thanks for joining us. we'll see you again tomorrow. >> have a great day. the news continues, cnn news room with heidi collins starts now. fire crews make progress in the battle against a southern california wild fire but the fight is far from finished. recession, not on the ropes, one expert says small banks could slip a sucker punch to the economy. the president's losing points, we'll tell you who is driving his ratings down. good morning. i'm heidi collins. it's september 2nd. a lot going on in the newsroom this morning. we have our crews and our eyes on the california wild fires and also a dangerous hurricane that is nearing landfall. ynn's reynolds wolf is covering the most dangerous of the fires in los angeles county so we'll get to him. we'll also get to jacqui jeras looking at the firefighters. they have a bit of a break yesterday but what could be in store today. that will be important to know. we'll head to the severe weather

center. and betty nguyen is on mexico's baja peninsula as hurricane jimena closes in. first we want to get the hard work by thousands of firefighters that are working around the clock. it's certainly paying off this morning. weather has played a big part in knocking down the station fire north of los angeles. it has consumed around 200 square miles. there is some good news for homeowners in the area as well. progress by fire crews has brought the end to evacuation orders for thousands of people. but not everyone. so we'll get you an update. at this hour several communities are still in danger. firefighters may be gaining ground but as you can see from this map there is a long way to go. reynolds wolf is live in lake view terrace, california. that's what everybody wants to know, what are we seeing this morning and what about evacuations? >> i tell you what we're seeing, we're getting information that came in moments ago from incident commander mike

dietrich. he was telling us moments ago that overnight they got new information telling us the fire did grow as expected from 140 to even 150,000 acres. right now the fire, about 22% contained. last night the weather did help, higher humidity made a great deal of difference. the firefighters still out there on the line doing everything they can to battle the blaze. though it is 22% contained there are parts of the fire that continue to grow, mainly some of the fire action moving more to the east to an area called devil's canyon. so, the latest we have in terms of the number of homes destroyed still about 62 or so. but as the fire spread there is is no doubt we could see more of that. one of the incidents that we're having, one of the issues mere mt. wilson. we've been telling you that's the communication hub for the city of los angeles. the incident commander was telling us that firefighters battling around parts of mt. wilson having issues not only

with the flames that are moving slowly but in trying to communicate with additional crews, a lot of interference with the broadcasting towers up there, all the transmissions, a lot of things were scrambled. tough to communicate from one crew to another. in terms of your forecast, jacqui is going to give you a better idea what they can anticipate. i can tell you the humidity last night made a big difference, we still have a chance of thunderstorms, dry thunderstorms in the coming days and the temperatures, well, jacqui's going to let you know that. let's send it back to you. >> reynolds wolf, thank you. five other active fires are burning in california now. mandatory evacuations for thousands of people remain in effect around the oak glenn fire. homes are also threatened by the smaller pendleton fire. the big medal fire destroyed 5,000 acres around yosemite. around the oregon border is 85%

contained. there also another fire in los angeles county, the morris fire has charred around 2100 acres. there are also others now considered totally contained but firefighters do remain on duty of course in case there are hot spots that can flare up. a sigh of relief this morning from resort towns along the southern tip of baja california. they escaped the worst of hurricane jimena, mainly a lot of wind and rain for them. but what about farther up the coast? jacqui jeras is tracking the storm. good morning. >> good morning. hurricane jimena has made landfall and it's in a sparsely populated area. we checked in on santa margarita. it doesn't look like anything but mountains and a beach, so good that it kind of missed the populated areas in southern parts but still this is a category 2 storm, 105-mile-per-hour winds and it's going to continue moving north-northwest so this is going

to continue move up the coast up toward cabo san la zars yoand stall out. that's the next big concern outside of the wind and some of the storm surge is that this thing is going to be slowing down. the main thing i want you to notice is look at the time stamp on this. this is tomorrow, this is sunday. it doesn't move a heck of a lot. so, even though it's going to weaken it's going to just dumb kp incredible amounts of rain, you've got the mountainous terrain, so that's going to enhance the rainfall. we're concerned about flash flooding as well as the threat of mud slides so we have a while to go. i've got pictures i want to show you, too, go ahead and roll these. this came in from mexican television station and this is a reporter who just did a live shot moments ago. there you can see those bands just lashing him along with those winds. this is a very large and very powerful storm, some incredible pictures you can see coming in. we're going now to our cnn betty

nguyen about 150 miles or so south of where the storm made landfall. cabo san lucas did feel impact. what kind of night did you have? what have you experienced? >> reporter: well, i'll tell you, it was a hurricane that wasn't here in cabo san lucas. when we first started watching hurricane jimena it looked like a category 4. it has weakened tremendously as you mentioned, making landfall right now as we speak 150 miles north of where i'm standing in cabo san lucas. look at this resort area. it's empty. there's not a soul out, the winds aren't blowing, the rain, well, it came a little bit yesterday but no real downpours that lasted any length of time. the folks here dodged a bullet but the people in the resorts here tourists and what not, they had to go into hurricane shelters last night to escape what they thought could have been a powerful storm. we were even told to evacuate our rooms and go to what is

called a convention center at this resort which is a certified hurricane shelter. the biggest concern, though, jacqui, were people living in these shantytowns that really don't have any type of shelter that could withstand that type of wind. there's about 10,000 of them and over 1,000 of them did make it to a shelter last night. there's really no major damage to report and no injuries so that is the good news right here in cabo san lucas. >> what are you hearing from the people? have you heard about evacuations north of you? >> reporter: not really. i mean, i think north of us there is a lot of wait and see. but as you mentioned, as it's making landfall it's in a sparsely populated area so there's not a lot of people there. the mexican government overnight was urging everyone to take shelter because there was really unknown exactly how powerful this storm would be and where it was going to make landfall. so precautions were made, shelters set up in schools and resorts and other areas like

that. people did heed the warnings because when we first arrived a couple days ago there were long lines at the grocery stores to get food and water and all of the supplies needed to ride out this storm. the good news, it is hitting in an area where not a lot of people live so i think at this point it seems like a lot of folks here in the baja peninsula have escaped injury caused by hurricane jimena. >> okay. great news. thanks, betty nguyen live near cabo san lucas. it was kind of a close miss in that area. the peninsula is very, very narrow, only about 28 miles across. you go west of there and that made for a nice miss for those resort areas. we're also watching the tropics here in the atlantic. there you can see the leeward islands, tropical storm warnings have been put in place for st. kitts, st. martin and several of the islands. the winds, the maximum sustained winds only 45 miles per hour, so a weak tropical storm right now. and it has been encountering some wind shear. we don't think a lot of

strengthening is going to take place over the next couple of days but certainly has its threat. notice the timeline on this one, too, this is overnight sunday into monday morning, still outside of the bahamas so if there is going to be u.s. impact on this storm, that won't be until early next week. >> okay. very good. obviously things changing all the time. jacqui jeras, we appreciate that. obviously jacqui, we always talk about the wind. one of our i-reporters sent us this. take a listen. talk about powerful. jack duffy tells us the rain when it came was pretty intense. and the surf washed away a lot of the beach but he is still managing to enjoy his 40th birthday. remember, if you see what's happening even if it's your birthday, send us your picture or video to ireport.com. . >> a powerful underwater earthquake shakes southern indonesia. 13 are reported killed in

various cities on the island of java. the quake registered 7.0 and was so intense it shook buildings 150 miles away in jakarta. several homes were destroyed and one building collapsed. no word on how many people may be hurt. tracking a convicted rapist. is the man accused of kidnapping jaycee lee dugard 18 years ago tied to other abductions? police are looking at unsolved cases. there's no way to hide it. sir, have you been drinking tonight? if you ride drunk, you will get caught... and you will get arrested.

