for "nightline" in vochenza, italy. >> thank you to martha raddatz for that report. sergeant giunta and his comrades. >>> when we come back, we'll talk about the bush tax cuts. first, here's jimmy. >> tonight, david hasselhoff, eric ripert cooks for us, and music from green day. barbara boxer. she fought to get our veterans the first full combat care center in california. her after school law's keeping a million kids off the street and out of gangs. and she's fighting every day to create new jobs. boxer: i'm working to make california the leader in clean energy, to jump-start our small businesses with tax credits and loans, to create thousands more california jobs. i'm barbara boxer and i approve this message because i want to see the words "made in america" again.

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the medal of honor, i think everyone i stand with would have the medal of honor. >> reporter: martha raddatzaly. >> above and beyond. and you can see more of martha's interview later on "nightline" tonight. >>> we hope you had a great weekend. we hope you'll join us right back here tomorrow night. >>> tonight from san bruno, return of more residents to burned out neighborhoods and frustration of those who can't get in. >> we have... possibly several blocks on fire at this time. >> and the chaos at ground zero. the faulty information that confounded the first responder autos what are the chances of this happening your neighborhood? tonight we'll identify two bay area pipe lines that are most at risk. >> if you speak up like i did, they try to shut you up. >> the man who blew the whistle on pipeline safety practices at pg&e. >> good evening, dozens of residents being allowed to return home tonight in the san bruno neighborhood destroyed by fire last week. >> many are frustrated by the fact those its taken this long. >> the people whose homes were destroyed in the inferno were bused in to see d

martha raddatz decided to ask them.stan. >> reporter: it seemed impossible, flying over afghanistan today, to think that it has been nine years since 9/11. but, for some of the soldiers here, 9/11 is nearly half a lifetime ago. private parker wattson still has a baby face at 20, but he is a battle-hardened combat medic. when this war began, he was just a little boy. where you frightened? >> i was a little frightened at first but i was reassured by my parents that we'd be all right. >> reporter: as wattson watched the towers collapse, an even younger boy was there, running for his life. what do you remember about it? >> the booms. me and mom running down west side highway, to go across the brooklyn bridge. >> reporter: did you join the army then? >> then? not really. >> reporter: at 18, lee williams joined the army. today, he is proud to serve, like so many his age. i can't imagine you ever thought, "gee, i'll probably be over there fighting some day." >> i don't know, ever since then i kind of wanted to. >> reporter: ca

martha raddatz is overseas. >>> on the record, the gladiator governor who took on immigration now explains her claims of beheadings in the arizona desert. >>> on the line? who was secretly listening in on william and harry and the beckhams. >>> and the american heart. the nurse, her patient and what she never could have predicted when she walked into that room. >>> good evening. in a sign of just how high the stakes are when it comes to creating jobs and political survival, the commander in chief on this labor day became campaigner in chief. traveling to wisconsin to sell his new plan to create jobs, and there are two groups counting on him, the 15 million americans unemployed and democrats in congress, some of whom fear they'll be unemployed if the president doesn't help. republicans are pouncing on the president's newest proposals, and our jon karl is at the white house to start us off tonight. jon, here we go. >> reporter: david, democrats in congress have been practically begging the president to get out and talk more about the economy. with the campaign now in full swing, that's exact

our martha raddatz is in afghanistan. we'll go live to her in a minute. >>> we begin at ground zero. for months, it's been the site of protest over the proposed mosque. today is no exception. but there will also be memorials taking place. john berman is there live. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, bianna. it is such a beautiful morning here in new york city, just like it was nine years ago. the soceremonies to commemorate events are going on. but also controversy. the proposed islamic center near ground zero. and, of course, the pastor from florida, here in new york city. >> you had a lot to say before. >> maybe that's why i'm up. >> reporter: not a lot of words from pastor terry jones, as he arrived in new york city late last night, after a week of a circus atmosphere in gainesville, florida, where jones staged his on again/now off again threat to burn the koran. >> there will be no koran burning tomorrow. do we have to repeat that over and over again? >> reporter: however, jones is still calling for a meet

