making news in america this morning, a birthday celebration turning tragic when 20 people die in a limousine crash. >> this was one of the biggest losses of life that we've seen in a long, long time. >> what we're learning about the victims and new questions this morning about the limo company's safety record. tracking michael. the powerful storm gaining strength in the gulf of mexico. >> this storm will be life-threatening and extremely >> the warning from officials and the storm's latest track. medical mystery. the illness that could leave children paralyzed. a spike in cases baffling american doctors. what's behind the sudden increase? plus, an urgent warning omst the climate crisis looming

earlier than they expected. a popular drinkmaker facing cockroach insecticide? and that's no doormat. ba family's front door. and we do say good morning on this monday, everyone. i'm kendis gibson. >> i'm lynda lopez in for diane macedo. we begin with that limo crash in new york state that left 20 people dead. >> yeah, we're learning some new details this morning about the young victims including two newlyweds married this june, and we're also learning more about the limo company's troubling safety record. this morning, a community left reeling after the country's worst transportation accident in nearly a decade. >> we need multiple ambulances. put a med life on standby. >> reporter: the accident killing 20 people on a highway west of albany. investigators say a limousine

ran a stop sign plowing through >> i heard this loud bang, and then i heard screaming. i walked up, and i could see this large van, very unusual looking vehicle, in the bushes and really wrecked. >> reporter: two pedestrians and all 18 people in the limousine were killed. >> 20 fatalities is just horrific. >> reporter: barbara douglas lost several relatives in the crash and says the limo was carrying a group of people to a 30th birthday party. >> i had four nieces. they're all dead. they were in there. >> reporter: among the victims, axel and amy steenburg, newlyweds erin vertucci and shane mcgowan and abby and adam jackson who leave behind a 4-year-old and a 16-month-old. karina halse says her sister amanda was also in the limo and says she knew something was wrong when her sister wasn't texting her back. >> i had been texting her all day, not even -- i was never

worried about amanda, she was so headstrong and so wise beyond her years. you just didn't really worry about her that much. i knew something was off when she wasn't replying to me right away. >> reporter: the vehicle was a modified 2001 ford excursion like this one seen on the company's website. department of transportation records indicate the company has a troubled past. in just the last two years the company has been inspected five times resulting in vehicles taken out of service four out of those five times. so the ntsb is not commenting right now on the limo speed or what led up to the crash. now, limos in general are not manufactured by the major car companies, and there's no federal agency overseeing their safety. many limos also lack side air bags and other safety advancements. turning now to newly confirmed supreme court justice brett kavanaugh heading to the white house tonight for a special ceremony. kavanaugh will take a seat on the high court tomorrow after a bruising political battle marked

by widespread protesting and sexual misconduct allegations. senator susan collins is defending her critical yes vote that put kavanaugh over the top saying she's very comfortable s ephanie ramos has more from washington. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: lynda, good morning. after weeks of partisan disagreements, protests, sexual misconduct allegations, judge brett kavanaugh will now take that seat on the supreme court. judge brett kavanaugh is officially ready to sit on the supreme court after being confirmed by the narrowest margin in nearly 140 years taking the oath the same day. [ chanting ] angry protests consistent throughout the week and continued over the weekend. kavanaugh, a known conservative, now tipping the balance of the court, something then candidate trump pledged would lead to a change in abortion laws. >> well, if we put another two or perhaps three justices on

that's really what's going to be -- that will happen, and that will happen automatically in my opinion because i am putting pro-life justices on the court. >> reporter: republican senator susan collins who cast the crucial vote for kavanaugh told "60 minutes" she is very comfortable with her decision to support him despite the sexual assault allegations that nearly tanked his nomination. >> i would have voted no if i disbelieved judge kavanaugh, but given his denials and the lack of evidence that this happened, i just did not think that it was fair to ruin the life of this distinguished judge. >> reporter: some democrats are talking about the possibility of impeaching kavanaugh if the party wins back the house in november. but they're making the midterm election, which is only a month away, their main priority. >> the bottom line is that they may have the power right now, but we need to take it back. >> reporter: judge kavanaugh

