president obama's chief of staff may have one foot out the door. rahm emanuel expected to announce friday he's stepping down so that he can run for his dream job, mayor of chicago. we have our suzanne malveaux traveling with the president this morning. she'll join us live with the latest on his departure. seven former members of the u.s. air force claiming aliens in ufos have visited earth to deliver a warning. and they want the government to come clean. could it be that we have been visited by e.t.? >> hope so. meantime, the a.m. fix blog is up and running. go to cnn.com/amfix. we begin with a developing story out of iraq. an american service member now in custody suspected of fatally shooting two u.s. soldiers and wounding a third. >> military officials say they died in a "noncombat incident"

in fallujah. barbara starr is live at the pentagon. this is a very, very tragic story. what are your sources telling you about what may have happened? >> well, john and kiran, this is the most terrible news for two military families, of course. the military announcing it does have a soldier in custody regarding this case. the man in custody is identified by the military as specialist neftali platero. suspected in shooting deaths of two soldiers. the two men died in this incident -- let's identify them for everyone. that is specialist john carillo, 20 years old of stockton, california, and nunan, 26, of watertown, connecticut. now they died on friday from what the military initially announced, indeed, as a non-combat incident. both men, part of the third

infantry division out of ft. stewart, georgia. but specialist carrillo's mother told a local news affiliate that when she was informed about her son's death she was not told that it was suspected that another soldier had shot him. and that she only learned that from local news media and an internet search. no word from the pentagon this hour about why the families were not told right off the top that another soldier was suspected in the death of their loved ones. >> meantime in afghanistan, our drew griffin had a piece last night about soldiers accused of killing civilians and using drugs, as well. in light of this story in iraq, can you sort of illuminate for us the stresses that soldiers are facing in the battle zones? >> you're absolutely right. that question always comes up. is it battlefield stress that contributes to this? but let's be very clear, tens of

thousands of u.s. troops have served very honorably over the years in both iraq and afghanistan under terrible combat stress. many of them coming home, getting counseling, trying to piece their lives back together. but they serve very honorably. these are cases, these are allegations we are talking about of felony criminal behavior, combat stress, no excuse for any of that. these people will all be dealt with by the military justice system. they will be tried, and they are innocent until proven guilty. john, kiran. >> certainly the last thing you expect, though. you know, of course, there's dangers overseas. you don't expect it's going to be because of one of your own. barbara, thanks so much. the cia stepping up drone missile strikes in northwestern pakistan along the border with afghanistan. officials tell, cnn, it's based on precise elements of disrupting terrorist plots. the tribal region has been

targeted 65 times. and there have been more attacks this month than at any other time. the cia campaign of drone strikes has angered pakistanis because of the civilian death toll associated with them. looks like he is indeed running. white house sources are telling cnn it's "all but certain" that president obama's tough-talking chief of staff rahm emanuel will announce friday he is leaving the white house. >> emanuel always wanted to run for mayor of chicago, and the job is open after several decades. the president has one request of his long-time confidant, and that is hurry and up and decide. suzanne malveaux is up bright and early where the president's going to have another backyard conversation about jobs. what are you hearing about the potential departure from the white house? >> reporter: yeah, looks like he might actually get his wish here.

it looks like multiple sources telling cnn that it's very likely that he's going to go ahead and step his hat into the ring there. he's been talking, consulting with his family. he got a very public nudge from the president yesterday saying, look, you've got to decide rather quickly. and he could actually make that announcement as early as this friday. why? the timing of this very important. he's got a lot of work to do. he has over 12,000 petitions that have to be signed. these signatures before november 22nd. that before the february 22nd primary for the race. so he's going to have to get busy. he's going to have to get on this. we do expect to hear an announcement within days. very likely the possibility, the deputy chief of staff very well respected at the white house would step in as the interim chief of staff until the president decides who is actually going to fill his shoes. but john and kiran, as you know, very difficult to fill rahm emanuel's shoes and his character, as well.

>> so he's certainly a colorful member of the administration, as is the vice president joe biden. he was in new hampshire yesterday and here's one of the quotes. he told democrats remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives. is that the message the white house wants him sending right now? stop the whining? >> reporter: you know, kiran, absolutely. it might sound a little harsh to some in the base there because some people have said, look, you haven't done everything we want you to do. but the vice president, the president, as well, they've been saying, look, there are clear choices here. let's not give up. there are clear choices. vice president biden saying he doesn't believe the democrats are going to lose the house and senate, but they've got a lot of work to do. only five weeks left to go. what they're trying to do is essentially get the base out there and get those surge voters, that's about 15 million people who came out the last go round to vote for president obama back in 2008. they need those young voters, they need minority voters, they need those folks sitting on

their hands right now. and that's why you're hearing some of that language, if you will, get off your duff and do something. we're going to hear some more of that language too. today president obama's going to be holding this backyard discussion here in albuquerque, new mexico. but later, we expect about 15,000 people to gather at the university of wisconsin, madison campus. that's where you're going to see that campaign rally trying to get the magic of the campaign, the energy of the campaign back so they can get some of those voters out for the midterm elections. john, kiran? >> well, nobody accused joe biden of not speaking his mind ever. >> reporter: he and rahm emanuel. >> thanks. we'll see you again soon. also new this morning, extreme weather. the water still rising in wisconsin. the government has declared a state of emergency in columbia county. the river is expected to peak again this morning. officials say at least 100 homes are in danger and they're not sure how far south the flood

waters could go if a levee that has been crumbling all weekend totally fails. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center in atlanta this morning watching it all for us. and heck of a rainstorm we had up and down the east coast yesterday, rob. >> yeah, you mentioned it's expected to peak again. kind of a double crest. we were hoping it would continue to recede yesterday, but it is holding steady and expected to go below flood stage not until maybe as late as thursday afternoon. so issues for them and continued pressure on that crumbling levee as you mentioned. and the pattern is going to keep it there. wet start to your day in washington, d.c. flash flood watches out in and around the d.c. area. it's got a bit of a tropical connection, guys. so we'll discuss all those possibilities and much, much more, plus a record-breaking heat -- 113 yesterday in los angeles. all time record highs out there after a record-breaking cold

summer. >> it's going to feel downright freezing today when it's 88 there. >> it's so funny when you look at fashion and see the people in l.a. wearing boots and scarves and hats. they want to dress like fall even though it's 88. >> that's the way the stars play. it's how you look, not how you feel. >> it's been a cool summer, they could use a warm day. >> exactly. well, country is coming home. for the first time since flood waters devastated nashville, the grand ole opry returns tonight. country star trace atkins showed our amber lyon around. they're here, and according to the members of the air force, they're not happy with us. a lot of jaws dropped yesterday. six former officers talking about ufo sightings through the '60s, '70s, and '80s.

>> they stopped after that? >> they decided they didn't like -- after the '80s they said, wow, we're getting out of this place. they're convinced that extraterrestrials have been visiting our nuclear facilities and deactivated missiles at a base in montana in 1967. >> i believe, these gentlemen believe this planet has been visited by beings by another world who for whatever reason have taken an interest in the nuclear arms race which began at the end of world war ii. regarding the missile shutdown incidents, my opinion, their opinion is that whoever are aboard these craft are sending a signal to both washington and moscow among others that we are playing with fire. that the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons potentially threatens the human race and the integrity of the planetary environment. >> just a note here. he only looks like howard

hessman, he's not. the u.n. apparently wants to be prepared. they're said to appoint an astro physicist from malaysia to coordinate mankind's response when they arrive. >> we need to find out more about this. >> doesn't the u.n. have more important things to do? >> yeah. >> and this is not a knock on all you ufo believers out there this morning. >> when you've got six guys out there -- very, very seriously talking about this, and saying and claiming on top of it that the government sought to suppress that evidence -- >> when you consider that the closest star where there could even potentially be life and they don't think there's a possibility of it is four light years away. what are the chances that people have come to visit -- >> people? i don't know if they're people. >> or anything. >> maybe they have faster vehicles. maybe they can bend the time space continuum. >> we're getting heavy this

morning. let's switch topics. >> dissertation on the theory of special relative coming up after the break. no, we're actually talking about some new questions after that unbelievable gas line explosion that took place in san bruno, california. there's a new report out that shows a dramatic increase in leaks at pipelines maintained by the company pacific gas and electric. we're digging deeper on that, as well. it's 12 minutes past the hour.

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it's coming up now on 15 minutes after the hour. pacific gas and electric, the operator of the san bruno, california, pipeline that exploded earlier this month has reported gas leaks six times the national average. according to the "los angeles times" pg&e has reported dozens of leaks near highly populated or environmentally sensitive areas since 2004. the ntsb is investigating the san bruno blast which killed seven people. more than 100 people protesting mountain-top coal mining have been released. they were arrested yesterday outside the white house. the demonstrators are from

several appalachian coal states. they say mountain-top mining destroys historic ranges, poisons water supplies, and pollutes the air. former alaskan governor sarah palin was front row at "dancing with the stars" last night to cheer on her daughter bristol. she told the show's host that she thought bristol's dancing was "amazing" and it's "great to see this courage, joy, and exuberance". >> you asked her who was your favorite dancer, and she said, you know, they're all great. and all the judges are too. >> and then she said it's like before a hockey game, you don't want to upset the referees. being very politically neutral. >> then there's a little bit of controversy was she booed? was she not booed? did the audience boo when he said her name? >> when he introduced her, i heard some people cheer. but there was booing prior to her introduction. who knows what that was for.

>> there's a lot of booing on the show. when the audience doesn't get the score they want, they boo, as well. well, under the new health care law, children as we talked about can remain on their parents' insurance until their 26 years old. well, that's not the case for military families. we'll explain why and what's being done to fix it. we're minding your business coming up. it's 17 minutes past the hour. e. and like that, we had a new side to our business. [ male announcer ] when the martinez family saw an opportunity, the hartford was there. protecting their employees and property, and helping them prepare for the future. nice boots. nice bag. [ male announcer ] see how the hartford helps businesses at achievewhatsahead.com.

20 minutes past the hour. christine romans is here minding your business for us this morning. she joins us with an interesting

story about health care. a lot was made of the fact that children could stay on their parents' insurance until they were 26 years old, except military children. why is that? >> that's because military benefits were set aside during health care reform, the debate. and when this was all going on. they said, look, your military benefits will not be affected by health care reform. while the rest of the country, the children of people in the rest of the country up to age 26 can stay on their parents' insurance, not so for military -- the children of military veterans and for active military. they stay on until 21 or 23 if they are in college. so every single day, you guys, i get a letter from a veteran or active military saying this isn't fair. it isn't fair the rest of the country can stay on until 26 and my kid rolls off at 23. >> this was an oversight, not intentional? >> this was an oversight. this was something that did not get addressed in health care reform. and i think that the architects of health care reform didn't

understand how much dust this would kick up. now you have military family advocates who are pushing very, very hard to fix it. there was a fix in the defense bill, didn't go anywhere. there's several other fixes. but congress has to fix this if they want to extend these benefits. how much would it cost? well, it would cover up to 700,000 people, cost about $170 million or $2,200 per child. this is something that, in fact, many of the military groups want done. there's bipartisan support to fix it. but there's also bipartisan concern that you're admitting you didn't do health care reform right if you start going in there and tweaking some of the things -- >> there's no possibility of fixing it before the midterms, but how long after that? >> everyone wants to fix it. there just hasn't been a vehicle yet that's gotten all the way through. we'll see. but in the meantime if this means you're 25 years old and your mom is a military veteran or active military, you cannot

stay on their insurance. if you're 25 years old and your parent works for a private company, you can. >> minding your business, thanks so much. americans and religion. how much do we know about the religion that we practice? you'll be surprised to find out. it's 23 minutes after the hour.

