but it just tastes like fruit. [ male announcer ] get five dollars in money-saving coupons at v8juice.com. right now on msnbc, storm alert. flash flood warns and watches are up for mississippi to alabama as remnants of tropical storm lee bring pounding rain and punishing winds to the deep south. also today, texas inferno. dozens of wildfires continue to rage in the lone star state today. officials say with conditions this bone dry, it is anyone's guess when those flames will be contained. and president obama ready to roll out his big jobs plan this week. first, he'll face a tough audience filled with labor union workers today in the heart of the motor city. good monday to you. thanks for joining us for this special labor day edition of msnbc live. lee is still packing powerful rain. more than a foot of rain fell in new orleans. as the storm pushes inland, it

could cause dangerous flash flooding. lee has churned up surf all along the gulf. a body border drowned in texas. mike seidel is in brandon, mississippi, this morning. what's the latest there? >> reporter: well, i've got better news here as far as the weather goes. the rain, the heaviest rain has moved on out. we're still getting light rain, but we have this gusty north wind. behind me is the reservoir. this is not the gulf of mexico. look at the wave action. a lot of locals are coming out and grabbing video and pictures of this. overnight here around jackson, eight inches of rain. the total now just over 11. that caused evacuations and numerous water rescues. the heaviest rain, we'll show you now. let's show you the radar and tornado watch area. look at the rain now, northeast of here towards starkfield into alabama.

now spreading towards the atlanta metro area. big airport there, busiest in the planet. count on delays today and even tomorrow. possibly into parts of wednesday. but look at that tornado watch. that includes parts of mississippi, east of here, alabama and into the florida panhandle. that is in effect until 4:00. they may reissue it. in fact, we've had a tornado watch kind of associated with lee, or the remains of lee, going on the third day in a row. they just keep putting them out because tropical systems do spin up tornados. there's a higher risk now of severe weather this afternoon in the deep south. things are easing off here. going downhill east and north of here. all that rain is heading into the northeast from the flood stricken areas from hurricane irene. >> a rough labor day down there. mike, we appreciate it. thank you. we're also watching hurricane katia. still a cat 2 out in the atlantic, heading northwest. todd santos has the latest on katia. todd. >> craig, yeah. i want to bring the latest. we did just get an update from

the hurricane center. 110-mile-per-hour winds. it has strengthened. it's also redeveloped a clear eye. i want to mention one thing with the radar mike was talking about. you're talking six hours worth of radar data. some areas have just been under the gun with the heavy rain. there are flash flood watches in effect for a number of areas right up into the mountains of north carolina. even areas of north georgia and eastern tennessee. if you have friends camping, call them and let them know what's going on. maybe you're camping near a river basin. that could be dangerous, especially later this afternoon. the areas in red are the flash flood warnings. that was the remnants of what once was lee. this is what is currently katia, the category 2 storm. 110-mile-per-hour sustained winds. it's moving northwest at 13 miles per hour. hurricane winds extend 60 miles out from the center. here's a look at the track. this is really a storm of interest. as it approaches the coastline, we could briefly see this reaching major hurricane status, which would be category 3 or

better. into thursday, you'll see fluxuatiflu fluctuations in the actual strength of the storm. at this point, looks like the system can thread the needle there in the bahamas. we're certainly looking at surf heights picking up in north carolina today and tomorrow. >> todd, thank you so much. appreciate that. president obama will spend labor day talking about the number one issue for millions of americans right now, job growth. the president is about to leave for detroit on the heels of an august labor report that showed zero net jobs added, putting even more pressure on the administration to come up with some bold solutions. kristen welker is outside the white house on this labor day. >> reporter: hey, there, craig. president obama expected to leave shortly within the next 15, 20 minutes. as you have mentioned, he will be facing a tough crowd when he

speaks before thousands of union workers in detroit later today. this has been a difficult year for union workers. if you ask them, they say they've been fighting tough battles in places like wisconsin and ohio where gop lawmakers have been trying to chip away at their collective bargaining rights. they also haven't been that pleased with the president. they say that they are opposed, of course, to the fact that he extended the bush era tax cuts. they also think that he wasn't on the right side of that debt limit debate. they feel as though he gave into the tea party in terms of only focussing on tax cuts and not enough on creating jobs. so they will be listening very closely to what he has to say. of course, union workers, one of the president's key constituencies. also, president obama won michigan back in 2008. some really tough jobs numbers in that state as well. you mentioned the national numbers. if you look at michigan, 10.9%

