making news on this tuesday, september 14th. >> primary day. tea party-backed candidates could be the game-changers today, just weeks before the november elections. high hopes. middle east peace talks are underway this morning. with all sides hoping for some kind of agreement. and high-flying. oprah's new season begins with a bang, especially for her biggest fans. good morning. today is the last, big primary day before november's midterm elections, when republicans could gain control of congress. >> polls open this morning in seven states and in washington, d.c. that's where emily schmidt joins us now, live, with a preview. and, emily, tea party candidates

are getting a lot of attention today. >> reporter: this is the focus on them today. 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 christine o'donnell for u.s. senate. >> reporter: sarah palin recorded calls for o'donnell and two other candidates in primary states. >> we're coming to the end of a few months of a lot of hard work. >> reporter: carl paladino is now running in a dead-heat wifos former congressman, rick lazio. >> i think i'm a candidate that will bring people together, that will unify people. >> reporter: the winner will face democrat andrew cuomo. another race to watch. charlie rangel has spent more money than the next candidate. but he's also facing a looming ethics trial. and a tea party candidate is also making a run in a new hampshire senate contest. to add it all up, tea party candidates have won senate primaries in six states this year. 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 the last few weeks in some frantic behind-the-scenes arm-twisting. it remains to be seen if that hurdle can be overcome today. revinita? >> you mentioned this is a two-day meeting. what happens on day two if that happens on day one? >> reporter: today, we rush back to jerusalem, where hillary clinton will arrive later tonight, with a second round of talks with the same characters at the table.probably probably hosted in prime minister netanyahu's jerusalem home. president abbas rejoining them for the first time in almost two years, since the last round of negotiations fell apart. and hopefully by then, the sides will be able to get into the meaty issues. the final borders, what happens to jerusalem, what happens to refugees. difficult, difficult issues. she can start getting both sides to talk about those tomorrow at the very latest. vinita? >> some questions that have been asked for a very long time.

simon mcgregor-wood in egypt this morning. thank you. american hiker sarah shourd is spending another day in an iranian prison. family members say they're having trouble raising the $500,000 bail demanded by officials in that country. laura setrakian joins us from dubai with the latest on this still unfolding story. laura? >> reporter: good morning, rob. sarah shourd is allowed to leave iran as soon as the $500,000 bail is hosted. the swiss embassy offered to help make the payment. but they need time to get that much cash together. she could be freed at any hour. shourd, sean bauer and josh fattal have been incarcerated for over a year. they've been accused of espionage. and iranian officials say they will face trial. their lawyer said there's no evidence of espionage. and the border crossing is incidental at best. the lightening of punishment will move them towards tossing the trial altogether.

the same lawyer told me he's optimistic that all of the movement in the case means they likely will be coming home safe soon. rob? >> laura setrakian in dubai. thanks, laura, for that update. the man accused of trying to blow up a delta jet over detroit on christmas, says he may plead guilty. that came yesterday, when he fired his lawyers. during a court appearance, the young nigerian says he plans to represent himself. abdulmutallab says he's taking the action because he thinks his lawyers will be biased. now, for a look at weather around the country. severe storms in the northern plains. gusty winds, hail, flash flooding and isolated tornadoes in south dakota, nebraska and kansas. rain in the northern rockies and new mexico. thunderstorms from oklahoma city to south texas. meanwhile, showers in and ida and northern new england. >> 70s in boston and new york. just shy of 90 from atlanta to miami. 66 in chicago. 73 in detroit. phoenix will heat up to 104. and colorado springs is 93.

it's 84 in sacramento. 80 in portland. and 72 in seattle. and after the break, money news is next. are we headed towards a second recession? warren buffett weighs in. plus, presidential publishing. the president's newest book, intended for a much younger audience. >> and searching for the cause of the california inferno. could this happen in your neighborhood? 3q

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say it like you mean it. outspoken by fergie. exclusively for avon. call your avon representative now. republicans are standing firm when it comes to a tax increase on wealthy americans.

