making news in america this morning, breaking overnight, republican karen handel handling her race in georgia fending off the democrat in the most expensive race for the house ever, why it's seen as a big win for president trump. we're live with details. also, tropical storm cindy taking aim at the gulf coast. powerful winds and rain felt. we're tracking its path. >> a powerful explosion rocks a house. a gas employee being called a hero getting an elderly couple out of the home in the nick of time. presidential appearance. george h.w. bush making a surprise visit. we do say good morn

i'm kendis gibson. >> ai'm adrienne bankert in for diane macedo. that special election in georgia, the republican candidate celebrating after the most expensive congressional race ever. >> take a look. there she is, karen handel defeating democrat jon ossoff. the 30-year-old for a seat held by her party for decades. fending off what would have been a political upset that would have rattled congress and, of course, the white house. abc's janai norman has the latest from washington where the president was actually already offering congratulations overnight. good morning, janai. >> reporter: kendis and adrienne, good morning to you. it was definitely a hard fought victory for karen handel. she managed to beat out the young democrat and held on tight to that seat held by republicans for nearly four decades. 30-year-old jon ossoff had supporters across the country and hoped to be a breath of fresh air for georgia's 6th district. >> we are going to show those cynics in washington, d.c. who have been peddling hate and

>> reporter: the candidates appeared to be neck and neck. a sign to democrats as a voter rejection of president trump. but the outcome, a sigh of relief for republicans that could provide a much needed boost to trump's base. >> tonight's victory, it's for you and it's for every single citizen in the 6th district. it's for every single person with a dream. and a special thanks to the president of the united states of america. >> reporter: the candidates spent $50 million on campaigns, attack ads floodeded airwaves. >> jon ossoff and his liberal allies -- >> reporter: the local race that was never supposed to be this close gaped national attention. >> get out and vote for karen. >> reporter: the president tried to help handel bashing her competitor online and as the votes were counted, tweeted, fantastic job. we are all very proud of you. in november, hillary clinton was just two points away from winning that same district in a

special election after another defeating blow to democrats. >> this is not the outcome any of us were hoping for. but this is the beginning of something much bigger than us. >> reporter: and many anticipated this race would serve as a preview of what's to come in the 2018 midterm and after significant losses in special elections in kansas, montana and now georgia, democrats may need to refocus in order to make strides with voters. kendis and adrienne. >> but all those seats will be up for grabs again next november of 2018. thank you, janai. our other breaking news is tropical storm cindy. >> it is about 200 miles offshore in the gulf of mexico but bringing heavy rain and flooding to the entire coastal region. cindy is heading northwest expected to make landfall tomorrow morning in the early morning hours. want to show you a live picture from bourbon street. as you can imagine it is usually busy at this time of hour, but you can see the rain is coming wn

with some bands as much as 12 inches of rain expected in some parts. overnight bracing for cindy. powerful winds and rain as a tropical storm barrels towards the gulf coast. residents warned to brace for the worst. >> we've been through this many, many times before. i don't want anybody to panic. there's no reason to do that but this is going to be a serious event. >> reporter: rain and flash flooding are the biggest concerns even being called life threattening according to abc's rob marciano. >> look at the amount of rain. could see a foot or more in new orleans, gulfport, mobile, high risk for flash flooding over the next two days. >> reporter: off the coast oil companies getting workers off their rigs. in st. charles parish, a race to protect homes. these working building a levee 4 and a half feet tall more than a mile long to keep the water out of their neighborhood. at the grocery store a f

scene before these sort of storms. people stocking up. >> i think it's a part of life and people are relaxed not a hurricane storm so they're laying low. >> reporter: it's going to be a long 24 to 48 hours in the gulf states. it's been a rough 48 hours out west. more record or near record temperatures are expected today in the southwest. las vegas yesterday hit 117 degrees. in phoenix it was 119. the extreme heat is making it hard to fight a massive fire about 100 miles east of los angeles. it has consumed 1200 acres and is only 10% contained at this hour. residents have been told to be ready to evacuate if the wins shift. busy day on tap for the trump administration. president trump will be in iowa today to tour a college and attend a make america great again rally. his son-in-law jared kushner is heading to the mideast to meet with israeli and palestinian leaders in hopes of eventually forging a peace plan. special counsel robert mueller will meet with top members of the senate judiciary

