the most pressing issue there is greece. >> reporter: yeah. that's right, ali. what i should also mention, though is that the markets have certainly learned over the last two years this euro in crisis has gone from bad to worse. what they wish for and, then, again, what politicians deliver. what they would ultimately like to see, these leaders agreen on a bold action on a statement promising bold action like raising the euro's bailout fund to cope with countries like greece that they're still having trouble paying bills and might also like a discussion about moo mooch mutualizing. germany, of course, is still very, very reluctant to fit the bill on that, ali. >> different finance abilities. so that mutualization or further union mayen very far apart. the international monetary fund christine lagarde has stern warnings about the prospects for recovery in europe. what did she have to say? >> reporter: yeah. not mincing worlds and in an interesting position, because this time last year she would have been one of those very euro zone finance ministers trying to draw consensus to iron out these problems. she spoke about political indecisions and political dysfunctions and indecisions at the heart of this putting the blame at the political front saying, guys, get it sorted. take a listen. >> exactly three years ago after the collapse of human brother, the economic skies today looked troubled, they looked tush beaux length as global activity slows and downside risks increase. and we have entered into a dangerous phase of the crisis. >> so it's a dangerous phase, but, ali, she points out that the world central bank seemed to know that and we had concerted action to lend for the next three months to come. >> something we last saw in 2009, saying when politics is still working they are ready to step in. we'll stay on top of the story with you, thanks, nina. speaking of politics working, talk politic, shall we? house speaker john boehner rolling out an alternative to president obama's jobs plan, a proposal calling for less government spending and regulation. more ever what the speaker said to the economic club of washington yesterday. >> we all know some regulations are needed. we've got a responsibility under the constitution to regulate interstate commerce. there are reasonable regulations that protect our children and keep our environment clean and then there are excessive regulations unnecessarily increasing the costs for consumers and small businesses and those excessive regulations are making it harder for our economy to create jobs. >> speaker boehner rejected the option of raising taxes to cut the deficit. no surprise there. he said the special committee charged with cutting $1 trillion from the deficit should use spending cuts and entitle reform to get the job done. the u.s. supreme court delaying the execution of convicted murderer dwayne edward buck, a man scheduled to die by injection last night. buck supporters were elated by the temporary stay and the lawyers released a statement hoping the supreme case might tame up the case. convicted of a double murder 16 years ago. at issue, testimony by a psychologist who said his race increased the risk of him being a danger in the future if that he put something on the decision. and chief of pakistan killed. the death in waziristan, pack sann, considered a blow to al qaeda's leadership. eight of the terror organization's top 20 leaders have been killed this year. don't ask, don't tell will be history in days. the pentagon says the ban on gays serving openly in the military will be officially repeal eed on tuesday. two house republicans are making a final push for a delay saying they need more information on specific policy changes. congresswoman michele bachmann backtracking. looks like she's overplayed her hand with the attack on texas governor rick perry. this all started at the cnn tea party debate monday night. bachmann blasted perry for ordering young girls in texas to get the new hpv vaccine. seemed to have him on his heels in this debate and seemed to score political points. it looked like it gave her campaign a new life. then she went on the "today "show last night. >> i had a mother come up to me here in florida after the debate who told me her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. it can have very dangerous side effects. the mother was crying when she came up to me last night. i didn't know who she was before the debate. this is the very real concern and people have to draw their own conclusion. >> immediately following that appearance, the american academy of pediatrics posted a statement on its website saying there is absolutely no scientific validity to the suggestion that this vaccine causes mental retardation, and yesterday bachmann backed off of it. >> during the debate i didn't make any statements that would indicate that i'm a doctor, i'm a scientist or that i'm making any conclusions about the drug one way or the other. i didn't make statements about that. at the conclusion of the debate a woman came up to me who was very distraught, crying and she thanked me for my remarks an said that her daughter had had a meg negative reaction an that's all that i related. i'm not going to answer that. question. >> yes. >> thank you. so a respected biochemist upped the ante. the director at the university of pennsylvania tweeted this challenge to congresswoman bachmann. so here is the deal she has one week to produce her victim. she pays $10,000 to a pro vaccine group if she can't. i pay $10,000 to a charity of her choice if she does. >> i don't think she respond top that either. coming up next on "american morning" -- >> i blacked out and came too for about five seconds when i was under the car. >> you will hear from the utah college student rescued earlier this week from underneath that burning car. there's one hero in particular he wants to find and thank personally. jennifer hudson, you've noticed she's lost a lot of weight. check her out. but the young girl lost a role model. our "talk back" question of the morning. even though i'm a great driver, and he's... not so much. well, for a driver like you, i would recommend our new snapshot discount. this little baby keeps track of your great driving habits, so you can save money. [sighs] amazing. it's like an extra bonus savings. [ cackling ] he's my ride home. how much can the snapshot discount save you? call or click today. brandan wright is thankful to be alive but broken up about his bike. the young college student pulled from beneath a burning car after his motorcycle collided way bmw at a parking lot. wright, from his bed at hospital saying thank you to bystanders who lifted that car and saved him him. >> i just wanted to thank all the heroes that put their lives on the line to save mine. i'm forever in debt. i can't thank them enough. i just hope they know how much they mean to me. i woke up to a man in a green shirt just kneeling over me and trying to get me to talk and keeping me awake, and i'd really like to meet him, too, just because he did not -- did not let me close my eyes and go back to sleep. really, without him i don't know if i would have hung in there. >> he is so lucky to be alive. brandon says the sight of his mangled motorcycle made him cry. he suffered a fracture to his leg and burning. no damage to his head, despite the fact he wa not wearing a helmet. he said that will not happen again. >> go out and buy one right after he gets out of the hospital. >> i think his parents are saying, why don't we not get him a motorcycle for a while. >> even i don't go out -- wear a helmet. >> no matter how careful you are, it's the other person. >> exactly right. >> it's often not you. >> it's the other person i worry about. scientists may have find luke skywalker's home planet. i did say that. the first drebt evidence of a planet with two suns, just like the desert wasteland planet in the "star wars" movies. only not in a galaxy far, far away. 200 light years away from earth. relatively close. just two centuries to get there traveling at light speed. >> wow. let's all go then. >> no kidding. >> hey there, rob marciano, want to thumb? >> do that and we'll be right there. it's fascinating. one sun, a little sun that goes around that sun and then you got the planet that goes around that. so -- >> double the spf. >> you may want to do that. although this particular planet is outside of the realm of sustained life. a little tribute to canada, because i heard ali say something that was very canadian and i can't remember the word. >> a? >> you put the accents, emphasis on different syllables. if i think of it, i'll tell you. first of all, st. john-jo's the you go. hurricane. maria, 80 mile-an-hour winds clipping newfoundland late are today. a rare event. the third hurricane of the season and this one will hit canada. international falls is near canada, too. 19 degrees. marquette, michigan, 31. record lows. cold air infiltrating and even the earliest snow ever across north central wisconsin. just a little falling there. maybe lake effects happening, too. 20 to 30 degrees in some spots this morning. frost and freeze advisories issued and this cold front pushing all the way. the gulf of mexico in the atlantic. a lot of folks getting a taste of this, but that cold front, a bit of a price to pay here. ocean city, maryland. check out this video. a water spout caught on tape. this thing came off the bay and got on land. did a little damage to trucks and structures, but nobody got hurt with this thing. remarkable video. ocean city, maryland, thank you for that. the only severe weather report as far as tornadoes are concerned. that was yesterday. enjoy the cool weather, guys. back up to you. >> okay, a. >> there you go. >> i'm heading to toronto this afternoon. pop a weather report in for toronto. i understand it's going to be cool. >> i mentioned st. john's? >> a beautiful, beautiful place. i have to give it a shout-out. few people go there but it's really nice. >> maria's on her way. >> a nice summer, both days. >> a lot closer. >> exactly. >> thank you, rob. one of the stories of the day. the question for us this morning, what does jennifer hudson's weight-loss controversy say about obesity in america? i know. jennifer hudson. hear me out here. no doubt jennifer hudson is skinny. since she appeared on oprah down to a size zero saying, i'm prouder of my weight loss than my oscar. a far cry from what she said in 2007 when she was a lot curvier. oh, this is what she said in 2007. i love my size and i think everybody should have some kind of meat on their bones. i've never bought into that. her change of heart about her weight has some fans steamed. it's fuconfusiony for teens wit body issues and their own weight struggles. you could argue all of america is confused about body image and weight. the biggest losers, audiences love that show yet criticize hudson for losing weight? some criticize michelle obama for her anti-obesity campaign somehow promoting healthy eating is equivalent to a nanny state. the facts are the facts. one-third of adult americans are obese, and heart disease is the number one killer in the united states. as for what jennifer hudson is saying now -- >> it's about what you want for yourself, how you feel about yourself. it's about good health and at least for me it's about good health, overall, what you want for yourself. so if you want to be that big girl, big the fiercest big girl you can possibly be, and i will be the healthiest fierce girl i can possibly be. >> what does jennifer hudson's weight-loss controversy say about obesity in america? facebook.com/americanmorning. eel read your responses later in the hour. >> her story is great. i don't do much in the way of exercise. you've figured this out. you recall from time to time i boxed a little bit. >> i remember. >> so this is an interesting story. we're talking about living the american dream. a fighter came to america to train with the best and beat the best and to be the champion of the world but found out one thing was missing in his corner. i sat down with boxing's would-be rabbi yuri foreman. take a look. >> and i came to experience my own american dream. >> this is a story of a young man on a mission. yuri foreman born in belarus, proved to israel, ten years ago came to america and walked into the world famous gleason's gym in brooklyn because he wanted to be the best middleweight boxer on the planet. >> i came here and i spoke with the owner, i want to be a world champion. >> reporter: you want to be a world champion? that's what you said? >> yeah. that's why i came to the united states. >> if you reach for the ring, you're going to -- >> reporter: it was the right place. gleason's trained robert de niro for "raging bull "and produced more than 130 champions in real life boxing. the owner -- >> i was impressed with yuri, because instead of coming from bedside he came halfway around the world with no support team. >> reporter: so impress head gave him free lessons. through all the sweat, punches and poundings, eventually, those lessons paid off. >> middleweight champion of the world. >> reporter: in 2009, foreman became the wba super welterweight champion of the world, first ever from israel. his quest was complete. >> hard right hand by foreman. >> reporter: then foreman discovered something was still missing. something he'd been disconnected from ever since he was a child in the former soviet union. his jewish faith. >> reporter: when were you growing up did you observe jewish witrituals? >> many jews forgot about their roots. the reminder was in think passport, it says, jew. >> reporter: it occurred to the young champ, when his girlfriend, soon to be wife, asked him basic questions about judaism, he didn't have the answers. so a new quest began. yuri foreman, not only embraced his long-lost faith, but with the zeal of a champion, decided to become a rabbi. since then he's progressed far along the path. with a year, his rabbinical studies will be complete. >> right now my goal is to work with young adults. kids who need, perhaps a little push, a little motivation and i think i can offer that through boxing or through personal experience. >> -- back to the center of the ring, clearly compromised. >> reporter: it may be a fitting change. last year all the rounds in the boxing ring came up with limb. a nagging knee injury took him down in a tough bout in yankee stadium. he lost his title. he's training to win his belt back but it's clear his new passion for his old faith is weighing heavily. these days he prays each day to be a good father for the health and safety of opponents and completion of rabbinical studies. now when he fights his faith goes far beyond the power of his punches. >> wow. >> god, i loved meeting him. >> what an incredible story. >> he is what he seems to be. a legitimate guy whose wife asked him about his faith. didn't have answers. decided to learn about it. about to be a rabbi. good luck, yuri. not where you think you'd find religion, in the boxing ring. but these guys thank god before these matches. >> that's really cool. ahead on "american morning" a former marine, speaking of pure of heart, receiving the country's highest military honor. sergeant meyer feels anything but heroic. how combat commanders may have failed at the worst possible time. ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan. you know what,ell me, what makes peterpeter ? i can my own homemade jam, apricot. and really love my bank's ise your ratcd. i'm sorry, did you say you'd love a pay raise asap uh, tuly, i said i love my bank's raise your rate cd. you spen8 days lo at sea ? no, uh... you love watching your neighbors watch tv ? at ally, you'll love o raise your rate cd that offers a one-ti rate increase if our currentates go up. were back. "minding your business," dow, nasdaq and s&p trading lower. watching what's happening in europe closely. u.s. treasury secretary timothy geithner is there in a rare appearance with finance ministers in poland this morning and urged them to free up more resources to tackle a 2-year-old debt crisis now. investors are hoping more kwo n coordinating efforts will be released. agreeing to step in and boost dollar liquidity for european banks for the next three months. the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 all gained more than 1% on the news yesterday. new this morning in a new poll, economists say there's a one in three chance, one in three now, that the u.s. economy will slip back into recession in the next year. the poll was conducted by the "wall street journal," less pessimistic since the recession began. the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan fell to 4.09% this week. that's the lowest 30-year fixed rate mortgage in 60 years, according to freddie mac. and more bad news for netflix. the company expects 1 million fewer subscribers in the third quarter after it jacked up the price of its dvd rentals. the stock plummeted on that news yesterday. "american morning" will be right back after the break. [ hayden ] what if there was a makeup that didn't just hide your breakouts... but actually made them go away. neutrogena skin clearing makeup has our proven blemish fighting formula so it clears your breakouts. now that's beautiful. neutrogena®. it is 30 minutes past the hour. good morning. it's time for this morning's top stories. overseas markets are higher. and and the hope is european finance ministers will show the same unity along with treasury secretary timothy geithner as they meet to discuss europe's financial crisis. and granting an 11th hour stay of execution for convicted murderer dwayne edward buck, reviewing whether his sentencing was racially biased. when buck was sentenced the psychologist testified he was a danger to the public because black people are more likely to commit violence. the pentagon says the ban on gays serving openly in the military will be officially repeopled on tuesday. this comes after months of reviews and court challenges. two house republicans are making a final push for delay saying they need more information on specific policy changes. following more developments out of libya. forces loyal to the national transitional council are pouring into sirte, moammar gadhafi's hometown and one of the last regime strongholds. meantime, libya's new rulers demanding they turn over one of gadhafi's sons. he just received the highest military decoration for astounding heroism as a white house ceremony. dakota meyer received high praise from the nation's commander in cheer. >> because of your honor, 36 men are alive today, because of your courage, four fallen american heroes came home. >> i didn't do anything that any other marine wouldn't do, or i would hope any other marine wouldn't do. i didn't -- i didn't -- i definitely don't see myself as a hero. >> we're now learning more about the ambush of meyer's unit and what appears to be a tragic failure in leadership. barbara starr has that part of the story. what is this about, barbara? >> reporter: well, ali, this is, in september of 2009 when his unit along with an army team and afghan troops moved into a village in eastern afghanistan. the village lights go out. it was an ambush. what happened next is a six-hour firefight that made meyer a hero. as this highly critical army investigation found, senior officials were complacent, lacked awareness of the battle and failed at almost every level. >> it's a bad day. you know, it's -- to describe it, it's probably the worst day of my life. not probably it is the worst day of my life. >> reporter: one marine radios we are going to die out here. the investigation said commanders denied requests for extra firepower, represents and backup troops. artillery was scrambled but the decision was overruleed by higher echelons. four times headquarters denies meyer's request to run and help. finally he disobeys orders and enters the kill zone five times. >> applying aid to as many as i could. under heavy fire the own tire time. i know i applied quite a few tourniquets trying to stop the bleeding. >> reporter: he saved 13 and kills 8 taliban. >> it took well beyond the specified amount of time for a quick reaction force to be on the spot to provide assistance. that entire mechanism broke down. >> reporter: three officers were reprimanded. the scathing report found that actions of key leaders at the battalion leader were inadequate and ineffective. the report also ripped apart the poor performance of commissioned officers who were present. and the team even got bad intelligence going into the firefight. they were told to expect maybe 10 insurgents. they were hit with more than five times that and, of course, none of this takes away from the extraordinary valor and courage of dakota meyer and the men he fought with that day. >> wow. what a story. already a particularly compelling story before this new information. barbara, thanks very much for joining us. barbara starr. new this morning, casey anthony's lies are costing her nealy $100,000. that's a ruling from a florida judge calling far short of what prosecutors were seeking. they wanted her to pay over half a million to recover the cost of investigating 2-year-old caylee anthony's disappearance. a judge instead ordering her to pay the florida department of law enforcement $61,000 and the organize county sheriff's department $25,000. in total on the took for nearly $98,000. her lied led them on a wild goose chase. and teachers in tacoma, washington, voted overwhelmingly to continue their strike. classes for some 30,000 students cancelled. a state judge ordered them to return to work but the union refused. the school district claims the strike is illegal, because public employees don't have the right to strike. still to come on "american morning," house speaker john boehner rolling out his jobs plan, but is it a viable solution? and people all over the dallas area are kicking themselves this morning saying, wow. should have brought a new carpet, because of one huge home run and one store's crazy and now expensive proegmotion. it's 36 minutes after the hour. what if we turned trash into surfboards? whatever your what if is, the new sprint biz 360 has custom solutions to make it happen, including mobile payment processing, instant hot spots, and powerful devices like the motorola photon 4g. so let's all keep asking the big what ifs. sprint business specialists can help you find the answers. sprint. america's favorite 4g network. trouble hearing on the phone? visit sprintrelay.com. welcome back. house speaker john boehner is taking aim at president obama's new jobs bill. speaking yesterday boehner pushed for lower taxes and less government regulation. >> some of the president's proposals, i think, offer an opportunity for common ground. let's be honest with ourselves. the president's proposals of a poor substitute for the pro-growth policies need to remove barriers for job creation in america. >> joining me now is jeffrey sachs, economist and director of the earth institute at columbia university. happy friday. something to be happy about. let's talk about john boehner's plan. less regulation. and pro-growth policies. we presume mean as smaller government in general. is this a way to create jobs? >> i don't think either side has it right. it's so sad they're arguing with each other viciously, actually, but neither side is focusing on some basic points. we have a lot of people, especially young people in this economy without the skills to be able to compete internationally. we've lost a lot of jobs abroad. we need better education, more training. the ability to mobilize technology to compete. neither side is talking about that. the republican side just wants to cut taxes, give money to corporations but the corporations are filled with money but don't want to invest in jobs in america. they're investing in jobs abroad. the president talks a bit more about skills and infrastructure, but he wants a one-year plan. >> right. >> one-year tax cuts to be followed by tax increases later on. what's a one-year plan going to do? so the democrats really do focus on a kind of gimmick of do something next year before the elections. the republicans have a longer term view, but a wrong one, in my view, which is just cut taxes, but that's not going to solve the structural problems that our country has. >> but in this kind of political climate, i mean, real, meaningful tax reform, real, meaningful education reform, really focusing on retraining in a way that the right skills are given to the right people, that takes investments. i don't think -- when can you ever see political unity on some of these big -- these are big structural issues that need to be addressed. >> the sad part is that president obama had that chance in 2009 when he -- >> he did health care reform. >> but we never heard a longer term strategy and a budget that would go alongside it. he started with what i do agree -- on a republican critique, a bit of a gimmick. that stimulus. one jolt and we're back. but one jolt wasn't going to bring us back to competitiveness. the problem is that the opponents of this want an even worse gimmick, which is just cut taxes, give money to the rich, give money to the corporations, but if they look at what's really happening, not that corporations don't have money, they're filled with billions and billions of dollars that are often tax havens. they've already given the tax cuts. how rich can people be without saying, okay. we'll contribute something? that's the problem with the opposition side. it's just greed at this point. >> and there's also just a lack of confidence. a lack of confidence in corporate ceos who don't want to hire in this country because they don't see clarity, they say. and from americans who are stressed. they don't have a job or are afraid of losing their job and worried about their home value. >> these same ceos are hiring, but abroad. why is that? that's what we need to ask. republicans say it's because of regulation. that's not really the change going on. when you ask a real business person and i know from my own experience, because we hire people, also. finding skilled workers is the critical issue right now. >> right. >> better skills. people with higher education. they're employed. the people with high school degrees only, they can't find jobs that keep them in the middle class. this is america's problem. >> i want to talk about the world's problem, though, too. we're looking at a euro zone literally quaking at this moment. its foundation, it's unity, two decades' old. what happens here? christine lagarde said it's a dangerous moment? how dangerous and what does it mean for a u.s. economy? >> greece is the imminent danger, because greece is just on the verge of default on its government debt. if that would happen, and we sure hope that it doesn't, in would be a kind of panic in europe. people would take money out greek banks but italian bank, spanish banks, portuguese, french banks, and there would be such pressure inside financially that the european economy were go down and that our oeuro coul break to pieces. if that happens, the implications for the united states and the rest of the world's economy would be extremely serious. so there is an attempt to help greece get through this very tough patch that greece has to bear down, cut its deficit, which is needs to do, but at the same time, get the financial help that it needs. with europe you have all the different countries. every one of them is putting on their own separate demands. you're standing at the cliff wondering whether that gust is wind is going to push europe off the cliff. that's how close we are. that's why the treasury secretary is in europe right now. he's right to be there. thank you, secretary geithner, for being in europe to tell them, get your act together before you blow apart your own currency zone and our economy. >> another reason why politics matters no matter where you are and why politics is so critical. >> we need agreements. >> nice to see you again. >> pleasure. it's 45 minutes after the hour. we'll be right back. 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. 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. 