>> right now on america this morning, the pre-holiday storm on the move bringing snow. rain and flooding to dozens of states, disrupting early holiday travel over the weekend. the preparations in florida and where the weather threat is heading right now, a terror takedown.

>> authorities in europe announced the arrest of multiple terror suspects, including members of hamas. it comes as the white house advises israel to change its war tactics, amid reports of the high number of dumb bombs used in gaza. how israel is responding violence unfolding outside a courthouse in washington, three hit by a car. >> police say the suspect and the victims were on opposing sides of a criminal case. and what we're learning plus the dramatic scene overnight on a north carolina highway, a plane up in flamesfter making an emergency landing. >> the new video coming in, baseball's $700 million man donning dodger blue, shohei ohtani discusses his massive contract. >> and finally reveals the name of his famous dog and obstacle on the tracks, a long horned bull on the loose and one of the busiest rail hubs in the country. >> new details on where it came from. it's friday december 15th.

>> from abc news in new york. this is america this morning. >> good morning everyone. i'm andrew dymburt. >> happy friday i'm rhiannon ally. we want to begin with the storm that's causing problems for millions of americans today. and through the weekend. >> the storms will impact at least 20 states on the radar. heavy rain is falling from texas to iowa after snow fell across the rockies. >> in florida, people are preparing for several inches of rain. the stormy conditions will eventually move all the way up the east coast. this morning, a major pre-holiday storm is threatening to disrupt travel plans for millions of americans. after dropping a foot of snow in new mexico and causing treacherous driving conditions in colorado. the head of the power grid in texas reassuring residents that a repeat of 2021 power outage crisis will not happen this winter season. >> the power grid is as ready and reliable as it has ever been

for the winter season. we have more generating and dispatchable resources available to the grid than we have had in any prior winter in history, so we are ready for that. >> the system is expected to help a new storm take shape in the eastern gulf of mexico tomorrow. >> that's when things really get messy. look at florida again. you can't take any more rain. orlando. miami all day saturday, heavy rain and the winds are going to start cranking up as well. flood watches and wind warnings have already been posted in parts of florida where heavy rain and wind gusts over 40mph are expected throughout the weekend. >> people are already preparing for flooding and possible storm surge, installing flood barriers along the beach in fort lauderdale and some parking garages are lifting fees to allow residents to move their cars to higher ground. on sunday , the storm set to start making its way up the atlantic coast, dropping several inches of rain in georgia all the way up through maine. complicated holiday travel for millions expected to travel in the lead up to christmas. major highways

and airports are expected to be impacted all along the east coast. we will take a closer look at the forecast coming up in five minutes. >> now to the terror suspects with alleged ties to hamas. now behind bars in europe. they're accused of plotting attacks on jewish institutions. the us is also facing an elevated terror threat, and it's urging israel to scale back the war. abc's justin finch has the very latest for us. justin good morning. >> andrew. good morning. european authorities echoing many of the same concerns as us law enforcement, noting tensions stemming from the israeli hamas war are raising the risk of terrorist attacks around the holidays. this morning, europe on alert. >> this is extremely serious. >> denmark's prime minister calling the situation extremely serious after the arrests of three people in her country accused of plotting terrorist attacks against jewish people and jewish institutions in germany. three more suspects now in custody and another detained in the netherlands. german

prosecutors saying all four are believed to be hamas members and were arrested under suspicion of plotting anti-jewish attacks. hamas denying those suspects are connected to the militant group. european authorities saying they're now staying hyper vigilant as the israel-hamas war stokes tensions. fbi director christopher wray saying the u.s. is at its highest threat level since before nine over 11. we're working around the clock to identify why and disrupt potential attacks by those inspired by hamas's horrific terrorist attacks in israel. back in tel aviv, israeli prime minister netanyahu meeting with u.s. national security adviser jake sullivan. >> thank you for your support. >> as the death toll across gaza grows, the white house says sullivan is urging israel to pursue what it calls a lower intensity operation and scale back its most intense fighting, a u.s. official confirming a new york times report saying a lower

intensity operation may involve the use of smaller groups of elite israeli forces that would carry out more precise missions to find and kill hamas leaders, rescue hostages and destroy tunnels. >> i want them to be focused on how to save civilian lives, not stop going after hamas, but be more careful in the senate now planning to reconvene monday to take up the president's defense funding request, which includes israel and ukraine aid, and to vote on it next week. >> talks stalled over republican demands to include tighter border policy. the chamber was to begin its holiday break today . andrew. justin, thank you. >> former trump white house chief of staff mark meadows goes to court today to appeal the georgia 2020 election interference case against him. meadows hopes to move the case to federal court. he arguing he was a federal official at the time of any alleged crimes. a similar argument, though, has already been rejected by a lower

