this morning on "world news now" deadly flash flooding. >> the death toll rising in utah in the search to find people washed away. their cars swept up in the raging waters. onlookers helpless to stop it. as the search for the missing continues in the rain overnight. school bus tragedy. new details surrounding the crash that killed two students. the wrong move made by the driver that caused the accident and how one of the families got the tragic news. the stage is set for debate night. republican candidates preparing for the big event while front-runner donald trump takes his message aboard a warship. his message to the veterans. and in the mix, digit dancing. got two left feet? no problem. dance with your hands. finally a way we can all share the groove and retire those terrible moves. it's wednesday september 16th.

>> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." good morning, everyone. we were just talking about dancing. "dancing with the stars" on last night. >> big night. i actually got into it for the first time. and there were a number of people that i actually kind of liked. >> it's a great crew this year. and i'm really rooting for a lot of different people. >> bindi irwin was very good. and nick carter, actually. has two left feet. but it was a good show. looking forward to the season. >> absolutely. we're going to kick it off with the devastating floods in southern utah. the death toll unfortunately now at 16 and likely to climb. in the latest agonizing twist four hikers have been found dead in zion national park. three still missing. >> and video has emerged showing those two vehicles carrying three women and 13 children. blindsided by a torrential river of mud and debris and swept away before anyone could help. abc's marci gonzalez with the

details. >> reporter: a desperate search for the missing. mothers and children swept away when flash floods tore through this part of utah along the arizona border. [ screaming ] two packed vehicles stopped on a gravel road when a wall of powerful rushing water hits them from behind. >> flash flood was so significant it overwhelmed them and pushed them into the channel. the vehicles were rolled several hundred yards down stream. >> reporter: just three of the people pulled to safety. the other 13 who were in those vehicles now either dead or missing. the youngest child reportedly just 4 years old. >> he's starting to build a heck of a dam. >> reporter: officials saying many residents here in the headquarters of warren jeffs' polygamist sect may not have known about the flash flood warning. some brought to safety at the last second. >> that's pretty powerful. >> reporter: in the tight-knit town of hildale search teams scouring the banks and digging in the early morning darkness,

looking for any sign of the victims. marci gonzalez, abc news, new york. overnight heavy rains continuing in the region. much of southern utah seeing the remnants of tropical storm lynda. the colt cold front is welcome news for the firefighters battling the wildfire's in california. one to two inches of rain there along with cooler temperatures should bring much-needed relief. let's talk about those wildfires because progress this morning in the battle against the two biggest ones. the fire that devastated several communities near napa is now 30% contained. at last count more than 100 square miles had gone up in flames and nearly 600 homes were lost. some residents who left at a moment's notice allowed to briefly return to check on pets and farm animals that they were forced to leave behind. in the meantime a fire near fresno that's twice as large is now 40% contained and the flames have moved away from the giant sequioa trees, some of which are 3,000 years old.

a thick blanket of haze caused by forest fires hovering over parts of asia forcing many people to remain indoors across parts of malaysia, indonesia, and singapore there. others who ventured out in the dirty air wore masks and many schools were closed. the hayes comze comes every yeay caused by fires illegally set to clear land for farming. a dire warning from north korea. kim jong un's regime declaring it is restarting its nuclear program and it says it's threatening to -- it's threatening to use nuclear weapons at any time against the u.s. or any other nation. if they pursue "reckless hostile policy toward north korea." the white house says that would be a big mistake. >> the position of the united states, and this is a position that is shared by countries around the world, including significant players in the region, that we will not accept north korea as a nuclear state. >> some foreign policy analysts attribute this new round of tough talk as a way to push for

negotiations with the u.s. and get sanctioned eased. others say that tactic could easily backfire and deepen its rift with the u.s. and its allies. still no vote in the senate on the iran nuclear deal. for the second time democrats blocked a resolution that would have disapproved of the agreement. tomorrow the senate will vote on an amendment that would prohibit the president from lifting economic sanctions on iran unless it releases american prisoners and recognizes israel. and we're getting some new details this morning about a possible threat against pope francis. just one week ahead of his visit to the u.s. abc news learning the fbi arrested a 15-year-old boy accused of contemplating an attack on the pope. official say the teen was inspired by isis and wanted to use firearms and homemade bombs. the secret service is on alert, training for every possible scenario. investigators say it's way too early to know what caused a deadly float plane crash in southwestern alaska. the plane went down about 175