46 after the hour. what you need to know to start your day. secretary geithner meets with european counterparts about growing concerns over europe's worsening debt crisis. and gays serving openly in the service officially repealed tuesday. this after months of concern. despite a judge's orders to return to work, teachers in tacoma, washington continuing to strike. they voted to ignore the court order and remain on the picket line. the walkout is entering its fourth day. call is a snooki tax. taxpayers will pay $420,000 of production costs for the first season of "jersey shore" thanks to a film tax approved by the board. and ron artest is no longer l.a. lakers forward ron artest. today his name officially becomes metta world peace. his publicist says his new nim, metta, in the buddhist tradition means loving and kindness towards others. metta world peace one in the most infamous player fan brawl of all-time back in detroit. that's the news you needed to started your day. "american morning" back right after this break. welcome back. he's not your medical doctor, but if your iphone, imac ipad needs repaired, a fixer of apple. he's got an app for success. poppy harlow checked back in with him. good morning. >> good morning. it's amazing what a year can do. we tell so many stories about smaut businesses struggling. we wanted to go back to one we saw literally working out of his new york city apartment and see how he's doing. a small business success story. because he's fixing things everyone wants it seems no matter how deep the job recession is. no matter how bad the economy is, everyone wants something apple. dr. brennan, a young guy in new york city is capitalizing on this big time. take a look. >> we do everything from iphone, ipads, the itouch. >> reporter: remember him? dr. brendan, a/k/a, the i doc. fixing everything apple out of his tiny new york city apartment. >> courtesy of china. and that is a new iphone screen there. >> reporter: but a year's been good to the doctor. >> hey, how'sgoing? >> reporter: his business exploded, like apple stock. this is your first shop? >> first shop right here. my office is my apartment and coffee shops and the fiat. >> reporter: now four store, eight employees and boasts 300% growth since january, thanks to customers looking for a quick fix. >> you're welcome. >> reporter: did you think about going to apple? >> to be honest, no, i didn't. >> reporter: emily has come here six times. >> i was bending down to tie my shoe in philadelphia, and my phone dropped about 12 inches on the concrete. >> reporter: the most common fixes, iphones averaging $100 and mac books averaging $200. >> one broken screen. hundreds of them in here and know has that means? big business for dr. brendan. but it's about a lot more than that these days. the website's been expanded for more mail-in repairs and his team now makes i-team service calls in the dr. brendan mobile. >> actually heat exhaust directly on to your server switch. >> weren't of the down calls of house calls. parking ticket. >> reporter: one secret of his success, hiring employees right from apple, like travis. >> we're not going after apple's business. we love apple. the product is simply so popular for valid reasons, that's one of the reasons we're here. there's simply so many out there. >> reporter: do you ever question the demand for apple would fall and that would hurt your business? >> that's a great question. no. >> where we work with customers. >> reporter: the offers started rolling in from franchisees and private equity firms but he's not interested. >> in the beginning, i think it's smart to just, to do everything by yourself as much as you can handle. and i really didn't want to get in over my head in something i really didn't understand. >> reporter: you're not ready to hand this business over to anyone yet? >> not yet, no. there's my other shop there. >> reporter: in fact, his eye is on global expansion. you're seeing strong growth but the economy's tough. are you worried? >> no. no, i'm not worried. >> reporter: why? >> because i started this business in the middle of the economic meltdown. okay? if i was going to be worried, i would have been worried then. not now. >> talk about a success story. we always like to see that. i pushed him on hour profitable this business is, guys. he wouldn't give me a number. doesn't have to. private company. he says, pretty profitable. they're doing well. if you want your iphone fixed or anything outside of apple you could lose your warranty. something to keep in mind here. >> people are going to him -- i've used the service of apple, they tend to be pretty efficient. are they choosing him because of something they're going to get repaired is generally not covered by apple? >> two thing. not just fixing iphones. he's fixing macbooks. water damaged, it was fixed. he's fast. has convenient locations and a little less. the screen, $140 to fix. at apple, $200, but they'll replace your phone. what he's also doing is, he says that apple sometimes will say, look, this isn't fixable. you've got to replace it or we'll replace it. he says you can fix water damage, these things and we're giving that service to people. in the few hours shot at his store, i'd say 15 customers came in, they shell out the money and head out. it's about efficiency, convenience and customers told me it costs less. >> who wants to go online? i know you do, but for me to go online and e-mail somebody, e-mail -- this is how -- i'd rather go to him and get it over with. >> he's now taking orders, people sending in phones from around the world. you can mail it in. >> cool. if you can find your slice of prosperity in this economy, you find your niche and go for it. >> a bartender. broke his phone. didn't want top pay $ 200. so he fixed it himself. >> that makes me so happy. happy, happy. we asked you to "talk back" on the question of the day. what does jennifer hudson's weight-loss say about obesity in america? from phillip. the fact people are concerned about hudson's weight shows how distached parents are. it's not her responsibility to be a role model for young girls. parents, perfect role models for children. why should we excuse people from a health problem in 90% stems from ignorance and lack of self-kroself self-control? we have become a country that gorges themselves. and people are okay with that for some reason. from michelle, health problems caused by oh piecety are a problem. that's not the main reason we focus on weight. sells us the supermodel image, against which all women are judged. weight-loss and weight control of billion dollars industries and they want to keep us buying. please continue the conversation. facebook.com/americanmorning. this is moneyball. josh hamilton homer. a grand slam cost one dallas, texas, carpet store half a million. running a promotion that promised free flooring and countertops to anyone who purchased hfrom them if hamilto hit a home run during the month. the owner of the store did have insurance to cover the cost. >> josh handmilton. he's going to do it eventually. right? >> i thought half a million of publicity. >> that's all it is. >> probably. and congresswoman michele bachmann seems to be backing down, sort of, kind of, from something that scored her a lot of political points just a few days ago. doctors are saying her comments about a breakthrough vaccine are dangerous. ugh challenges right . two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. i tell you what i can spend. i do my best to make it work. i'm back on the road safely. and i saved you money on brakes. that's personal pricing. congresswoman michele bachmann now backing down from a gaffe that could derail her campaign. a doctor wagering ten grand that she wrong about the side effects of a breakthrough vaccine. opposition forces from dictator moammar gadhafi trying to take control of sirte, gadhafi's home town but are running against heavy resistance. and full contact. the nfl with a new pat down policy after a stun gun embarrassment on 9/11 on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning and happy friday. friday, september 16th. welcome to "american morning." a story happening now in libya. troops from that country's transitional government, the rebel movement, are advancing deep into moammar gadhafi's home town of sirte at this hour. an important key development. not the only place rebels are active. ben wedeman reports live from libya, the only reporter with the rebels in the south of the country. ben, what is the situation as you know it? >> reporter: well, ali, yesterday we saw a lot of actions between this group of opposition fighters. numbering at least 500 and some local -- forces not far from here, about two miles down the road. we're on an air base taken the night before last by the opposition fighters. right here we have -- on top of an airplane for us. on this air base -- these are old training planes. they're not warplane. about 15 are on this air base. fighters are concentrated here. what they found in the air base, lots of weapons and supplies which will be critical, because the plan is to stay here a couple of days and move south, one of the main strongholds of loyalist supporters of moammar gadhafi, and particularly important for them is they're looking for abdullah sanusi, the intelligence chief for moammar gadhafi. somebody who was critical in plans, organizing the attempt to put down the rebels -- ali? >> ben, we're watching closely and, of course, those rebels moving into gadhafi's home town's sirte. ben wedeman in libya. to politics now. she may have overplayed her hand. congresswoman michele bachmann now backtracking on a controversy she brought to the national stage. her comments about the hpv vaccine. this started the cnn tea party debate on monday night blasting governor rick perry for ordering young girls in texas to get an hpv vaccine. the argument stayed mostly on his abuse of power. seemed to have him on the heels of the debate. she seem eed score political points, looked like it gave her campaign new life until this -- >> i had a mother come up to me here in florida after the debate. she told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. it can have very dangerous side effects. the mother was crying when she came up to me last night. i didn't know who she was before the debate. this is the very real concern, and people have to draw their own conclusion. >> but immediately following that appearance, the american academy of pediatrics posted a statement on its website saying, there is absolutely no scientific validity to the suggestion that the hpv vaccine causes mental retardation. bachmann backed off a bit. >> during the debate i didn't make any statements that would indicate that i'm a doctor, i'm a scientist or that i'm making any conclusions about the drug one way or another. i didn't make any statements about that. at the conclusion of the debate a woman kamm came up to me distt and thanked me for her remarks and said her daughter had a negative reaction. that's all i related. >> then a respected biochemist upped the ante. arthur kaplan at the university of pennsylvania. he tweepted, this challenge to bachmann. here's the deal. she has one week to produce her victim. she pays $10,000 to a pro-vaccine gup if she can't. i pay $10,000 to a charity of her choice if she does. caplan spoke to anderson cooper last night. >> certainly willing to say she wasn't speaking as doctor or scientist, she was far off the plan knit that area. and it's not acceptable. she's fear mongering, anderson. 4,000 women in the u.s. who die every year from cervical cancer. 450,000 worldwide. she said in that clip, said it a couple of times, you've got to take that into account that vaccine is dangerous. that's completely inappropriate. >> other doctors have even called the comments toxic saying the damage has already been done. one of bachmann's opponents jon huntsman is jumping on the controversy saying bachmann needs to check her sources. on the "situation room" bachmann is qualified to be president but by the narrowest of definitions. >> is she qualified to be president of the united states? >> i think she meets the constitutional requirements, of course. >> the constitution is one thing. in terms of experience, expertise, knowledge, is she ready to become commander in chief? >> i would never go beyond what the constitution requires. leave that up to the people to decide. they always typically make the best choices. >> huntsman said he also opposed a mandate requiring all girls to receive that vaccination, but bachmann's comments on the vava only confused voters. and a judge ruling casey anthony's lies will cost her about $98,000. prosecutors wanted over half a million to recover the costs of investigating 2-year-old's caylee anthony's disappearance. the lies she was convicted on and that caused people to spend a lot of money looking for her baby. >> didn't convict her of killing her daughter but lying of where she was and why she didn't know where she was. the controversial don't ask, don't tell policy, banning openly gay men and women from serving will officially, officially, end next tuesday. two republican lawmakers are asking the repeal be delayed saying they need to be better informed about the policy changes. let's talk about brandan wright, shall we? one lucky man and thankful to be alive. the young college student pulled from underneath a burning car in utah after a car collided with him in a parking lot. he held a news conference from his hospital bed to say thank you to the brave bystanders who lifted that car off of him and saved his life . >> i just wanted to thank all the heroes that put their lives on the line to save mine. i'm forever in debt. i can't thank them enough. and i just hope they know how much they mean to me. i woke up to a man in a green shirt just kneeling over me and trying to get me to talk and keeping me awake, and i'd really like to meet him, too, just because he did not -- did not let me close my eyes and go back to sleep. really, without him, i don't know if i would have hung in there. >> brandon says the sight of his mangled motorcycle made him cry. he suffered a fracture to his leg, burns and no damage to his head, despite the fact he was not wearing a helmet. something that will change. he says that will not happen again. >> most people shouldn't wait for an accident to remember to wear a helmet. all right. it is -- what? seven minutes after the hour. so long summer. did you feel that last night? >> i couldn't believe t.it. >> a cold night. cold in new york city. rob, what is happening? >> my kids are like, it's halloween. where's the candy? >> exactly. the kids know. right? nights getting longer. atmosphere, a little more time to cool off, one reason. you guys know, we're almost at fall. here we go. fall-like temperatures. you're light. it's a little early to get temperatures like this. 10 to 15, some cases 20 degrees below average. 49 in boston. 49. do you believe that? in new york. 50 in d.c. pittsburgh looking at 33. 38 degree currently in buffalo. 