making news in america this morning -- weather warning. >> all eyes are on lee as that storm dumped a foot of rain on new orleans and unleashes tornadoes across the south. then, in the race. sarah palin heads to hampshire today and was spotted running in iowa this weekend, but is she running for president? home word bound. lovable penguin happy feet is heading toward antarctica. but not before having problems with directions. good morning, everyone. i'm tanya rivero. >> and i'm rob nelsonon remnants of lee are unleashing a deluge across the south this morning. the storm was downgraded to a depression after several in the new orleans with a foot of rain.

teenager was swept off of alabama and the storm is expected to spawn more tornadoes today. after a dozen twisters touched down over the weekend. even as lee's winds diminish flood-prone areas are not out of the areas. > accuweather is keeping a track on the latest. good morning. lee is very slow-moving a as we head through these morning hours. eventually going to be picking up some momentum through the day. damage has been through the gulf coast. 10 inches of rain. flooding is going to be a concern. the cold front is going to bring flooding rains from chattanoooo and heading towards knoxville and charleston, west virginia, as we head through the day. flooding will continue to be a huge concern across the a

appalachian. we still have katia, moving through a healthier environment now. now back to you, rob and tanya. forecasters are also keeping an eye on katia, a category 2 hurricane, it's still too early to tell if the storm will hit land. no watches or warnings are in effect now. >> they expect katia to strengthen later today as a major hurricane. all right, president obama is vowing to help those still suffering from the after-effects of hurricane katia. mr. obama visited with victims in paterson, new jersey. >> hundreds of residents were forced to evacuate. >> extreme weather made a mess of the weekend's sports events as well. the remnants of tropical storm

lee forced nascar to postpone race this morning. the season opener between west virginia and marshall. barbara pinto the most recent emergencies. >> reporter: the most ferocious opponent was not on the field, but threatening from above, at michigan stadium, torrential rain and lightning sent 110,000 fans scrambling for cover. twice. >> we are suspended here. >> reporter: cutting short the michigan-western michigan game with about a minute and a half left in the third quarter. both teams agreed it was too dangerous to go on, handing michigan the win. >> we're worried about the kids, you know? you go out there and you play yoyo heart out and then you're back in for another half hour and you get five-minute warmup and then all of a sudden the lightning strike comes again and then you come back in -- it didn't look like this was going

to get any better. >> reporter: it didn't. not in michigan or iowa city, where, for the first time ever, lightning and rain delayed iowa's home opener against tennessee tech. another historic first? at notre dame, three hours of storm delays, two evacuations of the 80,000-seat stadium. >> and they announced an evacuation of the stadium just as the teams headed to the locker room at halftime. >> reporter: ironically, moments earlier, the parents of declan sullivan were honored at saturday's game. the notre dame junior died last year when a wind storm toppled a lift he stood on videotaping football practice. with his death fresh in mind, along with seven others killed last month when storms toppled this indiana stage, clearing the stands in the interest of safety may now be considered a good call. barbara pinto, abc news, chicago. >> lesson learned out there. better safe than sorry. >> absolutely. let's take a look at the weather from around the country on this labor day morning.

some stormy weather from lee stretches as far north as washington, d.c. showers and thunderstorms will give way to heavy rain in the northeast from philadelphia to here in new york. boston, thunderstorms meanwhil., >> 88 in sacramento. a mild 66 in detroit. and 70 in indianapolis. heat finally breaks in texas with dallas only getting up to 82. welcome relief. 80s from boston baltimore. 81 in new orleans. 90 in miami. in eastexas a mother and her 18 month-old daughter have died after an out of control wildfire engulfed their trailer home. officials say the pair had no chance to escape. meanwhile a wildfire in the aust austin suburb destroyed two homes, the situation there has gotten so dangerous that the fire departments called available crews for duty. an elderly massachusetts man

has become the first infected with a rare brain disease, only five people in the u.s. get the disease every year. florida teenager is jailed tonight for impersonating a physician's assistant. he talked to a hospital clerk to get an iv. >> the hospital says none of the pepele he treated were harmed. >> raise a few security questions at that hospital. >> absolutely. all right, coming up after the break, how close is the postoffice to running out of the money? also this morning -- the heartbreaking letter from the mother of lauren spierer for

those responsible for her daughter's disappearance.

