this morning on "world news now" tornado outbreak in the midwest. massive tornadoes spotted across ohio and indiana. tossing around homes and turning debris into missiles. cleanup efforts underway. we'll have the latest. >> donald trump is trying to broaden his base reaching out further to minorities while accusing hillary clinton of racism. clinton is responding to nagging allegations surrounding her foundation as well. we'll have all the updates coming up. and the world's largest aircraft apparently a little too big. >> the craft took a nose dive during a trial run. the crash is now playing out in what seems to be slow motion. and later in the skinny, prince, the late superstar and hometown hero remembered by so many around the world this year. his biggest fans getting the big

reveal they've been waiting decades for. it's thursday, august 25th. from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning. i'm diane macedo. >> i'm kendis gibson. let's start with breaking news, the midwest, northwest ohio in particular has been hit hard by a new round of severe weather. you can see this tornado near toledo. power lines were snapped and whipped around. several mobile homes were damaged and a tornado warning briefly halted a kiss concert in toledo. >> the storm is part a weather pattern that brought twisters to kokomo, indiana. alex perez continues our coverage. >> reporter: tornado emergencies in and around indianapolis. >> seek shelter, lowest level of your house immediately. this is a confirmed tornado. >> reporter: multiple twisters touching down. >> right there.

>> reporter: the national weather service calling it a particularly dangerous situation. as school children hunker down in hallways. the people inside this now destroyed starbucks hiding in the bathroom. surviving with no injuries. homes ripped apart. roofs gone. tens of thousands without power. that same system now pounding the heartland for more than 24 hours. near omaha winds gusting near 90 miles per hour, snapping trees and crushing cars. >> it's a mass. it will be a while getting this out of here. >> reporter: more than 8 inches of rain in parts of iowa. and mike pence returning to the hoosier state to assess the damage. alex perez, abc news, chicago. from the tornadoes to a hurricane. the storm named gaston has become a hurricane. it's not expected to be a threat to land.

forecasters are keeping their eye on another weather system that could impact south florida this weekend. to italy the search for survivors has intensified. the death toll is at 247. the mayor of the hardest hit town says the town isn't here anymore. crews are using bulldozers and their hands to try to find victims. the 6.2 quake wiped out entire neighborhoods. survivors explained. they described a frightening san and chaos. >> the electricity had gone. it was a terrible sensation of the ground beneath your feet moving and having no clue what to do. >> hundreds of survivors spent the night at a sports facility being used as a shelter. many slept outside in tents. the quake could be felt as far as 100 miles away. >> syrian rebels have retaken a key town from isis. the assault began ye

turkish tanks crossed the border into syria. the offensive marks the first time turkey has become so deeply involved in the battle against isis in syria. the pentagon has identified an american soldier killed by a roadside bomb earlier this week in afghanistan. it's staff sergeant matthew thompson. he was on foot patrol and was killed by a bomb blast. six afghan soldiers and another american member was also injured. trump reached out to black and hispanic voters in mississippi. he called hillary clinton a bigot, accusing her of seeing people of color only as votes. in a fox news interview he suggested he was ready to let some illegal immigrants stay. >> if you have someone that's been in the country for 20 years, has a job. do we tell them to get out number one, or do we work with them and let them stay in some

>> trump is not calling this amnesty. he says illegal immigrants would have to pay back taxes. as for clinton, she's on the defensive over allegations that she gave preferential treatment to big donors to the clinton foundation. she said her work as secretary of state was not influenced by any outside forces. she pointed out the clinton foundation is a charity, saying neither she for bill clinton drew a salary. >> reporter: under attack, hillary clinton's getting a little help from her celebrity friends. justin timberlake hosted a star studded fundraiser. $33,000 a ticket. sports legend magic johnson and cher are raising money. cher even took some pot shots at donald trump. >> i've been watching him speak with the teleprompters. do you remember fun with dick and jane? it's like a racist fun with dick

and jane. >> reporter: but as clinton smiles with the stars, her team is in full damage control mode. pushing back against tough scrutiny of the clinton foundation. the associated press reports that as secretary of state, more than half the meetings she had with people outside of government were big donors to the foundation. donald trump calls it -- >> a vast pay for play scheme. >> reporter: but trump himself has donated. asked why, his campaign manager said this. >> donald trump himself gave $100,000 at least to the clinton foundation. was it pay to play? >> the clinton foundation does a lot of good work. i want to say that for the record. >> he wasn't paying to play? >> no. he wasn't. >> reporter: bill clinton is defending his foundation's work. >> we try to do good things. if there's something wrong with creating jobs and saving lives, i don't know what it is. i have nothing to say about it. i'm really proud.

