way ♪ >> stop it! >> ♪ i wanna be with you night and day ♪ >> ah! >> ♪ ooh, sheri, i love your way ♪ oprah: oh, boy. that's so great of you. so great. thanks for >> i moved in, yes. oprah: moved in. what does it star? [laughter] oprah: wouldn't you say, though, absolutely nothing like it in because once i was onstage with tina turner, and you look out in community, as a unit. they're >> no. i don't even know how to spell the "r" word--the retire oprah: yeah. garden for my hundredth. oprah: that's great. oprah: peter frampton's latest we couldn't let peter go without hearing his most famous love out. bye, everybody! long suddenly the day turns into night far away from the city but don't hesitate your love won't wait ooh, baby, i love your way every day i wanna tell you i love your way every way i wanna be with you night and day ooh, baby, i love your way every way day ooh ooh ooh ♪ oprah: whoo! that's so great. bye, everybody! [captioning made possible by king world] [captioned by the national captioning institute it's 36 degrees in boise. 50 in colorado springs. 63 in phoenix. one of my favorite stories of the day here. proof this morning that kids do the darnedest things and they couldn't care less to whom they do it. >> vice president biden had just finished swearing in oregon senator ron wyden when wyden's 3-year-old son snagged the script right out of biden's hand. you can see it there. little wyden refused to return the script despite the vice president's pleading. >> the veep quickly put his negotiating skills to work. he asked the boy to pick a hand, quickly snatched back his script, and gave the boy a mint instead. >> i'm surprised it didn't end with a lot of tears. >> or some cursing. >> from him, yeah. >> more news after this. shop till you drop. relax by the pool. at a four-star hotel for a two-star price from hotwire.com. so you get ridiculously low prices, backed by our low price guarantee. like four stars in chicago, travelocity published price $189. hotwire hot rate just $85. hotwire.com. four-star hotels. two-star prices. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e save big on car rentals too. from $13.95 a day. covergirl trublend has skin twin technology. other makeup can sit on your skin, so it looks like...makeup. but trublend has skin twin technology to actually merge with your skin. how easy breezy beautiful is that? trublend...from covergirl. ♪ , [ female announcer ] tide with acti-lift technology helps remove many dry stains as if they were fresh. ♪ tide with acti-lift. for more than a decade many parents believed there was a dangerous connection between vaccines and autism. that belief determined how they approached their children's health. >> now the doctor who first warned of that connection has been called a fraud. and the damage he might have caused could be endless. here's dan harris. >> reporter: this is the man who changed the way many parents make decisions about the health of their children, and he is being accused of telling lies that have hurt families worldwide. in 1998, dr. andrew wakefield, a british surgeon and researcher, released a study of 12 children, eight of whom, according to their parents, started displaying behavioral symptoms in an average of 6.3 days after being vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella. >> the work certainly raises a question mark over mmr vaccine. >> reporter: dr. wakefield set off a global firestorm. for some parents of autistic children it is now an article of faith that vaccines are the reason their children cannot function normally in the world. but a prominent medical journal said dr. wakefield's study was, in fact, an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield did was a moral crime. if not an actual crime. >> reporter: working for the british medical journal, investigative reporter brian deere compared the actual medical records of the 12 children to the symptoms reported by dr. wakefield. and he says he found that wakefield changed the data. according to the report, some of the children dr. wakefield claimed had autism were in fact perfectly healthy. and some of the children he claimed got sick after being vaccinated were in fact sick before the vaccine. all of which raises the question, why this purported fraud? >> i think his motive was money. >> reporter: according to deere, wakefield was paid around $750,000 for his research by lawyers who were trying to sue the makers of the measles vaccine. many in the medical community are reacting with outrage, pointing out that after dr. wakefield's study, vaccination rates dropped dramatically. >> what's happened is the children have suffered and have been hospitalized and have died because of the false notion that vaccines cause autism. >> reporter: dr. wakefield has consistently denied any wrongdoing. and although he has been stripped of his medical license, he is still out, pushing his theory. dan harris, abc news, new york. coming up next after the break, why a photographer is so upset with kanye west he's now filed a lawsuit. >> someone upset with kanye? no way. >> stunning, stunning. toni braxton's revealing idea. it could put more skin into "the skinny," next. ow skinny in the house! >> looks like kanye west is going to need to have his attorneys at work again. >> yeah. >> he's being sued by somebody who basically says that kanye west and ten of his people beat him up. the guy's name is michael vasquez and he says in 2008, he was paid to be a film -- a photographer at an event. it was the 25th anniversary for the debut of the casio g-shock watch. he says kanye was there, had been paid $1 million for his appearance. he said kanye showed up with topless women in astronaut helmets. which was a random detail i thought you'd want to know. >> what's wrong with that, who hasn't? >> he says basically he got into a fight with these people. he was assaulted, battered, beaten and threatened. he says he lost his camera and cell phone. he says immediately after the incident in 2008 he did contact police. he says he had a shoulder injury and cuts to his face, but only now is he filing these papers in the manhattan court. >> long gap. >> there's some questions. he says he was intimidated so who knows if that explains the gap. sounds like kanye west is going to have to deal with these allegations because there is a police report involved in all of this. >> he's just so angry taylor won that award. take him down. man. good luck, kanye. man. you guys may remember gary collins. he was a former miss america host for a while, had his own show "our magazine." apparently he got into a little more trouble. he was down in biloxi, mississippi, giuseppe's restaurant. and literally did one of those things where he walked out on the bill. they even followed him out to the parking lot. all he got was a steak dinner, $40 value, alcohol. the bill was 60 bucks. they followed gary out to the parking lot. he still wouldn't pay the bill. he said, to heck with it, i'm not going to do it. so he was -- actually, the thing is in mississippi, refusing to pay a restaurant bill for anything over $25 is a felony. he had to post $5,000 in bail to get out of jail early wednesday morning. this is not his first brush with the law. he's been arrested three times and twice convicted of dui. i guess his crimes are getting a little bit less severe. apparently just likes to eat and walk out. get this, the owner says i'm going to try to have the charges dropped, i think the whole thing was a misunderstanding. gary collins is too good to pay for his things. >> he looks so different from his days on miss america. toni braxton three times has been asked by "playboy," come and do a spread for us. now she is thinking about it. rob is at least happy. she apparently wrote on twitter, she said, a new year, new opportunities. i've been considering taking up "playboy's" offer to feature me on the cover this year. she's 43 years old. she's also had two kids. she says her dream situation would be to pose with hugh hefner on the cover and she says it would not be the whole shebang, it would just be covered up parts of the shebang so you wouldn't see it all. >> covered-up parts of the shebang. i like that. >> exactly. keep in mind, though, she has filed for bankruptcy recently so she could use the money as well. >> she's in serious debt, she needs that cash. >> yeah. >> if you're not thinking about the kardashians you soon might be. khloe and lamar are getting a new reality show called "khloe and lamar." that's on top of the regular series. they've signed on. she says the show's going to be more like a sitcom, and of course they're getting paid lots of money to do it. here some are stories to watch today on abc news. hó here some are stories to watch today on abc news. homeland security secretary janet napolitano launches her department's new effort to screen air cargo for explosives. there are