progress at farsouth.org. he will live happily ever after with lots of baby penguins thanks to people in the new zealand zoo. >> cracking her up. she is way too into this story. i hope he gains a sense of redirection. i fear for him. >> doesn't seem to go in the right direction very often. >> no. he didn't have to. he was spoiled by all of us. fortunately, we've all taken our happy pills this morning, because we're happy for happy feet. >> we are. >> yes, we are. >> yay! >> thank you, zain. >> that will do it for us, us and all of our happy feet on this labor day. cnn newsroom with alina cho starts right now. good morning. >> good morning. i'm alina cho. kyra phillips is off today. it's labor day.

anything but a holiday for americans reeling from extreme weather. lee is weakening to a tropical depression, but still a massive rain maker that could make travel across much of the country a nightmare. storms' winds have helped fuel wildfires in central texas. at this hour, a thousand homes are in danger near austin. and later today, hurricane katia will unleash its first impact on the east coast. we're tracking this storm and tell you where that's headed in a moment. first, we want to begin with the flooding rains pounding the gulf coast since lee made la landfall in louisiana over the weekend. ed lavandera is in the city of lafitte this morning. what's it looking like where you are? >> reporter: they have shut it down because it is just after high tide here in southern louisiana. and that means that these floodwaters are going back up. many of the roadways in this area simply look like this.

this isn't actually that deep but definitely treacherous enough for not allowing cars to go through. the water from the canals and waterways, coming from the gulf of mexico are being pushed over the banks and starting to threaten and have been threatening dozens of homes in this area for the last 36 hours. so, what they're waiting for here is for the winds to begin shifting from the south and go back toward the south instead of going toward the north. that would relieve a lot of this pressure here. everywhere you look, you see homes like this, where the floodwaters are knocking on the door, on the verge of going in. a handful of homes have taken on water in this community, we're told. as we drove around yesterday, we saw many, many homes that the water was right up on the doorstep. they've been frantically dropping in massive sand bags and using makeshift levee systems to try to funnel and make waterways away from the

buildings. they've spent more than $200,000, parish officials south of new orleans, to fight all this water that's coming out of the banks. they will continue to do that here in the coming hours. they do hope, however, that later on this afternoon, the winds will shift, alina. once that happens, they feel it's a matter of time before they've stopped seeing the worst flooding. right now it's definitely a touch and go situation. many of these roads are shut off. just too dangerous to go through. s had also they need to bring in the heavy equipment and the teams to do all the work that's needed right now. >> lee is heading east. it's not the only storm we're watching out there. hurricane katia has been strengthening as well. rob marciano with the latest. first, let's talk about lee. how much longer will this storm be around? it's a tropical depression now, right? >> it's making a change into just becoming a rainstorm, getting involved in the front. the big deal will be the rain. threat for seeing tornadoes. we're seeing that right now,

tornado watch is in effect until 4:00 this afternoon, good chunk of alabama, parts of mississippi and florida panhandle. the storm itself, the center of it is still back through here. it has a long way to go, moving very, very slowly off toward the north and east. tremendous amount of rain already with this. ed showed you some of that. a lot of that is tidal flooding. as far as the flooding from rainfall, new orleans saw over 10 inches, pascagoula seeing over 10 inches and jackson, reports seeing evac wags under way and flooded homes and apartment complexes. here is what's left over of lee as a low. it will track along this front, along the appalachians, through the tennessee valley. about seven inches of rainfall potentially across parts of central and eastern tennessee. then it gets involved in the northern latitudes. some rainfall across the northeast. anywhere from one to three inches, potentially over the next two to three, really four days looks to be wet across parts of that area. this front will help us push

katia. that's what we're looking forward to here. this time last week, we were worried about it. heading this way. we can't give the all clear. certainly looked menacing. now hurricane strength winds at 100 miles per hour. right now, alina, it does appear it will make a u-turn and head out to sea. >> that would be good news. lee, that storm that is now a tropical depression, caused big problems in texas with those winds, right? it's not getting any better. >> we were trying to get lee over to texas and get rainfall over there. it just didn't work out. the problem with it, it's so close, with the center being back here, we've had some big winds around the back side of this. if anything, lee has caused more problems than good across texas. exacerbating the situation there. it's been dry and the winds, critical fire danger again today. want to talk about the biggest fire there just south and east of austin. this is a dire situation where thousands have been evacuated. 300 homes already completely

destroyed. another thousand are in danger of being destroy ed. 14,000 acres burned. large populated area. because of that, you have this major evacuation under way. zero percent containment with this particular storm. it continues to burn relatively out of control and the conditions today don't look to be any better. 20 to 30-mile-an-hour winds. critical fire danger with red flag warnings posted for a good chunk of texas, dallas all the way down to the mexican border here. firefighters, alina, will have their hands full. >> any idea when it will get better? >> the next tropical storm system, if there is one, will head into florida as opposed to texas. >> oh, boy. 40 minutes from now, rob will come back to talk to us about the weather-related flight delays. a huge travel day on this labor day. keep it right here. 9:45 ooeastern time. now to politics.

six gop presidential candidates are taking part in a forum today. don't call it a debate. deputy political director paul steinhauser has the preview. it's not a debate. it's a forum. how will it play out today? >> i just bumped into senator jim demint, two-term republican here, extremely influential among tea party types, activists. very popular with them as well. he is one of the organizers of this event. he told me here is how it's going to happen. all six candidates right off the bat. yes, it is a forum. each candidate by himself or herself, 20 minutes of questioning and follow-ups. it's not a debate. they won't go after each other, clashing one candidate. coverage of that at 3:00 eastern. who are the six candidates, alina? mi michele bachmann, congresswoman from minnesota. herman cain, ceo and radio talk show host. newt gingrich, former house

speaker, representative ron paul, texas governor rick perry and mitt romney, his second bid for the white house. he said he had scheduling problems at first but then changed things around. last night we saw mitt romney in new hampshire, another crucial early voting state. he was at a tea party express rally up there. between that and this event, which i guess you could say is a tea party event, since demint is popular among tea party types, it seems to be a bit of a change to romney, who is now reaching out to tea party types. rick perry is in the top of most national polls with rollny second. you know why this is an important event as well? we brought out the bus. we only bring out the cnn express for a big event. >> that's right. the only broadcaster nationwide of this event. of course we're going to make a big deal out of it and, of course, john king will be

hosting that at 3:00 pm eastern time. interesting you talk about romney and his turn around, taking part in this forum. the washington post was reporting he will go on the attack against perry at a time of his choosing. critics say, listen, this is what he needs to do. he's not in front-runner status anymore. i want to talk about former vice president dick cheney, out with a book, on the book tour, looking to make waves to sell books. he made an interesting comment about hillary clinton. let's watch. >> do you think hillary clinton would have been a better president than barack obama? >> boy, i'm not sure i would have ever said that. perhaps she might have been easier for some of us who are critics of the president to work with. >> all right, paul. what do you make of this?

