this morning -- deadly epidemic. >> an old disease returns with a vengeance, the worse year for whooping cuff in half a century. also this morning -- new revelations of lavish spending at the agency charged with running the federal government, would you believe that 20,000 taxpayer dollars for drumsticks. ed a want mant is back. fans line up for midnight screens of the dark knight rises. we have the first reviews. watch out. how did this moped driver ever survive this collision?

good morning, everybody. happy friday. we do begin, though w that alarming new health threat from an old disease whooping cough is now making a comeback. >> thousands of cases have reported this yearened nine children have died so far. and now, health officials are calling on adults to get a booster shot as soon as possible. abc's tahman bradley has the details. >> reporter: whooping cough, that irritating, highly-contagious, sometimes deadly cough is raising an epidemic rate. 18,000 cases already reported this season. more than double from last year. the biggest outbreaks in washington, wisconsin, minnesota, arizona and new york. whooping cough attacks all ages but it's most dangerous to children. >> it can be fatal, probably

hospitalized an infant maybe once a year. >> reporter: the government recommends that children several their first first vaccination at 20 months old. >> in between these episodes of severe cough, it's like a trying to gasp for air. >> reporter: officials are on the case trying to determine the cause of this year's startling spike. they suspect an evolution of the illness or shortcomings in the vaccines. they're urging adults to get vaccinated. she's about to get her third vaccination, her mom said that she didn't realize that she needed a booster shot of her own. >> if you're a new mom or a new dad if you're a grandparent or a caregiver, make sure to go and get your booster before you go for that visit. >> robin and paula, new cdc

guidelines out this year recommend vaccines for documents 65 or older. >> lot of important information. thanks, tahma in. the general services administration is at the center of another spending scandal. this time the gsa is accused of spending more than a quarter of million dollars on a one-day awards ceremony. an investigation shows that the agenda paid $20,000 for drumsticks handed out to aten dees. congress is outraged. >> we believe that this is government money. certainly this is a closer within gsa. in this instance, they got guitars and violins. >> the g stshgs a was already under fire for shelling 18,000

for a las vegas hearing. >> our tax dollars hard at work. minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann is known for her controversial comments, now she's under fire from both sides of the aisle for what she said about hillary clinton's top aide. abc's karen travers has the details. >> reporter: last week, bachmann and four fellow republicans charged huma abedin for using her position to promote the cause of the muslim brotherhood. she's a constant presence at the secretary's side. she's also the wife of former congressman anthony weiner. in her letter to top intelligence and security officials, bachmann wrote that abedin has three family members connected to muslim brotherhood

operatives and or organization. her position affords her routine access to the secretary and to policymaking. secretary clinton met with him last week in cairo. bachmann said that her letter has been taken out of context. she hasn't backed down from her charges. john boehner. >> i think accusations like this being thrown around are pretty dangerous. >> john mccain. >> these sinister accusations rest solely on unsubstantiate associates of members of huma's family. >> reporter: the controversy comes as weiner is trying to make an attempt to clean up their image. they're featured in this week's "people" magazine. >> thanks, karen, for that report. thousands of frightened syrians are now pouring across the border as violence in their country intensifies. it's been another day of

fighting between rebels and government officials in damas s damascus. bracing for revenge. yesterday at the u.n., china and russia veto a plan to pressure syria to end the civil war. more news from overseas, iran is denying accusations that hezbollah was behind that bus accident. intelligence officials believe that this long-haired man was in fact the suicide bomber and a member of a hezbollah cell operating in bulgaria. the blast killed a bomber and five israelis. they're being buried today. more frightening moments aboard a flight. the smoke that forced an emergency landing in peoria, illinois, wednesday night, didn't come from inside the plane, came from a nearby house fire.

