making news in america this morning -- breaking right now. the situation in colorado getting more dire. with new flooding overnight. and thousands of residents forced to flee in just the past few hours. we have the latest from boulder. fierce fire tragedy for a town just back on its feet after superstorm sandy. >> we're seeing businesses that have rebuilt themselves during the summer destroyed. >> dozens of buildings destroyed. an iconic boardwalk nearly gone. we're live on the scene where firefighters are battling the blaze. a plane goes down in the middle of nowhere. the two men onboard are alive and talking about how they survived for days in the bui wilderness. and strange sight. not one but two twin waterspouts

spinning in a place they are rarely seen. and good friday morning. we begin with that breaking news out of northern colorado. dramatic, new pictures of the powerful flash floods that have already claimed at least three lives. >> the rising water raging so violently this morning that thousands more people have been ordered to evacuate. this time from downtown boulder. it comes after days of torrential rains, flash floods and around the clock rescues. we get the latest from mark stewart on the scene in boulder. >> it is getting very intense. in fact, you take a look over here. and it's a hard thing to articulate. let me stop talking for about five seconds. and just listen. it's as if the water is almost pounding the ground. at times, it sounds like there

are big thuds. it's that forceful. the water is moving at a very, very fast clip. the fastest clip that i have seen since we have been here since 11:45 thursday night. the water also appears to be spreading a little bit. out of its banks. >> that is intense stuff. marc, thank you. the university of colorado's main campus remains closed today, as well as public schools in boulder and several surrounded towns. people that went out yesterday found themselves stranded like the man whose car turned upside down. he was trapped for an hour before rescuers could pull him out. now, turning to the other major story we're following. that devastating fire on the new jersey shore. it was a heartbreaking scene as business after business went up in flames. >> crews still there trying to bring the monster fire under control.

put out hot spots that remain 12 hours later. marci gonzalez joining us from seaside park. marci. >> reporter: nearly 14 hours after this fire started, firefighters are still out here trying to douse the flames. a bitter, burning end to what was, until now, a summer of rebirth for the jersey shore. devoured in the flames, the only portion of the seaside boardwalk to survive superstorm sandy a year ago. the beachside attraction reopening months ago. only to crumble in an uncompromising wall of fire and smoke. >> i can't believe it. seaside again? after sandy, it's devastating. >> a kick in the gut. >> reporter: it seemingly started thursday afternoon at a frozen custard stand. high winds picking up embers, carrying the flames for blocks. until this was all that was left of dozens of businesses that were just rebuilt and reopened. >> i feel like i want to throw

up. after all the effort and time and resources that we put in, to see this going on, it's just unthinkable. >> reporter: just blocks from where that iconic rollercoaster was swept into the ocean that devastating day last october, crews cut through a newly-rebuilt portion of the boardwalk just to keep the flames from spreading. firefighters working into the night to save what they could. business owners vowing to bounce back once again. >> seaside, jersey shore. do we have a choice? do we have a choice? this is our livelihood. this is where we make our living. this is where we feed our families. we have no choice. we will recover. >> reporter: such a positive attitude. and definitely a lot of gratitude out here that no one was seriously hurt. once the fire is completely out, investigators will be able to begin looking into the cause. john and diana? >> marci gonzalez, live in seaside park, new jersey. breaking news out of afghanistan. the taliban claiming responsibility for a coordinated

attack in the western city of herat. it was followed by a gun battle with security forces. at least two afghans were killed as were five of the attackers. there were no american casualties. it's another high-stakes day over the crisis in syria. secretary of state kerry is still in geneva working in an agreement for the syrian regime to turn over its chemical weapons. >> abc's tahman bradley has the overnight developments. >> reporter: secretary of state john kerry and his rugs counterpart mean get today, trying to strike a deal over syria's chemical weapons. syrian president bashar al assad, says he's willing to hand over its stockpile, but only if the u.s. drops its threat of a military strike. assad said his country will join the chemical weapons. >> they have signed the legislative decree. >> reporter: but assad wants a month to provide technical data on syria's chemical weapons and

what he called standard procedure. not good enough, said the u.s. >> the words of the syrian regime, in our judgment, are simply not enough. >> reporter: kerry says the u.s.'s patience is limited. and russia needs to present a plan for assad to surrender the weapons right away. >> this is not a game. it has to be real. it has to be comprehensive. it has to be verifiable. and finally, there ought to be consequences if it doesn't take place. >> reporter: even as the u.s. and russia try to project optimism, the body language shows the two sides remain far apart. >> you want me to take your word for it? it's a little late one. >> thank you. >> reporter: today, the technical experts get involved. the u.s. and russia compare notes about the chemical weapons. john and diana? >> abc's tahman bradley. live in washington for us this morning. thank you. an american-born terrorist fighting for al qaeda in africa has been killed.

