>> could you teach this year? latest live from washington. >> i wish i could. a new storm system in its sights. you know, i'm not kidding you. there's a line in the movie that rob marciano's tracking the a couple of kids made me see and extreme weather for us this morning. and president obama firing up the voters in a scene it's hillary swank's movie and reminiscent of the 2008 campaign. she's having an argument with her husband about commitment to teaching and she says, he says, we remember that young people what is it? helped the president get what is it with this teaching? elected, but can he get them to the polls in november and keep democrats in control of congress? up first, though, an a.m. what when i'm in that classroom, my life makes sense. security watch. new concerns that al qaeda is it's a product of thinking of plotting a series of commando them and not yourself. >> given the problems of style raids across europe and america's schools, it's an perhaps here in the united states. interesting inside look at what it takes to teach. >> it really is. it's really what a bit of what a first-year teacher goes through, >> law firm source tells us this a look inside an urban american morning that osama bin laden may high school, you know, without have signed off on the plan. it being an event. homeland security correspondent just there and also maybe a jeanne meserve has more from her chance to inspire other people to think about this. sources. she's live in washington this i'm telling you, it is -- when morning. what do we know? it's good, it's great. it is the hardest and you will >> well, john and kiran, the cry. volume seems to be turned up on you will cry. threat information about but it's the most rewarding. possible terror strikes in >> i cry just watching you cry. >> i did, too. europe. according to multiple sources in

europe and the u.s., the >> so nice to meet you. intelligence has raised concern >> i think they gave you crap, man. they're like little brats, too. about a mumbai-style attack that >> that's okay. would create a lot of casualties and a lot of chaos in a short >> just don't hit them. >> no, no. period of time. according to law enforcement sources in the u.s., economic no hitting. institutions including banks and a tropical depression set to stock exchanges are among the hit florida today. could impact the entire east coast and prepping for as much possible targets. and one of those sources says as a foot of rain in florida. rob marciano tracking all of it the belief is that osama bin laden may have signed off on the plan. for us. could be the next named storm. so who would carry this out? tropical depression nicole. 44 minutes past the hour. officials say the intel indicates people with western passports who can travel easily throughout europe. one federal law enforcement source says they may not all be european but could be a mix including north africans, pakistanis, and others. the source of much of the information is a german citizen of afghan descent. the man identified as sadiki worked for an airport cleaning company and attended a mosque which was a meeting place for the men behind the september

11th attack. that mosque was shut down this year not long after sadiki's capture. back to you. >> what are u.s. officials saying about it this morning? >> the director of national intelligence issued a statement saying we are not going to comment on specific intelligence as doing so threatens to undermine intelligence operations that are critical to protecting the u.s. and our allies. sources do tell us there's nothing in the intelligence to indicate a specific credible threat to the u.s. but our national security and law enforcement officials keeping a close eye on this? you bet they are. one u.s. official says this potential european plot is one factor in the recent uptick in missile strikes by unmanned drones against terror targets in pakistan. they want to use this intelligence. back to you, kiran and john. >> jeanne meserve this morning, thanks so much. much more on the terror threat just ahead. nic robertson working his sources overseas. he'll join us at the bottom of

the hour. also new this morning, former president jimmy carter is scheduled to appear at a book signing tonight in d.c. this is after her spent the night in the hospital after a bit of a scare. had an upset stomach during that flight to cleveland. he checked into the hospital as a precaution. his family says he's doing fine. the former president turns 86 on friday. later on this morning, the senate foreign relations committee begins hearings on the controversial release of convicted lockerbie bomber al megrahi. more than a year later, he remains alive and living in libya. representatives from scotland and britain will not testify in congress today. well, the federal emergency management agency has rejected california's disaster relief request for that deadly gas explosion earlier this month. you remember the tragedy in san bruno was back on september 9th,

eight people were killed, 30 -- well, seven people were killed, all right. you are looking at the satellite 7 seven homes were destroyed. picture of tropical depression number 16 and if you're saying, it was determined california did well, it doesn't look like a not need additional support. hurricane or tropical storm, you and five confirmed are right. it is a big mess. fatalities following a landslide in southern mexico. police believe as many as eight big, sloppy circulation. people could be buried under tons of rock and debris. national hurricane center over a foot of rain hit the readjusted the center to where region in the last few days. they think it is to south of more is on the way. cuba. good morning, everybody, again. well, for the second time in here's the track from the a week, fliers told to brace for national hurricane center of tropical depression number 16 impact after landing gear got which is still forecast to stuck. become a tropical storm although this time it was on a sky west it's as you saw not looking all airlines flight from omaha. that organized. they had to make an emergency landing in milwaukee. winds of 40, maybe 45 miles per hour is the forecast but the passengers say it was a shaky track is going to bring it right landing, a little bit of over miami later on today and leaning, but all 39 people tonight and then reemerge out onboard got off safely. >> the jet was very similar to towards the atlantic and through the carolinas during the day one that was forced to make a dramatic emergency landing at tomorrow and into tomorrow night and then actually north of jfk last weekend. there. you can see by this cell phone by then, kind of absorbed into a camera video, passengers taped front up there and a rainmaker. it from inside the plane. that's the thing.

the sparks flew and the wing huge amounts of rain. touched the runway. steady rain from the keys back reports say the national through miami and all the way transportation safety board is almost to melbourne. now investigating that jet. this is the case right on through the carolinas. it's a crj 900 which apparently is isn't associated with td-16 has a longer list of landing but tropical moisture and after gear issues. four other incidents over the over a foot of rain in past two years. wilmington, north carolina, they two the nose gear wouldn't come could see four to eight. down. right now, flash flood warnings two where the left wheels for wilmington and getting jammed. well, south florida could hammered there in north carolina take a big hit from a new severe and the forecast for heavier weather system. this was tropical depression 16, rain will be right up the but expected to become tropical eastern coastline. west of there, looking storm nicole some time today. relatively dry and relatively people are preparing for it. warm out west and so cal. there are weather warnings and record highs near 100 degrees watches posted from the florida keys up to palm beach. and cooler today with a high of 88 in l.a.. the storm is expected to bring 95 in dallas. torrential rains. 75 in new york. >> rob marciano has his eye on up to date weatherwise. "american morning" is coming right back. where other hammers can only dream of going, nicole this morning in the extreme weather center. how bad will it be for folks in the south? >> the problem is we're dumping a tremendous amount of rain over saturated ground. i think flooding is going to be a big issue across south florida

today. there will be some wind, but this thing is not going to become a hurricane and it's going to get sucked up into a larger system. you can see the precipitation shield of this thing is really moving well north into florida already. the craftsman hammerhead goes everyday. so even though the center of this thing really is just driving home nails quickly and easily crossing cuba, we've got several hours if not a full day of heavy in the tightest spaces. rain from miami almost all the more innovation, more great values. craftsman. way up through melbourne. trust. in your hands. here's the forecast track bringing it to the carolinas on one month, five years after you do retire? thursday as a tropical storm or ♪ some version of that with heavy client comes in and they have a box. rain and wind there. and right up through the and inside that box is their financial life. northeast, as well. by then it won't be a tropical storm, but it will be a wind and people wake up and realize i better start doing something. rainmaker. so everybody who has seen we open up that box. we organize it. rainfall the past two days, some of it heavy, will see a piece of and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. nicole or td 16 in one way, they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." shape, or form. but we've actually done it. >> thanks so much. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com well, we knew she could and put a confident retirement more within reach. sing, of course, but who knew that gloriae estefan was an

escape artist. she was forced to climb out of the window of her suite on sunday night because the door got jammed. even firefighters and lock smiths were not able to pry it over. she was in a realtime crunch set to introduce enrique at halftime. so she had to get out. you can pop right into your neighbor's suite. >> go next door, grab a beer, a hot dog, and on your way. the humidity there swells the doors. >> the lock smith couldn't get it open. coming up, president obama delivering a midterm message to young voters who helped put him in the white house. telling an overflow crowd at the university of wisconsin they cannot afford not to vote in november. seven minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] the craftsman cordless multi-tool.

the power and versatility of six tools packed into one. more innovation. more great values. craftsman. ♪ nine minutes to the top of the hour n. a "a.m. original" we have been following the story of army sergeant first class andy shorter returning to afghanistan for a third tour of duty and not stopped moving since putting the

boots back on the ground. >> today it is time for him and the rest of the 101st airborne to settle in and find a piece of i'm a mortgage banker at quicken loans. mike and michiyo were looking to purchase a larger home home in a war zone. to accommodate their family. jason carroll has the next matt was a star from start to end. he took care of us. he'll take care of you. chapter of adequate soldier's story" for us. hey, jason. we always like to follow up with clients >> it can be hard to find a and make sure that they know piece of home and comfort out we're tracking their loan for them, and if there's something that makes more sense for them, there. so much of what comes out of war we can present that as an option. zones understandably are the the surprise was that there were no surprises. battles but to get a more they have great technology, but they have people like matt. well-rounded look of a soldier's that's what makes the difference. it's an opportunity life we wanted to show you some to help clients achieve the american dream. of what goes on when they're off that's why i love quicken loans! duty. ♪ >> there was an ied explosion up to the north. >> reporter: with the threat of violence constant, life on the base gives army staff sergeant first class andy shorter a refuge. an emotional break between the fire fight, ieds and taliban heavy territory patrols. some in his platoon on the first deployment. >> it will never feel like going

to your actual home, of course. i mean, we are still although we feel like we're safe, i mean, anything could happen at any time. >> reporter: this is shorter's third con bat tour of duty. with it comes experience of war zone living. >> because you have to think, personal pricing now on brakes. other soldiers out there have tell us what you want to pay. we do our best to make that work. less. be happy for what we have. deal! >> reporter: he says key to a my money. my choice. my meineke. soldier's well being is making the best of wherever he or she is. >> it's good. >> sergeant! >> reporter: so when the platoon was restless waiting for a flight to southeastern afghanistan, they played ♪ volleyball. days later, on another base -- on your workout list? >> i mean, this guy, literally, no people skills. that one helps me get up the the minute you meet him, you hills when i'm roller blading in want to punch him. central park. >> it's a good one to start your >> reporter: nights spent around workout with. it gives you the idea that, the fire trash talking. >> he goes, what the [ bleep ]! okay, we're here to do something. and gets back in the car and we >> i love it. go. >> and by the end -- >> got the stress of what you are dealing with outds the walls >> exactly. that's probably how you feel like you've been campaigning for and then confined in here. this midterm election.

