so, stay tuned. >> all right, jon karl, jake tapper, our thanks to both of you, after a long day's work. >>> when we come back, we will shift gears considerably. a cod immediatic force of nature, russell brand joins us to talk about his playboy days and ongoing quest for zen. we used to bet who could get closest to the edge. took some crazy risks as a kid. but i was still over the edge with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol...stop. 80% of people who have had heart attacks have high cholesterol. lipitor is a cholesterol lowering medication, fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests

>> jake tapper catching the president's eye last night. thank you, jake. >>> and last night, we brought you my interview with the two-fisted governor from new jersey, chris christie. well, today, he delivered a seismic speech in which he declared 2011 the year of education reform. and he started with that issue of weeding out underperforming teachers. >> layoffs should be based on merit. if you're a good teacher, you stay. if you're not, you go. >> you may remember, i pressed the governor on how he can be sure you can measure good versus bad. are you so confident to know who is a really good teacher? >> yes. >> that confident? >> of course. you talk to any parent who has children in school, within weeks they know if they have a good teacher or a bad teacher. within weeks. >>> and another story back in the news tonight, after we broke that story last month about the sleeping air traffic controller at reagan national airport in washington. we are just learning now about a second incident with a sleeping controller. this one happened in mid-fe

here is jake tapper. >> reporter: late last night, an open mike phone caught him dishing at a fund-raiser. reporters had been asked to leave. >> the interesting thing, actually, is how little traction these social issues are getting these days. >> reporter: the president offered a spicier version of last week's budget negotiations that in public he said was a cooperative effort to find common ground. >> you want to repeal health care? go at it. we'll have that debate. you are not going to do it by nickel and diming me on the budget. you think we're stupid? >> reporter: caught by a hot mike, not new for the president. >> [ bleep ]. >> reporter: and in this era of sound bites, the rare moments of candor allow us to see what the leaders are really like when they think we are not listening. whether complicated middle east politics -- >> they need to get serious and stop doing this [ bleep ]. >> reporter: joshing around before a radio address. >> i'm pleased to tell you that i signed legislation that will outlaw russia forever. we begin bombing in five minutes. >> reporter: bonding with a budd

let me pick up with you where i left off with jake tapper. are you picking up the same vibrations on capitol hill that we are closer to a deal now than we were at the beginning of the day? >> reporter: absolutely. the expectation here, among democrats and republicans, is that they are so close that they can get a deal by midnight. of course, those last minute things can break this up. but they really believe both sides they can get a deal by midnight and that they can do it in a way that prevents the government from shutting down. but george, that clock is ticking. >> that's right. as you say, nothing would surprise any of the negotiators right now. >>> but if that shutdown comes, the shockwaves would hit americans here at home and onto the front lines in afghanistan, throwing, as we said, a wrench into everything from tax refunds and adoptions to that next paycheck most military families depend on. david wright spent the day finding out how americans are bracing for the impact, and he's in san diego tonight. david? >> reporter: good evening,

to weigh in now for us, alex marquardt, who is in benghazi, libya, and jake tapper at the white house. >> reporte so, jake, what does the white house think end game is at this point, if there is an end game in sight? >> reporter: the most likely, they say, is gadhafi leaving on his own, just feeling squeezed. they describe new intelligence as reporting that those around gadhafi are skittish and very nervous about the direction gadhafi is taking them. and then least likely is the idea of the rebels carrying out a military victory over gadhafi's troops. >> what about that, alex? did the rebels think they could actually achieve a military victory, even from here, it looks impossible? >> reporter: well, they are hoping it won't come to that. but we've seen the last few days they are outmatched. they are outgunned. they will not be able to march on tripoli without arms and air strikes from the international community. >> alex, we are hearing that they do have new communications equipment, even some new weapons? do you see signs of that? do you have any idea where it is coming from? >> repo

