i'm karen travers. i have that story coming up. >> potential new use for tylenol. how it could provide release from emotional distress. join the revolution against scrubbing on your hands and knees. use new resolve easy clean to deep clean your carpets. it removes three times more dirt than vacuuming alone. just three easy steps for beautifully clean carpets. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean. detergent alone doesn't fully dry your dishes. it leaves spots and residue behind. add finish jet-dry and they dry two times better. and they're shiny. that is shiny. >>> welcome back. a look at the high temperatures across country. over 100 in phoenix and dallas. 80s and 90s. 81 in boston today. 88 in d.c. 94 in salt lake city. 81 in portland. 74 in seattle. we have flight departure delays out of laguardia. otherwise, all the major airports are running on time. flight tracker, anytime you need it. abc7news.com. eric? >> mike, thank you very much. >>> 4:48 now. overseas markets are mixed this morning following yesterday's 77-point drop on wall street. asian markets didn'

karen travers, abc news, washington. >>> 4:51. yesterday afternoon, nice, warm.> in a few areas, a few degrees. but maybe not noticeable until this weekend when the real cooling trend moves in. we have minor fluctuations in the next few days. a lot has to do with the cloud cover that you're seeing here. some days is thicker like today. some days is non-existent like yesterday. you can barely see the top of the bay bridge. i suspect there is drizzle along the coast also. talk about the temperatures stepping out. 48 in san rafael. 61 in antioch. everybody else in the mid-to-upper 50s. cloudy conditions around the monterey bay. inland to salinas. mid-to-upper 50s there. not as cloudy around gilroy, 51. the highlights, sunny this afternoon. near normal high temperatures. minimal changes through friday. and then more clouds and cooler weather as we slip in to the weekend. for today, here you go. one degree cooler in concord and san jose. same in oakland and san francisco. one to two degrees warmer than fremont and santa rosa. that's how negligible the change will be.

>> karen travers reporting from washington. thank you so much. >>> markets in asia have closed for the day.y. as karen mentioned, the numbers were down across the board. >> and abc's akiko fujita us f us from tokyo. akiko, what can you tell us there? >> reporter: the extended losses from last week. but the general sentiment out there is that things could have been a lot worse. the markets were expected to fall on news of the s&p's downgrade of the credit rating. and we saw the numbers across the board. the hang seng in hong kong fell 3.56%. the index went down nearly 5%. and the kospi in seoul, experienced the biggest decline in nearly two years. there was hope earlier in the day that the news of the g-7 nation's global response to the financial instability, would bring some relief to the markets. but we saw the numbers fall quickly in afternoon trading. one analyst saying that futures players were toughening the waters foror while. but after they realized there weren't specifics that came out of that g-7 talk, they quickly reac

karen travers, abc news, washington. >>> let's get a first look at the early trading right now.he dow dropping as we mentioned, down 107 points. 110 points now. we'll get more on early trading when we check in with bloomberg cali carlin live from the new york stock exchange at 6:45. >> buckle up. likely to be a wild ride. >> the market roller coaster is causing more investors to turn to gold as a safehane. unfortunately, that is making people wearing gold unsafe. in fact, some women are having gold literally ripped off their necks in oakland. abc7's terry mcsweeney joins us live from the fruitvale bart station. where the police warn women to keep their jewelry out sight. it's that bad. >> yeah, gold at $1800 per ounce, all-time high. it has thieves acting at all-time low. walking up to women, ripping necklaces off of them in broad daylight and running away. in out one or a few but a lot of attacks. this has happened in dozens of times in the past 90 days. police don't have much description despite attracts except for the men, late teens, early 20s. in and around the fruitvale, l

here's abc's karen travers. >> reporter: so much for minnesota nice. last night's republican presidential debate on fox news turned into a bit festirslugfes between instate rivals. congresswoman michele bachmann and former governor tim pawlenty. >> her record of accomplishment and results is nonexistent. she's got a record of misstating d making false statements. >> you said the era of small government is over. that sounds a lot more like barack obama if you ask me. >> isn't that about the worst thing you can say about a fellow republican in this campaign that he reminds you of barack obama? >> reporter: and bachmann are fighting against mitt romney. that leaves the minnesotans as top contenders in this tradition considered a key early test. for pawlenty the straw poll is a make or break moment to show he can compete. for bachmann a chance to keep up her momentum. for the second straight debate romney emerged as the big winner simply by escaping without any major bruises. pawlenty and bachmann's grudge match allowed romney to keep his eye on the genera

