balanceus.org tonight several developing stories as we come on the air. federal prosecutors are now involved tonight after the bombshell allegation from amazon ceo jeff bezos accusing the publisher of the "national enquirer" of blackmail. he says they threatened him with compromising photos. the company now responding tonight. the high school shooting. an armed man walking into the school shooting the hall monitor. what happened next? that school on lockdown. the plane crash and the search and rescue operation off south florida tonight. the fiery showdown on capitol hill. the acting attorney general matt whitaker is grilled. did he talk to the president about robert mueller's investigation? temperatures set to plunge overnight. single digit windchills across much of the country. rob marciano is here. the major new development tonight. the mother last seen on thanksgiving. her fiance charged and now the

nurse linked to him. what she admitted to today. the new intense stand off with venezuela tonight. president nicolas maduro trying to hold on to power. tonight blocking humanitarian aid, and our team is right there where this is all unfolding tonight. a chilling confession, the young man accused of killing his childhood friend. she was just a teenager. tonight you'll hear the audio as he calmly describes what he allegedly did. and we remember an actor tonight. his roles from "annie" to "erin brockovich." good evening. as we come on the air in the west it's great to have you with us. a very busy friday night. a lot to get to. we begin with the face-off between amazon ceo jeff bezos the richest man in america and the "national enquirer." tonight federal prosecutors are looking at this. bezos alleging the owners of the "national enquirer" were trying to blackmail him with compromising photos of him. bezos going public with the

emails that lawyers for the "national enquirer" sent him describing in detail the photos they said they had. tonight the paper's parent company is now response and abc's linsey davis is leading us off. >> reporter: tonight, federal prosecutors are now reviewing those bombshell allegations by jeff bezos who claims the "national enquirer" attempted to extort and blackmail him by threatening to release compromising pictures, including nude photos of the billionaire if he did not back off of his investigation of the tabloid. the tabloid saying they acted lawfully in what they called negotiations with the amazon founder. but after he says he was threatened with those photos, he decided to go public, posting a lengthy blog which allegedly contained emails between him and representatives of the "national enquirer" leaving in embarrassing details writing, "of course i don't want personal photos published, but i also don't want to participate in their well-known practice of blackmail, political favors, political attacks, and corruption."

it all started last month when just days after bezos and his wife announced they were divorcing after 25 years, private text messages with his alleged mistress lauren sanchez were published by "the enquirer." bezos, who also owns "the washington post," which reports extensively on the trump administration, hired his own investigators he says to determine how the tabloid got pictures of him and if they were politically motivated, referencing ami chairman and ceo david pecker's close relationship with the president who has frequently gone after bezos. >> "washington post," i have to tell you -- i have respect for jeff bezos, but he bought "the washington post" to have political influence. >> reporter: bezos says he started receiving threatening emails referring to those personal photos that included of bezos naked wearing "nothing but a white towel" and his wedding ring and showing the top of his pubic region. according to the emails, the company would agree "not to publish, distribute, share, or describe unpublished texts and photos." in exchange, bezos would stop

his investigation and publicly state that he has "no knowledge" that "the enquirer's" reporting was "politically motivated." tonight one more major turn. prosecutors will now be reviewing whether the owners of the "national enquirer" violated an immunity agreement they reached with feds looking into a campaign finance violation that involved the "national enquirer" killing stories potentially damaging to the president just before the election. >> if the prosecutors in their discretion believe that a crime has been committed, that could wipe out that immunity agreement and lead to additional prosecutions. >> the parent company of the "national enquirer" issued a statement today saying they acted lawfully and that at the time of the recent allegations made by mr. bezos it was in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with him. still they say they plan to convene the board to investigate, david. >> linsey davis leading us off. linsey, thank you. to other news and the fiery

showdown on capitol hill tonight. acting attorney general matt whitaker was gilled today about the robert mueller investigation. he was asked did he talk to president trump about mueller and does he think it's a witch-hunt? here's abc's chief justice correspondent pierre thomas now. >> reporter: on capitol hill today, house democrats tried to put the nation's top law enforcement official on trial. >> we're all trying to figure out who are you. where did you come from? and how the heck did you become the head of the department of justice? >> well, i mean, congressman -- >> mr. whitaker, that was a statement, not a question. >> reporter: democrats grilling acting attorney general matthew whitaker on the mueller investigation. whitaker pushing back. >> in your capacity as acting attorney general, have you ever been asked to approvanquest or b >> mr. chairman, i see that your five minutes is up.

