for the latest we are joined by john hendren in washington. hi, john. >> reporter: hi, vinita. it turns outs this stuff helps car sales. this is the gunk they pour in your engine to kill it when you trade in your car under the cash for clunkers program. and that program is making dealers and carmakers very happy. the cash for clunkers program is driving stalled car sales upward. carmakers sold 11 million cars in july, down from last year, but up from june. the biggest winner, ford, reporting new vehicle sales at the highest level since november of 2007. >> this is great. it's the first automaker in two years has posted an increase in month over month over last year. and it's helped the business tremendously. >> reporter: and ford isn't alone. sales are all up. but the cash for clunkers program is in neutral, after the $1 billion in funding ran out in about a week, the house approved $2 billion more. but senate leaders are scrambling to approve the new funding before their month-long break starts friday. >> if it ain't broke, don't fix it. it's working in every way. >> reporter:

john hendren, abc news. >>> now, we wanted to give you some perspective about where it is burning. it is a huge area in the rugged mountains north of los angeles. downtown l.a. is right here, burbank is over here. strong winds are expected all day blowing the station fire in three directions, towards cities to the north where those firefighters were killed and to the west, but crews are also focused on the eastern flank burning toward that collection of tv, radio and police antennas on mt. wilson. the other big concern, air quality. at certain times of the day and night winds blow out of the desert areas pushing that smoke into populated areas where it can settle and can make people sick. a bad situation there. we will get a complete update from sam champion live from the front lines later on "good morning america" or you can get the latest any time at abcnews.com. >>> former vice esident dick cheney is once again on the attack over the justice department's investigation of bush era detainee interrogations. attorney general eric holder named a special prosecutor last week after a n

>> abc's john hendren from capitol hill this morning. anks, john. >>> and when we return, we'll have the opportunity to hear from a political reporter that covered kennedy for years as a political reporter in boston. stay with us. and abc's continuing coverage of the death of senator edward kennedy. carolina, le, ...and i smoked for 29 years. the one thing about smoking - is it dominates your life, and it dominated mine. and the sad thing about it is that you can always use an excuse if cigarettes don't kill me, oh well - something else will. but, you can't use that as an excuse. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. it was very interesting that you could smoke on the first week. chantix gave me that extra help that i needed to get through a tough time. (announcer) chantix is a non-nicotine pill. in studies, 44% of chantix users were quit during weeks 9 to 12 of treatment, compared to 18% on sugar pill. it is proven to reduce the urge to smoke. i did have an unopen pack of cigarettes in my purse and then

here's john hendren. >> reporter: it's the end of the road for cash for clunkers. >> this is the lastay. we came in today to get it. >> reporter: here at this toyota dealership, employees counted down the hours and the deals. >> people are making deals one after another. >> i had been sort of thinking about it and putting it off. when i heard about monday's deadline, i decided to jump on it. >> reporter: it's cause for celebration here. with 18 locations, darcars has sold 1464 cars through the cash for clunkers program. 80% of overall sales. but getting the government to make good on up to $4500 per car has been slow going. how many of those have you been paid for? >> nine. >> reporter: so the federal government opens you for almost 1400? >> correct. >> reporter: that's $5.8 million darcars has tied up in government ious. >> we never, ever dreamed that it would be tied up for as long as it is. >> reporter: and there's the paperwork. more than a dozen forms for each sale. the program ends at 8:00 p.m. monday, but darcars will stop taking clunkers tonight and spend the last day processi

john hendren, abc news, at the wilderness battlefield. >> our "closer look" for tonight. >>> and you can share your thoughts about the walmart plans at our blog "the world newser," >>> and coming up, how to cash in on a different kind of clunker. in on a different kind of clunker. no trade-in needed here. l, you can have something decadent... with something spicy. then something crunchy, then something new... like wood-grilled shrimp with a tangy teriyaki glaze. and after that, you can do it all again. it's endless shrimp. indulge in endless choices of your favorite shrimp dishes. while the shrimp are endless, this offer isn't. come in now for the best value of the year. at red lobster. and then there are the indicator-light warning, radar-sensor-linking, blind-spot-penetrating side mirrors of the all-new ford taurus. so what doesn't show up in your mirror, can still show up on your mirror. we speak car. we speak innovation. introducing the all-new taurus from ford. drive one. denise! you've lost weight! it's just all these giant things make me look small. i eat this fiber one yogurt

