stephanie ramos joining us outside that reunification center. stephanie, you have been there on the scene talking to families since the search began days ago. as this drags on, though, how has the mood changed among the families? >> reporter: whit, when we first got here, there was so much hope, but that's now turning to desperation. one woman telling me so many of the families that are staying at the reunification center behind waiting to hear about loves ones are angry. they're crying, they're fainting, just desperate for answers, answers they say they're not getting quick enough. whit. >> we're thinking about those families as well. we'll have more in surfside later in this broadcast. >>> other news this saturday night. the deadly hot air balloon accident in new mexico. the basket slamming into power lines, separating from the balloon. the basket plunging 100 feet to the browned and catching fire. the deflated balloon falling slowly through the sky, landing on a house. no one survived. abc's zohreen shah is on the scene in albuquerque. >> repo

>> all right, stephanie ramos on the virus again tonight. thank you, stephanie. >>> we turn next tonight to the urgent warning from the white house national security team after those concerning and crippling cyber attacks affecting gas prices, this week, the u.s. meat supply, and transportation, too. and tonight, the department of justice with a new warning for authorities across the nation, and here's abc's whit johnson now. >> reporter: tonight, after crippling cyber attacks on the u.s., affecting the u.s. meat supply, the gas supply and transportation, the justice department has now sent out notification to u.s. attorneys on how federal law enforcement should respond to these attacks. one justice department official telling reuters, u.s. authorities must investigate ransomware and digital extortion attacks with a similar priority level as terrorism cases. tonight, the white house out with a new urgent warning -- no company is safe from being targeted by ransomware. >> these attacks have been on the rise for years because these criminal gro

i'm stephanie ramos. hope you have a wonderful weekend. good night. ♪ ♪ ♪

stephanie ramos not far from the family reunification center where they're waiting for word. stephanie? >> reporter: i spent so much time with families, including tina baties. bettina is not ruling out a miracle. she said it was fate that brought her here on a last-minute trip to visit her aunt and uncle, and when she learned the news, she raced down to the tower, screamed, cried, feared in her heart they were gone. like so many of the families we've spoken to, she checked the survival list. they were not on it. checked the hospital. nothing. she says her aunt and uncle likely did not make it, but is hold out hope there are survivors tonight. >> stephanie ramos not far from where we are right here. so many soft families want answers. what could have happened? what could have brought this building down in such a catastrophic way? tonight, what we've learned about the history of the build. victor oquendo now on that part of the story tonight. >> reporter: tonight, the cause of the condominium's partial collapse remains a complete mystery. authorities searching for clues into why

>> stephanie ramos tonight, thank you. >>> we're going to turn now to is the severe storms as we're on the air tonight, from washington, d.c. right up into the northeast. also, the dangerous heat in the west. the growing fire danger across several states. and two tropical systems near the u.s. one off the east coast, the other in the gulf. senior meteorologist rob marciano, a very busy night for you. hey, rob. >> reporter: indeed, david. we'll start with pennsylvania, which got hit hard today with 60-pl 60-plus-mile-per-hour winds, power out and trees are down. the radar shows where the action is. watch boxes from west virginia to new jersey, so, dangerous storms to come. in the west, you mentioned the heat. it's expanding from southern california to montana. extreme heat warnings are up. this is not normal thisserly and it's not letting up until the weekend. three disturbances in the tropics. a depression off north carolina. that will stay out to sea. but the one in the gulf is worrisome. that's a favorite spot this time of year. we'll have to monitor that one closely. david? >> rob,

the guy was so into my kids. >> stephanie ramos joins us now. she has been there for days at the reunification site with the families as they await word. what are officials saying about how they're keeping families in the loop? >> reporter: linsey, officials say they are really trying to comfort these families that have been here for four days waiting to hear about their loved ones, not only taking them to the site of the wreckage today but also now holding regular briefings. one family telling me that they're now splitting people up into groups, and clearly trying to be more organized. linsey. >> stephanie, our thanks to you. >>> and now to the scorching heat wave out west. 33 million people in seven states under heat alerts. records are being set. the thermometer reaching 30 degrees above normal in some places. abc's senior meteorologist rob marciano is in portland, oregon. >> reporter: tonight, scorching temperatures hotter than ever recorded in parts of the pacific northwest, including portland, oregon. >> i can't move around outdoors. >> re

