call." i'm carol costello. thank you for waking up with us. rick perry was the prime target along with seven other presidential candidates on stage, trading barbs about everything from the economy to vaccinations to immigration. social security set the tone right off the bat. you'll hear from all eight contenders talking about your money, your job, your retirement. but let's talk about the two candidates sitting at the top of the polls. rick perry and mitt romney. >> listen. this is a broken system. it has been called a ponzi scheme by many people long before me, but no one's had the courage to stand up and say here is how we're going to reform it. >> the term "ponzi scheme" i think is over the top, unnecessary, and frightful to many people. >> i'm not particularly worried about about governor perry and governor romney frightening the people when president obama scares them every day. >> social security is broke, we spent all the money, and it's on its last legs unless we do something. >> this economy is on life support. we need a bold solution. in not one that tinkers around the edges, not one that continues politicians with winners and losers. >> some say the economy is ady aster. >> we have millions and millions of unemployed, millions beyond who are so dispirited they've completely given up trying to find a job. we've got moms anded dads who are economically shipwrecked. >> for years, politicians have run on the idea that government is going to buy more people more stuff and that the federal government would be taking care of people's prescription drugs, their retirement, their health care, their housing, their food. we're the everybody else that's paying the fee for all of these things. that's the principle that has to change. >> entitlement programs like social security bound to be a hot button issue for voters in 201 2012, the poll says most think it needs an overhaul, over half think it needs changes. some want it out entirely. some thing the program is a monstrous lie and a failure. that's how rick perry characterized social security a few weeks ago in iowa, but last night he seemed to soften that stance a bit. north carolina voters are one step closer to weighing in on a same-sex marriage ban. they voted to put a proposed continue substitutional amendment on the ballot next spring. if it passes, the senate gets the go-ahead from voters. north carolina will blk the file state in the states to chisel the ban into their constitutions. president obama is heading on the road to sell his job plan. he's heading to ohio today,s north carolina tomorrow to build a grassroots support. he may need it. republican leaders don't like how president obama plans to pay for his $447 billion jobs path. he wants to tax the rich more. that would mean closing loopholes and wiping out deductions for some higher income families and some businessings. >> joran van der sloot is willing to confess to a simple homicide according to his lawyer. he's been behind bars since last year when he was accused of robbing and killing 21-year-old stephany flores. his lawyer is pushing for a simple homicide charge. it carries a 20-year prison term. that's less than the family wants. he was a long-time suspect in the disappearance of natalee holloway in aruba. that case remains unsolved. a home health care provider will pay a record $150 million to settle charges that it was ripping off medicaid, the veterans administration and other program. maxim health care was billing the government for services it didn't perform or were not eligible for reimbursement. it says it change its ways and fired the responsible executives. texas homeowners are returning home today. the texas forest service say the wildfire near austin is now 60% contained, but it has destroyed more than 1,500 homes. texas is not the only state dealing with massive fires. lightning is to blame for fires in california. these are pictures of the comanche fire raging near stallion springs where residents are being told to evacuate. it's only about 30% contained. now let's head to atlanta and check in with rob marciano in atlanta. it's such a bad season for fires again. >> in california we're just getting started. texas hasn't seen a season. it's been all year long. over 225 days and it continues. here's a map, a look at the fires. there's southern california. that's our big concern now. as we get through the end of september, october, november, that's prime time for southern california fire season, the santa an that winds setting up. not right now but going forward. going to be hot across parts of texas again today. my goodness, it's been rough for them not helping the drought or fire situation. if you're traveling, detroit, cleveland, sfwrans, some morning fog and some. vegas thunderstorms, that doesn't help the fire situation with dry lightning in spots. 107 expected in dallas. 97. it feeling like july or august. it's the middle of september, my friends p, a friends, and we're due for a fall preview. we're going to get it. by wednesday afternoon, the 50s and 60s, and it will help alleviate some of the heat in texas but today it's go ing to be be a hot one. as far as astronomy is concerned, astronomers discovered 50 new planets, believe it or not. one they would like to call super earth, a perfect distance from the star to possibly have water and light. 