thank you for waking up with us. i'm live in new york. let's start in texas, shall we? it's a dry, scorched burning place this morning. its wildfire problems are getting worse. more than 60 new fires broke out over the weekend. the biggest and maybe the most dangerous is the one you're looking at in bastrop county, 30 miles from downtown usa. p let's go to atlanta and check in with rob marciano. we're going to get to chris welch who's in texas just a bit. i wanted to talk to you first about the dry conditions in texas and if they're going to get any relief from mother nature. >> we don't see a whole lot coming down the pipe there, carol, and what's the good news today, is that lee, or what's left over of lee is pulling off towards the north and east and that really, the past two days, has what's been causing the biggest problem ironically. we were hoping to get lee's moisture over there. it didn't. it missed it to the east. it got the back side, the wrap around dry air winds that only made the conditions worse yesterday. so today, we don't have critical fire danger, we don't have red flag warning that's up. that's the good news. the winds will be lighter. it's not going to be any more moisture. and it's not -- definitely not going to rain, but the winds will be lighter and the temperatures will be a little cooler. i tell you, what from the firefighters that i've talked to over years of covering fires like this, they'll take cooler winds, cooler temperatures, and they'll certainly take lighter winds. they don't necessarily need a complete dumping of rain from a tropical system to get a handle on this fire. so the hope is today they do that. chris welch i believe is on the line with us via phone. what can you tell us as far as the latest stats of fire, ac rage, containment. >> we're still hearing about 25,000 acres so far. we got a new number, i guess that number was updated yesterday afternoon. we, of course, expect that number to go up. we were hearing yesterday for most of the day, 300 homes had been destroyed so far. now we're hearing that number is closer to 500. i believe the number they gave us now is 476 homes destroyed. i can tell you where we're standing right now it's still dark, the sun hasn't come up here, but you can see this massive orange glow and firefighters -- we're told firefighters have been working throughout the night. they've got about 250 firefighters that are working to battle this fire right now. we're also hearing word this morning that governor rick perry, who cut his campaign trail trip short yesterday to come back to the state to tend to this stuff, he'll be holding a -- he's going to fly over this morning at 8:00 a.m. local, 9:00 a.m. eastern. after that do another press briefing. we hope to hear more from him later today. we will get you new pictures to you as soon as we can. >> what's been the strategy for today and going forward with the firefighters told you as far as what the plan of containment is with these residents being so close? >> given the fact that yesterday, winds actually picked up a little bit more than they anticipated, the fire started posing more of a threat than they anticipated as well. so they hoped to do more of a ground fight with this, but yesterday that was not possible. they were dropping buckets of water and retardant from blackhawk helicopters, not doing much in the way of ground because it's just too dangerous to send crews that close to these flames when the winds are so bad and, you know, the humidity level is so low. it's dry out here. that had been the plan yesterday. once daylight comes today, they're going to do a briefing with the emergency crews and they hope to, you know, figure out if they'll be able to do something different today. >> chris welch for us live from the fire lines in bastrop county, texas, outside of austin. carol, no rain there. the rains from what's left over of lee continues to move off the east coast, we'll be watching that for potential flooding for the areas that got hit by irene. and hurricane katia is now a category 3 storm, with winds of 125 miles an hour. we do not expect landfall in the u.s., but it already affecting the east coast with big waves and the winds with this large storm will get to parts of eastern new england, but thankfully no direct hit expected. >> yeah. it's already raining here in new york too. rob marciano and chris welch, many thanks to both of you. the fires in texas meant governor rick perry had to break away from the presidential trail. you heard chris mention that. perry missed yesterday's palmetto freedom forum in south carolina. senator jim demint, congressman steve king of iowa and a princeton law professor hosted. demint is one of the tea party's biggest champions on capitol hill. the three hosts asked the republican candidates about the constitution, role of government and their positions on various issues. here's a sample. >> what would you change about our foreign policy? >> a lot. first i would have one. >> i happen to believe