making news this morning -- basement horror. >> new video showing the squalid center where disabled adults were held captive, prisoners, for up to a decade. police are worried there may be more victims across the country. also breaking news this morning. elation overnight as israel releases hundreds of political prisoners in exchange for just one of its own. and the mega dust storm that consumes an entire town and even blocks out the sun. and good morning, everybody. i'm rob nelson. >> i'm yunji de nies. we begin with that horrifying discovery in a dank, philadelphia basement. four adults with the mental capacity of 10-year-olds, held captive in deplorable

conditions. >> police say they're victims of heartless schemes, aimed at stealing social security checks. and many more may have fallen prey. here's abc's john hendren. >> reporter: this is the dungeon of the horror house. >> it looks like a dungeon. these people were stored like surplus meat in a basement. >> reporter: it was here, police say, that four handicapped adults were held in pitch-blackness, one for more than a decade. >> we're human beings. >> reporter: the landlord made the horrific discovery, pushing open a door to find starving captives, one chained to a boiler. they were held by their three alleged captors who stole their social security and disability checks. >> this is a terrible case. but it's one that might get even worse, quite frankly, before it's over. >> reporter: that, because police found the social security numbers of 50 people.

and the trail tracking the alleged kidnappers from texas, florida to virginia and finally here to philadelphia. >> the case is going to take a long time before we fully understand the depth of it. these are just four people that we know of. >> reporter: the grandmother of alleged victim herbert knowles learned of his discovery with relief and shock. >> he was a trusting person. and just took complete advantage of him. >> reporter: the four captives are recovering, including knowles, who managed to smile after his ordeal. the alleged kidnappers are facing kidnapping and other charges. john hendren, abc news. >> unbelievable story. also, new details this morning in that tragic crash that killed indy car driver dan wheldon. a coroner has determined that wheldon died of blunt head trauma sustained in sunday's awful crash. we'll have reaction to the crash later in this half hour.

breaking news overseas where an elaborate prisoner swap is under way in the middle east. one israeli soldier is being traded for hundreds of palestinian political prisoners. abc's alex marquardt is live on the phone from the west bank. alex, what's the latest? >> reporter: good morning. i'm waiting for some of the palestinian prisoners to be released here. you can hear the loud festivities going on behind me. lots of singing and chanting. palestinian flags waving, as well as a big, green hamas flag. we can confirm this morning that gilad shalit has left the gaza strip, where he's been held for four years by hamas. he's been handed over to egyptians. the wheels have begun turning for the release of almost 500 palestinian prisoners being exchanged today for shalit. now, if all goes according to plan, he'll be turned over to the israeli military. he'll be thrown to central israel, where he will meet the prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. and finally be reunited with his family before going home to their house in northern israel. at the same time, those 477

palestinian prisoners will be released mostly in the gaza strip and the west bank, with some being sent abroad. now, shalit was captured by hamas in october 2006, in a cross-border raid. this is a long-awaited return. not just for the shalit family but for all of israel, who has followed the twists and turns of the story closely, considering shalit something of a national son. but the deal is controversial. of those being released today, at least 300 or more are serving a life sentence or more. some are speaking out about the deal. that many israelis do support it. and there's expected to be much celebration on both sides today. yunji? >> what a day there. alex marquardt. thank you so much. from the west bank. president obama wakes up in greensboro, north carolina, this morning, on the second day of his bus tour, pushing for congress to pass at least

portions of his jobs bill. during a campaign-style stop yesterday, the president said that if republicans will not pass the jobs bill, they should, instead, break it up, and take an idea, one vote at a time. and the president's handling of the economy is likely to be a big topic tonight as the republican presidential candidate debate in las vegas. heading into that debate, the latest poll finds that mitt romney and herman cain are at a virtual tie now for first place. abc's jon karl shows us why voters seem to be connecting with cain. >> reporter: the cain surge continues. over the weekend, republican crowds were loving it. >> stupid people are running america. >> reporter: the secret of cain's appeal, is the simplicity of his solutions. he's a hard-liner who makes you laugh. >> i would bring a sense of humor to the white house because america's too up tight. >> reporter: it was the approach he used during his successful run as ceo of godfather's pizza. he shut down underperforming stores. but also, serenaded pizza lovers.

