mornerica" or anytime at abcnews.com. making news on this tuesday, october 12th. >> due for daylight. the trapped miners, now just hours from fresh air. and the reunions some thought would never happen. stem cell milestone. a first for doctors and a paralyzed patient who may soon walk again. and hot momma. a racy rumba by mrs. brady. one wild night on the dance floor. good morning. excitement is growing in chile. by this time tomorrow, some of the 33 miners trapped underground could finally be above ground. >> a nonstop vigil is now taking place.

and these are the latest photos of family members as they wait for reunions with their loved ones. the rescue operation they've waited more than two months for is expected to begin within hours. >> emily schmidt has more on the miners' final day deep within the earth. >> reporter: after more than 2 months of watching chile's 33 trapped miners from 2,000 feet above the ground. ♪ families are gathering now to pray that a face-to-face reunion is just hours away. the hope intensified after workers successfully tested the rescue capsule along the escape route, carrying bags of sand, all but 40 feet of the depth of the miners. the capsule didn't even loosen up along the way. >> these tests have been very successful. we sent some tv cameras inside. we are pretty sure that the cage will behave properly as it has been designed, during the rescue

process. >> reporter: still, the trip will not be easy. the men will be in a capsule only slightly larger than the diameter of a basketball hoop. riding in a twisting capsule 20 minutes to the earth's surface. they will wear an oxygen mask, while rescuers monitor their heartbeat and body temperatures. then they will be taken to a hospital, where these beds are prepared for them. and computers are loaded with their medical histories. the drill that reached the men over the weekend, was given a heroes' farewell, as it was pulled from the mine. but two americans who worked on it say the men below are the true inspiration. >> the real hero is the guys that's kept them alive and kept them alive on very, very little food. and they have somehow put it together. >> reporter: we have one glimpse into what these miners are thinking in these hours before the rescue. they have asked for shampoo and shoe polish, so they can look their best before reuniting with their families for the first

time since august 5th. rob and vinita? >> we certainly heard from the families. do we have any idea when we hear from the miners themselves about the crazy experiences underground? >> reporter: everyone is waiting. the whole world. they have put out a statement saying they want to spend two days with their families before they speak publicly. before they do, though, some of the rescue pictures may speak volumes. the international live broadcast of the rescue, set to begin later tonight. rob and vinita? >> all right. emily schmidt, thanks for the report. there's breaking news from afghanistan. the u.s. military says two soldiers have been killed when a grenade exploded inside their chinook helicopter. the helicopter, with about 26 people onboard was already on the ground in eastern afghanistan, when the blast occurred. it's not clear whether the grenade was fired at the helicopter or came from within. also in afghanistan, british and american investigators are

looking to the failed rescue of an aide worker. linda norgrove had been held for two weeks by the taliban when u.s. and nato forces staged a raid to free her. at first, nato set her captors set off a bomb that killed norgrove. now, there's evidence that american forces accidentally killed her with a grenade. today is the tenth anniversary of the suicide bombing of "the uss cole." 17 american sailors were killed in the al qaeda attack, which happened in a port in yemen. the al qaeda group based there, has released a new online magazine, with tips on how to kill americans. analysts say it rejects spectacular attacks in favor of smaller, one-man operations. it is three weeks until election day. and democrats are hitting republicans hard about foreign money. president obama is accusing the u.s. chamber of commerce of using foreign cash to help fund political ads. and he wants the group to disclose its donors' list. the chamber has spent $20 million in this year's campaign, mostly attacking democrats.

it claims no foreign money is being used to pay for political activities. the republican candidate for governor of new york is refusing to apologize for comments he made about gays. carl paladino told a group of jewish leaders he does not want children brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is acceptable. during a columbus day parade, paladino insisted he is not anti-gay. abc's linsey davis talked to him on the parade route. >> reporter: what would you say to the gay population today? >> i'm 100% in favor of gay rights. >> reporter: and that is? >> his democratic opponent, andrew cuomo, said the comments were reckless and divisive, in light of recent anti-gay violence in the city. and in related news, anti-gay sentiments may have driven yet another teenager to suicide. 19-year-old zach harrington from norman, oklahoma, took his own life earlier this month. his parents say he had attended a community hearing, during which many people spoke out against declaring a gay history month.

