. >>> wabc's lee goldberg is in our weather center right now tracking the storms. what do you see, lee? >> and robin, we're now learning of the a sixth fatality. the one in arkansas, a 6-year-old boy crushed by a tree. these are the same storms that were in oklahoma overnight. they're now going through mississippi, tennessee. from nashville, to birmingham. these storms will last right into the weekend. the storms can bring heavy rain, strong winds. dangerous lightning. listen to the watches and warnings from your abc stations. right now, the weather continues to be severe throughout the day. george? >> thanks, lee. >>> now, my interview with president obama, since he announced his re-election run. we talked about everything from the birther battle, to the rising gas prices worrying so many of you. and the president began by brushing back the criticism of congressional republicans who said his blistering budget speech on wednesday has poisoned the well of bipartisanship. >> absolutely not. look, if you look at my speech yesterday, it was not so much a critique of wh

wabc's jeff pegues of our new york affiliate wabc reports. >> reporter: with the weather conditions changingh may be suspended. the hunt uncovered more remains including a skull, adding to the count of a serial killer's possible victims. >> we want to bring to justice this animal that has obviously a taken the lives of a number of people. >> reporter: since december, a total of at least nine, perhaps as many as ten, sets of human remains have been found. among them four women, identified as prostitutes, and we learned that a toddler's remains have also been found. sources tell us, the child appears to be connected to the other bodies in the area. >> i suspect the reasoning behind it was that a woman, a target, had a young child. and i think the killer feared that the child might be a witness. and, therefore, had to kill both. >> reporter: who's responsible? investigators still don't know. but sources tell us that police are looking at several persons of interest and that at least two of them have law enforcement backgrounds. >> he used prepaid or throw away cell phones, that he was only on t

let's go to jeff smith from wabc.on vacation. >> we've been talking about flooding in the heartland. we're going to head out to grand forks, north dakota. 20 feet above flood stage for the red river. and this has three more feet to go before this is all said and done. that will crest late tomorrow night into friday. we'll check what's going on. low pressure will develop out of the rockies and develop into a pretty big storm. providing snowfall in these flood-ravaged areas. guess what happens to snow in the spring. it melts. and moderate to severe weather from dallas to oklahoma city. that storm movering into the c >>> now, here's a look at what's ahead on the "gma morning menu." was a fan removed from the front row at "american idol" for being overweight? she says yes. we'll talk to her coming up. >>> and controversy surrounding j. crew's latest catalog. a little boy with pink painted toe nates has parents seeing red. >>> and gwyneth paltrow and jamie foxx both here in times square, live. you don't want to miss it. [

lucy yang of our affiliate station wabc reports. >> reporter: the westbound lanes remain closed fromak beach all the way to the nassau county border. this, after three more bodies were discovered near oak beach, bringing the total number of victims to eight. >> the likelihood is extremely high that all of these eight victims have a commonality. >> reporter: the officials thought today would be ideal for an extensive search. and, indeed, their efforts turned up what everyone hopes would not be the case, more victims. they brought in cadaver dogs, a platoon of 25 police recruits to beat through the thick brambles. the grim and ever-expanding case began in december, when police were called to look for 24-year-old shannon gilbert, a prostitute on craigslist who went to meet a client here last may. she had not been seen since. officials found four decomposed bodice. all women, all in their 20s. but no shannon gilbert. last week, they found another and three more. experts racing to identify the four, new victims.certai >> certainly, the medical examiner's going to be looking at the possibi

. >> that was wabc's jim dolan reporting. now, pilots that have been flying for years say congestion at the nation's airports is getting worse and could compromise passengers' safety. >>> and turning to the debate over the nation's debt. we're now hours away from hearing what president obama thinks about the issue and how he plans to go about starting to fix it. it's an issue that could define the rest of his first term. emily schmidt is in washington, now, with a preview. hi, emily. >> reporter: rob, good morning to you. president obama plans to outline his proposal to a bipartisan group of congressional leaders this morning. before he gives hiss public speech this afternoon. but getting members of both parties in the same room may prove different than getting them on the same page. president obama's speech today about debt reduction may sound familiar. it comes less than a week after the government almost shut down due to budget disagreements over billions. the debt is $14 trillion. >> now, we're playing with big numbers. t

jeff smith from wabc is in for sam. good morning, jeff. >> hey guys. i found megan from ohio. out near dallas. this is hunt county texas. potential tornado damage that occurred there overnight. the severe storms will head to the southeast. the appalachians, to the mid mid-atlantic states by later tonight, on into tonight. rain up toward the pacific northwest and seattle and tacoma. snow into the rocky mountains. the storms off to the east. 90 in orlando. >> this weather brauk to you by big lots. robin, back to you. >>> coming up next two of our faves from " dry mouth is uncomfortable. it can also lead to serious dental problems. [ male announcer ] new act total care dry mouth is alcohol-free and has fluoride to strengthen teeth. stronger teeth and dry mouth relief. ♪ express yourself ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ oh, do it ♪ ♪ oh, do it ♪ [ female announcer ] coffee is like life. it's better when you add your flavor. coffee-mate, from nestle. >>> you know, they have the strongest marriage on wisteria lane, lynnette and tom. it doesn't hurt that the parents of fife are played by the incredibly talen

