leeroy yarbrou tonight, breaking developments as we come on the air. president trump's vicious twitter fire storm. the personal attack against a female tv host. the harsh backlash against the president, even from republican senators. all in the middle of trying to strike a deal on health care. and the big meeting just announced. president trump and vladimir putin face to face. this as abc news first reported one of the president's closest aides now facing questions in the russian investigation. also tonight, deadly collision. tennis star vee nis williams blamed for the crash killing a 78-year-old man. why police say she was at fault. what williams just said. tornado outbreak. more than two dozen twisters reported across four states. homes ripped apart.

millions more in the path tonight. and pushed too far? the pregnant mother catching an alleged thief stealing her purse, and then using her own suv to run the man down. tonight, why they are both charged. and good evening. i'm tom llamas in for david, and we begin with president trump facing the collapse of health care negotiations and the north korean nuclear threat. tonight, int stead, striking condemnation about a cable host of a cable tv news show. the "morning show" host, mika brzezinski, talking about having graphic reference to a facelift. tonight, the white house defending the tweet saying the american people elected a president who fights fire with fire. here's abc's chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl. >> reporter: tonight, donald trump being presidential, welcoming the president of the

south korea to the white house. but earlier today, donald trump being anything but presidential. launching a harsh personal attack on msnbc television host mika brzezinski, calling her "low iq crazy mika." saying that she and co-host and fiancé joe scarborough came to visit him in mar-a-lago in december and quote, she was bleeding badly from a facelift. i said, no. the twitter outburst came after brzezinski criticized the president on her show this morning. >> nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself, lying every day and destroying the country. >> reporter: the president's tweets touched off an avalanche of bi-partisan condemnation. >> i think it's so blatantly sexist, i don't think there is any question about it. >> obviously i don't see that as an appropriate comment. i think -- look, what we're trying to do around here is improve the tone and the civility of the debate. and this obviously doesn't help us do that. >> reporter: among the republicans condemning the president, the two senators who

were seated right next to him on a meeting on health care this week, because he needs their votes. susan collins. >> it clearly was inappropriate, and not something that he should have done. it is beneath the dignity of the office. >> reporter: and fellow republican lisa murkowski, who tweeted, stop it. the presidential platform should be used for more than bringing people down. the white house press briefing was almost entirely consumed with questions about the the president's tweets. >> the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that program. i don't think that it's a surprise to anybody that he fights fire with fire. >> reporter: the episode which seemed to put first lady melania trump in an awkward position. before the election, she had said she would make combatting cyberbullying a cause as first lady. >> have you thought more about what you would like to do as first lady? >> i will focus on helping children and women and also

about helping social media in this 21st century. what is going on, it's very hurtful to children. to some adults as well. >> reporter: melania trump before the election. >> jon karl joins us now, and jon, any response from the first lady to the it president's tweets? >> reporter: we asked the first lady directly about this shortly after the tweets went out. what we got from her office was this statement. as the first lady as stated publicly when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back ten times harder. so no indication she considers this an example of cyberbullying. >> jon, the timing of all this couldn't be worse. the fire storm comes with republicans struggling to cut a deal on health care. >> reporter: and the republicans had hoped to have a deal by tomorrow. the vice president was on capitol hill today meeting with republican senators, but tom, as of this moment, there is no indication whatsoever of any further progress that they are any closer to getting a health

care bill that will pass the senate. >> jonathan karl for us. jonathan, thank you. in the meantime, the russian investigation is closing in on the president's inner circle. a correct me if i'm wrongshal committee wanting to question a man who served at trump tower for more than a decade. he is one of his closest aides, and the date is set for president trump to meet face to face with vladimir putin himself. here's abc's senior white house correspondent, cecilia vega. >> reporter: tonight, abc news has learned the house intelligence committee wants to interview a key member of the president's inner circle, his former body guard, keith schiiler. sources say investigators told schiiler and at least one other aide close to the president they are potential witnesses in the probe into possible ties between team trump and the russians. schiiler did not respond the requests for comment. a key reason investigators want to talk to him, he has known trump for years, and is just about always by the president's side. a former new york city police

officer after the election, the president gave schiiler the sitele, director of oval office. among his jobs, handle delivering the letter that james comey will be fired. he was there for that visit to the vatican, and he accompanied jared kushner to iraq. schiiler there seated at the table with top military leaders. >> excuse me. sit down. you weren't called. sit down. sit down. sit down. >> reporter: but it is his time on the kpran trail that garnered the most attention. >> go back to your position. >> reporter: after this look from his boss, it was shiller who ushered jorge ramos out of that now infamous news conference. >> don't touch me, sir. you cannot touch me. >> reporter: it was schiiler seen outside of trump tower punching a protester in the face. >> and cecilia vega joins us from the white house. cecilia, as the russia investigation continues, today, the white house announced president trump will soon meet