say trump is in no position to criticize. >> donald trump has zero credibility talking about his issues until he releases his taxes. >> reporter: trump's son says don't hold your breath. >> you would have a budge of people knowing nothing about taxes trying to come up with assumptions on things they know nothing about. it would be foolish to do. >> reporter: the campaign points out the list of foundation donors who met with the secretary of state includes names not scandalous. some of them, also a nobel peace prize winner and actor ben affleck. over at jfk airport, two flights were struck by birds hours apart. the small bird hit the side of a jet blue around 8:30 a.m. about two hours later, a

singapore airlines flight hit several birds. a pilot says a big flock of birds went into the two right engines of the planes. two runways were closed. no injuries reported. a federal judge iced a lawsuit against starbucks. a california man accused them of putting too much ice in drinks. the suit claimed the extra ice misled people about the size of a drink. the judge says a reasonable person knows the size of a drink knows an iced drink includes ice. >> what's your 13-year-old doing today? >> playing pokemon go, probably. a young teen in south carolina is starting his freshman year in college. he is eli broadski. he's one of the newest members of the class of 2020 of charleston university. he moved to the u.s. last year from siberia. his mom says he loves pizza and cartoons and is double majoring in computer science and math. >> i'm und

field of programming i'm going to choose. there are so many. but i definitely want to choose something that will change the world. that will praise god with my abilities. >> he's already planning to life beyond college. he wants to pursue a masters degree once he graduates at 17. >> he's not the youngest student in the school's history. a 10-year-old boy once attended in the 90s. >> apparently next year they plan to admit a newborn with that sort of streak. >> eli is a slacker. he also writes his own songs and plays the piano. his parents said he started reading at two and a half. >> coming up. the late superstar prince known for locking himself away and turning out the hits, his fans will soon be able to experience some of the magic firsthand. also ahead the cold case that's captivated millions.

hear the details that they hope will free him from prison. >> first, a look at today's forecast. "world news now" weather brought to you by american advisor's group. american advisor's group.

looktry align probiotic.our digestive system? for a non-stop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. live 24/7. with 24/7 digestive support. try align, the #1 ge recommended probiotic. ever so slowly, the world's largest aircraft crashed during its second test flight. the airliner is just over 300 feet long and filled with helium. you can see it there. witnesses say it appeared to snag a wire which sent the giant ship into slow motion nose dive. >> the video looks like it's in

time. >> and there's something of a new twist in the murder case profiled by the popular serial pod cast. >> the new statements from unidentified witnesses are calling the suspect's alibi into question. >> reporter: a new twist in the murder case made famous by the pod cast, serial. attempts to discredit a star alibi witness in the case of this man. he was convicted for the 199 killing of his high school ex-girlfriend, a crime he insists he didn't commit. in june after reviewing new evidence, a baltimore judge ordering a new trial. >> the conviction is erased. >> reporter: asia mcclain testified saying when lee was being killed, siad was with her in the library. >> i was sitting in the library bored to tears.

>> reporter: but according to documents filed, mcclain's account is being called a flat out lie. two of her former classmates say she believed so much in the innocence she would make up a lie to prove he couldn't have done it. >> their statement is so rich in detail and has been corroborated. >> reporter: mcclain's lawyer saying the classmate's allegations are bizarre and wholly untrue. mcclain herself taking to twitter. what can i say? they say i'm a liar. i say i'm not. siad's lawyer said the statements have no bearing on the granting of a new trial. prosecutors are appealing the ruling. all the while, siad remains in prison. >> both mccain and her attorney have spoken out. the attorney said given the case is before a court, we question the untrue allegations. that was according to baltimore sun.

that these class mates previously weren't able to identify whether they were in that class or identify the teacher. so she's also sort of questioning the timing. they've always had friendly interactions up until now when suddenly they're making accusations. there's a big back and forth going on about this. >> it sounds like it's a case that will continue to go on for quite some time. in the meantime, he's still in jail. >> and for fans of the serial pod cast, the second season of serial, addressed the beau bergdahl starting. >> it might end soon. >> yes. another reason to love the rock. "the skinny" is next. ♪