that this information is weakening america militarily. this is not what americans want. the world is not safer. >> the constitution does not specifically enumb rate nor does it give to the federal government the role and duty to super intend over education that historically has been held by the parents. >> liberty and rights don't have anything to do with entitlements. entitlements means you can take someone else's money and the government there is to redistribute it. >> he's the most effective food stamp president in american history. >> okay. you saw michele bachmann there. there's been a shakeup inside her campaign. her campaign manager is moving into an advisory roll. ed rollins had a stroke more than a year ago and doesn't have the endurance for the long daily grind of a white house bid. bachmann's campaign manager is quitting over what he calls strategic differences. those people clearly don't like the way president obama is handling the economy, nearly do 65% of americans in a recent cnn orc international poll which means the pressure is on to deliver with obama's big speech on jobs later this week. yesterday, president obama gave a sort of preview to a pro-union crowd in detroit. >> we've got roads and bridges across this country that need rebuilding. we've got private companies with the equipment and the manpower to do the building. we've got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now. >> when president obama lays out his new jobs plan to a joint session of congress on thursday, cnn will, of course, carry it live. don't miss our special coverage beginning at 6:00 p.m. eastern. the president told that detroit crowd that he would defend organized labor and restore the middle class. teamster's president james hoffa went one step farther. listen. >> president obama, this is your army. we are ready to march and president obama, we want one thing -- jobs, jobs, jobs! >> okay. he said something else that's riled up the political pundits across america. we're going to talk more about hoffa's speech in our political ticker with jim farley in a few minutes. jerry lewis wasn't there this time but the 46th annual muscular dystrophy telethon he devoted so much of his life to went on. ♪ i come to you with open arms >> that was celine deon doing her steve perry impression. md officials say the telethon raised more than $61 million. that's the best it's done since 2008. this time, the telethon wasn't really a telethon. it lasted only six hours. sitting at your computer all day can cause all kinds of stress on your eyes and neck. now, inventors have come up with a way to make sure you are sitting up straight all the time. it doesn't involve your mother. but first, it's time for our quote of the day. this is the quote. you are the only folks keeping the barbarians in the gates. end quote. comes from a politician, high-powered one, and it's not jimmy hoffa. we'll tell you who said it and what they were talking about in 90 seconds. ed our room right? 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[ female announcer ] find the tide that's right for you at tide.com. it is ten minutes past the hour. this is your "am: wake up call." let's get back to the quote of the day, shall we? the quote is, you are the only folks keeping the barbarians in the gates. end quote. that was vice president joe biden in ohio saying organized labor is under assault. here he is getting all fired up. >> you are the only folks keeping the barbarians in the gates. you are the only nongovernmental power. the only nongovernmental power. the only one that has the power and the capacity to stop this onslaught. >> he's talking about a new gop backed law, restricting collective bargaining rights for public employees. unions will try to overturn that ohio law, sb 5, they'll try to overturn that law in november. time for a check on the world markets. they took quite a tumble earlier, so let's go to kristie lu stout live in hong kong. why? >> hey there, carol. markets in europe they are rebounding. modest gains i'm talking about. providing at least some relief after monday's steep fall. now that said, analysts say that high volatility is likely to remain until there's a lasting solution to the european debt crisis. those debt woes are also driving the asian markets today. and also worries about the strength of the u.s. economy also hurting share prices here. markets here extended monday's sharp declines with banking and energy companies all leading the way. carol? >> okay. let's talk about something, i don't know if it's more pleasant but certainly is interesting, this invention to make sure you keep your posture while working at your computer. >> yeah. i overheard you earlier comparing it to bringing your mom to work. there is a lot of that in here. there's a high tech computer monitor designed to help your health at work called thor go sensor. it detects a range of moments in front of the computer screen like how you're sitting and how many times you're linking your eyes and