so we -- i am here voluntarily. we have agreed to five-minute rounds. >> reporter: before president trump picked him for the job, whitaker publicly questioned the mueller investigation. but today he offered these assurances. >> i have not interfered in any way with the special counsel's investigation. i have not talked to the president of the united states about the special counsel's investigation. >> reporter: but whitaker refusing to answer whether the investigation, which he himself supervises, is a witch-hunt, as president trump has said. >> are you overseeing a witch-hunt? >> congressman, as i've mentioned previously, the special counsel's investigation is an ongoing investigation, and so i think it would be inappropriate for me to -- >> but you wouldn't oversee a witch-hunt, would you? you'd stop a witch-hunt, wouldn't you? >> congressman, it would be inappropriate for me to talk about an ongoing investigation. >> reporter: republicans on the house judiciary committee blasting the hearing as a pointless character assassination. >> bring your popcorn. i'm thinking about maybe we just set up a popcorn machine in the back, because that's what this is becoming. it's becoming a show. >> pierre thomas with us live

tonight from the capitol and, pierre, lawmakers are also pressing the acting attorney general on his recent statement that the mueller investigation is close to being completed. he was pressed. did he learn that from mueller himself? >> reporter: they did press him. he refused to offer any more details. he said bob mueller will finish his investigation when he wants to finish his investigation. david. >> pierre thomas with us on a friday night. pierre, thank you. next to the school shooting at a high school in baltimore tonight. an armed man showing up in the lobby shooting a hall monitor. right here what happened next as that school went into lockdown. abc's stephanie ramos is on the scene tonight. >> reporter: baltimore police got the call of the shooting just after noon. >> medic aid respond, frederick douglass high school, for a shooting. >> reporter: police say a 25-year-old man entered the lobby of frederick douglass high school and shot a hall monitor in the lower torso. the school put on lockdown. students and teachers hiding in classrooms.az man. it's crazy. >> reporter: one teacher

tweeting, "kids are aggravated and seem nervous, but we're okay." >> we believe that this is an outside person that entered the school to confront someone inside the school. >> school police officers were nearby. they were able to engage the suspect, take him into custody without incident. >> reporter: worried parents racing to the campus that is now a crime scene. david, school sources confirm tonight the shooter was a relative of a student. the hall monitor is in serious but stable condition. david? >> stephanie ramos, thank you. next to the search and rescue operation under way off south florida tonight. a cargo plane crashing into the ocean. a coast guard helicopter pulling one crew member right there frog that search operatid >> rorte the mancooped coast guard is being treated tonight while the search continues for the other person on board the cargo plane, which made a mayday call just before hitting the water. >> miami, you got any updates on that airplane? i just want to get any news on that mayday.

>> reporter: the man rescued was flown to a local hospital. his head bandaged as he was wheeled to the emergency room. as boats arrived, they found parts of the plane. a wing, other floating debris. the plane was on a flight from the bahamas to the miami area. this is the twin engine plane, owned by conquest air cargo, which says on its website that it is the daily air cargo provider for nassau and the bahamas. the coast guard says at this hour it is continuing the search for the missing pilot. the man in the hospital is listed in stable condition according to his company. david? >> david kerley reporting. thank you. next to the brutal winter blast as we start the weekend. windchills in the single digits across much of the country tonight into tomorrow. a new pacific storm slamming the west at this hour. let's get to rob marciano. he's tracking it all for us. hey, rob. >> hey, david. the cold winds have picked up snapping us back to winter reality along with the rest of the country. look at the windchills in the morning. single digits along the northeast. uppe20orel i

