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>> ♪ 25 exhausting at times for you, but was so much appreciated, all

that would prove that, ok, you've made it. obviously, this at it as a new beginning. memories of the past. i look this time and look forward to [applause] oprah: so do i. thank you, scenes. the show lots of people best team in tv. thank you.

king world] wi can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. soft! hard! [ male announcer ] how do you decide between crunchy and soft tacos? why don't we have both? ♪ feed your fiesta. of pop. it just depends on the song. >> an elementary school in china

has added michael jackson music and moves to their usual morning calisthenics and the children mastered the dance after three weeks of practice. >> the teachers say it's a good way for the kids to shake themselves awake. and the students are having so much fun, they plan to even add more pop songs to their routine in the near future. >> you can see some these on youtube and even prisoners in foreign countries doing the "thriller" dance and all of that. i love that stuff. >> m.j., he could dance. >> eternal legend. more "world news now" after the break and more michael, please. el, please. ♪ ♪ if your racing thoughts keep you awake...

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lots of silly stuff surrounding the wedding but this is actually kind of serious. >> it hasn't been years, rob. concerns about security, of course, are now on the rise with officials worrying about a possible attack by an irish republican army splinter group. brian ross has the details. >> reporter: the official concern was on display just last month when prince william and kate toured northern ireland with security at an extraordinarily high level. the future royal couple represents a powerful symbol of the irish terrorists perceived enemy, british rule over northern ireland. >> i think these people would have no compunction at all about carrying out an attack, if they could, on an event like the royal wedding. >> reporter: largely unnoticed outside of the united kingdom, a splintered group, irish catholic militants has increasingly ignored the peace agreement reached 13 years ago this month, meant to end i.r.a. violence. >> everybody has to take on

board the fact that there is something new in play here. >> reporter: there have been more than 40 significant terror attacks in the last year alone in northern ireland. a policeman was killed by a booby trapped bomb just two weeks ago. >> if you're not with them, you're against them. and they will murder you. and that's the sort of tyrants that they really are. >> reporter: prince william's father and mother, charles and diana, were bomb targets of the old i.r.a. 25 years ago, before they were married when they attended a duran duran concert in london. >> attacks on the mainland, particularly here in london, i think remain the holy grail for these kinds of organizations. >> reporter: and police officials say the resurgent i.r.a. terrorists are well-armed and skilled bombmakers. >> loaded ak-47s. component partial rocket launchers and plastic explosives have been recovered. >> reporter: most troubling, the rocket or mortar launchers seen in these photos obtained by abc news that could launch a huge

bomb over security walls more than 300 yards away. there's no specific intelligence that the wedding will be a target, but with that 300-yard range, a terrorist could be across the river and still hit westminster abbey. >> this is not about symbolism. this is actually about delivering pain and death. delivering in doubt and that's what is so worrying about this campaign. >> a lot of security concerns there. a huge amount of ground to cover. >> oh, yeah, and on top of that all of that they say what could be more dangerous than the terrorists are some of those wackos out there that have this unhealthy obsession with the royal family -- >> like you! >> yeah, just like me. i'm obsessed. >> with the royal family and of course looking at this route that will and kate will be taking. looking at lampposts, all sorts of things that people may place issues there, so security very tight. >> see on the 29th. when we come back this morning, look who's talking and

helping out kirstie alley on "dancing with the stars." >> did you catch it? we've got the scoop. and also charlie sheen, yes, we will have to talk about him again. he's taking his winning ways to court. we've got the details coming up in "the skinny." court. we've got the details coming up in "the skinny." t the details coming up in "the skinny."

♪ skinny ♪ so skinny and time now for our favorite part of the day, really. we'll talk about "the skinny" and everybody is watching the "dancing with the stars" right now because kirstie alley is really terrific. they have some great dancers actually this time. ralph macchio is doing very well. sort of howdy dowdy last night. i'm not sure if you saw it. but let's talk about kirstie alley because john travolta made a surprise guest appearance. offering up some dancing advice which was very funny. take a look. >> what's going on here? >> what do you mean? >> romantically, what's going on here? >> nothing. >> well, this is the problem. the audience senses that. romantic tension. go off and do something about it and come back and let's see if there is a difference. come on, let's go, let's go! >> there does seem to be a little bit of a sizzle between kirstie and her dancing partner there. >> here's why i think that there is something going on because if

there wasn't, oh, john travolta you're so funny but they didn't. they sort of stood there looking like the cat who ate the canary. i think there could be a little sizzle find out in the scenes. >> we find out tonight who gets the boot tonight. >> right, eliminate night, all right stay tuned. >> sorry to do it to you. charlie seen back into the news this morning. more about his ex-wife brooke mueller because they have this custody agreement. they have two 2-year-old twins. max and bob and under this custody agreement both parents are required to submit to random drug testing and now reports that brooke reportedly refused to take a drug test on friday, so now the couple could end back up in court because charlie is seizing upon this saying wait a minute, she's not following the custody agreement. she could have -- she could be back in rehab to boot so now i want to get custody of the kids back and all of this according to tmz and as well to radaronline but it could come back into court this week. she's 33. she's had her issues with the sobriety but apparently may have violated the agreement to get

charlie an in to get the kids back. >> what we're thinking here and what you're thinking at home is who is looking after the kids? who is looking after the twins? the goddesses. >> yeah, really. >> who is home with the twins? of course that should be the first concern but being that she's going to rehab we certainly wish her the best and a speedy recovery. >> scared for those kids. remember's oprah's sister, sister, half-sister came out, oprah has a sister, a huge show. a sweet woman by the way and turns out rihanna in the same sort of situation that she has. three older siblings have been kind of revealed. this apparently is because her father ronald fenty had a couple of relationships on the side and had a few children. two daughters and a son. so she's got some sisters apparently they have kids, they love their auntie rihanna but sort of getting the whole family together. they live in barbados where she is from. >> yes, good luck with that one. and real quick, simon cowell. apparently he is going to split time between the british version which started it all and the american version which will debut in the fall and on top of that mariah carey now and along with l.a. reid is going to be a judge on the american version of "x-factor" when it debuts in the

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call this toll-free number now. and here are some stories to watch today on abc news. after hosting an easter prayer breakfast at the white house, president obama holds a town hall in virginia to talk about his plans for reducing the nation's debt. for the first time in 27 years, the clinical diagnostic guidelines for alzheimer's will be updated in hopes of finding a better way to spot and treat the disease. and mcdonald's plans to hire 50,000 people today at its 14,000 restaurants across the u.s. as part of its national hiring day campaign. 50,000 people employed in a day. never done before, they are saying. >> i'm curious how much they are paying, too. i would like to look into that see how much it is per hour. finally this half hour, a little fellow who came up really, and we mean really, really big. a 9-year-old who swung into action when his 2-year-old sister needed him the most.

