Transcripts For KGO ABC World News Now 20100720

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[ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. ♪ whoa! do you know what our favorite part of shooting hoops is? 3...2...1... overtime! ♪ ♪ we're the kids in america ♪ oh, oh, oh while the global economy continues to recover, gold has become the investment of choice for many. >> one gold company that has the endorsement of fox news' glenn beck is now under investigation. the company is accused of bilking investors out of thousands of dollars. our chief investigative correspondent brian ross has more. >> thank you for calling goldline. >> reporter: when customers call goldline, located in this office building in santa monica, california, they are assured they are in good hands. >> now, just so you know, glenn beck is a client here. he's been with us several years. we've been working with him -- we've been a client of his on fox news for about three years now. >> i like to call the 3g system here for this. it's god, gold, and guns. >> reporter: fox news talk show host glenn beck makes no secret of his calls to buy gold in troubled economic times. and of his endorsement of goldline. >> the people that i trust are the people at goldline. and you can talk to the people on the phone. they're not going to pressure you. it's the right thing for you and your family. you want some insurance. trust the people at goldline. >> reporter: not so fast. according to the los angeles district attorney's office and the santa monica city attorney. goldline and another santa monica-based company are now under investigation after more than 100 complaints from around the country. >> there are two main types of complaints we're seeing. one is that customers say that they were lied to and misled in entering into their purchases of gold coins. and the other group is saying that they received something different than what they had ordered. >> reporter: one of the complaints comes from 63-year-old joe kismartin, who lives outside detroit. kismartin said what he heard from glenn beck and elsewhere on tv about gold and the goldline company made a lot of sense. >> give us a call today. >> they get the commercials on tv and the way the economy was going, i was figuring maybe i'll do it for a little bit of -- save it for inflation, you know, in case something happens to the economy, it bottoms out, i've got something to fall back on, gold, rather than lose all my money. >> reporter: but kismartin says he ended up losing almost half the $5,000 he spent with goldline. because, he says, the goldline salesman pressured him to buy overpriced gold coins. not the gold bullion he had seen in the commercials. >> i wanted the gold bullion. i didn't want coins. i told him, i don't want coins. that's what i first told the gentleman, i don't want coins. he goes, oh, no, it's a good deal, i've got a special deal, i've got special coins here, swiss coins. more or less talked me into buying the gold coins. >> reporter: goldline says it marks up such coins by as much as 35%. when kismartin took his coins to a local coin shop a few months later, he was told his $5,000 worth of gold coins from goldline were worth only about $2,900. a loss of some $2,100. >> i'm on a fixed income, i only get paid once a month. that's kind of -- it kind of hurt my pocket real bad. you're taking their word they're going to give you the best deal possible. you know. it seemed to me like he was just trying to make the best deal possible for him and not me. >> reporter: the push to get consumers to buy gold coins, instead of pure cold bullion, is at the heart of goldline's schemes, according to new york democratic congressman anthony wiener who plans to hold congressional hearings on the issue. >> once they get people on the phone they basically steer them into these so-called collectible coins and that's where the rip-off becomes really profound. >> reporter: some angry customers say goldline invokes glenn beck as a way to steer them to their gold coins, citing his frequent warnings that only gold coins are safe from government seizure. >> you see, back in 1933 fdr said, we're going to take all your gold, and gee, it's worth $8 an ounce. but some people got smart and they said, well, wait a minute. i've got antique coins, you can't melt these down, these are antique coins. >> reporter: that's what zoann mart said she was told by goldline. >> and that would make your investment more secure, because the government couldn't come in and take your gold, basically. >> good enough for glenn beck, good enough for you. 866-gold-line. >> there is an unholy alliance, i call it, between the commentators on fox news and fox news advertising policies to sell ads to these guys. >> reporter: fox news says it has never received a single complaint about goldline. on his fox program beck said weiner was engaging in mccarthy-like tactics. that the investigation he conducted was a joke. >> the only way to deal with a joke of an investigation is to treat it like a joke of an investigation. >> reporter: beck points to the company's a-plus rating from the better business bureau. and in a statement to abc news, beck said he expects his audience to be well-treated by goldline. >> if you're going to advocate for buying gold, it's certainly your right to do that. but you should tell your viewers there's a dumb way and a smart way to buy gold. very often those advertisements are for a very dumb way to buy gold. and coming up next, lindsay lohan is heading to jail this morning. >> can the hard-partying hollywood starlet learn her lesson this time around? you're watching "world news welcome back. the day has finally arrived. later this morning, lindsay lohan is expected to surrender to los angeles authorities and start that 90-day jail sentence. >> for the duration of her stay she'll live in a 12 by 8 cell. will hard time clean up lohan's hard-partying lifestyle? andrea canning reports. >> reporter: lindsay lohan has chosen to spend her final days as a free woman in rehab. here at the pickford loft sober living community in los angeles. the facility is owned by lohan's newly appointed lawyer, robert shapiro. he says he agreed to represent miss lohan on the condition she complies with all of the terms of her probation, including a requirement of jail time. the actress' hard-partying ways hit close to home for shapiro, who lost his son to substance abuse in 2005. he says he wants to assist in implementing a treatment approach recommended by medical professionals for miss lohan's long-term recovery and sobriety. >> she's writing in her journals, she's painting, she's allowed to tweet, she's allowed to be in communication. >> reporter: lohan's struggle is a common one for many of hollywood's elite. nicole richie battled a heroin addiction before she was sentenced to four days in jail. though she only served 82 minutes, ritchie bounced back. starting a family and launching a fashion line. charlie sheen's acting career has been coupled with decades of substance abuse and several stints in rehab. even after years of treatment sheen spent this past christmas in jail for assaulting his wife. he is awaiting sentencing and could face several years in prison. paris hilton served 23 days in prison after a dui conviction and driving with a suspended license. she spoke to larry king two days after her release. >> definitely it was a very traumatic experience but i feel like god does make everything happen for a reason. >> reporter: but these days, paris still finds herself on the wrong side of the law. according to a french newspaper, "corse-matin," she was detained in france this weekend after dogs detected a small amount of marijuana in her bag. >> lindsay's jail sentence will be very similar to where paris hilton went. she will have a sort of a very sanitary living conditions that will be very whitewash, very simple, very plain. >> reporter: and for the actress whose life is anything but simple these days, it may be exactly what she needs. andrea canning, abc news, new york. >> now it looks like things have gotten even more complicated. the website tmz is reporting that bob shapiro, the attorney andrea mentioned in the story, has now decided he is no longer representing her. >> the second lawyer she's been through in the last couple of days. >> the question also, could the previous attorney maybe not have signed over the proper paperwork authorizing a substitution? could that have been the problem? no one's saying. about turning , but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to " 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, not paid by medicare part b. . supplement insurance plans... e are the one exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp p medicare supplement insuranc. plus 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night. ♪ and finally this half hour, a mother's loss. so far this month, at least 42 u.s. troops have died in the war in afghanistan. that puts july on pace to be one of the deadliest months yet in the conflict. >> for the mother of one of those troops killed, a surreal moment happened when she was actually watching abc news. she saw something only a mother could have noticed. here's martha raddatz. >> when i saw the footage, it was on an abc news report. and i saw the footage. and what i