unemployment there. in detroit alone, the unemployment rate gets even higher. almost 16%. so those figures certainly aren't helping the president. a lot of people wondering what he's going to say today. white house officials tell me he'll be talking about the importance of the middle class to this recovery, and he will also be challenging democrats and republicans to get behind this big jobs plan that he's going to unveil on thursday. a lot of these union members have been pushing the president to go big on this jobs plan. will he? we'll have to wait until thursday to find out. but we'll be listening to see if we get a glimpse of what he's going to say on thursday today. craig. >> kristen welker at the white house for us this morning. thank you. >> reporter: thanks. texas officials are calling for any and all firefighters around austin to report for duty. wildfires threaten entire neighborhoods there. strong winds pushed the flames across thousands of acres. blazes are burning throughout

the state, including one farther east that killed two people over the weekend. california's also dealing with a wildfire. this one triggered by a plane crash. two people are dead. that small plane went down south of bakersfield. it sparked a stubborn blaze that spread to more than 3500 acres. the appeal trial for amanda knox is now underway and it should continue every day until the next decision is reached. this was the scene earlier in the courtroom there. knox and her family are holding out hope that her murder conviction is overturned, opening the door for amanda's return home. chapman bell is live in italy this morning. >> reporter: craig, what we have today in court is a battle over forensics, a battle which began over a month ago before the court took its summer recess when a team of independent forensic experts testified in court there were over 50 breaches of international

forensic protocols used in the first trial to convict amanda knox and her then boyfriend. these range from sloppy evidence galtering techniques to dna analysis on two key pieces of evidence that were used by the prosecution in the first trial to tie amanda and her then boyfriend to the crime scene. now, this really put the prosecution on the attack, saying that no, the original findings should stand, still asking the appeals judge and the court spend more time to her sentence. the defense for amanda knox said they're satisfied with this report. it's what they've been saying all along and that they're glad this independent review has come out. this whole week is expected to focus on forensics and this dna material. it's a glimmer of hope for amanda knox. we'll have to see how the week carries out. we're expecting that after this week, there will be a short break in the hearing before reconvening. we're told we should expect a verdict in this appeal by the

end of the month. craig. >> all right. chapman, thank you so much. appreciate that report. coming up, what caused rick perry to bow out of today's freedom forum in south carolina? we'll talk about that. plus, the new terror warning just days before the tenth anniversary of 9/11. what the government says americans should be looking out for. that and much more straight ahead. this is msnbc. g to challenge ourselves on the most demanding track in the world. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. the cts-v, from cadillac. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. [ whistle blows ] oh!

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rick santorum criss-crossing south carolina. first of all, let's talk about the snub. santorum not invited to participate in senator jim

demint's event. tell us about that. >> reporter: that's right, craig. rick santorum was not invited to participate. he didn't make the cut, which was clearing 5% in a national average of polls. that doesn't mean he's not playing hard in south carolina today. he just finished walking in the labor day parade, which is a traditional jumpoff point for the presidential season here. he actually referred to himself a couple times to myself and another reporter as the hardest working man in politics. he was the only presidential candidate out here. in fact, people really did seem to be appreciative of his presence. a couple people said they were sorry and it was a bummer that he wasn't invited to the freedom forum. a couple actually said that he had their vote because he had shown up today. >> that appreciation notwithstanding. is rick santorum starting to get traction there? >> reporter: well, it still remains to be seen how much he's showing up in the polls and how many voters are going to end up

throwing their vote to him, but events like this are certainly important. the retail politics is a big factor. you do have to come out here and shake people's hands and look them in the eye. while he may not be registering too much in some of the polls we've seen come out of south carolina, he is trying his hardest. so, you know, we're going to keep on watching how people react. if this is any indication, these are the type of events where he's going to pick up a couple of those votes and a little bit of support here. >> all right. did you enjoy that parade? it's a good time. i've been there. have a good time. >> reporter: will do. >> all right. appreciate that. again, south carolina all important. no republican has picked up the gop nomination without winning that state since 1980. later this afternoon in south carolina, all of the major can da d -- can dadidates will be speak

