♪ hark how the bells sweet silver bells all seem to say throw cares away ♪ ♪ christmas is here bringing good cheer to young and the old weak and the bold ♪ ♪ ding dong ding dong that is the song with joyful ring all caroling ♪ good morning, america, and merry christmas. this morning, as you gather with your family, and you open your gifts, celebrate all that is so special about this day with our family. >> we are spreading christmas cheer from the north pole to times square to your home. join us for christmas music, christmas cheer, and maybe one more visit from the big man in red.

♪ hallelujah christmas is here ♪ ♪ hallelujah christmas is here ♪ ♪ merry merry merry christmas ♪ ding dong ding and good morning, everyone. and a very merry christmas to you folks at home. merry christmas to you, dan. >> thank you. >> we want to thank the young people's chorus of new york for being here this morning. they'll be singing for us throughout the snow. aren't they great? >> they're good sports and they let us snow on them inside. this, by the way, an especially merry christmas for american troops coming home from iraq. all u.s. combat troops are now out of that country after nine very long years of war. this is a truly emotional holiday for them. we're going to take you inside a happy homecoming for one military family coming up. >> it's an amazing story. but did santa leave a new smartphone or tablet under your

tree, dan? >> no. well, you know, we'll find out. >> we'll find out later today. our technology guru, becky worley, is going to play elf this morning, and give you some tips on how to get the most out of your new tech toys. the tips coming up. speaking of santa, the man of the moment is in the building, which is guaranteed to make these little people very happy. he's got one last surprise for them. look at them waving so good. you're going to want to stay tuned for that surprise coming up. >> but first let's head over to the news desk and get a check the other headlines and weather. >> and good morning, bianna and dan. good morning, everyone. merry christmas. well, thousands of people are in st. peter's square square at the vatican this morning to hear pope benedict's annual christmas message to the world. the pope called for an end to the violence in syria and a resumption of israeli/palestinian peace talks. at last night's midnight mass, the pope lamented the commercialization of christmas. the last combat troops to leave iraq arrived home in time for the holiday. family and friends were on hand

at ft. hood in texas to welcome back the nearly 200 soldiers who arrived in the u.s. even earlier than expected. north korea's military is closing ranks around kim jong-il's successor and they've begun referring to his son as the supreme leader of the military. it is considered crucial if he's going to consolidate control to assign north korea's military first policy. and it was 20 years ago today that mikhail gorbachev announced that he would be stepping down as soviet president. now gorbachev is urging prime minister vladimir putin to give up power. the former leader spoke after tens of thousands of people demonstrated in moscow and across russia against putin's rule. they were the largest protests since the ones that brought down gorbachev and the soviet union. britain's royal family won't be all together this christmas. prince philip, queen elizabeth's 90-year-old husband, is still in the hospital after undergoing heart surgery and abc's lama hasan joins us

now from london with the latest. good morning to you and merry christmas. >> reporter: good morning, ron and merry christmas to you. prince philip is still in the hospital after opening up a blocked artery. he is being kept under observation. it's unclear whether he'll be discharged. the 90-year-old was flown to hospital 60 miles from sandringham on friday after suffering chest pains. less than 24 hours later, the queen and her children dropped in on the prince to wish him well. and there is some good news this morning. buckingham palace said that the prince is in good spirits and is, quote, eager to leave the hospital." meanwhile, the royal christmas celebrations are continuing. we have seen members of the royal family, including prince william and kate, of course, kate's first holiday arriving at the church on the queen's sandringham's estate for the traditional christmas service. following the service some members of the royal family will make a special visit to see prince philip. ron? >> thank you very much for that report. and finally, i want you to take a look at this from yesterday's pro football action. check this out.

that is cincinnati bengals' jerome simpson going airborne, doing a 360-degree somersault forward somersault over a would-be defender and sticking his landing in the end zone to score a touchdown. that is, of course, good for six points in football, but the judges certainly would have scored that and i would, ten. time now for a check of the weather, raining in atlanta, georgia, new orleans and houston today and as for temperatures, they are above normal from montana to minnesota and contrast texas and new mexico will be colder than normal.

