we have lesbian characters and other gay characters that are members of a team called storm watch. we have a lot of different ethnicitie ethnicities, and we want to mix things up and keep them as fresh and modern as possible. >> reporter: if you were to draw me as a superhero, what would it looks like? >> it would be on the spot woman, and that would be her power. >> felicia fayltaylor, cnn new . and if your choice did not win or you want to check out the runners up, there are link on my page at facebook.com/suzanne. i want to begin this hour with a quote to emergency management referring to the ravages of tropical storm irene. a spokesman says this. the worst is over.

that may come as news to thousands of vermonters that still do not have power or cannot get in out of their homes or towns but have lost their homes or businesses, but four days after irene came and went food and supplies are reaching towns that had been entirely cut off. and there are makeshift roads made for emergency vehicles only, and national guard helicopters are going where atvs can't. some of the 16 helicopters now on the job are on loan from new hampshire, right next door, and illinois, hundreds of miles away. amber lyon is in the town of wilmington. do the folks you met believe the worst is over? >> reporter: they do. they feel positive, randi. you can't go anywhere -- look at this. we have construction equipment wheeling by. you cannot go anywhere in vermont without finding road

crews out here trying to rebuild and open the communities, randi. >> when you talk about what is being done there, and you are showing the road and the construction being done, but what are they doing to bring aid and restore power? have you seen any evidence of that? >> reporter: oh, we have seen electric crews running up and down these roads. we also have had times where we have been trapped in traffic on more of the smaller mountain roads because what is going on you have the electrical crews going on and repairing lines and taking up space, so it's difficult for the cars to get through. we have seen quite a bit of aid come through here. a lot of volunteers helping these residents and businesses clean up the mess. we have seen national guards directing traffic and tossing items that have been ruined with the mud and muck into their truck and disposing of them. >> are people angry about the level of aid coming through, or are they okay with it?

>> reporter: these are very small mountain communities. most of them are very self-sufficient as is. they are used to being remote. what has bothered people the most is not being able to leave freely. we're in the center of wilmington, and this bridge, can you see the construction equipment here, and i was standing in the hole because the integrity of the bridge is compromised here, so the residents can only get in or out if they are cleaning up or for emergencies. it's difficult to travel from one town to another and they are frustrated with that, but they have had a lot of help out here. you expect them to be very upset, but we found a positive attitude among the residents. ? >> was show us around a little bit more, is the town open for business, or is everything still shut down? >> no, it's not open for business. i will show you why. if we can have you pan over here, tom, and show you a yellow road closed sign. these are police officers and

directing traffic, because the only roads they are letting in here -- or the only cars they are letting into the center of town are cars here to assist in the cleanup, and assist with people that need supplies. regular residents -- we had to get passes to get in here right now with our cameras, because regular residents are not being allowed to move freely. and in 13 communities across the state of vermont, residents are not able to drive out of their towns, and only emergency supplies are coming in and out, randy. >> where are people staying if it's hard to get into their own homes? >> reporter: staying at local hotels. we were at an inn yesterday that had people staying there as well as other areas. some people stay with neighbors who have opened their homes to them, giving them food, water and supplies and also helping them clean up. >> still sounds like such a mess but it's good to see aid is getting in and construction is under way. amber, thank you there in

wilmington. >> reporter: randy, if you see the restaurant right here, this is dot's restaurant, and the owners are standing over there, and you see them in the blue shirts. they have owned this for 30 years, and as we speak inspectors are in the building testing out the integrity and seeing if they will condemn it, and they are nervous about that. look where the flood came up and washed out part of the foundation. and we are seeing if the business owners can come back in and start to continue to generate income. >> all right, amber lyon, great reporting and thank you very much. in new jersey, the passaic river is finally going down. two of the worst may be over. president obama will visit the flood ravaged say of patterson. and susan candiotti sent us this report from the nearby city of

wayne. >> reporter: we are in the one of the heavy flooded areas, and you can see that it's difficult to tell where that river bank starts and where the parking lot begins. as you look over this way, we can tell you, however, that the waters are receding. it has come down a couple feet since we were here late yesterday afternoon. down in this direction is a neighborhood that is accessible only by boat. we were lucky enough to get a ride back with locals who showed us how bad things are. now it's called lake passaic. i am seeing the tops of fences that were leading up to the front door, and that's not a house on stilts, but a garage under water. they lost the car. oh, a classic mustang lost. yeah. you have gone through this time and again, and why do you and

other people still live here? >> what are you going to do. you can't sell the house. kn can't give them away. >> reporter: at this point, it's local boat traffic only. you are about to start school, and it's your senior year in high school coming up in a week. what is going through your head? >> how am i going to prepare for school. my clothes and everything is stuck at home and everything is closed down for shopping. i have five pants, five shirts, and that's it. school starts in one week. >> reporter: probably won't be the only one. sad to say, huh. >> yeah, plenty. i have so many friends that live on this street, too. >> wow. >> reporter: is this the first time you are seeing it? >> yep. >> reporter: how do you begin to

think about the cleanup involved here? what is 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, and then the cleanup comes next. >> reporter: the neighborhood you saw that remains cut off is just over my shoulder. we're in the parking lot of a car wash, and to show you just how far waters have come down here, check out the vacuum cleaner, the shiny part on top, the water almost came to the top of that. you can see where the watermark is. authorities say by this weekend the water could recede enough to allow people to go in and allow people to clean up this mess. suzanne candiotti, cnn, wayne, new jersey. a different disaster is plaguing parts of texas and oklahoma. wildfires resulting in part of a historic doubt. homes have been lost and more still could be. in texas, crews are making progress against a fire that burned 40 homes and several rvs in the community of possum king

lake that is west of dallas. cnn's jim fellman is there. how much progress are we talking about. >> reporter: they made a lot of progress. take a look, randi. this is the hill that we watched burn yesterday as the wind picked up in the afternoon. there's a little active fire and smoke coming off of it. they are hitting this fire on all fronts with helicopters dropping water out of the reservoir here. yesterday afternoon the wind picked up and the fire took off and destroyed more homes. today, 50% contained now, and they are even allowing some residents back in. and what is startling about this fire and a continued hazard, when we get this under control, all the same conditions still remain. we have extreme drought and no sign of rain anytime in the near future, so all it takes is a spark, and one more ember flying to have another active fire

begin. yesterday we saw embers come from that side of the reservoir back over to this side of the reservoir, and start a few spot fires on this side. that forced the command center here to pull back. we had to pull back, too, because it became too dangerous. that's how volatile the fires can be when the winds pick up and hit the fires, randi. >> we spoke to a couple that grabbed their dogs and whatever they could and took off. they thought they could not maybe get back in their home for a couple weeks. but you are saying they are already back in. >> reporter: yeah, and they expanded the evacuation area yesterday and those people are now back in. and those people that are talking about, they are working to get them back in. the fire was so devastating, it wiped out some of the homes and nothing is standing. and the sheriff said, look, if you come back in, be ready to get back out again, because this could spark up again at anytime.

with extreme drought conditions, they cannot evacuate everybody, and 90% of the state is under the drought conditions, randi. >> thank you very much. miles of growing devastation and a growing price tag. damage from irene will cost a pretty penny to fix, but there are some wounds money cannot heal. a look at the faces behind the devastation next. and moammar gadhafi release add new audio message. 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? ♪ i thought i was invincible.

