and james longman back with us live from tel aviv. and james, it's been 60 days now since the hamas terror attack in israel, 60 days, of course, holding those hostages, including americans. tonight, we see these images of fierce fighting you just reported from southern gaza, the cease-fire long over. what are you learning about the hostages and the families and this meeting late today with benjamin netanyahu? >> reporter: yeah, there was a very tense meeting, david, between prime minister netanyahu and the families of the hostages. according to local reports, he told them that there was no possibility of bringing they're loved ones home any time soon. some of those present even shouting at the prime minister, asking him to restart the negotiations as soon as possible. david? >> david: all right, james longman leading us off tonight in tel aviv. james, thank you. >>> and we're going to turn now to president biden and something he said late today about running for president. at a closed door fund raiser in boston, the president telling s

let's bring in james longman in tel aviv for us again tonight. james, i want to go back to what you reported there on the hamas tunnels. a u.s. official now confirming that israel is considering a plan to flood the tunnels, perhaps, where hamas militants are still believed to be hiding? >> reporter: yeah, david, and a lot of risks associated with that plan. flooding those tunnels could knock out water filter systems that provide clean drinking water to gaza and could, of course, endanger those remaining hostages. david. >> david: james longman in tel aviv again tonight. thanks, james. >>> back here in the u.s. tonight, another major storm slamming the northwest. and now a cross-country system that will then race right across the country and into the northeast as well. senior meteorologist rob marciano back with us tonight to time all of this out. hey, rob. >> reporter: hi, david. this comes on the heels of that flooding storm. this one's got some punch, so, it will trek across the country. the radar has filled in over the afternoon. from san jose

>> david: all right, james longman leading us off tonight in tel aviv. s, thank you. >>> and we're going to turn now to president biden and something he said late today about running for president. at a closed door fund-raiser in boston, the president telling supporters, quote, if trump wasn't running, i'm not sure i'd be running, but we cannot let him win. let's bring in our chief white house correspondent mary bruce live at the white house tonight. because, mary, this made immediate news, obviously. the president signaling in these comments, it would seem, that if trump wasn't his likely opponent at this point, perhaps he would not be seeking a second term? >> reporter: david, the president in some of his starkest terms yet laying out what is at stake if trump is able to win back the white house. biden saying that cannot be allowed to happen. the president saying, quote, i don't think anyone doubts our democracy is even more at risk than in 2020, saying trump's not even hiding the ball anymore. he's telling us what he's going to do, he's making no bones

>> david: james longman in tel aviv again tonight. you, james. >>> meanwhile, back here in the u.s. tonight, and to the deeply personal issue of abortion, and the young pregnant mother in texas. her health in danger. unable to get an abortion because of the law in that state. and tonight, the texas supreme court has now ruled against that mother and against the judge who said she should be allowed to get the abortion to protect her own health. and to be able to have children in the future. so, what now? and how many women in other states are now facing the same fate? again tonight, rachel scott. >> reporter: it was a first of its kind case, a pregnant woman suing her state, requesting an emergency abortion. and now, the texas supreme court ruling against 31-year-old kate cox, whose fetus had a severe condition and little chance of survival. >> there's no outcome here, you know, that results in us taking home a healthy baby girl. so it's -- it's hard. it's overwhelming. >> reporter: the texas supreme court saying she didn't qualify for

>> david: james longman in tel aviv for us again tonight. thank you, james. >>> back here in the u.s., and to the very personal issue of abortion. the case making national headlines. the young pregnant wife, her health in danger, and the texas state lawmakers and that state's supreme court making the decision for her, blocking her abortion in texas. now presidential candidates are being asked about this. tonight, diane sawyer and rachel scott with women who were pregnant and faced health risks, too, and told they could not have an abortion as well. so, who should decide this? here's rachel scott. >> reporter: tonight, the young pregnant wife from texas. her doctors say her health was in danger, that her baby had little chance of survival. but she was blocked by the texas supreme court from getting an abortion. this deeply personal struggle now forcing candidates for president to address how they feel about kate cox's ordeal. former new jersey governor chris christie -- >> seems to me this should have been a pretty easy decision and the texas

james longman joins us now. james, the war has of course raised tensions across the region, and israel now claiming after it defeats hamas, it may turn to a wider fight against hezbollah? >> reporter: yeah, linsey. just today, israel carried out a series of strikes in southern lebanon, and israel's national security adviser has said if hezbollah remains a threat, they could turn their attention more fully onto lebanon once the war in gaza is over. linsey. >> all right, james, thank you. >> linsey: back here at home, one-on-one with republican presidential candidate nikki haley who is surging in the polls, and now a frequent target of her gop rivals. i got a chance to sit down with the former u.s. ambassador on the campaign trail in iowa, where we discussed several issues including the war between israel and hamas and former president donald trump. >> as you know, the u.s. recently vetoed a u.n. security council vote calling for a cease-fire. groups like doctors without borders have said that that was a vote agai