miles from anchorage. ten fishing guides and clients were on board. at least three of them were killed. the other seven also injured. some of them critically. this was the ninth fatal plane crash in alaska this year. we're learning some new details about the deadly school bus crash in houston that killed two teenage girls. the tragedy was made even worse for one of the families when they say they learned of their child's death in an automated voicemail from the school district. abc's ryan owens in houston this morning. >> reporter: a school bus tossed on its side. a mangled mess of metal after going over this overpass and crashing on the street below barely missing cars. >> it started flipping. it flipped over to the embankment. >> reporter: two students are killed, two others plus the bus driver still in the hospital. the four teenagers were headed to this houston high school, where grief counselors are now assisting classmates of the 14 and 17-year-old girls killed. her principal remembering a

motivated freshman. >> her goal was to graduate from high school and make something of herself. that's what she told me. >> reporter: police say the driver of a buick, herself a houston teacher, changed lanes at about 7:00 this morning, hitting the bus. the bus driver, who the district says has a clean driving record, then veered into the guardrail and off the overpass. up there you see what's left of the guardrail. and this gives you a good idea of just how far that bus tumbled down here to the street. prosecutors are now working to determine if the driver of the car who, again, is also a houston teacher, will face any charges. ryan owens, abc news, houston. kentucky county clerk kim davis has suffered yet another legal setback in her bid to be exempt from issuing same-sex marriage licenses. a federal appeals court shot down that request, essentially saying she is legally obligated to do her job. davis has one more appeal pending. her lawyers are arguing that the

ruling ordering her to issue marriage licenses should only apply to the four gay couples who are suing her. to politics now. before tonight's republican debate donald trump isn't letting up on immigration. in a speech last night on board a retired battleship in l.a. he again linked crime and drugs with people entering this country. and he said americans are, quoting here, disgusted with how the u.s. and his opponents are handling the problem. trump also said that he stands behind veterans and promised them better health care. >> so we're going to create a whole new system. we're going to take this system apart. and if they're not doing the job, the veterans are going to go to private doctors, private hospitals, public hospitals. >> in his speech on board the "uss iowa" trump said that some illegal immigrants are treated far better than veterans, and he also said, once again quoting, the silent majority is back. well, the next step for interest rates will start being

decided today as the federal reserve opened the two-day meeting. the fed hasn't raised rates in close to a decade, preferring to keep them low as a way of supporting the economy. opinions are kind of split on this one, whether a rate hike will be announced tomorrow. wall street rallied ahead of the meeting yesterday. all three major averages gaining more than 1%. hewlett-packard is again slashing its workforce. it plans to reduce the number of people it employs by as much as 30,000 as it seems to save about $2.7 billion. hb is in the process of splitting into two companies, one that makes personal computers and printers, the other providing business services. most of the layoffs will come from the latter company. in the meantime, ups plans to high about the same number of workers for the holidays this year. that's about 95,000 temporary employees. most of them package handlers, drivers, and driver helpers, of course. now, two years ago you may recall ups didn't hire enough people to handle a late surge in

online orders, and many of its deliveries were late for christmas. there's some good news for the folks at the national zoo in washington about the youngest panda cub living there. he's apparently growing like a weed. >> yeah. the cub was born almost a month ago, and he's a survivor of a set of twins of course. zoo officials now say the little guy weighs nearly two pounds. that's eight times his picture weight. >> they say he's sleeping through much of the day. did they not do this sleep training thing yet? >> apparently not yet. >> they say this is normal, sleeping through the day. his eyes are expected to open for the first time in the next few weeks. okay. he hasn't opened his eyes yet. i'd hold off on the sleep training. fine. >> he's transitioned from looking like a stick of butter to now this, more like a panda. >> more like a furry marshmallow with chocolate. >> and of course it's the 100-day mark that they actually name the panda. >> according to chinese tradition. >> exactly. exactly. so good deal. >> coming up in "the mix" making

a sandwich completely from scratch in only six months? >> hope you're not too hungry. but first, a killer whale chase. the incredible scene of an orca pod going after a boat full of fishermen. and another race. these sports cars speeding through a neighborhood. the careless drivers saying they can't be stopped because they're vips from another country. and remember, you can find us on facebook. wnnfans.com. and twitter @abcwnn. you're watching abc "world news now." look at them all... ...'judgie'. see? you are looking good! using bounce dryer sheets is paying off. your clothes have fewer wrinkles, and static cling... ...ain't bringing you down. oh! and look, it's that ms.brooke-thinks-she's-all-that- and-a-bag-of-chips. good thing you brought your a-game. your a-game. bounce, the 4 in 1 dryer sheet. get your bounce on.