martha raddatz has been following the developments all day. martha, how did it get to this point? >> reporter: this began early this morning when a u.s. apache helicopter briefly crossed into pakistan where it was fired upon. assuming they were taking upmy fire, they fired back. but what the helicopter's apparently hit was an outpostmaned by pakistani soldiers and three of them were killed. >> could this get worse for american troops? what could happen? >> reporter: well, it could because they closed down this path. we were there along the pass last year. they bring tons of food and military supplies to u.s. troops every day. the u.s. is now in urgent talks with the pakistanis to get it opened back up. the pakistanis have made all kinds of threats but the u.s. officials seem confident they can lower the temperatures in the coming dales. at least they hope so. >> martha raddatz, thank you. >>> and we are learning troubling now details of a very close call at new york's kennedy airport earlier this month. one plane departing, one plane arriving and now one experienced air traffic co

. >> reporter: i'm martha raddatz. the deadly drone strikes have targeted this mountainous area we flew over on pakistan/afghanistan border where the u.s. is hitting hard. just look at this chart. the previous high in january, 12, down to four in august, and now spiking to at least 20 so far in september. a three-fold increase in special operations raids resulting in a treasure trove of intelligence has helped make the drone strikes possible. the strikes are also a clear sign that the u.s. is frustrated with pakistani efforts against the militants. >> the sanctuaries and safe havens, there will have to be more done about them. >> reporter: and you're putting pressure on. >> there will have to be more pressure. no question. >> reporter: the u.s. military is also hitting hard in this border area. >> on top of the hillstop is pakistan. >> reporter: targeting fighters loyal to this man, who has been orchestrating attacks on u.s. forces at an alarming rate. they keep coming back? >> it does. it's right over there. >> report

troops on the ground, general david petraeus sat down with our martha raddatz. and, in an exclusive interview, talked about the possibility the war will take years more to end. >> reporter: general david petraeus has visited dozens of combat outposts in his two plus months here. >> you interdict them with ground forces? >> reporter: every visit confirms how tough it is to make progress in this increasingly bloody war. >> it's very difficult and sometimes seeming to be as slow as watching grass grow or paint dry. but nonetheless progress. >> reporter: there have been improvements in the afghan security forces, and petraeus says there have been a few places where the taliban has lost momentum. a few. >> our soldiers, your police and you will all be fighting shona by shona. >> reporter: this small outpost we visited is called jagahta. it has been hammered by the enemy so often the soldiers call it "jagahta get outta here." >> last month alone, we took 42 rockets, 16 mortars. >> reporter: in fact, while we were there, petraeus watched real-time video from an f-16 th

we want to bring in martha raddatz, who is just back from afghanistan. martha, what are we expecting to happen now in the days ahead? >> reporter: i think you will see massive and sustained combat, but they're really trying to tamp down expectations. as you know, i was with the commander over there, david petraeus, and he kept saying, we don't want to build expectations for anything in afghanistan. but the reality is, this is a key battle in kandahar. they really have to be successful there. >> so expect it to be a long, slow, steady march? >> reporter: i think somewhat long and slow, and yet, as you know, they have to show success quickly. so, that's the hard part here. it's still a counterinsurgency campaign. that takes a long time. but they need short-term gains there. >> so, let me ask you, someone who just came back. we hear all these mixed views of whether the new strategy, the counterinsurgency is succeeding or not. tell us what you saw. >> reporter: well, i think there's real concern, diane. i sensed it with general petraeus, they're concerned abo

martha raddatz, abc news, kabul. >>> after slamming into mexico's northern gulf coast last night, tropical storm hermine is now hovering over south texas. it's already churning up the waters from brownsville to galveston, along the texas coast, creating some dangerous conditions for swimmers there. hermine is bringing heavy rain and winds up to 65 miles per hour. it's expected to drop up to a foot of rain as far north as dallas. forecasters say flash flooding will be a major problem throughout the day. >>> a powerful wildfire that started in the foothills of colorado is now spreading in that region. the fire has destroyed some homes and even forced the evacuation of at least 1,000her. others. it started monday in four mile canyon, which is northwest of boulder. since then, winds of up to 45 miles per hour have spread flames in several directions. so far, no injuries have been reported. >>> investigators in west virginia are trying to figure out the cause of a fire which killed 27 racehorses. four barns near the racetrack in charlestown burned to the ground. workers described a frantic scen

