making news on this tuesday, april 20th. >> flights resume. the six-day delay to cross the atlantic is over for many this morning. but the volcano is not done yet. the eruption causing all the misery is intensifying. our reporter goes right to the source. and is it the real deal? did someone really leave a next generation iphone at a bar? good morning. thanks for being with us on this tuesday. there are two, little words. but they mean so much. on time. blinking on departure boards around the world this morning, as previously closed airports are reopening. >> in fact, we checked just a short time ago. and there were more two dozen

flights in the air, headed to u.s. cities from paris alone. but the good news may not lost for long. >> lama hasan joins us live from london. >> reporter: good morning to you both. the volcano continues to erupt steadily. news that many passengers will not want to hear today. but despite this, some airports in europe are open. reunited at last. families who've been stranded for days have finally making their way home. on monday, one transatlantic flight flying from amsterdam touched down at jfk. and the results? >> when we were going up, people started clapping. we realized we were the first plane to leave europe. and so, it was, like -- i said, i'm not clapping until we hit new york soil. >> i am so happy to be here. yes, i am. >> reporter: following emergency meetings, european transport officials say some airports will be open for business today. >> we should see progressively more planes start to fly.

and this is good news for europe's standing passengers. >> reporter: all long flights are scheduled to take off. but some are being cautiously optimistic. >> i have my boarding pass. but i don't believe that i'm going to fly. i'm hopeful that the plane will take off. and that it won't meet with any volcanic ash. >> reporter: but not all airports will be open. this is why. in iceland, that volcano continues to fume and belch out ash. these new pictures show just how dynamic and unpredictable the volcano is. today, forecasters say it is intensifying. and a new cloud of ash is spreading and heading towards the u.k. officials at heathrow had hoped to resume flights before a six-day in a row it will remain closed. heathrow airport is normally one of the busiest hubs in the world. but today, it is eerily quiet. and officials there will continue to track that cloud

closely to figure out just when it is safe to fly again. jeremy and vinita? it is day six for thousands of passengers stranded in airports around the globe. >> sharyn alfonsi reports from new york's kennedy airport with their story. >> reporter: the first flight at o'hare airport took off for europe. a plane full of lucky passengers, finally headed to rome. >> been keeping my fingers crossed that this will happen. >> reporter: but thousands of passengers remain stranded. the concourse of jfk looks like a campground. hundreds of passengers are settling in for day six. the red cross, delivering blankets and cots. >> have you had a shower? >> no. >> no shower? >> no shower. >> we don't have extra money to take a hotel reservation. >> reporter: and the only thing that seems to be taking flight, boredom.

>> kind of get up, do nothing. and split the day going to a different terminal. a change of scene. >> they say what you can take. >> reporter: and while patience is in short supply, kindness is not. dozens of people, like this woman, went to the airport looking for families they can help. the bartons opened their home to this family from scotland, total strangers. >> we thought that's the right thing to do. and let's do it. >> i'm so grateful to them i had this opportunity because we would still probably be stuck in a hotel room. >> reporter: but thousands of other passengers are stuck here, sleeping in the airport. sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new york. so much unhappiness caused by mother nature, which shows signs of intensifying this morning. coming up in this half hour, our reporter takes a trip to the top of the volcano. turning, now, to the next major item of president obama's agenda, fixing the way wall street does business. the bill is movering in the senate.

and as t.j. winick reports, the president is about to take his support for it on the road. >> reporter: president obama will head to wall street thursday, to argue for his plan to overhaul the financial industry. >> we don't mark the second anniversary of our financial collapse by having in place the same rules that led to that collapse. >> reporter: as treasury secretary timothy geithner huddled with moderate republicans, debate on the bill began with harsh words for republican critics. >> wall street sees no need to ensure this type of crisis ever happens again. so far, neither do our republican friends. >> reporter: senate republican leader mitch mcconnell had been calling the bill a bailout, citing a $50 billion fund to unwind failing banks. now, democrats say, they'll remove that fund. >> both parties agree on this point. no bailouts. in my view, that's a pretty good start. >> reporter: progress comes just as the powerful wall street firm, goldman sachs, is facing charges of fraud. goldman is alleged to have duped

clients in investing in a mortgage product, put together by another one its client, john paulson, was looking to profit when the product failed. >> what remains to be seen is whether senior people knew details how this was sold to investors. >> reporter: goldman sachs stepped up its defense, calling the firm's actions appropriate. but investors lost $1 billion. jeremy and vinita? >> t.j. winick in washington this morning. another of goldman's defense is greg craig. craig was hired yesterday to assist with goldman's political moves. he used to be president obama's white house counsel. and he headed up former president clinton's impeachment defense. why did a lone gunman go on a deadly shooting spree outside a hospital. one woman was killed in the attack. and two others wounded. then, the man turned the gun on himself and committed suicide. police say he doesn't appear to

