making news in america this morning, breaking overnight, an avalanche triggered by an earthquake buries a hotel in italy. dozens are now missing. the search is on to find survivors and we have new video coming in. taking the oath in a little more than 24 hour, final preparations under way for donald trump's inauguration. the tight security, his surprise visit for dinner overnight. and the growing number of lawmakers boycotting the events. we're live in washington. moving day for first daughter ivanka. what people noticed on some boxes that is getting a lot of attention. plus, what about a picture of donald trump? the internet just can't get enough of it. more storms on the west coast and severe flooding in the south. we are tracking the severe weather on the move.

and we do say good morning. what's turning out to be a very busy thursday morning, we are following several breaking news stories just coming in. that new tragedy in italy's quake zone. >> where a three-story mountain hotel has been completely covered by an avalanche. officials are saying 30 people are now missing and there are already reports of multiple fatalities. heavy snow already on the ground is make it difficult to get rescue vehicles to the scene as well. >> i want to show you a picture of the hotel that was hit by the avalanche. can you barely see where it is. it is in an area shaken by four strong earthquakes and received a lot of snow in the last week. that same region, by the way, has been struggling to recover since last year's earthquake which killed about 300 people. of course, we'll continue to stay on top of that breaking news story. also breaking right now, this is some stunning video just in from iran where a high-rise building collapsed on live television this morning. that 17-story building in tehran was

reporting on that fire the building completely came down in a massive cloud of dust. one of the first high-rise buildings in that city. let's listen in. [ speaking a foreign language ] >> more than two dozen people are said to have been injured in that fire. so far it's unclear if there were any deaths or injuries from the actual collapse. >> of courses we'll keep our eyes on both those stories. we want to turn our focus to the inauguration of donald trump. now just one day away. >> so the ceremony will take place right there on the steps of the u.s. capitol where trump says he is expecting a record turnout. >> the president-elect was greeted with loud cheers last night as he made an impromptu visit to his new d.c. hotel located on pennsylvania avenue where the inaugural parade will drive past. abc's lana zak is on capitol hill with more on the final preparations. the boycott and the latest round of confirmation hearings. >> reporter: the final barricades are going

as the nation's capital prepares to welcome a new resident to the white house. >> i'm excited to go see history in the making. >> reporter: terrorism countermeasures like dump trucks and buses will be used to prevent a nice-like attack as the 45th president, donald trump, is sworn in. inside the capitol, sharp questions for mr. trump's nominees like congressman tom price grilled by senator warren on health care coverage. >> you might want to print out president-elect trump's statement, i am not going to cut medicare or medicaid and post that above your desk in your new office. >> reporter: by the latest count 30% of house democrats say they are boycotting this inauguration. >> all i know is i'm going to be there so is michelle. >> reporter: in his last white house press conference, president obama says he wishes the best for his successor and made reference to presidents still to come. >> and if, in fact, we continue to keep opportunity open to everybody, then, yeah, we'll have a woman president, we'll have a latino president.

hindu president. >> reporter: meanwhile, president-elect trump traveled between new york and d.c. to honor his vice president-elect mike pence and made a surprise visit to his pennsylvania avenue hotel for dinner and his speech will be very personal we're told and two theme, america first and uniting the country though, kendis and diane, based on what we're seeing in congress that theme may be hard to achieve in reality. >> it does seem that way. lana zak live in washington. thanks. the transition team is hoping to have several cabinet nominees confirmed on day one but so far no votes have been scheduled. >> a confirmation hearing gets under way today for former texas governor rick perry. he is nominated to lead the energy department, which you might remember he once said he wanted to eliminate. perry may be questioned about a "new york times" report that said he actually misunderstood the job thinking he would be an ambassador for the oil and gas industry. >> trump is expected to

former georgia governor sonny perd perdue. if all are confirmed it would be the first since ronald reagan which doesn't include a single latino. >> mike pence says repealing and replacing obamacare is a top priority for that new administration. while speaking with abc's martha raddatz he didn't give details on a replacement plan, but he did point to an open marketplace approach. >> the president-elect really believes in the power of the marketplace. he's a businessman. he understands the strength of the american economy. on the campaign trail, he talked consistently about his enthusiasm for allowing americans to purchase health insurance across state lines the way we buy life insurance, the way we buy car insurance. >> pence says he expects the plan to replace obamacare will be brought forward in the early weeks of the new administration. do stay with us for all of the inauguration events. we will have special coverage starting friday morning with our political team live in