>> our phoenix station knxv introduces us now to our hero. >> my grandma came to their to look for her toothpaste and she said, where's the baby? and my mom went running outside. and there she was floating and then i heard her screaming and i was like "oh my gosh, what is happening?" >> reporter: pulled out of family pool, tristan's 2-year-old sister was placed on the ground unconscious and not breathing. she was dying. tristan's mother and grandmother were frantically calling for help and frightened, but tristan, he was cool and calm. >> i went running outside. and i did cpr on her. >> reporter: this 9-year-old boy took control. he began to begin chest compressions on his little sister. his hands in the right place. >> and i then like give them oxygen, like -- >> reporter: long, stressful minutes went by and then -- >> she started breathing a little bit. >> reporter: paramedics took tristan's sister to the

hospital. thanks to tristan she's expected to be fine. >> well, i couldn't imagine what was going through his mind. here he's in a situation that most of us, if we had a family member in that position, you know your first reaction i think as parents, we tend to really panic and be concerned. i tell you, we really give kudos out to him. >> reporter: grown adults don't know how to do cpr, how do you know how to do cpr? >> television. >> reporter: they say courage comes in all sizes. and tristan definitely has more than someone twice his height. he tells me, he would do anything for his little sister. >> she's really beautiful. i love her really much. >> ah, "i love her really much." >> wow. that's so cute. >> he's a hero. >> two other kids in the phoenix area died in backyard pool accidents over the weekend so he prevented another tragedy, so great way to go. >> a great thing these kids to learn cpr in school and it's a great reminder that everyone should know cpr because you never know. >> it's that old trick staying alive.

this morning on "world news now," recordbreaking pain at the pump. gas prices are creeping to an average of $4 a gallon around the country. >> and with just six weeks to go before the summer driving season officially begins prices are only going to rise. how high though will they get? it's tuesday, april 19th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning, i'm peggy bunker. >> and i'm rob nelson. gas prices have hit an all-time high. and there is no end in sight. we'll show you why the average price is now at $3.84 a gallon. and what some americans are doing to deal with it. >> yeah you live in the city you don't have to drive all of the time, lucky you. let me tell you. my goodness it's expensive.

then the desperate search continues this morning for the missing tennessee woman holly bobo. the reward has been tripled. while investigators are helping them in i.d.'ing a suspect. the facebook vigilantes who are now using the social networking site to take down criminals. wanna-be burglars will not like this story. again another story about the power of facebook. >> facebook, it's really taking over. but first vacation plans for millions of americans could be up in the air depending on gas prices. they're at an all-time high with six weeks to go until the peak driving season. >> there's actually plenty of gas to go around. driven up in part by investors who are betting that things will only get worst. jim avila has the story. >> reporter: americans are trying to cut back, in fact in california where the average price is above $4 a gallon, they may be overdoing it. >> what is wrong with your vehicle today? >> i need some gas. >> reporter: they're running out of gas in record numbers. aaa calls for emergency gas service are up 13%.

>> people are sort of stretching their gas tank a little farther than they should. trying to get back to the gas station they know has a lower price. >> reporter: surprisingly, there is plenty of supply. it's not a shortage causing these high prices. in fact, opec said there's a glut on the market. estimates are it could produce another 200 million barrels a day, if needed. and u.s. oil refineries are only operating at 81% of capacity. >> it's an outrage. it's an outrage. >> reporter: oil companies are raking it in. right now analysts say first quarter profits are expected to go up a whopping 41%. but the quiet accomplice in rising prices is wall street. speculators in the oil futures market who bid the prices up. betting that things are going to get worse in the middle east. >> it's not a fear premium. it's a risk premium. they assess the risk and you pay a premium based upon the risk. >> reporter: that risk or fear premium is costing you about 35 cents extra a gallon. and it's going right into the pockets of speculators. critics say they're operating

more on greed than fear. >> they're making billions of dollars in facilitating speculation in commodities. >> reporter: there is little debate about who is driving the prices up. from an m.i.t. study on the speculative bubble to leading economists, paul krugman and jeffrey sachs, who point to speculators and richard branson whose airline pays more because of speculation. little debate except among the speculators themselves. >> they're all wrong and they've offered opinion and no fact, no facts at all. >> reporter: in effect, we're paying for an oil crisis today that may never happen but that wall street thinks will. jim avila, abc news, new york. the white house says a major credit agency's warning about the deficit is no big deal. standard & poor's downgraded its outlook for the u.s. government from stable to negative. the s&p announcement sent the financial markets into a tizzy. but a white house spokesperson says the administration is confident it will reach an agreement with congress and cut the deficit. worries about the economy

though are dragging down the president's approval ratings. according to our new abc news poll, 47% approve of the job that mr. obama is doing, but that has fallen 7% since january. among the factors, driving those numbers lower are economic concerns. particularly as you just heard, with those higher gas prices. and even with those lower poll numbers, though, the president is still doing better in the poll than his possible republican challengers come 2012. just 43% of republicans and independents who lean republican say they're satisfied with the current crop of potential candidates. 16% say they would support mitt romney. 8% say they would back donald trump. now to those devastating tornados that ripped through the south from mississippi to maryland, killing 45 people along the way. >> a massive cleanup job is under way after as many as 200 twisters left hundreds of homes in shambles. emily schmidt has the latest from raleigh. good morning, emily. >> reporter: rob and peggy, good morning.

it is quiet here in this raleigh, north carolina, neighborhood. one of the only sounds is a smoke detector that has been beeping since the tornado went through on saturday. police aren't allowing nonresidents into this neighborhood and many of the people who do live here cannot now safely stay into their homes. >> and also i started to hear shhh, crack, crack and that's when i said time to go. >> reporter: north carolina's governor said she's never seen anything like this. >> it's just a lot of faith, a lot of community, a lot of friends but it's just the spirit of north carolina. >> reporter: more than 800 families across the state have a severely damaged or destroyed home from the 60 tornados that went through the state. >> grateful to be here. and my family is still here and all my friends. >> reporter: at least 21 people were killed here in north carolina alone. governor purdue says the spirit of the state is coming out. one example was at lowe's in sanford. 100 people huddled together in

the store and all survived. here in raleigh, the city's public works director says he estimates there will be 200,000 cubic yards of debris that have to be cleared. if you do the math, it's about 6,600 of the largest dumpsters available. and across the state, officials say, they have no idea how much this tornado will actually cost. rob and peggy. >> unbelievable. well, let's now take a look at that tuesday forecast. because more severe storms and tornados are on the way from dallas to cleveland, also to st. louis. louisville and also indianapolis are expected to bear the brunt of it. snow across the northern rockies, dakotas and upper midwest. showers from orlando to miami. >> meanwhile, 85 in new orleans. 74 in baltimore. and near 60 here in new york. dallas heats up to 93. omaha 45 and the windy city, still a little chilly at 40. just 37 in billings. 57 in salt lake city. and 79 in albuquerque. well, it's like groundhog day. another air traffic controller has been suspended for not

paying enough attention to his job. this time the controller was watching a movie on dvds instead of monitoring aircraft. even more embarrassing the controller's mike was accidentally activated so the movie was actually broadcast for three minutes to all planes in that airspace. his supervisor was also suspended. >> how scary are those stories? ugh. and now to the desperate search for a missing tennessee college student, holly bobo. the sheriff says no one has been ruled out as a suspect in her disappearance, that happened six days ago. erin holt of our nashville affiliate wkrn reports now on the latest. >> reporter: volunteers trudged through the thick woods that covers thousands of acres in natchez state park. there's only one thing on their minds. >> came here to find holly. >> reporter: for those who know holly bobo an her family, these last few days have been a nightmare. >> it's been horrible. it's been -- you know something

