ginger zee live in the storm zone with the line of storms set to hit after dark tonight. and the severe threat right into tomorrow. the coronavirus here in the u.s. and what are being called the variants of concern tonight. the cdc concerned about two new variants, first detected in california, and the possibility of they're 20% more contagious. tonight, 15 states reporting a rise in cases and now dr. anthony fauci warning about prematurely pulling back and not giving vaccines enough time to, quote, protect the country. the worsening situation on the southern border. fema now opening a convention center in dallas to hold thousands of unaccompanied migrant teens. the head of dhs in the hot seat, grilled by lawmakers about the sudden increase of migrants trying to cross into the u.s. the irs tonight moving the tax deadline from april to may now. why the shift? and president biden now acknowledging he wants to raise taxes on americans making more than $400,000. what he told our george stephanopoulos. the president also weighing in on new york governor andrew cuomo, saying he should resign if the allegations are proven true. biden adding, "i think he'd probably end up being prosecuted, too." late today, governor cuomo responding. major news tonight in the trial of former police officer derek chauvin. why two of the jurors have not been removed. and news on tiger woods tonight, now home. his condition and his message. good evening and it's great to have you with us on a wednesday night. and we have two major developing stories. what authorities are calling a potentially dangerous tornado event across multiple states. reports of tornadoes on the ground already. ginger tracking the line of storms set to hit after dark and she's standing by for us. but we begin tonight with that deadly shooting rampage in georgia. three different spas in the atlanta area, eight people killed, six of them asian women. tonight, the gunman in custody, he's now been charged with eight counts of murder. the first shooting in a suburb of atlanta around 5:00 p.m. last night. >> four people found dead. and then within an hour, police were called to two other spas in northeast atlanta, across the street from one another, where they found additional victims. police quickly releasing these surveillance images of the suspect outside one of the locations. tonight, we've now learned that it was the parents of 21-year-old robert long who identified their own son. police stopping him in what they call a pit maneuver on a highway 150 miles away. they believe he might have planned more attacks in florida. the murders only raising fear among asian-americans in this country, given what we have seen in the past year. tonight, president biden and vice president harris both weighing in on these horrific shootings. abc's steve osunsami leading us off tonight from atlanta. >> reporter: georgia investigators say that the 21-year-old who they've just charged with murder is talking tonight. six of the eight people he's now accused of killing are asian women, and if they hadn't stopped him, police believe that robert aaron long, seen here, would have continued on to florida and gunned down more workers at similar businesses. >> some guy came in and shoot the gun and everybody heard the gunshot. >> reporter: around 5:00 p.m. tuesday, long was seen in this surveillance video outside young's asian massage parlor in the north atlanta suburbs. police say he walked in, started shooting and killed four people, three of them asian. the niece of a victim who lived says her uncle wasn't even inside the business when he was shot. > he was coming out of the store beside the massage parlor and the other store beside it and he was outside. >> reporter: in the time it took to drive from the suburbs into the city, the call came into atlanta police about another shooting at a similar business, a 24-hour spa. >> we do not have a witness for that who's actually alive right now that can tell us who shot them. >> reporter: while police were trying to help people who were dying at that location, witnesses were calling them about another shooting at another 24-hour spa directly across the street. >> we need to make sure if we have any asian spas, we need to be checking on them. >> reporter: police caught up with long's black suv south of the city, ran it off the road and arrested the 21-year-old. his parents were the ones who called authorities and pointed the way. police say they found him by tracking his cell phone. but investigators tonight now believe the reasons behind these killings weren't as much about race and were more about violence against women. they say long told them he was struggling with a sex addition and was returning to punish the businesses he used to pay. >> he apparently has an issue with what he considers a sex addiction and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places and it's a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate. >> reporter: atlanta's mayor underlines that the tragedy of the deaths isn't suddenly any less. >> we are not about to get into victim blaming, victim shaming here. >> reporter: these killings come at a time when violence against asian-americans is growing, thanks to he racist tropes surrounding the coronavirus. president biden is being briefed by the fbi tonight. >> whatever the motivation here, i know that asian-americans are very concerned. >> reporter: the vice president, whose mother was asian, spoke to the issue. >> i do want to say to our asian-american community that we stand with you and understand how this has frightened and shocked and outraged all people. >> and so let's bring in steve osunsami from atlanta tonight. and steve, i know police are still investigating the motive and really regardless of motive here, this is only raising