. >>> let's go live to emily schmidt, who is in atlantic beach, this morning. good morning, emily. >> reporter: good morning to you. we, for the last half hour or so, have been in the one of t one of the rain bands. it is raining here and the winds are blowing. but there's one more thing. there's a big sense of relief, that so far, right here, earl has not been as bad as once feared. this is hurricane earl as it began to move past atlantic beach, north carolina, overnight. gusting winds, rain, and rough ocean water. but not as bad as many expected. it's brushing the outer banks as a category 2 storm, after people here spent days preparing for what was a category 4. >> i think it's a serious hurricane. it could get real dangerous in a hurry. so, why take a chance? >> reporter: officials evacuated 100,000 tourists from the outer banks and closed the roads behind them. even though earl is no longer a major hurricane, it could still pose plenty of problems up the eastern seaboard. >> just to be able to be mindful of what could be happening is critical over the next

emily schmidt. abc news. >> and just a quick weather note the tornado warning issued in calvert county is now canceled. >> good news there. >> 6:48. time for today's politico minute. stephen colbert is getting the cold shoulder from capitol hill. >> james, thanks for being here. so we heard the spoof testimony stephen colbert in character testifying on capitol hill last week. there was already a sentiment among law makers that they have had enough of him and this just accelerated the pending divorce, if you will. >> the last straw. there was a sort of consensus that stephen colbert is not one you want to engage with. and colbert had become famous in part for his segment, know your district. he would do these long seg meantsd make his guests look goofy. now it's harder and harder for him to book almost any member of congress on his show because they know they are just going to end up looking like idiots. >> so we were talking earlier about why he was there in the first place. who invited stephen colb

>> emily schmidt, live in washington this morning. thank you. >>> a few other results now. the once-popular mayor of washington, d.c. has been ousted from office. adrian fenty conceded overnight. some voters said he had become out of touch. >> in wisconsin, district attorney and one-time mtv reality star sean duffy, won his primary for congress. >> and richard nixon's grandson stumbled on his first entry into politics. chris cox came in third out of three republican candidates for congress here in new york. >>> now, to a developing story from the middle east. the palestinians are now threatening to walk out of peace talks if the jewish settlements and the west bank issue are not resolved. simon mcgregor-wood is live in jerusalem with a status report. good morning, simon. >> reporter: good morning, vinita. you're absolutely right.

emily schmidt abc news washington. >> kid rock may want to be a cowboy. he is answering to a judge about this restaurant brawl. ♪ [ female announcer ] have you ever seen a glacier while sunbathing? why not? have you ever climbed a rock wall in the middle of the ocean? or tried something really wild? why not? it's all possible in the nation of why not. royal caribbean's floating nation where you're free to do anything you want. which may be nothing at all. royal caribbean international. visit royalcaribbean.com today. man: we need a sofa. something i can stretch out on! woman: ooh... that will go with those lamps my mother gave us. or we could get some new lamps. or we could get no sofa. negotiating, eh? you got it! how about a nice home for our tv? how about doors to hide that drive-in theater? how about a cowhide rug? yee-haw! and the snacks? get their own place. let the marathon begin! >>> musician kid rock is depending hill self after getting into a fight inside a restaurant. all caught on tape. he is citing a civil lawsuit that systems from a brawl

i am emily schmidt in washington. >> checking some other stories. an international student hit by a car outside the northwest d.c. restaurant last week has died. 26-year-old julie bachleitner died yesterday. your friend is injured. the driver is charged with assault and dui. >>> a study calls for 1,600 miles of toll lanes in our area. the report suggests adding turrell to the beltway, 66, 95, 270, ander bw parkway. the council of governments will present the report to the d.c. planning boards today. >>> bus drivers in prince george's county are resuming their strike today. talks broke down yesterday over several issues including of insurance coverage. the company brought in replacement drivers. half of the bus routes had some service yesterday as a result. >>> metro is investigating a communications failure that happened after escalators broke down. altria escalators at the wheaton station stopped working monday evening. metro closed the station, but a trained stopped there, letting passengers and it anyway. metro is trying to determine why. >>> gul

