brutal acid attack in arizona opens up about the moment that changed her life and her fight to keep her family together "early" this thursday morning, to keep her family together "early" this thursday morning, september 9, 2010. captioning funded by cbs morning, everybody, here on a thursday. i'm harry smith. >> i'm erica hill. good to have you with us this morning. a lot to get to this morning, including some fascinating, exclusive interviews. the woman from arizona, derri velarde, is here in the studio with us this morning. she'll join us live to tell her story. also this morning, the big headline, piers morgan gets larry king's job. people have seen him on a talent show, but people across america say, who is this guy? matt holden, our good pal, they're very good friends. we have an exclusive with amanda and piers and she'll tell us about the guy. interesting newspaper bag ground. he may actually have the right feet to fill those shoes. >> oh, looking forward to that. first, we want to begin with the latest on that deadly flooding in texas where the aftermath of tropical storm hermine spawned a series of tornadoes and dumped up to 8 inches of rain. robbie owens of our affiliate ktvt is with us this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. on the heel of hermine a series of tornadoes ripped through the area, leaving behind damage like this and capping a day of unusually severe weather here. as remnants of hermine moved through texas wednesday, at least three twisters touched down near dallas, damaging a strip mall and leaving a swath of destruction. >> it was huge. it was swirling for a little while. i think it just touched down for maybe four, five minutes. we saw debris fly up. >> reporter: earlier in the day resident of an apartment complex in arlington was caught off guard when floodwaters left them trapped. >> literally within 30 minutes it was so high we couldn't even walk back and forth from the apartments. >> reporter: roller coasters came to a stop at the nearby six flags when heavy rains caused a creek to overflow its banks leaving much of the amusement park under water. stranded drivers fell victim to flooded roads and highways. >> it came up a lot quicker than we were expected and quicker than we were able to take care of it. >> reporter: this mobile home park in nolanville was no match for the raging waters as residents watched their homes and dreams simply wash away. >> we're 75 and -- or 76 and 77 years old. we got to start all over now. >> reporter: amazingly, though, there were no serious injuries reported in the tornadoes here in the dallas area. the driver of that tractor-trailer there, walked away with just scrapes and bruises. in dallas, robbie owens for "the early show." >> thanks. we want to turn our attention to colorado where officials say a wildfire raging near boulder is now the most destructive in that state's history. the fire has destroyed at this point at least 135 homes. after four days, it is just 10% contained. cbs news correspondent barry petersen joins us this morning from broomfield, colorado, a base for the fighter planes attacking those flames. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the planes taking off today could be a problem. the forecast is for wind gusts up to 50 miles an hour. when that happens these planes go nowhere because the retardant gets blown away in the wind. one less tool in fighting wildfires that started on monday morning and roared to life in a matter of minutes. when the planes were overhead, will, whose house was in the heart of it and took this home video, knew it was serious, and in minutes it went from serious to downright dangerous. >> it's time to go. >> reporter: he and 3500 others were forced to evacuate. and last night many of them showed up at a boulder community center, including this man, who lost his home. >> i don't expect to leave here feeling good tonight. i'm sorry. too many of my neighbors' homes are gone. >> reporter: and others frustrated about not knowing if their homes are still standing. >> many of us have to idea. i don't know if my home is standing or not. it focus is too much on people working really hard instead of focusing on the people who are fearful that their homes are burned down. >> reporter: meanwhile, a brief late afternoon rain helped. if not enough to stop the fire, at least to make it easier for the up to 300 firefighter now on the job. >> the cooler temperatures and the cloud cover were something that allowed firefighter to work quicker because it was a lot cooler for them. >> reporter: but for some in this assistance center, the fate of the battle against the fire is meaningless. they've lost it all. and now all they can do is start over. >> hopefully they're going to help me find temporary housing. and right now, i'm going to buy clothes. >> reporter: the concern now is for four people who are still listed as missing. the fear is that they stayed behind to try to fight and save their own homes. erica? >> barry petersen in colorado, thanks. now here's harry. >> now to the latest on the florida pastor who says he will burn the koran this saturday. the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. his demonstration is now causing safety concerns for people in his hometown as well as americans in other countries. cbs news correspondent kelly cobiella is in gainesville, florida, and has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, harry. this morning the president, president obama, is stepping into this controversy saying this protest would be a recruitment bonanza for al qaeda. it is just one more in a chorus of voices warning about a violent backlash, but so far the florida pastor at the center of it all is standing firm. >> we are not convinced that backing down is the right thing. >> reporter: the protest of one man with less than 50 followers is having a ripple effect around the world. the state department ordered u.s. embassies to assess their security and brace for possible protests. and the top u.s. commander in afghanistan warned again that jones could be putting u.s. lives in danger. >> we're concerned that the images from the burning of a koran would be used in the same way that extremists used images from gareb. >> reporter: jones says he has silent support from people who sent copies of the koran to burn and others too afraid to speak publicly. yet even members of his former church in germany are distancing themselves from him. on her facebook page, sarah palin urged jones to back off, calling the protest insensitive and an unnecessary provocation, much like the building of a mosque at ground zero. the man behind that project said on cnn wednesday night he never meant to offend the victims of 