after we landed at laguardia, we read the next to the last aircraft to land at laguardia. they took us off the runway. we were facing the world trade center, watching it burn. eric and i are discussing the fact that we hope they are getting everyone out of there. a flight attendant comes up and says, someone on the phone back there said something about a cessna running into the world trade center. we started piecing things together. we did not know what size the airplane was, why the first one was on fire. we had nothing to tell people, because we did not know until we got to the gate about 30 minutes later, because longoria was on a ground stop and there was no room. it took forever to get to the gate, but once we got to the gate and people got off, they were actually thanking me for the flight. [laughter] they were happy to be on the .round frictio my wife had called and left me three messages asking me to call her, and i called her. as i am talking to her, she tells me that an airplane just at the pentagon. that is when i knew it's time to get everyone off. i came back

. >> but at the same time they will get access to laguardia, pittsburgh, washington national. >> this is one of the big things southwest gets out of this. this he have been chomping tow bit to get into washington reagan national for a couple of years and it is a slot controlled airport where capacity is lard to get. you can only get there if another airline leaves the market and that just doesn't happen so this gives southwest air tran slot at washington reagan national. and also gives southwest air tran's slot, the ability to take-- acquire and take off landing in layman's terms at new york laguardia, another airport they have been trying to grow. it really strengthens them in boston. this comes again as you mentioned as southwest transforms itself into sort of that no frills carrier into a carrier more focused on business travelers. if you are a serious business traveler you have to be in washington, new york, laguardia, boston and atlanta this positions them for that. >> what is it going to mean for consumers, fliers, will fares go up or down. >> there are two schools of thought. w

after we landed at laguardia, we read the next to the last aircraft to land at laguardia. they took us off the runway. we were facing the world trade center, watching it burn. eric and i are discussing the fact that we hope they are getting everyone out of there. a flight attendant comes up and says, someone on the phone back there said something about a cessna running into the world trade center. we started piecing things together. we did not know what size the airplane was, why the first one was on fire. we had nothing to tell people, because we did not know until we got to the gate about 30 minutes later, because longoria was on a ground stop and there was no room. it took forever to get to the gate, but once we got to the gate and people got off, they were actually thanking me for the flight. [laughter] they were happy to be on the .round frictio my wife had called and left me three messages asking me to call her, and i called her. as i am talking to her, she tells me that an airplane just at the pentagon. that is when i knew it's time to get everyone off. i came back

if you go to laguardia now, you could be here in time for the bipartisan health challenge. >> i'll check on the flights. >> we'll see you in a few. >>> yankees and rays playing the final game of big three-game series fighting for first place in the a.l. east. controversy in the seventh. yankees down by one. it appears derek jeter gets hit in the hand on a pitch from chad qualls. the umpire and trainer come over. jeter shaking his hand. that stings. but the rays players are furious because they know what happened. after a meeting of the umpires, jetter gets first base, but watch the replay, it ends the end of the bat. joe maddon is furious, he gets tossed. granderson hits a two-run home run to right, puts the yankees up 3-2, but there was justice, bottom of the same inning, dan johnson a two-run home run to right field, his second home run of the game. the rays won the game 4-3. after the game, jeter admitted that he acted to get on base saying "i'm not going to tell the ump i'm not going to first. it's part of the game. my job is to get on base." yankees lost eight of the last ten games

it brings us more access to new york's laguardia airport, as well as first-time access for us to reagan national airport in washington d.c.. >> susie: where kelly, why did you do it now? >> i feel like we're ready now. first of all, things are so much better today than they were a year ago. our profit outlook is solid. we have plenty of cash on hand. we have a very strong balance sheet, with credit rating agencies affirming our credit rating today. so financially we're very well prepared for this. we also have a very strong leadership team. who is ready to add this major task to our list. and then we have the tools in place today that we just haven't had in the past to optimize our route network and really generate significant revenues from optimizing schedules and also revenue management techniques. so it's been a very challenging economic environment. we would like to grow. we just haven't had opportunities to grow, and we're just delighted that we found this opportunity where with it we can grow and grow profitably. >> susie: analyst, call this deal a game changer. what do you think

