rob and vinita? >> 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.

vinita? >> simon mcgregor-wood live in jerusalem this morning, thank you. >>> now to afghanistan where u.s. and afghan forces are taking on the taliban in one of its traditional strongholds. they are using what is basically long ropes of explosives in order to clear homemade bombs that rebels have left behind. the operation is being conducted along a main route along which the taliban moves both fighters and weapons. at least 20 insurgents have been killed so far. >>> a war crimes case against a group of u.s. soldiers who have served in afghanistan moves forward today. corporal jeremy morlock and four other soldiers are charged with the premeditated murders of afghan civilians. seven others have been charged in connection with the alleged crimes. today evidence in morlock's case is being laid out to determine if he should be formally tried in a court-martial. there is a full report on the story coming up on "good morning america." >>> it was not the usual sunday sermon at one of the nation's

vinita? >> thanks to lama hasan live in london. >>> well, for one scottish catholic the pope's visit was a dream come true. susan boyle said she has always wanted to sing for the pontiff, and yesterday she did just that. >> boyle performed three songs as part of the pope's outdoor mass. let's listen in. ♪ that i may never see ♪ so much to be consoled as to console ♪ ♪ most people like to hear they've done a great job caring for their teeth. that's why there's a rinse like crest pro health complete with fluoride. it helps you get a better dental check-up. crest complete rinse makes the difference because it provides all these benefits. giving you a clean, healthy mouth. a more complete way to a better dental check-up. new crest pro health complete rinse. when pain keeps you up, nothing is proven to help you fall asleep faster than advil pm liqui-gels. rushing real liquid relief to ease you to sleep fast. for nighttime pain, make advil pm your #1 choice. when i got my medicare card, i r

i'm vinita nair. >> and i'm mike marusarz in for rob nelson. five weeks until midterm elections and the democrats are fighting to hold on to the control of congress. >> so they are sending the party heavyweights out on the campaign trail. emily schmidt joins us with more at what's at stake for the white house and capitol hill. good morning. >> reporter: 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 critical midterm elections. with five weeks to go tactics are ranging from personal to presidential. de 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. barney frank has been in for 30 years but they are threatening to take back control of the hill. >> when we don't have people trying to make things worse and trying 0 obstruct we can provide the economy this country deserve. >> people have a right to be angry, disappointed but

vinita, rob? >> the pipeline explosion has a lot of people now worried about underground dangers in their own neighborhoods. how do you find out if you're at risk1 o-hrbar >> reporter: incidents happen every other day in this country. >> it's something we need to get a clear handle on before it gets worse. >> reporter: in this san diego neighborhood more trouble seeped from underground. the frightening smell of natural gas forced dozens from their homes. and in illinois hundreds of workers scrambled to contain crude oil that gushed for three days from a ruptured main. often, as in friday's tragedy in california, residents say they had no idea what was beneath their homes until it was too late. this despite the fact that utilities are required by law to clearly mark pipelines and notify residents about those aging neighbors they don't see. here in the chicago neighborhood residents share this street with an underground natural gas pipeline. but there's no evidence of it, no obvious signs. >> water

rob and vinita? >> 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 li

rob and vinita? >> 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 d

rob and vinita? >>> 29 afghan women begin new jobs today as the country's first female army officers. they graduated from an officer training program run by nato and the afghan defense ministry. the women will not work on the front line. they will work in finance and logist logistics. the program is now recrun a o >>> the government has now put severe limitations on prescribing the once-popular diabetes drug avandia. the drug is now banned in europe because it's linked to fatal heart attacks as lisa stark reports. >> reporter: the battle against the diabetes drug avandia has been long and hard-fought. leading the charge, dr. steve nissen, cardiologist at cleveland clinic. >> people have been asking me, don't you feel vindicated? this is not about personal vindication, it's about doing the right thin >> reporter: it was dr. nissen who first raised the alarm about avandia in 2007. he found the drug increased the risk of heart attack by 43%. the fda had approved the drug eight years earlier. so what was

