and good tuesday morning. we begin with president obama kicking off his final foreign tour as donald trump's transition team kicks into high gear. >> so the president arrived moments ago in greece. this was the scene over there for what will be a busy trip. he'll also visit germany and peru in the next couple of day, a trip that follows his first news conference since the election. >> meanwhile, trump's aides are denying reports that he has requested top secret security clearances for his adult children. as trump faces backlash over a controversial hire, protesters are not letting up. now high school students not even old enough to vote walking out of classes and leading marches of their own. more now from abc's david wright. >> thank you. >> reporter: in an election year when so many got it so wrong, how are we to read the tea leaves on the trump administration now just beginning to take shape? for now president obama is reserving judgment. >> he successfully mobilized a big chunk of the country to vote for him and he's going to win. he has won. >> reporter: but it's a work in progress. so it seems is trump's agenda. in his first big interview since the election on "60 minutes," trump sought to put his detractors at ease. >> i'm saying, and i've been saying it, don't be afraid. >> reporter: but at the same time trump sent conflicting signals with his first two appointments. as chief of staff trump chose a 44-year-old republican insider, outgoing gop chairman reince priebus, a conservative with close ties to speaker paul ryan. but for his chief strategist, trump picked a 62-year-old flame thrower, his campaign chair stephen bannon, an alt-right icon often described as a white nationalist. bannon is a former investment banker who made tens of millions of dollars from royalties for "seinfeld." >> what? >> no soup for you. >> reporter: he went on to direct conservative documentaries like "occupy unmasked." more recently he's been the driving force behind breitbart media. the website infamous for headlines comparing planned parenthood's work to the holocaust, op-eds calling to lock the door to islam, calling conservative analyst bill kristol a renegade jew and supporting the use of the confederate flag. the southern poverty law center sees breitbart as hate speech with him as the instigator. installing bannon and priebus on the same day is a mixed message for trump. his more moderate supporters won't see eye to eye with bannon while his more extreme supporters will see priebus priebus as a creature of the swamp he promised to drain. >> my hope is he makes things better. if he does, we will all benefit from it. >> reporter: with that the lame duck president left the briefing room. david wright, abc news, new york. >> and donald trump is expected to announce more appointments for his administration this week but his aides aren't saying which positions will be filled first. >> rudy giuliani says that he will not be trump's attorney general, but he reportedly is a top candidate for secretary of state. former u.n. ambassador john bolton is also said to be in the running for that position. and hillary clinton is urging her party not to be discouraged or divided. >> clinton made that plea in a conference call to house democrats as her lead in the popular vote continued to grow and she also officially won new hampshire after the trump team declined to challenge the results there but yesterday president obama seemed to suggest that she didn't do enough campaigning. >> i won iowa not because the demographics dictated that i would win iowa, it was because i spent 87 days going to every small town and fair and fish fry and vfw hall, and there were some counties where i might have lost, but maybe i lost by 20 points instead of 50 points. >> new hampshire added four electoral votes to clinton's tally. now michigan is the only state still undecided. now to the wildfires raging in the southeast. dozens burning in seven states, georgia, alabama, mississippi, tennessee, kentucky, north and south carolina. you see the map right there and ranging from 15% to 75% contained. it's believed most are the result of arson. all are being fueled by the drought conditions in the south. at least 80,000 acres have burned even areas without fires are affected. look at the view from space. it's making the air unhealthy in atlanta and the rest of north georgia. and western north carolina is hit hard with 40,000 acres there alone. officials are describing the blazes there as california-style wildfires. the governor warns the largest may not be put out until march. and the u.s. navy has now joined the effort to rescue people trapped by the powerful earthquake in new zealand. hard hit towns are being evacuated as are several buildings in the capital. some streets have also been cordoned off after engineers determined that one nine-story building is in danger of collapsing. military helicopters are also ferrying stranded tourists and residents from an area which had been completely cut off by the quake. and those cows who gained international attention for their predicament have also been rescued. the animals were stranded after landslides took out their pasture. a farmer and some helpers actually dug a track to bring them out. back here at home, some breaking news from missouri where a murder suspect is on the loose this morning. authorities are searching for daniel campbell. he ran out through an open jail door last night while some construction work was being done. campbell is charged with killing one man and seriously injuring another one late last month. he may have stolen a vehicle after running out of that jail. to atlanta now where the dad there could spend the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted of murder for leaving his son to die in a hot car. jurors convicted justin harris of all eight counts he had faced. now, harris failed to convince the jury that he simply forgot to drop his son off at day care. his attorneys say they'll appeal this verdict. journalist gwen ifill has died. a former reporter for top newspapers, she switched to television in the 1990s working first for nbc and then pbs where she anchored and was managing editor of "washington week" and "newshour." >> ifill moderated presidential debates in 2004 and vice presidential debates and also a democratic primary debate this past spring, but she took a month-long leave of absence because of her health earlier this year and then missed election