[applause] she'll be back the alex trebek stage with us on monday, and i hope we see you then as well. so long. ♪♪ captioned by los angeles distribution and broadcasting, inc. propane tanks sent flying into the air like missiles. the massive fire burning near a major airport in triple digit heat. >> the sweltering temperatures taking their toll across the country. a toddler found dead in a hot car. homeowners forced to

take drastic action trying to lower electric bills due to air conditioning. >> and in this changing climate, more insurance companies pulling back on coverage. how one homeowner in california learned he lost his insurance despite never making a claim. >> developing overnight, word that the us ambassador to china has been the victim of a cyber attack. his emails reportedly breached. meanwhile, nuclear tensions rising on the korean peninsula. >> crime in america. new figures showing violent crime down this year, but car owners beware for why auto thefts are skyrocketed . >> nearly a dozen horses die after a roundup in the west involving a helicopter chase. the new push for change, the warning to stay inside with a lion reportedly on the loose in a major european city. and later, a change at the movie theater just as barbie hits the big screen. from abc

york this is america this morning. good friday morning, everyone. i'm rhiannon ally. >> i'm andrew dymburt. and we begin with a dramatic scene in phenix, arizona, which is coping with a record breaking heat wave . >> much of the nation is sweltering, but fire crews in phenix had to go to work, facing an entirely different level of extreme heat last night. an extra challenge for firefighters in arizona. a massive fire erupting in phenix where it's never been this hot for this long. the fire breaking out at this propane tank business next to the phenix airport explodes, sending hundreds of propane tanks flying into the air like missiles. we have evidence of propane tanks up to 500 yards past the ground zero, where this has actually happening. >> we have hundreds of these scattered around the area as well as very, very large ones. so there are several that are in pieces over there. so absolutely shrapnel is a concern. >> the cause of the fire under investigation. the feel like

temperature, 119 degrees. many local residents are keeping their thermostats in the 80s to keep utility bills down, especially between the hours of 4:00 to 7 p.m. the most expensive hours to use electricity. more than 100 million americans from california to florida remain under heat alerts. miami is expected to see a heat index in the triple digits for the 40th consecutive day in jacksonville, a ten month old is the latest victim of the heat. a babysitter is charged with manslaughter after police say she inadvertently left the girl inside a car with temperatures in the mid 90s. >> it's a tragic case with tragic consequences and will have consequences. >> the water off of south florida is so hot it's now bleaching the coral, a vital part of the ecosystem. >> if over tens of hundreds of thousands of years these coral have been around people might say, well, come on, they've made it through plenty of marine heat waves. not like this one, but in

california, these people cooling off, skiing at mammoth mountain, where snow is still on the ground after the winter's historic 715 inch snowfall. >> as for the heat, it is expected to spread into the northern plains and the midwest next week. >> extreme weather is prompting more insurance companies to pull out of high risk areas, including california, due to wildfires. a man near san francisco says he lost his insurance coverage based on photos he claims were taken by a drone that his insurance company flew over his property. he admits there's clutter in his yard, but says his home is not in a fire zone and he's never made a claim. he says no one came to inspect the property. >> they said, oh, well, no, we sent over a drone. i'm like, oh , they have a drone that they sent over my property and i don't know, flew down into my yard. we were just found guilty and punished and we had no idea, no warning, no opportunity to mitigate the situation. >> so the company did not confirm using a drone, but said

it does use aerial imagery from a fixed wing plane or satellite. a developing story now overseas. >> hackers linked to beijing have reportedly hacked into the email account of nicholas burns, the us ambassador to china. according to the wall street journal, they may have compromised hundreds of thousands of us government email accounts. as we learned last week that us commerce secretary gina raimondo account was also breached. it's unclear how much sensitive information may have been exposed, if any, but the state department will only say that the investigation into the spy operation is still ongoing. >> tensions are rising on the korean peninsula, with north korea's defense minister issuing a nuclear threat after a us submarine arrived in the region. abc's martha raddatz got exclusive access to that us nuclear sub. it comes amid growing concern about the fate of a us soldier who recently defected to north korea. abc's faith abubey has the very latest. faith good morning. >> good morning to you, andrew. in light of these new threats from north korea, the pentagon

is blasting the defense minister. calling his rhetoric incredibly dangerous. this morning, nuclear tensions between the us and north korea escalating as the us shows its military support for south korea. the north blasting the us for, quote, reckless military moves after this. us nuclear armed ballistic submarine docked in the korean peninsula. north korea's defense minister threatening a possible nuclear retaliation. >> rhetoric like that. it's incredibly dangerous. we're not there to instigate. >> this is the first time in four decades an american nuclear submarine has docked in south korea. abc's martha raddatz boarding the uss kentucky for an exclusive look. >> this is where the missiles would be launched from. >> yes, the kentucky is capable of carrying up to 20 nuclear tipped ballistic missiles, each of them carrying up to a dozen nuclear warheads. the us military says it's a reflection of american security commitments to south korea as it fights back against north korean aggression. >> are you worried about the