20s and 30s across parts of the western greats and yesterday morning, 19 degrees in international fall. that broke a record. other spots breaking records including minneapolis, marquette, michigan, lincoln, illinois temperatures in the 30s and here's your cold front sliding to the gulf of mexico, back through the atlantic, and so infiltrating a good chunk of the u.s. at least the eastern two-thirds of it. parts of this front will break off and the back half will kind of hang back a little bit. that may cause showers in spots. generally speaking temperatures 66 degrees expected in new york city. 71 degrees in atlanta. come on. you kidding me? tomorrow, saturday, a little showers across parts of the mid-atlantic where they had that tornado and water spout across parts of ocean city maryland. cool air moved in. a decent storm rolling into the plains may bring a little rainfall. how about that? to parts of oklahoma. desperately needing it, and parts of northern texas. much-needed rain in spots and much-needed cool air as well. welcoming it with open arms, and halloween is right around the corner. >> we'll take it. >> yeah. >> i can always take this better than i can take the extreme heat. >> yeah, and the dog days of summer. >> sleep nicely. it's nice. >> football weather. that's what i love about it. it's football weather. >> i love this positivity this morning! >> thanks, rob. >> thank you. now it's your turn to "talk back" on what are the stories of the day. the question this morning what does jennifer hudson's weight-loss controversy say about obesity in america? i know. jennifer hudson. please. hear me out. no doubt, jennifer hudson is skinny now. since she appeared on "oprah" she's down to a size zero saying, i'm prouder of my weight-loss than my oscar. a far cry from 2007 when she was a whole lot curvier. jennifer said at that time i love my size answers think everybody should have some kind of meat on her bone. i never bought into that. it has moms steamed. it's confusing to kids who struggle with celebrity worship and their own self-esteem. especially girls with body image issues and their own weight struggles. kmlly, you could argue all of america is confused about body image and weight. the biggest loser, audiences love that tv show. the biggest loser. yet criticize hudson for losing weight? some criticize michelle obama for her anti-obesity campaign. somehow promoting healthy eating a equivalent to a nanny state, but the facts are the facts. one-third of adult americans are obese and heart disease is the number one killer in the united states. as for what jennifer hudson is saying now -- >> about what you want for yourself, how you feel about yourself. it's about good health and at least for me it's about good health, but overall, what you want for yourself. if you want to be that big girl, be the fiercest big girl you can possibly be and i will be the healthy fierce girl i can possibly be. >> so the "talk back" question today what does jennifer hudson's weight-loss controversy say about obesity in america? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later in the hour. >> how did she lose all the weight? >> weight watchers. a spokesperson. >> she exercises like a fiend. hours a day. i mean, she really exercises, and she eats right. you know, follows the weight watchers program still. >> at her peak, she wasn't taking care of herself? did she say that? >> she didn't exactly say that. >> right. >> she's aware of the controversy herself. she's very careful what she says about it, because she doesn't want to anger fans, because when she was a size 16, she did embrace her weight and her curves and people liked that about her. so for her now being supposedly a size zero, time's are tough when it comes to her fans. >> she's beautiful. every weight she's been, she's a very, very beautiful girl. >> and she won her oscar at her highest weight. >> right. >> there you go. still to come this morning, president obama and house speaker boehner each drawing a line in the sand with their respective jobs plans. we'll talk with thomas friedman who suggests political cpr is needed. >> shock there, maybe. sorry. the palestinians ready to seek recognition as a state from the u.n. why the u.s. is so determined to stand in the way. and, boy, is he good for what ails your iphone. we'll catch you up with a self-described cell phone doc whose business is booming. talk about american ought tra p entrepreneurs. you're watching "american morning." it's 12 minutes past the hour. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. ♪ i've been waiting ♪ for a snack like you ♪ to come into my life [ female announcer ] try our delicious spinach artichoke dip with warm pita. new from lean cuisine®. as president obama sells his jobs plan and republican it's start to push back, some think the only way out of our current job situation has nothing to do with democrats or republicans. it's got to come from the outside. from possibly a third party candidate for president. thomas friedman is one of those people and he's been talking about this for a while and does a great job of outlining the issues we face and the solutions we may have in his new book entitled "that used to be us: how america fell behind in the world it invented and how we can come back." a great title. thomas friedman joins us from washington this morning. tom, good to see. thank you very much for being with us. >> great to be here, ali. thank you. >> it's right in the front of the book. you have a quote from president obama which actually inspired the title of the book, but we actually have when he said it. let's listen to it. >> it makes no sense for china to have better rail systems than us and singapore having better airports than us, and we just learned that china now has the fastest super computer on earth. that used to be us. >> the book is called "that used to be us: how america fell behind in a world it invented and how we can come back." president obama said something very similar in his jobs speech last week, and it was one of the few instances where he got applause from both sides of the house. if that used to be us, christine romans makes this point all the time, what happened? >> well, what happened, ali, is that myself and my co-author argue we had a formula for success in this country. a formula built on basically five pillars. educating our people up to and beyond whatever the technology was, whether the cotton gin or the personal computer. having the world's best inf infrastructure. roads, airports. the world's most integrated attracted people from around the world to our shores. best rules to invest capital and having the most government funded research to push out the boundaries of science and great new frontiers for companies. if you look what happened over the last decade, ali, we call in our book, the occasional twos. the aeir arrow is pointing down on all formulas for success. >> you look at education, infrastructure, immigration, rules and research, and we are weak on every single one of those fronts right now. however, you sort of put it into a number of challenges we have to deal with now in order to become more prosperous. deal with the challenge of globalization, of the revolution in information technology. of chronic deficits we face, and what you call a pattern of excessive energy consumption. so reading this and listening to what you just said, one might think that you think the world or america right now is a place destined for a lot of gloom and misery, but i want to read a quote from page 297 where you actually seem optimistic pup say it's easy to be an optimist of america if you stand on your head, because the country looks so much better and so much more inspiring when viewed from the bottom up than from the top down. when you look at the country that way you realize the greatest generation has not died. that sounds very inspirational. >> one of the things i've discov discovered, ali, in traveling around the country, from my last book "energy." the country is full of energy from the bottom up. with the passage you read, it's from a chapter that says, they just didn't get the word. this country is full of people who didn't get the word we're down and out. that we're deep's in recession and they go out and start stuff and fix stuff, and invechnt stu. we need tone ab enable and nurt those people. >> you acknowledge what so many of us acknowledge. hyperpartisanship in this country and some of the reasons you cite are us. 24-hour media. you talk about gerrymandering districts. we've got a structure causing this hyperpartisanship. it's not just happening? >> like everything in the book we argue, the problem we're in right now, ali, it's not just 2 years old from the subprime. it's 20 years old and one of those features is a political environment that actually is designed to divide us, much less we're actually divided. the american people, we are convinced on the basis of some serious research we cite, are nowhere nearly as divided as our politicians. >> and you think that the system that may have to break that is a third party candidate? that's where you started to lose me. explain to me why you think that might be the logic and whether this third party candidate could actually become the president of the united states. >> start, ali, what we need right now. we need basically three things. we need to cut spending, because we have made promises to future generations we cannot keep. we need to raise revenues, okay? partly because we can't just cut social security and medicare and shred our safety nets. we need revenues to prevent that and, also, because we need to do a third thing, invest in that five-part formula for success. the problem we have today is, one party really wants to talk about investing. one party really wants to talk about, and taxing. one party really wants to talk about not taxing. all right? and cutting. and there's actually no party that has that high-bred politics in the middle. that's what we need. politics is about incentives and right now these two parties, their incentives are to really appeal to their base. we're big believers, change the incentives, change the politics. move the cheese, move the mouse. don't move the cheese, the mouse doesn't move. unless you move the cheese, possibly -- i hope we don't have to have a third party. i'd love to see president obama have this position or boehner, or whoever. unless you move the cheese by showing these politicians, actually, there's a huge unrepresented middle here, all right, in this country, that's ready for cutting, all right? taxing and investing at the same time, then i don't think the politics changes. >> candidates all looked for that huge middle and tried to appeal to them. things are changing. thomas friedman a great read. thanks for being with us. thomas friedman, "that used to be us." what a great discussion. thank you, thomas. >> good adult conversations today. >> of this idea that we forget as we talk about the dismantling of our nation, that there are inventions in the world that came right from america. >> you never can count america out. i always say, someone once told me america has been grieving the loss of its middle class for 350 years. is the american dream dead? hopefully there's something that innovates and reenergizes it. >> on the subject of the politic, unless we change our primary system, which appeals to the most extreme voters, then a third candidate isn't likely to make much headway. there's got to be changes in the system before we come up with this -- >> right. the system ensurge encourages e. >> right. what the president thinks about his re-election in 2012. that's next. have i got a surprise for you! a mouthwatering combination of ingredients... i know you're gonna love. [ barks ] yes, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. made with wholesome grains, real chicken, even accents of tomato and avocado. yeah! come on! [ barking ] gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. another healthful, flavorful beneful. whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it is to do this right. there are many vehicles that claim to be just as capable off-road as the jeep grand cherokee. but without triple-sealed doors, a raised air intake system, or even a watertight drivetrain, just how far off-road are they talking about? ♪ met an old man at the top asked him if he had a secret and the old man stopped and thought and said: free 'cause that's how it ought to be my brother credit 'cause you'll need a loan for one thing or another score 'cause they break it down to one simple number that you can use dot to take a break because the name is kinda long com in honor of the internet that it's on put it all together at the end of the song it gives you freecreditscore-dot-com, and i'm gone... abo plies th is to take you from where you are... to where you need to be. and we're not just talking about points on a map. with a more intuitive delta website and mobile app... and the most wifi equipped planes. we let you be everywhere at once. innovations like these are extending our reach so you can extend yours. and now, even at 30,000 feet you can still touch the ground. morning. u.s. stock features are trading slightly lower ahead the opening bell. wall street watching what happens in europe closely today. the u.s. treasury secretary, tim geithner, making a rare appearance at a meeting of europe's finance ministers in poland this morning urging them to free up more resources to tackle a 2-year-old debt crisis there. investors are hoping more coordinated measures may be announced to help the euro zone stay intact. economists say there's a one in three chance the u.s. economy will slip back into recession in the next year. that poll was conducted by the "wall street journal" as the most pessimistic since the recovery began. this might be the best time to refinance your mortgage. the average rate fell to an unbelievable low 4.09% this week. the lowest mortgage rate in 60 years according to freddie mac. check out the all-new cnnmoney.com. "american morning" will be right back after this quick break. [ barks ] [ cat meows ] [ woman ] ♪ i just want to be okay ♪ be okay, be okay ♪ i just want to be okay today - ♪ i just want to know today - [ whistles ] ♪ know today, know today - [ cat meows ] - ♪ know that maybe i will be okay ♪ [ chimes ] travelers can help you protect the things you care about... and save money with multi-policy discounts. are you getting the coverage you need... and the discounts you deserve? for an agent or quote, call 800-my-coverage... or visit travelers.com. it's schwab at your fingertips wherever, whenever you want. one log in lets you monitor all of your balances and transfer between accounts, so your money can move as fast as you do. check out your portfolio, track the market with live updates. and execute trades anywhere and anytime the inspiration hits you. even deposit checks right from your phone. just take a picture, hit deposit and you're done. open an account today and put schwab mobile to work for you. despite disapproval ratings