d.c. dysfunction, the white house backs down following a scheduling spat over a presidential jobs speech to congress. and the nation, fire and flood, mother nature spreads her wrath around the country. and texas and is oklahoma, wildfires burn dozens of homes while in the northeast, epic flooding continues and there's a new hurricane threat brewing in the atlantic. and survival story, a logger gets trapped deep in the colorado woods, and you won't believe what he did to save

himself. >> i looked it over and i thought, well, i'd better tip this off before i go into shock or drop this pocket knife. this is the "cbs morning news" for thursday, september 1st, 2011. good morning, everyone. appreciate you joining us. i'm terrell brown in for betty this morning. we begin with the political dust up in washington. starting with the request by the president to address the joint session of congress next week about his plans to boost the economy. simple enough, usually, but not this time. it turned into a game of chicken and the white house was forced to play. jessica stone is at the white house with details. jessica, good morning to you. >> good morning, terrell. the white house made it clear that job creation needs the support of congress. that's why they're unveiling their jobs plan on the house floor. but that support is off to a rocky start. president obama may have to compete with thursday night

football when he lays out his jobs plan next week. he's agreed to deliver his address to a joint session on congress on september 8th, the same day the nfl kicks off its regular season. the house speaker john boehner rejected the president's original request for wednesday, september 7th. it is my recommendation that your address be held on the following evening, boehner wrote in a letter. he cited a tight house kep schedule, but wednesday is also the date of a republican presidential debate. >> you can never find a perfect time. there are major events that occur on television. there are other issues you have to deal with as well as congressional scheduling and presidential scheduling. >> the last time the president addressed a joint session of congress was for the state of the union. democrats and republicans sat side by side in a sign of solidarity. after the shooting of congresswoman gabriel giffords. the tone is quite a bit different now. >> this is a grim opening to what was already expected to be a tough fall with another big budget fight over cutting 1.5

trillion from the budget, a debate that will be about the size and scope of government and it's kicking off with a spat about scheduling. >> administration officials are still working out the exact timing of the speech, but with new unemployment numbers coming out friday, the president is under intense pressure to get americans back to work. he says his new proposal will include a series of steps congress can act on immediately. and white house officials tell cbs news that new jobs plan will include construction projects, an extension of payroll tax cuts, as well as new incentives to grow small business, terrell. >> jessica, if there's a scheduling problem on wednesday and thursday, why can't the president just give the speech on tuesday? >> well, we know the house at least is not coming back until wednesday and it appears speaker boehner is unwilling to call congress back into session earlier that that. and, of course, the white house wants as much time as it can get

to finalize the details of that jobs plan. >> jessica, thank you so much. on sunday, president obama survey the damage from hurricane irene. he'll visit the hard hit paterson, new jersey. hundreds had to be rescued, but flood waters there and elsewhere in the northeast are finally starting to recede. randall. >> reporter: the only way kenneth o'neal can reach his front door is by scaling a makeshift plank walk. >> this is the floor. this is how much i usually get. now i've got like seven feet in here. >> reporter: o'neal's family has been living in this new jersey neighborhood for more than 50 years. but this is the worst flooding he's ever seen. if you could sell your house, would you leave? >> i would think about it. >> the city of paterson is inundated with water from the raging passaic river. authorities are advising people

against wading in it. >> we're going to have diesel fuel, we're going to have gasoline. sewage is floating in the water and there's a tremendous amount of debris. >> reporter: fema has less that $150 million in funds, but federal officials promise to help states recover. in vermont, some towns are still cut off, surrounded by broken roads. the national guard is shipping in diapers, water and food for volunteers to distribute. >> these are families that are the most in need and those supplies are vital. >> reporter: early damage estimates range from $7 billion to $10 billion. cbs news, fairfield, new jersey. meanwhile, far out in the atlantic this morning, hurricane katia is stirring up what could be a major storm. katia is the second named storm hurricane of the season. forecasters at the national hurricane center warn it's too early to tell whether katia will come near land. another weather system is developing in the gulf of mexico. there's a good chance it will become a tropical storm, possibly a hurricane by the