i do, though, want to go to our stephanie ramos who is at the reunification center. ing to a number of the families who have been waiting for news and, stephanie, i'd imagine that people are encouraged by the fact that the search and rescue effort is continuing but the numbers haven't changed and it's been a couple days now and no new victims have been pulled from the rubble. >> reporter: exactly, >> reporter: exactly, whit pup see their anguish, fear, their concern is written all over their faces. just a few moments ago when governor desantis was making his way down this row here i saw a woman i had met thursday night looking for her son-in-law. her son-in-law was on the fourth floor of that tower with his cousins and they haven't heard from him since. she's devastated. her daughter is devastated and she was running down theive to r had to say. these families are looking for any bit of information they can get. so many families that don't know. they are assuming, holding on to hope. they're hoping for a miracle but they just don't ow

and abc's stephanie ramos spoke exclusively to the family who lost a mother and her disabled son saying quote, they left together. >> they were together. and that matters. >> does that give you comfort, that they were together? >> my nephew had muscular dystrophy so he couldn't move so i'm sure that when the alarm went off, she ran to him, and they were together, and i know them and i feel them and i'm glad it happened that way. >> absolutely heart breaking of the web site has been set up for people wanting to donate and help victim's families. so more than $1.2 million have been raised. >>> breaking overnight, u.s. forces have launch air strikes targeting iran-backed militias in iraq and syria. the pentagon says they were conducted in self-defense, against facilities used for attacks on u.s. troops in iraq. meant to sent a message of deterrence to the militias. it follows retaliatory air strikes in february after a civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack in iraq. >>> former president trump is railing against his former attorney general who dismissed trump's allegations of ele

stephanie ramos on that part of the story tonight. >> tonight, as rescuers carefully sift through that wrecken for any signs of life, the meticulous process compounding the suffering for families,miracle. >> it is very difficult to know that your loved one could still be alive and have the hope to believe that. and at the same time, just sit there and wait for that information to get to you. >> for the secondel oisng tehe this coming amid criticism from some frustrated relatives about the pace of the rescue effort. >> how do they feel about the information that they are getting from officials? and now that they do have the opportunity to go down to the site and see the wreckage? >> well, their reaction is about this. some people want to go, they want to be there. they need to be there. and others are scared. >> but as those families wait in anguish, some answers for the loved ones of ana ortiz and her son, luis, whose deaths were confirmed overnight. her sister telling me the two were found together. >> my nephew had muscular dystrophy, so he couldn't move. so i know for sure when the

this family tells stephanie ramos authorities used dna to confirm their two relatives were killed in the collapse. three other members of their family have yet to be found. >> my nephew had muscular dystrophy. he couldn't move. i know for sure when the alarm went off, she ran to him and she was with him and they were together. >> reporter: loved ones hanging pictures of missing on a fence near the site. valerie and his wife just moved in to their seventh floor apartment. >> is he in the hospital? is he in the rubble? they just don't know. we just want to know already. >> reporter: jake samuelson holding out hopes for his grant parents who lived on the third floor. his family received 16 phone calls from his grandfather's landline phone only to pick up and hear static on the other end. >> we were shocked and thought nothing of it. we answered. it was static. >> reporter: leo soto is waiting for updates on his friends. they lived on the eighth floor. >> you're watching grandmothers and moms and families that have been affected differently. generations of life taken from us. >> surfside

abc's stephanie ramos reports from the scene. >> when i checked the survival list, my aunt and uncles weren't there. i checked for them inside. when i checked the hospital list, they weren't there. where could they be? >> reporter: batina was hoping to pay a surprise visit to her aunt and uncle. instead of a happy reunion, tragedy when she learned the apartment where they lived collapsed. >> the driver dropped me off, and when i passed by through the location of their apartment, i screamed and cried. >> reporter: they had lived in their 10th floor apartment in miami beach for nearly two decades. >> she painted. she she drew. she was a photographer. it's unbelievable. she's my renaissance woman. she really was. >> reporter: with no new survivors being pulled out of the rubble, patina is expecting the worst. i know this is so painful, but when you think of her possibly still being under there? >> oh, my god -- >> reporter: what goes through your mind? >> it -- it -- we don't want her to hurt and be in pain. at the same time, if they're alive and they really want to be alive and they're

