anderson. >> he was giggle. >> that's the first time i have ever seen him completely lose it. it was funny. >> a lot to talk about this morning. we have breaking news. a suicide truck bomber targeting the u.s. military base in afghanistan. it happened in the city of gardez a few hours ago. officials say the truck ripped through the main security gate. killed two afghan guards. nine others were hurt. and the taliban is taking credit for the attack. >> less than two weeks after downgrading america's aaa credit rating standard and poor's is the target of a justice department investigation. that's according to "the new york times." the feds want to know how the credit rating agency somehow missed the mortgage crisis. you will remember s&p along with the other major credit agencies gave those mortgage backed securities very high ratings. even though would now know they weren't worth the paper they were printed on. "the times" is reporting the justice department is looking into claims s&p business managers overruled analysts who wanted to assign lower ration to the bonds because they were making record profits. now they t investigation reportedly began before the nation's credit rating was downgraded. cnn contacted the justice department but they declined to comment this morning. next after president obama, a vacation on martha's vineyard after he meets with his economic team today. all that coming on the heels of a new gallup poll that shows just 26% of americans approve now of how he's handling the economy. that's a new low. mr. obama does have a new jobs plan which he says he will lay out after labor day. one he suggests can be paid for by deficit reduction. >> when folks tell you we have a choice between jobs now or dealing with our debt crisis, they are wrong. they are wrong. we can't afford to just do one or the other. we have to do both. >> new jobs package is expected include tax cuts and infrastructure spending, help for the long-term unemployed, and also targeting specific struggling industries. the white house announcement may have been well timed but cuts both ways. >> what you would want to do before you went on vacation to martha's vineyard hurting the way they are? put out something that has there will be action. most americans would like to see him have right now -- people at the white house saying republicans -- here are my proposals. what are your proposals? let's see if we can't make a marriage with the two and get going now. why wait, wait, wait? >> the white house says the job plan is still a work in progress. texas governor rick perry casting himself as a republican president at candidate who is best suited to create jobs and grow the economy. he's calling himself a job creator. and he is calling the president a job destroyer. our senior political editor mark preston is traveling with governor perry. mark joins us now from portsmouth, new hampshire, this morning. mark, while governor perry is not holding back in his criticism of the president in terms of the economy, he continues to stand by his fairly ridiculous comments calling fed chairman ben bernanke ridiculous and a lot more -- evidence is coming to light that rick perry may not have been as responsible for job creation as he would like to have the country believe. >> well, you know, he was up here yesterday meeting with business leaders in the city of nashua just a couple of hours at this coffee shop behind me doing retail meet and greet. there has been criticism rick pairy taking credit for all the job creation happened down in texas. when many people say it was -- due in part because of the oil and gas intruss friday. hearing a lot of that from dem tra democrats. he's very critical of president obama, as you said. clearly the gloves are being taken off. listen to what he had to say yesterday about president obama. >> the president said i needed to watch what i say. i just want to respond back, if i may. mr. president, actions speak louder than words. my actions as governor are helping create jobs in this country. the president's actions are killing jobs in this country. it's time to get america working again. >> reporter: there you have it. the texas governor rick perry in new hampshire. yesterday speaking to business and and political leaders here in the state. he calls himself the pro-business president. we will hear what he has to say today when he meets with locals here in the city of portsmouth. >> the election clearly, like the last one, is going to be largely about the economy. the two leading republican candidates right now, rick perry, mitt romney, they have to win that gop nomination if they want to take on president obama. but there are other people that are tracking the hearts and minds of republican primary voters. >> reporter: yes. two leading contenders is mitt romney and rick perry and they are both running very hard on the issue. i was talking to a perry adviser and said this is what you are going to hear from rick perry. jobs, jobs, jobs. that's going to be his message. interestingly, we saw mitt romney here in new hampshire yesterday. he was at a steel plant. today we will see rick perry talking to the owner of a home manufacturer. when they are here in this state and running for president, they are going to be talking about the economy. >> thanks very much for being out there and look forward to talking to you again. mark preston in nashua, new hampshire. now is your chance to talk about on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, are rick perry's action against the fed out of line? i know. this whole treason thing has been dragging on for days now. it won't die because perry's critics won't let it and neither will he. the tough talk of texan is not backing down. he said it would be treasonous for ben bernanke to keep printing money for politics. yesterday he upped the ante. >> they should open their books up. until they do that there will continue to be questions about their activity and what their true goal is for the united states. >> critics are appalled that includes some republicans. a former bush white house spokesman tweeted perry's remarks are inappropriate