karina: thank you for watching. tonight, the deadly flooding disaster in kentucky. the death toll growing. children among the victims. the governor warning entire mi images of the devastation. neighborhoods and towns under water. one of the worst flooding events in state history. emergency crews struggling to reach trapped flood victims rescuers in boats and helicopters pull people from their homes. more rain slowing the rescue operation. the governor warning the danger will extend into the weekend. our team in the flood zone. extreme weather threats across the u.s. tonight, from arizona all the way east. record temperatures in the triple digits in the pacific northwest. rob marciano tracking it all. the u.s. pressing russia over that possible prisoner

exchange. secretary of state antony blinken talking to russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, urging them to accept the deal. and how the white house is responding to a new prisoner swap idea from a russian official. back here at home, pfizer and moderna reformlating their covid vaccines, targeting the highly transmissible omicron sub variants. the biden administration securing millions of doses which could be available in september. what we're learning about when adults under 50 could get their next booster shot. actor will smith breaking his silence, speaking on camera for the first time about slapping chris rock on oscar night. >> there is no part of me that thinks that was the right way to behave. former president trump igniting a new fireme 9/11 families protesting a saudi backed tournament at his golf club in bedminster, and his

claim that nobody app gotten to the bottom of 9/11. and the mega millions just hours away. here by $1.3 billion up for grabs. good evening. it's great to have you with us on this friday night. i'm whit johnson in for david. we begin tonight with the deadly and historic flooding in kentucky. the death toll rising. children among the victims. flood watches in effect across several states at this hour. now images coming in today showing neighborhoods and entire towns deep under water. the governor saying rescuers are still trying to reach flood victims trap in the their homes, warning entire families may be among the dead. more than 300 people have been rescued from floodwaters in eastern kentucky. emergency teams in boats and helicopters pulling them from the flood zone. hundred of homes in the eastern part of the state heavily damaged or destroyed.

a house swept away by the flooding, coming to rest on a bridge. businesses abandoned. streets filled with mud and kentucky. the governor says it will take at least a year to recover the damage. for families, the losses are heartbreaking. >> reporter: tonight in eastern kentucky, the death toll rising as rescuers search areas previously unreachable after devastating floods knocked this region to its knees. >> this isn't over. i mean, while we're doing search and rescue, there are still real dangers out there. the water hasn't crested in some areas and won't until tomorrow. >> reporter: more than 300 people rescued already. in perry county thursday, rescue boats navigating rapids filled with debris, carrying the stranded to safety while choppers overhead search for more. >> we've had -- every fire department in the county's been

out doing rescues, water rescues from one side of the canyon to the other. >> reporter: governor beshear touring the damage in hard-hit areas from the air today because it was too dangerous to land. the governor saying entire families could be among the dead. >> i have received notice that they've located the bodies of those four children mentioned in "the herald-leader" story today, and i know we'll be contacting their parents. means we've got at least six dead children. and it's hard. >> reporter: as the search for victims continues, the process of cleaning up just begins. homes ripped off of the foundations. peep as cars, their trailers, tossed around, completely destroyed. it's a process that won't be easy. >> it's just my heart. >> it's part of our family. >> reporter: in the tight knit town of hindman, we found jean everage and gladys epperson cleaning out the flower shop that's been in business for a hundred years. it's now caked with mud, and they're trying to salvage what

they can. >> i started in the flower shop when i was 16 years old on the side, you know? and i'm 62. and this -- and we've lived here most of my life, so this is all i know, and that's gone. >> reporter: what's the hardest part right now? >> hoping there's a future for this town. >> reporter: you're not sure about it right i'm not. >> reporter: the rivers crested tonight, but with the rain coming down, there's not going down fast enough. teay g trees, trash, toys, people's personal belongings, street signs, homes and sheds washed away, crashing into telephone poles. all of this while the search for the missing continues. >> that devastation clear to see behind you. thank you. flood watches from arizona east. to virginia, declaring a massive state of emergency.

monsoon rains tearing across the state there sbmt stunning images from the las vegas strip. water pouring into several casinos, raining down from the ceilings. also the deadly heat wave stretching into the weekend. let's get to rob marciano. hey, rob. >> hey, whit. you know, the patterns are not really changing all that much, but the flood zone does get a break later on tonight briefly. let's go to the radar, show you where the rain is. other batches head in that direction. the front the focal point of the flooding. monsoon in vegas. severe we thinker in virginia. tomorrow night into sunday, the tennessee valley, that's when things get cooking. monday as well, potentially more flooding there. sunday, some relief in the pacific northwest. until then, heat warnings posted. triple digit inla, boise, and missoulla. whit? >> rob, thank you. next tonight for the first time since before the

ukraine, secretary of state antony blinken talking today with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, the u.s. increasing pressure on the kremlin for a prisoner exchange, calling for release of brittney griner and paul whelan for return of convicted arms dealer viktor bout. here's mary bruce. >> reporter: tonight, the lines of communication are open. secretary of state antony blinken today announcing he spoke with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov about the u.s. offer to bring home former marine paul whelan and wnba star brittney griner. >> we had a frank and direct conversation. i pressed the kremlin to accept we put forth. >> reporter: it's the first time the two have spoken since russia [ speaking foreign language ] the call coming just hours after lavrov said it would be interesting to listen to blinken's proposals.