the asian markets are down today following last week's lackluster u.s. jobs report. tokyo's nikkei average lost 6 points today. hong kong hang seng is down sharply in late trading. wall street is closed for labor day. the dow lost 98 points last week. jobs will be president

obama's big topic on this labor day. he ee's planning to speak in detroit on jobs creation. he's expected to use that location to promote the success of the auto industry bailout. and the postal service is running dangerously low on cash. post office may default on $5.5 billion payment this month unless they get some government help quickly. the post office is a aeady planning to cut 120,000 jobs. amazon.com is testing a new, redesigned website, amazon, though s not saying the redesign will be completely ready. bmw is testing out laser headlights. bmw says lasers are much better than conventional light they'll actually save energy. the lasers will be pleasant for

oncoming drivers. all right, when we come back on this monday morning -- the pain in the neck that might cause peyton manning to miss the start of the nfl season. how the journey home for the penguin happy feet got off on the wrong foot. it was an ongoing, deep pain. i didn't understand it. i found out that connected to our muscles are nerves that send messages through the body. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia -- thought to be the result of overactive nerves that cause chronic, widespread pain. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and less pain means, i can feel better and do more of what matters. [ female announcer ] lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior, or any swelling or affected breathing or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision,

or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. i found answers about fibromyalgia. then i found lyrica. ask your doctor about lyrica today. ♪ for a snack like you ♪ to come into my life [ female announcer ] lean cuisine has snacks! like creamy cheesy spinach artichoke dip with warm pita. new from lean cuisine®. you carry them around everywhere. yes i do, because cravings are everywhere. would you take a craving for me, cartwright? how would i -- exactly. [ male announcer ] nicorette mini goes wherever you go, to help make quitting suck less. captain, unidentified object -- detergent chamber. that's a cascade complete pac.

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raleigh. >> if you're flying today, some airport delays are possible in new orleans and on the east coast from atlanta up to boston. president obama is spending labor day in detroit, meeting with workers and with their jobs is very much on the president's plan as he plans to lay out his plan. >> once congress returned from its vacation this week, lawmakers will share the president's sense of urgency over job creation. and news this morning that sarah palin has decided to run in iowa -- a half-marathon that is. she registered under her maiden name and did well. >> 13.1-mile course. as palin running for anything else, here's john hendren. >> reporter: sarah palin's fiery address everything from a campaign announce zblmt thank you, iowa. >> reporter: it has lace rating

attacks on the other guy. >> the only future that barack obama is trying to save is his own >>eporter: it has a jobs pl. one typically short on details. >> my plan is a bona fide working man's plan. >> reporter: it has everything everything except the announcement that so many tea party faithful were waiting to co hear, that never came. >> corporate akronny capitalism. barack obama has shown us akronnyism on steroids. >> reporter: jokes. palin even turned herire on the man who would be her rival. rick perry. >> we're governed by a permanent

spending class, they spend more and they stick us with the bill. >> perry will face off for the first time against mitt romney in south carolina tomorrow. romney has been making not so subtle decision digs clearly aimed at perry. >> thank you, john. overseas now in libya, rebels say that negotiations for moammar gadhafi's surrender are over. opposition fighters have surrounded his few remaining strong holds. the mother of a college student who has been missing for three months, has written an emotional letter to whoever is responsible. lauren spierer was last seen leaving a bar in bloomington. she's assured her daughter's

assailant that they will never give up looking for her. a few frightening moments of a plane that skidded off a wet runway at ottawa runway. the plane came down fast in the pouring rain. thankfully none of the people onboard was hurt. it looks like colts' quarterback peyton manning will not be ready to hit the field this coming sunday. sources say espn his rehab from neck surgery is prodepressing slowly. he has not been able to throw the ball anywhere near his presurgery capacity, he's started 227 games the second largest streak behind brett favre. staying with sports here's the crew over at espn news. good morning. let's head to morgantown, west virginia for a rare sunday showdown between marshall and

the mountaineers. third quarter, wvu up 23-13, justin hague, putting his best foot forward with the kickoff. marshall, apparently, forgets how to tackle, as austin goes 100 yards for the house call. that would put the mount nears out in front. the score is 27-13. the game would be forced into a weather delay as the storm rolled into morgantown, lightning strike the stadium. three hours later, play would resume. third quarter, on first and goal, bernard roberts, west virginia up, 34-13. the game is finally called. phillies and marlins. top of six. hunter pence, brian peterson attempts to make the catch, but