will begin hearing cases at the supreme court tomorrow. he says he plans on hiring all women clerks. lynda, kendis, back over to you. >> stephanie ramos, thanks so much. and the controversy over brett kavanaugh followed first lady melania trump on her first solo trip overseas. during her stop in egypt, mrs. trump praised kavanaugh as an excellent pick for the lifetime appointment, but she did refrain from sharing her opinion on his accuser, christine blasey ford. >> i think he's highly qualified for the supreme court. i'm glad that dr. ford was heard. >> did you believe christine ford? >> i will move on that, and i think that all the victims, they -- we need to help all the victims no matter what kind of abuse they had, but i am against any kind of abuse or violence. >> and the first lady, we should point out, is back at the white

house, but even though the first lady is siding with the president on kavanaugh, she says that she has her own voice and made it clear that she doesn't always agree with what her husband says. a powerful aftershock has jolted haiti one day after a deadly earthquake. the 5.2 magnitude aftershock was centered about ten miles from the already devastated city of port-de-paix where most of the 12 deaths from saturday's quake were reported. haiti's president is calling on residents to donate blood to the injured. a state of emergency has been declared in the florida panhandle as tropical storm michael threatens the gulf coast. michael could become a category 2 hurricane with 100-mile-an-hour winds by the time it makes landfall on wednesday. now, florida has activated 500 national guard troops and is warning the storm will be life-threatening. let's get a closer look now at your forecast for this monday morning. good morning. michael will continue to strengthen as he leaves the

yucatan peninsula into the heart of the gulf of mexico where it's expected to strengthen thanks to the warm water as well as the lack of wind shear. now, we're expecting for michael to strengthen into a possible category 1 by early tuesday morning, and we're expecting the heaviest rain to hit tallahassee right along this section between florida, alabama, going into georgia, unfortunately, swerving the remnants over towards south carolina. i'm accuweather meteorologist paul williams. and coming up, the facebook hoax that a lot of people are falling for. and also ahead, the urgent new warning from scientists when they now expect a crisis from climate change. and the surprising political announcement from taylor swift.

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we're back with an apparent false alarm, although it created chaos at a hip-hop festival in atlanta overnight. reports of shots fired sent crowds running and jumping fences during a lil wayne concert. the rapper himself rushed offstage during his performance. police have not confirmed any gunfire. one report described it as an altercation. we should mention, though, at least 12 people were injured trying to flee. a new report out this morning from the united nations is warning that the world has less than ten years to get climate change under control or face potential catastrophe. the landmark 728-page report says nations need to take unprecedented action to cut carbon emissions. researchers say emissions must be cut by 45% by the year 2030 or the atmosphere could hit 1.5 degrees of warming. they say that could kill up to 90% of tropical coral reefs and trigger unprecedented sea level rise.

we have more information on the report on our website now. a top vatican official is firing back at the archbishop who rocked the catholic church by accusing pope francis of ignoring sexual misconduct claims. the head of the church's office of bishops says allegations that the pope was covering up for a former cardinal, theodore mccarrick, are a blasphemous political setup, but he acknowledges mccarrick faced disciplinary measures for alleged misconduct before francis took office. and now to the disappearance and the alleged murder of a prominent saudi journalist. jamal khashoggi wrote for "the washington post." he was last seen visiting the saudi consulate in istanbul on tuesday. khashoggi was a harsh critic of the saudi kingdom and they claim he was killed by saudi agents inside that building. but saudi officials deny those allegations. a new hoax is making the rounds on facebook. it's a message that begins with

a warning about a duplicate friend request. users are then urged to forward that same message to friends. it also suggests you may be the victim of a scam that cloned your account. but the company says there's been no cloning scam. you should just delete the email. well, it was a record-setting weekend at the box office. the creature feature "venom" did its part grabbing the top spot with an estimated $80 million in ticket sales. "a star is born" starring bradley cooper and lady gaga also beat expectations earning more than $41 million. combined, it amounts to the best ever october weekend at the box office. all right, coming up right here, the outbreak of a polio-like illness affecting children. where doctors are scrambling to find answers. also ahead, the maker of a popular sparkling water drink is sued accused of using an insecticide as an ingredient. what the company is now saying. and the painting that self-destructed just moments after selling at auction for big money, how much more it could be worth now. after selling at auction for big money, how much more it could be worth now. painting that

self-destructed after sells at an auction. you care for your kids, your parents, and even the guy across the street who waves a lot. and a-a-r-p is here to help. connecting you with the tools you need to navigate the realities of caregiving. think of it as one big hug. take on today and every day with a-a-r-p. little things can be a big deal.

