breaking news in america this morning, what could be a major escalation. iran now claims it has shot down a u.s. drone. the details just coming in. also this morning, the alleged plot to bomb a church in pittsburgh. the refugee under arrest and how the feds tracked him down. joe biden backlash. this morning the 2020 front-runner not apologizing. >> there's not a racist bone in my body. abc news exclusive, the fiance of the woman killed when this massive crane crashed through their building described the terrifying moments and the one thing he was able to save before fleeing. plus, forgetting the time, one island's proposal to get rid of clocks for good.

and what was she thinking? we'll hear from the driver who took her giant teddy bear for a ride. good thursday morning, everyone. we want to get right to breaking news. a u.s. official has now confirmed iran has shot down a u.s. navy drone escalating the already heightened tension between the two countries. >> after the u.s. announced plans to send 1,000 more troops to the region and the drone was shot down in international airspace over the strait of hormuz. a vital shipping lane for oil tankers, but iran's revolutionary guard is claiming the drone was flying over iranian territory and says this sends a, quote, clear message to america. >> the drone similar to this one you see is an unarmed surveillance drone like the one iran allegedly tried to shoot down last week. that incident came after the attacks on two oil tankers in

the gulf of oman which the trump administration blames on oman. iran. some experts say the recent provocations are iran's response to the crippling economic sanctions imposed and tehran is threatening to enrich enough uranium to violate the 2015 nuclear deal by next week. now to the other big story this morning. former vice president joe biden is refusing to apologize. >> he's facing backlash over remarks about working well with senators who were segregation t segregationists. biden is defending his comments saying he doesn't have a racist bone in his body and he's firing back at senator cory booker for calling him out. >> abc's mona kosar abdi has the details from washington. mona, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, janai. good morning, kenneth. biden's comments about the hyperbipartisanship on capitol hill seemed to backfire sparking criticism but now some of his longtime colleagues in washington are coming to his defense saying that his words were taken out of context.

this morning former vice president joe biden not apologizing for his remarks about his early days in the senate. at a new york fund-raiser tuesday biden recalled a time when congress was able to get things done with, quote, civility even when it meant finding common ground with segregationist senators. >> i disagree with the view of the segregationists. you don't have to agree. >> reporter: biden's words receiving sharp rebukes from his 2020 rivals. >> to coddle the reputations of segregationists, of people who if they had their way i would not be standing here as a member of the united states senate is i think -- it's misinformed and it's wrong. >> reporter: senator kamala harris' comments followed by senator cory booker's call for biden to apologize on cnn. >> i'm simply saying that for him not to acknowledge how many people are taking this as hurtful. >> reporter: biden then responding by defending his record. >> apologize for what? >> the call for it -- >> cory should apologize. he knows better.

there's not a racist bone in my body. i've been involved in civil rights my whole career, period. >> reporter: more than half a dozen members of the congressional black caucus also coming to biden's defense including house minority chip jim clyburn, the highest ranking african-american in congress who said in an interview with politico, quote, i worked with strom thurmond all my life. you don't have to agree with people to work with them. and, of course, janai and kenneth, all of this coming ahead of next week's first democratic primary debate in miami. >> on the same day as juneteenth. a syrian refugee is under arrest charged with plotting to attack a local church. prosecutors say the isis inspired plot included an explosive device strong enough likely to kill many people in the surrounding area. fbi agents searched the suspect's apartment yesterday. 21-year-old mustafa mousab alowemer came to the u.s. from syria in 2016. the pastor of the church is thanking law enforcement.