that's where emily schmidt joins us with a preview. and, emily, tea party candidates are getting a lot of attention today. >> reporter: there's a focus on them. good morning to you. republicans hoping to unseat democrats in november. but today, and first, tea party candidates are hoping to oust some of the gop favorites. the biggest stage for a potential upset today is in delaware. >> how are you doing? >> reporter: on this primary day in seven states, some candidates worry this may not be the year to be a party favorite. >> i actually have a conservative voting record, as far as finances are concerned, in congress. and while i'm a moderate, that's generally on the social issues. >> reporter: in zm-dominated delaware, gop leaders think mike castle is the only hope to win the senate seat. instead, castle is in a fight race with christine o'donnell. she has ran before. but this time, she has tea party backing. >> they get behind candidates like my opponent, who continue to support the democrats' agenda, lock, step and barrel. >> hi. this

>> emily schmidt, thank you. >>> emily made reference to bob woodward's new book. it also assesses the management of the war in afghanistan. president obama's spokesman did not dispute any information in the book. and he says the book portrays a thoughtful process. robert gibbs urged people to read the entire book and not just part of it. >>> in an effort to win control of congress in the yupcoming elections, republicans are rolling out their so-called pledge to america later today. it's filled with familiar ideas, including plans to cut taxes and spending. as well as a repeal of the new health care reform law. but there's also ideas for more job creation. much more on the plan, later today on "good morning america." >>> and major parts of the new health care law take effect today. those include preventing insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. on top of that, children can stay on their parents' plan until the age of 26. >>> the owner of the iowa egg farm at the center of the salmonella outbreak has apologized to all those who got si

>> emily schmidt. thanks, emily. >>> there's high hopes that a new round of peace talks can bring israelis and palestinians closer to an agreement. secretary of state clinton arrived to the peace talks in egypt overnight. our simon mcgregor-wood also just arrived. simon, what can we expect today? >> reporter: good morning, vinita. as you said, a busy round of talks today for hillary clinton. she's hosting, along with president mubarak, in the hotel behind me, a crucial round of the newly-launched middle east peace talks. hosting prime minister netanyahu and palestinian president abbas. as you hinted in your introduction, jewish settlement construction. the crucial issue that the two parties have to get over today before this process can move forward. the palestinians have said they will walk away if israel's temporary settlement freeze of ten months, which expires on the 26th of this month, are renewed. netanyahu says he cannot do that. he and president obama and hillary clinton have been engaged in th

emily schmidt has the details. >> reporter: fighting terrorism is getting more complicated. some people say within united states borders. >> a new and changing facet of the terrorist threat comes from home grown terrorists. >> reporter: there were three serious attempted attacks in seven months. first, last september's failed new york city subway plot. then the christmas day scare. and the sometimes square bombing attempt in may. in the last year and a half, at least 63 americans have been arrested or convicted of terrorism charges. >>> do you believe this is likely to continue? >> caution would dictate that we assume. >> the experts cautioned american terrorist plots are harder to detect. >> launching a larger, perhaps more devastating attack is not worth the additional effort when you can get substantial coverage and impact with smaller attacks. >> in bob woodward's new book, president obama is quoted as saying the nation will do all it can to prevent a terrorist attack. even after 9/11 he said the biggest attack ever, we absorbed it. and we are stronger. >> this notion th

reporting live, emily schmidt, abc news. alison, back to you. >>> a virginia woman set to die by lethal injection this thursday. if the supreme court does not intervene, teresa lewis will be the first woman put to death in virginia in a century. she is charged with murdering her husband and separate son. her supporters say she is mentally handicapped and has repented. >> the death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst, and teresa lewis is not that. >> i think she is one of the most evil people i have met. >> bob o'donnell found no compelling ryan reason to stop the sentencing. >>> the reverend jeffsy jackson -- jesse jackson will deliver the eulogy for walters. he taught at howard for 25 years. after that he directed the american leadership institute at the university of maryland. >> he was an activist scholar and a scholar activist. he wrote about what he knew. he analyzed about what he knew to be true. >> walters died of cancer. he was 72 years old. >>> it is now 6:17. we turn to today's "money scope" report, and

