09/01/2014 ABC World News with Diane Sawyer

My news at the top of the hour. Now it is time to look at the news in

the United States. ABC World News with Dianne Sawyer.

Tonight: final blast. The polar express is on its way out. Ending

with a bank and a blizzard. Pipes bursting, rivers become gracious.

Uproar. A governor of apologising. -- a governor apologises. Did they

cause traffic jam to taunt a mayor. Inside the hot sun. How much

radiation is now leaking from Fukushima and Kennett make its way

to the United States? Good evening. After this long cold

days, the Arctic air is finally beginning to retreat. 240 million

others are looking for the floor. Temperatures are rising. Pipes

bursting. Water is on the roads and storm isn't going quietly. Who had

the tougher stake ? The polar vortex may be retreating

but not before one final howling blog. Blizzard conditions in western

New York shut major highways. It has been horrible. I have seen

ploughs in teachers. The Arctic and get snow up to five feet.

It is supposed be 50 degrees by the weekend. What is the men ?

It means we need to look out for flooding. The wind and cold is

turning this river into a Glaisher. Icebreakers were called in to help.

It looks like it is out of a national geographic programme.

My tyres are literally frozen to the ground.

Pipes flooring can burst. -- thawing.

This turned telephone poles and you ice sculptures.

It was like the recreation of a Disney movie. Thousands of people in

the South. Snow and ice slowly disappear. An assessment of the

damage. At least 21 deaths plus a huge economic impact.

Childcare costs plus lost wages from employees who had to stay home, and

home heating prices are expected rise. People are digging out of this

town. They have bringing the slowdown to a leak to dump it. They

are hoping that they will avoid flooding.

How fast is the Arctic retreating? Faster than it came in which is good

news. We have them suffering. A lot of people looked at the wind

yesterday and now it is less than half. It is going quickly. Let me

show you this. So many people want to know, when will I start to feel

this is tolerable. On Thursday it will be in the 30s, then the 40s,

then the 50s. On Saturday it will be above average.

That looks great but who will get the prize for the longest time in

the cold? The biggest population, that will go

to Green Bay. After the game that so many of us were watching, they got

close to the coldest game. It stayed at sub 0 degrees for 62 hours.

Thank you. We turn out to an uproar tonight surrounding one of the most

popular and colourful political forces in the country. Chris

Christie from New Jersey. He plays of politics here but did his aides

deliberately create huge traffic jams on the busiest bridge, and why

custom of the governor says he is furious. Inside the Fire storm.

Look at that lower level. September nine. The world's busiest bridge is

dangerously gridlocked. Four days straight. Emergency vehicles,

commuters, school buses. It was piled up all the way onto

street. I was 20 minutes late for school every day that week.

This series of e-mails and text messages reveals that it was

liberally engineered in a fit of political retribution they members

of Chris Christie's office who triggered the mess with one short

order to the agency that runs the George Washington Bridge. Seven

Little words, time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee. These clones

appear blocking off two of the three lanes.

The ripple effect is swift and dramatic. Cars were backed up for

miles. The format our delay to get back to Manhattan. This area comes

to a standstill. The police chief can't believe it.

It is disturbing to find out that people who asked supposed to be

protecting the public are impairing safety.

Why did this happen? The mayor, a Democrat who refused to

endorse Chris Christie as he swept to re- election wondered the same

thing. I apparently got somebody mad. Those

e-mails are pretty damning. The e-mail show that despite Chris

Christie's claims, his staff was cheering as Fort Lee suffered.

Barbara was Chris Christie's Democratic opponent at the time.

We need apologies, explanations. In a statement, an apology. Chris

Christie says what he saw today is unacceptable and he is outraged. He

says he was misled by a member of staff. He won't tolerate it but

hasn't announced any people being fired.

Hard to really. Thank you. Tonight, the US Navy helicopter has crashed

off the coach of the junior Beach plunging five service members on

board into the 42 degrees waters below. Three crew members were

rescued. One person was killed. A search is under way for a fifth

person who is missing. A trip overseas becomes an international

sideshow and possibly hurt the attempt to free an American held

captive. Dennis Rodman and North Korea. Sung happy birthday to the

brutal dictator. Happy birthday to you.

Birthday serenades are rarely draw international criticism, unless you

like Dennis Rodman singing to the dictator Kim Jong-un.

She brought a team of ex- NBA players for 18. He is my friend for

ever. This is Dennis Rodman's third trip to North Korea. But this time

his basketball diplomacy is getting people angry. It is because of his

comments yesterday, attacking an American missionary held prisoner in

North Korea for 14 months. Today his sister said he is furious. He is not

in any position. He is uninformed. It is outrageous. He brought core

groups to North Korea. He was arrested for allegedly crimes

against the state. When we travelled, it Kim Jong-un's forces

kept us tightly controlled. So strangely, Dennis Rodman is the

closest American to the dictator. We were also told that she once

thought that Dennis Rodman would help her brother. She called his

agent today, but has not gotten any work.