weekend. forecasters warn residents from the florida panhandle to texas it may come their way. folks in texas may hope that storm system comes their way. the drought there has led to a new round of big wildfires including one that's just west of ft. worth. the fire has destroyed 39 homes. a mandatory evacuation order remains in effect for several communities. and farther north in oklahoma city overnight, another major wildfire burned near a highway to destroy 21 homes on the city's outskirts. secretary of state hillary clinton is representing the united states today at a conference in paris to discuss the future of libya. the meeting comes on the 42nd anniversary of moammar gadhafi's rise to paul. in libya, rebel forces are advancing on gadhafi's hometown on the mediterranean coast. they're moving in on two desert towns in the south where he may be hiding. another twist in the hunt for gadhafi, two men claiming to be his sons sent conflicting messages to tv last night.

one told syria tv libya should continue to fight the legibles overnight. another message said gadhafi is ready for an end to the fighting. giordano is the suspect in the disappearance of his presumed traveling companion last month. giordano said she vanished while they were norfolkeling. he's the beneficiary of a $1.5 million insurance policy he took out. asian stocks are up following another positive day on wall street. ashley is here with more on that. >> good morning. most asian markets saw gains today. the nikkei close at a one-month high while hong kong's hang seng added a fraction. today, wall street gets the very latest on retail and auto sales, construction spending and a look at the weekly jobless claims numbers. wednesday, stocks made it four

up days in a row. the dow is back in the black for the year while the nasdaq added three. despite those gains, august was a rough month for the market. for the month, all the major indexes finished down more than 4% apiece. at&t says it will fight the government's decision to block its deal to buy t-mobile usa. the justice department says the $39 billion deal would reduce competition and raise prices. at&t says it's surprised by the government's action and it intends to, quote, vigorously contest this matter in court. sony has finally unveiled its new tablet computers. the first, call the s, hit store shelves this month with a price tag around $500. it can also function as a universal remote. the second one, called the p, is small enough to fit in a purse, opens like a book and has two screens.

no word yet on when it will be available or how much it might cost. apple has somehow lost another iphone prototype. an engineer lost a secret iphone5 at a san francisco bar in july. it's believed to have already been sold on craigslist. another prototype was misplaced, begin in a bar, sold for $5,000. either apple employees must cut back on the drinking or there should be a rule you can't bring the phone to the bar. >> well, we know where apple employees go after work. >> we do now. >> ashley, appreciate it. coming up, we'll tell you where america's safest drivers live. plus, you'll meet a man who has plenty of grit, but fewer toes. an amazing story when we come back. this is the "cbs morning news." amazing story when we come back. this is the "cbs morning news." plus save $640 on this kenmore washer/dryer pair! ...and save $100 on this panasonic 24 inch lcd tv. it's amazing, the big labor day sale at sears.

took some wild risks when i was young. but i was still taking a risk with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more, and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. along with diet, lipitor has been shown to lower bad cholesterol 39 to 60 percent. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications

or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. lets go... haha. if you have high cholesterol, you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor. don't kid yourself. hey. hey mom! what are you doing? what is that? what is this? it's a special paste i invented to replace socks. we're dipping our feet in it. why? because we can't find socks that shape to our feet. we're sick of it! sick of it! that's really stupid. that's the future. try hanes socks with the smooth comfort toe seam. a better fit your whole family will love. in austria, a cow was in the mood for a little shopping.

she wandered away from a nearby farm and into the ladies clothing section of a sporting goods store. but she didn't seem to find anything in her size, so she went back home. good thing she didn't stop by the meat market. a new report this morning ranks america's safest driving cities. allstate insurance rates ft. collins, colorado, followed by boise, idaho, and lincoln, nebraska. at number 55, phoenix was ranked as the certify's safest driving cities. and washington, d.c., coming in last place third year in a row. john hutt, a logger in colorado, is alive after some amazing action. hutt was selecting logs in the mountain, a trailer slipped and pinned his toes on his right foot. matt croso from colorado has the rest on this unbelievable story. >> reporter: it was an early state start to a typical day of logging trees for this year's winter logs pile. >> i went up to get a load of logs friday morning.

