it's friday, august 7th. in the news, death from above. officials say the taliban's top man in pakistan is dead. the victim of a cia drone attack. his own words. we hear from the pennsylvania gym shooter. his words are the anatomy of a rampage. and vaccine safety. with clinical trials of a swine flu vaccine starting here today, lingering questions about

whether it will do more harm lingering questions about whether it will do more harm than good. captions paid for by abc, inc. good morning. and thanks for being with us. u.s. efforts to get rid of the taliban and al qaeda may have gotten a major boost. that's because it appears that the top terrorist leader in pakistan has been killed in a cia drone attack. >> pakistani intelligence officials say that batula massoud is dead. and there's reports that his funeral has already been held. we get details from nick schifrin in islamabad. >> reporter: massoud is pakistan's eni number one. responsible for some of the worst terrorist attacks in the country's history. pakistani officials say he's killed more than 1,200 people in the last 2 years, including benazir bhutto. he's at the center of a nexus of terrorists that have threatened pakistan's future. this year, the u.s. has increased its targeting of massoud, using unmanned, cia

drones. of the last ten attacks in the pakistani tribal areas, nine have targeted massoud and his network. in pakistan, the attacks are controversial. but the u.s. believes they are the only way to target the taliban and al qaeda, in the rugged terrain along the afghan border. >> over the past six months, we've presented president obama with a number of actions and initiatives against al qaeda and other terrorist groups. not only has he approved these operations. he has encouraged us to be even more aggressive, even more proactive. and even more innovative. >> reporter: any commander killed here will be replaced. but massoud's death would give pakistanis a level of confidence. that the taliban isn't all-powerful. and that it's leadership can be decapitated. that will push people to take on the taliban. and the u.s. says it needs pakistani support in order to win this war. nick schifrin, abc news,

islamabad. the u.s. faces a tough fight against teorism in afghanistan, of course. and top advisers in afghanistan says american troops will likely see two more years of heavy fighting there. after that, the u.s. will either hand off to the afghans or, in his words, lose and go home. at least seven allied troops have been killed in afghanistan, in the last two days, including at least four marines. it puts august on-pace to be one of the deadliest months of the year. on capitol hill, the senate wrapped up the current session, including the hugely popular cash for clunkers program. consumers can get rebates of up to $4,500 to buy new, fuel-efficient cars. critics say the plan amounts to an expensive government handout. after a summer-long debate, sonia sotomayor is posed to be swore in as the nation's newest

supreme court justice. hispanics across the country are proud. they've been applauding her confirmation. t.j. winick has the details from washington. >> the yeas are 68. and the nays are 31. >> reporter: and with that, the united states senate made history. sonia sotomayor is the first hispanic to serve on the supreme court and the third woman. >> it's a wonderful day for sonia sotomayor and her family. >> reporter: no one denies the new justice has an inspiring life story. ivy league educated. and 17 years on the federal bench. >> her temperament and unique life experiences, all of which will help give her the ability, in every litigant who comes before the supreme court, a fair shake. >> reporter: more than three-quarters of the senate's 40 republicans voted no, arguing sotomayor would bring a liberal bias and sympathies to her

rulings. >> with uncertainty and instability in the law. and the result is an activist judicial philosophy that i cannot support. and that the american people reject. >> reporter: the national rifle association even threatened to downgrade any southerner who voted to confirm sotomayor in its closely watched candidate ratings. that didn't stop george join vich of ohio, retiring at the end of this term, who broke with his party and voted for confirmation. >> judge sotomayor is not the nominee i would have selected if president. but naking a nomination is not my role here today. >> reporter: the swearing in of judge sotomayor will take place this saturday at the supreme court. t.j. winick, abc news, washington. twitter is warning of spotty service, as it recovers from a cyber attack that paralyzed the site. the popular messaging sight suffered what is known as a denial of service attack yesterday. that's when a website is inundated by hackers, preventing legitimate users from getting

through. facebook offered slowdowns but was never fully out of commission. it may have been part of the ongoing political conflict between russia and georgia. funerals to take place tomorrow for two of the three victims in the gym shooting rampage near pittsburgh. now, as john berman report, we are getting more insight into the shooting from sodini himself. >> it is easy for me to hide from my emotions for one more day. >> reporter: george sodini all alone, before a camera. >> there you go, one more day. and one more day turns into one more year. >> reporter: you hear the pain in his sigh. and on this youtube video, posted over one year ago, you hear more about his obsession with youngeromen. >> when i'm 10 to 20 years older than she is, she has to feel good about this thing. >> reporter: and in a second video during a house tour, this book, "how to date young women, for men over 35."

