making news in america this morning, deadly crash on one of the nation's busiest railroads. flames and thick smoke pouring from a train after it sclieded with an suv. new details from witnesses feet away. dramatic video of a plane clipping a highway before crash nothing a river. the rescue efforts under way right now. new this morning a swift and lethal reaction from the jordanian government after isis brutally executes its captured pilot. we're live in washington with reaction from the white house. and in a true sign of the times, a texting boater missing out on a once in a lifetime opportunity. and good wednesday morning to you all. we have a lot of news to get to.

a lot of it breaking overnight but let us start with that commuter train inferno. >> passengers describing moments of pure terror after it hit an suv on the tracks and exploded into a fireball. what's left of the first car of that train still sitting on the tracks this morning. abc's lana zak is there. lana, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, reena and tank. as you can see behind me rescue teams are still working and at this very moment they are pulling those remaining dead bodies from the train and notifying next of kin this is the worst accident in metro north history. the scene here was so terrible the paramedics were in disbelief. >> what i know is the train was on fire as well. that's when i realized this was probably the worst tragedy. >> reporter: north of new york city more than 600 passengers making their way home when their train smashed into a jeep cherokee stuck on the tracks. >> screaming, yelling, it was just total panic. >> reporter: the flames engulfed the vehicle from behind.

the eerie orange light and huge plume of bark smoke. >> a passenger that ran past me had blood on his face. >> reporter: from above you can see the massive response flashing lights up and down the rail line as fire crews rushed in. when the smoke cleared this was all that was left. scorched and mangled metal, the jeep cherokee all but crushed under the metro north train. >> the third rail of the track came off from the explosion and went right through the car so it is truly a devastatingly ugly situation to see. >> reporter: the injured had to be carried out of the front cars passengers sitting in the back had no idea how bad it was until they saw it themselves. >> we went down ladders and walked out here so saw all the smoke and flames inside the car. >> reporter: officials say the woman driving the jeep was trying to cross the tracks when the gates came down leaving her in the path of the oncoming train. she died along with several

metro north passengers. the trip for so many cut tragically short. and unfortunately metro north has come under recent scrutiny in recent years, though exactly who or what is to blame in this incident is still under investigation. investigators from the ntsb actually will be here from washington later this morning. back to you, reena and t.j. >> lana thank you very much. of course one of the puzzling questions this morning is about the driver of that jeep. >> witnesses say after the crossing arm came down on her vehicle, the woman got out to take a look then for some reason she got back in the vehicle and drove it forward into the path of the train. rick hope was in the car behind her and said he backed up when he realized she was stuck. >> she looked at me. i know she did and she just got in and all i can imagine is she was trying to make it to the other side because she thought the gate -- she couldn't get through the gate. >> the suv was carried 400 feet

down the track on impact. >> this is the third deadliest incident in a little over two years. >> a car hit and killed an electrician and in december of 2013 four people died when a train took a sharp turn at 82 miles an hour. that's 50 miles an hour faster than it should have been going. an investigation found the engineer had fallen asleep. be sure to stay with us at abc news for the latest on this train crash. we have a live report from the scene coming your way a little later on "good morning america." another breaking story this morning the crash of a passenger plane in taiwan. take a look at these incredible images showing the plane with 58 people on board clipping a bridge shortly after taking off from tie pay's downtown airport. at least 15 people were killed. the plane crashed into a shallow river just a couple dozen yards from shore. >> rescuers in small boats were on the scene almost immediately bringing survivors to safety. the plane was a turboprop flown by transasia airlines and had gone through a safety check last week. the pilot and co-pilot had over 10,000 hours of flying

experience. breaking overnight, rapid reaction from jordan after the grisly murder of a captured pilot. a barbaric killing even by isis standards. >> jordan executed two convicted terrorists abc's bazi kanani has the latest from washington where president obama is vowing to double down on isis. good morning to you, bazi. >> reporter: good morning, t.j. good morning, reena. jordan is a close u.s. ally and is also fighting the extremist group operating near its border. this morning the country sent isis a message of its own. ambulances driving away this morning with the bodies of two al qaeda militants executed by hanging in jordan. it's the kingdom's first act of retaliation against isis for the horrific murder of a young jordanian pilot who was caged and then burned to death. images abc will not broadcast as isis fighters stood by. the shocking video released tuesday sparked immediate outrage across the country.

first lieutenant kaseasbeh involved. >> it's one more indication of the viciousness and this organization. >> reporter: president obama met with king abdullah in washington when the video was released and returned home early. in a statement broadcast on jordanian tv the king called the pilot a hero and vowed to strike harder at the extremist militants. >> at some point this kind of act backfires on a group like isis. >> reporter: one of the prisoners jordan executed was ab iraqi woman who jordan had agreed to swap for the pilot just last week. but isis couldn't offer any proof that he was still alive and officials believe he was actually killed weeks ago. t.j. reena. >> all right, bazi kanani for us