>> david: james longman in tel aviv again tonight. thank you. >>> back here in the u.s.tonight, another major storm slamming the northwest. and now a cross-country system that will then race right across the country and into the northeast, as well. senior meteorologist rob marciano back with us tonight to time all of this out. hey, rob. >> reporter: hi, david. this comes on the heels of that flooding storm. this one's got some punch, so, it will trek across the country. the radar is filled in over the afternoon from san jose to seattle. we saw over a foot of snow just east of us in tahoe. one to two feet. it's got a cold core socoming. and into the plains it goes on saturday. then it's got a severe weather component. starts to ramp things up, southeast texas, louisiana. could see tornadoes there. then the heavy rain pushes up into the northeast on sunday before moving out on monday. it will be a big mess for everybody east. david? >> rob marciano back with us tonight. thank you, rob. >>> we turn now to texas tonight, and to the issue of abortion. tonight, the case of a y

james longman in israel. >>> in the u.s., a major medical breakthrough. the fda approving two gene therapy treatments to treat sickle cell disease. targeted editing of your dna to treat illness. >>> the news coming in tonight, remember actor ryan o'neal. from "love story" to paper moon", his long time relationship with fawcett. >>> good evening, it's great to have you with us as we end another week together. snow, freezing rain, severe storms and damaging winds with this at from rockies to the midwest, then right into the northeast. flood watches already up tonight for 40 million americans going into the weekend in the northeast, including new york city. the system starting in the west, of course. plows trying to stay ahead of the snow in stephens pass. this is washington state. moving to utah, cars inching along in heavy snow east of salt lake city. a 18 vehicle pileup. the northeast now bracing for this. by sunday and monday, heavy rain and wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour in some places. let's get right to senior meteorologist rob marciano leading us

james longman in israel. thank you, james. >>> tonight, breaking news at the supreme court. nation's high of the court agreeing now to take on a challenge to the felony obstruction statute which has been used to prosecute 300 defendants on the january 6th attack on the capitol. let's bring in terry moran who covers the white house. the court's decision could affect hundreds of cases including those who attacked the capitol and it could also affect donald trump. >> it sure could, david. this could have a huge impact. hundreds of january 6th defendants and donald trump himself has been charged under a federal law that makes it a crime to obstruct an official proceeding, but today the supreme court agreed to hear an appeal from one january 6th defendant who argues that that law which was passed by congress to deal with witness tampering in corporate criminal cases cannot be applied to the attack on the capitol. republicans have been making this case for months, some arguing that the justice department should prosecute liberal protesters who disrupted proceedings in tennessee an

. >>> and restoring notre dame, james longman takes us inside the effort the bring the ancient landmark back to life. >> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight," with david muir. >> david: good evening, it's great to have you us on this friday nights, i'm whit johnson in more david. breaking news, the u.s. supreme court denying the special counsel's request to fast-track a review of a key question in former president trump's election interference case. the one-sentence order could lead to a delay in trump's trial for allegedly plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. that trial is currently scheduled to begin on march 4th, right in the thick of the race for the white house. special counsel jack smith was seeking to avoid the lengthy appeals process by asking the nation's highest court to determine if trump is immune from prosecution for crimes he allegedly committed while president. this all coming as the detroit news reports that trump allegedly pressured republican canvassers in michigan, not to certify the 2020

>> david: james longman from israel. thank you. >>> tonight, the white house is expressing concern for russian opposition leader and putin foe alexei navalny. he appears to have been moved from prison, they don't know where. he is serving 19 years on charges of extremism. >>> when we come back here tonight, the high school cheerleader found dead, the new turn tonight in this case. >>> also, tennis legend chris evert, and what she's revealed. >>> and jennifer aniston, and what she's saying about the day matthew perry died. ♪ trumpet music plays ♪ 579 breaths to show 'em your stuff. every breath matters. don't let rsv take your breath away. protect yourself from rsv with abrysvo, pfizer's rsv vaccine. abrysvo is a vaccine for the prevention of lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. rsv can be serious if you are 60 or older. having asthma, copd, diabetes, or heart disease puts you at even higher risk. abrysvo is not for everyone and may not protect all who receive the vaccine. don't get abrysvo if