upper midwest. in the northwest seattle getting slammed with snow. then portland. moves out pretty quickly. four to eight inches expected in the emerald city. that is debilitating and there's more snow coming for the northwest later in the weekend. david? >> rob, thank you. there are new developments tonight about the missing mom from colorado. she was last seen on that surveillance on thanksgiving. her fiance already charged with murder. and tonight now a nurse has offered her own confession. what she admitted to today. abc's clayton sandell is in the courtroom. >> reporter: the mystery woman at the center of the kelsey berreth murder case tonight making a deal with prosecutors. krystal lee kenney pleading guilty to helping berreth's fiance patrick frazee get rid of evidence. >> i learned patrick frazee had committed a homicide. i moved the victim's cell phone with an intent to impair the phone's availability in the investigation. >> reporter: multiple sources say kenney and frazee were romantically involved. her family says the only reason she helped him is because he allegedly threatened her. >> you see him? he's in cuffs.

>> reporter: frazee now charged with murdering berreth last seen thanksgiving day. her parents say they're grateful to prosecutors for today's plea deal. >> they want every wrongdoer involved with this case to be brought to justice. >> reporter: kenney was free to go today, but she could eventually be sentenced to jail time. and as part of her plea deal, she agrees to testify against patrick frazee in his murder trial. he's not entered a plea. david? >> clayton, thank you. next to the political crisis in virginia. tonight with the governor initially the one under fire, a new signal from him as the lieutenant governor faces now a second allegation of sexual assault. abc's tom llamas is just back from virginia. >> reporter: the week began with demands that virginia governor ralph northam resign after admitting he once wore blackface. it ends with calls for virginia's second in command to step down as well. >> we'll have our say. i'm confident in the truth. thank you so much. >> reporter: lieutenant governor justin fairfax now facing a new

accusation of sexual assault. meredith watson, one of his classmates at duke, says fairfax raped her in 2000. tonight, the lieutenant governor calling the allegation "demonstrably false," insisting "i have never forced myself on anyone ever." watson is the second woman to come forward this week. dr. vanessa tyson alleges fairfax forced her to perform oral sex in a hotel room at the 2004 democratic national convention. fairfax says their encounter was consensual. >> do you remember dr. tyson ever crying? >> look, it's good to see you, man. >> reporter: and tonight, the lieutenant governor calling for a full investigation to clear his name. tonight we have even more breaking news as more and more democrats call on lieutenant governor fairfax to step down, he says he will not resign. but now another democrat, a virginia delegate says he will introduce articles of impeachment on monday if fairfax doesn't step down. david, so much going on. also the governor said today he will not resign. >> he says he's going to stay. tom, we'll be watching this weekend. in other news to

the growing crisis in venezuela at this hour. a tense standoff over desperately needed supplies. a convoy of trucks full of food and medicine has now been stopped at the border tonight. abc's victor oquendo is on the scene. >> reporter: tonight, the border standoff. those shipping containers and a tanker blocking vital humanitarian aid from entering venezuela. all at the request of its embattled president nicolas maduro, who is refusing the american aid, calling it "a humiliation." nine truckloads of humanitarian aid now stacked up inside this warehouse, ready to get to the people of venezuela who so desperately need it. they're hoping this shipment is the first of many. the shipments sent at the request of juan guaido, the man who claims he is venezuela's legal president and is backed by the trump administration. meanwhile, thousands continue fleeing venezuela. we met this womravels hundreds of miles -- why are you crossing the border? [ speaking a foreign language ] >> they don't have food. they don't have water. they don't have medicine. many telling us tonight they

remain hopeful the aid makes it in. >> victor oquendo reporting from near the colombian border. we know, victor, that stream of people has been continuing all day long. you reported earlier. they're people leaving venezuela. the president of venezuela and the man who is being recognized by the u.s. as the president, they're both dueling over the aid and whether it will be blocked? >> reporter: that's right, david. maduro said if the u.s. wants to help, they should lift the sanctions which he says hurt ordinary people, although they target his regime. meanwhile, guaido says he promises to get that aid inside the country. all this as the worst humanitarian crisis in the hemisphere continues. >> victor oquendo and our team there on the border. thank you. there's still much more ahead on this friday night. a chilling confession. you'll hear the secret recording. the young man accused of killing his childhood friend. she was just a teenager. and the audio, what he says in a moment. the major recall just in tonight involving more than a million cars and their air bags.

