it's thursday, september 10th. >> the time for games has passed. now, is the season for action. now is the time to deliver on health care. >> but did he change minds? and what was behind heckling from the republican side of the room? the madoff tapes. admitting to outsmarting government experts. today, the feds explain how they let it happen. and judgment day. "american idol" names its new, fourth judge. and you may be surprised by the

fourth judge. and you may be surprised by the pick. captions paid for by abc, inc. good morning. thanks for being with us on this thursday. after a series of setbacks, the president hit the reset button on health care reform last night. >> in the sometimes emotional address, he talked about his approach to reform. saying, i believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't. >> he addressed partisanship, saying the time for bickering is over. and on reaching his goal, he said, there are too many americans counting on us to succeed. >> abc's john hendren begins our coverage this morning. he is live in washington. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, jeremy and vinita. the president was often conciliatory, and sometimes combative, in making his high-stakes pitch for passing health care reform now. president obama delivered an unusually impassioned argument for health care reform. >> i'm not the first president to take up this cause.

but i am determined to be the last. >> reporter: he noted the work to be done. >> and while there remains some significant details to be ironed out. >> reporter: drawing chuckles for his understatement. he repeated his support for a public health plan. >> by making a not-for-profit public option available. >> reporter: he quoted from the late senator ted kennedy. >> what we face, he wrote, is above all, a moral issue. >> reporter: he heard a lone heckler beneath the capitol dome. >> the reforms i'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally. >> reporter: the hucker will, congressman joe wilson, later did call the president to apologize. but in a republican response, the gop ceded no ground. still, the president vowed to press on. >> i will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than

to improve it. >> reporter: it remains to be seen, jeremy and vinita, whether the president changed any minds. and whether he has the coalition he needs to pass health care reform. >> and, john, you made mention of the letter from ted kennedy. that was an emotional part of the speech. >> it was. you could see his wife, vicki, in the audience. and kennedy was able to broker deals across party lines. and had he been there, the job to pass health care reform would have been a little easier. jeremy and vinita? >> thanks, john. as you heard john mention, there was an outburst during the 39's speech. republican joe wilson shouted out, "you lied" when the president said illegal immigrants wouldn't benefit from his plan. it brought quick demands for an apology from the white house and leading prns. >> totally disrespectful. no place for it in that setting

or any other. and he should apologize immediately. >> wilson later called the white house to apologize. and he issued this statement. while i disagree with the president's statements, my comments were inappropriate and regrettable. i extend sincere apologies to the president for this lack of civility. the big question this morning, was the president passionate and persuasive enough to win over the naysayers. our chief washington correspondent, george stephanopoulos, weighs in. >> i think it was the most emotional i've ever seen president obama in a major speech. his anger at the tone and tactics of his opponents was very palpable. and he even seemed to get caught up in the emotion of the moment towards the end of the speech, in those final few sentences. >> i still believe we can replace acrimony with civility. and gridlock with progress. i still believe we can do great things. and that here, and now, we will meet history's test. because that's who we are.

that is our calling. that is our character. >> what's hard to know yet is whether this made any huge difference in the congressional dynamic. my sense is no. i don't think he did much that would change the minds of republicans who are dug in against this plan. though he may have helped unify democrats, which is an important goal of his. >> george also says he believes that congressional leaders may be gearing up to try to push legislation through without waiting around for republicans to get on board. and we'll have much more reaction to this speech on "good morning america," from vice president joe biden. and also, a leading house republican. a securities and exchange commission is back in on the hot seat in front of congress over the bernie madoff mess. its inspector general is expected to explain how investigators missed years of red flags. and now, there are new tapes that show madoff wheeling, dealing and scheming. here's our brian ross. >> reporter: in this phone call in 2005, madoff can be heard carefully coaching a witness who

is about to be interviewed by the s.e.c. >> obviously, first of all, this conversation never took place. >> reporter: madoff advised the witness, the s.e.c. lawyers could easily be outsmarted. >> you don't have to be too brilliant with these guys because you don't have to be. >> you have madoff, as it were, basically talking about how inept the s.e.c. is, because he's talking how to fool them and how to do it. >> reporter: the s.e.c. inspector general found that madoff could have been stopped 16 years and billions of dollars ago. the s.e.c. offered an apology and a promise to do better. >> we apologize to the madoff investors and to the american public for not fulfilling our mission. there's no doubt about that. but the best thing we can do to make that meaningful, is to make sure we do better going forward. >> you have a lot of excuses. but no really results. and the same people are basically there. heads should roll. you should start all over. >> reporter: brian ross, abc

