i'm david wright for "nightline" in new york. >> yeah, your luck only lasts so long. thanks to david wright. >>> would anyone roll their eyes if angelina jolie popped her broad onto your flight? coming up why the superstar's kids' think she should marry brad pitt and what she thinks about that. >>> she has the hollywood lineage, the bee stung lip, swoon inducing husband and kind of kids magazines pay eight figures to photograph but angelina jolie is also an unflinching humanitarian and a member of the council of foreign relations and that's where christiane amanpour found her and she did not miss a chance to deflect the fascination. here now the "nightline" interview. >> do you ever get to walk outside? >> we're so clear now, if the cameras would leave we might have a thunderstormal day. >> reporter: angelina jolie seems giddy about an undisturbed saturday morning in new york city when it's understandable. after all it's not she or her partner brad pitt get to step out of the limelight. >> you find ways. i think we're getting older too. we're, you know, we're mom and

david wright, abc news, los angeles. >> our thanks to david wright. >>> and still ahead, talk about ay bond. a dad helps his teen daughter fight across 98 miles of freezing ice to shatter the record at the south pole. ber ca. one coffee with room, one large mocha latte. medium macchiato, light hot chocolate hold the whip, and two espressos, make one a double. she's full and focused! [ barista ] i have two cappuccinos, one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, a medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate, hold the whip and two espressos, one with a double shot. hehe, that's not the coffee talking. [ female announcer ] start your day with kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal. the 8 layers of whole grain fiber help keep you full so you can avoid the distraction of mid-morning hunger. no thanks, i'm good. try bayer advanced aspirin. it has microparticles so it enters the bloodstream fast and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. i'm a wife, i'm a mom... and chantix worked for me. it's a medication i could

>> and our thanks to david wright.bc's global affairs anchor christiane amanpour joins us now from london. christiane, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, cynthia. >> you were in north korea in 2008. what is the death of kim jong-il likely to mean for the people there? >> reporter: well, you know, there's this unbelievable cult of personality as we all know, but this is a country that barely ekes out a subsistence living. this is a place where the prison camps are bursting at the seams. the last of the truly totalitarian regimes. for the people, not much is going to change. because we don't seem to think this new leader, untested, unseasoned, so young, will be able to immediately put any stamp on what happens there. on the other hand, some are saying the very fact that, unlike his father, unlike his grandfather, he actually lived abroad for a while, has seen a different kind of life than just north korea, maybe, just maybe, down the line there may be some reform. >> for an awful lot of people in the u.s. it's all

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i'm david wright for "nightline" in scottsdale, arizona. >> ah, the holiday traditions." wish you the happiest of holidays. thank you for watching abc news. but hope you check in for "good morning america." they're working while you're sleeping. and we are always online at abcnews.com. jimmy kimmel is

here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: she's the freshest face in hollywood, even though her dad wase most famous man in the world. michael jackson fiercely protected the privacy of his children. >> do you remember wearing a mask and going, this is kind of weird? >> yeah, i'm like, this is stupid. why am i wearing a mask? >> right. >> but yeah. i kind of realized the older i got, like, he only tried to protect us. >> reporter: it wasn't until his memorial service that we finally heard her speak. >> and i just wanted to say i love him so much. >> reporter: that was two years ago. earlier this year, paris jackson told robin roberts she's ready for her own showbiz career. >> you want to be an actress? >> yes. i'm thinking about auditioning for a play next week. >> reporter: an ambition her famous father nurtured as she tells ellen degeneres. >> did you tell your dad you wanted to act? >> yeah. and we did improvs together. and he would give us little scenarios. he would say, okay. in this scene, you're going to cry. and i'd cry on the spot. >> you could cry on the spot? >> yes. >> that's

here is abc's david wright. >> reporter: 'tis the season of new stuff. kage is enough to curb any one's enthusiasm. >> reporter: a common christmas complaint the struggle to unwrap a simple toy. 57 minutes. really? these days it seems things aren't just packaged they're child proofed. you need a set of ginsu knives to open any of these packages. forget about scissors you need to have scissors to get them open. >> we received 3.8 million customer contacts telling us that they experienced an issue with the packaging. >> reporter: the world's largest online retailer its putting pressure on manufacturers and, fisher price, matel and proctor and gamble in a program, frustration free packaging. the program includes 80,000 different products. 12 million of the items amazon hopes to ship this year. the world's largest brick and mortar retailer, wal-mart launched a similar pro gram of its own. with luck these programs won't just reduce the load on santa's sleigh but also the amount that ends up in the land fills. 800 pounds of packaging waste per u.s. consumer eac