flight delays right now, out of laguardia out of new york. severe weather out of minneapolis. quiet across the country weatherwise but there could be delays for other reasons and our flight tracker will have them at abc7news.com. here's eric with more news. >> thank you very much. it's 4:45 now. now that u.c. berkeley graduate sarah shourd is back on u.s. soil she's calling on iran's president to release the two men she left behind in a tehran prison. lillian kim reports on her news conference. >> after 410 days in an iranian prison, lisa shored is back on american soil. the u.c. berkeley graduate thanked the iranny government and religious leaders for releasing her then spent the rest of her time talking about her fiancee and friend josh fattal. both remained locked up. my disappointment not sharing this with shane and josh was crushing. and i stand before you today only one-third free. >> abc this week, mahmoud ahmadinejad called her release a huge humanitarian gesture and the u.s. should release eight iranian prisoners. the mothers of fatal and bauer pleaded in a video. >>

when i go -- i was in the laguardia airport and there was people looking at me like this. tonight i went and got a sandwich and people came up to me and said go get em phil, give em hell. give em both barrels. give em all you got. they say the american people are struggling and starving. we need somebody to get out there and fight and get the message out. like what you said, the gazillion messages are on youtube. show the people you have a message. >> isn't from true you didn't know what youtube was until this happened? >> erk that. if somebody said, can you give me a definition of youtube? i would say, i can give you some vague definition. but i i couldn't tell him how to use youtube. >> do you own a computer? >> yes, i do. and i have been on it. but you know what i do, i go on a yahoo website and search something. i don't go to videos or home videos or things like that. >> are you still jobless? >> yes, i am. i have a job as a councilman in minerva, but it only pays $260 a month. so yes i am employed, but also under employed. >> but you have a lot of degrees and seem lik

laguardia, over two-hour delays right now. steady throughout the day. >> check with your airline if you're going anywhere. >> absolutely. >>> following breaking news this morning, champion cyclist alberto contador failing a steroid test. he tested positive for a banned substance in july. contador has been suspended by the governing body pending an investigation. his spokesman blames the failed death on food contamination. we're expected to hear from contador himself later on today. joining us on the telephone is peter flax, he's the editor in chief of "buy cycling" magazine. what we're talking about, it reduces body fat and it was a tiny tiny amount that they detected? >> yes, it was 1/400th of the normal limit they test for. they're talking about a trace amount of a 20-year-old asthma drug. it's a really shocking piece of news. >> so alberto contador claims that it was food contamination that led to this. are they offering any further explanation of how this food might have gotten contaminated? >> no, my desk will be buzzing

this is video just in to the newsroom of reverend terry jones arriving at laguardia airport in new yorkhe is trying to get a meeting with the imam, trying to open a muslim prayer center and convince him not to do it. this morning on "today" he announced he will never hold a protest. >> we feel -- we feel whenever we started this out, one of our reasons was to show, to expose that there is an element of islam that is very dangerous and very radical. i believe that we have definitely accomplished that mission even though we have not burned one koran, we have cotton over 100 death threats. >> thousands of people from kabul to afghanistan held protests over the proposed burning of the koran. many chanted death to america. bay area muslim leaders will join other faith leaders in urging peace and unity in response to the original ek da rags to burn copies of the koran t. muslim community center in bay point and the council of contra costa county will hold a day of unity and healing. more than 300 people say they will attend today's event in walnut creek, that begins at 2:00 at grace presbyter

departure delays from laguardia and partly cloudy from sfo. not expecting delays there this morning either. but if any develop even outside but if any develop even outside of weather, we'll have them with wouldn't it be nice if every time meg whitman told a lie her nose would grow? newspapers report the claims in this meg whitman ad are false. and she knows it. taxes went down under jerry brown. but whitman's nose keeps growing by the millions. activia is better than ever! hey, you guys. want to try activia's great new taste? isn't this the yogurt that, you know... helps regulate your digestive system. ooh, i think i'll pass. no, no, no! trust me. it is beyond tasty. mmm! wow! i can't believe it, i love it! mmm, this is really good! new best tasting activia ever! ♪ activia now you cajoin the fight against breast cancer every time you enjoy an activia. give hope with every cup of activia. the kincaids live here. across the street, the padillas. ben and his family live here, too. ben's a re/max agent, and he's a big part of this community. there