rob and vinita? >> 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

vinita? >> thanks to lama hasan live in london. >>> well, for one scottish catholic the pope's visit was a dream come true. susan boyle said she has always wanted to sing for the pontiff, and yesterday she did just that. >> boyle performed three songs as part of the pope's outdoor mass. let's listen in. ♪ that i may never see ♪ so much to be consoled as to console ♪ much to be consoled as to console ♪ ♪ most people like to hear they've done a great job caring for their teeth. that's why there's a rinse like crest pro health complete with fluoride. it helps you get a better dental check-up. crest complete rinse makes the difference because it provides all these benefits. giving you a c can, healthy mouth. a more complete way to a better dental chehe-up. new crest pro health complete rinse. when pain keeps you up, nothing is proven to help you fall asleep faster than advil pm liqui-gels. rushing real liquid relief to ease you to sleep fast. for nighttime pain, make advil pm your #1 ch

vinita, rob? >>> tropical storm nicole didn't stick around too long but what remains of it is causing a lot of trouble for folks along the east coast today. southern florida got soaked yesterday after nonstop downpours there. the storm has now moved north and could drop more than a foot of rain in north carolina. flood watches and warnings stretch all the way to southern new england. >>> now here is a look at the rest of your weather. leftover showers flooded south florida. scattered showers south of los angeles into san diego. no rain in the upper midwest. good news for flooded areas of minnesota and wisconsin. >> mostly 70s from fargo and omaha to detroit. 75 in boston. 78 in new york. 83 in new orleans. phoenix gets up to a scorching 106. and 80s from albuquerque to boise. >>> the government has just released a chilling new videotape of what the times square bomb could have done had it gone off as planned. prosecutors now say suspect faisal shahzad wanted to set off a second bomb. here's pierre

good morning, pamela. >> good morning, rob and vinita. with the fda holding hearings this week on genetically engineered salmon, searches are off the charts. some are looking at the pros. it's a sustainable food source that grows at twice the rate of regular salmon. and the cons. is it safe to eat? and if the so-called frankenfish escape, will it have an impact on wild salmon? now, ironically, once they're big, they're even bigger than modified salmon, recipes for salmon. one reason for that, with football season in full swing, searches for tailgating recipes are spiking. allrecipes.com has smoked salmon as its top tailgating dish. we're also seeing searches for games this week. people are looking up rules for tailgate toss, ladder toss, corn hole. one place to look for tips is tailgating.com, created by professional tailgater joe kahn, the self-proclaimed commish of tailgating. from football to films, they'll be good because searches for the sequel to oliver stone's "wall street" are bullish. big hits on the film's trailer, up 469% this

rob, vinita? >>> there's been a major step forward in sealing off the gulf oil well that caused that huge environmental disaster in the gulf back in april. a relief well has now intersected with the blown-out well. the next step will be to pump mud and cement down through that relief well to seal the blown-out well from the bottom. 206 million gallons of oil spilled into the gulf after that april 20th disaster. >>> it was a killer storm that barreled through new york around rush hour last night. some 100-mile-an-hour winds were recorded. the national weather service will determine today whether a tornado actually formed. it sure seemed like it was in plenty of places, where trees and power lines were down and roofs torn off. at least one person was killed. >>> meanwhile, hurricane carl flooded mexico's yucatan peninsula. the storm is roaring toward another mexican landfall today. carl now has maximum sustained winds of around 100 miles an hour, making it a category 2 storm. it is expected to stren

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm vinita nair. tea party candidates have ridden a wave of voter angry to victory. >> in delaware and new york, upset wins by two long shot candidates. but a new hampshire race is still very close. john hendren has the latest from washington. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and rob. tea partiers partied extra hard in delaware. that's where outsider christine o'donnell defeated longtime congressman mike castle. castle hadn't faced a hotly contested primary since the first bush administration. o'donnell benefited from an antiestablishment mood and an endorsement from sarah palin. the republican establishment had warned gop voters if they picked her, they would lose to the democrat in november, but voters just weren't listening. >> we're going to go after the scoundrels, those that have chosen a life of feeding at the public trough. they're going to have to account for themselves. the friends and family club, pay to play club, those are over. we are a government of the people. >> r

