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don't wait. call now for free information about the additional coverage you may need. ♪ have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com.

there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. ♪ ♪ educated in a small town ♪ taught to fear jesus in a small town ♪ ♪ used to daydream in that small town ♪ i had a great experience growing up in a small town in michigan. and now to the story of a small town in o-h-i-o that saw their beloved family-owned hardware store fall on hard times. so they did what came natural to them. >> they came together and helped bring the cherished pillar of their community back from the brink. abc's david muir has more. >> reporter: it's the kind of town norman rockwell could have

painted. chagrin falls, ohio. where main street is filled with those family-run stores. and right there in the middle chagrin hardware and supply, open since before the civil war. it was 1920 when jack schut's family bought the business. >> my dad was actually working here at 10 years old, sweeping floors, during the depression. >> reporter: back then his father earning ten cents a day. and all these years later another huge economic test. the worst economy since that depression. competition from those big home improvement stores. it wasn't looking good. and one loyal customer knew it. jim black quietly e-mailed 40 neighbors right there in chagrin falls with a simple challenge. to spend at least $20 at that hardware store on the 21st of the month. >> and next thing i knew people were calling me saying oh, what a great idea, we're going to forward this on to people. >> reporter: and when the day came, there weren't 40 customers. there were 500. >> it's a payback to all the good things they do for the community. >> reporter: the owner telling us he was overwhelmed. >> it's the most amazing single day in the history of this business since 1857. i just wish our parents would be here to see it.

>> reporter: david muir, abc news, new york. >> oh. that's a fantastic story. amazing. >> the man who initiated that e-mail, his mother i believe owns a retail store in town. he had no agenda, just wanted to help that local businessman, had no idea. thought 20 people, 40 people. 500. >> 500 people showed up. >> it's amazing. >> i think that's one thing i miss since moving here to new york. you do lose in a city this big, you do lose that small town neighborhoody feel -- >> well, there you have it. >> but in my second job at the hardware store -- >> spill on aisle 10, rob. could you clean it up, please? >> see, if this tv thing falls through, that's where you'll find me. selling the nails and the glue and -- >> the shovels. you know how to shovel, don't you? >> on this show you've got to be good at that. coming up, high-tech convenience without the high cost. >> the affordable gadgets. endorsed by our giz wiz. it's all next on "world news now." stick around, everybody. now." stick around, everybody. ow

and welcome back to "world news now." and this is for all of you gadget geeks out there. we saw all the hot gadgets over the holiday season. the biggest, thinnest tvs, or the next killer ipad. but there may have been a few great gadgets that you overlooked. and luckily the giz wiz was out there looking for you. he hit the consumer electronics show recently and he is here with his hit list. welcome, dick debartolo. my first time working with you and i am so fired up to look at what you've got for us today. >> well, great. well, i have some neat things. for example, spare one. hopefully, you'll never use spare one. it's an emergency telephone that the battery can last up to 15 years. >> 15 years. >> okay? but there's an emergency, your cell phone is dead. pull this tab, activate the phone. you can call 911 right away. but you can also put your sim card in here. >> nice. >> and call for about ten hours.

>> okay. how much and where can you get it? >> it will be 50 bucks, and it will be at the end of march at smartone.com. >> all right. >> this is kind of a first because we're the first to be showing you -- >> ooh. >> -- the new motorola droid 4. i'm going to unlock it here. there we go. okay. so the droid 4 is the thinnest lightweight smartphone with a keyboard. beautifully lit keypad, as you can see. so it goes on the 4g network, verizon, dual core processor. front and rear cameras. michael estry card slot. >> show me how thin that is. >> i'll close it again. it's the thinnest droid that has a built-in keyboard. price not announced yet. going to be in verizon probably the next few weeks. motorola droid 4. this is pretty nifty. so you know it's a drag trying to plug in all the cables to -- >> oh, yeah. cables everywhere. >> so the mini charger, they're they call them. you go near it, it actually just picks up the little zip tail,

and as soon as that hits there it starts charging. there's one here for your ipad, ipod. same thing. plug in the ipad, ipod, bring it near the device. charging. >> and that's how much? >> going to be 50 bucks. that will be shipping shortly. >> and you can buy more tails. >> you can buy more tails. this does four. they actually have a big one that does seven. haier. you know they're showing these mammoth sound bars, thousands of dollars. what about people that live in an apartment? you have a little kitchen. okay? this is from haier. let me wake up this ipad here. so okay. ipad, ipod. okay. it's going to be under 100 bucks. this has started shipping now. that's from haier. remote control. your tv plugs in -- >> you've got some moves. >> your tv plugs into the back. and great sound in a very small 20-inch component.

