all righty. thursday. believe it or not, this morning when i was on the roads, there was traffic. someone must have taken thursday, friday and monday off for a long labor day weekend. you and i are up early because we didn't take that off, right? here's what's going on. i'm robin meade. she is charged with helping kidnap jaycee dugard. now nancy garrido may be close to turning on her husband. what her attorney says about her possible defense. for the first time ever, women are about to take the number one spot in the workforce. is it because of the recession? is it something else going on? also ahead, a man's in jail for slapping a fussy 2-year-old inside a walmart. the catch is, it wasn't even his kid.

no, he did not. yeah, that's the story. up until now we have not heard much about the wife of the man accused of holding jaycee dugard captive for 18 years. but now there is word nancy garrido may be flipping on her husband of 28 years. now they have both pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and rape. family members say nancy garrido fls a robot around their husband and that may become part of her defense. >> if you're asking me to formulate for you a defense strategy, i guess my impression would be she was a victim. she went placidly along and later on i'm told that when the officers asked if they could search her home, whatever phillip wants. if he says it's okay, it's okay. >> her lawyer says she misses the two girls she says her husband fathered with dugard and that she saw them all as a family.

well, hundreds of firefighters are waging a nonstop battle with the wildfires in l.a. a small group of fire investigators is sifting through the ashes. now they think they discovered where it started but they say they're not sure how it started yet. we have learned the forest service had a control burn planned earlier this year to prevent a father like this but hadn't gotten it done yet. >> all conditions must be met before we can engage in that particular burn. and the pattern we're having the last several years, yes, we do secure the permits, but if we never reach all of the conditions that are right for that burn so that we can do what we call keep the burn in prescription, then we do not execute that burn. >> the station fire is now the largest in l.a. county history. it has burned more than 140,000 acres. crews have a 28% contained.

10,000 homes evacuated. but most people have been allowed to go back to check out the damage. 64 homes have been destroyed. michael jackson's family and close friend are going to hold a private funeral for him this evening. he's going to be laid to rest at forest lawn memorial park in glendale, california. security will be tight including a no-fly zone over the area. singer gladys knight is expected to perform. the site is said to be lavishly decorated with statues and stained glass windows. the l.a. county coroner says jackson's death was a homicide. before he died senator ted kennedy got candid about the accident that killed a woman and changed his life. "the new york times" got an early copy of senator ted kennedy's memoir "true compass." in it kennedy reportedly said he made terrible decisions when he drove off a bridge at chappaquiddick and didn't save the woman with him. he said he lived with the guilt for decades. new this morning despite

signs the economy is starting to turn around, you're apparently not feeling it. a poll finds that nine in ten americans say the country is still in a recession. so let's go to our money expert, jennifer westhoven. so the pit of our stomach is not feeling good yet. yeah. this is cold comfort, robin, but we know that jobs, which is the main way most of us participate in the economy, that heals a lot more slowly than the rest of the economy so it could take a while before you start to feel any kind after recovery here. federal reserve leaders, though, the more confident the economy is stabilizing but less sure what it's going to look like. now 75% of people in the cnn poll think the u.s. is in a serious or moderate recession. only 12% think it's a mild recession. there were positive signs because even though you have so many people saying the country is in a serious recession, it is smaller than the last time we took the poll so fewer people are feeling that downbeat.

not quite confident yet. robin? right. thank you. appreciate it. this just in, two u.s. soldiers were killed and five others wounded when their vehicle rolled over in northern iraq. the military is not releasing names of the soldiers and other details about yesterday's crash. when we do get more info, we'll bring it right to you. a miss universe choreographer is denying that he said donald trump personally picked six of the finalists. now the controversy started with an online article featuring the choreographer. now he claims -- the miss universe organization insists the contest is not rigged but said trump and members of the organization select some of the top 15. a man is accused of slapping a stranger's 2-year-old in the face several times to get her to stop crying. police say it all happened at a walmart near atlanta on monday. the man allegedly told the mom,

if you don't shut that baby up, i'll shut her up for you. shoppers were disgusted. >> that's horrible. that is absolutely deplorable. so i think he needed to be arrested. >> i think that's ridiculous. if anyone touched my kid, i'd probably smack them. i don't know. i think it's insane. >> the 61-year-old man is being held without bond. and how is that supposed to stop the kid from crying? the kid is only going to cry more. duh. not to mention it's not all right. i know you thought before like make your child be quiet but you would never do that. if it happened to you, you would have pounced on the guy. >> i wouldn't be here right now. i'd be in jail. it's true. i like to think i'm a cool head but any father would do the same thing, jump on the guy. >> don't touch my kid. >> don't touch anybody ever again. we are still looking at tropical storm erika, basically

falling apart over the leeward islands. a lot of rain. winds only 40 miles per hour. it's not very well organized and it's getting buzzed out by the sheer. the path will take it over puerto rico. that's going to be over the week as a decent rainmaker. it's just a tropical depression or even a low, not even a storl. that's some good news. i don't think it will strengthen into a hurricane. obviously you don't want to see that roll on through puerto rico. state side, look at this frontal boundary south around tampa. showers and thunderstorms developing here. light rain this morning out of obama in towards georgia. heavy downpours the last four to five hours in western parts of kentucky. sitting there by bowling green. we're going to see that area slowly move to the north. looking pretty good in nyc. daytime high into the 70s. lots of beautiful sunshine for you today. check it out. more in a little bit. >> that looks beautiful. that's a nice way to end summer.

>> there you go. president obama takes his fight for health care reform directly to congress next week. everybody comes back from their recess. a proposal from a republican may be the compromise he's looking for. instead of $5 per person for fast food,

you can serve a nutritious breakfast from walmart for just over $1 a person. one breakfast a week saves a family of four over $800 a year. save money. live better. walmart.

it is time right now to salute our troops. now friends and families of loved ones in the military are usually the ones sending their personal salutes to us. sometimes we get some not for individuals but for all military members like this one. >> you keep doing what you have to and we support you. >> hello. members of the armed forces, thank you very much. we wish you a safe and happy return. >> maybe you do have somebody in the service and you want to salute them g. to cnn.com/robin. president obama is planning a critical speech about health care reform 0. he will speak to a joint session of congress wednesday. white house advisers say that he

will get specific about what he wants in a final bill. >> i think it's going to be very, very clear by the time the speech is done that he sees a clear path to how we can provide stability and security to people who have insurance and how we can help those who don't have insurance get the coverage they need. >> correspondent richard lui joins us now. morning to you, first of all. is the president still hoping for some bipartisanship here? >> what some folks might call a last-ditch effort here, robin, he's reportedly in close talks with olympia snowe about a possible compromise. the proposal includes some of the main insurance reforms both parties support and have been wanting like preventing insurance companies from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. the difference is, though, her bill includes a time limit. if insurance companies do not make those changes by the deadline, robin, it would then trigger a public insurance option.

>> so is there any indication, richard, senator snowe's plan could get more republican support than the proposals already out there? >> well, she might be able to persuade her fellow senator from maine, republican susan collins, to get onboard with the plan. a new poll explains why even some democrats may have a hard time supporting a plan that leaves the door open for that public option we were just talking about. public support for health care reform is slipping. 6 in 10 younger adults support it but on the on sid side 6 in 10 senior citizens oppose it. we know seniors are more likely to vote as many democrats are up for re-election next year so they can see the complexities. >> okay. and the saga is still going on. richard, we should see what develops as soon as everybody gets back from break here. a man born without arms says he wasn't allowed to cash his check. >> so i came back here and at that point my blood pressure was

boiling. >> well, now he is getting a big apology from a major bank. it is new for you in about 20 minutes. you know, the people who were supposed to be protecting the public say we broou it on bernie madoff. our money expert jennifer pest koeven is here. they say they should have caught on to the ponzi scheme years ago. really? you don't say. >> they're supposed to be watching wall street and apparently even madoff couldn't believe they didn't shut him down. they come over, they paid him a visit. they asked him questions and he knows -- he's frozen because basically he knows with one phone call, all they have to do is check one thing and they'll figure it all out. that was in may 2006. can you imagine how many people wouldn't have lost their money if that one phone call had been made? this is all according to a report by the s.e.c.'s internal watchdog. never made the call. never checked. the agents just took madoff's word for it and the report found

they missed tips all the way back to 1992 that something was fishy over there. madoff now serving a 150-year prison sentence for cheating thousands of people out of their money. i tell you, robin, republicans and democrats do not agree on much. they are out there swinging against this report this morning saying what the heck happened over there? all right. let's get you something better. you'll have more government jobs to apply for in the next year. a lot of openings out there. that's good news in a bad economy especially for all the people who are job hunting. uncle sam needs to hire more than 270,000 workers in the next three years according to a new government survey in this morning's "washington post." a lot of the jobs are opening up because baby boomers are reaching retirement age. a lot of government workers are retiring. a lot of openings are in health care and homeland security. robin, back to you. places to look. >> good. that's good information to have, isn't it, if you're out there hunting for a job. thank you. what is the biggest obstacle

that you have faced or overcome on your road to self-confidence? it's a topic i cover for you in my new book called "morning sunshine! how to radiate confidence and feel it, too." why don't you e-mail your answer by going to cnn.com/robin. click on the e-mail link inside the content box. send us an i-report if you want. we'll pick a win they're will share in the 9:00 a.m. eastern hour. that person gets a free autographed copy of the book. now you can boy the book starting september 10th although i hear it's already out on the stands. all of us can meet you live in person. the father of sarah palin's grandchild may be getting paid to drop his drawers. find out about an offer for levi johnson to show some skin. please! but first, and i say please sarcastically. >> you're staying right here. >> i want duct tape. >> that's right. the judge said duct tape.

you've got to hear what happened in this courtroom. ♪ bicycle, what are we waiting for? the flowers are blooming. the air is sweet. and zyrtec® starts... relieving my allergies... 2 hours faster than claritin®. my worst symptoms feel better, indoors and outdoors. with zyrtec®, the fastest... 24-hour allergy medicine, i promise not to wait as long to go for our ride. zyrtec® works fast, so i can love the air™. special interest groups are trying to block progress on health care reform, derailing the debate with myths and scare tactics. desperately trying to stop you from discovering that reform won't force you to give up your current coverage. you'll still be able to choose your doctor and insurance plan. tell congress not to let myths get in the way of fixing what's broken with health care. learn e facts at healthactionnow.org.

you know what? you are less likely to have your stuff stolen last year despite the tough times. that's from the justice department. according to its 2008 survey, theft dropped 8.6%. auto thefts were down almost 20%. wow. because the thieves didn't want

to pay for the gas. the justice department says there's been no change in the number of violent crime and that more than half of them were never reported to police. we're learning more now about why you might have to get two shots of an h1n1 vaccine once it's ready anyway. scientists say our immune systems have never been exposed to the virus so one dose may not offer enough protection. some kids are starting to get the first dose of the vaccine. we're going to soon know whether it will take one or two shots. an ohio judge got so fed up with a defendant that he had his mouth duct taped shut. take a look at what happened last week. the judge repeatedly warned the robbery suspect to quiet down. when he didn't, the judge ordered a deputy to get the tape. >> duct tape the defendant. >> i'm not a fire and brimstone judge. i'm not working for publicity.

i had a decision to make so that we could get on with the hearing. >> the suspect's case is going to the grand jury. he says the judge was not being respectful. speaking of being respectful, college football teams are being asked to be more polite to each other this season. now not necessarily during play, but rafer will share with you some of the reaction about a little old hand shake. >> a little handshake. it's a nice idea in theory. you hear it and you think it's a great idea but i'm honestly not quite sure if this is going to wo work. we want to get your take on it. the ncaa are encouraging team wide handshakes before the game. well, this is often what happens before the game anyway. right now captains and coaches shake hands before the game. you talk about eight players

when they come out and when they come out and face each other, it can get a little feisty. right now officials are only asking teams to do this. we'll see how many do this. should college football teams be forced to shake hands before the game? they don't obviously all fight every time they get out there. but is it a good idea or potential disaster? text your answer or e-mail us or post a comment on our facebook page and we'll read them on the air in about 30 minutes. one of the nfl's most controversial figures has had another door shut for him. adam pacman jones, the guy who liked the strip clubs who was cut by the cowboys in february will not be playing for the canadian football league. the winnipeg blue bombers shot down several reports saying jones was joining the team saying it's unfortunate it became public but they want guys who will contribute on and off the field. don't talk about negotiations when they're happening. some golf courses in england

have banned an all-female caddie service. robin, i want to know what you think about this. i can be caddies provides models and advertises, quote, undivided attention for 18 holes of golf, has been said to be inappropriate. the women have been trained in golf etiquette, wear appropriate attire and sign a code of conduct so boundaries are clear. >> someone found a new way to make money. >> hooters meets the golf course, perhaps. police expect to filed charges against the janitor who allegedly stole this beautiful, beautiful piece of jewelry, the world series ring worth about $10,000. it was left in the bathroom. surveillance video led them to a janitor who then took officers to the ring and they found it in a paper towel in a supply closet. >> thank you. wannabe lawmakers have big shoes to fill in massachusetts. now a former major league pitcher -- major leaguer, says he might run for ted kennedy's

