threat. live reports from hamburg, germany and the nation's capital ahead. a huge crowd attending a vigil to remember a rutgers student who took his own life. a lot of celebrities speaking out about cyber bullying and harassment of gay and lesbian students. here's a little good news for you. a multimillion dollar mistake. verizon wireless admits to charging customers for data services they didn't want, maybe didn't use. now the company announcing a massive customer refund. if you are or were a verizon wireless customer, we'll tell you how much money you could be getting back. up first this morning, a cnn security watch. and it'll impact every american with travel plans in europe. british officials are echoing a u.s. state department warning that came out over the weekend announcing a quote high threat of a terror attack. among the potential targets france and germany. we're finding out more about

a jihadist group in germany that may have triggered this alert. nic robertson live in hamburg, germany, this morning with new information about the plot and the people behind it. but first, let's begin with jeanne meserve live in washington this morning. jeanne? >> ali and kiran, the state department is not telling americans don't go to europe, but it is urging them to take precautions when they do go. the alert issued sunday read in part, terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and target both official and private interests. u.s. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. a u.s. official says the alert was prompted by the high volume of intelligence on possible terror threats. the intel community has been following a number of different threads including al qaeda and its affiliates may be planning

attacks on multiple locations in europe. how do europeans feel about this travel alert? a senior administration official says the european allies are in sync with the assessment of the threat and the belief that governments have to keep their citizens informed. in fact, britain has changed its advisory for british citizens in france and germany from substantial to high. >> you know, of course we all paid a lot of attention to this when it came out. you hear from the government saying there's a high threat level out there. but if you're actually a person in america traveling in one of these countries, what should you be doing differently? >> well, the state department has made a number of is suggestions. they said you can register with u.s. embassies abroad, don't discuss your travel plans with others. they say, you know, don't put tags on your luggage that clearly identify you as an american. if you hear a loud noise, see a suspicious package, move away. the basic bottom line, keep your eyes open. be vigilant, report anything suspicious. back to you. >> good piece of notice to avoid

public disturbances. it's a tough one. it's not specific to country. it's a continent. it's really hard to make sense of what to do. and we've talked to some people in europe who are saying i'm not quite sure what to do with this information. >> right. well, thousands of troops based in hamburg, germany, are being told to lay low so they don't become targets. >> nic robertson, what are they saying about who may be behind this heightened alert? >> reporter: kiran, what we know from our sources here is a man who attended this mosque behind me, the mosque has been closed by federal authorities here, went to pakistan, the terror training camp about a year and a half ago. he went with about ten other people, picked up by u.s. authorities earlier in the summer. he's the one that's been telling his captors about this mumbai-style plot. this is where it all seems to be coming from. you may wonder about this mosque. it looks like a very plain doors

on a building here. this is the same mosque that the 9/11 -- one of the 9/11 hijackers attended and had a group of supporters. some of the people that went with sadiki to pakistan we're told have strong ties and connections with al qaeda. so this is a known mosque, it's had a known radical issue for some time and that's where this seems to be coming from. >> it's interesting, nic, because there was some debate, should they leave the mosque open or shut it down? because they were also getting intelligence from what was going on there. >> reporter: yeah. it was a big dilemma for the sources that we're talking to here. because when they were here, the radicals were here, they had people listening in. human intelligence. there were about 45 different radicals in this city that they were aware of. but what's interesting is they weren't able to stop this group before they left. and they say although we were watching them, they came together in a group and made their plans very quickly right

at the end of 2008, early 2009. and they say they weren't able to move in fast enough to stop them, kiran. >> nic robertson for us this morning. we'll be checking in with you throughout the morning as we get new information on this. for a third straight day, militants are attacking and burning tankers bringing fuel to afghanistan. at least 20 were destroyed in today's attack near islamabad, three people were killed. the tankers were stalled on a supply line because the pakistanis closed a border to close the nato helicopter. the taliban claiming responsibility for the attack in a phone call. well, back here at home, hundreds come together in silence to remember tyler clementi, the rutgers university freshman who took his own life after a sexual encounter with another male was broadcast on the internet, according to police, by his roommate. organizers called for more understanding of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender

community, and also for an end to bullying. >> him and everyone else should be able to live the life they want to live without fear of things like this happening. >> fellow students have been charged in clementi's death. later on, more reaction to the death. including reaction from lance bass. >> he's one of the many celebrities who came out and denounced bullying, not only in general -- >> lance bass points out that he bullied gay kids when he was in school. you know, almost to compensate for the fact that he wasn't comfortable coming out and being gay. but a lot of people saying we need to start a movement about this kind of bullying. >> that's right. and we have new poll numbers out. surprising just how many people say they were bullied or are currently being bullied. they interviewed some kids about it. also, more on the subject on

"american morning" coming up in about an hour and a half. are administrators doing enough to crack down on those responsible? and how are they protecting children targeted? also, programs meant to stop bullying from happening in the first place. coming up at 8:40, we're talking to lee hirsch. an imminent look at the bullies and the bullied. all this on the entire time warner family taking a closer look at the problem and what solutions are out there, and that includes the "ac 360" week long series bullying, no escape. report caps off with a special town hall on friday. other stories in the news this morning. new york city police say the imam behind a planned islamic center in ground zero has received death threats. threats began several weeks ago. and they're being investigated. police are not disclosing details or saying if the couple is receiving police protection.

although, in a television discussion, imam's wife said they have not been, they have not looked for protection, they're not asking for protection. well, it is the first monday in october. that means it's back to work for the nation's supreme court justices. the court begins its new term with a new member, elena kagan, and there are three women on the bench for the first time in the court's history. some of the most prominent cases on the docket test the limits of free speech. one involves the rights of protesters at military funerals. and firefighters in colorado battling a wildfire in the mountains northwest of denver. officials say some 300 acres have now burned. residents in the town of frazier have been asked to prepare to evacuate. so far no evacuations have been ordered. >> meanwhile, it's rains and flooding we're worried about on the east coast. eight minutes past the hour. let's get a check of what's going on.

rob marciano with us this morning. >> good morning, ali, yeah, we do have rain across the east coast again. a nice saturday for a lot of folk, but then a wave developed over north carolina where they had the record-shattering flood event late last week. and now that rain is moving up the eastern sea board. this shouldn't last but more than another -- 24 to 36 hours. but it is wet from d.c. up through boston, so bring along the gear and it's getting up into upstate new york and northern and eastern pennsylvania where they had some of the heaviest rain last week. so no rest for the weary here as far as the receding flood waters. we don't expect the flooding event. but it's adding insult to injury. all right. cool weather, you bet, temps in the 30s. frost and freeze warnings and advisories from as far south as the tennessee valley and in through the western great lakes. temperatures there in some spots starting out in the 30s and close to freezing. so in some cases, our first frost of the fall. a wet 58 degrees in new york city. we'll talk about what's cooking in the tropics in about 30 minutes, guys. good morning.

hope you had a great weekend. back up to you. >> we did enjoy saturday, you're right. because looks like it's going to be a wash the rest of the week. >> he's going to be back in 30 minutes. what time will that be? >> it'll be 9:30 -- >> you're a little ahead of us this morning. >> hey, it's monday. >> time flies when we're together. >> it sure does. >> that was two hours and a half and eight minutes. get out the vote rally. how did it work out? jim acosta takes a look at the anti-tea party just ahead. >> it is ten minutes after the hour. ♪ [ engine revs, tires screeching ] we give to you the all-new volkswagen jetta. we have one more surprise for you. fifteen-thousand nine-hundred neunzig dollar? [ sobbing ] [ camera shutters clicking ] ♪ whoo-hoo, yeah ♪ whoo-hoo, yeah

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♪ welcome back to the most politics in the morning. >> do you remember when they took the cougar out of john cougar millen camp? >> i do. big rally this week in washington, which was supposed to be one big rally. one nation, that was supposed to be the theme. >> yeah, this is the season of rallies. and here organizers were trying to fire up democratic supporters ahead of next month's midterm elections, trying to offer an alternative to the tea party. our jim acosta live in washington for us with more. monday morning quarterbacking, how did it go? >> well, i'm thinking about having my own rally down on the mall calling it one guy, but that's just me. anyway, kiran and ali, with all

of the experts predicting a huge wave of victories for republicans in november, democrats know they have an enthusiasm gap to overcome between now and election day. so progressives try to throw a tea party of their own over the weekend. except they weren't calling it a tea party. the one-nation event as it was dubbed drew thousands of liberal activists down to the national mall. it was put together by the nation's biggest unions and civil rights groups. organizers say the march and rally were designed to fire up the progressive base and turn out votes for democrats. one of the events headliners al se sharpton were in the crowd. >> we've got to go home and we've got to hit the pavement. we've got to knock on doors. we've got to ring the bells. we've got to get ready for the midterm exam!

we can't stop in '08! we've got to get ready for '10, we're going to pass the midterm exam. >> unlike the tea party rallies, which generally call for small government and low taxes, demonstrators at the one nation event were after more assistance for the unemployed and a boost in spending on education. but you could say there were some similarities. while glenn beck was not on hand, the crowd did have liberal talk show host ed schults on stage and there were a few provocative handwritten signs in the crowd like the one that read "axis of ignorance, tea party republicans and fox news." >> what can we glean from the idea that this was supposed to be? or the organizers would've wanted it to be as big as some of the other rallies we've seen, including the glenn beck rally. there were a lot of people out there, but certainly nowhere near the numbers that conservative rallies have been able to attract. has anybody tried to glean anything out of that?

>> well, i think it means that republicans are very unified heading into the midterms, the tea party movement has really been just a gift that keeps on giving for the republicans. but the democrats are going to try to pull out all the stops. look, they had a huge fund raising quarter, according to the democratic national committee. and you saw president obama trying to fire up college students up in madison, wisconsin. last week, there's another rally that's aimed at a kcore constituency. that's a historically black college and that event will be aimed at getting out the african-american vote, which as you know ali and kiran was crucial to the president's victory in '08. they're going after the core constituencies between now and election day and trying to get those folks fired up and ready to go as the president used to say out on the trail. >> good to see you, buddy. >> good luck with your rally, by the way. >> one man. if you're a verizon wireless

customer, you may be getting refund. >> $2 to $6 a person. >> the reason is, the company admits to charging customers some millions of customers for services they didn't sign up for. details straight ahead. ♪ [ e. clark ] i'm an engineer. i love my job. i can see what it's doing for the community on a day-to-day basis. natural gas is cleaner burning than most fossil fuels and it's vital to our energy needs. increasingly we're finding gas in hard to reach areas, but now we've developed new technology that enables us to access gas in hard rocks so we can bring more fuel to homes and help provide a reliable source of energy into the future. "be careful out there.

