marci gonzalez has more. >> reporter: victims and debris scattered along interstate 40 east of knoxville, tennessee. >> my 17 years, probably the most serious incident i've been a part of. >> reporter: at least eight people killed when a bus veered off the highway. crossing the median into oncoming traffic, hitting an suv with three people inside, then slamming into a tractor-trailer, which then burst into flames. the drivers of all three vehicles died. >> this is the first time i've seen it bother me this bad. and i've seen them all. so, i've cried. i've been here since 2:00 and aye cried. and i'll cry again. >> reporter: the other victims were members of a senior citizen's church group from north carolina, traveling on this packed bus back from gatlinburg, tennessee's, fall jubilee, a church festival they attended every year. >> we don't have the facts to give here. but there were several that went on to be with the lord. >> reporter: those who survived this horrifying scene were rushed to nearby hospitals. at least 14 people injured in all. and this crash investigators believe was cau

marci gonzalez, abc news, new york. >>> attorneys for michael jackson's family are considering their legal options now that a jury has sided with the concert promoter that they are suing. katherine jackson and the star's children were seeking $1.5 billion from aeg live, claiming it was responsible for jackson's 2009 death. the jurors ruled yesterday that while the company hired dr. conrad murray, it is not liable for jackson's demise. >> the decision was reached after very careful consideration of five months of testimony. >> michael jackson was pretty used to getting his own way. he was a big star. >> murray was ruled to be fit and competent to serve as a general practitioner for jackson, as he prepared for concerts. now, he's finishing up his sentence for giving jackson an overdose of the drug propofol. >>> and southwest airlines has fired the captain of a plane that landed nose-first at la guardia airport in july. he took control of the plane from the first officer suddenly when the plane was 400 feet above the runway. the nose gear snapped, 16 people were hurt. the first officer

marcy gonzalez, abc news, new york. >> marcy, thank you. >>> and to the south tonight, where texas haseen drenched with fierce rains this weekend. almost the entire state coping with some flooding. roads washed out, drivers trapped in some places. some of the heaviest rain has fallen in and near austin. more than a foot in the town of barton creek. more rain, we're told, expected through tomorrow. >>> we go overseas tonight and to india now, where cyclone phailin struck this weekend. you can see the size of it, right here behind me, coming ashore as a category 4 storm, bigger than hurricane katrina as it was approaching land. the last time a storm this size hit india, 10,000 people died. this time, more than 800,000 were evacuated, 17 people died. and look at the damage tonight. it is enormous. this man returning to find his home flattened. a child searching for belongings in the ruins of her home. and a woman just devastated by how little is left tonight. abc's muhammad lila is in india now, just miles from where the storm came ashore. >> reporter: smashing into the coast, wind gusts

marcy gonzalez, abc news, empire, louisiana. >>> the national weather service is still assessing thefrom a tornado that ripped through parts of iowa and nebraska last night. four homes were destroyed and more than a dozen others damaged. 15 people were affected. blizzards are moving across the dakotas. the video shows heavy snow falling near rapid city south dakota and even more snow is in the forecast for tonight. >>> a 35-year-old motorcyclist was arraigned today in connection with the beating of a new york man by a gang of angry bikers. robert simms was charged with first degree assault, first degree gang assault and criminal possession of a weapon. last sunday the driver of an suv saying he feared for his life from a swarm of bikers hit one as he sped away. they chased the car, broke the window, dragged the driver out and began beating him. 5* good samaritan stopped the assault. >> i approached the man because i saw he was there on the floor. what i did was confronted these people and i stood between them and the man who lie on the floor and i say that's it. let her go. >> the bi

marci gonzalez, abc news, new york. >>> motorcyclist charged in the wild confrontation between a groupuv in new york city. you saw the video. christopher cruz is charged with reckless driving for slowing down in front of the car, setting the violence in motion. later the driver of the suv plowed in to the bikers critically injuring one before he was pulled from his car and beaten. >>> another shocking example of people not heeding railroad signals. this biker is nearly plowed down by an oncoming train. you'll see it again in a moment. this was in england. drivers and bikers more distracted than ever it is a problem that is becoming serious everywhere. >> that is on super slo-mo and the train looks like it is going a gazillion miles an hour. that is close. >> what was he thinking? they are clearly down, there is a train coming, lights flashing. what else do you need? >> my goodness. >> oh, my gosh. >> do you think he went to work that day or turn around and go home. >> i'm sure he is looking for hi heart because it jumped out of his chest. >> i think he would have to go home and change

