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[ male announcer ] join the millions of people who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations. remember, all medicare supplement insurance plans help cover what medicare doesn't pay. and could save you thousands a year in out-of-pocket costs. call now to request your free decision guide. and learn more about the kinds of plans that will be here for you now -- and down the road. i have a lifetime of experience. so i know how important that is. have given way to sleeping. tossing and turning where sleepless nights yield to restful sleep. and lunesta®(eszopiclone) 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. lunesta should not be taken together with alcohol. 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 find out how to get lunesta for as low as fifteen dollars at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. the flu outbreak has hit about 80% of the country. >> we all know the flu is contagious, but you might be surprised to know the virus is all around us. here's abc's chief medical editor dr. richard besser. >> reporter: the earliest flu season in a decade. with 80% of the country reporting severe flu, the cdc told me that in high flu states, 70% to 80% of the coughs around you right now are from the flu. each cough, sneeze or conversation puts flu into the air and into your lungs. it lands on railings, in the diner. everyone touches the salt and pepper shakers. on the atm and on every door you touch. the virus can survive two to eight hours on plastic or metal. parking meter. how many people have touched this one. if someone with flu touched this three hours ago, i could pick it up on my hand. hands take it straight to the nose and mouth. a facebook app that tries to find which friend gave you the flu. and flu near you 20,000 volunteers tracking their symptoms down to the zip codes. >> there is nowhere to hide. >> reporter: advice from the cdc -- there's still time to get the flu shot and wash your hands. a lot. if you do get the flu, there are a couple of drug options, tamiflu and rolenza. they are recommended for people with serious risk of disease. to work effectively, they have to be started early. so see your doctor. dr. richard besser, abc news, new york. >> bottom line, get the shot. even the doctor is, they do not make you sick. it's worth it. >> also when you get in the elevator, use your knuckles, using the bathroom, use your sleeves. do all the paranoid things i do, and i rarely get sick. >> and use a paper towel to open the door. >> because there's a lot of nasty people out there. >> we will be back with more right after this. "world news now" ♪ that was one of mariah carey's first hit singles. the beginning of a long line of hits that made her a star. >> now she's talking about a whole new chapter of her career. it is a barbara walters' exclusive. ♪ >> this is how we're used to seeing mariah carey, belting out her music with a staggering power and range. ♪ come on, everybody >> but starting next week, she will be judging the singers instead of being the singer. as a new member of "american idol." >> just my tiny personal opinion. >> reporter: her star power didn't come cheap. the rumor is you've been paid $18 million a season. am i in the ballpark? >> i think we're in the ballpark. but i can't even talk about that. >> we're in the ballpark, okay. >> yes, we're in the ballpark. >> congratulations. but it's not just mariah's salary drawing attention these days, it's her relationship with fellow judge nicky manaj. in october tmz released this video of a heated argument between the two divas during an audition in north carolina. after the cameras were off, mariah claims others heard nicky went further. she said went nicky walked off the set, multiple people heard nicky said, if i had a gun, i would shoot that [ bleep ]. did you take what she said seriously? >> it felt like an unsafe work environment. any time anybody is reeling threats at somebody, you know, that's not appropriate sitting there on the road with two babies. i'm not going to take any chances. so yeah, i did hire more security. >> reporter: nicky has denied saying anything about a gun, calling it a fabrication. when we asked her for a comment, her representative told us, she's said what she is saying about this topic. >> i'm doing this show, it's fun but it's not my life. >> reporter: indeed, these days her life is about being mom to her well-dressed 20-month-old twins. the girl, named monroe. >> i call her miss monroe. that kind of dictated her personality. she's a total diva. she's fascinated by jewelry, chandeliers. >> reporter: and a little boy named moroccan. >> we call him rock. he's my pal. he'll just watch movies with me. we have fun. it's just fun. >> reporter: for now, mariah is trying to stay close to home to spend quality time with the twins. and she says she and nicky have made up. we will get to see if that's true next week when "idol" starts. >> it's a great show. it's for me. ultimately this is about a contestant. i've been living my dream for half my life. i want to give that back to someone else. >> i can't wait. i love "american idol." i am ready for it. i'm ready! >> that is a vision of love. ep. and lunesta®(eszopiclone) 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. lunesta should not be taken together with alcohol. 