diane? >> thank you, steve. every day, so much loss. >>> and, we shift now, to a strange day in american politics. president obama pressured to produce his full birth certificate, more than two years into office. saying, it's time to stop the side shows and carnival barkers. but within minutes, donald trump had punched back. and jake tapper is at the white house for us tonight. jake? >> reporter: diane, some advisers cautioned the president not to address this issue, because a long protracted discussion by republican presidential candidates about where the president was born could help make those republicans look unserious. but ultimately, president obama decided that this birther nonsense was just too much of a distraction. it's the lie that would not die. >> he doesn't have a birth certificate. now, he may have one, but there's something on that, maybe religion, maybe it says he's a muslim. i don't know. >> this really is the biggest hoax every contemplated against our country in 200 years. >> reporter: presid

diane? >> all right, abbie, thank you. i want to bring in dr. richard besser now. so, rich, talk to us as a doctor tonight. is it safe, would you say to us, it is safe? >> reporter: diane, the milk is safe. as a doctor, as your friend, i can tell you, these levels of radiation are not harmful. i drank milk this morning as did my boys and there's no reason to stop based on this. >> nonetheless, we think if any, even a speck of radiation in anything and we can avoid it, we should? >> reporter: well, you know, these are great tests. i get some comfort out of the fact that they can detect such a small level of radiation, because it tells me, if the levels start to rise, they're going to pick it up before it causes any harm, any health side effects. >> and how long before we can stand down on this whole issue? >> reporter: well, you know, until they get the reactor under control, you need to monitor. you're going to see an increase in radiation in the air before you would see a further increase i

they cost about $3,000 each, diane.nd have the same chest size and everything. they're $3,000 each. >> we're looking at the minibuses we saw earlier. the members of the royal family is in them. >> it's convenient for the royal family. this is part of a cost-cutting measure. william and kate said they wanted it to be an austerious wedding. >> is michael middleton meeting the queen for the first time? >> they met the queen last week. but in will probably be only the second time. so, you can imagine for them, probably a day of quite high nerves and anxiety. but the queen is ever so good at making one feel welcome. >> you know, the queen's fortunately in very good health. let's say she has at least 10 or 20 more years. we give her ten more years. it may be that william will be in his 60s by the time he becomes king. he's got a long wait. and india hicks, you remember what this was like when you were a bridesmaid with princess diana. take us back. >> that's right. i remember standing in that courtyard where we've seen the ho

>> reporter: diane, this is no backdrop. all around me, as far as you can see, in every direction you can see, there is evidence of an incredibly violent weather event. entire communities, families, homes across the south, were torn apart as tornadoes described by some as a mile wide, struck in the spring evening. more twisters may have hit america's south yesterday than in any other day in history. estimates of 164 in 14 states. major super cells, the breeding ground for tornadoes, stretched from mississippi to alabama, georgia and up the atlantic seaboard, all the way to new york. reports of serious damage and loss of life from smithville, mississippi, where neighborhoods were flattened and grocery stores wiped out, to rainsville, alabama, where winds tossed around a school bus and left the bank just a heap of brick. and finally, polk, georgia, where entire communities were leveled. gas lines now beginning to form as power outages cripple the pumps. >> these are homes. this is the corner community, and then these are homes

>> reporter: pretty incredible, diane. these are the foods that i tell my patients to take it easy on. but for the children you're about to meet, this is what they eat over the course of a week, and this makes all of the difference. >> you're okay. >> reporter: starting at age 3, evan would have up to 50 seizures a day. >> seeing him seizing and there was basically nothing i could do. >> reporter: his parents say the medicine didn't work -- turned him into a zombie. >> it would take evan five minutes to walk across the street, so he could stand there, have a seizure and fall down. >> reporter: then evan's parents found bacon? this cure on a plate is known as the ketone diet. 90% fats like heavy cream, virtually no sugars or starches. and evan's parents aren't alone. 70 miles away lives jack, another little boy with epilepsy. >> jack was lying down, his eyes had rolled in the back of his head, he was twitching all over. >> reporter: today, jack's mother feeds him more mayo and more cream in one week than my entire family ea