court. meanwhile the atlanta journal constitution reports attorneys sidney powell and kenneth chesbro wrote one sentence apologies as part of their georgia election case. plea deals and former trump attorney rudy giuliani could find out today how much he owes to georgia election workers for his defamatory comments against them. an attorney for ruby freeman and shaye moss say that amount should be $24 million each. a jury deliberated three hours yesterday without a decision. they will resume this morning. >> three people were injured outside a courthouse in the maryland suburbs of d.c. police say they were struck by a hit and run driver who was part of a criminal case, also involving the three victims. two remain in serious condition. the driver is facing attempted murder and other charges and breaking overnight. a small plane carrying two people crashed and burst into flames on a north carolina highway, reports say. the pilot reported an oil leak before the single engine aircraft went down on interstate 26 near asheville regional airport. two people were taken

to the hospital. their conditions have not yet been released. >> now to the close call at an airport, new video shows a jetblue passenger plane accelerating during an emergency takeoff as the pilot was forced to avoid a head on collision. abc's mola lenghi has the details. >> less than a week from the busiest travel period of the year, new video showing a jetblue plane with 102 passengers on board slammed its tail on the runway to avoid what could have been a head on collision at a small colorado airport. federal investigators say the january 2022 jetblue flight from hayden, colorado, bound for fort lauderdale, was speeding down the runway when the jetblue pilot pointed the nose of the plane up quicker than normal due to a small king airplane preparing to land and closing fast. the pilots on the small plane startled, communicating to the jetblue crew, i hope you don't hit us for the jetblue captain to bank right immediately after takeoff, the pair saying they never saw the other plane that was about two miles away. that airport has

no air traffic controllers. all this playing out amid an alarming number of near misses on runways across the us. in january, a delta plane almost colliding with an american airlines flight that was on the wrong runway at jfk. the incidents prompting top aviation officials in november to testify on capitol hill that a shortage of air traffic controllers is leading to fatigue and distraction. since that incident, jetblue says it's developed new training for its pilots to better handle small airports without air traffic controllers. mola lenghi, abc news, denver mola thank you. >> turning now to a look at your morning weather. >> good morning. it's going to be stormy in the south for the next two days. today into tonight, there'll be a big storm coming out of the rockies into east texas with heavy rain. dallas southward on saturday, a big, big storm hits florida with gusty winds and heavy rain. even some thunderstorms look at the rain pile up this weekend across

florida. yellow is two inches, orange is four inches. going to be a soaker this weekend. that storm moves up the coast with rain and wind. the western half of the country looks good though. i'm accuweather meteorologist kevin coscaron. coming up, the reality show couple arrested in a prescription drug plot. >> also ahead, the uproar in one community after a satan club will be allowed to operate at an elementary school and more cases of the mysterious respiratory illness in dogs have been reported, the new states added to the list coming

>> 2020 tonight on abc. >> welcome back. a doctor and his wife, who appeared on the reality series below deck, have been arraigned on charges of handing out fake opioid prescriptions. new york prosecutors say urologist

francis martinis and his wife, jessica, used their fellow castmates names on the phony scripts. the couple has pleaded not guilty. their attorney called the charges bogus. >> a devilish situation is playing out in memphis, tennessee, a club named for the symbol of evil is causing some elementary school parents to see red while raising first amendment questions. here's abc's andrea fujii this morning. >> the controversy as an after school satan club comes to a memphis elementary school next month. >> these have very young children and they're being used for political agenda or some kind of agenda that has no place in our schools. >> memphis shelby county schools representative spoke to concerned parents about how they don't approve of the club, but under a 2001 supreme courtrillionuling schools can't discriminate against a religious group based on their viewpoints and must allow them to rent space at chimney rock elementary. >> i do not endorse. i do not support the beliefs of this

organization at the center of the recent headlines, officials say the satanic temple that will run the after school satan club is a nonprofit organization and follow district protocols to apply for space. >> the district does not discuss it against any legitimate nonprofit group based on religion or its beliefs. >> chimney rock elementary would be the group's fifth active club in the country, while leaders from the satanic temple insist they aren't teaching students anything religious, their beliefs are firm. >> it's important to us that people do know that we self-identify as satanists, even if we're not teaching satanism. um, just so people have an idea that that perspective about what satanic, uh, practitioners are is completely wrong. the club's director insists parents contact them, expressing interest. >> we do a lot of community projects. >> we do a lot of steam type activities, science based activities. and at the end of the day, um, we have decided not

to teach about satan. >> the school district says children will need a signed permission slip to join in the after school. satan club director says they can only operate in schools that have other religious clubs. the chimney rock elementary school does have a christian club, and now there are calls for all faith based groups to be banned from district schools. the interim superintendent vows that won't happen. rhiannon andrew. >> all right, andrea, thank you. coming up, the massive increase of calls to poison control involving popular weight loss drugs. >> also ahead, the $700 million man is finally in a dodgers uniform. shohei discusses his record contract and the name of sometimes, the lows of bipolar depression record contract and the name of his famous dog feel darkest before dawn. with caplyta, there's a chance to let in the lyte. caplyta is proven to deliver significant relief across bipolar depression. unlike some medicines that only treat bipolar i, caplyta treats both bipolar i and ii depression. and in clinical trials, movement disorders

