breaking news this morning, chicago teachers hitting the picket line instead of the classroom. on strike for the first time in 25 years, we are live from the windy city. they're back. lawmakers are on capitol hill today as congress goes back in session. are they expected to accomplish anything? and she's the champ. serena williams wins her fourth u.s. open title beating the number one ranked player. today it is the men's turn. >> wow. look at her. >> so happy. good morning, welcome to "early start." i'm kristen romans in for zoraida. >> and i'm john berman.

it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. >> this is cnn breaking news. and we do begin with breaking news this morning. the nation's third largest public school system about to be shut down by a teacher strike. late last night labor talks between the chicago teachers union and school officials broke off. the walkout hits 400,000 students in nearly 700 schools. >> we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike. >> you know, this is not a small commitment we're making at a time when our fiscal responsibility, our fiscal situation is really challenged. >> caisson whiens live from outside the chicago school altgelt. they haven't been hit in 25 years so what can we expect? >> i think initially what we can expect is confusion and parents

scrambling to try to figure out what to do with their children, especially working parents. the school behind me is 1 of 144 where parents can drop off children if they don't have alternative child care arrangements but there will be no teaching going on here. also, it will only be open for four hours, 12:30 they'll have to make alternative arrangements for their kids. also teachers are going to be out on the picket line. that's what they're promising at all their schools so we'll have to see whether parents are willing to allow their kids to cross those picket lines that are being set up. we can also i think expect today a fair amount of anger and frustration and some of that was expressed by chicago mayor rahm emanuel yesterday. >> i am disappointed that we have come to this point given that even all the other parties acknowledged how close we are, because this is a strike of choice. and because of how close we are it is a strike that is

unnecessary and i believe that the parties at hand should do what they need to do to do right by our children. >> reporter: as for what else we can expect, we don't know if any new negotiations are actually scheduled. they talked about it last night at a news conference announcing the strike that the teachers union did. they said they expected negotiations but nothing is firm. clearly, though, the school district saying that they've moved about as far as they can move on salary offering a raise somewhere in the neighborhood of 16% over four years for the average teacher, john. >> this is going to be so tough on parents. what's the holdup? just about the salary? >> the teachers' union says it's not about the salary. the main issues how these schools are run and concerned about that and mayor emanuel made changes to that extending the school day. teachers want more say in that. they also are concerned about how teachers are being evaluated

clearly a job security issue for them. so those are the main issues. the district is saying we've got to save money during these tough budget times and they've offered about as much as they can offer. >> quickly, casey, how much does a teacher make in chicago about? >> reporter: about $76,000 a year, the average teacher. what angers them so much, though, is that last year, they were supposed to receive a 4% raise and that was cancelled. >> all right, casey whiens following this breaking news. a teacher strike in chicago. after a five-week break congress returns to work for an abbreviated pre-election session and lawmakers are expected to take a pass on the big issue, though, tax cut, defense hikes and probably focus on the bare minimum preventing a full-on government shutdown. a live report from washington in about five minutes. >> the white house says president obama's thoughts and prayers are with the family of a florida police officer who died in a crash during i presidential motorcade. upter police officer bruce saint

laurent was killed when a pickup truck hit his motorcycle. it is being investigated as vehicular homicide. new campaign fund-raising numbers out for the president. his campaign says it raised more than mitt romney in the month of august with a total of $114 million to romney's 111 million. on the campaign trail in florida sunday president obama told supporters his opponents are not very good when it comes to crunching numbers. >> they couldn't answer questions about how they pay for $5 trillion in new tax cuts and $2 trillion in new defense spending without raising taxes on the middle class. that's not bold leadership. >> the latest tracking poll shows a post-convention bounce. the president leading mitt romney 49% to 44%. that's up from just 1 percentage point before democratic national convention. republican presidential nominee mitt romney campaigns in ohio today in an interview on

nbc's "meet the press" he said he's not getting rid of all of health care reform. he added there's many things he likes about it. later his spokesman did clarify saying romney intends to repeal so-called obama care and do his own version. romney also talked about defense cuts telling nbc it was a mistake for leaders in his own party to follow the president's lead. >> i thought it was a mistake on the part of the white house to propose it. i think it was a mistake for republicans to go along with it. >> paul ryan, by the way, mitt romney's running mate was one of the republican congressmen that voted for it and maintains defense spending level at the current level of gdp. >> storms blew through over the weekend and tropical storm leslie is still on the move after brushing past bermuda. let's get straight to rob marciano to start the week. good morning. >> yeah, the waves are pounding the east coast and will be for the next couple of days. not only leslie but hurricane

michael. michael has been the stronger storm all along but much smaller in the middle of the atlantic. winds of 80 miles an hour but leslie now a tropical storm and just kind of hit bermuda with tropical storm-force winds and rainfall about 4 to 5 inches so not a direct hit there. that's the good news but still a large storm, the swells will continue to roll on the eastern seaboard so be careful out there if you have -- lucky enough to have a long weekend this. is where it's going, that includes the marry types of canada, newfoundland 700 miles away from newfoundland, canada, heading that direction. tuesday in the afternoon looks like it will be there with at least tropical storm-force winds, potentially hurricane-force winds because it is really picking up steam. speaking of jet stream we're pouring in -- not cooler but certainly drier air. you mentioned the tornadoes and severe weather across the northeast on saturday. all that tropical air that was stuck in place from isaac has been moved offshore and where the eastern two-thirds gorgeous

stuff, lows across florida and moisture across the desert and southern california. temperatures will be a little above average in minneapolis, 84, not exactly football weather but 78 in chicago and 73 degrees in new york city. paid the price a little bit on saturday, guy, but beautiful stuff the last couple of days in the big apple. enjai. >> really was nice, thanks, rob. >> it was gorgeous and it was football weather here. >> it was awesome. >> more news now. the retired navy s.e.a.l. who wrote the best-selling book about the role he played in killing osama bin laden is speaking out to set the record straight. he wrote by the name of mark owen and tells "60 minutes" there was nothing political about the book and insists the pentagon is off base about accusations he compromised national security by writing it. >> i've had nothing but an outpouring of guys that support me. one quoted it saying if anybody can take the story, they know you can. i'm not talking secrets.

i'm not talking tactics. i don't even get into any of that stuff but i really try to give the reader a sense of what it's like to be there. >> bissonette also discussed the moment he pulled the trigger and repeatedly shot osama bin laden. that part of the interview in the next hour of "early start." serena williams pushed to the limit on her way to a fourth u.s. open title. serena rallied to force a third set tie breaker and beat top ranked victoria azarenka. that was last night in new york. she became the first 30 something woman to win a grand slam since 1987 and it's her 15th grand slam title overall. novak djokovic versus andy murray in their final. >> serena so good. great end of the summer, wins the olympic gold medal and loves every minute of it. i love watching her play. nine minutes past the hour and he is a pipes-sized hero. a 12-year-old boy drives his family's car to safety after his