i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. talk to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. but sometimes i wonder... what's left behind? [ female announcer ] new purifying facial cleanser from neutrogena naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens, or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] new from neutrogena naturals. 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.

damage estimates from tropical storm irene are now more than $1 billion just for new york state. six towns are dealing with

floodwaters and more than 600 homes have been destroyed. 300,000 people with no power, and 150 major highways damaged. and one family is faced with deciding on whether to rebuild or uproot and move. listen to some of the struggles these people are dealing with right now. >> this is where my father and family business for five generations has been. my nephews at the time were running this. it withstood 18 floods, and obviously it didn't this time. my family grew up across the street. five generations also lived there. there is major devastation throughout the house. i don't know if the house will be saved. the walls are, of course, saturated. and then, of course, you get the black mold. >> this is the gas station at that time looking from the

house. that's my -- one of my relatives standing right there. of course you see the river in the back. that is 1933. >> it wiped out not only my father's -- my family's gas station business, but many, many families in this town are homeless that have been -- lived here their whole lives and had businesses here. >> we have nothing left. there's absolutely nothing there but concrete, a concrete slab. >> we want to rebuild, but as you can see the land where we can rebuild is not there. we have no land to put our business on, it's gone. >> and all of these came from the trailer park a good quarter mile to half a mile east. all the trailers floated down to here, got in the trees and just breaking apart. >> we have had flooding before, but nothing like this. nothing. this is devastation.

>> my home is up by o'hara's, the gas station. that's gone. it was up there, and it has travelled probably half a mile. i have no idea what i'm going to do. this has been my home since 1969. i have been here, like i said, 71 years. i have cried, and it's -- what do you do? >> joining me now on the phone is mac angilosi. thank you for taking the time and i know you and your neighbors are dealing with a lot right now. how did you fare in the storm? >> caller: randi, like i said, we were rushing around about sunday morning. as far as the fire department we had minimal time to get everybody evacuated and up to safe land, you know. it came really, really quick.

we did not have much time to move around. by 9:00 or so the whole main street was flooded. >> now you are helping with the recovery efforts and getting people, i guess, fixed up in their homes. what are you spending most of your time doing? >> caller: right now most of our time is taking out a lot of furniture out of peoples' houses. we are putting that on the main street, on the side, where everything is cleared. we're still doing pumping out because the ground is so saturated, it's filling up basements. we have been going to several different places back and forth, pumping out peoples' basements. now the recovery is in effect and we're in full mode. we are getting all the things out of peoples' houses and getting out all the stuff ruined and putting on the side, and we

have containers coming up and picking up people's furniture. >> i imagine people are as concerned about getting their homes or saving their homes are about as saving their memories. do you find that as well? >> caller: yeah, we have a lot of people out on the street, and as we are pumping them out, they are taking the memories and belongings and washing it with the water just to salvage as much as possible. pictures. you know, memories that are as far back from when they were born here. >> did your father have damage to his house? >> caller: yeah, it was on the main street. his whole basement was completely flooded up to the first floor, and that was on every house on main street, the first floor was flooded. we have basements completely full of sediment where you

cannot pump it out because it's full of hurt. it's just buried. >> is the down pulling together? you are a volunteer fire, and are there other volunteers coming out of the woodwork to try and help? >> caller: oh, oh, you know it. we have help, but we could use so much more help. we have fire departments here that i don't even know where they came from. they are coming from all over the place. they are really doing a great job. the national guard is here. they volunteered to actually clean out our fire department, because that was under water. which they have been doing last night, all through the night and through this morning. they really are doing a great job. i just passed by about half an hour ago, and they were able to clean out a lot of it. doesn't even look like it flooded here. >> for anybody watching the show right now, and wants to help, what can they do? what do you need? >> caller: we have fema here and red cross here. any family members that are in

the town of pratsville, and right now it's blocked off to get in. they are only accepting anybody that lived in pratsville. but if they get ahold of their family members they can meet them at the check point and get them down and they will escort them down to the property, and we're trying to keep it down to a minimum of only people that live here and relatives that are trying to get here to help out. >> well, matt, we appreciate your time and certainly your efforts there to try and get your town back on track. thank you very much. >> caller: thank you, randi. parents are engaging in risky behavior, and some caution, it's an unsafe practice. find out exactly what i'm talking about next. ♪ [ 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.

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it's about 22 minutes past the hour. let's update some of the top stories we're following. moammar gadhafi is vowing to keep on fighting in a message believed to be from the libyan leader. he calls the rebels traitors, and he says they are not giving up. it was aired on a syrian tv channel. the message gave no clues to gadhafi's whereabouts. august was the first month without any u.s. military deaths since the invasion in 2003. a another aftershock has

rattled virginia. the 3.0 magnitude quake hit virginia. mineral was the epicenter of the quake that struck the state and much of the east coast last week. now we have a new surveillance video to show you of the power of last week's quake. this is inside the high school, just as part of the ceiling collapsed. seconds later students and teachers poured into the hallway and made a quick exit. the high school has been closed for the entire school year. all of the 1400 students are being moved to the county middle school. tough decisions for some parents out there as students head off to college. all of this week, cnn is taking an in depth look at the cost of a college education. that's why the story in the usa caught our attention.

according to sal ysally mae, th number doubled of parents taking out of their retirement for college. while the private education averaged about $37,000 a year, it's up 4.3% from 2009. what is a parent to do? financial advisers tell parents that students have options. student loans, scholarships and financial aid. experts say saving for retirement should be a bigger priority. students have ways to borrow money and retirees do not. and so what to do? high school graduates taking a year off to work or spending the first two years at a lower cost college and then transferring to a four-year school.

the best advice anybody offers? check all available options before you dig yourself into a hole. the president protocol and the packers, it's what everybody is talking about, when we should be talking about jobs. we'll tackle that next. up and form a resilient layer called biofilm? biofilm germs are strong enough to survive daily brushing. thankfully, there's listerine® antiseptic. its triple-action formula goes deep to penetrate biofilm, kill germs and protect your mouth for up to 12 hours. aaaahhhh... [ male announcer ] for a deeper clean, fight biofilm with listerine®.

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i am sure by now you heard that president obama will layout his jobs plan next thursday, and not wednesday as planned. but sadly nobody is talking about the jobs but today it's about the sandbox antics between two political parties that cannot agree that the sky is blue. to the playground we go. the bump occurred after john boehner said no to wednesday. the speech would have coincited with the television debate. the president and even more importantly, american job seekers, now face an even tougher competition. and it is going helmet to

helmet. this is a partisan fight over the date, and not even the plan itself, but the date. how does this type of scheduling normally work? why wasn't it handled behind the scenes? >> randy, there's not a protocol of how things occur, and how they communicate with each other, and it's kind of an informal affair. that being said it's usually handled with courtesy and confirmation behind the scenes. but by all accounts it looks like this situation was handled without the courtesy and behind the scenes confirmation. this speech was going to be delivered on very short notice, and in obvious conflict with a big republican debate. >> the white house says they cleared it and boehner's office is saying they didn't, right? >> right.