♪ we start with a serious story in the skinny. the hacking of actress leslie jones' personal information. her personal information and nude photos were posted on the site. >> she shut down her twitter account after a string of racist and sexist attacks. people are speaking out about the attack. paul feeg, the director in ghost busters saying on twitter what's happening toes

absolute outrage. haters. trolls. comedians, whoever you are, you're sad. >> a musician echoing saying the acts are sickening. it's racist and sexist and disgusting. these are hate crimes. >> and lena dunham saying turn the anger into love and into strategies to protect all the heroins who don't deserve this bs. moving onto some huge news for prince fans. his estate in the minneapolis suburbs is now opening to the public. >> the musician died at his paisley park after an accidental painkiller overdose in april. his sister says making it accessible to fans was being prince was working on. >> the fence outside was a memorial after his death. starting on october 6th, fans can tour his home, studio and sound stage and check out thousands of items from his

online ticket sales begin tomorrow. the company that owns elvis's graceland will manage the tours. >> helen mirren is known for speaking her mind. >> there's a video that's gone viral this week that shows her facing off with an interviewer in 1975. >> i'd like you to explain what you mean in great detail. >> well, your physical attributes. >> you mean my fingers? >> no. i meant your -- >> come on. spit it out. >> i meant your, your figure. >> my figure? all the people on the stage and all the people in the audience overcome such boring questions, really. >> boring questions? >> pretty boring in the end, yeah. >> what's that? >> she says it was the first time that she'd ever been on a

called him a sexist old far. for his part, he was knighted 16 years ago for his services to broadcasting. i'm guessing he prepped a little more for the next time he interviewed her. >> yeah. i think he prepped quite a bit. he was just looking at the wrong parts of his prep work. >> she is tough. finally the rock. he's the alpha male in any room he walks into. a new video he posted on instagram might be the most adorable thing you've ever seen. ♪ >> the rock says he's been singing that song to his daughter, jasmine since she was just a week old. he finished that instagram post with the hash tag slap dad's head because it's a big toy. >> she seems to enjoy it. >> that looks like fun. >> no. no. no.

>> she had such a good time. >> don't touch my head. ♪ ing isibly clearing up skin in as little as 12 hours. and acne won't last forever. just like your mom won't walk in on you forever. stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! stephen! see what i'm sayin acne won't last. but for now, let's be clear. clearasil works fast. this back to school, get clearer skin for free. limited time offer in stores now.

get between you and life's dobeautiful moments.llergens flonase gives you more complete allergy relief. most allergy pills only control one inflammatory substance. flonase controls 6. and six is greater than one. flonase changes everything. ♪ why don't you dry my dishes? oh, he doesn't know any better. you just need to add finish® jet-dry in the rinse aid compartment. it's there for a reason. it dries much better

than detergent alone. sorry dishwasher. finish® jet-dry. for drier, shinier dishes. introducing new k-y for massage and intimacy. every touch, gently intensified.

k-y touch. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> who did? oh. they met in college. did you know that? >> good trivia. >> little known facts in our ear. >> talking about steely dan who met in college.

a big day in the chicago suburb of illinois. it's the first day of a new school year. >> some fourth graders are in for quite a year because of the creative student teacher. ♪ >> reporter: at jane stenson school, it's the first day of school. it's also the first day for fourth grade student teacher, dwayne reed. ♪ ♪ i'm from chicago ♪ i love eating pizza >> reporter: this new teacher decided to welcome his students in his own way. ♪ welcome to the fourth grade >> i wanted to spice up the old fashioned newsletter. i thought i'm kind of good add

music. i know how to put together lyrics. let's put together a song to get the kids excited. >> reporter: go teacher and go students with a lesson already from mr. reed. david muir, abc news, new york. >> video now has 275,000 views on youtube. >> understandably. so that video, the principle -- >> there it is. there it is. was that a music video? >> what is that? >> it's to avoid the jerry curl juice from soaking up the walls. >> back when he had hair. >> your face looks exactly the same. you have not aimed a single day. >> i had just sprayed my jerry curl.

i didn't want it to --

making news in america this morning -- widespread damage after a tornado outbreak. homes and buildings leveled overnight. people inside a collapsed starbucks surviving after getting in the bathroom. plus a hurricane named late last night. rescuers in italy are digging through piles of rubble after a powerful earthquake trying to rescue any survivors beneath. survivors are now being piled from the debris. donald trump ramping up the rhetoric against hillary clinton calling her a bigot overnight. and watch as bullet fly as a restaurant, customers forced to duck for cover. police say it's actually a waiter firing that gun. we'll tell you what started it all.