our coverage begins with marci gonzalez. >> extreme weather across the country. this ef-4 tearing through wayne, nebraska, leaving homes, businesses, even the airport in pieces. >> you never think it is going to be you. it was us this time. . >> reporter: serious flooding in kentucky and in california massive brushfires. >> we are working on the spot fire trying to get it out. >> reporter: coming dangerously close to freeways in los angeles and forcing evacuations at camp pendleton and from flames to freezing cold. in south dakota, a record-breaking blizzard dumping as much as four feet of unwanted early snow. >> i wish it would have waited a little longer. little too early for me to have this bad of a winter. >> reporter: winter weather in the north. a tropical storm karen starting the weekend in the gulf and then dissipating. people once prepping for what they thought would be the worst weather in the country. >> better safe than sorry. >> there were some areas that got a bit of rain before the storm broke up but no reports of flooding or other damage. marci go

marci gonzalez, abc news, new york. >> so many challenges ahead for congress obviously.ngress trying to pass this bill. regular americans will be affected by this. >> everybody will be out there spinning when they should be actually working on it tomorrow, later on this morning. this is what is wrong. first priority is spin rather than let's get this done. >> spin by people getting paid by the way. >> they get paid but other poor federal workers don't get paid. figure that one out. >>> let's get the latest from washington. karen travers is standing by. now the shutdown has happened, what happens next? >> in the immediate future, diana, ebb everybody here on capitol hill has gone to bed. the house is in recess, the senate is in recess an doesn't look like anything happening really early in the morning. house speaker boehner seems to have cancelled a planned meeting. the big challenge is how to get out of a shutdown. congress down figure out a way to avoid it. it will be harder to figure out how i to get out of it. boehner appointed members of the house to sit in a confere

nbc's marcy gonzalez has more. >> reporter: victims and debris scattered along interstate 40 east ofter: at least eight people killed when a bus veered off the highway crossing the median into oncoming traffic hitting an suv with three people inside then slamming into a tractor-trailer which then burst into flames. the drivers of all three vehicles died. >> this is the first time i can say it's ever bothered me this bad and i've seen them all. so i've cried. i've been here since 2:00 and i've cried. and i've cried again. >> reporter: the other victims were members of a senior citizens church group from statesville, north carolina, traveling on this packed bus back from gatlinburg, tennessee's fall jubilee. >> we don't have all the facts to give here, but we do know that there were several that went on to be with the lord. >> reporter: those who survived this horrifying scene were rushed to nearby hospitals. at least 14 people injured in all and this crash investigators believe was caused by a blown front tire on the church's bus. but it isn't a closed case, and despite the government

marcy gonzalez has more on how his parents choose to break from tradition. >> reporter: britain's princee in his father's arms arriving at st. james palace dress in a replica of the christening grown worn by royals for more than 150 years. the original retired in 2004 when it was deemed too fragile by the queen. >> the queen had to die the lace in tea to make it have that kind of color. >> reporter: today's momentous ceremony not held in the music room of the palace but this intimate sething a place of great significance. >> it was princess dianna's last resting place before she was buried. it was where her coffin laid. >> reporter: with just 22 people in attendance, it's an important family affair for the first time since 19 1894, four generations of royals photographed together, the queen with the three heirs to the thrown, charles, william and george. prince william and kate are also breaking from tradition in a number of ways including with their choice of god parents. no harry of pippa. in fact, only one member of the royal family was choicen, william's coasten. the other six god pa

this week there's a big meeting between the nfl and an angry tribal nation and abc's marci gonzalez isn the story. good morning, marci. >> reporter: good morning, bianna. \even president obama weighed in saying he thinks the name should be changed. but the decision lies in the team owner's hands, and this morning he isn't budging. overnight, washington redskins owner dan snyder was welcomed to a team rally by fans warming singing the nfl franchise's fight song, "hail to the redkins." >> hail to the redskins. >> reporter: next week, senior league officials will welcome leaders of the united tribal nation to discuss the growing controversy over the apparent refusal to even consider changing what the oneida call the racist and offensive team name. >> our indian tribal nation wants the nfl to be on the right side of history in the fight against racism. >> reporter: after tribal leaders first requested a meeting with league officials in early october, redskins owner dan snyder issued a letter cowing the name part of the football team's heritage. he wries "i respect the feelings of those off

abc's marcie gonzalez is on the story. >> reporter: good morning, dan. it was her mother who reported her missing on wednesday. her missing wednesday. this morning, search teams including the fbi's child abduction rapid deployment team are back out, trying to track down this missing teen. searching for answers this was not the way zenya hernandez thought she would spend her daughter's 15th birthday. >> please come home. and we miss you so badly. >> reporter: abigail hernandez shown here walking at school in conway, new hampshire, in the last-known photo of the teen before she disappeared wednesday afternoon. since then, not a word from the 5'4" brunette. nothing on social media. no trace of any communication from her cell phone. >> unfortunately, we still have nothing new to report. >> reporter: the fbi releasing this flyer, still not commenting on whether she possibly could be a runaway. or if she could have been abducted. >> it's still a missing persons investigation. and nothing more than that. >> reporter: local, state and federal investigators have