>> i'm grateful that nothing did happen, and i'm grateful we're able to show that god covered us and protected us and that people are still alive and able to hug their children and loved ones. >> the person spoke to an undercover fbi employee about the plot and it comes as the number of terrorism cases being handled by agents is on the rise with more than 5,000 open terrorism cases. now to the fast-moving investigation into the david ortiz shooting. prosecutors say the alleged assassin shot ortiz by mistake. police are now revealing who the intended target was and why some of the suspects are wanted by authorities right here in the u.s. this morning, a bombshell from prosecutors in the shooting that nearly killed baseball legend david ortiz. authorities in the dominican republic now say he was not the intended target. surveillance video shows the moment a gunman walked up to ortiz and shot him in the back. investigators say the real target was ortiz's friend who

reserves the same table every sunday and happened to be sharing it with ortiz that night. each wearing shirts in light-colored pants that could appear similar from a distance. 11 people are under arrest in connection with the shooting including the alleged triggerman, rolfy ferreyra cruz, who is wanted for armed robberies in new jersey. another suspect is wanted for attempted homicide in pennsylvania. meanwhile three other suspects on the run including the alleged mastermind, victor hugo gomez whose last known location is in the u.s. wanted for his alleged role in a drug cartel in houston. as for a motive investigators say gomez was seeking revenge against the intended target, a relative who, quote, ratted him out years ago to police. and authorities say the hit man hired to carry out the attack for $7800 still demanded their share of the money. as for ortiz he's recently been

upgraded to good condition. traffic is beginning to move along interstate 94 in southeastern wisconsin after an explosive chain reaction crash that killed at least two people and injured three others. a tractor trailer hit a construction barrier and burst into flames which caused three cars to crash. another semi trying to avoid the accident crashed into a ditch and also caught fire. a possible tornado tore through the greater dallas-ft. worth area overnight. gusting winds uprooted trees, downed power lines and ripped buildings apart in the nearby city of greenville. heavy rain in cincinnati has set off what's being called an active landslide along the busy columbia parkway. uprooted trees came tumbling down a hill and spilled over the retaining walling onto the road. and check this out. it's not a painting. it's an unusual cloud formation that appeared over smith mountain in virginia. let's take a look at your thursday forecast. good morning.

but not such a good morning for the northeast because this slow walking low pressure system is going to create widespread flooding throughout the ohio valley region and throughout the northeast, then it's going to turn on us even worse. by the afternoon and evening we're watching out for tornadoes, large hail, flash flooding, damaging winds up to 70 miles per hour as far south as the carolinas all the way up towards new york city. then for the deep south more thunderstorms will erupt and scattered showers throughout portions of florida. i'm accuweather meteorologist paul williams. coming up, the fight to make all lemonade stands legal. first a dangerous precedent. why one city has agreed to pay a hefty ransom to get computer records back from hackers. and the legal fight over a winning lott

we're back with this hungry elk bringing traffic to a halt north of denver. it stopped to chow down on some grass and leaves. police directed traffic around the four-legged obstacle until it wandered off. >> that's a big old obstacle. a city in florida says it will go through with a ransom payment to computer hackers. the city council in riviera beach voted to pay $600,000 in bitcoin to hackers who took over the city's computer system three weeks ago. the hackers apparently got into the system after an employee clicked on an email link allowing malware to be uploaded. despite paying the ransom, officials still aren't even sure they'll get back their data. >> that's the biggest question. our recommendation was to go forward so we as a council decided this would be the best case for us. >> in addition to stealing records, the hackers also interfered with the 911 system and the direct deposit for city workers.

investigators in nevada are trying to find out why a freight train carrying military bombs and grenades derailed forcing police to close interstate 80. nearly two dozen train cars derailed sending aluminum oxide into the air, but authorities a half million dollar lottery prize landed a north carolina woman and her now ex-girlfriend in court. jasmine watkins says she bought the ticket last month and has surveillance video to prove it. she claims she and her former partner were set to claim the prize together but the ex went alone and signed for it. a judge has put the claim on hold. no word yet from the ex. with summer beginning tomorrow, a new push is under way to help kids operate lemonade stands without getting permits. right now only 14 states allow unpermitted lemonade stands, so the lemonade company country time is stepping in to help parents and kids get the laws changed in those other 36 states offering valuable information and legal help on its website.