david wright, abc news, los angeles. >> when we say they went for it, they went for it.a $4 million house in california as part of their spending spree. >> it couldn't have been a plan. because why would you do that? you're going to get caught. the money would be traced. >> even the cops said these weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. >> no. together a disaster. >> not really thelma and louise. more like rocky and bullwinkle. >>> coming up, true bargains for holiday shoppers. >> as long as you don't mind browsing at the pawnshop. you're watching "world news now." s>@@@ ♪ a i wan ♪ all i want for christmas is my two front teeth, my two front teeth, my two front teeth ♪ >> love the chipmunks. time now for our boom, "favorite story of the day. here we are, of course, in a gift-giving season. so many americans though are struggling with the tough economy. >> 99% are seeking to save some money on gifts. as kylie cruz of spokane reports, from kxly, that means many of them are going pawnshoping. >> reporter: 'tis the season for shopping. >> christmas sales are -- are bett

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and abc's david wright is in pasadena tonight. >> the winds are really bad right now. >> reporter: early this morning, winds so fierce, local reporters and residents struggled to stand their ground. at lax, cameras were romming when the lights went out in all nine terminals. high winds blew out transformers, sending sparks into dry winter brush. and when the sun came up, traffic lights and trees toppled like toothpicks. littering the roads. >> just amazing. i mean, just -- a disaster. what force of winds could possibly take down all these trees? >> reporter: on sunset boulevard, two of those iconic southern california pine trees blocked the morning commute. in pasadena, a lot of commuters didn't make it past the front door. >> came down to go to work and i was the lucky one with the tree on top of my car. >> reporter: for kids who have never had a snow dare, a wind day. >> i'm king of the world! >> reporter: it was fun to climb on the big tree that landed on mom mip mommy's mar. >> both cars are totaled. and -- yeah, so, here we are. >> reporter: the high winds swept all across the south

thank you, david wright. >>> and now we move onto politics, your voice, your vote. and a big crossroads for two republican contenders. look at the headlines in iowa. herman cain has taken a nose dive in the polls. tomorrow he'll make an announcement about the future of his campaign. while the one republic holding steady in the polls, mitt romney, is searching for a turbo boost. here's abc's anchor david muir. >> reporter: the new cover of "time" magazine today asks the question -- "why don't they like me?" an image of mitt romney, of a front-runner, unable to break away from the pack. and now, he's dealing with something else, a surging newt gingrich, suddenly a rival, who is not imploding. while romney's own numbers staying right where they've been, even as others like herman cain fade. don't these even numbers in iowa right now, is that troubling for the romney camp? >> i think the troubling thing for romney, where he hasn't been able to raise himself in a lot of states, but especially in iowa, is very concerning to them. >> reporter: this week, romney, who rarely

>> okay, david wright, thank you. >>> and today, a symbolic close to the war in iraq. the command flag that flew over bagdad arrived back in the united states. both the president and vice president were at andrews air force base to receive the flag and mark the end of a mission that cost more than 4,000 u.s. soldiers their lives. >>> still ahead on "world news," paul mccartney's voicemails, elton john's bank records. a photo of princess di. shocking testimony today about how tabloids got those scoops. >>> it's the peak season for house fires. which homes are most at risk? our reporter gets a first-hand look at the dangers. >>> and more and more americans are paying the shopping bills of complete strangers, creating some real christmas magic. ononononononononononononononono, i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insura

david wright, abc news, los angeles. >> we say they went for it, they went for it.$4 million house in california as part of their spending spree. >> couldn't have been a plan. why would you do that yu? >> these weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. >> no. together a disaster. >> not really thelma and louise. more like rocky and bullwinkle. >> coming up true bargains for holiday shoppers. >> as long as you don't mind browsing at the pawnshop. you're watching "world news now." ♪ [ woman on p.a. ] now boarding track 6. ♪ do not leave b bags unatteed. [ male announcer ] maybe you see something sususpiciou. bubut you don't want to get involved. it's nothing, you think. can you be sure? ♪ if you see something, say something. report suspicious activity to local authorities. ♪ ♪ >> love the chipmunks. time now for our boom, "favorite story of the day. "here we are of course in a gift giving season the so many americans though were struggling with the tough economy. >> 99% are seeking to save some money on gifts. as kylie cruz of spokane reports, that means many of them