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the cabin crew will demonstrate the safety features. >> this is one of the airlines safety dances. the music of the lady gaga song routine to jazz up the demonstration. the company says their customers get standard instructions too. but most prefer the gaga just dance version, which usually

receives a rousing applause. >> it would work for me. i'd pay attention if that were the case. we have some important news for verizon wireless customers. christine romans. boy, this is a fun morning. i get to work with you and christine, my co-host on "your money." >> waking up with ali, boys and girls. >> and you're announcing free money? >> no, you already paid for this money. it's your money back that you didn't know someone took from you. verizon is going to give refunds to 6 million customers who were charged for data sessions that didn't really exist or for opening the web when they didn't mean to or they shouldn't have had to pay for it. in fact, it l charges and now verizon's message is okay, we're going to give you a credit, $2 to $6 is your refund. so it's free money you didn't know you were getting, october and november notice, you'll get a credit on your bill if you're

a current customer. make sure they have your current address. it's not really free money because you paid for it in the first place. verizon has to say the majority of the data session involved minor data exchanges. do you say data? >> i don't know. >> i go back and forth. okay. minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones. others involved accessing the web which should not have incurred the charges if you look at $6 a person, 15 million customers, you're talking about maybe as high as $90 million in overcharges over months and months and months. it raises the question to me -- what else are we paying for that we don't know? and at some point, a few pennies here and there becomes money for somebody. >> i think about it all the time. electric bill. how would i know and how would i prove? >> look at all of those access fees and charges and taxes, 15

cents there, 17 cents there. >> i'm curious about the people complaining that led to this how they all knew? >> some people read bills with fine-toothed comb. they're probably like, what is this? >> but to be charged for accessing data programs when you don't have a data plan. >> i like how you use both of them. >> you took kiran's side on this thing -- you notice my body language. >> data sounds intelligent, data sounds like what i would normally say. >> better to sound intelligent than not. >> i'll either be -- >> if you're a verizon customer, massive refund coming your way, $2 to $6, october and november they'll give you this credit. if you're no longer a customer, make sure they have your correct address. >> are you going to come talk about your book later on? >> i am going to talk about my book later on. thank you for building momentum for the plug. >> we're very happy for you. >> yes, thank you.

>> "appearing smart is the new rich." >> we need help. we know that. >> please help me be smart. still ahead, what would tiger woods' late father have to say about his son's serial infidelity. well, tiger's half brother says he knows. max kellerman joining us with reaction just ahead. >> 24 minutes after the hour. when i was 16, i was hired as a cashier at the walmart in marinette, wisconsin. that first job launched my career. since i've been with the company, i've been promoted ten times over the span of 11 years. today, i'm a divisional learning and development manager.

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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. they are famous for booing santa claus. >> my husband is an eagles fan. >> they are an unusual breed.

how did philadelphia fans respond to former eagles quarterback donovan mcnabb when he returned as a washington red skin on sunday? >> he was there for 11 seasons, they were probably going to boo him out of the place? no, instead, eagles fans in a big show of class stood up, gave a standing ovation to donovan mcnabb. pretty amazing. cnn contributor max kellerman is here with his take on that and a couple other stories. of course, they booed him in the first huddle. at least for a small amount of time, they said, you know what? here's a shout out. >> here's a little known fact about philadelphia sports fans. it's true, they booed santa claus, they have cheered severe injuries to the opposition. but they treat their returning heroes. even when they haven't won championships like charles barkley, allen iverson, and now

donovan mcnabb wonderfully. >> that makes -- >> and then, of course, michael vick. >> yeah. oh -- >> how long did he last? >> yeah, i mean, he's out now. and reports are he's not feeling that great. and vick has been injury-prone throughout his career. which is the thing about it. even though he's become more of a pocket presence, a pocket presence in football means someone stays there, doesn't run away from those guys running at him as a quarterback and looks to pass the ball. vick when he was younger would kind of run first. >> so there's where he got sandwiched. >> he still can run and very valuable. a much better pocket passer too. but when you run like that, you expose yourself to injury and vick is frequently injured. >> and if we're on the same subject of eagles players and t.o. had a great -- he set a record, right? >> well t.o. is now second all-time in receiving yards. and the reason that's significant is there's a -- people like to think there's no

babe ruth or michael jordan of football. but it's not true, it's jerry rice. he's the all-time receiving yards receiver. the argument is for second place. and now t.o. has another credential to say hey, maybe i'm the second greatest of all time. >> and team history, he and donovan mcnabb had some dust-ups when they were both eagles, but they hugged yesterday and made up. >> anything more you want to talk about? >> i was born into an eagle -- born a redskin fan, married an eagles fan. let's talk golf, i could care less about golf. >> that makes two of us. anyone here like golf at all? no. by the way, do you know how rare it is to be on a set with three other people who work in television and no one likes golf? it's a pleasure. let me -- >> it's rare. >> okay. >> we're talking about tiger woods. and tiger woods, and he did that

commercial where he had his father's voice talking to him. and now his brother has come out and said his father would not approve -- >> half brother. >> says his father would not have approved of tiger woods -- >> his half brother said a lot of things, they're 20 years apart. and he said a lot of good things about tiger too. of course, you know, he'll be back, he'll be better than ever. the thing that the media has picked up on is his father would've -- well, what's he supposed to say? his father would have been thrilled? >> let's hear it. there's not many people in tiger's inner circle that are willing to say anything. not knowing whether his half brother is in his inner circle, but his family. >> i think my dad would be very disappointed with him. and he would probably want to know how he's going to fix it. >> it's been a bad year for tiger. 2010 worst for him in his career? >> maybe. the thing about tiger is the latest problem for him involves like the graphic depiction of

some of the charges against him potentially. and the upside for him is that when there's a graphic depiction of kim kardashian or someone, people are really interested in watching that. and i'm not so sure the same holds true for tiger woods. maybe that's a silver lining if, in fact, such a graphic depiction is there. >> some allegation or rumor out there that there might be a former paramore who has a depiction. >> always a pleasure. >> always a pleasure. >> thanks, max. all right. time -- it's 31 minutes -- what do you say when it's 31 minutes past the hour? >> half past the hour. >> we're going to check out the top stories. british officials a state department warning over the weekend announcing a high threat of a terrorist attack in europe. among the potential targets, france and germany. the suspects, a group of islamic jihadists operating out of

hamburg, germany. rallies to the west of us, rallies to the right. what some have caught an anti-tea party rally. a coalition of liberal and progressive groups promising to get out the vote next month and keep democrats in control of congress. and verizon wireless says it will refund about 15 million of its customers because the company incorrectly charged them for data use. in most cases, the refunds range from $2 to $6. the money will be paid back in the next two months. if you're not an account holder, you'll get a refund check. well, new developments this morning in the tragic death of the rutgers university student who took his own life after discovering that his roommate had secretly taped his intimate moments with another male and put it online. hundreds of students attended a candle light vigil for tyler clementi last night. >> not only causing a ripple effect across campus on rutgers, but across the country. stephanie elam joins us with more on that this morning.

>> good morning. it's a story i've been covering since last week. when you cover something different, you know if someone is moved by the story. and the messages i've seen on my facebook page and the messages all weekend long people talking about this. people are moved by this story. and you look at his life and the fact he felt the only way out was for him to take his own life has been motivating a lot of people. and it's really brought this conversation to a national conversation. and, you know, as we were looking at over the weekend, the celebrities that were involved in speaking out about this. someone like ellen degeneres, she got a little bit emotional saying we can't let intolerance and ignorance take another kid's life. you see here, she gets a little emotional talking about it. speaking out about that. we also heard from lance bass over the weekend. one of the members of n'sync. he said that when he was in high school in mississippi, he was one of the first ones to jump on the bandwagon to make fun of a gay person and look how i turned out he says. i had the secret the whole time.

if people can look at me and see i was one of those bullies and had this huge secret, there's always more to the story. when he first came on the scene and became famous, no one knew he was gay and came out later. we also heard from a bunch of other celebrities. but really making this conversation something that everyone is talking about because it's so different from when we were kid. bullies are nothing new. but when we were kids, you couldn't do it on the internet. >> far more people now, you don't have to be stronger or more popular than the person you're bullying because of the internet. so it's a whole different dynamic. >> it's completely different. and that's what everyone's talking about here. >> it's very easy to be nasty if you're anonymous online. >> it's true. >> and you don't have to face the person. lots to talk about this morning and we're continuing to follow this story and a larger issue of bullying here on cnn. >> it's a big story and getting people talking. it's new and different. something we haven't encountered before. >> don't miss our special series as kiran said the bully pulpit

starting at 7:30 eastern. carol costello shows us how schools across america are dealing with bullies. generally political attack ads begin or end with the phrase "i approve this message." we're going to talk about the ads, the flood of corporate money, and the heartburn it could cause some candidates when we come back. this one card i had -- there were all these rules. rules and restrictions. oh, and limits. [ scoffs ] forget about it. but i love this card. bankamericard cash rewards credit card. 1% cash back on everything i buy. period. no limit to the amount of cash back i can get. no hoops to jump through. simple. [ male announcer ] the refreshingly simple bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

♪ earlier this year, the supreme court ruled corporation can spend as much as they want on political ads because it falls under free speech rights. the decision came from a dispute over a film made by the group

citizens united which was critical of hillary clinton. the case led to a flood of advertising targeting specific candidates. mostly negative ads, mostly republicans. in federal races, pro-gop groups outspent pro democratic groups almost three to one. joining us to talk about the flood of money and the impact on candidates is media analyst evan tracy. good to see you. in fact, the spending so far in this election substantially outpaces the last midterms that we were in? >> yeah, absolutely. citizens united is one factor. but you've got one of the most competitive landscapes out there we've seen. and these groups are making it even more active down the stretch here in this race. >> one of the interesting things about this is that under this new citizens united ruling in the supreme court, corporations in some ways have been channelling their money through these nonprofits. and hence, we don't actually have to know who is paying for these ads? >> right.

corporations, wealthy individuals, this is an area for them to park money that is certainly going into a lot of these races. and as you showed in your graphic, it's advantage republican party so far. and they're in dozens of races right now where democrats are in just a few. >> let's take a couple of the ads we're talking about. this one is from moveon.org targeting kentucky u.s. senate candidate rand paul. listen to this. >> senate candidate rand paul is getting hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of help from the chamber of commerce. a group recently accused of tax fraud for diverting money meant for charity toward their partisan agenda. >> an interesting one, evan because it's moveon.org criticizing somebody else paying for an ad for rand paul. >> this is where the groups on the democratic side have really focused their attention right now is talking about process, talking about special interest

and trying to shine a light back on these groups and not so much on the candidates. >> let's talk about this one. it's targeting florida democratic candidate allen boit. listen to this. >> it's the worst economy in decades, and the folks in washington are living it up. spending our tax dollars like there's no tomorrow. leading this big strong dance, obama, of course, and nancy pelosi. but there's one face you might not expect to see, our old friend allen boyd. >> this is the worst nightmare for democrats to be associated with the spending that americans -- our polling indicates americans are frustrated with. >> yeah. and this is the role of these groups to be out there and be disruptive. and a lot of these groups out there helping republicans are on in races all over the country where they're really going and trying to just reenforce these themes about democrats are basically voting for nancy pelosi for speaker. that's where these groups could really help these candidates by

adding tonnage by the amount of ads they're spending, and also help push this message across. >> what are we likely to see more? more negative, more personal? i know democrats are targeting the personal histories. what's likely to be the trend for the next month? >> well, for these groups, especially, it's going to be to be disruptive. they're not on the ballots. a lot of the ads are going to be very negative. it'll be interesting to see. some of these groups may end up hurting candidates they're trying to help. but it's going to be a lot more money and a lot of negative ads down the stretch in these competitive races. >> good to see you, evan. >> thanks. that was one of the controversial decisions you remember at the state of the union the president made reference to. >> and the supreme court judges were shaking their heads. >> and saying not true. >> basically they were saying you're not on the supreme court so don't comment on what we do. meanwhile it's 42 minutes past the hour. still to come on the most news

in the morning. we have rain in the northeast, in fact, concerns about coastal flooding. will it affect your morning commute? rob marciano will have the forecast right after the break. also coming up in ten minutes, could donald trump be testing the waters for a 2012 presidential run? we have details on speculation out there on it coming up. [ male announcer ] the financial headlines can be unsettling. but what if there were a different story? of one financial company that grew stronger through the crisis. when some lost their way, this company led the way. by protecting clients and turning uncertainty into confidence. what if that story were true? it is. ♪