exactly five weeks until the >> everyone comes up with their midterms and president obama's own way of keeping themselves going all out trying to prevent busy. i tend to go stir crazy pretty a democratic demise in november. >> the president is telling students at the university of quickly. >> reporter: it was forward operating base rushmore from the wisconsin rally yesterday, this is not the time to lose heart. volatile and deadly border with earlier in a more intimate pakistan where they set up home for a next year. >> you have a court here, setting in albuquerque, the basketball court. biggest thing we have here. president was asked yet again about his faith. >> reporter: laptops, video >> i'm a christian by choice. games, gadgets offer momentary you know, my family didn't -- escapes from war's reality. >> bust eed out? you know, frankly, they weren't >> make it to the power, geniuses. folks who went to church every >> no, it ain't. week. it's running off of that. right? my mother was one of the most >> if it ain't plugged in, it spiritual people i knew, but she didn't raise me in the church. won't do nothing. >> reporter: how important for a sense of home? >> for me, there's going to be grass. for some guys -- oh, yeah. so i came to my christian faith fish. >> reporter: richardson says all later in life. >> suzanne malveaux is in des you need is a sheet from the bunk to create a little privacy. moines, iowa, and the president continues to push his rally, >> see the guys every day, go on trying to rally democrats, light

a fire under them, if you will. missions together. i mean, they become your family the events he's been holding are different than the rallies he but this is whenever you need to held as a candidate. get away. >> reporter: well, certainly john and kiran. just you and your movie or something. we see a lot of these pointed >> reporter: i wonder if you get to the point where as much as moments where he's with these you love each other, do you get to the point sometimes where you small, backyard groups. we saw one guy who said his just want to throttle someone? father was a veteran who wasn't >> yes. >> that's what the cave is for. getting proper care, broke down. the president hugged him. that is what the cave is for. really the big moment yesterday, whenever you feel like ring however, was that huge rally. their neck, calm yourself down. they're trying to reenergize the >> ready to check. >> reporter: shorter says base and really a lot of the young people. personal reminders of home keep there were about 26,000 with the him going emotionally and flowover crowd that were there at the university yesterday. mentally. today, letters from his family. i had a chance to talk to a >> it says from my wife, my number of students who said, look, yeah, we're excited about dearest randy, please know how this. much i love you, support you and but it wasn't the wild enthusiasm that you saw from two truly appreciate all that you do. please be that great leader years ago of the campaign. the president acknowledged as much saying, look, these are not again. lead your men and yourselves out of harm's way and back home to the days where you had beyonce or bono coming out and our loving arms. your wife, your daughter, participating in those obama events. but he said, nevertheless, be sheryl. patient with my agenda. >> those letters so important to we need you to come out five weeks from now for the midterm soldiers like randy shorter. you know, we were out with them elections, that it is a critical on night patrols, day patrols. time to get involved. here's what the president said.

so much uncertainty and that's why the soldiers have to find >> because if everybody who fought for change in 2008 shows some sort of sense of home when they're there. up to vote in 2010, we will win. you okay? >> yes. i'm fine. it's a long story. sorry. we will win. the polls say the same thing. we'll explain when we come back. we will win. >> yeah. okay. >> you're all right? >> reporter: john, kiran, it's okay. >> tomorrow, jason's going to look at soldiers and try to win really hard to tell just how many of those young voters are going to come out and hearts and minds in hell on earth. jason follows the 101st into a participate. some said yes, they heard the president's message that they dangerous and critically would get involved. but others were like just important prove lions. waiting to see. that's tomorrow on the most news they really didn't feel as inspired as we saw two years in the morning. it's going to be all right. ago. we'll be right back. now, we're here in des moines, i used to see the puddles, iowa, where they'll have another one of those backyard conversations. i had a chance this morning to talk to the couple who live here. jeff and sandy. we're always trying to figure out how do they decide who gets but now i see the splash. to host the president in the backyard. they told me this morning they ♪ i wanted love, i needed love ♪ got a call from the white house on thursday, said they were one of eight families that were being considered. ♪ most of all, most of all... ♪ they're not big democratic

fundraisers or anything like that. they did vote for obama, but they said that essentially the white house said they've got the backyard for it. you can see. it's huge. it's a beautiful neighborhood, a lot of oak trees. the couple's running around this morning trying to get ready for us. they said there was about a dozen folks who came over to their house, including secret service that day on thursday to lay out what was going to happen and started working through the backyard here. and right now they're actually trying to hide the cat so the cat doesn't mess up the president's performance and speech when he comes later this morning. i love my grandma. i love you grandma. >> you've always got to hide the grandma just makes me happy. cat. can't be trusted. ♪ to know, know, know you you never know what they're grandma is the bestest. going to do. unpredictable. >> they cleared out the garage the total package. grandpa's cooooooooool. and trying to figure out where way cool. to put the cat. ♪ >> they could put him in gloria grandpa spoils me rotten. estefan's box at the miami game. >> the cat will never get out. ♪ to know, know, know you 6:40 eastern, we're going to ♪ is to love... some people call us frick and frack. talk with tim kaine, the former

we do finger painting. this is how grandpa and i roll. governor. five weeks now until the midterm elections. how are democrats going to fair ♪ and i do come november? [ pins fall ] >> it'll be interesting to talk to him. grandma's my best friend. meanwhile, your "dancing my best friend ever. my best friend ever. with the stars" update. bristol palin was safe in last ♪ night's results show. [ laughing ] instead, voters sent michael [ boy laughs ] bolton packing. ♪ to know, know, know you he was the second star to be voted off, you know, david after this we're gonna get ice cream. hasslehoff got the boot last can we go get some ice cream? yeah. week. the show's producers went out of ♪ and i do their way to clear up the booing ♪ and i do that was heard monday just ♪ and i do before sarah palin appeared. here's the raw videotape. >> eight. >> eight. >> eight. >> that's good! that is good. that's good. >> eight! >> were they booing?

well, representative for abc later said the reason they released this raw tape was to show they were booing because the judges gave those scores to jennifer gray who is really a crowd favorite and derek huff. they got eights when people thought they should have got nines or tens. >> but the speculation was that because sarah palin was in the room that the boos were for her. which was so unbelievably unfair. >> we even said yesterday, it had to be the judges. and there you go. they really wanted to clear that up because it got out there that people were booing for palin. >> you've got to have the raw tape. look at everything in context. then you get the real story. the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. more nominees coming out. buddies from canada, rush. did kiss get snubbed again? >> how long ago was that song? we'll tell you coming up. 16 minutes after the hour. i love it. >> early 1981, i think. they're playing at the

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♪ well, bon jovi was living on a prayer for so long, and now those prayers have been answered, at least for the fans. the band could be on the way to the rock 'n' roll hall of fame this year. and on its first ballot too. bon jovi was one of several nominees announced for the hall. >> yes, we were thrilled about this morning. well, the list includes alice cooper, beastie boys, neil diamond, donovan, l.l. cool j., donna summer. but for the 11th year in a row, kiss did not make the cut. there's always the merchandising hall of fame. or you could lay your love one to rest in a kiss coffin.

but no, at this point they're not in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. >> there are many ways to celebrate your favorite band with make-up. we should also mention too, they're not in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame, but they're in the canadian hall of fame. and tomorrow we'll be talking with the boys from rush -- no, sorry -- >> tomorrow is thursday. i know, it's hard to imagine. >> today is wednesday. i've got to fly to atlanta where they're playing today and talk to them. >> that's awesome. >> and join them. >> are they in the rock 'n' roll hall of fame? >> no, it's a little smaller. >> it's all right. so you're going to hop on stage? >> it's very prestigious, though. maybe, we'll see. not during the show. wouldn't want to do that. minding your business this morning, twitter's popularity continues to soar. the micro blogging site has moved past myspace to become the third most used social network in the world. last week it hit 96 million unique visitors. facebook remains the most

popular followed by windows live profile, which i've never heard of. >> it's if you go under hotmail or windows live, msn, microsoft's. >> i'm so inexperienced at this. facebook, twitter. >> where did myspace go? that one sort of crumpled away. >> that was the first one, and facebook -- >> social network, that's why it's now a movie. have we been visited by aliens? the debate continues, but one noted ufo researcher, robert hastings as well as seven retired air force members created quite a buzz in washington yesterday when they talked and held a press conference before the national press club saying that extraterrestrials have visited earth. and not only visited earth but are nuclear weapon sites and they're here with a warning. robert hastings is going to be joining us live to explain his theory just ahead. tory? of one financial company that grew stronger through the crisis. when some lost their way, this company led the way.

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♪ 25 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most news in the morning. when robert hastings and seven members of the retired air force held a news conference in washington yesterday about ufos, a lot of people's draws dropped. >> they went into detail into more than 100 sightings that expand three decades. they claim that

extraterrestrials are trying to warn us that we're playing with fire. joining us live this morning from colorado springs is the man who organized the media presentation noted ufo researcher robert hastings. robert, great to see you this morning. you had all of these airmen reporting ufo sightings over their facilities. and you also have affidavits. you provided us with documentation here from a number of former service members of a 1967 sighting that allegedly coincided with ten intercontinental ballistic missiles being deactivated. what's your theory of what's going on here with these sightings? >> documents released via the freedom of information act confirm that these types of incidents have occurred going back to 1948. the documents described saucer-shaped objects whose capabilities are vastly beyond anything we have, the russians have. i think the logical explanation is we're dealing with visitors from somewhere else. regardless, there are a number of cases now. i've interviewed over 120 former

or retired air force personnel who have talked about ufo incursions at missile sites. the incident in montana in 1967 did involve the appearance of a saucer-shaped object above a nuclear missile launch site. seconds later, all ten of these missiles controlled by this site malfunctioned. and the two officers involved, including former captain bob salace testified he was sworn to secrecy and told never to discuss this. he kept his silence until 1996. all the gentleman who appeared with me at the press club believe the american people have a right to know the facts. >> but they didn't necessarily believe that theory about why those ten nuclear sites were deactivated. why do you believe so strongly that that was truly happening? and that it was the result of ufos as opposed to let's say a malfunction or military exercise? >> well, what you've just said

is not entirely correct. they all agree that there was no technical explanation for what occurred. in fact, the engineering reports from boeing corporation stated just that. in fact, all seven of the persons who appeared with me believe that we are dealing with extraterrestrials, some of them stated it explicitly at the press conference. what they do not necessarily agree with, three of the seven agreed with me that these probably represent these actions represent a signal being sent. i'm of the opinion that whoever aboard these craft are telling us and the russians because these things have taken place in the former soviet union that humans are playing with fire by possessing and threatening to use nuclear weapons. that is speculative on my part. i've always made that clear. but the persons who were at the sites who witnessed the craft say that there is no technology on earth that could account for what they witnessed. >> you know, your press conference yesterday, robert, sparked an awful lot of conversation around our offices