>> we don't know yet. >> that's right. >> let's take a look at the calendar. if you look at the calendar with me, monday is labor day, and tuesday the house is not back yesterday, and the gop debate thursday, and the nfl game, and then friday and sunday is the weekend. we have monday as the holiday. the president would need to unveil this plan before the 9/11 festivities. if you were at the white house, what day would you have chosen when you look at the calendar? >> there was a lot of choices to be made here. the president could have delivered the speech in august, and could have delivered the speech from the oval office or a factory in michigan, but chose it to be in a joint session of congress. he gives me plenty of substance to disagree with, and i feel no need to go after the president as a person, and cnn's own james

carville said the president was out of bounds. there were a lot of choices to be made here, but the choice he made was to put this on the night of a republican debate that had been scheduled for months months. >> were there really a lot of choices if you look at that week? >> yeah, can you narrow it down to one of two days, and by the way there was still thursday, the day we landed on. that was another choice. >> well then you have the nfl game. >> well, there's something on every night. some are saying he doesn't need to give the speech in front of a joint session, but if he is going to take them to task, shouldn't congress there? >> is that what he's going to do, randi? >> he has not shared his plan with me yet. >> is that the motivation? to take congress to task? i think the motivation is to unvoil a jobs plan that for some reason we have not yet seen, or

that he has a new idea that we have not yet seen, and i am skeptical about it, and i am not sure there's a brand-new idea to fix the economy that the obama administration has not unveiled? it is to unveil a new plan? to set up his new campaign message? i am not trying to be jaded on president obama on this, but this is really odd choices that were made. >> do you think the plan and unveiling of the plan has been lost in the whole dispute now? >> well, yeah. i mean, this is -- do you think in, like, a year we will look back on the week and think that was the big scheduling debate of 2011? no, we're not. there are big things going on like a war in libya and afghanistan, and the palestinian conflict, but we're still trying to figure out the wednesday and thursday conflict.

yeah, i think important things are getting lost in the whole little fight. will it be obama's jobs plan. we will wait to see what he has to say on that and see what new ideas he has. >> i hope next time we talk we are not talking about a scheduling debate but jobs and getting people back to work. let's make a deal on that? >> yeah, let's do that. it's in my book. >> are you free wednesday or thursday though? >> i will have to check with my people, there may be a football game next wednesday. >> have your people check with my people, okay. >> thank you, randi. remember this amazing shot? the wrong twin that hit the $50,000 goal. did the family get the money? we have the scoop next. from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®.

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mom? ♪ try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. the time right now, 36 minutes past the hour. let's check top stories that we're monitoring and other news you might have missed. as the east coast struggled to cover from irene, we're looking at the second hurricane of the season in the atlantic. katia is projected to past north of the caribbean. she's already a cat 1 storm and could strengthen into a major

hurricane in the next 48 hours. rebels in libya are trying to overtake gadhafi's strong hold, while in paris leaders are meeting about libya's reconstruction and democracy. they have gathered at the one-day summit at the presidential palace. van der sloot, once a prime suspect now officially charged with the murder of a woman. van der sloot was charged today. prosecutors are asking for a 30-year prison sentence, and a restitution of $73,000 for the family of stephanie flores. they also charged van der sloot with theft. former secretary of state, condoleezza rice, firing back about vice president dick cheney's memoir. she told reuters she resents

what she sees as an attack by dick cheney. rice told reuters, quote, you know, i don't appreciate the attack on my integrity that that implies. for the first time since last week's earthquake in virginia, we got a glimpse today inside the washington national cathedral and the damage from the quake. safety nets are being installed to catch some of the debris. the earthquake caused three of the spires to break off and major cracks as well. while the church's spokesman said the structure is sound but the repairs will cost millions. it's scheduled to open september 11th. and then remember in august an 11-year-old nate smith making his $50,000 shot at a hockey game in minnesota, but his dad admitted they made a bit of a

switch. twin brother nick was supposed to take the shot, but should the family have gotten the prize money? turns out they didn't. but the promoters are donating the money to youth hockey leagues in minnesota. venus williams backs out of the u.s. open, but not because of her game. no, she is taking herself out because she has an incurable disease. she talks about how she plans to gain the advantage over the illness next.

venice williams plays a mean game of tennis on the court but her battle off the court has taken her out of a game.

she says i am disappointed i have to with draw, and i have been diagnosed with an auto immune disease. i am thankful i have a diagnosis and am focused on getting better and returning to the court soon. the white blood cells attack a moisture producing gland. four man 4 million people live with this disease. and she spoke about the illness on "good morning america" saying her battle off the court has been going on for years. >> for many years, i felt like no matter how much i trained i never had stamina. i would go to the doctor and say i don't feel like i can get in shape. when you have that symptom, it's tough to find something. about four years ago i felt like i was not getting enough air, so i got diagnosed with exercised-induced asthma. and the medications never worked for years and years and years,

and i had trouble with stamina and continuing and on and on and on, and until this summer when i started to have more definite symptoms outside of that. >> here to help us better understand this disease is cnn senior medical correspondent, elizabeth cohen. it took doctors a while to diagnose this. >> let's here what she had to say about that, because it was interesting about how long it took to get this diagnosed. let's take a listen. i am understanding we don't have it now. what she said it takes an average of six years for doctors to make this diagnosis, that for six years a patient will be walking around and going to doctors and won't get the diagnosis. when i show you the symptoms, ran randi, i think you will see why. dry mouth and dry eyes. some patients will have joint pain and fatigue. when you look at these things, this is stuff that a lot of people experience. so it's hard to pin it down to one illness.

upset stomach and dry skin. >> that's a way a lot of people feel at times. >> yeah, it could be hard to nail it down. this is why if you feel like this has been going on with you, and she said i hope people learn from this. if you feel like you are having the symptoms, you have to be an empowered patient, and we have all the information about the disease you want to read on cnn.com, and if you feel like it's you, go to your doctor and don't be afraid to feel like a high poe con drae act. don't be afraid to say, is this what i could have? >> if you feel like that, with an upset stomach or nauseous, you don't want to play tennis or go for a run, but could this be a career ending disease? >> well, there are people with this disease, randi, who run marathons, right? and there are people that are so debill tatd that they are in wheelchairs. it's a full range of how it affects people.

obviously she is doing well, and she's out there playing tennis even though she may not be feeling 100%. the thing here that is tough is that it's not curable. you don't get cured with the disease, you always have it. >> it can be treated? >> they can give you ant anti-inflammatories for the joint pain but cannot get rid of the disease for you. >> to think she is dealing with this for years. >> yeah, and to play at that level, and we hope and pray she can keep playing like this. >> thank you. is it time for gadhafi loyalists to surrender? wait until you hear what two of his out spoken sons are saying up next. "you just beat the widow-maker." i was put on an aspirin, and it's part of my regimen now. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go see your doctor now.

