-- oh,, my god. are. >> a terrifying and deadly scene repeated more than a hundred times in the last 24 hours in six southern states and they are reporting new casualties from a long punishing series of fierce storms. >> hundreds have been killed, emergency workers say they only expect the death toll to rise. >> president obama will travel to alabama on friday to view damage from the deadly storm and meet with affected families. death toll continues to rise at this hour. latest numbers, 248 confirmed

dead across six states. alabama hardest hit with 1 162 deaths, mississippi with 32, tennessee with 32. georgia, 13 people killed, 8 ins very and one in kentucky. it's the deadliest series of tornadoes in nearly 4 years. >> 150 reported tornadoes since yesterday including this mile wide twister in tuscaloosa, alabama. the mayor says the city was hammered. >> i don't know if i've ever seen in my life anything as destructive and as tragic as what hate is transferred peird. >> they have activated 2,000 national guard troops to help with search and rescue efforts. >> we're making sure that we find those that are injured and we'll take it step by step as we take care of the situation. >> the aftermath in the southeast is devastating. homes flattened, buildings gone. towns unrecognizable.

patty perez was one of the lucky ones. >> many are still missing. deadly storms stretched across the eastern half the u.s. from mississippi to new york. it caused torrential rains and flooding. a nuclear power plant also lost power but they were able to shut it down safely. the governors of several states have issued emergency declarations. >> we have what i call extreme damage, devastation that we're dealing with. >> the american red cross says it has activated shelters across the southeast the most since hurricane katrina. nearly 3,000 people are using the facilities. meteorologist mike nicco has been tracking these storms. >> storm is not as powerful as it was the last few days.

you look at the watch boxes, yellow is severe thunderstorm watch and hail and 58 mile-an-hour winds faster. where they expect tornadoes in maryland in the coastal carolinas that is where tornadoes is possible. you see lighten marching off to the east, one tornado so far today, it's been in the southeastern part of north carolina but it is causing flight delays all up and down the eastern seaboard. where you see yellow, that is slight risk for more severe weather. so it's not over yet. more damage reports will be coming in. if you want to find out how you can help, we have a link to the american red cross bay area chapter on our website at abc7news.com and click on see it on tv. >> we have breaking news from eldorado county where the husband and wife accused of kidnapping and raping jaycee

dugard are expected to plead guilty moments from now. today, it was scheduled less than two hours ago we learned both philip and nancy garrido is are expected to plea guilty as part of a plea guilty. philip garido will spend the rest of his life in prison and nancy garido will likely serve 31 years in prison before eligible for probably. they were investigators in dublin says it appears that a sergeant was justified in shooting a homeless man this morning. he shot the man after he began beating her. she is now in the hospital recovering with head injuries. amy hollyfield has been on the scene all morning and joins us with the latest. >> police say she was badly beaten. th those that visited her she has black eye stitches in the back of her head and bruises.

it appears she had no choice but to shoot the man. >> the officer on the patrol overnight wanted to know whether y a homeless man was walking in this industrial area at 1:30 in the morning. when she stopped talk to him he turned violent. >> we know she was in a very difficult fight. she was attacked by the suspect. her face was bloody. she has multiple injuries to her head. it was a life or death struggle for her. >> the attack was not only violent but quick. sergeant called to report she was about to approach the man three minutes later. she called to say she had shot him. investigators can't release his name until they notify his relatives but he is well known in the area. >> we know he has been arrested on numerous occasions. he's known to fight. he is a drunk in public kind of thing. around town they say she kind of rude, he's been in dublin for a

long time. >> everybody is very concerned for her and we're very happy it wasn't worse than it was. >> the lieutenant says the injured sergeant has been with the department for more than 20 years. she says the officer in charge of training has never been tested like this herself. her fellow officers have no doubt she will recover physically and emotionally. >> she is tough and we have all the faith in the world. >> police still have the crime scene cordoned off. that means the southbound entrance ramp to interstate 680 at st. patrick's way is closed. they say they have no idea when they'll be able to reopen it. they don't know whether the man suffered from mental illness and they don't know whether what he used to beat the officer. whether it was the beer can or whether it was his fists and

feet. >> federal safety investigators have just released a final report on a muni train collision that 46 passengers in july of 2009. the ntsb concludes the probable cause was the operator failing to keep the train in automatic mode until he reached the platform of the west portal station. that would have been when the driver blacked out because of a heart condition and managers contributed to the accident by not monitoring and enforcing rules. >> less than half an hour from now, prosecutors will announce 19 sexual abuse charges against a former u.c. berkeley doctor. he is accused of illegal sexual contact with several of his patients. prosecutors say most if not all victims were unconscious when they were assaulted. we now know the what will

tons, clare and esteban is proud parents of three boys and one girl. a biologist scaled the building to examine the chicks and place identifying bands on their legs to collect data. they make their home at city hall back in 2007. coming up next, oakland wants to make sure all residents have access to high-speed internet. >> can you hear me now? big problem for what verizon calls the most reliable

city of oakland a launching an initiative to provide every low income resident with internet access and training. that will give people to find jobs and students able to do homework. the mayor talked about the program. >> get connected oakland has the full support of mayor jean quan and a lofty goal, but to eliminate the digital divide here in oakland. take a look at the meeting that officially launched over at the oakland housing authority. according to the mayor, 50% of oakland low income residents are without high-speed internet.

