today, abrams released a letter from warren buffett detailing the reasons for his replacement.buffett tells abrams, that his decision was based on quote, "a differing view about distribution channels and brand strategy." buffett also said he'd never heard about the boat trip before reading about it in the papers, and that he had no objection to the party, tom. tom, this whole story is very unusual. warren buffet, you rarely hear about management shakeups at berkshire hathaway, and warren buffet is seeing this with his hands-off managementle. so think there's still more of this. >> tom: i agree, there will be more of this in the days to come, very rare for this kind of management dispute to become public out of berkshire hathaway. >> tom: u.s. stocks had a positive tone throughout the day, climbing on the positive durable goods and pending home sales data. the s&p 500 continued yesterday's bounce, opening strong after the durable goods poinuing to build. the market shook off a small afternoon swoon to end higher by almost 1%. today's action continues this month's volatility on b

defense secretary, came up with some that essentially security the abrams doctor. instead making sure that the manpower needs of the military engaged the whole country whenever we went to war, he restructured the thing so that manpower needs of the military would be met as quietly as possible with as little civilian upset as possible. those manpower needs will be met in part for profit. privately. the clinton -- clinton-gore administration was delighted and dashed it made much easier for them, for example, and the need to get around the own political constraints to use force in the balkans. and so, this book is not about the merits of any individual or. the congress waxes and wanes in its interest in constraining and overseeing and directing matters of war, even though the constitution does put them in charge of the. the president's new expanded powers, treats it as one man's arm, those powers have grown and grown to the military itself has become more and more cleaved from something like. the national security advisor keeps growing and become more and more indepen

jim abrams of the associated press. press.

. >> let me turn it to jim abrams. >> one of the other major issues is the regional divided. saying that your ability, the revenue justice not work for them. can you talk a little bit about their concerns and the efforts you are making? perhaps why your bill satisfies? >> it is in the eyes of the beholder. from the first, i think the chairman and i indicated to all the commodity groups that this is a different year. this is the year that we have to change. the same thing was true in 1996. there's a lot of opposition to it and that protected the time from the south. that changed once they learn to appreciate the direct payments. this is the situation where we tried to indicate to the people that we will do everything we possibly can, given the circumstances that we have. people obviously do feel that certain crops are not treated fairly or, to be more accurate, it just does not work as well as we hoped it could work out. both of the chairwoman and of myself and my staff's have worked very hard with the senators. we have tried to come up with answers for them in regards to bett

i want to bring in senior legal analyst dan abrams, you and i were tweeting last night. something still striking to people 20 he hours later. sandusky's own attorney asks if this proves his client a sick man after his overwhelming message from the jury. look what he said. >> does that prove to me my client is sick? the answer was no. you know, folks, there are lots of people sitting in jails across this country who are innocent. there have been people, lots of people, lots of people -- may i finish? >> nearly booed off the courthouse steps incredible to listen to. >> this is a press conference that he should not have held. he doesn't want to quite say his client is innocent. he certainly doesn't want to start pointing the finger at the victims in this case. he should have come out and made a quick statement and called it a day. i think this hurt him an his client more than it did help. >> you saw our teams reporting that dottie sandusky, his wife, didn't shed a tear when this was read. she was shaking her head in the courtroom. i look down the road, is she in the clear?

thank you so much, dan abrams. big verdict today. >>> and we turn now to new mexico tonight, and the gigantic wildfire, the nation's largest, continuing to spread in all directions. 300 square miles already scorched and the winds are expected to pick up over the next few days. smoke and haze from the fire triggering health alerts hundreds of miles away. >>> and now, we turn to a major crackdown on a highway hazard, the biggest in history. the target? dangerous buses. today, government s.w.a.t. teams shut down 26 bus operators, the kind of buses americans ride, 720 million times each year, citing a recent pattern of accidents involving other vehicles, too. abc's senior national correspondent jim avila gives us an exclusive look at the s.w.a.t. teams moving in. >> reporter: they were horrifying crashes. bus drivers falling asleep on crowded freeways, their 40,000 pound coaches careening out of control. one in new york killing 14 passengers. >> sheared the bus nearly in half. >> reporter: the other in virginia, killin

