nasdaq down 9.25. isn't that exciting? >> you know, i was -- i could barely contain myself. it was exciting. anything on cnn money.com we should be paying attention to? >> oh, yeah. the question of the day. why would hp make more of these touchpads and then sell them at a loss. it's now selling its touchpads for 99 bucks, a big loss. they say it's to meet unfilled demand. insiders say it's really because suppliers have way too many ports so they have to continue making choice. carter evans, thank you. you loved your appearance on the jay leno show. are your famous now. more famous than you are now. "american morning" continues right now. >> water slowly going down. devastation becoming clear. i'm ali velshi. days after hurricane irene, people finding what's left of their lives under piles of mud and some cut off. corners of new england are finally getting help.

>> i'm christine romans. a warning from the 9/11 commission. america is not properly prepared for another terrorist attack because nine of the commission's security recommendations made back in 2004, nine of them, have been ignored by the government. >> i'm carol costello. the stand-off is over. the president agreeing to reschedule his big jobs speech next week. backing down from john boehner on this "american morning." >> good morning. good morning, good morning. thursday, september 1. welcome to "american morning." >> september 1. >> can you believe that n. >> no. >> september is supposed to be newsy. >> four months in a row for the dow. >> libya. >> okay. >> but tomorrow is friday. so good morning. >> there you go. suffering after the storm, still following the devastation from hurricane irene, it was another dark night for close to 2

million people days after irene knocked out power. the floodwaters started to recede and revealing muddy, awful marks that are being left behind in new jersey. some of the 1700 people who left their homes are now returning to see the damage. president obama will travel to patterson, new jersey, this weekend. our susan candiotti is live in little falls, new jersey, where high water is keeping thousands of people from returning home. for some a boat is the only way they can survey the damage to their homes. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, christine. we are standing in water that's now dropped about six inches from the time we were here last night. that's still almost five feet above flood stage. take a look at the pay phone booth to compare where we are sta standing. check out that car wash. it is like a lot of business necessary this particular area of little falls that can't reopen because the businesses are surrounded by water. here is a stop sign that leads to that neighborhood. way back there. the only access is by boat.

we hitched a ride. it is now -- yeah, now called lake passaic. i'm seeing what are probably the tops of fences leading up to the front door. that's not a house on estimates. that's a garage that's under water. they stayed around? lost the car. oh. a classic mustang lost. yeah. if you have gone through this time and again, why do you and other people still live here? >> you know, what are you going to do? you cancel the house. up can't give them away down here. >> reporter: here is a sign over here that has double meaning now. road closed few hundred feet ahead. local traffic only. at this point it is local boat traffic only. you are about to start school. senior year in high school coming up in a week. >> yeah. >> reporter: what's going through your head? >> how am i going to prepare for school? my clothes, everything is stuck at home. i don't know how i'm going to get them. everything is closed to go shopping. mall is down.

i don't know where to go. >> reporter: all you have is a suitcase you were able to run out with? >> yes. five pants, five shirts, that's it. that's all i have. school starts in one week. >> reporter: probably won't be the only one. >> yeah. plenty. i have so many friends that live on this street. >> wow. >> reporter: is this the first time you are seeing it? >> yes. >> reporter: how do you even begin to think about the cleanup involved here? what's going through your head? >> i don't want to think about that right now. as long as we are safe that's good. that's the main thing, to be safe. then the cleanup comes next. >> reporter: that gentleman said he cannot even begin to describe what's going through his head right now as he saw his house for the first time. so what lies ahead? a lot of cleanup and a lot of heartache. christine? >> wow. all right. susan candiotti, thanks so much.

>> incredible. record drought is has turned parts of texas into a tinderbox. a wildfire near dallas continues to burn out of control. the flames have already destroyed more than three dozen homes in the region. hundreds more being threatened. 90% of the state of texas is under severe drought conditions. neighboring oklahoma strong winds are hampering crews. 40-mile stretch of interstate 44 between oklahoma city and tulsa had to be shut down because of smoke from the fires. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center. >> as you mentioned drought. that's the ongoing problem. we need rain to get in here in order to moisten up the soil. lit take quite a bit. 90% p under extreme drought. exceptional drought which is the dark, dark red. that's over three-quarters of the state. it would take really several tropical systems to get in there to alleviate that. we have severe red flag warnings posted again today because of the heat and the winds across

oklahoma. and parts of kansas. this may help the cause. we just don't know where it is going to go. tropical disturbance heading into the gulf mexico. probably will become something in the next couple of days. hurricane hunter aircraft expected to go in and investigate it. as far as what our models are picking up on now, weak steering currents. they have no clue what's going to happen with this. some bringing it to louisiana and texas. some rain in louisiana. whipt back down to mexico. so we just don't know at this point. be prepared and hope for the best. certainly folks in texas hoping for something in the way of moisture coming that way. katia is now a hurricane, category 1 strength expected to become a category 3 storm. as we get closer to the weekend heading towards the u.s., there are chances it veers off. can't say that for sure now. still a threat. let's deal with that gulf of mexico issue here over the next if you days. back to you. >> thanks, rob. hurricane irene, talk more about it. hurricane irene has uncovered

more cracks in the washington monument. the national park service says repair crews found puddles near the top of the monument and in the stairs after the storm which means they missed some holes. inspectors originally found four cracks after the east coast earthquake. so the monument remains closed during repairs but engineers still say it is structurally sound. you will have to wait one day longer to hear president obama's big jobs speech next week. the. wanted to address a special joint session of congress on wednesday, september 7. that would have conflicted with the scheduled gop presidential debate in california. house speaker john boehner pushed back and president agreed to reschedule the speech to september 8. which also happens to be opening night for the nfl. rihanea brianna keeler live. it makes the president look weak, some say. he came out and asked congress for appearance before a joint session and scheduling conflicts got in the way. why didn't they work that out

ahead of time? >> well, normally they do, as we understand it, that there's consultation that goes on behind the scenes between, say, the speaker's office and the white house. then the letter request the kind of sort of a formality. it is something worked out behind the scenes. it does in the make the president look weak. it raises the question -- is the white house and house republicans, are they not even on the same page logistically when they have to be tackle thing substantive issue that affects so many millions of americans? that is jobs. this is the weird e thing to watch unveil yesterday. you saw dueling letters, first the white house put out one, the request for the opportunity for the president to address a join session of congress. then not too long after that, you saw a letter from house speaker john boehner, although there was kind of a gap in time to give you a sense not all was well for sure. and this letter essentially said

no. how about thursday instead? all the while you were hearing from house republicans saying we were not consulted about this. there's timing issues because we have votes on wednesday night before the speech. there is not going to be enough time for security sweep. as you know, there's also a republican presidential debate on wednesday night which certainly factored into this. that was supposed to be at the exact time that president obama was requesting. bottom line here, we are now looking at the president having his address on thursday night, the time still tbd. >> there could be controversy over when the president is going to give his jobs package. before we even get to controversy about what is in the jobs package, i think kind of highlights the political climate we are in. >> i think you are right. >> brianna keilar. thanks. now it is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question this morning is president obama's jobs plan doa before it is unveiled? it is not exactly off to a fantastic start.

the president has already had to postpone the unveiling of his plan by 24 hours to avoid a clash with republicans. as "the washington post" op-ed put it this backs up so well the image obama faced since the start of his term. if the white house spent months working to appear above the partisan fray, as they insist they have, then pulling a blatantly partisan stunt like this torpedos all of that pr work. don't think the republicans running for president didn't pile on. >> now does this show a little insecurity on the part of the president? either a, he wants to distract the american people so they don't watch it ob, he doesn't want the american people to hear what the next president of the united states is going to say about the president's job plan. >> whether you think that's fair

or not, the president is welcoming the opportunity to address a joint session of congress on thursday. so our nation's leadkers focus 100% of their attention on doing whatever they can to help the american people, end quote. today's talk back question -- doesn't bode very well, does it? the question is president obama's jobs plan doa before it is even unveiled? facebook.com/americanmorning. i will read your comments later this hour. >> let's hope it is not doa. >> i hope not. moammar gadhafi's sons are speaking out as the saturday deadline for the regime to surrender quickly approaches. speaking to a syrian tv station, he called on gadhafi loyalists to clean the country from those gangsters. he said his father is fine and drinking tea and coffee with his family. he didn't reveal where the fugitive dictator is, his brother also said he won't surrender to opposition forces.

good to know he's drinking tea and coffee. ten years, ten years now, after 9/11, america is still not prepared for another attack. the disturbing details in a new 9/11 commission report. who didn't do what and why ahead? a liberal democrat accusing members would like to see african-americans, quote, hanging on a tree. this morning he is standing by those words. ♪ everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn. ♪ everything you need to stay balanced

on long trips. residence inn. i'm not looking forward to my flight. try this. bayer aspirin? i'm not having a heart attack. it's my back. no, this is new bayer advanced aspirin... clinically proven to relieve tough pain twice as fast as before. what, did you invent this or something? well, my team did. i'm dr. eric first, from bayer. wow. look. it has microparticles. it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief right to the site of pain. better? great! thanks. [ male announcer ] new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief. twice as fast. test our fast relief. love it, or get your money back.

you know, the oneslief. who do such a super job, they're backed by the superguarantee®? only superpages®. wherever you are, wherever you're going, you'll find the super business you need. so next time, let the good guys save the day. get the superguarantee®, only at superpages®. in the book ... on your phone or online. membership rewards points from american express. they're a social currency.

with endless possibilities. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. welcome back to "american morning." the 9/11 commission has just come out with a new report warning of serious security lapses in the fight against terrorism. the report hey lights nine recommendations that the commission itself made back in 2004 that the government has essentially ignored. the commission members aren't holding back with criticism. chris lawrence joins us live from the pentagon this morning with this developing story. just day ace way from the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and

commission members that work really hard are saying that they were largely ignored. >> yeah. i mean, if this was a report card, the federal government would pass but it wouldn't come close to getting an "a" on national security. in fact, one of the commission members even asked that this question that -- should make all of us sit up and take notice, he said if it takes another ten years to implement these nine recommendations, how in the world are we going to stay ahead of the terrorists? the 9/11 commission's new progress report says ten years later, some emergency responders still can't communicate by radio in a crisis. some cops can't talk to firefighters and can't talk to emts. >> they died because of that on 9/11 and died because of that in katrina and they will die in the future unless this particular problem is not solved. >> reporter: the report came a thumbs down to the airport's new body scanners.

say they failed to detect some explosives hidden within the body. >> our conclusion is that despite ten years of working on the problem, the detection system still falls short in critical ways. >> reporter: the report did k t criticize it. >> if you look at number of recommendations they made it is a high percentage. >> reporter: the commission issued its original list in 2004. of the 41 shortcomings, nine have still not been addressed. >> which doesn't mean we don't constantly look for ways to improve. >> reporter: that improvement will have to come at an economic environment where every dollar counts. >> the question should be not how much is this? but is this worth paying for? is this good security? is this the best we can get? >> reporter: the commission says that a more powerful director of national intelligence could

force and of the measures through and help keep costs down. commission also recommends a national secure form of identification and a national entry and exit system that relies on bio metrics. >> chris, we will see if anybody reacts to that. chris lawrence from the pentagon this morning. a democratic lawmaker refusing to back down from inflammatory comments about the tea party movement. california congressman andre carson at a blauk caucus event last week accused tea party backed republicans of outright racism and their push to cut government spending. >> some of them in congress right now with the tea party movement would love to see you and me, i'm sorry, chairman, hanging on a tree. >> carson defended them. >> i stand on the truth of what i spoke. mine tensions weren't to hurt anyone or any group. i wanted to speak to the issues

that concern me and the philosophical issues that concern me. as it relates to certain leadership within the tea party organization. not the entire tea party but certain elements that have concerned me deeply for quite some time that i think should really re-evaluate what it means to be an american and we shouldn't go along the path of taking america back to the good old days because those days weren't good for everyone. >> tea party officials for their part rejectioned the notion the movement is racist. so much for the president's plan to create new green jobs. remember this scene last year, president obama visiting this solar cell manufacturer in california. touting the firm's products as the way of the future and announcing a federal loan for this company. solyndra has suspended operations at the plant, laid off 1100 workers and filed for bankruptcy. the third solar company to go belly-up in this country in the last month. republicans are now looking into

the loan the firm received from the government. ahead on "american morning," not so fast, the justice department takes action to stop a major cell phone merger. at usaa, we believe honor is not exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath.