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ask your pharmacist or doctor about pfizer's rsv vaccine, abrysvo. visit these retailers or find other retailers near you at abrysvo.com [deep breath] >> back now with a warning for dog owners. a mysterious respiratory illness among dogs is spreading. cases have now been reported in 16 states, the latest added to the list are nevada and pennsylvania. for the 14 other states, which cases stretch coast to coast, the cause of the illness is unknown, but vets are advising owners not to expose their dogs to other dogs. >> ozempic and other popular drugs used for weight loss have led to a dramatic spike in calls to poison control centers, some of them accidental overdoses, as usage skyrockets among celebrities like oprah and everyday americans. poison control received nearly 3000 calls related to the active ingredient in ozempic, 50 times more than 2019. in as a drug

becomes more and more used in the community, inevitably people will accidentally take it incorrectly or have side effects from it. those who took an elevated dose complained of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. doctors say patients need to be trained and to take the injections themselves. >> now to sports. more than two dozen people have worn the number 17 with the dodgers, but all of them didn't make as much money combined as the new guy who will don. 17 shohei ohtani met the media yesterday to explain his move from anaheim to l.a. it was one of the most anticipated introductions in sports history. the dodgers welcoming superstar shohei ohtani in english and his native japanese wearing the iconic dodgers uniform for the first time after signing an unprecedented $700 million contract. the two time mvp says his decision was not about the money, telling reporters when the dodgers look back at the last ten years, even though they made the playoffs every year and won a world series ring, they

consider that a failure. when i heard that, i knew they were all about winning, and that's exactly how i feel, ohtani, who is noted for being both a great hitter and pitcher, played for the los angeles angels for six years but never reached the playoffs. now, both he and dodgers fans have high expectations. >> hopefully with the signing, you know, we actually are able to win the world series. and you know, we've been we weren't getting very far in the regular season but not far enough. >> ohtani $700 million contract is the biggest in sports history. but the three time all star won't be seeing most of that money for a full decade between now and 2033. the dodgers will pay ohtani a total of $20 million. the dodgers are deferring the remaining 680 million until 2034, when ohtani will get yearly $68 million installments until 2043. espn reports. the unusual structure was ohtani's idea and will give the dodgers enough salary space to sign other players. all that for a player who won't pitch until 2025. after undergoing an arm surgery back in september, ohtani dodged questions about the exact nature of the surgery. but he did answer this question

what is the name of your dog? >> so his name is diego. i figured, um, it'll be hard for american people to pronounce it. so he has an american name and it's decoy. >> in addition to his record contract, ohtani earns an estimated $40 million a year from endorsements. but something tells me that's about to go up. >> rhiannon. decoy. i like that coming up, dick vitale gives a major health update. plus the strange sight for commuters in new jersey. yes, a bull on the train tracks. where did it come train tracks. where did it come from kayaking is my thing. running is awesome. but her moderate to severe eczema would make her skin so uncomfortable. i was always so itchy especially when i was hot. now my skin doesn't itch as much. now we're staying ahead of her eczema. there's a power inside all of us to live our passion. and dupixent works on the inside to help heal your skin from within. it helps block a key source of inflammation

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vocal cord cancer for the past five months. it was his cancer battle. >> yeah, to give and his third win, he says he needs to rest his voice a bit longer, and then he plans to get back on the air. >> we can't wait. wait for that. especially during march madness. now to a steer that caused a stir. an 800 pound animal, not a rat horned in on the new york city area's morning commute. >> check out ricardo here. seen on the tracks at new jersey's newark penn station yesterday morning. he caused a 45 minute delay as police chased him down. he was eventually tranquilized and sent to an animal sanctuary. >> we'll be able to let him free and he'll go with. i think he'll go with a group of 13 others that i have that ten of them have horns. um, and, you know, hopefully he dies of old age in 20 years or so. it's believed ricardo escaped while being taken to a slaughter house. >> train service as i mentioned, was delayed 45 minutes now to an unforgettable lunchtime in mississippi. >> a four legged intruder crashed the party. how about this? a deer crashing through a

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here >> 2023 is now san francisco's deadline best year ever for drug overdoses, and we still have weeks to go. now at 5:00. why? some believe the new way to solve the crisis may be lurking in the city's wastewater. >> give it a fair shot. that's the advice from sfmta about the controversial bike lanes that run in the center of valencia street. the