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we do our best to make that work. deal! my money. my choice. my meineke. it's 45 minutes after the hour. >> that's right. and we get a check of our weather headlines with rob marciano in the extreme weather center. good morning, rob. >> hey, a little bit of wet weather across the northeast today. so a bit of a soggy way to start your monday. and it may hang around for a couple of days. from d.c. up there boston, areas that saw that torrential rainfall to the end of last week now seeing it again. this isn't a flooding rain. but it is going to stick around. it'll be awfully damp. we'll add that to the saturated ground, it's going to be soggy for the next few days. we're all experiencing breezy conditions, pretty strong onshore flow. there are coastal advisories, happening along the jersey shore and later on this afternoon and this evening, it'll happen again. but for the most part, not a

tremendous amount of heavy, heavy rain with this. and that's good. some of the soil here couldn't take any more. little further to the west, cooler air. fall has arrived. frost and freeze advisories up for as far south as the tennessee valley and great lakes. temperatures in the lower to mid-30s in many spots. little frost on the pumpkin in some areas. yeah, towards the end of the growing season if it already hasn't happened. and showers and thunderstorms out west, issues there. they've had whacky weather in parts of southern california over the past week. and those -- that continues. boston, you need to see some delays. because of the rain, and at times the wind. and philadelphia you're on the cusp of seeing that rain, as well. 30 to 60-minute delays. here's a look at what's going on in the tropics. eastern caribbean, we've been watching this area for a couple of days. national hurricane center gives it a decent chance of developing over the next several days. even if it does, we don't have to deal with it for quite some

time. the western caribbean is clear, nothing happening in the gulf of mexico, little disturbance in the bahamas. not too terribly worried about that. and the way the atmosphere is set up, things aren't coming right at the u.s. we had the little issue with nicole last week certainly and the remnants thereof just socking the east coast. but as far as getting a hit from a strong or major hurricane, that hasn't happened yet. and it's been a very, very busy season so far. the u.s. for the most part has been lucky. we'll highlight that graphically a little bit later on in the program. >> it has been amazing. it's been all about the track. there's been powerful storms out there and they've rolled toward us, but we got lucky. >> let's all go to vegas or atlantic city. >> rob, good to see you, my friend. >> you too. >> or atlantic city. about $350 million has been spent on gubernatorial races or races for governor as i like to say in this election cycle. what proportion do you think meg whitman has spent? >> i think a third of it. >> a quarter.

>> a quarter of it. her personal fortune as she attempts to become governor of california. >> that race is heating up. the two candidates square off over meg whitman's former illegal immigrant housekeeper. we'll have details when we come back. it is 12 minutes till the hour. ♪ [ upbeat instrumental ]

[ rattling ] [ gasps ] [ rattling ] [ laughing ] [ announcer ] close enough just isn't good enough. - if your car is in an accident, - [ laughing continues ] make sure it's repaired with the right replacement parts. take the scary out of life with travelers. call or click now for an agent or quote. welcome back to the most politics in the morning. eight minutes till the top of the hour right now. and crossing the political ticker this morning, the california's governor race turned personal as the two candidates crashed over republican meg whitman's hiring of an illegal immigrant housekeeper. >> that's probably the most expensive gubernatorial race in the country. our good friend is senior political editor mark preston live at the cnnpolitics.com

desk. good morning to you, mark. >> good morning, ali, good morning, kiran. fireworks were exploding this past weekend when we saw meg whitman and jerry brown face off in their second debate. california is in this huge fiscal crisis. both brown and meg whitman trying to succeed governor schwarzenegger. they say they have the answers to help turn the state around. but illegal immigration, a major issue in that state accentuated by the fact that meg whitman who has been revealed had an illegal undocumented worker working in her house. let's listen to that exchange between brown and whitman at the debate. >> larry, you know, you should be ashamed, you and your surrogate put her deportation at risk. you put her out there, and you should be ashamed for sacrificing nikki diaz on the altar of your political ambitions. >> don't run for governor if you can't stand up on your own two feet and say, hey, i made a mistake.

>> wow. you can just imagine that. the back and forth between meg whitman and jerry brown. looking at the polls out in california right now, it looks like within ten points. the the poll a couple weeks ago has it at nine. meg whitman could spend up to $150 million of her own money to try to win this race. but, just talking about business executives, ali, another person that you probably are well aware of and know very well, donald trump. will he run for president in 2012? well, "time" magazine reported late last night that there was a television -- a telephone survey that was conducted last month where a lot of 2012 candidates were questioned and their names were asked. now, we don't know if this was

conducted on behalf of donald trump or somebody else put this survey in the field. but could you imagine if the donald decided to run for president again? ali, kiran? >> maybe they were figuring out whether they should do an "apprentice 4" and whether it would get ratings. >> in the california race, lots of different polls are showing different leads. i think our poll shows a lead for jerry brown. you said it's within ten points. >> jerry brown is up by nine in the poll. the latino vote is 21% of the state. and that's for meg whitman. >> and that's the interesting part. this whole personal issue. i guess she said she did not know her housekeeper who worked for her for nearly a decade was an illegal immigrant. but her stance on immigration and she actually opposes a path to citizenship, right, for people who came to this country illegally and that her personal issues seem to be colliding

here. >> well, that's exactly right. she doesn't -- she doesn't agree with the path to citizenship for those who are here illegally. she does believe in a guest worker program. but the fact she had an illegal worker in her house working for so many years is very complicating for her, and it's very embarrassing for her. >> she said in the debate as soon as she found out she fired this woman and accuses jerry brown of uses -- in fact, she accuses him of in some way being the feed stock for the story, the fact that this actually came up. mark, always a pleasure to see you. thank you, sir. >> thanks, guys. >> we'll check back in with mark later on in the show. go to cnnpolitics.com. four minutes till the top of the hour. we'll be back with your top stories, including the latest on this terror warning coming out of the uk this morning. if you are a u.s. citizen abroad, what should you do? sure i'd like to diversify my workforce,

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next on "american morning." americans on alert. >> i'm just going to be vigilant and be careful like i always am. >> if it happens, it happens. >> a warning from the united states about increased risk of attacks in europe. this morning, new information on the alert. the plot, and what you should do about it. on the most news in the morning. good monday morning to you. glad you're with us on this "american morning," it's october 4th, i'm kiran chetry. >> and i'm ali velshi. john has the morning off this morning. here are this morning's top stories. payback, verizon wireless announcing refunds to 15 million current and former customers after they charged them for

services they didn't use. details on who's affected and how much money you could be getting back. it's a big day at the supreme court, the new term opens today and they have a new member, elena kagan, there are three women on the bench for the first time ever. and there are also some prominent cases on the docket. one testing the limit of free speech will be breaking down some of that for you. and remembering tyler clementi, we have reaction of his death from fellow students from the school and even celebrities. and all morning long, we're touching on every aspect of school bullying, the problems and the solutions. up first, though, a cnn security watch on the heels of a weekend alert that came from our government. there is a new terror warning this morning for all american air travelers. this one coming from the british. >> this is different from the u.s. government. one, it says there's a high threat of a terrorist attack in europe with france and germany considered prime targets.

this has an impact on every american who has travel plans into europe. >> we got the story cover for you like no other network from both sides of the pond. nic robertson with more. first, though, we go to homeland security correspondent jeanne meserve live for us in washington. just explain the latest news and also what they're telling people to do about it. >> kiran and ali, the mistake is not telling them don't go to europe, it is urging them to take caution. u.s. citizens should take every precaution to be aware of their surroundings and adopt appropriate safety measures to protect themselves when traveling. it was issued in response, of course, to the high volume of intelligence about possible terror attacks in europe including information that al qaeda and its affiliates may be planning synchronized attacks against multiple targets like those in mumbai. although officials do not have specific information about the timing, mode, or location of possible attacks.

the alert mentions public transportation systems. think subways, railways, airports, tour buses. it also talks about tourist infrastructure, that would include hotels in tourist areas, as well as highly trafficked tourist sites. a senior u.s. official says the europeans are in sync with the u.s. on this and as you mentioned, britain has taken a similar step advising its citizens traveling to germany and france that the terror threat is high. kiran, ali, back to you. >> and what are some of the specific suggestions if there are any. if you are an american traveling in europe you should keep in mind? >> well, the bottom line they say is to use common sense. if you see unattended bags, hear a loud noise, disturbance of some kind, move away from that. do not have baggage tags that identify you as americans. know how to use the local pay telephones and how to contact the u.s. embassy. the state department is recommending you register online with the u.s. embassy or consulate whenever you're visiting.

