that's when terry thompson set 50 of his exotic animals free, then committed suicide. the sheriff's department flooded with 911 calls. >> yeah, there's a lion mount perry road. there's a big horse farm on the right. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies were forced to put down 48 animals, including lions, bears, and exotic tigers. now, many in this rural community are questioning why the remaining five animals should be returned to thompson's widow. the answer -- ohio is one of eight states with the least restrictive laws on owning exotic pets. >> i'm sure that nobody in this county really wants them back here after what happened back in october. but, as you said, our hands are tied. we cannot infringe on somebody's civil rights because the laws are just not in place for me to trounce on somebody's property. >> reporter: two columbus zoo officials who cared for the animals signed affidavits saying the animals had been grossly neglected by terry thompson, and they say, the law doesn't prevent it from happening again under his widow's care. who will be monitoring those animals

a machine in columbus, ohio, terry thompson, his usual hobby was collecting exotic animals, grizzly bears. last fall thompson killed himself after setting 50 of the dangerous animals free. lions, tigers, wolves, all at the same time. this is in the suburbs of columbus, ohio. the thought of the animals roaming the streets terrified people living there. police hunted them down and killed most of them. i want to get to jason carroll in zanesville, ohio. jason, what do we know about now the widow and whether or not these animals will be returned in her care? >> reporter: well, according to the law marian thompson can bring that's animals wherever she wants, she can bring them back to the farm here, she can take them to another location. it seems as if in terms of everything we've been told in terms of what we've been told from officials, the animals are headed back to the thompson farm. they're still about 20 miles away. you can see the thompson farm behind me. this is where some of the animals were kept before. waiting to hear from marian thompson in terms of whether or not the five animals

there was a citation issued back in 2005, terry thompson was cited for animal cruelty.ociety. since then they said he was up to code, maybe not up to the code that some animal supporters would like to see but he was, in fact, up to whatever code that they had said should be in place. in terms of the law, there is no law here in the state of ohio that prevents anyone from owning an exotic animal so the way things are structured right now, there's no law preventing the animals from coming back here. that's why there is a controversy here. there is legislation right now on the books already passed the state senate about to go to the house that would be more restrictive but as it stands right now, no law preventing these animals from returning. ashleigh? >> timing is everything as they say proverbially. jason carroll in zainsville, ohio, appreciate it. >>> new developments with the chinese activist at the center of a diplomatic firestorm. u.s. officials spoke by phone with cheng guangchang and met with his wife in prison. secretary of state clinton is expected to make remar

terry thompson released 56 animals including tigers, bears and mountain lions before he committed suicide. >> that giant sink hole swallowing up a backyard in florida is getting larger this afternoon. take a look. there is a hole moving close to a home more than 100 feet wide and 50 feet deep and inching closer to the house. >> this is just dropping into the hole. >> i said it would be nice to have a pool with a pretty view back there. but i didn't want this. this is too deep. >> and this creates a hole causing land to cave in. neighbors here worry they can be forced out as well incoming days. >> a severe weather warning forced racing fans to run for cover, officials evacuated the infield when a thunderstorm moved into the area. the weather forced the delay of a start of the 138 running of the kentucky oaks. >> no rain in site. there is and should abe great weekend. >> there is interesting and this is a national forecast. there will be showers into the mid atlantic states and south as well. high temperatures into 80s there. and there is 96 in phoenix z here state wide tomorrow, sunny skie

perry road. >> i'm pretty sure i just saw a wolf. >> we live next to terry thompson and there's a bearplaining about thompson for some time. he had been convicted of animal cruelty and on weapons charges. over 50 wild animals were caged up on his property. >> these animals obviously were out of their pens and out of their cages, but were now outside the fenced-in property. >> police killed 48 animals. >> those animals included one wolf, six black bears, two grisly bear grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions and 18 tigers. >> six were captured and taken to the columbus zoo for treatment, one leopard died there. friday thompson's estranged wife, marianne, brought the five survivors home. under ohio law she can keep them there. the state is working on a law that controls dangerous and exotic animals but right now only local authorities have any say over how those animals are kept, and that has concerned neighbors on both sides of the fence. >> there's nothing wrong with bringing the animals back. they're her animals. give them back to her. >> the