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quickly want to let you know we'll have our top stories coming up. you can see the countdown clock on the bottom of the screen. in a little more than six minutes so stick around for that. the man who called 911 after eight people were killed at a georgia mobile home is due in court this hour. guy heinze jr. faces drug possession, tampering with evidence and lying to police. police say he is not a suspect in the killings of several of his family members. they do say he has not been ruled out. heinze's chilly call led police to the grisly scene. seven were dead, an eighth died later at the hoptd. we'll have a live report from

the courthouse in the next hour. searching for victims. solving old crimes, as jaycee lee dugard gets readjusted to life with her family police in northern california try to determine whether phillip garrido is tied to other abduction cases. dan simon with the story. >> reporter: phillip garrido fantasized about raping women. one of the startling admissions he made in his 1977 rape trial. in court documents obtained by cnn he also testified during that case that he used lsd and cocaine as sexual stimulants and masturbated in public places at the site of school, grammar schools and high schools and in my own car while i was watching young females. he made the confessions while on trial for raping then 25-year-old katherine callaway hall who told larry king that garrido raped her after she offered to give him a ride.

>> he slammed my head into the steering wheel and pulled out handcuffs, he took my keys out, and pulled out handcuffs and handcuffed me and said i just want a piece of ass, if you be good you won't get hurt. >> reporter: does garrido have other dark secrets in his past? police are investigating garrido as a possible suspect in the disappearance of two young girls in the area. including then 13-year-old eileen who went missing 20 years ago while walking home from school. >> what do we know in terms of how she was abducted? >> the only thing we know, she was last seen at an intersection very close to here. >> reporter: her father tells me that jaycee dugard case has given him renewed hope even if it turns out garrido's not involved. >> it shows that somebody can be found after all these years.

you never know what can happen. so whether it's re-enforced the hope that perhaps eileen is still alive and we'll find her. >> reporter: and look at this. this is a composite sketch of the suspect who abducted 9-year-old m makayla in 1988. police think it resembles phillip garrido though it's tough to tell with the passage of time. her mother tells cnn there are other similarities. >> the method of kidnapping was the same. they were both dragged into cars. the description of the cars was very similar. the girls look very much like each other. there have been points in the past where the investigations have crossed with the same suspects. >> reporter: police searched garrido's home for several days but have not revealed if there is evidence to other abductions. garrido and his wife have pled not guilty. cadaver dogs found a bone fragment on a neighbor's property that authorities say

garrido lived on at one time but say it could take weeks to determine if it's from an animal or human. authorities are ending the speculation on one aspect of this case, they investigatesed phillip garrido as a possible suspect in the murders of several women in the 1990s, prostitutes. they looked at the evidence and determined that there is none. dan simon, cnn, antioch, california. a deadly suicide blast in afghanistan, a key intelligence official and 22 other people are killed outside a mosque.

time for today's top stories. our new poll show as growing

dissatisfaction with the war in afghanistan. 57% of those who responded are opposed to u.s. military involvement there. that's up 3 percentage points since july and double digits since april. news of another deadly attack in afghanistan, the deputy director was killed in eastern afghanistan. 22 other people were also killed. live for us now from kabul this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, heidi. 23 people were killed when that suicide bomber ripped through a mosque about 60 miles away from the capital city. the deputy director of the intelligence director in afghanistan was killed as were four other officials but again, the suicide attackers killing more civilians than their intended targets. >> so, there are a lot of people who may be saying now, after

being there as long as american forces have, why should america care about this war at this point? >> reporter: well, i can tell you why the international officials here want their people back home whether it be america or europe, they care about the war, seeing the situation continuously deteriorate even with this new focus on afghanistan, we're seeing more and more deaths. it's been the bloodiest summer again that comes with sending more forces but the forces have come to secure and hold certain areas but that's when we see the insurgency rise. when you talk to the normal afghan on the street they don't know who to trust now. they don'ts know if they should trust the coalition forces, if they should trust their own government. some of them turning to the insurgency. they feel they are protected by them. when you see that happen we've seen the results in the past when insurgents have taken over afghanistan and it will be a devastating future for afghanistan for the afghan people and the world.

heidi. >> reporting live from kabul, afghanistan. thanks for that. we want to tell you about this. the u.n. says opium production in the country has dropped, and prices are the lowest in a decade. afghanistan supplies 90% of the world's opium and cash from drug sales is used to fund insurgency groups. the u.n. says part of the drop is because of the progressive new drug fighting tactics. president obama leaving for a long weekend at camp david is keeping health care on his mind. a senior white house aide says the president is considering giving a major speech on what he would like to see in a reform bill. that speech could come next week even though no decisions have yet been made. in fact, look at this if you would. a new cnn poll out today shows 90% of democrats approve of the job president obama is doing, but 85% of republicans disapprove. as you can see for yourself that

is quite a divide. so we were wondering our question for our blog, do you think that the country is more divided now under president obama than ever? we would love to hear your response on that and tell us why or why not. all you do is go to our blog on cnn.com,/heidi, and find my picture and click on it and send us your thoughts. we got an update that we want to share on the los angeles county wild fire. the fire did grow overnight and is now burned more than 140,000 acres. crews have gotten 22% containment on the fire. yesterday it was 5% so that's improvement there. but more than 60 buildings have so far been destroyed. singer chris brown avoided jail time for assaulting rihanna. people are talking about what happened. that could derail a promising career. although a court order separates them, brown admits he still loves her and he talks more

about how he lost it that night in an exclusive interview with cnn's larry king. >> larry: you look at this you feel like you're looking at someone else? >> yes. from the outside looking in. >> larry: you punched her a number of times, threatened to beat the blank out of her. when you got home, you said you were going to kill her. you bit on the ear and finger -- you hear all that. obviously this is disparaging, you don't appear like a violent person at all. in fact, you appear rather calm. rather nice. so what happened to you? do you think? >> well, i guess that night is just one of the nights i wish i could take back and i really regret and i feel totally ashamed what i did. >> you can catch the full interview on "larry king live" tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn.

job cuts slowing down, housing and manufacturing numbers picking up. when it looks like the economy is heading out of the woods a second credit crunch could be on the horizon. ( revving, siren blares ) there's no way to hide it. sir, have you been drinking tonight? if you ride drunk, you will get caught... and you will get arrested.