>> and that is something that not everybody thinks about doing. is that something they recommend you do before you leave or once you get to where you are? you call up and tell the emba y embassy, i'm here, i'm an american, i'm here for ten days or whatever the case is? >> they're saying you can do it online. that's the easiest way to do it. and it might be to do it before you embark on your traveling. >> good tips. jeanne meserve, following the latest on the terror alerts. thanks so much. a lot of americans who are traveling overseas have a common complaint about this terror alert, they say it's too vague. cnn national contributor fran townsend says they're being too cautious. >> the government knows it's a threat, it's an increasing problem. so what they really want to do is protect themselves that they warned you.

but we don't -- we're not hearing there's any specific information in there about targets, locations, timing, or any -- really valuable advice to americans about what they can do. and so if it doesn't have that sort of information in there, you sort of have to ask yourself why is the u.s. government even bothering to do this? >> yeah, it's a common question. and it's a continent-wide alert. now, the british alert that jean was telling us about today talks specifically about france and germany. let's hone in on germany for a minute. tense times for the troops stationed in germany. american soldiers are being asked not to warn -- warned not to wear their uniforms in public. a curfew has been imposed upon them. nic robertson live in hamburg, germany this morning. what's going on with the u.s. troops? and you're close to where they're tracing these threats too. they seem to be coming from germany. >> reporter: that's right, ali. this mosque behind me looks just like a barred up door.

it's been closed by the federal authorities here. and the reason for that is there was a group of extremists here who plotted and planned to go off to a training camp in pakistan. one of those ahmed sadiki is being questioned at the moment. and he's the one talking about these mumbai-style attacks across the whole of europe. the other thing about this mosque is it's the same mosque that the 9/11 hijacker attended and gathered a group of people around. so here, officials here know that some of the people that went from here this time to pakistan have definite al qaeda links. why the implications here for u.s. troops in 2007, and a plot was interrupted here in germany by a group of radical islamists, they have massive amounts of explosives and were planning to attack u.s. soldiers off duty cafes, restaurants, discos, as

well as an attack in their bases, ali. >> a little bit of a clearer picture. more clear picture about why they may have told u.s. troops there not to wear their uniforms in public. how concerned are they of any type of actual attack on our u.s. soldiers, not just in public, but on bases? >> well, i think, you know, as far as the german authorities are concerned, they're saying they're not seeing any imminent threat at the moment. and for the first time, one of their diplomats yesterday in afghanistan did apparently get to meet with sadiki. so the german authorities here, they want to know more what he's saying, they want to hear firsthand for themselves, as well. but they know that as a group of people that left this mosque a year and a half ago, some of them are still unaccounted for. some of them are still believed to be in these camps. and because they know al qaeda

has threatened u.s. civilians before in europe, again, particularly in germany, that's what's giving people cause for concern. but al qaeda in threat has been sanctioned by osama bin laden we're told. for al qaeda, u.s. targets are the primary targets. that's why there's so much concern here kiran and ali. >> thanks so much for that. it's a vague warning about a threat they think has something to it. it's an interesting -- >> yet, at the same time, as we're saying, what exactly can you do with that information? maybe not much. but if god forbid an attack should happen, and there are some signs -- >> be vigilant as a tourist and that potentially tourist attractions are the targets, that becomes a little difficult. new this morning for a third straight day, militants attacking and burning more than 30 tankers carrying oil to u.s. troops in afghanistan.

three people were killed in this morning's assault near islamabad. the tankers were stalled because the pakistanis closed a border to protest a nato helicopter attack that killed three of their troops last week. the candle light vigil held last night on the campus of rutgers university. hundreds of students showing up to remember tyler clementi. he took his own life after his sexual encounter with another man was broadcast on the internet. after 30 minutes of silence, organizers called for more understanding as lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender students and for an end to bullying in general. firefighters in colorado are trying to get the upper hand on a wildfire in the mountains of northwest denver. the fire has already burned some 300 acres. residents in the mountain town of frazier have been asked to prepare to evacuate. but so far, no evacuations have been ordered. on the opposite side of the country, we're dealing with rain. more storms expected today in the northeast. and check out this video of flooding, parts of north carolina still dealing with the

nightmare of the rain and flooding from last week caused as rob told us by the remnants of tropical storm nicole. 24 inches of rain fell in wilmington, north carolina. big mess there. the east coast, at least the northeast part dodged a bullet. but we're looking at some potentially really bad weather this week. nine minutes past the hour. rob marciano's following all of it for us now. >> can you imagine living down there in the carolinas and dealing with the flooding situation late last week and having one dry day and yesterday watch another storm develop and roll over the area? i just felt so horrible for those folks. yeah, this is what's going on and it's moving up the east coast. it is drier today in north carolina. but the -- right now you see behind me, that's going to stick around, i think, and sit and spin in one way, shape, or form for the next couple of days. wet weather on and off. i don't think we're going to see torrential tropical rains like we saw last week. but the fact we're seeing any rain on top of the saturated ground, that does add insult to

injury. d.c. to philly to new york to boston. all of those cities will be in and out of rain. and some folks in through wednesday and that's certainly going to cause a little bit in the way of travel delays if you are going through the airports. the midwest is cool and sunny and dry, and then the west coast is dealing with some showers and interesting weather happening out there. it'll be high of 58 degrees. we do have some frost advisories out this morning in some spots, even in the mid south. it's quite chilly. so feeling a lit bit more like fall as it should. >> that's not bad this morning. >> you know, still dark outside, little later than usual. so the seasons are changing. >> i was getting up earlier than usual, because i'm the visitor here. i'm afraid i'm not going to get up in time. >> there's a show about aliens called "the visitors." we have important news to tell you about if you're a verizon wireless customer. millions of you may have been

mistakenly charged for data use you didn't necessarily use or you accidentally clicked on with your phone. you'll be getting a check in the mail. teaching kids the value of a dollar. that lesson's never been more important than it is today. christine romans will show us why it is. 11 minutes after the hour. [ commentator ] lindsey vonn! she stays tough!

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it is 14 minutes after the hour. >> i thought you asked me to say what time it was. >> i like the time. you can do the rest of the news. well, during the past few weeks, you've heard more and more stories about children getting bullied at school. >> the problem is it's reaching great proportions. seems with each case we hear about, we uncover a different reason behind the bullying. whether it's the child's looks, intelligence, or sexual orientation or other characteristics. the numbers to back that up are staggering. this is a new cnn opinion

research poll out this morning. it finds that more than a third of our children have been threatened or harassed. also 81% of people think bullying presents some sort of problem in our schools or neighborhoods. >> this week, cnn, as well as the cartoon network, pretty much the entire time warner family taking a look at the problem and what can be done to end the violence. new developments in the story of tyler clementi, the rutgers university freshman who took his own life after video showing his sexual encounter with another man was broadcast online. >> last night, hundreds of students stood in silence to honor the bright young man who died and a call for greater acceptance of the gay community. this morning, several celebrities are adding their voice to that message. stephanie elam joins us for the late e on that. >> this is getting a lot of attention. you can look at it by the messages. people posting about it, talking about it. and now celebrities are using their platform to really get their comments out there, making their feelings known to

hopefully influence everybody, to do something about this. let's take a look at what we've heard from a couple of people. ellen degeneres was one of the first people to come out really emotional in the statement she put out here. this is where she was talking about it. but one of the things she said is we can't let intolerance and ignorance take another kid's life. our heart is breaking for the families and friends and for a society that continues to let this happen. we also heard from lance bass, as well. >> this is an unnecessary thing -- >> what's interesting about what lance bass is saying, when he was in high school in mississippi, he was one of the first people picking on people that were gay because at that point he said he had this big secret, he wasn't telling people that he was gay. and when he became to fame, no one knew this about him. he said i was one of those people picking on people. look at me now. and a lot of people using their platform and speaking out about it. i should mention at the rutgers football game on saturday they had a moment of silence before the game got started. people saying this is a time to

take a look at what's happening because it's so different the way people are bullied now -- >> particularly in terms of cyber bullying and the reach. >> you can do it so quickly, from your hand held device, do it on the computer, so quickly now that it's different in the ages when we were kids because it was maybe a couple of people, but now it's hundreds of people who can do it. >> it's so much easier for it to become insidious. it's interesting, though, because some blogs and websites are making you put your name, your e-mail address, and how you can be contacted so that perhaps some of those vitriol will be clamped to eed down. >> if you're hiding behind your keyboard, you don't have the same experience -- did i hurt somebody? maybe that would've given you pause to step back. but -- >> i think a lot of these people maybe don't think of themselves as bullies in the traditional sense because they're not going up to somebody and saying,

hey -- >> and i had some of that feedback on my facebook page. why are we calling this bullying? >> i've gotten some of that too. >> but it is interesting what celebrities are trying to do, create an anti-drunk driving type of campaign about cyber bullying. let's make this unacceptable in society. >> it's interesting with the bullying thing, because people saying they're adults, 18 or older in college. they just got to college. it's something that does need to be talked about. >> and it's not an easy time in your life. >> no, trying to fit in, new school, people all over the world, country, it's hard. the tyler clementi story highlights a problem that's spinning out of control. how do we get a handle on it? ahead, how to curb student on student violence. it is 18 minutes past the hour.

i was grabbing a bagel

before work and i was over at the corner telling christine romans, there was a guy who recognized me from tv. and it was early morning for him but late night for him. >> a really odd time of day. >> he kept looking at me. and he said, dow's going to open 20 points down and it's going to close 14 up. and he said it three or four times. i did the only thing i could think of doing -- >> you ran. >> i e-mailed christine romans. >> i don't have money to bet on it. >> he was very adamant. welcome back, it is 22 minutes past the hour. well, the "social network" by the way. >> the movie or the thing? >> well, the thing's out there, but the movie did really welcoming in at number one taking in $20 million. who thought people would want to see the movie about why they facebook? but they do. it follows facebook from a small social network at harvard

university. >> aaron sorkil said this was not history. it's a drama. don't come out of there thinking -- >> why didn't he change the names, then? >> a lot of people ask that question. why not? if i knew that much -- >> we had the winklevoss twins on friday. they look exactly alike. >> and in the movie, it's one actor who plays both of them. >> they look so much alike, it's scary. usually by the time you're in your late 20s and you're twins, you have a different hair style, different fact, they looked exactly alike. one war straight topsiders, the others didn't. >> nice. >> christine's got great news for us this morning. >> i do. >> you're going to give money back. >> i'm not, verizon is. the bad news is they took it from you in the first place. it's the money you gave them and didn't know it. verizon wireless 15 million customers are going to get a little notice about a credit you're going to get of up to $2 to $6. because people were charged for sessions, for data sessions, data sessions they didn't really

sign up for on a plan they didn't have. until, sometimes it was just for getting on erroneously getting on the internet for a wireless -- >> right. is this a benevolent company coming clean and saying, look -- >> people were starting to complain about it and in fact, the fcc has been investigating if there were over charges. the company says the majority of the data sessions involved minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones, others involved accessing the web which have not should have incurred charges. these were charges of about $1.99 a megabyte. anyway, you were charged for doing something you should not have been charged for. if you are no longer a verizon wireless customer, you're going to get a check in the mail. i would suggest if you've been moved a couple of times, maybe you want to make sure they have the right address to you can get your $2 or $6 and don't spend it all in one place. the other thing we were talking about, what does this mean about

all the nickels and dimes -- >> all the bills we don't know how to read or trust somebody else's measurement for, whether it's your electricity or natural gas. >> i recently got a correction on my electric bill and i said at the time of the estimated reading we overcharged you $41. and i was thinking, how would i have known? >> and if you did know and called them up and they'd say, well, we took a reading. >> clearly there are some customers who did notice who spent more time with a fine-toothed comb and a magnify glass than i do on this bill. take a close hard look because you're going to get -- altogether, that could be up to $90 million. that's no small mistake. >> my dad is one of those guys who checks every bill for everything. but he always finds something. >> you have to ask yourself this, the amount of time i'm spending on this, how much would you make an hour and how much time do you spend -- >> christine tweeted out whether people say data or data. >> and mostly everyone is saying data.

i tweeted this. and the people are up at 7:25 on the east coast. >> christine's coming back in just a little bit. >> yeah, because she is actually giving us pretty good advice this morning about raising your kids, teaching them about money, what do they need to know? she's going to introduce us to two economists and parents who are using kids' books to get the message about thrift and spending wisely and maybe more important, saving wisely for your kids. 26 minutes past the hour. echo! so we earned a trip to the grand canyon twice as fast. uhoh. we get double miles every time we use our card. i'll take these. no matter what we're buying. plus the damages. and since double miles add up quick, we can bring the whole gang. it's hard to beat double miles. no, we ride them. [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? oh, that's the spot!