>> emily schmidt, live in washington this morning. thank you. >>> a few other results now. the once-popular mayor of washington, d.c. has been ousted from office. adrian fenty conceded overnight. some voters said he had become out of touch. >> in wisconsin, district attorney and one-time mtv reality star sean duffy, won his primary for congress. >> and richard nixon's grandson stumbled on his first entry into politics. chris cox came in third out of three republican candidates for congress here in new york. >>> now, to a developing story from the middle east. the palestinians are now threatening to walk out of peace talks if the jewish settlements and the west bank issue are not resolved. simon mcgregor-wood is live in jerusalem with a status report. good morning, simon. >> reporter: good morning, vinita. you're absolutely right. jewish settlements, israeli settlements, in the occupied territories dominated the agenda, secretary clinton's talk sessions in sharm el sheikh. they will likely do so again today. she has a full round of talks with the parties here in jerusalem. i

>> emily schmidt live in washington this morning. thank you. >>> in other news now, pope benedict is beginning a four-day state visit to britain today. like many foreign trips he has taken, this one, too, is joined by controversy. lama hasan joins us from london with a preview. good morning, lama. >> reporter: the british prime minister, david cameron, said this will be an important and historic trip. not since 1982, has a pope visited the united kingdom. this will be pope benedict xvi, the first state visit to reenergize the catholic church here in britain. and it's an expensive trip. the cost is estimated at $18 million, plus $2 million for security. the pontiff has a packed schedule. he's being welcomed by the queen and other members of the royal family at the royal palace in edinboro. and he is said to be meeting with abuse victims, his fifth meeting since becoming leader of the catholic church. later today, the pope will host an open-air mass in glasgow. at this mass, susan boyle will become singing what has become her signature

emily schmidt, abc news, washington. >>> 5:34 now. as in nearly every election it's hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to campaign ads and things you receive in the mail. some viewers tell us they receive misleading ballots in the mail. the university of maryland law school dean mark graber says those mailings and other political speech is protected by the first amendment and it's up to the voter to decide the truth. >>> most political rhetoric is aimed at a small and increasingly smaller middle. these people are more persuadable in part because they generally are ambivalent and in part because it turns out in many cases the middle, or the so-called middle is in fact composed of people who are less tuned in to politics. >> he says our society is so politically polarized it's hard to change peoples' minds once they are made up. >>> the trial for the man accused of killing former city councilman ken harris expected to take almost a month to finish. yesterday monica foreman-robinson harris took the stand. the only person kn

>> emily schmidt, life in washington this morning. thank you. >>> a few other results now. the once-popular mayor of washington, d.c. has been ousted from office. adrian fenty conceded overnight. some voters said he had become out of touch. >> one-time mtv reality star, sean duffy, won his primary for congress. >> and richard nixon's grandson stumbled on his first entry into politics. chris cox came in third out of three republican candidates for congress here in new york. >>> now, to a developing story from the middle east. the palestinians are now threatening to walk out of peace talks if the jewish settlements and the west bank issue are not resolved. simon mcgregor-wood is live in jerusalem with a status report. good morning, simon. >> reporter: good morning, vinita. you're absolutely right. jewish settlements, israeli settlements in the occupied territories dominated the area, secretary clinton's talk sessions in sharm el sheikh. they will likely do so again today. she has a full round of talks with the parties here in jerusalem. israel's temporary settlement slowdown

>> emily schmidt in washington. thanks, emily. >>> the president has yet to join several top officials in condemning a church's plan to burn the koran this week. secretary of state hillary clinton is the latest to come out against the event, at a gainesville, florida, church. with the growing pressure, will reverend terry jones cancel the planned burning? we'll hear from him later in the half hour. >>> an italian airlines plane landed safely in l.a. overnight after an in-flight bomb threat. a handwritten message was found in the bathroom on a mirror. after the plane landed, it was taken to a secure area, where passengers were able to get out. investigators say no bomb was found. now, they're feverhoever left that note. >>> the cleanup is under way this morning, after a wind-driven firestorm, usually seen out west, was fought in the middle of detroit. authorities say the toppled power lines helped spread 85 house fires in the course of 4 hours last night. many of the homes that caught fire were completely destroyed.

