kayna whitworth is getting a inside look. >> reporter: when most of us think of sororities we think ofis. >> this is a sorority house? >> but emily nielsen is turning that image on its head creating a similar experience digitally. her group girls night in is the 21st century's answer to friendly neighbors but ladies only. >> when people call this kind of an online sorority, what's your take on that. >> it's a club and it's a bunch of girls or at least people who don't identify as male getting together and doing all kinds of stuff. >> reporter: there are nearly 2,000 ladies in the l.a.-based girls night in ranging in age from 18 to their mid 40s. everyone from executives, former reality show contestants, actresses and models getting into the highly selective group is tricky. at least three veteran women members and even then, this he have to be deemed worthy of entering. >> one of the most interesting things about girls night in the exclusivity. they krul member who are not active because those are lurkers who might spill the secrets that allows it to be this be really supportive bare a

here's now abc's kayna whitworth. >> reporter: the soccer star known for that celebration at the world cup, coming forward about the dangers of the sport. 47-year-old brandi chastain announcing she will donate her brain to research on cte, the degenerative brain disease linked to concussions. >> brandi is such an iconic figure for a big chunk of our country that hasn't really been focused on the concussion issue. >> reporter: as a college player concussions, now a mom and a soccer coach, she's concerned about the damage all those headers may have caused. >> she is having no symptoms and she's living a normal life, but she is so well aware of what could be awaiting her. >> reporter: chastain telling "usa today" "but as you grow older, you sometimes say, gosh, am i losing my memory or did i used to forget when i went into a room what i went in there for?" adding she hopes the research will protect younger players. cte can only be diagnosed after death, and has been found in numerous nfl hall-of-famers and male soccer players but so far never in a female athlete. kayna whitworth, abc news

>> kayna whitworth on the scene for us tonight. thank you. >>> next, to the severe weather alert at this hour. at least 16 million americans bracing tonight. already at least three tornadoes ripping across texas. roof rooftops ripped off, homes destroyed tonight. heavy rain, up to a half a foot more is expected. flash flooding taking at least one life. system all the way from texas to illinois. abc's phillip mena in texas tonight on the scene at this hour. >> reporter: powerful storms roaring through the lone star state. at this gas station in saginaw, texas, gusting up to 70 miles an hour, whipping this canopy. >> the store was full and everyone was just standing in there scared to death. >> reporter: and confirmed tornadoes. the top of these apartments ripped off. another in the town of cool. >> these folks are here, trying to salvage what they can from this. >> reporter: this is damage from power flashes caused by this tornado lighting up the sky. >> i heard the hail come and bout time i looked out i see roofs coming off and spi

>> kayna whitworth. kayna, thank you. >>> there is still much more this thursday. hour for the escaped killer considered armed and dangerous. schools today temporarily placed on lockdown. families told to lock their doors. we'll have late details from the scene. >>> also, the major debate tonight, and we want you to weigh in on this. the popular high school teacher forced to resign. a student stealing a private photo from her phone, sharing it with other students. the school firing the teacher for it. >>> and later tonight, we couldn't believe it. the 11-year-old golfer, watch this -- he is about to hit a hole in one. unbelievable. he's right here tonight. your body was made for better things than rheumatoid arthritis. before you and your rheumatologist move to a biologic, ask if xeljanz is right for you. xeljanz is a small pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz can reduce joint pain and swelling in as little as two weeks, and help stop further joint damage. including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infect

abc's kayna whitworth is on the scene. >> reporter: a desperate rescue effort.ounding on windows to save passengers from a derailed commuter train that crashed into a fast-moving creek. the freezing water taking over the train. >> i need an additional three ambulances to this location. >> reporter: the ace train, filled with more than 200 silicon valley commuters, leaving san jose at 6:38 p.m. less than an hour later, at 7:15, near disaster. the train ripped from the tracks plummeting 50 feet into the creek below. >> we started seeing water coming into the bottom of the train. >> reporter: 14 people hurt. nine sent to hospitals. the uninjured walking two miles to safety. heavy rains pounding the region for days, making the area prone to mudslides. officials think that's what brought a tree down on the tracks. >> less than an hour before this incident occurred, there was another train that went through here with no incident. >> reporter: officials say it was a miracle no one was killed. right now, they are pulling that car from the water onto the tracks using cra

