making news in america this morning -- breaking right now, a powerful earthquake hits central italy. a mayor has described his town as no longer there. as rescuers try to get to the people trapped in the rubble. we're live with the latest. donald trump softening his stance on a controversial policy. what he said at a late night rally about immigration as he steps up attacks on hillary clinton and the clinton foundation. a teenager makes a rare recovery. see how he survived a brain-eating infection that is fatal nearly 100% of the time. a seal jumps on a boat. it turns out to be a smart move. we'll tell you why. good morning, everyone, on a

very busy wednesday morning. that breaking news in italy. a powerful earthquake striking overnight while people were asleep. >> the damage is widespread. at least 21 people are now dead. that number is expected to rise. we have video just in showing rescuers trying to reach people buried under a collapsed building. moments ago, a woman and her dog were pulled out alive. that 6.2 quake's epicenter was in the mountainous central part of the country. it's made buildings in rome sway. >> here's a live picture of amatrice, roughly about 100 miles from rome. that gives you a sense of how powerful the quake was. rescuers there using bare hands, looking for survivors. abc's jennifer eccleston is live for us in london. she's been following the developments all night long. jennifer, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, diane and kendis. it's been several hours since this 6.earthquake. rescue crews are still trying to

access the hardest hit areas of rural umbria in central italy. so far, a number of dead. at least 21 people. the aftershocks continue to rattle this community now on edge. this morning, a town in ruins. central italy rocked by a powerful earthquake in the middle of the night. witnesses saying people are trapped under rubble. new video showing collapsed buildings, residents searching for survivors, debris-clogged roads. local red cross officials saying a bridge into the town had collapsed. the terrain making it difficult for rescue crews. according to abc's megan williams, who is just outside the hardest hit area. >> i've certainly seen police trucks race by me. so there is a sense that authorities are headed for that area. it's a very mountainous area. the roads are not easy. it's not an easily accessible area of italy. it will take awhile, i imagine, for rescuers to get there.

>> reporter: the mayor of the historic town of amatrice telling state-run radio, quote, the town isn't here anymore. the shaking felt in rome, 100 miles away. buildings there shook for 30 seconds. the italian red cross are reporting that air ambulances are evacuating some of the injured to area hospitals. a young child has been rescued alive from one of the crumbled buildings. diane and kendis? >> good news there. i'm sure there are plenty of people still buried undernea the rubble. you're well familiar with the terrain. megan mentioned it is quite mountainous. what do you know about this area? >> reporter: it is in the central part of italy, in a province of umbria. some historic towns are in the area. it is extremely mountainous. it's landlocked. the mountains run right down through the province. this is why we see so many

earthquakes. thousands of earthquakes take place in this region each year. most of them go unnoticed because they're not very powerful. this one certain to make a lot of damage in the region because of the historic towns there, ancient villages, with old buildings. but as we saw with an earthquake that took place in 2009, i wasn't those old buildings that crumbled. it was the new construction that fell that trapped some of the people. after that earthquake in 2009, a lot of money was put into recovery efforts and making sure the smaller villages in inaccessible areas have the equipment they need to rescue people and to be prepared if an earthquake takes place. i think we're seeing that now. but the problem here is that the roads have collapsed and bridges have collapsed. they may have the necessary items within the village. they won't be able to get extra help because they can't get there. >> it's going to be quite a few hours and possibly days before they can get to those people.