>> i'm alex trebek. if you're age 50 to 85, this is an important message. so please, write down the number on your screen. the lock i want to talk to you about isn't the one on your door. it's a rate lock for your life insurance that guarantees your rate can never go up at any time, for any reason. but be careful. many policies you see do not have one, but you can get a lifetime rate lock through the colonial penn program. call this number to learn more. this plan was designed with a rate lock for people on a fixed income who want affordable life insurance that's simple to get. coverage options for just $9.95 a month, less than 35 cents a day.

act now and your rate will be locked in for life. it will never increase. your coverage can never be cancelled as long as you pay your premiums, and your acceptance is guaranteed, with no health questions. you cannot be turned down because of your health. call for your information kit and gift. both are free, with no obligation. don't wait, call this number now. ♪ i know blowdrying fries my hair,

but i'm never gonna stop because now, i've got pantene shampoo and conditioner. pantene's got the pro-v formula to make my hair so strong the damage of 100 blowdries is gone. strong is beautiful.™ pantene.

a frightening encounter for some fishermen off the coast of san diego with a pod of killer whales. when they realized the orcas could easily flip their boat, they sped off. but the whales, they went after them. keeping pace for quite a while. until the fishermen finally made it back to shore. frightening scene there. >> yeah. well, it's not enough that two drivers were racing their sports cars through the streets of an upscale los angeles suburb. >> cars they were driving were exotic vehicles. and one of the drivers says the police can't touch him. abc's cana whitworth has the story. >> reporter: beverly hills police investigating the drivers of this yellow ferrari and white porsche as they used a quiet beverly hills neighborhood saturday night as their personal racetrack. you see the ferrari running through a stop sign. the porsche hot on its tale speeding past onlookers.

the race finally ending with smoke rising from the back of the ferrari as it pulls into the driveway. one local reporter asking about the incident threatened and pushed off the property. >> get the [ bleep ] out. >> reporter: you can see the skid marks left behind by the ferrari an this is the stop sign it just ran right through. the beverly hills police department says they were approached by a man saying the ferrari with registered qatari plates belonged to him, denied driving at a high rate of speed and claimed to have diplomatic immunity. the u.s. state department saying they are investigating the diplomatic immunity claim. police also reviewing these videotapes as some scared residents tell us they plan to avoid the streets altogether. >> you think you're going to not ride your bike here? >> i'm definitely going to avoid the streets, yeah. >> cana whitworth, los angeles. >> as a mom watching that video in my maneighborhood that would kill somebody. >> absolutely. and some of the neighbors claim they were going as fast as 100 miles an hour. that's an absolutely frightening scene. hopefully the beverly hills police department will do something about that.

there's no pretending with chrissee hynde. the rock and roll hall of famer tells it like it is. some of what she says is kicking off a firestorm. ahead in our next half hour, the new twist on fantasy sports leagues promising big winners every day. so is it just fun or is it gambling? that debate coming up. you're watching "world news now."

takes responsibility for all of it including for being sexually assaulted. abc's linsey davis has that

controversy. >> so are we going to have a look? >> sure. ♪ don't get me wrong >> chrissie hynde, the lead singer of the pretenders, once known for topping billboard charts with hits like "don't get me wrong," "i'll stand by you." ♪ i'll stand by you and "brass in pocket." is now sparking new controversy with her tell-all book titled "reckless: my life as a pretender." >> i told my story the way i saw it and i'm not here to advise anyone or validate myself or justify anything. i said i regret a lot of things i did. >> reporter: the akron native, rock and roll hall of famer reveals in her autobiography that she was raped by a gang of bikers and writes, "this was all my doing, and i take full responsibility. you can't bleep about with people, especially people who wear i heart rape badges." critics pounced accusing her of victim shaming. one columnist tweeting how sad

it is that the great miss hynde would blame herself for so very long. >> you know, suddenly i'm defending rape. >> but you stand by your words as you said them for your life. >> you know, i went some places that no intelligent person would have gone. these bikers i was talking about, they were dealing in some real hard drugs and some criminal activity. >> do you think that women who dress provocatively in some way are asking for it? >> i never said that. i think women that are dressed provocatively are asking for something. they're asking for some sort of -- why do you dress provocatively? >> reporter: hynde, who calls herself the poster girl of feminism, says rape isn't really her subject but she's happy to talk about today's pop stars making what she describes as sexually explicit videos. >> well, to me it's pornographic. yeah. when you're in your underwear and you're bumping and grinding and singing your songs. i'm not trying to criticize other women. i'm just saying if you're selling it through sex, then don't say you're a feminist on

behalf of music because i think little girls get very confused by that. >> reporter: her book reinforces the notion that sex, drugs, and rock and roll really are an inseparable trio. it details her obsession with rock music, her addiction to drugs, and her love affair with london. >> this is your neighborhood essentially, right? >> reporter: where she still walks the streets with little fanfare. >> look at you, darling thing. look at you. >> reporter: her obsession for animals trumped only by her passion for music. >> i have to get this. >> reporter: today hynde says she's completely drug-free. but the rest of her what you see is what you get persona is virtually unchanged. still rocking out, still unapologetically herself. >> i'm glad i did what i did because i did what i wanted to do, which was get in a band. >> reporter: linsey davis, abc news, new york. >> she says she was surprised by the controversy and she said if you don't like the book you can close it. but hey, you know what?