kayna whitworth, abc news, marinry na del ray. >> an early celebrity april fools' joke. did anyone get fooled? >> donald trump with a moustache on "dancing with the stars"? tt2w`t3n >> it is a tuesday morning. so of course, topping our "skinny" is the latest "dancing with the stars" and dropping its first contestant. >> this is so sad. to the ballroom we go for latin night. the competition was fierce and fiery especially when wanya morris hit the floor performing a sassy salsa earning a score of 24 out of 30. judge carrie ann declaring him the king of the ballroom. >> those are some mad boyz ii men moves. but hold it right there, morris. actually tied at the top with mixed martial artist paige her sizzling sam bap pulled in a 24, an impressive feat. considering she danced with a replacement pro. her normal partner mark ballas threw his back

kayna whitworth, abc news, marinry na del ray. >> an early celebrity april fools' joke.p with a moustache on "dancing with the stars"? kind of. we're going to explain next. ♪ skinny, so skinny >>> it is a tuesday morning. so of course, topping our "skinny" is the latest "dancing with the stars" and dropping its first contestant. >> this is so sad. to the ballroom we go for latin night. the competition was fierce and fiery especially when wanya morris hit the floor performing a sassy salsa earning a score of 24 out of 30. judge carrie ann declaring him the king of the ballroom. >> those are some mad boyz ii men moves. but hold it right there, morris. actually tied at the top with mixed martial artist paige vanzant. her sizzling sam bap pulled in a 24, an impressive feat. considering she danced with a replacement pro. her normal partner mark ballas threw his back out. >> it's incredible. i love that song, too. >> our colleague, we have been rooting for ginger zee and her partner val also did the samba, earning 21 out of 30. the judges complementing their ability to hit the

here's abc's kayna whitworth. >> reporter: a dangerous bust on the high seas.e coast guard with guns drawn intercept this sub four suspects with hands in the air as they pulled them into custody one by one. the bust going down about 300 miles from panama, custom made for smuggling, only the cockpit and exhaust pipe visible above the water. onboard, authorities say there are more than 6 tons of cocaine worth more than $200 million. despite efforts that's include the capture of infamous drug trafficker "el chapo" guzman, production is up in central and south america. drug traffickers are going to great lengths to bring their product to the u.s. >> it's an indication and of the unlimited resources of these organizations moving these drugs and have the potential to move anything. >> reporter: this is the second semi submersible vessel they've captured this year. the coast guard says they're improving technology and ramping up patrols. >>> an early celebrity april fool's joke, but did anybody really get fooled? >> donald trump with a moustache on "dancing with the s

kayna whitworth, abc news, los angeles. >> cindy parlow cone also from the u.s.ational team was the first person to say she's going to donate her brain. chastain has said, sometimes she'll go into a room and think, why am i here? and wonders if this is from 40 years of playing soccer. >> and you know, football has gotten a bad rap for this, but a lot of other sports are concerned about this, as well. mma fighting as well as hockey. it might not just be a concern for football itself, but as we can see, soccer also. >> girls in sports, every single mom friend i know that has a daughter who plays sports they play soccer very often. it's a huge worry for parents of female athletes. >>> coming up, the celebrity who sang her way out of a speeding ticket. >>> and david hasselhoff once again taking to the beach. will he take off his shirt? (tiffany) ask yourself what your children or cigarettes. for as long as i can remember, my mother smoked. she died from lung cancer when i was 16. i could not take the chance of continuing smoking and not being here for my daughter. i

