images not seen before from inside the cabin of that alaska airlines flight just moments after the door plug tore off at 16,000 feet, leaving a huge hole in the cabin. the haunting images here of what it was like in those rows closest to that opening to the sky. here s abc s matt rivers now. we need everyone to remain seated with seat belts fastened reporter: tonight, terrifying new video just moments after a chunk of this boeing s fuselage broke off an alaska airlines flight 16,000 feet over portland, oregon, sending a howling, freezing wind over the 170-plus passengers in the now-depressurize iized cabin. the stories from those passengers, harrowing. passenger cuong tran in the row behind the blowout losing his socks, shoes, and cell phone, suffering bruises and a sprained ankle, telling abc news he thought he thought he d get sucked out feet-first. and this 15-year-old boy had his shirt torn from his body as he was sitting across the aisle. and just a day after the faa announc
people. david? david: rachel scott in snowy iowa, as well, tonight. rachel, thank you. we re going to turn to the chilling images coming in from ecuador late today. armed men storming a live tv broadcast. the studio crew taken hostage. it all happened after the government there had imposed a state of emergency. here s abc s matt rivers now. reporter: tonight, this is the chilling moment armed men stormed the set of a public tv channel in ecuador, firing off guns and waving apparent explosives during a live broadcast. the studio crew taken hostage for at least 15 minutes, on air, as the country watched. police later surrounding the station, arresting several suspects. and across ecuador, fiery blasts rocking multiple cities. this one engulfing a police car. the wave of violence beginning just hours after ecuador s president declared a state of emergency following a prison escape by notorious los choneros
gang leader adolfo macias. the government battling with what they say are at least 22 different criminal groups, angered by that state of emergency. tonight, authorities say at least seven police officers have been kidnapped. ecuador, once known as one of south america s most peaceful countries, seeing an explosion in recent years of organized crime-related violence linked to mexican drug cartels. and david, that state of emergency will remain in place for at least 60 days, which gives the country s military the right to enter some of the prisons there. criminals inside of which responsible for so much of the violence we ve seen recently. david? david: matt rivers, thank you. when we come back here, alarming new numbers tonight. what hospitals in the u.s. are now seeing with respiratory illness, flu, and covid, and which states? also tonight, singer sinead o connor s cause of death just revealed. now what? you say it when getting older. ..starts getting old. at prudential, we t
this time tomorrow night, and some of these storms will have wind and heavy rain, maybe three to five inches of rain, we could get that. that will cause more flooding, unfortunately, and there s more rain beyond that. all right, the heat. alerts stretch from florida, nearly continuously all the way to southern california. most of california itself under warnings. phoenix, back through austin, dallas, all warnings in the southwest. it will peak saturday and sunday. vegas could hit an all-time record. david? david: incredible numbers there. rob, thank you. as you heard rob just mention, the heat emergency from california to texas to florida. 100 million americans under these heat alerts. blistering, life-threatening heat. we have just learned phoenix has hit 110 degrees today for the 13th day in a row. maricopa county in arizona, a stunning number tonight. they have confirmed or suspect 77 deaths because of the heat so far this season. as you heard rob mention, las vegas could be abo
it s monday morning there. what s on the docket today for secretary blinken? reporter: in just a few hours from now, he ll be meeting with china s top diplomat. will he meet later today in beijing with chinese president xi jingping? the last time the secretary of state was here, xi chose not to meet with then-secretary mike pompeo. i do think the odds are more likely that he meets with xi this time around. secretary blinken meeting with xi. until that meeting happens, anything is possible. matt rivers for us in beijing. thank you so much, matt. back here at home, a weekend of deadly violence across this country, with at least three mass shootings. one person is dead and 22 others hurt after gunfire erupted after a juneteenth celebration outside of chicago. and one person was killed and nine others injured overnight in downtown st. louis. the victims ranging in age from 19 to 15 years old. here s abc s alex presha. reporter: in a year that s already seen more mass shootings than