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moammar gadhafi is still on the run. his exact whereabouts still a mystery, but he is speaking out and is as defiant as ever. in an audio message airing on

syria tv, he denounced the rebels as traitors. at the same time the rebels scored another victory, the surrender of his foreign minister. the rebels today extended by a week a deadline for the gadhafi forces to lay down their weapons. they had been given until saturday. and another development, a split in the gadhafi family itself. their comments are contradictory and bizarre from his two sons. >> well, everybody has seen the one as the aparent. and saide said, and he has given indications over the past few months that he perhaps wanted to leave the country, that he was not particularly, perhaps not in line with everything that his

father and saife was saying. however, he said he was giving them his support. now when he speaks out and said something different that he wants to negotiate to bring about a cease-fire with the transitional council that are rejengting having any dealings of any member with gadhafi's family, it means there are splits right now in the gadhafi family. part of its strength has been in the unity. you can see it breaking apart. some of the family members we now know have fled to algeria. we are seeing brothers that stood side by side splitting in how they want to handle the country. the gadhafi family, we're beginning to see the end is coming right now. >> that report from cnn's nic robertson in tripoli. among some attending a

meeting concerning libya. up next, see this guy in that sweater vest? why this 10-year-old thinks straws suck. 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

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my next guest thinks america has a bit of an addiction to straws. that's right. these little plastic pieces of plastic that we use every day here. yeah. we one able to confirm the exact number of straws used annually, but it's easily in the billions, and he says, get this. 500 million straws are used in the u.s. every day. an average of 1.6 straws per person. and most straws are not

biodegradable. when they go to the dump, they stay there. these facts encouraged 10-year-old milo cress to go on a one-man crusade to do one simple thing to help the environment, only give customers a straw if they ask for one. he's even met the governor and testified before the house natural resources and energy committee. the amazing founder of be straw-free joins me now from newton, massachusetts for today's "big i." thanks so much for joining us. >> thank you. thanks for having me. >> any time. >> listen, i want to talk to you about this. this is a great project you have under way to get the nation to be straw-free. i know your mother is there so my first question to you is shouldn't you be in school today? >> well, actually school starts september 6th. >> so you've got a few more days. >> well, let's talk about this. what inspired you to get folks

to be straw-free? >> well, sometimes i think we forget that every straw we use, every piece of plastic, will be here on earth, somewhere on earth, even when my grandchildren are born, long after that, so in february of this year i started a project to reduce the number of straws that go into our land fills every day and over biodegradable and compostable straws even if they end up in the landfill won't biodegrade or compost. >> so you know your science on this one. >> well, i have done the research, and -- and we -- we found out that you were saying, well, actually annually, we found out that 46,000 busloads of straws are used every --

every year. >> wow. >> just -- just in america annually which is -- which is way too many. >> around so -- how are the restaurant and the businesses that you're talking to, how are they receiving this bit of advice from you? >> well, i'm asking restaurants to offer straws. instead of putting them into every drink automatically, and i'm asking customers to order their drinks without straws instead of putting -- if they don't want one, instead of getting a straw automatically in their drink. >> but what about the -- sorry. go on. >> no, that's okay. go ahead. >> i wanted to ask you about those cups that have the -- the tops for the cups are made specifically for straws. they have the hole in them so what do we do about those if we stop using straws? >> well, i actually came up with a design. fast food restaurants -- for

fast food restaurants to sign on, they do need to -- they will need a lid that offers customers the flexibility to drink their drink without a straw -- with the lid but without needing a straw so we designed one. it's a -- it's this lid right here. it's a to go lid with a sippy cup option on one side. it's like a coffee cup lid and it has a place to put a straw in the middle of the lid and so as far as we know, nobody's using a lid like this and nobody's designed a lid like this. >> so it sounds to me like -- it sounds like you've designed a bit of a sippy cup for adults. >> kind of. >> yeah. >> kind of. >> that sounds like a good one. so let me ask you this before we run out of time. you're already so successful at age 10. you have so many ideas inside you. what do you want to do when you grow up?

>> well, i don't know. i think i'll always be an environmentalist. i think we should live our lives in a sustainable way so that we leave only good impacts on the earth, but i probably would like to be an inventor when i grow up, scientist. i'm on the right track. >> i think -- i think you are definitely on the right track, and, in fact, milo, you have convinced me to take the straws and put them in the draw forever. i will not use them, okay? you have my word on that. >> well, thank you. i'm only trying to reduce the number of disposable straws we use. i'm not against straws at all. >> right. >> and there are a bunch of biodegradable compostable options, reusable options, glass straws, bamboo straws, but a few years ago i -- sorry?

>> no, that was it. those are all great ideas. >> yeah. also i saw a bumper sticker that i really liked. it says the best way to predict the future is to help create it, and i think -- i think you and i can create the future for our planet. >> i think you're right. >> and this project is only one way, yeah. >> i think you're right. milo, if i get a chance to meet new person one day, i would love to shank your hand. thank you so much for coming on the show. >> thank you. thank you so much. >> good luck. >> and for much more on -- for much more on milo and how you can help, check out my facebook page, facebook.com/randikayecnn. how cute was he? we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] life is full of missed opportunities. like the exotic vacation you never took.

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a new hour brings new hope from vermont emergency management. referring to the ravages ofages of tropical storm irene, a spokesman says, and i quote, the worst is over. that may come as news to thousands of vermonters who still don't have power or who still can't get in or out of their homes or towns or who have lost their homes or businesses, but four days after irene came and went, food and supplies are now reaching all the towns that had been entirely cut off.

crews have scrambled to build makeshift roads for emergency vehicles only in 13 isolated communities, and national guard helicopters are going where atvs can't. some of the 16 helicopters now on the job are actually online from new hampshire right next door, and illinois hundreds of miles away. cnn's amber lyon is in the devastated vermont town of wilmington. do the folks there that you have met believe that the worst is over? >> reporter: well, they do, because the worst for them was terrifying when these floodwaters swept through town. randi, we're talking flash flood. they had no warning. within an eight-hour time span, this river, the main river in town crested all the way up, take a look at that, 30 feet to where you're seeing the bottom of the tin roof and then it fizzled out and you can see the damage here on dot's restaurant causing quite a bit of damage to these businesses. now we're starting to see people

able to get in and out of town this. main road is open, but only people who are assisting with the relief efforts. also assisting with the cleanup efforts. it's quite dusty out here. they have seen sewage, fuel floating in the river so they have passing out these masks to make sure anyone doesn't breathe in any harmful chemicals or dust, and i'm joined now by john and patty regan. they own dot's restaurant. dot's restaurant, randi, got to tell you from everyone i've talked to here in town, it is a staple here in town, and people have been walking by. you see the sign on the door. we love john and peat and dot's. we saw the side of your restaurant. today everything around town is moved from collecting damaged goods to now inspectors are hitting the buildings, trying to see if the foundations are solid. what do you guys think is going to happen? we currently have inspectors over here right now. >> they did just tell us that they are going to try to figure out a way to shore up the foundation so that we can at least get in, and i think they

are still actually determining whether or not they can -- it can be salvaged so it's kind of a waiting game right now. the ball is in their court, i guess, as they say. >> it's -- it's anxious. i'm anxious, you know, because i want to find out. if she goes -- >> then we'll move on to the next phase of life i guess. it will probably always be -- we'll have to do something, if the town let's up. it's up to this town and the state whether they are going to let us, and even if we can get insured again. i mean, being on the river and the flood plain, they might say. >> best of luck to you guys, and they do have flood insurance, unlike some other businesses we've talked to here in the town. if you can zoom in on those inspectors. they will be going around all of these buildings here in the center testing the foundations, like john and patty said, seeing if these structures will be able