diane? >> jim, thank you for that tonight. >>> and we turn now to some breaking new information about the terrifying southwest airline flight. and what caused part of the jet to rip open in mid-air. passengers looking up at the sky. lisa stark has been on this story from the beginning and has exclusive new details tonight. lisa? >> reporter: good evening, diane. well, abc news has learned that the problem that ripped a hole in that southwest boeing 737 may have started way back on the assembly line more than a decade ago. the question is, are any of the other nearly 600 planes like it at risk? it was a harrowing moment at 34,000 feet when the skin of the southwest jet opened up. a five-foot hole. passengers could see daylight as oxygen masks dropped and the pilot began to dive to a lower attitude. >> mask came down and it was pretty frightening. >> reporter: investigators found widespread cracking in the metal. the initial thought, metal fatigue, caused by the plane's 39,000 takeoffs and lan

diane and barbara?u talk about the royals and kate middleton, they also invited from bucklebury, their home, the owner of the pub. the butcher. the yoga instructor. they have not forgotten where they're from. and they're trying to be very warm and nice to the people who care about them. i think that's a lovely touch. and isn't it just sort of amazing that their name was middleton. if you were writing a novel, that's the name you would give them. >> again, we see some of the many buses coming out of buckingham palace. we know that a lot of members of the household were invited to the wedding. not just royalty this time around. >> right behind us. just coming out of buckingham palace to the circle in the window behind us. four buses, right there, filled with members of the royal family. as you point out, breaking in protocol, they invited a lot of staff to this wedding. >> remember, this is supposed to be a private event. so, they can invite whoever they wanted. princess diana and prince charles, being th

>> reporter: you can see, diane. this is the damage the black river has done, surging into streets and homes. it has risen 14 feet here since friday. that's the height of a double decker bus. and today, just south of here, all of this water punctured the levee. the swollen river punched through the levee and kept on going, filling fields and homes in a matter of minutes. for john and tracy story, this police boat was the only way out. >> we're completely under at our house. >> reporter: rowena and stephen shacker barely escaped in time. >> all of a sudden, whoosh. we had knee-deep water, and we was getting up on top of our truck to get out of it, and we thought we were going to have to get up on the roof. >> we looked in the backyard and there was no backyard. the water just really started rushing in. i mean, it was like somebody just opened up a dam. >> reporter: she's a cancer patient. he's on dialysis. this is more than they could handle. >> even if you think you've got plenty of time, you don't. >> reporter: insi

diane? >> and jim, we continue to be astounded by these pictures that you are bringing us each night. and 50 miles to the west of jim, another town shattered. the heart of the community, its churches, destroyed in an instant. and steve osunsami is in cullman, alabama, tonight. >> reporter: in this small, deeply religious town of cullman, alabama, they told us god did not spare his own house. >> you got two churches here that were damaged. and then east side was just devastated. >> reporter: the tornado that killed two people and injured hundreds tore through every church in town. >> already asked my wife to pray. >> reporter: at east side baptist, pastor ken allen and his family took cover underneath the church stairwell. they watched the rest of the church blow away. >> just now we had someone walk in the front doors and just cry. >> reporter: there will be no services sunday at first baptist church. at first methodist. and certainly not at christ lutheran. >> as you walk up through here, y

diane? >> barbara, thanks to you. and from the family budget to the nation's budget, and that duel between republicans and democrats that threatens to shut down the u.s. government friday night at midnight. the argument is over how much spending to cut right now. and here's jake tapper. >> reporter: at camp pendleton, california, marine michael goodwin is about to ship overseas. he and his wife denise live paycheck to paycheck, but a government shutdown would mean those checks will stop. >> there won't be enough for food -- >> or rent. >> or car insurance. >> we won't have a place to live if we don't get paid. >> reporter: the shutdown will stop new funding for medical research and hope for desperate patients. this doctor, an on come gist in philadelphia, may have to cancel his federally-funded clinical trial for a promising new cancer drug. >> every minute we wait, risks the opportunity for patients and if this new treatment is better, it risks their survival. >> reporter: doctors at the national institutes of health

diane? >> those are incredible numbers of those standing in line. thank you so much, jim, tonight. >>> and we move on now to the gulf of mexico and the bp oil spill. one year ago tomorrow, we woke up to that fiery rig in the gulf of mexico, 11 men killed. and the spector of 200 million gallons of oil pouring unchecked into the fertile ocean waters, killing fish and wildlife. tonight and tomorrow, we're going to be answering the questions that you posed to us most often online, like, the one from a viewer named maria, who wondered, what has happened to the health of the people who worked on the oil spill? abc's matt gutman, who covered the spill from the start, launched an investigation about that and found so many workers that say, one year later, they are very sick. >> reporter: they were the brave soldiers in their fishing boats charging into the fumes and smoke to save their precious gulf waters in the biggest oil spill in u.s. history. one year later, they want you to know they're sick, trapped in once strong bodies, now turned frail. >> cough.

