tomorrow night you can see president obama's address to the joint session of congress live at 7:00 eastern. i'll talk to one of the president's advisers and top personal financial gurus about what the plan means for you. coming next week, primetime exclusive with amy winehouse's father. it's an emotional hour with mitch winehouse. here's a preview. >> she loved children. one of her greatest wishes was to have children of her own. and -- that's not to be. >> that's mitch winehouse for the hour next tuesday. that's all for us tonight. "a.c. 360" starts now. breaking news from out west. the reagan presidential library that california. the first since texas governor rick perry joined the race.

first national debate and first chance millions of voters have had to get to know him. from the get-go he jumped to the top of the polls. from the beginning tonight his opponents jumped on him. here's the portion of the debate starting with former massachusetts governor mitt romney and governor perry squaring off. >> we created more jobs in the last three months in texas than he created in four years in massachusetts. >> texas is a great state. texas has zero income tax. texas has a right to work state. a republican legislature. a republican supreme court. texas has a lot of oil and gas in the ground. those are wonderful things. but governor perry doesn't believe he created those things. if he tried to say that, be like al gore saying he invented the internet. >> michael dukakis created jobs three times faster than you did, mitt. >> as a matter of fact, george bush and his predecessor creates jobs at a faster rate than you did, governor. >> threw out the current tax code. a 9% tax on corporate income. a 9% tax on personal income. a 9% national sales tax. if 10% is good enough for god,

9% ought to be good enough for the fellow government. >> i hate to rain on the parade, the great lone star governor. as governor of utah we were the number one job creator in this country during my years of service. that 5.9% when you were creating jobs at 4.9%. to my good friend, mitt, 47 ain't going to cut it, my friend, not when you can be first. >> one thing i know is that kids need jobs. obama care is clearly leading to job killing regulations, not job relating regulations. >> the fact president obama doesn't come to the reagan library to try to figure out how to create jobs, doesn't talk to any of these three governors to learn how to create jobs, doesn't talk to herman cane to learn how to create jobs, this president is so committed to class warfare and bureaucratic socialism he can't be effective in jobs. >> there's eight of us up here. i'm a physician.

you sure weren't going to ask me any medical question. i'd like to address that just a little bit. first off, you know, the governor of texas criticized the governor of massachusetts for romney care. he wrote a really fancy letter supporting hillary care. so we probably ought to ask him about that. >> i kind of feel like the pinata here at the party. >> joining us now, senior political analyst david gergen. cornell bullcher and erick ericks erickson. who came out on top on all this? >> romney and perry. it's a two-man race now. perry sctumbled. he wasn't comfortable with the format. mitt romney has been in this since 2007. i for the longest time hesitated saying he's the front-runner because the polls say so. clearly the pile on tonight by everyone else shows that they all perceive him as the

front-runner. i don't think they knocked him off tonight. he needs to get on the game better than tonight. >> cornell, governor perry said he felt like the pinata. were they effective will stemming him? >> perry referred to social security as a giant ponzi scheme and basically, you know, when given opportunity to say, well, dick cheney doesn't think it's a ponzi scheme, thinks it's an important program. he didn't back away from it. he went all in on the idea that social security has been bad from the beginning as a giant ponzi scheme which quite frankly, you know, it's just middle america doesn't think it's a ponzi scheme. i think when you talk about his electability, the romney camp can say, look, this guy is not electable with this sort of thinking that is outside american mainstream. i think that was a major

strumming block here. the other part i want to say about michele bachmann, i've been bullish about michele bachmann. she's had a really rough week with ed rollins and others pulling back. she didn't do anything. she did nothing tonight to sort of put herself back into the conversation with mitt romney and perry. i thought she would try to do that tonight. she failed at that this evening. >> i want to play what you heard about the -- from romney that cornell was just referencing. let's play that sound bite. >> i will make sure that we keep the program and we make it financially secure. we save social security and under no circumstances would i ever say by any measure it's a failure. it is working for millions of americans and i'll keep it working for millions of americans. we have to do that as a party. >> thank you, governor. governor perry, a 30 second rebuttal. governor romney said vice president cheney is right and you're wrong about ponzi scheme. >> well, here's, again, we're not trying to pick fights here.

