>> that was cool. "american morning" continues right now. after the deluge, i'm christine romans, tropical storm lee now a tropical depression, but still, packing plenty of rain after dumping a foot on parts of the gulf coast. >> i'm carol costello. right now massive wildfires threatening to burn down thousands of homes in texas. it is the worst fire season in state history and it's far from over on this "american morning." all right. good morning, everybody. it's monday, september 5th. labor day. welcome to "american morning." ali is off today. >> happy labor day. i hope you're not laboring. i really do. up first this morning, tropical storm lee now downgraded to a tropical depression but it's still a major rainmaker as it moves across the southeast. the storm dumping a foot of rain along the gulf coast. it also spawned several tornadoes including one in mobile county, alabama. it ripped the roof off of one home, uprooted trees, and brought down power lines. here's what lee looked and felt like from an oil rig out in the gulf of mexico as workers in the gulf were riding out the storm. this rig worker holding on for dear life out on that platform. you can also see lee's raw power in these pictures from biloxi, mississippi. the powerful waves literally tossing around a boat as firefighters tried to tie it down. here's how that turned out. the waves eventually capsized that craft. cnn's ed lavandera is live in crown point, louisiana. it's a strange scene still, ed. >> it has been, carol, for most of the weekend here. though the bulk of the heaviest rain has passed this area just south of new orleans already, and just kind of give you a lay of the land there's one road that takes you into these little communities. we're in crown point and another one called john hefeet. these are areas popular with fishermen, people who lived here a long time. this is what's been going on as these waters, it's not the rain that's causing the problem right now, it's tidal surge. this area that we're in is surrounded by intercoastal waterways and tributaries and that sort of thing and the wind from this storm is still pushing toward the north and that's causing the tidal surge to spill over out of the waterways and into these neighborhoods. many places it's kind of eerie because it's a heavily wooded area and it's hard to see and tell where the water is coming from. it just starts emerging from the tree lines here. there are dozens of homes that are very close to start taking on water and that's the concern. right now, is high tide which means the water is at its highest point and many of the areas that we drove around yesterday, we saw literally the water just up to the doorsteps of dozens of homes. a few homes have in the lowest lying areas have already taken on water, but there is a frantic effort to sandbag and try to control the flow of the water as much as possible and they're waiting here, carol, for this wind to shift back toward the south and that will push water back out toward the gulf of mexico and bring a lot of much needed flood relief to this area south of new orleans. carol? >> ed lavandera reporting live from outside of new orleans, many thanks. let's check in with rob now, rob marciano is in the extreme weather center. good morning, rob. >> good morning. ed mentioned the tidal surge flooding they're seeing across parts of southern louisiana. the inland flooding we learned from irene is a huge concern, if not likely to be the most damage. these are some of the numbers as far as rainfall tallies. parts of new orleans seeing over 10 inches, pascagoula, mississippi, 10 inches of rainfall and jackson, mississippi, seeing 10 inches of rainfall as well. other issues in jackson. a lot of the rain came in last night and there are some -- there's some flooding going on within jackson proper and some evacuations happening as well as the heaviest rain moving to the east of jackson. these highlighted boxes, four of them, where we have a number of radar indicated tornado warnings for eastern and north central mississippi and extreme southeastern mississippi. just to the north of biloxi and gulfport area. all part of a tornado watch in effect for the next few hours, obviously. one of these is a tropical system moving inland we get twists in the atmosphere on the right side of the system and that's why we're concerned about this. we're starting to dry it out on the back side. texas not getting much in the way of help or rain from this. getting some detrimental backside winds. here's the forecast track. it kind of gets involved with what is really a strong cold front for this time of year and that will draw some of that moisture off towards the north and east. chattanooga expected to get maybe as much as 7 inches of rainfall from this system and moving along the appalachians along that front, philadelphia could get an inch and a half, places towards the north and east could see over two inches in spots. obviously still reeling from the flooding from hurricane irene just a week and change ago. that's going to be a huge concern here in the next 48 hours. flood watches and some warnings are already posted for this part of the world, but the red highlighted counties there are the warnings, already warnings in place for parts of new england and upstate new york. briefly on katia, we have winds of 100 miles an hour, it's a category 2 storm and it's forecast to strengthen just a little bit and it is still barreling towards the coastline of the u.s. we've been seeing all last week we're hoping it turns out to sea and becomes a fish storm but we're not giving the all clear, i think really until today. things are looking a little more optimistic as these cold fronts, the one that's coming through now, very strong for this time of year will help nudge it offshore. we will get big waves crashing along the eastern seaboard. some spots got banged around pretty good during hurricane irene. the flooding rains from what's left over from tropical storm lee is going to affect the entire east coast and that includes the extreme northeast and new england and parts of vermont that, obviously, got hit very, very hard with hurricane irene. back to you in new york. >> thanks so much, rob. right now deadly wildfires are blazing across the state of texas. got a thousand homes now in danger, hundreds of households have evacuated. in east texas, a mother and her child were killed as flames engulfed their home. the largest fire is in bassstrop county southeast of austin. this blaze is burning over 14,000 acres. officials there say it is the worst fire season in the history of texas. a deadly plane crash sparkings a 500 acre fire in southern california. one person was killed when the small plane crashed down in the black burn canyon, about 100 miles north of l.a. one home was burned to the ground. 