making news in america this morning -- >> death threats against some house democrats who voted for health reform. others are afraid for their families at home. and overnight, the senate throwing a wrench into the bill's final passage. priest abuse. did the pope cover up an abuse case in wisconsi new details out this morning. and the major price hike coming to a multiplex near you. it's thursday, march 25th, 2010. good morning. and thanks for being with us. it has already been a busy morning on the health care

front. >> the senate adjourned just before 3:00 eastern, still working its way through the fix it bill which will return to the house because of two, minor rulings. something democrats tried to avoid. >> even that delay may be overshadowed by cases of democrats being threatened, some with death. of the newest accounts, a coffin on the lawn of missouri congressman russ carnan. and louis slaughter, who was told that snipers would kill children of those that voted yes. t.j. winick joins us from washington with more. t.j.? >> reporter: good morning. well, opponents of the new health care reform law aren't going quietly. in fact, they've only grown louder. some disturbingly so. more than ten democratic house members are receiving stepped-up security this morning, after a series of threats and incidents targeting those who voted for health care reform. >> you turncoat son [ bleep ]. i hope you die.

>> reporter: that voicemail was left for congressman bart stupak. and in wichita, kansas, and in monroe county, new york, offices have been vandalized. >> you figure out the capability. is this someone blowing off steam inappropriately. or do they really actually want to do something? >> reporter: democrats suggest republicans are to blame. on sarah palin's facebook page, crosshairs marked the districts of 17 members in congress she wants to see defeated in november. >> when people talk in the rhetoric of putting people on targeting lines or putting a target on their faces, with crosshairs, that activity ought to be unacceptable in our democracy. >> reporter: t house republican leader also condemned the behavior, calling violence and threats unacceptable. >> i know there's anger. but let's take that anger and go ouand register people to vote. go volunteer on a political campaign. and let's do it the right way.

>> reporter: even in iowa city, where the president ll celebrate passage of health care reform later today, protesters have been out in force. >> i'm tired of what obama is doing to our country. >> trying to take our private property. and i'm not okay with that. >> reporter: the senate proletarian will havto go back to the house of representatives for final approval. that's something top democrats were desperately trying to avoid. jeremy and vinita? >> an unexpected turn of event there's. t.j. winick, thank you. the u.s. and israel have failed to heal their deepest dispute in decades. netanyahu had postponed leaving washington twice because he wanted peace talks to move forward. the u.s. has been able to reach a breakthrough agreement with russia over nuclear arsenals. the treaty has cut the long-range nuclear weapons to

about 1,500. it raises hopes for further disarmament in years ahead. the president is expected to sign the treaty in a trip to the czech republic in two weeks. the obama administration will announce plans to make it harder to throw someone out of the military for being gay or lesbian. it comes as the defense departments looks at how to revise its don't ask, don't tell policy. any military dismissals due to sexuality would have to come from high-ranking officers. there's new claims this morning that top vatican officials failed to act against a pedophile priest. this time, in america. this morning's "new york times" reports that among those officials were the future pope when he was cardinal ratzinger. the paper says this involves a wisconsin priest accused of molesting more than 200 deaf boys. new documents show repeated warnings about the priest, the vatican did nothing because of possible embarrassment to the church. this follows the resignation of

irish bishop john mcgee, a former papal aide. he failed to follow his own rules of reporting pedophile priests to police. the balloon boy father is back home after his stint in jail. he will serve the rest of his sentence under house detention. last october, heene told authorities his 6-year-old son drifted off in a homemade balloon. but after a frantic effort to save the boy, it turned out heene and his wife knew the boy was in their home all along. a day after a spring storm buried colorado, nine inches of heavy, wet snow fell in denver. and some suburbs saw up to two feet. the storm knocked out power to thousands and forced schools to close. and airline delays and cancellations left thousands of passengers scrambling. and now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. rain from the gulf coast, all

the way to the northeast, drenching new orleans, chicago, cincinnati and buffalo. thunderstorms and in tennessee and mississippi valley. leftover snow in oklahoma and north texas. coastal rain from northern california to seattle. and snow in the cascades. >> 63 in sacramento. 52 in boise. and a windy 57 in salt lake city. just 34 in fargo. and highs in the 40s from the twin cities to detroit. 60s along much of the east coast. a warm 81 in miami. and 75 in new orleans. and a quick update on the red river, which is still running high. residents in northwestern minnesota have been forced to commute to work by way of airboat. the red river isn't expected to crest in that area for another week. when we come back today, social security may already be in the red, years earlier than expected.

today, the government will turn up the heat on the big banks, introducing new protections for homeowners facing foreclosures. we'll have specifics later on "good morning america." meanwhile, bank of america customers are flooding the bank with calls about its new program to modify mortgages. so far, it will only assist 4% of the millions of customers who are 60 days late in their payments. social security may be at a tipping point towards insolvency. "the new york times" reports the program will pay out more in benefits this year than it receives in payroll taxes. that wasn't expected to happen until at least 2016.

