this morning on "world news now." double hurricane threat. hurricane maria, strengthening to a category five monster storm and battering the already ravaged caribbean, this as hurricane jose is hugging the u.s. east coast. with dangerous winds, rip currents and heavy rain. in st. louis, demonstrators are calling for the release of protesters in jail during a fourth straight night of clashes over a judge's decision in a deadly police shooting. and new this half hour, the quick thinking commuter. >> a would-be robber handed her a note. saying two guns were pointed at her. hear what she did next. importantly inspired by a television show. and it's time to dust off your sequinned dresses and touch up on your spray tan.

dancing with the stars is back for season 25. how about that for an opening? whose dream of taking home the coveted mirror ball trophy will come true and whose ballroom balloons will be popped? you'll need your sunglasses for a very shiny, shiny skinny. it is tuesday, september 19th. from abc news, this is "world news now." we begin with another powerful hurricane crashing into the caribbean. >> yeah, hurricane maria is now a category five storm. it made land fall late last night in the island of dominica. this shows maria's eye, which seems to be shrinking. a sign the storm has been gaining strength over the past few days. >> dominica is one of a dozen islands in maria's path. many are still recovering from hurricane irma, among them, puerto rico. rob marciano is in san juan.

>> reporter: hurricane maria rapidly intensifying. residents bracing. across the caribbean. puerto rico boarding up. the second major hurricane bearing down on the island in less than two weeks. flights to san juan usually packed with tourists. mostly residents scrambling to get back home. maria now poised to make a direct hit. are you nervous? scared? >> definitely. it's been a while since we've had a hurricane hit us directly, so yeah. >> reporter: the eye of the deadly hurricane irma passing just north of here. winds on the island reaching 70 miles per hour. irma devastating the virgin islands and st. martin, destroying some 90% of the buildings on barbuda. >> we cannot afford to be complacent. >> reporter: those islands already decimated, racing t

clear debris left behind by irma. >> all of the debris that's filed up behind me, we're worried about that becoming projectiles. >> reporter: residents ask to use rocks or anything heavy to weigh down debris. we're still looking at a direct hit from hurricane maria in puerto rico as a category four or five storm. the last time we had a storm remotely this strength was hugo. in 1989. that storm did over a billion dollars in damage, 12 people died. maria is going to be a lot, lot stronger. rob marciano, abc news, san juan, puerto rico. >> we're already seeing evidence of maria's strength. the prime minister of dominica posted on facebook, talking about widespread devastation. he says, so far we have lost everything that money can buy and replace. everyone has lost the roof of their home, including his home. >> it's a tiny island. leeward islands of the caribbean, mostly spared by hurricane irma, but right now it is being pounded by

160-mile-per-hour winds, and it sounds like daylight will bring much sadness to that country. >> he says the big concern is physical injuries or death tomorrow. as soon as the weather comes down they will be hitting the road to see if they can find anyone trapped in the rubble. hurricane jose is bringing high winds and surf to much of the u.s. for the next few days. >> waves could be as high as 14 feet in some areas, which, is not good news for places like belmar, new jersey. where there are still memories of sandy. accuweather's paul williams has more on what we can expect from jose and maria. >> jose impact, looking for coastal flooding, sporadic power outages. it's going to be weakening but swing close enough to cause a problem. category one right now, it will be downgraded to a tropical storm. then as a depression as it circles back around, just close to the proximity of the southern new england states. now here's the big problem. maria has now blown up into a category five hurricane. was a three, stepped up to a five.

skipped right past four. but it will be a four by the time it strikes puerto rico. and so we're looking at that tracking as a category four. that's still a major hurricane. with maria's impact, we're looking for flooding rainfall, inundating seas and hindered recovery efforts because of maria. president trump is set to make his debut at the united nations podium this morning. were with nearly 200 world leaders in presence. >> he is expected to use his speech to call on international communities to do more to rein in north korea. on day one, he focussed on reforming the world body, which he repeatedly slammed as a candidate. but this time his criticism was a little more restrained. >> in recent years, the united nations has not reached its full potential, because of bureaucracy and mismanagement. the united nations must hold every level of management accountable, protect whistle blowers and focus on results rather than on pro