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the latest home theater technology and thousands of people eager to help. best buy. buyer be happy. economic fears stocks down on wall street yesterday. a preview of what to expect today. i fear, stephanie, it's more of the same. >> you know, we had the nice run-up of over a week of gains on the dow and that seems like a distant memory at this point. stocks are set for a slightly lower opening this morning. investors showing caution following yesterday's sell-off and ahead of friday's big jobs report looking at august numbers, while we wait for the government report, we are getting clues what to expect. a survey from payroll services firm says 298,000 positions were cut last month.

wall street was expecting fewer number but it's still the smallest amount of cuts since september of last year. the latest company to lay off workers, american airlines, the carrier will eliminate over 900 flight attendant positions, the bulk at laguardia airport. another bank talking about t.a.r.p. the ceo of wells fargo says the bank plans to repay the government shortly, the word he used. no other specifics. the agreement depends on talks with the federal reserve. wells fargo $25 billion in bailout money. we had the bell on wall street on the stock exchange. we're off to the red, nasdaq is off 9 and the s&p 500 off about a quarter of a percent but heidi, as always, i'll keep my eye on it for you. >> stephanie, thanks for that. the economy may be showing some signs of recovery but as the big

guys got a bailout the little guys could draw us into a second credit crisis according to professor of business at the university of maryland. professor, explain to us these problems because the mainstreet banks, the smaller banks, the little guys we're talking about seem to be facing tough times. how did all of this come about? >> we had the housing crisis, people stopped spending money. when that happened people stopped going to the stores and the stores started failing. remember circuit city. it closed. the guy that held the lease he isn't getting paid, his loan is an foreclosure. the banks are down by lots of commercial real estate. mortgages on shopping centers that aren't being paid. >> because it seemed like a lot of these smaller banks loaned money to the retail sector and also commercial real estate. so now they are having to pay for that are they not. why are we hearing about it now?

it doesn't seem like it should be too much of a surprise. >> it shouldn't be too much of a surprise but it is. it's about $700 billion. it came late in the cycle. you see, the retailers failed this year where mortgages on houses failed last year. and this is a lag in this. so now we have 83 banks that have failed. another 400 on the watch list at the fdic, the fdic promised to cover losses up to $80 million -- $80 billion by the banks that have taken over the 83 but it only has about 15 billion left in its reserve fund so. the fdic is on the verge of going broke. >> we've been talking about that. you say the struggling of the smaller banks could actually knock down the economy as a whole all over again. >> yeah. we want people to spend again and that's starting to happen. people are buying technology. but moderate size businesses that create most of the jobs need dreed grow. they go to the bank to buy the computer, so on. not only are the banks in

trouble but banks don't have enough funds because of this problem so they can't loan businesses money to hire people. so we're getting a small time credit crunch in peoria after we had the big time credit crunch in new york. >> yeah. obviously that is exactly what we're talking about here. it's a flow of credit. has the obama administration done anything that can help out the main street banks? and why should they? >> this is where they have come up short. part of the big plan that they had they were supposed to create some sort of contraction like the resolution trust. it wasn't called that, kind of a bad bank to sweep up these assets and working them out. they saddled the fdic with dealing with this one bank at a time so it hasn't addressed the problem. what's more, there were a lot of management practices that are questionable which makes the big new york banks like j.p. morgan reluctant to lend them money. >> understood. what can they do now at this point? stave off a possible -- the second sort of slash in the economy. >> i think we have go back to the suggestion at the fdic to

create a bad bank to remove the assets, then look at some of the practices of the banks. they become involved trading securities, buying commercial mortgage-backed securities among one another like lehman brothers, kind of a small version of what happened in new york. we need to get the guys back to banking, making loans and getting repaid and being trust worthy. >> peter, thanks so very much. some people who live near los angeles are allowed back in their homes this morning now that firefighters are getting ahead of the so-called station fire. i want to show you the area that we're talking about here. fire officials releasing new numbers this hour saying 140,000 acres of mountains and residential communities are destroyed. look at these amazing pictures showing how close the flames have come to some of the communities. unbelievable. at least 62 homes have burned. firefighters are also battling other blazes around the state,

at least five active fires are burning now. but none nearly as big as the station fire. let's bring in mike bryant, a deputy fire chief for los angeles county helping to lead this big battle against the station fire. thanks for being with us. listen, mike. i'm wondering, forest officials said yesterday that you feel a lot more optimistic about this. i know we were at about 5% containment. now we're up to 22% containment. without getting bogged down in the numbers, how is everybody feeling out there on the front line? >> well, good morning, heidi. thank you. we're doing pretty well right now. we've had a lot of progress in the last 24 hours, and we're looking for additional progress today. the weather conditions, it's a little bit of reduced heat. relative humidity has come up. and fortunately, as you're familiar with out here in southern california, we haven't had any of our santa ana winds on this fire, so as long as

those weather elements hold for us, we're looking for additional containment today. >> yeah, and it's great news hearing you say that the temperatures are going to be down a bit. i can't imagine how difficult it is for all of the firefighters who are there to battle this thing. if we can, let's talk about mt. wilson for a moment. the observe inventory. looking at pictures of it now, keep the flames away from there. i know that you guys are talking about a bit of a success story as well. >> well, we're extremely confident today. we've had 36 hours of preparation and heidi, we're able to get in and do a lot of mitigation. we have class a foam, we do a lot of fuel mitigations, we do a lot of things in the incident to prepare for that oncoming fire. you know, mt. wilson has a

tremendous amount of infrastructure and telecommunications that supports a lot of the los angeles area and many other areas throughout our country. it's definitely a priority today. it's been a priority in the last three days that we've been planning for, and i'm extremely confident we have about 200 personnel in that area now. many are los angeles county fire resources ready to as the fire progresses up there we're ready to take that fire on this morning. >> very good. i know one of the weapons you guys have been using is interesting to me, the 747 super tanker, the evergreen i think is what you call it. how has that been used? has that been successful? >> yes, it has been. that is an important piece of fire fighting equipment and we're very fortunate to be able to use that. we will use that air resource along with our ground folks that are in there prepping and taking

care of that infrastructure to protect it >> very good. quickly, any idea on the cause of this fire? >> no. we don't have a cause yet, heidi. we have our investigators from multiple agencies with the los angeles county fire department, the angeles national forest. like any incident, we are gathering the facts, looking into all possible leads. but we do not have any cause yet. once we do, we will make that announcement. >> of course. i know your work is very difficult. mike bryant, thanks for taking time out for us. here's a look at the fires from space. very interesting. last week we were talking about the smoke causing health concerns in los angeles. that's only about 10 miles away. now the effects from the same smoke are felt as far away as 800 miles. take a look at denver. this is a towercam from our

affiliate. and in las vegas. and people in minnesota are prepared to have the haze later this week. you have been helping us tell this story with your ireports, pictures and video. we're putting together the best of those for the rest of you.

time for today's top stories. police in california are now saying phillip garrido is not a suspect in the killings of young women during the 1990s. garrido was charged last week with the kidnapping of jaycee lee dugard who had been missing since 1991. authorities are looking to see if garrido can be tied to other crimes. test results on a bone fragment found near his home may not be ready for weeks. the husband of a woman who is wrong way accident killed her and seven others wants her body exhumed. a police report following the july accident found diane schuler's blood alcohol more than twice the legal limit.

