making news in america this morning -- funnel clouds, flooding rains and damaging winds. a severe storm with millions of americans in its crosshairs. and it's not over yet. on the defense. a new recording surfaces of donald sterling. what is he saying about the scandal that's enveloped him and about the future of his team? dramatic rescue. a car submerged in several feet of water with a driver still inside. how good samaritans came to the rescue. and draft day. the newest members of the nfl are selected with a few surprises. good friday morning. we begin with severe storms sweeping through the country's midsection, leaving a path of damaged homes and flooded roads.

>> people in the north and south couldn't escape the dangerous conditions. several tornadoes touching down in minnesota while high winds reached 70 miles per hour in dallas. >> abc's tahman bradley has the details. >> reporter: overnight, severe weather pushed east. thunderstorms and lightning rocked new york city. the system came from the great plains. in dallas, sirens warned residents to take cover, as high winds tore up homes and buildings. >> you all right? >> we're okay. >> reporter: trees and power lines crushed cars. outside the city, a dramatic rescue. authorities pulled five children from a creek after they were swept up by the water. >> these are kids with absolutely no training, no equipment. and being completely caught off guard. so, we're very fortunate, as well as them, that no one died in this incident. >> reporter: in joshua, texas, one family barely made it out of their mobile home, when winds ripped through their neighborhood. >> the whole house just shook. and then, i just saw a light because we didn't have a roof.

>> reporter: in kansas, 90-mile-per-hour winds and severe thunderstorms caused this train to derail. nearly three dozen cars were knocked off the track. nobody was injured. >> i looked down there and saw it laying on its side. >> pretty weird to see a train turned over. 34 cars of the u.p. train turned over. >> reporter: in minnesota, this frightening funnel cloud formed before dusk. >> we have a large tornado on the ground about a half-mile north of us. >> reporter: multiple tornadoes were confirmed. >> i'm lost. i'm devastated. >> we're all alive. that's the main thing. >> reporter: and from nebraska to south dakota, spring snow. the severe weather threat continues today for much of the eastern half of the country. thunderstorms, hail and dangerous winds remain a big concern through mother's day. tahman bradley, abc news, washington. overseas, now, as the crisis escalates in ukraine, a massive celebration is under way in neighboring russia. thousands of troops are marching in red square for the annual

victory day parade. the event that marks the win over nazi germany is russia's most important secular holiday. and it puts the country's military might on display. russian president vladimir putin has so far made no mention of ukraine today, a day after eastern ukraine separatists defied to fight off his call on referendum on autonomy. militants say the succession vote will be on sunday. ukraine's interim government is calling the referendum illegal. a team of u.s. officials and agents has arrived in nigeria to help find the hundreds of kidnapped girls. some of the girls who escaped from the kidnapers are described their ordeal. their faces blurred, they were told if they tried to escape, they would be killed. the threat of kidnapping is something many students there live with. as one girl told our hamish macdonald. >> we're afraid. we think that maybe one day they'll come to our doorsteps. >> reporter: do you actually feel scared? >> i feel very scared because everybody is scared to die. but i know one day, everybody's going to die.

>> a vigil is planned today in washington, d.c. to show support for the girls. there's going to be another investigation on the attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi. house republicans voted yesterday to form a committee to look into the assault. they claim the white house is still not being truthful. democrats say it's an election year ploy. and they may decide to boycott. the house committee has voted to subpoena the head of veterans affairs and records linked to the waiting list at the phoenix v.a. hospital. this follows revelations that as many as 40 veterans died while waiting up to 21 months to see a doctor. one former vet, a purple heart recipient, passed away. he kept a journal of what he calls the v.a.'s moves over the last year, trying to schedule a visit that never came. >> why the hell can't our federal government and the v.a. do this for our fighting soldiers that have given their arms, their sight, their legs

and their life for this country? it failed them. and it's still failing thousands of them. >> the veterans affairs chief has ordered a nationwide review that would include face-to-face visits with every v.a. hospital. oklahoma has agreed to a six-month stay of execution for a death row inmate after last week's botched lethal injection. charles warner was scheduled for execution on the same night as clinton lockett. lockett's vein collapsed during his lethal injection prompting prison officials to halt the execution. he later died of a heart attack. and there are plenty of questions this morning about a new recording of disgraced l.a. clippers owner, donald sterling. the recorded phone call with an unnamed friend of sterling's was leaked to radar online. no word who leaked it, though. one thing that is clear, is that sterling wants to defend himself against the charge that resulted in a lifetime ban from the nba. >> you think i have anything in the world but love for everybody? you don't think that. you know i'm not a racist. how can you be in this business and be a racist? do you think i tell the coach to get white players?