airports including new york's laguardia and boston's logan airport. in the consumer product sector u.n. leaver has aglowed to buy illinois consumer products company for more than $3.5 billion. in cash. the purchase if approved will make uni leaver the biggest maker of hair conditioning products in the world and the second large. >> cham pooh. at wal-mart, well, it's making its biggest deem in more than a decade. wal-mart-- $4.6billion. the purchase of south africa's second largest retailer would give wal-mart access to africa's biggest economy on the continent. lastly am consulting here in chicago that if companies want to recruit employee and move staff head over to toronto in canada. deemed best in the world when it comes to the lowest risk for employers. consulting people risk index considered demographics, government, education, talent and development toronto ranking top as city with the lowest risk along with new york, singapore, london and montreal. all right, right now on wall street we were seeing stocks weighed down on other mergers and acqui

philadelphia, new york, laguardia, all seeing delays. let's go to washington, d.c. and jeff morrow. doesn't look pretty there. >> reporter: it is just a nasty day, that's the only way to put it here. all through the mid-atlantic, that includes right around the capital beltway and in downtown washington. heavy rain since late last night through the morning hours. it comes and goes, sometimes heavier, sometimes lighter like it is right now. there have been some sporadic road closures around d.c. but for the most part it's been business as unusual. the wind is turning some people's umbrellas inside-out but people are dealing the best they can. the ironic thing is that this area has been in a bit of a drought for quite some time. we're 7.5 inches below average for the year. we've gotten 2 to 3 inches of rain since that time. too much water in a short period of time, yeah that leads to flooding and we'll have to deal with that for the rest of today into the evening until things clear up. >>> the carolina coast has been battered by the system. mike seidel is in north myrtle beach. what ar

presence in airs that are nearly impossible to acquire new gates and reagan national, new york's laguardia and boston's logan airport to name a few and now southwest can go head-to-head with delta and atlanta where airtran has the hub. >> and this is huge for them. you have them and the caribbean and southwest is getting 10 years worth of growth out of this merger. >> he's on the way back to atlanta, flies airtran often. >> i am praying the service will continue to be great and our flights will be on time, and most of all, we get reasonable rate and air fair. >> reporter: jenkins said don't bit on it. -- bet on it. remember, airtran is a low-cost airline. >> smart move on the part of southwest, and i think you will see some -- southwest come out of this that is incredible. >> and what happens next? the government needs to sign off on this and stockholders have to agree as well and that is not seen as a major problem. when it comes to where southwest will fly out of reagan, i talked to a spokesperson period touchdown and she said they haven't come up with a plan yet and they should be annou

. >> seth, i got to say, i'm disappointed laguardia was shut down last night. sharing your story with us and congratlation you. seth reams, founder of we've got time to help. thank you. >> thank you, dylan. very nice to meet you. >> you as well. all this week, we've been asking you to share your stories from the front line of the job wars. as we just heard from seth, michael walters telling us quote -- and again, that may be one of the more complicated questions posed in this country right now, but the simplest answer i can offer up is that we have a government that is in the business of holding up a corps of what was as opposed to freeing the possibleties of what could be. whether it's the desire for bankers who have been made relatively low paid by modern technology, but instead of exploited that to make themselves wealthy. energy companies that prevent technology from this country like clean diesel or companies like caterpillar and apple what would rather see slave rigging in china than investment and jobs in america. as we take the advice of seth reams for

like new york just came off the board and more of a technic technical error and one-hour delays at laguardia and philly is at 30-minute delays. what amazes me is with that heavy rain in d.c., not many delays. chris, sometimes we learn during winter storms they cancel a lot of flights and no delays, obviously. i'd call ahead if you're in or out of reagan or dulles. >> those poor folks that capital had a hot summer and now getting all this rain. bill, we'll keep checking in with you, thank you. >>> new york's race for governor is heating up and, in fact, i think you can say things got overheated last night. tea party backed republican candidate paladino went after it after he was asked to prove his accusation that andrew cuomo had extra marital affairs. look at what happened. >> do you have any evidence? >> of course i do. at the appropriate time, you'll get it. >> what's the evidence? >> you're his bird dog. you send another goon to my daughter's house and i'll take you out. >> you're going to take me out? >> watch. >> i covered politics in new york for many, many years as a local reporter, a