daniel schuler believes an examination will show she wasn't drinking. an attorney for schuler says diane schuler may have suffered stroke-like symptoms and a fire after the accident could have turned blood sugar into alcohol. a white supremacist is scheduled to appear in court on charges of killing a security guard at the u.s. holocaust memorial museum. 89-year-old james van bron who was shot in the face has not been seen in public since the attack. he could face the death penalty if convicted. president obama has 76% approval after he got in office. in the 7 1/2 months since his rating dropped 23 points. it's not conservatives driving the numbers down. a a a a a a aa

let's head over to jacqui jeras who is tracking hurricane jimena. a lot of other weather. mother nature really giving the old one-two punch. >> thank goodness it's quiet in the lower 48. absolutely. we wouldn't have time for it, would we. give you the latee on jimena. this is still a category two storm, 105-mile-per-hour winds. landfall has taken place. we haven't heard the official word from the national hurricane center but we're going to call it here at the cnn weather center and it was around santa margarita off the coast. some weakening is going to take place now. as it continues to move north and by the way, this could get back over open water into this area but let me show you quickly why we're not all that worried about it. these are the water temperatures right now in the pacific. i'll try and open that up for

you a little bit and take a look at this area. look it is a all of that blue. blue means cool. those water temperatures not warm enough to help sustain that storm or help it get stronger either. with the track on this, show you the biggest concern once we get through the wind and rain event now is that the rainfall and the coming days is just going to be incredible. five to ten inch, locally heavier, maybe up to 15 as the storm system stalls out look how far it moves. this is the location of the storm or what's left of it, by the way. on sunday. we're real concerned about mudslides in that type of thing and the flooding rains. other tropical conditions, ericka. 45 miles per hour maximum sustained winds undergoing southwest shear and that's why you can see this side of the storm is breaking down just a little bit. so very little strengthening can be expected over the next couple of days. no huge help for the fires that burn in california, heidi. a little more humidity in the area today. we'll watch out for the threat

of thunderstorms this afternoon. if we get those we worry about lightning strikes starting new fires, and we worry about the gusty winds in the downdraft. >> boy, i hope not. all right. jacqui jeras, thanks so much. our i-reporters sent in stunning images of the wild fires in california. our josh has been gathering those up and gosh, every time i see these i can't believe it. >> it's amazing. people that we're showing the photos they have not gone to danger to take these but these are amazing. cnn.com has photos. our i-report page has been busy. one of the ones comes from tommy who ask desire a volcano erupt in l.a. are you there? can you hear me? >> yes, i can hear you. >> thanks for joining us. let's look at video you sent us. i want you to talk to me about this. what was it like for you to be there and see that fire that close? >> it was absolutely amazing to see this unfolding in the hills

above our community. it was -- it hit the maximum of its fiery appearance last night when firefighters had set backfires, these backburn, to intercept the fire. >> i'll tell you a lot of people are visiting your picture on our page. you say it looks like a volcano. did you feel that heat, too? >> yeah. i mean, i had actual ly been in volcanic national park in hawaii it reminded me of the old tommy lee jones movie. >> you were evacuated from your home for a time, as i understand you now able to go back to your home, right? >> yes, i am. and i asked local sheriff deputy and they said that they think the worst is over now. >> for your area we know it is. tommy, thanks for joining us. obviously a lot of people are still very concerned about this fire and where it might go. more photos coming in at

i-report.com. if you are in position to take them safely, we'll continue to follow these for you throughout the day. >> very good. josh, thank you. americans sounding off. cnn express is on the road asking questions about the economy and health care.

cnn election express is on the road again. ali velshi talking about the good people about health care reform. where are you today? >> reporter: this is one of those things. you let me choose where i'm supposed to be. we're on the south side of chicago in front of jim's original polish sausage. it's been here for 70 years. we're on the south side of chicago. most times when we talk about the south side of chicago it's because of the high crime rate around here. it's a lovely area. there are some very impoverished areas.

we ran into one gentleman who fell on hard times. he was involved in a bad life. he says the key to turning things around is getting more jobs. listen to it in his words. >> you have all of that's people out here doing what they doing. a lot of crime. the economy is so bad, man. people is getting hungry, you know. hungry. speaking for me, you know, i'm not afraid to tell you i experience the lifestyle before. you can always come out of that lifestyle. it's hard to come out when you can't find no job. >> reporter: heidi, it's interesting to note that the south side of chicago has always had a problem in terms of crime and unemployment. unemployment is higher here. unemployment among african-americans tends to be much higher than that of the general population. this is not an area that was necessarily substantially harder hit by the recession but it has been harder hit as a result of the fact that it was already struggling. we're in this parking lot.

i ran into a gentleman who was on his way back from work. he's a forklift operator. he works for a freight company. you were busier a lot longer ago. how do you think things are now. what's your sense of how this economy is going? >> things have slowed down a lot like i was saying. we was busier. every freight company is slowing down. basically it's down to 40 hours. >> reporter: you were getting 80 hours a week? >> pretty much, yeah. >> reporter: are you seeing things picking up like some of the economists are saying? >> it's up and down. one day it will pick up. the next day it will be down. one week is up and next week is down. it's getting better but it's not like how it used to be. it will be a while before we get back to how it was in the first place. >> reporter: you picked yourself up a polish sausage here? >> yeah. pretty much. pick up polish sausage every once in a while. >> reporter: enjoy it.

we stopped you from eating your lunch. thank you for joining us. we're getting their sense of what's going on in the economy and health care and we'll bring it to you all day. >> very good. south side of the chicago today. thank you. there's also a lot going on this morning in the "newsroom." our cnn correspondents are ready to break it down for you working hard. let's begin with reynolds wolf on the california wildfires. reynolds, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. coming up we'll give you the latest on this fire. 2% contained. over 140,000 acres scorched and it's not over yet. i'm jacqui jeras in your hurricane headquarters. jimena may have made landfall but the worries aren't over yet. we're worried about flooding.

>> sean callebs in georgia where a mass murder happened last weekend. there's a court appearance today. he'll cover that for you. obviously audio trouble there. meanwhile also, soldiers committing suicide. it's happening more than you may know. next hour, we'll tell you what the army is doing about it. you like your health coverage, but worry what happens...

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independent voters help president obama win the white house but he must not be keeping them very happy. jessica yellin explains how independents are driving his approval rating down. >> reporter: health care deadlock. a ballooning deficit. and president obama is taking it on the chin. a new cnn opinion research poll shows the president's approval rating is now at 53% down three points in the last month. down 13 since april. driving the slide? independents. cnn polling shows for the first time a majority of independents, 53%, do not approve of the way the president is doing his job.