what you need to know. celebrating an actor tonight, his roles from "annie" to "erin brockovich." a lot more news ahead. a lot more news ahead. is rolls from an in to erin brockovitch. it not only saves about 80% in carbon emissions... it helps reduce landfill waste. that's why bp is partnering with a california company: fulcrum bioenergy. to turn garbage into jet fuel. because we can't let any good ideas go to waste. at bp, we see possibilities everywhere. to help the world keep advancing. you may have gum disease and could be on a journey to much worse. try parodontax toothpaste. it's three times more effective at removing plaque, the main cause of bleeding gums. leave bleeding gums behind with parodontax toothpaste. leave bleeding gums behind tremfya® is for adults with remoderate. to severe plaque psoriasis. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer.

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and strengthens my joints for the long-term. osteo bi-flex because i'm made to move. next tonight, chilling video in a murder trial in new jersey. prosecutors playing the video and what they say it proves. here's erielle reshef. >> reporter: tonight, those chilling tapes of what new jersey prosecutors say is a clear confession by an accused killer. >> it took me half an hour to kill her. >> reporter: the recordings appearing to show liam mcatasney coldly describing how he murdered sarah stern in december 2016, both 19 years old at the time. >> i choked her out, drag her. and my biggest problem was the dog and her dog laid there and watched as i killed her. >> reporter: the motive prosecutors say, to steal cash from stern. >> the worst part of it is i thought i was walking out of there with 50 grand or 100 grand in my pocket. she had one safe that she took money out, and she only had 10 grand.

>> reporter: that secretly recorded video part of a sting operation using mcatasney's friend anthony curry. his defense arguing he fabricated the story for a horror film that curry was working on. david, mcatasney has pleaded not guilty. he faces life in prison without parole if convicted. david? >> erielle, thank you. when we come back, the major recall, more than a million cars, and remembering a famous actor. million cars and remembering a famous actor. can really get you going. but mania, such as unusual changes in your mood, activity or energy levels, can leave you on... shaky ground. help take control by asking your healthcare provider about vraylar. vraylar treats acute mania of bipolar i disorder. vraylar significantly reduces overall manic symptoms, and was proven in adults with mixed episodes who have both mania and depression. vraylar should not be used in elderly patients with dementia, due to increased risk of death or stroke.

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including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can occur. for all the things that move you. ask your doctor about taltz. to the index, new recalls involving those takata air bags. 1.7 million vehicles from several automakers involved. subaru, tesla and bmw over concerns the air bag deflator may explode. we have much more on our website for you. celebrating an actor tonight. albert finney has died. he starred, of course, in "annie," "tom jones" and "erin brockovich." julia roberts tonight calling him a joy and privilege to work with.

finney was 82. when we come back tonight, a clue for you. what we showed you on monday, who are our persons of the week >> and the special tonight on "20/20" at 9:00 p.m. a case we followed for years. tonight a mother, a wife, her second husband dead. >> it was really an incredible scene. they find the husband on the bed, and he's dead. >> her first husband dead. his body exhumed from the grave and then her daughter poisoned. >> you had this almost unbelievable story of a mom who may have tried to kill her daughter to cover up killing two of her husbands. >> she came pretty close to getting away with it. >> it didn't work out that way. >> the story stunned the nation. now new interviews, new details and the david muir prison interview that made national headlines. >> stacy castor is convicted of killing her husband, convicted of attempted murder of her daughter. she's walking towards us. we wonder what is she going to say this time? >> the "20/20" special. >> the black widow. >> tonight at a special time,

9:00 p.m. eastern, 8:00 central time here on abc.

