captioned by los angeles distribution and broadcasting, inc. right now on america, this morning, new claims against president biden's son, hunter, concerning his business dealings overseas. what a new report reveals about his request for help from the state department. while his father was vice president.

>> bracing for ernesto the storm taking aim at puerto rico. the national guard activated. but the bigger concern later this week as it heads toward bermuda and how the u.s. east coast could be impacted. >> your privacy behind the wheel. the new legal battle over how car companies are collecting your data and selling it, potentially leading to higher car insurance rates. >> a young girl attacked by a black bear at a campsite while sleeping in her tent. what park officials are now saying about that bear? a new twist in the jordan chiles olympic medal controversy. >> was there a conflict of interest on the arbitration panel? >> later, mystery solved. why car horns were honking in the middle of the night. it was not the alarms. >> and with the football season upon us, some changes at the top when it comes to which teams are worth the most, including the one team now worth more than $10 billion. >> from abc news. this is america. this morning. >> good wednesday morning,

everyone. i'm rhiannon ally. >> i'm dan new in for andrew. we begin with new claims about president biden's son hunter. we're learning more about his business dealings overseas when his father was vice president. >> a new report overnight claims he asked the federal government for help with a project that would benefit a ukrainian gas company. >> abc's em nguyen begins our coverage. >> this morning, new accusations against hunter biden. the president's son reportedly sought help from the u.s. government for a foreign company, while his father was vice president. according to the new york times records indicate hunter wrote a letter to the u.s. ambassador to italy in 2016 seeking help launching a business venture for burisma, the ukrainian gas company where he was a board member. >> did i do anything improper? no. not in any way. not in any way whatsoever. >> hunter has been accused of trying to leverage his father's political influence. he defended the ethics of his private business ventures in a 2019 interview with abc news. in

it was poor judgment on my part. it received few documents until last month. the same week president biden dropped out of the presidential race. the state department calls that timing coincidental, saying it was releasing the records in batches in response to the times report overnight. hunter biden's lawyer called the letter to the ambassador a proper request and insisted no meeting occurred and no project materialized. and the white house saying president biden was not aware his son reached out to the embassy in italy on behalf of burisma. and when abc news, washington. >> our thanks to win there. hunter biden was apparently not registered with the u.s. government as a lobbyist. next

month, he goes on trial for tax evasion charges. >> okay. now to the storm intensifying in the caribbean overnight with heavy rain in the virgin islands, the worst of it staying north and east of puerto rico. but up to ten inches of rain could fall there. and the national guard actually has been activated. ernesto could hit bermuda as a major hurricane by late friday, with high surf and rip currents along the east coast this weekend. we will check your forecast in just a few moments. >> now to the race for the white house. former president trump and elon musk are now on a new legal fight with organized labor. meanwhile, the vice presidential candidates are facing off about their military service. >> i'm going to say it again as clearly as i can. i am proud of my service to this country. >> democratic vice presidential candidate tim walz, responding yesterday to criticism from republicans who say he lied about serving time in a war zone. the controversy stems from these comments walz made in 2018 about gun control. >> we can make sure that those

weapons of war that i carried in war is the only place where those weapons are at. >> walz served in the minnesota national guard for 24 years, leaving to run for congress months before his unit deployed to iraq. trump running mate jd vance posted this message to walz last night. thank you for your service. but you shouldn't have lied about it. you shouldn't have said you went to war when you didn't. walz addressed a crowd of union workers in la, claiming trump and vance are not looking out for workers. it comes as the united auto workers files unfair labor practice charges against trump and tesla's elon musk. after trump praised musk for firing workers who went on strike. >> i mean, i look at what you do. you walk in and you just say you want to quit. they go on strike. i won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike and you say, that's okay. you're all gone. >> firing striking employees or threatening to do so violates the national labor relations act. meanwhile, with immigration, a key issue in the race, the trump campaign stirring controversy with this

post online, a side by side image of a tranquil street under trump and under harris. an image of an area overrun with immigrants and the message import the third world become the third world. today, trump heads to north carolina for a rally, and harris heads there friday to unveil her economic platform. >> there are new doubts about the scheduled ceasefire talks tomorrow between hamas and israel. hamas, in fact, is expected to be a no show after suggesting it will only accept the framework of a previous proposal. it comes as israel braces for an expected attack from iran in retaliation for the killing of a hamas leader last month. >> ukrainian troops pushing deeper into russia are facing reinforcements sent by the kremlin. ukraine says it is now taking control of more than 70 russian settlements, but it is not interested in occupying the land, saying it is only preventing russia from launching attacks from that border region into ukraine. >> we turn now to your privacy