>> understood. >> we're about fixing things. you can either have reasons or you can have results. and the american people expect us to put results in place. you cannot keep the status quo in place and not call anything other than a ponzi scheme. it is. that is what it is. americans know that. and regardless of what anyone says, oh, it's not and that's provocative language, maybe it's time to have some provocative language in this country and say things like "let's get america working again and do whatever it takes to make that happen." >> david, what did you think of rick perry in this debate? >> well, he certainly livened things up, didn't he, anderson? i thought that intellectually mitt romney got the better of him. he was more articulate on many occasions. but governor perry brings a muscularity to the debate that i think will appeal to an awful lot of voters. there's sort of a decisive quality about him that i don't think you see so much -- and he doesn't back down easily. i can certainly understand why

he appeals to a lot of voters and why this is going to be a very, very interesting race. i thought he was calm and confident for a candidate who hasn't debated in years. they appealed to different kind of voters. romney much more middle of the road tonight in that sense. but perry has that appeal. i also thought jon huntsman had his best debate tonight. he finally got some traction. >> i know erick, you wanted to talk about the ponzi scheme. >> i understand what cornell is saying. i think that works well in a general election but for a republican primary. for mitt romney to say that having millions of americans several generations dependent on the government for their retirement is definitionly a success. maybe that will work in a general elections but for a republican primary i think that hurts him. ultimately what this is about for me when i heard mitt romney say that, it was much more of an articulate answer than what rick perry gave, and probably a stronger point-by-point answer than what perry gave, but it also was an answer that place it too safe in a republican primary this year. mitt romney strikes me as a candidate for another season,

not for this season. >> that's interesting, cornell. do you think romney is playing too safe? >> no, i don't think he's playing too say. i think it's an interesting strategy he's going to try to make with the ponzi scheme is the strategy that, look, this guy is not electable. i agree with david, he uses strong rhetoric but not a lot of specifics. when there's a big six or seven people on the stage i think he can get away with a lot of that rhetoric and no specifics. as it shrinks down he's going to have to get better at specifics. which he didn't do this evening. >> david, it was interesting because romney clearly tried to define himself tonight as the job creator of the candidates. we've heard him say this a lot on the trail. let's listen to what he says tonight. >> the policies that will get us working again as a nation are policies i understand having worked in the private sector. if i'd spent my whole life in government i wouldn't be running for president right now. my experience having started enterprises, having helped other enterprises grow and thrive is what gives me the experience to put together a plan to help

restructure the basis of america's economic foundation so we can create jobs again, good jobs and compete with anyone in the world. this country has a bright future. our president doesn't understand how the economy works. i do because i've lived in it. >> i mean, do you think he made that case tonight well? do you think that holds up under scrutiny? because there are those who say, look, for years in campaigns back in massachusetts when he ran against kennedy he was hammered for some of the work he did for baine in private equity which actually ended up in people losing their jobs. >> i think for the purposes of the next few months, anderson, he's now put out his plan. i thought he was stronger tonight as a result of it. he put out an economic plan yesterday. it's quite lengthy. he's composed a very good group of counselors, economic counselors. i think he's going to be well served by. i think -- i have to give him credit for that. i think he's in better shape than he was a few months ago. but it's still true that perry can come after him and say,

look, i'm the governor. i'm running for an office where you have to help create jobs, provide an environment where jobs flourish. i've done that in texas. and perry's -- that's what makes him the sort of head on head. i think this thing's probably going to narrow down some. they're going to be going head on head. it's going to make a much more interesting race. >> erick, cornell mentioned michele bachmann saying he didn't think she did anything tonight. i'm going to play some of what she said. >> obama care is killing jobs. we know that from the nonpartisan congressional budget office. i know it firsthand from speaking to people. we see it this summer. there were 47% of african-american youth that are currently without jobs. 36% of hispanic youth. i'm a mom. i've raised five biological kids and 23 foster kids in my home. one thing i know is that kids need jobs. and obama care is clearly leading to job-killing regulations, not job-creating regulations.