>> no fan, obviously, of barack obama. we knew that. he has been complimentary of hillary clinton in her position as secretary of state. maybe it's more in that line of thought. is he hoping that hillary clinton would run against president barack obama for the democratic nomination in 2012 or run for president in 2016? that's not going to happen. hillary clinton has been asked many a times and she keeps saying, no, no, no. she is done with running for public office. but stay tuned. >> until she's not. deputy political director, paul steinhauser, live for us in south carolina. thank you so much, paul. watch our exclusive coverage ofty's presidential forum today at 3:00 pm eastern. john king will host. turn iing to international news, a case we're watching very closely. american amanda knox's appeal of a murder conviction in italy is now centering on dna evidence. our zain verjee is in london with more on that. hey, zain. good to see you, as always. what's the latest on this case? >> hi, alina.

great to see you as well. this is going to be a pivotal week. this is the final stretch of the appeal trial for amanda knox. she left in a pretty strong position the last time around, simply because of two key pieces of dna evidence. the first one is a knife that prosecutors had said at the time of her conviction had a small amount of her genetic material on the knife. independent forensic experts were brought in and they said, wait a minute. this genetic material is way too small. it wasn't double tested and it wasn't collected properly. so, it may not be permissible as part of evidence. the other was linking her boyfriend at the time, raffaelle sollecito to meredith kuchar's bra clasp. they said hold on.

the bra was lying on the floor for something like six weeks. police kind of handed it around inappropriately. it was caught on video, the way they were handling it. and it was contaminated, they said. so, therefore, it cannot be used to prosecute her. so, she was looking in pretty good shape then. what we're going to hear for the next few days is the final arguments of both the defense and the prosecution, the rebuttals and then a verdict. alina? >> all the while, she remains behind bars, right, zain? >> yes. she's behind bars. her family is sounding supportive and optimistic that this may actually be a major turn around. at the same time, there's a whole other side of the story going on here. meredith kucher's family and her sister, in fact, wrote a letter pleading to the judge in the court not to let her go. it was a very emotional, powerful letter. they're saying just on technicalities like this, on the handling of dna evidence, you can't let her go.

>> zain verjee from london, thank you very much. we'll check back but with you later. meanwhile, did china sell arms to libya? exclusive details just ahead. a close encounter for a storm chaser in upstate new york. watch. >> i'm a little freaked out because i'm pretty sure i just saw a tornado form across the freeway. >> a tornado touches down near albany last night. we'll have more details when we go cross country after the break.

checking stories cross country now. >> i can't believe what i'm

seeing. i can't believe what i'm seeing. >> a storm chaser shot this video of a tornado in update new york. the twister struck near albany last night. it crossed interstate 90 at one point, damaged homes, uprooted trees and tore roofs off some of those homes but no reports of any serious injuries. police in phoenix are searching for a container full of explosives that apparently were stolen from the airport. they were conducting a police training exercise friday when a cooler, packed with explosive tubes, commonly used in the mining industry, went missing. good news is that police say the explosives cannot be detonated without additional equipment and some degree of expertise. police in texas are investigating the death of a man found at the home of nfl player antonio smith. about 20 people attended a party at his home. the next morning the body of a 37-year-old man was found at the bottom of the pool. police say it appears the death was accidental.

arizona has slapped a $25 fee on people who visit loved ones in prison. according to the "new york times," the one-time, quote, unquote, background check fee has angered prison advocates. they filed a lawsuit, saying the fee is just a pretext for raising money for the cash-strapped arizona prison system. the latest on libya now. a senior member of the transitional government tells cnn that china offer ed to sell stockpiles of weapons to moammar gadhafi in violation of u.n. sanctions. just yesterday, cnn international correspondent nic robertson had spoken by phone exclusively with saadi gadhafi, who told nic that cease-fire m since saturday to surrender, but the end of the war does not appear

close and this could be a situation similar to iraq. coming up next, back home in france, dominique strauss-kahn is home after a judge dismisses the assault charges against him in new york. the former imf chief was once a contender to be the next president of france. some people thought he would win. so, could he make a political comeback? it's also a shocking headline. this one here. the u.s. postal service on the brink of collapse? could the post office shut down? we'll explain.

20 minutes after the hour. want to get to your showbiz

headlines now. several media reports put eddiey murphy as the front-runner to host the oscars next year. really? he's not a longshot. the director of his next film is also producing the 2012 oscars. i get it. we could hear a final decision this week. susan lucci slams abc's daytime president in her new memoir "all my life." she played erica cain on "all my children." she calls the decision to drop her show ignorance. number one show at the box office for the third straight week "the help," based on a novel set in the '60s about black maids and their white employers. "the help" has already made 122 million dollars. the head of the international monetary fund

dominique strauss-kahn is back in france. a judge recently threw out the case where he was accused of assaulting a maid in new york. this was such a mob scene yesterday when he arrived, including people who woke up at 5:30 in the morning to greet him at the airport. they were excited to see him. so, what happened? >> they were. he got out. there was a huge round of applause for him at an airport in paris. i spoke to a french analyst today, who was also in the capital, who told me that what all of france is waiting for is for him to talk. when is he going to speak? and is he going to do it alone or will he have his journalist wife, ann sinclair, next to him? a poll was done, alina, and something like 61% of people in france think he should stay out of politics. remember, this was a man who was tipped to be the next possible president of france until this whole scandal broke back in may of this year. what many experts say, too, is

that, look, this is a guy back in france, very smart guy, deep ly international. it is likely he could maneuver, carve a political role in the future for himself, whether it's public or behind the scenes, more in an economic advisory capacity is questionable, but that there could be a chance for some kind of political rehabilitation for dominique strauss-kahn. >> see, i think that he is going to stage a political comeback. that's just one woman's opinion. but before he does any of that, of course, we're all waiting for him to talk. >> right. >> he still has to deal with the civil suit from his accuser in new york, even though the criminal charges have been thrown out. there's another accusation in france as well, right? talk about that. >> yeah. that's exactly right. that is going to continue to dog him, the civil suit in new york that's still hanging over his head. then there's this french wroiter who says that years ago dominique strauss-kahn raped

her. she's just come forward with these accusations. that's going to have to play through the legal system. it is also grabbing headlines. he's not out of the woods yet. the way that he maneuvers and walks this tightrope of wanting to have some type of political life and having these really serious charges still hanging over his head is going to determine his future. >> zain, i think you and i should go to paris together and check the story out for ourselves. >> yes. yeah, we should go to paris together. any opportunity to go with you anywhere, alina. >> ah, see. >> you may improve my fashion sense as well. always so stylish. >> zain verjee, come over to the states, will you? i miss you. all right. good to see you. >> i will. i'm waiting to be invited. >> you're invited. >> all right. >> see you soon. bye. want to head to my hometown

of new york. alis alison kosik is standing by with news about the post office. is it really possible that the post office could shut down? >> it is possible. things have been pretty darn tough for the postal service for a very long time. now we're hearing that the agency is so low on cash, it could actually shut down completely for the winter unless congress does something. now, this is coming out of the new york time, saying that the usps may not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment that's due this month. the post office, overall, is really getting squeezed on both weak revenues and rising costs and it doesn't get any taxpayer money. with more people e-mailing, paying their bills online, billions of fewer pieces of mail are actually going through the service. the postmaster general has been pushing for some deep cuts to save this agency. some of his proposals are controversial. he wants to do away with saturday delivery, close-up to 3,700 locations and let go of 120,000 employees.

