making news in america this morning, breaking right now, severe storms turning deadly. homes torn apart after tornado warnings overnight. where the storms are heading right now. and those storms are passing over tennessee where wildfires are still burning this morning. we're getting our first look now at the charred town and hearing video surrounded by flames while they evacuated. from enemies to potential allies, president-elect donald trump and mitt romney having dinner together. what romney said afterwards as trump announces new cabinet members and sets off a first amendment firestorm. and a pipeline explosion near a major airport sends fire shooting into the sky and leaves

good wednesday morning, everyone. we're going to start with the breaking news. deadly weather overnight in alabama. >> three people are dead after strong storms struck the northeast corner of the state. all three in a mobile home. several people in jackson county are also being treated for injuries and up to 20 buildings are a total loss including a church. >> 24-hour day care was also destroyed in dekalb county. there are tornado watches still in effect and the huge weather system is still on the move. we'll stay on top of this breaking news story that's been >> those images are unbelievable. >> yep. and the storms are also having an effect on the firefighting efforts in tennessee. the fires in and around gatlinburg have left three people dead along with hundreds of homes and buildings damaged. meanwhile, thousands of residents and tourists have been forced to evacuate the area. >> we want to show you a time-lapsed video of the flames engulfing the chimney tops mountain more than 4,700 feet above gatlinburg. the city itself now a virtual ghost town. this morning the tennessee

vacant. firefighters working through a second straight night as a number of small wildfires are still burning. the wind-whipped flames racing across the mountains last night burning 20 square miles and catching everyone off guard. >> after watching the video it's amazing to even think that we even made it down. >> go, go, go. go, go, go. >> reporter: this dramatic video shows anthony fulton and his stepbrother driving past burning limbs and embers hitting their window. >> i sai what i just seen. stay calm. do what you do. drive and get the hell off this mountain. >> reporter: the extent of the damage coming into focus. devastating. >> the good news is that downtown gatlinburg is pretty much all intact, but you go onto the side streets and maybe within a half a mile of that main strip, it looks like a bomb has gone off, and it's something that is going to take a long time for the folks in gatlinburg to rebuild.

looking like this. a burned out jeep. a row of melted washer and dryers and charred foundations where homes once stood. abc's linzie janis is there. >> reporter: just look at this home completely burned to the ground. you can see this giant steel beam twisted and bent by the heat of the fire. it's still smoldering. >> reporter: this morning 2,000 people waking up in this community center and telling stories of survival. >> i'm stomping out embers in the middle of the street trying to, you know, stop fires, but then luckily a young lady named heather, and if you see this heather, thank you so much, she picked us up and brought us here. >> the impact that people are having on each other. >> and you can see and hear it there as you listen to that interview, and overnight, that severe weather is bringing some relief but also the potential to make things harder for firefighters. >> on the satellite you can see those storms in alabama and a closer look at tennessee. there you can see the system bringing in heavy rain to the

the hope is it'll help with fighting the fire but it's also causing high winds which could fan the flames instead. now to mitt romney's stunning about-face on donald trump heaping praise on the man he once slammed as a phony and a con man. >> after having dinner including frog legs and chocolate cake with trump last night, romney is now expressing hope and confidence in the president-elect. meanwhile, as trump pulls his cabinet together, he's headed to indiana tomorrow to unveil a deal to keep a thousand jobs from moving overseas. here's abc's janai norman. >> reporter: yet another meeting with former foe mitt romney. >> and i have to tell you i've been impressed by what i've seen in the transition effort. >> reporter: to the dismay of some supporters, trump and the former presidential hopeful having dinner last night as the president-elect continues weighing who he'll pick for secretary of state. his latest cabinet choices, republican congressman tom price of georgia for secretary of health and human services, price, an orthopedic surgeon and fierce critic of obamacare.