tells you if you're sitting in the optimal ergonomic zone. it can reprimand you for bad posture and tell you when you need a break. this computer monitor will go on sale in europe starting in december. what do you think? >> do you think people will buy that? >> do you know what, i think there would be a number of buyers in asia. i don't know -- in the u.s. i'm not sure. but i have a gut sense that people here in asia would be curious about this thing. even though it does seem more annoying than informative. >> i was going to say, i think i would punch it after a while. thank you. >> especially if it involves pop-ups. right? >> exactly. christi lu stout, thank you. james hoffa know house to energy a pro-union crowd. see what got them fired up in detroit and a tea party appearance just before president obama. it's 13 minutes past the hour. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. 14 minutes past the hour. welcome back. it's time now for our political ticker. president obama getting warmed up for his big, big speech on jobs on thursday night. we got a preview of that speech as he spoke to a union crowd in detroit. listen. >> there is work to be done and there are workers ready to do it. labor is on board, business is on board. we just need congress to get on board. >> tim farley, host of "morning briefing" on sirius joins me live from washington. the president was fired up, but i understand before the speech senator carl levin handed president obama a speech by harry truman, sort of a "give them hell" kind of speech and i don't know that president obama delivered that in detroit, but some might say he came closer. >> that was seemingly the attempt, al this i find it ironic harry truman was the one who had the army take over the railroads when the union was on strike and that was a different part of the truman presidency. there seems to be a push, carol, for president obama to fight. indeed the "l.a. times" has a poll that indicates although people would like to see congress do something about jobs, as we approach the big speech by the president this week, there's also a sense they don't want him to compromise at all. they want him to stick to his guns and fight. and this is a union movement, of labor that has been disappointed in some ways of this president because he has not done anything about nafta, he has also not moved forward with union voting and in some ways has been, as i say, disappointment to this group. how much he can actually depend on labor in the 2012 election remains to be seen. >> well, labor is certainly providing the fighting words for president obama. i'm sure everyone's heard by now what teamster's president james hoffa said right before president obama took to the podium. president obama was not there yet when james hoffa said this. listen. >> everybody here's got a vote. if we go back and we keep the eye on the prize, let us take these son of a -- out and give america back to america where we belong. >> now, of course, he was talking about the tea party and he -- and by taking them out, he meant voting them out. of course tea party supporters took it a whole different way. they took it in a more violent way. they've sent out this press release via e-mail asking supporters for campaign donations because of what james hoffa said. maybe this sort of stuff resonates not only with union members but for other liberals who think president obama should take off the gloves? >> yeah. and this is going to be one of the key tests of the 2012 campaign. we've seen mitt romney reaching out more to the tea party. whether or not the tea party is going to be that much of a factor in 2012, sarah palin was trying to get them not to be divided when she was appearing this weekend in new hampshire. the tea party is not on the ballot. it is a symbol, if you will, of the more right wing parts of the republican party. just as for some people, the unions might be considered part of the more left wing aspects or the more left wing side of the democratic party. so if you get the extremes playing against it, the question is who's going to play in the middle and where are the independent voters in the screaming. you have to energize your base but get those people who want something to happen in washington, d.c., and i think the battle is going to be there. but as you say, we've got some pretty exciting language going on here and we'll see if that does resonate either on the right or left. >> and just an added thought, president obama supposed to be the guy who brings the sides together. that's what he campaigned on. that's what he's been trying to do. so it's difficult for him just to abandon that all of a sudden and turn into this tough talking harry truman kind of president. >> yeah. exactly. and although the -- we've talked about the left wants a -- they want a fighter, the president, they don't want a professor in chief which is what they seem to be getting more often from this president. he also has to govern by the way. he's running for president. unlike 