the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

23 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning. u.s. stock markets closed slightly higher yesterday. bunt ended the month of august sharply lower. for the month, the dow lost 4.5%. s&p 500 fell nearly 6%. and the nasdaq lost the most,

drop being 6.5%. good-bye and good riddance, august. coming up today the weekly jobs report. the unemployment filings. economists are forecasting 405,000 unemployment claims filed for the first time last week. level above 400,000 signal as weak labor market. big august jobs more than everyone is talking about comes out tomorrow morning. economists telling cnn money they expect the unemployment rate to remain unchanged. 9.1%. stock futures are trading lower ahead of the opening bell. investors are waiting for those big jobs reports. the department of justice filed an antitrust lawsuit to block the merger of mobile carriers at&t and t-mobile yesterday claiming the $39 billion deal would lessen competition. the deal could affect every cell phone user in the u.s. because prices are expected to go up if the merger goes through. news of the department of justice suit broke at&t's shares down nearly 4%. shares in deutsche telecom parent company of t-mobile dropped more than 7% yesterday.

good news from one of the competitors. shares in sprint, nextel jumped about 6% by the end of the day. more confusion at hewlett-packard about business strategy. the company announced about a we can ago it was getting away from the tablet business and slashed polices of its touchpad device. now it is bringing it back in a big spike in consumer demand. the rival will be back for a limited time starting in october and starting at a lower police of $100 a pop. there's another way litter box dust:e purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder on dust. and our improved formulas neutralize odors better than ever in multiple-cat homes. so it's easier to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home.

[ male ] using clean american fuel is just a pipe dream. ♪ [ female announcer ] we're rolling away misperceptions about energy independence. did you know that today about a quarter of all new transit buses use clean, american natural gas? we have more natural gas than saudi arabia has oil. so how come we're not using it even more? start a conversation about using more natural gas vehicles in your community.

and you want to pass along as much as possible to future generations. at northern trust, we know what works and what doesn't. as one of the nation's largest wealth managers, we can help you manage the complexities of transferring wealth. seeking to minimize taxes while helping maximize what's passed along. because you just never know how big those future generations might be. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust.

just half past the hour. good morning to you. top stories for you now. days after hurricane irene brought the water, cut off corners of vermont are finally getting help. airdrops were being made to several towns. national guard bringing supplies to other communities on patched up roads. and president obama will travel to patterson, new jersey, on sunday where the water in the

streets was over 15 feet high. >> wow. new report from the 9/11 commission warning of serious security shortfalls in america in the fight against terrorism. the commission says that nine of its recommendations from 2004 have been ignored. the most glaring problems, the inability of first responders to communicate with each other in a crisis and those body scan at airports, thumbs down because they cannot adequately detect explosives. president obama backing down. agreeing to reschedule his big jobs you a announcement next week. the president watched to deliver his address on wednesday which happens to be the same night the republicans are holding a debate. the president has agreed to move the speech to thursday night which happens to be the first game of the nfl season after speaker john boehner said no to inviting the president to congress on wednesday. >> green bay versus new orleans. green bay won the super bowl. i think there will be tremendous interest in watching that game. >> poem will be watching tv thursday night one way or the other.

>> that's true. two parts of the country that would welcome being waterlogged right now, oklahoma and texas. crews are battling a number of wildfires spreading across the drought-stricken landscape. one of the fires near dallas has destroyed dozens of homes and is now threatening hundreds of others. cnn's jim spelman live in possum kingdom lake, texas, 50 miles from dallas. good morning, jim. describe what it is like for us. >> reporter: good morning, carol. so far this morning, there is a steady wind but much, much cooler. as soon as the sun comes up, they will be able to get back at this fire. yesterday they hoped to get it under control but winds picked up in the afternoon and really got away from them. the fire expanded 14 more homes were lost. about 39 total. 400 more, they tell us are in jeopardy. they hope that, again, before the winds pick up, they can contain this and get fire lines. the drought here has been so severe that the slightest spark from -- embertha flies from the fire ignites a whole new fire and they have to pull back the

lines. so with these conditions it is going to be a challenge for them. they hope today they can get ahead of it. >> jim spelman reporting live. 50 miles outside of dallas. thank you. crews are patching up some roads and creating all new ones to get supplies to hundreds of stranded people in vermont. they haven't been able to get in or out since sunday. food supplies now in major problem in parts of new england. many people there have nothing left to salvage. amber lyon is in the middle of it right now in wilmington, vermont. and, you know, gosh, i -- talk order somebody yesterday whose brother, amber, quite frankly, went there for a destination wedding and taken almost a week to get back. a lot of people are really stranded up there. >>. >> reporter: the roads are a mess. at one point 20 communities across vermont were completely isolated after roads leading in and out of town were cut off. we spoke with vermont emergency management officials. they say that all but one community have been reopened.

we are in one of those communities, wilmington. we are out in front of the country store. this is a family business. been around since 1836. the owners say they have never seen anything like this in a wall of water swept through town just destroying these stores and leaving a layer of mud and muck on this product turning what could have been profit into trash. we have maple syrup. vermont is famous for this. this one jug worth 50 bucks now just trash. chess over here, clothes, all types of inventory that really this town says they couldn't afford to lose at this time. >> we can handle snow. not this much water all at once. >> reporter: ten-foot high floodwaters poured through irene's 40-year-old flooring business. >> it is devastating. you know. >> reporter: eileen's family business once made a million dollar as year, she says.

revenue dwindled by three-quarters in the economic downturn. now this family says they are fisting at least $300,000 in damages. they don't have flood insurance. they are not alone. >> have a little cry and then just say okay. okay. this is sunday night before they even let us into town to kind of -- we snuck in and came in and -- it was just -- it was just -- you know, in shock. we are still in shock. >> reporter: mud covers the clothes at this consignment shop. but these two won't be covered by insurance. >> leather pants. they were like butter. now they are like mud. >> reporter: some things can't be replaced. this is anne coleman, a local artist. her entire studio filled with originals was washed away by the watters. >> when i first realized it was gone, i was -- i couldn't believe it. it was gone. >> reporter: 30 of her original

paintings went downstream with the gallery. >> i think the one that got me the most is a piece i did in 1978 of my grandma's house. incredible. this water color. i did it when i was recovering from a broken neck. >> reporter: pile after pile of once valuable goods but floodwaters haven't washed away with you mink ton's sense of community. >> we can't just sit around. you have to get up and do something. there's no other -- you have to. >> who are these volunteers? >> they are just people. they are neighbors. in vermont, we are all neighbors. >> reporter: business owners expect hundreds of those neighbors, volunteers, to come out here today and continue to clean up these businesses. as you see piles of inventory in front of all of these businesses down the street. and we did a survey. we went around and talked to

owners about half and half of whether people had flood insurance or not. the biggest explanation for not having flood insurance is that they just couldn't afford it. christine. >> we heard that so much. some people who have insurance aren't covered for a hurricane. it doesn't cover them for inland flooding. it is a tough situation. amber, thank you so much. just ahead on "american morning," reading the tea leaves, conservative movement may the most important factor in the gop race for the white house. we will explore. >> i want to tell you about this disease that's force d serena williams out of the u.s. open. we will tell you about this. [ male announcer ] you've climbed a few mountains during your time.

and having a partner like northern trust -- one of the nation's largest wealth managers -- makes all the difference. our goals-based investment strategies are tailored to your needs and overseen by experts who seek to maximize opportunities while minimizing risk. after all, you don't climb a mountain just to sit at the top. you lookround for other mountains to climb. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust.

news happening right now. 3.4 aftershock has been reported in virginia. let's go straight to rob marciano in the weather center. what are you knowing about this? >> we haven't really seen one in a couple of days. the ones we saw really immediately following the main quake which is over 5.0 magnitude quake were smaller than 3.0. this was a big one and felt by a number of people. about 30 miles or so northwest of richmond, about 80, 90 miles southwest of d.c. this is enough for people to feel it especially around the rich monday area. as far as d.c. is concerned, we are get something reports of folks feeling it around the d.c. area. but the most of the shaking, obviously, just northwest of richmond. you know, this sort of shaking where there are weakened structures from the main quake will exaggerate some of the weakening and we have been talking about it all morninging the fact that hurricane irene

may have raised more questions with the washington monument having already been weakened by the first quake last week just northwest of richmond and the winds from irene and found puddles in there. no doubt that the officials will be out across washington and richmond today. examining already weakened structures from the first quake. this is a 3.4 magnitude quake. three miles shallow. that was the main problem with the first quake is it was shallow and fairly strong. that's why we see a decent amount of structural problem with that. 36 miles just northwest of richmond. very, very close obviously to the original quake. >> keep an eye on that. got anything, just get back to us and we will put it on the air immediately. rob marciano following the development of the earthquake in virginia. we also have new surveillance video from a virginia high school devastated by last week's earthquake. this is what teachers and students at louisa county high school faced. look at that. ceilings and walls caved in. everybody rushing out of the classrooms. they were scrambling to get out. the county says the school

buildings suffered $57 million in damage. louisa high school students will have to double up with middle schoolers while mobile classrooms are being prepared. the debate over the date of the president's jobs speech given obama's opponents plenty to run with. the president hoped to talk to a joint session of congress next wednesday. the same night as a republican debate. the house speaker boehner pushed back and the president backed down and rescheduled this jobs announcement to congress until thursday. take a listen to presidential candidate michele bachmann. >> now does this show maybe a little bit of insecurity on the part of the president? either a, he wants to distract the american people so they don't watch it or b, he does want the american people to hear what the next president of the united states is going to say about the president's job plan. >> the president's speech will now be up against the nfl's opening night. joining us now, maggie, senior writer for politico and john.

is it insecure, clumsy or all of the above? press releases -- any opportunity to send press releases about scheduling a speech shows we are in this silly time in politics. >> we are deep in it. this is the ultimate indicator. we are going into a joint session. divided government. something about jobs, president unveiling a plan. we can't even get it together, folks in washington when to schedule it. too overon the part of the administration. at the same time for the -- for the republicans in congress to be -- literally unprecedented. there's never been a request to hold a presidential -- hold a joint session of congressional speech and refused in effect by congress. this really is just a new indicator, new low, about how dysfunctional the atmosphere in washington, d.c. is. >> this is a -- president lost. >> the president -- insecure was a deliberate word by michele bachmann. i'm not sure what this move got him. looks like he had to recapitulate to the republicans. i only do this if you can win.