saw was a soldier being put on a medevac helicopter. and it was only showing the soldier from the chest down. but it showed his hands. i knew they were his hands because i'm his mother. >> reporter: this is the mother of 21-year-old stephan mace, who loved animals, his army buddies, and his family. >> and i looked over to my husband and i said, richard, those are stephan's hands, i just know they are. after we saw that, i somehow tried getting in touch with the reporter. >> reporter: she found our karen russo, who was the reporter in the medevac helicopter that night, taping the scene. >> the mom had somehow, in less than ten seconds, maybe less than five seconds, recognized the soldier's hands as her son's. i had shot it in the dark without any light. >> reporter: he had been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. and died of wounds on october 3rd, 2009. just one year after this photo was shot, capturing his mother's love. >> this is one of my favorite pictures. when i'm down, it helps me. i can look at that and just remember that this is how much that kid loved me. and he knew that i loved him that much too. >> reporter: a mother now left with a favorite photo and the curious comfort of those seconds in which she knew. >> it was very painful to watch. most parents who have had children killed in afghanistan don't get that privilege. and i consider that a privilege, to be able to see my son. just a few moments before he was -- actually died. >> reporter: martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >> an amazing story. it doesn't really end there. her youngest son christopher, who's just 18 years old, he will ship out to afghanistan july 30th at the very end of the month. >> it really gives you a keen awareness of how difficult it must be for all these families. every time a story breaks, every time there's a suicide bomber -- >> you wonder if. >> -- is the reality. right. it's impressive she recognized the hands, though. 0000000000000 benefits battle. after several attempts, congress seems set to extend employment payments for millions of out of work americans. >> how is it paid for? >> with stimulus money. >> yeah, mr. president, that's what i thought. so i object. >> it's a fight that's going to go all the way to election day. oil connection? did bp have anything to do with the release of a libyan terrorist? it's a subject for discussion today. for president obama and his british counterpart. ♪ and the great white way at the white house. ♪ they're going to pass me a law ♪ >> we'll check out last night's entertainment on this tuesday, july 20th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> some light-hearted moments at the white house last night. they could use a break every now and then with everything going on. good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. >> i'm vinita nair. millions of americans who have been out of work for a long time are expected to get help today from capitol hill. >> the senate is set to pass an extension of unemployment benefits. the question of funding those benefits is going to linger for many weeks. here's our jon karl. >> reporter: marilyn greene of jefferson city, missouri, has a law degree but no job. for more than a year, her $320 a week unemployment check has helped her get by. now her benefits are about to expire. >> please, please, congress and the president, do something. because, you know, i don't -- i don't want to be in the situation where i can't pay my bills or pay my rent, wondering where i'm going to live. this is just unconscionable in america. >> reporter: president obama said it's all the republicans' fault. >> a partisan minority in the senate has used parliamentary maneuvers to block a vote. it's time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to washington politics. >> reporter: but in reality it's not so clear cut. republicans have also put forth a bill to extend unemployment benefits. but they insist the $34 billion cost be paid for with cuts to other programs. causing democrats to object. >> how is it paid for? >> with stimulus money. >> yeah, mr. president, that's what i thought. so i object. >> reporter: republicans say they are simply standing up for the principle the president himself espouses -- congress should pay its bills. what's wrong with that? >> in a time of great economic emergency, it's necessary that we get the benefits that millions of americans deserve that are out of work. >> but pay as you go is the very principle the president put forward himself. >> but there are certain things that are -- that are and always have been considered emergency spending, and extending unemployment benefits to those who have lost their jobs in the worst economic recession since the great depression certainly qualifies for that. >> reporter: as the president knew even before he spoke in the rose garden, the senate will almost certainly approve an extension of unemployment benefits on tuesday. that's because a new democratic senator from west virginia will be sworn in, giving the democrats the votes they need to pass the extension without needing to find a way to pay for it. jonathan karl, abc news, the white house. and the government is giving bp a bit of a reprieve this morning. the containment cap on its blown-out well in the gulf is definitely leaking some oil and gas. but so far, it's not a major concern. that's according to the government's point man on the spill, retired coast guard admiral thad allen. coming up later in this half hour you'll hear more from admiral allen and new details on where the oil slick is now headed. the furor over bp's involvement in the release of the lockerbie bomber is sure to come up later today in the white house. british prime minister david cameron meets with president obama in his first visit to the u.s. since taking office. bp is under fire over concerns the oil giant helped with the release of the only person convicted in the attack. here's gloria riviera. >> reporter: as bp continues to battle an oil disaster of its own making, it is now also refuting accusations it pushed for the release of convicted lockerbie bomber abdelbaset al megrahi. in 1988, 189 americans were killed, 270 passengers in all, when pan am flight 103 went down in scotland. >> when you have such a horrific crime committed, you have to go the extra mile to be very careful. we want to know some of the details that are now being raised. >> reporter: congress is investigating whether bp pushed the british government to support al megrahi's release so the company could secure an oil drilling contract in libya. but in a letter to secretary clinton, the british foreign secretary wrote that the uk sees no evidence that corroborates in any way the allegations of bp involvement in the decision to release megrahi in order to facilitate oil deals for bp. bp does admit it expressed concern over slow progress on a prisoner transfer agreement with libya, aware this could have a negative impact on bp's oil exploration agreement. but the company says it never singled out al megrahi, who was said to be dying from cancer. scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds. prime minister david cameron opposed it then, as now. >> he was convicted of being the biggest mass murderer in british history. i saw no case whatsoever for releasing him from prison. and i said that a year ago, remember, a year ago when we were all told he only had three months to live. >> reporter: there are new reports al megrahi's british doctor believes he could live ten more years. gloria riviera, abc news, london. secretary of state hillary clinton is also dealing with the rebuilding of afghanistan. clinton is among 60 officials gathered in kabul for a one-day conference on the issue. it's expected to be agreement on a plan to decide which of the 34 provinces would be ready for afghan control and when. tomorrow, secretary clinton and defense secretary gates travel to the korean demilitarized zone. yet another sign of china's growing economic clout. the country has now surpassed the u.s. in how much power it consumes. the international energy agency says last year that the chinese used what amounted to about 2.2 billion tons of oil in the form of crude, coal, natural gas, nuclear power, and renewable sources. that is 4% more than the u.s. the growth has come quickly. ten years ago, china used only about half what the u.s. did. the fbi has created what it calls the counterterrorism internet targeting team which will uncover and deal with radical websites. agents estimate there are between 10,000 and 15,000 websites, blogs and internet forums supporting terrorist activity. and as many as 80% of the identified sites are on u.s. computer servers. attorneys representing former illinois governor rod blagojevich say he will testify at his upcoming corruption trial sometime this week. blagojevich insists he is not guilty of trying to trade or sell president obama's former u.s. senate seat. the ousted governor's brother and former fund-raiser will be back on the stand today. attorneys say they also plan to call white house chief of staff rahm emanuel as a witness. firefighters are hoping to gain more ground on a wildfire that's burned more than 6,000 acres around yakima, washington. >> the fire, which erupted sunday, was about 35% contained last night, thanks to lighter winds. some 250 firefighters are still working to keep the flames from scorching the area, which is comprised of orchards, old farmhouses, and newly built homes. here's a look at your weather. flash flooding, hail and gusty winds from omaha and kansas city into new york and washington. thunderstorms along the gulf coast from miami to houston. showers in north dakota and the northern edges of minnesota and michigan. >> 80s in detroit, chicago, and the twin cities. boston gets up to 82. new york 90. atlanta 94. 