prince william has pulled off his first rescue as part of the oil air force. he flew a chopper to an oil rig off the northwest coast of england over the weekend. william and his crew rescued a heart attack patient and flew him to an emergency room. imagine looking out your window and seeing this coming down your street. a flood of toxic sludge has engulfed several towns in hungary. the environmental disaster so monumental officials have now declared a state of emergency. workers are racing to stop the flow before it contaminates the water. jim sciutto reports. >> reporter: it's a science fiction movie that's come to life. a toxic tsunami. a wave p red sludge six feet high flooding through narrow streets. sending hundreds of panicked residents fleeing. "when i heard the rumble of the flood," said one resident, "i only had time to jump out the window and run to higher ground." bbc reporter nick thorpe is on the scene. >> you see people wading through the red mud trying to get back to their homes or retrieve things from their homes. this is the overall visual impression, is of everything painted red. >> reporter: the sludge is so caustic it burns right through clothes, even shoes. so dangerous that if injected it could be deadly. only workers wearing suits like these were protected. the cause of all this, a dam burst at a metal processing atlanta, which local officials say -- and traces of virtually every element found on earth. >> it's very rare you see a chemical spill having such a drastic, extreme impact on people and on the environment. so it does seem to be quite an alarming situation. >> reporter: in all, 1 million cubic yards, the equivalent of 400 olympic swimming pools, engulfed 16 square miles of southern hungary. the spill is eerily reminiscent of a massive coal ash spill in tennessee on christmas eve in 2008. but the combination of toxins in this deadly sludge is so unique, scientists say, there has never been a spill like it ever before. and it's not over. if it seeps into rivers, it will rapidly expand this ecological disaster. jim skut or jim sciutto, abc news. >> unbelievable story. oh, man. here is a look at your weather. wet in the northeast, off and on showers from boston to philadelphia. rain with gusty winds around los angeles, las vegas, salt lake city and boise. and windy with downpours in the phoenix area. >> 77 in sacramento. 68 in seattle. and 63 in colorado springs. warming up in the middle of the country. 80 in omaha. 79 in kansas city. 74 in the windy city. 60s in the northeast. 82 in miami. what happens when you put the most powerful men in the world in a room filled with the most powerful women? apparently, things start falling apart. >> president obama was delivering a speech in washington last night at "fortune" magazine's most powerful women's summit. halfway through his address, though, the presidential seal fell off the lectern and came crashing down to the floor. >> as you would probably imagine, the president didn't miss a beat. he glanced at the bare podium and then he joked, "it's okay. you all know who i am." >> always a sense of humor. we'll be right back after this. [ male announcer ] gladys has always loved the scent of gain laundry detergent. and the moment she set eyes on gain fabric softener... she found herself overwhelmed with desire. ♪ ahhhhh, the things we do for love. the amazing scent of gain in detergent, fabric softener, and now in a dish soap too. wow. sniff sniff hooray! there are a lot of things you could and could not pay me to do. this story falls under the could not category. it involves a guy who walks right on the brink of a lava pit. >> unbelievable. fittingly, he calls himself danger man. and he clearly doesn't mind living on the edge. here's nick watt with more. >> reporter: the dude in the silver suit is a mountaineer called drew. he's 300 feet from molten lava. his buddy jeff, a camera man, rappels down into the angry volcano and started shooting. it's stranger than fiction. look, here's "lord of the rings." here's jeff's video. jeff's video is awesomer. is that even a word? hundreds of thousands of youtube hits. can it be real? >> you can't really get a sense -- >> reporter: we showed it to an expert in visual forensics. >> youtube of course has changed the way we interact with video. and there are a lot of claims of fake video. of course, there are a lot of fake videos. >> reporter: sure, there are. but what about this? >> i think the video is amazing. i think it's real. but i think that he's not as close to the volcano as it appears to be. >> reporter: so a long lens and nothing like a car or a house to give us perspective means he might look a bit closer than he actually is. but it's real. i'll shut up now. just watch in awe. nick watt, abc news, london. >> hmm. trick photography. the angle they're shooting him at. either way, better him than me. >> and a lot of people are watching that. in case you're wondering, that thing has been viewed almost 1 million times. 800,000 times. we should put it on our facebook page to convince people to go there. >> yesterday 21,000. boom, it skyrocketed like that. we're past 21,000 and counting. >> and if this entices you at all we can post it there. two guys behind another viral video that's already been seen by tens of millions. >> here's a clip. a local tv news interview enhanced. we'll meet the creators next. did he do this to you ma'am? i don't know. i was asleep! i'll get it out of him explain that, you cockroach! a bad case of hives? no. itchy welts, from a bloodsucking parasite. so? so your girlfriend says you two were there. in the house. those were your droppings in the kitchen. yes. you contaminated the cookies... yes. and you bit that lady! nooo! it wasn't me! it wasn't me! oh! she said i did it? says here... cockroaches spread 33 types of bacteria... six parasitic worms... and trigger asthma attacks. but, i didn't do this ! well then who did? 