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tv   ABC World News Tonight With David Muir  ABC  February 8, 2021 3:30pm-4:00pm PST

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tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. authorities warning americans to keep their guard up amid concern over a surge of potential infections after super bowl parties and get-togethers, and tonight also, the concern over the variants of the virus here in the u.s. one study now suggesting cases of the uk variant could be doubling every ten days here in ly becom the dominant strain here by march. and what dr. fauci is saying tonight about that second dose of the vaccine. and news tonight on the newest potential weapon, that single shot from johnson & johnson. we have it all tonight. meantime, the hunt for mutations in the uk, after they were hit with the uk variant and others. what they're seeing there with the u.s. bracing for that uk variant to become the dominant strain here. our team inside the lab where they're hunting down the
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variants tonight. former president trump and his second senate impeachment trial set to begin tomorrow. after telling his supporters to, quote, fight l hell thisawrsowy telly.cag t former president's defense implausible. what to watch for tomorrow in this trial and we're live on the hill tonight. president biden and his $1.9 trillion covid relief bill. tonight, there is news house democrats want to add a child tax credit of up to $3,600 per child. where does the president stand on this tonight? and the white house now reacting to the congressional budget office analysis. what it says about raising the federal minimum wage to $15. what would it do to jobs, what would it do for poverty in this country? another breaking headline as we come on. the fbi and the secret service now investigating tonight the hack. who broke into a city's water plant computer system.
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were they trying to poison the water supply? what they changed in the water, and why authorities are so concerned tonight. the deadly avalanches. four skiers killed in one avi avalanche in utah. and the images coming in of yet another. and the grandfather charged after authorities say he dropped his 18-month-old granddaughter from that 11th sortry window on a cruise ship. the family defending him all along and tonight, that grandfather and the sentence. good evening and it's great to have you with us as we start another week together. and tonight, that breaking headline. the fbi and secret service n stigating that hacknt ci the computer system. were hackers trying to poison the water? also, that historic second impeachment trial begins tomorrow and what we've learned tonight. but we're going to begin this evening with authorities urging americans not to let their guard
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down with the coronavirus. cases down from their january peak, but of course, that concern that the uk variant could become the dominant variant in this country. and then, of course, the images from over the weekend. fans moments after the buccaneers first touchdown. authorities were concerned about super bowl parties going in. after the bucs vikts victory, crowds celebrating in the streets. the uk variant could be doubling every ten days in this country. that spread in a race for the vaccine. 31.6 million people have been vaccinated. just 10% of the population. dr. anthony fauci and what he's saying tonight about the second dose of the vaccine. and the laser focus on getting this week, a million doses will go out to pharmacies across the country. johnson & johnson's single shot vaccine could become the third vaccine here in the u.s., so, where does the timing stand on that tonight? we will carefully guide it through it all and we begin here with abc's eva pilgrim leading
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us off. >> reporter: tonight, fears of a new wave of infections fueled by a weekend of super bowl celebrations. after scenes of maskless parties in the streets and bars of tampa, the cdc director today urging americans to double down. >> i'm asking everyone to please keep your guard up. the continued proliferation of variants remains of great concern and is a threat that could reverse the recent positive trends we are seeing. >> reporter: a new study showing cases of that highly infectious uk variant are doubling every ten days in this country. so far, 10% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. dr. anthony fauci today stressing the second dose is not only important for individuals, it's important to keep the virus from mutating. this week, los angeles only giving out those second shots. but so many people have been scrambling to get a second appointment, like jean fitzgerald in washington. >> i feel like i'm kind of under
