investigation of a possible john edwards campaign cover-up. a host of new witnesses slapped with subpoenas. and twisters tear through a town, surprising nearly everyone. this isn't kansas. it's actually arizona. good morning. we begin this morning with the fallout from the bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico. >> 206 million gallons of oil flowed in the gulf waters between april and july. and now, a draft report has been issued about the obama administration's actions during the crisis. it already has the white house firing back. >> emily schmidt is in washington this morning with all the details. hi, emily. >> reporter: rob and vinita, good morning to you. this draft report actually comes from the staff of a commission that was appointed by the president to investigate the spill. and its early findings are very critical of the white house.

especially in the aftermath of the rig explosion that caused the disaster. the report claims that, quote, for the first ten days of the spill, a sense of overoptimism affected responders. it claims that the administration made erroneous early estimates about how much oil was flowing into the gulf. for the first month of the crisis, officials were saying the well was releasing about 200,000 gallons a day. by august, everyone was told it was really 2.6 million gallons per day, 10-times as much as the original estimate. the administration is also slammed for comments about where all the oil went. think of this. on august 4th, top administration official, carol browner, claimed that three-quarters of the oil was, quote, gone. its findings did not support that claim. another official sought that claim later that day. and the administration said it thought it was being clear with the public, when it issued a worst-case scenario for how much oil was in the water. senior administration officials say they were never trying to pull the wool over the eyes of

the country. in closing, the report blasts the administration as being not fully competent to handle the spill or not being candid about its scope. either way, it's certainly not news the white house wanted to be dealing with, addressing, just three weeks before the election. rob and vinita? >> emily schmidt, thank you. of course, we'll have much more later on this story later today on "good morning america." the supreme court has heard arguments in one of the most difficult cases of the term. it pits the free speech rights of a fundamentalist church against the agony of a grieving father. terry moran has more on the emotional debate. >> reporter: in march 2006 -- ♪ god showed his wrath to thee >> reporter: members of the tiny westboro baptist church of topeka, kansas, picketed the funeral of marine lance corporal matthew snyder, who was killed in iraq. he was 20 years old. >> i'm sorry that they raised their son for the devil in hell. >> reporter: fred phelps founded the church. it's got about 60 members, most

of them related to him. and he and they preach and proclaim a dark message. god is killing american troops because the country tolerates homosexuality, abortion and many other matters. matthew synder wasn't gay. and it was all too much for his father, albert synder. >> all we wanted to do was bury matt with dignity and respect. >> reporter: so, he sued the church. the supreme court wrestled with whether to carve out a kind of funeral exception for the first amendment. justice sonia sotomayor challenged the synder family's argument that funerals are private, and they aren't public figures. so, the war protesters that disrupted their funeral can be sued. so, public speech, she said, speech on a public matter, if directed to a private person, should be treated differently under the law? under what theory of the first amendment would we do that? on the other hand, justice ruth bader ginsburg pointedly asked the lawyer for the church, fred phelps' daughter, margie phelps, why should the first amendment tolerate exploiting this marines family when you

have so many other forums for getting across your message? margie phelps summed up her family's message this way. nation, hear this little church. if you want to stop dying, stop sinning. well, the members of this church are very much aware of the pain they caused and the effect they're having. this is such an emotional issue. one of the briefs in this case noted that this is the first time in american history that anyone could determine, that anyone, anywhere has ever protested at a funeral. terry moran, abc news, the supreme court. today, the u.s.-led war in afghanistan enters its tenth year. more than 94,000 u.s. forces are now fighting there. and that number will rise to 98,000 when the surge of forces ordered by the president is complete. also this morning, a criminal investigation is being launched into that toxic sludge spill in hungary. investigators are looking into whether on-the-job carelessness may have led to this environmental disaster. crews, now, are desperately trying to contain the mess before it gets to the danube