story we're following. former president george h.w. bush and his wife barbara undergoing treatment at methodist hospital. he is in the icu, the intensive care unit following a procedure to relieve pneumonia-related breathing problems. as a precaution doctors also admitted mrs. bush after she complained of feeling sick for the last few weeks with coughing and fatigue. a sheriff's deputy has been killed in a shoot-out in north dakota. authorities say a suspect in a stolen truck led four ours on a 15-minute chase. the deputies caught up with him at an intersection and that's when the shooting started. the suspect was also killed in that shoot-out. no other deputies were injured. severe thunderstorms are expected across several parts of the nation. more heavy rain is taking aim at parts of california and the northwest. you can see rain from seattle straight south to los angeles. meanwhile, the houston

is bracing for more rain today on wednesday, emergency crews made dozens of high water rescues as torrential rains flooded roads there. accuweather's justin povick is tracking it all for us. justin, good morning. >> diane and kendis, thanks and good morning to you. heavy rainfall a concern over the deep south for flash flooding and for the potential of some severe weather and, again, this is going on today into tonight, eventually drifting its way off to the north and to the east. meanwhile, out west we're tracking another blockbuster storm, this one too going to be bringing some very heavy rainfall and the potential for some very heavy snow over the higher terrain along i-80. diane, kendis, back to. >> justin, thanks. still ahead a major airline will soon be offering much cheaper tickets but with a major catch. >> a major one, indeed. new court documents show an 18-year-old girl who was kidnapped as an infant may have known her true identity long before investigators found out. plus, another reunion story. a family search to find their

than two decades. hear where she was finally found alive. take it from here.

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carefirst medplus. live fearless. stunning images of this accident in new hampshire. a compact car pinned under a tasker truck. police say the driver lost control and slid into the tasker. both drivers escaped without serious injuries. investigators say speed and weather may have been factors in that crash. a not guilty plea entered for the widow of the orlando nightclub gunman in response to federal charges she faces. prosecutors say noor salman helped her husband before the attack last june and misled investigators after it. 49 people were killed in that assault. salman is expected to be extradited to florida from california. the fbi is now investigating threats to jewish centers across the country. investigor

but they do say they're looking into possible civil rights violations. bomb threats have been reported at jewish centers in at least 17 states. and the victim of a letter bomb attack is speaking out about his ordeal this an exclusive interview with our philadelphia station. on november 22nd jim alden was opening a manila envelope addressed to him when it exploded blowing his hand apart. doctors were able to remove some of the shrapnel buried in his face and torso but apparently not all. >> last night we were just sitting watching tv, oh, here's a pebble out of my face. >> investigators say alden was specifically targeted but the motive is still unclear. they have a person of interest dropping off that package. american airlines now joining united and delta offering what is called a low basic economy fare. there is a catch. the airline says only one carry-on item will be allowed and it must fit under the seat in front of you.

the basic economy fare also means you can't change your ticket. the new lower fare tickets will be available next month. and when we come back, suing sony, while paul mccartney is going after the music giant. the man who will soon take his bride's last name. wait till you hear the reason and what it has to do with his favorite football team. ♪ look at you, saving money on your medicare part d prescriptions. at walgreens we make it easy for you to seize the day by helping you get more out of life and medicare part d. now with zero-dollar copays on select plans... ...and rewards points on all prescriptions, walgreens has you covered. so drop by and seize the savings! walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. with not food, become food? thankfully at panera,

