america this morning. breaki breaking news in america this morning, severe storm threat. a massive weather system spreading across more than two dozen states dumping snow, flooding rain and even triggering tornadoes. >> that's got to be a tornado. >> the damage and what to expect this morning. mitt romney firestorm. the only republican senator who voted to convict president trump at the impeachment trial faces a new wave of insults. what president trump's son said about romney overnightnd how the president himself is now lashing out. book store backlash. a plan to sell some of the most famous novels in allf literature with new covers more culturally diverse. how the idea backfired and the new response to the controversy. plus, new results overnight from the iowa caucus vote. the big news for senator bernie

sanders and how joe biden is going on the attack. the dramatic video from two disasters overseas. what we've learned about this passenger plane that split apart after crashing off the runway and the new video of the avalanche rescue. an entire bus trapped beneath the snow. later, a moment of inspiration inside this target store. how just one photo can meaning so much. good thursday morning. thank you for joining us. we begin with millions of americans on alert for severe weather. >> a storm is bringing nearly half the country heavy rain, snow, ice and even tornadoes. on the radar right now, you can see the storm stretching across 30 states and up that eastern seaboard. >> wow. several damaging twisters have been reported, and the threat could become more serious as the system heads east. this morning a massive storm is on the move stretching from

texas all the way to new england. new video shows the dual threat in northern alabama overnight. heavy rain and flooding as tornado watches were posted for the area. the storm has already spawned several suspected twisters across mississippi causing power outages and damaging buildings. >> the whole tree fell in. >> reporter: near jackson a woman took to facebook posting this video after a tree fell inside her mother's home. >> everything is gone. whole house, gone. >> reporter: no one was injured, but the house is now flooded after the owner's daughter said it rained inside for an hour. and in new orleans -- >> that's got to be a tornado. >> reporter: -- high winds toppled a section of scaffolding near a downtown construction site forcing these people to take cover in the lobby of the building. a blast of wind broke through the revolving doors. the 2,000-mile storm has also dumped ice and snow as far south

as el paso. in missouri state police say they responded to 46 crashes along one stretch of highway including this one involving at least two semi trucks and multiple cars. so many people impacted by that but we will take a closer look at what you can expect in today's forecast in about five minutes. now to washington where president trump is claiming victory after his impeachment trial ended with a surprise twist. the president fired off a late night tweet slamming senator mitt romney, who was the only republican who voted to convict him. president trump also tweeted a video calling romney slippery among other insults, and he posted a video showing his name on signs decades in the future claiming he'll be president forever. abc's andrew dymburt has the latest from washington where the president plans to speak about the impeachment trial today. andrew, good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning. so senator romney's vote to remove the president from office had no real effect on the end result here, but it is something

that is certainly going to be remembered. >> the president won. the office of the president won. the constitution won. >> reporter: the deeply divisive trial to remove the president from office ends in acquittal. >> we always knew it was an uphill fight. no one had illusions that the president would be convicted. >> reporter: president trump and his team coming out on top, but trump was tripped up on his way to triumph. >> mr. romney. >> guilty. >> a historic vote from republican senator mitt romney now becoming the first senator in u.s. history to vote in favor of removing a president from his own party. >> what he did was not perfect. no, it was a flagrant assault on our electoral rights, our national security and our fundamental values. >> reporter: in an emotional speech romney saying his faith guided his decision, and he believed the evidence was clear. trump pressured ukraine to investigate joe biden for political gain. the blowback swift and

relentless. the president's son even calling for romney to be expelled from the party. >> he's not brave. he's a coward. >> reporter: the president ripping romney on twitter into the night, had failed presidential candidate mitt romney devoted the same energy and anger to defeating a faltering barack obama as he sanctimoniously does to me, he could have won the election. and across the nation -- [ crowd chanting ] >> reporter: -- small but vocal protests popping up from coast to coast. and the romney response aside the president is expected to make an official statement about his acquittal sometime later this afternoon. kenneth, janai. >> all right, andrew dymburt there on capitol hill, thank you. we turn now to the new results from the iowa caucuses overnight. >> the race is still too close after major problems with an app that reports vote counts. with 97% of precincts counted, bernie sanders closed the gap with former south bend mayor

