gulf of mexico, and the fix attempt going under way right now. that's a live image. it shows clouds of liquid spilling from the broken pipe. but bp says it appears to be fluid and not oil. some experts see that as a good sign. but it may be all day before we know for sure. with the moon low over the gulf of mexico, a waiting game overnight. waiting, as bp pumps heavy drilling fluid 5,000 feet down, trying to jam the broken oil well, in an operation called a top kill. >> we're executing this top kill job as efficiently and effectively as we can. and we'll determine over the next 24 hours whether that plan's been successful. >> reporter: an entire nation awaits the result. >> if it's successful, and there's no guarantees, it should greatly reduce or eliminate the flow of oil now streaming into the gulf from the sea floor. >> reporter: if it works, bp will pump concrete into the well. if it doesn't, it could be several more days before a fix is possible. in washington, political pressure over the crisis is reaching a breaking point. >> it is unprecedented. >> this, you say, is unprecedented. but it was not unimaginable. in fact, it was not even unexpected. >> reporter: and in louisiana, anger is focused at the president. >> man, you got to get down here and take control of this. put somebody in charge of this thing and get this thing moving. we're about to die down here. >> reporter: it's criticism the white house rejects. today, president obama plans to announce tough, new regulations to prevent future spills before heading to the gulf tomorrow. with the top kill under way offshore, abc news saw first-hand, the oil's impact on shore. we found evidence of oil stretching miles, inland from the gulf. >> there's a quite of bit of oil. >> all these brown stains here. >> yeah. and you can see it back in these marsh areas. >> reporter: kathy norman overseas the trust that owns these wetlands. >> the response has been chaotic, unorganized. i just -- it was as if no one really knew -- there was no plan. no one really knew what to do next. >> the white house is now pushing back against critics, saying the government is doing things to protect the coast and stop the oil. but public support of the administration is falling. a "usa today"/gallup poll says 53% of americans gave the president a poor rating in his handling of the crisis. three-fourths of those polled said the oil giant is doing a poor job. the chemicals being used to disperse the oil on the surface of the gulf may have made some workers sick. four crew members who reported health problems went to the hospital yesterday afternoon, after inhaling the fumes off the coast of louisiana. more than 100 commercial vessels helping in the cleanup have been called back as precaution. and we'll have much more from the gulf on "good morning america." and abc news will cover the president's statement and news conference about the oil crisis later today. some alarming news in the gulf. the upcoming hurricane season is shaping up to be a lot more active than first believed. renowned forecaster, william gray says it looks like, quote, a hell of a year. officials are looking for a repeat of 2005, which had 28 storms including deadly hurricanes, katrina, rita and wilma. the senate arms committee and the full house could vote as soon as today on the don't ask/don't tell policy. lawmakers are considering scrapping the controversial policy for gays in the military. negotiations continued behind the scenes. tensions between north and south korea are rising this morning. the north says it will no longer honor an agreement aimed at preventing accidental naval clashes with the south. this came hours after south korean warships staged a submarine drill off the coast. in jamaica, a house-to-house search is under way for a powerful drug kingpin. authorities are not sure if christopher coke is still in jamaica. they said he could have fled jamaica. nearly 50 people were killed in violence that started soon after the search for coke began. the air force says it is satisfied with the test flight of a supersonic aircraft. it was launched from a bomber before accelerating 135 miles per hour. the flight lasted just over three minutes. the military has been working with hypersonic technology for decades. it would allow a jet to fly from l.a. to new york in 30 minutes. and allow for a strategic strike anywhere within an hour. it will be almost 90 degrees in the denver area today. but yesterday, they had to break out snowplows and shovels. the area was hammered by high winds and hail as big as baseballs. the hail shattered windshields, dented cars and damaged homes. and the ground looked like it was covered with snow. and in chicago the problem was, well, the power. the dodgers/cubs game was plunged into darkness last night when a near fire forced to shut down the power grid. the game was delayed 18 minutes while the backup power source was fired up. and by the way, the cubs lost. now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. stormy in the northeast, with 70-mile-per-hour wind, hail and rain from the nation's capital to upstate new york. isolated showers along the gulf coast. rain from illinois to arkansas. severe weather in montana and the dakotas. snow in the see rare yas. and rain from seattle to san francisco. >> 78 in salt lake city. and a sizzling 99 in phoenix. mostly 80s from fargo, minneapolis and detroit. 69 in boston. 