"good morning america." have yourself a great thursday. making news in america this morning, breaking right now, tornadoes sweeping through the heartland damaging schools, flipping over vehicles. new video of a twister racing across a highway. and where it's heading next. new clues in the germanwings plane crash. reports of a pilot being locked out of the cockpit. what does the mangled voice recorder reveal as another day of searching for answers gets under way. we're live. safe return but a lot of unanswered questions. a woman thought to be kidnapped is found safe. now the attention turns to her story and whether or not it's true. and different direction. a heartthrob walks away from oned and the internet is flooded with teenagers' tears.

good thursday morning, i'm ryan smith in for t.j. holmes. >> and i'm reena ninan. the latest on the airliner crash in a moment. first an extreme weather outbreak overnight. >> the power system is on the move. you can see it on the radar stretching from texas to indiana already producing at least three huge tornadoes. >> oh, [ bleep ]. >> this powerful tornado flipping a tractor trail i on a highway in moore, oklahoma. >> a car passenger captured the moment with the powerful twister passing in front of them. clayton sandell has the latest on the severe weather. >> oh we got another one. >> reporter: the heart of tornado alley is in the firing zone. tornado sirens blaring as the skies over oklahoma erupt. camera after camera capturing the rotating clouds small vortices twisting on the ground and sometimes full-scale

tornadoes. moore, okaylahoma, already seeing the damage. >> we'll show you the garage blown in here. the windows are also blown in. the roof taken right off this house. >> reporter: reports of debris scattered across town. this woman in her truck as it flipped over on interstate 35. >> i felt glass breaking and i was on the top sliding across. >> you see that right there? that's more power flashes. >> reporter: and tornadoes reported just west of tulsa as the storm swept straight into the city trees crashing down onto cars and homes. >> all i heard is boom. my daddy was in the kitchen and the roof fell in on him. >> reporter: at the airport passengers and luggage moved into hallways to wait out the storm. in sand springs, reports of serious damage. look at this gymnastics building destroyed. 60 people were inside during the storm. amazingly, everyone made it out safe. now the system moves east into

missouri where a hailstorm has already swept through. >> decent hail coming down here. >> reporter: and here in this neighborhood in moore you can see many so of the damage. interest tree was almost sliced right in half by the tornado. the yards here are just covered in debris and take a look at this. this is a large piece of a roof from a house that we think came from all the way over there. the mayor tells us there are about 20 to 30 homes here that sustained major damage. clayton sandell, abc news moore, oklahoma. we will be tracking that weather throughout the day but we turn to the reports that one of the pilots of the plane that went down in france was locked out of the cockpit desperately trying to get back. >> rescue teams back on the ground in the french alps searching for victims and clues from the ill-fated flight and abc's molly hunter is there. good morning, molly. any reaction to this new report? >> reporter: good morning, ryan and reena. we will certainly ask

authorities about that today and with this new information, everyone wants to know if the pilot became incapacitated or was this intentional. this morning, the hundreds of rescue workers and investigators are again being ferried to the crash scene, some dropping in from helicopters. overnight "the new york times" reporting that dramatic revelation from the cockpit voice recorder. authorizes saying they heard voices one of the two pilots leaving the cockpit unable to get in during that deadly eight-minute descent before the plane smashed into the mountain "the times" quotes an investigator you can hear he's trying to smash down the door but there's to response from inside. >> the two main possibility, one, was there a medical condition of the pilot in the cockpit? did he have an emergency and start the descent and then have this medical condition? the other possibility is pilot suicide. could he have locked out the other pilot and decided that he wanted to take his own life and that of the passengers. >> reporter: in the u.s. pies are not left alone in the cockpit. if one leaves a flight attendant

takes that spot. this new information adding to the mystery as the families mourn the 150 people on board including three americans. virginians emily traveling there. their family calling them two wonderful caring people who meant so much to so many and the germantown gripped by anguish, tears and flowers for those 16 high schoolers and two teachers lost in the crash. today families from halltern will be here to see the recovery efforts firsthand. recovery workers will have to carve a new path to get those bodies down and reena and ryan, while they're determined to do this as quickly as possible it could take weeks, back to you. >> for the team on the ground what are the biggest priorities today? >> reporter: finding that second black box. now, sed french president

francis hollande said the casing has been found but not the actual recorder inside. now, investigators have that first black box as we know which is where this first big "the new york times" revelation came from. but getting that second black box down off the mountain into the hands of investigators should give us more clues. >> perhaps that second black box holds the key and answers some of the many questions here. abc's molly hunter here live near the france crash site. >> stay with us for the latest. live team coverage coming up on "good morning america." well breaking overnight chaos in yemen. a key u.s. ally in the middle east rebels backed by iran have virtually taken over and the u.s.-backed president has left the country, saudi arabia launched air strikes against the rebels overnight. these new pictures of the damage just coming in. the u.s. is providing kilo gisty cal and intelligence support but no fighting forces. the u.s. is taking military action against isis in the iraqi city of tikrit. the bombing marks a significant expansion of the u.s. military