in washington. thank you, as always. after spending days digging out from under piles of snow and ice millions of americans are bracing for a new blast of brutal weather. >> in the midwest drivers have been navigating through a curtain of blowing snow and ice making every trip to work and back home dangerous. accuweather's stephanie olmo joins us with more on the next round. >> good morning, reena and t.j. we had a wave of energy that brought snow showers across the northeast and new england area. right behind the system we do have another clipper system right now impacting the plains getting into the midwest bringing light accumulation not as significant as we've seen these past couple of days, while the second system will track eastward impacting the northeast and new england area depending how the second storm tracks could see significant snowfall across the new england area. reena and t.j. back to you. world war ii veterans were being honored for their heroism. 40 members of the devil's brigade were there to receive

the congressional gold medal. it was made up of both americans and canadians and was a precursor to today's special forces. the nickname stem from their fierce tactics which included the capture of more than 30,000 prisoners. well still ahead, the new law that allowed three people to make a baby. >> yeah i know it doesn't add up but we'll explain. distracted flying. why selfies likely played a part in this plane crash. plus in trouble with the law, lance armstrong accused of letting someone else take the blame for a serious crime he allegedly committed.

well wall street seems to be welcoming signs that the long-running collapse of oil prices may be over. the dow opened 305 points higher this morning with energy stocks like chevron and exxonmobil leading the surge. a 7% jump in oil prices is getting much of the credit. crude oil closed at just $53 a barrel after dipping as much as 60% over the last seven months. toyota is expected to appeal an $11 million verdict over the safety of its camry. a jury in minneapolis decided the carmaker was 60% responsible for a crash that left three people dead and two seriously injured. jurors also found that the driver, though has a long -- has long insisted he tried to stop before it slammed into another vehicle, said he was 40% at fault. meantime, toyota says its sales rose 16% compared to last year and it wasn't the only big automaker posting double-digit gains. general motors up 18%, ford and nissan had 15% gains. industrywide it was the best

january nine years thanks to low interest rate cheap gas and generally favorable weather. coca-cola is getting into milk. coke's minute maid division will start selling fairlife premium milk nationally next month. it's said to have more protein and calcium and less sugar. quick to point out coke's only role is distributing the new product. when we come back the fight started six months after his death. a bitter battle brewing over robin williams' estate. tom brady giving away the truck he received for being the super bowl mvp so who is he giving that truck to? a man who doesn't stand still. but jim has afib, atrial fibrillation an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. that puts jim at a greater risk of stroke. for years, jim's medicine tied him to a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but now, with once-a-day xarelto®, jim's on the move.

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people sat in traffic for hours. what we now know it was actually a camera. it was part of a college art project aimed at capturing interesting scenes. oops. >> love to see that. if you're getting ready to hit the road here's a look at the conditions. rain is the problem in the pacific northwest and snow on the mountain roads. also plan on wet condition as long gulf coast roadways and expect another day of snow and ice from the midwest to the northeast. a deadly plane crash near denver is being blamed on a pilot taking selfies in the cockpit. >> the ntsb says they were snapping pictures with their cell phones moments before the cessna went down last year killing both of them. investigators believe the pilot was likely distracted and disoriented by the flash from the phone when he lost control just minutes after takeoff. >> in this brave new world of selfies and cameras everywhere it's easy to have a lot pictures

taken in the cockpit, when it's clear day that's one thing, when it's nighttime you have to maintain aircraft control and need your vision to do that and having flashes in there is almost a guarantee of trouble. >> no video from the flight but by gopro camera had footage of the pilot taking selfies the previous night. bobbi kristina brown is fighting for her life at the emory university hospital in atlanta. moved there from a smaller hospital tuesday. surprising new claim from her father bobby brown. his lawyer says that bobbi kristina was never married to the man that many of us believe and have been talking about him as her husband. he was the one who found her unresponsive in the bathtub over the weekend. bobby brown is said to be making all the medical decisions now involving his daughter. well an ugly court battle has broken out over the estate of robin williams. his wife claims his children

took personal items. she said she's entitled to the possessions. robin williams committed suicide last august. lance armstrong has a court date in aspen after being cited for a hit-and-run. he was driving after a party and hit two parked cars then agreed to let his girlfriend take the blame as to avoid controversy. she later acknowledged that she lied to police. that led to armstrong being cited for failure to report an accident and speeding. he is scheduled to appear in court on march 17th. the pga isn't commenting on a lawsuit brought by a group of golf caddies suing them over the bibs they wear during tournaments. they have a logo of the tournament's sponsors but the caddies claim they don't share in the estimated $50 million in endorsement revenue. the lawsuit also claims the tour has denied caddies access to basic health care and pension plans. fans of the new england patriots will have to deal with plenty of snow along the parade

route today. but probably not going to matter a whole lot. the city is still buzzing, still hot about sunday night's classic win. >> as for some of last night's basketball highlights here are our guys at espn. >> he's stan i'm neil. we spent the morning if a hot tub together and now we're sharing sports stories with you at night. >> it was for a promo just so you're clear. >> whatever. >> we got the warriors and kings. klay thompson had 52. he didn't have to do as much this time only had 15 but andre iguodala helps 9 war cross get off to a 9-0 lead and 14-0 and iguodala again 23 unanswered for the warriors up 21 at the half closing seconds of the third, warriors up 11. curry contested three. the contesting doesn't matter. 23 for curry. warriors roll 121-96. kentucky going to remain un undefeated -- i figured out one

