making news in america this morning, extreme weather. a passenger plane diverted after getting hit by lightning and damaging hail in the south putting holes in cars. plus, a powerful snowstorm set to target the northeast. the secret meeting republicans getting together trying to stop donald trump. plus, overnight a scare for the billionaire's son. we're live in washington. caught on camera. a car going full speed crashing into a restaurant, customers inside freezing in disbelief. march madness, round one of the games not disappointing with thrilling finishes. see the excitement plus the coach who couldn't take the

his sweaty shirt the talk of the tournament. well, good friday morning. we start with the extreme weather across a portion of the country. tens of millions of americans impacted. >> first up a passenger plane heading to new york truck by lightning and forced to make an emergency landing. passengers saying it sounded like an explosion. >> in texas hail, some of it as big as baseballs causing all sorts of damage. here's a look at the radar. those storms, some of them severe moving across the southeast right now. abc's lauren lyster with the details. >> reporter: in the skies over new york thursday night. >> and brickyard 4233 just got hit by lightning. >> everything okay? >> yeah, don't send us through there again. it's pretty bad. >> reporter: an american airlines flight struck by lightning. the plane damaged on the rear wing forced to make an emergency landing on the way from north

>> it's the first time for me. >> there was a flash of light and big explosion. the plane dipped about 100 feet, i don't know, it just felt like i was on a roller coaster. >> reporter: and hail pounding parts of the south. >> basically all hail started breaking loose. >> reporter: this man and his family fleeing for sturdier protection in a camper and in texas, hail the size of peas and baseballs breaking wind sheles and terrorizing drivers. >> i got a cut on my arm. i was bawling. >> reporter: the hail coming down so hard it actually killed several flamingos at the ft. worth zoo and next the threat of snow heading toward the northeast sunday into monday. >> that's going to be d.c., baltimore, new york city and could run up the interstate 95

be the potential for several inches of snow. >> reporter: reena and kendis, that coming just in time for the first day of spring on sunday and, hey, there was also a snowstorm last year on the first day of spring that dumped a lot of snow. more than 8 inches in some spots. >> should have known. put away the winter jackets. >> just in time. >> okay, lauren lyster, thanks so much. the race for the white house, four days to go before the next nominating contest in three western states. >> federal investigators are looking into a possible cyberattack on donald trump. >> and it appears even the billionaire's family has been targeted. abc's kenneth moton in washington with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this morning the nypd has given the all clear after a letter containing some type of white powder was sent to the home of donald trump's son. now, the substance was deemed non nonhazardous but it appears to be the latest attack to intimidate the polarizing billionaire. it's been a steady stream of

his family. a suspicious package scared the new york city home of his son eric. secret gop meetings to stop his 2016 run and now the hacker group anonymous. >> donald trump has set his imbusinesses on the white house. >> reporter: it claims they have his private information including his social security number, cell phone and address and the hits keep coming after the gop front-runner predicted riots if he loses the nomination. >> i think bad things would happen. i believe that. i wouldn't lead it but i think bad things would happen. >> nobody should say such things. to even address or hint to violence is unacceptable. >> you know, he's not running for the presidency of the wwe. he's running for president of the united states. and this kind of language is an outrage. >> reporter: the backlash came 9 same day a seek meeting of top washington conservatives hit to discuss how to stop trump. there's word ted cruz may get an endorsement from former rival

flying commercial back to miami. >> get to fly commercial again. >> reporter: on the democratic side hillary clinton got official word of her many super tuesday clean sweep. she won missouri and "the new york times" reports president obama told a group of donors it will soon be time for sanders' campaign to end and democrats to unite behind clinton. the white house says that's not an endorsement. on the trail, the candidates are preparing for tuesday's contest in arizona, utah and idaho. reena and kendis. >> kenneth moton live in washington. thank you. breaking overnight another provocation by north korea. its launched amissile into the sea. the test firing violates multiple united nations resolutions. that banned north korea from engaging in ballistic and nuclear activities. complicating matters is the student sentenced to hard labor. otto warmbier removed a banner

a crime against the state. diplomatic efforts are under way. former governor bill richardson characterizing his actions as a college prank. 26-year-old from virginia captured in iraq earlier this week, he's accused of fighting for isis and now khweis says he regrets his decision to go to iraq and it was all about a girl. >> i made a bad decision to go with a girl and go to mosul because i wasn't thinking straight and on the way there, i regretted. >> once he made it there he found he hated it. it was too strict and he wanted to return to the u.s. he's likely to face hard questions from u.s. investigators about what he was doing in isis territory. and speaking of secretary of state john kerry has spoken out against isis accusing the terror

against christians and other muslim groups in iraq and syria. isis is blamed for thousands of deaths, many forced to convert to islam will be killed. the announcement not expected to change america's military strategy. rest defenses of flint, michigan, say they found no answers during a hearing on capitol hill. the head of the epa and governor faced a five-hour barrage of accusations. rick snyder repeatedly apologized for the lead contamination crisis in flint but says he was misled about the severity of the problem. >> you were not in a medically induced coma. i've had enough. >> this was a failure of government at all level, local, federal and state officials. >> snyder dismissed a man that he resign as governor. gina mccarthy admitted her agency hadn't been quick enough to respond but refused to say

