making news in america this morning -- >> swine flu fears. more people are afraid of getting the virus. but getting the vaccine may be near discovery. grim discovery. police find the body of a girl resembling somer thompson. and world series return. the phillies get a spot in the fall classic. their opponent could be decided tonight. it's thursday, october 22nd, 2009. good morning. i'm linsey davis, in for vinita nair. >> i'm jeremy hubbard. the matsdzive government campaign to get americans

vaccinated against the swine flu has run into roadblocks. there's still not enough vaccine to go around. >> and lingering questions about the vaccine's safety. viviana hurtado is joining us live from washington this morning. good morning, viviana. >> reporter: good morning, linsey and jeremy. many public health experts have revealed that the doubts revealed in our survey could hold back swine flu efforts. long lines outside of clinics show that people are eager to get the h1n1 swine flu vaccine. >> kids always come first. the sickness itself is worth the wait. >> reporter: a new abc news/"washington post" poll shows not everyone's on board. while 67% are confident the vaccine is safe, 30% say it isn't. the government, public health experts, and many doctors insist the best protection against swine flu virus is to be inoculated. >> we don't yet know if we'll see a second or third wave of this virus coming.

so, i would certainly not want people to think, well, it's too late to get the vaccine. >> reporter: although their skepticism, our poll shows more people are worriedow about catching the swine flu than they were in august. the increasing concern and production problems have led to vaccine across the country. the top priorities are going to vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and those with pre-existing conditions. >> i know a lot of people. i know a lot of them are afraid of the shot. they keep saying they get sick from the shot. it's not the shot nay get sick from. it's being exposed. >> reporter: the government is promising 50 million doses in november. and 150 million in december. that's little comfort for the thousands that are lining up at clinics. public health officials expect the vaccine to be administered through march. jeremy and linsey. >> viviana hurtado from washington this morning. a looming decision by the government's point man on executive pay may have some executives tightening their belts this morning. they all work for the seven firms that received the most

federal bailout money. now, they can anticipate a big pay cut. here's jake tapper. >> reporter: pay czar ken feinberg knew his decision was not going to make wall street executives happy. >> when i issue these packages i suspect i'll move to pluto, which will be too close to earth. >> reporter: sources tell abc news that this month, feinberg will announce he is slashing by an average of 90% of the salaries and 50% of the total compensation, including retirement and bonuses, for top executives at the seven financial institutions receiving exceptional assistance from u.s. taxpayers. 7 firms that have received and still have almost $300 billion taxpayer. and any of these 175 executives, 25 at each firm, who want special perks, like private planes, limousines, company cars or country club memberships worth more than $25,000, will have to receive permission first from the treasury department. >> there will be a time for them

to make profits. and there will be a time for them to get bonuses. now is not that time. >> reporter: the president came to office at a time when populist outrage against wall street was building. and the outrage has not abated. in a new abc news/"washington post" poll, 71% of americans support cutting executive compensation at the companies that received government help. feinberg was appointed in june to be independent. and to take on the challenge of satisfying the public's desire to rein in executive pay while not preventing the seven companies from succeeding. >> it is a formidable chasm that i'm not sure that can be bridged, although the law requires me to attempt to bridge that chasm. >> reporter: and a white house spokesman praised feinberg for, quote, doing what the president 3u9 him in place to do. jake tapper, abc news, the white house. defense secretary, robert gates, is closer than ever to making a recommendation to president obama about u.s. troop

levels in afghanistan. in south korea this morning, gates said he'll tell the president his personal decision before attending a nato meeting tomorrow. senator john kerry says he expects the president to wait until after afghanistan's runoff to express his decision. kerry briefed the president about his visit to afghanistan yesterday. a boston man was accused of plotting to attack shopping malls. tarek mehanna was arrested yesterday. the plot was never close to being carried out. more rain is in store for texas today, after flash flooding fell in many areas. even standing some drivers in ft. worth. rapidly rising waters swamped intersections, forcing rescuers to rescue drivers trapped in their cars. in some areas, the current became extremely strong.

and the water was chest-high. that same system drenching texas also brings more wintry weather to colorado. snow blanketed the denver area. but some towns to the south got more than nine inches. there will be even more snowfall today. a few more inches falling from the colorado/kansas border into nebraska. and now, for the rest of this morning's weather from around the nation. the stormy weather battering the plains and rockies, extends all the way up to the upper midwest. with rain from houston to minneapolis. that will also bring flooding to dallas, little rock and jackson, mississippi. breezy with dangerous rip currents in florida. and showers in washington state. >> 63 in portland. and 61 in boise. a warm 87 degrees in phoenix. and 75 in sacramento. just 40 degrees in omaha. and 54 in chicago. 70s along much of the east coast. 86 in miami. and 83 in new orleans. well, it doesn't matter what the weather is like in philly today. phillies fans are basking in the glow of a return to the world

series. >> yankees suck. >> those were their words, not ours. the fans were getting loud after the phillies defeated the dodgers. >> they will face either the yankees or the angels in the world series. we'll have full game highlights later from espn. and coming up this morning, a big day for pc users with the debut of the new windows. plus, your holiday dollars will go even further at one retailer. and murder mystery. one community gets the crushing news that the body of a missing girl has likely been found. rises.