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>> time for our top stories. more heavy rain expected today in the northeast. the mid-atlantic, new york, southern new england could see thunderstorms too. and all of this comes as the entire region is trying to dry out from a week of heavy rain and flooding. the supreme court starts the new term today with a new justice, elena kagan among the high-profile cases the court's going to look at, the legality of california's ban on the sale of violent video games to kids. also, whether arizona's income tax credit scholarship directs state money to religious schools in violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. meantime, british officials echoing a warning that we heard this weekend from our own state department, announcing a high threat of a terror attack in europe. france and germany considered prime targets according to the warning from british officials. american travelers are being warned to stay alert. live in london for this us morning. i understand you were able to talk to some american travelers this morning. are they doing anything differently in light of these warnings? >> reporter: well, the short

answer to that is no. people are basically going ahead with their plans and londoners in particular are taking things in stride. even though that travel advice has been upgraded for france and germany. in britain, the terror threat level remains the same. the cover for "the times" today, they're more concerned about budget cuts than they are about the terror alerts. we did get a chance to speak to some american tourists to ask them how this might have affected their time. here's what they said. >> i'm probably more cautious and i look around a little more, maybe. but we always try to be cautious. i refuse to let terrorists do what they think they're doing, which is to terrorize me. >> it didn't stop us from doing what we wanted to do. >> you concerned? >> yes, concerned. but as i said, we're trying to be safe and do the right thing, take care of ourselves. but at the same time, we're not letting it stop us from doing what we want to do.

>> now, one tourist actually told us they're staying away from the tube, the underground subway here, staying away from some kinds of public transportation. and that goes along with a travel alert. that was issued by the states department. staying away from those crowded spaces and areas where they fear there may be an attack. >> did i hear you correctly when you said this is sort of page five in the newspaper? one would think britain has experienced terrorist attacks more recently than the unite hasz, this is just not being taken all that seriously there? >> reporter: what it is that the travel alert has come out, but they're not raising their terror threat level. they're saying it's important to stay alert but we don't see an imminent attack happening. there's no new information of specific targets or areas. stay alert, watch for things, but that's the extent of it. >> thanks very much for that. if u.s. officials and british officials have no specific details about a potential terror

attack, people have wondered -- people have speculated and we've seen it all over the internet, would we be better served not to have these sorts of warnings? and there's the other side. >> if they're not specific, how are they helping, i guess? well, fran townsend, a former homeland security adviser to the bush white house joins us. she's a member of the external advisory committee. certainly plugged into all of this. so fran, you're on the phone with us this morning. part of it, i think, is obviously just sending out the warning. because if they didn't and something, god forbid, should happen, they'll say, why didn't the government tell us? >> that's exactly right, kiran. and having served myself and had to make these decisions, it's very frustrating. because you don't want to unnecessarily frighten people. on the other hand, you feel like you ought to give them enough information so they understand there's a heightened threat environment. talking to officials now, they have been very clear with me about just how serious the threat is. but i don't -- i think they

don't have the specifics that you'd like to see in these kinds of warnings. and i think they're also frustrated. >> what are people -- i understand that there are sort of two levels of importance to these warnings. one is authorities and allowing countries to coordinate on them. but what are travelers supposed to do with this highly non-specific information that at this point is about a continent? at least british authorities have said it could be france or germany. but american authorities are talking about europe. >> yeah. i mean, i hesitate to make light of this. but you can imagine every country in western europe now coming out and saying you better be worried about france and germany, but you're okay if you're a tourist here. that's the problem with these. and if the americans could narrow it down to france and germany, that would have been helpful. i just think what you're seeing is they're getting information from people in custody. that changes by the day as these guys give them different information. what they're afraid of is they want to share what they've got even though it's not, frankly,

enough for american tourists in western europe to do very much about it. and it's common sense stuff. you tell people, have an emergency plan, look for a safe haven if something were to happen. don't answer your door at a hotel to somebody you don't know. these are all common sense things. but it's worth reminding people at the time of a heightened threat. >> and patrick kennedy, the under secretary of state is saying we're not saying don't go abroad. and he's even saying we're not saying don't visit the major tourist attractions like a lot of people do. but register with the embassies abroad. and don't discuss travel plans with others. and don't be near civil distu disturbanc disturbances. what should you be doing that with information? >> well, they tend to take place around government buildings. while in london that may be an issue because people visit the parliament. in most countries in western

europe, it's not. so i think that, you know, people -- this is really use common sense. here's one ray of good news it seems to me that we ought to make mention of. and that is that you notice there's been no threat alert issued here in the united states. presumably, if the department of homeland security thought this threat extended into the united states, they too would've issued a warning and the fact they haven't suggests, at least, that authorities are not as worried about the threat here in the united states. >> good to talk to you as always. thanks very much for being with us. meantime, whether you're a parent, educator, bullying is a very real fear. and it's one that requires solutions. straight ahead, we're going to be taking a look at how to handle the problem and one father's mission after a devastating loss. it is 35 minutes past the hour. i would get rewards, sometimes i wouldn't. this one card i had -- there were all these rules. rules and restrictions. oh, and limits. [ scoffs ] forget about it. but i love this card.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. we're following a sad story this morning. the death of tyler kplemt clementi. perhaps it brings to light an issue that so many parents and students worry about and that's bullying. >> in our back to school special bullying. the perspective of a father who lost his son. carol costello is here with this story. >> it's a sad story. prepare yourself. not long ago i met a man named kirk. he's that quiet man. after his 11-year-old son committed suicide after bullying in school, he is quiet no more. no one should lose their child to bullying, no one. and he's determined to make sure no one else does.

>> reporter: he is on a mission. there he is an honored guest at oklahoma city's western heights high school trying to put a stop to bullying. >> i have to make a difference. i promised my son on father's day this year i'd stop this from happening to another child. >> reporter: for years, his son ty struggled with a bully at school. >> and when you say he was being picked on, how was he being picked on? >> name calling, ty was always kind of small. shove here, push there. >> reporter: his father says he was a typical kid with typical grades who took the abuse for two years. on the day ty finally decided to push back physically, he got into trouble. he was suspended from school. for ty, that was too much to bear. on that day last may, he killed himself. he was 11 years old.

>> ultimately my son's safety rested in my hands. i was responsible for my son's safety. i don't hold -- >> that's a harsh thing to say about yourself. >> i'm his dad. >> but he's out in the world -- >> it's my job to protect him. no matter what, no matter where he was, it was my job to protect him. >> reporter: but how do you protect your child from a bully? assistant deputy education secretary kevin jennings was appointed by president obama to keep kids safe at school. ty's story could have easily been his own. >> were you bullied in school? >> i was bullied severely in junior high and high school. and the first day of tenth

grade, i refused to go back to school because i simply wasn't going to go back to a place where i got bullied every day. >> reporter: jennings organized the nation's first ever bullying summit. but he admits it's a baby step. experts can't agree on how to define bullying. is it physical, electronic, psychological, nonverbal, or all of the above? >> when might something happen? when might the federal government act and say these are the guidelines we want to put in place, do it? >> i think that it's taken us a long time to develop a bullying problem and it's going to take us some time to solve it. >> reporter: it's why there are no federal guidelines schools must follow to deal with bullying. they're on their own. in smalley's home state of oklahoma, each school deals with bullying in different ways. it's something else that infuriates smalley. >> a lot of schools' answer to bullying, they let the victim leave a little bit early. they let them go home early to

get a head start on the bully. you're singling this child out. you're singling him out now. >> reporter: real solutions will come too late for ty, but kirk sma sma smalley is on that mission. it's why he organizes vigils at the oklahoma state house. he thinks bullying ought to be a crime. >> save the fragile self-esteem, save their lives. >> reporter: it's his promise to a boy who loved his family, hunting, and the st. louis cardinals. >> we haven't done ty's last load of laundry because it still smells like him. we haven't washed his sheets because i can go in there and lay on his bed and still smell my boy. and you want to learn what bullying and suicide's all about, you talk to the people directly who it affects the most.

>> he's a very brave man for speaking out. i thank you, mr. smalley for sharing your story with us. that's what ty's school says. saying they never reported any incidents of bullying to administrators or staff. our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the smalleys. laws prohibit the release of any additional information by perkins-tryon schools without waivers signed by parents. they did report incidents to school, but there's no requirement to write these things down. let's say he called two years ago, complained to somebody at the school, there was never any written record of it according to mr. smalley, and that's why the school wasn't aware of any complaints filed. and that's the problem across the nation. since there are no federal guidelines. >> there's no rules that the minute that -- >> in oklahoma, that's right.

41 states have anti-bullying laws on the books, but they're all different. and some leave it to each school district to decide which ones to put into place. >> have we lost our ways so much that we need federal guidelines? it's almost scary to think. what are parents teaching their children about how they should treat fellow human beings? >> i talked to so many bullying experts and we're going to get into that on "american morning." these kids learn bullying from somewhere. they're not born bullying somewhere. look at our political culture. we bully all the time and frankly bullying works. you get what you want. >> when we're talking about the idea of setting guidelines, a lot of people have said that what happened at rutgers to this young man, tyler clementi is wrong. some aren't sure it's bullying. >> bullying is a sustained campaign. i don't know what happened at rutgers. i don't know if this kid was bullied over an extended period of time by his roommate.

i know that ty smalley's father said he was. he was teased, pushed, punched at school. that's a sustained campaign. so there are differences. but again, we need that definition. we need the federal government to come up with some definition so everybody is clear on what bullying is. >> okay. we've got more of this interview, web extra on our website, as well. >> cnn.com/amfix and excellent if you'd like and send a message to mr. smalley. what a brave guy. >> thanks so much. one of the problems of bullying is that once you've singled out a problem child, when do we start holding parents accountable for their kids' actions. tomorrow on part two of our series, carol costello lays out the solutions. also on "ac 360," bullying in schools and online. why do kids do it? they're going to be tackling that tonight. >> you can get involved, if your school is trying to stop

bullies, send us your i-reports. go to cnn.com/bullying. 14 minutes to the top of the hour. [ advisor 1 ] what do you see yourself doing one week, one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com

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ally. do you love your bank ? welcome back, i'm rob marciano. the cnn severe weather center after a dry day, a day and a half this weekend. the rains are back across the northeast. a little wave that developed across north carolina is moving up the delmarva. that's causing problems if you live right along the immediate coastline. and then further inland, we're seeing the rainfall spiral in from this low, which actually is going to be sitting around probably for another day or two before it begins to move out. so d.c. affiliate in new york and then north of the i-95 corridor, they really got a ton of rain on thursday and friday, getting more today. don't expect to see much more than an inch or two, maybe 3 inches over a three-day period, but not going to come down real hard like it did last week. we do have frost and freeze advisories across parts of the midwest and even the south or mid-south. tennessee valley getting into it, 39 degrees, 34 degrees north

of st. louis. a chilly start to the day for sure. traveling today from the boston metros and philly, some rain coming in. same deal in san francisco and los angeles where they may see another sprinkle. that's a quick check on weather. "american morning" is coming right back. !e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!e!ee credit card rewards are always good in theory.

