>> all right, victor oquendo there on the ground for us. victor, thank you. and with news on the astrazeneca vaccine tonight, we know many of you might have questions, so, let's bring in dr. ashish jha. he's the dean of the brown university school of public health. dr. jha, always good to have you here with us. i want to get right to the news on astrazeneca. they released these results from the large clinical trial in the u.s., i believe about 32,000 participants. and back to those numbers we heard from victor. 79% from preventing symptomatic infections. they say none of the volunteers developed severe symptoms, none had to be hospitalized. we know this particular vaccine was halted in parts of europe temporarily amid those rare reports of potential blood clots. regulators in europe now saying it is safe. these new findings here in the u.s., do they bolster that? >> yeah, david, thank you for having me on. they do bolster that. it's really good news. these are fantastic results. 80% effective for all age groups, 100% against severe disease. no severe adverse

>> victor oquendo right there in miami. victor, thank yo whillislld gi something to look forward to. we know many of you at home might have some questions about this new guidance, so, let's get right to dr. ashish jha. dr. jha, always great to have you with us. and we just heard the cdc director there give that example. she said that if grandparents have been vaccinated, they can visit their daughter and her family, for example, even if they have not been vaccinated, as long as the daughter and grandchildren are not high risk. so, vaccinated grandparents with the rest of the family, even if they're not vaccinated, that sounds encouraging. does it sound right to you? >> yeah, good evening, david, thank you for having me on. it does sound right to me. it's obviously a huge relief for evree key issue is tt the sk.acc folksreot hig and that' ta relatively safe gathering. so, i'm pleased to see the cdc s exactly right. >> now to the other question that a lot of people are asking about, because dr. walensky said that those that a

and abc's victor oquendo from miami now. >> reporter: tonight, a state of emergency in miami beach after a weekend of chaos. >> the city of miami beach is currently under a state of emergency. >> reporter: mostly maskless crowds from out of town packing the famed ocean drive, overwhelming police. >> you are commanded to immediately and peacefully disperse. >> reporter: throngs of young adults defying a new 8:00 curfew. police then using pepper balls to break up the crowd. some trampled in the stampede. these scenes prompting city leaders to extend the curfew and close causeways into miami beach from thursdays to sundays through mid-april. some are accusing the police of using unnecessary force on a predominantly black crowd. >> i think that the response to crowds of black people doing whatever they're doing always tends to ingender a little bit more aggression and force. >> reporter: but police insist they're targeting unlawful behavior. >> we police behavior. everybody should look forward to coming down here and enjoy that, but just do it within the confines of the rules. that's all we'

>> all right, victor oquendo in birmingham. victor, thank you. let's get right to ginger zee, in jackson, mississippi, tonight, and ginger, dangerous now, dangerous into tomorrow. but we're always concerned when these storms hit after dark. >> reporter: especially with tornadoes. we may see less, as far as numbers go, of nocturnal tornadoes than we do during the day, however, they can be 2 1/2 times as deadly or injure people, because people are asleep. you can hear it right here we've had thunder and lightning, we're in a severe thunderstorm warning. this is the main line. and here is my concern tonight as we look at that particularly dangerous situation with those watches that extend all the way through alabama, western tennessee, down to new orleans, it's that people think, oh, we already saw the storms pass, well, there's two rounds. this is the last round here. we're going to see this for the next couple of hours, not only with the damaging winds but the tornado threat overnight. and then you wake up in atlanta with the threat for those seve

>> all right, victor oquendo on the pandemic for tonight. victor, thank you. >>> we're going to turn next here to the mass shooting in boulder, colorado. the suspect in court for the first time today. we watched, brought into the court in a wheelchair to face ten counts of murder. one count, of course, for each of the ten lives lost in that rampage. and today, the boulder police department tweeting that when they took the suspect into custody, they used the handcuffs of the officer who was killed. here's our chief national correspondent matt gutman again tonight. >> reporter: tonight, those first images of the man accused of that supermarket rampage, wheeled into court, handcuffed and in a blue jail suit. the judge informing 21-year-old ahmad alissa he faces ten counts of murder, plus a single count of attempted murder for allegedly shooting at an officer during monday's massacre at king soopers. >> sir, do you understand those rights as i've explained them to you this morning? we need you to answer out loud, please. >> yes. >> reporter: in c

here is abc's victor oquendo. >> reporter: after a chaotic weekend on miami beach -- >> the city of miamicy. >> reporter: the city extending a state of emergency sunday after throngs of mostly maskless crowds descended into the entertainment district over the weekend. dancing on cars, drinking in the streets, defying an 8:00 p.m. curfew issued saturday. >> you're commanded to immediately and peacefully disperse. >> reporter: and protesting against it. police swooping in, shooting pepper balls into the crowd. a stampede of partygoers fleeing ocean drive, some even trampled. city officials holding an emergency meeting sunday extending the 8:00 p.m. curfew in the entertainment district until mid-april. it's now past 8:00 here on ocean drive on miami beach, which means we are past curfew. there are still thousands of people out, but police are doing their best to clear out these crowds. city leaders say this is not your typical spring break crowd, but rather travelers from all over the world who are flocking to florida to let loose in a state that's open and warm. authorities say more than a