112 in phoenix. salt lake city and albuquerque are just shy of the 100-degree mark. news now about something that's definitely a special delivery. this one comes from lakewood, colorado, which is just outside of denver. >> okay, so last friday, the lynn family ordered a pizza for dinner. that is when george lynn, who had a history of heart problems, collapsed. >> just then the pizza arrived and luckily the delivery man was a paramedic and he swung into action and then performed some cpr. >> he had him revived, the other paramedics came and took over and said if it wouldn't have been for the pizza guy, who i found out later chris, george would have died. this only happens in movies, okay? so -- i don't know, you know. whatever you want to believe, i don't know. i just know that things are going to be okay because that never happens. thank you so much. i mean, just -- you saved my husband's life. so -- sorry. thanks. >> aww! >> wow. >> the chris you heard her mention is chris yubin who works at johnny's new york pizza. apparently he was an emt in the military and had just returned from duty in iraq. >> yubin took the job delivering pizzas while he searched for work as a regular paramedic. life is all about timing. unbelievable, huh? >> wow. we should all order a pizza. that's what i took away from that story. >> no kidding. be right back. assistance getting around their homes. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little to no cost to you. stay tuned for this important medicare benefit information and free scooter 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again. talk to. there is a medicare benefit that may qualify you for a new power chair or scooter at little to no cost to you. tests in the gulf of mexico show that there are small amounts of oil and gas leaking from the cap of bp's broken oil well. >> retired coast guard admiral thad allen says there are no concerns yet over the leaks and the cap will remain on. however, they will continue to monitor the situation for any dangers. >> what we're actually looking for in this case would be methane gas, which is sometimes a precursor to oil, actually rising up through the formation. there was some trace of methane in some of the gas that was coming out near the base of the blowout preventer. not a lot. but we're taking extra samples and sending those to shore to be tested right now. >> allen went on to add oil seen on the water two miles away from the former site of the deepwater horizon is not related to the well. how much oil is there on the water now? here's jeffrey kofman. >> reporter: that blownout well, capped, at least for now. those ships frantically burning oil and gas at the spill site, suddenly quiet. and look at this map of the area where the oil had been spotted, first in may, then in june, and then this weekend. in just a few days, the oil slick has shrunk considerably. >> we see light at the end of the tunnel. it's a very long tunnel. but today we're making progress. >> reporter: which is a good thing. because the more than 400 skimmers have had very little impact, catching perhaps 80,000 barrels of the 5 million barrels that have spewed into the gulf. >> we still have an awful lot of oil out in the gulf of mexico. >> reporter: while oil has hit beaches and marshes in four states, this weekend, there was no sign of oil on alabama's orange beach in gulf shores, and florida's pensacola beach. and scientists say the very small amount of oil in lake pontchartrain, the tidal bay north of new orleans, has broken down and disappeared. and remember the loop current that threatened to capture and carry the oil through the florida keys and up the coast to miami and beyond? it hasn't happened. there's no oil here on miami beach or anywhere nearby. because the loop current has crumbled. the loop current has now split apart and sits 300 miles south of the spill site. but none of this means we have dodged the proverbial bullet of environmental disaster. >> i think as a minimum, three years before we would begin to really know if there was a much larger ecologic impact. >> reporter: it is a disaster at a depth and on a scale never seen before. jeffrey kofman, abc news, miami. >> the hope now is that the extent of the damage is behind us and that soon the relief well will be drilled, putting an end to all that leaking oil. >> you know, this is still the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history, though. and john donvan has a look at the numbers behind the spill that happened now 92 days ago. >> reporter: let's count. the money british petroleum's had to spend in the days in between. $3.95 billion. of which $50 million has gone to tv commercials in which bp says they're sorry. >> every day we're working with residents and local business owners to make sure these beaches are clean and that they can stay open. our efforts won't come at any cost to taxpayers. >> reporter: 207 million bp dollars have gone to pay damage claims. 7,000. 117,000 claims made so far. while louisiana got $15 million bp dollars to promote tourism, so did mississippi and alabama. >> so come on down. we'd love to see you. >> reporter: $25 million. that's what florida got for the same purpose. >> there are plenty of places in florida where you can enjoy crystal clear waters and a great beach vacation. >> reporter: beaches closed from louisiana to florida, 615. birds found dead, almost 3,000. sea turtles, 500. sea mammals, 62. human mammals involved in the cleanup, 40,000. some of them on board 5,000 vessels, 100 aircraft. families grieving workers killed in the initial explosion? 11. number of failed attempts to cap the well before finally getting it, eight. percentage of certainty that this time it will hold, question mark. tonight the news is the government's found oil seeping again and is watching it carefully. i'm john donvan in washington. >> so a long way from the end of this disaster. the cleanup will be monstrous and historic and will probably take years. >> and as we've learned from the "exxon valdez," even now they can turn over stones and still find remnants of this oil. >> 20 years later. >> it will be around for a long time. when we come back, what lindsay lohan did on her last day of freedom before she heads to jail later today. is the "jersey shore" cast fist-pumping their way to a big is the "jersey shore" cast fist-pumping their way to a big pa them.eis no robert shapiro never walked away from o.j. but apparently lindsay may just be too much for even him to handle. >> she's spitting out lawyers, it's incredible. >> according to tmz, yeah, he didn't last long. according to tmz, they're reporting right now he has informed the judge in the lindsay lohan case that he's no longer representing her. they're not specifically saying why he's decided to drop the client. but when he took on the case he said he would publicly represent lindsay only if she agreed to jail and followed his instructions, and there was a lot of talk that at the time of all this, she kept saying to him, you should be appealing. even her dad got involved and said, you should be appealing this jail time, i shouldn't have to go to jail for 90 days. now apparently, like i said, he's no longer on this case. not saying why. but there's also some questions about the previous attorney. we had seen that woman, shawn chapman holley, so much in that kurt room video. apparently, there's questions of if she actually signed over the substitution of attorney form last friday when she said, i've had enough. and she got out of the case. in terms of how lindsay is doing, you see her crying in that footage, and probably aptly shows you what she's dealing with right now. she's not been able to sleep, has barely been eating, this is all according to a source. they say she's been crying, chain smoking, chewing her nails down to nubs. yes, willis, we all feel bad for her. >> it's going to be okay. >> if you're concerned you're not going to be able to see her during these 90 days don't she's already d and now there's newther and epo sheig f newther legend linda loveless in the upcoming flick "inferno." is it lovelace? >> lovelace. >> i don't want to get that wr come on, now. >> i've got to get that right, porn stars' names are huge. >> yes. >> now they're saying she will dofulludit that's how you bounce back from ail sce. full-frontal >> so hard to beli fo after all that talk of >> mayb i don't thi ove i think somethi i think odait m all ot. thise h so there may be another weird twist in this whole thing. >> bye-bye!lli >> by >> he's over >> he's a sentimental guy. you watch "the jersey shore" at all? >> yes. >> as my home state i've got to watch. it's just funny. apparently that crew, say what you want about the show, but you know what, the fist pumping, there you go. ty'retind ho episode season 10,0 season to they'e