2008 when he was on the outside looking in, he's on the inside now and he's got to figure out what to do. the speech on thursday night, perhaps, the first step in a long series of steps to get him to re-election in 2012, at least that's what he's hoping for. >> we'll see. tim farley, thanks as always. tim farley host of "morning briefing" on sirius. libyan convoys moved through a neighboring african nation, so where's moammar gadhafi? is this part of his attempt to seek refuge outside of libya? we're digging around for answers. but first, it is september 6th and that means it's fight procrastination day. to everyone out there who likes to race deadlines, put off things until the last second, fight that urge and get it done today. it's 19 minutes past the hour. 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[ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful. 22 minutes after the hour. this is your "am: wake up call." here are three things to put on your radar today. at 8:30 eastern, mayor bloomberg of new york scheduled to give an update on the progress at ground zero as we look ahead it to marking the tenth year anniversary of the nation's tragedy. also this morning, general david petraeus will be sworn in as the new cia director. at 2:00 p.m. eastern, a hearing to discuss the u.s. postal service crisis. it may not be able to pay all of its bills at the end of the month. the postmaster general among several being called to testify at today's hearing. overnight we learned libyan convoys passed through the african nation of nige. let's bring in zain verjee. any evidence he is? >> hi, carol. that is the million dollar question and i don't have the answer. nobody does. at least nobody talking to us. what we're trying to figure out here, moving quickly, what is going on. what we do know is that there are two convoys of libyan vehicles passing through niger. that's according to the nigerian military captain and minister in the ministry of interior in niger. neither of which were authorized to speaks to the media. what we understand is one of the convoys is heading to the cap nall of niger, and the other has already reached. it is not clear who exactly is in those convoys, but there is speculation that it could be moammar gadhafi, it could be members of his family, it could be loyalists just leaving. we don't know for sure. but we're keeping our eye on it, carol. that's for sure. >> okay. talking about people still loyal to moammar gadhafi. what's going on at bani walid in libya? >> well, negotiations are going on. what an official in the transitional national council has told cnn, is that the two sides will be meeting for talks today. what they want is for them to surrender. they're saying we will not harm you if you surrender. so there is a little bit of progress on negotiations there. we'll see how they shake out. >> and another topic, the council of europe is demanding the truth about cia black sites. what are they? >> right. well the president for the council of europe is saying come clean before 9/11. these were those prisons that these black sites that basically prisoners after 9/11 were taken to to be integrated. there were allegations of torture going on in black sites like this that were in different countries in europe and basically they can do things to prisoners in some of these countries you cannot do in the united states. so what the president of the council of europe is saying, let's stop all of this, guarantee that this kind of cooperation doesn't happen again, and just come clean about the details of what happened at these black sites. >> so how likely is that to happen? >> it's unlikely. i mean, there have been leaks and information that we had about waterboarding, for example, in specific countries that the cia had had links to and that were conducting these kind of programs in these black sites. it's unlikely. which we may get a drip of it. the president is call fog are more information. because this is so shrouded in secrecy and intelligence and specific kind of operations, that they would not want to get out. >> yeah. i just can't envision them coming forward and saying yeah, we torture people secretly. i don't know. it's a tall order. zain verjee live from london, thanks so much. oscar producers say they're looking for more comedy in next year's show, so could eddie murphy be tapped to host hollywood's golden night? the big name who's backing him up, that's coming up next. it's 26 minutes past the hour. purina cat chow helps you well-being. we're all striving for it. nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life. exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. which shirt feels more expensive? i get to touch these guys? oooh, ooh la la. i'm feeling their muscles. yup, yup. this feels great. that one. that one's softer. [ female announcer ] actually, it's the same t-shirt. really? but this one was washed in downy. really? that's why it was softer. it has a real soft velvety feeling. let me try again. [ female announcer ] it's like an upgrade in a bottle. divine. why spend a lot of money when you can just use downy? [ female announcer ] new ultra downy with silktouch, it's an upgrade in a bottle. ♪ ♪ one, two, three, four ♪ you say ♪ flip it over and replay ♪ we'll make everything okay ♪ walk together the right way ♪ do, do, do, do good morning to you. tuesday, september 6th. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining us. live in new york. it is just about 30 minutes past the hour. an enormous wildfire burning outside of austin, it texas, right now, has already destroyed nearly 500 homes. and firefighters haven't been able to do much about it. it is the biggest and maybe the most dangerous of the dozens of fires that have broken out in the last few days. so let's head to texas now and chris welch and chris, you know, i just -- how is it going? are firefighters making any headway at all? >> you're right when you say that the firefighters haven't been able to do much. these winds have been so strong. yesterday they were even stronger than they anticipated. i think you can see over, it's over my right shoulder, you can see that glow still raging in the background. that -- this is before the sun even comes up. before the sun has time to really dry things up and heat things up. so this fire is definitely raging on. couple new things this morning. 25,000 acres, that's the latest number we've got. that's how much has been burned so far. 476 homes destroyed. and we heard from texas governor rick perry yesterday. he cut his campaign events short to come back to the state, tend to these wildfires. he had a press conference. we expect to hear more from him this morning. he's planning to do another flyover. want to give you a listen to a couple things he said yesterday. >> it was a surreal experience today, not only flying by that substantial -- i mean, i have seen a number of big fires in my life. this one is as -- this one is as mean looking as i've ever seen, partly because it's so close to the city. >> reporter: and wildfires have been a serious issue here in texas for the last almost year now. fire season usually starts in november and then winds down in the spring when rains come. this year that didn't happen. rains didn't come. they've had serious drought. since december, they have had 3.5 million acres of land burnt. that's about the size of the state of connecticut, carol. >> that's just awful. chris welch, we're going to be praying for rain for the folks in texas. reporting live from outside of bost austin, thank you. the white house says an extra $1.5 billion is needed for america's disaster relief fund. it's a preliminary estimate to covered uninsured losses as a result of hurricane irene. the additional funds on top of the $5 billion needed for other recent disasters, all of this awaits lawmakers returning from summer recess. they're going to have to tackle that 2012 budget. new mexico could soon put the brakes on granting driver's licenses to undocumented immigrants. state lawmakers will consider the ish. >> a special session that begins today. critics say the practice is a magnet for fraud. they say way too many illegal immigrants are coming from other states to get driver's licenses. utah and washington are the only other states with a similar law. state workers in utah are back to a five-day work week. most state offices had been closed on fridays since 2008 in an attempt to save on energy bills. it was a plan implemented by then governor jon huntsman. he's now seeking the gop nomination for president. turns out didn't save much money so state workers are back to five-day work weeks. comedian eddie murphy could be tapped to host the academy awards next year. he is the top candidate, according to "the hollywood reporter." one of the people in his corner, brett rater in coproducing the show and directed murphy in his film "tower heist." billy chris tall also on the list. not on the list anne hathaway and james franco. i don't think they will be repeating that ever. it's just september but some analysts are predicting what holiday sales will look like this year. we'll be back in 90 seconds. it's 33 minutes past. 34 minutes past the hour. rhode island thinking about slashing benefits for 50,000 state workers and retirees. it's about a $6.8 billion shortfall in the pension plan. that's almost equal to the state's entire annual budget. so next month lawmakers are expected to consider a, shrinking retirement checks, b, replacing guaranteed pensions with retirement accounts, and c, giving up some generous cost of living raises for retirees. the postmaster general heads to congress today to talk about debt. the postal service facing its second year of $8 billion plus losses. it may not be able to make this month's payment to cover future employee health care costs because it's maxed out on its credit and way short on cash. for more -- man, i'm having trouble with phrases this morning, christine. morning money news, let's head to