and i think it makes you really appreciate the reporter martha raddatz, her ability to tell this storyou cannot help but get emotional when you see it and really respect this soldier. >> it's incredible. make sure to stay tuned for that story, everybody. good morning. i'm rob nelson. >> and i'm vinita nair. we are seeing new pictures this morning of the deadly pipeline explosion in northern california. surveillance video shows the frightening moments for those at a gas station blocks away from the massive blast. >> and dramatic footage. another surveillance video caught terrified shoppers running for the door. diana alviar is following the investigation and has the latest. good morning, diana. >> reporter: vinita and rob, good morning. despite residents saying they'd smelled gas in the area before the explosion, the owner of the pipeline says it was checked out a few months ago and that everything checked out fine. this is exhibit a in the ntsb's investigation. the 28-foot-long pipeline at the center of the san bruno explosion. >> we'd want to know was it a fatigue factor associated wi

as general david petraeus explained to martha raddatz of abc news. >> the sanctuaries and safe havensagain, there will have to be more done about them. >> and you're putting pressure on? >> there will have to be more pressure on them, there's no question. >> reporter: especially in light of one other claim made by the captured german, that this latest plot was personally approved by osama bin laden, an indication, if true, that he is still alive and still directly involved in trying to attack the west in a spectacular way. u.s. officials say the threat is considered current and active, that intelligence officials in europe and the u.s. are in constant contact and that president obama has been fully briefed on the threat. brian ross, abc news, new york. >> and between that news and what they said in the hearings last week in front of congress, just incredibly sobering news for the world. really is scary. >> two hours i think in total for the eiffel tower. that's the world's most visited monument. >> wow. >> at this stage they haven't raised the threat level, but i think the reality we'

first, from martha raddatz. >> reporter: good morning, george. there's concern that france, germany or britain could face a terrorist attack at anytime, which is one of the reasons the cia has stepped up drone attacks in pakistan's tribal areas. we were on the pakistani border with afghanistan, just a few weeks ago, with military officials, who talked about the threat from the tribal areas. so far, this month, there have been at least 20 drone strikes. that is the largest number of strikes ever. there have also been u.s. helicopters targeting militants in pakistan. three strikes this month. also a record. the news of the increased threat from pakistan and the stepped-up drone attacks, comes as "obama's wars" shakes up from the pentagon to kabul. bob woodward describing intense white house sessions last fall, pitting president obama against his military leadership. with the war in afghanistan getting worse by the day, the president wanted a number of options on the table, before deciding on a new strategy. but author, bob woodward, told diane sawy

least 70 attacks this year alone with new ones attacked each day, as david petraeus explained to martha raddatzre will have to be more done about them. >> reporter: and you're putting pressure on. >> there will have to be more pressure on them, no question. >> reporter: especially in light of one other claim by the captured german. that this plot was personally approved by osama bin laden, an indication, if true, that he is still alive and still directly involved in trying to attack the west in a spectacular way. u.s. officials said tonight the threat is considered current and active, and intelligence officials in europe and the u.s. are in constant contact and that president obama has been fully briefed on the threat. cynthia? >> a most sobering report. our thank, brian. >>> when we come back, we take a sharp turn towards a si s a "si the times" that really packs a punch. a baby generating data in a neo-natal ward. every heart beat, every breath, every anomaly... from over a thousand pieces of unique information per second. helping doctors find new ways to detect life threatening infections up

martha raddatz visited the top u.s. commander in afghanistan in an abc news exclusive. >> reporter: general david petraeus has visited dozens of combat outposts in his two-plus months here. >> are you interdicting with ground forces? >> reporter: every visit confirms how tough it is to make progress in this increasingly bloody war. >> it's very difficult and sometimes seeming to be as slow as watching grass grow or paint dry. but nonetheless, progress. >> reporter: there have been improvements in the afghan security forces and petraeus says there have been a few places where the taliban has lost momentum. a few. >> our soldiers, your police and you will all be fighting. >> reporter: this small outpost we visited is called jagata. it's been hammered by the enemy so often, the soldiers call it jagota get out of here. >> we took 42 rockets, 16 mortars. >> reporter: in fact, while we were there, petraeus watched realtime video from an f-16 that was tracking a group of suspicious men. soldiers feared were about to attack the