here's abc's karen travers. >> reporter: asian markets are reeling today. stocks plummeted over investors' fears about the weak global economy and the continuing massive sell-off on wall street. >> it's a complete meltdown like the or the financial tsunami. there is a complete loss of confidence. >> reporter: yesterday was simply brutal on wall street. the dow closed at its lowest level in ten months. the 634-point plunge was the sixth biggest drop ever and capped a 12-day sell-off that erased 15% from the dow. more than $2 trillion of stock market wealth wiped out over concerns about the ongoing debtw crisis in europe and now the u.s. credit downgrade by standard & poor's. >> right now there is no confidence. >> reporter: for the average investor that means $16,500 erased from their 401(k) plans. yesterday s&p downgraded fannie mae and freddie mac which means the cost of buying a home couldt increase by tens of t f dollars. the ripple effect from the u.s. rates on credit could mean cards and student loans. sparking concerns that if consumers have to pay mo

. >> abc's karen travers joins us live from washington with the latest numbers. >> reporter: good morning. the credit downgrade, weak job creation and of course this wild ride on wall street, it's easy to see why americans are so pessimistic and why the president's poll numbers are falling. the global market whiplash continues. asian markets sell keeping up their pattern of mimicking the u.s. markets from the day before. the latest cause for sell-off, concerns that france, europe's third largest economy, could be the next country to face a downgrade because of issues. >> it reacts not only to factual aspects and fundamental aspects but also rumors. >> reporter: on wall street a week of massive swings down 600 monday, up more than 400 tuesday but those gains and morgann wednesday. the dow closed down 519 points. the ninth steepest drop in history. >> it's not a full-blown panic yet, but it could get there. they're not throwing things out the window quite yet but they're not far from it. >> reporter: the last time the market fluctuated so dramatically the fall of 2008. the roller-coaster ri

i'm karen travers. i have that story coming up. >> look. surveillance camera capture smack and grab robbery in concord. these are the first pictures we're seeing. what the store employees say was taken. >> i am nick smith in oakland. two people arrested in a drive-by shooting that killed a 3-year-old. what the community and cops are saying. and how they are fed up with the crime. >> tampa and orlando with flight arrival delays. everyone else on time. >> we have sig-alert on redwood city, southbound 101. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >>> good morning. 6:29. the opening bell will soon ring on wall street. >> okay. there it is. the opening bell soon to ring. this morning, wall street is hoping to build on yesterday's stunning 429-point surge after the asian and european markets did their thing overnight. >> we have more on the overnight boom for the overseas markets in a few minute and we'll go live to jane king at the new york stock exchange for the latest on early trading coming up at 6:45. >>> right now, we will

abc's karen travers has details. >> reporter: asian markets came roaring back today spurred by yesterday's surge on wall street. >> people are regaining their senses and look at the stock markets s d find good value. >> reporter: yesterday an unprecedented pledge from the federal reserve to keep its key interest rate atts record low near zero for two more years. it was much needed welcome news on wall street. e dow surged more than 429 points, its biggest one-day gain since march 2009 and the tenth biggest gain in history. the fed didn't commit to a third round of treasury bond purchases. sim lust spending when i the central bank that spurred market rallies last year but investors still liked what they heard. >> they read the statement at first and said, well, they didn't do anything and then looked at it more and said, well, maybe thehe tlur us a ben. >> reporter: the fed said yesterday they believe the economic recovery is slower than expected. as evidence it pointed to a lack of robust hiring, slowing consumer spending and a struggling housing market. still some analysts says wall stree

karen travers, abc news, washington. >>> 6:46. new global pressure on the u.s.orning. >> we'll check in now with the bloomberg reporter kali carlin from the new york stock exchange. good morning. >> good morning. for perspective, we had the biggest three-day rally since 2009 but that is not continuing this morning. we got a report showing that the europe economic growth asked for decline more than thought. hewlett-packard and boeing on there now. but they say the united states triple-a rating, that we have the rating and it has stocks off the lows. the outlook on the long-term rating for the u.s. credit is stable. i want to mention the silicon valley index is lower now. in time for the back-to-school season, target is offering a store credit at 1,500 locations. plus, they are adding the calculators, dvd, ipad, ipod, video games. they are evaluated on site. the service is available online at networth.com. live at the new york stock exchange, bloom business news. >> thank you. have a great day. >>> i am not going to say thank you because it may come as a surprise