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it's 25 minutes after the hour. you may consider yourself a person of faith, but do you really know god?

the research center found that most americans failed a quiz asking some of the most basic questions about religion. and atheists and agnostics did better than catholics and evangelicals on that quiz. with us with washington to talk more about it, greg smith, he's a senior researcher with the forum on religion and public life. and a religion professor at boston university. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having us. >> as we get into the discussion here, i wanted to put up some of the questions. and these are some of the more difficult ones people found to answer. first question is, what is the religion of maimonides? what religion did most people in indonesia consider themselves to be? and a third question here, according to rulings by the supreme court, are public school teachers permitted to read from the bible as literature?

we'll give you the answers in a couple of minutes. but greg, start us out here. what struck you as the headline? what was the surprise? >> i think the most striking to me was the strong performance on the survey by atheists and agnostics. of all of the groups we looked at, atheists and agnostics are among the top performers. they outperformed catholics, main line protestants and other groups. >> steve, help us out here. why is that? >> well, atheists and agnostics spend a lot of time fighting with religious people about religion. and so they have a need on the basis of their argument to learn something about christianity and islam, et cetera. but i think the other side of it is really that religious people know very little about their own traditions or the religions of others. this was an argument i made in a book of mine a few years ago called religious literacy where i said americans are

functional functionally illitterate. >> it is striking when you consider how religious a nation this is. we're probably the most religious nation in the industrialized world. >> that's right. but one thing we should keep in mind if we look at the population as a whole, it is true that people with the highest levels of religious commitment, those people who say they attend religious services regularly and that religion is very important in their lives, those people actually do a little bit better on the survey than people who are less religious. it's just that you have this small group, atheists and agnostics who are both quite -- quite -- they really aren't particularly religious and they do quite well on the survey. >> that said. let's go now back to our questions because people have been mulling them over for the last couple of minutes. and we'll give you the answer. the answer to the first question. what is the religion of maimonides?

she was a jewish philosopher and rabbi in medieval time. he was jewish. what religion do most people in indonesia consider themselves to be? the answer to that question, muslim because indonesia is the most populous muslim nation in the world. and the third question, according to rulings by the supreme court, are public school teachers permitted to read from the bible as literature? the answer to that question is yes. steven, are most people because they didn't do well on this quiz, is that a suggestion that most people are taking faith on faith? >> yeah. i think i want to add quickly that those are relatively difficult questions, but there's a lot of really easy questions on this quiz. for example, we didn't ask, is the pope catholic? but we came pretty close when we asked is the daili lama

buddhist? it's really all about feeling and loving jesus and having a relationship with him rather than knowing something about the tradition. i think that's one piece of it. and another is we're doing a poor job in our public schools and of teaching kids about the religions of the world. >> do you think that's correct, greg, that you don't need to know jesus to love him? >> i can't speak to whether or not it's correct that knowing about these things is a prerequisite to having strong faith. we know that the united states is a very religious country. it's a nation of believers. but as the survey shows, it's also true that there are major elements of religion, major elements of people's own faiths that they're not aware of. there's no question about that. >> steven, one other point we should make here, there wasn't enough of a muslim sample to make it into the poll, but what you did find was talking to other folks, atheists, agnostic, jewish, mormon, protestant, and

catholic that there was a real knowledge gap about islam. >> right. i mean, we found that only about half of americans can name that the koran is the holy book of islam. only about half know that ramadan is the holy month. we just spent about a month in america having this conversation about the burning of koran. and what we know is half the americans are scratching their heads and wondering, well, what's the koran? is it a novel or something somebody wrote in the middle east? they don't even necessarily know what it is. it's hard to have a national conversation about islam when we have such a knowledge deficit when it comes to the muslim tradition. >> it's a fascinating study and well worth reading through. thanks so much for being with us. we really appreciate it. >> thanks. >> if you want to test your knowledge, by the way, about religion, take the interactive quiz at cnn's belief blog at cnn.com/belief. see how much you know about religion this morning. >> sounds good. well, meanwhile, it's 31 minutes past the hour. time for a look at this morning's top stories.

an american service member is suspected of killing two u.s. soldiers and wounding another in iraq. the defense department is now investigating. another high-profile departure from the obama white house looking all but certain this morning. rahm emanuel, the president's chief of staff expected to announce on friday that he is stepping down in order to run for mayor of chicago. sources telling cnn deputy chief of staff peter rouse could be named interim chief during the search. wisconsin's governor declaring a state of emergency in columbia county after heavy rains pushed the wisconsin river near portage to an all-time high. the river is expected to peak again today. officials say at least 100 homes are in danger. the mayor says that local prison inmates are helping with sandbagging around a levee that started crumbling over the weekend. country comes home tonight for the first time since flood waters nearly destroyed it five months ago.

the grand ole opry house reopens tonight in nashville. >> and going to be a huge star. trace atkins gave our amber lyon a backstage tour. here's a look. >> how high did the water get? >> on stage it was 4 feet deep. >> so it would have gone over my head right here. >> it would have been over your head right here. over my head. >> for someone who might not know a lot about the history of country music, what is legendary about this stage at the grand ole opry. >> it really put country music on a national stage. and every artist -- virtue live every artist that's ever had a record deal and had any measurable success has played on the grand ole opry. in this particular circle right here, all the legends have stood. this was on stage at the auditorium. hank williams, patsy cline, johnny cash, everyone. >> they had to redo the dressing

rooms. and trace is going to give us a little tour. this is jimmy dickens, he was only 4'8", he had to stand at a ladder to be at eye level with trace. >> he was like garth brooks in his day. >> a stud. >> he wasn't ever huge, but he was huge. this is the debut room, you know, everybody -- there are different quotes on the wall from people about their first night performing on the grand ole opry. but it's always something that scares everybody to death. >> this is where they put all the rookies in. >> yeah. for your first night. there's taylor swift. darius rucker. we're back in business, you know. we're back home. we're back home. we'll never go away. we're here. we're here through the -- the

apocalypse. >> nothing's going to get rid of you. no water. >> we're the cockroaches of the music world. we'll never go away. i hope they don't put that on there. >> is that the final quote we're going to end with here? what is that, trace? >> amber lyon joins us now live from the grand ole opry house. and if question i had was, where do you buy trace atkins' voice? how much money did it cost? >> isn't that the most amazing voice? >> it really is pretty amazing both speaking and singing. what was the cost to restore the grand ole opry house? >> reporter: well, it cost quite a pretty penny. it was about $20 million. and just to put things in perspective here, we were speaking with the manager. and he said that everything below that wooden line you're seeing had to be replaced. so this entire floor was like a giant swimming pool when this flooded. and this stage is made of wood.

that had to be replaced, as well. but one thing that remains as we showed you is this circle which is the heart of country music and symbolizes that they're going to continue on, especially with tonight's concert. >> wow, it should be quite a show tonight. i'm sure there's a lot of expectation. a lot of people very excited about it. we'll be watching. thanks, amber. it's 35 minutes past the hour. president obama is turning up the heat on failing schools. he's targeting bad teachers. he's insisting that our kids have to spend more time in the classroom each year to catch up. creating a little bit of tension with the teachers' unions. up next, the president of the american federation of teachers joins us. ♪ [ male announcer ] ever have morning pain slow you down? ♪ introducing bayer am, an extra strength pain reliever with alertness aid, specially formulated to fight morning pain and fatigue. ♪ so get up and get goin'! with new bayer am.

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39 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. president obama says that our education system in this country is badly broken and needs to be fixed fast. he says that he has that plan to do it. the president appeared yesterday on nbc's "today" show, and he was armed with some depressing statistics. >> you can't defend a status quo in which 1/3 of our kids are dropping out.

you can't defend a status quo when you've got 2,000 schools across the country that are dropout factories. >> the president wants to extend the school year by a month, fire failing teachers, and recruit 10,000 new math and science teachers over the next two years. but are the teachers' unions on board with the president's proposals? well, joining us this morning is randi winegarden. thanks for joining us this morning. >> my pleasure. >> you said it's been a long week waiting for superman, the documentary of schools came out, there's been a lot of talk about education. and during that talk, there's been statistics that don't look well for america's schools and america's students. what do you think the biggest problem is right now? >> the biggest problem we have to get onboard, all of us, to find common ground to fix these problems. we have a global economy now that's quite different than when most of us went to school. in 10, 15, 20 years ago, even 5 years ago. so we have to help repair all kids with critical thinking,

knowledge, and problem-solving skills, and we have to help all kids get a real high school education, go to college, and get a real college education. so we do have the -- the president's right, i saw his whole speech yesterday. and i rooted it on. none of us can be happy with the status quo. we all have to be change agents and step up and take more responsibility. >> do you think it's fair that teachers' unions have gotten the brunt of some of the anger saying they're the problem, protecting bad teachers, the so-called rubber rooms, and other things where teachers who may come into the system first may still be some of the best teachers but are the first ones to lose their jobs if there's layoffs? >> well, look, i do think we've gotten -- it's easy because we're nameless and faceless. but 70% of american teachers want to be in union because they want something that helps give them the tools to do their jobs and helps protect them. but that's not the issue. the issue is in terms of whether

or not you're talking about bad teachers or charter schools or things like that, no one tolerates bad teachers. no one wants to. and our union is taking some concrete steps to do something about that. but we have to all work together. i heard a story yesterday that broke my heart. someone got up and said that a teacher taught two days a week and the principal said the tenure system stopped them from firing that teacher. that's wrong. that's not what tenure is. it's a due process system. ultimately managers have to manage, teachers have to teach. but we need to have for teachers the preparation for them to do their jobs. let's look at what happens in places like finland that outpace us. they spend much more time investing in teachers before they come into teaching like we invest in doctors here. but when we get into school, we have to help teachers become good teachers. we have to have new evaluation systems that focus on continuous improvement and then evaluate teachers. >> all right. i want to ask you to break down a little bit of that. one of the things you mentioned was about the concern about