that none us want. >> i've got a group coming off of the woods now. >> reporter: the decatur county search and rescue squad spreads maps of natchez state park in front of them hoping to cover as much ground as possible. >> it's a little trail off. >> reporter: this group heads out on the trail walking through the woods looking for clues. >> holly! >> reporter: it's rough terrain and maybe the most difficult thing is these volunteers really aren't sure what they're looking for. >> it's pretty scary. yeah. i've been getting nightmares. make you not feel safe in your own home. >> reporter: jennifer has an 8-year-old son and says she can't even imagine what the bobo family is going through. >> i just think if it were my child i would want somebody to help. >> reporter: as the hours and days tick by, the sense of urgency in this community ramps up. >> we just ask everyone for their help and all of their prayers that holly is safely returned. >> it's just almost a surreal feeling. you want to find something and you hope you find something good. >> reporter: volunteers will be back bright and early to begin on tuesday morning. this community wants answers and

they say they won't give up until they find this young woman. in parsons tennessee, i'm erin holt for abc news. >> "the los angeles times" is adding two more pulitzer prize to its awards. the paper yesterday picked up the public prestigious pulitzer for its expose of lavished salaries and benefits being paid to officials of a small working class city. the story led to the ouster of the entire city of bell california. the city council there and also arrested some their city officials. "the times" also won for feature photography. the retooled volkswagen bug has made its debut here in new york and the reaction is mixed. gone are the signature beetle features and instead the new car has a flatter roof. a less obvious nose and even some narrowed windows. the flower vase on the dashboard is also added there. a significantly larger trunk and more luxurious materials. >> the little bug.

>> i like it, it looks pretty good. >> who doesn't love the vw bug, it's been around forever, it is. call it extreme makeover canine edition. the latest style that you might want to consider for our own four-legged friend. >> expert dog rumors worked their magic in a three-day trade show in new jersey and transformed pets into -- oh my lord -- into works of art, sculpted and painted to perfection. >> i don't see anything wrong that. what's the problem? >> you don't see anything wrong with that? >> no problem with that. >> the dog is scarred for life. >> the winners of the creative challenge, all poodles by the way will appear on "good morning america" later this -- >> oh my goodness. that's a lot of patience for a poodle. >> how does a dog sit through that? >> one word, snausages. >> if you want your dog to look like boy george, go right ahead. >> we'll be right back with more "world news now." oh, my lord! right back with more "world news now." oh, my lord!

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well, i have admitted this many times on the show, i'm proud, i'll say it again, i'm completely addicted to facebook. >> yes you are. >> and whether you like it or not, it seems that the power only continues to grow. >> it's very true and we love to talk to the people who watch the show on facebook. not only you can help find friends and even organize a revolution as you would like to, as yunji de nies reports, it's helping more and more people actual fighting crime. >> this is where thieves kicked in his door. >> the first time that they did enough damage that the doors would have had to be replaced. >> reporter: they took his laptop, just two days later they were back for more. this time his security cameras captured it all. watch as the burglars peer into the door, looking almost directly into the lens. later another camera catches them hauling off his flat screen tv. now with their faces, barry is fighting back.

>> as quickly as i had those images, i actually put thom my facebook page and started asking friends to put them anywhere they could just in the off chance someone recognized one of these people. >> reporter: these home surveillance cameras cost about $200 and they take remarkably high-quality pictures. with more of them around plenty of thieves are getting caught on tape. it's incredible evidence that's giving birth to a kind of modern version of the wanted posters of the old west. this video of a man climbing through a window in new jersey landed him behind bars. watch as these men ransack a home in new alban. after posting these images on facebook one of the victim's friends recognized one of the robbers. and in another atlanta neighborhood cameras rolled on these crooks. when this hit youtube, police soon arrested them all. >> we were able to connect those two burglaries together from those videos. >> reporter: barry is hoping for similar success. >> the value of what was stolen

is not great but the violation of my property i think it's that someone needs to be held accountable for. >> reporter: so take another good look. do you recognize these guys? thanks to those pictures. police are following up on some leads, but so far they haven't made any arrests. still those images are so clear that barry is hoping that someone will recognize them and call police. >> how about that? facebook for crime solving. >> another reason to love facebook. love it. we have to take a break right now, but when we come back the best-selling author of a book that literally has no words. >> can you believe this? this is the book with nothing in the book and it is flying off the shelves. we're going to tell you why after this. that is genius. >> that's brilliant! is genius. >> that's brilliant!

a lot of people will be talking about this today. we're going to introduce you to

a man who describes himself as a performer, author and a serial entrepreneur and lots of, shall we say, novel ideas. >> yes, he does, but none has sold as well as his latest and he didn't work too hard on it, at all. >> at all. >> he recently spoke with our jeremy hubbard. >> we wanted to create a memory stick that would really flush all of the others away and that's exactly what we did. >> have you seen this new book? >> i have. i applaud it. >> 200 pages long and it's the result of many years of scientific research. >> and as you can see -- >> completely blank. >> hilarious. >> absolutely interesting. >> i don't know whether to say congratulations on the best seller or how dare you have such a great idea and not me?

>> well, you know, this is not a new idea. blank books have been out before. and what's amazing about any idea is that if you just market it slightly better or different and just shout about it and you just do a different version of an idea, boom it can pique your imagination like never before. and that's what has happened with this blank book. >> so the book is called "what every man thinks about apart from sex" and it's 200 pages long. and there's absolutely nothing inside the book. >> correct. it's an absolute reflection of the title. and inside as you can see it's completely blank. and it's just gone -- it swept the world and it's gone to number 44 on the amazon chart and it's exceeded my wildest expectations. >> who's buying this? >> obviously the intelligentsia, jeremy. >> there's been sort of an unexpected result, though. and that is that people are actually filling the pages, right? >> the students have been using

it as a notebook and filling it up. and maybe filling up with what they think about having sex, who knows. >> when you first found out that this was on amazon's list of best sellers, even you had to be a little surprised by that, right? >> i was astonished. and a little depressed, it has to be said. because my first book "ideas man" took me five years to write and it's got words in it and it's a great book and it's gone from 35,000 from the chart and this one, nine days it took me. the other one took me five years. >> did you take time to patent it and copyright it and made sure that nobody stole the idea? >> i'm sort of very pragmatic about it. i think if i fill the water engine before you came down to me jeremy with the water engine i would get half accomplished but my novelty goods. obviously i'm doing something as important which is giving people a laugh. but, no, i don't worry about that. >> there's only one problem that i can think of.