james longman in israel. >>> in the u.s., a major medical breakthrough. the fda approving two gene therapy treatments to treat sickle cell disease. targeted editing of your dna to treat illness. >>> and the news just coming in tonight, remembering actor ryan o'neal. from "love story" to "paper moon" to "peytons place." his long-time relationship with farrah fawcett. and barbra streisand's words on her one-time costar just in tonight. >> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight" with david muir. >> david: good evening. it's great to have you with us as we near the end of another week together. we begin with the cross country storm. snow, freezing rain, severe storms and damaging winds with this from the rockies to the midwest, then right into the northeast. flood watches already up tonight for 40 million americans going into the weekend in the northeast, including new york city. the system starting in the west, of course. plows trying to stay ahead of the snow in stephens pass. this is washington state. moving to

james longman in israel. >>> back in the u.s., the justice department tonight charging four russian soldiers with war crimes, accused of torturing an american in ukraine near the start of the russian invasion. >>> amid donald trump's threats of retribution on the campaign trail if he's elected president again, the former president is asked about the warnings from some that trump would act like a dictator. asked, would he promise americans he would never abuse his power for retribution, tonight, his answer. and the biden campaign now arguing, do not take this lightly. and will trump's republican opponents take this on when they debate? >>> and tonight here, celebrating norman lear. ♪ guys like us we had it made ♪ ♪ those were the days ♪ >> the creative genius forever changing the face of american television. ♪ moving on up ♪ ♪ to the east side ♪ >> addressing the social and political issues of the time with humor. tonight, some of those famous scenes. and norman lear on who inspired the role of archie bunker. >>> good evening and it's great to have you with us here on a wednesday night. we do

here's abc news reporter james longman. >> when notre dame caught fire in 2019, millions watched a pieceistory burn an international treasure nearly destroyed the challenge to rebuild it. huge i saw the scale of the damage in early 2021. the massive hole in the roof still wide open. but now, just a year till completion on the finish line is in sight and you can see the spire. we climb our way towards the very top of the new spire. you can see the stonework here. this is all completely new. it was too destroyed to recover. and this woodwork, the beams have all been freshly laid. and you can see that bunch of flowers. that's a gift from the carpenters to say that they're done with this part. hundreds of feet up the scale of this colossal project is clear. and here we are, right on the top of notre dame de paris. i mean, take a look at this view. it's extraordinary. and the spire is back. i mean, those images, when the spire initially crumbled down into the church, when it was on fire, they sent shockwaves all over the world. and it was a trauma for france. it being back now, standing tall

james longman abc news in paris. >> you know, we were just saying how remarkable it was that they wereoordinate all of this in such a short amount of time so fast. >> obviously eliminated a lot of red tape to get it done. >> yeah, a nice christmas gift. also for us is the weather. sandia yes. and it is going to be fantastic. >> dionne and larry, let's take a look at the forecast for christmas eve and christmas day both days. looking good. chilly mornings. and we're expecting partly cloudy on christmas eve. upper 50s to low 60. christmas day forecast similar temperatures dry for the holiday. a mix of sun and clouds. if you're going to the 40 niners game at levi's stadium monday night, kickoff 56 degrees, it's going to be partly to mostly cloudy by fourth quarter 50, so i take a hoodie. if i were you. and if you don't have tickets, you can watch right here on abc seven news on live doppler seven. it is all quiet here locally. tomorrow afternoon. it's going to be a nice day. sunshine upper 50 to low 60s. certainly cooler than today. and if you're looking for rain, southern california is w

let's go back to james longman who is near gaza. we're hearing the on going sounds of bombardment. the idf fighting street by street. they are taking casualties. 115 have died since this ground operation began. president biden with some of his harshest criticism yet, talking about indiscriminate bombing over gaza. saying israel risks losing world opinion. this is as 150 countries voted in favor of a humanitarian cease fire. ten voted against including israel and the united states. it's not legally binding. does show you what world opinion is. israel is not dissueded. they are pumping sea water into tunnels underneath gaza hoping to flush hamas terrorists out. 135 hostages remain in gaza. every chance they are under ground, too. the situation for the palestinians just goes from bad to worse. there was a massive storm overnight huge flooding. tens of thousands are living in tents. they are flooded. the united nations says that half of all people living in gaza, more than 1 million people, now risk starvation. robin? >> as always, appre

james longman has been following the progress of the reconstruction of this historical land mark.t witnessed quite a moment. we all remember when the spire of notre dame fell through the building during that fire back in 2019. the new one has been rebuilt. it is back on top of the building. you can see it there shrouded in scaffolding at the moment. we had a chance to climb right to the top of it. it has been literally a military plan, getting this church back up and running, open to visitors next year. the changes so far have been spectacular. when notre dame caught fire in 2019, millions watched a piece of history burn. an international treasure nearly destroyed. the challenge to rebuild it huge. i saw the scale of damage in early 2021. the massive hole in the roof still wide open. but now just a year til completion, the finish line is in sight. you can see the spire. we climb our way towards the very top of the new spire. they're doing stonework here. this is all completely new. it was too destroyed to recover. and this woodwork, the beams that were freshly laid, you can see th