at a forum. rick perry is headed back to texas to deal with those wildfires we told you about. smart strategy for perry to head back to texas? >> brilliant. it makes him look presidential. he's going to handle a disaster. he's there. the last texas governor wasn't present when he was president during hurricane katrina. >> ouch. be nice, it's labor day. >> took her 15 seconds. all right a jab. >> had to do that. so it makes him look like he's running for president. he doesn't have to be there to win big in the polls. he upstaged even michele bachman. >> you score points by being the person you're supposed to be. >> and let's not kid ourselves, he would catch a great deal of flak if he were not there. this would be the first time we

have seen rick perry on a national stage debating fellow candidates. how big of a win does he need, or does he need a win at all? there are some saying all rick perry has to do is show up and not look like a complete nut. >> well, when you're at the top of the heap, you have a lot to lose. you have a long way to go. you want to win iowa. you want to win new hampshire. you don't want to make any mistakes. the other candidates have everything to gain by knocking you down a chip or two. >> i completely disagree. i think rick perry just showing up -- i mean, he's going up against santorum. the word, santorum, by the way is trending higher than he is as a candidate. ron paul, michele bachmann, who's dropping like a led brick. and mitt romney. he really just needs to show um. as you said, not say anything stupid. >> so who has to hit a home run? >> i think this is an important one for mitt romney. he has been the front runner.

now rick perry has changed that in a big way. on the one hand, he has to remain looking presidential. he can't just attack in a wild way like one of the lower candidates might do. at the same time, he has to defend his record. >> it is starting to get a little ugly. i want to take a listen here to an exchange, not so much an exchange, but this is what one candidate said about another on the campaign trail. take a listen. >> we don't need a nominee who's going to blur the differences between themselves and barack obama. we're going to have a nominee who draws a clear contrast. >> of the people running for office, you know, i don't know that there are many who have less years in politics than me. >> will it get uglier? >> that was ugly? >> i love the indirect slams. we know who you're talking about. >> take off the gloves and stand up. >> will we see that? >> probably not. >> you haven't seen anything

yet. it's so early. we're fighting for the brass ring here. people play hard. guess what? there's only going to be one person that wins. >> do they all have to play hard? you mentioned rick perry. you mentioned mitt romney. are these two candidates who can really sort of take a step back and watch the rest of the candidates duke it out? >> i mentioned john huntsman. many americans believe he has the presidential background. he has the, you know -- he's a nice person. he can fight and play with others. he is definitely not in the race, and it's because, i think, he's not fighting. he's not being nasty enough. >> everybody doesn't have the same objective. some people wouldn't mind being number two. >> so he's planning to be vice president? >> i don't know if he's planning that, but if you do well and respectably in the race and you don't really upset anybody too much, you have a shot at becoming vice president. >> there are some who have said that john huntsman is running to get his name out there so when

2016 rolls around, he is -- do we think that's a legitimate strategy? >> it would be, but i don't think it's going to work for him. his personality doesn't work around the whole circus running for president. >> he has the right tone, the right personality. >> i agree, but it's not working. >> it's interesting you say it's not working. would he be -- and this is a problem, maybe not so much a problem depending on your politics. a lot of candidates who have a great deal of appeal to a primary voter don't really have so much appeal to a general election voter and vice versa. is john huntsman one of these guys who doesn't stand much of a shot? >> in the general, i think people would see him as a reasonable, balanced, thoughtful person. somebody who can relate to everybody well. in a primary setting, you have to relate to the more red meat, primary voters. >> you said red meat? okay. >> we have to leave it there. we want to get your twitter

handle out there. >> karenhunter. >> follow her on twitter. thank you so much. appreciate yorget. we have the big nbc news politico debate this wednesday on msnbc. a tricky situation for seattle catcher. check this out. he was hoping to catch the foul off on cliff pennington's bat there during sunday's mariners game with the a's. the ball gets lodged in his catcher's mask. took some rigging to get that ball out. fortunately, everyone was okay. (announcer) everything you need to stay balanced on long trips. residence inn.

