we begin with breaking news on this friday, april 23rd. >> wicked weather. dozens of tornado reports across the plains overnight. dangerous storms that will fire up again today. major spill. the sinking of a massive oil rig is right now pouring crude into the gulf of mexico. a potentially epic environmental disaster. and life lesson. how spongebob helped save the life of a new york seventh grader. good morning. thanks for being with us on this friday. in the south and plains states, conditions will be right today for the strongest outbreak of storms so far this season. >> tornado watches were in effect overnight, as the severe weather rolled through several states.

there have been more than 30 reports of tornados in colorado, kansas and texas. near amarillo, in the texas panhand panhandle, cameras recorded a funnel cloud as it developed into a twister. it touched down but didn't damage property. >> in colorado, the same system brought hail and heavy rain to the area. one family had to patch a hole in the corner of their house when it was hit by lightning. nobody was hurt. strong storms with the potential to endanger lives and property again today. so, what can we expect? >> accuweather.com's janette die calle, has the forecast today. >> severe weather continues in the south central. it's not over yet. it was an active thursday, with numerous reports of tornadic activity over eastern colorado and western kansas. there were tornado watch boxes in effect overnight. but we are watching this band of strong storms pushing east

through western oklahoma, extending into west texas. by day break, this will fall over wichita, oklahoma city, and dallas, affecting these areas, mainly with the damaging winds and hail. but farther east, this afternoon into tonight. so, we are going to watch for more tornadoes firing up. anywhere from eastern portions of kansas, down into eastern texas. and then, over, spreading into the lower mst river valley. >> all right. jeannette, thank you. 11 people are still missing in the massive oil rig explosion in the gulf of mexico. the platform went down 50 miles off the louisiana coast. and crude oil leaking from the oil well may cause a major environmental disaster. abc's t.j. winick has the latest. >> reporter: the deep water horizon burned for more than 24 hours, before sinking below the surface of the gulf of mexico thursday. for the family of the rig's 11 missing crew members, hope of their rescue is fading. >> they may have been aboard the rig.

and not able to evacuate. >> reporter: calling the chances of survival slim, the coast guard will call off the search before dawn this morning. >> just come home. that's all we want. now. we can't wait another day. >> reporter: 115 workers are known to have survived the blast. jay kersey's son was one of them. >> he'll be here in an hour. i can't wait. >> reporter: authorities are facing another race against time, environmental. a sheen of oil surrounded the drilling rig, even before it sank. >> coming from the lower seabed. and that's all we can say at that time. >> reporter: more than 300,000 gallons of crude oil a day may be coming from the site. and the rig also carried about 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel. at 42 miles off the coast, experts predict it could take 4

to 5 days for any oil to reach the coast. >> we are going to allow oil to be dispersed through the water column, so it doesn't affect the shoreline. >> reporter: one of the families sued the owners of the rig, claiming negligence. t.j. winick, abc news, washington. there is a new detail in the case of the three hikers jailed in iran. two are reported to be in poor health. the americans also told the swiss they're considering a hunger strike to protest how they're case is being handled. iran says the u.c. berkeley grads are spies. the families say that is absurd. the push is on for the new regulations for the financial industry, after the economic break down. yesterday, the president campaigned for it in new york's financial district. abc's linsey davis reports. >> reporter: democrats are trying to take the bull by the horns, literally. president obama is making the

case for tough, new regulatory controls on wall street. >> a free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it. >> reporter: in the shadow of wall street, at cooper union college, president obama touted the new bill as a way to protect the american taxpayer. among other things, he says it will give shareholders new power in the financial system and bring new transparency to the marketplace. >> some, let me be clear, not all. but some behind wall street forgot that behind every dollar traded or leveraged, there's a family looking to buy a house. >> reporter: not so fast said republicans on capitol hill. >> the administration said it wants to end bailouts. i say to them, prove it. >> reporter: while closed-door talks in a bipartisan compromise continue, senate democratic leader, harry reid, vowed to force votes on the reform plan as early as monday. >> no matter how hard you try to distort and distract this debate, wall street reform is coming. >> reporter: the audience of

about 700 people, included wall street heavy-hitters, like goldman sachs' ceo, lloyd blankfein. before the speech, he was all-smiles, despite his suit against his firm for misleading investors. on the floor of the new york stock exchange, traders were all-ears. the market fell more than 100 points during the day, partially because of fears that president obama would have tough restrictions on banks. when he didn't, stocks recovered. new limits on tarmacs go into effect next week, with no exceptions. airlines will not be able to keep passengers waiting on planes for more than three hours. the transportation department rejected requests from five airlines for temporary exceptions. but some airlines are warning that could worse them to cancel some flights. an unmanned plane that looks like the shuttle has taken flight. the x-37b took off last night.