yesterday. we were talking about this throughout the day. and it raised the number of questions, such as, you know, who are these aliens? where did they come from? how did they get here? why if they have the technology to travel on an inner stellar basis do they care about what we're doing? >> i have a book called uf o os and nukes, i devote an entire chapter attempting to answer the questions you just asked. i think most of the answers to those questions are in the realm of speculation, frankly. we don't know. the people at the pentagon and the cia and the kremlin may know the answers to your questions. however, what i simply point out is that you have countless incidents now. and i've, again, i've investigated over 100 of them and have over 100 witnesses indicate that craft of vastly superior capabilities have been monitoring the u.s. nuclear arms program. since the 1940s, and on occasion

according to these ex-military personnel have tampered with the weapons. what i also point out is the persons who spoke with me on monday, by the way, at the press club were persons who were vetted by the u.s. government to launch or otherwise operate weapons of mass destruction. these are clearly persons that are now saying that ufos have shut down our nuclear weapons. >> so the question remains, then, this has been the subject of conspiracy theorys for decades. the freedom of information act freeing up some of this testimony. what does the government have to gain by blanket denying that we've ever been visited by ufos? >> the rand corporation, which is a think tank did a study for the air force in 1968, the brookings institution, which is a think tank did a study for nasa in 1959, i believe, in which they said basically if extraterrestrials are here, governments have nothing to gain and everything to lose by admitting that without knowing

the full intentions of whoever might be here. are they hostile? we don't know. do they intend some nefarious activities toward human kind? we don't know. so basically the odds that the u.s. government is going to admit there are craft flying around american air space that run rings around our own aircraft literally and we hope they're friendly because we can't control them and, oh bi the way, they seem to be interested in our nuclear weapons and seem to be shutting them down from time to time. the government has everything to gain by keeping quiet about that. >> well, according to a noted physicist steven hawking, if there is life out there, it might not be friendly. it's great to have you on this morning, robert. wish we could talk longer and perhaps we can get you back because certainly a lot of questions remaining. but thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you. >> good to have you. well, it's 31 minutes past the hour. time for our top stories. president obama continues his campaign swing to save the democrats in november in iowa

today. yesterday he held a big rally urging students at the university of wisconsin to get involved, telling them if they sit this election out, republicans will win. a big win for the obama administration on stem cell research. an appeals court has permanently lifted an injunction imposed by a federal judge that banned the use of taxpayer money for embryonic stem cell research which clears the way for the national institutes of health to continue its publicly-funded research. and they are half way there, a drill trying to reach the 33 trapped chilean miners has now reached the 330-meter mark. that's how they calculated, they were about 1,000 feet down. crews say they are already ahead of schedule and that the men could be rescued by early november. 1,300 feet left to go. more now on our top story. a new al qaeda threat. officials in the united states and europe uncovering plans for a mumbai-like attack with gunman targeting so-called softer targets. >> a german officer tells us that the terror suspect who is

now in custody is talking and that that person attended the same german mosque as 9/11 hijacker. nic robertson is live in abu dhabi this morning. what has developed overnight on this case? >> reporter: well, we know that this man sadiki was originally born in afghanistan, 1974. his family emigrated to germany. he went to the pakistani tribal border region to join a jihadi training camp there in 2009. but since his arrest, he's the one that's been providing all this detailed information about this plan in europe, the mumbai attack targeted hotels, coordinated between about nine gunmen, ten gunmen using automatic weapons, hand grenades killed over 160 people. and apparently this plan was

similar, but across europe and in britain, in france, and in germany. so there's this big coordinated attack. much harder to detect than the bombing plots that have been al qaeda signature until now. kiran, john? >> is there anything known about targets? the french closed down the eiffel tower and then they said no, that was a mistake. did they have any hard information on what might have been targeted? >> if they are, they're not telling us. and that's typical in these situations. but it does appear to be linked to the -- what we've heard from u.s. officials as precise information that's being used to target some of these camps, an uptick in the targeting of those drone strikes on those camps in pakistan. and one counterterrorism official in the u.s. we talked to said that they're taking these threats in europe very, very seriously. and when i interviewed a senior camp official in new york, he

told me the mumbai scenario was the nightmare scenario for counterterrorism officials to deal with because it's hard to see coming and it's hard to stop in the first 15 minutes of carnage or so. >> yeah. a lot of concern out there, of course. and we're continuing to follow this. nic robertson for us this morning. thank you. and there is a lot of new information coming out about this alleged plot. we're going to speak with fran townsend about what else we know and what our capabilities really are to prevent something like this from happening again. and janet napolitano will be joining us later on this morning, as well. coming up, president obama firing up the base, scolding members of his own party. how is it all playing with democrats? we're going to talk with dnc chairman tim kaine just ahead. 35 minutes now after the hour. >> so, ah, your seat good?

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they're basically saying that you're apathetic, disappointed, you're oh, well, we're not sure we're going to turn out. wisconsin, we can't let that happen. we cannot sit this one out. we can't let this country fall backwards because the rest of us didn't care enough to fight. >> president obama trying to get students revved up at a university of wisconsin rally, practically daring them to prove the pundits wrong and turn out strong in november. >> yeah. and the president had some strong words for disenchanted democrats. in a "rolling stone" interview he called them irresponsible.

and vice president joe biden also told the liberal base to stop whining and look at the alternatives out there. joining us from washington this morning is tim kaine, the chairman of the democratic national committee and former governor of virginia. good to have you with us this morning. >> good to be back, thanks. >> one of the things i wanted to draw your attention was the cnn opinion research poll that says more people think that the country would be better off if congress was run by the republicans than the democrats. is there an enthusiasm gap out there? is there some question about whether or not democrats have the country on the right track? >> kiran, we definitely over the summer we're seeing that enthusiasm gap in a lot of polls. but we're seeing it dramatically close. so i think the cnn poll has a gap at about, you know, single digits, eight or nine points. we were seeing polls that showed it at 30 points over the summer. we're also seeing other polls where in the generic congressional ballot the republicans had a ten-point edge a month ago, and now it's essentially a dead heat among likely voters and very close among -- dead heat among registered and very close among

likely voters. >> about 11 points, but go ahead. >> and we think we've got good momentum now. we're closing the gap. the president yesterday started a series of four sizable events. i was getting asked yesterday by press, what if this rally is a dud? 26,000 people showed up and we had 200 watch parties all over the united states. i was one at the university of delaware, and the audience was very enthusiastic. >> of course they're going to show up. >> yeah, i don't know why people were predicting it wasn't going to work. >> gosh knows where that came from. but the president as you saw in that clip that we played at the beginning of this really imploring students to come out and vote in the numbers that they did in 2008. we talked to some students who say, well, you know, we're a little skeptical now, we're not sure we're going to. president also said in "rolling stone" magazine, people need to buck up. that tells me folks weren't serious in the first place. telling people they've got to get out and vote. vice president joe biden

imploring the base to stop whining and consider the alternatives. is criticizing the base the best way to get people out to the polls? >> i did a bunch of events yesterday and didn't see any democrats out there complaining about that. i think people understand it's time for action. we're an impatient party. we don't spend a lot of time celebrating things that we do. we needily look at the next thing that needs to be done. and as the president said in madison, there's a lot that still needs to be done. this election is more about what still needs to be done rather than what has been done. and i think that message resinates with our voters. they're getting into the swing. they realize who the republicans are. they realize how stark the choice is. and while you never get turnout in a non-presidential year like the presidential year, we think our voters are revving up and revving up just at the right time. >> it is interesting, though, there is another poll showing the most enthusiastic 48% of republican men say they're enthusiastic to get out there and vote. obviously that's not your base.

but some of the issues still boil down to pocketbook issues. they say women are less enthusiastic, men a little bit more fired up. and a lot of it has to do with the state of the economy. how much five weeks out can the democrats say we've done to try to turn this around? >> well, it's -- you know with the economy tough, that creates a head wind. midterm, always there's a head wind for the party that has the presidency. an economy that was shrinking is now growing. we were losing 700,000 jobs a month, we've now gained private sector jobs eight months in a row. you can't turn what was on the brink of a second great depression around overnight. but the dems are at least willing to do the heavy lifting. what are the republicans for? they voted against economic recovery, against small business loans, they vote against equal pay for women. what are they for? that's the question we're laying out for the american public. >> there's also a question what the democrats stand for in terms of the bush tax cuts. it was believed there was going

to be action on the tax cuts to make permanent those tax cuts for the middle class, raise them on high-income earners. they've put that off until at least after the election. the question is, where's the tax cut for the middle class? did democrats just decide that raising taxes on anybody was so unpopular they didn't want to do it before an election? >> well, no, the issue about the election is this. the republicans are filibustering in the senate. everyone agrees democrats and republicans that middle class and small businesses should get tax cuts. everybody agrees that. but republicans in the senate said look, we're holding that bill hostage. we're going to block it from even coming up from a vote unless the tax cuts are made permanent for the wealthiest, which would double the size of deficit projections over the next two months. because the senate rules and procedure, if the republicans want to stand lock step against immediate tax relief to the middle class, they can block it. but we're going to make that an issue between now and november. >> of course they're going to say it's not that they want to block it, they want to add it to everybody.

they want to extend it to the top income earners, as well. >> kiran, that's true, they do. but the estimates on this are incredibly clear. the republicans are saying they're the party that's concerned about deficits. if you make the tax cuts permanent to the top earners and the largest corporations in america, you double the deficit projections going forward for at least a decade. we can't afford to do that. we've got to be working with president obama's deficit commission bipartisan to come up with strategies to bring the deficit down rather than bust a hole in it by using the same policies that busted a hole in the deficit under the bush administration. >> well, i want to ask you about this. we don't usually knock our competition on this show, but the president brought it up or at least answered a question about fox news. he called fox news part of a tradition and point of view that were "destructive for the long-term growth of the country." we're in a unique situation where perhaps three out of four of the biggest names being bandied about for the presidency in 2012 under the gop all have deals, contributor deals with

fox news channel. what is your take on how this is going to play out moving forward? >> well, you know, i think that they're taking actions as a company. and i go on fox all the time. i think i should. i want to speak to all voters, but i think they are taking actions that make people realize they're basically a promoter of one party, the gop. when the fox parent corporation gives $1 million to the republican governor's association, which they did a couple of weeks ago, they're abandoning that even pretense of journalistic neutrality, which journalistic organizations, newspapers, tv stations, you know, fight to maintain. and so, you know, i assume what they are. when i go into fox, i'm walking into the lion's den, i'm going to do my best. but they are clearly pushing for the other side. and when they have presidential likely candidates, you know, who are paid contributors with them, i think that tells you who they're pulling for. it means we have to work harder basically. >> one last thought if we could, governor, about where this is going to end up in november. you look at russ feingold in

wisconsin, he's down eight points to ron johnson. linda mcmahon launching a real challenge in the bluest of blue states, connecticut. robert byrd's seat in jeopardy of going red now. how bad are you expecting it to be in november? >> well, john, we do have challenging races. again, i was in delaware yesterday, i think we're going to win the senate seat and we're going to pick up a house seat in delaware. we've got a great shot of winning the governor's mansion in florida, a strong shot in georgia. it's a volatile electorate. we're going to win some seats, lose some seats, i think we're going to hold on to both houses. >> tim kaine, great to talk to you this morning. thanks very much, governor. >> you bet, guys. 46 minutes past the hour. still to come on the most news in the morning, rob's going to have the travel forecast after the break. here's looking at a tropical depression that could become the next named storm and could spell big trouble for florida. where other hammers can only dream of going,