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>> the president must be bold. i agree that he must have a jobs program, must create jobs. i'm talking about a program of $1 trillion or more. we have to put americans to work. that's the only way to revitalize this economy. >> joining me now, politico reporter abby phillips. abby, we just heard from congresswoman maxine waters there talking about $1 trillion stimulus. is that even remotely plausible right now? >> at the moment, the white house is saying that the president is going to pay for everything he proposes in this plan. i think you can't envision a more difficult scenario that the white house is in right now with the economy creating exactly zero jobs in the last month. a slew of natural disasters. things that are going to just cost millions and millions of dollars in federal money, state money, and from the private sector. i think maxine waters is expressing what a lot of

democrats are saying, which is that the white house needs to not wait for congress to act. he needs to propose something that's big, that's boll, that's visionary. >> but we keep hearing those words big and bold. you added visionary as well. what about the political reality? the fact of the matter is that the president could give $1 million to everyone who's unemployed, but if it's not going to pass the house, then where are we two months from now? >> that's right. there's a credibility factor here too chr, which is that the president has to propose something the republicans are going to sign off on. we're hearing from the white house that they're going to be talking about some of the things republicans have signedn to in the past. on the other hand, the white house has tried that before, whether it was in health care or financial regulatory reform. it didn't seem to get them anywhere. even giving republicans what they've called for in the past may not necessarily mean that the plan is going to go through. >> let's talk about this speech on thursday here really quickly.

here's the thing. at this point, expectations are stratospheric for the speech on thursday. when we're talking about this thing friday morning, when we're all quarterbacking, as you know we will be, are we going to be disappointed? are we going to be surprised? >> i think that's going to be an underwheming factor to this. partly because the political and practical realities that the president faces are so steep. i think there are going to be two components going on here. we heard last week that the president is going to separate his jobs plan from his deficit reduction plan. because of that, the jobs plan is going to be fairly limited in scope. it's going to be -- it's going to include a lot of things that are very specific to job creation, which is what democrats want. but there's this broader picture of how do you pay for it without increasing the deficit? it's not going to be something the president is going to

necessarily spend a lot of time talking about. but the very next day you're going to hear from republicans. how are you going to pay for this? how are we going to make sure the government is spending beyond their means? >> abby, thank you so much. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. thanks. flash flood watches and warnings up across the southeast this hour. we are tracking what's left of tropical storm lee. plus, folks in the northeast still dealing with the aftermath of irene. we'll take you to vermont where residents are just beginning to pick up the pieces. [ male announcer ] it's a fact:

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rain is headed, up through northern alabama, eastern portions of mississippi. we have some flash flood warnings in place. also want to note that red box. that's a tornado watch until 4:00 p.m. central. if you're either in or near that box, make sure you have a way to get tornado warnings during the daytime today. if one is issued, lowest level of your home, away from windows. the other threat is the rainfall. we are going to see a stripe of some areas six-plus inches. in some cases, even nine-plus inches, especially through northern alabama and the mountains of north carolina. that will be what can trigger some flash flood potential. where you see the string of green going up the appalachians, all the way back through eastern tennessee and central pennsylvania, those are flash flood watches. the potential for flash flooding does exist through these areas for the day. if you have friends camping in the area, at least let them

know. where you get back to northern mississippi and northwestern alabama, that's where we have ongoing flash flooding. there's a look at it. not all this rain is is from the remnants of lee. what you're seeing in the southeast is. we have a frontal boundary linked up with lee. so the showers extend into the northeast, including vermont. at this point, all the river gauges are back below flood stage except for otter creek. keep a close eye on this situation throughout the day. the other thing we're watching, hurricane katia. 110-mile-per-hour sustained winds. we could see a little strengthening over the next couple advisories. there's a look through wednesday, thursday, friday. at this point, it doesn't look like a u.s. landfall. >> all right, todd. thank you. as lee soaks the south, vermont is still struggling in the aftermath of tropical storm irene. i recently spent some time in vermont for a first-hand look at devastation and how families are starting to pick up the pieces.

