making news on this columbus day. republicans and relidgedown. >> the explosive new debate about mitt romney's mormon faith after a preacher with ties to another candidate called it a cult. deadly clashes rock egypt overnight. and water hazard, with teeth. man-eating sharks make themselves comfortable on a golf course. good morning. i'm stephanie sy. >> and i'm rob nelson. in kaunt built on the basis of religious freedom, is it okay to attack candidates for their

religious beliefs? >> that's the question after a preacher tied to rick perry accused rivals of being part of a cult. john hendren joins us from washington. >> reporter: it's come to this. one prominent pastor who supports rick perry says rival mitt romney, a mormon, is not a christian. that brings up a topic usually only whispered in the campaigns. the "m" word is now out. >> in my estimation, mormonism is a cult. >> reporter: megachurch pastor robert jeffreys endorses rick perry. he describes mitt romney and john huntsman as being members of a cult. >> i want to thank you for a rousing introduction.

he knocked it out of the park as we like to say. >> reporter: romney sought to rise, kennedy-like, above religi religion. >> let no agenda narrow our vision or drive us apart. >> reporter: a problem that some have among the faithful. >> the next president of the united states needs to be a man, i'm speaking generically, man of sincere, authentic, genuine christian faith. >> reporter: so is mormonism a cult. don't ask her man cain. >> he's a mormon. that much i know. i'm not going to do an analysis. >> reporter: don't ask michele bachmann. >> this is so inconsequential. >> i'm not an expert on mormonism. >> reporter: not an expert. also not a defender.

perry has been explicit in saying mormonism is not a cult. many of his supporters are not so sure. that leaves romney with a problem another candidate had some years ago. john f. kennedy had trouble when he became the nation's first catholic president. steph sni? rob? in other news, the anti-wall street protests are getting the attention of some politicians. protests are spreading. now the hacking group kacalled anonymous is taking part. >> reporter: the anger is in law. the protests are huge in houston. the frustration is in portland. the outrage has spread to anchorage, alaska. this is a group of protesters growing in size and diversity. it tends to be on the younger side. a number of college student who

is say they're not going anywhere any time soon. on a sunday afternoon, we're seeing people come out who have never been herbefore. senior citizens to people with their children. like tom eck and his children. they came close to losing their home last year. >> it's hard to afford food sometimes. i almost lost my house last year. i know a lot of people who have lost their house. >> reporter: and a veteran of the iraq war. >> this is people upset with the way business is being done. and with good reason. >> reporter: protests continued in the nation's capital. after marchers stormed the national air and space muse zeem. it was shut down for the day. the camping and marching near wall street goes on. the people, some of them familiar faces, keep showing up. what is it going to take for

this to stop? for guys to go home and go back to their lives and to walk away from these marches? >> women, i hope that we continue to make the country better. >> reporter: cecelia vega, abc news, new york. new riots in' jupt have left hundreds of people dead and injured. there were multiple reports of the security forces using live am in addition and running over protesters. it's the worst violence since february when the president was overthrown. libya's revolutionary forces say they're almost ready to declare victory in gadhafi's hometown. the government forces have control of the convention center. it was a key base for pro-gadhafi fighters. we're seeing the first pictures we believe of richard

reed, the so called shoe pomer. this picture was taken by a guard at the supermax prison in colorado and send to reid's father. he's vowing to starve himself to death. he's serving a life sentence for trying to blow up an american airlines flight. 35-year-old north carolina firefighter william cavenas collapsed 500 yards from the finish line and died a short time after. temperatures climbed to the 80s. not clear if the heat contributed to his death. parts of drought-stricken texas are welcoming more rain. rescue crews were scrambling to pull drivers from their cars. the american league playoffs in arlington has to be postponed. texas is thirsty.

they need the water. now for the morning's weather on this monday. that rain lingers actually over the eastern half of texas. mild with showers from fargo to omaha and kansas city. rain in the pacific northwest. gusty winds and flooding from charleston to savannah and tampa. near record highs in the northeast. >> new york soars to 85. 80s from miami to dallas. mostly 7 ons across the midwest. phoenix hits 86. near 70 in sacramento. coming up after the break, a developing story overnight. family's boat sinks and forces them to tread water for nearly a day. plus steve jobs' secret stash of ideas. and rosie's return. the high-stakes return to tv. it's not just her reputation on the line.

two top european leaders say they'll soon have a plan to deal with jourp's debt crisis. the french president and german chancellor say the plan will be ready this month. the reaction on the world markets is mixed. tokyo's nikkei average was up slightly today. hong kong's hang seng is down in late trading. wall street is open today this columbus day. last week, the dow gained 189

points. the nasdaq picked up 63 points. good news for anyone pifillg up their car. the average price is $3.39 for a gallon of gas. it's down 13 cents in the last two weeks. at&t says the iphone 4 squlnchts s s is enjoying a brisk sale. customers can get them on friday if they don't mind waiting in line. more apple news. according to the daily mail, apple founder steve jobs left behind balance for several generations of its most popular devices. the mail also reports that jobs spent the last year overseeing the development of the new icloud service. a good weekend for fightinging robots.