you're welcome to lots of opinions. that's how she lived her life. i think she's entitled. >> makes sense. yeah. man-cave.

you think it smells fine, but your guests smell this... febreze fabric refresher eliminates all the odors you've gone noseblind to break out the febreze and breathe happy. i will take beauty into my own hands...where it belongs. olay regenerist. it regenerates surface cells. new skin is revealed in only 5 days. without drastic measures. stunningly youthful. award-winning skin. never settle for anything less. the regenerist collection. from the world's #1. olay, your best beautiful ♪balance transferot to othat's my game♪ ♪bank you never heard , that's my name♪ haa! thank you. uh, next. watch me make your interest rate... disappear.

there's gotta be a better way to find the right card. whatever kind you're searching for, creditcards.com lets you compare hundreds of cards to find the one that's right for you. just search, compare, and apply at creditcards.com. ♪a one, a two, a three percent cash back♪ fodance freelygy diaper cowboy walk in new pampers cruisers with three extra absorb channels. it stays drier and doesn't sag like others. so dance, however you want! in new pampers cruisers we've gotpeptocopter! ummy town. ♪ when cold cuts give your belly thunder, pink relief is the first responder, so you can be a business boy wonder! ♪

fix stomach trouble fast with pepto. ♪ okay. so it is time for "the mix." and you know, there are a lot of things that we can do with our fingers. >> oh, boy. where is this going? >> might be appropriate. but there's something called finger cutting? it's a dance move. >> cutting. finger cutting. >> it's a dance move. this guy does it to the beat dom, dom, dom. and apparently this is an actual art form, it's an actual thing. i've been watching online a tutorial on how to finger cut the last 20 minutes, and i still don't know much beyond what i already knew about finger cutting. but so finger cutting has received international attention after john hunt made a viral video entitled "greasy fingers." you dance using your fingers to the beat.

>> why don't you try it? we've got the music playing. >> okay. so you supposedly start with a beginning move like this and you -- >> wow. that's good. that's all you've got? >> i can't -- >> don't you have a second move to it? if you could do finger cutting for "dancing with the stars" i don't think you'd even get a 1. that would have been your last performance. >> i am ashamed. >> you are going to work on it. as we go on to the next one about a 104-year-old woman who is -- teak a look at her. she's like the oldest street artist is what they're calling it. she's a knitter. she kind of knit-bombs her town. at 104. it's a secret guerrilla of knitters. they just do artful knitting around town and kind of bomb various little things with their knitting. isn't that cute? can you imagine how long it takes to do that? >> and it looks like she started this when she was 18. >> she was born in 1910 in

london, and this group, they're mainly over 60 but grace brett, who you saw there earlier, she's the big member, the oldest member who's lived for over half -- over a century. look at this. it's remarkable. >> wow. she made it through the world wars and knitting. >> and clearly an era where they did home economics. i can't even sew a button. so this guy decided he was going to make a sandwich. from scratch. which is an amazing, amazing feat. he's the host of the show called "how to make everything." so it took him six months, $1,500, and he not only grew his own vegetables but he made his own salt from the ocean, milking a cow to make cheese, killed his own chicken. grinding his own flour for the wheat. >> look at that. >> he just wanted to go through the process and show you how difficult it can be. >> i guess there was no subway nearby. >> yeah. just make reservations, dude. >> but it's impressive.

this morning on "world news now" -- flash floods in the west. the desperate search and rescue as people are swept away. the raw power of the water taking over a dozen lives. an emotional return for the news anchor whose fiance was brutally murdered on live tv. his powerful and moving message of love as he and his colleagues try to heal their pain. and also new this hour, an extremely unlikely duo. >> vladimir putin partnering with elton john. the phone call regarding gay rights and why the russian government is denying it all happened. and caught on camera. or is it? the downed drone at burning man landing right in the middle of a dance party. dumb luck or was the stunt planned? you decide on this wednesday september 16th.