david. >> steve osunsami has been covering this case from the start. steve, thanks. >>> we turn now to the showdown on capitol hill. president-elect donald trump's pick for attorney general, senator jeff sessions in the hot seat. tonight, you will hear how he answers questions about his record on race and civil rights. what he says about those confirmation hearings 30 years ago for another post. there were protesters in the room today as senator sessions promised he would uphold the law and speak truth to the president-elect. abc's mary bruce on capitol hill tonight. >> reporter: with just a few paces, alabama senator jeff sessions walked from his own office into the glare of his confirmation. >> so help you god. >> reporter: and right off the bat found himself confronted by an explosive issue that has dogged him for decades. >> no trump. no kkk. no racist usa. sessions is a racist. >> reporter: in 1986, before the same committee, sessions was denied a federal judgeship over allegations he made a series of racist remarks. something he adamantly denied.

covering it all, abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: it's a curious time for a fight between a civil rightscon in the next president of these united states. but tonight as americans spend this holiday remembering the life and work of dr. martin luther king jr., this is where we are. congressman john lewis, a beloved public servant who marched with king, has spent his whole life speaking truth to power and says that's what he's doing now. in miami he underlined his bona fides. yes, i did get in trouble. i stood up. i spoke up. i spoke out. i got arrested. >> reporter: this time he's not struggling with jim crow, racist police, or segregated schools. he's taking fire from president-elect donald trump after announcing that he'll boycott the presidential inauguration and explaining why. >> i don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president. i think the russians participated in helping this man get elected. >> reporter: the president-elect is responding saying on twitter that the legendary congressman is all talk talk talk, no action or results, and should spend more time fixing and help

steve osunsami. >> reporter: strange, awkward, upsetting the only describing see this admitted racistey. he's now hoping jurors will spare his life. in his opening statements he tried to explain why he's going against all legal advice. and refusing to argue that he's insane. the point is, i'm not going to lie to you. there's nothing wrong with me psychologically. while there's still a few with god's mercy roof should be forgiven -- >> he took something very precious away from me. but i forgive you. >> reporter: -- the feeling now is very different. >> you have to be sentenced to the ultimate penalty and that's death. >> reporter: on the witness stand the wife of the reverend killed first told beautiful stories from their marriage. jennifer pinckney told stories about she and her daughter called 911 from a locked office down the hall. prosecutors asking for the death sentence pointed to a jailhouse journal that roof wrote after the murders. steve osunsami, abc news, charms. >>> some new video showing what happened when two police officers responded to a trespassing call. and ended up i

david. >> steve osunsami who has been on this case from the start. >>> next tonight here, a chilling look at the danger confronting two police officers apparently lured to a walmart for what seemed to be a routine call. they instantly came under fire. the gunman hitting both of them. abc's kayna whitworth tonight with the video. >> reporter: it started with a call from this arizona walmart, someone trespassing. it turned into a shootout right out of a movie. tonight police releasing multiple angles of video showing just what went down that april morning. officers, talking with the suspect, then watch -- the man suddenly opens fire, hitting officer joshua pueblo three times, once in the face. officer daniel colwell, right there taking vest. the force sending him flying through a display. but watch as he rolls and comes up firing ultimately killing the suspect, mitchell oakley. officer pueblo survived, walking out of the hospital to a standing ovation. he said he feels lucky to be alive. 2016 saw law enforcement fatalities at their highest level in five years. >> those moments when you

steve osunsami, abc news, charms. >>> some new video showing what happened when two police officers respondedit all happened in walmart in chandler, arizona, the officers talking with the suspect suddenly he opens fire. he hits one officer three times. luckily that second officer was hit in his bullet proof vest and he managed to quickly return fire >>> this is fascinating. a pistol-packing grandmother single-handedly scared off a burglar. she was about to watch the news sunday night when a masked gunman broke into her home. >> when i started to get up, he was aiming the gun right at his face. i swefshd around i pointed at him and when i did he ran. >> i would have ran, too. >> don't miss with her. >>> all of this not before she fired off a round of shots. investigators believe the suspect got away unharmed. >> she'll work on her aim a little bit more. >>> now, to henry u county, tennessee, the northwest part of the volunteer state, a unique problem that called for a unique solution. >> we'll let the henry county sheriff take it from >> going down the middle of the highway. trying to rope him

here's steve osunsami. >> reporter: police aren't sharing the young woman's name tonight, but the name she was born with is kamiyah mobley, and she's learning this evening that she was the missing baby on billboards and in police reports in 1998. last seen in baby diapers, wrapped in a pink and blue blanket and only eight hours old. >> i just want to know where my baby is at, i just want my baby back. >> reporter: the case made headlines. she was snatched from a florida hospital, taken from the arms of her mother by a mysterious woman who pretended to be a nurse to her family. florida investigators finally found her after a tip over the holidays sent them to walterboro, south carolina. >> a further investigation found that fraudulent documents had been used to establish the young woman's identity. >> reporter: late this evening, 51-year-old gloria williams had her first court appearance, and will soon be headed back to florida to face charges. police say she had pretended all these years that she was the young woman's mother. it was still an emotional good-bye. >> reporter: tonight her

steve osunsami takes us with an update. >> reporter: this will be a heartbreaking night for a number of families across south georgia, recovering from these tornadoes seen here that tore through this community. in this one mobile home community alone, seven people were killed. brenda griffen got out alive, some of her neighbor's didn't. >> we covered each other and we just laid there and we prayed, "lord, please let it pass over, let it pass over." >> reporter: first responders in cook county had to free people who were trapped under their own walls. jenny bullard had to crawl out from under hers. >> and then i opened up that door of my bedroom and when i opened it up the whole wall just fell in on me. and i crawled out from under it. and our back door then came in and hit me and knocked me down. >> reporter: so far across this state, 12 people have died in this storm. georgia's governor has declared a state of emergency in seven counties. he took a call from the president today, who is sharing his condolences from the east room. adding insult to terrible injury, the weather service

abc's steve osunsami starts us off. >> reporter: these are the blaring winds, some near 60 miles an hour, that tore through cities south of dallas today -- knocking down power lines and cutting the lights. >> we've lost power. >> reporter: drivers taking cover at this gas station were hit by falling pieces. >> oh, we just got hit by a roof! >> reporter: here's covington county, mississippi this evening. this same severe weather system brought six inches of rain in a few short hours to parts of alabama. >> i want you to see this. it is completely submerged, it is not passable. >> reporter: tonight, the jackson, alabama police department says they're dealing with a flood emergency. >> we're just asking everybody to stay in. >> reporter: they're now having to rescue drivers who didn't listen. >> this is a prime example of why not to be out. because we have a vehicle submerged in water at this time. >> reporter: the rain and screaming winds brought traffic at gulf airports to a stop. the gilliam family was stuck in the sky today, circling houston, with a screaming baby. >> we got to circle f