making news in america this morning -- >> washington gets dressed up for the obama's first state dinner. stars from hollywood and baliwood. and special menus for the guest of honor. flying sick. why dprs expect a resurgence of swine flu. and last dancer. a surprise win on "dancing with the stars." see who had the best moves on this wednesday, november 25th, 2009. good morning. and thanks for being with us. well, it was the hottest ticket in washington last night. the first state dinner of the obama administration. the dinner honoring india's prime minister had plenty of traditional prompt and protocol. but the obamas spiced things up with the guest list and the menu. viviana hurtado has more on the star-spangled night. >> reporter: good morning, jeremy and vinita. the white house wanted everything, the menu, the colors, the entertainment to be the best of the u.s. and india. the president and first lady greeted their most important guest, the prime minister of india and his wife, at their first state dinner. the toast began hindi. then, with lifted glasses, both leaders praised each other and the values reach nation holds dear. >> you have an inspiration to all those who cherish the values of democracy, diversity, and equal opportunity. >> reporter: they also wished for a better tomorrow. >> to the future that beckons all of us. let's answer its call and let our two, great nations realize all the triumphs and achievements that await us. >> reporter: the formality of diplomacy was tempered by democracy. a masse tent pitched on the white house lawn, squeezed in 340 diners, twice as many as in the dining room. who came to dinner? washington's most powerful. prominent indians, including senator bobby jindal. artists from baliwood and hollywood, including blockbuster director, steven spielberg. the state dinner was a feast for the senses. one the president hopes brings political and economic bounty to both nations. and the entertainment was very diverse. it featured jennifer hudson, the composer of the "slumdog millionaire" movie score. >> we saw the influences. looks like the food followed suit. >> reporter: the menu was completely vegetarian. this, in honor of the prime minister. with the exception of one entree, that was curried scallops. >> we saw who was invited. who wasn't invited? >> reporter: all of the prominent republicans here were not invited, including john mccain. all of the media was invited, with the exception of fox news. >> viviana hurtado, in washington. "gma's" robin roberts was one of several membe of the media to attend the dinner. she'll share her stories later on "good morning america." in less than a week, president obama makes his case on national tv, for sending more troops to afghanistan. the commander in chief may have a tough sell. his decision is already being criticized by both parties. here's our chief white house correspondent, jake tapper. >> reporter: at a joint appearance, with the prime minister of india, the president said he was firmly committed to the war in afghanistan. >> after eight years, some of those years in which we did not have, i think either the resources or the strategy, to get the job done. it is my intention to finish the job. >> reporter: the president didn't go into much detail about what that job is. but he provided a preview of his strategy. >> we're going to dismantle and degrade their capability. and ultimately, dismantle and destroy their networks. >> reporter: with 48% expressing disapproval. 45% expressing approval, in the latest abc news/"washington post" poll. the president said he'll turn that around in his address to the nation next week. >> i feel very confident that when the american people hear a clear rationale for what we're doing there and how we intend to achieve our goals, that they will be supportive. >> reporter: budget chief peter orszag's presence at the table, was no coincidence. president obama will also press nato for 5,000 to 10,000 more troops. after the announcement next week, pentagon officials such as defense secretary robert gates, and the commander in afghanistan, general stanley mcchrystal, are expected to go to capitol hill, to lobby lawmakers to continue to support what is an increasingly unpopular war. jake tapper, abc news, the white house. officials investigating the ft. hood shootings have visited the site of the attack. one-time army general, tog west, and vernon clark, are heading the panel. they're reviewing military policies and procedures to prevent a similar incident in the future. millions of americans are hitting roads, train stations and airports today for the long holiday weekend. but prethanksgiving travel is below previous times. aasays the most popular form of transportation this year is the family car. 30 million americans will be driving, compared to a little over 2 million who will be flying. turkey and trimmings aren't the only things being passed around. but get togethers, airports and shopping malls are the perfect places to pass along swine flu. wash your hands. cover coughs and sneezes. and stay home if you're not feeling well. what kind of travel weather can you expect today? here's a look at the forecast from around the nation. most of the nation can expect clear weather today. there will be light rain, turning to snow along the great lakes. showers stretch across the northeast. most of floridwill get rain. showers in washington state. and wind advisories in effect for southern california. >> it will be 53 in boston and baltimore. 84 in miami. 60s across most of the south. colder to the north. 38 in minneapolis. 34 in fargo. 53 in portland. and 66 in sacramento. there was a surprise ending on last night's "dancing with the stars" finale. >> and new champions of "dancing with the stars" are, donny and kym. >> yes, former teen idol, donny osmond, and his partner, kym johnson, were the champions this season. >> i never worked harder for anything like this in my life. we have spent so many hours in that studio rehearsing. sweating. blood, sweat and tears. it was wort it. >> the judges gave it last night's top score. donny doing the first male celebrity in four years to win the dancing title. >> good for him. >> a lot of people surprised at the outcome. and kelly osbourne came in third. she did great. >> you know i wanted her to win, too. she did great. >> she did. when we come back, expert advice to survive and save money on holiday travel. plus, another recall for toyota owners. what the federal reserve has issued a somewhat brighter outlook for the economy. the fed is predicting the recover i will strengthen and raise its projections for growth this year and next. but high unemployment is expected to continue to plague the economy, at least through next year. and policymakers belief it could take five to six years for the job market to fully recover. we could get more encouraging news about the housing market today. new home sales likely rose slightly last month. this follows a report showing home prices in major cities for the fourth-straight month rose in september. the most analysts expect prices to suffer another setback this winter, as foreclosures rise. stocks are rising overseas this morning after a down day on wall street. tokyo's nikkei average rose 0.4% today. hong kong's hang seng is higher. in london, the ftse opened higher. the dow starts the day at 10,443, after slipping 17 points yesterday. the