it's monday, september 21st. this morning, terror plot. authorities say they have stopped a bombing plan they call the real deal. several suspects arrested but there may be more. due to fail. a new grim assessment of the war in afghanistan. can we win there without sending thousands more troops? >> and the emmy goes to -- >> honoring tv's best. did your favorite show take home >> honoring tv's best. did your favorite show take home emmy gold? captions paid for by abc, inc.

good morning. thanks for being with us. we begin with new details in the ee merging terror plot that investigators say targeted new york city. >> despite several arrests this weekend the fbi says many members of an active terror cell are still on the loose. najibullah zazi and his father are expected to appear in federal court in denver. an informant goes before a judge in new york. brian ross explains what led to these arrests. >> reporter: they were the result of a year-long investigation of najibullah zazi who has been here since 1999. the fbi and cia tracked him as he got explosives training. in court documents agents secretly copied zazi's computer and found nine handwritten pages on the manufacture and handling of explosives, detonators and the fusing systems.

>> so when he was questioned about whether or not he knew anything about the written notes and it was shown to him he denied it rit zazi's father was also arrested on charges he lied to the fbi. >> he arrested because he lied about the phone call that he made to his son when he was in new york. >> reporter: the third person arrested was the prominent leader of a new york city mosque. the fbi documents say ahmad wais afzali tipped off zazi that the police asked me about you guys and then lied about it to the fbi. so far authorities say they have no specifics on potential targets but officials tell abc news zazi's computer had images of grand central station and researched football stadiums, baseball stadiums along with sites used last week for the well attended fashion week in new york city. brian ross, abc news, new york. >> many of zazi's cell members

are still at large so security in new york will be tighter than usual. s president arrives for the united nations general assembly meeting. for more we're joined by john hendren in washington. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning. if you turned on the television at all over the weekend and watched the news you probably caught some of president obama's media blitz on health care reform but this week domestic issues take a backseat to international concerns. president obama spends the week addressing a daunting array of international relations issues acknowledging the nation's put topics like afghanistan on the back burner. >> we lost that focus for awhile. >> reporter: he will spend much of the week in new york talking on the economy today, climate control and middle east peace tomorrow and nuclear n nonproliferation at the united nations before meeting with the g-20 group of nations in pittsburgh. but at home he's focused on pressuring congress to pass national health care reform.

>> i've got to step up my game in terms of talking to the american people about issues like health care and that's been a case where i have been humbled. >> reporter: you couldn't turn the dial sunday morning without seeing the president. on nearly every broadcast and cable news network. he chose univision over fox. >> i said to myself somehow i'm not breaking through. >> reporter: risking overexposure to sell his plan. >> no president ever wants to become video wallpaper. people do tune you out because they simply assume you don't have anything new to say or they've already heard the message. >> reporter: that's a risk the white house says the president is willing to take. and he'll get another chance to talk health care reform tonight as he tapes an interview with david letterman. >> john, thanks. an urgent confidential assessment of the war in afghanistan from the top u.s. general there. reportedly warns of a possible failure of the military's

mission. according to "the washington post" general stanley mcchrystal's report says more troops are needed or deteating the taliban may be impossible. president obama said no decision about increasing troop levels will be made until after a new strategy is decided upon. in northern california, the family of murdered yale grad student annie le is making planks for her funeral. le's body was flown back to her family over the weekend. it will be held saturday. she was found dead in a yale lab. raymond clark who works in the lab is charged with her murder. a grisly discovery at a new york luxury hotel has led to the arrest of a longtime employee. the body of a business woman was discovered with her throat slashed at the essex house overlooking central park. the housekeeping manager has been arrested for the murder. more soaking rain in store for parts of the south. the atlanta area got more than five inches of rain. homes were flooded.

many cars ended up underwater and some are even swept away. the rain forced dozens of roads to close and several subdivisions were cut off. and now for this morning's weather from around the nation, more heavy rain and flooding for the south all the way up to the great lakes, drenching tallahassee, atlanta, cincinnati and detroit. heavy downpours and severe storms from the dakotas and minnesota to texas. rain in the rockies turning to snow in the colorado mountains. a chilly 52 in colorado springs and 75 in boise. phoenix will hit 105. sacramento, 96. it's 82 in st. louis. 77 in chicago and 75 in the twin cities. highs in the 70s for most of the east coast and 90 in both miami and dallas. well, hundreds of thousands turned out this weekend for a concert by some of latin music's biggest stars in of all places cuba. ♪ [ speaking spanish] >> but the megaconcert hit a sour note with cuban-americans who claimed the performers were

having a good time while ignoring the political situation in cuba. not so, says the concert's organizer. >> well, let's go to cuba. let's go there and just try to open one little window, grow a little door with music. >> in fact, that man juanes' family received death threats because of the concert. all the equipment on stage was shipped from miami with permission from the state department, by the way. coming up on "america this morning," money news with an important fed meeting this week, many are waiting to see what the central bank will do. plus, the massive manhunt to find an insane murderer. the search ends far from where the man disappeared. and john edwards' affair. new claims including plans to remarry. details coming up. i had chronic muscle pain all over. and i was so tender o the touch-- but i didn't know why. my doctor diagnosed it a fibromyalgia.

