this is "nightline." >> tonight -- stars align for the hand in hand hurricane relief benefit raising funds for the victims of harvey and irma. we are in the florida keys where that's the say 90% of homes have been destroyed or damaged. plus a sick life. as a glittery pop star she looked healthy. but now tlc with robin robts, opening up about her lifelong battle with a chronic disease. >> i was told i would never live past 30. >> and it's a hit. the steven king thriller scoring scary box off numbers of how hollywood favorites like the dark knight and american horror

story have turned creepy clowns into pop culture staples. but first, the night line five. >> as a dancer i can't have any doubts. looking good on staining is one thing. real confidence cops from feeling good. get a free sample. >> the tooth paste that helps prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss, you play gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. help stop the journey of gum disease. >> number one in just 60 second

throughout history, the one meal when we come together, break bread, share our day and connect as a family. [ bloop, clicking ] and connect, as a family. just, uh one second voice guy. [ bloop ] huh? hey? i paused it. bam, family time. so how is everyone? find your awesome with xfinity xfi and change the way you wifi. good evening. thank you for joining us. for weeks all eyes have been watching the disasters of harvey

and irma unleash destruction and loss. tonight the country coming together, led by america's brightest stars, racing money for the victims of both storms. abc's reporter is in florida where the long road to recovery is just beginning. ♪ stand by me >> tonight hollywood's a-listers. got together to raise money for those impacted by hurricanes harvey and irma. some singing -- ♪ lean on me >> in my home town city of houston, people need food. >> others asking for donations. >> we don't want you to just watch. donate what you can. >> row after row of big names. julia roberts, george clooney,

manning the phones of the will prompted by images like these of houston two and a half weeks ago. the talent manager decided to put together as big of an effort as possible to help texas. >> action is a must. >> while the concert was still in the planning stages, irma, a second mega storm, wreaked havoc on florida and the surrounding states. so the proceeds from tonight's telethon will be used to aid the victims of both storms. the cost from both disasters expected to climb upwards of more than $200 billion. given the sheer size of the storm, almost the entire state of florida has been affected by irma. from jacksonville north, subject to historic flooding, to the florida keys in the south where irma first struck as a category

four storm on sunday. fema says 90% of the homes on this set of sides have been destroyed or danged. my colleague david muir with the air national guard to survey the damage in the keys. >> you've been out there. you've seen the damage and the devastation. what are we looking at? >> you start getting down to mile marker 25, 23, you truly appreciate that a category 4 hurricane passed over that area. one out of every five houses is destroyed in that area. >> in this neighborhood, the first structure completely destroyed. the play ground beside it still standing. farther down the road, a car with its windows blown out. roof tops on front yards. this mailbox, a symbol of the strength of the winds that came through here. search he and rescue teams are going door to door in search of the people who did not evacuate. irma has claimed the lives of at leaf 15 people throughout

florida. while electricity has been restored to more than 2 million customers never florida, tonight, over 4.3 million customers are still without power. repair crews, more than 20,000 strong from 30 states and canada, are working around the clock but many are now bracing for what may be another long night in the dark without air conditioning. >> it is intense. we take it step by step. one job at a time. >> in lee county, at least 21 people hospitalized with carbon monoxide poisoning. authorities spreading the word tonight to homeowners. if you have a generator, you must keep it outside. restoring electricity to the whole state could take weeks. kathleen thompson has her power back. >> it just came on about two hours ago. what does it feel like? >> oh, my gosh, i'll inviting my whole family over here.

no one had power or food. now we can take a shower. >> several relatives are staying with her. >> 16. >> 16 people in a three bedroom house. >> yes. >> but in some parts of the state, life is slowly returning to normal. >> take a look at this epic travel jam. residents are finally able to go back home. >> clean-up is underway but ocean drive, more like a beach than a boulevard. >> the beach is over here but the sand is over here. it just covered it. >> adding to the headaches, the need for gas. for the most part, if you want to wait in line in florida, you can get the necessities. but a much different situation in the caribbean. a lag of basic supplies is acute. >> almost everything is broken down. we need water and food. >> even as the french president macron visited today promising

to help. >> we are trying to fix the situation regarding health, education, access to water, energy. >> not just st. martin. last wednesday, richard branson took to twitter to say he was riding out the storm with others in his wine cellar in his private resort in the british virgin islands. his estate was destroyed by hurricane irma. since then he's helping with efforts, pledging to raise money for reconstruction projects. taking a social media to bring attention to the desperately needed recovery. back in the u.s. while the most recent spotlight has been on the destruction in florida, houston has been recovering slowly in the weeks since hurricane harvey flooded the city, destroying buildings, inundating neighborhoods and pushing thousands from their homes in the shelters. >> overwhelmingly devastating. it is a mess everywhere.