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one month, five years after you do retire? ♪ client comes in and they have a box. and inside that box is their financial life. people wake up and realize i better start doing something. we open up that box. we organize it. and we make decisions. we really are here to help you. they look back and think, "wow. i never thought i could do this." but we've actually done it. [ male announcer ] visit ameriprise.com and put a confident retirement more within reach. 7 minutes to the top of the hour. ali is pretending he can read. we're talking about christine's book, teaching your child the value of saving and also

spending money wisely. it's of course as we know -- >> is this obvious? >> this is a plug. proud of your buddy with her book out. and more people should be talking to their kids about money. >> you know the percentage of parent who is taught their kids about money in the wake of the financial crisis? >> let me think. 54%. >> excellent. 54%. christine is the days of using borrowed money to build your wealth and power are, well, some think over. christine has this book, "smart is the new rich." >> the days of using borrowed money that was risk that made people rich and secure over the past 20 years. risk is not going to make the average family secure any more. being smart is going to make them secure so that's the title, smart is the new rich. it means it's never more urgent to teach your kids the right lessons about money. maybe they won't refeet mistakes we made. we spent time with bill rogers, a well known economist.

>> he is with the department of labor. >> he knows the big picture. his wife is also an economist. we thought what's it like to be economists and parents trying to teach your kids about money. >> i'm saving up for another bike. >> how much does it cost? >> asking mom and dad for money takes on whole new meaning when mom and dad are renowned economists. meet the rogers, bill and yanna, ely, billy and charlie. >> how do you teach your kids about money when the economy is what you do for a living? >> for a long time now we've been using sort of a trick and that's the children's literature. >> bill, a former labor department economist, yanna is a rutgers profess here runs econkids.rutgerses.edu that uses kids books to teach economics. >> give me an example of a book i might have that has a subversive economic message.

>> baron stine bears. there's curious george, a few of those where he goes to a factory. that's all about production. and then there's cows that type, that's one that bill likes a lot, too. >> the cows in case you forgot go on strike. >> sorry, we're closed. no milk today. this is the labor economist labor book right here. >> that's right. >> the rogers' allowance. we get paid on wednesday. depending on chores i get $8 an hour. >> for messier jobs it's $10 an hour. mom explains that's the principle of compensating differential. >> what is it like to be raised by two economists? >> it can be frustrating sometimes when i'll want something for christmas and but it will be a little too expensive, then i'll have to go for like maybe the bargain brand or just go on sale.

i have become a good sale shopper. >> it's a family created byists. >> the one thing that i talk about with our kids is the budget constraint. that is the notion of there's only a fixed amount of money, and you have to figure out how you're going to allocate that money across a more expensive baseball bat versus your cleats that you're going to buy. >> when your dad starts talking about the budget constraints. a few things, this family and talking to others if you have kids now you must teach them that money is fineite. you are all sharing. put strict rules on allowances. $3 a week for everybody, then they have to earn $8 an hour like they were working maybe more above minimum wage. a level of chores that the kid does for free. this is pretty important. >> you don't get paid for

everything. >> and schwab foundation study found that kid who is take out the trash, whether they get an allowance or not, they grow up to do bet wer money so. mom and dad, tell your kids to take out the trash. >> get a 2-year-old to work. >> this book is excellent. congratulations. "smart is the new rich" by my good friend christine romans. top stories coming your way in 90 seconds. foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums. calcium rich tums goes to work in seconds. nothing works faster. ♪ tum ta tum tum tums

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a miles upcharge wasn't part of the deal. was i supposed to go without my wife? [ elevator bell dings ] [ grunting ] haha, that was awkward. so we upgraded to the venture card from capital one. we've had it with the games. [ male announcer ] don't pay miles upcharges. don't play games. get the flight you want with the venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com with the venture card at capitalone.com. >> good morning. glad you're with us on monday, october 4th. welcome to "american morning." >> john roberts is off this morning. lots to talk about. let's get to it. a warning from the british government on the heels of a different weekend alert from the u.s. state department. there is a high risk, a high threat of a terror attack overseas. we've got new information coming in this morning for american air travelers about the potential targets and the jihadists behind the threat. live reports from london and the

nation's capital straight ahead. >> donald trump, tv star, developer, could he be read the give that up for the oval office? new hampshire residents asked to give the opinion of the donald running in 2012. >> and we'll continue our discussion on bullying. tyler clementi's death at rutgers university makes you wonder what is being done and what can be done about bullies. we're getting a look at a couple solutions suggested to help safeguard kids and one man's mission to stop bullying in the name of his son. >> a security watch that affects every american traveling overseas. british officials are now echoing a u.s. state department warning that came over the weekend. there is a, quote, high threat of a terrorist attack in europe. among the potential targets, france and germany. >> this morning we're finding out more about a jihadist group in germany that may have triggered this. jeanne meserve is live in

washington. >> reporter: the state department is stressing that it is not telling americans don't go to europe. it is urging them to take precautions when they do go. the alert issued on sunday reads in part, terrorists may elect to use a variety of means and weapons and tar get both official and private interests, u.s. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. a u.s. official says the alert was prompted by the high volume of intelligence on possible terrorist threats, the intel community has been following a number of threads including information that al qaeda and its affiliates might be planning synchronized mumbai-style attacks on multiple locations in europe. officials said they do not have specifics about targets, mode or timing. how do europeans feel? a senior official says the european allies are in sync with the u.s. assessment of the threat. as you mention britain changed

its travel advisory for british citizens in france and germany from substantial now to high. ali and kiran, back to you. >> one more specific from the british government, one less from the u.s. government about an overall warning about europe. what should you do if you're traveling? >> reporter: a lot of people are saying that this alert is so vague it really isn't useful. among the suggestions the state department is making, register with the u.s. embassy or consulate where you travel, avoid civil disturbances, if you see a disruption of some kind move away from it. don't discuss your travel plans with others, don't label your luggage in a way that makes it obvious you're american, and of course the basic thing, keep your eyes open. report anything you see that might be suspicious. >> thanks very much. >> with terror warnings from both sides of the atlantic this morning americans traveling in europe suddenly find themselves looking over their shoulders wondering if i'm doing enough. >> let's go to somebody who is in the position.

susan smith is a tourist originally from houston, texas, joining us by phone from london this morning. susan, you haven't been living in the states recently but you took the trip, i guess celebrating a birthday in london? >> yes, i am, ali. >> tell me what you heard about this warning. what do you make of it? >> we landed here on thursday, we came costa rica to dallas/ft. worth to london. and i guess thursday morning, no, friday morning it was a headline story in the london times. and we were somewhat concerned, and other americans and other people from other countries were also concerned who were in the lounge at the same time. i think everyone is at a heightened state of alertness. >> you doing anything differently? >> not too much. this morning we were approached by the cnn folks when we were at buckingham palace awaiting the

changing of the guard. and i must say that it was packed. and we certainly were, you know, watching, looking around and being what i would say was cautious. the only thing we've really done to change anything we are doing is we've elected to not go downstairs in the evening to have a drink in the very large lobby bar. >> and you're going to carry on with your plans regardless? you're taking the warning to be a little more vigilant but not changing travel plans? >> no. i don't believe in allowing terrorists to do what they do, which is to terrorize me. if we act terrorized then they win. >> what about the fact this warning is out there? you think that it was a good thing or do you think it's too vague to make a difference? >> i think it's a good thing. i think it does cause people to be a little more vigilant, more aware of their surroundings. that kind of thing. >> susan, sounds sensible that you're making a few changes in the way you are going about your

day but nothing major. stay safe on the rest of your trip. >> thank you very much. >> i think she know what is i mean. stay safe. >> once you start saying it it's hard to get it right. >> we'll continue to -- kiran. >> also developing this morning. >> france has requested the extradition of an al qaeda suspect arrested in italy. italian police say they detained the man on suspicion of being part of the terror group. authorities are not saying when the suspect was arrested, it is not clear what his connection to the thing may be. >> also for a third straight day militants have attacked and burned more than 20 tankers carrying oil to u.s. and nato troops in afghanistan. three people were killed in today's assault near islamabad, pakistan. tankers were sitting ducks stalled on a supply line because the pakistanis closed a border doing that in protest of the nato helicopter attack that killed three troops last week. >> and hundreds come together to remember tyler clementi, the

rutgers university freshman who took his own life after his sexual encounter with another man was broadcast online. last night a large crowd gathered on the new jersey campus. clemente was honored with 30 minutes ever silence. organizers called for more understanding of the lesbian, gay and transgender community and for an end to bullying. >> everyone else should be able to live the life they want to live without fear of things like this happening. >> for perspective we look at the latest cnn opinion poll. more than80% of adults say bullying is a problem. only 14% say they don't believe bullying is an issue. >> coming up, carol costello has the first report in our week-long series on bullying. she'll show us how the fight to protect kids is going and the personal stories behind one man's mission. >> and doctors say more kids are preyed on by bullies in some

cases for being different. one of the differences, food allergies, for example. the reason i know about that is my daughter suffers from food allergies and we were at a walk in the county we live in, and it was one of the things one of the al allergists spoke of. there is a picture of me and my daughter mia. i was the media chair t. walk goes on across the country. millions of children are diagnosed with food allergies. my daughter happens to have a severe peanut allergy and what this group is trying to do is raise awareness but also money for research because more and more children are diagnosed with food allergies but they don't know what to do about it. >> it seems like more kids are diagnosed than when i was in school. it was an unusual thing for somebody to have had a food allergy when i was growing up. >> yeah. it has grown. part is environmental, part is just a lot of questions about whether or not our environment

or something that we're eating or whatever it is, is making us more susceptible to this. a lot of kids with it. i was glad to be able to take part and just bring awareness to it. >> it's a good discussion to have because with tyler clementi, for instance, it may have been because of his sexual orientation but we have to get into a culture people are not separate bid virtue of anything that makes them different. rob marciano in the extreme weather center for us. what's going on? >> i got rain across the northeast, guys, from d.c. to boston, this is the same area that got drenched late last week. but we don't expect to see as much rainfall but it's soggy out there and it's going to stay that way. if you live along the coastline, a bit of a wind off the ocean, so we have coastal flood advisories out from jersey up to long island to the delmarva. the rain will keep on rotating in on and off i think for the next couple of days, so if you are traveling, the airports are going to be slowed down. again, most of the heavy rain looks like it's a little further

inland than along the coast. cool and dry in the maine showery and interesting out in the west coast. talk about the tropics as well. the first full week of october. >> happy full first week of october, rob. >> a rainy one for us. >> certainly. we'll catch up with you in a bit. other storieses, new york city police say the imam behind a mosque near ground zero received death threats. threats against the imam and his wife began several weeks ago and are investigated. police aren't disclosing details or saying if the couple is receiving police protection. >> it's the first monday in october, back to work for the supreme court justices, the court begins its new term with a new member, elena kagan. there are three women on the bench, the first time in the court's history they have seen three women on the bench. some cases, one a test of limits of free speech, one of the first involves the rights of protesters at military funerals. >> chris sent us this report of

a female elk that had to be rescued after falling into an empty pool. they had to tranquilize her. the elk eventually woke up and walked away unharmed. >> the last thing you want to slow is a shot gun. >> this isn't going where i thought it was going. the elk went in the pool. it was tranquilized. >> if you are trying to get poor thing out. it might have hurt itself. >> i would have tried to coax him out. i'm not in the animal business. >> how is it going to walk upright? >> this is why i'm not an animal rescue guy. i would have tried to do that. >> come on. you can do it. i know it's a nearly 90-degree incline. >> i have other strengths. >> still ahead, could donald trump be entering the national political arena in 2012 or is publicity stunt. >> we're going to have new details from best political team after this.