♪ imagine there's no pizza >> reporter: cain's greatest asset is his personal story. he grew up dirt-poor in atlanta. his mother a maid. his father a barber, chauffeur and janitor. >> what do you mean i don't have a lot of sympathy for people who believes this country owes them something. >> reporter: self-reliance is cain's creed. many years ago, he was refused a hair cut in a whites-only barbershop. ever since, he has cut his own hair. five years ago, he had stage 4 colon cancer and was given 30% of survivor. after chemo and major surgery, he's been cancer-free since 2007. a miracle, he says. cain's aides tell me he's going to make a direct appeal to african-american voters. unveiling a plan later this week, to help the inner city poor. jonathan karl, abc news, washington. >> didn't know mr. cain had such a good voice. >> would like to see more of that in the debate tonight. >> we'll see how he does.

now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. a stormy day in the southeast, with drenching rain and flooding from miami and tampa. to savannah and charleston, south carolina. showers and thunderstorms around chicago, detroit and cincinnati. severe storms from nashville to jackson, mississippi, and new orleans. much cooler than normal in the upper midwest. >> just 47 in the twin cities and fargo. 50s from omaha to indianapolis. 82 in new orleans. 79 in atlanta. 64 in seattle. 60 in salt lake city. and 94 in phoenix. parents listen up. coming up, "sesame street" replaced with porn. the hack attack on elmo's youtube channel. and then, blackberry's huge giveaway. but will the free stuff keep customers happy? and imagine getting this close to an animal bigger than the biggest dinosaur. hey, your high speed internet here, at home...

...and on the go... ...with some really big news. it's b-i-g -- big. high speed internet from at&t at home... ...includes wi-fi access on the go. woo-hoo! [ together ] it's an unbelievable deal. well, gotta go. but wait -- there's more... [ female announcer ] go to the website below today and get high speed internet for the unbelievably low price of just 14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. it's all the speed you need at a great price. [ pi2geon coos ] and surf the web at your vorite bookstore. our intern a t home includes access

to the entire national at&t wi-fi hot spot network on the go. [ female announcer ] go to the website below and get high speed internet for just 14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. that's all the speed you need at a great price. it's an unbelievable deal. so why wait? act now, act now! like he said... ♪

research in motion is now apologizing to its blackberry customers following last week's major outage around the world. the company is offering $100 worth of new apps for free. the downloads will be available starting tomorrow in blackberry's app world. but it may not be enough to prevent customers from defecting to other devices. there's a troubling report on consumer debt this morning. five of the nation's top six credit card issuers say late payments rose in september. the increases were all under a percentage point. but it is the first time in almost three years that so many issuers have reported a rise.

a new study says new york has far more superrich people than any other u.s. city. more than 7,700 of them. los angeles and san francisco are second and third, each with more than 4,000 people, with a net worth of, get this, $30 million. >> we're not on that list. overseas markets are down this morning on fears that china's growth may be slowing. tokyo's nikkei average lost 138 points today. hong kong's hang seng fell 692 points. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, the dow dropped 247 points yesterday. the nasdaq index was off 53. today should be a sunnier day on "sesame street" than sunday was. normally, its official youtube channel carries new and vintage clips of the popular preschool program. but for a brief period on sunday, it was showing pornography.

there were no complaints and no "sesame street" characters appeared in those racy videos. >> a whole, new different kind of big bird. all right. next on this tuesday morning, a dad uses his daughter as his designated driver. and get this. she is not even 10 years old. and a big moment on "monday night football". dolphins/jets and a 100-yard return for a touchdown. i don't want healthy skin for a day. i want healthy skin for life. [ female announcer ] don't just moisturize, improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno.