he didn't have a path to victory with scheduling the speech, as you said. now he's in a position where john boehner looks stronger and he really has to deliver a very strong jobs speech because he's upped the ante on what people are paying attention to. >> it is interesting. he has to deliver a strong jobs speech. what can the president do? what is he going to do? what's his plan? there's two brains looking at this. one brain is saying what can he do? the other one is saying he's got to undo what he has done. there's two completely discordant conversations happen. >> there are two different philosophies how you create jobs in the america. the tea party believes the government creates jobs by getting out of the way. democrats believe the government can play a role by getting into the fray. adjusting regulations and creating incentives for investment. that's two fundamentally different philosophical divisions and have to come together. the only something gets done is if they find common ground. >> i don't think the democrats feel particularly confident this plan will be a path forward or the white house doesn't or they would not have scheduled it in

such way it is going to get completely deoxygen raated by 9. >> we are told the president will give -- policy or -- is going to give away that congress can do right now. things they can do now. not up for debate, discussion for think tanks to weigh in on it. it will be things they can do right now. does that put it in congress' court? >> that will be certainly the white house's play. they are going the to say look, here are things we agreed on in the past. let's not divide -- because we are on different sides of the aisle. let's move forward and agree on these today and put the american people back to work. he will be essentially running against the do-nothing congress trying to do a give them hell barrier approach to things. by trying to say, look, don't let bipartisan stand in the way of jobs progress. >> there's do nothing congress and undo everything the president has done congress. that's what we are facing right now. with the moral authority, republican party if you brief it is with the tea party. >> exactly right. i think that's what the president discovered with this.

you were saying, you know, he e-mailed about the speech immediately last night. it is trying to pivot running against congress. i don't think this will win over the people he needs. as you said he is not speaking the language of the other side. >> obama's speech will achieve nothing. it can't change the fundamental fact of politics right now which is the two parties disagree and most profound question in washington. not how we fix the economy but who should win the next election. >> this is the fundamental problem. we for goss gotten the horse race is preambled. that's not what we are doing right. people at homing independee ini getting frustrated. >> i think that you are seeing independents going to decide this election. they are not hearing from either party. what they want to hear, the sitting president, they are not hearing who they want to hear from. >> governors responding to this crisis. chris christie, governor of new

jersey, wrote a great piece. chris christie who -- you know, has said i'm not going to run, i'm not going to run. said it a thousand different ways. but even democrats and liberals in his state are saying he's doing jersey proud. the chris christie reaction to leadership. >> chris christie -- it is fascinating. it points to the fact there is a chris christie shaped poll in the republican party. a lot of fiscal conservatives want someone to get in with executive experience. here is the key. chris christie are showing states are governable. there is a leadership vacuum in washington. strong governor unapologetic who can close the budget gap without raising taxes, that's -- >> unapologetic thing that matters. it is not just showing the state the tough message taking the fight and people saw him standing up for the state in terms of aid yesterday. that's what's making the conversation. >> as always, thanks, guy. >> thank you. >> just imagine who would want to get into the fray and run in 2012. i mean, chris christie, i don't

know. it would be a tough job. new this morning, only one of the williams sisters remains at the u.s. open. two-time champion venus williams has withdrawn from the tournament before playing her second round match. she says she has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that causes joint pain and fatigue. venus says she will be away from the game while she focuses on getting better. bad news for the family after kid that hit a miracle $50,000 hockey shot. remember this. it happened at a charity hockey event in minnesota last month. 11-year-old nate smith nailed an 89-foot shot from center ice through a hole barely big enough for the puck to fit into it. problem was the boy's twin brother is the one who bought the winning raffle ticket. the company that insured the event has decided they won't get anything. they are going to donate $20,000 to minnesota youth hockey instead. >> i wonder if they knew the rules beforehand, the boys. >> i can't imagine they were gaining the system. >> they are little boys. >> you never know. 47 minutes past the hour.

today's top stories next, including a legal victory for disgraced baseball slugger barry bonds. >> fall of the pajama frail. two girls get caught attempting to kidnap a goat. >> oh, my gosh. a kind. the authentic, the rare, the hard to define. to those always searching for what's pure and what's real from we who believe we know just how you feel. haagen-dazs.

50 minutes past the hour. here is what you need to know to start your day. breaking news out of virginia. magnitude 3.4 aftershock was felt just after 5:00 a.m. eastern. it was centered around 32 miles

east of charlottesville, virginia. you remember the east coast was rocked by a 5.8 magnitude earthquake last week. president obama visiting patterson, new jersey, on sunday, the city hit hard after hurricane irene. flooded out with more than 15 feet of water. cleanup only starting after the water slowly begins to recede. across the northeast. crews in texas and oklahoma, fire crews in texas and oklahoma are doing battle with wildfires and destroyed dozens of homes in the two states. put hundreds of others in jeopardy. flames forced evacuations in both states. the suspect in the disappearance of american robyn gardner is not going home any time soon. a judge ruled gary gierodano can be held for another 60 days. he has been in custody since gardner went missing last month. the u.s. is wasting $12 million a day in iraq and afghanistan according to a nonpartisan commission on war time contracting. the panel says that massive fraud and waste has cost america up to $60 billion over the past ten years. federal prosecutors have decided not to retry former baseball

star barry bonds on perjury charges. bonds still faces up to ten years in prison after being convicted of obstructing a grand jury investigation into performance enhancing drugs. and they were painting the town red in spain. the site of the world's largest tomato fight. as many as 20,000 people took part in the annual festival. flinging 120 tons of ripe tomatoes. that's strange. looks like a lot of fun. that's the news you need to start your day.

same-sex marriage front and center again on piers morgan.

gop presidential candidate rick santorum dep fending his views when morgan said some gays don't admit it publicly because of bigotry. he asked santorum if his views bordered on bigotry. here is what he said to piers and then to a group of students after the interview. >> no, i think just because we disagree on public policy which is what the debate has been about, which is marriage, doesn't mean it is bigotry. >> because i brief what the catholic church says with sexuality, i'm a bigot. so now i'm a bigot because i believe what the bible teach us us. what 2,000 years of teaching moral theology is now bigoted. >> i watched all of that interview. interest didn't seem to go down that way that he -- he said -- afterwards. he seemed annoyed that piers

morgan called him a bigot. he said i'm catholic. he said i'm catholic, too, but i think some of these views need to evolve. rick santorum objected to that. it seemed like a civil normal discussion on tv. i was surprised when i saw the second part because it seemed like there was more -- like there was more of a fight than there was. >> rick santorum has said things the gay community does not like. he compared it to wearing a napkin. >> animals. >> animals, too. interesting conversation, though, you are right. we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. we asked you this question -- is president obama's jobs plan doa before it is even unveiled? he says sadly it probably is doa. not because it is good or bad but because people have their minds made up to be against it before they even hear it. that's just fool i shall. i don't like everything republicans or everything the democrats say but i still will listen to them before i make an informed decision or opinion. this from skip. if the members of congress are

wise they will put aside all the bickering and go to work for the american people who are supposed to represent. president obama's putting himself center stage as being the only one in washington putting any type of jobs plan out on the table. if the republicans are viewed as killing the plan before even gets started, i think they will be viewed in a bad light and will ultimately cause many of them to lose that your seats. this from joe. republicans announced their agenda clearly. to defeat obama in 2012. of course, this was after the 2010 congressional elections where they were screaming jobs, jobs, jobs. of course they will be against anything that will stimulate jobs because lowering the unemployment rate helps millions of families but destroys their chances of sabotaging the economy and defeating obama. i must say most of our comments were anti-republican. maybe our republican friends aren't up early this morning. but most of the comments we are getting so far appear to be from our democratic friends. although i could be wrong. >> wake up, republicans. it is five to 7 on the east coast. >> they want it to be doa.

that's the whole point. it is not -- they don't want the president to go big and do something. it is about what the president can -- should undo because they think what he has done so far is made it zblo-- >> liberals are quite upset with the president. he just appears weak. he appears to have caved in and also appears partisan because did he schedule the bug speech on purpose to take place on the very same day republican debate was broadcast on msnbc? >> all of this could change depending on what's in the speech. if the speech is really interesting and good fodder for discussion, a change. >> it will put in congress' court. the five things you can do tomorrow. you can vote on tomorrow that will create jobs. it is up to you to create those jobs. and so then it puts it right into congress. >> yes. >> we will see september 8. keep those comments coming. facebook.com/americanmorning. whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well,

the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right. at exxonmobil we recognize the wso to save money, i trained my dog and this cockatoo to play all the hits of the '80's woman: hit it, mr. butters. ♪ ♪ take on me... ♪ ....take on me ♪ take me on... anncr: there's an easier way to save. get online. go to geico.com get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

purina cat chow helps you well-being. we're all striving for it. nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life.

showdown is over. president obama backing down from house speaker john boehner. axwreeg agreeing to reschedule a jobs speech next week. asking the question, does this

make the president look weak? >> days after hurricane irene, people are finding what's left of their lives under piles of mud. some cut off corners of new england are finally this morning getting some help. >> in texas and oklahoma, things are burning. hype winds fueling massive wildfires in two states. suffering from historic drought conditions. >> and venus williams withdraws from the u.s. open saying she's too sick to continue playing. the latest on her condition on this "american morning." >> thursday, september 1, august is behind us, thank goodness. welcome to "american morning." >> yeah. lot of people are not going to remember august well. let's get to the big story this morning. president of the united states versus the speaker of the house of representatives. in the end the president backed down agreeing to push his big jobs speech next week from wednesday to thursday night. we will have more on that in a moment. the white house isn't going to like this. new cnn poll says two out of three americans now disapprove

of the way the president is handling the economy. down 11 points since february. the approval rating is down 11 points since february. and they not all. when asked how thing are going in the country today 73% say badly. brianna keilar joins us live from the white house. in peop some people think the president looks weak from backing down on the jobs speech. not so much weak, why did they decide to look for that fight scheduling speech on the night when there was a republican debate? what is your sense of it? >> you know, i think the bigger question sort of getting to what you said was -- you know, logistically if they are not even on the same page, how is it that they can be house republicans and white house on the same page sort of in good faith trying to figure out something on an issue that's affecting millions of americans and that is -- of course, is jobs. the white house really had the option of two days here because

of the congressional schedule. they had wednesday and neither day was good. wednesday you have the republican date. thursday which is now the day that president obama will be make thing address. is the -- the season kickoff for the nfl. we are talking saints versus the packers. this is a pretty big game to contend against. pregame begins at 7:30 p.m. game starts at 8:30 p.m. eastern on thursday. obviously that's not really a good option either. what you have here is still a disagreement over just how much the white house consulted with house republicans even though the white house has changed the date. the white house saying they did consult with house republicans, house republicans saying no, they didn't. already from the get-go here disagreement. >> already not quite sure how she will divide up her thursday night. she mentioned the same thing you did. it is going to be a good game. >> two tvs p.m. right? watching both. >> in case carol decides she is not watching, can you give her some sense of what the president is likely to say in his jobs speech thursday night?