rob and vinita? >> 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

good morning, pamela. >> good morning, rob and vinita. with the fda holding hearings this week on genetically engineered salmon, searches are off the charts. some are looking at the pros. it's a sustainable food source that grows at twice the rate of regular salmon. and the cons. is it safe to eat? if the so-called franken fish esca escape, will it have an impact on wild salmon? even bigger than modified salmon, recipes for salmon. one reason for that, with football season in full swing, searches for tailgating recipes are spiking. allrecipes.com has salmon as its top tailgating dish. people are looking up rules for tailgate toss, ladder toss, corn hole. one place to look for tips is tailgating.com, created by professional tailgater joe kahn, the self-proclaimed commish of tailgating. some football fans agreed they'll be good because searches for the sequel to oliver stone's "wall street" are bullish. big hits on the film's trailer, up 469% this week. and people are going online to read the reviews, which are pretty good across the board.

rob and vinita? >>> a small wisconsin community is a virtual island this morning after raging floodwaters surged through and around the levee. the only road was covered by nearly a foot of rust-colored water. inspectors admit the levee is in bad shape. now they're hoping conditions will improve before there's a complete failure. most of the 300 residents had left their home sunday but the people who insisted on riding it out are now stuck. >>> here is a look at your tuesday forecast. wet again in the midwest with showers from milwaukee to st. louis. rainy in the pacific northwest and the east from florida to maine. heavy downpours, large hail, and gusty winds around philadelphia, new york, and boston. >> triple digit highs in phoenix and sacramento. 72 in fargo. 60s from the twin cities to detroit. a wet 80 in new york. 76 in atlanta. and 87 in miami. >>> abc news has learned rahm emanuel will likely resign as white house chief of staff on friday. emanuel is expected to quit so he can explore enterin

vinita, rob? >> the pipeline explosion has a lot of people now worried about underground dangers in their own neighborhoods. how do you find out if you're at risk? here'sra p >> reporter: incidents happen every other day in this country. >> it's something we need to get a clear handle on before i get >> reporter: in this san diego neighborhood more te se from underground. the frightening smell of natu gas forced dozeom t hom and in illinois hundreds of workers scrambled to contain crude oil that gushed for three days from a ruptured main. often, as in friday's tragedy in california, residents say they had no idea what was beneath their homes until it was too late. this despite the fact that utilities are required by law to clearly mark pipelines and notify residents about those aging neighbors they don't see. here in this chicago neighborhood residents share this street with an underground natural gas pipeline. but there's no evidence of it, no obvious signs. >> water lines are fairly decently mar

rob and vinita? >>> the alleged underwear bomber who tried to blow up a delta jet over detroit on christmas says he may plead guilty. that claim came yesterday from 23-year-old umar farouk abdulmutallab fired his lawyers. during a court appearance the young nigerian it said he now plans to represent himself. abdulmutallab says he's taken the action because he thinks his lawyers would be biased. >>> american sarah shourd 1 is spending yet another day in an iranian prison. plans for her release have hit another snag. >> family members say they've hit a snag in trying to raise the $500,000 in cash for her bail. lara setrakian is following the case from dubai. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. yes, it has been an intense waiting game for sarah shourd and her family. in the past 24 hours we've heard that the holdup was just a matter of money, getting that half a million dollars bail in cash. she could be released anytime and on her way back home. we do have information on what happe

i'm vinita nair. >> i'm rob nelson. to the news now. >>> schools and businesses are closed today in bermuda as the cleanup begins after hurricane igor. >> the storm brought high winds and pelting surf to the island. so far it is moving away from the island. david kerley is there. good morning, david. >> reporter: rob and vinita, say hello to igor. this is it. sustained winds, 60, 70, gusts up to 85 miles an hour. the center of the storm, about 40 miles to our west, passing right by bermuda. it's a category 1 hurricane. but we are seeing the back side of it. the dirty side. the northeast quadrant. it's the strongest part of the storm. they're used to strong storms here but this one is nearly a direct hit. >> it's spectacular but it's going to be probably absolutely horrifying. >> reporter: we were out earlier. not surprisingly nearly a ghost town as folks batten down in their homes. it's going to be here for a long time, what do you think? >> it's going to be tremendous. you've got to get in. >> reporter: they were worri