secretary elaine chao to head the department of transportation, the wife of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. chao was the only member of president george h.w. bush's cabinet to serve all eight years. for treasury secretary trump picking his campaign finance chairman, steve mnuchin, who spent 17 years working for goldman sachs. overnight word of a done deal on one of trump's big campaign promises. >> believe me, if i were in office right now, carrier would not be leaving indiana. that i can tell you. >> reporter: air-conditioning company carrier making a deal to keep its manufacturing plant and a thousand jobs in indianapolis instead of moving to mexico. trump tweeting, great deal for workers. this after one of the president-elect's first tweets tuesday took aim at the first amendment tweeting, nobody should be allowed to burn the american flag. if they do, there must be consequences, perhaps loss of citizenship or a year in jail.

firestorm on social media. the supreme court deciding 26 years ago flag burning is protected under the first amendment. one of the justices who agreed, the late antonin scalia, who trump has often praised. kendis and diane. >> all right, janai, and some republicans now coming out and speaking out against his stance on that. janai norman live for us from washington, d.c., janai, thank you. and one more note about the election, in the popular vote hillary clinton is now more than 2.3 million votes ahead of donald trump. clinton made a rare public appearance last night to surprise one of her most loyal and famous supporters. she presented a humanitarian award to katy perry at a unicef gala in new york city moving her to tears. clinton told the crowd that we need champions like perry now more than ever. the fbi is looking into a possible link between monday's attack at ohio state university and isis. the terror group is now calling the student responsible for the rampage one of its soldiers. 11 people were injured when that

drove onto a sidewalk and attacked the victims with a butcher knife. for the first time we're hearing 911 calls made when the incident started. >> a car crashed in the crowd and someone jumped out and started attacking people with a knife. >> i'm at ohio state outside watts hall. and there was a guy crashing his car into a bunch of people and ran out with a knife taking down people. >> five months ago the attacker was seemingly happy after graduating from a community college. an ohio state professor injured monday says he wants to know what changed between that graduation and the attack. some moving tributes taking place for the brazilian soccer team killed in a deadly plane crash. many of the team's fans showed up at their home stadium to honor the team. also there was a mass held at rio's christ the redeemer, the statue lit in green, the club's primary color. 71 people were killed in monday night's crash near medellin, colombia. somehow six survived. the team was about to play the highest profile match in its

out of respect for the victims, their opponents say the brazilian club should be declared the winners. now, among those killed in the crash was a player who just one week ago celebrated with teammates after learning he would soon be a dad. the celebration right there. and we have breaking news from northern california where one of four inmates who sawed their way out of a jail last week has been captured. laron campbell is being returned to the santa clara county jail after being taken into custody. campbell had been awaiting sentencing on a robbery new charges for the escape. two of the inmates were captured immediately. the fourth is still on the run. and thousands of cubans gathered in havana overnight to say good-bye to fidel castro. presidents from seven nations were among those in attendance. raul castro closed the rally with a speech thanking world leaders for their words of praise. president obama is sending a top white house aide and a diplomat to that funeral on sunday. still ahead, a major change possibly coming to your mcdonald's burger.

overnight on the streets of louisiana after an attempted kidnapping. the new video just in. plus, a man calmly walks up to a truck and then takes over a million dollars worth of gold.

a pipeline explosion near the kansas city airport lit up the sky with flames that could be seen for miles. the fire lasted for more than an hour before finally burring itself out. it didn't impact flights and there was no damage to structures. the cause of the fire still under investigation. and a wild scene near new orleans ended with a shoot-out and a kidnapping suspect in custody. police were led on a long chase following a man in a pickup truck. he had allegedly bound a woman with zip ties but she was able

incident. the chase came to an end as police opened fire. the suspect was arrested and has been treated for minor injuries. closing arguments set for this morning in the case of a former police officer who killed an unarmed black man in south carolina. the former officer, michael slager took the witness tan in his own defense yesterday testifying that he feared for his life. he claimed before the video started walter scott grabbed his taser. scott was seen on the tape running away and was 18 feet from the officer when slager started >> i didn't know it would go the distance so i fired my firearm until the threat was stopped. >> slager had trouble explaining what he is seen doing here picking up the taser from one location and moving it closer to scott's body and faces 30 years to life if convicted. a brief court appearance for the tennessee bus driver accused of killing six people. johnthony walker was led into court shackled and ha handcuffs. his attorney immediately asked for a delay.

