making news in america this morning -- delayed care. outrage mounting after a scathing report into the veterans affairs scandal. evidence of secret lists and cover-ups that one senator calls criminal. we are live with new developments overnight. edward snowden defending his actions. the man who leaked americans' secrets talks about what he did and why. and about coming home. dramatic rescue. a young hiker becomes stranded on one of the country's highest mountains. >> very, very steep. >> how rescuers got him down. and the mistakes the hiker admits that he made. and red carpet crasher. breaking overnight, a man is led away in handcuffs because of what he did to brad pitt at a movie premiere.

good thursday morning, everyone. there are new demands this morning for the v.a. secretary to step down or be fired. >> more than 50 members of congress now say eric shinseki should go. this comes after a scathing, new report on the phoenix hospital which started the entire scandal. abc's tahman bradley joins us, now, from washington with more. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning, diana and john. this was not the news the obama administration had hoped for. it turns out, it's not just the phoenix v.a. 42 v.a. health centers around the country are under investigation. and anger is growing. the outrage over v.a. hospitals has reached a boiling point. in a late-night congressional hearing, three senior v.a. officials got grilled. >> when were these documents destroyed? >> what i don't understand is how you can look at yourself in the mirror and shave in the morning and not throw up. >> reporter: those officials took heat about a scathing

report confirming misconduct at the phoenix v.a. hospital and beyond. the inspector general found corruption is systemic throughout the vha. and because of the long waits to see v.a. doctors, veterans are at risk of being lost or forgotten. and may never obtain their requested or required primary care. >> they are at fault why my dad is dead. >> reporter: at the troubled phoenix hospital, investigators found 1,700 veterans were placed on secret lists to conceal how long it took to get care. the veterans were forced to wait 3 1/2 months to see a doctor. jon goodman, a veteran of the iraq war, says he had trouble with the v.a. in oklahoma. >> it takes a month or even longer to even get an appointment. >> reporter: this morning, the pressure is on president obama to fire the man in charge of the v.a., secretary eric shinseki. about 60 members of congress, republicans and democrats, have called for him to resign. some even want a criminal

investigation. >> i believe that this issue has reached a level that requires the justice department involvement. >> reporter: many questions still remain. did the delays cause veterans to die? and who ordered the schedulers to create the secret lists? diana and john? >> all right. abc's tahman bradley live for us in washington this morning. thank you. also developing overnight, the war of words between nsa leaker edward snowden and government officials. >> after claiming to be a former u.s. spy, snowden is expressing his desire to now come home. his comments were met with a blunt response from the secretary of state. abc's molly hunter has more. >> reporter: edward snowden just wants to come home. >> if i could go anywhere in the world, that place would be home. >> reporter: on wednesday, he cruised through his first american television interview, speaking to nbc in moscow. he remained cool. he's been coached and clearly armed with talking points. he made his case directly to the american people. and he claims he acted as a patriot. but secretary of state kerry saw

it quite differently. >> we have evidence that people are in additional danger because operational security has been breached, because terrorists have learned firsthand about methods and mechanisms by which the united states collects intelligence. and so, our operations have been compromised. it's plain and simple. >> reporter: snowden claims no lives were put at risk and no harm came to anyone due to his leaks. he said he was and still is serving his government. but many call him a traitor. and massive espionage charges were filed against snowden, including theft of government property. >> where what is right is not the same as what is legal. sometimes to do the right thing, you have to break a law. >> reporter: secretary kerry also said that snowden should man up and return to the united states. he said that no patriot should run away. john and diana, snowden did concede that the nsa has been unfairly demonized since those leaks began. but he showed no remorse.

molly hunter, abc news, new york. new this morning, reports of the first american suicide bomber in syria. an international terror group called al nusra front, releasing this photo, which it claims shows the bomber wearing a suicide vest. the man has not been identified. well, investigators scouring the indian ocean for the missing malaysian jet are shifting their focus now. the australian agency coordinating the hunt has ruled out the area where a series of pings were detected in early april. even though that area has now been discounted, they're not saying where they believe the next likely crash site might be. back here at home, another close call between two planes. the third since april. the latest happened on tuesday over anchorage in alaska. alaska airlines flight inbound from portland, oregon, was about to land at anchorage international airport when the pilot was ordered to avert an outbound cargo jet. both of those pilots veered in the same direction, coming within just a quarter-mile of each other.