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it is 15 minutes after the hour. welcome back to the most politics in the morning. we've got trump tower, trump taj

mahal, there's all sorts of trump things. >> a trump white house? senior political editor mark preston is live at the desk. what's going on with the trumster? >> you stole my line. if donald trump were elected president would he name the white house after him. time magazine is reporting that his name was tested among several republican candidates of new hampshire voters last month. what is interesting about this is that 30 questions according to "time" focused on donald trump including do they know if he had given money to democrats, would that hurt, and his appearances on tv hurt a political career. this isn't the first time if donald trump is looking at running for the white house, that he's thought about doing so. he thought about running on the reform party ticket in 2000. i must caution we haven't spoken to trump yet or his organization to find out if he commissioned that poll and we don't know who commissioned that poll.

but if anything it is a good talker for a monday. kiran. >> it certainly is, actually. i can't -- we never know with him whether it's publicity or real. >> no. absolutely. and he's one of these guy who is has strong opinions and in fact, ali, he was just on wolf blitzer's show recently and had strong opinions about president obama. he said that at this point he doesn't know if president obama can recover and win re-election in 2012. on foreign policy he said that iran will eventually take over iraq and that we ruined the balance of power in that area. on the tea party he said that it's extremely powerful and he loves it. i'm sure he would love their support if he ran for president. >> it's interesting because he inserted himself into the ground zero mosque debate offering to buy up part of the land or to do something -- >> it wasn't clear that we needed another voice in that debate. everybody else chimed in. feels like he needed to get into the story. >> look, he always has an opinion, no question about that.

>> mark, good to see you, my friend. >> thanks, mark. >> mark and i drove across the country together. on the cnn election express. coast to coast. >> good times. >> one of the better times i've had. >> mark's remaining smartly quiet. >> just -- yeah. >> good to see you. mark preston. reminder for the latest political news go to cnnpolitics.com. >> the $700 billion bailout chapter, you guys say you and christine, it was much more than $700 billion. >> it's going to end up costing you less. how much did it cost you, the taxpayer? was it worth it? christine is going to come back, hammer it all out. (announcer) everything you need to stretch out on long trips. residence inn.

20 minutes past the hour. christine romans "minding your business." >> hi, guys. we have a picture i wanted to show you of something that happened two years ago now, a much probably the most hated piece of legislation in the history of the world. there it is. >> after henry paulson told everybody in congress they needed to act or the world was going to come to an end. >> look at those grim faces. that was the birth of something known as t.a.r.p.

t.a.r.p. is officially closed as of sunday. closed. >> can't get money out of it? >> can't. there are people that have money in it. it was $700 billion of our money that went to the big banks, the little banks, lots of bankings and automakers. automakers, chrysler and gm among the biggest recipients. >> the original intention. troubles asset relief program. >> something different. >> it got squishy but the goal was the same to stabilize the system so we could look back and say that stabilized the system. yes, it did, and in the end the white house and treasury department say in the end they think it's going to cost about $50 billion when the money is turned back in. who turned in the money? well, morgan stanley, jp morgan chase and others turned their money in. many times with grim smiles on their faces because it was not pleasant when they had the money under the scrutiny of people screaming about the banks taking money.

who still has to pay it back or have payback plans in place? citigroup, gm and aig among others. there are about 600 banks that hold $65 billion of t.a.r.p. money. many are smaller banks given this to keep them lending, to try to lend in their communities because it's small banks the ones who are really the oxygen for small business and the like. in the end i don't know, ali. you think you look back two years later and the intent of t.a.r.p., only designed to stop the bleeding and keep the system on its feet. did it work? >> you know, that's the question i would rather answer is did it need to happen? it needed to happen. i think it will be time before we say we know whether it worked. it was there to loosen up credit. nobody could get a loan. we weren't talking about car loans, we were talking about companies not getting loans and the direct result of not getting credit was people being laid off from jobs. so i think our unemployment situation as bad as it is, would have been worse if that had not

happened. >> i have a question. the troubled asset relief program, originally wasn't it sold, tell me if i'm wrong, wasn't it sold on the notion that the government needed to buy up all of these bad assets on the books. >> right. >> all of the risky things we shouldn't have done. >> right. >> to clear the way for banks to not be toxic. >> right. >> then it turned into sort of -- >> recapitalization. >> so how did we zbot far away from the original intention? is that bet center >> there is some sense it was going to be more effective in freeing up money t. concept how do you free money to be spent, to be used in the economy. the determination was made that would make more sense than the original plan. >> i think it will be interesting to see what the history books write about t.a.r.p. it was a hated piece of legislation, there waenlts a lot of information, we wish there were more, in hindsight, wish there were more strings so banks were forced to lend that money. in the end did it stop the system from collapsing? many say yes. but it's over. it closed on sunday. and now we'll see if and when

others can pay it back. some will never pay it all back. that's why there will be a cost ultimately. >> coming up the tea party's polar opposites. a live vort just ahead. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese. by tomorrow. [ male announcer ] ducati knows it's better for xerox

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good morning. it's 27 after the hour. welcome back to the most politics in the morning. one nation working together, that was the message behind a weekend rally on washington, d.c.'s national mall. >> we heard a lot about rallies lately. organizers were trying to fire up democratic supporters, liberal and progressive voters in something associated with political adversaries t tea party crowd. how did it go? >> reporter: well, you know, it seemed to go pretty well on the mall. there is a lot of enthusiasm around tea party movement, a couple of weeks ago we talked to sharron angle. that movement put candidates on the playing field for the midterm elections and all of the expert there is are predicting a huge wave of victories for republicans in november. democrats know they have this enthusiasm gap to overcome so

progressives trying to throw a tea party of their own except they weren't calling it a tea party. this one nation event as it was dubbed drew thousands of liberal activists to the national mall in washington. look at it. it was put together by some of the biggest unions and civil rights groups in the country, organizers say all of this was designed to fire up the progressive base and turn out votes for democrats and one of the event headliners reverend you know him al sharpton warned that republicans would try to undo many of the laws that democrats passed in the last 18 month they take back the congress. >> we got to go home and we've got to hit the pavement, we've got to knock on doors, we've got to get ready for the midterm exam. we can't stop in '08. we got to get ready in '10. from 10-2 to 11-2. we're going to pass the midterm

exam. >> al sharpton fired up about the midterm exam he called it. unlike the tea party rallies which call for small government and low taxes, you had demonstrators at the one nation events were after more assistance for the unemployed, a boost in spending on education, those issues, you could say there were some similarities throughout while glenn beck was not on hand, the crowd did have liberal talk show host ed schultz on stage and a few provocative signs in the crowd like the one, i'm reading here, access of ignorance, tea party republicans and fox news, there were lots of other signs, sort of like a tea party but on the opposite end of the spectrum. a lot of folks calling for a lot of things throughout with all of the handmade signs out there. >> interesting to see. do we have an engaged electorate no matter which side of the aisle come the midterm elections which are a month away. interesting to see. >> democrats feel they are starting to get energized.

you saw the rally in madison, wisconsin, where the president was throughout with russ feingold trying to fire up college students in that college town. that's a big key part of the constituency for the democratic party. later this week the president will be holding a rally in maryland at buoy state university, that's an historically black college in the suburbs of washington, d.c., campaigning for governor martin o'malley, a democrat who, by the way, may squeak out a victory, which shows you the kind of wave year that is upon us that if the republicans can win in maryland the governor's race there is a tsunami for the republicans this year. >> true. jim acosta, thanks. >> 31 minutes after the hour. time for the top stories. british oxes are now issuing a new warning on top of the state department warning over the weekend announcing there is a high threat of a terrorist attack in europe. among the potential targets, france and germany. the suspect is a -- the suspects are a group of islamic jihadists

operating out of hamburg, germany. >> the mid-atlantic, new york, southern new england could see thunderstorms. in some cases localized coastal flooding. all of this as the region is trying to dry out from a week of heavy rain and flooding. >> back to work for the supreme court justices. the court begin as new term with a mu member, elena kagan. there are three women on the bench for the first time in history. >> we have new pictures we want to show you of rahm emanuel, he is touring chicago, it's the tell it like it is tour, there he is, happy -- >> name to these. can't anybody say i'm running for mayor? tell it like it is tour. >> there he is with his coffee out early in the windy city. he'll spend the next few weeks visiting the neighborhoods, at grocery stores, at bus stops, bowling alleys, hot dog stands. >> that's where he'd find me f. he came to a hot dog stand i was at, that's well on the way. >> find me at the bowling alley. perhaps.

>> i don't understand why people can't just run an election. everything has to have a name. >> your bus tour was named. >> that's true. exactly. during the past weeks we heard more and more about children getting bullied at school. the problem is reaching terrible proporti proportions. it seems we uncover a different reason behind the bullying. is it because of a kid's looks for intelligence or sexual orientation or some other identifiable characteristic. the numbers to back that up are staggering. a new cnn opinion research corporation poll out this morning finds more than a third of our children have been threatened or harassed. also, 81% of people think that bullying presents some sort of problem in our schools and neighborhoods. >> this week cnn and our other time warner family organizations like the cartoon network, people magazine, all putting together a closer look at the problem. and what can be done to try to end the violence.

talking about this in the backdrop the tragedy at rutgers, the death after student there, tyler clementi, and it's resonating across the country. he actually killed himself after apparently according to police his roommate put cameras around his dorm room. >> it brings to light, not exactly the same but brings to light the bullying issue that parents and kids struggle with. our special back to school series on bullying, a look at the problem from a father who lost his son. carol costello joins us with more. >> and ty was a typical kid. it's hard to figure out why he was bullied. i met curt, he is a modest man, quiet, private. this was hard for him. but after his 11-year-old son committed suicide in may after years of bullying at school, he is quiet no more. he told me no one should lose their child to bully, no one.

he is determined that no one else does. curt smally is on a mission. there he is an honored guest, trying to put a stop to bullying. >> i have to make a difference. i promised my son on father's day this year i'd stop this from happening to another child. >> for years smally's son ty struggled with a bully at school. >> you say he was picked on, how was he being picked on? >> name calling, ty was always small, a shove here, a push there. >> his father says ty was a typical kid with typical grades who took the abuse for two years. on the day ty finally decided to push back physically, he got into trouble. he was suspended from school. for ty, that was too much to bear. on that day, last may, he killed himself. he was 11 years old.

