making news in america this morning -- raging wildfires. an intense battle under way in southern california. and the charred remains, buildings and brush, now considered a crime scene. wild weather. a storm with drenching rain is racing east. one tornado has already caused damage from the system. and a dramatic picture taken at the right time at a major airport. wake-up call. new safety concerns this morning for the popular sleeping aid lunesta. why doctors are changing the dosage amounts. etched in ink. barbara walters is being admired for her career on her last day of work. one woman even got a permanent tribute.

good friday morning, everyone. two breaking stories happening right now. extreme weather on both sides of the country. >> in california, wildfires are burning everything in their path, while being fueled by a hot and dry condition. and on the east coast, tornado cleanup is under way in north carolina, as at least ten states are under flash flood warnings this morning. >> we begin, now, with the situation in san diego county, where at least nine wildfires are still burning. >> one body has been found in the carlsbad fire. but far from one of the worst blazes in san marcos. here's abc's tahman bradley. >> reporter: calmer winds aided firefighters battling nine blazes burning around san diego. but the fires are still raging. they've scorched more than 10,000 acres. this is all that's left of one house in escondido. >> i can't believe it. it's just -- it's unreal. >> reporter: it's not clear yet how many houses have been damaged. >> i saw the smoke coming above our unit. and it turned suddenly, super black.

so, headed that way. there's a wall of fire. >> reporter: from the ground and from the air, it's an intense battle. the fires are being fueled by high winds and extreme heat. >> this is going to be a long season. >> reporter: the flames came within feet of cal state university. final exams and graduation were canceled. a campus, evacuated. about 125,000 evacuation notices have gone out since the fires began on tuesday. the red cross is helping people at this high school. >> i met some nice people. >> we've gotten food. we've gotten drinks. it's almost as if, in there nothing has happened. >> reporter: investigators are now treating the fires as a crime scene and are searching for the cause. arson has not been ruled out. >> it would be pure speculation to say whether they were set or by a car or by an individual. we just don't know yet. but we're actively investigating the start of those fires. >> reporter: state authorities announced they're sending in more relief for overwhelmed local firefighters who have been on the front lines since

tuesday. tahman bradley, abc news, washington. the high heat and strong winds that whipped up those fires begin to calm down today. >> but there is trouble in the east. a line of severe weather moving across the region. and everyone from north carolina up to new england will feel it. several southern states have already been hit. north carolina is one of those places. parts of the state are reeling from a powerful storm that brought flooding and a possible tornado. it shattered trees, downed power lines, leaving nearly 5,000 people in the dark. people started getting emergency warnings around dinner time. then rushed out to round up children and take cover. >> i was terrified. i was, like -- i never lived through anything like that. never experienced anything like that. i was just -- i was terrified because i didn't know what was going to happen. >> preliminary reports suggest it was a tornado that ripped through the area. fortunately, no homes appear to have taken a direct hit. and no one was injured. the national weather service has already confirmed that at

least one tornado struck miami late yesterday, too. the severe weather was caught in this photo shot by a worker at the airport. a bolt of lightning, against an ominous sky. all traffic in and out of the airport was shut down for a while because of poor visibility. and that line of severe weather is on the move this morning, even as california gets a much-needed break. >> accuweather meteorologist jim dickey joins us now with the national forecast and the weather maps. good morning, jim. >> good morning, john and diana. now, the pattern that has been keeping it mild, record warmth across much of california and elevating the fire danger. that's breaking down here today. some good news here. so, again, when you look at fire danger, you look at the winds and the relative humidity. on thursday, winds were gusting. relative humidity down around 5% or 10%. but the relative humidity comes up, the winds die down as some cooler pacific air moves in. so, that will help the firefighting efforts across the san diego area. a very different story across the east. an area of low pressure, crawling off to the east. that bringing some soaking rainfall. expecting widespread flooding as that rain heads on into and through the i-95 corridor. john and diana, back to you.