the first time we're hearing from the parents of elliot rodger, the usb student who killed six in last week's rampage. not yet ready to face cameras, the family issued this statement. we are crying in pain for the victims and their families. it breaks our hearts on a level we didn't think possible. the feeling of knowing that it was our son's actions that caused the tragedy can only be described as hell on earth. in santa barbara last night, dozens of surfers took to the waters on surfboards to honor the memory of those that were killed in last week's rampage. well, word is that donald sterling's wife, shelly, has received a handful of big-money bids for the l.a. clippers. sources tell espn that those bids are all in excess of $1 billion. but the sterlings are at odds over the potential sale. while shelly is pushing to complete it, donald sterling's attorney now says that he has changed his mind since a letter last week said he had agreed to sell his interest in the team. a source tells the a.p., that if the team is sold by next tuesday, nba owners will not have to meet to vote on terminating donald sterling's ownership. millions of americans are,

again, in the path of dangerous weather with torrential rains, floods, even tornadoes. folks in houston caught this tornado on cell phone video, as it formed in the sky. excuse me. it lasted only six minutes. one witness said it looked pretty harmless. in fact, because they're so tightly organized, the skinny rope tornadoes can be four-times as powerful as the mile-wide wedge tornadoes. time, now, for the nation's weather. the entire southeast quarter of the nation will see showers, heavy and torrential at times in the lower mississippi and gulf coast. seeing another four inches or more. thunderstorms will pop up across the rockies and the seattle area. >> and much of the nation will be cooling slightly today. the northeast and northwest will barely get out of the 60s. and it's only going to be in the 90s in the southwest. fans around the world are mourning the death of maya angelou this morning. among those remembering her remarkable life and talent, president obama, who said angelou inspired the rest of us to be our best selves. >> the legendary poet was inspiring until the end of her life. in her last tweet, she said,

listen to yourself. and in that quietude, you might hear the voice of god. robin roberts will have a special look back at the life of maya angelou, coming up on "good morning america." coming up, a new list of the most powerful women in the world. plus, thousands of feet in the air on the edge of a cliff. the dramatic rescue of a teenager who got in way over his head. and a fist flies on the red carpet with brad pitt on the receiving end. new details about what went down.

my name is eddie metcalf. i enjoworking in my yard and you know, i can't. i can't do that any more,'cuz i'm missing most of my lung. they did a cat scan of my kidneys, no more kidney stones. that's the good news. "but, we found a spot on your lung." that frankly scared the "hell" out of me. i hadn't smoked in 22 years. how could this happen to me? he said, "well, you know about radon gas?" we'll... you know, i heard about it. he said, "well, the second leading cause of cancer" "in america is radon, 22,000 people a year die from this."

i literally left the doctor's office, got a test kit, put it in my house, and our result was 39.8. the upper limit is 4. we got to get this fixed. that was on a monday, and on wednesday, our mitigation system was up and running. well, i think everybody should have their house tested. we'd never know. we'd still be living there. i could get another tumor from it. right now, it's changing my life. three weeks after their $3 billion deal was leaked, apple and dr. dre's beats have now made it official. apple's ceo says he expects

beats headphone line to continue growing. but that the main selling point of the deal was its music streaming service. this is apple's most expensive acquisition ever. and it should be finalized by october. men who take cialis will soon be getting some relief at the checkout counter. french drugmaker sanofi is buying the rights to seek approval to sell a generic version of the erectile dysfunction drug over the counter. patent protection for cialis runs out in three years. a nonprescription version could go on sale in about four years. cialis currently costs about 35 bucks a pill. a new generation of high-tech brakes is winning high marks for driver's safety. automatic breaks override the driver to avoid front-end crashes. in the latest testing, of 24 models equipped with auto brakes, 21 have earned advanced or higher ratings. cars making the top cut, the 2014 chevy impala, the mercedes-benz e class, the hyundai genesis and the bmw x5. there's a truce in the hot sauce war.

