right. now in america this morning, bracing for e. in an emergency is declared in florida , the state gearing up for a major hurricane, the national guard activated the governor, warning about power and fuel disruptions, the latest on preparations and the storm's track plus the damage from historic hurricane fiona in canada, poems washed into the sea. anger escalating in russia , gunfire erupting as a crowd protest vladimir putin's military draft the new border restrictions taking effect, making it harder for russians to flee and the anger inside iran. the number of people killed protesting the death of a woman in police custody for a dress code violation. an alert for parents about the telephone scam

, claiming your child is in danger. how one mother busted the scammers. farve caught up in a welfare fraud scandal. the new fallout for the former quarterback. caught on camera the temper tantrums in the sports world this weekend from the pro football coach attacking his tablet to the nascar driver attacking his rival and later the eye opening cash raised at this betty white auction. what some of the golden girls stars, personal items just sold for. from abc news in new york. this is america this morning. good monday morning, everyone we begin with the emergency declared in florida as the state braces for what could become a category four hurricane gathering strength in the caribbean right now, and it is on a collision course headed for the florida gulf coast. it is expected to make landfall by thursday. let's get right to abc's justin finch in tampa, which forecasters say could potentially take a major hit

from the storm. justin. good morning. andrew. good morning. that's right. forecasters here are already warning of a potentially life threatening storm surge. this morning. ian is gaining strength over the warm waters of the caribbean is expected to become a major hurricane as it barrels towards florida make preparations now. the governor already activating more than 2000, national guard members and warning of power allergies and fuel disruptions. make sure i'm self sufficient for a while, because i know electricity is going to go out. it'll be fine lines already long at gas stations, homeowners filling up sandbags to protect their property. the storm is expected to skirt florida's gulf coast by thursday. the big question is where models show several potential scenarios with a direct hit anywhere from south

of tampa to the florida panhandle. just don't think that if you're not in that, i that somehow you don't have to make preparations because the last thing we want to see you see it start to really bear. east quickly and then have folks who are not prepared. florida's west coast is uniquely vulnerable to storm surge the shallow shelf of the gulf of mexico push massive amounts of water onshore. this is tampa bay, a massive body of water that spans 30 miles to the gulf of mexico. only 11 ft. deep with the right wind, that water gets pushed up the bay piling up. until it reaches downtown and has nowhere else to go flooding the core of the city. meanwhile 1500 miles north, the remnants of hurricane fiona have now turned deadly in eastern canada. good morning. jesus he's at least 20 homes have been swept into the sea from this small town in newfoundland. authorities say a woman's body

was found after a towering wave hit her home. forecasters say fiona is now the strongest storm on record to hit canada. and back here in tampa, a state of emergency has already been approved by president biden sending federal dollars this way . forecasters here also hopeful that here where we can slightly before making landfall, andrew alright, justin, thank you and stay safe out there and stay with abc news for continuing coverage as ian approaches florida the abc news app will have forecasts every hour. new video from inside russia this morning gunfire erupting during a protest over vladimir putin's military draft for the war in ukraine, police were seen dragging men into busses, and now russians will have fewer options. when it comes to fleeing the country. abc s i could hachi is here with more good morning. good morning, brianna and the mass exodus from russia shows no signs of slowing down and now neighboring

countries are imposing new restrictions at their borders. this morning. new fallout from russia's decision to hold the country's first military draft since world war two neighboring georgia today is closing its border to russian men of fighting age. more than 2300 vehicles were seen at this checkpoint, some waiting more than 30 hours to cross into georgia and on the other side of russia. finland says it will now significantly restrict the entry of russian citizens and independent russian newspaper reports. more than a quarter of a million men have fled russia since last week when vladimir putin announced he's calling up 300,000 reservists. now russia's ministry of sports has been national sports teams from participating in training camps and competitions and other kind entries, a move that could prevent athletes from deserting. demonstrations against the draft are growing. human rights activists say russian authorities have arrested more than 2000 protesters. those breathtaking scenes in russia,

particularly in dagestan, are a problem for the kremlin. putin's gamble of bringing in a military draft is still playing out and to us official claiming putin has had disagreements with his generals amid those battlefield losses here in ukraine. meanwhile russia is pushing ahead with what has been described as sham referenda in russian controlled areas of eastern ukraine aimed at formally annexing those areas, making them russian territory, which could allow the kremlin to claim russia itself is coming under attack from ukrainian and american weapons. ukraine's president zelensky says putin is making the move because he knows he's losing the war. it's seven months since russia occupied tried to occupy ukraine. but they couldn't and now he has to justify he has to take steps to justify it appears putin is at a safe distance from the protests . reports say he's less left moscow to his secret palace, his home halfway between moscow and st petersburg, rhiannon. alright