steve, good evening to you. >> reporter: good evening, diane. it happened in an instant -- the tornado that tore through this community fell out of the sky, and then started a 20-mile march from here. all of this happened in seconds. this family lost everything. this is the anatomy of the tornado near wilson, north carolina -- an ef-2, 150 yards wide, with wind speeds of 120 miles an hour. 25 families lost their homes. >> i crawled out in shorts, bare feet and a t-shirt. >> reporter: steve hoyg, a state construction worker, was behind the lens and dangerously close. >> yep, there goes the roof of the house. >> reporter: he could see bushes, trees, and 2x4s swirling violently in the wind. >> the last thing before it disappeared around the corner of the building was probably about a 30-foot piece of roofing tin. it wrapped from one side of my truck around to the other side. >> reporter: it was heading northeast. first scott church road. then cranberry ridge. hop-scotching through neighborhoods. flattening some homes and leaving others. then it mov

diane?> our thanks to miguel marquez, reporting from libya tonight. >>> and back in this country, fires have broken out across texas, and tonight, they are massive wildfires. the worst the state has ever seen, ripping through hundreds of thousands of acres. new federal emergency teams arrived today to do battle on the ground and in the air. 70% of texas -- 70% -- facing severe fire risk after months of drought. >>> and, today is the official anniversary of the bp oil spill in the gulf. as we told you last night. and so many of you had e-mailed us a single question. what has happened to the wildlife in the past year? so, matt gutman spent the day in new orleans, touring the hardest-hit areas and looking for answers. >> reporter: a year later, you'd hope those blackened marshes would be green again. we motored back out to these marshes, the incubators of most of louisiana's fabled wildlife, and were shocked to find this. the water looks relatively clean on the surface. but you dig down, you gr

diane? >> well, great to hear about joe and those workers behind you. matt, may there be many more jobs in the month ahead. thank you. >>> and we have more good news on another front tonight, about the yearly mountain of traffic deaths in this country. that number has dropped, dramatically. last year, fewer people died on american highways than any year since 1949 when they started keeping the records. and the overall number is down 25% in the past five years. abc's lisa stark now on what is driving this change. >> reporter: to get a sense of just how far we've come, take a look. two chevys, 1959 meets 2009. our cars of 50 years ago, no match for the safety designs of today. just in the past few years, leaps in safety. watch this frontal impact. and just three years later, this. and as for those devastating side crashes? here's before air bags. and now, today. most cars offer this kind of protection for the head and body. side air bags will eventually save over 800 lives a year. >> this real

diane? >> all right, sharyn alfonsi, thank you. >>> and now we turn to the nail-biting negotiations in washington. anxious federal workers protested as the deadline drew closer. both sides are quick to blame each other. and in what is now a battle over just a few ball dollars. so, with so much at stake, what's really holding things up? jon karl spent the day on capitol hill getting answers. >> reporter: on capitol hill, a partisan meltdown. >> the reason we did not shut it down is because -- >> house will come to order. gentleman will suspend. >> cut spending to begin getting our fiscal house in order and to keep -- >> reporter: they even disagree about what they disagree about. democrats say they have agreement on $34.5 billion in spending cuts. but republicans say there is no agreement on how much to cut. and believe it or not, the issue of abortion could be what causes the government to shut down. democrats say republicans are trying to use the funding bill to force new restrictions on ab

