making news on this wednesday, august 18th. >> deadlocked. jurors talked about reaching verdicts in the most serious charges against rod blagojevich. prosecutors say they will try again. food fight. a legal battle brewing for kfc. did the company try to make its food too healthy. and signing off. radio main stay dr. laura says she is done with radio. did recent racially-charged comments ruin her career? >> good morning, everybody. thanks for being with us. rod blagojevich is savoring a partial victory this morning. the flamboyant former governor has been convicted of only a single count in his corruption trial.

>> but the celebration could be short-lived. prosecutors say they are preparing for a quick retrial on the other counts. john hendren is joining us this mornhe e on the verdict. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, vinita. a six-week trial, two weeks of jury deliberations and one conviction to show for it. but the prosecution of the former illinois governor is not over. it was a colossal setback for prosecutors. one that left former governor rod blagojevich largely in the clear and wholly defiant. >> perhaps, maybe, the biggest less learned learned is that i talk too much. >> reporter: on 23 counts, no conviction. including the most serious charge of trying to sell president obama's former senate seat. >> the kind that would make lincoln roll over in his grave. >> reporter: there was a lone sis denter on the fourth charge. >> every count except for one, they could not prove that i did anything wrong. that i didn't break any laws. >> reporter: that, despite more than 100 wiretaps, like this

one. >> i mean, i've got this thing. and it's [ bleep ] golden. and i'm just not giving it up for [ bleep ] nothing. >> reporter: 11 jurors wanted to convict blagojevich of three skounts of extortion and bribery. but there was a lone holdout. >> we listened to a phone call. and people would say, that supports his guilt. and she could say, that supports this. >> reporter: jury foreman was ready to convict. the judge declared a mistrial on the 23 outstanding charges. >> this is a persecution. >> reporter: defiant to the end, blagojevich vowed to appeal his lone conviction. now, for round two. a hearing is set for next week on the retrial of the governor who is this morning a convicted felon. >> any sense as to why the jury did not convict? >> reporter: the jury talked about that a little bit. and one of their main concerns is what blagojevich did in their view, in some of their view anyway, was just talk.

although he had multiple schemes, apparently to benefit from legislation and the president's former senate seat, he was apparently singularly unsuccessful in getting anything out of them. but the jury didn't do him all favors. that one, lone conviction could give him up to five years in prison. vinita and rob? >> john hendren in washington this morning. thank you. a south carolina mother is to be formally charged today on charges she killed her two, little boys. at first, shaquan duley claimed her sons drowned. later, she confessed to suffocating the children, putting them in the care and driving it into the river. they say duley was having financial troubles. and that she snapped after an argument with her mother. a baby and parents are reunited after an incident aboard a southwest airlines plane. a flight attendant took the baby, after the mother slapped the crying child. paramedics checked the child when the plane landed in albuquerque. the parents were not charged.

a scare around the air in seattle. during president obama's visit, a small plane flew into restricted air space, before it could be intercepted by two f-18s that were scrambled to the scene, that landed on lake washington. the pilot was questioned and then released. the president continued on to ohio where he will speak and campaign this morning. mr. obama will raise money for democrats in miami today, before returning to the white house. vice president joe biden and sarah palin will be among the many politicians paying a final farewell to ted stevens today. they, along with fellow friends and alaskans, are attending a service for the late republican senator, who died last week in a plane crash. formal events to remember stevens have been held since monday. the obama administration says the handover in iraq won't be affected by bombings that killed 70 people. a suicide blast at an army recruitment center in baghdad and a truck bombing made yesterday the deadliest day since may. all troops are scheduled to be

out of iraq by the end of this month. but the escalating violence means ir the u.s. to keep more troops in place for longer. there are new concerns about the size of the oil spill in the gulf. two, new studies warn that the spill is a bigger mess than the government claims. researchers claim that the oil is deep below the surface. here, now, is matt gutman. >> reporter: the first study from the university of georgia indicates that almost 80% of the oil spilled from that bp well is still out there. some of that oil has been broken down into tiny particles. those tiny particles remain toxic. and they could pose a threat to marine life. and the second study from the university of south florida, found that dispersant, 2 million gallons of it used to combat the oil, has driven it downward. they say there's a canyon 40 miles from the florida panhandle that has oil on the sea floor. the white house contacted abc news and says its data over the past couple of weeks has been misunderstood and misrepresented. they never said that the oil

disappeared entirely. only that it had been dispersed. that was not clear to the scientists from both of those surveys. matt gutman, abc news, buras, louisiana. and now, for many morning's weather around the nation. up to five inches of rain and flooding around the gulf coast. showers into washington, d.c. 80-mile-per-hour winds and isolated tornados from fargo to green bay. thunderstorms in the four corners region of the southwest. >> 104 in phoenix. 101 in colorado springs. and 93 in albuquerque. dallas hits triple-digits for the 20th-straight day. mostly 80s across the midwest and northeast. and later climbs to 92. and new orleans, 91. coming up, a new car recall, affecting hundreds of thousands of owners. and a week after her latest controversial comments, radio's dr. laura makes a major announcement. plus, frequent flyers listen up. that all-you can fly deal is back. ♪ [ female announcer ] this is not a prescription.