river. that river passes through several countries before finally emptying into the black sea. and bill clinton has gotten a firsthand look at just how far haiti has to go as it still recovers from january's devastating earthquake. the former president, who is helping oversee haiti's reconstruction, visited a refugee camp in port-au-prince yesterday. he expressed frustration that none of the more than $1 billion of u.s. aid that's been promised has actually arrived. the governor of texas is wishing mexican authorities would do more in the search for an american allegedly shot while jet skiing. abc cameras were there as the victim's wife, tiffany hartley, returned to the scene for the first time since reporting her husband had been shot. the governor is expecting a call from the mexican police by tomorrow. and he hopes the body has been found by that time. a computer system malfunction left authorities in 49 states unable to track the movements of sex offenders. the breakdown lasted for about

12 hours, after the monitoring system company in colorado hit its data storage capacity. that capacity has now been increased. none of the people being monitored actually knew about the problem. seaworld orlando is awaiting test results on the sudden death of a killer whale. the third to die there in just four months. veterinarians say the 25-year-old orca showed no signs of illness until monday afternoon, just hours before she died. they don't believe the three recent deaths are related. but animal rights activists say it shows killer whales in captivity are under great stress. parts of arizona are littered with debris this morning after getting slammed by a rare batch of tornados. at least four twisters touched down yesterday morning. one of them overturning dozens of r.v.s near flagstaff. winds as high as 110 miles per hour damaged hundreds of homes, tossed semi trucks on their sides and toppled some railroad cars. good news in assist as where it will be much calmer. look for thunderstorms and hail in the central rockies, in salt lake city, boise and

cheyenne. mostly dry in the rest of the country, with the exception of lingering showers in northern new england. >> 76 in boston and here in new york. 80s in atlanta, miami and new orleans. a hot 90 in dallas. and mostly 70s across the plains and midwest. meanwhile, 60s in the pacific northwest. 75 in sacramento. 87 in phoenix. your money news is next, including a long-awaited announcement about the iphone. then, did john edwards use campaign cash to cover-up his affair? the investigation intensifies. and a pitcher's first playoff game ever is one for

i touched the ball before it went out, coach. come on, alex, the ref did not call that! i touched, it's their ball.

team! alex. alex, good call.

american airlines is bringing back 800 furloughed employees. the carrier's recalling 250 pilots, as well as 550 flight attendants. some of them had been furloughed for years. american is also adding some international routes after announcing new ventures with british airways and spain's iberia airlines. there's positive news from the housing market today. the mortgage bankers association, says more home buyers are applying for mortgages more than any time since may. home applications rose 9.3% last week. it's time for a check of market activities starting overseas. tokyo's nikkei average dropped six points today. hong kong's hang seng is down in late trading. in london, the ftse opened lower. the dow gained 22 points yesterday. the nasdaq index lost 19 points. long-awaited news from apple. they are reportedly making an iphone that will work with

verizon wireless. according to "the wall street journal," apple is ending its excleesive deal with at&t. apple is under pressure to compete with android smartphone, which will work with all major carriers. facebook is unveiling new features to allow users to control their privacy. one lets you identify specific groups of friends and lets you choose who gets to see what information. and "the washington post" has revealed that it sold "newsweek" magazine for just a buck. audio equipment tycoon sidney harmon bought it this summer for less than a single issue's cover price. there is cost and liabilities. "newsweek" last more than $30 million last year. >> that was $10 million in costs and bills. >> incredible deal. coming up next on this thursday, why sarah palin says she's excited. then, trapped. a woman gets the scare of her life, locked behind razor wire

with angry guard dogs all around her. we'll show you the dramatic rescue. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief

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and, go to celebrex.com to learn more about how you can move toward relief. celebrex. for a body in motion. more than 40 years later, a new view of that famous giant leap has surfaced. this footage of neil armstrong and buzz aldrin's walk on the moon was recorded by nasa in australia. and was shown to the public for the first time. >> it was digitally remastered to be much more clear than the version recorded by nasa here in the u.s. flooding on i-80, through wyoming, utah and northern nevada. wet on i-15, through great falls, montana. and i-70, from colorado into utah. slick on i-95 around bangor, maine. if you're flying, expect airport delays in salt lake city, las vegas, denver and

boston. a federal investigation into john edwards finances is now winding. prosecutors have issued a fresh round of subpoenas. they want to know if campaign funds were used to keep edward's aware with rielle hunter quiet. the recent suicide of a rutgers university student could lead to new laws aimed at preventing future tragedies. a new jersey center wants colleges to adopt codes of conduct that would prohibit bullying and harassment. emily schmidt reports. >> reporter: all these people gathered at rutgers university, to take a stand against bullying. remembering one person for whom bullying may have proven too much. >> there were times when i wanted to take my life. i could have been tyler clementi. >> reporter: 18-year-old freshman, tyler clementi, jumped from the george washington bridge, after his roommate allegedly streamed internet video of a sexual encounter between clementi and another man. gay students say they understand

clementi's pain. >> i lost 25 pounds in a matter of 2 months because every morning before i went to school, i threw up because i was so afraid to be there. >> harassment for being gay and for being latino. >> reporter: clementi was one of at least five gay teens to kill themselves in the u.s. in the last three weeks, including 13-year-old asher brown in texas, where his school is rallying against bullying. >> trying to create awareness. trying to make sure that kids and parents have resources that they know where to go, if they're being bullied and they need help. >> the price that was paid is one that should never be called upon. >> reporter: new jersey senator frank lautenberg, said he will introduce legislations, requiring colleges to adopt an anti-bullying code of conduct, in tyler clementi's honor. some question if it's enough. >> i don't know if legislation can come into kids' rooms and stop them from doing the horrible things they're doing.

>> reporter: tyler clementi's roommate and another freshman are being charged with violation of privacy. the three candidates in that closely-watched florida senate race faced off last night in their first-ever debate. charlie crist and kendrick meek tried to paint marco rubio as a radical conservative. rubio is backed by the tea party. he pointed out that crist decided to run as an independent, only after falling behind in the republican primary. and delaware senate candidate christine o'donnell will soon be getting another boost from sarah palin. palin told fox news she will go to delaware to campaign for o'donnell. saying she was excited to do it. but she didn't say when it would take place. after winning the primary with palin's endorsement, a new poll shows o'donnell trailing her democratic opponent by 17 points. former cnn host rick sanchez has issued an apology, five days after he was fired. sanchez released the statement

apoll calling the comments that cost him his job inartful. he called jon stewart a bigot and anyone else he might have offended. he said he had a good conversation with stewart earlier this week. a philadelphia woman is recovering from a terrifying ordeal with two, vicious guard dogs. sylvia mccall was shopping around for a car when a worker apparently forgot about her and locked her in the lot. she had to jump on the roof of a car to escape the dogs and fight them off with her cane. >> i thought they were going to tear me to shreds. thought they was going to tear me to pieces. and i'm scared of dogs. >> after waiting for police for nearly a half-hour, mccall called the abc tv affiliate there in philly. the news crew arrived before the police. but she was finally rescued by an officer. the san francisco giants and the atlanta braves get their first-round baseball playoff series underway tonight. the highlights of a postseason opening day now from espn news.

>> good morning. i'm don bell with your espn news update. we start with day one of the major league postseason. reds and phillies. and roy halladay was dealing for philadelphia. top of the seventh inning, he gets scott rolen to strike out. top of the eighth inning, same score. down goes johnny gomes. two batters later, drew stubbs. like window-shopping at the mall. just looking. eight punchouts in eight innings for halladay. bottom of the ninth. still in the game, facing ramon hernandez. hernandez pops out to chase utley. halladay, two outs away from history. next batter, it's miguel cairo. pops out to wilson valdez in foul territory. halladay, one out away. next batter, it's brandon phillips, taps in front of the mound. carlos ruiz, over to first. halladay, first postseason no-hitter since don larsen did it in 1956. the phillies win 4-0. yankees and twins from