>> erick, the problem she's had lately in dropping in the polls, is that a michele bachmann problem or a rick perry problem? >> both. michele bachmann has dropped in the polls some because this perception came of the gaffe prone michele bachmann or not doing what she should do on the campaign trail, michele bachmann, the prema donna images the press have put out there. largely it is a product of rick perry entering the race. she didn't start following with a lot of momentum going down until rick perry got into the race because republicans are mindful of her history. the last time someone went from the house of representatives to the white house was in the 1800s. it's very, very hard for someone who's just run in a congressional district to run a national campaign. i mean, perry for all intents and purposes has run in what could be a nation state. >> i want to come back and talk more after the break. before we do, one quick note, the tea party express are going to be hosting a republican party debate monday night in tampa, florida, at 8:00 p.m. eastern

time. erick, david, stick around. president obama says americans are getting tired of political game playing but is congress listening? how much bickering both parties are doing and how little it is getting done. will it stand in the way of a jobs package with 14 million americans out of work? we'll talk about that. and breaking news on the plan, itself. keeping them honest, next. [ bell tolls ]

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breaking news tonight. we're learning more about president obama's job creation plan. our sources say it is growing. now about $400 billion of payroll tax cuts, hiring and spending on infrastructure. all to be paid for with offsetting budget cuts. president obama is going to lay the plan out tomorrow night to a joint session of congress. safe to say he chose the location for more than just a good photo on op. trying to send a signal that if something has to be done about the economy congress has to be part of the solution. or get tagged as part of the problem. in other words, he wants people to know congress will have to pass his plan or pass some plan or else pay a political price. keeping them honest, though, can congress even agree on any plan at all? mr. obama seems skeptical. >> people are sick and tired of the nonsense and the political games. we can't afford to play games. put the partisan games aside. we're tired of the games. no more games.

we don't have time to play games. it's time for the games to stop. the time for washington games is over. >> most americans go even further. in a recent cnn/orc poll, debt ceiling disaster, 17% said lawmakers acted like responsible adults. 77% compared them to spoiled kids. talking about lawmakers who just months earlier couldn't agree on a budget pushing the country close to a government shutdown. then with that debacle he fresh in memory they did it again. one side created a debt limit showdown. both sides bickered over it until the grown-ups took action. why did s&p downgrade the united states credit rating today? >> i think there were two reasons. the first reason is the one that you've outlined being in our view of the political settings in the united states have been altered. we've taken them down a notch, taken the rating down a notch. the political brinkmanship we saw over raising the debt ceiling was something that was really beyond our expectation.

>> and within days the stock market tanked, consumer sentiment fell and hiring dried up. very real consequences for americans. and these lawmakers who after all represent americans who got hurt, they learned their lesson, right? no more game playing, no more political posturing, no sniping over trivial things when the fate of the country is at stake, right? >> frankly i'm so tired of his speeches it's going to be hard for me to watch. >> i'm going to be watching from my family room in metry, louisiana, because i have a saints game party there and i'm absolutely going to be there for the big game. >> he wants congress each and every member of congress to be a prop in that 30-minute theater. and i just don't want to be used like that. >> well, congressman joe walsh there, he can't even bring himself to be in the same room with president obama tomorrow night, nor can congressman paul brown. he'll be watching from his office. louisiana senator david vitter as you saw there on fox news will be a-wol watching the saints game. senator demint said he isn't going.

gop probably won't even be giving a televised response. in case you think the republicans have a lock on partisan or childishness, house minority leader, listen to what house minority leader pelosi said yesterday. "the republicans' refusel to respond to the president's proposal and jobs is not only disrespectful to him but to the american people." that's hardly the point. the point is nothing now is too trivial not to pick up and sling at the other side. the end result, nothing gets done. we did some checking. the current congress is on track to be the least productive on record. lawmakers only managing to pass 28 bills so far. 28 bills. the last three congresses with the house under both democratic and republican control doesn't matter, all averaged three times that number. nothing's getting done. nobody seems to like it. a new "wall street journal"/nbc poll puts the job approval rating for congress at 13%. 13%. not 30%, 13%.