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overseas stock markets starting on a down note. markets were closed in japan for a holiday but hong kong's hang seng is lower and in london the ftse opened lower. secretary of state hillary clinton rang the opening bell in town for the u.n. general is assembly. the dow climbed at 9,820. the nasdaq climbed 52 points to close at 2132. some of the biggest names in the business world are volunteering to make major changes to pay practices. companies including hewlett-packard and at&t will endorse a set of principles on executive pay hoping to head off

more restrictive rules from washington. one of the biggest changes is tying compensation to a company's long-term success. well, bank of america has until noon today to provide congress with answers about its controversial merger with merrill lynch. a house committee investigating thdeal is demanding the bank divulge when it became aware of losses at merrill. it is trying to determine if bank of america's shareholders were tricked into approving the deal. the federal reserve holding its first policy meeting since chairman ben bernanke declared the recession is likely over. the central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates at record low levels but it could signal to investors that it will begin winding down programs designed to keep mortgage rates down and get banks lending. well, the irs is giving tax evaders more time to come clean. the agency is extending an amnesty for americans hiding assets in overseas bank accounts and have until october 15th to apply which promises no jail time and reduced penalties.

the original deadline was wednesday. who are than 3,000 americans have already applied. well, it was raining meatballs at the weekend box office. the animated comedy "cloudy with a chance of meatballs" opened in the top spot. the movie is based on the popular children's book. "the informant" debuted in second place and "i can do bad all by myself" slipped to third. well, anyone who grew up watching sci-fi movies has probably dreamed about flying in a jet pack. it can become a reality if you can afford it. a chance to do this is being auctioned off on ebay. $30,000 the initial bid. there is already one bid. >> very cool. >> if i had the money, i would do it. coming up next on this monday, police track down an escaped mental patient with a murderous past. the small screen's best and brightest.

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iso-active whitening from aquafresh. amazing. welcome back. these are the latest headlines from abc news. three men arrested in connection with an alleged terror plot aimed at new york city are expected to appear in court for the first time today. after a health care media blitz president obama arrives in new york today for the annual u.n. general aassembly. he meets with israeli and palestinian leaders tomorrow. an urgent assessment from the top u.s. general in afghanistan says more troops are needed in the next year, or the mission will likely result in failure. that according to "the washington post." in washington state there is outrage after a mentally ill killer escaped after being allowed to go on a feel trip. >> the man was on the lose for four days before being captured about 200 miles away. with the police helicopter above deputies approached him and he

gave up. police say he apparently had been planning the escape for some time. here's neal karlinsky. >> reporter: after a massive statewide man hunt fwlip arnold paul was captured outside of gold goldendale, washington while trying to hitchhike. >> i have a concern. i don't feel he is in a good mental state. >> reporter: tez a 47rd criminally insane murderer allowed to go on a field trip to the spokane county fair. he slipped his chaperons and vanished into the crowd of families who had no idea such a field trip was going on. even worst, police say the mental hospital didn't call authorities for help for two hours. >> it is very frustrating, very surprising we weren't put on notice immediately. >> reporter: especially considering paul's background. he had been committed by reason of insanity for the 1987 killing of an elderly woman. experts say most state mental

hospitals allow supervised outings but the key is determining who should go and how they should be handled. in this case an employee's union official say it never should have happened because hospital staff warned supervisors it was a bad idea. secretary of health services has a critical incident review and immediate lockdown on any of future outings. now that he is in custody officials can breathe easier that no one was hurt while he was on the lose. the focus now will be on preventing something like this from ever happening again. neal karlinsky, abc news, seattle. new details in the growing paternity scandal concerning john edwards. a former aide claims in a new book proposal edwards did father a baby with girlfriend rielle hunter and claims edwards promised to marry hunter after his wife elizabeth died. the wedding would have taken place in a rooftop ceremony with