>> and the president is meeting separately with more than a dozen leaders. in a lighter moment, he chatted with president macron about a parade. in washing ton like the one he attended in france. now moving to the russian meddling. robert mueller's team has reportedly threatened to indict paul manafort, president trump's former campaign chairman. sources tell the "new york times" that the warning was issued after agents raided manafort's home, looking for evidence of secret offshore bank accounts. he is under investigation for several possible violations, including failure to disclose foreign lobbying. legal experts say mueller is using shock and awe tactics to intimidate witnesses into telling the truth. and the president's oldest son has reportedly given up secret service protection. donald trump jr. decided to drop

because he wanted more privacy. the change reportedly went into effect last week, but it's not clear if it applies to his wife and children who live with him in new york city. an earthquake shook los angeles a few hours ago just as most people were getting to bed. the magnitude 3.6 quake hit at 11:20 pacific time. it could be felt on the west side and san fernando valley. it quickly became the top-trending topic on twitter, with hundreds of people, including many celebrities, writing about it on social media. some people mentioned minor damage on twitter, including items falling from shelves, but so far no reports of damage or injuries. demonstrators demanded the release of hos

custody after sunday's protests. kenneth moten is in st. louis. >> reporter: after a weekend filled with violent protests, st. louis is at a boiling point. more than 100 people arrested sunday night. protesters took to the streets. tossing rocks at local businesses. one owner showing us the rock that shattered his restaurant's window. >> people setting out to do damage are being arrested. and these criminals we've arrested should be held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. >> if we don't get it! >> shut it down! >> reporter: authorities drawing a distinction between the large number of peaceful daytime demonstrators. >> i don't want to be out here, but what else can we do but be here protesting peacefully. >> reporter: at night, the catalyst for all of this, the acquittal of jason stockley in the fatal shooting of anthony lamar smith, a black man. stockley chased smith and shot

him five times saying he feared for his life. now businesses at a popular st. louis shopping district already hit hard are bracing for another night of protest. >> we need to march every day till whenever! and whenever doesn't have an end. i'm for this, every day we should protest. change has to come. and it has to come now. >> reporter: kenneth moten, abc news, st. louis. a louisiana state university fraternity house has had its charter revoked after a pledge died. maxwell gruber's death is being investigated as a possible hazing accident. initial autopsy results showed a high level of alcohol in his blood. the national office of phi delta theta say they may have violated policies. including alcohol-free housing. and photos of a man walking downtown seattle with a nazi arm band have gone viral. police

calls that that man was picking fights. at one point he was punched. police found him lying on the ground. he refused to give his name, took off the arm band and left. police say they are not investigating, because no one has filed a complaint. to football where a win is always a big deal, especially if you're the jets and the giants nowadays. but especially, a win when it doesn't happen very often. so that's why the fans of austin peay university can't be blamed for invading the field. they had been waiting to celebrate a win for nearly two years. >> this wasn't a playoff win. it wasn't a championship. it was just that they finally won a game, and that was enough to bring down the goalposts. the score of the game, 69-13. a pretty big win. >> oh, yeah, not bad at all. >> it was austin peay's first football win since 2014. >> oh, my gosh, not necessarily

tennessee. >> i don't think i've ever seen fans rush the stadium just for a win. >> just for one win. >> they hammered them, though. >> at least it was a big one. >> all right, go big. coming up in "the skinny," dancing with the stars returns, and so does mariah carey. we'll check out her entrance. and next, after the break, we'll hear from a woman who was passed a note telling her to hand over her belongings while riding on a train. hear how she managed to get out of that would-be robbery. next. you're watching "world news now."

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because now's the perfect time to learn more. go long. we're getting some new details in about a bizarre robbery attempt on a san francisco train. >> the victim says she was able to fend off her would-be attacker by faking a seizure. here's kgo's leslie brinkly. >> reporter: this is the suspect bart police says handed over a note to a passenger on a dublin-bound train. >> i was scared. >> reporter: she was never so scared in her life as when the note was dropped in her lap.

other passengers in the train taint. it says there are two guns pointed at you now. if you want to live, hand back your wallet and phone now and do not turn around. >> there's a man standing ten feet in front of me, i tried to mike -- make eye contact with him. and i mouthed help. i think he might have called the police, but i realized that wasn't going to help me at the time. >> reporter: so she faked having a seizure. >> so i started slumped over to the left and started shaking. and people started to notice. and they were like, are you okay? are you okay? >> reporter: the suspect exited a short while later. dragler gave police a specific train car number and they pulled the surveillance video. >> they took that surveillance video from the train car. since we know the time frame, we're able to find out when this incident occurred and the video absolutely does corroborate what the victim reported. >> the person got off at the next stop. and i think i got a glimpse of them. it was an older white woman with a suitcase.

>> reporter: bart says she appeared to be working alone as she entered and exited the train by herself. they believe the note saying guns were pointed at the victim was likely a bluff. i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. >> they asked her how she got the idea to do it. and she said i'm not sure but it may be from watching "law & order." >> who knew, "law & order" helped. when we come back, some of the biggest stars on earth gathering in the ballroom for season 25 of "dancing with the stars." and mariah carey proving she still knows how to make an entrance. >> what happens after that -- entrance.