the brief hope of a compromise ended with the gop digging in. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said every senate republican will oppose allowing a bush-era tax cut to expire, even for the nation's wealthy. it is he for a check of this morning's stock market activity. tokyo's nikkei average fell 22 points today. hong kong's hang seng rose 90. in london, the ftse opened higher. the dow jones industrials gained 81 points yesterday. the nasdaq was up 43 points. walmart is about to begin a new, low-cost mobile phone service. walmart family mobile will offer unlimited calling and texting for 45 bucks a month with no contract requirement or even early termination fee. the service will run on the t-mobile network. also, two giants of american business says the future looks very bright. billionaire investor, warren buffett, says there will be no double-dip recession. and microsoft ceo steve ballmer,

says an explosion of technological invention is on the way. president obama is coming out with a new book. this one is for kids. "of thee i sing" e st tells the stories of 13 american pioneers, among them, george washington, jackie robinson, and painter, georgia o'keeffe. it's subtitled "a letter to my daughters." it features drawings of sasha, malia and beau on the cover. "of thee i sing" is released on november 16th. the proceeds will go to charity. coming up next on this tuesday, the newest giant storm stirring up in the atlantic. where is this monster storm, igor, going next? and what oprah winfrey said to make her audience do this. new wisk, with our breakthrough stain spectrum technology targets all the major stain groups like particulates and oils.

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but viva puts 35% more towel between you and the mess. 35% more? are you ready to take that 1-step? yes, i'm ready. beautiful. [ cheers and applause ] [ sandy ] try viva® and quit the quilt. when allergies make them itch, don't wait for your pills to kick in. choose alaway, from the eye health experts at bausch & lomb. it works in minutes and up to 12 hours. bausch & lomb alaway. because it's not just your allergies, it's your eyes. check out hurricane igor, getting bigger by the day, now spanning more than 1,000 miles.

the winds dipped slightly overnight to 140 miles per hour. but igor is still on the verge of becoming a category 5 storm. the hurricane could threaten bermuda over the weekend and stir up rough surf all along the east coast. and now, for a look at morning road conditions. flooding on i-70, 80 and 90 in kansas, nebraska and south dakota. wet on i-95, to san antonio. also, slick on i-15, from salt lake city to helena, montana. >> if you're flying today, expect weather-related airport delays only in salt lake city and dallas. we are now seeing some new pictures this morning from that gas pipeline explosion in northern california. this was shot by one resident who suffered second-degree burns as that fireball shot through his neighborhood. >> a key piece of evidence from that neighborhood is now on its way to washington for analysis. and experts are warning that thousands of gas lines just like this one are located all over the country. so, how do you know if one is in

your backyard? here's barbara pinto. >> reporter: the incidents happen every other day in this country. >> it's nothing 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 said 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 the aging neighbors they don't see. here in this chicago neighborhood, residents shared this street with an underground natural gas pipeline. but there's no evidence of it. no obvious signs. >> water lines are decently marked. pipelines are ao.

subterranean oil and gas superhighway, crisscrossing the nation. 2.5 million miles of pipeline. much of that infrastructure is at least 40 years old. and in some cases, in decay. >> it's kind of a wake-up call for all of us. a vast majority of the high transmission, large pipelines are never required to be inspected. >> reporter: that's because only pipelines near population sources are required to inspection. and only 7% of those run near a. neighborhood. utility companies know where the pipelines are buried. but residents may not. barbara pinto, abc news, chicago. 30 survivors of a plane crash in eastern venezuela are slowly recovering after being pulled from the wreckage. the plane crashed into a steel mill yard, killing 15 people. it had taken off from a popular

tourist destination when it crashed. cuba says it's laying off 500,000 state workers. the cuban government is hoping that the cuts will help revive the communist nation's sinking economy. laidoff workers are now being encouraged to become self-employed or to try new private enterprises. the leader behind the controversial islamic center says the site should not make new ground. he pointed out that the area nearby has a strip joint and betting parlors. the violent crime rate across the country has dropped for the third year in a row. and authorities are baffled. between 2008 and last year, the murder rate fell 7.3%. robbery was down 8%. and rape, more than 2 1/2%. experts were looking to see an increase. they say crime rates go up in an economic downturn, as policee. budgets dwindle. a big honor for tony blair