not to suggest carol is not going to watch. >> carol better watch because there's a lot of stuff we don't know and the white house is playing this pretty close to the vest. we had general ideas that we learned from senior administration officials and the president has been outlining for some time now. big one you will see tax relief. payroll tax extension. also extending it to employers so that they can have more money and do hiring. perhaps a tax cut if they just flat out have new hires. you get a tax break and if you have new hires. assistance for the long-term unemployed, there are so many millions of americans who have been unemployed for more than a year. then also we heard the president talk a lot about infrastructure spending in trying to get some construction going, rebuilding railways and rebuilding roads. and also putting construction workers back to work doing those kinds of things. >> some will say we have done all of this stuff. i suppose the scope and force of this is going to be a -- some

consequence. >> $862 billion of that already. people will say we have already done this to a degree we have never spent in this country before. >> you certainly have some -- some republicans who are -- very early coming out against infrastructure spending and also some of the president's other ideas. >> i guess my contention is that -- don't the american people just want to hear a plan? i mean, what -- i mean, i know it is important what's in the plan. but i think people just want some kind of plan. so they have -- some kind of hope. >> they want something. i mean, they are tremendously worried. that's why i think when you look at this kind of back and forth that went on yesterday, this is not something that inspires confidence. when you are someone that's concerned, either about how you are going get work, you don't have a job, or you are worried about those. >> we will be watching thursday night. >> it is like all that, we don't

have to watch any of that stuff. >> there is tivo, baby. >> we will have special live coverage of president obama's address next thursday night, september 8, at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, is president obama's jobs plan doa before it is even unveiled? it is not exactly off to a fantastic start. the president has already had to postpone the unveiling of the plan by 24 hours to avoid a clash with republicans. as a washington wash post op-ed put it, it sums up the image problems since obama faced since the start of his term. if the white house worked months to be above the partisan fray as they insist they have, a stunt like this torpedos all of that pr work. >> does this show maybe a little insecurity on the part of the president? either a, he wants to distract the american people so they

don't watch it or b, he doesn't want the american people to hear what the next president of the united states is going to say about the president's job plan. >> whether you think that's fair or not, it may resonate more than this statement we bought from the white house. quote, the president is welcoming the opportunity to address a joint session of congress on thursday so our nation's leaders can focus 100% of their attention on doing whatever they can to help the american people. the talk back question today is president obama's jobs plan doa before it is even unveiled? facebook.com/americanmorning. i will read your comments later this hour. >> it was another dark night for close to 2 million people. days after hurricane irene knocked out power. floodwaters have started to recede this morning. revealing the muddy awful mark that irene left behind in new jersey. some of the 1700 people who left their homes are now returning to

see the damage. president obama will travel to patterson, new jersey, this weekend to see for himself. some flood victims returning home in vermont, meanwhile are going to find their houses aren't there anymore. water surged down the mountains and into the towns. the governor there saying it is the worst flooding in 100 years. crews are now patching up some roads creating all new roads in some cases to get supplies to hundreds ever stranded people in vermont they haven't been able to get in or out since sunday. food supplies are now a major problem in parts of doing -- susan candiotti is in little falls, new jersey. high water is keeping thousands of people from returning home and some when they return home, susan, it is a boat they have to use to survey the damage. what are they finding? >> hi, christine. it is simply a mess. if they can get in there at all. 50 yards in that direction is the passaic river. and you can see it is obviously i overflowed the banks. the water here is about six inches lower than it was in the

same spot last night. but it is still nearly five feet above the flood stage. this is a parking lot or business back there. you can see they obviously cannot reopen because they are surrounded by water. here is an abandoned pay phone station. walking over closer to here, christine, we see a stop sign. this marks the beginning of a street that leads back to a neighborhood where, again, the only access in and out is by boat. we hitched a ride. it is now -- now called lake passaic. i'm seeing what are the tops of fences leading up to the front door. that's not a house on estimates. that's a garage that's under water. they stayed around, that house. lost the car. oh. classic mustang lost. you have gone through this time and again. why do you and other people still live here? >> what are you going to do? you cancel the house. you can't give them away down

here. >> reporter: here is a sign over here that has a double meaning now. road closed. few hundred feet ahead. local traffic only p.m. at this point it is local boat traffic only. we are about to start school, your senior year in high school coming up in a week. what's going through your head? >> how am i going to prepare for school? my clothes, everything is stuck at home. i don't know how i will get them. everything is closed to go shopping. mall is down. i don't know where to go. >> reporter: all have you is a suitcase you were able to run out with? >> yes. five pants, five shirts, that's it. that's all i have. school starts in one week. >> reporter: probably won't be the only one. >> plenty of them. i have so many friends that live on this street. >> wow. >> reporter: is this the first time you are seeing it? >> yeah. >> reporter: how do you even begin to think about the cleanup that's involved here? what's going through your head? >> i don't want to think about that right now.

as long as we are safe that's good. that's the main thing. to be safe. then the cleanup comes next. >> reporter: you know the river's current is still very strong. that's why authorities don't want to have people trying to wander back there or use even a kayak because if you tip over and you don't know what you are doing, you could be in -- pardon the expression -- deep double in more than one -- more than one way. christine, back to you. certainly a lot of cleanup lies ahead here. >> i know. you see a beautiful day out. school should be starting but you are going home in a flat-bottom boat just to see what your house looks like. it is a real tough way to see it. >> reporter: exactly. hurricane irene uncovered more cracks in the washington monument. national park service found puddles near the top of the mountment and in the stairs after the storm which means they missed some holes. inspectors original lynn found four cracks after the east coast earthquake. so the monument remains closed during repairs. engineers say it is structurally

sound. look at this new surveillance video from a virginia high school hit by last week's earthquake. this is what teachers and stuns at luisa county high school faced. everyone came rushing out of the classrooms. the county says the school building suffered $57 million in damage. two ours ago another aftershock in virginia. located about 36 miles northwest of richmond. sofa no reports that that hurricane or that earthquake has done any damage. >> happening right now, fire crews in texas and in oklahoma resume the fight against wildfires. they destroyed dozens of homes in the two states and put hundreds of others at risk. hype winds and severe drought conditions are feeding the flames. one of the most intensifiers is burning in the town of possum kingdom lake. that's about 50 miles from dallas. that's where cnn's jim spelman is. have the winds died down, jim? >> reporter: right now the winds

are pretty calm and much cooler than it was yesterday. the mornings are the time when they hope to make ground against this fire. yesterday they did. they thought they had it fairly well under control. about midday the winds pick up. they got through about 105 degrees. and it is such perfect conditions for the fire to spread that it got away from fire crews yesterday. here at 39 homes destroyed in this sort of resort community here. lot of second homes. this drought here is just so epic. 90% of texas under serious drought conditions here. and we are seeing fires break out in other areas of the state. expanding now to oklahoma city area, threatening populated suburb of edmond. when these fires meet up with perfect conditions, hot, dry winds, drought conditions, populated areas, it takes just a spark for a fire to get going. that's what they are dealing with now in oklahoma city today. there and here and other places across the state, they will try to do what they can to get these under control as quickly as they can. but with these drought conditions, new fires can break

out literally at any moment. >> jim spelman reporting live for us from texas. 50 miles outside of dallas. 12 minutes past the hour. time for rob marciano in atlanta. good morning, rob. >> he said it is a little cooler this morning than yesterday. that's helping for sure. as a matter of fact, the critical fire danger has been lifted a little farther to the northwest, panhandle of texas and through parts of oklahoma and kansas and through the intermountain west as well. by cooler, i mean, dallas will get to about 100 today as opposed to 105 or 106. not much cooler. few degrees cooler as we go through the next couple of days. bone, bone, bone dry. can we help that? can we get tropical system in will? we have one on the gulf of mexico. folks along texas coastline for the first time in years are begging for a tropical system. we don't know what will happen with this yet. hurricane hunters will go in there this afternoon and get a better fix on what's going on. tropical models have a better idea as well.

they are completely all over the place. could go into texas and -- look at that. loops. louisiana may be the best spot at this point. too early to tell. once we get better data, computer models will get a better handle. weak steering currents. strong currents with this thing. hurricane katia, if you are just waking up this morning, it has become a hurricane overnight. winds at 57 miles an hour. moving to the west at 19 miles per hour. that will slow down but winds around the storm will speed up. expect it to become a major hurricane by the time we get towards this weekend. notice by monday and tuesday still lining up for the east coast. i'm hoping a cold front next week will time out, it brush that's away from the east coast. but still a little bit too early to tell on that one. it has been shifting now into september which is big hurricane season. it is also the time we start to get stronger cold fronts that help nudge these things out of the state. there is the heat. there's the dry weather across the northeast. at least for now. waves are up in california, in

hawaii. look at these. these are winter-like waves from a swell generated all the way from new zealand. dangerous rip currents, by the way, if you are going out the beaches. if you are a surfer you are loving these. 10 to 15 and in some cases 20-footers coming into southern california. he them up. >> that looks awesome. >> rye. if you are -- if you are a west coast viewer, if you are up with us this early, get out will while it is nice and smooth. >> all right, rob marciano, thanks, rob. still to come this morning, agriculture shock. hurricane irene could not have happened at a worse time for farmers, crops under water from the carolinas all the way up to the border. can they recover? are there going to be vegetables and fruits you have to do without this fall? tom vilsack is here. why venus williams is out of the u.s. open. even though she did not lose a match. the kid who made this awesome hockey shot now out 50

grand because a little switcheroo. ♪ [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over.

but not in my neighborhood. ♪ [ female announcer ] we're throwing away misperceptions about natural gas vehicles. more of the vehicles that fuel our lives use clean american natural gas today. it costs about 40 percent less than gasoline, so why aren't we using it even more? start a conversation about using more natural gas vehicles in your community. my son and i never missed opening day. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function, starting within 5 minutes.

symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better, and that means... matc e in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

we lost the farm. that's something we heard a lot from north carolina all the way up through new england after hurricane irene. fields totely under water. crops total loss. we don't know how much the damage with will cost farmers or awful us down the line. when it costs farmers it affects all of us. joining us is agriculture secretary tom vilsack. secretary vilsack, good to see you. you come from farming country. we don't necessarily scioscia lot of places we have seen hit by the hurricane. lots of crops there. lot of continue onand tobacco,

lot of corn. lots of tomatoes. what have you seen as have you gone out and seen the devastation? >> i had an opportunity to take a look at fields in north carolina. i have never seen anything like it. the corn was just totally destroyed. tobacco hit hard. cotton hit hard. we are still going to wait and see how it affects the soybeans. as you mentioned tomatoes in some of the vegetables underground we won't know for a while what the impact will be. it is very clear that farmers in north carolina, virginia, along the east coast, suffered pretty significant losses. >> for a lot of reasons, whether it be weather or demand in other places, in the world, we convenient a lot of prices go up. prices for food, grains andings in like that. is it your sense -- i know you know a lot about these things -- is it your sense that this event putting aside the damage done to farmers and local communities which we will talk about in second is enough to start to affect prices that people across the country pay? >> i don't think that you are going to see significant increases in prices. we is such a diverse agriculture in the united states. we have so many i can acres planted in so many different crops. i don't think this will affect

much of anything. it my have some small impact on corn as supplies are tight. but i don't see any significant increase. >> let's talk about the people affected. obviously we keep seeing these pictures. we are worried about the impact on those farmers. you have a lot of programs that help people who have uninsured crops and livestock. at the same time we have been having these conversations this week, including with craig fugate from fema about the questions about whether there is enough money ail available. are your programs funded well enough? >> they are. they are part of the farm bill. they are already authorized and appropriated. the farmers aren't going to have to worry about waiting for congress to determine whether there will be offsets. this is something that can be done and should be done. i like to think of our department sort of the good samaritan department. we are there to help. we don't ask for something in return. we are there to help farm families going through a very difficult time. >> just to broaden the discussion a little bit because you -- you know, there has been so much going on with farmers in

the country in the last year or so. what's the state of agriculture and crops across country? >> bright spot in the economy. we are going to see record income levels for farmers this year. we are also going to see a record level of exports. farmers have become extraordinarily productive. it is a story that's untold in the united states. these hard working families have produced so much that we are able to meet our own domestic needs and able to export well from the united states. it is a prescription for the rest of the economy. >> agriculture secretary tom vilsack, always good to see you. thanks for coming by. still to come this morning, venus williams out of the u.s. open. a surprise announcement that has the tennis star sitting on the sidelines. we will tell you why. >> did it happen again? could it happen again? one apple employee pretty nervous about now. come on. prototype and a pitcher of beer. what do they have in common? [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now.

two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy.