minnesota's target field. tied at 4-4. in the top of the seventh inning. get up and get gone. mark teixeira, a two-run home run, giving the yankees the lead. bottom of the eighth inning. mariano rivera, trying to get out of a jam. and he gets it done. the yankees win, 6-4. also, the rangers taking on the rays. and texas, with a huge win, 5-1, at tropicana field. they defeat david price in the process. and that is all for your espn news update. i'm don bell. back to you in new york. coming up next, the stories we'll be following today, including the aftermath of rare tornadoes tearing through arizona. we'll be right back. people with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis going? they're discovering simponi®, the first self-injectable r.a. medicine you take just once a month. taken with methotrexate, simponi® helps relieve the pain, stiffness

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to find a representative today. now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this thursday. questions about a cover-up over the bp gulf oil spill are swirling around the obama administration this morning. a draft report raises serious questions about whether the public was offered a candid account of the disaster. and president obama stumps in his hometown today. he's helping a fellow democrat, the illinois state treasurer, in a pretty tough race for the president's old senate seat. new york city's mayor joins the state's governor in an effort to battle the obesity nationwide. they will ask the federal

government to ban sugared drinks. other banned items include cigarettes and alcohol. another round of subpoenas has gone out in the investigation of john edwards campaign finances. at issue is whether any of the funds were used to cover-up edwards' affair with rielle hunter. people near flagstaff, arizona, are cleaning up this morning after four powerful tornadoes ripped through the area. winds topping 100 miles per hour damaged homes and overturned r.v.s, trucks and railroad cars. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, a real-life night at the museum. we'll be right back. [ sighs ] morning! mor-ning? i'm your genie. you're wishing for a deliciously, nutritious fiber cereal. i am. well, you don't want that one. new kellogg's fiber plus cereal®. the delicious taste of berries, plus yogurty clusters, plus 40% of your daily fiber... plus wait for it... antioxidants! so, two more wishes!

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where you at? are you with your friends? that's laaaa-mee. capital "x," lower-case "o," capital "x," lower-case "o," i love you. jk. i hate you. jk. are you ignoring me? we're in a huge fight right now. is it something i did? i can see your lights on. i'm coming over. this isn't a joke. what did you dream about? [overlapping] is it me? i'm lonely. holla back. holla back. let's try something new. nude pics. send me some. text me. . now, good morning, maryland. teen sweethearts are accused of a family murder plot. how police managed to figure out this may have been an inside job. matthew snyder has gone

from defensing freedom overseas to center of a first amendment debate at home. we will tell you how it went yesterday in the supreme court. today o'malley and mcculls can i bring the president to maryland. we will be there live. >> yes. good morning maryland i am jamie costello. >> i am megan pringle. thanks for joining us on this thursday. >> you ready to go in. >> absolutely. >> let's find out some weather. it was -- >> turned out to be kind of nice. >> no returns right yesterday? >> no returns and you will like what's coming up afterwards because we have our safes nice turn of events after we have actually done something we had not done in seven months. five days in a row with below normal temperatures has not happened since february. we all remember february right? let's try to forget it. it's time to warm up. there's an old song hey good looking what you got cooking? temperatures duke near above normal temperatures for the next five days. normal high today, 70 and we start off at 51 in the morning

54 in easton and with a clearing sky we should see a lot more sunshine and going a little bit above normal for a change of pace as we have 73 and warmer temperatures into the weekend. right now, let's get the first check on traffic and see what kim brown has cooking on the roads. >> reporter: thanks. so far so good traffic wise. we have. [audio not understandable] you will find the draw bridge open so traffic is being held on both the inner and outer loop. so you might sit there for a few minutes. also debris 95 southbound on the ramp on to the inner loop from an earlier crash. debris is blocking the left lane. as we check the cameras, traffic is going to look pretty good on the beltway. not a lot of volume at all on the west side at liberty road. everything looks good around 695 and the 95 corridor. back to you. >> gad morning. it's 5:0 psh gsh good morning, and it's 5:00. six family members were sitting in their living room