1-3%. record low job approval. but vital job to do. back now with our panel, david gergen, cornell belcher, erick erickson. is there any way, david, the president can get any kind of jobs bill through congress? or is the atmosphere so poisoned right now that any plan is basically dead on arrival? >> you wonder, anderson, whether those 13%, what in the world are they seeing that they like? it's hard to know, isn't it? they just didn't get the word, i guess. look, anderson, i do think there is some prospect of getting a jobs bill through. i think that should be the name of the game tomorrow night and with the republicans. the republicans are paying a price in congress for all the shenanigans that went on before. their popularity, of course, is lower than the president's. so it's in their interest to do something. but i think it's up to the president to in effect invite them, challenge them if you'd like say, look, here are my ideas. come up in ten days with your ideas, let's sit down, let's see if we can't work this out. i think there is that possibility. i think that should be easier than getting the supercommittee

on the deficits to pass something. i think that's going to be a very, very tough set of negotiations. but on jobs i think there's a prospect of getting that done. >> cornell, it does seem like everybody place games. is it enough for the president to put a plan out there knowing it probably won't go anywhere? is that all about having something to beat republicans up with next year? >> no. that's about the president showing leadership in trying to move the country forward. i mean, the opposite of that would be for him what, not to put a jobs bill out there and not try to move the country forward? the other thing here i've got to push back on is in the press we try to play this equal sides. democrats and the republicans. it is not the democrats are not equally as blame to this. no one watching the congress over the last several months could possibly say that the democrats have been holding up progress. there's a reason why they're the least productive congress right now. over 240 days and this republican congress has not put forth one jobs plan. they are unproductive. >> erick, eric cantor just made

comments calling for more civilians in washington. is that just talk or are republicans willing to compromise? it does seem like it's still a dirty word. >> i love it when the democrats say the republicans are to blame. that they're not all equal. all politicians behave the same way regardless of party. independent voters know it if the republican and democrats don't. the republicans came out with their research with public poll today which shockingly shows the democrats blame the republics and the republicans blame the democrats. the independents, guess what, they blame everybody on both sides of the aisle. equal time for both of them. the stakes are so high right now for both side, though. and both sides feel that this election is going to be very high. it's very hard to get something done. they will get a compromise plan put through. my concern is that it's a plan that will look good for both sides but ultimately do nothing to create jobs. >> david, do you think both sides are to blame or do you blame republicans more? >> i think the debt ceiling fight was something the republicans brought on more than anybody else. they wanted the fight. and they paid a price for it. but i think the democrats have played plenty of games.

president played a game last week when he wanted to put the speech on wednesday night. threw it in the face of the republicans who were having this big debate tonight. so i do think the republicans are more responsible for the debt fight. but i want to come back to something erick said. i think this is a big, big question. will this jobs plan and will whatever they come up with as an agreement actually create jobs, or is it more about politics? and i think that's a hard question. too much of what's being proposed now, anderson, is really about sort of short-term things. little modest things on the edges. what's really needed, of course, is something much more fundamental to pave the way for a much better environment for growth in the future. and neither party, frankly, has yet tackling that. >> cornell, you would say that president obama wanted to do something big but wasn't able to. >> well, i would say, look, i'm trying to be fair here. but you got to point it out. here's my prediction is that the president will make his speech. and the tea party cohort will be

entrench themselves against it. in fact they've already entrenched themselves against it. the level of disrespect they're showing to the office of the presidency by not even showing up and going to football parties while the country is dealing with unemployment boggles the mind. but here's what my prediction is is that the tea party cohort of the republican party will, in fact, sort of say no, no, no to whatever the president does and will slow this process down once again. >> i got to leave it for time, david gergen, cornell belcher, erick erickson, thanks very much. will a man be held in aruba in connection with this missing woman be let out of jail? also it could be a major victory for american student amanda knox. she's fighting her murder conviction in italy. we'll tell you what happened in court today that could help her case. if you're considering a loan,

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crime and punishment tonight, the man being held in connection with the disappearance of american robyn gardner is staying behind bars. gary giordano was appealing the ruling that he could be held for 60 days. today the appeal was denied. he hand been charged with anything. his attorney says he's being detained improperly. he was questioned for the eighth time yesterday about his traveling partner robyn gardner last seen on august 2nd. martin savage joins us live from aruba with the latest. the court rejected his appeal, but does the prosecution actually have evidence linking him to robyn gardner's disappearance after all this time? >> reporter: you know what, that's a great question. and i'm afraid i don't really have a great answer. i mean, the feeling is right now by a lot of people who have been following this story is that they do not have a shred of real proof that will somehow link gary giordano to the death or