to reopen, and -- and it's definitely a waiting game for a lot of businesses out here, as you can imagine, randi. >> i'm sure. so is the aid getting through, or were all those roads so badly damaged that it's just not making its way in? >> reporter: yeah. the aid is making its way in. at one point we were telling you that 20 communities across this state were isolated because the roads and bridges leading in and out of town had been destroyed. this was one of those communities, but now we just spoke with vermont officials. they say that all 20 communities are now accessible by road. however, that being said, 13 of those communities are in still such poor condition that the residents aren't allowed to leave. the only people being allowed in and out are emergency officials bringing relief supplies, like the national guard and vermont emergency management. also, randi, here in this town we've got police officers over there blocking off this road, so

this town isn't even completely accessible yet. can you just see them setting down that yellow barrier. they are checking everyone that comes in and out. we had to get a pass to come in here to make sure they are only with relief crews. regular people cannot get through this highway. >> got it. all right. well, amber lyon, thank you for the update. appreciate that. i mentioned crews and helicopters from the vermont national guard and elsewhere are airlifting aid to cut-off vermont communities. joining me via skype is major general dube from cole chester. thank you for your time. can you tell us what the guard is doing to help vermonters as we speak? >> well, we've been extremely busy. we transitioned from a search-and-rescue mission to a mission of sustainment, and the towns that were just mentioned about being isolated, you know, the governor has made it a priority for us to have some type of road access, but that

doesn't mean that people can come and go because most of those roads that we've opened p up -- the idea is to have emergencies that maybe we can get some of our people out. most of what we're doing the last couple of days has been by helicopters to bring food, water, medicine, cots, tarps, that kind of stuff and by truck, by helicopter, and then we will transition to more aid via road, you know, once the roads get a little bit more improved, but it's still rudimentary. >> how many towns have you actually reached by air? >> oh, i -- i'm going to say probably -- probably 16 to 18 towns by air. i was at a number of towns this morning, and i will tell you, one of the towns had been isolated for a while, wilmington. it really was in you have to

shape. i was there with the governor on monday. the resilience of these people is inspiring. i mean, we got into the high school. there was a meeting going on. i got hugged. i got thanked. they just kept saying thank you to the national guard. it was inspiring that they really appreciated the water and the food we brought in, and now we're trying to open up the town. >> now i understand that all six of your blackhawk helicopters were actually not in the state. they were diverted to iraq. how much of a problem was that for you? did that hinder your efforts there? >> well, you know, we knew that the deployment is coming to an end, the iraq deployment, and we always had plans that we'd rely on our neighbors or in this case illinois was standing by because they had pre-positioned the helicopters into upstate new york specifically to aid someone like vermont where our blackhawks were overseas. i will tell you that it was a seamless integration of illinois and new hampshire.

i spoke to a number of those crews this morning. i thanked them on behalf of the guard and the citizens, and one of the illinois pilots said, sir, we're just helping out our neighbor, just like you help out us when we have an emergency so it's very -- you know, it's tragic and the damage is -- it's hard to describe the damage over our small little state, but even so -- >> i know you said it was seamless and there was a plan in place, but the spokesman actually was quoted in the burlington paper saying that it would have been a very different scenario had you had your blackhawks there. do you agree with that? would it have been easier? >> i don't feel that way at all. i think that they were standing by, and they came -- we had four helicopters in the state, you know, national guard helicopters. we just didn't have our blackhawks so we immediately started flying the helicopters

that we had. it's really been a -- a team effort, and i wouldn't characterize any delay in the helicopters when we needed them. >> are you satisfied with the federal response as well? >> yeah. i need to tell you that fema has been incredibly helpful. vermont emergency management, you know. we work together really well all the time, but fema has come in and -- and clearly having administer fugate to come here, even though we're here in the northeast it said that we weren't forgotten. we appreciate the federal response and the sin jim between all the state agencies. you know, we have people from maine, new hampshire, illinois, and we expect we'll probably have some other states that will help us as we transition to the next phase of rebuilding. >> major general dubie, appreciate your time and best luck to you there. thank you.

>> thanks. for months the libyan rebels have been fighting and dying to free the country from gadhafi's rule. now they are mapping out plans for libya's future. that is the topic of an international meeting under way in paris. we'll have live reports from paris and tripoli right after this, and we are waiting for the white house briefing to start. there's the two-minute warning. that's what that means for folks who may not know. waiting for that white house briefing to start. we're expecting press secretary jay carney to face some tough questions about the back and forth over the president's jobs speech. stay with us.

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♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪ checking some top stories that are developing this hour. fire fighters have their hands full battling wildfires in

oklahoma city. two huge brushfires have already burned 16 square miles on the city's north and south sides. officials say dozens of homes have been burned to the ground. big fires are also burning next door in neighboring texas. crews are making progress against a fire that burned 40 homes and several rvs in the community of possum kingdom lake, a community just west of dallas. august was a momentous month for american troops in iraq. not a single american died in iraq last month. that is the first month that's happened since the u.s. invaded the country in 2003. quite the opposite in afghanistan. a record 66 u.s. troops lost their lives in that war in august. hurricane irene has uncovered more cracks in the washington monument. the national parks 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 quake so the monument remains closed during repairs, but engineers say it is structurally sound. and a reminder, we are waiting for the white house briefing to get under way. no doubt spokesman jay carney will take some questions about the scheduling of the president's big jobs and economy speech that is scheduled for next week. it was supposed to be wednesday, as i'm sure you've heard, and now it has been moved to thursday after the speaker of the house said no to wednesday, so we'll keep an eye on this, and once that briefing gets under way, we've already had the two-minute warning, so it should get under way any moment now, and once it gets under way, we will bring it to you. meanwhile, choosing the right college in a tight economy. small versus large. it's not one size fits all. what gives colleges the competitive edge? we'll have that for you as well later on in the show. it's not just good for business -- it's good for the entire community.

at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities, so we're helping them with advice from local business experts and extending $18 billion in credit last year. >> and let's take you to the white house now for the briefing under way. >> the budget projections just came out predict 9% unemployment next year when the president is facing re-election and 1.7% growth this year. does the white house believe that the jobs initiative that the president is going to announce next week will change those projections for the positive? >> yes, absolutely. as i mentioned yesterday, as i think i mentioned earlier this week, the president will come forward with specific proposals that by any objective measure would add to growth and job creation in the short term, and that will be part of a broad

package that reflects his commitment to grow the economy new and to build a foundation for economic growth for the future, to ensure that we win the future, so the answer to that is question. >> so if congress were to pass the package that the president is going to announce, unemployment is under 9%? >> when you're talking about economic predictions, yes, economic analysts, economists, will be able to look at this series of proposals and say that based on history, based on what we know, based on their collected expertise, that it would add to economic growth and it would cause an increase in job creation. >> given the flack yesterday over the timing of this speech -- >> what flack? >> there was a bit of a flack. is there anything that the white house would have done differently in retrospect in terms of consulting with the hill before announcing the joint session? >> our focus from the beginning

