seismic rumble. stunning wins for tea party candidates. the real contest for november begins. giant battle. are americans about to fight the fight that will decide the war in afghanistan? modern family. what do you think makes a family? surprising news today about what your neighbors believe. and, losing weight. news today about another weight loss drug. dr. richard besser with the latest on what works and what doesn't. and, climb every mountain. someone who shows us all how to win at life -- every single day. it's the american heart. good evening. and it is right there behind me, the u.s. capitol. and 48 days now until the november congressional elections, which is shaping up to be a lively and crack ming political showdown. last night, tea party candidates

scored huge wins in several states, up ending the predictions, and this morning, the democrats are marshaling forces. and on the republican side, karl rove is expressing surprise. jon karl is here tonight. good evening, jon. >> reporter: diane, the republican leadership is just stunned by what happened last night in delaware, and now they are scrambling to get control of a movement that seems to be taking over their party. >> you betcha. >> reporter: republican leaders had called her a fraud, a liar and unelectable. but now they have to call christine o'donnell republican nominee for senate. >> i didn't count on the establishment to win the primary. i'm not counting on them to win the general. i'm counting on the voters of delaware. >> reporter: privately, republican leaders say o'donnell's victory means they can't win in delaware and probably can't win control of the senate either. but the only senator who supported o'donnell says his

party's leadership had it coming. >> i've been in the majority with republicans who didn't have principles and we embarrassed ourselves and lost credibility in front of the country. frankly, i'm at a point where i'd rather lose fighting for the right cause than win fighting for the wrong cause. >> reporter: now, party leaders are trying to make nice. chairman michael steele endorsed her, and so did the republican senate leadership. but republican guru karl rove continued to attack o'donnell even after she won. >> why did she mislead voters about her college education? how come it took nearly two decades to pay her college bills so she could get her college degree? how did she make a living? >> reporter: on abc's "top line," the head of the group tea party express shot back. >> karl should stay out of it. you know, these seats don't belong to the republican party or to sthees states, the state parties. they belong to the team. >> reporter: the tea party movement has now swept aside gop establishment candidates in seven states. democrats believe this has

produced outside the mainstream republican nominees who will be easier to beat in november. maybe -- but don't count on it. >> if the democrats think that the tea party folks are mad at republicans, just wait until they see what happens when november 2nd comes around, and they get a shot at the democratic incumbents. >> reporter: last night, gop leaders told us they wouldn't spend a time on o'donnell. but today, diane, a peace offering was sent to o'donnell in the form of a $42,000 check to her campaign. want to get this straight, jon, because o'donnell is another sarah palin-endorsed candidate, big-time, and karl rove is doing battle now with sarah palin over this? >> reporter: there you go. palin versus rove. get your tickets. >> all right, well, let's turn now to george stephanopoulos, who is standing by in new york. so, george, how about it? tea party getting ready to go national? what are you seeing out there? >> reporter: democrats began the day excited, they thought o'donnell was going to be easy to beat. but what settled is how deep and

strong this wave is. the number of people who are going to vote in november who support the tea party is growing. 44% of likely voters have a favorable opinion of the tea party. nearly a quarter of like lly voters have a strongly favorable opinion of the tea party. and look at what they believe. 92% believe that democrats in congress don't deserve re-election. 96%, almost impossible to get numbers that high, disapprove of the president is doing. so, going back to what senator cornyn said. these voters may not like republicans, but they hate the democrats. >> so, 48 days now for the democrats to try to match passion for passion. what's the strategy? >> reporter: you saw president obama try to rile up democrats again on this whole issue of tax cuts for the wealthy and the republicans insisting on those and blocking tax cuts for the middle class. in one sense, they're going to try to nationalize the election over issues like that and get democrats riled up again.