pete buttigieg tied at 26%. elizabeth warren and former vice president joe biden pretty far behind. biden has called the results in iowa a gut punch. he's now going on the attack saying he doubts buttigieg or sanders could beat president trump. >> but if senator sanders is the nominee for the party, every democrat in america up and down the ballot, blue states, red states, purple states, in easy districts and competitive ones, every democrat will have to carry the label senator sanders has chose for himself -- has chosen for himself. i have great respect for mayor pete and his service to this nation, but i do believe it's a risk to be just straight up with you for this party to nominate someone who's never held an office higher than mayor of a town of 100,000 people in indiana. >> reporter: the candidates are now focused on new hampshire with the primary only five days away, and they're preparing to face off on the debate stage tomorrow night right here on abc and our streaming channel, abc newslive. turning now to a deadly and frightening ordeal for airline passengers in turkey.

video captured the moment a pegasus airline plane skidded passengers had to climb through the ripped fuselage to escape. three people were killed and 179 were injured. just one month ago at the same airport in istanbul, another pegasus jet ran off the runway into the mud, and back in 2018 a pegasus plane slid off a runway and went down a dirt hill. well, now to the coronavirus emergency. hundreds of americans evacuated from china are beginning two weeks of quarantine at military bases in california. more than 5,000 people are also quarantined on two cruise ships in asia. one is in hong kong, and at least 20 people on the ship docked in japan have now gotten sick. americans on board tell us they're trying to stay calm. >> we're going to be on this ship a month because it was a e 14 more days. >> it's day one, it's day two and we're in pretty good spirits. i hope we're in just as good spirits, you know, day 10, 11, 12.

>> officials organizing the summer olympics in tokyo are now expressing concern about the virus. the games there are less than six months away. china is reportedly cracking down on coverage of the virus encouraging the media to focus on positive stories. the last 24 hours have seen the largest jump in cases since the epidemic started with at least 563 deaths. here at home a 12th case in the united states has been confirmed in wisconsin. home depot stores are now limiting the number of masks that customers can buy, and we've also learned a national guard facility in nebraska will be used as another quarantine site. >> back to our top story, the severe storm threat in several states. let's take a closer look at your thursday forecast. good morning. another day with severe storms possible across the southeast as the strong front pushes eastward and we're talking damaging wind

gusts, isolated tornadoes and flooding downpours all possible. on the northern end of this storm snow and ice across northern new england extending back through the great lakes and into the midwest where there will be a swath of 3 to 6 inches of snowfall through today. more on the way tomorrow. and yet another storm moving through the pacific northwest bringing mountain snows above pass level and heavy rainfall. i'm accuweather meteorologist adam del rosso. coming up, the man who set $1 million on fire to stop his wife from getting it. but first the questions that remain after this dramatic car chase along the kansas city chiefs victory parade route. and barnes & noble responds to the controversy over its plan to sell classic books with new covers that are more culturally diverse.

we are back with this frightening crash as a school bus flips onto its side in ohio. a witness said the driver overcorrected after one tire slipped into a ditch. 13 kids were on the bus. everyone is okay. barnes & noble has canceled its plans to put diverse faces on classic book covers for black history month. critics claim the company was supporting literary blackface. the so-called diverse editions included new covers for mary shelley's "frankenstein" showing a black man with an afro and dorothy from "the wizard of oz" holding a pair of red sneakers instead of ruby slippers. critics suggested that it would be better if the company promoted black writers instead. police in kansas city dealt with some unexpected excitement before the chiefs super bowl victory parade. a car rammed through barriers along the route before the celebration. that resulted in a police pursuit with hundreds oferielle