>> reporter: in vermont's green mountains, irene tossed trucks like hot wheels and tore up roads and highways. so many, in fact, 13 towns were cut off for days, including jamaica, vermont. >> this was the back deck, the kitchen, living room. you know, bedrooms upstairs. >> reporter: jody's 200-year-old home washed away in minutes. >> the first time i cried was sunday night putting my kids to bed because i was putting them to bed. i was happy and thankful. we're lucky that nobody got hurt. you can replace things. >> reporter: many here worry the worst flooding in at least 75 years may have also swept away an important part of the local economy. when rogan and his wife opened their restaurant along main street late last year, they were already planning for fall foliage season, which starts in two weeks. that's when tens of thousands descend on vermont to see the leaves change and generate about

$300 million for the state. >> we were looking forward to it and getting excited for it. it's definitely sort of, okay, now what? >> reporter: the downtown grocery restaurant is fine, but some fear extensive flooding at other hotels may keep them from opening in time. >> there's an old joke about vermont. you can't get down from here. it's true this year. >> reporter: there are scenes like this all over vermont right now. dozens of bridges literally washed away. despite the destruction though, people are still finding ways to come together. ♪ there was a free weekend concert where music helped take minds off the damage. in woodstock, free food for storm victims and volunteers. there's been an army of volunteers all over vermont. in brattleboro, more rain was forecasted, even as cleanup continued from the mess irene left behind. the crumbled roads and bridges will take time to rebuild, but the spirit of the people here is

solid. >> people are not afraid to get dirty. they're going to have a smile while they're doing it. the people are great, and the spirit will triumph. >> yes, it will. meanwhile, hundreds of firefighters are fanning out across texas today for another battle against the raging fires there. a young woman and her toddler died on sunday when flames destroyed their home not far from the louisiana border. it's one of dozens of fires burning in the state right now. jay gray is in bastrop, texas, where thousands of acres have scorched so far. jay, what's the word there? >> reporter: hey, there. the situation in texas still dire right now. crews are working dozens of wildfires across the state. perhaps the worst in this area, the bastrop area, where we are told more than 300 homes have been destroyed. more than 16,000 acres charred. the fire still raging out of control at this point. a big problem for firefighters

is strong winds. they're residual from tropical storm lee. we did not get the rain that so many others are experiencing from that tropical storm. we are seeing strong wind gusts up to 40 miles an hour, fanning the flames here and pushing them in all directions. we do know of at least two people who died in the eastern part of the state when they cannot escape a wall of fire that engulfed their home. that was a young mom and her 18-month-old child who could not get out of their home. the texas forestry service says that all of the firefighters in this state have already been pushed past their limits. they put out a public appeal for any and all firefighters who can help to report immediately to duty. this is a situation that's going to continue for several days here as the wind continues to be strong and no relief to the draught conditions expected until sometime in november. that's the very latest from bastrop. i'm jay gray. now back to you. >> jay, thank you. other stories making

headlines this monomorning. wildlivfe officials are searchig the waters off australia for a large shark that killed a body border this weekend. so far, police say there's no plan to destroy the shark, which is believed to be a great white. and there's news in britain today between the political leaders and newspapers. tony blair is reportedly the god father of one of murdoch's daughters. the relationship w . a chilling new terror warning has federal officials on alert all over this country right now. the bulletin from the fbi saying al qaeda may be common deering small airplanes for aerial attacks. it's raising red flags because it comes a week before the ten-year anniversary of 9/11. clark kent irvin is the director

of the aspen institute. is there any specific evidence of a pending attack? >> we've known for a long time that al qaeda remains fixated on aviation. we've also known for a long time that they would like nothing more than to carry out another attack around the tenth anniversary. i think this is very prudent on the fbi and dhs's part to issue this bulletin at this time. >> i want to talk about the idea of an yaeaerial attack. be honest with me here. we go through the tsa scanners and subject ourselves to the patdowns. at end of the day when we get on airplanes in this country, are we 100% safe? will we ever be 100% safe when we fly? >> well, craig, there's no such thing as 100% safe. we are safer than we were on 9/11. that's especially the case as far as large aircraft are

