making news in america this morning. >> test the air. preventing this out of control wildfire from sending radioactive smoke across the country. and the end is in sight for casey anthony after an emotionally charged day of testimony could end in hours. turtles on the tarmac, stopping jumbo jets at jfk airport and this morning they're even tweeting. good morning. we begin in washington where lawmakers could end up working right through the july 4th holiday. >> in fact, the president is challenging both sides to come up with a deal well before an august deadline. higher taxes remain a major sticking point. john hendren is joining us from

washington with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, peggy. at his first news conference in three months president obama wants to extend the middle class tax cuts but insists we can't meet the nation's deficit cutting goals without eliminating some tax breaks. in the tone of a teacher lecturing unruly schoolchildren, president obama drew the line with congress on tax breaks. >> the tax cuts i'm proposing we get rid of are tax breaks for millioioires and billionaires. >> reporter:r:epublican leaders on capitol hill say they will agree to raise the nation's credit limit only if the president agrees to cut trillions of dollars in spending, and here's the catch, not to eliminate tax breaks. >> their answer to everything in this administration and on the other side of the floor, a large measure of them, is to increase taxes for everything. >> reporter: that could force a high-stakes showdown. without an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, the u.s. government could default on its debt starting august 2nd. the president chided members of congress saying they should skip their upcoming recess and finish their work before the deadline just like his daughters do.

>> malia and sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time. congress can do the same thing. if you know you've got to do something, just do it. >> reporter: there are some encouraging signs. a new "new york times"/cbs news poll shows 57% believe the economy will recover, though 39% think it's in permanent decline. productivity gains have prompted mars candy and other companies that had sent manufacturing work overseas to bring it home. >> it's becoming a lot more economic to produce in the united states for consumption in the united states. >> reporter: americans are still cutting the president some slack. in that poll, just 26% blame the bush administration for the economy. just 8% blame the obama administration. peggy? >> very interesting. all right, john hendren this morning, thank you. now a developing story being investigated on both coasts. investigators are trying to figure out how a passenger managed to evade airport security and fly from new york to l.a. with a fake i.d. and

outdated boarding pass. the man is now in fbi custody awaiting a hearing tomorrow. agents say a search of the man's bag revealed more than ten boarding passes with different names. the tsa has refused to comment. in southern iraq the military this morning says three american soldiers have been killed. that brings the death toll 15 for june making it the deadliest month in two years. officials say the higher toll is due to the stepped up suicide attacks by the shiite militia. crews battling the wildfire around los alamos are now facing new challenges this morning with erratic winds and dry lightning ininhe forecast. this fire is only 3% contained and there are new fears about contaminated smoke coming from the nearby nucleararacilities. abc's ryan owens reports from the front lines. >> reporter: some are worried not just about the barrels of nuclear waste stored at the lab but what's in the canyons that surround the sprawling complex. so-called legacy contamination from nuclear tests dating back to the 1940s. >> the trees have grown up

during that time frame, and the soils could also be contaminated, and if they get heated and that goes airborne then we are concerned about that. >> reporter: the canyons were dumping grounds for radioactive material decades ago but are now open to the public and considered safe. still, a nuclear scientist armed with a geiger counter made this youtube video in one of those canyons. >> there is no shortage of metal. no shortage of radioactivity. >> reporter: much of this area burned back in 2000 and no higher levels of radiation were detected then. everyone is hoping the same holds true this time. that nuclear lab is directlyly behind me. behind that, a wall of smoke. firefighters tell us much of that is from the fires they intentionally started, but with the wind howling like it is now, that is a very scary sight for people here. ryan owens, abc news, los alamos, new mexico. rhode island is set to become the next state to allow civil unions for same-sex couples. lawmakers have passed the bill