or to get the best player he can get? >> sterling also makes it clear he's not giving up the clippers without a fight. saying no one can be forced to sell property in america. he also says he respects magic johnson, whose picture with v. stiviano was part of what started the scandal. the nfl holds the second and third rounds of this year's draft tonight here in new york. the top headline from last night's first round was the houston texans taking defensive end jadeveon clowney from south carolina. clowney is the first defensive player taken first overall since 2006. one player that sat around a lot longer than he thought he would was quarterback johnny manziel. he had to wait nearly three hours before being chosen by cleveland. the 22nd pick overall. manziel wasn't even the first quarterback picked. but he was the second. the browns did a lot of wheeling and dealing in the first round, including swapping picks with buffalo. the bills used that selection to take wide receiver sammy watkins from clemson. watkins left school with a year

of eligibility still remaining. and it seems to have paid off. let's check our friday forecast now. it's going to be rainy for a whole lot of us. there will be showers and thunderstorms from kentucky to tennessee, to the gulf coast. light rain for the northeast. still dry, though, in the southwest. >> chilly day in the northwest to the northern rockies, with highs only in the 50s. new orleans, atlanta and d.c. are in the mid-80s. dallas and phoenix, the hot spots at 91. coming up -- apple can be on the verge of announcing its biggest purchase ever. plus, school scandal. and the cheating operation uncovered at one of the country's biggest districts. now the principal and some teachers face serious criminal charges. talk about a roadblock. a sinkhole opens up in the worst possible place.

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apple is said to be in talks to buy beats electronics. the popular headphonemaker co-founded by rap mogul dr. dre. the reported $3.2 billion deal would be apple's biggest acquisition ever. it would also include the beats music streaming service. the deal could be announced as early as next week. the california senate has approved a so-called killswitch bill, legislation that would require anti-theft technology in all new smartphones. the bill, which failed on its first try, is designed to deter cell phone theft by allowing owners to remotely disable their device if lost or stolen. and kashi products will no longer be labeled all-natural and nothing artificial. kellogg is making the change to settle a class-action lawsuit which claimed the company used synthetic and artificial ingredients. kellogg will pay $5 million as part of that settlement. bad news for bourbon drinkers.

a big distiller says the current shortage shows no sign of easing. buffalo trace says increased demand has forced it to add staff and crank up production. but it says, shortages remain. and that's the case across the industry, which could eventually lead to higher prices. >> oh, i'm really bummed out about that. >> no bourbon for you, diana. the fast food wars are heating up with two top contenders stepping up their game. you no longer have to wait million lunchtime to get a whopper. burger king is adding burgers to its breakfast menu, along with chicken sandwiches and fries. mcdonald's is testing do-it-yourself seasoned fries. you can choose from three spices, garlic parmesan, buffalo or zesty ranch. >> ooh. zesty ranch at 9:00 in the morning? >> they're adding the burgers to the breakfast menu. but i always find, sometimes i want the breakfast at the lunch menu. i wonder if they will do that, as well. >> i really do think mcdonald's should jump onboard with what you're saying. >> you get there and you're five minutes too late for breakfast. >> 10:30, too late. >> exactly. >> i'm upset about that. but i'm happy that burger king is jumping in. i can have my zesty ranch with my bourbon. >> nice.

