making news in america this morning, recovery is under way after several tornadoes tore through neighborhoods in the south. nasa is releasing new video overnight showing the damage to one of the buildings, plus flooding on the west coast and a mud slide splits a home in half. the immigration battle heating up as lawyers make their case, plus, the republican blocking senator elizabeth warren from debating president trump's attorney general nomination and why she was reprimanded. and the president telling another false claim, this time on crime in america. the major health alert revealing a surprising number of young americans are suffering from hearing loss. so, what's the cause? and a hammer, a body slam and a lot of effort. two burglars and unsuccessful

attempt to get in a store. a good wednesday morning to you all. parts of louisiana are just disaster zones this morning after a swarm of tornadoes hit from new orleans to baton rouge. >> but hardest hit is new orleans with hundreds of homes destroyed and thousands damaged. on radar right now you can see those storms are quickly moving south and dissipating at this hour after leaving its mark on florida overnight. overnight, the heavy wind and rain pushing south into florida. leaving behind uprooted trees, part of a fence torn off floating in a pool and a restaurant's roof suffering major damage. >> it looked like wind and rain was just coming up from the ground and flying everywhere. chairs were going everywhere. it was scary. it was horrifying. >> reporter: this same system responsible for spawning four tornadoes earlier in louisiana

including this massive twister racing across the strip mall. watch and listen as strong winds topple a large vehicle pushing it across the parking lot. in new orleans, security cameras capturing the powerful winds peeling the roof off this building. this man and his son huddling in the hallway when a tornado tore through their home. >> the wind was just throwing -- tossing me and my son from side to side. >> reporter: and damage assessment underway at a nasa rocket facility. the agency releasing this video showing the tornado taking aim at the building and the damage left behind. quite amazing some of those images. >> especially that house splitting in half. >> incredible. now, those damaging storms are moving out and the threat is easing a little. >> so we're watching a winter storm heading toward the east coast and it will happen tonight

into thursday taking aim at d.c., philadelphia, new york and boston. more than 6 inches possible. some areas might see as much as 18 inches. >> wow. now to the waiting game that's playing out over the president's travel ban. >> the trump administration is waiting for an appeals court decision while people around the world are waiting to find out if they can come into the united states. >> the senate has been in session all night long for the second night in a row. the democratic senators voicing their opposition to president trump's pick for attorney general. at this hour you can see there the democratic senator from oregon, jeff merkley who is speaking. >> abc's maggie rulli is tracking both stories for us. another busy morning for you. >> reporter: president trump this morning is waging a legal battle to save his controversial travel ban. on one side, the white house, lawyers arguing that the president was well within his legal right to impose the temporary travel ban. >> this is a traditional national security judgment that is assigned to the political

branches and the president and the court's order immediately altered that. >> reporter: on the other lawyers for washington state insisting that the travel ban is unconstitutional and damaging. >> what's the irreparable harm? >> we had students and faculty at our state universities who were stranded overseas. we had families that were separated. >> reporter: the ninth circuit court of appeals could make their ruling in a few days but the president acknowledges this could go all the way to the supreme court. >> we'll take it through the system. >> reporter: president trump's also facing more opposition in the senate over his cabinet picks. overnight democrats staging another all night protest. this one against attorney general nominee jeff sessions. the debate quickly turning contentious after republican senators used a rare rule to formally silence massachusetts senator elizabeth warren for questioning the character of fellow senator jeff sessions. >> senators impugn the motive of our colleague from alabama. >> reporter: she was reading letters written in the '80s from

the late senator ted kennedy and coretta scott king opposing his bid to become a federal judge. >> i am surprised that the words of coretta scott king are not suitable for debate in the united states senate. i ask leave of the senate to continue my remarks. >> reporter: and senator warren did just that taking to facebook live where she read the rest of coretta scott king's letter and that video has more than 3 million views. a vote on sessions' nomination expected later today. >> and despite that sessions still expected to be confirmed. maggie rulli live in washington for us, maggie, thanks. betsy devos is now the nation's new education secretary. she was sworn in last night promising to be a tireless advocate for all students. >> that was just hours after vice president mike pence cast tiebreaking vote in the senate confirming devos' nomination. it was the first time ever that a vice president had to break a tie on a cabinet nomination.