rob and vinita, good morning to you. republicans hoping to unseat democrats in november.but today, 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 democrat-dominated delaware, gop leaders think eight-term congressman mike castle is their only hope to win vice president biden's old 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. >> republicans are backing away. they get behind candidates like my opponent, who continue to support the democrats' agenda, lock, step and barrel. >> hi. this is governor sarah palin. vote for c

vinita, rob? >>> president obama's top economic adviser larry summers plans to resign at the end of the year. summers is the third high-level member of obama's economic team to leave in recent months. there is speculation the president might replace summers with a corporate executive. summers plans to return to his old job at harvard. >>> big names are campaigning now with the crucial midterm elections just six weeks away. popular political stars from both parties are doing what they can to get the votes. here's jonathan karl. >> reporter: the white house calls her the closer. with time running out for congressional democrats they're sending her in. the first lady's political travel schedule reads like a who's who of endangered democrats. she'll stop in wisconsin for russ feingold. illinois for alexi giannoulias, running for the president's old senate seat. colorado for michael bennet. washington state for patty murray. california for barbara boxer. >> i think she will go out and make a forceful a

vinita and rob? >>> with an eye on november's elections, republicans today unveil what they call their pledge to america. it is a list of ideas the gop believes will help it take control of congress come november. the pledge includes cutting taxes and spending and repeal of the new health care reform law. it also emphasizes job creation to improve the economy. >>> we're expected to hear this morning from an atlanta minister at the center of a growing scandal over sex abuse accusations. bishop eddie long, the married father of four, has strongly denied allegations in three separate lawsuits. here now is steve osunsami with details. >> reporter: bishop eddie long is considered one of the most anti-gay pastors in the country who once said homosexuality is a spiritual abortion. if today's accusations are true he might regret the day he led thousands through the streets of atlanta in protest of gays and same-sex marriage. >> woman and woman and man and man is not right. so that's why i stand with the bish

vinita and rob? >>> as the investigation in the saturday night emergency landing of a small plane moves forward we've now learned the type of aircraft involved has had previous landing gear problems. the crj-900 regional jet has a history of landing gear doors that warp. it's still unclear if the plane involved in saturday's incident has had that particular problem. the delta jet was on its way to white plains, new york, from atlanta when it was forced to land at jfk airport. >>> we know texting while driving is not a good idea. a new insurance industry study says banning it does not necessarily reduce crashes. the study looked at climbs filed on collisions in four states. it found no drop in accidents in those states. may also lead to crashes. >>> and of course text messages got a wisconsin prosecutor in so much trouble, now he's one step closer to stepping down. five women accuse him of sexual harassment after receiving dozens of messages. t.j. winick reports on the scandal. >> reporter: wisconsin'

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm vinita nair. tea party supporters are cheering after a huge upset win in delaware. christine o'donnell defeated longtime congressman mike castle. >> it's pretty clear that voter frustration and anger played a major role in this primary race as well as in others. john hendren has the results from washington. >> reporter: tea partiers are partying extra hard in delaware. >> no more politics as usual. >> reporter: where outsider christine o'donnell defeated longtime congressman mike castle. castle hadn't faced a hotly contested primary since the first bush administration. >> i would like to thank the republican party for its support. >> reporter: party support wasn't enough. o'donnell, who ran for senate and lost twice before, this time benefited from an anti-establishment mood. >> it's a terrible time to be part of the status quo. >> reporter: and she had a secret weapon. >> this is governor sarah palin. vote for christine o'donnell for u.s. senate. >> reporter: the republican establishment warned g

vinita and rob? >>> new figures show that fewer people are dying on the nation's highways. last year's death toll dropping to the lowest level since 1950. the transportation department says that traffic deaths fell 9.7% from 2008 to 2009. that's down nearly 34,000. the decline is being attributed to not only seat belts but also safer cars, as well as tougher drunk driving laws. >>> top officials in detroit are defending their handling of a series of fires in the city. residents complain it took firefighters 90 minutes to respond in some cases. about 85 structures were burned in the fires which were apparently sparked by gusty winds and downed power lines. >>> with that, here is your thursday forecast. oklahoma, missouri, and arkansas face much of the drenching rain and flooding that battered texas yesterday. hail, 80-mile-an-hour winds and possible tornados in the dakotas and montana. showers in the pacific northwest and northern new england. >> 70s in the northeast and 90s across the gulf coast. 60s