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finally tonight our pers finally tonight, our persons of the week. the men and women serving, their sacrifice in america's longest war. we started the week with our reporting from afghanistan. flying over kabul with the four star general scott miller, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. >> you actually got a good day to fly in kabul. >> reporter: this is a pivotal moment in america's longest war. and we witnessed special forces training the afghans to lead the fight. colonel darren blatt -- >> we certainly want to see the afghans in the lead. you certainly want to see the afghans doing all of, all the training, doing all the operations. >> and the afghans are leading right here. >> afghans are totally leading. >> reporter: and while washington debates any possible

drawdown of u.s. troops, we met many of them who have sacrificed time with family, who have put their own lives in danger. lieutenant colonel jill moss from coudersport, pennsylvania. her family back home. she is here. she speaks dari with the afghans. >> you're able to form better relationships with them, and in this culture it just means a great deal. >> captain carly costello from marietta, georgia. >> i remember -- i remember 9/11. i was in seventh grade when it happened and my brother was in fifth grade and that night that it happened, my brother always wanted to be a marine. honestly he's my inspiration for why i want to be out here. >> is your brother serving now too? >> he is, yes, sir. >> both of you were inspired by that day? >> both of us. >> reporter: master sergeant kyle leonard who enlisted at 17. he thinks of his young family back home and wrigley field, where through the years he has used his military i.d. to get in. >> my family is something that you really think of, and you have time to think of, when you're on side of the mountain. >> and your military i.d., what was the cost to get in?

>> so it was 20 bucks, that was a couple years ago. but it was $20, you buy a hot dog and a beer and watch a cubs game. >> i hope you get that again soon. >> yes, thank you. >> reporter: and we were there for the sunday workout with the four-star general. >> make a phone call home. tell them we say thank you as well. >> reporter: the u.s. commander thanking them all. major adam scher of new york city. he was a cadet at west point on 9/11. >> i hope that we're setting the conditions for a political settlement in the future. >> reporter: and first lieutenant natalia calsaquio from puerto rico. she came to afghanistan after the hurricane maria. >> how is everyone doing back home? >> we are struggling, but we are doing okay. i'm here for them and to give a better future for my entire family. >> reporter: the troops don't know here, if and when any drawdown of u.s. troops could happen. what they do know is they're here for their families, for their country, for as long as they're needed. so we choose all of the men and women who serve their country in uniform. i'm david muir. hope to see you on monday. breaking news, the search for armed and dangerous

suspects, who held up a wells fargo bank in the east bay, that was just the beginning of their violent crime spree. >> i'm spencer christian. get ready for a weekend of rainy and possibly snowy weather. i'll have the forecast coming up. >> i didn't know what to do. >> what he did do may have saved his life. tonight, hear from the driver whose car was hit by the first falling chunks of concrete on the richmond-san rafael bridge yesterday. all the colors of the rain. live doppler 7 is lit up in shades of green, yellow and even flecks of orange, as the first in a series of weekend storms drenches the bay area. good evening, thanks for joining us. >> today's storm ranks one, meaning light on the abc 7 news storm impact scale but bringing rain to the entire bay area. >> let's start with a live look in the north bay which usually sees the most rain when storms hit. we can't see much here, from our mount tam cam there. to the east bay, you're

looking live in waun, walnut cr drivers on 680, drivers found puddles in pleasantton and a steady rain fell and useful for pedestrians of all ages. >> and here is a live look at san francisco international airport. travelers are facing delays tonight because of the weather. you can see the wetness out there tonight. flight aware.com reports 26 flights have been canceled at sfo and more than 293 others have been delayed. abc 7 news in san francisco, during this downpour a few puddles started to form on the rain-soaked streets around powell and bay. and a live look at highway 101 in san jose, slow-going on the slick roads. the water district has been releasing water from anderson reservoir in morgan hill all week long to make sure it does not overflow. >> let's bring in spencer christian tracking the weather. >> and much of the heavier