z/ making news in america this morning -- a severe weather outbreak casting a wide net overnight. tornadoes toppling homes. damaging schools. dozens injured. swollen rivers overflowing their banks. also, a mid-may blizzard. we're tracking it all. health scare. an international trip cut short for former president jimmy carter. the health concern that forced the 90-year-old to quickly come home. and a show scare. without warning, a stage collapses. the performers descending out of sight. and a multitasking dad becoming a fan favorite because of his foul ball catch. his baby right there along for the ride.

and good morning to you all on this monday. i'm t.j. holmes. >> i'm marci gonzalez in for reena ninan. as we're coming on the air, more than 50 million people from texas to the great lakes are under the threat of severe weather. and it comes after an especially difficult weekend. >> a tornado hit in van, texas. east of dallas overnight. the storm damaged at least 20 homes and all of the schools were damaged. more than 20 people suffered injuries. also overnight, a tornado struck the high school in lake city, iowa. about 150 people were inside at an awards ceremony at the time. they raced to the basement just a couple of minutes to spare. >> the severe weather on the move. stretching mort and east. the forecast if just a moment. first, susan saulny with the weekend wrap-up. >> reporter: another round of brutal weather in texas. more tornadoes. more flooding. more devastation.

this family of eight in van, texas, survived a twister by hiding in a bathroom. north of dallas, dramatic rescues as national guard blackhawk helicopters pulled people to safety trapped by flash flooding. >> this time, they couldn't even get to us by boat. so it was pretty scary. >> reporter: two teenagers hoisted to safety after spending more than one hour trapped. back on land overwhelmed by the ordeal. >> scary. >> did you watch this unfold? >> pretty nerve racking. we feel fortunate and appreciate these guys and the national guard. >> reporter: severe spring weather leaving millions rattled and whole towns in ruin. it even caused this sinkhole in hood county, texas. >> there goes the school. there goes the school. >> reporter: a witness captured the moment this roof was blown off of this school in iowa. part of the same storm system sent snow blanketing parts of colorado and the northern plains. in south dakota a blizzard and whiteout conditions.

more than 13 inches. the most ever recorded in a spring storm. today, the threat moves to the east. from the gulf coast up to the ohio river valley, a significant threat of severe weather and potential tornadoes. susan saulny, abc news, washington. >> thanks, susan. arkansas is also reeling from severe weather this morning. a state of emergency declared in franklin county over the weekend after fierce winds downed trees and threatened power lines. >> heavy rain triggered flooding. some roads and bridges were wiped out. the flash flood watch remains in effect through this morning. >> accuweather's paul williams joins us now with the forecast. good morning, paul. >> good morning to you, marci and t.j. listen. mo matter what part of the ohio valley region you're in, you'll need an umbrella. and it's kind of like joe louis's old phrase -- you can run but you can't hide. those scattered showers and thunderstorms will rumble throughout indiana, michigan, down through illinois, to the lower mississippi valley region. if that rain doesn't catch you, we have ana causing thunderstorms and problems

throughout the afternoon and evening hours. the good news is, ana will stay primarily along the north carolina coast. that may not seem like good news to folks in north carolina. the catch to it is this. she will continue to weaken. monday going into tuesday, and then kind of flatten out, kind of like a bread without any yeast. flatten out eventually. lose all of her gusto. marci? t.j.? >> paul, thank you so much. happening right now things still not quite back to normal at a nuclear power plant 30 miles north of new york city after a fire and then oil spill. a cleanup is under way in the hudson river as thousands of gallons of oil leaked into the water. the oil spill caused by a transformer fire at the indian power nuclear plant. officials at the plant say there was never any danger and no radioactive material was released in the fire or the leak. turning to the deadly attack on two police officers in hattiesburg, mississippi. four suspects due in court today. two of them charged with capital murder. officers benjamin deen and liquori tate were gunned down in