15th. mcdonald's is experimenting with a new preparation for its burgers. the fast food giant has been testing the use of fresh, not frozen beef on the hamburgers in the dallas area. that is being expanded to restaurants in oklahoma. customers like the way the fresh burgers taste better. new details in the alleged abduction of a california mother. her condition after she was found and the message that was burned into her. wildfire officials set up cameras to lions. instead got some very odd images. o this holiday. and there are some people you shouldn't . people you should. shouldn't. janice! should. shouldn't. yes. no. should. no way. should. no. definitely not. ha ha, nay.

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the northeast along with some mountain snow. slippery in the upper midwest. rain is causing a mess when it comes to airports. look at the list, boston, new york city, philadelphia, washington, d.c., atlanta, charlotte. i guess we could go on and on. as police speak with a california mother who went missing for three weeks, we're hearing disturbing new details about the injuries she received. >> her husband is speaking out for the first time saying he saw his wife following the apparent abduction. here's abc's >> reporter: the terrifying detiles of sherri papini's alleged kidnapping coming to light. among her injuries, police now say she was branded. a message burned into her skin. >> i would think that that was some sort of either an exertion of power and control and/or maybe some type of message. >> reporter: her husband described an agonizing three weeks in which his wife was tormented physically and mentally telling "gma" she weighed just 87 pounds and was

severe burns, red rashes and chain markings. her signature long blond hair had been chopped off. >> obviously a very sick person who may have wanted to wear her down. >> reporter: kayna whitworth, abc news, redding california. >> a deadly accident on the 405 happened during rush hour. a car veered off the freeway, ran about 20 feet down an embankment and landed on a homeless a 40-year-old woman was killed and three taken to the hospital. police in tampa are trying to track down a gang of thieves behind a daring smash and grab burglary. they were caught on camera ramming an suv through a gun store. as many as 15 of those chiefs grabbed every weapon they could get their hand on and got away with quite a few. 40 guns including assault rifles. just the latest in a surge of gun store burglaries. a man getting $600,000 after a nightmare at the cook county

he was visiting his son at the jail when he passed through a heavy steel door that slammed shut behind him. authorities say the 8x8 foot cell was a super max security pris prisoner's visiting room trapped for more than a day and rescued by the fire department after breaking a sprinkler head. new york city police are trying to find a thief who made off with pricey loot. here he is. take a look here. a 90-pound pale filled with gold they're worth $1.6 million. he apparently just walked up and took it from the back of an armored truck in midtown manhattan one september afternoon. >> got to wonder if he knew what was in that barrel. >> i think he knew what he was doing if wasn't so armored that truck. some unusual animals have been spotted on some surveillance video in kansas. someone set up cameras after reports of a mountain lion in the area.

roaming around. >> a woman with a walker, she likes to walk around in the dark for some reason. and my favorite -- >> ah, yes. >> santa apparently made an early christmas visit hiking. he presumably will be back in a couple of weeks. maybe he was looking for the reindeer. >> now we know who santa has been. the obamas have decked the halls of the white house for the >> first lady michelle obama unveiled this year's holiday decorations. the white house tree is hung with gold onles honoring gold star military families and large replicas of the first pets, bo and sunny and my favorite, a gingerbread white house made with 150 pounds of gingerbread and 20 pounds of icing. >> looks awesome. almost too pretty to eat. almost. >> almost. up next in "the pulse," the