was to have the president have the opportunity to speak to the american people and the congress in front of congress at the soon as possible date upon congress' return from its long recess. wednesday seemed to be the best option. when that wasn't available, or when that seemed to be a problem, thursday was fine with us, and -- and we're just looking forward to the -- the president is looking forward to the opportunity to talk about what the american people really care about, the economy, and the need to create more jobs so we're focused on that. >> so you would have gone through that process the same way? >> all we care about here is that we address the issues that are most important. we're certainly not interested in, you know, sort of inside the beltway, political, you know, gamesmanship. what we are interested in is coming up with proposals that make sense, that can grow the economy, that can create jobs, that by historical standards would have broad bipartisan

support and that if congress comes back from their districts -- members of congress come back from their districts and states with the same sense of urgency that the president has and having heard from their constituents the same things that the president heard when he went on his bus tour through the upper midwest, everyone will come back with the same amount of urgency and focus to get this done, because what the president will propose can get done, should get done and will -- will benefit the country. >> on one other topic, the justice department's lawsuit to block the at&t-t-mobile merger. should that be viewed as the administration taking a more aggressive approach on antitrust? >> this is a law enforcement action about which you should direct your questions to the department of justice. it's based on a law that is designed to foster competition and protect american consumers, but beyond that i would refer you to the department of

justice. yes. >> democrats are unifying around the advice that the president needs to go bold in his speech. is that the way you would characterize the proposals that he's going to roll out, and are there certain high expectations that one creates when you do a joint session of congress speech? >> i'll leave it to you and others to -- to characterize the speech in the terms that you just described. what will be the case and the reason why the president wants to speak before congress is because it -- this is an important moment in our economy and it is an important moment for the american people who are demand i demanding that washington put an end to the gridlock and bickering that has paralyzed the process here and take action to help the economy, to create jobs, to help them.

that's what they want. they don't -- they are not out there scoring political points. they want -- the vast majority of americans, whether they vote democratic or republican, whether they are registered with a party or not, they want washington to work for them. they want them to take sensible actions to work for them, to create jobs, to grow the economy. that's what this speech will be about. that's what the concrete proposals the president puts forward will be about. >> economists, when you talk to them and ask them what would constitute bold, figures like 400 billion in fiscal stimulus, is he looking at anything on that scale? is he going to give specifics about how many jobs he thinks this package might create when he unveils it? >> i will not preview the speech anymore than i really have except to say that it will focus on the need to grow the economy and create jobs. it will be -- >> all right. you've been listening there, as we just dipped into the white house press briefing there. jay carney, spokesman, taking

some questions about jobs, along with some other things, saying this is an important moment for the president. talk of a bold plan that will be presented, saying that the american people would like an end to the gridlock and the bickering in washington. no kidding, right? so we'll see if this all brings it to an end. more than 100 witnesses, tapes, forensics, the family and fullerton, california, community may soon be getting answers about the alleged beating death of a homeless man. we'll speak with the d.a. about this investigation.

college has already started for millions of students across the country. before enrolling, they had a

decision to make. attend a large university with the name rec digs or a small university. more new on what's affecting students' decisions. >> reporter: college life on a large campus. >> there are screens everywhere that tell you the sustainability of the building, so you go upstairs and you see the rooftop garden. >> reporter: a long list of attractions made ellie decide to attend a big university like georgia tech and the excitement of college football. >> you go out on game day and there are alumni that have graduated two years ago and graduated 40 years ago, all coming back because they love georgia tech. >> reporter: all part of what the school's director of undergraduate admissions describes as a diverse marketing package. >> the marketing dollars that are out there really come from a lot of different avenues and angles, and that's probably something that's larger research university will have maybe an advantage over a smaller school. >> reporter: from a campus of more than 20,000 students, to

nearby clayton state university. >> if you're serious about wanting to go straight to school, get your ed kiss and go to your career, then a small school is great. >> reporter: taylor johnson decided this smaller school was the right fit with record enrollment this year of 6,900 students. >> this is where you want to come for like pharmacy and biology majors, this is the place to be. >> reporter: how do you cut through the noise and get students to think about clayton state? >> how we cut through the noise is we're very active in the high schools. we go to lots of college fairs. we do lots of one-on-one. >> reporter: the director of recruitment and admissions at clayton state says the university also has plenty of new and renovated facilities, but there's another key factor. the cost. >> i know we're one of the least expensive schools in the university system of georgia. >> reporter: that's especially important during a recession, and the university's president sees the difference. >> a lot of those -- those students are older students who are also looking for an

opportunity to access quality higher education. >> the class sizes are very small. i have great access to the teachers. >> reporter: he transferred from a larger university so he knows the best of both worlds. for some students it's all about smaller class sizes, a closer connection to their teachers, but at larger universities you can find classes like this where there are more than 100 people in a class. at the end of the day williams says students have to decide what's important to them, as colleges compete for their attention. george howl, cnn, atlanta. >> and be sure to stay with cnn. our in-depth series on the cost of college continues through tomorrow. if you've been watching this show, you know that we've been closely following the case of a man named kelly thomas. the homeless man in if you recallton, california, who was allegedly beaten to death by if you recallt -- by fullerton police. the orange county district

attorney says his office is close to finishing its investigation. we'll get the update from the d.a. directly in just a moment. if you don't know this story, be warned. the picture i'm about to show you is graphic, but i want you to see it so you can understand the sheer brutality involved in this man's death and why the d.a.'s investigation is so critical. take a look. this is kelly thomas before and after the alleged beating on july 5th. witnesses say this was done at the hands of six fullerton police officers responding to reports of car burglaries. others saw what happened, recording what they could with their phones and with surveillance cameras nearby. those recordings will be key to the d.a.'s investigation. we want it point out the fullerton police chief and the six officers allegedly involved in thomas' beating are still on paid leave. district attorney tony recaucus joins me now from irvin, california. thank you very much for your

time. when do you expect that you'll finish the investigation into kelly thomas' beating? >> well, we're very close to having everything that we need as far as the evidence all gathered at this point. it's just a matter of getting the reports together and maybe analyzing a few things, but we're still waiting, of course, for the autopsy report from the sheriff's department, so it's pretty tough to put a -- to put a date on it or a -- or an exact time period, but i can -- i can say that we've made a great deal of -- of progress and, you know, as far as the substance of it, we're pretty close to having it completed. >> and you said you're waiting for the autopsy. how critical is that, and are you waiting for any other key pieces of evidence? >> well, the autopsy will give us the -- the cause of death, and i mean we already have a preliminary opinion from the autopsy surgeon, but -- but

there were some lab analyses that had to be done and then some additional ones after that, so -- you know, i think it's important for us to have that, to -- to wrap everything up so that we have all of the -- all of the information, and as far as other evidence that we're still -- we're still looking for, i think we're -- i think we're pretty -- i think we're pretty close to having everything. as we view the evidence and go through, of course, there's always a question about this or that that we want to -- we want to wrap up, so things will be coming up. >> now in terms of witnesses, i understand you've interviewed more than 100 witnesses. without telling us too many details, i know you can't share much, but are they giving you the same story? are their tales in line with each other? >> we've interviewed well over 100 witnesses at this point. we're up to 150 or so now,

