Australia in crisis, as those deadly fires burn out of control. Thousands of residents and tourists seeking shelter on the beach as the military races to evacuate people trapped by flames. The urgent new warning this morning. An abc news exclusive. Alex trebek and his wife revealing the moment they learned his diagnosis and how theyre facing it headon. Throughout my life ive always wondered about how courageous a human being i was. His wife jean by his side helping him keep that signature humor. Back off, michael. Im not saying anything. Only on gma this morning. Hanging by a thread. The terrifying moment this b. A. S. E. Jumper gets caught on the face of a mountain. His parachute stuck in a crack. Inside this heartpounding rescue. Bad to the bone and bad to the bone. Wasabi, the pekingese waltzing his way to best in show. Winning top dog in the American Kennel ClubNational Championship. Now hes bringing that fur and fluff right here live to times square. And we certainly do say good morning, america. Great to be with you on this first thursday of 2020. Look who is helping us celebrate the new year. Oh. Bad to the bone. This little thats wasabi is the name. Thats a pekingese. This is the one that won the title of best in show at the American Kennel ClubNational Championship. Look at that face. Look at that face. Beat out 5,000 other faces. Yes, 5,000 other competitors. Big hair, dont care. Wasabis got the special soy sauce to go with it too. Wasabi, the first dog from the toy group to win. Of course, we cant wait to meet him live coming up. And we will. But first, we have a lot of news to get to, starting with the rising tensions in the middle east following those explosive protests at the American Embassy. Two days of fiery clashes. Now more u. S. Troops are heading to the region. Martha raddatz is in washington, has the very latest for us. Good morning, martha. Reporter good morning, robin. This is an embassy that is one of the most fortified in the world and while those angry crowds have backed off for now, the u. S. Military is taking no chances. In the wake of a violent siege on the American Embassy in iraq, hundreds of u. S. Troops have arrived in the middle east. From North Carolina soldiers deployed within hours. And marines arriving by osprey aircraft on the embassy grounds. The reinforcements coming after two days of chaos at the embassy which was surrounded on tuesday by an iranianbacked militia and its supporters shouting down, down, america. The angry crowd throwing rocks and spraying antiamerican graffiti and setting fire to rooftops and guardposts, even ramming bulletproof windows with American Security standing on the other side. Apache helicopters sending warning flares over the violent protesters. The next morning marines forced to fire tear gas into the crowd. Over the holiday the president laying the blame for the violence at the feet of iran which has been backing several proxy groups in the region despite tweeting that iran will pay a very big price, this is not a warning, it is a threat, trump insisting he does not want war. I dont think that would be a good idea for iran. It wouldnt last very long. Do i want to . No. I want to have peace. I like peace. Reporter the protests igniting after the militia says 25 of its members were killed in u. S. Air strikes launched in retaliation for a deadly rocket attack by that same militia group. After iraqi Prime MinisterAdel Abdal Mahdi called on crowds to stand down, protesters finally obeyed its own leadership withdrawing on wednesday. But tensions remain high as proiranian elements continue to demand the removal of American Forces while the pentagon says thousands more u. S. Forces are on alert for possible deployment. The u. S. Embassy in baghdad said in a Statement Wednesday that it was closed to the public until further notice advising u. S. Citizens not to go anywhere near the compound. Robin. Right. And as you know, martha, there is also worrying signs coming out of north korea. Their leader there saying, quote, threatening shocking action and warning new strategic weapon. What is the latest you can tell us about north korea . Reporter exactly, robin. Kim jongun warning that north korea will no longer be bound by a selfimposed moratorium on Testing Nuclear weapons or longrange Ballistic Missiles and he did threaten to show off a new strategic weapon. This is going to be a very challenging year for President Trump with both north korea and iran, robin. Does appear to be that way. All right i martha, thank you. T. J. . We turn to a dangerous Weather Threat that is on the move this morning. Were talking about snow, heavy winds, also out there heavy rains that are causing some flooding. All this as millions head home after the holidays. Ginger has the latest. Shes tracking this. Good morning to you, ginger. Good morning to you, t. J. You can see right here, salt lake city, interstate 15, the slideoff. Dozens of accidents happening there. It wasnt just that light snow, though, that was causing trouble. It was the wind. Thats right along the wyoming Colorado State line. That amazon truck taking that wind, and this is why we warn for highprofile vehicles. Boulder, colorado, had a gust to 80 Miles Per Hour. Now we have a different storm, well be watching this one. This is absolutely going to impact the south today and through the weekend here in the northeast. Avel, huge. Thats why we have to go to alex perez in chicago this morning. Reporter hey, good morning, ginger. Check out the terminal behind me here. You can see already a number of passengers here at ohare making their way home from the holiday trips. Now, take a look at this map. It shows all of the flights in the air right now across the country as you can see, things are picking back up as some 2. 