the california city where the popular sriracha city is made has backed down. the irwindale city council voted last night to drop a public nuisance declaration and lawsuit against the makers of sriracha. you'll remember residents had complained that the superspicy sauce was burning their nose and throats in the air. the hot saucemaker says those concerns will be addressed. "forbes" has released its list of the most powerful women on the planet. german chancellor angela merkel, leads the pack, followed by fed chair janet yellen and philanthropist melinda gates. next are brazilian president dilma rousseff and christine lagarde, the first woman to run the imf. when we come back, on the move. the person leaving cash is heading to new locations. overnight, we learned where more envelopes have now been found. and caught on camera. a storm chaser pays the price after getting too close to a lightning storm. might be shining ♪ink the sn ♪ just a little more bright

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caught on video, the exact moment of a lightning strike. shot by a storm chaser in south dakota. that bolt sent chunks of asphalt and dirt four stories into the air. even though it didn't directly hit him, the lightning strike gave his arm quite a shock. even after a storm passes as far as ten miles away, with blue skies and rainbows, lightning can still strike. and now for a look at your morning road conditions. still stormy in the south, where drivers should watch out for flooding. elsewhere, you'll find some slick spots in the rockies and in the northwest. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible in new orleans and charlotte. emergency crews have pulled off a dramatic rescue in colorado, plucking a stranded climber to safety. >> samuel frappier was stuck on a ledge at 13,000 feet in a rugged part of rocky mountain national park. the 19-year-old from canada was airlifted and taken to the hospital by ambulance. but before help arrived, he had to spend the night in the freezing cold, wearing only

cotton clothing and tennis shoes. >> i imagine people are saying that i'm stupid. and they're right. it was stupid. and i'm never going to do that again. but i'm lucky it ended well. >> he is lucky. frappier left the hospital overnight uninjured. park rangers say he is an inexperienced climber. he had no technical equipment. it took dozens of rescuers to save him. breaking overnight, brad pitt got a scare on the red carpet in hollywood. pitt turned out for the premiere of his partner angelina jolie's new disney movie, "maleficent," when a man jumped a barrier, ran up to him and made contact. abc news has learned that the lapd booked the guy for misdemeanor battery on $25,000 bail. he's identified as the same ukrainian reporter who also got into trouble for trying to kiss will smith. topping our health news. the entire world is apparently losing the battle against obesity. the new global analysis finds almost 30% of the world is either overweight or obese. and no country's immune. the u.s. as a country, does have the greatest percentage of

overweight people. that's 13%. perhaps you've heard about the guy leaving cash in hidden places and then tweeting clues about it. overnight, he tweeted a drop has been made in l.a. and it's already been found. yesterday, the action was in san jose. the money taped to a fire hydrant. and it didn't take long for the hopefuls searching around to come running. and there goes the guy who found it. he runs across the street. oh, yeah. all his. >> what's in there? what's in there? >> ooh. i got -- we got some money. >> how much have we got? >> 100. >> let's count it. >> a $100 bill there. >> i see $115. 120 bucks. >> nice. by the way, the guy who found it, look at him. doing a little jig there. he said he's going to take his wife out to dinner. the person behind the whole thing says all he does is hope that whoever finds that money will pay it forward any way they

can. >> just scored a touchdown with that move. to some sports. we start with tiger woods. as expected, his ailing back will keep him out of the upcoming u.s. open. woods has been recovering from back surgery. he says he's physically unable to play at a high level. in fact, last week, he said, he still hasn't taken a full swing with a club. the open will be the second-straight major woods has missed after the masters. meanwhile, 18-year-old taylor townsend, getting a lot of attention over at the french open. she's in the third round after defeating the player ranked much higher than she is. what makes her story is that it's townsend's first grand slam tournament. she even lasted longer than both the williams sisters. both venus and serena lost yesterday. >> someone giving those girls a run for their money? >> yeah. the new york rangers could move into the stanley cup finals tonight with a win over the canadiens. they lead the series with the canadiens, 3-2. >> and in the nba, oklahoma city and san antonio play game five of their series. it all takes place tonight. as for last night's action, here are our friends at espn. >> hi, america. he's kenny. i'm neil. this is the "sportscenter" set in bristol. we would like you to wake up. >> yep. i'm going to do basketball.

he's going to do hockey because of our backgrounds. all that hockey played over in spokane. the heat and pacers. >> spokane chiefs, man. >> game five. paul george, bang. george, playing some "d." getting all fancy. traveled. pacers in control, up nine. heat get right back in it. now, down two. late going. lebron. kick it out. chris bosh had a chance to win but didn't. pacers win it 93-94. game six friday in miami. >> you should do a feature on traveling. >> yeah. kings looking to move on to the stanley cup finals. got the last two teams to win the cup in chicago. this is interesting. ben smith ties it up on jonathan quick. and these two kids are from right outside of bristol. smith's third of the playoffs. we're tied. and then, in double-overtime, saad to handzus. saad really made that play. lights the lamp.