i didn't understand it. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia -- thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means, i can feel better and do more of what matters. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these,

new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior, or any swelling or affected breathing or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision, or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. welcome back, everybody. you're looking at the nation's newest space port. the first facility designed for space tourism. british billionaire, richard branson, repelled down the side of the complex in new mexico and christened it with champagne. branson's virgin galactic is set to stage its first private space flights starting in 2015. if you're flying a regular airplanes today, airport delays are possible in memphis, charlotte, atlanta, new orleans,

miami, chicago and detroit. >> and your morning road conditions today, flooding on parts of i-95, from raleigh, to miami. also, i-75, from tampa to naples. wet on i-20, from colombia, south carolina, to berming ham and on i-40, from raleigh to memphis. also slick on i-80 and 90 from cleveland to chicago. and i-55, from st. louis to new orleans.ouis to rial is growing at the indianapolis motor speedway. fans and friends are pausing to remember two-time indy 500 champion, dan wheldon. >> he was killed in the fiery crash. las vegas on sunday. and that's raising lots of criticism now from inside the racing community. diana alvear reports. >> reporter: they were five of the hardest laps they'd ever driven. five laps in honor of their fallen friend and colleague, dan wheldon. >> up in turn number two. oh. multiple cars involved. >> reporter: in just a few horrifying seconds, a chain reaction with devastating consequences at las vegas' indy

300. the british champion's car climbed on to another vehicle and went airborne. officials say wheldon died from trauma to the head. the 33-year-old was racing to win a $5 million purse that he planned to split with a spectator. >> i have pressure all the time. especially when you want to win as bad as i do. >> reporter: a two-time winner of the indy 500, he was no rookie. the racing experts can only speculate what went so terribly wrong. one theory, too many drivers on the track with too little experience. >> open-wheel cars can't touch on each other or rub on each other. when two tires touch, what started with a very lazy spin turned into the most horrific accident i've seen in 40 years of racing. >> reporter: eventual champion, dario franchitti, criticized the venue. >> this is not a suitable track. we're seeing it today. you can't get away from anybody. there's no way to differentiate yourself. >> reporter: speedway officials said,

the facility was inspected by indy car officials before the race. >> they gave the okay that the track was suitable for racing. >> reporter: however, for wheldon's family, there are no answers. just unimaginable loss. >> he touched so many. the world is a better place because of dan. >> reporter: before the race, he posted a blog about his tough practices and his concerns he wouldn't get the speed he needed to win the race. diana alvear, abc news, los angeles. the mother of missing kansas city infant, lisa irwin, is now changing certain parts of her story. deborah bradley admits she saw her daughter hours earlier than she first told police. and she also admits to drinking heavily, maybe even blacking out the night that lisa disappeared. the family's attorney says her admission shows she has nothing to hide. today marks two weeks since that little girl's disappearance. a suburban detroit man is in trouble, after police say he used his 9-year-old daughter as his designated driver. surveillance video appears to show the little girl getting behind the wheel while her dad pumps gas.

earlier, the dad was telling the store clerk that his daughter was driving. no fines. that's the nfl's verdict for coaches jim harbaugh of san francisco and jim schwartz of detroit. they both told the league that they're postgame conduct will be toned down, following sunday's on-the-field disagreement. as for "monday night football," the highlights from espn news. >> good morning. i'm don bell with your espn news update. the new york jets, trying to break a three-game losing streak. they're at home, taking on the miami dolphins. there's brandon marshall. said earlier in the week that he might be kicked out of this game. he has a big matchup against darrelle revis. first quarter, third and goal. matt more to marshall. in the end zone. batted down by revis. those two chatting right there. that would lead to a dolphins field goal. later in the first, dolphins up 3-0. moore, looking for marshall. and he got revis. he is mobile with the pick. and he takes it back 99 yards for the touchdown.

the jets lead, 7-3. now, take another look at this. revis, very physical on the play. some of the announcers thought maybe a pass interference. no flag call. maybe if they check the media guide and they know who darrelle revis is. moore, looking for marshall in the end zone. that one, went through his hands. the dolphins kick another field goal. fourth quarter, jets lead 17-6. sanchez, looking for santonio holmes. nice block by plaxico burress right there to free holmes. and he easily gets into the end zone. jets up 24-6. that was mark sanchez's only touchdown pass of the game. later in the fourth, moore hit hard on the play. another pick for revis. rex ryan's jets break a three-game losing streak. they win 24-6. i'm don bell. that's your espn news update.

