Announcer from abc news, this is world news now. We do say good morning to everyone. Friday has arrived. Im kendis gibson. Tgif in a big way. Fantastic day. Were going to start this half hour of course, with the big wild weather. Already saturating parts of the south and they can expect more rain today. And boy, here in new york, lightning struck a passenger plane forcing it to make an Emergency Landing. We get more on the widespread storms from abcs lauren lyster. Reporter hail the size of peas golf balls, even baseballs pelting parts of texas thursday. Blasting holes through car windshields, terrorizing drivers. I was sitting in my car and boom, that happened. Glass was flying inward. I got a cut on my arm. I was bawling. I was ready for it to go. Reporter the morning commute a slushy mess for drivers. The hail coming actually killed several flamingos at the fort worth zoo. The ice balls damaging buildings, too. Creating a wintry landscape but temps were actually around 60 degrees. In mississippi, it was creepy foreboding clouds warning of potential tornadoes thursday night. And in the northeast 4233 just got hit by lightning. Dont send us through there again. Its pretty bad. Reporter an American Airlines flight struck by lightning. The plane damaged on the rear wing. Forced to make an Emergency Landing on the way from North Carolina to new york. There was a flash of light. And big explosion. The plane dipped about 100 feet. Out of nowhere. Reporter and next the threat of snow sunday into monday. The areas of concern thats going to be d. C. , baltimore, philadelphia, new york city, and this could run right up interstate 95 corridor. There is going to be the potential here for several reporter reena and kendis ta snowstorm coming just in time for the first day of spring on sunday. Our friends at accuweather telling us march is always up to some tricks though and this time of year snow would not be completely unusual. Lauren, last year you covered a big snowstorm on the first day you have spring, as well. Thats why i could be the weather expert. This is not completely unusual. I can remember being out in new york right near central park trying to talk to people how they felt about snow on the first day of spring. And you know cynical new yorkers everyone was saying to me, yeah, its still cold this time of year. Cynical new yorkers sounded like valley girls is what youre saying. Wow. I need to try a little harder. Abcs lauren lyster, thanks so much for that report. Thank you residents of flint, michigan say theyre not satisfied yesterdays capitol hill hearing on the citys water crisis. The tense hearing lead contamination of the citys water supply. Most of the republican lawmakers hammering the states republican governor for his role in the crisis. He apologized and said that he had been told the problems werent severe. Lawmakers werent buying any of it. You were not in a medically induced coma for a year and ive had about enough of your false contrition and your phony apologies. This was a failure of government at all levels. Local, state, and federal officials. We all failed the families of flint. Snyder dismissed demands that he resign as governor. Head of the epa was also slammed by lawmakers. Gina mccarthy admitted her agency hasnt been quick enough to respond but refused to say the epa failed flint. A group of conservatives have released details of that are secret meeting to try to stop donald trump. The threehour discussion focused on ways to prevent him from being the nominee at the convention. Theres an republicans about trumps suggestion that there will be riots if hes denied the gop nomination at the convention. House Speaker Paul Ryan paid his thoughts clear on capitol hill. Nobody should say such things in my opinion because to even address or hint to violence is unacceptable. John kasich called trumps comment an outrage. Kasichs Campaign Today campaigned today in utah before the states republican primary. Ted cruz will be in arizona today despite his campaign acknowledging that trump will likely with inthat state next week. On the democratic side, Hillary Clinton has been declared the winner of tuesdays missouri primary. She went five or five on the night. Bernie sanders says he will not contest the close result. And theres starting to be talk of Democratic Unity behind clintons campaign. Abcs cecilia vega reports. Reporter the New York Times reporting told a group of democratic donors it will soon be time for Bernie Sanders campaign to end and for democrats to unite behind Hillary Clinton. The white house denying the president was endorsing clinton, but adding, he did say this. Our success in november, in electing a democratic president , will depend on the commitment and ability of the Democratic Party to come together behind our nominee. Reporter if thats Hillary Clinton, it will be full circle for two people who once battled. Although we werent able to shatter that highest, hardest Glass Ceiling this time, thanks to you, its got about 18 million cracks in it. Reporter but then, that meeting at the white house. Clinton joining his team. That moment in the situation room. And now clinton on the trail, campaigning on their close ties, helping herself, but helping his legacy, too. I think he doesnt get the credit he deserves for having fought for a recovery that is taking hold. President obama would later go on to call Hillary Clinton one of his most trusted advisers, clearly though he is choosing his words very carefully here. This seems to be about as close an endorsement as you can possibly get. Cecilia vega, abc news, new york. Breaking news from north korea where the military has fired a medium range Ballistic Missile into the sea. Test firing violates multiple u. N. Security Council Resolutions that ban North Carolina from encaging in any ba lis it i can and into your clear activities. Its certain to heighten tensions over North Carolinas nuclear ambition. Complicating matters is the case of a student sentenced by north korea to 15 years of hard labor. Diplomatic efforts are under way to free the student. Heres abcs martha raddatz. Reporter the u. S. Is quietly working to free american student otto warmbier. It was this secu the North Koreans say shows warmbier stealing a political banner