43% approve. should the president blame those falling numbers on his top issue, health care reform? >> passing a big bill like this is always messy. >> reporter: yes and no. 53% of americans disapprove of his handling of health care reform but guess what? the numbers are just as bad on general economic issues. when it comes to the president's handling of the deficit, only 36% approve. break it down and only 25% of independents approve. on taxes, 45% approve. only 35% of independents approve. those numbers have been on a downward slide for months. there is one group that's holding strong for the president. democrats. >> thank you so much for your unbelievable dedication. it's good to be here. >> reporter: cnn's polling shows in recent weeks the president

has gained support among democrats. >> that indicates that we may see the same pattern of polarization that we saw during george w. bush's administration reasserting itself. >> reporter: the issues on which the president is polling the lowest are the same issues the republicans have targeted. health care, the deficit, taxes. this could be a sign that republican pr machine is working or it could be the inevitable. most president's poll numbers do fall as they get further into their first year in office. jessica yellin, cnn, washington. bp says they hit a gusher in the gulf of mexico and it could be the biggest oil discovery in years. it's believed to be more than 6 billion barrels worth. that matches the u.s. consumption for 290 days. bp says the site could take years to develop. an exiled president is in washington this morning talking about his ouster and efforts to

return him to power. secretary of state hillary clinton is scheduled to meet with zelaya tomorrow. a key member of afghanistan's government is among the victim of a deadly suicide bombing this morning. at least 23 people are dead. the deputy director of intelligence was among those killed in the blast outside a mosque near the capital of kabul. >> just days ago we heard these chilling words from this 911 caller as he described a horrible discovery. his family members dead inside their home. this hour that caller, guy heinze jr. is in a georgia court. our sean callebs is live in brunswick with the latest.

sean, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. we can tell you that there's been a delay at the moment in guy heinze's court appearance. scheduled to start at 9:30 eastern time. that's been delayed for at least an hour while the attorneys confer with the judge. we're not sure what's causing that. guy heinze made that passionate and rambling long 911 call on saturday night after coming to a trailer and finding eight people dead including some of his family members. we did speak to his attorney yesterday. heinze has been charged with drug possession, obstruction of justice and tampering with evidence. in discussing this with his attorney, ron harrison, he flat out denied that heinze has anything to do with the murder. when asked about the drug possession charges, that's something they focused on today. in terms of tampering with evidence, according to the arrest warrant, it accuses heinze of taking a shotgun outside of the mobile home, the trailer, and then putting it

inside a car. in terms of obstruction of justice, he's accused of misleading the authorities what he was doing up until the time of those murders. >> as a reminder, he's not been named as a suspect, correct? >> reporter: right. he's not been named as a suspect but according to the defense attorney, he's not been completely ruled out either. there's a certain sense of frustration. his attorney yesterday speaking very short in sentences when we asked him about this yesterday. what we do know, heinze is related to -- his father was killed in the mobile home. as far as others killed in the mobile home, a father, two sons, including one with down syndrome, an uncle and two family friends. during a 911 call heinze said it looked like the victims had been beaten to death. published reports this morning indicate that the victims could have been shot and killed. >> all right. so are they looking for other suspects then, sean?

>> reporter: that's the big question. the authorities have simply provided no information to people in this community. we talked about that yesterday. that sense of frustration continues to build here in this area. the fact that authorities aren't telling them anything. you have eight murders in a small coastal town like this. it's what everyone is talking about. they would like some answers. >> very good. sean callebs following the story for us as it develops. brunswick, georgia, it this morning. thank you. three months ago he allegedly entered the u.s. holocaust memorial museum with a gun, a plan and hatred in his heart. today james von brunn may answer for it in person at a federal court hearing in washington. von brunn who is now 89 years old is an admitted white supremacist accused of shooting and killing museum guard stephen johns. the other guards returned fire and wounded von brunn. a third suspect in the murder of a prominent texas doctor is being held without

bail right now. he was arrested last night in a houston apartment. dr. jorge mario gonzalez was killed august 22nd. the other two suspects in the killing were arrested by texas rangers last week. they are also being held without bail. firefighters getting some help from the weather right now as they battle a massive blaze near los angeles. the so-called station fire has charred around 200 square miles but has slowed considerably. the progress is allowing thousands of residents to return home. our reynolds wolf is live in california this morning. that's a little bit of good news with people starting slowly to go back home. >> reporter: absolutely. there has been some great news about this. some of the fresh information we have from this morning is that it is now 22% contained. we're talking about a fire that's already eaten up about 140,000 acres. it's still spreading in some places. they have a better handle on

others. right now the place where it is spreading is a bit in parts of the southeast corner of the fire. it's moving into virgin wilderness and an area called devil's canyon. fire crews are trying to hold the blaze back best they can. it is moving into areas that have been untouched for decades. plenty of fuel there. a lot of dry wood. a lot of foliage there. and again there's a good chance that it could move that direction. of course it's been moving close to mt. wilson which if you're familiar with parts of southern california, if you're flying into lax, it's one of the first things you see is the mountainside with antennas on the top. that's a key communication hub for television stations and radio stations and cell towers but for many of the emergency crews. yesterday and last night when crews were battling the fire along that mountain as it is trying to make its way up, they're doing a good job holding it off. the fire itself cooperating by moving slowly but it was nearly impossible for the crews to speak to each other because of

all of the interference caused by the transmitters that you have at the top of the hill. certainly frustrating endeavor for them. today they're going to go ahead and staying aggressive and it they have planes going out in mere minutes. they have all of the aircraft. a full fleet talking helicopters, fixed wing aircraft. talking the last couple days about the dc-10 going up and the 747. we happened to go up in the hills. you're seeing video right now and see these things fly very close by. just amazing to watch them drop the fire retardant trying to stop that blaze. they have a full team of bulldozers going back there combing right through that foliage trying to cut those fire lanes trying to keep the flames from going from one branch or tree to another. certainly a tough endeavor. good news but far from over. they're very optimistic but at the same time overly cautious. they have a lot of work ahead of them. >> thanks for the update. appreciate it. south of the fire the threat is hurricane jimena.

battering the central coast of baja, california, right now. jacqui jeras in the cnn weather center tracking it all of the way. good morning, jacqui. >> we've had landfall now. that was over an hour ago already. this storm still battering parts of baja, california. additional weakening will take place. the good news is this a not a very populated area. the storm unfortunately, however, will stall out in the upcoming days so we're concerned about heavy rainfall and threat of flooding in addition to mudslides and there you can see the forecast position as things slows down and lingers as we head into the weekend. unfortunately we have another video piece that we want to show you. this coming in from inland 50 miles are so. there you can see the reporter getting whipped by the rain and wind to give you an idea of what the conditions have been like.

now, in the atlantic we have another storm. this is tropical storm erika. there you can see it has been weakening a bit. 45-mile-per-hour winds. been encountering wind sheer on the western side of the storm so we think there won't be a lot of strengthening in the coming days. the southwest coast needs to continue to monitor erika as we approach next week. the gulf coast not ruled out just yet but it looks like a weak storm at least throughout the weekend. heidi? >> we like the sound of that. jacqui jeras, hurricane headquarters. thank you. this summer has been a long, steady slide for president obama. approval is slipping for him again. his overall approval rating is 53%. that's down three points from july and down eight points from june. so who is driving the numbers down? independent voters. for the first time a majority of them don't like what the president is doing. the latest numbers show 53% of independents disapprove.

only 43% of them are happy with his performance. one more poll that caught our attention. look at this now. it shows 90% of democrats approve of the job president obama is doing. 85% of republicans disapprove. obviously you can see for yourself the difference there. quite a divide. our question to you today, do you think the country is more divided under president obama than ever? also tell us if you would why or why not. go to our blog at cnn.com/heidi and post your thoughts. it is perfectly normal for students to feel anxious when s.a.t.s are around the corner. helping students overcome these anxieties has become a multimillion dollar industry and some are asking if that's the way it should be. prilosec otc.