>> country time is an old lemonade stand staple. >> uh-huh. coming up, an abc news exclusive. the fiance of the woman killed when a crane crashed through their apartment building. he describes the terrify back, a court case being closely watched around the country. should the parents of a suspected school shooter be held responsible and go to prison? you quit slow turkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting. chantix reduces the urge so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking,

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i am totally blind. and non-24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424. we're back with yet another sighting of sharks, this time in myrtle beach, south carolina. a tourist was on her 15th floor balcony when she snapped pictures of sharks swimming a few feet away from people wading in shallow water. in north carolina three people have already been attacked by sharks this year. to a case being called unprecedented. a teenager's parents are being charged because of their son's alleged role in a school shooting incident. >> authorities say the teen's parents knew he had a history of mental health problems and left the unsecured gun in their

house. this morning these parents in new mexico are facing jail time after lice say their son caused panic at his high school. >> student was last seen fleeing to the south. >> reporter: in february s.w.a.t. teams swarmed the school's hallways near albuquerque as students filed out with their hands in the air. police say 16-year-old joshua owen brought a gun into the building and opened fire without hitting anyone. owen's parents seen standing here behind him are charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor. >> this is a real sort of a new phase in terms of trying to get proactive tools to deal with school shootings. we haven't really seen this before. >> reporter: according to court documents, a resource officer warned and dale and tamara their son made past threats of shooting up the school and were aware of his past struggle and denied having a firearm in the home but investigators insist joshua used a gun in his parent's home not locked up.

15 states currently allow gun owners to be charged if their weapons aren't locked away but new mexico is not one of them. legal experts called this case unprecedented while expressing doubts about the strength of the case. >> in this case they're charging the parents with not being able essentially to predict the future and don't indicate the parents did anything or that they actually had any knowledge and that's where it could run into some problems. >> the accused gunman's parents have not entered a plea and could face 18 months in prison if convicted. prosecuting parents like this is rare. "the washington post" says since 1999 only four adults have been charged with failing to secure guns used in school shootings. the fiance of the woman killed when a crane crashed through a dallas apartment building is speaking out in an abc news exclusive. eric ridenhour and kiersten smith were three months away from their wedding day when the accident claimed her life. he said they were in their second floor apartment only ten feet apart when a severe thunderstorm toppled that crane. >> everything kind of just went dark this.

it happened that quick. the first words out of my mouth were my fiancee's name, kiersten, and i don't know how many times i said her name, i was screaming her name, and i could not find her. >> heartbreaking. he says the one thing he managed to grab while being rushed out of the building was their engagement picture. he tossed it to a firefighter before climbing down the ladder. a stern warning about safety from the man known as captain sully sullenberger. the miracle on the hudson pilot testified on capitol hill wednesday about those two deadly boeing 737 crashes. he says they never should have happened and says pilots need time, training and a flight simulator to learn software changes before flying them again. boeing has said time in a simulator is not needed. >> we should all want pilots to experience these challenging situations for the first time in a simulator and not in flight with passengers and crew on board.

and reading about it on an ipad is not even close to sufficient. >> sullenberger called criticism of the pilots involved in those deadly crashes unfair. he said the startle factor during an emergency can affect anyone's ability to handle a crisis. in sports no one can question the toughness of washington nationals pitcher max scherzer. we told you yesterday he broke his nose tuesday night when he fouled a practice bunt off his face. but last night max was back out there. he took his broken nose and a black eye to the mound and dominated the phillies. he struck out ten batters over seven innings leading the nationals to a 2-0 win and after how he took that practice bunt to the face, i am impressed, max. >> that's pretty imcystive. also ahead, the island that wants to stop using clocks. also ahead, the latest buzz about oprah and the possible return of her talk show. plus, we'll try to explain what's going on in this video.

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♪ if i could turn back time ♪ if i could find a way cher is kicking off "the pulse" this morning. forget about turning back time. one island wants to get rid of it altogether. >> residents of a norwegian island say they don't need time constraints since the sun doesn't set for 69 days of the year. they say they'd like to get rid of the regular business hours and school hours to reduce stress. >> and we're for it. they say that since they're in the dark almost all the winter months, they can make the most out of the extremely long summer days. very interesting. >> not bad at all. all right, so next to oprah. eight years after ending her

daytime talk show, she's not ruling out a reboot. >> oprah tells "entertainment tonight" that she would love to make that happen but maybe not every day. she says the only time she's missed having a show has been during the election or when something big happens in news, and you know what, oprah, we will take you part time, a couple days a week, one day a month. >> yes, whenever you want. >> we'll take it. >> just we need you, oprah. >> oprah, please. next the national anthem like you've never heard before. >> a 5-year-old has become an internet star because of his rendition of the anthem. take a look. ♪ what so proudly we hailed and the twilight's last gleaming ♪ >> jacob martinez sang the anthem at a minor league baseball game in texas. both his parents are musicians. >> and the crowd clearly loved jacob's performance. ♪ for the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪

[ cheers and applause ] >> roaring there for little jacob. when asked if he was nervous singing in front of the crowd, jacob said a little. >> very cute. a little pitchy, dog. but cute. and finally, finally, a strange sight on the highway in texas. >> drivers were shocked to see a giant teddy bear strapped to a car. the stuffed bear is eight feet long and weighs 95 pounds. the driver bessie says she was moving to houston and couldn't fit the bear in the car. >> the only way i can take him is strap him really good. a lot of people have said in the comments that, you know, somebody must have missed that really bad. it's just teddy and me and i brought him. he's mine. >> bessie says she made sure her

license plate and those turn signals were not covered. >> an officer actually gave her a thumb's up on the drive. like how humira has been prescribed to over 300,000 patients. and how many patients saw clear or almost clear skin in just 4 months - the kind of clearance that can last. humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. numbers are great. and seeing clearer skin is pretty awesome, too. that's what i call a body of proof. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. want more proof? ask your dermatologist about humira. this is my body of proof.

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making news right now rightw 4:27. breaking news. a young police officer with ties to the east bay shot and killed. the suspectsed gunman just taken into custody hours ago. an east bay homeowner installs this giant swastika on his front lawn. now outraged neighbors are taking a stand against the symbol of hate. overcrowding during the morning and evening commute. today riders can tell b.a.r.t. what they think about it. good morning on this thursday, june 20th. >> only thursday. >> glad you're with us. meteorologist mike nicco has your first look at the day. >> temperatures running in the mid 50s to a few 60s out there in concord, san jose.

mountain view 61. that's about it for the 60s. let's talk about what's going to happen this afternoon. we'll have clearing conditions from north to south along the coast late in the afternoon hours. still mid to upper 60s half moon bay, santa cruz, san francisco. we'll have low to mid 70s around the bay and we'll barely get to 80 inland. one of our more comfortable days moving forward. yesterday at this time we already had several crashes on the board. today we actually don't have any at the moment. hopefully we can keep things nice and quiet. looking at the san mateo bridge, that was one of our tougher commutes yesterday morning. westbound 92 very slight right now. starting to see the westbound volumes fill in. a little delay out of the central valley. westbound 205 about 22 miles an hour. 20 miles an hour once you make it to 580. we have a high wind advisory for one of our bridges. we'll talk about that next. more on the breaking news this morning. the man accused of shooting an

killing a sacramento police officer now in custody. >> it was the end of an hours' long dangerous standoff. the officer who died is only 26 years old and has ties to the east bay. officer tara o'sullivan died trying to help a woman connected to a domestic violence call. amy hollyfield is in our newsroom on what has been a tragic night in sacramento. >> she glue up in the east bay, graduated from sacramento state and had only worked with the police department for a year. 26-year-old tara o'sullivan was trying to help a woman move some of her belong innings out of her home when she was shot. the call had come in as a disturbance between a man and a woman. because police were in a standoff with the man and he was firing his rifle, they couldn't ge to o'sullivan for about 45 minutes, not until they could get an armored vehicle to the her.e latd at the hospital.

the mayor promised her family the city would e there for them every step of the way. >> this is a horrible night for the city of sacramento. to tara's parents and family and tara's fellow officers, i am so sor sorry. as the father of a 25-year-old daughter, i grieve with you. >> o'sullivan is described as having a bubbly personality who was always willing to help, described as having big dreams and a big heart. reporting live from the news room, amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. of course, we've been updating you on the situation throughout the evening. and now earlier this morning we sent out a push alert when we learned that officer o'sullivan had passed. you can get the latest to your phone by downloading our abc 7 app. it's 4:30. let's get over to meteorologi