dan? in homes across america this morning, people are evaluating the quantity and quality of their gifts, but there is, of course, a much larger meaning to this day, which is why we have convened this panel of spiritual leaders. let me start with ambassador dr. suzan johnson cook, u.s. ambassador-at-large for religious freedom and reverend dr. serene jones, and you recognize this guy, father edward beck, who is an abc news consultant host of "the sunday mass" on the abc channel on the abc family channel, i should say and the author of "sole provider: spiritual steps to limitless love." there's the book right there. thank you all for coming in. merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> so let's start with the reason for the season. we get very focused on black friday, cyber monday, et cetera, et cetera. i know you don't buy gifts and give gifts at this time of year.

why is that, and what do you say to your parishioners about how to stay focused on what this is supposed to be all about? >> sometimes if i want to be very esoteric, i i begin with quoting g.k. chesserton. he has a great quote that says "a religion that defines the world needs a feast that defies winter." you know, christmas is that feast. we say in the darkest time of the year, light comes into the world. so we're waiting for this messiah and who comes? a homeless refugee? i mean this is the kind of god we're talking about. who cannot relate to that kind of god. we say, oh, god is so distant, god doesn't see me. god is not part of my life. a homeless refugee comes and says, i'm going to bring you peace. i'm going to bring you meaning. i mean, that to me is a wonderful story of helping people to connect with their own lives and their own experience. >> but on this christmas morning, is it okay to be spending some time enjoying some of the material goods beneath

the tree, or is that a distraction? >> i think it's great to enjoy them, but that can't be the whole season. if we can get to why we give gifts out of the blessings we receive, the bounty from a god who chose to send his son among us and now we want to share that, the bounty, so we extend it to other people, that's great. it's not about -- >> to the christ child, gifts were brought. >> frankincense and myrrh. >> so it is appropriate for family gathering time, time to reflect that giving is not just for this one season but it's year round so their gift beyond what's under the tree, the gift of service, what we do every day. jesus brought peace to the world and many don't have that. for me religious freedom and diversity is important so we bring the gift of service, not just christmastime, but around the world because many can't celebrate this season. >> serene, let me ask you a quick question.

this time of year -- we asked this question last year. this time people are suffering deeply especially with the economy, and it's been going on for years now. what do you say to people who cannot feel cheerful on this day? >> well, the most important thing you have to do is acknowledge that and not have this illusion that for everyone this is a joyful holiday, and once you acknowledge that and you go back and think about the christmas story, which you were talking about, a manger, a homeless mother, a child, i mean, this is not a story of someone celebrating the bounty of the universe. this is a story of suffering people to whom a miracle comes and during a recession, our mangers are everywhere in this country. >> in some ways it's a hopeful story. >> it's a hopeful story that light came in the midst of a dark place, and so we must never lose sight there is light and for us there are many who are suffering, refugees around the world, we're hoping that this christmas that we continue to pray for, advocate for, urge that everyone will be able to celebrate whatever they believe

so we celebrate jesus christ and we want everyone to have the right to believe what they want. >> how about that manger? what is a manger? it's a feeding trough. you have the son of god placed in a feeding trough. this child is going to be food for the world, food for your hungry heart. i mean that's the christmas message. i mean we've been saved by god. >> also that manger is a barn, i mean this is not the main house, this is not the fancy hotel, this is not even the nice apartment, this is outside in the back where no one else would live where this is happening way on the margin. >> good to keep that in mind as we open our ipads on this christmas morning. i want to thank you all. i wish we had more time. we don't, though it's such a pleasure to have you here and remind everybody who is here. father edward beck, dr. serene jones and dr. suzan johnson cook, thank you so much. >> you mention the kids sitting here

waiting for santa. they were listening so intently to your conversation there. >> you deserve a really big gift, kids. >> i think your panel would agree that christmas is the time for family. but tens of thousands of u.s. troops have spent the holiday at war in iraq instead of being at home, but not this year. all u.s. combat troops are finally out of iraq and ron was there when one u.s. servicewoman made it home in time for christmas. >> this is a great story. army captain dawn mckraken spent most of the year in iraq. her unit got back to the u.s. just a few weeks ago but until a few days ago they were still stuck in texas going through processing. she had no idea when she'd make it home to see her 2-year-old and 4-year-old sons and husband in pittsburgh. but as you're about to see this christmas story has a very happy and for two little kids a very surprise ending. always a smile on her face, always kissing one of her boys, tyson and dominic, that's dawn