diane? >> the clock ticking, as we said. thank you, jake. >>> and someone else also entered the fray today on the issue of the huge national debt. a man who has issued a kind of political double dare you to both sides. he is house budget chairman paul ryan and he told jon karl that today is the day simply to face the truth. >> reporter: for paul ryan, this is not just about government spending. it's a life or death struggle for the u.s. economy. >> the nation's fiscal trajectory is simply not sustainable. >> reporter: ryan, who once worked as a waiter to make ends meet, is 41 and has three kids. the scope of his plan is staggering. consider that while the president and republicans are on the verge of shutting the government down over less than $61 billion in spending cuts, ryan is calling for $6.2 trillion in cuts over the next ten years. what do you say to nervous republicans who say this is a political kamikaze mission? you've just given democrats a big target that may ultimately cost republicans their majority here? >> yo

diane. >> lisa, i know you knew this, but we were surprised today up here when we got a sample of the skin of the plane. this is the outer casing, which actually came apart at the seams. i want to show everybody at home how very thin this is. looks as if one small crack in it would just open it up. >> diane, it's very, very strong but, as you said, it's extremely thin, and that's why even a tiny, tiny crack is of such concern and why they need to look for them. >> what you're saying to me is those machines, those techniques they have, can show a crack in those parts the plane? >> absolutely. they need to run the machine over the plane. it pulses an electrical current into the metal and that -- the way that current reads back will show them there's something wrong with that metal. >> all right, lisa, thank you, tonight. >>> and we want to tell you, as well, about a different kind of terror today for more than 100 people on a united airlines flight which lost its electronics. and made an emergency landing on backup systems. the airbus jet had just left new orleans for san francisco when

good evening, nick. >> reporter: good evening, diane. well, you know, william and kate have been involved in every detail of the planning of this wedding, but now the die is cast and they're taking a couple of days off and enjoying the sunshine and, like the rest of us, counting down to what will be the most public wedding in the history of this planet. the flags are fluttering over the streets of london where they're preparing for a million strong throng. huge crowds have become a wedding tradition. >> what an extraordinary moment. for the new princess of wales. >> reporter: but this is a modern couple and today, in what's being hailed as a major break from tradition, we hear kate will wear her hair down. modern royals indeed. you can even feel it. listen to how british royals used to talk. >> well, i asked -- [ inaudible ] >> you can barely hear what he's saying. >> they tend to pull their tongues back. [ unintelligible ] it's a very lazy accent. >> reporter: now listen to william. >> i took her to kenya and proposed. >> reporter: will

an exclusive interview with diane sawyer. >>> born to be wild. they are babies, orphaned in an unborn war for resources. their faces express all the joy and fear of our own children. but what can be done to save them? >>> and, mad men. does this make you want to buy gum? >> because my gun is loaded. >> why two of hollywood's edgiest funny men are serving commercials with humor. >> announcer: from the global resources of abc news, with terry moran, cynthia mcfadden and bill weir in new york city, this is "nightline," april 6th, 2011. >> good evening, i'm bill weir. and after a late night meeting with congressional leaders at the white house, president obama emerged to announce still no deal tonight. so, the possibility of a government shutdown friday midnight still looms. the battle over america's fiscal health has raged from the capital to state houses across the nation, including new jersey, where chris christie for president has become a rallying cry for a number of conservatives. he hit the national stage by breathing fire at big government an

we will stay here and move on, barbara, diane.ery much for joining us on "good morning america." yes, we're talking about the dress. a lot of people woke up and that's all they wanted to know. what dress will she wear. we know it was sarah burton of alexander mcqueen. our tim gunn, our fashion royalty, safe and sound in new york city. you're not going to change your thoughts at all, are you? about what you think of this dress. good morning, again, to you. >> good morning, robin. i have to tell you, the more that i look at this dress and we have seen it many times now, the more ravishing it is. i can't wipe ravishing from my vocabulary. catherine looks spectacular. the dress is simply magnificent. and i love the fact that sarah burton, creative director of alexander mcqueen was chosen for this task. because of the legacy of mcqueen and his place and the history of british fashion. the fact that mcqueen and burton are both alums of the esteemed central st. martin's college of art. it was a home run. an a plus plus. for any woman out