alor u to $30,000 an episode for season three. >> wow. >> apparently the situation, snooki, the breakout stars, they'rgoin get season two will debut july 29th. after contract tension, they've reupped, the show will be back. and they're all getting a nice little -- >> how much did you say per episode? >> $30,000. per episode. >> $30,000. per episode. wat'sfvorg ab i don't have enough or >> the club scene. it's a train wreck. you have to watch. i remember how hard it was for aunt patty when he died. there was no life insurance. no life insurance? that's terrible. funerals are so expensive. i know. that's why i bought a policy through the colonial penn program. it costs less than 35 cents a day, 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temporary democratic senator from west virginia. he replaces the late robert byrd. president obama meets at the white house with british prime minister david cameron. the bp oil spill, the company's ties to libya, and the release of the lockerbie bomber are all on the agenda today. and finally this half hour, the great white way over at the white house. the president and first lady played host to the bright lights of broadway last night. >> it was the latest edition of the white house music series showcasing some of the biggest names in theater. and our sunlen miller had the privilege of being there. ♪ could it be the time >> reporter: for one night the stars of the show tunes lit up the white house. >> let's put on a show. ♪ say nat king cole >> reporter: the playbill among broadway's best and brightest. nathan lane. ♪ can you see me as a roman with my head on sing it good and loud ♪ >> reporter: elaine stritch. ♪ all my dreams will be repaid heck i'd even play the maid ♪ >> reporter: idina menzel from "wicked" and "glee." ♪ kiss me good-bye i'm defying gravity ♪ >> reporter: the first family celebrated broadway's musical impact on the country in the fifth edition of the white house musical series. >> over the years, musicals have also been at the forefront of our social consciousness. challenging stereotypes, shaping our opinions about race and religion, death and disease, power and politics. but perhaps the most american part of this truly american art form is its optimism. >> reporter: taking in the theater has become a popular date night for president obama and the first lady. president obama says he often gets those show tune lyrics stuck in his head. >> not that i'm trying to boost the economy or anything, but go to a show! buy some tickets! >> he even enjoys going to the theater. now, after lincoln, presidents haven't exactly raced to the theater. ♪ get me that thing called love ♪ >> reporter: sunlen miller, abc news, at the white house. >> it's such a cool change to see the white house open up doors like this. i always think it must be cool for sasha and malia. you always see them on the front row with the parents. getting to see these artists. the last time it was paul mccartney, the last series over nananananananananananananananan0 strategy session. in afghanistan. secretary of state clinton is there. at issue is nothing less than the future of that war-torn nation. billboard battle over the pledge of allegiance. >> you know what it is, it's political correctness gone amok. >> we'll hear what folks on the other side have to say, too. and, real problem over real estate when a couple decides to seek a divorce. the housing market isn't helping these days. it's tuesday, july 20th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> that is really just such a fascinating look at how, you know -- you can't sell your house, you've been married to someone and getting a divorce costs a lot of money, so what do you do? you stay under the same roof. it's a lot of friction for a lot of families and it's happening more and more often now. >> as if divorce wasn't messy enough. now you've got the whole economic factor in there. >> it really is just a fascinating story so make sure you stick around for that one this morning. thanks for being with us. i'm vinita nair. >> i'm rob nelson. to the news now. the future of u.s. involvement in afghanistan is being shaped today at an international meeting in kabul. >> at issue is whether and when the afghan government will be able to take over its own security. many fear a return to a taliban-style government. nick schifrin is joining us this morning from kabul. good morning, nick. >> reporter: good morning, vinita. good morning, rob. this conference for the first time used a year to describe when the afghan security forces will be able to take over, that is 2014. now, president karzai here in afghanistan has said something similar to that, hoping that his forces would be able to take security in the next five years. this is the most concrete commitment that afghanistan has made to be able to transition to its own forces. that means u.s. forces and the other international coalition forces here will be able to step into the background, into a more training role. it is a very optimistic goal. the police here remain a very corrupt force and seen as such by the afghan people. and the army here remains too small and too weak to really take over security. nonetheless, u.s. is hoping that this will turn into a date that everybody is looking forward to and everybody works towards so that u.s. troops can slowly begin to move out of the country beginning next summer. now, just one more note about this conference, the security for kabul is absolutely unprecedented. all of the streets are closed down. there is not a soul on the street. a clear recognition that the only way for kabul police and soldiers to secure the city is basically to shut it down. they've stopped at least three attempts at attacks on this conference, including a big one that involved about 18 mortars last night. there are still a lot of fears about security in this city. nonetheless, this conference is going smoothly so far. >> and nick schifrin at the big international conference going on in kabul. thanks, nick. in the gulf of mexico this morning, bp's ruptured well is leaking oil and gas. but for now, the containment cap will stay in place. while engineers monitor for any signs that the disaster could get even worse. john hendren is in buras, louisiana, with the latest on the ongoing well watch. hi, john. >> reporter: good morning, vinita and rob. it was supposed to be a two-day test, we are now in day five and bp is considering an intriguing new way to clog that well. these troubling bubbles near the new cap pose a mystery for the oil cleanup. >> what we're actually looking for in this case would be methane gas, that is sometimes a precursor for oil actually rising up through the formation. >> reporter: to solve that mystery bp engineers used sonar, seismic tests, deep sea cameras, even underwater robots. now the company is analyzing those bubbles looking for any threat to the integrity of that well. bp and the government appear to be at odds over whether to leave that well capped, as bp wants to do, or allow some oil to seep out and be siphoned to ships in the gulf. bp says hooking up that containment system would leave oil once again spewing freely into the gulf for three days. >> here we find ourselves at a point which we would hope would be the end of this opera. but instead, we have this nagging doubt that something very serious might be wrong. >> reporter: bp has another idea. >> in terms of the static kill, this is very much in its infancy. this is not something that we have approved to do. >> reporter: the latest plan to clog that well until a relief well can end it for good. engineers have already tried and failed to do what they call a top kill, that is, filling the well from the top with mud. the static kill that bp is now considering would involve filling it from the bottom. with that well now capped, bp thinks conditions may be just right. rob and vinita? >> john, thanks. well, he is never one to shun the spotlight. former illinois governor rod blagojevich is expected to testify at his corruption trial. that could happen as early as today. it's much more likely later this week. blagojevich is accused of trying to trade or sell president obama's former u.s. senate seat. the ousted governor's brother and former fund-raiser will be back on the stand today. attorneys also plan to call white house chief of staff rahm emanuel. millions of americans still searching for work could receive an extension of their unemployment benefits if a bill passes the senate later today. the bill has been bogged down over republican concerns about how to pay for the additional benefits. they want to do it without adding to the national debt. president obama has accused the gop of playing politics. >> over the past few weeks, a majority of senators have tried, not once, not twice, but three times, to extend emergency relief on a temporary basis. each time, a partisan minority in the senate has used parliamentary maneuvers to block a vote, denying millions of people who are out of work much-needed relief. >> even though the economy is said to be slowly recovering, the unemployment rate is still high at 9.5%. a senate committee is expected to approve the nomination of elena kagan as the next supreme court justice today. the vote had been put off so that kagan could answer questions about her involvement in the new health care law. kagan was solicitor general when president obama was working to get that legislation passed. republicans wanted to know what advice she gave the president about possible legal challenges to the law, an issue sure to come up if any litigation makes it to the supreme court. a wildfire in washington state is keeping hundreds of firefighters on the move, but lighter winds are finally giving them a break. the blaze that ignited around yakima on sunday was about 35% contained after burning more than 6,000 acres. meanwhile, investigators are still trying to get to the bottom of an incident in which three firefighters were injured fleeing their truck. and it could take months to fix a gaping hole on a busy highway in kansas city. parts of a ramp linking two interstates gave way over the weekend, forcing thousands of drivers to find a new route. the hole is more than 30 feet wide and 200 feet long. officials believe it was caused by two months of frequent rain. now here is a look at your tuesday weather. severe storms from the central plains to the northeast. powerful winds, hail and flash flooding in omaha, st. louis, cincinnati, new york, and washington. thunderstorms along much of the gulf coast. showers along the canadian border from north dakota to michigan. >> 90s from new york down to miami. 