mckraken bruce. >> hi, i'm lieutenant dawn mckraken bruce. >> reporter: but this year captain mckraken bruce, dawn, has spent most of her time separated from her family. she shipped out to iraq last march, and that's where she's pretty much been ever since. you started all of this. finally, just days ago, she arrived back in the states, and i caught up with her right before the special christmas surprise that she planned for her sons. >> i e-mailed the mall at robinson where we take them every year for santa. and they were gracious enough to work with us but all i wanted was santa to ring a bell. >> so with dad scott in on it, the boys were taken to pittsburgh's robinson mall to meet santa. >> i'm getting excited now. >> reporter: with her kids utterly in the dark, dawn made her way through the back corridors of the mall. how do you feel? >> i'm shaking. >> reporter: you're shaking? >> yeah. >> reporter: how come? >> i'm like nervous, excited. i don't know how they're going to react. >> reporter: in just a few seconds, the children's christmas wish is about to come true. >> we have a surprise coming.

this is going to be really good. >> oh, my goodness gracious sakes. here comes your surprise. who is this? >> hi, baby! >> mommy. >> yay! >> i told you it was a surprise. this is great. oh, my gosh. this is wonderful. >> how was the real deal? >> i think everyone was in shock. i don't think they thought i was real. did you think i was real? >> reporter: what dawn didn't know was that there was a surprise waiting for her too at the other end of the mall. >> what's going on here? >> this is a tv van for you. >> oh. [ playing "the star-spangled banner" ] >> reporter: a star-spangled tribute by the band from the

high school she had gone to. >> playing mommy's song. >> reporter: as it played from hundreds of shoppers in the mall a standing ovation to one of their own finally back home finally with her family. >> this is awesome. ♪ >> and what a wonderful christmas gift for the entire bruce family but especially for dominic and tyson. but it may not be the most restful post-christmas holidays. in the next few days they'll have to pack up and move to indianapolis where dawn will be stationed next but more good news for the family. this time it looks like she is going to be home to stay for awhile. bianna? >> all right, ron, a big day for pro basketball fans. they're getting a special christmas gift. the start of the lockout delayed nba schedule. five big games are on tap today. two here on abc and two on our sister network, espn. and here with a look at the stars to watch for this season is espn and abc's lead nba play-by-play commentator mike

breen. good to see you. >> hey, bianna. >> how will this shortened schedule impact the season overall? >> hard to tell. we're in uncharted waters but it's going to be chaotic. you're going to see some sloppy play early on. you are going to see some of the younger teams with fresh legs who can do more things play better early but it's probably going to take about a month till you figure out who are the contenders and who are the pretenders. >> a typical season has 82 games. we're going to have 66 games. did the lockout sort of impact the industry as a whole or are fans once the games start again going to be back into it? >> i think we would have been in trouble if the whole season was lost and we were close to that. in my opinion the way the finals ended with miami and dallas, the league is probably in the best place it's been since michael jordan retired, so there was a lot of interest. the casual fans came back, so i think that momentum can continue. it would have been destroyed if we would have had a full season thrown away but i think they'll be back. >> you mentioned miami and dallas. we'll see them actually today. tell us some of the other games we're going to see today. >> well, you've got

the lakers and the chicago bulls and the lakers have a little revenge. they got swept in the second round last year. the chicago bulls had the best record but they lost to the miami heat. >> derrick rose and kevin durant are the two players you say to keep an eye on this season. any other names out there? >> you've got your usuals. how do they bounce back. how does kobe bryant bounce back? he's got a new coach. phil jackson is gone. so how do the lakers, an older laker team, how do they come back and win another title? the champions, you can't forget about them. dirk nowitzki proved himself to be one of the great players in the the history of the game last year and lost key players but can they defend their title. >> you have a busy day too, two games. one in dallas and one in california. >> we get to see a rematch of the finals, dallas/miami. that will be fun, then we'll fly out to oakland, our old partner, mark jackson who teamed with jeff van gundy and me for the past several years is having his coaching debut with the golden state warriors so we'll get to torment him, heckle him and insult him as much as humanly possible. >> maybe he can hitch a ride with santa on his sleigh to make it out there to california. all right, mike breen, we appreciate it. thanks so much for coming in.

