brandi hitt joins us from manhattan. >> reporter: as you can see the winds are starting to pick up and the temperatures are dropping fast. families are still struggling and still without power. more than three million people are still in the dark now as temperatures start get to freezing. victims woke up in cold dark homes again this morning facing another day of waiting for help. tempers are flaring as many feel they've been left out in the cold. >> this is really a dangerous, dangerous situation. it is a real dangerous place in the dark. >> reporter: on staten island where the hardest hit communities frustration and desperation. >> we lost everything. when you fix things, you do the best you can. try hard, you go to work everyday you do the best you can. >> reporter: in one manhattan neighborhood people felt a need to dive into dumpsters to retrieve food thrown out by restaurants. hundreds stood in line for hours to get donated necessities. >> we had to throw food out. >> reporter: it could get worse forcasters say temperatures in the northeast will dip into the 30s this weekend. add

brandi hitt joins us from manhattan. >> reporter: as you can see the winds are starting to pick up and the temperatures are dropping fast. families are still struggling and still without power. more than three million people are still in the dark now as temperatures start get to freezing. victims woke up in cold dark homes again this morning facing another day of waiting for help. tempers are flaring as many feel they've been left out in the cold. >> this is really a dangerous, dangerous situation. it is a real dangerous place in the dark. >> reporter: on staten island where the hardest hit communities frustration and desperation. >> we lost everything. when you fix things, you do the best you can. try hard, you go to work everyday you do the best you can. >> reporter: in one manhattan neighborhood people felt a need to dive into dumpsters to retrieve food thrown out by restaurants. hundreds stood in line for hours to get donated necessities. >> we had to throw food out. >> reporter: it could get worse forcasters say temperatures in the northeast will dip into the 30s this weekend. add

. >> i'm brandi hitt in boston where the room fell silent the minute it was announced mitt romney lost the key battleground state of ohio and then the election. romney supporters were convince heed would win some of the key battleground states. he just fell short in states like pennsylvania, ohio and also virginia. here is what mitt romney told his supporters after he called president obama to congratulate him. >> this is a to-- time of great challenges for america and pray the president will be successful in guiding our nation. i so wish -- i so wish that i had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction, but the nation chose another leader and so ann and i join with you to earnestly pray for him and for this great nation. thank you and god bless america. you guys were the best! thank you so much! [ cheers and applause ] thank you! thanks, guys. >> reporter: mitt romney thanked his donors, volunteers and supporters and says beside choosing his wife ann, picking paul ryan as a runningmate was the best decision he has ever made. ron, paula. >> a gracious

brandi hitt has previews. >> reporter: if you are looking for a way to unwind after this morning's blackay cruds. how about a little fun taking in a new film. the holiday weekend has plenty to choose from starting with movies that hit earlier this week. director ang lee brings the book life of pi to life on the big screen. >> one of the best of the year hands down i think this has serious oscar potential for lee. >> reporter: telling the tale of a shipwrecked indian boy stranded on a boat with a bengal tiger. >> this is a really good film. >> reporter: a different kind of adventure remake of 1984's red dawn. >> they messed with the wrong family. >> the bad guy is north korea. the problem is with when they shot it, it was china. they changed it because they didn't want to offend the chinese government, because they do a lot of business in china. >> reporter: then there's the animated rise of the guardian, starring everyone's favorite. alec baldwin and jude law. lend their voices. opening today, one master portraying another, hopkins stars in hitchcock centered on the making of psycho, hel

. >> eliot: for more on the situation on the ground, let's go to abc news correspondent brandy hitt. thanks for joining us. [ sirens ] i hear in the background some sirens. what is the latest -- let's begin with the death toll. has the search and rescue now terminated and are we moving on to the next phase? >> reporter: it is really, really sad the numbers we're starting to get eliot. we're approaching close to 100 people killed according to "the associated press." a couple of updates we received throughout the day including recently. two little boys who vanished and were ripped from their mother's arms in staten island when the storm hit, they have found the bodies of the 2 and 4-year-old little boys today. just devastating to hear that news. also, as they were searching homes in staten island today they found two more bodies inside a home they believe are a couple that lived there. the death toll just continues to rise. here in lower manhattan the power is obviously still out but it is slowly starting to come back online. of course, the city telling everyone they hope to have the p

nick was doing a little flirtation with brandi hitt. not going to miss with perfection. >> how is that again? >> brandi will be with us. off next two days for the holidays. brandi will be, perfect ms. brandi hitt. >> she is a lovely lady. i am more than happy to hand over the seat to her for a while. be nice to her. >> we're going to break her in. coming in from l.a., so it should be cool. i will be nice. good behavior. i will be good. >> can i get that in writing. right here. sign on the dotted line. >> i need a new contract. >>> this morning on "world news >>> this morning on "world news >>> this morning on "world news now" -- if you are not on the road right now, right this very minute, you might be in for a very long day. >> that's right. today is expected to be the busiest travel day of the year. it's wednesday, november 21st. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >>> good hump day, pre-thanksgiving day, wednesday. all those things. good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> i love it when you say "merning." >> "me

