making news this morning -- fire and water. >> extreme conditions from coast-to-coast. wildfires, forcing people from their homes in a half-dozen states. and tropical rains drenching already saturated grounds. and a new low for the president. more and more americans disappointed in him and republicans, as well. and developing overnight, overseas stock markets taking huge hits today, as the trading week begins in the u.s. and good morning, everyone. i'm rob nelson. and i'm tanya rivero. torrential rain from tropical storm lee is still soaking the

south, as it takes aim at the northeast. >> rains from alabama all the way to canada. the slow-moving system is being blamed for killing at least three people, whipping up dozens of tornadoes and damaging floods. here's more from abc's scott goldberg. >> reporter: gone but determined not to be forgotten. the system that was tropical storm lee, is soaking its way north. from southern louisiana. >> a lot is going to go. >> like what? >> all the tools in the box down there. we didn't think it would get that high. >> reporter: into georgia and beyond, lee has dumped up to ten inches in some places. and brought winds that turned into dozens of tornadoes. >> you grabbed him and held him close. >> yeah. >> reporter: officials confirmed three tornados in atlanta. and across the state, georgia's emergency management agency said winds damaged 100 homes. richard darby and hi wife hid in their closet. >> one piece. >> one piece. we can fix all this stuff later.

as long as we got our lives, that's all that matters. >> reporter: georgia power reported more than 5,000 customers without electricity. what's left of lee is moving into the northeast, the part of the country still coming out from under hurricane irene. >> we have a serious three-day window to watch with this rainfall. >> reporter: in communities where the ground is saturated, ople can't hanane another drop. >> i feel like we don't need more water. we really -- i don't know what we're going to do. >> reporter: scott goldberg, abc news. and all that moisture from lee is actually a good thing when it comes to hurricane katia. that's because it's pushing it farther offshore. katia grew into the season's first category 4 storm last night, as winds hit 135 miles per hour. it's centered 450 miles south of bermuda. but forecasters expect it to veer away from the u.s. >> good news there. the wind from tropical storm lee has helped fan the flames of the deadly wildfires in texas. more than 60 fires have flared

up against that drought-stricken state just from sunday. in southern california, at least three wildfires are burning there. and more are burning in the pacific northwest. but the hardest-hit is central texas. nearly 5,000 people have been forced to evacuate. they won't know if they're homes have been spared until they go back. but at least 500 homes have already been lost, including the one in which war veteran, dan hugo, lived with his family. >> i did a year in afghanistan. just got home. and here we are. >> firefighters are working around the clock in a desperate battle to save other homes from those raging flames. and the largest of three fires in southern california has destroyed a dozen homes and scorched more than 8,500 acres in kern county. that fire was sparked when a small plane crashed. it's just about 10 % contained.

out 600 firefighters now battling it. and hundreds of people are being evacuated. more on what the texas firefighters should expect from mother nature today and where the remnants of lee are heading. >> accuweather's justin pavic joins us now. >> flooding conditions across the northeast. and we'll see an active weather pattern evolving for the next several days. flooding runs from lee's tropical moisture, slowly spreading off in the north and the east. later on today, still could have a threat for a tornado or two across south cararina into central and north carolina. as we go through time, it will be widespread flooding. potential for devastating flooding here in the keystone state, as we will have 8 to 12-inch rainfall amounts for some areas. meanwhile, lighter wind speeds and higher relative humanities will cause fire danger to decrease across the south

plains. rob and tanya, back to you in the studio. >> thanks a lot, justin. the "good morning america" team is out covering all this extreme weather. they'll have the latest coming up at 7:00 a.m. our other major story this morning, staggering poll numbers show president obama is facing record disapproval from voters. and the republican leaders don't fair any better. >> we're fighting for good jobs with good wages. >> reporter: but not fighting hard enough. that's the message from a new abc news/"washington post" popo, that found an astonishing 77% of americans think the country is headed seriously off the wrong track. and they aren't very hopeful our elected officials can fix it. look at these numbers. six in ten americans now disapprove of president obama's job performance. 5 34% say his efforts have done more harm to the economy than and 50% say they are pessimistic

in the months ahead. if mitt romney think americans have more confidence in republicans, he's wrong. 48 68% of americans disapprove of the way republicans in congress are doing their job. and record numbers say they don't trust obama or the gop to fix the economy. what happens now? president obama is set to give his major jobs speech later this week. but the outlook is dismal. and those out of work aren't holding their breath. >> these people that are in washington, that act like they care about this country, they care about themselves. >> that's what they said the last time. and it didn't create any jobs. >> the biggest message that we can send is jobs. another note from the campaign trail. michele bachmann's campaign chief is leaving. long-time political veteran, ed rollin. at age 68, he doesn't have the stamina the job bemondays. bachmann is the third candidate

begand perry and romney. stocks taking a big hit today. we'll check the market. and important news forem of the most popular cars. honda announces a 1 million car recall. and out of nowhere. the cheerleader who takes a hard hit on the football field.

