16/01/2014 ABC World News with Diane Sawyer

those stories on our website. But now, it is time to have a look at

the news as seen across the United States in ABC World News.

Welcome to world news. Tonight, was there a warning from the 12

-year-old who picked up a shotgun and took it to metals call? And

tonight, the new calls to 911. Amazing rescue, the Navy pilot

ejecting from his fighter jet at high speed like this.

And the fishermen who made the catch of a lifetime.

We now know how many drinks you can have before your memory starts to

go. And real money. Your home repair,

car repair, getting it done for free? The town that has found the

secret. Good evening. We begin inside that

Middle School in New Mexico at the moment of crisis when police as a 12

-year-old boy with a shotgun walked in and started firing. We are

learning more about the possible warning message from the shooter.

Tonight we hear the voices of terror inside that Middle School.

As investigators release those 911 tapes they're also revealing for the

first time they believe the 12 -year-old gunman he meditated this

attack and may have even warned some students to stay away. We found

evidence that the suspect had planned this event. They say he used

his parents shotgun and smuggled it onto campus in a double back. Inside

it amazing pact with 500 students he shot an 11 -year-old boy in the face

and this 13 -year-old in the shoulder. Gabriel and his sister

Britney were there. Gabriel was sitting behind the boy who was shot.

You saw the blood. Police believe there would have been far more

bloodshed if this a great social studies teacher did not put himself

in the line of fire and talk to young men into giving up. He dropped

the gun and raised his hands. He may not be the only heroic teacher that

day. Listen to another who called 911 as she comforts the girl who was

shot. If it feels like these mass

shootings at schools and shopping centres are happening at an alarming

frequency, that is because the FBI says they are. The numbers have more

than tripled. Children that return to school tomorrow are not the

children who arrived on Tuesday. Plenty of questions remain. Among

them, did the gunman really try to warn some students to stay away from

this gem or do the police now think he simply yelled something to some

of them as he was running inside. We have a statement from the 12

-year-old alleged shooter's family saying on behalf of our entire

family we would like to say a constant thoughts and prayers are

with those who were wounded. We are praying for them to recover. And for

the medical personnel who are attending to them.

We want to take you to a part of the country tonight so dry that any

spark can light a fuse. 2013 was the single dry steer in the history of

California. -- dry steer. We will show you a ghost town that has

suddenly reappeared. Fire and burn dry brush. Potentially

eight killer combination. Multimillion dollar homes saved just

in time. It has been the driest year since they started keeping records

in California. This is the third straight year of drought. California

is one big tinderbox. No precipitation means no snow in the

mountains. This is what it looked like a year ago. This is today. Ski

resorts are struggling for business. Those are best that should be

hibernating. -- bears. The snow melt is what is needed to fill the

reservoirs. The ruins of an old Western ghost town are beginning to

appear. I have never seen it like this. America's richest farmland is

facing at least $1 billion in losses. Farmers have been forced to

cut back on irrigation. Ranchers are unable to grow grass for their

livestock. In church, the farmers were praying for rain.

And back east, a thick fog took place. The Brooklyn Bridge buried.

Skyscrapers barely poking through. Next, we were amazed by this story

of the Virginia coast. The pilot ejecting thousands of feet in the

sky, falling into the ocean and miraculously a fishing boat is there

to save him. This Navy pilot is being raced to

the hospital tonight. After narrowly averting death. He had been flying a

supersonic jet 50 miles off the coast of Virginia beach. Something

goes terribly wrong. He pulls the emergency lever in his cockpit. It

is like a rocket ride. The canopy blows off. The pilot is still

attached to his seat as he is rejected. As he plummets, his

parachute automatically deploys. His seat detaches. Cold kills very

quickly. The cold water is every problem. Some would say by luck or a

god's press, a fishing vessel is nearby. -- god's press. Putting him

out of the ocean just five minutes later. He is in a critical

condition, but the life. We have a headline tonight about

some of the military officers in charge of launching America's

nuclear vessels. They are tested every month to make sure they know

how to operate the systems. Today we learned 34 air force officers have

been charged in a cheating scandal. Some of them sent answers to each

other. And there is news about an American soldier missing. Today the

US military says it has a new video showing this army sergeant is still

alive. The images have not been made public. It is believed he was being

held prisoner by the Taliban in Pakistan. This first sighting of him

in three years. And today, another wave of criticism

by the State ardent and CIO of the attack in Benghazi. -- CIA. A brazen

attack that left a US consulate in flames and four Americans damp,

including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Tempered at the 11th, 2012,

in Benghazi, Libya, has become a political football -- September the

11th. After a year-long investigation, the Senate

intelligence committee's conclusion was the attacks were preventable.

The conclusions are there were no protests prior to the attacks as the

White House has claimed. Most damning, the report concludes

there was coal on -- there was On one key point, the report backs

up the White House. It says: In fact, both the State Department

and Ambassador Stevens himself turned down an offer from the

military to keep a special forces unit in Libya a month before the

attacks. Overall, the report is highly critical of the State

Department, which was headed by Hillary Clinton at the time. Her

spokesperson referred questions today to the State Department, which

acknowledged the obvious security lapse that night, but disputed the

notion the attacks could have been prevented, saying there was no

specific threat against the consulate.

Also in Washington, a big case before the Supreme Court today,

raising the question of what do you think. Everybody agrees on free

speech in America, but how close should you be able to get to the

person who challenges your opinions? A 67 -year-old woman

opposing abortion is asking the Supreme Court to decide.

Don't do it, don't do it. You will regret this for the rest of your

life. Is it OK for patients entering clinics where abortion is offered to

be confronted by strangers? Protesters all the way to the door.

