elizabeth hur with more. >> reporter: hospitals across the country scrambling with an influx of patients with the flu. >> i went to the emergency room, she was, she was having fever of 103, 102. >> reporter: this texas mother and her three daughters, all sick with the virus are finally on the mend, but according to the cdc, flu cases are spiking and quickly spreading in nearly every state. arkansas and texas the hardest hit. the situation so dire overcrowded hospitals are now setting up tents, using hallways to treat emergency cases or even diverting non-emergency patients to other facilities. >> this is, i would say, the worst flu seen thason that i've. >> reporter: in california, at least27 people under the age 65 died this season compared to four last season. some pharmacies are also reportedly running out of tamiflu, the prescription medication that can help shorten and lessen flu symptoms. but makers of the drug tell abc news they have plenty in stock. and doctors say there is plenty of time to get your flu shot. >> the vaccine is still around. it is not too late to get it. if you a

abc news reporter elizabeth hur is live in new york and has details. elizabeth? >> reporter: good morning. you know they say there are two sides to every story. here we are as far as what was really said behind the closed door meeting. now it depends who you ask. >> facing massive backlash, president trump addressing the growing firestorm. >> no, i'm not a racist. i am the least racist person you have ever interviewed. >> speaking from his florida beach club, the president denying he made vulgar and offensive comments about haiti and africa in the oval office. >> did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments? >> president trump referring to several republican senators who were in the room for that meeting on immigration. both backtracking on their initial statements and now saying president trump is telling the truth. >> i'm telling you, he did not use that word, george and it's a gross misrepresentation. >> i didn't hear it. i was no further from donald trump as dick durbin was. >> dick durbin was the only democrat in the room at the time

elizabeth hur with the latest. >> reporter: 7-year-old boy taken out of school are crying foul. >> do you think it was over the top? >> too much. >> reporter: the boy's mother recording the video is heard reassuring her son, everything is going to be okay. police say it happened on thursday at the coral way k through 8 center where the 7-year-old allegedly attacked one of his teachers after being told not to play with his food. his parents were called and in a meeting with the principal when the boy's father took him into custody. >> i asked him why, many times, why you have to take my kids away? >> reporter: according to the police report, boit attacked the teacher by repeatedly punching her on her back in the hallway and continued to fight the teacher, grabbing her hair and pulling it towards him. later in a statement, police say this action was warranted to prevent his erratic and violent behavior from bringing further harm to others or himself. >> i told to my wife and i will do whatever is necessary, you know, to continue education possibly at home because i don't believe in the

elizabeth hur, abc news. >>> an immigrant are pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges today.p to life in prison for the botched attack a month ago. you'll remember the pipe bomb exploded at the height of the rush hour in new york city. he was the only person seriously hurt when the bomb went off in a corridor linking the new york from train. >>> the fight over rent control escalated in protes protests, protesters were arrested. >>> live in the newsroom with that story. >> let's take you back to 1995. california lawmakers basically told cities, you know, you can't always make your own laws when it comes the rent control. we are telling you that you can't apply to it new construction and single family homes. today, a new set of lawmakers attempted unsuccessfully to repeal that law. rent control supporters took over the housing committee room after it was clear there would be no changes to the costa hawkins act. right now rent control doesn't apply to single family gnomes california or to new construction. even if a city like san francisco wanted to become 100% rent control. >>

abc's elizabeth hur joining us here in studio. good morning, elizabeth. >> reporter: kendis and diane, good morning to you. you have heard there are two sides to every story. and now, the this story certainly fits that bill, as far as what was really said behind the closed door meeting now depends on who you ask. facing growing backlash, president trump finally addressing the growing firestorm. >> no, no, i'm not a racist. i'm the least racist person you have ever interviewed. >> reporter: speaking from his florida beach club, the president denying he made vulgar and offensive comments about haiti and africa in the oval office. >> did you see what various senators in the room said about my comments? they weren't made. >> reporter: president trump referring to republican senators in the room for the meeting on immigration. both backtracking on their initial statements. now saying president trump is telling the truth. >> i'm telling you, he did not use that word, george. i'm telling you it's a gross misrepresentation. >> i didn't hea

elizabeth hur has the story. elizabeth: hospitals across the country scrambling with an influx of patients with the flu. >> the emergency room, she was having the fever of 103, 102. elizabeth: this texas mother and her three daughters all sick with the virus are finally on the mend. according to the c.d.c., the flu cases are spiking and spreading in every state. arkansas and texas, hardest hit. the situation so dire overcrowded hospitals are now setting up tents using the hallways to treat emergency nonemergency patients to other facilities. >> this is the worst flu season i've seen. >> 28 people died in california compared to four last season. some pharmacies are running out of tamiflu, the prescription medication to shorten and lessen the symptoms but the makers tell abc news they have plenty in stock. >> it's still not too late to get it. if you are sick, the medications can be very effective. >> another way to protect yourself is washing your hands often and carefully. in new york, i'm elizabeth hur for abc7 n