but then they're hoping, in some of these local races like delaware, with o'donnell, like nevada with angle, that they can portray these conditions as outside of the main stream and win the election on the ground. >> well, we will all be watching all across this country, as we say. it begins sbegins. 48 days to go. another headline from washington today. the topic was the modern era of sex danger and trafficking in america. fueled by giant internet shopping sites like krakslist. an executive was summoned to answer for it all. here's pierre thomas. >> reporter: today for the first time since craigslist censored its adult services, an executive from the company had to answer for its role in an epidemic of prostitute. some of it involving children. >> craigslist is one of the bright spots in fighting sexual exploitation. >> reporter: craigslist's story,

it's actually been fighting online prostitution, even though graphic ads had been appearing on its pages and even though it had made more than $30 million from adult services last year ago. >> we have never been, never been a friendly place for criminal activity. >> reporter: some members of congress appeared a bit skeptical. >> no amount of money is going to cause craigslist to reinstitute, in another name, this kind of site? >> i can't answer that directly, because i'm not directly involved in the decision-making process -- >> mr. powell, please. >> what i'm saying is, we do not have any intention to bring that category back. >> reporter: though craigslist shut down the adult services site, today, we found some racy postings that some might consider close to prostitution. take this one for, quote, massage. the woman says, i'm offering a thrilling body massage today. she calls herself, quote, a sexy female. i think you get the picture. today, members of congress were told that online services like krak

krakslist have partially fueled child prostitution. >> offered me $500 and, i don't know, i couldn't stop crying. >> reporter: an estimated $100,000 forced into prostitution. average age? only 13. the dilemma tonight, how to stop these crimes from migrates toer sites. pierre thomas, abc news, washington. and, up next, the countdown overseas to a battle that could determine the outcome of the nine-year war in afghanistan. in december 2001, right after 9/11, american troops took the taliban stronghold of kandahar and signaled triumph. but tonight, they are preparing, because they have to try to do it again. we want to bring in martha raddatz, who is just back from afghanistan what are we expecting to happen now? >> reporter: i think you will see massive and sustained combat, but they're really trying to tamp down expectations. i was with the commander over there, david petraeus, and he

kept saying, we don't want to build expectations for anything in afghanistan. but the reality is, this is a key battle in kandahar. they really have to be successful there. >> expect it to be long, slow, study march? >> reporter: i think somewhat long and slow, and yet, as you know, they have to show success quickly. that's the hard part here. it's still a counterinsurgency campaign. that takes a long time. but they need short-term gains there. >> so, let me ask you, someone who just came back. we hear all the mixed views of whether the new strategy is succeeding or not. tell us what you saw. >> reporter: well, i think there's real concern, diane. i sensed it with general petraeus, they're concerned about certain parents of afghanistan, certainly kandahar. all of those surge troops are now in place. 30,000 troops. they have to show some progress, as you know. he said it's like watching paint dry sometimes. but in the coming weeks, you'll see some real strong combat.

>> all right, martha raddatz, just back from afghanistan tonight, thank you. and we have a note now about the ongoing investigation into the mismarked graves at arlington national cemetery. the army today acknowledgknowlet three people were buried in the wrong graves. those were exhumed last month after a worried army widow called when she heard about the reports of the mix yums. these mistakes have been fixed, but the investigation continues. and, in connecticut, another wrenching day in court, in the home invasion case where a doctor lived through a brutal attack, but his wife and two daughters did not. his wife had tried to signal to someone else that she was a hostage, and in danger. the 911 tapes are now telling the next part of that story, and here's andrea canning. >> reporter: after three long years, dr. william petit finally came face to face this week with stephen hayes, one of the two men ape accused of killing his wife and two daughters in a brutal 2007 home invasion.

>> mostly focused on the questions that i was being asked. just try to do the best i could for my family. >> reporter: in court, petit endured the 911 call made by a teller in this bank where his wife jennifer, seen here on the video, was taken by her attackers. >> we have a lady who is in our bank right now who says that her husband and children are being held at their house. the people are in a car outside the bank. she is getting $15,000 to bring out to them. if the police are told they will kill the children and the husband. they have their faces covered she is petrified. they told her they wouldn't hurt anybody if she got back there with the money. she believes them. i think she's walking out now. >> reporter: she walked into the ultimate nightmare. hayes and his accomplice took her home where she was sexually assaulted. her two children were tied to their beds. her husband was tied to a pole

in the basement. dr. petit managed to escape by untying himself and running to his neighbor's. so, why did it take 33 minutes for the police to arrive to the home, and why didn't they attempt to enter? the police said in court today they followed standard hostage procedure. they captured the suspects a short time later after they tried to break through a road block, but not before they had set fire to the house and killed the family. now, as the trial enters its fourth day, the jury continues to hear testimony that will determine whether the two suspects receive the death penalty. andrea canning, abc news, connecticut. and still ahead on "world news," new research about what constitutes the american family. how it's been changing, how it compares to yours. also, problems with a popular diet pill. what do they do to your body? and will anything work? and, the climber facing so many challenges, scaling

