some animators across the country were quick to yell "fake." so, we wanted to know what they saw that we didn't? well, watch again. clue number one, the eagle's wings. all of a sudden, they disappear mid-flight. watch. here, and then gone. clue number two. the eagle's shadow. it appears out of nowhere. watch again. students from the school produce internet hoaxes every year. remember this escaped penguin? that was them. these miniature flying cars too. they're proud of their work, showing us how they made this little girl float away. picking her up behind a green screen. which could be how they made this toddler take flight. and then, there's clue number three. that golden eag

sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new york. >> and do it with supervision. and we thank you for watching.re always here at abcnews.com. "nightline" later. and we want to leave you with something special, every night in december at "world news." a postcard from an affiliate. wdio in duluth, minnesota. by the way, you have to try the onion rings at grandma's restaurant there. but take a look at this. the sprawling holiday light display, it grew from one man's front yard, all the way to bay front park. they call it bentleyville. enjoy. and good night, everybody. >>> developing news how two people were left bound and gagged on the street. police think they know who did it. >> abc 7 news gives access to storm damaged home. tonight more wet weather is on the way. >> a history making gift to uc berkeley tonight. a million dollar endowment to help undocumented students make it through college. >> high tech feature promise to make the 49ers new stadium a state of the art experience.zy >> and here is the scene now in a shopping center. dozens of gunshots rang out today a mall filled with holiday sh

abc's sharyn alfonsi experienced it with both of her pregnancies. >> it's so much more than morning sickness. you are sick morning, noon, night. you're not throwing up a couple of times a day, you're throwing up, you know, two dozen times a day. you can't keep anything down. >> reporter: kate is likely less than 12 weeks' pregnant. in most cases, the condition will ease after 16 weeks. doctors say hg can also give a hint about the baby. studies show mothers that experience it have slightly higher odds of carrying a girl or twins, and if there are twins and there needs to be a c-section, doctors tell us it is clear that one will need to be delivered first and that's the first in line. looking at the royal line of succession, there is the queen, then charles, william, then harry. but the rules of succession are changing, so whether wills and kate have a boy or a girl, this new baby will now bump harry and 37 other members of the royal family and be next in line after william. >> william's child will be third in line to the throne regardless of whether it's a girl or boy. >> reporter: ever sinc

abc's sharyn alfonsi is here to tell us how much and why. >> reporter: it's the type of crash motorists love. gas prices plummeting. in boston, $3.59. atlanta, $3.79. salt lake, $3.40, and l.a., $3.68. the trip home for the holidays just got a lot cheaper. >> i'm thrilled! i mean, i have to buy gas no matter what, so, the fact that it costs a little bit less is great. especially with christmas and everything coming up. >> reporter: prices began rebounding after the refinery problems were fixed. add to that, demand for gasoline down for winter. analyst now think gas prices could fall even further before new years eve. >> by christmas, we should have prices between $3.20 per gallon and $3.40 per gallon. >> reporter: the good news comes on the heels of a game-changing headline from the internal energy agency. they predict the u.s. will be energy independent by 2030. and become the world's largest exporter of oil, surpassing counties like saudi arabia, venezuela, nigeria and even iran. solar, wind and a backyard oil boom has changed the global landscape, and the landscape on our own backyar

as abc's sharyn alfonsi learned, this year, kids are asking for a lot more than toys. ♪ we wish you a >> reporter: nothing captures the hopefulness of christmas like those "dear santa" letters. but this year, at new york's main post office, the people who sorted through those letters to santa noticed something else -- a change in mood. >> it's pretty desperate. >> reporter: peter fontana is the head elf here. >> i'm a 9-year-old and i live in a shelter. >> reporter: fortunately, this brooklyn-born elf believes in miracles. >> this letter asked for a queen-sized bed because the kids were sleeping on the floor in the basement. when i put that letter down, my phone rang and it was a bed company asking how they can help. >> reporter: for all those 100 years, the post office has been matching donors with needy children. >> i need your help this year, santa. >> reporter: these two pitched in to help three kids who lost their father to cancer. >> got her a baby doll that she wanted. >> reporter: and there are thousands more. >> i am 8 years old. i love toys too, but i really need a bookbag f