role in iraq. the strikes come at the request of the iraqi prime minister following a stalled three-week battle to take control of tikrit. bowe bergdahl has been charged with desertion. this comes ten months after that dramatic swap for five taliban prisoners. his lawyer is asking the public to withhold judgment until all the facts are known. if convicted, bergdahl could get life in prison but military experts doubt that will happen. at the boston marathon bombing trial jurors have heard testimony about the planning of the attack. an fbi agent testified yesterday that nails cooker pressure parts and other potential bomb components were found at dzhokhar tsarnaev's family apartment. that discovery happened in a search four days after the bomb blast. defense attorneys contend tsarnaev had not been living in that apartment for more than a year before the attack. they say most of what was found there belonged to tsarnaev's older brother. and amanda knox will have to

wait at least another day to learn her fate. italy's high eft court has postponed the ruling until tomorrow. knox's lawyers are asking that her conviction for the murder of her roommate meredith kercher be overturned calling it a grave judicial error. if the court does uphold her conviction, italy could ask the u.s. to extradite her. well, also ahead, the bad parking job on capitol hill, all of it caught on camera and, of course, going viral. >> this is really bad. and the case of an apparent missing woman takes a new turn. why she may be the one facing charges after being found alive. plus, dash cam drama. a look from inside a police officer's cruiser when he loses control during a high-speed chase.

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hourly rate for a sitter is now $13.44. that's up 28% in the last 6 years. even so, nearly 90% of american families say they would give their sitter a raise, and if they don't, i'll give you a raise. >> it's important. got to tip them well. >> uh-huh. starbucks is brewing a new treat to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its signature frozen drink. feast your eyes on the birthday cake frappuccino. the limited edition frap is a vanilla bean and hazelnut blend topped with a special raspberry infused whipped cream in the grande size. yep, if you're wondering, that's 18 teaspoons of sugar. the same as an entire box of girl scout thin mints. i'll take one of each. >> yes, exactly. well, when we come back, the frat member caught performing racist chants. what he saying about the video that got him kicked out of school. and talk about a pick-me-up. how this guy is $7 million richer after a get well card.

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updating our top story this morning, severe storms in oklahoma. a driver in the oklahoma city suburb of moore shooting this scene, a tractor trailer blown on to its side by what was thought to be a tornado. at least one person near tulsa was killed in the violent weather outbreak. schools closed today in hard-hit areas. and checking this morning's road condition, it's going to be a wet one out there for the eastern third of the country, as well as along the entire gulf coast. slippery conditions around the great lakes and in the northern plains. if you're flying, airport delays possible in atlanta and along the northeast corridor from d.c. all the way to boston. the disgraced fraternity member who led a racist chant on video seen nationwide says he's sorry. >> levi pettit says he's now going to speak out against racism. he was kicked out of the university of oklahoma after the video sparked so much outrage. yesterday he met with community leaders in oklahoma city.

>> there are no excuses for my behavior. i never thought of myself as a racist. i never considered it a possibility, but the bottom line is that the words that were said in that chant were mean, hateful and racist. >> the lawmaker who organized yesterday's meeting says she believes pettit's apology is genuine and that she forgives him. well, police in northern california now say a woman and the boyfriend who reported she was kidnapped are both under investigation. vallejo police say there is no evidence that denise huskins was kidnapped, and although she initially agreed to cooperate, police have not heard from her or her family since yesterday morning. they also say her boyfriend, aaron quinn, he's not cooperating and that both of them have plundered valuable resources from the community. >> if you can imagine devoting all of our resources on what i would classify as a wild goose chase, we've essentially wasted all of these resources for really nothing.

>> police also say they were suspicious from the very beginning in part because quinn told them the so-called kidnappers were demanding a ransom of just $8500. an oklahoma police officer says learning a hard lesson is about the wisdom of a high-speed chase here. you see the dash cam rolling when he took off after a car he says was traveling that's when he lost control and rolled over into a ditch. he wasn't hurt but the $30,000 cruiser badly damaged and the high speeding driver, well, actually got away. a couple in pennsylvania who had been married almost a year are restarting their lives together now that they're millionaires. joseph and jodi amorese claim the $7 million prize they won on a scratch-off game yesterday. now, the ticket was sent to them by his father in a get well card because joseph had been recovering from surgery. he described their winning moments. >> i took my glasses off, i'm

looking at it, and i wound up scratching the rest of them off just to make sure, and i was pretty shocked, to say the least, and i had surgery, so i didn't jump up and down, but in my mind i was jumping up and down. >> now you can start. >> thank you, dad. 7 million reasons to jump up and down, by the way. he works for verizon. she's a social worker, at least for right now. well, it's that time again, after a couple of days off, ncaa march madness resumes tonight with the first half of the sweet 16. >> that's right. as for last night's hoops, both college and pro, here's our guys at espn. >> good morning. with stan verrett, i'm chris hassel. how about the road teams in the nba on wednesday night. >> yeah, going 12-1. it's the best mark ever for a visiting group of teams on a single night in nba history with a minimum of ten games. houston in that number in new orleans. look who is back, dwight howard out for two months. but he returned, played 16 minutes, 4.7 rebounds, he's not worrying about scoring. that's going to come. he's got james harden to score.