tenure. and it's something that new york mayor michael bloomberg brought up, as well. he says he wants to overhaul the system and grant job security, which is the tenure based on performance. he says he'll make tenure something that has to be earned. do you support that? >> look, we -- mike bloomberg and i when i was in new york city, we did three different contracts and each one of those contracts reformed the tenure process. you're always reforming it. tenure is only due process as a hearing. what you really have to reform is the evaluation system and frankly, i give the mayor in new york city, the chancellor, my successor, a lot of credit because they and the new york state folk won the race to the top grant because they came up with a new evaluation system. so the key for them is they have to actually implement that. because evaluation is how you judge teachers. it's multiple measured. you have to look at a teacher

practice and you have to look at what the students are learning. >> right. but ultimately should a teacher be judged by the success of their students? if we're doing that, this is another unbelievable stat that was in the film. it said if you even took the top 5% of our students in the nation, they would actually rank 23rd out of 29th for developed nations. so why do we still have this lag? what is going wrong even though we're spending far more money than we were decades ago. >> all of the first-world nations and the nonfirst world are spending more on kids. what we have to do is three things. number one, we have to really develop great teachers. and that means like -- like they do in finland, singapore, and some of our top education nations, they prepare teachers, we have a focus on continuous teacher development and judge by multiple measures. meaning you look at students'

standardize test scores and all sorts of things. that's what we're doing. the american federation of teachers has been working with 50 districts this year since we launched new evaluation program ourselves. we're really looking at how we can change that around. that's the key. but it's not just on the teachers. >> that's what i wanted to ask you. bottom line, how much does what household a child comes from, what their home environment is, and how involved their parents are determine their success? >> well, see, we're not a niche market in public education. so whether or not a parent is involved, we still have an obligation to a child. >> doesn't it make your job easier if parents are teaching their kids and if there's a home environment that supports learning? >> it makes the child's potential -- it makes our ability to help the child get to his or her god given potential easier. but ultimately that's why we say, let's look at having good teachers supported by good leaders. let's make sure we have these common standards and have a curriculum so that we can implement them.

a robust engaged curriculum, not one that's just filling the bubble sheet. and third, this is why what they're doing in harlem, up in syracuse. we need to have conditions that trump socioeconomic issues. so after school programs, early childhood programs, the health programs that we see. so ultimately we need to help the whole child. but let me end with this, the teachers in america -- most of them are incredible people. they dig deep into their pockets to help kids all the time with supplies. they're in schools early and in schools late. we need to help them do a great job with kids. all of us have to change, but we need to help the great teachers in america do a great job. >> i think a lot of people would agree with that. thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you, thank you. 46 minutes after the hour now. and still to come on the most news in the morning, rob marciano has the travel forecast. and we've seen some democrats trying to distance themselves from president obama.

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because it's already in my email. it's 49 minutes after the hour. let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. our rob marciano is tracking it

from atlanta this morning. and rob, we had all of that rain, all those problems in wisconsin. and a lot of rain left still this morning in the east coast. >> a lot of rain. as a matter of fact the pattern, guys, is going to keep it relatively cool and wet across the east coast for the next couple of days. not only from the carolinas up through new york, but back through florida, as well. a bit of a tropical connection here. so it's going to keep oncoming. in some spots come down hard. and it's going to be flooding. see some flooding issues. we have flood watches in effect for the d.c. area. you see some of these showers rolling up towards new york. so generally speaking, an unsettled weather pattern to say the least here over the next 48 hours. wilmington, north carolina, got hammered yesterday with rain. over 10 inches of rainfall in a 24-hour period. and this pattern will probably bring you more. potentially with a tropical system that's going to be rolling up the florida shoreline. i'm going to show that to you right -- it's right here. we've been watching this thing

percolate for a couple of days now. and now the national hurricane center is giving a high probability it develops into something and drifts up towards florida and potentially the carolinas. so a tropical connection for sure. might even see a tropical storm here before too long. john, kiran, back up to you. >> thanks so much. we'll see you again soon. meanwhile, vice president biden on the campaign trail. he had a blunt message for the democrats' liberal base. details straight ahead from the cnnpolitics.com desk. it's 51 minutes past the hour. uh, what? sir, it's a simple question, do you want heartburn pain now or later? [ male announcer ] these heartburn medicines make you choose between hurting now, or later. pepcid® complete doesn't. it starts to neutralize acid in seconds and keeps it under control all day or all night. sometimes you gotta make compromises, man. [ male announcer ] no you don't, man. pepcid® complete works now and works later.

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in 2008 i quit venture capital to follow my passion for food. i saw a gap in the market for a fresh culinary brand and launched behindtheburner.com. we create and broadcast content and then distribute it across tv, the web, and via mobile. i even use the web to get paid. with acceptpay from american express open, we now invoice advertisers and receive payments digitally. and i get paid on average three weeks faster. booming is never looking for a check in the mail. because it's already in my email. welcome back to the most politics in the morning. we're looking at the political ticker. there are new poll numbers revealing which party americans

believe not only caused our current economic problems but can also cure them. >> our senior political editor mark preston is live this morning at the cnnpolitics.com desk. good morning, mark. >> hey, good morning, john. good morning, kiran. who is more responsible for the economic problems that we're facing as a nation? well, in this new cnn opinion research corporation poll, americans say that republicans are. 41% americans in our new poll say republicans in congress are to blame for where we're at with our economy. only 35% said it's democrats. but to show what a tough year it is for democrats, we asked another question. we said, look, who is more likely to help improve the economy? again, republicans come out on top, 47% of americans think that republicans have the answers to improve the economy while only 41% say it's democrats. not surprisingly, the most important issue on american minds right now is certainly for the election. 49% say it is the economy.

you know, for more than a dozen years now, democrats have been running against president bush. they've been knocking him in ads, they've been trying to use him as a foil. well, not earl pomeroy. in fact, george bush plays a cameo appearance in a new campaign ad now that he is running in north dakota. george bush in 2004 won the state with 63% of the vote. in 2008, john mccain won with 53% of the vote. his campaign tells me, in fact, they're using bush in this ad because it shows he's independent and not beholden to his party leaders here in washington. and closing with joe biden who has been known to slip up every now and again and have a gaffe here and there. well, in new hampshire yesterday he said some things that would upset the democratic base. he said remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look for the alternatives. this comment has really enraged the democratic base. certainly the liberal base here

in washington and across the country. john, kiran? >> yeah. i tell ya -- when joe opens his mouth, you never know what's going to come out. but i mean, you know, there are probably a lot of democrats who say he said the right thing. >> yeah, in fact, suzanne earlier today said that's sort of the message the white house wants out there. look at the alternatives and we're not so bad. >> that's right. >> mark, thanks so much. we're going to check back in with mark in our next hour. and for a reminder of all the latest political news, go to our website at cnnpolitics.com. we have all of your top stories in a moment. it's now 57 minutes past the hour. what's this option? that's new.

personal pricing now on brakes. tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. rahm emanuel, the president's tough-talking chief of staff looks ready to move on. the latest on the possibility of another high-level departure from the obama white house. ahead on the most news in the morning.

good morning to you. it is tuesday, september 28th. glad you're with us on this "american morning," i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm john roberts. we'll have more on rahm emanuel in a moment, but first, let's get you caught up overnight. a deadly incident in iraq. a u.s. soldier accused of murdering two other american servicemen and wounding a third. military officials are calling it a noncombat incident. our barbara starr live with the latest details ahead. seven former members of the u.s. service department coming forward saying aliens have visited earth. trying to deliver us a warning. well, you'll hear them reveal their thoughts in their own words in a moment. and struggling to pay your credit cards? if so, you've probably noticed the ads promising to reduce our eliminate your debt. well, now there are new rules to

protect you from those deceptive guarantees that leave many consumers in worse financial shape. >> and some changes at the white house. i guess you could say they're dusting off the help wanted sign again. chief of staff rahm emanuel apparently has one foot out the door this morning. >> the president's right-hand man is going to be making an announcement friday that is running for mayor of chicago. and he's already building his team to launch the campaign. >> suzanne malveaux is traveling with the president this morning. she joins us live from albuquerque, new mexico, with more on this. you know, there was buzz, but i guess he's going to make it official this week, huh? >> reporter: you know, you can bank on it. i think, multiple sources telling cnn this is the decision he's come. you know, call him rambo, call him a member of the chicago mafia, all effectively, of course. this is someone who has been a

force in the white house. very colorful figure. obviously president obama nudging himself publicly yesterday. saying you've got to make up your mind quickly. he, in fact, could make that announcement as early as this friday. he's got a lot on his plate in order to make this thing happen. we're talking about collecting some 12,000 signatures by the november 22nd date before the february 22nd primary. so there's a lot that's in play here. he's been talking to his family the last couple of weeks. people have been jockeying to try to see who is going to be running in that position. obviously rahm emanuel would be a strong character, a strong candidate for that position. who is going to take his place? a lot of folks at the white house say he's irreplaceable, but there are a lot of good candidates. the one that is the favorite, sources telling us, is the deputy chief of staff pete rouse. kiran, john? >> you see the picture of peter rouse there. meanwhile, there was a fundraiser in new hampshire yesterday and vice president joe

biden had some blunt words. we want to show you what he said and then i'll get your take on it. he said i'd like to remind our base constituency to stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives. this president's done an incredible job. is this the message the white house wants out there? stop whining, get over it? >> reporter: it might sound a little harsh, kiran, john, but it really is the message of the white house, the president and vice president are trying to push this thing through here. they're saying, look, essentially, get off your duff here. we need the democratic base, the surge voters, those 15,000 folks or so, young folks, minority voters who came out back in 2008 for obama. they need them desperately now. five weeks before the midterm elections, and vice president biden and the president himself are going to say, look, it is not time to give up yet. it is time to get involved. we can still go ahead and keep the majorities in the house and senate. but it's going to be a long shot, a lot of work. that's what you're going to see later today, as well. there's going to be a huge

rally. campaign-style, try to get the magic back, the energy back. that's going to be later in wisconsin. we're expecting 15,000 people and an animated president to deliver that message. >> we'll check in with you later today, thanks, suzanne. other news stories this morning, the cia stepping up the campaign against unmanned drone strikes along the border with neighboring afghanistan. american officials say threats from groups like al qaeda as well as the afghan and pakistan taliban are all deadly and drone strikes are meant to disrupt plots at whatever stage and wherever they may be focused. pacific gas and electric, the owner of the san bruno pipeline that exploded earlier this month has reported gas leaks at rates of six times the national average. pg&e has reported dozens of leaks in transmission lines near highly populated or environmentally sensitive areas since 2004. that san bruno blast killed

seven people. now to a tragic incident involving american forces in iraq. an american soldier in custody this morning. suspected of fatally shooting two soldiers and wounding a third. our barbara starr is following developments for us live at the pentagon. and this is officially being termed a "non-combat death." what do we know about it? >> well, details just emerging, john. and of course, terrible news for the u.s. military families involved. a u.s. soldier, identified by the u.s. military as now in custody in connection with the shooting deaths of two other soldiers and the injury of a third. those who were -- who have died have been identified by the military as specialist john carrillo, 20 years old, and private first class noonan, 26 of watertown, connecticut. this happened late last week and was identified by the u.s. military as a non-combat