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>> ignition, liftoff. for the 35th time in 21 months, spacex has conducted a successful rocket launch, and for the first time one of its first stage boosters returned to earth in california. >> as you can see it there on the right, pretty impressive. the previous landings, by the way, were in florida. the launch overnight sent an argentinean satellite into orbit. it'll be used for emergency management during disasters. well, doctors in minnesota are on the lookout for a rare illness that has already caused paralysis in several children. >> yeah, its origins are a mystery. now, symptoms start out like a common cold, then they get much worse. here's abc's gio benitez. >> reporter: an unfolding medical mystery in minnesota after six kids are diagnosed with a sudden polio-like illness. >> he started just complaining of just really bad neck stiffness. he couldn't move his neck and then his left arm. >> reporter: 7-year-old quinton hill is one of those children diagnosed with acute flaccid

myelitis or afm. >> we thought it was a dead arm like he was laying on it funny, so we didn't think much of it at first, but a couple hours into not being able to move his arm, we started getting more concerned. >> reporter: at issue, minnesota's department of health says they see at most one case of afm a year. these are six cases in the past three weeks. state health officials now working to figure out why. >> because there isn't a particular germ or pathogen that we know that causes it, and there isn't a treatment for it, it's really pretty challenging for public health to address. >> reporter: and it's an incredibly serious illness. the cdc says afm presents like polio or west nile. symptoms include weakness, loss of muscle tone, facial droop, difficulty swallowing, slurred speech and in severe cases paralysis. >> this is obviously a very serious illness, and what we've told parents is if you have a child who's exhibiting these symptoms, it's really important that they get seen and evaluated right away. >> reporter: gio benitez, abc news, new york.

>> our thanks to gio. a popular sparkling water is under fire this morning. lacroix advertised as being all natural is being sued for allegedly using cockroach insecticide, as well as other artificial ingredients. the lawsuit also claims that the drink's makers are aware of the unnatural ingredients. lacroix denies the allegations. but experts say, even if true, consumers should not jump to conclusions. >> consumers should not be alarmed by this lawsuit. the compounds under discussion occur naturally in citrus beverages like orange juice, lime juice. >> lacroix makers say suppliers have certified the essences are 100% natural. well, it's the fight after the fight that is getting all of the attention thanks to a chaotic series of events in las vegas. first ufc star conor mcgregor was beaten by a russian fighter saturday night, then the winner jumped out of the ring to attack mcgregor's corner. meanwhile, others jumped in. a bunch of people got in a few

blows on mcgregor. the ufc's president is promising serious consequences. >> it's bad. there's going to be an investigation by the nevada state athletic commission. it's going to be big money fines and these guys are in big trouble. >> well, despite the threat of punishment, some analysts say the post-fight chaos will only fuel promotion for a rematch and help the ufc brand. conor mcgregor has already tweeted about another fight saying he's looking forward to it. >> or maybe they just sign up some of those audience members in the crowd. they got in some hits. on sunday night football the battle of texas was in danger of ending with a tie. but houston's deandre hopkins, watch here, had other ideas. his 49-yard catch and run, whoop, another slip, another one. >> whoa. >> wow. set up the winning field g a the texans winning, 19-16. dak prescott not happy with that. there will be baseball at

the home of the braves today. freddie freeman's sixth inning home run was a deciding blow in atlanta's 6-5 win over the dodgers in game three of the series. there was also a grand slam. l.a. is up two games to one in the series. and up next in "the pulse," the surprising political announcement from taylor swift. and also ahead, ditching the holiday where columbus day won't be celebrated today. plus, this giant surprise blocking one family's front door. door. blocking one family's front door. is important to me so being diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer made me think of all the things that i wanted to teach my kids. (avo) another tru story with keytruda. (roger) my doctor said i could start on keytruda so i did. with each scan things just got better. (avo) in a clinical study, keytruda offered patients a longer life than chemotherapy. and it could be your first treatment. keytruda is for adults with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread... ...who test positive for pd-l1 and whose tumors do not have an abnormal "egfr" or "alk" gene.