flight delays into laguardia. check out our flight tracker at abc7news.com and it can let you know specifically which flight is affected.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.d.dr >>> i'm terry mcsweeney live in sunnyvale where there's an arsonist on the loose believed responsible for 15 fires over the past few months. now a sketch released. investigators looking for your help in tracking him down. the story coming up. >> also this morning, the richmond city council votes to spend $1.5 million to keep a high school and two elementary schools open for another year. a budget crisis forced leaders to consider the closure. >> here's a look at the embarcadero where it is wet this morning thanks to the drizzle we talked about yesterday. the cold front is moving through our neighborhoods bringing us the coldest day and drizzle in the afternoon hours. i'll show you where. >> and a stop reported on the upper deck of the bay bridge. we'll be watching the toll plaza to see if the backup develops. i'll have an update on drive times through the slo

connecting flights into dallas and departure delays over an hour from laguardia. >> an extra 45 minutesthe westbound 580 drive through livermore because of an accident through airway. the left lane won't be reopened until when it comes to veterans, no one fights harder than jerry mcnerney. when some vets were forced to travel hours for care, mcnerney fought for a new v.a. medical facility, and won. mcnerney took on washington gridlock, to improve care for vets with traumatic brain injuries. his plan became law. that's why vfw state commander dave norris endorsed mcnerney. i'm jerry mcnerney, and i'm honored to approve this message. thanks, dad. key lime pie, pineapple upside down cake. no, i've actually lost weight... [ female announcer ] over 30 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. [ wife ] babe... i gotta go. [ female announcer ] yoplait, it is so good. r every pink lid you send in, yoplait will donate 10 cents to susan g. komen for the cure. with your help, we've donated $25 million over 12 years. so let's continue to make a difference one lid at a time. saving money. and l

. >> you arrived at laguardia last night amid lots of security.ty around here this morning has gotten very intense. you've gotten 100 death threats. you're a reviled man and you're a wanted man in some cases. >> right. >> how much of that is part of this decision? were you scared into it? >> no. we already -- we definitely did not realize that all of this would take place. of course not. but we knew that if we went in this direction, that our life could be threatened or would be threatened, we could possibly even get killed. i think the fact that we changed this decision, we felt as though god was telling us to do this, i don't believe that has changed the death threats against us. i believe that we have already went too far to change that. >> if this mosque is still built, which you clearly oppose, you still will not reverse your decision, you still will not burn the koran? >> we will definitely not burn the koran, no. >> bottom line for the church, wayne, is this going to create more members for your church or result in fewer members? >> one of

laguardia posting a delay of 2 1/2 hours. it moves out of the way by friday. the coldest weekend so far, the coldest air mass of the season coming up this weekend. back to you. >> mike seidel, as we show some of the airport delays, a rough day if you've got to travel anywhere on the east coast. thanks, mike. >>> well, overseas now, u.s. forces are caught in the middle of a growing international standoff. today pakistan blocked a key supply route leaving american commanders scrambling for a way to get food and fuel to troops in afghanistan. john yang is live for us in kabul. john, explain why pakistan took this measure. >> reporter: well, this happened, savannah, just hours after an apparent -- well, there was a helicopter strike on a checkpoint on the pakistani side of the border. killed three pakistani forces. they say the pakistani government officials say it was a nato helicopter, a coalition helicopter. nato forces say, yes, there was a helicopter attack in the area, but that the helicopter never crossed the border into pakistani airspace and that the targ