concerned. which is why we're seeing the news of this small aircraft plot because it's harder to attack large airplanes, they're focussing on small airplanes. there's much less skroocrutiny pilots and cargo. the good news is relatively little damage can be done. it is a vulnerability. as i say, the fbi and dhs are right to be concerned about it generally, especially at this time. >> obviously, we're trying to create awareness with viewers about this. is there anything the average citizen can do, small airport officials or small plane owners? >> well, a couple things. first of all, i have long argued for stricter scrutiny at small airports and with regard to small aircraft. the general aviation industry has lobbied strongly against that in the last few years. i hope this plot will lead to reconsidering that. that's the first thing. secondly, with regard to people generally, the see something, say something campaign that secretary napolitano has been aggressively pushing for over

the years is a very, very important thing. you know, there have been a number of plots that have been foiled thanks to passengers. at the end of the day, we, ourselves, are the last line of defense. >> if al qaeda were to strike again, god forbid, is this how they would do it? >> well, this is certainly one way. the reason i would argue that al qaeda is so fixated on aviation is several fold. one, the images are very graphic. they're riveting. they capture the world's attention. of course, depending on the circumstances, large numbers of people can be killed again as they were on 9/11. the economic impact can be devastating as it was on 9/11. finally, and perhaps most importantly, we've done more to protect ourselves in the aviation sector than any other. if terrorists were to succeed in carrying out another attack on aviation, it would show that we're still rather weak at our strongest link. >> so much has been made over the past ten years. so much has been made over how many attacks have been thwarted

by officials and authorities and average citizens who have seen something and said something. any idea how many potential attacks we've been able to stop? >> well, that's a good question, craig. i don't have a precise number, but i'd say probably a dozen or so that i can think of just off the top of my head. those are just the ones that have come out into the public domain somehow. the good news is there hasn't been another attack, but revert to an earlier discussion. that does not mean we're out of the woods. it does not mean we're safe. we're safer, but nowhere close to 100% safe and we never can be. it requires us, government officials and average citizens alike to be ever individual lent, especially as we approach the 9/11 anniversary. >> clark kent, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, craig. tropical storm lee pounding the big easy in the first major test since hurricane katrina there. the latest there on the storm

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hey, there. i'm in the msnbc newsroom. coming up in the next hour, a busy labor day for president obama. he delivers a speech in detroit on jobs and strengthening our economy. it's just laying the groundwork for the joint meeting with congress thursday night. we're going to be looking at what the president needs to say to reverse the tide. and since this is labor day, it's all about jobs. we want to hear from you. what do you think needs to be done to get the economy on track and put people back to work? go ahead and send us a tweet. msnbctv is the place. also, you can tweet me. we're going to include some of your comments coming up at 12:00 noon eastern. craig. >> veronica, thank you. it was a western wedding this weekend for lauren bush and david lauren. i bet you can guess who made that dress. the niece of george w. bush wed

the fashion icon yesterday in a lavish ceremony in colorado. the bride's new married name, you guessed it, lauren lauren. turning now to hollywood where the summer box office is getting another big boost from the breakout hit of the summer. ryan balthasar is a writer and editor. the book was great. the movie has been great. >> unstoppable. this is week four, and it's made $118 million total. it was only $25 million to make this film, which is really saying something that you can make a profit that quickly. usually a film only gets its first week too make it. it actually didn't debut at number one its first week. >> and we're talking about "the help." >> yes, "the help." it's got an amazing cast, an amazing story. it just gets more and more buzz. you can't buy this kind of publicity it's getting.

>> how's the summer movie season going so far? >> there were a lot of hopefuls that didn't quite meet expectations. right now, you know, if you look at the debuts of "the debt" and "apollo 18," they rented out two, three, and four, but a lot of people don't know what these movies are about. "shark night 3d" is about sexy people being eaten by sharks. you find yourself rooting for the sharks. also, "rise of the planet of the apes" has gotten about $160 million so far, but that cost $93 million to take. it will do well internationally. i don't think they're crying. >> one of the things about "the help" that a lot of people are saying is it's good to see movies where it's old-fashioned acting and writing. no special effects. no animation. >> it's a thinking person's movie. it's got heart. it's got story. it's nice. hollywood still veers towards blockbusters, and they tend to