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this week at kohl's it's time to get moving with 25% off nike apparel shoes and accessories for the family. at kohl's, you'll save a little more with an extra 25% off nike and earn a little more with yes2you rewards so you can give a little more this holiday. kohl's. ? time for "the pulse" and we start with the world's oldest person who is also the only human being alive born in the 1800s. >> that's amazing once you wrap your head around that. she is emma moreno. >> she lives in northern italy and blew out the candles on her cake all by herself. >> go, emma. there to celebrate with her she had some nieces in the house,

doctor making sure everything was safe. the birthday girl credits her longevity with being single most of her life and eats raw eggs every day. now we know. >> i can get behind that. >> were there 117 candles on her cake. >> and she blew them all out. an infamous house back on the market. it's a huge home near houston, texas. >> so you may have heard of it because it is said to have the largest closet in the country. that's what we're seeing right now. just the closet. it has three s floating staircase and lots of bags and shoes. >> doesn't your closet have that. >> it is back up for sale for the second time in two years. it's listed at just under $8 million so it's a deal. its previous listing price was nearly $13 million so maybe now you can consider it a bargain. >> almost like you're making that money back because you're saying it, right? that's how it works. >> exactly. new zealand's mystery of the moving traffic cones has been

video that was a mystery for many workers at a tunnel. they thought they were haunted after they kept moving when no one was looking. now they can blame it all on the birds. very talented birds to be exact. they think they did it to get human attention in hopes of being fed. >> oh. they want a friend. i'll hang out with the kias.

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checking our top stories, mitt romney is now praising donald trump, the men met for dinner last night, apparently a second interview for secretary of state. trump is poised name former goldman sachs executive as treasury secretary while picking elaine chao there to head up transportation. wildfires are finally under control in gatlinburg, tennessee, but it will take a while to undo the damage. three people are dead, more have been affected and hundreds of buildings destroyed. in neighboring alabama at least three people are dead after strong storms struck the northeast corner of the state overnight, up to 20 buildings have been destroyed including a church. checking the map those storms will bring heavy rain to the eastern third of the country. both rain and snow in the northwest and light snow across the northern plains and upper midwest. and finally this morning, it should be a fun morning at a business in tennessee called the

that's because a lot of people who work there have millions and millions of reasons to be happy. all thanks to powerball as abc's linsey davis reports. >> see how you did. first number is 21. >> 21, 37. 44, 16. you know, and i was screaming. >> reporter: they call themselves the tennessee 20. >> checked my e-mails. we won. and we're just -- i mean i almost passed out. >> if i talk without starting crying, but if i do it's tears. >> reporter: these employees of an auto parts manufacturer in tennessee have played as a group for years. the split on that $420 million jackpot, 12.7 million each. >> last night my check engine light came on and i thought, you know, i don't have to get frantic about that now. >> reporter: still pinching themselves and still staying on the job at least for now. >> north american stamping group has been good to every one of us

that company. and nobody is going to, you know, leave you high and dry. we all plan on coming in, getting our replacements trained and go from there. >> but you're all planning on replacements? >> yes. >> no, no. i'm actually going to continue to work. >> right now i'm not planning on quitting. i'm planning on staying there. may change my mind. >> reporter: several million reasons that just might change her mind >> i think everybody up here will use these winnings towards things that god will honor and -- whew. i mean, we're going -- >> you need a hug. >> reporter: linsey davis, abc news, new york. >> so great to see that camaraderie and hear them speak so highly of their employer. >> i don't know if they'll stay on the job for too long. >> that's what's making news in

this is the largest fire in the last hundred years of the state of tennessee. wild fires devastating tennessee. in a moment we'll update youn the fire fight that has turned deadly. mother nature dealing a blow. we're tracking it in state after multiple tornado touched down. a home out of douglas county. >> a woman and two children are missing. jason gruenauer has details on the search, jayson. >>reporter: the douglas sheriff's department are looking for a mother and her two sons who went missing after they left school in highland's ranch. we're talking about jennifer and