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there you see the top stories countdown clock. top stories now just about seven minutes and i can look at it for a long type. 42 seconds away. we'll bring them to you in just a moment. teachers in georgia are getting a few extra days off from school this year but not by choice. the state is trying to offset a $9 million budget shortfall by furloughing state workers. teachers will be forced to take three days off without pay. other states are considering similar plans. more than 800 universities have made the s.a.t. optional

for most applicants because some feel it's not the best indicator of college success. statistics show the wealthier the parents are the high the students' scores on the s.a.t.s. here's carol costello. >> reporter: they are the buzz words in the s.a.t. biz. test anxiety. >> i started as a teacher and tutor. private tutor working with people in their homes. after a while i felt more like a text prep therapist. >> reporter: ed carroll says parents desire to cure test anxiety has transformed what was a simple test into a growth industry. take new york's princeton review. this for profit tax prep service pulled in $138.7 million last year in revenue and it's just one of hundreds of such services across the country.

never mind the mind who oversees the s.a.t. says such anxiety beating services are unnecessary. >> i tell parents and students keep it in perspective. it's just one thing they look at. they look at your grades. they look at what else you do. sports. athletics, music. art. >> reporter: the college board, the nonprofit organization that offered that advice sells its own online course for $69.95 and offers a study guide for $29.99. that bothers robert schaffer, the consumer watchdog group that opposes all standardized tests from no child left behind to the s.a.t. he claims the college board's drive to make money has impacted its mission to "connect students to college success and opportunity." >> it's a huge business. multiple hundreds of millions of dollars a year in test and test prep material that come out of our parents' pockets and into the pockets of test makers.

>> reporter: the college board does generate big money. according to the 2007 federal tax returns, the college board pulled in some $621 million. because it's nonprofit, it's tax exempt. while the college board would not comment on camera about how much money it brings in, it did tell us we do not generate profits. all revenues from our products, services or grants are reinvested into improved services that support our mission. but schafer says the nonprofit uses a lot of revenue to line pockets of executives. >> the top officers allegedly a nonprofit organization earn $500,000 to $800,000 a year. that's where lots of that money is going. >> reporter: according to 2007 tax returns, the president of the college board made nearly $900,000 in salary, benefits and perks and 12 of the nonprofit's top executives made more than

$300,000 a year in salary and benefits. schafer says that's excessive. he would rather see the money make the test more fair for students who can't afford the college prep cases. the college board says it already does that. >> we have lots of free programs and services. each year we give away $50 million worth of free services to low income students. >> reporter: as one expert put it, what citizens expect of a nonprofit and what the law says are two entirely different things. it's not illegal for a nonprofit to turn a profit so to speak as long as the monies go back into the organization. it's not against the law for nonprofits to pay their executives high salaries. the fact is generally speaking, there are many large nonprofits who pay their executives just as much or more as the college board. carol costello, cnn, washington. on the front lines in the fight against the swine flu. the government's new drive to

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our top stories now. right to die arguments are being heard today in montana supreme court. the case was brought by a 75-year-old korean war vet that died of leukemia in december. the argument is that patients should able to obtain drugs from their doctor and commit suicide if that's what she choose to do. incredible video from our affiliate in madison, wisconsin. this bicyclist was hit by an suv

running a red light at a downtown intersection. the driver of the suv is identified as welcome state representative fred clark. officials say the cyclist was released this week and clark is due in court on charges of running a red light. atlanta area police are looking for a man who was handcuffed and put in the back of a cruiser only to turn around and steal the car. the suspect seen here on dash cam video had been arrested for dui. when the arresting officer went to search the uhaul the suspect was driving, the suspect got in the front seat of the cruiser and drove off. he ditched the cruiser 20 miles away. as schools reopen across the country, the number of people worried about the swine flu virus has doubled since may. a cnn opinion research corporation poll shows 39% of those questioned are worried a

family member will get the h1n1 virus. another 17% say they are not worried now but have been in the past few months. most americans 59% in fact are confident in the government's ability to prevent a nationwide swine flu epidemic. some cities have already begun outlining several ways to battle the virus this school year. jason carroll has more details. >> reporter: with children across the country back in school or heading back, parents have concerns about another h1n1 or swine flu outbreak and what is being done out about. the short answer, it depends on where you live. >> a key goal this fall is to keep schools open and in session even if some students come down with the flu. >> reporter: closing schools this fall a last resort in new york city where h1n1 forced the temporary closing of 57 schools this past spring. now, the city's back to school plan includes free vaccinations for elementary school students.

>> our current plan is to offer them to students in every elementary school in the city, public and private. >> reporter: free vaccines will begin in october once shipments arrive and flu centers will be opened to help ease hospital overcrowding. in the spring outbreak, city officials estimate that 1 million people came down with the illness bracing for the next wave the president says vaccines are on the way nationwide and urge state health officials to do their part. >> we need state and local governments on the front lines to make antiviral medications and vaccines available. >> reporter: also hit by h1n1, texas, 34 deaths. in california, 128. san francisco has a plan similar to new york's. flu clinics will be set up to vaccinate high risk people including school children in october. by mid november, free vaccinations will be available on site in schools. in houston, texas, no plans for flu clinics at this time or free

shots. houston's health department anticipating immunizations will be set up through private entities." they say that h1n1 is so unpredictable, it's best for states to develop their own responses. some medical experts say city health officials are in a better position. >> they know the city best. they know the experience that happened this spring with h1n1 best. soldiers committing suicide at an alarming rate. we reveal the military's plan to help save lives. 's what doctorsd most for headaches. for arthritis pain... in your hands... knees... and back. for little bodies with fevers..

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suicides increasing at an alarming rate in the military. according to army data, there were 96 reported suicides among active duty soldiers between january 1st and july 31st of

this year. that compares to 79 suicides over the same time period last year. there is new research being conducted on military suicides hoping to help with prevention. doctor, thank you for being with us. i want to talk to you more about this long-term study looking at this tragic problem of military suicides. what exactly have you been able to find out? >> the study just started. we initiated the study in july of this year. we have a team of investigators from the uniform service center from harvard and university of michigan we brought on board to look at this problem and risk of factors related to suicide in soldiers. >> what is the national institute of mental health, what sort of role do they play? >> the army reached out to nimh

in june of 2008 and asked us if we would be able to bring the best science to bear on this problem whether we give them any new ways of looking at the problem that would suggest different strategies for intervention and prevention. this is the type of thing that we do. we put a challenge out to the field to ask our investigators to come up with the most creative solutions to the problem that would yield real world practical interventions. we have a great team that's been assembled to do this. >> we know it has just begun. i'm curious at this point, i'm sure you have a little feedback. why do you think the suicide rate is so high in the military? >> one thing that we know about suicide is it is a highly complex phenomenon. it really is the result of many factors that interact over time to create states of increasing risk. the suicide rate may be the