more people have been applying for benefits because they can't find jobs. and there's fewer paychecks with unemployment so high. social security is not projeblgted to exhaust itself funds until about 2037. it's time, now, for a check of market activity starting overseas. tokyo's nikkei average rose 0.1% today. hong kong's hang seng is lower. in london, the ftse opened higher. on wall street, the dow fell 52 points yesterday. the nasdaq dropped 16. well, if 3d movies make you nauseous, wait until you see the new prices. theater chains are hiking ticket prices beginning friday, with the biggest increase for 3d and i-max movies. the chains think they can capitalize on demands for these movies. in our weekly "new york times" tech remove, a look at the ipad as an e-reader the device goes on sale a week from saturday. and it could shake up the electronic book market.

"the times" nick bilton says it offers choice. >> you can buy books. this device. when you purchased the kindle, you purchased books from the kindle store. that was it. with the ipad, you'll have an opportunity to purchase from the ibook store or the kindle store or any other number of stores available. >> you can read more about this on "the new york times" website. the new york mint is looking to repeat the success it had with the quarters. the first coin featuring hot springs national park in arkansas goes into circulation next month. four more will be introduced this month. 56 in all over the next decade. >> this is going to be fun for people. when the 50 states first came out, they came out state-by-state, five at a time. people collected them. went to the bank now, there's something new. >> something like 150 million

people went out to get them. you're right. >> big market for it. ahead on this thursday, we'll check the travel forecast. plus, a big city mayor's plan to demolish thousands of homes. and the call of the wild. animals on the run i

now, for a look at morning road condions. wet highways across much of the eastern half of the nation. i-55 from mississippi to the midwest, and i-10 along the gulf coast. wet or snow-covered roads from northern california to seattle. >> if you're flying today, expect airport delays in seattle, salt lake city and las vegas. also in detroit, chicago, kansas city, memphis, atlanta and new orleans. well, it is a radical move to revitalize a city which has seen better days. the new mayor of detroit wants to tear down parts of the city and start over. >> the demolition of thousands

of homes could begin right away. chris bury reports now from detroit. >> reporter: for a city on the brink, it is a gutsy move, deciding it must shrink to survive. the new mayor, former nba star dave bing, delivered some tough love. >> i am unveiling a plan to demolish 3,000 dangerous residential structures this year. >> reporter: in its heyday, nearly 2 million people lived here. now, fewer than half that. consider the corner of jefferson and holcomb 30 years ago. look at it now. a third of detroit is too scarcely populated to function. more than 10,000 buildings could be demolished. >> we are a city in a huge financial crisis as i speak. and we've got to make some hard decisions for ourselves. >> reporter: at first, the abandoned homes will go. eventually, long-time residents may be forced out. bertha shares her block only with a vacant school. would you leave? >> no. i'll die here. >> i have green beans.

>> reporter: and anne gardens in the vacant lot next to her home. >> this is like the country and the city. and i love it. >> reporter: but she's open to a move. but if the city makes you an offer you can't refuse -- >> gone in a minute. >> reporter: the most desolate areas are those closest to downtown. the question is, what to do with all this open space? detroit businessman john hand sees vast orchards and farms. he's pledged $30 million to get started. >> massive farms. >> reporter: up to 1,000 acres. >> right. quite large. >> reporter: iowa right here in the middle of detroit. >> right here. >> reporter: this man sees small urban villages connected by parks and bike paths. >> we could become the greenest city in the country, because of the land we have, if we start to manage it correctly. >> reporter: the details, a work in progress. success could revitalize this

once great city, the consequences of failure are bleak. chris bury, abc news, detroit. a man fell to his death at the mall of america in minneapolis last night. police say the knife-wielding man had climbed over a fourth floor railing. when they approached him, he climbed over the railing and fell to the first floor. although officers rushed the man to the hospital, he later died there. new test results are raising more alarm over the abilities of america's schoolchildren. the latest figures for fourth and eighth grade students showed little to no improvement. it's a similar situation for math skills. fourth graders are showing no improvement. but among eighth graders there was a slight improvement among math scores. former new york mets and yankees star, dwight gueden, was arrested for drugs. he walked away from a two-car accident in franklin lakes. police say his 5-year-old son was in the car at the time of the accident. time, now for sports. here's we've weissman with espn use.

