well. >> yes, they are. right now on "america this morning," breaking news, the result of the california recall election with nationwide implications. governor gavin newsom fighting to keep his job with gop front-runner larry elder acknowledging it overnight. the remnants of hurricane nicholas taking aim at southern louisiana and new orleans just days after that devastating blow from hurricane ida. up to 20 inches of additional rain possible. the new images coming in. the bombshell book about the final days of the trump administration. the president's top military adviser reportedly taking secret steps to prevent a military strike even secretly calling a chinese general. trump overnight calling it treason. what we're learning, plus, new details about former vice

president mike pence and his actions before january 6th. a major development overnight in the search for a woman from new york missing after going on a cross-country trip with her boyfriend. caught on camera, the shark attack in florida, the victim, a teenager surfer. and the new idea to fight climate change. toilet train cows? we'll explain. good wednesday morning, everyone. we begin with the breaking news from california. a victory for democrats. governor gavin newsom will keep his job. >> abc news is projecting newsom has survived the recall vote. the republican front-runner larry elder acknowledged defeat overnight just hours after making baseless claims about election fraud. >> abc's alex presha has been following those results for us all night. alex, good morning. >> reporter: andrew and mona, good morning to you both. the stakes here were incredibly high, but after these projections governor gavin

newsom had a simple tweet writing, now let's get back to work. this morning, california governor gavin newsom will keep his job. abc news making the projections based on exit polls and vote analysis. >> thank you to 40 million americans, 40 million californians, and thank you for rejecting this recall. >> reporter: the stakes of this recall election had national political implications. if newsom was voted out, the next governor would appoint a new senator should democrat dianne feinstein retire potentially tipping the balance of power in the chamber. >> if governor newsom were to lose in very blue california, it would be an enormously troubling sign for democrats nationwide in the midterms and beyond. >> reporter: democrats galvanizing, the party's biggest names campaigning for newsom. >> having president biden here, having vice president harris here was a big boost. >> reporter: the recall effort was widely seen as a referendum

on newsom's handling of covid. he violated his own restrictions late last year when he was seen dining at one of the most expensive restaurants. his opponents pounced gathering enough signatures to put a recall on the ballot. newsom's chief political rival larry elder who campaigned on repealing masks and test mandates conceding early this morning. >> let's be gracious in defeat. we may have lost the battle, but we are going to win the war. >> reporter: newsom telling elder and other republicans that democracy is fragile. >> democracy is not a football. you don't throw it around. you may have defeated trump but trumpism is not dead in this country. >> reporter: this recall election is already on pace to be one of the most expensive to date. california secretary of state saying that it's cost already nearly $300 million. mona. >> alex, thank you. and also breaking overnight, north korea has fired two more missiles. they both reportedly landed in the sea of japan. north korea also claimed over the weekend that it tested a new cruise missile. it all comes amid a deadlock in

nuclear talks with the u.s. u.s. officials overnight said the new launches do not pose an imminent threat to the united states. now to the gulf coast where the remnants of hurricane nicholas are stalling over louisiana right now. a region that does not need any more rain. this morning, what's left of hurricane nicholas is expanding and slowing to a crawl posing a major flash flood threat from new orleans to the florida panhandle. in louisiana, widespread rainfall of five to ten inches is possible including in new orleans. areas prone to flooding the city could see up to 20 inches. it comes as people there still cope with the effects of hurricane nicholas, just over two weeks after that storm nearly 100,000 customers in southeast louisiana remain without power. >> there's still more garbage to come to the street and still a lot more damage to be taken care of. >> reporter: this morning the city of new orleans saying it's picked up only 5% of the debris left over from ida. now officials are worried that

debris will clog storm drains making today's flooding far worse. abc's ginger zee is just outside the city. >> look behind me. piles of debris 16 days after ida as far as the eye can see, street after street and now a flash flood watch. >> reporter: earlier tuesday nicholas hammered the texas coast intensifying into a category 1 hurricane before landfall. the powerful storm surge overtaking roads and winds up to 95 miles per hour toppling trees and tearing homes apart. >> it was just howling like the craziest howl i never heard in my entire life. it was like a tornado that lasted for seven hours. >> at the height of the storm in texas, more than 500,000 customers lost power. we'll take a closer look at today's forecast in just a few moments. we have new reaction this morning to explosive claims in a new book by "the washington post" reporter bob woodward. it details the final days of the trump administration and includes the bombshell claim