omar harmani had a bounty on his head. his father in alabama says his son died fighting for his principles, whatever they were. three friends of dzhokhar tsaranev will appear in a massachusetts courtroom. they are accused of hindering the investigation, following the april 15th bombing. they are formally charged with lying to investigators and obstruction of justice. twitter makes a money move. what was it mean for everyday moves of that microblogging site? and a computer glitch for united airlines and people buying tickets for practically nothing. and a plane goes down with two men in

7,000 high-school students drop out every school day. let's catch them before it's too late. to start helping students in your community, visit boostup.org.

and welcome back. twitter is the newest social media outlet to be going public through an initial stock offering. but the messaging service is being allowed to keep some of its documents secret before it begins courting investors. the users will likely start seeing more ads. analysts estimate that its value could reach $20 billion. carnival cruise lines is offering a money-back guarantee as a way of boosting confidence in their business. the world's largest cruise company has suffered through several onboard mishaps. and is offering gerss full satisfaction or 110% refund. the promotion runs until april of 2015. california's minimum wage workers are getting an increase. governor jerry brown could sign the bill as soon as today.

it would be california's first minimum wage increase in six years. and walmart is about to sell the new bargain iphone cheaper than apple. the big box retailer is offering a $20 discount on the new iphone 5c, bringing the price down do $79 with a two-year contract. walmart and apple have taken preorders overnight. united airlines are trying to decide whether to honor fares that were sold at rock-bottom prices. many flights were 0 bucks. some passengers booked flights that only cost them a few dollars. >> i'm looking up everything. we're going here. we're going there. it's like, i was like, we're going to do christmas in maui. >> all right. word on the cheap tickets quickly spread across social media. and united had to shut down the

entire booking system. as for honoring the fares, a spokesperson says they'll do what's appropriate. >> i wasn't looking for flights. >> i want to do christmas in maui for 0 bucks. >> what's the tax on zero? i think it's a big, fat zero. when we come back, a rare sight. twin waterspouts caught on camera. get the rod and reel. these guys are using their head to catch some fish. aaah! aaaaah! theres a guy on the window! do something, dad! aaaah! aaaah! what is happening? they're rate suckers. their bad driving makes car insurance more expensive for the rest of us. good thing there's snapshot from progressive. snap it in and get a discount based on your good driving. stop paying for rate suckers.

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advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. [ male announcer ] advair diskus fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder. get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. welcome back. a scary scene over lake michigan. near the wisconsin shoreline. take a look. two waterspouts were seen there yesterday. they're tornadoes on the water. something ominous to look at. luckily, there were no injuries or damage reported. the road conditions will be clear and dry over the entire midwest today.

the trouble spots are there in the rockies. more flooding expected because of thunderstorms. wet also for parts of i-95 and roads across the southeast. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible in raleigh, north carolina, as well as atlanta and denver. recapping our top story now. a wind-whipped fire has destroyed at least 50 businesses on the new jersey shore. >> many of those businesses had just recovered from superstorm sandy. the fire began in the area of a frozen custard stand on the seaside park portion of the boardwalk. firefighters on the scene more than 12 hours after it started. and the deadly flooding in northern colorado getting worse. fast-moving floodwaters in the city of boulder. thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate downtown boulder. many schools are closed. rescuers are pulling trapped drivers from their cars. a montana woman charged with killing her husband just a week after their wedding is now out of jail. a federal judge said prosecutors did not show that jordan graham

was a danger to the community or a flight risk. graham has admitted to pushing her husband off of a cliff at glacier national park during an argument in july. friends say she was having second thoughts about their marriage. tragedy was averted in louisville, kentucky, when a little girl fell into an aban n abandoned well. firefighters took about an hour to pull the 2-year-old up to safety. and the coach was rescued shortly after that. they are both expected to be okay. and that's the plane that was carrying two men over the wilds of alaska until its engine failed and it forced to make an emergency landing. it flipped over but the men were okay. when no one found them after 30 miles, they started walking 11 miles to the nearest village. they made it eight miles until they were spotted and picked up by state troopers. nascar's championship series gets under way on sunday. two drivers possibly cut a deal