hitting new high, president obama told campaign donators his chances are better in 2012 than in 2008. $35,800 per couple, good to sound confident in return for that cash. >> vice president joe biden hitting northeastern pennsylvania where flooding damaged or destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. troops from libya's transitional government advancing deep into moammar gadhafi home town of sirte this morning. looking to seize control of one of the last strongholds of d di. if sirte falls, rebels will have control of the entire mediterranean coastline. an important discussion you'll hear a lot about over the next week. one week from today palestinian officials will submit a bid for full membership to the united nations in order to be recognized as a state. this is a plan the united states would like to stop in its tracks and has tried actively to do so. secretary of state hillary clinton calling it short sighted and vowing it will not succeed. calling on the palestinian authority to negotiate statehood with ish instead. daniel kurtzer joins us live from princeton, new jersey, this morning, a former ambassador to israel and to egypt. ambassador, thank for being with us this morning. >> good morning, ali chbts a complicated issue. some people know it very well and are deeply entrenched in it one way or another, and other people tweeted and asked, what's the big deal? what's going on? palestinians asking the u.n. for statehood? the u.n. to vet overwhelmingly in favor and the u.s. to step in and veto it. set the stage. what's going on? >> sure. this is not an unavoidable problem. his is a human contrived problem. we have had efforts over the years to try to sdoesht arp israeli peace. palestinians and israelis have done pretty well in narrows differences. the united states is a third party. frustration has grown in the past two years over the inability to find a formula to get them back to negotiations and as a result of that, the palestinian authority decided it wants to take its case to the united nations in the hope that it will gain somethingally fromg of his status. the u.s. and israel believe this is a diversion and threat'ses to undermine the fabric of negotiations. the point of saying this is not unavoidable, however, is that the three parties, israel, palestine and the united states, can find a way out of this. either through returning to negotiations on the basis of a good formula, or crafting a resolution at the u.n. that's workable. >> what's the thing that's standing -- what has changed in the last two years that created such intransigence in the ability to get something done? >> i think there are three factors. one on each side. the israeli side, you have a gft and power, essentially a right wing government intent upon building settle mthts aments an rejecting appeals of the united states to return to the negotiating table. on the palestinian side, you have a very divided and weak policy. divided between the west bank and gaza, and unable to make tough decisions on the ground, and on the united states' side, we've tried diplomacy but failed to follow through. >> this inherent inconsistency of u.s. foreign policy confusing and angers people in other parts of the world. this is going to become difficult symbolically when the u.s. has to step up and veto this. it's going to send a message into the arab world that -- israel did this in 1948. it realized that negotiations weren't going to lead to statehood. so it declared its independence. why don't the palestinians have a right to do that? >> well, there's significant distinctions. israel declared independence and was invaded by a number of arab countries trying to destroy the nascent jewish state. you have a situation here in palestine today where israel and the palestinians have tried to negotiate it, but they haven't yet succeeded. i think the idea that bothers washington is the unilateral nature of the turn to the united nations. palestine declared itself a state. that's not theish u today. >> right. >> the issue, whether it gains full or partial membership in the united nations and how that impacts the search for peace. >> and is there a symbolic problem that the u.s. might face if forced to do this in a week? >> more than symbolic, ali. we've heard from former saudi ambassador to the united states there could be a change in our relationship with the kingdom, should the united states exercise a veto. now, none of us likes to operate under the threat of a change in a relationship, and the saudis also have soul searching to do but we also ought to pay attention when a long-standing ally says they're very upset at the direction of u.s. policy. >> in fact, al faisal, referring to, wrote an op-ed in the "new york times" which showed up last week and the title is "veto a state, lose an ally." a serious issues americans should become very familiar with over the course of the next week to understand what's happening. thank you for making this clear to us. former ambassador to israel and egypt. >> thank you. new this morning, football fans will now be subjected to enhanced pat downs. the nfl will conduct pat downs from the ankles all the way up on fans coming into stadiums across the country. in the past the pat downs went from the waist up only. this is apparently something that was supposed to start on opening day but did not happen at every game. a new urgency after someone got into the jets game on 9/11 with a stun gun. the texas rangers might want to sign this guy up. check out how he handled a foul ball talking on the cell phone. doesn't even get off the line. puts up his glove, doesn't interrupt the call. one sportscaster might say, smooth as the other side of the pillow. >> does he look? >> do that with both hands an gloves. >> knew it was coming. so much fun with this one yesterday, more guinness world's records. up next, the world's largest afro. don't be jealous, ali. took 12 years to grow. one of the biggest problems, it's always getting caught in trees. >> tall. meet the world's most elastic woman who says her flexibility comes in handing on long flights. she can curl up in her seat, doesn't need leg room. because it's friday. our favorite video of the week, the record for most dogs jimping on a jump rope. by far -- playing it again, because, carol, i loved this thing. >> look at it. hilarious. >> all that terrible economic news i do all the time. please, let me enjoy this one more time. >> okay. whatever. >> after the super 911 dogs, beat the doctors, nothing short of a life saver for all of attached to your iphone. with us, in spirit, was every great car that we'd ever competed with. the bmw m5. and the mercedes-benz e63. for it was their amazing abilities that pushed us to refine, improve and, ultimately, develop the world's fastest production sedan. the cts-v, from cadillac. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. should i bundle all my policies with nationwide insurance ? watch this. on one hand, you have your home insurance with one company. and on another hand, you have your auto with another. and on another hand, you have your life with another. but when you bundle them all together with nationwide insurance, they all work together perfectly and you could save 25%. wow... it's all in the wrists. ♪ nationwide is on your side ♪ it is 41 minutes past the hour. good morning to you. if your iphone is bruised broken or not working right, who are you going to call? how about dr. brandon. >> he's not really a doctor but called dr. brandon and fixes all things apple. we first met him last year. turns out he's got an app for success. poppy harlow is following the story and you revisited this. >> we did. amazing what a year can do for small business. small businesses are struggling, can't get loans right now. not the case for dr. brandon. he fixes everything apple. last year when we visited him, business was good, but now it's a whole lot better. take a look. >> we do everything from iphone, ipads, the itouch. >> reporter: remember him? dr. brendan, a/k/a, the iphone doc. fixing everything apple out of his tiny new york city apartment. >> courtesy of china. and that is a new iphone screen there. >> reporter: but a year's been good to the doctor. >> hey, come in. >> how's it going? >> reporter: his business exploded, like apple stock. this is your first shop? this is my first shop right here. my office is my apartment and coffee shops and the fiat. >> reporter: now he's got four stores, eight employees and boasts 300% growth since january, thanks to customers looking for a quick fix. >> you're welcome. >> reporter: did you think about going to apple? >> to be honest, no, i didn't. >> reporter: emily has come here six times. >> i was bending down to tie my shoe in philadelphia, and my phone dropped about 12 inches on the concrete. >> reporter: the most common fixes? iphones averaging $100, and and mac books averaging $200. >> one broken screen. two -- hundreds of them in here, and you know what that means? big business for dr. brendan. >> reporter: but it's about a lot more than that these days. the website's been expanded for more mail-in repairs and his team now makes i-team service calls in the dr. brendan mobile. >> actually heat exhaust was pointed directly on to your server switch. >> reporter: one of the downfalls of house calls. parking ticket. one secret of his success, hiring employees right from apple, like travis. >> we're not going after apple's business. we love apple. the product is simply so popular for very valid reasons. that's one of the reasons why we're here. there's simply so many out there. >> reporter: do you ever question the demand for apple would fall and that would hurt your business? >> that's a great question. no. >> this is where we work with customers. >> reporter: the offers started rolling in from franchisees and private equity firms but he's not interested. >> in the beginning, i think it's smart to just, to do everything by yourself as much as you can handle. and i really didn't want to get in over my head in something i really didn't understand. >> reporter: you're not ready to hand this business over to anyone yet? >> not yet, no. there's my other shop, right there. >> reporter: in fact, dr. brandon has his eye on global expansion. you're seeing strong growth but the economy's tough. are you worried? >> no. no, i'm not worried. >> reporter: why? >> because i started this business in the middle of the economic meltdown. okay? if i was going to be worried, i would have been worried then. not now. >> what i think is amazing is unlike a lot of small business owners, he hasn't taken out any loans whatsoever to fund this business. he doesn't want anyone else having a say necessarily in it and doesn't want to be in debt to anyone else. he's been able to do it largely because of the continuing demand for apple products. folk, before you use his service or anyone else's, if you have someone outside of apple fix your iphone or ipad, it might break your warranty. something to keep in mind. >> he buys the parts from the people who make the parts for apple? >> fascinating. first year we visited him, he just called up a bunch of suppliers in china. and he found out who made something either exactly the same as apple enterprise or close enough and said it was a little scary the first time, just sent a check to china and hoped the goods would come. they did and keep on coming. increased volume. four stores, is it hard? he said it gets a little harder. if apple can do it, i guess the entrepreneur can do it. a lot of fun. if you want to see last year's story, that and the latest is on cnnmoney.com. >> thousands turns out -- where all of the components are coming from. if you can figure out where they're coming from. >> good for him. >> good for dr. brendan. still to come on "american morning," we're talking about jennifer hudson. if you've seen her lately you know she has lost an enormous amount of weight. some of her fans aren't so happy about that. that's our "talk back" question of the morning. let us know what you think. facebook.com/americanmorning. it's 46 minutes past the hour. [ baby crying ] ben harper: ♪ what started as a whisper every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned into a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? 48 minutes past the hour. what you need to know to start your day -- troops of libya's transitional government getting deep into the town of sirte this morning. if sirte does fall, anti-gadhafi forces will have complete control of libya's entire mediterranean coastline. a teachers' strike in tacoma, washington, entering its fourth day. voting overwhelmingly to continue the walkout defying court order to return to the classroom. 19 different judges in washington state ruled teacher strikes are el legal since 1976. the strike impacts some 28,000 public school students in tacoma. 