one young woman he mentions coveting in his blog, neighbor patricia cohen's daughter. >> you know, he was probably looking at his window and saw her getting into her car. i mean, that's my daughter he's talking about. >> reporter: in a separate, older website, crazygeorge.com, you see pictures of sodini in happier times. an interview with himself asking, have you ever been in love? the answer? hell, yeah. lots of times. i'm still single. so, obviously, nothing ever worked out. >> i think he was conflicted. i think he wanted a relationship with women. but he was also rejected by women. >> reporter: sodini was a computer expert. he has several computers here at his home. and his digital trial is everywhere. hidden in the code of his blog, abc news found this message, hinting at second thoughts on his murder plot. at the gym, i saw a woman i like. occasionally, she makes good eye contact and smiles. to get a friend like her, and for nighttime action, i would cancel this plan.

he didn't cancel his plan. his pain never gochb. and this vigil is a reminder of the pain he left behind. john berman, abc news, bridgeville, pennsylvania. government forecasters now say the atlantic hurricane season won't be as severe as first thought. in a revised outlook issued yesterday, they say the rest of the hurricane season will include between 7 and 11 named storms, down from 9 to 14. among those will be three to six hurricanes, down from four to seven. and one or two of those will be major hurricanes. hurricane season, of course, runs through november. >> good news for those living along the gulf and the atlantic. now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. thunderstorms, from the dakotas to illinois. turning severe later in the day, with large hail, damaging winds and a chance of tornadoes. heavy rain for oregon, idaho and montana. gusty wiwes and the threat of wildfires inwiifalornia and nevada.if and scattered showers in rthern new england.

>> a high of 81 in boston. 84 in new york and 94 in atlanta. hit 101.l omaha, 97. and st. louis, 90. much cooler than normal in the northwest. 66 in seattle. 67 in boise. and 71 in portland south, phoenix will climb to 106. and albuquerque, 101. when we come back this morning, a major newspaper publisher is set to start charging for all of its online content. some say it's an extremely risky move. and safety questions about a swine flu vaccine. the health onef ar 1ly60 mlion

overseas stock markets are mixed this morning, to end the week tokyo's nikkei average climbed 0.2% today. hong kong's hang seng is sharply lower. in london, the ftse opened lower. wall street starts the day with the dow at 9256 after losing 24 points yesterday. the nasdaq fell 20 points to close at 1973. investors will be reacting to the july jobs report today, considers by many to be the most important econic report. economists are predicting job losses slowed last month to june.00, down from 467,000 in this follows some encouraging signs on thursday. first-time unemployment claims dropped 38,000 last week. rising unemployment has led to a rise in the number of americans collecting food stamps. new government numbers show a record 34.4 million people are now receiving food stamps. that is more than 10% of the

population. mortgage finance giant, fannie mae, says it needs billions more in government aid. the company is asking for nearly $11 million, after posting a quarterly loss of nearly $15 billion. the government has spent about $85 billion to keep both fannie mae and sibling, freddie mac, in business. rupert murdoch says it is time to stop giving away the news online. the chairman of newscorp says his company will start charging for access to its newspaper websites, including "the wall street journal," within the next year. experts say the company could end up losing money, by driving readers away. in today's "usa today" tech reportthe first iphone application to make turn-by-turn directions. "usa today's" ed baig took it for a ride. and said there were lots of potholes. >> i had issues with the sound. sometimes the voice didn't kick in at all. sometimes the directions came a little bit too late.