how do you followup on this best seller? >> no problem. i've got lots in the pipeline. one of them, i will give you a sneak preview. don't let anyone steal this, please. this is copyright at moment. see my lawyers. and this in fact is the secrets to a woman's happiness and inside it's got four words that are repeated over and over and if you can see there it says handbags, shoes, sex and chocolate. and i think that's going to be a best seller as well. what do you reckon? >> you think of everything, don't you? >> well, i've got lots of different things in the pipeline. please look on my website. on facebook and keep me up to date. and look into my adventures. >> we'll do it. really appreciate it so much. >> thanks, everyone. >> there you go. >> i like that guy he's good. >> a good marketer and some keen insight there to women and by the way to buy his book, 8 bucks, 69 cents on amazon and it's got 4 out of 5 reviews. >> your list? >> i say that sums it up. >> announcer: "world news now" delivers your morning papers. >> this is so true. and i think that's going to be a best seller as well. what do you reckon? >> you think of everything, don't you? >> well, i've got lots of different things in the pipeline. please look on my website. on facebook and keep me up to date. and look into my adventures. >> we'll do it. really appreciate it so much. >> thanks, everyone. >> there you go. >> i like that guy he's good. >> a good marketer and some keen insight there to women and by

the way to buy his book, 8.69 bucks, on amazon and it's got 4 out of 5 reviews. >> your list? >> i say that sums it up. and if you wakften in the middle of the night... \ that sums it up. that sums it. lunesta helps you fall asleep and stay asleep, so you can wake up feeling rested. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving, or engaging in other activities while asleep, without remembering it the next day, have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions, such as tongue or throat swelling, occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness and morning drowsiness. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. get lunesta for a $0 co-pay at lunesta.com.

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>> announcer: "world news now" delivers your morning papers. >> this is so true. welcome to morning papers. we're talking about this first story and it is absolutely true. we're talking about how the office candy jar turns out, a study done by cornell university says, the office candy jar that you walk by, you grab something every day. >> everyone does it. >> adds seven pounds a year. because everyone comes by. puts their hand in the candy jar. it's like a freeway. people coming in, eating it. >> look at that. >> easily accessible. bite-size treats. have a skittle. >> i want my skittles though. >> my gosh, this is not halloween, folks. >> no one feeds these people at home. >> they're saying this can really add to your bottom line, no pun intended it. can i have a skittle? >> yeah the sour kind. >> the sour kind. >> seven pounds a year. >> seven pounds a year and a very reliable study by cornell. seven pounds a year.

>> round two, see, the overnight. everyone went hungry. >> last night we had seven boxes of pizza here. that's all that i'm saying. >> if we had booze in here it wouldn't last that long. something that i thought was interesting too, all of the energy drinks are popular these days. >> the red bull. >> the red bull and vodka, i'm getting my red bull and vodka, whatever. now and now they're saying is just riskier than the booze itself because if you combine all of that, the caffeine, the booze makes you think that you're not as drunk as you are combining the red bull and the vodka is actually saying it's more dangerous to drink that rum and coke or that red bull and vodka. >> do you know who is not probably doing that is the europeans. the europeans are probably having a cocktail here and there but it turns out that europeans are happier when they are lazy. they do nothing between 10:00 and 2:00. >> i love it. >> they're sleeping or whatever. americans are happier when they are working. americans, we all know, workaholics. take very few days of vacation and probably need a break but

europeans. but most europeans take more vacation than we do. >> they have a different lifestyle than we do. so no -- i don't hate them on the europeans. well, listen to this, who has not stolen a hotel towel at one point? you've never done it? really? >> i have. >> you have, okay, okay. >> the whole set. >> the company in miami has now patented a washable chip that can be sewn into towels, bath robes and bath sheets to keep track of their linens and no longer steal. >> where is that coming from? it makes a noise. >> i thought these were free from barbara walters' dressing room. >> is that yours? >> apparently not. >> it says b.w. on that. >> i will return that. >> what are you going to use it for? >> all right. >> again! >> where is the lobby for the candy? >> don't worry about my raggedy towel. >> facebook. wnn.com. you have to return that towel or you're in trouble. >> at the holiday inn, that's fresh. facebook. wnn.com.

you have to return thatttttttttd t

this morning on "world news now," bad credit. for the first time in history the federal government's fiscal health has been downgraded. >> the white house has downplayed its significance, but this morning the world markets are taking it seriously. it's tuesday, april 19th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm peggy bunker. stocks plummeted monday after a key credit agency shifted the future of the nation's debt from stabile to negative. can the president reassure the world with his deficit reduction plan? >> a scary, scary sign there. >> hard to think of the dollar devaluing so much. >> wow. and then on a much lighter note the paralyzed bride life to-be who made a vow three years ago that she would walk down the aisle on her wedding day, well, now she is a newlywed and she

lived up to her word. >> so inspirational. it's a great story. we have that coming up. and also with good weather bound to get here soon, we hope. let's have a look at the best toys for kids to take outside including some easter basket ideas. just around the corner, easter. >> uh-huh. good stuff there. >> fun. but first the bipartisan group of senators is said to be very close to reaching a deal on reducing the nation's deficit. >> it's hoped these six senators will help reach a compromise that will pass congress and be signed by the president and also a deal that cannot come soon enough. abc's john hendren joins us with more. good morning, john. >> good morning, rob and peggy. the white house says republicans have committed not to play games with raising the debt ceiling and they have promised to raise that limit. republicans say that is not so. now the forecast for u.s. debt just got darker. >> reporter: big finance cast a skeptical eye on america's credit. standard & poor's rating service lowered its outlook on the u.s. debt from stable to negative, saying there's a 1-in-3 chance

it will downgrade its rating on the debt in the next two years. the reason? concerned washington won't get a deal to cope with deficits. failing to raise the nation's debt ceiling and defaulting on its loans. >> don't play games with the debt ceiling. we have to act. we can't tie it to anything. because if our credit goes bad, it has catastrophic implications. look what happened to the stock market already. >> reporter: stocks sank, sending the obama administration out to reassure the markets. >> we think that the political process will outperform s&p expectations. >> i want to make it perfectly clear that congress will raise the debt ceiling. >> you're sure about that? >> absolutely, and they recognize it and they told the president that on wednesday in the white house. >> reporter: not so says republican house budget chairman, paul ryan. >> no, they haven't. >> reporter: he says republicans

will demand big concessions first. >> what they've also told me they've told the president is that in addition to raising the debt limit we want financial controls, we want cuts in spending accompanying a raising of the debt ceiling. >> reporter: treasury secretary tim geithner says failing to raise that limit would be catastrophic. >> we tip the u.s. economy and the world economy back into recession, depression. >> reporter: president obama will take his message on the road this week. he's traveling to the west coast to promote his deficit-cutting plan. rob and peggy? many drivers are feeling their own deficit at the gas pump now that prices have gone up yet again. gasoline has now hit an average of $3.84 a gallon, up another nickel in just a week. those higher prices are now helping to fuel the presidential ambitions of donald trump, who told our george stephanopoulos how he would handle things. >> i mean, look at what's going on with the gasoline prices. they're going to go to $5, $6, $7. and we don't have anybody in washington that calls opec and says, fellows, it's time.