we want to head back to victor oquendo in miami beach for us. orning, t.j. researchers say that getting children vaccinated is a critical step in getting the country to herd immunity currently cases are climbing again, but so are the vaccination numbers. this morning, vaccination numbers are on the rise. but there are still questions about those under the age of 16. like will they get vaccinated? do they even need to be in order for us to return to normalcy? >> count for me, okay. >> one, two, three. >> reporter: pfizer already testing its vaccine on younger children ages 5 to 11. >> five, six, seven. all done. >> reporter: the first volunteers, 9-year-old twins marisol and alejandra. their mother is an infectious disease doctor. >> we really need to get this out to our kids and, you know, they're a large part of our population. >> reporter: we spoke with dr. ashish jha about the importance of getting the shots to children. >> kids don't get as sick as adults. that's one of the few silver linings of this pandemic. but the bottom line is they make

here's victor oquendo. >> reporter: tonight, a state of emergency in miami beach. massive crowds defying an 8:00 p.m. curfew. >> skip that curfew. we out here! we out here. no sleep period. >> reporter: police moving in, shooting pepper balls to break up the mostly maskless sea of people. this car set on fire. >> quite frankly, i am concerned that the behavior is getting a little bit more for us to be able to handle. >> reporter: more than 1,000 people arrested since the start of spring break. some businesses, like the popular clevelander, deciding to temporarily close over safety concerns. miami beach residents are frustrated. >> 90% of these kids are good kids. they just want to have a good time. but when you get a lot of people together and too much alcohol, it's a problem. >> reporter: late today, city leaders holding an emergency meeting. >> it has certainly felt like our city has been a tinder over the last few weeks. i've personally had trouble even sleeping at night worrying. >> reporter: florida reporting nearly 4,000 new covid-19 infections today. the sta

and abc's victor oquendo tonight is in jackson. >> reporter: tonight, this is how many in jackson, mississippi, are getting their water. lynn holmes making the line for her 1-month-old. you have to go through this with a 1-month-old infant. >> yes, yes. >> reporter: how much tougher has that made it? >> oh, rough. you know, they got to have that water. this is crazy. this is -- i mean, this is not re i don't understand it. i really don't. >> reporter: here at this distribution site, people are coming for two types of water. you've got drinking water and then inside that tanker, nonpotable. that's just so people can flush their toilets. the city now on its third week under a boil water alert and just look at what was coming out of the pipes. >> that's what we're supposed to be boiling and drinking. >> reporter: crews working around the clock to repair 100 reported water main breaks after that historic winter storm slammed the state last month. >> the repairs to our infrastructure, the repairs to our aging pipes and roads are long overdue. >> reporter: the city's water treatment plant forced to

abc's victor oquendo tonight. >> reporter: tonight, spring break crowds flocking to bars and beaches, fro to shoulder, most without masks. in georgia, parties in the streets of savannah ahead of st. patrick's day. >> i feel like the pandemic is over. >> reporter: really? >> yeah. >> it does. >> reporter: with 3 million americans taking to the skies over the weekend, the tsa seeing the busiest month since the start of the pandemic. the cdc director is now sounding the alarm. >> we're just starting to turn the corner, but where this goes is dependent on whether we all do what must be done to protect ourselves and others. >> reporter: tonight, experts pointing to europe, where the virus is again surging as a tients to ease pressure on hospitals. and in italy, another new lockdown to stop a new wave of infections. >> they simply took their eye off the ball. i'm pleading with you for the sake of our nation's health. these should be warning signs for all of us. >> reporter: and now several eurpean countries are temporarily pausing administration of astrazeneca's vaccine after a small number

ginger with the track and abc's victor oquendo in birmingham, alabama. >> reporter: a dangerous, potentially deadly night ahead across a huge swath of the south. the storm prediction center warning of a rare high risk threat level for long-track, intense tornadoes. >> literally like a tornado and -- >> reporter: wayne county, mississippi, and chilton county, alabama, among places twisters reported already. >> oh, major tornado. major, major! >> reporter: these university of alabama students sheltering in a parking garage. >> there is a tornado down. it's very dangerous. this is about six miles south of downtown tuscaloosa. >> reporter: it's just after 1:00 here in birmibirmingham. we are under a tornado watch. officials want to make sure that people have a plan in place and know where shelters like this one are located. this one can hold 80 people, and as you can see, they're starting to file in. >> reporter: deborah johnson and christopher jenkins not taking any chances. what was it about this storm coming this way that made you say, we're riding this out in here? >> when the news people sa