down with house leaders investigating allegations of russian election meddling. also on the hill, the battle to replace obamacare. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell planning to unveil a draft of the gwyneth health care bill tomorrow. both democrats and republicans have complained that the bill is being drawn up in secrecy and they want enough time to see what's in it before a vote expected next week. abc's mary bruce tried to type out why negotiations are taking place behind closed doors. >> reporter: this bill is bound to have a profound effect -- sdprs it will have a positive improvement over the status quo. >> do americans have a right to see these negotiations. >> simply unsustainable -- >> do americans have a right to see this process? >> the white house is not saying whether the president has seen the legislation but says he wants a bill that has heart in it. the president praised the house version of the bill when it passed later describing it though in private as, quote, mean. overseas right w,

is tighter than normal today in belgium following a terror attack at the maintain station in brussels. a witness captured the moment. fire engulfed a man after he detonated a suicide bomb or what was suspected as such. the man was shot and killed by soldiers no one else injured. the station and surround areas were evacuated out of fear about others being involved in the attack. this was europe's third terror attack in three days. well, it's been heating up a lot of the country including where my family is in california. today's weather and the forecast. >> good morning, adrienne. kendis. here's the path of cindy. expected to move a little closer to the coast on wednesday and then moving right into the inland along the texas and louisiana border as we go into thursday, friday and then curving back towards memphis and nashville as we go into the end of the weekend. overall we're looking for widespread heavy rainfall throughout the

corridor. look at the amount we're expecting between 8 to 12 inches of rain from new orleans over towards pensacola. kendis, adrienne. >> still ahead right here, breaking overnight a big shake-up announced at uber involving the embattled ceo. also breaking right now an explosion rocks a southern california home causing a lot of damage. new details on the cause just in. then the awkward embrace, senator rubio and ivanka trump, the picture going viral as both of them actually weigh in.

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blew up in the height of rush hour in downtown baltimore and just an hour before the orioles game was about to start three blocks away throwing large pieces of concrete and debris. parked cars were damaged and only five received minor injuries. sewer work is being blamed for an explosion in los angeles. the blast caused heavy damage to this two-story home in woodland hills overnight. a contract apparently hit a natural gas line leading to that explosion. nobody was hurt. a gas company employee is now being hailed a hero. he helped an elderly couple get out of the house just moments before the blast. thank goodness. check out this crew, the emergency crews managing to save a worker trapped at a construction site in new york. 2,000 pounds of material caved in on the roof of a two-story home. three workers fell all the way to the basement. one pinned under the weight of about 1,000 pounds of that debris for two hours.

critical condition. this came as a big surprise overnight, the controversial founder and ceo of uber has resigned. 40-year-old travis kalanick stepped down after an investor revolt. he helped create it eight years ago but a series of high-profile problems plagued the company including accusations of workplace culture rife with sexual harassment. kalanick remains its majority shareholder. ford is going to begin importing cars from china to the u.s. starting in two years. it is a move -- the moving production of the ford focus from a plant in suburban detroit to china where it already makes that model. ford says the move won't cost any u.s. jobs because the michigan plant is being converted to other models that can be made there. a special treat for crowds at a charity golf tournament in kennebunkport, maine. >> former president george h.w. bush

>> and stole the show despite the presence of other faces like his son, bush 43 and outshined celebs like maine native patrick dempsey. >> oh, no, not patrick dempsey. >> how do you outshine patrick. >> easily. >> you become a president. >> and your name is on the title there. when we come back, multiple people injured after a plane hit severe turbulence. this morning passengers talking about the horrifying ordeal. new video of a police involved shooting released. the interaction raising some new questions. with unitedhealthcare, you can get rewarded for all kinds of things... like walking. hey, honey. dad, where's the car? thought we'd walk. he's counting steps. walk, move and earn money... goal! dad... hey, we wanna welcome everyone to the father daughter dance. look at this dad, he's got some moves! money you can use on out-of-pocket medical expenses.