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a time crunch. you need to be able to schedule the second shot. >> reporter: the president today taking a virtual tour of a mass vaccination site in arizona and keeping to his timeline to have enough vaccine doses by summer for 300 million americans. >> we're optimistic that we'll have enough of the vaccine in the pipeline to be able so to provide shots, including double shots, for over 300 million people before we get through the summer. >> reporter: pfizer announcing they are now rolling out doses faster than originally planned, cutting their production time in half. with demand for vaccines only growing, all eyes are on that johnson & johnson vaccine the fda could green light by the end of the month. we got an inside look at emergent biosolutions in baltimore, where teams are >> since september, that's really when the manufacturing started, our engineering runs, and we've been in constant production since. >> reporter: and tonight, researchers are tracking an increase in confirmed cases in
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children, up 10% in the last two weeks. the family of makenzie gongora in san antonio is looking for answers. she was sick can covid and recovering at home. >> doctors told them kind of the standard thing that they told parents with kids with covid, especially with no respiratory issues, to keep an eye on her, keep her comfortable. >> reporter: but just three days after she tested positive, makenzie passed away. her cause of death still under review. >> and e have pilgrim is in baltimore where they are now working on that johnson & johnson vaccine, that single dose vaccine. and eva, president biden sticking to his timeline today, saying he would have 300 million americans vaccinated, he hopes, by the end of summer and that prediction doesn't take into account what the single shot could do for this timeline. >> reporter: that's right, david. johnson & johnson has committed 100 million doses by the end of june. they are working, as you can see here behind me, around the clock to get this first wave of this
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vaccine ready to go out, as soon as they get authorization and they could happen as soon as the early end of this month. david? >> this is a race against time, eva, as you know. and tonight, the hunt for the mutations in the uk, after they were hit with the uk variant. others, of course. what they're nowhe u.s. now bra the uk variant to become potentially the dominant strain here in just weeks. abc's senior foreign correspondent ian pannell tonight inside the lab where they're hunting down mutations of the virus and how often they're actually seeing this virus change within just a month. >> reporter: tonight, inside the desperate hunt for new, highly contagious mutations of covid-19. the uk variant, now sweeping america, has already devastated parts of britain. and now, there's an even more worrying mutation, the south african variant. so rapid surge testing is now underway in parts of england to check everyone in neighborhoods entifiank's been
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>> i'm scared stiff. we're frightened, we're old people now. only possible because of what happens here at the sanger it's the global leader in genomic sequencing what makes up the new strains. this is some of the most important work on covid-19 in the world. the millions of samples arrive here and then taken into that building and that's where the hunt for the mutations really begins. experts say the covid-19 virus mutates about twice a month, most are no more harmful. but some, like the u.s. and south african variants, are much more transmissible. that could mean more people getting sick and dying and raises urgent questions about how well the new vaccines will work. >> we are in a position globally that we're detecting these mutations, we know they're there, we have vaccine technology that potentially could overcome them. so, while they're concerning, we do have the technology. >> reporter: but the challenge is clear. in south africa over the
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weekend, health officials halting use of the astrazeneca vaccine, because it did not appear to protect trial volunteers from mild or moderate illnesses. >> of course, that vaccine has not been approved in the u.s. as of yet, but we'll continue to track that, as well. ian pannell with us tonight, and ian, the new cdc director here in the u.s. says we need to do a lot more sequences to track these variants here in the u.s. the research that you witnessed there, that's being shared with the u.s.? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. america is increasing its sequencing, but it does rely heavily on the work that's carried out here. but that is being made freely available to u.s. scientists and to others around the world. david? >> all right, ian pannell with us from london. ian, thank you. and now to the historic second impeachment trial ofew r tonight on the case house prosecutors plan to make, leaning heavily on video of what members of congress experienced, what they saw first-hand.