as you can imagine, there's tough opposition to all of these suggestions. but i'll tell you what. missing the upcoming payment is not going to cause immediate disaster, but, alina, it could be early next year when we could face that sort of disaster if there's no solution here. alina? >> it's so sad. i have to say, i'm one of those people who, when you get the mail, you still love to receive those letters, you know. >> yeah. >> we've been hearing about these changes with the post office for so long, especially that saturday delivery thing. >> right. >> and it still hasn't happened. what's the hold up? >> you name it. first of all, the agency is controlled by congress. need i say more there? lawmakers are still dealing with the fallout from the debt ceiling debacle and haven't been able to agree on any solutions. as far as the usps goes, labor makes up 80% of the post office costs. that's a huge chunk right there. for its rivals like ups and fedex, it makes up about half of

that. because the postal service's union contract, the post office couldn't lay off workers, only negotiated recently. the unions vowing to fight back to keep so many people from being let go. now another sticking point here is postal workers get brt health benefits than most other federal employees. you pile all of this on, alina, it's all these controversial issues that's keeping everybody from agreeing but essentially leaving the agency in limbo. >> let's hope they fix it. >> i lick my mail delivery, too. >> it would be awful if the post office shut down. alison, thank you. sarah palin having trouble on the campaign trail. trouble, she's not an official candidate yet. >> polls? they're for strippers and cross country skiers. >> the folksy sarah palin is back. she's even releasing a jobs

plan. but the big question, of course, is will she or won't she run? and when does she need to decide? operatic aria )

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half past the hour. checking our top stories now, protesters clash with police outside the trial of hosni mubarak. the protesters are the families of those that were killed in the uprise. honda is recalling 936,000 models worldwide. apparently they all have power w window problems that could spark electrical fires. and take a look at what happened to tennis star rafael nadal at a post match press conference at the u.s. open last night. there he is, nadal in such pain from leg cramps that he slid down his seat and then slid down some more and then some more until trainers finally came to help. it took eight minutes for him to get back up. nadal says this happens pretty

often, but rarely, of course, is it caught on camera. just a few hours from now, six republican presidential candidates will meet in south carolina for a forum hosted by senator jim demint. sarah palin won't be there. remember, she is not an official candidate for president. but over the weekend, she certainly sounded like one. take a listen to what she said about president obama. >> he wants to win the future by investing more of your hard-earned money in some hair-brained ideas like more solar panels and really fast trains. he's shouting all aboard obama's bullet train to bankruptcy. the only future that barack obama is try iing to save is hi own re-election. and he has shown that he is perfectly willing to mortgage our children's future to pay for it. polls, they're actually -- usually, i'll say, polls, nah.

they're for strippers and cross country skiers. but -- >> all right. let's talk more about palin with our political producer, peter hamby in column beea, south carolina. as you just heard there, it was classic sarah palin. she even talked vaguely of a jobs plan. give us a recap. you were there. what did she say? >> reporter: you're right, she did, kind of for the first time, offer a little bit of a five-point plan, conservative boiler plate but did talk about eliminating the corporate income tax rate completely. for her, it was actually a very good speech. i talked to some republicans who say this is a speech she should have been giving for the last two years after she left the governor's mansion in 2009 out there in alaska. she really hit a lot of tea party themes. she also veered into specifics and drew some contrasts with her potential republican rivals, if she does decide to run.

palin has sort of done a little bit of damage to her brand over the years. >> namely, governor rick perry, right? she didn't mention him by name, but certainly anyone who follows politics knows that that's who she was talking about, right? what did she say about that? >> reporter: absolutely, yeah. she was talking about kroeny capitali cronie capitalism and she hit that repeatedly throughout the speech. and they made it clear to me this was directed at rick perry, in order to carve out some space for her in the republican field if she does decide to run. she hit rick perry, veiled attacks for giving his political allies and donors government contracts. she said that's more of the same, the status quo. she sort of made this appeal to the tea party movement that the government needs to return to the people, not the special interests, alina. >> peter hamby, live for us in south carolina -- are you in south carolina? where are you? columbia, south carolina. >> reporter: i am. south carolina, yes. >> lost my mind for a moment.

thank you, peter. palin is certainly on the move. cnn will have live coverage of palin's event in new hampshire during the noon eastern hour. we want to get more on what's happening in politics, including whether or not sarah palin is going to run. will cain and l.z. granderson are here. is she or is she not going to run? and if not, why is she torturing all of us in doing all of this? >> i don't think she is going to run. >> really? >> my knowledge is the same as everyone else's. she's in, she's out, she's teasing. the status quo, i believe, is what we'll continue with. she won't run. talking to peter about that speech, i will say this. sometimes we dismiss sarah palin. she makes her gaffes. she is charming. she is eloquent and did say some things in that speech worth listening to. she seems to be evolving into

this activist. i'm not dismissing her, but derching her, which is actually a valuable role, the voice of the movement. >> that's right. l.z., you have to give the woman credit. it was pouring rain. she still can draw a crowd. >> yes. she can, like a pop star. like a reality tv star, like a celebrity. not necessarily as a politician. i just see all of this as her just reminding everyone, particularly those in the g.o.p. that if you want to get voters to get behind a canndidate, you have to kiss my ring. that's what i think this weekend was all about. she has a lot of influence, still. and even though she won't run for president on the gop ticket needs to get her approval. >> that's a little too dismissive. it wasn't just self serving, l.z. she had valuable things to say, such as the quota lena and peter just talked about wherein we

don't need to elect another person that is committed to cronie criticism. whether that's aimed at rick perry or not, and it probably is. >> it was a strong speech. i agree with that. the reason we keep saying for her is because the bar is so low. we don't have great expectations for her. we were impressed for her. >> oh, boy. okay. all right. let's talk about the republicans. obviously a big day, forum in south carolina, six of the candidates will take part, including rick perry, now enjoying front-runner status. this is sort of the first time we'll get to see him on stage. there have been -- there has been inside talk, will, that his people are working with him to soften his language in the wake of what he has said about bernanke and how it would get ugly if he would come to texas and so forget. listen, what does perry have to say or do to look presidential and to keep that front-runner