>> all right, jim. thank you. overnight, a frightening explosion in southern california. it happened at an apartment building in santa monica. a transformer exploded and went up in flames. and witnesses say it sounded like a bomb went off. several apartments were damaged. but there were no reports of any serious injuries. and police in las vegas are investigating a shooting that forced a luxury hotel to be placed on lockdown overnight. a man was shot in the chest during a party at the palms casino resort near the vegas strip. he was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. police have no suspects in custody. new this morning, l.a. clippers owner, donald sterling, won't go quietly. he's now refusing to pay the $2.5 million fine levied by the nba, according to the top antitrust lawyer that he's hired. sterling is also threatening to sue the league. in a letter, the attorney says sterling has done nothing to deserve punishment by the nba and his legal rights have been violated. tough day of questioning for the head of vat rans affairs as the scandal widens over long waiting lists and cover-ups at v.a. hospitals.

v.a. secretary erik shinseki refusing to resign amid complaints that dozens of veterans may have died while waiting months for appointments. but for the first time, shinseki confirmed that he has seen evidence of cooking the books at v.a. hospitals. >> any adverse incident like this makes me as -- makes me mad as hell. i could use stronger language here, mr. chairman. but in deference to the committee, i won't. >> this has created in our veterans community a crisis of confidence toward the v.a., the very agency that was established to care for them. >> shinseki is a wounded vietnam vet himself. he asked lawmakers for patience until the inspector general completes the investigation on whether the delays there are to blame for the deaths. now to syria, where rebels are stepping up their attacks on president assad's regime ahead of the presidential elections on june 3rd. their camera was rolling when they set off a massive bomb not far from the turkish border,

blowing a hillside army base to bits. rebels had dug a half-mile-long tunnel under the base and packed it with more than 130,000 pounds of explosives. and ecuador's government has declared an emergency in the galapagos islands. saying an oil ship that ran aground poses an environmental threat. most of the 19,000 gallons of fuel was offloaded. but other pollutants on the boat are a threat to the island's fragile ecosystem. this morning, abc is in fever pitch for barbara walters' last official day. >> capping off a nearly 50-year career of nearly four decades at abc. her final episode of "the view" airs this morning. yesterday during the taping, she was joined by all ten of her "view" co-hosts. meredith, whoopi, lisa, star, elisabeth, joy, rosie, debbie, sherri and jenny. wow. >> wow. another special photo from today's episode, barbara surrounded by other female broadcasting icons. oprah in the middle, diane sawyer, robin roberts, katie couric, joan lunden, nbc's maria shriver, kathie lee gifford and savannah guthrie. along with jane pauley, connie

chung. so many famous faces. >> and today, barbara will be on "good morning america." and of course, on her final episode of "the view." and then, tonight, a two-hour special. "barbara walters, her story." featuring one of the biggest collection of celebrities ever crammed into one show. that starts at 9:00 p.m. and coming up, deja vu for general motors as the company announces yet another multimillion vehicle recall. and more trouble for former nfl player, aaron hernandez. why he is facing new murder charges. plus, an important health alert for people taking a popular sleeping aid. this morning, the fda is sounding the alarm and making a big change to the recommended dose.

at 15, i was addicted. by 40, i'll have lung disease. at 50, i'll die of a heart attack. dr. regina benjamin: cigarette smoke causes immediate damage that leads to health problems, even death. those who quit or die are being replaced by a new generation of smokers. i'm dr. regina benjamin, united states surgeon general. go to cdc.gov. learn how to make our next generation tobacco-free. you know, from a young age. i definitely want to major in political science. become the mayor or something. make the situation better for other people. my name is justin, and i am your dividend.

welcome back. there's another huge recall for general motors this morning, involving nearly 3 million more vehicles. it includes 2004 to 2012 chevy malibus. 2005 to 2010 pontiac g6s. and 2007 to 2010 saturn auras. now, the problems range from brake lights to headlights, as well as brakes and windshield wipers. gm has recalled almost 13 million vehicles worldwide this year alone. there's finally some good news for jcpenney. the department store chain sales were up in the last quarter. although, net income was down. still, that's better than expected, especially good for jcpenney where apparel, jewelry and home products and a return to traditional department store practices, like sales and coupons. well, you can now text emergency messages to 911, maybe. the service is now live for subscribers to the four major wireless carriers. but so far, only a few emergency call centers are equipped to actually receive the messages. you'll have to include the location in your message because unlike phone calls, a text

message does not tell where you are. new information this morning on the first family's net worth. president obama and first lady michelle obama have reported assets of between $1.8 million and $7 million. of course, that's far from a precise figure. but public officials are permitted to list their assets in broad ranges. and "godzilla" is poised to be a smashing success at the weekend box office. the $160 million sci-fi remake is expected to annihilate the competition by grossing around $70 million through sunday. disney's "million dollar arm" is debuting with modest expectations of about $10 million in ticket sales. all right. still ahead, we love barbara walters, too. but one woman's tribute to her is truly a first. and out of control and no way to stop it. a runaway truck, caught on camera. gs accounts? that's right, no hidden fees.