♪ for a snack like you ♪ to come into my life [ female announcer ] lean cuisine has snacks! like creamy cheesy spinach artichoke dip with warm pita. new from lean cuisine®.

minding your business this morning. awful august is over in the markets. u.s. markets closed slightly

higher yesterday. oh, but the month was not pretty. dow lost about 4.5%. s&p 500 fell nearly 6% in the month. the nasdaq lost the most. it dropped 6.5% in the month of august. coming up today, economists are forecasting 405,000 unemployment claims filed for first time last week. that signal it is jobs market is still weak. the big august jobs report, that comes out tomorrow. the economists tell cnn money they expect unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 9.1%. right now u.s. stock futures are trading lower ahead of the opening bell. of course, the jobs report today, tomorrow, big jobs report will be the real definitive factor for the week. the department of justice filing an antitrust lawsuit to block the merger of at&t and t-mobile. filing the lawsuit yesterday claiming the $39 billion deal is going to kill competition in the arena. this zeal could affect every cell phone user in the u.s. because prices, according to the

government, would go up if this merger goes through. apple reportedly losing, yes, losing, its unreleased iphone upgrade yet again. reporting an apple employee lost or misplaced an aye phone at bar in san francisco in july. last we are there was a similar incident when the iphone 4 before it hit the stores. don't forget the latest news about your money check out cnn.com. [ cherie ] i always had a job, ever since i was fourteen.

i could not make working and going to school work. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunits that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing wh profesonals teaching things that they were doing every day, got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu.

a living, breathing intelligence that is helping business rethink how to do business. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible.

just about 30 minutes past the hour. good morning. here are your top stories. days after hurricane irene brought the water, cut off corners of vermont are finally getting some help. airdrops being made to several towns. national guard bringing supplies to other communities on patched-up roads and president obama will travel to patterson, new jersey, on sunday where the waters in the streets were over 15 feet high. president obama is backing down abreeg to reschedule his big jobs announcement next week. the president wanted to deliver his address to congress on

wednesday. the same night republicans are holding a debate. the president decided on move the speech to thursday night. happens to be the same night as the nfl opener. there's only one williams sister left at the u.s. open. two-time champion venus williams has withdrawn from the tournament before playing her second round match. as she says, she has been diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that causes joint pain and fatigue. williams elizabeth cohen is in atlanta to explain to us what this is. good morning, elizabeth. what are we talking about here? >> the syndrome is something a lot of people haven't heard of which in a way is strange because it affects 4 million americans. nine out ten of them are women. it is an autoimmune disorder. most. time it manifests itself in terms of having really dry eyes and dry mouth. i don't just mean like, you know, feeling a little bit dry. i mean it is really quite extreme. now fatigue and muscle pain,

joint pain, something williams mentioned, that's a little bit less common. those two definitely are symptoms of the disease. now there is a really important distinction between two ditch kinds of the syndrome. i will tell you about both of them. we don't know what she says. one, it is secondary to something like lupus or other autoimmune diseases. you get this because you have lupus or something like that. other times you just get it in and of itself. we don't know which one she says. >> what's the treatment for this disease? >> unfortunately there's no way to get rid of it. once you have it, you have it. so all doctors can do is treat the symptoms. for example, for the dry eyes and mouth, there's different kinds of solutions you can drink or there are drops you can put in your eyes. if the disease gts really, really bad, it can affect your internal organs like your kidneys and then they have to give you immune suppression drugs which is really a big drug. it does not appear she is in

that situation. for something like joint pain, they can give her, you know, anti-inflammatory drugs. for the fatigue, you know, that can be really hard to treat. >> can be treated in people but what about her career? >> you know, it is very difficult to say with a effect the disease will have on her career. we don't know if she just has shogren's or as a result of having another disease. you know, it probably -- sounds like it is not going to be debilitating but for these elite athletes, there's really a fine line here. she may function fine as a person but she may not have what it takes to compete at the level she's used to competing at. only time will tell. >> it is just so sad because she's so physically fit. we don't know how long she has been playing with this condition. she may have had hit before. so this possibly -- i me, this possibly is not a career ender.

>> right. you know, you make an excellent point. it takes years sometimes to get this diagnosis. people have this disease sometimes for like seven years before somebody one realizes that they have it. in fact, in her statement, she does say i am thankful to finally have a diagnosis. so it does sound like she's had it for quite a while. she has been playing with it for quite a while. we will have to see how it continues. maybe now that they know what it is, they can actually, you know, treat her and hopefully she will feel some of these symptoms less severely. >> elizabeth cohen, thanks. so sad. she is so exciting to watch playing tennis. >> absolutely. >> there's something about the williams us is terse, either -- entire story, ferocity on the court, the way -- lot of people say -- when are they going the retire? when is venus going to retire? hopefully this will not be a precursor to their retirement. a defiant message from the son of moammar gadhafi. speaking to a syrian television

station, calling on libya to clean the country from the gangsters. he said his father is pine and drinking tea and coffee with his family. he didn't reveal where exactly the fugitive dictator is doing that. earlier in morning the algerian foreign minister denied gadhafi is in their country. we know that for sure. >> it is -- law make mers this country, including charles schumer are threatening the rebel leadership with an you will t-- ultimatum. turn him over or risk losing further support from the u.s. over the weekend nic robertson found al megrahi in tripoli lying in a bed in a coma and near death. will are still law makers that would like him turned over still. >> a judge in aruba ruling authorities can hold gary gierodano for another 60 days. he suspect medical the disappearance of robyn gardner. the two traveled to aruba together. gierodano claimed gardner was swept out to sea while they were

snorkeling last month. same-sex marriage front and center on piers morgan. santorum slammed piers morgan for questioning him about being a bigot. here is what santorum said to piers and then to a group of students after the interview. >> no, i think just because we disagree on public policy which is what the -- debate has been about which is marriage, doesn't mean it is bigotry. >> piers morgan called me a bigot. because i believe what the catholic church teaches with respect to homosexuality, i'm a bigot. so now i'm a bigot. because i believe what the bible teaches. now 2,000 years of teaching and moral theology now bigoted. >> in all fairness piers did not call santorum a bigot but said we live in a different era and views about moment sexuality have certainly changed. >> that was their point of disagreement where piers said

i'm also catholic and i think these views should evolve. rick santorum says i don't think that's true. that was the extent of tonight interview. if you didn't watch the sbrir and watched the secretary part you may think it was a different interview. >> it is online. you can still catch it. if you want to avoid an accident -- who does want to avoid an accident, head to ft. collins, colorado, for the second year allstate determined its that safest drivers. boise, idaho, lincoln, nebraska, chandler, arizona, huntsville, alabama, round out the top five. by the way, people who live in d.c. said to be the worst drivers. >> all these places are places when you grow up learn how to drive, long distances -- >> 11, changing the carburetor when you are 12. >> changing the tire by the time -- >> you know your car well. y >> so much more traffic there. a 1-year-old goat, a goat, yes, named gabby, safe and sound

on the farm after two 7-year-olds kidnapped gabby. a woman called 911 and told the police kids were walking down a busy street in footie pajamas with a goat on a leash. when the cops caught up to them the girls folded under questioning. >> i mean, they but the leash with them to the park. because they had every intent of bringing home a pet goat. when questioned, they said the goat has been living in a closet. then they said their mom knew but their dad probably didn't know. and they thought it was better if we kept it on the down low and didn't tell their dad. >> the us is terse apparently saw the goat earlier in the day at a birthday party, put together their evil little scheme to go get it. the goept went back -- goat wenk to the farm and the girls were sent home. 5 and 7. that's so cute. >> you wouldn't punish the kids for doing this? >> after i laughed for four

hours. >> they didn't make stew out it. they were just keeping the goat. >> i think -- >> i hope -- i don't know about the goat being in the closet. >> they were saving the goat from abuse. still to come this morning, just as president obama was preparing for a jobs offensive, he's forced to retreat ask reschedule his big speech. we are going to talk about that. >> the 9/11 commission out with a disturbing new report that says the u.s. still has large security gaps. ten years after the 9/11 attacks bhp it comes to fighting terrorism.

it is 41 minutes past the hour. the president's big prime time speech on jobs will be a week from tonight. forget about agreeing on the jobs plan, the president and speaker of the house couldn't even agree on the date for the speech. the day the president wanted to speak to congress was also the day a republican presidential debate was to take place. so the white house agreed to reschedule and now the president will compete with the nfl's season opener. michele bachmann said the president was being insecure. some democrats say republicans

were being childish. senior political analyst. thanks for being here. surprise, surprise, part is an bickering. president hasn't even unveiled his jobs plan yet. and -- then -- you know, the two parties can't even agree on a day to do this. i guess it is -- makes a bigger question, is this jobs plan already in trouble? >> well, obviously we don't know what it is. compared to the magnitude of the actual issue we are talking about here with this -- incredible sustained period of unemployment and not a lot of option with the jobs report on friday what it is going to show, this dispute is really, you know, secondary in trivial. but it is, i think, emblematic of where we are. we are live through the highest level of party line vote in congress since the 19th century. parties are having enormous difficulty agreeing on anything as this kind of sadly demonstrates even before the plan comes forward. >> will the president and congress realtize american

people aren't so happy with this partisan bickering, what will it take -- what will it take, ron to stop it? >> it is a really good question. because -- you know, the dynamic we are see sing unusual where both parties are simultaneously declining and we should say not only both parties in washington but pretty much all institutions in american society whether it is business, finance, media, public confidence is flickering in our leadership class as we endure what's been the longest, i think, sustained downturn since the depression. right now, you know, it is very difficult to get out of this cycle. there are internal forces in both parties that pushed them through the hard partisan line and make it harder to compromise. right now most politicians feel they have more to fear from compromise than from, you know, being too -- more likely to get punished by voters in their own party than they are by swing voters or moderate voters for not compromising enough. >> even president obama? he was trying to be the grownup in all of this. he was trying to rise above this

and then his people schedule a speech on the same day as the republican debate. >> it is interesting. the president is the one that has probably the most different calculus because he is the one that has to speak to the country and it is hard to win the election without winning the majority of the voters. there is not a consistent ideological majority. either party at this point. really, the balance of power is held by voters who are probably less ideological than the activists on either side but really want to see results. right now they are not seeing a lot of results out of washington. as a result we have had a very volatile politics. swinging from the republicans in '04. democrats in '06 and 08. democrats and president looking at very difficult poll numbers for 2012. right now i think both parties are looking at a very contingent and fragile hold on public opinion which would argue trying

to come together on things like job plan but in practice, they are moving in the other direction. >> okay. the president is going to hold a big speech before join session of congress on september 8. he will go up supposedly against the start of the nfl season. green bay against new orleans. in the end does it really matter? the president is holding a join session of congress so he can look lawmakers in the eye and says -- say, look, this is the plan because these are some things you can do you now. i dare you do to do it. does it matter if a lot of the american public tunes in to this speech? >> did you know, the power of the presidency is the power to persuade. ultimately that is the trump card of the president. ability to move public opinion. this president has a need to reengage the public. as i said he is looking at the lowest approval ratings of his presidency. tremendous pessimism where the economy is going. enormous anxiety. he has to convince the country to give him another hearing at this point. he risks many americans tuning him out and feeling this may be

a well meaning guy but his agenda simply hasn't worked. in this speech he probably has to do two things at once. both specific and incremental with ideas that may get through a very polarizing congress. he has to have at least part of the speech be bold enough that the country says well, yes, maybe this is something big enough and new enough and creative enough to make a difference. >> we will see september 8. thanks so much for joining us this morning. still to come this morning, romans numeral is back. the number is 8,000. as in 8,000%. what's at 8,000%? it is not your paycheck. not your 401(k). check your phone.