status? >> you know, alina, i've said that i think rick perry will be the next president of the united states. not as a cheerleader but an analyst. a president whose very vulnerable and a guy that can potentially straddle populist vote and i should say as long as he doesn't shoot his own foot. color in between the lines. if you say a bold statement, that's okay. if you say social security and medicare need to be dismantled, fine. but tell us how you want to replace it. he needs to be substantive, back up his bold claims and color in the lines. >> isn't this what the democrats want? listen, this early on in the race for the republicans to start fighting with each other? romney may start going after rick perry and there would be fighting in the gop. isn't this good for the democrats then? >> yes and no. i think that if you do see a lot of significant infighting, what will end up happening is that

the better canndidate may actually come up from all of this. i think what was better for the white house was having everyone be nicy nicy and letting someone like rick perry walk through unchallenged. then by the time you got through the general electric, he gets torn apart because he hasn't had to deal with a tough campaign. the tougher it is during the primaries for the gop, the better their chances are to overtaking the white house. >> l.z. granderson, will cain, my main voyage with you guys. i enjoyed it. >> alina, it's post labor day. is l.z. wearing white pants or putting them on moth balls? >> you're not going to make me answer that question. fashion week doesn't start until thursday. let me wait until thursday. oh, man. will, l.z., thank you. we'll talk about white later. u.s. marshals escorting a young black girl near her a rotten tomato.

above her a racial slur. she's 60 years old right now. that's her next to president obama. my next guest says the painting should be in the white house.

she was just 6 in 1960, when u.s. marshals escorted ruby bridges into her newly integrated elementary school. norman rockwell captured the moment on canvas. brinls, whose now 56, met president obama when the painting was recently revealed and brought to the white house. the image graphically depicts the civil rights struggle and it's one that cnn opinion writer bob green says has a place in the white house, an important one. bob joins me now. tell me first about the painting. what does it depict? >> that was based on ruky bridges, trying to go to school in new orleans in 1960. what you don't see in the

picture are the crowds taunting her, throwing things at her. what you do see, of course, in the background is that vilist of words and the tomato smashed against it. norman rockwell painted that. it appeared in 1964. first of all, you see the terrible word there. then you see the bravery of the child. to me, the magnificent thing about the painting -- rockwell had this wonderful eye for detail, for the telling detail. look how the united states marshalls are cropped at their shoulders. you did not see their faces. you just see these four tall men escorting this child to school. and, to me, the message of that is, yes, that's four men taking her to school. that's four individuals. but that's the united states of america providing safe passage. that is the united states of america saying right will

prevail. and the lasting power of the painting is that. this country has its flaws and its struggles from time to time. in the end it usually comes out on the side of justice. that's what you see in that painting. >> bob, bridges herself told politico, i did feel if anyone would hang the painting, it would be him. of course, talking about president obama. but you think that the painting should have a more permanent place at the white house, right? >> yes. i think future presidents, for centuries to come, would do well to invite that painting back in the white house, because the message transcends all of our usual democrat versus republican, liberal versus conservative squabbling. the message of that painting -- the painting is called the problem we all live with. but in showing that justice, in the end, will prevail, it really shows the glory whoa all live with. i think that message is one that never gets old and always bears

repeating and should always be welcomed in any white house. >> what an amazing moment for this woman, ruby bridges, to see that painting of her, now 56 years old, and to meet the president. just an amazing moment. i was fascinated, reading your piece. we want all of you to read it at cnn.com/opinion. you can also join the conversation and leave a comment for bob green. bob, thank you. an ohio man misses out on his co-workers lottery pool. guess what. now he wants a part of that $99 million jackpot and is suing to get it. we'll explain. [ male announcer ] succeeding in today's market

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we want to take you live to new hampshire where gop presidential candidate mitt romney is attending a pancake breakfast, answering questions. right now he's talking about taking care of military veterans. let's listen in. >> i'm not going to cut that. you might say there's a lot of waste in the military. and there is. there's a lot of waste. there's a lot of bureaucracy. there's a lot of opportunity to cut out the waste. i want to cut out that waste and not use it to pay for new social programs, but instead use it to make sure that our troops have the best armorment in the world and weapons systems, that we have as many troops as we need, and that means more, and we properly care for our veterans when they come home. i'm going to use that money to do the right job for the u.s. military. thank you. i'll take one more. >> thank you so much for choosing me. i just want to -- >> thank you for choosing me.

>> may it be so. i wanted to ask, what do you see are the issues that unite the tea party, republic republicans traditional republicans, what are the issues that unite us and how do you see yourself fitting the bill in bringing together the republican party? >> that's a great question. let me give you a warning. we all like to read things that show some conflict. it's just interesting. we watch tv. we like to see something exciting on tv. no one wants to watch a tv story that says mr. so-and-so came and spoke to a group and he was wele were two protesters that yelled at him. that's interesting. here is what they said. it makes it interesting. so naturally there is great interest to say oh, the tea party and mainstream republicans, they are fighting and they are different. look, the tea party has as its center core, a belief that

government is too big. sound familiar? that's what we've been saying for years and years as a republican party and they are saying it well and loud. the tea party is a powerful movement saying government is too big, and i couldn't auto fr agree more. republicans will come together, republicans of all different backgrounds, some on the middle, some on the right, some on the left. all are convinced that government is out of control, it needs to get out of the way of the private sector. more freedom for enterprise and individuals will put more people to work than a federal jobs program ever can, and those principles combined with lowering taxes for the american people, those things will unite us. i appreciate our democratic friends, that they will try to tear us down, make it look like we're at each other's throats. that stage, i looked around and

thought i would have any one of those fellows and gal than the fellow in the white house right now. we'll come together, take back the white house, i'm convinced, by the way that our best shot at taking back the white house and best shot at turning around the country is -- this will sound a little self-serving, because it is. someone whose background isn't just politics. i don't think a career politician can fix what career politicians have messed up. it will take someone outside of politics and i am to a great dealing and i'll use that experience to get america to work again. we'll come together, united, say good-bye to president obama thank him for his four years and let's get america back on track. thank you, guys. great to be with you this morning. >> former massachusetts governor mitt romney speaking at a

pancake breakfast in manchester, new hampshire. the best shot at success in this country is not to select someone who is a career politician, but someone who has experience outside of the political sector, perhaps veiled criticism at governor rick perry who held some sort of political office since 1985. later, romney heads to columbia, south carolina, for a gop forum hosted by senator jim demint, somewhat of a republican kingmaker, begins at 3:00 p.m. eastern. you can watch our exclusive coverage of today's presidential forum beginning at 3:00 p.m. eastern. our john king will host. back after this. or just a new word? maybe you want to know more about anatomy, or astronomy. you could master something new,