it's over. you're not going to do it anymore. >> so finish this sentence, if you don't produce more oil -- >> look, i'm going to look them in the eye and say, fellas, you've had your fun. your fun is over. george, let me explain something to you, we go into iraq, we have spent thus far $1.5 trillion. we could have rebuilt half of the united states. $1.5 trillion. and we're going to then leave. so in the old days, you know when you had a war to the victor belong the spoils you go in, win the war and you take it. >> so we steal an oil field. >> excuse me, you're not stealing. excuse me, you're not stealing anything. you're taking, we're reimbursing yourself at least at a minimum, and i say more, we're taking back $1.5 trillion to reimburse ourselves. >> and we'll hear more from george's interview with donald trump coming up on "good morning america" today. he talks about his potential candidacy, his challenge over president obama's birthplace, and questions over his own finances. >> always outspoken. well, more rough weather is

on tap for the south today after that historic tornado outbreak killed 45 people. more than 200 twisters were reported over the weekend. leaving a trail of destruction from mississippi to maryland. steve osunsami checks out the damage. >> reporter: this is the anatomy of the tornado near wilson north carolina. an ef-2, 150 yards wide. with wind speeds of 120 miles an hour. 25 families lost their homes. >> i crawled out in just shorts and bare feet and t-shirt. >> reporter: steve, a state construction worker, was behind the lens and dangerously close. >> yeah, there goes the roof off of the house. >> reporter: he could see bushes, trees and two-by-fours swirling violently in the wind. >> the last thing before it disappeared around the corner of the building was probably about a 30-foot piece of roofing tin that wrapped all the way from one side of my truck around to the other side. >> reporter: it was heading northeast. first, scott church road, then cranberry ridge, hopscotching through neighborhoods, flattening some homes and leaving others. then it moved onto businesses and destroyed more than 100 cars at this dealership. it was moving almost a mile a

minute. we asked the national weather service to look through the incredible videos. first, wilson, north carolina. >> it hits the building. all of a sudden the amount of debris that's picked up in the vortex increases. >> reporter: this was leakesville, mississippi, so much larger. 250 yards wide. wind speeds of 150 miles an hour, an ef-3 that struck at night. one person was killed. >> this just illustrates how dangerous nighttime tornados are to the public. >> reporter: there were more dramatic pictures from dunn, north carolina. this ef-3 was a mile wide and the damage stretched for 65 miles. >> you can see this tornado pick up debris with top wind speeds of 140 miles an hour it will pick up pretty much anything in its path. >> reporter: the storm ruined lives and took lives across several states. steve osunsami, abc news, wilson, north carolina. >> all right, and take a look now at your current forecast for the day. possible tornados, 80-mile-an-hour winds and also golf ball-sized hail from dallas to cleveland. the worst of it all in st. louis, louisville and also

indianapolis. up to six inches of snow from the dakotas to the western great lakes and up to a foot of snow into the northern rookies. >> meanwhile, 50s from salt lake city to seattle. 45 in minneapolis. and 55 in kansas city. dallas hits 93. and new orleans 85. 59 here in new york and 47 in boston. americans are setting a record in filing their taxes this year. the irs says at about this time yesterday it had received nearly 101 million e-mail file returns. before the deadline, about 9% more than last year. well, it was the fastest marathon time ever, but it's not a world record. kenya's geoffrey mutai finished the boston marathon in 2:03:02 but because there was a strong tailwind and because the boston marathon is a point-to-point course and not a loop, mutai does not get the record. crazy rule there. >> tailwind? >> but get this, though, he does get $225,000 in prizes and

that's not bad, i'll take that. caroline kilel also from kenya, well, she won the woman's race. >> kenyans, you can't beat them. >> who knew a tailwind could get you over the finish line. and now to a slow and steady race. this one fueled by love and determination. >> a canadian bride who was paralyzed in a car accident three years ago just made good on an amazing promise. jennifer darmon had vowed to walk down the aisle on her wedding day and over the weekend, she did just that. flanked by her father and her brother, jennifer made her way to her groom with leg braces under that white gown. >> you can see people wipe away tears there. jennifer stood by the man who stood by her for three years and they shared a first dance as husband and wife. >> and she had some pretty extensive rehab and he would drive three hours, three times a week to be with her during the recovery. >> amazing. this was her goal. she wore a borrowed wedding dress. beautiful. >> congratulations. we'll be right back with more of "world news now" after this.

well, a couple of weeks back, "world news with diane sawyer" featured a series called

"made in america" and it was all about how much or how little is actually produced in this country. >> and now the followup. featuring companies that were born and are still thriving right here at home. david muir went to see where the most of american items is made. >> reporter: they were the first things we noticed when this whole made in america journey started. the flags in so many front yards across america, we wondered where were those flags made? so many them without labels. there was even a tweet from "the ellen show" at the time that the american flag stamped out of the box with the words, made in china? but one e-mail from steve in clearwater florida, who told us he knew of u.s. flags made in this country, perhaps you could highlight an add-on, he wrote and so we did. the factory in coshocton, ohio. >> made by americans, for americans, to fly by americans. >> in fact, all the way back to the civil war. iwa jima. saluting the flag on the moon. >> that was ours. >> reporter: that was yours? >> proud of it. >> very proud. >> reporter: and after 9/11 theirs was the flag raised at ground zero. at time there was a rush on the american flags and annin couldn't keep up. some american retailers turned to china for american flags but

customers weren't buying them. they say one retailer actually sent 10 million of those chinese american flags to that ohio factory, unsure of what to do with them so annin replaced them with flags made in ohio. adding jobs in a town where so many other jobs have vanished. are you cindy? >> yes, i am. >> reporter: nice to meet you. cindy used to work at the glove factory across town. >> send our love overseas. >> where are they made now? >> sri lanka. >> reporter: and cindy is not the only worker saved here. 120 new hires in the last six month. making 20% more flags than they

did last year and that 20% more in sales in flags this year over last they, point to a real hunger in this country to turn this economy around. a patriotic fever and we'll continue your ideas, your picks for made in america tonight on "world new with diane sawyer." david muir, abc news, new york. when we come back, the toy insider mom is here with the best toys for springtime. >> and including easter basket ideas that you don't want to miss.

welcome ba welcome back. well, bring is officially here and kids who are stuck inside all winter long are of course dying to get out of house for some play time so joining me now with some great springtime toys and also some great easter basket toys is the toy insider mom. welcome back, nice to have you. >> thank you. and it feels like spring. my daughter and i were looking at croak uses and the daffodils when we went out.

so we'll start with some great gardening stuff for the kids. >> perfect. >> this is the sunny patch garden stuff. we have tote bags. little gloves for the kids. >> it is so cute. >> it is so cute. it's got tools for them, shovels all made for the kids 3 and up. >> i love it. >> great to get out there in the garden and we have these beautiful little flowerkin dolls. great for little babies. little kids can take them out, maybe. beautiful, springlike, if they get dirty it's fine. they're all machine wash i believe. >> which is great. that's a great feature. >> you just throw them right in. and all set with all of our beautiful gardening stuff and let's go plant the garden. these are called grow ems. they are themed gardening kit. the pizza kit. >> so cute. >> an herbed kit. a taco kit. what we growing? pepper, basils.

