>> david: tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the winter storm warnings up right now. the third major storm of the week set to hit the midwest and the northeast tonight and tomorrow. 100 million americans on alert for heavy snow, ice, flooding in the next 24 hours, bringing treacherous conditions in the west already. a firefighter trapped in his vehicle, wiped off the road in a mudslide. how he survived. the storm moving east right now. some areas, more than a foot of snow. ready to hit many of the same areas already hit this week. at this hour, there are also

tornado concerns. the storms sweeping from minneapolis to detroit, from pittsburgh up through new york city. millions bracing. lee goldberg has the forecast. he's tracking it all. also tonight, thousands of american workers laid off at multiple federal agencies tonight, including the department of education, the cdc, veterans affairs. and tonight, abc news learning hundreds were laid off at the national nuclear security administration. the agency that maintains america's nuclear stockpile. then multiple sources telling us today they were called back, told their firings were on hold. so where this stands tonight. in new york city, anger over the department of justice pushing for the case against new york city mayor eric adams to be dropped. tonight, calls from some for mayor adams to resign. at least seven federal prosecutors now quitting instead of going along with the doj on this. one prosecutor who quit saying this move by the doj would only be carried out by a fool or a coward. we have new reporting tonight in the plane crash over

the potomac. the collision with a black hawk helicopter. what we've now learned about that night. tonight, vice president j.d. vance overseas. his speech to america's allies, telling them the biggest threat isn't russia, it's from within. the vp also meeting with ukraine's president zelenskyy. tonight, pope francis has now been hospitalized amid his worsening condition this week. james longman is live at the vatican for us. back here in the u.s. tonight, the daring rescue. a teenage boy trapped about 50 feet underground. you will see how they got him out. tonight, the new cdc numbers just in when it comes to the flu in the u.s. record levels and where. and the community tonight where cases of the measles have doubled since just tuesday. and on this valentine's, the super bowl champs feeling the love in philly. but the eagles' general manager hit with a beer can, a cut to his head. but as you can see, the party goes on.

>> announcer: from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight" with david muir. >> david: good evening. we finally made it to friday, but we do have one more storm to get through, the third major winter storm of the week set to hit the midwest, the south, and the northeast tonight and tomorrow. 100 million americans on alert with this. tonight, the system moving out of the west now with heavy snow next for the twin cities, the great lakes. flooding and tornado threats from louisiana right up to pennsylvania. and then snow and ice in the northeast tomorrow. baltimore, philadelphia, new york city. tonight, the dangerous conditions in the west. l.a. county getting a half a foot of rain from this. mud and rocks rushing onto the pacific coast highway, sweeping an l.a. firefighter and his vehicle right off the road and into the water there. the firefighter did survive. look at him right there. meteorologist lee goldberg has the forecast. he'll time it out as the storm hits tonight and tomorrow. and abc's chief national correspondent matt gutman with the images already coming in tonight. >> reporter: tonight, that powerful winter storm now sweeping east after unleashing flooding rain, devastating mudslides, even a tornado on southern california.

multiple mudslides hitting the same communities ravaged by the deadly wildfires. this wall of muddy water blasting through malibu, trapping a firefighter inside his vehicle, sweeping it off the road and into the ocean. >> hey, you all right? get out, get out! you all right? >> was he in the vehicle? >> reporter: you can see he makes it out with only minor injuries. >> are you okay? >> reporter: in hard-hit altadena, torrents of water and debris shutting down streets. this is a neighborhood that survived the eaton fire, but that mud flow just ripped through it here. i want you to see that mailbox over there. that means we're standing in about three or four feet of mud. within minutes, ray tindale's sierra madre home is besieged by floods. trash cans swirling. that suv swamped. from the fires to the mud, did you anticipate this kind of whiplash? >> no. we've been through -- i've been here almost 40 years, and we've