62,000 grocery store workers in southern california could soon walk off the job, too, because talks between their union and a number of grocery chains have broken down pt at issue, health care contributions. l.a. lakers' forward ron artest is no longer l.a. lakers' ron artest. today his name officially becomes metta world peace. his paub la sift says his new first name metta in the buddhist tradition means loving kindness answers friendliness towards others. you are caught up with the day's headlines. "american morning," back in 60 seconds. welcome back to "american morning." in today's human factor, she didn't let age or sharks keep her away. >> dr. sanjay gupta is here with his special diana nyad's extreme dream. >> she exudes inspiration, ali. no question. this is one of the most inspiring things i have had to do here at cnn and most inspiring people. she set out to do something no human being has done. swim from cuba. so many things impact a swim like that. be in the water for 60 hours and 200,000 strokes and how do you eat? how do you stay hydrated and avoid sunburn and avoid hypothermia and how do you deal with sharks? take a look at what we found. one of their biggest concerns -- sharks. >> these are great waters for sharks. >> reporter: luke is the team's lead shark diver. he knows just how dangerous these waters can be. >> these particular waters we'll look for white tips, tiger sharks, caribbean reef sharks. this animal has evolved to dominate the ocean. they have a sixth sense. they can feel the electricity in the water. they know that we're there. >> reporter: and that's why in 1978, diana swam in a shark cage. today, she just uses this. >> sharks are tremendously sensitive to this. this is actually in the kayak. >> reporter: it's called a shark shield and off the coast of the bahamas, he shows us how it works. it's a shark feeding frenzy until he approaches and turns on the shark shield that hangs right above it. a lot of faith that she has to have in that shark shield. these waters where she's swimming known for sharks. that was, obviously, one of the big concerns but so many others she just needed to plan for and took a year, literally, of planning to make this swim actually happen, guys. >> unbelievable. we ran into her the other day, christine and me and it was unbelievable. >> you know, the thing about her, sanjay, she's focused but flexible, i think. you have to be completely single minded but able to change your goals and change the way you're doing it to get to the end. >> you have to have very good judgment, no question. this comes up over and over again between people i interviewed. mountain climbers so close to the peak and they decide they can't do it that day because of weather and other things. very similar here. lots of conditions that play a role. the water currents and water temperature and the exact weather. you need to have three days of calm and she has to have good judgment. in the end, though, still, that determined nature of her and that inspiring quality of her over 60 years old to try this, i just found that absolutely remarkable. >> even though she didn't finish, it doesn't really matter because she tried. isn't that what's important? >> i think so. look, how many people, she swam for 29 hours, she swam 59 miles in the water. imagine swimming a mile, which is a lot, and doing it 58 more times and did that in ocean water and very choppy conditions. she had asthma attacks in the water which was something she never had before. she thought she was having an allergy to some of the medications she was taking. just a remarkable, audacious attempt at doing something nobody has done before. >> the secret to success, you have to try. if you don't try, you'll never succeed. i think that is what may be her final attempt. that's what it taught me. >> she has more in her. >> i think she try something else. i'll put my money on it's not that particular goal, but she has something else big up her sleeve, eventually. >> don't miss the special, it is going to be good. saturday night 8:00 p.m. eastern. dr. sanjay gupta takes an exclusive look at diana nyad's "xtreme dream." what does jennifer hudson's weight loss kroervesh say about obesity in america? can we stop looking to other people, particularly celebrities to determine who we should be for the day? jennifer hudson is entitled to be whoever she wants to be. big girl, skinny girl or somewhere in between. let's not focus on losing the weight but the healthy changes she has made in her life. our children need to see our actors, actresses, athletes and singers making proper, ethical and healthy choices. andrea wrote, first, let's remember that jennifer got paid to lose weight. remember, weight watchers is trying to make money and it's all about image. it's good that she lost weight. >> i think she still looks curvy, too. i think she's a very beautiful girl and every weight she's been, i think she's been a very beautiful and very talented young woman. >> pay me a little bit of money to lose weight. you guys make a deal, we got a commercial coming up, you talk about how much you'll pay me. >> i'll give you a dollar per pound. >> i'll match the dollar per pound. >> we're in business. coming up ahead, star wars geeks, if you're out there. they're packing their bags and plastic light sabers because scientists may have found a planet where they may finally be at home, but they better pack something warm. it's pretty far away. 56 minutes after the hour. i'll tell you what i am talking about on the other side. busine. in here, inventory can be taught to learn. ♪ in here, machines have a voice... ♪ [ male announcer ] in here, medical history follows you... even when you're away from home. it's the at&t network -- a network of possibilities, creating and integrating solutions, helping business, and the world...work. rethink possible. helping business, and the world...work. financial advise is everywhere. i mean everywhere. real objective investing help. that's a little harder to find. but, here's what i know... td ameritrade doesn't manage mutual funds. or underwrite stocks and bonds. or even publish their own research. so guidance from td ameritrade isn't about their priorities. it's about mine. it's about mine. it's about mine. straight forward guidance, that's what makes td ameritrade different. fears of a double-dip recession are growing. i'm christine romans. why more economists predict this country could slip into another recession in the next year. a huge setback for al qaeda. i'm carol costello. the u.s. confirming one of the terror groups top operatives in afghanistan has been killed. who and why the terror group is now scrambling. a fierce and final push in libya. i'm alli velshi. storming into the stronghold on this "american morning." good morning. it is september 16th. it feels like october 16th in the northeast. and in parts of the midwest, too. little chilly. >> what happened to the dog days of summer? i guess we skipped over those. good morning to you. we start in libya. libyan rebels going in hard. troops are pouring into the heart of the city trying to seize control of one of gadhafi's strongholds in the country. libya's transitional council is sending a delegation council demanding they turn over one of gadhafi's sons who, of course, fled there. renewed fears this morning that america could flirt with another economic downturn. one in three economists they surveyed predict that the country will slip into a recession over the next 12 months. that's according to the journal. it's all because of the market turmoil, the stuttering job market and, of course, this ongoing financial crisis in europe. >> it has been since the recovery began and a gloomy economic forecast from the head of the international monetary fund. three years after the collapse of lehman brothers, the economic skies look troubled and, "we have entered a dangerous new phase of the crisis." but, despite all of this, the market overseas are up right now. live in london, so, give us some brighter news. >> yes. it seems the market very much anticipating what is coming out of the meeting between the finance ministers and also the finance ministers of the other countries that make up the 27-member european union block. now, there is, obviously, the wish list of the things that the markets would like to hear them say and then, of course, real life. what really has given the markets a bit of a shot in the arm this friday session is yesterday's decision by the world's major central banks, including the federal reserve, the bank of england, bank of japan, et cetera, to inject more liquidity to make more money, u.s. dollar money available for the next three months to come for the troubled banks that were having so much difficulty trying to borrow money out on the open market because precisely of the kind of euros in crisis we're facing today. broadly speaking, the market is looking pretty optimistic. then, again, we are waiting to see what these ministers say. timothy geithner making his second appearance in europe in just the last couple weeks or so and he is going to be arriving there and that is really giving us an indication of just how serious the united states perceives the eurozone crisis at the moment. >> nina, thanks. >> the treasury secretary of the united states you would think has enough problems at home. for the fact that he is for the second time partaking in these exclusive european talks means we are worried about what happens there. >> we definitely are. education a big part of the president's jobs plan. today he'll travel to a high school in alexandria, virginia. that legislation is designed to encourage innovation by streamlining the patent process. housespeaker john boehner rolling out the alternative to president obama's jobs plan. a proposal that calls for less government spending and regulation. here's more of what the speaker said to the economic club of washington. >> we all know some regulations are needed. we've got a responsibility under the constitution to regulate interstate commerce. there are reasonable regulations that protect our children and keep our environment clean. well, then there are excessive regulations that unnecessarily increase the cost for consumers and small businesses. and those excessive regulations are making it harder for our economy to create jobs. >> boehner also rejected the option of raising taxes to cut the deficit. he said the special committee with cutting more than $1 million from the federal deficit should use spending cuts and entitlement reform to get the job done. earlier i spoke to thomas friedman. he says hyperpartisan politics is a roadblock to our economic recovery and he is suggesting a hybrid third party candidate might have some success. >> the problem we have today is one party really wants to talk about investing. one party really wants to talk about and taxing and one party really wants to talk about not taxing. all right, cutting. there's actually no party that has that hybrid politics in the middle. that's what we need. politics is about incentives. right now these two parties, their incentives are to really appeal to their base. we're really big believers. change the incentives and politics. don't move the cheese, the mouse doesn't move. >> friedman says there's a huge unrepresented middle in the country that is ready for cutting taxes and investing at the same time. new developments in pakistan this morning. an al qaeda leader considered to be the terror networks chief of operations has been killed. u.s. officials confirming the death of shari. it's not clear how he died, but a critical blow to al qaeda's core leadership. eight of the terror organizations top 20 leaders have been killed this year. wow. he defied orders and charged five times in a humvee to rescue comrades under attack in afghanistan. for that, an astounding act of terrorism. dakota meyer received the medal of honor from president obama. >> 36 men are alive today. because of your courage, four fallen american heroes came home. >> i didn't do anything that i would hope any other marine wouldn't do. i didn't, i definitely don't see myself as a hero. >> they always say that, don't they? but they are. meyer is the third living recipient and the first marine to be awarded the medal of honor for actions in iraq or afghanistan. brandon wright is thrilled to be alive today. young college student who was pulled from beneath the burning car in utah earlier this week after his motorcycle collide would a bmw in a parking lot. check them out, that is him being pulled away. wright held a news conference just to say thank you to the brave bystanders who lifted that car on to its side and pulled him out and saved him. >> i just wanted to thank all the heroes that put their lives on the line to save mine. forever in debt. i can't thank them enough. i just hope they know how much they mean to me. i woke up to a man in a green shirt just kneeling over me and trying to get me to talk and keeping me awake and i would really like to meet him, too. because he did not let me close my eyes and go back to sleep. really, without him, i don't know if i would have hung in there. >> brandon says the sight of his mangled motorcycle made him cry. burns to his left leg and no damage to his head, even though he wasn't wearing a helmet and he says he will wear a helmet from now on. >> i hope so. still ahead, where does president obama put his own odds of being re-elected in 2012? nasa finds a new planet with two suns. does that sound familiar to you? we have the nerdy, but super cool details after this. dramatic cool down as temperatures take a dive. is the cold here to stay? rob marciano is coming your way, next. you could save a bundle with geico's multi-policy discount. geico, saving people money on more than just car iance. ♪ geic two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. a nerd alert now. scientists may have found the skywalker's home planet. astronomers have confirmed the first direct evidence of a planet with two suns 200 light years away. the desert wasteland home to luke skywalker and his home, darth vader. >> darth vader was his dad. you just ruined it for me. >> i'm just kidding. >> that was good. the real planet, by the way, far too cold to sustain life, we're told. no chance of finding alien or loan sharks. rob marciano is in the extreme weather center. we hope we didn't ruin it for you, rob. >> no, you didn't. i recommend everybody for today and this weekend in honor of this discovery. 20s and 30s are the temperatures right now across parts of the western great lakes. check it out. we are seeing some of the coldest, well, the coldest air of the season so far. weve haven't been able to say tt since march, april, maybe may. freeze watches have been posted. little snow from this system. north central wisconsin. the earlier snowfall on record. the earlier record set back in 1916. this is a record setter, as it was in international falls, notably the ice box of the nation. still, 19 in september, that's cold. marquette seeing 31 yesterday. minneapolis 36 and milwaukee, wisconsin, only getting down to 40 degrees. cold front all the way down to the gulf of mexico and all the way down to the east coast, as well. infiltrating a good two-thirds of the country with very fall-like temperatures and maybe lake-effect showers with this thing. 87 degrees the expected high temperature in dallas compared to what you have seen in the past three months, that's cool. 69 degrees. 