general david petraeus told abc's martha raddatz in afghanistan today that pastor jones has hurt u.s. interests abroad. >> there has been some damage done. you've seen it. there are already, in a sense, images, if you will, implanted in minds, albeit not with photos, of something as inflammatory as the burning of a koran. >> reporter: and in washington, president obama spoke as commander in chief for the troops in the field. >> this is a way of endangering our troops, our sons and daughters. you don't play games with that. >> reporter: and so, terry jones' plan to burn the koran tomorrow is off. but the damage has been done. he's benefited, though, no question about that. he's gained worldwide attention for his financially troubled little church here and gained a measure of celebrity, as well, and he plans, right now, to be in new york city for september 11th. diane? >> well, picking up on that very thing, terry, as you know, you're well aware, we've been wrestling with the question about this modern media nation. and so we asked david muir to take another look at whether all this att

here's abc2 news martha ready -- raddatz who talked to the soldier about what happened. >> reporter: staff sergeant salvador junta was waiting at his army post in italy with his wife jennifer when the call came from washington. >> my heart started racing pretty fast at the time. when he said president barack obama it just started really pounding. >> reporter: the honor of this award is mixed with the reality that the day of battle was the saddest day of junta's life. how often do you remember that time, that day? >> i think about them multiple times a day. i think about it everyday. >> reporter: he was just 22 years old at the time during this battle which abc news cameras captured. it was a site so intense, an ambush so sudden that soldiers were lying wounded within seconds. among them, junta's closest friend, sergeant josh brennan shot multiple times and cut off from the other soldiers. >> to tell a story about that day hurts me. >> reporter: staff sergeant brett perry, back in afghanistan for a second tour was with junta on that frigid mountain during the battle. >> i can't even b

is being given to a soldier for his extraordinary act of heroism, an act he talked about with martha raddatzlvatore giunta was waiting at his army post in italy with his wife, jennifer, when the call came from washington. >> my heart started racing pretty fast at that time, and then when he said president barack obama, it just started really pounding. >> reporter: he was just 22 years old at the time, during this battle, which abc news cameras captured. it was a fight so intense, an ambush so sudden, that soldiers were lying wounded within seconds. among them, giunta's closest friend, sergeant josh brennan, shot multiple times and cut off from the other soldiers. >> to tell the story about that day hurts me. >> reporter: staff sergeant brett perry back in afghanistan for a second tour was with giunta on that frigid mountain during the battle. >> i can't even begin to describe how intense it was. the most intense whizzes i've ever heard from bullets just going right over us. >> reporter: with two taliban fighters now dragging his friend josh brennan away giunta charged right into the ambush,

martha raddatz reports from kabul. >> reporter: the crowd in downtown kabul reached nearly 500, withn effigy of pastor terry jones from the tiny florida church was lit on fire. the protesters well aware of the pastor's inflammatory comments. >> islam is an evil religion. >> reporter: but anger has spread far beyond pastor jones, with chants of "death to america" echoing through the crowd. minutes later, rocks were hurled at a passing u.s. military convoy. the u.s. commander in afghanistan, general david petraeus, is outraged by the threat to burn the koran, saying in a statement that "it could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort here." we spoke in kabul with the former vice chief of staff of the army. general jack keane. >> it is outrageous and it is insulting to muslims. but it's also insulting to our soldiers in terms of what they stand for and what their commitment is to this country and to the muslims in this country. >> reporter: pastor terry jones vowed he would go ahead with the koran burning. >> what we are doing is long overdue. we're revealing again the

martha raddatz reports from afghanistan. >> reporter: it seemed impossible flying over afghanistan torly half a lifetime ago. private parker watson still has a baby face at 20. but he is a battle-hardened combat medic. when this war began, he was just a little boy. >> were you frightened? >> a little frightened at first, but i was reassured by my parents it would be all right. >> reporter: as watson watched the towers collapse, an even younger boy was there running for his life. >> what do you remember about it? >> the booms. me and my mom running down west side highway to get across the brooklyn bridge. >> did you want to join the army then? >> then? not really. >> reporter: at 18, lee williams joined the army. he is proud to serve like so many his age. >> i can't imagine you ever thought, gee, i'll be over there fighting some day. >> ever since then, i kind of wanted to. >> reporter: captain alex hague, grandson of the former general and secretary of state was a college student in washington on 9/11. >> all my friends are serving. so it's something i think about every day. and it's