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i want to fast forward now. checking stories making news later today. former alaska governor sarah palin speaks at noon eastern time at the tea party express rally in manchester, new hampshire. at 1:15 eastern, president obama is in detroit to speak at a labor day event sponsored by the automakers union. and several presidential candidates take part in the palmetto freedom forum in columbia, south carolina. following developments in the next hour of "cnn newsroom." let's check in with ed lavend lavendera. first, let's speak to ben wedeman in lebanon. >> reporter: another damning bunch of documents out of

tripoli, this time an alarms agreement with china and libya. and i'm zain verjee. it's the final stretch of the amanda knox trial. and floodwaters are threatening lafitte, louisiana. what locals are doing to fight back the water. >> glad we got you back, ed. and we have elizabeth cohen about a new drug of choice on college campuses. students are apparently taking adderall for better grades. that story, next. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com omnaris. omnaris, to the nose. did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nose bleed, and sore throat. got allergy symptoms out of my way.

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hi, everybody. i'm alina cho. it's labor day, the unofficial end of summer and a traditional showcase for politicians. it's a busy day. today, the spotlight shines on presidential candidates. this hour rick perry will kick off a town for numb conway, south carolina. later, he'll be among the six republican candidates taking part this afternoon in the palmetto freedom forum, hosted by senator jim demint, a leader of a conservative movement that includes the tea party. sarah palin won't be there, but she's certainly getting a lot of attention. straight ahead, some of the comments that have raised her

profile and quite a few eyebrows. anything but a holiday for americans reeling from extreme weather. lee has weakened to a tropical depression, but it's still a rainmaker that could make travel across much of the country a nightmare. and the windshave helped fuel wildfires in central texas this hour. 1,000 homes in danger near austin. and hurricane katia will unleash its first impact on the east coast. where it's headed, just a moment. let's begin with the flooding rains pounding the gulf coast since lee made landfall in louisiana over the weekend. cnn's ed lavendera is in crown point. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, alina. folks on this labor day are dealing with floodwaters, fighting back the floodwaters creeping into these community south of new orleans, from the waters ways and canals from the

gulf of mexico. people are waiting for the winds from the slow-moving storm, which is now a tropical depression, but tropical storm lee as it came through, the wind has been pushing water north and pushing the water out of canals and watersways into the community. and you see roadways like this, for much of the morning, many roads of community of crown point and lafitte were closed. if you look back over here in the distance, floodwaters creeping up on the doorsteps of homes. we've seen that repeatedly through these community in the last day or so what officials are doing, they've got big trucks dropping huge banks of sand and using makeshift levees to control the water situation. everywhere you look, and this is areas outside of the levee protection system. these are low-lying areas, used

to this kind of thing, always one of those situations that really wreaks a lot of havoc. this costs jefferson parish more than $200,000. >> thank you, ed lavendera. we want to turn to the bad situation in texas. threatening wildfires near austin. chris welch in bastrup county with the latest. what's it looking like where you are? >> reporter: here in bastrop county, this is where the fire situation is most dire, most serious. fires covering 24 cities in texas, most surrounding the austin area. i don't know if you can see behind me, the dark clouds, plumes of smoke gathering up. that fire where we -- we were able to get i guess i could say about three miles from here.

that's as close as they are get letting us get to the fire. officials are warning, this is very dangerous, not just for us, not for the people to live there, but to the people who are forced to go in and rescue people who may still be caught inside and for firefighters to put this thing out. they will actually be cutting a couple of black hawk helicopters in the air. dumping a mixture of water and fire retartend on this thing. at this point, anyone's guess where it will go. the winds are steady, gotten steadier, a dangerous situation here right now. and about 8,000 residents in the city of bastrop alone, and 75,000 in the county. this is threatening a lot of people, a lot of homes at stake. alaina. >> chris, thank you very much. rob marciano, obviously watching

the winds in texas, and storm that was lee and hurricane katia. what's going on in texas? will winds die down soon? >> not any time soon. but adding insult to injury, the backside of lee is actually creating higher winds and drying things out even more. critical fire danger again from dallas back to san antonio, including austin. could have winds anywhere from 20 to 30 miles an hour. and red-flag warnings posted because of that. what's left of lee, the center, right there, beginning pick up speed and heading off towards the north and east, as it does so, it has a decent amount of rain with it this, and it will cause flooding in places like louisiana and eastern and central parts of mississippi, tremendous amount of rain in jackson. almost a foot of rain, and could see as much as 7 inch inches in places like chattanooga and knoxville, parts of tennessee. a decent amount of rain. here is the kicker. the northeast, still reeling

from the effects of hurricane irene. ground obviously staturated. rain will mix with a cool front up toward lee, and that will create some problem. hurricane katia, will this make a run at us? i certainly hope not. look at the size of that thing now. even a well-defined eye. category 2 storm, forecast to become a category 3 storm and headed toward the u.s., but we're hoping for last week, we're looking at winds that will probably take it out to sea. we can breathe a sigh of relief. by the way, really cool among the western 2/3 of the country. feeling a lot like fall, helping nudge katia out to sea. and spoiling a few labor day plans along the east coast. >> what about travel plans? i hate to make it about me, i am

going back to new york. where are the worst airport delays? >> atlanta, that would be one of the bad ones, rain here and potential, actually, i should mention severe weather. tornado threat in beam and georgia with a tornado watch. >> but up and down the eastern seaboard it's going to be lots of delays, right? probably? safe to say? >> including the northeast. you can always drive. >> thank you. turning to international news, a case we're watching closely. american amanda knox's appeal on a murder conviction italy is centering on key dna evidence. zain verjee, joins us from london. what's the latest on this case? >> good morning, alaina. this is a pivotal week this is the final stretch in amanda knox's appeal trial. we'll see final arguments on the sides of the prosecution and

defense. the key thing here, all centers on two pieces of crucial evidence. what happened was, when she was cop vikted, there was a knife that was linked to her, because amanda knox's genetic material was found on this knife. independent forensic analysts have been brought in, and now they are saying hang on a minute, the amount of genetic material of knox's was way too small to be definitive, wasn't double tested and could well be a question too about how it was collected. the second piece of evidence, they link her then boyfriend, the victim, meredith kitschner's broad cloths. they now release these videos which show the evidence was handled really badly. the bra was laying on the floor for something like six weeks.

