right now on "america this morning," what took so long? new questions about why police hesitated for nearly an hour to enter the texas elementary school where 19 children were shot and killed. this morning a closer look at the training those officers received. our experts weigh in. plus, angry questions from parents over why the school door was apparently left unlocked and new accounts from the victims' families. the news overnight that one survivor, an 11-year-old, smeared blood on her face and pretended to be dead so she could live. breaking overnight, the governor of texas canceling his trip to the nra convention as new progress is made in washgt on gh gas prices and soaring a

airfares aren't the only challenges. the severe storms in the forecast. breaking right now, at least four people killed as an explosion rocks a philadelphia suburb. paying tribute to ray liotta. the ultimate gangster on screen and ultimate family man off it. and later, how much the navy charged tom cruise per hour to borrow a fighter jet. good friday morning, everyone. we begin with the new questions being raised about how police responded to the school shooting in uvalde, texas. >> it now appears that officers waited nearly one hour to enter the school where the gunman were carrying out his rampage and sources say the order to lock down may not have been communicated. president biden will visit uvalde to try to comfort the grieving families but for many

the grief has only turned to anger. investigators in uvalde are again revising a key detail in the investigation into this week's school shooter and say a resource officer did not confront the gunman outside the school as authorities had said. investigators now say no resource officer was even on the campus. they say the shooter walked the school grounds unobstructed for 12 minutes before going inside seen here apparently entering through an unlocked door even though the school security plan calls for doors to be locked. >> if a door was unlocked because kids had just come in for recess or they're about to go out to recess or some other event, that may be well why the door wasn't locked. now, should it have been? maybe. >> reporter: investigators confirm the shooter was inside a classroom for one hour before heavily armed border patrol agents finally arrived at the scene and shot him. >> you know that there are kids, right? there are little kids. they don't know how to defend themselves. >> reporter: the time line clarification comes as videos like this surface showing parents trying to rush into the school as the rampage was unfolding held back by local

officers who were seen apparently not taking action to confront the shooter. >> don't make entry initially because of the gunfire they're receiving, but we have officers calling for additional resources. could anybody have gotten there sooner? you got to understand, small town. >> reporter: pictures on the uvalde's police facebook page show officers holding active shooter drills at the high school just days before the shooting. the officers were taking part in a course where first responders are taught that time is the number one enemy during active shooter response and active shooter scene will usually be required to place themselves in harm's way and display uncommon acts of courage. since the columbine shooting, police have been trained to immediately enter a school and try to subdue a shooter and not set up a perimeter. >> even if you don't have the same type of firepower that that 18-year-old that should have never had an assault rifle had, you still go in. you engage, you make contact,

you try to use cover if you're outgunned. >> reporter: but other experts say police from such a small town could be easily outmatched. >> clearly that 45 minutes or hour doesn't look good but what good would it have done if you then had three additional dead police officers or however many there were there before tactical officers actually showed up at the scene. >> reporter: the school's response is also under investigation. before the shooting officials say the gunman opened fire toward a funeral home across the street. less than 15 minutes later the school district posted to its facebook page that a lockdown was in effect, but sources tell abc news it's not clear whether school staff heard that official lockdown announcement. we're also learning more about the shooter's mother, sources say she previously worked at the store where her son bought two rifles after his 18th birthday. another devastating twist. just two days after irma garcia died relatives say her husband of nearly 25 years died of a heart attack. joe garcia had just dropped off flowers at his wife's memorial before he collapsed.

those who knew the couple said he died of a broken heart. the memorial is growing for the 21 victims whose names are now etched in white crosses at the school. the grief-stricken mother of 10-year-old tess mata said her daughter loved to dance. >> she deserves to be remembered. she put a smile on everybody's face. every time we turned on the news and we heard of another shooter, it could never happen here. it could never. it happened here. it happened here, and it's my baby. >> another 10-year-old who died recently won a contest to design an anti-bullying poster. alithia ramirez drew a poster with the message, kindness takes courage. we're now learning that a student survived the shooting by playing dead. a woman says her 11-year-old niece saw her friends being

shot and then smeared blood on herself. >> tried to pretend she was wonded and once she exited the room and she was transported to the bus and they cleaned her up, they found out that she was not wounded. >> the girl was treated for minor injuries. her family says she is traumatized. meanwhile, this is the front page of the local newspaper in uvalde. it's blank with only the date of the massacre on it. but there is some encouraging news. lwmakers in washington appear to be coming together after this tragedy. abc's ike ejiochi is here now with new details. ike, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, andrew. in what could be a potential breakthrough, democrats and republicans have opened talks on new gun legislation. americans are making their voices heard in the debate over gun safety from student walkouts to major league baseball. the rays and yankees using their social media accounts to tweet gun violence statistics last night instead of game updates and now possible movement in washington. senate minority leader

