And how she plans to honor the other victims. Back in the ussr the phantom phone call . Sir elton and president putin in a battle over gay rights. Did the russian leader invite the legendary singer for a summit or was the megastar the victim of a prank . Back in the ussr good morning, america. Happy wednesday. Lets take a look watt some live radar. The weather system doing so much damage in the west this week and you see Salt Lake City and boise there but the kind of down of pour you are seeing in los angeles hardly ever comes this time of year. Once in a lifetime. We have a new look at pictures of that devastating flash flooding in utah. You see the wreckage of the cars, raging water is so powerful. Another storm moving in out west and ginger will start us off with that. We just smashed daily rain records from san diego to los angeles. You can see the highways covered but we have that flash flooding and still warnings already in the northern rockies. The wettest september day in more than 75 years creating a deluge in los angeles. Rivers rapidly rising, rescuers pulling a man and a dog from a tree after they climb it to avoid getting caught up in the rushing water. Slick roads sending this semi spinning on a san diego freeway crashing into several cars and a local news van. The rain, part of the same flow that caused that carnage in utah. Oh, my goodness. New video capturing the horrifying moments two vehicles were washed downriver. Inside three women and 1 children. Oh, that van, oh, dad, theres two vehicles. Reporter we know 12 of them with killed. Authorities say a 0foot wall of water took out the vehicles. Oh, my goodness. Oh, dear, it went over the thing, oh, no. There goes the other van. The body of a 10yearold boy was recovered 6 and a half miles downstream from where the vehicles came to rest. Three survived and this morning, one is still missing. Also in utahs Zion National park four hikers dead, three still missing after flash flooding swept through a canyon. We are hoping but right now its not looking good. Remember, all those horrible pictures you just saw come from one to two inches of rain because they fall in mountains and all congregates at the top of the mountain and flash floods down. Especially when you have dry areas or burn scars and thats what were about to see today. Great news for the valley fire, theyll actually get rain, so the Sacramento Valley will pick up 1 to even 2 inches of rain. This is good and bad, bittersweet and well follow it throughout the day. Thanks very much. The race for president , your voice, your vote and the stage set for tonights big gop debate. Donald trump front and Center Taking fire from all sides, even Vice President weighing in for the first time. The other candidates hoping for a breakout moment when they face off tonight at the Reagan Library in california. Abcs tom llamas is there. Good morning, tom. Reporter george, good morning to you, the debate will take place in a building behind me and this is holy ground for republicans, as you mentioned the Reagan Library but where the 40th president is buried so they will atake this seriously and those 11 candidates are going to be on stage fighting to prove they can carry the reagan legacy, the reagan tradition and center stage the frontrunner, donald trump. Overnight, donald trump rallying on a battleship in southern california, supporters up close but right down below, demonstrators trying to drown him out. Trump giving them a thumbs up ignoring them in his speech and punching his immigration stance hard. A woman who is nine months pregnant walks across the border, has a baby and you have to take care of that baby for the next 85 years. Reporter but now Vice President joe biden saying enough is enough calling trumps message sick. Theres one guy absolutely denigrating an entire group of peep, appealing to the baster side of human nature. Working on this notion of sen phobia if a way that hasnt occurred in a long time. Reporter bidens comment coming as conservative super pac s are unleashing antitrump ads like this from right to rise which is supporting jeb bush. We lose everywhere. Murderers, crime. Reporter i asked trump about the predebate pileon. Its not going to have any impact. Have you seen the ads . No energy. The whole deal is awful. Reporter this as a new National Poll shows dr. Ben carson neck and neck with trump as they head into the debate. Well, the nice hinge is ill be center stage this time so itll be more difficult for them to ignore me. Reporter and trump who famously said he didnt prepare for the last debate may try a different strategy this time. How is your debate prep going . I think very good. Reporter now, we should note that this is a much smaller space, trump has fed off those large crowds, he feeds off their laugh, off their cheers but this is a much smaller space. Its not going to be like cleveland whe he was in front of thousands and each campaign will have seats there so it will be equal. Back to you. Tom, thanks very much. We break it down with jon karl. Last time around took tough questions from the moderators, the other candidates not so much but this time cnn signaling theyll try to create direct confrontations. The moderators are clear they want to provoke a fight so its going to happen, not only that but the others will be guns for trump much last time, george, the other candidates felt they could ignore him. He would fade away. He would commit some gaffe that would kill his campaign. Nobody thinks that anymore. They will be going after him hard. Ben carson joked about it. He was basically ignored except he had a great closing statement. This