elizabeth hur reports that the superintendent is making himself heard as well. eth: this video of the middle school teacher being handcuffed and arrested at a school board meeting has been seen around the world. now hargrave after a visit to jail is telling supporters to keep fighting for what is fair. >> i'm appalled at this. you should be too. >> the outrage stemming from an incident on monday beginning with hargraving questioning why the superintendent was getting a pay raise of $30,000. the teacher's union says they haven't seen a raise in nearly a decade. >> i feel like it's a slap in the face. there is any other support staff we have there. the board explaining this is a time for public comment only asked harbrave to leave. she did but for some reason hargrave was arrested i >> she is the one that made the choices that got her arrested. elizabeth: the school board defending the arrest is getting death threats. >> there have been direct threats. you will die. people in your district will die. >> the superintendent calls the situation unfortunate. >> what hap

abc 7 news reporter elizabeth hur has the latest developments. >> reporter: day one of the government shutdown and no end in sight. >> we do some crazy things in washington. but this is utter madness. >> we are happy and eager to compromise. but we will not be bullied. >> reporter: democrats drawing a line in the sand saying they will not agree to a government funding bill if it does not include a fix for nearly 800,000 so-called dreamers, undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children. the white house standing firm. >> we will not negotiate the status of 690,000 unlawful immigrants while hundreds of millions of tax-paying americans including hundreds of thousands of our troops in uniform and border agents protecting our country are held hostage by senate democrats. >> reporter: the white house says the president is working the phones to make a deal but so far no word of a deal. >> some people are going to have to get off their high horse and come do their senses. >> reporter: until that happens hundreds of thousands of federal employees are bracing for furloughs like social

abc's elizabeth hur shows us a little bit more. elizabeth: the brutal winter weather slamming the south with a rare snowstorm. >> it's wild. i've never seen palm trees with snow on them. elizabeth: the carolinas, georgia, and even florida under a winter storm warning with snow, sleet and ice. grounding flights in jacksonville. and closing schools and turning highways to ice skating rinks in tallahassee. >> florida highway patrol shutting down long stretches of interstate 10 in both take a look. the bridge is frozen over. elizabeth: in georgia with slick conditions wreaking havoc on the roads, the governor so far declared a state of emergency in at least 28 counties. parts of virginia and north carolina are under a blizzard warning with the officials announcing heavy wind and snow in the region could create white-out conditions. >> all of that is not a good combination. and why we are encouraging people not to travel unless you absolutely have to. elizabeth: a plea to the public trying to avoid earlier scenes like this in buffalo. >

elizabeth hur, abc news, new york. >>> we have several resources at abc 7 news.com and our updated abclocal health departments and a flu shot find ir. and remember, you can get personalized push alerts for more of the news you want delivered to your phone in real time. >>> open enrollment for covered california ends wednesday. and now the health exchange has released a report indicating premiums are expected to rise in 2019. the increase is expected to range between 16 and 30%. the people who suffer the brunt of the premium increase are households with an income over $100,000 $100,000. a group classified as the working middle class. >>> time now for "ask finney." >> michael finney answering questions sent in by facebook and e-mail. >> stan from castro valley asks, i bought a dishwasher and was told the delivery would take one week, we are in week six now. they say they are out of stock. what can i do? >> oh, man, there's no way to make them give you a dishwasher they don't have. unless you have some really spectacular deal you got, it's time to get a reefund and move n if it's been six

in new york, elizabeth hur channel 6 "action news." >> much more ahead on "action news" 12:30 p.m. four children facing deportation from the u.s. get a show of community support to get an indication. >>> one gives the super bowl to the patriots when "action news" comes right back. > there's a new warning about social media. new york times details how millions of cbilities -- accounts of fake even when they have real people and identities. new york attorney general launched an investigation. >> reporter: from celebrities to high profile political figures. in the world of social media. the more followers you get, the more influence you have. there could be more to the loyal followers than meets the eye. one study finds 29 to 48 million of twitter's reported active users are auto automated accounts. new york times investigation others are real people whose profiles are stolen by anonymous bot makers cruised -- used to sell counterfeit coins in the online of influence. a retail promises to accelerate your social growth by selling followers. among it's thousands of customers, reality tv

