making news on this thursday, august 26th. the question about religion leads to a vicious attack on a new york city cab driver. and results in hate crime charges. the long count in alaska. it could be weeks before we know who won the republican senate primary there. and a major mistake. it's costing new jersey hundreds of millions of dollars for schools. good morning. and thanks for being with us. a college student who once promoted interfaith dialogue is under arrest this morning for a brutal attack here in new york city. the incident took place during a cab ride on manhattan's east side. >> police say the cab driver was stabbed repeatedly, after confirming that he's a muslim.

aaron katersky has more on the attack and the young suspect. >> reporter: new york cabby ahmad sharif described house he was attacked. >> he had a knife. when i see the knife, it came right here. >> reporter: the father of four picked up a fare on tuesday evening. on the drive, michael enright asked, are you muslim? when sharif answered yes, enright pulled out a leatherman life and slashed him on the face, neck and arm. >> he began to stab the driver, sort of through the partition. >> he started yelling at, like, this is a checkpoint. this is checkpoint [ bleep ]. i have to push you down. >> reporter: sharif pointed to the controversy of a muslim community center planned at ground zero. and in 25 years in new york, he has never felt so secure. >> no doubt in your mind, he

wanted to kill you? >> i moved like this, he tried to get my throat. and i'm trying to hold his hand. >> reporter: police say enright was drunk. but he was still charged with attempted murder as a hate crime. his attorney now wants him in protective custody. >> there's a healthy population of people of islamic faith in jail. and they may prejudge the situation. something may happen to him. i want to prevent that. enright the group that wants construction near the ground zero. in may, he had been working on a film promoting peace across different religions. police believe this attack to be an isolated incident. but that in no way lessens concerns that people have about the consequences of intense rhetoric surrounding the mosque being build around ground zero. a man wanted in buffalo, new york, has turned himself in to a local tv station. he is expected to make a court

appearance today. the shooting took place outside a restaurant two weeks ago. one victim was a texas man, celebrating his wedding anniversary. and a homeless man has been arrested for starting a fire, which destroyed 11 homes in ashland, oregon. police say the man lived in a makeshift camp near a freeway overpass. he faces counts of reckless endangerment and reckless burning. results in the republican senate primary in alaska will not be final for weeks. right now, incumbent lisa murkowski is trailing her challenger by less than 2,000 votes. >> if she loses, murkowski would be the seventh incumbent to lose her seat this year. john hendren has more on the political trend. >> reporter: good morning. a new breed of candidate is running against the wish establishment and winning. the latest to go from obscurity to national prominence appears on the verge of winning a major upset in alaska. it's looking more and more like the year of the political outsider has dawned.

>> it ain't over until it's over. >> reporter: perhaps. but in what supporters call the miracle on ice, incumbent senator lisa murkowski is lagging behind little-known tea party candidate joe miller, whose main claim to fame is endorsement fromin. in. >> he has the backbone to combat the radical obama agenda. >> reporter: anti-incumbent ledo fever led to the ouster of two powerful incumbents. arlen specter of pennsylvania -- >> it's been a great privilege to serve the people of pennsylvania. >> reporter: and bob bennett, in utah. >> the political atmosphere, obviously, has been toxic. >> reporter: and those are just the primaries. among the long-time incumbents on the endangered list, california senator bharara boxer. >> my opponent wants to go back to the policies that put this

economy in debt. >> reporter: polls show boxer in a dead heat with carly fiorina. back in alaska, murkowski outraised her rival, ten to one. >> lisa murkowski, a proven record of defending alaska. >> reporter: many voters, furious with washington, didn't want to hear it. with miller ahead by 1,500 votes, murkowski is hoping that absentee ballots will put her ahead. it could take weeks to get the tinu waiting continues. john hendren in washington, thank you. one more political note to pass on to you this morning. a high-ranking republican now says he's gay. former republican national committee chairman, ken mehlman, managed george bush's 2004 presidential campaign. mehlman says he's coming out because he wants to be an advocate for gay marriage. new jersey governor chris christy says he has

responsibility for a clerical error that may have been in grant money. but as linsey davis reports, he is also taking aim at the obama administration. >> this is our race to the top application. >> reporter: the larger than life governor of new jersey, chris christie, is on a tear. >> does anybody in washington, d.c. have a lick of common sense? >> reporter: what if you were responsible for making a mistake that cost all the students in your state to lose out on $400 million? that's what happened to a mid-level new jersey state official. they made a simple but costly mistake on an application for federal money. >> are you guys just down there checking boxes like mindless drones? >> reporter: yesterday, the department of education announced the ten states that will split $4.5 billion. they're all winners of round two in the race to the top school reform grant competition. new jersey finished 11th. it could have happened to anyone. the governor of new jersey is

quick to point out, they only made a mistake on one of the pages. 1 out of 1,000 pages. on page 260, they were asked to compare education spending in 2008 and 2009. but new jersey's application provided information about funding levels for 2010 and '11. >> if you can't fill out your application correctly, there is some indication that maybe you don't have the apparatus in place, or the competence, to execute the money that you could win. >> reporter: the department of education says a re-do is not an option. they say the requirements were clear. "this was not an open-ended process. at some point, we had to say, time's up. pencils down." as for the person who is behind the state failing to make the grade? >> they don't deserve to be called out in that way. >> reporter: the governor isn't naming names. linsey davis, abc news, new york. southern california's metro link commuter rail system says it will pay $200 million to victims of a 2008 train crash that killed 25 people.

