making news in america this morning, president trump is facing some serious foreign challenges. the world is watching for his broader response to the chemical attack in syria and he's just hours away from a high establishes meeting with his chinese counterpart. we're live in washington. happening today, going nuclear in the senate. republicans ready to change the rules in order to get president trump's supreme court nominee on the bench. but even some republican lawmakers are warning against it. we're watching the severe weather rolling toward the northeast. the storms have already caused plenty of damage and more could be on the way. we have your forecast ahead. the brainy brothers, quadruplets off to college, each with a tough choice to make. harvard or yale.

a good thursday morning to you all. we begin with president trump facing a series of foreign policy tests. >> yeah, the president just hours away from hosting china's president and concerns over north korea's nuclear program high on that agenda. >> the president is also condemning the horrific attack in syria as an afront to humanity that cannot be tolerated so the big question now is how will he respond? abc's lana zak has the latest from washington. >> reporter: president trump says these images and others too graphic to show here of children killed in a chemical weapons attack in northern syria have changed his perspective. >> that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me, big impact. my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. >> reporter: prior to becoming the president mr. trump tweeted syria is not our problem but now he's calling out the assad regime. >> that crosses many, many lines. >> reporter: at an emergency meeting of the u.n. security

council russia continued to deny assad's responsibility. [ speaking a foreign language ] blaming terrorists and actors. but u.s. ambassador nikki haley said the facts were undenying killing more than 80 mostly women and children. >> there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action. >> reporter: the new tough talk on syria follows another major foreign policy change, north korea. on wednesday they launched another missile and president trump is likely to raise that with president xi jinping when he visits mar-a-lago. >> north korea, we have a big problem. we have somebody that is not doing the right thing and that's going to be my responsibility. >> reporter: and president trump has said all options are on the table when it comes to north korea and like syria, his administration says they're willing to go it

>> what we are poised to do at the end of this week, we'll have tremendous consequences and i fear that someday we will regret what we're about to do. in fact, i'm confident we will. >> today's rule change will pave the way for the senate to confirm gorsuch mostly along party lines. homeland security secretary john kelly is shedding new light on what president trump's border wall might look like. he told the senate committee it is unlikely that the wall separating the u.s. from mexico will stretch from sea to shining sea but he said he is committed

to constructing a physical barrier wherever it is recommended. let's turn our focus to the weather. another story we're keeping an eye on this morning. as the weather -- the severe storms head to the northeast. >> one strong system is moving up the atlanta coastline. another is moving in from the west. storms from that second system brought flooding and suspected tornadoes to the atlanta area and also strong winds and large hail to deal with. >> in southeastern alabama two dozen homes damaged or destroyed. an area where residents reported seeing two tornadoes. let's find out what's in store for today from accuweather's justin povick. kendis and diane, thanks and good morning. with we're going to be tracking more dangerous thunderstorms as we go throughout the day. notici notice the severe weather, richmond and nour folk. heavy soaks rains north and west. rain into snow heading out

toward detroit. we're also tracking severe weather like i said down into the eastern portion of the country all the way down to eastern north carolina. again all 340eds of severe weather being a possibility. diane. kendis. >> our thanks to justin. one more note, delta air lines took some extra -- extraordinary steps to keep passengers who were delayed by the weather happy. >> the company ordered pizzas and had them delivered right to the aircraft. once on board flight attendants made their way through the aisle to hand out slices. delta said pizzas were brought on to planes in 11 airports. >> good pr move. still ahead a possible comeback for richard simmons after millions have been wondering where he's been. plus, new allegations of misbeaver by secret service agent, a member of the vice

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that's the pilot of an f-16 fighter jet bailing out over a maryland suburb. he had just taken off from joint base andrews on a training mission when the jet had mechanical problems. he dumped the fuel tanks in the potomac and steered the f-16 into a wooded area behind some houses. there were no injuries. a european tourist is in critical condition after a 1500-pound boulder fell on her. it happened yesterday on a mountain in golden, colorado. rescuers say the 30-year-old was trapped for two hours. the boulder crushed her legs and she was unconscious when she was recovered. but doctors say her vitals were good. once she was airlifted to the hospital. a secret service agent in vice president pence's detail charged now with soliciting a prostitute. reports say it happened last week in maryland. the agent was reportedly off duty and has now been suspended.