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: president obama came before the american people today to provide even more documentation that he was born in the u.s. and is thus constitutionally eligible for the position he holds. >> i was born in hawaii, august 4th, 1961. >> reporter: the birther smear appears to have been hatched in anonymous e-mail campaign in the spring of 2008. then-senator obama responde

jake tapper tells us about it. jake? >> reporter: good evening, diane. well, that's right. ge ceo jeffrey immelt has been under fire ever since it was reported last week that ge paid no federal taxes in 2010. we caught up with him this afternoon. speaking with business leaders this afternoon, ge ceo jeff immelt explained why his company paid zero federal taxes in 2010. >> we lost $32 billion in ge capital as a result of the global financial crisis. >> reporter: ge's investment arm did lose money. but ge overall made billions, as we pointed out afterwards. overall, you did, ge made money last year, even if ge capital lost money. right? overall, you made $14 billion. so, i think -- >> we didn't make a lot of that in the u.s. our tax rate will go up. we had a lot of losses at ge capital. and over time, our tax rate -- we paid a lot of taxes over the last five or ten years. >> reporter: if ge paid at the same tax rate of the average american taxpayer, 18%, the company would have added $2.3 billion to the treasury instead of zero. ge even got more than $3 billion in tax benefits

we asked jake tapper to break it down and answer two key questions. how will the deficit affect you? and what's the president's fix? jake? >> reporter: good evening, george. well, that's right. republicans said president obama's speech was light on specifics and heavy on raw politics. what does all this out of control government borrowing mean for you? it means eventually, because of all the interest on the debt, the government will stop being able to pay for programs like medicare, schools, law enforcement, highways, bridges, food programs for the poor. >> all the things the government does for us, it will have to do a lot less of. our lives will be significantly diminished. >> reporter: today, president obama outlined his plan to reduce the deficit and big battle lines have emerged. the president wants to raise $1 trillion in new revenues by letting the bush tax cuts on higher income americans expire next year. >> it's a basic reflection of our belief that those who have benefited most from our way of life can afford to give back a little bit more. >

. >> so, let's bring in jake tapper at the white house tonight. jake, how far apart are they, and is someone going to blink? >> reporter: they're pretty far apart right now. president obama hosted congressional leaders at the oval office for about an hour and ten minutes. here's where each side is coming from. republicans want $61 billion in spending cuts. they also want to cut funding to national public radio and to planned parenthood. democrats, president obama, want $33 billion in proposed spending cuts and they want to fund npr and planned parenthood. it does not sound as though there was much progress at today's meeting. one source told me, we still have a lot of talking to do. diane? >> so, give us a realistic prediction about a government shutdown? >> reporter: well, i'd say right now it's about 50/50, though both sides say they want to avoid it. they're also all preparing for a shutdown. the white house sent out a memo to departments and agencies, telling them to alert top managers to prepare for a contingency for a shutdown. they are still

jake tapper broke the news the announcement would come before dawn today. he's at the white house tonight. >> reporter: here's a video from senator obama four years ago. a campaign appearance of hope, making promises of change. >> we want something new. we want to turn the page. >> reporter: we can end a war, the campaign said then. e can end a war, lanet. the campaign said then. we can save the planet. we can change the world. here's the video president obama sent out this morning declaring his candidacy. >> i don't agree with obama on everything, but i respect him and i trust him. >> reporter: it's the difference between running as an inspiring blank slate and as an incumbent leading the nation mired in three wars, including libya, with close to 9% unemployment and a controversial record such as the health care law. in 2007 and 2008, courtney height worked for the obama campaign all over the country. today she argues the president needs to be bolder to convince young people that elections matter. >> we didn't see the action we thought we were going to get

jake tapper has that story from the white house tonight. >> reporter: president obama surprised a class of colorado eight graders at the white house this afternoon. last month, with the threat of a government shutdown, the school children were worried that the trip may be canceled. after a last-minute deal between the president and congress that threat was averted. now america turned to a fight that makes last week's seem like child's play. >> that's going to be a big battle. >> reporter: a battle over how much we as a nation borrow. currently, to keep the government operating, our government takes out a $100 billion loan every month, a mind-boggling number. that's enough to buy every month four mcdonald's happy meals for every single person in the world. or a month's worth of groceries for almost every american. or a new toyota camry for almost every person in philadelphia, houston, colorado springs and san francisco. but now we're about to reach our credit limit. next month, we'll max out at $14.3 trillion. that's right, trillion. leaders from both parties agree, not allowing the gove

