right now on "america this morning," the death toll rising with the floodwaters after the historic weather emergency in the northeast. a state trooper washed away in the floods. new stories of heroism and tragedy. dr. matic new images. a massive wall of water crashing through the wall of this home just seconds after a pan walks through, and in the south, growing desperation in louisiana. several deaths at a nursing home after residents were evacuated to a warehouse. also breaking overnight, a new legal challenge to the law banning most abortions in texas. how planned parenthood is fighting back. and this morning, supporters of the new law weigh in. how many more states could follow. new video overnight, a daring new mission to space

exploding into a fireball over the pacific. pleading guilty. what we're learning about the so-called qanon shaman who became the face of the capitol attack. plus, a new role for tom hanks. the star athlete stripped of his gold medal because he was three minutes late for an appointment. good friday morning, everyone. i'm andrew dymburt. >> and i'm faith abubey. mona is stove. we begin with stunning new images of the devastation across the northeast. >> 59 deaths blamed on hurricane ida and the aftermath, 46 deaths in the northeast. new video shows a baseball diamond in new jersey almost completely underwater. president biden overnight approved an emergency declaration for both new jersey and new york. take a look at this video here. thankfully no one was hurt.

the owner of this house in new jersey says her son barely escaped walking through the basement and there it comes, the floodwaters came crashing through the wall and everything was underwater in a matter of just seconds. just an incredible scene there. one all too familiar across the region. this morning, new stories of heroism and tragedy in the wake of that devastating flood disaster across the northeast. in connecticut a state trooper is among the people who did not survive. >> one of the senior sergeants on the state police, well respected and it's just a tragedy. >> sergeant brian mohl was checking on conditions in woodbury where three rivers come together when floodwaters swept his patrol car away. >> at 3:30 aapproximately in the morning, we received a call from the sergeant that his vehicle was in swift water, and he knew he was in distress. that was the last they heard of him. >> reporter: in new york city at least 13 people died when water

filled homes and overwhelmed streets and the local transit system. this video showing vehicles underwater on the brooklyn queens expressway. overnight the nypd saying 835 subway passengers had to be rescued and nearly 500 vehicles across the city abandoned. >> these cars are stuck. that car -- oh, my god. >> reporter: in new jersey the death toll rising to 23. cars were seen floating down the street in patterson. another person standing on the roof of a car nearby. in philadelphia, hundreds of calls for water rescues after the schuylkill river spilled into communities, the water as high as this overpass flooding an expressway. it runs through the heart of the city and officials say a pump designed to clear the road failed. here's what the expressway normally looks like. at a nearby apartment complex the national guard rescuing a

dozen people and their pets well after the storm passed. >> we really appreciate it. you know, we were waiting for quite some time, and you don't really expect these types of things to happen when you're in a big building like this. >> reporter: in the meantime, experts following the science are attributing the frequency of extreme rainfall events to human caused climate change. >> these extreme precipitation events are occurring more frequently than they used to and the main reason for that is human caused climate change which is increasing the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere and raising the ceiling on how intense the precipitation is. >> reporter: forecasters warned about wednesday night's storms for days. the national weather service in new york city issued a flash flood watch back on monday. but the intense rainfall proving to be too much for the local infrastructure. >> but in reality what was once the hundred-year flood, the flood that had about a 1% chance of happening any given year isn't the 100-year flood anymore.

>> and those storms also spawned at least eight tornadoes. a frightening scene from the storm zone in new jersey. two houses surrounded by floodwaters caught fire, but fire trucks could not reach them, so the fires were left to burn. no one was hurt. president biden heads to louisiana today. he'll survey damage from hurricane ida. 13% of the power has now been restored in new orleans. residents across the region remain desperate for gas and supplies. meanwhile, an investigation is under way after four nursing home residents died. they were among hundreds of seniors evacuated to a warehouse. hundreds were rescued amid reports of unsanitary conditions. >> they didn't have any electricity, no air-conditioning for awhile. generator. i thought they were coming to a nursing home, that they would have nursing beds and it would have been taken care like they were in a nursing facility. >> the patients were from seven nursing homes owned by the same man who has faced scrutiny in

the past for his evacuation procedures. president biden and the first lady visited walter reed medical center last night. they met with some of the service members wounded during last week's isis bombing in kabul. 15 marines injured in the attack are now being treated at walter reed. one in critical condition. three are in serious condition and we're told the others are stable. now to the growing fallout from the supreme court's decision to uphold a new abortion law in texas. several states are now taking steps to pass similar laws, but overnight we learned about a new legal fight brewing. this morning, a new legal challenge after the state of texas banned nearly all abortions in the state. planned parenthood now filing a restraining order seeking to end the new law's financial incentive. that incentive allows private citizens to sue anyone for helping a woman gain access to an abortion if she's further along than six weeks pregnant.