incident. but, in fact, specialist carrillo's mother told a local news outlet that when she was informed of her son's death, she was not told that another soldier was suspected in his death. and she only found that out from local news media and doing an internet search. so a lot of questions right now about why the army may not have told the families of those who died exactly what happened. we're waiting for answers from the pentagon. john? >> terrible tragedy. you can imagine what the families are thinking this morning. there's also another story coming out this morning. this one is equally as shocking. american soldiers who are using powerful pharmaceuticals and killing for sport on the front lines in afghanistan. we want to point out here, barbara, we've obtained interrogation tapes. three afghan civilians are dead. some say it's a rogue band of american soldiers who not only on pharmaceuticals but also smoked hash at night and killed

for sport by day. what's the pentagon saying about this? it's extraordinarily troubling. >> well, i mean, let's be very clear, this case, in fact, has been out there for several weeks now that charges have been mounting more and more soldiers as you point out rounded up in this case. these people are going to face military justice proceedings. let's be clear. innocent until proven guilty, but charges have been filed. and these are criminal felony charges of murder in this case. and having a tough day in the war, being stressed, being under combat stress, no excuse. of course, tens of thousands of u.s. troops have gone to the war zone over the years, served very honorably, come home, many suffering from combat stress, many under very tough conditions, none of us can really imagine. so this is a criminal case. this is not a case of combat stress. john? >> and another potential black eye for the american military in

the eyes of the world, no doubt. barbara starr, thanks. state of emergency this morning in parts of north carolina. 10 1/2 inches of rain fell yesterday in wilmington, north carolina. homes flooded, roadways under water, and officials are saying that people who lived there should not travel at this point. it's the second largest rainfall total in the city's history, second only to hurricane floyd's 13.3 inches they got back in 1999, and more rain is expected, unfortunately, tomorrow. >> let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. rob marsiciano in the weather center in atlanta. >> the pattern is such that it's going to be pretty unsettled there. and kiran mentioned the potential of seeing more rain across north carolina not only tomorrow but going forward because of what's going on down in the tropics. this is the caribbean disturbance we think is going to develop potentially into our next tropical depression or tropical storm. scoot across florida and get up

into the carolinas round about thursday. that certainly would bring them some more heavy rainfall and we're looking at a serious flooding situation for them. relatively cool on the east coast, relatively hot on the west coast. 100 or better expected today in los angeles. a little cooler than yesterday's record shattering high temperature of 113 after a pretty chilly summer. kind of cool across the atlanta area. there you go. the skyscrapers of downtown with some low-hanging clouds as some of the moisture from yesterday's rainfall lifts off the surface. should be a decent day in atlanta. but extreme eastern sea board, we'll see wet weather until further notice. >> wow. that's a pretty cool shot there with the sunrise there. >> good stuff. >> and you think about california. it's been in the 60s and low 70 all summer and then bam, 100s. >> yeah, they've been wearing scarves, now they're back to the bikinis. more than 100 ufo sightings spanning three decades. the claim coming from seven

former members of the u.s. air force. they say extraterrestrials are visiting us, visiting us often, and trying to deliver a message. could it be that e.t. has actually been here?

♪ 13 minutes now after the hour. they're here. and according to seven former members of the u.s. air force, they're not real pleased with us. they talked about ufo sightings throughout the '60s, '70s, and the '80s. they're convinced that extraterrestrials have been visiting our nuclear facilities. and here's why. >> i believe these gentlemen believe this planet is being

visited by beings from another world who for whatever reason have taken an interest in the nuclear arms race which began at the end of world war ii. >> so exactly what do the extraterrestrial visitors look like? well, listen to retired colonel charles halt. he recalled the sightings in eastern england back in december of 1980. >> all through the forest was a bright, glowing object. the best way i can describe it, it looked like an eye with bright red with a dark center. it appeared to be winking. it would sort of wink. it was shedding something like molten metal that was dripping off it. it silently moved through the trees avoiding any contact. it bobbed up and down, and at one point it actually approached us. we tried to get closer and it receded out into the field, beyond the forest and silently exploded into five white objects. gone. so we went out into the field to

look for any evidence. e we found nothing. >> all right. so -- i mean he's describing this in vivid detail. and the reason they wanted to hold this news conference, they said, is they say the government is keeping this information about ufos from the public and calling on federal officials to come clean about it. meantime, even if nothing comes of that, that was a very interesting description maybe a filmmaker a la "terminator 4" is listening. >> wow. if and when the ufos do arrive and ask to be taken to our leader, well, they've now got a leader that they can go to. the u.s. reportedly set to appoint mazlan -- >> no, it's the u.n. don't blame us. >> we'd never do anything like this. the united nations set to appoint mazlan othman to coordinate mankind's response when e.t. does finally set down. >> there you see a shot of her.

currently the head of the u.n.'s little known office of outer space affairs. and she said "the continued search for extraterrestrial communications sustains the hope that some day human kind will receive signals from extraterrestrial." so she wants to get them. the retired air force guys are saying we don't want them here because they're not too happy with us. >> there are other people who say if and when we are contacted by extraterrestrials they may not be the friendliest folks in the neighborhood. what do you know about this? >> i don't know what to make of this testimony. it's very fascinating. just like with big foot sightings. we never actually get the photos. maybe now that cell phones are so ubiquitous we're going to start getting more pictures. >> there are people who are going to argue against this position, but whenever we go anywhere in space, we leave a lot of stuff behind. and you would think that if they're coming down to visit, maybe they might just leave a little evidence. >> that guy was shedding molten

lava. obviously he left something behind. >> yep. do i believe there are other things out there in the great wide expanse of the universe? yeah. do i think they've been here? no. >> well, maybe they can -- >> it's a little too far. >> maybe wie get them on the show and they'll convince you to change your mind. >> it's not like driving to connecticut. it's farther than that. there's pomegranate everything now, but should you buy the hype? how the fed's cracking down on claims it's a super food.

minding your business this

morning. blackberry makers research in motion unveiling its answer to the apple ipad. it's the new blackberry playbook. a tablet pc aimed at professionals. the new gadget should be available some time next year. no word yet on how much it's going to cost. >> is the ipad aimed at amate s amateurs? >> well, it's the difference between blackberry's taken to be the professional e-mailer ceo type of thing where the iphone, the ipad more for the creative genius inside of all of us. >> all right. well -- we have both, so i guess we can figure out what we are one day versus the other. >> princeton versus harvard. ben and jerry's ice cream have being forced to drop the branding because the center for science and the public interest accused the company of deceiving its customers by saying all natural and putting it on the labels there. they say that 48 of the 53 flavors have ingredients that either don't exist naturally or

have been modified, for example. added color, artificial flavors, things like hydrogenated oils, et cetera. >> you can't even pronounce them, how are you going to eat them? it helps start the pomegranate craze, but now they're suing the maker of pomegranate juice saying there's no evidence to support claims that it promotes health. sounds very much like the airborne case. they claimed it prevented colds and they were sued for $7 million or something. >> they changed the labeling. well, they were making some interesting claims, though, the pom wonderful about strengthening -- clearing your arteries. i mean, boy. >> why don't they just say it tastes good. you can probably back that one up. christine romans here minding your business this morning. >> i'm talking more if it's too

good to be true area, it probably is. all over for debt settlement companies that say it's fast, it's painless, help us cut your debt in half. well, it's not as easy as that and the ftc, the federal trade commission is cracking down on these debt settlement firms that claim to cut your debt in half with no trouble whatsoever because you know what? it's not that easy and you can end up in big trouble down the road. what you don't know about some of those debt settlement outfits. not all of them, but some of them that are shady, they tell you to stop paying your bills, they're going to negotiate with your creditors and you can be getting late fees and new interest charges and you can actually end up in worse shape than when you started out. you could get sent to a collection agency before this gets finished up. so the ftc now this week saying there are important new rules to make sure they don't do this to you. for example, no more lying. doesn't that sound nice? more transparency, there cannot

be these big up-front costs. they have to tell you about the negative consequences as you're going down the road here. there are ways you can do this yourself. when you talk to credit company -- legitimate credit relief people, they tell you, look, you can do this yourself. if you are really in trouble with your creditors, call the credit card company, call the creditor and try to do this -- it's going to be hard. it's going to take a long time. you're still going to have to pay. you might be able to negotiate some interest rates and alike, but be very, very careful. you can go to the website to learn more about this. but if somebody tells you to cut your credit card bills in half, they won't. they can't. >> it's easy to rack up all that debt. >> it is. and it's so sad about some of these shady organizations because they're going after people who want to pay their debts. people who aren't letting their debts lay out there. they want to pay their debts. and in the end, the debt company's getting a lot of money and you're getting more headache. >> good information this

morning, christine. good to have you back. >> thanks. the midterm elections aren't over yet and already looks like a republican senator is eyeing a 2012 run. a story from our cnnpolitics.com desk. it's 23 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] this rock has never stood still. since our beginning, we've been there for clients through good times and bad, when our clients' needs changed we changed to meet them. through the years, when some lost their way, we led the way with new ideas for the financial challenges we knew would lie ahead. this rock has never stood still. and there's one thing that will never change.

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oh. about what? uh, they don't really think you're an exchange student. what? they think you're a businessman, using our house to meet new clients in china. for reals, player? [ woman speaks chinese ] they overheard a phone call. [ speaks chinese ] something about shipping with fedex to shanghai. and then you opened a bottle of champagne. that was for a science project. [ man and woman speaking chinese ] i'm late for...soccer... rehearsal. [ man speaks chinese ] you and i are cool? i'll be home by curfew. [ male announcer ] we understand.® you need a partner who can help you go global. fedex. 25 minutes after the hour. top stories just minutes away now. but first an a.m. original, something you'll see only on "american morning." we've been following the story of randy shorter. he recently returned to afghanistan for his third tour of duty.