>> and it fits an ipad, an ipod, a nano, just about -- >> all the apple products. okay. this is dropcam hd. now, this is really neat. this is a wireless web cam. this hooks on to your wireless network at home. anywhere you go with an android or an ipod phone, itouch, all those, you go to dropcam.com, find my dropcam, you not only see what's at home. it's a two-way mike. >> wow. >> so you say fairway, get off the couch. or you know, did you kids eat dinner? and they can answer you back. >> or if you're a parent and you typically have little monitors, baby monitors, you can use this as well and you can hook it up right to your android or your iphone as well. >> exactly. >> and you can listen to your children as they're sleeping. >> you can monitor them. exactly. 150 bucks, coming in the next couple weeks. >> this one i am so fired up about. this last one. >> i'm going to bring it over

here because this is very clever. this is an outlet. it's called power2you. so it is an outlet with a little difference. >> it's so smart. >> using the same wires your current outlet uses. shut the fuses off and you can install it. but in addition to the two plugs, over here two usb ports. okay? and when it closes, when you pull the plug out, it closes that, shuts off phantom power. going to be under 40 bucks. >> can't believe that it took this long for somebody to come up with this. >> i know. everybody has stuff to charge. >> i know. and just think, all you need is one good idea, right? >> yeah. >> well, i'm glad that you had a nice chance to enjoy vegas. it's what, your 25th, 26th year? >> yeah. something like that. and next month toy fair. we'll be doing toy stuff. >> and thanks to our giz wiz, dick debartolo. you can get all this information and more at our facebook fan page, wnnfans.com. let's go back to the music. >> okay. put the music. yay. ♪ let's get back to the music. >> put the music. yay.

♪

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"world news now" delivers your "morning papers." big day -- >> one more excuse for us to eat. >> we get to eat. >> what else do we do around here but eat and do stories about animals? >> that's what we do. it's the heart and soul of the show. >> so january 27th, everybody, is always chocolate cake day. >> indeed. >> not vanilla cake. not raspberry cake. chocolate cake day. you can make milk chocolate, dark chocolate fudge, or any other type of chocolate cake. every year. you have to bake a cake, decorate a cake, or eat one. >> and our cake today has a special message because our broadcast producer david meyers, he was too chicken to come on camera. this cake says "we will miss you, david." he's going to work day side. he's staying in new york, staying with abc to go to greener pastures and go do some producing on the day side of things. there's him in -- he's a big broncos fan. >> that's a horrible heisman.

david. >> best of luck to you, man. thank you for the nearly two years you gave us. we know you'll kick butt on the day side. keep us in mind and enjoy the polka. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ab

this morning on "world news now" -- political smackdown. republican front-runners mitt romney and newt gingrich fight for domination yet again on the debate stage. >> after the candidates sparred over campaign ads, immigration, and the space program, did anyone come out as the clear winner? it's friday january 27th. good friday morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. tgi friday. >> i was just going to say the same thing. we're like on the same -- >> great minds. >> what am i thinking right now? >> we're just there, in sync. >> what am i thinking right now? >> i don't know. >> you don't want to know. anyway, i'm paula faris. when so many florida votes are at stake, we heard about romney's mexican heritage in a state with a big latino population, and all about newt gingrich's plans to beef up the space program to stimulate florida's economy. it will be a tough primary race

to call next tuesday. >> things are heating up there for sure. they're all trying to court hispanics and really whoever emerges out of florida you think then would kind of really become the new front-runner, and more and more polls suggest really florida could be gingrich country. so we will see how it plays out. also this morning, terrifying images showing a homegrown radical targeting the military in the washington, d.c. area. what federal agents are learning about this gunman. >> that's a little frightening. and the story that has our facebook page all abuzz. head-spinning details about what pat sajak and vanna white did in between tapings of "wheel of fortune." or is it fortune? >> hey, pat, i'll take a d, r, u, n, and k, my friend. that's a great story. before we get to the fun stuff, the audience was back at last night's republican showdown in jacksonville, florida. they were allowed finally, unlike the last debate, to applaud and cheer. and they did. >> kind of nice to get their engagement and involvement.

>> feels like a sports game almost. >> it did. >> brings the crowd into it. >> well, florida's gop race is very close and very critical. abc's karen travers reports on the political fireworks. >> reporter: under pressure from a surging newt gingrich, mitt romney came out with his guns blazing. >> wouldn't it be nice if people didn't make accusations somewhere else that they weren't willing to defend here? >> reporter: romney has seen his once massive lead in florida disappear. romney was more aggressive, more confident, and more prepared than he has been in recent debates. romney repeatedly slammed gingrich for his work as a consultant for failed mortgage giant freddie mac. he made it a local issue. >> he should have been anxiously telling the american people that these entities were causing a housing bubble that would cause a collapse that we've seen here in florida. >> reporter: gingrich fired right back. >> governor romney owns shares of both fannie mae and freddie mac. tell us how much money he's made off of how many households that

have not v. been foreclosed by his investments. >> reporter: ron paul and rick santorum are trailing badly in the polls. they just wanted to get back to policy. >> and you guys should leave that alone and focus on the issues. >> that subject really doesn't interest me a whole lot. >> reporter: latinos make up 13.1% of florida's 11 million registered voters. the contenders jockeyed for their support. >> is he still the most anti-yum grant candidate? >> i think of the four of us, yes. >> that's simply unexcusable. that's inexcusable. mr. speaker, i'm not anti-immigrant. my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was born in wales. they came to this country. the idea that i'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. >> reporter: there are no more debates before tuesday's primary so the candidates can focus all of their attention on the campaign trail as they try and lock down as many votes as they can. rob and paula, back to you. >> and by all accounts this was not a good night for newt gingrich at all. santorum had a very strong debate. mitt romney was on the aggressive and fought back a lot against some of the accusations by gingrich.