and a developing story that we've been watching overnight.

overseas markets are down after last week's dismal u.s. jobs report. u.s. stock futures are down about 2% already. in asia, tokyo's nikkei average plunged 194 points today. hong kong's hang seng is off about 320 points. in london, the ftse opened sharply lower, continuing yesterday's sell-off in europe. and in wall street, the dow opens today at 11,240. the nasdaq index begins the week at 248 0. 12 and the postal service is in a debt crisis of its own. the postmaster general will tell congress his agency could lose as much as $10 million this year. therers a $5.5 million bill due at the end of the month for a pension escrow fund. and the postal service doesn't have the money. the agency does not receive tax money. and there are new problems for a japanese automaker. honda is recalling almost 1 million cars worldwide to fix problems with power windows and computer systems. the affected models are the fit

sub xwakt, fit aria, and crv crossover. no injuries have been reported. retails are expecting a solid holiday season. not great but pretty good. the shopping center trade group predicts a 3.5% increase from november and december. and that could spar hiring and the economy. consumer spendininis such a big part of the nation's economic activity. and a german wireless provider is taking preorders for the apple iphone 5, even though apple has not said there will be one or even when. but most people expect the 5 to be released later this month or possibly in october. deutsche telekom wants to avoid bottlenecks. >> getting a head start. when we come back, a possible sighting overnight of moammar gadhafi. has he b bn spotted on his way into hiding? and a battle brewing between office workers.

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and this final week, save 40% on our innovative limited edition bed set. only through sunday, only at the sleep number store. firefighters in los angeles have made major progress on a fire that is burning dangerously close to dozens of high-priced homes. the fast-moving fire broke out yesterday afternoon near brentwood, that neighborhood popular with celebrities. water dropping aircraft helped crews get that fire about 50% contained. flooding on i-95 from georgia to maine. worse inland on i-81, from knoxville to philadelphia. and i-90 from boston to

syracuse. also slick on i-15 and 25 in the rockies. >> and if you're flying, airport delays are possible in atlanta, charlotte, d.c., philly, new york and boston. and there is some speculation this morning that moammar gadhafi may have fled libya. late last night, a caravan well-armed with libyan soldiers rolled into niger, the african nation that borders libya to the southwest. a leader of a niger rebel group was in the lead vehicle. but there's been no confirmation as to whether gadhafi was with them. more libyan rebels are gathering outside the town of bani walid, one of gadhafi's last stronghold. includes a hospital about 30 t miles away. there's been another significant blow to al qaeda's top leadership. his capture with pakistani asians working with the cia.

his role was to hit economic targets in the u.s. and around the globe. the arrest points to an improved relationship between pakistan and the u.s. and as we approach the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks there's new warnings about the threats out there posed by small planes. abc's john hendren has details on that from washington. >> reporter: security experts worry these could become al qaeda's next weapon. an intelligence bulletin from the department of homeland security and the fbi, says violent extremists with knowledge of general aviation and access to small planes poses significant potential threat to the homeland. although, they have no information a specific attack is in the work. there's 228,000 general aviation planes. too many to monitor. small planes like these come and go without the scrutiny faced by passenger airline jets. as soon as one lifts off here in college park, maryland, it's in view of the capitol, the pentagon and the white house.