. >> terry thompson committed suicide after releasing nearly 60 hours -- animals in his neighborhood.nimals back, and today she did. >> turning out to the latest in the john edwards trial. there are new details today about the woman's who -- the woman whose money was at the center of the case. her $725,000 in donations helped edwards hide his mistress for months. she said edwards should have used his own money to hide her. he faces several criminal counts for improperly using campaign donations. we are closely monitoring that trial. i spoke with diane sawyer about the case. i understand that as we wrap up the week you are still following the latest in the john edwards trial. >> we are very intrigued about the enormously rich patron, the woman who thought he was the best person for a america gave him a lot of money. we will tell you what we learned. >> i hear you have learned something interesting about the whopping cough. cox we thought it was a distant childhood but now it turns out it is on the resurgence. a lot of the vaccinations parents were getting parents no longer want to do.

>> well, there were many speculations on what happened with terry thompson, and we hear how much the nd i can tell you that going into the home and seeing the primates in small bird cages and the filthy conditions, it clearly didn't look like love to me. it looks like there definitely needs to be some education on the proper care and husbandry for the animals and making sure that they have enriched lives, and a safe place in zanesville. >> all right. tom staff, thanks so much for your time. appreciate it. >>> all right. less than 24 hours from now, president barack obama and the first lady make a pretty big move in this re-election campaign. it comes as new polls show that he is neck and neck with mitt romney in a couple of key states. plus, you are about to see part of my interview with chuck, the peanist for the rolling stones, the almond brothers, so and on. >>> medicine prez barack obama's campaign to stay in the white house is about to officially begin. the president's re-election bid starts in ernest tomors series events at college campuses. he will be trying to shore up the you

husband terry thompson released more than 50 animals back in october.ost of them were killed by authorities. but five survived. two leopards, two monkeys and a bear. they had been kept in quarantine but now, state officials have cleared the animals of dangerous or contagious disease. thompson's widow plans to keep them on her farm. >>> ahead at 6:30, we're talking to the man who took care of those animals while in quarantine. find out why he says it's not a good idea for them to return to their old conditions. >>> chris christie is insisting that he is not exactly vice presidential material. yet he is not ruling it out, either. the new jersey governor was speaking to a group of high school students yesterday when one of them, very brave, asked if he would consider being mitt romney's running mate? >> what i said before, i have no interest in being vice president but if governor romney calls and asks me to sit down and talk to him about it, i owe the party that level of respect. he might be able to convince me. he's a convincing guy. >> that cameraman kn

terry thompson released bears, lions and tigers, before committing suicide. authority were forced to kill 48 of them. and one was later euthanized. >>> aspect war protestors -- anti-war protestors at the university. now, seven people hurt in that shooting are demanding some answers. their survivors are launching a campaign to persuade federal and state lawmakers to hold a new hearing on evidence from the 1970s shooting. the department of justice said last month, they will not reopen the investigation. >>> in today's healthwatch, an alarming new study shows the risk for baby boomers with asthma increases significantly with age. randall pinkston has the latest on the research for wjz. >> reporter: 66-year-old richard washburn was diagnosed with aspatwo weeks ago. >> -- asthma two weeks ago. >> i could hear the wheezing. and i thought, that's not normal. >> but doctors say he had it for a long time. >> it explains a lot of things. particularly being out of breath in high school. >> as baby boomers enter their 60s, their risk of asthma is four times higher than o

prosecutors say terry thompson owes more than $70,000 on 70 acres of land.ays after two surviving lepords, bears were returned to the farm. for months, they were being held at the columbia state zoo on a quarantine order. >>> on the hot seat today. monica villamizar has the latest. >> reporter: rebecca faced a pant. looking for this. >> much has been made of relationships. >> reporter: the former editor of news of the word, testified she often exchanged text messages with david. >> you would sign them off. lol, lots of love. actually, until i told him it meant laugh out loud. then he didn't sign like that anymore. >> reporter: they both sent messages after the phone- hacking scandal forced her down. but she denied the contacts influenced her work. >> i'd never compromise my position as a journalist, by having a friendly relationship with the politician. >> reporter: the prime minister called for the ethics probe after the phone hacking scandal broke. and rebecca brooks was blamed for allowing that to happen under her watch. >> reporter: many people were outr