i ajaccio. thank you for that. angry protests are also escalating across iran after the death of a woman who was arrested for allegedly not wearing her headscarf properly. more than 40. people have been killed since 22 year old masa amini died in police custody. iran has summoned the british and norwegian ambassador's over what it describes as hostile media coverage and interference in this country. the january 6th committee is promising new information during what's expected to be its final public hearing wednesday. the panel says. it will show there was a coordinated plot by former president trump to overturn the 2020 election. and one committee member says the panel is aware of reports that there was a call between the white house switchboard and a capital rioter , but would not elaborate. many americans, by the way, would rather not see president biden or former president trump back on the ballot. our new poll finds 56% of democrats want their party to replace biden in 2024, while republicans are

split almost evenly 47 to 46. 6% on whether trump should represent them. well. tonight's the night nasa will find out whether its so called mission to save humanity was a success. it's crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid. the dart spacecraft, which is about the size of a refrigerator is speeding towards an asteroid nearly seven million miles away. dart will slam into the rock with the goal of changing the asteroid's trajectory away from earth in a first of its kind experiment to learn what we can do with an asteroid ever threatens earth. within days there, we should know by exactly how much we've been able to change its philosophy. and that's the whole point of mission. the impact is scheduled for 7 14 eastern time in nasa will be providing live updates second student has died after lightning struck a group of middle school students on a rowing team in orlando. the second victim was on life support in critical condition after the incident earlier this

month, the team has set up a fundraising website to help the families of the students who died. it is time now for a look at your monday forecast. we're tracking a powerful storm through the western caribbean expected to make landfall into western cuba on tuesday making s way off the west coast of florida during the week, giving hurricane conditions especially to the west coast of the sunshine state expected to make landfall as a category two storm later this week near tallahassee . impacts will be widespread across florida flooding rain up to 10 inches 100 mile hour winds and a six ft storm surge. accuweather meteorologist kevin costner in. coming up a surprise at the box office from avatar but first, an alert for parents about the telephone scam, claiming your child is in danger and later what we're learning about this nascar driver seen

repeatedly punching another driver. how you start your

day. good morning, america. bring your friends. the world still can't get enough of betty white, a collection of her memorabilia. hundreds of items just rigged in $4 million at auction whites director's chair from the golden girls sold for nearly $77,000. some of her scripts went for about 50,000 and address sold for 32,000. an alert for parents this morning about a scam over the phone. the scammers claim that your child is in danger and is one california woman found out. they can sound very realistic. here's abc, derek dennis this morning a frightening phone scam that should serve as a warning. a southern california mother almost fell victim. i got a

phone call, and i picked up the phone and i heard a crying person frantic and confused, she thought. one of her two kids could be in danger. and then this crying person, said mom and continue to stop and i was trying to identify the sounds. i have to. i have two boys, she says. the crying voiced seemed real. she spoke to our los angeles station, asking that she only be identified as kirstie, out of concern for her safety. heard him cry before, and it was similar to him, then screamed her son's name max, prompting a man on the other line to begin making threats. and asking me for money that he had my child and he was going to hurt him and proceeded to curse at me started asking questions, including how much money would be needed to free her son. never given me an amount for that, and that's when they got really frustrated and

told me that they were going to punish me. and how do you like this and hung up the phone? quick thinking mom then called her son's job and was relieved to find out he was there and was okay. she then got out her computer in place. zoom call to the suspects number. why did you hang up on me? because you're a dumb you don't want to help maxed. orange county sheriff say this is a common scam. they're going to have some some noise in the background trying to scare people into we want you to act right away because the more that people slow things down, the less likely it is that people will fall for these scams. police say reporting these calls immediately with a phone number in any other information you can provide can help them track down these scammers. most importantly , don't ever give any money or financial information over the phone. canon andrew. gas prices have gone up for the fifth consecutive day. it follows the federal reserve decision last week to raise interest rates. the war in ukraine and hurricane season could also be factors.

triple a says. the national average is now 3 72 a gallon. it's been 13 years since avatar first hit theaters and movie goers are still apparently big fans. a rerelease of the james cameron's sci fi epic. made $10 million in north america this weekend and another 20 million internationally. the highly anticipated sequel the way the water opens in december. can't wait. all right, coming up. james earl jones makes a decision about his future as darth vader. farve caught up in a welfare scandal. new fallout a welfare scandal. new fallout for the former quarterback. overactive bladder? i've been there. i also used to plan my days around finding a bathroom, in fear of an embarrassing bladder accident. you're not alone, and you don't have to live like this. i don't! i found real relief with axonics therapy, a proven non-drug solution, and i got my life back. go to findrealrelief.com to get started. ask a bladder specialist if axonics therapy is right for you