and president trump is sticking by his claim that the nation's murder rate is at the highest level in decades. at a white house meeting with county sheriffs he took aim at the media. he claimed it's something he's been talking about for awhile. >> i'd say that in a speech and everyone was surprised because the press doesn't tell it like it was. it wasn't to their advantage to say that but the murder rate is the highest it's been in i guess from 45 to 47 years. >> so, here's what we have. the latest year for which figures are available is 2015 and they show that murder rate that year was among the lowest in half a century. however, 2015 also saw one of the largest increases in decades. trump aide kellyanne conway is now apologizing for referring to a massacre in bowling green that never happened. conway has been taking heat after criticizing the media for not covering that nonexistent massacre thursday but last night she attempted to clear the air

telling cnn she misspoke and she's sorry. >> i regretted it tremendously because i used the wrong word to describe something several times. i felt badly about that and i apologize and rectify but want to say something else. >> she meant to say bowling green terrorists referring to two iraqi men convicted in bowling green, kentucky, of helping al qaeda carry out attacks in iraq. abc news was among a number of outlets that reported their arrests in 201 16r789s 1. according to "the new york times," the yemeni government has withdrawn permission for special ops ground missions on its soil. now, the move is reportedly in response to the civilian casualties from last month's u.s. raid. a navy s.e.a.l. was killed during that operation. and turkish officials say they are expecting a visit from mike pompeo tomorrow. topping the agenda, turkey's extradition request for a cleric accused of planning the failed military coup last summer. he'll also discuss u.s. support

for syrian kurdish fighters. turkey considers them terrorists. former vice president joe biden getting back to work. going to lead two new academic centers one at the university of pennsylvania focusing on diplomacy and national security. the second will be at biden's alma mater, the university of delaware. that one will deal with domestic issues such as civil rights, criminal justice and the environment. first tom brady's jersey and now something else, another piece of super bowl memorabilia is missing. a pile of smoldering debris is all that's left after an explosion levels a home overnight. we have the video. two bumbling burglars and failed attempt to break into a store but successful with their bruises this morning.

while i was on a combat patrol my c in baqubah, iraq,nned out.

a rocket-propelled grenade took my arm off at the shoulder. when i came home, i felt alone. my family was around me, but i couldn't talk to them about what i'd seen and what i'd done. i remember just thinking, man, the way i am right now, i don't want to live. i was discharged from the army, and i've been working with the wounded warrior project since 2007. warriors don't have to be severely wounded to be with the wounded warrior project. we do have a lot of guys that have post-traumatic stress disorder. being able to share your story, i guess it kind of helps you wrap your mind around what did happen over there. just because you've left the military doesn't mean your life is over, because when these guys are coming home, i'm kind of leading and training them, instead of for combat, i'm leading and training them to heal. and if i come away with anything from the wounded warrior project, it's them giving my life back. my name is norbie, and yes, i do suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, but i'm okay.

massive explosion has destroyed a house in akron, ohio, and sent at least one to the hospital. investigators suspect a gas leak may have been the cause. witnesses said the explosion was heard more than a mile away. several neighboring homes were also evacuated. the hunt for a man and woman wanted in the murders of four women in the south is now over. it ended in a standoff at a motel in georgia when police say the male suspect william boyette shot an killed himself. his alleged accomplice, mary rice surrendered moments earlier blamed for murders in florida and alabama over a seven-day period. police say they killed two of the victims just to steal their vehicles. a death at a frat house on the campus of penn state university has been ruled dental. investigators say timothy piazza fell down basement stairs inside

