>> probably taking a nap now. >> welcome to world news tonight. breaking news. outbreak, a meningitis scare at a famous university, thousands of students at risk, and emergency vaccine may be rushed to campus. sink hole alley, neighborhood homes swallowed. now other families are worried they are going to be next. bat kid to the rescue, saving a woman tied to the tracks. foiling a bank robbery. >> are we going for a ride? how one american city and an act of kindness made a five-year-old boy's wish come true. batman for the day. and a good evening to you on friday night. we begin with a developing story a health crisis at an ivy league school, princeton university.

an outbreak of an unusual potentially deadly strain of meningitis. and it is so serious, that the cdc is taking an unprecedented step tonight. they are rushing to get a vaccine, that might help control the outbreak, even though that vaccine is not yet approved here in the united states. abc's linsey davis has the details. >> reporter: with seven cases of meningitis diagnosed at princeton since march, new jersey health officials declared an outbreak. >> it is very serious. >> reporter: so serious in fact the cdc is taking the unprecedented move of importing emergency doses of the meningitis vaccine not yet approved for use in this country. late today government health officials confirmed, they have agreed to import bexsero. it is currently licensed in europe and australia. it protects against meningitis b, the particular strain the students have been diagnosed with. bacterial meningitis is a dangerous infection of the protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord.

it is spread through respiratory droplets exchanged through close contact such as coughing or kissing making campuses a potential breeding ground. >> you typically see if someone says i'm not feeling well they tell a family member or friend, i'm not feeling well, and then in a matter of hours or less, they can get really sick very quick. >> reporter: early symptoms resemble a cold or flu, which can be common at this time of year. why the cdc isn't taking chances. in hopes of stopping the spread of an illness, that kills 10% or more of teens and young adults who get it. if a vaccination plan is rolled out it could aim to inoculate the nearly 8,000 students at princeton. university officials, however, wouldn't say if the vaccination effort would be launched. only releasing this statement. when we have something to announce we will make an announcement. the symptoms of meningitis typically develop within three to seven days after exposure. the cdc tells us, the risk for princeton university students is

quite high. and one concern is that because it's thanksgiving time a lot of students will head home and potentially bringing unwanted germs with them. >> again, three to seven days after exposure. >> reporter: that's right. >> linsey davis, thanks so much tonight on this story. next we turn to the backlash over the president's proposed fix of the troubled health care web site at the white house today the president feeling the heat meeting face to face with insurance giants. so what happened in that room? abc's chief white house correspondent jonathan karl tells us. >> reporter: today an embattled president obama met with insurance company ceos who are unhappy with his latest effort to fix obama care. many consumers are simply confused. suzie and jim fenelli of silver springs, maryland watched the president once again promise to help them, but right now the only thing they are sure of is they got a letter cancelling their health insurance. >> right now i'm promised a lot

of things, and the only thing i got in my hand is this, and i have to figure it out. >> reporter: in an effort to repair his broken promise that nobody would lose insurance they like, the president said he'd change the rules, allowing people to buy old, preobama care policies for one more year. but what about the fine print? each state must approve the president's plan, and already some are saying no. case in point, washington state insurance commissioner, a democrat, says it would destabilize the state's entire insurance market. that left bill fullner totally out of luck, he got a cancellation notice. >> your new plan has more benefits and a different price. different price. >> reporter: different indeed. the new policy costs nearly twice as much. >> i feel betrayed. i've always supported the democratic party. and i'm going to be very, very careful before i ever trust another politician again. >> reporter: what do you say to bill fullner who trusted what

the president said and then finds out it won't apply to him. >> i'd say what the president said yesterday -- >> reporter: faced now with paying a premium twice as expensive. >> these cases aren't usually brought in the briefing room. more than half of people who get -- >> but these are real people. it's tough. >> you heard the president talk at length about his concern for these people. he's making this fix. >> reporter: today the republican controlled house voted once again to make fundamental changes to obama care. one out of every five democrats in the house voted with the republicans. and that, diane, despite the fact that president obama had issued a veto threat. >> jonathan karl, thank you, everyone should know the president's health care fix will be front and center sunday on this week with george stephanopoulos and the roundtable. also tonight a story out of detroit sparking debates around kitchen tables. a young woman shot dead on a stranger's porch in the dead of night. she was black.

