right now on "america this morning," invasion warning. what president biden says americans should prepare for if vladimir putin attacks ukraine. and our expert explains just how ugly an invasion could get. what's next for prince andrew? hours after the bombshell settlement in the sexual abuse lawsuit rocking the british family, the reaction from london and the question, where will the settlement money come from? extreme weather warning. what the government is now saying about sea levels along the u.s. coast. one expert calling it a wake-up call. elsewhere the dramatic new flood emergency. images just coming in. and from southern california, the major hailstorm. breaking overnight, anger over covid restrictions in school leads to big change, even

in liberal san francisco. breaking from beijing. an overtime thriller for the u.s. men's hockey team. and later, forget radar detectors, police now have noise detectors on the road. good wednesday morning, everyone. we begin with president biden's new warning about the standoff with russia. >> he says if vladimir putin attacks ukraine, it will be a bloody, destructive war, and he says 150,000 russian troops are now standing by in the region. meanwhile, the president is warning americans here at home that gas prices could skyrocket. we have new reporting about what a potential war could look like. abc's ike ejiochi is here with the very latest. ike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, mona. president biden telling the american people that a war between ukraine and russia will likely affect american energy prices, a cost the president says he's willing to pay.

this morning, the conflict between russia and ukraine taking another step toward a possible war. several hundred u.s. forces at fort campbell deploying to europe. a defense official tells abc news a mix of infantry men and military police officers and logistics personnel will be included in the 3,000 soldiers already heading to the region. president biden addressing the american people on the importance of american involvement. >> it's about standing for what we believe in, the right of countless countries to choose their own destiny. >> reporter: biden pledged that the u.s. would give diplomacy every chance and urged vladimir putin to step back from the brink of war. if russia does invade, the president says that it won't come without costs to our economy signaling the potential for higher gas prices. >> i will not pretend this will be painless. there could be impact on our energy prices. so we are taking active steps to alleviate the pressure on our own energy markets and offset raising prices. >> reporter: overnight, the

russian defense ministry releasing this video of tanks they say are being transported away from areas near ukraine, but abc news learning that u.s. intelligence sees no evidence of a russian withdrawal, rather sources say some russian troops are actually moving into forward firing positions. >> the administration is sounding the fire alarm loud and clear, but they're doing that to keep the allies inside, keep people focused that this is a real threat from mr. putin but the ukrainians on the other hand say, look, it's not that bad. we don't think they're going to invade. >> reporter: a full-fledged war between russia and ukraine wouldn't be easy for russia. ukrainian soldiers and military personnel far outnumber the 150,000 russian troops. >> this is not a conventional force-on-force kind of military. this will involve taking over a large country with huge cities, so the task in front of the russians, if they decide to invade, is going to be terribly bloody and terribly costly. >> reporter: meanwhile,

ukraine's cybersecurity agency says a massive cyberattack has crashed its ministry of defense and its armed forces website, as well as two of its largest state banks, a possible sign of more to come, mona. >> ike, thank you. for the first time since the police killing of george floyd in 2020, we're hearing from one of the officers directly involved in the case. tou thao, one of the three former minneapolis officers now facing civil rights charges in floyd's killing, took the stand yesterday. he said he did not realize the seriousness of floyd's condition. he said his role while derek chauvin had his knee on floyd's neck was crowd control. thao says he thought floyd was fine because his colleagues were not giving him cpr. in new jersey, an investigation is under way into how police responded to this fight between teenagers at a mall. one teen was black, the other was white. witnesses say the responding officers pushed the white teen onto a couch but pinned the black teen to the floor with an officer's knee on his back handcuffing him. new jersey's governor says he's disturbed by the video.

president biden is praising a historic settlement that holds a gunmaker accountable for the sandy hook school shooting in connecticut back in 2012. 26 people died including 20 children. victims' relatives sued remington, which made the rifle used by the shooter. the lawsuit claimed the company's ads including one that said, consider your man card reissued, violated state law by marketing guns to troubled men. >> it was designed to kill quickly and efficiently. the sandy hook shooter helped fulfill that purpose shooting 154 bullets in less than 5 minutes and killing 26 innocent people including my 6-year-old son. >> true justice would be our 15-year-old healthy and standing next to us right now, but benny will never be 15. >> reporter: the families will split $73 million. remington will also hand over documents revealing its marketing plans.