>> happy jets fans this morning for sure. one more highlight to show you this morning. >> it comes from josh thompson at wagner college, in staten island, new york. that's his mother standing there with her back to him. a perfect place to be as her little boy soars over her for the slam dunk. >> boom, little boy in name only. thompson is 6'5". mom was pretty brave to do that. that could have gone badly. well done to both of them. coming up next this morning "the pulse." the video you have to see. that monster dust tomorrow that gobbled up a town in texas. and apparently, you can teach a horse new tricks. even basketball. on the wheat grain? seam same as on the flake. because great grains 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. living with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... ...could mean living with joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you... ...with humira. for many adults with moderate to severe ra,... ...humira's proven to help relieve pain and stop joint damage. 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.

ask your rheumatologist how you can defend against... ...and help stop further joint damage with humira. [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee. it's the starbucks via® taste promise. look for it at starbucks stores and where you buy groceries. it's the starbucks via® taste promise. you've been there. you pick out a makeup thinking it's your shade... until you actually try it out. now, i have a makeup that always gets it right. smart shade makeup instantly adjusts to match perfectly to your skin. almay smart shade makeup. only from almay. only for me. ♪

hershey's drops. a lot of hershey's happiness in a little drop of chocolate. pure hershey's. it is time for "the pulse," three stories you've just got to see. starting with a massive dust storm that swept through northwest texas, enveloping the entire city of lubbock. >> one resident said, it looked like a wall of dirt, as the wall of dirt and debris rolled right in. it was fueled by 60-mile-per-hour winds, darkening the sky, toppling tr as well.g traffic, as well. >> it took a full 30 minutes for the storm to blow through the town and another hour just for the dust to settle. >> amazing video there. and here's a close encounter of the watery kind. it comes from a kayaker in southern california, who captured these up close and

personal images of a blue whale earlier this month. >> you get an idea from the view from above. the guy who posted it called the whole experience heart-pounding. but that doesn't mean he's encouraging others to try to get that close, as well. >> i will heed that advice. from the sea to the barn. and to amos, the wonder house. this pint-sized pony can play basketball, paint and play the xylophone. amos also volunteers, for children with special needs, veterans and nursing homes. >> his owner says amos loves all of his creative tricks. the nba's on lockout. but this horse is still going strong. no contract dispute with him. >> he's adorable. very cute and very talented. >> yes. for some of you, local news is coming up next. >> and for everyone else, a wild night on the dance floor. stay with us.

♪ more and more folks are trying out snapshot from progressive. a totally different way to save on car insurance. the better you drive, the more you can save. no wonder snapshot's catching on. plug into the savings you deserve, with snapshot from progressive. when it comes to toilet paper, there's no such thing as too soft. i know what i like. i like feeling both clean and pampered. why should i compromise? three layered quilted northern ultra plush®. for a comfortable, confident clean, or your money back.

. next, it is being called the most lopsided prisoner swap in israeli history. the more than 1,000 palestinian prisoners the country has just traded to get back. >> is the shooter dead? theory emerging in the investigation of a shooting in a hells angels funeral. cooling trend only a couple days. little bono this morning. it is a beautiful day. >> finally this morning, abc's "dancing with the stars" is already at the halfway point of its season. and one contestant will be sadly

escorted out of the ballroom tonight. >> who is on top? and who is in danger of going home after last night's '80s-themed dances? george pennacchio of our abc station was there. >> reporter: j.r. martinez and karina smirnoff had the crowd on their feet. >> we got one dance. >> reporter: tied for second with their best scores of the season, 25, rob kardashian and cheryl burke, along with david arquette and kym johnson. >> she gives me confidence every day in rehearsals. i can't believe i'm still here, in second place, after week five. i didn't think that coming into the competition. >> i get so excited and in the moment, that i kind of -- i can't even hear the music so much. it's so wild. >> reporter: with triple 8s, maxim was up with ricki lake and

derek hough. >> i don't know what the judges say. but i listen to this guy. >> we're all rooted for each other. i'm happy to pass over the leaderboard to j.r. and karina. they deserve it. >> for one week? >> yeah, for one week. >> reporter: in sixth place, nancy grace, who victoriously got her first 8. >> we have so much fun. we have so much fun learning it and getting the '80s week together. tristan was at that time. >> reporter: chaz bono had triple 7s. >> the audience was all pumped up. and i was pumped up. that's what you've got to do it for. >> reporter: for the second week in a row, carson kressley landed in last place. >> we did not deserve two 6s. when you're doing ambitious choreography and cartwheels and upside down splits, give us props for that. . >> lots of action there. that's what's making news in