the office of professional responsibility is looking into the case. the agent may face additional disciplinary action. the wife of the orlando nightclub gunman has stopped fighting extradition and will return to florida to face trial. noor salman has been in custody in san francisco since january and pleaded not guilty to charges of helping plan last june's attack which left 49 dead and injured dozens. we're seeing an early start to iceberg season in the north atlantic. the coast guard reports there are about 450 of them right now. more than five times the usual number this time of year. many of those icebergs are in shipping lanes and that's forcing ships to slow down or take long detours. experts say strong winds and global warming may be the reasons. and amazon chief jeff bezos is selling company stock to try to fund space travel. >> he said he's putting about a billion dollars a year into his blue origin rocket company. he showed off a prototype of a

six-person space capsule with large windows and leather chairs. >> white a space race right now among titans and joins other titans including elon musk and richard branson in this private space race. >> got to have big windows for the view. >> yes, just get me down safe. i'm all right. when we come back the world's number one golfer, will he make his tee time today at the masters? what is likely the best reason yet to have a glass of wine. it's being called a workout for your brain. >> because it's 4:00 a.m.? >> probably. i'm so frustrated. i just want to find a used car without getting ripped off. you could start your search at the all-new carfax.com that might help. show me the carfax. now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs] ah... ahem...

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shut down, though, by flooding today. drivers should watch out for snow in michigan, northern ohio and the western mountains and rain in northern and central california. if you're flying expect some airport delays in detroit, chicago, boston, new york, philadelphia, washington and san francisco. hopefully they bring you some pizza. >> just fly west. hopefully. one can hope. so, television ratings for fox host bill o'reilly are up 20% over last week. this despite the growing sexual harassment scandal surround him. >> president trump is speaking up on o'reilly's behalf calling him a good person. >> caution, you are about to enter the no-spin zone. >> as the sexual harassment scandal surrounding bill o'reilly ricochets through fox news president trump tells "the new york times" i think he's a person i know well. he's a good person, personally i think he shouldn't have settled. trump was referring to that recent "the new york times" report that o'reilly and the parent company of fox news paid $13 million in settlements to five different women over claims

of inappropriate behavior by o'reilly including sexual harassment. the network's top host says he's being targeted because he's prominent and controversial and fox's parent company points out no current or former fox news employee ever took advantage of the 21st century fox hot line to raise a concern about bill o'reilly. so far more than 50 advertisers have dropped out of advertising with the show and we will have much more on all of this later on "good morning america." police in texas turn into ambulance chasers literally. this is dash cam video from a small town in northeast texas where cops day an 18-year-old stole an ambulance from an emergency room. the suspect was actually a patient before he jumped into the rig and took off. some of the speeds hit 90 miles an hour before he was caught. he's being held on more than $100,000 bond. and happens to all of us, once in a while. but watch what happens when this guy's card is denied at a southern california convenience store.

he flies into a rage taking it out on the clerk and then the cash register and anything else that he can reach as you can see there. he hasn't been caught. if he is caught he faces assault and vandalism charges. awe of this, get this, was for a 75-cent bag of m&ms. >> maybe he could have used a glass of wine because apparently it now equates to brain food. a yale researcher says drinking wine does more for your brain than listening to music, hitting a baseball or solving a complex math problem. the neurologist says it's better for us than almost anything else we can do because smelling and drinking wine engages our entire brain but to get the full benefits you have to sip it, not gulp it, kendis. >> sip from the bottle itself, all right. preach. i like that study there. so, it looks like richard simmons is heading back into the spotlight. for decades he was known for those over the top fitness videos and tv appearances but lately he's been reclusive and there's been some public concern

about his well-being. well, now he has signed a new deal with a company that will handle his merchandising and endorsements with plans to launch a line of motivation products. no time line yet on when he may begin promoting those products. the masters begins today in georgia but the world's top golfer may have to back out. dustin johnson's status is currently up in the air after he suffered what's described as a serious fall on a staircase yesterday and hurt his lower back. johnson's manager says the tournament favorite has been resting uncomfortably. scheduled teeoff this afternoon. >> at 2:00 p.m. all the golfers will face some soggy conditions today at augusta national. >> luckily nba action was indoors as usual. no worry about the weather there. some highlights from espn. first place on the line in the eastern conference, cavaliers and celtics, from boston. cavaliers open the second quarter on a 22-4 run. lebron james doing it all, the block on marcus smart,

high-fives from the fans in boston. 38-22 advantage for cleveland in the second quarter and james just dominated. he had 36 points, ten rebounds and six assists. cavaliers roll, 114-91. their largest margin of victory in boston ever and they look like a pretty safe bet for first place. >> russell westbrook needs one more triple-double to break oscar robertson's record. you really when oscar robertson averaged a triple-double he finished third in the manafort voting that year. >> okay. >> behind bill russell who won it, wilt chamberlain finished second averages 50 points and 25 rebounds and second to bill russian sell. >> wow. >> as the voters pick the guy that meant the most to a team that won the most. westbrook has meant the most to the thunder, one rebound shy of a triple -- four games left to

get i that is a lot of knowledge i just gave the "gma" people. >> your head must hurt. >> it does. give me another piece of chocolate. >> we'll get him some aspirin. back to you. >> just dropping knowledge everywhere. just sprinkle it like the salt bey. some student sleuths earning major praise for their journalism. the best problem for these guys to have, which prestigious college should they attend? our academic "pulse" is next. starting thursday at kohl's home sale