and unpresidential. although perry has the supporters, too. >> the fundamental point he makes is totally true! actually. we are devaluing the currency. it is happening because of the fed's policies. it is benefitting in a short-term way the white house. >> still treason? as defined in article 3 of the constitution? if you don't have your pocket sized constitution handy this is what it says. levying war against them or adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort, as in benedict arnold, who betrayed america during the revolutionary war. fed chair ben bernanke? the man running the federal reserve which is basically the central bank for the country is he conspiring against the united states? so the talk back question this morning, are rick perry's treason activity against the fed out of line? send your comments to facebook.com/american morning. facebook.com/americanmorning. read your comments later this hour. a florida teen's plot to bomb his former high school. this could have turned out to be worse than columbine. that's according to tampa police. it was spoiled and that's a good thing. they arrested jared cano tuesday. he planned to set off several pipe bombs on the first day of class at freedom high school. they found explosive materials inside of his home. also found there, a manifesto outlining a minute-by-minute plan to hunt down two assistant principals, to kill 30 students. the school's principal says this young man was expelled last year for, quote, inappropriate behavior. >> his mother gave police permission to search his place and say it was pretty definite. it could have hurt a lot of people. >> deadly. the university of miami rocked by a widening scandal this morning. jailed businessman and ex-booster shapiro claims he spent millions of dollars on athletes over an eight-year period. expensive jewelry, meals and prostitutes. he claims several coaches knew about it. shapiro serving a 20-year sentence for fraud. david mattingly joins us live from coral gables, florida, with this shocking story. good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning. everyone here at the university of miami this morning talking about shapiro, former booster, now in federal prison on violations from a ponzi scheme. he opened up in an interview and gave all sorts of details about alleged violations he participated in while a booster here at the university of miami. he says that it involves 72 players for the year's 2002 to 2010. this also involving about a dozen current players. it is very serious for the university of miami. if the allegations are true. these are allegations that almost defied description. he talks about gifts that he gave players, televisions, jewelry, and clothing. but he also talks about entertaining the players, taking them out for nights on the town and expensive clubs. he took them to strip joints and he claims also that he paid for prostitutes for miami players and actually hosted sex parties for these players. and on one occasion he says he even paid for an abortion for a stripper who claims that she was impregnated by one of the miami players. now this has been under investigation for some time. the new coach here at the university of miami, al golden, took over in december. all of this allegedly took place before he got here. and he has been talking about it. we expect to hear from him later today. he's already said that part of his job now is to be here and to get to the bottom of all of these allegations. >> all right. what are the -- the miami players, former hurricane players, and the ncaa say being the allegations? >> reporter: everyone involved with this program knows just how serious this is. if any of these prove to be true, this program could face very serious sanctions. and some of the players, very few of them actually have come out in the last 24 hours, but they are not giving a lot of information about their dealings with shapiro but are talking a little bit. listen. >> you can go back and forthwith someone in jail and try to explain yourself. don't want to do that. that's very unnecessary. >> you know, he knows and i know, you know, what really happened. but -- you know, it is -- you know, it is over. it is done with. the ncaa is family and we are moving on. >> reporter: now mark, the president of the ncaa, says that that organization has been investigating these allegations already now for five months. the university of miami says that they have been cooperating a full part in in this investigation as well. but the ncaa saying this could be very significant here at the university of miami and if these alleges are true, they could have impacts on schools all across the country looking at possible changes to be made in the way thee schools deal with these boosters. >> david, thanks very much. we will stay on top of the story with you. david mattingly in florida. >> the saddest part about that, the players that have gone pro that left the university, then won't pay at all. the students there now, they are the ones that will pay. >> the program will get hit or something will happen. you are right. >> including students who don't know who this guy is. >> right. >> when y would someone that clearly loved that school if all of this true -- that's what i don't understand -- >> big man on campus, man. you are like -- hanging out with the star players. and you -- also, i -- i believe that players who are being recruited, he also took them out and wined and dined them to make -- you know, entice them to come to the university of miami. >> why would he turn on them now? if he is serving time for an unrelated offense, why turn on the school now? >> he is singing like a canary. coming up on "american morning," david letterman, a terror target. why one jihadist website is posting death threats against david letterman. >> christine o'donnell walks out of cnn's piers morgan in the middle of an interview. we will show you what happened and why she said he is rude. you are watching "american morning." 13 minutes after the hour. no positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. 