reagan national, new york's laguardia and boston's logan airports to name a few plus now southwest can go head to head with delta in atlanta where airtran has its hub. >> this is a huge deal for them. not only do they have that, but you have mexico and the caribbean and southwest has never had any international flying. so they're getting 10 years worth of growth out of this merger. >> reporter: luella rhodes is on her way back to atlanta and flies airtran often and hopes southwest will improve on already great service she receives from airtran. >> i'm really praying that the service will continue to be great. our flights will be on time and most of all, we get very reasonable rates and air fare. >> reporter: what about ticket prices? will they go down because southwest is at reagan? jenkins says don't bet on it. remember airtran is already a low cost airline. >> smart move on the part of southwest and i think you're going to see some southwest come out of this that's just incredible. >> reporter: matt ackland, fox 5 news. >>> time to go hands free or hang up. why some say maryland's ne

more pictures of thatu#tmwly storm this is the do some of the buildings. g"g"Ñcaue delays at laguardiaig rig. itbhbhzwas jt one town of several towns are reported tornado damage the storm as you can see where trees snap them have really leaving stops. ripping roofs off of some .bqb well no word f  obviously we will follow that story as well. 5:28 a.m.u@u@q'k with more headlines in a moment. 5:30 a.m. a couple of pictures the bay bridge looking south çúçúgéfrom the island traffic hg toward san francisco. -<->]x]xpb it shows you what roas well so ibm out there. it is as we head into the afternoon it will actually be cooler forecast for you because we have a storm system headed are aware.iá/&mlya chance of rain. we will get to jp few moments the fog is mostly prominent in the peninsula's zero downtown san francisco all the way through daly city all the way down to mró#çysan jose, fremont dealinh quite a bit of it as well up into the north bay pockets of fog from santa rosa down to peddle mouth. ffthe storm is approaching sat

idea if you are not from this area, we are just a few miles from manhattan and a few miles from laguardia airport. and in this park, downed trees, debris everywhere, and this is just emblematic of what you're seeing all across several burr rougs of new york city. storms like this particularly dangerous in urban areas. still to be determined whether it was an official tornado. but, new york city and the northeast have had their share of weird weather over the past several months, from blistering heat to extreme cold and snow and now this. wild weather rolled across the northeast thursday, striking hard in new york city. over a thousand miles from tornado alley. tearing off roofs with reported wind gusts of over 100 miles per hour. >> it looked like doomsday it was coming in black. it looked like midnight. >> tornado warnings went up in three of the city's five burroughs just after 5:00 p.m. the fury lasted minutes as bolts of lightning hit up the statute of liberty and the surrounding city. >> it may be an act of god but doesn't make it issier. >> there were scattered reports reports of a

especially atlanta, new york, laguardia. we have more flights in that airport.nd also, washington, reagan airport. it's really more competition, more low fares, more flights. and especially, for our economy and our country, more jobs. >> we looked at some of the places you do overlap. and in those cases, in some cases, southwest or regular fare was actually a little higher. you all have these want to get away fares. the big specials. instead of denver to baltimore, $385, you have $125 ticket. you go through the merger with airtran, will you continue with the want to get away fares? >> absolutely. of course, this is 40 years of service for southwest airlines. and we are looking forward to a great future, by adding airtran to our route system. our flares are low, no matter where we fly, no matter our competition. that will stay in place. but i think importantly, we are the only carrier that doesn't charge for checked bags. in many cases, that can be over $100 an itinerary. so, we'll continue to have that. currently, airtran charges for bags. when they are absorbed

and flights in laguardia are delayed an hour and a half. amtrak passengers in the northeast are having scattered delays because of tree branches on the tracks and high water but no cancellations there yet. down in north carolina officials said this morning there were too many flooded roads to count and many are impassible. some cars got stuck. to avoid further problems dozens of school district down in the tar heel state are closed today and dozens more had delayed option. further north some schools in maryland and fairfield, connecticut are going to send the kids home early from school and power is out for thousands along the east coast. megyn: you have to watch out for hydroplaning on the highways. it may not be flooded but you can hydroplane. peter thank you so much. fox news alert. new reporting this hour on the international manhunt underway for terror suspects. these are the guys linked to an al-qaida plot targeting american tourists in hotels in paris, london and other hot spots. trace gallagher has more info. >> reporter: we have co