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >> very interesting story. >>> well, plenty of questions thisof a chemical plant explosion in texas. one person was killed, three others injured. it happened when a welder was working on a pipeline and it blew up. luckily, no hazardous materials were released. a nearby canal was shut down briefly and then reopened. >>> thousands in florida are spending april fool's day cleaning up after a wild sprg storm there that included tornadoes, hail, lightning and rain. matt gutman reports from orlando on all the damage there. >> reporter: the funnel cloud roared out of the blackness. this family went crashing for cover. >> it threw the port-a-pot up in the air. it was really strong. >> all of our trash bins were everywhere. they went flying everywhere. >> reporter: the air show normally attracts over 500,000 people and for a few days a year this becomes the busiest airport in the world. >> this has not been a very good year for sun and fun. rain and pain, how does that sound? >> reporter: it's part of a giant weather system enveloping the east coast with

jake tapper asks the tough questions. >> reporter: speaking to business leaders ge ceo jem emmel explains why his company paid zero federal taxes in 2010. >> question lost $32 billion as a result of the global financial crisis. >> reporter: their investment arm did lose money but ge overall made billions. as we pointed out afterwards. overall ge made money even if ge capital -- >> no. >> reporter: you made $14 billion. >> we didn't make a lot of that in the u.s. our tax rate will go up. our tax rate, we paid a lot of taxes over the last five or ten years. >> reporter: if ge paid at the same tax rate of the average american taxpayer, 18%, the company would have added $2.3 billion to the treasury instead of zero. ge even got more than $3 billion in tax benefits. >> that is a corporate tax rate of -- hold on -- negative 60%. >> reporter: what ge did was perfectly legal, but critics say the company exploited loopholes in the tax code and liberal groups such as moveon have called for emmel to step down from president obama's. what do you make of the criticism of the people who say you should s

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 would be forced to stop seven new clinical trials, four involving children, next week. and stop admitting new patients at 640 ongoing trials. 60 of them involving children with cancer. as happened during the shutdown of 1995-96, national landmarks will close. the liberty bell in philadelphia, the washington monument, the national

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >> you know this is really interesting..com about how outraged they were that, perhaps, some military families would not get paid but congressional leaders would. other things that could get held up -- local trash collection, tax refunds, the cherry blossom parade in d.c., although parking ticket distributors perhaps, would not be working. >> it could be the silver lining, i suppose. >> looking for something? >> just once it starts to affect people in that way we all sort of take note of what's happening. and you can continue to do that here on abc news. tune in to "america this morning" we'll have the very latest. and "good morning america." and at any time around the clock on abcnews.com. >>> it was a horrible scene at an elementary school in rio de janeiro, brazil. these are videos as frightened students run as a gunman is roaming the hallways. he eventually killed 12 students shooting them execution-style at point blank range. the gunman then killed himself. police say he left a rambling suicide note. >>> the commander

we will go to jake tapper. the white house maintained so long it was not necessary. >> that's right. president obama told aids he was sick of it being a distraction and wanted to talk about the priorits of the whitit and versus the questions of the republicans and it came up on television and in brews about his birth certificate and whether or not there is proof that he was born in this country. they released three years ago his short form certificate of live birth. but with the private attorney returning from hawaii with a copy of the original long form birth certificate the president hopes to put it to bed and what the debate said about the politics and budget and two wars in libya and whether or not it is it a debate worthy of the american people. >> one of the most prominent voices is donald trump. he landed in new hampshire and gave a press conference and took credit and he said this is what he called for. he upons to check the actual birth certificate. he think its is a good move and he will be boosted by