and you can see an nba doubleheader here on abc today. the heat take on the dallas mavs at 2:30 p.m. eastern and the lakers host the chicago bulls at 5:00 p.m. dan? >> thanks, bianna. now that it's christmas morning, santa's job is done. he has been delivering presents to millions. it is our gargantuan task and every year we wonder how could he possibly get it all done, so we put our ace meteorologist ginger zee on the case. she's been tracking him throughout the night and you lost him somewhere over kansas. is that right, ginger? >> that's right, i lost him. so difficult to track that santa. it's been a long night, and i set out to find out everything i possibly could, but that guy, oh, you just can't track him. so how does he do it? >> up, up and away! >> he's the ultimate man of mystery prompting questions about everything from his reindeer to his beard. but never mind the man's facial hair. we wanted to find out how santa

does what he does. how does he circumnavigate the globe in the blink of an eye when most of us can't seem to make it through airport security in under five hours? to find out we headed to columbia university where physics professor bob moini teaches. >> yes, it's possible for a gentleman in a red velvet suit to deliver this much material. we could all learn something. >> consider this, there are roughly 2 billion children in the world. even if santa only delivers to the kids who identify themselves as christian, that's still 700 million kids. assuming there are three kids per household, that's more 200 million stops. >> he would have to refuel. it's an awful long way to go unless he has some power source not known to us. >> then there is the whole speed issue. if santa traveled from east to west with the sun, maximizing available nighttime, he's got about 32 hours to get to all the children in the world. that means he has to travel at

1,800 miles per second. >> we don't have any vehicles that can approach these kinds of speeds even in space. >> and look out as he hits you. >> you certainly would not want to get hit by santa going at these speeds. >> even if he optimizes speed, there is still the matter of weight. how is he going to get all the presents off the ground? >> say each kid gets a transformer, a pound and a half per child. that equals 461,300 metric tons. now, that's some extra baggage. our expert's opinion. >> he might want to stash the toys at various places around the globe regard than carrying them all at once. >> that leaves the cookies waiting for santa at each home. assuming two cookies and a glass of milk add up to 308 calories per household, we're talking about a consumption of 72 trillion calories in just one night. guess that explains why you might find a rotund man with a white beard at the gym. so calories in the trillions. we're going to have to do

carrots next year for santa. you know, guys, i'm getting in the spirit. i'm going to do some snowball fighting and also some snowman making, and until then, i'll throw it back to you. >> appreciate it. great job out there. >> you know, we invited some of our friends -- >> thank you. merry christmas. >> merry christmas, ginger. we invited some of our friends to give us their thoughts on christmas and santa and how he's able to do what he does and they've been chatting away up here. and we've got more with them coming up in the show. also, if you unwrapped a tablet computer or a smartphone this morning, our elf, becky worley, will tell us how to maximize your new gadget experience. plus, bianna got a chance to go backstage at the iconic christmas show. can she cut it as a rockette? i got my money on you. and the man we're all waiting to see, santa, santa is in the house. are you excited? >> who's excited? >> yay! >> all right. >> we have a lot more music coming up on the show. stay with us.

♪ golden time and ancient prid and love and dreams to share ♪ ♪ sleigh bells in the air beauty everywhere ♪ ♪ yuletide by the fireside and joyful memories there ♪ ♪ . . . . . . . .