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♪ time for your thursday morning "pulse". today we'll feature let's say an academic theme and start with budding pulitzer prize winners. >> the staff of the pittsburg, kansas, high school newspaper was working on a feature about their new principal when some things didn't add up. for example, she claimed she had degrees from an online school but they realized it wasn't accredited. >> they looked into her background. the students actually took their findings then to the school board and published the story. district hires new principal. you see there and this week the principal resigned. the school superintendent praised the young journalists for not being afraid to ask tough questions and they'll be on "good morning america" a little later on this morning and then they're going to be a part of the brian ross unit here at abc. >> or anchoring "america this morning." >> for all the investigative stories we're doing. >> it's been fun. a set of quads all accepted

to ivy league schools. >> they are nigel, zach, aaron and nick wade. they live north of cincinnati. all of them have been accepted to yale and harvard. >> but that's not all. some other schools that some have been accepted to, duke, georgetown, stanford, john hop kin, vanderbilt and cornell. they say financial aid offers will go a long way toward helping them decide where they will actually end up going. >> this is that time of year when we're getting so many students who are saying they're getting their acceptance ladies of the we had a young lady yesterday accepted to all eight ivy league schools. all four, not bad. >> got to have proud parent there is now fretting about their financial status, how they'll pay for all four of them. speaking of financial aid, the university of utah is starting to offer scholarships for competitive video gaming. where was this when i was coming up? it's considered the first big-time school to do that. >> the scholarship program won't be part of utah's sports

department, it will be run through its school of entertainment, arts and engineering which was named the country's best video game design program last year. >> so, the gamers will receive partial scholarships at first and then eventually full rides. could be offered to as many as 35 students. >> can we re-enroll? i'm really good at tetris. i mean really good at tetris. >> ms. pac-man, will that get me anything. >> or mario brothers. because as we live longer... and markets continue to rise and fall... predictable is one thing you need in retirement to help protect what you've earned and ensure it lasts. introducing brighthouse financial. a new company established by metlife to specialize in annuities & life insurance. talk to your advisor about a brighter financial future.

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severe whether has a chance throughout a day,. a local priest is accused of stealing from his fellow men of the cross. something as simple as your zip code could be the key to unlocking more savings when buying a new car. fitness tip is coming up later and matt pellman is checking out the traffic. all next on "action news." some heavy rain to deal with. and finally this morning, a

guy who's had an up close look at rock 'n' roll history, luckily for us he photographed a whole lot of it. >> now he's the subject of a new documentary. kabc's george pennacchio tells us all about it. >> i always knew that this was the life i was meant to live. i'm like a thief in the night, bling, bling, bling, bling, bling. >> reporter: shot, the psycho spirit cal mantra of rock is a documentary that not only takes you on a rock 'n' roll joyride but inside the creative mind of celebrated music photographer mick rock. his work is now legendary. but he says he's lived a life of ups and downs. >> i've been through the fire. but it's kind of cool now, yeah. i mean what else would i be doing at my age? you know. >> rock 'n' roll nailed in that one shot. it was a complete revolution and most people ignored it. >> reporter: mick calls this film a taste of his life, but he doesn't seem sure just yet why you'd like to sample it.

>> like a monstrous city that's been foisted on people that they put a decent amount of money in so they got to make the money back. >> he took the pictures of our favorite rock star, iggy pop and david bowie and we lived through those pictures. >> it was all designed to give people the idea, we don't know who he is but he has a personal photographer. must be a big deal. >> i've been watching this guy's work my whole entire life so it's finally good to see recognition come back his way. >> who doesn't want to be known only as the man who shot th the '70s. he wants to be known as the man who is still very vibrant and shooting a rock 'n' roll -- >> you have to be informed and know what's going on and know the scene and know and love the people in it and he knew and loved the scene. >> in los angeles, george pennacchio for abc news. >> he knew and loved it. now sharing with other people who want to know it and love it as well. >> that's what's making news in america this morning.

>> good morning it is 4:30 a.m., thursday, april 6. here's what we're following on "action news," strong storms are on the way, in fact the rain is here already. taking a look at sky6 live hd philadelphia international. heavy rain is inching toward us. a philadelphia monsignor is accused of living the high life on a half million dollars stolen from the catholic church. >> karen rogers is off, let's get going with meteorologist, david murphy to talk about strong storms today