the crime of what happened to robyn gardner. that's what they're saying off hand. many people are saying, look how many times they keep asking the public for help, asking the people if they've seen something, if they have to report it, to tell them. we're a month into this investigation and they keep appealing to the public. that sends a signal to many that this case is really thin when it comes to the prosecution. >> abc news has some new details regarding that insurance policy that giordano took out on gardner. what are they saying now? >> reporter: well, what they've been pointing out is the fact that this insurance policy they claim was one that he originally took out on robyn gardner back earlier in the year. we know from talking to other traveling companions, other women who have gone on trips with gary giordano this was a common practice. he would take out insurance policies for both him and his traveling companion. so the fact that he took out a policy earlier for robyn gardner is not out of keeping with what had been his m.o. the only thing was she backed out on that trip at the last minute. that apparently really ticked

him off. and as a result he sent some pretty nasty texts and made some very threatening statements, that according to a roommate. in fact that's why the roommate was so surprised that robyn gardner a couple of months later is heading off to aruba with gary. >> you spoke to his attorney today. i want to play some of what he had to say to you. >> do you think the natalee holloway case influences the opinions? >> i think it has something to do with it. >> in what way? >> they haven't found natalie as yet, so i think this is an ongoing investigation. and they want to try to keep it handled for a long time here. >> do you think your client suffers as a result of the cloud of suspicion from that case previous? >> my personal feeling, yes. >> do you think his rights are violated? >> definitely. >> obviously, aruban law is very different than the u.s. law. he wouldn't be able to be held this law without some sort of charges being brought. do you think he has a point

there in terms of the natalee holloway case influencing this one? >> reporter: oh, yeah, a lot of people think he has a point with that. they think that may really be the real driving force here that's going on. and not to demean the legal system for aruba. but as we know that case with natalee holloway was never resolved. a lot of suspicion placed on the aruban authorities for not prosecuting it properly. maybe bungling the case. six years later, another american goes missing. this is a popular destination for american tourists. you don't want to turn them away. they do not want to look soft when it comes to figuring out what happened to robyn gardner. does gary giordano pay the price? his attorney says yes. >> martin savage, appreciate the reporting. thanks, martin. up next tonight, a major development in amanda knox's appeal. this case has been going on for four years now. today a judge sided with her defense team on a key issue, and her dad says prosecutors have no case left. going to talk with him coming up. also tonight, terror in the

dust with the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks just days away going to talk to dr. sanjay gupta tonight on his investigation into the dangerous dust at the world trade center site and its effect on all those brave rescue workers and first responders who worked there for so many months. ell rings ] hello there. i'm here to pick up helen. ah. mom? he's here. nice wheels. oh, thanks. keeps me young. hello there, handsome. your dinner's in the microwave, dear. ♪ where do you want to go? just drive. [ engine revs, tires screech ] mom? ♪

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more crime and punishment tonight. in italy, the murder case against american amanda knox may be unraveling. a judge today rejected the prosecution's request for new dna testing. a welcome victory for the former college student as she is fighting her conviction for

killing her british roommate meredith kercher. knox and her ex-boyfriend, rafael, were found guilty in 2009, two years after kercher's partially clad body was found dead in the house they shared in perugia. the dna evidence they used in the trial has been called into question. without the ability to retest, prosecutors are left with little tying knox to the crime. how was she convicted in the first place? that's really a good question to ask. critics say it was a badly handled investigation by a prosecutor who rushed to judgment. his name is guiliano mennini. earlier this year drew griffin of cnn special investigations unit traveled to perugia with a rare interview with minnini that revealed the weakness in his case and mistake and arrest of amanda knox's boss, though he was working at his bar the night of the murder. here's drew's report. >> reporter: police apparently didn't bother to check the facts

about lamumba. they immediately arrested amanda knox, rafael, and lamumba for the murder of meredith kercher. announcing to the public, case solved. the prosecutor admitted to us even without any evidence he knew almost the moment he arrived and laid eyes on amanda knox and rafael sollicito, they were involved in the murder. prior to the forensic investigation, prior to everything, really, your intuition or your detective knowledge led you to amanda knox and rafael? >> translator: after the first few weeks we were convinced because of the behavior of the two people and especially amanda that they were both involved in the crime. >> reporter: but almost immediately after the arrests, manini had a problem.