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legal experts watching the case of nancy garrido say her lawyer may try to portray her as another victim of her husband, phillip garrido. dugard was found last week, 18 years after she disappeared. nancy and phillip garrido have pled not guilty in the case. fire investigators spent a lot of time studying a single oak tree yesterday. that is where they believe the station fire started. they don't have a cause yet. meanwhile, crews are still worried that the fire could threaten several new neighborhoods around pasadena. nasa could decide tonight if a large piece of space junk is any threat to astronauts. the rocket debris is expected to pass within two miles of shuttle

"discovery" tomorrow. nasa says it isn't likely astronauts will have to move out of the way. the late senator ted kennedy says he's lived with guilt ever since his deadly car crash at chappaquiddick. kennedy also says he believes the final report about jfk's assassination despite the conspiracy theory. an intriguing bit of info there. hello. how are you doing? maybe you're getting the coffee ready this morning. i'm impressed. i'm robin meade. morning, sunshine. a former major league star says he is considering running for ted kennedy's vacated senate seat. here is rafer with more on that the big shoes to fill. very big shoes to fill but history has shown that sports stars can have success when they run for office. bill bradley in new york, tom osborne, former red sox pitcher curt schilling who is a hero in the boston area blogged that he has, quote, some interest in running for the seat kennedy

held for almost 50 years. he won two world series with the red sox and became a legend in that area after winning a key playoff game against their rivals, the yankees, while blood covered his sock from a hurt ankle. that sock is in the hall of fame. he's a rejs tefrd independent but he's campaigned for george bush in '04 and senator mccain last year. 0 robin? >> okay. we shall see. thank you very much. the rules are changing for some popular airspace. the faa wants to make flying over the hudson river in new york safer. the big change would be dividing the airspace into two separate lanes separating the airplanes from the helicopters and seaplanes. now the announcement comes less than a month after nine people died when a small plane and sightseeing helicopter collided. president obama is not wasting any time to get back to work on health care reform. he's going to make a pitch to a joint session of congress on wednesday, one day after they get back to washington. correspondent richard lui joins us now in one of the biggest

obstacles he's facing is cost. how do we pay for the reform? >> we're talking a trillion dollars here. the president said the government can find ways to cut medicare costs and a new government report seems to back him up. the health department's inspector general used power wheelchairs as an exam. he found medicare paid nearly four times what suppliers pay for them. now the report says xcompetitiv bidding could save the government about $1,000 on each wheelchair. the medical equipment industry says competitive bidding would drive up medicare costs by requiring more hospital stays, though. >> the president has also said that investing in preventive care could save billions. now let's talk about what kind of facts are behind that. >> a different study cited in "the washington post" took a look at that question using people with diabetes. preventive care would cost an extra $1,000 a year, that would

be largely recovered after 25 years through lower spending on dialysis, kidney transplants and other treatments. since is takes so long to make up the difference, the preventive care would add to overall health spending for all except the youngest patients at the start. for more information on how health care reform could affect you and your family, go straight to our website, cnn.com/robin. richard, thank you. call it the scarlet sandwich board a. man wore a sign on the side of the road apologizing for cheating on his wife. the man was heckled and jeered by the lunch hour traffic. now he says that he wanted to prove that he won't cheat again. his wife says this was a giant step in the right direction to fix their relationship. in other words he embarrassed her so now he can embarrass himself. 34 minutes past the hour. >> why do we laugh at such things? >> i'm not laughing. >> you're not? i am a little bit. you don't cheat on your wife. >> i'm with you.

you would be wearing more than a sandwich board if it were me. let me show you what's going on. this is tropical storm erika right now over the leeward islands and it's basically falling apart, has not gained any strength over the last 24 hours. that's really the wind that blows apart the thunderstorms in the center of circulation as they try to get going. heavy rain for the leewards. tropical storm for puerto rico. you'll get heavy rain. showers and thunderstorms off the coast of the atlantic right now. has nothing to do with that tropical storm. you get inland further, you can see nashville getting covered up with rain and the heavy downpour action all the way in to kentucky, too. here's little rock, showers and thunderstorms rolling out of oklahoma city in towards the little rock area and you're going to find this to be heavy at times around tulsa and then back down into portsmouth later today. south of here, live to dallas,

dfw, going to be 93 the high. an isolated thundershower today as well. a nice start to your morning. at least it's going to be dry and it's going to be nice and calm. a little bit of video from yesterday in south georgia around the coast. brunswick, georgia. doppler radar estimates about nine inches of rain per hour falling. that's a lot. probably hail mixed in as well. you see the showers and stagnant water in these people's houses. three feet of water off the road. this was just yesterday with a slow moving thunderstorm, absolute tropical moisture. more on that in a half hour. >> you think about the mosquito problems they're going to have afterwards. >> you've got it. if you can't get any satisfaction from your credit card, you may not be alone. which credit cards are getting the thumbs up? need a lift? hey buddy, i appreciate the ride, you know.

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38 minutes past the hour. what is the biggest obstacle that you have faced or you have overcome to be self-confident? it's a topic you're going to find in my new book called "morning sunshine!" why don't you e-mail your answer. go to cnn.com/robin or send us your ireport every day from all those entries we'll pick somebody to win and we'll reveal that in the 9:00 a.m. eastern hour. that person gets a free autographed copy of the book. by the way, the book is in stands starting september 10th although i hear some stores already have it out. one grand prize winner will get a trip to atlanta so that we can meet you. you know, look around your office today or your work place and there is a good chance that you're working with more women these days. for the first time women will

soon outnumber men in the workforce. so what's going on? money expert jennifer westhoven is here. what's going on? >> what a difference when you look back to world war ii. this is very historic. sometime in the next two months women are going to become the majority of u.s. workers according to "usa today." now the trends have been building for decades as culture of change, more women started having careers, women get a lot more education these days, but the recession really did speed things up because most of the jobs that were lost in the recession, they were traditionally, i'm going to call them manly jobs. there are women in there, too, but construction, factory jobs, they really hit men disproportionately hard so now it's roughly 50/50 but women still earn less money per hour than men do. credit cards, are you happy with yours? there's a good chance you're not as happy as you used to be.

your customer satisfaction with your credit card is down and of course banks raised interest rates, fees, cut credit limits this year as they tried to work ahead of the new credit card reform bills. that upset a lot of people. topping the list, american express, discover, and national city corp, which is owned now by pnc. so we wanted to ask you, what do you think? are you satisfied with your credit card, have the changing rates and credit limits affect you? you can go to cnn.com/robin and click on the facebook link. i'm going to say from experience you have to have two to know. sometimes you'll have one and you get upset about it but then when you see the other one, oh, it wasn't that bad. >> it's like 20%? oh, all right. interest, that's not so bad. okay. here is a look at the headlines and the papers so you don't have to shuffle outside. california lawmakers are making

headway to save the health care plan that served some 700,000 underprivileged kids. the $196 million plan calls for a new tax on 0 insurance companies in addition to federal money. according to "the new york times" financial fears may be forcing more people to put off retiring and that means fewer jobs for those out there looking for work. okay. with another football season ready to start, "usa today" has a feature on why is it that some smaller schools take on big mammoth powerhouses? the reason, they get paid lots just to come play. win or lose. chris brown pled guilty to assaulting rihanna. now you'll hear his true feelings for his ex-girlfriend and their relationship for the future. ( revving, siren blares )

there's no way to hide it. sir, have you been drinking tonight? if you ride drunk, you will get caught... and you will get arrested.

an amazing rescue at sea to tell you about. earlier this morning a 34-year-old man who had fallen off his ship off the coast of florida was found alive. our affiliate wkmg says the man was treading water for more than an hour when another cruiseship spotted him and brought him

onboard. he is said to be in good condition and wants to return to his ship. singer chris brown has been ordered to stay away from his ex-girlfriend but last night on our sister network cnn he told larry king he still has feelings for rihanna. >> larry: when was the last time you had contact with her? >> it's been a couple of months. i think that's when the actual stay away order was in effect. from then we haven't had contact at all. >> larry: do you love her? >> definitely. >> larry: in love with her? >> definitely. >> larry: would you spend a lifetime with her? >> would i spend a lifetime? well, i'm young. >> larry: could you conceive of that down the road? >> yes. >> well, brown pled guilty. he was sentenced to five years' probation. brown says that he will always be friends with her. bank of america has apologized to a florida man who said that he wasn't allowed to cash his wife's check because he had no thumbs. the man was born without arms

and he said that a branch manager told him without a thumbprint he'd have to bring his wife in or open his own he account. he says that they would not accept his other ids. >> i took the check on the id, turned around and walked out. as i was walking out, i said -- i stopped and i turned and looked at her and i said, you do realize that this isn't the end of this. i just can't let this go. and she goes, whatever. >> well, a bank of america spokeswoman says the policy protects against fraud and that they've made it clear to all their employees that the man's id should have been enough because of the circumstances. a quarter to the hour. i know a lot of you are watching us from the airport terminal. we always are thinking of you. hi, bob. the last official weekend of summer and we're starting off right now. so far so good air travel wise. i don't see any major delays breaking out but we will get a couple popping up, mainly orlando looking at the thunderstorms this afternoon and

then calling the thunderstorms through tampa as well. a 30-minute to one-hour delay there and then the same old thing around denver. it's going to be the smoky haze that pops up there and then you get to los angeles. more smoke delays there as well and it's going to heat up for son california about 100 degrees north of l.a. today. we'll have that in a couple of minutes, robin. >> okay. so the celebs were out at one of the biggest tennis tournaments of the year. here is rafer with more on the u.s. open. the u.s. open which is really one of our country's premiere sporting events, the last of the grand slam circuit. it's in new york and the stars always kind of come out for this particular event. now stars on the court, serena williams, one of tennis' biggest stars. serena is dating a rapper, right there, in the stands. right next to him is one of your favorite guys, jeremy. >> oh, jeremy.

>> the announcers never mentioned jeremy. they're talking about comet. not a fan of the entourage. serena got past her opponent in 53 minutes and her sister advanced as did five-time champ federer and his nemesis nadal. later we'll have pictures of his outfit. now the coaches come on the field, meet and shake hands. the coaches association and ncaa are only encouraging this. we've seen what happens when players sometimes meet in the middle before the game and some coaches say they're worried that fights are going to break out and we're taking your thoughts on this. what do you think? well, sherry from north carolina texted us in, that is so ridiculous. what's next? will they want them to bake cookies together? thank you, sherry. and kelly posted on facebook, handshake in football sounds like little league. may they can go out for ice

cream after the game, too. >> wow. we don't have anybody siding with the request. >> if you agree with it, please send us your comments. we'll get it on the air. >> if you don't, please send a comment. >> that's my point. now what a great story this is. 14-year-old lilly ellis hit a hole in one. an even bigger deal since the team from the buffalo area has only one arm. she was born that way but that has not stopped her from playing. it's difficult to get her technique down but she hit a hole in one, folks. "sports illustrated" plans to do a feature on her in their next issue. that's a look at sports. >> she's very inspirational. obviously it's a little early for halloween. we wanted to show you a crazy costume. wow. like a transformer. this is one of the most popular videos out there right now. this is today's video. we dug it up for you on break.com. all right, the u.s. open is

under way, as you said, in new york this week. and form er champion andy roddik is looking to win again. gave u tournament life on this week's road warriors. >> game, set, match on this week's road warriors. >> i'm andy roddick. welcome to the road. i was on the road about nine months a year in my line of work, you will miss a lot. i like to know what's going on with my friends what they're doing, even if they went out and have a fun night. everything changes. you try to have your own routine for each place. every city i go to, i have a different rotation of restaurants that you're comfortable with. coffee is not optional. have to have coffee at some point. we have a fun system on the road. do something stupid, you get fined. at the end of the year we put that towards having a night out or going out with friends.