some moments with dan abrams.it's not often that you see a jury so visually shaken. >> occasionally, you'll see them when autopsy photos are shown because they're gruesome and heart wrenching. but in this case, one of the accusers talking about what happened to him which would seem to indicate that these jurors believed him which is terrible news, of course, for jerry sandusky's defense. >> and his lawyers must have known this. and you wonder why they let this go to trial. >> didn't have much of a choice. prosecutors said either you plead guilty to all the charges or we can go to trial. i think there's a sense sometimes out there they should have tried to cut a deal. my sense is there was never any deal on table. >> sandusky said nothing? >> to use a football phrase, it might be the hail mary, meaning if things were going so badly for the defense, even though sandusky was terrible in his media interviews, maybe they take the chance to put him on the stand. but i think either way, this is a tough, tough defense. >>

after the tet offensive he goes to check it out for himself and has dinner with his old buddy abramsho apparently is saying the same thing. .. >> and one another pulitzer and partnership with marguerite higgins. she was every bit as tough but she wanted give homer grief and he would return it. when word came down, you know, what is coming? [laughter] >> word is she is expecting an he sad who is the mother -- . [laughter] then homer inquired if marguerite had eaten it. and betsy his great protege worked up the courage to say which of those is true? he said yes. [laughter] >> how did this affect the experiences have do people live their lives and in europe? i never asked questions. i wish that i had. >> he was in europe and the pacific. >> everybody has their own war. i have never been a combat into an it is, and not to bring home the blood and guts stories home but instead the funny ones to the dinner table. i don't know. >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> if lbj said cronkite is not with us. if i lost cronkite i lost america. to think the be had no more was not worth pursuing something val

insure the public's investigation in the and if a independent prosecutor would be necessary in the abramff case which was not a matter of the national security why not an independent prosecutor in the case of our top national secrets? >> guest: the attorney general who is the top law enforcement officer made the decision on how to proceed. these are two united states attorneys one was a bush appointee. >> chris: why not an independent prosecutor as senator obama said. >> guest: i think americans would think that two united states attorneys working with thoroughness. 92 senator obama didn't think so in 200 . >> guest: that was a different case. >> chris: it was not as serious of a case. >> guest: there is an investigation proceeding and let's that investigation happen and the facts come out >> chris: all right. moving on to something else. the president announced a new policy to stop illegals who were brought in the country as children and had good records is what mr. obama said last year about not having the power to do exactly this. >> i know some people want me to bypass congress and c

if a special prosecutor was necessary in the abram off case why not an independent prosecutor in the case of our top national secrets? attorney general has made a decision about the best way to proceed here. two united states attorneys, one bush appointee who will have the ability to thoroughly look at this. >> chris: why not an independent prosecutor to as senator obama said ensure the public's confidence in the investigation? >> i think most americans would think two united states attorneys looking into this with thoroughness. >> senator obama didn't think so back in 2006. >> that was a different case, chris. >> chris: a more serious case, sir. >> therthere is an investigatin proceeding. let the investigation happen and let the facts come out. >> chris: let's move on to something else. the president announced a new immigration policy this week to stop deporting illegals who have been brought into this country as children and who have good records, no criminal records, law abiding. here is what mr. obama said last year about not having the poured concreter to do exactly this. take a

thank you. >>> we're going to bring in our legal analyst, dan abrams. we're going to ask you that in a moment. but first, sandusky, the chances he would take the stand? >> ordinarily, i would say, no way he's going to take the stand. looking at the kind of evidence coming in in this case, i would say, it could be their only hope. and you listen to how he performed in those media interviews. and you say to yourself, how could they possibly put him on the stand? i mean, he was a disaster in those media interviews. so, he's in a -- somewhere between a tough and impossible spot. i think he's probably not going to take the stand. and if he does, my guess is, it's not going to end up well. >> no telling what he'll say, based on what we've seen, in those media interviews. >> you can't parse words the way he parses words in the media interviews. >> he'll be grilled. >> yeah. he'll follow up. what did you mean by this? they can bring in all of the media interviews, as well. >> how about his wife? you heard what jim said. could she take the stand? and what help c