had, like, three fires. nothing like this. this is like the perfect storm. >> reporter: that system even churning up a tornado in oxnard. home surveillance video showing the moment 60-mile-per-hour winds ripped through this neighborhood. this storm now barreling east, about to hit some of the same areas that had just seen two storms already. snow and ice expected from chicago to philadelphia to new york city this weekend. david, behind me is this catch basin which was completely overwhelmed by the amount of mud and debris flowing through here. and you can actually see those workers in boats still trying to unclog that debris tower. the cleanup here along the fire scar areas is going to be monumental. that as that same system continues to target the eastern half of the country now. david? >> david: that system on the move, matt, as you said. thank you, matt. let's get right to chief meteorologist lee goldberg from wabc. lee, the storm moving quickly. what do you see tonight and tomorrow? >> weekend plans interrupted for sure, david. the storm is taking shape over the middle of the country right now. we have winter weather alerts

from the midwest to the northeast. flood watches pittsburgh to little rock. it's not just flooding rain, it's a severe threat, an enhanced risk for strong tornados louisiana to alabama. that includes jackson and memphis. let's time it. we'll have some light snows tonight. twin cities, chicago, to detroit might have 1 to 3 inches across parts of chicago. that snow will then move into the northeast. by tomorrow, it's heavy rain from the ohio and tennessee valleys. and snow is moving into new york city and philly in the afternoon, boston by nightfall. now, by sunday we've got icing north of new york city into central new england. it's heavy snow in northern new england, back to the eastern great lakes. heavy rain to the south. we could have upwards of a foot of snow locally in northern new england. north of new york city to boston, about 2 to 6 inches. after that, frigid air coming in for next week. back to you. >> david: lee goldberg back with us tonight. lee, thank you. in new york city tonight, breaking developments involving the mayor. and there's been anger over the department of justice ordering prosecutors to drop the case against mayor eric adams. tonight, at least seven prosecutors have now quit instead of going along with the

doj on this. one prosecutor who resigned saying this move by the doj would only be carried out by a fool or a coward. tonight, the news coming in moments ago. the doj has officially moved to dismiss the case against the mayor. here's our chief investigative correspondent aaron katersky. >> reporter: tonight, growing calls for the mayor of new york to resign as the federal corruption case against him sparks mutiny at the justice department. seven prosecutors have now resigned, refusing an order to drop the charges against eric adams, one saying dismissing the case would only be carried out by a fool or a coward. the stunning protest starting with danielle sassoon, the u.s. attorney in manhattan who accused the justice department and adams of negotiating a quid pro quo, dumping the case in exchange for the mayor's help with president trump's immigration crackdown. today adams denied it. >> i didn't do anything wrong. throughout the entire ordeal i said one thing. my attorney will handle the legal part. i'm going to handle running the city. >> reporter: adams appeared with

trump's border czar, tom holman, clearing federal immigration agents to once again operate in the city's jail complex at rikers island. holman leaning on the mayor to follow through. >> if he doesn't come through, i'll be back in new york city and we won't be sitting on a couch. i'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, where the hell is the agreement we came to? >> reporter: the democratic mayor campaigned for a reprieve, flying to florida to meet with trump, attending his inauguration, telling deputies not to criticize trump. whether adams was guilty was beside the point. the justice department said it decided the case should be dismissed without assessing the strength of the evidence. instead, officials said they wanted adams focused on accomplishing the immigration objectives established by president trump. that u.s. attorney appointed by the trump administration a conservative who clerked for the late supreme court justice antonin scalia, warned the doj was setting a breathtaking and dangerous precedent. and just as we came on the air tonight, david, the justice department did file its motion to dismiss the adams case,

calling it necessary and appropriate. a federal judge will still need to sign off. david? >> david: aaron katersky with us tonight. aaron, thank you. we turn in the meantime to the massive layoffs playing out today of government workers. thousands of them at multiple federal agencies, including the department of education, the cdc, and veterans affairs. and tonight, abc news learning that hundreds were laid off at the national nuclear security administration, the agency that maintains america's nuclear stockpile, before they were called back. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight across the country, tens of thousands of federal workers from the department of education to health and human services, from veterans affairs to the department of energy, suddenly told they are out of a job. >> last night, i got an email around 9:00 p.m. saying that my position was terminated. >> reporter: in greensboro, georgia, carly worked at the department of agriculture. >> i saw the subject of it, and