now to the bombshell settlement in the sexual abuse lawsuit rocking the british royal family. the queen's son prince andrew is settling, but the story is far from over. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> reporter: this morning, prince andrew slammed by the british press. his out-of-court settlement with the woman who accused him of sexual abuse dominating headlines. >> well, a lot of people over here in the uk are sort of suggesting that if you've got enough money, you can get away with something, and that's how it's been interpreted. >> reporter: this after prince andrew repeatedly denied accusations brought by virginia roberts giuffre. giuffre, now 38, says sex offender jeffrey epstein and his associate ghislaine maxwell trafficked her for sex with the prince on multiple occasions beginning when she was 17. while prince andrew does not admit to assaulting or even meeting giuffre, in a letter to the court, he said he has never intended to malign ms. giuffre's character and accepts that she has suffered both as an

established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks. the statement, a sharp contrast to previous remarks from the prince including what he said during his 2019 interview about jeffrey epstein. >> do you regret the friendship with epstein? >> now still not and the reason being is that the people that i met and the opportunities that i was given to learn either by him or because of him were actually very useful. >> reporter: the prince now saying he regrets his association with epstein, though it's not clear how much prince andrew will pay out, he told the court he will make a substantial donation to ms. giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights, but where will the money come from? >> it will be private money loaned to him by the queen until he's made the sale of that property or from other sources. >> reporter: last month buckingham palace stripped andrew, the queen's son, of

his royal titles as the case took a toll on the family's reputation. >> i think it's been tireless. there's no doubt about that. >> reporter: prince andrew is not facing criminal charges. he was scheduled to ve a statement under oath next month but now that won't be necessary. mona, andrew. >> andrea, thank you. breaking news from new york's long island. crews are on the scene of a massive fire. according to reports, a gas tanker overturned into a building before catching fire. images from the scene showing huge flames shooting from the building. there is no word on any injuries but we will keep you posted. anger over covid restrictions affecting children has now reached san francisco. voters have overwhelmingly decided to recall three democrats on the city school board who were accused of acting too slowly to re-open schools during the pandemic. the vote came just hours before california dropped its indoor mask mandate for most places except for schools. many experts say dropping mask

mandates should be a local issue. >> the criteria really need to be tailored to the dynamics of the local area, so infection rates, immunization rates, hospital statistics need to be considered. but the way that things are going, i'd expect that in most of the country it will be appropriate to lift the mandates in the next few weeks. >> covid case rates are down 80% from last month. a new warning about extreme flooding in the u.s. a government report predicts sea levels along u.s. coastlines could rise up to 12 inches by the year 2050. that's a century's worth of sea level rise in just 30 years. time now for a look at your wednesday weather. a month's worth of rain in three hours triggered this extreme flooding near rio de janeiro, brazil. dozens are feared dead. here in the u.s. a cross-country storm brought hail to southern california. the same storm will bring snow to the rockies today. up to 8 inches in denver late

today, and after that, the snow, ice and rain will be moving from the plains into new england after or later this week. isolated tornadoes are even possible in the south. meanwhile, checking today's high temperatures, mild across the south. coming up, growing concern about the bird flu and its impact on chicken prices. also ahead, why the family of late comedian bob saget is filing a lawsuit weeks after his death. and a wild scene as a bikera

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check this out. a difficult bike race in california was made a lot harder thanks to this bull, which confronted a cyclist on the trail near bakersfield.

witnesses say the bull went after a total of three riders but all of them are okay. >> unbelievable. there are new concerns about the price of eggs and poultry. that's because bird flu has been found among flocks of chickens and turkeys in three states. those states being kentucky, virginia, and indiana. authorities say if the virus spreads widely, it could send prices soaring. we turn now to the new lawsuit filed against alec baldwin and his movie crew after that deadly shooting in new mexico. new reaction overnight from baldwin's side. this morning, lawyers for actor alec baldwin are responding to a wrongful death lawsuit filed over that deadly shooting on the set of his movie "rust," saying, quote, any claim that alec was reckless is entirely false. >> there are many people culpable, but mr. baldwin was the person holding the weapon. >> on tuesday, the family of cinematographer halyna hutchins claims baldwin's and his producers' callous disregard for safety directly led to her

death. the lawsuit claims hutchins was recklessly shot and killed by alec baldwin. >> this doesn't happen unless people cut costs and engage in reckless behavior leading to a senseless, tragic death. >> reporter: attorneys for the hutchins family making their case with this animated reenactment claiming, quote, baldwin, the producers, and the rust production companies breached the most basic rules of firearm use. last year a prop gun held by baldwin somehow fired a live ruined killing hutchins and wounding the movie's director. baldwin told george stephanopoulos he had no reason to suspect the gun contained a live bullet and the gun went off without him pulling the trigger. in a new statement, baldwin's attorney saying, quote, he and halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a cold gun, meaning there was no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise. >> the fact that the family filed a lawsuit isn't that surprising. what's surprising is how