but tonight, it's not clear if any progress was made. blinken is refusing to say if he thinks a release is more or less likely, or to detail the russian response. but moscow says lavrov did ask the u.s. to diplomacy after the white house this week publicly announced an offer was on the table. that offer, sources tell abc news, is to swap whelan and griner for the notorious russian arms dealer viktor bout. but the white house tonight tight-lipped on the negotiations. >> reporter: those conversations are going to continue to go on. we are not going to negotiate from here. just because it's just the right thing to do, and we want to be very careful. >> reporter: and tonight the white house is shooting down an idea floated by a russian official to also release ta russian assassin being held in germany. the white house saying this is not a good counteroffer, this is just an attempt to i the void the deal on the table.

whit? >> mary bruce with those late developments, thank you. overseaseas of dozens of ukrainian p.o.w.s, russia and ukraineing it's too soon to comment on who's responsible. ian pannell in ukraine. >> reporter: tonight, claims as many as 40 ukrainian prisoners n their jail was shelled. russia accusing ukraine of russ it and murri t prisone to then blame ukraine. the attack overshadowing plans to restart vital grain exports from ukraine after a u.n.-backed agreement involving moscow and kyiv. today president zelenskyy visiting the key port city of odesa where shipments could begin leaving this weekend. abc's patrick reevell is there. >> reporter: you can see the huge grain silos behind me here

in the port of odesa. these grain ships here are due to leave in the coming days. whether they are able to safely, though, will be a huge test of whether russia's really going lift its blockade. >> reporter: america's ambassador to ukraine warning russia to stick to the deal. >> this is russia using food as a weapon. it's not acceptable. and there's an agreement on the table, it just needs to be implemented. >> reporter: whit, the pentagon tonight confirming russia's taken, quote, very significant casualties in its fight to take the east, and it speaks volumes that despite going on the offensive, the front lines have barely moved in almost a month.t >>an thank yoke a an nsing their vaccines. new vaccines are expected to be ready in september, and that's when health officials say americans under age 50 could be eligible for another booster. abc's steve osunsami at the cdc in atlanta tonight.

officials tonight are trying to time the next rollout of covid booster shots so that americans are better protected this fall and winter cold season. this means that people under 50 will most likely be able to get their second booster shots in september. >> it's really good news that we're seeing the potential availability of these boosters in september, because you want to vaccinate ahead of any surge. >> reporter: americans will get a new generation of moderna and pfizer vaccines, designed to target omicron and its subvariants. and the shots are also expected to give people better protection from the now dominant covid strain, ba.5. moderna says its new shot produces twice as many antibodies as its current vaccine. >> now, it's hard to predict the future, but this is the best shot we have at protecting people against the most widespread variant right now. >> reporter: but a large number of americans are still refusing the shot. about 70 million people still haven't gotten a single dose. and covid just doesn't want to go away. tonight, 88% of americans live in counties with high or medium

risk. >> steve osunsami joining us tonight from the cdc. goveme i buying learning the vaccines, but they still need to go through the authorization process. >> reporter: that's right, whit. the government 171 million doses of this modified vaccine, with the option to buy more, if needed. but the rollout still has to get a green light from both the fda and scientists here at the cdc. whit? >> we'll stand by for that. steve, thank you. next tonight, actor will smith breaking his silence on camera for the first time about slapping chris rock in front of the world on oscar night. smith sharing an emotional apology, calling his behavior unacceptable. but is rock ready to accept it? here's abc's chief national correspondent, matt gutman. >> reporter: four months after the infamous slap seen around the world on oscar night, actor will smith going before cameras for the first time to apologize to comedian chris rock.