in the rush to evacuate, one passenger broke her ankle. time now for a look at weather from across the country. on this friday, it will be cooler with some heavy around connecticut, new york. cooler is good. severe storms from the mid-atlantic, down to nashville. thunderstorms in the rockies and some rain from seattle to western mon on the that. >> 90s in the rockies and the plains. not too concerned about the weather, i just want to stay inside and get some sleep this weekend. coming up next after the break -- big box stores getting smaller. target takes aim at city shoppers. and some popular suvs are being recalled, why they run the risk of an engine fire. and later in the pulse -- katie holmes lines up her first big acting gig since the big

breakup.

welcome back, everybody. well, ford has a very unusual message for owners for some new escape suvs, stop driving them now, in fact, they say the fuel line can crack and spill gas which could start an engine fire, three fires have been reported so far, the recall involves more than 11,000 suvs, both here in the u.s. and in canada. well, echoes of the subprime mortgage mess are being seen in

student lones, a government report out this morning, said that the same kind of risky lending caused private student loan debt to explode. leaving borrowers unable to pay it back. more than a $1 trillion overall owed for education. target is about to take aim at a new group of shoppers, city dwellers, instead of those usual sprawling stores in suburbs and shopping malls, the big-box retailer is now opening its first three smaller stores next week, you can find them in chicago, l.a. and seattle. the urban versions will be a third smaller. and online shopping giant amazon.com is looking to up the ante in the retail wars, it's about to start offering same-day delivery as soon as next year. it's added new distribution centers. >> amazon is a wonderful thing.

and marissa mayer must be saying yahoo!. she's getting a compensation package worth more than $59 million. that includes $30 million as a one-time lump sum payment, if she stays at yahoo! for five years. just one more deal sweetener to lure her away from google and if yahoo! stock does well under her watch, she could end up with a cool $129 million. you go, girl. zblin credible money. >> yahoo! you guys hiring? >> not now. maybe during the break. >> sorry about that. next -- cracking the case, some serious business on social media helping to take down this wanted man. later, an incredible accident. one moped. one truck. and one woman who's very lucky to be alive. [ male announcer ] right now, walgreens pharmacists

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some fireworks on capitol hill last night. this time, not on the floor of the senate thankfully, but outside, you're looking at a series of lightning bolts brightening up the night sky as powerful thunderstorms rolled in. also, a slick commute for d.c. and much of the east coast today. thunderstorms will drench highways in both tennessee and mississippi valleys and along the gulf coast as well. some wet roads in the northwest. if you happen to be flying today, airport delays in the north, atlanta, memphis, charlotte, new york, philadelphia and washington d.c. back to the news this morning. police in philadelphia are crediting social media for helping them solve the attempted abduction of a little girl, this man turned himself just a day after a video of the incident was shown on youtube, twitter and facebook. >> family members say given the

extensive publicity, the suspect couldn't walk, talk or breathe on the streets, the victim described by police as a real trouper is recovering at home. and george zimmerman's recent interview with fox news has been entered as possible evidence in the trayvon martin case. zimmerman told sean hannity that he had few regrets of it. statements in the statement that contradicted the 911 call could be used against him. zimmerman reactivated his fund-raising website to collect more money fror his defense. fallout from the jerry san deuce key case has hit the board. the investigation found that he actually knew about the grand jury investigation into sandu y sandusky, but know elected to

share that. fred willard is denying any wrong doing following his shocking arrest at an adult theater in hollywood. pbs fired the 72-year-old after he was accused of engaging in some lewd contact in that theater. willard denied the allegation to tmz. sylvia wood has passed away. born in south carolina, she came to new york and opened her first restaurant, 50 years ago, since then, she's been a harlem fixture which drew tourists, politicians. her products were also sold in grocery store. she died yesterday after a battle with alzheimer's disease. she was 86 years old. some incredible video to show you now, first a little

colombian boy has been found alive. the 3-year-old had been playing at a construction site when he just vanished, turns out that she fell into a suer shaft. rescue crews finally found him and then pulled him out. some video in from china amoped rider was able to walk away after being hit by a truck at a busy intersection. she was probably saved by the quick evasive action on the part of the truck driver. look at that. >> talking about a matter of inches there. in sports this morning, the latest baseball highlight prs from our man at espn news. good morning. welcome to your "sportscenter" update. another fantastic finish at fenway. bobby vie has been questioned all year long, his opposite number hasn't. bobby ventura, opting to go with