jennifer eccleston, live in london, thank you. the pope is at the vatican and has just talked about the quake this morning, thanking volunteers and civilian security men. he said, i invite everyone to join in prayer. the pope speaking for the wednesday mass. >> we'll continue to follow the developments taking place right now at this hour in central italy, where you have this life and death effort taking place as people try to rescue those who were buried after that powerful earthquake took place overnight. for now, we want to get to other breaking news that developed overnight. turkey has entered syria to attack isis forces. the turkish special forces are supported by u.s.-led coalition air strikes. turkey has vowed to quote completely cleanse its border region of the islamic state. it blames isis for a bomb attack at a wedding last weekend. a developing story from north korea. there's been a successful test launch of a missile capable of

reaching much of south korea. the missile was fired from a submarine. it traveled about 300 miles before crashing into the sea of japan. officials say it is a significant improvement over previous attempts by the north. the fbi is investigating a cyberattack on "the new york times" and possible other news organizations. hackers targeted the moscow bureau. there's no evidence that the system was compromised. sources say investigators are blaming the same russian hackers who recently infiltrated the democratic national committee. donald trump is admitting for the first time he may be willing to shift his position on immigration. when it comes to mass deportation, he said, there could be a softening. he made it clear he's not backing away from his promise to build a wall along the border with mexico. trump is also pouncing on new findings about hillary clinton and her family

foundation, suggesting certain donors received special treatment. the associated press is reporting that more than half of clinton's meetings outside government were held with top donors of the clinton foundation. trump said as secretary of state, clinton could be bought, bribed, or sold. >> it is impossible to figure out where the clinton foundation ends and the state department begins. it is now abundantly clear that the clintons set up a business to profit from public office. >> the clinton campaign is disputing the a.p. report saying this story relies on utterly flawed data. it cherry-picked a limited subset of secretary clinton's schedule to give a distorted portrayal of how often she crossed paths with individuals connected to charitable donations to the clinton foundation. still ahead, more homegrown zeke can and the newest cases are hundreds of miles from known infection areas.

plus, an amazing story of survival. a teenager fully recovers from a brain-eating amoeba that kills nearly everyone who is infected. and we'll have more on the breaking news out of italy. the powerful

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mylan could be called before lawmakers in the coming weeks to defend their price hike. growing criticism of the company has gotten attention of wall street with shares down. after 25 years in prison, this former convict is a free man. plus, the country's first child to receive a hand transplant. one year later, his amazing progress, next. i love that my shop is part of the morning ritual around here. people rely on that first cup and i wouldn't want to mess with that. but when (my) back pain got bad, i couldn't sleep. i had trouble getting there on time. then i found aleve pm. aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. for pain relief that can last into the morning. ♪ look up at a new day... hey guys! now i'm back. aleve pm for a better am.

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we're looking at a live picture now of rescue efforts under way in central italy after a powerful earthquake hit. many people are thought to be trapped under the rubble. crews are there desperately trying to save anybody trapped inside. we're following this breaking news for you the this morning. that powerful quake 6.2 hit in the middle of the night around 3:30 in the morning. at least 21 people are now expected dead. >> italy being six hours ahead of us, that's about the time it took place. 21 people were -- are dead so far. that death toll is expected to rise. this is the same region where a 1997 quake damaged the basilica of st. francis of assissi. there is no damage from this morning's quake there as yet. here at home, doctors in florida are crediting divine interveengs for a teenager's

miraculous recovery from a brain-etting infection. >> reporter: he's recovering from a rare and deadly brain-eating amoeba that kills 97% of those infected. >> i had to tell the family to say their good-byes. >> reporter: doctors spekt sebastian, a camp counselor, may have been exposed to amoeba august 3rd. he was placed in a medically-induced coma for a week. >> we woke him up and within hours, he spoke. >> reporter: there have been 138 cases in the u.s. between 1962 and 2015. sebastian is the only fourth to survive it. >> we're so thankful for the gift of life. >> reporter: mara schiavocampo, abc news, new york. >> more on the divine intervooengs that the doctors

referred to. the only u.s. company that makes the medication he needed is made in orlando, where the teen was hospitalized. normally, it could have taken hours to get to him, instead of 12 minutes. a philadelphia man is finally free after spending 25 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. anthony wright was just 20 years old. two years ago showed wright was not the rapist. the jury took about 90 minutes to exonerating him. he'sing looing forward to enjoying his family. >> i want to do whatever my granddaughters want to do. i want to do whatever my grandson wants to do. i just want to be grandpa. i just want to be dad. >> he said yesterday was the best day of his life. a little boy serving as a big inspiration. this is 9-year-old someday ron harvey. last year, he underwept a double