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welcome back to "early start" this morning. it's about 13 minutes after the hour. i'm christine romans in for zoraida today. >> i'm john berman. so nice to see you. congress is going back to work for an abbreviated pre-election session. lawmakers expected to take a pass on the big issues, though, those include taxes and spending cuts. their main focus probably on the bare minimum preventing a full-on government shutdown late they are month. also we're expecting illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. to return to the hill for the first time since may after he checked out of the mayo clinic where he was treated for depression. athena jones is following it. >> reporter: good morning, john. as you mentioned, it's not that surprising to hear that the members of congress might end up taking a pass on some of the big issues. that's what's been going on for

the past several months. as you mentioned they're likely to -- we're all expecting them to pass a continuing resolution. a short-term measure to fund the government. they've got to do that by the end of this month. it's got to get to the president's desk in order to keep everything running and avoid a shutdown. the house is expected to vote on that bill on thursday and we're told the senate should get to it next week. and really that's about the only must pass bit of legislation. everything else is things they may do or could do. things like reconcile the two bills in the house and senate to pass a farm bill, ach a deal on that. maybe some assistance for people affected by the drought or by hurricane isaac. but really it's hard to know what's really going to happen and that may be why we've seen the low approval numbers for congress. let's put up those numbers. the latest nbc news "wall street kwurnl" poll puts approve, 12%,

disapproval, 82% and there's been so much haggling and division and not a lot of getting things done. >> i don't know how you call it an approval rating at 12%. what are the chances they will reach a deal on some of these big issues like the debt deal before the end of this year? is there any chance? >> reporter: well, that's really the big question. i mean this whole idea of this fiscal cliff, this combination of tax increases or really the end of certain tax cuts and also spending cuts, talking about $55 billion in cuts to defense, just next year alone. defense programs and $55 billion in cuts to nondefense programs, everything from education to food inspections, our own cnn money's jean summed up how businesses are looking at this as they go forward. let's listen. >> businesses are slow to hire. government agencies are slower to give out contracts so it is creeping into the economy and

will get worst longer congress waits to deal with it. >> and talking about the uncertainty surrounding the fiscal cliff issue is anybody's guess what's going to happen. not a lot of people are willing to go out on a limb to say it's going to be figured out because the divisions are still strong and still remain. >> athena working harder than congress why your approval ratings are up and i'm getting higher. thanks so much. >> thanks. for the first time in 25 years chicago teach remembers on strike, contract talks broke down, broke down late last night, no deal. 30,000 teachers and aides in the nation's third largest public school system are set to walk picket lines this morning. this strike will affect 400,000 students in nearly 700 schools and parents have a lot of figuring out to do this morning in chicago. doubly lucky two survive a small plane crash and get plucked to safety by a coast guard safety a mile off the central california coast. the coast guard says the plane's

gps was key to getting rescuers to the scene very quickly yesterday. millions lose power in cuba including all of havana affecting more than 2 million in the capital city alone. cuba has an aging power grid so outages are not that unprecedented. a massive outage on this scale is very rare. so far no official explanation for this outage. >> defense secretary leon panetta visits flight 93 memorial in southwestern pennsylvania today. the nation marks 11 years since the attacks of 9/11 tomorrow. so far there's only memorial plaza and wall of names. work on the next two phases begins next years including a walkway and a 93-foot tower at the entrance with 40 wind chimes. we are all now feeling the effects of hurricane isaac and feeling it at the pump. right now aaa says the national price for a gallon of unleaded is $3.82. gas prices have risen close to 8

cents per gallon in the last two weeks since isaac shut down refineries along the gulf coast. okay, file this under what was he thinking. police in new york city removing a menagerie of exotic pets from a public housing project in brooklyn. he had been keeping 13 dangerous pets including two bearded dragon reptile, a tarantula, two alligators, a bow ya constrictor and five pythons. his neighbors are very, very pleased. it is 18 minutes after the hour and we are getting an early read on your local news making national headlines and we begin with an article in "the anchorage daily news." >> school officials are threating to parents of opportunity students face criminal charges. first and second graders are being targeted because administers find most high school dropouts start habits early on. parents who missed more than 40 days without legitimate reasons such as an illness could face up to a year in prison and a $10,000 fine.

>> 40 days seems like an awful lot. >> first and second graders. yeah, 40 days is a lot but i mean there's something else going on there if you're missing that much school. >> we get news in "the boston herald" a 12-year-old being called a hero. he took the wheel after his father apparently had a she eiz on i-95 in peabody. >> i turned the key off and i tried to put it into park. i took his phone out of his pocket and called 911. >> patrick also got his 9-year-old special needs sister out of the car and behind a guardrail for safety. patrick's mother said he previously seen his father have similar medical issues and talked about what to do if something like this happened on the road. >> i think it's cool the mother already talked to him about what to do. >> smart parenting. >> an expanded look, head to our

blog, cnn.com/earlystart. jobs report dismal. what are the candidates going to do to get people back to work? we'll break down for you how each of these men thinks they can create jobs. this happy couple used capital one venture miles for their "destination wedding." double miles you can "actually" use. but with those single mile travel cards... [ bridesmaid ] blacked out... but i'm a bridesmaid. oh! "x" marks the spot she'll never sit. but i bought a dress! a toast... ...to the capital one venture card. fly any airline, any flight, anytime. double miles you can actually use. what a coincidence? what's in your wallet? [ all screaming ] watch the elbows ladies. 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle -- wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time.

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just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. i just finished a bowl of your new light chicken pot pie soup and it's so rich and creamy... is it really 100 calories? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. ntgomery and mmm abigail higgins had... you. ...a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit. which provided for their every financial need. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last.

but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. we're minding your business going in-depth on the economy and the race for the white house. and after that disappointing jobs report friday, just 96,000

jobs added, more than triple that dropping out of the workforce. christine has been looking deeper at what each candidate will do to jump-start hiring? >> who is going to fix it and what is his philosophy. two different ones. here's what romney and obama claim they will do to create jobs. let's start with romney. first of all he wants to overhaul the tax code by cutting marginal tax rates 10% across the board. he says people will have more money in their pockets to buy things, in turn, more jobs will be created to meet the demand for goods and services. romney also claims regulations cost private businesses about $1.75 trillion a year so he plans to repeal obama care and dodd frank financial reform on day one and plans to reform the regulatory system to benefit the society with business. he plans to inject confidence into the long-term business environment but capping federal spending means hundreds of thousands of fewer government jobs at the federal state and

local levels. now let's look at president obama's plan, to create jobs in manufacturing and green energy through both tax incentives and investments and wants more spending on infrastructure. he signed more than $100 billion infrastructure bill in july and mostly extends programs through 2014 and wants support for local government jobs and proposed spending 35 billion for school, police, fire department payrolls, another 130 billion to shore up state budgets. that was the failed jobs plan last year. much of his proposals are already in the works being pushed by the current administration. we haven't found new job proposals as part of the obama re-election campaign. they're mostly just pushing on these things that have been stopped in congress. next hour we'll look at mitt romney's claim, john, that he can create $12 million jobs in four years if elected. can that be done? i'll do that at 6:20. >> romney says he'll balance the budget and now he'll do it by the end of his second term if elected so if he is able to do it a long ways. >> that means lots and lots of

job cuts because that means less government spending. how do you create jobs? if you get the government out of the way it means killing jobs in the near term. >> tough jobs -- it's a tough sell, tough choices which no one likes to talk about. if you have a personal story you'd like to share, visit our assignment page and let us know are you better off. a florida surfer attacked by the shark and the shark leaves something behind, a surprising discovery next. if you're leaving the house right now watch us any time on your desktop or mobile phone, go to cnn.com/tv. but no way it's 8, right? no way, right? lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one. oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here.

