>> and i'm mike marusarz in for rob nelson. five weeks until midterm elections and the democrats are fighting to hold on to the control of congress. >> so they are sending the party heavyweights out on the campaign trail. emily schmidt joins us with more at what's at stake for the white house and capitol hill. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. well, senators this week in washington are going to wrap up their work here so they can head home and campaign for critical midterm elections. with five weeks to go tactics are ranging from personal to presidential. de end of september politics feel like november. >> you ought to be there for him on election day. >> reporter: heavy hitters are campaigning in races that ought to be a cinch in the past. barney frank has been in for 30 years but they are threatening to take back control of the hill. >> when we don't have people trying to make things worse and trying 0 obstruct we can provide the economy this country deserve. >> people have a right to be angry, disappointed but they still have to make a choice. an election is not a referendum on anger but a choice gene two candidates. >> reporter: bill clinton stumped in two states. this week president obama hits four states. he won in the past. >> it means there is no such thing as a safe state for democrats in the past. there is no such as a safe slam dunk election. >> reporter: both parties are focused on the economy and who voters trust to fix it. >> they know if they want to save america they've got to change the congress and that's going to happen on heavy 2nd. >> this isn't a prescription for economic growth but for surrender. we can't do that. >> reporter: when president obama campaigns in wisconsin this week, democratic senator russ feingold won't be there. the senator is opting for a appearance with the more popular michelle obama scheduled for next month. vinita and mike. >> emily live in washington, thank you. the new round of mideast peace talks has entered into a crucial phase. the plinks have threatened to walk out if more jewish settlements are built on the west bank. that new construction could begin as early as today. simon mcgregor-wood joins us from jerusalem with the latest. good morning, simon. >> reporter: good morning, vinita. you're right. the deadline has come and gone. for those settlers who have permits for new homes we think that's about 2,000 who could if they wanted to start building their new homes today. but we cannot see so far at least an explosion of construction. prime minister netanyahu has urged the settler community to show restraint. last night despite not being able to extend the freeze he sent a reassuring message to the palestinians urging president abbas to stay on board the peace process. that will definitely be the message from the u.s. administration. the u.s. wanted to see an extension to the settlement freeze. they didn't get that from the israelis so they're trying to cobble together some kind of diplomatic solution that will keep the process alive. good news so far today, the palestinians have not yet walked away. president abbas says he will consult with the arab league which meets in cairo next monday, october the 4th before he decides what to do next and a new deadline, if you like. expect a lot of frantic diplomatic activity between now and then, vinita. >> simon, you mentioned the words restraint and diplomacy. if neither of those work there are rumors that people are saying this could be war. >> reporter: well, i think you're probably referring to the king of jordan, the neighbor of both the israelis and palestinians talking on american television last week threatening or his opinion that if this process irremember co-ably falls apart there could be a war before the end of the year. that's his opinion. it is shared by several other people in the region. the israeli palestinian conflict has always been the cause of great tension in the region and clearly if this process turns out to be mortally wounded and falls apart completely that can only increase. vinita? >> simon mcgregor-wood live in jerusalem this morning, thank you. afghanistan, u.s. and afghan forces are taking on the taliban in one of its traditional strongholds. they are using what is basically long ropes of explosives in order to clear homemade bombs that rebels have left behind. the operation is being conducted along a main route along which the taliban moves both fighters and weapons. at least 20 insurgents have been killed so far. a war crimes case against a group of u.s. soldiers who have served in afghanistan moves forward today. corporate jeremy morelock and four others are charged with the premeditated murders of afghan civilians. seven others have been charged in connection with the alleged crimes. today evidence in his case is being laid out to determine if he should be formally tried in a court maria schell. there is a full report on the story coming up on "good morning america." it was not the usual sunday sermon at one of the nation's largest churches. bishop eddie long took to the pulpit to defend himself against a sex scandal. he promised to fight the allegations. here's steve osunsami. >> reporter: outside the missionary baptist church here -- >> innocent man. give him the benefit of the doubt. >> reporter: when bishop eddie long finally appears, he seemed more like a rock star than a pastor accused of pushing sex on teenage boys. >> i've been accused. i'm under attack. i want you to know as i said earlier i am not a perfect man, but this thing i'm going to fight. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: under the rhys of his lawyers he said little. even at the news conference where he took no questions. for some this was enough. >> i want the world to know i will support bishop eddie long till the day i die and go to heaven. >> reporter: there are four lawsuits and there's the matter of these pictures, attorneys say long sent them to one of the teenage boys. there were mothers and fathers in church who could not turn a blind eye. >> he didn't just come right out and say, people, i didn't do it. >> reporter: you think he might be guilty. >> um, yes. >> reporter: according to long homosexuality is a manifestation of the fallen han and his lifelong crew said against gays makes him the ultimate hypocrite. >> i feel like david against goliath. but i got five rocks and i haven't thrown one yet. >> reporter: steve osunsami, abc news, atlanta. now for this morning's weather. a rainy day for most of the east coast in ohio valley much the heaviest downpours in the carolinas and georgia where they will also see flooding, hail and some gusty winds. showers from minnesota to the canadian border. light rain from seattle to tacoma and heat advisories and high fire danger in the southwest. phoenix climbs to 104. sacramento, 97 and boise, 90. low 70s from garg he go to dallas. 60s from the twin cities to indianapolis. 62 in boston. 73 here in new york and just shy of 90 in miami. your money news is next. thousands of cars on the newest recall list. the problem that could cause drivers to lose control. then passengers' prayers answered. a frightening emergency landing with one amazing ending. and flood zone in the upper plains. it will be a day of watching those waters rise. we'll show you where. ext extra fees are adding up for airline passengers. "usa today" reports fees are rising and some are 50% higher than a year ago. new fees like charges for carry-on bags are hitting them in their wallets. the newspaper examined fees charged by 13 different airlines. hyundai is recalling nearly 140,000 sonatas in the u.s. due to a steering wheel defect. the problem could cause drivers to lose control of the steering wheel. the recall affects 2011 models built before september 10th. hyundai says no crashes or injuries are linked to the problem. time for a check of market activity starting overseas. tokyo's nikkei average picked up more than 130 points today. hong kong's hang seng is up in late trading. in london the ftse opened higher. wall street starts the day with the dow jones industrials at 10,860 after gaining 252 points last week. the nasdaq index picked up 65 points last week to close at 2381. an investment banker with close ties to bernie madoff died. stanley chais had been a philanthropist but that was marred by accusations he steered hundreds of millions of his clients' dollars to madoff. no criminal charges were ever filed. chais died in new york on sunday. he was 84 years old. all right. "wall street: money never sleeps" is king at the box office. the sequel to the original "wall street" movie back from 1987. it stars michael douglas as phi than sear, gordon gekko offering an updated take on "greed is good." "legend of the guardians" came in second, "the town" bumped down to third. >> i was one of the many in that crowded theater at "wall street." it was very good. >> i want to check it out. coming up next on this monday, refusing to back down, the imam behind the controversial manhattan mosque has new comments about the project. big day in sports. michael vick beginning to shine in his new role in philly. highlights from espn coming up. ♪ get up, get moving. subway has breakfast. and it's a slam dunk. i like my breakfast sandwich with green peppers, onion, banana peppers and mustard. i like eggs with black forest ham on wheat. with everything. i like a little kick. that's a good call. i like mine with egg whites. and... a napkin. [ male announcer ] have you built your better breakfast? now's the time! try our better-for-you western egg white muffin melt or the dee-licious double bacon egg and cheese on toasty flatbread. subway. build your better breakfast. it was a mystery to me. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia, thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and with less pain, i can do more of what matters to me. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior or any swelling or affected breathing, or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk. and vitamin d of regular milk. the rain swollen wisconsin river has caused a levee to fail cutting off parts of one small community. those who obeyed a day-long evacuation order yesterday might not be allowed back in their homes for a week. the worst may still be ahead with many rivers in both wisconsin and minnesota expected to crest today. flooding is also possible today in the southeast on i-85 from raleigh to charlotte and atlanta and on i-40 from knoxville to raleigh. wet on 95 from florida to maine. slick on i-70 around new york city, philadelphia and pittsburgh. wet on i-5 from seattle to tacoma and olympia. >> if you are flying today you can expect airport delays in seattle and up and down the east coast from boston to miami. speaking of the air, more than 60 people have quite a story to tell this morning when they get back to work today. >> they are the passengers and crew of a delta air lines flight forced to make an emergency landing because of a landing gear problem. >> that's right. saturday night's flight was supposed to land at an airport just north of new york city but it came down at jfk instead. here's linsey davis. >> reporter: inside the cabin passengers with cell phones captured the announcement you never want to hear from a pilot. >> brace for impact. >> reporter: that was followed by this terrifying command from the flight attendant. >> heads down, stay down. heads down, stay down. >> that was pretty intense, i will tell you that. you never know in a situation like that. the plane could have tumbled, rolled. i don't know. i'm not an engineer, but thank goodness it all worked out. >> reporter: as emergency crews arrived on the runway the control tower gave this warning. >> rescue 1, there are 64 souls on board and 3,000 pounds of fuel. >> reporter: the pilot told the control tower. >> 4951, roger, and, better work. >> reporter: heas it touched do the right wing scraped the tarmac. sparks flew clearly visible through the window but miraculously no fire. [ cheers ] >> reporter: the passengers were surprisingly calm as they were evacuated. emergency crews stood at the ready, but weren't necessary. >> i don't know. i'm just really happy to be here. it was really cool. >> the flight number 4951, so i'm going to play that number. >> reporter: alessandro shot some of the cell phone pictures. >> the pilot did a wonderful job. just got to put your life in their hands and hope for the best. >> woo! >> we're alive. >> reporter: and they certainly got the best possible outcome. fortunately no one was hurt. this despite the fact that the plane landed with only two sets of landing gear, was supposed to have three sets. passengers took a shuttle bus to the final destination in white plains which is about 40 miles away. linsey davis, abc news, new york. the hunt continues for three men who pulled off a dramatic bank robbery in south florida. investigators got a break this weekend when a car used in the heist was found in coral gableses. it all began when three thieves placed a bomb on a bank teller's body. they then forced him to withdraw a large amount of money. that bomb turned out to be fake. and in seattle, coast guard investigators are looking into what caused a water taxi to slam into a peer at full speed. most of the passengers on board were seahawks fans headed to the football game. seven people were taken to the hospital. witnesses have said there appeared to be a mechanical problem. the imam heading up the controversial mosque project near ground zero says the goal is to prevent another 9/11. feisal abdul rauf told "60 minutes" that american america and the muslim world need the cultural center and says he is ready, willing and able to serve our country. >> if 9/11 happens again, i want to be the first to die. it's my duty as an american muslim to stand between you, the american non-muslim and the radicals who are trying to attack you. >> rauf is a naturalized american citizen from kuwait. he says building a muslim center in that location is a way of waging peace. all right. tonight on monday night football a great game. green bay taking on chicago. with the highlights from yesterday's nfl action here's adnan virk at espn news. good morning. we begin with the nfl and the dallas cowboys looking to avoid starting 0-3 for the first time since 2001. wade phillips' team in need of energy and in need of a victory more than anything else. romo looking to supply that. to roy williams and he's gone. 63 yards for the touchdown. the cowboys win big, 27-13. romo a couple of tds through the air. brad childress' team trying to avoid going 0-3. third quarter, vikes up 17-10 and adrian peterson makes a couple of cuts, goes to his right. a.p. all