>> right now on america this morning, the new bombshell involving a former fbi informant charged with lying about bribery claims against president biden and his son, hunter. what the informant is now saying about his ties to russian intelligence also a developing story. >> russian authorities detaining a ballerina from los angeles. why the dual citizen is now being accused of treason in an 11 year old texas girl missing since last week, is found dead. >> what police are revealing

about the suspect's troubled past and why he did not have to register as a sex offender mid-air scare the plane landing on this busy highway outside. new york. >> plus the terrifying moment on this american airlines flight. why passengers were rushing to restrain a man with duct tape. >> the social media host famous for giving out parenting advice is sentenced for abusing her own children. the moment ruby frankie broke down in court and what she faces next, your money and the rising cost of streaming services. >> what the average family is now spending per month lost treasure. >> the item that unexpectedly turned up at a thrift store, and the highly unusual traffic on i-90. five. >> from abc news in new york. >> this is america. this morning. >> good morning everyone i'm andrew dymburt. >> good morning i'm alison kosik in for rihanna. and we begin

with two major stories involving russia. >> first, russian authorities have now detained a ballerina from california. she's accused of treason for donating money to ukraine and the war effort. there she was arrested while apparently visiting family in russia. >> the other story involving russia is raising new questions about a former fbi informant charged with lying about bribery claims involving president biden and his son. hunter documents now reveal. the informant says he got false dirt on the bidens from russian intelligence. let's get the latest from abc's perry russom perry. good morning. >> good morning allison. one of the latest headlines involving russia is raising new concerns about their efforts to interfere in the us presidential election. this morning, the former fbi informant accused of making false bribery claims about president biden and his son, hunter, has been released on bond. alexander smirnoff is seen here in the blue hoodie leaving court in las vegas yesterday, a judge released him under the conditions that he restrict his travel, hand over his passport and wear an ankle monitor.

smirnoff is charged with lying to the fbi, claiming the bidens accepted millions in bribes from burisma, a ukrainian energy firm. federal prosecutors say smirnoff has now admitted that officials affiliated with russian intelligence were involved in passing along that story, which prosecutors say was fabricated. house republicans have used smirnoff's bribery allegation as a justification for their long shot effort to impeach president biden if he volunteered himself, if he came to them and said, i can help you with this, that's another hallmark of russian operations, where they'll pick somebody and say, hey, go to the fbi or go to this organization. >> tell them that you have information. then we've got them on the hook. so, yeah, this is all very, very consistent with how the russian intelligence services do business. >> meanwhile, this morning, the biden administration says it's aware of a los angeles woman now being detained in russia. russian authorities arrested ksenia karelina, a russian american ballerina, on suspicion of treason after she donated about $50 to support ukraine. russian state media appeared to

show karelina being led into court. she could face 20 years in prison, her former mother in law says karelina was visiting russia to see family. >> if we don't help her, we can say goodbye to her. if we do not protect her. as an american citizen, nobody else will. >> it comes as president biden promises to impose new financial penalties on russia for the death of putin. critic alexei navalny. the sanctions are expected to target kremlin defense industries and other revenue sources. >> we'll have a major package announced on friday. navalny died in prison friday. >> his family claims he was murdered and accuses the kremlin of covering it up, refusing to release his body. he was a friend and a person who really invested a lot of hope and passion. navalny's friend is now sharing letters. the two recently exchanged. and he says navalny wrote from prison about the conditions he faced his his ve of traveling. we talked about his favorite parts of

london or, uh, like some different street food and different cities, uh, some movies or whatever. and back to that fbi informant, alexander smirnoff. he was released on bond yesterday. no word yet on his court date. andrew. >> all right. thanks so much. >> there in the south carolina primary is this saturday. and nikki haley is vowing to stay in the race. she's stepping up her attacks on former president trump, with polls showing her trailing by nearly 30 points. haley says she's not afraid of trump's retribution. >> and i'm not going anywhere. i'm campaigning every day until the last person votes because i believe in a better america and. a brighter future for our kids. >> she's down by 30, 35 points and everybody knows her. you're not supposed to lose your home state. shouldn't happen anyway. and she's losing it. big big. i don't think she knows how to get out. actually >> meanwhile, trump last night doubled down on his threat not

to protect nato allies whose defense spending falls short. trump accuses them of taking advantage of the us. >> today, us prosecutors are laying out their case against wikileaks founder julian assange in a london courtroom. assange is making a last ditch effort to avoid being extradited to the united states to face espionage charges. he's wanted for leaking secret military files nearly 15 years ago, his supporters claim the us wants to punish him for exposing criminal acts by the government. >> a tragic end to the search for a missing girl in texas. the case is raising questions about the suspect's past and why he was not required to register as a sex offender. here's abc's lionel moise this morning. >> new questions about whether the death of an 11 year old girl north of houston could have been prevented as new details emerge about the suspect, the body of audrey cunningham was found in a local river yesterday after a five day search. police say the