i kind of screamed. i didn't think it was real at first, so i reread it like three times and then kind of started crying. because -- yeah, i was relying on this job. my husband and i just purchased this house in december, and now we're not really sure what we're going to do. >> reporter: in a meeting at the office of personnel management, some employees were told to, quote, gather your personal belongings and exit the premises. abc news obtaining this audio. >> you will receive your termination notice via email shortly, and it will include the reason for termination. as a result, your employment with the office of personnel management will end today. >> reporter: the layoffs across at least a dozen departments and agencies all part of an effort to cut government costs. >> [ crowd chanting ] elon musk has got to go. >> reporter: -- spearheaded by

elon musk, who told an international conference that whole agencies would have to go. >> we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind. >> reporter: the administration first targeting the roughly 200,000 federal employees who have been on the job less than a year. at the department of energy, at least 2,000 workers let go. more than 1,000 people fired from veterans affairs and another 1,000 from the cdc. among them, half of the agency's so-called disease detectives, doctors and scientists who fan out across the country and the world to respond to outbreaks. but this process has been far from smooth. sources tell abc news, yesterday roughly 300 employees at the national nuclear security administration, the agency that maintains america's nuclear stockpile, were fired. but today, multiple sources tell us those firings were put on hold. managers frantically calling the fired employees back, telling them as of now, they're not fired after all. their security badges turned back on and their access to federal systems restored, at least temporarily.

the firings sending shockwaves through the federal workforce, but president trump today saying this dramatic workforce reduction is all part of the plan. >> we want to downsize government but make it better. run it better but downsize. >> reporter: and david, this is only the beginning. all day long we've been learning of more and more cuts at these agencies. tonight, word that homeland security is cutting over 400 employees, including 200 from fema. and workers we've talked to say it just feels so haphazard. no two weeks' notice, no guidance on benefits, just told to pick up and leave. david? >> david: mary bruce at the white house tonight. mary, thank you. we have new reporting tonight involving the plane crash into the potomac, the collision with the black hawk helicopter. tonight, what we've now learned about what might have been playing out inside the cockpit of that black hawk that night. here's trevor ault. >> reporter: tonight, eye-opening new details of what may have led to january's deadly crash between an american airlines plane and a black hawk helicopter. the ntsb investigation revealing

that helicopter was too high, 278 feet at the time of the collision, when the allowed altitude near the airport is just 200 feet. but the ntsb also says it's possible the cockpit computers may have given them bad data about how high they were flying, pointing to comments minutes before the crash. >> the pilot flying indicated they were at 300 feet. the instructor pilot indicated they were at 400 feet. neither pilot made a comment discussing an altitude discrepancy. >> reporter: investigators also say there may have been a critical miscommunication, that the pilots may not have heard this audio of the air traffic controller telling them to avoid the incoming plane, a crj. >> pat 25, pass behind the crj. >> reporter: the black boxes reveal the helicopter pilots were trying to speak to the air traffic controller at the same time, stepping on the audio of that crucial warning. david, the ntsb says these black hawk pilots were in the midst of a night vision goggles test.

now the agency is conducting a visibility study to determine if that may have hindered their sight. david? >> david: trevor ault with us tonight as well. trevor, thank you. next tonight, vice president j.d. vance's overseas speech to european allies at a security conference is making global headlines tonight. the vice president telling them the biggest threat to american allies isn't russia, that it's from within. here's jonathan karl. >> reporter: today in munich, vice president vance stunned america's european allies, suggesting they, not russia or china, represent the biggest threat to stability in the region. >> the threat that i worry the most about vis-a-vis europe is not russia, it's not china, it's not any other external actor. and what i worry about is the threat from within, the retreat of europe from some of its most fundamental values. >> reporter: vance accused european governments of pushing aside and censoring nationalist right-wing groups. afterwards, he met with one of

those groups, the hard-right populist alternatives for germany party. one of its leaders has echoed slogans used by the nazis. it's a group elon musk is supporting in advance of german elections later this month. in his speech, vance made no mention of russia's invasion of ukraine, but later he did meet with ukrainian president zelenskyy. >> we want the war to come to a close. we want the killing to stop. but we want to achieve a durable, lasting peace, not the kind of peace that's going to have eastern europe in conflict just a couple years down the road. >> reporter: for his part, zelenskyy made it clear ukraine is counting on the united states. >> we want -- really, we want peace very much. but we need real security guarantees. and we will continue our meetings and our work. >> reporter: it's unclear where the effort to get a russia-ukraine peace deal goes next. today, president zelenskyy said he will only meet with vladimir putin, quote, when ukraine is in