a lot going on this morning. here is what you need to know to start your day. president obama visiting patterson, new jersey, sunday. that city hit hard after hurricane irene flooded out more than 15 feet of water. cleanup is only starting now after the water slowly begins to recede across the northeast. crews are battling to contain wildfires in texas. wildfires that have already burned dozens of homes and threatening hundreds more. strong winds and severe drought are also fueling brush fires in oklahoma city. the smoke forced a major interstate there to shut down. for the first time since the u.s. invaded iraq in 2003, an entire month has gone by without

a single american military casualty. about 48,000 u.s. soldiers remain in iraq. president obama rescheduling his big jobs speech next month. he wanted to deliver it on wednesday. that's the same night republicans are holding a debate. speaker john boehner objected and now the address has been moved to thursday night. same as opening night of the nfl. bad news of a family that hit a miracle $50,000 hockey shot. remember this? whoa. it happened at a charity hockey event in minnesota last month. 11-year-old nate smith nailed an 84-foot shot from center ice through a hole barely big enough for the hole barely big enough for the puck to fit into but he traded places with his twin brother when had the winning ravel ticket, so the company that insured the event has decided they won't get anything! but they will donate 20 grand to minnesota youth hockey instead. whoa! you're caught up on today's headlines. the kid still got the great

shot. "american morning" back in 60 seconds.

9/11 commission released a new reporter in the fight against terrorism. the report highlights nine recommendations that the commission made in 2004 that the government has essentially ignored. the commission members are not holding back with their criticism. chris lawrence joins us live from the pentagon this morning. tell us about the story, chris. >> reporter: ali, if this was a report card, the u.s. government would get a passing grade, but wouldn't come close to getting an a in national security. in fact, one of the members of this commission who looked at

this asked the question if it takes the government another ten years to implement these recommendations, how in the world are they going to stay ahead of the terrorists? the 9/11 commission's new progress report says ten years later, some emergency responders still can't communicate by radio in a crisis. some cops can't talk to firefighters who can't talk to emts. >> they died because of the even on 9/11. they died because of katrina and they will die in the future unless this particular problem is not solved. >> reporter: the report gave a thumb's down to the airport's new whole body scanners, saying they failed to detect some explosives hidden within the body. >> our conclusion is that despite ten years of working on the problem, the detection system still falls short in critical ways. >> reporter: the report did credit the government for better screening passengers before they get on planes and doubling its

spending on intelligence. >> if you look at the number of recommendations the commission made, it's a high percentage. >> reporter: but the commission issued its original list in 2004 and of the 41 shortcomings, nine have still not been addressed. >> which doesn't mean we don't look for ways to improve stant constantly. >> reporter: but that has to come in an economic environment where every dollar counts. >> the question should be not how much is this, but is this worth paying for? is this good security? is this the best we can get? >> reporter: the commission says a stronger, more powerful, director of national intelligence could cut through a lot of the bureaucracy that is really plagued this whole problem over the last six or seven years, and so help keep costs down. . the commission says the u.s. should implement some sort of national security i.d. system and go to a sort of national

entry and exit system for travel that would rely on biometrics for the most part. >> all of those are fraught with difficulties, given discussions about civil liberty and people who don't like that sort of information so we will have to see where this goes. chris, good to see you and thanks so much. the question this morning is president obama's jobs plan d.o.a. whether it's even unnailed? nate says the following. this from doris. once again, it was the president that had to be the adult in the room instead of getting into partisan wrangling with the teapublicans over a stupid date. i don't believe the americans don't see it's the tea people who have haujed the republicans. if the people in washington were

to do what their constituents voted them to do then, no, the president's proposal would not be doa. and this from joe. keep the conversation going. facebook.com/americanmorning. >> i got good news for that last guy. the unemployment rate is down to 9.1 already. see? don't be so negative! things are turning around as we speak. >> oh, man. time for this morning's roman's numeral. >> i know the answer to this one. >> you do? >> you got it wrong already. >> what is your number? >> what is up 8,000 percent the last four years? >> i said gold. >> it's not gold or not your 401(k) or your paycheck. the growth in the at&t's mobile data traffic the past four

years. think how you're using the phone now more differently over the past four years and why at&t wants to buy t-mobile. >> that's very interesting. by the way, before anybody starts tweeting me, i knew it wasn't gold. i was just trying to mix it up a little bit. >> sure! coming up next hour, it's liquid candy. a new study says half of america drinks a soda every day and that is not really keeping the doctor away. 56 minutes after the hour. i don't always have time to eat like i should. and the more i focus on everything else, the less time i have to take care of me. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. glucerna products help me keep everything balanced. [ golf clubs clanking ] [ husband ] i'm good! well, almost everything. [ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars. helping people with diabetes find balance.

that's why northern trust offers a full team of experts who work to understand your goals and help you achieve them. as one of the nation's largest wealth managers, northern trust's goals-based investment strategies are tailored to your needs. ♪ and overseen by experts who seek to maximize opportunities while minimizing risk. ♪ expertise matters. find it at northern trust. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

a perfect storm for wildfires. i'm christine romans. high winds and heat dan fanning the flames in texas and oklahoma. >> people in vermont see what irene did with their own eyes as others wait for help days after the storm. use it or lose it. who knew that expression would apply to an airline's pilot ability to do their job and keep us safe? on this "american morning."

good morning. it is thursday, september 1st. september 1st! boy, august has been a busy month. i think on most fronts, many people are glad to be done with it. on the financial front, on the weather front. a lot happened. >> let's turn the page and move into september hopefully with better results. first, wildfires fueled by severe drought are burning across texas and oklahoma. dozens of homes are already been destroyed there and hundreds more are being threatened. cnn's jim spelman is getting up close look at the fire in possum kingdom lake. jim, what are you seeing now in terms of the flames? yesterday, zero percent contained and hoping for cooler weather maybe? >> reporter: yeah, it's pretty cool right now. the sun is just coming up in texas and crews able to get a better assessment what may have happened overnight. the previous night it was good. they woke up yesterday morning and thought they were able to get it under control.

mid-day hit, the temperature soared over a hundred and the winds picked unand the fire grew and lost 14 homes yesterday and 39 destroyed and hope to prevent a similar thing today. 400 more homes they say in this community are in jeopardy. the drought conditions are so extreme. 90% of the state under a severe drought conditions and stretching into oklahoma where this morning we know a fire is burning there approaching edmond and they had to close the interstate a while. with these conditions it's hard to fight this fire and new fires can literally pop up at any time and started with a spark with the drought meeting the winds that picked up in the middle of the day. >> certainly could use some moisture and watching the tropical storm action in the ocean maybe hoping that some of the weather is going to bring some water one of these days. jim spelman, thanks. another dark night for close to 2 million people days after hurricane irene knocked out power. president obama will travel to patterson, new jersey, this weekend. the floodwaters have slowly

started to recede there. now people are worried that the murky polluted water left over may be toxic. some flood victims returning home to vermont only to find their houses aren't there any more. water surged down the mountains and into the towns and the governor saying it's the worst flooding in 100 year. crews patching up some roads and creating new ones to get supplies to the hundreds of people still stranded in vermont. they haven't been able to get in or out since sunday. ed food supplies a major problem in parts of new england. our susan candiotti is live in wayne, new jersey, where high water is keeping thousands of people from returning home in that state. for some, the boat is the only way. i can certainly see why, susan. >> reporter: that's right. the water is about 6 inches lower than it was when we were here last night but we are still almost five feet above the flood stage. we are in the middle of a parg

parking l parking lot. this is a parking lot of a car wash. and this is what a lot of businesses look like. they can't reopen because they are surrounded by water and just over here, you cannot tell where the parking lot for this place ends and the passaic river begins. you're looking at it. there is a bridge there and homes. the only way to get in and out of some of these neighborhoods is, indeed, by boat. we went along for a ride with some locals. it's now called lake passaic. i'm seeing what probably are the tops of fences leading up to the front door. but that's not on house on stilts. it's a garage that is under water. they stayed around? that house? of course, lost the car. oh, a classic mustang lost. yeah. you've gone through this time and time again. why do you and other people still live here? >> what are you going to do?

you can't sell the house. you can't give them away down here. >> here is a sign over here has a double meaning now. road closed a few hundred feet ahead. local traffic only. at this point, it's local boat traffic only. you're about to start school, your senior year in high school coming up in just a week. >> yeah. >> what is going through your head? >> how am i going to pay for school? my clothes, everything is stuck at home. i don't know how i'm going to get them. everything is closed to go shopping. mall is down and i don't know where to go. >> all you have is a suitcase you were able to run out with? >> yeah, like five pants, five shirts, us that'. that's all i have. school starts in one week. >> probably won't be the only one, sad to say, huh? >> plenty. i have so many friends that live on this street too. >> wow. >> is this the first time you're seeing it? >> yep. >> how do you even begin to think about the cleanup that is involved here? what is going through your head? >> i don't want to think about

that right now. as long as we safe, that's good. that's the main thing is to be safe and then the cleanup comes next. >> a lot of cleanup and a lot of heartache. you have police from the pane police department here in new jersey. they don't go back there in those neighborhoods during the nighttime. they tell me it's far too dangerous and you don't know what you could run into. they are going out there morning to check on the property back there and also some people who refuse to evacuate. so they will be checking them out as well. some people have enough food and water and they are staying put until the waters recede. back to you, christine. >> actually, it's carol, susan. i like sam's attitude. >> sorry, carol. >> that's all right. sam put it all in perspective. everybody is safe so it's okay. that's awesome. susan candiotti. >> so far, so good. >> thank you, susan. let's head to atlanta and check in with rob. what is interesting the waters

have receded in vermont but not in new jersey. why is that? >> rougher terrain. deeper mountains and bigger valleys and the water drains much more fastly. you get the torrential force behind the rivers and why we saw the structural damage across vermont. the river valley takes 24 hours to completely drain so it moves quickly. jersey, it's a little bit flatter so it rises and recedes more slowly and down towards places like north carolina, it rises much more slowly but takes days, if not weeks to recede. more rain in the northeast? hurricane katia, a 1 overnight moving to the west at 19 miles an hour. here is the forecast track. bring it to category 3 status by the weekend. moving it closer to the u.s. that is the trajectory right now. . only five days out. it does miss the caribbean. we are hoping it misses the u.s. too early to call that yet but there are stronger cold fronts i see down the pipe and hoping

pushes this thing out to sea. can't make that clear signal call just yet. this thing now more immediate concern. this could be tropical storm lee before the day is done. hurricane hunter going to fly into this into the gulf of mexico, my friends. look for this to develop into something. we are not sure how strong. we aren't really sure where it's going to go either. our computer models are all over the place. this is almost a joke. here are your spa getty models. some of them getting into the florida panhandle so no clue what it will do but could affects folks in the northern gulf coast as soon as this weekend so we will watch that closely. also watching the fire threat. you saw jim spelman out there. fire threat high north of texas. dallas will cool off to only 100 so one of the reasons they don't have the extreme fire threat there, but still, obviously, hot. temperatures will be in the 90s right on through the rest of the week. so that is the latest from here. we are watching katia with the item in the gulf of mexico we will watch that very closely and folks who live in the northern