here is abc's sharyn alfonsi. ♪ ♪ if that ain't love tell me what isn't ♪ >> reporter: she has had 52ne songs, and at 80-year-old. loretta lynn is bona fide country royalty. ♪ that ain't all i lost >> reporter: and she is still on the road. what is it that you like about performing still? couldn't you just kickback? >> i can still sing. if i couldn't sing, i wouldn't. >> reporter: pushing the boundaries of country. writing about the double standard women face. ♪ >> reporter: and writing "the pill" about birth control. ♪ ♪ 'cause i've got the pill >> reporter: when she released those songs, country music stations refused to play them. loretta pushed forward to become the first lady of country music. whose early years inspiring the academy award winning film "coal miner's daughter." ♪ well i was born the coal miner's daughter ♪ >> reporter: and antics became fodder for songs like "you ain't woman enough." ♪ you ain't woman enough to take my man ♪ >> reporter: have you ever had to punch a woman? >> uh-huh. >> reporter: and? >> there is one i would look to punch more. >> reporter: it is t

abc's sharyn alfonsi reports. >> reporter: millions of us watched it.r. >> oh, [ bleep ]! >> reporter: millions of people wondering, is it real? word is that it's an internet hoax, the work of animation students in montreal. part of a school project. while most of us saw a visually convincing video, some animators across the country were quick to yell fake. but we wanted to know what did they see that we didn't? watch again. clue number one, the eagle's wings. all of a sudden they disappear mid flight. watch. here and then gone. clue number two, the eagle's shadow. it appears out of nowhere. watch again. students from the school produce internet hoaxes every year. remember this escaped penguin? that was them. these miniature flying cars, too. they're proud of their work, showing us how they made this little girl float away, picking her up behind a green screen. which could be how they made this toddler take flight. and then there's clue number three. that golden eagle is not a golden eagle. in fact, bird experts say it's not the kind of bird that would

sharyn alfonsi, abc news. >> what the heck is that? books, not toys. reaction strange ways like bawling their eyes out. >> if you have pictures of your kids on santa's lap that may crack us up on the overnight. tweet them to #wnnfans. can't wait to see all the pics. we'll be right back. and me... discovering once-daily levemir® flexpen. flexpen® is prefilled. doesn't need refrigeration for up to 42 days. no drawing from a vial. dial the exact dose. inject by pushing a button. flexpen® is insulin delivery... my way. levemir® (insulin detemir [rdna origin] injection) is a long-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults and children with diabetes and is not recommended to treat diabetic ketoacidosis. do not use levemir® if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause symptoms such as sweating, shakiness, confusion, and headache. severe low blood sugar can be serious and life threatening. ask your healthcare provider about alcohol use, operating machinery, or driving. other possi

and abc's sharyn alfonsi met exclusively with the family.forward to their bright futures. >> reporter: baby, by their very nature are miracles. and amelia and allison tucker are more proof. mom, shelly, was 13 weeks in her regularcy when she learned she was having twins. >> she said, you're having twins. and i think they're connected. my heart dropped further. their recommendation was to terminate. >> reporter: march of this year, shellie gave birth to amelia and allison. the sisters were joined at their abdomen. >> they held on to my fingers. they came out screaming. we knew we made the right choice. >> reporter: the next eight months would be at children's hospital of philadelphia. the girls' 2-year-old brother, owen, often turning the hospital hallways into his own play room. the girls facing daunting medical hurdles ahead. doctors decided it was time to separate the girls. they prepared, among other things, practicing on two dolls sewn together. >> it didn't look as cute as the girls. >> reporter: dr. holly headrich and a team of surgeon

. >> i know a handful of women, one of them our own sharyn alfonsi, who suffered from this. if she's been hospitalized, what does it tell you? obviously, the bland diet and plenty of fluids hasn't worked? >> right. so we go through a number of treatments. early on, we start with modifying the diet. small, frequent meals. ginger tea, or low doses of vitamin b-6. even acupressure can be helpful. if that doesn't work, then we see hospitalization with i.v. fluids. in severe or worse cases, anti-nausea pills. medications that work in the brain and the stomach. and in some cases, a semipermanent feeding tube. it is very, very serious. >> if she's been hospitalized this early in the pregnancy, that means there's a greater chance she'll be hospitalized again. >> off times, we see people coming back again. >> we've heard this could be an indication of there might be twins or possibly a girl. >> these are the associations we see in obstetrics all the time. more common with multiples. we'll have to stay tuned. >> then, we have the problem which twin is born first? >> and might be excit