tonight, the spring stunner for millions. severe weather hitting now. look at this. the chain reaction disaster. the highways covered in ice. you can hear the tractor-trailers, the cars colliding. the screams for help. passengers stranded for seven hours. the crying babies. tornadoes spotted in the south. also breaking the explosion at a gun range. the massive fireball. the 73-year-old deputy who grabbed his gun instead of his taser. tonight, breaking his silence. making the case, it's easy to grab the wrong weapon. quote, "it can happen to anyone." the tv reporter, and the attendant. you will hear the fiery exchange. and now the suspension. some asking, is it enough? and, dr. oz responds after

doctors call for him to be fired, calling him a fake. good evening. we begin with two developing stories, the explosion as a gun range, and we begin with the other slow motion disaster. 22 million bracing for severe weather. these images from wyoming. a stunning scene. tractor trailers smashing into cars you can hear it. the twisted metal, the rescuers stunned. and two tour buses colliding. and reports of the tornadoes in texas. all part of the same system as

millions brace for a difficult start to the weekend. ryan owens leading us off. >> this is ugly [ bleep ] man. >> reporter: a truck driver caught in this mangled mess of metal on a wyoming highway can't believe his eyes, so he starts recording. >> freaking cold out here. i'm shaking to death. >> reporter: in the middle of a nearly blinding snowstorm, he takes us truck to truck on interstate 80 between cheyenne and laramie. police say more than 30 semis and a dozen cars are involved in this chain-reaction crash. this video catches several of those trucks slamming into each other, again and again. listen closely. you can hear one driver yelling for help. >> help! >> there's one more guy that needs help. >> reporter: there are so many trucks to search, rescuers mark them with orange "x"s, the way they do in a natural disaster. >> i got lucky. i got way lucky.

>> more than two dozen people are taken to the hospital, but somehow, no one died. the interstate closed all day. in colorado, fog is to a blame for this pileup involving two band tour buses outside denver. 12 people trapped in one of the buses. crews had to rip it apart to get the driver out. no one was killed but troopers are warning other drivers. >> just because you've gone through one patch of fog and cleared that does not mean another one is not coming right around the corner. >> reporter: the weather was so nasty in denver, this united flight had to land in colorado springs. passengers, including this little guy, sat on the tarmac for seven hours. tonight, most are taking a bus to denver. to the south in texas, nearly the entire lone star state is at risk for severe weather tonight. hail and heavy rains are already pounding abilene. just one day after 11 tornadoes were reported across the southern plains.

there's a severe thunderstorm watch west of dallas into south texas. that's millions of people. >> ryan, thank you. let's get right to rob marciano. >> in dallas they're going to get hit hard. look at the radar, the swirl of snow continues across the rockies. the threat will be large hail strong winds, maybe a tornado. through the mississippi river valley we'll be watching for severe weather. and flood watches out across the i-10. and what little drought was there, will be gone. and a struggle to stay dry all the way out to chicago. and stunning images out of fresno, a massive fireball.

highway 99 shut down rescue teams rushing to the scene. workers believe a gun range may have hit a gas line. and they're evacuating neighborhoods in the area. we'll stay on this throughout the night. we turn to the deputy charged with manslaughter breaking his silence. reaching for his tazer, pulling out his loaded gun instead. the deputy saying i shot him, i'm story. tonight, arguing it is something that could happen to anyone. here's ryan smith. >> reporter: volunteer deputy robert bates speaking out about this moment when he confused his gun for his taser. >> i shot him. i'm sorry. >> reporter: killing 44-year-old eric harris, after he bolted from an undercover sting operation. >> he shot me. >> reporter: did the shooting happen in part because the