harden, 25 points, 10 assists, 6 rebounds. the rockets win it, 95-93. the pelicans drop four in a row. and they're having trouble staying in that race for eight in the west. old dominion taking on murray state, n.i.t. quarterfinals in a thriller. less than ten seconds to go. murray state down three. t.j. sapp to jeffrey moss, and we are tied, but odu gets another chance, and look at trey freeman scooting down the sideline and hitting it at the buzzer. i don't know if he called bank. who cares. old dominion wins it, 72-69, going to msg in the n.i.t. semis. they're going to face stanford on tuesday. >> yeah. a little march madness n.i.t. style. >> what a buzzer beater. well, up next in "the pulse," walking away from fame and fortune. big changes for the biggest boy band on the planet and how the fans are reacting. and parking problems. a politician's driving skills under scrutiny after a video surfaces online.

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♪ well time to check out "the pulse" beginning with the breakup that broke twitter. a member of one direction announcing his departure. >> zayn malik says he's leaving the band behind because of stress. the departure comes after the 22-year-old abruptly left one direction's world tour last week. >> yeah, forget buddy holly and the big bopper. millions of young fans say this is the day the music died. one fan on twitter saying "march the 25th, the day the entire world shattered." wait, i think it's still here. >> it's still here. >> yeah, the world is still here. >> another writing, "zayn leaving the band literally ripped a part of my soul away from me." of course the late night comic, oh, they couldn't resist.

>> zayn said after five years he's leaving the focus on his true passion which is not being shrieked at by a horde of 12-year-old girls every time he opens a door. >> today zayn malik announced he's officially leaving one direction. they asked him, where are you going? and he said, another direction. >> oh. one direction band mate harry tiles was actually spotted wiping away tears on stage in jakarta after the announcement. >> oh that's tough. >> good luck to them. and from jakarta we head to capitol hill for what may be one of the worst parking jobs ever. >> check it out. you know how hard it is to park next to other cars. the silver car parking straight in despite the angled parking spots being properly used for the other vehicles. now, the person doing the parking, by the way, is eleanor holmes norton. she's a democrat who represents the district of columbia. >> norton left the car right there for about half an hour before moving it.

afterwards she said apparently she was a little late for an event. >> yeah. >> happens to all of us. >> not to everybody parking that way. earlier we mentioned the march madness sweet 16 starts tonight. one of the teams playing is xavier. they face arizona. >> the musketeers' top player is matt stainbrook, a fifth year grad student, his younger brother tim, a sophomore on the team. >> so matt is doing something really special here. he gave up his scholarship so tim could use it the simple reason it's three times more expensive for an undergraduate. that's why he's giving up his money. in his time off, matt is driving for uber and putting upon aside to pay off his loans. >> good brother. >> good brother, yeah. >> a new way for shoe lovers to save money without skimping on style. >> i love this. introducing the ever-changing smart shoe. it's a color and design that can be transformed in an instant by hitting a button on your phone. electronic ink built into the sides of the prototype can turn from polka dots to stripes to many other

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. good thursday morning at 4:28. i am a christian. -- kristen sze. >> i am eric thomas. and leyla gulen and meteorologist mike nicco. 40's and 50s this morning and 70s and 80's this afternoon. >> quite a spread. we have fog along the coast. two miles at half moon bay. more fog around petaluma at three-quarters of a mile visibility on live doppler hd. the ferry building shows the winds still. by noon we will hang out in the upper 60 but for inland mid-70s and the coast is in the mid-60s at 4:00 and the rest of us are flirting with 80 and mild to warm evening with

low-to-upper 70s for everywhere but the coast. >> a picture of the bay bridge toll plaza and you can hardly see any cars so it is early in the only mute. the traffic is not impeded by anything. we see what is happening here, this is the drive in san jose. that is 280 with 17 in the back ground and traffic is lit. we have a closure in marin and i will tell you about that. >> it was a hex. that is what vallejo police are saying of the reported kidnapping of a mare island woman. denise huskins turns up in southern california two days after her boyfriend told police she was hell for ransom. our reporter is in vallejo to fill in the spaces. >> now she is missing. again. vallejo police say they are no longer in contact with denise huskins or her family. she has hired an attorney. we do have video from her from

yesterday where she urned up yesterday. she had claimed she was kidnapped and a ransom demand of $8,500 was made. she then said she was safely drop off at her mother's homier. police have launched quite a search for her after her boyfriend reported on monday she forcibly was taken from his home. police now say they had trouble believing the incredible story he told them. police now say it was all a hoax but denise huskins uncle refuses to believe she would make this up. police say a tremendous amount of resources were wasted looking for denise huskins and they now say charges could be filed against her and possibly her boyfriend. she agreed to meet with vallejo police and the fbi arranged for a jet to bring her to the bay area for an interview but now she has