mitch mcconnell is urging colleagues to find common ground directing texas senator john cornyn to work with democrats. >> i'm not interested in the same old tired talking points. i'm actually interested in what we can do to make the terrible events that occurred in uvalde less likely in the future. >> reporter: on the table, background checks for gun stores, gun shows and online sales and red flag measures that could allow courts to temporarily remove guns from people deemed dangerous. polls show more than 80% of americans support those policies. but any talk of reform involving guns is a nonstarter for many republicans including texas senator ted cruz. >> is this the moment to reform gun laws? >> you know, it's easy to go to politics. >> but it's important. it's at the heart of the issue. >> i get that that's where the media likes to go. >> it's not. it's where many of the people we have talked to here like to go. >> if you want to stop violent crime, the proposals the democrats have, none of them would have stopped this. >> but why does this only happen in your country? i really think that's what many

people around the world just -- they cannot fathom, why only in america. why is this american exceptionalism so awful? >> you know, i'm sorry you think american exceptionalism is awful. >> i think this aspect of it -- >> you know what, you got your political agenda. >> no, it's honestly -- >> god love you. >> mr. cruz, why is america the only country that faces this kind of -- >> you know what -- >> -- mass shooting? >> you can't answer that, can you, sir? you can't answer that. >> why is it that people come from all over the world to america. because it's the freest, most prosperous, safest country on earth. >> it may be the freest. it may be the most -- >> we learned overnight texas governor greg abbott will no longer appear in person at today's nra convention in houston. abbott says he'll return to uvalde to meet with families. and a recorded video of abbott will play at the convention where former president trump and senator cruz are scheduled to attend. andrew. >> all right, ike, thank you. memorial day weekend is upon us marking the unofficial start

of summer, and today expect some headaches on the road and in the air. a nation stuck at home during the pandemic is eager to travel. >> we've been cooped up, and i just been working a lot, so, yeah, it feels good to get out. >> reporter: more than 50 million americans are expected to hit the roads and skies this weekend with nearly everyone paying more for fuel and airfare. >> it's insane. i've never seen prices this high before. >> reporter: at the pump the national average for a gallon of gas this morning is $4.60. an all-time high. it's more than $6 in california. some tips to save, slow down, aggressive driving can lower gas mileage by 30%, and reconsider those rooftop cargo carriers which can reduce mileage by 25%. a shortage of rental cars is another speed bump for travelers this year. some are turning to peer-to-peer rental services like turo and getaround. but they come with risks. >> when you're renting from a private person, there's a lot

of uncertainty, and so you do have a risk of getting to your car and it not meeting your standards of cleanliness. >> reporter: if you're flying instead of driving, expect big crowds and long lines. >> the tsa expects to screen 2.1 million passengers a day at airports across the country at or even a little more than prepandemic levels. >> reporter: delta alone is seeing 25% more travelers now than last year. this despite domestic ticket prices which are nearly 30% higher than before the pandemic. prices now averaging $394 round trip. >> you know, i'm just excited about traveling, going somewhere else. >> reporter: and now an extra challenge. airlines cutting more flights because of a pilot shortage. just yesterday delta announced that beginning in july, it's cutting about 100 flights per day to give the airline more wiggle room should there be any issues with staffing or weather. and back on the roads aaa predicts an % increase in drivers this weekend compared to last year. for many americans the weather is not cooperating with those travel plans, so here's a look at your friday forecast.

good morning. looks like a stormy end to the workweek for many in the northeast. driving down the i-94 corridor maybe to your weekend getaway, well, be careful. could be some severe weather. hail, wind, even some flash flooding. now, look at the forecast for the weekend. kind of stormy in the northeast, it'll improve by monday, though. stormy in the southeast. also in the north central. record heat in texas for your weekend. looking ahead to memorial day, warmer and drier in the northeast and hot in texas. i'm accuweather meteorologist kevin coskren. coming up, new trouble for actor kevin spacey. but first the huge fire breaking out aboard a carnival cruise ship. and the pilot who passed out at the controls forcing a

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oh, my god. >> a large fire burned on this carnival cruise ship while docked in turks and caicos. no one was hurt. a different ship will bring pangs passengers to florida while the cause of the fire is investigated. actor kevin spacey is facing four counts of criminal sexual assault in the uk. the accusations involve three men. spacey cannot be formally charged unless he returns to the uk. new details about a mid-air emergency over florida where a passenger with no flying experience had to take control because the pilot was unresponsive. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> reporter: this morning the florida pilot who fell unconscious over open water is thanking everyone who helped save his life. >> you're my hero. >> reporter: kenneth allen now revealing he had a medical emergency, passing out from a torn aorta after taking off from the bahamas may 10th.