we're not growing the mozzarella. >> that's good. >> and what i find is if you grow them with your kids they're more likely to eat these healthy foods. >> good, good. >> a great way to get them to eat that. >> if you're out in the garden and see a big bug, then -- >> look at what we have. >> i love this. >> it's a bug vacuum. it's got a laser light on it. we get the bugs. we put them in here. we have magnifying glass. weekend check them out and it also comes with a pamphlet. it tells you seven ways to wrangle the bugs and different specimens that you can match up with your bugs. >> so cool for your kids. they'll love that. >> and spring also means spring travel, okay? so what do you think about that as a mom? i think about comfort and what will keep -- >> keep the kids quiet, fighting from the backseat. >> so these are called, are we there yet neck rests. they're little buddies, they're great. the kids love them. the mom loves them. you look in the back seat and you think my goodness, their neck hurts so great to take along. >> it's kid version of like the adult neck pillow. exactly that we see in planes. >> don't go anywhere without now. and for kids 7 and up this is called zip it. it's a great little game. it has 24 cubes in it, they could split it. you have to create crossword puzzles. everything's on here the

scoring, everything fits right in. fits right into your bag. you could take it anywhere. great, great game. >> and hopefully it keeps the kids quite for the entire trip to disneyland. i love it. >> the easter basket. >> easter is coming up. >> we could put some sweets in here but there are so many great option. so many great ways to fill the basket so let's talk about classic peter rabbit. we have the classic peter rabbit book in here. >> i love this. >> some different sized plush -- >> yes and i love this. it is so soft. it's so wonderful. over here we have our easter art chicks and bunnies. easter bags, blocks in here. again, beautiful springtime colors. we can put stickers. and i love building. that's always great play. >> very cute. >> and then we have little items like this. oops. this is the bunny treats -- treats without the sweets because what we have in here are play doh and their little feet are stampers. >> that's great the kids love the play doh. >> you have the rolling pals and i have the weebles. >> but chicks, right, chicks and bunnies.

>> okay and then we have these little egg bods. so these come apart. they're eggs. we can interchange their arms, their heads, they walk and they're just very, very cute. nice little pieces to put in here. >> i loved stuff like that when i was little. >> and this is the i spy wonder tube. so, again, classic i spy. listening -- listening to the riddles. reading the riddles and looking for the items in here. fits anywhere. the kids will love this. >> perfect and you said that most these things, too, very reasonable pricewise? >> everything in here is under $20 and most of these items are under $10. >> we love that good for the old pocketbook. what do we have down here? >> a fabulous movie that's coming out this weekend called "hop." all about the easter bunny. and we have this fabulous hop, all of this whole basket could be filled with everything "hop." we have t-shirts in apparel, we have flush books that we can

read. there are bubbles in here. there's -- oh just all kinds of wonderful things. >> finger puppets. so cute. >> finger puppets. sticker books. you could fill up this basket bring everything "hop" home. >> and a little bit of candy. >> just enough sugar. i need some sugar that's for sure. this is wonderful and "hop" is one of the characters that i think that all of the kids who will love a big family movie. looking out for that as well. don't always buy candy, you have other options. >> and the peeps in here too. >> i love peeps. >> so we have all kinds of peep options too. >> i love that so, so much. lori, wonderful ideas. for more information go to our website wnnfans.com and thank you once again for being here. >> thank you. >> you're watching "world news now." we'll be right back.

♪ this is a story i think that every new yorker can relate to when it comes to a certain level. >> certainly. >> this may be the complete opposite of living large. this is all about one woman's extraordinary living situation. >> in fact, i think that she took over my apartment. she's living right now just a few blocks from here on the upper west side of manhattan in some very cozy quarters. john berman took a visit. >> reporter: for felice cohen it's not much but it's home. really, literally, it's not much. >> michael jordan, i'm sure he could touch both sides.

>> 90 square feet. you could fit 27 these apartments in the average american home. it sounds like nothing but for felice, it's everything. >> we've had nine people in here. >> was it like a phone booth? ever get into the herbie or something. >> yeah, like clowns into the volkswagen. >> reporter: a whopping two chairs and also a desk, a kitchen -- >> i have one dish and i can >> i have one dish and i can wash that and a fork. >> reporter: a closet and bathroom. how many bathrooms can you answer the front door from the toilet? that's huge. >> reporter: felice's internet tour of her pipsqueak pad has more than 3 million hits on youtube. many the questions had to do with her bedroom, up there. >> say you wanted to have a, shall we call it, a sleepover. is that possible up here? >> it is very doable. for the most part, when you are intimate with someone, you're not really doing calisthenics, you're pretty close. and there's plenty of space up here. >> reporter: we'll take your word for it. >> okay. >> reporter: and i noticed the yoga t-shirt. >> the flexibility doesn't hurt. >> reporter: felice is an author and professional organizer which comes in very handy here. the key to living like a

lilliputian is stacks, bins and pretty much have to strip away almost everything you don't need. almost everything. so you're willing to make compromises but not when it comes to boots? >> exactly. >> reporter: notice the boot tower in the corner. felice has lived here for three years. it's about testing her skills and it's affordable. less than a thousand bucks a month. >> i just wanted to live in new york and i knew i could be able do it but this was the ultimate organizing challenge for myself and i was able to do it. >> reporter: you must throw crazy parties in this place. >> raging parties. oh my god, people hanging, literally, from the ceiling. >> less than a thousand a month, and honestly in manhattan that's actually a pretty great deal. another guy though 55-square-foot apartment one foot bigger than ryker's island jail cell. >> leave you with the quote. she said i had to learn to sit sideways on the toilet so i don't bang my leg on the tub. just let that image float around.

just let that imimimimimimimimim

today on "world news now," the trail of destruction. residents across a dozen states begin to put their lives back together after those devastating storms. >> in all, more than 240 twisters tore through the country, and now more storms are on the way. it's tuesday, april 19th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm peggy bunker. the wild april weather will just not quit. we'll take you to the hardest hit area in north carolina, this is where some people have been allowed to return home to start that cleanup process. is the worst behind us, or will mother nature strike again? >> hard to believe another line of storms people have to worry about that now. and on top of that a controversial e-mail puts the birther movement back into the headlines and what donald trump has to do with it. and with the 2012 race to the

white house now heating up it appears this issue may not be going away. >> stirring up a little controversy there, perhaps for his own benefit, we'll see. also the royal wedding just ten days away and security around london is tightening. why there are new fears on the attack on the couple's big day. but before all of that, as people across the south picked up the pieces from one of the largest tornado outbreaks ever, more menacing twisters could touch down today from dallas up to cleveland. >> the weekend storms ripped through 15 states. and by the time it was over, 45 people were dead. nearly half of them in north carolina. emily schmidt is in hard-hit raleigh. good morning, emily. >> reporter: rob and peggy, good morning. it is quiet here in this raleigh, north carolina, neighborhood. one of the only sounds is a smoke alarm that has been beeping since the tornado went through on saturday. police aren't allowing nonresidents into the neighborhood and many of the