a traffic stop on saturday. the first officers in hattiesburg killed in the line of duty in more than three decades. >> family member in our community. two family members of our community have fallen. and we need to grieve with them and pray with them and for them. >> deen was a 34-year-old married father of two and a decorated officer of the year. tate was a 25-year-old rookie who had a lifelong dream of joining the force. former president jimmy carter has returned to the u.s. after not feeling well during a trip to south america. had to cut his trip short. the president arrived, the former president arrived in guyana on friday to observe tuesday's -- or today's election. the carter center tweeted out this photo you see here. 90-year-old carter wearing those jeans. he's back in atlanta. no other details about his health were revealed. cuban president raul castro has visited the vatican, where he met with the pope for nearly an hour. he said he wanted to thank pope

francis for working to thaw relations between the u.s. and cuba. and the cuban leader said he was so impressed by the pope's work, he's considering returning to the catholic church. an apparent snub from the new king of saudi arabia. king salman won't attend a high-level meeting hosted by president obama this thursday at camp david. the white house said the president would meet one on one with the king a day before arabea arab leadership summit. the saudis are said to be signaling their displeasure with the administration over the ties to iran over the nuclear deal. lots of moms got a special phone call for mother's day. only a few were lucky enough to get one directly from the white house. three moms who had written to president obama over the past year got the surprise of their lives. a personal call from the president himself. >> hi, patty? >> hi, yes. >> hey, this is barack obama. >> nah uh. >> yeah, it is. >> no way. >> way.

>> the lucky moms were from minnesota, arizona, and florida. the president thanked them for the hard work they do every day. they did not believe it. >> that's the right response. nah uh. still ahead, the iphone picture that saved a 2-year-old boy's life. plus airline outrage. a plane makes an emergency landing to remove a 15-year-old girl with autism and her mother. why the pilot says he did it. and vanishing act. but this was not part of the show. the dramatic moment a stage gives way. [ screaming ]

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if you were born during these years the cdc now recommends that you get a blood test for hepatitis c. so talk to your doctor and find out if you have hepatitis c. it could save your life. know more. if you're a man over 50, you're in a group most likely to develop skin cancer including melanoma. that's why your best shot is to check for a spot. follow through and check your skin. go to spotskincancer.org to find out how. well, a heck of a find on a beach in massachusetts. the remains of a ship that dates back to the mid 1800s now being excavated. the researchers working on the

newly discovered wreck say the ship was probably a schooner, about 100 feet long, about 12 feet wide. they don't know for sure whether the part that was found is the ship's bow or stern. americans will be heading out in droves for the long memorial day weekend. aaa is expecting more than 37 million people to venture out 50 miles from home or more. that's a 4.7% spike if last year. and the highest number of memorial day travel ners ten years. 9 out of 10 of those travellers will drive to their destination, thanks, in part, to lower gas prices. $2.66 a gallon. a full dollar down from the national average from last memorial day. "the avengers" still doing their thing at the box office. "the avengers: age of ultron" brought in more than $77 million over the weekend. that's the second largest haul for a film's second weekend in theaters ever. a distant second, "hot pursuit." and "the age of adaline" was third. when we come back, a principal under fire for remarks she made during graduation.

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a tough night in the small town of van, texas, east of dallas.

a severe storm, likely a tornado struck there after dark. dozens of buildings damaged. some destroyed. power lines are down. and falling trees have made roads impassable. more than 25 people were hurt. so far, it appears none of those injuries were serious. give you a look at morning road conditions now. you need to leave extra time for your commute in the northwest. roads could be slick from texas up through the great lakes as well. if you're flying, airport delays are possible in houston chicago, memphis, charlotte, and washington, d.c. an oregon mother is filing a lawsuit after her autistic teen was kicked off a united airlines flight. >> this happened last week. when 15-year-old juliette beegle and her family were returning from a trip to disney world. the girl's mom says the girl makes loud noises when her daughter gets frustrated. but she calmed down after getting something to eat. the pilot made an emergency landing and they were escorted off the plane. >> the police officer said, we