equivalent of the canary in the coal mine telling us the military is under tremendous stress and during this extended period of high operational tempo, factors to build the resilience and to increase the reserve of the soldiers is really something that is required at this point. hopefully the study will find some clues for how to do that. >> absolutely. why has it taken so long for this type of study to be done? >> well, you know, i will say that even on the civilian side this type of study haven't been able to be conducted yet. reasons being that suicide is a relatively rare phenomena. you need large samples to study the causes of suicide. you need a platform for collecting multiple types of data that can be followed over time. on the civilian side we haven't

had a platform to be able to do it. it's a sign of the army's dedication and really courage in looking at the problem with fresh eyes that they made their system available to us as a tool for understanding what are probably multiple factors related to suicide. >> interesting. all right. we are continuing to follow the issue here as always. doctor, thank you so much. we'll continue to follow that story. combatting stress and mental health problems in the military. the army does have a plan and it it begins with intensive training for all 1 million of its soldiers. barbara starr tells us how it will work. >> reporter: basic training at ft. jackson, south carolina. soldiers learning battlefield skills. but with suicides, alcohol use and divorce rates on the rise in the army, troops are now being taught how to cope when life goes wrong. >> did you change the situation?

what can you change? your reaction to it, okay. that will help to limit your frustration and stress when it does come around. >> reporter: we came to ft. jackson for a firsthand look at how the army is teaching mental resiliency to every new soldier making the program a good choice. >> the time to instill those skills is before you need them. >> reporter: a flight surgeon during the first gulf war she was on a rescue mission when her helicopter was shut doot down a held captive for eight days. >> when i wasn't dead when i woke up, then i was a prisoner of war but that was the best possible outcome. >> reporter: she suffered two broken arms in the crash and was sexually molested by her iraqi captors but refused to let the horrifying experience haunt her.

she believes troops can be taught to do the same. >> i came into that experience a very resilient person. i had other challenges in my life. i had automatically applied that kind of thinking. >> reporter: under her program, soldiers will answer a questionnaire on how they cope with stress. all aimed at assessing their emotional and mental resilience. every soldier from private to general will get training on how to improve those skills. >> if you have better coping skills and if when your girl or boyfriend dumps you, you don't think i'm unloveable. i'll never find anybody else. i was really a failure. instead of thinking that, you think, you're sad and you're disappointed in your partner and sometimes in yourself but you get over it. >> reporter: commanders hope all of this training will teach young soldiers the emotional and mental strength they need to go to war and come home to a

healthy life. barbara starr, cnn, ft. jackson, south carolina. >> many service men and women face mental health issues after going to the most common post-traumatic stress disorder. it is one of the illnesses treated at a brand new facility set to open in the spring of 2010. construction shots there. the privately funded national center will open in bethesda, maryland. it will treat troops those with severe brain injury and those with ptss. laura ling and luna lee admitted they were arrested in china. they blame their guide for leading them across the border and believe he may have tipped off north korean soldiers. they were held for five months before their release last month.

in time in captivity, they say it's still painful to talk about. cnn express on the road again. ali velshi traveling across the midwest talking to people about the economy and health care reform. hi there, ali. south side of chicago today, right? >> reporter: that's right. i'm on the south side of chicago in front of jim's original polish sausage. 24 hours a day including breakfast. we're at 95 and the dan ryan. we have friends from the radio show here. perry, do you this every day. you do the morning drive show. you're talking to people every day about their concerns about the economy. what's your basic sense about what people in chicago in an urban setting think about what's going on? >> one of the things that's so disturbing to a lot of people that we talk to is the fact that there are so many people who

don't care. there are no humanity anymore. people don't care about the welfare and health of other people. i think that's bothersome. i don't think it's even so much about themselves but they can't believe that the debate has gotten as ugly as it has. >> reporter: matt, you were telling me you have callers with reaction to that. they are upset about the way the debate about health care has been going. >> our listeners and callers are expressing the need for health care reform. they don't like the images they see on television when they see other communities pushing back against health care reform. they want government to be involved. they want to know that government makes a difference in their lives. they're not fearful of government getting involved in their lives especially as it pertains to health care reform. people need health care. we know the numbers out here of uninsured. the numbers don't lie. they're more than numbers being reported. >> you think a lot of people are pushing back saying the media is reporting numbers of uninsured too high and you say it's the

opposite? >> there's no way you can make me believe there are only 40 million people in this country that don't have health care with all of the layoffs and the loss of manufacturing jobs, with the fact that you have so many people and especially within the african-american community and latino community who are dying every day because they cannot get preventive health care. >> reporter: that's a lot of the sentiment that we get on the south side of chicago. a lot of support for the president's initiative or at least some initiative to reform health care. still a lot of support for this administration. a lot of concern, heidi, specifically about jobs. there's been a real link between jobs and poverty in some parts of the south side and of course that poverty link is linked to the amount of crime often reported on the south side. everybody making the economic link right here on the south side of chicago. >> all right. thanks, ali. cities struggling to make ends meet now making the hard choices. what's your city doing to get by during the tough times? ayer.

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top stories now, fire crews in california say cooler weather is helping them gain ground against a huge fire in angeles national forest. it's 22% contained so far. more than 140,000 acres have burned. 62 homes and three other buildings destroyed. the man who called 911 after eight people were killed at a j mobile home is in court this morning. sean callebs is live in brunswick, georgia, this morning. sean? >> reporter: good morning. we can tell you there have been a delay earlier. the hearing was scheduled to gibb at 9:30 eastern time.

presumably it started a short while ago. we do have a producer inside waiting to get word. he's facing three charges. he's not publicly been identified as a suspect in this eight brutal killing. what he is charged with is possession of drugs. authorities say they found a small prescription bottle with pot and a prescription drug in it. they charged him with obstruction of justice because he lied to investigators on what he was doing leading up to the time of the murders and tampering with evidence. he's accused of taking a shotgun outside of the trailer where the eight people were found dead and putting it in his car. i spoke to his attorney yesterday and denied that guy heinze had anything to do with the killing and said he would address the rest of the charges here later on today. right now that's the very latest. there's indeed a sense of frustration in this small coastal town. authorities simply aren't saying or providing any kind of information. we tried a number of times to speak with them to see if they have leads to try and settle

nerves in this area somewhat but not hearing a thing. >> all right. we know you're working it hard. thank you so much. sean callebs for us in brunswick, georgia for us this morning. southwest airlines has until december 24th to repair the planes. the faa and boeing each say the parts don't compromise the jet's safety. a maintenance company hired by southwest used parts that had not been approved by the faa. the recession is hitting main street and hitting it hard. tax receipts are falling in cities across the country struggling to balance their budget. when that happens, officials have just two options. either cut spending or raise taxes. stephanie elam has details on a new survey of city governments. good morning to you, stephanie. >> reporter: good morning. it's really a rough position for american cities. raising taxes, cutting spending and in fact nine in ten cities finance officers say it will be

difficult to meet fiscal needs this year and most believe the worst is really yet to come. that's according to the national league of cities and this is the most pessimistic outlook in the report's 24-year history. here's how cities are coping. 67% are laying off workers or instituting a hiring freeze. 62% are delaying or canceling infrastructure projects and 45% have increase fees for services. think garbage collection and overdue library books and water use and the like. that's how they make their money. >> we have been getting signs of stabilization and i use the word very loosely in the economy. so why do cities expect that their budget problems could get worse. >> reporter: there is a delay for when cities feel the effect of a recession. that's because cities collect revenues at a few specific points during the year. there's a lag time before economic shifts affect city budgets. that lag time could be anywhere from 18 months to several years. a big lag time. here are the biggest issues. first, property taxes.