overall the routing was inper size. but the biggest problem is that you can't have the ap running when the phone rings. overall, right now, i'm going to take a pass. >> and you can read ed's full review on usatoday.com. and you can get the latest siness news anytime on our website. the address is abcnews.com. and when we come back, e florida teen who had a run-in with a hungry shark. the tale of two, little munches. n

welcome back. these are the latest headlines from abc news. pakistani intelligence officials confirm the top taliban leader, baitullah mehsud, has been killed in a cia missile strike. before heading out for their summer break, senators refueled the cash for clunkers program with another $2 billion. that's expected to fund rebates until around labor day. and sonia sotomayor will be

sworn in tomorrow as the nation's first hispanic supreme court justice. her historic confirmation follows weeks of contentious debate. the firstolunteers to test the h1n1 swine flu vaccine in the u.s., will roll up their sleeves for the shot later today. >> with companies under pressure to roll out a vaccine, there's growing questions about safety. the government wants nearly 160 million americans to get the h1n1 swine flu vaccine this fall. tests have already begun in a handful of countries to make sure the vaccine is safe and effective. the world health organization continues to answer questions about the vaccine's safety. >> we should have early results during september. during the first half of september. >> reporter: researchers say there's no reason to believe the vaccine won't be safe. it will be made in the same way and by the same companies as the seasonal flu vaccine. >> we give these same types of vaccinations all the time to tens of millions of people. and it has a very good safety

record. >> reporter: but many remember 1976, en president ford ordered a massive vaccination program. 40 million americans got the shot. but the vaccine killed more people than the flu. >> we know a lot more about >> reporter: however, even the government admits clinical trials might not identify some rare complications. meanwhile, schools are getting ready for the return of students this morning, the u.s. departments of health and human services, homeland security, and education, will announce updated guidelines for school closings, in the event of a swine flu outbreak. but the decision will actually rest with local school officials. one thing that remains undecided is whether schools will be turned into vaccine clinics. a florida teenager is hoping to go home this weekend after two surgeries to repair his leg that was torn up bay shark. before heading to the bahamas to do some spear fishing, derek mitchell researched the frequency of shark attacks in that area. he learned they were very rare.

so, he was stunned when he met up with a seven-foot bull shark. >> came up to me. and bit me. and kind of -- it still had me. but it kind of did like two, little munches. i knew it was a possibility. but i mean, we read that it was like a 1 in 11 million chance. so, i was willing to take the risk. >> the shark did more than just munch. it tore through his achilles tendon. doctors say derek is lucky they didn't have to amputate his leg. the ninth grader is facing months of physical therapy. researchers have scratched the surface of a pesky problem. it found a group of cells in the spinal cord that sends itch alerts to the brain. they were able to knock out those cells in lab mice. the study could lead to better treatments from people suffering from chronic itching. john hughes, who made some of the most memorable movies of

the '80s has died. he brought us "the breakfast club." and "ferris buhly's day off." and the popular "home alone series." he produced 23 and wrote 37. including "drill bit taylor" from last year. john hughes died yesterday of a heart attack while walking in manhattan. he was 59 years old. and leaves behind a wife and two kids. >> a great legacy of movies. coming up on rnmoerinthic g, morning," we're off to the longest yard sale in t world. >> it's going on right now. and it stretches a really, >> it's going on right now. and it stretches a really, ong way.ong way. good cnd triglycerides are still out of line? then you may not be seeing the whole picture. ask your doctor about trilipix. if you're at high risk of heart disease and taking a diet, adding trilipix can lower fatty triglycerides cholesterol numbers. trilipix has not been shown to prevent heart attacks or stroke more than a statin alone.

trilipix is not for everyone, including people with liver, gallbladder, or severe kidney disease, tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you are pregnant or may become pregnant. blood tests are needed before and during contact your doctor if you develop unexplained muscle pain or weakness, as this can be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. this risk may be increased when trilipix is used with a statin. if you cannot afford your medication, call 1-866-4-trilipix for more information. trilipix. there's more to cholesterol. get the picture.