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we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike. >> breaking news, the nation's third largest school system goes on strike. 30,000 chicago teachers and aides hit the picket line today. we're live outside one of the city schools. >> after an 11-year battle, the government may be ready to recoize that people who sifted through the toxic rubble at ground zero got cancer from it. hey. >> president obama gets a lift, the big bear hug while shifting a pizza shop just ahead. that sound you heard secret service heartbeats stopping all across america. welcome back to "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans in for zoraida. it's almost 31 minutes past the hour. breaking news to start with. chicago's public school teachers preparing to hit picket lines, the first time in 25 years

teachers in the nation's third largest public school system have gone on strike. labor talks broke off late last night and this will affects, folks, 400,000 students in nearly 700 schools not to mention all of their parents who are scrambling this morning. casey whie wian live from chica. apparently this wasn't enough. >> reporter: you know, christine that's right. over the weekend it sure appeared that negotiations were being very productive. both sides saying they were making progress towards a contract and it seemed as if they might be able to avert this strike but late last night, the teachers union came out and said the deal was not good enough and that their members would be walking off the job this morning. now, here's the offer the latest offer that the school district has put forth. it's a raise of they say 16% for the average teacher over the four-year length of the contract. it would be 3% the first year, 2% each of the next three years. a lot of folks have remarked

that in these economic times that's a pretty good financial deal. teachers union saying that's not the main sticking point. a little background on this. 4% raise. these teachers were supposed to get last year was canceled by city officials. when these negotiations started eight months ago, the teachers were asking for a 30% raise. >> i would point out that this financial package over the next four years will cost the system somewhere in the vicinity of $400 million over the four years. i would also point out that the average teacher will get another 16% raise over that four-year period. i mean this is not a small commitment we're making at a time when our fiscal responsibility, our fiscal situation is really challenged. >> right now what we have is work that is extremely difficult and what we see as a lack of

support throughout and a demonizing of a population of people that all of a sudden teachers are bad guys everywhere you look. >> teachers union trying to persuade people that they are, in fact, not bad guys, that they're look out for the students. they say that the main issues that remain are the issue of how these schools are conducted, the types of classes offered to the students, also how teachers are evaluated. they're very concerned about standardized testing and the pressure of so-called to teach to the test and they're concerned as most are about health benefits. those remain the sticking points and negotiations were expected to begin later today. >> how teachers are evaluated something the obama administration has been for that, you know, pay for performance, evaluating teachers. what arrangements are being made for children of working parents this morning? >> reporter: well, the school right behind me, i don't know if you can see it, 1 of 144 schools

throughout the city, they'll be open for four hours as sort of a backup child care. there's not going to be any teaching going on but for working parents with no other place to send their children this, is one option but it's a very incomplete one, christine. >> i'll say. casey wian, thanks, casey. political news, vice president joe biden is challenging mitt romney to offer specifics about his plan to lower taxes and balance the budget by closing loopholes for the rich. romney appeared on "meet the press." listen to his answer when asked for details about his plan. it did not take long for the vice president to pounce afterwards. >> give me an example of a loophole you will close. >> i can tell you people at the high end, high income taxpayers are going to have fewer and exceptions. >> they don't tell you that their plan would immediately cut benefits for 30 million seniors in wellness visits, in prescription drugs, it would cut benefits immediately.

>> now, biden claims with romney in the white house, the typical 65-year-old american would wind up paying $11,000 more in out-of-pocket medicare costs over the rest of his or her lifetime. biden's opponent paul ryan will raise money in seattle, washington and portland, oregon. on the sunday talk show circuit he tried to explain how the government could raise more revenue while giving everyone tax cuts. >> we want to have a debate out in front, work with congress, work with the public to find out what are the priorities we want to have in the tax system and what the numbers do show and what studies back us up is that we can lower tax rates by plugging loopholes and still maintain special preferences for middle class taxpayers, not for higher income taxpayers. >> on the campaign trail sunday president obama called the explanation bat math. with the nation set to mark 11 years since the 9/11 attacks, the federal government finally appears ready to recognize rescue workers and residents near ground zero got cancer from

the toxic rubble. the national institute for occupational safety and health, those responsible for deciding whether cancer should be one of the illnesses compensated by the 9/11 act. they're expected to announce their findings as early as today. a christian pastor once sentenced to death in iran is now reunited with his wife and two sons. pastor nad ee eer chani convert christianity and a trial court convicted him on a lesser charge. evangelizing muslims and released him. a florida surfer comfortablcomfortable and considers himself lucky. he lived to tell. >> surfing 30 years and now you never expect to get bitten by a shark. >> it was vicious and intense and the pressure was extreme and felt like someone hitting you

with a sledgehammer. >> he says the shark left a memento behind, a tooth. it was removed and sent away for testing but birchal says he wants it back as a keepsake. football is back. thank goodness and so is peyton manning. manning paying playing his first regular season game after four neck surgeries looked pretty good and threw for 253 yards and 2 touchdowns in a 31-19 win over the steelers. there's one of the grabs right there. first sunday of the nfl season saw the longest field goal in nfl history, a tie bouncing off the uprights. david acres clunked it off the crossbar through the uprights from 63 yards. 63 yards! that's really far. it ties an nfl record. it happened at lambeau field on a way to a win over the packers. good for the 49ers. shannon eastin made nfl history, the line judge in the rams/lions

game, first female official. one of the replacement officials while regular officials are locked out. you can see her there. she tucked her ponytail under the cap after the national anthem and went to work. the biggest football news, the patriots over the titan, big news, we are so glad football is back. back to politics now. the money race. it's on and president obama announcing overnight a huge cash grab. mitt romney may not like it. a live report coming up next. ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] at&t. the nation's largest 4g network. covering 2,000 more 4g cities and towns than verizon. at&t. rethink possible.

