tonight, several developing stories as we come on. the severe storm threat, flash flood watches up and down the east coast. fears a dam could give way. residents told to evacuate. plus, the tornado confirmed here in new york city. 50 million americans now in the storm zone heading into the weekend. also breaking tonight, planting evidence? the video obtained by abc news. an officer in plain clothes and off duty shooting a man in the face, then appearing to place something on the ground. was he caught on camera trying to cover up a crime? the bombshell interview tonight in the ohio state coach scandal. the assistant coach accused of domestic abuse now saying head coach urban meyer knew about the allegations. just moments ago, meyer responding. also tonight, police cornering the suspect wanted for murdering a prominent doctor.

what he did when officers moved in, and the chilling discovery made by detectives. plus, the wild encounter. a man caught on camera in yellowstone taunting a bison. the massive animal at one point, lunging at him. why that tourist is now facing charges. and good evening. it's great to have you with us on a busy friday night. i'm tom llamas in for david, and we begin tonight with dangerous storm threats as we come on the air. flash flooding alerts for 50 million people from georgia all the way to maine. in lynchburg, virginia, take a look at this. emergency crews keeping a close eye on the college lake dam now crippled and under repair. 150 homes evacuated over fears it could fail, and this destruction from a rare confirmed ef-0 tornado. hitting new york city, winds up to 85 miles per hour, downing at least 50 trees. powerful storms forcing ground stops at major airports in the northeast.

abc's eva pilgrim leads us off. >> reporter: tonight, fears in virginia that a dam could breach. officials in lynchburg issued a warning that the college lake dam was at risk of imminent failure. a failure could send up to 17 feet of water into parts of the city of 80,000 people. some 150 homes evacuated. >> with pending weather coming in again this evening, we are still concerned about its overall stability. >> reporter: tonight, crews gaining an upper hand in the race to stabilize it. heavy downpours now hammering more than 50 million across the east. up to half a foot of rain causing major flash flooding in central virginia. residents rescued from their stranded vehicles. high water boats bringing families to safety. >> my latest count, they've gotten about ten people out. >> reporter: to the north, a rare tornado touching down in new york city. winds up to 85 miles per hour tearing through this queens neighborhood.

>> heard the rain, then everything went flying all over the place and all the electric went out. >> reporter: toppling trees and power lines, ripping siding off of homes. storms now causing thousands of delays and hundreds of cancellations at airports across the northeast. >> and eva joins us now live from laguardia airport, and eva, passengers all along the east coast could be in for a long night. >> reporter: that's right, tom. there have been ground stops in boston, newark and here at laguardia. at least seven airports looking at major cancellations. it's not going to get better any time soon. rain is in the forecast for tomorrow morning, tom. >> all right, eva pilgrim leading us off. eva, thank you. let's get right to senior meteorologist rob marciano along new york's westside highway with an update on those flash flood watches. rob, good evening. >> reporter: hey, good evening, tom. they have been expanded basically and eva is right. we have more rain in the forecast over some saturated soil. we have had some severe weather and the tornado warning.

as far north as new hampshire where rainfall reaches 3 inches per hour, so those watches remain up with that continued flow. most of it is west of i-95, but that will change over the next 24 hours, and we're looking for another 3 to 4 plus inches of rainfall. that's going to spur up some flooding. a couple of more rounds coming through. two last night and this afternoon, and then more tonight and then another one tomorrow morning through new york and into boston. dry air behind, that but for the next 20 hours or so, tom, going to be a little rough. tom? >> rob for us tonight. rob, thank you. we turn to a developing story here in new york. abc news obtaining video of an off-duty police officer allegedly shooting a man in the face, then trying to plant something on him before authorities arrive. the confrontation caught on surveillance. the officer wounding the victim and what happens when he appears to notice the camera. abc's erielle reshef with that video. >> reporter: tonight, this disturbing new video capturing