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imagination and reality have merged. because of one word, a new generation-- a fifth generation-- of fighter aircraft has been born. because of one word, america's air dominance for the next forty years is assured. that one word... is how. good morning, again, i'm rob marciano. the weather headline is tropical depression number 16, which may very well be tropical storm

nicole before the day is done. doesn't look very impressive. the actual center is right about there. it's part of a broad area of low pressure. and generally speaking, we don't expect it to become a hurricane. nonetheless, it has 35-mile-an-hour winds, it is about 100 miles south of marathon, florida. it is heading to the north/northeast at about 42 miles per hour. expected to become a tropical storm later on today, getting to the florida keys and straits and up into parts of miami later on this afternoon as a tropical storm. a lot of the action as far as the wind is concerned may very well be east and offshore, but a lot of rain is going to be the key here and this is going to be drifting up towards the carolinas as we get towards thursday and into friday. and even up towards the northeast. by then, it won't really be much of a tropical system, but it'll have a lot of this, which is rain. flooding conditions, west palm, maybe as far north as melbourne. getting into the soggy, soggy carolinas, and that's going to be the main threat with this thing up and down the east

coast, areas that have seen a tremendous amount of rainfall. we've got flood watches posted for the carolinas, 4 to 8 inches of rainfall there potentially and later on as we get closer to the weekend, 2 to 4 inches potentially even across portions of pennsylvania and new york. another warm day in socal. you're up to date weather wise, "american morning" is coming right back.

54 minutes past the hour. welcome back to the most politics in the morning. we're taking a look at the political ticker now. delaware state attorney general beau biden, joe biden's son has a message for democrats when it comes to christine o'donnell. >> and our own massachusetts

marky mark, live at the cnnpolitics.com desk for us. >> good morning, john, good morning, kiran. don't underestimate christine o'donnell so says beau biden. he is the on so far joe biden who held that seat for 25 years. he considered running for that seat, he decided against hit. he says he has no regrets. he says that democrats are taking this race very seriously in delaware and they're not underestimating christine o'donnell who has had some flubs over the past couple of weeks. what do americans think about the war in afghanistan? well, it's not very popular. if you look at this new cnn opinion research corporation poll that was released just this morning. 39% favor the war, 58% oppose it. but let's look at it through the political lens. how does it break down across ideological parties? well, right now only 20% of democrats support the war, just a month ago or earlier this

month, 29% did. why is this important? well, democrats need to get this base excited. they need to get them out. and when you have this unpopular war hanging over their head, especially a war that is considered obama's war, it's not a very good thing to try to get voters out certainly liberal voters heading into november. and so how does the president find solace? he turns to his ipod. he told "rolling stones" in an interview just published within the last 24 hours that he listens to stevie wonder, bob dylan, miles davis, also nos and lil' wayne. he learns his musical taste from his daughters sasha and malia, as well as one of his close aids reggie love. he's got about 2,000 songs on his ipod. he also told this great story about bob dylan, which i'll talk about later in the show. >> i love it that they had to -- you know, you're real.

you didn't -- you thought -- what did you this it was nas? >> yeah, that's how it's spelled. >> speaking of spelling, we know we spelled it wrong, we'll fix it for tomorrow. we'll check in with mark next hour. for all the latest news go to cnnpolitics.com. three minutes until the top of the hour. we'll have your top stories including the latest on the potential terror attack and concerns of whether another one is on the way. [ male announcer ] the craftsman cordless multi-tool.

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terror watch. the u.s. now on alert for a mumbai-style attack.

>> resorts, banks, museums, the places where large groups of people will congress gait. >> new details on a plot that may go all the way to bin laden himself. on the most news in the morning. hey, good morning, thanks for joining us on this wednesday, the 28th of september -- it's the most news in the morning. >> i'm kiran chetry, we'll have more on the terror threat in a moment. first a couple of other top stories to tell you about. south florida is now bracing for a fast-moving system. it's poised to become the next named storm. it would be tropical storm nicole once it picks up speed. in strength, it's expected to bring heavy rain as it moves up the coast. we have rob marciano tracking it for us. the fda warning certain mouthwash makers to stop claiming their products are effective in removing plaque or preventing gum disease. we'll tell you which brands have been called out this morning. an a.m. original, a soldier

story. today we're focusing on what it's like to live on these bases without the comforts of home surrounded by the terrors of war. jason carroll takes us inside the troop's new base in afghanistan. an a.m. security watch. new concerns today that al qaeda is plotting a series of commando-style raids across europe and here in the united states. raids much like the bloody 2008 mumbai terror attack. >> that's when terrorists hit soft targets causing a lot of terror and making it very difficult to disrupt. sources say that there's drone attacks, the surge in them may be aimed at trying to disrupt this plot. much of the information that officials now have is from a german terror suspect who is in custody in afghanistan and a law enforcement source is telling us that osama bin laden may have signed off on the plan. we've got all sorts of new information coming in about this alleged plot from around the world this morning. our homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve is working her sources in washington this morning. we're also going to speak with

fran townsend in a moment. but first to jeanne with the latest on what we know. >> john and kiran, let me clarify this intelligence is about potential attacks in europe, not in the united states. as one law enforcement official put it, the volume seems to be turned up on this threat information about europe. according to multiple sources in europe and the u.s., the intelligence has raised concern about a mumbai-style attack that would create a lot of casualties and a lot of chaos in a short period of time. according to law enforcement sources in the u.s., economic institutions including banks and stock exchanges are among the possible targets. and one of those sources says the belief is that osama bin laden may have signed off on this plan. officials say the intelligence indicates the attack would be carried out by people with western passports who can travel easily throughout europe. last spring, video surfaced purportedly showing germans

training with jihadist groups in afghanistan. according to a counterterrorism official, one source for much of the current threat information is among those who got training there. the man identified as ahmed sadiki was detained in kabul and according to this official is in u.s. custody and has been talking a lot. he attended a mosque which was a meeting place for the men behind the september 11th attack. that mosque was shut down earlier this year. john, kiran, back to you. >> i'm glad we cleared up the potential for any attacks here in the united states. thanks for that, jeanne. what are we hearing from the administration this morning about this? >> well, the director of national intelligence james clapper issued a statement last evening saying we are not going to comment on specific intelligence as doing so threatens to undermine intelligence operations that are critical to protecting the u.s. and our allies. sources tell us there is nothing in the intelligence to indicate

a specific credible threat to the u.s. but, of course, national security and law enforcement officials are watching all of this very closely. one u.s. official says the potential european plot is one factor in the uptick in drone attacks against terror targets in pakistan as the u.s. tries to exploit what officials call precise intelligence. john, kiran, back to you. >> jeanne meserve for us this morning. thanks. and joining us now is former white house security adviser fran townsend. and when we were first hearing this story develop, they said there was the potential for an attack at least the hope of an attack in the united states on the part of these plotters. what new information are you learning today about where, perhaps, they were targeting? >> well, you know, the frustrating thing for officials is with this leak, it becomes more difficult for them to get the sort of precise tactical intelligence of potential targets. we've talked about large gatherings, places where people would -- they could create mass chaos and have casualties.

it's interesting, kiran, because what was said to me by a counterterrorism official was that, look, we don't have specific intelligence about an attack in the united states. but let's remember, europe is about a six or seven-hour plane ride away. and so we're responding and reacting to this intelligence as though it could be here. which is what you would want and expect them to do. >> it is. we saw with mutallab it's easy to get on an aircraft and head to the united states. this is being described as a possible mumbai-style attack where a group of well-trained and heavily armed militants would take over a so-called soft target like potentially a hotel or shopping mall. is this the type of al qaeda-sponsored attack that we're going to see in the future? >> well, you know, john, it's a shift. and when i was talking last evening to several counterterrorism officials, they said to me, as we've been able to better harden some of the traditional al qaeda-like

targets, embassies and those sorts of installations around the world, they were bound to shift. and so this represents a target of opportunity. and after all, if they can create chaos, they can instill fear. it doesn't really matter if it's a big government building they attack, they can achieve their aims and get the publicity for recruitment and fund raising that they need by soft targets which are near impossible for government officials to secure them all. >> right. so it's all about disrupting before it happens. because once it happens as we saw with mumbai, there were hours of terror before they were able to get a handle on that. we do know that the suspect was stopped in germany was of afghan descent. what do we know about where these terrorists are coming from? >> well, you pointed to the absolute first priority of investigators and intelligence officials right now. we understand they're debriefing ahmed sadiki in afghanistan.

they will be asking him to identify others who may have been trained in the tribal region and already deployed. one of the keys here, as you know, european officials have put restrictions on what sharing can happen with travel information that they provide to us. and so, i've been asking -- we don't have the answer yet, have they lifted those restrictions? because the ability to share and analyze that travel data information will be key to identifying those who may have been trained and already deployed. >> and fran, what have you heard about osama bin laden signing off on this? and if he did, was he operationally involved? >> you know, john, going back to 9/11, remember, khalid shaikh, the master mind behind 9/11, did go to osama bin laden and get it cleared. it's not clear whether that precisely happened. but if it's a large-scale attack that's likely to be successful and have mass casualties, it's the sort of thing if not in

detail, at least the type of targeting, the type of plot would likely have been run by at least the leadership if not bin laden himself. >> all right. >> interesting. fran townsend, great to get your take and the insight from your sources. thanks. and coming up at 8:10 eastern, we're going to talk with janet north ameriapolitano. fliers told to brace for impact because of landing gear getting stuck. this time it was a sky west airlines flight from omaha. had to make an emergency landing in milwaukee. passengers say it was a shaky landing, little "leaning," but all 39 people onboard did get off safely. this jet is a slightly different model from the one that made a trail of sparks when it came in for a landing at jfk over the weekend. we talked to the passengers who taped this on their cell phones as the landing gear was jammed. and you can see the sparks fly

up. former president jimmy carter is expected to be released from the hospital some time today. he had an upset stomach and checked in yesterday as a precaution. this morning, his family says he's doing fine and he's going to resume his book tour later on today. well, up to 30 people are feared bury under the mud slide. this is in northwest columbia. the pictures coming from -- six homes were swept away, and rescue efforts are now still underway and trying to rescue people who may have been trapped. but as you can see from the pictures, a big mess and they also say that the rescue efforts have been slowed down because of the threat of other mudslides. a deadly landslide in a remote area of southwestern mexico. right now officials say 11 people are listed as missing, five people were confirmed as dead. hundreds of homes have been buried there.

