making news on this tuesday, july 20th. >> save the date. secretary clinton in attendance, afghanistan announces when it will be ready to police its provinces without u.s. help. so, when can all the troops come home? well worries. a leak in the capped oil well could be a sign of more trouble. but bp has a plan. and a lockup. lindsay lohan becomes the latest star to serve time in just a few hours. good morning. and thanks for being with us. for the first time, afghan leaders are setting a date when they will be ready to take over national security. >> the big announcement came just hours ago meeting of leaders from around the world, including the u.s. secretary of state.

it was a meeting that was nearly interrupted by violence. >> nick schifrin is live in kabul this morning. >> reporter: a busy day. good morning, rob. good morning, vinita. afghan president, hamid karzai, has viewed the that his hope t security forces will be able to take control of security in the country in five years. but he never used the date 2014. that is now the date that he hopes that his police, his army, can take control of all 34 provinces across the country. that is a very ambitious goal. afghans here widely think of the police as corrupt. and the army here is not ready or large enough to really take control of security. but nonetheless, the u.s. is definitely hoping that the afghans can hit that date. u.s. troops, obviously, would begin to be coming home and take a more training role when that day hits. >> nick, there has been discussion about who is to blame

for the fragile security situation in that country. >> reporter: yeah. the afghan government has long wanted the u.s. and international community to admit that some of its decisions here, some of its -- the way that it's spent some of its money, has not been very effective, in terms of reducing the violence here. and hillary clinton has something interesting about that to say. let's take a listen. >> the afghan government is stepping forward to deal with a multitude of difficult challenges. and i have to say, some of their challenges have been made more difficult by the international community's intervention. >> reporter: and what she's referring to is the fact that a lot of american money has gone to president projects. and the international community money has gone to pet projects that hasn't helped the afghan people. the u.s. and international community is now admitting that. and that is a large step forward from the point of view from the afghan government, that both the

afghan government and the u.s. admit some mistakes. the afghan can work on corruption. and the u.s. can funnel more of its money to strengthen the afghan government, which it says is more capable of helping the afghan people. >> nick schifrin in kabul for us this morning. thank you. for the millions of americans who have been out of work for an extended period are expected to get help today from capitol hill. congress is set to extend those benefits. but there's disagreement over who is going to foot the bill. emily schmidt joins us from washington with all the details. good morning, emily. >> reporter: good morning. there are 14.5 million americans who don't have a job right now. today, the senate is set to go to work to try to figure out what to do about extending unemployment benefits. this effort has failed three times in the past. today, though, democrats believe things will be different. marilyn green is a missouri lawyer, who lost her job and now fears losing her unemployment benefits. the $320 she's received each week for more than a year. >> i'm an attorney who can't

even get a job in a retail store. >> reporter: when her payments end, she will join 2.5 million americans who have lost their unemployment checks. unless congress extends the payments. >> it's time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to washington politics. >> reporter: president obama blames republicans for blocking extensions three times. te, hasn the senate, has used parliamentary maneuvers to block a vote. denying millions of people out of work much-needed relief. >> reporter: republicans say they have a $34 billion plan funded by cuts to other programs. >> how is it paid for? >> with stimulus money. >> i object. >> reporter: this afternoon, the president is likely to get his wish, when a new democratic senator from west virginia wiln be sworn in. that gives democrats 60 votes to pass the bill. and gives marilyn greenpeace of mind as she continues to look for work.

>> please, please, congress and the president do something. i don't want to be in a situation where i can't pay my bills or pay my rent and wondering where i'm going to live. >> reporter: under this bill, people who h benefi benefits over the past few months that congress has been fighting about this, would be able to get their help retroactively. however, there's no assistance for those who have maxed out the unemployment help they can get. maxed out the 99 weeks. >> affects a lot of people right now. emily schmidt, thank you. engineers in the gulf of mexico are keeping an extra close eye on bp's rupp dhured oil well this morning. the containment cap is leaking some oil and gas. and now looking for signs that the well is holding or ready to spring a new leak. john hendren is in buras, louisiana, with the latest on well watch. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and rob. it was supposed to be a two-day test. we're in day five. and bp is considering a new way to clog that well. these bubbles near the cap is

posing a mystery for the cleanup. >> this point, would be methane gas, which could be a precursor. >> reporter: to solve that mystery, bp engineer, used sonar, seismic tests, deep-sea cameras, underwater robots. now, the company is analyzing the captured bubbles. bp and the government appear to be at odds whether to leave that well capped, as bp wants to do, or allow the oil to be siphoned out to ships in the gulf.ing up containment system would leave oil spewing freely into the gulf for three days. >> we find ourselves at a point which we would hope would be the end of this opera. but instead, we have this nagging doubt that something very serious might be wrong. >> reporter: bp has another idea. >> in terms of the, c kill, c this is very much in its infancy. this is not something that we have approved to do. >> reporter: the latest plan to clog that well, until a relief