its 29 feet long with a wingspan of 17 feet. it is carrying a pay load of experiments. but the air force is keeping them under wraps. they won't say how long it will be in space. turning to today's forecast. aside from the storms ripping through the plains, there are showers around chicago, louisville and nashville. snow in colorado, utah and wyoming. and light rain in the pacific northwest. >> 61 in seattle. 65 in boise. 75 in sacramento. around 70 in fargo, omaha and the twin cities. 60 in the northeast. and 80s from miami to dallas. still ahead this morning, the nation's $250 million lottery winner. >> lucky guy. they were supposed to be wap watching the economy. but they were watching something else, instead. and the middle sch

well, overseas stock markets are mixed to close out the week. tokyo's nikkei average fell 0.3% today. hong kong's hang seng is lower. in london, the ftse opened higher. on wall street, the dow added nine points yesterday. the nasdaq gained 14 points. a couple of technology giants could weigh on wall street today. investors were apparently hoping for more from microsoft. the company's stock fell in extended trading, despite a strong quarter. microsoft's profit jumped 35% from last year. the newest version of windows drove sales. as companies spent more on new

computers. and shares of amazon are set to tumble after a disappointing sales forecast for the current quarter. but sales did jump more than 70% for the first three months of this year, as consumers started spending more. the company is sending more electronics and general merchandise, in media, such as books and movies. a report out this morning is expected to show sales of new homes rose last month, rebounding from record-low levels in february. sales of existing homes rose more than expected in march, jumping nearly 7%. first-time buyers accounted for nearly half the sales, thanks to the government's $8,000 tax credit. in today's "usa today" tech report, a look at computer brain games. a study released this week finds they may not increase your brain power or i.q. and while the jury is still out, "usa today's" ed baig says they are enjoyable. >> they are fun and they are challenging. and i suppose, getting you

engaged is half the battle on whether this stuff has a chance of working. overall, i had a good time using them. but we'll have to see over time, whether i'm smarter and sharper. >> you can read ed's full review on usatoday.com. some of the most iconic gum brands are getting new packaging. wrigley's is switching the packaging from foil to paper. here's the reason. paper costst about 13% less than foil. wrigley's says the switch will not affect the freshness or the taste of the gum. >> it's good news for the environment. all-told, they're going to save about 850 tons of aluminum a year. >> oh, wow. >> a lot. >> that is quite a bit. next on this friday morning, as the economy crumbled, the economic watchdogs were watching porn at work. plus, the vice president on that famous four-letter slip of the tongue.

now, for a look at morning road conditions. strong spring storms will bring heavy flooding along i-35, from dallas to des moines today. flooding on i-40, from memphis so little rock. and i-10, from new orleans to houston. slippery in the mountains. and wet on i-5. >> expect airport delays in seattle, salt lake city and denver. also, kansas city, chicago, memphis, houston and new orleans. as the president moves ahead to touch proposals on wall street, he may need to please the regulators. >> high-paid regulators at a federal agency, that were supposed to watch the financial system, had their eyes on something else. more now from abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: some high level securities and exchange officials have spent more time viewing pornography than investigating ponzi schemes. a now report from abc news, reveals a staggering obsession with pornography.

viewed for hours at a time on s.e.c. computers. the specifics are stunning. one senior attorney at s.e.c. headquarters in washington, spent up to eight hours a day accessing internet porn. an s.e.c. accountant attempted to access porn websites 1,800 times in a 2-week period. she had 600 pornographic images on her government computer hard drive. a senior enforcement officer had a phone drive connected to his s.e.c. computer, with five videos depicting hard-core pornography. the investigation which was conducted by the s.e.c. internal watchdog, by charles grassley, found 17 offenders, senior e.h laries ranging from $100,000, to $222,000 a year. the s.e.c. would not xent on specific cases. but says it takes inappropriate use of government resources seriously. and deals with abuses on a

case-by-case basis. most of this began happening in 2008, just as the financial system was collapsing. and it's continued. the most recent case is just from four weeks ago. many of the offenders are still on the job. jonathan karl, abc news, capitol hill. the oscar-winning director of "the piano," is one step closer to facing the music in california. a state appeals court says roman polanski must return to the united states for sentencing. he pleaded guilty 33 years ago to having sex with a minor. but then fled to his native france. polanski is currently in switzerland, fighting extradition. his victim in her 40s, wants the case dropped. vice president joe biden is revealing what happened when he dropped that f-bomb during the signing of the health care bill. biden said he had no idea that the microphone was so sensitive. the vice president said it was the president who broke the news to him. >> and we got in the limo to go

over to another event. he was laughing like the devil. i said, what's so funny? i don't see anything funny about this. he said, katie, my secretary told me, when you said that to me, everybody could hear it. >> biden said he was thankful his late mother couldn't hear the remarks. >> not everybody's boss would find the humor in that. sports fans will be watching the action in new york to see who is chosen in the nfl draft. j.w. stewart tells us who was selectsed first. >> thank you. and good morning. sam bradford out of oklahoma went number one to the st. louis rams. lebron james was the first pick in the nba draft. lebron and the cavs taking on the bulls. there's lebron off the pump fake. 39 points, 10 boards, 8 assists. cavs down two. 6.2 to go. off the inbounds. mo williams for three. he had 21.