contaminated, police were passing it around and may not be permissible. we'll have final arguments, rebuttals and then we'll have the verdict. could go either way amanda knox may be in a strong position given these two pieces of evidence. >> that would be an incredible turn around, zain, if that would happen. we know you're watching this case. thank you, great to see you as always. coming up, six white house candidates have a shot to distance themselves from the field. exclusive coverage of today's presidential forum in south carolina, a preview is next. and a close encounter for a storm chaser in upstate new york. watch. >> i'm a little freaked out. i'm pretty sure i just saw a tornado form across the freeway. >> more details on that, when we go "cross country" after the break. [ male announcer ] it's a fact:

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try capzasin-hp. it penetrates deep to block pain signals for hours of relief. capzasin-hp. take the pain out of arthritis. checking stories across country now. >> i can't believe what i'm just -- what i'm seeing. i can't believe what i'm seeing. oh, my god. i can't believe what i'm seeing. i think that's a tornado. >> a storm chaser shot this video of a tornado in upstate new york. it struck near albany last night. crossed interstate 90, damaging homes, uprooting trees and tearing roofs off some of those

homes. no reports of any serious injuries. police in phoenix are searching for a container full of explosives, stolen from the airport. they were conducting a police training exercise friday when a cooler packed with explosive tubes, commonly used in the mining industry, went missing. explosives cannot be detonated without additional equipment and some degree of expertise. police in texas investigating the death of a man found at the home of nfl player antonio smith. 100 people attended a party at his home in houston saturday night. the mention morning, the body of a 37-year-old man was found at the bottom of the swimming pool. police say it appears to be accidental. and arizona has slapped a $25 fee on people who visit loved ones in prison. certainly getting a lot of attention. according to "the new york times," the one-time background check fee, as it's called, has acciden angered prison advocates.

they say it's just a pretext for raising money for the cash-strapped arizona prison system. a live event weefr watching at this hour, governor rick perry of texas is in conway, south carolina, this hour you're looking live there from a texas call college in conway, perry is taking part in a town hall meeting. it's scheduled to begin in a few minutes. we wait for rick perry. cnn just learned that perry is apparently pulling out of this afternoon's presidential forum to return to texas to deal with the wildfire situation there near austin. five of the other candidates will still face off this afternoon starting at 3:00 p.m. eastern, our deputy political director paul stein hauser covering the event. paul, what have we learned from this? >> reporter: seems wildfires in texas are definitely having an impact right here in south carolina. here is what we learned.

earlier this morning, i reached out to the rick perry campaign and asked them whether those fires would make a dent in his schedule? and the communications director of the campaign said, yes, the first event, the one with live pictures, was still on, but likely his schedule would change after that and in the last few minutes, our producer right here in south carolina has learned from a source close to senator jim demint. he is the senator from south carolina who is putting on the forum here in columbia. she learned from them, yes, in fact, perry would head home to deal with the fires and miss the forum at 3:00 eastern. 5, not 6 presidential candidates at the forum. >> this is not a debate, a forum. how will it play out today? how critical is this? >> well, let's start with senator demint. that explains one of the reasons how critical is it. i bumped into him at breakfast. he's very influential among pea

party activists, and he was quite a king maker last year for congress, and i believe he'll be very influential and next year in the race for the republican presidential nomination. how will the format? the five, not six now candidates, will appear on the stage. first for a nice photo-op, and then after that, one at a time. 20 minutes of questioning by senator demint, steve king of iowa, and one other questioner. not a debate. questioning of the candidates one at a time. we brought the cnn express. you know it's a big deal if we bring the bus. >> of course it is. that bus only goes to big events. the headline, rick perry has pulled out of gop presidential candidate forum in south carolina. five other candidates will participate and you can watch our exclusive cover rage of today's forum from south carolina at 3:00 p.m. eastern time. could the next host of the

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19 minutes after the hour. we want to take you live to conway, south carolina, where a gop presidential front-runner, texas governor rick perry is taking part in a town hall meeting with congressman tim scott. perry making news, apparently going to announce that he's

going to drop out of the gop forum later on in south carolina to deal with the wildfire situation in his home state. let's listen in. >> that's my foundation, i understand hard work and getting up every day, and my dad early on had a couple of jobs and settled into farming out there, and thaw that was a wonderful little place. it was a school, about 110 kids or so, grades one through 12, and on a farm market road, and across the way, across that farm market road, a baptist church and a methodist church, your choice. my life rotated around school, church, and boy scouts. that was my life, and it was a good one. so -- and then i went off to school to be a veterinarian, to

the beloved texas a & m, on the way to the s.e.c. i might add. get ready. and i tell my friends organic chemistry made a pilot out of me. a little shift in my college life over to the vietnam war was still going on, and so i volunteered to serve in the united states air force and finish up school and headed to big spring, texas, for my pilot's training and spent the next 4, 4 1/2 years, flying around the world. and put all over the european, south america, middle eastern part of the world. live in saudi arabia in 1975 and seen that country start to make its transition from a very tribal bedouin indian life-style

to asphalt roads. watching the saudis learn to drive was an interesting experience. during that period of time, that's where i want to wrap it up and get it back to you. i went through -- i went through a maturing process, and one of the great things about my life. i've been grow iing almost ever day. i went through a maturing process. i never left the united states and i got out of texas very few times as a boy growing up. in 1964, went to valley forge, washington, d.c., philadelphia, and new york city for the world fair national scout jamboree. other than that, i didn't really get exposed to much and particularly about the world. but as a young man and flying into various insundry countries and started making a connection

between how people live and the type of government that they had. we went into monarchies, theocracies and other types of governments, dictatorships and i made that very powerful reflection about what a great country we live in and the freedoms we have. and that people would give their lives in a lot of cases to be able to have the freedoms that we have. and over the course of the last century, we have seen those freedoms chip away time and time again. those read my book "fed up," i talk about the loss of those freedoms, starting with that income tax that tim's going to fix.

and we have a great piece of legislation that gets to us where we need to go as a country, where everyone can be participating in this process of this -- this great country, and -- but anyway, that had a powerful effect on me. and i -- i came back home, went back to the farm, and then in the mid '80s. i love public service. my mom is a county commissioner. i have been trained and caught all my life that public service is an honorable thing. whether it's wearing the uniform of our country, or like my great privilege to be the governor of the state. i truly believe good men and women, that's one of the reasons i share with young people to find that what are you passionate about.

you may join the peace corps or the marine corps, but find that way to give back to this country. it's what makes america unique. with that, let me just say i'm lived the american dream. from leaving a small farm out in pan creek, texas, to be the governor -- >> looking live at governor rick perry. live at a town hall meeting in conway, south carolina. we want to get in a quick break. we'll bring you more of this live event after we come back. i know what works differently than many other allergy medications. omnaris. omnaris, to the nose! did you know nasal symptoms like congestion can be caused by allergic inflammation? omnaris relieves your symptoms by fighting inflammation. side effects may include headache, nosebleed, and sore throat. i tossed t allergy symptoms out of my party. [ man ] omnaris. ask your doctor. battling nasal allergy symptoms? omnaris combats the cause. get omnaris for only $11 at omnaris.com.