the columbus zoo has returned the surviving animals to terry thompson's widow.oo has been caring for two leopards, two primates and a bear since senate. that is when thompson released dozens of animals from his farm, before killing himself. authorities were forced to shoot most of the animals. >>> a shoplifter uses her 1- year-old as a weapon to get away from security. they show her swing the carseat at guards, with the child stilled in. then she dodged a parking lot, and still got ai wa. police tracked her down with her license plate. >>> accused of eating a key piece of evidence after a deadly crash. william orders was arrested last weekend, after a woman crashed under his supervision. investigators are trying to figure out how he fell. they say orders swallowed a memory card from a videotape that was taping their flight. >> there have been a series of x-rays taken. we have confirmed -- so we are just kind of in the waiting process here. >> we have confirmed that the memory card is still inside. >> police say the woman was wearing her safety harness, but that

last october, their owner, terry thompson, released dozens of wild animals from his farm, then committed suicide. police were forced to shoot more than 40 tigers, lion, and bears thompson's widow is taking in two leopards, two monkeys, and a bear and bringing them back to the farm. >>> the new jersey mom accused of letting her 5-year-old use a tanning bed is firing back at critics. since the story broke, 44-year-old patricia krencel has become the butt of jokes on late night talk shows. yesterday she told reporters outside her home she's an excellent mother and the victim of fat and ugly critics who are jealous. that's according to the "new york post." she's charged with child endangerment after her daughter showed up at school last week with a slight burn. krencel says her child has never been in the tanning bed, and it's all a misunderstanding. >>> mac lovers know a new iphone is coming. this morning the rumor mill is churn being what it might look like. ilounge.com, i guess that's where iphone lovers hang out, in the ilounge, they've posted a mockup detailing some of the change. they

. >> reporter: their owner terry thompson freeing them before committing suicide. 48 tigers, lions andears were gunned down. now this week the five remaining animals currently under the care of the columbus zoo will be returning to that farm and thompson's width joe marion. upon hearing the news jack hanna took to twitter. it breaks my heart to think that these animals could be returned to the horrid conditions in which we found them. what i saw in zanesville last october changed my life forever. he tried to help wrangle the animals that night and shortly afterward spoke with "good morning america." >> i know you said you will be haunted by this. >> when i see these pictures it's hard to believe. >> reporter: the animals could be sent back into these cages which reportedly haven't been repaired or improved since that october 18th catastrophe. >> the state has no authority to dictate any improvements be made. >> reporter: the local humane society says in the past three visits they found no violations and thompson's lawyer says she is ready to have her animals back but her neighbors don'

a painful reminder of the day last october that owner terry thompson released 56 such animals before suicide. 48 of his animals were eventually killed by authorities concerned over public safety. pushing ohio lawmakers to author a new bill, restricting private ownership of exotic pets. arguably the loudest, most defind voice on the front lines of the big cat debate belongs to this man -- >> this is sarge. >> reporter: his name is joe schriebvogel, owner of gw exotic animal park outside of oklahoma city, who's had his own run-ins ith regulators. what are you standing up for? >> the american right, the constitution, to own whatever i want to own as long as it's legal. >> reporter: today state laws on private ownership of wild animals are all over the map. gw exotic is licensed by the federal government because it's open to the public, charging admission to come this close to what schriebvogel calls the largest refuge for unwanted animals in the world. rolling out over 54 acres, it's home to nearly 170 big cats. lions, tigers, leopards, and about 800 other animals of every size and stri

terry thompson released animals from his farm and then committed suicide. officials killed 48 of them. the remaining animals have been quarantined at the columbus zoo. >>> "the wall street journal" says microsoft is getting into the digital book business to boost barnes and noble's ereader. >>> a drug suspect was put into a cell and forgotten for five pdays. the 24-year-old suspect is a student at the university of california san diego and is now okay after a trip to the hospital. federal authorities are trying to figure out what went wrong. ,,,, >> announcer: this national weather report sponsored by hallmark, life is a special occasion. just tell me. >> for everything moms >>> the republican presidential choice says only one thing matters in the election. >> i know how to meet us out the stagnant obama economy and into a job creating recovery. >> mitt romney and his wife, ann, are here in studio 57 to talk about the issues and the campaign ahead. >> and the wife of john edwards' chief accuser breaks down on the witness stand describing why she agreed to l