gulf of mexico want to pay close attention for that. folks living in texas would love to get some of that. >> that was like a spaghetti bowl there. quite a thing when you say that september 1st in dallas have a nice cool day, just a hundred degrees. rob, thank you. president obama pushing back his jobs speech after republicans objected to the date he asked to speak to congress. this as the president's approval on the economy tumbles. a new cnn/orc poll are not happy with the way the president is handling the economy. when asked about how things are going in the country, 73% said badly. brianna keilar is joining us from the white house. for those not following this closely we knew the president would make a speech next week. he basically wrote a letter to john boehner and to the senate to say, can i speak next wednesday? and then what happened? >> reporter: yeah, he wrote a letter and according to white house press secretary jay carney who was just on msnbc he said

the house republicans were given 30 minutes notice and democrats didn't get a locate more notice than that. not surprising the white house had to bend on this. this was a bit of an unforced error and wasn't well coordinated. so the white house is saying, actually we did coordinate with house republicans. the 30-minute notice has house republicans saying that's not coordination. that is just kind of alerting us. the protocol that you normally see some something like this is that it's worked out behind the scenes ahead of time and that didn't happen here. so why would the white house want to just kind of alert for when they wanted this address to happen? a couple of reasons. the congressional schedule basically dictates that it would have to happen on wednesday or thursday without calling congress back into town earlier, having them stay late. wednesday you had the republican debate. thursday, you had -- thursday,

you have the nfl season opener, so neither day was really good here. the white house went with wednesday. the other thing you have to recognize that is going on here is that the white house feels that whenever it tells congress something, it has essentially made it public that it has leaked and they were trying to keep this under wraps. the format of this speech we only just learned this right after they alerted republicans and democrats in congress. >> bottom line is we are all right in thinking usually there is a back room arrangement and predetermination before these things come out and get litigated in the press. what an interesting situation. thank you very much. cnn will have live coverage of president obama's address next thursday night at 8:00 p.m. eastern and most of us will be likely and we are unsure because of that big football game. >> controversy over the scheduling of something that is going to have controversy about creating jobs. >> this might not be as smooth as you think. >> wow. >> you're right. i'm going to be taping one event or the other because i love drew

brees. seriously though. here is a chance to talk back. the question is president obama's jobs plan doa before it's even unveiled. the president has already had to postpone the unveiling of his plan by 24 hours to avoid a clash with republicans. now his prime time jobs speech before a joint session of congress will be on tv at the same time the nfl kicks off the first game of the season. instead of the original date september 7th when mr. obama's speech would have competed with a televised republican debate. as a "the washington post" op-ed put it, this spat sums up so well the image problems that obama has faced since the start of his term. if the white house has spent months working to appear above the partisan fray as they insist they have, then pulling a blatantly partisan stunt like this torpedos all of that pr work and don't think the republicans running for president didn't pile on. >> now does this show maybe a little insecurity on the part of the president?

either, a, he wants to distract the american people so they don't watch it, or, b, he doesn't want the american people to hear what the next president of the united states is going to say about the president's job plan! >> whether you think that is fair or not, it may resonate more than a statement from the white house. the statement, quote, the president welcoming the opportunity to address a joint session of congress on thursday so our nation's leaders can focus 100% of their attention on doing whatever they can to help the american people. so the talkback question today is president obama's jobs plan doa before it's even unveiled? facebook//americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> can't wait for that. still to come the tea party about to play first role in a presidential election. questions raised whether the movement will help or hurt republicans. we are will be back with that. 13 minutes after the hour.

[ doorbell rings ] hello there. i'm here to pick up helen. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over.

a tea party movement played a big role in putting this kuns's fiscal problems front and center but later focus on spending cuts is turning up new controversy. >> spending cuts and no taxes. >> that's right. >> our jim acosta is live in washington. jim, good morning. >> good morning, guys. >> reporter: this is a big question about the tea party. you know, we may end up seeing the republicans getting rick perry instead of mitt romney because of the tea party and may see a key democratic constituency namely the african-american community getting revved up about this election because of the tea party. will the tea party make or break

the republicans in their quest to take back the white house? ♪ ♪ having a tea party across this land ♪ >> reporter: if president obama is trying to energize the democratic base look no further than the tea party which scored a big victory in the debt deal on capitol hill as liberals in congress hopping mad. >> as far as i'm concerned, the tea party can go straight to hell. >> reporter: as a series of town halls and job fairs in democratic districts, many of the congressional black caucus have accused tea party of kicking the poor and their zeal to cuts and government spending. asked about those comments later, andre carson defended his remarks to cnn. >> i stand on the truth of what i spoke.

my intentions weren't to hurt anyone or any group. >> reporter: as the tea party extres was launch is its latest bus tour across the country, the group's chair woman seemed to wear some of the criticisma badge of honor. >> we have them running scared right now. we are a threat to their leftist liberal agenda and they don't know what to do. >> reporter: another tea party leader herman cain argues the movement is inclusive. >> i would know racism if i saw it. i do not see it, nor have i experienced it in the tea party movement. ♪ >> reporter: but there are other tea party questions brewing, such as some of the small crowds at its event and there is infighting. when the tea party express recently allowed mitt romney to speak at a gathering this weekend another tea party group freedom works bailed from the bus tour.

they will protest romney some call the father of obamney care. >> he knew seeks to the tea party movement in new hampshire and around the country. >> reporter: doubt i needs the tea party movement now? >> i do. i think he wants the tea party vote. >> reporter: one other tea party question. sarah palin is first in and out and then back in at a tea party event scheduled this weekend in iowa. christine o'donnell was disinvited twice prosecute the same gathering and organizers blamed it on logistical concerns but sarah palin's appearance hinge odd whether o'donnell would be there op not be there. >> it looked like a ping-pong match yesterday. she's in, she's out. no, she's in, she's out. no, she's out, she's in. >> it was interesting. >> joo exact>> reporter: exactl. that is part of the movement of

the tea party movement. they are somewhat disorganized. the one holding the event on saturday is called the tea party america. this appears to be a brand-new tea party group that nobody has really heard of so it's interesting to watch this movement even though it's quite influential, sort of go through some of these growing pains. >> in fairness, it's always been disorganized. it's never been one big machine. >> reporter: that's right. >> they say the grassroots and lots of people from different parts of the country with different particular flavors of get rid of liberalism. >> different flavors of tea? >> that's right. >> earl grey. >> that's a great piece. still to come, addicted to autopilot. a new report suggests relying on computers could weaken a pilot's ability to respond when air systems fail. tell but that coming up.

so easy, even a cave man could do it. along the same lines, airline pilots are experiencing what is being called automation addiction. >> it's basically a trend, a new report says that relying too much on autopilot and other automated flight systems impairs a pilot's ability to respond to cockpit emergencies. cnn's brian todd has looked into this and he has a great story on it. >> reporter: june 2009. the autopilot system on air france flight 447 sdeckets. a stall warning goes off. a co-pilot repeatedly says climb. points the nose up. it's the opposite of what he is supposed top. the pilot comes into the cockpit and says, no, no, no! don't climb!

it's too late. the airbus 8330 plummets into the atlantic ocean and killing all 228 people on board. an investigation revealed questions about the pilot's training and their ability to respond to surprises. >> they were misreading their cues and, therefore, unfortunately the aircraft continued its stall. >> reporter: kevin highland is out with a new report commissioned by congress and loosely overseen by the faa. they found that, overall, pilots are relying too much on autopilot systems. >> they are becoming very depend upon using the autopilot, the auto throttles and flight system and computers to actually operate the entire flight. >> reporter: they are getting rusty as a result of this? >> yes. because what happens is you don't hand fly or manipulate the controls whether it's control yoke or a side stick controller. therefore, your computer skills get greatly enhanced and flying skills get rusty. >> reporter: it's sometimes called automation addiction.

july of 2009 as a plane reaches buffalo, new york, the pilot commands what the system does to get out of stall and the plane crashes killing 50 people. highland says probably of a pilot forgetting key procedures. he says part of the problem is standards have evolved to the point in recent years, pilots only flying manually 1 1/2 to 3 minutes of flight takeoff to landing and highland says it can be done on autopilot. >> when you bring on a new pilot who has not been through some of the things that some of the older guys have, they have never flown an airplane that had anything but some computer activity on it. they don't understand what to do necessarily when something goes wrong with their computer. >> reporter: the authors of the new report says this is not really the fault of the faa or anyone in particular, it's how the technology and standards have evolved over the years. the faa would not comment on the

report. the airline pilots association e-mailed cnn saying the safety of airline operations today is a testament to the high levels of skill brought to the cockpit by the professional airline pilot. brian todd, cnn, washington. this morning's top stories coming your way next. we will be right back. 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure high protein. ensure! nutrition in charge! my subaru saved my life.

i won't ever forget that. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. love. met an old man at the top asked him if he had a secret and the old man stopped and thought and said: free 'cause that's how it ought to be my brother credit 'cause you'll need a loan for one thing or another score 'cause they break it down to one simple number

that you can use dot to take a break because the name is kinda long com in honor of the internet that it's on put it all together at the end of the song it gives you freecreditscore-dot-com, and i'm gone... offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com

virginia rattles by another after-shock this morning and hit over three hours ago now and registering 3.4 magnitude. the epi center located about 36 miles northwest of richmond. so far, no reports it did any damage. more than 20 aftershocks have hit after the earthquake struck. wildfires in texas and oklahoma, strong winds and severe drought conditions have fueled a blaze in north texas about 100 miles outside of dallas. fire officials hope calmer winds today will let them get a handle on this fire. days after hurricane irene brought the water, isolated parts of vermont are finally getting help.

air-drops are being made to several towns. the national guard is bringing supplies to other communities on patched up roads and president obama is going to patterson, new jersey, on sunday, where water in the streets was over 15 feet high. the 9/11 terrorist attacks ten years later. a museum dedicated to news is set to open an exhibit called "war on terror." the fbi's new focus. this is going to examine how the fbi's mission has changed since 9/11 and includes artifacts from the world trade center site. when you think about how much has changed since 9/11, it really gives you some pause. cnn's athina jones has more. >> reporter: they are haunting symbols of grief founeled in the rubble of the world trade center site. a mother's wallet and credit cards short of a trip when the air strike on the south tower. >> she was going to take her 4-year-old daughter to disneyland. some families got human remains

back so it was really important possess them to get anything, whether it was a wedding ring or a credit card, a wallet, a shoe, because that brought some closure to them. >> reporter: 60 artifacts make up the museum on war on terror exhibit. like engine parts from flight 175, found several blocks from ground zero. hijackers passports found in shanksville, pennsylvania. five letters that were given to each of the 19 hijackers on how to spend their last night and several more personal items that belonged to victims like cell phones and pagers that rang for days after the tower's fell. a team of 30 from the museum worked closely with the fbi for eight months to put the exhibit together. part of an effort to remember and to educate. >> the story was not only the investigation but also how it changed the fbi forever. the fbi's mission was changed by

9/11. >> reporter: the fbi's priority was to prevent another attack after 9/11 and it includes richard reid's boarding pass and shoes and the four matches he struck in his attempt to bring down the transatlantic flight in 2001 but the items from september 11th that hit home the most for this visitor. >> it hits home. it's still so hard to believe, at least for me, even though it's been ten years. >> reporter: another interesting fact you saw police car door among the items on display. 61 police department vehicles and 102 fire department vehicles were among the debris at the world trade center site. so it gives you a sense in a physical way in front of you a sense of the scale of this tragic event. >> athena, thanks very much. >> reporter: thanks. the whole controversy over scheduling the president's jobs plan to congress spilling over to the pages of the opinion

secretary secti secretary. james downey questions the administration's motive saying scheduling the speech during the gop debate is the one way the white house could guarantee, a, that fewer voters will be watching and that, b, viewers and pundits would pay less attention to the speech's contents and more to the theatrics around it. the speech is culled for the day after the debate as we told you. no matter the date, op-ed columnist ezra klein has hope it won't lead to any action. he writes in bloomberg.