well, south florida's also under the gun this morning. a large storm system forming off the coast. right now it's a tropical depression. this is a live satellite loop. we're going to show you of the storm. there you can see its track, expected to become tropical storm nicole. and while they do have watches and warnings up this morning from the florida keys, up to palm beach, they're getting ready -- there you can see sandbag prep's already underway because niceoloul >> rob marciano is tracking it for us this morning in the weather center in atlanta. and how much rain are folks in florida going to get? >> well, they could see upwards of 10 inches of rain with this thing. and not only florida but across the east coast where we've seen a tremendous amount of rain in the past few days. a lot of this rain is saturated and primed for flooding. it is a tropical depression right now. it's not very organized at all. moving off the coast of cuba right now, off towards the northeast at about 14 miles an hour. that'll put it across the florida straits later on this

morning. and the forecast is for it to become a tropical storm. if so, it will be named nicole. and then make its way up towards the carolinas in some way, shape, or form, probably being absorbed by a cold front up that way. but the rain's already begun across parts of south florida. that's the scary thing. we haven't seen the center of this thing even close and heavy rains are already started for the southern half of florida and stretching up towards the carolinas. this is an area, wilmington saw 10 inches of rain the day before yesterday, more today, and they could see another 4 to 8 maybe as much as 10 inches more rain as nicole or this depression rolls up the eastern sea board. so, a lot of rain on the east coast there. i guess the good news is, even though we're going to see some flooding is this area has been in a bit of a drought state for the past six months. so it is beneficial, but you don't like to get it at all at one time. >> moderation. that's what grandma always said. thanks, rob. >> see ya guys. they say everything's bigger in texas, right? not sure that explains this,

though. it was a peewee football game turned into a big-time brawl. pretty amazing, and pretty sad, really. >> it's a peewee football game, people. all the adult coaches involved were disciplined. turns out the kids were really the ones who suffered because the league has barred both teams from post season play. >> shining examples of sportsmanship this morning. coming up, texting bans don't work. a highway study says they make drivers more distracted. the transportation secretary ray lahood has to say about that. do you trust what it says on your mouthwash bottle? is it removing plaque and preventing gum disease? well, the fda is quibbling with some of the claims and we're going to find out which brands they're targeting. 12 minutes past the hour.

welcome back to the most news in the morning. 15 minutes past the hour. classes resume at the university of texas a day after a student opened fire with an assault rifle on campus. officials say 19-year-old colton to tooly randomly fired shots before killing himself. this was reminiscent of the famous bell tower shootings back in the '60s. half way there, a drill trying to reach 33 trapped chilean miners has reached the 330-meter mark. crews say they're already ahead of schedule and the men could be rescued by early november. the miners have been trapped underground since the 5th of august. and ray lahood is blasting a new study suggesting that texting bans are not reducing highway crashes but have led to an increase among younger drivers. researchers say that drivers are hiding phones from police by

putting phones in their lap and diverting their eyes even more. lahood calls the study misleading and flawed. >> what was it? the insurance institute for highway safety. they're a reputable organization. >> he's claiming there's not enough information done. it's sort of a false argument. so because people are messing up while they're breaking a law, that's like saying, okay, well, drinking and driving laws don't work because you're hiding your beer. the point is, any time you're not at 10:00 and 2:00, you're at risk. >> yeah. and is it any different having your blackberry up here or having it down there? but obviously we're going to hear more about this. maybe we'll talk to the insurance institute about it too. do you like your name? think your life would be different if your parents picked a different name? that got a lot of attention in a best-selling book called "freakinomics." >> morgan spirlock will be

joining us in the next half hour. you like your name? john? that's a great name. >> it's fine. better than aliwicious. >> people probably spell it wrong a lot. >> ron marciano getting in on the name game. so you're robert, which is a nice sensitive name, but your parents thought about other names. >> kind of like john, it's okay. dad wanted alberto, you know, go with the hard core italian. it wasn't cool to be italian back then. >> but you would have been an alvin or bert. >> bonnie and gastone were taken for the hurricane season. >> a lot of people would call you gas. >> my parents said if you're a girl, you're kiran, which is a hindu name.

if you're a boy, you're george. >> they could have named you kiran if you were a boy too. it's a boy's name, as well. >> i like kiran, very unique, unlike john and robert. >> it's very interesting because in this movie they talk about just how people judge you by your name, fascinating research. >> yeah. you were saying this morning, if you're going to give a young girl a name of temptress. >> which somebody did in the movie -- >> what happens after that? >> well, christine romans is going to be joining us after the break with our business hit coming up.

22 minutes after the hour, minding your business this morning. amtrak wants to eventually -- and i guess that's the caveat there, eventually replace its service with a $117 billion high-speed rail line serving the northeast. the new set of tracks will be built between washington and boston. the trains would then be able to travel 220 miles an hour. it would cut the ride from

washington to new york to an hour and 36 minutes. >> could you imagine? >> wouldn't that be fabulous? >> and new york to boston would take an hour and 24 minutes. you'll have to wait a bit, because ground breaking is not going to take place until about four years. that's if they can get the funding. >> then they don't expect it to be completed until what? 2040. we won't be traveling then. >> i don't think we'll be going back and forth between washington and new york. which is a shame because i thought a high-speed rail corridor would be a fabulous thing. >> it's easier said than done. >> stop e-mailing me about that. they say roberts wants to give billions of dollars to amtrak. no, i'm just saying a high-speed rail system would be great. >> before the show you were telling me you hoped amtrak would take over the world. that was something different. check your medicine cabinets. your mouthwash may not be doing all it's promising. there's no basis behind the claims that they prevent plaque or gum disease. the fda has written letters

demanding those claims be removed from listerine total care, cvs brand complete care, and walgreen's mouth rinse full action. >> let's bring in christine romans here this morning to talk more about this. >> this is the second day in a row we've had big, high-profile warnings. now the fda on these mouthwas s mouthwashes. this is an administration that says look, we're going to watch out for the consumer after critics say there hasn't been enough consumer protection over the past few years. these are the three. the problem is here, all of them claim in their advertising or on their bottles that they can help prevent plaque, that they are good in preventing gum disease, they will help remove plaque. and the fda is saying that is unproven. that is not true. yes, the stuff that is in here sodium fluoride prevents cavities, but don't do the other things. and they've given them a short amount of time to fix their packaging and fix their claims.

two of the three groups, cvs and j & j say they're going to address this immediately. it's interesting because johnson & johnson has other issues on its plate. it had to recall 135 million bottles of children's medicine and other medicines. there will be a hearing on thursday about johnson & johnson. >> still can't find that medicine. you know as well as i do when you're looking for baby tylenol and zyrtec. >> being accused of unproven claims on its bottles of mouthwash. >> they started with airborne, you know, the fizzy cold prevention what they called it. >> don't you think there are more examples of this than you've seen in recent years of the government coming out and saying, look, you can't say this. you can't do this. pull it off the shelves, this is not going to be allowed. so this is certainly a headache for these companies. but again, as i said, cvs and johnson & johnson said they're going to try to fix it. they will take a look at it

right away. >> still a lot to say it freshens breath, though. >> and it's not a case if you think it works, it does. of course we all know that the only mouthwash that does freshen your breath is amtrak mouthwash. >> oh, i was going to say an apple. my dentist says an apple is a good thing to happen. >> if you bite into it, you could lose a filling. who knows. >> these three, sodium florida, yes it prevents cavities. >> riding on amtrak trains -- still to come, a break from the horrors of war. we're kidding here, folks. the soldiers of the 101st airborne adjust to their new home away from home in afghanistan. but they may not have much time. the soldier story continues coming up on the most news in the morning. it's 26 minutes after the hour. 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. has everything you need. 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.

coming up on the half hour. it's time for this morning's top stories. just a few hour's time, the senate foreign relations committee begins hearings on the controversial release of the convicted lockerbie bomber. megrahi was released because it was thought he only had three months to live. he's still living. president obama's stopping in iowa and in virginia talking up the economy. the president was trying to rev up young voters. he held a huge rally in madison,

wisconsin, yesterday urging students to recapture that spirit of 2008. go to the polls in november, and to prevent a return to the -- as he called it, failed republican policies of the past. and a new report cites the untapped potential of offshore winds to provide power along the u.s. east coast. the conservation group oceansay could create as many as 212,000 jobs in the united states. well, meantime, an a.m. original. are story we've been telling you about and following. army sergeant first class shorter. he hasn't stopped moving since putting his boots on the ground. >> today it's time for him and the rest of the 101st airborne to settle in. jason carroll is here with the next chapter of a soldier story. >> it's an important chapter.

when you spend time with these guys, you realize they're under pressure all the time. they'd go insane without that down time. it's needed. so much of what comes out of war zones, what we see, understandably, are the battles. but to get to a more well-rounded sense of a soldier's life, we wanted to show some of what goes on when they're off duty. >> there was an ied explosion -- >> reporter: with the threat of violence constant here, life on the base gives soldiers here like sergeant first class randy shorter a break, an emotional refuge between the fire fight, ieds and intense patrols and taliban heavy territory. some soldiers in his platoon like 20-year-old adam on their first deployment. >> it's never going to feel like going to your actual home, of course. i mean, we're still -- although we feel like we're safe. i mean, anything could happen at any time. >> reporter: this is shorter's

third combat tour of duty. with it comes experience of war zone living. >> because you have other soldiers out there that have less. to be happy for what we have. >> reporter: he says key to a soldier's well being is making the best of wherever he or she is. so when shorter's platoon grew restless waiting at bagram airfield for a flight to southeastern afghanistan, they played volleyball. days later, on another base. >> i mean, this guy literally, no people skills. the minute you meet him, you want to punch him. >> reporter: nights spent around the fire trash talking. >> he gets out of the car and goes -- and gets back in the car. >> reporter: you've got the stress of what you're dealing with outside the walls and you're sort of confined in here. >> everyone comes up with their own way of keeping themselves busy. i know i tend to go stir crazy pretty quickly of. >> reporter: it's at

forward-operating base rushmore, about 40 miles from the deadly and volatile board with pakistan where shorter and his platoon will set up home for the next year. >> reporter: you've got a court here, basketball court. >> basketball's the biggest thing we've got here. >> reporter: laptops, video games, 21st century gadgets offer momentary escapes from war's reality. >> you got busted out? >> i thought madden was going to happen tonight. >> connect it to the power, geniuses. >> it's connected. >> no it ain't, genius. it's running off that. if this ain't plugged in -- >> reporter: how important is it for you guys to create some sort of sense of home? >> well, for me, pretty soon there's going to be grass growing around here. for some guys -- >> fish. >> reporter: richardson says all you need is a sheet hanging from your bunk to create a little privacy. >> you see these guys 24 hours a day every day we go on missions together. they become your family, but this is whenever you need to get away, just you and your movie or