>> the one where i was groggy this morning, tried to turn on the tv with the car keys? i'm andy roddick. thanks for following me around on the road today. i'll see you on the next stop. >> i like the fines idea. a runaway teen is afraid shale be killed if she goes home. today a judge will begin weighing whether she has to go home. ffúm ú  úúú?ú?xúú0

good morning to you. how are you? it's thursday, i know a lot of you are prepping for a long holiday weekend. let's get you through the workday first. i'm robin meade. she is charged with helping kidnap jaycee dugard, now nancy garrido may be close to turning on her husband what her attorney says about her possible defense. for the first time ever, women are about to take the number one spot in the work force. is it because of the recession or something else? and a man is in jail for slapping a fussy 2-year-old inside a walmart. the thing is it wasn't even his kid.

first, while hundreds of firefighters are waging a nonstop battle at a wildfire in the l.a. foothills, a snowfall group of fire investigators is sifting through the ashes. they think they discovered where it started but say they're not sure how it started. we also learned the forest service had a control burn planned for the area to prevent the fires, but had not gotten it done yet. >> all conditions must be met before we can engage in that particular burn. what is -- the pattern we're having the last several years on the angeles, yes, we secure the permits, but if we never reach all of the conditions that are right for that burn so that we can do what we call keep the burn in prescription we do not execute that burn. >> the station fire is now the largest in l.a. county history. it has burned over 140,000 acres. crews have it 28% contained.

10,000 homes were evacuated but most people have been allowed to go back to check out the damage. 64 homes have been destroy. we have not heard much about the wife of the man accused of holding jaycee dugard captive for nearly two decades. now there is word that nancy garrido may be flipping on her husband of 28 years. they both pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and rape. family members say nancy garrido was a robot around her husband and that may be part of her defense. >> if you're asking me to formulate for you a defense strategy, i guess my position would be she was a victim. she went placidly along and later on i'm told that when the officers asked if they could search her home, whatever phillip wants. if phillip says it's okay, it's okay. >> meanwhile nancy dugard's former neighbors want to celebrate the fact she's alive they are planning a pink ribbon parade in south lake tahoe this

weekend. everybody is asked to wear pink because that was jaycee's favorite color around the time she was kidnapped 18 years ago. michael jackson's family and friends will hold a funeral for him tonight. it will be at the forever rest lawn memorial park in glendale, california. gladys knight is expected to perform. the site is said to be lavishly decorated. the l.a. county coroner says jackson's death was a homicide. what a story. an amazing rescue at sea. earlier in the day a 39-year-old man who had fallen off of his cruise ship 28 miles off the coast of florida was found alive. the coast guard said he was treading water for more than an hour when another cruise ship spotted him. he is said to be in good condition. our affiliate wkmg says he wants to return now to his own ship. no no

. before he died senator ted kennedy got candid about the accident that changed his life. in "true compass" kennedy said he made terrible decisions when he drove off a bridge in chappaquiddick. >> two u.s. soldiers were killed and five others wounded when their vehicle rolled over in northern iraq. the military has not released the names of the soldiers and other details about yesterday's crash. when we get more information we'll send it to you. despite signs that the economy is turning around, we are not feeling it in our gut. a cnn opinion research poll finds nearly 9 in 10 americans say the country is still in a recession. let's go to jennifer westhoven. people are still worried. >> this makes sense. it may seem like, what? you have the federal reserve saying there are signs pointing to recovery, but regular americans saying we're not

seeing that. but it makes sense because really the number one way that all of us participate in the economy is through our jobs. the job market traditionally takes longer to heal. plus we know the housing market has not recovered in a meaningful way yet. for people that's their biggest asset. in the latest poll, most americans, 75%, when you add it up, say that we're still in a serious or moderate recession. so a big majority. it is a little bit better than when we asked the same question in may. that polling done by our sister network, cnn. nasa could decide tonight if a large piece of space junk is a danger to "discovery" and the international space station. nasa says it is unlikely the astronauts will have to move out of the way. you have a big universe and you are going to come within two miles of me? i'll gladly move. >> i wonder if it's that tool

bag they dropped a couple days ago. remember that? >> yeah, they lost a tool bag and had do an extra space walk or two. hi, bob. >> i want to start out west. we have been talking about the california wildfires. today the conditions will be worse than yesterday. the reason why i say that is because high pressure continues to build in across the southern part of california. it will raise temperatures up to about 100 degrees near the fire, even 104 in some valley areas. look up towards the north. here's a cold front swinging through the pacific northwest. light rain around seattle. some of that cooler air will reach you as off-shore flow coming in by this weekend. temperatures will get down to the mid 80s by this weekend. light showers around phoenix. a little monsoonal moisture in the form of clouds and rain, but mainly away from l.a. today. the good news, though, let me show you what it looks like with

erika, lots of rain, but only 40-mile-per-hour storm. don't expect this to turn into a major tropical storm or hurricane over the next couple days. but it will slide over puerto rico over the weekend. lots of rain and wind with that, but not a devastating storm. let's take you down to south florida. rain showers coming in later today. let's take you live to miami. most of it off shore. here's what it looks like on the tower cam. a bit on the humid side. it's muggy. 90 the high today. right now scattered clouds, about 1200 feet, 14,000 feet scattered clouds, too. thunderstorms this afternoon. >> okay. thank you. as you know, people are getting on the roads for a long weekend. >> yeah. president obama takes his fight for health care reform to congress next week and a proposal from a republican may be the compromise he's looking t for about your care. one breakfast a week saves a family of four

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we are doing a salute to the troops. friends and family with loved ones in the military are usually the ones doing personal salutes. sometimes we get a salute for the entire military. here those are. >> hi, this is terrence howard, you keep doing what you have to. we support you. >> hello, members of the armed forces, thank you very much. wish you a safe and happy return. >> all right. thank you. if you have somebody in the service go ahead and go to cnn.com/robin and we will sep you salute them on the air. >> last night charles manson followerer susan atkins was denied parole. she was accused of stabbing sharon tate.

atkins has brain cancer and may not live much longer. her husband, who is her attorney, asked for passionate release. president obama is planning a critical speech about his plans for your health care. he will speak to a joint session of congress on wednesday. white house advisers say he will get specific about what he wants in a final bill. >> i think it's going to be clear by the time the speech is done that he sees a clear path about how we can provide stability and security to people with insurance and how we can help those who don't have insurance get the coverage they need. richard lui joins us now. is the president hoping for some bipartisanship here? >> he could be. he's reportedly in close talks with olympia snow about a compromise right now. first, requiring individuals to buy insurance in the compromise,

tax credits to help do you that. and a government-run exchange where insurance companies would compete. she believes those ideas would drop prices, increase coverage to 95% of people. but if that doesn't happen by a certain date, that's when a public option would kick in on a state by state basis. >> there any indication that senator snowe's plan will get more republican support? >> along with snowe she could bring along her fellow gop senator from maine. but public support for health care reform is slipping. some democrats have a hard time supporting a plan that includes a public insurance option, though 6 in 10 younger adults support it in the study. 6 in 10 senior citizens oppose it because seniors are more likely to vote, democrats who are up for re-election could see risk in this. for more information on your health care reform and how it could effect you and your family go to cnn.com/robin.

a teenager is being called a hero after he tackled a classmate who brought a loaded gun on a bus. mississippi police say a 14-year-old girl came on the bus and waved around a gun because she was tired of being picked on. so a football player stepped into action. >> shows her standing up, putting the magazine in the bottom of the gun, turning around and saying she would kill this one, kill that one it could have been very terrible. he tackled her and took the gun away from her and saved no telling how many lives as a result. >> the girl is being held at a youth detention center. two people who were supposed to be protecting the public say we blew is over bernie madoff. jennifer westhoven is here. you don't say! of course they blew it. amazing. >> i could have caught him with

the tips they had. it was one phone call. you could have done it. all right. let's put that aside. >> let me at him. >> madoff was -- he said he was astonished that he was not shut down. sec agents come over, pay him a visit, ask him questions, basically they are right there. they are one phone call away from uncovering everything. he basically said he knew it was all over, but nothing happened. next day he comes in. nobody calls. that was in may of 2006. you can imagine how many people might not have been cheated if he had been caught? this is all in a report that says, wow, we totally blew it. they never made that one phone call. they took madoff's word for it, even when he was giving answers that didn't make sense. the report found the sec missed several tips dating back to 1992 that something was wrong. there were also two published

reports by respected sources like a newspaper saying something is going on here. madoff is now serving a 150-year prison sentence. this is one of those rare instances where republicans and democrats agree. they say this was colossal blunder. the sec will probably not catch them all, but how do you get out of this level of incompetence? let's get you some good news. you will have more government jobs to apply for in the next few years. that's good news in a bad economy if you are somebody job hunting. the federal government will need to hire more than 270,000 workers. this is not necessarily government expansion. a lot of this is because of refired workers -- i'm sorry there are workers who will be retiring. this is all according to a new government survey in the "washington post" and as you may guess, the major fields where the jobs are coming, one is

health care. i think it's -- either way we are talking about more than 250,000 jobs all totaled, and also homeland security. a lot of jobs needed at the v.a., almost 50,000 of them. >> we didn't get to the hot stocks. >> a lot going on with the bernie madoff thing. you blew it. you blew it. you feel like de niro in "cop land." long labor day weekend setting up. here's where i zeroed in. florida, frontal boundary stalled out. showers and thunderstorms developing later today. so far nothing, that's good. watch for delays to pop up there. orlando, tampa, more storms. nashville, thunderstorms overhead now. short delays out of that. the haze due to smoke in denver and los angeles. seattle this morning, showers popping in. 30 minutes to an hour delay. >> what do you do when you're at a store and there's a fussy baby

crying and crying? not this. one man at a walmart took matters into his own hands.

you know what? you are less likely to have your stuff stolen last year despite tough times. that's from the justice

department. thefts dropped 8.6% in 2008 and auto thefts were down almost 20%. but the justice department says there's been no change in the number of violent crimes and more than half were never reported to police. a man is accused of slapping a stranger's 2-year-old in the face several times to try to get her to stop crying. okay. police say it happened at a walmart near atlanta on monday. the man allegedly told the mother if you don't shut that baby up, i'll shut her up for you. shoppers are appalled. >> that's horrible. that is absolutely deplorable. i think he needed to be arrested. >> i think that's ridiculous. if anybody touched my kid, i'd probably smack them. i don't know. it's insane. >> the 61-year-old man is being held without bond. can you believe that? college football teams -- can you believe this -- are asked to be more polite to each other this season.

here's rafer. could two rival teams say ohio state and michigan f they were to made to shake hands before the game would it end in a brawl? >> it has. it has ended in a brawl when they weren't asked to shake hands. that's why some coaches are saying, look, guys will fight when others are saying, hey, we're big boys, we can handle this. the coaches association and the ncaa want teams this year to do team-wide handshakes in the middle of the field. right now only captains and coaches shake hands. this is sometimes what happens. michigan/ohio state, sometimes these guys have fights. right now they're only asked to do this. it will be interesting to see how many do. we're asking you what do you think about this proposal? emily posted on facebook, i think the players should be on the field sideline force the national anthem then handshaking, if ness, it would

only help teach civility. >> a and shake? i don't think so. >> one of football's controversial figures has had another door shut in his face. adam pacman jones will not play for the canadian football league. two days ago they said they reached an agreement with jones and then changed their mind. they said it's unfortunate the negotiations became public. an all-female caddie service has been banned by some golf courses in england. eye candy caddies has been accused of being inappropriate by four british courses. the women have been trained in appropriate etiquette, wear appropriate attire. 18 holes of undivided attention. >> a judge gives a new meaning to the term gag order.

