It ends soon. Se good evening and thanks for ining us. Im rebecca jarvis. We begin with the children of prisoners. The silent victims of incarceration getting a re opportunity, a chance topend a single day with their fathers in prison. Some say it can make a world of difference. But how do you fit a lifetimes worth of parenting intoust 24 hours . Nightline coanchor juju chang goes behind prison walls for our this is a collect phone call from tre, a prisoner at the department of corrections hello. Hey. Yall getting ready to come . Cant wait till you get here. Reporter 8yearold arkinia graham has never met her father. Theyve grown close over the phone. But johnny tre williams is serving 23 years in prison for second degremurder. Im excited to see you and ii nervous. Reporter today she and nearly 30 othth kidid are getting a spepeal visit with their dads designgn to prevent the kind of damage kids suffer when a parent is in pron. Theyre going to have fun yes. Reporter they are some of the nearly 3 million children in this country with a mom or dad behind bars. Ethan buckner is 7. Youre going to see your dad today . Reporter Maya Matthews is 9. She and her little brother live three hours away. So how excited are you to see your dad . Very. Like, i can jump super high. Youre so excited, i know. My dad shes here, do you wa to meet her . Reporter maya has visited befo but today is different. Arkinia, i want you to meet maya. She heard about you. Meeting your dad behind bars is a really big deal. Why is it a big deal . Like this is the one time you can sit in their lap, let him hug you. He cant get up at all. Reporter the day before the kids arrive, the dads get a seminar on fatherhood. Thatsshere we meet mayas father. Whats it like waiting six months to see your kids . Reporter Jeremiah Matthews has been in and out of jail for 12 years for burglary. I just get scared that theyre going to forget. I know my daughter forgets me. She told me that this is the last time, dad. Shes like, i love you but you she was 7 when she told me this. And i dont want to disappoint. Ive said some very mean things to him. Youve said mean things to o him . Whatatind of things haha you said . Like im not going to tst you no more because you promised youd be there for me the rest of your life action then you go back to jail. What did he say when you said that . He just was like, okay, then, please gain that trust back, as soon as i get out ill try to make everything different. Do you believe him . Eh you want to . Yeah, i want to. But its hard to . Hes lied to me. What you want to do when you look your child in the eyes reporter arkinias dad is learning about fatherhood as well. There for you, always will be. Reporter e wound up killing a man in a bar fight. Though they talk a lot on the phone hes still anxious about what are you feeling . Anticipation. Im shaking. Reporter as nervous as any father getting to hold his daughter for the very first time. She brought something for you too. Hello, daddy, i really wish when i come to see you that you could come home with me. I love you so much. I love you too. Reporter but this quiet moment is just a preview of what will be a very special day. The next morning, as excitement builds in this humble prison gym boys and girls, theyre coming in just a minute. Reporter the dads are announced one by one. Ethan hasnt seen his dad in seven months. His pentup emotions bubbling over. Her doubt vanishes. I missed you guys. Missed you too. I love you. I love you too. Reporter arkinia doesnt hesitate. Her father no longer just a voice on the phone. Finally. Finally . You happy . Im happy for you. Reporter jeremiah says hes working hard to stay out of trouble behind bars, to earn this day with his kids. Prison. Only 20 of them are here today. I know this is a special event reporter the program, called one day with god, was founded by scotty barnes. The importance of these boys and girls having relationships with their mothers and fathers reporter she tells us her dad was a convicted drug dealer, spending most of her childhood locked up. I never had a hug, never been told i love you by my dad. These guys are convicted murderers. Felons. Why do they deserve this kind of perk . I think they forget that the children are the silent victims. The children from the time theyre 8, 9 years old, go out on the streets and where the gangs are. Come on over and join my family. Reporter jeremiah says its giving him incentives so that the next time hes released, in just 11 months, it will be the last. Throughout the day its clear the dads are trying to cram years of parenting into a couple of hours. The trick to cursive is staying on the same lines reporter one day with god is in seven states, fueled by private donations. At a time when prison reentry programs are being cut, theyre expanding to five other prisons in michigan alone. They may be walking in circles in a crowded gym, but for these between them. Children of offender are six times more likely than their peers to end up in jail themselves. 