in fact, when they asked one of gingrich's pr people afterwards who won, he described it as a push, meaning a tie. so if your own pr team didn't say you win, you know you kind of had a rough night. >> and bob dole, who was working alongside gingrich when he was speaker of the house, is penning some words warning republicans, don't go for this guy. >> very strongly worded. >> a little incriminating. >> he said, "i never did know what he was doing or why he was doing it, and i'm not certain he knew either. gingrich had every -- had a new idea every minute, and most of them were off the wall." so bob dole taking the gloves off too and chiming in. he said to take a stand before it's too late. >> it would be good for romney. >> getting nasty. well, president obama meanwhile is crisscrossing the country promoting his economic plans. he arrived in detroit last night where unemployment is very high but michigan's auto industry is coming back strong, and the president told abc's diane sawyer he hopes to get some credit from voters for that. >> look, the auto industry, which has now created 160,000

jobs and sees gm as the number one automaker in the world again, that didn't just happen by accident, diane. >> today the president will speak at one of the greatest places on earth, the university of michigan in ann arbor. there are long lines of students camping out to get tickets for the speech. they'll hear the president's plans on college affordability, education, and job training. >> and we hear so much that young voters, independent voters key to his getting re-elected. so he's taking that message to the young people at one of your favorite places on the planet, ann arbor. >> it's actually michigan state, not just the campus, the football stadium. >> thanks for clarifying. >> had to. yes. well, a top member of obama's own staff may be looking for some job retraining. secretary of state hillary clinton was just asked whether she would run for vice president. she actually laughed at that, as you can see there. we'll take that as a no. but she did say she will not stay on in her current role if the president wins re-election. she says she's spent 20 years on what she calls the highwire of american politics, even joking that she wants to take some time

off to find out how tired she really is. and tired is probably the word. >> she's really, really tired. her body's just going to let down. and now to the frightening details about an alleged high school bomb plot in utah. two teenagers are in police custody, charged with planning a columbine-style attack during an assembly at their school north of salt lake city. investigators say they had collected maps of the school and information about its security system. and they had planned to escape in a stolen plane, which they trained to fly using flight simulator software. after an extensive search investigators found no sign of explosives. and a man in virginia will serve a 25-year prison sentence for firing shots at military targets including the pentagon. he's pleaded guilty as a stunning video of him in action was released. abc's pierre thomas reports. >> reporter: you're looking at a homegrown radical in ski mask preparing to terrorize the washington, d.c. area.

yonathan meleku recorded this chilling video as he drove to target the marine corps museum near quantico, virginia in 2010. >> that's a military building and there's the building up there, the target. >> reporter: that's a 9-millimeter handgun with an extended clip. he starts shooting. you see the flare of the muzzle. roughly 19 shots fired. >> all hew akbar. >> reporter: he pleaded guilty to a shooting spree that also included the pentagon and two military recruiting stations. meleku is one of 50 homegrown radicals arrested in the last two years. no one was hurt, but these haunting images make plain the threat from within is real. pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >> all too real. well, there's word the american aid worker rescued by navy s.e.a.l.s from kidnappers in somalia is reuniting now with her family. it's taking place at a u.s. air base in sicily where jessica

buchanan and her danish colleague were undergoing what they call reintegration. that's a treatment for prisoners of war who are preparing to go back to normal life. after three months of captivity they had made a pact, actually, to go through the decompression process together. >> she says, "i feel safe for the first time in 93 days." >> i know that it's probably taking a toll on her. if i know her and her strength, that she'll be okay. >> buchanan's husband has described his wife's time in captivity as three months of hell. well, a new york lawyer has withdrawn his last-minute claim for a $7.5 million lottery jackpot in iowa. crawford shaw tried to redeem that winning ticket on behalf of a trust just two hours before it expired. lottery officials wanted him to explain how he obtained the ticket, but shaw said he did not know who bought it. sounds suspicious. several people are now claiming the ticket was stolen from them. so the iowa attorney general has been called to investigate. >> yeah. something fishy going on there. well, we don't have the

official graphic for this one, but this is my favorite story of the day. something of a stunning admission from long time "wheel of fortune" host pat sajak. he says he has hosted the show drunk. sajak has hosted wheel of course with the ubiquitous vanna white since the early '80s. he said back in the earl day days of the show they would cut out for some long breaks in between tapings of the show. >> at nbc in burbank we had a place called los arcos across the street which is spanish as you know for the arcos. and they serve great margueritas. so vanna and i would go across and have two or three or six and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet. >> i love the honesty, pat. sajak also told our colleagues at espn2 that no one ever said anything to them about all that boozing. and he says now that he's older he can't do what they used to do anymore. >> it's our facebook question of the day. and nobody seems to really care. slow news day. it's "wheel of fortune," for