>> yeah, it wasn't long before he was on the move again beyond the protective walls of his base. and jason carroll has the next chapter of his soldier stories. interesting we're talking about that this morning given this news of potentially two soldiers being killed at the hands of another soldier and also the allegations of soldiers perhaps in afghanistan killing civilians. >> but really that's the anomaly. the great risk these soldiers face is going outside of these bases. these bombs that are set. this is what they're dealing with on a daily basis. any time they maneuver outside bases in afghanistan, there's risk. it's one of the primary way the taliban attacks u.s. forces. and it's part of life when operating outside the wire. >> everybody's going to get hands on on the radio so that way there's no if, ands, or buts -- >> reporter: sergeant shorter hadn't been on the ground in

afghanistan for two hours and already we found him at work testing weapons, quickly getting gear and his platoons' armored vehicles ready to roll. >> this is the moment where you've got to get a lot done in a short period of time, right? >> that's right. >> reporter: his orders change. his platoon made up of 14 soldiers convoy to a much smaller operating base just a few miles away. located in an area where the taliban still has a heavy influence. >> we're about to go on a convoy outside the wire, which is a term that means outside the protective perimeter of the base. before you go, you've got to make sure you've got your armored gear on. i've got it, as well as a helmet here for civilians. this one has your last name on it as well as your blood type. this is a precaution done any time you accompany troops outside the wire. >> if you know, we strike an ied, they know how we operate. they know as soon as an ied

hits, we as american forces want to pull our buddies out. >> reporter: little is said during the 20-minute trip. the road is known to be secure, but in a volatile region like patika province where 19 u.s. soldiers were killed in a single weekend, nothing is for sure. shorter's role required his platoon regularly operate outside the wire. >> you know, every day you go out there, you say your last -- you make peace with yourself. and you just tell yourself, hey, you know, today could be the day. you do what you've got to do, don't think too much of it and hope you come back. >> on this day, a delay. shorter's armored convoy held up. an ied may have been detonated. >> there's little reports regarding two -- i guess two teenagers on a motorcycle may have set off a remote ied. >> there's no age range we're talking about for these people?

could be teenagers, doesn't matter? >> reporter: no soldiers were hurt. so the soldiers move on to check a vital road to the north. >> this whole stretch used to be a good ied alley. because this links two provinces. >> reporter: this is familiar ground to shorter, he checked this same spot during his last deployment. >> a lot of flashbacks are coming back. but i see a lot of improvements. that's a good thing. >> reporter: troops on patrol eyeing anything remotely suspicious. the smoke from earlier, a reminder of what's at stake. shorter is just one of 30,000 soldiers now flooding the most dangerous area of afghanistan. he's fighting a 9-year-old war. this year its deadliest on record. >> as soon as i'm outside that wire, it's combat. i'm sorry to say, yeah, it may be green in other aspects, but

i'm ready to fight as soon as i walk out of that door. >> obviously based on what may have happened today, they're ready to fight, as well. >> exactly. >> well, the last time sergeant shorter was deployed to the same area of afghanistan, his convoy hit a roadside bomb and his unit came under fire. shorter says the insurgents have become evolved, they're better at making those bombs and better at planting them. >> and have they become better at detecting them? >> yes, they have. but as fast as they get at detecting bombs, they evolve again and get in there and plant a different type of bomb. so it's this back and forth back and forth constantly going on outside the wire. >> it is just a constant stress, as well, that you drive up and down those roads. and you know you drive up and down nine times safely and it could be the tenth time. >> you're absolutely right. and when you're out there with these guys, that's the sense you get. you never know when your time's up. >> scary, very brave doing that

work. thanks, jason. well, tomorrow, we're back inside the wire as jason was describing the troops as the 101st adjust to new life on the base. we're going to take a look at life in afghanistan you won't see anywhere else. it's a soldier story tomorrow on the most news in the morning. and it is now 31 minutes after the hour. time for this morning's top stories. president obama's chief of staff may have one foot out the door this morning. rahm emanuel expected to announce on friday he is stepping down so he can run for his dream job, mayor of chicago. sources say that he's already putting together a team to launch his campaign. also, gloria stewart, best known for his role as the spunky survivor in the hit film "titanic" has died at the age of 100. her family says she succumb to respiratory distress. her role in "titanic" earned her an academy award nomination. and president obama sending a not so subtle message to

teachers and students. he thinks the school year should last a month longer and he wants bad teachers the get fired. the president also announcing a desire to recruit 10,000 teachers over the next two years in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math. and time for the latest news from the best political team on television. we're looking at the political ticker this morning. democrats may be ready to attack former bush campaign strategist karl rove. >> our senior political editor mark preston live at the cnnpolitics.com desk. and mark, we know that karl rove is strategisting behind the scenes with heavy hitters in the republican party. what is this thing all about? >> he's part of the organization that's helping fund the 2010 midterms for republicans. there's been a lot of talk about how republicans would make up this disadvantage. well, karl rove is part of the organization that's trying to make that happen. democrats, in fact, have been

testing rove's popularity across the country. and they've come to this conclusion. he is still polarizing with democrats. they are seriously running tv ads in targeted districts where they think they could use karl rove as a negative in the midterm elections. john thune is the south dakota republican, somebody who has a low national profile. not a whole lot of people know him, but he is very well-liked by conservatives and very well-respected here on capitol hill. some will remember that john thune is the congressman who came out of nowhere to defeat then senate democrat tom daschle a few years ago. so considering a run for president. he told the weekly standard, our friend over there steven hayes that in an article that was just published this week. and mike castle, what is he going to do? he's the republican who lost to christine o'donnell in the republican primary in delaware. well, there is a remote

possibility he tells the local newspaper in delaware that he will stage a write-in campaign to take on o'donnell. he has to make his decision very soon. he's very upset about how the primary was played out. he feels like he was done wrong. the question for castle is, if he does do a write-in campaign, will he be able to pull enough conservatives over as well as pull enough moderates over to win that election? so we should know in the next day or so what mike castle will do. john, kiran? >> john thune doesn't look unlike bobby kennedy. and part of running for president, according to bill clinton at least who told me this, people have to be able to see you as president. he's got the look. >> he's got the look. and he's got the family and, i'll tell you, i've spoken to his advisers. this is very serious. john thune is considering running. and let's not forget, his state plays a role in choosing the next nominee. >> for the latest political news

go to our website, cnnpolitics.com. can president obama recapture the youth voters who so energized his candidacy two years ago? he'll give it the old college try today. he's holding a rally at the university of wisconsin. he's there and suzanne malveaux will be there, as well. 34 minutes past the hour. words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed.

our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments? i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. madison, wisconsin, capital of the badger state, a university town has always been a liberal stronghold. in 2004, they packed the streets for democrat john kerry. and in 2008, they filled the center for candidate barack obama. president obama hopes to recapture that youthful spirit and get young voters out to polls this year. he's headlining a rally today on the university of wisconsin campus. emma roller is the editor in chief of one of the school's newspapers. she joins us from madison. and with us from washington, the washington reporter for the root.com. good to see both of you. and emma, let's start with you. the president packed out the cole center in 2008. lots and lots of enthusiasm. you were at sophomore at the college back then. how are students feeling now about the president?

>> good morning, john. that's a tricky question to ask. i think that two years ago a lot of students were definitely very excited about president obama. on election night, there was a huge impromptu rally on state street when he was elected. but two years later, what we're seeing is a bit of a slump and maybe just disillusionment on the part of students that i think obama is trying to regain a bit today. >> all right. we'll talk about some of the issues driving that in a second. the president tried to energize the youth vote with his moving america forward advance. but when you take a look at a "washington post" abc news poll, only 59% of 18 to 29-year-olds say they're absolutely certain that they'll go to the polls. does the president have a big hill to climb if he hopes to light a fire under the youth vote this year? >> absolutely. especially if you consider th that -- another gallup poll

showed that youth voters who are somewhat or quite interested in politics has dropped 56% since november of '08 when obama was elected. obama had an unprecedented youth voter turnout. the likes of which the country's never seen. so trying to replicate that this year with these sorts of rallies and what not -- especially since obama's not on the ballot is going to be difficult, if not impossible. >> he started with only five weeks left, is that too late? >> i think this is somewhat of a hail mary. i think it's perhaps too late. starting these rallies with five weeks to go until the election tells you the sort of importance they're putting on this and what sort of effectiveness they believe it'll have. and i think they wisely understand that this is kind of a hail mary and a last-ditch attempt to sort of turn around these very tight races in important states like wisconsin. >> and they're always exciting to watch, but very rarely do they ever work. let's get into some of the issues, emma, here, and put up

an mtv rock the vote campaign back in august. 27% of young voters said they were pleased. 37% said they were disappointed, and 34%, and that's a large number, not yet sure. what are students' frustrations with the president? >> well, i think a lot of students do realize that change does -- the change that obama was talking about during his campaign does take a while to occur. but at the same time, i think a lot of students are frustrated, especially on the madison campus, which has a history of social activism with maybe some of obama's social policy that maybe have not been furthered as much as they would have hoped. >> for the population at large, emma, it's really all about the economy this year. and when it comes to youth unemployment, 16 to 24 years of age, unemployment is 19%.

4.4 million 16 to 24-year-olds who are unemployed. that's the same as last year. is that a real factor for young people? >> oh, definitely. i mean, i'm graduating in may and it's been stressful for me starting to look for jobs. and i'm sure it's the same for many other students. and i think that is a factor. >> let's take a look at whether or not the president has so-called coat tails this election season. rock the vote poll again found that the president is still an asset to some candidates who are seeking the youth vote. when asked are you more likely to support a candidate if endorsed by barack obama? 50% of young people said yes. 26% said sarah palin would get them to support a candidate, 26% said the tea party would get them to support a candidate. notable is russ feingold, senator from wisconsin's absence today. is he missing an opportunity here? >> i don't know. i think that what's important

about that rock the vote poll, what that shows is how -- how very heavily democratic the youth vote skews. i think that russ feingold sort of understands that he has the youth vote simply by virtue of being a democrat and that youth voters who will vote will vote for feingold by and large. and i think that his opponent ron johnson who is a huge tea party candidate who is getting a lot of tea party support who is leading in some of these trails who is actually a bit of a dark horse, he's leading, i'm sorry, in some of these polls. i think that -- i think that sort of he's winning -- he's winning in these polls based on the fact he is not obama. and i think feingold sees it as a strategic move to distance himself from obama while obama will continue to support feingold because he needs feingold's -- he needs feingold to win in wisconsin for his strategy. >> emma, the suggestion is feingold can probably take the youth vote for granted and wants to distance himself from the

president. is he on safe ground if he takes the youth vote for granted? >> i think that's a good question. and i think feingold really has been trying to distance himself. obama has visited wisconsin four times, i believe, in the past three months which is pretty unprecedented for a current president. and i -- you know the majority of those times feingold has not made it out to stump with obama. and i think in some way it's feingold's way of showing what john mccain showed in 2008 that he is not necessarily connected to the current administration, and that he is "maverick" of the senate, which i think is a good idea. >> but does he have the youth vote locked up? >> you know, i don't think anyone has the youth vote locked up right nowment. i couldn't say. >> it's a bad year for anyone to take anything for granted. no question about that. great to talk to you this morning. thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me.

>> thank you. the president's chief of staff appears ready to step down. an announcement could come from rahm emanuel by friday. it seems there's a job he's always wanted back home in chicago that's now available. suzanne malveaux is traveling with the president and she'll be live with details coming up at the top of the hour. also, take a look at the satellite loop right now. a rainy start to the day in the east this morning. rob has the travel forecast for you coming up after the break. it's 45 minutes past the hour. there it is.

