the air traffic controllers caught sleeping on the job has now claimed a victim. the head of the faa s air traffic organization has now resigned. the government wants to reassure the public though that air travel is safe. diana alvear has more and joins us from los angeles. good morning, diana. reporter: peggy and mike, good morning. as expected, there was major fallout from all of those controllers falling asleep on the job. including increased staffing and a change in command. one was bad enough, but five incidents of air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job was too much. thursday, hank krakowski resigned. a day after an incident at the reno airport. an air ambulance was forced to circle while carrying a seriously ill patient. the pilot tried to call the tower seven times. no answer. the controller on duty was sleeping. all right we ll circle, some more. we ve got a pretty sick patient we may just have to land. reporter: the plane finally landed 16 minutes later with
the white house responded by saying, if the senate passes that, and it won t, the president will veto it. a recipe for a government shutdown. mike? peggy? the budget battle is a story about politics but it s about people. millions of americans could be affected as soon as tomorrow morning if the government shuts down. jake tapper has the details. reporter: we told you the story of louisville, kentucky s, jt henderson, his wife, and adopted son. worried about getting their tax refund because of a possible shutdown. if i could speak directly to the president and the congress fall leadership, i would just say that reporter: and at least one negotiator was watching. jt if you could speak to us directly in washington, he would tell us all this political grand standing has effects. as it trickles down the normal, everyday americans. there s no reason why we should not be able to complete a deal unless we ve made a decision that politics the more important
and if you can believe it, japan has once again been rocked by a massive aftershock. an update on the damage. and a look at the original debris from the original quake washed out to sea and now headed our way. but first, the showdown over the budget. or is the budget all that s at issue? the government runs out of money at midnight, but as of this hour, there s still no agreement in sight. the word is the numbers are close but the politics are still far apart. john hendren is following the negotiations in washington. good morning, john. reporter: good morning, mike and peggy. after another late night at the white house and more talk of progress, the clock on the government shutdown is still ticking. with just hours to go the deal is still no deal. i m not yet prepared to express wild optimism but i think we re further along today than we were yesterday. i expect an answer in the morning. i m not confident but i m very, very hopeful. reporter: no deal and no wonder. beneat
military families. mike and peggy? mr. obama said he expects an answer this morning. so stay with abc news for the latest details on america this morning and good morning america. and around the clock at abcnews.com. and overseas a strong aftershock killed at least two people in northern japan. look at this frightening scene at a local tv station as the 7.1 quake it hit. this was the strongest aftershock since the quake originally hit a month ago. it did not generate a tsunami and the nuclear power plant appears to have been spared from any damage. this morning toyota announced it will resume limited production at all of its plants beginning next week. in medical news, a stunning new study about the risk of a hospital stay. one in three patients will face a medical mistake, a number far higher than we ve been told before. sharyn alfonsi has a look at the numbers. reporter: these triplets are healthy today. a wagon full of cute. but hours after they were born, little taylee
fd today on world news now, spending shutdown showdown. time running out now that the federal budget is still in play. are both sides close to an agreement? if a deal is not made today the government will shut down at midnight tonight. it s friday, april 8th. announcer: from abc news this is world news now. good morning, everyone. i m mike marusarz. and i m peggy bunker. president obama huddled again late last night with congressional leaders trying to come to an agreement on the spending bill. are they any closer to a deal? or will the government shut down? if they do fail and the government comes to a halt, the lives of millions of americans will surely be affected. how the bickering on capitol hill will stop those on main street.