>> reporter: but in a split second, everything changed. >> i caught my foot between the axle i was standing on and i tried all i could think of to get out of there. >> reporter: with his toes crushed beneath tons of steel, bleeding and alone -- >> i looked it over and i thought, well, i'd better cut this off before i go into shock or drop this pocket knife. >> reporter: john hutt made the decision to turn the only thing he had into the thing that would save his life. >> got the boot cut away. then i could see that those toes had been crushed basically off. >> reporter: he feared shock was setting in and worked vigorously, cutting all five toes. >> i just decided i'd better get it done while i could. >> and with a final cut -- >> so i cut myself loose. >> hoping his toes could be saved, he used his boot to scoop them up, loaded up his truck and began driving towards montrose and safety.

>> i went to all that work bringing that boot with the toes in them, you would have thought they kept them. but anyway -- >> reporter: throughout all this, in good spirits, this retired logger jokes about his ordeal. >> if you have to lose something, it might as well be your toes. >> in mant montrose, cbs 5. now to a follow-up on a story we reported last month. 11-year-old nate smith of minnesota made a miracle hockey shot for a $50,000 prize. we now know he won't get that money. that's because nate's identical twin brother, nick, was supposed to take the shot. the company insuring the event says they can't pay for legal reasons, but they will donate $20,000 to youth hockey in minnesota. coming up, in sports, it is an inside-the-park home run for brewers ryan braun, well, kind of. brine, well, kind of.

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with occasional irregularity, things your body doesn't use could be lingering in your system, causing discomfort. but activia has been shown in clinical studies to help with slow intestinal transit when consumed 3 times per day. 7 out of 10 doctors recommend activia. and the great taste is recommended by me! here is a look at the here is a look at the weather around the country p partly cloudy and thunderstorms in new york. sunny and 92 in chicago. 102 and sunny in dallas and 80 and sunny in los angeles. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite pictures shows thunderstorms pulling away from the southeast, clear skies stretching the southern plains in the northeast. later today, scattered showers from texas to florida. severe thunderstorms over minnesota and south dakota. it will be sunny and mild along the west coast. in sports this morning, an embarrassing play.

first inning, ryan braun hit a shot deep left center. it hit the wall ask bounced away. it looked like an inside-the-park home run, but braun tripped surrounding third base and fell once, not twice. the throw finally came in and braun was tagged out. in the fourth inning, the cardinals pitcher hit a grand slam home run. st. louis beat milwaukee, 8-3. in the bottom of the 16th, we go to cleveland. jack hanahan slid into home plate. the umpire called him safe. the replay, though, shows him tagged out before he was safe. cleveland tops oakland, 4-3. barry bonds will not face another trial. federal prosecutors dropped all the remaining charges against bonds. bonds plans to appeal the conviction of obstruction of justice. two-time tennis champion venus williams dropped out of a

tournament. her future career is in doubt. venus cited medical reasons. she's been diagnosed with a auto immune disease that causes joint pain. there is no cure, but the chronic condition can be managed with medication. when we come back, another look at this morning's top stories and the 9/11 panel warns that nearly ten years after the attacks on america, the country is still not safe from terrorists. rrorists. [ male announcer ] this is the network. a network of possibilities... ♪ in here, pets never get lost. ♪ in here, every continent fits in one room. it was fun, we played football outside. why are you sitting in the dark? ♪

