>> have a good night. we'll see you again at 6:00. this is "world news." and tonight, wicked weather. a blizzard barrels through the west as a new storm takes aim at the east. what does it mean for your holiday travel plans? america's comeback. jobs growing in 43 states, and the surprising corner of the country seeing an employment boom tonight. but could a showdown in washington short-circuit the recovery? celebrities exposed. princess di's pictures, paul mccartney's private voicemails. why a familiar face is being grilled tonight. holiday fire hazard. why some homes burn six times faster than others. is yours one of them? and calling all angels. the secret santa sparking a nationwide movement, prompting tears of joy and teaching us in a new way the true meaning of christmas.

good evening. tonight, from one end of the country to the other, all eyes are on the weather. in the west, they're digging out after a deadly blizzard roared through, leaving behind a sloppy mess. and here in the east, we're bracing for a storm that could threaten holiday travel plans for millions. abc news meteorologist ginger zee has been tracking both storms and she's in dodge city, kansas, tonight. good evening, ginger. >> reporter: good evening, george. this is a common scene around this region. knee-high snow drifts, people just digging out and roads that are, for the first time, becoming passable. as this ferocious storm pucks off to the east, we learned six people have lost their lives. over a foot of snow and ten foot drifts blanketed the southwest overnight. a blizzard, with whiteout conditions, that brought major interstates to a halt. motorists throughout the great

plains, stranded. southeast colorado, buried under almost two feet of snow. gusting winds and frozen roads that caused deadly accidents. >> it went from rain to sleet to snow. i slid off in the median, was there for several hours waiting for help and -- took me three hours to get 30 miles. >> reporter: the national guard forced to make rescues in texas and colorado, as 911 dispatchers were inundated with calls. in new mexico, a radio dispatch from one officer describes a baby born in a car stranded in the storm. >> just had a motorist stop at my location. he has a female passenger who had just delivered a baby. >> reporter: in dodge city, kansas, we went out with mark davis, at the end of a 36-hour shift, working to clear the roads. this is a big storm for you guys. >> this is a very big storm. and the wind last night was absolutely horrible. >> reporter: today's storm will continue its march east, bringing heavy rain during this

major holiday travel week. and then a new storm forms. a nor'easter, that has parts of the northeast flirting with a white christmas. a novel thought for an area that so far has been so unseasonably mild. the storm builds from the mid-atlantic through the northeast friday, bringing mostly rain to major cities. but for areas inland, the forecast now calling for snow by christmas. no matter what type of precipitation you're going to get, these storms mean travel issues, especially for new york, atlanta and denver. just a couple of the hubs that we will be watching very closely. george? >> okay, ginger, thank you. and we got some good news today on the economy. a holiday trifecta sent the stock market up nearly 3%. consumers are spending, the housing market is stronger and most important, new jobs are being created. we learned today that unemployment has fallen in 43 states. abc's cecilia vega is here to show us where the jobs are coming back and why.

cecilia? >> reporter: good evening, mortga george. you know, it hasn't looked this good in a really long time. it's been four years since the start of this great recession. and finally tonight, there is proof that jobs are coming back to nearly every corner of this country. call it a holiday gift of the best kind. just about every state in the country saw unemployment drop in november. nationally, the country has seen 100,000 or more new jobs added every month since july. that hasn't happened since before the start of the great recession. is this going to stick for the united states? >> i think we're going to see continues job growth and reductions in unemployment in the country as a whole. >> reporter: the brightest spot in the entire country? right here in north dakota, where more people are back to work than anywhere else. an unemployment rate at 3.5%, far below the national average of 8.6%, means help wanted signs and job fairs are everywhere. what's behind it? an oil boom that's creating work

in every field -- from farms to factories. and people like mark luna are cashing in. >> in arizona, it took at least 30 days just to get an interview. here it took a week. >> reporter: while there are still states like nevada, with a staggering 13% unemployment rate, things are looking up in most of the country. alabama's governor -- who saw one of the steepest unemployment drops in the country last month -- told us today his state's boom comes from new jobs in auto manufacturing and aerospace. and you think this is going to stick for alabama, a sign of things to come? >> we have become a state that really recruits industries, especially manufacturing industries into their states. >> reporter: whether it's a rebounding housing market or new jobs in the oil industry, economists say this time it could stick. in steubenville, ohio, new jobs from a natural gas reserve could mean work for the unemployed as early as this spring. >> i just want to work. that's about it.