our coverage begininwith abc's karen travers. wo weeks for wall street. during that period the dow jones industrial average lost more than 1,300 points. it was a brutal day on wall street. the markets plummeted, finally closing down more than 500 points. it was the biggest one-day drop since december 2008. in less than two weeks the market has erased all of its gains for the year. in total some $940 billion worth of investors' wealth wiped out. the average 401(k) saw a loss of nearly $12,000. investors are growing increasingly worried about a weakening u.s. economy and debt crises in europe. >> the u.s. economy is losing momentum. it shows up in the numbers. investors see those numbers. and they think, and i think for good reason, that it's time to move to the sidelines. >> reporter: the white house pointed a finger at congress and said lawmakers need to get to work. >> congress has the power to pass legislation that the president can sign. pass patent reform. if it passed the free trade agreements. >> reporter: easier said than d

karen travers, abc news.ali carlin joins us live from the new york stock exchange with a look at early trading. >> signs are that the economy is improving. they are out with quarterly result that came in better than they expected. they cut the forecast and blamed the slower spending on pc and consumer technology. the dow, nasdaq, and s&p higher right now. we have green arrows across the board with the dow up 67 points. the silicon valley index is lower, pressured by two attackers and google. meanwhile, a new product may be on the way from apple. apple's online store has been down for a while this morning. leading to speculation on gizmoto that apple may unveil new products related to the apple tv. watch out for development. we are tracking that story. you know how expensive smart phones are. they're so fragile they seem to break the first time you drop them. amazon hopes to solve that. they say the chief executive to apply as a patent to use air bag that will deploy if the phone is dropped. other ideas are sp

karen travers has the latest. >> president obama heads to the home state of illinois today, hoping toto eat it faster. i would melt. >> here we are looking at 24. volmer peak looking eastbound toward mount diablo in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. we are looking down at mount mount. the clouds, the sun rise. 6:27 today. most of us will not see it because of the clouds. let's talk the temperatures. 61 in antioch. mountain view and san jose. low 60s there. the rest of us in the mid-to-upper 60s. watch out for drizzle, along the coast. some of the higher elevations. more prevalent than yesterday. we have some of it around the monterey bay and inland. sunshine, we have it by the afternoon hours. it will be warmer today. especially away from the coast. coolest temperatures, again, warm inland tomorrow. then over. coolest afternoon, friday saturday and sunday. today, compared to yesterday, santa rosa is the same at 86. concord is one degree warmer. san francisco and san jose two. fremont in oakland. 13 hours and 33 minutes of sunshine before sets at 8:00. east bay valley, the upp

karen travers, abc news, washington. >>> 5:49.ime for a look at the weather. >> it's great looking. take a look outside and you can see how low the clouds are, hanging around and push in the east bay valley. looking for volmer peak to mount diablo. so far, as we come up on 5:50, sfo has not mentioned flight arrival delays but they usually do in the next ten minutes. stay here and i'll let you know. look at the temperatures. uniform under the cloud deck from the low 50s in san rafael, santa rosa. clouds are last to arrive. 60 in mountain view and antioch. we have had clouds for better part of the night and in the salinas valley. mid-50s there. gilroy, not as many clouds and cooler. 49 degrees. look for sunshine, especially away from the coast this afternoon. the temperatures are close to average. we'll see fluctuations in temperatures and cloud cover the next couple of days before more clouds and stronger sea breeze the brings cooler weather to the weekend forecast. one degree cooler in concord and san jose. spot on in sacramento a

karen travers is joining us this morning from washington with details. >> reporter: good morning, rob. good morning, tanya. if you had asked anybody in washington yesterday what was the most highly anticipated aspect of this house vote, it probably would have been the final vote tally. instead, it was who was voting. last night's debt ceiling vote was perhaps overshadowed by the surprise appearance by congresswoman gabrieielle giffords. back on the house floor for the first time since she was shot and critically wounded in tucson in january. >> her presence today to make sure that we honor the obligations of our great country is important and symbolic. >> reporter: the debt ceiling vote came down to the wire. >> the bill is passed without objection. a motion to reconsider is laid on the table. >> reporter: but in the end it was a bipartisan vote in the house to raise the nation's debt ceiling. just one day before uncle sam hit his credit limit. in order to pass the debt deal, house speaker john boehner needed unhappy democrats to get on board. democrats

karen travers has the latest. >> tampa police say the 17-year-old meticulously planned his attack for the first day of school next week. >> he also mentioned his desire to cause more casualties than were suffered at columbine. >> yesterday, he was arrested for plotting to set off bombs at the former high school. the target, 30 students and two assistant vice principals. but they prevented another school massacre. tuesday night, police got a lead to his apartment. >> they indeed found a manifesto written by jared that outlined minute-by-minute to include debt kating explosionive devices through the school. police say he acted alone. he was expelled in april and had not enrolled in classes last year. he has been arrested four times on charges from marijuana possession to carrying a concealed weapon. there are pictures of him with machete and a knife. freedom high school 2100 students are scheduled to start school as planned. >> the government investigates the company that just downgraded the u.s. credit. coming up, the allegation that has s&p under scrutiny. >>> pope benedict begins a f

