making news in america this morning -- >> health care huddle. today's televised faceoff between the president and republicans. every detail negotiated. and the bickering has already begun. trainer killed. a whale known to be violent attacks, with seaworld visitors watching. and here we snow again. the northeast the bull's eye with another winter blast that promises to mess with travel nationwide. >> it's february 25th, 2010. good morning. thanks for being with us on this thursday. heavy-hitters from both parties get together to see what, if anything, is possible, when it comes to changing the nation's health care system. >> a couple things are for sure. democrats and republicans know

there is a lot at stake. and neither seems ready to give an inch. viviana hurtado is in washington with more. >> reporter: good morning. the parties agreed to change the table from a "u" shape to a square table to fit everyone. but the question is, can they agree on health care reform? today's health care reform summit at blare house with members of both parties, is supposed to be about reaching a truce. instead, each side has drawn battle lines. the president wants to cover more than 31 million insured. it includes cuts to medicare, some increases. to move the bill forward, mr. obama is trying to keep democrats on board. those that voted for the bill and now have doubts. and liberals that are angry that the current proposal doesn't have a government-run option. >> the democrats and speaker pelosi does not have the votes to pass this bill. >> reporter: by inviting republicans to the negotiating

table, the president is diffusing their argument that their ideas haven't been included. >> i hope everyone comes with a sincere desire to solve this challenge. >> reporter: but republicans called the meeting a trap. with the goal of ramming this mammoth bill through congress. >> stop this bad bill. >> reporter: gop leaders say their opposition is inspired by the american people, whose worried the president's plan will limit their coverage and add to the ballooning federal deficit. >> if they think the american people are mad at him now, they haven't seen anything yet. >> reporter: the reform negotiations have been secret. the six-hour summit will be broadcast live on c-span on the internet. >> in addition to republicans calling it a trap. they're calling this a six-hour poe t photo op for the president. >> reporter: this is high political theater. every detail has been scripted and negotiated. certainly from the camera positions to the seating

arrangements at the table that i mentioned. as far as policy is concerned, both sides huddled yesterday, preparing for today's meeting. >> viviana hurtado in washington. the killer whale attraction at seaworld orlando is closed today, after the horrifying attack that killed a veteran trainer. >> and there is new video taken just moments before the woman was snatched by the 12,000-pound whale and dragged under water until she drowned. it's not the first time this animal maz been involved in a deadly attack. here's cynthia mcfadden. >> reporter: the whale pool at seaworld was quiet. the attraction closed. >> it was with great sadness that i report that one of our most experienced animal trainers drowned in an incident with one of our killer whales this afternoon. >> reporter: news reports say at least two dozen tourists looked on from above the whale tank and from an underwater viewing area. >> tilikum just took off. like a bat out of you know where. just took off really fast.

and he came to the glass. jumped up and grabbed the trainer by the waist. and started shaking her violently. and her shoe -- last thing i saw was her shoe floating. >> reporter: the whale identified as 30-year-old tilikum, or tilly, weighed in at 6 tons and 22 feet long, had already been separated from the rest of the whales alt the park. separated because of a history of violence. in 1991, he killed his trainer at his former home in canada. >> since that point, the canadian park traded that animal to seaworld, with the idea that it would only be used for mating. it would never be used at another park because of its aggressive behavior. >> reporter: and in 1999, a man's body was found dead on his back. >> somehow, this individual was able to evade our staff and sneak into the area, in order to try to swim with the killer whale. >> reporter: dawn brancheau certainly knew how dangerous whales could be. she was a well-regarded veteran

that worked at the park since 1994. jack hanna had worked with her on and off for years. >> this woman knew more than anybody that you would ever imagine as a whale trainer. >> dawn brancheau is being remembered as an avid animal lover and a leader in her field. family members said even as a child, brancheau recognized that whales were her calling in life. >> we talked to her about the whales. you thought you were talking to her about her children. she would tell you who was acting up. she loved them to death. >> reporter: she would not want anything done to the whale. and she understood the risks of her profession. this has re-ignited the debate of large whales in captivity. global head of toyota has apologized for the problems with his cars. akio toyoda, whose grandfather founded the company, appeared before angry lawmakers in on capitol hill yesterday. he and others dodged questions