christine romans. take it away. the u.s. markets aren't shaping up so well this morning. >> futures are down. the markets closed yesterday. friday a down day because of the jobs report for august showed no net job creation in this country. gifts concerns about europe. but europe rebounded. we'll see. it could be skittish at topen. i'm watching gold. i can't see what your earrings look like today. gold hit above $1900 an ounce. that's been a pretty good way to check the pulse of how scared the market is and what people are feeling in the world economy. gold prices up again. it still shows indecision. a lot of people talking about congress, the president, jobs, et cetera. just more uncertainty and unease. >> i was holding up my solid gold necklace. >> there you go. >> it's not solid gold. let's talk about the holiday sales forecast. although i don't know why. christmas is a long way off. >> i know. it's the beginning of september, but this is already the time when we get the retail trade groups coming out with their expectations for what the holiday shopping season will be. why does november and december matter so much? a lot of companies get like 40 to 50% of their wholesale -- whole sales for the year. a retail trade group is saying november and december they expect sales to increase 3.5%. now, i would say that sounds optimistic, doesn't it? we've seen consumer confidence plunge. we've seen the market on edge. gold prices go up. the question is, but we did see a back-to-school shopping season that wasn't too bad. are people holding back for the rest of the year, but coming out when it matters like back-to-school time, like black friday, like christmas, already starting to gauge whether the consumer is going to come back by the end of the year and why does it matter? 70% of u.s. economic activity is tied to the consumer. you want to see the consumer healthy, happy and spending a little bit, but not too much and not digging into debt. it's a fine line. >> thank you. >> thank you, miss romans we appreciate it. >> lessons on business by christine. we love it. thank you. we'll see you in a bit. it's time to get smart. here's a question this morning. which piece of home technology uses the most electricity? okay. maybe it's not technology, but is it a, your refrigerator, b, your laptop, or c, your dvr? the answer coming your way in two minutes. it's 38 minutes past the hour. 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[ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. and i am a phoenix. 40 minutes past the hour. this is your "am: wake up call." back to our get smart question. the question was, what piece of home electronic thing uses the most electricity? the national resources defense council says it's c, your dvr or set top box. here's why. you can't turn most off or put them in sleep mode. if you hit the power button you're probably dimming the clock. they estimate there are about 160 million set top boxes in u.s. homes costing $3 billion a year in power. for our political ticker. let's bring in cnn political reporter peter hamby on the phone from columbia, south carolina. so, peter, let's talk governor rick perry first up because he had to go back to texas po to deal with the wildfires which meant he skipped the forum in south carolina. i guess the big question now is, will he be back in time for the republican debate on wednesday? >> we actually still don't know the answer to that, carol. he gave a press conference when he got back to texas after doing some campaigning in south carolina. he said that the primary focus remains the wildfires. it's the biggest, you know, wildfire breakout in state history. so we're still waiting to hear the answer on wednesday's debate. honestly i wouldn't put it past him to cancel the debate. he's canceled other plans later this week because, you know, rick perry he's kind of afraid to do his own thing and the focus really is for him on the wildfires. it's kind of a wait and see thing for us at this point. again you're right, he did cancel a very big event, a much-anticipated forum with south carolina senator demint in south carolina yesterday, carol. >> i'm sure most people in texas appreciate him doing the job he was elected to do. let's talk about mitt romney. he unveiled his jobs plan in nevada. he wrote -- actually it's nevada because the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate at 12.9%. romney also wrote an op-ed piece in "usa today" ahead of today's announcement and i'm just going to read you a little bit from that artlecle. romney says and i quote -- as you read through this op-ed, peter, does he have a good, solid plan? >> i mean, according to mitt romney, he's going to unveil 59 economic points in this plan which is vintage romney, mr. businessman, mr. ceo. i have a plan for everything. you know, he says he's going to totally eliminate corporate tax -- sorry, excuse me, capital gains taxes and dividend taxes, reveal -- repeal obama care, fight unions, whole litany of things. what he's