aggressively they're going after alec baldwin. >> the d.a. says criminal charges are still on the table. meanwhile, a lawyer for the movie's armorer, hannah gutierrez reed, released a statement overnight agreeing with the lawsuit's claim that the producers did not follow safety protocols. the family of bob saget is suing to block the release of records in the investigation of his death. they say officials say his death was caused by accidental head trauma. coming up, the overtime nail biter for the u.s. men's hockey team at the olympics. also ahead, how police found a girl missing for two years under a staircase in this home. maybe it's another refill at your favorite diner... or waiting for the 7:12 bus... or sunday afternoon in the produce aisle. these moments may not seem remarkable. but at pfizer, protecting the regular routine, and everyday drives us to reach for exceptional.

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up and down the steps a number of times. he used a flashlight and where two of the step boards came together, he looked through the crack, and he saw what he believed was a blanket. eventually they saw a pair of little feet, and when they got more boards off, they found the little girl, paislee. >> the girl is back with her guardian. her parents and grandfather face charges. let's turn to the olympics and new details about the russian figure skater who failed a drug test. >> also an overtime nail-biter for the u.s. hockey team. alex presha is in beijing. alex. >> reporter: here in beijing, that doping controversy is still hanging over these games. russian kamila valiyeva is in first place so far in the women's figure skating finals. the 15-year-old topped the leaderboard yesterday after being cleared to compete despite testing positive for a banned heart medication. her lawyers blame a mixup with her grandfather's medication, and now "the new york times" reports that valiyeva tested positive for three heart

medications. only one is considered a performance-enhancing drug. if valiyeva places in the top three during tomorrow's finals, none of the athletes will get a medal until the doping investigation is complete, and there will be an asterisk next to her win along with the medal count. meanwhile inmehockey arreaking lossoream a. they returned to the ice today for the quarterfinal game against slovakia, forcing a shoot-out but unable to secure the win. also today, a pair of americans won first and second at the men's free ski slopestyle event. alex hall won gold. his teammate, nick goepper won silver. guys, check this out. the olympic mascot is greeting the public in the form of ice. hundreds of ice sculptures are now on display to celebrate the winter games and the traditional lantern festival. you probably heard about the bing dwen zwen shortage. for a lot of people. these ice sculptures are as close as they're going to get.

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just ask your asthma specialist about dupixent. ♪ time to check "the pulse," and we begin with a big change on the road. some high-tech headlights are easy on the eyes and they have now been approved. >> they'll eventually replace those high beams that can blind drivers. the new headlights use sensors to automatically focus beams on dark areas of the road without creating a dangerous glare for the oncoming drivers. >> the headlights have been used in europe for years. now they'll be allowed on new cars in the u.s. forget about going too fast. a radar detector can now catch you being too loud. >> police in paris are testing their first noise radar. the device is attached to a

streetlight. it measures the noise levels of motorcycles, cars and trucks, and it snaps a photo of a violator's license plate. the city will now be issuing fines to noisy drivers. and next, arrival. >> 16-year-old mack rutherford wants to become the youngest person to fly around the world. his older sister zara is the current record holder. she completed a flight around the world last month at just 19 years old. >> he sort of inspired me and like this is an amazing thing to do. why not try something similar? >> i'll be with him every step of the way. he's a great pilot, and i know he's able to do this. >> both their parents are pilots. mack takes off from europe next month. a new milestone for spider-man. >> spider-man no way home has now passed avatar to become the third highest grossing movie in history. the movie has made $761 million and needs $100 million more to

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serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration, and may worsen kidney problems. the choices you make can help control your a1c. ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. >> building a better bay area. moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. reggie: now at 5:00, recall.

san francisco voters decide to recall three school board members. the message from supporters and two of the board members to fitting their actions. -- defending their actions. >> i'm going to keep mine on, no matter what they do. kumasi: the california state white indoor mask mandate is gone this morning but the rules will be. different of hunting on where you are. reggie: -- will be different depending on where you are. a new reason to be on your best behavior if you are in an uber. the previously sealed ratings you can now access. good morning everybody. reggie: don't threaten me with that. we give nothing but five stars. drew: don't need to be threatened at 5:00 in the morning. we are finding a warmer afternoon. those chilly days on