making news in america this morning, texas tragedy. new details this morning about the man accused of killing four children and their parents. what surfaced about his alleged violent past. severe weather, flooding at an amusement park and strong winds tossing cars like toys. >> it was like a spin cycle. everything flying around. where the dangerous storms are heading today. what reckless -- the couple that sparked controversy after getting stuck at sea with their small children talks to abc news. >> why bring your kids on this trip? >> why -- i mean, why wouldn't you? >> what they say about taxpayer money used during their rescue. leap of faith. 140-foot jump with just a rope and a helmet.

well, good friday morning to you. i'm reena ninan. >> and i'm ryan smith. we begin with that killing spree near houston and chilling details about the man accused of murdering a couple and their four children all relatives of his ex-wife. >> the accused gunman is due in court today. he has a history of domestic violence including alleged attacks on his own wife and mother. for more here's kristin fisher. >> reporter: they heard the sirens and seen the headlines but people who live in this houston suburb, even police officers, are still in shock about what just happened in this home. >> especially over children and i wanted to come by and pray for them right here. >> reporter: four young children and their parents allegedly shot and killed execution style by this man, ron haskell. police say the 33-year-old was looking for his ex-wife, the sister of the mother he allegedly murdered. >> it's just heartbreaking to

know when somebody is filled with so much anger they take it out on little bitty kids. >> reporter: he is now charged with capital murder but there were warning sign, lots of them. in 2008 his wife filed a domestic abuse complaint saying he repeatedly punched her in the head. >> one time waking up the children and doing it in front of them. >> reporter: his wife filed a restraining order against him. >> she did mention she feared for her life. >> reporter: he taped his own mother to a chair, choked her and threatened to kill her for speaking to his ex-wife. now, everyone in her sister's family is gone except one. 15-year-old cassidy. she was shot in the head, played dead and then somehow managed to call 911. >> i said i was so sorry, cassidy, about everything that's happened but i'm so thankful you're still here with us. >> reporter: 15-year-old cassidy is still in the hospital but is considered to make a full recovery. as for haskell he's being held without bond. kristin fisher, abc news,

washington. >> they're cleaning up this morning in the virginia beach area. >> severe thunderstorms injured at least ten people and caused significant damage to buildings. the greatest damage was near the ocean front. the storms were accompanied by dangerous winds that also blew out windows, flooded roads and knocked down power lines. the high winds picked up as it was driven down by the street. you see that right there and this item was hurled on to the front lawn of the church. the steeple nearly hit the car and driver inside. >> it was like a spin cycle. everything in my car just flying around. >> the wind came this way and just pushed them all the way across the street. >> reporter: two of the injured are in critical condition but are expected to live. and some people reported seeing a tornado but there was no confirmation from the weather service. a violent storm moved through central pennsylvania triggering flash floods and causing widespread damage. rides at hershey amusement park

were flooded. >> time now for a look at today's weather across the nation. expect more severe storms today in the midwest and rain stretching from the california/oregon border to the great lakes. scattered thunderstorms are expected along much of the east coast and gulf coast. >> temperatures will reach the 80s this those rain-soaked areas but the 90s in the midwest and south of the storms. phoenix is in triple digits again and boston is the cool spot in the mid-70s. firefighters in washington state are facing difficult conditions as property owners have been ordered to evacuate. one wildfire was burning 28 square miles in two days thanks to the hot, dry conditions. dozens of homes are threatened. some residents have been told to evacuate. others have been put on standby. investigators are trying to determine if fireworks are to blame for a deadly fire near boston. three children were among seven people killed when their apartment building went up in flames in the middle of the night. many families escaped with moments to spare. some of them jumping out of

windows or tossing their kids to safety. those who didn't make it were all out on the top floor. >> it's a tragic day in the city of lowell. it was a horrific fire. the entire city mourns the losses for those families. >> witnesses say they heard fireworks exploding just before the fire. there was no sprinkler system. the building did have an alarm system but ten apartments say they did not hear it. president obama says the u.s. is ready to step in and negotiate a cease-fire in the middle east. president obama spoke with israeli prime minister netanyahu expressing concerns about the safety of civilians and urged both sides not to escalate the crisis further and restore calm. but the cross-border violence now entered a fourth day and neither side is backing down. this morning gaza militants fired a barrage of rockets one hitting a gas station fuel tank south of tel aviv sending a plume of smoke into the sky.