the gunman white. and her family says she just needed help. the gunman is claiming self defense. but today, he was charged in her murder. abc's alex perez. >> reporter: 19-year-old renisha mcbride's death sparked out rage. her family arguing she was a victim of racial profiling, prosecutors charged theodore wafer with second degree murder. it all began earlier this month in this mostly white neighborhood in dearborn heights, michigan. mcbride left the car accident about 1:30 a.m. apparently looking for help. tests show she had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in her system. as well as marijuana. about two hours after the accident, she wandered to this porch. >> by all reports she was unarmed. there were no signs of forced entry to the home. >> reporter: police told the detroit free press, the homeowner claims he believed the girl was breaking into the home. and that the gun discharged accidentally.

according to authorities he fired a 12 gauge shotgun fatally striking her in the face. >> yes. i just shot someone on my front porch. >> reporter: prosecutors don't buy his reported story. >> we obviously do not feel that the evidence in this case feels that the defendant acted in lawful self defense. >> reporter: former prosecutor doug godfrey believes the racial overtones in this case are impossible to ignore and there is another key factor. >> the fact she's a woman also plays a role in this case. >> absolutely. how does an unarmed 19-year-old woman represent that threat? against a 54-year-old man, who has a door between them. >> reporter: alex perez, abc news, chicago. >> and across the seas tonight, caroline kennedy the new u.s. ambassador to japan reported for duty today in tokyo. she is the first woman ever to hold the post. today she reminded everyone of the special meaning of this day for her.

>> i am also proud to carry forward my father's legacy of public service. he had hoped to be the first united states president to visit japan. so it is a special honor for me, to be able to work, to strengthen the close ties between our two great countries. >> and next week will mark 50 years since her father's assassination. and a big headline from china tonight, about that government rule that says a couple can have only one child. it has been the law of the land for decades, as a control on china's booming population. today, the government said, it is going to loosen that policy, and under new rules, if either the mother or father is an only child, the couple can have two children. and that means the majority of young chinese will be able to have a second child. now we head to canada, the mayor of toronto, who is starring in a surreal political theater, admitting to use of crack and apologizing for crude

comments. then refusing to leave office after his city council staged a kind of coup. here's abc's david wright on that story. >> reporter: having already been stripped of his dignity, today the mayor of canada's largest city was stripped of most of his powers. >> the motion carries 39 to 3. >> reporter: the toronto city council voting to relieve mayor rob ford of everything but his title. >> it is done reluctantly, it is done sadly. >> reporter: ford has only himself to blame. >> i'm not mad at anybody. i take full responsibility. >> reporter: he's made his office a laughing stock after police obtained a videotape of him smoking crack cocaine. >> i apologize. >> reporter: ford has apologized repeatedly. >> i apologize. >> reporter: but he refuses to resign. his eight second awkward pause before answering an obvious question, fodder for more devastating jokes. >> have you purchased illegal

drugs in the last two years? >> yes, i have. >> yes, he did it. he won. >> reporter: yesterday, the mayor laughed off new allegations he solicited prostitutes. and offered to perform a lewd act on a coworker. one we cannot describe here. >> i'm happily married at home. >> reporter: later he apologized. his shellshocked wife at his side. today, he was not laughing. his demeanor more like a schoolboy summoned to the principal's office. but mayor ford is vowing to fight on, even threatening to take the city council to court. david wright, abc news, los angeles. >> and up next here tonight, a story we simply love. a conspiracy of kindness by an american city pulling together to make a five-year-old boy's wish come true.

so many kind hearted and creative strangers were saved today by the newest and tiniest super hero bat kid. abc's aditi roy has the story. in big hearted san francisco. >> reporter: san francisco under siege this morning. >> we begin this morning's broadcast with breaking news from san francisco's hall of justice. >> please caped crusader, we need you. and bring the bat kid. >> reporter: the bat call went out. and a pint sized kid crusader arrived in the bat mobile. it's bat kid. bat kid to the rescue. while an estimated 13,000 people gathered to cheer him on. the mini super hero has battled evils before. behind the mask is five-year-old miles scott, a leukemia survivor from tulelake, california, diagnosed at 18 months, just finished his last chemotherapy treatment in june. and had an ambitious dream. >> be batman.