>> martha raddatz reporting from kabul. thank you. >>> the bitter debate of a planned mosque near ground zero threatens to ee clint this weekend's events to commemorate the anniversary. robin will sit down with one of the supporters, mayor michael bloomberg. >>> turning, now, to the middle east peace process. palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas wants more u.s. intervention. he's calling for the u.s. to stop israel from resuming settlement construction. israel's self-imposed construction freeze ends this month. abbas and israel's prime minister are scheduled to meet twice next week. >>> well, they call him spider-dan. and for good reason. using just suction cups, stuntman dan goodwin managed to scale this 58-story building in downtown san francisco. goodwin took three hours to climb the millennium tower. police waited patiently and arrested him at the top for trespass. that's 7:19. not before he unfurled the flag. >> thank you, juju, so much. >>> time, again, for the weather. hello, sam. >> good morning, robin, geo

and now, general david petraeus, in an exclusive interview told our martha raddatz -- >> there has been some damage done. you've seen it. you've heard of the demonstrations here in afghanistan. there are already, in a sense, images, if you will, implanted in minds. albeit photos, nothing as inflammatory as the burning of the koran. >> reporter: even donald trump tried to break the deadlock. offering to buy an investors stake in the ground zero cultural center at a 25% markup. and inside the church which, the doors are locked. the folks inside are armed. men and women are carrying side arms. and the question is, what happens for the rest of today? robin? >> all right, matt. very tense situation down there. thank you. >>> and joining us now, from gainesville, the man at the center of this controversy, pastor terry jones. pastor jones, we appreciate you joining us this morning. we want to find out, at this very moment, where do you stand on your decision on whether or not to burn the koran? >> right now, we have plans not to do it. we believe that the imam is going to keep his word, what h

he spoke to martha raddatz at the military base in vincenza, italy. >> how often do you think of thats me. it hurts to go into it. i can tell you there was american soldiers from all around the united states of america fighting for the united states closing and destroying any enemy with immense bravery. every single one of them have gone above and beyond anything that should ever been asked of them. they'll continue to do it. they're doing it today. they'll do it tomorrow. they'll do it again. >> so you're really fighting there because of the guy next to you? >> that's your buddy. your brother in arms. that's who you're there with. that's who's fighting there with you and for you. >> tell me about the phone call from the president. >> i knew it was coming. when you hear him, he's not addressing the nation he's not addressing the world. he was talking to me. my heart was racing. i was squeezing her i was squeezing my wife's hand jen was right there with me. she knew who it was. but there were people in the office at the time. mr. president, and my heart stopped. it was intense. >> he's

martha raddatz, abc news, logar province, afghanistan. >>> a texas man is lucky to be alive after beings. look what happened to 65-year-old lamar lacoste two weeks ago. two weeks ago. he was mowing his lawn when a swarm attacked his head. more than 1,200 stingers were pulled from his body. doctors also removed entire bees from his ears, his nose, his mouth and even his throat. beekeepers found the hive in an old water heater with as many as 70,000 bees inside. unbelievable video. man! >> oh, my gosh. >> yes. what do you even say to that? >> that poor man. >>> all right. there is triple trouble in the tropics this morning now that tropical storm karl has formed and could threaten mexico's caribbean coast. that's in addition to two huge hurricanes we've been hearing about, igor and julia. new pictures of those hurricanes were captured by the crew of the international space station. igor could develop into the strongest hurricane in years at a category 5. it could hit bermuda in a few days. as for hurricane julia, it also looks huge but forecasters predict it will not be a major threat. >>