israel answering back launching new strikes into gaza. the israeli military mobilized 30,000 reservists for a possible ground invasion. secretary of state john kerry has arrived in afghanistan. he's meeting with president karzai and both presidential candidates who are claiming victory in last month's election. the apparent loser is threatening to set up his own government and kerry is hoping to strike a deal between the two men. in los angeles, a little profitable late night fun. people were getting out of their cars at a park in california to look for cash. the money was hidden in pez candy dispensers by the real estate mogul who started tweeting about hidden cash drops in may. he dropped another clue in orange county this morning. 99 days of freedom. the reasons behind a new campaign to get people temporarily to quit facebook. >> and more trouble for the high-end prostitute accused of murdering a google executive with a lethal drug injection. the other death investigation

she's now at the center of. good samaritans help a police officer who caught fire.

welcome back. so good news for people with a sweet tooth. rumors of the death of crumbs cupcake shops may be premature. an investor group may acquire them and re-open the stores which closed suddenly monday night. marcus lemonus is heading the group and says plans are not quite fully baked. he sees crumbs expanding into other sweets not just cupcakes.

one of those flyers who tries to cram everything into an overhead bin, this might be an answer. bigger bins. some boeing 737s may have space bins, bigger and lower. alaska airlines will get the first jets with the new overhead bins late next year. spirit airlines, the carrier that travelers love to hate is capitalizing on that image. the budget airline will give you 8,000 frequent flier miles for telling why you hate it. or for saying what you don't like about another airline, go to hatethousandmiles.com. >> who knew. taco bell isn't your first diet food choice for many but the tex mex chain is making it easier to stick to the pal joe diet. introducing cantina with protein bowls under 500 calories. it also plans to introduce more high protein breakfast foods and more vegetarian options.

today at 7-eleven, july 11th so they're offering free slurpees between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 and downloading its smartphone phone app and get a free different food or snack ef di dare for a week. >> could you completely quit facebook for several months. outrage over them using 700,000 people for an experiment. they want them to foresake facebook for 99 days. with them averaging 17 minutes a day they figure in 99 days you'd save about 28 hours. >> i believe it. when we come back, restoring lost memories. the science fiction like guise that could one day help with brain problems. plus, soccer controversy. why a protest is already started for the world cup that's nearly a decade away. is coming up... have agreed to... kid for a night.

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new flatbread sandwiches, try one today. car insurance companies say they'll save you by switching, you'd have, like, a ton of dollars. but how are they saving you those dollars? a lot of companies might answer "um" or "no comment." then there's esurance. born online, raised by technology and majors in efficiency. so whatever they save, you save. hassle, time, paperwork, hair-tearing out, and, yes, especially dollars. esurance. insurance for the modern world. now backed by allstate. click or call. look at this. a rare waterspout was spotted last night just south of cape canaveral. these twisters consist of winds and water mist and are a danger to boaters. quite a sight for everyone else. two types of waterspouts. both are trouble if they move ashore but what a sight indeed.

>> sure is. now for a look at the morning road conditions. watch for wet roads and flooding along interstates 80 and 90 almost all the way from the west coast to the great lakes. drivers on i-95 will see rain from philadelphia down to miami. >> flying, airport delays are possible in denver. well, plenty of attention being paid to the world cup. growing controversy over a decision to stage it in the persian gulf country of qatar in eight years' time. >> and there are even efforts to get the soccer tournament moved to the u.s. abc's brian ross has the details. >> reporter: in a decision that has the now led to an investigation by the fbi, the 2022 world cup will incredibly be played in one of the hottest places on earth, in the arabian desert country of qatar. this is a typical day in qatar, now about 1:00 in the afternoon, and the temperature is just at 124 degrees. this is heatstroke weather.