to get one of them into the chase for the sprint cup field. joey logano denies being aided by another driver. nascar is now investigating the entire incident. and a tweet from lance armstrong says the bronze medal he won in sydney has been handed over to olympic officials. it will be returned to the international olympic committee in switzerland. he was stripped of the medal earlier this year, amid allegations of doping. armstrong was also stripped of his seven tour de france wins. time for sports. thursday night nfl action in a downpour. >> neil and stan at espn with all the highlights. >> good morning, america. he's stan. i'm neil. we're your l.a. "sportscenter" crew. giving you a little wake-me-up. >> jets and patriots played on thursday. pretty ugly game. first quarter, no score. third and two. patriots wide receiver aaron dobson lined up in the

backfield. tom brady gets to him for the touchdown. patriots up 7-0. third quarter, jets driving down, 13-3. allowed powell up the middle for the touchdown. and the jets down 13-10. under a minute to play. the jets trying to get in field goal range. gino smith, has already thrown two interceptions in the fourth quarter. there's number three. intercepted by aqib talib. three players got ejected. patriots win it, 13-10. a great race in the n.l. central. pirates, taking on the cubs. pirates trying to chase down the cardinals, who lost to milwaukee on thursday. jordy mercer, into the gap. pirates win it 3-1. and so, now, on top of the n.l. central, even-steven, between the pirates and the cardinals. >> wonder what odd todd thinks of that. >> you'll have to ask him. have a great day. we mean that. >> all right, guys.

time, now, for a fish story. this is not about the one that got away. for our "play of the day," it happened at liberty university in virginia. >> that's where a bunch of guys were doing some fishing with extraordinary gear. they attached a worm to one guy's hair. >> of course, he caught a fish. there he goes. let's see. turn around. oh, wow. >> exactly right. i think you have to do a funnel now if you watch a fish with your hair. >> you know what, though? i'm actually surprised it's as tame as attaching it to their hair or their nose or something else. >> a little more extreme. this is a little old-school. old-school crazy as opposed to extreme crazy. >> on your tongue. just stick your tongue in the water. coming up, "the pulse." and j.k. rowling is returning to

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faced off with other stars, including lady gaga. j.k. rowling's world of wizardry is coming back to the big screen, but without harry potter. she will -- that's the textbook. the magical universe she created. >> it's neither a prequel or a sequel. she said the story would begin in new york, 70 years before the start of harry potter's tale. >> that's interesting. and an american balloonist attempt to fly across the at lastic under a cluster of balloons has come to an end. he cut his journey short 12 hours after taking off from maine. >> he was using helium balloons that he hoped to land him on the other side. he came down near the coast of newfoundland, where his facebook page says he spent the night. he posted, this doesn't look like france. not kansas, either.

>> i wonder what happened. obviously, we know. his balloons started popping. >> too bad. finally, a 64-year-old guy who really likes his big macs. dennis says his conservative estimate is that he's eaten 12,000 big macs in the past 30 years. >> he goes to mickey d.'s ten times a week. he cranks it up on tuesdays, thursdays, fridays and saturdays, when he has two a day. on sunday, he takes a break. he has a big mac every, single day of the week except for sundays. >> and what is a big mac? two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun. >> you think he's a gigantic man, he's not. >> health food. the big mac. who knew? >> we should get big macs. let's go.

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>> live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good friday morning at 4:28. thanks for joining us the. >> i am matt keller here for eric thomas. friday the 13th. we are used to the drizzle on the road. mike? >> good morning to you. the drizzle is less than yesterday with pockets. it would not be as big a factor. live doppler 7 hd shows drizzle and cloud cover which is pretty stout this morning. you can see it as we look from the exploritorium camera to the port of oakland. we will have warming today 80 to 88 and a few more clouds than

yesterday. it will be partly sunny along the coast at 64 to partly cloudy if san francisco at 70. good morning, laically. >> good morning, everyone. happy friday. we do have construction to get us going in the morning but we also have a stalled vehicle. if you are traveling through marin county southbound 101 that is where you will see the car resting in two lanes so that could slow you down. watch out for it. our travel times is 580 from tracy to dublin at 25 minutes and from antioch to concord is 16 minutes and we i would through marin county you moving along at under 20 minutes. to the bay bridge toll plaza it is empty so maybe folks are taking a long weekend. >> developing news. officials have a new warning for anyone living in or visiting california: investigators

released the cause of the massive mt. diablo fire. abc7 news reporter amy hollyfield is in clayton. >> they think target practice is to blame and they warn those in california to be careful with any activity that can cause a spark. this huge fire that started sunday caused more than 3,100 acres and neighbors thought someone shooting a gun was to blame but some of them say they still surprised. >> people are smart out here. everyone is safe with their firearms. i have never heard of anyone getting shot or fires starting from that. >> the fire burned so much of the hillside that now crews are worried about the rainy season and mudslides. they have bulldozers cutting terraces on the mountains and re-seeding the slopes hoping the growth will come