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[ female announcer ] nourish plus. only from aveeno. [♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. 16 minutes fast hour. good morning. welcome back to "american morning." late night talk show host david letterman is being targeted by terrorists, assassination threat, posted on a jihadist website calling for letterman's tongue to be cut out and his mouth shut forever. this traffic funny man cracked a joke about an al qaeda leader's death. listen. >> so anyway, they picked a successor to osama bin laden and his name was ilyas kashmiri. well, guess what. he was blown up by an american drone. yeah. [ applause ] >> the fbi is looking into the threat. no comment from letterman's camp. all right. a bizarre encounter on cnn last night when former delaware senate candidate christine o'donnell walked off the set during an interview with piers morgan. o'donnell came on the show to promote her new book called "troublemaker." but when pressed by morgan by her feelings on gay marriage, she walked out. >> why are you being weird about this? >> i'm not being weird bit. i'm not running for office. i'm promoting the policies that i lay out in the book that are mostly fiscal and mostly constitutional. that's what i agreed to come on your show and that's what i want to talk about. i'm not being weird. you are being a little rude. >> i'm baffled as to why you think i'm being -- i think i'm being rather charming and respectful. i'm just asking you questions based on your own public statements and now what have you written in your own book. it is not rude to ask you that sure. >> i well, don't you think as a host, if i say this is what i-want to talk about, that's what we should address? >> not really, no. you are a politician. >> yeah. okay. i'm being pulled away. you know, we turned down another interview for this. >> where are you going? you are leaving? >> okay, you can see shadowy figure tries to stand in front of the camera trying to block the view of o'donnell. >> i-found it a very strange moment. i don't think anyone who watches the interview would deduce i was being rude. a little bit chieeky but not rude. >> it is fire ask about past statements someone made and someone's position on same-sex marriage. that's in the news. that's not like you are pulling it out of a hat. >> not completely. i found it odd she would use that particular moment to leave because i think on reflection when she looks back at this, it looks like she has something to hide. in other words, her view may be so extreme or contentious that it would cause her political damage. that was the only thing i could deduce from it. a rather bizarre encounter. >> o'donnell was invited back on the show tonight. thanks for the invite. schedule already packed. no hard feelings, you cheeky bugger. what's the definition? >> she must know you don't get to say -- you don't get to say what you are going to be asked in an interview especially when you wrote a book about your polici policies. >> next time i come on my show i'm only talking about what i want to talk about. >> it is not a dinner party. the invite on -- >> that's how you sell your book. if she is trying to sell your book, sell your book by telling what you think about things, what your positions are and that -- connect was people or doesn't connect with people. >> maybe she did it on purpose. >> if she comes back i'm tuning in. that's for sure. >> let's go to aour own cheeky bugger. oh, we are not going to our own cheeky rob marciano. >> why not? he turned his mike on and left. >> he decided he would only answer the questions he wanted to plans he knew where you were going with this. you get your weather somewhere else from now. we are going to take a break. >> we will come back and talk about joe biden. strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes and lexus for audi than ever before. experience the summer of audi by september 6th and get over 130 channels of siriusxm satellite radio for 3 months at no charge. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. 247 minutes after the hour. u.s. stock futures are trading much lower this morning. dow futures down more than 160 points ahead of today's open. that's the european mark receipts tumbling now after morgan stanley put out a note warning of global recession. we will talk about that in five minutes. vice president joe biden is in china to kick off a five-day official visit. meeting with his counterpart for talks on trade and currency. upon arrival today in beijing, biden praised china's rapid growth and called for more cooperation between the u.s. and china. securities and exchange commission under fire for allegations that it illegally destroyed thousands of files related to probes of bernie madeoff, goldman sachs and others going back years. chuck grassly called for an investigation into the agency after an sec whistle blower contacted him with the allegations. the drought in texas racked up $5.2 billion in agricultural losses. that's a record for the state. economists say texas at texas a&m without rain to help winter wheat it will get worse. chavez is getting in on the gold rush. he's planning to take control of the country's gold industry. that's a move that allows him to crack down on illegal mining and move the country's existing gold reserves out of foreign banks and into venezuelan vaults. one critic that describes it was the looting of the nation's savings. it is official. plug-in cad slack coming. gm announces it is moving forward with plans to build an electric cadillac. no word on how much it will cost or when it will hit show room floors. "american morning" back right after the break. it is 29 minutes after the hour. time for the morning's top stories. deadly attack on a u.s. military base in afghanistan happened in the city of gardez earlier this morning. a truck bomber ripped through the main security gate, killing two afghan guards, and nine others were hurt. the taliban taking credit for that attack. standard & poor's up under investigation by the justice department for the ratings it gave mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis. according to "the new york