15yearold doricus green jr. Is already in danger of fulfilling that prophecy. Today hes wearing an ankle bracelet under strict supervision, for his runins with the law. His dad is serving a life sentence for murder. We all we got. I told him i know im not out there with him, but i am here for him. Always. Cant nobody ever take that away from us. Reporter for the girls theres a father daughter dance. It hurts me knowing that i hurt her. Most important female in my life. Other than my wife. Shes really the most important. And ive lost so much time with her that i can never get back. To know that they got to go back home. I cant put it all in one day. Theres no way. Reporter arkinias dad is trying to be a father figure beyond this one day. When she started acting out in school recently it was her dad who helped straighten her out. He called me right away. He was like, can i speak with her . Im like, okay, your dad is s the phone. Im like, oh, hes calling her for business. Hes parenting from behind bars . Yes. Reporter she has a powerful reason for bringing her daughter from florida to michigan for this chance to bond with her dad. You work 12 hours a day. Yes. Youre a single mom. Yes, maam. Hardearned money to bring your daughter here . Well, i was one of those kids, i was ashamed to tell people that my father was in prison. So i put myself in my daughters shoes. Reporter they have these shoe fleeting hohos to say the things that need saying. I love you very very much. Okay . You did nothing wrong, its all my fault. Okay . Its all my fault. Ill be home soon. Okay . Soon . Ill be home soon. Day with my dad. It means everything. I love you so much. Sings my soul reporter so much loaded in one day. For the dads a pledge to strive to be better. For the kids a precious dose of what they need most. And for the rest of , a reminder of what it means to be a good dad. And that the feeling of being embraced by your father can last forever. For nightline, im juju chang in muskegon, michigan. What a feeling. One day with god in the end surprised arkinias mom and us by reimbursing their airfrfe. Coming up next, tis the season for festive fun when neighborhoods light up in unison. About a biologic, this is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. This is humira helping me reach for more. Doctors have been prescribing humira for more than 10 years. Humira works for many adults. It targets and helps to block a specific source of inflammation that contrubutes s ra symptoms. Humira c c lower your abilityyto fight infections, including turculosis. 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Trust number one doctor recommended dulclcax use dulcolax tablets for gentle overnight relief suppositories for relief in minutes and stool softeners for comfortable relief of hard stools. Some people take their holiday decorations very seriously. But the houses that youre about to see take seasons greetings to a whole new level. With 50,000 at stake, months of planning, neighbors are pulling out all the stop in the great christmas light fight. Heres abcs david wright. Reporter silent night. Maybe, if thwer outage. And that seems to be a distitit possibility. In the great christmas light fight, its no longer about individual mac mansions. Like this one in elsass paso, now watch me whip watch me nene reporter this year theyre decking the halls of entire neighborhoods like this one in celebration, florida. 11 houses synced up here to michael buble. Christmas has started now oh yeah reporter holographic santas, mrs. Claus in high definition, trampolines turned into projection screens. We have to get our cars in at christmas time. We elevated it seven feet in the air. So the display becomes a 25foot screen. Reporter nothing says christmas like a tongue of fire. Keep in mind this is a florida winter. 70degree heat. 45 humidity. But even herere a 100 chance of a white christmas. Its a swarm. Whenever that machine goes off, theres a swarm from all around. Adults too. Theyll come from across the street, wanting to get in the snow. Of three different neighborhoods being featured monday on abcs third annual Christmas Lights reality show. Of course we think we have the best one. I think everybody thinks they have the best one. Thats true. Reporter three neighborhoods competing for 50,000 in prize money. In addition to celebration, theres also weipahu, hawaii. We know we have the best in the nation. Reporter and gilbert, arizona. That is crazy reporter sudden hi its not so surprising to learn that americans really will spend 7 billion this year on christmas decorations. Putting together just one hightech house can be a yearlong ordeal. Those soldiers, those were brought in here by a crane. What . Yeah. Reporter lucy in brooklyn looks forward to this all year long. To me i like