>> just incredible, will. breaking news in america this morning, hurricane sally upgraded, now a category 2. >> winds and rain have only increased the past few hours. >> the slow-moving storm churning off the coast. new images showing the life-threatening floods, up to 30 inches of rain. we're live in the storm zone with the biggest concern right now. the president and the people. president trump making his case to undecided voters in an abc news town hall. what he said about race relations. how he defended his handling of the pandemic and his answer when asked about health insurance for pre-existing conditions. new details on police in

rochester trying to cover up the death of daniel prude. their effort to keep the video secret and handwritten message in red saying, quote, make him a suspect. plus, the rush to save a construction worker dangling from the side of this building after a collapse. teens pack onto a golf cart heading down the highway. just ducky. the story behind the release of thousands of ducks. good wednesday morning, everyone. we begin with the emergency ones on the gulf coast at this hour. >> hurricane sally growing into a category 2 storm overnight. people from alabama to the florida panhandle are bracing for more than two feet of rain. >> new video coming in shows neighborhoods already under water. winds are topping 100 miles per hour, and there's another concern today. the high tide. >> abc's elwyn lopez begins our coverage. how are conditions there?

>> reporter: we're along the mississippi's gulf coast and sally is about to make landfall but already wreaking havoc for hours now in some coastal areas. this morning, hurricane sally slowly roaring ashore. up to 30 inches of rain and more than 10 feet of storm surge expected to storm the coastline from biloxi to pensacola. the national weather service now warning, some areas could face historic life-threatening flash floods. >> this is crazy, and this hurricane is still 51 miles offshore. >> reporter: in mississippi, the storm is expected to dump 4 months of rain in just 24 hours, and in florida -- >> oh, my god. >> reporter: -- trees toppled by the wind. docks shredded by the waves and a barge knocked loose by heavy winds crashing into this bridge. >> the surge here and the wave action in the bay of pensacola is unreal.

this persistent wind keeps pushing this water up against the seawall and this will continue for another 24 hours. >> reporter: and in alabama. >> you can't go outside, it is too bad. the wind is too strong. you know, just the rain is coming in sheets. >> reporter: some residents are riding out the storm after floodwaters cut off local roads. >> we literally have water coming in the windows and the door, and he's having to hold the door shut to keep it closed. >> reporter: earlier tuesday neighborhoods were already flooded, and at least two floating casinos broke loose from their moorings as the winds intensified. >> ooh, it's crushing the dock. ooh. >> reporter: the big concern this morning, landfall could coincide with today's high tide meaning the devastation could be even worse. unlike laura, this storm won't move through quickly, and that's the real concern here is the duration of this. it could sit on top of some areas for days and bring flash

floods and life-threatening storm surge. kenneth, mona. >> yes, a real slow mover. elwyn lopez there live along the mississippi coast, thank you. new details about the wildfire. it could total $100 billion similar to a major hurricane. two more bodies identified in oregon where authorities are using a mobile morgue. at least 20 people are still missing. new video shows a burning tree falling onto a state trooper's vehicle on highway 22 responding to a call at the time. meanwhile in california, new video from the creek fire shows crews working to save homes earlier this month then evacuating driving through a wall of flames to escape. another big story related to these fires is the air quality. it was so bad in seattle last night, the mariners' baseball game had to be postponed. the smoke has traveled all the way to new york and could linger through tomorrow. light rain is not expected to have a major impact.

it could be killing off birds in historic numbers. scientists have said since august up to a million birds have died from no apparent reason. experts say the flocks likely got sick after flying through smoke. we turn now to last night's town hall with president trump. he took questions from voters on everything from covid-19 to social injustice. abc's andrew dymburt has the highlights. >> reporter: overnight president trump showing his love for philadelphia and cheesesteaks tweeting this fixture from air force one after a town hall hosted by abc's george stephanopoulos. >> he should know that some of these people voted for you last time around. some voted for hillary clinton. >> reporter: uncommitted voters asking a range of questions on race relations. >> you coined the phrase make america great again. when has america been great for african-americans in america? are you aware how tone deaf that comes off to the african-american community? >> i can say this, we have tremendous african-american support. you've probably seen it in the polls.

>> reporter: trump also defending his handling of the pandemic claiming he, quote, upplayed it even though he told journalist bob woodward he was downplaying it and once again he insisted the virus will disappear. one voter pressed him on wearing a mask. >> and why don't you wear a mask more often? >> well, i do when i have to and when i'm in hospitals and other locations. now, there is, by the way, a lot of people that don't want to wear masks. a lot think they're not good and there are a lot of people -- >> who are those people? >> i'll tell you who they are. waiters, they come over and serve you and have a mask and playing with the mask -- i'm not blaming them, what happens, they're playing with the mask, so the mask is over and they're touching it and then they're touching the plate. that can't be good. >> reporter: health insurance also on voters' minds. >> we're going to do a health care plan very strongly and protect people with pre-existing conditions. i will say this, they will not do that.

