10/07/2014 ABC World News with Diane Sawyer

Mike Embley is here in just under half an hour, but now it is time to

catch up with the news as seen across the US couple of hours ago,

in ABC World News with Diane Sawyer. Welcome to world news. Tonight,

sound and fury in the north`east. Storms so sudden and swift, seconds

make the difference. And, a child is killed at a summer camp. Rockets

fired by Hamas into the side of a nuclear power plant. How the

Israelis shot them down, with families running for cover on all

sides as our reporters are there. Something new for the family

vacation here at home. The biggest waterslide ever, and we take you for

a ride. Good evening. We begin with news

about the powerful storms that have been rising with such startling

speed and power people are racing to safety. Look and listen... That is

the sound and fury of the storm that killed five, including a young boy,

who walked off from his family at summer camp. A storm so swift,

seconds meant the difference between life and death, and we are tracking

it all right there on the radar. The storm system marching east. Our

meteorologist in a moment, but first, we are in the storm on right

now. Violent storms bearing down on the

north`east again tonight, this after pounding upstate New York with

blinding rain and deadly violent winds. At least six tornadoes across

states. Across New York tonight, as they pick up the pieces, and mourn

the loss of four. A mother and daughter dying when this home

collapsed, and here, a man and his dog died when his house was

literally carried into the air. So, this is the house that originally

was right there. It was lifted up, you can see some of the screens

there on that poll, and just carried right over onto another house. Have

you ever seen anything like that? I have never seen anything like that.

From west Virginia to Vermont, more than 300 severe weather reports.

Uprooting trees in Ohio, and at a summer camp in Maryland, more than

100 children, ages 7`12, were at an outside event and tried running

inside. The camp director so they try brushing more than 100 campers

to safety, but they were too late. It 12`year`old boy was killed by a

falling tree. Six more were injured. Tonight, they are reviewing safety

procedures. It looks like a tornado went through a small section of this

camp, right where the campers were. Falling trees are one of the big

killers in storms. Tonight, here in Smithfield, New York, families are

beginning to deal with this destruction and loss of life. What

makes this so much harder to look at, is that some homes are

completely untouched. It is happening again tonight, as

you alluded to earlier. Let me show you them up. I really want to focus

on the north`east, because anywhere from Virginia up three New

Hampshire, there are already warning is coming up on the map. When you

hear a warning it means it is already happening or it is imminent.

Are the new ways of getting those warnings? We have the oldest and

best way right here. That would be the radio, you can get these, they

are inexpensive and lifesaving. The other thing is wireless alerts that

are coming out. The government has come together, you will see a text

message pop up on your phone, and that is coming free of charge. Most

of us get those, some of us don't. If you don't, you can sign up with a

national weather service for others. Or, there are perhaps, either way

you have to take responsibility. Next, to the danger in the Middle

east. A moment everyone watched with concern, rockets launched directly

at a nuclear plant in Israel. The famous iron Dome tried to blast it

out of the sky, but both sides are caught in the crossfire. In Gaza,

and Israel, families huddling trying to keep safe. Hamish McDonald was

there. This wedding, just south of Tel

Aviv, is interrupted by sirens. We see the bride and groom running,

knowing they have one and a half minutes to find shelter. For

Israelis this is a well rehearsed response. This is usually an

underground parking Garrard, but if there is a strike, tens of thousands

of people can run down here. There is enough space for the entire

population of Tel Aviv to move underground. Today, three long`range

rockets were launched towards the sight of Israel's nuclear reactor.

The iron Dome defence system came into place. A successful strike

could have been catastrophic. New Hamas rockets are now capable of

population. They streaked across the population. They streaked across the

skyline tonight. Israel's PM promised those firing them would pay

a heavy price. 40,000 reservists have been called up as part of a

move towards a possible ground invasion of the strip. The divisions

between Israel and the Palestinians are wide, but geographic differences

are tiny. Rockets from Gaza fired at Tel Aviv travel just over 40 miles.

There is no question Israel has overwhelming military muscle when it

comes to taking on Hamas, but for the people of Gaza it is clear. A

simply do not have the same defence is that we have seen here.

Here, sometimes, there is a warning. We met a woman whose family's

3`storey home is now a pile of rubble. They told us they got a call

in the middle of the night from the Israeli military giving them ten

minutes to leave. They say a small rocket was fired in to make sure

they fled, then the next barrage completely levelled it. They are

innocent people, she told me. There are no militants here, being fired.

In Gaza, amid the ground shaking rooms of Israeli airstrikes, there

are no sirens, no shelters to run to. There is crying amid the

devastation that follows Israeli missiles. Here, five members of one

family killed when a militant leader was targeted. Ambulances tearing

into Gaza's hospitals, those sounds of war continuing leak into the

night. The death toll grows, with more than 60 killed so far. Only ten

were militants. That fuels the anger.