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♪ hazy, foggy start to the day in manchester, new hampshire, this morning where right now it is 57 degrees. we're looking at rain going up to a high of 75 today. >> spending an awful lot of time there after november. and for the next couple of years. >> we had a fun time there back in 2000. >> we did. let's get a quick check of this morning's weather headlines. rob marciano for us in atlanta. and lots of rain for us today, rob. >> especially on the east coast where the unsettled weather pattern continues. you have new hampshire back

through new jersey, the mid-atlantic getting the brunt of it and it stretches back down through florida where there's a bit of a tropical connection here and that's why the rain has been so heavy of late. d.c., you're in our flash flood watch here as the rains continue to roll through here after heavier rains yesterday. how heavy were they? at least in the carolinas, yeah, 10 inches in wilmington for a 24-hour period, that's almost their all-time record. the only time they were morn that, i think, was during hurricane floyd. the bad news is, there's much more rain coming, i think, for wilmington over the next 48 to 72 hours as more rain develops. no rain, a lot of heat. los angeles, 113 yesterday, that record was set at usc at 12:15. at 1:00, the thermometer broke. so we may have seen even a higher temperature than that. it'll be at least 100 today. 76 in atlanta. here's a shot for you just a few minutes ago as the sun was coming up. take a look at this beautiful video.

low-hanging clouds shrouding the higher tops as the sun peeks over the eastern horizon. good stuff after a turbulent afternoon yesterday across the atl. today promises to be a quieter day. a check on weather, american morning is coming right back. in the tightest spaces. more innovation, more great values. craftsman. trust. in your hands.

53 minutes past the hour. welcome back. time for an a.m. house call. the importance of becoming an empowered patient. >> senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen knows just how important that is. it's the title of her new book and she has a cnn special airing on this subject this weekend. elizabeth joins us from atlanta. all this week. she's sharing lessons that could help save lives and she's got today's lesson. good morning. >> good morning, john and kiran.

the today's lesson is that if you end up at the right hospital, it can save you. if you end up at the wrong hospital, it will kill you. we have an uplifting story of a man whom it worked out so well. we're going to tell you his story with the help of folks at the turner animation studios. here it is. fair valley, california, a mountain paradise. gorgeous skiing and loads of snowmobilers. after skiing down the slopes one morning, chuck stopped in at the local snowmobile center. and while he was inside, all of a sudden he fell down. >> just draw a line down the center of the body. everything disconnected on the right-hand side. >> chuck had a massive stroke in the middle of nowhere. kathy snider raced him to the edge of town to wait for a helicopter ambulance. >> i just remember the ro or thes turning and the snow

flying. and just waiting to go. >> time is of the essence and this helicopter doesn't move. why were precious minutes being wasted? the flight nurse wanted the take chuck to the nearest hospital, a small hospital. >> he had a cardiac problem. he had a stroke problem. he needed to go to a hospital with specialists standing by. >> you argued hard. >> i did argue hard. kind of got like this in each other's face. >> kathy convinced the helicopter team to fly to a hospital much further away. the flight took an extra 15 minutes. dr. christopher marcus knew he had a drug to reverse the stroke. >> we have three hours to give it. we had to get the drug in in the next ten minutes. >> talk about under the wire. you must think if kathy didn't argue with them. >> i'm convinced it was a very high probability i would have been in a wheelchair.

>> if you feel like a bad decision is about to be made with your health care, can you put your foot down? >> you can change hospitals. they should be aware of that ability. >> man, that's amazing. do people understand, you know, i mean the other thing, too, is that you have to sort of know your hospitals to make that call. >> right. you do have to know your hospitals. you know what? it's actually not as hard as it sounds to know your hospitals. in an emergency, it is tough but most of the time it's not an emergency so what you can do is you can go online. for example, right here. this is "nus nu.s. news & and world report." you put in your information and what you need, psychiatry, pull no no long and it is a great service and several others like it. there's health grades to do something similar and also gives you safety ratings. another one called leapfrog

group for patient safety. they also do a terrific job. and of course, i don't expect you to know all of these links just because we popped them up here. if you go to cnn.com/the chart, here's my blog and i have the links there. >> let's say that you haven't had a chance to do that and you have a problem or you're in an unfamiliar city and you have a problem and you don't have a kathy who happened to be a nurse there. as an advocate for you. what dow i don't do? where do you go? >> in an emergency or unfamiliar city, it is tough. you can ask what's wrong? what happened? what happened to me? for example, if someone says you have had a heart attack, you should ask, hey, i'm unfamiliar with this city or situation. when's the best hospital for a heart attack? the people with you will know. i don't necessarily want the closest hospital. i want to go to the one that has the best reputation for treating heart attack patients.

in an emergency, that's the best to do for us this morning, thank you. >> thanks. >> "the empowered patient" is this saturday and sunday night 7:00 eastern here on cnn. top stories are coming your way after a short break. stay with us. concentration plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's.

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good morning. it is a tuesday, september 28th. thank you for joining us. i'm john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. let's get to it. president obama's chief of staff is expected to announce friday he's stepping down and ready to leave the obama administration to make a run for mayor of chicago. our suzanne malveaux is traveling with the president this morning and will join us for details. vice president joe biden known for speaking his mind delivers a blunt message to democrats. stop whining and get out there. but is it enough to rally supporters in november? best political team on television breaking it down for us today. more women saying i do to pre-nups. spelling out exactly what gets what and who does not should their happily ever after breaks

down. christine romans breaks down why. the blog is up and running. join the live conversation right now. you might want to talk about pre-n pre-nups. well, ready to leave the obama administration. chief of staff emanuel liking stepping down as the president's right-hand made, the announcement could come as early as friday. >> the next step, chicago. suzanne malveaux is traveling with the president and joins us live from albuquerque, new mexico, this morning. so how certain is this? >> reporter: we are pretty certain of this, john and kiran. multiple sources telling cnn that it is all but certain, so that's pretty certain that he is going to make a run for it. this is we're talking about somebody who's a very colorful character inside of the white house. he's been nicknamed rambo from time to time. member of the chicago mafia. a member of the inner circle, obama's inner circle from

chicago. his imprint is on everything, very powerful person. even got a nudge from the president just yesterday on camera saying, look, you have to decide pretty quickly. we understand he's making an announcement as quickly as this friday. there's work to be done, obviously, in running for mayor of chicago. got about -- more than 12,000 signatures for a petition before the november 22nd primary. rather, february is the primary and november 22nd being that deadline. in all likelihood and white house aides say there's nobody to replace emanuel but tempor y temporarily deputy chief of staff to fill the shoes at least for the short term but this is an assignment, it's a job, it's an adventure that rahm emanuel made no mistake he is eager to take on, would like to take on and very likely that announcement within days now. john, kiran? >> all right. let's talk about another me

believe of the administration who says what he means and mean what is he says, sometimes he doesn't, vice president joe biden. he was speaking before a crowd in new hampshire and basically said quit the whining to the base. i would like to remind our base constituency to stop whining. he went on to say, get out there and look at the alternatives. saying this president has done an incredible job and he's kept his promises so that's on message, suzanne, for this administration? >> reporter: you know, we know that from time to time the vice president has kind of gone off message if you will, off the reservation. we know that this is the white house. the president included. they want to get across to folks, get off the duffs. this is the time. you have five weeks left. we need the democratic base. we know we haven't always pleased you and huge differences between the democrats and the republicans in this race that it is critical that this is a moment that they believe and, you know, it might be a long shot but they believe if you get at least some of the surge voters that 15 million folks who came out and voted for the first

time back in 2008 for president obama, candidate obama, if you can get just a sliver of them, the young folks, minorities, people who are sitting on the sidelines to come out and vote, potentially, in some of the swing states like where we are here in new mexico, wisconsin, iowa, get the candidates on board and the message here is, look, don't give up yet. get involved here. it is not too late. the house and the senate may still be in the democrats' hands but you need to do something about it. so yeah. biden's actually on message at this time and hearing similar language from the president, as well. >> five weeks until election day. suzanne malveaux for us in albuquerque, thanks. a developing story out of iraq this morning. an american soldier is in custody suspected in the shooting deaths of two fellow service men and the wounding of a third. the murdered soldiers have been identified as specialist john karillo and gabron nunen.

the suspect is held at pretrial confinement. cia is stepping up the bombing campaigns in pakistan in an effort to cripple terrorist strongholds along the afghanistan border. u.s. officials say the cia launched 20 strikes with unmanned drone aircraft this month alone. that's the most ever during a single month and more than twice the number of attacks we have seen in other months. the son of north korean leader kim jong-il is getting a military promotion. he was promoted to rank of general and widely expected to inherit power of north korea's dear leader. questions of his health sped up plans for succession. well, they're here. that's according to seven former members of the u.s. air force talking about extra terrestrials and say they're not happy with us. jaws dropped yesterday at the washington press club when seven veterans of the air force talked

about sightings. >> they're convinced that extra terrestrials visiting the nuclear facilities. >> i believe, these gentlemen believe that this planet is being visit from beingings of another world and taken an interest in the nuclear arms race that began at the end of the world war ii. regarding the missile shutdown incidents, my opinion, their opinion is that whoever are board the craft are sending a message to washington and moscow among others that we are playing with fire. that the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons potentially threatens the human race and the integrity of the planetary environment. >> well, if extra terrestrials make a public appearance, the united nations wants to be

prepared for it. there's a coordinated repons to man kind's response when they arrive. >> take us to your leader. >> hopefully better than in "mars attacks." >> exactly. rob marciano with us. we talk about a lot of things we think we see in the sky and can't identify. do you believe in life out there? great beyond. >> it is our job to study anything that falls from the sky like meteors and once a spaceship falls and lands on the earth, we'll be real believes. no, i'm open to it. life out there somewhere. i haven't seen it yet. hey, guys, it's been definitely raining in the east coast the last couple of days and the problem is it stays that way for a couple of days. look at the rain up here. towards florida. this is going to continue because we have got a little something something brewing down there in the tropics.

here's a picture of it. national hurricane center will investigate this afternoon with a plane. pretty good chance it's at least a depression if not a tropical storm here before the day, if not today, tomorrow and it's forecast to drift up through florida and up the east coast. that's why we're looking at much more rain for places like north carolina that just got hammered with rainfall yesterday and more today. and then more wet as it rolls up. this thing could be tropical storm think conicole in a day o. john and kiran, back up to you. >> thanks so much. alaska's best-known hockey mom traded the hockey rink for the dance floor. they watched bristol palin perform on abc's "dancing with the stars." former alaska governor, more diplomat than politician, praised the judges and the other dancers saying, quote, great to see the courage and ji.