the moment an off-duty officer shoots a man in the face. then allegedly tries to cover it up. that sergeant, ritchard blake wearing the backpack. you can see the two men appearing to argue in the street before blake opens fire. the officer hovering over 21-year-old thayvone santana. it looks like he places an object by his side. but when he appears to notice the camera, he bends down to remove it. investigators say the cop initially claimed santana tried to rob him. >> we think there may have been some sort of dispute prior to this incident. >> reporter: but police sources say the two knew each other and may have been fighting over a girlfriend. authorities are not revealing if santana was armed, but did say this -- >> just to clarify, there was no firearm found at the scene. no firearm recovered. >> reporter: the nypd now looking into the actions of the 40-year-old officer. >> there are certain things that we saw in this investigation that we have questions that are unanswered at this point. >> reporter: tonight santana's mother calling for justice. >> i want justice for my son. my family. >> erielle reshef joins us now live tonight, and that video apparently somewhat damaging to

that off-duty police officer. has the nypd taken action with that sergeant, and how's the victim doing tonight? >> reporter: well, tom, thayvone santana is in the hospital in stable condition. as for sergeant blake, he was placed on modified duty within hours of that incident as both his department and the brooklyn d.a. investigate, tom. >> erielle, thank you. now to the growing scandal rocking college football and ohio state university. a fired assistant coach accused of domestic abuse breaking his silence tonight. at the same time, his former boss, head coach urban meyer also speaking out after he was placed on leave. the school investigating whether meyer knew about the allegations and stayed quiet. here's abc's kayna whitworth. >> listen. we had a toxic relationship. >> reporter: tonight, fired ohio state assistant football coach zach smith breaking his silence. after being accused of domestic abuse by his ex-wife, courtney. >> there was aggression in the relationship but anything i ever did to her was a defensive action. all i know is i never hit my wife. i never hit her. i never beat her.

nothing. >> i was scared. >> reporter: but courtney telling stadium sports network he was abusing her as early as 2009. >> he picked me up by the neck and threw me down on the ground in our bathroom, and screamed at me, look what you turned me into. >> reporter: in an exclusive interview with espn smith also delivering this bombshell, that head coach urban meyer knew about the allegations in 2015. >> he said, what the hell is going on? what is this? what is this? and i told him. i laid it all out for him. i said apparently my ex-wife is trying to get me charged with domestic abuse. >> reporter: how did he respond to that? >> he looked at me and said, i swear to god, zach, if i find out you hit her, you're done. you're fired. >> reporter: meyer denied any previous knowledge about the allegation. >> i was never told about anything. never anything came to light. i never had a conversation about it, so i know nothing about it. >> reporter: tonight, coach meyer just releasing a statement saying he failed when he made those very remarks. writing, quote, my intention was not to say anything inaccurate

or misleading. however, i was not adequately prepared to discuss these sensitive personnel issues with the media, and i apologize. >> kayna joins us now, and with meyer now admitting he knew about the allegations, the big question tonight, is he in danger of losing his job? >> reporter: well, tom, meyer recently signed a new contract that reportedly has a clause obligating him to report any potential misconduct by members of his staff. meyer is now currently on paid administration leave. during this investigation, tom. >> kayna whitworth for us tonight. kayna, thank you. we turn onto the new developments in the urgent manhunt for a murder suspect in houston. the alleged killer wanted for shooting a well-known doctor over a 20-year grudge, confronted by police this morning taking his own life. authorities say he was wearing a bulletproof vest. a list of a dozen names including the doctors were found at his home. so who else was on the list? abc's marcus moore is in houston. >> reporter: the hunt for the

man who gunned down a prominent houston doctor riding his bike to work ending police say in this southwest houston neighborhood. >> it's going to be the suspect. he's walking. he's down. >> reporter: with a dramatic showdown between two police officers and 62-year-old suspect joseph pappas. police say pappas took his own life as officers approached him this morning. >> without the public, we wouldn't be standing here today. >> reporter: the death marking the end of a nearly two week long manhunt, police say pappas had a long held grudge against prominent cardiologist dr. mark hausknecht who once treated president george h.w. bush, and according to police, pappas' mother when she died on the operating table 20 years ago. investigators say in their hunt for a motive, a disturbing picture emerged revealing just how much planning allegedly went into dr. house hausknecht's july 20th murder. >> our investigateers found a very extensive intelligence file this suspect had put together on dr. hausknecht. >> reporter: police say that file also included the names of other employees at the texas medical center. but it's unclear tonight whether or not they were targets too.

