making news on this friday, april 2nd. >> terror targets. today new rules for protecting the nation's planes and trains. changes that critics say should have been made years ago. israeli air strikes accept people ruining for cover, some of the fiercest fighting in more than a year. and game changer? reviewing the ipad the day before its big public debut. does it live up to all the hype? and hello, everyone. i'm todd connor. jeremy and vinita are away this morning. today the government announces new security rules not only for air travel but for

ground transportation. part of a chilling assessment of how vulnerable our transit system really is. t.j. winick joins us now from washington with details. good morning. >> reporter: todd, good morning to you. the obama administration is preparing to brief foreign countries and members of congress on these changes to airline security for passengers flying into the u.s. when it comes to terror watch lists the attempted christmas day bombing of a transatlantic flight from amsterdam to detroit was a game changer. >> i was 100% certain that nobody told me the list was bigger. >> reporter: the obama administration is announcing what will be a new crime fighting tool the likes of which the commander in chief promised back in january. >> in the days ahead i will announce further steps to disrupt attacks including better integration of information and enhanced passenger screening for air travel. >> reporter: whereas the no fly

and watch list contains specific names now airlines will be told, for instance, to also look for anyone with a passport stamped from a particular country. policymakers have been looking to strike a delicate balance for air travelers. >> the weighing of security on one hand and liberty or privacy or convenience or business operations. >> reporter: the findings of a separate study that took about a year and looked at security for ground transportation, train, highways and subway, will also be released today. the bottom line is discouraging. more than eight years after 9/11, coordination among agencies and governments when it comes to threats and data to the systems is not functioning properly. as part of the new airline security initiative, automatic second screenings for any passengers from 14 countries considered state sponsors of terror or countries of interest will no longer be in effect. todd? >> all right, t.j. winick in washington, thank you very much, sir. well, president obama is still selling his health care

reform plan asking americans to be patient for elements of it to kick in. he held a rally in maine telling the crowd that critics have been too quick to judge the new law and then during a fund-raiser in boston the president eluded to how his plan hasn't brought about the doom some predicted. >> well, it turns out health reform wasn't my waterloo. and it turns out the day after i signed the game was no armageddon. no asteroids fell. the earth didn't crack open. >> he added he will continue to reach out to republicans in an effort to change politics. before that stop in boston, president obama visited emergency workers in the new england flood zone. he's promising federal help for hard hit rhode island as the state fends off possible contamination from sewage and other floating debris. yunji de nies has more. >> reporter: during an unscheduled stop outside boston president obama was briefed on recovery efforts after three days of record rains and unprecedented flooding in new

england. >> all the great work you're doing and i know it's been around the clock in some cases. >> reporter: flood levels have not gone down in warwick, rhode island. millions of gallons of untreated wastewater seeped out polluting rivers and floodwaters. residents are being warned of the dangers. >> make sure you're taking all the precautions so you're not, you know minimize your contact with it. >> reporter: what a difference a day makes at the warwick mall, the lake that surrounded it wednesday gone. this was fletcher avenue in cranston on tuesday. this is fletcher avenue now. the owner of the silver lake iron works lost valuable tools and materials after five feet of water filled his shop. >> what else can i do? i wish i could just shut the doors and go get a job someplace but i cannot. >> reporter: i-95, the main corridor through new england has partially opened. >> d.o.t. crews out all night

supplemented by national guard personnel and pumping and pumping and pumping all night long and into today to get the water off of 95. they've succeeded in doing that. >> reporter: it will be days before all the floodwaters are completely gone, and the full extent of the damage can be assessed. yunji de nies, abc news. moving overseas now israel says overnight air strikes in gaza were retaliation for a recent rocket attack. the israelis claim they hit four targets in the hamas-ruled territory. two weaponsmaking factories an two storage facilities but hamas officials say the target list was much greater and that it included a cheese factory and movie complex. there were no injuries. a u.s. navy warship has captured a gang of five pirates off the eastern coast of africa. the pirates had attacked "the uss nicholas" but the u.s. warship fired on the skiff and disabled it. convicted murderer scott

roeder is beginning a life sentence in prison. that is the harshment penalty he could have received for the killing of dr. george tiller last may. before being sentenced he told the judge he murdered tiller for the good of unborn children and he railed against the ruling that barred him from presenting abortion procedures as evidence. well, the pilot of a paraplane in pennsylvania found himself up a tree literally. he was stuck for about two hours after crashing his brightly colored power parachute into the branches of a tree at valley forge near philadelphia. a coast guard helicopter was called in but a tree climber was actually able to rescue the pilot first. all right. now for this morning's weather from all around the nation, we have a slow-moving storm system parked over the center of the nation. that will bring rain to fargo, minneapolis and omaha. it can mean severe weather for parts of kansas, oklahoma and even texas. and a storm moves on to the west coast with rain from seattle to san francisco and it's going to

be much warmer than usual in the eastern half of the nation with many high temperatures in the low to mid-80s. it's cooler though from the pacific to the rockies with some readings 20 degrees lower than normal. and ahead on this friday morning, how a republican mailer directed donors to a phone sex hot line. then a gruesome investigation. human body parts taken across several states when they should have been cremated. and the day is almost here. but are there enough ipads for tomorrow's expected demand? alright kid, leget ready for this morning's quiz. christopher columbus sailed the ocean blue... in 14 hundred and 92. nice! follow me, the missouri river is this way! lewis and clark expedition of 1804. oh, he'll never get this. magellan, 1520. awww, my 8 layers must've given it away. help keep your kid full and focused with 8 filling layers... of whole grain fiber found in kellogg's frosted mini-wheats cereal. this is one giant leap for mini-kind.