64 million passengers are expected to fly today. Thats about 250,000 more passengers than we see on an average day. Things are about to get a lot busier. Ginger. Thank you, alex. You know, chicago may be dry but atlanta is starting to get into the range. The heavy rains will be just west of there. Thats which we want to focus on louisiana, mississippi, alabama and tennessee. A lot of these spots already have been very wet the last seven days at about 200 of normal. You see those flash flood warnings that are put up really through the state of mississippi, and northern alabama like huntsville, worried about flash flooding especially if youre going to be on the road, if youre traveling i65 or i20 you get four to six inches of rain first. Dont be on the roads. Thats how people die in flash flooding in cars. On top of this, you have the front moving through. So southern louisiana and mississippi end up having a damaging wind and even isolated tornado threats. If thats not enough this is not going to stop in the south and its going to move to the northeast. One to two inches of rain will be with us. Saturday night, though, wraparound snow to deal with in the northeast that could be trouble going into sunday monday, guys. Ginger, thanks. Well check back with you soon. Turning now to washington where lawmakers will soon return from recess and start the new year right where they left off at a stalemate over impeachment but this morning there are signs of potential breaks in the gop ranks and mary bruce is on capitol hill with the very latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning, whit. The impeachment process is still in limbo this morning, the president is optimistic. He says hes looking forward to a trial in the senate, but its not clear what exactly that trial is going to look like, and now some republicans are raising concerns with their own partys approach. Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell has promised to be, in, quote, total coordination with the white house, but senator Lisa Murkowski says she was disturbed to hear that, and senator Susan Collins of maine says it is inappropriate for either side to prejudge the evidence. She says she is also open to witnesses, and that is the key Sticking Point here. Democrats are still demanding to hear from four key witnesses close to the president while republicans want a quick trial with no witnesses, and until they can sort that out, House Speaker nancy pelosi is refusing to send over the articles of impeachment for the senate to consider. So lots of questions for lawmakers as they return to the hill next week. Robin . Still looking for answers. Mary, thank you. Now to the race for 2020. Were just over a month away from the Iowa Caucuses and democrats are crisscrossing that state trying to connect with voters and taking new aim at their opponents. Eva pilgrim is in cedar rapids with the latest there. Good morning, eva. Reporter good morning, robin, we have one month until the Iowa Caucuses and the candidates are out in full force. Joe biden and Bernie Sanders are both expected to make stops in this area today and this is still anyones race. The latest polling showing people here in iowa havent made up their minds. Reporter the rush is on to get to voters. Now one less candidate. Breaking news this morning, Julian Castro breaking out of the race. As a cloud of uncertainty around the impeachment trial looms and could potentially throw a wrench into some campaign plans. I would honor whatever the congress, in fact, legitimately asked me to do. Reporter after first saying he would not, joe biden clarifying that he would comply if subpoenaed for the impeachment trial, but the former Vice President maintains his testimony would be irrelevant. I have no firsthand knowledge. Theres no basis so my point was there would be no basis upon which to call me as a witness to an event that, in fact, i cannot have any impact on. Reporter biden not the only candidate waiting to hear if or when they will be pulled back to d. C. For the impeachment trial. Senators michael bennet, cory booker, amy klobuchar, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren will all be faced with juggling their campaigns and duties in the senate. Meanwhile, the former mayor of south bend, his term ending wednesday, freeing buttigieg up to spend more time campaigning. And anything can happen here in iowa right up until the homestretc and the candidates know that. In 2019 there were nearly 19 Campaign Events here. In january alone, they have already 92 events scheduled. All right, thank you so much. Eva. We want to turn to the devastating fires in australia killing at least 18 people forcing tens of thousands from their homes. Now, many of those residents as well as tourists are seeking shelter from the flames on beaches. Our maggie rulli is there for us in australia. Good morning, maggie. Reporter t. J. , with fire danger expected to increase into the weekend today, crews were out there trying to get the upper hand. Firefighters here tell us that they were able to contain a large fire just up the road. Even stopping it from jumping across a busy street. A weeklong state of emergency declared this morning in parts of australia. Thousands fleeing as more than 200 fires rage in two of australias most populated states killing at least 18 people. Firefighters driving tough the inferno. Put the blanket up. Reporter shielding their windows with blankets as flames engulf their vehicle. We were in the thick of it. We thought that this could be it. Reporter in the south some families are trapped on the beach as the fires surround them on all sides. The Australian Navy is now stepping in delivering aid to those waiting to evacuate. The wildfires are also burning through much of australias precious ecosystem killing an estimated 500 million animals and threatening countless others. Hes so thirsty. Reporter like this koala found fighting for his life. Here he is here, this is paul. Reporter hes recovering at the koala hospital and even has a name, paul. He was the first to be rescued from these fires but dozens followed. Its really going to set back the koalas who are already in serious decline. Reporter but its little ones like paul that make the researchers here keep fighting. Both researchers at the koala hospital and firefighters here tell us that they have been working in this region for decades, and they have never seen anything like this, guys. Just imagine the massive size of that. Trying to put that into scale. 