face to face with vladimir putin. >> reporter: it will happen next week no germany, tom. durm that summit. will president trump raise the issue of russian interference in the election? so far, we are told by the white house the agenda for that meeting has not yet been set, tom. >> cecile gentleman, thank you. next tonight, the white house taking action against north korea by pressuring china. the administration blacklisting a small chinese bang that it accuses of laundering money to north korea for its missile systems. cutting off the bank's access systems to financial programs. and president trump's scaled back version of the travel ban taking effect tonight. it applies to the same six predomestic, in part,ly muslim countries. people with visas are allowed to come in, but if you want to get a new visa, you have to have a link with a school, or have a close family relationship. they have to define how they define that by parents and

siblings or not p. vrgets also t shootout in a busy american city. two police officers on patrol stopping two men when bullets started to fly. the two officers critically injured. abc's matt gutman "details coming if from san antonio. >> reporter: a gunfight and chaos erupting in downtown san antonio tonight. the pair of officers were on routi routi routi routine patrol when they tried to blast the officers. >> as soon as they stepped out of the vehicle, the one suspect opened fire. striking one officer in the head. facial area. >> reporter: the other officer reportedly returning fire and risking his life to save has partner. >> he was pulling his partner out of the line of fire once he was hit. >> reporter: one gunman shot by police. the other taken into custody. tom, the sheriff saying that gunfight lasted just seconds, but it left both of those officers in critical condition. tonight, the governor of texas tweeting out his thoughts and

prayers for both of those officers, tom. >> just like ours. all right, matt. thanks so much. next tonight, the investigation of a deadly traffic accident involving tennis star venus williams. williams and another driver colliding in an intersection near her florida home. the newly released report finding that she was at fault. abc's gio benitez with the details. >> reporter: tonight, venus williams under the spotlight, but not for the usual reason. the 37-year-old tennis star is being blamed for a traffic accident where a passenger in the other car ultimately died. here's the map from the police report. at the intersection? palm beach gardens, florida, three weeks ago, the report says williams cut across in front of a car, t-boning williams. the 78-year-old passenger was rush to the hospital for head trauma and died two weeks later. his wife, who was driving survived. williams advised she did not see the other car, and says she is at fault for the accident. her spokesperson saying she

entered on a green light. this is an unfortunate accident and venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one. in the report, police do not believe venus was drarkted or under the influence of alcohol. tonight, no citations or charges for williams, but police are still investigating. tom. >> gio, thank you. next to the severe weather watch at this hour. thunderstorms on the- tonight. 15 million people in their path. it comes after a night of violent storms. more than two dozen reported tornadoes. this one, in prairieburg, iowa. abcs a alex brez is in wisconsin. >> reporter: tonight, millions watching the skies. severe weather on the move after a wild 24 hours. overnight a tornado outbreak spanning four states. spawning at least 27 reported tornados. in iowa, the funnels started touching down around dinnertime.

including a powerful ef-2 captured at the linn county fair. >> get out of here! >> reporter: heavy rain and snapped trees in the twister's wake. >> it was like it just hovering, it was just slow motion and it was really dark. >> reporter: some of the worst damage west of eau claire, wisconsin. the walls of this gruj ripped off. the family truck thrown into the yard. >> you're looking around and trying to figure out how this happened that quickly. just unimaginable. >> reporter: in all, more than 120 see veer reports from this system. including up to baseball-sized hail in part of iowa. and tom, we now know the tornado that ripped this home apart was 700 miles wide, and turning 500 miles per hour. >> a massive twister. alex, thank you. we are tracking more tornado warnings, and abc's senior meteorologist, rob marciano is here. >> not as much spin in the atmosphere as last night, but instability, and these are getting big. we have severe thunderstorm watches out for parts of colorado, kansas, nebraska, and in omaha, huge hail, and tornado

warnings out there. also heavy rain across the coast, and mobile, alabama. flooding there. these will expand in the overnights and more rain for the southeast. wichita, and some will be severe. tomorrow, they will stretch around the frount. from oklahoma city to the buffalo, and you could see damaging wind and possibly a few tornadoes. a rough day for the folks there trying to travel for the holiday weekend, tom. >> we'll track it. thapgs so much. firefighters a across the west battling several new fires. this breaking out overnight in san clemmen tay, california. rushing to save every home in calabasas. a new fire erupting this afternoon burning quickly through the ill hads. more than two dozen major fires are burning from washington to texas. red flag warnings are still in effect there. here in new york city tonight, the governor declaring a state of emergency for the city's transportation system. the announcement after the accident on a subway earlier

this week. dozens of people injured in the rush hour derailment. emergency declaration there provide money for upgrades and repairs to the system. next, one of the pope's closest advisers charged with sex abuse tonight. he is facing multiple counts in his native australia. he is the highest ranking member of the clergy ever accused. abc's james longman reports. >> reporter: it's the bombshell scandal hitting the very heart of the vatican. this man, cardinal george pell, the church's third highest ranking official accused of sex assault. >> cardinal pell is facing multiple charges of sexual offenses. >> reporter: the claims go back to his time as a young priest in australia. claims he denies. >> the whole idea of sexual abuse is abhorrent to me. >> reporter: the pope granting pell leave as he faces an australian court next month.