>> mr. president, i have to stop you there. i just have to stop you there. you've been promising a new health care plan. we interviewed -- i interviewed you in june of last year. you said the health care plan would come in two weeks. you've been trying to strike down pre-existing conditions. >> i have it already and it's a much better plan for you. >> reporter: new fallout for the spokesperson at the department of health and human services. michael caputo is apologizing after accusing government scientists of sedition claiming they have a trump resistance unit warning of an armed revolt after the election. caputo is considering taking a leave of absence due to health issues. back in philadelphia another voter asking the president if he'd do anything differently in a second term. >> i'm fighting a lot of forces. sometimes you don't have time to be totally, as you would say, presidential. you have to get things done. >> reporter: and abc news offered to host a similar town hall with joe biden, but both abc news and the campaign could not find a mutually agreeable date. kenneth, mona. >> andrew, thank you. newly released documents

show an effort by police in rochester, new york, to keep the death of a black man out of the public's eye. daniel prude died one week after an encounter with police who placed a hood on his head and pinned him to the ground. one document includes a scribbled note saying, quote, make him a suspect. other notes detail the tactics meant to delay the release of video showing the encounter. the police chief has been fired and seven officers have been suspended. the family of breonna taylor has reached an historic $12 million civil settlement with the city of louisville. it comes six months after taylor was fatally shot by police serving a no knock warrant. the settlement also includes some police reforms. taylor's mother calls it a first step. >> we need charges brought against these officers. i'm still working for getting justice for her, and it's just, for me, it'll never be over. >> the criminal case against the officered involved in the march raid is pending. a garage could soon hear the

evidence in this case. the remains of a 24-year-old sailor killed in the perpendicular harbor attack have been returned to his home state of north dakota. albert renner's casket arrived nearly eight decades after the bombing. the navy identified him through dna through his siblings including his brother who is 99. a funeral is set for friday. time now for a look at your wednesday morning weather. good morning. hurricane sally very slowly working its way towards the florida, alabama line near the greater pensacola area. it's a slow mover but it will pick up speed as it moves through the southeast bringing rain. until then along the gulf coast it will bring some gusty winds, more than 80-mile-per-hour wind gusts. ding rains, more than 16 inches. for accuweather, i'm

meteorologist melissa constanzer. coming up, the data breach at dunkin'. how the company is paying up. but first a woman is killed crushed to death by an elevator. what we're learning about that accident. later, why some we sand my heart fell.oke i knew we'd lose our home... and we did. over 24,000 homes have been destroyed by wildfires in the past few years. wildfire victims need help

so i'm voting 'yes' on 19. it limits property taxes on wildfire victims so families can move to a replacement home without a tax penalty. you never know what you'll be faced with. please, vote 'yes' on 19. how will 2020 census data where there are more people, there are more needs for public services. that's why the census is used by the government to inform funding decisions each year. but that's not all. it's also used by nonprofits to inform services,

by businesses to create jobs, and even by students for school projects. understanding how the population changes helps us shape communities across the country for the better. shape your future. start here. visit 2020census.gov. back now with scary moments for two window washers in new york. they had to be rescued ten stories above manhattan when their scaffold gave way. tasngig ledge as a firefighter rappelled down from the roof. we turn to an elevator accident this boston. a woman killed when the elevator she was in suddenly dropped. abc's megan tevrizian has more. >> reporter: this morning, new questions surrounding what appears to be a gruesome

accident inside this fire-story apartment building in boston. a woman dying inside an elevator while loading a box. >> everyone was horrified. everyone is -- we feel awful, especially since this was someone who was just moving in. >> reporter: the victim, 38-year-old carrie o'connor was a lecturer at boston university. >> right now it's just you can see the top of the car, so it looks like it's kind of stuck between the first and basement floor. >> reporter: witnesses say o'connor was loading a box into the elevator when it suddenly plunged down to the first floor. the medical examiner determining the cause of death was traumatic asphyxiation. >> the elevator is old, like it's a two-pull door system. in that if the door is not completely shut, it will not move. >> reporter: o'connor was apparently moving into the building with the help of a friend when neighbors heard screaming. >> what they think happened is she either tried to put the box

on or went on with the box and the box was tall enough to hit something and it started moving and she either panicked and went to jump off or panicked and didn't stay on. >> reporter: o'connor previously lectured at other universities in the boston area and had a ph.d. in french studies. the online publication "bu today" described her as dedicated to inclusion and diversity. the building's property manager says the elevator passed an inspection earlier this year. the incident is under investigation. kenneth, mona. >> megan, thank you. about 20,000 dunkin' customers can look forward to a refund because of a data breach. the company has settled a lawsuit with new york which claimed dunkin' failed to notify customers about the breach in 2015 and failed to investigate it. dunkin' agreeing to protect against possible future attacks and will pay $650,000 in penalties. coming up, the new apple watch. could it help detect covid-19? also ahead, a wild ride on the highway in a golf cart. not actors,