the beta theta pi fraternity late thursday night. the 19-year-old sophomore died saturday. paramedics say they weren't called until 12 hours after the fall. the fraternity has temporarily suspended operations on campus. the easement for the dakota access pipeline to cross the missouri river in north dakota is expected to be issued today. the news comes after the army yesterday announced it will not prepare an environmental impact statement to address concerns about the project saying it already has enough evidence to support the easement. attorneys for the standing rock sioux tribe believe it cannot be legally granted at this time. and two determined burglars in florida, they walked away with not very much. maybe a few bruises after picking this gas station convenience store in the middle of the night. they probably figured it would be easy to smash the glass door panel. no dice. hammer, shattered the window, didn't break it. then tried running at it. that didn't work. another crook tried to hammer and a body slam. eventually they gave up. >> police did put out a be on the look ute for two guys with

bruised egos and bumps and scrapes. >> shoulders and back as well. when we come back the severe weather on the west coast. the new video of this mudslide splitting a home in half. the mystery in panama. an american found dead. we have new details now about her death that could lead to a murder investigation. don't look now but chuck norris is right behind you. i heard superheroes read chuck norris comics. i heard at night, the boogeyman checks under the bed for chuck. i heard cats say they have chuck-like reflexes. do you think he's still got it? i bet you a buck he catches this salt shaker. you're on! hey! chuck! you owe me a buck. you can't always see what's coming but when you choose unitedhealthcare, finding an in-network doctor that's close to home is easy. so what happened? i had lunch with chuck norris. ♪ unitedhealthcare. of your brain can make it hard to lose weight? contrave is an fda-approved weight-loss medicine that may

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that's not supposed to be moving. it is floating away. a portable round tent. the manager says they're so busy pulling rvs out of the water they don't have time to chase after them. it does rain in southern california and in the north as we take a look at the radar. much of the golden state is expected to get rain today and you see that over the pacific and it will bring snow and rain to the west coast through friday. l.a. has received a year's worth of rain in just four months. new overnight reports out of panama say an american found dead over the weekend was likely strangled. >> catherine johannet's body was discovered on an island hiking trail. the columbia university grad had been missing for three days. a panamanian tv station is reporting the 23-year-old may have been hit in the head with a rock then dragged to where she was found. it also reports she was likely strangled with a piece of her own clothing. the fbi is working with local authorities on the

investigation. a new health alert is out on a study finding hearing loss is a growing problem. according to the cdc nearly 20% of people in their 20s have diminished hearing and a quarter of adults have hearing loss. the problem is environmental noise. the cdc says anything from leaf blowers to loud music in headphones can cause problems. it was definitely loud in the streets of boston as hundreds of thousands of fans came out to cheer on the new super bowl champs. the patriots braved lousy weather as did the fans but everyone had a good time showing off the vince lombardi trophy they claimed sunday night. >> rob gronkowski didn't let the back injury that kept him on the sidelines stop him. gronk opened some beers with his mouth spiked the cans like he was in the end zone. >> another piece of memorabilia is now missing. the ball that james white ran in for the winning touchdown is gone. white says he wasn't thinking and just left the ball on the ground. now no one knows where it went.

tom brady's jersey also still missing. someone collected some booty at the game. now to some hoops. the fans who went to last night's game at the university of south carolina got their money's worth. >> highlights now from our fired up guys at espn. good morning, america. he's stan, i'm neil. got a couple highlights here for you. fire it up. >> start with college basketball. alabama, south carolina from the s.e.c., this one went a while. so first time ever we've got four overtimes in columbia. desperation three-pointer no good for south carolina. rebound, alabama and the crimson tide rolls, 90-86, first win over a ranked s.e.c. opponent on the road since 2004. portland at dallas, yogi ferrell, he went for 32 against portland and earned himself a two-year deal after he was on a ten-day contract.

c.j. mccollum, now, mavericks down two. dirk nowitzki. take that with you. ready to shoot. he had 25 and it looked like a winner but with four seconds left mccollum finds space, finds the bottom of the net and the blazers beat the mavericks. those are two teams 9-10 right now in the west so big win. >> only the top eight make the playoffs. >> something you might not have known. >> back to you. >> thanks, fellas. up next in "the pulse," reaction pouring in to that video of former president obama kite surfing. and the donkey who came to the rescue when his friends were having difficulty. >> what did he do? what? o m g ten years later, nothing's really changed. it's time to snap out of it. hello moto. snap on a jbl speaker. put a 70" screen on a wall. get a 10x optical zoom.