. >> elizabeth hur joins us with more on the chaos this storm has created. good morning. >> reporter: kendis and lynda, good morning to you. it finally stopped snowing out here, all be it, it is still windy, it is about to get real cold where it could feel like 40 degrees below zero in new england. the east coast taking a beating from mother nature. the powerful nor'easter dumping up to three inches of snow an hour in the region. some areas also hit with lightning, thunder and even flooding. in boston, fire trucks waded through floodwaters making rescues. in new york, mail trucks and buses were slipping and sliding. driving conditions so treacherous police kept busy pushing stranded drivers. >> coming down so fast, you're not able to clear. so underneath, it's getting real icy, plus you have people out here that shouldn't be driving. >> reporter: the slick conditions also wreaking havoc at airports. >> we're not sure that we're going to be flying out of here anytime soon. >> it's a mess, that's what i think. >> reporter: frustrations running high with more t

we are with elizabeth hur in new you. and for crews here in the northeast, they've been down this road before, and officials say they are ready. but some towns down south where they don't even have salt trucks to work with, they are dealing with a snowstorm. some of these towns have not seen this in 30 years. we are talking about parts of georgia and florida, where slick conditions turned highways into ice skating rinks, and driving conditions were just downright dangerous. the heavy wind and snow also wreaked havoc on the roadways in south carolina. residents were wrarned to stay inside, stay off the roads for their safety. now as far as snow totals are concerned, forecasters say it depends on where you live along the coast, but some areas in the new england area could get more than a foot of snow when this is all said and done, so how seriously are officials here in the northeast taking this storm? again, the snow hasn't even started falling. that's when they announced schools in t york city and boston areas will be clo

. >> abc's elizabeth hur has about on the front lines and joins us now from long island, new york. >>ood morning to you. here in riverhead, new york, it has been snowing all day. as you can see i am standing in ankle-deep snow. don't let this fool you. this is proof of how windy it has been out here. just behind me, that flag has been whipping wildly all day. and the strong wind has been blowing snow in every direction all day. according to forecasters, where we are, we could have gotten as much as 18 inches of snow, and if that's not enough, in new york city, brooklyn, bronx, and queens reported getting somewhere between 11 and 13 inches of snow. so all of the snow, combine that with the bone-chilling temperatures and once again the wind, it has been a nightmare for stay in one trying to get anywhere all day. in fact airports shut down for most of the day. we are learning that laguardia resumed flights but jfk won't be back in business until later this morning. and the travel headaches far from over because hundreds more flights have already been canceled for today. kendis and lynda.

elizabeth hur is in riverhead, new york, on the end of long island. how are things for you right now? elizabeth: we have been out here all day. snowing and freezing. as you can imagine it's unbearable. the snow may have slowed down for the first time that we have been out here. the snow is ankle deep. but don't be fooled. the forecasters told us we were looking at a foot of snow that had fallen and we could look at somewhere in upward of 18 inches of snow. so this was a major storm. the officials were asking the residents to stay inside for their safety. i can tell you from where we are, the public has been heeding the warning. we are next to a major highway, i-495. we have not seen many cars where it should have been packed all day. plow trucks have been coming and going. for that i believe so far the fishes are gra bill: that looks remarkably calm. are you sheltered in the back of a building or is it a lull for you compared to where you were out and about today? elizabeth: i have to tell you. for the first time today i am not getting assaulted by the

abc news reporter elizabeth hur is on the story. >> the snow is winding down, but it's still very windy out here. if that's not bad enough, forecasters say it's going to get real cold out. the worst of it will be tomorrow morning where it could feel like 40 degrees below zero in new england. the east coast taking a beating from mother nature. the powerful nor'easter dumping up to three inches of snow an hour in the region. some areas also hit with lightning, thunder, and even flooding. in boston, fire trucks waded through floodwaters, making rescues. in new york, mail trucks and buses were slipping and sliding. driving conditions so treacherous police kept busy pushing stranded drivers. >> it's coming down so fast you're not able to clear. so underneath, it's getting real icy. plus you have people out here that shouldn't be driving. >> the slick conditions also wreaking havoc at airports. >> we're not sure if we're going to be flying out of here anytime soon. >> it's a mess. >> reporter: frustrations running high with more than 4,000 flights canceled across the country. >> it's a nightm

elizabeth: the governor says they have done everything to prepare for this, but conditions are expected to get worse before they get better. he is just asking everyone to stay home. abc news,hur riverhead, new york. adrianna: good news out of texas canceledber alert after two girls taken from their home were found safe and sound in colorado. the man is now in custody. police say they followed a tip and arrested the man during a traffic stop without incident. the two girls are seven and 13. they were both with miles at the time. new meaning to the phrase die."or a couple is taking officers on a chase in a stolen u-haul truck. they sat inside the truck and had a few drinks surrounded by police and started making out. gotinutes later, they outcome, hugged each other, and made out again until police used a taser on the man involved, and then they were both arrested. check this out -- a rubber begging to get -- robber begging to get out of a cell phone store. the man pointed a gun at her. the week before, so shoe brush into action. she rushed -- so into action. she locked the door and he shot at theoc because of the fact that he messed the lockup. -- the lock up. adrianna: so he s