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welcome back to "early start" this monday morning. 41 past the hour. i'm christine romans in for zoraida. >> i'm john berman. breaking news. new numbers out show president obama ahead of mitt romney in both polls and fund-raising. at least a little bit of a snapshot. with the incumbent taking in $114 million in campaign dough

nations in august. he edged out mitt romney for the first time in a few months. the president is seeing a slight post-convention bump in the polls. sunday's gallop daily tracking poll shows his biggest margin over romney since july, 49% of voters prefer obama and 44% prefer romney. before the convention he held a o one-point lead. for all the latest i am joined by peter who is in richmond. peter, the obama campaign put out numbers overnight. we are waking up to this, $114 million, first month in several they've edged out the romney team. >> yeah, and notably they put it out just minutes after the romney campaign put out their fund-raising numbers overnight to kind of tweak the romney campaign. you're right. it's been since the spring since the obama campaign and democratic national committee combined have outraised the romney campaign and rnc. these are august numbers that don't include any money raised during the convention last week

that had been fully in september. so a good fund raising total for the obama campaign but, remember, the romney campaign has basically been sitting on money months and months until romney formally accepted the nomination in tampa so the romney campaign is unleashing a lot of that money in tv ads and swing states and don't forget outside groups, we have to remember, are going to outspend the obama campaign. here in richmond, one of the top ten battleground tv market, you saw ads for americans for prosperity and ads for american crossroads in addition to ads for the obama campaign and romney campaign so good fund raising numbers for obama but, remember, the expectation is they'll be outspent across the country this fall, john. >> peter, woo he applaud you for your research watching football over the weekend only so you could see the campaign ads. exleapt work right there. >> that's the only reason why. >> the obama team has a little bit of a post-convention bounce and do seem to be picking up on

some of the rhetoric we heard from bill clinton talking about the republican party's math. president obama almost seems to be internalizing the clintonian language. >> the rhetoric has sharpened in the last couple of days. any doubt the fall race kicked into high gear after the conventions, take a look at what presidents' d president obama had to sayid. >> their plan boils down to tax cut, tax cuts, gut a few regulations and then some more tax cuts. tax cuts when times are good, tax cuts when times are bad, tax cuts when we got a surplus, tax cuts when we have a deficit. tax cuts to help you lose a few pounds. tax cuts to improve your love life. whatever is wrong with you, they think tax cuts especially for folks at the top will cure all

ills. >> obama's been saying a lot of that sort of thing the last couple of day, john. he really seems to have a little bounce in his step after the convention and maybe you're right. maybe bill clinton kind of kicked him in the butt and said, hey, really connect with people on the issue. >> bill clinton will be campaigning in florida himself later this week which is interesting. a two-day tour. we did hear some different language from mitt romney yesterday. really interesting language which seemed to show so tom people at least some shift in where he's trying to position himself. >> that's right. on the issue of health care reform which has been sort of meddlesome for him he passed in massachusetts and obama care listen to what he had to say on "meet the press," his first appearance there for three years about obama's health care plan. >> i'm not getting rid of all of health care reform, of course, there are a number of things i like in health care reform i'll

put in place, one to make sure those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage, two, assure that the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like. i also want individuals to be able to buy insurance, health insurance on their own as opposed to only being able to get it on a tax advantage basis through their company. >> so sounds like romney is taking a bit of a centrist tone there on health care saying he'd keep some of the provisions that obama had and the romney campaign later explained that it would only apply to people who already had coverage and wouldn't kick those people off the rolls, sort of trying to massage and walk back a little those statements because you can can be sure conservatives are not too thrilled romney saying nice things about obama care and needs base vote attorneys show up for him. >> peter hamby checking out key swing state politics and

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welcome back to "early start." it is 50 minutes after the hour right now. i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans in for zoraida. chicago teachers preparing to picket. labor talks broke down last night. teachers in the nation's third largest public school system rejected a four-year contract offer and decided to strike instead. this walkout affects 400,000 students in nearly 700 schools and their parent, quite frankly, it's the first teacher's strike in chicago in 25 years. >> they're one of the topics on the campaign trail for president obama. he was busy in florida giving four speeches at the convention

center and told supporters of the need for more educators for america's children. >> so i need you to help me. recruit 100,000 new math and science teachers, improve early childhood education. >> the president has no public schedule set for today. >> the east coast cleaning up this morning after storms and tornadoes knocked out power over the weekend and tropical storm leslie is still on the move after brushing past bermuda. let's start our monday morning with rob marciano. hey, rob. >> good morning again, christine. a rough saturday for a lot of folks but this weekend ended well. westerly movement of michael. the stronger storm of the two over the weekend. leslie, which impacted bermuda with some winds and waves and certainly some rain is now pulling off into the atlantic, but will be making a run at newfoundland. those waves interest that continue to impact the east coast. if you're lucky enough to extend your weekend look for rip

currents and also some big waves again across the northeastern coastline. cape cod, maine, those areas. newfoundland, this storm 800 miles to the south of you picking up steam in the next 24 hours and should be making its way and make landfall across newfoundland tomorrow afternoon. so with that increase in speed, that means that the winds will also increase on the right side of the system and could see hurricane-force winds impacting parts of newfoundland. meanwhile, the moisture from isaac that had us in that soupy stuff all week last week pushed offshore. gorgeous fall stuff. not cool, temperatures are a few degrees above average but certainly drier weather and maybe too dry across the northern tier. a fire threat with red flag warnings with gusty winds and the number of large fires burning there and meanwhile, moisture across the desert southwest including las vegas. 80 degrees expected in kansas city, 82 in atlanta.

that's nice. low levels of humidity more importantly and 7 of degree6 de the big apple. >> we'll take it. our report on the fast and furious gun trafficking scandal will point a finger at arizona atf officials, what two senior officials are saying. the report co-incides with the inspector general's testimony before a house committee. mexican authorities arrested a man in connection with the 2010 killing of u.s. border patrol agent brian terry whose death led u.s. lawmakers to investigate this whole operation. venezuela has now dropped arms trafficking charges against the crew of a u.s. flight cargo ship that's been detained for two weeks. "the ocean atlas" could set sail as early today. rifles found on board is what caused the accident. a brutal weekend at the box office. >> do not fear the dead of

night. the spirit is taker. >> no. >> "the possession" topping charts with $9.5 million. the top 12 films in the country grossed $51.9 million. this weekend, the worst box office performance in four years. >> so forget the movie, turn on the news. turn on cnn now. stay with us. why? because we have a jam-packed hour ahead on "early start." we are staying on top of the breaking news out of chicago as teachers go on strike this morning. casey wian will have a live report outside an elementary school top of the hour. huge news for kids and parents. the other top story, congress goes back to school today. back in session, fresh off a five-week vacation, man, did they need it, they've been working so hard. will they accomplish anything this time? athena jones is live from washington. and remember him. clint eastwood of his moment

talking to an invisible chair. one man, paul miller from the pine comb talked exclusively to him about the episode and this morning we are talking to him. all right. now, get this, he is not just a hero on the screen, actor christian bale comes to the aid of one of his biggest fans, a great story and we will have the picture just ahead if you do not stay with us, you will regret it forever. >> all right. coming up, president obama gets a bice on the campaign trail and a boost by a big fan. the bear hug that's going viral. that's next.