god's sake. >> turn the letters, spin the wheel. >> how hard could it be? >> you don't have to be totally sober to do that. we do this show -- >> completely. >> completely sober. >> every day. >> yeah. here's your friday forecast. a wet day from miami up to boston. some storms and hail in the carolinas and virginia. an icy mix changes over to all snow in northern new england. up to three inches of snow from fargo to michigan's upper peninsula. rainy in milwaukee, chicago, cincinnati, and louisville. >> you're a bad man, rob nelson. mostly 50s from boston to atlanta. 37 in minneapolis. near 50 in kansas city and 71 in dallas. phoenix hit 73. salt lake city 38. this is a very popular weekend in the town of frankenmuth, michigan. >> frankenmuth. not muth. >> whatever. simply because it is the 21st annual snowfest featuring one of the nation biggest snow and ice carving competitions.

oh, what a fun place. >> teams from around the world are participating, working around the clock on their sculptures. the grand prize, $2,500. >> the favorites are a team that's creating the submarine from "20,000 leagues under the sea" being attacked by a squid. that team has won the competition actually the last three years running. >> frankenmuth, though, is christmas year round. you can go to brauner's. it's a christmas store that's open year round. it's a great place to go. growing up in michigan. >> you midwesterners know how to party. >> we do. >> we'll be back with more "world news now" after this. >> get crazy. ♪ you know you got me feeling like i'm frozen ♪ ♪ i'm frozen, i'm frozen n, i'm frozen ♪ ♪ you know you got me feeling like i'm frozen ♪ ♪ i'm frozen, i'm frozen [ female announcer ] removing facial hair can be irritating.

challenge that. new olay smooth finish facial hair removal duo. first a gentle balm. then the removal cream. effective together with less irritation and as gentle as a feather. new olay hair removal duo. have given way to sleeping. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression,

including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta.

welcome back, everybody. welcome back, everybody. it is that time on friday mornings where we like to look back of course at the sights and sounds that made headlines this past week. >> i'm just so glad it's friday. from the president's state of the union to the battle for the gop nomination to gabby giffords' emotional good-bye, they're all part of our friday

rewind. >> i have more work to do on my recovery. so to do what is best for arizona i will step down this week. >> her dedication to her constituents i think was exemplary and probably unmatched anywhere else in congress. >> we proved here in south carolina that people power with the right ideas beats big money. >> my income tax will show that that's where the profits and rewards came. >> you can call this class warfare all you want. but asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? most americans would call that common sense. >> the fact is i offered strategic advice. largely based on my knowledge of history. >> as a historian? they don't pay people $25,000 a month for six years as historians. >> good job tonight. good job tonight. >> a self-contained unit that can go anyplace in the world and

literally do nothing but kick ass. >> this school is definitely a family. and he's like the father of this family. and we just lost our dad. ♪ i've been working on the railroad ♪ ♪ all the livelong day >> she'd like to be seen as a demure future queen. and bikini shots possibly aren't in keeping with that. ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ah ♪ and the home of the brave >> oh. steven tyler just -- ah! >> is he done? >> he's done. >> i was hoping i wouldn't have to hear that again. >> but see, those of you, if you're a fan of aerosmith or a fan of steven tyler, you should have -- you probably expected that.

that's the legendary steve tyler screech, man. that's what he does, he screams. >> but we cover it up in the sound booth, man. we make them sound better. >> keep rocking, steven. coming up, the intriguing dramas at theaters today. >> from survival in alaska's wild to a gender bender lesson in history. "insomniac theater" is all next.

♪ ♪ welcome back, everybody. time now for "insomniac theater." two good movies coming out this weekend including a big oscar movie starring glenn close. theater. that's my thing. >> it's great. >> i'm a thespian. >> yes, you are.

one of the things, rob's going to preview that film "albert nobbs" in a moment, but i'm going to start out with the big liam neeson thriller "the grey." i'm a big liam neeson fan. i'm hearing good things about this. >> great things. >> the premise is he and a bunch of rough, tumble, i.e. hot guys go down in a plane crash in alaska's wilderness. so they're not only trying to survive the elements. they're trying to survive against this pack of wolves. a dangerous pack of rogue wolves. it's getting an average rating of 79 from critics. let's take a look at this howling good movie. >> so we don't die. we build up a fire. then we find food. then at daybreak we figure out what way is south and we start walking. nobody's going to find us. not here. unless you want to freeze to death. >> so roger ebert says, "when i learned of sarah palin hunting wolves from a helicopter, my sensibilities were tested, but after this film i was prepared

to call in more helicopters," rob. >> getting great reviews. an existential thriller is what they're calling this thing. my movie is "albert snob." no, i'm sorry, "albert nobbs." that's the name of this movie. this has been getting a lot of awards buzz this year. glenn close movie. she's obviously a brilliant actress here. and she's playing a woman passing as a man. thus my inappropriate joke. in order to survive back in 19th century ireland. so she spends 30 years as a man getting by, living kind of a low-profile life, but then she meets someone else who's also posing as a man, and that -- and she managed to find a partner who helps her kind of maintain that lifestyle. now, glenn close's character hopes to find the same thing. take a listen. >> but a woman could serve at the counter. >> yes indeed. a woman could. you're not thinking of taking a wife. are you, nobbs? who's the lucky lady? >> glenn close is getting spectacular reviews in all of this. but critics about the movie

itself kind of lukewarm. we'll see. ics about the movie itself kind of lukewarm. we'll see. where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta can help you get there, like it has for so many people before. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. then get lunesta for $0 at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta.