>> another note from michigan, a happier note as we give post-celebration props to those who marched in what must be the shortest st. patrick's day parade in kosk conklin, michigan. >> the grand rapids central marching band took part as did other people wearing green. when they finished marching many participants went to some local establishments. >> by the way, the entire parade lasted six minutes. >> yeah. >> amazing. still ahead, breaking overnight an nfl player in critical condition after a serious crash. scam. a website forced to return millions of dollars after followers paid to pray. and march madness, the first day of the tournament in the books, a look of the highlights

a tragedy in downtown los angeles. an electrician fell to his death from the 53rd floor from the tallest building. the man had removed his hard hat and had no clearance to work above the third floor. it was only his second day on the job. dozens of horrified people witnessed the accident which took place during lunch time. the new hampshire prep school grad convicted of sexual assault will be in court today violations. owen labrie is appealing his sentence for assaulting a 15-year-old classmate. prosecutors say he's vie laid curfew at least eight times and his bail should be revoked. labrie's attorney says those violations were for approved meetings and the result of bus schedule problems. some good news for investors, the dow opens this morning in positive territory for the first time this year.

down 10% for 2016. now it's in the black by a third of a percent. the tech heavy nasdaq is still suffering a bit, down about 5% year to date. the state of oregon says it's collected nearly $3.5 million in taxes after just one month of legal marijuana sales. pot dispensaries responsible for paying 25% in sales tax to the state every month. most of that revenue will go towards education and mental health services. the rest to law enforcement and drug abuse prevention measures. americans shelled out a whopping amount last year to make sure their pets are well fed, well groomed and well trained. $60 billion according to a new industry report. millennials and baby boomers are the biggest spenders, mostly by paying other people to take care of their pets' needs. when we come back, caught on camera a car out of control restaurant.

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then you don't know "aarp". get to know us at aarp.org/possibilities only kraft natural cheese has a touch of philadelphia cream cheese, so whatever you make, is creamier than ever. two bald eagles named mr. president and the first lady are taking turns keeping their eggs warm in their nest in washington, d.c. either sitting on two eggs and at least one is showing signs that it's ready to hatch perhaps as early as today.

emerge on wednesday. the second one should tart that same process in the next day or so. >> okay, well, let's check the friday morning road conditions. they look a lot like those we told you about yesterday. wet roads across the south and up into the plains and ohio valley. still slippery in the rockies. flying, airport delays possible in houston, new orleans and dallas. a seattle man who ran a so-called christian prayer website will have to return millions of dollars to consumers across the country. >> the washington state attorney general says he scammed nearly $8 million from unsuspecting customers. investigators say he charged up to $35 per prayer per person and tricked thousands into signing up for recurring monthly payments. a a. a ravens player is in critical condition. tray walker was air-lifted to a miami hospital suffering from head trauma. sources tell our abc station in miami that police are also

england patriots player who may have witnessed that crash. a nun charged with shoplifting. yeah, police say it was caught on video. you can see a woman here putting items in her cart and then rushing out of the store. the state police tracked her car to a nearby convent and they found out the alleged shoplifter was a 78-year-old nun. the stolen items were worth about $23. >> well, a scary scene at a south florida high school when a pep rally performance went horribly wrong. a professional fire breather accident accidentally erupted into flames horrifying the hundreds of students and teachers in the audience. the stuntman was hospitalized in serious condition. seven other people were treated after inhaling dust from fire extinguishers. also in south florida, a woman lost control of her suv and crashed through the front of a south florida pizza restaurant. two people were waiting to pick up their food order when they were hit by flying glass and suffered serious cuts. the driver was not hurt and

face any charges. well, there are 16 more march madness games today and it starts just after noon eastern time and as for the tournament's opening day good bracket busting upsets. >> madness. yale and baylor and these neon uniform, must have been the uniforms because baylor had a chance to pull it out with just seconds to go but they turned the ball over when it mattered the most. yale wins its first ever march madness game. they play duke tomorrow. next purdue against a university of arkansas little rock, the trojans sending it to overtime with a steph curry-like three-pointer. they went to a second o.t. that's when arkansas, little rock, did just enough to pull off the upset. they play iowa state tomorrow. >> and finally a real close game late last night between usc and providence. it was tight between the friars and trojans and decided by a providence layup with less than two seconds to go.