have more international appeal. this one will be on the red carpet at the academy awards. >> from blockbusters to reality television now. "dancing with the stars." chaz bono has become the breakout star. >> a lot of hefd lines. some of them positive. some of them quite controversial. a lot going on with chaz right now. most recently, it came out she's already -- he's already, forgive me, lost five pounds while doing the competition. i just did the he-she thing. i think that's part of the controversy. some people are having a hard time identifying with this transgendered person on the abc series for the first time. howard bragman, chaz's pr rep, came out with a statement saying the sky will not fall when chaz dances. so the headlines continue. >> producers have to love this though. >> they do. but behind the scenes, they're a little bit surprised it's been as controversial as it has been. yes, it is publicity, but a betting site actually put her

odds at 20-to-1 to win. that's just above nancy grace. the one they're putting at best chance of winning is elisabetta, clooney's ex. also an actress. i should give her those props. >> let's talk about susan lucci. "all my children" cancelled. she's writing a book. >> she has an autobiography out. she's released a new epilogue for this. she's blasting brian franz for a series of poor decisions. she says they were both a reflection of ignorance and arrogance that led to the demise of this series. she spent 40 years on this series. not many people in show biz can say they've had a 40-year gig. people are surprised she's taking this very strong stance saying he hired a sub-par writer, that resulted in the demise of the show. there's word it may end up being online ultimately. >> brian, thank you so much.

appreciate that. >> thank you. the texas tradition of prying pry i -- frying up everything an serving it up at the far may have gone too far. ladies and gentlemen, i give you fried bubblegum. it's generating a big buzz around dallas. its creator hopes the concoction will take top honors as this year's most creative fried food. would hate to see its competition. one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as you do. check out your portfolio, track the market with live updates. and execute trades anywhere and anytime the inspiration hits you. even deposit checks right from your phone. just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you.

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lee is drenching the southeast today with flash flood warning extending through mississippi and alabama. meanwhile the storm dumped more than a foot of rain in new orleans. joining me now by phone is the president of the plaquemines parish in new orleans. we have some photos of you touring the flooding by airboat. i want to start with how things are right now? >> we have about four foot of

water covering highway 23 literally covering our parish in half. we're waiting for the winds to shift around to the north. then we plan to cut the levy to let the floodwaters out. >> we're all too familiar with the levee system in new orleans. how are they holding up? >> these levees have been in the federal system and the corp. delayed construction. this is the fifth time since katrina we had these levees topped. we need the corp. of engineers to do their job and get these levees built. >> how many people did you have to evacuate down there? >> we evacuate all the people

that may need special needs. the convoy in and out and we're hoping to get the water down enough to open up the highway so we don't have to do that at night. it's very dangerous. and we're hoping to get that done and get that highway back open some time late this evening. >> any idea whoen those folks might be able to return home? >> if the wind shifts around, the storm keeps stalling. we need it to get through here and start pushing that wind out the north and that will help when we cut the levees and let that water out. >> it seems as if from the outside you guys were pretty prepared for this one. is that ant accurate assessment? >> we're getting pretty good at this. four hurricanes and an oil spill, the lord only gives you what you can handle. it's something i hope it will be a long time before we have to do it again. it's getting to be a routine in south louisiana. >> it is it's unfortunate. thank you so much.

good luck down there. >> thank you very much. i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. veronica picks things up from here. an awful lot of tap t at 12:00 we're going live to italy where amanda knox' trial resumes today. we're going to have that story and much more straight ahead on and much more straight ahead on msnbc.y surface in your mouth. but did you know those same germs can build up and form a resilient layer called biofilm? biofilm germs are strong enough to survive daily brushing. thankfully, there's listerine® antiseptic. its triple-action formula goes deep to penetrate biofilm, kill germs and protect your mouth for up to 12 hours. aaaahhhh... [ male announcer ] for a deeper clean, fight biofilm with listerine®. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one!

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right now on msnbc, labor pains. president obama heads to detroit to rally union workers and audience increasingly frustrated with the president's jobs agenda. what's left of tropical depression lee has turned into a drum beat of rain. one that could leave residents from new orleans to mississippi under water for days. it's been a long hot summer behind bars for amanda knox. she's back in an italian courtroom this morning as independent experts are casting doubts about evidence in her first trial. very good day to you, i'm veroca