73-year-old insurance company ceo wasn't fully trained to handle his weapons? bates, showing nbc news where he keeps his weapons on duty. >> my taser is right here on the front, tucked in a protective vest. my gun itself is on my side normally to the rear. >> reporter: and saying weapon mistakes have happened to other officers. >> i thought to myself after reading several cases, i don't understand how this can happen. you must believe me, it can happen to anyone. >> reporter: according to one journal report, over an eight-year period, there were nine cases of officers accidentally using their guns instead of their tasers. the sheriff's office and bates' lawyer saying he was well qualified, and completed over 300 hours of training. the man who once donated thousands to the sheriff's office, and even ran his sheriff's re-election campaign is now facing second degree manslaughter charges. >> and ryan is with us now. the deputy responding to

accusations that he got the job thanks to financial contributions. >> he says he supported them to help them do theyir jobs. but he could face up to four years in prison. and the unbelievable moment the aircraft flying low, landing on the west lawn of the capitol. flown by a 61-year-old postal employee. and the giant security balloons intended to catch this kind of threat. but they weren't activated yet. here's pierre thomas. >> reporter: tonight the wife of gyrocopter pilot doug hughes is calling him a patriot, as hughes makes his way back home to florida, and authorities investigate how his audacious flight managed to evade the air defense umbrella, and touch down on the lawn of the u.s. capitol. >> so all this layered defense, these radars, these sophisticated capabilities,

hundreds of millions of dollars, for naught. >> reporter: but the military is now testing a giant radar-equipped airship designed to detect low-to-ground threats like cruise missiles, and small flying objects like the gyrocopter, which is not bigger than a bicycle. it is called the "j-lens" and measures 242 feet long, twice the size of a blue whale. it can hover at 10,000 feet, detecting flying objects as far as 340 miles away, able to cover most of the east coast. but the $2.8 billion dollar j-lens project is still in the testing phase, and not yet integrated into the air defense system. so it was of little help when doug hughes' big statement gave washington a big scare. >> and pierre is with us now. i understand that doug hughes wants to keep his job? >> well, the postal service declined to say whether he faces

disciplinary action. this evening, the 23-year-old man accused of traveling to syria to train with a terror group pled not guilty today. he reportedly learned hand-to-hand combat. around the world to iraq, tonight isis claiming responsibility for a massive car bomb. and also from iraq this evening, reports that a member of saddam hussein's inner circle was reportedly killed. he once had a $10 million bounty on his head and was the king of clubs of the deck used to identify key members of hussein's team.

and air rage, you can see this on his sleeve a woman reportedly annoyed by his loud snoring. david kerley with the story tonight. >> reporter: this pen turned into a weapon, on a man who was snoring. >> imagine being asleep and then being stung by bees, and waking up and going, ow! >> reporter: police board. the evidence, blue ink on his shirt, from the pokes or stabs from the woman sitting next to him. this all happened before take-off from chicago. >> she was smirking and she said zero. >> reporter: she was escorted off. personal space invasion that can get nasty. remember this woman, sleeping on a man's lap? or the woman who last year threw a soda in a man's face because he used a pair of those knee defenders to keep her seat from reclining? if you talk to flight attendants, air rage is on the rise. partly because of packed planes and the incredible shrinking seat. narrower, and from 34 inches of

leg room a couple of decades ago, cut to 32, 30 -- even 28 inches in some low fare operators. >> we're h headed to more trouble unless we take this seriously. >> reporter: the woman with the pen was not charged. she was put on a later flight to new hampshire. david? >> david, thank you. and we turn to a different kind of travel nightmare tonight, this time out of washington state. 14 million bees unleashed outside of seattle. the truck overturned, bee keepers rushing to the scene, spraying a foam that calms them down. and the reporter from espn suspended after insulting an employee from a tow truck company. david wright with the punishment

tonight. >> reporter: if you're ever tempted to lose your cool -- keep britt mchenry in mind. >> because i'm in television. lose some weight. >> reporter: she was on television on espn until today. today, espn suspended her for a week after her rant against the attendant went viral. evidently, her car had been towed. the video has been edited we only hear her side. the woman on the receiving end, a single mother of three, working a difficult job to support her family. the reporter has now apologized tweeting that she allowed her e emotions to get the best of her.