the third suspect, patrick lamumba had an airtight alibi. he was in his bar that night. he could not have been involved. then the actual forensic tests came back. >> when i looked at it, i was horrified. >> reporter: greg hampikian is a forensic biologist at boise state university and director of idaho's innocence project. he also is working with the knox defense team. he says italian investigators did a good job processing the crime scene, collected excellent evidence, but clung to shakier evidence that proved their theory. a classic error, a prosecutor who trusted his gut feeling instead of the science that at that time was pointing to another suspect. >> when the dna's finally processed, it's not any of their suspects. so what do you do? what would you do? you let them go. >> as patrick lamumba was being released from jail,

investigators analyzing the bloody evidence left at the crime scene found an entirely new suspect. his name? rudy guday, a known petty criminal from the ivory coast who fled to germany shortly after the murder. it turns out guday's handprint made in meredith kercher's own blood was found in the victim's room. his dna found inside the victim's body in her vagina. his dna on her clothing, on her purse. his feces even found on used toilet paper left near an unflushed toilet down the hall. >> knowing all of that, and when you finally got extradited from germany back down to italy, we thought thank god this is over. >> it wasn't. guiliano menini would stick to his instincts despite the forensic evidence.

>> translator: i did what i did because i was convinced given the evidence that had been gathered that they were responsible. i am absolutely convinced. >> rudy guday was convicted in the death of meredith kercher. he also fingered rafael sollecito and amanda knox as his accomplices. even though he never met sollecito and barely knew knox. closing arguments for the appeals case is going to be held at the end of this month. knox's family is very hopeful. knox is serving a 26-year sentence in that italian prison. after the judge's ruling today her father kurt knox said she will be home soon. i spoke to mr. knox who is in italy. so mr. knox, today's ruling that the prosecution cannot introduce new dna evidence against your daughter amanda, that's very good news for her, isn't it? >> well, actually the circumstances are such that they cannot ask for another independent review of the dna evidence. the court already appointed its

own independent experts. and they came back with the result that was not favorable to the prosecution. so i think what they were trying somewhat of a desperate move today to say, we want another dna review so that it can hopefully come back to our benefit. >> the thing i can't wrap my mind around, though, is if the dna evidence isn't credible how did things get to this point? why has this gone on so long? >> well, that's a question that i think a lot of people are going to be asking for some time to come. but when you take a look at the very first trial and the negative character assassination that amanda experienced and the media exposure and then from what we have heard associated to first trials here in italy, a lot of it is related to emotion. and when you look at the actual forensic evidence, when you take a look at what the police were saying which is literally 180 degrees different than what the

defense was saying about the forensic evidence, and not have an independent review during the first trial, you can see how the result came out as is. >> how do you -- how do you get through something like this as a family? i mean, this is -- you're many miles away. obviously you're in italy now. but your daughter was overseas. you were back in america. how do you get through like something like this? >> it's really been a team effort. it's one where amanda has been extraordinarily strong. and it's one that we as her family try to live up to what she's been able to accomplish and not drowning in despair in prison but trying to stay as upbeat as possible. but having your freedom taken away for four years for something that you haven't done is an incredible situation. and she's an incredibly young

lady. >> how is she doing now? is she optimistic that she's going to be exonerated? >> you know, today was definitely a very positive step in that direction. it's a circumstance where each day is a challenge in prison for her. but being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel i think is something that is going to continue to give her strength and hopefully carry her through the end of this month and hopefully on her way home. >> and do you see a light at the end of the tunnel here? >> i do from a pure case standpoint. when you take a look at the forensic evidence and you use just pure common sense of how horrific that scene must have been where in the room where meredith lost her life and to have nothing of your person, no spit, no saliva, no blood, no skin cells, no hair, when you take a look at the fact that there's nothing in the room of

amanda or rafael with the exception of what the police are saying are the two pieces of evidence which was the knife and the bra clasp. those are the only things that put amanda and rafael in the room. to have those quote shot down by the independent experts and saying they were potentially contaminated or you can't even read the dna reading there and it should have never even been used, it leads you down a path of saying what other answer can they come up with except acquitting the two of them? but until they actually say those words, we're kind of still holding our breath. >> curt knox, appreciate your time and my best to you and your family. >> thank you very much. coming up tonight ten years ago, first responders jumped into the the rubble of the world trade center searching for survivors, trying to recover those who didn't survive. tonight dr. sanjay gupta investigates the health effects of their heroics in his new documentary "terror in the dust".