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back now with this wild ride down a highway in maryland, police say these teenagers are being charged with a felony for stealing that golf cart. one girl said they took it after missing their lyft ride to washington. other drivers voiced alarm noticing the girls had no seat belts as traffic was speeding by. some of the biggest celebrities are freezing their instagram accounts. kim kardashian west, katy perry and leonardo dicaprio are among those promising not to post anything for 24 hours. they say it's their way of protesting hate speech and misinformation allowed by instagram and its parent company facebook. critics call it a publicity stunt. the pandemic appears to be a driving force behind apple's new watch. the company has unveiled two new watches. the more expensive one includes enhanced health features including monitoring your blood oxygen level.

apple executives say it is working with researchers to examine the relationship between blood oxygen levels, heart rate and covid-understand how measurements fm your watch can be uearly conditions. >> another feature of the watch is automatic hand washing detection, which recognizes the motion of washing your hands and encourages you to wash for the recommended 20 seconds. united airlines is using new technology to clean planes. a single chemical spray from this robot here can hit anything within a 12-foot radius killing viruses and bacteria. it's sprayed overnight and is effective for one week. but it won't replace manual cleaning done each day. the cdc is out this morning with new data on children who have died from covid-19. also this morning, we're learning more about one of the potential vaccines. earlier i spoke with dr. laleh gharahbaghian about the latest headlines. the cdc is out today with new figures show thatting that about 75% of all children who have

died from covid-19 have been minorities. what is your take on this new data, and what can we learn going forward? >> there definitely are health care disparities that exist in the vulnerable and underrepresented population. there are multiple people that ve in sml home wherethere is aa also impacted, and in that study 33% of the children died either at home or in the emergency department, and that's just tragic. >> bill gates just made a pretty powerful statement. he said he's lost faith in the leadership of the fda and cdc because of the political pressure in washington. it comes on the same day that the cdc officials privately admitted according to "forbes" fashion that they failed to adequately track the spread of the virus when the economy re-opened in june. so what are your thoughts? are you and the doctors that you know losing faith in the cdc or the fda? >> i definitely have not lost faith in the cdc and the fda.

the reason i haven't lost faith is there are many scientists and officials who work at both the cdc and fda. there are layers of quality control, and ethics matter and are taken very, very seriously no matter the politics. >> finally we have some updated information about one of the covid vaccines being tested. this one from pfizer. dr. gharahbaghian, what are you hearing? >> currently they show that there's mild to moderate side effects, which is not a big surprise given that this is a viral vaccine similar to other vaccines that we have where the effects are headache, feeling fatigued, chills, muscle aches and fever. >> our thanks to dr. gharahbaghian. in sports another comeback for the denver nuggets. they're the first nba team to rally from being down three games to one twice in the same postseason and knocked off the clippers by 15 points. in hockey, the new york islanders are celebrating after beating the tampa bay lighting in double overtime to stay alive. coming up, the change coming to legos.

also redefining the term duck crossing. a reminder, you can watch "america this morning" each day on our streaming channel starting at 3:30 a.m. eastern on the abc news app and on these streaming services. there's my career, my cause, my choir. hd 8. 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. so your hiv can be controlled with fewer medicines while taking dovato. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its ingredients or if you take dofetilide. if you have hepatitis b, it can change during treatment with dovato and become harder to treat. your hepatitis b may get worse or become life-threatening if you stop taking dovato. so do not stop dovato without talking to your doctor. serious side effects can occur, including allergic reactions, liver problems,

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balanced nutrition for strength and energy. whoo-hoo! great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. ♪ time to check "the pulse" on this hump day. we begin with legos getting more eco friendly. >> the company is ditching plastic bags so the bricks in those lego box sets will soon come in paper bags. lego is making the switch at the request of kids who wrote to the company. >> lego bricks are still made of plastic that feels like sharp knives if you step on them with your bare feet. the company has been trying to find an alternative there. well, next to some lucky person has the satisfaction of owning a very special toilet seat cover.

>> it was put up for auction by former rolling stones bass player bill whyman. the plush yellow commode covering, yep, there's the group's tongue logo. >> it sold for $1,152, apparently a record for toilet seat covers. next a group of hungry ducks on the move. >> about 10,000 of them, and they had a job to do so once they were released into a rice paddy in thailand, there was no stopping them. >> the ducks basically cleaned the area eating snails and other pests. after the rice is harvested, it takes a week to clean. >> the longest game of duck, duck, goose. mountain dew with a new twist on the margarita. >> just released its first ever cocktail, the dewgarita debuting made with tequila and a few other surprise ingredients. >> so it apparently goes great with red lobster biscuits, possibly maybe taco bell wine. >> oh, cheddar biscuits, margarita. i'd be in heaven.

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now at 5:00, major fire concerns in the east bay. the reckless behavior that is rage across the state.es new overnight, hurricane sally makes landfall, the biggest threats in the four states facing this dangerous storm. and a breath of fresh air here at home, at least for now. mike is tracking better air quality today and when the haze might be moving back in. >> good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, september 16th. good morning, friends. i missed you all. >> welcome back, kumasi. >> thank you, friends. it is nice to be back with clearer clear er air. mike, what is in store in. >> yeah, so excited i get up and look at the air quality and most days i go -- today i