Good evening and its great to have you with us here on a thursday night. We begin with that defining moment late this afternoon, the governors signature that will end a decadeslong battle. The Confederate Flag in charleston will come down in just hours. By tomorrow morning at 10 00. Strong reaction coming in now on both sides. There have been Death Threats for lawmakers after votes in the house and senate. Governor nikki haley ending the fight with her signature. Champions of the flag argue that its part of their history. Critics say its racist, a symbol of our nations divided past. The governor revealing what shell give to those nine families who lost loved ones in that bible study. Abcs solve in charleston leading us off. Reporter tonight, the end of a bitter fight thats lasted for decades with this signature, South Carolinas governor is ordering the removal of the confederate battle flag from the statehouse grounds by tomorrow morning. By her side were the families of the nine killed in what police say was an act of hate at the black ame church in charleston. I do want to also acknowledge these nine pins are going to each of the nine families of the emanuel nine. Reporter lawmakers who are getting Death Threats tonight on both sides fought and cried with each other over this until the early morning. The people of charleston deserve immediate and swift removal of that flag from these grounds. Reporter jenny horne is the descendant of jefferson davis, a confederate president , and even she argued the flag should come down. I have a great deal of respect for my ancestors, honor, my parents. But my legacy is what i do while im here. Reporter without any question, this is happening now because of the shock of the church killings, and the pictures of the alleged gunman holding the Confederate Flag. Sometimes it takes a horrific depiction for us to really grasp the gravity of the situation. Reporter the flags many supporters say theyre hurting deeply, saying we cant just erase parts of the past we dont like. I grew up with that flag as a heritage. I didnt see issue, and i dont see issue now. Reporter david, a reporters notebook. 15 years ago i stood on these same grounds covering the same fight and it didnt seem then that lawmakers would every agree to this despite an economic boycott that will now be lifted when the flag comes down at 10 00 a. M. In the morning. David . Steve osunsami whos been reporting on this for more than a decade thank you. Moments after the governor signed that bill the first signs of a possible domino effect. Word from the ncaa tonight welcoming South Carolina back eligible again to host ncaa basketball events. Meantime we are also monerring severe weather. D. C. Baltimore, philly and new york bracing for storms hitting in the next few hours. Twisters tonight in missouri and oklahoma. Heres the radar right now. 40 million americans in the storm zone. Those tornados already touching down in the heartland. This super cell in the skies over texas. Look at this tonight, channing texas, hail cracking the windshield there. This massive system is moving quickly tonight. Abcs gio benitez is in the storm zone with the damage already. Reporter tonight, severe storms taking aim at the northeast, threatening millions of commuters. The line of storms sending trees crashing onto power lines in mount vernon kennedy. Those Storm Chasers in channing texas, were tracking this very storm. Suddenly their car pounded by massive hail. All they can do is watch. Cameras rolling. Whoa reporter hitting the force of a big league fast ball. Cracking through that windshield. Tornado on the ground at least two tornados reported south of st. Uis, debris spotted in the air, cars under water and a state of emergency in muskeegee, oklahoma bringing half a foot of rain to parts of hard hit texas. In brownwood, evacuations, a man swept away by flood waters. In indianapolis the water receding, residents resurvey the damage. This is devastating. Reporter and, david, tonight here in philly just take a look at the mad rush behind me. They know that this storm is on the way, david. Trying to get home ahead of this. Live in philly, thanks. Lets get right to rob because its moving quickly and you were telling me these next few hours are crucial. Yeah the next couple of hours are crucial. Lets get to it. Tornado watch and severe thunderstorm watch. Look at that strong line of storms about to hit allentown and baltimore. Future radar showing at least by 8 00 philadelphia getting hit hard with these storms and by 9 00 to new york city. The storms linger across new england until after midnight. There will be heavy rain flood watches for connecticut, st. Louis, and back to oklahoma. Very active weather tonight from coast to coast. The midwest cant get a break. Thank you. Were learning more tonight after a scare for passengers on board a southwest flight from chicago bound for boston. Moments after takeoff, watch this. Passengers could see the fire shooting from one of the engines. The pilots forced to abort takeoff. Abcs david kerley with the tense moments in chicago. Reporter just before getting airborne in chicago, watch this southwest jets right engine. Flames and sparks spitting up over the wing as the southwest pilot quickly aborts the takeoff. Another pilot calls the tower. A fire on number two. Roger. We are calling the fire department. Reporter as emergency crews respond, the tower reaches oil out. Southwest 3299, you need any assistance . Ah, stand by. Reporter shutting down the engine. The fuel line leads to the fire burning itself out. I heard a huge explosion sound, like a boom. The plane veered off the runway and he used the rutter to correct. At that point i knew we were in trouble. Reporter all the passengers were evacuated, taken to the board another jet for boston. It was the scariest moment of my life. Reporter engine fires like this are rare. The fact that it happened right on takeoff