here's steve osunsami. >> eyewitnesses caught the terrifying moment on their cell phones. a small plane bouncing down the runway and then suddenly it's in flames. nascar legend dale earnhardt jr, his wife and their baby daughter. >> there's a baby in there. >> there seems to be an airplane that's crashed. >> the fireball swallows the plane's wing >> it's on fire. that is insane. >> witnesses call for help. >> it came out of the airfield through the fence and it is on fire. >> and then the plane's broken jetway pops open. the baby is one of the first to come out as everyone else runs for their lives. >> it's a daring and miraculous escape for the earnhardt family, the plane's two pilots and the family dog. >> yeah, a dude just pulled a baby out of there. it's a private jet. >> everyone watching, holding their breath breathes a sigh of relief as the family makes it out with seconds to spare. >> there's a girl, there's one, there's a baby. there's a dog. ems personnel did put dale on a cot and take him to the hospital. >> dramatic video shows first responders racing to the sc

>> steve osunsami with us, as well. thanks, steve. >>> now, to the new headline involving president trump's attorney general william barr tonight. abc news confirming that a.g. barr has booked the president's hotel in washington for his own family holiday party, reportedly spending tens of thousands at the president's hotel. the justice department facing questions, and abc's kyra phillips at the white house. >> reporter: over the past 24 hours, president trump emphatic -- he's not trying to cash in on the presidency. >> i don't want to make money. i don't care about making money. >> reporter: but tonight, new questions. "the washington post" reporting spending upwards of $30,000 to throw his holiday party at the president's washington, d.c., hotel. he says he's paying for the 200-person bash out of his own pocket. the justice department telling abc news it was all cleared by, quote, "career ethics officials." since it opened, the trump international hotel, and other trump properties, have been under scrutiny from ethics

steve osunsami is on the scene in elizabethton, tennessee. >> reporter: new cell phone video tonight shows the moment when they were all safe, just after the plane came to a stop and the fire starts. the broken jetway opens, they pull the baby out first, and everyone gets out alive. federal investigators tonight believe that the private jet carrying nascar legend dale earnhardt jr. and his family bounced at least twice during landing, before sliding off the runway and blowing up into this ball of fire. >> it came out of the airfield through the fence and it is on fire. >> reporter: eyewitnesses who called for help cheered when the family ran out. >> there's a girl. there's one -- there's a baby. there's a dog. >> reporter: authorities say that surveillance video they've collected from nearby businesses show the plane hitting the runway so hard, the right landing gear was destroyed, sending the plane sliding through a fence and onto a highway. >> you can actually see the right main landing gear is collapsing on the video. >> reporter: earnhardt jr., his two pilots, his wife, and their

>> steve osunsami tonight. thank you. >>> when we come back here, a new recall.opular brand of cookies pulled from the shelves. >>> and the sharks that closed beaches in the northeast. >>> and the bat suddenly flying through the cabin in midair on the way to newark. the index, next. can change in m. your head wants to do one thing, but your gut says, "not today." if your current treatment isn't working, ask your doctor about entyvio. entyvio acts specifically in the gi tract to prevent an excess of white blood cells from entering and causing damaging inflammation. entyvio has helped many patients achieve long-term relief and remission. infusion and serious allergic reactions can happen during or after treatment. entyvio may increase risk of infection, which can be serious. pml, a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection caused by a virus may be possible. tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections or have flu-like symptoms or sores. liver problems can occur with entyvio. ask your doctor about the only gi-focused biologic just

here's abc's steve osunsami now. >> reporter: this decision has the nation's drugmakers on alert tonight. this oklahoma judge has decided that corporate giant johnson & johnson helped fuel opioid addictions in his state. and he's ordering them to cough up more than half a billion dollars to help residents struggling with addiction. >> the opioid crisis is an imnant danger and menace to okay la low mans. >> reporter: craig box is one of the parents who testified at trial. his son austin was a linebacker at the university of oklahoma who started taking painkillers after a back injury. the young man was hooked quickly and then died of an overdose in 2011. >> i'm just pleased that the court found that johnson & johnson was responsible for this epidemic and the cause of so much pain to oklahoma. >> reporter: opioids are blamed for more than 6,000 deaths in oklahoma since the year 2000. the state blamed johnson & johnson for misleading marketing to doctors and patients, that the state says downplayed the risks. 48 states and more than 2,000 local and tribal governments have now sued drugmakers