i'm emily schmidt in washington. that story coming up. >> china and the u.s. are working to ease tensions between the two countries as leaders between both sides begin an economic summit in bay >>> welcome back. here's a look at our high temperatures across the lower 48. notice how it's really starting to look like fall in the pacific northwest. 61 seattle to 72 denver. still pretty warm in the south, 94 dallas, 87 atlanta. not as hot in the northeast with near 80 in new york and boston. only one area of concern if you're traveling by air as far as severe weather, that would be minneapolis, st. paul. you can always check out any type of delays whether they're at the gate trying to get through security with our flight tracker at abc7news.com. >> 4:37. a bay area man considered by many to be a pioneer in the latino civil rights movement has lost his battle with cancer. felix aladazala died at home surrounded by family and friends. he had undergone chemotherapy treats for lymphoma. he provided scholarships for students interested in media careers. he was also on

we begin coverage now with emily schmidt. >> reporter: it's hard to know, looking at all of the rain falling all along the east coast. if people are testing the water. >> first tropical storm i've ever been in. so, it's kind of cool. >> reporter: or is the water testing them? north carolina's governor declared a state of emergency, after wilmington at 18 inches of rain since sunday. 4 months worth of water in 100 hours. one inch more would top a record set by hurricane floyd a decade ago. for landscape businesses, it's disappointing. >> it hurts you. like four days in the house doing nothing. >> reporter: for others, it's disorienting. >> i normally make my swing around to go to this box over here. to deliver. and the pavement, you know. >> reporter: clarence williams drives this postal route all the time. but standing water hit where he thought the road would be. >> i think it's good if you're a duck. >> reporter: in florida, portable pumps have been working for days. emergency workers in south carolina are ready for long hours, too. >> there's always somebody or someone what doesn'

>> emily schmidt, live in washington this morning. thank you. >>> a few other results now. the once-popular mayor of washington, d.c. has been ousted from office. adrian fenty conceded overnight. some voters said he had become out of touch. >> in wisconsin, district attorney and onemtv reality star sean duffy, won his primary for congress. >> and richard nixon's grandson stumbled on his first entry into politics. chris cox came in third out of three republican candidates for congress here in new york. >>> now, to a developing story from the middle east. the palestinians are now threatening to walk out of peace talks if the jewish settlements and the west bank issue are not resolved. simon mcgregor-wood is live in jerusalem with a status report. good morning, simon. >> reporter: good morning, vinita. you're absolutely right. jewish settlements, israeli settlements, in the occupied territories dominated the agenda, secretary clinton's talk sessions in sharm el sheikh. they will likely do so again today. she has a full round of talks with the parties here in jerusalem. israel'

>> emily schmidt in washington. thanks, emily. >>> the stalling recovery has democrats scrambling just ahead of the midterm elections with the house and possibly the senate up for grabs. experts say the democrats are now in triage mode. the party is planning to redirect money to focus on protecting the lawmakers who appear to be in the strong of the position to keep their seats. >>> investors probing the bp oil spill are beginning to look at a key piece of evidence. they seized the damaged well's 300-ton blowout preventer when brought to the surface over the weekend. as matt gutman reports, they'll be trying to figure out why it malfunctioned. >> reporter: like some mangled creature raised from the deep, this million-pound mass of steel could tell the story of what went wrong on april 20th and who's to blame for the worst spill in u.s. history and the deaths of 11 men. >> bringing this to a -- a conclusion for the investigation jo move forward for the families is a major, major thing for the memory of them 11 men. >

emily schmidt is joining us from washington. >> reporter: iran's delegation applauded mahmoud ahmadinejad's address to the united nations yesterday. today, president obama will make his first public comments since that controversial speech. president obama's speech advocated working towards peace in the middle east. >> if an agreement is not reached, palestinians will never know the pride and dignity that comes with their own state. israelis will never know the certainty and security that comes with sovereign and stable neighbors. >> reporter: and working towards peace with iran. mr. obama said the door to diplomacy remained open, should iran choose toe walk through it. but that door seemed much more likely to close after iran's president took the floor. mahmoud ahmadinejad said americans were behind the september 11th terrorist attacks to help the american economy. and to save the zionist regime of israel. at that point, 27 others walked out. a white house official said mr. obama found the remarks deeply offensive, especially made so close to the site where the world trade center once stoo