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good morning. welcome back at 59 minutes after the hour i'm here with john berman looking at what's trending on the web. >> what is trend something an amazing picture. president obama is getting a lift on the campaign trail literally from the broad shouldered power lifting voter. the owner of a pizza shop in florida was so excited to meet the president that he gave him a bear hug. it really must have made the secret service agents sweat. you have to check this out. >> i didn't see. >> look at that. >> seriously the secret service watching, what are you thinking? the owner scott van duzer stands 6'3" weighing 260 pounds and like the rest of us he is able to bench press 350 pounds. >> or 1 1/2 presidents. >> morgan freeman's condition has been upgraded to alive. yes, the ator is the victim of an internet death hoax.

tens of thousands flocked to the page sending it woulds. his rep telling us he is alive and well. >> i victimized by this hoax. >> i don't get the joke. >> breaking news out of chicago this morning. thousands of teachers, thousands of them go on strike today. >> "early start" continues right now. breaking news overnight. chicago teachers go on strike. 26,000 of them hit the pickate line after failing to reach a contract. a live report in moments. they're back to work at least. congress back in session today. a look at what they're supposed to tackle just ahead. >> p. did you recognize him? >> no. you know, everybody thinks it was like, you know it's him. no. to us at that time, it could have been anybody. >> and he's got loose lips. the former navy s.e.a.l. who wrote about the raid that killed osama bin laden gives inside

details into that unforgettable day. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to "early start," i'm christine romans sitting in for zoraida this morning. >> and i'm john berman. so glad you're with us. it is 6:00 a.m. in the east. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> and up first, there is breaking news this morning. chicago's public school system, the third largest in the nation, about to be shut down by a teacher strike. late last night labor talks between the chicago teachers union and school officials, they collapsed. the walkout this morning hits 400,000 students and nearly 700 schools. >> we have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike. >> you know, this is not a small commitment we're making at a time when our fiscal responsibility, our fiscal situation is really challenged. >> casey wian is live in chicago and casey, you know, it's been 25 years since the last big

teacher strike in chicago. what exactly is the union after this morning? >> what they say they are after, john, is better working conditions, better conditions at the schools, for the students more variety of classes, less so-called teaching to the test. they also say they are after more job security. they're not happy with the way teachers are being evaluated, and they want, like a lot of people want, better health care benefits. what's interesting is negotiations continued all weekend long and it certainly appears that the two sides were becoming very, very close and a lot of folks were thinking that this strike would be averted. in fact, the teachers union has said that they're not that far apart on salary issues. over the four-year term of the proposed contract, the last offer from the school district, the average teacher would receive a 16% raise. so that's not the issue. it's the other issues. still, a lot of folks say that this strike is unnecessary. one of those people is chicago mayor rahm emanuel.

>> i am disappointed that we have come to this point, given that even all the parties acknowledge how close we are. because this is a strike of choice. and because of how close we are it is a strike that sun necessary. and i believe that the parties at hand should do what they need to do to do right by our children. >> now, a tense situation could develop here later this morning, because this is one of 144 schools in the city of chicago that is being set up as sort of a temporary place where working parents can drop their children, at least for four hours in the morning, if they have no other child care arrangement. but at the same time, teachers are supposed to be picketing at their school. so it will be interesting to see whether parents are actually willing to allow their children to cross what we're anticipating could be picket lines later this morning. >> what does an average chicago teacher make? just give us a reminder here? >> average teacher makes $76,000

a year. what is sort of a sticking point with them is that last year, because of the budget situation in chicago, a 4% raise that they were supposed to receive was canceled. so, that was one of the reasons why they started out these negotiations asking for a 30% raise over the four-year life of the next contract, john. >> casey wian live in chicago this morning where there is the breaking news, teacher strike set to begin in hours. congress back to work today for an abbreviated pre-election session. lawmakers are expected to take a pass, though, on the big issues, taxes, spending cuts. their main focus will probably be the very bare minimum, preventing a full-on government shutdown later this month. also we're expecting illinois congressman jesse jackson jr. to return to the hill for the first time since may, after he checked out of the mayo clinic where he was treated for depression. we're relieved, way back to

work, taxpayer funded paycheck. what's on tap today? >> they're all getting back to work. we'll see what they actually get done, christine. as you mentioned the only must-have bit of legislation is the short-term funding measure to fund the government. that has to get to the president's desk by the end of this month. we're told the house expects to vote on that bill on thursday and that t senate will get to it next week. beyond -- that's really the only thing we can say with nearly almost certainty is going to get done. everything else is a big question mark. among the long list of other bills in the works, what is a farm bill that could get passed. if the senate and the house can't reconcile their two different versions of that bill, we could see things like disaster aid, assistance to people affected by the drought, and by hurricane isaac, we could see that kind of aid attached to that spending measure. but really it's anybody's guess how much anything else will get done. >> i know each of these issues is so sticky. the farm bill alone, it's called the farm bill. but 80% of it is food stamps and

that's a super political issue right now as well. so the farm bill or the food stamps bill, depending how you look at it. what are the chances of reaching a deal on the deficit before the end of the year? >> that's the bigger question as you know. we're talking about a series of spending cuts and tax increases that people are calling the fiscal cliff. the congressional budget office says that all of this kicks in together, taken together, it could plunge the economy back into recession. this is $110 billion in cuts next year alone, and so it's a really big deal. a lot of uncertainty for business investors. and it's unclear, because the divisions are great, for instance, over the bush tax cuts. whether they should be extended for everyone. who knows what's really going to happen. it seems one of those scenarios that they'll end up passing some sort of short-term deal. but that might not even happen until after the new ar. so they're going to have to retro actively undo some of these cuts. >> so americans find themselves in a position where congress has to fix the problem that congress made. i love it.

athena jones today, thanks. this just in to cnn. local reports out of the detroit area say an officer has been shot and killed in a standoff with a gunman who was barricaded in the detroit suburb of west bloomfield township. we're being told by our detroit affiliate that police have closed off roads in the area. we have no other details available right now. we are monitoring the situation and will bring you updates throughout the morning. sad news on the campaign trail. a veteran police officer who was part of the security detail escorting president obama's motorcade, he has died after a tragic accident. >> at approximately 4:40 p.m. today, officer bruce saint laurent was involved in a motor vehicle accident during the presidential motorcade. officer saint laurent was transferred to st. mary's hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries. officer saint laurent was a 20-year veteran of the jupiter police department, 18 years as a

motor officer and his family has been notified. >> a pickup truck hit officer bruce saint laurent's motorcycle on i-95 in west palm beach. president obama says his thoughts and prayers are with the man's family. new campaign fund-raising numbers out for the president. his campaign says it raised more than mitt romney in the month of august with a total of $114 million to romney's $111 million. the campaign trail in florida sunday, president obama told supporters that his opponents are not very good when it comes to crunching numbers. >> they couldn't answer questions about how they'd pay for $5 trillion in new tax cuts, and $2 trillion in new defense spending, without raising taxes on the middle class. that's not bold leadership, that's bad math. >> the latest gallup daily tracking poll shows a post-convention bounce for the president. the president leading mitt romney 49% to 44%. that's up from just one percentage point before the democratic national convention. the widest margin so far.