>> all right, steve osunsami. steve, thank you. >>> and we are remembering an extraordinary american writer tonight, toni morrison. a master storyteller and lyrical writer whose chronicles of the black american experience including "beloved," "the bluest eye" and "song of kolo mon" spoke to all americans. they earned her every major literary award, including the nobel prize, and they earned her a place in american life. toni morrison was born chloe wofford in lorraine, ohio, 1932. the daughter of a steelworker and a singer. once our "person of the week," she told us the memories of her hometown in the midwest inspired her writings. >> even when i'm writing about stories that take place in the west indies or in new york city, the matrix for my imagination, you know, the sort of wellspring out of which all of this comes, all of that comes out of lorraine, ohio. >> reporter: an honor student in high school, she attended howard university, where she got the nickname toni. she became a book editor. there were few black

>> all right, steve osunsami in jacksonville. thank you, steve. >>> now, to president trump tonight, who today was asked about a possible recession, because of his trade war with china. the president conceding a, quote, two-month recession, in his words, could be the result of what he describes as a much-needed trade war. the president also contradicting his own aides who said there was not a payroll tax cut in the works, but what the president said today when asked. here's abc's senior white house correspondent cecilia vega tonight. >> reporter: president trump today defending his trade war with china, saying it's worth it even if it hurts the economy. >> whether it's good for our country or bad for our country short-term, long-term, it's imperative that somebody does this. i am doing this whether it's good or bad for your statement about, oh, will we fall into a recession for two months, okay? the fact is, somebody had to take china on. and the smart people say thank you very much and the dumb people have no idea. >> reporter:

a few years ago abc's steve osunsami took a ride aboard one of those planes straight into the eye of>> reporter: it sounds crazy and it was a bumpy ride, but we traveled deep into the middle of this gigantic storm flying inside at 10,000 feet. >> the clouds are getting closer -- >> reporter: air force reserve pilots and scientists on a dangerous mission to take the storm's temperature, and it wasn't good. >> out to where we're at, sometimes there were over 100-mile-an-hour winds. >> wow. >> so starting to develop. >> reporter: they shot canisters filled with sensors into the ferocious storm clouds. and the sensors were sending back the bad news. irene's pressure is dropping, which means the storm is getting stronger. the ocean waters below incredibly warm at 85 degrees, helping it grow. and on the northeast side of the storm where it's usually most dangerous, this one especially so. with hurricane-force winds that stretch out 100 miles. >> it's a large hurricane. it's a very large, strong circulation up to the north. so this whole side is very, very strong. >> reporter: we zig-zagged

steve osunsami is there on the scene in elizabethton, tennessee with the very latest. a scene behind you, steve. >> reporter: it is. good morning to you. you know, the investigators are on the scene this morning trying to figure out how and why this plane slid off the runway. people who live in the area say they could see the fireball for miles. they have the roads blocked off here, and when you look at this, it's amazing that anyone walked away from this alive. >> they just pulled a baby out of there. >> it's a private jet. >> reporter: this is the dramatic video this morning of the ball of smoke and fire that nascar legend dale earnhardt jr. and his family managed to escape without anyone seriously hurt. people on the ground were shocked as the young family and the pilots ran for their lives from the burning jet. >> the way they hit with impact, on the bank there and everything, came up on the road, they were very lucky. >> reporter: in a statement, his spokesman says, i know i speak for everyone here when we say we are so grateful for the outpouring of support. ever

abc's steve osunsami reports. >> reporter: this decision has the nation's drugmakers on alert.t corporate giant johnson & johnson helped fuel opioid addictions in his state, and he's ordering them to cough up more than $500 million to help residents struggling with addiction. >> the opioid crisis is an imminent danger and menace to oklahomans. >> reporter: craig box is one of the parents who testified at trial. his son austin was a linebacker at the university of oklahoma who started taking painkillers after a back injury. the young man was hooked quickly and then died of an overdose in 2011. >> i'm just pleased that the court found that johnson & johnson was responsible for this epidemic and the cause of so much pain to oklahoma. >> reporter: opioids are blamed for more than 6,000 deaths in oklahoma since the year 2000. the state blamed johnson & johnson for misleading marketing to doctors examine patients but the state says downplayed the risks. 48 states and more than 2,000 local and tribal governments have sued drugmakers. >> but johnson & johnson did not cause the opioid a

her is steve osunsami. >> reporter: the cardiologist would have never made it out alive if i had didn'tl. >> i am trapped in the house and i don't know what happened to his wife. >> reporter: he was seriously hurt in the blast that droid his 6300 foot home july 2nd. and his wife was killed. this is what looks like from security cameras. >> i am trapped under a lot of 4 by 4s. >> police say he survived using his apple iwatch. he was able to lead firefighters to the place where he will is buried. >> they are coming closer. that is good. >> hello. hello. hello. hello! >> fire officials now say there was a gas leak inside the home and say the place exploded minutes after the couple returned from vacation. david? >> steve, thank you. >>> when we come back here, a new recall. a popular brand of cookies pulled from the shelf. and the sharks that closed beaches in the northeast. and the bat suddenly flies through the cabin in midair on the way to newark. ulcerative colitis or crohn's, your plans can change in minutes. your head wants to do one thing, but your gut says, "not today." if your curr