investigators believe the engineer was texting when his passenger train ran a red light. and then collided head-on with a freight train. under federal law, $200 million is the maximum liability for a train accident. hurricane danielle is gaining strength in the atlantic this morning. danielle is now a category 2 storm, with winds topping 100 miles per hour. >> forecasters expect it to grow to a cat 3 hurricane by the time it passes over bermuda. now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. drying out in the northeast, with lingering scattered showers around northern new england and washington, d.c. thunderstorms in the carolinas, and georgia and florida. >> it will be 87 in albuquerque. and triple-digits in phoenix and boise. 80 in the twin cities. 75 in chicago. and 80s from boston to baltim wh when we come back thhis thursday morning, a new report about jobs is out. it is bound to move the markets. in a is in your business news straight ahead.

and those miners in chile. they've finally been told just how long they may be trapped under ground. we have a report from the mine under ground. we have a report from the mine site wck.e right back. activia has delicious news for dessert lovers. often, the best part of a meal is the dessert. but sometimes fter a busy day and a heavy greasy dinner... my system needs some tlc. now there is something new. introducing activi dessert. rich, silky, with desserty flavors like strawberry cheeseake, blueberry cheesecake, and peach cobbler. and because it's activia, it helps regulate my digestive system. mmm. works for me. ♪ activia 7 new activia dessert. to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between, there's new motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. new motrin pm. when allergies make them itch, don't wait for your pills to kick in. choose alaway,

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as your doctor about symbicort today. i got my first prescription free. call or go online to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you cannot afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. and welcome back, everybody. time, now, for a check of market activities, starting overseas. tokyo's nikkei average gained 61 points today. hong kong's hang seng was up slightly in late trading. in london, the ftse opened higher. and wall street starts the day with the dow jones industrial average at 10,060, after gaining 19 points yesterday.

the nasdaq index was up 17 points to close at 2141. the labor department releases its weekly jobless claims report later this morning. and investors are jittery. that is especially after last week's report showed the number of americans filing for first-time jobless claims jumping to a nine-month high. economists are predicting that the number will be down this time, but not enough to show that the job market is getting stronger. the jobless report follows another negative report about the housing market. it said sales of new homes plummeted 12.4% in july. last month was the slowest for home sales in 47 years. and the last three months were the worst on record. a separate report earlier this week showed sales of previously-owned homes were also down sharply. the agriculture department said that food prices are likely to remain stable, at least for now. the fda is predicting that food will go up between 0.5% and 1% this year.

that would be the lowest increase since 1992. more americans will travel over labor day weekend this year than last. aaa estimates that 10% more people will take a holiday weekend getaway. last year 34.5 million americans. most will travel by car or plane. but concerns about the economy will keep them a little closer to home. >> a lot of folks visiting family. when we come back, stunning numbers about driving drunk. and a couple 06 come-from-behind outbursts nearly makes some baseball historororororororororororororor

and now, for a look at

morning road conditions. wet on i-95 in the carolinas, georgia and florida. flooding on i-75 st. petersburg to tampa bay and sarasota. a slick ride on the northern end of 95 around bangor, maine. and wet on i-95 from colorado springs to albuquerque. >> if you're flying today, expect a couple of weather-related airport delays in boston and miami. chileans say they will begin dispensing antidepressants to 33 miners underground. that's because they just have been told how long the rescue operation will take. jeffrey kofman is in chile. >> reporter: now, they know, the 33 miners have been told that rescue may not happen quickly. they may have to wait 90 days for more to be brought to the surface. that was confirmed to abc news by chile's minister of health. there's been a group of leaders under ground. psychologists tell us that is a

good sign in what has become a massive unintended psychological experiment. rescue efforts are moving ahead. the giant drill that's meant to bore a hole into the ground is now in place. nay are preparing to begin. work is expected to begin saturday. it's simply not known how long it will take to reach the men because the ground here is so fragile. jeffrey kofman, abc news, chile. the withdrawal of u.s. combat troops has triggered a new wave of deadly rebel attacks across iraq. at least 56 people were killed in more than 2 dozen coordinated bombings, targeting iraqi soldiers and policemen. iraqi officials believe insurgents will be stepping up attacks to test the strength of the security forces. the pentagon says a foreign spy agency has pulled off the most serious breech of defensive computer departmentments ever. investigators believe hackers