reports economic adviser paul volcker will leave his white house job next month. the mega millions winner who bought a winning ticket at a washington state supermarket goes public tonight. that winner will split the $380 million jackpot with a winner from idaho who has yet to come forward. after months of guessing what the wedding of the year will look like, finally we have some answers and we know you have been waiting for this, rob. >> bated breath. in very royal fashion the details were released on twitter. here's nick watt. >> reporter: first of all, the bad news. kate and william will marry at 11:00 a.m. london time. that's 6:00 a.m. in new york. 3:00 a.m. in l.a. you guys will have to get up pretty early on april 29th. here's what else we know. kate will be driven by car to westminster abbey, william and the altar. >> she wanted to avoid comparisons with the late princess of wales who arrived in that golden, glossed carriage. >> reporter: after eight years of courting, this archbishop will marry them. this bishop will say a few words. then the newlyweds will ride, yes in a carriage, through streets lined with thousands of well-wishers to buckingham palace. there will be plenty of that flag-waving the british are so famous for. these details were released on twitter. they've asked the queen to hold the reception at her place, and charles to host a private dinner followed by dancing. >> i think it's going to be a fantastically exciting day. the one thing the royal family do very well is celebrations. >> reporter: yes, they will kiss and wave from that balcony. just as william's parents, charles and diana, did nearly 30 years ago. nick watt, abc news, london. >> well, gosh. we have a special moment here for the show. we've been talking about this for weeks and weeks if not months. trying to get to 25,000 fans on facebook. it's a milestone we crossed a few hours ago. yesterday a huge, all-important milestone for the show. back when we had zero. back in the day we've grown and grown. the past couple of months, 25,000 folks out there in cyber world love our little show. it's time for a huge, massive celebration to mark this incredible occasion. that would be -- >> it's a new year, guys, the old budget. we did manage to get this one balloon, though. >> at 50,000 we're going to get a cupcake and two balloons, apparently. very nice, congratulations. >> what's the matter? >> no! why does that have to be near my area? bp's blowout. the oil well explosion and environmental disaster in the gulf. what federal investigators discovered. military mission. general petraeus' wife starts a new fight far from the battlefield. and, jackpot jinx. lottery winners and how big money led to huge changes. >> it certainly has been a curse to me. >> it's thursday, january 6th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> i could struggle through that curse, i really wouldn't mind. >> the curse and all that. there are certainly worse problems to have than being a bajillionaire. we'd all deal with that curse. poor people. whatever. exactly, willis, i feel the same way. good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. >> i'm vinita nair. we begin this morning with the placing of blame for the bp oil spill. >> it comes in the first part of an investigation ordered by the president. the investigators zeroed in on the oil rig's mismanagement. >> they say it was the worst environmental disaster in u.s. history. christine dobbin reports. >> reporter: the report points out the well blew out on april 20th because of a number of risk factors, oversights and mistakes. saying that combination overwhelmed any safeguards in place. publisher of houston-based "energy" magazine rick playmaker says he does not see anything that is particularly surprising. >> bp and the rest of the industry would give their right arm to prevent an accident. the reason why is because it costs money. >> reporter: the report goes on to stay most of the mistakes and oversights at macondo can be traced back to a single overarching failure, a failure of management. bp, halliburton and transocean are specifically mentioned following that line. commissioner co-chair william riley raised a question. do we have a single company, bp, that blundered with fatal consequences? or a more pervasive problem of a complacent industry? he goes on to say, i reluctantly conclude we have a system-wide problem. playmaker says regulations have pushed companies further and further offshore for oil and gas. >> regulations are good but in that atmosphere, when you're producing oil and gas at 5,000 feet or more, it's really dangerous. it's like going to the moon. >> reporter: co-chair bob graham concluded the blowout was avoidable. >> forget the oil. forget the rigs and everything else. the loss of lives is the biggest tragedy. but on the other side of it is the future of those same employees is very good. >> reporter: drilling permits are still being issued very slowly in the gulf and some believe this report could provide some finality and help get things moving again. the final report will be released sometime next week. in houston, christine dobbin for abc news. the vice principal of an omaha, nebraska high school has died after being shot by a student. police say the gunman, 17-year-old robert butler, opened fire because he was suspended from school. butler later killed himself. the local newspaper reports the gun belonged to butler's father, an omaha police officer. classes at the school are canceled for today. in suburban phoenix, shoppers ran for cover after a gun battle erupted in a mall parking lot. it all started with undercover cops confronting a robbery suspect. as they exchanged fire the mall, of course, was quickly evacuated. three hours later the suspect finally surrendered. no shoppers or police officers were hurt. now to washington where power in the u.s. house is now transferred to the republican majority. >> newly elected speaker of the house john boehner told lawmakers that americans no longer want business as usual. john hendren has the latest now from the capitol. good morning, john. >> reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. there are 94 new members of the house of representatives. just nine of them are democrats. when members votedfo speaker of the house, it was the first in what is expected to be many house victories for the gop. nancy pelosi handed over the gavel to the republicans but not before she touted her record. including the health care reform bill that helped lead to her party's defeat. >> pregnant women and breast and prostate cancer patients can no longer be throfinsu long se r pss finsu >> reporter: john boehner didn't make it to the podium before he shed his first tears as house speaker. the vote was 221-173. and in a rare rebuke for outgoing speaker nancy pelosi, 18 democrats voted for someone else. >> the american people have humbled us. they have refreshed our memories to just how temporary the privilege of serving is. they've remin ever herl hem. that includes this gavel. which i accept cheerfully and gratefully. knowing that i am but its caretaker. >> reporter: boehner entered congress with a republican plan of attack. on week one, a symbolic vote to repeal health care reform that is not likely to make it out of the senate. on week two, cutting spending. boehner promised that under him, the house will be more transparent, more accountable, and faster to act. that fast action might meet inaction in the democratic senate where the effort to repeal the new health care reform law is destined to die. rob and vinita? the pentagon puts forward some self-imposed budget cuts today. defense secretary robert gates is unveiling a five-year plan. last summer he hoped to cut $102 billion from the military's budget. now it's predicted the plan will only slash about $80 billion. new military vehicle and weapons programs are at risk. congress must approve those cuts. now to australia where government leaders admit this morning it will take at least a year to recover from historic floods in the northeast part of that country. more rainstorms are expected tody anre mthe situati theven e. the bbc's nick bryant is there. peaking in rockmpto, a coastal city at the mouth of the raging fitzroy river. the latest of over 20 communities across queensland to be hit by this epic flood. many of its low-lying suburbs like depot hill are sitting in muddy brown water. it's estimated 400 homes will have water seeping through their floorboards. and that 4,000 will have water covering their gardens and yards. the locals are calling it the big wet. here in rockhampton, the locals will be hoping these raging waters are near their peak. in the last major flooding, 20 years ago, the city was cut off for two weeks. they're hoping to avoid that fate this time round. now the authorities are saying the city will not be cut off from the rest of the