>> mitt romney himself, he's campaigning in ohio today in an interview on nbc's mee"meet the press kwrt he said he's not getting rid of all of health care reform. he said there are things about it he likes. later his spokesman clarified saying romney intends to appeal so-called obama care into his own version. he also talked about defense cuts telling nbc it was a mistake for leaders within his own party to follow the president's lead. >> i thought it was a mistake on the part of the white house to propose it. i think it was a mistake for republicans to go along with it. >> by the way, paul ryan was one of the republican congressmen who did go along with it. romney says he would maintain defense spending at the current level of gdp. some really great sports news. serena williams pushed to the limit on her way to a fourth, fourth u.s. open title. serena rallied to force a third set tiebreaker and beat top ranked victoria azarenka last night in new york city. she became the first 30-something woman to win a grand slam since 1987. it is her 15th grand slam title

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welcome back to "early start" this monday morning. it's almost 14 minutes past the hour. i'm christine romans in for zoraida. >> i'm john berman. we do have breaking news this morning. for the first time in 25 years chicago reachers are on strike. contract talks broke down late last night. 30,000 teachers and aides in the nation's third largest public school system set to walk the picket lines this morning. the strike hits 400,000 students and nearly 700 schools. the retired navy s.e.a.l. who wrote the best-selling book about the raid that killed osama bin laden, he says he's speaking out to set the record straight. he used the pen name mark owen to write "no easy day" tells cbs's "60 minutes" there was nothing political about his book and insists the pentagon is off base with accusations that he compromised national security by writing this account. listen to him describe the moment he and another s.e.a.l.

encountered bin laden and shot him. >> did you recognize him? >> no. you know, everybody thinks it was like you know it's him. no. to us at that time it could have been anybody. maybe this is a bodyguard. it doesn't matter. the point is, is you just continue clearing. >> bissonnette said he wrote "no easy day" to commemorate the 9/11 attacks and celebrate the hundreds of people who worked on the mission to take out the al qaeda leader. new developments and major worries about iraq's fragile government before the country's fugitive vice president was sentenced to death vice president tariq al hashemi, iraq's top sunni politician fled the country months ago was sentenced to hang for killing two people. he was also accused of running a death squad. al hashemi says the charges were politically motivated. the verdict came on a day when a wave of violence spread across iraq that left at least 79 people dead and 270 people wounded. the east close is cleaning

up this morning after storms, even tornadoes, blue through over the weekend. and tropical storm leslie still on the move after brushing past bermuda. let's get to rob marciano with the travel forecast. saturday was beautiful in chicago. but i spent 13 hours at o'hare because of what was happening on the east coast. >> yeah, that will happen to you. but yeah, chicago, beautiful place this time of the year. sorry you had to wait it out at the airport. that's not the nicest spot. if you're traveling out over bermuda today, not too bad. you had your rough weather over the weekend. right now, leslie is moving rapidly towards the north. by the way, here is hurricane michael, weakening but still a hurricane. been kind of the, you know, little sister -- or little brother of leslie. movement of leslie is rapidly off towards the north. this is going to impact the maritimes of canada, including, of course, newfoundland. here's the forecast track picking up team, may have hurricane force wind gusts on the right side of this thing when it makes landfall. looks like tomorrow afternoon.

big waves from this thing have been impacting the u.s. coastline all weekend long. and that will continue to be the case, especially across the northeast. the moisture from isaac, that spawned some of that rough weather over the weekend, that has now been pushed off by this strong cold front. not very cold but certainly dry. low level of humidity. the northern plains looking at temperatures that will be above average and a couple of fronts out here on the west coast will bring some gusty winds and there's some fire danger out there. 87 in los angeles. 78 degrees in chicago. and 76 degrees expected in new york. by the way, guys, today is the peak of hurricane season. so we'll start to see things taper off slowly over the next couple of weeks. >> all right. thanks, rob. amazon will allow people who buy the new kindle fire tablet to pay an extra $15 to avoid ads. the online superstore changed its pricing policy after people complained in online forums about not having the option to avoid these ads. amazon now says we're happy to offer customers the choice, for

15 bucks. >> not a bad month for rory mcilroy. the 23-year-old sensation from northern ireland won the bmw championship by two strokes yesterday. it's his second win in a row. his third win in four weeks. mcilroy now the world's top ranked golfer. he has earned $4.2 million from those three wins and stands to collect another $10 million with a good showing in two weeks at the season-ending tour championships. >> he's on fire. he's seriously playing very well right now. proving it is still possible to live entirely off the grid. an organic farm growing all of its own food and generating its own power, and fueling with methane gas right from the source. a source that goes moo. the pioneer behind this tells his story on the next list this week. take a look at this. >> my father thought i was a nut for taking the job but i took a job, i became operations manager

and director. one is coming from a very strong corporate sector and he says he's now paying for his sins. >> but now i want to use the knowledge that i gained and give it to others. so i'm creating this living university here so that people can come enjoy themselves, and by osmosis, if nothing else, take over everything that we know. >> hello everyone my name is juan and i'm the owner and founder of rancho margot. >> that is so fascinating. do not miss "the next list" sunday. >> mitt romney says if he's elected president he's going to create2 million jobs. but is it impossible for him to do that? we're going to break it down next.

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help protect your eye health. we are minding your business this morning for our in-depth focus this week we are diving into economic issues in this race for the white house. after that disappointing job report friday just 96,000 jobs added and more than triple that dropping out of the workforce. christine's been looking at mitt romney's claim that he can create 12 million jobs in four years. is that realistic, given how weak the labor market is? >> it's so interesting i've been asking the jobs gurus for a long time about this. this is what romney said. >> and unlike the president, i have a plan to create 12 million new jobs.

>> okay that was at the rnc and it's a claim the campaign continues to make. first of all, let's look at if this has been done before. we went back and did the math and bill clinton, ronald reagan and fdr all saw 12 million new jobs created during their presidencies, but it was over the course of two terms and none of them were dealing with the kind of economy we're in right now. our gdp growth is just 1.7%. and forecasts are for growth around 2.3% for next year. when president clinton was in office, and had all those job gains, gdp grew at an average rate of 3.9%. under ronald reagan 3.4%. fdr saw 8.4% growth on average during his time in office. so what do economists say? when we asked if this claim was feasible? you get every answer, yes, no and maybe. mark zandi, chief economist says it's going to happen no matter what. he told us, regardless of who is president, the economy is going to generate 12 million jobs. it's not a high bar.

he added that a high bar would be shooting for 12, 14 or 15 million jobs in the next four years. the obama campaign cited analysis when we asked them about this. the congressional budget office, the gold standard of nonpartisan economic analysis, it believes less than 10 million jobs will be created in the next four years, and senior managing director of macro economic adviser says 12 million isn't outside of the realm of possibility, but it would require getting the economy back to full employment by then. that means jobless rate would need to drop to about 5.5% by next year. really interesting. could it possibly possible? it's possible. is it feasible? that's the question. mitt romney says it's his policies that will make it happen. but we don't in some cases know what those policies are except cutting tax rates and balancing the budget. >> and economists all over the place with their estimates. what is the one other thing we need to know? >> economies around the world are not growing on their own. central banks have been flooding the markets with money. we're going to find out this week if the fed is going to

continue to do that here. has a meeting on interest rates. the s&p 500 is up 12% since the start of the year. many say in large part because government's been doing nothing but central banks have been flooding the world with money. >> it's really interesting, not easy to understand but fascinating. >> it is easy to understand. >> if you're you. you'll explain it to everyone. if you have a personal economic story you'd like to share, visit cnn ireport our web site. check out our assignment page and let us know are you better off? and this, 26 minutes after the hour, clint eastwood, he says he is proud of his convention moment, talking to an invisible person in a chair. one man, paul miller from the carmel talked to eastwood exclusively about this episode and we are talking to him next. capella university understands rough economic times

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clint eastwood talking about talking to an empty chair. his first interview since the republican convention. >> on the gridiron, a college football player fractures his spine, stops breathing and is given cpr on the field. tense moments for a family and teammates this morning waiting to find out if he'll ever walk again. >> and not just a super450e row on-screen, actor christian bale comes to the aid of one of his biggest fans. the picture just ahead. >> welcome back to "early start" i'm christine romans in for zoraida today. >> i'm john berman. half past the hour right now. one of the biggest headlines on the political convention is still actor clint eastwood's rambling, improvised remarks to the republican national convention.

