>> mary: tonight, the urgent mission to clear the wreckage of the collapsed bridge in baltimore. record travel over spring break and the easter holiday weekend. tributes to actor louis gossett jr. first, the around-the-clock effort to remove the twisted steel of the francis scott key bridge in baltimore. maryland's governor now says an armada of cranes, tugboats and barges are on the way to help in the massive recovery effort. one of the largest cranes on the east coast moving in, capable of

lifting more than 2 million pounds at one time. four construction workers still missing. salvage crews racing to reopen the shipping channel. our team with the coast guard for an even closer look at the scene. elizabeth schulze in baltimore. tsa reporting a record number of airline travelers over spring break and easter weekend. the faa investigating two planes clipping wing on this the taxiway. another flight diverted because of engine trouble. trevor ault standing by. a major storm taking aim at the u.s. over the holiday. winter storm warnings, flood watches, and wind alerts from california to colorado. severe storms, including possible tornados, moving east. rob marciano timing it all out. here in new york, police responding to an alarming number of reports of women being punched in the face during random attacks on the street. some of the victims posting videos online. at least two suspects arrested. police searching for several others. >> president biden joined by former presidents obama and

clinton raising $26 million during a record-breaking fund-raiser at radio city music hall. the three presidents in a show of force taking swipes at donald trump. the event interrupted several times by pro-palestinian demonstrators. late word tonight concerning pope francis. why the vatican says he's skipping a good friday event. tributes tonight to louis gossett jr., the actor breaking barriers, known for his powerful roles. the first black man to win the oscar for best supporting actor. and beyonce goes country. ♪ jolene jolene jolene jolene ♪ >> millions listening to her much-anticipated new album "cowboy carter" which includes a cover of a dolly parton classic. >> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is world news tonight with david muir.

>> mary: good evening, and it's great to have you with us on a busy friday night. i'm mary bruce in for david. we begin tonight with the around-the-clock operation to clear the wreckage of the francis scott key bridge, some of the for four missing workers, and the race to reopen those critical shipping lanes for one of america's busiest ports. heavy equipment now on the scene including the chesapeake 1000, one of the largest cranes on the east coast, capable of lifting more than 2 million pounds at a time. but this is just the beginning. maryland governor wes moore says seven cranes, ten tugboats, and nine barges will be joining the salvage operation. our team today out with the coast guard getting an up-close look at the destruction. part of the bridge draped across the bow of the ship. massive amounts of debris, making it near impossible for dive teams to search for those four road crew workers who were on the bridge at the time and are now missing and presumed dead. salvage cruise are now trying to clear the shipping channel and resume traffic in and out of the port of baltimore as president biden says he will visit the

site next week. abc's elizabeth schulze in baltimore leading us off. >> reporter: tonight, the urgent mission to clear the mangled wreckage blocking the port of baltimore, one of the busiest in the country. this colossal crane one of the largest on the east coast, now on scene, capable of lifting 2 million pounds at a time. but it's going to take more than that. this is just one of four heavy lift cranes that will begin removing what's left of the collapsed francis scott key bridge. crews preparing to cut the twisted steel and carefully remove the massive chunks piece by piece before refloating the cargo ship "dali," clearing the channel, and reopening the port. we can see the cranes that came in overnight. they have a painstaking task ahead, lifting those pieces of steel from the river and clearing the debris. we were back on the water today with the coast guard, able to get closer than any time before. we're now 150 yards away from

the container ship. the conditions here really give you a sense of how difficult this is going to be for first responders. the wind has picked up. all diving has gone suspended as of right now all right bodies of four construction workers still trapped in the underwater wreckage. >> we know there's at least one vehicle larger in size that is completely encapsulated by the structure. it's going to take some time to get to that. >> reporter: maryland's governor bracing the community for a long road to rebuild. >> i can tell you, it is not going to be days or weeks or months. this is going to take time. >> mary: let's get to elizabeth schulze live on the scene in baltimore. elizabeth, the federal government is approving $60 million in emergency funding, and now president biden is planning a visit? >> reporter: mary, president biden says he'll visit baltimore next week, and he's vowing that the federal government will cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge. those $60 million will help cover initial costs. the full project could be billions and take years to complete.

