making news in america this morning, demanding answers. the president's facing new pressure to explain the ambush in africa that left four americans dead and how the white house reached out to their families. >> i stand by what i heard him say. >> plus, the story behind the president's personal check to one soldier's family. captured. the manhunt for a shooting suspect that crossed state lines. >> one of the most heinous acts in our county. >> the hunt for that suspected killer. what happens after we die? this morning scientists reveal your brain can still be airport scare, passengers screaming in horror at a terrifying pilot's stunt. the new fallout from this frightening flight. does first lady melania

trump have a body double? the new obsession online this morning. and we do say good morning on this thursday. we'll start with the new questions growing surround the deaths of those four american service members in africa. >> the four green berets were ambushed by dozens of isis fighters in niger and the body of sergeant la david johnson was not recovered for nearly 48 hours and while the pentagon investigates whether any warning signs were missed senator john mccain is accusing the white house of not being upfront about what happened. >> this comes as the president takes heat for waiting 12 days to personally respond to the soldiers' deaths. his communication is coming under scrutiny and serena marshall is following all the developments from washington. good morning to you. >> reporter: kendis, diane, good morning and it's not just that call but the president's new claim that he's called virtually every family of a fallen soldier.

it's the moment the commander in chief becomes comforter in chief calling the families of fallen soldiers. president trump launched a firestorm with this false comparison. >> most of them didn't make calls. >> reporter: now going a step further. >> i have called i believe everybody but certainly i'll use the word virtually everybody. >> reporter: the associated press reports some families say they have not heard from this white house at all. the administration disputes that. at least one family who did speak to the president was promised a $25,000 gift. >> he didn't have to say that. he could have just said i'm sorry for your loss. >> reporter: months later the white house says that check is in the mail. the administration still defending its handling of the calls after the president allegedly told this grieving pregnant widow he knew what he was signing for but it still hurts. >> had a very nice conversation with the woman with the wife who is sounded like a lovely woman. did not say what the

congresswoman said. >> reporter: frederica wilson not backing down. >> he said that. he said it. he said it. he said it. >> reporter: and now adding that he never mentioned sergeant la david johnson by name. >> he kept referring to him as your guy. >> reporter: sergeant johnson's mother confirming wilson's account to "the washington post." saying president trump did disrespect my son and my daughter and also me and my husband. >> reporter: while the president continues to defend those calls the white house is being pressed to explain what went wrong in niger as differing accounts of what happened that night emerge. kendis, diane. >> all right, john mccain is calling for an investigation. serena marshall, thank you. former president obama is stepping back into the political spotlight today for the first time since leaving the white house. he'll be campaigning for democrats running for governor in new jersey and virginia. and an adviser tells abc news not to expect any trump bashing from the former president but says obama may refer to the importance of honoring veterans and their families an apparent

nod to president trump's recent criticism of his communication with families of fallen soldiers. turning to the health care battle in washington, 19 states are now asking a federal judge to force the trump administration to make subsidy payments that the president cut off last week. after sending mixed signals president trump says he is opposed to a bipartisan deal in the senate. that would offer a short-term fix. he calls the plan's proposed $7 billion in subsidy payments a bailout to insurance companies. well, the man wanted for six shootings in maryland and delaware is in custody this morning. radee prince was captured last night after a brief foot chase near a high school in delaware during which police say he tossed a gun accused of killing three of his former co-workers and injuring two others at an office park in maryland. he then drove to delaware where police say he settled a score with a former co-worker. local residents left stunned by the violence. >> this is really, really a sad event that has happened. here it is again another event,

another tragedy and, you know, when everything is over and everybody -- the cameras go, here we go again. but there's people and people have lost lives. >> prince has a long criminal record including a history of workplace violence. the university of florida is bracing for today's appearance by white nationalist richard spencer. more than 500 police officers will be on patrol. gainesville city officials have also banned weapons and shields in part of downtown fearing potentially violent protests like those in charlottesville, virginia, over the summer. many students have left campus. some have called for classes to be canceled as a precaution. the school is spending an estimated $600,000 on security. well, wall street begins today at a new record high. 30 years to the day after black monday when the s&p index posted the single largest one day drop in history. the dow picked up 160 points on

wednesday closing above 23,000 for the first time. the nasdaq and s&p also in record territory. now, analysts say row boss corporate earnings and president trump's plan to cut taxes are driving the markets higher. a lot of folks would say right now the economy is in a sweet spot. one person called it as good as it gets for the u.s. consumer. >> 26 all-time records since the president saw election. i mean, it's just -- this market is so strong. >> reporter: everybody feeling bullish. while many analysts expect the market to keep climbing perhaps for the next year but do point out that old adage of what goes up must come down. eventually. >> now let's take a look at your weather on this thursday morning. the storms just keep on rolling into the northwest. forecasters say it's like a conveyer belt of pacific moisture with more wind and rain across the region today. through the weekend. tens of thousands of people are without power. it'll be 56 degrees in seattle