news, new york. a bolivian national says a divine revelation led him to hijack a jetliner from cancun to mexico city. jose flores told crew members he was carrying a bomb. and demanded to speak to mexican president felipe calderon. everyone on board was escorted to safety. the bomb flores claimed he had turned out to be an orange juice can. a calmer day is on tap for north carolina, after the western part of the state was battered by a hailstorm. the tiny ice pellets rained down yesterday afternoon, bringing highway traffic to a halt. drivers had to pull over because of low visibility. and the hail even dented some of the cars. and now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. showers and thunderstorms from florida, all the way to the southern rockies, bringing much-needed rain to south texas. heavy rain, gusty winds and coastal flooding in atlantic city, baltimore, and d.c. and thick, early-morning fog,

around chicago, milwaukee, and minneapolis. >> highs in the 80s for st. louis and the twin cities. phoenix climbs to a scorching 104. sacramento 98. much cooler in the northeast today. just 63 in boston. 65 in new york. a wet 87 in new orleans. and 89 in dallas. and coming up, we will reveal the surprising, new judge joining kara, randy and simon on "american idol." plus, fresh apples. the computermaker unveils its new line of ipods. and in sports, melanie oudin and her cinderella run at the u.s. open. my name is chef michael. and my dog bailey and i love to hang out in the kitchen... so she can watch me cook. you just love the aromas of beef tenderloin... and, ooh, rotisserie chicken. yes, you do. [ barks ] yeah. you're so special, you deserve a very special dog food. [ woman ] introducing chef michael's canine creations. the deliciously different way to serve up your love at mealtime.

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there are some encouraging signs from the federal reserve this morning that the recession may be over. a new survey finds economic activity is stabilizing or improving in most parts of the country. with manufacturers and automakers reporting strong growth this quarter. but experts warn shoppers must start spending more money to maintain any recovery. well, those encouraging signs are not enough to get companies hiring again. the u.s. had a record low 2.4 million job openings in july. while more than 14 million people went unemployed that month. but if you think in some fields there are opportunities. health care, child care, and technology are all industries that are hiring. the foreclosure crisis is far from over. but there are some signs the problem could be easing. fore close sure filings remained at record levels last month.

that was down 1% from july. a sign lenders' efforts to help troubled homeowners may be having a gradual impact. overseas stock markets are staging a solid rally this morning. tokyo's nikkei average jumped herely 2% today. hong kong's hang seng is higher. in london, the ftse opened higher. wall street starts the day with the dow at 9547, after gaining nearly 50 points yesterday. and the nasdaq climbed 22 points to close at 2060. apple wowed the tech world again wednesday, introducing its newest line of ipods. the highlight was a new ipod nano. it feature answer fm radio, pedometer to measure your footsteps, and a built-in video camera. >> all in all, apple's doing what a lot of companies have been doing lately. which is acatching a video camera to whatever it can get its hands on. if i work over at cisco, in the flip division, i might be getting a little nervous. >> apple also cut the price on the ipod touch.

and adding a newer, higher-capacity model. the 32 gigabyte model is cheaper and sells for $299. the new 64 gigabyte version, will cost $365. >> they improve them as soon as you buy one. you have to get another one. next on this thursday, a game show millionaire and the fight over her winnings. they were supposed to go toward helping disabled children, until the bill collector came calling. and then, a surprising revelation from a former president.

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special interests use the same, old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. if you misrepresent what's in this plan, we will call you out. and i will not -- i will not accept the status quo as a solution. not this time. not now. south carolina republican, joe wilson, has apologized for his outburst during the president's speech. wilson shouted "you lied" when the president said illegal immigrants would not ben frit from health care reform. and we'll have more on the speech coming up later on "good morning america." clinical trials for a swine flu vaccine are expanding. tests are adults and children are going sto well, they're ready to include pregnant women in their second or third trimester. any flu is particularly dangerous to pregnant women. scientists say the new vaccine shouldn't cause any safety concerns. it should be ready by mid-october.

we mentioned the new line of apple ipods unveiled by ceo steve jobs, who is also unveiling much more about his recent health battle. jobs got a standing ovation, during his first appearance since taking medical leave. he talked about the liver transplant he had in the spring. and expressed appreciation for the organ donor. >> i wouldn't be here without such generosity. so, i hope all of us can be as generous and elect to become organ donors. >> jobs said his donor was a young adult who died in a car accident. a who's who in broadcasting, politics and show business, gathered in the new york to celebrate the life of walter cronkite. speaker after speaker shared stories about their former friend and colleague. former president clinton talked about how cronkite reached out during the height of the monica lewinsky scandal. >> in a tumultuous summer, in

our personal lives, in 1988. we were at martha's vineyard. and walter picked up the phone and said, betsy and i want you to go sledding with us. he said, you, hillary and chelsea. he said somebody might take a picture of it. but so what? i'll never forget that. at the time, i could have done with a picture with walter cronkite. >> president obama also spoke, saying cronkite's dogged pursuit of the truth, could be a model for journalists today. in a georgia courtroom, there is a nasty battle being fought over $1 million in game show winnings. the game show's educator wanted the money to go to charities. but now, the creditors want it, instead. here's steve osunsami. >> world history. >> reporter: it was the $1 million question. and georgia's top educator, state superintendent, kathy cox, was competing for her favorite