>> just stand right here. listen to me i want duct tape. >> duct tape? dddddddddd

senator ted kennedy said that he lived with the guilt ever since his deadly car crash at chappaquiddick 40 years ago. it's from a memoir that he wrote before he died. kennedy also said that he believed the final report on jfk's assassination despite all the conspiracy theorys. legal experts watching the case of nancy garrido say her lawyers may try to portray her as another victim of her husband, phillip garrido. he is accused of raping and kidnapping jaycee dugard who was found last week, 18 years after she disappeared. more than two months after his death, michael jackson will be laid to rest this evening.

it will be an intimate ceremony with close friends and family at forest lawn cemetery. security will be tight and the media will not be allowed inside. jackson's state will be paying for the service. all right. 30 minutes past the hour. hello there. i'm robin meade. good morning, sunshine. the roles are changing for some popular airspace. the faa wants to make flying over the hudson river in new york much safer. the big change will be dividing the airspace into two lanes separating the airplanes from the helicopters and seaplanes. the announcement comes less than a month after nine people died when a small plane and a helicopter collided. president obama is not wasting time to get back to work on the health care reform. he will make his pitch to a joint session of congress wednesday, one day after they get back to washington. let's bring in richard lui what

are the biggest obstacles? it's got to be cost. >> for medicare, the president says there are some costs that can be cut here. the health department's inspector general points to power wheelchairs as an example. it found medicare pays about $4,000 to lease one. suppliers buy them for only $1,000. the report says competitive bidding could save the government about $1,000 on each of those wheelchairs. the medical equipment industry saying competitive bidding would drive up medicare costs by requiring more hospital stays. >> staying on cutting costs, the president has also said investing in preventive care that could save the government a whole lot of money. how does that look? >> a different study looked at that question that you're asking, using people with diabetes as a control group. it found that preventive care for diabetics would cost the government an extra $1,000 per person a year. that money would be largely

recovered after 25 years. but that's further down the road through lower spending on dialysis, kidney transplants and other treatments. since it takes so long to make up that difference, the preventive care would add to overall health spending for all, except the youngest patients. you can find more fact checks on the health care debate at cnn.com/robin. >> is very easy to be confused or mislead. there's a lot of talk. richard, thank. a former major leaguer says he is considering running for ted kennedy's vacant senate seat. here is rafer with more on that. >> here are the larger implications. as you know, for almost 50 years a democrat has held that seat in kennedy if this man runs, i believe that could change. we are talking about former red sox pitcher curt schilling. the man is a hero in boston. he blogged that he has some interest that in running for

kennedy's seat. he became an legend after he won the important yankee playoff game where his sock was covered in blood from a hurt ankle. shilling is a registered independent but campaigned for george bush in 2004 and senator mccain last year. robin? >> thank you. 34 minutes past the hour. so, let's get you through the workday and through the weather now. i know a lot of you want to make sure will you have summer-like temperatures for the weekend. the final weekend of summer. you know, on the calendar. >> laker day is later this year. >> it is. >> a couple days cooler we'll call it, too. we still do have the tropical activity going on now. this weather brought to you by zyrtec. let me show you the tropics. we have been following erika. it still continues to sit over the leeward islands. tropical storm warning for them. 40 miles per hour sustained winds. a weak tropical storm.

a lot of rain potentially out there. that will go over puerto rico over the weekend. not strengthening much at all. good news here. it is getting buzzed down in the mid to upper levels of the atmosphere by a jet stream overhead. really doesn't have a chance to grow. great news. look at the rain off the coast of carolina into parts of florida later today. zooming into the area with the heaviest downpour, it's around bowling green, kentucky, louisville. most of the rain stretching down towards nashville. heavy downpours for the morning. if you are traveling around nashville, it's raining hard. a bit of light rain around atlanta. live to atl with the tower cam. morning clouds. you can see what it looks like there. we also need to get a squeegee man up there. we have seen this spider web for about two days. >> gross. >> other than that, should be dry for the afternoon. showers in the morning. back to the map, show you the other heavy downpour action,

across eastern oklahoma towards missouri, getting in towards basically parts of arkansas, too. light showers on the border with missouri. stretching in towards tulsa. look at the heavy rain over you. all right. speaking of heavy rain, video coming in from yesterday in coastal georgia. this is brunswick. a lot of rain falling in one period of time. a short period of time as a slow-moving thunderstorm went through. as much as nine inches of rain per hour reported by doppler radar. that seems high to me, but you can see three feet of standing water around the roads, creeping into homes. tough day yesterday, slow-moving tropical-type thunderstorm. more on that in a bit. >> okay. thanks. women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the work force. wait until you hear about the historic reversal and how the recession played a part. [ woman ] dear cat. gentle cat. your hair mixes with pollen and dust in the air.

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♪ >> a little music to wake you up. here are the stories already that our newsroom is working on. at 10:00 a.m. eastern, vice president joe biden gives a speech. is he promoting the administration success in getting the economy heading in the right direction. well from his point of view. later today, opening statements in the trial of a former high school football coach in louisville, kentucky. he's charged in the death of a player who collapsed in practice. friends and family said a final farewell to dj am. he was laid to rest yesterday in

a private service. his reality tv show about drug abuse was scheduled to debut on mtv in october. when you go to work today, look around. there's a good chance you are seeing more women in the workplace than before. for the first time women will soon outnumber men at work. jennifer westhoven is here. she will tell you what's behind that shift. >> and what a shift. especially if you think about madmen for a second when it's all men in the offices and all women at the secretary desk. women will become the majority of u.s. workers according to "usa today." it's been trending that way for a long time as more and more women have joined the work force, but this recession sped things up because most of the jobs lost in this recession have been in fields like construction, in factories. that really hit men disproportionately harder than many other groups. even though it's roughly 50/50 now in terms of women and men,

women are still earning less money an hour than men do. >> how do you like your credit card? okay. no? >> i like it to work and for the rates to be cheaper. >> more americans are disappointed in credit cards. their satisfaction is down and the big reason? the higher fees and the jacked up interest rates that a lot of companies squeaked in under the wire before the new rules hit. american express did the best in customer satisfaction. but here's what you guys are saying about it. eric wrote in credit cards should be heavily regulated. we had a death in the family, traveled out of the country, missed one payment and our interest rate went up 150%. his interest rate more than doubled because of that one payment. you have to be so careful these days to make sure you get your payments in on time. post your views on our facebook page, maybe somebody will write in and say they're happy with their credit card.

i didn't see it yet. >> haven't had it yet. we're open to all views. even the unusual, right? what is the biggest obstacle that you faced or you overcome on your road to self confidence? it's a topic that you will find in my new book called "morning sunshine cologne how to radiate confidence and feel it, too." i happen to have a copy here go. to cnn.com/robin, click on the e-mail link inside the contest box. every day from these submissionses we will pick a winner and announce it in the 9:00 a.m. hour. that person gets a free autographed copy of this book. by the way t hits newsstands officially on september 10th. i already heard from some people they've seen it in the book store. one grand prize winner will get a trip to atlanta so we can meet you. no thumb print no service? what's up. a man born without arms says he wasn't allowed to cash a check. now he's getting a big apology from a major bank. $

the controversy over the

release of the man who bombed pan am flight 103 is reaching a new boiling point. scottish lawmakers have condemned the justice official who decided to free al megrahi. gordon brown insisted megrahi was not freed to ensure an oil deal with libya. >> was no conspiracy no cover-up no double dealing, no deal in oil. no intint to instruct scottish ministers. we were clear throughout with the libyans and everyone else that this was a decision for the scottish government. >> documents out this week state a libyan minister warned officials in the uk that it would have made a bad impression if al megrahi died in prison. dank of america apologized to a florida man who said he wasn't allowed to cash his wife's thek becaucheck because thumbs. he says a branch manager told him without a thumb print he

would have to bring in his wife or open his own account. he said they would not accept his other i.d.s. >> i took the check and walked out. i stopped and looked at her and said you do realize that this isn't the end of this. i just can't let this go. she goes whatever. >> a bank of america spokeswoman said the policy protects against fraud and that they made it clear to all employees that the man's i.d.s should have been enough because of the circumstances. i know. it's a little early for halloween but check out this crazy costume. this is a costume. dude! it's like one of those transformers or something. but the thing is, to give it effect, you have to squat down in that position every five

minutes. see! i'm a car. no. watch. see, i'm a car. this is one of the most popular videos out there right now. this is today's viral video. see what i'm saying? that will get tedious. >> bob's kid also ask for that for halloween now. >> we found it for you on break.com, the video. the stars were out at one of the biggest tennis tournaments of the year. here is rafer with more on that the u.s. open. >> the u.s. open is one of america's premiere sporting events. the last of the grand slam circuit and the stars seem to come out for it. serena williams, one of tennis's biggiest stars, her boyfriend, common, was in the stands. next to him, germany piven. they did mention jeremy, but they kept going on with common. look at her giving him the eye.

she did not like that call. rafael nadal moved on in a muted outfit for him. nice yellow shirt. this guy, five-time defending champ, roger federer, i love roger, but look at him. he's dressed like a bull fighter. i'm just saying. >> is he the one who is into coordinated -- everybody is -- >> they all are now. you have to keep up with the fashion. college football teams are being asked to have every player shake hands before games when the season kicks off tonight. the coaches association and the ncaa are encouraging this right now. only captains and shake hands right now. sometimes this happens, fights will break out before games. you want to put them in the m middle before the game? doug posted this, getting college teams to shake hands before games is crazy. they're so pumped up before the game, all it's going to do is cause more fights. ray wrote michigan/ohio state polite to each other? the ncaa is joking, right.

if you are in favor of this, please comment on our facebook page. >> we will take anybody's comment. >> we are just not hearing a lot of people in favorite of it this is a great story. 14-year-old lily ellis hit a hole-in-one, amazing since the girl has only one arm. the buffalo-area teen was born that way. it has not stopped her from playing exceptionally well. "sports illustrated" plans to do a feature of her in the next issue. >> very inspirational. thank you. are you saving enough for your retirement nest egg? if you're not sure, clark howard has some tips. >> do you know the first time i retired i was 31. should i retire today? i don't know. but the thing is i have set up the finances in my life that i can ask myself that question. most of us can't. what is the key? there are actually two keys.

one, through your working lifetime you have got to live on substantially less than what you make. buying ougt your business or whatever or winning the lottery or somebody dies and you inherit. huh-hu. most people make it to a comfortable retirement by a simple thing, living life wojt too much flash, keeping the cash, and spending substantially less than what you make, at least 25% saved of every dollar you make. that's how you get to the finish line extra early. i'm clark howard. for more ideas i have about you being smart with your wallet go to cnn.com/clarkhoward. well, clark will teach you to save more, spend less and avoid getting ripped off. catch him noon eastern saturdays and sundays right here on hln.

>> he likes to say that, the first time i retired i was 31. makes you go, ugh. >> clearly my retirement plan is better than mine. mine was die early. >> there's always the lottery. hi, bob. >> let me show you what's going on. if you are traveling, we have low clouds hanging around the new york city metro area. it's not that big of deal. you can see them coming in, basically off the ocean. there's not real rain producers but just a beautiful shot. headed to new york, look at the sun coming up here. yeah,upper 70s, a gorgeous look at the upper east side. showers, thunderstorms, orlando, down to about a half-hour later this afternoon, tampa, showers and thunderstorms also. over toward the smoke areas, denver, smoke and haze this morning. then the lax area, you'll be dodging more smoke. that will be about a 30-minute delay for you. more details in just a bit. >> thank you.

the father of sarah palin's grandchild -- oh, bob you have to see this -- may be getting paid to show some skin.ra find out about levi johnston's new offer. i just don't know how wireless can help my business. tara showed me how i could keep track of my employees in the field and get more jobs done faster. i was blown away. i'm blown away./ only verizon wireless has small-business specialists in every store to help you do business better. we should get you a hat. now buy any blackberry, like the new tour, at our lowest prices ever, and get one free.