94 in kansas city. 85 in chicago. 82 in fargo. upper 70s in billings and seattle. 92 in boise. 91 in sacramento. and a sizzling, oh, man, 112 out there in phoenix. earlier this year, lindsay lohan was reportedly offered $1 million to appear on that show "celebrity rehab." she turned it down. >> if she had accepted perhaps she would not be reporting to jail later today. lohan is set to begin her 90-day sentence today at a detention facility near downtown l.a. because of overcrowding lohan will likely be out in about three weeks, in time for the premiere of "machete," the action thriller that stars lohan as a nun. excellent casting. >> we'll be right back with more "world news now." hotwire.com knows the secret to an excellent getaway. get a four-star hotel at a two-star price from hotwire and have extra money for shopping or a night out. hotwire has special deals with hotels. when hotels have unsold rooms they use hotwire to fill them, like four stars in chicago, hotwire hot rate 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[ female announcer ] used mops can grow bacteria. swiffer wetjet starts with a clean pad every time. and its antibacterial cleaner kills bacteria mops can spread around. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. here would you go next if you had a hoveround power chair? the statue of liberty? the grand canyon? it's all possible ith a hoveround., tom: hi i'm tom kruse, inventor rand founder of hoveround., when we say you're free to see the world, we mean it. call today and get a free overound information kit, that includes a video and full color brochure. dennis celorie: "it's by far the best chair i've ever owned." terri: "last year, 9 out of 10 people got their hoveround for "little or no money." jim plunkitt: "no cost. absolutely no cost to me." breaking news...when you call today, we'll include a free hoveround collapsible grabber with the purchase of your power chair. it reaches, it grabs, it's collapsible and it's portable. it goes wherever you go. get it free while supplies last. call the number on your screen to get your free video, brochure and your free hoveround collapsible grabber. call the number on your screen. welcome back. growing up, the pledge of allegiance was something many of us recited in elementary school and never thought a thing about it. >> but now classrooms are staying divided. as a group of atheists battle public religion in schools. here's dan harris now with more. >> reporter: here in north carolina, deep in the bible belt, a group of atheists recently decided to remind people of the history of the pledge of allegiance by putting up six billboards all over the state, including one on the billy graham parkway, which say "one nation indivisible." purposely leaving out the words "under god." atheists point out those words weren't in the original pledge, which was written in 1892, more than 100 years after the country was founded, by pastor francis bellamy. as part of a campaign to promote patriotic observances in schools. >> one nation indivisible. >> reporter: the pastor didn't use the words "under god." congress added the phrase in 1954. so you think having "under god" is actually discriminatory? >> i think it is for me. because i don't believe in a god and i don't believe that our country was founded on christianity or any religion. >> reporter: jennifer lovejoy is a mother of two and wife of a disabled military policeman. >> i'm not taking away anyone else's belief in a god. many of our forefathers feared god. but i think they feared religion more. and what it could do to the country if any one religion was allowed to be in control. >> you know what it is, it's political correctness gone amok. it's silliness. >> reporter: evangelicals are now fighting back. over this past weekend, pastor ralph sexton and his followers put up a series of new billboards that read "one nation under god." >> we are a people of faith. we are a nation that's built on christian principles. and we need to make sure our children, our grandchildren, our teenagers, our young adults, know what we're really all about. >> reporter: the atheists, thrilled by all the attention, are now considering more billboards. to continue to add fuel to the raging debate over the role of god in america's past and present. dan harris, abc news, asheville, north carolina. >> certainly hot button issue here. back in june a federal appeals court ruled the phrase "under god" was unconstitutional. congress added that language in the pledge in 1954. controversial decision to say the least. >> a lot of people would point to the notion of separation of church and state and that is what the federal appeals court pointed to when they said this is a violation of the constitution. >> and i have a feeling they may not get to agreement on this one any time soon. >> no. president bill clinton has seen a lot in his time, that's for sure. that doesn't mean the 63-year-old doesn't have a bucket list of things he wants to do before he dies. >> apparently at the international aids conference, the president said his bucket list was, one, living to see his grandchildren. two, knowing that children everywhere get to live their own dreams. clinton also said he wants to climb mt. kilimanjaro. and he also wants to run a marathon "before i give out." it makes me wonder. do you have any on your list? >> no, i don't like the whole idea of death and all, that kind of freaks me out to think about it. >> nothing that you've thought? >> no, that's kind of weird, huh? i should have a bucket list. you have one. >> i've always wanted to be a really good gambler, i've always wanted to drive with my husband cross country, like an rabababab the struggling economy has left its mark on this country, changing the way many americans do things, including getting divorced. >> married couples are now finding it's cheaper to stay together than to end their unhappy marriages. here's cynthia mcfadden now with more. >> arizona is a beautiful state. i think people are living off their credit cards. i built my business based on the credit cards. >> reporter: when the housing market collapsed in phoenix, so did don burns' home electronics business. >> so it was real hard. >> reporter: soon, it seemed, everything else he had was collapsing, too. >> when the credit cards went and everything else went with it, it's -- difficult. it put a lot of strain on our relationship. >> reporter: one of the casualties was his marriage to his wife, dawn. >> we have a lot of problems. a lot of financial problems. and that causes, you know, other things in our lives. >> it's all about survival right now. >> reporter: he went bankrupt and the bank foreclosed on their home. >> you know, what are we going to do, what are we going to do, what are we going to do? i mean, as a man, it's tough to hear that all the time because it's our responsibility to provide. so it was much easier for me to get away from that. >> reporter: they decided to separate. >> it's tough. >> reporter: but though they are living apart, they cannot end their marriage. they don't have the $10,000 to $15,000 it will cost them to legally divorce. >> you want to talk stress, i look at that house and think, all my life savings were in that house. >> reporter: since they've lost their house, they're left trying to raise what money they can by selling their possessions at this yard sale. >> this. 1968, 1980 yankees. these are things that i've had most of my life. and to part with them is very difficult. >> reporter: in parts of phoenix, the market is down nearly 50%. across town, chris and sherry stewart are stuck living together even though they are getting divorced. they were married 17 years when they decided to end it. now, five months into their divorce proceedings, they can't separate because they can't sell their house. >> i just really need to get away. i need to get away. i can't get away. because of the market. because of the phoenix market, i cannot get away. >> reporter: and so, until they can sell their million-dollar