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all right. that severe weather in north carolina came with a drenching rain that flooded streets in chapel hill. no evacuation orders were issued. but city workers drove around in a five-ton military vehicle in case anyone needed help. chapel hill bought the truck at a military surplus auction a couple months ago just for this very purpose. and this morning, you can expect tough driving along the i-95 corridor from washington to boston because of heavy rain. roads could be slick in the rockies and across a several stretches of the midwest. >> if you're flying, that heavy rain will likely cause delays at the major airports in the northeast, including washington, philadelphia, new york and boston. former new england patriots star, aaron hernandez, has been in custody since last year, awaiting trial on a charge that he shot a massachusetts man to death. well, now, he's accused of two more murders. >> prosecutors say in 2012, hernandez followed two men out of a boston nightclub, pulled up next to them at a red light and gunned them down. >> aaron hernandez then fired a .38 caliber revolver, multiple times from the driver's side of

his vehicle into the passenger side of the victim's vehicle. >> hernandez says he is innocent of these new charges. just two weeks after those murders, hernandez signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the new england patriots. new video of heisman trophy winner jameis winston's latest run-in with the law. surveillance video showing winston ordering crab legs at a tallahassee grocery store and then walking out without paying. the incident took place last month. he apologized and said he forgot to pay for the seafood. he was issued with a civil citation, not charged with a crime. well, some incredible video surfacing overnight of flooding in eastern europe. entire towns in bosnia and serbia are cut off. a raging river in one bosnian town ripped a bridge off of its foundation and sent it crashing into another. take a listen.

oh. serbia's premier calls it the worst flooding ever, with more rain in one day than in four months. and here's some quick thinking by a mailman and a police officer. it prevented a tragedy near spartanburg, south carolina. take a look. the owner was working on this truck when it began to run circles in reverse. it knocked down the owner, who was delivered to safety by the mailman. and it took the officer a couple of moments to figure out how to stop it before it hurt anybody else. the owner now says he's going to sell this possessed truck as soon as he recovers. >> pretty amazing video. look at that. federal health officials say the maker of the popular sleep medication lunesta must lower the starting dose of the drug. abc's dr. richard besser is going to explain why. >> anyone who's starting on the drug lunesta or generic, should start at half the dose that's recommended. instead of two milligrams, it's one milligram. the reason for that is the effect of the drug lasts into the morning.

take a look at this recent study. 7 1/2 hours after taking a 3 milligram dose, many people are impaired. problems with memory, coordination. you wouldn't want to be driving. but it continues past that. at 11 1/2 hours, some people are still impaired and often they didn't even know it. >> dr. besser will have much more ahead on "good morning america." doctors at an ohio hospital have delivered a rare set of twins for the second time in a week. just days after these rare mono mono twin girls were born holding hands at akron general medical center, another mom at the same hospital also gave birth to another set of identical mono mono twin girls. mono mono twins share the same amniotic sack. and they only occur in 1 in every 10,000 pregnancies. wow. >> pretty cool. time, now, for sports. the l.a. clippers' season officially over after their loss last night. >> our friends over at espn have all the highlights. >> good morning. welcome to our "sportscenter" set. i'm stan verrett, along with

neil everett. get you caught up on the nba playoffs. >> yeah. oklahoma city/los angeles clippers in l.a. chris paul, he had the massive meltdown in the last game. clippers were up eight at the half. but scott brooks' halftime speech was better than doc rivers'. russell westbrook was gone for the first half of this game. that bucket there was okc's first lead since 1-0. and durant poured in 39. bring on the spurs for okc. what about the east? paul george and the pacers, trying to finish off the wizards in d.c. fourth quarter. pacers are down one. david west. he's been a rock all postseason long. knocks down the fadeaway jumper. he took 26 shots in this game. that was double the total of any other pacers player. that was a good idea. i don't know if it was frank vogel's game plan or just the way it worked out. west had a game-high 29 points. and the pacers are headed back to the eastern conference finals to take on the miami heat. they win 93-80. you remember, last year,

