Did the airline go too far . The passengers actually did that, from what i understand. Wow. And a real Battle Royale between two of americas biggest names, target and amazon. And its going to save all of us money. Okay, looking forward to that. Lets get right now to josh and todays top stories. Were going to begin with this continuing fight against the flu. This morning, dozens of states are in the midst of an epidemic. Look here at illinois, reporting at least five deaths. With at least 150 other patients in intensive care at this hour. Hospitals struggling to keep up there. And abcs alex perez in the middle of it all. Good morning to you in chicago, alex. Reporter good morning, josh. This is one of the hospitals that had so many flu patients they had to turn some away. This is the earliest start to the flu season in a decade. Many hospitals are scrambling to keep up. This morning, Emergency Rooms across the country are being inundated with patients fighting the flu. A whopping 41 states are battling widespread outbreaks. I couldnt breathe, even worse, my face was, like, sweaty. Reporter in chicago, at one point, eight hospitals were diverting flu patients with nonlifethreatening conditions from their own crowded e. R. S to those with fewer patients. At northwestern memorial, theyve seen a 20 increase in flu patients, 30 to 50 a day. Everybody who needs to be admitted sits in the emergency department. Reporter in pennsylvania, so many flu patients, one hospital built a triage tent outside the e. R. And at hospitals in ohio, those with the flu must wear a mask. At least 18 children have died from the flu this season. Our office, in the last two weeks has exploded with children. Reporter according to the cdc, the proportion of people seeing their doctor for flulike symptoms jumped from 2. 8 to 5. 6 , doubling in just the last month. And doctors say by washing your hands and using Hand Sanitizer you can reduce your chances of becoming infected with the flu by as much as 30 . Josh . Thank you, alex. And again, get your flu shot. Meanwhile, Vice President joe biden begins a series of highlevel meetings today, as the white house looks for consensus on gun control. Tomorrow, he will sit down with the representative from the nra, which has proposed placing armed guards in all schools. The white house is also suggesting it may withdraw all u. S. Troops from afghanistan by the end of next year. Some analysts say it could be a negotiating ploy ahead of Hamid Karzais visit to washington tomorrow. On friday. And the boeing 787 dreamliner flight had to be canceled because of a reported brake problem. This is the third mishap in three days. Tuesday, a fuel leak was spotted minutes before takeoff in boston. Monday, an electrical fire broke out on yet another 787 that had just landed. Take a look at this terrifying scene in australia. A family, including five children, had to race into the water and cling to a dock for hours to escape this Massive Wildfire that tore through their neighborhood. Trapped by a wall of flames. Look at that. They treaded in water up to their chins for three hours. We saw tornadoes of fire. Just coming across towards us. And the next thing we knew, everything was on fire. The grandfather eventually found a small boat. Thankfully here, you can see everyone made it out okay. Record heat fueling wildfires across the country. They hope it subsides today. Wildfires in that country, though, no more destructive. Thank you. We have a big headline this morning about Lance Armstrong. The cycling star will get his First Television interview since being stripped of his Tour De France titles. Sitting down with Oprah Winfrey. John muller has the story. Reporter overnight, the company described the interview with Lance Armstrong as noholdsbarred. And say he will address headon, accusations of cheating and drug abuse. Ive known Oprah Winfrey for 30 years. She is not getting on her jet to hear another denial from Lance Armstrong. Reporter for years, the former seventime Tour De France champion has staunchly denied doping, even in the face of dwindling support and mounting evidence. I have never taken performanceenhancing drugs. Reporter after a scathing judgment by the u. S. Antidoping agency in october, armstrong was stripped of his titles, dropped by sponsors and forced to step down from the Cancer Charity he founded. Now, some are wondering if the embattled cycling star is following a wellworn path to redemption, that begins with a nationallytelevised mea culpa. If oprah blesses you and says i forgive you, it goes a long way with the american people. Reporter but for Lance Armstrong who has spent so much energy bitterly fighting accusers and whistleblowers, many are questioning that the queen of absolution can help his cause. He torched his enemies. If thinks an apology, a few sentences, he can get his good name back, i cant imagine thats the case. Reporter this is a tricky situation, not only for a Public Relations standpoint, but also from a legal perspective. Armstrong faces the potential of financial and civil liability if he were to confess to doping. A lot of people he did business with or rode with will be watching very closely. Amy . As will the rest of the world. John, thanks so much. George, over to you. Thank you, amy. Im here, now, with governor Chris Christie. The republican star is riding high in new jersey, after his passionate and forceful response to