welcome to "world news tonight." breaking news. an epic and deadly storm that won't let up. the treacherous flooding, and dramatic rescues. some families losing everything. this home swept away. and tonight, where the dams are bursting. desperate search. a cargo ship and its crew vanishing in hurricane joaquin. tonight, we're with the coast guard. survivor story. the student that made it out alive from the campus mass shooting. the hero that shielded her from the bullets. plus, the veteran that jumped into the line of fire speaks out. and new details about the gunman's final moments. >>

>> killer coverup? the 13-year-old on a dark road. the fake accident to throw off police. case. and, bear scare. a video of a pint-sized pup taking on two bears. showing it's not how big the dog is in the fight, it's how big the fight is in the dog. good evening. thanks for joining us on this sunday. i'm tom llamas. let get right to the breaking news. a coastal storm in the east shattering records. historic rain levels, and devastate def devastating flooding. and in south carolina tonight, a state of emergency. the roof of this building in columbia collapsing. cars flooded to their roofs. and firefighters rescuing people trapped in their vehicles. four have been killed since thursday, and the rain still coming down. and there's the storm at its peak.

joaquin. team coverage across the storm zone, and alex perez starts us off in columbia. >> reporter: crews using a rope to rescue a woman. and take a look at this mom's face. as firefighters get her 4-year-old son out of a car and into her arms. a marathon of rescues in columbia, south carolina, the situation dangerous for even trained firefighters. >> we've had a west columbia firefighter swept away. they lost visual contact. >> reporter: two firefighters rescued today. there's so much water, it's easy to forget it's a roadway, not a river. and you see scenes like this. three cars completely submerged. and the water up to the rooftops of some homes. these residents trapped on the upper level. this storefront collapsed. roads giving way.

this man says the water was rising by the second. he escaped with his wife. >> it's tough because everything destroyed. >> reporter: countless neighbors volunteering all day and night to get people to safety. >> so, when i saw what was going on, i just felt the need to help. >> reporter: some who lost everything they owned, just grateful they'll get a chance to >> it's heart-wrenching, but i'm so glad we're safe. >> reporter: now, the big wait for the water to recede. the country -- current, so strong, it knocked down the front wall of this restaurant. the cleanup process just beginning. >> alex, thank you. we turn next to rob marciano with the big picture tonight, reporting from lanson, just north of charleston.

>> reporter: a stubborn system battering the east coast for four days. and it won't give up. >> this is deep. >> reporter: historic rain. many neighborhoods submerged. >> it's getting deeper. i'd say at least three or four feet in here. >> reporter: outside charleston, our first look at the damage left behind. this house got two feet of water. wrecking furniture, soaking drywall and floors. >> you can see the water line. right here. it's a good indicator of how high it came up in this room. >> reporter: the path of destruction stretching north, too. >> in the wartd. >> reporter: this house in new jersey, swept away. back in south carolina, i-95, a nearly 75-mile stretch shut down. >> significant flooding already occurring again in south charleston. >> reporter: and just a week ago, they were bracing for hurricane joaquin.

residents say this storm is worse than hurricane hugo of 1989. >> they're talking about at in. so i'm a little bit concerned. >> reporter: the creek that runs behind this neighborhood, usually six feet wide. it's now, 100 feet wide. never seen. >> how much longer will this go on? and how much more rain can they expect? >> we're in a bit of a hole south of charleston. looking at the radar, charleston getting more rain. the future radar, pulling some of the moisture into the coastline. it becomes a little bit more of a coastal event. winds will pick up as well. going to the outer banks. becomes a substantial coastal storm over the next 48 hours. with more rain in the flood-prone areas. and hurricane joaquin, category two, near bermuda, thankfully it's moving out to sea later on

and caught up in the hurricane, a u.s. cargo ship and its crew of 33. last heard from on thursday morning. the coast guard, combing 30,000 square miles of open sea. and tonight, a grim break breakthrough. and discovering a huge field of debris. linzie janis has the story. the search for the missing cargo ship, the el faro. americans. a 225-square-mile area of debris. with what appears to be sty styrofoam. and earlier in the day, we were with the coast guard as crews discovered a container and oil sheen floating in the ocean. >> it's common for ships transiting through a storm to lose things off their deck, off their topside decks. >> reporter: and late saturday, the coast guard pulling this

life ring out of choppy waters. it's been four days since the ship went missing, in the path of of hurricane joaquin. the 790-foot vessel was destined for puerto rico. making a distress call from crooked island, saying the ship had last power. had taken on water, and was listing 15 degrees. in an area known as the bermuda triangle. >> a ship is most vulnerable when they're disabled, without propulsion. >> reporter: among those onboard the ship, jeremy rheem. and danielle randolph, 34, from maine. >> i'm very hopeful. until they find a reason for me not to be, i'm going to remain hopeful. >> reporter: as of sunset tonight, the coast guard has searched 70,000 square nautical miles of sea. and they'll be back at it at first light tomorrow. tom? >> family members still holding out hope. thank you.

shooting at a college campus in roseburg, oregon. stunning details of the heroes and those they saved in the mass shooting. prayer services. neal karlinsky is there. >> reporter: the pastor's before he stepped into church today. >> she said, i began to pray. and secondly, i knew i was going to die today. >> reporter: his 18-year-old daughter lacy, one of the closest witnesses to survive unscathed. saved by a man that fell on top of her after he was shot, later dying. >> i believe in his last he had consciousness, he said, i am going to roll onto lacy. >> reporter: she laid under him, playing dead. mazesly, sitting next to lacy in church today, this man. the student they say was chosen directly by the gunman to live. >> he said, you're the lucky one.