something. >> i wonder if you get to the point where as much as you guys love each other, do you get to the point sometimes where you want to throttle someone? >> yeah. >> that is what the cave is for. whenever you feel like you need to wring their neck, go to the cave and calm yourself done. >> reporter: shorter says personal reminders of home keep him going emotionally and mentally. today it's letters from his family. >> it says from my wife. my dearest randy, please know how much i love you, support you, and truly appreciate all that you do. please be a great leader again. lead your men and yourselves out of harm's way and back home to our loving arms. your wife, your daughters. >> you know, letters like that can mean so much to these guys when they're out there. and when we spend time with them, we realize they could be called on a night patrol at any moment and then they're on a day patrol. there's so much uncertainty for them. so when they're back there on the base, it's just so important that they get that down time

where they can relax and decompress. >> i'm just wondering, how do they ever really sleep or really relax knowing that at any moment you can go from being sound asleep to the fight of your life. >> actually, i have a good answer to that. >> they're so tired. >> they're so tired. >> that the minute you put your head down, whether it's on a cot or a bunk bed with a mattress that's that thin, you're so tired the minute your head hits, you're out. >> what i found so remarkable about these soldiers in war zones is they have the ability when they get back to base to tune out but at the same time still be dialed in. because if something happens -- >> they're up like that. they're up like that. absolutely. >> that's part of the training and part of the experience of being there. but it's stunning, you know, to understand how a person can do that. >> yeah. and it's incredible once you're there and you see psychologically how they're going through so much in their minds and their mind is still racing and you know there's got to be a time when you have to shut it off. >> jason, great stuff. and jason's going to be back

tomorrow. and he's talking about how you win hearts and minds in a place that some call hell on earth. jason follows the 101st into dangerous provinces. well, if you can change the name your parents gave you when you were born, would you do it? would you be living a different kind of life? jason, your original name was -- >> christian. >> but then my mom's friend who was pregnant at the same time, she snatched it up so i got jason. >> you could be lewis, but then you'd have to wear a funny hat. morgan spirloch joins us after the break to explore the question, what's in a name? 36 minutes after the hour. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 absolutely. i mean, these financial services companies

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welcome back. well, it's 39 minutes past the hour. what's in a name? juliette once posed the question to romeo. and this morning, we want to ask you. have you ever wondered if your life would be different if your parents had given you a different name? or is your thinking about naming your child, how much will what you decide to name your kid go

into their future success? well, steven lewit and steven dubner explored the question in their film and it now opens friday. take a listen. >> meet robert lane. he had two sons. he named his first son winner, three years later he named his next son loser. so winner and loser lane set off on the world to claim their destinies. and what happened? well, loser went to prep school on a scholarship, graduated from college, joined the nypd and eventually became a detective and then a sergeant. he goes by lou now. and his brother, the most noted achievement is the sheer length of his criminal record. >> that's unbelievable. well, morgan spirloch wrote and directored that chapter on names. and he joins me this morning to talk more about it. good to see you again. >> good to see you.

>> that was an extreme example. but how much did you find does go into a name? >> i think what you start to see is people do make prejudgments based on a name. people will decide, you know, that person's name sounds smart. i met a veronica the other day and she said tell me something about my name. i said i've never met a veronica who's not bright. >> we spoke to this economist and you interviewed him in the film, rowland friar and he says people judge you on your name alone. and he did a study to find the concrete evidence. and he sent out thousands of identical resumes and the only difference was the name. one would say deshawn williams and the other would say jake williams. and it turns out that deshawn got 35% less callbacks. what does that tell you? >> i think also what comes out in our chapter, which is interesting, is there is still

this mental racism judgment in america. what's interesting about the resumes is even when they changed the qualifications and made deshawn even more qualified and made jake even less qualified, you know, jake still got more callbacks. so i think -- it's very telling. >> and what is it, you know, then what's the message to african-americans who are thinking about naming their children? do they need to say if there's a name i liked or wanted i need to realize that perhaps my kid's going to be judged on this? >> well, and it's also a choice. i grew up in west virginia. you're going to name your kid bobby jo. you start hearing names together, might be a little country, it's not the same as robert joseph. it sounds more wise and eloquent, you know. but there is -- there is connotations that come with those names. >> very interesting. also socioeconomic. you found it wasn't just related to race. this was an interesting bit i like to play for people. >> so what's happened to ashley?

she's fast losing her popularity on the middle class list, but she's number one among the walmart crowd. as those wealthier folks see their names popping up everywhere, they quickly discard them in favor of less common merchandise. and just like that, today's high-end ashley becomes tomorrow's low-rent trashily. >> i mean, everyone's going whoa, whoa. but you were using that as an example. you were saying that people of certain income ranges have certain names. when i looked at the list i had to laugh. some of them are very popular. and when they become more popular among lower class people, the upper class people stop doing it. >> they're done. you would think it's the famous people we want to name our kids after. you know, you want to name your kid christine after christina aguila aguile aguilera. >> i was looking at presidents

last night. the most popular name for presidents of the united states, james. >> yeah, very solid. >> johns. >> i don't know how many more baracks there'll be after this one, but time will tell. >> that is the other interesting point. are we changing? is our society changing? we have barack obama as president, beyonce, that's a very unusual name. we had condoleezza rice, oprah, so are we sort of breaking out of that judging people and their success by their name? >> well, i think it's also we're picking very successful people with their names also. i think there are plenty of people who have very odd names that aren't successful. we met a guy who named his kid possum in georgia. is possum going to be that successful? i don't know if possum's going to break out and be the next big thing. but who knows. >> that's hilarious. you had this personal decision yourself. >> i did. i have a son who is 3 1/2, and we had a lot of discussions about what to name him. we chose a family name. it was my great, great uncle's name, his name is lakin. we could not come up with a girl name to save our lives.

it was either too girly, too foofy, too butchy. thank goodness we had a boy because we couldn't come up with a girl name. >> girls' names are so much harder. we went endlessly back and forth before we came up with mya. and my son, we named him after his dad, chris. >> easy. good, strong name. >> exactly. well, the movie's fascinating and your part in it was also fascinating. opens up friday, freakonomics. great to see you. >> possum? sounds like a fellow that might end up as road kill in the fast lane of life at some point. with now less than five weeks before the congressional election, republicans are standing together and speaking out against the charges against democrats. details on what's going on from the best political team on television. and the rain continues to drench the east coast. when will it clear out? rob's got this morning's forecast right after the break. 45 minutes after the hour.

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. let's see how low we can go. let's do some little things... that help us save big. add some insulation here. a little weather stripping there. maybe an energy star-rated appliance, or two. let's save money on the things that keep saving money. that way, we can turn a little energy into a lot of savings.

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all right. check this out. you don't think the entire earth has gone unexplored? well, this crater, which was the result of a meteor that came slamming down some time ago. 16 meters deep, 45 meters wide out there in the middle of the gypsum desert. found via google maps. and they had an expedition that checked it out a couple years ago, and these are some of the pictures you're seeing. just to give you an idea, you know, there are certain spots on our earth that are marked with large meteors that can come crashing down at over 10,000 miles an hour do a world of hurt. this one very well preserved after all these years. all right. not so well preserved tropical depression number 16. this thing is forecast to become a tropical storm. but right now not looking that organized.

actually center right there. that satellite picture, more going on around jamaica. jamaica and cuba getting rain with this. and that's going to be an ongoing issue. the forecast track for this takes it across cuba. it's doing that right now. right now it's about 100 miles south of marathon, florida, less than 200 miles from miami. moving to the north/northeast at 14 miles an hour. forecast to become a tropical storm, which would make it tropical storm nicole. not going to do much more than that. the big thing is going to be the rain and a tremendous amount of rain with this. already seeing several inches across southern florida. we're seeing the northern fringe of this coming in and the heavier rain from miami all the way up almost to melbourne. the rain shield with this is drenching parts of north carolina. remember yesterday we told you wilmington had 10 inches of rain the day before yesterday? yesterday got another couple of inches. they just had an inch in an hour right now. so wilmington and the

surrounding areas there under a flash flood warning for the next couple of hours. 4 to 8 inches of rainfall potentially and this moves up the eastern sea board with 2 to 4 inches of rainfall there. everything to the west looks relatively dry and warm in southern california. you're up to date weather wise, american morning is coming right back.

seven minutes until the top of the hour. welcome back to the most politics in the morning. crossing the political ticker, republican members of the house ethics committee are accused of stalling. >> senior political editor mark preston live at the cnn politics.com desk monitoring all of the incoming.

good morning. >> good morning. yesterday, five members of the house ethics committee, five republican members, sent a letter to zoe lofrin saying she is stalling on the trials of rangel and waters. said she is doing it because of elections. heading into the mid-term elections and not good news for democrats. maxine waters, accused of helping her husband with stock in bank and charlie rangel accused of multiple allegations against him. both said that they wanted these trials to happen very quickly and expecting to hear about these accusations charged yesterday. don't ask, don't tell. what do americans think about this issue? a new cnn/opinion research poll shows that 67% of americans

favor it. 28% oppose it. this is an issue in the headlines. lady gaga involved and we saw the senate republicans block a defense bill with a measure to call for the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. the pentagon right now is reviewing the matter. we expect to see a report in december. who's the new rock star out of new jersey? not jon bon jovi. it's chris christie, the republican governor. he came out of nowhere in 2009 to win the election against the democrat jon corzine and chris crossing the country for republican candidates and here on capitol hill in an hour or so and perhaps he can rub the political magic off on them as they try to take back the house of of representatives in november. john, kiran? >> mark, thanks. >> thanks, mark. we'll check in with you in another hour. for the political news, go to

cnnpolitics.com. this weekend, don't miss "right on the edge." meet four, young, rising stars in the conservative movement changing the course of public debate and pushing the nchl of journal saturday and sunday 8:00 p.m. eastern. top stories after a quick break. stay with us. >> so, ah, your seat good? got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru.