>> it sets up a procedure that is unique among abortion restrictions which it doesn't have any state official charged with enforcing it but instead by private parties who can sue any abortion provider or anyone who aids or abets an abortion. >> reporter: there are no exceptions for rape or incest, only for medical emergencies. texas state senator angela paxton defending that part of the law. >> it is recognizing that the baby is a human life. an abortion ends a human life, and if you don't build that part into it, if you're only dealing with one-half of the equation, you're not addressing the full problem. >> reporter: late wednesday the supreme court rejected a request to block the law. five conservative justices saying the law should take effect. now, texas is providing other states with a blueprint to imposing new abortion restrictions without the supreme court having to revisit roe versus wade. florida senate president telling reporters, there is no question florida will take up a similar bill. in the meantime, president biden

is blasting the court's decision saying it unleashes constitutional chaos and empowers self-anointed enforcers to have devastating impacts and white house press secretary jen psaki engaging on the issue with a male reporter. >> why does the president support abortion when his own catholic faith teaches him it's morally wrong? >> he believes it's up to a woman to make those decisions. and up to a woman to make those decisions with her doctor. i know you've never faced those decisions nor have you ever been pregnant but for a woman out there facing this it is an incredibly difficult thing. >> a doctor we spoke to typically performs between 20 to 30 a day but since the new law he's performed only three. the man who's come to symbolize the attack on the u.s. capitol is expected to plead guilty today. a lawyer for jake angeli, the so-called qanon shaman is not offering details about the plea detail. he says he's battled mental health conditions and distanced himself from the conspiracy theory movement.

dr. anthony fauci is defending booster shots as the debate rages over whether a third vaccine dose is needed and fauci says data shows immunity provided by the vaccines can diminish after eight months, but others including the world health organization argue the focus right now should be on getting shots into the arms of the unvaccinated. >> if you look at countries that have high immunization rates or you look at states in the united states that have high immunization rates, with a two-dose vaccine, it appears two doses appears to be enough to be able to control this infection, but, again, i think the critical issue here is not going to be boosting the vaccinated. i think if we want to get on top of this pandemic, it's going to be about vaccinating the unvaccinated. >> dr. fauci says the new mu variant of the coronavirus is not an immediate threat. time now to look at your friday weather. good morning. a lot of cleaning up to do in the northeast after ida's flooding and destructive winds. friday and saturday look good.

sunday you'll have some rain come at you as the humidity gets ramped up just a bit that will last into labor day. in the west we have a lot of fires burning, especially in northern california. they're creating a lot of smoke, unhealthy air, reno, nevada, places like that could want to spend more time inside because the air is very smoky. meantime, cleaning up on the gulf coast this weekend, kind of hot but no storms. i'm accuweather meteorologist kevin coskren. coming up, the major cocaine bust and how the suspects got away. also ahead, car prices surging. the major decision from gm and ford and the long-term impact. plus, why billionaire richard branson has been grounded.

back now with a massive cocaine bust. the colombian navy seized nearly two tons of cocaine from a narco submarine. that's a street value of $60 million. the crew jumped off sub and escaped into the jungle. in georgia a former prosecutor is facing criminal charges in the ahmaud arbery case. he's a black man gunned down by two white men while out for a jog. jackie johnson was the d.a. in the case. according to the indictment she blocked the arrest of the suspects shielding those men from charges. johnson insists she did nothing wrong. if you're in the market to buy or sell a car some big news. general motors is the latest company to announce a pause in production which means prices are rising again. this morning assembly lines at general motors temporarily coming to a halt. production at eight major plants put on pause including two plants that produce the company's best-selling vehicle, the silverado pickup. it's all because of a worsening shortage of computer