Here it is happening in Kentucky's. -- Kentucky. Massachusetts said no,

ordering protesters to stay 35 feet away from the doors. It is currently

illegal for protesters to cross this yellow line. The buffer zone is

roughly two parking spaces wide, and it takes about seven seconds to get

to the entrance. This planned parenthood employee said it is an

important protection for women exercising their rights under the

law in a state where there have been fatal shootings at clinics. The

protesters were able to get close to women and also make them feel

intimidated and scared. But 77 -year-old grandmother Elenor

McCullin says she has a right to free speech at any distance,

insisting she has been able to talk 80 women out of their abortions.

When we get to the buffer zone I have to stop, and they keep going

and I lose. One person lost, one mother and one father that I can't

help is one too many. She was front and centre in court today, Supreme

Court Justice agreed that she has a right to free speech.

Court watchers today said this could go either way. A decision that means

so much to so many. Next, an urgent headline tonight

about keeping your memory and drinking alcohol. The Journal new

Rolla G shows how alcohol, beer, wine, speeds up memory loss --

Journal Numerology. But only if you drink a certain amount. How much?

You may have begun to poor that end of day drink

On this night, a word of caution. British researchers tracked a group

of 5000 middle-aged men for a decade, tallying how much they drunk

each night and gave them all memory tests. The results were clear. The

heavier drinkers experienced a more rapid memory decline later in life

than the light drinkers. A 65 -year-old could have the memory of a

71 -year-old. The tipping point Mike Conway new start feeling tipsy. Of

those having more than 2.5 brings a day -- might come when you start

feeling. What effect does drinking too much alcohol have on the plane?

Too much alcohol can have many effects -- the rain. It can be toxic

to rain cells, and increase the risk of stroke. The researchers say

drinking all of this alcohol every night can sync my memory. But other

studies show having one serving of alcohol can help keep it afloat. The

lesson tonight? Simple. When you have had two drinks, called it

quits, in a lead to better memories. Next tonight we are going

to show you some real car repairs for free. How families in a great

town are helping each other get it done for nothing.

Our biggest real money yet, hundreds of families in my hometown of

Kentucky -- in Kentucky's are saving thousands every year on home

repairs. How are they doing it? -- in Kentucky.

It is morning in Louisville, Kentucky. Our first stop? The

babysitter. We are going to meet Laura and Frankie. Hi, how are you?

She is babysitting 1-year-old Frankie for three hours. How much?

It is free. It has been really fabulous. Across town. Now we are

going to see a photo shoot. Becky, a professional photographer, is taking

a family portrait. Also free. How much are you saving? At least $200.

So what is the catch? Hundreds are doing something called Time

banking. Instead of paying with money, they pay with their time. And

everybody's is equal. It is organised through a national group

that helps communities get started and track their time. It is booming.

Now in 42 states in just three years. The number of time banks

across the country have nearly doubled. For example, get your oil

changed in Kent, Ohio. Medical services in Pennsylvania. Your

computer fixed in California. And your bike repaired in New York. And

in Kentucky's, how about a yoga class? Remember Becky, our

photographer? That is her. And Linda uses her time dollars to visit a

local chiropractor. She says she could never afford it otherwise. I

don't have the money for a chiropractor, I feel wealthy now and

I don't have cash. The cycle keeps going. Home improvements, dog

working, home improvements, even jewellery repair. In one day our

family saved $1480. And for this town, it is not just money, it is a

whole lot more. All of this organised through the

website. There are very few restrictions on what you can

contribute. If you can have a skill, you can offer it in your community

to see if there are any takers. This isn't just about real money, it is

also about real friendships and they are real proud of their hometown.

My kind of town. Tonight, a victory for underdogs everywhere. For the

first time in 138 years, those frilly fancy pure bred dogs at this

dog show are about to meet their match. We aren't talking about them

finally being allowed to compete in an agility category. Our

imaginations ran wild today about what they will do next month when

Westminster comes to Madison Square Garden. News tonight about birds as

well. Also a message for our lives. New research today claims that the

formations are really a genius of friendship and aerodynamics. Each

bird has an assigned position, each flap of the wing precisely timed to

help the one out in front. The bird leading the pack takes 40% of the

headwind, freeing up the weaker birds to go behind him. Birds flying

faster in formation with their friends, but they can't alone. The

kindness of strangers comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes when

you least expect it and needed the most. Just as the little girl on the

plane. Her mother and the mystery passenger who made all the

difference -- and need it the most. Little Kate, a three-year-old ball

of energy with dirty blond hair and big blue eyes. But Kate also has

autism. She can't sit still for long. So when she and her mum

boarded a plane to Philadelphia, her mum was bracing for the worst. We

know flights are difficult for her. A businessman sat down and Kate

started reaching for him and calling him daddy. What happened next led

her to write an extraordinary thank you note that she posted online.

But instead, that businessmen, Eric, put down his work and spent the next

2.5 hours playing games with little Kate. You saw the little ninja

turtles? She brought them out and she wanted to play and I showed her

my dogs. Sometimes the simplest things are a big deal, it was a big

deal for him to treat her like a little person. The letter became a

global sensation. It only took one day to make its way to Eric. I would

have never expected this. It is a little overwhelming at times.

And thank you for put in your papers away and playing turtles with her.

Eric grew emotional hearing the end of the letter. I am cheering up, it

makes me feel good. By just doing a little, Eric did so much. And that

makes him American Strong. 2.5 hours of love on a plane.

We thank you for being with us tonight. You can always go to the

website and we will have Nightline later. See you back here tomorrow

night. It looks like staying unsettled for

the next few days, thanks to an area of low pressure. Today, an unsettled

day with a breeze blowing from the south and also some showers, some of

which will be heavy with hail and thunder. This morning we will have

fog patches on Northern Ireland and Scotland, Burleigh eyesore risk. But

showers from the word go in the south-west will continue to go