36 light years away from us, so, you know, it ooh going to take you a while to get there. but another little crumb of hope, maybe knowledge that there's life. >> that would be awesome. very cool stuff. >> let's go visit. >> that would be great because i need to get out of this world right now. thank you, rob. do you want to hear comedian jon stewart's take on president obama's jobs plan? of course, you do. listen. >> it will triple guarantee that all children get to be the fame they wanted to be when they grow up including astronaut, balleri ballerina, lion tamer and most of all batman. it will guarantee that they can become -- mr. president, what do you call this plan that does so much for so many? >> it's called the american jobs act. >> come on. even your crappy bills have aspirational qualities to them. american recovery and reinvestment act. we didn't and it wasn't, but it was trying. give us some span, a little humor, a little zing. the "americans take this job and love it kwkts act, the make it rain act. remember me i killed bin laden in 2011. so many. >> that's the best one. the last one was best. there have been theories about the food that astronauts eat on long space shuttle missions? just ahead how they plan to get some of the food on the first come, first serve basis. first check out o the quote of the date. quote, we are likely to hear the republican candidates for president continue to wore "showbiz flashpoint" at theal tar of the tea party. end quote. if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. unlike others, you get twice the points on travel, and twice the points on dining, and no foreign transaction fees. call now or apply at chasesapphire.com/preferred. ♪ ♪ one, two, three, four ♪ you say ♪ flip it over and replay ♪ we'll make everything okay ♪ walk together the right way ♪ do, do, do, do it is ten minutes past the hour. this is your "wake-up call." let's get back to our quote of the day, shall we. this is the quote. we are likely to hear the republican candidates for president continue to wore "showbiz flashpoint" at the altar of the tea party. end quote. who was it? democratic chair committee chair person debbie wasser man schultz. she said it last night before the tea party debate. time to check out what's making headlines. let's go to hong kong and check in with kristie lu stout. first let's talk a little angry birds. >> that's right. there have been, get a load of this, 300 million angry birds downloads since 2009. that's according to robio. they're saying players are putting in 300 million minutes of game play a day. the company is capitalizing on the angry birds phenomenon. it's launched everywhere and the merchandise is amazing. they're selling is plush toy, 100 million t-shirts a month. and they've released these. these are angry birds-themed moon case. take a look at this. carol, i hate to say it. you probably don't want to taste them anyway. they're only available here in china. back to you. >> bummer. that would have been a great gift for my mother. she loves angry birds. even my mother loves angry birds. >> you don't want to give a moon cake for christmas. i can send the box over if she's a fan. >> good enough. she's that big a fan. >> all right. this other story that's pretty fascinating, this texas town that's found a quicker way to get to crime scenes. >> it's america's first police gyro plane. this type of aircraft is nothing new. it uses a rear-mounted propeller to gain speed and a propeller to get left. local police are looking at it to potentially fight crime. it's considered safer than a helicopter. if you lose power, you glide down. it's cheaper. a modern helicopter costs up to $4 million. the gyro plane, $75,000. it has limits. there are no roofs or doors. trouble in bad weather, not a good idea. for police there in texas, the gyro plane is in pilot mode right now. there's no kicking the tires. >> bugs and birds, that twould hurt. >> yeah, exactly. especially going at a speed. >> exactly. >> huh huh. >> kristie lu stout live in hong kong. thanks so much. now that the space shuttle program has landed nasa has some things they have to get rid of so the space agency is offer in food and space shuttle tiles to schools and universities. you can find out more how to register on nasa.gov. republicans pouncing on front-runner rick perry on everything from illegal immigration to his man dade ordering the vaccinations of young girls. a closer look at the debate coming your way. it's 14 minutes past the hour. there's only one bottle left ! i've got to tell susie ! the vending machine on elm is almost empty. i'm on it, boss. new pony ? sorry ! we are open for business. let's reroute greg to fresno. growing businesses use machine-to-machine technology from verizon wireless. susie ! the vending machine... already filled. cool bike. because the business with the best technology rules. it is 15 minutes past the hour. good morning. this is your "wake-up call." did you catch the public debate last night. stephen colbert relates it to blood, tigers? here's your punch line. >> the republican candidates have their second presidential debate in less than a week and i was as excited as a kid in the candy store who spent the same three hours in the store last wednesday. we taped the show orks so let me give you the preshow analysis for today. oh, god, so much blood. where did that tiger come from. the real game-changer came before the debate when tim pawlenty stopped by to borough a cup of air time from fox and friends. >> there's one man unmatched in his skills, experience and talent when it comes to growing jobs and that's mitt romney. >> this is huge for romney. just weeks ago these two men were bitter rivals, opposite in every way, and look at them now. tilt ooh is like miracle whip endorsing mayonnaise. >> ouch. time now for your political ticker with tim farley, host of morning briefing on sirius live. >> why did i even watch it. thank you, carol. >> good-bye. i'm leaving too. seriously they were pouncing on the rick perry, the front-runner again. let's listen to a bit of it, shall we. >> does governor perry deserve any credit for all the jobs that were created in texas? >> oh, sure, oh, sure. >> tell him how much credit he deserves. >> well, look. you know, i think governor perry would agree with me that if you dub four aces that doesn't necessarily make you a great poker play sneer governor perry, you were dealt four aces. >> well i was going to say, mitch, you were doing pretty good till you got to talking poker. >> congressman paul, you're from texas, does your governor deserve all that credit? >> not quite. i'm a taxpayer there. my taxes have gone up. our taxes have doubled since he's been in office. i don't want to offend the governor because he might raise my taxes or something. >> what's interesting, tim, is, you know, i was reading some of the op eds about it last night. more mainstream papers sate is was mitt romney. he said