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overseas stock markets are mixed this morning. tokyo's nikkei average rose almost 1% today. hong kong's hang seng is lower. in london, the ftse opened lower. and on wall street, the dow climbed 103 points yesterday. the nasdaq gained 27 points. the obama administration says the government will continue to play an important role in the mortgage market. at a convention on tuesday, treasury secretary tim geithner said government support is important to make sure that americans can borrow at reasonable interest rates to buy

a house, even in a downturn. but many argue, though, that the government needs to play a more limited role and phase out mortgage finance giants, fannie mae and freddie mac. retailers have slashed prices to get customers to spend. but many stores are finding that deep discounts are just not working. even walmart says steep price cuts have not been enough to bring people into stores. and stores, including home depot and abercrombie & fitch are lowers expectations for the year. that could be good news for customers that could see bigger savings. mazda has announced a big recall. the automaker is recalling 300,000 late model mazda 3 and mazda 5 sedans, because of defejtive power steering that could make it difficult to steer. the cars were made from april 2007 to november 2008. the automaker has not received reports of crashes because of the problem. a fight has broken out to put the fry in kfc. some franchise owners are angry with the chain's recent focus on promoting its grilled chicken.

they thionsible for a dip in sales in the past year. now, they're suing kfc's parent company to regain control of its advertising strategy. kfc's president says the company is just responding to what customers want. well, if you have an extra $700 and nothing to do next month, jetblue has a deal for you. the airline is bringing back the all-you-can-jet pass, which allows passengers to take an unlimited number of flights for one month. the pass is good beginning september 7th and can be purchased through friday. one other note. there's another pass. this one is cheaper. 500 bucks on that one. but you can't use it on fridays and sundays. >> that's not a bad bargain at all. coming up next on this wednesday morning, the american caught hunting osama bin laden says he's ready to try again. plus, medical news. the sweet way to a healthier heart. and on top of that, a swarm in north carolina.

a bizarre hostage situation was all the buzz in north carolina. a sheriff's deputy was trapped in his squad car by thousands of bees. he had to sit for hours before the swarm was removed. the bees had escaped when a beekeeper's truck broke down. turns out, they were just looking for a home. now, for a look at the morning road conditions. flooding on i-10, from new orleans to tallahassee. and on i-40, from memphis to raleigh. wet on the southern half of i-95. flooding on i-35 and 94 in the dakotas and minnesota. also, heavy rain on i-40 in the four corners region.

>> if you are flying, expect airport delays in phoenix, minneapolis, washington, char lat and new orleans. one of the most public voices on the radio will soon go silent. dr. laura says her days on the radio are numbered. >> brad wheelis has details. >> reporter: i want to be able. >> reporter: dr. laura schlessinger said tuesday night on "larry king live," that she would end her radio show. >> my contract is up for my radio show at the end of the year. and i've made the decision not to do radio anymore. >> reporter: the decision comes on the heels of an incident last week when schlessinger dropped the "n" world several times on her show. a black woman in an interracial marriage had called for advice about what she thought was bigoted white relatives. >> black guys use it all the time. i don't get it. if anybody without enough melanin says it's a horrible

thing. but when black people say it, it's affectionate. >> reporter: the question became whether dr. laura's diatribe was racist or just historically unaware. >> i think this is offensive. it's despicable. >> reporter: so, dr. laura apologized, like the last time she made headlines for calling gay men and lesbians, quote, a biological error. dr. laura emphasized that she is not going away. but rather, just ending her radio show. >> i'm not retiring. i'm not quitting. i feel energized, stronger and freer to say the things i believe need to be said. >> reporter: schlessinger, however, is insisting that the decision to leave radio was her choice and not forced upon her. brad wheelis, abc news. >> dr. laura is the top-rated female talk show host. and number five overall. she's been in radio since 1979. and has written nearly 20 books. president obama is still taking heat for his comments over the mosque at ground zero. one top democrat is refusing to join the fray. house speaker nancy pelosi was

grilled yesterday about taking a position on the mosque. she declined to weigh in, saying it is up to new yorkers to decide. the colorado man detained in pakistan while trying to track down osama bin laden says he wants to finish what he started. gary faulkner says he plans to make another trip in search of the terror leader. but the unemployed construction worker says he needs some time to raise some crash. he was detained in june after being found with weapons and night-vision equipment. a new medical study is stirring up new questions after the death of hall of famer lou gehrig. did the disease that bears his name kill him? or was it concussions he suffered playing baseball? researchers say games that repeatedly expose players to head and brain trauma, create the same symptoms seen in a.l.s. or lou gehrig's disease. the players that were initially diagnosed with a.l.s., were skauzed by repet sieve head drama. now, to the health benefits of dark chocolate. a new study confirms that eating

a little of the chocolate regularly can protect women against heart disease. here's dr. tim johnson with details. >> reporter: dark chocolate might win over a woman's heart . a new study found that middle and older age swedish women who regularly ate a small amount of anti-oxidant-rich chocolate, had lower heart failure. women who ate an average of one to two serves of dark chocolate per week, have a 32% lower risk of heart failure. and those that had one to three servings per month, had a 26% lower risk. but the women who ate chak lat daily, did not get any additional benefits. probably from the calories of chocolate. the results followed several other studies that showed ingredients in dark chocolate help to relax artery walls. researchers warn people not to go overboard in their chocolate intake, especially americans.

