terror threat. france and britain on alert, officials uncover a credible plot to attack. campaigner in chief. president obama rallies the faithful ahead of midterm elections. and coach chaos, a pee wee football game turns ugly after a coaches' argument triggers a man-size brawl. this is the "cbs morning news" for wednesday, september 29th, 2010. good morning, everybody, thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. begin overseas this morning, both france and britain on alert for possible terror attacks. the threat is described as credible. a british officials said the plots were in an early stage with an islamic connection.

mark phillips is in london and has the latest on this. good morning, mark. >> good morning, betty. well, western intelligence agencies are saying there is a credible, what they're calling a credible islamist-o linked terror plot that they have interrupted, one that would affect several countries in the west including the u.s., also britain, france and germany. people are undoubtedly nervous but they also say there is no evidence at this time any plot or any attacks were imminent and the proof of that is that terror levels across the west have not been raised, with one notable exception, that is in france, where there have been a number of terror alerts over the last few weeks, including one just yesterday at the eiffel tower, which police cleared and the area around it. but found no bombs. a train station earlier in the week was also cleared. france has a specific threat it is worried about particularly from north africa because of the discussion in france of the laws

being passed to ban burqas, burqa wearing among islamic women. what is happening, the terror sources say -- anti-tore sources say, attacks were planned along those that took place in mumbai, india, where commandos landed moved into areas of public populations and train stations, hotels, et cetera, and caused a lot of damage and killed a lot of people. that this is the model upon which these current plots were being based. however, british intelligence sources tell us that if, in fact, there are plots, that these have been interrupted at a very early stage and interrupted in pakistan, along the pakistan-afghanistan border, largely with the use of american unmanned drone air vehicles, which have been upping the rate of attacks on suspected locales

where these plots might be hatched. but again, the bottom line is this and this is the proof in the pudding, is that the terror levels across the west, with that french exception, have not, in fact, been raised. that this is a question of the intelligence sources being safe rather than sorry. betty. >> a bit of good news there, mark phillips live from london. thank you. another nato soldier has been killed in the offensive to clear the taliban in southern afghanistan. the soldier was killed yesterday during a firefight near the taliban stronghold of kandahar. at least 536 nato troops have been killed there this year. for the second time in four days a commuter jet was forced to make an emergency landing because of landing gear problems. the skywest airlines jet landed in milwaukee tuesday without one of its main landing gear. none of the 39 people on board were injured. this is the same type of jet that made an emergency landing with similar problems in new york saturday. with the all-important

midterm elections quickly approaching, president obama is working feverishly to try to revive the passion in democratic voters. at stake, are all 435 seats in the house and 36 in the senate. today, the president will speak to small groups of voters in iowa and virginia. last night, he had a bigger crowd. tara mergener is in washington with much more on this. good morning, tara. >> good morning, betty. this week democrats are getting both pep talks and scolding from president obama, who says it's time they buck up. >> hello, wisconsin! >> reporter: it felt like 2008 all over again. >> they said, no, you can't, but what did you say, wisconsin? >> yes, we can! >> reporter: with midterm elections just five weeks away president obama is on the campaign trail looking to energize democrats and sway undecided voters. at a rally at the university of wisconsin, he urged thousands of students to stay involved and inspired.

the speech was beamed to 100 college campus destinationwide . >> we cannot sit this one out. we can't let this country fall backwards because the rest of us didn't care enough to fight. the stakes are too high for our country and for your future. >> reporter: with the tea party generating a big buzz this campaign season for the republicans and the political right, president obama knows it's time to fire up his party. in an interview in this week's "rolling stone" magazine, he lectured apathetic democrats. the idea that we've got a lack of enthusiasm in the democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, he said, is just irresponsible. the president will focus on the economic during backyard visits with voters in iowa and virginia later today. and at this point, republicans appear to have the advantage heading into the midterms with polls showing more americans believe the gop can turn around the economy. betty, back to you. >> tara mergener joining us live

in washington, tara, thank you. the president was also talking about religion, his, something he rarely discusses but after being asked about it at a small gathering in new mexico tuesday, the president said he is a christian by choice and came to his faith as he became an adult. >> the precepts of jesus christ spoke to me in terms of the kind of life that i would want to lead, being my brothers' and sisters' keeper. >> the president also said the strength of this country, it embraces people of many faiths or of no faith. former president jimmy carter expected to leave a cleveland hospital this morning. mr. carter was admitted tuesday experiencing an upset stomach during a flight from atlanta. his family says the 85-year-old former president is doing fine and is expected to continue his book tour. this morning, a tropical storm warning is in effect for parts of southern florida, including the keys. that's because of this tropical