nation. one vital road, the bruce highway leading north, remains open. but the approaches from the south and the west are impassable. the waters aren't expected to recede for over a week. the most widespread flooding in its history, queensland will feel the effect of this for months to come. so will the country as a whole. it's dealt a major blow to two of its most vital sectors -- agriculture and mining. nick bryant, bbc news, rockhampton. in arkansas, new lab results show that the possible cause of death for thousands of those blackbirds. the birds fell from the sky new year's eve around the town of beebe in arkansas. experts now say the birds died from blunt force trauma and investigators believe the birds fell after fireworks or explosives literally spooked them. other test results on the birds' bodies are still pending. the famous us airways plane involved in the miracle on the hudson is heading to its final destination today. two years after captain chesley "sully" sullenberger landed the airbus 320 in the river, plans are being finalized to truck it to an aviation museum near the charlotte, north carolina, airport. that is where the flight was headed. as you recall, a flock of geese disabled the engines. >> there's over 100 survivors in charlotte. the airplane was based in charlotte. of course the airplane's flight was destined for charlotte. so this is a charlotte story more than anything else. >> the plane will be shipped in pieces from a new jersey warehouse. museum visitors will get to watch as it is put back together. a swedish couple is home safe this morning after a pretty amazing rescue. they ended up stranded on an ice floe after a passing boat broke up the frozen waters. luckily the woman has her cell phone and called for help. 12 minutes later, coast guard helicopter arrived and plucked the couple to safety just as the sun was setting. one of the rescuers took those amazing snapshots. >> the couple was apparently long distance skating on all of that ice before some of the ice broke up. unbelievable images though. >> very lucky duo. here's a look at your weather. snow showers from detroit to pittsburgh. showers and thunderstorms from orlando to miami. in the northwest, rain in seattle and portland. snow and avalanche warnings in the cascades. >> 36 in salt lake city. upper 40s in billings and seattle. a brisk 12 degrees in fargo. 13 in minneapolis. boston 32. baltimore 40. new orleans 61. people are going ape over a new star attraction down under. >> zookeepers in melbourne introduced their new baby sumatran orangutan to the public yesterday. as you can see the 1-month-old was clinging on to mom for dear life as she ventured out with her baby for the very first time. >> that is so cute. now they're saying the newborn will soon join the rest of the family which includes dad and a 7-year-old brother. he might have to wake up before he can play with the brother. aside from that, life's looking pretty good. >> he's enjoying a little nap. not bad, kid. we'll be back with more news right after this. welcome back. welcome back. when you hear the name petraeus in a conversation about the military, chances are you think of david petraeus. not this time. we are talking about his wife holly. >> she is now set to be appointed by the white house a very important role aimed at helping military families avoid financial scams. here is sharyn alfonsi. >> reporter: diane trana, mother of three, was fighting in iraq when she learned she'd been scammed by an auto dealer who illegally sold her a car he didn't own, then left town. >> i have no doubt that i was targeted because i was military. >> reporter: thousands of miles away, but worried about the fallout back home. three-fourths of financial counselors say they've dealt with members of the military who have fallen victim to abusive auto lenders. it's a cause dear to the heart of holly petraeus. she grew up a military brat, married petraeus two months after he graduated from west point, moving their home, her family, two dozen times over 36 years. but outside each base she told our austin, texas, affiliate she noticed the same thing. lenders lined up. >> oh, yeah, right outside the gates. if you drive by a military installation you'll often see that sort of thing right by the gates. >> reporter: high-interest loans, bogus credit plans, rent to own programs. all preying on young service members. so the general's wife started advocating for military families on consumer issues. when the president named elizabeth warren to head the consumer financial protection bureau, mrs. petraeus marched right in to see her. >> we did the polite, shook hands, sat down. and i mean, we'd been sitting there two minutes when she starts in on, here's what's going wrong, here's what's going wrong, here's what's going wrong. and i thought, wow. this woman is a ball of fire. >> reporter: in a recent poll, service members say they're more stressed out about their finances than even going to war. so while her husband leads forces in afghanistan, back home, the general's wife is waging her own battle. protecting the people who protect us. sharyn alfonsi, abc news, new york. >> and the sad reality is something that consumer groups have long said, a lot of times these predatory financial scams, they abuse people like veterans and active duty military men and women. it's almost like they're looking for people that in essence are the most vulnerable at some point. >> it's true. outside some of these military bases around the country you'll see pawn shops, you'll see check cashing stores. you see them in poorer neighborhoods around the country. they're going for the certain audience that may be vulnerable. those kind of things taking advantage of the people doing so much for us. >> so easy to be caught up in a scam like that too. >> weird. 3q while there are some home disasters you can't avoid, there is one you can. septic system breakdowns affect 1.2 million homes in the us each year. septic backups can cost about six thousand dollars in expense, and countless hours of repair. rid-x costs only six dollars, and the advanced natural bacteria generate powerful enzymes, which accelerate the waste digestion. use rid-x once a month, and help save yourself from disaster. well, the suspense over who won the $380 million mega millions lotto will soon come to an end. one of the two winners who bought a ticket in washington state at a supermarket will be holding a news conference. they will be getting a really big check for $190 million. i guess they picked the lump sum. the other winner from idaho has not yet come forward. >> they're plotting. as smart people should do. call your friends, call your lawyer. you can bet the first question for both the winners will be, what are you going to do with all that dough? >> they'll be able to pretty much buy whatever they want for the rest of their lives. as jeremy hubbard reports they should know money doesn't always buy you happiness. >> tonight's jackpot is an estimated $355 million! >> reporter: last night's jackpot was bigger than you could imagine. bigger than even lottery officials expected. $380 million. and just two winners. and you aren't one of them. yeah, it stinks. but you never really had a prayer. your chance to win, 1 in 176 million. if that doesn't make you feel any better, we've come up with a reason to be glad you didn't hit the jackpot. or 25 million reasons, in the case of kenneth and connie parker. they won $25 million in the lottery. months later, their 16-year marriage disintegrated. $20 million. that's what jeffrey dampier won in the illinois lottery. only to be kidnapped and killed a few years later by his sister-in-law and her boyfriend. $11 million is what abraham shakespeare was left with after taxes when he won the lottery in november 2006. not bad for a penniless day laborer. but -- >> i really want my old life back where i could walk the streets like a normal person. >> reporter: more than three years later, the money is gone. and so is he. prosecutors say this woman, deedee moore, befriended him, took more than $3 million of his money, and then shot him dead. moore has pled not guilty. >> our next big winner. >> reporter: the lottery curse. that inability to handle the fame and fortune thrust upon you with that big, oversized check. there's no better example than jack whitaker. in 2002, he won the largest individual payout in lotto history, nearly $315 million. he was later sued, divorced, got into trouble for alcohol, had a briefcase full of cash stolen from a strip club, and his daughter and granddaughter died of what are believed to have been drug overdoses. fact is, when you look at the jackpot by the numbers, the pitfalls may outnumber the perks. >> that's the winning ticket. >> reporter: we all saw how unlucky lottery winner hurley was on "lost." >> whoever has those numbers has won or will share in a near-record