and -- and, of course, they -- they fall into -- into, you know, very different categories. some witnesses or some of the people interviewed didn't really see or hear anything, and others saw, you know, one relatively small thing or another, and -- and there are those who -- who might be very, you know, completely honest and others who, you know, may not -- may not be reporting things so very faithfully so it's kind of a mix. you have that many people, and this subject, of course, you know, quite emotional and so it's -- we have to -- we kind of have to sift through to see -- to see which witnesses are the most valuable, of course. >> i want to ask you about the policy because when you look at the before and after pictures of kelly thomas, there's no question that this man was violently beaten. that's not a question. it's a matter of why and how it happened and who was involved,

but is there any type of policy as far as you know to explain such force? >> well, the policy that i'm interested in is the law, and the law says that -- this a police officer in the performance of a lawful duty has the right to use reasonable force to -- to effect that duty, so if it's a lawful detention or arrest and there's -- and there's resistance, then, of course, the police officers can use reasonable force to overcome that resistance, so the question becomes whether or not in the -- whether or not in the mind of a reasonable person this -- this force is -- is reasonable and necessary under all of the circumstances of the case, so that's -- that's the policy that we're looking at. >> and just very quickly, i want to ask you about some of the evidence because the word is that kelly thomas was allegedly tasered. he was hog tied and hit in the face with either a flashlight or

the butt of a taser gun. is that evidence something that you're looking at as well or, are you looking for fingerprints or things like that on those pieces of evidence? >> of course, we're looking at all of the evidence, all of the -- all of the things that -- that happened to him and -- and what might be the reasons for that. certainly whether or not the -- the force and the detention were -- were lawful in the first place, all of those questions have to be answered, and they are being answered by a view of -- of the evidence, the kind of evidence that you described as well as the -- as well as the video and what the witnesses, various witnesses saw and the reports and so forth. >> tony rackacous, the orange county district attorney, thank you for sharing your time with us today. >> thank you. thank you very much. coming up, fund-raising in the name of politics is nothing

new, but you will be shocked at what arizona republicans are raveling off and its connection to congresswoman gabrielle giffords. 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. oh, we call it the bundler. let's say you need home and auto insurance. you give us your information once, online... [ whirring and beeping ] [ ding! ] and we give you a discount on both. great! did i mention no hands in the bundler?

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let's check in on some top stories that we're monitoring and some stories that you might have missed today as the east coast struggles to recover from irene, we have our eye on hurricane katia. you're looking at current satellite image of the secretary hurricane in the atlantic. katia is 100 miles east of the lee ward islands. katia is already a category 1 storm and is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane in the next 48 hours. john van der sloot, once a suspect in the disappearance of

alabama teen, natalee holloway, is now charged with murdering a peruvian woman, stephanie floor esback in may 2010. prosecutors are asking for a 30-year prison sentence and $73,000 for the victim's family. he's charged with murder as of now but is also charged with theft. van der sloot was arrested last june but not formally charged until now. the porn industry condom fight moves to florida. complaints were filed with florida state health officials on wednesday. it wants them to ensure all porn industry workers are protected from the threat of a sexually transmitted disease, this just two days after a male model tested positive for hiv in los angeles county ordered a temporary shutdown of adult film making there. and this man may be a bit old, but he sure is young at heart. alan moore is working hard to become the oldest college

football player ever. the 61-year-old wants -- he wants to be the faulkner university kicker, and there's a chance that he could land the spot. cnn affiliate wsfa reports university officials just need to clear up a few eligibility concerns before the former college football player and vietnam veteran can take the field once again. arizona republicans are fund-raising by waffling off, get this, a glock pistol. it's important to point out that it is the same kind of gun that was pointed at congresswoman gabrielle giffords head and used to shoot her point blank. take a lack at this newsletter sent out by the pima county republican party friday. this fund-raiser is to raise funds. people can purchase a raffle ticket for $10 for a handgun. and, again, it's not just any gun, better yet, the raffle glock comes pre-loaded with grips, a case and three magazines. i want to bring in the pima county gop chairman pro tim mike

shaw involved in putting together this newsletter. mike is joining us via skype from tucson. mike, this had a lot of us shaking our heads today. jared loughner is accused of seriously wounding gabrielle giffords, killing six people and killing a federal judge with a glock just like the one you're raveling off, but considering what we know about the shooting rampage in tucson which is the seat of pima county, why raffle this glock? >> well, there's a couple of things i'd like to point out there. first of all, it was the actions of jared loughner that -- that happened during the tucson shooting so jared was responsible, could have used any type of weapon and chose to use a glock 19. we've raveling off a glock 23 which is a slightly different weapon, but, again, it was his actions that -- that are responsible for what happened during the tucson shooting, and so really the argument about what happened here in tucson

shouldn't be about the weapon. it's about the person who took the actions, you know. we have a second amendment in the constitution. there's a reason the bill of rights are the top ten amendments to the constitution because the founding fathers thought it was important that we would have rights in this country and a very important run is the right to keep and bear arms, one that gabrielle giffords believes in strongly herself, and -- and the reason why we have this particular -- >> i'm sorry. >> finish your sentence. >> the reason why we have this particular gun for raffle is it's actually a holdover from last year. it was a gun that we raffled before the november election. the person who won the raffle hasn't picked it up yet, so we decided to raffle it again and then take the proceeds if the person still wants to pick up the winning from last year, then we'll take part of the proceeds from this raffle to buy another one. >> okay. i hear what you're saying. obviously not everybody who gets a glock is going to do what

jared loughner did, thankfully, but do you think that this might be considered just a bit insensitive to the congresswoman and the other family members involved? >> well, we certainly did not. again, it's the actions of jared loughner that were taken that day. it was not the weapon that he used. i have a quote from -- from one of giffords' spokespeople in "the arizona capital times," march of 2008 when congresswoman giffords was standing against the gun ban in washington, d.c., and the spokesman quotes saying giffords owns a glock handgun and regards gun ownership as a constitutional right and an arizona tradition, and i really can't say it any better than that. we have the constitutional rights to keep and bear arms. republicans and democrats alike in the state of arizona and across the country own guns for sport and for self-defense, and

law-abiding citizens have that right. >> well, i know that the congresswoman, an interim spokesman for her office told "the huffington post" had no comment. i look at the ad and it says help pima gop get out the vote and maybe help yourself to a new glock. couldn't you maybe have raffled off something else? >> well, again, it was a holdover from last year. >> maybe you could have just held on to it. >> again, i didn't think there was any impropriety because it's the actions of jared loughner that caused that tragedy. >> aren't you ever worried about somebody else doing something wrong with that weapon? >> absolutely not. we have millions of gun owners in this country, law-abiding citizens. it was gun owners that kept jared loughner from reloading his weapon during the tucson shooting. gun ownership is, again, a constitutional right and i stand on that, stand on the constitution. >> whose idea was this, by the way? >> well, again, we have gun

raffles from time to time as fund-raisers, so this isn't unusual, and, again, this particular gun was a holdover from last year and so that is why we're having another gun raffle so that we can raise some money to get out the vote. we have some great candidates on the ballot. >> this is the first gun raffle since the shooting there, correct? >> that is correct. >> okay. mike shaw, i think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one, so we thank you for your time, and -- and we'll check back in with you. >> thank you so much for having me on. this skype thing's pretty cool. >> mike shaw, chairman pro tem pima county gorp. addicted to autopilot. a new report suggests relying on computers can weaken a palt's ability to respond to airplane systems fail. is there a danger in the air? we'll take a closer look.