>> but there was inevitably some drama. check out before the host interviewed sarah palin. >> you need to support them right now. there's boo'g in the ballroom. >> why is there boo'g? >> they don't know why but there's cheering after they introduced sarah palin so maybe boo'g the jennifer gray scores. >> a lot of boo'g goes on. if you have a favorite, you boo when they don't get the score. the. florida governor's race considered one of the most hotly contested of the midterm elections and want you to meet the candidates. we interviewed rick scott. a lot of you wrote in and asked us, hey, why don't you talk to the democrat? well, we are. next. sure i'd like to diversify my workforce,

i just wish that all of the important information was gathered together in one place. [ printer whirs ] done. ♪ thanks. do you work here? not yet. from tax info to debunking myths, the field guide to evolving your workforce has everything you need. download it now at thinkbeyondthelabel.com.

welcome back to the most politics in the morning. race for florida governor considered one of the most hotly contested yesterday we met gop candidate rick scott, millionaire businessman that seemed to come out of nowhere and win the primary. this morning his opponent alex sink joins us, the state's chief financial officer currently. the polling has her leading by some seven points and right now we'll meet the candidate. alex joins us live this morning

from tallahassee. thanks so much for being here. >> good morning, kiran. >> we took a look at the polling. you are up and five weeks out anything can change and there's been a lot of enthusiasm on the side of the republicans and certainly on the side of tea party candidates. how do you keep from getting swept up into that? >> well, i have absolutely been swept up by the enthusiasm of crowds all over the state of florida. we had a record crowd last night in gainesville, florida. people are very enthusiastic about supporting me, my plan for florida's future. they know i have lived here in florida for 25 years. been an intimate part of our community and our civic life, statewide business leader. i have a plan to get floridians back to work. >> you mentioned your time living in florida. rick scott a resident for seven years and seems to be the year of the outsider. how do you establish yourself as someone to come in there and change what needs to be change

when you're been part of florida's government? >> well, i have -- i'm not a career politician, kiran. i ran for office once before in my whole life and that was four years ago because i wanted to come to tallahassee as the state's cfo for business experience to this office for cfo and look out for our taxpayer money and that's exactly what i have done for four years. >> i want to ask you about that. that's been a point of criticism and been something that your opponent seized upon. rick scott yesterday talked about this ad of pensions in florida saying you were warned about making risky investments. led to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars. politi-fact said it was mostly false. you weren't directly involved and charge of pensions and said it was fair to question your role. did you not ask enough questions? were there things to do better to prevent the loss of that

money? >> well, we saw rick scott spend $65 million of his own money in the republican primaries spreading these mostly false ads about his primary opponent and he's just using the same tactics here. the facts are this. as we all know, the markets had their biggest dive since the great depression and every pension fund was impacted by that. the good news for floridians is the pew trust rated florida's pension fund as one of the fourth strongest in the country and i'm one of three trustees that oversee it and pleased to be so highly rated. >> they said -- this is "the st. petersburg times" warns that you may have been responsible for this apartment complex and in the end forced to write off entire $250 million investment. were there mistakes made as you sat on that board of three

overseeing that pension? >> well, let me tell you what happened as a result of some mistakes that were made shortly after i took office four years ago. i asked for the resignation of the xekdive director and he is gone. we have a new executive director of our pension fund now. >> all right. i also wanted to ask you about this. checking the accuracy of another ad talking about your time when you were an executive. and they questioned whether or not it was a good idea to be talking about laying off people which you had to do when you were in charge and making money and how well that sits with the voters in florida. what's been the response when people question, hey, do you understand the plight of the little guy if you had to oversee layoffs? >> well, absolutely. i estimate as many as 100,000 people here in florida over the course of my career worked with me and what we did when we were

facing consolidations was we put hiring freezes on. we used attrition to be sure that we were able to fill jobs with the existing people. we transferred people and at the end of the day, there were never massive job layoffs or losses in the banks that i oversaw. contrary to interestingly enough rick scott's whole business model was based on buying hospitals around the country and shutting them down and causing thousands of people to lose their jobs. >> do you think he's not being truthful when he says that will -- he has a plan that will create 700,000 jobs in florida? do you think that's not true? >> well, the people who have closely evaluated his plan, independent authorities, say that his plan is full of flaws and full of shams. you know, that's a typical politician who's doing anything he possibly can just to get elected, spreading negative lies and putting forth numbers and

plans that aren't based in reality. >> so do you think you're running a more positive campaign and you will run a more positive campaign going forward racing out the five weeks? >> the disappointing thing that we saw the way he ran the republican primary was all we heard was negative ads and didn't hear about what florid n floridians care about. what i'm hearing from small businesses, they want to hear about the things they care about. their challenges. staying in business. access to credit. one of the biggest problems. so my plan is going to call for tax credits and incentives and starting a business here in florida, you don't have to pay any state taxes for the first three years, i'm out there talking about things like public education and transportation plans. we're not hearing any of that from rick scott. all we are hearing from his is negative lies against now me, his current opponent, just so that he can buy the governor's

office. >> all right. well, i'm glad we got your point of view this morning, awell. alex sink, thanks for joining us. >> thank you. well, more women are saying "i do" these days to prenuptial agreements. guess what assets they want covered. christine romans is minding your business coming up next. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week, one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach.

coming up on 22 minutes after the hour and christine romans minding your business joining us with information on pre-nups. >> they're on the rise. people coming out of the paralysis, talking to divorce lawyers and trying to figure out how to preserve their assets going forward. 73% of lawyers say that pre-nups are on the rise. 52% say it's women who are initiating this request and that is a change.

women in particular wanting to protect pensions, 401k, retirements and the like. over the past couple of years you saw paralysis in divorce land. they couldn't sell the house and just kind of stuck. deers in the headlights. hearing from attorneys divorces are picking up and things like prenipt yal agreements going forward even on things like health care. suddenly, they're concerned about who's going to pay out of pocket health care costs for kids or themselves if they lost a job. people going back and trying to renegotiate some of their divorce agreements but pre-nups on the rise and it's women who are really key here and keen here about keeping what they've earned and achieved. >> they spent a lot of time and effort trying to provide for their retirement and don't want a low life taking it. >> if they left the workplace and married and protected and

covered down the road on their own retirement. we have seen so much economic insecurity. the pre-nups making a shift. this used to be the ceo man and depressing. spend as much time in the pre-counseling. almost like preparing to fail. i mean, i know that that's a romantic notion to be married forever but, you know? >> a lot of divorce management planners say it's financial security. women more than men fear for their financial security so that's something that is important to remember. and the bottom line is people get divorced. you know? i mean, this is what happens. >> you know what they say. prepare for the worst and hope for the best. >> that's right. >> there's a sense of doing the pre-nup stuff, are you -- >> just sort of throwing the towel in before it starts? >> exactly. >> the other thing -- >> risking that and the whole

thing and sort of just casting this idea -- >> hedging a bet. >> probably not going to work out and or if it doesn't -- you know? power of positive thinking. >> this is true. now the divorce groups and divorce lawyers and divorce financial planners they say expect pent-up demand and people stuck together and didn't want to be and marriage counselors that told me reporting this story in the past couples that stayed together because of the economic crisis. they couldn't afford to get divorced. now -- huh. yeah. we have done stories of people who are divorced living in the same house because they couldn't sell it and people that stayed together because they -- it was just the one last thing they needed to get through it together. >> the war of the roses. >> every couple is different. >> ultimate mercy. you have to live under the same roof. fantastic. >> i love the final scene when he puts this -- fall off the top of the staircase and he puts the hand on the arm and she takes it -- >> that is a great scene. that is such a good movie.

>> best part. >> you're welcome. >> roman's numerals. >> >> $3,000 to $5,000. >> the average cost of a divorce? >> $3,000 to $5,000. >> what universe? >> initiate. >> how are you? >> john's like that's a bargain. >> is that the whole divorce? >> initiate a divorce. see why some people sitting tight for a few years because a lot of people don't have $5,000 in their pocket these days. >> there you go. christine romans. >> depress us. >> a lovely segment. a dark cloud over us all this morning. >> the married mother of three. so far, so good for the chicago bears this season. beating the arch rival green bay packers last night dramatic fashion. four second remaining far 20-17 victory. bears one of three nfl teams still undefeated.

steelers, kansas city chiefs, also, at 3-0. >> christine is happy about this one. >> i made my husband go to a school meeting. there's an open house? are you kidding? we have to go. he said bears-packers but he went. he went. >> see? check the score on the blackberry later. well, a democratic congressman in a tough re-election bid using former president george w. bush in a new tv ad in a positive way? you get te tails still ahead. t some hamburger helper? oh, my, but your mouth is gonna love it. and your wallet's gonna be pretty happy, too. now this is the deal of the day. hamburger helper...one pound, one pan, one tasty meal. [ male announcer ] there is nothing more profound than hope. it is the promise that compels us to make the journey from wonder to discovery. the science of chemistry, our guide. the human element, our conscience.

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a look at the top stories

now. president obama's chief of staff appears to have a foot out the door. rahm emanuel expected to announce he's stepping down to run for his dream job, mayor of chicago. water higher than they have ever seen. wisconsin's governor declared a state of emergency in columbia county after heavy rains pushed the wisconsin river to an all-time high. the river's expected to peak again this morning. officials say at least 100 homes are in danger. the mayor says local prison inmates helping with sandbagging operations around a levee that started to crumble over the weekend. l.a. is broiling, toms at 113 degrees yesterday. they actually canceled classes. firefighters spent most of their time helping heat stroke victims. 113-degree reading topped the old record of 112 which was set in june of 1990. probably felt all the more unusual because they have had a pretty mild summer. >> yeah. been actually, what?

low 60s, high 50s in san francisco through most of the summer. well, time now for the latest news from the best political team on television and crossing the political ticker this morning, new poll number that is reveal which water americans believed not only caused our current economic problems but can also cure them. here's the hint. same party. >> yeah, that's right. senior political editor mark preston live at the cnnpolitics.com desk. this morning. >> hey john and kiran. a poll more trouble for democrats heading into the midterm elections. we asked the americans specifically about the economy. who's more responsible for the economic problems that we're now facing as a nation? 41% say it's republicans. 35% say it's democrats but we took the question one step further. who has the best plan to help fix the economy, kiran and john? well, 47% of americans say republicans have the best plan while only 41% say it's democrats. so heading into the midterm

elections, bad news for democrats. you know, for more than 12 years, john and kiran, democrats running against george bush, critical of him. except for now. we have seen a democrat in north dakota is now running a tv ad where he shows footage of george bush signing the medicare prescription plan he passed during his tenure in office. palmiroy voted for that plan. now into the midterm elections, north dakota, very republican state, he's highlighting that and the campaign tells me they're showing that, in fact, the congressman is not beholden to the democratic leaders in washington. look at these new poll numbers coming out in the last hour out of connecticut. world wrestling entertainment executive linda mcma hon is in a dead heat for that senate seat up there with attorney general blumenthal. she is a republican, running as a business woman and blumenthal is the gentleman who stepped in

after long-time senator chris dodd realized he could not win re-election. blumenthal expected to sail to re-election to win the seat and mcmahon is a formidable candidate and this poll showing in two weeks that the race tightened from six points down to three. three points is within the margin of error. >> deep pockets for campaigning, no question about this. >> $50 million pledged to spend on the race. >> all right. mark preston, thanks so much. reminder for the latest political news gorks to cnnpolitics.com. coming up on the most news in the morning. soldier story. patrolling in afghanistan. jason carroll gets a front row seat to the dangerous travel coming up next. what's her advantage? it's speedy alka-seltzer. alka-seltzer plus. rushes relief for all-over, achy colds. the official cold medicine of the u.s. ski team. alka-seltzer plus.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. it is an a.m. original now. we are following the story of army sergeant first class randy schroeder that returned to

afghanistan. it is his actually third tour of duty. >> wasn't long before he was on the move again beyond the protective walls of the base. jason carroll has the latest chapter this morning. good morning. >> good morning. when i went out with the soldiers, one thing that's clear to me, outside the wire, they're never quite sure when their time is up. they maneuver outside bases in afghanistan, always the risk of improvised explosives or bombs and a primary way the taliban attacks u.s. forces and it is part of life when operating outside the wire. >> everybody's going to get hands on on the radios so there's no -- >> reporter: sergeant schroeder on the ground for two hours in southeastern afghanistan and found him at work. testing weapons. quickly getting gear and platoons armed with vehicles ready to roll. you have to get a lot done in a short period of time. right? >> that is correct. frustrating time.

