going to turn, next, tonight here to a headline that's personal for the team here at abc news, elizabeth vargas on "20/20." she has bravely chosen a path that didn't come easily. now breaking her silence, viewers tweeting their support all day. one tweeting elizabeth, thank you so much for your honesty, and being courageous, you will inspire thousands. our friend and colleague elizabeth making her return this morning. >> we are thrilled to be welcoming back elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: showing extraordinary bravery and honesty across from george. >> it must have taken so much effort to keep that secret? >> the amount of energy i expended keeping that secret and keeping this problem hidden from view, hidden from my family, hidden from friends, from colleagues, was exhausting. >> reporter: and when elizabeth took time off to get help, her private battle, suddenly became a public one. >> i didn't choose to go public with this. somebody else made that decision for me. but, in hindsight and in retrospect, maybe it's a blessing, because it -- it relieves me of that secrecy and that burden of walkin

to-go. >>> we're going to next to a headline that's personal for the team here at abc news, elizabeth vargas on "20/20." she bravely chose a path that didn't come easily. viewers tweeted their support all day. one tweeting, elizabeth, thank you so much for your honesty, you'll be inspired. elizabeth making her return this morning. >> we're thrilled to be welcoming back elizabeth vargas. >> reporter: showing extraordinary bravery and honesty across from george. >> the amount of energy i expended keeping that secret and keeping this problem hidden from view, hidden from my family, hidden from friends, from colleagues was exhaust zblrg her private battle suddenly became a public one. >> it relieves me of that secrecy and that burden of walking around through life live living behind a fas ad. >> reporter: she says the alcoholism stemmed in part from another struggle, one that has shadowed her since her childhood, growing up in a military family, severe, crippling answerty that set in the day her father was called to duty in a far-away war. >> my dad went to vietnam when i of 6 years old. i had p

i do want to say our friend and colleague, elizabeth vargas, welcome home, elizabeth. welcome home.llage. it is a place, a magical place where kids are battling life-threatening illnesses can come and with their families just be kids for a week. it was also the work of over 40,000 volunteer hours and so many of these wonderful volunteers from walt disney world, i know, emeril, you're here and i know of all the stories that we heard, there's one here that really touched you. >> absolutely, my friend. i'm so inspired being here. it's unbelievable. but i got to tell you a story of a man i met. his name is brad, and he came with his son noah here who is struggling with an illness and brad is from winnipeg, canada, and he was so inspired with his family experience here at this place, that he moved to kissimmee. >> it's amazing. >> moved to kissimmee, and that, my friend, is what this place is all about. >> seriously, you guys, for all of us here at "good morning america," we're really looking forward to the fruits of your labor on the other side of that bus. >> yeah. >> so much more to g

. >> abc7 news elizabeth vargas returns to the anchor desk with a sobering admission: an my dad has aor afib.brillation, he has the most common kind... ...it's not caused by a heart valve problem. dad, it says your afib puts you at 5 times greater risk of a stroke. that's why i take my warfarin every day. but it looks like maybe we should ask your doctor about pradaxa. in a clinical trial, pradaxa® (dabigatran etexilate mesylate)... ...was proven superior to warfarin at reducing the risk of stroke. and unlike warfarin, with no regular blood tests or dietary restrictions. hey thanks for calling my doctor. sure. pradaxa is not for people with artificial heart valves. don't stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor. stopping increases your risk of stroke. ask your doctor if you need to stop pradaxa before surgery or a medical or dental procedure. pradaxa can cause serious, sometimes fatal, bleeding. don't take pradaxa if you have abnormal bleeding or have had a heart valve replaced. seek immediate medical care for unexpected signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. pradaxa may in

. >>> here tonight, david muir and elizabeth vargas. >>> let me just say it's great to have you back. >> it's great to be back. thank you for the support and owl of the viewers. i'll be talking a little bit later in the program, where i have been, the work i have done. share >> a family of your member is here tonight. >> i know. >> this is very brave evening for you. >>> we begin tonight w the headline that rocked the city of houston tonight the pretty middle schoolteacher and the boy. what followed woul be any parent's niekt mary. >> new developments. >> late today, she received her punishment. >> reporter: it is the story thrust back into the spotlight just this week. after the first headlines shocked much of houston, a parent's nightmare come true. >> he's a child. >> reporter: a married middle school teacher they had trusted with their son was having sex with him. and tonight, for the first time, the secret that began in room 308 is finally unraveling. alex and jenny pallais will never forget that first day at memorial middle school, one of the top schools in houston. bringing the