have to ask you to leave the plane. and i said, why? he said, well, the captain doesn't feel comfortable flying to portland with your daughter on his flight. >> united is standing by the crew, saying they made the best decision for the safety and comfort of their customers. well, we turn to oh this picture is worth a thousand words, isn't it? a wild scene. the choir there. this is in china over the weekend. there they go. this goes wrong. 80 people in that choir, they just disappeared. at least eight of the singers were hurt. they're trying to find out what caused the stage to give way. a mother in illinois has a picture taken on an iphone to thank for tipping her off to her son's serious illness. in a picture the pupil in 2-year-old avery's eye came out white. his mom did research and found someone else who once found the

same thing, and her child had cancer. avery got checked out. again, cancer was found. although he's lost his eye, doctors say without early detection the cancer could have spread. >> an incredible story. >> incredible. >> little guy is doing all right now. certainly good to hear. who knew. a phone. well, all right. it's that time of the morning. we turn to our guys for some sports. >> exciting playoff action to show you. highlights from our guy at espn. hi, i'm kevin connors. fantastic mother's day in the sports world beginning in chicago. cavs and bulls. game four. bulls leading the best of seven, 2-1. five seconds to go. lebron james tries to get a shot off. has it knocked out of bounds with 0.8 seconds to go. the referees go to the monitors. essentially giving the cavaliers a time-out. they put 1.5 seconds back on the clock. they draw up a play and lebron james does that. corner jumper as time expires. third playoff buzzer-beater in his career.

the cavs win it, 86-84. even the series at 2-2. rangers and capitals. rangers trying to force a game seven. third period, leading 3-1. dan boyle let it rip. made it 4-1 rangers. the rout is on. but hang on a minute. capitals would not go away quietly. joel ward beats henrik lundqvist lundqvist. all of a sudden it's a 4-3 game. under 6:00 to go, alex ovechkin for the tie. he's denied. and henrik lundqvist and the rangers survive. they win it, 4-3. what a day in the bronx for michael pineda. the yankee right-hander was electric. the fastball. the slider. anything he threw breaking in for strikes. in fact, seventh inning, he gets caleb joseph and then ryan flaherty. 16 strikeouts on the day. ties a major league record. the yankees win it, 6-2.

next live "sportscenter," 9:00 eastern on espn. well, a high school principal in georgia under fire right now over comments she made at the end of her school's graduation ceremony. the comments many say were racially insensitive. let me let you listen now to what she said. >> look who's leaving. all the black people. >> you hear that comment. you see how the crowd reacted to that. her name is nancy gordeuk. she skipped the valedictorian's spech accidentally during the ceremony. then she unsuccessfully tried to regain the audience's attention to stick around and listen to the speech. she became angry when people started leaving. she tried to explain her actions later. >> it was not a statement of racism. it was just my frustration and -- you know, when i said it, i told my husband, it felt like the devil was in the house because it didn't even sound like me. >> the principal apologized. no word from the devil just yet. some parents and students say

they're not buying her excuses. all right. up next in "the pulse." brave boaters. a massive whale shark swims by and so they jump on him for a ride. a little girl with her little pink fishing pole. but she reeled in quite a big catch. i'm brian vickers, nascar® driver. i'm kevin nealon comedian. and i'm arnold palmer, professional golfer. know what we have in common? we talked to our doctors about treatment with xarelto®. me, when i had a blood clot in my leg that could have traveled to my lungs. that's why i took xarelto®, too. xarelto® is proven to treat and help reduce the risk of dvt and pe blood clots. i took xar for afib... an irregular heartbeat that can lead to a stroke from a blood clot. xarelto® is proven to reduce the risk of stroke in people with afib, not caused by a heart valve problem. hey, well i'm glad we got together.