and they suspect those sentiments then drove the young man to suicide. we should get some new details this morning about the mysterious disappearance object a young girl in north carolina. 10-year-old zahra clare baker was reported missing over the weekend. she uses a prosthetic leg. and is also hearing impaired. a police dog yesterday detected the smell of human remains on the cars belonging to her father and stepmother. new yorkers got a dose of rare wild weather, usually resevered for the heartland. a thunderstorm swept through brooklyn and manhattan last night, dumping so much hail, it looked like the ground was covered with snow. and in new jersey, rain and heavy lightning forced them to delay the game twice. fans were ordered to clear the stands. and players had to head back to the locker rooms. >> crazy night here. now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. cooling down with the lingering showers from new york city to stormy in the south, with large hail, 70-mile-per-hour winds, s rmining rain and flooding from

light rinar. los, kansas city,icagukee near record highs in california. >> 92 in sacramento. 94 in phoenix. 60s from seattle to salt lake city. 71 in the twin cities. 80 in indianapolis. 60 in boston. 70 here in new york. and 80s from baltimore to new orleans. president obama's morning workout may be a bit longer this morning. >> the president wrapped up his visit to miami last night at a cuban restaurant, where he ordered special hamburgers made of spanish sausage, topped with french fries. the president paid for the meal himself. and then warned reporters not to tell the first lady. >> we know all of the spots he likes to get burgers at these days between d.c. and all the places he visits. >> he likes to eat. when we come back, we'll update the top story, the final hours before the rescues beg

pay on wall street is reportedly on a record pace for the second-straight year. "the wall street journal" reports the top publicly held financial firms are on pace to pay out $144 billion this year. that's up 4% from last year. "the journal" reports revenue on wall street is also rising. but not as quickly as pay. this morning, overseas markets are down. tokyo's nikkei average lost 200 points today. hong kong's hang seng is down in late trading. in london, the ftse opened lower. on wall street, it starts the day with the dow at 11,010, after gaining 3 points yesterday.

the nasdaq index rose just slightly. the microsoft highly-anticipated windows phone 7 operating system will be in stores november 8th. the system works with nine, separate phones. phone 7 divides categories, such as contacts, m.s. office, and games, into hubs, making them easily accessible from the touch-screen. "new york times" technology blogger, nick bilton, said smartphone users are bound to notice. >> a lot of smartphones have very traditional icons on their desktop. what the windows 7 phones does is it creates these really beautiful cubes and experiences that kind of follow you through the device, your x-box, and other experiences. >> at&t is initially offering three of the phones for $200 each. a new luxury liner will soon cruise the seven seas. "the queen elizabeth," or "qe 3" was dedicated by the queen. no more ships are on order. rates for the maiden voyage top out at $25,000 per person.

they all sold out in about 30 minutes. people want to get on that boat. >> should have gotten on that, too. next on this tuesday morning, a florida teen accused of slowly poisoning her family. embattled quarterback, brett favre, on "monday night football." we'll take you to the dance floor and the moves one judge called sexy, raunchy and dirty. a completely blocked artery,y another heart attack could be lurking, waiting to strike. a heart attack that's caused by a clot, one that could be fatal. but plavix helps save lives. plavix, taken with other heart medicines, goes beyond what other heart medicines do alone, to provide greater protection against heart attack or stroke and even death by helping to keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming dangerous clots. ask your doctor if plavix is right for you. protection that helps save lives. [ female announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines, such as prilosec, reduce the effect of plavix