i'm stephanie ramos. spent most of his 62 years behind bars, convicted of a triple murder. but now the evidence against him has fallen apart, starting with the prosecution's star witness who recanted her testimony. and the prosecutor's office is calling for his release. yet strickland waits, hoping someday for freedom. here's abc's linsey davis. >> very nice to meet you. >> reporter: we met kevin strickland on his 62nd birthday. any thoughts in particular on this day? >> i was determined to spend this birthday awake as long as i could. you know? never know if it's going to be the last one. >> reporter: this is the 43rd birthday he's spent behind bars. >> what it does to someone to be behind bars for 43 years? >> i think i've been destroyed. >> reporter: what he calls his destruction is not just the result of decades in prison. it's decades in prison for a crime he says he did not commit. years spent dreaming of a life outside his prison cell. do you think that a lot? >> yes. want it bad. want it bad. peop

abc's stephanie ramos tonight on the new hope and the concerns even the fda saying more study is needed. >> reporter: tonight, the first new drug approved for alzheimer's in 18 years. the drug is a monthly injection. >> this drug was given conditional approve al for peope with early stages of the disease with mild memory and thinking problems. >> reporter: and it's the first to attack how the disease works, not just the symptoms. targeting a protein that's a biomarker for alzheimer's. jerry taylor was involved in phase one of the trials. >> i believe it was helping me and i'm really happy for getting it back. >> reporter: and while groups pushed for the drug's approval, the fda advisory committee and several prominent experts have doubts about whether the drug is effective, saying that even if it can slow the cognitive decline in some patients, it doesn't outweigh the risks of taking the drug. side effects that include brain swelling and bleeding. but the fda approved it with a new clinical trial. the fda could still rescind this approval if this new trial fails. but the fda says they h

i'm stephanie ramos. hope you have a wonderful weekend. good night. ♪ ♪ ♪ small decisions make a world of difference. ikea. [ sfx: bzzz bzzz bzzz ] [ sfx: ping ping beep beep bloop bloop ] [ sfx: honk ] [ sfx: pop pop pop pop ] [ sfx: pop ping bloop pop ping bloop ] the day can wait. enter the golden state with real california dairy. ♪ look... if your wireless carrier was a guy, you'd leave him tomorrow. not very flexible... not great at saving... you deserve better. xfinity mobile. now, they have unlimited for just $30 a month. $30. and they're number 1 in customer satisfaction. his number? delete it. deting it. so break free from the big three. switch to xfinity mobile and internet and save up to $400 a year over at&t. visit the switch squad in store or learn how much you can save at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings >>> now from abc7 live breaking news. >> a federal judge has just overturned california's three decade old ban on assault weapons. the ruling late tonight says the state's definition of illegal military-style rifles violates the r

here's abc's stephanie ramos. >> reporter: with a growing threat from the delta variant, president biden today urging americans to get fully vaccinated. >> it's a variant that is more easily transmissible, potentially deadlier, and particularly dangerous for young people. >> reporter: 300 million shots have been administered in the first 150 days of biden's presidency. but at the current pace, the country is less likely to reach his july 4th goal. one shot for 70% of adults. so far, 65% of adults have gotten a shot. the president asked if the delta variant could force new lockdowns. >> i don't think so because so many people have already been vaccinated. but with the delta variant, can cause more people to die in areas where people have not been vaccinated. >> reporter: the cdc director today warned it could soon become the dominant strain. >> as viruses mutate, they do so with some advantage to the virus. one of those advantages could be that it evades our vaccines, and ly what we are actively trying to prevent. >> reporter: last year, southwest missouri saw a spike in covid cases after

here's stephanie ramos. >> reporter: tonight, investigators in michigan with a heartbreaking update in the shooting death of 2-year-old brison christian. police say the gunmen who fired on the family's car believed they were targeting someone else. >> it was a mistaken identity of a car. an innocent family shot at by somebody too reckless to know who it was they had a beef with. >> reporter: brison's devastated family left shocked. >> i feel like none of my family was supposed to make it out that truck. my wife and both my kids are in the car and, you know, brison is in his car seat, where he's supposed to be, you know, i was doing the right thing. >> reporter: brison was shot and killed last thursday while his family was driving on the i-75 freeway in detroit. according to police, the christians were driving home from their 9-year-old son's basketball practice when they suddenly heard multiple gunshots and their car began to malfunction. after pulling over, they saw both of their sons had been shot. both boys were rushed to the hospital. 9-year-old b.j. was treated for a gunshot wound