trying to do here are two things. one, kind of continue the strategy he's had of positioning himself as the guy running against barack obama. the eventual nominee. you can really fix the economy in a way barack obama really has not done so far. but also, positioning himself against texas governor rick perry who's kind of leapfrogged him in the polls and become the frontrunner, you're going to hear language in the speech about how romney is a conservative business man, how business creates jobs and not the economy. all that language is designed to contrast themselves against rick perry who's been in government since 1985 and does have a good jobs record, but romney's going to say as a businessman, i can create jobs. government doesn't create jobs. business does. i'm going to unleash the power of the private sector, carol. >> got you. so if people want to read it it's in "usa today" an op-ed by mitt romney with his 59 points jobs plan. thank you very much peter hamby. look at sports, first up jim tressel left ohio state a few months ago, but he could not escape suspension. trestle is a consultant with the indianapolis colts, but the team is making him miss the first six games of the season. if he stayed in columbus, ohio, he would have been suspended for five games because of ncaa violations. several of his current and former players are being punished. so the colts thought it was only fair that tressel sit out a few games. if you're swimmish or have small children in the room take cover. the university of maryland demands you fare the turts. a bunch of people what watched the terps play last night were more terrified of their new unions. sports writers, even lebron james got on twitter and gapsed a collective ew on a related note maryland won so apparently the uniforms were that scary. the next athletes were a little more than a speedo or bikini. take a look. this is muscle beach, the muscle beach championship in venice, california. more women and more young people competed this year. one woman said she did the lemonade cayenne pepper and maple syrup cleansing for a week leading up to this. delicious. the winners got featured in "iron man" magazine. looking good. overnight, time to get serious now. overnight we learned libyan convoys had passed through the african nation of niger, so the big question this morning, is moammar gadhafi part of that convoy? let's bring back zain verjee, live in london. any new word about this, zain? >> we do not know for sure if moammar gadhafi is in that convoy. we don't know if members of his family are on it. we're trying to figure out what exactly is going on. what we can report is that two convoys of libyan vehicles are in the african country of niger. according to two sources, who weren't authorized to speak to the media, they are in niger. they indicated one of the convoys has reached the nigerian capital and one is on its way there. there's a lot of speculation about whether gadhafi is on it or not, carol. we're going to stay following this story and keep you posted. >> we must talk about this gigantic crocodile captured in the philippines. >> it was easier to capture the crocodile, you know. >> the -- these villagers in the philippines managed to capture a 1 ton saltwater crocodile. took about three weeks. set four traps and it broke through all of them. terrorizing fishermen and killed a huge water buffalo. after capturing it like this, look at that, what they had to do they're taking it to an eco tourism park where it's going to be the star attraction there. it's something like 21 foot long. pretty amazing. >> i'm glad they kept it alive. that was good of them. zain verjee, live in london, many thanks. on this day in history in 1901, president william mckinley was shot at the pan american exposition in buffalo. he was shaking hands when anarchists -- when an anarchist fired on him. president mckinley died eight days later. now you remember. maybe. 47 minutes past the hour. 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[ dog ] groupies! zain verjee, live in london, now you remember. host: could switching to geico reon car insurance? or more host: do people use smartphones to do dumb things? man 1: send, that is the weekend. app grapgic: yeah dawg! man 2: allow me to crack...the bubbly! man 1: don't mind if i doozy. man 3: is a gentleman with a brostache invited over to this party? man 1: only if he's ready to rock! ♪ sfx: guitar and trumpet jam vo: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. good morning to you. it is tuesday, september 6th. this is your "am: wake up call." i'm carol costello. joining you live from new york this morning. thank you for joining us. it is 50 minutes past the hour. texas governor rick perry calls it surreal. and as mean as any fire he's ever seen. he's talking about an enormous and dangerous wildfire burning outside the capital city of austin. it's destroyed nearly 500 homes so far and is threatening more. strong winds and dry conditions have made it tough for firefighters