decades. making news in america this morning, extreme weather. a passenger plane diverted after getting hit by lightning and damaging hail in the south putting holes in cars. plus, a powerful snowstorm set to target the northeast. the secret meeting republicans getting together trying to stop donald trump. plus, overnight a scare for the billionaire's son. we're live in washington. caught on camera. a car going full speed crashing into a restaurant, customers inside freezing in disbelief. march madness, round one of the games not disappointing with thrilling finishes. see the excitement plus the coach who couldn't take the heat. his sweaty shirt the talk of the tournament. well, good friday morning.

weather across a portion of the country. tens of millions of americans impacted. >> first up a passenger plane heading to new york truck by lightning and forced to make an emergency landing. passengers saying it sounded like an explosion. >> in texas hail, some of it as big as baseballs causing all sorts of damage. here's a look at the radar. those storms, some of them severe moving across the southeast right now. abc's lauren lyster with the details. >> reporter: in the skies over new york thursday night. >> and brickyard 4233 just got hit by lightning. >> everything okay? >> yeah, don't send us through there again. it's pretty bad. >> reporter: an american airlines flight struck by lightning. the plane damaged on the rear wing forced to make an emergency landing on the way from north carolina to new york. >> it's the first time for me. >> there was a flash of light and big explosion.

i don't know, it just felt like i was on a roller coaster. >> reporter: and hail pounding parts of the south. >> basically all hail started breaking loose. >> reporter: this man and his family fleeing for sturdier protection in a camper and in texas, hail the size of peas and baseballs breaking wind sheles and terrorizing drivers. >> i got a cut on my arm. i was bawling. >> reporter: the hail coming down so hard it actually killed several flamingos at the ft. worth zoo and next the threat of snow heading toward the northeast sunday into monday. >> that's going to be d.c., baltimore, new york city and could run up the interstate 95 corridor and there is going to be the potential for several inches of snow. >> reporter: reena and kendis, that coming just in time for the first day of spring on sunday and, hey, there was also a

day of spring that dumped a lot of snow. more than 8 inches in some spots. >> should have known. put away the winter jackets. >> just in time. >> okay, lauren lyster, thanks so much. the race for the white house, four days to go before the next nominating contest in three western states. >> federal investigators are looking into a possible cyberattack on donald trump. >> and it appears even the billionaire's family has been targeted. abc's kenneth moton in washington with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this morning the nypd has given the all clear after a letter containing some type of white powder was sent to the home of donald trump's son. now, the substance was deemed non nonhazardous but it appears to be the latest attack to intimidate the polarizing billionaire. it's been a steady stream of attacks against donald trump and his family. a suspicious package scared the new york city home of his son eric. secret gop meetings to stop his 2016 run and now the hacker

>> donald trump has set his imbusinesses on the white house. >> reporter: it claims they have his private information including his social security number, cell phone and address and the hits keep coming after the gop front-runner predicted riots if he loses the nomination. >> i think bad things would happen. i believe that. i wouldn't lead it but i think bad things would happen. >> nobody should say such things. to even address or hint to violence is unacceptable. >> you know, he's not running for the presidency of the wwe. he's running for president of the united states. and this kind of language is an outrage. >> reporter: the backlash came 9 same day a seek meeting of top washington conservatives hit to discuss how to stop trump. there's word ted cruz may get an endorsement from former rival marco rubio who abc news spotted flying commercial back to miami. >> get to fly commercial again. >> reporter: on the democratic side hillary clinton got official word of her many super

she won missouri and "the new york times" reports president obama told a group of donors it will soon be time for sanders' campaign to end and democrats to unite behind clinton. the white house says that's not an endorsement. on the trail, the candidates are preparing for tuesday's contest in arizona, utah and idaho. reena and kendis. >> kenneth moton live in washington. thank you. breaking overnight another provocation by north korea. its launched amissile into the sea. the test firing violates multiple united nations resolutions. that banned north korea from engaging in ballistic and nuclear activities. complicating matters is the student sentenced to hard labor. otto warmbier removed a banner from his hotel room, considered a crime against the state. diplomatic efforts are under way. former governor bill richardson

college prank. 26-year-old from virginia captured in iraq earlier this week, he's accused of fighting for isis and now khweis says he regrets his decision to go to iraq and it was all about a girl. >> i made a bad decision to go with a girl and go to mosul because i wasn't thinking straight and on the way there, i regretted. >> once he made it there he found he hated it. it was too strict and he wanted to return to the u.s. he's likely to face hard questions from u.s. investigators about what he was doing in isis territory. and speaking of secretary of state john kerry has spoken out against isis accusing the terror group of committing genocide against christians and other muslim groups in iraq and syria. isis is blamed for thousands of deaths, many forced to convert to islam will be killed.