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and stocks are sliding overseas this thursday morning after a down day on wall street. and disappointing earnings from several european companies. tokyo's nikkei average fell 0.6% today. hong kong's hang seng is down. and in london, the ftse opened lower. the dow fell back below 10,000 yesterday. the benchmark last 92 points, falling to 9949. the nasdaq dropped 12 points to close at 2150. and you should look for shares of ebay to fall today. the online auction site's profit tumbled nearly 30% last quarter. but there were some encouraging science. overall sales were up. and ebay's core business appears to be bouncing back after a difficult first half of the year. walmart is looking to cement's reputation as the low-cost leader. the world's largest retailer is cutting prices on thousands of

items each week throughout the holidays. discounting everything from food to toys. the store says its prices for toy items are 14% lower than at leading supermarkets. but price cuts don't seem to be working at chain restaurants. many so-called casual dining restaurants such as chili's or applebees, are suffering from slumping sales. customers are bringing up smaller checks or staying home altogether. shrinking profits at many of the chains have experts thinking that some may not survive the downturn. the new version of windows goes on sale today. windows 7 is getting better reviews than its predecessor, vista. it's supposed to boot up faster, look cleaner and streamline the way people work. several versions of the software will be sold with prices starting around $120. british singing sensation, susan boil's debut album, won't be available for another month. but it's already setting

records. the cd "i dreamed a dream," has wracked up the most preorders in amazon history. it goes on sale november 23rd. good for her. she didn't win the show. but laughing all the way to the bank. >> the power of the viral videos. if that had not caught on youtube, we wouldn't have known about her. you can read more about these stories online. abcnews.com. ahead on this thursday morning, an academy award winner brings her star power to capitol hill. and half of the world's series matchup is set with a decisive win in philadelphia. highlights from espn, coming up. check out our pet injury coverage. when progressive covers your car, we cover your pet at no extra charge. [ purrs ] that was a cat. protecting your pet -- now that's progressive. call or click today. is simple -- check us out online. or talk to a local, independent agent like me. there's one of us near you. either way, shopping is... easy. jinx. easy. jinx.

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expect lots of airport delays in the midwest and the plains. from minneapolis to dallas. in the west, it's denver to seattle. an autopsy later today is expected to confirm that a body found in a georgia landfill is that of somer thompson. the little girl had been missing since monday. before making the discovery, investigators searched through 100 tons of garbage at the landfill in folkston, about 50 miles from somer's florida home. hundreds gathered outside of the home of 7-year-old somer thompson last night, to share hugs and tears of sorrow. the possibility that somer may never come home, too much for her mother to bear. she fainted and had to be helped inside during the community vigil. earlier police found a child's body, during a routine search of a georgia landfill. >> it's with deep regret and sadness that i have to inform you that a body has been found in the landfill in folkston, georgia. the body appears to be that of a

small child. >> reporter: although investigators hasn't received positive identification of the body, somer's parents were notified. somer's father told police that the girl had a birthmark that matched the one on the leg of his daughter. somer's mother made an emotional appeal for her safe return. >> i love you. and i just want you to come home. i just want you to come home. >> reporter: the second grader was last seen monday afternoon, walking home from school with her twin brother and older sister. there was an argument. and somer ran ahead, out of sight. and then, vanished. somer was wearing a koran bury-colored jump suit, a red bow in her tony tail, and carrying a purple hannah montana backpack. he says all he wants now is justice. >> imagine if it were your child that someone had taken away from you, how your heart would break. >> so, do authorities have any leads? well, coming up on "good morning america," we'll hear from the

sheriff in charge of that investigation. an a-list star says hollywood may be partly to blame for violence against women. speaking to a congressional committee yesterday, nicole kidman said movies often portray women as weaker sex objects. but kidman says she's not interested in those kind of roles and the movie industry is taking steps to address the problem. the actor is a goodwill ambassador. dick cheney picked up on honor in washington, and used the opportunity to slam the obama's administration's afghanistan planning. a conservative group gave cheney the award. and he called on the white house to, quote, do what it takes to win in afghanistan. >> president obama now seems afraid to make a decision. and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete the mission. >> cheney also countered recent statements by the obama administration who said an afghanistan strategy had to be built from scratch.

cheney said the bush administration had given a review of the situation to the a 'bama transition team. a new trial was ordered when a politician had announced the defendants had been acquitted. but the jury was still deliberating. travolta and his wife say an ambulance driver and his attorney had threaten to release private information about her son's death. we mentioned earlier, that the philadelphia phillies are once again baseball's national league champs. how they got it done now from j.w. stewart at espn news. >> thank you and good morning. we start with game five of the alcs between the phillies and the dodgers. they were playing home run derby at citizens bank park. top of the first winning, andre ethier off of cole hamels. solo home run. ethier had three homers and six rbis in this year's playoffs. bottom of the first. jayson werth wasted no time getting the defending champs on the board.