>> 9:00 in the morning. my kind of breakfast. when we come back -- strange side effects. alarming, new research about how food dye could impact the behavior of your children. plus, submerged with no time to spare. a dramatic rescue after a car ends up in the water. and locker room surprise. an nba team getting ready for a game gets quite the shock. a man interviewino.for a job. not that one. that one. the one who seems like he's already got the job 'cause he studied all the right courses from the get-go. and that's an accountant, a mom, a university of phoenix scholarship recipient, who used our unique --scratch that-- awesome career-planning tool. and that's a student, working late, with a day job, taking courses aligned with the industry he's aiming to be in. ready to build an education around the career that you want? let's get to work. jim's hair is perfect. so's his serve, and his mandarin

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[ female announcer ] we eased your back pain, you turned up the fun. tylenol® provides strong pain relief while being gentle on your stomach. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol®. strange things have been known to happen on russia's roads. here's another example to add to that list. a big sinkhole, opening up right in the middle of traffic. it was 21 feet across. luckily, though, no cars fell in. it's believed the ground gave way because of erosion after a storm. >> wow. all right. let's take a look at the morning road conditions. it will be wet along i-10, on the gulf coast. slippery on i-5 in the northwest.

it will be a foggy start in the northeast. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible in memphis, chicago, detroit, new orleans, atlanta and new york city. all right. back to the news. a dramatic rescue after a man drives into the water. >> the 88-year-old driver in washington state was rescued after he drove into the puget sound. two men happened to be testing a boat in the area. they rushed in to help him. a firefighter and police officer soon joined the rescue effort. they ripped off the windshield, cut the man's seat belt and performed cpr. the man is now in intensive care. new details this morning about the deadly fire that destroyed a tampa mansion owned by tennis pro james blake. all four people found dead were shot before the home burned down. they're believed to be darren and kimberly campbell and their two teenage children. investigators say it may have been a murder/suicide. darren campbell recently purchased $650 worth of fireworks. they were found throughout the home. five educators in philadelphia are now on paid leave this morning after being accused of helping students cheat on standardized state

tests. the cheating allegedly took place at an elementary school in north philly. among the claims is that the principal reprimanded teachers and students who refused to cheat. >> this is serious. these are a situation where individuals are cheating students. cheating children out of their education. >> since the crackdown across the school district, test scores at the elementary school in question have plummeted. one example, fourth grade reading and math scores were down 60% last year. all right. a new study says kids often consume higher levels of food dyes that has been shown to impair their behavior. tricks, more than 36 milligrams. craft macaroni and cheese, nearly 18. those are the examples cited by the group known as the food police. the amount of those dyes and the trigger of change in behavior is unclear. abc's dr. richard besser will have much more about this coming up on "good morning america." a chicago man is getting the last laugh after an april fool's day request.

daniel stojak asked his mother to pick up a lottery ticket for him on april 1st saying she was his good luck charm. apparently, she was. check him out. he hit the jackpot for $2.5 million. and of course, he now plans to share his winnings with his mom, just in time for mother's day. although, i have a funny feeling, had she not bought the ticket, she he would be sharing the winnings with mom. >> beats flowers. look at what the portland trail blazers found in the visitors' locker room before their game with the san antonio spurs. a baby snake. they thought at first it was a rattler. but that proved to not be true. but the players were scared until the tiny reptile was moved to the outdoors. they never recovered apparently, losing 114-93. >> you see in the locker room. these guys are scampering and shrieking. exactly. >> i definitely can. >> i believe it.

while that was going on, some nfl dreams were coming true, as we mentioned earlier. >> for the details and the highlights from the night's other nba match-ups, here's the guys at espn? >> good morning, america. jonathan coachman, chris hassle. and thursday night, the much-anticipated nfl draft. to no one's surprise, the number one pick is that guy. jadeveon clowney out of south carolina. but then, things got a little, well, strange. blake bortels out of central florida, he goes three overall to jacksonville. what about johnny manziel? johnny football. he falls all the way to 22. but he's going to cleveland. he's going to be a part of lake erie. >> johnny brown. >> yes. >> he's excited about it. to the nba, game two. heat/nets. lebron james, 22 points in this game. he scored the final eight points of the first half to pull the heat within one. and then, in the fourth, miami would outscore brooklyn 25-15. they had a possession where they

had three offensive rebounds. and james would finish it off with this fadeaway. 2-0, the heat on top of the nets. spurs also with a 2-0 games lead on portland. a reminder, rounds two and three of the nfl draft, radio city, are on friday night. >> jonathan coachman. chris hassle. good morning, america. >> guys, thanks. up next in "the pulse," we're not quite done with the draft yet. johnny manziel was all the talk overnight. and his internet memes. yeah. they're really funny. we'll talk all about them. plus, a new attraction in the windy city that's not for everyone. will you be a sound sleeper, or a mouth breather? a mouth breather! [ whimpers ] how do you sleep like that? well, put on a breathe right strip