cavs down one. luol deng, this is the free throw. anthony parker, forces one up. and the bulls hold on to win. they're on the board in the series. down 2-1. lakers/thunder. game three of their series. scott brooks receiving his coach of the year award. kevin durant, in the fourth quarter. 29 points, career-high 19 boards. kobe bryant went for 24. this brings the lakers within two. jordan farmar, for three. no good. the thunder win 101-96. first playoff win since they moved to oklahoma city. they're on the board in the series. down 2-1 games. sens and pens. sidney crosby and company with a chance to close out ottawa. the third, evgeni malkin, the shot. puck goes right to sidney crosby, who scores while falling down. sidney crosby with his fifth goal of the series. the pens up 3-2. this game went to

triple-overtime. matt carriker, his first playoff goal is a game-winner for the spence they stay alive in the series. they force game six saturday in ottawa. one other note from the nfl draft. tim tebow, who won two national titles in florida, taken 25th overall by the broncos. now, back to you. spongebob, apparently doing a lot more than entertaining kids across the country. >> the cartoon character is being credited with helping to save a life. a new york seventh grader knew just what to do when her best friend started choking on her gum in music class. >> her hand's around her throat. and she's turning purple. and i'm going oh, my god. >> and miriam, she goes, allie, are you choking? >> the 12-year-old hero says she learned the heimlich from an episode of spongebob. spongebob had done the heimlich on his neighbor, after he swallowed a clarinet. >> it's okay to watch cartoons.

the $258 million powerball winner worked in a gas station convenient store. the same one that sold him the ticket. chris shaw won the tenth-largest powerball jackpot in history. his lucky win came at a pretty good time. chris says he plans to pay off his bills, buy a hot rod and a boat. and take his kids to disney world. >> that account balance got a lot bigger. we'll update today's breaking story next. tornadoes touching down in three states. just a hint of what may be to come today. and sarah palin, prepared to take the stand in the e-mail hocking trial involving her take the stand in the e-mail hocking trial involving her account. looks clean, does ? take the stand in the e-mail hocking trial involving her account. but look below the surface. your mouth is no different. brushing leaves teeth looking clean, but millions of plaque and gingivitis germs are left behind. a quick 30-second rinse with listerine® antiseptic cleans deeper. [ boom! ]

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possibly the biggest outbreak so far this season. yesterday, tornadoes hit texas, colorado and kansas. the coast guard is still looking for 11 missing oil workers, after the oil rig explosion in the gulf of mexico. and now, hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil are spilling into the waters off louisiana. one expert says it is going to be a mess for a while. sarah palin may testify today, in the trial of the man accused of hacking her e-mail account when she was running for vice president. president obama participates this morning in a rose garden naturalization ceremony for active-duty service members. later, the first family travels to asheville, north carolina, for the weekend. and a big honor, today, for comedian and director mel brooks. after more than six decades in entertainment, the 83-year-old is getting a star on the hollywood walk of fame. >> good for him. well, coming up later on "good morning america "good morning america," have the creators of "south park" gone

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a sea lion in california was definitely in the wrong place. the wayward pup was found on a

rooftop deck in new port beach. the guy who lives in the house can't believe the animal got all the way up there. it's a little underweight. so, the sea lion is being cared for at the pacific marine animal center. he is named fiddler, after "fiddler on the roof." >> how did he get up there? finally, a pint-sized invasion at officers around the country. the white house was no different. >> first lady played host to kids on bring your child to work day. and they weren't afraid to pose tough questions. >> the question is, is it fun living in the white house. and, yes, it's fun living in the white house. bo likes it, too. >> do you miss chicago? >> the thing i miss in chicago, is being able to walk out of my house and go down on the lake and ride my bike. but i can't do that here, either. so -- what i tell my girls is if there's a reason why -- if there's something i miss about chicago, it would be my family. and everybody is here with me. so, it makes it a lot easier to

adjust because all the people that i love are still right here. you know, there's never been anybody in my race who had been here. i know. i know. all right. you're going to have to go. i'm going to lead with treats. it's slippery. all right. come on. all right. you guys, stay in your seats. i'll bring him around. hey, guys. >> what did you like to see in chicago? >> i love the monument. >> she didn't mention the thing i missed the most about chicago. the deep dish pie. >> wonder if bo's missing. bo's not missing attention.