it was rick perry. who do you think it was? >> as far as winning? i think when you come out of it, you look at who was going in, what they had to accomplish and what hay had to come out with. i think you still have no reason to believe that rick perry is still not the front-runner in the republican party and i think what we're seeing as we go through here, maybe a sharpening of possessions. rick perry did a little more. as do you said at the top of the show, carol, he softened the rhetoric on social security. there is one issue that struck me that may be a problem for at least the more conservative part of the republican party and that is the governor's stance on immigration as he was attacked by both mitt romney and several others including michele bachmann who was more strident about her criticism of rick perry last night. but that may be an issue that. cos back. it's probably a little closer to a george wfrmt bush, i believe, when he pushed an immigration plan that never made it through cob. >> there was one other factor that michele bachmann had up her sleeve and that was the vaccinations against the hpp virus that perry passed this legislation in texas that, of course, young girls could be vaccinated. listen to the exchange between michele bachmann and rick perry. >> the question is it about life or was it about millions of dollars and potentially billions for a drug company. >> you've got to respond to that. >> yes, sir. the company was merck, and it was a $5,000 contribution that i had received from them. i raise about $30 million. and if you're saying that i can be bought for $5,000, i'm offended. >> well i'm offending for all the little girls and parents that didn't have a choice. that's what i'm offended for. >> and more than one political analyst said rick perry's answer was not so good. it didn't make him look good. it seemed like, yeah, he took a donation from this drug company and then, you know, rick required these little girls to be vaccinated. >> ladies and gentlemen, we've established over what i'm staebling over the price of what the governor seems to be saying. i this inch we no e where he's tries to go but you're not going to win that right to life vote. she's pretty much got a corner on that. i think it was a clumsy answer. again, i think -- he probably should have stuck to what he said at the beginning which was i made a mistake, i apologize. we'll see. they're not going to let him do that. by the way, before we finish up, i think with this reference he somehow managed to get the suicidal grudge vote if anything else because it fell flat. >> i ya, i don't think the audience had any idea who kurt cobain was or that he wroets a book or anything else. >> that's what he was referring to. exact will i. >> tim farley, many thanks to you. japan's damaged nuclear reactors are now stable six months after the tsunami. we'll take a look at where the nuclear crisis stands now. it's 21 minutes past the hour. a mouthwatering combination of ingredients... i know you're gonna love. 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[ kimberly ] the university gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. [ carrie ] you're studying how to be an effective leader. [ cherie ] you're dealing with professionals, teaching things that they were doing every day. [ kimberly ] i manage a network of over a thousand nurses. [ carrie ] i helped turn an at-risk school into an award-winning school. [ cherie ] i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah. [ kimberly ] and university of phoenix made it possible. learn more at phoenix.edu. breaking news from iran this morning. nbc news is reporting that iran's president says two american hikers will be released in two days. shane bauer and josh fa tall were hiking around the border. iran accused them of being spies. last month they were sentenced to eight years in prszen for espionage and illegally entering aryan. now he says they'll be released. al qaeda has al qaeda has released an anniversary memo. let's go to monita rajpal. she's live in london. what do woe know about the tape. >> it was an hour-long video. in it, the man who is essentially the most wanted man in the-year-old wo, ahman al zawahiri issued a statement saying he was praising the arab spring, which is a revolution sweeping across the middle east. he hopes it would bridge about true islam and also the video showed foot anl as you were saying and a message from bin laden which was recorded obviously before he was killed by navy s.e.a.l.s in may. he was saying that he was warning americans against falling as slaves to major corporations. that was what was included this hour-long message. carol? >> interesting. let's talk about japan and the fukushima reactors. they are now stable. >> yeah. the international atomic energy agency, the iaea is saying that the reactor -- that the fukushima nuclear power plant is what i they're calling essentially stable. b basically they are at a point where they are close to bringing it to what they call a coal shutdown or achieving coal shutdown by january. that means the water being used to cool these reactors down, which do you remember was the problem that these reactors were overheating and there was concern that there would be full meltdown on these reactors, what's happening right knew, they're stable enough that they are at a temperature enough that they could achieve cole shutdown by january which essentially means these reactors are not posing any threat at this point, but, of course, there's still -- you never know what could happen. >> carol? >> yeah. we know that for sure. thank you so much. later today, president obama is set to head to a high school in columbus, ohio, to sell his jobs plan, but how does the president propose we collect $447 billion to pay for it? the answer to that? it's 26 minutes past. we all have internal plumbing. but for some of us with overactive bladder, our pipes just don't work as well as they should. sometimes, i worry my pipes might leak. but i learned there's something more i can do. now, i take care with vesicare. once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, st