home, the stewarts are living under the same roof. at first they thought it might be an advantage. a transition period for the kids. but as weeks stretched into months, it didn't turn out that way. >> think it would be easier if we didn't -- >> yeah, yeah. you know, i think it brings a sense of finality to it much sooner if you're able to split apart. you know, at times it almost feels like nothing has changed. >> reporter: except the arguing got worse. >> now what do you mean by that? >> well, because -- >> the wrong frame of mind? >> you're frustrated. >> so what? >> you're thinking i'm trying to screw you right now. that's what i think you're thinking. >> the wrong frame of mind? you're treating me like a child. >> reporter: the stress that brings is starting to wear on their children. >> we haven't been talking about it much. >> is that better? >> yeah, i'd rather not talk about it. than to talk -- to talk about it. because it's very emotional when we talk about the divorce. >> you have had enough of this now? you're ready for this to be over? >> i'm done. >> from the outside it sure looked like you had the perfect family. >> yeah, it really does. all my friends are like, what? they're getting divorced? >> it's weird because you're just like stuck. and like -- i'm eager to move on too. because you're just like stuck in this one spot and you can't do anything about it. >> i'm sorry. >> it's not your fault, though. >> sorry. well -- your dad and i both did stuff. >> so would you recommend to anybody else to live together while they were divorcing? >> no. i think that this is -- comes out of necessity, not out of -- >> good idea? >> it's not a better way to do it. >> it isn't a better way to do it? >> no, i don't think so. >> wasn't until the kids said to me, it's time to sell the house. >> they've had it? >> they've had it. i'm kicking myself for not listing the house earlier. >> reporter: nine months into their divorce proceedings the stewarts were all still living in the same home. so is there any such thing as a good divorce? is this a good divorce? >> hm. good divorce. i can't put those two words together. it doesn't feel like that to me. it feels like my heart's getting ripped apart. it feels like i'm trudging through mud sometimes. it feels like it's never going to end. so if this is a good one, i can't imagine going through what those other people did. >> again, that was cynthia mcfadden reporting. it's so sad tar tkid. >> they always gehe ddlhing thaays gehe >> there is a good update i this story, though. the stewarts' divorce was finalized in april. just last week the mom moved to a new home. >> you can see the full story tonight at 10:00, 9:00 central. when taking lunesta, don't drive or operate machinery until you feel fully awake. walking, eating, driving or engaging in other activities while asleep without remembering it the next day have been reported. abnormal behaviors may include aggressiveness, agitation, hallucinations, or confusion. in depressed patients, worsening of depression, including risk of suicide, may occur. alcohol may increase these risks. allergic reactions such as tongue or throat swelling occur rarely and may be fatal. side effects may include unpleasant taste, headache, dizziness, and morning drowsiness. stop fighting with your sleep. ask your doctor if lunesta is right for you. get lunesta for a co-pay as low as zero dollars at lunesta.com discover a restful lunesta night. n honking. a short time ago, this woman suffered from around his house. these people chose freedom over restrictions. independence over limitations. they chose mobility. they chosehe scooter store. and this is the team of mobility experts who made it all happen. ii great news, you've been approved for payment. dr. cruz, i'm calling on behalf ofmarie stanford. and they can make it happen for you. hi, i'm doug harrison, if you're living with limited mobility, call the scooter store today. i promise, no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to ensure your total satisfaction. i expected they'd help me file some paperwork with medicare and my insurance. i never expected them to be so nice or work so hard to get me a power chair at no cost to me. if we qualify you and medicare denies your claim for a w scooter or power chair, i'll give it to you absolutely free. that's the scooter store guarantee. we'll wo with your insurance company, even help with financing. if there's a way, we'll find it. when they delivered mom's power chair, i expected they'd show her how to use it once or twice. that man stayed for hours! whatever it takes, as long as it takes. that's our guarantee. why do we go to < uch great lengths? 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"world news now" delivers your "morning papers." >> welcome back, everybody. i think you'll like this one. this is kind of actually a cool one. something a little bit different. i want to introduce you all to teddy. two things cool about teddy. three things. he's a pug, he's pretty fat, but when he barks he says something you may recognize. check out the video on this. >> batman! batman! >> the dog says "batman" when he barks. >> i thought he was cockadoodling. that does not sound like batman. >> batman! >> see, i hear it. >> i'm trying to listen to it one more time. >> batman! >> see, i hear it. >> i'm more concerned that you thought i would like that story. >> i hear batman. i thought it was cool. >> i didn't hear it at all. >> all right. >> power to the pug. >> you're not creative, you're not listening, all right. >> in mexico they've arrested a man that had 18 monkeys around his waist. now, as you're probably suspecting, it is a really sad story. this guy was smuggling them. they say in mexico these monkeys sell for something -- i want to get the dollar amount right -- >> are they small? >> he put them in a sock, tied it around his waist. in mexico these sell for $30, in the u.s. it's $775. i want to get the pronunciation of these monkeys correct. keep in mind, these were in a girdle around his waist. it's spelled t-i-t-i. >> titi? >> titi? it doesn't sound -- i don't want to say what it sounded like when i first read it. t-i-t-i. say it however you want. it's a sad story in the sense two of those four monkeys were dead at the time they confiscated them off him. that is what a titi monkey looks like. >> wrapped in a girdle around his waist in a sock. i guess they suffocated? i don't know. >> i don't know, just sad. >> i won't probe too deeply into that. it was always a cool feeling growing up when the ice cream truck would roll down the street. hear the music and the kids run out. there you go. that's the one. dogs in london can experience a similar thing. they're opening up ice cream vans for dogs in london. they can go up and get their vans for dogs in london. they can go up and get their little treat with thr ow i'm not a pet person, but i thought that was kind of a different idea. >> is that a human treat there? or that is som like ao? >> different flavrs e ch >> i can see that in new york. couldn't you new yor >> ab >> ab aibad >> quickly for this last one, a snail race. i know you're dying to see this action-packed video. it's not video, it's a picture. this really h@h@h@h@h@h@h@h@h@h0 unemployment fight. the president goes after the republicans for blocking benefits. he should get his way today. gold investigation. >> some people got smart and they said, oh, wait a minute, i've got antique coins. >> a company with the backing of a fox news host is now facing tough questions about how it does business. and, lindsay lohan is off to jail today. >> she will have a sort of a very sanitary living conditions. it will be very whitewash, very simple, very plain. >> what can she learn from what others have been through before? it's tuesday, july 20th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> good morning, everybody. >> yes. >> a little confused about who exactly my co-anchor is on this show. i'm a little confused, can you clear it up? >> you being born rob will never know the joy of having your name constantly butchered. like my name is. so this morning i walked out to our chairs which we always keep the same chairs for height reasons. a name was on the back of my chair. mind you, i've been here now for two-plus years, and the name was wrong. so in true bitter fashion i've taken that and now it's part of my mug. you'll see vanita. the improper spelling of my name. >> it should be v-i. just so we're clear, everyone's on the same page this morning. >> you can tell i'm not bitter about it at all. >> you don't need the coffee either, do you? >> i could get rid of this all right now. good morning and thanks for being with us on this tuesday. i'm vinita nair. >> i'm rob nelson. good morning again. the democrats appear headed for victory later today in their push to extend unemployment benefits. the new senator from west virginia is likely to provide a filibuster-proof majority. >> the issue of how to pay for those benefits is going to last all the way until november. t.j. winick is joining us from washington with the details. good morning, t.j. >> reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. 