jackpot. >> reporter: but his misfortune didn't stop more than 9,000 people from playing his numbers in last night's drawing. and it paid off. 150 bucks each. four of hurley's six numbers from that famous show were a match. unfortunately, hurley couldn't take that money with him to the afterlife, or wherever it is they all went at the end of "lost," and neither can you. so instead of counting your winnings maybe you should just count your blessings. think of all the problems you'd have if you did win. i'm jeremy hubbard in new york. >> to me the moral of that story a little bit is, you don't have to go public. you don't have to do the press conference. stay quiet, get your lawyers on the phone, your financial advisers, quietly map out your post-lottery life. don't become a target. >> yesterday we were talking about some of the numbers matched the "lost" numbers. well, it turns out that it was $150 each if you matched the numbers. sounds like more than 25,000 people played those "lost" numbers. so a lot of people watched the show and a lot of them cashed in on that. "world news now" delivers your "morning papers." >> this first story i found interesting just because i think the online dating fad in the country is fascinating. so many people get on there, they're so full of it, they lie about all kinds of stuff. apparently some folks again -- taking out a lawsuit, taking out their frustrations against match.com. they're saying a lot of it is just utter nonsense. they're suing now the dallas-based website because they're saying breach of contract, misrepresentation, and not dealing in good faith. they say they failed to remove inactive profiles, did not accurately disclose the number of active members, and did not police the site for fake profiles out there. basically saying they're unfairly stacking the deck of folks who are either no longer on the site or don't exist or what have you. so again, they are suing here, trying to get money out of match.com for basically having falsehoods in their product. this is not the first time. they were sued before and the judge said get out of here with all that and dismissed it. these guys were the pioneers of the online dating thing. they started this back in 1995 before it was as much a phenomenon as it is now. i doubt the suit again will go far. >> you have to wonder these people are obviously a little bit bitter and maybe that's why they're not on match.com in the first place. >> why you ain't got nobody. >> i'm just kidding, i have tons of friends that met on match.com. >> really? >> this next one is completely unbelievable. this one grossed me out beyond belief. there was a 90, 91-year-old widow and she was living in her home with two corpses. there is something sweet about the story but it's also really, really bizarre. the woman was living with not only her husband, she was living with the embalmed corpse of her twin sister. she says she kept her husband on a couch in the garage and her sister in a spare room off the bedroom where "i could touch her and look at her and talk to her." well, apparently once they found out this woman was living in this situation, the state immediately took the corpses back from her, and now they're saying they could put them in a faux mausoleum. take a look at this. it kind of looks a little like a shed. it's a detached garage. she says basically she knows people might think that she is weird, but she really misses both her husband and her twin sister so she had them in a cold box, essentially that's what the coroner is now saying, after getting the bodies. after they were originally taken from the house they went to the coroner, they were in the morgue. now it looks like she may have i guess the last laugh. because she's going to end up getting these corpses back. it certainly is a bizarre stories to the least. >> it's tough, people don't like to be left alone at any point. that age, it's kind of tough, though. drastic measure. real quick here. we told you the news earlier this week about this flight from chicago to germany that was forced to make a stop in canada unexpectedly because there was some distress signals that went out, hijacked, technical problems. well, guess what happened. the dude spilled coffee on the controls. that's the reason they had to divert the plane. ls. political switch. democrats hand power to the gop in the house. the emotional moments and what's next. hacker husband. he found out his wife was cheating by reading her e-mail. now we have her tearful side of the story. and, new hope for the homeless man with the golden voice. >> you're listening to magic 98.9. >> his begging days are now over. it's thursday, january 6th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> that was the story we had yesterday during our "morning papers." we said this guy's going to get a job. he went from begging in the streets, from people begging him to take a job. i love this story. >> it's also amazing how quickly people can find representation. almost overnight the guy had a rep. now you see him and he looks totally different, he looks great now. >> looks good and sounds good and employed. only in america. good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. >> i'm vinita nair. the ceremonies are over on capitol hill. now the real legislative work begins in congress. >> the republican-controlled house will take its first vote later today. it's a resolution to cut the congressional budget by $35 million. john hendren is joining us now from washington with the latest. hi, john. >> reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. 85 of the 94 new members of the house are republicans. incoming house speaker john boehner has marching orders for all of them. the sun set on democratic rule in the house and rose on a new republican dawn. >> the people voted to end business as usual. and today we begin to carry out their instructions. >> reporter: it could be a weepier era. john boehner didn't make it to the podium before he shed his first tears as house speaker. again, and again. nancy pelosi handed over the gavel to the republican. but not before she touted her record, including the health care reform bill that helped lead to her party's defeat. >> pregnant women and breast and prostate cancer patients can no longer be thrown off their insurance. our seniors are paying less for their medical prescriptions. taken together, it will save taxpayers $1.3 trillion. >> reporter: boehner entered the speaker's podium with a republican plan of attack. week one, a symbolic vote to repeal health care reform, destined to die in the senate. week two, cut spending. >> the american people have humbled us. they have refreshed our memories to just how temporary the privilege of serving is. they have reminded us that everything here is on loan from them. that includes this gavel. which i accept cheerfully and gratefully, knowing that i am but its caretaker. >> reporter: that may be the most hopeful message house democrats heard all day. it was also a new day in the senate where democrats maintained control but with a weaker hand. so perhaps it's no surprise that they began by trying to change the rules on the filibuster. so a 60-vote super majority is no longer required to move most bills forward. the first finding from a presidential panel's investigation into the bp oil spill is pretty simple. it says that a series of risky decisions meant to save time and money caused the disaster. the report also claims that a similar accident could happen again without significant reforms by the oil industry and government. the full report will be released next tuesday. more puzzling details this morning about the final hours of a former pentagon official found dead in a delaware landfill. police say he was last seen on surveillance cameras thursday night, disoriented and wandering inside an office building. but he refused help from several people. more now on this story from pierre thomas. >> reporter: police in delaware are working feverishly to fill in a critical gap in the life and death of john wheeler iii. the word mystery is overused sometimes. but this feels like a mystery. >> it does. it does. we don't have the answers yet. >> reporter: wheeler was seen in wilmington on december 30th at 3:30 p.m. right here at the corner of 10th avenue and orange street. a day earlier, just a couple of blocks away, wheeler had an odd encounter with a parking attendant. >> it was really cold out and he had one shoe on, and like he was just kind of like wandering around. >> reporter: police don't know yet who killed him but they do know his body was dumped at 9:56 a.m. in this landfill in wilmington the next day. ten miles away in newark, they found disturbing clues. turns out the garbage truck held the first key to the case. police traced the garbage pickup to ten dumpsters in a one-mile area. wheeler's body was stuffed in one of them. from there the trail grows cold and the case gets harder. they still have no idea where wheeler was murdered. >> you'd love to have a crime scene because obviously that gives you forensics to work with, possibly what actually caused his death. >> reporter: authorities are also focusing on a dispute between wheeler and one of his neighbors about the construction in front of his house in nearby newcastle. but for his neighbors -- >> very well liked. >> a lot of people are shook up. >> reporter: -- there's only shock and pain. pierre thomas, abc news, newcastle, delaware. a popular assistant principal is dead after a student opened fire at an omaha high school. vicki caspar passed away last night at the hospital. the gunman who had been at the school only a few weeks killed himself after the shooting. 