suggests that probably something was sucked up off the runway into the engine and damaging it and creating those flames you saw. Reporter was it a rock or some other object on the runway sucked into the engine leading to those scary moments . Tonight southwest is giving us no indication what caused that engine to erupt into flames. David . David kerley thank you. Meantime a united pilot is in hot water tonight after a flight that took off from houston to munich. The captain accused of violating german gun laws carrying bullets while piloting the international flight. He tried to flush the bullets down the toilet when he realized his mistake. Some pilots are allowed to carry guns on domestic flights here in the u. S. To a developing headline from the fbi tonight. We reported on the concern over possible plots to kill americans on the fourth of july. Tonight we have learned there were several arrested plots foiled. Our justice correspondent meeting with the fbi director today who said those arrests disrupted efforts to murder americans. Lets get right to Pierre Thomas live in washington. Pierre what have you learned. Reporter fbi director james comey told reporters that about a dozen alleged isis sympathizers were arrested in the weeks leading up to july 4th. He said some had deadly intentions. Quote, i do believe our work disrupt d efforts to kill people. Comey declined to identify specific targets. This College Student from queens accused of casing the George Washington bridge. When agents searched his apartment, he found plans for a Pressure Cooker bomb like the ones used in the Boston Marathon attacks. The fbi says it was and is a dangerous situation, the new normal. Continuing to be on the watch tonight. Pierre thomas thank you. Tonight a Major Development in a massive Security Breach affecting millions of federal workers, their families and their private information hacked. This evening much bigger than we knew. The number has now been raised to 21. 5 million americans whose private information was stored at the office of Personnel Management opm. Social security numbers, Financial Industries and in some cases fingerprints were stolen. 24 hours after that scare on the Stock Exchange computers paralyzed on wall street today the stocks bouncing back closing up 33 points as officials now confirm that the shutdown of trading yesterday was due to a, quote, configuration problem due to new software and not a cyber breach. We turn to an abc news investigation we broke yesterday about a former president and the 100,000 speaker fee he charged a charity for wounded veterans. Abcs chief investigative correspondent brian ross with many asking tonight why would you charge a veterans charity. Reporter with flags flying and Lee Greenwood singing, a severely wounded veteran, petty officer Jennifer Penn injured in afghanistan, gets a specially adapted home, thanks to a texasbased charity called helping a hero. Thank you guys for everything. Reporter every dollar counts for this veterans charity, and lots of people have donated their time and money. But not former president george w. Bush who sent many of these veterans to war in the first place. Abc news discovered that president bush actually charged the charity 100,000 speaking fee to appear at its annual fundraising gala in 2012, plus private jet travel that cost the charity 20,000. His spokesperson confirms it, and tonight some veterans are outraged. You sent me to war. I was doing what you told me to do, gladly. Reporter former Charity Board member eddie wright, a marine who lost both hands in iraq, told abc news he was appalled. And for him to be paid to raise money for veterans that were wounded in combat under his orders, i dont think thats right. Reporter the charitys lawyer says bushs appearance helped it raise an extra million dollars. If george bush wanted to get paid and we were able to make a million extra dollars, it was a good use of money. Did anybody ask him if hed do it for free . Ask george bush. Thats george bushs conscience. Reporter president bushs Spokesman Says helping veterans is one of his highest priorities, and he has hosted other events on their behalf for free. But former First Lady Laura Bush also charged helping a hero to appear, 50,000, on a night she accepted the groups patriot award. And brian ross with you now. Former president george w. Bush speaking tonight with former president bill clinton. Hes made a lot of money himself at speaking events. Thats very true david. A Spokesman Says he has never received a fee to appear at a veterans charity. A spokesman said mr. Bush has given millions of dollars since leaving office. Brian ross tonight, thank you. We have a concerning medical headline tonight and a new warning from the fda about the popular pain relievers in millions of home here in america, including advil, raising your risk of heart attacks and strokes by 50 . Theyre so concerned theyre changing the labels on the bottles. Heres what they will say from dr. Richard besser. Change to the bottles in so Many American medicine cabinets. Advil, motrin, and aleve. We take them for lower back pain, headache, fever, monthly cramps. The fda now saying these said drugs can increase your risk of heart attack and stroke by up to 50 . And that risk begins with the very first dose. The more you take, and the longer you take it, the higher the risk will be. The warning label, which now reads may increase risk and possible increased risk, will now drop those words. Taking out the may or possible and simply say increase the risk. This doesnt mean dont take it you just have to be aware. Thats right. The problem is that all pain relievers have side affects so you have to weigh those against the relief youre going to get from the drugs. If you have Heart Disease, the risk is going to be higher and you need to be aware of that. Which is why the fda changed the label here. Were going to turn now to those Football Players sidelined by fireworks accidents on the weekend, both losing fingers on the fourth of july. A star players injuries worse than first thought. Ryan smith tonight on that player just days away from signing a contract worth almost 15 million. Reporter tonight two nfl players putting their hands in jeopardy from using fireworks over the fourth of july weekend. This is almost unprecedented. These players who had so much football life in front of them suffered needless injuries. Jason pierrepaul severely injuring both hands lighting this display. Medical charts showing his right index finger was amputated. He remains hospitalized. His injury putting millions on the line. Pierrepaul seen here bragging about fireworks while holding on infant. Talk about fireworks on the ground reporter hasnt yet signed a 14. 