they're expecting to grow less than 2% this year and then fall for the next three years. home values are adjusted to reflect fallen value. sales taxes are expected to fall nearly 4% this year since people aren't shopping and keep in mind that income taxes are expected to fall 1.3% so you have a pie here to see this. you can really blame that because of rising unemployment for that and that's actually causing such an issue for cities here. with that in mind a quick check of the markets. i can tell you that we've been dancing around the flat line most of the morning here. same story right now. >> all right. stephanie elam this morning. thanks. it may be one of the biggest oil finds of the decade. bp says it has drilled one of the deepest wells ever discovered. poppy harlow has a look at this. our energy fix from new york. it's great news but it will take a while to get the oil out, yes?

>> reporter: it will take a long time. it shows us oil is here to stay. it's going to take some time to determine how much oil we're talking about. bp said this morning there could be more than $3 billion barrels in that well that they located. it was about 250 miles southeast of houston in the gulf of mexico where so much drilling is already taking place. we will not use this oil any time soon. let's be clear here. there's a big lag between when you find this oil and when it hits the market. actually, another one of bp's big discoveries in the gulf of mexico was named thunder horse and that find took ten years to produce oil. a big lag time. >> yeah. given that time lag, discoveries are like are an argument for more drilling and drilling now. >> reporter: your right. this flies in the face of the argument for drilling now to bring oil prices down now. we heard it last summer. drill, baby, drill. oil prices are high. with a ten-year lag it won't

affect oil prices at that time. the oil industry, however, they want to tap more areas. you hear a lot of talk about alaska's arctic national wildlife refuge. opponents say it doesn't make sense to drill there because the industry isn't even drilling in areas it already has leases on. as of last summer oil companies had access to 90 million offshore acres around the u.s. to drill. democrat and oil industry sources say about 70 million of those aren't producing oil right now. that's the argument against it. on the other hand, you have people on the oil industry side saying it takes years of exploration before we can start drilling and we find leases and some don't have oil. it's a heated battle that continues. >> definitely. what does this find mean for increased renewable energy in the country? >> reporter: probably not great. the president made it a priority promising to double renewable energy production in the next three years. government subsidies playing a

big part in this. we saw citigroup and morgan stanley invest more than $100 million in wind farms. they're betting on renewables. look at that pie chart. that blue sliver is energy supply in the u.s. it's the most recent data we have. compared to yellow it's really nothing at this point. what's clear from this is oil is not going away any time soon. an oil analyst said the technology to find this oil is getting better. companies can reach in places they just couldn't before. >> understood. all right. poppy harlow with our energy fix. thank you. one named storm made landfall and another one spinning toward land and jacqui jeras is tracking both of them for us. what's the deal? >> hot in off the press. newest updates and advise are rin on both of those storms. we'll have the latest coming up in just a minute. we all have confidence

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>> larry: when you hear all of the things that the police report say did you, how do you react to that? >> wow. i'm in shock. first of all, that's not who i am as a person. that's not who i pride myself on being. when i look at the police reports or i hear about the police reports, i don't know what to think. >> larry: do you remember doing it? >> no. >> larry: don't remember doing

it? >> it's crazy. wow. >> sing ee eer chris brown talko larry king about assaulting rihanna. he says he loves her despite being separated by a court order. he says he want to be a better role model. you can catch the full interview tonight on cnn. two storms and two oceans. hurricanes jimena hit last hour along mexico's southern baja peninsula. most populated areas and resorts on the southern tip escaped the worst of it. in the atlantic tropical storm erika formed now. it is churning near the leeward islands. we have our eye on both of these. jacqui jeras keeping very busy in the hurricane headquarters. right now things look okay, right? >> so far. you know, we're waiting obviously to get more reports out of mexico but it is great to know that the big populated

areas here certainly got missed. we did have landfall about an hour and a half or so ago near alleges island right here that we'll circle for you. it moves north and will go back over the open waters here. at this time we're not that worried about it. the reason why is because check out the water temperatures with this thing. this is the area that we're talking about and look at that blue. that's indicative of much colder water. difficult to sustain intensity when you look at conditions like that. now, the biggest thing that we're worried about outside of some of the surge and heavy winds as a result of this right now is that it will be stalling out. this thing will just creep along as we head into the weekend. it's going to still be lingering across baja, california. there's been a lot of drought in texas li tex mexico so they need the rain. we talk 5 to 10 inches or 15, that will be a problem for these

folks. we're looking at flooding and mudslides very likely. on to erika now, tropical storm that's been weakening. very poorly organized. encountering winds sheer on the southwestern side of the storm and you can really see on the satellite how nice and big this storm was. as you look at the later versions it kind of weakens down a bit there. 40 miles per hour maximum sustained wind and there you can see the forecast track has changed on both intensity and the track of it a bit as well. it's still something we'll have to watch for the united states and the models have not been green 100%. this is storm pulse.com and if you take a look at the spaghetti models come curve to the north. others bring it toward cuba and others toward the u.s. this is going to be something we'll be watching of course in the upcoming days and as for the folks out in california and the threat ongoing out there with the fires, still very poor air quality today. winds continue to be life.

jimena not going to bring any relief in terms of rainfall but that monsoon flow trying to get in but that could mean thunderstorms for today and of course that's going to bring erratic winds and also the threat of lightning to go along with that. rest of the country looks great for the most part. some storms in kansas and that's it. >> those trouble spots in the west. all right. jacqui jeras, sure do appreciate that. in just a moment we'll bring you some more information about our blog question today. there's new approval ratings out on president obama. those numbers are down. there are big differences between what republicans think and democrats think. we've been asking you, do you think we live in a more divided country now more than ever? bring it to you in a moment. that's why you should consider... an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by united healthcare insurance company. it can help cover some zd what medicare doesn't... so you could save up to thousands of dollars... in out-of-pocket expenses. call now for this free information kit...

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a new cnn poll shows 90% of democrats approve of the job president obama is doing. 85% of republicans disapprove. now, that is quite a divide as you can tell. we've been asking you all day today, do you think we live in a more divided country now more than ever under president obama? here's what you were saying. quite a few responses in today. let's get straight to them. the republicans did not vote for president obama and they are still trying to undo the election. it has nothing to do with what the president does. republicans will oppose it. this one, too. and then this one as well --

we're back in a moment.

a white sum recommend sift is scheduled to appear in court. 89-year-old von brunn has not been seen in public since the june attack. he could face the death penalty if convicted.