david wright abc news, new york. and the family of martin richard now speaking out. they marked the two-year anniversary of the blast. tonight, the family writing in the "boston globe" that they want dzokhar tsarnaev's life to be spared. arguing that it would bring years of appeals reliving the most painful moments of their lives. and we turn to a sudden explosion in a classroom. was enough done to keep the students safe? paula faris. >> reporter: a frightening moment in this arizona classroom. after a routine science experiment exploded.

students screaming their teacher's name. one jumped in and doused the flames. it was a common experiment the teacher had done many times before. it's supposed to look like this. but school officials said the container unexpectedly fractured. burning the teacher and causing one student minor injuries. >> okay, ready? >> reporter: this is not an isolated incident. 13 were injured in reno due to employee injury. as for the arizona teacher, she's been released from the hospital. the government requires teachers

to have safety plans in place. and to the economy tonight. it was a wild ride on wall street. the dow closing down 280 points over concerns over greece and china. and still much more ahead on "world news tonight" this evening. dr. oz responding after doctors called him a fake. and also the kentucky derby is just around the corner. what spectators are now being told they can not do. and the gorilla charging and smashing into the glass. the children frightened. we'll be right back. you don't see it coming. boom! if you've had chicken pox that shingles virus is already inside of you. it ain't pretty when it comes out. now i'm not telling you this so that you'll feel sorry for me.

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lindsay davis with the response. >> reporter: under fire tonight, criticized by a small group of doctors demanding that columbia university remove him. the well-respected surgeon criticized for providing quack treatments and cures. something he's defended before on capitol hill when he came under fire for his endorsement of weight loss products. >> you know it's not true. >> i would give my audience the advice i give my family all the time. >> reporter: in their e-mail the physicians criticize his reports on arsenic in apple juice and genetically engineered

foods. and dr. oz saying we provide multiple points of view. including mine. columbia university responded to the doctors expressing support for their employee's freedom of speech. >> thanks. and the major sports star and his big apoll jie. and the big changes coming at the kentucky derby. and the gorilla, charging on the children on the other side of the glass. go out there and play.

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selfie sticks, saying they're doing it for the safety of the horses. and the gorilla, lurching towards the glass, cracking it. gorillas can weigh as much as 500 pounds. when we come back the boy that captivated us all with his wish on a sunday morning. can you guess our person of the week? look! this is the new asian inspired broth bowl from panera bread. our hero is the soba noodle. (mmmm) which we pair with fresh spinach (ahhh) mushrooms (yes) and chicken raised without antibiotics. (very nice) then top with a soy-miso broth. that's the ticket! and if you're feeling extra adventurous try our delicious thai chicken salad only at panera bread.

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foster care in church. walking up to the pulpit about to move a church to tears, a asking for a family. i'll take anyone i don't care. and the hugs from so many for davion. >> i know god hasn't given up and i haven't either. i want people to love me no matter what happened. >> reporter: it was a year ago he showed steve osunsami his room. tens of thousands of calls to adoption agencies. >> i just want to let the people know it's hard to be a foster kid. sometimes you just don't know how hard it is and how much we try to do good. >> he was still looking. but tonight, right here the new

photo to share. that's davion now 17 with his soon to be family. a sister brother, two dogs, in his room on his bed. and that's his new mom. the same caseworker that helped him straighten his tie for church. telling us the adoption process is almost done. >> he's a gentle spirit but hasn't given up hope. i think he's changing the world. i'm david muir. thank you for watching this week. we'll see you right back here on monday. good night.

i love new york. wheel... of... fortune! ladies and gentlemen, here are the stars of america's game, pasajak and vanna white. come on. let's go! we got a show to do. we got a country to entertain. [ chuckles ] thank you, jim. thanks, everybody. thanks so much. we must split. see you later. hi. good to see you guys. get ready.