WASHINGTON — Democrats brushed off a White House veto threat and pleas for patience from the top U.S. commander in Iraq today and pushed toward a vote demanding that troops begin coming home this fall.

Their insistence guaranteed a historic showdown with President Bush, the first on the war since Democrats took control of Congress in January.

"Our troops are mired in a civil war with no clear enemy and no clear strategy for success," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

Late today, the House was expected to pass a $124.2 billion war-funding bill that would require troop withdrawals to begin Oct. 1 with the goal of completing the pullout six months later. Bush has promised to veto the bill and has enough Republican votes to sustain his objection.

Bush dispatched his Iraq general, David Petraeus, and other top officials to Capitol Hill to make his case: Additional forces recently sent to Iraq are yielding mixed results and the strategy needs more time to work.

Dow Jones industrial average passes 13,000 as upbeat earnings reports continue

NEW YORK — It looks like cause for celebration: The Dow Jones industrial average surged from 12,000 to 13,000 in just six months. But appearances can be deceiving, and there may be more reason to worry than rejoice about Wall Street's latest accomplishment.

Stronger-than-expected profits from several large companies helped push the stock market to historical heights. But many big corporations, including the Dow components, made a chunk of that money overseas, where economies are growing faster than in the United States. And many of the same worries that weighed on investors earlier in the year remain: rising energy costs, a slumping housing market and a possible credit crunch.

Still, the stock market's best-known indicator swept past its latest milestone shortly after trading began today, and even made it past 13,100, rising as high as 13,107.45. The Dow, which has risen in 18 of the past 20 sessions and gained more than 780 points in that time, closed at 13,089.89, up 135.95, or 1.05 percent. It was the Dow's 35th record close since the start of October.

The broader market shared in the rally. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 15.01, or 1.01 percent, to 1,495.42, after reaching 1,496.59, a six-and-a-half-year high. The technology-dominated Nasdaq composite index advanced 23.35, or 0.92 percent, to 2,547.89, after hitting a six-year high of 2,551.39.

And the Russell 2000 index, which reflects the performance of smaller companies, inched past a record close set earlier this month, rising 5.71, or 0.69 percent, to 832.07.

Taliban leader says bin Laden was behind attack in Afghanistan during Cheney visit

CAIRO, Egypt — A top Taliban commander said al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was behind the February attack outside the U.S. military base in Bagram, Afghanistan, during the visit there by Vice President Dick Cheney, according to an interview shown today by Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera.

Bin Laden planned and supervised the attack that killed 23 people outside the base during Cheney's visit, said Mullah Dadullah, the Taliban's main military commander in southern Afghanistan who has had close associations with al-Qaida.

"You may remember the martyr operation inside the Bagram base, which targeted a senior U.S. official. ... That operation was the result of his wise planning. He (bin Laden) planned that operation and guided us through it. The operation was a success," Dadullah told Al-Jazeera.

He did not say how he knew that bin Laden planned the attack, and it was not immediately clear when the interview took place.

Deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino said it was "an interesting claim but ... I haven't seen any intelligence that would support that."

Police: Virginia Tech gunman fired 170-plus shots, rampage lasted 9 minutes

BLACKSBURG, Va. — The massacre inside a chained-shut Norris Hall went on for nine minutes as Seung-Hui Cho fired off 170 rounds, killing 30 people before shooting himself in the head, police revealed today. But they said investigators still don't know why Cho launched the bloody attack on his fellow students at Virginia Tech.

"We talk about possible motives and theories and whatnot, but we don't have any evidence to suggest anything," said State Police Superintendent Col. W. Steven Flaherty.

He said investigators had searched computer files, cell phone records and e-mails, and had compiled 500 piece of evidence from Norris Hall alone.

Yet so far, nothing indicated a motive or close link between the 23-year-old loner and his victims, Flaherty said.

Two hours before Cho chained shut three public entrances to Norris Hall and started his rampage there, he gunned down his first two victims in a dormitory across campus. In between, a package was mailed to NBC containing Cho's videotaped tirade and written manifesto about rich "brats" and their "hedonistic needs."

McCain stresses experience, vision as he seeks to revive troubled campaign

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — It wasn't supposed to be this way.

John McCain was the presumptive Republican front-runner, the next in line for the nomination in a party that historically respects hierarchy.

Now, he's trying to revive his troubled campaign. He is making the case for his candidacy by stressing his decades of experience in wartime and Washington and claiming he has the will to make tough, and sometimes unpopular, choices to heal the nation's woes.