>> i've got a serious situation here. my pilot has gone incoherent. i have no idea how to fly the airplane. >> reporter: allen was flying a cessna, taking passenger darren harrison back to florida from a fishing trip. allen's friend russ frank came along for the ride and sat in the co-pilot position but had no flying experience. >> my head was pounding, and i was seeing some little blue lights shining through, sparkling through here. and they asked me what does that mean? i said i don't know, i've got a really bad headache. >> reporter: when allen fell unconscious, harrison moved him to the floor and knew he had to do something despite also having no flying experience. >> by the time i had moved forward to the front of the airplane, i realized that we had now gone into a dive at a very fast rate. all i saw when i came up to the front was water out the right window. >> reporter: in the palm beach airport control tower robert

morgan gave harrison instructions, guiding him over the ocean. >> and as he started taking my instructions i started to think to myself like hey, we can really pull this off. >> reporter: and they did. harrison landed safely and allen was rushed to the hospital for surgery. >> good job. >> thank you. >> very good job. >> reporter: robert morgan, the air traffic controller, wasn't even supposed to be working that day but turns out he was the only flight instructor in the tower at that time. andrew, mona. >> andrea, thank you. coming up, the breaking news overnight from pennsylvania. several people killed in a massive home explosion. also ahead, we remember ray liotta. the ultimate mobster. from prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have

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he's way too young to leave us. those words from robert de niro about ray liotta. abc's jason nathanson looks back at liotta's courageous career. >> as far back as i can remember i always wanted to be a gangster. >> reporter: this morning a notorious on-screen tough guy being remembered for his kindness. ray liotta, who starred alongside robert de niro and joe pesci in "goodfellas," the pre"sopranos" mobster movie about henry hill who earned his stripes by helping to pull off one of the biggest heists in history, for real. >> there's something very energizing about playing pretend with people who really are in it. >> reporter: one of those people was lorraine bracco, who played henry's wife in the film. she tweeted that she is utterly shattered and that fans always ask what was the best part of taking that movie. "my response has always been the same. ray liotta." by the time he was in "goodfellas" liotta had already established himself as i ahollywood heavy hitter. in "field of dreams" in which he played another real character,

shoeless joe jackson back from the dead and spilling the beans about his role in fixing the world serbs for gamblers. >> getting thrown out of baseball was like having part mef amputated. >> reporter: liotta got his start on the soap opera "another world." before playing sinclair opposite melanie griffith in something wild. he'd recently been enjoying a career resurgence playing two roles in the movie prequel to "the sopranos" "the many saints of newark." i asked him just eight months ago if he'd be open to playing a role in a possible tv spinoff. >> i'm open to everything. who's doing it, what do they want me to do. you know, that's one thing you learn is to -- i think i was a little too precious with my career early on. where i wanted to really make sure that i wasn't getting tpecast. >> reporter: liotta died in his sleep in a bed at a hotel in the dominican republic, where he'd been filming a new movie, "dangerous waters." he reportedly died right next to his fiance, j.c.nitolo.

his cause of death remains unclear. jason nathanson, abc news. hollywood. >> liotta a family man, said he never watched "field of dreams" all the way through because his mom was sick during that period and it was too hard for him. he leaves behind his fiance and his 23-year-old daughter. in sports the warriors are headed back to the nba finals for the sixth time in eight years. they beat the mavericks 120-110, and now they will face either the celtics or the miami heat. coming up, how much money the u.s. navy charged tom cruise to borrow a fighter jet. psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen, painful. emerge tremfyant®. tremfya® is approved to help reduce joint symptoms in adults with active psoriatic arthritis. some patients even felt less fatigued. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant® with tremfya®.

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estimated $100 million. it includes about 200 songs that he wrote or co-wrote. >> over his career his albums have sold more than 150 million copies. next, the anticipation as tom cruise and the "top gun" sequel hits theaters this weekend. >> and it looks like the studio sp n pe itav $11,000 an hour, mona, to use fighter jets. but tom cruise wasn't allowed to touch the controls. he had to ride behind the real pilots. >> the movie could be cruise's biggest opening yet. it's expected to bring in more than $100 million over the memorial day weekend. he does have his pilot's license, though. >> about 15 of those dollars are coming from me. you know i'm going to see it this weekend. >> it's $20 now. >> that's right. next, the moment that paid off for a golf fan who likes his michelob. >> yeah, he was at the pga championship and while standing behind tiger woods he was holding a can of michelob ultra. the images of him holding the beer kent viral and now he's got a marketing deal. >> anheuser-busch says they are

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>> building a better bay area. moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news.

>> the crowd is back, they are on their feet. the warriors are going to the nba finals again. >> here we go again. the dynasty continues. the warriors headed to the nba finals for the sixth time in eight years. >> of course, fans are buzzing we are talking with them as they made their way out of the chase center after that win. >> in the wake of the texas elementary school shooting, san francisco's biggest employer demanding its executives stop working with the nra. >> it is a cool start to the memorial day weekend, but it is going to warm up. we are tracking the temperatures. i'm going to put my hat on. >> who's ready? >> we've got the gears here. >> fresh off the