depression. the storm with maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour will move over cuba and the florida straits this morning. the storm is expected to strengthen later today. in southern mexico this morning, rescue crews are searching a village just covered by a mud slide. at least 11 people are missing. triggered by heavy rainfall a river of mud and rock swept down a hillside tuesday, taking homes and cars with it. initial casualty reports were much higher. the rain continued overnight as roads and a bridge were washed out. on the "cbs moneywatch" stocks in asia crawled higher this morning. ashley morrison has the latest on that. good morning, ashley. >> good morning, betty. asian markets moved up this morning, japan's nikkei gained about half a percent while hong kong's hang seng was also higher. today, wall street tries to keep the september rally going after stocks finished higher tuesday. the dow gained 46 points, while the nasdaq finished up about 10. the government is trying to cut the cord to aig, the "wall street journal" and "new york

times" report the insurance giant is in accelerated talks to pay back its taxpayer debt and reduce the government's 80% stake in the company. aig got multiple bailout packages after being hit hard by the credit crisis. an exit plan is expected to be announced next week. the gap between the rich and the poor in this country has never been wider. according to a census report in 2009, the top 20% of american earners receive nearly half of all the country's income while the bottom fifth got about 3.5%. that's a record. adjusting for inflation americans are now making four thousand dollars less than they were a decade ago, with the average household taking in just $50,000 a year. the rough economy is also having an effect on marriage. according to the census bureau, weddings at the lowest level in over 100 years. just 52% of adults 18 and over tied the knot last year compared to 57% in 2000.

your mini cooper might have a major problem. the government opened an investigation tuesday into potential steering problem in the pint-sized vehicles. there have been at least 50 complaints of a sudden loss of power steering in the bmw-made vehicles from the 2004 and 2005 model years. the investigation covers about 80,000 cars. there have been no reports of related crashes or injuries. and happy national coffee day. according to an industry report, americans consume 400 million cups of it every single day. coffee is the second-most traded commodity in the world trailing only to oil and according to a recent study, the jobs that need it most are nurses, doctors, hotel workers and, of course, betty, early morning newscasters. i know i have to have at least three cups before i get here. >> three cups? are you kidding me. i don't drink coffee at all. the only thing in my cup, water.

>> i don't know how you do it. i need it to even form a sentence. >> get another cup of coffee. then. >> yes. >> thank you, ashley. just ahead on the "morning news" a reality show family faces a real-life bigamy investigation. the grand ol opry reopens for an grand ol country show. this is the "cbs morning news." "cbs morning news." ♪ get up, get moving. subway has breakfast. and it's a slam dunk.

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grandma's my best friend. my best friend ever. my best friend ever. ♪ [ laughing ] [ boy laughs ] ♪ to know, know, know you after this we're gonna get ice cream. can we go get some ice cream? yeah. ♪ and i do ♪ and i do ♪ and i do in nashville, the real thing at the grand ol opry, featuring brad paisley, keith urban, charlie daniels and many more country music stars. less than five months after flooding closed it, it is back in business. classes expected to resume at the university of texas at austin, the campus locked down tuesday after gunfire erupted. police say 19-year-old student

colton tooley fired several rounds with an assault rifle in front of the tower and ran inside a library and shot himself. there were no other injuries. a man claiming to be a relative says he couldn't hurt a fly. police in utah started an investigation of a polygamist family on a reality tv show called "sister wives" features cody brown a 41-year-old advertising salesman and the women he calls his four wives. he is legally married to only one of them. police are investigating whether the family is violating bigamy laws, a third degree felony in utah. an ugly incident at a pee wee football game in texas. during a game earlier this month near houston a brawl broke out between coaches from both teams then angry parents got into the fight. no arrests were made and no charges filed. but, the teams have been banned from postseason play for what the coaches did. the players say that is not fair.

>> the coaches actually did that in front of us because that sets a bad example for us. >> i do feel it's unfair, i really do, unfair to the kids. the league's executive board will meet to discuss the incident. parents plan to attend in an effort to convince them to reverse its ruling. straight ahead your wednesday morning weather and in sports, pop the champagne, celebrating spots in the baseball playoffs. sports, pop the champagne, celebrating spots in the baseball playoffs. [ female announcer ] "i can't believe it's not butter" with no trans fat and 70% less saturated fat than butter. butter taste, better health. but basically, i'm a runner.

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a look at the weather in sos a look at the weather in some cities around the country. new york, partly cloudy, 76. miami, heavy rain, 84. sunny in chicago, 73 there. denver, sunny, as well. 86. l.a., partly cloudy and a hot 93. time now for a check of the national forecast. the latest satellite picture shows storms approaching florida and in the northeast there, are scattered showers. later today tropical rains will come down across the southeast, especially florida. rainy conditions could be found up and down the eastern seaboard. very warm air is still sitting across the southwest. and it'll be cool and breezy in the northern plains. in sports, three more teams clinched spots in the baseball playoffs. jay bruce of cincinnati hit a walk-off home run in the ninth inning to beat houston 3-2. the reds won the national league central division title and their first trip to the postseason in 15 years. in san francisco, juan uribe hit his 23rd home run of the

season, as the giants defeated arizona 4-2. the giants now have a two-game lead in the national league west and their magic number is four. in the american league, two teams clinched playoff spots, carl crawford of tampa bay hit a home run and the rays shut out baltimore 5-0. tampa bay is in first place in the american league east. and can do no worse than win the wild card. the yankees' cc sabathia got his 21st win with a 6-1 victory over toronto. that clinches the playoff spot for new york and leaves them half a game behind tampa bay in the standings. when we return, another look at this morning's top stories and facebook's founding father. a new movie about the man who started a social revolution. [ quinn ] my name is quinn, and this is my eggo. on fridays i have hockey before school, so i take two eggo homestyle waffles and put peanut butter inside. [ whispering ] i add a couple chocolate chips when dad's starting the car.