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francisco, los angeles, las vegas and new orleans. well, we're learning new details about that 18-year-old woman who just recently discovered that she was kidnapped at birth and raised by the woman now accused of her abduction. >> the victim is speaking out for the very first time saying she still loves the only mother she's ever known and now it turns out that victim may have known the truth for more than a year. she talked with abc's eva pilgrim. >> reporter: new details shoulding light on how this woman's 18-year-old secret finally unraveled. >> no bond be set on count number one, the kidnapping charge. >> reporter: gloria williams now charged with kidnapping a newborn baby from a florida hospital in 1998 raising her as her own. did anything tip you off to it? >> i can't think of anything offhand, no. >> reporter: 18-year-old alexis didn't want to talk about how she was taken concerned anything she says could be used against the woman she still calls

alexis may have found out the truth approximately a year and a half ago. eva pilgrim, abc news, jacksonville, florida. >> and eva will have much more on "gma." we have another reunion story. three sisters who have been searching for their missing mother for 23 years finally got the news that they wanted to hear that she has been found alive. shelly jennings had a history of mental illness when she vanished in 1993. after failing to pick up her daughters at a modesto, california, school, but this week jennings was recognized after a recent story about her disappearance. she is set to reunite with at least one of her daughters today. paul mccartney is trying to tack back ownership of some songs he wrote and co-wrote with the beatles. the copyrights to dozens of songs like "let it be" and "yesterday" were sold to michael jackson and his estate sold them to sony. he is now

unnecessary and premature, says sony. three players longer now. one is jeff bagwell who hit 401 home runs while spending his entire 15-year career with the astros. >> then there's tim raines also heading to cooperstown, new york, fifth on the all-time stolen base lit. >> this is was ivan "pudge" rodriguez. his reaction when he took the call letting him know that he is now in the hall of fame. family and friends were there to celebrate with him. this year was his first year of eligibility and all three will be inducted into the hall of fame in july. >> quite a moment there. quite a moment down under as well. a stunner. tennis result, defending australian open champ novak djokovic ousted from the tournament today. >> he lost to a guy ranked 117th in the world. >> so he's good. >> a little bit of an underdog. as for last night in the nba let's get highlights from espn. good morning, america. i'm scott van pelt.

russell westbrook and kevin durant spent eight years together and it's like a breakup where you have to see each other at parties and pretend you like each other only these guys don't bother with that. clear the friendship is gone. this isn't about friendship but a hard foul as pachulia knocks down westbrook and stands over. a big-time no-no. the code among players. it's a rules violation that's a flagrant one in the half. it was a 56-56 game. midway through the third quarter, durant, who had 39 in his first match-up with his former team went for a season high 40 including this three here and the warriors begin to exercise their dominance. here westbrook. never angrier. quadruple double. the close game is now turning into a blow-out. that happens so often with golden state. they lead by 15 then in the fourth quarter, one more time, it's durant who for the 47th

cracked open a 40 and golden state wins, 121-100. you can see golden state on friday on espn taking on the red hot houston rockets at 8:00 eastern time. enjoy your thursday. >> you too. up next in "the pulse," donald trump is sharing how he's getting ready for tomorrow's big speech. and inside the most expensive house in the country. complete with a candy room and a helicopter, of course. >> duh. it's a tangle of multiple symptoms. ♪ ♪ trintellix (vortioxetine) is a prescription medicine for depression. trintellix may start to untangle or help improve the multiple symptoms of depression. for me, trintellix made a difference. tell your healthcare professional right away if your depression worsens, or you have unusual changes in mood,

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plenty of memes. >> including this one. that maybe that's what trump is really drawing on that notepad. >> is that what he's doing? in the meantime, trump is getting some praise for somewhat of a kind gesture. last night ray woman took to facebook saying trump paid her group's $1,000 dinner bill at the trump international hotel in d.c. basically paying himself since he owns that hotel. >> it's on the house. >> it's on the house. so, it looks like it's maybe soon to be first daughter ivanka's sharing her father's taste for gold encrusted decor or maybe not. >> or maybe not. crews were spotted moving ivanka's belongings into her new $5 million home in washington and a "daily mail" photographer captured this, a box from ikea apparently containing an inexpensive twin size bed. >> not sure if jared kushner is going to put that together