the fear even more among asian-americans across the country after what we've been reporting here for months and i know tonight patrols have been stepped up not only there in atlanta, but elsewhere across the country? >> reporter: that's right, david. this is terrifying for these communities. in new york and san francisco, they're stepping up patrols in asian neighborhoods and around asian businesses. here in georgia, in largest asian population leaves in gwynn et county, which is just directly north of here and the police there tonight are telling us that they are putting more of their officers on the road until further notice. david? >> all right, steve osunsami 4r50eding us off tonight from atlanta. steve, thank you. we're going to turn to the other major story unfolding tonight, what authorities are calling an extremely dangerous tornado threat across at least seven states tonight. 60 million americans in the threat toen and tonight, reports of several tornadoes already. look at some of the pictures. this giant twister, that's in alabama. far buildings ripped apart in waine county, mississippi. and take a look at the radar tonight. the current tornado watches, of course, the orange and the red there on that map, particularly dangerous. new orleans, jackson, birmingham and so many smaller towns and cities in the path of this. and of course, another real concern that this line of storms will be hitting after dark. ginger with the track and abc's victor oquendo in birmingham, alabama. >> reporter: a dangerous, potentially deadly night ahead across a huge swath of the south. the storm prediction center warning of a rare high risk threat level for long-track, intense tornadoes. >> literally like a tornado and -- >> reporter: wayne county, mississippi, and chilton county, alabama, among places twisters reported already. >> oh, major tornado. major, major! >> reporter: these university of alabama students sheltering in a parking garage. >> there is a tornado down. it's very dangerous. this is about six miles south of downtown tuscaloosa. >> reporter: it's just after 1:00 here in birmibirmingham. we are under a tornado watch. officials want to make sure that people have a plan in place and know where shelters like this one are located. this one can hold 80 people, and as you can see, they're starting to file in. >> reporter: deborah johnson and christopher jenkins not taking any chances. what was it about this storm coming this way that made you say, we're riding this out in here? >> when the news people said that it was going to be like a few years ago and it was terrible. so, that was enough for me and safe. >> reporter: the storms coming in waves. the first one knocking out power to buildings in dallas/ft. worth. our affiliate in jackson, mississippi, hit by lightning tuesday, knocking them off air for a time. with another strong line of storms headed this way, the tornado threat continues through the night, which can be the most dangerous time for a tornado to strike. david? >> all victor, thank you. let's get right to ginger zee, in jackson, mississippi, tonight, and ginger, dangerous now, dangerous into tomorrow. but we're also concerned when these storms hit after dark. >> reporter: especially with tornadoes. we may see less, as far as numbers go of nocturnal tornadoes than we do during the day, however, they can be 2 1/2 times as deadly or injure people, because people are asleep. you can hear it right here behind me. we've had thunder and lightning, we're in a severe thunderstorm warning. this is the main line. and here is my concern tonight as we look at that particularly dangerous situation with those watches that extend all the way through alabama, western tennessee, down to new orleans, it's that people think, oh, we already saw the storms pass, well, there's two rounds. this is the last round here. we're going to see this for the next couple of hours, not only with the damaging winds but the tornado threat overnight. and then you wake up in atlanta with the threat for those severe storms down to the florida panhandle. it lifts to the east. raleigh down to savannah have to be on the lookout. >> thinking about the families and those skies say it all to you. ginger, thank you. we move to the coronavirus here in the u.s., and with vaccinations ramping up, real hope. but also concern tonight with cases now up. the cdc tonight and what they're calling two variants of concern. the numbers tonight. 73,510,000 people have received at least one dose. that's more than 28% of all adults. abc's eva pilgrim tonight on those variants of concern. >> reporter: tonight, st. patrick's day celebrations scaled down for the second year in a row. as the country reaches a critical crossroads in this pandemic -- >> we are still in the middle of a serious outbreak. mill concern is that we prematurely pull back and don't give the vaccines time to continue to protect the country. >> reporter: although the national case average is falling, 15 states are seeing at least a 10% increase in the last week from the midwest to the northeast. but half the country is now easing restrictions. minnesota starting its rollback. >> we're winning and this thing's coming to an end. >> reporter: but over the last seven days, the case average there climbing 47%. >> minnesota i think is really a harbinger of things to come. we're loosening up all the restrictions we've had, and in some ways creating a perfect storm moment for virus transmission, whether it's a variant or not. >> reporter: the cdc now adding two new strains first detected in california to its list of variants of concern, saying they may be about 20% more contagious. with states now expanding access to the vaccine, demand soaring. >> the competition will be fierce. who can type the quickest? who knows the