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and former president trump, after telling his supporters to, quote, fight like hell, his lawyers tonight now saying he only used the word fight a handful of times and didn't mean it literally, calling all of this political theater. rachel scott up on the hill na trump'secd impeachment trial, democrats are sifting through videos like these. >> donald trump is still our president. >> reporter: preparing to use them to make their case, the former president is "singularly responsible" for the violence at the capitol. in this video, shot by a "new york reporter" this group makes it clear who they believe sent them. >> there's a [ bleep ] million of us out there and we are listening to trump, your boss. >> reporter: the goal, to force senators, now jurors, to relive the chaos they witnessed on january 6th. democrats argue trump spent months laying the groundwork for the insurrection. and that the rioters were spurred on by his words that day. >> and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a
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country anymore. >> reporter: but in a 78-page brief, the former president's defense team says that was "political speech" protected by the first amendment. calling the trial an act of political theater, insisting trump "did not direct anyone to commit lawless actions." and that those who did, "did so of their own accord." but more than a dozen of those charged say they were following trump's directions. like jenna ryan of texas, who told station ktvt -- >> i thought i was following my president. i thought i was following what we were called to do. >> reporter: tonight, trump's lawyers demanding the case be dismissed immediately, saying an impeachment trial for a former president is unconstitutional. but democrats say trump "betrayed the american people" while still in office. writing, "he has no valid excuse or defense for his actions. and his efforts to escape accountability are entirely unavailing." >> so, let's get right to rachel
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scott, live up on the hill again tonight. and rachel, tomorrow the first day of this trial and the first several hours expected to center around the date whether a senate trial of a former president is actually constitution. this, of course, has never been done before, an impeachment trial of a former president, but democrats tonight are trying to make the argument that there is precedent here. >> reporter: yeah, david, and democrats had to go back nearly 1 a 0 years to the impeachment trial of 1876. it was held at the time for the secretary of war who had already left office. democrats say that sets precedent. but still, those house impeachment managers face a significant challenge. already, 45 republican senators have said the trial itself is unconstitutional, david. >> we'll be watching that right along with you, rachel. in the meantime, you are following a breaking headline just as we're on tonight out of georgia. the secretary of state there officially launching an investigation into the former president, whether he violated the law when he made those phone calls pressuring elections officials. we all heard that audio where he said, "i just want to find
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11,708 votes." >>. >> reporter: yeah, dadvid, trum asked the republican georgia secretary of state to find nearly 12,000 votes, to help overturn president joe biden's individualry. we know house impeachment managers are holding that into their case, but this development comes just hours before his second impeachment trial gets under way, david. >> rachel scott, thank you. we'll have full coverage of the former president's second impeachment trial, begins tomorrow afternoon. the trial scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. eastern. george and the team will be right here and we'll have a special edition of "world news tonight" foul wloeing that coverage. meantime, president biden's nearly $2 trillion relief plan tonight working its way through congress and this evening, there is news, word of a proposal to send up to $3,600 per child to american families. there's also news tonight on efforts to raise the federal minimum wage to $15. let's get right to our chief white house correspondent cecilia vega live at the white
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house tonight. >> reporter: good evening, david. on that tax credit, democrats feel confident that this will end up in that nearly $2 trillion relief package by the president, but let me show you what it does. it would be split into monthly payments, starting in july. $3,600 per child under the age of 6, $3,000 for kids 6 to 17 years old. that amount decreases for families earning more than $75,000 a year. the white house said today that president biden is on board with this, but on that minimum wage, the $15 an hour minimum wage, they are hitting a major road block there, david. take a look at this. a nonpartisan study out today found it would give a major boost to low income workers, ild would cost 1.4 million jobs and add 5 $4 billion to the deficit over the next decade. the white house is pushing back on those findings, but even president biden is conceding now this could be a loss at this point. he says democrats are going to have to work their way up in separate legislation to that $15 an hour, david. >> all right, tracking this plan. cecilia, thank you. we're going to turn to that developing headline i mentioned off the top tonight. it comes out of florida.
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the fbi and the secret service tonight are now investigating that hack. who broke into a city's water plant computer system and were they trying to poison the water supply? what they changed in the water and why authorities are so concerned tonight. here's abc's victor oquendo from florida. >> reporter: tonight, authorities in florida revealing a dangerous cyber attack, a hacker attempting to poison a town's water supply. it happened last friday in oldsmar on the gulf coast. according to the sheriff's office, that hacker gained remote access to the water plant's computer system and in less than five minutes changed the level of sodium hydroxide, also known as lye, the main ingredient in liquid drain cleaner, from 100 parts per million to more than 11,000 per million. >> we don't know right now whether the breach originated from within the united states or outside the country. we also do not know why the oldsmar system was targeted. >> reporter: thankfully, a plant operator noticed the system being accessed remotely and quickly caught on to the potentially harmful change and reverted the levels.