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checking our top stories now. protesters fought police outside the trial of hosni mubarak. it included families of those killed in the uprising that led to mubarak's demise. honda is recalling 936,000 models worldwide. the fit, crv and city have

problems that could spark electrical fires. and rafael nadal at a post match press conference. he was in such pain that he slid down his seat, and then slid down again and again. trainers came in to help. it took eight minutes for him to get back up. nadal says this happens quite often, but rarely is it caught on camera. i want to take you back to a live event. republican presidential hopeful governor rick perry in conway, south carolina, right now, let's listen in. >> emissions. we've done a good job with that. at the same time, we created more jobs than any other state in the nation. when the epa contacted us that they wanted to come visit about texas, i looked at those two things and thought maybe they are going to give us an award. isn't that the goal?

lower the emissions, clean up the air, clean up the air for our kids. our kids are breathing this air. our people. and create jobs. that ought to be the goal. and we've done that in texas, and that's what i'd like to see across america. i will tell you one thing, the epa director and the individuals that we have the opportunity to put into place, they are going to be pro business administrators, and there won't be any apologies to anybody about it. those agencies -- those agencies won't know what hit them. i think is one way to put it. we're no longer going to do business as usual, and those are direct appointees. things like the mlrb, coming into the carolinas and tell you you can't have boeing. i'll tell you one thing, the

appointees to that board will be pro-business. >> thank you, governor. the next question comes from pat lily. is pat here? thank you for your question. pat's question is what will your policy be towards israel? >> yeah! >> pat, thank you. our friends, places where the united states' interests are important, they will never have to ask where the united states will be under a perry presidency. and whatever those countries may be. but in particularly, the oldest democracy in the middle east, a country that we have probably one of the closest relationships with in the world, what our president -- our current president did relative to the

1967 border issue, basically throw israel under the bus, to tell -- basically say, israel, you need to go back to the 1967 borders, was unconscionable in my opinion. israel will never have to wonder if we get invaded by some enemy country or an opposition country they will not have to worry about whether or not the united states will be standing with them. we'll be there protecting not only their interest, but our interest in that country. >> is jim littleton here? thank you for your question, jim. jim's question has to do with whether or not the whole notion of repatriation, bringing back american dollars from overseas, over $2 trillion sit overseas,

because of double taxation, what would you do about that? >> well, obviously lower that right substantially. zero is a pretty good rate. that money is going to come in and create jobs. that's very important to send a message. 35% rate that it is today, that money is not coming back. bring it back and make sure there is fairness in the way that taxes are calculated. to pay their taxes, i'm into bringing that money back into the united states for zero tax burden. >> excellent. i'm going to combine -- go through the questions and trying my best to it get as many questions as possible that are not duplicates. i guess when you buy the book, they want to know the answers to the book. we have some questions here.

one, on social security, and another predominant question is on your position on immigration, so i'm going to put those together and let you have an opportunity to answer both. >> i'll be happy. i want to talk to about social security first, and i'm not going to ask for any hands out for those who are on social security or approaching it, like me. and no matter where you are in america, if you're already getting your social security benefits, if you approach the age where you get your social security, you've made a lot of decisions about retirement, about how you're going to take care of yourself and/or your family. those individuals need to understand something. you have no worries at all about your current social security as we go forward. and what we do have a conversation about, is kids my children's age. i have a 28-year-old son or approaching 28 and a 25-year-old

daughter, and we shouldn't lie to them and tell them that this system we have in place today will be there for them. have a conversation with america. how do we make that transition from the system that we've got today and i call it a ponzi scheme. a monstrous lie for our kids, and it's true, and anyone who is running for the presidency of the united states and wants to keep status quo on entitlement is suspect. they don't want to be honest with the american people. we have to have that conversation. a lot of different options we have to talk about, whether it's moving the age forward at some particular time if you're a 45-year-old or less, we'll move that retirement age up to 69 or 70 or whatever it is. that's a good conversation to have. and there's a -- there's a part

of the book we talk about back in the early '80s, states had the opportunity, with their public employees and their county employees, to shift over to a private-sector-run program and three counties in texas did it. probably about 251 counties in texas that probably wish they would have done it. having those types of thoughtful conversations, but with the clear and unmovable fact if you are on social security, or if you're approaching social security, you do not have to worry about those dollars going to be coming in for your retirement. now, can i go on to immigration? the issue of immigration is a broad one to be as brief as i can on this, and the real issue here is that you can't have a conversation about immigration

reform until you first secure the border. and it's a waste of time. there are those that want to have intellectual discussions about immigration reform and that's fine. but i'm not going to participate in a conversation that frankly doesn't matter. if you have a revolving door at the border with the united states and mexico, immigration reform means nothing. so here is what needs to happen. a little bit more than just a passing understanding, and we've been dealing with it for the decade that i've been the governor, since 2005, i believe is the correct year, we were aski requesting aviation funds to be

use. predator drones with all of the different technologies to look down through the darkness or cloud cover or what have you, giving real time information about activities along that border. i think strategic fencing has very important role to play in the marm metropolitan areas. i have said and i'll say again in front you, i don't believe in building a wall from brownsville, texas to, el paso, and the other 00 plus miles to tijuana. number one, it wouldn't be built in our children's lifetime. there is a way to secure that border, using strategic fencing. let's call it the metropolitan area, where the population numbers are high, but there are miles and miles and miles of that border that is just open terrain, the only way you can truly secure that boarder is with boots on the ground.

here is the plan it will take somewhere around 4,500 additional border patrol agents to texas to tijuana -- well, brownsville to tijuana to protect that border. while we're waiting for those number of border patrol agents. i would have national guard on the border doing border security until that point in time. that is how the secure the border. our border can truly be secured. but today there are parts of mexican and united states border that are in operational control of drug cartels. the idea that the president of the united states would come to texas, stand up in el paso and

proclaim that boarder to be safer than it's ever been is an outright lie. it's not. 41,000 mexicans have lost their lives directly attributable to the drug cartels. it's spilling over to our states, bringing in poisons that are taking our children's lives, and we've got -- the drug cartels are every bit as much terrorist as people that we are fighting in afghanistan and iraq. and we have to treat them as such. you can secure that border, once you get the border secure, lets have a discussion about immigration policies we want to put in place. it's important that people who want to come and work, legally, come into this country, that we

have a program in place to allow that to happen. but not until we secure the border, period. >> texas governor rick perry live at a town hall meeting in conway, south carolina, talking about how as president he would put the national guard on the boarder to make sure that our borders are secure, of course, we have our political buzz panel. we'll see them in just a moment. there they are, and they'll be back with reaction to perry's speech, right after the break. level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil.