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welcome back, everyone. the government releases arguably the most important economic report this morning. the monthly jobs report. economists are predicting 190,000 jobs were created last month while unemployment likely held steady at 9.7%. it would be only the second month since the recession began that companies actually added workers, a sign that hiring could pick up in the months ahead, as well. the auto industry is showing signs of life. sales surged last month led by toyota, the embattled automaker's sales soared 41% thanks to its most generous incentives ever. overall sales were the highest since cash for clunkers. ford up 40%, gm rose 22% but chrysler slipped 8%. quiet overseas stock markets. tokyo's nikkei average gained

nearly 0.4% today, however, markets are closed in hong kong and also in london. wall street will be closed today, as well. however, the dow did gain 70 points yesterday and the nasdaq added almost 5 points. well, the wait is almost over. the ipad finally goes on sale tomorrow morning at 9:00 and if you're hoping to get your hands on one you may want to get in line early. at least one analyst expects them to be sold out by the afternoon. the early reviews are certainly adding to the growing frenzy, though. >> it might replace your kindle. it might replace your portable game machine and it might replace your laptop. the company has lived up tomost of the hype. >> i think we're going to have something replace with what we do with computers and the ipad really given apple's track record has as good a shot as any. >> it will be available in apple stores and best buy as well as some apple resellers and campus

book stores. still ahead on "america this morning," why a police officer used a stun gun on a 10-year-old. plus, newborn twins with birthdays a week apart. and arizona's infamous sheriff with a new way to make his inma inmates work for their tv time. ♪ the ultimate basket is 78 percent candy. the♪ore eggs the better. - 12 percent grass. - i like nail polish. - easy on the grass please. - chocolate. and 10 percent what i like to call the "wow factor." walgreens makes putting together the perfect basket easy. with reese's peanut butter eggs, oreo cookies, starburst jelly beans, and more. then personalize it with something special. an egg-to-bunny ratio of four to one is crucial. walgreens. there's a way to make every bunny happy. an egg-to-bunny ratio of four to one is crucial. have you tried honey bunches of oats yet? every spoonful is a littlemmm.ferent./ they got three kinds of flakes. this is delicious. it' the perfect combinaton of sweet and crispy. i love it. this is so good.

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or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs, and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. up, up and away. american astronaut tracy caldwell dyson is on her way to the international space station along with two russian cosmonauts. they lifted off in a russian rocket and should rendezvous with the space station sunday and will be in space until september. well now for a look at morning road conditions. there could be thunderstorms on i-35 from kansas city to dallas. i-90 from rapid city to sioux falls could see snow and rain. from seattle to san francisco, it may be rainy and i-90 from seattle to spokane could be snow covered and if you're flying

today expect airport delays in seattle, san francisco, kansas city, dallas and houston. well, police in new mexico are looking into how human body parts donated to science including heads and torsoes abcnews.com ended up in the wrong hands. the gruesome discovery is causing considerable anguish. >> reporter: on thursday medical investigators hauled out bags from biocare, some filled with bodies, others with body parts. now the daunting task begins to identify these human remains. something that could take weeks, even months if dental records aren't available. and while this medical research facility was cleared out -- >> given the nature of the crimes also taking into consideration. >> reporter: -- the owner paul montanyo faced a judge and bond was set to $50,000. he promised to cremate and return remains of those who

donated their bodies to science but instead shipped them off to an incinerator. once he's out of jail he'll work to reunite families with loved one. >> we'll do whatever we can. this is a gentleman that cares very much about this situation. >> reporter: in the meantime, police are waiting to get the seven torsos and seven heads sent to kansas back to albuquerque so investigators can put the pieces of this puzzle together. >> as of early this morning they had identified three of those. so they are also assisting us in helping find the identities of these individuals. >> reporter: and help some local families get some answers reporting in albuquerque alana gold, abc news. well, there's been an arrest in a particularly disturbing sex assault case. a 20-year-old man is in custody for a house party where a 7-year-old was raped by a group of men. the stepsister is being held in a detention center because she

arranged for her sister to be assaulted in exchange for cash. the republican national committee has some more egg on its face this time due to a mailing blunder. a fund-raising letter directed callers to a phone sex line. it seems the letter's printer inadvertently changed the rnc's 202 phone number to an 800 number. that caused the problem. you may recall the rnc recently fired a staffer for organizing an outing at a hollywood strip club. a series of new security measures are now in place at the pentagon following last month's shooting incident. among the changes are more random inspections of employees and extra screenings of visitors. there's also improved outdoor lighting and better communications between security officers and their command center. on march 4th a gunman was killed after he opened fire injuring two officers. well, two indiana police officers have been suspended after they used a taser on a 10-year-old boy.