. >> "20/20" anchor elizabeth vargas' big admission. >> i am an alcoholic. >>> then -- not "the good

finally abc anchor elizabeth vargas is out of rehab.ked about her battle friday on good morning america. >> you are an chock. >> i am. am an alcoholic it took me a long time to admit it i showed up for a 20/20 shoot. i was in no shape to do that interview. when i got out of car i realized what am i doing? that's when i knew i needed to get help. >> good for her for doing that it's very difficult to talk about the demons in your closet. you know, it's one thing to talk about cancer on the air where people will have sympathy for you and hope that you are not sick, as sick as possible or horribly sick. but this is amaze. what a role model for other alcoholics. >> it's got to be awfully difficult to talk about the fact that you have to leave work because of your alcohol problem. >> sure. i think good for her. >> that's it for this edition of media buzz. i'm howard kurtz. can you check out our twitter feed and check us out on facebook. a lot of video. we are back here 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern bringing you the latest buzz. >>> many hello, i

. >> elizabeth vargas is returning to 20/20 tonight for the first time since going to rehab for her alcoholism. she said she would drink to do with anxiety and stress. her husband was the first person to tell her she had a problem. it took her a long time to do anything about it. >> it is one thing to report on it. .t is another thing to admit it even to admit it to myself was admitting that i was a failure. >> she admits that it's still hard not to drink, but she says she has a great support system in place, including her sponsor and many great friends. she also hit her problems from her coworkers. i talked to david about her return and what they are working on for world news. we go to david now in new york. i would imagine this is a very special reunion. >> i have to tell you that we are also happy to have her back. this has been a very personal and private struggle. audiencearing with the this very personal struggle and she will be right here with us on world news. exclusive, inside apple with ceo tim cook. to tell thes american people about the controversial nsa surveillance program. >> th

. >> abc news reporter elizabeth vargas is acknowledging she's an alcoholic. she told george stephanopoulos and she spent several weeks in a treatment facility and now in alcoholics anonymous she returns tonight anchoring "2020" >> all of the machines will be generated by what is in that bag. >> today is the 30th birthday of the mac computer, on this day, steve jobs first unveiled the mac. doesn't that look absurd compared to now? it's the first successful computer to incorporate a graphic user interface and a mouse. tomorrow night original team will reunite at the flint center in cupertino. >> now to a look inside roo 30 years ago today, america meets the mac. i'd like to show you macintosh in person. >> happy anniversary. >> yes. >> we were invited inside apple to sit down with the man steve jobs hand picked to lead after him. >> you get e mails from customers every day and read them? >> yes, i do. i do. >> how many do you read? >> i get 700 or 800. i read a majority of those. >> every day? >> every day. i'm a work aalcoholing, which helps. >> it's true z in

a candidate interview with news anchor elizabeth vargas after undergoing treatment for alcohol addiction anchor of 20/20 sat down with george stephanopolis and described how far she went to shield the problem from her family, co-workers and the public. she said it took a while before she came to term with her problem. >> you are an alcoholic? >> i am. i alan alcoholic it took me a long-term to admit that. it took me a long-term to admit it to my family. i am. >> you can see the entire interview on "good morning america" at 7:00 a.m. after the abc7 news and her return to the anchor desk tonight at 10:00 on use 7. >> we are just a little more than an hour away from the start of mavericks. >> guest: we have waves but they will increase from the current 10' waves. the winds are dominating the hills at 22 miles per hour at mount tamalpais and 22 in the oakland hills which are the fastest and everyone else is in the mid teens including los gatos at 12 miles per hour. red above a thousand feet and all of the areas under thing in flag with high fire danger until 1:00 o'clock and territory bay mo

finally, elizabeth vargas is out of rehab and talked about the battle on friday on america. >> you aream. i am an alcoholic. it took a long-term to admit that i showed up for a 20/20 shoot and i was in no shape to do the interview. i realized, what am i doing? that is when i knew i needed to get help. >> good for her for doing that. it is very difficult to talk about the demons in your closet. it is one thing to talk about cancer on the air people have sympathy for you and hope you are not sick or horribly sick but this is amazing, what a role model for other alcoholics. >> the special brought the highest rating in four years but it must be difficult to talk about the fact that you had to leave work because of your alcohol problem. >> sure, and good for her. >> that is it for "media buzz." you can check out our twitter feed and follow us on facebook. we back here next sunday original at 5:00 p.m. eastern bringing you the latest buzz. wa ae >> president obama gives his state of the union address on tuesday hoping to jump start his second term. i want to work with congress whenever and w

. >>> abc's elizabeth vargas coming clean about her secret addiction. >> i am an alcoholic. >> the 200 anchor's first words about rehab and how her kids called it