making news on this tuesday, october 12th. >> due for daylight. the trapped miners, now just hours from fresh air. and the reunions some thought would never happen. stem cell milestone. a first for doctors and a paralyzed patient who may soon walk again. and hot momma. a racy rumba by mrs. brady. one wild night on the dance floor. good morning. excitement is growing in chile. by this time tomorrow, some of the 33 miners trapped

underground could finally be above ground. >> a nonstop vigil is now taking place. and these are the latest photos of family members as they wait for reunions with their loved ones. the rescue operation they waited more than two months for is expected to begin within hours. >> emily schmidt has more on the miners' final day deep within the earth. >> reporter: after more than two months of watching chile's 33 trapped miners from 2,000 feet above the ground. ♪ families are gathering now to pray that a face-to-face reunion is just hours away. the hope intensified after workers successfully tested the rescue capsule along the escape route, carrying bags of sand, all but 40 feet to the depth of the miners. the capsule didn't loosen up along the way. >> these tests have been very successful. we sent some tv cameras inside. we are pretty sure that the cage will behave properly as it has

been designed, during the rescue process. >> reporter: still, the trip will not be easy. the men will be in a capsule only slightly larger than the diameter of a basketball hoop. riding in a twisting capsule 20 minutes to the earth's surface. they will wear an oxygen mask, while monitors on their heartbeat and temperatures. then they will be taken to a hospital, where these beds are prepared for them. and computers are loaded with their medical histories. the drill that reached the men over the weekend, was given a heroes' farewell. but two americans who worked on it say the men below are the true inspiration. >> the real hero is the guys that's kept them alive and kept them alive on very, very little food. and they have somehow put it together. >> reporter: we have one glimpse into what these miners are thinking in these hours before the rescue. they have asked for shampoo and shoe polish so they can look their best before reuniting with

their families for the first time since august 5th. rob and vinita? >> we certainly heard from the families. do we have any idea when we hear from the miners themselves about the crazy experiences underground? >> reporter: everyone is waiting. the whole world. they have put out a statement saying they want to spend two days with their families before they speak publicly. before they do, though. some of the rescue pictures may speak volumes. the international live broadcast of the rescue, set to begin later tonight. rob and vinita? >> emily schmidt, thank you for the report. two were killed when a grenade exploded inside the chinook helicopter. the helicopter, with about 26 people onboard was already on the ground in eastern afghanistan, when the blast occurred. it's not clear if the grenade was fired at the helicopter or came from within. also in afghanistan, british and american investigators are looking to the failed rescue of an aide worker. lyndon norgrove had been held by the taliban when u.s. and nato

farces staged a raid to free her. now, there's evidence that american forces accidentally killed her with a grenade. today is the tenth anniversary of the suicide bombing of "the uss cole." 17 american sailors were killed in the al qaeda attack that happened in a port in yemen. the al qaeda group based there, has released a new online magazine, with tips on how to kill americans. analysts say it rejects spectacular attacks in favor of smaller, one-man operations. it is three weeks until election day. and democrats are hitting republicans hard about foreign money. president obama is accusing the u.s. chamber of commerce of using foreign cash to fund political ads. anyone of the groups could disclose its donors' list. the chamber has spent $20 million in this year's campaign, mostly attacking democrats. it claims no foreign money is being used to pay for political activities. the republican candidate for governor of new york is refusing

to apologize for comments he made about gays. carl paladino told jewish leaders he does not want children brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is acceptable. during a parade, paladino insisted he is not anti-gay. abc's linsey davis talked to him on the parade route. >> reporter: what would you say to the gay population today? >> i'm 100% in favor of gay rights. >> reporter: and that is? >> his democratic opponent, andrew cuomo, said the comments were reckless and divisive, in light of recent anti-gay violence in the city. anti-gay sentiments may have driven another teenager to suicide. 19-year-old zach harrington from norman, oklahoma, took his own life earlier this month. his parents say he had attended a community hearing, during which many people spoke out against declaring a gay history month. and they suspect those sentiments then drove the young man to suicide. we should get new details