behind the wheel. there's a new legal battle over the way car companies are collecting your data and selling it, allegedly leading to up car insurance rates. one state is saying enough. this morning, general motors in the hot seat. texas is suing the carmaker, claiming gm violated the privacy of millions of americans. the lawsuit claims the company misled customers into sharing data about their driving habits by enrolling them in technology enabled safety programs, and then selling the information collected by those programs to data brokers. that data on customers driving habits allegedly ended up in the hands of insurance companies, prompting them to raise some customer's rates. >> this is the beginning of a of an era where we will continue to be connected in every possible way. cars might seem like the last bastion of this, you know, cocoon like environment, but it's one more thing that's getting connected. >> the lawsuit comes months after a new york times

investigation revealed gm and other automakers were selling customers data, including the start and end times of trips and even instances of speeding and hard braking. the texas attorney general saying millions of american drivers wanted to buy a car, not a comprehensive surveillance system. a general motors spokesperson says the company has been, quote, in discussions with the attorney general's office and says, quote, we share the desire to protect consumers privacy. authorities in texas are also investigating other carmakers for their handling of data. >> a $25,000 reward is being offered in the search for an escaped killer in north carolina. 30 year old ramon alston escaped from armed guards in a hospital parking lot outside of durham. he is serving life for killing a baby back in 2015. >> well, now to florida and the woman on trial for the fatal shooting of her neighbor, all allegedly after a racially charged confrontation with children. here's abc's lionel muniz. >> this morning. potentially explosive testimony at the trial of susan lawrence. the florida

woman accused of fatally shooting her neighbor, a gk owens, in front of one of owens children last summer. officials say owens knocked on lawrence door after lawrence had confronted a group of kids playing nearby, allegedly calling the victim's children racial slurs. in opening statements, the defense argued lawrence fired the single gunshot through her locked door because she felt threatened by owens. she was watching tv and all of a sudden she hears pounding on that. but prosecutors pointed to inconsistencies in lawrence's story and behavior. the 911 call that day was played in court. lawrence, sounding hysterical. >> oh my god. they tried to break down my door. i shot through the door. >> but the deputy who transported her for questioning testified that her demeanor was indifferent. neighbors were also called to the stand. one describing a confrontation by wall in between our two apartments started shaking and

like pounding on the wall, and it really scared me. but other neighbors saying owens was not armed and did not try to enter the apartment at any time. >> did you ever hear isaac and izzy's mom say, i'm going to kill you? >> no, sir. >> lawrence has pleaded not guilty to first degree manslaughter. the trial is expected to last one week. owens children could be called to testify. as for the gun, investigators say it was found buried in a bedroom trash can. an all white jury is hearing this case. owens family has said they are disappointed in the jury selection process. rhiannon danny. >> all right, lionel, thank you for that. authorities in atlanta are showing off nearly 2,400 pounds of meth. they say the drugs were smuggled in a shipment of celery by a mexican drug cartel. it was found at a farmers market. >> time now for your wednesday weather. >> good morning. some more

strong and severe storms will be rumbling through parts of the missouri river valley. areas from omaha down to kansas city. this afternoon and into tonight with damaging winds and hail. the main concerns. we're going to have repetitive rounds of storms over the next few days. one round moves east, but then you can see later tonight we get into it with more storms moving into that area around omaha and kansas city. another big story involves ernesto, a strengthening tropical system that's going to stay far off the coast but near bermuda. accuweather i'm jeff cornish for abc news. >> coming up, a sign of the times the avon lady declaring bankruptcy. >> but first, what investigators have revealed about this passenger plane that appeared to just fall out of the sky, killing 62 people last week. >> and what we're learning ab

good morning america, good morning america. >> every day if you like.

>> well we have new details about this plane that crashed last week, killing 62 people in brazil. officials say earlier this year, the tail of the plane hit a runway, causing severe structural damage, and it was repaired but lost cabin pressure during a flight last month. however there is no word yet if those issues are connected to friday's crash. >> we turn now to a terrifying bear attack at a campsite. the victim, a young girl who was sleeping in a tent this morning. a three year old is recovering after being attacked by a black bear near red lodge, montana. the bear attacking sunday night while the girl was sleeping in a tent at a campground. park officials say the bear had no history of conflicts, adding food and garbage were found nearby. such attacks are extremely rare, but last year in west yellowstone, montana, 48 year old amy adamson was killed by a grizzly while on a hiking trail. >> every morning she'd get up