>> what do you want me to tell romney? i can't tell him to do that? can't do that to himself. you're -- you're -- you're absolutely crazy. that's you're getting as bad as biden. now in the wake of the media storm that followed eastwood himself remained silent. until now. the actor and director spoke to the publisher of his hometown paper the carmel pine cone about this controversy and joining me now, we're lucky to have paul miller, who interviewed clint eastwood. paul, clint eastwood told you that his speech was mission accomplished. what exactly was he trying to do here? >> well, actually, when he said that, what he meant was he irritated some people but pleased other people and what he meant was that he irritated the people, i believe, he intended to irritate. and he pleased the people he

intended to please. so that's what he meant when he spoke to me about mission accomplished. but, of course, he didn't have that necessarily know what the reaction would be, of course. and so i think he also was referring to the fact that actually things on the stage transpired just the way he wanted them to. that's what he said. >> transpired the way they wanted them to. a lot has been made of the fact that the romney team never saw the speech, there wre no prepared remarks, there was no teleprompter here. mitt romney himself was asked about this this weekend. let's listen to what he said. >> you don't expect to have a guy like clint eastwood get up and, you know, read some speech off a teleprompter like a politician. you expect him to speak from the heart and that's exactly what he did. >> so, paul, your piece had just amazing details about the minutes before clint eastwood took the stage with that chair. what happened? just spur of the moment? >> yes. he had been asked in august right after the sun valley

fund-raiser to appear at the convention, but the fact that he would -- would participate wasn't finalized until just a week before he showed up. he left san jose airport on a thursday morning, that very morning that he made the appearance. flew to florida, went to his hotel room, was still thinking over his remarks. he was visited by romney's campaign manager matt rose in his hotel room, but still wasn't able to commit exactly what he was going to say. then he took a nap. and when he woke up from his nap that's when he actually mapped out, in a broadway, what he was planning to say, but the idea of using the empty chair as a stand-in for the president didn't strike him until he was backstage and about to walk out to the lectern. >> he, i understand, wanted to do three things here with this speech. three things that he says he accomplished. what were they? >> well, the first one was that not everyone in hollywood is a lefty, as mr. eastwood referred to them. and also, that president obama, in his view has not fulfilled

his campaign promises. and then the third thing was that politicians aren't royalty or something, that if they're not doing the job, you got to let them go. that's what he said to the convention and they went nuts when he said it. >> now a lot of people have noted that clint eastwood himself had a spell as a politician. wahe an experienced orator? did he have an opportunity to speak in front of large groups of people? >> no. carmel is a small town. things are very informal there. i do have a tie on today but i usually don't wear one to work. so he interacted in a friendly and spontaneous way with his -- with the media, with his constituents, and that's just the way he does it. he told me i really don't know how to give a speech. >> quickly, paul, since you really are one of the only people in the media to speak to him since this all happened, what's his state of mind? what does he make of the frenzy after his speech? >> well, he's a very easygoing

person, nothing really perturbs him. i'm not sure if something goes wrong in one of his productions how he acts. he just was taking things as they come. i hope we'll all be that way when we're 82 and have his level of accomplishments. >> paul miller of the carmel pine cone, thanks so much for joining us this morning. really, really interesting information. take care. new details just coming in to cnn right now on a tense situation near detroit. an armed standoff with an accused cop killer is going on right now. the west bloomfield police department now confirming to us one of its officers was shot late last night has died. they're not naming this officer yet but we know he is a 12-year veteran of the force. the department says that the officer was responding to reports of gunfire in a home. when he turned his gun on the police, and an armed standoff continues at this hour. we'll continue to update this story as we get more information. bagram prison in afghanistan made infamous by the detainee abuse scandal is now officially

under afghan control. the u.s. handover is part of a gradual transfer of power to afghanistan as u.s. troops prepare to withdraw. there's a hitch, though. the u.s. declined to surrender an undetermined number of detainees during the handover because they're believed to be high value taliban and al qaeda network militants. new this morning evacuations have been ordered near the home of a british family that was murdered in the french alps because of materials found inside the home. meantime, the little girl who survived the shooting that killed her parents and two other people has returned to relatives in britain. the 4-year-old hid under her mother's skirt as the bullets riddled their car. police are looking into other financial dispute between her father and her uncle had anything to do with this murder. it's too early to tell whether tulane football player devon walker will be permanently paralyzed. he's in intensive care in an oklahoma hospital after doctors stabilized his fractured spine during a three-hour operation yesterday. walker was injured saturday during the last play of the

first half in a game against tulsa. doctors say it could take up to 72 hours, it's hard to watch the video even. 72 hours he'll be able to get a really full extent they'll know of his injury. >> it is hard to watch. we are all thinking of him this morning. pro football is back. so is peyton manning looked great yesterday. manning playing his first regular season game for the broncos. the first game in 20 months after four neck surgeries. he threw for 253 yards and two touchdowns. and a 31-19 win over the pittsburgh steelers. now the first sunday of the nfl season also saw the longest field goal in nfl history, at least -- there it is bouncing off the cross bars. san francisco 49ers kicker got that ball through the uprights from 63 yards. this tied an nfl record. it happened in lambeau field on the way to a win over the packers. this isn't something you see every day. in fact never before. shannon eastin has made nfl history. he was the lines judge making

her the first woman to be an official in a regular season game. she is one of the replacement officials hired by the league while the regular officials are locked out. she tucked her ponytail under her cap and then she went to work. i have to add it again, the patriots also big winners yesterday. christian bale responding to a bat signal. the actor flew a 4-year-old leukemia patient and his family out to california for a lunch date at disneyland's club 33 earlier this week. barber's mother posted a pic on a facebook page set up for her son called lighting the bat signal for jason. that story reading gives me goose bumps. >> it's so nice. all right, politics again. the cash race is on. and president obama's latest haul has people talking overnight. including no doubt the romney campaign. we'll tell you why coming up next. at purina one,