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them. merry christmas, everybody, at home. i'm bianna golodryga. >> and i'm dan harris. not a huge christmas carol guy but those kids are great. great to have you here this morning. >> he was singing along. >> yes. i was even singing along poorly. i do want to note, many of you may have received ipads or smartphones this morning. and if you're anything like me, you're probably staring at this device dumbfounded so coming up we've got pro tips for getting the most out of your new gadgets. >> also ahead, i kick it with the rockettes. can can you believe i did this? >> i'm really looking forward to this. >> i got to go behind the scenes of the christmas spectacular at radio city music hall, including a tour from -- kids, are you listening -- santa himself. >> santa! >> speaking of santa, the big man is in the building. he's going to make one last stop to visit our crew of super well behaved kids. can we see those kids once again. kids, are you excited about the santa possibility? >> yeah. >> can i get a stronger yes? all right. excellent. that's coming up in just a few minutes. before we get to santa, let's get a check of this morning's news and weather. >> and good morning again and merry christmas. in the news, republican presidential hopeful newt

gingrich is blasting virginia's republican primary elections system after he and several other contenders were left off of the primary ballot in that state. gingrich did not get the required number of signatures to appear on the virginia ballot. pope benedict is delivering his annual christmas message of the world to thousands of the faithful in st. peter's square. he called for an end to the violence in syria and a resumption of plink/israeli peace talks. christmas eve/midnight mass was held two hours earlier to give the 84-year-old pontiff some extra rest and he went down to the basilica central aisel in a moving platform to spare him the long walk. an estimated 24 million americans hit the stores and malls on saturday. i was one of them to get in their last-minute christmas shopping. overall it was a better than expected holiday season with sales projected to jump nearly 4%. tomorrow is expected to be another busy day with millions of people redeeming gift cards and returning unwanted gifts. and hundreds of people in

colorado may be getting ious under their christmas trees this morning. hundreds of customers came to u.p.s. center there in denver to collect some of the 50,000 packages that were delayed by last week's storm in that area but many of them walked away empty-handed. it's time now for a check of the weather. temperatures are forecast on this christmas day to be milder than normal in much of the country, almost 10 degrees above normal in chicago, illinois, denver will hit 45 degrees. the coldest temperature on the map is 38 fahrenheit in minneapolis. the southern states will have rain from louisiana all the way to georgia. snow and flurries around the great lakes and also in parts of new england. ♪ new dreams ♪ new ways ♪ good morning young america snet

♪ that's a look at the headlines. santa may have come through with the gadgets that you wanted for christmas, but he probably didn't stick around long enough to help you figure out to use the things which is why we have asked santa's chief technology elf, becky worley to skype in from her home in oakland with some tips. hey, merry christmas, becky. >> merry christmas, guys. yes, the cte reporting for duty. >> you are looking fetching in that elf hat, i just want to say and now i suspect that the first advice you're going to give us because you're such a careful user of technology is to get some sort of screen saver, some sort of guard for the phone or tablet, right? >> that's right. i mean if you got a new puppy for christmas, wouldn't the first thing you'd do is put a collar on him? well, you want to protect your lovely new gadget the same way. i have a screen protector on here. keys, meet ipad. no problem. >> do you have a flame thrower? >> i know. makes you nervous, right? these things are great because not only do they

protect you from the scratches of the keys but also from coins or anything in the bottom of your purse. and if you drop it, god forbid, it'll help prevent some of the cracking. now, here's the pro tip. getting these little things on is tough without getting fingerprints all over this and then on your screen, so pro tip, keep your fingers wet. use a wet wipe or washcloth and keep your fingers wet while you do the application process. >> becky, there are a lot of protection devices we can get. give us a sense of what we can find out there. >> quickly, not too flimsy. you don't want one of these just rubbery ones but then again, you don't want one of these super ballistic military grade jobs because they're so bulky you'll take it off and won't use it. so when you're looking for a case, look for something that is really strong, silicone, rounded edges, something that's got its own shape so that if you drop it, it'll bounce a little bit and the pro tip here, get something bright, especially you ladies because as you're digging around in the dark purse, if you