. >> cenk: with the latest on the aftermath of hurricane sandy i'm joined once again by brandi hitt iner manhattan. these pictures are heartrending. what can you tell us is happening? >> eliot, it's very heartbreaking to look at the devastation. some of the neighborhoods have been completely wiped out. here on the southern end of manhattan we have a little bit of good news to report. the power is slowly coming on. not fully but we're starting to see the lights come back. there are areas without power. including bellevue hospital. there are evacuations under way there. that hospital has been without power since the hurricane struck, but the issue has been their generators. they've had back-up generators, but the power has not been enough. right now the national guard is going in and helping to pull those people out. when it comes to the subway system, another good news for new yorkers. there will be limited subway service starting tomorrow morning as well, eliot. >> eliot: that certainly is good news. something that will be in discussion at some point down the road are the hospitals and

. >>> good morning, happy thanksgiving, i'm brandi hitt. s the night off. >> welcome, brandi. first time doing the overnights with us. you got the toughest assignment of all, the overnight. >> i'm happy to be here, hey, i told you, we have food, the thanksgiving feast. >> it's how we like to treat the guests here. absolutely. >> face-to-face. welcome aboard. happy thanksgiving. >> happy thanksgiving. >> good morning again, i'm rob nelson. we'll get more to that cease-fire in just a second. first other stories we'll follow. it wassing a but smooth sailing on the roads, trains and planes across the country as tens of millions of people scrambled to get to their thanksgiving defendant nations. >> hopefully, you got there safe. >>> also, this morning, if you're waiting for all those black friday deals, you may be waiting too long. it's being called gray thursday, if you don't know. the chaos is going to commence just moments after you're done eating the thanksgiving dessert. >> earlier and earlier. next thing you know, it's it be purple tuesday.

. >> brandy hitt is in lower manhattan with almost no power. >> reporter: three days after sandy made landfall thousands of families in hobeken are still trapped by floodwaters. >> it's really scary. we don't have that much food. we spared a little bit. >> reporter: while national guard rescues people stranded here fires continue to burn further south where homes have been flattened. >> you hear the gas, for days,. >> reporter: it's gone in to the streets because crews can't reach the area to turn it off. >> you never really expected this to be this bad. >> reporter: help and relief is being delivered but frustration is growing. at howard beach entire working class neighborhoods have been destroyed and people feel they have been forgotten. >> i have -- red cross, salvation army, fema, nobody. >> reporter: it'll take weeks to recover from the destruction and parts of new york city are still paralyzed. some subway service has returned and it was announced that power will be restored to all of manhattan by saturday. with limited photograph are i can into the city lines for buss are growi

abc's brandi hitt is in boston. >> reporter: good morning, rob and paula. this is where mitt romney headquarters is set up. and where mitt romney hopes to hold a victory party later this evening. romney rallied support in the big battleground states he needs for victory, including florida, virginia and the biggest of all, ohio. he needs those states because this race is still so very close. >> i need your work. i need your help. i need your vote. >> reporter: romney ended his campaign swing in new hampshire with a big celebration that included a performance by kid rock. his campaign believes that romney has the momentum and enthusiasm on his side to win this race. and we'll find out today when voters hit the polls. rob and paula? >> today's the one poll that counts. thanks for that. >>> and make abc news your place for election returns with our team, live, right there in times square. it kicks off at 7:00 eastern time tonight. >>> well, there are also 33 senate seats up for grabs today. among the high-profile races, the one in massachusetts between democrat