30 others threatened. neighbors forced to evacuate. president obama gets an up close look at the damage left behind from hurricane irene. the president toured the flood ravaged areas of new jersey yesterday and met with residents who lost their homes and businesses and stopped by a makeshift relief center. the president promising help for recovery and pledging federal financial support. >> the main message that i have for all the residents not only of new jersey but all those communities that have been affected by flooding, by the destruction that occurred as a consequence of hurricane irene is that the entire country is behind you. and we are going to make sure that we provide all the resources that are necessary in order to help these communities rebuild. >> hurricane irene ran up a heavy tab, too, from north carolina to new england. there's an estimated $6 billion worth of damages. right now, libyan rebels are waiting for the green light to launch an attack on baneny wall lead, one of the towns still loyal to former leader moammar gadhafi. rebels have given gadhafi loyalists until saturday to surrender but there are indications opposition force mace enter this town before that deadline. cnn also learning this morning from opposition leaders that china apparently tried to help arm moammar gadhafi's forces in late july. according to a senior member of the transitional government, documents found in tripoli indicate chinese companies offered to sell rocket launchers, anti-tank missiles and other weapons to gadhafi despite a ban on such sales. china says its companies did not sign military trade contracts with libya. final arguments in the appeal of amanda knox's murder conviction will be heard in an italian courtroom today. knox and her ex-boyfriend were convicted of killing a 21-year-old british exchange student in 2007. questions about dna evidence could get that conviction overturned. two court appointed forensic experts are challenging the testimony of authorities who said knox's genetic material was found on the suspected murder weapon. dominique strauss-kahn is back home in paris this morning. his homecoming comes less than tw weeks after sexual assault charges were dropped against him in new york. a judge threw out the case because of credibility issues with the hotel maid who accused him. strauss-kahn still faces a civil suit from that woman and a civil suit from another woman in france who has accused him also of attempted rape. so his troubles are not over yet. >> not yet. coming up next, sarah palin will be front and center at a tea party rally today. is she stumping or just stealing the spotlight? terrifying moments at the baltimore grand prix, a car losing control at 190 miles per hour. what caused that crash there. rafael nadal sliding out of his chair at his post-match press conruns from. isn't that sml? what happened to the tennis super star after a break. it's nine minutes past 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. okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? what if we designed an electric motorcycle? 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. police in phoenix are asking for the public's help to find explosives that were stolen from sky harbor airport. a container with the explosive equipment was taken during a training exercise last friday. authorities say the explosives can't detonate without additional equipment and, quote, some degree of expertise. >> doesn't that make you feel better about it? passengers on a plane from chicago to ottawa got quite a scare when their plane skidded off the runway. witnesses say people were screaming as the aircraft veered into the dirt at the ottawa international airport. none of the 47 people aboard were injured but the plane did suffer some damage. it caused a minor fuel spill as well. a battle in chicago over the length of school days. city officials are pushing for 90 minutes more class time. not sitting sitting well with the teacher's union. three elementary schools have agreed to take on the extra time but the chicago teachers union is accusing district officials of bribing faculty members of those schools. the united states postal service warns it may be forced to shut down this winter. "the new york times" reporting the agency is struggling to pay its bills and says it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment which is due this month. the postal service is calling on congress to step in and help straighten out the finances. seems to be all about tea this labor day weekend. mitt romney cozying up to the tea party crowd in new hampshire yesterday before heading to south carolina today for tea party kingmaker jim demint's presidential forum. cnn political director paul steinhauser joining us live from columbia, south carolina, this morning. jim demint is turning out to be the republican kingmaker here, isn't he? >> in a way he is. remember he is very influential and he's got a lot of support among tea party activists. thinking about running for president himself, decided not to do it. he was extremely influential in the republican primaries and midterm elections and i think he'll have a big say this time around in the presidential race for the gop. this is a big event, so big we brought the bus, the cnn express, we're here, john king from "jk usa" will be here as well. it's called the american principles palmetto freedom forum. we'll have live coverage. six presidential candidates, are going to speak one at a time. michele bachmann, the congresswoman from minnesota, herman cain, former godfather pizza ceo, newt gingrich former house speaker, ron