>> reporter: shortly after arriving at the base, the orders changed. the platoon made up of 14 soldiers convoy to a much smaller forward operating base a few miles away. located in an area where the taliban still has a heavy influence. we're about to go on a convoy outside the wire, meaning outside the protective perimeter of the base. tough make sure you have got your armored gear on. i have it and a helmet here for civilians. this is your last name and blood type. this is a precaution done any time you accompany troops outside the wire. >> if we strike ieds, they know as soon as an ied hit we want to pull our buddies out. >> reporter: little is said in the 20-minute trip. the road is known to be secure but in a volatile region like this, where 19 u.s. soldiers were killed in a single weekend,

nothing is forsure. the role requires the platoon regularly operate outside the wire. >> you know, every day you go out that wire, you know, you say your -- you make peace with yourself and you just tell yourself, hey, today could be the day. you do what you have to do. don't think too much of it and, you know, just hope you come back. >> reporter: on this day, a delay. >> this is what the enemy does. >> reporter: shorter's armored convoy, held up. smoke nearby signals an ied may have been detonated. >> not confirmed but reports regarding two -- i guess two teenagers on a motorcycle may have set off a remote motorcycle. >> reporter: no age range? teenagers could do this. doesn't matter? >> doesn't matter. >> reporter: no shoulders were hurt. they check a road to the north. >> this whole stretch used to be pretty much a good ied alley because this is a main key road

from the links, gasney. >> reporter: this is familiar ground. he checked the same spot in the last deployment two years ago. >> stunned to see the same holes. flashbacks and see improvement. that's a good thing. >> reporter: troops on patrol always eyeing anything remotely suspicious. >> on the ridge line. >> reporter: the smoke from earlier, a reminder of what's at stake. shorter is one of 30,000 soldiers now flooding the most dangerous area of afghanistan. and fighting a 9-year-old war. this year, it's deadliest on record. >> as soon as i'm outside that wire, it's combat. i'm sorry to say, yeah, may be green in other aspects but i'm ready to fight as soon as i walk out of that door. >> obviously, based on what they have happened today, they're ready to fight, as well. >> exactly. >> well, the last time sergeant shorter deployed to the same area of afghanistan, his convoy hit a roadside bomb and unit

came under fire. shorter says the insurgents have evolved, become better at making the bombs and they have become better at planting them. this is what the soldiers up against every single day. >> how do they deal with the constant stress and anxiety of knowing every time they go out there something really terrible could happen? >> i think that's a valid question. and it's really all about, a, good leadership and finding that down time. finding the time to be able to be with the guys and sort of unwind. you've got to be able to come back when you're back on these bases and find that time to decompress. >> it's amazing to go through it once and randy, sergeant shorter, third tour. >> third tour of duty. he's come under fire before. he knows what it's like. more difficult for them first time out and dealing with this type of reality when they leave the base. >> you talked about back in the base and how important the down time was. tomorrow, back inside of the wire, the troops of 101st adjust

to new life, life on the new base. their tents, home for the next year. a look at life in afghanistan that you won't see anywhere else. "a soldier's story" continues tomorrow. rob marciano will check the rain in the northeast. a heat record. checking out all of the extreme weather for news a minute. for those of us who have lactose intolerance, let's raise a glass to cookies just out of the oven. to the morning bowl of cereal. and to lactaid® milk. easy to digest and with all the calcium and vitamin d of regular milk. [ female announcer ] lactaid®. the original lactose-free milk.

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not exactly beautiful beach weather in new york city today. cloudy, 71 degrees, thunderstorms later on today with a high of 76. today, very much like it was yesterday. >> you've probably praying for a beach living in l.a. they had 113 degrees as a high yesterday. looking to break a record today. rob marciano keeping track of the temperatures for us. had a relatively cool summer in california, right? >> almost broke the record of coolest summer on record. most places like los angeles and san diego, they were at least in the top five so not a whole lot of going to the beach this summer but yesterday, certainly. and today, again, with temperatures getting up and over 100 degrees, they're doing just that. l.a. 113. all-time record. and the thing is that they set

that at 12:15. at 1:00, the thermometer at usc stopped working so it may have been even warmer than that. humidity low. nonexistent. nonetheless, up and over 100 and smoking hot. burbank, 110. east coast, cool. tale of two extremes. that's what happens in weather especially for the lower 48. cooler and wetter with a tropical connection. heavy, heavy rain in some spots. d.c. flood watch for a couple of hours as the showers continue to roll up the eastern seaboard. yesterday, they slammed wilmington, north carolina. over ten inches in a 24-hour period. typically you need a hurricane to do that. almost set the record of floyd coming through and other spots with similar numbers. problem is we won't see the rainfall stop or will come back in sometime. do want to touch on the tropics. the tropical connection to the northwestern caribbean and this thing looks like it wants to develop. may very well become nicole in

48 hours and then drift up towards the florida peninsula and then scoot up the coastline of the u.s. so this is going to be interesting to watch and unfortunately for folks with heavy rain yesterday, probably heavy rain again getting towards the end of the week. keep the umbrella handy. >> what was the lame thermometer at usc that broke? >> you know, they're pretty laid back out there. i don't know. it just stopped. stopped working and sent technicians there in the afternoon and then it was too late. went from 113 down to 111 and then back up to 112 at 1:00 and then -- stopped working. i think it probably went to the beach, too. >> hmm. >> it wasn't built to withstand temperatures -- >> no. >> come on! >> you would think that usc would have a good thermometer. you would just think. >> maybe it was distracted by what was walking around usc in 110-degree heat. >> had to bring it back around. thank you. >> see you. country comes home for the

first time. the grand old opri house in nashville back in business tonight. >> yeah, the house had to go through a stunning renovation and now a huge show. country star and grand ole opri members gave us a live tour. you wouldn't know that it five months ago that place was under water. >> reporter: i know, kiran. it looks beautiful right now. i'm here standing on the actual stand of the opri house in nashville, tennessee. just to put things in perspective this morning, there are some country music fans who would probably trade in the first-born children to stand on this very stage. the whole place is the mecca for this genre of music and back in may this bottom level was filled with water. everything below that balcony had to be replaced. $20 million later, this place is ready to open up tonight and i was able to get a unique tour with a really tall guy with a

deep voice. trace atkins. so how high did the water get? >> on stage it was four feet deep. >> would have gone over my head right here? >> over your head right here. over my head, too. right here. >> for someone that might not know about the history, what's so grand about this? >> it put country music on the national stand and every artist virtually every artist that's ever had a record deal and had any measurable success has played on the grand ole opinion pra. all of the legends have stood. this was on stage. hank williams stood in this circle. patty cline, johnny cash. everybody's stood in this circle. >> after the floods, they had to redo the dressing rooms because the water came up so high and trace will give us a little tour back there. >> this is little jimmy's

dressing room. >> this is jimmy dickens. poor jimmy's only 4'8" and had to stand on the ladder to be at eye level with trace. >> he was like garth brooks in his day. i mean -- >> like the stud? >> he was huge. i mean, he wasn't ever huge but he was huge. this is the debut room. you know, everybody -- different quotes on the wall in here from people about their first night performing on the grand ole opri and scares everybody to death. >> this is where they put the rookies in? >> first night. taylor swift. darius rucker. >> what's the importance of tomorrow night's concert to country muse snik. >> well, just, you know, we are back in business. you know? we're back home. we're back home. >> and back out here on the stage, we got a shiny new drum set waiting to be played tonight at the concert. all this equipment on the stage replaced because of the water

and tonight's concert is called "country comes home" and rightfully so. john, kiran? >> what's the lineup for tonight? >> reporter: we've got a lot of big headliners. jimmy dickens, who you saw in the package, also we have trace atkins, keith urban and brad paisley among a lot of others. >> my guy keith urban there tonight. excellent. he and brad paisley -- >> reporter: i'll tell him you said hi, john. >> do that. fabulous concert. he and brad paisley also lost a lot of their equipment in the flood, right? >> reporter: yeah. a lot of people out here, their personal homes were destroyed. and trace atkins said his home had damage and he says he was most concerned about this 0 pray house because there's so much history here. >> kenny chesney sent pictures and a building on the property, only a roof and it was surrounded by water so they went through a lot.

five months later, to be up and running, no small feat. good stuff. thanks, amber. well, pom gra gnats. good for you. can you advertise they prevent heart disease or cancer? the fed's tracking down on bogus super food health claims, next. ♪ i love my grandma. i love you grandma. grandma just makes me happy. ♪ to know, know, know you grandma is the bestest. the total package. grandpa's cooooooooool. way cool.

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red phone this morning. >> that's always trouble. 55 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. time for your a.m. house call, stories about your health and perhaps misleading claims out that helped start the pomegranate craze and now the federal trade commission is suing pom wonderful. there you see them. saying there's no science to support claims that their product can prevent or treat heart disease. they released a statement saying they disagree with the allegations of the ftc wasting taxpayer money to, quote, persecute the pomegranate. ben & jerry's will no longer

claim that their ingredients are all natural. 48 of ben & and jerry's flavors have ingredients that don't exist naturally or chemically modified. things like cocoa, processed and ma mallto dextrin. the corn is natural but what you do with it isn't. >> exactly. all in the processing. 56 minutes after the hour. we'll be right back.

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i guess one of the topics of conversation today is this press conference held at the national press club in washington. former air force officers saying plenty of evidence that ufos visited. >> described of what it was like of an object in the woods dripping molten rock. interesting to see whether or not this -- there's any merit to it and how