>> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> have a great day. making news in america this morning, president trump fuming over the russia investigation lashing out on twitter. what's fueling his anger and why he's now admitting what that infamous meeting between donald trump jr. and a russian lawyer was about. drone attack. six people arrested in what's being called a failed assassination attempt on the president of venezuela. a dramatic moment an explosive laden drone went off near the president. what the white house is saying after a claim that the united states is to blame for the attack. breaking overnight, the woman who played mrs. garrett passing away. charlotte rae dead at 92. how her "facts of life" co-stars are remembering rae this morning.

plus, a girl rescued from a rock quarry after getting her leg stuck. how rescuers used everything from hydraulic tools to a little bit of dish soap to free her. epic photo shoot. why this student used a 14-foot alligator in her graduation pictures. good monday morning. i'm maggie rulli in for diane macedo. >> and i'm kendis gibson. we're going to begin with the clearest acknowledgement yet from the president about the true purpose of his son's trump tower meeting with a russian lawyer with close ties to the kremlin. >> the president is coming to the defense of donald trump jr. but he also seems to be acknowledging that his initial explanation was misleading. abc's elizabeth hur joins us with the latest. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: well, maggie and kendis, good morning to you. that admission from president

trump is a first, but he is still not changing his story about when he found out about the meeting. this morning president trump is defending his son don junior and downplaying the real reason behind that trump tower meeting tweeting, this was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics and it went nowhere. i did not know about it. >> did you tell your father anything about this? >> no. it was such a nothing, there was nothing to tell. >> reporter: initially don junior claimed the meeting was about russian adoptions and while president trump now admits for the first time why the meeting occurred, he is adamant he did not know about it. but according to sources, his former personal attorney michael cohen says the president did know before it happened. on "this week" one of president trump's current attorneys maintains there was nothing illegal about the meeting. >> the question is what law, statute or rule or regulation has been violated. no one has pointed to one. >> reporter: this as the president also fired back at reports he was worried

about the potential legal questions surround his son's involvement in that meeting calling the reports a complete fabrication and the russia investigation a witch-hunt. the president frustrated. special counsel robert mueller wants to question him about possible obstruction of justice. well, the president's lawyers say right now they have concerns about allowing mueller to interview president trump and so if subpoenaed, they say they are prepared to take it all the way to the supreme court. kendis and maggie. >> you get a sense this will be a long battle, indeed. elizabeth hur with us in new york, thank you. next to the alleged assassination attempt on the president of venezuela. the white house is denying the u.s. was behind the drone blast. some six suspects are in custody, but there are questions about whether the incident was an attack at all. here's matt gutman. >> reporter: venezuelan president nicolas maduro speaking at a military parade in the capital when chaos erupts.

maduro with his wife by his side looking up. you can see his wife flinching then the feed cuts out. bodyguards swarming to protect him. at the sound of an explosion soldiers and military bands who had been standing at attention breaking ranks and scattering. smoke rising over the city. maduro unscathed and defiant. hours later claiming this was all an assassination attempt by drones. alive and rick tortuous ready to continue the battle, he says. his interior minister releasing an image of the kind of drones they say were used in the alleged attack claiming the would-be assassins detonated two drones carrying c-4 explosives, one targeting the stage, the other exploding at the base of a building as it fell. but firefighters on the scene disputing that claim telling the associated press at least one of the explosions was from a gas tank in a nearby apartment building. the potential coup coming at a

time of extreme hardship in the once wealthy venezuela and earlier this year, we traveled to the venezuela/colombia border witnessing thousands fleeing the country. this place gets about 200 to 300 a day, many of them suffering from the effects of hunger. the government blaming the incident on far right factions inside the country who they say collaborated with conspirators in both colombia and the united states. >> if the government of venezuela has hard information that they want to present to us that would show a potential violation of u.s. criminal law, we'll take a serious look at it. >> reporter: the venezuelan government say seven people were injured but no one was killed. matt gutman, abc news, new york. back here at home, 11 starving children have been rescued from a filthy compound in rural new mexico. authorities say they were searching for a missing 3-year-old when they found the

children ranging in ages from 1 to 15 years old. fbi agents had their eye on the area for weeks and finally searched the property after getting a message people were starving and needed food and water. >> it was disheartening to see that in this day and age that people could live that way. no running water, no electricity. it was -- they were in bad shape. >> two men were arrested during the search. the 3-year-old is still missing. the children were taken into emergency protective custody and it's unclear how long they were at that compound. search and rescue efforts are under way this morning after a powerful earthquake hit indonesia. the 7.0 earthquake hit a popular resort near bali. at least 91 have died and hundreds more are injured. most of the dead were killed by falling debris. this, by the way, the second deadly quake in a week to hit this town. there are nearly 70 wildfires burning across the