semiconductor chips used in a variety of car parts. >> now we've got the chips that are shorting what's being put out. we're talking about vehicles having like a thousand chips. >> reporter: gm not the only one. ford, toyota, and nissan also pumping the brakes on production. the computer chips are mostly made in asia, where right now the delta variant of the coronavirus is hitting hard. forcing plant closures. the domino effect quickly extending to the big flee in detroit. >> we're going to have this start-stop situation where it's like the lines come back on, they get shuttered back again. some automakers, they're reworking their vehicles to have fewer chips. certain options aren't being offered. but it's not been enough to actually completely curb all of the ushz. >> reporter: how does this impact you? with less supply comes increased demand, sending car prices skyrocketing. the average price of a new car last month was an eye-popping $42,832. and supplies are only tightening. car dealerships had just under 1

million new vehicles on their lots during august. that's 72% fewer than during the same month in 2019 before the pandemic. the bright spot? if you're looking to sell a car, now is the time. with so few new cars available people looking for new wheels are paying a premium for preowned, with prices up 29% from a year ago. so how long will this last? some experts believe awe'll be feeling the effects through all of next year. richard branson and his virgin galactic have been grounded by the faa. the investigation is investigating what it calls a mishap when the company's rocket ship briefly veered off course while returning from its mission to the edge of space. the company says those on board were not in danger. coming up, a it different company's mission to space ending in disaster overnight. the rocket that exploded over the pacific. and also coming up, what to do when your home is damaged in a flood and what not to do. i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love, more adventure, more community. but with my hiv treatment,

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wanted to take a closer look at how to survive a flood and how to safely clean your flooded home. here's abc's christine sloan. >> reporter: the horror of rushing waters. homes and basements flooding. and getting trapped in a car taking on water. that nightmare became a reality for millions this week. >> get your stuff. i'm here. i'll hold you. >> reporter: police say you should never try to drive through flooded streets. but if you find yourself in that situation, abc's matt gutman has some life-saving tips. safety experts helped him simulate a flash flood in real time. one of the first things that happens, water gets into your tailpipe, causing the engine to stall. and once outside your vehicle it takes only six inches of water to knock you off your feet. >> first thing, take your seat belt off. next thing, roll down the window. if you do need to break it and the window's not going down you can even use a head reft, smash

it, always hit the corner of your window. next thing, seat belt, you want to roll dowinw quys you cayou ny ca to owe going to cli onto this roof. >> reporter: experts say stay with your vehicle as long as possible. but if it starts getting swept away ditch it and swim to calmer waters. inside your home experts say protect yourself as well. especially if you're cleaning water-ravaged basements. use a mask, goggles, gloves, fans, dehumidifiers and a shop vac. >> turn the power off to the house in any area that's flooded. also consider turning off the gas line to those areas as well. and then you want to think about your personal protective equipment. that water can have bacteria in it. it can have sewage basically in that water. so we don't want that to contact our skin if at all possible. >> reporter: next document damage for insurance purposes.

and trash everything below the flood line. risinger says get rid of the bacteria before mold starts to grow. use a household cleaner that kills bacteria or a bleach solution. faith, andrew? >> christine, thank you. coming up, the return of abba. also ahead, a new role for tom hanks. what happens when we welcome change? we can make emergency medicine possible at 40,000 feet. instead of burning our past for power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. we can create new ways to connect. rethinking how we communicate to be more inclusive than ever. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change. faster. vmware. welcome change.

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that ten-track album called "voyage" comes out in november. next a new role for tom hanks. >> he's joining a podcast to mark the 20th anniversary of "band of brothers." hanks, the other stars of the world war ii miniseries join the 12-part podcast. >> they discuss each episode along with the "band of brothers" legacy. it debuts next thursday. next a reminder how important it is to be on time. >> an athlete at the paralympics in tokyo was stripped of his gold medal all because he showed up three minutes late to an event before the competition. the athlete from malaysia thought he'd won gold in the shot put, until the ukrainian team protested. >> officials then agreed, saying rules are rules. so the silver medalist from ukraine got the gold. >> some rules are meant to be broken, right? and finally, a sweet treat for lovers of reese's peanut butter cups. >> a new container for halloween comes with 375 individually wrapped cups. >> the tub will cost you 48

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reggie: shooting investigation, the scene that had officer shutting down all lanes. >> a supermarket stabbing overseas, the attack that authority san ices follower carried out overnight. reggie: the progress we are seeing in the firefight against the caldor fire. >> the holiday weekend is getting underway and we are talking to passengers about traveling now even with the spreading delta variant. reggie: good morning. you are watching abc seven mornings live on abc seven, hulu live, and wherever you stream. mike: good morning. it is for joining us at 5:00. the cloud cover is a little lower to the ground to we will