quick is beat. and chicago survives. 5-4, in double-overtime. game six friday in los angeles. this piece of paper said the pacers won 92-90. the score was 93-90. >> did you autofix? or did you -- >> no. i already fixed it. >> yeah. professional, right there. >> get back to news and weather. >> all right, guys. thank you. coming up next, it's "the pulse." rainbow reboot. a popular '80s kid show could soon be making a comeback. plus, some students in an uproar because of what their high school did to their yearbook pictures. finish line. in life, it's how you get there that matters most. it's important to know the difference. like when i found out i had a blood clot in my leg. my doctor said that it could travel to my lungs and become an even bigger problem. and that i had to take action.

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it's in a book ♪ ♪ a "reading rainbow" you all remember that song, don't we? all right. time to check, "the pulse," now, an unmistakable song there for children of the '80s and a new chapter for "reading rainbow." the show's host, levar burton, has launched a kickstarter campaign to bring back the popular show. this time, in the form of a web series, aimed at today's digitally-connected kids. he wants to create versions for the home and the classroom and offer it free to schools in need. "reading rainbow," by the way, won 26 emmys during its run from 1983 to 2006. and so far, that campaign has raised more than $1.5 million. coming up next is a before and after backlash over a high school yearbook. take a look at this. some students in utah say they're furious because their pictures were altered. in some pictures, sleeves were added. in others, necklines were covered up. school administrators admit to the photoshopping.

the superintendent says some students did not follow the dress code. and there was a sign warning them that pictures may be edited. well, today, students from across the country are competing to be the nation's best speller. the final round of the national spelling bee is live on espn, beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern tonight. and we simply couldn't resist some of the kids' faces from yesterday's preliminary rounds. plenty of them, like sean there, were writing out the words on their hands. some were closing their eyes, seeing the correct spelling somewhere out there. and others, like christine, seems to seek divine intervention. we certainly are hoping they all have good luck tonight. and finally in "the pulse," for you, two of the most adorable little things we think you'll ever want to see. they were born in the akron zoo in ohio. these two snow leopard cubs are brother and sister. they're barely over a month old. they're already six pounds each. the two siblings don't even have names yet. and they're not quite ready for primetime. they're staying close to their momma. they will be on exhibit later on this summer. certainly something to go see because they are simply adorable. for some of you, your local news is next.

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> hello friday eve at 4:28. i am kristen sze. >> i am eric thomas. now the forecast on this thursday morning. mike? >> in solano county we have a red flag washing so there is a high fire danger until 8:00 this evening. the northern winds are hanging around again. as far as the trust we have a clear sky this morning looking back on the calm bay water. temperatures are running above average especially inland where we are 80 to 89. around the bay, 76 to 82. the coast and san francisco are breezy but not so cool at 65 to

71. now the morning commute. >> good morning, everyone. as we look right now at the drive east bay we have an accident this morning, southbound highway 13 at broadway terrace there is one lane blocked. c.h.p. is on the scene. they are getting a tow truck so hopefully they can be cleared. eastbound and westbound 80 between highway 4 and 580 is are we have a construction project. slow for the cone zone. from emeryville camera to the eastern span of the bay bridge we have construction being picked up. as you make your way to treasure island you could see a couple of crews there. kristen and eric? >> breaking news, san francisco police are on seen of a pedestrian accident when a person was hit by a car. amy hollyfield is in the richmond district at the scene. >> this happened in a gas station parking lot. it is still roped off. police are still here. so is the car.

the man who was hit was pinned under the car and taken to the hospital. they do not know if he is going to survive. police got the call at 3:25. the driver and the passenger were still on the scene. the passenger is right this on the curb. the driver is in the back seat of the police car. it took a while to get him there he was belligerent and resisted arrest. it is believed he has been drinking. this is at geary and 24th at a chevron gas station. police are still here investigating. they don't know if the man is going to make it. he was not in good shape. they do believe they will investigate this as if it is a fatal accident. it is 4:30. a bay area high school is planning a vigil to honor one of the victims of the deadly