the most dramatic moments. >> reporter: a swarm of police cars in hot pursuit. the vehicle narrowly missing crowds blowing by local reporters. officers deploying stop sticks but the driver keeps on going finally stopping the suspect. authorities surrounding the smoking car. >> oh, my god. >> does he have a gun? >> of course. >> it all could have been so much worse with those large crowds. two people were in the car. the driver was taken into custody. the mayor says the driver was impaired and was taking a joyride. the man convicted of running the greatest ponzi scheme in u.s. history now wants an early release from prison. bernie madoff says he's dying from kidney failure. he's requesting a compassionate release. the 81-year-old is viewed as too old for a transplant. he says his dying wish is to salvage his relationship with his grandkids. a businessman in canada said he burned $1 million in cash to prevent his ex-wife from getting

it. bruce mcconville was sentenced to 30 days in jail for failing to pay alimony and child support. he said he was frustrated by divorce proceedings and burned the money in two bonfires. he's facing a daily fine until he discloses his finances. >> that's one way to do it. coming up, the new debate over pete rose and whether major league baseball should reinstate him. >> but first dramatic new video from a deadly avalanche. the rescues after a bus is buried in the snow. and we remember hollywood icon kirk douglas and his remarkable 103 years of life. there's my career,... my cause,... my choir. i'm a work in progress. so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. prescription dovato is for adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment and who aren't resistant to either of the medicines dolutegravir or lamivudine. dovato has 2... medicines in... 1 pill to help you reach and then stay undetectable.

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ssin we turn now to the passing of a hollywood legend. kirk douglas has died at the age of 103. >> the world war ii veteran starred in more than 90 films. he's also known for stepping forward during one of hollywood's darkest hours. >> young lady, i don't want to discuss this with you. >> don't talk to her like that. >> shut up. sit down. >> reporter: kirk douglas made a career out of playing tough guys. >> that's more like it. >> reporter: the son of russian immigrant jews, he was first recognized as a star after portraying a boxer in the 1949 film "champion" earning him an oscar nomination. he was then cast in a series of roles that took advantage of his chiseled good looks and powerful screen presence. >> who gave you the right to dig into me and turn me inside out? >> reporter: "the bad and the beautiful" brought another oscar nomination as did douglas' portrayal of a tormentedlife" a

of "spartacus" he helped break the blacklist after the age of mccarthyism by. >> we must stay true to ourselves. >> it was the worst time in hollywood. >> do you remember being silenced yourself? >> well, everybody told me i was crazy. >> reporter: in 1991 douglas survived this helicopter crash then just shy of his 80th birthday, he suffered a debilitating stroke impairing his speech, but months later during an emotional appearance, he accepted the oscar's lifetime achievement award to the delight of the audience. >> i see my four sons. they are proud of the old man. [ applause ] >> reporter: douglas continued making movies, in 2003 appearing with his son michael. >> what?

what do you want me to say, that i love you? >> reporter: his slurred speech was worked into the script. abc's david muir caught up with him several years ago at his home in beverly hills. >> david, i'm 95 years old. >> you survived the helicopter crash. you survived the stroke. >> god doesn't want me. >> douglas survived that helicopter crash despite falling 40 feet out of the sky and crashing onto the tarmac. he said from that moment he got a second chance at life. this morning we're following new details in the search for a brother and sister from idaho who have been missing since september. police are reviewing surveillance video of their mother, lori vallow, visiting a storage unit. she reportedly left behind items belonging to the children. authorities say vallow and her new husband have not cooperated with the search, and both have been linked to a doomsday cult but have not been charged with any crime. in sports pete rose has launched a new appeal to be reinstated by major league baseball. he was banned for life in 1989 for betting on games, but now he

says that ban should be lifted because the league recently failed to impose similar punishments in the houston astros cheating scandal. commentators on espn are skeptical. >> he should be in the hall of fame. there should be something on the plaque that indicates why he was kept out for a long period of time. in terms of does he have a good argument now, he has no argument now. he has no argument. he bet on baseball games. he lied about it. he bet on baseball. no, he has no argument, but he should be in the hall of fame. >> i think so too. >> the league says it will review rose's petition. super bowl mvp patrick mahomes has never caught a pass in his nfl career, but look at that. the chiefs quarterback showing he's got incredible hands making a one-handed grab after a beer was thrown to him. look at that catch during yesterday's victory parade. he chugged it while fans shouted mvp.e at is impressive.