. >> and i'm brandi hitt in for paula faris. we begin with the black friday frenzy, in full swing at malls all across america. the die-hard shop-till-you-drop crowd is in force. >> a lot of stores are trying to cash in earlier than ever. open thanksgiving night. already we've seen some long lines and short tempers. tahman bradley is here with the latest. live in the flesh. good morning, sir. >> reporter: good morning, rob. good morning, brandi. good to be with you. and happy black friday. black friday, the unofficial start of the crucial holiday gift-buying season. this morning, lines are already long at stores across the country, as people looking for deal storm the barricades. shoppers rush stores overnight, filling carts with black friday bargains. best buy opened its store doors at midnight. but that's already hours after deals were being snapped up for thanksgiving. retailers are trying to get an edge on the $52 billion up for grabs this year. they say every day counts. that's why toys "r" us, sears, walmart and target offe

brandi hitt, abc news, los angeles. >> it's cute that the biebs brought his mom. >> cool. >>> and they. >>> and the real winner, dick clark legacy. that's what's making news captioned by closed captioning services, inc. >>> good

brandi hitt was there. >> reporter: good morning, rob and paula.e best of the best. in the end, a fan favorite. melissa rycroft took home her first mirrorball trophy. >> melissa and tony. >> reporter: from underdog to "dancing with the stars" all-stars champion. melissa rycroft won the title and the coveted mirrorball trophy. after ten weeks of dancing, the 13 contestants were narrowed down to 3, leading to the final challenge, the instant dance. melissa rycroft, who topped the judges' leaderboard monday night, drew the samba, with only minutes to rehearse. kelly monaco was given the jive. and shawn johnson drew the cha-cha. the contestants kicked up their heels for the first time. kelly was the first to be eliminated. then, came the big announcement. melissa rycroft clinched her first "dancing with the stars" victory. it was such a powerful moment. the whole, entire studio erupted when melissa's name was announced. all three finalists are going to be taking the red-eye flight from los angeles, all the way to new york city, where you are, so they c

i'm brandi hitt. paula faris is off this morning. >> and i'm rob nelson. there was celebrating in gaza after an agreement was reached to stop the violence, after eight days of intense fighting. >> hamas has declared today a national holiday. and says israel is inevitably destined for defeat. with more, we're joined by abc's lama hasan, who is live in jerusalem. lama? >> reporter: good morning to you, brandi. we saw the cease-fire agreement yesterday that was mediated, brokered and announced by the egyptians. we saw the egyptian foreign minister announce that late last night that a cease-fire will take hold. that both israel and hamas have agreed to some of those terms. now, we saw the other major player in these negotiations, the united states. the foreign minister was flanked by u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. and the feeling is that having her presence in the region has made a difference in expediting the negotiation talks. now, as for the cease-fire, it's safe to say that the region remains on -- quite tense at the moment. just waiting to see i

i'm brandi hitt. paula faris is off this morning. >> and i'm rob nelson. there was celebrating in gaza after an agreement was reached to stop the violence, after eight days of intense fighting. >> hamas has declared today a national holiday. and says israel is inevitably destined for defeat. with more, we're joined by abc's lama hasan, who is live in jerusalem. lama? >> reporter: good morning to you, brandi. we saw the cease-fire agreement yesterday that was mediated, brokered and announced by the egyptians. we saw the egyptian foreign minister announce that late last night that a cease-fire will take hold. that both israel and hamas have agreed to some of those terms. now, we saw the other major player in these negotiations, the united states. the foreign minister was flanked by u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. and the feeling is that having her presence in the region has made a difference in expediting the negotiation talks. now, as for the cease-fire, it's safe to say that the region remains on -- quite tense at the moment. just waiting to see i

for more on this now we are joined by abc's brandi hitt there in bean town. g, rob, paula. this is where mitt romney headquarters is set up where mitt hopes to hold a victory party later tonight. romney wrapped up his final day on the trail, rallying support in the big battleground states he need. -- he need for victory. florida, virginia, and the biggest state of all, ohio. >> i need your work. i need your help. i need your vote. >> ohio, florida, and virginia. he basically -- mitt romney has to basically go 3-3 in the states in order to win this race. >> reporter: he needs those states because this race is still so very close. >> we have come too far to turn back now. we have come too far to let our hearts grow faint. >> reporter: the latest abc news/"washington post" poll shows president obama up by 3 points nationally. while campaigning in virginia, the romneys made it clear they feel the white house is within reach. >> are we going to be neighbors soon? [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: romney ended his campaign swing in new hampshire with a big celebr