that the chairman of the joint chiefs took secret action to prevent trump from using nuclear weapons. this morning, former president trump responding to claims that america's senior military adviser limited his ability to launch a military strike in the final months of his presidency. >> it's totally ridiculous. i never thought of it. >> reporter: the claims come in the soon to be released book "peril" by "the washington post" reporters bob woodward and robert costa. the book claims joint chiefs chairman general mark milley feared trump could go rogue after the january 6th capitol riot, and milley worried trump may use military conflict to cling to power. according to the book, milley was certain that trump had gone into a serious mental decline after the election and had become, quote, manic screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies. milley also reportedly told military leadership not to act on any order to use nuclear weapons without his involvement and perhaps the most explosive claim in the book details how general milley secretly reached out to china's top general

telling him, quote, general li, i want to assure you that the american government is stable and everything is going to be okay. we are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you. overnight trump accused general milley of treason. >> if it is actually true, which is hard to believe, that he would have called china and done these things and was willing to advise them of an attack or in advance of an attack, that's treason. >> reporter: the book also reveals how then vice president mike pence struggled with the decision to officially accept the election results on january 6th. pence reportedly turned to the former vice president dan quayle for advice asking quayle if there was anything he could do to keep trump in office, but quayle reportedly told pence, quote, mike, you have no flexibility on this, none, zero, forget it. put it away. the book also claims that trump ignored repeated requests from staff members including ivanka trump to call off the rioters on january 6th. meanwhile in washington today, simone biles and other gymnasts will testify at a

senate hearing about the fbi's failures during the larry nassar investigation. he is the former doctor serving life in prison for molesting hundreds of athletes. a recent investigation revealed delays by the fbi may have allowed nassar to abuse dozens of additional women and girls. fbi director christopher wray is also scheduled to testify today. turning to the pandemic, children now make up 30% of new covid cases. dr. anthony fauci says the vaccine could be ready for children aged 5 to 11 by late october. as for vaccine booster shots, for adults an fda panel meets on that issue this friday. overseas the uk is now giving booster shots to people over 50. all right, time now for a look at your wednesday weather. good morning. a weakening nicholas is moving its way slowly eastward across southern louisiana. we're going to put down some serious rain over the next couple of days and nights. the problem is the slow forward movement of this storm system

moving from lake charles, louisiana, to new orleans. it's going to take two full days to get there. you can almost walk there in that time. we're looking at a lot of rain. there's going to be serious flooding in louisiana and all across the gulf coast for the next couple of days. 8 to 12 inches in some areas. i'm accuweather meteorologist kevin coskren. coming up, a major mob bust in new york. the crime family targeted. also ahead, the new research on instagram and how it affects teenage girls. and later, a major development in the search for a woman who went missing on a cross country trip with her boyfriend.

back now with a mob bust in new york. two alleged mobsters both in their 80s are among the suspects

rounded up. andrew russo and benji castellazzo, two men from the columbo crime family face charges, among 14 suspected mobsters who strong-armed a new york city labor union. one suspect threatened to kill a man in front of his wife and kids if he did not comply. new research coming to light about the impact that instagram can have on teenage girls. the research was conducted by the app's own parent company. here's abc's megan tevrizian. >> reporter: this morning, a deeper look into the negative impact that social media app instagram can have on teenagers' mental health. "the wall street journal" reports research at facebook, instagram's parent company, raised concern about how the app makes some teenagers feel about themselves and their appearance. according to a presentation from march 2020, 32% of teen girls said when they feel bad about their bodies, instagram made them feel worse. another slide saying, teens blame instagram for increases in the rate of anxiety and depression. >> it's just so stressful to

take one picture that has to be perfect. >> reporter: "the wall street journal" claims facebook has publicly downplayed the research. >> now you're going down a road where you're looking at somebody's life and you're comparing your body and then you're looking at somebody's home life and comparing your financial situation. >> reporter: teens are an important demographic. 40% of users are age 22 or younger. back in march mark zuckerberg minimized the app's negative impacts. >> the research we've seen is using social apps to connect with other people can have positive mental health benefits. >> reporter: in response to the research now coming to light, instagram ceo adam mozari said it speaks to important issues, we stand by this work and believe more companies should be doing the same. experts say there are ways to minimize the negative impacts of social media like editing your feed to choose who you follow and what to ignore. >> you do have some control over what you look at, who you engage