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"pulse." we'll start with former president obama, that guy, his latest vacation video shows him kite surfing in the caribbean. we've also seen him hanging with billionaire richard branson. they're bffs. >> the former president wasn't allowed to kite surf while in office so he's clearly taking advantage. ironically all the good times he's sharing had some twitter users a little sad and now they're going public about that. >> here's one that says, baby come back. i can change. >> another says, quote, his hair might just turn black again. >> lastly, who you gonna call. not obama with the caption, new phone, who dis? >> scrapplayers will love this. merriam-webster added a thousand words to the dictionary. >> throw shade, which means to express contempt or disrespect for someone publicly especially by subtle or indirect insults or criticisms. basically you every night to me. >> pretty much.

binge-watch is another term, that's watching many or all episodes in rapid success. >> nsfw, not safe for work. scientists say donkeys are fairly smart. this video from italy certainly supports that theory. >> the one donkey can't seem to get through the fence. his legs don't bend enough. another has the answer. >> just take it out. >> clear it out. >> problem solved. and off they go. >> we need that guy around here. >> more news coming up after this.

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right now another 4:30, we are tracking breaking news in livermore where there are big problems on 580, more than a dozen drivers reporting they have blown their tires this morning. >> this is the same area where a huge issue popped up two week ago. amy hollyfield is monitoring what is happening here and as soon as we get her up for a live shot, we're going to check in with her. it looks like this is going to be shut down until 3:00 p.m. right now, we'll go to alexis smith. alexis, last time this happened, we saw that back up that went for miles and miles. >> it went up to about 15 miles at one point so this is a terrible commute as it is, and yeah, if you have a problem like this, it is going to be a major problem all morning long. it's rights around greenville road and this is the same place that we had this about two weeks

ago so this is definitely a sig alert. we've got two right lanes blocked, two left lanes are open but we are cutting those lanes in half and that is not good. that backup up to about five miles. this is going to increase as we get further into the commute. you're down to 12 miles an hour, 9 miles an hour getting close to that, so this will be a major issue this morning. we also have some fog this morning. let's check in with meteorologist mike nicco. i saw quite a bit on the bay bridge as well. >> everything's wet this morning. the good news that live doppler 7 hd is showing light rain, insteadkey across the north bay, scattered for the rest of us. fog may be an issue for some of us, it's developing rapidly, especially along the coast and in our inland valleys, it is thickest in half moon bay, visibility down to half mile. bay bridge toll plaza, just to give you an idea, it's wet and there's a little bit of standing water just about everywhere. here's your day planner for today. planning out today, some light rain and fog through 7:00. scattered light rain for most of

us, it will b a little steadier in the north bay as we head from noon to 4:00 and then the best chance of vag rain in the evening hours will be the north bay. i hate to say this. but are you ready for a repeat of yesterday? i'll take a look at tomorrow's forecast. you're probably not going to like it. coming up next. let's get back to 580 right now. we're seeing some big problems for people in livermore. >> this is exactly what we were just hearing from alexis. amy hollyfield ready to join us. amy, what are you seeing where you are? >> reporter: hi, reggie. we see a lot of cars pulled over to the side of the road. they are waiting for tow trucks. this one's got one that just arrived. these are the cars that had tire problems because the chp tells me there's a pretty massive pothole out here that caused all these issues and now we're dealing with quite a backup. two lanes are closed here at interstate 580 and greenville in livermore. this has happened before. look at the bku