>> chris, i apologize to you. my behavior was unacceptable. and i'm here whenever you're ready to talk. >> reporter: in a new video smith also reaching out to rock's family, including mom rose, who said at the time, "when will slapped chris, he slapped all of us. he really slapped me." >> i wasn't thinking about how many people got hurt in that moment. so, i want to apologize to chs' mot love you. "g.i. jane 2," can't wait to see it. all right? >> reporter: smith going on to answer pre-selected questions, >> i made a choice on my own, from my own experiences, from my history with chris. jada had nothing to do with it. [ laughter ] >> oh, wow! >> reporter: a friend of rock's says the comedian did not know at the time that pinkett smith suffered from the hair loss

condition alopecia. as for why smith didn't apologize to rock when he was then awarded the oscar for best actor? >> i was fogged out by that point. it's -- it's -- it's all fuzzy. i've reached out to chris. and the message that came back is that he's not ready to talk. >> reporter: smith saying the central trauma of his life is disappointing people. >> i am deeply remorseful, and i'm trying to be remorseful without being ashamed of myself. i'm human. >> reporter: whit, chris rock has not commented on this latest apology from will smith. smith, of course, banned from the oscars for another ten years. but his career does seem to be moving forward. "variety" reporting he's being paid $35 million for the film "emancipation", whose release

was delayed because of that slap. now expected out next year. >> other projects still in the works. matt, thank you. former president trump facing protests from 9/11 families tonight, backlash for hosting a saudi backed tournament at his golf course in bedminster, new jersey, and making the claim, quote, nobody has gotten to the bottom of 9/11. the tournament not far from the site of the attack on the world trade center. here's abc's janai norman. >> reporter: tonight, families of 9/11 victims protesting donald trump for hosting the saudi-funded liv golf tournament at his bedminster golf club. >> our loved ones are the heroes. the golfers and the former president are cowards. >> reporter: also enraged by this trump comment. >> nobody's gotten to the bottom of 9/11, and they should have. >> reporter: but during his campaign in 2016, trump squarely blamed the saudis for the september 11th attacks. >> who blew up the world trade center? it wasn't the iraqis. it was saudi. take a look at saudi arabia. open the documents. we ought to get bush or somebody

to have the documents opened, because frankly, if you open the documents, i think you are going to see that it was saudi arabia. >> reporter: those documents, declassified by the fbi last year under president biden, described connections al qaeda and most of the hijackers had with saudi nationals, but the saudi government has always denied any involvement in the terror attack. tim frolic was in the south tower and survived. >> it's simple. the saudis did it. they plotted it, they funded it, and now they're trying to distract every one of those sins with a golf tournament 50 miles away from ground zero. >> reporter: and despite the criticism, trump will be hosting another saudi-backed golf tournament. that one, whit, scheduled for october at his golf club in south florida. >> janai norman, our thanks to you tonight. we move on to the supreme court justice samuel alito responding to critics in his first public comments since writing the opinion overturning

roe vs. wade. taking the unusual stop of mocking america's allies, saying he had the honor of writing the only decisionbaed by foreign leaders. justice an alito singling out prince harry. >> what really wounded me -- what really wounded me was when the duke of sussex addressed the united nations and compare the decision whose name may not be spoken with the russian attack on ukraine. >> 13 states ceased nearly all abortions since the decision. when we come back, the details coming in from north carolina. the emergency landing and the hunt for the pilot who reportedly jumped out of the plane. and the megamillions jackpot keep on growing as americans scramble for their chance to win more than a billion dollars. well believe it baby! because wayfair always delivers.

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5:00 a.m. >> this is a life-changing moment if you win this mega, or any of the lotteries really. but today is one of those days once in a lifetime. >> reporter: from new york, to virginia, to houston, lotto fever catching on, despite the odds of winning the jackpot at about 1 in 303 million. for employees of raising cane's chicken fingers, you were lucky enough to have a ticket bought for you. >> whatever we win, we share it with every single person. >> reporter: their ceo buying a ticket for each of their 50,000 employees. >> this is a glimmer of hope. this is a lot of fun, and hopefully a little bit extra money. >> and again, that drawing later tonight. good luck. thanks so much for watching. i'm whit johnson in new york. i'll see you on "gma" in the morning. have a great night. >> building a better bay area,

moving forward, finding solutions this is abc7news. dan: thank you for joining us. >> we begin today and late sonoma county were a person was shot and killed by police not far from healdsburg this evening. dan: our reporters live in sonoma county with the larry latest -- very latest. >> the sonoma county sheriffs office have not released any details about what happened here north of windsor. ght now. take a look at this video, sky 7 showss us just how dense and rural this area is. authorities are treekan deputies shot and killed here. it is unclear if the person lived here or was trespassing. i got off the phone with santa rosa police, who say the man was cozying -- going door-to-door in this area before shooting this

morning, talking with property owners. it does not appear deputies were injured. officers from the windsor and santa rosa police departments have been here on scene assisting. santa rosa police confirmed with me, that they have and will be taking over this investigation per county protocol. they are expected to be releasing and up late within the hour. this is a developing story and we will bring you any up dates and new information as we get it. >> live in sonoma county abc7 news. dan: thanks very much. we moved to another developing story on monkeypox. cases in the bay area. san francisco continues to have the most with at least 281. san francisco and los angeles counties account for 66 of the cases in california. demographic data released today show anyone percent of people infected -- 91% of people infected identify as