off former phillie, vicente padilla, gone. three-run home run. werth's second home run of the series. he was just getting warmed up in this game. bottom two, pedro feliz, getting it on with fun. his first career postseason home run. and the fighting phils are up 4-2. we go bottom six. after clayton kershaw hit a batter with two outs, shane victorino makes him pay. a two-run home run. the two teams combined for seven home runs. that ties a playoff record. bottom seventh, is jayson werth again. his second of the game. seventh career postseason home run with the phillies. that's a franchise record. the dodgers had a chance here in the eighth. they load the bases. but ryan madsen would get casey blake to bounce out to jimmy rollins. dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out. they could only get one run across. brad lidge comes off the ninth. he pitched a perfect ninth inning to clinch it for the

phillies. they win it 10-4. and they're going to the world series for the second-straight year. that will do it from here. now, back to you in new york. >> i'm a south jersey girl. but do you think the phillies can do it twice in a row? >> if they play like that, they have a good shot. and it's been years since someone's won the n.l. pennant twice in a row. >> phillies fans excited. first lady michelle obama is getting physical, as she calls on america's children to eat right and exercise. >> the first lady showed off her hula hoop skills as she hosted a healthy kids fair at the white house. swiveling her hoop 134 times. the first lady told the kids to eat their veggies. but said it was okay to eat the fun stuff sometimes. >> 142 time, though. that's pretty impressive. >> i think i can do it three times. >> that would be tough for me, too. coming up, a look ahead at

the stories we'll be following today, including the start of the new olympic torch relay. and swine flu fears. what the government is doing about a vaccine shortage. if you have overactive bladder and you worry your pipes might leak (pipe doctor) ask your doctor about treating with vesicare. (pipe woman) then you could treat yourself to a night out with fewer urges or a day with ewer leaks, or a trip with fewer overactive bladder problems. (pipe doctor) " once daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven toreduce, frequent, sudden urges and leaks day and night. if you have ncertain stomach or glaucoma nproblems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. tell your doctor right away if you have a serious ! allergic reaction, severe abdominal pain, or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects " are dry mouth, constipation, an indigestion. (pipe woman) so, you could treat .yourself to more time,

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something that we just can't compete with. it's self propelled. introducing the 60-day satisfaction guarantee, buy a new chevy and if you don't love it, we'll take it back. now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this thursday. the government is promising that more swine flu vaccine will be available by the middle of next month. but a new abc news poll finds that nearly half of parents say they won't get their children vaccinated because of concerns about the vaccine's safety. the president will sign a health care bill today. this one, for veterans. it will provide continuous funding of veterans health programs and medical research. high-level negotiations on a national health care bill continue tonight at the capitol. afghanistan is gearing up for its presidential runoff election. materials are being distributed to polling places today. and they are taking steps to combat voter fraud. microsoft's new version of

windows goes on sale today. its faster and more streamlined than its press seser, vista, released three years ago. and the yankees could wrap up the championship league series in anaheim. the yanks clinch, they'll face the phillies in the world series, beginning next wednesday. and today, in ancient olympia, the torch will be lit for the winter olympics in vancouver, canada. the games begin on february 12th. >> it will be flown to canada next week. then, the relay will begin after that. >> lots of excitement. coming up later this morning on "good morning america" on abc, the indiana woman who ended up praying with a gunman trying to rob her, tells her story. what it's like to have the life-changing moments for her. >> call it a case of divine intervention. we'll have that story and much more coming up on "good morning america." >> investigators say it was such a strange thing to see the robber and the victim hug each other when it was all over with. >> little prayer time. >> their story coming up on

"good morning america." >> meantime, your local news is up next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues after this. luke: moving my mind and my hands

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he would always come in the hallway and do his dance and that was his way of saying hi to everybody. >> paying tribute to a student who died from complications from the swine flu. and we've seen artist renderings and computer sketches but nothing like this. a molded sculpture in hopes you recognize a victim from 1996. just before 5:00 on a thursday morning. thank you for joining us. how are you? >> how are you? >> great. >> leading this way into the weekend. can you get rid of the stink bugs? >> what's up with that? >> you know what? you should come to my house and see the ladybug infestation

i've got. >> rather that than stink bugs. >> the entomology lesson is later on. right now, mostly cloudy, 49 degrees. we'll update that wakeup window in a moment but we're expecting more clouds today. the rain rolls in tomorrow. clouds rolled in overnight. we'll have a partly cloudy to mostly cloudy day. we go from 45 to 55 and aiming for an afternoon temperature in the mid-70s. here's kim with the bugs on the roads. >> hopefully not. maybe on your windshield. as we look around the beltway no real problems to let you know about as we check the cameras. 83 is running smoothly southbound headed towards the beltway but just keep in mind the inner loop and outer loop lanes remained closed overnight at charles street because of the construction project. that is scheduled to be ending at 5:00 a.m. that should be cleared away pretty soon. back to you. right now closing in on 5:00. have y