it happened after a worker at a day-care center said one of the kids was misbehaving and found the 94-pound boy to be combative so they had to subdue him with a taser gun. but now the local police chief says the officers could have dealt with the boy without tasering him. this pom and dad from ohio are proud new parents of twins who just happened to be born seven days apart. grace was born back on march 22nd weighing 2 pounds but her brother noah was not ready to be delivered a week later. mom says it's all going to work out. >> the whole time i wanted them to have separate identities and be separate people and now they have their own separate special days. >> it's all good. since the babies were born about 12 weeks ahead of their due date they will stay a while in the neonate tiff intensive care unit. sports. big weekend coming up with the start of major league baseball season and, of course, tomorrow's march madness final four in indianapolis. the results of some college

hoops last night as we hear from j.w. stewart at espn news. thank you and good morning. if north carolina beats daten in the n.i.t. finals the tar heels will be the first defending ncaa champions to win the n.i.t. the very next year. final seconds of the first half at msg, paul williams for three. he had 16 off the bench, dayton ends the first half on a 12-2 run. they're up 45-312 at the break. second half action, ginyard to thompson. 13 point, 10 boards, the lead down to 2. under four minutes left, dayton goes to chris johnson. puts the flyers up by seven. then just over a couple minutes ago, breaks the press and johnson finishes. he had 14 points, nine boarded and named mvp. dayton n.i.t. champs for the first time since 1968. magic and mav. second in the west. third quarter action. nowitzki fakes out bass.

26 his 24. fourth quarter, vince carter gets into the lane. he had 19. dallas falls to a second place tie with idle utah out west. out of the nhl, bruins, panthers, bs and panthers strike first. the rest was up to scott clemmensen, second period. look at him deny mark recchi. clemmensen did that plenty of times on thursday night. made 36 saves, fifth career shutout. bs are eighth in the east. that'll do it for this espn news update. i'm j.w. stewart. now back to you in new york. >> well, controversial arizona sheriff joe arpaio has come up with an unusual way to slim down his overweight prison population.

the sheriff calls it pedal vision making inmates use a bicycle to generate electricity that powers their tv. one hour of pedaling provides an hour of tv viewing. for now the program is only available to female prisoners but if it works it could be offered to men, as well. all right, coming up next the stories we'll be following today including members of that anti-government militia learning whether they'll be released on bail. as the weather warms, walgreens and the makers of zyrtec... want to make sure allergies don' always have to keep ! you cooped up inside. that's why we're making it easier for everyone to find alergy solutions. by offering products like ew zyrtec® liquid gels. zyrtec®, the fastest 24-hour # allergy medicine, is now available in a liquid gel. zyrtec® liquid gels work on your worst symptoms... indoors and out. so you'll feel freer to love the air. walgreens. there's a way to stay well.

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he's scheduled to deliver a speech in north carolina hours after a new jobs report is released. it's expected to show 190,000 new jobs meaning the worst of the recession could, could be over. a federal judge in detroit decides whether members of a michigan militia group can be released on bail. lawyers for the suspects say they pose no risk and should be released. janet napolitano will inspect flood damage in rhode island today. president obama is promising federal aid for the flood ravaged state. pope benedict marks the good friday by leading a procession at rome's colosseum. good friday is the day christians commemorate the crucifixion of jesus. and coming up later on "good morning america" -- police in florida are trying to figure out how this granny went from scam victim to scam artist. they say she ripped off her friends and even a pastor for nearly a million dollars. well, for some of you your local news is coming up next. as we go to break a look at

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good morning maryland. we thought h1n1 was history, no longer a threat. we thought wrong. on trial for shooting a four year old girl. we will tell you what happened in court. can we save the wood lawn skate park? why the county wants to shut it down. good friday morning i'm jamie costello. >> i'm megan pringle. thank you for joining us it's going to be a fabulous day. >> great weekend i think. let's find out right now. justin berk. if you loved yesterday and the day before, love keeps spreading. a fantastic set up as we are heading through the holiday weekend. headlines for today, stayed warm for a while, sunny and dry. we may not be as warm as we

hoped at least for the official reporting station. southeast wind yesterday, dragged cooler weather off of the chesapeake bay held news the lower 70s. chance of hitting 80s was there there. if z it's not happening until tuesdayment may not happen today or tomorrow. we got fantastic weather here. clear skies. 45 frederick. 50 across the bay. low 40s to 50s this morning the. jumping to 77 with sunshine this afternoon. let's go to the roads. good morning. traffic really quiet and very light volume as we peek around the area. in baltimore there is a structure fire and on gillford between or liens and center in the process of getting the equipment off the roads. that should be re-opened shortly. on the beltway no problems on hartford on th