we have learned tonight that a camera on a city bus captured the entire murder. the police chief told me it is the most chilling video he has ever watched. he also said that he is thankful the community helped catch a killer, tom. >> marcus moore for us. marcus, thank you. news tonight about the desperate search for that missing student in iowa. authorities looking through ditches and farms for mollie tibbetts who vanished while jogging more than two weeks ago. the reward now jumping to more than $200,000. abc's alex perez is in iowa. >> reporter: tonight, mollie tibbetts' father, begging for help. >> we're all in this together. we're all trying to bring molly back. >> reporter: her boyfriend dalton jack making an emotional plea to mollie's possible abductor. >> just try to put yourself in our shoes. what if somebody had taken somebody that you love so much, and just have the courage to come forward. >> reporter: it's been more than two weeks since the university of iowa student vanished. authorities have searched nearby properties, investigated a report of a possible sighting in

missouri, and are following up, they say, on hundreds of tips. authorities have remained tight-lipped about the investigation, but investigators say they do have a solid base of evidence they are working from. >> we come to work every day with an attitude that we're going to find mollie today and we hope to be able do that and report that to you soon. >> reporter: the reward for information on her whereabouts growing. now topping $200,000. tom, investigators say they are working this case around the clock. there are signs like this one just about everywhere you look across town. authorities are hoping that increased reward will motivate anyone with information to come forward. tom? >> and that reward still growing tonight. all right, alex. thank you. the new headline about the las vegas massacre tonight. the motive behind the worst mass shooting in modern american history will remain a mystery. the police department releasing its final report on the killing spree last october. investigators say they may never know why he opened fire from his room at the mandalay bay hotel.

58 people were killed, hundreds wounded, attending that outdoor concert. the sheriff calling paddock, quote, an unremarkable man with a troubled mind. next tonight, president trump and china stoking the flames of their trade war. china warning it will hit the u.s. with $60 billion worth of new tariffs. in response to the president's threat of a $200 billion tariff on chinese products. americans already caught in the middle. here's abc's chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl. >> reporter: a new front in the escalating trade war with china which today threatened to impose $60 billion in new tariffs on a wide range of american products. the move comes after the president moved to dramatically increase u.s. tariffs on chinese goods. the president talked about his get-tough-on-china trade policy at his rally last night in pennsylvania. >> right now, championship is -- >> right now, china is not too happy with me. and our country got ripped off like no country ever before in

the history of the world. we got ripped off. >> reporter: the new chinese tariffs would cover over 5,000 american products. new taxes on honey, coffee, wine, american beef, salmon, vegetables and much more. many of the targeted products come from areas that voted overwhelmingly for donald trump in the 2016 election. the president's top economic adviser offered an ominous warning today to china. >> the message here is do not underestimate president trump's determination to follow through on the china trade reform campaign. they better take president trump seriously. >> reporter: today's escalation comes after tit-for-tat moves where the united states and china each imposed new tariffs on $34 billion worth of imports last month. an expanding trade war that could hit american companies, farmers and consumers hard. >> jon karl joins us now live from the white house, and jon, how's the administration reacting tonight to the those new threats from china? >> reporter: the message to china tonight comes from the

white house press secretary, sarah sanders who says, instead of retaliating, china should address longstanding concerns about its unfair trading practices. in other words, tom, the white house is not backing down. >> jonathan karl for us tonight. jon, thank you. and a late immigration headlight coming in tonight. a federal judge ruling the trump administration must fully restore daca. the program for so-called dreamers, allows 8,000 -- 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children to remain in the country. the judge giving the administration 20 days to appeal. there is much more ahead "world news tonight" this friday. the dramatic rescue. a child choking on a marble, no longer breathing when the officer arrived. what he did to save her life. plus harvey weinstein fighting back. the legal play by the disgraced mogul. alleged e-mails he says show he had a romantic relationship with the woman accusing him of rape. and the scary standoff in yellowstone between a man and a