inserted a flash drive into a military laptop. a malicious code on the flash drive spread through classified and unclassified pentagon systems. as part of its labor day crackdown on drunk driving, the government has released some shocking figures. more than 17 million americans admit they've driven drunk at least once in the past year. another 8% say they got a ride from a driver they thought was drunk. the government is now launching a $13 million campaign to publicize increased enforcement for the long holiday weekend. well, actress lindsay lohan has been released from rehab. now, she is facing three months of intensive outpatient therapy. >> a los angeles judge ordered lohan to continue addiction counseling and psycho therapy. she must also submit to random drug testing. if lohan fails or misses a drug test, she will get 30 days in jail. now, your sports headlines. here's steve bunin at espn news. >> good morning. never before in major league

history had two teams come back from nine-run deficits on the same day to win a game. we nearly had that last night in the bigs. take a look at what happened. we start you out in san francisco. joey votto and the cincinnati reds open up a 10-1 lead on san francisco. votto with his second homer of the game. 31st of the season. bottom of the eighth. look at that score. it's 10-8. now, 10-10. andres torres with the two-run double. a sac fly made it 11-10, in the same frame. top nine, paulianich. that's the score. who started the highlight? joey votto. might just be the national league mvp. here's why. the reds blow the lead but end up winning the game, 12-11. the atlanta braves weren't so lucky against the xcolorado

rockies, who showed plenty of heart last night. omar infante. this time, a two-run blast. braves up 10-1. back come the rockies. carlos gonzales with a based loaded rope. that will score a two. this game is tied at 10-10. next up, troy tulowitzki. he scored between third and short. colorado up 11-10. 12-10, in the top of the ninth. gonzales had the big bases loaded two-run hit. and he has the sliding catch to finish the game. rockies complete the big-time comeback. 12-10, the final score. i'm steve bunin with this espn news update. now, back to you in beautiful new york city. >> that guy likes new york. not only do they paint the town red. they splattered everything and anyone in sight. >> look at this. tens of thousands of people have jammed into a small spanish village for the tomato fight. revelers tossed 100 tons of

tomatoes, turning the streets into a sea of mushy pulp. up next, the stories we'll be following today, including why the markets are bracing for even more bad news. and former illinois governor rod blagojevich heading back to court. the reason why, stra????????????

now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this thursday. the labor department releases its weekly jobless claims report this morning. investors are jittery after last week's report showed first-time claims reached a nine-month high.

alaska republican senator lisa mruczkowski says she is not giving up her primary fight. despite trailing challenger joe miller by about 1,500 votes. thousands of absentee ballots could make the difference. but they won't be counted until next week. former president jimmy carter is spending a second day in north korea, hoping to win the release of an american, accused of entering the country illegally. there's a new evacuation order in southern pakistan, as floodwaters approach areas that have remained dry so far. a region where 400,000 people live has been threatened after a levee gave way. a suspect is to be arraigned today for shooting four people outside of a buffalo, new york, bar. and the hearing is set for today in the rod blagojevich corruption case. a judge may decide on a date for the start of a retrial. last week, jurors dead looked on 23 of the 24 charges against the former illinois governor.

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and finally this morning, tiger woods is hoping for his first win of the year, as he's the off in new jersey today. >> speaking out for the first time since his divorce, woods

acknowledged that the turmoil in his personal life has taken a toll on his game. >> and his comments came as his ex-wife opened up, as well. here, now, is t.j. winick. >> reporter: for the first time, we're hearing elin nordegren's side of the story. she told "people" magazine in an exclusive interview, about the first time she discovered her now ex-husband, tiger woods, was being unfaithful. absolute shock and disbelief. i felt stupid as more things was revealed. the mother of two opened up for the first time about the past nine months and about the divorce that was finalized on monday. initially, i thought we had a chance, and we tried really hard, elin says. but she says, without trust and love, it couldn't work. >> i wish her the best in everything. you know, it's a sad time in our lives. >> reporter: before the barclays tournament in new jersey, tiger admitted his personal troubles have taken an emotional toll that made it more difficult to focus on the golf course.

>> you try to focus on a shot. but at times, it certainly was, yes. >> reporter: nordgren also wanted to set the record straight in what really happened in the moments leading up to the infamous car crash outside of the family home in november. pictures captured by the website tmz. there was never any violence inside or outside our home, she says. the speculation that i would have used a golf club to hit him is truly ridiculous. i've been through hell, elin said, about the ordeal that led up to this split. >> my actions led us to this decision. you know, i've certainly made a lot of errors in my life. and that's something i'm going to have to live with. >> reporter: elin says she's working on trying to forgive her ex-husband. and that she knows she will get there eventually. t.j. winick, abc news, new york. >> been a long stretch of silence. now, we finally know what's on her mind. >> candid interview, too. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> get more from abc news,