jake tapper, abc news, washington. >> we'll have more insight into the high-stakes budget talks withos's exclusive interview with the republican leader boehner later on good morning america. >>> and in other news, fbi chief, robert mueller, says that his agency is on guard against libyan agents who may be operating here and told a congressional committee the fbi is interviewing libyans in the united states including libyan citizens with u.s. visas and also students studying here. the agency is looking for information about potential acts of terrorism and espionage. >>> workers at japan's troubled nuclear power plant are battling a new threat this morning. a possible hydrogen explosion inside a reactor. the news came hours after they finally stopped the leak of highly radioactive water into the pacific. we have this report from tokyo. >> reporter: workers at the fukushima nuclear plant are injecting nitrogen inside reactors to prevent a hydrogen explosion. three explosions rocked the plant in the early days of the crisis and plant operator tepco says the latest is a precaution to avoi

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >>> overseas in libya, rebels aren't getting what they want.hting. their leaders rejected a peace proposal yesterday. it's the same deal that libyan leader moammar gadhafi agreed to on sunday. the rebels rejected that proposal because it does not call for gadhafi's immediate removal from power. >>> meanwhile, libya's former foreign minister's now speaking out for the first time since leaving gadhafi's inner circle. moussa koussa is warning rebel and government forces to avoid taking libya into a civil war. he says no matter how the fighting ends libya should not be divided. >>> back here at home, mitt romney is taking some major steps toward another presidential run. the former massachusetts governor has formed a campaign exploratory committee. romney has been planning a comeback ever since losing the republican nomination to john mccain three years ago. he actually spent $40 million of his own money on that failed presidential run. >>> well, remember the national football league? its lockout does continue but a federal judge has now ordered th

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >> and of course while donald trump continues to ponder his runhite house, he's gone on a media blitz often talking about the birth certificate issue, but he's also talked about china, as well. >> have you heard this? repeatedly he's accused china of taking manufacturing jobs from the united states. so does that mean that all of the donald's branded merchandise is, quote, made in america? well, we checked this out. we have some things that are stole dan -- purchased. >> our friends from abcnews.com. yes. >> purchased from the donald trump store. this could number his hotels and also from big department stores here in the country. all of them are made in china. all of them. this one says "a product of china." this little bear here, it says trump towers there, a product of china. and this hat here that says trump, very clearly. you look inside the label, it says "made in china." >> and many guys out there who have to put on a suit and tie every day like we do may know that he makes a brand of ties too. checking things out. again, boom, the label rig

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >>> while the u.s.nd marine jets flew final missions yesterday. hitting targets on the mediterranean coast near sirte and brega. several u.s. officials say it's unlikely the obama administration would provide weapons to the rebels even though they're very much outgunned by gadhafi's forces. the white house has not said one way or the other. >>> u.n. entrenched forces are stepping up operations in the ivory coast. their helicopters fired on targets held by the former president, they want to keep from using heavy artillery on civilian and u.n. workers. one report said he is trying to negotiate a surrender. he was voted out of office last november. >>> workers at the japanese nuclear plant are deliberately dumping tons of contaminated water into the ocean, it's a desperate move trying to make room as a storage site for water that is even more radioactive. neal karlinsky reports from tokyo. >> reporter: in japan it's about the radioactive water pouring into the ocean at a staggering rate. some is coming fro