"I am qualified. I am ready to serve. I need no on-the-job training. And I have the vision and capability," the four-term Arizona senator, ex-Navy pilot and former Vietnam prisoner of war, said today after formally declaring his second attempt to win the White House.

A loser in 2000 to George W. Bush, McCain chose to officially enter the presidential race in New Hampshire _ the state's primary was the political high point of his last bid. He selected Prescott Park, which sits across the Piscataqua River from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

White House says Bush sympathetic to Tillman family, hopes for accountability in Defense probe

WASHINGTON — President Bush hopes someone is held responsible for the U.S. military's mishandling of information about the death of former football star Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, the White House said today.

Bush did not learn about the unusual circumstances of the Army ranger's death until after the soldier's memorial service on May 3, 2004, said deputy press secretary Dana Perino.

Military officers at first said Tillman had died in an ambush, when in fact he was accidentally killed by fellow U.S. troops.

"I think that he feels deeply sorry for the family and all that they've gone through," Perino said. "And he's pleased that the Department of Defense has taken it upon themselves to investigate it. And he hopes that people are held to account."

Tillman's death received worldwide attention because he had walked away from a huge contract with the NFL's Arizona Cardinals to enlist in the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Pentagon initially misled his family about how he died on April 22, 2004, and relatives did not learn the truth for more than a month.

Wreckage searched from tornadoes that killed 10 on Texas-Mexico border, 11th man dies in Louisiana

EAGLE PASS, Texas — Dozens of search and rescue crews scoured the mangled remains of houses and trailer homes today for more victims of tornadoes that killed at least 10 people in this border community and its Mexican neighbor. An 11th victim died in Louisiana.

Twisters cut across a nearly 4-square-mile area in a rural community southeast of Eagle Pass on Tuesday night, destroying two empty elementary schools, a church, business and homes. Several mobile homes were still missing today as searchers with dogs went lot to lot.

A family of five — a girl, her parents and two other relatives — was killed when the winds blew their mobile home across the street and slammed it into Rosita Valley Elementary School.

"It was a whole family, and they were all together, probably like they were huddling," said police Officer Ezekiel Navjas, who arrived Tuesday night just as crews were pulling from the wreckage the body of the girl, believed to be about 5 years old.

"I've never seen nothing like this," he said, shaking his head as he walked down a dirt road lined with homes cut in half like doll houses and mesquite treetops torn from their trunks.

Rosie O'Donnell says she's leaving 'The View'

NEW YORK — Her tenure short but hardly sweet, Rosie O'Donnell said today she will leave "The View" in June after less than a year of feuds, headlines and higher ratings for ABC.

The opinionated host said she and ABC couldn't agree on a new contract — she wanted one more year, ABC wanted to lock her up for three. So she decided to leave, although she will appear occasionally next season for things like a planned one-hour special on autism.

O'Donnell made more than $3 million for her season on "The View." ABC was willing to spend more to keep her, but wanted a three-year deal so it didn't have to worry about O'Donnell as a potential competitor. She could easily command her own talk show for much more money: She was making some $30 million a year before "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" shut down in 2002.

"It just didn't work," she said on the show today, "and that's show biz. But it's not sad because I loved it here and I love you guys and I'm not going away."

O'Donnell has helped increase the chat show's audience by about a half-million a day. But her outspokenness has caused continual controversy, including a nasty name-calling feud with Donald Trump that placed "The View" creator Barbara Walters squarely in the middle.

Rick Carlisle fired after 4 tumultuous years as Indiana Pacers coach

INDIANAPOLIS — Rick Carlisle was fired today after four tumultuous years as coach of the Indiana Pacers, who failed to make the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

Carlisle said he understood it was time for the Pacers to hear a "new voice." Team president Larry Bird said Carlisle has an option to return to the team in another capacity. Carlisle was appointed vice president in October and has until June 15 to decide if he wants to keep that title.

The Pacers finished the season 35-47, their worst since 1988-89. Indiana was 29-24 shortly after the All-Star break, but lost its next 11 games to fall out of playoff contention. A loss to Detroit on April 3 clinched the Pacers' first losing season since 1996-97.

Carlisle struggled to manage talented but volatile players. Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson were the two most prominent players in the 2004 brawl between Pacers players and Detroit Pistons fans. That brawl started the unraveling of a team that was expected to make several title runs.