abc's marci gonzalez has more on this chilling young story. >> we have a red pickup truck following us>> reporter: this anxiety-filled 911, came in to police in gainesville, georgia, early friday morning. >> he hit us. >> reporter: from a couple being rammed by a pickup truck at full speed on the highway. >> he keeps hitting us. >> reporter: according to police, the situation then turned horrific, as the caller's watched the pickup truck's driver swerve into oncoming traffic. >> he's about to hit somebody head-on. >> reporter: investigators say that's when 48-year-old michael williams, behind the wheel of the pickup truck, hit 22-year-old chelsea garish head-on, killing both drivers. >> he just hit somebody head-on. no, no, no. >> ma'am? ma'am? calm down. >> he hit somebody going head-on going about 70 miles per hour. >> reporter: the couple heard on the 911 call has not been identified by police, who are still working to find out why this happened. and there were two other women in the car with garish. both were taken to the hospital and are expected to recover. but police say those p

more now from abc's marci gonzalez. >> reporter: it was a night of reflecting, pausing to remember andgress. >> here we go. round two. >> reporter: clearing debris, working through the nightmares superstorm sandy left behind. >> one year ago, we were in total chaos. one year later, clear signs of rebirth and regrowth. >> reporter: from the jersey shore to the staten island rockaways and beyond, the devastation fierce, the rebuilding slow. the department of housing and urban development saying 11% of sandy aid money has been distributed. hundreds of thousands of destroyed homes still uninhabitable. many residents still homeless. many are focusing not on what was stolen by sandy but on what they have accomplished since. the boardwalk in long beach, new york, rebuilt. ellis island reopened. volunteers working to put roofs over families' heads. >> it is amazing how fast they are working. it's a beautiful thing. >> reporter: and others spending this hole solemn anniversary to help the dunes along the shore. the coastline and their spirits getting stronger every day. this community is declar

marci gonzalez, abc news, new york. >>> all right.ooking for laughs at the expense of the federal government shutdown. >> stay tuned for that, and log on to our facebook page and let us know how the government shutdown impacted you. join the debate at wnnfans.com. >>> the shutdown was triggered of course by house opposition to president obama's affordable care act. the primary provision rolled out yesterday with millions of insuranced americans logging on and going to the online insurance marketplace. the marketplace crashed pretty often. the web site had some problems. paula faris has more. >> my name is max. >> reporter: max was dropped from his health insurance because of pre-existing conditions. >> i want to have that safety net. >> reporter: he was excited to sign up but couldn't get on line because the web site kept crashing. this family managed to get through. salon owners out of california say they have been living in fear. a pre-existing condition for one of their girls makes insurance unaffordable. >> it is just way too much

here's abc's marci gonzalez. >> the terrifying showdown between an suv and group of motorcyclists caughtn camera. it's what the video doesn't show that is what police are piecing troeg. tracking down the person they believe captured the images of his helmet cam and capturing among other things the unedited version of the video. it appears it started when the driver hit a motorcyclist that stopped short in front of him. the only person charged in the case so far says there is much more to the story. >> theent video doesn't show everything that happened before. >> police believe the driver of the suv shown in this facebook photo acted out of fear, proven they say by four calls to 911 hi wife made in a span of eight minutes asking for help as they and their 20-year-old daughter found himselves with their tires slashed surround by a group of bikers. his wife released a statement we were faced with a life-threatening situation and my husband was forced under the circumstances take to take the actions he did to protect our family. some believe those actions are unforgivable. >> if you hit some

marci gonzalez has the story. >> it is the video confession that threw maft through cordle into the spotlighthway directly into oncoming traffic and i struck a car. i killed a man. >> and brought him to this day. his attorneys asking for leniency as the 22-year-old stood at his sentencing hearing again admitting his guilt apologizing one more time. >> i'm so sorry for the pain i caused you, for the loved one i've taken from you. >> a june night that shows the consequences of drinking and driving. the daughter said she appreciated the message cordle was trying to send, but she has one of her own, about why cordle should serve the maximum sentence behind bars. >> the message i do not want to send is if you hit and kill someone, all you have to do is admit to it later and get leniency. the judge, instead, sentencie i cordle to 6 1/2 years in prison. >> vince always felt that if you learn something from your mistakes, then you were further ahead. >> cordle now also has to pay more than $1,000 in fines and has his driving privileges suspended for life. rob and diana? >> thank you. it's been a huge