69 for the high temperature in atlanta and 69 in new york. some spots tomorrow looking ahead and not everybody see a perfect fall weekend but the mid-atlantic will see some showers and rain heading into areas that could use the rain. like to get this a little further south into texas. this cold front across the northeast yesterday did have a little bit of severe weather with it. cool pictures, though, out of ocean city, maryland. this was a waterspout. tornado over water that was quiet and clean to begin with. but did come onshore briefly and did a little bit of damage tossing some cars and trucks around, as well. the only report of a tornado we saw yesterday and cool video for you to enjoy on this friday. >> oh, yeah, for us to enjoy. hence the reason we go down to the ocean. >> nobody got hurt. >> that's true, very true. just some property. >> you know where it will rain today, maybe go out and see the star wars trilogy. >> perfect. thanks, rob. >> you're a professional. he is a professional. rob marciano, thank you. the question for you this morning, what does jennifer hudson's weight loss controversy say about obesity in america? i know, jennifer hudson. hear me out. no doubt jennifer hudson is now skinny. since she appeared on oprah, reportedly she's now down to a size zero. "i'm prouder of my weight loss than my oscar." a far cry what she said back in 2007 when she was a lot curvier. back then she said, i love my size. i think everybody should have meat on their bones. her change of heart about her weight has some fans steamed. the cafe mom blog writes, "it's confusing to kids who struggle with celebrity worship and their own self-esteem, especially girls with body image issues and their own weight struggles." the biggest loser, i mean, audiences love that tv show, "the biggest loser" yet we criticize hudson for losing weight. some criticize michelle obama for her anti-obesity campaign, somehow promoting healthy eating is equivalent, but the facts are the facts. about one-third of adult americans are obese and heart disease is the number one killer in the united states. as for what jennifer hudson is saying now -- >> it's about what you want for yourself, how you feel about yourself. it's about good health and, at least for me, it's about good health. but, overall what you want for yourself. if you want to be a big girl, be the fiercest girl you can be. >> so, the talk back question today, what does jennifer hudson's weight loss controversy say about obesity in america? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> really great discussion. a check of the morning markets, next. plus, mortgage rates, listen to me very carefully if you have a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. another railroecord low right n. this affects every one who is sitting there with a loan with the bank. we're watching your money, it's 17 minutes after the hour. [ courier ] the amazing story of whether bovine heart tissue can make it from australia to a u.s. lab to a patient in time for surgery may seem like a trumped-up hollywood premise. ♪ but if you take away the dramatic score... take away the dizzying 360-degree camera move, and take away the over-the-top stunt, you're still left with a pretty remarkable tale. but, okay, maybe keep the indulgent supermodel cameo... thank you. [ male announcer ] innovative medical solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. 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. welcome back, it's 20 minutes after the hour. watching your money this morning. in a new poll, economists say there is a one in three chance the u.s. economy will slip back into recession in the next year. the poll was conducted by the "wall street journal." a 2 in 3 chance it won't. right now u.s. stock futers for the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 are all trading slightly lower ahead of the opening bell. wall street watching very closely what happens in europe today. the treasury secretary is there right now working with european finance ministers on trying to stabilize the situation and european debt. on a lighter note, the average rate for a 30-year fixed rate loan fell to 4.09% this week. that's the lowest in 60 years. that's according to freddie mac. more bad news for netflix. the company says it expects about 1 million fewer subscribers in the third quarter. this after it jacked up the price of the dvd rentals. company stock plummeted on the news yesterday. snooki and company getting a tax break. working on "jersey shore" a 400,000 tax credit. the mayor of seaside heights said the series provided a boost to the local economy, but many are upset, taxpayers are now helping to pay the bill. still ahead, the first day at work is always a little racking. we have the rookie mistake on tape. "american morning" back right after this break. this one works. ooh, the price sure doesn't. i'm tired of shopping around. [ sigh ] too bad you're not buying car insurance. like that's easy. oh, it is. progressive direct showed me their rates and the rates of their competitors. i saved hundreds when switching. we could use hundreds. yeah. wake up and smell the savings. out there with a better way. now, that's progressive. [ jennifer ] and i'm jennifer northcutt. opening a restaurant is utterly terrifying. we lost well over half of our funding when everything took a big dip. i don't think anyone would open up a restaurant if they knew what that moment is like. ♪ day 1, everything happened at once. ♪ i don't know how long that day was. we went home and let it sink in what we had just done. [ laughs ] ♪ word of mouth is everything, and word of mouth today is online. it all goes back to the mom and pop business and building something from the heart, founded within a family. when i found out i was pregnant, daniel was working on our second location. everyone will find out soon enough i think that something's happening. ♪ ♪ good morning, washington, d.c. mostly cloudy right now with 52 degrees outside. only looking for a high of 68. summer's almost over. bob turner had a slightly awkward moment during his first day on the job. new york's newest congressman. the republican party's newest hero. he was sworn in yesterday. this is anthony weiner's old seat. look what happened when he started speaking on the house floor before he was recognized by house speaker john boehner. >> thank you, mr. speaker. thank you, congressman rangel. >> the gentleman, the gentleman from new york, mr. turner is recognized. >> thank you, mr. speaker. now? >> new yorkers don't ask for permission. they just go in and do it. >> parliamentary procedure is hard. >> cut him some slack. he will occupy anthony weiner's old congressional seat. don't ask, don't tell. the ban on gays serving openly in the military will officially be repealed on tuesday. this comes after months of reviews, court challenges. two house republicans are making a final push for a delay, though, saying that they simply need more information on specific policy changes. the fbi under fire this morning trying to explain how anti-islam views made it into one of their training programs for agents. critics are calling it pure bigotry. one of the sentiments taught, the more devote a muslim is, the more likely he is to be violent. more on this controversy from brian todd. >> reporter: in the often tense relationship between the muslim community in the u.s. and law enforcement, another potential problem. fallout over an fbi training presentation, which claimed that main stream muslims sympathize with militants. "wired" magazine said it obtained slides that were shown at the bureau's training facility in quan co, virginia. it says the prophet mohammed ordered the assassinations of his critics. that islam's world view is that there could be no peace between islam and others until dar al islam conqurz and assimulates its adversaries. calls the cult reference horrific. he didn't ordered them to be killed. animating these islamic values are not fringed, they are main stream. what do you make of it? >> again, i say this is the propaganda of islamaphobes. they want to paint an entire community, an infire faith community as extremist. it's bigotry of the worst sort. >> reporter: contacted by cnn, the fbi wouldn't comment on that and wouldn't allow us to speak to the analyst that wrote that presentation. an fbi spokesman acknowledged that that training session took place, but he says that was six months ago, one time only then it was quickly discontinued. that policy changes are under way and that that instructor no longer provides training for the fbi. but the instructor is still an fbi analyst. since september 11th, the fbi has often invited muslim leaders to talk with agents. >> true or false, all arabs are muslim and all muslims are arabs? >> reporter: i asked if for the counterterrorist agents he dealt widjaja believe that presentation? >> they don't believe it. they believe in a strong outreach program. >> reporter: it could play into al qaeda's hands for propaganda. it could diminish the fbi's ability to get the muslim community to help in investigations. but he says, hopefully, the fact that the fbi acted so quickly to terminate the program may give the program more credibility with muslims. brian todd, cnn, washington. well, our top stories now. an al qaeda leader considered to be the terror leader chief of operations in pakistan has been killed. u.s. officials are confirming the death al shari in pakistan. it is not clear how he died but his death is considered a critical blow to al qaeda's core leadership. in libya a major advance on moammar gadhafi's home town pouring into the heart of that city now. sirte is one of the last remaining pro-gadhafi strongholds. the interim leaders are sending a delegation demanding they return one of gadhafi's sons. striking teachers in tacoma, washington, could be in legal trouble as their walkout enters this fourth day. a judge encouraged them to return to work, but 93% of the teachers voted to ignore the court order. this strike is illegal because teachers are public employees and have no right to strike. some 28,000 school students are affected. president obama is taking a glass half full approach to winning a second term. telling campaign donors last night in washington that his chances of getting re-elected in 2012 are better than they were in 2008. tick toots tets to the fund-rai more than $38,000 a couple. >> to make that $35,000 ticket worth it, right? president obama will be in virginia later this morning trying to sell his new job's plan. he has been looking more and more like a candidate this week. out on the road trying to fire up the crowds and everywhere he goes, his new catch phrase isn't far behind. >> every one of you can make it happen by sending a message to congress that says, pass this bill. that's why congress needs to pass this bill. let's tell congress, pass this bill right away. let's pass this bill. right away. >> oh, we're hearing that a lot, aren't we? it's reminding some people of the old catch phrase, yes, we can. is this the old obama and is he finally connecting again? joining us to talk about that and the texas swagger of rick perry, michael is the ceo of a pr firm that specializes in language and messaging. good morning. >> good morning, carol. when you hear president obumma using that catch phrase, the crowd actually starts to chant along with him, of course, most of the crowd are his supporters, right? you hear it there. >> right, we studied the language, the language of leadership a lot in our firm and he is, for the first time recapturing that language and he's taken over the bully pulpit and he hasn't gotten his base that excited over the last couple of years. this is really working for him. i think it is a big opportunity for him. >> the most important thing is, will this work in washington? will that make republicans more likely to consider his jobs bill just because he seems to have the crowd on his side? >> well, i think he is taking control of the debate. and one of the things that he has failed to do in every policy debate, whether it's health care reform or dodd-frank is really take control of the debate. we're talking about a jobs act, we're not talking about a stimulus. they picked the right name for the bill, the american jobs act. this isn't the reinvestment and recovery act, the way it was the last time. and the conversations are about what obama wants them to be about, even when boehner came out and started talking to the economic club yesterday, that's not going to get as much press. so, i think he's got the ability to put pressure on republicans with what he's doing in a way that he hasn't had, really, for most of the last two years. >> as far as the voter is concerned, because he's so fired up now and, as you say, he's taking control of the debate. does it matter if his entire jobs package is passed by congress? >> i don't think so. i think if he can get anything passed right now, it's a big victory for him and he'll be able to go out to the american public and say he pushed hard to get a jobs bill passed. he got a jobs bill passed. i think the reality is most americans aren't going to read the fine print and they're not going to read what was in the original bill and what wasn't. right now he's trying to position himself. if anything gets past he will take credit and if nothing gets past he made it clear it is because of republican obstructionism. >> let's talk a little bit about the republicans. i want to take a look at some clips from the president and, actually, texas governor perry, rick perry. because it's such a great contrast, such a great contrast between the two. we'll lissen and talk about it after. >> this isn't about me. this isn't about giving me a win. this isn't about giving democrats or republicans a win. it's not about positioning for the election. it's about giving the american people a win. that's what it is about. >> the liberals are more interested in job creation to expand government. jobs are about families. jobs are about families realizing the american dream. most americans don't want to depend on government for their livelihood. they just want an opportunity. >> both men are compelling speakers and both men are likable in different ways. can you point out those differences for us? >> well, i think, i think rick perry is actually a much more naturally likable person when he's out there interacting with people. i think obama has been criticized and it's only when he finds these moments as a candidate that he can really rev up his audiences. so, perry's got that kind of natural charisma and it works for him. and obama, you know, he works it on the campaign trail, but, otherwise, it's a little bit harder for him and, so, we'll see how that plays out over the course of the campaign. >> i'm taking a leap here, let's say rick perry runs the republican primary and he's up against president obama. does president obama need to change his speaking style or his style to compete with the rick perry and vice versa? >> well, i think he, he's now finding his style as a candidate, again. it hasn't been there for as long as he's been president. while perry really has it naturally. the interesting thing right now is that obama is really playing to the middle right now, much more than he's playing to his base. where perry is really playing to his base right now, much more than he's playing to the middle. so, the