it looks as if it's interfered with. take another look. interfered right there. pence called out charlie man yell. he gets tossed. we go to bottom of the 14. tied at 4. the phillies win it in 14 frames. that will do it for us. for the latest on the sports scene, check out the highlight express. all right, finger-licking contest. >> the annual buffalo wing eating contest was yesterday in buffalo, new york. 100-pound winner tomd her own

record by gobbling up 183 chicken wings in just 12 minutes. i don't know how they do it. >> she's so smart. >> she beat joe "jaws" chestnut. she's amazing. up next -- the stories we'll be following today from amanda knox heading back to court to appeal her convection. >> we'lllle right back. i love this time of year but my nose doesn't. it gets stuffed up and that means i stay up all night. good mornings? not likely! i've tried the pills, the sprays even some home remedies. then i tried something new. [ male announcer ] drug-free breathe right nasal strips. [ woman ] you just put it on and...amazing! instant relief. i i reathed better, slept bette.

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was proven more effective than an antidepressant alone at helping people feel less depressed. call your doctor if you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients taking seroquel xr have an increased risk of death. call your doctor if you have fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, as these may be signs of a life-threatening reaction or if you have uncontrollable muscle movements, as these could become permanent. and medicines like it and in extreme cases can lead to coma or death. your doctor should check for cataracts. other risks include increased cholesterol and weight gain as well as seizures, dizziness on standing, drowsiness, impaired judgment, trouble swallowing, and decreases in white blood cells, which can be fatal. use caution before driving or operating machinery. isn't it time to put more distance

between you and your depression? talk to your doctor about seroquel xr. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. now, a look ahead at is the stories we'll be watching this monday -- president obama will be in detroit to celebrate labor day to discuss job creation. vice president biden delivers remarks at cincinnati. the six republican presidential candidates are attending a forum hosted by a south carolina candidate. . amanda knox is due in court today in italy for an appeals hearing. independent experts are casting doubt on the dna evidence used to convict her in the murder of her roommate.

the south is still getting a pounding this morning from what's left of tropical storm lee, lee has now weakened to a depression and now is moving inlands to to carolinas and west virginia today. it's triggered flooding. we also put a big damper on nascar. forcing officials to postpone. with more rain on tap today the race has been rescheduled for tomorrow night. we heard over the weekend over a shark attack. coming up on "good morning america" -- one woman's story on how she survived an encounter with one of those extremely dangerous animal. some of you your local news is next. and for the rest of you, we'll be back with the journey home for happy feet. this guy stole hearts around the world. and on his way back home, but after a push. stay with us.

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pressive singing going on. good morning. finally from us this morning -- happy feet's summer vacation is over. the wayward penguin got a lift back home. after spending so much time in balmy new zealand the little guy seemed to have some second thoughts. it was a long and expensive journey to bring happy feet to this spot. but in the end, this pampered penguin seemed reluctant to take that final plunge. that might not be surprising. happy feet has lived a pretty easy life since being rescued back in june. stranded on a new zealand beach, apparently washed 2,000 miles from his native waters. >> i just wanted to rescue it. poor little thing. >> reporter: starving, the penguin had been eating sand, apparently mistaking it for snow. and then he caught the attention of the penguin paparazzi. thousands lined up to see him at the wellington zoo, and a quarter million more followed

him on a live web cam. after veterinarians nursed him back to health, researchers agreed to carry him 1,000 miles south in a custom-built crate. but today, when it finally came time to jump into the icy waters, happy feet seemed to forget that he's a penguin. it took a final push to send him on hisisay. >> unfortunately he went backwards rather than forwards, so he wouldn't have got a perfect ten for entry. >> reporter: happy feet now has to s sm 1,200 miles to reach his real home in antarctica. experts say he has as good a chance of survival as any other emperor penguin. though he may be out of sight, his millions of fans can still follow his progress. a special gps tracker on his tail will post his location online. >> i'll miss you. and don't come back. do not come back to this beach. >> that's what's this morning. >> goock