>> mary: elizabeth following this story for us all week, thank you. we move on now to record holiday travel over spring break and the easter weekend. tsa reports yesterday saw the largest number of people at airport checkpoints so far this year. flights packed amid growing coer involving the airplanes. two planes clipping wings, another flight diverted because of engine trouble. here's abc's trevor ault. >> reporter: tonight, the early easter holiday rush stacked atop the crush of spring break travelers is leaving airports packed. >> i want to get where i'm going, so i'll make sure to get here at least three hours early before my flight. >> reporter: officials at atlanta's hartsfield-jackson predicting today to be their busiest day of the month, and nationwide, the tsa says thursday was their busiest day so far this year. a united flight from san francisco to paris had to divert due to engine trouble. the boeing 777 landing in denver. at minneapolis-st. paul international airport, two delta planes colliding on the taxiway. >> just startling, a boom, and most violent shake i've ever had

on an airplane. >> reporter: no one was hurt, but 287 passengers had to find another way to get to their destinations. and next week's numbers could even overshadow what we're seeing now as spring breakers will soon share the skies with travelers heading to cities in the path of the coming total eclipse. the faa says the busiest day next week will be thursday, april 4th, with more than 50,000 flights set to take off. and they're warning of potential delays due to high volume of aircraft and drones attempting to witness the total solar eclipse. and mary, of course millions of people are driving and gas prices are rising even faster than they typically do this time of year. according to gasbuddy the national average is $3.54 a gallon, 7 cents higher than this time last year. >> mary: that crush of travel and spring break affecting the roads there as well, trevor, thank you. now to the major storm taking aim at the u.s. over the holiday. winter storm warnings, flood watches, and wind alerts

california to colorado. severe storms, including possible tornados from texas to washington, d.c. early next week. so let's get right to abc's senior meteorologist rob marciano. >> hi, mary. holiday travel weather in the east looks good. the west is a whole other story with california on the front liars. flood watches there and winter storm warnings. big winds heading into las vegas and arizona with this big system slamming northern california. it will push a big pulse of rain into southern california tonight. that low kind of hangs back, so that will bring another batch of rain in for sunday. that's going to lead to flooding, maybe big-time flooding and mud slights, potentially santa barbara to san diego through the weekend. monday that erupts into severe storms into the plains. we could see tornados in places like kansas city towards st. louis. east of there, up the ohio river on tuesday. then into the northeast come wednesday and thursday. potentially seeing some snow in some spots here late next week. mary? >> mary: we know you'll be tracking it all, rob, thank you. next tonight, the growing number of alarming attacks here in new york city.

multiple women coming forward, some posting videos online claiming to have been punched in the face while simply walking on the streets. authorities say the attacks appear to be unrelated. at least two suspects are in custody. police now searching for others. here's abc's aaron katersky. >> reporter: tonight, nypd is investigating this incident and several others like it. a woman suddenly punched while walking on a brooklyn sidewalk, seemingly for no reason. >> i was just punched by some man on the sidewalk. >> reporter: in the last two weeks, several young women have posted on tiktok about getting randomly punched on the streets of new york city. >> out of nowhere, this man just came up and hit me in the face. >> reporter: tonight, with those videos as part of their investigation, police have made two arrests, including this man, skip skora, charged with attacking an influencer known as halle kate, whose video has been viewed 49 million times.

>> literally i fell to the ground -- >> a concussion, a black eye. >> reporter: this design student shared a similar experience. >> i just got back from the emergency room after getting punched in the face. >> reporter: prosecutors said the man charged with assaulting her left the 27-year-old with a concussion and a visible mark on her eye. police are investigating at least seven random assaults where the victim later posted on tiktok. none is believed to be related to another. tonight, police are looking for this man in connection with the assault of a 25-year-old woman in times square who was slapped in the forehead. and this man who allegedly punched a 24-year-old woman in the head. while police say these attacks are not part of a pattern, mary, that doesn't make them any less scary. felony assaults in the city are up about 3%. other statistics, though, show the post-pandemic violent crime surge is continuing to level off. mary? >> mary: still a frightening development, aaron, thank you. now to the race for the white house. president biden joined by former presidents obama and clinton raising $26 million during a record-breaking fund raiser at radio city music hall. president biden today saying the event showed skeptics and

supporters that the party is united. donald trump the main target of the night. the presidents, though, interrupted several times by pro-palestinian demonstrators. here's abc's maryalice parks. >> reporter: tonight, president biden fresh off that record fund-raiser, a show of force with presidents obama and clinton by his side. his campaign claiming a $26 million haul in just one night. no press cameras allowed inside. the campaign instead releasing select clips. the president painting a stark choice for voters. >> this guy denies there's global warming. this guy wants to get rid of not only roe v. wade, which he brags about having done, he wants to get rid of the ability of anyone anywhere in america to ever choose. >> reporter: and turning the tables on donald trump. >> of all the things he's doing, they're so -- old. speaking of old. [ laughter and applause ] and, you know -- a little old and out of shape.