70% in some neighborhoods, 50% of latino families and half of the disabled that need it the most that need it the most for government services. they will be offering classes in computer technology and computer use. you are looking at video provided by the city of oakland and then where needed, computers will be given or located needy groups. the mayor says the future of oakland depends on it. >> oakland right now is trying to attract large software companies that find oakland more centrally located than some of the other cities. it would be a real shame and disgrace if the young people don't get to be part of that economy. >> the mayor presented a proclamation reinforcing the commitment to get connected

oakland. free internet service available, eventually there is a plan $15 a month for libraries and such. a number of agencies called in on this. county d.a.'s office, social services, park and rec, public libraries and santa rita wants to make sure get connected oakland works. >> verizon customers are having big problems with the new system. for at least a day, customers have not been able to access the internet and some are reporting issues with verizon's older and slower 3-g network. verizon isn't saying much except that it's working to fix the job. >> all right. our next mike nicco is taking a look at the sunshine. >> and looking at the winds, how

breezy it's going to be this afternoon. we'll talk about that. also warming trend, pretty much warmer and we'll show you a little bit above the average. >> and the riorl wedding ring, scoop on the ring will slip

(speaking in international language) and he said unto them go ye into all of the world and preach the gospel preach the gospel  ♪very creature in the world. (applause) 

president obama made public the details version of his birth certificate yesterday and today he is talking about it with oprah. >> erica, a huge potential to seize the 21st century we're only going to get there if we have a serious conversation about things that matter to people. jobs, gas prices, how we bring down the deficit. how do we deal with the changes and we can't be distracted by side shows, at my press conference, carnival barkers trying to get attention. [ applause ] >> you can watch the president and entire discussion on life inside the white house on oprah, monday may 2nd. >> less than 24 hours to go to before the royal wedding and we have details on the bride's ring. kate middleton and palace officials the ring will slip on

her finger was made of welsh gold made by a family business with long ties to the royal family. only one ring was made because as reported, william has chosen not to wear one. we'll bring you the royal wedding live in a special version of "good morning america" tomorrow from 1:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. and we'll stream it live and air royal wedding edition of 10:00 20 from 9:00 to 11:00 tomorrow night. >> it's so exciting. >> we're up early any way and we'll be watching. >> i think it's going to be a quiet weekend, cooler than average and it's going to be warmer than average to start. take you out and show you what is going on outside. high level cloud, few mid-level cloud but not too many compared

to what we had earlier this morning. so things are running pretty quietly. notice the camera is bouncing around because the winds are biggest story. different perspective down in san jose, beautiful green trees, downtown. you can see a it's breezy, too, here also. and most of clouds are falling apart as the clouds move across the south bay and it's pretty gusty winds that are creating. look at sfo, up to 30 mile-an-hour gusts, oakland 20, 21 in mountain view, 22 in fairfield. these are on owl going to get faster during the evening. low to mid 50s from livermore, san jose and los gatos. monterey bay, mid to upper 50s for monitor rare and santa cruz.

cooler today and windy with northwest winds, 20 and even 30. calmer conditions saturday through wednesday. no rain in in forecast. upper 50s with breezy conditions. east bay valleys, a gust or two faster. 20-30 mile-an-hour winds with gusts up to 40 on the east bay shore. mid to upper 50s. it will be windy at the coast and windy along the peninsula upper 50s. low to mid-50s through the north bay valleys and few upper 50s santa rosa. but had windy at your beaches and windy around monterey bay. it's 50s the rest of the bay and laden will be upper 60s. wind gusts, notice how they are picking up steam as we head into the afternoon. fastest wind will be later on

during the evening hours. 9:00 is where we're going to get some of the fastest gusts, more than 30 miles an hour and inland they'll be around 25 miles an hour. they will calm tonight. here is a look at temperatures today, low to mid-70s and breezy in tahoe, 53. hot in palm springs, 92 degrees. with the calming winds, it's going to be cooler than this morning. mid to upper 40s for the rest of us. seven-day forecast, it will be breezy through the daylight hours, but once the sun sets winds will calm overnight and calm is going to allow all that sunshine that will push our temperatures into 80 degrees over the weekend. mid-70s around the bay and low to mid 60s around the coast. >> marine county rz honored several people this morning. marin county paid honorees at

the awards breakfast, including a young girl that had blankets for the homeless and nurses that performed cpr on people. we'll link them to so you can learn more on our website. >> don san for deals these days,not g

about saving a dollar off shampoo or two-for-one tacos or something. i'm talking about paying less -- every month. like this deal. [ female announcer ] call today and get the fastest internet for the price -- an amazing $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee.

plus get access to the entire at&t national wi-fi network at no extra cost. [ woman ] with at&t, i'm surfing at hot spots all over town. ♪ i'm downloading music fast. and watching videos. cute! and the price is great. [ female announcer ] call at&t today and get the fastest internet for the price -- an amazing $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. plus get access to the entire at&t national wi-fi network at no extra cost. [ woman ] i went looking for a deal, and at&t delivered. now, i just need to curb the shoe shopping. ♪

coming up later today at 5:00, how your gender and height may play a role in danger of blood clots. >> finally from dogs to musicals don sanchez has it all in what's hot. ♪ >> it's the world premiere of dogs! it's the musical. it's a lot of fun. in sonoma's community center. ♪ >> they join them and more for cabaret of divas and dames, a county certain to fight aids. ♪ >> blame sally is a new women's group friday night at great american music hall. ♪ >> tom scott heads the jazz all

star, three week benefit at memorial theater. >> celebrating tennessee williams 100th birthday, powerful production eccentricitys of a nightingale. >> this is a child's blouse. >> discard today divine, donated clothes that is transformed into a one of night fashion tonight at st. mary's cathedral. >> they are proud to be norwegian. norway day festival. a showcase of mechanized march vems. dream machine some show at half moon bay airport. >> wow! >> lots to do. >> thanks so much for joining us. >> who wants to be a millionaire is coming up next.

>> have a great day, bye-bye.