79 in new york. and 86 in atlanta. miami hits 90. and dallas, 94. coming up next on "america this morning," weight loss drugs taken by millions now link to serious health problems. and new studies show the golden glow comes with potentially deadly long-term consequences. plus, big apple. the business world shocker. once written off, it's now mightier than microsoft. overseas stocks are rising this morning, despite a late-day slide on wall street. the dow fell 69 points on wednesday, closing delow 10,000 for the first time since early february. traders sent the benchmark lower for the eighth time in ten days on continued concerns about the european economy. they are worried that cost-cutting by governments will slow the economic recovery. today, bargain-hunters appear to be taking advantage of the recent sell-off. tokyo's nikkei average climbed 1.2% today. hong kong's hang seng is higher. in london, the ftse also opened higher. well, about a decade ago, apple was pretty much an after-thought in the tech world. then, came the ipod. now, apple is the world's biggest technology company, based on the value of stock. it surpassed microsoft on wednesday. it's worth about $222 billion, compared to microsoft's $219 billion. the only u.s. company with a higher market value than apple is oil giant exxon mobil. the government says it has made a profit from selling part of its stake in citigroup. the sale raised $6.2 billion, earning taxpayers a profit of about $1.3 billion. the government has said it hopes to sell all of its citigroup shares this year. well, taxpayers shouldn't expect to turn a profit from rescuing insurance giant, aig. but we may recoup more of our money than original thought. the company is better positioned to pay back all of its $182 billion bailout. but he says several things would have to go right for that to happen. facebook is updating its privacy settings. the social networking site is simplifying them to help people better understand what they're sharing online. the new settings allow users to decide whether information is visible to only friends, friends of friends or everyone on the internet. "the new york times" nick bilton says the jury is still out. >> the new page is simpler than the one in the past. in the past, it was 50 different options with 170 different sub options that users had to go through. it will be interesting to see how facebook users will react to the new settings. >> the new settings will be rolling out in the coming days and weeks. ahead on this thursday morning, more from the gulf. other nations are offering to help clean up the oil. so, why hasn't the u.s. accepted? and alone on a plane. what happens when a passenger falls asleep and no one provides what happens when a passenger falls asleep and no one provides a wake-up? ñññññññ ñññññññññññññññññññññ ♪ ♪ go ahead, get started ♪ this'll never last ♪ not with the wind in your hair like that ♪ ♪ no, no, 'cause i could never see how someone ♪ ♪ as soft and sweet as you could ever be with me ♪ [ male announcer ] low-mileage lease for qualified lessees... the cadillac cts sports sedan. visit your cadillac dealer for this attractive offer. ♪ sunny skies and 90-degree heat greeted thousands of sailors arriving in new york to kick off fleet week. "the uss iwo jima" and other battleships are lining the harbor. well, not so nice for drivers in the northeast today. gusty winds from d.c. to new york. and wet roads as far as boston. slick on i-10, from new orleans to houston. wet, also from chicago to nashville. rain in montana and the dakotas and on the northern end of i-15. >> if you're flying today expect airport delays in seattle, san francisco, chicago, memphis, houston and new orleans. and on the east coast, from boston to miami. and recapping our top story. it could be a day or more before we know whether the top kill procedure plugged the oil leak deep under the gulf of mexico. we're looking at live pictures now from the seabed. >> there a many offers from around the world to held. the cleanup. but so far, very little has been accepted. our diane sawyer tried to find out why. >> reporter: in holland, there's a company that says their skimmers have collected 80% of the oil from other major spills in other regions. they're ready to fly them in today. but no one's asked them. bp does say that they've asked for boats, from norway. but the state department said bp has also accepted an offer from mexico. what offer? we tried to get it all clarified. >> 17 offers. and you've only accepted -- well, bp through the usac has accepted two. there seems to be a little disconnect there. >> again, these are very good questions. we're the facilitators of the paumps but the judgment as to what exactly we need on any particular day and where we need it, those judgments are being made down in louisiana. >> reporter: i'm waiting now. so, we called the central command in louisiana. no clarification there, either. nothing's happening. and what about our second question? closer to home. all of those fishermen in the gulf, with all of those boats, ready to put small skimmers on them and start preventing the oil from reaching shore. the coast guard and the epa are making everybody wait. but the president of the parrish said today -- >> they got until friday morning. if they don't have crews up there doing something, we're going out saturday morning. we're going to save our coastline. we lost a couple battles here. we're not going to lose this war. >> diane sawyer reporting. the oil spill is also having an impact on tourism, as we head into the memorial day weekend. hotels are having to offer deals to attract crowds to gulf coast beaches. in medical news, the fda is warning that some popular weight loss drugs could cause health problems. the over-the-counter drug, alli, and the exception version known as xenical may cause severe liver damage in rare cases. about 42 million people have taken the drugs. the fda is looking into 13 possible cases of serious liver problems. and there's also an fda warning about tanning beds and melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. the fda says the devices are now in the highest risk category. a new study found that people who use tanning beds are 75% more likely to get melanoma than those who never tried them. an investigation is under way to try to find out why a sleeping woman was left on a plane for hours after it landed. while flying from washington to philadelphia early tuesday, she dozed off and was left on the plane for about four hours before being woken up by a cleaning crew. officials want to know why the crew left the plane before all the passengers were off it. well, the phoenix suns and the lakers play game five of their nba western conference finals tonight in los angeles. as for the eastern conference, here's annise shroff, from espn news. >> good morning. we go to the eastern conference finals. the magic down 3-1. they were in orlando trying to get the series back to boston on friday. dwight howard, his 32 points in the magic's game 4 win. howard in game five. 25 points, 10 boards. late first half, howard fouled by kendrick perkins. he's unhappy. get aztec cal. his second technical of the game. he gets tossed. his seventh tech of the postseason. he could be suspended one game. jameer nelson, marksman. hits the three as the shot clock expires. orlando, 13 of 25, as a team from downtown. late third quarter. scary moment. actual dwight howard's elbow. hits glen davis in the face. davis has trouble getting up. almost like a boxer taking one on the chin. eventually, he would stumble into the arms of referee joey crawford. davis would leave the game with a concussion. nelson, he led the magic with 24 points. four of five from downtown. orlando forces a game six friday night in boston. over on the diamond, yankees and twins. they resumed a suspended game wednesday, which the yankees won 1-0. this was the second game. bottom eighth. andy pettitte gets joe mauer to hit into a double play to get out of trouble. top nine, 2-2. nick swisher. yes, sir. that's for the people. swisher's eighth of the season. 