rob and vinita? >>> the eiffel tower is reopened this morning after a bomb square closed the landmark for hours. it was the second such alert at the monument in two weeks. the warning came as ag invese whlled credible terrorlot at france, britain andt u.s. there is an international manhunt for the people behind the plot. >> some are german converts, many are turks, many are arabs. and right now we already have afghans and even iranians in these circles. it's a very mixed bunch of different people, quite internationalist, quite unlike anything we have seen in europe in recent years. >> u.s. officials say one of those already captured in the plot claims these new attacks were backed by osama bin laden. >>> and more news now from overseas. the u.s. has stepped up drone strikes along the pakistan/afghanistan border. the target there is a military leader responsible for attacking american military forces. here now is martha raddatz. >> reporter: the deadly cia drone strikes have targeted this mountainous

rob and vinita? >>> in other news now, michael jackson's mother has filed a lawsuit against aeg live, the promoter of her son's comeback concerts. katherine jackson claims that the promoter failed to provide equipment to jackson's physician, conrad murray, that could have saved his life. murray, though, is not named in the suit. the mother filed the suit on behalf of the superstar's three children. she is seeking unspecified damages. >>> pope benedict is spending the next four days in britain. it is the only -- it is only, rather, the second time a pope has ever set foot on british soil. >> and the pope will face controversy as he arrives. lama hasan joins us from our london bureau with a preview. good morning, lama. >> good morning to you both. well,er, there is some controversy, but it's also a significant visit as the british prime minister david cameron said this will be an important and historic trip because not since 1982 has a pope visited the united kingdom. and this will be pope benedict xvi

vinita and rob? >>> a fugitive wanted for rape for 40 years is finally under arrest in pennsylvania. police say russell pierce periodically called to see if he was still a wanted man. he usually used a pay phone. but when he called from his cell phone, police traced the call and finally captured him. now pierce is headed to new york, where he's accused of raping a 19-year-old woman four decades ago. >>> craigslist has now broken its silence about the decision to censor adult services on its website. ads for paid sex disappeared this month after pressure from police around the nation. here now is pierre thomas. >> reporter: 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 prostitution, some of it involving children. >> craigslist, we feel, has been one of the bright spots and success stories in the critical fight against trafficking and child ploexploitation. >> reporter: the craigslist story has been -- even th

ro vinita? >> thanks a lot, karen. >>> a lean, green futuristic machine is about to hit the road and it's coming with a rock-bottom sticker price. >> $600 a pop. you heard that right. it is billed as the most economical car in the world. volkswagen plans to roll them out in china next year. promises 258 miles on the gallon. >> ain't bad at all. nine years ago, volkswagen executive drove an earlier prototype of the car across germany. he wanted to prove at the time that the car was super-efficient, as well as super-futuristic. that ain't a bad deal. >> $600? i can't get a scooter at that price. we'll be right back. assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little to no cost to you. stay tuned for this important medicare benefit information and free scooter guarantee. imagine... one scooter or power chair that could improve your may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happ

vinita? >> 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

rob and vinita? >> all right. important meeting today. thanks, emily. >>> the utah national guard is apologizing for its role in starting a fast-moving wildfire near salt lake city. at least 4,000 acres and counting have now burned, as firefighters are battling to get the blaze under control near herriman. diana alvear reports. >> reporter: strong winds served as fuel for a utah wildfire. more than 1,600 homes were evacuated. at least four homes were destroyed. >> we have active operations going on. it's only as good as mother nature will let us be right now. >> reporter: the fire was sparked sunday at a utah national guard shooting range. 50-mile-per-hour winds spread the flames quickly. >> i could hardly run to the car, i was so scared. i was so shaken and feel like i was going to pass out. >> reporter: monday, the utah