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[detective] ok, who else we got? what? he, he, he! you may not know who the gregory brothers are, but odds are you definitely know their work. they're a youtube sensation. almost 29 1/2 million views. >> what they do is they take a seemingly average clip from the news and they turn it into viral video gold. daniel sieberg has more. ♪ climbing in your windows >> reporter: if you haven't heard this song by now, then there's a good chance you're in the minority. and possibly live in a cave. ♪ hide your kids hide your wife ♪ what started as a local tv interview in huntsville, alabama about an attempted rape on his sister has skyrocketed antoine dodson to becoming a household name. >> i was so angry i was like, yeah, i've got something to say, put me on camera because i'm fitting to tear it up. but it changed my life. like now i can teak care miff family the way i want to. >> reporter: but dodson is just the latest internet sensation to be embraced by the gregory brothers. three brothers and the wife of one of them who've become known for latching on to something in the digital zeitgeist like dodson's original interview and then taking it to the next level by remixing it with an effect called autotune. ♪ ♪ blame it on the alcohol >> you have to be pretty quick. an internet meme or something popular comes and goes very fast. how do you jump on it and know that that's the one to spend all your energy on? >> like any talent executive at a record label, we can identify those clips or pieces or characters that have that certain something. that x factor. that chutzpah. >> reporter: not that everyone is a fan. there are knows who criticize the "bed intruder" video of reinforcing a stereotype. >> people that perceive stereotypes in the song or antoine's original video are, you know, seeing those stereotypes through their own lens. but regardless of those perceptions, antoine's message is genuine. and his emotions were very real. and the message and eventually the song are one of strength and courage. it had an emotional power to it that is of the same quality that you might hope to see in any song that you might buy or listen to. >> reporter: and people have been buying it. the song has cracked the billboard hot 100 and continues to climb the itunes singles chart. but despied dodson's apparent income from the song's success, the gregory brothers remain rather modest. >> i think everybody wants to know if you've made a lot of money on it. >> yeah so, so far we've made i'd say zero dollars. >> right. zero. >> zero dollars? >> approximately zero. >> i mean, to date. but eventually -- >> give or take? >> eventually we hope to make a trillion dollars. >> our studio is in our bedroom. maybe that will communicate something. >> reporter: the clutter department in brooklyn, where they record the videos, doesn't exactly scream wealth. not yet, anyway. a green piece of cloth serves as their rotating backdrop. an overhead chandelier is their only light source. and perhaps their computer setup is the most expensive part of their, um, studio. they've toured the country to perform live songs from their albums and are even working on a comedy central pilot. all while they ride this new wave of success with the "bed intruder song." >> our process is really refrkts t reflects that we're musicians. we record a song that we like and then we put a video to that. >> usually over a late-night kale smoothie. >> reporter: whatever their secret the gregory brothers do seem to be rising above similar groups on the web, thanks in large part to their autotune the news series, now in its 13th edition. ♪ ♪ disbanded ♪ the soviet union is long gone ♪ >> how do you pick and choose which news clips become part of autotune news? >> it's almost as if they pick us. >> paramount is the quality and talent of the unintentional singers, appearing in the video. so that's our primary concern. you know, which news clip is the most in need of supporting music? >> reporter: the group also recently teamed with weezer to spoof new york congressman charlie rangel's alleged ethical violations. ♪ ringing till november ♪ i am here ♪ i am not going away >> would you guys consider yourselves internet celebrities at this point? >> i think we just want to do what we like to do. >> we would like to be able to budget our videos for more than zero dollars. >> yes. >> i think if we can meet that requirement we will have been successful. we would like to keep making music. i think if we can do that we will have been successful. >> reporter: you know, the low-budget nature of their production might actually add to their performance. i think their audiences actually come to expect it. so we'll have to wait and see if this comedy central pilot goes to their heads and changes everything. rob and vinita, back to you. >> and actually, that video from youtube's gotten so crazy now that he -- antoine dodson's actually going to be a halloween costume this year. >> the guy with the little handkerchief on his head. >> yeah. >> it's funny maybe you don't need that much production. maybe you can do one live. ♪ we, we, we'll be ♪ right back ♪ right back right back ♪ one scooter or power chair that could improve your may entitle you to pay little to nothing to own it. one company that can make it all happen ... your power chair will be paid in full. the scooter store. why should you call the scooter store today? 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[ male announcer ] and common tissue can make it burn even more. new puffs plus lotion is more soothing than common tissue and delivers twice the moisturizers to your nose versus the next leading lotion tissue. ♪ ♪ finally this half hour, for anyone who has ever met the swiss family robinson and dreamed of living in a treehouse, this story is for you. >> for sure. except this is not your average treehouse. imagine an entire village of treehouses equipped with running water, even the internet. it's something you have to see to believe. warren ruben doesn't use a car to run her errands. >> yeah. we totally hit. >> reporter: she uses a zip line. she is one of nearly 100 people who are part of the community of finka bela vista, a village high up in the trees of the costa rican jungle that could be a model, albeit a pretty unusual one, for green living. the 23 buildings connected by 27 zip lines through the trees and more than nine miles of trails down below are the brainchild of matt and erica hogan. >> always remember to be connected. >> reporter: the colorado couple gave up their jobs back home and spent their life savings to realize their dream of living here, in a self-sustaining community. >> my wife came up with the idea for the finka. and she said you remember the ewok village on "return of the jedi"? couldn't we build treehouses and connect them with bridges and zip lines? i said i don't know, maybe, sure, let's try. >> reporter: so they bought 300 acres, saving it from loggers, and went to work building their small town, complete with its own food supply, running water, and even enough power for all of the modern luxuries like refrigeration, indoor plumbing, even wi-fi. >> we produce all of our electricity eyre. we're running the entire base cam. and three of the treehouses on strictly solar assets. we're in the process of installing our hydro power system, which will power the entire grid that'll power the whole community. we don't have a single cable coming in from the outside world, so to speak. >> reporter: writer lauren lubin first heard about the village from a friend, who saw an ad in "national geographic" and was hurt. >> the moment i came here i felt home. i am writing a book here. finishing a