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instagram post announcing who she is supporting in the senate race in her home state of urgi themselves on the candidates in their area and vote for whomever shares their values. well, art prankster banksy is at it again. this painting by the street artist self-destructed moments after it was sold at auction for more than $1 million. banksy revealing on social media that he booby trapped the painting to shred if it was ever put up for auction. art experts say that prank added up to $5 million to the value of the painting. i don't understand. >> yeah, of course, it did. >> exactly. so columbus, the city, will not honor columbus day today. >> for the first time columbus, ohio, the state's capital which is named for the explorer christopher columbus is not observing today as a federal holiday. officials say they can't afford to give workers a day off on both columbus day and veterans day. they insist the decision is not related to protests by groups who claim the day honors the killing of native americans. workers will get veterans day off instead.

finally, call it an unwelcome mat at a house in louisiana. the owners of this house discovered a massive alligator right outside their front door. >> yeah, police arrived and posted pictures of the gator online. given its size the animal must weigh several hundred pounds. >> let's hope that house had a back door. do you remember that one in south carolina when the gator got up on the front door and was trying to open it? >> yep. >> that would scare me. >> both of those places are excuses for me to say, nope, you can have my house. that's it. it's for sale. it's for sale. e feet... ...grew up the youngest of three kids... ...raised a good sport... ...and became a second-generation firefighter. but i couldn't bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. so i talked to my doctor, and he prescribed lyrica. nerve damage from diabetes cause diabetic nerve pain. lyrica is fda approved to treat this pain from moderate to even severe diabetic nerve pain. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions.

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hi. good morning. thanks for joining us. it's monday, october 8th. you're never more than 7 minutes away from your accuweather forecast. mike nicco is here. a lot of us enjoying the nice weather the last couple of days. >> it got dicey yesterday with the fire in solano county. winds 33 miles per hour mount tam. around 15 to 20 in the hills, altamonte pass and lower elevations of the north bay. areas above 1500 feet in red right there, high fire danger. it's the same areas that have the winds that will government 20 to 30 miles per hour coming out of the north, possibly pushing 50 miles per hour at times. so there could be dedegree on the roads at minute numb.

down trees and power lines at the worst. now the morning commute with sue. >> good morning. it is light for your monday morning drive. we have four lanes in the southbound direction on the golden gate bridge. no delays. it's a crystal clear morning as far as your commute is concerned. san mateo bridge, 14 minutes from hayward to foster city. no delays here whatsoever. looking good on the roads except our usual commuters out of the central valley. we'll touch on that in a couple minutes. breaking news in the east bay. a police manhunt is under way in fremont. >> someone was found dead inside a home. matt keller live at the scene. matt? >> reporter: good morning, reggie. crime scene tap is up here. not a lot of activity. down the street on charleston way, officers are outside a home there. it started 12:30 this morning.

police were called for reports of shots fired. officers found a victim in the home. officers established a large parameter to search for the male suspect. they were utilizing a drone from the alameda county sheriff's office. the police department said there might have been a short time between the shooting. she said at this time investigators are going to be interviewing witnesses who heard the shots. meanwhile, be be aware that you are likely not going to be able to get into this neighborhood. live in fremont, matt keller, abc 7 news. >> matt, thank you. happening today, a ceremony will take place at the white house to mark the confirmation of brett kavanaugh to the u.s. supreme court. kavanaugh and the other eight justices the will get to work tomorrow. they will consider arguments in several tkaeusz as they decide which they will take up. they include minimal sentences

for jailing immigrants during the deportation crisis, and a lawsuit against the navy with navy hurt asbestos. reggie, thank you very much, jessica, everybody. temperatures are up in sheltered valleys. 58 in santa rosa. same thing in san ramon. 57 in concord. everybody else pretty much in the 60s. you can see the camera bouncing from the east bay hills because we had the wind advisory until 9:00. miles temstart. we head from noon to 4:00. breezes will taper throughout the rest of the day. the fire danger will wane. the rest of us in the low to