i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight, we begin with the murder trial illustrating that luck can be a fickle thing indeed. when a florida man won a multimillion-dollar lottery jackpot, he didn't realize he may well have been setting off a bizarre chain of events that would end with his murder. here's abc's linsey davis for our series, "crime and punishment." >> reporter: abraham shakespeare probably thought he was the luckiest man in the world when he won $30 million in the florida lottery in november of 2006. but his luck would change in a horrific way. and now, this woman, doris dee dee moore, is on trial for his murder. moore sobbed in court today, after jurors listened to audio recordings of her allegedly agreeing to a scheme in which another man would take the blame for shakespeare's death. it was the latest bombshell in a scandalous trial. >> there was a person he knew who was willing to take the rap for his disappearance, for what i think reports say is about $50,000. >> reporter: shakespeare went from wash

in new york city, this is "nightline," december 5th, 2012. >> and good evening, i'm cynthia mcfadden. we begin with breaking news in the increasingly strange case of american software multimillionaire john mcafee. wanted for questioning in the central american country of belize for his neighbor's mysterious murder. tonight, in guatemala, he was arrested for entering the country illegally. the same place where earl-year-old today, our team tracked him down for this exclusive interview. here's abc's matt gutman from g guatemala city. >> reporter: it is the latest in the bizarre tale of john mcafee. the software tycoon who's been on the lam for three weeks in a cat and mouse game with authorities in belize. tonight, mcafee was arrested by immigration authorities in guatemala's capital. how have you been? >> really good since i got here. >> reporter: just hours earlier, he sat down with abc news, showing that a man known for packing a pistol was unarm and insisting he did not murder greg faull. who do you think killed greg? >> how would i know? how would i know? >> reporter: our search b

i'm cynthia mcfadden. tonight we join you from a community just beginning to process a great tragedy that unfolded here this morning. a little while ago i was just down the street where a thousand people gathered inside and outside saint rose catholic church here in newtown, connecticut, to mourn the loss of 26 people, including 20 schoolchildren, most between the ages of 5 and between years old, shot and killed in their elementary school classrooms this morning. schools in this town are part of the draw for people who live here with some of the highest test scores in the state. the kind of place parents move for the sake of their children. abc's dan harris has been at the scene since early today. dan? >> reporter: cynthia, good evening. it all started a little way behind the volunteer fire department, down the road at a suburban elementary school which tonight is in the history books for the worst of all possible reasons. and this town, which one parent today described as the safest place in america, is i

. >> i'm cynthia mcfadden. today the first of far too many funerals in a small community changed by tragedy. three days ago 20 children and six adults were killed in a connecticut elementary school, a mass shooting that sent shock waves of degree across the country. abc's juju chang reports from newtown, connecticut. >> reporter: sandy hook elementary school is closed tomorrow. and when the children return it will be to a different campus. the town is covered with memorials like this one that take on a feeling of a sacred sight as people make pilgrimages from all over. under a cold steady rain, a wave of communal grief washes over newtown. memorials growing in sets of 20 for the children. 20 christmas trees, 20 poinsettias, 20 angels. today the first funerals in a found whose faith is being tested in ways it could never have imagined. >>> for six-year-old jack pinto a huge new york giants fan. and noah pozner whose sister survived in another classroom. the rabbi struggled for the right words. today a much tough

i'm cynthia mcfadden. at 9:30 this morning, church bells across america rang out in a moment of national silence. one chime for each victim of the tragedy that struck newtown, connecticut, one week ago. yet even as this nation comes together to mourn, we remain deeply divided. all weeknight line has dedicated our broadcast to examining the complex relationship between america and its guns. tonight the most divisive day yet. here's my coanchor, terry moran. >> reporter: in newtown this morning, silence, one week after the children screaming and the madman shooting. sigh length across the country. silence in the oval office. and that ancient marker of mourning and remembrance, church bells. [ bells tolling ] >> reporter: the pain is still raw, the horror still fresh. but in washington the debate is already beginning and today a key voice, a powerful voice was at last heard. >> the national rifle association. >> reporter: wayne lapierre, the long-time executive vice president of the nra, took to the podium in

>>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 28th, 2012. >>> good evening, i'm terry moran. well, with all of the expensive airport frenzy at the holidays, your travel dollar might not feel like it goes as far as it used to, but tonight you're going to meet some everyday travelers who found ways to fly literally around the world in first class luxury for next to nothing. that sounds too good to be true? maybe it's because you've never seen the extreme measures these folks are willing to rack up frequent flier miles. here's an encore presentation. >> reporter: this is where rick gets to go practically for free whenever he goes flying. to the front of the lie at the check-in counter. to the first class lounge. to seats like these at the front of the airplane, first class and business class. and the places he and his wife have gone together, such as -- >> we've gone from savannah to athens and then flew over to croatia, spent some time there. then up to split, also in croatia. then to amsterdam a