3-2, yanks. mariano closes out the suspended game. closes out the second game. yanks swept 3-2. that's a look at sports. i'm enis shroff. now, back to you in new york. hollywood is remembering television veteran art linkletter who died yesterday at the age of 97. linkletter made a name for himself during the golden age of tv. linkletter hosted requests house party" and "people are funny" in the '50s and '60s. and he specialized in getting kids to say the darnedest thing. >> to drink and smoke cigars. >> what's your mother do for fun? >> linkletter became an anti-drug crusader after his daughter committed suicide while experimenting with lsd. he is survived by two other daughters and his wife of 74 years. up next, the latest on the effort to plug the gulf oil leak. plus, what washington is doing to ease what is likely to be a rough hurricane season. 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uh, what? sir, it's a simple question. do you want heartburn pain, now or later? these heartburn medicines make you choose... between hurting now or later. pepcid complete doesn't. it starts to neutralize acid in seconds... and keeps it under control all day or all night. sometimes you gotta make compromises, man. no, you don't... man. pepcid complete, works now and works later. fancy feast appetizers. for all the moments that make every day special. high quality ingredients like wild alaskan salmon in a delicate broth, without by-products or fillers. fancy feast appetizers. celebrate the moment. and now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this thursday. bp is more than 12 hours into its top kill effort that we have been hearing so much about, filling the broken gulf well with heavy fluid. if the effort does not work, it could be several more days before another fix is possible. and today, the president will reassure americans that every step possible is being taken to control that oil leak. then, he will face the strongest questions yet about his handling of the crisis in a news conference scheduled at the white house. the president is also being briefed in the situation room today on the 2010 hurricane season, which is expected to be quite active. he will also get an overview of federal preparedness in dealing with the weather. the military's don't ask/don't tell policy faces two, key votes on capitol hill. the senate armed services committee and the full house could vote as early as today on scrapping that controversial policy. a bit of good news. a new survey says u.s. drivers are talking on cell phones and texting a lot less than a year ago. of those who admitted texting behind the wheel, 40% now say they do it less often. the reason, drivers are now more aware of all of the dangers. and the u.s. soccer team that will play in the upcoming world cup gets something of a d.c. sendoff. they're going to the white house to meet president obama and president clinton today. the team leaves for south africa on sunday. coming up later on "good morning america," you've heard of feuding neighbors. well, in this case, it's sarah palin versus an author writing a book about her. and now, he's moved in next door. we'll have the latest, live from alaska. for some of you, your local news is coming up next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues after this. fancy feast appetizers. simple high quality ingredients like wild alaskan salmon, white meat chicken, or seabass and shrimp in a delicate broth, prepared without by-products or fillers. fancy feast appetizers. celebrate the moment. to cover up flaws and make skin look pretty but there's one that's so clever, it makes your skin look better even after you take it off. neutrogena healthy skin liquid makeup. 98% of women saw improvement in their skin's natural texture, tone, or clarity. does your makeup do that? 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>> yes, sir. >> well, you're deaf. >> reporter: it was always the brit who stole the show. and with his departure after tonight, what goes with him? well, we can't really call it charm. >> what was that? >> reporter: and as often as he may have prefaced his remarks with this. >> i'm not being rude but -- >> reporter: what really made simon cowell rich and famous and the real star of "american idol" is when he would say this -- >> terrible. >> reporter: the truth. >> you're still boring. >> reporter: not the everyone's special, you get a trophy truth. but the unvarnished truth. that there are real standards of excellence. >> i didn't think that was good enough. i think if you win this competition, we will have failed. >> reporter: and very few people can actually meet them. >> you are where you are now for one reason and one reason only. you are a loser. thank you very much. >> reporter: most of us don't. and what did his nine-season tenure of truth-telling prove? that while we may not like getting our feelings hurt, we really do want to know, am i really any good? the truth made simon cowell famous. and awfully rich awfully fast. he's producing his own shows. making tens of millions of dollars. and maybe, just maybe, he ramped up the tough guy act a little bit, once he realized it was making him a fortune. ♪ she bangs >> thank you. >> reporter: but it seems we're okay with tough. when it's tough truth. and when there's somebody willing to tell it. >> you can't sing. you can't dance. what are you willing to say? >> reporter: there's not a lot of that going around these days. and now, there will be just a little bit less. i'm john donvan. >> i guess the truth sells after