this morning, inside al qaeda. >> it is straight out of the movies. a double-agent works his way into the terror group to root out a plot to kill americans on airlines. this all comes as we learn about a warehouse full of airport screening equipment. and no plans to even use it. a real-life airplane threat overnight. several planes checked by the fbi. hundreds of passengers delayed. another accuser of the movie star, two masseurs and a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. john travolta fighting allegations of sexual battery. and double elimination in the ballroom. fans telling two stars, you're done. good morning. i'm sunny hostin. paula faris is on assignment. >> i'm rob nelson.

good morning, everybody. we're learning new details about that double-agent who spoiled an al qaeda bomb plot. >> with renewed attention on airline safety, there's a disturbing, new report about what the tsa isn't doing to protect us. abc's tahman bradley is in washington with more. good morning, tahman. >> reporter: good morning sunny and rob. this spy had an incredibly dangerous assignment. posing as a suicide bomber. working his way inside al qaeda in yemen. it is the stuff of a great spy movie. it was an incredible spy operation. inintelligence agencies infiltrating al qaeda in yemen. and foiling a plot to bomb u.s. aircraft. remarkable work, given that al qaeda carefully screens recruits. >> it's quite an accomplishment to pass yourself off as an al qaeda terrorist, to the terrorists, when in fact, you're working for a u.s. or allied intelligence agency. >> reporter: the man has not

been identified. but the spy infiltrated, posing as a double-agent, learned of the plot, got his hands on the bomb and left yemen with it. it's an upgrade of the underwear bomb being used in the past. it's being studied by the fbi. >> by having the bomb in its arran original state, before it goes off, u.s. experts are able to figure out how the bomb works. how it might be detected. >> reporter: a new report raises questions about what the government is doing to stop terror attacks. equipment, hundreds of baggage scanners, explosive detection systems and bomb detection systems are in storage, in a government warehouse. while hundreds of airports across the country, go unprotected by the best bomb-scanning technology. >> obviously, the point of having advanced screening technology is to get it out to the field. it's not a museum relic.

>> reporter: abc news has learned that fbi agents plan to make a replica of the underwear bomb and send it through airport security to test the system. sunny and rob? >> back to this airport screening equipment. why is all that stuff just sitting there, not being used? >> reporter: well, rob, that government report says that the tsa told them they ordered the extra equipment because they could get it at a discount. now, the department of homeland security says it's been working to clear out that warehouse. and that they've been working to get the scanners to airports. the delay, they say, is being caused by smaller airports being unable to fit them. >> tahman bradley, thank you this morning. another form of attack has terror officials worried. for the past six months an unidentified group of hacker has been mounting an ongoing, coordinated cyber attack on the control systems of u.s. gas pipelines. according to u.s. officials, it's unclear if a foreign power is trying to map the gas system or if hackers are attempting to harm the pipelines. two southwest airline flights were grounded overnight,

following threatening phone calls. one of the planes was at phoenix sky harbor airport on its way to tulsa. it was taken to an isolated area of the airport and searched. the other was at john wayne airport in southern california, scheduled to fly to phoenix. both of the planes were eventually cleared. in political news this morning, the longest-serving republican member of the u.s. senate has lost his bid for re-election. six-term indiana senator, richard lugar, was unable to survive a challenge from a far mar conservative rival backed by the tea party. he is known as a bipartisan moderate and a dealmaker. lugar warned republicans against continuing what he calls an unrelenting partisan mindset. also, presidential hopeful mitt romney campaigned in michigan, ignoring primaries in indiana, north carolina and west virginia. without any significant challengers at this point, romney won all three, putting a big dent in the 288 delegates he

needs to officially clinch the nomination. in north carolina, voters decided to add some muscle to the state's ban on six-sex marriage. they approved a constitutional amendment as defining marriage between a man and a woman only opinion it's the 30th state to do so. the latest amendment not only prevents same-sex marriages. it also means civil unions and other domestic partnerships will no longer be recognized by the state. also in north carolina, another top aide to john edwards is back on the stand today in his corruption trial. yesterday, the former speech writer testified edwards acknowledged that a wealthy donor was secretly supporting his pregnant mistress. the prosecution is expected to wrap up its case by tomorrow. still unclear when rielle hunter will testify. secretary of state hillary clinton is making it pretty clear that she's not losing any sleep over her appearance. clinton has faced some pretty blistering criticism during her years in the public eye, not

only for her hair, her clothes, her makeup. she says she believes she's at a stage of her life that she can wear her glasses whenever she wants. time, now, for a look at weather from across the country on this wednesday. a nasty day in the eastern part of the country, with some drenching rain and flooding from michigan to maine. and all the way down to miami, in fact. also, stormy along the gulf coast. the southern half of texas, new mexico and arizona. gusty winds in the northwest and rockies. >> 75 in salt lake city. and 84 in sacramento. kansas city gets up to 71. minneapolis, 67. and chicago, 60. 66 in boston. mostly 70s from new york to atlanta. 80s from miami to dallas. and coming up next after the break, the latest forecast on what you'll be paying for gas this summer. plus, should you pay the expenses for multimillionaire ex-presidents? a new bill says no. and later in the show, it took more than two weeks. but an inspirational woman, to

say the least, has now finished the london marathon.