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all right, time to check "the pulse." stories you'll be talking about today. if you don't know if you're coming or going, don't look at the calendar this week. >> every date this week is a palindrone. reading the same forward and backwards. today, 5-11-15 reads the same back to right. >> the same drill for the next nine days. only if you write them the american way, starting with the month instead of the day. you follow us there, folks? >> it's a little early to put all this together. next up, a dad who will never forget a mother's day he spent at the ballpark in philadelphia. >> during the mets-phillies game yesterday, one of the mets

fouled a pitch off. take a look at what happened. there it is. do cow make it out? the guy caught the ball there. you might be businessing -- you see the kid. strapd in there. that's awesome. >> mike capko making the one-hand grab with 7-month-old son colden strap encolten strapped to his chest. how did it feel? >> it hurt. he crushed the ball. you have natural reaction. it worked out great. >> he's a big phillies fan. been to plenty of games. never caught a ball before. >> his wife says they'll have a great story to share with colten when he's old enough. dad kept one hand free the make sure baby's all right. now some florida teens who seem to need a reminder that animals in their natural habitat should be left alone. >> the water off florida where they were fishing over the weekend. they spotted this huge whale

shark. instead of keeping their distance which i would have done. they jumped right on in and had a swim with it. is this you're seeing the video showing the guy grabbing the shark's dorsal fin and being pulled through the water. might seem like a good time to some. dangerous to others. the experts say it could be harmful to the animal. >> and it's just plain crazy. okay. and we'll leave to it you to decide if this is a fish story. dad posted this video on youtube, supposedly showing his daughter zoey reeling in a giant bass that looks to be about half her size. >> okay there's a reason my dear marci said supposedly. in the video, it seems zoey is using a tiny pink fishing pole that could possibly be a toy. we never see her catch the fish. that's led to speculation out there online that the dad maybe planted the fish on his daughter's pole. but there's always a fish tale right? >> that pole would have snapped,

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yogurt of the nfl. i thought, "the red cross does katrina. they don't help single moms. hi. hi. what happened to our house last year? it flooded. and the water flooded out. yeah. the red cross arranged the hotel for us. they gave me that break, that leverage, to be able to get it together and... take care of them, you know? i feel like we've come full circle. like that! this is how i'll do it.

sarah: there you go. live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> hope you had a great mother's day and a great weekend. we have good news. i am kristen sze. >> this is a mother's day present for the commuters. >> i am eric thomas with meteorologist mike nicco and leyla. >> good morning everyone, live doppler hd is showing not much out there. it is dry this morning. there are clouds on the increase in the 12-hour day planner that could drop drizzle through the commute. most of the temperatures now are in the low 50s mostly. headed to noon we will see an increase in sunshine and temperatures are mid-50s to only mid-60s and bit afternoon, total sunshine and the coast is upper 50s and mid-to-upper 60s for the rest

us. get ready for a chilly evening most of us in the mid-to-upper 50s. >> save the best for last, leyla has the news on the san mateo bridge. >> it has opened. we had a full closure this weekend and lanes have already started re-opening in both dresses on the san mateo bridge. that is a look at it with flashlights and still construction crews on board. it look like they should have all lanes opened by 5:00 a.m. and good to go. the next closure is happening over memorial day weekend. >> not fully done yet. thanks and we will explore that more. commuters are able new to use the san mateo bridge after an entire weekend shut down for important caltran work lea to big delays. i am happy to show you a good scene this morning, look behind me, this is what people have been wanting do see all weekend, we are hoping it would happen today. an open bridge.

it happened ahead of schedule. they were planning to open at 5:00 this morning and you can see it is open westbound lanes opened at 3:50 and eastbound behind the westbound lanes but not too much. they opened at there will not be problems this morning but the weekend was jammed. last night still jammed up and backed up at 11 o'clock with the bridge closing at 10:00 on friday night and created problems all weekend. long, long delays. we saw them on the bay bridge and other at routes with a joints game. >> crews resurfaced a bridge and applied a protective coat. the work went well with no problems.