and jenn sterger's take on the investigation. >>> we go to jeff smith from wabc.on. hey, jeff. >> we go to north dakota. this is from cass county. courtesy of wday tv there. northwest of fargo. 60 miles of county roads have been shut down in that county, which is the most populous in the state of north dakota. amazing images from nasa. the blue earrings on the left-hand side, on march 7th that was all snow pack. look at what happens. snow melts, less blue on cover. and the red river gets bigger. we have a cold front moving in. spreading more showers in that area. could some more rain and snow later on in the week. >>> now, here's a look at what's coming up on "gma's" morning menu. what's the cast of everybody's favorite sitcom up to now? the reunion you'll only see on "gma," "the facts of life" together again. >>> the royal in-laws. how charles and camilla are getting kate ready for her big day and her new life. >>> and another ballroom blooper for kirstie alley. she lost her shoe. but she never lost a beat. all the highlights from "dancing with the stars." [ fema

here is wabc's toni yates. >> i think that she's the best cook in the whole world. >> reporter: 97-year-oldk is baking banana bread with her preschoolers for a very good reason. >> because it's "n" week. now next week it's "g" week and we'll make good as gold gingersnaps. >> reporter: to the kids, the teachers, to everyone, agnus is granny and the sundance school is happy it's got her. >> when you see someone that you looked forward to seeing, someone who inspired you, someone who touches all of the children that you love, wouldn't you feel like the luckiest person in the world? >> it's the energy that you have. taking care of children is worth it. >> reporter: even at 97. >> anybody would work at 97 if they're able to, and i'm able. >> reporter: granny started to work at sundance 15 years ago after joe, her husband of 61 years, passed away. >> everybody wants to be close to her and that's why i think it feeds both ways. i think they give her energy and she gives us love. >> she never lets anyone like -- one person get something and the other group gets something else. >> reporter: granny i

there was a local anchor for the 5:00 and 11:00 news on wabc, and for me she was the first chinese-american i had ever seen on tv. i wrote her letter when i was 11 and told her i was a big fan and that i wanted to become a newscaster when i grew up. she invited me and my mom to the set and we met everybody. i have a picture of me sitting there with her on the set. years later i was on bloomberg and we used to do the cut-ins for channel 11 here in new york. we had a moment where she tossed it to me. "let's get the latest business headlines." i cannot believe it was happening. >> have you talked to her since all this? >> i have not, directly. >> is she still active? >> yes, she is still out there. >> when you got out of harvard, where did you go? >> i was a management consultant at mercer management consulting in boston. >> consulting about what? >> restructured businesses. i did a lot of case work in financial services. i graduated in 1995 and there was a lot of consolidation in the banking industry. they were gobbling each other up. there was a lot of work to be done. not only did you learn

wabc lee goldberg is in for the vacationing sam champion. looking good, lee. >> i appreciate that. trying to put the sun back in sunrise in the northeast. so great to visit here today. finally, it's drying out in northern maine. we're going to push 60 in boston. great day in new york city, around 67. pushing 70 degrees in d.c. the next big-ticket item in the middle of the country, the storm moving out of the rockies. it will be severe weather later today from wichita to tulsa. and tonight, st. louis and little rock. there could be hail and tornados. even wind gusts up to 70 miles per hour. then, the flooding continues in the upper midwest, into the northern plains. rivers like the red and the cheyenne, at near-record levels, as well. >> and a closer look at the big rain coming to the plains in our next half hour. george? >> thank you, lee. love that pocket square. >>> now, you have the latest example of just how much power justin bieber has. now, he has something in common with american presidents. they've been tripped up by the tangled politics in the middle east. turns out that b

wabc's art mcfarland reports. >> reporter: the black eyed peas need no introduction, but the stars of need to introduce their commitment to education. >> it was in our heart and our soul to do this type of work. our manager didn't tell us to do it. we want to do this. >> reporter: for what they call their pea pod foundation. the members of the group unveiled a new york city version of a facility to promote music and multimedia skills for urban teenagers. >> we are here to be that support that i have for my mother. i want to be that support for whatever dreams you have and give you the strength to say look you can achieve anything that you want to achieve. >> reporter: there are already three california locations of what's being called youth voice academies. they are a partnership between the black eyed peas and adobe foundations. some 150 students per year in new york will have access to music studios, software, and other multimedia tools to create their own projects. >> this program allows me to have a voice in media. >> reporter: the new york version of the academy will be run by th

lucy yang of wabc has more. >> reporter: it has become a nightmarish graveyard and a massive crime scene from oak beach all of the way to the nassau county board e after three more bodies were discovered near oak beach bringing total number of victims to eight. the likelihood is extremely high that all of these eight victims have a commonality, that commonality is that they have made contact with a serial killer and this fellow knows what he's doing. he's smart. >> reporter: with bright skies and milder temperatures, officials thought it would be ideal for an extensive search and indeed, their efforts turned up what everyone hoped would not be the case, more victims. they brought in cadaver dogs, a platoon of 25 police recruits to beat through the thick brambles. fire trucks from three towns give searchers a bird's-eye sue. this grim and ever-expanding case bea bebegan in december when police were called in to look for 25i 4-year-old prostitute on kregs did the list who met a client here last may. she's not been seen since. officials found four our decomposed bodies all women in their 20