17-year-old robert butler had warned in a facebook posting people would hear evil things about him. he also claimed the school had driven him to violence. the final day of michael jackson's life was relived in an l.a. courtroom yesterday as testimony continued in a preliminary hearing. >> the hearing is being held to determine if jackson's doctor, conrad murray, can be charged with involuntary manslaughter. diana alvear is in los angeles with the details. >> reporter: vinita, rob, good morning. another full day of court with witnesses telling what happened in the minutes following jackson's death. there were very high-profile members of his family on hand for all of that emotional testimony. day two of dr. conrad murray's preliminary hearing promised more details from the day michael jackson died. it also featured the arrivals of the singer's parents and siblings randy, la toya, even sisters rebbie and janet. first on the stand, body guard alberto alvarez broke down as he described seeing the singer's children, prince and paris, as they watched efforts to revive their father. paris screamed "daddy," and started crying. alvarez told the court murray said jackson had had a bad reaction and that he saw an iv stand next to the bed and a plastic tube attached to jackson's genitals. alvarez testified murray ordered him to put several bottles of medication into a brown bag before he called 911. prosecutors have alleged murray's actions were an "extreme deviation from the standard of care." they say by repeatedly administering the powerful anesthetic propofol and waiting more than 20 minutes to call 911, his actions led to jackson's death. on tuesday, choreographer kenny ortega testified that days before jackson died, the king of pop seemed ill and weak. a los angeles judge will decide whether murray should stand trial for involuntary manslaughter. dr. murray has admitted giving propofol to jackson, he says to help the singer sleep. his attorneys claim his actions did not kill the king of pop. dr. murray has pleaded not guilty. we are learning new details this morning about elizabeth edwards' final wishes. in a will signed just six days before her death, edwards left everything to her three children -- cate, jack, and emma claire. there's no mention in that will of her estranged husband john edwards. edwards of course died last december after a long battle with breast cancer. turning now to australia where the areas hardest hit by floods are getting even more rain today. that is exactly what they don't need in the soggy, muddy, northeastern part of that country. thousands of people are out of their homes and it could be another two weeks before they can get back in. the mayor of one flooded city says it could be a year before everything is cleaned up. as we reported, there's crocodiles and snakes in that water. so it's very different from how it floods when it floods over here. here's a look now at your thursday forecast. lingering showers and thunderstorms from orlando to miami. colder in the upper midwest. snow showers from detroit and cleveland up to pittsburgh. rain from seattle to portland. avalanche warnings in the cascades. >> 40s in the pacific northwest. 54 in sacramento. just 12 degrees in fargo. and 13 in minneapolis. chicago will hit 25. 36 here in new york. 47 in atlanta. and almost 80 in miami. >> jealous of them. some astronomers go an entire career without discover a supernova. >> didn't really matter to 10-year-old kathryn aurora gray of new brunswick. she spotted the supernova, which is an exploding star, while looking at some images of the night sky that had been sent to her father. >> dad is an amateur astronomer. canada's astronomical society says kathryn did indeed discover a supernova and she's the youngest person ever to do so. >> a little star power these days. we'll be right back. let me tell you about a very important phone call i made. when i got my medicare card, i realized i needed an aarp... 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. that can 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i.t. specialist at her job with the county. clara got pregnant and with a beautiful new daughter, the two decided to give it a go as a family. but a family, she says, with boundaries. >> it's kind of a clear line of independence. and we respected each other's privacy throughout everything. shortly after we were married, he insisted that we have any conversations through e-mails. >> any conversations? >> yes, all conversations went through e-mails. >> well, she liked to talk and i didn't like to confront. so -- i don't know. >> reporter: e-mails provided by clara show a couple struggling to connect but filled with acid accusations. while technically still married, both say they were little more than roommates for months. and clara soon sought comfort with her second husband. this police report describes how she accused him of hitting her in front of her son. but the two remained close nevertheless. did you have an affair with your second husband while you were still married to leon? >> you know, the way that he portrayed it made it sound like i did this when we had a great marriage. our marriage fell apart fast. he did tell me about five months before i actually had that -- you know, that encounter with my second husband, that i had every right to move on. he said that in an e-mail. >> a reasonable person wouldn't assume that a woman would go back to a guy who beat her. i knew she was involving her son in a relationship with him and i was very concerned that she was also doing the same thing with our daughter. >> reporter: in search of proof, he says he sat down at a laptop computer in their home and began reading clara's e-mails to her best friend. how did you know her password? >> she told me her password before, her password was her son's name. she also kept a copy of her passwords in her address book that was typically left next to the computer she used. >> it never happened. there was not a notebook. i don't keep passwords next to my computer, as he told the media and the public. >> she denies that. she denies she ever wrote it down. >> well, she did, and she said that on the stand too in a preliminary examination. but i have her own handwriting. i have copies of her address book. when she saw the evidence she agreed it was hers. >> reporter: leon printed those e-mails and sent them to clara's first husband as a warning she was bringing their son back into a relationship with husband number two. this touched off a custody battle over the boy and led an angry clara to go to the police. months later, the oakland county sheriff's cyber unit arrived at leon's office. >> two officers asked me to come out with them to the car. they put me in the backseat and handcuffed me and drive off. being a person who's never had any issue with the police before, that was pretty interesting. >> reporter: leon will stand trial and face up to five years in prison. under a michigan law historically used to go after computer hackers or credit card fraudsters. the walkers' divorce is now final. clara lives with her folks and they share custody of their little girl. but this child clinging to a picture of her dad is the focus of a whole new legal battle. leon is seeking sole custody of his daughter. and court-ordered counseling for his ex-wife. all while preparing for a criminal trial that begins on valentine's day. >> the divorce is one thing. child custody is gut-wrenching in and of itself. but the thought that you could do time, what do you make of that? >> there's not much in this process that makes sense. so what i make of it is that weird things happen. you know. i'm just taking it a day at a time. and i'm focusing on protecting my daughter. >> you're going to testify against him with the goal of putting him in jail, perhaps. that's a lot to ask. >> it is. but what does he expect me to do? i mean, he violated my privacy. i was violated. what about me? >> divorce is always tough but this couple, you can't imagine ever thought that their divorce would play out in the national press and become kind of