emily schmidt in washington this morning. thank you. >>> and more shakeup at the white house. president obama's top economic adviser is now stepping down. larry summers plans to leave the white house and return to harvard at the end of the year. summers is the third high economic adviser to leave in recent months. his departure gives the president a chance to reshape the economic team. >>> and that turmoil over at the white house and a critical elections now just weeks away. the big guns are being called in. former president bill clinton and michelle obama are now hitting the campaign trail. the first lady will stump for candidates in a number of states including washington and california. polls show, she is one of the most popular democrats in the country right now. >> i think she will go out and make a forceful and positive case for what this administration has done. >> as for the republicans, sarah palin has put out a slick, new web video that portrays her as the national leader of the tea party movement. but she never mentions the word republican. and at least one gop cand

emily schmidt, abc news, atlantic beach, north carolina. >> earl, category 4, that's very powerful. >> very powerful. it's moving into cooler waters and our cool waters aren't going to do anything to help us cool down today. it will be comfortable in the 70s but outside from emeryville, you'll notice that it is a nice looking evening out there. morning, i should say. what is it, morning or night! (laughter) >> it does feel like a very balmy one at that with temperatures already still in the 70s. we haven't dropped off that much. 73 fremont, 74 antioch. it's 69 in san francisco with 50s from napa, novato, menlo park and on the coast at half moon bay. >> today we'll look for another hot day, a spare the air day with a 24 hour temperature change. starting off with the calm winds of 12 degrees warmer in the city, 11 degrees warmer in fremont and 4 degrees warmer in san jose. without the effects of that generous sea breeze, it's going to be a very hot day today near triple digits in our inland valleys but not quite as warm at our coast and the cooling trend gets underway today, more signif

emily schmidt joins us with more on what's at stake for the white house and on capitol hill. good morning, emily. >> reporter: vinita and mike, good morning to you. well, senators this week in washington are going to wrap up their work here so they can head home and campaign for those critical midterm elections. with just five weeks to go, tactics are ranging from personal to presidential. at the end of september, politics feel like november. >> you ought to be there for him on election day. >> reporter: heavy hitters are campaigning in races that ought to be a cinch in the past. democrat barney frank has been in congress for 30 years, but this year republicans are threatening to take back control of the hill. >> when we don't have people trying to make things worse and trying to obstruct, we can provide the economy that this country deserves. >> people have a right to be angry. they have a right to be disappointed, but they still have to make a choice. an election is not a referendum on their anger, it's a choice between two candidates. >> reporter: bill clinton stumped in t

>> emily schmidt, in washington. thanks, emily. >>> major religious leaders hold a news conference later today in washington, as controversy heats up over the planned burning of the koran. a florida minister says he plans to go ahead with the direction of the islamic holy book to mark the 9/11 anniversary. that's despite a warning from the top commander in afghanistan that burning the koran could put u.s. troops in harm's way. martha raddatz reports from kabul. >> reporter: the crowd in downtown kabul reached nearly 500 with protesters chanting, long live the koran. an effigy of pastor terry jones, from the tiny florida church, was lit on fire. the protesters, well aware the pastor's inflammatory comments. >> islam is an evil religion. >> reporter: but anger has spread far beyond pastor jones, with choochbts death to america, echoing through the crowd. minutes later, rocks were hurled at a passing u.s. military convoy. the u.s. commander in afghanistan, general david petraeus, is outraged by the threat to burn the ko

i'm emily schmidt in washington. that story coming up. >> next at 5:30, the deadly holiday weekend accident that has one bay area city stepping up police patrols this morning. >> and fairly pleasant temperatures. almost fall-like from the pacific northwest from denver and minneapolis to slow to mid-70s there. comfortable d.c., new york and boston from upper 70s to mid-80s. hot in dallas and phoenix at 106. miss dimitra, when will you marry me? - be my wife. - miss dimitra, marry me. - marry me. - marry me. - marry me. - be my wife, please. ( bells tolling ) ( all cheering ) ha ha ha! announcer: introducing the kohler carbon faucet. ♪ >>> president obama has a new plan to boost the economy. he's heading for wisconsin today where he will tell us more. >> local families mourn the deaths of two young men in a san francisco crash this weekend while another family of three is hospitalized with critical injuries. >> pacifica police say gunmen forced their way into a home and stole thousands of dollars from the people who