and portland today. readings will be in the low 70s around the great lakes and in the northeast. meanwhile, temperatures will reach the 70s and higher just about everywhere else today. 76 in denver. 96 degrees in phoenix. 85 in houston and warming up. coming up, a stunning new report on how russia is trying to stir up racial tensions here in the u.s. even after the election. also, a massive fire and explosion rocks a downtown area. all blamed on a food cart. a scene right out of "top gun" but with a much larger plane so the question is how risky was this move and hear what the pilots had to say abo

some air balloon pilots are in big trouble after what some are calling a risky stunt as they approach the airport in germany they performed an unauthorized flyover. many of them terrified. well, it turns out this was air berlin's final long haul flight and the pilots said they wanted to make a dignified and emotional good-bye now suspended. >> heading in from miami. president trump is meeting today with puerto rico's governor at the white house. they'll discuss relief efforts one month after hurricane maria. less than 20% of the island has power and about 30% of the island still has no access to drinking water. we have some new video of the devastation on the island of dominica. two-thirds of the people have been displaced. we spoke with one man struggling to survive but still trying to help others.

>> we have our life and we can at least house people down here once it's cleared. you know, because there's a lot of homeless. >> the sewage system there was destroyed. the entire island is right now without access to running water. >> we're getting our first look at possible versions of president trump's border wall with mexico being built in san diego mostly made of concrete. the companies are hoping to build a final version have until october 26th to complete their 30-foot-high designs. a federal appeals court ruled a war memorial in maryland called the peace cross violates the constitution. the monument maintained with public money endorses religion. supporters call the ruling a dangerous precedent that could lead to the removal of monuments nationwide and say they'll appeal to the supreme court. the fda has approved a second gene therapy to fight cancer. the treatment called yescarta changed the patient's own cells into a living drug. the altered cells attack the

cancer. it is approved for certain adults with aggressive forms of non-hodgkins lymphoma. another headline in the world of science, what happens 5 of we die? researchers at new york university have figured out that the brain can remain active shortly after death meaning in some cases people can be aware that they've passed away. possibly even hearing their death announced by doctors. the researchers came to that conclusion after studying patients who had been revived after a heart attack. >> ooh. that's eerie. coming up, the new push to get people to close their bedroom door when they go to bed. we'll explain. but first troubling new details about how russia has been trying to stoke racial tensions right here in the u.s. that massive fire igniting an explosion in a major city all because of a food cart.

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♪ black matters ♪ we didn't leave but we had to -- >> that's music from hip-hop artist ruff the ruler duped into recording it by someone claiming to be with a civil rights group called black matters u.s. >> congressional investigators say it was all the work of russian internet trolls trying to stir up racial tensions here in the usa. here's abc's brian ross. ♪ ♪ hey black matters >> reporter: congressional investigators say it was sit up by the russians during the election to stir up racial tensions. >> i don't think it's fair. >> reporter: the st. louis rapper who wrote the muk irfor the video said he got messages from people he didn't know writing a song about police

brutality. >> i had no idea it was russian anything like that. no, sir. it messed me up. >> reporter: all part of a sophisticated campaign that included facebook ads, twitter posts and efforts to organize at least two big rallies, one against police brutality. u.s. investigators believe it was directed from the so-called troll factory in st. petersburg, russia. >> as a way to suppress votes and stoke fear at a level of physical indication that i don't think we appreciated at the time. >> reporter: investigators say the russian factory also is behind these youtube videos first vorted by "the daily beast" attacking hillary clinton. >> clinton is not our candidate. >> reporter: the speakers claim to be in atlanta. but investigators think they may actually be people hired by the russians in africa and the russians remained busy even after the election. another russian group called black fist organized self-defense classes supposedly for protection against the police. five american fitness trainers

were hired to run them. taking advantage of people who care about the community. >> right. it's very underhanded. >> reporter: the midterm election are just over a year away and no national strategy on dealing with the issue. brian ross, abc news, new york. >> thanks to brian there. a terrifying scene in the meantime, unfolded in portland, oregon, just as hundreds were leaving work. this is the moment. that's a food cart exploding. the fire spread to another food cart as you can see. ten cars as well. people in a nearby office building ten floors up say they could feel the heat. now, fire officials say an employee of one of the carts was pouring diseasele fuel into a generator when it ignited no one seriously injured. we turn to a public safety campaign being launched this morning with a very simple message. close your bedroom door before you go to sleep. it's being called close before you doze. a safety company said a controlled fire to demonstrate how crucial that can be in