we asked him to be part of an experiment to prove that febreze air effects can eliminate tough cooking odors. [ moderator ] take a deep breath and then tell me what you smell. wow. it takes you kinda to like an island. like a paradise. [ sniffs ] vanilla. [ sniffs ] i smell caramel, like a caramel candy. [ moderator ] go ahead and take your blindfold off. ah man. ♪ [ laughs ] wow man! [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] eliminate tough odors with febreze air effects so you can breathe happy guaranteed. ♪

♪ food, glorious food ♪ and finally, our favorite story of the day. when it comes to national days, saturday is a big one. it's national kazoo day and national blueberry pancake day. >> mm. are you kidding me? can you guess which of those two holidays we're going to celebrate here on "world news now"? well, thanks to the good folks over at driscoll's berries we are celebrating in style. we have like a platter full of berries here, raspberries, blueberries, and of course the holiday itself, blueberry pancakes. >> it's a very good time. laura and irene, we thank them again for coming in. >> they fed us well tonight on the set. >> we've been eating all night. we've been in kind of a carb coma. >> totally. i had like 14 pancakes before we went on the air. >> did you get the blueberry out

of your tooth? it was a nice touch. >> i appreciate that. very serious news. >> they're high in antioxidants. they're a superfood. >> superfood. it will help you keep from aging. >> high in vitamins, low in calories. great for men. >> yes. >> you know what i like to do is put them in the freezer sometimes and pop them. >> my girlfriend does that too. she just did that tonight, as a matter of fact. she loves eating the frozen berries. they're good for you that way. >> yes. >> i also just saw a report on this too, fruits and vegetables important to get into your daily diet. roughly 4 1/2 cups of vegetables and fruits you should eat every day. these are so good and so sweet. thanks to our good friends at driscoll's. >> 4 1/2 cups. dig in. they gave us some tips. first of all, let's look at this nice syrup. this is the key to get a little blueberry marinade going. >> it's basically berries in the syrup with a little butter. delicious on top of the pancakes. >> but this is the key. how they were making the pancakes, laura and irene. you put the batter actually on the little griddle and then you drop the blueberries in.

you don't put the blueberries in with the batter. >> you pop them in when they're already on the girdle. or the the griddle. >> the girdle? >> i don't know where that came from. >> he just likes to eat. >> that's a whole different kind of meal. that's good, though. i've never had blueberry pancakes before we started doing this holiday on this show. >> what? >> i'd never had blueberry pancakes -- >> you'd never had blueberry pancakes? >> no. >> what's wrong with you? >> not until a year ago when we did this segment. i used to have the plain ones. this is good. we invite you all to eat. fill up your plates, all two of you. >> yay. jackie and amanda. >> full snack participation here on -- >> bumping us up. >> yes. the always camera-shy jackie and amanda -- >> are you going to take the whole snack? >> there you go. take a big bite. >> one bite. one bite. >a

this morning on "world news now" -- emotional reunion. the american hostage freed from her somalian captors in a dramatic takedown finally gets to see her husband. >> there are reports that jessica buchanan's three months of hell and her separation from her husband are finally coming to an end. it's friday january 27th. and good morning, everyone. i'm paula faris. happy friday to you. >> yes. it always sounds nice, the ring to it. happy friday. good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. those two freed hostages who of course were rescued are now going through reintegration. that's the word they're using to describe it. it's to help them adjust to normal life. and we're also hearing from the president now about what was

going on behind the scenes while the navy s.e.a.l.s rescue operation was taking place. also this morning, last night's verbal smackdown on the debate stage in jacksonville. loved this debate, rob. what newt gingrich, mitt romney, and their opponents said and did to appeal to millions of republican voters in florida. and we'll also tell you if somebody came out a winner from that debate. >> and it was definitely not newt. he had a rough night out there. santorum had a great night. and mitt took off the gloves big-time. he's really going on the offensive. it's getting heated in florida because you would think the winner in that state on tuesday really has a lot of momentum behind him. >> newt's spokesman said it was a push and that's never a good thing. later this half hour, michael jackson's children along with justin bieber are making sure the king of pop's legacy is never forgotten. another tribute to my favorite musical performer of all time, michael jackson. yes. but first, a fresh start for jessica buchanan. the american aid worker rescued from somali kidnappers. >> it's an emotional reunion today for buchanan and her husband at a u.s. air base in sicily. abc's kelly cobiella is there where the hostages have a difficult process ahead. >> reporter: the moment they

were safely out of somalia, jessica buchanan and poul thisted made a pact, to go through the reintegration process together. it's the same treatment given to p.o.w.s. the former captives talking to psychologists about their time as hostages. an essential period of mental decompression. >> i know that it's probably taking a toll on her. if i know her and her strength, that she'll be okay. >> reporter: her fellow aid workers say the 32-year-old never was seriously ill. her captors made that up to speed up a ransom payment. but it backfired, leading to the raid that rescued her. buchanan's husband, having gone through three months of hell, he wrote on his facebook page, "my wonderful fantastic wife, jess, is now safe. words cannot express the joy and relief we are feeling." experts say you can free the body more quickly than you can free the mind. and so these days of rest and evaluation are critical for a healthy transition back to their lives.