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 find out how to get lunesta for as low as fifteen dollars at lunesta.com. there's a land of restful sleep. we can help you go there on the wings of lunesta. and now it's time for "the mix." get this, another airline story. >> sunny hates the airlines. >> delta this time is the offender. dave schneider is a musician. he had a classic 1965 gibson es-335 guitar on board. he wanted to bring it on board his flight from buffalo, new york to detroit. guess what? delta is like no, i'm sorry, you've got to check it. he doesn't want to check it. even offers to buy a seat for the guitar. they decline. he lands, his guitar is totally squashed and look at his guitar. it's a $10,000 guitar. and sustained all this damage, and delta tries to send him a $1,000 check. >> apparently they were worried because they thought the strings could be used as a weapon. >> come on! >> if he offered to pay for another seat, come on. >> nice going, delta. >> another reason to hate the airlines. remember that classic "seinfeld" episode about the man boobs. new numbers out on this and if man boobs excessive developments of male breasts thought to affect 14% of men, the number of man operations to reduce what you've got going on has doubled in five years. cosmetic surgery show 28% increase in man boob operation in the past year alone. >> i'm not hating on the operation. if that makes you feel better, you don't want to have it, that's fine. eating a fatty diet would reduce a man's sperm count by 40%. that's right, a danish study found men who ate the most saturated fat lowered sperm count and poor quality sperm. okay, men, no more burgers if you want kids. >> so one hot dog could jeopardize another. that's a rough story. this is also fascinating. today is the 45th anniversary of the release of otis redding's big hit "sitting on the dock of the bay." release january 8, 1968. the single reached number one on bill board top chart back in march of '68. stayed there for four weeks and got two grammys and the song inducted into the grammy hall of fame. otis himself never heard the single. on october 10, '67, he died in a plane crash at age 26 and told this morning on "world news now," face to face. relatives of the aurora movie theater shooting victims go to court, looking for justice and into the eyes of the suspected gunman. pretrial hearings for james holmes began in colorado. forcing even the most seasoned first responders to break down and cry. it's tuesday, january 8. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." good tuesday morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm sunny hostin. paula faris is on assignment. we'll capture the mood of that colorado courtroom in our top story in a moment. you can't imagine what the families were going through today. >> absolutely not. then to new england, where a homeowner is counting his blessings. he was mauled by a wild bobcat in his own garage. >> can you imagine? >> no, i cannot. >> opening the door and there's a bobcat. lucky lived to tell the story. guess that's what counts. >> that's right. also this morning, what exactly happened to sunny's notre dame fighting irish? >> i have an explanation. >> do you really? because they just stunk. that was my explanation. the defense didn't show up at all. they didn't get on the bus to the game. we'll bring you alabama's big bcs victory. after the game, so many football fans are still talking about this. no matter who you're rooting for, nobody wants a rout of a title game. you don't want to see it come down to that final game and it is a boring blowout like it was last night. i was hoping the irish win. i'm not an alabama fan. and the commish was rooting for the irish. >> i'm speechless. it was so ugly. >> there's really nothing to say. it was ugly. >> just cry into your mug. >> that's all i can do. and later, she sings about love, and looking for love. well, this morning, the fearless taylor swift's own romantic life is starting to sound like a bittersweet country music song. hear all about it in "the skinny." >> oh, poor taylor. just can't -- >> she just can't get it together in the love area. >> you know, some of those stars have a hard time finding that special somebody. >> she needs to give me a call. >> willis says give me a call. she'll have better look in high school. but first, our top story this morning. new details from the scene of that mass shooting in aurora, colorado. the accused killer, james holmes, showed little emotion. even as the victim's families looked on. >> experts say holmes might take a plea bargain. abc's brandi hitt is joining us with the latest. good morning, brandi. >> reporter: good morning. it was just a heartbreaking day in court. first responders described the horrific scene inside the theater, with several officers breaking down on the stand. and more tears are expected as the preliminary hearing continues today. emotions ran high during day one of the james holmes' preliminary hearing, as prosecutors laid out new evidence and testimony. >> i've got people running out of a theater that are shot. >> reporter: holmes is accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 others last july. through tears, the officer described rescuing the wounded. i knew i needed to get them to the hospital now, he said. i didn't want anyone else to die. the victim's families also packed the courthouse, including mary ellen hanson, who lost her 6-year-old niece, veronica. >> it's almost like you have to face the devil, as opposed to saying i don't want to know. >> reporter: the officers who arrested holmes at the theater's back exit also described looking into his dilated eyes. he was very, very relaxed. he seemed very detached from it all. holmes also did not react when witnesses identified him as the gunman. the former grad student's once comic book colored orange hair is also now brown and he's grown a beard. before dropping out of school, he was seeking psychiatric help at the university of colorado. but his attorneys have not said whether they'll mount an insanity defense. as the hearing continues this week, the judge said he'll allow witnesses to testify on holmes' mental state before he decides if this case goes to trial. rob and sunny? >> this whole idea of an insanity defense, you're saying no? >> no, no. that defense is rarely successful. but what his attorneys have indicated is they're going to go for a