river is one place the suspect, don steven mcdougall, told authorities he had recently been . >> my heart aches with this news and i express with my deepest sympathies and condolences to everyone who knew who cared for and loved audrey. >> water levels had to be lowered so divers could reach audrey's body. she was reported missing last thursday after failing to catch her bus to school. investigators say mcdougall, a friend of audrey's father who lived in a camper behind their home, promised to take her to the bus that morning. but refused to tell investigators what happened next. mcdougall's criminal history includes more than a dozen arrests. records show he was indicted for attempted indecency to a child stemming from an incident in 2007. that charge would have required him to register as a sex offender, but he was allowed to plead down to a lesser charge of child enticement, avoiding sex offender registration. mcdougall

was taken into custody on an unrelated charge last week, as authorities questioned him in recent days, audrey's mother held on to hope that her girl would be found alive. >> not a single person could take anything bad about her. she's she's not a bad child. she has so many opportunities ahead of her. >> an autopsy is now being performed to determine how audrey died. mcdougall could be facing capital murder charges. andrew allison lionel. >> thank you. two men have now been charged with murder in connection with last week's shooting at the kansas city chiefs super bowl celebration. prosecutors say the chaos began after one suspect accused the other of staring at them. two juveniles were already in custody. a radio dj was killed in the gunfire. 22 other people were hurt. >> we have new video of some tense moments in the sky and on the ground. three examples of recent flights that did not go as planned. this morning, the faa is investigating multiple

mid-air incidents across the country, including in new york, where this single engine plane made an emergency landing on a busy long island highway. >> very, very shocking to see a plane go down the pilot facing engine trouble, was trying to land at a nearby airport but didn't make it. >> no one in the plane or on the ground was seriously injured. meanwhile an american airlines flight was forced to return to albuquerque after a man allegedly tried to open the plane door after takeoff. videos show passengers wrestling the man to the cabin floor, then then using duct tape to restrain him. blazed was one of the first passengers to wrestle him down when he already had the safety mechanism down. >> he had both hands on the lever and he was like yanking it. and he's a big dude and he had it, you know, pretty well pulled and we i don't know if you could hear it, but i could hear the actual difference in pressure. there was a whistling.

>> the man was taken into custody after the plane landed. the fbi is now investigating. >> the plane takes off and all of a sudden it hears loud, loud, violent vibration. >> witnesses are also describing a midair scare on this united flight, cut short after the wing started tearing apart. the plane was carrying 165 passengers from san francisco to boston, but the crew made an emergency landing in denver after passengers spotted that damage to the wing. >> next thing you know, the pilot comes on the, uh, pa system and announces that we've sustained some damage. >> the plane involved was an older boeing 757, and investigators will now examine the plane's maintenance records. >> a horse found its way onto a philadelphia highway. it was seen galloping on interstate 95 early yesterday. the person who recorded the video said the animal was moving at around 25mph. the horse is okay and police believe it escaped from a local riding club. >> he's thinking he's free. time

now for your wednesday weather. >> good morning. the storm that has brought all the rain and snow to california is starting to work its way east across the rockies. as we head throughout the day with more mountain snow there. and then it pushes out into the plains as we head into the nighttime hours with it, the threat for severe weather begins . this is going to be southeastern kansas into northeastern oklahoma, stretching across southern missouri and northern arkansas, and backed off towards kentucky. all the while, we'll bring rainfall to for the late week from accuweather. i'm melissa konstanzer. >> coming up, paying more for tv just how much the average family is now paying for streaming services. >> but first, tragedy at a florida beach. the desperate search for a girl trapped under the sand. >> and later, why the new major league baseball uniform are

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morning america, we're right here. >> and we got you. >> we got you, we got you. >> we're back with new video of a bus slamming into an indoor skate park in seattle. the bus missed a utility pole on the sidewalk before crashing through the building, tossing passengers around the bus some teenagers inside ran for safety. thankfully, no one was hurt. >> now to south florida and the emergency at the beach. rescue crews desperately trying to find a young girl in the sand this morning, a day at the beach turning tragic. two young children, brother and sister falling into this six foot deep hole in the sand near fort lauderdale. >> female elder mary mckenzie, both freed by firstrillionesponders and rushed to the hospital. >> but the little girl later pronounced dead. a witness tells our miami affiliate. the girl was trapped under the sand for