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time to check the friday "pulse." as you may imagine, there was plenty of online fun being poked at johnny manziel as he was falling down the nfl draft board. >> as we mentioned, johnny football slipped to number 22 before finally being taken by the cleveland browns. one meme from early in the night, with manziel drinking a beer, that moment when you weren't selected first. >> and the moment you realized you've just been drafted by the browns. >> oh, no. frost to cleveland out there. send that mail to diana perez here at abc news. >> hey, wait a second. after a first round pick, a few reasons to be on top of the world this morning. >> hours before being selected by the detroit lions, former north carolina tight end eric ebron was a ball of nerves. and it wasn't because of the upcoming nfl draft. >> why are you being weird? >> why are you nervous? >> what is it?

>> what are you nervous for? >> i'm not nervous. >> are you nervous? >> okay. are you ready? do you love me? >> oh, my god. >> that's cool. and she said yes. you know what? i actually believe this one. you know we do the proposals all the time. this one is sincere. he's proposing to his girlfriend on top of the empire state building. as exciting as the draft was, ebron said he referred the engagement a little bit more. >> nice. very, very cute. if you have a fear of heights, diana, you might not want to do this. the 94th day of the observation deck of the hancock center in chicago right there, adding a new feature. a glass-lined eight-person enclosure that will pivot out from the building's facade. >> thrill-seekers will pivot at a 30-degree angle, looking down to the street 1,000 feet below. >> what's it feel like? >> you feel like you're almost doing a push-up in midair.

it's almost like the perspective you'd get if you're washing windows up here. >> yikes. this one is called the tilt. and it happens to be open to the public. >> i would just be too scared that something's going to go wrong the day i'm doing it. >> you know what? i think it's the top of the hancock also that you can step out on the open glass enclosures, it's just as scary. this tilting feeling like you're falling a little more. well, you've likely seen a viral video in which a hamster is shown chowing down on a teeny, tiny burrito. well, the menu has changed. but the idea remains the same. >> in this one, the hamster is going italian. with a rather small slice of pizza. after seeing this, it sure seems like he enjoyed the burrito a little better than the slice. >> give him a little time. wait for it. >> he chowed the burrito. >> it takes a little bit of time. but eventually he gobbles up the pizza.

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eeee this afternoon, and temperatures the same, maybe warmther than yesterday, at 58

to 63. the coast and san francisco the range is 66 to 71 and inland, 68 to 74. good morning, leyla gulen. >> good morning, everyone, happy friday, at 4:29. it is quiet on the roads with month accidents to report. we do have a drive time traffic right now at 580, tracy to dublin at 23 minutes and highway 4 westbound from antioch to concord 101 southbound from san rafael to san francisco is 16 minutes and president obama is in san jose this morning and staying at fairmont and will travel to mountain view later this morning, around 10:00, so the motorcade will should some streets down and cause delays and you will plan ahead so stay away from that area. >> we will talk more about president obama, he will wake up at san jose fairmont hotel this morning ready to face controversy on the second day of his bay area fundraising trip arriving yesterday and attended two high profile fundraisers hosted by silicon valley executives. at the hose fairmont, he urged

the 250 attendees to work for a democratic house of representatives and senate in the mid-term elections. >> are you with me? are you fired up? ready to go? god bless you. god bless america. >> attendees attend between $1,000 and b, -- $32,000 to hear the speech which was briefly interrupted by a ledge -- heckler. many protests wanted the keystone xl pipeline project stopped from canada to the gulf coast. he has delayed the decision. >> before leaving the bay area he will stop at the wal-mart in mountain view to talk about energy efficiency but not everyone is pleased with the president for choosing wal-mart the ama daetz explains. >> we are ready. the employees have been busy