the dave matthews band playing. well, there are reports that edwards' plans on admitting paternity soon and abc news is told that is not likely. television's best have been recognized in hollywood. if you watched the prime time emmy awards something seemed familiar. >> many of the winners had been on the stages before. >> and the emmy goes to "30 rock." >> "mad men." >> it was a case of deja vu. repeat winners for the top awards. >> we worked very hard to not have it stink the second year. >> reporter: the hit cable series "mad men" won best drama series for the second year in a row. and for the third consecutive year "30 rock," a show about a show was named best comedy series. >> that was a nail biter. we want to thank our -- everyone in our crew in long island city,

every person who works on the show. >> reporter: alec baldwin won lead actor in a comedy for his work on the show. >> i would get up here and say tina, tina, that is no less true this year. a great pleasure to work with tina and all the writers. we have the best cast and crew and writers. >> reporter: on the women's tide toni colette won best actress in a comedy for "usa of tara." bryan cranston took home his second emmy winning for "breaking bad" and glenn close won again for lead actress in a drama for "damages." >> it goes to "the daily show with jon stuart." >> they show him as the king with a seventh win in a row for "the daily show." first time host neil patrick harris showed off his talents even earning acclaim from several winners. >> very popular host and a lot

of familiar faces at the show. >> a lot of great shows. the quest for another trophy. the mirror ball begins tonight on abc an the hammer is ready. former congressman tom delay has been rehearsing with cheryl burke in texas. despite a stress fracture in his foot he says he will be ready for tonight. the three-night premiere with "dancing with the stars" begins at 7:00 central. sports is next. big day across the nfl. even a former president was there to root for his favorite team. highlights from espnews coming up. 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.

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if prescription chantix is right for you. that, of course, the shuttle "discovery" right there perched on the back of a 747 on a refueling stop in amarillo. it is making its way across the country after its september 11th landing in california. am amarillo it was flown to louisiana and will get back to florida today. miami hosts indianapolis on monday night football and dallas last night former president george w. bush and his wife tossed the ceremonial first coin at the new cowboy stadium and chatted with a recently retiree john madden. for the highlights here's will selva at espnews. good morning. a thriller sunday night in dallas between the giants and the cowboys. 105,121, largest crowd in history for a regular season game.

jones from seven yards out gives the cowboys a one-point lead. manning's pass tipped but caught by manningham and his mother and wife looking on nervously but they would be calmed down thanks to the 37-yard field goal and pull out the 33-31 victory. jerry jones watching in agony. patriots and jets. rookie mark sanchez starting in front of his home crowd. third quarter, just down 9-3. sanchez to dustin keller, nice catch. jets take the lead, 10-9 and they go on to win, 16-9. in the west, niners looking to go 2-0 hosting the seahawks and frank gore went absolutely bananas. third quarter, again the handoff and races 80 yards for the touchdown. gore, 207 rushing yards. niners ended up winning it 23-10. texans and tightens, game

tied at 24. chris johnson taking the handoff out of the shotgun goes straight up the gut and breaks free. johnson has an open house and everyone is invited to it. 92-yard td, third td of the game, fourth td pass and texans win it 34-31. that'll do it for this espnews update. now back to jeremy and vinita and "america this morning." you can call it a creative wake-up call for climate change. >> more than 2,000 people formed a massive hourglass in central park symbolize the earth in a race against time. the human countdown kicks off a series of events to highlight the dangers of global warming. to see the change in her coat. d people stop us when we're walking, and they'll say, "did you shine up her spots?" [ woman announcing ] just another way purina one... unlocks the brilliance of nature...

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i have to pay for it. >> you've heard the insurance company mottos. like a good neighbor, or, you're in good hands. so where are they? we hear from people in flooded out neighborhoods in dundalk who say they have not seen a red cent from the insurance company. and pressing for health care reform and other big issues president obama appeared on five tv talk shows. we want to you rate his performance. maryland law states only four people to a cab. you won't believe how many people were piled up in this car when it crashed. and we'll talk about your

baltimore ravens. >> it was great. >> a great win. how are you? >> great. you? >> coming off a great weekend. >> absolutely. happy monday. >> let's keep the momentum going. >> justin berk, yesterday was glorious. >> nice. chilly in the morning. we may have our second morning in at row at least for the airport down in the 40s. we're at 51 perry hall, monkton, ellicott city. 57 on the hill in westminster. 54 by brooklyn park. it's a cool morning, a pleasant morning. we've had some low clouds and fog develop especially north side of the city near loch raven reservoir near hunt valley and towards parkville. look for that, otherwise 48 to 58. it's a wide spread but typical on a fall morning, partly sunny this afternoon. let's check the roads with kim. >> at this hour the beltway looks great. no problems on the west side at liberty road. traffic moving smoo t