gordon. thornton on the hill, facing crawford. tying run aboard. thornton stays in to face adrian gonzalez. base hit to right. he pulls thornton. brings in reed. finally. will it make a difference? he's been unstoppable. six rbis on wednesday. a walk-off, three-run blast on thursday. tremendous come from behind win from the sox when they were just one out away from defeat. one swing of the bat changes all of that. third career walk-off home run, red sox take it, 3-1. elsewhere, in the junior circuit, angels and tigers, miguel cabrera is at the plate and added to it. gone.

two home runs shy of 300 for his career. mike trout, got called up on april 28th. 14th of the year. the tigers win, 5-1, over the angels. and speaking of the angels, they'll host the rangers on sunday night baseball at 8:00 eastern on espn. these two teams have combined to win 7 of the last 8 american league west titles. you can see it on espn, espn3 and the watch espn app. coming up next, this morning, the pulse, after all of the hype, the first batman fans are streaming out of the dark knight rises. we'll have all of the early reviews. and here kitty, see a little girl make friends with a 500-pound lion. we'll be right back. ♪

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new all mighty pacs™. powerful clean. mighty results. bam, pow. that music says it all, batman and batmobile are back. >> they are indeed are back. mid niekt showings of the dark knight rises, coast to coast. the biggest batman showing up in costumes. and the first reviews are just showing up on twitter.

virgil said that's how you end a movie. eddie called it flawless, unnerving, heartbreaking and uplifting and michael kept it classy, unfreaking real. . amazing. omg. omg. i think risky met that. >> i'm getting that impression. katie holmes is ready to show off her acting chops again. >> holmes is returning to broadway this fall to star in a new family comedy, she'll play an unglamorous comic living with her parents. you might call this little girl the lion whisperer, most of us would hesitate to get close to an animal that big. she didn't flinch. she stood her ground. it looked like she succeeded in

calming him down. that's what i do to rob. petting him through the glass right now. >> brave little girl. for some of you now, local news is next. i love cash back. with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, we earn more cash back for the things we buy most. 1% cash back everywhere, every time. 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatically. no hoops to jump through. no annual fee. that's 1% back on... wow! 2% on my homemade lasagna. 3% back on [ friends ] road trip!!!!!!!!!!!!

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same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists. that's chilly. [ male announcer ] new bengay zero degrees. freeze and move on. updating our top stories this morning. some breaking news out of colorado right now, several people have been shot, at one of those overnight batman showings. all of that unfolding in aurora, colorado. the worst year in whooping cough in decades. nine children have died. mitt romney releases a new tv ad, attacking the president over the president's comments about small business. mr. obama spends a second day, meanwhile, campaigning in the battleground state of florida. a look at today's weather -- showers along the west coast. heavy rain for philly, new york as well as southern new england. and time for our weekly tradition here. this week's major headlines from

the late-night comics. >> from the olympics to a presidential smooch, here now your "friday funnies." >> yesterday, the great rush limbaugh said that the new batman movie is part of a liberal conspiracy. i'm like, what are you talking about? rush, i'm trying to work with you here, but bat man is a billionaire who doesn't trust the system to get the job done, he has a butler, he as an awesome car that gets two miles to the gallon. he's the most republican superhero of all time! >> probably saw this one. now, watch this. now, see, now -- you know what surprised me? that this didn't get more attention. show -- >> the kiss cam. [ applause ] . the only thing that most

powerful leaders in the world bend to. one more reason to be thankful that al gore was never president. sure our country may not have invaded iraq, the earth's temperature may be a few degrees cooler, but, not worth it. at the beijing olympics in 2008, they handed out 100,000 condoms. this year, the number has been increased to 150,000. 100,000 to the usa basketball team. and 50,000 for everybody else. think about it, 150,000 works out to be about 15 condoms per competitor. if i had sex 15 times in a span of two weeks, i would feel that i dedeserve a gold medal, too. >> we're in front of the camera, can i have as.