. >> stephanie abrams is here with a check of the weather. hey, stef. >> hi, guys. good to see you. let's talk about what happened outside the central plains. we had severe yesterday and loo at this. it is s. lti pdownngou down. everything is moving eastbound into places like arkansas and also into missouri. the northeast is getting in on some of this rain. heavier showers into maine. let's show you exactly how much is going to fall. very heavy amounts for some of you. we could see over 2 inches in some locations and throughout the rest of the country it's going to be just gorgeous there this one will bring cold weather to the coastline by tomorrow. tomorrow will be a dry day, cool on the coast. 64 in san francisco. 75 in san jose. one of the warmer spots in the east bay at livermore at 82. tomorrow, things go downhill. 60s inland, 50s at the coast and get the umbrellas ready for those showers. >> lester, back to you. >>> politics, election day is just five days away. some news about the economy is making president obama's re-election effort a lot more difficult. david gregory is mo

. >> stephanie abrams is here with a check of the weather. hey, steph! >>> hi, guys.to see you. let's talk about whatpened throughout the central plains. we did have severe weather yesterday and it's still powering down. everything is moving eastbound into places like arkansas and also into missouri. the northeast also getting in on the rain. heavier showers into maine. let's show you exactly how much is going to fall. very heavy amounts for some of you. could see over two inches in some locations, and throughout the rest of the country it's going to be just gorgeous there along the west coast. now here is a look at what is happening outside your door. >> it's a gorgeous day outside. great to see you. 64 at reagan national, and leesburg at 61, and still in the 50s at manassas at this hour. i wouldn't sweat it today. most of the day will be just like yesterday, and that means temperatures going into the middle and upper 70s. a possible late day thunderstorm by 6:00. that's your weather scoop. now we send you back to new york city. >> lester, back to you. >> stephanie,

he goes to check it out for himself and has dinner with his old buddy, abrams, who apparently is sayingme thing that my dad ends up saying a few days later, that this is all fouled up, and there's no good way out. and there are other people saying it, but because there was so little other internet noise, he was left with the responsibility to -- my dad -- to say it out loud, that this war didn't seem justified anymore. which wasn't radical so much as common senseical. >> and an enormous moment that could not be replicated today, you're right. >> right. >> and it was only four years after they were on the beach there, '64, right? >> that's exactly correct, david. and i think many of you know the great story that lbj watched mr. cronkite deliver the commentary that night, turned to his aides and said, well, if i've lost cronkite, i've lost america. just very quickly, chip mentioned that homer biggert was in korea, and he won another pulitzer in korea in partnership with the great marguerite higgins. marguerite was every bit as tough and ornery as homer, and homer was no misogynyst, but ma

. >> stephanie abrams is here with a check of the weather. hey, steph! >>> hi, guys.to see you. let's talk about what happened throughout the central plains because we had severe weather yesterday and look at this, it is still pouring down. everything is moving eastbound into places like arkansas and also into missouri. the northeast also getting in on some of this rain. heavier showers into maine. let's show you exactly how much is going to fall. very heavy amounts for some of you. we could see over two inches in some locations. and throughout the rest of the country, it's going to be just gorgeous there along the west w >> we're startling the day off with sunshine. by the end of the day, a chance for an isolated thunderstorm. as for the coast, mostl >> lester, back to you. >> stephanie, thanks. >>> now to politics. with election day just five months away, some dismal news about the economy is making president obama's re-election effort a lot more difficult. david gregory is moderator of "meet the press." david, good morning. >> good morning, lester. >> we're talking

. >>> we asked abc news legal analyst, dan abrams about that possibility. will the government retry this case? >> he says that's not very likely, given the circumstances surrounding this very high-profile prosecution. >> this was a complicated case. this was a tough case. a case some thought never should have been brought. and more important, it was an expensive case. and the notion they would now spend that time, effort and money to retry him, after an acquittal on one count and hung on five, i think very unlikely. >> edwards will be able to retain his law license and thus, a way to support his children. we'll get more into the deliberations when three jurors join us on "good morning america." >>> another story involving our nation's legal system. a battle over federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, heads to the supreme court, after a ruling. in a unanimous decision, the judges said denying benefits to gay couples is unconstitutional. the court did not rule on whether gays have a right to marry. >>> to the campaign trial no