book here. written and edited and soon to be published all in a treehouse. >> reporter: matt and the people who run finka bella vista definitely have their work cut out for them in the weeks ahead because more than 50 families have now signed up to join them in this tropical paradise. >> and beautiful and functional. that's really impressive. >> it is amazing. wi-fi out there, running water, and they actuall [vibrates] g morning, sunshine. wakey, wakey. text me back. [chattering] [vibrates] hey. did you tell your parents about us? let's skip first period together. did you get all my texts? is practice over yet? where you at? are you with your friends? that's laaaa-mee. capital "x," lower-case "o," capital "x," lower-case "o," i love you. jk. i hate you. jk. are you ignoring me? we're in a huge fight right now. is it something i did? i can see your lights on. i'm coming over. this isn't a joke. what did you dream about? [overlapping] is it me? i'm lonely. holla back. holla back. let's try something new. nude pics. send me some. text me. looking up. enthusiastic predictions from economists and a milestone expected today on wall street. then, remarkable rescue. a stranger's daring act. >> i thank god that he put me here to help out that little girl. that's for sure. >> how he saved a little girl in trouble. and toilet treasure. fueled from something you flush. it's wednesday october 6th. fuel from something you flush. hope you're not having breakfast right now. >> no kidding, man. >> it's interesting, though. >> it is very interesting. anything for the environment, you know, it's natural. >> you're going to hear all about it coming up this morning. thanks for being with us on this wednesday. i'm vinita nair. >> and i'm rob nelson. stock traders in asia have been buying today, sending all the major markets there higher. and when wall street opens this morning, the dow starts the day at its highest point in more than five months. >> business editor dan arnall has the reasons why. good morning, dan. >> good morning, rob and vinita. the american stock market is within striking distance of a big round number. dow 11,000. within striking distance for the first time since spring. yesterday's almost 200-point jump in the dow came as a report about the american service sector was better than expected. and japan's central bank slashed interest rates unexpectedly. traders are hoping the fragile recovery will get some support this week as two major events hit the tape. alcoa kicks off earnings season for corporate america. analysts expect profit reports for the july to september period to be up about 23% from the previous year. but the question is will those growing profits on wall street translate into jobs for main street? which leads us to the second big announcement of the week. friday's government report on unemployment in september. which leads us to the second big announcement of the week, the jobs report on friday coming out of the government. economists are expecting hiring and payrolls to be flat during the month of september ahead of the big holiday hiring season that starts after halloween. rob and vinita? we told you on monday that the government's big bailout program has officially gone out of business, and now we have a new price tag for what was known as the t.a.r.p. the treasury now says it will cost taxpayers $50 billion instead of $66 billion. now, the $700 billion that was originally allocated, $204 billion has now been repaid. banks and automakers are working on repaying the rest of the money. a little california girl is back with her family this morning after a terrifying kidnapping ordeal. >> police say the child is alive thanks to the quick actions of a bystander who put himself in danger to save the child. diana alvear shows us how the rescue unfolded. good morning, diana. >> reporter: vinita and rob, good morning. police are calling it an example of the perfect amber alert. her parents are calling it a miracle. either way, everyone in fresno is celebrating this little girl's safe return thanks to a good samaritan. so little her feet dangle above the ground. this little girl survived a terrifying ordeal. the 8-year-old was snatched from her front yard monday night. she's back home thanks to this man police are calling a hero. >> because he was hiding her like down here like pushing her down. >> reporter: victor perez recognized the suspect's truck from news reports. he saw the driver, then moments later the little girl's head popped up on the passenger side. that's when perez sprung into action. >> he maneuvered his vehicle in front of the suspect vehicle, causing the vehicle to stop. the suspect actually opened the passenger door and pushed elisa out of the car onto the roadway. >> reporter: the truck took off. the suspect, 24-year-old gregorio gonzales, was arrested a short time later in this parking lot. the girl was taken to an area hospital, where she was reunited with her mother. police say she's in good neighbors are celebrating her safe return. all thanks to the watchful eyes of a good samaritan. >> i thank god that he put me here to help out that little girl. that's for sure. >> reporter: police say just prior to kidnapping that little girl gonzales exposed himself to other children. he's currently charged with kidnapping and sexual assault and more charges could follow. vinita, rob? secret war negotiations to stop the fighting in afghanistan have reportedly started. this morning's "washington post" says the representatives of the taliban are for the first time carrying out talks with the afghan government. a possible deal would allow taliban members into the government. it would also force u.s. and nato troops out. the man who plotted to bomb times square will spend the rest of his life in federal prison. faisal shahzad was sentenced tuesday here in new york. >> but agents fear other al qaeda-trained terrorists like shahzad could be plotting new attacks in europe. t.j. winick has thg, t >> reporter: good morning, rob aa. as one infamous terrorist was sentenced, authorities were busy tracking others who may be tied faisal shahzad was defiant in a manhattan courtroom even after being sentenced to life in prison for attempting to detonate a car bomb in the middle of times square last may. the 31-year-old said, "if i'm given 1,000 lives, i will sacrifice them all for the life of allah," and that "the defeat of the united states is imminent." judge miriam cedarbaum urged shahzad to think about whether the koran really gives him the right to kill innocent people. >> the ongoing and important challenge for all of us is to make sure we get the next shahzad before h harm. >> jihad is an obligated duty -- >> reporter: it's milis li tr al aner: it's milis li pt stylcks are pl tourist spots across europe. eight people were killed monda at