this legal precedent case. it's kind of crazy. >> one of the interesting questions that has come up from the parents wondering if i snoop on my kids could i in turn face legal ramifications? they're saying, totally different, it's a husband and a spouse, that relationship is totally different than a parent and a child. so it should be interesting to see how this plays out on future divorces as well. >> a different social contract, wow. coming up next, outrage and helplessness at a suburban atlanta park. >> the challenges in helping a goose shot with an arrow. that's it right there. you're watching "world news now." you're watching "world news now." now we turn to a mystery that wildlife authorities in suburban atlanta are trying to solve. it involves a goose on the loose. get, this an arrow literally stuck through its body. >> residents want to know why no one has helped the goose and who did it. wsb's erica byfield reports from duluth, georgia. >> i saw the one with the arrow in it. >> reporter: it's a mystery who did it. but the pictures don't lie. there is an arrow in that goose. >> who can survive an arrow going through it? >> reporter: this goose can. we watched it move around. but people visiting the shorty howell park in duluth were upset seeing the injured goose. >> poor thing. he seems to be doing okay. he's walking and flying. it's still sad. he's got to be feeling something. >> reporter: a channel 2 viewer called. told us he was at the park on tuesday afternoon, along with the gwinnett county animal control. after ten minutes the crews packed up and left, leaving behind the goose with the arrow. >> it looks like it's wobbling. and it looks like it's trying to pull it out. >> reporter: we tried contacting animal control and the georgia wildlife and resources division. but we're still waiting to hear back from them. one thing is for sure, parkgoers want to know who did this and why. >> they must not have much better to do than to be over here doing something like that. >> what kind of person would do that, shoot a goose? >> it's unbelievable to see. now animal crews are saying they've tried 12 to 15 times at different lakes and they have been unable to catch the goose. i'm sure it's scared to be nabbed after that arrow situation. >> and you hear pulling it out does more damage than leaving it in. >> it's unbelievable it's able to keep its equilibrium also with the weight on one side. >> fly and swim. when we return, from a street corner to the studio. m a street corner to the studio. >> the homeless radio man who lost his luck but suddenly has found fortune. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] every day thousands of people are switching from tylenol® to advil. to learn more and get your special offer, go to takeadvil.com. take action. take advil®. go to takeadvil.com. but mom had new puffs ultra soft & strong to save the day. with lotion-free pillows to cushion the force. puffs ultra soft & strong holds up better than value tissue of course. finally fr finally from us this half hour, the homeless man with the golden voice. three days ago ted williams was begging for work, now people are begging for him to work for them. >> favorite story of the week here. a video of williams and his amazing talent went viral, giving him a second chance on life. t.j. winick has more. >> reporter: good morning, rob and vinita. most of us would not have given ted williams a second glance. the columbus, ohio, man is now at the center of the internet's hottest video. you see a homeless man on the side of the road. and your instinct may be to turn away. until he opens his mouth. >> when you're listening to nothing but the best of oldies you're listening to magic 98.9. thank you so much, god bless you. thank you. and we'll be back with more right after these words. >> reporter: that deep baritone belongs to ted williams. his sign reads "i'm an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times." >> i went to school for it. and then alcohol and drugs and a few other things became a part of my life. i got two years clean. >> reporter: without a job or a roof over his head, williams, like so many others, was forced to rummage through garbage cans and sleep on the streets. >> i just sit a couple of tables away and watch people with their waste. i check the garbage cans to see how far down it would go. i was a little particular about it. >> reporter: this video of williams panhandling in columbus, ohio, has gone viral. nearly 4.5 million hits on youtube. he was a paid substitute deejay on a local radio station. the job offers continue to pour in. >> i'm calling to offer to fly you out here to l.a., to be our guest announcer. >> i certainly would, sir. >> reporter: one of the most promising leads, a full-time position with the cleveland cavaliers basketball team, which has also offered to buy him a home. >> it's some type of hope that god was going to pull me through sometime. >> reporter: williams has said he will now fly here to new york city to see his 90-year-old mother, who lives in brooklyn, and who has stood beside him throughout his battles with addiction. rob and vinita? >> you know, the ted williams story is so unbelievably impressive. but we have our own ted williams here. >> discovered this week, right? >> the first time i heard you speak, come on out here, i said why is this kid not doing radio? you be the judge. we'll let him read us to break. go ahead and give that your best. >> that's the news for this half hour. remember to follow us on facebook. you can see "t"t"t"t"t"t"t"t"t"s medicare. it doesn't cover everything. and what it doesn't cover can cost you some money. that's why you should consider an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. all medicare supplement insurance plans can help pay... some of what medicare doesn't, so you could save... thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses. call now for this free information kit and medicare guide. if you're turning 65 or you're already on medicare... you should know about this card -- it's the only one of its kind endorsed by aarp; see if it's right for you. all medicare supplement plans let you keep your own doctor, or hospital that accepts medicare. there are no networks and no referrals needed. help protect yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay... and save up to thousands of dollars in potential... out-of-pocket expenses with an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. call this toll-free number on your screen now... for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. school shooting. deadly terror on campus in omaha. the panic, the victim, and the shooter's background. new clues. flocks of blackbirds found dead. the latest theories from investigators. and, doctor accused for his claims about autism and vaccine -- all lies. >> i think his motive was money. >> it's thursday, january 6th. >> from abc news, this is "world news now." >> interesting story coming up here. this doctor, and important for parents out there watching us this morning, it's interesting. a doctor, vaccine, autism. stay tuned for that, important advice. >> there was so much media coverage of that whole issue, whether giving your child a vaccine could lead to autism. a lot of parents actually restrained, chose not to do it. now we're hearing that could be a little bit in doubt. >> the motives of the doctor now seriously in question. good morning, everybody, i'm rob nelson. >> i'm vinita nair. we begin with the fatal school shooting in nebraska. >> a high school vice principal died last night after the teenaged gunman opened fire. the 17-year-old student took his own life in the incident. ketv's michelle bandur reports from omaha. >> reporter: code red at millard south high school. it's 12:50, lunchtime. >> i walked into the office and it was complete silence. >> reporter: senior devin silva didn't realize she walked right into the middle of the teenager's violent rampage in the school office. >> finally once everything had clicked, it seemed like -- it was just nothing but noise after that. >> there were tables being slammed down, then one of the administrators said, hurry up and run and get in the kitchen. it was kind of scary. >> reporter: not tables but gunshots heard by students eating lunch in the cafeteria near the office. devin silva saw her principal and assistant principal moments after they were shot. >> this poor woman. she was screaming. it was a terrible scream like i'd never heard in my life. and this man was aching, in agony it seemed like. >> reporter: outside the school, worried parents arrived. they'd get text messages from their students, hiding in dark classrooms, hoping the shooter didn't find them next. >> i got a text message from my daughter saying she was okay and the only reason she was texting me from school when she's not supposed to is because there was actually