david wright, abc news, los angeles. >> we say they went for it, they went for it.$4 million house in california as part of their spending spree. >> couldn't have been a plan. why would you do that yu? >> these weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer. >> no. together a disaster. >> not really thelma and louise. more like rocky and bullwinkle. >> coming up true bargains for holiday shoppers. >> as long as you don't mind browsing at the pawnshop. you're watching "world news now." ♪ ♪ >> love the chipmunks. time now for our boom, "favorite story of the day. "here we are of course in a gift giving season the so many americans though were struggling with the tough economy. >> 99% are seeking to save some money on gifts. as kylie cruz of spokane reports, that means many of them are going pawnshoping. 'tis the season for shopping. >> christmas sales are -- are better than they have been for some time. >> reporter: this isn't a retail store, no, it's a pawnshop. >> a lot of items you can buy used that work just as well as a new item. >> reporter: trademark slogan, they ha

david wright with this part of the story fichlt early this morning. winds so fierce local reporters and residents struggle to stand their ground. lax camera roll when the lights went out in all 9 terminals. >> hi winds blew out transformer. sending sparks into dry winter brush and when the sun came up traffic lights and trees topple like tooth pick. littering the roads. >> amazing. just disaster. but force of winds could take out the trees. >>reporter: on sunset boulevard in hollywood, 2 of the iconic southern california palm trees blocked the morning make it muchpasadena lot of past the front door. >> came down 6:00 o'clock in the morning to go to work and i was lucky one with the tree on top the car. >>reporter: kids never had a snow day, wind day. >> i'm king of the world. >>reporter: fun to climb on the big tree that landed on mom's car. for mommy not so much. >> both cars are totalled. so here we are. >>reporter: high wind swept across the south west. in utah hitting speeds faster than 100 miles an hour. >> winds are squeezed through the canyon o

here's abc's david wright. >> reporter: raymond chandler once wrote of the santa ana winds that they curl your hair, make your nerves jump and your skin itch. on nights like that, he wrote, every booze party ends in a fight. well, this latest santa ana to wallop the west coast was the worst in a dozen years. >> we had a crashing sound like an airplane hitting the house and you can see the hole that the tree brought in. >> reporter: the gusts so strong -- >> force of wind could possibly take down all these trees? winds are really bad right now. >> reporter: reporters had trouble standing their ground. >> it's insane. it feels like a post-apocalyptic war zone or something. >> what have you seen? >> i've seen, probably 100 trees down, blocking entire streets, like, block after block after block. you just have to keep making a u-turn goes to the next one. >> reporter: at l.a.x., the wind knocked out power to all nine terminals for an hour. two runways had to be shut down because of debris. the wind blew out transformers, cutting off power to more than 300,000 people. then sparks in the d

david wright explains what happened.orter: these days there's no such thing as a new phone number. chances are that number belonged to someone else before you. as bob gray and his girlfriend lisa foster found out when they moved from cleveland to california. >> turns out the phone that i got was this old lady who leaves her prescriptions at different pharmacies. >>reporter: but bob's new number? >> what i liked about the number it was such an easy number remember. >>reporter: turned out to be the ultimate wrong number. >> day i have a got the number i get this text message says i saw you on tmz. what balmier. >>reporter: soon he started getting text from paris. the person. not the place. >> paris texted us the text said hi hon it's my birthday party big party in the hills come. love paris. holy cow we don't know a lot of paris. only one. >>reporter: it was paris hilton. party was her famous 30th birthday bash. >> texted back and we text theed yes aid loo love to come. put bob gray and lisa foster on the list and send the