about what they would do with those in runaway cars. >> will you assume their medical costs? >> we will leave it to our counsel. >> later, he was greeted warmly as he addressed employees. he thanked the team members in the audience and the country. the northeast is bracing for yet another blast of wintry weather. a powerful storm with snow, rain and wind so strong it's being called a snowicane. it's a one-two punch for parts of new england that got buried under a foot of snow yesterday. and up to two feet more could fall in the poconos, catskills and syracuse. there's been three traffic-related deaths so far. hundreds of schools were closed. that storm brings mostly rain to new england. but they will see the most severe winds, gusting up to 60 miles per hour. a wintry mix in new york city, changes over to all-snow by tonight. a couple of inches of snow for

baltimore and washington. heavy snow in the rockies, moving into oklahoma later on. drenching rain from northern california to seattle. >> 50s in the pacific northwest. 48 in boise. 20s from minneapolis to kansas city. 41 in boston. 45 in atlanta. and 65 in miami. well, the harsh winter weather has taken a popular item off menus and produce stands. tomatoes. nearly 80% of last month's tomato crop in florida was wiped out by the hard freeze. >> that means the price for thoomatoes and other vegetables that were harmed is going to skyrocket. those prices will go up. and the shortages could last well into spring. business news is next, including a new minivan recall this morning. and is it the end of the road for the hummer brand? and more from the deadly attack at seaworld. are killer whales too dangerous ♪ what if one pop ♪ ♪ could open a world of wonder ? ♪ ♪ so sensory

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it's free at thousands of reputable dealers. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke will be back on capitol hill today, for day two of his twice-a-year economic report card. on wednesday he made it clear that interest rates will remain at record low levels for several more months to support the recovery. the latest housing numbers show just how fragile that recovery is. new home sales fell to the lowest level on regard in january. new concerns about greece's debt crisis are overshadowing bernanke's comments this morning. stocks fell in torque owe with the nikkei dropping almost 1% today. bernanke's testimony gave wall

street a boost yesterday. the dow finished up 91 points closing at 10,374. the nasdaq gained 22 points to close at 2235. chrysler is voluntarily recalling more than 350,000 minivans because of problems with crash sensors that control the air bags. the company says it will replace the sensors in 2005 and 2006 town and country and dodge caravans. but chrysler says it should wait until june to contact dealers because it needs time to distribute the replacement parts. it appears to be the end for hummer. gm says it will shut down the brand, unless a last-minute buyer emerges. hummer employs about 3,000 people in the u.s. as you know "avatar" helped 3-d go mainstream. now, moviegoers are bracing for a flood of these films. movie chains will cover the cost of converting nearly half of the nation's screens to 3-d

technology. three 3-d movies are due out in just the next two months. >> soon, we'll have our own specialized glasses we take to the theaters. >> have to start investing in those. coming up next on this thursday, members of the madoff family taking a new last name after repeated threats. and a wipeout on the slopes takes two americans out of medal contention. olympic highlights next. - show me the carfax. - hi! i'm your car fox! buy the car, you're gonna love it! he said, "carfax." same thing, huh?

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>> if you're flying expect delays in the eastern half of the country. chicago, detroit, as well as every major hub from boston down to atlanta. recapping one of our top stories this morning. a veteran animal trainer is dead after being drowned by a killer whale eaworld in orlando. >> witnesses say dawn brancheau was snatched by the whale as she stood on a poolside platform and was pulled under. last night, seaworld suspended its killer whale shows in orlando and san antonio. we're learning more about how dangerous this particular whale has been known to be. according to "the orlando sentinel," because of his violent pass, trainers were forbidden to swim with tilikum. the largest whale in any seaworld park. it's unclear what will be done with the whale. for now, trainers are evaluating his behavior. animal rights groups have claimed that keeping orcas in captivity is cruel and dangerous for trainers.

we talked to two experts on either side of the issue. both are familiar with this whale. >> many of the trainers are ill equipped to handle with an animal that weighs 8,000, 10,000 pounds. an animal 22 feet long. an animal with a history of aggression. in tilikum's case, it was a time bomb waiting to go off. he had a history. all you had to do was read his rap sheet. and you could have figured out he was going to show aggression again. whether it's pushing the trainer around in the tank. or grabbing one and taking them under water and killing them, who knows? it was a foolish thing to have killer whales in captivity. >> why do we have the whales at seaworld? why do we do this? we do it simply. we realize that animals are disappearing as an alarming rate. we must find out everything about them as quickly as we can. >> two sides of the debate. we'll have more later on "good morning america," including several people who witnessed the