with and follow and what you let into your feed. and also what you share out into your feed. you know, you also have an impact on other people's lives too. >> reporter: instagram also says it's developed features for people to protect themsel bully. andrew, mona. >> megan, thank you. amazon is giving workers a raise as this tries to fill thousands of new positions. the company announced plans to fill $125,000 jobs nationwide and it says the average pay will be $1 an hour. it comes amid a nationwide worker shortage with inflation on the rise. consumer prices are up 5% from last year. and coming up, the shark attack caught on camera in florida. also ahead, paying tribute also ahead, paying tribute to comedian and i'm so glad we did this. i'm so glad we did this. i'm so glad we did this. i'm so glad we did this.

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or stop them without talking to your doctor. when you help heal your skin from within, you can change how your skin looks and feels. and that's the kind of change you notice. talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent, a breakthrough eczema treatment. we're back with a shark attack caught on camera. a 16-year-old was surfing along new smyrna beach, florida, when a shark takes a bite out of his arm. the shark let go and the surfer made it to the shore with only minor injuries. seconds later two sharks were seen darting through the waves. new developments in the case of air missing woman traveling cross country with her boyfriend. 22-year-old gabby petito was last seen in wyoming last month. since then her boyfriend brian laundrie returned to their home in florida. they responded to an incident involving the couple back on august 12th but no charges were filed and police are not

elaborating on that incident. an attorney for the laundrie family issued a statement saying, quote, this is an extremely difficult time. i understand a search has been organized in wyoming. it is our hope that the search is successful. on the advice of counsel the laundrie family will remain in the background. the death of norm macdonald, the comedian who knew how to get your attention. >> i'm norm macdonald and now the fake news. >> reporter: this morning the comedy world mourning the loss of norm macdonald who lost his private nine-year battle with cancer yesterday. the canadian-american writer, actor and comedian became famous on "saturday night live" as host of "weekend update". >> maples violated part of their marriage agreement when she decided to turn 30 according to trump. >> reporter: and as burt reynolds on "celebrity jeopardy." >> burt reynold. >> that's not my name. >> okay.

turd ferguson. >> reporter: norm was a comedian's comedian. >> ladies and gentlemen, could be the funniest man in the world. >> you are the man. you are my comedy choice. >> reporter: known for his edgy humor. >> well, it is finally official, murder is legal in the state of california. >> reporter: and deadpan delivery. >> bob, you have a lot of well-wishers here tonight and a lot of them would like you to -- would like to throw you down one, a well. they want to murder you in a well. >> reporter: which made him a unique voice in the crowded world of comedy but he also drew controversy. his comments on the me too movement in 2018 including remarks about fellow comedians lewis c.k. and roseanne barr prompted talk shows to can sill his appearance. molly shannon saying you were unmistakably intelligent. your writing was like poetry, great father and friend, old-time elegance, love you, baby. jon stewart adding, no one could

make you break like norm macdonald. hilarious and ewing sneak. conan o'brien saying i will never laugh that hard again. norm macdonald was 61. >> mackdonald is survived by his son. a great loss for the world of comedy. >> definitely. a comedian's comedian. two of america's favorite candy bars. also ahead, a message from lin-manuel miranda as the curtain rises again on broadway. [swords clashing]

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you do not rohit around. >> so, we have lost the battle but we will absolutely win the war. reggie: governor newsom remaining in office and ready to get back to work. he survived the election with more than 60% of californians voting no for the recall but it might not have been the end of larry elder's political career. kumasi: we got more from what voters were thinking, new results from exit polls. reggie: mike is tracking a cool, hazy, and smoky conditions. in morning and welcome, you are watching abc 7 mornings live on abc seven, hulu live and wherever you stream. mike: good morning. thank you for joining us. let us look at what is going on at the exploratory. -- exploratorium. ere ittle bit of cloud he a loodrizzle's.