>> he can throw them age catch them. >> yeah. up next a 7-year-old with a killer idea for a new book. also ahead, what we've learned about bad hair days. plus, what soccer star alex morgan is doing while seven months pregnant. x morgan is doing while seven months pregnant. ♪you make everything... groovy...♪ done yet? yeah, yeah, sorry, sorry. you sure? hmm.mmm. ♪come on, come on, wild thing. if you ride, you get it. geico motorcycle. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. ♪ you've got something up your sleeve ♪ ♪ what you didn't know was you were surprising ♪

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like him. her post has been shared thousands of times. >> the mother of the boy in the ad even saw it, and she replied saying the picture had her in tears. she said tell ollie he can do anything he puts his mind to. >> many people are praising target for that ad. >> representation matters. next a little boy's scary story about underwear. >> so the author catherine isaac says her 7-year-old son decided to write a book. he started typing on her computer and here's what she found, title, "the killer forest." the first line, one day there were seven pairs of underpants. they were not ordinary. they were evil. >> isaac is known for her novel "you me everything." she says her son's book was one heck of an opening. >> okay. and finally u.s. soccer star alex morgan is preparing for her third olympics and her first child. >> the co-captain of the women's national team is training for the summer games while she is seven months pregnant. she's due in april. >> morgan there, she's vowed to be on the field in japan when the tournament kicks off in

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making news right now at 4:27, at car shot at along an east bay freeway. this is the second vehicle targeted in less than 24 hours. more americans evacuated from china as the coronavirus spreads. one country is telling its people if you go there, don't come back. pg&e makes millions of dollars in political donations every year but state lawmakers may soon have to say no to that money. good morning. it's thursday, february 6th. happy you're waking up with us. >> let's start with meteorologist mike nicco. >> not as cold this morning, did you notice that? >> mm-hmm. >> a little fog trying to form around novato and along the bay or i should say the coast. watch out for that. it will be isolated. when you run into it, it could be thick. temperatures running from about

36 in san ramon, 48 in san francisco. no frost out there. total sunshine around 60 to 65 degrees. cooler at half moon bay and 69 degrees. much warmer than average day. i'll let you know how long i co accuweather seven-day forecast. hi, jobina. >> quiet start to our morning commute. i'll begin with our commuter alert for the posey tube full closure there. this is weekdays 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. that work is going on now. at the san mateo bridge, people are getting an early start. i can't tell if there's fog in the area or this is just our camera being blurry. right now a look at emeryville, 80 here, headlights making their way towards the maze. no metering lights right now. tracy to dublin, 29 minutes. antioch to concord, 13 minutes. san rafael to san francisco, 17 minutes. developing news in the east bay, for the second time in less

than 24 hours, the chp is investigating freeway shootings. >> the first one happened in fremont around 3:00 in the morning yesterday. the second occurred just before 11:00 last night near 23rd avenue in oakland. amy hollyfield is live in hayward with details. good morning. good morning. the chp dealing with two shootings on the freeways in the same day. they have not announced any arrests. one happened at the start of the day. the second one happened at the end of the day. they were both on 880. the first was at 3:00 a.m. in fremont. officers say someone opened fire bmw near the mowerymowerymowe on-ramp. the driver was able to safely get to a fire station. there were two bullet caholes i the car, but nobody was hurt. the second one happened 11:00 last night. this was northbound at 23rd

avenue. that car also has some bullet holes in it. again, it appears no one was hurt. two lucky situations there. there was also one on sunday in oakland. that brings the total to three this week. no word on motives or if any of these are related. reporting live at the hayward chp offices, amy hollyfield, abc7 news. it is 4:30. if you're just waking up, here's mike with a check of the forecast. >> hi, guys. checking the winds out there. they are very light. not only is it milder temperature-wise, there's no windchill to speak of. winds are calm. no wind. sutro tower, you can see a clear start out there, temperatures about 40 to 43 degrees for 7:00. at noon, 58 to 60 degrees. still climbing this afternoon into the mid 60s away from the coast. a little bit of a breeze will keep us around 57 for the