this morning, quarantined. >> fears of a deadly disease kept passengers on this commuter airliner for hours. men in masks boarding that plane, until finally, the all-clear. on alert, increased talk from terror groups before next week's first anniversary of osama bin laden's death. also, this heartless crime, caught on tape. two elderly women, one in a wheelchair. the culprit turned in by his own dad. and steve jobs' plans revealed. his plans for a willy-wonka-style celebration. and good friday morning, everybody.

i'm rob nelson. >> i'm sunny hostin in for paula faris. it was a routine flight between detroit and chicago, that began tapping into global fears of a deadly epidemic and triggered a nightmare on the tarmac. >> passengers were trapped onboard for hours, while medical officials, in masks, no less, boarded that plane to investigate. delta flight 3163 stopped short of the gate at chicago midway. and the captain explains why. >> apparently someone is onboard. and they may or may not have something. >> reporter: 3 crew members and 43 passengers are onboard. some snapped pictures of the first responders. there was fear it was monkey pox. >> am i going to make it back home? am i going to be in a suit just like the other people outside? we're looking outside of the window, and there's people suiting people up in masks and gloves. >> reporter: seavers is the target. she is adopting a special needs child from uganda and was

returning from africa. >> she thought she had bedbugs, is what she told my grandma. >> the child had some type of rash. she came back in the country with a rash. her mother got upset. called health officials. >> reporter: so, responders took pictures of sievers on the plane and sent them to health experts. passengers were doing their own research. >> we're doing ebola virus and smallpox. does it look like this? >> reporter: but the centers for disease control decided there was no threat. >> once they told us it looked like bug bites, nothing crazy, we were calmer. >> some wild moments on that plane. we'll have much more reaction from those passengers coming up later on "good morning america." well, travelers can expect to see tighter airport security across the country, as the u.s. braces for a possible terror attack. intelligence officials are not aware of any specific threat. but they say there's been increased chatter, especially from al qaeda in yemen, as we approach the first anniversary

of osama bin laden's death next week. that anniversary also prompted the u.s. embassy in islamabad to order american employees to stay out of pakistan's restaurants and markets for two weeks. and the gruesome photos of bin laden's dead body will not go public. a federal judge denied a request by a conservative watchdog group to release the pictures. the justice department argued that the images could be withheld to avoid violence against americans. turning to a fight on capitol hill, a fight all about interest rates on the federal student loans. the house, today, is voting on a plan to block an increase in those rates. and since it's an election year, there is an issue. abc's tahman bradley reports from washington. >> reporter: republicans and democrats agree in theory that now is not the right time to raise federal student loan rates. but in washington, it's never that simple. lawmakers are battling over how to pay for preventing college loan interest rates from

doubling from 3.4% to 6.8% in july. this week, president obama traveled to three battleground states and attacked republicans for failing to introduce legislation to stop the increase. >> we can't make higher education a luxury. it's an economic imperative. every american family should be able to afford it. >> reporter: house republicans have set a vote today on a gop bill that would keep interest rates intact for another year. republicans want to pay for it by cutting spending from the president's health care law. speaker john boehner accuses president obama of using taxpayer money to launch his election year attack. >> frankly, i think this is beneath the dignity of the white house. and his campaign ought to be reimbursing the treasury for the cost of this trip. >> reporter: senate democrats have a different idea for how to keep interest rates the same. they want to raise taxes on the wealthy and erase subsidies to oil and gas companies. while washington dukes it out, students are watching closely. >> i do 100%. yeah. pretty much, i'm funding it entirely through federal loans.

>> people who graduated with an education in the 1960s have a whole different experience. they could afford their education. they could pay them off. this generation is a generation of debt. >> reporter: the obama administration says if the student interest rate doubles, it will cost low and middle-income students on average, $1,000 over the life of their loans. rob? >> tahman bradley, thank you for that report. and one more political note to pass along to you this morning. newt gingrich is no longer receiving secret service protection. the absence of a detail of agents is the newest and latest sign that his presidential campaign is finally coming to an end. gingrich is planning to officially drop out of the race on tuesday. and then, throw his support behind mitt romney. the new witness taking the stand today in john edwards' campaign finance fraud trial is expected to be the wife of former aide andrew young. in his testimony yesterday, young was forced to admit that much of the money used to keep

edwards' mistress quiet went towards improvements to his family home in north carolina. expect more testimony along those lines today. young says his wife deals with the family's finances. and an attorney for george zimmerman could get an earful from a florida judge today. that's after he admits that a website set up for zimmerman's legal defense fund raised over $200,000. that website has since been shut down. at his bail hearing, zimmerman's family was portrayed as being of limited means. u.s. customs and border patrol agents have made a massive drug bust in the caribbean. they just released these photos from last friday, showing the seizure of $362 million worth of cocaine. the agents spotted smugglers in two speeding boats about 100 miles off the coast of panama. they seized nearly 5,000 pounds of coke, as you see. much of it was dumped there in the water. and we're just getting some images from tennessee where people are cleaning up after getting battered by a sudden