and dan abrams here. i'm going to start with you, dan.hard to keep up now. >> when you think about what happened, it's more bizarre, right. this is someone they tried to kill three times. someone that goes to the house, riddles the house with bullets. she survives. wasn't there. the next time, they miss her. then, they move. they move out of this house because they're like, wait a second. why is someone riddling the house with bullets. and at the apartment complex, someone goiz after her again and shoots her in the stomach. now, the allegation, the mistress who orchestrated this, is now trying to kill the husband? i mean, this case is a mess, and that's the bottom line. >> nancy, to say it's a huge setback is a huge understatement, isn't it? >> it's a huge setback for the state because she, the mistress, is the state's chief witness in the case against the high-profile lawyer, jeffrey stern. but there's other evidence against him, as well. there's a hitman that places him in a parking lot. he flashes the money he pays the hitman. there's

we see it in people's day-to-day lives, like when abram was watching cnn one day. he saw the story of a young boy castrated because he refused to take part in a begging ring. he wasn't just horrified by the reality of modern slavery. he did something. he got in touch with the boy's family and paid for him to come to the united states for surgery. if i can take a moment of personal privilege, we see it in the men and women who contribute to this report. in our regional bureaus here in washington. and especially the reports in political affairs team of the office of modern combatting persons. we thank you for your rigor, your commitment, and the zeal with which you attack this problem. and we see it ultimately in the victims, in the survivors. whether they choose to become activists or whether they choose to lead a life of quiet anonymity. when you log on the to slaveryfootprint.org, and i hope you do, and it asks you how many slaves work for you, remember that those victims are not statistics. it will give you a number. but these people are not numbers. they are peo

dan abrams, thanks very much. >> all right. george. >>> now, to the latest in the trayvon martin case. shellie zimmerman, george zimmerman's wife, arrested and accused of lying about how much money the couple had at her husband's bond hearing. and abc's john schriffen has the latest. >> reporter: these mug shots are the first images ever released of 25-year-old shellie zimmerman. was remaining in hiding since her husband shot and killed trayvon martin. police say shellie turned herself in and posted $1,000 bond after spending an hour in jail tuesday. >> it seems pretty clear to me that this is not necessarily something they would normally do in a normal case. >> reporter: the couple is in trouble for lying during this bond hearing. she testified that the couple could not afford a hefty bail. but later it was learned that they lied about their income, allegedly speaking in code about donations made to this website. >> they were using code words, thinking the police would be real stupid. >> reporter: after george zimmerman's bond

but my question for you is the context of what elliot abrams talked about in the previous -- earlier this morning, that our eyes were not on the middle east in terms of human rights. prior to 9/11 is what he said. would you agree? and then how does that then read 9/11, or does it? >> sure.

we've got stephanie abrams somewhere in this crowd. down here. we have a couple celebrating, i thought i'd get in with the whole madagascar thing it was just too much fun not to, what's been the best part of 59 years? >> all of them. >> oh, that's so sweet. congratulations on your anniversary. let's have a look at the weather across the country. and we are going to see some showers through texas, the northwest, the northeast, still hot in the middle of the country. tomorrow pretty much the same old song and dance here across the majority of the country. >> good morning. a mixture of sun and clouds. there is a 30% chance we could see a couple of rain showers. >> lester over to you so i can big into some of that birthday cake. >> you're first in line behind me. up next, jada pinkett smith on her family, her marriage and her new movie. first, this is "today" on nbc. >>> back now at 8:35 with jada pinkett smith, a woman who does it all. from acting to singing, not to mention being a wife and a mother. she played, also, the outgoing hippo g