time will be a real test for him. Carson is the story. He is rising faster than trump. If you look at the latest poll, he is actually statistically tied with donald trump nationally. He is on the rise Standing Center stage right next to donald trump. I have two questions about that, one, will trump go after him . Trump hates the idea of somebody else rising faster in the polls than he does. The only thing is theyre both the outsiders. Ow do they handle the specifics . Meanwhile, all the insiders, all the establishment candidates have been losing altitude for the last several weeks. For some of them this will be a make or break moment. If you take a look at the stage, we have 11 candidates because Carly Fiorina has been added, the one woman on the stage, but they are all in Single Digits besides carson and trump and they are struggling for money. I think it is quite possible that by the next debate, one or two, maybe even more of these candidates are out. Their campaigns are done. This is their make or break moment. Theyre desperate to break through some way. Well be watching tonight, jon karl, thanks very much. All right, george. Now to a tragedy on the way to school. A bus crashing off an overpass leaving two High School Students dead and two others and the driver injured. This morning, were hearing from that driver, abcs ryan owens joins us now from houston with the latest. Good morning, ryan. Reporter good morning. That bus driver saying she thought she was going to die and who could blame her . Take a look at the drop her bus took from that overpass down to the street below. A school bus on its side after plunging off a houston overpass and crashing onto the street below. The images of mangled metal enough to make any parent shudder. This important two students from this Houston High School are dead. Gorgeous, full of life. This was going to be her senior year. She was a mommas baby and a daddys girl. Reporter the two other kids on board the bus and their driver injured. Remarkably that bus driver walking out of the hospital overnight. I think im gonna die. Im driving and i hear something strong on the left side. After this i dont remember nothing. Police questioned the driver, they say caused the wreck and later released her. Shes a houston teacher and her mother says shes heartbroken. It was just a horrible dent. There wasnt anything done deliberate. Shes just an emotional wreck right now. Reporter it happened at 7 00 a. M. Tuesday when this woman seen moments after the crash changed lanes and hit the bus. The bus driver veered out of the way slamming through that guardrail and tumbling onto the street below. The family of the 17yearold killed already talking about filing lawsuits against both drivers involved. Meanwhile, an investigation ongoing this morning into why that guardrail did not hold. George. Okay, ryan, thanks very much. We turn now to that hazing death of a college freshman, michael deng died two years ago after a brutal beating from his frat brothers, now 37 people face charges including five young men for murder. Abcs linsey davis here with the details. Good morning, linsey. Reporter good morning, george. Its taken two long years for this investigation, police described it as being stymied by a massive coverup. Now dengs family describes feeling relief those responsible for taking their sons life will be held responsible. This morning, more than three dozen College StudentsFace Criminal Charges ranging from hazing to homicide. Two years after the death of this young Fraternity Pledge 19yearold chun michael deng. Now a pennsylvania grand jury recommending five of those Fraternity Members face charges of third degree murder. They have to take responsibility for the death they caused and the coverup that they created. Authorities say in december of 2013, members of the Pi Delta Psi Fraternity at new york citys Baruch College carried out a brutal hazing rich yalg. Pledges were forced to run across a frozen field blindfolded weighted down with backpacks filled with 30 pounds of sand while being assaulted. He was singled out and he was treated harsher than the other pledges. Reporter police say after realizing deng was unconscious, it took the students two hours before driving him to a hospital 45 minutes away. During that time police say some of the students served the internet for concussion, cant wake up and pupils dont dilate. Authorities also say instead of calling police, students called the National Fraternity president who told the group to hide all fraternity items. Thats part of why this investigation took so long. The police met with a lot of individuals who refused to cooperate. That they lied to the police. They tried to hide evidence. Reporter a forensic pathologist saying the delay in treatment of one to two hours significantly contributed to the death of mr. Deng. When questioned by police why they didnt call 911 one student said someone looked it up and it cost too much. Dengs family is currently pursuing a wrongful death case against the fraternity and attorney for one of the defendants told us overnight, quote, what happened is a tragedy, but this is not a murder case and, george, the arraignment scheduled for tomorrow. Just a sad and horrible story. Okay, linsey, thanks very much. To amy now for todays other top stories and wall street waiting forego some big news. Thats right. Anyone with investments like a 401 k may want to pay close attention today as the Federal Reserve meets to decide whether to raise Interest Rates for the first time in nearly a decade. Higher rates would make it harder to afford a mortgage or a car loan. Meanwhile, big job