airline pilots are experiencing what's being called automation addiction.

a new report says pilots are relying too much on autopilot and other automated flight systems. it says this is a dangerous trend that impairs their ability to respond to cockpit emergencies. cnn's brian todd has the details. >> reporter: june 2009. the autopilot system on air france flight 447 disconnects, a stall warning goes off. a co-pilot repeatedly says climb, poents the nose up. it's the opposite of what he's supposed to do. the pilot comes into the cockpit and says no, no, no, don't climb. it's too late. the airbus a-330 plummets into the atlantic ocean, 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. >> former airline pilot kevin hyatt is part of a group of independent experts 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 ant upon using the autopilot, the auto throttles, the auto flight system to actually run the entire flight. >> and they are getting rusty because of this. >> yeah, because you don't handle the control. your computer skills get enhanced but your flying skills get rusty. >> sometimes called automation addiction. january 2009, as a colgan air regional airplane approaches buffalo, new york, a plane crashes killing 50 people. hyatt and his panel say it's another example of a pilot possibly forgetting some key procedures. kevin hyatt and other experts say part of the problem is that standards have evolved to the point where in recent years pilots have only been flying manually for between one and a half and three minutes of every flight, at takeoff and landing. and these days, hyatt says, landings can also be done on

autopilot. experts say the problem may get worse because of the way younger pilots are trained. >> 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 thumb computer activity on it. they don't understand what to do necessarily when something goes wrong with that computer. >> the authors of the new report say this is not really the fault of the faa or anyone in particular. it's just how the technology and standards have evolved over the years. the faa would not comment on the roar. 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. for months the libyan rebels have been fighting and dying to free their country from gadhafi's rule. now they are mapping out plans for libya's future. that is the topic of an international meeting under way in paris, and we'll have live reports from paris and tripoli right after this. to one's military oath. d

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the future of libya without moammar gadhafi. 42 years ago he came to power in a military coup. now he's on the run. his whereabouts still a mystery, but what's not a mystery is the fact that libya's fate is now in the hands of the rebels who have fought and died for months to overthrow the gadhafi regime. the rebel leadership has been holding talks today with representatives from some 60 countries in paris. the broad topic, libya's humanitarian, reconstruction and political needs. before the start of the meeting, secretary of state hillary clinton met with two senior rebel leaders, and we're joined now by jim bittermann in paris and nic robertson in tripoli to talk about this.

nic, let me begin with you. what does the rebel leadership really hope to get out of today's meeting? >> reporter: well, it will hope to establish itself and show that it's able to run this country, that it new effectively is beginning to take control over. it's got control of the biggest city tripoli, and it needs to show that it's a responsible, capable democratic leadership that's going to listen to the advice that it's been given by international countries, show that it is still has a certain amount of independence, but it owes its opportunity, it knows the national transitional council knows it owes its opportunities right now to all those world leaders that they are meeting with who have backed it and overthrowing moammar gadhafi, so they are going to want to put on their best show of saying the right things, but at the same time they are going to be continuing to ask for a lot of support. they are going to need support to help rebuild the damage in the oil -- in the oil infrastructure here, 10% to 15%

the total infrastructure. they are going to need help in keeping liquidity, keeping the finances rolling in the country in the interim before they get their oil production back up and running, and very likely they will want to make sure they get the rest of gadhafi's frozen assets from around the world. >> nic, what can you tell us about this split that's apparently taking place between two of gadhafi's sons? what seems to say they will continue fighting, and the other seems to hint that maybe he -- he might surface and turn himself in and let the rebels take over. >> reporter: well, saadi gadhafi says he's been negotiating with rebel military commanders for a crease fire. he's said he's not making an offer to surrender. that's the way it's interpreted and spun, if you will, by the rebels, who are keen to exploit any perceived weaknesses in the gadhafi leadership. they say they are not negotiating with gadhafi or any ofries sons, but the reality is

saadi has taken a stark approach from his brother saif who is saying fight, fight, fight. the police is important because this shows the family is cracking. until now they have been united. saadi gadhafi a few months ago told me that he was united with the rest of the family behind his brother saif and behind his father. these are cracks indicate that they realize that the regime is well and truly over, randi. >> nic, will the me just ask you very quickly. it seems as though something is going on behind you. what is that? >> reporter: randi, these are sort of heavy anti-aircraft guns, celebratory gunfire. you might be able to hear the horns as well. there's been less of that each night now. it slowly becomes calmer and calmer. it's celebratory gunfire. the heavy rebels machines that

we saw in the trees, are really a scarcity. they have pulled out of the city. the city getting back to normal. it's an indication that the rebels feel confident about their position. they actually have ammunition to waste, randi. >> nic robertson, thanks. let's bring in our jim bittermann. u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton is at this meeting. what is her message there? >> well, i think she basically -- her message is not different from the message of the other leaders who are here, especially the western leaders works want to make sure that this national transitional council has it foremost in their mind that they should be embarking on a democratic transition here. they came here with a road map suggesting they could have free and fair and democratic elections 18 months down the line, and i think a lot of leaders here wanted it hear them say that personally. that's what hillary clinton wanted to hear as well, and -- and they are going to be watching. i think what happens here, one point that nic raised, seems to

have already been made here, and that is this idea of unfreezing the frozen funds, somewhere between $50 billion and $200 billion that have been frozen during the gadhafi regime. they want to unfreeze the funds so they can go to the transitional council and apparently at the meeting which broke up just a few minutes ago they did come to unanimous agreement that that should take place, so at least on that score, the national transitional council, the rebels, will have some operating funds in which -- with which to get the country going again. randi? >> jim bittermann, nic robertson, many thanks. i know you both will have much more with brooke coming up just after 3:00 here so thank you both. south carolina republican king-maker jim demint says he'll give gop presidential candidates room to change. i'll tell you what change he's looking for next. there's another way to minimize

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let's check in now with kate balduan who is keeping an eye on all things politics in washington for us. kate, hi there. it sounds like jim deminute has a little bit of a message for the gop candidates. >> a little bit of a message, i would say. one thick we always talk about as president as the race for the white house heats up is the big-name high-profile endorsements of the candidates,ed a as you mentioned there's one big name that is so far still in play, south carolina senator jim demint. demint speaking to a group of party loyalists in south

carolina said that he was withholding coming out in support or making an endorsement of any sort until he can see how the republican candidates reand and respond to the work of the so-called super committee up here on capitol hill as they work towards further deficit reductions and we'll have to report back to congress during thanksgiving. demint is somewhat of a conservative king-maker in the state of south carolina. he has strong tea party support, and so he said, quote, to this group, i'm taking a fresh look at the candidates. i'm giving them room to change. demint thought that the republican candidates were too quiet earlier this summer as the debt ceiling debate was heating up over here. we'll have to see where he stands. he did endorse mitt romney in 2008 during that election and we'll see where demint stands as things develop up here on capitol hill. and speaking of the presidential race, the race for the white house. our viewers should stay tuned and mark their calendars for september 12th. the republican candi