8 million deal for next season with the giants and has until july 15th to complete a longterm contract a deal that may be in jeopardy. That same weekend, Tampa Bay Buccaneers corner back c. J. Wilson reportedly lost two fingers during a celebration with family and friends. I was at a friends house, a bunch of them got together and just shooting off a bunch of fireworks, had one explode in his hand. Reporter now both mishaps could force nfl teams to send a message to players. I can garnuarantee you it will have a Ripple Effect in seasons to come. When we heard about that contract today 15 million, a lot of money on the line. Will these players return . Its unclear. Their return dates, they play two different positions. Pierrepaul, his need for hands and fingers could be less than that for wilson whose job is to deflect footballs. A sobering assessment from the u. N. Tonight. More than 4 million refugees have fled syria since the start of the civil war in 2011 the highest number of refugees from a single crises in 25 years, the most in a generation. 7. 6 million displaced from their homes and perhaps you remember we met some of those families the Young Children when we traveled to the border there last fall. 75 of syrias refugees crossing into turkey lebanon and it was in lebanon we met those children. To bolivia tonight, pope francis on his tour through south america trying a local delicacy, a tea that helps with attitude and also used to mako cain. Curtains covering so the pope can dress in private. Theres still much more ahead on world news tonight this thursday. The one man crime spree and looting three homes in two hours, the accused burglar caught on camera stealing thousands of dollars in jewelry and other items in the home. Tonight authorities with the warning the common mistake so many families make this time of year. News tonight on those three girls missing for days in the wilderness. We have new information on those three sisters. And look at this the father and the daughter right there out in the water. The father behind her. Suddenly they get caught in a rip tide. She is olding a selfie stick documenting the whole thing and youll see what possibly saved her. What if one push up could prevent Heart Disease . [man grunts] one wishful thinking, right . But there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease pneumococcal pneumonia. One dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you. 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He made off with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry from three different apartments over the long fourth of july holiday weekend. Police releasing the video in hopes of identifying the thief. And in seattle, this burglary also caught on surveillance tape while the homeowners were on vacation. But more important than catching a burglary on camera is preventing it. Experts say dont post your vacation plans on social media. This family went on vacation to las vegas last year posting about their trip on facebook only to realize they had tipped off burglars. While we were gone he was here taking us for everything that we have. Youre telling anybody that has access to your account or has access to social media, youre telling them where youre going to to be and not going to be. Reporter another tip, disabling Location Services on your devices can help ensure your vacation abroad isnt making your home a target. Kayna whitworth, abc news los angeles. When we come back tonight, news coming in about those three missing sisters, hiking lost for days. Take a look at this, we want your opinion. The controversial plan for planes to save room in coach. Do they really want us all facing one another . Most of my life. But that hasnt stopped me from modeling. My doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. With only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. Stelara® helps me be in season. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. Some serious infections require hospitalization. Before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. Stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. Always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. Do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. 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Erynn caught in a riptide. I felt extremely helpless. Getting tossed into the waves especially. Reporter those dangerous waters sucking her under. But then dad grabs the selfie stick, still attached by that wristband, and like a baton, passes her to mom. Give me your hand reporter a group of Good Samaritans and life guards rescuing her dad, too. Glad shes okay and i hope to see you right back here tomorrow. Good night. Look, i know it seems like easy work. Were in paradise, were doing 20 shows here, bubut its its taxing. I mean this is what happens when you fly out to an island to do 20 television shows. [ both sigh ] wheel. Of. Forte [ cheers and applause ] from the Hilton Waikoloa village on the island of hawaii, here are the stars of americas game pat sajak and vanna white [ cheers and applause ] hi, everybody. Thank you