making news in america this morning, democrats clash. bernie sanders and hillary clinton battling in new hampshire. a late night town hall. taxes, health care, religion, a wide range of questions from voters and a new line of attack. plus, drama on the gop campaign trail. donald trump's plane making an emergency landing with the billionaire on board. the awkward moment for jeb bush and two more republicans dropping out. armed and dangerous, a man holding a woman hostage a split-second decision by police officers. their dramatic ending. gorgeous on the gridiron,

goes on and on. finally the question answered, just why are quarterbacks so doggone handsome? oh, good thursday morning. we begin with the gloves coming off in new hampshire. >> just five days away from the nation's first primary election. vermont senator bernie sanders taking aim on hillary clinton's progressive credentials as he defends his plan to raise taxes to pay for health care. >> and on the republican side, sparks are flying between donald trump and texas senator ted cruz amid charges of fraud and dirty tricks. abc's bazi kanani has the latest now from washington. good morning, bazi. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. good morning, reena. hillary clinton and bernie sanders appeared separately at that televised town hall last night where we may have gotten a preview of the points they'll try to make in their debate tonight.

>> i think an objective assessment would say that there is more excitement and energy in our campaign. >> reporter: bernie sanders argues he is more electable than hillary clinton defends his plans to raise taxes to pay for universal health care. >> so we're going to pay a little more in taxes but you're no longer going to have to pay private health insurance priums. >> reporter: and promises a progressive political revolution. >> we will raise the minimum wage. we will have health care for all people. >> it's very hard to see how any of his proposals could ever be achievable. >> reporter: clinton fights back against sanders' charges she's a moderate not a progressive. >> i'm a progressive that likes to get things done. >> reporter: fielding questions about speaking fees. >> did you have to be paid $675,000. >> i don't know. that's what they offered so -- >> reporter: even that famous old theory from the '90s. >> do you still believe there is a vast right wing conspiracy? >> don't you.

after donald trump accuses him of fraud for sending this e-mail to supporters on caucus day suggesting ben carson was dropping out of the race and told his team to spread the word to carson supporters. trump tweets ted cruz didn't win iowa, he stole it. he accuses trump of a nationality temper. >> i don't know anyone who would be comfortable with someone who behaves this way having his finger on the button. we're liable to wake up one morning and donald if he were president would have nuked denmark. >> reporter: and the republican field is a little smaller this morning with both rick santorum and rand paul dropping out. reena, phillip. >> bazi kanani live in washington, bazi, thank you. donald trump hit a major road bump on the campaign trail yesterday from 30,000 feet up. >> his private jet forced to make an emergency landing in nashville after the pilot reported engine problems. there are no details on what exactly went wrong with the

the faa is investigating but trump did manage to make it to an event in little rock, arkansas, 90 minutes late. earlier in the campaign trump accused jeb bush of being, quote, low energy. >> bush will be campaigning today in new hampshire. he has a town hall meeting scheduled in dairy and we would think he's probably hoping to avoid another moment like what happened tuesday in hanover. >> i think the next president needs to be a lot quieter but send a signal that we're prepared to act in the national security interests of this country to get back in the business of creating a more peaceful world. please clap. >> ouch. >> oh, boy. no one said winning over the voters would be easy. >> we got to remind you of the republican debate before the new hampshire primaries this saturday on abc. 8:00 p.m. eastern moderated by our own david muir and martha raddatz. the lineup will be announced later today.

system is now marching through georgia. it spawned a tornado last night that loomed over this subdivision. tornado sirens clearly heard in the neighborhood. that twister left a trail of damage at an army base in southeastern georgia. >> trees were knocked out and vehicles and buildings were damaged. one of them an elementary school is closed today. there are no reports of any injuries. and take a look at the radar here. that storm system now is along the eastern seaboard all the way from northern florida up into new england. the heaviest rain will be in the south and some flash flooding is also possible. the sexual assault case against bill cosby is moving forward. a judge refused to throw out the case against the comedian and he allowed the current district attorney to remain involved. a former d.a. who testified for cosby claimed he had granted cosby immunity and the judge ignored that. cosby's attorneys say they will appeal the decision. emotions ran high on capitol hill in the first congressional hearings over the water crisis