storm. the winds were so powerful last night, that they overturned cars in a parking lot near nashville. and some are saying it was a tornado. several people suffered minor injuries. and a tree crashed into the roof of a mobile home. >> what a rough start to spring it's been. so many parts of the country. wow. time, now, for a look at weather across the country. as you start your weekend, up to ten inches of snow in the northern rockies. rain in the pacific northwest, and also from dakotas to des moines. hail and damaging winds from parts of kansas, and missouri. blustery in the northeast, with morning showers from northern new england. >> 62 in boston. 59 right here in new york. mostly 80s from dallas to atlanta. 50s in chicago and the twin cities. phoenix heats up to a nice 86. and sacramento, 73. all right. coming up next after the break, the rare sight in the skies today above new york. plus, advice if you're planning to fly this summer. we'll tell you when to expect

airfares to go up again. and game over. a season to forget for one dismal nba team.

welcome back, everybody. business news this morning. chrysler is back. the automaker reports its best quarterly profit in 13 years and 400% better than the same quarter just a year ago. sales have picked up, along with the u.s. economy. and chrysler has cut costs, so it makes more on every sale. it's a huge turnaround after

that $12 billion government bailout. and in the new economy, online retailer, amazon, also reported some blockbuster quarterly earnings. they did beat expectations, thanks in large part to its kindle computer and its ereader. amazon is investing heavily in its products. and the kindle sales will pay off. new financial woes for spain, one day after the s&p stripped it of its a credit rating. checking overseas markets. tokyo's nikkei average fell 40 points today. hong kong's hang seng is also down in late trading. in london, the ftse off to a lower start, too. on wall street, the dow opens nearly 114 points higher today. and the nasdaq index is up nearly 21 points. well, getting away this summer could be expensive. ticket prices are 3% higher than last year. and even more for international travel. according to the booking website, travelocity.

the airlines have raised prices three times so far this year. expect another one before memorial day when the travel season kicks into high gear. >> not a shocker there. we learned overnight that among steve jobs' inspirations was to be willy wonka. a new book about the apple co-founder, says just like wonka's contest for a factory tour, jobs wanted to put a golden ticket on the 1 millionth imac. it would give a tour of the headquarters and a refund. the contest laws were against it. how nice that would have been. always thinking, steve. next on this friday morning, the secret service sex scandal. new allegations, believe it or not, of wild parties in yet another country. and a huge step forward in the effort to make college football's bowl season a little more like march madness. ♪

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well, new yorkers are getting a rare treat this morning. an upclose look at the space shuttle "enterprise" piggy backing on a jumbo jet. it will fly low over some -- it goes on permanent display in the month of june. now, for a look at your morning road conditions. wetten i-20, from atlanta, to colombia, south carolina. and i-40, across tennessee. hail and rain on i-35, from des moines to oklahoma city. and slick spots on i-90 and 94 in the dakotas and northern rockies. >> a very good day for flying, with the exception of possible airport delays in kansas city.

well, major developments in the secret service sex scandal. the agency moved quickly to punish the agents involved in this month's presidential trip to colombia. >> but it looks like the trouble is far from over. new allegations have now surfaced of wild partying in el salvador before the president visited there back in march of last year. now, a government contractor tells a seattle tv station that he accompanied secret service personnel to strip clubs. and he says, at least two of the men brought prostitutes back to their hotel. and some surprising word from media magnate rupert murdoch. he apologized for the phone hacking scandal that's marring his company. news corp. is being sued because the journalists hacked the voicemails of celebrities and other folks in search of scoops. murdoch said he was kept in the dark by that hacking. but he did not name any names. a florida father has turned in his own son after spotting him on surveillance video

preying on two elderly women. boca raton police say the man on the scooter is 19-year-old adam barditha. he snatches the purse as she prepares to get on the bus with her 97-year-old sister who is in a wheelchair. both women fall to the ground. the 97-year-old broke two ribs. and what goes up must come down. the question is, where? two army paratroopers in seattle might be embarrassed after getting stuck in a tree. they were doing a routine jump when high winds blew them into the high branches. firefighters needed their tallest ladder to rescue the paratroopers who are based at lewis-mcchord. they're both okay. major college football is one step closer to a playoff. at a meeting in florida, the commissioners of all the major conferences did agree to a four-team playoff beginning after the 2014 season.

a lot of questions have to be answered, how to pick the teams involved. and where and when to play the games. the hope is to have the details worked out over the summer. a lot of college football fans happy about that. there was no surprise last night as the nfl draft got under way. stanford q.b., andrew luck was the first overall pick. he is now off to indianapolis, where he will take the place of the one and only peyton manning. big shoes to fill. rounds two and three of the draft, set for tonight. also, the nba playoffs get under way on saturday. and in hockey, the second-round lineup is now all set. highlights, now, from espn news. >> good morning, and welcome to your espn use update. i'm zubin mehenti. senators/rangers. ottawa's never won a game seven. derek stepan, to staal, lights the lamp. it's 1-0. brandon dubinsky, to girardi.