day. 80 yards for the touchdown, second one of the game. vikings get their first of the season, 24-10. matt cassel, the chiefs hosting the 49ers. san francisco looking to avoid an 0-3 start. chiefs up 10-3. it's the double reverse and a fleaflicker. matt cassel deep to duane bole and bole knows football. the eagles and jaguars, michael vick now the starter. under one minute to go. eagles up, 21-3. escaping the rush and scrambling up the middle, 17-yard touchdown. one of the most electrifying plays of the weekend. the eagles win easily, 28-3. and the jets visiting the dolphins, edwards spent the first on the sidelines because of his drunken driving arrest. trailing here. sanchez to edwards and he is off. 67 yards to the house as the jets are now 2-1. go on to win this one 31-23. you're up to date for now. let's go back to you in new york. >> our thanks to espn. up next the stories we will be following today. stay with us. 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[ male announcer ] aleve. proven better on pain. the chill of peppermint. the rich dark chocolate. york peppermint pattie. get the sensation. now a look ahead to the stories we will be watching on this monday. president obama is ready to give small businesses a boost. today he is set to sign the small business jobs act. it aims to help small businesses get loans so they can grow and hire more people. rebuilding of jewish settlements on the west bank could begin as early as today. now that a deadline has expired. the u.s. is trying to keep the issue from derailing the newly restarted peace talks. the book from bob woodward hits the shelves today. "obama's wars" details the president's struggle to form a new strategy in afghanistan and the infighting that took place around it. diane sawyer interviews woodward tonight on "world news." the actions of army corporal jeremy morlock in afghanistan are the focus of a hearing today. morlock is the first of a group of u.s. soldiers charged with war crimes including the murder of afghan civilians. that hearing will determine if morlock will be tried in a court-martial. lindsay lohan could be back in rehab as early today. she has decided to check herself in on her own. lohan was jailed after failing a drug test released on bail friday evening. we'll have more abc news after this and "good morning america" has some good stories, as well. >> stick around. lindsey vonn, she stays tough! earlier, she had an all-over, achy cold. what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer. alka-seltzer plus. rushes relief for all-over, acy colds., the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus. it was a real shock. i remember being at the hospital thinking, "i should have done more to take care of myself." you should've. that's why i'm exercising more now. eating healthier. and i also trust my heart to lipitor. 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[ male announcer ] these medicines make you choose. pepcid® complete doesn't. it's fast acting and long lasting. pepcid® complete works now and works later. fi finally from us this morning, roll over bedbugs. there are more creepy crawly critters and they are also moving in. >> so far. these new ink vaders have made themselves a home in 29 states. they don't bite but they're armed with a foul secret weapon. here's abc's tahman bradley. >> reporter: in this year of widespread pest pandemonium. >> bedbugs. >> bedbugs. >> bedbugs are back. >> reporter: you've probably had your eyes fixed on your bed. now it seems you may turn your nose toward your air vent. >> something hits me in the back of my neck and stuff. >> reporter: forget bedbugs. in maryland and across the northeast it's man versus stink bugs, an all-out war. >> they're terrible. they're everywhere. >> reporter: they're brown, foul-smelling creatures popping up in vent, on wall, on window, even in beards. omitting a foul odor when irritated or squashed and man, it seems, is downright helpless. the good news is they don't sting. they don't bite and they're pretty easy to catch. parker brewer, a resident of silver spring, maryland, must collect the bugs every day. the deck of his house is under siege. >> i've tried to attack them as best as i can but i'm losing the battle. >> reporter: as fall brings cooler temperatures, the bugs have left their orchards and corn feels for our homes making an already rotten year for bugs, well, really stink. we used to use heavy-duty residual pesticides. we don't use as many as those as we once did and is allowing bugs that used to suppress to increase in number. >> reporter: his opinion on how to get rid of them. >> a lot of people say they smell like cilantro so maybe these guys with a little salsa isn't a bad contract. >> reporter: a good suggestion, they are harmless. it's pretty bad. tahman bradley, abc news, silver spring, maryland. between the bedbugs and stink bugs. >> fry them up and eat them.