pacers/heat went seven games. starts in indiana, on abc, sunday 3:30 eastern. >> cross promoting, right there. >> all right, guys. thanks. coming up next in "the pulse," an update on the solange and jay z family feud. the rapper and beyonce breaking their silence. and a little boy's adorable reaction to riding on a swing. it's going viral. and "where you least expect us," walgreens is more than just a drugstore. some pharmacy staff deliver medications right to your hospital bedside. and whenever, wherever you have questions, walgreens experts are there for you 24/7 with online pharmacy chat. we even bring immunizations to seniors right where they need us. because life doesn't stand still, and neither do we. at the corner of happy and healthy.

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new orleans showing her love in a big and interesting way. >> liz dodd is celebrating her favorite newswoman with a tattoo. she said she admires barbara because she went after her stories aggressively. >> and she got the job done. she proved that women can do it, too. really had an impact on my generation because my generation, supposedly we didn't pay attention. we did. thank god for barbara walters because she showed it could get done for my generation. >> all right. i believe, she's the first woman to get a barbara tattoo. i'll betcha she is. she said getting inked with barbara's face is a symbol of empowerment. >> and i think we should also mention she has a dragon, a lizard and a piranha. >> yes. >> joining barbara walters. >> that's for real. she has those tattoos. >> those are tattoos, by the way, not actual animals she has at home. >> correct. the solange knowles/jay z family feud that exploded very publicly on monday is now over. or so they say. speculation has been running rampant since the release of that now-infamous elevator video showing a dust-up. a dust-up? >> let's call it that. >> a dust-up, between solange and jay z.

they issued a statement saying families have problems. and we're no different. a new youtube video capturing the joy of a swing at the playground. i love this one. a dad in denmark capturing the reactions of his 10-month-old son, using, of course, that gopro camera that gets us all great videos these days. mounted on the boy's helmet. >> rasmus smiles, gurgles with delight. he even drools, all with a huge smile on his face. that video was actually shot about a year ago. so, rasmus is almost 2 years old. but it was only just now uploaded to youtube. and it is wonderful. >> it's official. i have to get myself a gopro camera. >> everybody's got one. >> really? you have one? >> no, i don't have one. >> we're the only two. and every video seems so cool. >> i have an idea. i say we strap a gopro camera to the top of your head. >> oh, i already don't like this idea. >> and we do a newscast. and it will be point of view of the anchor. >> on your head, of course? yes. good idea. >> on your head.

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. good morning at 4:28. >> this is good friday. if you don't like the heat, the wave has broken. >> you could feel it yesterday as the winds washed over our neighborhoods. good morning, everyone, now the winds in fairfield are at 17 miles per hour. coming ashore at ten miles per hour at sfo and oakland the sea breeze is back. hope you slept well this morning. the clouds encroaching on san francisco show bit afternoon we will have high clouds and sun. still warm inland. 82 to 8. more cooling around the bay. the coast and san francisco at 64 to 71. leyla gulen? >> good morning, everyone, 4:28 and in the east bay we have a

construction project with us until 6:00 this morning and eastbound 24 between broadway to the tunnel we will have a couple of lanes taken away and westbound traffic is not affected and you will find a bottleneck moving into orinda. the san mateo bridge shows it is hazy. we do have the clouds and fog pulling away from hayward into foster city and only going to take you 12 minutes. eric and kristen? >> we have develop news from walnut creek where police are investigating a string of suspicious fires at a popular park. a new fire, the fourth, scorched half an acre. our reporter is at the park with more. here is what they are thinkings they have not found evidence of cigarette butts or fireworks, people crust coming up to the vegetation and setting it on fire with a map or lighter at the spot. the most recent one happened

yesterday afternoon. they have had this started but it was contained to half an acre. there have been five fires in this area. they believe youngsters could be starting fires happening right when school gets out. they also fear the damage and destruction could get worse. >> the fires have been small. we have been lucky that way. we haven't had the normal afternoon winds we expect. that has worked in our favor. the problem is the fires getting more and more continuous. in other words we getting them sooner. >> it is so dry that it could spread. if it spreads it could wipe out a whole neighborhood. there are a lot of homes and