Next to night, an investigation, in Saint Fukushima three years after

that earthquake. Tonight we want to show you how bad the radiation is

and ask if they are doing everything they can to keep it from coming to

the United States. This is to be a thriving community

of fines and fishing villages until March 11, 2011. Japan's largest

earthquake ever, the salami that followed engulfing the Fukushima

powerplant. -- tsunami. 2.5 years later, we get access to examine the

fallout by land and by sea. Near the plant, a 12 mile stretch of

evacuated land still teams with radiation hotspots. Locals call it a

no-go zone. On the other side, ghost towns. We suit up, and with

radiation detectors to tell us when we are in danger. We go inside the

grounds he wrote to see the unprecedented cleanup. Although

critics are sceptical. The closer we get, our radiation detectors climb.

It is a serious warning. We were told we could only spend one hour

inside the plant. Any more time and we risk harmful radiation exposure.

The radiation here is about 2000 times higher than outside Fukushima.

1500 fuel rods inside this pool have to be removed. It is a vital, some

say dangerous first step to shut down the plant. A process that will

take 40 years. Here is what the company says it is doing to block

the radiation. Underneath the concrete there is a chemical

barrier. That is a Celtic -- self fans. Will you ever know how much

contaminated water has made its way from this powerplant into that

ocean? The spokesman tells me that it is difficult to give an accurate

number. We joined a team of scientists on the hunt for answers.

They say they find radiation 1000 times higher than before the

meltdown. Can the damage that is done the repair? It is not too

late, but Japan can't do it alone. We need help from the rest of the

world. And they are not alone. We meet an oceanographer and radiation

expert in Fukushima where he has come to examine the fallout. The

Japanese government claims that radiation is contained inside this

small harbour. But his team of scientists say they have measured

radiation linked to Fukushima wall and 70 miles away. -- more than.

Experts say Americans should not worry. The fear of what is happening

outside the local area is exaggerated. For Americans to worry

about chewing on our beaches and eating our fish, that is overblown.

-- swimming. But what about the damage we cannot see? Radiation that

could be Japan's invisible enemy for generations.

Still ahead, something about dinner out. Could you get a day's worth of

calories in one appetiser? And later, an incredible moment for

a young boy and the happy ending he deserves.

Next tonight, some important news for the next time you take your

family out to dinner. A new study shows how you can be clobbered by

calories in unexpected ways at popular restaurants. More calories

than you are supposed to have any day.

Dinner out. But hold the fork. The pastor carbonara with chicken,

almost 2300 calories. More than you are supposed to be Tim Mannah Pirate

Bay. Same with this Web platter.

Today's study looked at some of the meals we eat. The researchers found

that the average adult meal at these restaurants averages about 1500

calories. Add in a beverage and half a desert and you are looking at over

2000 calories. You're only supposed to have 2000 calories all day. The

numbers can come as a surprise to many. How many calories are in a

chicken sandwich? 1200 calories. Many meals at these chains have even

more calories than meals at fast food restaurants. You can have two

McDonald's burgers with fries and copes with the same calories as

waffle phrase. One of the biggest factors is

portion size. We put a fast food meal and a set down chain restaurant

dish on the scales. Look. Almost a third of a pound more. You can come

out with a reasonably appropriate level of calories. And while the

restaurant offer lower calorie option is, just a little bit of food

for thought. Our instant index tonight begins

with a birthday fit for a king. The King, Elvis Presley. At Graceland,

fans turned out to pay tribute. And the picture has surfaced that is a

kind of mystery. Is this boy a young Elvis?

And from the rock and roll legends to a legend in the making, meet this

11 -year-old who met his favourite band by chance on an elevator and

dad then to let him play. They did. 11 years old, an epic moment of

talent. And guess who was their the rest of

America? This Supreme Court justice. She was also called in 2011. A

fellow juror snapped this shot of her.

And finally, a little boy who needed some help so he could get what he

needed to change his life. You are part of this moment.

When we first met this five-year-old this past March, he was consistently

one step nine his preschool classmates. -- behind.

Have you ever been to the dentist? His doctor said there was treatment

that could dramatically improve his hearing. Cochlear implants, which

have had dramatic impacts on some children. But the health insurance

company would not cover the implants. What was your reaction? I

was shocked. Until we called and they finally agreed. So just one

month later, Carson went in for surgery. We were with him as it got

turned on. The wonder of those first sounds all over his face. Can you

hear daddy over here? Does it sound funny? And when we visited a couple

of weeks ago, a dramatic improvement. While his speech has

yet to catch up, he now has no trouble keeping up making his

opinions known. It seems to a hearing speaking batter, do you

think so? So you do not want to talk about

what I want to talk about? When I first met you, you are really

worried that he was not going to have that right future. How do you

feel now? That he can do anything he wants to do.

It is great to have you with us tonight. We will see you again

tomorrow night. Something a lot drier across the UK

as we go into the weekend. Right now there is still some heavy rain

across parts of the UK. It will take time to clear away, but in most

places it will be bright and breezy.