"real steel" was the nation's number one movie. hugh jackman snars this film about boxing robots. and the political saga "ides of march" was number two. number three was "dolphin tale." and rosie o'donnell is coming back to tv. the show will feature long, in-depth chats with celebrities. oprah winfrey visited rosie personally to get her to come back to the tube. >> i think that will be good. when we come back, wedding bells for a beatle. and the tan ban. and later in the pulse, the newest muppet making her debut and bringing an important message. [ female announcer ] this is kim. who came to walgreens because she remembers last year

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i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com.

it's drying out in the colorado rockies after more than a half foot of snow fell over the weekend. the early storm came as a surprise to many that were focusing on picking up pumpkins for halloween. >> old man winter, here we go again. let's look at the morning road conditions. flooding on parts of i-95 from charleston to miami. wet on i. so from houston to san antonio. and rain soaks i-5, 84, and 90. if you're flying, calm of weather-related delays in miami and atlanta. overnight, we learned of a horrifying ordeal for family in florida. their boat overturned and capsized. the family members had to tread

water for to hours. including a 4-year-old girl. >> the coast guard was finally able to bring them to shore. one of them is being comforted here. they were not able to save an 80-year-old woman who drowned. none of the passengers was wearing a life jacket. we hope to learn more later today. the desperate search for a kansas city baby is still under way. the parents of 10-month-old lisa irwin began answering questions again. lisa's aunt spent the day at nascar race handing out flyers. detectives tried to reenact how someone may have entered that home. new details are emerging about amanda knox's four years behind bars. she says she was sexually harassed by a high-ranking italian prison official. she was forced to go to his

office at night to talk solely about sex. california may be the golden state. it will soon have the nation's stronger restrictions against tanning beds. starting next year, no children under 18 can use the beds even if their parents give the okay. tanning is particularly popular in california. there are more tanning salons than starbucks or mcdonald's. >> a fascinating stat. sports news. both sides in the nba are still talking. good morning. cole wright here with your espn update. game one in milwaukee. ron roenicke and the brew crew. braun says, i'll fix that. don't worry about it. a 440-foot blast. bottom five, beer makers down a

dash. the prince of power, prince fielder getting his long ball on. brewers up 6-5. two sticks later. uniyees yuniesky betancourt says, i appreciate the pitching change. john axford on in relief. flips to first. game over. brewers, they take game one, 9-6. to the gridiron. the raiders honoring the late al davis. gone but will never be forgotten. here's where we pick it up. 7-6, texans. matt schaub rolls out. downfield to a wide open joel dreessen. raiders down two, 17-15. jason campbell, steps up in the

pocket, finds chaz for the score. the raiders back in front. seven seconds to go. matt schaub's pass picked off by michael huff. black and silver, they win, 25-to. that will do it for this espn news update. for the latest on the sports scene, tune in to the highlight express on espn news. best wishes to paul mccartney and his new bride. >> paul mccartney and his new bride, nancy shevell were married. >> close friends, including ringo starr were at the ceremony. >> hope the third time is the charm. she's independently wealthy. they make a cute power couple. the pulse, prince harry finds a party, of course, during his first weekend here in the states. >> surprise surprise.

and the golf course lake teaming with sharks. living with diabetes is a reality for me,

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new topic that is anything but child's play. >> they introduced a new muppet last night to shed light on the serious issue of poverty and hunger. lily debuted in a prime time special. >> the show creators said hunger is an invisible crisis. a true sign of the times. a lot of families can appreciate that. sensitize kids to the less fortunate in the country. >> a little red-headed cutie girl. she'll be explaining to kids what it's like to live as a hungry child. kind of a delicate issue. interesting. >> see how they'll handle it. it's reflective of the times. san diego got a surprise real visit. >> big-time. >> prince harry took a break and stopped in at two local watering hoels. i mean, you have to do this.

zwh this kid likes to party, we know that. they stopped in a pub and a trendy roof top bar. there was a rehearsal dinner taking part at the pub. he refused to be party of a photo. he's spending time doing helicopter training with u.s. forces. >> you have to think at some point a youtube video will be leaked of him drinking or at a strip club or something. >> the prince likes to party. we all know that. and some golfers in australia may have something more to worry about than their swings. how many some man-eating sharks? >> after flood waters took over a golf course lake, the bull sharks are driving there. they're even breeding. one down side is that local kids hoping to earn extra money used to go in the lake to earn extra

money retrieving golf balls. for some of you, your local news is coming up next. for everyone else, "america this morning" continues. my whole body hurt. it was an ongoing, deep pain. i didn't understand it. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia --

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and finally this morning, most of us can pretty easily walk and chew gum at the same

time. how many things should we really be doing all at once? >> we've become a society of master multitaskers. however, we may not be performs as well as we think. here's more from t.j. winick. >> reporter: like a lot of us, this man believes he's an expert multitasker. >> my feeling isky focus on whatever issue is at hand. i have to do things simultaneously. >> reporter: researchers put him to the test. driving a simulator while doing math problems and memorizing words. >> is eight times four plus two equal to 30? >> no. >> how? >> reporter: to solve the math problems, he mousse use this part of the brain. the memory tasks, this part. the driving, this part. we may believe we can pay full attention to a bunch of things at once, but scientists say really, that's an illusion. >> we're doing one task at a

time. >> reporter: our brains strofld focus on one important task, like hunting. fast forward a couple hundred years, much more is competing for our attention. that's why an illusionist can trick you and steal your wallet, for example. how did that champion multitasker do? >> you got worse when you started to multitask. >> reporter: like 98% of us, his concentration got worse. proof we should give multitasking a break the next time we're behind the wheel. t.j. winick, abc news, new york. >> try telling that to a new yorker. >> yeah. >> only do one thing. >> not easy. coming up later on "good morning america," an abc news exclusive interview with former president george w. bush. what does he think of the issues shaking up the 2012 race. and we'll hear about a cause near and dear to the former president's