Mt Edward Snowden is back in the news. New documents claim he was

spied on. There is a new report that if naming names. This is the first

time that the names of people spied on by NSA were made public. First, a

prominent American Muslim who worked in the Department of Homeland

Security during the Bush administration. There is nothing in

my background, but I know that because I was a Muslim I was

surveilled. Names and e`mails were found on this document taken by

Edward Snowden and turned over to the journalist Glenn Greenwald.

These are prominent Americans that had no relationship with terrorism

or terror plots. The revelations came on the same day as

extraordinary diplomatic fireworks over spying with the United States

and Germany. It was on July four that the US said they had arrested a

31`year`old German security official who had been working for the NSA.

Then another German and who was working at the Ministry of

Defence was arrested. The former head of the CIA said that this kind

of spying is usual. As for spying on Muslim Americans, it has been said

that it was false that any US citizen was targeted because of

religion. Now more on the search of people heading to the United States

from Mexico. Tonight, President Barack Obama faced some of his

critics, including Rick Perry. Today, a former male was sentenced

to prison for ten years on corruption charges. Back at home, we

are keeping watch on the use of your taxpayer dollars. A report today

said that the Federal government doled out $100 billion to the wrong

people. They have been giving unemployment benefits to people with

jobs. Can you believe that there is an investigation into dog fur. We

are looking into your tax money tonight. Every year, Customs

officials have to write a specific report to Congress about dog and cat

fur. They are spending an estimated 10,000 dollars

off your tax money to keep the far out of clothing. The problem is,

there has only been one case of this. Still, a report to Congress.

He get some of these reports. How many of these do you actually read?

Virtually none. The problems have disappeared, any report, out of all

these reports, says that nearly one in ten could go. We have identified

over 350 that we think are netting value today and wasting taxpayer

money. This is slow`moving Washington, the house is ready to

get of 85 reports, saving $1 million. Warner says that he wants

more, he has not been able to get rid of any since 2010 when he began

calling for fewer reports. It is 2014, nothing has happened. It is a

job that tries your patience. We four years into it, we ought to do

better. Until they do better... Supply and demand. There is plenty

of reading material demanded by Congress that no one is reading.

Up next here, amusement parks are racing towards bigger and scary

rides, tonight, one of the wildest rides yet. And, superstar George

Clooney, the showdown, the apology winning the victory for his fiancee

and her family. Next tonight, a kind of daredevil

race under way in America's big theme parks, bigger, faster, scarier

new brides, tomorrow the world 's tallest waterslide opens higher than

the Statue of Liberty. But what do the crash tests show? And, what

happens when our correspondent is one of the first to take the plunge.

You could call it a waterslide... 168 feet of teeth chattering terror.

That is insane! The first bit was easy. 264 stairs. Higher than

Niagara Falls. It feels like I am about to fall off a cliff. I was

about to be the first civilian down a bright that has been a serial

killer of sandbags in test runs. It fell backwards, tipped over, and

killed everything. Its name is German for" insane" . It was over

budget, delayed by serious safety concerns. The minute we thought

there was a problem, we stopped. The park worked with local regulators to

tweak the incline, and installed a safety net. Enough talking, it's my

turn! It is a doomsday right in an amusement park arms race. Rides like

this one mean big money, 85 million guests at water parks alone in

2012. So many wondering if the fear businesses getting dangerous. The

rides designer says no. It is being built like a spaceship. It will be

tested, everything from impact to speed. A three second freefall, a

face full of water, and I am terrified, pleasantly.

The top of the instant index tonight, an invention straight out

of our dreams today, Nissan says that they have created the first

self`cleaning car. It is a kind of Teflon paint, so mud and dirt slides

right off, they say. From a car to a plane, this selfie at 30,000 feet

made headlines. A passenger with oxygen mask in place, snapping this

picture as his plane made an emergency landing. Nobody was hurt.

Now, ABC World News heard a report by the Italian police stopping

thousands of bottles of counterfeit Italian wine. The report included an

image of this highly regarded wine, we want to make it clear that we did

not intend to imply that any palazzo wines have been counterfeited. Now,

famous people, publicity and principle. Actor George Clooney said

that one of the world 's biggest newspapers owed his family and

fiancee and apology, and he won. George Clooney is no stranger to

life in the spotlight. Promoting movies on the red carpet, and

calling attention to humanitarian causes. But today, he drew a line,

writing that a laughable tabloid had entered into the arena of inciting

violence. When the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, published this

article about his fiancee. A very glamorous and very private

high`powered international lawyer and her family. The article claimed

that his soon`to`be mother`in`law opposed his engagement to her

daughter on religious grounds, but she didn't think George Clooney was

good enough for her. The gravity star then slammed the Daily Mail for

publishing the story, which George Clooney says is completely

fabricated and put his family and friends in harms way `` the Gravity

star. He says he respects freedom of speech Bob wrote the following. ``

speech, but broke the following. Today, a very rare apology. In an

e`mail to ABC News, a spokesman said the following.

While they say they plan to reach out to George Clooney to set the

record straight, it seems that he has already done that.

We thank you for watching, we always here at ABC News, and we will see

here tomorrow, have a good night. `` see you here tomorrow.

The wind is calming down a bit for today,