. >> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 27th, 2012. >>> good evening, i'm terry moran. this year's holiday gift giving frenzy is drawing to a close. for many of us, that means this season's spending remorse is sinking in. the average american spent an estimated $700 during the holidays this year, so tonight, we wanted to bring you an inside look at the bargain stores that could help out with your wallet rehab. abc's ryan owens brings us inside the booming business of being cheap. >> reporter: they're opening their doors faster than new starbucks. >> i like it because it's cheaper. >> reporter: there are now more dollar stores in the united states than drugstores. >> since the prices are so good, it's like why not? >> you can get more stuff for cheaper. >> reporter: a $56 billion industry. >> i think we can double the size of our chain within this country. >> reporter: each pin on this map represents one family dollar store. howard levine is the ceo of that chain. >> tons of growth he

from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline" -- a day in the life of the american gun. >>> good evening. i'm bill weir. so how does it feel to live in the most heavily armed society in human history? do you take fear or comfort from the fact that this country holds three times more gun stores than mcdonald's restaurants? for many, it took a slaughter of 26 women and children to start talking about the 34 americans shot to death every day, and that talk has many others lining up to buy their first gun. so at this moment of national conversation in a search to understand the complexities driving both sides, "nightline" teams fanned out across one nation under the gun and deeply divided. philadelphia, 7:30 p.m. sergeant john hoyt works overnight. a shift that makes a reasonable man question how anyone could call this the city of brotherly love. and just moments into his night, it begins. >> right now, a man was just shot in the face. >> actually, it's just a boy. 17-year-old. shot duri

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, bill weir, and tonight, juju chang in new york city, this is "nightline," december 6th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm juju chang. tonight, the newly released tapes granting an astonishing look at the twisted mind of a serial killer. from jack the ripper to john wayne gave see, murders who seem to chose their victims at random fascinate and terrify us. it was the disappearance of an 18-year-old alaskan girl that led to police unravel one such killer's astounding 11-year killing spree. neal karlinsky brings us the chilling details for our series, "crime and punishment." >> reporter: you're watching 34-year-old israel keyes describe over coffee and a bagel his strategy for hunting and killing innocent people. >> back when i was smart, i would let them come to me. just a remote area. kind of go to a remote area that's not anywhere near where you live. but that other people go to, as well. >> reporter: the police interrogation is in anchorage, alaska, where keyes was being held for the killing of samant

>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, bill weir, and tonight, juju chang in new york city, this is "nightline," december 12th, 2012. >>> good evening to you. i'm juju chang. tonight, a baffling portrait is emerging of that mass shooter in oregon who opened fire on a crowd shopping for some holiday cheer. this year, there's been a disturbing number of mass shootings, and investigators say while copycats may be inspired, each shooter has a distinct and chilling back story. we interviewed the 22-year-old's ex-girlfriend, who calls it mind boggling. >> reporter: chaos amidst the christmas mall rush. lines of shoppers, even children could be seen streaming out with their hands up while a gunman was still inside, announcing from behind a mask, "i am the shooter." a day later, a view of the suspect is now coming into focus. police say 22-year-old jacob tyler roberts was the masked gunman, a young man with no history of serious trouble, who allegedly stole an assault rifle from an acquaintance and set off alone on a deadly rampage. >> we do not understa

. >>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is a special edition of "nightline," tragedy at sandy hook, the search for solutions. >>> good evening. i'm bill weir. out of all the soul-crushing images to come out of newtown, this one has a particularly devastating effect on countless folks checking their twitter and facebook feeds today. it's a letter to little jack pinto laid to rest on monday that reads, you're my best friend. we had fun together. i will miss you. i will talk to you in my prayers. i love you. signed john. two more 6-year-olds were buried today while buses rolled and grown-ups grappled with how to get on with life and protect the survivors from even more nightmares. here's abc's juju chang. >> reporter: the hugs were a little tighter today as parents in newtown gently guided their kids back to school, back to their daily routines, surrounded by sadness and a stepped up police presence. >> getting them back to a routine is the best thing, i think. >> reporter: but the jittery town suffered a fresh