protecting you and giving you extra time in a fire. a texas woman who survived a house fire that killed her parents says their smoke alarm wasn't working and closing her door saved her life. >> closing the door helped me to still have clean air and to really figure out a way to get out. >> fire investigators also say having your door closed can make a 900-degree difference. it can also protect you from carbon monoxide. >> the usa gymnastics organization is praising the strength of two-time olympic medalist mckayla maroney who has come forward to say she was molested for years by a former team doctor. maroney describes allegations of abuse against dr. larry nassar including one especially disturbing night in tokyo when she was only 17 years old. marrone anyway says he gave her a sleeping pill and assaulted her in a row tell room. she said i thought i was going to die that night.

he is behind bars awaiting two trials. the cubs' hopes for a world series repeat still alive. >> they used three home runs to avoid being swept away by the dodgers last night. the final score was pretty close. 3-2. game five, though, is tonight. another game also means extra dance opportunities for the cubs bullpen. >> aeshgs, yeah. >> every home runs means more dancing and certainly hoping for the chance to shake it again tonight and so are we. >> we're hoping for more home runs. >> just for the sake of the show. coming up the extreme measure one city is making to land amazon's new headquarters. does first lady melania trump have a body double. the pictures behind all the buzz. the boy bringing culture to the school cafeteria.

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♪ time for "the pulse" and today's the deadline for cities to submit their bids if they want to become amazon's east coast headquarters. >> tough to top one georgia city and their efforts there. the city of stone crest is offering to become the ultimate company town by changing its name to amazon, georgia. >> bold move and now the current mayor says he's asking the state to create a new law that would install amazon ceo jeff bezos as the permanent unelected mayor of stone crest if the city wins the bid. >> wow. they're going pretty far. >> sweetening the deal a little bit. up next, speculation over whether first lady melania trump has a body double. >> it started with this tweet

which claimed that the woman with the president was not very convincing substitute. not everyone bought it so the same guy sent out another picture of mrs. trump viewed through a limo's window. >> well, his tweet set off a wave of mockery in the twitterverse and tried again with this side-by-side comparison. of course, keep in mind melania trump is a former fashion model. she's usually donning lots of varieties of styles. >> i don't know. they look the same. thousand to a collection of teeny tiny body doubles. >> lego unveiled its women of nasa mini figures. the set includes nancy grace roman, a recreater of the hubble telescope. margaret hamilton and sally ride and mae jemison, the first african-american women in space. >> it included a nasa mathematician, katherine johnson who is featured in the movie

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good morning. it's 4:27 on this thursday, october 19. the gang's all here except for natasha. she is off today. we are here to serve you up weather, traffic and news. we start with mike nicco. another cool night. >> it felt good and then you wake up in the morning. it's a little misty outside. >> it was a little too cold for me. >> okay, jess. >> jessica. >> seriously. >> it was winter. it was winter in san francisco. >> wow. you're really not going to like the next two mornings. check out these winds. they are definitely pointing to the east. a definitive onshore wind which

means cleaner air and a healthy chance of rain. i said healthy. take a look at traffic. here is alexis. i had my wipers on pretty much the entire drive in. the bay bridge toll plaza. a stackup in the cash lanes and trying to look closely. it is very light. just keep that in mind. it's been a while since we've had any rain obviously and we could have some slick spots out there this morning. westbound 580 tracy to dublin. 31 minutes. 680 dublin to mission boulevard looks great at 14. 101 to cupertino in the green at 16 minutes. alexis, thank you. hundreds of people are still out of their homes and firefighters face add series of setbacks in the santa cruz mountains. matt keller is live.

>> reporter: this fire is 15% contained. the real hope is that some rain will arrive tonight. they're dealing with hot spots and damaged trees they have to take down. the number threatened has doubled to about 300. residents not knowing what residents not knowing what they'll return to. >> that's when it hit me. wow, we could lose everything. >> reporter: another problem, looting. sheriff's deputies arrested marlin coy suspected of burglarizing a house. water drops were temporarily grounded because of a drone. cal fire is holding their briefing at 7:00 and we'll find out how they did overnight. out how they did overnight. reporting live, matt keller

7 news. we'll start with the 12-hour day planner. what i want to show you here, a sneak peek, it's gone right now. the low clouds are hanging around the exploratorium. some mist and drizzle. it's definitely out there. temperatures are actually warmer than they were yesterday because of the cloud cover. 49 to about 54 degrees at 7:00. noon will be mainly gray. 57 to 62. not much of a temperature change. we'll have some sprinkles for most of us. some showers developing in the north bay at 4:00. and then all of us will be dealing with scattered showers by 7:00, 57 to 61. we'll have an hour by hour look next. here's