abc's david wright is just across the border in south korea, with the overnight developments. good morning to you, david. >> reporter: good morning, josh. he's not yet 30 years old. he's an unknown on the world stage. and yet, he has his finger on the nuclear button. what do we have to be worried about? it's not clear if kim jong-un is going to be anything more than a figure head. "world news" is quoting chinese sources today saying that the north korean military will share power with them. today, north korea's new dictator looked very much the man in charge. greeting foreign diplomats. and styled to look like a young version of his grandfather. kim jong-un is the third son of kim jong-il and clearly the favorite. september 2009 was his official coming-out party, reviewing the troops, heir apparent. for friends who knew him as a schoolboy in switzerland, it was a shock. >> i saw a picture and i can't believe it. >> it's a strange feeling in the stomach, to know a guy who could use a nuclear bomb. >> reporter: as marco imhoff told al-jazeera exclusively, his classmates knew him

abc's david wright is in pasadena, california, for us this morning. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, robin. it's been an unbelievable 24 hours here. a wind storm causing the sort of damage you normally see in an earthquake. millions of people dodging tree trunks on the way to work. as if work was open. a lot of small businesses, even big movie studios, have been closed. because for many people, the power is out. in utah, it looked like the center of a tornado. across the west and into the night thursday, high winds, tossing 18-wheelers. toppling gigantic trees. >> it barely missed the house. >> reporter: and crushing car after car with uprooted trunks. >> it's insane. i've seen probably 100 trees down, blocking entire streets. block after block after block. >> reporter: the latest santa ana wind storm to wallop the west coast is the strongest in over a decade. over 150-mile-per-hour, the force of a category 4 hurricane. >> i have never in 6 years seen anything like this out here. >> reporter: overnight, crews worked to restore power to m

david wright, abc news, hollywood. >>> and coming up on "good morning america," paris gets advice from another member of her famous family. >> that's right. janet jackson sits down with juju chang with words of wisdom for her niece. and she tells us, what it was like growing up with big brother, michael. >> hello, miss jackson. >>> that's what's making news in america this morning. >>> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay wi th closed captioning by closed captioning services,inc >> reporter: good morning i'm rain showers across the bay with fog. >> the fog here, live shot of bay bridge toll. roads are slick. we'll show you what it looks like around the bay area. >> reporter: good morning i'm amy hollyfield. police believe in medical marijuana dispensary was making hundreds of thousands of dollars and the people running it was profiting when they shouldn't have been. >>> 4:31. as you saw it is raining outside thanks for joining us i'm eric thomas. >>> and i'm kristen sze. you had to take it slow on the freeway. lisa hi. >>> good morning a little over a 10th the nor

now abc's david wright in south korea where they are on high alert tonight. good evening, david. >> reporter: good evening, george. this is a moment of huge uncertainty in the decades-old standoff between these two countries. one of the most heavily fortified borders in the world is just 20 miles away from here. and where i'm standing is easily within artillery range of north korean guns. remember, the korean war never officially ended. there have been flare-ups. just this morning, news of another missile test. and that's potentially the most alarming of all. what people here in south korea fear most is instability. the possibility of a power struggle with nuclear weapons in the mix. george. >> thanks, david. and from the white house now, abc's jake tapper. jake, i know they spent some time in the white house war-gaming this transition, looking at all the dangerous scenarios. how do they think this transition is unfolding so far? and what more do they know about ki jong-un? >> reporter: they don't know much about kim jong-un. of all the countries they want to

abc's david wright is just across the border in south korea, with the overnight developments. g to you, david. >> reporter: good morning, josh. he's not yet 30 years old. he's an unknown on the world stage. and yet, he has his finger on the nuclear button. what do we have to be worried about? it's not clear if kim jong-un is going to be anything more than a figure head. chinese sources today saying that the north korean military will share power with them. today, north korea's new dictator looked very much the man in charge. greeting foreign diplomats. and styled to look like a young version of his grandfather. kim jong-un is the third son of kim jong-il and clearly the favorite. september 2009 was his official coming-out party, reviewing the troops, heir apparent. for friends who knew him as a schoolboy in switzerland, it was a shock. >> i saw a picture and i can't believe it. >> it's a strange feeling in the stomach, to know a guy who could use a nuclear bomb. >> reporter: as marco imhoff told al-jazeera exclusively, his classmates knew him by a different name. a shy kid, his