kelly cobiella, abc news, at sigonella naval base, sicily. >> happy for that family. and we now know that daring rescue took place in the hours before president obama gave his state of the union address tuesday night. he revealed nothing about it, though, in his speech. but when he arrived in the house chamber, of course, as we've seen this week, he greeted secretary of defense leon panetta with a wink telling him good job tonight. diane sawyer asked the president about that exchange. >> he does a good job generally. but we were very specifically referring to the operation in somalia because at that time we knew that she had already been recovered, along with the danish hostage. and they weren't yet back to djibouti, the american base, but we knew at that point that they were safe and that everybody had successfully achieved the mission. >> president obama called jessica's father right after the big speech, when she was safely at an american base in africa. only then did he go public with

what the s.e.a.l.s had accomplished. an interesting thing here, too, we'd heard all week that one of the reasons that the raid became so urgent was because she had this kind of deteriorating health condition. that turned out not to be true at all because they really didn't want to -- they didn't want to make it seem like they could get the ransom up because she was ill. you know, that was a way to kind of downplay that whole thing. so that was very interesting. she's not sick. she is okay according to some reports. >> and they wanted to keep it low profile on purpose. they didn't want to, you know, blow it out of the water for lack of a better term, just so that -- the somali captors didn't think that they had some sort of celebrity or somebody that was worth a high ransom. >> exactly. >> intentional. >> well played all the way around, politically and militarily. >> she is safe and back home. >> yes. well, the republicans who want president obama's job faced off for the last time before tuesday's high-stakes primary in florida. front-runners newt gingrich and mitt romney sharpened their attacks, and the audience loved it. kaitlin ross of jacksonville's wjxx was at that debate. >> i think you should apologize for it and i think you should

recognize that having differences of opinions on issues does not justify labeling people with highly charged epithets. >> reporter: thursday's debate between the four republican presidential candidates ended up as a two-man showdown between the front-runners. >> just tell me the language. i'm perfectly happy for you to explain what language you'd use. >> reporter: hitting each other on health care, immigration, and campaign commercials, the audience split its support between mitt romney and newt gingrich. which largely lines up with polling in the state, which shows the two running neck and neck before tuesday's primary. but as they were exchanging body blows, rick santorum saw an opening. >> you've been waiting a long time to have an opportunity to have a little more time at these debates and have an opportunity to lay out our vision and to lay out a contrast and talk about --

give people a reason for jumping on board and helping us. >> reporter: he says for voters sick of gingrich and romney's fighting he is the better choice. >> the bottom line is they don't present the real contrast. the reason you're seeing them fight over such petty things is because the big things they can't fight over. because they agree with each other by and large. >> reporter: and there will be plenty of time for the candidates to talk about the issues before they meet again. the next debate isn't scheduled until february 22nd. reporting in jacksonville for abc news, i'm kaitlin ross. well, two teenagers in utah are in custody accused of plotting to bomb their high school just north of salt lake city. the plan was to attack during an assembly and then get away in a stolen plane at a nearby airport. police say they prepared by logging hundreds of hours using flight simulator software on their computers. one boy was apparently so fascinated by the columbine attack that he had even visited that school. investigators have found no explosives. and in marian county, florida seven middle school students are facing assault charges for a brutal school bus attack. surveillance video shows five boys and two girls beating a 13-year-old girl unconscious.

the bus driver could be seen yelling at the students before pulling, stopping, and bringing the girl to the front of the bus. the victim said it was her first day on that bus and no one would let her sit down. that's very, very sad. >> what is going on inside of our schools? good lord. a public memorial on penn state's campus brought the school's formal mourning period for long-time football coach joe paterno to a close. but of course it was not without some controversy. referring to the ongoing sex abuse scandal, nike chairman phil knight said if there is a villain in all of this it's in the investigation, not in joe paterno. the thousands in attendance also heard from paterno's family and former players. >> he never took a compliment. he always deflected praise. today we are going to show you how much we love you. >> joe paterno strode the world with a confidence that he had found, met, and married the woman of his dreams. >> that is obviously a reference

to his mother and joe's wife, sue. now, jay paterno said his dad died with a clear conscience, and he got some laughs, actually, when he imitated his father's voice, telling the audience to sit down. well, overseas the search continues today in rio de janeiro for more than a dozen people still missing after a building collapse. at least six deaths are being blamed on wednesday night's collapse. it's believed that some illegal construction being done inside weakened the 20-story building and caused it to crumble. the collapse also brought down two other buildings. in mexico a volcano is menacing the town of puebla, coughing up a frightening plume of ash and gas. the giant gray cloud shot high in the air, forcing school children at the foot of the mountain to evacuate their classrooms and head to safe areas. but authorities determined that the city itself was not in immediate danger. here's a look now at your weather on this friday. stormy along the east coast. up to ten inches of snow in northern new england.