for his human rights work across the globe. former president bill clinton presented the liberty medal to blair for his efforts to promote peace in northern island, and kosovo. in sports, rafa makes history. and the jets stadium gets a monday night debut. here's steve weissman with espn news. >> we begin with "monday night football." jets and ravens. there's mark sanchez. second quarter, ravens down six. first and goal. willis mcgahee. baltimore takes a 7-6 lead. jets down 10-9. fourth quarter, 52 seconds on the clock. ray lewis, laying the wood to dustin keller. ravens hang on for a 10-9 victory. meanwhile, the u.s. open men's final delayed by rain. first set, tied at 2-2.

rafael nadal, trying to break djokovic. nidal serving for the championship. he has never won the u.s. open before in his career. a victory would clinch the career grand slam, winning all four majors. and he becomes the seventh player ever to accomplish that. nidal, the king in queens. baseball, now. yankees/rays. bottom 11. reed briniak. first career walkoff homer for b brignac. that's a look at your sports with your espn news update. i'm steve weissman. back to you in new york. well, it is the beginning of the end for the daytime "oprah winfrey show." but her biggest fans don't seem

to mind. >> that's for sure. echoing her car giveaway a few years ago, yesterday's first show of the season was chock full with over-the-top surprises. >> you and you and you. and you are going. >> excitable moment to say the least. all 300 audience members were invited to join oprah on an all--expenses-paid trip, to australia. her staff had a few surprises up their sleeves for her, as well, including a tear-jerking serenade, from paul simon. >> who knows what's next, after you've given cars away and trips to sydney for eight days. coming up next, the stories we'll be following today. stay with us. swipe your card please. excuse me...? this belongs to you... o...um...thank you.

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permanent. in it second back-to-school address, president obama will tell philadelphia students and students around the country, that nothing is beyond their dreams as long as they work hard and dream big. the president is expected to once again stress the importance of education in a students' life. and random house childrens books announced a new book by president obama today. "of thee i sing" goes on sale november 16th 12347 coming up later on "good morning america," when it comes to washing their hands in public restrooms, who is cleaner? men or women? we have all the dirty details coming up. >> this is only a marginal victory for one of the sexes. we're all bad at it. >> really? i think public pressure puts pressure on folks to wash their hands. if someone else is in there with you, you feel a little more apt to do it. >> they're not listening to you, rob. that's the bottom line. >> all right. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues right after this.

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next on "abc 7 news"... chaos and confusion at san bruno responders battle more than a water shortage. battle to contain the explosion and the pg&e backed bill that could have you picking up tabs after a major disaster like the san bruno disaster and fire. >> waking up to cloud cover. we've got a finally from us this tuesday morning, more details on oprah winfrey's last season premiere.

>> the queen of talk packed the show of her 25th season with one surprise after another. t.j. winick gaves us a glimpse of the show. plus, a look at life after oprah. >> reporter: it was the beginning of the end. on the premiere episode of her final season, oprah winfrey gave each 1 of her 300 audience members an over-the-top trip to australia. >> you're going to australia. >> reporter: there were celebrity guests, including john travolta. >> you have been voted our favorite guest of all-time. >> reporter: and many paying tribute to the queen of talk. >> there's only one of you. there will never be another one. >> reporter: her show paid homage to the first broadcast 25 years ago. actor don johnson turned down an opportunity to be on the first oprah winfrey show. >> the most important thing, you're the greatest. >> thank you. >> reporter: and, yes, she did

tear up when paul simon played a song especially written for the5 ♪ 25 years have come and gone >> reporter: her show has been nothing short of an institution. she was named "forbes'" most powerful celebrity this year for the fourth time. she's a media mogul worth $2.4 million. her departure will create a seismic shift in daytime television. >> she provides an incredible lead-in for local newscast. >> reporter: on january 1st, the tv legend launches the oprah winfrey network. t.j. winick, abc news, new york. >> if that's the first show, you can imagine where things are going to go for the rest of the season. and incredible ride. >> no crowd is as good as oprah's crowd. >> they go nuts. >> best cutaways you can ever see. people going, thank you, oprah. >> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> get