i want to work. >> reporter: now, as of today, 32 states have unemployment rates at or below the national average and, george, economists say that's a sign that more jobs could be coming online and, more importantly, more people headed back to work in the months ahead. >> let's hope they're right. cecilia, thank you. that jobs report was the only good news out of washington today. in a year filled with showdowns and government shutdowns, there was another political breakdown over that payroll tax cut set to expire on january 1st. 160 million americans are affected by it. the average family will pay an extra $1,000 in taxes if it goes away. and an overwhelming majority of democrats and republicans in congress want to keep it. but as abc's jon karl reports, they are deadlocked on how to do it -- again. >> reporter: it's christmas time in the capitol, and washington is set to play the grinch. from the white house, the president pleaded with house republicans to do what the senate has already done -- temporarily extend the payroll

tax cut and unemployment benefits for two months. >> i need the speaker and house republicans to do the same. put politics aside. put aside issues where there are fundamental disagreements and come together on something we agree on. >> reporter: but the house rejected the senate bill today, demanding talks on a compromise that would extend the tax cut for a full year. >> the president of course has just said, he appealed to you personally, he said, i need john boehner to help out and -- >> i need the president to help out, all right? >> reporter: hanging in the balance? the paychecks of 160 million americans. without action by january 1st, we'll all be paying on average $20 more a week in taxes. and about 2.5 million of the long-term unemployed will lose their benefits. finally, doctors who treat medicare patients will see their

payments slashed by 27%. >> don't be a grinch. >> reporter: president obama has repeatedly said he would not leave for his planned christmas vacation in hawaii until it is resolved. >> and we can all spend christmas here together. >> reporter: late last week, it looked like it was resolved. democrats and republicans negotiated a two-month extension. republican senate leader mitch mcconnell seemed thrilled with the deal, even high-fiving fellow republican john barrasso. but house republicans said no way. >> a two-month extension is nothing more than kicking the can down the road. >> reporter: tonight, john mccain is warning his republican colleagues in the house that they are, quote, harming the republican party, by refusing to pass the bipartisan senate bill. senate democrats, meanwhile, tell me, there will be no more negotiating. the house either passes the senate bill or takes the blame for a tax increase hitting 160 million americans. george? >> and jon, the white house today was telling me that they expect house republicans to cave. any signs of that?

>> reporter: no signs of it yet, george. they are saying that they are standing firm. they believe they are right on the substance that the extension should be for a full year, but we'll see how it plays out. >> we will see. could be well past christmas. jon karl, thank you. and one more political note. our new abc news poll shows the republican race for the white house is now a dead heat. newt gingrich, the latest in a series of front-runners, has fallen fast and hard, now even with mitt romney, which may be why gingrich said today that it was a mistake to say this to abc's jake tapper a couple weeks ago. >> i'm going to be the nominee. i mean, it's very hard not to look at the recent polls and think that the odds are very high i'm going to be the nominee. >> and we got reports from iowa today that the new front-runner there is ron paul. just about everybody's been in front there one time or another. overseas to north korea, where tonight, an 11-day period of mourning is under way for kim jong-il, the dictator that died saturday. and we were struck by images showing koreans in despair,

wailing uncontrollably. but is all that emotion real, forced or a bit of both? abc's david wright reports from south korea tonight. >> reporter: today, kim jong-il lay in state. news of his death, one final insult to the foreign intelligence agencies who tried for years unsuccessfully to penetrate his regime. they learned like everyone else, from the official announcement, some 48 hours after his death. today, kim jong-il's son and heir choked back what appeared to be real tears as he gave a solemn bow of good-bye. >> he is truly not a ready for primetime player. the chinese themselves are a little worried about whether he's really up to the task. >> reporter: today, most of the public displays of grief -- "father general, where are you," she wailed. grown men, many in uniform, blubbered like babies. >> part of this is political and it's manufactured and it's required, on the part of the citizens. but you cannot discount that

some of this is quite genuine. >> reporter: when kim jong-il's father died, the outpouring of grief was equally over the top. the great leader, and later, the dear leader, were north korea's only celebrities. today, we met this woman, a 23-year-old defector from the north who said, her generation doesn't buy it. "people in my mother's generation were brainwashed," she said. "but we're not so blind." state media released what they said was the last photo taken of kim jong-il, on a supermarket escalator. today, the escalator is a shrine. "if only he could ride it again," she cried. these two countries are still at war, but today, south korea extended condolences to the north korean people. and officials here said that they won't be lighting the christmas trees on the dmz. in the past, north korea viewed christmas trees on that heavily fortified border as a provocation. they don't celebrate christmas there. they worship their leaders. george?

>> 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...

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americans know the former british tabloid editor from "america's got talent" and cnn. today, he was testifying by video link at britain's official inquiry into phone hacking and other illegal behavior. >> and your point? >> i ask the questions, mr. morgan. >> reporter: morgan conceded he had listened to an emotional voicemail from sir paul mccartney to his wife, heather mills, as their marriage was crumbling. >> it doesn't necessarily follow that listening to somebody talking to someone else is unethical. >> reporter: morgan was asked about hiring a man called benji the bin man, who found elton john's personal bank records in the singer's trash. >> if you throw rubbish into the street, then i just throw it out there, that i wonder how unethical it is if that then appears in the newspaper. i mean, it's rubbish, isn't it? >> reporter: the stakes for morgan are huge. he is testifying under oath in an investigation in which more than a dozen journalists and editors here in britain have been arrested. and many more careers ended.