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have more fiber than other leading brands. they're the better way to enjoy your fiber. welcome back to "early start" this monday morning. it's 42 minutes after the hour. i'm christine romans in for zoraida today. >> and i'm john berman. there was some political news made overnight while you were sleeping. new numbers showing that president obama ahead of mitt romney in both the polls, and fund-raising. at least this one small snapshot with the incumbent taking in $114 million in campaign donations in august. more than mitt romney. the president also seeing a slight post-convention bump in the polls. sunday's gallup daily tracking poll finds the president with his biggest margin over mitt romney since july. 49% of registered voters support the president, while 44% prefer mitt romney. before the convention, president obama held a one-point lead in the poll. we want to break down these numbers. important stuff. live to peter handy in richmond,

virginia. does this qualify as a convention bounce here? >> i wouldn't call it big mo, john. maybe it's got some medium mo coming out of the convention. the fund-raising numbers are great for e obama campaign which hasn't outraised romney in four months. they're saying they've got about a third of these donors in this latest fund-raising haul are new donors. that's really important for the obama campaign. as you know there's been questions about whether, you know, their enthusiasm among grassroots donors wanes. it's also important that they're tipping new donors. and also with these poll numbers from gallup, i mean part of this poll is taken before the convention, during the convention, and after the convention. so, u know, it's hard to tell exactly where they stand. but john we do have a new cnn poll coming out later today taken entirely after the convention. that will give us an important look as to whether barack obama has a serious bounce out of the

convention or whether these numbers -- or whether the race is actually just tied as it has been for basically most of the year. >> i know there are a lot of us including you and me who will be waiting on the edge of our seats looking for those poll numbers. the cash number for president obama, they did not release the cash on hand figure, so entirely possible, in fact likely that the romney team has a lot more money in the bank now. but i want to move on, because we heard some different advantage over this weekend from mitt romney talking about the issues. many people wondering whether this is sort of a shift in the positioning of his campaign. >> mitt romney went on "meet the press" a rare appearance on the sunday shows for mitt romney. he was asked about president obama's health care plan. listen to what he had to say about liking some elements of it. >> i'm not getting rid of all of health care reform, of course. there are a number of things that i like in health care reform that i'm going to put in place. one is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. two to assure that the marketplace allows for

individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like. i also want individuals to be able to buy insurance, health insurance on their own as opposed to only being able to get it on a tax advantage basis through their company. >> that stood out for a number of reasons. the first line of that statement. i'm not going to get rid of obama care, stark contrast to what he's been saying on the campaign trial to the republican base for two years, which is i'm going to get rid of obama care on day one. this poses a political and a policy sort of problem for mitt romney. one, politically the conservative base wants to get rid of obama care. they don't want to hear their nominee talking about what's nice about obama care. the romney campaign later clarified that when he was talking about pre-existing conditions, he only meant people that do already have pre-existing conditions. they would be covered. and secondly, without an individual mandate, which romney opposes, how do you pay for these things? you can't just sort of pick and choose what you want.

so romney campaign had to be on cleanup duty a little bit. >> over the weekend we did see one of those indelible images which kind of sticks with us for an entire campaign. an amazing picture of the president in florida. >> in port st. lucie florida, romney -- excuse me, not romney, president obama met a pizza shop owner who was completely enthusiastic about the president. he lifted the president up, bear hugged him. an amazing, amazing picture here. you got to think the secret service was very nervous. he says he's a republican who voted for barack obama last time, and will do so again. "the new york times" has a nice little vignette about him. apparently this dude can bench 350. president obama weighs 176 pounds. so this wasn't too heavy a lift for him. >> all right peter hamby in richmond, virginia, this morning. who picks up the president? who picks up the president? >> secret service wasn't all over that guy. >> pick up the president and ali

velshi at the same time. >> he probably could. >> ali is in for soledad. >> it's like a weight joke. monday morning. not even 4:00 in the morning in california. >> good morning. >> right now chicago teachers on strike this morning for the first time in 25 years. why have the talks failed? school board president david vitale joins us live. with over 8% unemployment, millions of people looking for work, the jobs crisis in america is the issue of 2012 presidential election. how do the candidates differ on their plans to fix the struggling economy? cnn is going in-depth on the issue all week long this morning former u.s. treasury secretary larry summers joins us live. and nfl star linebacker caught in the middle of a political fire storm this morning for supporting same-sex marriage. he joins us along with former football star wade davis, who is now openly gay. those stories and more just

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all right welcome back to "early start." 51 minutes past the hour. i'm christine romans in for zoraida. >> i'm john berman. parents in chicago scrambling. teachers on strike for the first time in 25 years there. labor talks broke down last night. the strike hit 400,000 udents in nearly 700 schools. >> new details on a tense situation unfolding right now near detroit. it's an armed standoff with an

accused cop killer. the west bloomfield police department now confirming to us that one of its officers who was shot late last night has died. they are not naming this officer but we know he's a 12-year veteran of the force. these are live pictures of the standoff. he was responding to reports of gunfire in the home when the suspect turned his gun on the police. the armed suspect now barricaded in that home. again those are live pictures. tropical storm leslie still on the move after brushing past bermuda. quick check right now of the weather with rob marciano. >> good morning, christine. hurricane michael also in the picture, but has been the past couple days. well off in the atlantic. this thing hit bermuda or really just kind of grazed bermuda earlier over the weekend. now making a run at newfoundland. last year we had a couple of storms that hit the canadian maritimes. looks like this will be the first one this year. could be near hurricane strength when it makes landfall during the day tomorrow. over 800 miles away now. it's going to be picking up steam as it picks up some energy

from this cold front that pushed all the moisture from isaac out. the beautiful fall weather, the low level of humidity. also rough weather across the northeast, and even some reports of tornadoes on saturday. by the way, flash flooding across parts of vegas and the desert southwest. 78 in chicago. 76 degrees. a beautiful day expected in the big apple. gas prices on the rise again this morning. and now we are all feeling the effects of hurricane isaac at the pump. right now aaa says the national price for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.28. gas prices have now risen close to eight cents per gallon in the past two weeks since isaac shut offshore posts and refineries along the gulf coast. >> i thought they'd start to come down. but it hasn't quite happened yet. today's best advice comes from nba is up star dwyane wade. we're going to show you the best advice he's ever received, and it's very good. this one is good. stay with us. jack, you're a little boring.

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we are just a few minutes before the hour right now. as always, we wrap it up with best advice. >> today comes from miami heat basketball star dwyane wade. >> the best advice i've received, i think, told me to believe in yourself. you know, i think, you know, young kid, you know myself growing up in the inner city, if you don't show that you believe

in yourself, it doesn't matter how many people believe in you, you're not going to go where you want to go. they have to see that you want it just as bad. so the best advice, believe in yourself and understand that it's not going to be easy. that whatever you want to do in life is going to be hard. it's going to be a lot of obstacles in the way. whether you keep believing in your ability, you keep believing in your intelligence, and you keep believing that god has a plan for you, anything can happen. i'm a living testimony and proof of that. believe in yourself. you'll be all right. >> talked to him last week, and he makes -- his kids, he incentivizes them, they've got to get good grades before he'll give them money. i also asked him who his kids, they're 10 and 8, who their favorite player is, it's lebron. >> it's lebron? he is a very well-dressed man. it is easier to believe in yourself if you're one of the best basketball players in the world. i'd believe in myself, too.

that is all for "early start." i'm john berman. >> i'm christine romans. "starting point" begins right now. good morning to you and welcome to "starting point," soledad o'brien is off today i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm ali velshi. breaking news, teachers on strike. chicago teach erps hitting the picket line instead of the classroom right now. leaving 400,000 students out of school this morning. where do the intense negotiations stand? >> back in session, the election season is the home stretch and lawmakers in the home stretch and lawmakers return to capitol hill today but even with that fiscal cliff approaching, will they actually get anything done? >> the bus re-igniting the american economy. a weak jobs report fueling both campaigns this morning. cnn is going in-depth, taking a look at the jobs crisis in america. larry summers, chicago