pel pell has faced questions before. >> reporter: last year, accused of mishandling child abuse cases against priests. pell admitting mistakes. >> reporter: pell was hand-picked by pope francis to head vatican finances, a huge responsibility which made him part of the pope's inner circle. tom, the pope has said he's committed to tackling the whole issue of child abuse just last month, promising a, quote, "zero tolerance" policy for sex abuse. critics say he is not doing enough. tom? >> james longman for us tonight. james, thank you jts there is much more ahead on "world news tonight" this thursday. the pregnant mom fighting back against an alleged thief. caught on camera, the victim taking on the suspect in the parking lot. running him down with her suv. tonight, why both are facing charges. plus, the dramatic police chase across state lines. the robbery suspect trying to outrun officers. speeding across a corn field. and rescue at sea off the american coast. five people clinging to their

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ask your doctor about lyrica. if you are eligible, you could pay as little as $25 dollars a month. back now with a wild scene making national headlines. a pregnant woman using her suu to run down the alleged thief who was rummaging through her purse. police say both are now facing charges. here's abc's steve osunsami. >> reporter: it's alarming to see, and someone here could have gotten killed. police tonight say that even though the pregnant woman behind the wheel of this red suv was robbed, they say she went too far when she tried to run over the alleged thief. watch again. this is how it went down yesterday in the parking lot of an asheville, north carolina walma walmart. >> she slammed on her brakes, crammed it in reverse, and run over the medium over there, in between, and hit him in the back. >> reporter: police sasay that 34-year-old robert raines suffered only minor injuries. he's is accused of breaking into the woman's suv, is facing

multiple charges tonight including felony breaking and entering. >> when i walked out of walmart, he had her purse and was pulling all of her stuff out. >> reporter: 26-year-old christine braswell was arrested, and is charged tonight with misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon. >> me being five months pregnant, i chased a little ways then come back, jumped in the car, threw it in gear and come across the curb and ran him over. i was not going to let him get away with it. it's not right, it's not fair. >> reporter: brasswell faces a maximum sentence of two years in jail if she is convicted. it's possible she could do no time at all. tom? >> steve osunsami, thank you. when we come back, the rescue at sea. five people holding onto their capsized boat. and the chase across state lines. racing across the corn field. the dramatic sbraens a a short time ago. and a couple asking for more and a couple asking for more than a souver baseball. about a medication...

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>> reporter: braswell will have time now for our index and

the dramatic police chase crossing state lines. take a look at this. a robbery suspect trying to outrun police in louisville, kentucky. the 45-minute chase leading police into indiana. the suspect wanted for more than a dozen robberies. cutting across that corn field. police ramming his pickup truck. you see it there. the suspect now in custody. now to that rescue at sea off the coast of north carolina. the coast guard pulling four adults and a 4-year-old boy to safety. the coast guard says all five were wearing life jackets, helping them survive until they arrived. and the impromptu wedding with 45,000 guests. cardinals fans tyson and alyssa baker waving the sign at busch stadium, saying if there is an ordain minister, we are ready to marry right here. a minister arriving in the third inning. they tied the knot in the sixth. everybody teared up.

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>> reporter: in his wildest dreams, kaden wilson never thought turning 7 would look this great. a cake, presents. even a deejay. >> happy birthday, kaden. where you at, baby boy? >> reporter: sounds all normal, right? well, when kaden's mother, stacy, asked him about a birthday party, he said no. >> he came to me and said, no one would come to his party and he didn't have that many friends at school. >> reporter: with nowhere to turn, mom stacy went to facebook. she had heard about an arkansas police officer who went above and beyond for the community. he looks like one tough cop, but he has become a fee no, ma'am for his tenderness. he told followers about kaden, poe posting, would anyone else be interested in sending him a birthday card? that went viral. cards, gifts, food and people.

new friends ready to celebrate. and officer norman sending kaden this message. >> people all over the world came together to make sure this this is one birthday you will never forget. >> reporter: kaden sending this message right back. >> i had an amazing birthday. it was a blast. >> reporter: and for that mom who started this process in tears worried about her son -- >> he feels loved and so do i. i meerngs it has been awesome. i want to tell everybody thank you so much. >> reporter: happy birthday, kaden. thank you for watching on a thursday night. i'm tom llamas. i hope to see you right back here tomorrow. for david and all of us here, good night.

you're looking at live pictures from sky 7 where views are trying to keep the fires from spreading. good afternoon. thank you for joining us. >> we have the very latest on what's happening. >> reporter: we're inside grant ranch, a county park that just below the observatory on the slope of mount hamilton. right here is where two of the fires are burning now. they are in a controlled burn situation now. that means the firefighters are keeping a close watch and allowing the vegetation to burn together. two fires are at this location about a quarter mile apart. they have burned into one fire leaving all that black, charred land. there's a number of aircraft and a number of units on the ground

here. cal fire has an air tanker here that's been dropping retardant. we see a helicopter that can do aerial drops. the wind is fairly calm up here. the fire has not raced up or down the hills. at first they thought it was going to be burning together but that does not appear to be the case. sky 7 was also overhead of some other fires. there's two other fires that's been burning. another fire at twin gates that's about two miles in the ob sit direction. this is point not sure after what the total acreage is. we do not see any buildings, any structures in danger. this is going to