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well, good morning to you. i know a lot of you are up on a thursday. do you have a long weekend already you're starting for labor day? come on, that ace's a little early. i'm robin meade. here's what's going on. this is the largest fire in l.a. county history. now investigators say they've found something very significant in the ashes. we're getting some new insight into senator ted kennedy's personal life. what he wrote before his death about the infamous car wreck at chappaquiddick. and president obama is planning a big speech about health care reform. one looming question is if he still plans to work with the republicans on it. first, though, fire investigators think they have found the spot where the l.a. fire started last week. but they're still searching for

how that wildfire started. now, we've also learned that the forest service had a controlled burn planned for the area earlier this year, to prevent a fire like this, but hadn't gotten to it yet. new this morning, a sign that the tide appears to be turning. the thousands evacuated are allowed to go back home and check the damage. >> on one hand i'm extremely optimistic based on the progress that has been made to date, especially around the foot hill communities, the western and northern piece of the fire. in the same voice, i'm equally guarded with the potential for the fire spread towards the southeast and the east. >> well, the station fire which is what we're talking about here -- you can see it -- is now the largest in l.a. county history. it has burned over 140,000 acres. the crews do have it 28% contained. 54 homes have been destroyed, two firefighters have died, and 21 others have been hurt. there's a live look at part of

it this morning. you know, we've not heard very much about the wife of the man accused of holding jaycee dugard captive for nearly two decades. there is word that nancy garrido may turn on her husband. they both pleaed not guilty. family members say nancy garrido was a robot around her husband. that may become part of her defense. >> if you're asking me to formulate for you a defense strategy, i guess my position would be she's a victim. when he walked into the parole office she went placidly along. later on i'm told that when the officers asked they could siech her home, she said, whatever phillip wants. >> meanwhile, jaycee dugard's former neighbors want to celebrate the fact she has been found alive. they're planning a pink ribbon parade this week in lake tahoe.

president obama is planning a critical speech about his planses for your health care. he will speak to a joint session of congress on wednesday. white house advisors say that he will get specific about what he wants in a final bill. >> i think it's going to be very, very clear by the time the speech is done that he sees a clear path to how we can provide stability and security to people who have insurance and how we can help those who don't have insurance get the coverage they need. >> correspondent richard lui joins us now. morning to you. is the president still gunning for bipartisanship here? >> he could be, bases on what we're hearing. will he's reportedly in close talk with olympic area snowe on a compromise on health care. in the possible compromise, requiring most individuals to buy insurance, also offering tax credits to help you do that, plus a government-run exchange where insurance companies would compete. now, snowe believes those ideas

in the compromise would drop prices and also increase coverage to 95% across the country. but if that does it not happen by a certain date, a public option, robin, would then kick in on a state-by-state basis. >> is there any indication that senator snowe's plan could get more republican support than the proposal that's out there? >> that's the key question. along with snowe, she could bring along her fellow gop senator from maine as well. but a new poll shows that public support for health care reform slipping. some democrats may have a hard time supporting a plan that includes a public insurance option. although six in ten younger adults support that, six in ten senior citizens oppose it, robin, in that new poll. because seniors are more likely to vote, democrats who are up for reelection could see some risk right now. for more information on how health care reform could affect you, and your family, go to cnn.com/robin. we've got more resources for you right there.

robin? >> thank you so much. michael jackson's family and close friends will hold a private funeral for him tonight. it will be at the forest lawn memorial park in glendale, kalg cal. there will be a no-fly zone over that area. gladys knight is expected to perform. it's lavishly decorated. the la county coroner says the death was a hox side. a major earthquake caused a massive landslide. the quake hit indonesia yesterday. crews have been working all night to try to clear the area. a natural disaster agency says that the earthquake killed at least 44 and injured more than 400. okay. it's five minutes after the hour. so, bobby, i'm going to ask you what you have to get done today. that will be a good indication of what kind of weather a lot of us are going to have for the weekend, don't you think? >> it will have to be indoors if you live around georgia, back toward kentucky, tennessee.

rain coming in right now, showers and thunderstorms offshore from florida build back in. around atlanta, light showers coming on in. check out the showers and thunderstorm complex right overhead of nashville. it's basically been sitting here for the last two hours. this is a three-hour loop. you can see how long the heavy rain has been over the city. it stretches just to the south. flash flood warnings most likely going to get posted. we just had some outside of bowling green. that's where the heaviest rain is falling. live to louisville, the rain has just been on the outskirts of town. partly sunny skies right here, most of the rain down south. scattered thunderstorms developing for louisville later today. temperatures not bad, into the 80s. it will be a little wet especially to the south. back to the west, ft. smith arkansas, decent rain coming in here as well, stretches all the way to southern arc ak, toward texarkana. more heavy downpours around oklahoma city. toward the tulsa radar, most of the action is around that city,

dripping to the south. then toward the fayetteville area, too. stormy morning for you once again. a wave of low pressure, weak shot of energy around nebraska, iowa, light showers there. then you get out west, high pressure building into southern california, a hotter day than yesterday unfortunately, about 100 for the fire areas. if you can hold on through the weekend, more humidity comes in and temperatures lower into the mid-80s for the entire l.a. area by this weekend. potentially good news for the next couple of days. more in a bit. >> we're going to salute our troops right now. sometimes we get it not just for individuals but for everybody in the military. like this. >> hey. this is terrence howard. you keep doing what you have to. we support you. >> hello, members of the armed forces, thank you very much. wish you a safe and happy return. >> thank you. and if you have somebody in the service, go ahead and go to

cnn.com/robin. we will help you salute them. bernie madoff could have been stopped years and years ago. that's straight from a group that investigated him. how they say they admit that they blew leads that could have stopped millions of bucks from disappearing. plus -- a man winds up in court after he's accused of slaning a stranger in the face. the stranger was a crying 2-year-old baby. ing a stranger in the face. the stranger was a crying 2-year-old baby. sing a stranger in the face. the stranger was a crying 2-year-old baby. laing a stranger in the face. the stranger was a crying 2-year-old baby. ping a stranger in the face. the stranger was a crying 2-year-old baby. ping a stranger in the face. the stranger was a crying 2-year-old baby. whlook foral to sa on school supplies? walmart checks other stores' prices, and they'll match any advertised price. so instead of searching for "deals" out there... you can go back to school for less, right here. save money. live better. walmart.

before he died, senator ted kennedy got candid about the accident that killed a woman and changed his life. the "new york times" has an early copy of his memoir. in it, he reportedly said he made terrible decisions when he drove off a bridge at

chappaquiddick and didn't save the woman with him. he said he lived with guilt for decades. last night, charles manson follower susan adkins was denied parole. she w she was convicted of killing some. she has brain cancer and may not live longer. her husband, who is her attorney, asked for a compassionate release. the d.a. said as sad as adkins looks, it pales against the crime scene photos. a man is accused of slapping a stranger's 2-year-old child in the face to get it to stop crying. police say it all happened at a walmart near atlanta monday. the man allegedly told the mother, if you don't shut that baby up, i will shut her up for you. shoppers were appalled. >> that's horrible. that is absolutely deplorable. i think he needed to be arrested. >> i think that's ridiculous. if anybody touched my kid, i'd probably smack them. i don't know. i think it's insane.

>> well, the 61-year-old man is being held without bond. > >> he looks angry. >> i think our viewers are angry about that. if you want to comment about it, go to our facebook page. comment away! as a matter of fact, i'll read them next time. the people who are supposed to be protecting the public say, we blew it with bernie mad after. jennifer is here. jen, they now admit that they should have caught on careers and years ago? >> i feel like obviously we know it, but it's just galling when you hear some of the details that they really missed. even bernie madoff said he couldn't believe they didn't shut him down a couple of years ago. sec agents came over, asked him questions and basically he realized, they're on to me. it just takes one phone call and the house of cards is coming down. they didn't make the call. they could have uncovered the whole scheme. imagine billions probably would

have been saved. people wouldn't have lost that money. this was all back in may 2006. they never made that phone call. they just took madoff's word for it, even at times when he said things that weren't even really consistent. the report found the s.e.c. missed several tips, that was one, dating back to 1992, including two big reports, basically newspapers, that were saying, look, something is going on here. yet they never got it. madoff now serving a 150-year prison sentence. of course, thousands of people out of their life savings. this is 1 of the rare times when democrats and republicans agree. they are calling this a colossal blunder. of course, the congress is probably going to look at that and try to make sure that level of incompetence doesn't happen again. the federal government is going to have more than 250,000 openings in the next three years. if you're job hunting, it's hopeful to know there are going to be openings out there.

this is according to a new government survey in this morning's "washington post." it's not necessarily because the government is getting huge. what they're saying is one of the big reasons is the current workers are baby boomers and are going to be retiring. they've just got to replace people in those jobs. the fields with the most openings, health care and homeland security. they say the va needs nearly 50,000 workers and homeland security about 60,000. >> good to know where the jobs are in future at least. the father of sarah palin's grandchild may be dropping his drawers. come on! find out about an offer for levi johnston to show some skin. please, people! carol!

denise! you've lost weight! it's just all these giant things make me look small. i eat this fiber one yogurt. (mr. mehta) it has five grams of fiber, zero fat, and fifty calories. please, this is too creamy and delicious. it's true, only fifty calories., (announcer) fiber one yogurt. there's no way to hide it. sir, have you been drinking tonight? if you ride drunk, you will get caught... and you will get arrested.

nasa could decide tonight if a large piece of space junk is any threat to astronauts. the rocket debris is expected to pass within two miles of the

shuttle "discovery" and the international space station tomorrow. nasa says it will not affect the space walk and it's unlikely astronauts will have to move out of the way. a teenager is called a hero after he tackled a classmate who brought a loaded gun on a bus. mississippi police say a 14-year-old girl came on the bus and started waving around a gun because she was tired of being picked on. the football player stepped into action. >> shows her standing up, putting the magazine in the bottom of the gun, and then turning around and making her threats, saying that she would kill this one add kill that one with. it could have been just terrible. but he tackled her and took the gun away from her and saved no telling how many lives as a result. >> the girl is being held at a youth detention center. you may be seeing a whole lot more of levi johnston than you ever expected. "playgirl" is finalizing details to have the father of sarah

palin's grandson pose at least seminude. and they're even talking about a "long-term relationship." johnston posed for several pictures for "vanity fair" earlier this year. >> i didn't know "playgirl" is still around. >> apparently playgirl.com is still around but not the paper version. college football teams are being asked to be more polite to each other before the game starts this season. here's rafer with more. >> they're having mixed reactions on this. some coaches have come out and said, no. they're going to fight. >> we haven't told the audience, but they're asking them to come out, shake hands before the game. >> at the center of the field. you know what it's like before the game. when the players come out, they're all pumped up, excited. sometimes that happens. the ncaa says this year they want the team-wide hand shakes like robin said before the game. right now you just have the captains and coaches shaking hands you're talking about 80

players on a team. when they come out to the field, it can sometimes get heated. they're only asking teams to do this right now, just a suggestion. it will be interesting to see how many teams actually do. what do you think about this? crew texted us. rivalry should be a reason to ignore sportsmanship. i support shake hands before the game. this will teach young college athletes to respect everyone. meanwhile, on facebook, this viewer posted, while i do believe good spart sportsmanship is important, i think a team hand shake before games is ridiculous. that would be the same as asking ufc fighters to hug before a matc match. adam packman jones cannot shake his reputation even in another country. he was reportedly close to signing with the winnipeg blue bombers. the team apparently changed their mind. they said, "it's unfortunate negotiations became public." . they want guys to help them off

and on the field. lastly, an all-female caddie service has been banned by some golf courses in england. i give you eye candy caddies. they perform model escorts to golfers and give undivided attention for 18 holes of golf. i personally don't like to being talked to during golf. they've been accused of inappropriate behavior. they say the girls have been trained in golfette etiquette. what is the biggest obstacle that you have faced or overcome on the road to self-confidence confidence? it's a topic you're going to find in my new book called "morning sunshine how to radiate confidence and feel it too," a brand new book. e-mail your answer by going to

cnn.com/robin. or send an i-report. we wi we will pick a winner every day, announced in the 9:00 a.m. hour. that person gets a free autographed copy of the book. the book, by the way, hits bookstores starting september 10th, although i have heard from a few people they've seen it out already. one grand prize winner will get a trip to atlanta. think of it as an early bird special. southwest says you can board your flight early, but it will cost you $10. it began yesterday. that fee gets you onboard before most of the other passengers. since the airline has no assigned seating that could give you a better shot at a window or aisle seat. president barack obama will be talking to schoolkids next week. he hasn't said a word yet and some parents are already up in arms. about the president talking to their kids? ú8úúúqxxx

two u.s. soldiers were killed and five others wounded when their vehicle rolled over in northern iraq. the military is not releasing the names of the soldiers and other details about yesterday's crash. drug maker pfizer will pay more than $2 billion in fines for illegal drug promotion. prosecutors say the company promoted four drugs for uses and dosages not approved by the fda

and provided doctors with free trip, food, massages and other perks. those were the headlines for you. 30 minutes past the hour. how are you? it's thursday. you're this close to a long holiday weekend. welcome back. i'm robin meade. despite signs of the economy beginning a turnaround, we're apparently not feeling it in our guts. a new poll finds that 75% of the people believe that the united states is in a serious or moderate recession. another 12% believe that it's a mild recession. now, some positive signs. the number of people who say that the country is in a serious recession, that's dropped a little bit from 42% in may to 36% now. new this morning, an amazing rescue at sea. what a story here. earlier today a 39-year-old guy who had fallen off of his cruise ship 28 miles off the coast of florida was found alive. the coast guard says he was treading water for over an hour when another cruise ship came by