>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new yorky, this is "nightline," december 11th, 2012. >> good evening. i'm bill weir. the line to see santa was growing and a children's choir was scheduled to see carols in a mall outside portland, oregon, tonight. but when as many as 60 shots rang out, the scene turned into terrified chaos. witnesses say a gunman wearing a mask and camouflage was behind the deadly attack and abc's david wright has the latest details. >> reporter: a shopping mall at christmas time is supposed to be safe. so today when witnesses first heard loud pops near the food court of this portland area mall, some thought it was bursting balloons. >> we thought it was balloons. and then we saw little fire thingies. >> like lights. >> reporter: and then the screaming and everyone knew it was something far worse. >> all of a sudden we heard big bang. we covered our ears and then we got down. and then all of a sudden a matter of five seconds later, we heard rapid fire, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, and i just took off running

>>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 26th, 2012. >>> good evening, i'm terry moran. for a holiday, this has been a busy time in washington. as the negotiations surrounding that looming fiscal cliff come to a fever pitch just before the new year. but this is also a time of tradition and celebration in the nation's capital, and nobody decks the halls like the team at the white house for christmas. christmas is there, has come to mean a special visit every year, not just from santa claus, but from abc's own barbara walters. barbara? >> terry, in what has become one of my favorite holiday traditions for the fourth year, i had the privilege of interviewing the president and mrs. obama at the white house. this interview was taped days before the tragic shooting in connecticut and was postponed until now. it was the first time the couple sat down together since winning re-election. mrs. obama also took me on a personal tour of what is called the people's house. and it's never more true than d

. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," november 30th, 2012. >> good evening, i'm terry moran. tonight, a multimillion dollar mystery. while the rest of the country is tearing up their worthless lottery tickets in disappointment, the identity of one of two powerball winners remains illusive. a surveillance video, the only clue. well, with the jackpot worth over $580 million, that's a lot of reasons to be curious. abc's david wright brings us america's newest overnight millionaires. >> reporter: at a gas station in maryland, a mystery man checks his numbers and then dances a jig. could it be the powerball shuffle? >> he says, is this the right numbers? i said, yeah, man, you got them all. >> reporter: in a small town in missouri, at the high school where they first fell in love, cindy and mark hill today insisted that huge check won't change their lives all that much. >> we will still be going down to the corner cafe for breakfast or fish day, i can guarantee you that. we're as common a

cynthia mcfadden, bill weir, and tonight, juju chang in new york city, this is "nightline," december 25th, 2012. >>> good evening. i'm juju chang. tonight, a massive christmas day storm is creating blizzard conditions across the nation's midsection. in texas and oklahoma, icy roads cause major pile-ups and deadly traffic mishaps. the storm system also spawned a cluster of tornados throughout the deep south, causing extensionive damage. thousands of residents lost power in mobile, alabama. the facade was torn off a historic church was 24 hours earlier hosted christmas eve services for hundreds of worshippers. >>> but we turn now to the journey of a lifetime, on a quest in search of an elusive creature known as the unicorn of the sea. it's the narwal, both rare and endangered. what we discovered was a landscape vast and beautiful, and sometimes deadly and one that's changing rapidly. so now an encore presentation of nbc's lindsay davis and producer alex waterfield's journey to the far north, and just getting there was an adventure of its own. >> reporter: it's the middle of the night i

>>> from the global resources of abc news, with cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, and terry moran in washington, this is a special edition of "nightline" -- tragedy at sandy hook, the search for solutions. >>> good evening. i'm terry moran. today the shattered community of newtown, connecticut, mourned the young teacher who died trying to protect her first grade class, while school districts across the country are now beefing up security. in the wake of this tragedy, schools nationwide are grappling with the difficult questions about keeping their students safe, including the debate over arming teachers with guns. here's alex perez. >> reporter: she came face to face with unthinkable horror and fought to save her first graders. laid to rest today, 27-year-old sandy hook teacher vicki soto. those remembers her we're green ribb ribbons, her favorite color. her sister jillian, already know what the world is remembering, saying you have been a hero to me for a lot longer than five days. you've been my big sister, the one i've always looked up to. among the mourners, family

. >>> from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," december 13th, 2012. >>> good evening, i'm bill weir. you remember way back when reality television was the way people described the nightly news? the unscripted genre has completely changed the landscape inside the screen you're watching right nower but how has it altered the meaning of the word reality? today the wildly popular auction show "storage wars" is under fire from an ex-star who says they are faking some of the big money shots. abc's dan harris separates fact from fiction. >> bring it on. >> 250! >> sold. >> reporter: it is one of the most popular reality shows on tv. "storage wars" has a simple addictive conceit. people bid on the contents of storage lockers that have been abandoned by their owners. >> oh, my gosh! >> what happened? >> there's a body in there. >> reporter: inside they find either the worthless things of people's lives. >> what's this? >> not good. >> reporter: or hidden treasures. >> silver silverware set. >> reporter: one