al qaeda is no longer determined only to sur sue massive, 9/11-style attacks. >> if they try a lot of smaller attacks, they're just as effective as far as the fear factor. they get more bang for their buck. >> reporter: last year, a man with a grudge against the federal government, flew this plane into a federal building in austin, texas. two o oicials died in that crash. john hendren, abc news, college park, maryland. new video has surfaced, taken immediately after the crash of flight 93 in a pennsylvania field on september 11th. the video shows smoke rising to the sky. it was shot by a local man who didi this year. flight 93 crashed as passengers fought with hijackers on that day. there's been an outbreak of deadly violence here in new york, following a popular cultural parade. at least threeeeeople were killed and a police officer wounded in the aftermath of the west indian day parade in a

brooklyn neighborhood. one of the victims was a bystander who had been sitting on a nearby stoop. now, to a high school football in north carolina, where the players weren't the only one getting tackled. a cheerleader had her back turned to the field when the game action spilled on to the sideline. a receiver from simone gray's team knocked her to the ground. simone is doing fine. next time, she will keep one eye on the field. >> be careful. time for more sports news. and a college football battle on monday night. we get the highlights, now, from espn news. >> hey, there. i'm lindsay czarniak. this is your espn news break. the big game on monday night, miami at maryland. miami playing without seven starters because of ncaa violations. both teams with new head coaches. maryland also showing o o some new uniforms. how about that? the helmet resembles the design

of the state flag. even lebron n mes tweeted. second quarter, mike james running left. but the ball comes out. joey vellano runs 30 yards for that touchdown. a heads-up play by vellano. it's 14-20, at the half. that's a touchdown, guys. fourth quarter, miami down 23-21. jake wireclaw trying to give miami the lead. his attempt is good. danny o'brien, maryland quarterback, throws deep. completes to kevin dorsey, all the way down to the miami 22. that's a gain of 52 yards for maryland. it would lead to a field goal. ensuing drive. fourth and four at the 49. stephen morris, it was intercepted by cameron chism, who takes it 54 yards for the touchdown. chism anticipates this play to

perfection. jumps the route for the game-winning score. maryland beats miami, 32-24. that's your espn news update. i'm lindsay czarniak. > i love this story. a war is raging across the streets of paris. office workers are trying to outdo each other by creating elaborate pixilated pictures made from post-it notes. >> amazing. does that approach fine art? the current winner is a design that extends over 3 floors and uses 3,000 post-its. when they are getting their work done. >> really. >> there's a website dedicated to post-itwar.com. >> need something to keep busy. >> this is not about paesing paper either. coming up next, it's still months away. but there's big super bowl news this morning. plus, pressuring palin. sarah palin's supporters beg for an answer.

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struruling to fight the flames in areas that are nearly impossible to reach. u.s. investors do not have much confidence in the stock market today. ahead of the opening bell on wall street, futures fell 2%, following sharp sell-offs overnight in asia and europe. there's continuing fears about the weakening global economy. the postmaster general goes before congress today to ask for help. the postal service doesn't have the money for a pension payment at the end of the month. the agency would like to be relieved of that debt or given permission to cut saturday delivery and lay off workers. sarah palin's labor day weekend swing through iowa and new hampshire has come and gone with no announcement about her presidential intentions. frustration appears to be growing over this indecision, even among her tea party supporters. and the nfl season doesn't kick off until thursday. but super bowl ads are almost sold out. nbc says there's only 5 30-second spots left, at $5 million each. >> a lot of money on this game.

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and finally this morning, a good neighbor emerging in the midst of disaster. >> as lee heads to new england, vermont is still struggling to

bounce back from irene. and one woman who saw her dreams wash away, is putting her own needs on hold to help others. abc's linsey davis has more. >> reporter: this is wilmington, vermont's main street. a pictureesque new england scene. this is wilmington now. and the woman who drew that pastel, her name is ann coleman. what you see floating away in the floodwaters is her $4 million investment. her art gallery, now in pieces, more than two miles downstream. >> you see the whole roof line going back. >> reporter: but ann's focus now is not her own loss. she's traded in a paint brush for a broom. working to help her friends. >> our homes, we were going to use because we were without power at home. we saw a neighbor pulling out of his house. >> reporter: so, she gave him

her generator. she is also giving away food from her backyard. >> here's some veggies. >> reporter: and emotional support. she's so busy helping her neighbors -- >> a frame from one of my pieces. >> reporter: she and her husband, joe, barely have the time to pick up the pieces of their own lives. >> i wish i had flood insurance. >> reporter: once a prominent picture of main street. >> that's where the gallery was. >> reporter: the gallery is now an empty space. as on artist, ann is used to going back to the drawing board. now, she's trying to re-create her beloved town. so it looks something like the original. linsey davis, abc news, wilmington, vermont. >> selfless lady. >> absolutely. it must be devastating. >> so sad. heavy rain is falling in the northeast, thanks to tropical storm lee. we'll have complete coverage