abc's stephanie ramos leading us off right here in new york tonight. >> reporter: in a push to get more americans vaccinated, president biden today announcing a national month of action to help the country reach his goal, 70% of adults with at least one dose by the fourth of july. >> america's headed into a summer dramatically different from last year's summer. a summer of freedom. a summer of joy. a summer of get togethers and celebrations. >> reporter: the president unveiling new incentives, like free child care at major day care chains and some ymcas, while parents can get the vaccine or recover from it. overnight hours at pharmacies on friday nights in june. the white house teaming up with black barbershops and beauty salons to reach more americans, and touting a blitz of new rewards, like free sports tickets and if the country reaches the president's goal, free beer from anheuser-busch. >> get a shot and have a beer. free beer for everyone 21 years or over, to celebrate the independence from the virus. >> reporter: 12 states have already met the president's goal, but another six st

stephanie ramos joins us with more. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: michael, good morning.may take several months before the moderna vaccine is fully backed by the fda but as vaccination rates plateau in parts of the country and downright drop in others doctors hope getting full authorization from the fda will add one more level of confidence in the covid vaccine. this morning, moderna filing for complete fda approval of its covid-19 vaccine. currently it's only authorized for emergency use in the u.s. moderna is now the second drug company to seek full fda approval, with pfizer submitting data in early may. >> there's been a lot of misinformation about vaccines that has got people confused about how good and how safe these vaccines are. i think getting full authorization from the fda will add one more level of confidence in some people. >> reporter: this full authorization process will look at safety and effectiveness and may take months to approve. it allows the companies to sell the vaccines after the pandemic ends but it also makes it easier for places like schools to r

abc's stephanie ramos is at a mass vaccination site with more on this final push. orning, stephanie. >> reporter: michael, good morning. there is an entire list of rewards for people who get their covid vaccine. the white house partnering with businesses across the country trying to encourage people who are not yet vaccinated to get it done. the president reminding them they are still at risk without it. a sprint to the finish. on wednesday, president biden revealing new initiatives, announcing a month of actions hoping to entice those who have not yet been vaccinated to get at least one shot by july 4th. >> we're announcing a month-long effort to pull all the stops, all the stops to free ourselves from this virus and get to 70% of adult americans vaccinated. >> reporter: part of how the president plans to reach this goal includes offering extended pharmacy hours, free child care for parents when they go to get the shot, and educating communities about the vaccine. >> jonathan carlyle from toledo, congratulations. >> reporter: overnight, ohio naming its second vax-a

stephanie ramos is back with the latest. d the country is now just actually 6% shy of hitting the president's goal of having 70% of u.s. adults vaccinated. with the number of covid cases going down, more restrictions are loosening. california for instance is preparing to drop mask mandates, and social distancing for those who are vaccinated tomorrow. bars and restaurants set to open at 100%, but the reopening comes with a warning from experts from -- for the unvaccinated. the delta variant first discovered in india is likely to lead a new wave of infections in the u.s. by the fall. the biden administration urging americans to get that shot. robin? >> they are. okay, stephanie. thank you. t.j.? >>> robin, we turn now to actor ned beatty who has passed away. tributes pouring in for him. first made his mark on the big screen in the 1972 thriller "deliverance." he was nominated for an oscar for his work in "network," and played executive author jensen, and he's also well-known for "superman," where he was lex luthor's sidekick. o

stephanie ramos continues our coverage from surfside. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: eva, good morning. officials are vowing to keep searching for the people who are missing as the families at the reunification center behind me become desperate for answers. it's been four days since the side of this building collapsed. families and friends still holding out hope for the 156 loved ones lost among the rubble. near the site, a makeshift memorial growing. as of this morning, four victims have been identified. 54-year-old stacy fang, 54-year-old manuela font, 83-year-old antonio lozano and his wife, 79-year-old gladys. 71-year-old elaine sabino, a jetblue flight attendant staying with a friend in the penthouse of the collapsed building is still missing. this photo taken with her friend shelly from her 12th floor apatment. her friends remaining hopeful. >> time is not exactly on our side, but we have heard of miracles and we're looking and we're expecting and wishing and hoping for a miracle. >> reporter: arnie and merriam's family hopin