a shooter in the building. >> no matter what you do, how many times you go through this, nothing prepares you for it. >> reporter: the school comforts students and parents. the chief of police comforts his own force. >> tragedy. awful for the police department. the suspect's father is an omaha police detective. we currently are speaking with him. and we have an officer assigned to help him with any needs that he may have as far as his mental state goes. >> reporter: turns out an omaha police officer's son causing all this chaos. classes canceled thursday at millard south high school in omaha, nebraska, giving students and teachers time to grieve. and the police investigation continues, trying to figure out why robert butler jr. was in such despair he would turn to violence and take his own life. in omaha, michelle bandur, abc news. a mall in suburban phoenix will be open again today for business after a parking lot shootout sent shoppers scurrying for cover yesterday. it all started when police confronted a robbery suspect there. a gunfight broke out with the officers holed up in a fast food restaurant. the suspect, though, finally surrendered without hurting anyone. in other news, defense secretary robert gates is unveiling the details of a five-year pentagon plan to cut spending today. his previous plan was to find $102 billion in savings. now it's predicted $80 billion will be cut. some vehicles and weapons systems are believed to be at risk. congress may not go along with some of the other reductions. on capitol hill today a lot of political theater. the new republican congressional leaders will read the u.s. constitution in its entirety. it's all in apparent attempt to remind congress of its duties. on top of that, later today a largely symbolic vote to cut spending in congress by $35 million. jonathan karl looks at the new political era in washington. >> reporter: a new republican era in the house has begun. >> the people voted to end business as usual, and today we begin to carry out their instructions. >> reporter: the new speaker. >> do you solemnly swear -- >> reporter: ohio's john boehner. son of a bar owner who worked his way through high school as a janitor, now just two heartbeats away from the presidency. >> the american people have humbled us. they have refreshed our memories to just how temporary the privilege of serving is. they have reminded us that everything here is on loan from them. that includes this gavel. >> reporter: it's the culmination of a lifetime's ambition and a hard-fought election. known for bouts of emotion, boehner teared up even before getting to the speaker's chair. on this day, little sign of the deep divide that now defines congress. even shared smiles with his bitter rival. >> i now pass this gavel, which is larger than most gavels here, but the gavel of choice of mr. -- speaker boehner, i now pass this -- [ laughter ] >> reporter: speaker pelosi, the first woman to be called speaker of the house, would not turn over the gavel without a fight, touting her record, especially the health care reform bill that helped lead to her party's defeat. >> pregnant women, breast and prostate cancer patients, can no longer be thrown off their insurance. our seniors are paying less for their medical prescriptions. taken together, it will save taxpayers $1.3 trillion. >> reporter: for his part, boehner steered clear of policy, leaving the fight to another day. >> we will not always get it right, and we will not always agree on what is right. my belief has always been that we can disagree without being disagreeable. >> reporter: boehner's does in fact dwarf hers in size but this is a gavel that has some personal significance for john boehner. it was made by a friend of his in ohio and given to him as a gift for this occasion. jonathan karl, abc news, capitol hill. the bp oil disaster could happen again. that's all according to a new investigation ordered by president obama. the first part of a report that will be released next week says the disaster was caused by how the oil rig was mismanaged. it blames three companies -- bp, halliburton, and transocean -- for making decisions that were meant to save time and money. the report says without oil industry and government reforms, the very same thing could happen again. another spill in a texas waterway, a very different kind of spill, should be cleaned up today. 15,000 pounds of animal fat was dumped into a houston ship channel when a tank at a processing plant ruptured. when the fat hits the water it instantly thickens. the channel was closed for hours yesterday but no shipping traffic was affected because the spill was contained at the end of the channel. that's what that looks like, apparently. >> nasty mess. scientists have now concluded that fireworks were the likely cause of those massive bird deaths in arkansas. they say someone set off professional-grade explosives on new year's eve that sent the startled birds into the air. that is not stopping the conspiracy theorists out there. matt gutman has more now from little rock. >> reporter: so many questions about what triggered the mass blackbird plunge in arkansas. people had lots of theories when they reported the dying birds to 911 new year's night. >> they're like bleeding out of the mouth and some of them are not dead. i think they've been poisoned. >> reporter: others were simply confused. >> yes, ma'am, i was wondering why all the birds are just like dying? >> we are trying to find that out. >> reporter: have you ever seen anything like this, the number of birds killed? >> this is probably the biggest amount of birds that died in one small area, one square mile, that there's ever been in arkansas. >> reporter: the panic intensified when 500 other birds were found dead in neighboring louisiana. >> we have blackbirds, starlings, sparrows, several species of birds are affected. >> reporter: but that was apparently pure coincidence. those birds slammed into a power line. so what happened in arkansas? disease is one theory. another, maybe the birds were tangled up in some atmospheric disturbance. >> it's conceivable that this mass suicide was sparked by some kind of atmosphere disturbance. also, there's a possibility of a microburst. >> reporter: arkansas's chief veterinarian still thinks fireworks panicked them and they crashed to earth. but the only thing scientists will likely be able to prove is cause of death. >> our thought is that it is trauma. >> reporter: scientists here at the arkansas state lab continue to try to work out whether perhaps it was disease or poisoning that drove those birds effectively to commit suicide. samples are being sent as far as wisconsin and georgia. that as most scientists for now seem to concur that all these incidents were purely coincidental. matt gutman, abc news, little rock, arkansas. >> maybe that mystery has finally been solved, we'll see. here's a look at your weather around the country. snow and avalanche warnings in the cascades. rain from seattle to portland. snow showers around the great lakes from detroit to pittsburgh. flurries in charleston, west virginia. showers and thunderstorms in the southern half of florida. >> 79 in miami. 61 in new orleans. mostly 30s in the northeast. kansas city 44. omaha 37. the twin cities 13. it's 36 degrees in boise. 50 in colorado springs. 63 in phoenix. one of my favorite stories of the day here. proof this morning that kids do the darnedest things and they couldn't care less to whom they do it. >> vice president biden had just finished swearing in oregon senator ron wyden when wyden's 3-year-old son snagged the script right out of biden's hand. you can see it there. little wyden refused to return the script despite the vice president's pleading. >> the veep quickly put his negotiating skills to work. he asked the boy to pick a hand, quickly snatched back his script, and gave the boy a mint instead. >> i'm surprised it didn't end with a lot of tears. >> or some cursing. >> from him, yeah. >> more news after this. shop till you drop. relax by the pool. at a four-star hotel for a two-star price from hotwire.com. so you get ridiculously low prices, backed by our low price guarantee. like four stars in chicago, travelocity published price $189. hotwire hot rate just $85. hotwire.com. four-star hotels. two-star prices. ♪ h-o-t-w-i-r-e save big on car rentals too. from $13.95 a day. covergirl trublend has skin twin technology. other makeup can sit on your skin, so it looks like...makeup. but trublend has skin twin technology to actually merge with your skin. how easy breezy beautiful is that? trublend...from covergirl. ♪ , [ female announcer ] tide with acti-lift technology helps remove many dry stains as if they were fresh. ♪ tide with acti-lift. for more than a decade many parents believed there was a dangerous connection between vaccines and autism. that belief determined how they approached