reason why they're so good. oh break it down. well first of all they have two guys named harrison so they've got an advantage there. that's andrew harrison finding devin booker and they got two guys with three names. willie cauley-stein there and then karl-anthony towns here. kentucky undefeated. coach cal got them going. >> the fact that they're tall and talented also -- >> i said that. maybe not out loud but i was thinking it. national signing day at college football wednesday. back to you. >> okay we mentioned the patriots victory celebration today. during the festivities maybe quarterback tom brady will have a chance to hand off the new keys to his truck. >> brady says he's going to give it to malcolm butler who made the game-winning interception right there sunday night against the seahawks. he was given that truck for being named super bowl mvp. pretty nice ride and you know what, malcolm is an undrafted

rookie who made the biggest play of the year the least he could give him is that truck. >> yeah. >> tom brady has another win and super bowl as a quarterback because of that young man so give him a house, truck, anything he wants. >> i think somebody should give pete carroll something. he should get something in the end. >> he had a super bowl last year. he still has a job next year. he'll be fine. >> all right. as long as you can promise me that much. "the pulse" coming your way next. the new law that could have future children born with three parents. explain that one and proof that texting can cause you -- missing some amazing moments in life. feet...tiptoeing. better things than the pain stiffness, and joint damage of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist decide on a biologic ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz (tofacitinib) is a small pill not an injection or infusion, for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate

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clearing the way for the first three-parent baby. >> let me explain. british lawmakers allowed an in vitro procedure that takes dna from a mother father and a second mom. that would stop inherited conditions. critics fear it would lead to designer babies however, so that explains the three parents. it hasn't been published yet but the new book by harper lee a top seller. called "go set a watchman" a sequel to "to kill a mockingbird." >> the reclusive awe thor set it aside. the book due out in july. >> a lot of people looking forward to this one. best-seller. hasn't been printed. cub scouts' nature hike turned a little too natural as some parents are concerned. >> san diego pack leader took the scouts along a trail leading right to black's beach. a well-known clothing optional

stretch of sand. so it had some parents very upset saying the scenery was way too revealing for the group of mostly 10-year-old kids. >> it's not anything against the nudists. they were in their environment and they were looking at us like what the heck are we doing there? >> boy scout officials have issued a statement saying once the group leaders realized the problem, if you will they did take a different route. one with few forms of wildlife. >> wildlife. that was an interesting choice of words. >> nature. >> i think that wasn't the nature trail they thought about. >> i ghefr got into the boy scouts. i didn't know this was going down. finally a sign of the times. captured in a single image. the caption sums it up, hey, dude stop texting. this was taken a couple of weeks ago off the california coast. >> the guy who took the photo says the guy who was texting never even looked up from his phone. he must have been dealing with something very important like

doing an instagram. >> maybe he was making a multimillion dollar deal. [bell rings] you're not mr. craig. yeah, i'm confused where's mr. craig? well, i'm sorta mr. craig. we're both between 35 and 45 years old. we both like to save money on car insurance. and we're both really good at teaching people a lesson. um, let's go. cool. sit down! alright. sorta you, isn't you. only esurance has coveragemyway. it helps make sure you only pay for what's right for you not someone sorta like you. i think i blacked out from fear... did we ask him where mr. craig was? we did. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call.

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. good wednesday morning at 4:28. thanks for starting your day with us. i am kristen sze. >> i warmer risk thomas with leyla hail. >> a legal cooler and more fog. everyone is above 1.75 but it could be thicker through the morning commute. be prepared. you can see the fog over san francisco. the 12 hour day planner shows cooler but in the 40's and 50's and nearly 60 at noon. low-to-mid 60's this afternoon. not so warm as it was yesterday. and not a "spare the air" day. >> weather is not an issue. how about the traffic? >> so far so good, starting with the drive along i-80 through university avenue traffic is moving fine. we have a couple of construction

projects. that is in the next report but that is the san mateo bridge. everything is moving along fine. there is a flashing light approaching the tolls eastbound direction. leyla gulen, thank you. breaking news from san jose. firefighters have been wrestling with a two-alarm fire. matt has the latest from the scene. >> we are here in san jose and you can see that it is blocked off with police cars and fire trucks here and pg&e here because we have wires down. this started as outside fire but the question, did the fire lines go down causing a fire? or did the fire cause the power lines to go down? firefighters still checking that out. this video of firefighters battling the fire, called in at 2:15 and fire was on the outside and spread to the duplex and ten people were evacuated from the duplex eight adults and two children and people evacuated

from surrounding homes. they made it out. the fire took place cross the street from the elementary school and the biggest concern right now are the power lines as the firefighters make sure they are bloked off. everyone was taken across the street. they are in the parking lot of elementary school with smoke coming from the fire two hours after it started. we will be here on the scene with updates all morning long right here on abc7news.com. thank you matt. happening now in san francisco, authorities are urging anyone with information to come forward after they had to release their suspect last night in the stunning case of a human torso found in a suitcase. amy hollyfield is outside the hall of justice. amy? >> the district attorney did not