nasdaq lost nearly 7 points to close at 2169. looks like it could be the end of the road for general motors' saab brand. gm is likely to phase out saab, and sellt to a swedish maker. it never made money on saab. gm's deals to sell staturn and its openle brand happened this year. toyota is recalling tundra trucks because of corrosion. the trucks are from model years 2000 to 2003, registered mostly in cold-weather states. toyota will contact owners to schedule inspections. until then, they are urged to remove their spare tire. is facebook planning to go public? the company says not at this time. but it did just change its stock structure, giving current shareholders control over the company. that's a move many companies make before an initial public offering. a recent investment values facebook at $10 billion. >> no surprise. popular website, that's for sure. >> crews in southern california are battling this fire, which has broken out in orange county. wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour are fanning the flames. the area is under a red flag warning because of high-fire danger. firefighters are trying to keep the fire from spreading to nearby homes. those high winds could slow traffic down on i-5 in southern california. expect red roads from michigan and the northeast. and florida could have wed roads in i. 95. >> on the east coast, new york, philadelphia, and at florida airports because of rain. well, air travelers are getting a little payback. for the fit time ever, airlines have been fined for stranding passengers on the tarmac. continental and two smaller carriers were socked with a $175,000 fine. it stem from an incident back in august, when passengers were stuck all night during a storm in rochester, minnesota. the terminal was just 50 yards away. the race is already on for travelers looking to book flights for christmas and new year's. i had a chance to talk with some experts about how to save yourself from holiday travel stress. it is the thanksgiving travel sh. and you'd think the hard work world already be done, at the travel website kayak.com. >> search new york. >> reporter: but paul english has his eye on that growing number right there. that's how many people are trying to get tomaha, or wherever, are combing his site for travel days, each day leading up to the holidays. >> today, we've had 700,000 people already. >> reporter: now, the race is on for christmas and new year's. >> hello? kayak. >> reporter: this year will be the real test for kay yak, a meta search engine, that comes from the travel sites all at once, so you don't have to. julia hosts a travel show on national geographic adventure. can she help us find the skind of trips most of us are trying to book in the holiday season. headed into the holidays, what are the best days to book travel? what are the best days to fly to grandma? >> you want to choose days to travel that aren't so busy. >> reporter: julia's tip number one, be flexible about when you fly. a second tip from paul, be flexible about where you fly. >> many cases, by flying to a small airport, you can save significantly cause those airports have less costs. >> reporter: also, take more time. save more money. and go off the beaten path. >> consider hotels and airlines you may not have heard of. we will find users flights or hotels they may not have seen on other sites. >> reporter: and pack light. the baggage fees go up to $35 for the first checked bag. pack a survival kit, so you don't get phased during the holiday delays. make yourself as comfortable as possible. bring snacks. and here's an idea, pack an empty water bottle. bringing an empty bottle through airport security, you can fill it up at a water fountain afterwards. >> reporter: with all of the ney you save, you night invest in the noise-cancelling headphones, to cancel out the noise from the crying baby a few rows back. >> there are good deals for last-minute thanksgiving travel, if you are flexible. it could be the beginning of the end for south carolina governor mark sanford. state lawmakers have begun debating whether his unannnced trip to visit his mistress last summer are grounds for impeachment. sanford lied abo the trip, saying he was hiking on the appalachian trail. he also faces ethics charges. "good morning america" has decided that singer adam lambert's performance may be okay for primetime. but not for the morning hour. lambert sparks an uproar with this highly-sexualized number on the american music awards on sunday. abc news said his appearance on "gma" this morning has been canceled in the aftermath of the controversy. it is time, now, for sports. we get the highlight, now, from espn news. >> good morning. the third-ranked texas longhorns. they've won their first three games by at least 25 points. they were on the floor on tuesday night. matching up against pitt. bad news, though. the pregame lieup line, ward hurt his knee going up for a dunk and had to be taken off by stretcher. did not play in the game. second half. tied at 51-51-that's damian james. he had 20 points and 9 rebounds. longhorns on the floor for james. he was one rebound shy of his 40th double-double. james, atop the key. wide-open. texas shot 52% from the floor. they go on to win, 78-62, the final. ohio state's turner, big ten player of the year last season. picking up right where he left off. buckeyes have the. turner's like give me the rock. takes it the other way. finished with the triple-double. it's his second career triple-double. ohio state up by seven. david white throwing it down. he had a career-high 23 points. late in the second half, more from the buckeyes. dallas finishing off with a dunk. they have still winless on the year. a moment of silence for abe poland, the owner of the washington wizards. passed away on tuesday at the age of 85. that's antoine james. he had 17 points in the third quarter alone. he goes for 32. gilbert arenas, he finishes with 17. and gets lou williams. a chance for the win. can't get it to go down. the wizards hold on to a one-point victory. that will do it for sports. back to you in new york. >> our thanks to espn. well, next, a look ahead at the stories we'll be following today, including an overnight development in the case of a missing 1-month-old baby. and tradition takes over at the white house today, with an annual ritual. with copd, i was ort of breath, so i couldn't always do what i wanted to do. but 5 minutes ago i took symbicort and symbicort is already helping significantly improve my lung function. so today, i've noticed a significant difference in my breathing and i'm doing more of what i want to do. so we're clear, it doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. my doctor said symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. my copd often meant i had to wait to do what i wanted to do. now i take symbicort and it significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort has made a significant difference in my breathing... now more of my want to's are can do's. k your doctor about symbicort today. i got my first prescription free. call or go online to learn more. (announcer) if you cannot afford your medication, astrazeneca may be ablto help. have come home to custom roasted maxwell house. really great flavor. i love the taste. hmmm. hmmm. smooth. rich. fabulous. is it "hmmm?" hmmm. 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