i'm diane dwyer. the san francisco giants want to make sure people, especially families, feel safe going to games at at&t park. it's a critical part of their success. but with the dodgers coming to town tomorrow, there is concern about safety. that's because it's the first time the two teams have faced off since two dodgers fans attacked a giants fan in l.a. on opening day. nbc bay area's monte francis is at at&t park with a look at the increased security plan for the series with the dodgers. hello, monte. >> reporter: good evening. we're told there will be a strong police presence at tomorrow's game, and fans will also be able to send text messages directly to ballpark security if they see situations that could become violent. there are reports the giants plan to have world series level security at the ballpark for these next three home games against the dodgers, with a security force 30 to 40% larger than usual. but a giants spokesperson disputes those reports, refusing to cite numbers, but say it w

diane will talk about it. it was written and produced by members of psac with review by the department. we hope this will be the first of many. diane? >> good morning. my name is diane lopez. i am a nurse that works in the trauma center. i will present on the current projects we have been working on as well as some of the impacts of pedestrian safety and the methodology for the report. i am sorry if i have to keep reaching over the computer. we have been working with other city agencies, primarily the mayor's office in terms of public safety. we have apr

diane will talk about it. it was written and produced by members of psac with review by the department. we hope this will be the first of many. diane? >> good morning. my name is diane lopez. i am a nurse that works in the trauma center. i will present on the current projects we have been working on as well as some of the impacts of pedestrian safety and the methodology for the report. i am sorry if i have to keep reaching over the computer. we have been working with other city agencies, primarily the mayor's office in terms of public safety. we have a representative that goes to meetings with the mayor's task force. we are in constant communication with them. we're also working with wal fik first, the senior action network, and walk san francisco. we want to make sure we represent the interests of the city. the impact of pedestrian injuries is something i have been working on this is very important to me. we have found that approximately 800 pedestrians a year debt injured by vehicles. that is a lot. that is

i'm diane dwyer. federal authorities are trying to figure out how a gaping hole opened up on the top of a southwest airlines plane in flight. then after a harrowing emergency landing in arizona today, southwest airlines announced today it's grounding 79 of its aircraft for inspection. that means dozens of flights in the bay area were canceled today. kimberly tere is at the oakland airport with the mess this is causing at the local airports. hello, kimberly. >> reporter: hello, diane. out of the three bay area airports, oakland is the hardest hit with the outgoing and incoming flights canceled. they should expect cancellations and delays and long lines once they get here. the airline is examining its planes after the emergency landing of one of their 737s yesterday afternoon. that flight was going from phoenix to sacramento, and carrying 118 passengers. there was a sudden loss in cabin pressure. passengers said they heard what sounded like an explosion and a hole was found in the fuselage. they looked

. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook in morgan city, louisiana. still ahead, oil rig workers train for the deep waters of the gulf of mexico. >> susie: mixed quarterly results from wells fargo today. revenues came in lower than expected, but the giant bank reported a 48% jump in first quarter profits as more people opened accounts. the bank earned $3.7 billion, or 67 cents a share, after paying dividends. that was a penny better than analyst estimates. one way financial firms are raising revenues is by imposing new fees for services that used to be free. erika miller reports. >> reporter: chances are you receive bank and credit card statements like these every month. but unless you examine them closely, you may miss some startling fees. like a 30% interest rate if you don't make a minimum credit card payment on time. or a $30 penalty for bouncing a check, which is the national average nowadays. j.p. morgan chase is even testing $5 a.t.m. charges in some markets. consumer advocate ed mierzwinski says the biggest change nationwide is that checking i

. >> reporter: i'm diane eastabrook in biloxi, mississippi. coming up, i'll tell you what the shrimping industry here is doing to gets its products back on your dinner plate. >> susie: in japan, workers started today draining highly radioactive water from the basement of that badly damaged nuclear plant. it's the latest step to stabilize the fukushima daiichi plant and prevent more toxic spills into the ocean. meanwhile, initial damage estimates from japan's massive earthquake and tsunami are coming in from the insurance industry. total insured losses range from $12 billion to $34 billion. to get more perspective on that, earlier today, tom hudson talked with shivan subramanian, the c.e.o. of f.m. global, a commercial property insurance firm. tom began by asking what the firm's damage estimate is. >> yes, right now, even though we have $7.3 billion of capitol in one of the largest property and shores in the world, i would estimate there are japanese losses that are going to come under $150 million. >> tom: so a bit on the lower side from some