night. gwen ifill died of complications of uterine cancer. she was 61 years old. well, still ahead, history in the skies overnight. a cross country commercial flight powered by fuel made by trees. and two flight attendants are recovering this morning after a near collision. the pilots were forced to evade a mystery object. so, was it a drone? plus, caught on camera, an anti-trump protester pushed down steps. what happened here? down steps. it was another day of full contact work for lawmakers in the ukraine. the man speaking is accusing his colleague of collaborating with russia, but apparently his colleague didn't like that so much and things got physical. order eventually was restored. but just moments later they were at it again. both lawmakers were told to simmer down. the guy who threw those punches wound up leaving the chamber. >> i love how the rest of the guys just stayed seated. >> business as usual. >> business as usual. didn't even bother. a violent clash caught on camera during an anti-trump rally. look at this. a protester tackled from behind and knocked to the floor as he addressed a crowd on a staircase at ohio state university. other students quickly pounced on that attacker. police did intervene and led him away. he was reportedly arrested and suspended from the school there. in the wake of the election, google and facebook have faced criticism over how fake news stories on those sites may have affected voters. well, google says it's clamping down banning fake news websites from using its online ad service and facebook says it won't display ads in fake news sites. ceo mark zuckerberg has said the idea that fake ads affected the election is, quote, crazy. and the michigan police officer who displayed a confederate flag at a political rally has now resigned. officer michael peters was off duty when he drove his truck with the flag to the love trumps hate event in transverse city. the officer still faces a criminal investigation. well, the government says that electric autos and hybrids are too quiet. it will require these vehicles to be noisier at low speeds to warn the blind and other pedestrians of their approach. automakers have a little less than two years to comply with this. the government says this could prevent 2,400 injuries in just a year. delta air lines is using a $50 million state-of-the-art system to keep tabs on luggage. it uses radio frequency identification chips in the tags which are scanned as bags move through the system. flyers can then keep track of exactly where their luggage is even if it's not where they are. and alaska airlines is making history becoming the first carrier to use jet fuel made from trees. this boeing 737 jet flew from seattle to washington, d.c. with fuel made from a blend of tree limbs and branches. the material is the by-product of a timber harvest and usually heads for the burn pile with other waste. very creative. >> it's kind of fascinating. >> yeah. when we come back, a convict made infamous from "making a murderer" will soon be free and why the judge ordered brendan dassey's release. and venus williams is making a surprise announcement about her future in tennis. release. venus williams is making an announcement about her future in tennis. happy holidays from crayola. so when do i start? um, shouldn't it be "spokes-crayon?" can somebody turn on the a/c? i'm melting here. ♪air marker spraayer!!! chemistry, baby! so i just hold this part and spraaaaaay... i'm okay. the holidays just got more surprising. you can find these great gifts and more in the crayola aisle. aaaaaah! each sold separately. imagine if you looked out your back door and that's what you saw. a family in pennsylvania has been forced from their home after this giant sinkhole opened up swallowing most of the backyard. now they're worried the house will be the next thing to go, especially since rain is in the forecast. the hole was apparently caused when an old mine caved in. >> they said the house is only 13 years old. >> oh, man. and roads in much of pennsylvania and the northeast will be wet today as well. also in minnesota, the pacific northwest and northern california. >> if you are flying, weather-related airport delays are most likely in boston, new york, miami and seattle. and there was a dangerous situation in the skies. it's under investigation now for what appeared to be a drone coming straight at a passenger jet. >> these kind of incidents are becoming more common as we hear from abc's david kerley. >> reporter: the investigation this morning into what the pilots of a plane with 54 passengers on board saw coming towards them leading to their severe action. the pilots making a sharp turn at 9,000 feet in the air. two flight attendants thrown in the cabin and injured. once on the ground the pilots said they thought it was a drone coming towards them. >> they see a flash. they see something at an altitude where they would not expect another airplane or something to be flying, and so they instinctively make a sharp turn to get away from whatever it is, so it may have been a drone, it may have been a balloon. >> reporter: the two flight attendants were treated and released in toronto. already this year, sightings of drones in the u.s. are up 40% compared to all of last year. david kerley, abc news, washington. >> david, thank you. and we have some new details now in the case that was the subject of the netflix series "making a murderer." a judge has ordered brendan dassey's supervised release from prison. dassey was a teenager when he was convicted of helping his uncle, steven avery, rape and murder a woman in 2005. that conviction was overturned this summer. the judge says he should be free while prosecutors appeal. dassey has until noon to tell authorities where he plans to live. if so, he could be home for thanksgiving. health experts are greatly expanding the number of people who should be considered for anti-cholesterol drugs. the new guidelines include anyone between ages 40 and 75 with just one risk factor such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes or smoking. the government task force says these patients could benefit from taking statins even if they do not have a history of heart disease or stroke. another ivy league team has been suspended. columbia's wrestling team season is suspended while the school officials investigate some text messages that include racist and homophobic terms. columbia calls the case a disturbing matter. last