well can end it for good. engineers have already tried and failed to do what they call a top kill. that is filling the well from top with mud. the static kill that bp is considering would involve filling it from the bottom. with the well capped, bp thinks conditions might be just right. rob and vinita? >> john, thanks. actress lindsay lohan is set to begin a 90-day sentence today, for violating her dui probation. she will serve her time in a women's detention facility near downtown los angeles. most likely in isolation for her own safety. because of overcrowding, lohan is expected to be out in three weeks. after that, lohan has been ordered to spend 90 days in rehab. and now, for this morning's weather from around the country. stormy from nebraska, all the way to the northeast. gusty winds, hail and flash flooding in omaha, st. louis, indianapolis, and d.c. thunderstorms from houston to miami. and showers along the canadian border, in north dakota, minnesota and michigan.

>> 80s in detroit, chicago and the twin cities. 90s from dallas and miami and much of the east coast. upper 70s in seattle and billings. another scorcher in the southwest with 112 in phoenix and 99 in albuquerque. and when we come back, you think it's too soon to already . well, some stores are already trying to get you in the door. and sandra bullock's latest legal battle. it has nothing to do with the divorce. 000000000000000000 sir? finding everything okay? i work for a differen. my auto policy's just getting a little too expensive. with progressive, you get the "name your price" option, so we build a policy to fit your budget. wow! the price gun. ♪ ah! wish we had this. we'd just tell people what to pay. yeah, we're the only ones that do. i love your insurance! bill? tom? hey! it's office party! the freedom to name your price. only from progressive. call or click today.

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overseas stocks are mostly higher this morning. tokyo's nikkei average fell more than 1% today. but hong kong's hang seng is higher. in london, the ftse opened higher. and on wall street, the dow rose 56 points yesterday. meanwhile, the nasdaq added 19 points. fresh evidence this morning of how big china's economy has become. china has passed the united states to become the world's biggest energy consumer. its surging growth has transformed energy markets, driving up prices of oil and coal in recent years. the u.s. had been the biggest energy user since the early 1990s. and just a decade ago, china's total use was half that of the u.s. target is among stores rolling out special deals, trying to get customers to shop early for this year's holiday. it's holding a one-day online sale on friday, that's modeled

after black friday sales. sears and toys "r" us are offering christmas in july sales. amazon says it is now selling more e-books or its kindle than hard cover books. that pace has picked up in the last month. well, the next time you have a free weekend, you can try for a guinness world record. that's what these dutch gamers did, setting a new standard for nonstop gaming. they played red redemption for almost ten hours. they were allowed a ten-minute break for every hour played. but there were strict rules about energy drinks. coffee alone. >> just the coffee. the thumbs and fingers. >> and the rear-ends, right? next on this tuesday morning, flooding in parts of the midwest. plus, the war of words between sarah palin and the

mayor of the big apple. and is glenn beck going mayor of the big apple. and is glenn beck going blind? 00000000000 0

parts of eastern wisconsin are drying out after getting swamped by torrential rain and flash flooding. streets were inundated by rising water. and many household muches were unable to keep up. flash flooding would hamper drivers from nebraska all the way to new york. water-logged on i-70, from pittsburgh to st. louis. flooding on i-35, from kansas city to des moines. >> and if you're flying today, expect some airport delays in

kansas city, chicago, philadelphia, new york, d.c. and battle an unlikely battle over religion is being fought in north carolina. atheists are using the words in the pledge of allegiance to draw attention to their case. >> and now, evangelicals are firing back. dan harris has that story from ashville. >> reporter: here in north carolina, deep in the bible belt, a group of atheists decided to remind people of the history of the pledge of allegiance, by putting up six billboards all over the state. including one on the billy graham parkway. that says one nation indivisible, purposely leaving out the words, "under god," atheists point out those words were not in the original pledge, which was written in 1892, by francis bellamy, as part of a campaign to promote patriotic observances in schools. >> one nation, indivisible. >> reporter: the pastor didn't

use the words "under god." congress added the phrase in 1954. you think having the phrase under god is discriminatory? >> i think it is for me. i don't believe in a god. i don't believe our country was founded on christianity or any religion. >> reporter: jennifer lovejoy is a mother of two and wife of a disabled policeman. >> i'm not taking away anyone else's belief in a god. many of our fore fathers feared god. but i think they feared political correctness more. >> it's silliness. >> reporter: evangelicals are fighting back. over the last weekend, pastor ralph sexton and his followers put up new billboards that say, one nation under god. >> we are a people of faith. we have a nation built on christian principles. >> reporter: the atheists, thrilled with all the attention, are considering more billboards, to continue to add fuel to the raging debate over the role of god in america's past and present. dan harris, abc news, asheville,