and spot him and brought him aboard. he's said to be in good condition. our affiliate wkng says now he wants to return to his own cruise ship. president obama isn't wasting any time to get back to work on health care reform. he's going to make his pitch to a joint session of congress on wednesday, one day after they get back to washington. correspondent richard lui joins us now. one of the biggest obstacles you've got going on is cost. how does the president plan to pay for the reform? >> here's the money, a trillion-dollar debate. for medicare, the president says there are costs that can be cut. the health department's inspe inspector general points to power wheelchairs as an example. it found medicare pays 4,000 bucks just to lease one of them. but suppliers buy them for only $1,000. the report says competitive bidding could save the government about $1,000 on each one of those wheelchairs. the medical equipment industry, though, saying competitive bidding would drive up medicare costs by requiring more hospital

stays. >> you know, staying on the cost issue here, the president has also said that investing in prevention here can save big-time. is that true? >> one study in today's "washington post" says no. it looked at preventive care for diabetics and found that it would cost the government an extra 1,000s per person a year. lower spending on dialysis and other treatments would help recover those costs, but listen to this, it would take 25 years to get most of that money back. so in the end the preventive care would add to overall health spending. robin, the only exception in the study are young patients. you can find more fact checks on the health care debate. we've got at cnn.com/robin. you are less likely to have your stuff stolen last year despite the tough times. that is from the justice department. according to its 2008 survey, thefts dropped 8.6%. auto thefts were down almost 20%. but the justice department says

that there has been no change in the number of violent crimes and more than half of them were never reported to police. bank of america has apologized to a florida man who says that he was not allowed to cash his wife's check because he has no thumbs. the man was born without arms and he said that a branch manage he told him, without a thumbprint he'd have to bring in his wife or open his own account. he says that they would not accept his other i.d.s. >> i took the check and the i.d., turned around and walked out. as i was walking out i stopped and turn and looked at her and said, you do realize that this isn't the end of this? i just can't let this go. she goes, whatever. >> well, bank of america spokeswoman says that the policy protects against fraud, but that they have made it clear to all their employees that the man's i.d.s should have been enough because of the circumstances. this just in. an important update about the job market. jobless claims dropped a little,

less than expected, last week. our money expert jennifer westhoven, let me try to digest that. our claims dropped a little less than expected. so they were expected to be better than they are. >> don't even worry about that. we are talking about such small amount of numbers in the big picture that what they did compared to the forecast with the revision, don't worry about it. what there is for you to take away from this report is that we're at about the same level as we've been for a few weeks now. 570,000 people filed for unemployment for the first time. so we're still in very rough shape here an we're kind of flatlining at this level. so i would call this something of a neutral report out there. robin back to you. >> now, that is the way to digest it. thank you. 35 minutes past the hour. i think everybody on the team was sitting there digesting it, going --

>> what? >> what was my -- >> what's the number? >> what they said is it dropped less than expected. >> there's like four different negatives in there. >> exactly. >> it's not bad? it's bad? it's not not not that bad? what's up, robin? >> there's reform on the reform. hi, bob. >> let me show you the southeast. jennifer behind me is still trying to explain it to me. apparently i'm not that bright. here's a stationary front going through the gulf coast area. it hooks up with more moisture coming out of the gulf of mexico. that's front. thunderstorms aligning themselves nicely. notice this wave of low pressure across northern alabama and tennessee. parking off numerous thundershowers right now. here's what it looks like around the radar, central kentucky down into nashville. let me show you the way it looks on the tower cam. t's been raining steadily around nashville for a couple of hours. you have a flood advisory for that city. here's the tower cam. a wetland. you're going to see lots of rain

the first part of the day. then it ought to dry up within the next three or four hours. the rain coming down around town has been heavy, steady. i think things will clear out for you just a touch by later this afternoon. tough morning commute. that's the end result. back to the map, heavier downpours around western arkansas out of oklahoma as well. little rock is dry, it will stretch into the city later this morning. more showers, thormgs dotting eastern oklahoma. the tulsa radar picking it up really well. it will be there for the morning and fade this afternoon. more showers around eastern nebraska, western iowa where another upper level low scattered oorn the country, these pacts of energy. out to the west, a clear cold front driving through oregon, coming out of washington state. the only problem with that is it draws more heat up from the south before it passes. today it will be a hotter one for you, los angeles looking for a high of 100 especially around the valleys by the fire. so another couple of days with hot temperatures in california. then you'll see the wind shift out to the southwest, a more

coastal type of flow. that will bring in more humidity. right now no clouds at all. you want to see the humidity rise. it will by the weekend. mid-80sed high in southern california for saturday and sunday more humidity, too. potential good news once we get past the hot, dry conditions today and tomorrow. let me show you video coming out of brunswick, joj georggeorgia, thunderstorms moving through this state, heavy downpours flooded out houses here, some parts about three feet of standing water on the road. should begin to dry out for you today. i don't see any huge thunderstorms down that way. they should be down in florida instead. more on that in a bit. >> all the mosquito problems we're going to have after it dries out. >> feeling terrible for the people. when it comes to boston heroes, he is right up there with paul revere and aary row s. now curt shilling may be lookinl to take a new place in to take a new place in massachusetts history.th and they'll match any advertised price.

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you know, here is a look at some of the headlines in the newspapers so you don't have to go out there in the robe and get it on the doorstep. "the l.a. times" reports that california lawmakers are making headway to save a health care plan that serves about 700,000 underprivileged kids. the $196 million plan calls for a new tax on insurance companies. in addition, the federal money. according to the "new york times," financial fears may be forcing more people to put off retirement and that means fewer jobs out there for those looking for work. and with another season of football ready to start, "usa today" has a feature on why is it some smaller colleges take on the bigger college powerhouses? the reason?

they get paid lots just to come and play. for the most part, they blow them to smitherens on the field. a former major league star -- am am i right about that, rafer? >> yeah. the smaller schools do make money. a former major league star says he's considering running for the senate seat ted kennedy held for 47 years. rafer, there's a lot of name recognition. you can say that. >> that's right. in a state that has a strong democratic tradition, this man could have enough star power to upset that balance. we're talking about former red sox pitcher curt schilling. he says he has some interest and told a new england tv station he's already been in contact with some consultants about running. he's a registered independent, but he campaigned for george bush in 2004 and senator mccain last year. to call this guy a hero in boston would be an understatement. won two world series rings there and became legend after he won

the infamous playoff game with the yankees with blood seeping through his sock from an injury. i can see the campaign poster right now. that sock, by the way, is in the baseball hall of fame. en robin? >> thank you. you know you're good when your sock is in the baseball hall of fame. look around the office today. there's a good chance that you're working with females these days. for the first time, women will soon outnumber men in the work force. jennifer westhoven is here with us. she talks about why we saw this in the recession. hi. >> yes. historic shift sometime in the next two months, women will become the majority of u.s. workers. that's according to "usa today." now, it's been trending in that direction for deck aitds as more women join the work force, but this recession really sped things up because this recession most of the jobs that were lost were in fields like construction and factory work, which tend to have a lot more men in them. so the job losseses really hit

men disproportionately hard. so even though right now we're at about 50/50, just a reminder, women still make less per hour than men do in general. the topic this morning -- are you happy with your credit card? well, the survey found likely not. let me tell you your comments, not one person said anything good about the credit card companies. america is more disappoint nd their credit cards this year according to a survey. the big reason is a lot of people got notices in the mail saying, we're raising your fees, we're raising your interest rates. they were kind of getting things in under the wire before some of the new credit card reform bills took effect. american express did the best in customer satisfaction. here is a little taste of what you guys are writing about your with credit card companies on our facebook page. donna says, it's a slap in the face when your limit gets dropped even though you have an xmrent rating and you're not delinquent. it's like a bad breakup when somebody says, really, it's not

you. it's me. she says, hogwash. i do take it personally. tell us what you personally think. put your views on our facebook page. we'll put you up on the show. thank you. a runaway teen is afraid she'll be killed if she goes back home. today judge will begin deciding if she has to return to her family. we look at why she ran. smoo bñp

you know, an ohio teenager is afraid that she'll be killed for leaving the islamic faith. a 17-year-old ran away from home after converting to christianity. she will face a judge today. the judge will decide whether she'll have to return home or stay in florida. that's where she's been living with a foster family after meeting an orlando pastor through an online prayer group. the stars were out in force for one of the biggest tournaments of the year. the u.s. open, stars on the court, stars in the seats. >> good morning. and they saw one of tennis' biggest stars give one of her

best performance and get a little attitude. she got a little attitude. but that's okay because can. she's the first lady of tennis. serena williams. she goes back between being first and second with her sister. there is her boyfriend in the stands. next to him, entourage star jeremy piven. common was getting more love from the announcers than jeremy. i think jeremy is a bigger star. here's serena. she gets called for a fault. look at the look she gives to the umpire. and just holds it for quite some time. she won the match in less than on hour. then other stars, nadal and his stylish yellow shirt. that's muted for him. five-time defending champ, roger federer, love this guy, but dressed like a bull fighter. i guess if you're that good you can wear whatever you want. college football teams are being asked to have every player from both teams shake hands before the games.

the ncaa and coach's association are only encouraging this, but some of them are concerned because this sometimes happens before the games where they have a couple of fights. right now only captains and coaches are shaking hands. we're taking your thoughts on this. what do you think about it? let's go to that. jacf texted, shaking hands before games is a good idea but not practical. from high school down, yes. once that is the norm, adopt it to college football. meanwhile, karen wrote on fies back, i don't think it is outrageous to expect sportsmanship if they're going to start a fight because they can't contain themselves for a few minutes to shake hands and show sportsmanship, they don't need to be playing the game. what an inspiration this girl is. 14-year-old lily ellis hit a hole in one recently, amazing considering the girl has only one armament the buffalo-area teen was born this way. it has not stopped her from

playing. she says sometimes it's difficult to get her technique down, but absolutely amazing. sports illustrated plans to do a feature on her next issue. >> that is huge. good for her. thanks. are you saving enough for your retirement nest egg? if you are not, your hln money expert clark howard has easy tips. >> do you know the first time i retired i was 31? should i retire today? i don't know. the thing is i have set up the finances in my life that i can ask myself that question. most of us can't. what's the key? there are actually two keys. one, through your working lifetime, you have got to live on substantially less than what you make. everybody thinks the big payday is going to come from somebody coming and buying out your business or whatever or winning the lottery or somebody dies and you inherit. uh-huh. most people make it to a

comfortable retirement by a simple thing -- living life without too much flash, keeping the cash, and spending substantially less than what you make at least 25% saved of every dollar you make. that's how you get to the finish line extra early. i'm clark howard. for more ideas i have about you being smart with your wallet go to cnn.com/clark howard. >> clark will teach you to save more, spend less, and avoid getting ripped off. catch him at noon eastern on the weekends here on hln. what is the biggest obstacle you have faced or have overcome on your road to self-confidence? it's a topic you'll find in my new book called "morning sunshine, how to radiate confidence and feel it, too." why don't you e-mail your answer and we've got a great participation for this. go to cnn.com/robin. click on the little e-mail link inside the contest box or if you want to i-report that's fine, too. now, every day from this submission we pick a winner and announce it in the 9:00 a.m.

hour. that person gets a free, autographed copy of the book. it hits stands starting next week, september 10th. the grand prize winner is going to get a trip to atlanta so we can meet you. good luck. ♪ the $9 first hello. walmart announces starter and danskin now shoes for just nine dollars. back to school costs less at walmart. save money. live better. walmart. why is dick butkus here? i hired him to speak. a lot of fortune 500 companies use him. but-- i'm your only employee. we're gonna start using fedex to ship globally-, that means billions of potential customers. we're gonna be huge. good morning! l... you know business is a lot like footb i just don't understand...