. >> i'm brandi hitt in for paula faris. getting bruised up as you are doing the shopping. we will get to the mob scene in just a moment. >>> also this half hour, hurricane sand survivors are finding reason to give thanks as volunteers. so many of them are pitching in to help make holiday memories. >> a fantastic story. really is. see people help out knowing so many communities, a lot, are in dire need. fantastic. >>> also coming up, thanksgiving turns nasty at halle berry's house. her fiance and her ex get into a nasty brawl. police had to make an arrest in the case. not a peaceful thanksgiving at the halle berry household. >> not a happy thanksgiving to their 4-year-old daughter nahla in the middle of it. >>> a milestone moment in the circle kl of life. the stage version of "the lion king" has something new to celebrate. i hear it is a fantastic show to see. >>> first, the money-saving mayhem drawing millions of shoppers to the stores on this black friday. >> bargain hunters getting an earlier start than ever, some cities

joining us now with the highlights live from los angeles, is the dashing, stunning brandi hitt. his morning, brandi. >> reporter: oh, why thank you. good morning, rob and paula. you see they're taking down the red carpet behind me right now here in the late night hours on the west coast. talk about a wonderful night. we saw several entertaining and justin powerful performances. and justin bieber. he was the biggest star. he took home several awards, including artist of the year. ♪ >> reporter: from the red carpet to the red-hot performances. ♪ tonight i want to show you off ♪ >> reporter: music's brightest stars shined at the 40th annual american music awards in los angeles. >> justin bieber! >> reporter: and justin bieber won the first award of the night for pop music award artist. >> i feel like i'm going to be here for a very long time. >> reporter: justin bieber won the first award of the night for pop rock male artist. >> country female artist, taylor swift. >> thank you for voting for this award. i love you guys. >> reporter: and bryant took home male country artist. fans c

abc's brandi hitt is in l.a. with the latest. ter: good morning, rob and paula. even after his apology, the controversy surrounding actor angus jones is not going away and now other actors are weighing in. >> i am on "two and a half men" i don't want to be on it. please stop watching it. >> reporter: actor angus t. jones is apologizing for his controversial comments about "two and a half men" the television show he starred in for nearly a decade. >> please stop filling your head with filth. >> reporter: jones joined the seventh day adventist church. hours after his religious rant went viral, he released the statement. "i apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues. i never intended that." next to jones in the video is pastor christopher hudson the a man described as the actor's spiritual mentor and host of the online ministry forerunner chronicles. >> the spirit would never tell him to stay on the show. the show is not teaching all truth. it's teaching lies. >> reporter: a former star

>> as brandi hitt tells us, a new pushback against purchasing. randi. >> good morning, rob and paula. many are out for the discounts. others say this is tradition. either way it is going to be a very long thanksgiving week for many black friday shoppers who started lining up last weekend. the wait is on for black friday bargains. >> i wanted to get here early. >> reporter: lines are already forming outside stores all across the country, building up to the door-buster deals shoppers can't live without. >> well, i do it every year. every year i regret it. when the day comes, i enjoy it. >> reporter: not everyone is enjoying the new push by some stores to open thursday evening. walmart employees scheduled to work at 8:00 p.m. thanksgiving day are threatening to walk out at 1,000 locations. >> we just are demanding respect. >> reporter: it is also not hard to forget the dark side of black friday. >> hey! >> reporter: over the last several years people have been trampled getting into stores, there have been fights and shootings over merchandise. and on

abc's brandi hitt joining us in lower manhattan, in fact near wall street. reporter: good morning, rob. good morning, sunny. that's right. we're starting to see the power come back on here in lower manhattan. and just as these cleanup efforts really start to get under way, we're learning of new dangers surfacing in the wake of sandy, including the threat of fire. sandy left behind a sea of destruction. a high pressure gas main broke and gases pouring out of floodwaters. after losing everything, families fear, the natural gas liking from piles of rubble that sparked several fires. president obama accompanied new jersey governor chris christie for an up close look at the damage. an entire neighborhood washed away. >> you are going to be okay. you are safe. what i can promise you is that the federal government will be working as closely as possible with the state and local officials and we will not quit until this is done. >> reporter: the iconic boardwalk is in ruins. and thousand of people are still trapped in hoboken. >> it's scary. you don't know how long y

abc's brandi hitt is following the story and has the latest. morning, brandi. >> reporter: good morning, rob, sunny. we'll soon learn who is holding one of the two lucky powerball jackpot tickets. later this morning the winner from missouri will be revealed. we don't know yet who the instant multi-millionaires are, but two winning tickets were sold in weekend's record $587 million powerball lottery jackpot. one was purchased in arizona. another in missouri. and powerball officials say they haven't come forward to claim their prize yet. the winning ticket in arizona was a $10 quick pick. >> if you are the winner, we ask you to take the following steps. sign your ticket. it's so important to get that ticket signed. of course, keep the ticket safe. >> reporter: the second winning ticket was sold at this truck stop in dearborn, missouri, 35 miles north of kansas city. >> awesome one of us could touch that ticket, you know? that's what makes it so awesome. >> reporter: norman lingle, chairman of powerball's board of directors, says the winners have t