♪ skinny ♪ so skinny it is time to dust off our sequins and lace up our manolos. isn't that what they do for "dancing with the stars"? they kicked off season 25 with a flashy number featuring the 13 celebs and their pros all decked out in silver.

houghs there. no derek, no julianne. they are both out this season. something else we didn't see. >> what? >> abs. all of the men were completely covered up. >> what gives? pro mark balas is back with lindsey stirling. they did a cha-cha, and they were on top of the leaderboard at the end of the night. >> that's pretty good. they were also joined by jordan fisher and lindsey arnold who tied with a tango. jordan is from "hamilton." >> of course the original cast, right? >> well, no, but that doesn't matter. he was in "team beach" and "grease live." >> he's huge. barbara was a with pro keogh. >> why does he get the older

>> barbara corcoran. >> he had like chaka khan previously. >> maybe he's the best partner. >> okay. >> i liked barbara. she had some sass going on. i wouldn't count her out just yet. >> she got into it, though, with bruno. >> what was that? a shark salsa with you as the bait. >> that was a sexual come on, my dear. >> the bite is not only in the face but in your feet and body. >> who is this guy? >> i have no idea. we ask that question every single season. >> also looking for a fight, nikki bella body slammed her pro at the end of their dance. i wonder if he knew that was coming. >> he still has not gotten up, by the way. double elimination next week when they come back. >> ooh. >> but it's kind of cool. you have n

wife in it. >> also dueling with a husband and wife team. >> exactly. pretty cool. mariah carey returned to the stage with a special performance everyone is talking about overnight. >> there she is, riding in on a golden jet ski at the vh1 hip pop honors. performing "honey." jermaine despres was there. remember, she was a thing, they were there to round out the rendition of the song. >> mariah came off the jet ski. it sounds good. what do we think? ♪ what you got is far beyond compare ♪ >> that was good. >> she sounds all right. better than new year's eve, no doubt. >> and a look at a canadian rapper with plenty of tattoos. and the latest features denzel washington and a trumpet, a tribute to the 1990 spike lee

hit, mo better blues. >> it's only the first session with a peace and a thank you to drake for his trust. drake for his trust.

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"there is not a friend i have, that will not own this product"" visible results or your money back olay. ageless. ♪ only too good at good-bye ♪ only too good at good-bye ♪ only too good at good-bye >> we are way too bad at good-bye. we couldn't say good-bye to "the skinny," so we're back with ding ding ding, the bonus round. >> we have sam smith's new video for "too good for good-byes." he described the video as a love letter to england and to love. >> the song's debut at number five on billboard's hot 100 is giving a lot of people the feels. >> the true test, is it giving you the feels? is that cold heart in the center of your chest feeling anything right now?

>> not at all. you know what is, though? the major news after 35 years from abba, reuniting and going on tour. >> no! ♪ da, da, da ♪ on the odds you're free, take a chance on me ♪ >> they'll be touring as holograms. >> wait, what? so the band members have been digitally cast as avatars that will look like the 1979 version of themselves. they're called the abba-tars. get it? and those abba-tar hologram thingies will be projected in front of a live band. >> so this is what they look like now. >> the vocals will likely be taken from the band's recordings and live sets from the'70s. this is the laziest way to tour i've ever heard of. >> we'll take a chance on it.

>> it's abba. >> we can just go to bed and have holograms here to host the news? >> those holograms would probably do a lot better job. >> actually, they'll probably take our jobs. forget it, abandon, abandon. next to alicia vikander. she won an oscar last year. >> she played a remarkably human-like a.i. in the sci-fi thriller. and we're now getting a first glimpse of vikander on a video character. >> definitely a different kind of role. >> even though it looks like a trailer, it is not. the full trailer drops today. >> they have a trailer for the trailer? >>t'

trailer for the movie. >> are we in the matrix right now? >> sort of, hey, ang. thx

making news in america this morning, the double trouble. hurricane maria makes landfall in the caribbean island overnight. the prime minister already saying there is widespread devastation. even documents his own rescue after his roof was ripped off his home. plus, jose sweeping by the east coast bringing flooding and beach erosion tracking it all. violent protests at georgia tech after a police shooting death on campus. we have new video of a patrol car burning and new details on arrests. president trump gives a major speech at the united nations today. the harsh warnings he's expected to give to a number of countries. a marathon runner's determination that shows the true meaning of a fight