we begin coverage, now, with emily schmidt. >> reporter: it's hard to know, looking at all of the rain falling all along the east coast. if people are testing the water. >> first tropical storm i've ever been in. so, it's kind of cool. >> reporter: or is the water testing them? north carolina's governor declared a state of emergency, after wilmington had at lest 18 inches of rain since sunday. 4 months' worth of water in 100 hours. one inch more would top a record set by hurricane floyd a decade ago. for landscape businesses, it's disappointing. >> it just hurts you. it hurts everybody. like four days in the house doing nothing. >> reporter: for others, it's disorienting. >> i normally make my swing around to go to this box over here. to deliver. and i misjudged the payment, you know. >> reporter: clarence williams drives this postal route all the time. but standing water hid where he thought the road would be. >> i think it's good if you're a duck. >> reporter: in florida, portable pumps have been working for days. emergency workers in south carolina are ready for long hours, too. >>

>> emily schmidt in washington this morning. thank you. >>> it was a terror attack in afghanistan that brought president hamid karzai to tears. karzai got emotional during a speech yesterday, condemning the violence in his country and asking afghans to forsake it. he asked the taliban not to destroy afghanistan for the benefit of others. >>> president obama is in iowa this morning, after delivering an energetic message to his core supporters. crisscro crisscrossing the country, and talks about the economy. karen travers is trovling with the president. >> the stakes are too high for our country and for your fuch per and i'm going to get out there and fight as hard as i can. >> reporter: before a crowd of 17,000 at the university of wisconsin, mostly students, mr. obama pleaded with young voters to bring back the enthusiasm from the 2008 campaign. the goal is clear, rev up the young voters who were critical to the obama campaign success in 2008. in a year, 66% of those voters went for mr. obama. 32% went for senator john mccain. b

. >> emily schmidt is in washington with the developing story. good morning, emory. >> reporter: rob and vinita, good morning to you. when barack obama ran for president, in 2008, the lines at his student events usually stretch as far as the eye that can see. that excitement translated into votes. tonight, president obama is going to return to those roots. he's holding a rally at the university of wisconsin, hoping to capture that excitement again. today, the president, who inspired young voters, with hope and change. >> we have given young people reason to believe. >> reporter: returns to his college rally roots, to convince those youth to vote again. >> you can't sit it out. you can't suddenly just check in once every ten years or so on an exciting presidential election. and then, not pay attention during big midterm elections when we've got a real big choice, between democrats and republicans. >> reporter: mr. obama's name isn't on the ballot this time. but his party's control of congress is on the line. and youth say there's simply they're mo

. >> emily schmidt is in washington with details. >> reporter: rob, vinita, good morning to you. woodward's newest book outlines a series of explosive, internal conflicts about the war in afghanistan. according to "the new york times", which says obtained a copy of this book. it expresses serious doubts about the u.s. strategy by a number of officials. one goes so far as to say it just can't work. that strategy involves the president sending another 30,000 americans into the fight last winter. mr. obama is said to have been uncomfortable with attempts of military commanders to force him into the decision to send those troops before he wanted to do so. the pentagon's top officials are right in the middle of it all. joint chiefs admiral mike mullen is said to believe his deputy went behind his back on some matters. and defense secretary robert gates reportedly fumed about possible moves among mr. obama's national security staff, which he calls a disaster. the current commander in afghanistan, general david petraeus is quoted as telling an aide he doesn't like talking to the preside