change america's military strategy. rest defenses of flint, michigan, say they found no answers during a hearing on capitol hill. the head of the epa and governor faced a five-hour barrage of accusations. rick snyder repeatedly apologized for the lead contamination crisis in flint but says he was misled about the severity of the problem. >> you were not in a medically induced coma. i've had enough. >> this was a failure of government at all level, local, federal and state officials. >> snyder dismissed a man that he resign as governor. gina mccarthy admitted her agency hadn't been quick enough to respond but refused to say that the epa failed flint. >> another note from michigan, a happier note as we give post-celebration props to those

shortest st. patrick's day parade in koskconklin, michigan. >> the grand rapids central marching band took part as did other people wearing green. when they finished marching many participants went to some local establishments. >> by the way, the entire parade lasted six minutes. >> yeah. >> amazing. still ahead, breaking overnight an nfl player in critical condition after a serious crash. plus, spiritual support scam. a website forced to return millions of dollars after followers paid to pray. and march madness, the first day of the tournament in the

a tragedy in downtown los angeles. an electrician fell to his death from the 53rd floor from the tallest building. the man had removed his hard hat and had no clearance to work above the third floor. it was only his second day on the job. dozens of horrified people witnessed the accident which took place during lunch time. the new hampshire prep school grad convicted of sexual assault will be in court today to justify several curfew violations. owen labrie is appealing his sentence for assaulting a 15-year-old classmate. prosecutors say he's vie laid curfew at least eight times and his bail should be revoked. labrie's attorney says those violations were for approved meetings and the result of bus schedule problems. some good news for investors, the dow opens this morning in positive territory for the first time this year. just over a month ago it was down 10% for 2016. now it's in the black by a third of a percent. the tech heavy nasdaq is still suffering a bit, down about 5%

the state of oregon says it's collected nearly $3.5 million in taxes after just one month of legal marijuana sales. pot dispensaries responsible for paying 25% in sales tax to the state every month. most of that revenue will go towards education and mental health services. the rest to law enforcement and drug abuse prevention measures. americans shelled out a whopping amount last year to make sure their pets are well fed, well groomed and well trained. $60 billion according to a new industry report. millennials and baby boomers are the biggest spenders, mostly by paying other people to take care of their pets' needs. when we come back, caught on camera a car out of control heading toward people inside a restaurant. and a pep rally stunt going horribly wrong. the mishap for a fire breather.

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so whatever you make, is creamier than ever. two bald eagles named mr. president and the first lady are taking turns keeping their eggs warm in their nest in washington, d.c. either sitting on two eggs and at least one is showing signs that it's ready to hatch perhaps as early as today. a crack in one egg started to emerge on wednesday. the second one should tart that same process in the next day or so. >> okay, well, let's check the friday morning road conditions. they look a lot like those we

wet roads across the south and valley. still slippery in the rockies. flying, airport delays possible in houston, new orleans and dallas. a seattle man who ran a so-called christian prayer website will have to return millions of dollars to consumers across the country. >> the washington state attorney general says he scammed nearly $8 million from unsuspecting customers. investigators say he charged up to $35 per prayer per person and tricked thousands into signing up for recurring monthly payments. a a. a ravens player is in critical condition. tray walker was air-lifted to a miami hospital suffering from head trauma. sources tell our abc station in miami that police are also looking for an unnamed new england patriots player who may have witnessed that crash. a nun charged with shoplifting.

you can see a woman here putting items in her cart and then rushing out of the store. the state police tracked her car to a nearby convent and they found out the alleged shoplifter was a 78-year-old nun. the stolen items were worth about $23. >> well, a scary scene at a south florida high school when a pep rally performance went horribly wrong. a professional fire breather accident accidentally erupted into flames horrifying the hundreds of students and teachers in the audience. the stuntman was hospitalized in serious condition. seven other people were treated after inhaling dust from fire extinguishers. also in south florida, a woman lost control of her suv and crashed through the front of a south florida pizza restaurant. two people were waiting to pick up their food order when they were hit by flying glass and suffered serious cuts. the driver was not hurt and still unclear whether she'll face any charges. well, there are 16 more march madness games today and it starts just after noon eastern

opening day good bracket busting upsets. >> madness. yale and baylor and these neon uniform, must have been the uniforms because baylor had a chance to pull it out with just seconds to go but they turned the ball over when it mattered the most. yale wins its first ever march madness game. they play duke tomorrow. next purdue against a university of arkansas little rock, the trojans sending it to overtime with a steph curry-like three-pointer. they went to a second o.t. that's when arkansas, little rock, did just enough to pull off the upset. they play iowa state tomorrow. >> and finally a real close game late last night between usc and providence. it was tight between the friars and trojans and decided by a providence layup with less than two seconds to go. providence claims their first tournament win since 1997. they face north carolina tomorrow. good-bye, usc. up next in "the pulse," more

