making news in america this morning -- tough tone. hillary clinton's blunt words aimed at pakistan's efforts to fight al qaeda. why her criticism was so unexpected. rebound. signs the economy is on the mend. but many economists are worried about how we got here. and long ball two. after watching the phillies go deep in game one, the yankees even the world series with some muscle of their own. it's friday, october 30th, 2009. good morning. and thanks for being with us. i'm vinita nair. >> aim and stephanie sy in for jeremy hubbard. we begin with breaking news. coast guard and navy crews are searching for survivors, after a military collision off the coast of california. >> it happened last night about 25 miles east of san clemente island, where a pilot reported seeing a giant fireball in the sky. the marines say an 8h-1 helicopter collided with a coast guard transport plane. seven people were on board that plane. >> 65-degree water is cold. much colder than your body temperature. so, hyperthermia is a threat. all members go through survival training on a regular basis. and are prepared for the worst, in terms of having the proper gear. and the proper techniques to survive in these types of conditions. so, everyone involved is most likely been through that training. and they would know what to do in this case. >> again, a total of nine people are missing in the crash. we will have the latest on the search for survivors, coming up later this morning on "good morning america." secretary of state hillary clinton is in some hot water for comments she made in pakistan. she minced no words, saying that the country's leaders aren't doing enough to fight al qaeda. and in an exclusive interview coming up on "good morning america," clinton is not backing down. simon mcgregor-wood joins us now from london. good morning, simon. >> reporter: good morning, stephanie. the secretary of state, in pakistan, on a p.r. mission, to basically improve relations between the united states and this crucial, regional ally in the fight against al qaeda and taliban. and as you said, very controversial comments by hillary clinton last night. here's what she said to a group of journalists. i find it hard to believe that nobody in your government, the pakistani government, knows where they are. she means al qaeda. and couldn't get to them if they really wanted to. very open. very blunt criticism of the pakistani strategy towards al qaeda. even if public -- american officials have in the past privately criticized the pakistanis for not taking the fight to these tribal areas on the border with afghanistan, i think everyone was very surprised to hear the secretary of state make such an open and such a blunt criticism of the pakistanis. and it didn't go down well. stephanie? >> and the secretary finds herself going from one hot spot to another. right? >> reporter: that's right. out of the fire pyre into the fire almost. she's going back to the middle east to try to kick-start the peace process, that the president, president obama, has set such store by. months ago, he and secretary clinton came out publicly, in the drive to breathe new life back into the palestinian peace process. that was seven months ago. special envoy, george mitchell, is back in the area today. his tenth visit. and is still no nearer to these peace talks. difficult work for her in pakistan. even more difficult work for her coming up in palestine and israel, stephanie. >> to be sure. simon mcgregor-wood reporting from london this morning. thank you. and be sure to watch "good morning america" for the exclusive interview with secretary of state clinton. president obama meets with his top military advisers today for one of the final strategy sessions, before he decides whether to send thousands more troops to war. the president said witnessing the return home of fallen soldiers cannot help but make him think about the losses in the war zone. he says he thinks about those losses each and every day. >> it was a sober reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every, single day. the burden that both our troops and their families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how i see these conflicts. >> the president is expected to make his decision after the afghan presidential runoff on november 7th and before leaving for asia on november 11th. house lawmakers will likely vote next week on the latest version of health care reform. the democratic plan includes a public option and an expansion of medicaid. but with a price tag over $1 trillion, the moderates are balking. john hendren has details. >> reporter: house leaders called it nothing short of historic. >> the drive for health care reform is moving forward. the affordable health care act will ensure, again, affordability for the middle class, security for our seniors, and responsibility to our children. >> what a day. what a day for america. and what a day for all of our people. >> reporter: after months of compromises, house democrats presented a health care reform plan designed to cover 36 million more americans and cut the deficit. >> they forged a strong con censse census, that represents a strong step forward. >> reporter: the house plan includes a public option, costs $894 billion. includes a mandate requiring universal health care. and is paid for, in part, by a 5.4% surtax on the wealthy. republicans declared it ineffective and overreaching. >> it's going to raise the cost of americans' health insurance. it's going to kill jobs with tax hikes and new mandates in it. >> reporter: despite total gop opposition, speaker pelosi expects the house to approve the affordable health care act by november 11th, veterans day. john hendren, abc news, washington. well, the snow is finally tapering off in colorado today, giving residents a chance to dig out from the forest october storm in more than a decade. delaying flights and shutting down schools. some roads are still impassable this morn. and now, for this morning's weather from around the nation. that storm moving out of colorado brings several more inches of snow to nebraska and south dakota. another wet day in the middle of the country, with heavy rain and flooding in ten states, from texas to illinois. the weather could get severe in parts of louisiana and mississippi. rain in washington state. >> a wet 59 in seattle. 