[ male announcer ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ quinn ] l'eggo my eggo. [ louise ] my name is louise and this is my eggo. on tuesday i go in even earlier than usual. thank goodness for eggo, a nutri-grain waffle with a quick smoodge of cream cheese... at least that part's easy. [ male announcer ] there's only one way to eat an eggo...your way. [ louise ] l'eggo my eggo. [ female announcer ] 100% baby-smooth perfection has arrived. introducing dream smooth mousse foundation from maybelline new york. it's cream whipped for a 100% baby-smooth look. [ woman ] show me. [ female announcer ] some makeups just cover and leave skin rough, dry. dream smooth hydrates for 14 hours. so skin looks flawless, stays touchably smooth. [ woman ] just like a baby. [ female announcer ] it's ultimate perfection. 100% baby-smooth. new dream smooth mousse. [ woman ] maybe she's born with it. [ female announcer ] maybe it's maybelline.

. on the on the "cbs morning news" a look at today's weather.

florida is looking at tropical systems bringing very heavy rainfall and strong wind gusts. scattered showers will be over the northeast and clear and sunny conditions can be found across much of the country. here's another look at this morning's top stories. security officials uncovered an alleged terror plot against france and britain. the warning level has not changed but officials describe the threat as credible. the eiffel tower was evacuated tuesday for the second time in two weeks. president obama is in iowa today, the latest stop on a four-state swing to try and energize democratic voters. last night at a rally in madison, wisconsin, he implored young voters to go to the polls. one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year "the social network" hits theaters friday, the film looks at the young man who created

internet sensation facebook. sandra hughes reports. >> i don't know if you heard about this new website. >> reporter: back then known as "the facebook," what he first called his social networking site. the idea, connect friends, meet girls. facebook did not cooperate in the making of the movie "the social network" and its 26-year-old ceo is denying the portrayal of him in the film is accurate. zuckerberg hasn't seen the movie and says he won't, which the film's star understands. >> it might be an uncomfortable situation to watch a film that details some events that happened when you were 19. >> reporter: the movie portrays zuckerberg as a geeky technophile, power and betrayal even zuckerberg's best friend sues him. pop star justin timberlake plays the first facebook president. >> i kicked down the door to get into this film. >> reporter: most in the movie say they are in awe of what he created. >> he was able to invent something where you got to

reinvent yourself. >> aaron sorkin knows reinvention. he did it after a cocaine bust in 2001. zuckerberg may be doing it, too. a week before "the social network" opened he donated 100 million dollars to newark, new jersey schools. so, while facebook is everywhere, zuckerberg may be looking for more friends right here at home. sandra hughes, cbs news, hollywood. speaking of friends, a man in costa rica has friended an unusual pet the fisherman is close buddies with a 17-foot crocodile, oh, yeah, he rescued the croc 20 years ago when he found it along the river with a gunshot to the head. he tried to release the crocodile back into the lake but the creature followed him back home and ever since they've been bffs. this morning on "the early show," tips on how to avoid

being scammed by movers. i'm betty nguyen, this is the "cbs morning news. words alone aren't enough. my job is to listen to the needs and frustrations of the shrimpers and fishermen, hotel or restaurant workers who lost their jobs to the spill. i'm iris cross. bp has taken full responsibility for the clean up in the gulf and that includes keeping you informed. our job is to listen and find ways to help. that means working with communities. restoring the jobs, tourist beaches, and businesses impacted by the spill. we've paid over $400 million in claims and set up a $20 billion independently-run claims fund to cover lost income until people impacted can get back to work. and our efforts aren't coming at tax-payer expense. i know people are wondering-- now that the well is capped, is bp gonna meet its commitments?

i was born in new orleans. my family still lives here. i'm gonna be here until we make this right.

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marty is in the first warning weather center. >> what you're seeing is not a lot of action going on. skies relatively clear. will cloud up later on. why is that? when i add our tropical layer on, you see the track of what is becoming a pretty big tropical depression known as 16. mike become known as nicole by lunchtime today. that's going to cause clouds later and serious rains in the region tomorrow. we'll have those details shortly. don? thank you. he had heroin in his pocket, and alcohol in his blood, and

got behind the wheel. now the family of a teenager killed by a drunk driverrer has harsh words for prosecutors. teachers ready to rework the way they're paid. from trademark to hallmark to lawsuit, why the greeting company caved to paris hilton. ,

hello again. not a bad dast