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good morning to you. thanks for being with us. it's wednesday, september 29th. i'm kiran chetry. >> i'm john roberts. let's get you caught up on what happened overnight. new information on a terror plot with officials in the united states and europe on alert. sources say al qaeda may be planning raids on soft targets. we'll speak to jeanne meserve. tropical depression number

16, bearing down on south florida and it could be the next named storm, nicole. storm warnings are up and the system could produce nearly a foot of rain in parts of florida. >> he's not a taxi driver or housekeeper but played them tv. actor tony danza is a year and spent tenth graders at a philadelphia high school who's the boss. >> i read it five or six times. i don't remember it. i don't know if it doesn't catch my interest. >> what's on your mind? >> i want to see if we can make the classroom a little more challenging by adding extra stuff. >> okay. that would be good. that's a good idea. >> tony danza to teacher. he talks about the new reality show, "teach" coming up this hour. a security watch for us. paris to london, to cities here at home on alert. a new terror plot uncovered.

plans for a commando-style raid much like the bloody 2008 mumbai terror attack. >> possible targets of economic institutions like banks, stock exchanges. in europe. our homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve is live in washington for this us this morning. what are we learning from your sources, jeanne? >> reporter: in europe and in the u.s., intelligence talks about a mumbai-style attack for casualties and chaos in a short period of time. as you mentioned, law enforcement sources in the u.s. say the potential targets could end collude institutions like banks and stock exchanges, and the possible perpetrators, sources say, a mix of people to travel easily throughout europe. we have some video purportedly showing germans training with jihadist groups in the border area about 200 have done so according to a german counterterrorism official and

among them, the source of much of the current threat information. he's identified as sadiki, a german citizen of afghan descent. he was detained in kabul in july. is currently in u.s. custody and is talking. sources say he lived and worked in hamburg, germany, where he attended the mosque, a meeting place for the men behind the september 11th attack. john, kiran, back the you. >> how seriously are u.s. officials take the threat right now is. >> reporter: they're taking it very seriouslseriously. they don't know what they don't know. they don't know if it could morph into something else. the director of national intelligence did issue a statement saying we are not going to comment on specific intelligence as doing so threatens to undermine intelligence operations that are critical to protecting the u.s. and allies. will tell you that the u.s. is using some of this intelligence.

it's one of the factors that's helping to target drone strikes in the pakistan border region, there's been an uptick in those attacks. >> what about the belief that osama bin laden may have signed off on this plot? >> reporter: yeah. i was told by a law enforcement source that the belief is that bin laden did sign off on this. you were talking last hour to homeland security expert townsend and she was saying likely if this was a very large attack being planned, it is the sort of thing to be ran by the top leadership of al qaeda. >> where the heck is he? >> reporter: don't they wish they knew? >> jeanne meserve, thanks. we'll talk with homeland security secretary janet napolitano. how real is the threat to the united states? what are we going to stop mumbai-like attacks on soft targets on this country? classes resume at the university of texas just a day after a student opened fire with

an assault rifle on campus. officials say 19-year-old colton tooley randomly fired shots before killing himself. no one else was hurt. former president jim any carter remains hospitalized this morning. doctors want to continue observing him. he had an upset stomach in a flight to cleveland and checked in yesterday as a precaution. a drill trying to reach the 33 trapped miners made the halfway point. crews is an i they're ahead of schedule and that the men could actually be rescued by early november. the miners have been trapped underground since august 5th. tropical storm warnings up for parts of florida. rob marciano tracking the storm system. it could turn into tropical storm nicole but having problems getting organized, rob? >> yeah. which we'll take. the main problem is the rainfall. amount of rainfall already north of the system has been troubling. across parts of southern florida and the amount of rainfall to

see across parts of the carolinas. also, on the troubling side. we could see as much as four to in some cases ten inches of rainfall from the carolinas back through florida. the latest advisory now in from the national hurricane center showing it's moving north-northeast at 9 miles per hour. still a tropical depression and they have not upgraded this. and it's about 150 miles or so from miami. looks like they may have shifted it further to the south. i have to read further with the advisory just coming in and more details about 16 here which could be nicole before the day is done. but the big story, guys, flooding rain from florida all the way up there the carolinas and into the northeast. it tracks all the way through parts of pennsylvania and new york, as well. that's the latest from here. we'll talk more details in 30 minutes. >> thanks, rob.

meanwhile, 15 bands have a shot at rock immortality next year. the rock n roll nominees of 2011 are out. alice cooper, beesty boys, neil diamond, ll cool j, donna summer, bon jovi but kiss shot out. >> canadian rock band rush didn't get in this year, either. we hope they will at some point and will have them on the program tomorrow. exclusive access to them later on today in atlanta. >> fun. >> a lot of rush fans in just the studio. >> you have to get your playlist together to play a few of their songs tomorrow. >> no more my heart. >> just sing them for us. an a.m. nerd alert. "star wars" hitting theaters again, all three in 3d. the hollywood reporter says george lucas begins to roll them out in 2012 in order. >> what does that mean? in order. >> like really in order. because they did the middle three and then the first three. so they're going to roll them

out from episode i through "the empire strikes back." "return of the jedi." okay. took me ana no second. >> and then "empire strikes back" and then the original "star wars." am i wrong? >> not sure. >> you have to go see them. >> they pretend to be "star wars" fans but they're not really. new terror attacks fears. homeland security secretary janet napolitano asks for tougher airport security measures around the world. we have her live coming up next. 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

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nine minutes after the hour. more on the top story now. a new al qaeda threat. officials in the united states and europe uncovering plans for a mumbai-like attack with gunmen targets so-called softer targets in europe. joining us now with more is homeland security secretary janet napolitano in montreal this morning. great to talk to you this morning. what do we know about this plot in europe? we know that there is an

afghan-born german citizen in u.s. custody in afghanistan. what more can you tell us about it? >> well, i can't comment to specific plots as director clapper said yesterday. we don't want to imperil anybody, a source of intelligence or the many sources of intelligence we have. but i will say that we are working constantly to make sure the american people are safe. and that includes plots against so-called soft targets like hotels but it also includes, for example, the reason i'm in montreal which is really to urge and announce historic declaration among 190 nations of the world on aviation security which also obviously remained a target. >> yeah. we are going to talk about that in a second. a couple more questions on this al qaeda threat, if i could. can you confirm that there are no known threats against the united states from this plot at this point? >> you know, i'm neither going

to confirm nor deny because by going either direction i think we go down a treacherous path. what i will say is that there are -- there are constantly threats of all types that we need to be able to be proactive against and be proactive even when there aren't specific threats. >> been a big increase in drone attacks in northwestern pakistan in the month of september. 20 attacks. cnn analysis is that's double the usual amount. did that increase in drone attacks tied at all to this plot? >> again, not anything i'm comfortable commenting on as director clapper said, we're always acting against plots. we're always trying to be proactive and doing what we need to do to protect the american people. >> let's tack about the reason why you're there in montreal and

that's new aviation security guidelines. one of the things you're trying to do is convince countries to adopt body scanners we are getting at american airports. dubai said there are privacy concerns. italy is not thinking of going with them because of the long security lines they cause and question of whether it would have detected the bomb that there was in the underwear. are there the best technology to protect aviation? >> well, first of all, i think you've kind of mischaracterized what we are here doing. what we are here doing is making sure that there are security standards throughout the world that would allow for more information sharing and collection about passengers before they even get to an airport. but then there are all kinds of different ways to detect explosives. they can be explosive trace machines as we use in some

airports. it can be canine teams. it can be ait machines, pat downs. different countries want to do different things but the standard needs to be uniform and that is to say you cannot rely solely on a machine in a world where our enemies are trying to smuggle on explosive powders and gels and that thing of sort. >> you are looking for expanded use of the body scanners, are you not? >> not specifically. that's a path we have chosen in the united states. we believe they're objectively better. other countries are doing the same. amsterdam, for example, the uk is another example. but other countries of the world will adopt different techniques. there's a whole tool box of things that can be used that increase the likelihood that someone like an abdul ma hall lab will be apprehended and our

goal is to keep like that off of an airplane. >> are you comfortable that security enhancements in the wake of the christmas day bombing attempt are at a point where people fly worldwide, fly even here in the united states and be fairly confident that there isn't someone with an explosive device on board? >> yeah. absolutely. i think global aviation has been safe. our goal is to keep it so. and to make sure that we are adapting where we need to in light of the fact that the threat keeps evolving and ada adapting and so when you have 190 nations of the world in one place reaching a global consensus on not only a set of standards to be achieved but also a set of regional summits that will take place over the next 18 months and really a commitment to make sure this global aviation system to helps knit us all together remains safe, that a historic

achievement. >> some questions were raised about the calibration of airport security in the country where india's civil aviation ministry, there at the conference, detained and really grilled at chicago's o'hare airport. i guess it's somewhat comforting to think everybody is treated equally but to make a mistake like that, does that give you pause to consider whether or not we're really targeting the right individuals? >> well, i actually met with the minister yesterday. we had a good conversation. and i think that, you know, i think it gives confidence that no one is exempt screening or random screening. that is part of the process. unpredictability is part of the process. on the other hand, when you have known experts from other countries, known higher officials from other countries we need to make sure that they can get through the airport smoothly. >> did you apologize to the

minister? >> he didn't ask for an apology but we did talk about what is needed in both countries to make sure that air travel remans safe. >> homeland security secretary janet napolitano, thank you for joining us this morning. good to see you. >> thank you. >> kiran? >> all right. still ahead, christine romans joins us exploring why female managers earn less money than their male counterparts. what percentage of managers are mothers a s women and how mothd affects your paycheck. ♪ to know, know, know you grandma is the bestest. the total package. grandpa's cooooooooool. way cool. ♪ grandpa spoils me rotten. ♪ to know, know, know you ♪ is to love... some people call us frick and frack. we do finger painting.

this is how grandpa and i roll. ♪ and i do [ pins fall ] grandma's my best friend. my best friend ever. my best friend ever. ♪ [ laughing ] [ boy laughs ] ♪ to know, know, know you after this we're gonna get ice cream. can we go get some ice cream? yeah. ♪ and i do ♪ and i do ♪ and i do

♪ this is your biggest nightmare, right? as a broadcaster. that you really get something so wrong when everybody's waiting to hear what you have to say. this was sort of what happened at "america's top model" in australia. the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat on the women's face and the finale and the host's face. >> the host announced the wrong

winner. take a look. >> so the winner and australia's next top model for 2010 is -- it's you, kelsey. oh my god. i don't know what to say right now. i'm feeling a bit sick about this. no. i'm so sorry about this. oh my god. i don't know what to say. this is not -- this was a complete accident. i'm so sorry. it's amanda. i'm so sorry. >> whoops. the hostess almost in tears over the mix-up and claim the people behind the scene gave her the wrong info. blame the producer, the director. >> that's our escape.