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political buzz, rapid fire look at best political topics of date. today, three questions, 30 seconds on the clock. playing today, maria cardona,

robert trainen, and will cain. you can watch five republicans take questions from jim demint and steve king. rick perry is pulling out of the event to deal with fires in his home state. maria, smart choice? >> i think it's a smart choice, alaina. he continues to be the governor of texas first and foremost. as he continues to talk about his record in texas, his record will catch up with him, especially on job creation and the environment. job creation, when he came in, unemployment was 4.2%. it is now 8.2%. a lot of jobs created in texas. government jobs, same government that he despises, and it's also the number one state that allows chemicals, toxic chemicals that spew into the air and water. e.t.a. and business first, that's actually true. >> do we want to move on to the next question, rebecca? let's move to will first.

what do you think about this? >> i think perry pulling out of the event this afternoon is a nonevent. the nation does need to get to know rick perry, need to see him in a one-on-one interview, see him in a debate. and i want to say, i wrote a column once where i said i'm no rick perry fan, but he could win my vote. i'm not a rick perry fan because he prescribed all sixth grade girls have to be vaccinated for hpv, he has this cloud of patronage over my vote. he could win my vote by speeches just aired. >> the buzzer goes off. i didn't know you were from texas, will. what do you think, robert? smart choice to pull out of the forum? >> very smart choice. two people have died because of the wildfires. 70,000 people being evacuated as we speak. first and foremost, is he the chief executive, and he was elected to do the job, and he is overseeing fema and evacuation

of his folks. politics will play itself out in a couple weeks or days, let him go back and be governor, which he was elected to do. >> sarah palin, back on her campaign/noncampaign. watch. >> he wants to win the future by investing more of your hard-earned money in some harebrained ideas on solar panels and fast trains. all aboard obama's bullet train to bankruptcy. the only future that barack obama is trying to save is his own re-election, and he has shown that he is perfectly willing to mortgage our children's future to pay for it. poll there actually -- and usually i'll say polls, they are for strippers and cross-country skiers. >> i have seen it all on cnn over the weekend. all right.

when does she need to officially get in the race or go away? will, first to you. >> u.s. it's a false choice, she could wait until december and still make a splash. i don't think she ever has to go away. she's einvolvolving into an act. let's not just replace obama let's replace him with somebody who is right. >> robert, what's your take? >> legally and logistically, she needs to make up her mind by the middle of october. she's turning more into an activist more than anything else. i don't think she'll run for president, but i do think she's running to be chief activist, keeping both sides of the political spectrum accountable with sound bites. say whatever you want about sarah palin, wherever she goes, people follow her because of her

gravitas and what she has to say. >> and so does the media. maria, what do you think? >> i think she should have gone away after the last presidential election and i'm not the only one. whenever she talks, her unfavorability ratings skyrocket. she was vintage palin this past weekend. angry, bitter, sarcastic, she didn't say one thing that was positive. didn't lay out a plan, she does what she does best which is focus on palin and focus on basically defeating obama, but with no positive plan as to how to do so and why people should listen to her. >> almost got it. almost, maria. all right, before i go to the buzzer beater, 20 seconds each. hillary clinton getting praise from none other than dick cheney. listen. >> boy, i'm not sure i would have ever said that, perhaps she might have been easier for some of us who are critics of the

president to work with. i have a sense that she's one of the more competent members of the current administration. it would be interesting to speculate how she might perform were she to be president. >> what? from dick cheney? does dick cheney have a point? >> say whatever you want about the former vice president in terms of his controversial positions. everywhere i go, democrat and republicans openly question as to whether or not hillary clinton would have been a better president than barack obama, just saying. >> okay. all right. will, what about you? >> i think robert's right. i'm hearing this little argument a little too often. i'm not going to buy into it. if hillary clinton would have been proesident, would there bea big keynesian bill?

yes, and would there be health care? would she be easier to work with? i can't say that. >> dick cheney, speaking of people that need to go away. what he said is absolutely laughable. is she a current member of president obama's administration? of course. it's easier to speculate as to whether our country would be in better shape if cheney had not been vp. he was dismal. >> i'm new to this political gun thing. the buzzer scares me every time. >> maria's had coffee today. hey, your breaking the rules, robert! >> maria had coffee this morning. that's all i'm saying. >> it's labor day, anything goes. maria cardona, robert, and will,

thanks so much. the u.s. markets are closed for the labor day holiday. asia is tanking and what can we look for in the week ahead? a live report, next.

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♪ guts. glory. ram. ♪ alison kosik standing by. the u.s. markets closed. asia tanking. what's going on? wall street, alaina, markets around the globe are selling off. major europe indices are down 4% and 5%, asian markets closed down by 2% or more. you are seeing reaction. this is the first time to react to the dismal jobs report that came out on friday. no jobs created in august. it's raising new fears about a recession here in the u.s.. of course, this winds up being one of the double edged swords we always talk about. we need to see hiring.

we need hiring to get a recovery under way. hiring won't begin until a recovery gets under way. the u.s. market is back in business tomorrow. we'll see if some of the pessimism could fade overnight. alaina. >> alison kosik in new york with that update. keep it here, because some of the biggest names in fashion will be in new york for fashion week. begins on thursday and my talk with superstar designer marc jacobs is next. 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.

welcome back. next week is the start of new york's fashion week. a mega showcase of top designer collections for spring 2012. recently, a got an exclusive look with one of fashion's superstars, marc jacobs. he has been named by "time" one of the most 100 influential people says that is not how he would describe himself. >> i don't know that i'm a household name. i really don't have at wareness. i'll go somewhere and people will ask for a picture or autograph or something. and it's not that i'm unaware or naive. but i'm busy. i do my thing and i carry on and, yes, i have some nice things and i collect art and all that kind of stuff, but i'm not a different person. >> been working on that interview for a year, so it was a thrill to finally get him. i also interviewed another top personal in fashion.

rachel zoe, the most famous celebrity stylist. even after dressing major stars like anne hathaway for the oscars and cameron diaz for the red carpet, zoe is more anxious about now designing her own clothes collection. >> 100% is the scariest thing i've ever done. >> what about it is so scary? >> it's not a one-time thing. this isn't something where i'm dressing someone, and it's the oscars and i really hope they look amazing and i work really hard at it, and they are on the red carpet and hope it's incredible and then i move onto the next thing. this is a very constant, constant process. >> that was great too. many more inside looks at the runway shows, my backstage pass, designers, fashions, trends, that you won't see anywhere else, all on my special fashion week backstage pass, debuting september 17th, 2:30