emily schmidt on the storm watch. thanks so much. >>> and forecasters are watching a cold front that could pu earl further out to sea. sam champion has more on the the next couple of days >> notice by friday afternoon, just how close that category 2 hurricane is, within 100 miles to the outer banks of north carolina. that means 60-mile-per-hour to 70-mile-per-hour winds along the shoreline of north carolina and one to three inches of rain. as the storm curves and it interacts with that front, it will push out. but america curves right there, too. so, we're 200 miles away from new york. by the time we get into saturday, we're just 100 miles off the coast of cape cod, though. >> and sam says it could still be a category 1 hurricane when it passes cape cod. we'll have the latest track live from north carolina, later today on "good morning america." >>> defense secretary robert gates arrived in iraq this morning, as u.s. troops mark a major milestone. it is the end of u.s. combat operations in iraq, some seven years after

emily schmidt live in north carolina. thank you. >>> even if this massivedoes noa does not make a direct hit, it could still cause plenty of damage. sam champion shows us the most places likely to see the storm's effect. >> reporter: the wind speeds here are just as -- kind of impressive. more than 200 miles from the center of this storm, are tropical storm-force winds, up to 70-mile-per-hour. near the high, anything 74 miles or greater. on its trip, along the shoreline, earl has two places it's likely to get close enough to push the 100-mile-per-hour winds. that's right along the cape. and also on the carolina shore. >>> those areas sam mentioned in massachusetts are under a hurricane watch this morning. sam will sam will have more from north carolina all morning on "gma." >>> and turning to other news this morning. middle east leaders meet today for the first face-to-face peace talks in nearly two years. president obama tried to jump-start those talks in meetings with israeli prime minister netanyahu and palestinian pre

emily schmidt, abc news. >>> our sam champion will have more on "good morning america." and a look ahead to the effects of hurricane igor, this weekend. >>> a world-famous hospital is reviewing security procedures today after a siege by a lone gunman. police say paul parnish shot a doctor that had been treating his mother. his barricaded himself in her room, as s.w.a.t. teams locked down the hospital. >> from the frontside of the building, which faces the hospital, to the back. none of us could be by any windows. >> you had to be scared. >> yeah. it's scared. >> police discovered his body and his mother in the room. the doctor identified by colleagues as orthopedic surgeon david cohen, underwent surgery. he should be okay. >>> president obama's latest trip on the campaign trail may signal trouble by democrats in a usually reliable democratic state. in connecticut, the president helped raise millions for his party. outside, dozens demonstrated against the president and a new connecticut law. >>> meanwhile, delaware senate candidates faced off for the first time. tea party

. >> emily schmidt is in washington, this morning, with the developing story. good morning, emil >> reporter: rob and vinita, good morning to you. when barack obama ran for president, in 2008, the lines at his student events usually stretch as far as the eye that can see. that excitement translated into votes. tonight, president obama is going to return to those roots. he's holding a rally at the university of wisconsin, hoping to capture that excitement again. today, the president, who inspired young voters, with hope and change. >> we have given young people reason to believe. >> reporter: returns to his college rally roots, to convince those youth to vote again. >> you can't sit it out. you can't suddenly just check in once every ten years or so on an exciting presidential election. and then, not pay attention during big midterm elections where we've got a real big choice, between democrats and republicans. >> reporter: mr. obama's name isn't on the ballot this time. but his party's control of congress is on the line. and youth say they're simply they're mot

>> emily schmidt in washington this morning. thank you. >>> it was a terror attack in afghanistan that brought president hamid karzai to tears. karzai got emotional during a speech yesterday, condemning the violence in his country and asking afghans to forsake it. he asked the taliban not to destroy afghanistan for the benefit of others. >>> president obama is in iowa this morning, after delivering an energetic message to his core supporters. crisscro crisscrossing the country, and talks about the economy. karen travers is trovling with the president. >> the stakes are too high for our country and for your fuch per and i'm going to get out there and fight as hard as i can. >> reporter: before a crowd of 17,000 at the university of wisconsin, mostly students, mr. obama pleaded with young voters to bring back the enthusiasm from the 2008 campaign. the goal is clear, rev up the young voters who were critical to the obama campaign success in 2008. in a year, 66% of those voters went for mr. obama. 32% went for 32% went for senator j