morgan didn't even try to defend the doctoring of this blurry 1997 photo of princess diana, to make it look like she was kissing dodi fayed. >> it was a stupid thing to do. >> reporter: stupid, he admits. unethical, perhaps. but he insists, not illegal. jeffrey kofman, abc news, london. and still ahead, it's the peak season of house fires. 1,000 homes catching fire every day. why some burn much faster than others. is yours at risk? wow. nice place. yeah. [ chuckles ] the family thinks i'm out shipping these. smooth move. you used priority mail flat rate boxes. if it fits, it ships for a low, flat rate. paid for postage online and arranged a free pickup. and i'm gonna track them online, too. nice. between those boxes and this place, i'm totally staying sane this year. do i smell snickerdoodles? maybe. [ timer dings ] got to go. priority mail flat rate shipping at usps.com.

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homes filled with holiday cheer and holiday lights. just an accident away from disaster. in the next 24 hours, about 1,000 american homes will catch fire. it's the holidays. decorations are out. candles are lit. what you might not know is that candles burn at 1,000 degrees, and you could accidentally start a devastating fire by doing something as simple as getting off the couch. we watched how quickly the average american home can go up in flames. at the underwriters lab facility in chicago. in older homes, a fire like this could engulf this room in about 18 minutes. but with new synthetic materials, modern homes can go up in three minutes. that's right, most homes built since the 1980s can burn up to six times faster. experts say the reason is simple. new homes are made with more flammable materials. floor joists and roof beams which used to be solid lumber, they're now woodchips glued together. just three minutes in, that

couch becomes a fuel log, the carpet a pond of fire. the room fills with noxious gases. it's a death trap. watch this recent experiment as an older house burns, significantly more slowly. >> we could build this entire room out of natural materials and it would burn far more slowly. >> reporter: how much more slowly? >> ten minutes slower. >> reporter: those ten minutes could mean life or death. >> seconds count. >> reporter: because synthetic materials are cheaper and sturdier, the scientists here say a return to natural products is unlikely. the real lifesaver for folks in new homes and old is awareness. the rule of thumb, if the smoke detector is sounding and it takes more than a cup of water to put out a blaze, leave the firefighting to the professionals. matt gutman, abc news, northbrook, illinois. >> just one cup. and still ahead, the big holiday trend this year. growing numbers of americans paying the bills of strangers and spreading holiday cheer. how can you get back pain relief that lasts up to 16 hours?

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1,000 of these angels have paid off several hundred thousand dollars in bills. abc anchor dan harris has more on this outbreak of altruism. >> reporter: across america, people are being told that complete strangers have paid their layaway bill. >> what? >> no way. >> yes. >> seriously? >> seriously. >> oh, my gosh. oh, my gosh. i can't believe that. >> reporter: it happened to kristen in a kmart in costa mesa, california, where she and her daughter were overcome. it happened in low country, south carolina, too, to this grandmother, battling cancer. >> it couldn't have happened at a better time for me and i very much appreciate it. >> reporter: and in ft. wayne, indiana. >> kind of been like a snowball effect right now. >> reporter: snowballing, a vit viral phenomenon. an army of anonymous donors bringing cheer to the saddest

part of the store, the layaway desk, where presents, whether it's a warm coat or that one special gift, are held until they can be paid off in full. today, we found one of these secret santas, who gave more than $15,000. he asked that we not reveal his identity. >> true charity is anonymous and this isn't about me. it's about the fact that we can help, you know, hard working, honest americans at a time when the economy hasn't been very favorable to us. >> reporter: he was the one that paid off kristen's bill. >> i can't believe it. i'm so happy, thank you. i have two coming home from college and two cars just broke down and -- it's just great. thank you so much. >> reporter: her anonymous donor says the best thanks he could receive would be if other people see this story tonight and then go out and help a stranger. dan harris, abc news, new york. >> i'll bet a lot more come out before christmas. thanks for watching tonight. we're always on at abcnews.com. i'll see you tomorrow on "gma." we leave you now with a scene to

mark the start of the jewish holiday, hanukkah. the lighting of the national menorah in washington. this is a power line that failed at candle stick. we're still in the dark about why. >> there is a showdown over the port of oakland. the city council debates how far it should go in blocking the next blockade. >> a s.w.a.t. team swarms a neighborhood to find a car jacking suspect who managed to get away twice.

>> and the fight over a facebook feature where you give endorsement without consent. >> good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> i'm carolyn johnson. protesters -- when occupiers blocked the port it cost wages and the port millions so tonight the counsel is considering a more aggressive response to keep the port open if, and when demonstrators return. we are live tonight with the story. >> the debate is on tonight over a resolution co-sponsored and they say the sport an chicken gin generating 73,000 jobs in the region. they want police to get tough so that the sport not targeted again. it's business as usual today. quite a contrast to last week whencu