. >> reporter: our victor oquendo in alabama with one family that's lucky to be alive. >> my sister that lived here came over there, pulled up to the basement, blowing the horn. she got out of the car and the tornado, it was pulling her away. so my oldest son trent went out the door, grabbed ahold of her. it was pulling both of them away. so my youngest son stepped out and grabbed hold of them. it was like a human chain. >> reporter: tonight, the national weather service rating that twister an ef-2, with winds of up to 130 miles per hour. >> just an awful 24 hours and rob, what are you watching tonight? >> reporter: well, we're just about to get hit here in raleigh, david. tornado warnings just to our north. you can see it on the radar, as well as the tornado watches on the south carolina border all the way up to norfolk. couple more hours of the dicey stuff, but the bigger system going to take awhile. a cold rain to st. louis, dayton, philadelphia to boston. and that will change over to snow overnight as the low drags everything with it and offshore. but that won't happen, it won't clea

want to go back to victor oquendo in miami beach with more on new concerns about spring break and the break and bike week in daytona beach. it's these large and potentially dangerous events that have health experts concerned. in florida concerns growing as spring breaker flood the state. bars filling up as the busy tourist season takes hold, many behaving as if the pandemic is already over. >> it gives a sense of back to normalcy. >> reporter: while in daytona hundreds of thousands of bikers expected to roll into the city this week for their annual celebration. one expert calling the situation a, quote, perfect storm. tourists pouring into florida which has more cases of the uk variant than any other state. potentially bringing the virus back home. this as texas and mississippi roll back mask mandates and restrictions. texas' mask order set to end wednesday, raising concerns in houston, where so-called mask-off parties are reportedly being planned. >> we're not the dumping ground for events that will put texans in danger and cause people to lose their lives. you simply don't celebrate

let's go back to victor oquendo who is there for us. cean drive, where the mayor of miami beach says things have gotten out of control, we were out here last night watching police try to enforce the curfew and disperse these large crowds. this city is desperate to get a handle on the situation. >> the city of miami beach is currently under a state of emergency. >> reporter: overnight, miami beach in a state of emergency, after throngs of mostly maskless crowds descended into the entertainment district over the weekend, dancing on cars, in the streets defying an 8:00 p.m. curfew issued saturday. >> you are commanded to immediately and peacefully disperse. >> reporter: police swooping in, shooting pepper balls into the crowd. a stampede of partygoers fleeing ocean drive, some even trampled. in the continued fight against covid, medical experts warn scenes like this are a potential recipe for disaster for disease transmission. abc news learning last week mami had the highest test positivity rate of large metro areas in the u.s. earlier this

victor oquendo joins us from miami beach where many are concerned spring break could make things worseod morning, victor. >> reporter: good morning, michael. the director of the cdc calling these variants a real threat and spreading quickly here in florida but that's not stopping spring breakers now concerned that they could further the spread here or when they return home possibly fueling a fourth wave. this morning, the director of the cdc is pleading with americans to keep their guard up. >> i remain deeply concerned about potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic. >> reporter: hoping to prevent a possible fourth wave of the pandemic. according to the department of health and human services, last week the u.s. reported an increase of cases by 2% after six weeks of cases on the decline and with at least seven states relaxing restrictions this week, the cdc is warning the number of cases is far too high especially with covid variants spreading. >> at this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. these variants a

. >>> let's go now back to victor oquendo there in alabama, the state was under tornado warnings forw with daylight a better sense of the damage. you can see the massive debris field behind me, here to my left this was a bedroom. you can see the bed right there, there's a dresser behind me. this structure, it came crashing down and it was attached to the house but it was separated. blown feet away. the house sustaining a good amount of damage as well. the windows blown out. the furniture inside flipped upside down. the roof peeled right off. despite all the devastation around us here, though, we did hear from the chilton county dispatch and they tell us they are unaware of any reported injuries so that is some good news this morning. robin. >> good news, indeed, victor, thank you. michael. >> thank you, robin. >>> now to that welcome news from the irs. giving you an extra month to file your taxes. but we're also getting new details on a huge backlog in processing returns and delays in sending out stimulus checks. our congressional correspondent rachel scott has the very latest this m

victor oquendo has the very latest. >> reporter: this morning, the mysterious disappearance in paradiseen more than two weeks ago with her boyfriend in the u.s. virgin islands. her friends and family are desperate for answers. >> i mean, there's all sorts of concerns, the time line of things doesn't add up that we've got. >> reporter: according to virgin islands' police, the british woman and 44-year-old american ryan bane had dinner together on the island on march 7th and returned to his catamaran for the night. around 2:350 a.m. 911 to report her missing when he woke up and she was nowhere to be found. officers instructed bane to contact the u.s. coast guard, which he eventually did later that morning. >> he was advised to call the coast guard, which he did do but not until 11:46 the next -- you know, later that morning. so that's almost nine hours. for me, if you thought she's fallen overboard, then you would have called the coast guard straightaway, or at least i would have. >> reporter: police immediately searched the land nearby but say bane denied requests to search the vessel. t