yep, it was shot right here in asheville. ♪ >> reporter: asheville's striking landscape is even a favorite first lady. >> they went hiking on the blue ridge parkway. they had barbecue. they visited biltmore house. they did all the things that a typical visitor does when they come to asheville. >> reporter: but beyond the dazzling mountains and waterfalls the town of asheville is just as vibrant and who could forget the famous biltmore estate? it alone attracts 1 million visitors every year. >> i've been all around the world, to italy, ireland, moscow, canada, but there's just nothing like this. >> reporter: from asheville's cascading mountains to the pristine beaches of destin, it's that sweet southern charm that makes these two of the most beautiful places in america. [ cheers and applause ] >> i want to go right now. so if you had to choose -- >> yeah, it's a beautiful place, i got to tell you. you know, if you love fishing, destin is the place to go. it's a little, little secret place down there in the panhandle of florida. absolutely gorgeous. >> not so much -- >> that sunset. >> i'm w

, where he would sneak off to louisville, which is pretty close to asheville. he was just desperate traveling around, taking late-night railroaded and trying to secure his reputation and make sure also that he left a legacy. if he did enough parks, and maybe some of them with last. >> and writing letters all the time. we've send a short e-mails to everybody. there probably are going to vanish off the face of the earth. it's fabulous because he wrote thousands of these letters. >> the way i always described it as it was a 19th century. olmsted was very much a man about town. yet a lot of friends in the best way to describe it this olmstead cross the street, he did a diary entry, wrote letters about it. and then several friends either diary entries or letters they wrote about crossing the street. it created this kind of -- like so many different takes on any given action, but at least it was an embarrassment of riches to be able to have so many acts in his life for him to be accounting for them very articulately commit or insightfully and very long -- nothing lik

i spoke and invent in asheville recently. -- i spoke at a tent event nfl recently. -- but i spoke at event in nashville recently. one professor of education at harvard said that when we take the risk of really witnessing another human being, when we validate their human experience , we risk becoming recruited to their welfare. that is really all i have done, is allow my empathy to be engaged. once it is, because my feelings help teach me what my values are, i am on the path for which there is no return. i am in a sorely an advocate -- an advocate.le y tavis: you went back there after your career was burgeoning. you wanted to get credentiale >> i always wanted to go to school. it was a dynamic experience as a in undergrad it u.k. being an avid fan of the men's basketball program, i am also a fan of education there. i had an absolutely wonderful education. i wanted to go to graduate school. but i was afraid that, if i did not honor the acting thing, that it would be a regret that i carried the rest of my life. if i did not go to hollywood as a young woman, i did not know that it would

. >> jonathan in asheville, north carolina, on the independents line. caller: hello this. i was listening in while i was waiting, i would just echo everything that the last previous four or five callers had said. america is fed up with politics as usual. we need our politicians to do what they say. and that's all i'd like to say. >> we appreciate your call. thank you very much. we are still awaiting comment from senate republicans. they are set to brief reporters on the debt ceiling agreement at 2:00 p.m. eastern. you see reporters are standing by, waiting for their arrival. until then, senate democrats also spoke about the debt ceiling agreement just after it was passed in the senate. that vote was 74-26. >> the debate was long, it wasn't easy. for weeks the american people have watched and wondered whether congress could get its job done. well, we got it done and brought our economy back from the brink of disaster. in the end, the two sides came together, that's how our system works. neither side got what they wanted, each side laments some of the things we had to give u

>> reporter: there's a steady flow of beer in asheville. it's a haven for craft breweries.o this source of suds for something that's hard to swallow. brew craft beer shampoo. >> it's creative concept. >> reporter: brad and sarah piersole said it's two years in the making. most of the alcohol burns out in the production process. >> we put on the bottle that, no, you cannot drink it. >> reporter: it took lots of trial and drink it. >> i got every microbrew i could find and poured it on my head. and st. theresas works best. >> reporter: they're filling up kegs of beer from highland brewing company, and bottling the shampoo. >> the finished product of the beer is an amazing broth of b vitamins, minerals, protein. >> reporter: this store is conveniently located just steps away from the beer section. before you open up a six-pack of douse, remember the idea of brew in the do, nothing new. >> beer shampoo. alcoholic shampoos are never to >> reporter: the concept goes back decades, even his mom got her beer on. >> body and shine. pour it on your head before saturday night dates. >>

he's a student at unc asheville. had a rather large boat that was tied down and appeared to be riding out the storm. he said he was amazed to see how strong the wind felt. i want to emphasize to our viewers, we are sharing your ireports. do not go to any danger ever to take videos to get them to cnn. we vet these things first to make sure the people who took them were not denying evacuation orders and certainly were not putting themselves or anyone else in danger by getting these. if you are in a position to safely get videos,