early and she'd walk, hike or run, running through that beauty of yellowstone. she just was almost in heaven, you know? she died doing what she loved, doing what she loved doing. >> and this past may, a massachusetts man was nearly killed by a grizzly in wyoming's grand teton national park. shane patrick burke says he ran into a cub during a hike, and the mama bear attacked. >> she went towards my head, but i kept my hands interlocked like this. and just trying to protect my arteries and my neck. she bit down and got my left wrist. >> the bear eventually bit into his can of bear spray and ran off. we're glad he's okay, but as for that three year old, she was rushed to the hospital in billings. her condition has not been released. >> avon has filed for bankruptcy as it faces hundreds of lawsuits over whether talcum powder in its beauty products causes cancer. the company, known for

its door to door saleswoman, has already been ordered to pay nearly $75 million in two cases. avon sold its u.s. business in 2016, but remains active overseas. >> coming up, buyers beware. the new warning about back to school scams. >> but first, there is a new twist in the jordan chiles olympic medal controversy ♪ ♪ have you always had trouble losing weight and keeping it off? same. discover the power of wegovy®. ♪ ♪ with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. ♪ ♪ and i'm keeping the weight off. wegovy® helps you lose weight and keep it off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only fda-approved weight-management medicine that's proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight. wegovy® shouldn't be used with semaglutide or glp-1 medicines. don't take wegovy®

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dramatic moments as a 12 year old flagged down police in eastern texas to save his mom. she drove off a road into that pond. you're looking at there after suffering a seizure. and police and good samaritans then jumped into action. they broke through the back window to pull her out and then performed several minutes of cpr. she is now recovering in the hospital. >> the video is incredible. a new twist in the olympic controversy involving u.s. gymnast jordan chiles, who was stripped of her bronze medal. documents show the head of an arbitration panel that ruled chiles must give up her medal in favor of a romanian gymnast, has represented romanian interests in other cases for nearly a decade. it's unclear if this could help chiles get her medal back. the issue could end up before a court in switzerland. >> well, back to school shopping season is upon us. and this year, something different, though more scams are popping up, targeting shoppers young and old. if you are a parent, you might want to look out because scammers are feeling emboldened this back to school season.

>> the amount of chatter related to back to school scams increased by 71%. so for as many parents who have back to school shopping on top of their minds, so the fraudsters as well. >> here's how those fraudsters are trying to get your money or personal information. their scams include emails or texts pretending to be from a school administrator, fake scholarship applications and shopping sites that are not legit, offering prices that are just way too good to be true. >> during the back to school period, there's a certain amount of anxiety, and when consumers are stressed, they're not thinking clearly. they're more likely to give away their sensitive data. and so that spells a higher amount of success for the fraudster. >> now, scams targeted at college kids include rental listings where a student pays a deposit and then suddenly the person they've been dealing with is no longer reachable. also, might want to look out for fake internship offers, where there's a payment up front for supplies. >> 18 to 24 year olds grew up with the internet. they're not as skeptical as older people.

they're used to just pulling out their phone, making a purchase, you know, doing things online that they're not thinking, hey, i could get scammed, or, hey, this website might not be real. make sure you know who's on that other end. >> and consumers are expected to spend $31 billion on back to school shopping this year. and to break that down, that's about $580 per student. k through 12. >> sounds right. i bet for all three. yeah. oh, man. coming up. why car horns were honking in the middle of the night, and it wasn't the alarms. wasn't the alarms. >> plus, something we never knew hey! i'll give you $574 if you switch. for an ice cream? okay. so, what about $574 for switching your home insurance to allstate? tempting. but that's way too much of a hassle. actually, it's not. allstate can handle the switching for you. just call 'em. so, it's easy and i could save? and you get allstate. huh, like a cherry on top. oh, you brought your own. check allstate first and you could save hundreds.

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neighbors say repeated honking was coming from waymo driverless cars. and waymo blames an issue with its software meant to prevent slow moving crashes. the company is now adjusting that software. well, more kids may not have their phones at their fingertips when they head back to school like this. right now, they're walking to school. >> california's governor is urging school districts to restrict kids from doing this, from using their phones in class. south carolina recently passed a school phone ban. other states are now pushing for the same. next, some big changes at chipotle and starbucks. >> chipotle stock is down after its ceo jumped ship for the coffee giant. brian niccol is credited with turning around chipotle after its e coli crisis. if you remember that. and now he faces challenges at starbucks where sales are down some customers are not happy with those increased prices. speaking of prices, the cowboys are once again the kings of the nfl when it comes to valuation. the new figures are out, and the cowboys are the first franchise to be valued at $10 billion.

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live a flight from sfo to rome diverted to sacramento, now at five with people on board, say happened minutes after takeoff. >> time is up for people parked along zoo road in san francisco. city crews moving in quickly overnight to clear out those rvs. >> an explanation for a noisy nuisance. waymo now saying there's a good reason a fleet of robo taxis are honking at each other in a local parking lot and bringing the party