a terror traininmp pakistan, where german citizena alleged plot. a dozen suspects were arrested in southern france in sweeps against suspected islamic militant networks. >> we can't rule out that while these attacks have been planned in europe attacks on the united states may have been planned as well with people withicn passports coming back f training camps in pakistan. >> reporter: to encourage increased vigilance here at home the department of homeland security has produced videos for the retail industry, sports rnd >> sir. you can't leave your car here, sir. >> : pareat cgn b gov to make the pub aware of the terror thr this friday amtrak will hold an exercise called railsafe ped sye along national tranutes in court tuesday the fbi confirmed that faisal shahzad had planned to detonate another car bomb two weeks after the one in times square. rob and vinita? a flood of toxic sludge swallowed entire towns, prompting officials to declare a state of emergency in southwest hungary. it engulfed 16 square miles yesterday after a dam burst at an aluminum plant. at least four people were killed and 120 injured. the sludge is so toxic it literally burned right through some people's clothes, even their shoes. desperate efforts are now being made to keep it out of the region's major waterways. the phoenix area is bracing for another stormy day after getting battered with hail as big as golf balls. the hail was accompanied by heavy downpours, 70-mile-an-hour winds, and some flooding. it got so bad the airport was shut down and thousands of people lost power. and with that, here is your wednesday weather. spotty showers from charleston and pittsburgh up to boston. wet and windy from l.a. to vegas, salt lake city and boise. another half a foot of snow in the sierras. up to 10 degrees above normal in the plains and midwest. >> upper 60s in the twin cities, 80 in omaha, and 85 inda 64 here in new y 62 in baltimor and 72 in atlanta. phoenix willet u8 albuquerque 78, and seattle is 68 degrees. hope you're hungry for this next story. from greasy spoon to gourmet, these people were thinking outside the can to dish out the meat that everyone loves to hate. >> yes, creative cooks descended on the texar 20th annual great american spam hampp. >> the contenders insist you can make spam as fancy as you and concoctions ranged from spam pasta salad to tuscany spam. >> top honors, though, went to the creator of the spam-aroni and cheese pizza. >> if memory serves, "top chef" had a whole challenge about this. so i think spam might be the new thing to be cooking with. >> and we'll be right back after we throw up. ♪ hey, good looking ♪ now, what you've got cooking ♪ ♪ uh oh. sorry, son. you still have too many of 'em. 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[ female announcer ] new charmin ultra strong. enjoy the go. for an extra clean finish, try charmin freshmates. it was the home invasion that stunned the country. two men accused of breaking into a house in connecticut and murdering a mother and her two daughters and then setting the place on fire. >> the sole survivor was the father, dr. william petit. he was in court when one of the accused men was found guilty. but as ashleigh banfield reports, this is not the end of the petits' nightmare. >> reporter: on the steps of a connecticut courthouse dr. william petit emerges stoic but relieved. >> we did our best to keep our faith in god that justice would be served. >> reporter: a guilty verdict for steven hayes. he's the first of two men to be tried for an unimaginable crime against dr. petit's family three years ago. >> there is some relief, but my -- my family is still -- still gone. it doesn't bring them back. it doesn't bring back the home that we had. >> reporter: dr. petit has come here day after excruciating day, reliving a nightmare. >> if your family was destroyed by evil, i think that you would all try to do the same thing and be there for your family. i mean, it's the one thing you can do. >> reporter: dr. petit endured wrenching testimony about the way his wife and daughters were tortured and murdered. it was july 23rd, 2007. two men broke into their home in cheshire, connecticut, beating him with a baseball bat. they tied him, unconscious and bleeding, to a pole in the basement. they then turned their attention to his wife and daughters. they tied 17-year-old hayley and 11-year-old michaela to their beds. meanwhile, dr. petit's wife, jennifer, was forced to drive to the family bank and withdraw $15,000. jennifer did as she was told. returning to her captor, steven hayes, in the family's waiting vehicle outside the bank. en route home, hayes stopped for gas, and yet again surveillance video shows him buying canisters of fuel, fuel that would be used to burn the girls alive in an attempt to hide the evidence of the crimes. >> in my 22 years of being a prosecutor i can't imagine anything that was as horrendous as the facts that we uncovered and heard about during this trial. if there ever was a case that deserves the death penalty, this certainly is one. >> reporter: the horror was far from over. mrs. hawke-petit, unaware that her youngest daughter lay raped and tied to her bed upstairs, was herself raped by hayes and then choked to death and doused in gas. >> they burned that house down, and they did it by pouring gas on the two young girls that were bound to their beds upstairs and throughout the house and down the stairs and on the body of jennifer hawke-petit. >> but the girls upstairs were still alive? >> the girls upstairs were still alive. >> and they just struck the match? >> and they struck the match. >> reporter: as fire began to engulf the girls and the body of their mother, the two men ran from the home using the family's suv as their getaway vehicle. but they didn't get far, slamming right into police cruisers that had formed a perimeter. they were cuffed on site, face down on the street. dr. petit was the only one to survive, freeing his hands and escaping through the basement. he crawled to a neighbor's house, his feet still bound. the neighbor called 911. >> i got bill petit here who's hurt, my neighbor. >> he's at your house? >> yes. he's right here. >> reporter: for dr. petit and his extended family they must still endure yet another trial for joshua komisarjevsky. but until then dr. petit says he hopes for some healing time with the family. >> we'll probably sit on the couch and talk and probably have dinner together and try to decide what we're going to do. >> reporter: and pay tribute to his wife and daughters. >> what matters to me most is my memories of my family and trying to do good things through our foundation. i don't know. over the last couple of weeks i've just kept trying to tell myself that good will overcome evil and then try to refocus myself on the positive and stay