>> john hendren. thank you so much. >>> now, to the story of a grisly murder of a former model, that has police in the u.s. and canada, on hot pursuit. law enforcement sources believe the parents of ryan jenkins are helping him out. helping him flee from authorities. abc's laura marquez as the latest. >> reporter: an international manhunt is on for ryan jenkins, charged with the murder of swimsuit model jasmine fiore. authorities believe me fled to canada, after leading them on a high-speedboat chase on the u.s./canada border. they have received several times. but the trail has gone cold. they held a flight to toronto, to remove a passenger, who in the end, only resembled jenkins. >> it gets harder for him to stay hidden as time passes. i think we're going to catch him, probably sooner than later. >> i was never involved with girls that could keep up with me. >> reporter: jenkins, a reality tv star wed 28-year-old fiore, in las vegas, after knowing each other a few days. the couple was last seen toget

but first, we begin with abc's john hendren, who joins us from an auto dealership in silver spring, marylandgo morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, kate. as you say, the cash for clunkers program is a victim of its own success, as congress scrambles to find more money for it. dealers like this one keep making deals, hoping that uncle sam will pay them back. this toyota dealership went from dismal to dynamic, all thanks to the cash for clunkers program. how many of these people are here for the cash for clunkers program. >> out of the 38 yesterday, 31. our monthly goal for toyota was 270 cars. the month ends today. we're at 350 cars. and we'll probably deliver another 30 today. >> reporter: the billion-dollar program is so successful, it's running on empty, after selling more than 250,000 cars in less than a week, leaving buyers speeding in to kick the tires. >> we were going to do something in the next couple of weeks. but we figured we'd take care of it today. >> reporter: on capitol hill, the house rushed to approve another $2 billion for the program. >> the bill is pass without the m

>> john hendren on cape cod, thank you. >>> and as john mentioned, senate democrats are vowing to push lu health care reform, in honor of his champion from the start. kennedy fast 15,235 votes. many of those were bills he authored, aimed at improving health care for all americans. here's abc's jonathan karl. >> reporter: he was there to vote for the creation of medicare in 1965. and would make health care his signature issue. >> this is the cause of my life. >> reporter: in 1971, kennedy worked to defeat a nixon health care bill because he thought it was too watered down. >> it's really a partnership between the administration and the insurance companies. >> reporter: he would come to regret that. in the years to come, kennedy, the liberal lion, would get things done by working with republicans and compromising when he needed to. he worked with arch conservative orrin hatch, to expand health coverage for poor children. >> we've been adversaries for 32 years. we've also been partners. >> reporter: he worked with the first president bush on the americans with disabilities act, opening ac

. >>> let's go to abc's john hendren on capitol hill, joining us live, where ted kennedy spent nearly five decades of his life. john? >> reporter: good morning, jeremy and vinita. the flag of the capitol is now at half-staff. the family released a statement to say, we lost the joyous life of our lives. his faith, optimism and perseverance, will live on in our hearts forever. to most americans, ted kennedy was the staunch liberal with that famous last name. in reality, he was a legislative workhorse. in 1962, while brother john f. kennedy was in the white house, ted was elected to massachusetts' vacant senate seat. he was just 30 years old. most assumed that he would take his rightful place in the oval office. but in the summer of 1969, that all changed. kennedy drove his car off a narrow bridge on chappaquiddick island in massachusetts, resulting in the death of campaign worker mary jo ke peckny. >> today, i formally announce i'm announcing a run for president of the united states. >> reporter: in the 1980s, ten kennedy emerged as a forge for the health care in senate. the before and

. >> john hendren has more on this story. >> reporter: good morning, jeremy and vinita. ben bernanke will be at the president's side this morning as the president makes the announcement from martha's vineyard. the president is expected to say, with bold action and outside-the-box thinking, bernanke put the brakes on the financial free-fall. bernanke's term doesn't expire for another five months. there was no need for immediate action. but a white house source says the president believes that consistency is crucial. bernanke's a republican that was appointed by president bush. but he's earned widespread respect on both sides of the aisle. bernanke is expected to win easy approval in the senate. jeremy and vinita? >> we mentioned the long-term impact of this announcement. do we know how the stock markets are likely to react on this news? >> reporter: i wouldn't expect a market rally on this news. wall street has been pushing for bernanke's term. they like consisty, too. in a recent poll, 70% of market professionals said they expected bernanke to be reappointed. >>> there c

john hendren, abc news. >> senator kennedy continued the fight for health care reform even in this final months. some of his allies hope his death might signal a change of heart on capitol hill. >> if people are interested in honoring his legacy, it is to pass health care reform. >> i am getting upset about some people trying to take the venice of this and saying we have to pass health care reform because of ted. ted would not want it passed if it wasn't good. >> a congressman is calling party moderates brain dead and only out for campaign donations for challenging the bill. >>> a silk screen was painted by and warhol to raise money for kennedy's presidential campaign. it is in the remembrancer gallery. stay with abc 74 continuing coverage of senator kennedy's funeral proceedings. >>> police are stepping up at velanue ais brentwood metro station of a series of attacks. at least 17 assaults and robberies have been reported this year. workers who look for work outside the station say they are being targeted. a pedestrian tunnel appears to be a trouble spot. >>> if you have lost anything wh