possibility it could backfire? >> i am very confident in our own nuclear deterrence. >> the nuclear submarine is more than 200 miles south of the dmz or the demilitarized zone. the border that divides south and north korea. this is where the pentagon says 23 year old american soldier travis king intentionally crossed over into north korea this week without authorization since king was taken into custody. us officials say they've been unable to reach north korean authorities to secure his release. >> we want to bring him home. we don't know his condition. we don't know where he's being held . we don't know the status of his health. >> well, as for the nuclear warnings from north korea, the pentagon says the us is committed to peace and security in the korean peninsula and that the threats only deepen the us cooperation with south korea. brianna the bay, thank you so much for that update. >> in ukraine, russian airstrikes have been targeting the port city of odessa, taking

aim at ukraine's grain supply. air raid sirens went off again today. the white house is warning that russia may also target civilian ships in the black sea. >> now to a new report card on crime in america and some surprising news. violent crime is down, but there's one street crime that's surging and car owners need to be on alert. here's abc's andrea fujii. >> this morning. mostly good news from a new report on crime in america in the first half of the year in dozens of cities studied homicides are down more than 9% compared to the same time last year. gun assaults down more than 5% and robberies down 3.6. but car owners, be warned and auto thefts are skyrocketing, up more than 33% and more than doubling since before the pandemic. some cities reporting a 350% increase. >> that is an astronomically high alarming number. >> one major factor for a surge

in stolen kia and hyundai, which experts blame on a lack of anti-theft devices in the vehicles made between 2011 and 2022. because you have the design flaws in the vehicles themselves, coupled with the social media platforms, almost giving people advice on how to steal these vehicles. videos show thieves able to steal cars in under 15 seconds. >> my heart sank. i mean, that car means everything to a family like ours. it's our only vehicle . it's my job. it's our transportation. >> indianapolis just became the latest city to join a dozen others in a lawsuit against kia and hyundai, claiming the automakers cut costs by not installing anti theft technology. some kia owners also report being dropped by their insurance, even with a perfect driving record, they must have smashed into curbs, smashed into walls. >> we got a letter saying that because of the amount of money that they've spent on us, they've said that they're just not going to renew our policy in response to the crimes. >> hyundai and kia have released anti-theft software and

distributed more than 25,000 steering wheel locks. but data shows thefts are still on the rise. rhiannon andrew. >> andrea, thank you. it is time now for a look at your friday weather. >> well, good morning. and i have a ridge of high pressure off in the west and it's keeping your highs at least 5 to 15 degrees above your historical averages. now, places like phenix, you got 21 days at or above 110 degrees. you can put at least seven more days in the bank. when it goes to that record. now i'm transitioning things into the northeast. most places that already got in on some historic rainfall are going to see some more rainfall as you head into the weekend. so the renewed risk for flooding is there for accuweather. i'm meteorologist michelle mcleod. come >> coming up, new technology making it easier to pay at the supermarket. but first, nearly a dozen horses are dead after a

roundup in nevada involving a helicopter chase. >> new call for change. >> and a new twist as police investigate the suspected gilgo beach serial killer

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hope and joy will shine. ♪ ♪ >> tonight on abc. >> take a look. a massive explosion caught on camera lifting fans up in the air on the street in johannesburg, south africa. one person was killed, at least 50 others were injured. officials believe an underground gas line is responsible. >> nearly a dozen wild horses have died in the first ten days of nevada's mustang roundup. the government backed event involves helicopters chasing down and capturing horses roaming on federal land to thin the herd. witnesses say the horses suffered some gruesome injuries. activists want the chases outlawed, calling helicopter roundups barbaric. but the government claims the

overpopulated herds threaten the ecology of the range. new details now in the gilgo beach serial killer investigation. >> police are looking into whether the suspect arrested in new york is connected to the disappearance of a teenager in south carolina. this morning, police in rock hill, south carolina, are trying to determine if the suspected gilgo beach, new york, serial killer rex herman, could be connected to the disappearance of aaliyah bell. the 18 year old vanished nearly a decade ago, about 20 miles from where human owns land. >> it's kind of scary because i live on this street, he kind of stays to himself. he i'd see him come up down the road. he'd throw his finger up and wave in new jersey, authorities are investigating possible links between human and the 2006 unsolved killings of four sex workers near atlantic city and in las vegas, where human owned a timeshare. >> police are also go going through cold cases. >> we're working with partner law enforcement agencies. obviously, the fbi continues to