and the governor says he will sign it. that will make five states which now allow civil unions. and in washington an fda panel voted to revoke the approval of avastin for breast cancer patients. now, this is the world's best-selling cancer drug, but the panel said it doesn't help breast cancer patients. also, it could caution dangerous insurers may stop paying the $100,000 yearly cost, a prospect that clearly upset some women at the hearing. tropical storm arlene is bringing heavy rains to mexico before making landfall there later this morning. town as long the northeastern coast are bracing for severe flash flooding and mud slides as the storm comes ashore with 60-mile-an-hour winds. rain bands from arlene are also drenching brownsville and other cities in south texas. taking a look at this morning's weather for this thursday, we have some severe storms with gusty winds and hail from fargo to cheyenne. rain drenches down to northern new mexico. showers in the pacific northwest and pop-up thunderstorms along the gulf coast into the carolinas. heat advisories and warnings

from oklahoma to minnesota. >> 90s in minneapolis. omaha and kansas city and 101 in dallas. phoenix heats up to 106. upper 90s in albuquerque. and colorado springs, 82. here in new york, rather comfortable. 92 in atlanta and 89 in miami. >> it's about time. we were cold then we were hot. nice temperate day. here we go with summer. coming up, some business news. it is a bombshell really. despite its troubles american airlines announces a radical plan sure to please passssgers. justin timberlake's new role. internet mogul. his new plans to revive myspace. all right, and the new wet and wild ride for your next trip to the beach.

and news that's bound to send shock waves through the airline industry. american airlines is ready to replace its entire domestic fleet. this morning's "wall street journal" reports that american is negotiating with airbus and boeing to buy 250 planes. now, this s al would be worth about $15 billion. american airlines says it plans to retire older planes and upgrade its fleet, this after posting more than $300 million in first quarter losses. protests are heating up after greece's parliament approved $40 billion in spending cuts and tax increases. the measures would clear the way for the european union to lend greece billions to keep its economy from dragging down the global economy. a separate vote is needed to implement the measures.

investors around the world seem to like the vote in greece. tokyo's nikkei average gained 21 poin today. hong kong's hang seng is up in late trading. in london the ftse opened higher. meanwhile, on wall street, the dow gained 72 points yesterday. the nasdaq composite picked up 11. the national association of realtors says that more americans are getting ready to buy homes. pending home sales or the number of homes under contract before a sale was up 8.2% in the month of may. the increased activity is showing up in all parts of the country. this follows a report that showed home sales up in april. the federal reserve appears to be giving in to the big banks. it's agreed to limit so-called swipe fees at 21 cents insteadad of 12 cents. now, those are the fees that banks charge stores every time you use your debit card. there was hope that stores would pass along some of those savings to consumers. >> can't get enough of those fees. all right. justin timberlake has already played a social media entrepreneur in the movies. now, he gets to be one in real

life. timberlake is teaming up with specific media to buy myspace and rebuild and reinvigorate it. the site is expected to provide original shows and music. newscorp is selling the website for $35 million, much, much less than it paid to buy it. well, for those who want their smartphones to impress there is the new tag heuer link phone. the casing features alligator and lizard skins, 18 karat rose gold or titanium and diamond accents. the android phone has a five-megapixel camera. the phone retails for $6,700 and i feel for that price you really should get an eight megapixel camera. >> that's what you pay and then you leave it in the back of a taxi. when we come back, the american left alone on the shark infested great barrier reef. plus this -- >> 11 [ bleep ] over the top [ bleep ] homosexuals and a granny. >> the airline pilot who said that for all to hear now has something else to say. zo

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take a look at this. quite a mess. a big water main break caught on camera in sacramento. you can see how quickly it flooded three city blocks. up to a foot of water swamped a half dozen businesses, also a library. city crews shut off the water, but streets and sidewalks were still coated with mud. >> kind of tough for driving around so we're going to look at your morning road conditions. flooded highways from brownsville to mcallen, texas, wet on i-37 near corpus christi, i-35 from laredo to san antonio and i-10 along the gulf coast. rain soaks i-94 from fargo to billings and i-15 from salt lake city to helena. also wet on i-5 from seattle to portland. if you are heading to the airport, you might have some delays in denver, salt lake city or possibly miami. the lawyers for accused murderer casey anthony are nearing the end of their case so