a preview just ahead. dozens of wildfires continuing to rage tonight across texas. new fears of people trapped in one devastating blaze, as hundreds join the search for survivors. i'll have the latest from the front lines when we continue. [ man ] natural gas vehicles are used somewhere... but not in my neighborhood. ♪ [ female announcer ] we're throwing away misperceptions about natural gas vehicles. more of the vehicles that fuel our lives use clean american natural gas today. it costs about 40 percent less than gasoline,

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fluorescent light bulbs, noxious fumes from burning jets. exposure to these poisons like these has led to several health problems for many on the front lines. now our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is investigating the consequences of that toxic dust. his documentary "terror in the dust" premiers tonight on cnn. he joins us with a preview. you actually have brought with you dust from ground zero. where did you get it? >> there's been research going on for some time. a lot of this dust was collected at the time because there was some thought that what is in this dust? is this potentially toxic? and let's analyze it in some way. so this is it. i mean, and it is something that is kept in a cold room at a university. and they have analyzed it. just to your point, anderson, it has all kinds of things in it in strange mixtures. benzine mixed with titanium mixed with jet fuel, asbestos, all these things put together as they described it to me wholly unique. they'd never seen it quite like this all forced together. even this dust which i found striking is not the complete

attacks there was these volale compounds as well that people were breathing in the air. it was that acrid smell people talked about. but a lot of those things evaporated, they dissipated into the atmosphere and could not be collected like this dust. this is as complete a picture as we can get about what was getting into people's bodies at that time. >> last week or two weeks ago we reported on this lancet study that shows there is evidence of increased cancer amongst first responders, amongst firefighters who responded in the wake of ground zero. it's remarkable to me that their treatment is still not going to be paid for at this point. >> it's striking to me. and it's so controversial. we've seen examples of these sort of controversies entering into the world of medicine and health before. but what's so striking is that a lot of the doctors who were caring for these patients who have cancer are telling the patients, look, we believe this is due to the inhaling of toxic substances at ground zero. >> this would enter into someone's lungs, someone's mouth

and go down into -- >> it enters in the lungs. you can understand why respiratory disease is something that could happen. they also believe when it gets into the body it causes this inflammation in the body almost like an autoimmune process. that inflammation ultimately is the genesis of many different cancers. it gets into the lungs. people described it causing an incredible irritation in the airways as you see there. that's what they believe sets off potential autoimmune problems and cancers down the line. again it is striking that even in july of this year they said cancers are not covered under the bill. no compensation is provided. this study that you're talking about could potentially change that. >> you would think ten years on that that would be enough time to be able to gather enough evidence of the medical effects. >> what's interesting here is they did see an increase in cancer rates as you mentioned. but what they also say is that it has been such a short time that at the 15-year mark, the 20-year mark and so on that you may see a much higher increased risk of cancer than we even believed at the time. i think what is important here

and this comes up all the time is there are people right now who need care. but there are also people out there who probably should know that if this did cause an increase in cancer they should be getting screened, they should potentially try to find these problems early. because there's a lot of lives that can be saved and prolonged if the science becomes more clear. >> we should point out you're going to be returning obviously that jar of dust back to the researchers. >> yeah, this is considered, you know, it's sacred to some extent as well as scientific. absolutely it's going to be returned. this is something they wanted us to share because it is one of the few reminders of what happened on that day. >> sanjay, appreciate it. sanjay's special, the full investigation of the health fallout from 9/11 with never-before-seen footage of the aftermath in the disaster is in sanjay's documentary "terror in the dust" tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. let's check in with susan hendricks with stories we're following with the bulletin. susan? anderson, we're in texas today. an elite task force joined the search for people who maybe

trapped in the bastrop county wildfire. hundreds of homes wiped out in seconds. dozens of wildfires raged across texas nearly 300 days charring 20,000 acres in the last week alone. authorities in nevada say they don't know why a gunman opened fire at an ihop yesterday killing himself and four other people. his name? eduardo sencion. he's 32 years old. he shot 11 people in all. of those killed three were members of the army national guard. on wall street stocks rallied today breaking a three-day losing streak. the dow added 276 points to the s&p 500 and nasdaq also showed some gains as well. and check this out. it may be her most outrageous look yet. yes, that is lady gaga. she will appear in the october issue of "harper's bazaar" almost completely without any makeup. still she says she wouldn't call it natural, saying this "artifice is the new reality, anyway." she looks great. >> yeah.