vinita, rob? >>> the prominent leader of an atlanta mega church is denying sexual abuse allegations. bishop eddie long is accused of using his church authority to coerce two young men into having sex. the young men filed suit and claim they were given lavish trips, cars, even cash. long is the pastor at new birth missionary ban tigs church. >>> the way is clear for virginia to carry out its first execution of a woman in nearly a century. the supreme court has now refused to block tomorrow's scheduled lethal injection of teresa lewis. she was convicted of hiring two men to kill her husband and stepson back in 2002. her attorney had argued lewis' borderline mentally challenged and because of that she should be spared. >>> at least one republican congressional candidate does not want campaign support from sarah palin. jeffrey perry from massachusetts is dismissing palin, calling her an entertainer. you can expect to see palin and two democratic heavyweights on the campaign trail, as john hendren repo

rob and vinita? >>> a small wisconsin community is a virtual island this morning after raging floodwaters surged through and vee the only road was covered by nearly a foot of rust-colored water. inspectors admit the levee is in bad shape. now they're hoping conditions will improve before there's a complete failure. most of the 300 residents had left their homes sunday but the people who insisted on riding it out are now stuck. >>> here is a look at your tuesday forecast. wet again in the mdwth louis. rainy in the pacific northwest and the east from florida to maine. heavy downpours, large hail, and gusty winds around philadelphia, new york, and boston. >> triple digit highs in phoenix and sacramento. 72 in fargo. 60s from the twin cities to detroit. a wet 80 in new york. 76 in atlanta. and 87 in miami. >>> abc news has learned rahm emanuel will likely resign as white house chief of staff on friday. the sharp-tongued emanuel is expected to quit so he can explore entering the mayor's race in chicago. h

i'm vinita nair. >> i'm rob nelson. to the news now. >>> schools and businesses are closed today in bermuda as the cleanup begins after hurricane igor. >> the storm brought strong winds, pelting rain and high surf to the island. david kerley is there. good morning, david. >> reporter: rob and vinita, say hello to igor. this is it. sustained winds, 60, 70, gusts up to 85 miles an hour. the center of the storm, about 40 miles to our west, passing right by bermuda. it's a category 1 hurricane. but we are seeing the back side of it. the dirty side. the northeast quadrant. it's the strongest part of the storm. they're used to strong storms here but this one is nearly a direct hit. >> it's spectacular but it's going to be probably absolutely horrifying. >> reporter: we were out earlier. not surprisingly nearly a ghost town as folks batten down in their homes. it's going to be here for a long time, what do you think? >> it's going to be some damage. you've got to get in. >> reporter: they were worried this was going to be a hi

vinita? >> 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

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm vinita nair. tea party supporters are cheering after a huge upset win in delaware. christine o'donnell defeated longtime congressman mike castle. >> it's pretty clear that voter frustration and anger played a major role in this primary race as well as in others. john hendren has the latest from washington. >> reporter: tea partiers are partying extra hard in delaware. >> no more politics as usual. >> reporter: where outsider christine o'donnell defeated longtime congressman mike castle. castle hadn't faced a hotly contested primary since the first bush administration. >> i would like to thank the republican party for its support. >> reporter: party support wasn't enough. o'donnell who ran for senate and lost twice before this time benefited from an anti-establishment mood. >> it's a terrible time to be part of the status quo. >> reporter: and she had a secret weapon. >> this is governor sarah palin. vote for christine o'donnell for u.s. senate. >> reporter: the republican establishment warned gop

rob and vinita? >>> in other news now, michael jackson's mother has filed a lawsuit against aeg live, the promoter of her son's comeback concerts. katherine jackson claims that the promoter failed to provide equipment to jackson's physician, conrad murray, that could have saved his life. murray, though, is not named in the suit. the mother filed the suit on behalf of the superstar's three children. she is seeking unspecified damages. >>> pope benedict is spending the next four days in britain. it is the only -- it is only, rather, the second time a pope has ever set foot on british soil. >> and the pope will face controversy as he arrives. lama hasan joins us from our london bureau with a preview. good morning, lama. >> good morning to you both. well, yes, there is some controversy, but it's also a significant visit as the british prime minister david cameron said this will be an important and historic trip because not since 1982 has a pope visited the united kingdom. and this will be pope benedict x