caged, inside the home of terry thompson. six months ago, thompson let 56 of his exotic animals loose in zanesville, ohio, before committing suicide. >> i'm pretty sure i just saw a wolf in a parking lot. >> reporter: police gunned down lions, tigers and bears. and authorities quarantined the remaining animals at the zoo. the survivors will be returned to thompson's widow, marian, and will allegedly go back to these cages, which reportedly haven't been repaired for improved. upon hearing the news, jack hanna immediately took to twitter. it breaks my heart to think these animals could be returned to the horrid conditions in which we found them. what i saw in zanesville last october changed my life forever. hanna tried to wrangle the animals that night. and shortly after, spoke with "good morning america." >> i know you said you're going to be haunted by this. >> i see the pictures, it's something hard to believe. >> reporter: the local humane society said, if they're past three visits, they found no violations. and thompson's

they were released into the public by their owner, terry thompson last fall right before he committed suicide. authorities do not have access to tranquillizer guns. most of the animals were shot and killed by law enforcement to protect the public. the animals are being returned to thompson's wife. no word on what she plans to do with them. >>> a hang gliding instructor accused of eating evidence after a student plunged to her death. she slipped out and fell hundreds of feet into the woods. investigators say the instructor swallowed a memory card from a video camera on board and the x-rays confirm that. >> there have been a series of x-rays taken. we have confirm so we are in the wait progress cess here. we have confirmed that the memory card is still inside. >> investigators aren't sure whether the card will have video they can retrieve at this point. >>> minding your business a lot of investors waiting out the all-important april jobs report. economists surveyeded by cnn money expect to see 160,000 jobs added last month, an improvement from march but the pace slow compared to jobs ga

. >> reporter: seven months ago, thompson's husband terry terrorized the community when he released his 56 wild animals. then killed himself. leaving lions and tigers and bears on the loose. >> there's a lion on mount perry road. >> reporter: police were forced to shoot and kill 48 of the 56 animals. jack hanna, director emeritus of the columbus zoo, called it a tragic loss of life. this week, he took to twitter. it breaks my heart, he wrote, to think these animals could be returned to the horrid conditions in which we found them. but ohio still has no law against owning wild animals. so when marion thompson came for the survivors, officials had to hand them over. she told them she has such a close bond with the animals, one of the monkeys often sleeps with her. an affection not shared by her neighbors. >> we really didn't want the animals coming back here after the experience we had. >> reporter: for now, they have no choice. these wild neighbors are back. alex perez, abc news, chicago. >> our thanks to alex. >>> still ahead on "world news" this saturday, the reporter fired for declari

. >> reporter: it was eight months ago, that thompson's husband, terry, seen here, opened the cages on the farm, releasing 56 animals and then killing himself. and set off a real-life "jew manji." >> there's a lion on mt. perry road. >> reporter: police officers forced to gundown 48 of the 56 animals. >> fired one shot, killing the animal instantly. >> reporter: a searing scene of death and carnage. jock hannah was also on the scene in october and says it changed his life. >> this is beyond a tragedy for the animal world. >> reporter: earlier this week, hanna tweeted, it breaks my heart to think that these animals could be returned to the horrid condition we found them. but marian thompson had law on her side. so, ohio officials released the animals, which thompson says she has a deep emotional bond with. admitting to zoo officials, that even one of the man kiss often slept with her. the reason that marian had the law on her side is that ohio has no law against having these animals. now, the state was talking about passing legislation that would require inspections but it's not passed.

scott thompson who has been under fire about questions on whether he lied on his resume is stepping down. he is the third to leave the internet giant. we're going to check in with kimberly terry in just a moment. right now we're going to check in with ron on the weather. what's going on? >> we're going to be watching closely, the stage two of the amgen tour because we may see the weather impacting that i think tomorrow morning. now today we had 60s to mid-70s for highs and notice the temperatures right now, not too far off from the numbers you just saw, lots of 50s and 60s and also gusty this evening. look at the winds now, southwest of 30, we'll see winds throttling up from now until 9:00 this evening and tapering off a little come tomorrow morning. an upper level low may fire up thunder north of lake county tomorrow but will enhance the may reen layer to the point where it's likely around the peninsula we'll see drizzle or light rain 8:00 tomorrow morning. highs tomorrow breezy and cool and low 60s around the p peninsula. chilly changes in the forecast as we head towards monday and mid-week warm-up. if we like the 80s, you'll like the forecast. >>> all right, thanks a lot,