their children's health. >> now the doctor who first warned of that connection has been called a fraud. and the damage he might have caused could be endless. here's dan harris. >> reporter: this is the man who changed the way many parents make decisions about the health of their children, and he is being accused of telling lies that have hurt families worldwide. in 1998, dr. andrew wakefield, a british surgeon and researcher, released a study of 12 children, eight of whom, according to their parents, started displaying behavioral symptoms in an average of 6.3 days after being vaccinated for measles, mumps and rubella. >> the work certainly raises a question mark over mmr vaccine. >> reporter: dr. wakefield set off a global firestorm. for some parents of autistic children it is now an article of faith that vaccines are the reason their children cannot function normally in the world. but a prominent medical journal said dr. wakefield's study was, in fact, an elaborate fraud. >> i think what dr. wakefield did was a moral crime. if not an actual crime. >> reporter: working for the british medical journal, investigative reporter brian deere compared the actual an medical records of the 12 children to the symptoms reported by dr. wakefield. and he says he found that wakefield changed the data. according to the report, some of the children dr. wakefield claimed had autism were in fact perfectly healthy. and some of the children he claimed got sick after being vaccinated were in fact sick before the vaccine. all of which raises the question, why this purported fraud? >> i think his motive was money. >> reporter: according to deere, wakefield was paid around $750,000 for his research by lawyers who were trying to sue the makers of the measles vaccine. many in the medical community are reacting with outrage, pointing out that after dr. wakefield's study, vaccination rates dropped dramatically. >> what's happened is the children have suffered and have been hospitalized and have died because of the false notion that vaccines cause autism. >> reporter: dr. wakefield has consistently denied any wrongdoing. and although he has been stripped of his medical license, he is still out, pushing his theory. dan harris, abc news, new york. coming up next after the break, why a photographer is so upset with kanye west he's now filed a lawsuit. >> someone upset with kanye? no way. >> stunning, stunning. toni braxton's revealing idea. it could put more skin into "the skinny," next. fdfdfdbñbñbñbñbñbñ skinny in the house! >> looks like kanye west is going to need to have his attorneys at work again. >> yeah. >> he's being sued by somebody who basically says that kanye west and ten of his people beat him up. the guy's name is michael vasquez and he says in 2008, he was paid to be a film -- a photographer at an event. it was the 25th anniversary for the debut of the casio g-shock watch. he says kanye was there, had been paid $1 million for his appearance. he said kanye showed up with topless women in astronaut helmets. which was a random detail i thought you'd want to know. >> what's wrong with that, who hasn't? >> he says basically he got into a fight with these people. he was assaulted, battered, beaten and threatened. he says he lost his camera and cell phone. he says immediately after the incident in 2008 he did contact police. he says he had a shoulder injury and cuts to his face, but only now is he filing these papers in the manhattan court. >> long gap. >> there's some questions. he says he was intimidated so who knows if that explains the gap. sounds like kanye west is going to have to deal with these allegations because there is a police report involved in all of this. >> he's just so angry taylor won that award. take him down. man. you guys may remember gary collins. he was a former miss america host for a while, had his own show "hour magazine." apparently he got into a little more trouble. he was down in biloxi, mississippi, giuseppe's restaurant. and literally did one of those things where he walked out on the bill. they even followed him out to the parking lot. all he got was a steak dinner, $40 value, alcohol. the bill was 60 bucks. they followed gary out to the parking lot. he still wouldn't pay the bill. he said, to heck with it, i'm not going to do it. so he was -- actually, the thing is in mississippi, refusing to pay a restaurant bill for anything over $25 is a felony. he had to post $5,000 in bail to get out of jail early wednesday morning. this is not his first brush with the law. he's been arrested three times and twice convicted of dui. i guess his crimes are getting a little bit less severe. apparently just likes to eat and walk out. get this, the owner says i'm going to try to have the charges dropped, i think the whole thing was a misunderstanding. gary collins is too good to pay for his things. >> he looks so different from his days on miss america. toni braxton three times has been asked by "playboy," come and do a spread for us. now she is thinking about it. rob is at least happy. she apparently wrote on twitter, she said, a new year, new opportunities. i've been considering taking up "playboy's" offer to feature me on the cover this year. she's 43 years old. she's also had two kids. she says her dream situation would be to pose with hugh hefner on the cover and she says it would not be the whole shebang, it would just be covered up parts of the shebang so you wouldn't see it all. >> covered-up parts of the shebang. i like that. >> exactly. keep in mind, though, she has filed for bankruptcy recently so she could use the money as well. >> she's in serious debt, she needs that cash. >> yeah. >> if you're not thinking about the kardashians you soon might be. khloe and lamar are getting a new reality show called "khloe and lamar." that's on top of the regular series. they've signed on. she says the show's going to be more like a sitcom, and of course they're getting paid lots of money to do it. hó here some are stories to watch today on abc news. homeland security secretary janet napolitano launches her department's new effort to screen air cargo for explosives. there are reports economic adviser paul volcker will leave his white house job next month. the mega millions winner who bought a winning ticket at a washington state supermarket goes public tonight. that winner will split the $380 million jackpot with a winner from idaho who has yet to come forward. after months of guessing what the wedding of the year will look like, finally we have some answers and we know you have been waiting for this, rob. >> bated breath. in very royal fashion the details were released on twitter. here's nick watt. >> reporter: first of all, the bad news. kate and william will marry at 11:00 a.m. london time. that's 6:00 a.m. in new york. 3:00 a.m. in l.a. you guys will have to get up pretty early on april 29th. here's what else we know. kate will be driven by car to westminster abbey, william and the altar. >> she wanted to avoid comparisons with the late princess of wales who arrived in that golden, glossed carriage. >> reporter: after eight years of courting, this archbishop will marry them. this bishop will say a few words. then the newlyweds will ride, yes in a carriage, through streets lined with thousands of well-wishers to buckingham palace. there will be plenty of that flag-waving the british are so famous for. these details were released on twitter. they've asked the queen to hold the reception at her place, and charles to host a private dinner followed by dancing. >> i think it's going to be a fantastically exciting day. the one thing the royal family do very well is celebrations. >> reporter: yes, they will kiss and wave from that balcony. just as william's parents, charles and diana, did nearly 30 years ago. nick watt, abc news, london. >> well, gosh. we have a special moment here for the show. we've been talking about this for weeks and weeks if not months. trying to get to 25,000 fans on facebook. it's a milestone we crossed a few hours ago. yesterday a huge, all-important milestone for the show. back when we had zero. back in the day we've grown and grown. the past couple of months, 25,000 folks out there in cyber world love our little show. it's time for a huge, massive celebration to mark this incredible occasion. that would be -- >> it's a new year, guys, the old budget. we did manage to get this one balloon, though. >> at 50,000 we're going to get a cupcake and two balloons, apparently. very nice, congratulations. >> what's the matter? >> no! why does that have to be near my area? >> what a bitter, bitter staff. thank you, facebook friends.3q experts from a leading consumer publication recently tested automatic dishwashing detergents. they rated finish quantum number one, beating the competition ! try finish quantum for amazing clean and shine. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.