making news in america this morning -- >> hot air. the nation's eyes trained on a balloon, thoughts to be carrying a stowaway 6-year-old. but 'cause it just a stunt? record cold. an early blast of winter weather buries pumpkins is the snow. and tough questions for the president from a fourth grader. it's october 16th, 2009. good morning. i'm linsey davis in for vinita nair. >> i'm jeremy hubbard. there's new questions about the story that gripped much of the nation yesterday. the little boy thought to be in that balloon. >> the child was later found hiding at home. but when asked about the incident, by his father on tv, he said you had said we did that for a show. >> reporter: it was so dramatic, it put the best of televised car chases to shame. >> the latest update we have on the air balloon that is floating away with little falcon, it is heading east on i-76. >> he got up in the thing. and away it went. >> reporter: the national media snapped to attention. the colorado national guard was put on alert. flights from denver international airport diverted while the balloon was in the air. then, suddenly, that flying saucer started losing its lift. >> it's coming down, dude. >> reporter: it dropped into a field some 50 miles from where it left. rescuers scrambled to find the boy in the balloon, while viewers held their breath, hoping to see the little boy emerge, with an unbelievable tale of adventure. >> at this point, i'm going to say this kid is going to be okay. >> reporter: instead, 6-year-old falcon henne was never in that balloon. while the world watched, he was hiding in the attic, which he later proudly showed off to the assembled media. falcon was afraid his dad would blame him for untethering the balloon, letting it go from the backyard. >> i was scared that he was yell at me. that's why i went into the attic. i didn't want to come out really soon or else he'd yell at me. >> this week, a family of storm chasers. the henne's from colorado. >> reporter: the henne family has been featured not once, but twice, on the abc show "wife swap." >> i don't want to hear that. >> reporter: when this family isn't on reality tv, they like to go storm chasing. and, yes, they do bring the young boys. >> we're in the middle of hurricane gustav. >> reporter: i'm ryan owens, ft. collins, colorado. a former business partner of richard henne said she stopped working with him because he was putting the kids' lives in danger. diane sawyer will try to get to the truth of what really happened when she interviews the entire henne family later on "good morning america." this morning, millions of americans are waking up to weather that feels like december. in parts of the northeast, it is the earliest snowfall ever. and the coldest october storm in 30 years. in northern new jersey overnight, snow topped pumpkins, with still two weeks until halloween. snowplows on control. and snow shovels in shopping carts. a winter blast catching many offguard. >> everything was buried from last year. >> nobody's selling rock salt yet. >> is that what you're here for? >> yes. >> reporter: to the west, some areas of pennsylvania will see six inches of snow later today. in state college, it's the earliest snowfall on record. two inches, beating a record that lasted a century. but athletes bundled up at the university of connecticut. and at yankee stadium, the angels got a practice before the series begins. the windchill at game time will be in the 30s, an early reminder of what's yet to come. >> if you listen to the farmer's almanac, it's going to be a cold winter. this tells us it's just beginning. >> the colder temperatures are not on the horizon for everyone. government forecasters have released their winter outlook. predicting el nino will have a major impact. wetter in california. with warmer than usual in the north-central states. but it will be cooler in the southeast and the mid-atlantic. there's an increased chance of tornadoes along the gulf coast. now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. thunderstorms, rain, and hail in southern georgia and the florida panhandled cold but not as stormy from new york to d.c., as the nor'easter moves out. a mix of rain and snow in north dakota and minnesota. showers in the pacific northwest. a wet 63 in seattle. 67 in portland. phoenix hits near a record of 98. 48 in chicago. 43 in minneapolis. 40 for fargo today. 40s from boston to baltimore. but a hot 92 in miami. president obama took his health care reform campaign to a couple of fund-raisers in san francisco. protesters opposed to reform efforts were there to meet him. it all came as mr. obama's administration and congressional leaders worked towards a compromise bill in the senate. for his part, the president expressed some frustration at the partisan nation of the debate. >> i believe in a two-party system, where ideas are tested and assumptions are challenged because that's how we move this country forward. but what i reject is when some folks decide to sit on the side lines and root for failure. >> mr. obama also noted that any health care bill that is passed will help millions of uninsured americans. today, he goes to a form in texas, hosted by former president george w. bush. a suicide bomber blew up his car in a police station, at the northwest pakistani city of peshawar. the blast killed at least seven people. it happened outside a building where militants are held for questioning. sources say some suspects were there at the time of the explosion. meanwhile, pakistan's military struck militant bases near the afghan border with air strikes and missiles this morning. in neighboring afghanistan, we learned that president hamid karzai's vote tally in the august election is decrease. if it falls under 50%, car save would face abdullah abdullah in a runoff election. they could release their findings as early as tomorrow. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg is back home, after spending a night in the hospital. the 76-year-old justice had a reaction to mixing medications and fell from her seat aboard an airplane headed for london. it's the second time ginsberg has been hospitalized in the past month. the government is launching a study on a blur form of vision-correcting surgery. the fda says it will look into complaints stemming from lasik procedures, including dry eyes and blurred vision. an estimated 6 million americans have undergone the procedure, which reshapes the cornea. coming up, the cost to fly home for the holidays is climbing by the day. the nation's par czar tells one ceo, no bonus for you. and a baby stroller rolls off a train platform, with an infant inside. to give up maybe, the corporate life? 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ask your doctor about lyrica today. i'll give you $500 off. show me the carfax. i'll throw in the oil changes. just show me the carfax. a carfax report can help you choose a great used car. it's free at thousands of reputable dealers. just say, show me the carfax! earnings from a couple of tech giants will help set the tone on wall street today. shares of google are set to rise after the company reported a record profit in the third quarter. the results are an indication internet advertising the bouncing back from its worst funk since the dotcom bust. and google's ceo says the worst of the recession is clearly behind us. ibm is confident about its future. big blue is raising its profit outlook for the second time this year, after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter profit. but shares of ibm stock are set to drop today because some investors were hoping for even better results. stocks are mostly higher overseas this morning. tokyo's nikkei average rose 0.2% today. hong kong's hang seng is slightly higher. in london, the ftse also opened higher. the dow looks to close out the week at about 10,000. the benchmark added another 47 points yesterday, closing at 10,062. the nasdaq inched un1 point to close at 2176. the government's pay czar has come down hard on bank of america's outgoing ceo. the watchdog says ken lewis should get no salary or bonus for this year. and lewis agreed, looking to avoid a confrontation. he will pay back about $1 million he's already earned. but he is still expected to get tens of millions of dollars when he retires at the end of the year. well, when it comes to the looming holiday travel season, it's pretty clear that flyers who wait to buy their tickets will pay more. travel experts say airfares are rising every day. some flights on peak travel days like the wednesday before thanksgiving and the sunday after are up 10% in the last week. walmart and amazon may be giving books away by the end of the day, the way they're going. both are selling the top-ten preordered books for just $9. it started when walmart said it would sell those books online for just $10. amazon quickly matched that offer. but walmart wasn't done. it cut prices another dollar. and amazon matched that offer. in today's "usa today" tech report, an early look at the new version of microsoft windows. it releases its microsoft windows 7 next week. and "usa today's" ed baig says it go from vista. >> it's faster. it's easier to navigate. it's more compatible. there's a lot of things that make it a smoother and more pleasurable experience. it took microsoft a while to get here. but windows 7 is a winner. >> windows 7 will be available next thursday. and you can read ed's full review on u.s.today.com. next on this thursday, the president responds to critics who say he's not going enough to help the gulf coast recovery. but he gets one of the toughest questions from a fourth grader. and the dodgers and phillies begin the latest round of the playoffs. highlights from espn coming up. rr for all the moments that make every day special. fancy feast introduces an entirely new way to celebrate any moment. fancy feast appetizzrs. simple high qualiiy ingredients like wild alaskan salmon, white meat chicken, or seabass and shrimp in a delicate broth, prepared without by-products or fillers. new fancy feast appetizers celebrate the moment. goodwrench... we roll out the blue carpet for drivers of these great gm brands. we can do the small things, the big things, just about everything... right inside your gm dealership. find out more at goodwrench.com. ou find a way to eat right at work... grab it. 100% natural white meat chicken and no msg added. with egg noodles soup. harvest chicken/ m'm! m'! good! @ work. get what dermatologists now recommend to fight aging... in new aveeno positively ageless multidefense. a combination of a high spf and powerful antioxidants... designed to reduce lines and wrinkles in just 4 weeks. new from aveeno. gm drivers.. it's goodwrench & go time. three great services: all in one place. all at one time. all for one price for most gm vehicles. but it's only for a limited time. at participating gm dealers. i've got good news. you need more fiber. huh? don't worry, it tastes great. froot loops now with 3 grams of fiber. it makes your tummy happy so it can absorb the good stuff you need, which your mom is gonna love. it does taste great. fiber is a great way to keep ya healthy. i can never read these things. kellogg's froot loops and apple jacks cereals, now provide fiber. kellogg's makes fiber fun. we continue on this friday morning with a look at road conditions. slick on interstates 80 and 95, from boston to d.c. and flooded highways in the southeast. snow-covered highways from minneapolis to fargo. and wet also on i-5, between portland and seattle. if you're flying today, expect airport delays in minneapolis and also in seattle. in east philly, boston, orlando, miami, new york and d.c. president obama's heading to houston today, invited by the first president bush, to speak at a community service forum there. the president is fresh from his trip to new orleans, his first one since taking office. he left that city with a promise that he will help them rebuild from katrina, stronger than before. here's abc's t.j. winick. >> reporter: air force one touched down in the big easy. barack obama's first visit as president. he first met with students at the martin luther king charter school, in the hard-hit lower ninth ward. >> i'm especially glad to come back here because, i remember four years ago, right after the storm, you know, a lot of people felt forgotten. >> reporter: when then-candidate obama visited the hurricane-ravaged city, he mocked president bush for not spending enough time there. >> a lot of people saw a president from an airplane, instead of down here on the ground. >> reporter: now, it's president obama who is the target of frustrated locals. many have complained about the president's brief, four-hour visit, calling it a glorified fly-over. >> there's a lot more issues than going to a school gymnasium and listening to people talk about problems. >> reporter: the commander in chief was questioned about why the recovery is taking so long. >> we are working as hard as we can, as quickly as we can, to process through in m of these issues. >> reporter: and he touted his administration's efforts, including $1 million towards public infrastructure for louisiana. >> i made it clear we're not going to tolerate the usually turf wars between agencies. >> reporter: members of president obama's cab innocent and senior administration officials have made 22 trips to louisiana in 2009. but just five to mississippi and four to alabama. t.j. winick, abc news, washington. as the president wrapped up the town hall meeting in new orleans, he was taken aback by a fourth grader who posed a very blunt question. >> why do people hate you. and why? they're supposed to love you. and god is love and -- >> that's what i'm talking about. you know, i think you have to tan it with a grain of salt. some of it is just what's called politics. and so, you've just got to keep on going, even when folks are criticizing you because, as long as you know that you're doing it, for other people. all right? so, thank you. you're a fine, young man. >> the president also told 9-year-old terence scott that sore losers in politics gripe and complain. and that it's part of the job. the first lady spent time in florida yesterday, meeting with military families. mrs. obama told the crowd of more than 1,000, that those outside the military, can't understand the stress of multiple deployments. and she vowed that the voices of military families will be heard in washington. one of the most popular names in country music has decided to unretire. garth brooks announced yesterday, he will play the wynn hotel on the las vegas strip, beginning in december. the agreement allows brooks to perform on the weekends and return to oklahoma during the week. he retired in 2000 to spend more time with his family. also getting back to work were the phillies and dodgers, as they opened the second round of baseball's playoffs. highlights from mike yam at us opinion news. >> good morning. we start with the big matchup in baseball. it's the nlcs game number one between the phyllis and dodgers. throwing out the first pitch. clayton kershaw, cruising through four. not the case. carlos ruiz, a three-run shot. his first home run of the postseason. dodgers down 5-2. that's manny ramirez. off of cole hamels. it's a two-run shot. manny's first home run of this postseason. dodgers down, though, 5-4. moving to the eighth. george sherrill, still in. raul ibanez, having a great season. takiing sher ril deep. moving to the sait. manny, with two outs. ryan madsen, with the groundout to third base. manny, one for five with a home run. and phillies take game number one. battle of two unbeatens. number 21 south florida, hosting number eight, cincinnati. bearcats up 17-7. tony pike under some pressure, gets hit hard by aaron harris. take a closer look. heads to the locker room. the sprained wrist. he would come out for one series in the third. and would have to sit on the bench, which means it's all about the backup. bearcats up 17-20. it's zach po lars. getting a block. taking it up the middle. and shaking a tackle, 