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and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects: dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. we're keeping a close eye on the traffic stop ticks and tropical storm cindy. the center is currently about 200 miles from land in the gulf of mexico but its rain bands lashing the gulf coast. the storm is moving slowly northward and expected to make

as a result drivers in the south will maybe want to postpone their travel due to impending flooding. wet roads likely from kansas to wisconsin and west of the great lakes. flying understandably weather-related airport delays are possible in new orleans, houston, minneapolis and atlanta. and one more note about tropical storm cindy. it is being blamed for the severe turbulence on board a flight over mexico. >> this was scary. nine passengers and a crew member taken to the hospital when the 737 landed in houston. they were on board a united flight from panama city that tried to go around the tropical storm. >> it was like a lot of turbulence. the plane started to move very violent. >> many people were crying. >> they were scared. >> yes. >> many people like they jumped to the ceiling of the plane. >> wow. well, as we mentioned the united jet did make a safe landing in houston but was greeted by those

be minor but can you imagine people just breathless wondering how this was going to turn out. experts recommend keeping your seat belt buckled to avoid being hurt by turbulence. so do the flight attendants. getting our first look at the actual shooting in the philando castile case. minnesota officials releasing the video days after officer jeronimo yanez was acquitted. you remember the aftermath playing out on facebook live. this new video shows yanez shot seven times less than 40 seconds after pulling over castile for a broken taillight. a warning now. what you're about to see is both graphic and disturbing. >> reason i pulled you over your brake lights are out. you have your license and insurance. >> sir, i have to tell you i do have a firearm. >> okay. >> don't reach it it then. >> don't pull it out. >> i'm not pulling it out. >> don't pull it out. >> you just killed my boyfriend. >> oh, my gosh. officer yanez told investi

an armed robbery suspect. that dash cam video shows castile's girlfriend's daughter, you see the 4-year-old right after the shooting running into another officer's arms. >> so hard to watch that. students at the university of virginia are paying tribute to otto warmbier who was supposed to graduate with the class of 2017. hundreds of mourners gathered for a candlelight vigil on the uva campus last night. warmbier died just days after he was released from north korea in a coma now following 17 months in detention. public funeral services set for tomorrow in ohio. and a date has been set for o.j. simpson's upcoming parole hearing. simpson is serving a 9 to 33-year prison sentence for armed robbery, kidnapping and other charges. he's already served more than eight years on july 20th he will go before the parole board seeking to be released. if parole is granted simpson would be released in october. may have quite a story to

look at sports. >> the baseball highlights from our guys at espn? we're short on time. want to tell you the seager family is the family of the night in sports. here we go. first some of the guys not related to them, cody bellinger with the homers, there's another one, he has 22 this season. he has gotten to 22 faster than anybody. dodgers up 4-0. now to the seeingers. 7-0. corey seager had hit two in the game, now he has three and fell short of getting four only happened 17 times ever. his third of the night and dodgers win it 12-0. what about the seager up north. >> kyle seager and late drama in the tigers/mariners game. extras, bottom ten, game tied at four. runner at second. kyle seager, let's walk it off. good night, game over. drive home safely and the

fashion, 5-4. good to be a seager on tuesday. >> congratulations to that whole family. nothing else happened in sports. just those two games. >> good-bye. >> fake news. all righty then. well, up next in "the pulse," marco rubio is explaining this. an awkward hug we can all relate to. and summer is officially here. spring ended hours ago, by the way. the overnight celebration at stonehenge.