we want to bring in our white house and congressional correspondents, jake tapper and jon karl. with these latest developments. jake, let me begin with you. any planning for a possible shutdown. but last night, a directive goes out to government agencies, telling them to get ready. >> reporter: that's exactly right. the office of management and budget sent out a notice to agencies and department heads, telling them to prepare their senior managers for their contingency plans for a government shutdown. the white house is still sussing out, figuring out what this will mean in terms of parks that are closed, museums that are closed. veterans that are not able to get assistance with their benefits. but they're now preparing for the contingency, george. >> and, jon, meanwhile, late-night meeting in the house with republicans where they come up with a new proposal for a shutdown. and also preparing their members for a shutdown. >> reporter: they're putting out guides to all congressional offices saying that nonessential personnel must stay home. that's more than half of the people that

jake tapper has the details from washington. >> reporter: what does all of this out-of-control governments eventually because of all of the interest on the debt, the government will stop to be able to pay for programs like medicare, schools, law enforcement, highways, bridges, food programs for the poor. >> all the things that the government does for us, it will have to do a lot less of, our lives will be significantly diminished. >> reporter: president obama outlined his plan to reduce the deficit and big battle lines have emerged. the president wants to raise $1 trillion in new revenues by letting the bush tax cuts on higher income americans expire next year. >> it's a basic reflection of our belief that those who benefited most from our way of life can afford to give back a little bit more. >> reporter: republicans call that a nonstarter. >> if we're going to resolve our differences and do something meaningful, raising taxes will not be part of that. >> reporter: another big battle to come. the president says he wants $5 billion in health care savings for medicare and medicaid by negot

jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >>> now to libya, where moammar gadhafi made a defiant tour ofpresident tells abc's george stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview, he made it harder on himself by voting against raising that debt limit when he was a senator. >> there are going to be some areas where we can agree now and there are going to be some areas where we don't agree but we can get a process going, and some of it will be settled by the american people in the election. >> now senate republican leaders are talking about possibly voting en masse against raising the debt ceiling. that could leave just 51 democratic senators to carry that unpopular vote. mike and peggy? >>> the search for more victims of a serial killer is now going high-tech. the fbi's supplying helicopters and airplanes with special high-resolution cameras for the search. now they can spot items such as bones that are as small as an inch in size. investigators will use the new equipment on 15 miles of long island, new york. that's where at least nine bodies have been found so far. >>> now to a sad developmen

jake tapper joins us with more. the slogan is, it begins with us. the president didn't appear in the video. >> reporter: that's right, george. this video and the initial phase of the campaign is aimed at two groups of new voters. the new voters that went for obama in 2008 and have not been that engaged since and new voters for 2012. they believe it will be a tight election. the way they can win is by expands the elect rorate. there's a kid in the video saying he didn't vote in 2008 because he wasn't old enough. >> the other reason they want a low-key announcement is the virus crises the president is dealing with. the government shutdown. can you see any progress? >> reporter: they're cautiously optimistic. the president talked to speaker boehner and senate majority leader reid over the weekend. they've been talking about it in terms of getting something done by saturday morning. that's the hope. >> that is the hope. the republicans say they want the avoid the shutdown as well. now from president obama to an exclusive interview with the last democrat

jake tapper joins us. >> reporter: it sounds academic. a legislative battle. over raising the debt ceiling. it could have a direct impact on every american as soon as in the next few weeks. and i'm not just shutting down a few national parks. there's a lot of apocalyptic talk about what will happen if the debt ceiling is not raised. and the u.s. goes into default on its debt. >> the implications for our economy, our fiscal policy, would be catastrophic. >> reporter: what does it mean to you if congress does not allow the u.s. government to borrow more money? by mid-may, expect the stock and bond market to plummet. they could impose a huge tax increase. the following could be curtailed or cut off -- social security checks, medicare benefits, medicaid, military sallies, veteran benefits, student loan payments. >> default by the united states would precipitate a crisis worse than the one we just went through. >> reporter: so what's the problem, if house republicans say that any bill that will raise the debt ceiling needs to include spending cuts. >> the president