>> reporter: the make a wish foundation made it happen. thousands responded and set up fake crimes for miles to solve like the riddler robbing a nearby bank. batman and bat kid went to the scene to take on their arch enemy. >> there have been plenty of super hero wishes over the years, nothing like this has happened. >> this is far beyond any of our expectations, it's crazy how big it's gotten. >> reporter: the out pouring here has been tremendous, there are tens of thousands of onlookers. the police chief had to turn away volunteers. >> it's so inspiring. >> reporter: bat kid got the key to the city made of chocolate, the super hero's favorite. >> bat kid. bat kid. >> reporter: he also conquered the hearts and minds of people around the world. aditi roy, abc news, san francisco. >> and one more note, if you take a close look at the front page of today's gotham city chronicle, the by lines were from those veteran journalists,

clark kent and lois lane. somewhere superman cheering him on. and tonight, danger under your feet, so many families in florida hoping this doesn't happen to their home. the race tonight to shore up houses on loose ground. and the video of the 53-year-old action star, that has everyone asking, how did he do that? our friday instant index. see you in two minutes. ♪ [ male announcer ] your eyes. even at a distance of 10 miles... the length of 146 football fields... they can see the light of a single candle. your eyes are amazing. look after them with centrum silver. multivitamins with lutein and vitamins a, c, and e to support healthy eyes and packed with key nutrients to support your heart and brain, too.

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next tonight, we showed you the homes swallowed by a giant sink hole in florida, caught on camera. as they fell into the growing pit. well, more than 250 potential sink holes have been reported across the state since may of last year. tonight abc's steve osunsami is with the families that worry that they are next. >> reporter: angry families here

could only watch as florida officials today started tearing down two of their broken homes, and pouring sand into the now 90 foot wide sink hole. the homeowners here knew this could happen two years ago. but were fighting with their insurance company to get it fixed. >> of course i'm upset. i mean, there's our house. >> this was all the same level. >> reporter: just a few miles up the highway. >> while you guys are here it could go. >> reporter: the ferraros have the same problem, a sink hole growing under their home. >> this entire area could fall into the earth. >> could just collapse. >> with us in it. >> reporter: the ground is already sinking in two places, in this report an engineer says the house could collapse. but now they can't sell the home. >> we live here, where will we go? >> reporter: the experts tell us there are thousands of possible sink holes waiting to open up under florida homes. and these are just the new ones. more than 250 reported since may of last year.

this one caught on tape in august, outside orlando. and in march, a man was killed in his own bed, when a sink hole opened up inside his house. >> we have a lot of retired people from up north, they bring their life savings and buy their home, now they are sitting there thinking, what am i going to do? >> reporter: these are the signs, the stair step cracks and broken driveways. these are the expensive solutions insurance companies choose from. driving beams deep into rock and attaching them to the house or stuffing truckloads of concrete deep into the loose soil. >> it's not a pretty sight. nobody wants to have a sink hole. >> reporter: we found families today racing to get the work done. this one put 19 trucks of cement into the ground. steve osunsami, abc news, newport richie, florida. >> see the full report tonight on 20/20, home sweet home at 10:00 eastern. and in our friday instant index, the 53-year-old action

star, and the impossible stunt that has 7 million people gasping, how did he do that? and the photographer who butted heads with the camera shy elk, coming up next. elk, coming up next. a couple hours ago.u took® why keep taking it if you know your heartburn keeps coming back? that's how it works. you take some tums®. if heartburn comes back, you take some more. that doesn't make any sense. it makes plenty of sense if you don't think about it! really, honey, why can't you just deal with it like everybody else? because i took a pepcid®. fine. debbie, you're my new favorite. [ male announcer ] break with tradition, take pepcid® complete. it works fast and lasts. get relief from your heartburn relief with pepcid® complete. of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®. for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar, but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® is different than pills. victoza® is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c.