country with some of the most dangerous in california. that's where twin wildfires dubbed the mendocino complex exploded in size over the weekend. it's now one of the largest wildfires in the state's history scorching more than 250,000 acres. that blaze is also threatening more than 1,500 homes and businesses. thousands have been forced to evacuate. then smoke and haze from the ferguson fire is closing parts of yosemite park indefinitely and this is coming at the height of tourism season. time now for a look at your weather for this monday morning. good morning. we still have a tremendous amount of dry heat in the desert southwest. sweltering conditions in southern california, portions of nevada going into arizona. further northwest it remains hot as well throughout washington as well as goinerent conditions kick in for us. in fact, you take a look at the

real feel, we expect the people like to be 100 to 105 from boston to new york and down to d.c. and watching out for rain by midweek. i'm accuweather meteorologist paul williams. well, coming up, demi lovato's breaking her silence for the first since an apparent overdose. and also ahead, a 9-year-old selling lemonade is robbed at gunpoint. who police say they're looking for. and a young girl is saved after getting her leg trapped in a rock quarry. we'll see her reunion with the rescuers

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people formed a human chain to save a swimmer from rough waters on lake michigan. the 64-year-old wyoming man was rushed to the hospital, but later pronounced dead.

he was actually one of two fatalities in grand haven, michigan. three others were hospitalized. all five people on board are dead after a small plane crashed into a parking lot near los angeles. the ntsb is on the scene where the twin engine cessna went down near john wayne airport. no one on the ground was hurt. investigators say the pilot called in an emergency just moments before the crash. the plane was registered to a san francisco real he state company. at least 20 people were arrested in berkeley, california, as right wing demonstrators clashed with counterprotesters. ultra conservatives carrying trump banners faced off with people taking part in a stop the hate rally. police used smoke canisters and rubber bullets after protesters threw fireworks. they smashed city owned cars and set dumpsters on fire. dozens of weapons were

confiscated but there were no serious injuries. in chicago now at least 63 people were shot, 10 fatally since friday. nearly half of those happened during just a 2 1/2-hour period. one paramedic describing saturday evening into sunday morning as a war zone. authorities blame most of that violence on gang activity. wells fargo is facing yet another public relations nightmare. this time it's blaming a computer glitch for causing hundreds of people to lose their homes. the bank admits that a calculation error may have led to the denial of mortgage modifications for more than 600 customers with 400 homes eventually foreclosed. wells fargo has set aside $8 million to compensate those homeowners, but that only amounts about to $20,000 each. well, facebook employees are now internally testing their company's new dating feature. when it's released, it will be based inside facebook's main app. users will have to opt into the dating feature. when they do they'll be able to browse potential matches based on information that facebook already knows about them. no word on when the feature

could actually debut. dating feature at your workplace. could be interesting. well, coming up, remembering "facts of life" star charlotte rae. also, the red tide ravaging south florida. what experts say is causing it. why the penn state football coach was showing off some massive welts during a press conference. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough it can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, certain liver tests.

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the first survivor of alzis out there.ase and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. join the fight with the alzheimer's association. how do you want to be remembered? if they think i'm a wonderful actress, an actor, a good actor, that would make me happy and then aside from being a good actor, if i ever made them laugh, which god knows we need, don't we? >> yes. >> we need as many laughs as we can get, right? >> well, you were successful. the actress charlotte rae did make people laugh as mrs. garrett on the '80s sitcom "the facts of life."

the 98 -- 92-year-old dying overnight battling bone cancer. rae first appeared as mrs. garrett on "diff'rent strokes." todd bridges, the only original cast member tweeted about his former co-star saying, "diff'rent strokes" would not have been the same without you. you were loved by everyone on our show and you were loved by everyone on "the facts of life." we'll miss you. my heart is full of pain. rest in peace my friend. todd bridges talking about charlotte rae. a minnesota teenager knows how it feels to get caught between a rock and a hard place, quite literally. >> yeah, so she ended up wedged in a giant rock 40 feet in the air and it took nearly five hours to free her and a product that many of us use every day. here's gio benitez. >> how are you? >> i'm good. >> reporter: charlotte ericson is one lucky teen. now thanking the man who helped save her life. >> i can't believe that your knee is okay which it looks like it's great. >> reporter: the two reunited on

firm ground, quite a different setting than their first meeting wednesday. the 13-year-old was clinging on for dear life after a rock climbing trip with her summer camp in sandstone, minnesota, took a turn for the worse. >> i was climbing up and i was -- there's a big rock that i kind of had to get over to get to the top and i gave myself a big boost but then my knee got caught in one of the cracks. the crack was more of like a "v" shape so i fell down into that. >> reporter: the rope rescue teams using a combination of tools to free scarlet over a grueling 4 1/2 hours. from jaws of life, a hydraulic extraction tool to a hammer to chisel away at the rock but the biggest boost coming from a surprising household item. >> the leg was just so stuck that we couldn't get it to move around and having the soap inside there, the dawn dish soap made that move around a lot more