brandi hitt, abc news, los angeles. >> okay. so what does this mean? facilities are clean enough to reopen. but until they can prove that, they will be shut down. and they voluntarily shut down their facilities in september when this happened. >> you sometimes hear about the fda getting involved after something that got a lot of people sick. but it's good to see some proactive stances here as opposed to reactive stance from the fda. >> sunland, 11 product lots of nut butter showed the presence of salmonella between june 2009 and september 2012. so this is not their first blemish on their record. >> not at all. bad nut butter gets you every time. >>> and now to a major warning about a staple on the breakfast table. grapefruit as well as grapefruit juice. canadian researchers say taking prescription medication with grapefruit juice can cause harmful or fatal interactions. those interactions involve 85 oral medications, including pills that treat heart problems, pain, and psychiatric conditions. now, grapefruit contains a chemical that can interfere with

abc brandi hitt is joining us from new york. hi, brandi. >> reporter: good morning, rob and sunny.ricane sandy swept through. many people say they still haven't received any food or aid. and people trying to work here in new york city, they've been stuck in gridlock. the death toll continues to rise in the aftermath of hurricane sandy. officials promised fema is doing everything it can to help. >> we want to help get things back to normal as quickly as possible. schools open, stores open. >> reporter: in new jersey, emergency crews and the national guard are still going door to door searching for survivors where families have been stranded by floodwaters for days. natural gas fires continue to burn in man locating where homes were flattened and with millions still in the dark, 64,000 utility workers in a dozen states are working around the clock to turn the power on. >> one pole at a time. how you got to go. you got to pick through it. >> yay! >> got our lights back. thank you, lord. >> reporter: commuters have been ordered to have at least three people in their cars and gas lines

brandi hitt from boston with more on the campaign. hi, brandi. >>> good morning, rob, paula.e white house has really come done to the wire. mitt romney's campaign believes he has momentum and enthusiasm that will lead to a within tonight. mitt romney wrapped up his final full day on the trail racing through the battleground states he needs for victory. >> do you want four more years like the last four years? or do you want real change? >> reporter: the republican challenger held valleys in florida, virginia and the biggest state of all. ohio. >> i node yoeed your work. i need your help. i need your votes. >> ohio, florida and virginia. he basically has to go three for three in the states in order to when the race. >> reporter: ohio is so important. both candidates held rallies in columbus. two hours apart. >> we have come too far to turn back now. we have come too far. >> while campaigning in virginia, the romneys made it clear they feel the white house is within reach. >> are we going to be nabs soon? >> what better way to end the matchup than on monday night football. >> ar

abc's brandi hitt joining us this morning near wall street. hi, brandi. >> hi, rob. hi, sunny.es, the power starting to slowly come back on in lower manhattan. a good sign. as clean-up efforts now continue, new dangers are appearing in the aftermath of sandy including the threat of fire. sandy left behind a sea of destruction in new jersey. and the danger isn't over. a high pressure gas main broke and gas is pouring out of the floodwaters. after lose everything, families now fear the natural gas liking from the piles of rubble that is already sparked several fires. president obama accompanied new jersey governor chris christie for an up close look at the damage. an entire neighborhood washed away. >> you are going to be okay. everybody is safe. what i can promise you is that the federal government will be working as close low as possible with the state and local officials and we will not quit un,000 ti until this is done. >> reporter: the iconic boardwalk is in ruins and thousand are still trapped in hoboken all. up ait's scary. you've don't know how long you will be stuck here

. >> season finale of "dancing with the stars," all-stars edition, aired last night, and brandi hitt brandi. >> reporter: good morning, rob and paula. what a finale. the best of the best hit the dance floor with everything they had. in the end, a fan favorite, melissa rycroft, took home her first mirror ball trophy. >> melissa and tony! >> reporter: from underdog to "dancing with the star "dancing with the stars"al-star champion, melissa rycroft won the coveted mirror ball trophy. after ten weeks of dancing, the 13 all-star contestants were narrowed down to three leading to final challenge. the instant dance. tv personality, melissa rycroft, who topped the judge's leader board drew the samba with minutes to rehearse. actress kelly monaco was given the jive. and olympic gymnast shawn johnson drew the cha-cha. there was also an all-star reunion with former contestants kicking up their heels one last time as the final scores were tallied. kelly was the first to be eliminated. then came the big announcement. >> melissa rycroft and tony dovolani! >> melissa rycroft won the hearts of voters