♪ mm.. hot fudge sundae. ♪ ooh! frosted blueberry?!? ♪ over 25 flavors of kelogg's pop-tarts®. and they're all for fun nd fun for all. pop-tarts®. made for fun™.mo jeremy roenick, one of the best american hockey players ever, has called it quits. roenick played 20 nhl seasons and is 1 of only 4 americans to score over 500 goals. a nine-time all-star, roenick played on two olympic teams. we're likely to know more about the steroid case of david ortiz.

>> big papi and a baseball players union rep will have a news conference at yankee stadium, to address ortiz's name being on the list of those who tested positive for peperformance-enhancing drugs i 2003. >> as for how his team got on last night, here is mike yam at espn news. >> good morning. we start with one of the biggest rivalries, if not the biggest, in all of baseball. the yankees and red sox, going head-to-head. john smoltz making his yankee red sox debut. bottom four here. new york down 3-2. melky cabrera, skies this to right field. a three-run shot. his 11th home run of the year. bottom four here, it's now 6-3 yankee lead. jorge posada, getting ahold of that one. yankees on top, 9-3. moving to the eighth, yankees leading 13-8. dustin pedroia almost gets hit there. just for good measure. things getting heated here.

yankees cruise, 13-6. to the links. the bridgestone invitational. it's round one here. tiger woods laz won six times. phil mickelson playing for the first time since the u.s. open. he had that deal with his wife, amy, who was diagnosed with breast cancer. on 18 here, putting for par. phil shot 3 over 38 on the front nine. back nine, though, started to turn things around. lefty getting it to go down. mickelson shot 3 under 32 on the back nine to finish at even par. tiger, though, started the die on the front nine. here on 5, chipping from the rough for birdie. looks like it goes in. oh, boy. tiger can't believe it. and to be honest, neither can i. tiger on the par 4 13th, putting for birdie. that's cash. tiger, 2 under, finished at 2 under. and is trailing the leader by four strokes. jeremy and vinita, back to you. well, it is a bargain-hunter's dream. and hagglers are flocking in by the thousands.

it's the world's longest yard sale, uning from ohio to alabama, along route 127. >> how bizarre. that's 685 miles through 5 states, a national park and a world war i museum. buyers come from all over the country, looking for deals on fue,itrnel jurclryewot, ju st about everything you can think of. tools are uncomplicated? ls? nothing complicated about a pair of 10 inch hose clamp pliers. : you know what's cmplicated? , shipping. shipping's complicated. not really. with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service shipping is easy. if it fits, it hips anywhere in, the country for a lw flat rate. , that's not complicated. come on. how about...a handshake. alright. priority mail flat rate boxes only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

according to a study presented by better homes and gardens, definity color recapture. it corrects the look of wrinkles and discoloration. 50,000 voters. one brilliant winner. it's the chevy open house. and now, with the cash for clunkers program, a great deal gets even better. let us recycle your older vehicle and you could qualify for an additional $3500 or $4500 cash back

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finally, casualties of weather. when we think about the damage left behind by severe storms, cars, crops and homes come to mind. >> but their also taking a heavy toll on some of nature's beautiful creatures that can't take kovl. here abc's clayton sandell. >> reporter: colorado hailstorms ave behind a trail of damage. and scores of victims. many of these casualties show up here. >> just gorgeous creatures. >> reporter: this woman and her team of volunteers take in birds of prey. birds caught in the open prairie, when hailstorms strike. >> this is an american castor that we believe is a hailstorm victim. and he has a fracture very close to his elbow. >> reporter: lately, they've

been overwhelmed. >> here's another hawk that came in in the storm. and has damage to his left eye. >> reporter: there are nearly 200 injured birds here. empty cages are hard to come by. and even thoh they're hurt, they're still hungry. >> i just ordered 1,000 mice for almost $700. and since we need 100 mice a day, they're not going to last very long. >> reporter: caring for these birds isn't easy. they are messy. and volunteers have to contend with razor-sharp talons, and the occasional bite. >> may i have my shirt back, please. >> reporter: once the birds are healed enough, they'll come to this flight cage, where they will test out their wings before going back out into the wild. right now, there's 160 birds at this facility alone. >> there you go. >> reporter: over 3 decades, the team has