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city officials have disabled that remote access system that was used in the hack and they are ensuring folks that there are safeguards in place that would have prevented that water from ever entering the supply. no word on suspects tonight. david? >> yeah, this is really alarming and we'll continue to follow it. victor, thank you. we turn next tonight to the defly avalanches in the west and to alarming images this evening. this has already been a very dangerous season. this last week alone, the deadliest ski season in more than 100 years. two avalanches in utah on saturday alone. four people killed. and a snowmobile able to document another one of those terrifyi iing incidents. here's will carr. >> reporter: tonight, the tsunami of snow barreling toward a group of utah snowmobilers over the weekend. >> avalanche, huge. just came down. i pulled my chute, didn't work. i heard hunter yelling, and here he is. you okay bud? >> reporter: remarkably,
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cond is. miles and hunter prosec >> the greatest chance of survival, as far as rescue goes, is relying on your partners in your group to get you out of the snow. >> reporter: in utah's millcreek canyon, that's exactly how four people survived. four others, including 29-year-old sarah moughamian, did not make it. >> her soulmate was able to get out quickly and unbury a couple of people, but when he got to her, she wasn't breathing and he couldn't revive her. >> reporter: david, the u.s. just had its deadliest week for avalanches in more than a century, with 14 fatalities. there's more bad weather on the way. david? >> will carr tonight. will, thank you. when we come back here, we have been following that story, the grandfather charged after his 18-month-old granddaughter fell from the 11th story window
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of a cruise ship. news coming in tonight, the grandfather and the sentence now. ...vascepa can give you something to celebrate. ♪ vascepa, when added to your statin,... ...is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. vascepa is clearly different. first and only fda approved. celebrate less risk. even for those with family history. ♪ don't take vascepa if you are... ...or become allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. serious side effects may occur like heart rhythm problems and bleeding. heart rhythm problems may occur in more people... ...with persistent cardiovascular risk or who have had them in the past. tell your doctor if you experience an irregular heartbeat or other heart rhythm problems. possible side effects include muscle and joint pain. celebrate less risk. added cardio protection. talk to your doctor about adding protection with vascepa.
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tonight, that grandfather charged after his 18-month-old granddaughter fell from an 11th story window has now been sentenced tonight. it happened on a cruise ship docked in puerto rico. he had pleaded guilty to negligent homicide. today, receiving three years probation. his family, including the parents of the child, had defended him from the start. when we come back here tonight, remembering a beloved sportscaster. be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief in as little as 4 weeks. and many achieved remission that can last. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers,
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finally tonight here, the super bowl, at times, the braiddy and gronk show all over again. it was the moment after the super bowl. the two quarterbacks, 25-year-old patrick mahomes, he was just 6 when tom brady won his first super bowl. >> right here, here's brady saying, hey, keep in touch. >> tom brady is the oldest quarterback ever to win the super bowl. he's now won seven times. in 2002, 2004, 2005. 2015, '17, '19 and, of course, last night. along with his buddy, rob gronkowski. back from retirement. >> here's brady's pass, it's gronkowski! the old patriot teammates reunited in the super bowl for a
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score. >> brady andro togethe years with the patriots. and bk together in tambay. >> he's got such a great personality about him, just his way of being positive and, you know, when you're down and out, you want him with you. >> he want cope coaches people g guys out to get to the next level. >> when he was asked, will you be back? >> there's more to come, as far as football? >> yeah, we're coming back. you got to know that. >> tom brady's coming back. way to go. >> stay tuned. and we're coming back right here tomorrow. hope to see you then. until then, have a good evening. good night. >> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure
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future. this is abc 7 news. today we're sending ass to crimes in this city that we will pursue you and we will arrest you. community and the entire city after several high-profile attacks caught on camera. good afternoon. i'm kristen sze. >> and i'm dan ashley. thank you for joining us. those attacks upset a lot of people. a man has been charged in a string of assaults against seniors in oakland's chinatown. the new police chief made a promise to the community today and here's abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley. >> reporter: after three brutal attacks on seniors in oakland's chinatown last week including this horrifying video of a 91-year-old man being pushed to the pavement, there wasf police stood alongside alameda county's district attorney. >> i now am announcing that we have filed charges as the chief said against an individual identified as yahya muslim.
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we have charged him with three counts of assault. >> reporter: muslim is also facing charges of inflicting great bodily injury and committing a crime against an elderly person. the d.a. says he has two prior felony assaulttis. the pic applauded. >> we do recognize that some in our community come specifically to chinatown to target people. we know that. we know that they target our elderly. we also know that they come because they believe that our community won't report it to police. we are excited to say that we've already begun to transition into new strategies to help make chinatown a safer community. > reporter: two asian-american actors who put up reward money described their alarm. >> racist rhetoric from, you know, the pandemic has targeted us as being, you know, the reason for coronavirus. and so asians across the board have been targeted by racial slurs, being tact,