easily. >> reporter: after only one hour in the hospital, a miracle recovery. scarlet now giving thanks to those who got her back on her feet. gio benitez, abc news, new york. a gunpoint robbery in north carolina has left police stunned. that's because the victim was a 9-year-old who was running a le the terrified child says a 14-year-old boy held the gun to his stomach then ran off with his money tin. police say the weapon turned out to be a bb gun, but the boy's father says his son is still shaken up. >> he's been out there a couple saturdays before and never had an incident like this happen. we had to explain to him bad things do happen to good people and it's -- you know, you never know when it's going to happen to you. >> the boy was right back out there selling lemonade yesterday. this time his parents were by his side. he also runs a lawn mowing business and in that instance the crook got away with $17. >> well, florida is facing a growing disaster called the red tide leaving beaches littered with dead fish. evenatees and sharks have washed ashore along

the coastline. but runoff from lake okeechobee seems to be making it worse. experts say it's the worst they've seen since 2006. the red tide makes it dangerous to breathe in some areas. and if you swim in an infested beach, it's harmful if ingested. demi lovato is making her first public comments since an apparent drug overdose nearly killed her last month. the pop star took to instagram thanking god, her family, her team, her fans and the staff at cedars-sinai hospital in los angeles. she also vowed to keep fighting her addiction saying it's something she must continue to overcome. lovato also said she will need time to heal and focus on her sobriety. a team bonding exercise for penn state's football squad backfired on the team's head coach. james franklin learned the hard way you shouldn't give paint ball guns to people you make practice for hours every day. you see the results. he showed off the big welts he picked up during the team

building trip and said they let loose on him when he wasn't even supposed to be shot. >> got a little personal with that show and tell. >>hanks for that one. up next on "the pulse," what could be the most famous airbnb in the world? and also ahead, the reason this young lady is standing so dangerously close to that huge alligator. plus, one fan's epic fail at the ballpark. it all went so horribly, horribly wrong. stick around. a study with ozem, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? (vo) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (vo) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? ♪ ozempic®! ♪ ozempic® sho

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and if you have any medical conditions. man: ask your doctor about jardiance and get to the heart of what matters. now from abc 7, live breaking news. >> a shooting shut down traffic going eastbound early this morning. one person is dead, another is hurt. and you're looking here at the bridge from our south beach camera. >> you can see traffic pretty much at a stop, although it should start moving slowly soon. the chp says just before 2:30 this morning, someone in a vehicle opened fire at an suv. that suv crashed into a third vehicle just west of treasure i island. the vehicle where the shots came from got away. >> the shutdown has had an early impact on our commute and alexis is tracking what is happening there. alexis, what's the update? >> we just got some great news from chp. a couple moments ago, they are saying one lane is now open on

the lower deck of the bay bridge. no one moving yet. we can't see anybody that has gotten through the single lane opening they just did. hopefully we will have quite a bit of improvement here in a few minutes. i have been checking in with our partners at waez and these guys have been here almost two hours. the driver said that chp came through and told them to turn offer their vehicles. it is going to be a while. obviously an investigation is under way. i will definitely keep you updated on the lane closures this morning and quickly want to zoom in on our maps and show you the red line does trach back into san francisco. if you are heading out, recommending san mateo bridge or richmond s richmond san rafael bridge. >> thank you very much. good morning, everybody. waking up mid to upper 50s. 50ss half moon bay, san francisco, novato, 50 to 52 th

los gatos and 67 in san jose and 63 in cloverdale. let's see where we end up later this afternoon. and where we're going to end up our temperatures that are going to see quite a summer spread from 63 at half moon bay to 70 in san francisco to 80 in freemont. you can see 97 in antioch. and 93 in santa rosa. this is just the beginning of the warmer trend. more details coming up. here's jessica and reggie. >> thank you. the ntsb now looking to figure out what brought down a plane that killed five employees of a bay area business. >> that plane crashed at an orange county shopping center close to john wayne airport. abc 7 news reporter amy hollyfield live for us in danville this morning. amy? >> good morning, reggie. we got a list of the five victim names overnight and it appears three of them work here at this pacific union real estate office here in danville. also looks like there might be a couple relatives on board that plane. take a look at the names, range in age, these victims, from 29

to 62. scott shepherd was the pilot, and floria hakimi and lara shepherd and na individu individual hakimi and nasim ghanadan. she is a realtor in danville and on the website says she treats her clients like family and her family did confirm she was on a business trip being on board this plane. this plane crashed in a shopping center parking lot in santa ana close to the airport. the pilot needed to make an emergency landing but crashed in the parking lot killing everyone on board. a witness heard a loud noise from the engine. >> i don't know if he lost control or there was something wrong with the engine. but you can hear everything was loud. >> reporter: no one was hurt on the ground. again, the pilot did declare an

emergency in the air and given