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-loads of atms. -mobile banking. -online banking. -text banking. i gotta get back to work. [ male announcer ] bank whenever, wherever, however you want. with bank of america. this is certainly not the way you want to be hanging out after a parachute jump. a 35-year-old skydiver got stuck in a tree yesterday in massachusetts. he apparently flew offcourse because both his main chute and his emergency chute deployed on the way down. he was about 75 feet off the ground for around 3 hours before finally being rescued. now, for a look at your morning road conditions. flooding on i-20, from shreveport to montgomery. and on i-10, from houston to

new orleans. wet on i-55, from chicago to st. louis. on i-40, across tennessee. and i-94, from madison to chicago. slick also on i-95, in the northeast. >> if you're flying today, you can expect some airport delays in denver, chicago, memphis, houston, new orleans, boston, philadelphia, new york and miami. of course, this morning we're following the latest developments in our top story. final preparations being made for the rescue of those 33 trapped miners in chile. >> the men could be free by this time tomorrow. jeffrey kofman is at the mine where the last-minute details are now being worked out. >> reporter: they are now counting the hours, after enduring grueling conditions 2,000 feet underground. 90% humidity. 90-degree temperatures. those 33 miners, who have been trapped in this remote mine in chile, since august 5th, are on the cusp of being rescued. the most challenging underground rescue ever attempted.

but their ordeal is almost over. early monday morning, engineers tested the rescue capsule. sending it all the way down the shaft that was completed over the weekend. and they said it went without a hitch. it didn't spin. it didn't get caught. no rocks fell. they just need to complete a winch that will pull that capsule to the surface with the men inside. then, they will be ready for the rescue. they expect that to happen through tuesday. and they say the rescue itself could happen much faster than expected. some say within 12 hours to 16 hours. meaning, all of this could be over by wednesday. now, in these final moments, we're hearing some very moving details from the men below. they've asked for a few special things to be sent down to them. as they collect souvenirs of their own. they've asked for shampoo. that's an underground waterfall where they've been washing. and they want to be very clean before they come up. they also asked for shoe polish because they want to be presentable for their families

when they see them for the first time in many months. jeffrey kofman, abc news, at the san jose mine in chile. a disturbing story out of florida. a young girl there is under arrest this morning, accused of trying to kill her adoptive family. police say the 13-year-old confessed to using bug spray to poison her adoptive mother, brother and sister for more than a year. wstv tells us, the mother's health had deteriorated. and tests recently detected traces of arsenic in her blood. >> she sprayed the insecticide on her food as it sat on the dinner table. sometimes mixing it with dog feces. then, she would put soap in the water. >> the girl was adopted about four years ago. and neighbors say they saw no sign of trouble. her adoptive father was the only member of the family who was not poisoned. big medical news this morning. for the first time ever an embryonic stem cell treatment is being tested on a human patient with a spinal cord injury. the company conducting the test won fda approval after showing

positive results in lab rats. they had little use of their hind legs. but were able to walk again after being injected with embryonic stem cells. but doctors are playing down expectations. >> i think we should anticipate many failures before we ultimately see success. >> human volunteers for the study will be recruited over time, right after suffering a spinal cord injury. they must receive their injection of embryonic stem cells within two weeks of the injury. and now, to sports. texas and tampa bay will decide the winner of their first-round baseball playoff series tonight. highlights from last night's games, now, from will selva at espn news. >> good morning. "monday night football," featuring the vikings and the jets. there is number 4, returning to the place he once called home. third quarter. vikings down 12-0. favre to randy moss, making his vikings debut. the vikings, 12 for 7. fourth quarter, jets up 13-15, in vikings territory.