be related to any of the victims. white house has announced that president obama will deliver the eulogy for those miners killed in the cold mine disaster. 29 miners died in the explosion, the worst mine disaster in 40 years. time, now, for a look at this morning's weather from around the nation. a rainy day from central california into oregon and washington today. up to a foot of snow in the see areas and cascades. gusty winds in california, nevada and arizona. strong thunderstorms from kansas to south dakota. heavy rain for south texas. and rain and thunderstorms from florida to tennessee and virginia. >> 82 in miami. 65 in atlanta. sunny, near 70, in the northeast. 60s in detroit, chicago and kansas city. mostly 70s across the rockies. wets in the 50s from seattle to sacramento. and a hot 91 in phoenix. and just ahead on "america this morning," the white house chief of staff admits he's got his eyes on another job. plus, new details on the attack that put data for

millions of google users into the hands of hackers. and nature's fury. our reporter travels to the top of that iceland volcano.

welcome back. overseas stock markets are rebounding this morning. tokyo's nikkei average closed lower but only slightly. hong kong's hang seng rose more than 200 points. in london, the ftse opened higher. the dow gained 73 points on monday. and the nasdaq lost one point.

general motors is expected to make good on a promise to fully repay the $6.7 billion loan funded by u.s. taxpayers. gm's ceo is expected to make the details public tomorrow, during a visit to a plant in kansas city. gm has already made two $1 billion payments and promised to have the entire government loan paid off before the end of june. toyota is recalling its lexus gx 460 suv to fix those stability control problems. that is the model consumer reports warned consumers not to buy two weeks ago. their tests showed the suv skidded out of control during sharp turns. toyota is offering to update the stablts control software in the lexus and land cruiser model. last year's cyber attack on google put the private information of millions at risk. intruders from china broke into systems giving access to multiple google services with just one logon. the passwords of gmail users were not involved.

but still, the information may help hackers find other vulnerabilities at google. >> it sounds like google wasn't the only company hit. numerous others had the same problem. coming up on this tuesday morning, an overnight earthquake area not used to shaking ground. plus, we will visit the top of the iceland volcano, covering parts of that nation in a thick layer of ash. and one of apple's most closely-guarded secrets, left behind in a bar.

now, for a look at morning road conditions. snow-covered roads in the sierras and cascades today. wet on i-5 from san diego to seattle. and on highways from kansas to south dakota. rain also on i-95 and other roads in orlando, atlanta, chattanooga and charlotte. if you are flying today, expect delays in seattle, san francisco, l.a., salt lake city

and vegas. in the east, charlotte and atlanta. this is something you really have to see. the volcano erupting in iceland is strengthening this morning. and in the worse of british meteorologists, a new ash cloud is spreading south toward the u.k. >> despite its growing strength, our reporter got a chance to fly to the top of it. neal karlinsky and our crew got a chance to see some of the most amazing images on earth. >> reporter: our pilot said scientists have given him the go ahead to land on the volcano for five minutes. not a second more. we set down on the north side, just over 200 yards from the exploding crater. it's hard to challenge we can be this close. but the wind is carrying everything in the other direction. and we've been assured it is safe and stable right here. the surface is pure ash. the temperatures, below zero. we're getting a pretty big one right now that you can see coming up. can't feel the explosions. in fact, they're silent. all we can hear is the wind and the sound of the rotor from our

helicopter. and our five minutes seemed like plenty, considering we're on an erupting volcano. an astonishing 750 tons of ash are released every second. enough to fill an olympic-sized swimming pool in just three seconds. driving into the fallout zone today was like entering another world. a world where birds feed on ash. and flowers are encased. saturday, we saw the same area pitch-black under heavy ash, in broad daylight. sunday was soaking wet, leaving farmers to dig out from a paste-like layer of ash. and today, there was another thick cloud. but something worse, too. this is the same place i stood 24 hours ago. you can see where i rubbed my boot to show the muddy substance. but now, it's hard. the ash has dried, almost like cement. are you guys doing okay in here? >> yes. >> reporter: is there any ash

that's getting in? >> yes. a little bit. >> reporter: many of these stoic and sturdy farmers won't leave. the question is, what will be left of this normally beautiful farm country when the mountain goes back to sleep? neal karlinsky, abc news, iceland. there will be much more of neal's reporting from the volcano, coming up on "good morning america." well, australia's gold mining region has been struck by its biggest earthquake in 50 years. 2 the 5.0 magnitude quake hit this morning, forcing mines, schools and hospitals to evacuate. hotels and other buildings were damaged. but there were no reports of injuries. here at home, president obama returns to the white house today, after a fund-raising swing in california. the president headlined several events last night for the democratic party and california senator barbara boxer. at one event he was interrupted by protesters, demanding repeal of the military's don't ask/don't tell policy. meanwhile, mr. obama's chief