cool. susan, thanks very much. coming up, a college freshman says his new shoes gave him blisters and he winds up in the ridiculist. you have to see this.

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♪ questions are the answer ♪ yeah ♪ oh tonight, time for the ridiculist. two shoe company, rainbow and sperry. a freshman at virginia technicals himself lance diamond. i don't think that's his name. that actually sounds like a porn name. but anyway. this freshman is upset at these shoe companies because they made flip-flops and slip-on shoes he's claiming completely ruined his first week of college. he explains the whole saga in a long rant he posted on youtube. >> there's no warning labels on the sperrys. apparently you have to break them in. so unbeknownst to me i wore them for the whole first day of class for eight hours. i got some serious damage to the bottom of my left and right foot. in the upper right.

here comes exhibit "a," my right foot. as you can see, there's a large blister. >> the video goes on for a full 6 1/2 minutes of that sort of stuff in which the freshman recounts in painstaking detail how not breaking in his shoes has ruined the college experience for him and he wants compensation. he used the word millions which might sound like a lot of money for getting blisters from brand-new shoes. before you judge, wait until you hear about his pain and suffering. he said his foot blisters have prevented him from becoming the quote/unquote frat star he wants to be. yeah, if there are two words i think of when i see this young man it's frat star. >> i can't even leave my dorm room. for the first two days i was confined to my room. i missed class. i was going to give blood, but i couldn't make it to give blood because of my damn feet. >> fear not, he ended up giving

blood. oh, yes, he did. mr. shoe company executives, the blood he gave was pooled in his shoes. thereby ruining a pair of socks which he seems to be more than just a little bit fond of. >> there's blood on my polo socks. now i don't know if you know po polo, but they feel like they make those [ bleep ] out of magical cotton. >> magical cotton. ralph lauren must be thrilled with this young man's endorsements. the shoe companies not so much. he's thinking about suing unless his demands are met. he wants his money back, he wants 15 free pairs of shoes, and like all people suing someone else he says he's doing it because he doesn't want anyone else to have to go through the hell he has gone through. >> i want a warning label on both pairs of shoes from now on signed with my signature at the bottom of it so they know i'm responsible for saving lives. >> oh, yeah, saving lives. you may have noticed by now our life-saving hero is looking kind of pale like maybe his blood sugar is low. he says the blisters make it hurt too much to go to the dining hall so he has to sit alone in his dorm room and eat dry ramen noodles. >> you may be asking, well, why

is he eating his ramen noodle dry? well, i can't even make it to the damn microwave down the hall because i'll get blood all over the floor because if i walk ten feet the blisters pop. >> first of all, finish chewing. second of all, point in case? i think it's case in point. i hope this kid is an english major so maybe he can learn to speak correctly. take his ramen noodles to the microwave for him? the roommate is long gone. >> my roommate left. you know why he left? because he doesn't like feet. all he had to look at all day was the gross blisters on my feet. he's a great guy, he's from kuwait. >> okay. a little too much information. i feel your pain, foot blister guy. i really do. look on the bright side. your feet will heal. even without leaving your dorm room you're already learning a lot in college. i think you're going to excel in economics, for instance. >> i paid $120 for these things. i could have gotten 120 mcchickens from mcdonald's.

i love mcchickens. 120 mcchickens, a stupid pair of flip-flops and spares. >> rainbow and sperrys, give the guy the millions already because i cannot stand to listen to this video any longer. he will never get those first few days of college back. he won't get his roommate back. who would want to look at his foot blisters all day? if you don't pay up, you might be subject to another blistering attack on the ridiculist or at least on this youtube channel. that's if for 360. thanks for watching. sanjay gupta's documentary "terror in the dust" is next.