away from the negative. >> reporter: this is ashleigh banfield in new haven, connecticut. >> what an awful, unthinkable crime there. that jury will get back together october 18th to decide whether he'll be put to death. >> certainly has sparked a nationwide debate about the death penalty. such a sensitive topic. interestingly enough, hayes, when prosecutors originally got to him back in april, said he would plead guilty if the state would not seek the death penalty. and that's when prosecutors denied the plea. they said we won't -- this is not a topic where we could bargain. and i think a lot of people would argue if they don't get ♪ skinny ♪ so skinny welcome back, everybody. wednesday morning. that means we have to do our "dancing with the stars" update here. the latest one to get the boot. so if you didn't see the episode last night, you may want to turn away for a second. >> spoiler alert. >> exactly, spoiler alert here. margaret cho's the one that bit the dust last night. she got booted off last night. i think she's the third or fourth one to go home. so no -- what is it called? the mirrorball trophy for her. but she -- >> as if you don't covet it and want one secretly. >> yeah, yeah. there she goes, though. but anyways, she got very emotional last night, shed a few tears, said she had a wonderful experience. take a listen. >> you know what? i thought the judges were really hard on me, but i think you were hard on me because you could see that i am a dancer for real. and i thank you for that. i will take that with me forever. >> forever and ever and ever. oh. so anyway, congrats to margaret. also last night a little tidbit. michael bolton showed up last night to sing a ditty because he was replacing susan boyle, who was sick. but people were surprised by that because he had a falling out with one of the judges, who were none too kind. >> the good news is even though he can't dance he certainly can sing. >> he can sing. >> it was nice to see him execute that talent. >> there's your update. >> james franco, who if you have followed his career at all is an interesting man to say the least, has upped the ante. take a look at how he is posing on the cover of "candy" magazine's fall-winter 2010-2011 issue. in case you don't know what "candy" magazine is, the magazine itself is devoted to transvestites, transsexuality, cross-dressing and androgyny. he's 32 years old and he's basically premiering in a new flick called "howl." it was premiering in new york on september 13th. so he shot this particular cover. and as you can imagine, a lot of people are talking about it. but the interesting thing about james franco is if you don't know a lot about him and you've only seen him in something like "spider-man," npr actually did a story on him and called him the modern-day renaissance man in the sense that he's not only enrolled at yale and the rhode island school of design, he also randomly has been on "general hospital." this guy has had a career that you can't really follow and i think that makes him interesting to a lot of people. and you can see there he's obviously championing a new cause with the cover of that magazine. >> i just kind of stumbled on to his career because my girlfriend watches this show i had totally forgotten about from years ago called "freaks and geeks." >> oh, yeah, that's where he got started. >> that was his big start. i had no idea when it was out but just started watching it again. kind of interesting times. >> k you but o >> interesting art o c everyone naturally thinks of her lips. but they're gone. she decided finally after all these years she was going to fix them. t kedo cf3 and the after is kind ohard tell but if you really look at the top lip you'll notice it's a lot smaller. if you haven't followed the lip saga, basically a long time ago she had silicone injected into them, almost 25 years ago ,and them, almoste a shors ago ,and decision. last year she finally admi last yea. she finally admi deo f and she saithisf people don't like the after i ' listenin tople >> reminds me of that "living r reme >> they're being mean to her because she was honest. and this is the team of mobility experts who made it all happen. ii great news, you've been approved for payment. dr. cruz, i'm calling on behalf ofmarie stanford. and they can make it happen for you. hi, i'm doug harrison, if you're living with limited mobility, call the scooter store today. i promise, no other company will work harder to make you mobile or do more to ensure your total satisfaction. i expected they'd help me file some paperwork with medicare and my insurance. i never expected them to be so nice or work so hard to get me a power chair at no cost to me. if we qualify you and medicare denies your claim for a w scooter or power chair, i'll give it to you absolutely free. that's the scooter store guarantee. we'll wo with your insurance company, even help with financing. if there's a way, we'll find it. when they delivered mom's power chair, i expected they'd show her how to use it once or twice. that man stayed for hours! whatever it takes, as long as it takes. that's our guarantee. why do we go to < uch great lengths? because making you mobile is our mission. we'llwork wit your doctor. we'll work with medicare and lçur private insurance. we'll even service your scooter anywhere in the country. call the sco÷"er store today. here are some stories to watch today on abc news. former president bill clinton returns to the earthquake zone in haiti today. he plans to visit a temporary housing camp and meet with the prime minister. treasury secretary timothy geithner addresses washington analysts today. he will detail the administration's path to global economic recovery. and facebook executives plan to make a much-anticipated announcement at their california headquarters today. a san jose newspaper predicts facebook may be introducing a phone. >> wow. finally, this half hour, ready? the power of poop. yes, poop. but to a british community, though, this is actually no laughing matter. >> might be hard to imagine, but they are using human waste to heat their homes. could it be the beginning of a poop revolution? the bbc's john kaye. >> reporter: out of one pipe and soon it will be coming back through another. let me explain. this is didkut sewage plant. and coming in here is the waste from thousands of local toilets. now, i know what you want to know. and the answer is -- yes, it does. sites like this normally clean the sewage and turn it into water. but here they're turning it into household gas. and it starts in what they call the digesting chambers. so that is full of human poo? >> full of the poo from 60,000 people who live in this region. we warm it up. it ferments just like food does inside your stomach, it creates a gas, a biogas, which we then store inside this