if casey anthony is going to testify, it will likely be today. >> a lot of people will be watching to see what happens. yesterday her father took the stand giving some of the most emotional testimony yet but casey who spoke a few rare words was as calm as ever. reporter kathy bellich of orlando station wftv has more. >> reporter: casey anthony stared coldly as her father sobbed uncontrollably over recalling his suicide attempt. >> i needed at that time to go and be wititcaylee because i believe i failed her. if it wouldn't have been for law enforcement, i wouldn't be here today. >> reporter: defense attorney jose baez tried to show george tried to kill himself over covering up caylee's drowning and sexually abusing casey for years. >> you would never admit to it, wow, sir? >> sir, i would never do anything to harm my daughter in that way. >> baez bringing george to the stand and allowing george to suffer an emotional breakdown

does not benefit the defense at all. >> reporter: casey took charge this morning during a telephone hearing without attorneys present turning on the microphone and telling the judge she supported efforts to seat a new jury after a recent death penalty ruling. >> i can answer that one. >> okay. >> i agree with miss finnell. >> and that was kathy bellich reporting. will we hear more from casey? it is possible even if her lawyers don't know for sure but they are expected to finish today and the jury could begin deliberating on sunday. >> well, a review of the dna evidence used to convict amanda knox of killing her roommate could help clear her. court appointed experts report that the evidence is unreliable and possibly contaminated. e american exchange student is appealing the verdict. the southwest airlines pilot who railed against gay and older flight attendants has something more to say after these now infamous comomnts. >> 11 [ bleep ] over the top

[ bleep ] homosexuals and a granny. after that it was just a continuous stream of gays and grananes and grandes. >> those were broadcast through a stuck mike. now captain james taylor has apologized acknowledging his remarks were insensitive saying from now on he will show nothing but the utmost respect during his interactions with all employees. taylor added that the incident has forever changelearn from his misrs can learn from his mistake. a florida principal has been reassigned after using hypnosis on students and two of those students later committed suicide. an independent investigation found that george kenny was told to limit it to psychology classes but he thought he could do it to help motivate students in any setting as long as he had written permission. the ow awaiting the results of a criminal investigation. a frightening experience for an american tourist in

australia. he was snorkeling on the great barrier reef 30 miles from shore when he surfaced to find that the dive boat had left him behind. he swam for 15 minutes and found another boat. the dive boat crew member who failed to do a head count has since been fired. and a couple from joplin, missouri, thought that they lost everything in the tornado which hit last month but then just last week volunteers found tiffany wright's engagement among the debris. to mark the miracle, her husband of three years got down on bended knee and proposed all over again. >> ah. all right. time now for the latest from the major leagues. here's espn news. good morning. i'm steve weissman with your espn news update. we begin with interleague baseball. red sox/phillies. boston has won five straight series in philly. adrian gonzalez making a second career start i iright so david ortiz can play right. ortiz strikes out. raul ibanez faced knockoff john lackey. that will drive in a run so the phils taking the early lead. top of the fifth same score. runner on first for lackey.

pitcher helping out his own cause. that's a deep shot. shane victorino can't get there. one run scores. on the double, last sox pitcher with an rbi double, derek lowe, bottom seven, ibanez, this time he goes yards and in his previous seven ibanez had one hit, just a triple shy of the cycle on wednesday. top eight, two outs, adrian gonzalez is going to ground out. that will do it. phillies win, 2-1. former first baseman mo vaughn at y ykee stadium to watch the yankees take on the brewers. new york down 1. robinson cano. morgan, sacrificing life and limb. crashes into the wall out there. cano in for a triple. take another look. full speed boom. it's padded, but that's still going to pound the head. cano would score on a nick swisher single. later in the fourth, still tied at 1. russell martin, three-run job tenth of the year, and the yanks win by a final of 5-2. mike andndike in the evening throwing out the first pitch,

giants/cubs at wrigley. bottomomine, two out. runner on third. or aramis ramirez, he's been hitting well lately. that's a walkoff. the cubs take it by a final of 2-1. that's your espn news update. i'm steve weissman. this next story might fall into the extreme sports category. thrill seekers in southern california now have a new toy to keep them busy. these jet packs are the latest craze hitting beaches across the country. >> woo-hoo. all right. you can fly nearly 30 feet in the air, also soar over the water at 25 miles an hour. the jet pack is controlled by pulling up or down on the arms. experience here can cost about 250 bucks per hour. flyers say it's very addictive. does that come with a class or are you just supposed to know how to do that? >> i think you might have to go through a >> looks like fun. coming up next, today the royal newlyweds begin their visit to north america. check this out.