like this one from the hotel where he was staying with a tour group. And taking it is a crime against the state. I have made the worst mistake of my life. Reporter the 21year old uva student clearly shaken, now sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Please save my life. Please think of my family. I am the oldest son in my family. Reporter now helping the family seek release, former governor bill richardson. He equates the theft with a college prank. Hopefully now after this sentencing, itll mean negotiations can start on his release on humanitarian grounds. Reporter close to a dozen american tourists have been arrested in north korea in the last six years, all released. The North Koreans have, in the past, wanted a highlevel negotiator, like bill clinton, who helped free two Young American journalists in 2009. But this is a time of great tension with the North Koreans because of their nuclear and Ballistic Missile st there is no telling what they will do and what they will demand. Martha raddatz, abc news, washington. A scary scene at a high school in south florida when a pep rally performance went horribly wrong. A professional fire breather accidentally erupted in flames horrifying hundreds of students and teachers in the audience. The stuntman was hospitalized in serious condition along with seven others including some students who inhaled fire extinguisher dust. Well, also in florida, jurors will hear closing arguments in the hulk hogan lawsuit. The former pro wrestler is suing gawker for 100 million for posting a sex tape of him online. He claims it violated his privacy. Yesterday lawyers for gawker showed hogan a promo video of him wearing t back underwear and parroting the miley cyrus wrecking ball video. Okay. I was waiting for that image. I guess weve been spared that. Burned in our brain. Right. We do hope everyone had a good st. Patricks day. Im trying to segue to something happier. They celebrated in an appropriate manner probably. Plenty of marching and other stuff going on here in new york city. Yes, there was also marching but maybe not as much in the small village of conklin, michigan. Once again, they staged their rather short st. Patricks day parade. We say short because the route was all of 150 yards long. The grand rapids Catholic Central marching band took part as did some musicians and people were wearing green. When they got to the end of the route, many of them spent some time at a local establishment. Establishment . Im warning you, giving you a years notice. Next st. Paddys day is on a friday. Wow. Yeah. Is it going to be on the 17th, as well . It will continue to be on the 17th for the foreseeable future. Great to know. By the way, this y paddy hes day parade was at 25th. Next year will be the 256th annual. Youre good with math. Coming up in the mix, one of the most talked about moments from the first day of march madness. Youve got to see this. Also ahead the cutting edge selfdefense roo feen for women. Have you ever hot of fighting back with a high heel shoe. And the website promising prayers in exchange for money. Who is accused of cashing in on people looking for solace and comfort. And wnnfans. Com and twitter abcwnp. Youre watching world news now. Everyone loves the way dark clothes make them feel. And no one wants that feeling to fade. Thats why theres woolite darks. Its free of harsh ingredients, keeping dark clothes looking like new for 30 washes so your love for dark clothes will never fade. Woolite darks. Your heart loves omega3s. But theres a difference between the omega3s in fish oil and those in megared krill oil. Unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body. Which makes your heart, well, megahappy. Happier still, megared is proven to increase omega3 levels in 30 days. Megared. The difference is easy to absorb. Im alex trebek. If youre age 50 to 85, this is an important message. So please, write down the the lock i want to talk to you about isnt the one on your door. Its a rate lock for your Life Insurance that guarantees your rate can never go up at any time, for any reason. But be careful. Many policies you see do not have one, but you can get a lifetime rate lock through the Colonial Penn program. Call this number to learn more. 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The driver was not hurt. Its unclear whethersleyal face any charges. Hmm. Turning now to a consumer alert. A christian website ordered to repay millions of dollars to customers for an online prayer scam. The man running the website under fire for exploiting americans searching for prayer and counsel from religious leaders. Prosecutors say all of it was fake. Heres abcs neal karlinksky. Reporter more than 100,000 people seeking spiritual help flocked to Christian Prayer Center desperate for the power of prayer and pastors like jon karl son. People are thinking their problems are going to be solved. Reporter the Online Church came with a fee of between 9 and 35 for prayers. Washington states attorney general says it was all a scam. Pastor carlson is outraged too saying his name was used without his permission. In fact, investigators say all kinds of fake religious leaders and testimonials were used to entice people to the tune of 7 million worth of paid prayers between 2011 and 2015. All of it, they say, the brainchild of this man, benjamin ragovie. He was asking people to give money under deceptive circumstances. He couldnt be reaped for comment. The website says its closed adding we thank you for all the prayers. Reporter the attorney general isnt interested in his prayers and they want cash. Hes now agreed to pay back 7. 