attack. the man accused of wounding a couple of colorado middle school students is being held on attempted murder charges. 32-year-old bruco eastwood, attended the school where he allegedly shot two youngsters on tuesday. eastwood is an unemployed ranch hand. the teacher credited with taking eastwood down, says he wishes he could have done more. >> it bothers me that he got the second shot off. and that was the one that hit matt. the kids did what they were supposed to do. that was, they scattered and went -- got out of there. and then, we did what we were supposed to do, which was, basically, try to protect them. >> one of the shooting victims, eighth grader meghan weber, is out of the hospital and is, quote, feeling awesome. matthew teo is hospitalized but said to be doing well. family members of convicted

ponzi schemer bernard madoff says enough is enough. stephanie madoff says her family has been the object of threats, harassment and humiliation. she wants to be stephanie morgan, instead. women on ice could be the theme of the day at the winter olympics today. the women's ice hockey gold medal will be decided when the u.s. takes on canada. and the final four teams in women's curl willing be in action. brad wheelis now with how the americans fared yesterday. >> reporter: in vancouver last night, an unexpected medal for the u.s. women's short track team. the south korea skater bumps the chinese. and the u.s. women take the bronze. their first short track medal in 16 years. also on the short track, reigning 500 meter sprint gold medalist, apolo ohno cruises to the quarterfinals. but look at this spill by teammate jordan malone. it's the second event he's been unable to finish in. lindsey vonn will leave

vancouver battered and bruised. the two-time medalist, loses control and skis off the course. and slams into the barrier. teammate, julia mancuso, who was already on the track, has to stop. then, skis over to von, who hurt a finger. but will complete friday in the slalom. the undefeated u.s. men's hockey team earns a hard-fought win against switzerland in the quarterfinals. two american goals disallowed, including this one as time runs out in the second period. zach pa rise. 2-0, is the final. on the bobsled course, erin pac and alaina myers get the bronze medal. and the fog so thick, you could barely see the women's finals. ashley caldwell enters the finals in first place. but the chinese take two medals. australia claims the gold. brad wheelis, abc news.

>> and on the medals table, there's two bronzes that we mentioned, pushed the u.s. total to 28. germany's second with 24. norway remains third with 18. and maybe the most watched event of the games, the women's figure skating free skate is tonight. also tonight, the men's freestyle skiing aerials final. hold on tight for that. a 20-year-old shows the world how to turn a travel nightmare into a one-woman show. >> sure does. ashley clinger was stuck in the pittsburgh airport alone, after a snowstorm caused her to miss her flight. instead of getting board, she got creative. she used a laptop to capture her escapades. cruising around in a wheelchair. taking a sled ride on a mcdonald's tray. even putting on a song and dance routine. security must have given her some looks. the video has gotten hundreds of thousands of hits on youtube. >> she certainly is flexible. up next, the stories we'll be following today, including a reunion more than a year in the

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former president george w. bush is expected to have coffee with former vice president dick cheney at cheney's house. it will be their first face-to-face meeting since they attended president obama's swearing in. investigators return to the scene of a deadly accident at orlando's seaworld today. a 40-year-old trainer drowned after being taken under and violently shaken by a 12,000-pound whale. another big storm is bearing down on the northeast. up to two feet of snow, heavy rain and superstrong winds are expected in parts of pennsylvania, new york and new england. that is on top of more than a foot that fell yesterday. but relief is on the horizon. spring is just three weeks away. >> they call it the snowicane or something like that. >> too many nicknames to keep track of. coming up later on "good morning america," a former fda official admits new concerns about lasik surgery. and growing reports of crippling side-effects.

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now, good morning maryland. here we go. we have team coverage of what's coming and how we should get ready. a woman who loves animals dies in the jaws of one in sea world in orlando. we will take you there and hear from her sister. are you happy with your health insurance? if not, proceed to the healthcare summit today. good morning, maryland. megan is supposed to be getting on a plane today going to sunny florida. they won't even need engines today because of the wind. here a justin to set the day up for us. >> this is going to be a complicated storm, jamie. basically, it has been snowing for a lot of us overnight. the heat from yesterday's sunshine and temperatures in the mid to upper 40s has retained itself on the roads, so it's not

sticking. we are wasting flakes and accumulation. there will be more on the eastern shore, but tonight, the snow and the wind will make a return. so basically two parts for maryland with this complicated system. right now we are looking at maryland's most powerful doppler radar, and it does not look that impressive. we have some snow now on the west side, but it is about 34 degrees and not really sticking. rain around the bay, but it turns back to snow. the big winners on this storm up to the north, they are getting it heavy overtaking some of the warm roads and sticking out there, and they will have more lasting throughout the storm. we are looking at a winter storm watch around the immediate metro area. but currently, it is a current advisory for an inch or two of snow. more coming up in a bit, but let's get a check of the roads. we do