>> sad state of affairs. >> that's really cynical, though? isn't that cynical? >> yeah, but increasingly, how many analysts and commentators do we talk to and say that is driving it. >> ron brownstein said earlier today the whole leadership, i don't know, the leadership level of society, people don't trust it any more, whether it's attorneys, whether it's the media, whether it's congress, whether it's political leaders, regulators, companies. people are just like it feels bad out there and what are you people doing for us? >> that's why, in some people's mind, president obama needs to present some plan, some bold plan and look lawmakers in the eye and say, these are my ideas, give me one better or do something about it and then lawmakers would have to say, well, we can't do this but we can do this because we also have a plan, some of us. >> it's not clear to me that the whole speech spat was even calculated, that the white house

calculated so much when to do that and actually the lack of calculation is also even -- >> might be the bigger problem. >> it's disturbing. still ahead, she is a power play. we are talking about michelle obama. she has influence and she has a platform. so is it time for the first lady to go out on the trail with the 2012 election? it's 36 minutes past the hour. [ oswald ] there's a lot of discussion going on about the development of natural gas,

whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right.

39 minutes past the hour. essence magazine put michelle obama on the cover of its power issue. she is one of the most powerful black women on the planet and i would argue she is one of the most powerful women on the planet period. michelle obama was called the secret weapon during the campaign of 2008, so is it time for her to get back on the campaign trail? joining us now is "the washington post" reporter chris take thompson and shadowed the first lady on her recent trip to africa and joined by the chief and editor of "essence."

glad you could be here. kristen, you able to accompany michelle obama on her trip to africa. what struck you the most about her as you followed her and interviewed her? >> this was her first presidential level trip. we have seen her embrace the office in a way she hadn't. she talked about her policies, her popularity on a global scale. you really saw the reach of the first lady. like you said she is most of the well-known women on the planet now. >> she certainly is. constance, the first lady was criticized for that trip, as she is criticized about so many things, about spending money on fashion, about her anti-obesity campaign. is she one of the most criticized first lady in history or is it some people's imagination? >> i think what we do know she has one of the highest approval ratings of anyone in history so she is clearly very popular.

i think the first lady office will always have its detractor but she clearly is very popular with a wide swath. >> why is she criticized so much, though? >> i find she really is someone who women, particularly our "essence" readers really love and admire and we put her on the cover for that reason. >> i guess i'm talking about people who don't read "essence" magazine. >> who is that? i do think that the office of the first lady is one that attracts criticism. i think michelle obama has done a great job of really deflecting whatever criticism there is out there by focusing on issues that she cares about, by really being her authentic self. she had some bumps in the beginning and now has embraced the office being owner authentic telephone and using it to address issues she cares did. >> let's talk about using her authentic cervical and her

popularity. president obama is slammed by some in the black community saying the president is not paying attention to the plight. >> that is somebody who is criticized. >> exactly. chr what if michelle obama would go into black communities and talk to people about what her husband is doing. would that make a difference? >> we have seen some engagement already. like you said the congressional black caucus has had this jobs tour where they are aired this frustration about the really high unemployment rates we are seeing in the black community. we had president obama just this week was on tom joyner's morning show, a very popular urban radio show, speaking himself about, look, these are the policies we have done. i have this jobs plan coming out. we are trying to push this but we are looking to see what the first lady is going to do. she said she is going to be

engaged in the 2012 campaign and she is popular with plaque women. >> what about the president's big job speech which is supposed to take place on september 8th, do you see a necessary role for michelle obama to maybe go out to middle america and connect with people in a way her husband can't seem to? >> what she has been most comfortable doing is what we kind of call soft policy, you know? the lets move, anti-obese campaign, working with military families. will she engage in some of these harder policy issues? it's not clear. it hasn't been a part of her role really in the past. she generally talks about this is what my husband has been doing. these are the policies that he is pushing. we are working hard for you. but what she has been most comfortable in is these policies that she, as constance said, she cares about which are children and families really. >> but you know, chrisa, the approval ratings for president

obama aren't so great. if he finds himself in trouble and they continue to decline, why not put his wife out there to fight for him? >> the democratic party has said she is one of the most popular figures in the party now. i think if they could use her, they would. the question is how much is michelle obama really willing to engage some of these hard policy issues? ii think we saw her in '08 campaigning hard for him. she said she is ready to get back out there again but, clearly, her daughters' schedules come first. she has policy issues that she has been pushing herself so it's going to be a balance. that is what we are going to be looking for. >> michelle obama can certainly handle all kinds of issues. so why not put her out there? >> so many of us can't, as women. we are used to juggling all of these things. you know, we know at the beginning when the president was running, when he was a candidate, michelle obama was the reluctant wife, if you will,

and then she really came into it because she believed in what her husband was going to do. she decided to campaign and we know she did it very effectively. so it would be nice to see her out on the campaign trail again. >> and maybe even selling the president's jobs plan? >> perhaps. we know for women, for our readers in particular, they care about jobs and they also care about seeing positive role models out there and that was one of the reasons we put michelle on the cover because we don't see enough of that and we have heard that from our readers seeing these positive role models and positive black women in the public arena. and she has done a really great job in that regard. >> i wish the conversation could continue. thanks to both of you. it was really fascinating. thank you both for joining us. we will take a break.

[ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. ♪ priceis it true thata-tor. name your own price.... >>...got even easier? affirmative. we'll show you other people's winning hotel bids. >>so i'll know how much to bid... ...and save up to 60% >>i'm in i know see winning hotel bids now at priceline. that's how it is with alzheimer's disease. she needs help from me. and her medication. the exelon patch -- it releases medication continuously for twenty-four hours. she uses one exelon patch daily for the treatment of mild to moderate alzheimer's symptoms. [ female announcer ] it cannot change the course of the disease. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effects of exelon patch are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. the likelihood and severity of these side effects may increase as the dose increases. patients may experience loss of appetite or weight.

patients who weigh less than 110 pounds may experience more side effects. people at risk for stomach ulcers who take certain other medicines should talk to their doctor because serious stomach problems such as bleeding may worsen. people with certain heart conditions may experience slow heart rate. [ woman ] whenever i needed her, she was there for me. now i'm here for her. [ female announcer ] ask the doctor about your loved one trying the exelon patch. visit exelonpatch.com to learn more. 48 minutes half the hour. here are your morning headlines. four hours ago a 4.2 magnitude aftershock rattled virginia. no reports it did any damage. president obama visiting patterson, new jersey, on sunday. the city hit hard after hurricane irene was flooded out with more than 15 feet of water. cleanup only starting after the water slowly begins to recede

across the northeast. fire crews hoping for calmer winds if in texas today to get a hoojeds handle on a wildfire. in oklahoma city a brush fire burned 3,000 acres and destroyed 200 homes. sarah palin is headed to neither carolisouth korea. she will discuss how america can lead the world out of a economic crisis. 409,000 unemployment claims were filed for the first time last week. that report is weaker than expected a level above 400,000 signals a weak labor market. right now u.s. stock futures are trading lower off of this news. markets open in less than 45 minutes right now. "american morning" will be back after the break.

a pretty good chance you've had one of these this morning. talking about sugary drinks like soda or vitamin water. awe new study finds half of americans will have a sugary drinks toot and often they contain a lot of calories. our elizabeth cohen joins us now. what did the research find? >> reporter: the research helps answer the question why are we so fat as a nation? i'm not going to blame sugary drinks but when you look at the number calories that we are getting from them, it does help answer that question. so let's take a look at what this study found from the cdc. what they found is that men, on verg average, are consuming about 175 calories per day from these sugary drinks and women 98

calories a day. that doesn't sound like a lot but consider day after day of consuming these calories. that is an average. let me show you what take looks like on the high end. 1 out of 20 americans are drinking four of these drinks addai. that is 567 calories a day! that is half a big mac a day. half a big mac a day in sugary drinks that, as i said, often have no other nutritional value, that is a lot of calories. the american beverage association say we are not the reason why americans are fat. >> they spend a lot of money to lobby too. whenever governments try to ban the sugary stuff. >> tax them. >> right. who tends to drink these types of drinks the most? >> unfortunately, young people.

i say unfortunately, because we all know that the obesity academic is really becoming particularly bad among young people. take a look at these numbers for teenagers and the number of calories that they are getting from these sugary drinks. so boys, 273 calories per day. girls, 171 calories per day. again, that is really, i mean, 273 calories a day and multiple that out, that's a lot. >> as ali is putting away his sugary drink. >> sanjay sent me something called combut, whicah this morn. >> how was it? >> it tasted terrible. >> can i give you a radical suggestion what to drink? >> yeah. >> water. have you tried it? it's really good. it quenches your thirst.

>> how about diet drinks? >> it's controversial. some say have a diet drink and give you the sugar without the calories but fake sweeteners are bad for you also. let me give you some suggestions. don't go cold turkey. we like sugar and so if you're having three day, have two a day, one a day, do it slowly. try club soda with lime. i get it, i hear you snickering! i know it's not the same thing! but at least it's got the bubbles and it's got a little bit of flavor. also don't let kids start. it just kills me when i see a 3-year-old or 4-year-old drinking a soda. there is no no reason! there is nothing else in there for them and they either -- so many other things they could be drinking that would be better for them. >> even like lemonade, cut it

with a lot of water. you can cut orange juice with water. >> putting lime in your soda count as a vegetable serving? >> it's a fruit! >> it's a fruit and it's a fraction. >> all right. >> it's both! >> thanks so much, elizabeth cohen. >> thanks. >> by the way, i have a half of bottle of combutch, if you want it. >> no! coming up next, our talkback question of the day. is president obama's jobs plan doa before it's even unveiled? we have your responses next. 54 minutes past the hour. hey, the new guy is loaded with protein!

really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure high protein. ensure! nutrition in charge! show me the carfax. oh yeah, can you show me the carfax? sunglass holder... for sunglasses. just show me the carfax. before you buy a used car, get a carfax vehicle history report. see accidents and service reported to carfax and a price based on the car's history.

ask your dealer or go to carfax.com. just say, show me the carfax. we asked you to talk back on the big story of the day. is president obama's jobs plan doa before it's ever unveiled? this from michael. even in obama's job plan is doaa the republicans don't have a plan to work with. i believe the economy needs more than just talk, it needs action. what happened to the infrastructure plans? if obama doesn't start getting it straight, he can kiss his

presidency good-bye in 2012. gary says obama has had over three years in office and has a plan to create jobs? what took him so long? he needs to be a one-term president. we can't afford more larry says i believe it's mostly doa. i don't know what is in it but it seems obama is doing everything he can to make his campaign doa as well. i'll still vote for him because the republicans scare me to death. >> did he have a jobs plan called the stimulus and it didn't create new ones and back to square one. >> 800 billion dollar jobs plan. >> exactly. they are painting the town red in spain. site of the world's largest tomato fight. 20,000 people took fight in the annual festival slinging 120 tons of ripe tomatoes! >> they do look a little sqiched in there.