here's abc's kayna whitworth ear-ol announcing she will donate her brain to research on cte, the >> reporteras a college player, chastain did suffer from two concussions. now a mom and soccer coach, she's concerned about the damage all those headers may have caused. >> she is having no symptoms. and she's living a normal life. but she is so well aware of what could be awaiting her. >> reporter: chastain telling "usa today," "but as you grow older, you sometimes say, gosh, am i losing my memory or did i used to forget when i went into a room what i went in there for?" adding, she hopes the research will protect younger players. cte can only be diagnosed after the u.s. national team was the first person to say she's going to donate her brain. chastain has said sometimes she will go into a room and think why am i here and wonder is this from 40 years of playing soccer >> and you know, football has gotten a bad rap for this, but a lot of other sports are concerned about this, as well. mma fighting as well as hockey. it might not just be a concern for football itself, but as we can see, soccer al

kayna whitworth has the latest. >> reporter: el nino-fueled thunderstorms pummeling the west with deadly force. from inglewood, california, trees crashing down onto cars. >> i didn't expect this to happen. >> reporter: to san jose, where heavy rains were the likely culprit this in in collapse. >> we've got wires down, we've got accidents, we've got rescue responses. >> reporter: the system, briefly knocking out power to l.a.'s airport. lightning setting this palm tree ablaze. over the weekend north of sacramento, a woman drowning in floodwaters after the car she was in went around a roadblock. crews are sawing through this huge phi cuss tree that crushed two cars and blew out the windows of that one and this storm o storm may have moved through quickly but left lasting damage. kayna whith worth, abc news, los angeles. >> here's what's lapping today on the weather front. light rain still in northern california and the pacific northwest. violent storms from texas to the gulf region. some areas of the south could get a foot of rain. unusually warm from the dwraks to the northeast where it w

kayna whitworth, abc news, los angeles. >>> cindy parlow cone also from the u.s. national team was the firsperson to say she's going to donate her brain. will go into a room and think why am i here and wonder is this from 40 years of playing soccer >> and you know, football has gotten a bad rap for this, but a lot of other sports are concerned about this, as well. mma fighting as well as hockey. it might not just be a concern for football itself, but as we can see, soccer also. >> girls in sports, every single mom friend i know that has a daughter who plays sports they play soccer very often. it's a huge worry for parents of female athletes. >>> coming up, the celebrity who sang her way out of a speeding ticket. >> and david hasselhoff once again taking to the beach. will he take off his shirt in "the skinny" next. skinny, so skinny >> our lead story in "the skinny" this morning has to do with politics again. and a celebrity joining the political debate. >> we haven't heard from her in awhile but caitlyn jenner is back in the spotlight showing support for repubcan

abc's kayna whitworth at the l.a.x. >> reporter: george, good morning. so the police here at l.a.x. are obviously closely following all of the events as they have unfolded here in belgian. because they know what's going on, following the situation, you'll see increased security as you're walking through which i have done. i have walked through most of the terminals this morning and you're seeing extra police officers. you're also seeing some extra dogs on hand as well. there are some bomb units on this level, but police officers are telling me that's business as usual here at l.a.x. obviously the safety of their passengers is paramount and it is every single day. but as they monitor the events in belgium and as they unfold, they're willing to make any changes they're need to in their deployment strategies. again, the safety of their passengers is paramount. at this point at los angeles international airport it is business as usual. >> thank you very much. >>> with more on the security measures here in the u.s., pierre thomas is with us also, former commissioner, former police commis

abc's kayna whitworth shows us the new dashcam video. >> reporter: a summer night in ft., texas. officer courtney johnson responding to reports of a prowler carrying a knife. when he says he sees a man matching the description. 55-year-old craig adams. the encounter captured in this newly released grainy dash cam video. adams goes down to one knee. seconds later, a blast. adams wounded in the shoulder. in his hands, a large barbecue fork. that officer now indicted by a grand jury for aggravated assault by a peace officer. >> we believe that the officer acted in a way that demonstrated to us that it was unintentional, but we also realize there is legal ramifications for his actions. >> reporter: officer johnson claims the shotgun malfunctioned, that he didn't mean to fire. >> this particular shotgun has been known to discharge. >> reporter: adams' family says he's bipolar and was off his medication that night. they say he had just stepped outside of their home for some cool air. >> craig is a very good -- he's a very soft-natured person. not confrontational at all. >> repo