. >> reporter: now diane is scoping out the best vantage point for her third royal wedding.anchester by the sea and wouldn't have missed this one for anything. so in addition to a history buff you're kind of a royal family buff, too? >> yeah, i love the royal family. >> reporter: she knows just about everything there is to know about this clan. i couldn't stump her. >> who is piggy? >> oh, piggy, she was the nanny for harry and wills when they were little. >> reporter: diane knows that not everyone can understand why she is drawn to the royal family but says everyone has a hobby. >> yes. people think it's weird. and you know, so many people are crazy about the super bowl. >> reporter: diane works at the colonial theater in boston and loves the sense of pageantry and drama an event like this creates. >> it's the biggest theatrical production in the world. >> great costumes and set. >> reporter: great costume and set. >> reporter: the streets here are already packed with tourists but diane still says it's worth being here in person and that watching it on tv would be a poor su

and with me, i think when diane said formidable guests that we

diane sawyer. and music from the airborne toxic event. cleto and the cletones. ♪ it's "jimmy kimmel live" >> dicky: and now, olds arodds here's jimmy kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] >> jimmy: that's very sweet. thank you, i'm jimmy, i'm the host of the show. thank you for watching. thank you for being here. and, hey, if you're watching at home, grab your crumb pets and sit down in front of the telly, it's royal wedding tonight. i'm so excited, i'm royal wetting my pants. welcome to the "jimmy kimmel live" countdown to the royal wedding prenuptial festivities. our security team is ready. right guys? there you are. and who are you dressed as, guys? they really know how to commit to a part. they do. as most of you are probably aware, coverage of the royal wedding of prince william and kate middleton begins right at the end of our show on the west coast, 4:00 a.m. eastern. diane sawyer and barbara walters covering every magic moment. we are only hours away from the biggest collection of white people dancing awkwardly in the history of the mod

and diane sawyer returns right here tomorrow night. along with made in america.uld we be headed to your hometown? it's all this week on "world news." i hope you have a good evening, a good night and a great week ahead. >> alan: there's ban setback tonight for the giants fan who was beaten at the giants-dodgers season opener. bryan stow has been showing progress, but tonight doctors put him back into a medically induesed coma after he suffered seizures. his mother told about how she learned about his injuries. >> talking to his friend that was with him, and cory shared some information. just patient hold -- just praying, hold on, bryan, we're come coming. didn't have any information before coming to the hospital, and then we were hit with the brain jury. >> friends and families are asking for donations and hope for the best.

diane sawyer back here tomorrow night.d night. >>> this is the scene from sky 7 over a small plane crash near the oakland airport. the faa says the pilot was killed. abc-7 has lillian kim is at the crash site with more. >> reporter: the faa confirms the pilot was the only person onboard. they also say the pilot did not survive. the plane crashed here in the bay just off doolittle drive. the plane is a sim engine navy plane manufactured in 1947. it crashed shortly after taking off. the aircraft is registered in san mateo county. the identity of the' pilot has not been confirmed. witnesses noticed the plane having

diane sawyer is right back here tomorrow night. happy easter.t. >> i know they need to make a profit but they don't need to make that much profit. >> alan: as you dig deeper to fill your tank, gas companies are set to announce record profits later this week. gas prices have inched up another 12 cents, part of a nonstop surge that started september of last year. as of today the average price of regular in california is 4.21 per gallon. diesel is 4.55. in san francisco, regular is 4.27 per gallon. lillian kim is in emeryville with more on the surprising -- rising prices. >> reporter: s gas prices are going nowhere but up and there appears to be no end in sight. the

[applause] and after the moscony years, it was diane feinstein. and her husband, richard blum, is here. they actually got married in the chambers upstairs. [applause] now, in just a minute, the president of the board of supervisors is going to say the words that will allow you, the public, to know what the vote was in his chambers earlier in the afternoon. but mr. lee, there have been several people from across the bay, from sacramento and other places, who are here to extend their warm welcome. standing next to you is mayor newsom's chief of protocol, my chief of protocol, diane's chief of protocol, everybody's chief of protocol, who's ever had a chief of protocol in san francisco, charlotte schultz. and i hope she sticks around as your chief of protocol. [applause] one of your state senators, and we have two of those, only one is present at the moment. the other one is up working on the budget. but senator leland yee is here to welcome you. [applause] and a man who went to bed on saturday night, a cop with a badge and who woke up on sunday morni