hurricane sandy. And yesterday, he laid down a challenge to the politicians in washington. Even with heartfelt believes, bipartisan compromise is possible. Maybe the folks in washington in both parties could learn something from our record here in new jersey. And governor Chris Christie joins us now. You know, that comes on top of last weeks press conference where you were very tough on House Speaker john boehner, on sandy aid. And you took on the toxic and internal politics of house republicans. What do you want your party to learn . First off, Something Like sandy is and was above politics. Theres certain things, george, that happen in our lives that have to be above politics that both parties try to rise above, as hard as it is for them sometimes. I would like them to learn to listen. Listen to the people in my state. Listen to the people in the state of new york. Theyre suffering and hurting. They dont understand why they had to wait seventimes longer than the victims of katrina. The aid is still held up. Do you think it will get through . Im hopeful. But, you know, at the end of the day, its never done until its done. I intend to keep the pressure on. You have a lot in your party, as the country continues to face the budget crisis coming up. The possibility of default in late february or march. You say, maybe the country should go into default. Even a partial government shutdown. Is that smart politics . Or are they playing with fire . You have to use everything you have to be able to negotiate. But people want you to get things done. But going in default . George, what i think you have to do, is you have all tools available to you when you sit on the negotiating table. The fact of the matter is, everybody has to come to the table wanting to come to an agreement, ultimately. Thats what weve been doing in new jersey for the last three years. I have a democratle lesdge lay church. Well say some things publicly we have to back away from a little bit. But the reason we can do that is because we have trusting relationships with the democrats in the legislature. When we sit at the table, they know if i tell them im going to do something, i will do it. And if i wont, i wont. One of your potential opponents for governor this year, criticized your failure to take on the issue of gun control. You called for a national conversation. Why not talk about it yesterday . Well, george, you pick what you talk about in the state of the state address. Given what happened to our state, the majority of our time should be talking about sandy, what its done to our state and the challenges that we have in rebuilding. So, you will have plenty of time to talk about issues. I didnt talk about a tax cut proposal. I didnt talk about our plans on a number of other issues on reforming government. You make certain choices. I dont think the people of new jersey hear from me enough. What do you think should happen right now . Were waiting to hear from Vice President bidens task force. We saw Gabby Giffords coming out yesterday to lead a National Effort to prevent gun violence. What do you think should happen right now in the wake of this tragedy in newtown . Well, i think we need to talk about all the aspects of why were seeing this kind of outbreak of violence in our society. Sure, we have to talk about gun control as part of that. New jersey has the secondtoughest gun control laws in america, behind new york. Assault weapons ban. Should the whole country have one . We have one here. Listen, i think that has to be part of the entire conversation. But if you stop there, youre shortchanging the problem. This young man in connecticut was obviously mentally ill, why wasnt he getting treatment . Everybodys going to be watching you closely over the next four years. What are the prospects of a Chris ChristieHillary Clinton president ial race in 2014 . 2016 . Theyre as good as anybody else. Anybody that plans four years from now, george, is crazy. The fact of the matter is, im going to follow the advice my mother gave me. Do the job that you have right now as well as you can do it. And the future will take care of itself. Im running for four years as governor of new jersey because i want to serve four more years as governor of new jersey. And if the call comes in 2016, will you be ready . Listen, i will be more ready than i was in 2012. I will have been on the job. That will be the decision we will make if and when the time comes. I want to be the governor of new jersey. I would like to do it for the next four. Thanks for coming in this morning. Happy to be here. Thanks. Now, to the chilling pictures of an american hostage just released by his family. Hes a former fbi agent who vanished over five years ago, believed to be in iran. Abcs brian ross is here this morning. Brian, good morning. Reporter good morning, amy. The family received these two photos and decided to make them public now because they feel that people in washington and tehran have not made his freedom a priority. Even know, the photos of the father of seven, in a prison jumpsuit, with the wild beard and long, gray hair, are distressing to his children and his wife, christine. Theyre very difficult to look at. Some of our daughters were crying to me over the phone about how upset they were to see them again. Reporter theres five different photos. Each day with a disturbing message by his captors. The pictures, are designed to suggest he is