david wright is in seoul, south korea, where forces are on high alert. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, george. it's been an unsettling 24 hours here. bringing news, not just of the dear leader's death. but also confirmation of a north korean missile test. north and south korea are still technically in a state of war. and that has people on both sides of that heavily fortified border wondering, what's next? from the north, new images of a nation in mourning. today, the state tv announcer struggled to keep her composure. [ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: over pictures of kim jong-il's body lying in state. his son, now hailed as the respectful leader, was among the first to pay his respects. thousands of others lined up single-file, in the bitter cold. patiently waiting their turn. ♪ all day long, state tv broadcast patriotic music and tearful testimonials, keening for kim jong-il. [ speaking foreign language ] how could you leave us like this, he wails. my general, oh, my general, she cries. and so on. north korea mourned just as me

but first, abc's david wright. >> reporter: these days, there's no such thing as a new phone number.ne else before you. as bob gray and his girlfriend, liza foster, found out, when they believed from cleveland to california. >> turns out, that the phone i got was this old lady who leaves her prescriptions at different pharmacies. >> reporter: but bob's new number? >> what i liked about the number is it was such an easy number to remember. >> reporter: turned out to be the ultimate wrong number. >> a get this text message, i saw you on tmz. what a bummer. >> reporter: soon, he started getting texts from paris, the person, not the place. >> when paris texted us, the text said, hey, hon, it's my birthday party. big party in the hills. want you to come. love, paris. holy cow. we don't know a lot of parises. we know of one. >> reporter: it was paris hilton. and the party was her famous 30th birthday bash. >> we texted back. but put bob gray and liza foster on the list and send the address. >> reporter: they figured they weren't exact ligate-crashing. unlike vince vaughn in "wedding crashe

abc's david wright has their story. >> reporter: like a real f life thelma and louise. >> all right.ght. >> what are you talking about? >> reporter: an orange county schoolteacher and a paralegal, aledgedly went on a cross-country adventure. they're accused of stealing $300,000 for a wild weekend in new york city. >> a second grade teacher and a paralegal, went on a spree. having a good time. first time i've seen that. >> reporter: police say the women stole a $25,000 check from a new port beach law firm. changed the amount to $285,000. and deposited into a joint bank account. >> that's not usually the smartest thing to do if you're going to get away with this. >> reporter: police say they chartered a private jet and invited five friends to new york city. this picture taken just before takeoff, and posted publicly on robin pabello's facebook account, is exhibit "a" against them. the caption reads, flying in style. they took five rooms at the marriott on broadway. went to tiffany's and montblanc. and even put a deposit on a house worth $700,000. >> it's not the smartest thing. tracked

abc's david wright has more about this rage. ♪ >> reporter: tis the season of new stuff. t as larry david could tell you -- the challenge of actually getting new stuff out of the package is enough to curb anyone's enthusiasm. >> i'm going to see how long it takes for me to open this box with only this pair of scissors. >> reporter: amazon.com is collecting customer videos like this one, chronicling a common christmas complaint. the struggle to unwrap a simple toy. 57 minutes. really? these days, things aren't just packaged. they're child-proof. you need a set of ginsu knives to open these packages. and forget about scissors. you need a scissors to get them open. >> customer connects telling us they've experienced an issue with the packaging. >> reporter: so, the world's largest online retailer is putting pressure on manufacturers and rolling big suppliers like fisher-price, mattel and procter & gamble, in a program called frustration-free packaging. the program now includes 80,000 different products. 12 million of the items amazon hopes to ship this year. the world's large

abc's david wright has the story. ♪ >> reporter: for the mannheim steamroller crowd, the christmas sweateras long been a fashion must. >> hi. >> reporter: like david beckham? reindeer cardigans must be cool. if victoria lets him wear that in public. clark w. griswold and bridget jones would be happy to note, the ugly sweater has come back in a big way. on "modern family" this week, cam sported a snowman sweater vest. >> it's my christmas sweater. >> reporter: in thrift stores, they're in short supply. >> can't get enough of them. they fly out the door. >> reporter: amazing. anne blackman is sort of the martha stewart of ugly sweaters. i enjoy making these. i enjoy crafting. >> reporter: buying up every ugly sweater she can find and making them uglier. >> i think sophistication has its place. but it's not at an ugly sweater party. >> reporter: this year, she expects to sell 2,500 of them. we asked you to send us some of your favorites and least favorites. not to worry, little guy. it's only once a year. what do you think, guys? pretty nice. and it's only 10 bucks. you know what? i think thi