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time to check "the pulse" starting with college basketball coach who really was sweating out his team's first game of march madness. >> hey, we know the games can be intense but this is kind of craziment take a look at adderall coach sean miller during the game against wichita. his white shirt completely soaked. it kind of looked like he came out from the pool. >> of course, the internet had fun with this. twitter took notice. one person writing, did sean miller take the ice bucket challenge and miller by the way, he did change his shirt at halftime and there's a reason he was sweating so much. not because he was sweating to the oldies, it's just because in the end. >> sorry to hear that. >> oh, well. there's always next year. >> there is next year. next to a convict who showed off his singing skills during his sentencing. >> interesting. 21-year-old brian taylor was in a michigan courtroom being

that's when he busted into an adele-inspired apology. hello there i want to say i'm sorry for the things i've done and i try be stronger in this life i chose but i want you to know >> it's don't know what's funnier, that nobody flinched or his singing. >> the guy on the left might be cracking up a little bit or -- amazing. >> the judge told taylor that he obviously has talent and that she hopes he finds an appropriate way to use it. at least the judge had a bit of humor and recognized the talent. >> an arresting performance there. pretty good. next up a new study focuses on the stress we feel waiting for websites to load. >> you were stressing about it earlier. >> we all know that feeling when something you really need or want to see is loading, the study found a delay of only two

go up 16%. if the video stops playing to rebuffer, our stress goes up another 15%. >> who does these surveys? i'd like to know? the type of stress response comparable to a horror movie or solving a math problem. yes, i do suffer from math problem stress. yeah, i have difficulty figuring out 20% tip often. >> oh, yeah. >> there is that. slurpee fans your favorite day of the year today and tomorrow 7-eleven is holding its bring your own cup. >> bring any kind of container and you can fill it up with a slurpee for 100 -- excuse me. $1.50. how about an empty bottle of act. >> or a fish bowl. you can fit a lot in there. >> this used an empty bucket of kfc. >> containers must be leak proof no more than 9 inches wide and

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checking our top stories investigators are looking into claims that the group anonymous hacked into donald trump's personal information and conservatives have held a three-hour secret meeting about stopping trump from being the republican nominee. an american airlines flight was struck by lightning and forced to make an emergency landing in new york. passengers said it sounded like an explosion on board. no one was hurt. hail some the size of baseballs did plenty of damage across texas and shattered wind sheles as you see here and wound up kirilling several birds at the ft. worth zoo. thousands lost power. today's weather, it'll be sunny across the far west. more thunderstorms across the southeast. possible flooding, as well and rain in parts of the northeast. finally from us on this friday, the late night comics take on the news of the week. >> here now your friday funnies. >> president obama, it seems like he's enjoying this whole

where he took a moment to human nate about donald trump brand wine. >> you know that's like some $5 wine. they slap a label on it. they try to say this is the greatest wine ever. >> i think obama is in his i only have ten months left so the hell with it. >> my numbers went up. i don't understand it. nobody understands it. >> for once we agree with you. >> and in case you're wondering what the opposite of a ringing endorsement is. the answer is this. >> the way i look at it even if donald trump turns out not to be such a great president, probably looking at four year. >> yeah, i mean how much can go wrong in four years? i mean world war ii just flew by. >> ooh, i heard that a donald trump rally was delayed for nearly two hours yesterday due to fog. that's right.

thick trump supporters couldn't even see who they were punching. >> during trump's rally a protester tried to rush the stage either trying to disrupt the rally or saw trump's head from a distance and thought they were giving out free hams. >> trump has to worry about getting hit by tomatoes in we were told just before i was going up on the stage i was told by the secret service, sir, there's a person who two people in the audience that have tomatoes. they are going to throw them at you, we think. now, you get hit in the face with a tomato let me tell you somebody with a strong arm, let me tell you, it can be very damaging? >> yeah, it could turn your whole face orange if you're not careful. >> see that one coming. >> and that's what's making news in america this morning.

have a great weekend. barbara: a new study reflecting remarkable buy as in durham. >> i thought we got hit by a missile. john: a traumatic plane ride from r.d.u. to new york. a lightning strikeforcing be a emergency landing. hear from the passengers happy to be back on the ground. barbara: our two local teams moving on in the ncaa tournament. welcome on friday march 18, 55 degrees and 4:30. i'm barbara gibbs. john: i'm john clark. all the overnight news in a moment but first we check in with meteorologist don schwenneker in the first alert storm center. barbara: we are starting off on