"cnn newsroom" continues with joe johnson. joe in for fredricka. >> you bet, thanks so much, deb. >>> in afghanistan, what may be the deadliest day for coalition forces since the war started. afghan president hamid karzai says 31 u.s. troops and seven afghans died in a helicopter crash in wardak province in the eastern part of the country. a u.s. military official says more than two dozen americans are believed to have decide, many if not all of them special operations forces. cnn's barbara starr is joining us from washington, d.c. barbara, the taliban are claiming they shot the helicopter down. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, joe, this is now of course under investigation by the united states military and the coalition. they are already saying that there were reports of enemy fire in the area at the time of the incident, but they will conduct

i'm joe johnson in the situation. for our interview viewers. world are report is next. john king usa starts right now. >> thanks, joe. i'm candy crowley. john king is off. hurricane irene has the potential to bey the storm of a time for millions. a spokesman put it this way. irene is everything a hurricane can be and it's on one of those worst case tracks for the east coast. the governors of 6 states, maryland, new jersey and connecticut already declared states of emergency up and down the east coast. officials are pleading with people to take this storm seriously. >> every citizen in the state who is in harm's way needs to prepare for the worst and pray for the best. >> let me assure you that we are not overreacting. we need to be ready >> if you live in one of these areas, spend time with precaution. >> battering the bahamas. in nasa, jim, what has the damage been there? >> reporter: candy, a little a little bit of palms here with high wind and strong rain. here in nassau, the main tourist areas, no damage or floods whatsoever. the power lines -- [inaudible] they are s

joe johnson young from riverside could not fulfill one of her wives linda's last wishes.ey be buried together at a veterans cemetery. this is not right. doctor kevin mackey was tragically killed this past thursday on his way to san francisco general hospital. he leaves behind his husband and two children who now, because of doma, essentially lose ride that would have gone to a heterosexual couple. for some reason, the congress of the united states when it passed doma in 1996, sought essentially to deny rights and benefits provided by the federal government to legally married same-sex couples. this must change. that's what this is all about. however, long it takes. we will achieve it. thank you very much, mr. chairman,. >> thank you very much. our first witness is congressman john lewis. civil rights legend. is also a close personal friend. he is often referred to as the conscious of the congress. today, congressman lewis continues to be as he has, a powerful advocate of matters of quality. congressman lewis, please go ahead. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. chairman

johnson, crazy drunk. >> you get an odouls. >> you get a weird party favor. >> he gets jennifer hudson jumping out of a cake. >> interesting. i would have liked to have seen joe biden jump out of the cake and do a stripper graham addressing osama bin laden. >> they are not doing that. it is pin the hair plug on. >> joe biden can drink. he can get smashed, absolutely. >> i don't know. i have never seen it. on my 50th, topless iewn corns -- uni corns and a case of now and laters. >> from the big 5-o to a car that won't go. is america in revolt overall things bolt? gm's $40,000 battery operated thing-a-ma-bob sold all of 125 units last month. that's like girl scouts sell more boxes of cookies on a slow month. by comparison, they own electric offering that are named leaf and got rid of a whooping 930 vehicles in july. all bought by leo dicaprio. there is a tiny difference, can't pronounce that word. quote, they expect it will maintain the lead of sales in north america, at least through 2012. congratulations. by comparison, chevrolet sold 25,000 gas powered saban dans and -- sedans and 3,000 plug ins purchased. not to be swayed by a lack of interest, chevy expect