client was george vanderbilt and do some work there and steve off to louisville which was close to asheville and do work on their park system. he was desperate traveling around taking a late-night rail ride and trying to secure his reputation and make sure he left a big lasting legacy figuring if he did enough parks maybe someone would last. >> and writing letters all the time. we have all forgotten these short e-mails at who knows, they will all vanish off of the face of the earth. he wrote thousands of these letters. >> the way i always describe it is it was the nineteenth century, olmstead was very much a sort of man about town. a lot of friends. the best way to describe it is effective of crossed the street he had diarrhea bout it and wrote a variety of letters about it because he was a journalist and several friends either had diary entries or letters that wrote about olmstead crossing the street. created this kind of so many different takes -- to have so many things in his life to the accounting for them and very insightfully and often in very long -- 10 or 15 pages of explanation of b

sam swung into sedona, arizona, aspen, colorado and emeril hit the beach in destin, florida and ashevilleor cameron mathison is here with our last two. i got shut out of the best boondoggle in "gma" history. >> i'm listening to you and thinking, wow, those are beautiful places but i got lucky too. thanks to you at home i got to enjoy the trip of a lifetime combining sky and sea. skiing and surfing. i'm a lucky guy. lanikai beach, wyoming and wyoming. across the great plains of america where the buffalo roam rises the nation's mountain rank grand tetons. dolly sent us this, inspiring choice for one of "gma's" most beautiful places in america and says "i have that view engraved in my mind and i close my eyes and i see it." the largest peak in the range rises to nearly 14,000 feet. and either summer or winter this is a aplayground for everyone. even hollywood royalty like harrison ford and sandra bullock take advantage of this american wonderland all year long. >> it's like a human magnet. just draws you in and it's unbelievable here. >> reporter: from winter's deep powder for skiers and sno

he would seek off to louisville which was close to asheville and do some work on their part system. he was desperately traveling around taking these late night rail rights to secure his reputation and make sure he left a big lasting legacy. he figured if he did enough parks some of them would last. >> and writing letters all the time. we send short e-mails to everybody that will vanish off the face of the earth. for an archivist it is fabulous because he wrote thousands of letters. >> it was the nineteenth century. olmstead was a man about town. he had a lot of friends. the best way to describe it is if he crossed the street he did a diary entry about it. he was writing letters about it. he was a journalist. he wrote an article about it and several friends had diary entries or letters they wrote about him crossing the street. to a biographer it created so many takes on any given action but it was an embarrassment to be able to be able to have so many -- for him to account for them in very articulate, insightfully and very long -- nothing like e-mails today. 10 or 15 pages of explana

tomorrow emeril lagasse shows us two more great spots, asheville, north carolina and destin, florida.so use the "gma" app on your smartphone. we want you to vote, and we will announce the winner next week. but now it's time for the weather. amy freeze in for sam. >> hi, george. beautiful here in new york city in times square right now and new braunfels, texas, is where this gal is from, escape the heat. 75 degrees going to 87 in philadelphia. across the northeast, a refreshing cold front cutting through all of the humidity today. so even cooler temperatures coming in for tomorrow. as far as the rest of the country, hotlanta, you'll get 95 today. severe storms to the mid-mississippi valley. day 40 for dallas consecutive >> this portion of the weather forecast brought to you by petsmart. >> when we come back, angie harmon is here. the far of "rizzoli & isles" reveals the flee reasons that >>> angie harmon has a lot to celebrate these days. 8 million fans tune in to see her on "rizzoli & isles" making it one of the most popular shows on cable right now. she just celebrated her ten-year w

asheville, north carolina. aspen, colorado. dustin, florida. grand tetons. jackson hole, wyoming.ctly? oahu, hawaii. port reyes, california. and sleeping bear dunes, michigan. we want you guys to vote on your favorite place. we all have our thoughts on it. check out all the places we visited on abcnews.com/gma. then, vote for your favorite on our website. or use the "gma" app on your smartphone. we'll announce the winner of the most beautiful place. next week. and tomorrow, josh, you're up. ere are you going? >> i'm not going to tell you. but it's a familiar place. >> you're doing the trick that i did. >> it rhymes with california. >> let me think about it. all right. thank you. i can't wait to see that. and sam champion will be so upset he's not here. he loves it. >>> and the ace of cakes is here. another duff in my life. duff goldman with gorgeous weather. >> the audience. >> isn't it? weather-inspired cake. and amy, take it away. >> sam would explain this is a high-pressure system with the snow-capped mountain and the cumulus below. >> it is a meteor logic event. new york city