i don't think i'd be able to land a 747 at laguardia on runway 2 but generally can do most things everybodyat this is all about. >> a producer is making a documentary and shopping it around on the networks. remember, you saw him first at the "random moment of the day." earn a free night! two separate stays at comfort inn or any of these choice hotels can earn you a free night -- only when you book at choicehotels.com. >>> a tea party favorite and a gop candidate locked in a tight race pap longtime congressman battles ethics charges. it is primary day in seven states in the district of columbia, and we are spotlighting the hot races to watch. cnn producer shannon travis joins us live from the site of one of those races in delaware. good to see you. delaware and new hampshire really topping our list, because of what we like to call the tea party factor. you've been covering the tea parrot for a while. how is this movement a factor where you are? >> reporter: it's a factor, because the tea party movement is coming into literally one of the bluest states in the country. and could actually make

they'll also be able to go to new york laguardia, expanding into newark and boston.i really don't see where the government's going to have too many problems with this airline aqua swigs. after merging northwest and dead ta and the continental united states. -- continental united. probably a no-brainer. >> thanks, tom. love the shirt, by the way. >>> now let's go to wall street and see how investors are reacting. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. what are traders say about this deal between southwest and airtran? >> traders love this. investors love this deal. remember, call it coincidence, southwest ticker symbol here at the nyse is luv. airtran shares now surging 60%, because for shareholders, this is a money-making opportunity for them. they're going to get a 69% premium over friday's closing price. not a bad deal. southwest shares, they're up 10%. that's because the company says this deal will be adding to its earnings, because what it's going to be doing is, it's going to be expanding its service from 69 cities to 100. it's going to gain access to some

ground stop released at laguardia and delays there. ground stop at bwi and dca, as well.raveling today, take it easy out there. by car, numerous flooded roads especially in the carolinas and we have a while for this rainfall to get through. kyra? >> thanks, rob. >>> parents listen up. fisher-price is recalling millions of toys for safety concerns with baby play areas with inflatable balls and small car toys and recalled nearly a million highchairs after the legs cut the children. call the hotline at this 800 number. 800-432-5437. >>> 30,000 hourly workers at mcdonald's could lose their health benefits. the fast food giant blamed the health care reform act. the mon. no deposit slips. no looking for an envelope. i have an image of my check right here. i can get a picture of the check, on the receipt. it even tells what kind of bills i put in. [ man ] you just put the bills right in. it even did the math for me. -four twentys. -a ten. -two fives. -a hundred bucks. -it's all right here. ♪ i'm done, i'm outta here. [ male announcer ] quick and easy deposits. with atms from ban

and just updated the laguardia airport in new york city, 2 1/2 hour delays.fk and d.c., they'll probably be similar. new york city's not too bad, but heavy thunderstorms moved through earlier. now we're going to get a little bit of a break with just showers. the worst of it is from philadelphia out through pennsylvania and into areas of maryland. that's where we're going to continue to see the heaviest rain, already almost 2 inches in d.c. and it's just beginning to rain. it's going to rain all day long. d.c. could easily end up with 5 to 6 inches of rain out of this. we have a tornado watch extending until 1:00 this afternoon. we've already had reports of a couple weak twisters in areas of north carolina, only minor damage done. and finally, we've also got flash flood warnings. the areas in maroon is where we're having street flooding, small streams are flooding. an almost impossible commute this morning in some of the rural towns outside of downtown d.c. so give yourself a lot of extra time. the forecast, it's going to rain on and off hard all day today and

on the morning of september 11, 2001, i was flying milwaukee to new york laguardia.came through my back door. i was ordered to take evasive action for the aircraft. i witnessed the disaster straight-on. folks, you had to be there. i looked at it for my cockpit window. i saw both towers on fire. i never saw flight 175, but i did see the aftermath. america needs to remember what we saw that morning. these gentlemen here, the controllers did what they could. it was mass confusion. we landed probably 20 minutes after the second tower was hit. two days later, i was captain of the first aircraft to leave new york. that is my story. i share nothing with these to do fine military pilots who were protecting us these days -- those days. there is no way to explain how grateful we were to see them flying over the top of us. that is all i have right now. >> good afternoon. i am lieutenant colonel joe mcgrady, currently part of the 102nd wing. we were and f-15 squadron team -- an f-15 squadron team before some reassignments. thank you to everyone at the university of texas, dallas