. >> emily schmidt is in washington, this morning, with the developing story. good morning, emily. >> reporter: rob and vinita, good morning to you. when barack obama ran for president, in 2008, the lines at his student events usually stretch as far as the eye that can see. that excitement translated into votes. tonight, president obama is going to return to those roots. he's holding a rally at the university of wisconsin, hoping to capture that excitement again. today, the president, who inspired young voters, with hope and change. >> we have given young people reason to believe. >> reporter: returns to his college rally roots, to convince those youth to vote again. >> you can't sit it out. you can't suddenly just check in once every ten years or so on an exciting presidential election. and then, not pay attention during big midterm elections where we've got a real big choice, between democrats and republicans. >> reporter: mr. obama's name isn't on the ballot this time. but his party's control of congress is on the line. and youth say they're simply they're m

emily schmidt has more. >> president obama's speech at the united nations general assembly advocated working towards peace in the middle east. and working towards peace with iran. mr. obama said the door to diplomacy remained open should iran choose to walk through it. but that door seemed much more likely to close after iran's president took the floor. mahmoud ahmadinejad said americans were behind the september 11th terrorist attacks to help the american economy and to save the zionist regimen of israel. at that point the u.s. delegation and 27 others got up and walked out. a white house official found the remarks deeply offensive, especially so close to the site where the world trade center once stood. some said mahmoud ahmadinejad's words were not surprising. >> just like him to change the subject, change the focus from him and his stewardship of iran to issues that he's much more confident talking about. >> today president obama has an interviewed scheduled with bbc persia. it will be a chance for him to talk directly to the iranian people. emily schmidt, abc news, washington. >

emily schmidt shows us the spots that were hardest hit. >> reporter: just as rush hour hit new york city thursday afternoon, so did a fierce, fast-moving storm. >> i thought it was the end of the world. >> reporter: tornado warnings went out around 5:30. at least 30,000 people lost power, as lightning filled the skies. >> all the doors in my house flew open. the air conditioning in my room crashed in. the windows crashed in. >> reporter: terrifying for people at home. trouble for commuters trying to get home. >> back up. back up. back up. >> reporter: new york's busy penn station closed because it was so packed with people after winds knocked down trees and power lines on train tracks. drivers didn't fair much better. >> i was just driving down the street. and it was like -- it was just like a giant, human car wash. everything just started spinning. and i saw, like, the small branches flying all over. >> reporter: one woman died when a tree landed on her car. others wondered how they survived. >> didn't know what hit me at first. glass was scattered everywhere. and i was thinking, am i a

in atlantic beach, north carolina, emily schmidt, abc news. >> hurricane earl could complicate airline travel as earl twists towards the east coast. many larger airlines are allowing travelers to change flights with no penalty. the airlines include american, delta, jet blue, united and u.s. airways. flying could get a little dicey with hurricane force winds. you should check with each airline for specific information about rebooking your deadlines and you can always sch check flt delays at abc7news.com. winds are so powerful, it moved that camera over to where mike stands to give us the weather forecast. time for a look at the forecast. mike, what do we have in store. >> take a look at live doppler 7, show you what's going on over in north carolina where they're getting lashed, the outer banks out towards the northeast corner elizabeth city with the heavy rain. but thankfully as we talked about over the previous couple of days the bulk of the storm system would definitely move away or stay out to shore. so good news for those folks. all right. let's talk about what is going on as far a

emily schmidt reporting for abc 7 news. back to you. >> thank you. >>> the bush tax cuts have become the newest issue in the fall election. democrats are trying to extend them to people making less than $250,000 a year. republicans want to extend tax cuts for wealthy as well. the nonpartisan congressional budget office says it all the bush tax cuts are extended, economic growth could double in the next year. >>> 64 degrees. still ahead, a new plan to ease congestion around the nation's capital. why a ride on the freeway and could be anything but. >>> a communications meltdown on the deadline may have put some passengers in danger. >>> another check on traffic and weather every ten minutes, >>> i am at the national zoo. there are 500 of these left in the world. to calm check them out -- vome check -- come check them out. good morning, washington. >> we are wearing purple today. what's up with that? >> everybody's wearing purple, even lisa baden. i guess you could call this lavender, technically, necktie. it is 61 and sterlin