the chairman of the house oversight committee called on the u.s. marshals to hunt down the former emergency manager who failed to show for the hearing. and representative elijah cummings accused the governor of poisoning the children of flint. >> i want everybody who is responsible for this fiasco to be held accountable. we are the last line of defense and if we don't do it, nobody is going to do it. >> he got caught red-handed poisoning children in flint and the residents of flint. >> well, an attorney for that former flint emergency manager says his client will testify but he didn't have the time to prepare for the hearing. the syrian peace talks on hold with each side claiming the fighting. one thing is clear, five years of civil war has taken its toll on the country as video taken by

after block reduced to ruins. once the third largest homs has seen fierce fighting. this drone video was taken by a group with ties to the kremlin. from the fog of war to the fog of washington now, a week after the nation's capital was still digging out from a blizzard right now it's 57 degrees and that abrupt change producing heavy fog. take a look at these two shots of the white house taken about an hour apart and it's from the famous hay-adams hotel. see that heavy fog. you can barely see the white house. >> yeah, well, still ahead, a major malfunction at the irs affecting tax returns. and state of emergency. a governor sounding the alarm where zika cases are surfacing as new concerns emerge about the upcoming olympics in brazil, the epicenter of the current outbreak. a car plunges into a pond. the driver's dramatic rescue

welcome back. we learned overnight that a three-year international saga could end tomorrow. wikileaks founder julian assange has been living in the ecuadorian embassy for three years and will walk out at noon tomorrow if he loses an appeal he filed with the u.n. well, the face of corporate greed is keeping his mouth shut. martin shkreli plans to plead the fifth when he appears today. shkreli has made no bones about jacking up the prices of prescription drugs just to make more profit. but at a court hearing on securities fraud yesterday, his new attorney said the 32-year-old will no longer be

social media. real estate heir robert durst has pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in new orleans. he has been in custody since last year. just as an hbo documentary series was airing. it detailed his links to several murders and yesterday's deal durst agreed to an 85-month prison sentence. if a judge approves the deal it could clear the way for durst's extradition to california to face charges for the murder of a former friend. well, don't bother trying to file your taxes this morning, the irs tax processing computer system has had a hardware failure in the e-file services offline until at least later today. it doesn't expect major disruptions in service or significant delays in processing refunds but if you file through a service, go ahead. the service will hold on to your return until the irs is ready are to it. attention, subway sandwich fans. next time you go bring another

they are adding a buck to its $5 footlong. it will now be $6. subway says the price hike comes down to economics and the costs have gone up since the 5 $5 foot long debuted. the $5 ones had such a ring to it. when we come back a life and death standoff. a man holding a woman hostage when police make a daring move. and on the roof, how did a

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ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. disaster. the avalanche in southwestern colorado's san juan mountains was intentionally set off to prevent an accident later. the area is popular with outdoorsmen who sometimes trigger avalanches. this controlled avalanche made sure a key road stays open. other roads in the northern rockies and cascades are likely to be snow covered this morning. drivers can expect wet roads in the northwest and along the eastern seaboard, possibly even flooding in the south. a little slippery from know near the northern great lakes. if you're flying, airport delays are likeliest in boston. now to the latest on the zika virus outbreak. the governor of florida has declared a health emergency in four counties because of the virus. >> at least nine cases of the mosquito-borne illness detected in florida.