this morning about the mysterious disappearance object a young girl in north carolina. 10-year-old zhra claire baker was reported missing over the weekend. she uses a prosthetic leg. a police dog connected the smell of human remai on the cars belonging to her father and stepmother. new yorkers got a dose of wild weather usually reserved for the heartland. it dumped so much hail, it looked like the ground was covered with snow. and in new jersey, rain and heavy lightning forced them to delay the game twice. >> crazy night here. now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. cooling down with the lingering showers from new york city to boston. stormy in the south with large hail, 70-mile-per-hour winds, drenching rain and flooding from memphis to birmingham. light rain around st. louis, kansas city, chicago, milwaukee and michigan's upper peninsula. >> 92 in sacramento. 94 in phoenix.

60s from seattle to salt lake city. 71 in the twin cities. 80 in indianapolis. 60 in boston. 70 here in new york. and 80s from baltimore to new orleans. president obama's morning workout may be a bit longer this morning. >> the president wrapped up his visit to miami last night at a cuban restaurant, where he ordered special hamburgers made of spanish sausage, topped with french fries. the president paid for the meal himself. and then warned reporters not to tell the first lady. >> we know all of the spots he likes to get burgers between d.c. and his visits. >> he likes to eat. when we come back, we'll update the top story, the final hours before the rescues begin in chile. our reporter is there. and the first reviews are in. can microsoft's newest smartphone outdo the droid? we'll be right back.

pay on wall street is reportedly on a record pace for the second-straight year. "the wall street journal" reports the top publicly held financial firms are on-pace to pay out $144 billion this year. that's up from last year. the journal says it's rising but not as quickly as pay. this morning, overseas markets are down. tokyo's nikkei average lost 200 points today. hong kong's hang seng is down in late trading. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, it starts the day with the dow at 11,010,

after gaining 3 points yesterday. the nasdaq index rose just slightly. the microsoft highly-anticipated windows phone 7 operating system will be in stores november 8th. the system works with nine, separate phones. phone 7 divides categories such as contacts, ms office, and games into hubs, making them easily accessible from the touch-screen. "new york times" technology blogger, nick bilton, said smartphone users are bound to notice. >> a lot of smartphones have traditional icons on their desktop. the windows 7 phones has cubes that follows you on the device, your x-box and other experiences. >> at&t is offering three of the phones for $200 each. a luxury liner will cruise the seven seas. "the queen elizabeth," or "qe 3" was kristened. rates top out at $25,000 per

person. people want to get on that boat. >> should have gotten on that, too. next on this tuesday morning, a florida teen accused of slowly poisoning her family. embattled quarterback, brett favre, on "monday night football." we'll take you to the dance floor and the moves one judge called sexy, raunchy and dirty. [ male announcer ] if you've had a heart attack caused by a completely blocked artery, another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack that's caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming dangerous clots. ask your doctor if plavix is right for you. protection that helps save lives. [ female announcer ] certain genetic factors

and some medicines, such as prilosec, reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase. people with stomach ulcers or conditions that cause bleeding should not use plavix. taking plavix alone or with some other medicines, including aspirin, may increase bleeding risk, so tell your doctor when planning surgery. tell your doctor all medicines you take, including aspirin, especially if you've had a stroke. if fever, unexplained weakness or confusion develops, tell your doctor promptly. these may be signs of ttp, a rare but potentially life-threatening condition, reported sometimes less than 2 weeks after starting plavix. other rare but serious side effects may occur. -is that we're almost... -everywhere. thousands of banking centers. and so many atms. all over the place. the new atm machines are really cool. -no deposit slips. -no envelopes. [ woman ] deposit your checks right here. and get the check images on your receipt. we have banking apps for mobile phones. don't forget online banking. -you can set up alerts. -transfer funds.