being held by al qaeda. Although u. S. Officials are certain he is in iran. He looks miserable. Looks like life has been tough right now. So, its very depressing to see him that way. Reporter it has been almost six years since levinson, a veteran, former fbi agent, disappeared on the iranian island of quiche, traveling there as a healthy, wellgroomed private investigator, in sharp contrast to how he appears here. The only sign of life of levinson, who has diabetes, came in this hostage video, posted on the internet, a little over a year ago. Please help me get home. Reporter the family held off posting these newlyreleased photos, for fear that his fate would turn into a partisan campaign issue. Now, says his wife, theyre through waiting for the politicians to act. I wouldnt say they dropped the ball. But i believe more can be done. We need people to Pay Attention every day. Reporter cut off from the world, levinson likely does not know that he has a 4yearold grandchild, or that his eldest, daughter, susan, is getting married next month. Very sad. Thank you. Now, to some of that stunning video of the man who got so drunk and out of control on a flight this weekend, that fellow passengers strapped him to his seat with duct tape. Abcs John Schriffen shows how much of a struggle it turned out to be. Reporter the unruly passenger can be seen in this newlyreleased cell phone video, screaming out. Fighting against the homemade ducttape restraints around his chest, feet and mount. Passengers onboard the flight from reykjavik to new yorks jfk, says it all happened on thursday, when the passenger allegedly downed a bottle of dutyfree alcohol during the flight. The man began accosting and hitting people onboard. Passengers say he even tried to choke the person next to him, screaming the plane is going to crash. Somebody who is completely out of control needs to be restrained. Ive seen numerous times, especially since 9 11, passengers jumping in and making sure somebody gets restrained when theyre acting odd or trying to break in the cockpit door. Reporter those onboard say thats what they did. You can see someone on the video cutting off sections of duct tape. This photo snapped by a wrists bound, his legs strapped together with a plastic tie. In a statement, iceland air says, after the passenger was restrained, he was monitored for the remainder of the flight. The plane landed without incident. And the man was taken into custody. So far, authorities have not pressed charges. Despite complaints from passengers they were scared enough to take matters into their own hands. For Good Morning America, John Schriffen, abc news, new york. People do not take any chances in airplanes anymore. They dont. And if they have duct tape handy, they put it to good use. Now, to the battle brewing between amazon and target. The two retail giants gearing up for a giant faceoff. Target wants to capture customers who scope out merchandise to go and buy it online. The superstar says it will match amazons low prices. Neal karlinsky has the story. Reporter go ahead and admit it. Weve all done it. Get your hands on an item in the store and sneak home and buy it online. No one has profited more on what is called showrooming than amazon. Com. I love this canon. Ive already seen on amazon that it is 376. 99. They have it for 449. In the old days, i would look at it here, and order it there. Not today. Reporter this morning, target is going where no major brick and mortar chain ever has. It will now match those cheap online prices by amazon, best buy, toys r us, and walmart. Com, in the store, permanently. It says price cut, 299. Amazon, 193. We tried it out for ourselves. Finding these three items for less when walking the aisles. When we went to ring them up. Id be happy to match that for you. Reporter target looked them up and gave us the difference. No questions asked. Look it up and like that. Amazon knows the competition is heating up. But the official line is, bring it on. We love it. We love the competition. Reporter back at target, the new policy means that everything you see now has potentially two prices. The one listed and the one theyll match in a whole, new world of retail. For Good Morning America, neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle. Big price fight brewing. I like it. More ways to save money. Right there in the palm of your hands. Lets go to ginger zee. Sam out in las vegas. Good morning, everybody. Were rushing into texas. East texas, most of louisiana, under flood watches. If not flood warnings. Ill show you why. Baton rouge, has had five inches of rain. San antonio, 2. 3. College station, texas, 1. 1 inches. A lot of those places do need the rain. But this is how much more is going to fall. I think wear going to see some pictures and video coming out of here tomorrow, that could be pretty impressive. Dont drive into it. All those good tips apply today, around houston and louisiana. Three to four inches are going to fall. Ill leave you with the outlook, orlando. One degree shy of a record high today. There is some warmth out there. And speaking of heat, it is official. The warmest year on record for the lower 48. We did it, 2012. Ill be talking more about that. Ginger, thanks very much. And coming up, emotional moments in the dramatic trial of the woman accused of murdering her exboyfriend after he broke up with her. 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