shortcuts? >> reporter: but with vaccinations quickly picking up, disney's ceo revealing that disneyland in california will reopen at the end of next month. the park owned by abc's parent company. still, the looming challenge of convincing enough americans to get the vax seen. a recent poll finding nearly half of republican men would choose not to get vaccinated. george stephanopoulos asking president biden about the political divide. >> how do you get the politics outta this vaccine talk? >> i don't understand this macho thing about, i'm not going to get the vaccine, my right as an american. why don't you be a patriot? >> reporter: and now former president trump, who quietly got the vaccine before leaving office, telling his supporters to get it. >> it's a great vaccine, it's a safe vaccine and it's something that works. >> reporter: researchers at policy lab concerned about the first signs of a possible resurgence in cities like detroit, boston and new york. and while they don't expect the intensity of the surge resaw this winter, they say it is a reminder that this pandemic is not over. david? >> yes, cautious, as we move forward here. eva, thank you. we continue to report here on the worsening situation on the southern border. fema opening a convention center in dallas to hold thousands of unaccompanied migrant teens. and tonight homeland security chief alejandro mayorkas in the hot seat, grilled by lawmakers. abc's marcus moore from dallas tonight. >> reporter: the head of homeland security tonight squaring off with lawmakers on the growing influx of migrants and unaccompanied minors to the southern border. >> well, given the tremendous rise and surge of individuals coming to the border, wouldn't it be fair to call it a crisis? because that's what your agents are calling it. >> mr. ranking member, i'm not spending any time on the language that we use. >> reporter: mayorkas doubling down, telling a house committee the border is not open, echoing what president biden told our george stephanopoulus. >> do you have to say quite clearly, "don't come?" >> yes, i can say quite clearly, don't come. >> reporter: biden also saying the u.s. is working on ways to allow people to apply for asylum from their country, hoping to deter them from making the dangerous journey. the u.s. bracing for a wave of migrants at the border in numbers not seen in the last 20 years. according to a source, unaccompanied migrant children under the age of 18 now account for more than 50% of everyone in border patrol custody. dhs said single adults and most families are being turned back. and late today, the red cross seen preparing for the arrival of migrant teens at this dallas convention center turned temporary shelter. the fema site opening to ease the strain at the border. david, we are back outside the convention center here in dallas where those volunteers are waiting for the teens to arrive on buses. lawyers tell us it could take two to three days for the kids to be medically cleared and then those lawyers can go in and advise them. david? >> marcus, moore. >> we turn next tonight to news of a major change when it comes to the tax deadline for americans. the irs is delaying the deadline from april to mid may, may 17. and president biden making news on taxes. george stephanopoulos asking the president if he's going to be raising taxes. and the president acknowledged, that's his plan. and he clarified who will see that increase. americans is making more than $400,000. here's mary bruce tonight. >> reporter: president biden is pushing back against republicans who say americans should brace for a tax hike to pay for biden's agenda. >> they want to raise taxes across the board. >> reporter: but the president tells george that's just not true, insisting only the rich will see their taxes rise. >> you're going to be raising those taxes? >> yes. anybody making more than $400,000 will see a small to a significant tax increase. if you make more than -- less than $400,000, you won't see a fed -- one single penny in additional federal tax. >> you didn't get a single republican vote for tax cuts. how are you going to get a republican vote for a tax increase? >> oh, i may not get -- but i'll getthe democratic votes for a tax increase. >> reporter: as for this year's taxes? the irs tonight announcing it will delay the april 15th filing deadline to may 17th, giving taxpayers an extra month to respond to a host of pandemic-related tax changes. it comes at the irs a sending out those $1,400 stimulus payments. more than $90 million distributed so far. >> and in addition to taxes, mary, the president also weighing in on new york governor andrew cuomo and the allegations he's facing from multiple women now and george asking, if the investigation confirms the claims of the women, should he resign? the president saying yes and adding "that i think he'd probably end up being prosecuted, too." and governor cuomo now responding to the president? >> reporter: yes, and david, the governor deflected, noting only that both me and the president agree there should be an investigation. cuomo completely ignoring that biden said he could likely face criminal prosecution, something the president brought up unsolicited in that interview twice. david? >> mary bruce at the white house tonight. mary, thank you. when we come back here, major news tonight from the trial of former police officer derek chauvin. why two of the jurors have now within removed tonight. and we also have news on tiger woods and his condition. these are real people, not actors, who've got their eczema under control. with less eczema, you can show more skin. so roll up those sleeves. and help heal your skin from within with dupixent. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. 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