a strong position and has clear and definite security guarantees. david? >> david: all right. jon karl tonight. jon, thank you. now to pope francis, who is now in the hospital tonight with his condition worsening this week. abc's chief international correspondent james longman live from the vatican tonight. james, what do we know about the 88-year-old pope and how he's doing tonight. >> reporter: yeah, david, pope francis has been battling this infection actually for more than a week, and he's tried to work his way through it until right up until this morning. but now doctors say his condition has worsened, so he has needed to be hospitalized. we understand his condition is fair. he's described as having mild fever. and now on two occasions this week, he did actually have to stop for breath at public events. so that caused some concern. remember, he did have to have part of his lung removed when he was younger. he is 88 years old. so every precaution is being made. but it does mean that his participation in celebratory events this weekend to mark the church's jubilee year, they have been canceled until at least monday. david? >> david: a lot of prayers for the pope tonight around the world and the beautiful view of

the vatican there behind you james, thank you. when we come back here tonight, the new cdc numbers just in when it comes to flu here in the u.s. record levels and where. also, the region tonight where cases of the measles have doubled since just tuesday. the philly celebration tonight for the champs. and look at this, the daring rescue tonight. the 16-year-old boy trapped about 50 feet underground. his rope broke. what they did to try to get him out, in a moment. ent insurance plan that's smart now... i'm 65. and really smart later i'm 70-ish. consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare. with this type of plan, you'll know upfront about how much your care costs. which makes planning your financial future easier. so call unitedhealthcare today to learn more about the only plans of their kind with the aarp name. and set yourself and your future self up with an aarp medicare supplement plan from unitedhealthcare.

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to ask the girls, who would you like to bring instead? grandpa gary, they said. so little daisy going to his office, asking him if he would go to the dance with them. his answer in just four words, "we have a date." and when the time came -- >> howdy, partner! >> hi, mrs. mccallister, i'm here to pick up your daughters for a date. >> david: grandpa gary at the door. >> are you ready? >> david: and before they left -- ♪ practicing their moves at home. >> nice! >> david: there they go. >> have a great time, toodles! >> david: daisy, dottie, and grandpa gary on the dance floor. right here tonight -- >> hi, david, i'm kenzie. >> i'm dottie. >> i'm daisy. >> mom, kenzie, daisy, dottie, on their date with grandpa. >> why did you guys want to ask grandpa to be your date? >> i thought it would be so much fun. >> was he a fun date? >> yeah, yeah. >> hi, david. >> david: and grandpa gary right here, too. >> i was honored.

it brought back some memories from when my children were at home. we had a great time, and we had an opportunity to just let loose and let the move and the groove take us. and we had just a wonderful experience. this will be a fond memory for the rest of my life. >> thanks, david. >> bye! >> david: happy valentine's. good night. chinese new year parade to the nba all star weekend. >> speaking of which, nba all-star weekend is already underway. which rising star rises the highest? and how about talking about all stars? barry bonds versus jerry rice in competition. they're coaching, not playing. we don't need any injuries. we'll have that coming up from chase center. >> and i'm suzanne phan live in union square where everyone is getting ready for the chinese new year parade. coming up. we'll show you what's different this year. it's an action packed weekend. i'm meteorologist sandhya patel will let you know if the weather is shaping up to be a good one. coming up.

>> always live abc seven news starts right now. >> excitement is building in san francisco from bleachers and barricades for the chinese new year parade to buckets and bling for nba all star weekend. good evening. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. thanks for joining us. get ready for what could be the biggest weekend of the year for san francisco with events drawing national, even international visitors. we have team coverage on all of the excitement. abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel is checking the forecast for rain. abc seven news reporter suzanne fawn is live, with the final preparations for the chinese new year parade. >> but we begin tonight with abc seven news sports director larry beil live at chase center. with all the excitement of nba all star weekend. hey, larry. >> hey. hey, dan. nba all-star weekend. it is an extremely important event not only for the city of san francisco, but f