>> reporter: he said his daughter told him the gunman asked the students for their religion, to beg for their lives, and shot them anyway. saying, we will all be together in a moment. >> he came in to execute. >> reporter: meanwhile, chris mintz, shot seven times, releasing this video. >> i'm doing well, and overwhelmed by the support. >> reporter: the nine victims, ranging from 18 to 67. alleged gunman chris mercer's last words -- >> the words were, you got me. i've had enough. i'm done. >> reporter: the official cause of the gunman's death has been ruled a suicide, but officials believe he was hit by officers first. still no known motive. and to afghanistan, the destruction of a hospital run by doctors without borders. by u.s. forces. 22 people killed, including 3 children. it appears to have been an air strike targeting the taliban that destroyed the hospital.

a makeshift surgery ward set up to save the wounded. president obama sending his deepest condolences. but tonight, that hospital is it. >> reporter: smoke and flames filling the remains of the kunduz hospital. after the strikes, those inside lying stunned on the floor. possibly criminal. doctors without borders, who doctors without borders, who operated the hospital. going even further. >> we're saying all the indications are, yes, this was a war crime. >> reporter: doctors without borders says that of the 22 dead, most were staff. three were children. an american plane struck near the hospital.

and there may have been collateral damage. afghan officials accused taliban hospital. >> it was a completely normal evening. hospital at all. >> reporter: one nurse, writing beds. how can this happen? president obama offering condolences, but no apology. carter calling the situation the pentagon has promised an investigation of the incident, but doctors without borders is rejecting that. calling for an independent investigation. tom? >> alex, thank you. and the race for 2016. the front runners out protecting their leads this weekend. hillary clinton showing up on late night tv. and donald trump on sunday shows. tonight, new polls showing their opponents are gaining ground. here's mary bruce. >> i wish you could president. >> me, too.

>> reporter: with her poll numbers shaky, hillary clinton is offering an alternative. her lighter side. >> everyone wants to talk about donald trump. >> isn't he the one that's, like, oh, you're all losers? >> reporter: clinton hoping to reboot her image. facing a potential game-changing challenge from vice president joe biden. the latest poll showing that if he runs it would bring her lead in iowa from 11 points down to 5. and she's still losing to sanders in new hampshire. on the republican side, donald trump still in the lead. but his support is slipping in iowa and new hampshire. >> i'm not somebody that needs to do this for other reasons. >> reporter: trump has five-point leads in those states. but ben carson and carly fiorina are nipping at his heels. and fiorina, not afraid to say what she thinks. >> the reason morale is down in the military is not because they

don't want to serve. it's because they don't think their president cares about their service. >> reporter: as for clinton, the new likability strategy comes at a critical time. the first democrat debate is nine days away. >> mary, thank you. and from the vatican, marriage and sexuality are front and center. pope francis with a forceful message of traditional marriage. as a priest comes out of the closet, publicly announcing he's gay and in a relationship. the vatican firing him. here's terry moran. >> reporter: pope francis speaking to bishops today, strongly reaffirmed traditional catholic teaching on marriage. but he didn't stop there, insisting on acceptance and mercy for all, even those experiencing divorce. and after a week of stunning

revelations about his american tour, the vatican now struggling to do damage control. earlier in the week, the news that kentucky county clerk kim davis met with the pope, and claimed he endorsed her actions. >> he said, stay strong. >> reporter: and another stunner, the vatican backtracks, saying the meeting wasn't the pope's idea. saying the meeting was the idea washington. and that francis offered nothing more than common courtesy. >> his kindness and warmth and hospitality, he shook hands and gave rosaries. >> reporter: and in his last week in washington, embracing a former student, a gay man that brought his longtime partner. what it is. that he's not afraid to have a gay friend. that me being gay is no different than me having blue eyes. >> reporter: a pope that

church, but who also seeks solidarity and inclusiveness far beyond them. as he has said, who am i to judge? terry moran, abc news, london. still ahead, a cold case possibly solved. a deadly hit and run accident involving a 13-year-old. did the suspect go as far as staging a fake accident? to throw police off his tracks for years? and later, rare images from nasa that will leave you moonstruck.

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finally tonight, a farmer that just would not give up. digging in his field in michigan, when he thought he hit a fence post, but turns out he found a window back to the ice age. here's john donvan. >> reporter: when the crane first starts lifting, it doesn't look like much. how about now? it helps to imagine what it used to look like. this woolly mammoth, turned up in a field where drains were being placed, used to grow soybeans. laying down some drains, he hit some bones and called the university of michigan. letting them come out and pull it all out of there. >> it's been overwhelming for me to have this many people out here.

farmer gets to keep it if he wants. >> we're hoping it will end up in a museum. >> reporter: while the scientist, he has some theories. >> it was an adult male, probably in its 40s, probably lived between 10,000 and 15,000 years ago. >> reporter: that puts humans here in prehistoric michigan at the same time. the theory goes, it was hunted by humans, and put in a pond for preservation. soon enough, it will all be soybeans here. but it's hard not to wonder what else might be down there below the surface. >> those bones are now in a building in the farm. and by federal law, they belong to him. i hope that barn has a lock. "gma" first thing in the morning, david muir right back here tomorrow night. i'm tom llamas in new york. have a great evening.

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