shonn greene, nothing but a trail of turf behind him. jets up 22-13. vikings down 22-20. last chance for the vikes. favre, intercepted by dwight lowery. he had an open house. everyone's invited to it. disappointment for number 4, as the jets end up winning this one, 29-20. baseball. bobby cox, needing a win to force game five. otherwise, early retirement for him. derek lowe. a no-hitter. 5 1/3 innings. cody ross gets the hit right here. game tied at 1-1. top seven, game tied at 2-2. bases loaded. ross getting one through. buster posey is in. pat burrell is out at the dish. inning over. but damage is done. giants lead 3-2. bottom nine, it all comes down to brian wilson, looking for the save. and mission accomplished, as

melky cabrera pulls -- oh, that was close. travis ishikawa makes the catch. giants advance in the nlcs. bobby cox, it is the end of his managerial career. as for the g-men, brian wilson and company, they are happy as they are moving on to the nlcs, as we mentioned, to play philadelphia. that will do it for this espn news update. now, back to new york and "america this morning." another split out of hollywood this morning. and people are saying this one's pretty unbelievable. courteney cox and david arquette have announced they have been separated for some time. they released a joint statement saying they remain best friends and responsible parents. cox and arquette have been married since 1999. hay have a 6-year-old daughter. now, to the ballroom, where jennifer grey is still holding on to first place. >> grey dazzled fans last night, with her sultry argentine tango. but florence henderson's rumba was too sexy for one judge who

called it raunchy and dirty. but the 76-year-old fired back saying the judge was getting turned on by her performance. and the judges were unimpressed also with mike "the situation." they rated him dead-last. >> i think between the workout tapes, the jewelry and the vodka drinks, he's going to walk away from this okay. >> he will walk away from this okay. >> he will be just fine. apparently so will mrs. brady. coming up next, the stories we'll be following today, including a strong, new storm, taking aim at the coastline. 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 for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. and celebrex is not a narcotic. when it comes to relieving your arthritis pain,

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now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this tuesday. it is just hours, now, before the first of the trapped miners is expected to take a 15-minute journey to the surface. the men have asked for two days of privacy with their families before they speak about the ordeal. president obama remains in campaign mode, now just three weeks until election day. he's addressing a town hall-style meeting later tonight, sponsored by the democratic national committee. prosecutors begin laying out their case against accused ft. hood shooter, nidal hasan. the hearing will discover whether there's enough evidence to court-martial hassan. paula is dumping rain in honduras before heading to the yucatan peninsula. paula is expected to strengthen into a hurricane some time this morning. a new book by former south african leader, nelson mandela, goes on sale today in 20 countries in 20 languages. "conversations" was compiled by

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. are's watching the station that works for you, good morning, maryland. and a very pleasant tuesday morning to you. i am jamie costello. megan is off today. linda so will talk about the debate, the governor debate and i have kim brown talking about traffic. justin, i am talking about the chilean miners coming out later on today, maybe even tomorrow. you know what they asked for? shampoo and shoe polish because they want to be presentable to their families when they come out of the hole for the first time. that's really touching me this morning. all right. let's go to meteorologist justin berk with a rook at -- look at our weather. >> we had big storms in the north side of the city overnight and still this morning. some of you probably got worken up and shaken from the rumbling of thunder and those storms

slowly trying to slip into the south. there will be a break in the action but we could get a round of showers possible this afternoon. and we expect cooler weather in the 60s for the rest of the week. but here we go. maryland's most powerful doppler radar. heavy rain york pa through redding and philidelphia and we only have lightning strikes over the last half -- last half- hour, we can show you where there's been lightning north of bel air and we have had it up across the harford zone and light showers passing through towson and maybe some wet roads especially north of the beltway and also north 95 cecil county near elkton and northeast getting rain. that's how it has been for the last few hours. low to mid-60s to a high of 7 # 7. scattered thunderstorms and then we will look at cooler temperatures as we slide through the rest of the week. more of that coming up. now the first look at traffic to see if the wet roads are affecting you. here's kim brown. >> reporter: thanks. wet roads are playing a part this morning but not because of the rain. we have three broken water mains around the area to lou