gas holder here. it's a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide. it's a dirty gas. so we need to clean it up, which is why we put it into those towers over there, which is where you take the carbon dioxide out, take out the nasty smells and we inject it into the grid for people to use in their kitchens nearby. >> reporter: people like catherine. so what does she think about using human gas to make her lunch? >> i think it's good. just classic recycling, isn't it? and we're going to run out of gas from the north sea in the near future. so it's good to have an alternative to that that's being produced anyway. >> reporter: the government has described the scheme as historic and full of potential. the plant provides gas to 200 homes now. but there will soon be similar sites right across the country. >> we believe that we can supply domestic homes up to 15% supplied by biomethane. >> reporter: they reckon that could happen within ten years, and there are plans to make gas from food waste and farm slurry as well. john kaye, bbc news, oxfordshire. >> anything for the environment, folks. be good. i'll see you in two minutes. be good. i'll see you in two minutes. [ thank you dear, very much. thank you dear, very much. rob, what's up? how's it going? how's it going? guys, this is my cousin rob from michigan. whazzup! he's a teenager. totally. hey, what's up? rob: all right. whoa. hey, you wanna slow down? no. really? huh. hey! do you know what a beautiful animal is? a horse. a horse. yeah. beautiful mane. unbelievable muscle tone. when it runs, it looks like poetry in motion. it's the most beautiful thing on earth. and sometimes when you feed a horse, its lips will tickle your hand. just, just tickle it just a little bit. it makes me giggle sometimes. i don't know. i guess what i'm trying to say is, if you don't slow down, i'm going to bite into your head like an apple. and thanks, guys, for listening to my horse stories. i could talk about ponies all day long. >> reporter: the suspected time square bomber showed no remorse and the judge showed no mercy. life in prison with no parole. faisal shahzad shouted "allah akbar" after receiving his sentence. "brace yourselves. the war with muslims has just begun, he told judge miriam cedarbaum." it was the same thing he said in a martyrdom tape made before he left on a trip to pakistan training camp on a mission to kill. it was only because of shahzad's incompetence that his car bomb did not detonate last may in times square. this is what the fbi says would have happened if shahzad had been a better bombmaker. hundreds might have been killed. it was totally appropriate that he forfeit his freedom. because he was willing to forfeit people's lives. >> reporter: authorities say shahzad represents al qaeda's next wave, one of the dozens of u.s. and european citizens who have been recruited to terror training camps in pakistan. >> they'll have european passports or american passports and be able to get back into their country with little suspicion. >> reporter: that's what's behind the current threat in europe. germans of afghan and turkish descent, britons of pakistani descent, and french of algerian descent. with europe still scrambling to prevent an attack, police in france arrested 12 people on tuesday, all charged with suspicion of terrorism. brian ross, abc news, new york. secret war negotiations aimed at peace in afghanistan are reportedly now under way. the "washington post" says that for the first time representatives of the taliban are carrying out talks with the afghan government. a comprehensive deal is now being considered. it could bring taliban figures into the government and force the exit of u.s. and nato troops. meanwhile, this morning militants once again attacked a nato convoy near the afghanistan-pakistan border. one truck driver was killed and at least eight oil tankers were torched. it's the sixth such attack to take place since pakistan closed some of its border crossings into afghanistan last month. the disappearance of a vermont grandmother is now a murder mystery. police confirm a body found in the woods by hunters is that of pat o'hagan. the 78-year-old widow had been missing since early september. police are not releasing any other details but say she is the victim of foul play. her adult children say they cannot comprehend why anyone would harm their elderly mother. mexican police say they have found no evidence to support an american woman's claim that her husband was killed while the couple was jet-skiing. tiffany hartley told police that pirates on speedboats shot her husband in the head, killing him. but police say they can't find david hartley's body or the jet-ski. tiffany tells our ryan owens she understands why investigators might think her story is untrue but she says she would never hurt her husband. you can see the full interview later today on "good morning america." an ex-convict has been found guilty in that deadly home invasion in connecticut. sean hayes was convicted of murder, sexual assault, and other charges after eight days of often gruesome testimony. jennifer hawke-petit and her two daughters were both killed. the sole survivor, dr. william petit, thanked all those who had been supportive during the horrific ordeal. >> there is some relief, but my family is still -- still gone. it doesn't bring them back. it doesn't bring back the home that we had. >> in my 22 years of being a prosecutor i can't imagine anything that was as horrendous as the facts that we uncovered and heard about during this trial. if there ever was a case that deserved the death penalty, this is it. >> in about ten days the same jury will begin hearing arguments on whether hayes should be executed for his crimes. u.s. law enforcement is helping colombian police in a new crackdown against drug cartels, and it's paying off. they seized more than $52 million in drug money yesterday. in the last month alone the operation has captured more than $140 million. the latest seizure came from what was described as a major provider of drugs to the u.s., mexico, and europe. the ordeal could soon be over for those 33 miners trapped more than 300 feet underground in chile. above ground, though, families marked the two-month anniversary of the collapse with renewed hope. jeffrey kofman reports now from chile. >> reporter: the end is in sight. it has now been more than two months since that mine collapsed here in northern chile, trapping 33 men more than half a mile underground. since then a frantic effort to rescue them. now three drill rigs working day and night to drill a rescue tunnel. the lead one, the so-called plan b up there, now just 450 feet from its target. but just when that rescue will happen is impossible to say. progress is erratic. some days it's advancing 150 feet. but on monday it