that's girardi's first playoff goal. new york takes a 2-0 lead. the senators, give hem credit. they fight back. one-timer, past lundqvist. to cut the deficit in half. but lundqvist had 26 saves. panthers and the devils. game seven in the eastern conference final. scary moment. action resumes. backhander, 2-0, new jersey. panthers, with under four minutes to go and down a goal. on cue to tie it at 2-2. heading to overtime and then double-overtime. the reach by new jersey.

got it. devils take the lead, 3-2. and florida's magical season comes to an end. this is the way it looks in the eastern conference. the rangers will face the capitals. and the flyers will take on the devils. the last time those two met in the playoffs, back in 2010. a victory for philly. one more sports note to pass on to you this morning. the charlotte bobcats' season is finally over, mercifully, with their loss to the new york knicks last night. they finished the season with a final record of 7-59. michael jordan ain't too happy. >> no. that means their winning percentage was just 1.06. charlotte lost the last 23-straight games. >> a dubious distinction for the bobcats. coming up next, the guy that might be the worst boyfriend

anywhere. and a 3-year-old's supreme disappointment after he thought a foul ball wiz his. [ scott ] i grew up playing with little toy trains and now i build them. i am a bigger is better kind of guy. i absolutely love building locomotives. i knew i wanted to design locomotives from when i was very young. [ jahmil ] from the outside it looks like such a simple device. when you actually get down into the bare bones of it, there's so much technology that's submerged. [ rob ] my welds are a signature, i could tell my welds apart from anybody's. you lay down that nice bead and you look at it, i love it. they don't go together by themselves. there are a lot of little parts, and everyone has their job. [ scott ] i'd love to see it out there on the open tracks. and when i see it, i'm gonna know that i helped build that thing. [ train whistle blows ] here she comes! [ bell clanging ] [ train whistle blows ] wow! [ charlie ] well, it's one thing seeing them built, but then to see them out here, pulling freight across america, it makes us proud.

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stronger than the leading rippled brand. for a confident clean. time to check "the pulse," everybody, stories you'll be talking about today. a couple who had baseball fans across the country crying foul. >> the couple were vilified when they kept the foul ball from wednesday's rangers/yankees

game. even the yankees' announcer was outraged, when 3-year-old cameron shore cried his eyes out for the ball. but leonard said he never even noticed the crying kid. >> had we seen that he was upset, and we would have known for an instant. we're just not a person who knows us, that wouldn't agree, that we would have given the ball to the child. >> someone from the bullpen gave little cameron another ball. so, he left the park a happy, little boy. by the way, his mom says she doesn't think the couple did anything malicious. that couple getting married this weekend. finally, this guy, ain't no brain surgeon, let's say that. but his are video is getting lots of hits online. there he is, explaining to a camera that he's about to prank his girlfriend when she gets home. the prank, he's going to pose like a robber in a mask. >> yeah. sounds like trouble. here goes.

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because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. zyrtec®. love the air. updating our top story. the neighborhood near nashville is cleaning up from a sudden tornado. it overturned cars and brought down a scoreboard. several people suffered minor injuries. the house votes today on a bill to keep interest rates on millions of federal student loans exactly where they are. if it does not pass, though, those rates would double july 1st. and george zimmerman's attorney tells a judge that the website for his defense in the trayvon martin case raised over $200,000. zimmerman is free on $150,000 bail. a look at your weather. snow in the northern rockies. showers from the dakotas to des moines. severe weather in the plains. thunderstorms from nashville to the carolinas. and finally from us this morning, from a presidential

slow jam -- >> do some verbal gaffes along the campaign trail, we've got it all in your "friday funnies." >> now, is the time to heed the timeless advice from teddy roosevelt. speak softly and carry a big stick. end of quote. i promise you, the president has a big stick. [ laughter ] >> trust me, i found out the hard way. >> kind of a goofy mishap for president obama yesterday. i don't know if you saw this. when president obama stopped at a diner yesterday in colorado, a young female college student accidentally spilled yogurt on him. yeah. after hearing this, bill clinton said, of course, yogurt. that's what i should have said. >> some members of congress, specifically senator chuck grassley from iowa, are concerned that enemies of the united states could be using women like these to get classified information.

these are two of the most notorious foreign intelligence agents. you can see, the beauty is almost impossible to resist. especially the chubby one. looks like they have a chico's in north korea. >> students just have to make this rate increase work. frankly, i don't buy it. >> mm-mmm. the barackness monster ain't buying it. we know our legislative bodies in the house, tossing and turning with ladies of the night. but still, republicans disagree and can even filibuster. but if they do, the president says they're going to feel it, buster. ♪ >> that is how we slow jam the news. >> oh, yeah. >> what a week it was.