white house. while talking about real estate here's what's being called the most expensive home for sale in this entire country. really lavish. it's in bel air in -- that's a section of los angeles, of course. and in all it's 38,000 feet of luxury. >> infinity pool with a swim-up bar and that's not all. >> swim-up bar. that's nice. also a 40-seat movie theater, not to mention a bowling alley. >> of course, because you can't have a home without a bowling alley. >> this is a sweet spot. there is also a room dedicated to goodies. candy. we should say there's also 12 bedrooms and 21 bathrooms if you're into that stuff. >> you may think it's expensive but it comes with a helicopter. >> ah. >> just one problem. there's no permit for takeoffs and landings. still, price tag, big bargain price, $250 million. >> do they take cashier's checks? >> i don't think they're accepting cr

a die-hard green bay football fan is taking a bold step so he can become a real packer. he's actually marrying into the name. >> okay, so ryan holton murphy says after his upcoming wedding in june he'll take his fiancee marie's last name, which you guessed it is packer. >> so ryan says he knew she was the one when he met her but finding out her last name put him over the top. >> she should be a little suspicious. maybe that's the reason. >> i wonder if it had anything and thanks for starting this friday eve with good morning washington. the presidential inauguration is tomorrow-- but security is impacting roads right now. and if that wasn't enough-- some rainy weather is also heading this way. good morning washington. toss to eileen - another mild day; remaining above average through next week

inauguration (not a washout; just showers) - dry saturday - heavy rain sunday into monday (2" possible) today: partly cloudy. mild. highs: 53-57 winds: nw to se 5 mph tonight: partly becoming mostly cloudy. lows: 33-37 winds: se 5 to calm friday: cloudy with showers. best chance of rain 9am to 3pm. patchy fog/low clouds. highs: 45-50 winds: s 5 to calm

there's no getting around it. it's going to be hard to get navigate the district during the inauguration-- look at all these road closures. the red area - off limits to cars - no parking at all. the green area, has strict limitations on who can drive there.

not be driving-- and that's why uber and lyft drivers are studying up on how to navigate the security areas. as a passenger, it's recommended you walk to the outside of the security perimiter- before you try to order a ride. uber says customers coming from maryland and virginia should request drop-offs at the nearest metro to avoid traffic. you should also expect to wait longer -- and pay more for lyft and uber services on friday and saturday. and if you're counting on metro-- take a look at these important times. the rail system is opening early tomorrow, at four a-m. on saturday-- the system will open early at 5 a-m for the women's march. and it will be back to normal on sunday. the transfer of power in the white house could have a big impact on d-c government. republicans in congress are already taking aim at the city's gun laws, abortion funding, legalized marijuana and doctor-assisted suicide. mayor muriel bowser has said she's optimistic the president-elect will work with the city, not against it. council member jack evans agrees. after skipping the dedication of

trump's hotel at the old post office... mayor bowser met with the president-elect in new york shortly after the election. today is president obama's last full day in the oval office. but he spent yesterday defending a controversial decition to commute the sentence for former army soldier-- chelsea manning. when asked about the advice he's given donald trump... the president said he told the president-elect to trust his team. president obama then had some advice for the american people. friday afternoon, the president and

joint base andrews for a goodbye with staff. they will then head to palm springs for a vacation -- before settling into the kalorama neighborhood -- a few blocks from the white house. after news of manning's commutation spread-- many wondered if wikileaks founder julian assange would follow through on his vow to turn himself over to the u-s department of justice. for months-- assange has promised to give himself up in exchange for manning's freedom. however a lawyer for assange now says he will not surrender since manning was given a commuted sentence-- not an immediate pardon. assange has lived in the ecuadorian embassy in london since 2012 to avoid potential extradition to the u-s and extradition to sweden, where he is charged with sexual assault. good news for marylanders-- amazon is expanding it's business.. and that means hundreds of new jobs. the company announced a project for a 1-point-2 million square foot fulfillment c

amazon already employs more than 3-thousand people at its fulfillment and sorting centers in baltimore. the new facility would create 700 positions. it's expected to be built by the end of 20-20. it's xx and we're just getting started. right now at 4:xx we are in the final stretch before the inauguration of donald trump. streets are shutting down. security is in place and protesters are already making their voices heard loud and clear. good morning washington i'm autria godfrey and i'm larry smith. - another mild day; remaining above average through next week - shoers likely for inauguration (not a washout; just showers) - dry saturday - heavy rain sunday into monday (2" possible)