anyway -- >> reporter: president obama trying to energize voters around biden's record. >> you've got record-breaking job growth. you've got an unemployment rate that is as low as it has been. >> put your hands together, i can see y'all. >> reporter: the glitzy event at radio city music call. which was designed to be a show of party unity punctured by protesters blasting biden for his ongoing support of israel's war in gaza. >> shame on you! you are funding genocide in palestine! >> reporter: those party divisions on full display. tonight, the biden campaign is trying to bring in new voters with an appeal to nikki haley supporters. arguing in a new digital ad that donald trump does not want their votes. >> how do you bring these nikki haley voters back into the tent? >> i'm not sure we need too many. >> reporter: today, trump doubling down on his message of law and order after visiting the family of slain nypd officer jonathan diller. >> it's got to stop.

we've got to have law and order. >> reporter: trump offering no details on how he'd fight crime. fbi data shows a recent drop in violent crime in most cities. >> mary: mary alice joins us now. there's news on the election interference case against donald trump in georgia. trump's team appealing the judge's ruling that allows district attorney fani willis to stay on that case. >> reporter: yeah, trump and some of his codefendants have formally filed their appeal, arguing even though her lead prosecutor stepped aside, the case has the appearance of impropriety because of her past relationship with him. whether to take up the appeal. the d.a. is asking for an august trial date. mary? >> mary: trump continuing to try and challenge that case, mary alice, thank you. and there is late word tonight concerning pope francis after leading a solemn good friday service at st. peter's basilica today. the pope is skipping the good friday procession at the colosseum in rome. the vatican says he's trying to

preserve his health for easter sunday. tonight, american journalist evan gershkovich marking one year in jail in russia, the kremlin accusing him of collecting state secrets for the u.s. the biden administration says "the wall street journal" reporter is being wrongfully detained. the newspaper paying tribute to gershkovich, leaving a blank space on its front page with the headline, "his story should be here." and we learned today that actor louis gossett jr. has died. a trailblazing actor, the first black man to win the oscar for best supporting actor for his role in "an officer and a gentleman." including the ground breaking series "roots." here's abc's steve osunsami. >> the winner is louis gossett jr.! >> reporter: in an interview published earlier this year, the one and only louis gossett jr. explained this moment that he won the oscar for best supporting actor in 1983 gave

him the ability to choose good parts in movies that wouldn't have necessarily gone to a black man. >> every time i say understand, i want the whole group to say yes, sir! understand? >> yes, sir! >> understand? >> yes, sir! >> reporter: after his role as a tough drill sergeant in "an officer and a gentleman" that delivered that gold statue came roles that awarded him in other ways, like his long run in the big-budget "iron eagle" action film. >> just get to us that runway, i'll do the rest. >> reporter: and what the actor says was his favorite role ever as the alien soldier in "enemy mine" where he and human soldier, played by actor dennis quaid, had to overcome their differences to survive. >> you saved my life. why? >> i need to look at another face -- even as ugly as yours. >> reporter: but for many americans who remember a time when there were very few black faces on american television, he'll always be remembered for his role in the miniseries

"roots" that aired on this very network that introduced millions to the powerful and painful history of how black people came to america. >> you go running off in the hills, you know what's going to happen to me? i gets to sleep on a mud floor. i gets to eat what the pigs won't eat. >> i had to overcome some disappointments in order to know that god put me on the planet and gave me a gift to do it anyway. >> reporter: he was only the second black man ever to win an oscar for acting. in the real world, he would spent much of his life encouraging black men to get early screenings for prostate cancer, which he beat. he was 87 years old. mary? >> mary: a remarkable legacy on and off screen, steve, thank you. when we come back, a shocking arrest in florida. two 10-year-old boys arrested at an elementary school for allegedly selling a gun. and "america strong" tonight. the cheerleader overcoming obstacles and lifting everyone's spirits.

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weekend. i'm kristen sze and i'm julian glover. >> today's storm ranks a level two on the exclusive abc seven news storm impact scale, and that makes it a moderate storm. >> so let's get you a look at current conditions around the bay area. we are giving you a snapshot with six a half dozen. that's right. views from our network of live tower cameras all over the bay area. you can check out the golden gate bridge , santa cruz, several spots in between looking similar. cloudy, wet and this massive oak tree fell into a senior center in sebastopol this afternoon, punching holes in the roof. there were several seniors and staff inside when the tree hit. nobody was hurt. crews put tarps over the holes today, but there are a lot of repairs to do. the sebastopol area senior center will be closed at least through the weekend, and we continue the tour across the bay. >> umbrellas, raincoats all out along the embarcadero in san francisco today. the rain made for some gray skies at times and some slick roads as drivers had to deal with those wet weather conditions out there. pretty much true. all across the city, traffic was