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well-timed still photo. >> her hands are still down by her sides and tweeted about it including new photo emerges providing more insight into alleged failed hug. faces blurred for security purposes. >> yeah, they both were poking fun at it on twitter. ivanka calling it fake news saying marco is an excellent hugger. i think that was very kind of both of them. >> never got that photo. >> just a lot of paparazzi there. let's talk about summer officially arrived and solstice taking place at 12:24 eastern time this morning. >> so they're celebrating the longest day of daylight for the year at stonehenge. thousands of people gathered at the monument in southern england for the annual celebration and many hope to be able to see the sun rise directly above the 15-foot-high, 29-ton stone. >> that massive rock sits outside the circle and casts a shadow into the center of the arrangement. >> happy first day. okay,o

the bobcat. but it appears the team has found a cougar. >> avery foster is calling her momma a cougar after dropped off at freshman orientation. mom sent her these pictures taken with some of the football players. mom's caption is don't wait up. >> they're shirtless, mind you. she found it funny but turns out there's more to it than that. parents told if they posted a silly photo while at school thed morning washington. it's june 21st. and this hump day is also the first official day of summer! and it will feel like it outside. your weather forecast is moments away-- but first, here are some of this morning's top stories. a major roadway is shutdown this morning after a steam pipe explodes in the heart of downtown baltimore. the blast sent chunks of cement flying, and left a huge crater in the street ju

several people suffered minor injuries. the cause of the explosion is still unknown. a statement victory for the republican party. republican karen handel is celebrating victory in georgia's 6th district. she beat democrat jon ossoff, to cap the most expensive congressional race in u-s history. president donald trump tweeted his congratulations last night. handel will replace tom price -- who resigned so he could join president trump's cabinet. good morning washington. toss to eileen - happy first day of summer - longest amount of daylight - hottest day of the next 10 tomorrow (90+) - impacts from t.s. cindy this weekend - nice early next week (lower humidity!) today:- partly cloudy. hot, but relatively comfortable humidity. stray pm shower possible. highs: 86-90 winds: sw 5-10 mph tonight: partly to mostly cloudy. isolated shower. warm. lows: 64-71 winds: w 5 mph thursday: partly cloudy. hot and huid

winds: wsw 5-10 mph breaking news this morning.

leadership at "uber". overnight-- ceo and co-founder travis kalanick announced that he was resigning from his post. after months of criticism of his management style, kalanick recently took an indefniate leave of absence. he has been under fire from investeors following several public relations incidents, including a report that the company turned a blind eye to incidents of sexual

statement just a little while ago saying in part-- "i love uber more than anything in the world and at this difficult moment in my personal life i have accepted the investors request to step aside so that uber can go back to building rather than be distracted with another fight." in maryland-- police think they've put an end to a month-long robbery spree at local seven-eleven stores. police say the four men seen in this surveillance video held up ten stores, starting on may 17-th. the robberies happened in prince george's, montgomery, and anne arundel counties. police arrested the men -- who are all from washington -- following the most recent holdup in suitland on friday. an update to a case we've been following the past month. federal immigration officials confirm fairfax county mother liliana cruz mendez - has been deported to el salvador. she was arrested last month when she checked in with ice... after they discovered an old conviction for driving without a license. amidst the public outcry, governor terry mcauliffe - pardoned cruz mendez. but it wasn't enough though to stop the deportation. her

falls church. it's xx and we're just getting started. baltimore blast. a steam pipe explosion sends concrete flying. now, comes the cleanup and questions about how this happened. good morning washington. - happy first day of summer - longest amount of daylight - hottest day of the next 10 tomorrow (90+) - impacts from t.s. cindy this weekend - nice early next week (lower humidity!) today:- partly cloudy. hot, but relatively comfortable humidity. stray pm shower possible. highs: 86-90 winds: sw 5-10 mph tonight: partly to mostly cloudy. isolated shower. warm. lows: 64-71 winds: w 5 mph thursday: partly cloudy. hot and humid. isolated pm thunderstorm. highs: 90-94 winds: wsw 5-10 mph

right now. a clean up effort underway in