karen travers, abc news, washington. >>> the turmoil on wall street cost the california public employees retirement system $18 billion. the value of calpers stock portfolio lost 7.6% since july 1 but made back some of the losses in yesterday's rebound. calpers is the nation's largest public pension fund. they see the stock market decline as a chance to hunt for stocks at bargain prices. >>> 4:35 now. the san jose city council voted to keep paying city employees indefinitely when they are called up at the military reservist. media partner, the "san jose mercury news" reports recent audit recommended a time cap on how long the city would subsidize a tour of duty for city reservists. they recommended restricting employee to five-year subsidized leave. yesterday, the city council voted unanimously to extend the military leave program indefinitely without any limit on how long soldiers can be away from their city jobs and still get the equivalent of the full city salaries. >>> the redwood city fire department is asking property owners to check the water, sprinkler and the pipe system every da

karen travers picks up the story. >> all eyes are on wall street today. the asian markets are an indicator of what is to come, we may be in for a wild ride. markets in hong kong, korea dropped sharply but analysts say it could have been worse. >> i think the reaction in asia has been much better than expected. it's muted. >> across the globe, investors are concerned not just because of the u.s. credit downgrade but the general economic slowdown in u.s. and across europe. in the u.s., the obama administration continued to hammer s&p for the credit downgrade. >> s&p has shown terrible judgment. they handled themselves poorly and shown stunning lack of knowledge. >> s&p officials continue to fiercely defend their decision. >> our job is to hope -- [inaudible ] >> the credit agency warned the u.s. could drop another level if debt crisis isn't fixed if two years. >> what should the average investor do? analysts say don't panic. >> you have a 401(k) and you may hold your breath until monday but you should exhale. over the long term, this is a bump in the road f

abc's karen travers has details. good morning, karen. >> reporter: good morning, rob.the transportation secretary assured americans that safety would not be compromised. but this partial faa shutdown is compromising construction jobs and projects. >> this is 100 airport projects across the country that have been stopped because of the fights in washington. >> reporter: that means projects like this half-finished tower in oakland. and this one in palm springs. postponed because of the funding fifit. >> this time everybody wants to play hardball. and hardball hurt us. >> reporter: already, 4,000 faa employees have been furloughed. and more than 70,000 construction workers are out of a job. also cut off, 40 airport safety inspectors. the faa asked them to keep working, without pay, citing their "professionalism." airlines are unable to collect taxes on ticket sales. so the federal government has already lost more than $200 million. that figure will increase the longer this goes on. >> don't let $1 billion at a time when we're scrambling for every dollar we can get left on

abc's karen travers is following the race. g, rob. good morning, tanya. labor day is right around the corner. that usually means the start of that sprint to the primaries. and d the republican presidenti race is certainly heating up. for months mitt romney has been the clear front-runner in the republican presidential field. but enter texas governor rick perry who just in a few weeks has shaken up the race and vaulted to the top of several polls. perry hasn't even finished setting up his campaign office. but the most recent poll from cnn has him crushing romney by 14 points and michele bachmann by 20 points. suddenly there may be a shift in the republican race. >> i spent most of my life outside politics. dealing with real problems in the real economy. career politicians got us into this mess and they simply don't know how to get us out. >> reporter: that's romney's not so subtle shot at perry who's served as texas governor since 2000 and has been in politics for almost three decades. romney delivered his jab in san antonio, pr

karen travers is joining us from washington this morning with more on the struggles there. nd tanya. hurricane irene struck north carolina first and hardest. residents there are cleaning up but it's going to be a difficult process because of damaged infrastructure and massive power outages. after hurricane irene made landfall on n e north carolina coast, residents are starting to pick up the pieces. as if irene's whipping winds and pounding rains weren't enough, a tornado ripped through tyrrell county in eastern north carolina. five homes were destroyed. >> glad i wasn't inside this house. >> reporter: irene is being blamed for six deaths there. five people killed by falling trees or branches. >> wind seemed like it was never going to stop. >> reportete the storm ripped apart highway 12, the main road along north carolina's barrier islands. it was breached in five places as storm surge washed away the asphalt. hatteras island is now accessible only by boat, leaving more than 2,000 people stranded. >> basically it's haul it out, except till this morning we were canoeing from