north carolina. hundreds of people already weighed in on the hot-button issue. you can post your comment at abcnews.com. new york mayor, michael bloomberg, says he couldn't disagree more with sarah palin, when it comes to a planned mosque near ground zero. bloomberg says building the mosque sends a great message about the right of people to practice their religious. palin came out against the mosque. saying peace-seeking muslims, please understand. ground zero mosque is unnecessary provocation. actress sandra bullock has been granted a temporary restraining order against the man stalking her since 2003. thomas james weldon turned up in an emergency room last month, saying he was driving all night, trying to find bullock at her home in jackson hole. weldon has been the subject of previous court orders to stay

away from the actress. and talk show host glenn beck is telling his fans he might be going blind. he told a salt lake city audience, ha he's been diagnosed with macular dystrophy. it's time, now, for sports. here's adnan virk at espn news. >> good morning. i'm adnan virk. so far this season, ubaldo jimenez has been the best pitcher in baseball. against the marlins monday night, he dead not have his a-game. bottom of the sixth. and mike stanton gets six over. jimenez went 5 1/3. six runs, four of those earned. top of the eighth, jonathan herrera. his first homer of the season. 8-7, rockies. marlins down 8-7. and donnie murphy to the rescue. a walkoff. his first homer of the season. marlins win a wild one, 9-8.

elsewhere, miguel cabrera and the tigers taking on the rangers in motown. cabrera, biggie, biggie, fourth of the season. scary moment in the bottom of the sixth. austin jackson, line drive, right back at dustin nippert. a ct scan, taken to the hospital, was negative. bottom of the 11th. the 6-4-3 double-play, ends the inning. top of the 14th. tied at 6-6. nelson cruz, takes enrique gonzalez pitch gone. cruz, his 12th homer of the season. and lastly, alpert pujols and the cardinals, hosting the third-place phillies. cards down 4-3. see this one coming. supposedly a down year for pujols. his 22nd homer of the year. the cardinals double up the

phils, 8-4, the final. that's your sports update. back to you in new york. >> our thanks to adnan virk. up next, the stories we'll be following today, including

now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this tuesday. secretary of state clinton is in afghanistan for an international conference on the country's future. afghan president karzai says his government will be able to take over security by 2014. president obama and british prime minister david cameron meet at the white house. the recent troubles, of course, are expected to be very high on

the agenda. cameron will also meet with u.s. senators about bp's involvement in the release of the lockerbie bomber. former illinois governor rod blagojevich could testify as early as today in his corruption trial. he is accused of trying to trade or sell president obama's former senate seat. the senate is expected to pass an extension of unemployment benefits for those who have been out of work for a long time. republicans who tried to block with questions over where the money would come from. after a week-long delay, the senate judiciary committee is expected to vote in favor of supreme court nominee elena kagan. democrats hold an advantage on the committee. and they are hoping to confirm her before their august recess. and lindsay lohan is set to start a sentence for 90 days probation. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues right after this. son: man, this is perfect.

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coming up next, a popular singer pepper-sprayed. the disguise that lured him in a fatalities sense of security. contract dispute that could have thousands of riders waiting for buses in the east bay today. lisa argen has our forecast. >> cooling across the east bay today. i'll have the forecast. >> and frances dinglasan is going finally from us this morning, the first family gives their regards to broadway, saluting some of the best acts around. >> the obamas got a front-row seat to an evening of show tunes

without ever leaving the white house. >> reporter: for one night, the stars of show tunes lit up the white house. >> let's put on a show. ♪ say nat king cole >> reporter: the play bill, among broadway's best and brightest. nathan lane. ♪ sing it good and loud >> reporter: elaine stritch. ♪ all my dreams will be repaid i even play the maid ♪ >> reporter: and idina enzle from "wicked" and "glee." the first family celebrated broadway's musical in the fifth edition of the white house musical series. >> over the years, musicals have also been at the forefront of our social consciousness.

challenging stereotypes, shaping our opinions about death, disease, power and politics. but the most american part of this truly american artform is its optimism. >> reporter: taking in the theater has become a popular date night for president obama and the first lady. president obama says he often gets the sho lyric lyrics stuck in his head. >> not that i'm trying to boost the economy or anything. but go to a show. buy some tickets. >> he even enjoys going to the theater. now, after lincoln, presidents haven't exactly raced to the theater. ♪ give me that thing called love ♪ >> reporter: sunlen miller, at the white house. >> between them and paul mccartney, it's been a great season at the white house. >> it's good to see them take a break from the politics. have fun for a night. broadway's a nice way. yeah. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> get more from abc news, later on "good morning america"