content of what they're talking about is going to change or at least certainly for perry f he wins the nomination. he's going to have to move a little bit more to the middle than he has been on most of his comments and the debates. >> thank you for joining us this morning, we appreciate it. >> thank you, carol. >> great discussion. you know, yesterday some of the best opinion out there was the fire indict, fight from james carville on cnn opinion, but seems like everyone has an opinion on how to create jobs. john boehner unveiled his plan yesterday and in the opinion pages today. here's today's morning opinion for you in "wall street journal." obama's plan falls short, writing rather than tinker around the edges with temporary tax cuts and more government spending, the administration and congress should embrace a bolder and more effective plan to open markets, attack new investments and infrastructure and develop american energy and develop powerful growth incentives by reforming taxes, regulations and entitlements. the right way to create jobs in america, "new york times" editorial board chastising governments. for mr. obama to win public support for this effort, americans need to see him attack the republicans' opposition and to forcefully get his party in line. and david brooks of "new york times" points out no matter what legislation eventually passes, economic turn arounds take time. he notes after a crisis, countries typically have years of high unemployment. this historical pattern has been universally acknowledged and universally ignored. instead, lead in both parties have clung to the analogy that the economy is like a sick patient who can be healed by the right treatment. you can head to my twitter feed and we'll put the one up by james carville yesterday. coming up next, what is killing jobs here in the u.s.? one auto body shop owner says all the red tape are to blame for choking his business with inspections, permits, fees. is this the death of small family-owned business? fascinating look inside one man's particular challenges. it's 37 minutes after the hour. ah looks like somebody's a winner. ha, not me! cause shipping is a hassle. different states, different rates. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. so shipping for the chess champ in charleston is the same as shipping for the football phenom in philly? yep. so i win! actually, i think you deserve this. no, i deserve this. wow, got one of those with a mailman on top? priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship. welcome back. creating and keeping jobs in this country, these are going to be pivotal, pivotal issues for the 2012 presidential campaign, they're actually pivotal issues right now. they're still worried about it. >> exactly. now, republicans have said one way to boost employment is to roll back what they see as job killing red tape. >> but are these regulations really affecting how businesses hire? here's casey wian. >> reporter: as city, body and frame opens for business in riverside, california, he doesn't known about the surprise visitors that will arrive later in the day. for now he's focused on moving a worker from one of his two other shops to help here. >> they're always constantly running around because lack of resources. in '07 we were on the peak and we had almost 60 employees and now down to 28 employees. >> reporter: the economy is the main reason. but he says constantly expanding federal state and local regulations also are choking his business. you never want anyone to think that you're not trying to be compliant. you're not trying to meet the needs of clean air, clean water because you are. >> right. >> reporter: but a lot of those are, did you dot the is and cross the ts stuff. >> reporter: on top of agencies repair shops are investigated by government bureaucracies. >> we see a lot more of those people than we ever have. nose there's no sensitivity to what it takes to run a business. >> reporter: his company has been in business for 37 years and he said it has never been safer or cleaner than today. >> we have the latest in paint equipment right here. we have these new spray booths which basically to install these are about $250,000. >> reporter: those booths use water-based paint, not the more toxic petroleum-based quality. yet, he estimates he now spends 35% of his time trying to satisfy regulators. >> when the regulations are more important than the creation of jobs, we find ourselves in an economic situation where there's not enough tax revenue coming in to pay the bills because there's not enough people working. >> reporter: he is upset over a dispute that began last year with local air quality regulates that ended up in a $800 fine for record-keeping violations. those regulations do more good than harm. >> the health impacts associated with air pollution were estimated at over $20 billion a year. in terms of the potential costs of control to achieve federal clean air standards, that was estimated at about $4 billion a year. >> reporter: back to those unexpected visitors. about three hours after we showed up, riverside fire department inspectors showed up. the result, another stack of paperwork to fill out, a new hazardous material fee and the possibility that he may have to pay for electronic monitoring of his fire sprinkler system. house speaker john boehner recently wrote a letter to president obama complaining about 200 newly proposed regulations on business. he said the house is considering legislation that would require congressional approval of any new regulations that have a significant impact on jobs. casey wian, cnn, riverside, california. >> i think that's very worrisome that you would need congressional approval of new regulations. i mean, there's a lot of concern about overregulation, but it's become so fashionable to hate regulation that we forgot on the cancers that people don't get, and the injuries that people don't get on the jobs and the things little children don't swallow because of regulation. >> you're saying some regulation is good. >> i don't think it's congress, i don't think we need to clutter congress up with approving of regulation. if we need greater eficiency, that's one. congress can't rubber stamp and check everything against everything. >> i think there's no question that we need to have smart regulation and smart oversight and smart everything. the pendulum swings in this country. you overregulate and underregulate. it needs to be smart and focused. >> if congress doesn't decide, who decides? >> i don't know if we can put that stuff on congress? we used to have a regimen of regulators who looked at banks and safety and they were good, strong regulators. now we're saying we don't actually trust the regulatory body and congress should decide. we have to go back to trusting them and staffing them properly. >> congress gives them the funding and gives them the -- >> they do it. like saying congress has to do the stuff fda does. be a little busy. morning headlines next including red lobster and olive garden going on a diet. >> i love that. >> there you go. 45 minutes after the hour. 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. [oinking] [hissing] [ding] announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. 47 minutes after the hour. here are your morning headlines. forces to libya's new leaders pouring into sirte. one of the last regimes, one of the last stronghold of the regime. libyan delegation from the transitional council is demanding the return of gadhafi's son. u.s. markets open in about 45 minutes. right now stock futures for the dow, nasdaq and s&p 500 are all trading slightly lower. wall street is watching what happens in europe closer today. one in three economists will predict the u.s. will slip back into a recession in the next year. a teachers strike in tacoma, washington, entering the fourth day. the teachers voted overwhelmingly to continue their walkout. the nfl will now conduct patdowns from the ankles up for fans coming into stadiums around the country, this after a man got into a stadium with a stun gun on 9/11. an all-time low thank to tax increases that put a pack over $11 and new bans on smoking in places like city parks. first lady michelle obama trying to slim down america's kids one pound at a time. celebrating what she calls a groundbreaking moment at a maryland olive garden. the first lady visiting the home of the never-ending breadsticks. starting next year, olive garden and red lobster will offer low-fat frumilk and fruit. that's the news you need to know to start your day. "american morning" back after the break. ten minutes to the top of the hour. welcome back to "american morning." >> you know what, i forgot to turn back on my microphone. >> talk into my chest. >> what is ali wearing today? fashion week wrapped up in new york city. front row seat wasn't good enough for us, thanks to our alina cho, we had a backstage pass. >> she got access to celebrities and the clothes they wear. she's here with a sneak peek at her weekend special. so fun watching you put this together. >> a lot of fun for me. a lot of hard work. i think i'll fall asleep at 2:00 this afternoon. having said that, it's been great. thanks, guys. this morning we'll talk about fashion week. of course, it ended last night. the glitz, the glamour and, of course, the more than 250 fashion shows highlighting the new designer collections for spring 2012. now, that's the catwalk. what you'll see on my upcoming half hour special is an exclusive behind the scenes look at the fashion world. my backstage passes beginning with my exclusive interview with mark jacobsen. he is about to become the next designer of christian dior. >> you have said that you would love to be a designer that the french embrace. >> yes. yeah, it would be an honor. there's no question that the two great cutour houses in paris are chan chanel. >> now a designer herself. now, zoe recently scored a major cue when one a-list star was photographed wearing one of her dresses. watch. >> you have been dressing celebrities for so long, when jennifer lopez -- >> oh, my -- like i still get chills. i know where you're going right now and i can't even talk about it. >> she was that excited. i also talked with fashion icon carl loger neufeld, we saw justn bieber there with a new hair cut and michael kors and you'll even hear from bono who plays backup to his fashion designer wife. >> the only deal we have is i don't give any fashion tips. ali is very sure about that. you know, she's a tough customer. i mean, i think fashion is tougher than music business. >> huson is the designer of eden, a label she started six years ago. all of this on my "fashion backstage pass." and who is cooler than bono? maybe mark jacobs. >> he has good fashion sense. he wears the same outfit every time you see him. >> blackja jacket and black pan. >> he had his favorite jeans and you could tell if he had been off the road for too long, he couldn't fit in his jeans. >> we can't wait to see your special. >> 2:30 on saturday. >> yes. >> good, very good. up next, our talk back question of the day. what does jennifer hudson's weight loss controversy say about obesity in america? just about six minutes to the top of the hour. i grew up in very low income areas. but it taught me to redefine myself and not to let your past determine your future. when i moved to new york for school, i was living in east harlem and there's very few places to buy fruits and vegetables and healthy foods. it's the most diabetic and obese of all the neighborhoods in manhattan. people were super malnourished. i saw the connection between poverty and obesity and it just seemed unjust. and i had to do something about it. my name is gina keatley and i am giving nourishment to people who are literally dying for it. change is possible. if you want somebody to try a tomato, you give them a tomato. they have to feel it, touch it, taste it. people will not change unless something in them changes. we go other places people will not go. we're giving out produce and doing classes. you really can eat healthy on a low budget. >> what are these? >> grapes. >> what is this? >> chicken. >> we really want them to start early on. so it could set a ripple effect for the rest of their life. >> say tortila. >> at the end of the day, the parents are doing the shopping. we have to win them over, as well. when i see a child, it reminds me of things i didn't have and i want them to see. it's about holding yourself up and never accepting it and i can see in people's faces. i think people are getting it. we were so blessed when we had triplets. if by blessed you mean freaked out about money. well, we suddenly noticed that everything was getting more expensive, so we switched to the bargain detergent, but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. [ laughs ] thanks, honey. yeah. you suck at folding. [ laughs ] that's my tide. what's yours? [ female announcer ] find the tide that's right for you at tide.com. got the mirrors all adjusted? you can see everything ok? just stay off the freeways, all right? i don't want you going out on those yet. and leave your phone in your purse, i don't want you texting. >> daddy... ok! ok, here you go. be careful. >> thanks dad. >> and call me--but not while you're driving. we knew this day was coming. that's why we bought a subaru. down the hill? man: all right. we were actually thinking, maybe... we're going to hike up here, so we'll catch up with you guys. [ indistinct talking and laughter ] whew! i think it's worth it. working with a partner you can trust is always a good decision. massmutual. let our financial professionals help you reach your goals. we asked you to talk back today. this is the question. what does jennifer hudson's weight loss kroerve say about obesity in america? people will always hate on success. jennifer hudson decided to become healthy and there's nothing wrong with that. more people should follow her and become healthy and fit and maybe it will help with the obesity problem in this country. you should love your body, but also work for the body you want. i lost weight myself, but you know what actually matters to me? my cholesterol numbers. whether you're short or tall or curvy or thin, you need to find your healthiest structure. facebook.com/americanmorning, if you'd like to continue the conversation. >> i like the whole work for the body you have. >> you're eating better, right? >> i'm certainly talking about it. >> he just said at the break, i can't wait to get two hot dogs. >> ali velshi is one of the worst eaters, we all know.