welcome back, everybody. well, we're doing better on making our house payments. new data this morning says fewer homeowners were late on their mortgage payments in the first quarter. less than 6%, in fact. late payments had increased in the previous two quarters. but transunion now expects to see fewer and fewer late payments. and if you're retiring this

year it will cost 4% more to cover your health costs than if you quit a year ago. the average for a newly-retired couple is now $240,000 over their lifetime for health care. but that could change significantly if the supreme court overturns all or part of the obama administration's health care law. a decision due next month. overseas markets are down because of uncertainty about greece. tokyo's nikkei average lost 137 points today. hong kong's hang seng was down 181 points. in london, the ftse opened lower. and on wall street, the dow fell 76 points yesterday, to close below 13,000. the nasdaq index was off 11. well, get ready to gas up and go this summer. the government says gasoline will be 16 cents a gallon cheaper than it thought it would be this summer, thanks to lower crude oil prices. the forecast is for prices to be less than a dime more than last year. there's a new push to eliminate so-called welfare for

presidents. jimmy carter, bill clinton, and both bushes are eligible for free rent, office staff, even postage, costing millions a year. all that, despite the millions they make every year. last year, uncle sam paid $830,000 for george w. bush's phone bill. on top of that, $15,000 for carter's postage. a bill would stop taxpayer funding if presidents make more than $400,000 a year, which these days, most of them do. we love to dish about ourselves online. 80% of the postings on social media are personal. researchers say disclosing all that personal information online gives us the same brain candy as eating, getting money or having sex. to varying degrees, of course. >> all right. excuse me. next on this wednesday, one state's controversial ban on, get this, bake sales. some think this has gone a little too far. and later in "the pulse," it's the talk online.

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more than a year after japan's devastating tsunami, a mountain of debris is descending on the alaskan coastline. these pictures capture just a fraction of the 1.5 million tons of trash from the disaster, drifting our way. some potentially toxic. cleanup crews are getting hazmat training to help save the beaches. >> they say the debris field the bigger than the state of california. take a look at morning road conditions. flooding on i-95. i-75 in florida and georgia. i-40 in the carolinas. rain drenches i-10, from jacksonville to el paso. and i-35 in texas. windy along parts of i-5, 15, 84 and 90. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible on the east coast from boston to miami. also, in new orleans and detroit. back to the news this morning.

the hunt continues, now, for two tennessee girls and the family friend accused of abducting them and killing their mother and older sister. >> we now have surveillance video of the suspect, adam mayes. he's seen here chatting with a store clerk days after the disappearance of bain and her daughters. mayes' wife and mother were charged in connection with the abduction. his sister-in-law claims he was having an affair with jo ann bain. closing arguments are set to begin in the murder case against jennifer hudson's former brother-in-law. attorneys for william balfour rested their case yesterday. that's compared to the prosecution's case which took two weeks to present. balfour is charged with killing hudson's mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew. there won't be anymore school bake sales in the state of massachusetts. the state has banned fund-raisers, as part of what

it's called its no-nonsense nutrition standards. many parents organizations use the bake sales for extracurricular activities for music and sports. critics say banning bake sales is stale thinking. classes are canceled at a seattle private high school for a few days because of an outbreak of flu-like symptoms. more than 150 students were out sick yesterday. and the school is being closed for at least today and tomorrow, while the place is thoroughly disinfected. a custodian at colombia university, is cleaning up the school. he's about to graduate from there with honors. he took the job 20 years ago to take advantage of tuition-free classes for employees. once he learned english, the immigrant from the former yugoslavia started working towards his goal of a degree. it's taken him 12 years. and coming up this sunday, he will take home a bachelor's degree. >> with honors in more ways than one. >> that's right. and in sports, the baseball season continues to get even

more exciting and more record-breaking. we get all the details, now, from espn news. >> good morning. cole wright here with your "sportscenter" update. and tuesday night, josh hamilton, he was failing it. ron washington, he's one of the witnesses. top one, runner on first. against the baltimore orioles. two-run poke. 11th of the year for hamilton. rangers up 2-0. top of the third, he wasn't done yet. he was through once. and hamilton, he would lose one. second in the game. top seven, now. hamilton, facing zach phillips. and phillips would receive the same treatment. 406 feet away. third of the game for hamilton. rangers up 7-1. top of the eighth, now. fifth at-bat for hamilton. of course, he wasn't going deep. of course, he was. 425 feet. joins elite company. rangers win 10-3, on hamilton's four-home run night. kobe bryant and his lakers trying to knock the nuggets out of the playoffs.