paul, congressman from texas, and mitt romney, the former massachusetts governor making his second stab at the nomination. romney was a late edition to this event. he will be speaking here. he got -- he's going to get an ensers doment we report from a tea party type down here state officials in south carolina and last night where was mitt romney, at a tea party express rally in new hampshire. another incredibly important early voting state. and this was the first time that romney, since he's jumped into the race for the white house this time around, has talked at a tea party rally. christine, pretty interesting stuff on mitt romney. let's -- also when at that rally last night seemed like maybe he was taking a shot at one of his fellow rivals, rick perry, take a listen. >> i haven't spent my whole life in politics. as a matter of fact, of the people running for office, you know, i don't know that there are many that have less years in politics than me. i spent four years as a governor. i joke i didn't inhale. i'm still a citizen. >> reporter: we've heard that line recently from mitt romney. he's barely been a politician, only four years. he was a businessman. rick perry, long-time politician, doesn't mention rick perry by name but maybe now romney is no longer the frontrunner he's starting to go after rick perry who is the frontrunner on top of those polls. >> i'm not sure i get his joke, it's early, it's 6:16 on the east coast. want to ask you about something jim demint said yesterday. he told candy crowley, talking about how he wants a president to put something down on paper, he doesn't want to just hear the president in a pretty speech -- he said he could barely listen to the president in another speech. so, what is it -- i've heard this before. the rnc told me a couple times, you know, there's not one word that's been put on paper. what do they -- do they want the president to write legislation for congress? what is it that they want? >> yeah. republicans have been arguing this for a while and not just on the jobs plan but health care and other issues that white house, the administration doesn't actually put anything on paper. and that gives them more leverage because they can tell congress to do something and put the onus on them. it is an argument we've heard from the republicans for a while. they want an actual plan from the president to be presented to congress. christine. >> let me ask you about sarah palin. sarah palin, a lot of people are still wondering, is sarah palin a celebrity, candidate, somewhere in between, is she -- she's like something we've never seen before in politics, someone who can really take so much of the oxygen of the room, but we don't -- she's been a governor for two years. it's not like she's got a long, long career in politics. what is sarah palin and do tell me about what she says about polls? >> yeah. fascinating stuff. your description is right on. she's a little bit of all of that. for somebody who is not an elected official, somebody who is not right now a declared candidate for president she has no problem whatsoever finding the spotlight. and she is doing it again right now this weekend. remember, she -- today she's going to be in new hampshire at a tea party express rally. we'll have live coverage of that in the noon hour. she will be speaking in new hampshire. on saturday, she was in iowa, the first state that votes in the primary caucus calendar at another tea party event. a lot of coverage of that as well. take a listen to what she said about polls. >> polls, they're actually -- usually i'll say polls, nah, they're for strippers and crosscountry skiers, but -- [ applause ] but polls in those parts actually show that some people there believe that economy has actually improved. see, there may not be a recession in georgetown, but there is in the rest of america. >> reporter: classic sarah palin there, i guess you could say n iowa. one thing she didn't do in iowa and we don't expect her to do today is declare or announce her candidacy for. the. she says she will have a decision by the end of this month. she could jump in late and raise a lot of buzz and raise a lot of money at the last minute. >> she's a tease. >> i love it. paul, have a good time. thanks so much. going to air senator demint's forum in its entirety from 3:00 to 5:20 eastern time, john king will anchor that special coverage. cnn the exclusive national broadcaster of the forum. carol? it's your turn to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you today, do unions help or hurt america? it's a question labor union leaders want you to consider on this labor day because they say a war is being waged against hard-working americans. in wisconsin, despite massive protests governor scott walker took on public unions and their pension plans and effectively killed off collective bargaining. ohio's governor did the same thing pushing senate bill number 5. it is now law. unions aren't giving up, though. they point to wisconsin and the successful recall of two anti-union republican state lawmakers. in ohio, they point to a petition with a record $1.million signatures that put sb 5 on the november ballot. pittsburgh union leaders banned any state lawmaker considered anti-union from their labor day parade and the head of the teamsters, james hoffa, is calling big companies who refuse to hire american workers unpatriotic. >> i think the president should challenge the patriotism of these american corporations that are sitting on the sidelines saying, why do we have high unemployment, but i'm not going to hire anybody. you know, they have an obligation just like the federal government, just like obama. we've all got to get into the game. i don't see that happening. >> despite it all, only 11% of american labor is now represented by unions. and the american middle class worker, their wages plateaued decades ago. the wage gap is growing ever wider. of course critics blame unions for that charging their fat pensions and agreed force companies to send jobs overseas. so the talk back question today, do unions help or hurt america. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> can't wait to see that j coming up on this "american morning," the nuclear era un