be engaged to see if there were any other connections that need to be made. >> back in new york, where herman is charged with murdering three young women in 2010, he now sits alone in a 60 square foot jail cell on suicide watch. >> amazingly, no, no emotions whatsoever whatsoever. and when you think about someone you know, last week that was roaming around the streets of new york and also masterpiece park freely to be confined in the space that he's currently confined in, you would think that you would see some emotion on huberman's wife seen here in a picture obtained by foxnews.com, has now filed for divorce. >> our affiliate wabc reports detectives believe the killings may have been carried out at the family home. he had a family. >> he had a wife, two kids. he had a good job. and being an architect. but what he did at night, he was a different human being and a dangerous individual who human has pleaded not guilty to the three murders. >> meanwhile, those familiar with the area say his home is

close to a boat ramp, not far from where the victims were found. >> coming up, the lion on the loose in a major european city. also ahead, the pentagon investigator now looking into ufos reveals his number one ufos reveals his number one concern hola, besties. so i'm gonna put you onto sephora's hair care. look at this. they got amika. they got moroccanoil. they have everything you need for your hair care routine. kérastase, which i love for my wash days. at sephora? their hair care is fire. ♪ oh. alright. ♪ good news for great hair. shop hair care at sephora. ♪ (♪) man, pass me a lipton? sure, t-pain! ♪ ♪i know it's up for me.♪ ♪if you steal my sunshine♪ open summer with lipton green tea citrus. i think i got one!

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is about to examine whether the government is hiding something. this morning, lawmakers are preparing to look into claims of a cover up within the government when it comes to ufos. >> as they keep telling us, they don't exist, but they block every opportunity for us to get a hold of the information to prove that they do exist. and we're going to get to the bottom of it. congressman tim burchett says at a hearing next week, lawmakers will hear testimony from david grush, an air force veteran who claims the government has a taxpayer funded program that recovers and stores crashed. >> alien spacecraft non-human exotic origin vehicles that have either landed or crashed. >> we have spacecraft that from another species. >> we do? yeah. how many? quite a number. >> the pentagon says an investigation has found no verifiable information to substantiate russia's claims. lawmakers will also hear from david fravor, a retired navy commander who recorded this video in 2004 showing a tic tac shaped object over the pacific. oh my gosh, dude.

>> wow. look at that. oh, man. look at that fly. >> skeptics believe the sightings could be advanced drones or optical illusions. the military intelligence officer leading the pentagon task force on ufos says they're analyzing more than 800 cases dating back decades. >> i have a full range of hypotheses. there's on this end of the spectrum. it's advanced technology that's coming from an adversary right in the middle have all my known objects, balloons and drones and birds and whatnot and then on this end of the spectrum, we have extraterrestrials. but congressman burchett says next week's hearing is all about government transparency. >> ac we're not going to bring you in a saucer or a little green man, but the reality is the american public deserves to know that hearing is next wednesday. >> the nfl's washington commanders are holding a pep rally today to celebrate the team's new owner ownership, that is, league owners approved the $6 million sale, ending the controversial reign of dan

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theater. just as barbie hits the big screen. >> i see you're wearing pink. you're ready to see this movie. so are so many others. amc theaters, though, are scrapping their plan to charge more money for better seats. amc was testing a program that allowed people to pay less if they chose seats closer to the screen. but the company says no one wanted the front row seats, even with a discount. it will now focus on improving front row chairs to recline more. >> meanwhile, the first reviews are in for barbie and oppenheimer. >> barbie is largely being described as funny and perfectly cast. oppenheimer is widely being hailed as one of the best movies of the year. >> we're talking oscar noms, maybe, who knows? >> next, the waiting game over. who won the billion dollar powerball jackpot. >> it could go on for a while. whoever is holding the winning ticket has one year to come forward and be vetted. >> the los angeles mini market where the winner was sold now has a sign saying billionaire made here. the owners get a million bucks for selling the ticket and witnesses say someone showed up at the store yesterday wearing a black hat, hugging people and then ran away, taking off in a bmw. some are speculating that she could be the winner. next a new way to

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older investors at investor.gov/neverstoplearning reggie: community members reacting to the retirement announcement by the police chief. the praise he's receiving from the local naacp chapter and what they are demanding from city leaders. kumasi: cutting out human air and bad behavior to make the roadways more safe. the proposal some supporters in the south bay says is the way of the future. reggie: tensions are rising after a submari d