cuts at hewlettpackard eliminating up to 30,000 jobs in addition to 55,000 previously announced. And there is new concern this morning about the thousands of Syrian Refugees stranded in europe after hupg and other nations imposed new border controls. Many refugees are now trying to drive seeking routes through croatia and other countries hoping to reach germany. Nearly 800 people have been rescued trying to cross the mediterranean to europe in the last 24 hours. And police near San Francisco are trying to track down suspects after a violent brawl outside monday nights Football Game between the vikings and 49ers and ryan smith tells us. Reporter this morning, police are looking closely at this video, a swarm of fans and 49er jerseys caught on camera repeatedly punching and kicking a vikings fan, the attack showining the vikings fan on hi hands and knees trying to break free. A security official desperately tries to intervene. But fists still fly. And as the vikings fan lay face down, a woman kicking him twice. The man posting the video claiming the vikings fan instigated the attack talking smack to a 49er fan then saying in a crowd, whats up, any of you bleepers want some. Police dispatched to the scene and the assailants leaving before they arrived. We put investigators on to fasttrack the case and identify these folks. Reporter this scene all too common in sports stadiums. Last october, this fight in a 49ers bathroom left a victim parnthly paralyzed and who can forget bryan stow, the man attacked by two men on baseballs opening day 2011 putting him into a coma for nine months. In this attack the 49ers saying theyre working with police to find those responsible. For good morning america, ryan smith, abc news, new york. All right, ryan, thank you for that. An escape artist who works with famed magician criss angel roofing after a deathdefying stunt went wrong. He was chained, handcuffed and suspended in the air Spencer Horsman almost freed himself but he could not open that last lock. He was lowered to the ground and then rushed to the hospital. He is now recovering. And finally, a disturbing trend sprung up. Ill let you be the judge. Dads and tourists, socks with sandals are now fashionable. Calvin klein and bottega virgin vanetta showcased the look and teva telling a socks sand package if you want it to be easy. I think my daughters wouldnt let me out of the house. Youre right. Who knew that my dad was ahead of his time . There you go, daddy. Thank you, amy. Elton john says russian president Vladimir Putin called him to discuss gay rights. The kremlin says never happened. Were going to have that for you in just 30 seconds. Its a case of he said he said between elton john and russias president and david wright is here with that. Good morning. Reporter good morning. Robin. Pop stars and politicians, the more unlikely the matchup, the bigger the potential for news so this one, elton and putin, well, i think its right up there with bono and george w. Bush, maybe even with elvis and nixon. Too good to be true. Sadly, there will be no photoop. Blue jean baby reporter the king of bling who has long championed the cause of gay rights. Piano man you reporter the piano man now making a stand against the often shirtless seemingly humorless russian president. Id love to sit down with him and talk to him. Its probably pie in the sky. Reporter on the bbc elton john proposed a summit with Vladimir Putin like nixon in china or maybe more like Dennis Rodman in pyongyang, positioning himself as a most unlikely ambassador. You would say to him what is there come on, you know, this is not, you know, gay people are not the problem here. They are not the problem of the world. Reporter then monday sir elton posted a note thanking putin for calling him back and saying i look forward to meeting with you facetoface to discuss lgbt equality in russia. Maybe putin has a soft spot for music. Hes a piano man himself. Were never to be reporter alas monday a kremlin spokesman denied putin ever actually called. Chiding elton john for distracting him with such an irrelevant topic. Like a candle in the wind reporter for now it seems sir elton may have been seeing the world through rosecolored glasses. So it is goodbye yellow brick road to the summit. I had to do it. Thank you. The question who did call elton john and was he punkd . Lara there with those puns. Contagious. Thank you, david. Much more ahead this wednesday morning, the sole survivor of that deadly shooting on live tv speaking out for the first time. The only thing i could think of is, play dead. Vicki gardner opening up about those terrifying moments and how she survived. And those deadly floods in utah shedding light on a secretive religious community. How theyre coping with the tragedy this morning. Next. Expected wait time 55 minutes. Your call is important to us. Thank you for your patience. Waiter in the nation, we know how it feels when you arent treated like a priority. We do things differently. Well take care of it. We put members first. Join the nation. Thank you. Nationwide is on your side brandois heaven in a jar. Ats because our gredients come from. Brandois heaven in a jar. Rmers committed to responsibly urced oils. Blended with ingredients like cagefree eggs. Mmm. Heaven. Real ingredients. Thats how were working to bring out the best. Come on, yeah. Now. Everybody dance now. Come on lets sweat, baby. Let the music take control. Let the rhythm move you. Everybody dance now. Could protect you from diabetes . What if one situp could prevent Heart Disease . One. Wishful thinking, right . 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