>> 75 people died as a result of that storm. according to public safety, an estimated 37,000 home have been seriously damaged or destroyed. >> our entire neighborhood is underwater. >> today some neighborhoods in west houston are still flooded and despite many relief efforts, some houston residents are struggling to get back on their feet and rebuild. >> everything we had down there is gone. >> just overwhelming destruction at the hands of mother nature in the last few weeks. >> there are that's of people throughout who need our help. >> tonight's telethon -- ♪ ♪ >> raising more than $15 million in an hour. >> please, give what you can. >> just one small step in a huge rebuilding effort.

for "nightline," miami, florida. ♪ hallelujah up next, she took on the struggles of all women in songs like i'm pretty. now she is opening up about her own struggles behind the scenes. , does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz. before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase your risk of infections

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tl watkins or t-bosnzzzz

of the most popular group of all time. pretty impressive. she said her doctors never thought she would live past 30. she opens up to robin roberts about rising above her medical struggles to live a sick life. ♪ >> music sensation tlc, nothing defines the trio style quite like scrub. >> a guy who can't get no love from me. he is on the passenger side pretending to have things he doesn't have. >> hey! that's not even your car. >> t-boz watkins was the t in tlc along with left eye and chilli. they would become one of the best selling groups of you a time. r & b and pop captivated the

music of the 1990s. promoting a fep willist in message with songs like unpretty. tackling gang violence. and the aids epidemic in their hit, water fall. >> what's your all time favorite tlc song? >> i don't have one. i have a video of water fall. ♪ don't go chasing water because the ♪ >> you can't swim. you had scuba divers down there. >> i was so scared. when you go on the tour, on universal, it's right here. i'm like, yes. >> her signature raspy voice helped propel the rise of the group, multiplatinum records and chart topping hits. behind the scenes, away from the spotlight, she struggled

privately with a crippling illness. in her new memoir, a sick life, she talks about sicle cell and later a brain tumor. >> at the us the meaning behind sick life. >> the title is so much, i've had it all. i wassed at 7 years owed, i would never live past 30. i would be disabled my whole life and have kids. but i traveled the world, i've worked michael jackson. >> at the very height of tlc's popularity, she would be side lined for weeks, sometimes months at a time, fighting for her life. >> you accomplished all of this in and out of the hospital. just talk about dealing with a chronic disease. >> i spent 28 years not being diagnosed correctly. so we didn't really have a handle on exactly what i had so we did the best we could to figure it out. >> describes to people, what happens to you, your body.

>> the he's yift way is to say the oxygen isn't getting into the vital organs. arms, legs, you can't even hold a pencil and write. >> how about your band mates? >> lisa it was one i was really close to the most. she would send me something different every day. she knows i love drums. she took a symbol and drew a clock on it. she said i don't care what anybody says, take all the time you need. >> but lisa left with the sudden death in 2002 would change the group forever. >> music fans around the world mourning the loss this morning. >> she was tragically killed in a car crash while in honduras. >> 15 years in honduras that the world lost her. you lost her. what was that moment like? how did it impact everything in life for you? >> that was one of the hardest times in my life. i wasn't used to walking into the grocery store and seeing a

magazine with her face on it with death numbers. it was hard for years. lisa died three or four days after i got out of the hospital. so i was frail and 90 pounds which made me sick again. then i had a bad divorce, then a brain tumor. all in a row. >> what kept you going? most people would have said, i'm done. >> my daughter. i have to be here to take care of my baby. i can't leave my daughter. that was my fight. >> now after a 15-year hiatus, and with her feeling healthier, tlc is back releasing what they say the their fifth and final album. this production coming together via the crowd sourcing fight, kick starter, which raised nearly half a million dollars. proving to all their haters, they still got it.

>> 15 years, people are like, what are you doing? sometimes you're as good as your last album or movie or whatever. okay. want me to show you i still got it? no problem. i'll bring it. we headline tour this summer. it went awesome. tionne and rozonda chilli thomas. >> we keep her spirit alive in our music. nobody will fill that voice. she's up there rocking with us. >> what do you want to remain? >> like trend setting with clothes, hair style, the fun, the good stuff. the lyrical content, making a difference, making people feel better. ♪ i've got dreams >> in the studio, she has set her sights on another dream.

a new solo project. >> i just want to be healthy and happy in my personal life, with my kids. i want to be joyful. and i want to have peace. >> and scrubs need not apply. >> absolutely. still no scrubs. >> for "nightline," l.a. ♪ up next, the creepy clown thriller it, breaking records at the box office. the psychological reason for our cultural clown-ophobia. abc news "nightline."

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if you're not already creeped out by clowns, you might be after you see this. here's abc's nick watt. >> the biggest september opening weekend ever. the biggest horror movie opening weekend of all time. the stephen king adaptation about doubled its projected

hold. why? maybe it's because it's so scary. anyone? >> i think they're scary because they're familiar. there's this thing called the uncanny valley. this idea that things that look familiar but are just slightly off. they're offputting. >> the 1990 mini series clowns what jaws did for sharks. made worse by the likes of bart's creepy clown bed. the dark knight. american horror story. the weird global rash of clown sightings last week. a bizarre psa. >> if you want to act like a clown, we have no problem treating you like one. >> now this. not everyone is loving it. the world clown association telling us, remember these are all fictional characters. real clowns in no way come appear to the horrific images

created by special effect make-up artists for hollywood purposes. underneath scary make-up, a nice-looking swedish actor. >> i never really got into the idea of being scared. >> i don't like it. it scares me. >> seeing the man behind the make-up doesn't make it any less awful. for "nightline," los angeles. >> oh, boy. our thanks to nick for that report. and now we turn to the passing of an unlikely chile of gay rights. edith windsor whose fight for marriage equality led to a landmark supreme court ruling died today. she was the lead plaintiff in a case that struck down the defense of marriage act and helped pave the way for federal recognition of same sex marriages. >> as we increasingly came out, people saw we didn't have horns.

people learned that we were their kids and their cousins and their friends. all of whom were coming out for the first time. and i think it just, it just grew to where we were human beings like everybody else. and i really think that's what made the change. i'm talking to you freely. i would have been hiding in a closet ten years ago. >> shef was 88. ♪

♪ be a powerful force. nature valley