53 in boise. and 71 in sacramento. detroit climbs to 66. chicago, 63. and minneapolis, 55. in the northeast, it hovers around 60. it's 89 in miami. 83 in new orleans. and 63 in dallas. and when we come back, amid the economic recovery, a return to name brands. our business news straight ahead. and while that northwest airlines flight was out of touch for over an hour, why did it take so long to alert the military? 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(announcer) get your first prescription free and save on refills. advair. now you know. stocks are rising overseas this morning, after a report showing the u.s. economy grew faster than expected during the summer. it was the best indication yet that the recession is over. tokyo's nikkei average jumped 1.5% today. hong kong's hang seng is sharply higher. in london, the ftse opened flat. wall street had its best day in three months. the dow soared 200 points, closing at 9962. the nasdaq climbed 38 points to close at 2097. we will have more on the gdp report coming up in a few minutes. you may find another sign the economy is improving in kitchens and bathrooms. consumers are starting to pay a little extra for brand names like kellogg's cereals, goal gate toothpaste and tide detergent. on tuesday, they all gave upbeat earnings reports and even stronger outlooks for next year. general motors' money-back guarantee has been so successful, that the company is extending it another month. gm says the program will run until january. it offers refunds within 60 days of buying a car, giving customers a chance to try a gm vehicle with little risk. the king of pop is headed to the top of the charts again. michael jackson's movie "this is it," took in $7 million in the u.s. on wednesday. number one on the list is the "hannah montana" and miley cyrus movie, which took in $65 million. >> i will be seeing that this weekend. >> me, too. remember, you can get the latest business news anytime on our website, abcnews.com. when we come back, world series game two highlights. and why did it take so long to alert the military when that northwest airlines jet missed the airport? the system that didn't work. huhh... a spider web. is it real? no. just decorations. i'm going to make the biggest pumpkin of all. the biggest pumpkin? i need to make a witch's hat. in case my hat falls off. it's pointy and then... a spike. mamma... the best treats are the ones you get at home. rice krispies. childhood is calling. 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"do your ears hang low?") ♪ does your nose go to the ♪ do your side ♪it wide ♪ does your elbow have a crinle? ♪ ♪ do your knees sorta wrinkle ♪ does your chest tend tofreckle? ♪ ♪ do you have a crooked smile do your eyes... ...sit wide? ♪ do your ears sorta wiggle? ♪ does your hair make you giggle? ♪ ♪ does your neck grow long? ♪ do your hips sing a song? ♪ do your ears hang low? vo: it can go from a scratchy throat in the morning. to a cough. to a full body ache... at night. new tylenol cold rapid release gels day and night work fast too. they release medicine fast to relieve painful coughs, congestion and sore throats. so you can rest, day and night. feel better, tylenol cold. we continue, now, with a look at the road conditions you can expect for your morning commute. wet highways from the mississippi valley to the midwest. flash flooding on i-55 from memphis to missouri. and i-10 along the gulf coast. plus, snow-covered roads in the rockies. >> if you're flying today, expect airport delays in seattle and denver. moving east, minneapolis, chicago, detroit, st. louis, cincinnati and memphis. as we mentioned, world markets are higher on word from washington that the u.s. economy grew in the last quarter. >> but there are still lingering worries over whether the rebound can be sustained. viviana hurtado is joining us now from washington, with what's behind the latest numbers. good morning, viviana. >> reporter: good morning vinita and stephanie. some important indicators show progress. but for many american families, the recession is far from over. the numbers point to economic recovery. the government reported that in the third quarter, the economy grew 3.5%, which beat expectations. >> these improvements are the direct result of the tax cuts and investments that were part of the recovery act. >> reporter: now, government spending helped fuel the roults. cash for clunkers drove consumer spending on cars up 22%. an $8,000 first-time home buyer credit send porches up 23%. and the stimulus package poored $800 billion into the economy. >> i think the u.s. economy is out of recession. i want to see positive employment numbers. that's what's really counts for people. >> reporter: people like this maryland asphalt