people who do live here cannot now safely stay in their homes. north carolina hasn't seen damage like this in decades. stretching across 26 counties after more than 60 tornados in one case this rare twin tornado. >> and i started to hear shhh, crack, crack and that's when i said, time when i said time to go. >> reporter: a tornado largely skipped over his house in raleigh, but it tore through others just across the street in there goes the roof off the house. >> reporter: more than 800 families across the state now have either a severely damaged home or no home at all. >> don't know actually bh we're going to live. >> reporter: there are stories of survival. in sanford, 100 people huddled together in a lowe's when the tornado approached. one customer shot this video of the moments after the deafening sound ended. >> it's just a lot of faith, a lot of community, a lot of friends, but it's just the spirit of north carolina. >> reporter: that spirit must sustain the state through funerals, for at least 21

tornado victims, and daunting rebuilding. but the storms' scars are already beginning to be covered up with a determination even stronger than the weakened weekend winds. >> grateful to be here and my family is still here and all my friends. >> reporter: officials here in raleigh estimate they have up to 200,000 cubic yards of debris to clear from the tornado. that's enough to fill at least 6,600 of the largest dumpsters. and across the state, there are no estimates yet of total damage cost. rob and peggy. >> all right, emily, wow. well, it did not look or feel much like spring in parts of the midwest. an april snowfall left some cities covered in a layer of white. >> enough is enough, right? oh, boy, we feel for you there. in chicago, they got a light dusting. recording about an inch of snow around o'hare airport. the snow came down across much of northern illinois and detroit. >> i can't conceive of snow in late april. i don't know how they do it, chicago you're strong. >> a look at your weather on

this tuesday now. those severe storms from texas to the ohio valley will bring some gusty winds, large hail and a chance of tornados as well. up to a foot of mountain snow from colorado to montana. several inches from the dakotas to michigan and some showers around upstate new york and boston. >> and here in new york city, we're looking at about 60 degrees, 80s from atlanta to new orleans, and 93 in dallas, 40s from fargo to detroit, 53 in boise. 73 in sacramento. and just shy of 90 in phoenix. well, heading into the peak driving season gas prices keep getting higher. just the news that you wanted to hear. the average price for a gallon of gas is now $3.84. that's up nearly a dollar from this time last year. aaa in los angeles now reports that a 13% hike in the number of stranded motorists because drivers are simply waiting longer between stops at the gas station and then simply run out of gas. a key credit agency is chiming in on the federal budget deficit. a standard & poor's lowered its long-term outlook from the

federal government from stable to negative. abc chief political correspondent george stephanopoulos says the warning had immediate effects. >> it was taken as a warning shot in the stock market, you saw it drop about 140 points. now the standard & poor's says that the united states economy has exceptional strength but here's what they're worried about. they look at the republican budget in the house, president obama's budget that he came out with last weekend and said no way that you will get those two together before the 2012 campaign. and that's what they are worried about. now, this could have a positive effect in the short term. we've talked about this need to extend the u.s. debt limit. that warning shot seeing those markets drop, the stock market drop, i think, all but guarantees -- and i have spoken to both republicans in the congress, democrats in the white house -- that that debt limit agreement does come to pass because no one wants to see the consequences if it fails. but the prospects of getting a long-term budget agreement are still very, very far away. >> all right, and get this, the government is on pace this year for a record $1.5 trillion deficit, the third consecutive deficit, the third consecutive deficit over a trillion dollars. president obama, like many, people is having to get by on a little bit less these days.

his tax returns show that this year he and his wife made less than one-third of what they made the most before. most of the $1.73 million was from book sales. only $400,000 from his salary as commander in chief. he paid more than that though in federal income tax. >> we know how much he brings home, okay. arizona will not become the first state to require presidential candidates to prove that they are u.s. citizens. state lawmakers had approved the bill, but the governor vetoed it late yesterday. >> still, though, the question of president obama's birthplace does remain a pretty hot topic among some republicans. diana alvear is joining this morning with more on this. hi, diana. >> rob and peggy, good morning. birthers are back in the spotlight and if it isn't donald trump questioning the president's birthplace, it's a controversial e-mail that's being slammed as racist. the question of president obama's birthplace was settled years ago, or was it? this picture was e-mailed to members of a california republican party committee by a fellow member. the caption reads "now you know why no birth certificate."

>> i was shocked and offended and immediately replied to her and told her that this was dripping with racism. >> reporter: while some recipients were offended, its theme, the suspicion that president obama was not born in the united states, is an ever-present one among many conservative voters. a conspiracy donald trump seems eager to capitalize on. >> obama is unwilling or unable to show his birth certificate. >> reporter: trump is hinting at a run for the presidency. his support for so-called birtherism is getting support from a potential competitor, sarah palin. she said on fox news -- >> obviously, if there's something there that the president doesn't want people to see on that birth certificate -- >> reporter: these claims have been proven false. the president long ago released

a birth certificate of live birth that shows that he was born in the united states. >> he's getting short-term oxygen but he's ruin idea long-term credibility that he could have had. >> reporter: perhaps. but with no clear-cut gop front-runner. and the polls are showing that the president's origins are still a political hot potato. birtherism may become a big issue once again. a recent fox news poll shows 53% of republican respondents were either unsure or didn't believe the president had been born in the united states. rob, peggy. >> all right, well there is no word yet from the supreme court on the health care law. virginia's attorney general had asked the justices for a speedy review of the law's constitutionality without going through the lower courts. the court was scheduled to discuss the case in private last friday but there was no announcement yesterday. it could come up again this friday. there's been a setback in the search for a new treatment to prevent aids. researchers have stopped a study on thousands of african women after partial results did show a new drug did no good. many aids experts, though, hoped it would be a breakthrough drug

since it did show some promising results in earlier studies. and the facebook twins would like a do-over. last week a federal appeals court ruled that tyler and cameron winklevoss cannot renegotiate their settlement with facebook founder mark zuckerberg. the old deal gave them $20 million and also a share of the company. it's now worth something like $200 million. the winklevoss twins yesterday appealed last week's decision. the tokyo power company has sent a pair of robots inside of that damaged fukushima nuclear plant, but what they found, though, was a little discouraging. radiation levels are far too high for repair crews to go inside but officials say they're still optimistic that they can resolve the crisis by the end of the year. a long time line for the cleanup there, wow. >> that's for sure and now to one of your favorite stories of the day. by channeling your inner king of pop. we all have have an inner king >>emenr1 o rillr" de and alf of pop. it just depends on the song. >> an elementary school in china has added michael jackson music and moves to their usual morning calisthenics and the children mastered the dance after three

weeks of practice. >> the teachers say it's a good way for the kids to shake themselves awake. and the students are having so much fun, they plan to even add more pop songs to their routine in the near future. >> you can see some these on youtube and even prisoners in foreign countries doing the "thriller" dance and all of that. i love that stuff. >> m.j., he could dance. >> eternal legend. more "world news now" after the break and more michael, please. el, pl . ♪ ♪ if your racing thoughts keep you awake...