china opens the world's longest bridge, and it's not the only engineering feat that they unveiled today. . and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grain steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam, because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. every day you live with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis could be another day you're living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you by asking your rheumatologist about humira. for many adult patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis humira has been proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage.

humira's use in patients with ra has been evaluated in multiple studies during the past 14 years. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur such as, infections, lymphoma or other types of cancer, blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before starting humira, your doctor should test you for tb. ask your doctor if you live or have been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you have had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start humira if you have any kind of infection. make today the day you talk to your rheumatologist. and ask how you can defend against and help stop further joint damage with humira.

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the man is now in fbi custody. the tsa says it's investigating the incident. the first family is focusing on fund-raising today. president obama travels to philadelphia to attend two democratic national committee events. also first lady michelle obama attends dnc events in boston, alal burlington, vermont. >> today marks robert gates' last day at the pentagon. gates spent four decades serving eight presidents. president obama will deliver remarks at his farewell ceremony before he retires. a big day for engineers in china. a high-speed train that links beijing to shanghai is making its first journey today. this will make the 800-mile journey in just about 5 hours at speeds of up to 190 miles per hour. also debuting in china today, the world's longest bridge over seawater. it's a little over 26 miles long, but it was built in 4 years. and prince william and his new wife arrive in canada on their first trip as a married couple. the duke and duchess will head

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coming up next on abc7 news at 4:30 -- laid off san jose police officers start handing in their badges this morning, leighing the forwith -- leighing the force with fewer cops and worry in the community. the city council meets to try to beat the budget deadline and plan would include cut to public safety. meteorologist mike nicco has the heating forecast. >> it will get warm over the holiday weekend. we could have poor air quality, too. and finally this morning we've all experienced a slow go at the airport but not quite this slow. >> yeah, how about this? 100 turtles decided to take a stroll across a pretty busy

runway at jfk airport. some jumbo jets were stopped right if their tracks. more from abc's lisa stark. >> reporter: one takes off at nearly 170 miles an hour. the other averages 3 miles an hour. this is what happens when they meet. >> we got a couple turtles storming the access road here off our right. >> do we really use the word storming about a turtle. >> reporter: the turtles, diamondback terrapins were heading across a main runway on to a sandy spot to lay their eggs. it's an annual event and it's been happening all week. >> american 663, is the turtle in front of you? >> yeah, they're off to my right. there's two of them and then there's another third one kind of off our nose about 100 yards. >> reporter: the great turtle roundup was under way. >> car 97, more turtles on the runway. advise when you're ready to go get them. >> car 97 is at kilil bravo and4 left and i am ready to enter the

runway, sir. >> car 97, was the turtle wash was the turtle removed? >> sir, turtle removed and clear 4 left. >> reporter: today there were so many wandering turtles, over 100 of them, that the airport had to close one runway leading to delays. jetblue's official statement, we hope for faster animals next time. lisa stark, abc news, washington. at least they have a sense of humor about it. the turtles have their own twitter feed, about 4,000 followers so far. some of our favavite tweets flying tomorrow, make sure to check your flight for a turtle alert and why did the turtle cross the runway, to get to the shell station, of course. i imagine it takes them longer to get the 140 characters out. >> those delayed didn't find it so funny. nonetheless it's good to have a sense of humor about it. >> the turtle is all right. that's the important thing. >> turtle on the tarmac. >> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." have a speedy thursday. >> yeah. >> or slow it down.