worker who says his economic recovery has been a road filled with potholes. >> you never know. they might lay you off today or tomorrow. >> reporter: 82% of americans recently surveyed in an abc news/"washington post" poll said the recession isn't over. a point not lost on president obama. >> the benchmark i use to measure the strength of our economy is not just whether our gdp is growing. but whether we're creating jobs. whether families are having an easier time paying their bills. whether our businesses are hiring and doing well. >> reporter: and consumer spending is weak. and unemployment is nearly 10%. and an important benchmark to watch is whether the strong wall street numbers creates jobs on main street. ste stephanie and vinita? in pennsylvania, thousands of juveniles have had their cases thrown out, after a judge in the cases was charged with corruption. the judge is accused of taking millions in kickbacks for sending kids to detention centers. none of the young offenders got a fair hearing. the u.s. military says it would have launched fighter jets to help track down that wayward northwest airlines flight. but it was out of the loop until just before air traffic krolg re-established contract. in the post-9/11 world, that delayed notification is raising serious concerns about national security. here's lisa stark. >> reporter: as controllers tried to reach the northwest jet for more than an hour, they turned to the airline and other pilots for help. but one key group was not notified early on, the military. general victor renuart is responsible for safeguarding the skies. how much do you think the system broke down? and how concerned are you about that? >> i think all of us are concerned that an aircraft sort of goes off the net for an extended period of time like that. >> reporter: the general says norad is usually notified within ten minutes of an unusual incident. in this case, the system broke down. so much so, that by the time f-16 fighter jets were ready to launch, controllers and the northwest pilots were back in touch. if you had gotten a more timely warning, do you think you would have put jets in the air? >> absolutely. absolutely. >> reporter: here's how it should have worked. controllers at denver center, when they couldn't raise the jet, should have notified their faa supervisors. the faa would then send out an alert, a call, over the domestic events network, monitored by the military, homeland security, fbi and scores of other agencies. that alert eventually did go out. but it may not have been until nearly an hour after radio contact with the plane was lost. >> i think that as soon as you find that you can't reach an aircraft carrying, perhaps, several hundred passengers flying over populated areas in the united states, you immediately rachet it up. >> reporter: the faa is conducting an internal review. and norad, too, is looking at its response, and says in the future -- >> launch the airplanes. get them up there. and then we'll sort it out later. >> reporter: because, he says, after 9/11, you can never be too careful. lisa stark, abc news, washington. it's round number two for the professor and the police officer. just three months after their white house beer summit, harvard professor henry louis gates and james crowley were spotted together at a massachusetts pub. it wasn't far from gates' home where he was arrested by crowley last summer. the world series is all tied up. details from j.w. stewart at espn news. >> thank you. and good morning. we start with game two of the world series. the yankees trying not to go down 0-2, heading to philadelphia. it was a.j. burnett against pedro martinez on thursday night. and burnett, earning his $82.5 million contract, against ryan howard. howard, 0 for 4, and 4 ks. he gets raul ibanez in the fourth. leading off the bottom of the fourth, mark teixeira off pedro. gone. his second of the postseason. 1-1 game. bottom of the sixth. hideki matsui golfs one out. the yankees hit six homers in the postseason. the rest was up to a.j. burnett. seven, strong innings. four hits. one run. struck out nine. 22 of 26 first pitch strikes. that's 85%, best of the season for burnett. pinch hitter jorge posada comes through to bring home brett guarder. 3-1 new york. they go to rivera for a six-out save. here against chase utley, a grounding of the inning 4-6-3 double-play. utley only grounded into five double plays in the season. we go to the ninth. matt stairs, tying run at the plate, facing mo. that will do it. yankees win 3-1. world vise tied at 1-1 apiece. with game three coming up saturday night in philadelphia. that will do it from here. vinita and stephanie, back to you. >> all right. thank you very much. it's harvest time at the white house. >> for the second time, first lady michelle obama and a few dozen schoolchildren, reap the benefits of the vegetable garden on the south lawn. >> so far, 700 pounds of food have come from the garden. proceeds of this harvest went to a local soup kitchen. and coming up, a look ahead at the stories we'll be following today, including the midair collision off of california's coast. and president obama getting set for another high-level meeting of afghanistan. it was a horrible feeling, like i couldn't catch my breath. i couldn't believe i was actually having a heart attack. i remember being at the hospital, thinking about my wife. i should have done more totake care of myself., now i'm exercising, waching my diet, and i trust my heart to lipitor. 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