earlier in an interview with abc news "nightline" anchor cynthia mcfadden, bloomberg put some of the blame for gun violence at the feet of the gun lobby. the mayor wants what he calls reasonable restrictions, a ban on assault rifles and high capacity magazines. >> our society finally has woken up and said, we are going to do this whether you like it or not. >> reporter: as for putting armed security guards in schools some authorities support the concept of more police there but say there's no money to do so on such a huge scale. while the nra suggested some of the work could be done by volunteers, "the wall street journal" estimates it would cost $6.7 billion. and will it work? in some cases, perhaps. but at columbine, students were killed despite the fact armed police were there. two of the nation's biggest teachers unions were sharply critical of the nra proposal, one saying the nra is delusional. >> thanks, pierre. >>> on sunday the man who will spearhead the nra's push to put armed guards in schools will sit down with george stephanopoulos on "this week." >>> now to the wrangling

. >>> from the global resources of abc news with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden, bill weir, and tonight, juju chang in new york city, this is "nightline," december 25th, 2012. >>> good evening. i'm juju chang. tonight, a massive christmas day storm is creating blizzard conditions across the nation's midsection. in texas and oklahoma, icy roads cause major pile-ups and deadly traffic mishaps. the storm system also spawned a cluster of tornados throughout the deep south, causing extensionive damage. thousands of residents lost power in mobile, alabama. the facade was torn off a historic church was 24 hours earlier hosted christmas eve services for hundreds of worshippers. >>> but we turn now to the journey of a lifetime, on a quest in search of an elusive creature known as the unicorn of the sea. it's the narwal, both rare and endangered. what we discovered was a landscape vast and beautiful, and sometimes deadly and one that's changing rapidly. so now an encore presentation of nbc's lindsay davis and producer alex waterfield's journey to the far north, and just getting there was an adven

i'm cynthia mcfadden reporting from newtown, connecticut, near the sandy hook elementary school, the site of an unthinkable tragedy that played out this morning. at least 20 young children and six adults shot and killed here in less than 30 minutes when a 20-year-old gunman went on a rampage. tonight we know that so many people across the country are facing a difficult challenge. how to explain something so horrible to the children in their lives. abc's juju chang spent the day consulting with the experts. >> i was in shock. >> it was terrifying. i'm still terrified. i'm still in shock. >> reporter: when adults are left speechless by traumatic events, it's hard to imagine what's going on in the mind of a child. >> we are continuing our breaking news coverage. >> reporter: adults often gorge on media images, trying to glean facts, gain perspective. >> what was the motive of the alleged shooter, why would he do this? >> reporter: to make sense out of a senseless event. but for children, it can have the opposite effect. today, psychologists and pediatricians are strongly urging parents

abc's cynthia mcfadden caught up with both of them. >> reporter: we met up with bette midler and billyt the same theater to talk about their new film "parental guidance." >> i was surprised when i read that you never worked together before. >> it never came up. you had meg ryan. what did you need with me? now you're older. >> that's true. >> reporter: but they are two stars whose stars never crossed. until now. >> it was a thrill that you offered me the gig. >> well, there was no one else. >> reporter: the film also starred three adorable kids and marisa tomei as their uptight mother. but this suspect just about the laughs. >> as the great yogi berra once said, it about over until it's over. >> reporter: crystal plays arty, a minor league baseball announcer. >> he lost his job, his dream has faded and he passes this on to the young grandson, who then does it. they can cut that part out. who then finds himself. >> spoiler alert. >> reporter: the new film was an idea hatched out by crystal, from an experience with his real-life wife. >> there's a real moment where i'm coloring in the col

it's a discussion that abc's cynthia mcfadden had with new york city mayor, michael bloomberg, on "nightlineyou hold them responsible? >> well, i hold you and me responsible. i said that we didn't pay attention to what our legislators were doing. they, as well. but i don't absolve you or me. all of us. >> reporter: this is church where the bells tolled. as we remember the victims today, hundreds of schools across the country have canceled classes because of concerns about threats. a reminder of how on-edge many of us are in the wake of this tragedy. paula? >> linsey, thank you. live from newtown, connecticut, this morning. >>> and the brother of wall street swindler bernie madoff has been sentenced to ten years in prison for his role in his brother's massive ponzi scheme. peter madoff, he claimed he didn't know about the $20 billion fraud until his brother told him about it. however, the judge didn't buy it. >>> and a dramatic scene in florida. a car crashes, bursting into flames, with three people trapped inside. a good samaritan pulled one passenger out. and then police raced to the driver