vinita, rob? >>> president obama's top economic adviser larry summers plans to resign at the end of the year. summers is the third high-level member of obama's economic team to leave in recent months. there is speculation the president might replace summers with a corporate executive. summers plans to return to his old job at harvard. >>> big names are campaigning now with the crucial midterm elections just six weeks away. popular political stars from both parties are doing what they can to get the votes. here's jonathan karl. >> reporter: the white house calls her the closer. with time running out for congressional democrats they're sending her in. the first lady's political travel schedule reads like a who's who of endangered democrats. she'll stop in wisconsin for russ feingold. illinois for alexi giannoulias, running for the president's old senate seat. colorado for michael bennett. washington state for patty murray. california for barbara boxer. >> i think she will go out and make a forceful

mike, vinita? >> end of the freeze but i think the bottom line question, are we expecting to see much building in the settlements today? >> reporter: well, that's right, i think it's a question of the scale and the scope of the construction from today onwards. the settlers that we spoke to yesterday say they have 2,000 permits that will allow 2,000 homes ready to start today. they are being urged to show some restraint. i expect over the next few days dozens rather than hundreds of construction starts. it remains to be seen whether that is enough to satisfy the palestinians and keep them on board. >> our thanks to simon mcgreg mcgreggor-wood live this morning in jerusalem. thanks, simon. >>> democrats are on the defensive before the midterm elections. one indication how bad things have gotten. a democratic congressman in north dakota is embracing president bush and his campaign ads. tahman bradley reports. >> reporter: president barack obama played basketball on sunday with his two daughters, sasha

. >> reporter: rob and vinita, good morning to you. the u.s. counterterrorism chief says over the past year, we've seen more significant terror developments than any year since 9/11. there are more threats. and they're happening closer to hope home. top intelligence officials say fighting terrorism is getting more complicated because extremists are looking for help from people within u.s. boarders. >> a new and changing facet of the terrorist threat comes from homegrown terrorists. by which, i mean, u.s. persons. >> reporter: there were three attempted attacks in seven months. first, last year's new york subway plot. then, the christmas day square. and the times square bombing attempt in may. in the last year and a half, 63 americans have been arrested or convicted of terroristic charges. >> do you believe this is an aberration? or is this likely to continue? >> caution would dictate that we assume it is not an aberration. >> reporter: the experts cautioned american terrorist plots are harder to detect. >> watching a larger attack, or a more de

rob and vinita? >> important meeting today. thanks, emily. >>> the utah national guard is apologizing for its role in starting a fast-moving wildfire near salt lake city. at least 4,000 acres and counting have burned, as firefighters are battling to get the blaze under control near herriman. diana alvear reports. >> reporter: more than 1,600 homes were evacuated. at least four homes were destroyed. >> we have active operations going on. it's only as good as mother nature will let us be right now. >> reporter: the fire was sparked sunday at a utah national guard shooting range. 50-mile-per-hour winds spread the flames quickly. >> i could hardly run to the car, i was so scared. >> reporter: monday, the utah national guard commander apologized, saying they did not check weather advisories before proceeding with the firing exercise. >> our job as the national guard, our mission, is to support our citizens, not to endanger them. and we failed in that. >> reporter: as firefighters battle the blaze, some of their tools in their arsena

. >> reporter: rob a >> reporter: rob and vinita, say hello to igor. this is it. gusts up to 85 mile an hour. the center of the storm about 40 miles west passing right by bermuda. it's a category 1 hurricane, but we are seeing the back side of it. the dirty side, the northeast quadrant. it's the strongest part of the storm. they're used to strong storms here but this one is nearly a direct hit. >> it's spectacular but it's probably going to be horrifying. >> reporter: we were out earlier but not surprisingly it's nearly a ghost town as folks are batten down in their homes. it's going to be here a long time, what do you think? >> you better get in. >> reporter: they were really worried this was going to be an historic hurricane, one they've never seen before. downgraded to a category 1, the hope now is that the winds don't do the kind of damage they were fearing. we'll find out as soon as the sun comes up. rob and vinita. >> thanks, david. igor is expected to move northeast away from the u.s. today, but the powerful storm is still picking up huge waves and rip curr