asheville, north carolina aspen, colorado cape cod massachusetts, destin, florida, grand teton, wyoming reyes, california, sedona, arizona, and sleeping bear dunes, michigan. we showed you the sites, and then thousands more of you told us which was your favorite. your most beautiful place of 2011 is the sleeping bear dunes national lakeshore. "gma" viewer jim nominated it saying it is peaceful and serene where gazing out into the world and realizing that the universe is truly a majestical and magic history and humans are just a very small part of it all. a remarkable landscape crafted by ancient glaciers, 64 miles of sand, 26 inland lakes, 2 islands, countless shipwrecks and, of course those monumental sand dunes, but the beauty of this area doesn't stop with the sensational scenery. the small town surrounding the park are full of the makings for a perfect vacation. charming architecture, cozy inns and especially lots of good food. >> mm-mm. >> good? >> really good. >> reporter: one of the biggest fans of upper michigan just happens to be one fof our favorite chefs, mario batali and his

host: one viewer reaches back to the 1980's in her e-mail, with this -- host: asheville, n.c., eric,emocratic line. caller: how are you doing this morning? first of all, i would like to say, and i hope, which, and pray for all of the people affected by hurricane irene. ok, to say this, i think that obama is doing as good a job as he can under these circumstances. he has, whether you want to call them the tea party, i believe that they directly are involved with the gop. they have been against him since he was elected, plain and simple. our problems started back in the reagan years with spending and stuff. everybody, and i mean everybody, excluding millionaires and stuff, have spent over what we are allowed to over-spend. if there is anybody that i believe can get this done, it will be his administration. host: all right, that was north carolina, democratic line. on the shrinking budget, state and local governments are shoring up aging systems. this is from "usa today." host: in other news, prosecution is on pace to find a medicare fraud prosecution rising 85%. this is from "usa today

it's the vanderbilt landscaping case in asheville. you have helped lead the fight to correct the injustices that the workers have faced because of your tireless efforts this has helped to pay off. here we are eager to 42 latino h to be guest workers that have come to the country seeking a better life and a decent wage. but vanderbilt landscaping paid the workers less than minimum wage. they finally did not write a fairly broad standards act, they won't violate rules governing the beach to the visa program and they misrepresented workers themselves and their plans for these workers, they thought they could get away with plotting the law. but guess what, folks, they didn't. and why not? because jobs with justice helped discover the violation and to get the word out. [applause] just last month we resolved our own case against vanderbilt landscaping. we collected back wages for these workers. we assessed fines and penalties against that company. but we didn't stop just there. because of its violations, vanderbilt landscaping won't be able

it's the vanderbilt landscaping case in asheville. you have helped lead the fight to correct the injustices that the workers have faced because of your tireless efforts this has helped to pay off. here we are eager to 42 latino h to be guest workers that have come to the country seeking a better life and a decent wage. but vanderbilt landscaping paid the workers less than minimum wage. they finally did not write a fairly broad standards act, they won't violate rules governing the beach to the visa program and they misrepresented workers themselves and their plans for these workers, they thought they could get away with plotting the law. but guess what, folks, they didn't. and why not? because jobs with justice helped discover the violation and to get the word out. [applause] just last month we resolved our own case against vanderbilt landscaping. we collected back wages for these workers. we assessed fines and penalties against that company. but we didn't stop just there. because of its violations, vanderbilt landscaping won't be able

business as usual investment at 12% savings for sacramento, 24% for albuquerque, a whopping 51% from asheville. there are a big potential savings if we look seriously it in the future it by building some areas. to, we need to fix it first by clear and more aggressive maintenance policy. 500 bridges in america fell between 1989 and 2003, and nearly 7000 bridges are in disrepair. as former white house economic adviser larry summers put it, you run a deficit when you borrow money and when you needed for maintenance that needs either way, you are imposing a cost on future generations. we need to break our oil that and national oil savings objectives for the transportation policy in similar object is for states and regions. transportation driving america's dependence on foreign oil. with nea -- transportation remain almost entirely dependent . this translates into a 9000- gallon-per-second ad. how do we reduce that dependence? raising the bar on fuel economy which we are making good progress on, is the first step. second, providing consumers with more fuel prices by making cars pluggable. the third

next this time, joining us from asheville, north carolina, on the republican line. >> i have been listening to all the comments. i really don't know which way we could go, except we have to stop spending money that we don't have. we keep spending money that we don't have. we would not do that at my house. you would not do that at your house. the answer would not be to go to your credit card and max it out now so that we can spend ourselves into getting back this money. it just does not make any sense. we have to stop spending. we could raise the age of beneficiaries for social security with a four-year plan. each year we raise just by three months each beneficiary. just three months per year, and you could get out in four years. help small businesses by giving them money, not by extending unemployment to people. you are giving money to people who are not working. give the money to small businesses to hire people, and you would get more people working. it does not make sense that you would keep spending, give money to people to stay home, and that would be a way to fix things. it does not ma