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on the s on the cbs news, a look at today's weather. severe weather is in store for the western great lakes. minnesota and south dakota. there are scattered thunderstorms on the gulf coast. here is another look at this morning's top stories after another round of political rangeling. president obama has agreed to address congress about jobs and the economy on september 8th. house speaker john boehner

refused mr. obama's request to speak a day earlier. and fire officials hope to get a handle today on fast-moving wildfires that have burned dozens of homes in texas and oklahoma. in the northeast, flood waters triggered by hurricane irene are receding. over a million people are still without power. as we prepare to mark ten years since the 9/11 attacks, u.s. intelligence is listening closely for signs of a new terror attack or a plot that may be in the work. so far, analyst say there is no increased chatter. but they remain concerned about an attack on a lone wolf terrorist. danielle nottingham reports. >> reporter: a glance at the 9/11 report card shows america is safer and more secure than it was after the 9/11 attacks. but the commission tasked with finding ways to improve national security says some of the most important of its 41

recommendations have not been adequately carried out. one of the biggest short comings, the inability of first responders to talk to one another. >> can't talk to policemen, can't talk to rescue workers, medical personnel, people die. >> commissioners say the federal government needs to designate radio frequencies or have private companies do it. the decision has languished in congress. >> pick one, either one. it is done. ten years we still can't talk to each other when disaster strikes. >> reporter: the report card also pointed a finger at the white house for not making the director of national intelligence the driving force behind national safety. >> it has vastly increased the bureaucratic bloat that has made our intelligence much less than it should be. >> commissioners say congress is also bloated and needs far fewer national safety committees. and then in partnership with the white house, they need to finally decide what to do with

these suspected terrorists that remain imprisoned in guantanamo bay. until then, the commission remains unprepared for a 9/11 disaster. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the white house. this morning, more fire and floods around the country. this is your "cbs morning news. country. this is your "cbs morning news. " ♪ hershey's drops. a lot of hershey's happiness in a little drop of chocolate. pure hershey's. get an extra ten percent off mattresses already

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there are many hazards in modern life, but here is one you may not know about. it's called contact voltage. ordinary lamp posts or manhole covers that can become potentially deadly electrical hazards. cheryl reports. >> reporter: dave is a kind of electric detective. >> this is an electric field sensor, which is a scientific instrument. >> reporter: his company, power survey, uses a high tech truck to find contact voltage hazards.

he's helping to see if there are any here in jacksonville, florida, a city he's never tested before. >> that's a strong signal. >> a volts meter confirmed something is wrong. >> i'm looking at 119 1r089s here. that's the same volts that you find in a wall socket in your house. >> reporter: a simple touch with grounded metal confirms the risk. contact voltage can be hidden in plain sight in any city. old frame waterer or wires that are improperly installed touch metal and electrify it. the problem is getting worse due to the nation's decaying infrastructure. luckily, most people who touch the metal don't make good enough contact to get seriously hurt. but if you're barefoot or wet, the had ard can be deadly. it happened to 14-year-old deanna green in baltimore. her father, anthony, says the ground was wet when deanna touched the fence at softball practice. >> she was right here when it

happened. >> 227 volts killed deanna instantly. her mother, nancy, watched it happen. >> never in 1,000 years did you think while you were there and while your child was standing in front of you you would lose her in such a manner. it's devastating. >> reporter: nobody tracks contact voltage injuries nationwide. there are media reports of 19 deaths in 13 states since the early '90s. we checked with the 25 biggest cities and found only a few actively search for contact voltage. mike highland represents the power companies for the american public power association. he says problems are rare. >> if there's a situation out there that's unsafe that could affect the employees or the public, utilities would immediately take care of it. >> reporter: back in jacksonville where we began, jacksonville electric authority said after being notified by cbs, they inspected all the poles downtown and repaired 27.

they've also decided to begin annual inspections, which would include this metal pole that measured 126 volts within view of the utility's headquarters. cbs news, jacksonville. coming up a little later on the early show, president obama wants to address the nation about jobs, but it's not easy to find a good time to do it. we'll explain why. then the latest on flooding and power outages in the northeast and destroying wildfires in texas and oklahoma. and the importance of back to school vaccinations, especially for meningitis. that and more coming up a little later on the early show. for now, that will do it for cbs morning news on this thursday. appreciate you watching, as always. have a great day. ,,,,