1,000-foot cliff, teaching us how to climb the mountains in our lives. the american heart. ♪ [ man ] if it was simply about money, every bank loan would be a guarantee of success. at ge capital, loaning money is the start of the relationship, not the end. i work with polaris every day. at ge capital, we succeed only when they do. whoo! awesome! yes! we've got to get you out of the office more often. ♪ my turn to drive. ♪ [ male announcer ] we asked zyrtec® users what they love about their allergy relief, and what it lets them do. the thing i love most about zyrtec® is that it allows me to be outside. [ male announcer ] we bet you'll love zyrtec®, too -- or it's free. [ vonetta ] it is countdown to marshmallow time. [ woman laughs ]

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there is landmark research out tonight about an institution most of us are apart of. the american family. and not too long ago, a wife, a husband, two kids, that was the definition of the american

family. but divorce, gay parents, unmarried couples with children, all that is changing what we think. so, researchers set out to determine, how do we define an american family today? here's john berman. ♪ >> reporter: there's the addams family, the first family, my family and the partridge family. ♪ i think i love you >> reporter: all called family, but what counts as family? >> what we find is that people are moving away from a traditional definition of family, and they're moving towards a modern definition of family. >> reporter: the "modern family "-- indeed -- comes in many combinations. nearly 100% of us agree, a husband, wife and kinds counts as a family. no kids, 92% say that's a family. those kids make a difference. >> children provide this quote guarantee that move you to family status. >> reporter: for instance, an unmarried man and woman living together -- >> hey.

>> hi. >> reporter: under 40% say that's a family. give them kids? it jumped to 83%. that's up 5% since 2003. a gay couple? 33% say that's a family. with kids? 64%. a 10% jump in just the last seven years. >> people right now are really re-evaluating their views about same sex couples. >> reporter: what about pets? more than half of us say they're in the family. but two guys living as roommates. ♪ sorry felix. just 10% say they're family. in the end, when it comes to defining "family ties," and determining "family matters," you might say it's "all in the family." because 60% of us now say if you consider yourself a family, you are a family. welcome, and hold on tight. john berman, abc news, new york.

and, one more note about families. the cost of raising a child continues to rise. a typical family will spend nearly a quarter of a million dollars to raise a baby born last year until the age of 18. and that's an increase of 1.4% from 2007. and, by the way, it doesn't include college. so, where does the money go? for starters, a bedroom, $71,000. food, more than $35,000. same for education. and clothes will set you back $13,000. but as they say, the reason? priceless. and, still ahead, the vote here in washington on what to do about a popular diet pill. what does the pill do to your heart? i know who works differently than many other allergy medications. hoo? omnaris. [ men ] omnaris -- to the nose! [ man ] did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation.

side effects may include headache, nosebleed, and sore throat. [ inhales deeply ] i told my allergy symptoms to take a hike. omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for $11 at omnaris.com. i'm friend, secret-keeper and playmate. do you think i'd let osteoporosis slow me down? so i asked my doctor about reclast because i heard it's the only once-a-year iv osteoporosis treatment. he told me all about it and i said that's the one for nana. he said reclast can help restrengthen my bones to help make them resistant to fracture for twelve months. and reclast is approved to help protect from fracture in many places: hip, spine, even other bones. [ male announcer ] you should not take reclast if you're on zometa, have low blood calcium, kidney problems. or you're pregnant, plan to become pregnant or nursing. take calcium and vitamin d daily. tell your doctor if you develop severe muscle, bone or joint pain, of if you have dental problems, as rarely jaw problems have been reported.

the most common side effects include flu like symptoms, fever, muscle or joint pain and headache. share the world with the ones you love! and ask your doctor about reclast. once-a-year reclast. year-long protection for on-the-go women. once-a-year reclast. words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill.