of staff, rahm emanuel, was tolling pbs abc charlie rose that he would like to run for mayor in his hometown one day. and he hopes daily seeks re-election. the food and drug administration is about to take the first steps 20 put legal limits on how much salt the americans eat. "the washington post" reports that the fda and the doesn't of agriculture would work with the food industry to lower how much salt foods can contain. high levels of salt increase the risk of heart disease and strokes. the playoffs in the nba and nhl are very much in full swing. last night's highlights now from espn news. >> good morning. i'm steve weissman with your espn news update. we start in the nba, where joakim noah has been talking trash about the city of cleveland. well, lebron james, he likes the city. and does some talking with his game. big-time dunk over james johnson, who was left completely speechless.

cavs up eight. just over four minutes to play in the half. bulls down five. noah got booed a lot. and lebron, cheered heartily. two blocks in the game for james. in the fourth quarter, the three. cleveland four of four from deep in the fourth. shot 67% in the quarter. later in the quarter, james, the high arcer. 15 of his 40 points in the final stanza. cavs win 112-102. take a 2-0 series lead. to the ice, var llama in net for the caps. second period, it was all about washington. the goal on jaroslav. goes through the legs of eric fehr. caps up two. same score. this time, brooks light off the leg of the rebound. uses the stick and puts it in. later second, caps not done.

eric price, a witness. nick backstrom, behind the net, finds alex ovechkin from his knees. four goals in the second period. tied a franchise record. caps win 5-1, take a 2-1 series advantage. that's your espn news update. i'm steve weissman. back to you in new york. now, to the story that pretty much everyone will be talking about today. the next version of apple's iphone has been unveiled much earlier than expected. the website moto gives pictures of a prototype iphone, saying an apple software engineer lost it in a california bar. >> the new phone is slimmer with a larger screen and a larger battery. it has a back-facing camera with an l.e.d. flash. apple has asked for its phone back. gizmoto plans to return it. and i guess that guy is in hot water at work. >> the price tag, $5,000. probably could have gotten more for that.

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welcome back on this tuesday. now, time for a look ahead to the stories we're going to be watching today. thousands of passengers heading home after a limited number of airports reopen in europe. but those in london are still closed, as experts warn more ash is heading that way. plenty of wall street investors will be watching, as goldman sachs issues its first-quarter earnings report this morning. it comes just as the investment firm begins battling those much-talked-about fraud charges. they're going to try again today. shuttle "discovery" makes another landing attempt at kennedy space center in florida this morning. so far, it looks like the

weather will hold up. rain and overcast skies forced nasa to scrub plans for "discovery" to touch down yesterday. jury selection begins in tennessee in the trial of david kurrnal, who is accused of hacking sarah palin's e-mail account. sarah palin has been called to testify in the case. soon-to--be reteared john paul stevens is turning 90 today. stevens is only the second justice to mark his 90th birthday on the high court. he plans to step down this summer. coming up later this morning on "good morning america" here on abc, live updates across europe, as air travel picks up slightly. >> so many people crossing their fingers. of course, the latest word that flyers out of london's heathrow won't be able to go. plus, "charlie's angels" practically defined '70s television shows. and now, the show is being honored. we'll go backstage to talk with jaclyn smith and cheryl ladd.

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at iceland's volcano has entered a new phase. producing less smoke. but bubbling with lava and slow throwing up chunks of molten rock. we're getting new images of lightning beneath the lava and ash. >> experts say it's not that unusual for lightning to spark during volcanic eruptions. finally, the volcano and its ash cloud are wreaking havoc on travelers across the globe. >> but it's giving late-night comedians new material. and they're all but happy to fan the flames. >> the volcanic cloud is drifting to new york city. and they say, actually, the air quality of the city is improving. >> news organizations have been disappointingly lackluster with their news graphics. come on. it's the volcano that shut down europe. you're going with flight risks? global grounding? volcano delay? we're going to have to roll out the best volcano graphics you've ever seen. hit it. ♪

>> president obama had to cancel his trip to poland. this morning, he says he hopes the volcano will stop smoking soon. and the volcano said the same thing about him. it has been fun watching newscasters here in america and around the world trying to pronounce it. >> the -- >> the eyjafjallajokull. >> fiddle fadel, banana-rama, shows no signs of abating. >> all right. i think i'll just stick with volcano in iceland. and we'll go with that. >> care to pronounce it. >> we avoided it, as well. >> the fiddle fadel volcano. >> sounds good to me. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> get more from abc news on