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for years now, we've reported on lots of silly stuff surrounding the wedding but this is actually kind of serious. >> it hasn't been years, rob. concerns about security, of course, are now on the rise with officials worrying about a possible attack by an irish republican army splinter group. brian ross has the details. >> reporter: the official concern was on display just last month when prince william and kate toured northern ireland with security at an extraordinarily high level. the future royal couple represents a powerful symbol of the irish terrorists perceived enemy, british rule over northern ireland. >> i think these people would have no compunction at all about carrying out an attack, if they could, on an event like the royal wedding. >> reporter: largely unnoticed outside of the united kingdom, a splintered group, irish catholic militants has increasingly ignored the peace agreement

reached 13 years ago this month, meant to end i.r.a. violence. >> everybody has to take on board the fact that there is something new in play here. >> reporter: there have been more than 40 significant terror attacks in the last year alone in northern ireland. a policeman was killed by a booby trapped bomb just two weeks ago. >> if you're not with them, you're against them. and they will murder you. and that's the sort of tyrants that they really are. >> reporter: prince william's father and mother, charles and diana, were bomb targets of the old i.r.a. 25 years ago, before they were married when they attended a duran duran concert in london. >> attacks on the mainland, particularly here in london, i think remain the holy grail for these kinds of organizations. >> reporter: and police officials say the resurgent i.r.a. terrorists are well-armed and skilled bombmakers. >> loaded ak-47s. component partial rocket launchers and plastic explosives have been recovered. >> reporter: most troubling, the rocket or mortar launchers seen

in these photos obtained by abc news that could launch a huge bomb over security walls more than 300 yards away. there's no specific intelligence that the wedding will be a target, but with that 300-yard range, a terrorist could be across the river and still hit westminster abbey. >> this is not about symbolism. this is actually about delivering pain and death. delivering in doubt and that's what is so worrying about this campaign. >> a lot of security concerns there. a huge amount of ground to cover. >> oh, yeah, and on top of that all of that they say what could be more dangerous than the terrorists are some of those wackos out there that have this unhealthy obsession with the royal family -- >> like you! >> yeah, just like me. i'm obsessed. >> with the royal family and of course looking at this route that will and kate will be taking. looking at lampposts, all sorts of things that people may place issues there, so security very tight. >> see on the 29th. when we come back this morning, look who's talking and helping out kirstie alley on "dancing with the stars." >> did you catch it?

we've got the scoop. and also charlie sheen, yes, we will have to talk about him again. he's taking his winning ways to court. we've got the details coming up in "the skinny."

♪ skinny ♪ so skinny and time now for our favorite part of the day, really. we'll talk about "the skinny" and everybody is watching the "dancing with the stars" right now because kirstie alley is really terrific. they have some great dancers actually this time. ralph macchio is doing very well. sort of howdy dowdy last night. i'm not sure if you saw it. but let's talk about kirstie alley because john travolta made a surprise guest appearance. offering up some dancing advice which was very funny. take a look. >> what's going on here? >> what do you mean? >> romantically, what's going on here? >> nothing. >> well, this is the problem. the audience senses that. romantic tension. go off and do something about it and come back and let's see if there is a difference. come on, let's go, let's go! >> there does seem to be a little bit of a sizzle between kirstie and her dancing partner there. >> here's why i think that there is something going on because if there wasn't, oh, john travolta you're so funny but they didn't. they sort of stood there looking like the cat who ate the canary. i think there could be a little sizzle find out in the scenes. >> we find out tonight who gets the boot tonight. >> right, eliminate nightall o o >> sorry to do it to you.

charlie seen back into the news this morning. more about his ex-wife brooke mueller because they have this custody agreement. they have two 2-year-old twins. max and bob and under this custody agreement both parents are required to submit to random drug testing and now reports that brooke reportedly refused to take a drug test on friday, so now the couple could end back up in court because charlie is seizing upon this saying wait a minute, she's not following the custody agreement. she could have -- she could be back in rehab to boot so now i want to get custody of the kids back and all of this according to tmz and as well to radaronline but it could come back into court this week. she's 33. she's had her issues with the sobriety but apparently may have violated the agreement to get charlie an in to get the kids back. >> what we're thinking here and

what you're thinking at home is who is looking after the kids? who is looking after the twins? the goddesses. >> yeah, really. >> who is home with the twins? of course that should be the first concern but being that she's going to rehab we certainly wish her the best and a speedy recovery. >> scared for those kids. remember's oprah's sister, sister, half-sister came out, oprah has a sister, a huge show. a sweet woman by the way and turns out rihanna in the same sort of situation thtshehas. kind of revealed. this apparently is because her father ronald fenty had a couple of relationships on the side and had a few children. two daughters and a son. so she's got some sisters apparently they have kids, they love their auntie rihanna but sort of getting the whole family together. they live in barbados where she is from. >> yes, good luck with that one. and real quick, simon cowell. apparently he is going to split time between the british version which started it all and the american version which will debut in the fall and on top of that mariah carey now and along

with l.a. reid is going to be a judge on the american version of "x-factor" when it debuts in the fall. so there is is your full x update. >> simon cowell, a busy guy. and here are some stories to watch today on abc news. after hosting an easter prayer breakfast at the white house, president obama holds a town

and here are some stories to watch today on abc news. after hosting an easter prayer breakfast at the white house, president obama holds a town hall in virginia to talk about his plans for reducing the nation's debt. for the first time in 27 years, the clinical diagnostic guidelines for alzheimer's will be updated in hopes of finding a better way to spot and treat the disease. and mcdonald's plans to hire 50,000 people today at its 14,000 restaurants across the u.s. as part of its national hiring day campaign. 50,000 people employed in a day. never done before, they are saying. >> i'm curious how much they are paying, too. i would like to look into that see how much it is per hour. finally this half hour, a little fellow who came up really, and we mean really, really big. a 9-year-old who swung into

action when his 2-year-old sister needed him the most. >> our phoenix station knxv introduces us now to our hero. >> my grandma came to their to look for her toothpaste and she said, where's the baby? and my mom went running outside. and there she was floating and then i heard her screaming and i was like "oh my gosh, what is happening?" >> reporter: pulled out of family pool, tristan's 2-year-old sister was placed on the ground unconscious and not breathing. she was dying. tristan's mother and grandmother were frantically calling for help and frightened, but tristan, he was cool and calm. >> i went running outside. and i did cpr on her. >> reporter: this 9-year-old boy took control. he began to begin chest compressions on his little sister. his hands in the right place. >> and i then like give them oxygen, like -- >> reporter: long, stressful minutes went by and then -- >> she started breathing a little bit. >> reporter: paramedics took tristan's sister to the hospital. thanks to tristan she's expected to be fine.

>> well, i couldn't imagine what was going through his mind. here he's in a situation that most of us, if we had a family member in that position, you know your first reaction i think as parents, we tend to really panic and be concerned. i tell you, we really give kudos out to him. >> reporter: grown adults don't know how to do cpr, how do you know how to do cpr? >> television. >> reporter: they say courage comes in all sizes. and tristan definitely has more than someone twice his height. he tells me, he would do anything for his little sister. >> she's really beautiful. i love her really much. >> ah, "i love her really much." >> wow. that's so cute. >> he's a hero. >> two other kids in the phoenix area died in backyard pool accidents over the weekend so he prevented another tragedy, so great way to go. >> a great thing these kids to learn cpr in school and it's a great reminder that everyone should know cpr because you never know. >> it's that old trick staying alive. doing those compressions, staying alive. >> that's the news for this half hour. don't miss updates on facebo

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