that's 40 degrees hotter than the brazil heat. that led officials in this year's world cup to declare a first of its kind water break in the middle of a match. soccer federation officials were warned about potentially dangerous heat but that was ignored in the final vote. >> the winner is -- qatar! >> reporter: not long after allegations surfaced some soccer federation members had been bribed to vote for qatar with a focus on this prominent billionaire businessman from qatar, mohamed bin hammam. >> there's no doubt it that he's going around using a secret slush fund paying football officials all over the place. >> reporter: a soccer federation vice president from the caribbean was accused of taking more than $1 million from bin hammam. both men have been kicked out of the soccer federation over bribery allegations and both deny any wrongdoing. >> i am telling you again i did not give any cash gift to anybody. >> reporter: and so now qatar is proceeding with its plan to hold the world cup with what it says

will be new technology to somehow overcome the desert heat. officials in qatar say they won the vote fair and square. but while the soccer world awaits the result of an investigation by the soccer federation and by the fbi, there are growing calls for a new vote on who should hold the world cup in 2022. brian ross, abc news, new york. >> a high priced prostitute accused in the heroin death of a google executive is now under investigation in the death of another man. police in georgia say alix tichelman was dating the owner of an atlanta music club last september when she called 911 to report he died of a heroin overdose. she was not charged but now police are taking another look at the circumstances. the family at the center of a rescue at sea is speaking out to abc news. eric and charlotte kaufman were criticized for taking their two young daughters on an around the world voyage. the military had to swoop in and save them when their 1-year-old got sick a thousand miles off mexico but they have no regrets

and plan to sue their satellite phone carrier saying their only connection to land was cut off. >> we sat with no communication for 12 hours just waiting. >> you don't even know if they received it. >> no idea. you push the button and hope it works. >> why bring your kids on this trip? >> why -- i mean why wouldn't you? >> why go live your life. >> they hope to sail the high seas and want to pay back taxpayers for the cost of the rescue with any money they might win in court. a police officer near dallas is recovering from so veer burns after a bizarre incident on the job. a man set himself on fire and attacked the officer setting her ablaze, as well. surveillance cameras at a cell phone store captured the officer rolling on the ground trying to put out the flames. two customers rushed in to help and the officer is expected to be okay. and the defense department is funding research into brain implants to help retrieve memories. the first beneficiary may be

wounded soldiers but eventually it could help anyone who suffers a traumatic brain injury or has alzheimer's and someday it could enhance brain performance in people without injuries sort of like a flash drive in the brain. three people near orlando are facing charges for illegally feeding bears. one of them was photographed doing so in the same neighborhood where a woman was recently attacked by a bear. she suffered wounds that needed dozens of stitches. the woman claims a man among those charged has been feeding those bears for at least two years. now some sports. major league baseball teams enter their final series before the all-star break today. >> and as for some of yesterday's games and other major sports issues, here are our guys at espn. >> good morning, america. welcome to our "sportscenter" set in los angeles. along with neil everett i'm stan verrett. while cleveland and miami both wait, lebron james wait, as well. no decision from him thursday. >> also our lebron center set. let's go -- give me a dodger

dog. kershaw, 36 straight innings of scoreless baseball. fourth longest streak in dodgers history and the record is 59 and he's facing a lineup where the padres have been shut out 11 types already this season. he may be able to add nine more innings. the dodgers would give him the run he needed. had a 1-0 lead, top six, 1-2 count, chase led headley and the 78th pitch of kershaw's hit is the one that got away from him. just the fifth home run he had given up all season so the streak ends at 41 innings. gets a good ovation, dodgers get the win. kersh kershaw. scott kazmir is an all-star. pitcher for the let seconds visiting the giants. oakland won the first two of this series at home, san francisco won on wednesday and kazmir gets seven innings, struck out nine, josh donaldson is an all-star as well, two runs

off hudson against his former team, donaldson's 20th help the a's win it, 6-1. >> what else you got? >> lebron james just texted me. >> no, he didn't. don't believe it. >> maybe he did. >> not true. and the world cup wraps up this weekend. tomorrow brazil against the netherlands for third place. coverage on espn starts at 3:30 eastern. sunday is, of course, the finale. germany versus argentina, that's right here on abc beginning at 1:00 p.m. okay. a brief request. please, please do not do what this guy did. >> yeah, well, he climbed out of a big construction crane in wisconsin, bungee jumped off it jumping from 140 feet and came within five feet of the ground on his way down. >> well, they thought it was pretty funny but the police didn't. the guy was dragged in by the police and he has a court date next month. he's hoping for just a fine. well, up next in "the pulse," the 2014 emmy

nominations are out. who got snubbed. >> plus, a woman's trump trouble that's being caused by a great giant snake. cmp trouble that's being caused by a great giant snake. kmp trouble that's being caused by a great giant snake. p trouble that's being caused by a great giant snake. trouble that's being caused by a great giant snake.