diminished capacity defense. that's very different. that means that, yeah, he can be criminally responsible, but it just means he's responsible to a lesser extent. so murder one? no. however, manslaughter a possibility. so that's really important in this case. what we're talking about is the possibility of the death penalty. we don't put our mentally ill folks in the chair. so bottom line is, if he gets -- if this diminished capacity defense is successful, he could be looking at a plea deal of life in prison instead of the death penalty. so it's really important. >> you would think whatever the legal wrangling may be, the goal would be for him to spend the rest of his life behind bars, even if it's a lesser charge. >> that's right. that's what we're looking at in my view. >> and not a lot of hope to this going to a trial. >> never going to trial. everyone knows he did it. it's just a matter of why. >> and detached probably is the best word on a lot of levels. >> that's right. now to an alabama courtroom where investigators gave new details of a suspected terror plot involving a teenage boy. derek shrout made journal entries about a plot to bomb classmates just three days after the newtown school massacre. he also began building small homemade explosives. he describes himself as a white supremacist. he was released to his parent's custody until the next hearing. police in tulsa, oklahoma walked into a horrific crime scene. four women shot to death inside an apartment. they also found a 4-year-old boy in the home, but he was not physically harmed. it's not clear what relationship the boy had with the women or what he may have witnessed. police say someone had spoken to one of the victims less than an hour before the bodies were found. so far no suspects, no motive. in other news this morning, casey anthony is not expected to appear in a florida courtroom later today during an appeal hearing. anthony was convicted on four counts of lying to investigators about the disappearance of her daughter back in 2008. her attorneys argued that the statements were made before anthony was advised of her rights. a massachusetts family is recovering after fighting off a wild bobcat. the bobcat took roger mundell by surprise as he stepped into his garage, pouncing on him from eight feet away, sinking its teeth into his face and clawing his back. he said all he heard was a hiss before the bizarre attack. >> it jumped from there and landed on me. it didn't walk, it didn't run, it just jumped. it was that fast and it bit me here and gave me a bear hug. >> the bobcat ran out the door and attacked his 15-year-old nephew. his wife got their gun and they managed to hold it down and shoot it. wildlife experts say the bobcat was likely rabid, so they are all being treated for rabies. but luckily, they are all going to be fine. >> and alive to tell the story. unbelievable. commuters at a jersey city rail station will be taking the stairs to catch the train this morning. that's because of what happened during yesterday morning's commute. a jam packed up escalator suddenly started going down, that sparked a stampede and sent panicked riders jumping to safety. at least five people needed medical treatment. thankfully no one was seriously injured. not a great way to start the workweek. man. and on capitol hill, the stage is set for a tough fight. now that president obama has nominated former republican senator chuck hagel to be the next secretary of defense. hagel, who has been accused of being hostile to israel and soft on iran, have come out swinging, telling a nebraska newspaper there is not a shred of evidence he's anti-israeli. and president obama says he's the right man with the right background for the job. >> he would be the first person of enlisted rank to serve as secretary of defense. one of the few secretaries who have been wounded in war. and the first vietnam veteran to lead the department. >> he received two purple hearts and president obama says his defense nominee is the leader u.s. troops deserve. also, the president moved to fill one other key national security position, nominating john brennan to be the next head of the cia. brennan spent 25 years at the intelligence agency. his name was floated for director at the start of president obama's first term in fact, but brennan withdrew when critics linked him to harsh interrogation techniques used by the cia when george w. bush was in office. also, it was back to work monday for secretary of state hillary clinton and her warm welcome is our favorite story of the day. there it is. >> that's right. after a month of health problems, including a fall, a concussion and a blood clot, clinton got a standing ovation from about 75 staffers at the state department. >> they had a little fun at her expense. they give her a few presents. a helmet with the state department seal on it and a football jersey with the number 112 and her name. that's the number of countries she's visited as secretary of state. almost 1 million miles traveled in that job. the most traveled secretary of state in the history of the country. >> and serious government types have a sense of rumor, right? >> even bureaucrats in the state department having a little fun. wear that helmet, hillary, the next time you think you're going to go down. >> haven't some people been reporting perhaps one of the reasons she had the blood clot is because of all that traveling? >> you hear about this deep vein thrombosis. a lot of people who spend a lot of time on planes cramped up and not moving up, that can lead to those kind of clots. she's very lucky. that was near her brain. could have been a lot worse. hopefully she'll enjoy her time off. next on the show this morning, the personal accident at the white house involving a very famous weatherman. this story is -- don't turn the channel. that's all i'm saying. and the highly anticipated football game that mak