12 million acres they said is bigger than the states of new jersey and connecticut combined. Combined. Its unbelievable. Thank you, maggie. We do want to turn to an apology from pope francis after that surprising moment in vatican city seen around the world. The pope was greeting the faithful on new years eve as he walks by the crowd. That woman in the purple coat there you see yanked the 83yearold pontiffs arm pulling him towards her, pope francis smacked her hand and then moved away, clearly irritated as he began his new years day address on st. Peters square, and he began his new years script saying we often lose our patience, me too, and i apologize for my bad example. Were also going to celebrate the life of former nba commissioner david stern who was at the helm of the league for 30 years. A time in which it reached new heights of popularity, profitability and personality. Chris connelly is in los angeles with more on the man who changed the face and future of pro basketball. Good morning, chris. Reporter and good morning, robin. You know, with fierce intelligence and unparalleled vision, david stern brought profound Sweeping Change to professional basketball during his threedecade reign as nba commissioner becoming a monumental figure in the history of american sports. The effects of a brain hemorrhage suffered two weeks ago claiming the life of former nba commissioner david stern on new years day at the age of 77. The league he helped to define honoring him with moments of silence on wednesday. Before david stern became nba commissioner in 1984, the league was in the doldrums, its finals often aired out of primetime, on tape delay. Stern seized on the excellence of such young superstars as Magic Johnson, larry bird and michael jordan, marketing their singular greatness helped stern transform the nba into a worldwide juggernaut both fantastic and fantastically lucrative. Michael jordan saying in a statement, his vision and leadership provided me with the global stage that allowed me to succeed. From the dream team at the 1992 summer olympics in barcelona and the electrifying slamdunk contests during allstar weekend, to the straight out of high school magnificence of lebron james and kobe bryant. The Charlotte Hornets select kobe bryant. Reporter stern had a key role in making all of it possible and profitable. For me personally, it was a dream come true to step up on that stage and shake davids hand. My prayers and condolences to his family. Reporter his hardcharging style saw him lead the league through an infamous brawl and a controversial dress code, through labor unrest and lockouts. I never felt that i had to apologize for the players for making that money. Reporter yet, there was more to david stern than just business. He had a lifelong commitment to social justice too. When Magic Johnson announced he had hiv stern would ensure that magic played in the 1992 allstar game and on the dream team as he told Robin Roberts in 2016. We got to give commissioner david stern a lot of credit. So we both helped change the world in a sense, and so i thank him for that. Reporter it was also stern who spearheaded the drive to establish the wnba in 1996. Said commissioner cathy engelbert, his steadfast commitment to womens sports was ahead of its time. To this day, from steph curry to kawhi leonard, from Candace Parker to diana taurasi, none gets fans so engaged on social media. None generates more breathtaking highlights. All thriving on a landscape that david stern brought into being. And what david stern accomplished continues to endure. Guys. Yes, under his successor adam silver. Chris, i mean, commissioner stern had the respect of the players, owners and fans. Thats quite a trifecta. Reporter yeah. I would say hes the most accomplished and successful sports commissioner of alltime. Theres plenty of evidence for that. It certainly seems that way. You have to remember, you know, remember the league in the 80s when he came along . Yeah. No one was really talking about the nba as they do now. But he highlighted the personals and knew the money was in the stars and highlighted them but came into the league, you had stern, jordan and barkley. Came in in 84 all at the same time. Thats a heck of a group. Absolutely. That didnt hurt. Incredible career. Well, he will be missed. Were following a lot of other stories this morning. Next, michaels exclusive with alex trebek and his wife jean on the pain he noticed that led to his cancer diagnosis. How theyre coping using humor and the pet peeve jean says she wants him to stop doing. Cant wait to hear that. Also ahead this morning, the heartpounding rescue of a b. A. S. E. Jumper stuck dangling on the face of a mountain. First though, lets go back to ginger. Ten cars buried in a drift. Not a snowdrift, a tumbleweed drift. This is in washington state, the highway was closed for a time. Again, ten cars this there, guy, that was all from that wind that was so extreme with that storm. All right, your local weather coming up in 30 seconds. First though, the sunny cities sponsored by allstate. We got 12 seconds. We didnt get to say welcome back to Robin Roberts whos been off a while. Thats very kind. 2020. It is National Returns day. [ laughter ] ional re