15 minutes. i mean, you saw grown men digging with shovels and buckets and nobody could find her. >> we've seen these incidents before. >> back in 2022, 18 year old levi cavoli died at a beach in new jersey after becoming trapped in a hole he dug with his sister. the ten foot pit collapsing on both of them. the national park service recommends beachgoers avoid digging deeper than your knees when standing inside, and always fill in any hole before leaving the beach. back in florida, the stunned community, remembering that little girl. it's just heartbreaking that they were just playing harmless in the sand. heartbreaking indeed. officials did not discuss the condition of the boy who was rushed to the hospital. america ans are paying a lot more for streaming services than you might think, a new survey finds the average subscriber. now pays $77 per month, which is nearly $1,000 per year just for streaming services. >> and about one quarter of subscribers now pay at least $100 per month. here's another

thing getting more expensive american airlines is raising baggage fees. the first bags for most passengers will now cost $35 in advance, and $40 at the airport. that's up from $30. the airline blames higher gas and labor costs. >> all right, so time to start wearing all my clothes. >> don't check anything. >> all right. coming up, the legal battle over the hit song hotel california. going to trial today. >> also ahead, the youtube host famous for giving parenting advice, is sentenced for abusing advice, is sentenced for abusing her own kids. her tearful [♪] did you know, many moisturizers only hydrate your skin? for advanced science that visibly repairs signs of aging... try olay regenerist micro-sculpting cream. it delivers 10 benefits in every jar for younger-looking skin, visibly firming, lifting, and smoothing wrinkles. olay regenerist penetrates the skin's surface, to boost regeneration at the surface cellular level for continuous improvement. to visibly repair signs of aging, try olay regenerist. this has been medifacts for olay.

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you save and then stay. woke up to the hotel california for a trial involving the lyrics to hotel california is set to begin in new york today. >> three men are accused of trying to sell handwritten lines from the eagles album. group co-founder don henley is expected to be the prosecution's star witness. the documents are reportedly worth more than $1 million. as we turn now to the utah woman famous for giving parenting advice online. >> but instead of giving advice, she's now preparing for prison for abusing her own children. utah mother ruby frankie shot to fame on youtube, sharing her strict parenting techniques. >> i'm not even going to let you eat breakfast until you get your chores done, but now, after being accused of denying her two children food, water and beds and forcing them to work in extreme heat, a judge sentenced frankie yesterday to up to 30

years in prison for abuse. >> she wept in court as she apologized to my babies. little chicks. >> you are part of me. >> how terrifying. >> this must have been for you. you are. you're so precious to me. i'm sorry. >> the judge handed down the same sentence to frankie's business partner, therapist jodi hildebrandt. >> you terrorized children and the results have been tragic. >> prosecutors say hildebrandt and frankie held the two kids in hildebrand's home. in a setting compared to a concentration camp. even restraining one of the kids hands and feet using duct tape. the boy eventually escaped to a neighbor's home. >> i just had a 12 year old boy show up here at my front door asking for help. he's emaciated. he's got tape around his legs. >> frankie's estranged husband

was in court for the sentencing, his lawyer telling abc news these injuries were both physical and psychological, and the scars will remain for a lifetime. frankie claims hildebrandt manipulated her through their mormon faith, a parole board will now decide exactly how long the women will spend in prison. >> disturbing details there, indeed. all right, coming up. players revolt. why? baseball's new uniforms are a swing and a miss. plus lost treasure. >> the item just found at a >> the item just found at a goodwill store [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function,

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they're meant to be more comfortable and breathable in the heat, but players see they're complaining about them fitting poorly and feeling flimsy. they also say the colors are slightly off and the lettering makes it harder for fans to read their names. >> the players union is now reportedly getting involved, saying it wants changes made before the season starts. next, a rare treasure turning up at a thrift store in pennsylvania. >> it's a lego. but the thing is, it's not made of plastic. it's a 14 carat gold lego mask. someone donated the mask, leaving it inside a box filled with random jewelry. >> it's one of only 30 made back in 2001 as a prize in a contest. it's expected to fetch thousands of dollars at auction. amazing >> next, something new on the menu at starbucks? >> how about a pork latte? starbucks came up with this new offering for lunar new year in china. it's espresso with a shot of pork flavored sauce. the savory latte comes with pork breast meat as a garnish in china only. >> i can't go for that. next, go ahead and answer to an age old question.

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you open a window. look out! they're going. well, that's not good. >> yeah, not good at all. first, we showed you the video of this mid-air scare that involved a damaged wing. now, at five, we're hearing from passengers who were on that flight that left from sfo that made that emergency landing in denver. >> this is one of the few times that, you know, community and businesses are fighting back. >> business owners in san francisco taking legal action against the city over the controversial valencia street bike lane. the immediate change is they're now demanding president biden will be in the bay area later today, his first visit since the apec summit back in november. san francisco streets and sidewalks temporarily transformed into rivers and small ponds. take a look. stunning s