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pierre thomas has the story. >> reporter: the lufthansa heist 1978, jfk international airport.e than 6 million in cash and jewelry stolen. >> police at kennedy airport are searching for at least five gunmen. >> reporter: the story behind the movie "goodfellas." >> these are the guys that jimmy put together for what turned out to be the biggest heist in american history. >> reporter: decades later some of the real-life suspected good fellas were roused out of their beds. among them convince asaro and reputed top lieutenant in the bonanno family. he came into fbi focus after agents searched the home of jimmy "the gent" burke. he was portrayed by robert de niro in "goodfellas." police were led to his home. >> never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut. >> reporter: forget about that. it appears somebody's talking. pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> all right, new video this morning showing a teen getting caught in the cross fire at a market in memphis. he was standing in line when the guys behind him draw their guns and open fire. in addition to hitting the te

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> and another big story now. a new and unsettling twist, in the story of all of those americans with contaminated water in their homes in west virginia. thousands have been told the tap water is once again safe. but tonight, a new warning. pregnant women should not drink it, raising the question, what's the truth about what's in the water? abc's susan saulny, back with the tough questions tonight. >> reporter: just as the water crisis in west virginia seemed to be easing, an urgent new alert. >> a new warning tonight for those who are pregnant. you should not be drinking the water. >> reporter: that warning comes more than two days after state officials told thousands of people their water was safe to drink and bathe in again. and it's left pregnant women like 23-year-old erin crouch frustrated and frightened. >> is it safe for pregnant women to wash their hands? is it safe for pregnant women to take showers? and they didn't really specify. they just said drinking. >> reporter: tuesday, we challenged state offici

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >> pierre, thank you. >>> a major headline about your health tonight, with a question mark for anyone who drinks sodas with that caramel color. a chemical that in some cases has been linked to cancer in mice. a new health warning tonight. and abc's dr. richard besser is here. >> reporter: when you sip that soda, you may be drinking it. caramel coloring, a common ingredient. but could some actually cause cancer? consumer reports tested 110 sodas from california and new york. they found some had an ingredient in the coloring called 4-mei. they believe some of the levels they found were too high. at very high levels, it can cause tumors in mice. california requires a cancer warning on products that contain certain levels of the chemical. >> consumers shouldn't have to be subjected to this unnecessary risk just to color food brown. >> reporter: but while the fda today said they have been looking into this, they did make clear they believe sodas are safe to drink. the american beverage association disagreed with consumer reports' concerns, as did pepsi, whi

abc's senior justice correspondent pierre thomas has the story. >> reporter: the lufthansa heist 1978k international airport, more than 6 million in cash and jewelry stolen. >> police at kennedy airport are searching for at least five gunmen. >> reporter: the story behind the movie "goodfellas." >> and these are the guys that jimmy put together for what turned out to be the biggest heist in american history. >> reporter: decades later some of the real-life suspected good fellas were rousted out of their beds in early morning fbi raids. among them in handcuffs, vincent asaro and reputed top lieutenant in the bonanno crime family. asaro, who pled not guilty and recently came into fbi focus after agents searched the home of jimmy "the gent" burke this summer. burke portrayed in "goodfellas" by robert de niro died in 1974, but a tip led police to his home and new evidence discovered there helped crack the case. >> never rat on your friends and always keep your mouth shut. >> reporter: forget about that. it appears somebody's talking. pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> new video this

abc senior justice correspondent pierre thomas, on the mob mystery cracked wide-open tonight. >> reporter: lufthansa heist 1978. jfk international airport. more than $6 million in cash and jewelry stolen. >> police at kennedy airport are searching for at least five gunman. >> reporter: the story behind the movie "goodfellas." >> these are the guys that jimmy put together for what turned out to be the biggest heist in american history. >> reporter: today, decades later, some of the real-life suspected goodfellas were rousted out of their beds in early-morning fbi raids. among them in handcuffs, vincent asaro, an alleged key player in the heist and the reputed top lieutenant in the bonanno crime family. asaro, who pled not guilty today, recently came into fbi focus after agents searched the home of jimmy "the gent" burke this summer. burke, portrayed in "goodfellas" by robert de niro, died in 1996. but a tip led police to his home. new evidence discovered there helped crack the case. >> never rat on your friends. and always keep your mouth shut. >> reporter: forget about that. it appears so

here's abc's pierre thomas. >> reporter: this navy pilot is being raced to the hospital tonight, after narrowly averting death. he had been flying an fa-18 supersonic jet, 15 miles off the coast of virginia beach, likely soaring 30,000 feet over the ocean. something goes terribly wrong. he pulls the emergency ejector lever in his cockpit. >> and that handle's going to be like a rocket ride. so, it's a very, very violent occurrence. >> reporter: the plane's canopy blows off. and the pilot, still attached to his seat, is ejected. you can see the force in this training video. as he plummets in the cold, wintry air, his parachute automatically deploys. his seat detaches as he falls into the atlantic ocean. >> cold kills very quickly. the cold water is every aviators' problem when they have to eject or go go into the water during the wintertime. >> reporter: some would say by luck or god's grace, a fishing vessel is nearby. the crew sees him, plucking him out of the ocean, just five minutes after ejection. tonight, the pilot is in critical condition. but so far, alive. pierre thomas, abc ne

now it is my job to protect everyone else on the ground if i'm so ordered to do so. >> pierre thomas, washington. >> and a lot to protect. 80,000 fans expected. 10,000 workers in the stadium for super bowl. >> and the new york commissioner says they are prepared for any situation. very well prepared. >> let's's talk more about the super bowl. what would be super bowl be without the ad. >> ad, halftime show, all of that coming up on throw back thursday. some of the big day's best moments. you're watching "world news now." >> "world ne >>> almost caught me off guard. time now for throw back thursday where we continue celebrating all things super bowl. >> this morning we take a look at some of the greatest super bowl moments throughout the years. we begin with a classic play from a classic player. >> he's a guy that owns four super bowl rings. but you might know him best as cohost of fox nfl sunday. before that, though, he was one of the game's toughest quarter backs. check out terry bradshaw's pass to his favorite. right after he got the ball after, he was hit and suffered a concussion.