henri abrams from abrams bbq joins us live this morning pith more. -how did you get into grillinn? things pineapples- whha type of sauce are yyu utting on the fruit?- what taste does the sauce give the fruit? fruit? for more informmtion on on to fox baltimore dot com g - slash morning 3 coming up... elmo... escorted away by poliie.what an impostor did in the sesamee treet cootume... that left many parents angry. you're watthing fox 45 morning news.. all local.. all ((break 4)) ((open)) 3 3- fier map 3 3 all eyes are on thh supreme court this morning. morning.in just over an hour phe highhst coort in the nation will rule on the constitutionality of presiddnt obama's health care refoom act. tom rodgers is here with moree not be the fiial word onnthe law. the affordable care act seeks to slow down soaring healthcare costs, and provide heelth insurance to more than 30 millionnuninsured americans. law by president obama tww o years agoo. the law has conttoversy... mainly over thh "individual mandate" provisioo.. which would require americans to purchase health insurance. thh supreme cou

you mentioned it went from being not on the burner according to elliott abrams, to being on the burner. why? i mean, was it from -- is that the ground-up effect? i mean, the arab spring is where we are now. >> it happened because -- it happened in our policy because it happened in reality. we followed. now, it's true, the bush administration had a big push in the freedom agenda. and met it.

so the weather channel's stephanie abrams is here with the weather. i should mention, al will be jetting off to london to join us there tomorrow morning. >> all right. >> good morning to you. >> let's see if there's good flying weather for everyone across the country. unfortunately not in the south. we do have that threat for severe weather. could be a little bit bumpy. it's already started. the rain is coming down for a lot of you. anywhere from oklahoma on in to the deep south, on into south carolina. there have been some reports of stormy weather. >> good morning.nd wet in the temperatures will be a little below average on this monday. the average high is 80. we have a 30% chance for rain >> matt over to you. >> all right, thank you very much. now to the presidential race where both president obama and mitt romney are doing a lot of fund-raising this week, as the state of the economy takes center stage in the campaign. nbc's periter alexander is in washington. >> matt, good morning. anticipating a tight race both president obama and mitt romney wil

but my question for you is the context of what elliott abrams talked about earlier this morning, that our eyes were not on the middle east in terms of human rights prior to 9/11 is what he said. would you agree? and then how does that then read 9/11, or does it? >> sure. well, kyle, thanks. and let me first say what it is to be a treat to see former colleagues and friends. i think elliott's correct in saying that as a matter of u.s. policy, the priority in the middle east over a number of years was strategic cooperation with governments who were not that rights respecting. i think that both under the bush administration and under the obama administration, that shifted. and it shifted fundamentally i think, yes, because of the shock effect of 9/11 which created an opportunity as paul noted. but more particularly, it shifted because of changes taking place on the ground in the region. and let me be very clear, i've come to this issue not as someone who spent a career on democracy and human rights, but as a middle east policy specialist. as a regional specialist, tracking arab politics o

jack abram off will give us the insider's perspective, if obama was hershey's chocolate syrup. stir up a smile. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that. ♪ every little baby wants 50% more cash... ♪ phhht! fine, you try. [ strings breaking wood splintering ] ha ha. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. ♪ what's in your wallet? ♪ ♪ what's in your...your... ♪ [ train whistle blows ] [ ball hitting paddle ] [ orbit girl ] don't let food hang around. yeah! [ orbit trumpet ] clean it up with orbit! [ orbit glint ] fabulous! for a good clean feeling. try new orbit micro packs. >> >>. >> still to come how lobbyists have impacted the healthcare bill with jack abramoff. an entire wedding party takes a massive spill when it doesn't fit anywhere else we've put it in the viewfinder. >> the united states supreme court has done what none of us have expected: the mandate has been struck down. there has been another recount, and george bush is president again. >> here are things you didn'

. >>> we got dan abrams here, our legal analyst. dan, that was pretty fascinating? >> yeah. one of the most interesting things we heard was john edwards never got the money. and remember, the money here never went through the john edwards for president coffers. and that was always the question. why are they prosecuting if this money never actually went through the campaign fund? and you heard one of the jurors there highlighting that and saying, that was a real issue for me. >> and another juror, theresa saying, after looking at everything, didn't think the case should have been brought. >> it's interesting to hear them now. as we were watching from the outside, it sounds like there was a lot of dissension. i wonder if they were battling a little more than take making it out to be. >> there's something going on. >> exactly. the jurors we're hearing today, all voting not guilty. it seemed like the majority of the jurors were going for not guilty. and there were a couple of holdouts. >> and very unlikely that the justice department is going to retry this. >> i don't see how yo