>> ultimately, my son's safety rested in my hands. i was responsible for my son's safety. i don't hold -- >> that's a harsh thing to say about yourself. >> i'm his dad. >> i know. but he's out in the world. >> it's my job to protect him. no matter what, no matter where he was, it was my job to protect him. >> how do you protect your child from a bully? assistant deputy education secretary kevin jennings was appointed by president obama to keep kids safe at school. ty's story could easily have been his own. >> were you bullied in zmool. >> like many kids i was bullies severely when i was in junior high and high school.

and the first day of tenth grade i refused to go back because i simply wasn't going to go back to a place where i got bullied every day. >> jennings organized the first ever bullying summit but even he admits it's a baby step. experts can't agree on how to define bullying. is it physical, electronic, psychological, nonverbal? or all of the above? >> when might something happen? when might the federal government act? and say these are the guidelines we want to put in place. do it. >> i think that it's taking us a long time to develop a bullying problem and it's going to take time to solve it. >> it's why there are no federal guidelines schools must follow to deal with bullying. they are on their own. in smally's home state of oklahoma each school district deals in different ways. it's something else that infuriates smallley. >> a lot of schools around the country the answer to bullying is they threat victim leave a little early. they let them go home early to

get a head startsi singling thi now. >> real solutions will come too late for ty. but kirk smally is on that mission. >> it's why he organizes vigils at the oklahoma state house. he thinks bullying ought to be a crime. and it's why he tries to convince other kids to stand up for the bullied. >> save their fragile self-esteem. save their lives. >> it's his promise to a boy who loved his family, hunting, and the st. louis cardinals. >> we haven't done ty's last load of laundry because it smells like him. we haven't washed his sheets because i can lay on his bed and smell my boy. you want to learn what bullying and suicide's all about, you talk to the people directly who it affects the most.

>> thank you, mr. smally for talking with us. how difficult that was. mr. and mrs. -- this is from the school, we wanted to know what the school did if anything about ty's alleged bullying. this is a statement we got. mr. and mrs. smally never reported any incidents of bullying to administrators or staff at perkins tryon school. to protect their privacy laws probt the release of additional information without a confidentiality waiver sign bid ty's parents. mr. smally said they did report bullying to the school. the school says they did not but there isn't requirement of the school apparently to record these things. so, let's say mr. smally did it two years ago, maybe the school didn't write down hooxt know who is that complaint -- >> and told somebody and no record. which makes it hard. you need some kind of standards, the first thing is be able to

track whether someone is bullied. >> it's so important to have the federal guidelines. 41 states have anti-bullying laws but they are all different. some states have no anti-bullying laws. some like oklahoma leave it up to the individual school district to come up with their policies and they are all different. it's so important to come up with federal guidelines and quickly. >> and talk to your kids being good people and about protecting the weak and just what you grew up learning as well. >> a lot of the kids that are bullied learned it. they weren't born bullies. >> i have to say amen. you look at the culture t reality shows, what's happening in politics, you're stupid, you're wrong, you're destroying the country, that's bullying. let's face it, bullying is effective. it often works. >> we refer to it, right, the bully pulpit. the power of the bully pulpit. >> right somewhere along the line parents have to sit their

kids down and say this is not proper behavior. this hurts people. and the kids who bully often don't even realize that. >> there is more of that interview, up on our blog already. if you want to see more of that in our continuing series on bullying with documentary filmmaker lee hart is going to talk how the country needs to address bullying. he says learning to stand up can save a life. we've seen some evidence of how it can contribute to lives being lost. nine minutes to the top of the hour.

>> a good day for me would be people leaving their hands off

of me. >> they punch me in the jaw, they strangle me. 3 knock things out of my hand. sit on me. i feel like i belong somewhere else. >> you know, there are heartbreaking accounts of kids who say they are bullied. and they face bullying, in school, out of school, what you saw was a clip from an upcoming documentary, the bully project. joining me for our back to school, back to bully series part of a larger time warner report on bullying, is the director and producer of this, lee hearst. we're focusing on it you can't talk to a parent, any person who hasn't had some experience with bullying. either being bullied or wondering what to do if it's happening to your child. why did you decide to take on this project? >> in a way it's sort of my story because i was bullied as a kid. and i wanted to figure out how do you tell that story?

how can you make somebody hear what it means or take in what it means to be that kid that's getting punched and kicked over and over again, when people don't respond. and as a filmmaker i think we started to think if we could get in those lives, if we could live in that world and see what these kids go through on a daily basis and the things that are often not seen by adults, maybe we could start to change that conversation. >> you know, first of all, it's amazing that you were able to get that type of inside access. it's embarrassing to even admit that you are picked on which is often why parents say i had no idea or my kids didn't tell me. how did you get the kids agree to be filmed and sort of wear that big label that says i'm getting bullied? >> yeah. i think for lots of them, they were ready to tell their story. i think that they had been trying to get help, trying to be heard for so long that you know,

i think by the time somebody said i'm willing to show up at your community with a camera and a team and listen to you, and really take you seriously, it was like you know, probably the greatest thing for them. in a way i think all of our characters became partners in making this. they want to make a change, they want people to hear them. but they also understand what other kids are going through around the country. so, that felt like the easiest part. but there is, there is a huge amount of shame, a huge amount of silence and you know, i think if kids are talking about what's going on it's probably what's really going on is a lot worse. >> right. because some of it's shameful on the part of the person being bullied. what about the bullies? who are these? we did our cnn poll, 37% of people said they had some experience being bullied, harassed, something. who are all of these people that are doing this? >> they are sort of all around us, around us as we were kids, around us at the workplace. you know, as you were mentioning in kind of in the world stage, i think you know, bullies range,

they can be someone that is kicking you and punching you to somebody that sort of orchestrating gossip, that is cyber bullying. there's conflicting views as to whether they have really low self-esteem or maybe they have high self-esteem. i think there's a lot more research that needs to be done to understand what drives bullying behavior. >> i know that you were documenting this, but you've been steeped in it for so long i want to ask you. can you bully proof your kid? >> i don't know. i don't think you can bully proof your kid. but i think you can be responsive, and i think that you can make sure that you don't give up. i think that's so important is that -- we met families on the brink of giving up that felt like there was nothing more they can do. they have been banging their head against the wall for so long talking to the school, to their administration, even maybe going to local authorities and

police and feeling like nobody had their back. and i think in that case, they have to keep fighting until their kid is safe. >> can you stop your kid from being a bully? >> another parent, i would hope that's much easier. >> they learn it somewhere. >> certainly. maybe in a few years i'll have more insight into that. but i think -- i think certainly we have to teach our kids, well, forget being a bully or not. let's teach our kids how to stand up, how to stand up for someone that is being bullied because that's much easier, that's like 90% of us, right, are in that situation where we see somebody being targeted, we're that buy stander that doesn't know what to do standing there awkwardly. if i was that person and i made that decision to step in and like defend that kid, i may have saved ty smalley's life. i may save a life. i think that's one of our goals with the film is when people walk away from seeing the movie,

they'll feel like i could be that person that could turn around tomorrow and make that difference. i think that's the most hopeful thing we have in terms of combatting bullying is each and every person can be the one that stops it. >> it's a great project. i hope everybody sees it. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> one of the problems with bullying is that what do you do with the bullies? and when did we start holding parents accountable for kids? tomorrow in part 2 of our series carol lays out the solutions to try to keep kids safe. i used to see the puddles, but now i see the splash. ♪ i wanted love, i needed love ♪ ♪ most of all, most of all... ♪

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welcome back. i'm rob marciano. a storm off the east coast. looks like a similar pattern though this isn't tropical, so we won't see the tremendous amount of heavy rain we saw last week. we'll see some rain and could see an inch to two or three inches before this is done. it's going to hang around for a couple of days. we'll see coastal flooding in some areas, too. most of the heavy rain right now is a little bit north and west of the larger cities, but again, we'll see on and off rain throughout today and tomorrow. laguardia over an hour delay. san francisco getting into it. and delays are increasing right now in boston. cool and dry in some cases frosty this morning across parts of the midwest. and out on the west coast showers rolling in. that's a quick check on weather.

welcome back to the most politics in the morning. you're hired. could those be the words donald trump wants to hear after voters go to the polls in 2012? time reports new hampshire residents were asked some 30 questions last month about the real estate mogul. is trump testing the waters for a presidential run? joining us on the phone is donald trump. you in? you running for president? >> i never heard of this poll but i'm anxious to find out what it says. i do not know about a poll taken in new hampshire. >> you didn't commission this. >> i certainly did not. >> you know anybody who would on your behalf? >> no. i've been very outspoken on what's happening with opec and

how they are ripping us off and frankly, you look at iraq and everything, i mean, i've been outspoken so i could see somebody looking at those issues, not necessarily me. >> let's talk about what you think should be happening. you talked about what should not be happening. we're 18 midterm election. what do you think should be happening? what should voters be doing? >> i think the united states is a kicking bag for the rest of the world. we're being ripped off by opec, being ripped off with all of the wars, we're protecting people, we're giving countries like kuwait back to the kuwaiti chics, deciding not to invest in the united states because they don't like it as an investment. we're not very smart. let's put it that way. we are not very smart. i like at iraq and they have, i heard today, they have $12 trillion of oil. we go in, we fight, we lose lives, we spend all of our money and then we leave them with a rich country. it's going to be overthrown

because iran will end up taking it over because they want the oil because they are smarter than we are. so i have been outspoken about things such as that. i guess people are doing polls. it's certainly not me. >> you think you are too outspoken to survive if you wanted to a political and national political campaign for president? >> well, i have never run for president. i really like the people of new hampshire because they are strong people, they are intelligent people, they know what's happening to this country is wrong. so i can understand why i did well in a poll. you still haven't told me what well means. what does well mean? i haven't seen this poll. >> let's talk about -- >> we're trying to -- >> what the poll said. we are trying to figure it out. >> that's what i heard. >> they said the sources said that these residents received in a telephone poll multiple questions, some 30 questions about you. when it comes to a 2012 republican candidate. would that be something you

would serious lly consider? >> it's not something i talked about or consider but somebody has to do something or this country is not going to be a very great country for long. >> donald, good to talk to you. thanks for joining us this morning. and clarifying that you haven't commissioned the poll. >> good luck. you have a great program. >> thanks. you're always welcome on it. thanks, donald. >> it is 57 minutes after the hour. we'll be right back. sorry i'm late fellas. [ evan ] ah it's cool. ah... ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah. ah! ah!

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