some rain from boston to d.c. heavy downpours, hail, and gusty winds from richmond to charleston, south carolina. also some rain from milwaukee to louisville and snow showers in the upper midwest and colorado rockies. >> 41 in colorado springs. 62 in sacramento. and 44 in seattle. a snowy 29 in fargo. 43 in omaha. and 40 in chicago. upper 50s in new york, baltimore, and atlanta. well, we can't wait to bring you the high-flying tale of ripples the cat. >> not ruffles? >> no, ripples. >> like the chips? >> no. ripples. plenty of people up in canada a bit irritated at him yesterday. >> yeah. that's because he escaped his container after being carried onto a plane that was supposed to fly from nova scotia to toronto. but he ran into the cockpit and hid in the plane's wiring, and that's where he stayed for four hours. >> oh.

everyone had to get off the plane while they took the cockpit apart to get him out. passengers were told the long delay was due to "a baggage problem." nice going there, ripples. see, you question why i'm not a pet person. you see sometimes the hassles they can cause? >> pets are so sweet, though. >> are you a dog person or a cat person? >> i like -- i had cats and dogs growing up. >> oh, you like it all. >> i do. yeah. >> good. you take care of that for both of us. we'll be right back with more "world news now" after this. ♪ hold that tiger ♪ has anybody seen that tiger ♪ we know a place where tossing and turning

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for febreze fabric refresher. they agreed. [ experimenter 1 ] relax, take some nice deep breaths. [ experimenter 2 ] what do you smell? lilac. clean. there's something that's really fresh. a little bit beach-y. like children's blankets. smells like home. [ experimenter 1 ] okay. take your blindfolds off. ♪ hello? [ male announcer ] and now new and improved febreze fabric refresher with up to two times the odor elimination so you can breathe happy, guaranteed. i'm getting sick. >> well, it's no surprise the state of the union was a top i'm getting sick. >> well, it's no surprise the state of the union was a top search this week on yahoo. what might be a surprise is why a popular dog show was popular as well.

you doing okay? >> yeah, i'm better now. thank you. joining us to explain why and tell us what else was trending is yahoo's web life editor, heather cabot. good morning to you, heather. >> good morning, guys. this week the web focused on washington and what's shaping up to be an exciting political season. as republican white house contenders duke it out in the sunshine state, president obama took center stage, both on the hill and online as millions tuned in to watch the state of the union address. searches for the annual speech to congress surged more than 6,600%. and with all eyes on the chamber in primetime we saw lots of questions about who was there and of course what they wore. people wanted to know who designed the first lady's sapphire colored dress and vice president biden's iridescent tie. they looked up senator john kerry and noted he was sporting bruises and a broken nose after an accident playing hockey. they did care about the substance of the night, though, and they fact checked the president's remarks and they also wanted to know more about governor mitch daniels, who delivered the gop response. but it was the appearance of arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords on the floor that

inspired a flood of queries. giffords, who stepped down from her house seat on wednesday to focus full-time on her recovery, garnered tremendous interest online this week. also buzzing this week, oscar nominations. moviegoers want to make sure they see the best picture nominees before the statuettes are handed out february 26th. right now the tom hanks, sandra bullock flick "extremely loud and incredibly close" is the most sought after film on yahoo. then "war horse," "the artist," "the descendants," and "moneyball" round out the top five most searched movies on yahoo. and as for the best actress and actor nominees, rooney mara and brad pitt take top honors, at least according to search. and finally, one of the most talked about stories online this week doesn't have anything to do with politics or celebrities. it is word that the famed westminster kennel club dog show will welcome six new breeds into the competition. searches are off the charts for info and images of the dogs that range from the american english coon hound to the national dog of mexico, previously known as the mexican hairless.

and they make their debut next month at madison square garden. that's your week in search, guys. back to you. >> any oscar movies you want to check out? >> "the artist." "the descendants." and i think eight of the nine. >> you really haven't seen tham at all, have you? >> i don't get out much. i watch a lot of "dora the explorer" and "sponge bob." >> you did see "moneyball." that's the one i want to see. >> i did see it with brad pitt. you can watch it with the volume down or the volume up. a lot of great acting. >> i can tell you mean that. coming up, what may have sent demi moore over the edge. and guess what, it's not related to ashton kutcher. >> and a new role for our old friend vinita nair. at all next in "the skinny." stick around. ♪ skinny friend vinita nair. at all next in "the skinny." stick around.