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okay. everybody awake? you ready to go? 9:00 eastern of course. i'm robin meade. "morning sunshine" let's jump right into our stories starting with some of the folks just waking up, the west coasters. somehow, look at these live pictures. despite the 140,000 acres that are burned, fire investigators think that they have found the one tree where they think these l.a. wildfires started. now, here's a look at how the fires look from above this morning. you know, i still think it's looking pretty bad, only like 28% contained. they still have a long way to go. but all evacuees have been allowed home to check the damage. we've also learned this might be -- might have been avoidable. the forest service had a

controlled burn planned for the area earlier this year. that would be to prevent a fire like this. they hadn't gotten to it. >> all conditions must be met before we can engage in that particular burn. and what is happening -- the pattern we're having the last several years on the angeles, yes, we do secure the permits, but if we never reach all of the conditions that are right for that burn so we can do what we call keep the burn in prescription, then we do not execute that burn. >> so they've done some of it but weren't able to complete it. fire crews and officials are upbeat now about gaining ground. they're telling cnn that it's now at least 28% contained. they're still very worried about parts of the fire because it's threatening several new neighborhoods in the pasadena area. an amazing rescue at sea. what a story here. earlier today a 39-year-old man who had fallen off his cruise ship 28 miles off the coast of

florida was found alive. the coast guard says that he was treading water for more than an hour when another cruise ship spotted him and brought him onboard. he is said to be in good condition and our affiliate wkmg says he now wants to return to his cruise ship. in the last half hour an update about the job market and our money expert has details about what she's calling kind of a neutral reading here. good morning. >> good morning. thanks, robin. i say neutral because the job market is still awful. it's a really hard time to try and find a job. but it is about the same as last week. 570,000 americans lined up for the first time to get jobless benefits or called or registered with their local unemployment office. so it tells you there's still a good amount of job destruction going on. companies cutting costs. the good news is we're kind of flatlining here. this is about the same we've seen in the past few weeks so it is somewhat neutral, not getting any better, but not getting any

worse. traditionally, though, it does take the job market a lot longer to heal than many other parts of the economy. i want you to know that that's why you may hear me or lots of other news reports saying, oh, here are signs of recovery and you may be thinking i don't see anything like this but it is because traditionally jobs take a lot longer. robin? >> the lagging indicator. all right. thank you. we've not heard much about the wife of a man accused of holding jaycee dugard captive for nearly two decades but now there is word that nancy garrido may be flipping on her husband of 28 years. they both pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and rape. family members say nancy garrido was a robot around her husband. now, that may become part of her defense. >> if you're asking me to formulate for you a defense strategy, i guess my position would be she's a victim. when he walked into the parole office she went placidly along and later on i'm told that when the officers asked if they could

search her home she said whatever phillip wants. if phillip says it's okay, it's okay. >> meanwhile jaycee dugard's former neighbors want to celebrate the fact she's been found alive and are planning a pink ribbon parade in south lake tahoe this weekend. everyone is asked to wear pink because that was jaycee's favorite color around the time she was kidnapped 18 years ago. nasa could decide tonight if a large piece of space junk is any threat to astronauts. the rocket debris is expected to pass within two miles of the shuttle discovery and the international space station tomorrow. nasa says it won't affect tonight's planned spacewalk and it's unlikely that astronauts will have to move out of the way. you got the whole universe and you're coming within two miles of me? i'd be moving. a man is accused of slapping a stranger's 2-year-old in the face to get it to stop crying. now, police say this happened at a walmart near atlanta on monday. the man allegedly told the mother, if you don't shut that baby up, i'll shut her up for

you. shoppers are appalled. >> that's horrible. that is absolutely deplorable. i think he needed to be arrested. >> i think that's ridiculous. if anybody touched my kid i'd probably smack him. i don't know. i think it's insane. >> well, the 61-year-old man is held without bond. boy, have you the viewer a lot to say about that today on our facebook page. cheryl said if parents can't control their kids slap the parents not the child. janet says, i don't know how many times i wanted to slap someone's crying baby. not everybody wants to hear the dulcet tones of your offspring. shut it up. janice writes, if a stranger hit my child for any reason he would need an ambulance. john says my thoughts about the baby slapper might be illegal in most countries so i'll refrain. one shouldn't even slap one's own child. all right. go to our facebook page. there are a lot of comments about a lot of stories there and we welcome yours. michael jackson's family and close friends will hold a private funeral for him tonight.

it'll be at forest lawn memorial park in glendale, california. there's going to be a no-fly zone over the area, even. gladys knight is expected to perform. the site is said to be lavishly decorated. the l.a. county coroner said jackson's death was a homicide. honolulu is taking up a bill that would make body odor illegal on its city buses. one councilman says people visit the city from all over the world and that some of them frankly don't bathe every day. under a bill, a person could be fined $500 or spend six months in jail. groups like the aclu say the bill could be discrimination against others. six mints past the hour. >> come on. >> step aside. >> either throw on the ban or you don't. it has nothing to do with what race your. you either put on deoderant or you don't. you don't you get a $50 fine.

>> the argument might be your culture -- that it's not offensive in your culture. >> fair enough. we're in hawaii which is an american state, so -- remember that. >> i'm just saying. good morning, robin. let's show you what's happening. sticking with the west coast, high pressure dominating around the four corners again. i want you to look at the clouds out of washington state down through oregon. that's good news. it's a cold front and is going to channel in cooler temperatures out of the southwest by this weekend. but before that happens, winds will be out of the south and southeast today. it's going to be a drier day, unfortunately, for you, for southern california. also it's going to be a little bit on the hot side. it's going to be hotter than the last couple days around california, talking about 100 near l.a. so get the heat back in at least today through tomorrow. the scattered rain showers though right around southern arizona back into new mexico. you have that for the morning but that's where the monsoonal moisture is going to stay. it won't make much headway to the west around california. these low level clouds are all going to be hanging toward

nevada and in toward arizona so right now you're clear in los angeles, just a haze from the smoke. that's what you'll have for most of the day, unfortunately, until this rain begins to move away from washington state and allows cooler air to come in down to the south. as for tropical storm erika it's located around the leeward islands and is an extremely disorganized storm. that's great news. has not strengthened in the last 24 hours. in fact, it doesn't even look like a tropical storm at this point. but the path still takes it toward the u.s. and british virgin islands over the weekend. puerto rico as well. could see a tropical low move overhead meaning just a lot of heavy rain and gusty winds but definitely not a hurricane at this point. some good news there. it doesn't appear it will strengthen at all once it moves in toward the bahamas, too, so great news right here. rain showers, thunderstorms. we have them around the frontal boundary. light showers movingp ahead ov atlanta and heavier rain by nashville. but let me show you a time lapse out of atlanta from the tower cam. an hour and a half ago, peeks of sunshine but down to the south and off to the west, the clouds

have thickened. you're getting light rain for the morning commute around the perimeter. midtown looks pretty good right now. i think you'll see temperatures in the 80s today in atlanta. haven't seen that in about a week. more details coming up in about a half hour, robin. >> thanks. well, some hopeful lawmakers have some big shoes to fill in massachusetts. now a former major leaguer says he might run for the seat that ted kennedy used to have. to silence headaches... doctors recommend tylenol... more than any other brand... of pain reliever.

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♪ the place that inspires her to go faster... ♪ and slower. ♪ elk mountains, colorado. where's yours? 100% natural nature valley granola bars. the taste nature intended. president obama is planning a critical speech about his plans for your health care. he will speak to a joint session of congress on wednesday. white house advisors say he will get specific about what he wants in a final bill. >> i think it's going to be very, very clear by the time the speech is done that he sees a clear path to how we can provide stability and security to people who have insurance and how we can help those who don't have insurance get the coverage they

need. >> is the president still gunning for bipartisanship here? >> reporter: yeah, he could be, robin. what we're hearing, he is reportedly in close talks with gop senator olympia snowe about a compromise when it comes to health care. "the wall street journal" outlined what's in this possible compromise. first requiring most individuals to buy insurance. also, offering tax credits to help you do that. plus, a government run exchange where insurance companies would compete. snowe believes those ideas in the compromise would drop prices and also increase coverage to 95% across the country but if that does not happen by a certain date, a public option, robin, would then kick in on a state by state basis. >> is there any indication senator snowe's plan could get more republican support than the proposals already out there? >> that's the key question, robin. along with snowe she could bring along her fellow gop senator from maine, as well. but a new poll shows that public support for health care reform

is slipping. so some democrats may have a hard time supporting a plan that includes a public insurance option. although 6 in 10 younger adults support that, 6 in 10 senior citizens oppose it, robin, in that new poll and because seniors are more likely to vote, as you know, democrats who are up for re-election could see some risk in this right now. so for more information on how health care reform could affect you and your family, go to cnn.com/robin for more resources. it is time for our military salute. friends and families with loved ones in the military usually send personal salutes to us but sometimes we get some not for individuals but for everybody in the military, like these. >> you keep doing what you have to and we support you. >> hello. members of the armed forces, thank you very much. wish you a safe and happy return. >> maybe you want somebody -- i

can't even talk -- maybe you want to salute somebody in the military. go to cnn.com/robin and we'd be so happy to help you. the people who are supposed to be protecting the public -- oh, we blew it on the bernie madoff case. you don't say? our money expert is here. i know it's a bit of sarcasm there. it's mind boggling when they admit how many times they could have got the guy. >> they even boggled bernie madoff's mind. he couldn't believe they didn't catch him. i mean, he said he was astonished that they didn't shut him down after sec agents basically -- somebody came over and they asked him a lot of questions and basically he thought oh, i'm caught. with one phone call all they have to do is check what i said with one company and they'll know this is all over. the house of cards is going to come down. they'll know it's a ponzi scheme. they never made the phone call. that was back in may, 2006. this is all from a report by the sec's internal watch dog. instead, the sec just took

madoff's word for it. the report found the sec missed several tips. i just don't just mean oh, sometimes they get a phone call and think it's a crackpot. we're talking about newspaper reports that laid out something looked fishy over at madoff's securities. they still didn't get it. madoff serving a 150-year prison sentence. this is one of the rare times when republicans and democrats agree with each other. they are saying this was colossal blunders, all kinds of criticism coming out, and you'll know they'll have a hearing once they have this report and of course the point will be not just to excoriate but to try and make sure this doesn't happen again. look, there's always going to be fraud. they aren't going to catch them all. but this was some level of incompetence in this madoff case. let's give you a little good news. this is especially if you're job hunting out there or maybe you want a job with better benefits. the federal government is going to have more than 250,000 job openings in the next three

years. that's good news in a bad economy. this is from a new government survey in this morning's woef"t washington post." before you go thinking oh, big government. a lot of the openings come because current workers are near retirement age so as they retire they'll need somebody to fill the same positions. the fields with the most openings are health care and homeland security. the va needs almost 50,000 workers including doctors and nurses because they have so many returning veterans coming from iraq and afghanistan and homeland security is going to need about 65,000 workers. especially in this economy it takes a lot more than luck to make a business blossom but this new york woman planted the right seeds. here's our small business success. >> reporter: for sandra, her roots helped her grow an idea for a business. >> my mexican heritage helped

with this. i concentrate very much on very bold, dark colors. bright yellow and bright orange. i love cactus. >> reporter: six years ago sandra founded obando, a floral design company. her business caters to high end new york city clients. >> we do the deliveries daily. we do weddings and events. we do hotels, restaurants. >> reporter: the company continues to grow despite the wilted economy. sandra credits her success to obando's simple yet exotic arrangements. >> our design is mostly modern. we really bring out the natural sophistication, the natural life of the flowers. >> reporter: her employees also make her business blossom. >> most of my team is from different industries. i believe that you can teach someone tricks of the trade but you cannot teach someone to do the right thing. i'm very proud of my team.

>> maybe you're watching and thinking, hey, my business is interesting. i've got tips. well, come on. send it to us. you may end up on the air. go to cnn.com/robin and send us a video or i-report of your business and your tips and you could be on "morning express." robin. >> secrets of your success. i love it. all right. a judge gives a new meaning to the term "gag order." >> you can't go back there. you're staying right here. i want duct tape. >> he said duct tape. you've got to hear what happened in this courtroom. ú@

college football players are being asked to shake hands before the game starts. with the opposing team, not just

the captain, all of them. what it is, like 88 guys? >> 80, 90 players on a team coming together in the center. honestly, robin, i don't see how this can work. maybe they can prove me wrong but the coaches' association and the ncaa are only encouraging teams to do this, not mandating it. it will be interesting to see how many teams do it when the season opens tonight. they say it's important for sportsmanship. look at that. a lot more fights are going to happen some say and we're taking your thoughts on this. what do you think? this text, lest we forget football is only a game. sportsmanship is a sign of respect. shake hands. while julie in alabama texted in the handshake between team captains is enough. the players psych themselves up to be intense for the game and don't need touchy feely stuff. that's a look at sports. i like that text. i kind of agree. if you disagree, give us your thoughts. >> all right. thank you. no thumb print, no service?