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back now with the scary standoff with a wild animal in yellowstone national park. the man who is lucky he wasn't injured when the animal charged, now facing charges in court. here's abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: this bison-baiting video, the latest example of a wildlife encounter gone wrong. >> oh, no, no, no, no, no. >> reporter: the man in the road taunting this giant yellowstone bison, soon found himself in handcuffs. 55-year-old raymond reinke, arrested last night. this now-viral video, joining a long list of legal trouble for reinke. his multiple run-ins with rangers started july 28th at grand teton national park, busted for allegedly being drunk and disorderly. then in yellowstone tuesday, reinke was cited for intoxication and harassing wildlife. then he was on to glacier, but when authorities saw this video,

a warrant was issued for his arrest. >> oh, god. >> reporter: wild animals are of course, wild, and experts warn getting too close could kill you. >> these are not elsie the cow. this is a wild animal that fights for aggression, fights for territory. >> reporter: last night, rangers at glacier national park caught up with reinke. he is still in custody, facing several charges including disturbing wildlife. he has not entered a plea. tom. >> a wild trip for him. clayton, thank you. when we come back, a man overboard. the urgent search tonight in the waters off alaska after a choose ship crew member disappears. and call them the lucky 11. the california co-workers who have 543 million reasons to celebrate tonight. stay with us. this is your wake-up call. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. ongoing pain and stiffness are signs of joint erosion.

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singers that have sung songs about their mothers, "blank stares" by jay allen is one that hits your soul. ♪ ♪ you come and go so fast >> reporter: nearly a million people have shared this cell phone video of allen singing to his mom, sherry right in his arms right on stage. sherry just 53 years old, battling early onset alzheimer's. ♪ wish i didn't feel so helpless when it comes to helping you ♪ >> reporter: allen hoping not only to reach his mom through the song, but also the millions of others dealing with alzheimer's in their families. allen says while growing up his mom worked two to three jobs to support their family and taught them to think about others. he is now pledging all proceeds from the song go to abe's garden, an alzheimer's care center in nashville. ♪ i know you're still in there, deep down somewhere i swear i still see you ♪

>> reporter: and though there is no cure to alzheimer's, allen says country music is the only thing that brings his mom back. watch how she smiles right here. allen now hoping by sharing his song and story he can help others. [ cheers and applause ] >> that song, "blank stares," you can find it on itunes. thanks so much for watching on a friday night. i'm tom llamas. see you right back here tomorrow. see you right back here tomorrow.

we are looking live outside because the impact of the fires could get worst. tonight the impact of the fires that we're seeing and smelling. fires already burn, but with local crews stretched so thin, how can we make sure our neighborhoods are protected during a weekend with a red flag warning. i'm michael finney at the santa clara county fair where the 7 on your side pop-up is in business right now. we'll be here until 7:00. so drop by, say hello, pick up some free stuff. >> live where you live, this abc 7 news. >> a live look across the bay area tonight at san francisco, walnut creek, and san rafael, where clear skies could turn smoky this weekend, an indicator of just how big and how close some northern california wildfires are. good evening. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm ama daetz. the wildfires that are burning closest to the bay area and make up the mendocino complex are sending smoke into places where we can see it and smell it. >> well, our air quality is likely to get worse this weekend too. and we have a greater chance of

seeing new fires start because of a red flag warning that's already in effect. >> we have team coverage on the firefights tonight with a focus on the impact we're either about to see or are already seeing here in the bay area. >> let's begin with abc 7 news reporter leslie brinkley, checking on our air quality tonight. leslie? >> well, dan, a little glimmer of good news here from along the front lines of the smoke this afternoon. right now we have a little bit of blue sky and the air is clearing. it's a lot better than it was a little while ago. behind me, mt. diablo literally two hours ago you could not see mt. diablo if you were driving on highway 24. to the right you see some of the smoky haze in the distance. it's all matter of the shifting winds. the best air quality monitor on mt. diablo might just be this cyclist who rides these slopes every day. >> well, when you start down in walnut