my w wle house filled up. I dontike to see a space. R rorter shes notot alone. Just ask keith shaw of cranberry, new jersey. Reporter he has the biggest Christmas Tree in all of the garden state. We got to go inside it. Your Christmas Tree is essentially a flagpole. Its essentially a flagpole. A lot of extension cords. And a lot of extension cords. Ive got to appreciate this for a second. Talk about feeling the christmas spirit. Oh, man. How many light bulbs . Thehes over 47,000 on this tree. 47,000 light bulbs . More than rockefeller center. Thats right. Rockefeller center that is 45,000. You got them beat. Yes. Reporter its a lot of hard work. It took me 54 man hours. A full work week. More than. Repor thats just one feature. The whole lawn is a light grid. Theres also his wall of snowflakes 64 snowflakes. 6,400 lights just on the snowflake wall. Reporter and the fountain of lights. The design all his n. Except with lights. Your own little piece of vegas. It is, yeah. Reporter all of it timed to flash in time with the music. Half of new jersey turns out for the Christmas Show three nights a week, which doesnt exactly make shaw the envy of his neighbors. Their Christmas Display points back to his. Not exactly in a flattering way. But theres one thing missing new jerseys largest Christmas Tree. New jerseys most fantastic display of Christmas Lights. No sinatrtr no springsteen . We really should,right . You should, yes. Reporter darkness on the edge of town wouldnt work. Blinded by the light. Im david wright for nightline in cranberry, new jersey. The children grinning from ear to ear singing christmas time is here next, the irish name for himself here in the u. S. This weekend. I sure had a lot on my mind when i got out of the hospital after a dvt blood clot. What about my family . My lil buddy . And what if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital but i wondered if this was the right treatment for me. Then my doctor told me about eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots, but eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Knowing eliquis had both. Turned around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctct tells you to. Iquis can cause serious and in rare casesefatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made switching to eliquis right for me. If you think ronda rousey is the only star of ufc, this toughtalking irish plumber turned ufc fighter might just change your mind. Tomorrow night in vegas hell face what may turn out to be the heres abcs Darren Rovell. Reporter hes the fighting spirit of ireland. Conor mcgregor reporter 27yearold Conor Mcgregor is the next star in professional mixededartial arts. The sport looking for the next big thing after Ronda Rouseys shocking defeat. Mcgregor is looking to make history this weekend by becoming the first irish champion in the ufc. Before me, nobody knew nothing about this sport. Im proud to be putting my nation at the forefront of the fight game where we belong. Reporter the mighty irishman, reminiscent to some of the brash boxer mickey from the movie snatch. The tattooed mcgregor commands attention with bold moves in the octagon. His cocky assuredness and his mouth. Im standing up here with my feet on the desk, not one of yous is going to do anything about it. To a Young Mohammad ali. He lives big too. Mega mansions, custom suits, big cars. My name is Conor Mcgregor. Reporter when his first job as an apprentice plumber in ireland didnt work out he turned his focus to boxing with a dream of making it big. My dream is to be world champipi in the ufc. Reporter as featured in the Irish Network rte documentary series the notorious. Now with the weight of a nation on his shoulders. We support our own. If somebody is out there fighting and competing we get behind them. They have my back like i have their back. How long is it going to take you to rip his head off . It will be done in one. Reporter for nightline, im Darren Rovell in new york. And just how confident is mcgregor that hes got this . Anyone who bets he wins with a knockout in round one is invited to hisfter party for free. Everybody wins. Tune into Good Morning America tomorrow. And as always, we are online 24 7 on our Nightline Facebook page announcer the following is a paid presentation for hip hop abs brought to you by beachbhbody. Y close attention dont miss your chance to save 75 off hip hop abs. If y youre looking to shed the fat. I ithe first week, i lost 12 poundsds announcer a way to flatten and sculpt your core. Youre hitting every part of your abs. Announcer and finally get those titight, sexy,oned abs of your dreams. Then stop doing situps. Woman say what . announcer anstart dancing with hip hop abs, th new, absculpting systethat takes the worlds hottest dance moves and turns them into absculpting, fatbuburning routines so you dont even feel like youre working out. Doesnt even feel like exercise