75 yards for the score. cincinnati goes on to win. they've won four-straight against south florida. jeremy and linsey, back to you. we have one more sports highlight. check out 9-year-old oliver walstroom of maine. he brought out this amazing shot from his bag of tricks. >> the goalie never stands a chance. he says his father taught him how to do it. >> somebody sign the father and the son. and from australia, some truly heart-stopping video. watch closely as this mother stands with her baby stroller on the platform. and suddenly, the stroller rolls on to the tracks and is hit by the train. the mom, understandably hysterical. >> here's the amazing part, the 6-month-old infant survived with only a bump on the head. officials say it was because the baby was firmly strapped into the stroller. amazing. coming up on this friday, a look ahead at the stories we'll be following today, including the new questions about a boy and his runaway balloon. was it a misunderstanding? or a big stunt? and hurricane season snts over just yet, with another one expected to be named today. i was active, eating healthy. i thought i was ingreat shape. so i was surprised when my doctor told me i still had high cholesterol. that really hit me, and got me thinking abut my health. i knew i had to get my cholesterol under control. but exercise and eating healthy weren't enough for me. now i trust my heart to lipitor. 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(announcer) .have a heart to heartr with your doctor about your cholesterol. and about lipitor. i'll give you $500 off. show me the carfax. i'll throw in the oil changes. just show me the carfax. a carfax report can help you choose a great used car. it's free at thousands of reputable dealers. just say, show me the carfax! ever wonder how cheez-it bakes... so much real cheese in such small bites? ♪ baking complete! well, now you know. cheez-it. the big cheese. well, now you know. that's why i use covergirl's simply ageless makeup with olay regenerist serum. a department store brand can glob up in lines and actually make you look older. simply ageless makes you look amazing. from olay and easy, breezy, beautiful covergirl. now, a look ahead to the stories we'll be watching on this friday. there are questions this morning whether the boy and the balloon was a publicity stunt by his father. in an interview after the two-hour balloon chase, the 6-year-old thought to be on board alluded to doing it for a show. the father said it was no hoax. the family, no stranger to the camera. they've appeared twice on reality shows. the coldest october storm in a nation, moves out of the northeast, leaving six inches of snow behind in some areas of pennsylvania. tropical storm rick is expected to become a hurricane today. it could soon be packing winds of 135 miles per hour, as it heads to mexico's western coast. president obama is speaks at a community service forum at texas a&m today. conservative groups are planning to protest his visit. an after and evening of championship series baseball. the phillies and dodgers play game two of their series. then, the angels and yankees begin theirs in new york. coming up this morning on "good morning america," another reason to hit the gym this weekend. new research shows that exercise can actually increase your i.q. we'll tell you what the scientists are saying. >> you must be a genius. that's coming up on "good morning america." for some of you, your local news is next. >> for everyone else, "america this morning" continues after this. the great taste of splenda® no calorie sweetener and added a little fiber? sweet! sweet! 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[ sniffs ] [ male announcer ] for all the things that you can't wash, wash it with febreze. research shows that dancing is good for your heart. so is fish oil. nature made fish oil protects your heart so you can dance great and live great every day. nature made. fuel your greatness. w captions by: caption colorado, llc (800) 775-7838 comments@captioncolorado.com today, people in baltimore county get ready to arm themselves against the swine flu. hundreds are expected to brave the cold to get the vaccine. a deadly bacteria in one apartment complex has many people worried. many are worried about how to protect themselves after one person is dead. frightening moments yesterday for one family. they thought their son was stuck inside this experimental home made balloon. their child was found right where the story began. incredible story. we have a lot ahead this morning. thanks for joining us. it's friday. i'm megan pringle. jamie's on the go this morning. we'll check in with him live later on. meanwhile, we'll send it over to justin. >> reporter: if you liked yesterday, you will love today. check out these temperatures. parts of central maryland and the sound of our signal approaching freezing. not quite there at 35 degrees. oh, that is a raw start in westminster, 37 in ellicott city. in dundalk and aberdeen we're at 39. rain and light drizzle overnight. as far as we are concerned, that is an issue that just makes news headlines. parts of central pennsylvania, 6 inches of snow is forecast near williamsport and outskirts of state college, pa and still snowing. as far as we are concerned, it is a matter of drizzle and light rain. at best downtown, 45. afr two degree guarantee this