-view your balances. -thousands of banking centers. -loads of atms. -mobile banking. -online banking. -text banking. i gotta get back to work. [ male announcer ] bank whenever, wherever, however you want. with bank of america. this is certainly not the way you want to be hanging out after a parachute jump. a 35-year-old skydiver got stuck in a tree yesterday in massachusetts. he apparently flew offcourse because his main chute and emergency chute deployed on the way down. he was about 75 feet off the ground for about 3 hours before finally being rescued. now, for a look at your morning road conditions.

flooding on i-20, from shreveport to montgomery. and on i-10, from houston to new orleans. wet on i-55 from chicago to st. louis. on i-40, to tennessee. and i-94, from madison to chicago. >> if you're flying today, you x expect some airport delays in denver, chicago, memphis, houston, new orleans, boston, philadelphia, new york and miami. of course, this morning we're following the latest developments in our top story. final preparations being made for the rescue of those 33 trapped miners in chile. >> the men could be free by this time tomorrow. jeffrey kofman is at the mine with the last-minute details are now being worked out. >> reporter: they are now counting the hours, after enduring grueling conditions 2,000 feet underground. 90% humidity. 90-degree temperatures. the 33 miners who have been trapped in this remote mine in chile, since august 5th, on the cusp of being rescued. the most challenging underground

rescue ever attempted. but their ordeal is almost over. early monday morning, engineers tested the rescue capsule. sending it all the way down the shaft that was completed over the weekend. and they said it went without a hitch. it didn't spin. it didn't get caught. no rocks fell. they need to complete a winch that will pull that capsule to the surface with the men inside. then, they will be ready for the rescue. they expect that to happen through tuesday. and they say the rescue itself could happen much faster than expected. some say within 12 hours to 16 hours. meaning all of this could be over by wednesday. now, in these final moments, we're hearing some very moving details from the men below. they've asked for a few special things to be sent down to them. to collect souvenirs of their own. they've asked for shampoo. that's an underground waterfall they've been cleaning before they come up. they have asked for shoe polish because they want to be presentable for their families.

jeffrey kofman, abc news, at the san jose mine in chile. a disturbing story out of florida. a young girl there is under arrest this morning, accused of trying to kill her adoptive family. police say the 13-year-old confessed to using bug spray to poison her mother, brother and adopted sister for a year. the mother's healthed a deteriorated. and tests recently detected traces of arsenic in her blood. >> she sprayed the insecticide on her food as it sat on the dinner table. sometimes mixing it with dog feces. then, she would put soap in the water. >> the girl was adopted four years ago. her adoptive father was the only member of the family who was not poisoned. big medical news this morning. for the first time ever an embryonic stem cell treatment is being tested on a human patient with a spinal cord injury. the company conducting the test won fda approval after showing

positive results in lab rats. they had little use of their hind legs. but were able to walk again after being injected by embryonic stem cells. but doctors are playing down expectations. >> i think we should anticipate many failures before we ultimately see success. >> human volunteers for the study will be recruited over time, right after suffering a spinal cord injury. they must receive their injection of embryonic stem cells within two weeks of the injury. and now, to sports. texas and tampa bay will decide the winner of their first-round baseball playoff series tonight. highlights from last night's games now from will selva at espn news. >> good morning. "monday night football" featuring the vikings and the jets. there is number 4, returning to the place he once called home. third quarter. vikings down 12-0. favre to randy moss, making his vikings debut. the vikings, 12 for 7.

shonn greene, nothing but a trail behind him. jets up 22-13. vikings down 22-20. favre, intercepted by dwight lowery. he had an open house. everyone's invited to it. disappointment for number 4, as the jets end up winning this one, 29-20. baseball. bobby cox, needing a win for game five. otherwise, early retirement for him. derek lowe. a no-hitter. 5 1/3 innings. cory ross gets the hit right here. game tied at 2-2. bases loaded. ross getting one through. buster posey is in. pat burrell is out at the dish. inning over. but damage is done. giants lead 3-2. bottom nine, it all comes down to brian wilson, looking for the save.