♪ skinny ♪ so skinny ♪ skinny ♪ so skinny welcome back, everybody. today we start "the skinny" with something very, very special. >> yay. >> it's kind of cool. those of you who've been

watching the show a while may remember one of our favorite co-anchors, vinita nair. she left the show a year ago in february here, but she's gone on to do some very, very cool things since she left here. and the coolest thing happened this week because she is a brand new -- >> mommy. >> -- mom. we told you during our anniversary show earlier this month that she was expecting, and guess what? she had a baby boy. his name is tahir zane. >> beautiful. >> tahir zane is his name. they're going to call him zane, though, which i think is cool. he was eight pounds one ounce. she says yes, he was actually born with all of that hair you saw in the other photo. hairy little guy, but adorable as you can see. she's going to take him home tomorrow. she's calling the new baby, her new little boy, her new best friend. and get this, too. she actually was watching "world news now" during her contractions in the hospital

earlier this week. >> vinita. >> we're sure you're up now because that kid's probably screaming and wailing. but we wish a lot of love and a lot of luck and a healthy, healthy baby boy. her first child. we're all very happy for you here on staff. >> yeah, everybody tells you when you have your first kid how amazing it's going to be. and vinita, nobody can prepare you for that moment. it's the best role you'll ever have. so congratulations to you. >> fasten your seat belt, vinita. >> a lot better than working with this guy. >> totally. >> almost. almost as -- >> i'm almost potty trained. so it's a step up. >> okay. so a lot of new details coming out of demi moore. you know, that she was rushed to the hospital after allegedly doing some whip-its at a party. she is no longer being treated at sherman oaks hospital. she reportedly left. they believe that she is at her home. she had a seizure-like crisis at her home, though. and they're now saying that part of her demise is the fact that her alcoholics anonymous sponsor -- a lot people didn't even know she was in aa. >> i didn't know that. >> that her aa sponsor, a 70-year-old, passed away back in december, and i guess she was just a mess. she's been a mess since -- her name was patsy rug, a renowned substance abuse counselor passed away, so that kind of led to demi's demise. >> so she's had some issues with the whole ashton thing and now that her aa sponsor died -- >> and this was like a mother figure for her as well. >> tough time. we hope you get better, demi. that's sad. more and more coming out about that. also a lighter note here, matthew broderick, we all remember the classic movie

"ferris bueller's day off." and apparently something emerged on youtube where he may be in a super bowl commercial coming up on the 5th that mimics a very scene from the movie. take a look at the clip. >> how could i handle work on a day like today? ♪ >> very cool. now, we don't know what he may be helping to advertise or whatever. but it mimics that scene from the movie where he kind of opens the curtain and says, "how can i possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this?" so it's been updated for the super bowl. >> beautiful. >> love that movie. >> it was one of my nicknames in college because faris -- >> ah, yes. very cool. >> real quick, the huffington post, this story, we can actually just go to 50 cent's twitter page. if the giants win the super bowl, he has made a bet on twitter with one of his tweeters that he will post a picture of him in his birthday suit. >> in the buff.

really? >> i don't want to see that. >> football's a game of long ball. tball's a game of long ball. >> football's a game of long ball.

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♪ remember the time ♪ when we fell in love ♪ do you remember the time ♪ do you remember, girl you got that going on. >> i can do that. >> real quick, it's friday, so it's the weekend. i'm already in weekend mode. clarification on "the skinny" about 50 cent. he has to post that picture if the giants lose. >> lose. there we go. >> i just don't want to see that nasty stuff. i don't. >> i'm sure a lot of women may disagree with you. all right. start it off. >> and you you too, right? >> no, i -- >> big fan. so finally, as you might have guessed it, this next story is about the one and the only king of pop. we're talking about rob's favorite. >> michael jackson.

a star-studded tribute was held thursday in hollywood, where even m.j.'s children appeared to honor their late father. kabc's rob hayes has more. ♪ >> reporter: if you're going to stage a ceremony to honor michael jackson, you'd better have two things. music -- ♪ -- and dancing. grauman's chinese theater had both. as well as the wet cement the theater is known worldwide for. the late singer's handprints and footprints immortalized, thanks to some help from his three children. prince, blanket, and paris pressed one of jackson's famous sequined gloves and a pair of his shoes into the cement. >> michael jackson's foot and handprints will cement his legacy as the global icon he was for more than four decades. >> reporter: it didn't go without a hitch, though. jackson's shoeprints needed a do-over, but eventually the shoes went down, and the three jackson kids put their handprints next to their dad's.

and some big entertainment names. ♪ rock around ♪ because we're really going to rock it tonight ♪ ♪ yeah >> -- took the stage to honor jackson. >> he was more than an entertainer. he was an inspiration. >> he was just a great person. not only he was the biggest star in the world and changed the world and there will never be another one like him. he was the kindest man in the world. >> reporter: jackson's mother, katharine, and brothers tito and jackie joined music producer quincy jones and motown great smokey robinson in honoring the king of pop. >> i'm here to pay tribute to my little brother. and his legacy and his talent will live on and on and on and on and on forever and ever. >> for me, and i think i speak for him as well, this is his lifetime achievement award. this is what he strived to get. and this is what we are giving and thisoda what we are giving