to contain. meteorologist rob marciano joins us from atlanta. so rob, are the winds dying down at all? >> yeah. and slightly cooler air is moving in. we don't expect any rain really until further notice, carol. but because lee is moving off to the east and this air mass is settling in, the winds are dying down a little bit, the temperatures are cooling off a little bit and, you know, firefighters will take that compared to what they had yesterday which was really a worse case scenario. warm yes, but for this time of year, for what it's been, yeah, it's cooler. severe thunderstorms potentially across parts of the east coast. want to show you some picks ahead of georgia, because we just got hammered yesterday. a lot of trees down, power out and a couple tornadoes touching down just north of atlanta, georgia. and doing some damage to some homes and businesses there. so a scary situation for sure. as far as rainfall tallies with lee or with the leftovers of lee, fairly impressive in places like tennessee and rome, georgia. five inches there. places like mississippi and louisiana saw over a foot in some spots. hurricane katia, category 3 storm, this at one point last night was a category 4. nonetheless it's a monster. 125-mile-an-hour winds moving to the northwest at about ten miles an hour. we still anticipate this to do a classic recurvature and kind of roll the tables here and split the difference between bermuda and cape hatteras. nonetheless, dangerous conditions right now pretty much up and down the eastern seaboard across the northeast. life-threatening rip tides and big time swells out there. it's the day after labor day and a lot of people going back to work. if you extended that labor day holiday, heading to the beaches, be careful. but most of the east coast is wet. up in new york we have rain and potentially flooding from what's left over of lee heading your way. >> i don't want to -- i know. thank you. we appreciate it. there has been a shakeup inside michele bachmann's presidential campaign. her campaign manager is stepping aside and moving into an advisory roll. ed rollins had a stroke more than a year ago and the daily grind on the campaign trail, he says, is too much. bachmann's deputy campaign manager is quitting over what he calls strategic differences. rollins talked more about all of this with cnn's anderson cooper. >> conflicts in the campaign, i have great affection for her. i will do everything i can help her. the team i put in place. i just don't have the endurance to go 12, 14 hour days seven days a week anymore. >> ed rollins. president obama's big speech on jobs coming up in just a couple days. yesterday he gave a sort of, kind of preview to a pro union crowd in detroit. >> we've got roads and bridges across this country that need rebuilt. we've got private companies with the equipment and the manpower to do the building. we've got more than 1 million unemployed construction workers ready to get dirty right now. >> when president obama lays out his new jobs plan in its entirety he'll do that before a joint session of congress on thursday night and cnn will carry it live. don't miss our special coverage. it begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern. the president said all of that to which you heard to that detroit crowd he would defend organized labor and restore the middle class. teamsters president james hoffa went one step farther before the president went in front of that podium. listen. >> president obama, this is your army. we are ready to march and president obama, we want one thing -- jobs, jobs, jobs! >> let's take a look now at the word of the day. it's reo. find out what it means and why you need to know after this short break. it's 54 minutes past. 4 boy, i'm glad we got aflac huh. aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy! 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[ pigeons ] heyyy! hooo!!! ♪ ♪ one, two, three, four ♪ you say ♪ flip it over and replay ♪ we'll make everything okay ♪ walk together the right way ♪ do, do, do, do two minutes to the top of the hour. this is your "am: wake up call." back to our word of the day, reo. which is actually an acronym for real estate owned properties in the possession of a lender. right now uncle sam has about 250,000 of those repossessed homes due to the high number of people defaulting on government-backed mortgages. that's almost a third of all repossessed homes nationwide. now let's go to carter evans for a look at your money this morning. i was going to say let's talk about something better, but not. >> yeah. we always end this show on a bright note, with the money segment. it's tough. all right. let's talk about what's on the economic calendar this week. you know, not a whole lot. everybody is looking ahead to the president's speech on thursday and we're coming off a three-day weekend and dismal jobs report on friday. dow futures down 113, nasdaq futures down 127, s&p 500 few durs down 15, 16 points. in london, the ftse down 2%,