5 million to more than 1507b,000 commerce. Theres actually a customer protection act that prevent these charitable organizations churches from offering false things. You know, that they cant make good on. A lot of people were going on the site and hoping and praying for you know, to have a child to have a healthy baby to, win the lotto and all these Different Things and theyre out of money and theyre out of luck. All right, coming up in our next half hour, keeping kids safe from medicines. A new warning about accidental overdoses and the alarming way kids can easily open child proof prescriptions. First the selfdefense course that teaches women to protect themselves using still will let toes. Youre watching world news now. Shes so good with her stilettos ah, the billy joel song stiletto can tells about a woman doing damage to the man in her life. Theres a new form of selfdefense that can do the damage with stilettos. Dan harris shows us the trend. Not only does she sick some serious butt, she does it sporting sky high the selfdefense guru has trained celebrities such as Kerry Russell of the americans and amanda seyfert. Ive been taking selfdefense with avi for about four months and its pretty much changed my life. Reporter her group class focuses on teaming all types of women to protect themselves using footwear. A former ballerina, she switched her focus to selfdefense while she was just a teenager. Unfortunately, i was sexually sauled when i was 19 by someone i knew and i tried to find a way to heal myself. Had i father recommended a selfdefense system. It was the one thing that allowed me to feel the sense of empowerment because i felt like i was doing something positive towards the incident. Reporter hi heals are a key ingredient so her students are never unprepared. The thing is its selfdefense. Its not martial arts. Its youre caught off guard. So for a woman who live her valid concern. Women should not have to compromise femininity and should be able to defend themselves regardless of what shoes their wearing. Reporter the shoes can become an impromptu weapon or boost a kick. I definitely feel more prepared. The fact that you you living your life will potentially put you in a vulnerable situation. Every single woman can learn selfdefense. Take that responsibility and that initiative into her own hands to survive a situation if she was caught off guard is just so important. Two. Reporter dan harris, abc news, new york. Im for it. For it . Id like to take the class, yeah. Ive seen you walk around in your heels. Right. I dont. That is true. I only put my heels on right before people see them on television. Usually a wear flipflops or sneakers. It always seems experiment when you walk. You sum it up very well. Coming up, weve got more. Can a toothpaste do everything well . This clean was like pow it added this other level of clean to it. It just kinda like. Wiped everything clean. 6x cleaning my teeth are glowing. They are so white. 6x whitening i actually really like the 2 steps. Step 1, cleans step 2, whitens. Every time i use this together, it felt like. Leaving the dentist office. Crest hd. 6x cleaning, 6x whitening i would switch to crest hd over what i was using before. Your heart loves omega3s. But theres a difference between the omega3s in fish oil and those in megared krill oil. Unlike fish oil, megared is easily absorbed by your body. Which makes your heart, well, megahappy. Happier still, megared is proven to increase omega3 levels in 30 days. The difference is easy to absorb. sound of music histling introducing new ky touch gel creme. For massage and intimacy. Every touch, gently intensified. A little touch is all it takes. Ky touch. One hair color wants to to help you keep on being you. Nicen easy. Naturallooking color. That even in sunlight, doesnt look like hair color. It just looks like you. Nicen easy color as real as you are. Narrator breakfast. Dishes. Dinner. Dishes. Marriage. Dishes. Divorce. Dishes. Sleeping. snoring sputtering dishes. Not sleeping. Dishes. Life. Dishes. Death. Dishes. Existence. Dishes. Dishes, dishes, dishes. Every dish, every time. Only finish has the power ball ake on anything. Now its time for the mix. So we very started basketball march madness. Arizona coach sean miller sweating up a sorm in the first round of march madness mashup. And apparently, there he is, sweating right through that shirt. Apparently hes known for his sweating. There were lots of memes on twitter last night. This is what hes going to do halftime. A little bit of a fan. Hell need more than that. New shirt, old shirt, sean miller cant beat the heat. You need some degree or something. Yeah. So did they win . They did end up winning. Nice. Funny you should ask. I dont think i had arizona. You didnt have arizona. No. All righty. Well, theres not much, rihanna has a new song work is like an ear worm. Then theres there. Work, work, work that would be a pig twerking to work, work, work. You like that one, huh. Knew we go from a pig to a frog. Politics and foreign wars, all the weather all the scores thats the world news polka ca take it kermit. Okay, if youre an insomniac and a good nights sleep you lack do the world news polka on banjo and accordion the folks love every note but when we sing it sounds like theres a tropic stuck in our throat. Sing it loud, sing it big everying and color frog and pig do the world news pig take it barry the swedish chef and beaker too, they do the polka. Reporter even pepe the king prawn gets up way before dawn to do the world news polka next time bring miss piggy because i hear shes quite a ham i hope she didnt hear you or youll be on the lam neighbors yell its half past three tell them that its news to me, thats the world news polka i hear they watch us in the swamp and think that were all right it sure beats croaking in the middle of the night five whole days every week were here with our tongues in cheek and the world news polka, one more time do the world news polka kermit, that was terrific. You play a great polka. Why, thank you sir. I am a tad polish. I get it, tadpole lish. Yes, waccawacca. Yeah, fozzie bear wrote our material. This morning on world news now, political strategies. Who is trying to stop Donald Trumps potential nomination. And how Hillary Clinton is responding to questions about a trump presidency. The new turn in the road to the white house. Speaking out, new claims from the american accused of joining isis. Was he following a girl before his capture in iraq . New this half hour, the unusual scene at a pennsylvania store. Witnesses say they saw someone loading up a shopping cart and leaving the store without paying. Police say a nun was shoplifting. And whats going on with madonna, from a concert starting two hours late to an embarrassed fan on stage. The negative attention shes getting in the skinny on this friday, march 18th. Announcer from abc news, this is world news now