fourth quarter. andre miller. to jamail mcgee. nuggets up 13. 15-point advantage. bryant would lead the lakers back. down 13. that would make it a ten-point game. lakers down seven. bryant, for three. lakers within four. now, down five, bryant, again. for three. that brought his team to within a pair. another 20 seconds to go. sessions, doing his best kobe bryant impersonation. lakers within one. bryant, he would miss this triple try. sessions would get a clean look. would he make it. no good. nuggets hang on for the "w," 102-99. make a note, wednesday night baseball. tampa bay rays make a trip to the big ballpark in the bronx to square off with joe girardi and the pinstripes. 7:00 p.m. eastern time on espn, espn3 and the watch espn app. if you're one of those

people who constantly campaigns about exercises, you're about to be embarrassed. >> claire lomas is paralyzed from the waist-down. but thanks to a robotic suit she was able to complete the london marathon. it took her 16 days, walking about a mile and a half a day. >> you can't complain after that. >> some people's spirit, no words for it. >> congrats. up next, "the pulse." john travolta fighting some pretty racy allegations from two male massage therapists. and those preprom pictures got a little soggy for one group in wisconsin. we'll tell you why. [ male announcer ] raise your hand if you've got savings whiplash.

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aveeno. positively radiant. in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. he's my success story. [ laughs ] all right. welcome back, everybody. time to check "the pulse," this morning, the stories you'll be talking about today. starting with a second, now, massage therapist, coming forward to file a lawsuit, claiming he was inappropriately touched by actor john travolta. the unidentified man is demanding 2 million bucks in damages. >> travolta denied the allegations. and said the lawyer representing both men is looking for his 15 minutes of fame. >> a lot of sordid details coming out online. a couple celebrities are

being hailed as life-saving heroes. a man who had a heart attack while jogging in london's hyde park, his life was saved from help by a famous passerby, the one and only dustin hoffman. the "rain man" actor has a home there in london. >> and mila kunis helped. kudos to all those life-saving celebrities. >> who wouldn't want to be saved by mila? not a bad day. and the talk of the town this week, tom brady's hair. the odd do apparently stole the spotlight at monday night's met gala. >> the patriots' star had his supermodel wife, gisele bundchen, at his side. but who could keep their eyes off that hair. he was sporting what you might call a semifaux hawk, leaning to the right and slicked down on the sides a little bit. >> the new do is a departure

from his recent beatles mop top he had going on. >> a dramatic departure for the quarterback. i'm a star. i'm a quarterback. i'm married to a supermodel. whatever. >> he's going to start a trend. >> let's hope not. >> you may look good in that. >> i'll try that tomorrow. prom night turned out to be quite a splash for a group of high school students in wisconsin. and they have a picture to prove it. >> a group photo on a pier seemed like a great way to create a lasting memory for the dance. but the wooden pier collapsed under the weight of the 20 teens, leaving most of them dripping wet. nobody was hurt. >> have to have the pier inspectors come out. the teens had to scramble to dry their clothes and hair. the girls had to reapply their makeup. but somehow, they made it to the prom with a lasting memory of the big prom night. >> and pictures to show it. for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, two stars get the boot from the ballroom. the highlights from last night's "dancing with the stars," next. uh-huh.

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updating the top stories. two southwest planes were temporarily grounded after phoned-in threats. one was in phoenix. the other in southern california. after a thorough search, both aircraft were cleared for takeoff. moderate republican senator richard lugar lost his bid for re-election in the indiana primary. he's the currently longest-serving member of the senate. first elected back in 1976. the tsa is throwing millions of dollars of unused equipment in a warehouse. the agency says it was cheaper to buy the items and not use them. flooding rain from the southern rockies, into texas, the gulf coast and florida. pretty stormy all the way up to new england. and finally from us this morning, it was double the heartache last night on "dancing with the stars," as two couples got the boot. >> yes. and for those remaining on the dance floor, the competition for the mirrorball really heats up.

here's abc's george pennacchio. >> roshon and chelsea. >> reporter: roshon fegan and chelsie hightower were booted out of the ballroom. >> i am happy to be alive. period. that's what it is. every moment of my life, it's been amazing. of course, i'm going to have a great sentimental moment. and cherish everything that just happened. and miss it. i'm going to miss it, terribly. >> you were the best partner i've had. >> reporter: the double-elimination continued minutes later, with one couple also getting the news it was over. >> melissa and maks. >> reporter: with big fan support, actress melissa gilbert and maxim chmerkovskiy made it to fifth place, despite being near or at the bottom of the leaderboard every week. >> my son told me you're the greatest person i know.

can't ask for more than that. >> one of the best partners i've had in my life. whether it's on the show, or in my professional career. >> reporter: what did you win? >> i won the gilbert, in my life. i love this. >> reporter: and melissa loved the journey. >> whatever comes next, i'm ready. i've always been ready. >> reporter: now, we're on to the semifinals. the remaining four couples will tackle two more dances, hoping to make it into the finals. in los angeles, george pennacchio, for abc news. >> thanks, george. of course, the big story, sunny's favorite, william levy, still in this thing. >> yes. that's because he had a very good week, getting a perfect score, rob, on monday night. so, we will see him again next week. i will see him again next week. >> of course, we will get all the inside dish, coming up on "good morning america," in just a little while today. >> yes. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> stay with us for "good morning america." thanks for watching, everybody. have a great wednesday.