. >>> we're going to stay in washington, where jake tapper has an exclusive take on president obama's controversial choice to head a commission on military families. he spoke to mary tillman, whose son, pat, was killed by friendly-fire in afghanistan. she believes that general mcchrystal is unfit for this new appointment because he helped cover up the real story behind pat tillman's death. and she believes that the military and the president have let her down. >> reporter: that's exactly right, george. president obama apointed general mcchrystal to head this. one of the military families says he's the wrong person for that post. mary tillman said president obama made a big mistake. >> i don't think it's the appropriate choice. i think it's a slap in the face to all soldiers. >> reporter: tillman says general stanley mcchrystal is not the right person to co-chair the president's commission on military families. >> someone who has a heartfelt desire to help families would not have been involved in the cover-up of a soldier's death. >> reporter: in 2002, mary's son, pat, left a career in

jake tapper joins us from the white house. jake, one thing driving the timing of today's speech, the white house knows that congress won't extend our credit limit unless he comes up with a plan to reduce our debt over the long term. >> reporter: that's right, george. and for his plan, president obama, i'm told by administration officials, will lay out four ways for debt to be reduced. first of all, keeping domestic spending low. then, making cuts to the pentagon budget. health care savings in medicare and medicaid. and taking on taxes. both in terms of seeking to close tax loopholes. and also, to increase taxes on upper wage earners. president obama will talk about the republican vision, the alternative vision, in which taxes are reduced while the deficit -- while they attempt to tackle the deficit. but he'll say, you can try that. but you do that on the backs of the most vulnerable in our society because you can only do that, he'll say, by eliminating health care for seniors and the poor. and by gutting education and clean air

i want to bring in jake tapper. the president seemed to have an edge of irtakes in his voice that he had to do this. the white house maintained for so long it wasn't necessary that the certificate of live birth that was released, that everyone born in the state of hawai'i gets as a birth certificate. >> that's right. president obama's attorneys requested it from the state of hawai'i. today, we got a copy of this. president obama is said to have been very upset two weeks ago, about the budget to be had between republicans and him. that top topic in the media was the birth issue. president obama having been born in the united states in 1961. but nonetheless, conspiracy theoryists looking to get some press momentum. >> jake, the white house clearly also believed, that in a way this issue is actually helping the president. it helped marginalized those who kept raising questions. >> that's exactly right. perhaps politically, stronger move would be to let the republicans keep debating it. it would have helped president ob

we asked our white house correspondent jake tapper. >> reporter: well, i'd say right now it's about 50although both sides want to avoid it but they're preparing for a shutdown. the white house sent out a memo to departments and agencies telling them to alert top managers to prepare for a contingency for a shutdown but they're still having negotiations. house speaker boehner met with democratic senate leader harry reid and president obama said if they're able to hammer things out, great. if not, he wants everybody back at the white house. >> thank you, jake. believe it or not, the federal fiscal year actually started october 1st. so the government has been operating on temporary extensions for more than six months and talks are already under way for next year's budget. >>> workers at japan's damaged nuclear plant have finally stopped the flood of radioactive water flowing into the ocean. officials had insisted the contaminated water would not hurt seafood. but the japanese government set limits for the first time on the amount of radiation that's permitted in fish. >>> a deadly spring s

with jake tapper at the white house. when the president came out from meeting with negotiators last night, he said he wasn't wildly optimistic. but those staff negotiators did keep working through the night to try to narrow the differences. >> reporter: that's right, george. it appears as of now we are headed for a government shutdown. right now, separating the two sides are roughly $6.5 billion in new cuts. that's minuscule compared to the size of the overall budget. and, of course, republicans keep pushing this rider, this provision, banning all federal funding to planned parenthood. after meeting with house speaker john boehner and other congressional leaders, the president said they were close to a deal but not there yet. >> there's still a few issues that are outstanding. they're difficult issues. they're important to both sides. and so, i'm not yet prepared to express wild optimism. >> reporter: so, what would a shutdown mean? starting tonight at midnight, the paychecks of 1.6 million active-duty troops. even those