tournament win since 1997. they face north carolina tomorrow. good-bye, usc. up next in "the pulse," more march madness including the coach who was feeling the heat. plus, our stressed out, is it enough? could it be because of slow internet? >> oh, yeah. across america, people like basketball hall of famer dominique wilkins... ...are taking charge of their type 2 diabetes... ...with non-insulin victoza . p for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar. but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza . he said victoza works differently than pills. and comes in a pen. victoza is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once a day, any time. victoza is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. victoza is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults

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time to check "the pulse" starting with college basketball coach who really was sweating out his team's first game of march madness. >> hey, we know the games can be intense but this is kind of craziment take a look at adderall coach sean miller during the game against wichita. his white shirt completely soaked. it kind of looked like he came out from the pool. >> of course, the internet had fun with this. twitter took notice. one person writing, did sean miller take the ice bucket challenge and miller by the way, he did change his shirt at halftime and there's a reason he was sweating so much. not because he was sweating to the oldies, it's just because his team was losing and did lose in the end. >> sorry to hear that. >> oh, well. there's always next year. >> there is next year.

off his singing skills during his sentencing. >> interesting. 21-year-old brian taylor was in a michigan courtroom being sentenced on weapons charges and that's when he busted into an adele-inspired apology. hello there i want to say i'm sorry for the things i've done and i try be stronger in this life i chose but i want you to know >> it's don't know what's funnier, that nobody flinched or his singing. >> the guy on the left might be cracking up a little bit or -- amazing. >> the judge told taylor that he obviously has talent and that she hopes he finds an appropriate way to use it. at least the judge had a bit of humor and recognized the talent. >> an arresting performance pretty good. next up a new study focuses on

websites to load. earlier. >> we all know that feeling when something you really need or want to see is loading, the study found a delay of only two seconds makes our stress level go up 16%. if the video stops playing to rebuffer, our stress goes up another 15%. >> who does these surveys? i'd like to know? the type of stress response comparable to a horror movie or solving a math problem. yes, i do suffer from math problem stress. yeah, i have difficulty figuring out 20% tip often. >> oh, yeah. >> there is that. slurpee fans your favorite day of the year today and tomorrow 7-eleven is holding its bring your own cup. >> bring any kind of container and you can fill it up with a slurpee for 100 -- excuse me. $1.50. how about an empty bottle of act. >> or a fish bowl.

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starting within 5 minutes. call or go online to learn more about a free trial offer. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. good morning tri-state i'm kathrine nero.chirs riva is in st. louis covering today's xavier game in st' louis.we'll har from him in just a bit.but first, breaking overnight... one person is recovering after being shot inside a clifton area restaurant.police say a man was shot in the leg just before 1 a-m inside the "elephant walk" at the corner of clifton and mcmillan.that man was taken to u-c medical center with non-life threatening injuries.there is no suspect information at this time but police say if you know anything call crimestoppers a fort thomas family says their smoke alarm is the reason they were able to escape unharmed when their home went up in flames overnight.the family of three says they were awoken by smoke detector alarms just before midnight.officials say the

before moving to the roof and then inside.the investigation into just how it started is ongoing. it off to round 2 for kentucky. they were the first of the three tri state schools to take to the court for the first round of the n-c-a-a tournament.they took on stony brook, and it was never much of a game.outscoring them to teh tune of 85 to 57.big game from jamal murray..19 points 7 boards and two assists.they'll take on 5th seeded indiana tomorrow. skies will be mostly sunny again tonight and temperatures will be a bit cooler. winds are shifting to the northwest today and this will keep highs in the mid 50s this afternoon. rain returns for saturday with the potential for a few snowflakes mixing in early

no traffic issues, minute-by-minute updates on wcpo.com and at the bottom of the screen breaking news, weather, traffic good morning tri-state at 4:30 starts right now. the tri-state mother who police say punished her son by putting his legs in scalding water will go before a judge to day.why she is expected to face new charges when she does. floowing for you for days.the car sent careening off the combs hel bridge tuesday.the information police are today. it took more than a year but police say they have the man who opened fire on a cincinnati landmark.who that

has with another high profile shooting. good morning i'm kathrine nero. chris riva is in st. louis following xavier's opening round game today.we'll hear from him in a few minutes.your day is going to look a lot different from yesterday... yesterday... skies will be mostly sunny again tonight and temperatures will be a bit cooler. winds are shifting to the northwest today and this will keep highs in the mid 50s this afternoon. rain returns for saturday with the potential for a few snowflakes mixing in early that morning. the tri-state mother police