and mission accomplished, as melky cabrera pulls -- that was close. travis ishikawa makes the catch. giantsed a dance in the nlds. bobby cox, it is the end of his managerial career. as for the g-men, brian wilson and company, they are happy moving on to the nlcs, as we mentioned, to play philadelphia. that will do it for this espn news update. now, back to new york and "america this morning." another split out of hollywood this morning. and people are saying this one's pretty unbelievable. courteney cox and david arquette have announced they have been separated for some time. they released a joint statement saying they remain best friends and responsible parents. cox and arquette have been married since 1999. hay have a 6-year-old daughter. now, to the ballroom where jennifer grey is holding on to first place. >> she dazzled fans last night. but florence henderson's rumba was too sexy for one judge who

called it raunchy and dirty. but the 76-year-old fired back saying the judge was getting turned on by her performance. and the judges were unimpressed by mike "the situation." they judged him dead-last. >> he will walk away from this okay. >> he will be just fine. apparently so will mr. s brady. coming up next, the stories we'll be following today, including a strong, new storm, we'll be following today, including a strong, new storm, taking aim at the coastline. tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic.

when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain, you and your doctor need to balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, including celebrex, may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor about your medical history and find an arthritis treatment that works for you. ask your doctor about celebrex. and, go to celebrex.com to learn more about how you can move toward relief. celebrex. for a body in motion.

about how you can move toward relief. have you tried honey bunches of oats with real strawberries? wow. it's seriously strawberry. they're everywhere. it's in the bunches, on the flakes, even real strawberries in the mix. can i have some more? honey bunches of oats with real strawberries. it's delicious. nobody does it quite like us.

now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this tuesday. it is just hours, now, before the first of the trapped miners is expected to take a 15-minute journey to the surface. the men have asked for two days of privacy with their families before they speak about the ordeal. president obama remains in campaign mode, now just three weeks until election day. he's addressing a town hall-style meeting later tonight, sponsored by the democratic national committee. prosecutors begin laying out their case against accused ft. hood shooter, nidal hasan. the hearing will discover whether there's enough evidence to court-martial hassan. paula is dumping rain in honduras before heading to the yucatan peninsula. paula is expected to strengthen into a hurricane some time this morning. a new book by former south african leader, nelson mandela, goes on sale today in 20

countries in 20 languages. "conversations" was compiled by a team of archivists and collaborators who worked from decades of notes, recorded conversations and other material. more news from abc after this. ♪ are you ready? he's not talking about work. ♪ i don't want to work he's not tucking in his shirt. ♪ everybody, now! he's not checking messages every 9 seconds. and now this? ♪ i don't want to play ♪ i just want to bang on the drum all day ♪ [ ship horn blows ] ♪ now the healing power of touch just got more powerful. introducing precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving cream works quickly to activate sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals fast

for relief you can feel precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol.

and finally this morning, a new outlook on life for a child bride who survived a cold-blooded attack. >> the young afghan who was brutally disfigured is now in california for reconstructive surgery. as diane sawyer is telling us, she's facing a long road to recovery. but she's already making strides. >> reporter: she was just 12 when she was given to a taliban man who married her and abused her. after she tried to run away, the village men handed down the sentence. her husband cut off her nose and ears, while his brother held her down. left for dead, she managed to crawl, first to her uncle's house. but he refused to help her. but she kept on, until a relative got her to a hospital run by strangers. the strangers were an american military medical team who cared for her for 2 1/2 months and gave her something she hadn't had, kindness. they even taught her a little

english. >> what's up? >> reporter: after that, she packed her sparkling new pair of shoes to come to america, for surgery to give her a new face. surrounded by caring strangers who speak fluent farsi, let her read letters on youtube and give her counseling. this month, she was fitted with a prosthetic nose. she puts it on herself with a special stin adhesive each morning. a preview of what the surgery will make permanent. aisha, on the red target. it was a benefit for the grossman burn foundation. she laughed with a favorite musician. and met with former first lady, laura bush. she was honored by california first lady, maria shriver. and already now, in the mirror, a hint of the girl she dreamed