pierre thomas will be with us. >>> we'll get to the headlines out of the oscar nominations revealed thisorning. chris con elle has been tracking it all. good morning, chris. >>> some big surprises, some unexpected snubs and lot of mcconaughey and several films snatching a fistful of nominations as the race for oscar now begins. >>> we are pleased to announce that the film selected as the best picture nominees for 2013 are -- >> "american hustle". >> no surprise, the party is on for "american hustle" with ten nominations, jennifer lawrence, amy adams and christian bale and of course best picture. >> whoa! >> bring something into this house that will take all the nutrition out of our food and light our house on fire. thank you god for me. >>reporter: another best picture nominee "12 years a slave" won nine nods. lupita nyong'o and chiwetel ejiofor. >> soaring into the stratosphere with ten nominations, "gravity" and sandra bull lock to best actress. the best actor category is loaded with talent. >> ain't nothing out there to kill lon in 30 days. >> nominees matthew mcconaughey spoke with u

abc's pierre thomas got exclusive access for the plans protecting the space high over metlife stadiumgood morning to you, pierre. >> good morning. the security will be extraordinary with an army of law enforcement and military now fully deployed. we spent time with the most lethal team guarding them, fighter jet pilots. from the moment the canopy closes over this f-16 fighter jet, it's clear that lieutenant colonel steve ziomek is deadly serious. with that, i'm on a training mission with the national guard. down the runway from 0 to 400 miles an hour in only 16 seconds. in this live training exercise, our squadron of three f-16s are told to intercept a cessna that's headed toward the super bowl. in only three to four minutes, the pilots can see the potential threat. they draw this for a closer look at the plane and its pilot. the plane's not responding so we try a series of maneuvers to convince the cessna to change directions. we fly by wagging our wings, the international symbol for cease and desist and follow us. then we fly past the plane trying to force it to change directions. i

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >> it's just fascinating on all kinds of level.y person convicted in agent in medicinal treatments. a fascinating case with lots of layers. >>> we go to texas. today a judge will hear a husband's plea to take his wife off life support. munoz has been brain dead since november when she was 14 weeks pregnant but the hospital kept her attached to machines and will continue to do so when the baby is viable according to texas law. eric munoz's lawyers say it shows the baby shows abnormalities. >>> a boy is called a hero after dialing 911 when his father fell unconscious. >> what's your name? >> jackson. >> what school do you go to? >> jackson. >> 5-year-old jackson. his father was suffering from low sodium due to the medication he was taking. he taught jackson to call 911 if there was ever a problem. needless to say, dad is very happy he did that. >> he went outside, flagged him in and everything. when i found out exactly how they got there, was a pretty awesome feeling, you know, how he stepped up. >> at one point jackson went outside

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >> thank goodness for the quick action.ony theft conviction from martin's supermarket. apparently he also had a history of drug problems. three years ago was sentenced to felony drug possession. sentenced to prison. he got out of the sentence by going to a psychiatric hospital. >> they are still trying to find motive here. one of the things they are looking into is whether or not he had a relationship with one of the victims. >> interesting. a lot of questions. >>> new jersey governor chris christie trying to reassure the republican faithful he will survive the bridge scandal. christie spoke last night at a private fund-raiser saying, we will get through this. earlier new jersey lawmakers issued 20 new subpoenas in the case. we should learn later today who got those subpoenas. >> there's an expectation that people who received those subpoenas will comply with them. we have no reason to believe they won't. >> in washington a u.s. senator looking into the scandal said he has found zero evidence that the closure of the george

and now it is my job to protect everyone on the ground if i'm so orderered to do so. >> pierre thomasect. 80,000 fans expected. 10,000 people working in the stadium for super bowl. >> and the new york commissioner says they are prepared for any kind of si watl prepared. >>> now let's talk more about the super bowl. what would the super bowl be without the ad. >> ads, halftime show, all of that coming up on this throwback thursday. some of the big day's best moments. you're watching "world news now." >> "world news now" continues after this from our abc stations. in 1988, our dear friend paul newman had a vision. a place where kids with serious illnesses could just.be kids. [bruce] so he founded a camp. and the joy of playing, laughing, and simply belonging had a profound effect [julia] freeing the children to reach beyond their illnesses and discover new strength. [bruce] from that one camp the seriousfun children's network has grown, serving 30,000 kids globally every year. at no cost to their families. >>> almost caught me off guard. time now for throw >>> almost caught me off guard

pierre thomas, abc news, washington. >>> and now to a major embarrassment for the u.s. removed from duty in a cheating scandal. the air force says the officers either cheated or tolerated cheating by others on routine proficiency tests. the officers involved were caught through information found in a text message which was searched as a direct result of the ongoing drug probe. >>> classes resume today at the new mexico middle school where two students were shot earlier this week. police say the 12-year-old suspect chose his victims at random and that the shotgun he carried came from his father's house. with more on this, here's timone bradley. >> reporter: 9 is 11 tapes capture the terrifying moments at this new mexico middle school. a 12-year-old snuck into a crowded gym with a shotgun and opened fire. >> 911, do you have an emergency? >> oh, my god. >> reporter: two students were wounded, one an 11-year-old boy in critical condition shot in the face and neck. the other, 13-year-old kendall sanders seen in this facebook photo was shot in the arm. the school member who