2.5 million americans may have received their last unemployment check, that is, unless senators can break theia >> good morning, everybody. >> reporter: jim is a former parts manager at a new jersey honda dealersip. laid off in september 20's been unable tnd wnce. making matters worse, the unemployment check he received last week will be his last, unless the senate passes an extension for unemployment benefits. >> with the credit card, the utilities, they don't care that you're not working, they expect to be paid. >> reporter: the father of two stood in the rose garden with president obama, who called on senators to act and act soon. >> it's time to stop holding workers laid off in this recession hostage to washington politics. >> reporter: if they succeed, democrats will have to overcome a republican filibuster for the fourth time. it's entirely possible the late robert byrd's replacement will be sworn in tuesday afternoon, giving democrats the 60 votes necessary to break the filibuster. republicans have proposed their own bill to extend benefits but they insist the $34 billion cost be paid for with cuts to other programs. >> how is it paid for? >> with stimulus money. >> yeah, mr. president, that's what i thought. so i object. >> there are certain things that are and always have been considered emergency spending, and extending unemployment benefits to those who have lost their jobs in the worst economic recession since the great depression certainly qualifies for that. >> reporter: there is some encouraging news on the job front. according to a new survey, 31% of businesses added workers in the second quarter of this year, and 39% expect to add workers in the next six months. rob and vinita? the troubles surrounding bp are expected to be front and center when president obama meets british prime minister david cameron at the white house today. the latest controversy facing bp is over the release of the lockerbie bomber. lawmakers and victims' families are demanding the british oil giant explain its role in his release. prime minister cameron is meeting with the four u.s. senators from new york and new jersey over the issue as well. this morning the gulf of mexico, the containment cap on bp's ruptured well is leaking oil and gas. but for now, the government is allowing that cap to stay in place. matt gutman is in buras, louisiana, now with the latest on the ongoing well watch. >> reporter: it began as a tense day here in the gulf of mexico. at first, we heard that those leaks, those bubbles that appeared before bp's cameras underwater, may have signaled a significant leak in the well, perhaps even a rupture. >> what we're actually looking for in this case would be methane gas which is sometimes a precursor to oil rising up through the formation. >> the gulf is loaded with seeps of oil and gas and that is one of the challenges that everybody is facing here. what is natural and what is not. >> reporter: so there was talk of perhaps having to go to contain the oil. but that entailed putting in these pipes and siphoning all that oil to the surface. it also entailed relieving the pressure inside the well, and that meant letting all that oil flow freely into the gulf of mexico, millions would have gushed out. then news that perhaps those bubbles indicated only small leaks. too minor to change anything in the containment cap. admiral allen penned a blistering letter, packed with commands like, you must provide, you are required, and i direct you. the admiral wanted more information about the leaks, faster, and he demanded to know whether bp intends to keep the well shut in. >> here we find ourselves at a point which we hope would be the end of this opera, but instead, we have this nagging doubt that something very serious might be wrong and the government seems to be flat-footed. >> reporter: so far, the testing continues for a fifth day. that's three days longer than originally anticipated. matt gutman, abc news, buras, louisiana. secretary of state clinton is in afghanistan today for an international meeting on rebuilding the country. before arriving in kabul, clinton told reporters the conference is going to show how more afghan ownership and leadership, which is something we have been pushing for. over $40 billion has been spent on afghanistan since 2002. according to the world aid group oxfam. actress sandra bullock has been granted a temporary restraining order against a man accused of stalking her since 2003. bullock's lawyers say thomas james weldon turned up in a wyoming emergency room last month, saying he'd been driving all night trying to find bullock at her home in jackson hole. weldon has been the subject of previous court orders to stay away from the actress. and zsa zsa gabor's family says she is recovering this morning after a successful operation to repair damage to her hip. the 90-something-year-old was injured over the weekend when she fell out of bed. new figures show americans are changing how they get their home entertainment. it wasn't long ago that disks made vhs tapes so yesterday. but now downloading is quickly becoming the new way. home entertainment downloads and video on demand sales were up 23% in the first half of this year. meanwhile, sales and rentals of traditional dvds and blu-ray disks were both down significantly. another change. >> no kidding. landslides in el salvador are swallowing up homes and leaving hundreds of others on the edge of destruction. >> heavy rains collapsed storm drains and opened this huge crater on the outskirts of the capital, forcing more than 400 homes to be evacuated. residents had to scramble to haul away sofas, tvs, really as many belongings as they could. with that here's your tuesday forecast. it will be stormy from nebraska all the way to the northeast. 80-mile-an-hour winds, large hail, and flash flooding in omaha, kansas city, st. louis, indianapolis, cincinnati, new york, pittsburgh, and d.c. showers and thunderstorms from texas to florida. >> 90s from dallas to miami. pretty much the entire east coast. detroit will climb to 88. chicago 85. fargo 82. another scorcher in the southwest with 112 in phoenix and 99 in albuquerque. and now a close call down under for a little guy looking for love in all the wrong places. >> wildlife experts say a young platypus was probably searching for a mate when he got himself stuck in a pipe at a sewage treatment plant in australia. it took more than two dozen rescuers six hours to flush the little guy out. the feisty platypus was sent to the vet and is expected to get a clean bill of health. >> the platypus will be released back into the wild where he again can resume his search for a girlfriend. the search for love can end up getting you into some deep -- aww. >> good one. we'll be right back. [ powder cleaner ] what? mr. clean magic eraser bath scrubber? quick question... whatdoes she see in him? well, his crubbing surface is 30% larger thse days. [ spray bottle ] yea, hat was rhetorical. [ liquid cleaner ] one more thing, he cleans thre times more soap scum per swipe than you, soha. see, i don't think you know hat rhetorical means. oh look at this, this is where he says "i'm mr. clean, i don't just clean, i brin out the shine, too!" ding! [ liquidcleaner ] what was that? [ spray bottle ] that was the noise a shine makes...or so i'm told. i've never actually done it. [ male announcer ] remove three imes more soap scum per swipe awake again? while the global economy continues to recover, gold has become the investment of choice for many. >> one gold company that has the endorsement of fox news' glenn beck is now under investigation. the company is accused of bilking investors out of thousands of dollars. our chief investigative correspondent brian ross has more. >> thank you for calling goldline. >> reporter: when customers call goldline, located in this office building in santa monica, california, they are assured they are in good hands. >> now, just so you know, glenn beck is a client here. he's been with us several years. we've been working with him -- we've been a client of his on fox news for about three years now. >> i like to call the 3g system here for this. it's god, gold, and guns. >> reporter: fox news talk show host glenn beck makes no secret of his calls to buy gold in troubled economic times. and of his endorsement of goldline. >> the people that i trust are the people at goldline. and you can talk to the people on the phone. they're not going to pressure you. it's the right thing for you and your family. you want some insurance. trust the people at goldline. >> reporter: not so fast. according to the los angeles district attorney's office and the santa monica city attorney. goldline and another santa monica-based company are now under investigation after more than 100 complaints from around the country. >> there are two main types of complaints we're seeing. one is that customers say that they were lied to and misled in entering into their purchases of gold coins. and the other group is saying that they received something different than what they had ordered. >> reporter: one of the complaints comes from 63-year-old joe kismartin, who lives outside detroit. kismartin said what he heard from glenn beck and elsewhere on tv about gold and the goldline company made a lot of sense. >> give us a call today. >> they get the commercials on tv and the way the economy was going, i was figuring maybe i'll do it for a little bit of -- save it for inflation, you know, in case something happens to