we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments? i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right. no pain medicine is proven to last longer than advil. not tylenol. not aleve. nothing lasts longer than advil. pain relief that lasts. one more reason to make advil your #1 choice. in medical news tonight, a vote late today on the future of a diet pill that has been on the market for 13 years. a split decision by a panel inside the fda about whether to

pull mir rid ya off the market. we asked dr. richard besser to tell us why the great hope of diet pills seems to be struggling and does anything work? >> reporter: the concerns voiced today are just the latest chapter in a long quest for a safe and effective weight loss drug. more than 68% of adults are overweight or obese. a leading risk factor for diabetes and heard. a pill could save lives, but has been illusive for researchers. >> watch out. if someone is promising something that is so powerful, so magic that can cause you to lose weight, it probably has other consequences. >> reporter: but why has it been so difficult for scientists to find this magic combination? here's how it works. the chemicals that regulate appetite, called neuro transm transmitters regulate blood pressure, heart rate, mood and other critical body functions. scientists have so far been able to create a drug that doesn't impact on other areas.

surgery still has the best results. headlines were made this week about two nonsurgical procedures to kill fat inside the body, including zeltiq, which freezes cells. however, it is important to thoet these are for cosmetic purposes only. there's no data on how lock it lasts and it is not effective for weight loss. tomorrow, a panel will consider yet another diet drug, lorquest, but the preliminary findings of the review have not encouraging. it comes down to diet and exercise. diane? >> diet and exercise, we always come back there. thank you, dr. richard besser. i'll see you in new york again tomorrow. but we are here tonight, at the newseum, the museum for print and broadcasting. we want to note the death of a veteran news man. he was a balding, a bit rumpled, but he was an anchor and

correspondent and defender of good grammar and clear english. in two best-selling books. edwin newman was 91. and still ahead, the climb of his life. it takes courage, and an american heart. is projected to hold its resale value better than camry. and has better quality than accord. as a matter of fact, people like what we're saying so much, ford fusion is now the 2010 motor trend car of the year. the fusion, from ford. get in . . . and drive one. nothing beats prevacid®24hr. just one pill helps keep you heartburn free for a full 24 hours. prevent the acid that causes frequent heartburn with prevacid®24hr, all day, all night. nothing works better.

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and finally, it's an inspiration for every one of us, every single day. it's one of the greatest challenges in rock climb, el capitan in yosemite national park. and for a climber with cerebral palsy, it's a giant spirit and giant american heart. here's david muir. >> go, dude, you're on a blast off. >> reporter: and with that, he was off. stephan wampler, of california, a husband and a father of two, has cerebral palsy. on sunday, he left his wheelchair to begin the climb of his life. >> how's it going, man? >> long day. seven hours climbing. >> reporter: steve is aiming to become the first person with cerebral palsy to climb the famed el capitan in yosemite national park. he trained for more than a year. each draining pull of that rope bringing him five inches closer to the top.

but it is a towering challenge. el capitan is in not one empire state building, but two. >> that sun today was brutal. holy crap. >> reporter: and today, suspended more than 1,000 feet above ground, we called him. hello, steve? it's david muir in new york. how are you? >> good, and you? >> reporter: i hear you're just kind of hanging out? >> kind of, if you want to call it that. >> reporter: he's been climbing and sleeping for three days now. another 650 feet? so, you're almost halfway there. >> yes. >> reporter: and none of this is surprising the woman who 15 years ago, became steve's wife. >> at first, i thought, i bet he's having a really hard life. i quickly learned that anything could be farther from the truth. >> reporter: he has taught everyone he knows, disabilities don't have to limit you. the lesson, the tallest of all. your wife is going to see this on tv tonight. what do you want to say to her? >> i love you. and i can't wait to get up to

the top. get off this rock. >> reporter: a laugh from the exhausted climber. still pulling himself up tonight. with so many of us now pulling for him. david muir, abc news, new york. >> simply amazing. and, if you want to send a message of encouragement to steve, or ask him a question, go to abcnews.com. he'll answer you when he's back on ground. for all of us in washington, good night. man: let me see the map. just drive, we'll get there! adventure runs on dunkin', with our egg white breakfast sandwiches. hurry in and try one in delicious veggie or turkey sausage. i'm not the kind of guy who likes to hang on the sidelines. today maryland is in trouble.

we're worse off than we were four years ago. dangerous debt, higher taxes, not enough jobs. we need real leadership to turn this state around. fix the budget -- honestly. grow small businesses -- really. excellent schools -- everywhere. protect the bay -- finally. it's why i'm running. to make the state we love not just good but great. now let's get down to work. captioned by closed captioning services, inc. this is "jeopardy!" here are today's contestants-- a mom from st. cloud, minnesota... a mathematics college professor from gainesville, florida...