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including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which may be fatal. stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have signs of pancreatitis, such as severe pain that will not go away in your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back, with or without vomiting. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and headache. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans. our friday instant index brings us that veteran action star doing something pretty jaw dropping. but how? here's nick watt. >> reporter: first up on this week's instant index, action man

jean claude van damme standing on the side mirrors of two volvo trucks, about to -- this is for real. and they are driving backwards, and the muscles from brussels nailed it in one take. next up, a life lesson with a photographer in north carolina, playing dead with a 500 pound elk won't always get you out of trouble. and now an experiment spawned by that very viral snap of a new yorker letting another new yorker sleep on his shoulder on the subway. this guy tried it. and kept on failing. also this week, the nba released its holiday spot. jingle balls. over in norway, a spontaneous goal celebration, adrian alvarstein was born in swaziland, left on the steps of a church and adopted by a childless norwegian couple.

nice. but back on the subway, it's still no, no, no. while this little bundle is dancing on ice, the smallest patch of ice, for the first time in her life. and wait, wait, hallelujah, back on the subway, proof that many of us really are nice, kind people. that was the instant index, i'm nick watt. >> and next here tonight, a boy who puts family first. an amazing boy, what makes him one in a million? he's our person of the week. week. ge. it's a stationery and gifts store. anything we purchase for the paper cottage goes on our ink card. so you can manage your business expenses and access them online instantly with the game changing app from ink. we didn't get into business to spend time managing receipts, that's why we have ink. we like being in business because we like being creative, we like interacting with people.

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oh, somebody out there's saying, now i get it! take beano before and there'll be no gas. and finally tonight, our team that brings you hidden america, introduces us to a person of the week. november is national care givers month. and it turns out more than one million american children hear the last school bell of the day and know their biggest challenge awaits at home. abc's josh elliott with our person of the week. >> reporter: chris miller seems a free spirit, and forever seeking his next thrill. but he's also the face of a hidden crisis in america. for 13-year-old chris is the

primary care giver to his 63-year-old grandmother dixie. >> watch out grandma. don't go up so fast. >> reporter: chris has lived with dixie for the last ten years. his mother passed away when he was young, his dad is in and out of prison. >> the little one is all i need. >> reporter: dixie has extensive nerve damage. >> do you want to lean back in the chair? >> reporter: and vision problems that require special medications. >> i know how to cut it. >> reporter: still she doesn't qualify for care giving assistance under any government program. so there is no one to turn to but chris. do you let people in on your added responsibilities and what you do? >> a lots of people don't get it. and they just don't understand. >> reporter: this is just one of the estimated 1.4 million american children trying to keep up at school while also being full time care givers at home. >> i want to know what happened on field day. >> reporter: connie siskowski is the founder of american association of care giving youth. >> they don't want to talk about what's going on at home.

they're afraid and they feel overwhelmed and isolated. >> reporter: in fact, 40% of family care givers experience depression. for children, school work is often the first thing to suffer. and when the school day ends, chris races home, terrified of what he may find. having come home to find her having fallen down, what's that fear like every day? >> it's scary. really scary. i mean it's like going on a roller coaster, and you're like 90 degrees down. >> reporter: the fears at home are very real for chris. back in his room, chris confides to me that worrying about it all keeps him up at nights. >> reporter: when you lie awake. what are you thinking about? >> um, like, how my life is going to be without my grandma. and how i'm going to succeed. >> reporter: while he dreams of simple joys like going on a vacation with his grandmother or

practicing his prized violin. for chris and so many others like him, the tradeoff is easy. >> reporter: when are you at your absolute happiest? >> when my grandma is happy. >> we thank josh elliott and so we choose chris miller. so glad you were watching tonight. stay in touch with us at abc news.com. of course 20/20 later and david muir right here at this desk all week. good night. good night. tonight, adventures of bat kid. a 5-year-old leukemia survivor who came to san francisco to live his dream. >> how social media made friends

out of old rivals. and a closed door meeting with bart. a former high school principal tells why he's passing himself off as someone a little bewildered and bit end of the day, exhausted. a 5-year-old boy becomes the toast of the town and a national sensation. good evening, everyone. >> the city of san francisco was the center of an extraordinary event today, granting the wish of a 5-year-old leukemia patient who wanted to be batman. >> he is fromron ushered around the city in a black lamborghini bat mobile. the daring rescue of a woman tied up on the cable car line. >> catching a villain

greenhanded today, rescuing a giant mascot from clutches of the penguin. >> every stop, hundreds of onlookers you can see city hall. >> ama, your part of the organization that put this on. you get us started. >> >> reporter: i do what i can to help out the organization because it's a fantastic organization helping out so many young kids who have a wish. they came to me, of course i was more than happy to comply. the city of san francisco, turns out they were more than willing to help as well. a hero emerged from union square after receiving an urgent message. >> we begin with