>> we start with a showdown in hockey. alex ovechkin and sidney crosby. that means caps/pens. alex o. scored five goals in two games against pittsburgh this season. just over two minutes, second period. game tied at 1-1. guerin past theodore. jordan staal, say it ain't so. tied at 3-3. we're going to overtime. in the o.t., here come the caps. eric belanger. tries to wrap it around. marc-andre fleury gets his stick down just in time. we go to a shoot-out. pens up one in the shoot-out. crosby beats theodore. fleury, a chance to win if he stops ovechkin. you know that's not going to happen. caps down 2-1. now, caps' chance to win it. mike knuble, big off-season acquisition. he beats fleury. the caps victorious 4-3, in the

shoot-out. to the nba, magic and hawks. dwight howard and the magic have won 11 of their last 12. orlando's made 43% of their triples in the last five games. vince carter making that stat meaningful. he had 16 points. we're tied at 84-84. joe johnson on the drive. no. john smith, yes. it's not a buzzer-beater. it's a follow finish. smith gets it in. rashard lewis didn't block out. hawks clinch their third-straight playoff berth, winning 86-84. that's your espn use update. i'm steve weissman. have a great day. back to you in new york. some passengers aboard a plane to the caribbean got a uniqueiew of an erupting volcano last month. bun passenger snapped this shot of the massive plume of smoke and ash. the exmroegs shot the cloud into the air. >> i guess they thought there

was some nuclear bomb going off. well. a bizarre chase yesterday through the streets of southern california. >> yeah. this is strange. about a dozen wild horses broke free from their corral. they galloped across parking lots and intersections for nearly two hours before border patrol officers managed to round them up. the horses were eventually coaxed back into their pens. no one was hurt. but what a show. and another wild sighting yesterday. this one in new york. >> police in manhattan cornered a coyote that's an eluding them for weeks. just when it looked like they had things under control, the coyote vanished in the crowd. >> we've been hearing about the coyote sightings in new york city. there's the little guy. scared it looks like. up next, we'll update the breaking story from capitol hill overnight. a new delay in passing the health care bill. and dangerous times for

support of the bill. the fbi is involved. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and i said, "what the heck, i don't need these..." ...i said, you know, "bye, i don't need you anymore, you're not my crutch, i don't need a crutch." (announcer) talk to your doctor about chantix and a support plan that's right for you. some people have had changes in behavior, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actionwhile taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice agitation, hostility, depression or changes in behavior, thinking or mood that are not typical for you,

or if you develop suicidal thoughts or actions, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. talk to your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which can get worse while taking chantix. some people can have allergic or serious skin reactions to chantix, some of which can be life threatening. if you notice swelling of face, mouth, throat or a rash stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away. tell your doctor which medicines you are taking as they may work differently when you quit smoking. chantix dosing may be different if you have kidney problems. the most common side effect is nausea. patients also reported trouble sleeping and vivid, unusual or strange dreams. until you know how chantix may affect you, use caution when driving or operating machinery. chantix should not be taken with other quit smoking products. with the chantix and with the support system, it worked. it worked for me. (announcer) talk to your doctor to find out if prescription chantix is right for you.

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some have been assigned extra security. republican leaders say voter anger should be channeled in other ways. today, the government introduces new protection for homeowners facing foreclosure. we'll have details later this morning on "good morning america." it's going to get harder to throw people out of the military just because they're gay or lesbian. defense secretary robert gates will announce new measures today, aimed at revidzing the existing military don't ask, don't tell policy. in other news this morning, the fda is considering tougher regulation of the tanning industry. it follows a new report that links cancer to fake tanning. and we have a sad passing to tell you about this morning. emmy-nominated actor robert culp has died. culp was best known for his role on the classic '60s tv series "i spy." >> there he is with co-star bill cosby. the show made history to be the first american weekly series to.

>> such a familiar face. robert culp died yesterday, after a fall near his los angeles home. he was 79 years old. i love the car. show me the carfax.

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finally, real men may not eat quiche. but in new york, they are gobbling up plenty of cupcakes. >> a new bakery is giving the traditional treat a makeover. especially designed for the manliest of men. there is something feminine about this frosting. >> no pink sprinkles. >> reporter: these desserts are for dudes. cupcakes covered in cammo and wood grain and covered in plaid. made by david eric's macho company called, what else? the butch bakery. the manly treats are something new in a city that's become obsessed wh cupcakes in recent years. ♪ i'm crazy for the cupcakes >> reporter: carrie sank her teeth into one on "sex in the city." walking by that busy bakery,

arrick, an out of work attorney, had an idea. his come with a massive twist, with ingredients like beer and bacon. and masculine names, too. >> i like the driller. that's maple cake with milk chocolate. >> reporter: we're going to take the cupcakes to the streets of new york david with the manly ones. we with the girlie ones. and we'll put them to the test. we have to find real men. which would you rather have? a girlie cupcake? or a manly cupcake? >> that's a good question. >> reporter: you cannot be seen eating the flowers. >> those are for my daughter. these are for me. >> reporter: goodies for guys. maybe it's an idea whose time as come. a few weeks ago, the butch bakery's website crashed from too many hits. hundreds of orders are pouring in. >> it's very interesting to be on the other side of why didn't