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ahhh! with plugins lasting impressions. and yes, it's glade. s.c. johnson, a family company. the new york stock exchange just opened for business here. stock futures were up slightly this morning and we just got some new jobless claim numbers. what does it mean in terms of your money, in terms of today's trading? new this morning, several families were evacuated overnight from the l.a. wildfires. these are live pictures this morning and the flames in that area don't look to be slowing down any. that's for sure. look how tall the planes are. the firefighters are also worried the southern part of the fire is threatening neighborhoods in the pasadena area. they do expect to have the station fire fully contained but not until september 15th.

legal experts watching the case of nancy garrido say her lawyers may try to portray her as another victim of her husband, phillip garrido. he is accused of kidnapping and raping jaycee dugard. dugard was found last week, 18 years after she disappeared. nancy and phillip garrido have pleaded not guilty in the case. nasa could decide tonight if a large piece of space junk is any threat to astronauts. the rocket debris is expected to pass within two miles of the shuttle "discovery" and the international space station. nasa says it won't affect í tonight's planned spacewalk and it's unlikely the astronauts will have to move out of the way. 31 minutes past the hour. well, "morning sunshine" it is thursday, remember, connected to friday. connected to friday. i'm robin meade. despite signs the economy is beginning a turn around you're apparently not feeling it. a new cnn opinion research poll finds that 75% of people believe the united states is in a serious or a moderate recession.

another 12% believe it's a mild recession. some positive signs, the number of people who say the country is in a serious recession has dropped a bit from 42% in may to 36%. new this morning, two u.s. soldiers were killed and five others wounded when their vehicle rolled over in northern iraq. the military is not releasing names of the soldiers and other details about yesterday's crash. before he died, senator ted kennedy got candid about the accident that killed a woman and changed his life. the "new york times" got an early copy of his memoir called "true compass." in it, kennedy reportedly said that he made terrible decisions when he drove off a bridge at chappaquiddick and didn't save the woman with him. he said he lived with guilt for decades. the rules are changing for popular air space. the faa wants to make flying over the hudson river in new york much safer. the big change will be dividing the air space into two lanes,

separating airplanes from the helicopters and sea planes. the announcement comes less than a month after nine people died when a small plane and a sight seeing helicopter collided. the controversy over the release of the man who bombed pan am 103 is reaching a new boiling point. scottish lawmakers have now condemned the justice official who decided to free abdul baset al megrahi. now, the british prime minister gordon brown insists al megrahi wasn't freed to ensure an oil deal with libya. >> there was no conspiracy, no coverup, no double dealing, no dealing oil, no attempt to instruct scottish ministers, no private assurances by me to colonel gadhafi. we were absolutely clear throughout with the libyans and everyone else that this was a decision for the scottish government. >> documents out this week say a libyan minister warned officials in the uk that it would have made a bad impression if al megrahi died in prison. a teenager is being called a

hero after he tackled a classmate who brought a loaded gun onto a school bus. mississippi police say that a 14-year-old girl came on the bus and started waving around a gun because she was tired of being picked on. the football player stepped into action. >> shows her standing up, putting the magazine in the bottom of the gun, and then turning around and making her threats saying that she would kill this one and kill that one and it could have been just terrible but he tackled her and took the gun away from her and saved no telling how many lives as a result. >> the girl is being held at a youth detention center. a former major league star says that he's considering that he might run for the senate seat that ted kennedy held for 47 years. huge shoes to fill obviously but this guy has name recognition. >> robin, in a state that largely has voted for democrats over history, this guy could have enough star power to sway voters in the other direction. we're talking about former red

sox pitcher curt schilling who says he, quote, has some interest and even told a new england tv station he's been in contact with political consultants about running in the special election. now, he's a registered independent but he did campaign for george bush in 2004 and senator mccain last year. to call this guy a hero in boston would be an understatement. he won two world series rings there and became a legend after he won a world series game and a playoff game against the yankees with blood seeping through his sock. and that sock is now in the baseball hall of fame. robin? >> all right. thanks. you know, 11:00 p.m. is the new primetime if you're using the internet. new reports show online traffic jumps at about 8:00 and then reaches a peak at about 11:00 p.m. it doesn't drop off until 2:00 a.m. i'm assuming we're talking eastern here. what are people doing online so late at night? top three choices are gaming, youtube, and porn. all right. southwest airlines -- we're

going to bob. >> don't look at me. i'm asleep. >> he's like, my hours for some of those activities are 5:00 p.m. all right. southwest airlines said that you can now board your flight early but you have to pay a $10 fee. the change began yesterday. that fee will get you on the plane before most of the other passengers. this airline if you've never flown it has no seating assignment so in my experience a lot of people will rush the door basically. like when they say, okay. a yellow card, it's like an all points assault. all right. that could give you a better shot at window or aisle. as a result i've noticed that because of the southwest p@ effect, i've noticed other people now on other airlines that do have seat assignments rushing the gate basically. >> it's a good point. personally i love the window seat. i always fight with my wife. she's like, come on. let me look out the window just once. you don't even know what you're looking at. that's a bad thing to say. >> you say that because you're a meteorologist? >> yeah.

talking about weather and looking at a map all day but it's not a good thing to say, just a heads up. >> that's like her saying no you can't have the check because you don't know. >> you're not a banker. it's true. probably a good thing i don't have it. let me start out around the nashville area. big showers moving in right now. they go from bowling green and essentially raining across central tennessee. i tell you one thing, you've seen a lot of rain over the last couple hours. it will continue to fall over i'd say the next hour and a half before it finally gets out of here but light rain also coming up out of the georgia area through atlanta. we'll see delays at the airport because of that. big showers coming through oklahoma, getting toward arkansas, too. that's all around the front. if you look below the front it's going to be unsettled weather but if you look above it, it's going to be deep. live to new york city, with the tower cam, some clouds actually rolling in off the ocean and this is what it looks like. we actually -- i ordered an internist up there to clean off the lens. you can see the two ropes we put up there. no net. can't afford a net. can barely afford an intern.

they're going up there anyway to clean it off. >> oh, come on. >> i kid. i have no idea what that is. >> window washers? >> yeah. hopefully they're harnessed in because it's going to be a little gusty later this afternoon for new york. we're watching the east wind pop up as well. around nebraska through iowa, the west coast big story here, heating up for you for lower parts of california. i'm talking about 100 degrees once again. that's for l.a. more details in the next half hour. all right. let me show you video also from georgia. south georgia right around brunswick right by the coast. slow moving thunderstorms, training along the same area. dumping tremendous amounts of rainfall in a short period of time. there's your flash flooding. three feet of water standing on some of the roads. more on that, robin, in about a half hour. >> thanks. poor people. unthe dthe dow has dropped day this week, stocks are primed for comeback but dismal retail sales and jobless numbers could be the spoiler. susan is over at the new york stock exchange with the latest. hi, susan. >> reporter: good morning, robin. we do have some early gains but

worries about the american consumer, well, could give the bulls some resistance. the problem is of course that unemployment is still a major issue. we get the big jobs report tomorrow for the month of august and today we have initial jobless claims. new jobless claims fell last week. the drop wasn't as big as expected though. 570,000 people in one week, let's face it. it's still real high. if you get down to about half that, it will be a much healthier economy. m addition the number of people relying on government benefits for one week or more, unexpectedly jumped to more than 6.2 million, also a big number. no surprise then many of us staying away from the mall. major retailers like cosco, macy's, target, report sales declined for the month of august. overall analysts expect sales in the back-to-school season to fall more than 3%. one item that definitely hasn't been getting consumers to open their wallets, the wave of books about bernie madoff.

cheryl weinstein's tell all about her alleged affair with the disgraced ponzi schemer has sold just 2,000 copies since its release last month according to the ap. four other madoff bios have sold just 12,000 copies. if only investors had taken the same approach to bernie madoff. robin? >> wow. so. just a few people bought the book. >> yep. >> all right. thank you. >> you're welcome. brides to be lined up outside a bridal shop and it wasn't for a good deal on a dress. they were angry. they were upset. do not get in the way of the bride.

insults by kids in the

classroom can make it harder for good students to learn and make it tougher for others to catch up even. a new study from the university of illinois says that one in five high schoolers say they were put down verbally by their classmates. researchers say that the insults are disrupting and they're distracting for the kids who are trying to learn. what is the biggest obstacle you faced or you've overcome on your road to self-confidence? well, today's winning answer in our "morning sunshine book contest" came from, let's see, avelinos. being an immigrant in this country you go through unbelievable situations. you go hungry, struggle every day with things that people take for granted. after overcoming all of these obstacles, you grow up to be a more confident person, you feel at peace that you can overcome anything. great answer. avelino, we'll send you a free, autographed copy of this baby, my new book, and by the way, we'll be announcing a new winner every day during the 9:00 a.m.

eastern hour. go ahead and send your answer to the question. what did you overcome or had to go up against on your road to self-confidence? maybe you'll be tomorrow's winner. here is another good reason to enter. the grand prize is a trip to atlanta so we can meet you. we've been following every detail of jaycee dugard's freedom after being kidnapped and held for 18 years. and now we're hearing about dugard's reunion with her mom. i think all of us want to know the details and just know that, you know, they're back together. >> reporter: yeah. dugard's aunt spoke about spending five days with jaycee here, robin, her daughters, and her mom, as well. is jaycee ready to talk about the past 18 years though? find out what the aunt says about that. then look at this. this is a 747 that will fly right into the middle of the california wildfire and other big wildfires. we'll tell you about the newest and biggest tool fire crews are using to beat back flames. it can lay down tons and tons of that red stuff. plus, teen pregnancies are

up in north carolina, so schools are changing how they are handling sex ed. we'll give the details in 15. a line of brides to be snakd around a street corner after a kansas bridal shop closed down suddenly. the state seized the store's inventory of over $97,000 worth in unpaid taxes. now, that left a lot of brides wondering, what am i going to do without my gown? >> totally freaked out, angry, scared. am i going to get my dress? >> it was pretty devastating when i came and saw the signs on the door. i thought i was getting a joke played on me. >> women were able to get their gowns if they were in stock. the unclaimed merchandise is going to be sold at auction. college football season kicks off tonight. this year they're trying something new. shaking hands with each other. rafer? >> you know, robin, college football is a sport. it gets the blood pumped up. fans get excited. players get excited.

sometimes a little too excited. why this year officials are asking them to be a little more polite and will it work? úm ú 

got a good looking bunch of people in here today. this is the v.i.p. tour and you are welcome to take it too. it's on thursdays and make reservations at cnn.com/robin. welcome. welcome. you know what? you may be seeing a whole lot more of levi johnson than you ever expected. or ever wanted. details are being finalized. they have the father of sarah palin's grandson pose at least seminude. please. they're even talking about a, quote, long-term relationship. well, johnston posed for several pictures for "vanity fair" magazine earlier this year but that's clo that's clothed. that's different. >> thank goodness we'll get to see more. >> heck no. when does he go away? the stars were out at one of the biggest tennis tournaments of the year the u.s. open and here is rafer with more. >> good morning. the u.s. open just has a certain kind of credence. it's one of our premier sporting

events in the country and always seems to bring out the stars. they come out to see it. it's in new york. we had some stars on the court as well. defending champ serena williams. let me tell you, she looked fantastic on the tennis court and her boyfriend certainly thought so. next to him, entourage star "jeremy pivon. jeremy goes every year. >> and of the piv. >> i am, too. a good guy. serena is called for a fault here and she does not like it. look at her give the ump the attitude. oh, that can stop traffic. he just kind of stares back and she breezed through that round in like less than an hour. rafael nadal also moved on wearing his stylish yellow shirt. it's actually somewhat muted for him. he looked very good. as did the five-time defending champ roger federer dressed like a bull fighter. i'm just saying. if you guys that are good you can wear whatever the heck you want. college football teams are asked to have every player from both teams shake hands before the

games. the coaches association and ncaa are only encouraging teams to do this when the season kicks off. right now only captains and coaches shake hands. right now only captains and coaches shake hands. this could happen. you know how sometimes they mix it up before the game. more fights break out. we are asking you what you think about this. sandy texted us, what happened to sportsmanship? lastly, what an inspiration this girl is. 14-year-old, lily ellis, hit a hole in one, and the girl has only one arm. the buffalo girl was born that way but has not stopped her from playing. that's a robin. >> inspiring. thank you.

i think it's going to be crowded at the airport today, more like a friday. hi, bob. >> yeah, it's getaway thursday. we have the big three-day weekend coming up. nothing due to weather, but that will change. orlando, showers and thunderstorms developing this afternoon and same thing as yesterday. and then tampa, watch for about a 30-minute delay because of storms. denver, smoke and haze the first part of the day. so far not that bad, that will probably increase. and then lax, smoke and haze. that's about it. more details in a half an hour. a run away teen is afraid to go back home, and a judge will have to decide that. we'll look at why she ran. )$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$)$