the economy, it bottoms out, i've got something to fall back on, gold, rather than lose all my money. >> reporter: but kismartin says he ended up losing almost half the $5,000 he spent with goldline. because, he says, the goldline salesman pressured him to buy overpriced gold coins. not the gold bullion he had seen in the commercials. >> i wanted the gold bullion. i didn't want coins. i told him, i don't want coins. that's what i first told the gentleman, i don't want coins. he goes, oh, no, it's a good deal, i've got a special deal, i've got special coins here, swiss coins. more or less talked me into buying the gold coins. >> reporter: goldline says it marks up such coins by as much as 35%. when kismartin took his coins to a local coin shop a few months later, he was told his $5,000 worth of gold coins from goldline were worth only about $2,900. a loss of some $2,100. >> i'm on a fixed income, i only get paid once a month. that's kind of -- it kind of hurt my pocket real bad. you're taking their word they're going to give you the best deal possible. you know. it seemed to me like he was just trying to make the best deal possible for him and not me. >> reporter: the push to get consumers to buy gold coins, instead of pure cold bullion, is at the heart of goldline's alleged schemes. according to new york democratic congressman anthony weiner who plans to hold congressional hearings on the issue. >> once they get people on the phone they basically steer them into these so-called collectible coins and that's where the rip-off becomes really profound. >> reporter: some angry customers say goldline invokes glenn beck as a way to steer them to their gold coins, citing his frequent warnings that only gold coins are safe from government seizure. >> you see, back in 1933 fdr said, we're going to take all your gold, and gee, it's worth $8 an ounce. but some people got smart and they said, well, wait a minute. i've got antique coins, you can't melt these down, these are antique coins. >> reporter: that's what zoanne martz said she was told by goldline. >> and that would make your investment more secure, because the government couldn't come in and take your gold, basically. >> good enough for glenn beck, good enough for you. 866-gold-line. >> there is an unholy alliance, i call it, between the commentators on fox news and fox news advertising policies to sell ads to these guys. >> reporter: fox news says it has never received a single complaint about goldline. on his fox program beck said weiner was engaging in mccarthy-like tactics. that the investigation he conducted was a joke. >> the only way to deal with a joke of an investigation is to treat it like a joke of an investigation. >> reporter: beck points to the company's a-plus rating from the better business bureau. and in a statement to abc news, beck said he expects his audience to be well-treated by goldline. >> if you're going to advocate for buying gold, it's certainly your right to do that. but you should tell your viewers there's a dumb way and a smart way to buy gold. very often those advertisements are for a very dumb way to buy gold. and coming up next, lindsay lohan is heading to jail this morning. >> can the hard-partying hollywood starlet learn her lesson this time around? you're watching "world news now." them.eis no welcome back. the day has finally arrived. later this morning, lindsay lohan is expected to surrender to los angeles authorities and start that 90-day jail sentence. >> for the duration of her stay she'll live in a 12 by 8 cell. will hard time clean up lohan's hard-partying lifestyle? andrea canning reports. >> reporter: lindsay lohan has chosen to spend her final days as a free woman in rehab. here at the pickford loft sober living community in los angeles. the facility is owned by lohan's newly appointed lawyer, robert shapiro. he says he agreed to represent miss lohan on the condition she complies with all of the terms of her probation, including a requirement of jail time. the actress' hard-partying ways hit close to home for shapiro, who lost his son to substance abuse in 2005. he says he wants to assist in implementing a treatment approach recommended by medical professionals for miss lohan's long-term recovery and sobriety. >> she's writing in her journals, she's painting, she's allowed to tweet, she's allowed to be in communication. >> reporter: lohan's struggle is a common one for many of hollywood's elite. nicole richie battled a heroin addiction before she was sentenced to four days in jail. though she only served 82 minutes, ritchie bounced back. starting a family and launching a fashion line. charlie sheen's acting career has been coupled with decades of substance abuse and several stints in rehab. even after years of treatment sheen spent this past christmas in jail for assaulting his wife. he is awaiting sentencing and could face several years in prison. paris hilton served 23 days in prison after a dui conviction and driving with a suspended license. she spoke to larry king two days after her release. >> definitely it was a very traumatic experience but i feel like god does make everything happen for a reason. >> reporter: but these days, paris still finds herself on the wrong side of the law. according to a french newspaper, "corse-matin," she was detained in france this weekend after dogs detected a small amount of marijuana in her bag. >> lindsay's jail sentence will be very similar to where paris hilton went. she will have a sort of a very sanitary living conditions that will be very whitewash, very simple, very plain. >> reporter: and for the actress whose life is anything but simple these days, it may be exactly what she needs. andrea canning, abc news, new york. >> now it looks like things have gotten even more complicated. the website tmz is reporting that bob shapiro, the attorney andrea mentioned in the story, has now decided he is no longer representing her. >> the second lawyer she's been through in the last couple of days. >> the question also, could the previous attorney maybe not have signed over the proper paperwork authorizing a substitution? could that have been the problem? no one's saying. an aarp... i realized i nd medicare supplement nsurance card, too. medicare is one of the great things about turning 65, but it doesn't cover everything. in fact, it only pays up to " 80% of your part b expenses. if you're already on or eligible for medicare, call now to find out how an aarp... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company, not paid by medicare part b. . supplement insurance plans... e are the one exclusively endorsed by aarp. when you call now, you'll get this free information kit... with all you need to enroll. put their trust in aarp p medicare supplement insuranc. plus 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night. ♪ and finally this half hour, a mother's loss. so far this month, at least 42 u.s. troops have died in the war in afghanistan. that puts july on pace to be one of the deadliest months yet in the conflict. >> for the mother of one of those troops killed, a surreal moment happened when she was actually watching abc news. she saw something only a mother could have noticed. here's martha raddatz. >> when i saw the footage, it was on an abc news report. and i saw the footage. and what i saw was a soldier being put on a medevac helicopter. and it was only showing the soldier from the chest down. but it showed his hands. i knew they were his hands because i'm his mother. >> reporter: this is the mother of 21-year-old stephan mace, who loved animals, his army buddies, and his family. >> and i looked over to my husband and i said, richard, those are stephan's hands, i just know they are. after we saw that, i somehow tried getting in touch with the reporter. >> reporter: she found our karen russo, who was the reporter in the medevac helicopter that night, taping the scene. >> the mom had somehow, in less than ten seconds, maybe less than five seconds, recognized the soldier's hands as her son's. i had shot it in the dark without any light. >> reporter: he had been hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. and died of wounds on october 3rd, 2009. just one year after this photo was shot, capturing his mother's love. >> this is one of my favorite pictures. when i'm down, it helps me. i can look at that and just remember that this is how much that kid loved me. and he knew that i loved him that much too. >> reporter: a mother now left with a favorite photo and the curious comfort of those seconds in which she knew. >> it was very painful to watch. most parents who have had children killed in afghanistan don't get that privilege. and i consider that a privilege, to be able to see my son. just a few moments before he was -- actually died. >> reporter: martha raddatz, abc news, washington. >> an amazing story. it doesn't really end there. her youngest son christopher, who's just 18 years old, he will ship out to afghanistan july 30th at the very end of the month. >> it really gives you a keen awareness of how difficult it must be for all these families. every time a story breaks, every time there's a suicide bomber -- >> you wonder if. >> -- is the reality. right. it's impressive she recognized the hands, though. >> no one loves you like your

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