the cases are from people who contracted the disease elsewhere. and the president of brazil says the virus has gone from a distant nightmare to a real threat against the brazilian people. >> some are saying that health threat in brazil should force the cancellation of the olympics. one medical ethicist says it would be irresponsible for brazil to host the summer games in the middle of a public health emergency. the u.s. olympic committee tells abc news it is keeping a close eye on the situation. now to that frightening explosion on board a jetliner over somalia. the pilot says a bomb blew the hole in the aircraft but officials have not confirmed that was the cause. the body of a man who might have been blown out of the jet was found on the ground not far away. if it was a bomb no group has claimed responsibility. here at home a terrifying police standoff played out in irving, texas. it was all caught on camera. 29-year-old ex-con christopher dew trying to rob a check

employee and gun to her head as police arrived on the scene. he tried to force her into a car. that's when police fired. killing him on the spot. his hostage was thankfully not hurt. well, roh parking spaces, no, that's not because they're hard to find but in the los angeles area, this lexus ended up on the roof after a collision on the road above this house. one firefighter said he had never seen anything like this before. both the car and the house suffered extensive damage. the driver was injured, as well. and luckily no one was injured in this accident in port st. lucie, florida, two bystanders, three police detectives were pulled a 73-year-old man out of his car after he crashed into a pond. he had been hit by another elderly driver. a 77-year-old woman which sent his car careening into that pond. also caught on camera what conservationists say is the only

they call him el jefe which means the boss seen outside tucson, arizona. they say he's been leave iving there over three years. the cheapest super bowl ticket we could find on stubhub was just under $3,000. >> but the nba highlights, those are free. >> good morning, it's "sportscenter." los angeles, neil everett, stan verrett. a couple of performances from the nba you absolutely have to see. >> wow. look how cool this is. the kids watching him in pregame then look how cool this is, the wizards watching him during the game. steph curry went for 36. in the first half! how about that? 25 in the first quarter. how about 51 for the game and this was a game, john wall had a great game, he made 11 threes. the warriors are 45-4.

only that could upstage this, russell westbrook, his third triple double in a row. his fifth in 11 games. had a career high 19 rebounds. 24 points and 14 assists, he did it all except this, kevin durant took care of this. game winner, money to beat the magic, oklahoma city, 117-114. 37 for durant. including that one. >> you got the greatest nickname for those tw >> thunder buddies for life. yeah. >> isn't that greaty. >> and he's mine. back to you. >> thunder buddy, thank you. well, up next in "the pulse," cute qbs. an important new study. why quarterbacks are so handsome. plus, plenty of legroom. how this woman got this plane

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welcome back. time for "the pulse" and we start with a bunch of guys you probably know. we're talking about the guys from the nfl, the quarterbacks, the question, are they really the best-looking guys on the field? >> well, popular theory says attractive guys grow up to play quarterback because it's football's highest profile position. but a study in a new book finds signal callers lose out when their looks are compared to the other position players. among those positions found to have better looking guy, linebacker, wide receiver and defensive back. >> we do love a good quarterback. >> yeah, they get all the attention. pictures of all those good-looking dudes right there and they have the most swagger. that's why. >> you were saying this.

the swag that you -- >> don't women like confidence. >> confidence is big. >> there you go and you needs tons of that. bad weather made for the return from the holiday travel period a nightmare this week for tens of thousands of chinese, but not this woman. she passed on being rebooked on an earlier flight and found herself the only passenger left aboard a flight home. look at that. >> that's right. so she had the entire 737 to herself and the full attention. the china southern airlines flight crew. she said she felt kind of like a rock star. if that weren't enough they didn't even have to pay for her flight because her company paid for it. >> on a work trip. i wonder where she sat. >> i was curious if she was in economy, was she upgraded to first? >> that would not be cool if they still threw the curtain on her. sorry, rules are rules. hope she got some extra peanut organization something? or the first class meal at least. a glass of champagne. >> we can only hope.

see someone else doing it and scientists say women are more susceptible to contagious yawning than men. >> they say it might be because women are more empathetic and that they're not afraid to yawn in response of others. the women picked up yawns about 55% of the time whereas men, they only did so 40% of the time. i don't know if i agree with this. >> you say when you see someone else yawn you tend to yawn. >> absolutely. i'm not trying to hide a reaction. just a reaction. >> could be that you're empathetic. brand-new internet meme. >> it all started out with a reddit user who posted the orange duke. he posed as the orange duke caught falling asleep on the job internship. couldn't resist. they snapped the photo and posted it on reddit. >> that is not cool. >> slumbering intern didn't think it was so funny and posted it to reddit. it did not take long for those clever people over at reddit to

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