♪ time now to check "the pulse," stories you'll be talking about today. the primetime emmy nominations. >> the wildly popular and highly addictive "game of thrones" led the pack with 19 nods. "house of cards" and orange orange helped netflix more than double its nominations this year. and abc's "modern family" will go for a record tying fifth, fifth win. >> wow. >> in best comedy.

incredible. also a major snub for "orphan black," a mystery that aired on bbc america that came up empty. >> all right. well, it's maybe one of the week's worst kept showbiz secrets. rosie o'donnell finally rejoining "the view." >> right, she'll be sitting on what is a fairly empty couch alongside whoopi goldberg perhaps other hosts. she left seven years ago after one season saying she didn't want to argue for a living. >> now the big question will elisabeth hasselbeck be invited back for a reunion. >> i thought there was a big announcement from lebron james and i thought he was joining "the view." >> he could. >> could that be the big announcement. >> that could be it. there's a new addition to our abc family this morning. jimmy kimmel's wife molly had a baby girl yesterday morning. >> her name is jane and the late night host announced jane's birth on twitter and later thanked followers for all their

good wishes and quipped it shows not all tweets are mean. >> good luck to them. kimmel has two other children in their 20s from a previous relationship. >> that's funny. he looks like he's 29 to me. >> it looks like he's not old enough to have skids in their 20s. that can't be right. a big surprise for some people in santa fe. >> oh, they found a 20-pound python -- such a scary scene right there. this is under the hood of a woman's car that had stalled. >> oh, my god. look at the head. i couldn't imagine. the guy who had stopped to help her freaked out and didn't want to touch it. >> would you touch that? >> looking right at me. flicked its little tongue and i flipped out. >> the police officer had no problem picking it up. he waited with the others until animal control arrived. >> the snake was likely someone's pet who escaped or was adan doned and crawled into the engine to get warm. >> warm and cozy. >> makes me shiver. stick with us. we'll be right back.

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>> hello, everyone, i'm matt o'donnell. it is had 27:00 friday, july 11. here's what we're working on this morning on "action news." a man on a bike fired at two people overnight one has died. police are questioning a man in connection with a reported sexual assault in the spring garden section of the city. chilling details in the texas massacre, police reveal the man accused of killing his own relatives exhibited violence only days before. we have drenching rains, plus, get a free slurpee finally on this friday a muse cat comeback more than a decade in the making. >> that's right. country star garth brooks walked away from his career in the midst of superstar dom but now as he goes back, he's coming back. >> abc's linsey davis has the

details. >> reporter: the chart topping country superstar of the 1990s, garth brooks brought us hits like "the dance." much "much too young." ♪ and "if tomorrow never comes." with nearly 70 million albums sold in the u.s., brooks is the best-selling artist in this country since 1991 topping mariah carey, metallica and, yes, even the beatles. and yet in 2001 at the height of his career, brooks simply walked away retiring at just 39 years old saying he wanted to raise his three daughters. at 52 now a grandfather, he's ready to make the comeback. >> scared, yeah. old, yes. my bigger hope is i don't regret this day. >> reporter: the country star announced his return. >> want to thank god and everybody that's given me the

chance to actually look at a second half of a career. >> reporter: in that second half, a new album and a world tour he first hinted at last year on "good morning america." >> all my babies are fine with it and so now i get to do what i love to do is play music. >> reporter: and the former digital download holdout now says digital sales of his music will soon be available on his website. >> do you think he'll be able to recapture past success. >> first of all i think anybody can duplicate or come near the kind of numbers that garth brooks put out at his peak. can he still be an a-list artist. >> reporter: he says the new album which is expected in stores in november, is what we would traditionally think of as a double album, just because in his words, he has a lot to say. linsey davis, abc news, new york. >> huh. so what's your favorite? >> the one with the guitar. >> the one with the guitar. >> and the drums. lieic that one too. >> "friends in low places". >> that's my favorite one. >> that's .

>> good morning we're working on several developing stories on this friday july 11. two men shot in a hail of gunfire, one is dead, the other fighting for his life. we have the details. >> the violence in the mid east strikes close to home for some families, they plan on taking action today in center city. details in a live report. >> labron watch continues for another day, the decision to holds fan enthrall as the my am me heat sta