advanced just 6 feet. the rescue could happen as early as this weekend. it's expected to happen by mid october. jeffrey kofman, abc news, at the san jose mine in chile. efforts to keep a flood of toxic sludge from reaching the danube river are under way right now in hungary. the sludge burst from behind a dam at an aluminum plant yesterday and spread across 16 square miles. at least four people were killed and more than 100 injured. the sludge contained so many heavy metals and chemicals that it was burning right through people's clothing. britain's prince william has successfully completed his first rescue as a helicopter pilot. he has a bit of a strange title, though, in the royal air force. he's known as flight lieutenant wales. as peter hunt of the bbc reports, his mission was a real and pretty serious one. >> roger. you are clear. >> reporter: after studying for two years, flight lieutenant wales finally put all his training to the test. he was the co-pilot, part of a crew of four in a sea king helicopter when they got the call. captured on william's helicopter's camera, this is the offshore gas rig in waucomb bay where a man had just suffered a heart attack. he was flown ashore and taken to hospital. for william it's the end of the first of many such rescues. >> we do 500 of these a year around the coast. so we are going to have plenty of opportunity to work with the royal family again. >> reporter: if all goes well, william will end up in command of a rescue helicopter and will respond to emergencies at sea and on land across the uk. the prince will also continue his fledgling charity work. recently, following in his mother's footsteps, he helped the homelessness charity centerpoint promote a fund-raising cd. for the next few years rescuing those in peril will become routine royal work. william's advisers here insist he'll perform this valuable role on merit and not because he's a future king. peter hunt, bbc news, st. james's palace. after months of anticipation, miami's big three finally made their pro basketball debut, but if you blinked you may have missed it. lebron james and chris bosh joined heat veteran dwyane wade in their preseason opener against detroit. but wade only lasted three minutes and 17 seconds before a strained hamstring sidelined him for the night. james added 18 points to the heat's 105-89 victory. well, now here is a look at your forecast. stormy with rain and gusty winds from los angeles to boise. more snow in the sierras. large hail and potentially dangerous winds in the phoenix area. some pop-up showers around boston, buffalo, and baltimore. >> 82 in miami. 78 in new orleans. upper 60s from fargo to detroit. about 80 in kansas city. 70s in billings, boise, and sacramento. 63 in colorado springs. 73 in portland. well, the checkered flag may have been sopping wet, but it didn't dampen any of the excitement. >> more than a dozen scuba divers faced off in the florida keys in a new action-packed underwater sport. they raced around a sunken ship in the national marine sanctuary using diver propulsion sea scooters. >> the event was part of the 21 formula h2o racing circuit, and the winner says the secret to success is his size. like jockeys in horse racing, he says it helps to be tiny. we'll be right back. when i got my 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luxury brands looks like bad news, though, to dealers. a lincoln dealer from southern california says ford plans to close as many as 200 lincoln showrooms. the plan was revealed in a closed-door meeting with the dealers. ford now hopes the remaining lincoln dealers will upgrade their showrooms and provide more perks, making them more competitive. there's a new safety rating system for cars that finally reflects women in the driver's seat. the government seems to have caught on to the fact that women actually drive. >> what he's saying is for the first time the new standards are using female dummies in their crash tests. emily schmidt has more. >> reporter: the government's new safety ratings aim to make an impact as big as these crashes themselves. >> we have raised the bar on safety. so more stars, safer cars. >> reporter: the national highway traffic safety administration now adds side pole crash testing to its evaluation. another major change adds female dummies to the crash tests. >> we are also rating a system now not just for male passengers or drivers but for female passengers or drivers. that's an extraordinary leap for us. >> our concern when they announced these new procedures is we thought they could do more. >> reporter: another group, the insurance institute for highway safety, has used female dummies in its testing since 2003. after discarding the theory that protecting an average-size man would protect everyone. >> we need to check out how restraint systems are working for smaller occupants and for lighter-weight occupants. >> reporter: most vehicles tested under the old government system earned a top five-star safety rating. not now. just 2 of 34 vehicles tested with the new standards, the bmw 5 series and hyundai sonata, received top marks. the nissan versa scored lowest with two stars. the top-selling toyota camry got three stars overall. toyota tells abc news, "this is caused by the new testing procedures, not because the vehicle is less safe." the new safety ratings are all available online. the government says because of these new, more stringent rules the 2011 rankings are not comparable to those of earlier years. emily schmidt, abc news, washington. >> as you would imagine, aside from us being dummies, they say that women like me, they actually -- since they're tinier they're closer to the window and so that makes like the impact to us much different than you. >> and in the system apparently the ones that did the best the bmw 5 series and the 2011 hyundai sonata did the best. so there you go. >> that's a little creepy. >> we look good. >> we look creepy. all right. coming up, what you may not know about whoopi goldberg. >> she's much more than a talk show panelist. her views on her movie career, her books, and her sex life, when we come crashing right back. whoopi goldberg has won every award there is. the oscar, the emmy, the grammy, even a tony. most of us would at that point just chill out and retire. but she keeps on working. >> of course there's also her every day gig on tv. and now she's also written a book. cynthia mcfadden stopped by "the view" for a look into whoopi's world. >> ooh. >> black people move quickly. >> reporter: whoopi is a master of the uncanny, often raw, always real, and sometimes slightly off-color riff. >> who are you? you can kiss my behind. >> i'm so glad you're doing my whoopi. >> reporter: the earthy yang to the refined barbara walters' yin. >> i think for both of us it was a new venture, or a new