charity. >> if i blow it, i'm still going to have $25,000 to give them, right? >> reporter: she didn't blow it. >> you just won $1 million. >> reporter: she hit the jackpot. all of it promised to three georgia schools for the deaf and blind. but that was a year ago. today, her husband's construction business has left the couple bankrupt. and their creditors are suing to get their hands all over the $1 million winnings. superintendent cox says not fair. >> was it a miracle that this happened? that i went on a game show and won $1 million? absolutely. but i said to my husband, it's not our miracle. >> reporter: lawyers for her husband's creditors say they're owed more than $3 million. that the money she won was hers. that she controls it. and that it was her decision to give it away to the kids. the lawyers are now fighting over the documents she signed before going on the program. some show the money was to be sent to her home address. but others make it clear it was all for charity. parents and friends of the students are furious with the

creditors. at one of the schools, they need the money to give deaf children job training. >> translator: i know she won that money in order to give it to the deaf students. and here we are, waiting. >> reporter: waiting any day now for a judge to decide just who is the winner. the students or the bill collectors? steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. coming up, a cinderella story ends at the u.s. open. and "american idol's" big announcement. who will replace paula abdul? my name's lisa. i'm from fayetteville, north carolina, ...and i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, you can't use that as an excuse. 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. chantix gave me that extra help that i needed to get through a tough time. (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 then i think i opened my purse and realized it was still there. 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 actions while 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

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ellen degeneres is taking on another job. fox has announced that the talk show host will be joining randy, simon and car remarks as the fourth judge on "american idol." the new announcement seals the departure of paula abdul, who said last month she would not return to the program. degeneres is assuring her talk show fans that she plans to keep both jobs. a big night here in the big apple. here's mike yam at espn news. >> good morning, america. we start with history in the bronx. derek jeter looking to become the yankees' all-time hits leader. jeter had two hits on the night. one more would tie lou gehrig. jeter, down the right field line. ties the record. his folks in the stands. they're cheering him, just like all the fans are. as are the rays. and his manager, joe girardi.

jeter at this point, tied with gehrig at 2,721 hits. jorge posada to right field. his 21st of the year. and the yankees victorious, 4-2. move over a burrough, to queens. melanie au don taking on caroline wozniacki. oudin going wide. wozniacki would take the first game. on the second set point for wozniacki, oudin, clearly frustrated here by the performance. wozniacki took the first set, 6-2. second set, oudin, off the top of the net. that goes wide. can't get any breaks. wozniacki goes up 4-2. it's match point. oudin's run at the u.s. open is over. she'll head back to georgia. jeremy and vinita, back to

you. >> certainly a sad loss for oudin. but the other young lady, wozniacki, she's 19. she's still very young to be at this level, also. >> and oudin can go home with her head held high. >> certainly. she is built for speed. and able to leap 20 feet in one stride. >> not melanie oudin. but sara the cheetah. the lastest land mammal in the world. she ran the 100-meter dash, in 6.2 seconds. sara then beat her own time, setting a report of 6.13. >> the human record, held by jamaican spinter u sane bolt, is 7sst shy of ten second 37s my commercials didn't convince you? i am definitely a skeptic. actually, my mom convinced me. and i have activia every morning for breakfast. activia definitely helped with my occasional irregularity. activia is clinically proven to help regulate your digestive system in two weeks when eaten every day. chances are someone you trust can recommend activia.

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baltimore is now crossing over into international law. how will baltimore prosecutors go after a diplomat's son. we'll have a live report. how dare they. four men accused of ripping out ripken. linda so has more. and charles dutton comes home. the famous actor is doing a one-plan play called "from jail to yale." how are you this morning on this thursday? i'm upset about the ripken statue. you? >> the duck boat tour, gone. >> you love that. >> four times i've been on those. >> you're even crying. calm down. >> i love it.

what else am i going to do with my family when they come visit? >> don't let them visit. there you go. drink your coffee because it's great. it smells like george clooney. here we go. >> how would you know? >> keep your clothes on, ok? whoo. it's thursday. we have a storm brewing in the atlantic. heading back our way. check out the winds. this is just wind speed, not the actual gusts. these are steady winds 29 miles per hour in ocean city. 9 in sparrows point. 10 mile-per-hour wind in annapolis but out of the east/northeast, chilly wind, lower 60s. check out the rain flowing in off the water. yes, just spotty showers this morning but steadier rain and heavier winds this afternoon. 68, the best we're going to do this afternoon. more coming up. 4:59. let's see what kim is smelling on the roads. >> i can't even think of a good comeback. as