our foreign correspondent james longman is on the ground in israel.rning, james. >> reporter: good morning, juju. we witnessed a series of huge explosions in northern gaza behind me, you can see the smoke rising. the idf said they're going after hamas infrastructure and tunnels, but the situation in the south is growing even more desperate. the united nations said society is on the brink of collapse. this as israel steps up its attention. this morning outrage as new video from gaza shows palestinian men stripped down to their underwear kneeling in rows with hands behind their back, surrounded by israeli soldiers. israel said the men are capture hamas terror suspects. we pressed the idf on that claim. do you consider these to be terrorists or civilians? >> israel does not arrest, apprehend or target anyone in the gaza strip that is not a hamas terrorist or poses an imminent threat to israel. >> then i saw the video. wow. i recognize this street. >> reporter: i spoke to one man who said he recognizes his brother and nephew from these images. he said the

james longman is in israel. good morning, james. >> reporter: good morning, michael.as leader in gaza is israel's most wanted man. he could be somewhere where the idf is fighting right now. but hundreds of thousands of civilians have also taken refuge there. this morning as fighting intensifies across gaza, the idf says they're closing in on one hamas leader, believed to be the mastermind of the october 7th attack. they say he's still hiding out under ground. he may be in southern gaza's largest city, but hundreds of thousands of civilians have sought refuge there from the north. now they're in the firing line again. hospitals overwhelmed, unable to cope with the onslaught of casualties. rooms packed with badly wounded children. >> the medical team cannot reach them. they are scared. they don't know. everybody is confused. >> reporter: an 11-year-old girl, hands bandaged, crying for her father, eventually finding him wounded, but alive. the suffering so intense, the u.n. secretary-general is now calling directly on the security council to act, invoking rarely used art

our foreign correspondent james longman is on the ground in israel. orning, james. >> reporter: good morning, michael. i'm at an artillery position about two miles away from gaza. you can see soldiers there racking up ammunition, the shells ready to be fired out. israel is refocusing from the north to the south of gaza. that is where palestinians were told to go for safety. some 80% of all those inside gaza have now been displaced. that's 1.9 million people. there's now almost nowhere to go in gaza that's safe. they were told to go south. but as israel revs up its operations in southern gaza, the fighting is inescapable. this family, including young boys, running from gun fire from what was supposed to be an evacuation route. there's no end in sight. israel's defense minister telling abc news he believes the war in its current intensity will last at least through the end of the year. he says israeli military increasingly concedes that killing all of hamas 30,000 fighters will be impossible, adding their goal is to break the chain of command. they say t

our foreign correspondent james longman is there in tel aviv with more. orning, james. >> reporter: good morning, michael. jake sullivan will arrive here in israel in a bitter atmosphere between the families of the hostages and the israeli government. they feel not enough is being done to prioritize their loved ones. they are angry about the decision to pump sea water into tunnels under gaza. there is uproar over reports that prime minister netanyahu stopped the head of qatar to resume negotiations. they feel the government is playing russian roulette with their families lives. mean time, the situation in gaza goes from bad to worse. just this morning, hamas said 19 people were killed in an air strike. they say more than 18,500 civilians have died since the war began. idf is continuing its operations in neighborhoods north of the gaza strip around gaza city. the situation for palestinian civilians is truly horrific. that's why there are increasing calls for a cease fire and part of the reason why jake sullivan will push the israelis to offer a timetable to

foreign correspondent james longman is on the scene in israel. good morning, james. >> reporter: good morning, george. israel says it's on the hunt for hamas leadership in southern gaza, and that it's almost complete control of the north. but we are on the border with northern gaza here and we've heard the sound of on going battle here. heavy battle. not just bombardments but small arm fire. that would suggest hamas is coming into close quarters with israeli fighters. it is taken time to uproot hamas from gaza, but with every day that passes, more civilians die. israel says it's shifted its focus to southern gaza. this morning battle in the north of the strip are still raging. 104 idf soldiers have now been killed in this tkpwroupb operation. hamas proving difficult to uproot from northern neighborhoods. despite the offensive, hamas still able to launch rockets. we saw the iron dome intercept some this morning. the iron dome coming into action, taking out rockets fired from gaza. there is no iron dome in gaza. but more than 18,000 people have now