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dorsey. it was a little mad at the bills loss in miami yesterday, smashing his microsoft surface tablet. the nfl previously sent a warning to every team after tom brady broke two tablets last weekend fallout over the growing welfare scandal and mississippi involving former nfl quarterback brett farve. investigators say he lobbied the state to use welfare money to pay for athletic facilities. at his alma mater. this morning. sirius xm has suspended former nfl star brett farmers weekly radio show just days after espn . milwaukee also paused his radio appearances. state investigators say farve was part of a group that spent more than $77 million in welfare funds meant for low income families on pet projects. we've seen a ton of welfare money that's intended for the poor spokes here in the state of mississippi, florida people who just simply did not need it. projects included this volleyball arena at fars, alma mater. the university of southern mississippi, where his

daughter played. volleyball court filings revealed that in 2017 far urged the governor at the time, phil bryant to help find the money to build it. two years later, he asked bryant for help with an indoor football practice facility at the same school, the governor telling him that federal money meant for children and low income adults is tightly controlled. any improper use could result in violation of federal law. a few months later after farm lobby the governor again, brian wrote. we have to follow the law.tooraa facility wasasiverted to bude vo , supposedly for speeches that those speeches were never given. in the text exchange, farve asked the director of the nonprofit that helped divert the funds. if you were to pay me is there any way the media can find out where it came from, and how much farve has not been charged. his attorney says. the former quarterback never knew where the money he was asking for, was coming from saying he only has good in tensions with every

charitable endeavor he is organized. farm has repaid the $1.1 million. he got for those speeches that he never made, though the state auditor has said he still owes interest coming up rihanna and the super bowl halftime show why she is changing her tune when it comes to the nfl, plus the controversy surrounding colonel sanders home . it's got everything to do with . it's got everything to do with fried chicken. covid-19 moves fast, and now you can too by asking your healthcare provider if an oral treatment is right for you. oral treatments can be taken at home and must be taken within 5 days from when symptoms first appear. if you have symptoms of covid-19, even if they are mild, don't wait, get tested quickly. if you test positive and are at high risk of severe disease, act fast. ask if an oral treatment is right for you. covid-19 moves fast, and now you can too. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer.

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[acoustic soul music throughout] [acoustic soul music throughout] [acoustic soul music throughout] [acoustic soul music throughout] good morning, america. bring your friends. hi. time to check the pulse, and we begin with rihanna's return to the nfl confirms rihanna will headline the super bowl halftime show. the singer dropped a big hint by posting an image of her hand holding a football. brianna declined the offer back in 2019 out of solidarity with colin

kaepernick. but samhay's roc nation to help pick performers for the show. the nfl at least outwardly in terms of entertainment has changed its tune quite a bit in the years since rock nation took over. it's been a very concerted effort to have people of color on the show. rihanna hasn't released new music in six years , but our new album is expected to drop before the super bowl in february. back on the field, the nfl already had the butt fumble . now it has the but punch dolphins thomas more stead previously had only one punt blocked 14 years, but number two came yesterday when the backside of his teammate french. sure field got in the way blocking the punt play brought back memories of former jets quarterback mark sanchez losing the ball in 2012 after running into a blockers rear end after yesterday's mishap, sanchez tweeted to the dolphins kicker. whoa stay out of my lane, bro.

all right. at least theins wo re fm major league baseball game because of what happened before the game even started luke weaver, the royals and robby ray of the mariners were staring each other down, refusing to leave the field after the national anthem. ray won the standoff, but both players by the empire next to move to sell a kentucky restaurant and mansion once owned by kfc founder colonel sanders is ruffling some feathers. the owners of claudia sanders dinner house have been trying to sell the restaurant since june, but there would be buyers want to franchise, the restaurant and kfc's parent companies fighting that plan. not looking for another finger licking good rival. well james earl jones is reportedly retiring from voicing dorothy. i forget this 45 years wars fans may never even noticed. vanity fair, says the 91 year old actor has signed off on a plan to use artificial intelligence to craft new dialogue from his old voice

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>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. reggie: working to stop one of

california's fastest growing crimes. the push to crackdown down on crooks stealing catalytic converters. kristen:-- kumasi: and rushing through barricades at a music festival. reggie: ian setting inside on florida, -- it on florida. kumasi: and the man behind an iconic star wars character stepping aside, how they will fill james earl jones'shoes. reggie: how is the weather? lisa: low clouds and fog, the fog bank has extended. you can see it all on the coast. you can see it into oakland and pushing further. it is allowing for temperatures to drop off and