see yellow or hot pink, it'll catch your eye and you'll be thankful all year long that you didn't waste another five minutes digging for it. >> that is so me. i'm always the one digging at the bottom of my purse. i think i lost it. that is a great tip, becky. >> now, something else you've been talking is there are these services essentially lo-jack for the phone. what's the deal with that? >> that's right. find my iphone for any of the apple devices and wavesecure from mcafee for android devices. not only can they help you locate the phone with gps, but the pro tip is that if your phone is stolen, you can logon to your account from any computer and wipe the data right off of it because your data is probably more valuable to an i.d. thief than the actual phone. >> becky worley, such a pleasure to have you and once again, merry christmas. thanks for wearing the hat. we appreciate it. and, by the way, you can get more of becky's great tips on our website, goodmorningamerica.com on yahoo! and coming up here a special treat for all of you, bianna going behind the scenes at radio

city music hall complete with toy soldiers and santa, and i believe she'll be doing some sort of fancy kicking. keep it here. >> prepare yourself. ♪ yuletide carols being sung by a choir as folks dress up like eskimos ♪ ♪ everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe help to make the season bright ♪ ♪ tiny tots ♪ tiny tots not night after night, i sat up. sprayed up. took a shower... or took a pill. then i tried drug-free breathe right advanced. and instantly, i breathed better! i slept better. it felt...better. thank you, breathe right! [ male announcer ] breathe better, sleep better, feel better. try breathe right advanced for free... at breatheright.com. [ woman ] it's my right to breathe right.

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perhaps the best known christmas show in the world is the radio city christmas spectacular. they have been putting it on for 78 years now. and i've got a chance to go behind the scenes with the big star of the show. now we're going to have the real santa here in just a moment, but first let's introduce you to one of his very special helpers. ♪ let christmas shine >> reporter: ask any new yorker and they'll tell you the radio city christmas spectacular is the ticket to score this time of year. for more than 80 years, the show has been dazzling audiences. and the hottest star in the

glittery production hails from the cold of the north pole. meet charles edward hall, a/k/a santa claus. >> yes! >> reporter: for 25 consecutive years hall has played the man in red and at 200 shows a season that means he's ho, ho, ho'ed on stage an astonishing 5,000 times. >> he's a magician. he's a comic. so he embodies so many positive and wonderful things, that it's just a joy to play. >> reporter: santa has been one of the two constants in a production that takes pride in changing up its scenes annually. the christmas spectacular's other constant, the rockettes. paul says he's locked arms with more than a thousand of the leggy dancers through the years. >> they're great, smart, talented women. i've probably been doing santa longer than some of them have been alive. >> reporter: playing santa so

frequently has made hall feel like his handcrafted velvet suits, which weigh a whopping 12 pounds, are sort of his second skin, and the storied radio city stage -- >> all right, here we go. >> reporter: -- all of that is home. how are you? >> good. i love you. >> santa. >> oh, there you are. merry christmas. >> how are you? merry christmas to you. >> reporter: he was kind enough to give me an exclusive backstage tour. >> this is the rockette quick-change room. >> oh, wow. >> and you notice all these shoes here. they all have microphones on them. >> they do? >> that's how they hear the tapping. >> interesting. i never knew that. i even got made up as a rockette. check out my wooden soldier cheeks. can i be a rockette? >> you're halfway there. you absolutely could. >> the high ceilings backstage is where they store santa's sleigh. >> what we're going to do is take the elevator downstairs. >> okay. down below in the belly of the stage, i got to ask the man in red some hard-hitting questions. santa, i have to ask you, mrs. claus, how does she feel about all of the leggy women you work

with? >> she feels very good about it because now she's in the show. >> reporter: she's in the show? >> she sings a song with me in the workshop. >> reporter: how does she compete with the other women? careful now. >> she's timeless. she's absolutely -- >> reporter: you hear that, men around the world, take some advice from santa when it comes to talking about your wives. santa, i'm a very modest woman. i don't ask for things in life. i'm a giver, not a taker. >> all right. that sounds good to me. >> reporter: but just in case, i did make a list, a short list, as you can see -- >> a little light reading. >> reporter: hall says 25 years have gone by in a blink of an eye. >> now i'm santa to multiple generations. >> merry christmas! hello, my friend. >> a father who brought his children to see santa at radio city -- >> oh, it's you. >> -- now bring their children. >> reporter: and if this santa has his way, he'll be around for 25 more.

it really is such a timeless show, all the kids were gathering there to watch it and i mean it's so exciting just to see their faces light up when santa comes out on stage. >> i admired the modesty of your christmas list. >> i'm a giver. >> all right. coming up on "good morning america," a visit from the man of the hour. you know who i'm talking about, the real santa, we've got some milk and cookies standing by. ♪ santa baby so hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ aby so hurry down the chimney tonight ♪ ndistinct conv] come for a smoke? yeah. . . . say no to a cigarette, . that gives you a burst of nicotine in the morning then continues working for up to 24 hours so you can go from one little win to another. until you reach your goal. nicoderm cq. quit one day at a time.