abc's steve osunsami has the latest on the intensifying search. >> reporter: more than 200 volunteerse in the atlantic ocean looking for any trace of the missing firefighters. many of the searchers are firefighters themselves. some from the same firehouse in jacksonville, florida where brian mccluney was a six year veteran. >> he would be right out here searching for anybody that was missing as well. >> reporter: mccluney and his friend, justin walker, went fishing friday and are last seen here. >> you're holding hope? >> absolutely. absolutely. this is a rescue mission. >> reporter: walker's wife is seen here getting on a search plane. >> i need to be up there, feel like i'm searching too. >> reporter: the search area is beyond massive. the two men left from port canaveral, hours south of jacksonville. authorities are searching as far as 100 miles north of this area and another 70 miles east into the ocean. on monday a volunteer found this tackle bag that belongs to one of the missing firefighters, but it was more than 100 miles from where the men went missing. stephanie mccluney hop

here's steve osunsami. >> reporter: this is the disturbing photo that's all over the internet that galveston police are trying to explain tonight. the picture was taken saturday as police on horseback were arresting 43-year-old donald neely. his family says he has a history of mental illness and lives on the streets. >> i can't imagine what they were thinking to say, we're going to use this today. >> reporter: now, there's video, too. he is, indeed, being led down the middle of the street by a rope and the many critics tonight say the scene looks straight out of the 1800s. >> you don't do any -- you don't even do a dog that way. >> reporter: all of this started after a call from the galveston park board on the second floor of this building. they say neely was trespassing and wearing this strange welding mask. in a statement, the police chief says he must apologize to mr. neely for this unnecessary embarrassment. i believe our officers showed poor judgment and could have waited for a transport unit. police say he was being led to a staging area. neely's daughters tonight say he is off the str

here's steve osunsami. >> they reported five children trapped on the second floor. >> reporter: the home that burned to the ground in pennsylvania was a licensed day care. and five children trapped all died. investigators suspect the fire was caused by something electrical. >> there were a lot of extension cords with a lot of things plugged into it. >> reporter: neighbors tried to help, but couldn't. >> i just couldn't go any further. >> reporter: the youngest killed, 9 months. the oldest, 8 years old. four of the children were brothers and sisters, and three of them were the children of a volunteer firefighter who was out responding to a call just a few blocks away when he learned his children were killed. the fire chief says there was one smoke detector in the house, in the attic, where it did nothing to protect anyone. david? >> steve, thank you. >>> and tomorrow, from nashville to new york, the storm system already spawning this funnel cloud. all of it heading east. ginger zee doing double duty this week with me. ginger, give us the track. >> reporter: david, we do have some late ini

here's steve osunsami. >> reporter: the federal manhunt is still on tonight for this fugitive, 34-year-oldchris sanderson. authorities at this jail in pine bluff, arkansas, are now having to explain how he and 30-year-old wesley gullett were able to escape. the jefferson county sheriff says they left behind a dummy under a blanket in their cell. by the time his deputies noticed they were missing, they'd been i going to be honest with you, it comes back down to complacency, it comes down to just being lazy and not paying attention to what we're doing mgt. >> reporter: federal prosecutors say gullett is a violent white supremacist and the leader of the new aryan empire, terrorist group accused of murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. this is video of him being captured today. >> reporter: sanderson is facing federal gun and drug charges. he's considered armed and dangerous. david? >> steve, thank you. >>> when we come back here, the deadly crane accident. the suv crashing into a construction site, bringing the crane down on top of the car. >>> and your health tonight, a possible blood tes

here's steve osunsami. >> reporter: this image of a burning stroller from the scene of this fire underlines the tragedy here. >> they reported five children trapped on the second floor. >> reporter: the home that burned to the ground in erie, pennsylvania, was a licensed day care. and the five children who were trapped all died. two teenage boys had to be hospitalized when they jumped from the roof. investigators suspect the fire was caused by something electrical. >> there were a lot of extension cords with a lot of things plugged into it. so it's leading towards that. >> reporter: neighbors tried to help, but couldn't. >> i tried to go inside, i made it to the open living room, and i just couldn't go any further. >> reporter: the youngest killed, 9 months. the oldest, 8 years old. one of the children belonged to the day care's owner. four of the children were brothers and sisters, and three of them were the children of a volunteer firefighter who was out responding to a call just a few blocks away when he learned his children were killed. the fire chief says there was one smoke detector i

abc's steve osunsami starts us off with the very latest. good morning to you, steve. >> reporter: good morning to you, michael. more than 75 people had to be moved from their homes and the families say as they drove away they could feel the flames from the fire. this was the sound and the scene early this morning south of lexington, kentucky. a massive natural gas pipeline exploded roaring flames into the sky. >> it's so bright. >> all units be advised we are receiving multiple calls of an explosion of some kind. >> if i zoom in real close, you can see the flames perfectly. >> reporter: at least one person confirmed dead and five others left with nonlife threatening injuries. several nearby hopes caught fire. people had to run for shelterer. >> it was like an atomic bomb went off. >> just a big roar and fire going all the way up in the sky as far as you could see. our windows were shaking really bad and our doors -- the ground, you could hear the ground just moving and tumbling and rolling. and then we got to feeling the heat from the fire.