week harvard ended its men's soccer season after a report that players made sexual scouting reports about the women's team. tennis superstar venus williams is apparently making retirement plans. williams says she's targeted the olympic games in tokyo in 2020 as her last big event. she says she still loves competing, but it's time to think about life off the court. she's in her late 30s now. and the new college football playoff rankings are released tonight. given last weekend's upsets, there's sure to be some changes from last week. >> so, we get last night's highlights from our friends. >> hi, good morning, america. i'm nicole, he's neil. >> we're doing highlights for you because they told us we had to. monday night football, giants/bengals. giants down a field goal. odell beckham from eli manning, a look at beckham. he is all hopped up on red bull. i mean, look at him. that must be the original, original brand. and then manning to sterling shepard. he must be on, what is that, the cranberry mix right there doing the juju. anyhow it's going around. giants win. villanova won the hoops championship last season. purdue, they don't care. time winding down in the first half, purdue forcing the turnover. watch p.j. thompson. steph curry, is that you? buzzer beater. zzzzz. ties the game at half, less than ten seconds left. purdue trailing by three. caleb swanigan with the ball at the top of the key. no good on the three. carson edwards then misses. villanova escapes with the win, 79-76 the final. highlights just for you. we hope you enjoyed them. >> really we do. >> thanks. we appreciate it. up next in "the pulse," the newest member of the bush family. and banning technology. why one book store is saying no to electronics and wi-fi. blue diamond almond. a good that comes in 20 flavors from whole natural to wasabi and soy sauce. and once good gets going, there's no stopping it. get your good going. blue diamond almonds. 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he's cute. at a book store in wyoming it's out with the new and in with the old. >> so the owner of wind city books has banned wi-fi and, get this, all electronics. she wants customers to actually read. imagine that. in the book store. everyone has to check their cell phones, ipads and laptops all at the door. no ringing, no dinging, no buzzing, no beeping. >> wow. >> we want people to be able to come into this store, relax, enjoy a book, you know, find a book for them that's going to work well, either entertain or inform them. >> that's one way to avoid a one-star rating on yelp. the store's motto, take a break and live like it's 1993. customers don't seem to mind at all and say the restrictions are kind of refreshing. >> ah, sometimes people need to be forced to unplug so they can really decompress a little bit. >> and forced to actually read a book that you find at a book store. >> what's that? >> a book store or -- >> i know what a book is. >> what is aleppo? >> did you hear the one about the koala that walked into the accountant's office. >> no. >> because it's not a joke. ette an actual story. it happened in a small town australia. the little marsupial seemed quite determined. he marches right up to the door then right under the desk like he knew where he was going in yeah, he does. >> look at him walk. so an accounting office, perhaps it received an audit notice from the tax office or maybe it wondered whether its manager was handling its money correctly. >> i see. >> we don't really know. there's no accounting for it. >> oh, wow. >> a series of some really bad jokes. >> more news after this. >> please. it's a tangle of multiple symptoms. ♪ ♪ trintellix (vortioxetine) is a prescription medicine for depression. trintellix may start to untangle or help improve the multiple symptoms of depression. for me, trintellix made a difference. tell your healthcare professional right away if your depression worsens, or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior or 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[ sniffle ] >> good morning, east barracks -- bay, let's get going. >> i am reggie aqui. >> i am natasha zouves. we have jessica castro, and alexis smith, and meteorologist mike nicco tracking the weather. a chance of showers. >> chance of showers. fog, as well. the good news, not so widespread as yesterday. mainly right now around napa at quarter-mile and around santa rosa half a mile. at exploritorium at pier 15 we can see san francisco. temperatures starting in the mid-to-upper 50s. we will hang out in the upper 50s to mid 60s with the best chance of light rain in the north bay this morning. a few sprinkles during the afternoon. i will show you live doppler hd where the rain is now. coming up. alexis? >> we have a little bit of fog. it is nothing like what we had 24 hours ago. a look at the south bay, 280 and 17, maybe hazy but not much at ground level. should not impact the drive too much. we are filling in early for the central valley. 18 miles per hour, 26 miles per hour close to altamont pass. we will check the drive time next. >> some cal students refuse to attend class and are gearing up to protest. >> this has nothing to do with the president-elect trump and testifying do with a professor accused to do with harassment. amy hollyfield? >> yes. good morning. they will protest outside today and thursday at the school. according to the "san francisco chronicle", 74 students at uc berkeley sent a petition to campus administration demanding they pull the continuure of the professional, apologize to students victims of sexual harassment and protect students better. they refuse to attend the professor's classes. he denies all allegations against him and told the "san francisco chronicle" he fells victimized. an gator hired found that the architecture professor placed his hand on a student's side and appeared to groom her for the possibility of becoming a romantic partner. the administration has called a meeting for the protection of better protection and support of students. uc santa cruz police are investigating a possible ahead crime after a student was taunt asked hit in the head with a rock walking near the theater on friday night. the three young men felled sfo and called to her in an offensive manner. man hit her with a rock. she ran off for help and was treated with minor injuries. police are trying to identify the three suspects that could have become committed because of perceived characteristics of