european chocolate tends to have higher coco levels than chocolate in the u.s. and it is the anti-oxidants in cocoa, that contain the heart-healthy benefits. i'm dr. timothy johnson. this morning, our sports is all about great pitching, heavy hitting and late drama. highlights now from will selva at espn news. >> thanks. things awfully tight atop the a.l. east. yankees and rays were tied atop first place. deadlocked. justin verlander and the tigers taking on the yankees. nick swisher getting through. two runs are in. yankees up, 2-1. c.c. sabathia was brilliant. top four, runners on the corners. tigers down 3-1. sabathia. gives brandon inge swinging to get out of a jam. seven innings pitched, five hits, two earned runs and nine strikeouts. top seven, yankees up 4-2. robinson cano.

that's no not coming back. 22 for him. and the yankees win 6-2. the rays need a win to keep pace with the yanks. matt garza on the mound. 0-2, in pitching no-mo. curve to molina. powerless. hamilton goes down swinging. garza, seven innings pitched, five, zero earned runs and ten strikeouts. bottom tour. two on for evan longoria. sees that bad boy. could not make the grab. and longoria, three for four on the day, as the rangers end up getting crushed, 10-1. jim thome, sporting a brett favre shirt as he and the twins take on the white sox. twins down 6-5. tomey, deep, gone. take your pick. a two-run blast. not a cheapy, either. walkoff home run. and the twins win in thrilling fashion. and that will do it for this

espn news update. remember, you can always see espn news on hd. now, back to "america this morning." now, one more story in the sports world will be talking about today. >> could a star quarterbrbrbrbrh

and now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this wednesday morning. federal prosecutors in chicago begin preparing for a retrial of rod blagojevich. the former illinois governor was found guilty of just one count of lying to a federal agent. family friends and fellow alaskans will attend a funeral of former senator ted stevens

today. vice president biden will speak. stevens died last week in a plane crash. he was 86 years old. senator john kerry visits pakistan today for a firsthand look alt flood relief efforts there. he's likely, though, to see very little improvement, as flooding in that country continues. thousands of villages are still under water. president obama visits ohio, where he will speak about the economy before campaigning for ohio's democratic governor. after ohio, it is on to florida, where mr. obama will raise money for democrats. and brett favre could announce that he will play a 20th nfl season today. favre was seen at the training camp of the minnesota vikings yesterday. he's already under contract with the team, which, of course, he led to the nfc title game last season. coming up later on "good morning america," our dr. richard besser undergoes the one test millions of americans avoid. a colonoscopy. and takes us through the 15-minute procedure that could mean the difference between life

and death. for some of you, your local news is coming up next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues after this. ♪ your favorites, in pieces.

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finally from us this morning, the best of blagojevich. illinois' infamous former governor is headed for a retrial after a jury deadlocked on all

but one charge against him. >> yesterday, his bravado was back, reminding us of his headlinemaking behavior in the year and a half leading up to a trial. >> are you a dirty politician? >> no. i'm a very honest politician. i see myself, and you can laugh and call this delusional. but when all the facts come out, you'll see i'm right. i view myself as jimmy stewart and gary cooper. i know that will be met with mockery. but that's how i see it. they are lying. i didn't do a thing wrong. god bless you. god bless you. >> take care. take care of him. >> i'm in good hands. keep on eye on this story. the whole thing and how it all happened. innocent of all charges. >> that made-for-tv attitude and hair, made him a favorite of the light-night comedies. >> this morning, we give the final word to jimmy kimmel.

>> speaking of helmet hair, former illinois governor, rod blagojevich is a relatively happy man today. a jury in chicago convicted him on 1 of the 24 counts against him. transporting illegally silky hair across state lines. the district attorney says they will try him again. blagojevich says he will appeal the charge that they got him on. it was the same crime as martha stewart. he'll probably do somewhere between lindsay lohan and li'l wayne. so -- can you imagine rod blagojevich in a prison jump suit? he would look like a traffic cone with a koosh ball on top of it. >> of course, now, the world is wondering how this will impact the elections come november. >> uh-huh. >> ha lot of republicans looking at that. saying it could be a sign of things to come. >> with a retrial in the works now. we'll see where it goes. it will be interesting for sure. >> and he's given us a lot of laughs from the late-night comingics, to say the least. that's maets making news on