adventure. but it's been so successful. i mean, the audience just loves you. >> reporter: she's never been shy about being anything but totally honest. ironically, her first breakthrough role was a serious one. in 1985, when she played an abused wife in steven spielberg's "the color purple." she went on to win an oscar for the 1990 film "ghost." >> hey you. my name's sam wheat. can you hear me? sam wheat. say my name. say it. >> leave me alone! >> reporter: she'd come a long way from the housing project where she grew up as karen elaine johnson. >> ladies and gentlemen, whoopi goldberg. >> reporter: by 1994 hosting the oscars. >> there haven't been this many showbiz executives so nervous, sweating over one woman since heidi fleiss, honey. >> reporter: still, whoopi confesses, hollywood's never been entirely easy for her. >> as it turns out, people keep reminding me that i'm black, so i have a different kind of career. i didn't know this, clearly, because i just thought i was just whoopi. but i'm black whoopi, as it turns out. and so i have to always find things to keep myself occupied. >> hollywood's not looking for you? >> they're not looking for me. they've got a lot of younger versions. >> reporter: and we're here because she's also an author of a new book called "is it just me?" >> is it just you? >> no, it's not just me. it's not just me. >> reporter: the book is a sort of etiquette book on speed. >> i want to ask you, are we going to start with -- we've got to start with the cover. >> yes. >> yes? >> yes. i love the cover. >> whoopi on the toilet. >> yes. because this is what happens. you know, i'm sitting on the can -- >> right. you have to zoom in here. what's happening is someone is -- >> asking me for an autograph. >> has that ever really happened? >> yes, it happens all the time. it's like you know, you're in the bathroom, i'm in the bathroom, we're pretty much here to do the same thing. so why would you not wait till i did what i needed to do? to ask me for an autograph. >> reporter: that got her to thinking, she says, about how people treat each other these days. >> so i address a lot of stuff that's been freaking me out. >> reporter: stuff like the way people drive. >> i mean, doing your eyelashes. you know, putting on your lipstick. talking on the phone. doing too many things. all you should do in the car is drive. because it weighs like a gabillion pounds and can hit somebody and kill th >> do you think there's more there oewas >> yes, i do. i do think there's more meanness. and i don't know why. i guess it's easier. and we -- you know, also, we validate it. we have shows about mean girls. movies about them. girls want to be mean. because they think that's the hip thing to be. >> reporter: whoopi would like to change that. her inspiration, her mother, who died this past summer and to whom she dedicated her book. >> i think i'm just sad sometimes that i think who will love me the way that she did? she was good. >> she was good. >> yeah. >> you said something that so struck me. that you wondered whether anyone else would ever love you the way she did. i mean, that's a powerful idea. >> she's the deepest root that i have. she's the relationship that i've had the longest in my life. and so she accepted the good, the bad, and the strange about me. >> reporter: after three marriages she says there is no man in her life at the moment. >> sex is time-consuming. it's very time-consuming. because it's not just what you do. there's a build-up and, you know, there's like a whole relationship thing. and even if it's a one-night stand you have to like, you know, really sort of be into the person. i'm really into me. i'm into me. i'm 55, man. i'm into me. me and my cat. >> whether it's what she wears or what she says i think what makes her so likable is she's so honest about who she is. >> very real. >> listening to her, it's not been an easy path to figure out who that person was. >> absolutely. i'll make one editorial comment about whoopi. i wish she won the oscar for "the color purple" as opposed to "ghost." just my opinion out there. humble opinion there. but phenomenal talent. >> coming up, your papers. stick around. ♪ every time it's so right ♪ well, it feels so good [ female announcer ] new charmin ultra soft has an ultra-cushiony design that's soft and more absorbent. so you can use four times less versus the leading value brand. new charmin ultra soft. any city. hotwire has special deals 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had these models on a really strict diet. they were looking at what they ate, what they drank, how much they worked out. and this poor 20-year-old named van bale reached over and ate a croissant, and he got fired for it. >> are you kidding me? really? >> that is the story coming out of the "daily mail." they say the models are on shoots, they have really specific instructions. now, in defense, if there is a defense of the company, it sounds like they might have been told exactly when they should and should not be eating. so maybe he kind of was going against the timeline of events. but the bottom line is that he was fired for eating a croissant. so they're also noticing that these models were working like l pa hours and t - but the headline in andf itself i think is not good. >> but would a croissant really ruin, you know, whatever -- your stomach or whatever? >> i know from personal experience if yo of them it does start to ruin -- one i d right. >> that's a rough world. man. they take their sports very seriously overseas. and this is just another example. apparently, this was justd nieldin b so they had the preside couose morales, they had htake team that was captained by his political rival. apparently, the sitting game, and he took his anger out by giving the old knee to the crotch routine to a player on the opposing team. this is the president of bolivia here throwing his knee around like that. and apparently that was in retaliation because he felt he was fouled. he actually had a gash like in his leg. and that's how he got back at the opposing team. tried to have the guy who fouled him arrested. but the other guy luckily stepped in. ns so freak >> i have to ask. because you men are sort of notorious about the flop notorious about the flop p do we thinkt waas is what i'm >> as eddie murphy once said, if we're grazed in that area we're down for the count. i don't think that's a flop. that's very sensitive. >> that's why i havesk. it hurt >> this next story, before you guys get offended, it is a huge tourist attraction and that is why we are showing it to you. take a look at this t why we are showing it to you. take a look at this t apparently, the p w1 wasgrounn making news on this wednesday, october 6th. >> new signs of an economic rebound on the heels of a big day for the dow. its best in months.