steve osunsami is there in griffin, georgia where officials, steve, they are poring over the wreckage good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, cecilia. this is what's left of dale earnhardt jr.'s plane. they are going to unload it and take it apart, investigators to try and figure out why exactly it slid off the runway. i want you to take a look at it now that we're on top of it. you can see what happened here. this is the fence the plane tore through, and right here this is what's left of a window. the heat was that intense. it melted the window, turned this plane into a crisp, and it is amazing when you look at this, that the family was able to walk away from this alive. federal investigators put these burned up pieces of dale s planlao beit a l sws. these are e dramatic moments after the plan fami made their escape from the burning wreck. >> it came out of the airfield. it is on fire. >> reporter: incorrectly phone video obtained by our charlotte affiliate, you see the private jet on fire. then the door opens and a man pulls out a child who we now know is the former nascar d

a woman seriously injured trying to protect her dog, and steve osunsami is in bluffton, south carolina morning, steve. >> reporter: good morning to you, david. just to give you a sense of this retirement village, there are a number of lakes and ponds like this one behind me. this happened in a gated community just a little ways away, and the woman here was seriously hurt. this was the emergency at this retirement community about half an hour from hilton head island, south carolina. >> alligator bite. it's a 68-year-old woman bit by an alligator. >> reporter: police say out of the blue, a woman walking her dog in her own background, about 25 yards from a pond was attacked about 10:00 p.m. monday night by an alligator. >> we do not know where the alligator is, or how large it was. >> reporter: her dog survived, but she had to be rushed to the hospital where she remains this morning. >> it was the right leg and hand. the hand is almost chewed off at this time. she's barely conscious. >> alligators are instinctive animals. they feed around nighttime. you should never walk along a body of w

steve osunsami is at the world's busiest airport, hartsfield-jackson in atlanta, with the latest this morning. steve, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, tom. it is a busy morning of travel behind me here at the airport. we are not seeing any flight cancellations due to the storm at this moment but i can guarantee you that is going to change. six airlines are now offering travel waivers, southwest, delta, american, spirit, jetblue and united, and for flights in and out of the caribbean and now florida, the florida list is getting especially long. nearly every major airport on the east coast of florida, ft. lauderdale, melbourne, west palm beach, jacksonville, just to name a few, and most of these are for flights starting tomorrow. 17 cruise ships have now rerouted their schedules to avoid the storm impacting tens of thousands of travelers. florida's three largest airports are now preparing for high winds. in miami they're asking the airlines to tie down large pieces of equipment or remove on a holiday tairfield.a. ig, me >>of the mt seous concerns from this hurricane, life

steve osunsami joins us from atlanta with the details. good morning, steve. >> reporter: good morning to you, michael. this is getting expensive for the drugmakers. if this deal goes through, it would cover treatments for addicted americans. this morning, the drug manufacturer who according to the government makes one of the most common painkillers involved in prescription opioid deaths is offering a potential deal, purdue pharma makers of oxycontin is willing to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits that the drugmaker is currently facing related to opioid addictions. a source tells abc news purdue offered a package that could be worth up to $10 billion to $12 billion. in a statement the company explains that while purdue pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals. "the new york times" is reporting that as part of the proposed settlement, that members of the sackler family who own the drugmaker would give up their stake in the company and pay $

steve osunsami is at hartsfield airport in atlanta with the latest. >> reporter: good morning to you, michael. traffic here is moving well this morning, but the airlines are watching this storm closely, worried about the impact that the storm will have on their flight schedules. so far they're offering travel waivers to passengers flying in and out of 32 airports, mostly in florida and the caribbean. nine airlines are issuing those travel waivers, delta airline, for example, is one of them headquartered here. so far all of the flight cancellations we're seeing are in puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands, but that will change depending on the track of the storm. travelers hoping to take advantage of those flight waivers need to check with their airlines because they're only good for specific dates. 12 cruise ships have also had to change their schedules because of the storm impacting tens of thousands of travelers. royal caribbean is also closing its private island in the bahamas for a week. tom? >> yeah, the timing really couldn't be worse. all right, steve, thanks so much. even wi