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♪ santa claus is coming to town ♪ >> all right, now is the moment we've all been waiting for. is anybody here excited to see santa? i didn't hear that. what?

say it again. is anybody excited to see santa? >> yes! >> all right. well, here he is straight from the north pole, santa claus. >> ho, ho, ho. merry christmas! ho, ho, ho. merry christmas. hello. hello, everyone! it's so good to see you all. ho, ho, ho. have you all been good? >> yeah! oh, this is so great. hello, hello. >> take a load off. >> how are you all? >> we're doing great. we're glad you're here. >> oh, really. >> she found your reindeer tied up to a what? >> a sleigh. >> okay. >> you have to wait. you have to wait. >> double parked. >> we've got gifts for everybody. >> obviously. >> okay. i came all the way from the north pole just to be here.

okay. everybody step back a little bit. we're all going to have a gift. >> everybody sit down. >> santa has gifts for everyone. okay? let's see. this is for you. >> all right. >> and maybe, santa, we are going to help you with this. >> oh, yes, you can do that too. >> excellent. while you're handing out the gifts, tell us, how was your night? >> oh, it was so busy. oh, i was riding all around. this is for you. wait. let's get something for you, boys. >> you know, ginger zee went to kansas to find you. >> really? >> you came here. >> i was here. i always make a stop here after i finish. >> for you, young lady. >> okay, we've got one for a boy. >> santa, thank you very much. we'll have much more with santa after this quick break after we finish distributing the gifts. keep it here on abc. >> here we go. here we go.

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♪ all i want for christmas is you ♪ and we are back with the young people's chorus of new york and their artistic director and founder, francisco nunez. thank you so much for being with us.

>> thank you. >> it's an amazing performance that we've seen. you've just been named a mccarthur fellow. right? >> yes. >> that means you're a bona fide genius. >> what does that entail? >> it's a recognition, a national recognition for the work we are doing with children, work we're doing with new music and composing so it's really quite incredible for me. >> you guys are great. i just have to ask, the first five of you in the row, you're the only ones getting snowed on. do you feel picked on? no, you're okay with it? what is the coolest song he has taught you to sing? >> there are so many. >> i like to hear that. how about the next song you're going to do, how cool is that? and what is it? >> it's "sleigh ride." >> "sclai ride," take it away. >> three, four. ♪ come for a sleigh ride a wonderful sleigh ride come along in a wintry ride.

♪ ring tingling too it's time for a lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you ♪ ♪ come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you ♪ >> giddyap giddyap giddyap let's go let's look at the snow we're riding in a wonderland of snow giddyap giddyap giddyap it's grand ♪ ♪ just holding your hand we're gliding along with the song of a wintry fairy land ♪ ♪ our cheeks are nice and rosy and comfy cozy are we ♪ ♪ we're snuggled up together like two birds of a feather would be ♪ ♪ let's take the road before us and sing a chorus or two ♪ ♪ come on it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you ♪ ♪ there's a birthday party at the home of farmer gray ♪ ♪ it'll be the perfect ending for a perfect day ♪ ♪ we'll be singing the songs we love to sing without a single stop ♪ ♪ by the fireplace

while we watch the chestnuts pop pop, pop, pop ♪ ♪ there's a happy feeling nothing in the world can buy ♪ ♪ when we pass around the turkey and the pumpkin pie ♪ it'll nearly be like a picture print from currier & ives ♪ ♪ these wonderful things are the things we'll remember all through our lives ♪ ♪ just hear those sleigh bells jingling ring-ting-tingling too ♪ ♪ come on, it's lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you ♪ ♪ hear those slay boars tingling ♪