the director of the cdc is standing by to talk to us about all of that, but first, let's go to stephanie ramosith all the latest. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: amy, good morning. as the delta variant grows in the u.s. and more people get vaccinated the cdc is investigating more cases of heart inflammation in young people who received the covid vaccine. more than 300 people under the age of 30 are experiencing myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle. or an inflammation of the sac around the heart. most people who developed heart inflammation recovered quickly after medication and rest. the cdc advisory panel pushed their meeting to next week to discuss the reports. the cdc still strongly recommending the vaccine to anyone over the age of 12, especially now as some parts of the country are seeing a rise in covid cases. five states with increases of 40% or more in the past two weeks. experts pointing the finger at the delta variant which has been confirmed in 41 states. they're warning it could become the dominant strain. whit? >> stephanie, thanks. >>> joining us now exclusively

stephanie ramos joins us with more. good morning, stephanie. >> reporter: robin, good morning.iolence surged across the country this weekend. here in new york city, those two young children escaped tragedy by mere inches after that gunman opened fire. this morning, the manhunt is on for this suspect involved in a dramatic shooting in new york city. nypd releasing this image of the 24-year-old suspect they say shot a man inches away from children in the bronx. the young kids were on their way to a candy store last thursday evening when the gunman opened fire on his intended target. you can see this 10-year-old girl shield her 5-year-old brother as the gunman unloads. >> i'm disgusted. i'm going to be honest with you. it's very alarming. >> reporter: the victim was struck in the leg and back and taken to the hospital where he's expected to survive. miraculously the kids were not injured. this is just one of a string of violent shootings across the country. in oakland, california, where thousands of people gathered to celebrate the first juneteenth as a federal holiday, seven peop

they spoke with our stephanie ramos. >> we didn't have the certainty where were they.ow we know. >> reporter: but three other family members are still missing. >> is he in the hospital? is he in the rubble? we just want to know already. >> reporter: these two had just moved into their seventh floor apartment. valerie's parents drove from new york city to florida seeking to learn russell's fate. jake samuelson said his family has gotten 16 phone calls from the apartment landline, but when they pick up, they just hear static on the end. >> we're just trying to rationalize what's happening here. we're just trying to get answers. >> reporter: florida air force one wants this family to know they're doing everything they can to find their loved ones. >> we never lose hope. we never lose hope. there's always that miracle rescue, there's always that rescue that we know we're going to make. >> reporter: that lieutenant also explained while families may not be able to see the work they're doing, because it's underneath the building or behind the building, he wants them to feel r

our stephanie ramos joins us now with the latest. hanie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, t.j. police in detroit say they will step up patrols and use cameras to watch for incidents of violence on freeways so that what happened to little brison never happens again. this morning, investigators in michigan confirming that the men who fired on a family's car killing a toddler and injuring his 9-year-old brother believed they were targeting someone else. the family was driving home from the 9-year-old's basketball practice when someone in a passing car started shooting. >> it was a mistaken identity of a car, an innocent family shot at by somebody too reckless to know who it was they had a beef with. >> reporter: 2-year-old brison christian who loved spongebob and oreos died from a gunshot to the head. two detroit-area men were arrested and now charged with first degree murder. police say the suspects immediately drove off from the scene in their vehicle and mistakenly targeted the christians' truck because of its color and make.

stephanie ramos joins us with more on the tiktok teacher. you're a parent.the morning but i have to tell you, do you remember the show "the supernanny" when jo would go from the uk to the u.s. helping families maintain order with their kids? it was 15 years ago so it's okay if you don't remember. think of mr. chaz as the 2021 version. he went from education specialist to influencer helping parents really handle their kids effectively. parents are rushing to his social media pages. >> your toddler will need to be preened. >> reporter: mr. chaz, an educational specialist from virginia who works with directors and teachers having a hard time in the classroom. >> whenever there was a challenge or something they would call me and to kind of assess the situation and help the child and teacher be successful in that environment. >> jump, jump, jump. >> reporter: he started making videos when the pandemic hit to help parents and teachers struggling at home. >> they saw how much, especially in the beginning how much they were struggling with this new challenge that th