hand transplant in philadelphia. his hands, feet, and one of his kidneys had to be replaced seven years ago because of an infection. his rehab is going well. he says, now, all he wants to do is what a lot of other kids want to do. >> she won't let me try out for football. >> no. we're going to start with baseball. >> why not? >> it's too dangerous. >> they're little kids. >> kids are dangerous. >> not professionals. >> we'll have this argument later. okay? >> and i will always lose. >> though zion says his goal is to somehow manage to convince mom. i don't thing he's giving up yet. he's the first child to receive a double hand transplant. 11 have been per normd the united states. he can now throw a baseball,

write in his journal, and make himself lunch. >> and soon football. >> he's trying. let's get highlights from the pros and little leaguers. >> here are the guys at espn. good morning, america. there's nothing little about our little league world series coverage. but first, big leaguers. >> a tight race in the national league west. dodgers up a game on the giants. dodgers up 1-0. rob seg din with a home run. he's got to get out of there. well, madison bumgarner, his first child on the way any minute now. he left after his second home run of the season. dodgers up, 2-0. bottom five, game tied at adrian gonzalez, really hot. dodgers take it, 9-5. they're up two games now. all right,

tennessee-california, elimination game. game tied at 2-2. so you got the grounder. and the throw. that should have been an inning-ending double play. and here comes california. california, is going to walk off. no, instead, it's an inning-ending double play. what a play. and the did that applied the tag, tanner jones. then the top of the seventh, the kid that applied the boom. tyler jones. his twin brother. ten ten, ten ten, ain't no team california wanted to see. >> i like the way he wanted to run the bases. pretty cool. >> that's all we got. >> back to you. >> you gotta say high to the bleachers. >> yeah, that kid already has it down pat. up next in "the pulse," the $3 bet that turned into $10 million. and one smart seal.

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>> live, this is abc7 news. >> good morning, 4:30 club. i am natasha zouves on wednesday, august 24. >> i am reggie aqui with jessica castro and alexis smith and mike nicco. >> we will check the weather before we look at the earthquake in italy. >> quiet this morning. we have good news for travelers and the kids ready for school. no wet weather. live doppler hd is showing no organized areas of wet weather. as we dig into our day planner, we are starting in the much 50s the same as yesterday. at anyone we are 50s at the coast and upper 60s to mid-70s but you need the sunglasses outside. 59 at the coast at 4:00, 72 around the bay, 86 inland.

alexis how is the commute? >> so far so good. we do not have blocking issues this morning and some light values as you can see on the traffic camera behind me, bay bridge toll plaza, a little bit of a lynnup in the cash lanes on the right. the traffic map shows the only problem we have is 580 through the altamont pass. >> thank you, alexis. we are tracking breaking news from italy where the sent for survivors is underway. >> 6.2 earthquake left dozens people dead. jessica castro is tracking latest from the desk. all the death toll claim overnight to at least 38 people killed in the earthquake the latest number we have. images have been coming to our deck all morning. i want to show you video from the center. a small town in central italy, this is a live video taken after the earthquake struck, this earthquake was so strong it could be felt as far as rome

which is 100 mil away. if you have been to italy and know there are many ancient buildings and part of the charm is what has made the earthquake so destructive: the buildings have crumbled. there have been strong after shocks, the strongest are 5.5 magnitude. this video of a woman being rescued and you can see rescuers finding her dog trapped in the rubble, carrying the animal out. the mayor of this town where the epicenter struck has said it is "no more." >> the search continues at this hour for survivors. we will bring you updates when we get new information. >> thank you, jessica. we have new information moment by moment on the story so stay with us for continuing coverage on air and on-line with details as they come in. can you follow us twitter@abc7newsbayarea. you can see a map of