is christine romans coming up? ali velshi? never mix you two up. you know, you have interesting statistics as a new mom, you looked at this, as well. are my chances of ever moving up to upper management dead because i'm a mom? >> listen. the government accountability office, the gao, has fascinating through data of what it's like to be a manager and woman in america. the numbers are fascinating. look at 2000 to 2007 at the behest of congress and found of managers, women managers in the workplace, 40%. women in the workplace, that's compares to 39% in 2000. look at these industries where women make up management. it's eggs and meds. teachers and nurses, traditional places where women have a foothold and where they're most likely to be managers. manufacturing, construction, the numbers drop off and interestingly, manufacturing and construction, the percentage

compared with women overall in the field is still pretty high. in manufacturing, construction as a woman you have a better chance of becoming a manager than other fields. talk about the pay gap for women managers. 79 cents to the man's dollar in 2000. in 2007, 81 cents. over seven years, they gained a couple of pennies here. one thing we were talking about in the break, looking at women who are mothers managers, 14% of female managers were mothers. that's not very many and women facing a tough -- >> there's still a -- >> must still be a mommy track out there. another thing that's a bright spot and women's participation overall in the workforce is up and loading up on the education. the new data. >> women graduating. >> yeah. >> you've called it a he session or a factor of men being

successful ceos whether there's a dad doesn't make a difference. >> none whatsoever. >> what does that tell you about the household and how, you know, the responsibilities are divied up? >> we are in the throws of some changes and they're slow to come and starting to see -- you see women managers in the workplace are younger than male counterparts and paid less. >> how do they justify that? >> i don't know. i think -- i don't know. in some cases people say women step back instead of stepping out of the workplace and now lost a little bit of earning income staying out for nine months to have a baby and lost out on one cycle of a pay raise. also -- >> less likely to, a, ask for a raise and ask for money. as you showed, education and health care, that's where women are managers and don't pay as much as some of the business, right? some other businesses. >> i guess you have to think that with all of this education that women have been acquiring over the past ten years or so,

that that will start to change with the other fields and we are on the forefront of making up the gains. some other data of the sen vus bureau showing income gap at records. never seen the rich last year richer. the poor poorer. women lagging behind. marriage at an all-time low. 52% of people saying they're married. a lot of changes happening in to the century of changes that started late last century and just more data to prove it. >> christine romans minding your business for us this morning. thanks so much. we knew she could sing but who knew that gloria e stefan was an escape artist? this is her going out the suite on sunday night. the front door was jammed. firefighters and lock smiths didn't pry it out. she was a time crunch to introduce enrique iglesias at halftime. just get out there and go

through the neighbor's suite. excuse me. their door was working. >> very convenient to just slip in. >> borrowing a cup of sugar from the apartment next door. >> do you have an egg? >> when it's her. oh my god. was that gloria? what? >> well, you got to get there. she had to introduce enrique. now tony danza is going back to high school as a teacher. teaching tenth grade at philadelphia public school. there were plenty of tears not from the teens but from tony. did he make the grade? he joins us live coming up. >> he is a bit of an emotional foal low. the rally turns personal talking about his religious faith. that's coming up.

coming up on the half hour now and the top stories. new information on a terror plot that has officials in the u.s. and europe on alert this morning. sources say al qaeda may be planning commando-style raids on so-called soft targets. a short time ago, secretary napolitano wouldn't say whether a surge on drone attacks in pakistan was connected to the plot. a legal victory for the obama administration on stem cell research. an appeals court permanently lifted an injunction to ban the use of taxpayer money for stem cell research. what does this mean? it clears the way for the national institutes of health to continue the publicly-funded

research they have been doing. white house appeals the federal judge's ruling forbidding the use of public funds on projects that involve the destruction of embryos. with less than five weeks until the midterm elections, president obama rolling up his sleeves and trying to rally voters speaking in wisconsin last night, the president urged supporters to get out there and vote in november. >> because if everybody who fought for change in 2008 shows up to vote in 2010, we will win. we will win. the polls say the same thing. we will win. >> president also opening up about his faith. he spoke at one of his backyard chats yesterday. >> our senior political editor mark preston is live at the cnnpolitics.com desk for us this morning. hey, mark. >> hey, john, kiran. sure, president obama out in albuquerque, new mexico,

yesterday and he was asked why is he a christian? you know, the question in the past are you a christian? we have seen a poll in the past few months that come out shown that one in five people believe that he is a muslim but president obama explained, you know, that he came to his faith a little bit later in life. he went on to explain why he is a christian. a real interesting moment on the campaign trail as president obama is crisscrossing trying to rally the democratic voters. you know, let's move on and talk a little bit about what was supposed to be the crown jewel of the obama administration heading into the midterms and an issue that democrats were going to run on. that was the health care bill. well, in a new cnn/opinion research poll shows that the nation is split on the issue. 47% of americans think the bill should be repealed and replaced and the republican mantra and 23% say leave the bill as it is. add the last two numbers up, it

shows that the country is split. i talked a little bit about this earlier in the show. the bob dylan/obama moment. bob dylan performed at the white house. obama recounted the encounter with dylan. said that bob dylan would not show up at the white house to practice before performing. when it was time to have the photo with president obama and michelle obama, bob dylan didn't show up. performing, he walked up on stage, he performed "the times they are a-changing" shook the president's hand and walked out the door. a very cool moment, i think, for the president. >> why didn't he show up for the photo, though? >> well, i mean, look. bob dylan. >> too cool for this. >> he's too cool for that. president obama said that's how you'd want bob dylan, right? you want him to be skeptical and clearly bob dylan was skeptical. >> cool. all right. mark, for us this morning, thanks so much.

to catch the latest political news head to our web. tony danza, teaching high school english at a philadelphia public school. it wasn't always pretty, though. what did he learn along the way? tony danza live in our studio next. 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. hey, little dude. "dinner's" my middle name. how 'bout 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.

♪

♪ there's a time for love and a time for lift ♪ ♪ take a chance man, that takes me back. >> oh, yeah. >> favorite sitcom when i was litt little. welcome back to the most news in the morning. actor tony zadanza's had memorae roles. his latest may have been the toughest one. tony spent the last year teaching tenth graders english at a philadelphia high school. take a look. >> are you nervous? >> i'm terrified. >> maybe you should like wear undershirts. >> i know. i'm very concerned. he is not qualified to be a teacher. >> you are right. how about that? you are 100% right. you think you know so much and then you find out you don't know nothing. >> if it doesn't work, you're out of here. okay? >> he's here with head of the classroom documented for a & e

called "teach." tony danza premiers friday night 10:00 p.m. eastern. great to see you. thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. >> has to be a departure. "who's the boss" to this. perfect kids to real kids. what was that transition like? why did you want to do this? >> i had to take a second to just, you know, i saw judith light with the shoulder pads. >> taking you back. >> she is here on broadway. she is here in a show. john, it was the greatest thing i ever -- i wanted to be a teacher when i was a kid. i went to school to do that. i didn't do it. and so it's been on my mind a long time. i look around and see the -- the situation with education. where we have so many -- i heard an arne duncan say this week a kid drops out in high school in america every 11 seconds. this is insanity. you know? they're our kids. so this thing's been on my mind and thought about just going back and doing it, being a teacher. then a friend was a tv producer.

i could sell that show. >> don't they always say that, right? >> here we are. >> we had a chance to watch the first episode. you were really emotional. i mean, you cried a lot. what was it about this that sort of brought out your emotions? >> this is the theme. you know? i'm doing promotion and everybody keeps zeroing in on the crying thing. it makes you cry. the kids goat you. there's so much responsibility involved and then what you do as a teacher is counseling. you do -- listening to these incredible stories and sometimes they break your heart. and then there's the wonderful moments that make you cry. i got an e-mail from a kid. i was telling somebody. tammy sloan, the athlete, one of the athletes in the class. gave me her second -- you know, her whole 11th grade schedule but she said, third period i'm taking the piano class because i decided to take your advice and get out of my comfort zone. i'm like, man, i want the cry over that. >> a lot of crying is you

expressing self doubt. >> oh, yeah. originally -- >> it's like i don't know if i can take this. >> i thought i made a big mistake. sounded like a great -- the guy that jumps out of the window. sounded like a great idea at the time. it felt like like that. i wanted to do it. i wanted the show what a teacher goes through. i wanted to know what a first-year teacher goes through. i wanted to do something. i'm getting -- i'm almost 60. i want to do something with myself and then, boom. i was there. and i was going through all the -- it was a weird thing. i just remembered. you made me think of this. kept hearing the kids are great. the kids are so great. you hear what happens if this happens? i started to think, maybe the teachers are delusional and trying to fool me or something. i just felt like i maybe made a mistake and i might let the kids down and i might make a fool of myself on television or intellect on display.

it is like a -- it was crazy. really, there's a line in there where i say would i want my daughter in this class? >> do you want samantha in this class. >> right. touche. >> you act exactly the same in this. >> i would like her. some people said to me once, is that you acting on "who's the boss" or just being yourself? i said it's me in a good mood. >> i loved it. why can't my dad be more like that? you took criticism for this. first of all, i mean, the principal saying. >> i'm going to kick you out if this doesn't work and others pretty tough on you. some in the philadelphia newspaper saying you are just doing it to revive your career. you don't necessarily care about the kids. what was it like to have the motives questioned? >> the best one -- why not? people should question motives. i think healthy dose of skepticism about something like this was fair game. ironic because it's english. kid says, did anybody think it's kind of strange that you're

teaching an english class? we wis wisenheimer. gave him a fat lip. those days are over. yeah. you know what? i had a teacher call me saying he saw some of it and said in my day -- no. it was a guy -- one of these security guards at one of the buildings. i don't know where i've been and been every place and you're crying toop. i said, yeah. he said, you know, when i went to school, the kids did the crying. he said. so, i don't remember what you asked me. oh, the press. >> they were just a little hard on you. are you doing it for the best interest of the kids or tony danza? >> people put their jobs on the line and principal and school district in philadelphia. we tried to do this here in new york and we were at a school in -- probably should remain nameless. we did it. we did a day and shot it and shot this like proof of concept

and it was pretty good and we showed it to them and they backed out. they called feat. this took guts. the skepticism in the paper that, the best was when i got there, when i arrived at philly, so did michael vick and he's doing great and happy about the, you know, eagles and everything but -- not because i'm new york fan but there was a poll, who's more dangerous for philadelphia? michael vick or -- >> kidding me? >> we want to play another clip here and skip to one of you interacting with the kids here. because there were some troubled kids in the class. >> regular high school. 57 languages at northeast high in philly. >> so let's watch this and then we'll get your take on it. >> i went through a lot of [ bleep ]. >> hey, i know. in fact, i know you had a terrible loss. right? i mean, i lost my mother when i

was 30 but it's not like -- >> i had to sit in jail while my mom died. >> listen. i'm not saying but why were you -- whose fault was that? >> mine. >> so at some point it's a choice thing, you know? >> so some troubled kids there you had to deal with. did you feel like you could -- >> the wanderer, a wanderer. school's so big if you're good enough move all day and never go to class. you slide in. you know? you sign in and just keep moving. >> were you able to connect with them, though? make a difference in their lives which is cha a teacher is supposed to do. >> i'm telling this story about starfish of a big storm and blow them on the beach and the sun comes out and starts to bake them. the guy sees the thousands of starfish. picks one up and another -- friend says, hey, you know, what are you doing? not making much of a difference. he says, picks up another and made a difference to that one.

maybe i got a couple of kids close to the water. i don't know if i got it in. i feel kind of sorry about some things because i did feel like i got to some place and now i'm not there. there's a part of me --