9/11. >> if i knew that this would happen, this would cause this kind of pain, i wouldn't have done it. >> reporter: in florida, jones' neighbors packed a church to pray with imams, priests and rabbis as a show of tolerance. >> i come in peace. >> reporter: religious leaders are trying to convince jones to change his plans. >> i think the pastor as a christian will follow in the footsteps of christ and would do the right thing. >> reporter: anger at this protest is clearly growing. at least 100 counterprotesters are expected here on saturday, probably many more than that. and some fairly intensive security measures are being put in place, including gainesville police officers, the s.w.a.t. team and the fbi. harry? >> kelly cobiella in gainesville this morning, thank you. joining us now from minneapolis is representative keith ellison, the first muslim ever elected to congress. from dallas, dr. richard land, president of the ethics and religious liberty commission of the southern baptist convention. good morning to you both. >> good morning. >> good morning. thank you. >> dr. land, let me start with you. numbers of ministers, evangelicals, pentecostals, you even have billy graham trying to reach out to this pastor. does this pastor have a theological leg to stand on? >> no, no. you just asked the question, what would jesus do? jesus would never do this. this is -- this is odeus. this is absolutely beyond the pale. it doesn't follow the golden rule. doesn't follow the teachings of jesus in any way, shape or form. and he's being urged by christians from all spekt rums and other religious leaders not to do this out of respect for our muslim citizens and also out of respect for the serious danger that it's going to place american soldiers and american civilians in overseas. i mean, this is a -- this is a needless, hurtful and, really, absolutely beyond the pale provocation. >> congressman, let me ask you this because you have the president speaking out on this issue now, saying this burning of korans is going to work as a recruitment tool for al qaeda. a recruitment bonanza. who does this hurt most? >> well, i think it certainly has the potential to hurt americans in uniforms of our country. i think it also damages our constitution. it damages the fabric of our nation that is based on the idea of religious liberty. but the thing i'd like to say is that i urge people in congregations, muslim and other, to urge restraint, to urge patience and to urge caution. you should not reward this provocation with a counterresponse unless that is a loving response, unless that is an interfaith response. but i would ask religious leaders to speak to their congregations and say, he's trying to provoke you. don't be provoked. >> one of the things that's being talked about, congressman, is that there is a line that can be drawn from the anti-islamic -- anti-muslim sentiment that seems to be growing in this country. and seems to be festering in the islamic cultural center being proposed to be built a couple of blocks away from ground zero. do you see a line that connects here? >> well, in my view, the cultural center in lower manhattan, the purpose of it wasn't to offend or insult anyone. the purpose was to try to build bridges of understanding. now, people can have different interpretations as to what it means to them, but there's no doubt that the people who pull this project together were not intending to insult anyone because there's a mosque within four blocks and they've been in this place for a number of years before. this is a deliberate attempt to provoke people, so i think that there are real distinctions. of course, the similarity is that there does seem to be a certain wave of anti-islamic sentiment, but let me just asked, while there is anti-islamic sentiment, there are many more christians, jews, hindus standing in solidarity. i think that's a good sign. people are rising to the occasion. >> dr. land, what is the antidote for this? >> i think the antidote for this is, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. love your neighbors. take into kgs your fellow neighbors and citizens' feelings and act towards others as we would want to be treated ourselves. >> thank you for taking the time to speak to us this morning. do appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> take care. jeff glor is standing by at the news desk with a look at the rest of the morning's top stories. good morning. >> air kashgs good morning to you. good morning, everyone. conflict between muslims and christians may be behind a bombing in southern russia. rocked a central market, a christian area. more than 50 killed and 100 killed. a persistent wave of violence has been linked to islamic insurgency. it appears to be getting personal. in the off-year election battle between taxes. cbs news senior white house correspondent bill plante is in washington with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the president has singled out house republican leader john boehner as a symbol of everything he thinks is wrong with the republican party. mr. obama went on the attack in boehner's hometown of cleveland, ohio. >> let me be clear to mr. boehner and everybody else. we should not hold middle class tax cuts hostage any longer. >> reporter: the white house says cleveland was chosen because that is exactly where boehner made a speech highly critical of the president a month ago. >> president obama says he wants to stop some tax hikes and not others. once again, putting government in the position of picking winners and losers and pitting taxpayer against taxpayer. >> reporter: in his remarks, the president targeted boehner, singling him out eight times. >> there were no new policies for mr. boehner. there was just the same philosophy we had already tried during the decade they were in power. the same philosophy that led to this mess in the first place. >> reporter: and the president insisted that the bush tax cuts for higher income earners, couples making more than $250,000 a year, will not be extended when they expire at the end of the year. >> i think the american people have had enough of politicians in washington talking about wanting to create jobs. it's a ploy to get themselves re-elected. >> the only reason they're holding this up is politics. pure and simple. they're making the same cal clalgs claalculation they made just before my inauguration. if i fail, they win. >> reporter: now, boehner would probably become house speaker if republicans take back that chamber in november, but in the meantime, the president has chosen him as the symbol of everything he thinks is wrong and particularly in the argument, this populist argument, tax policy on upper-income earners. >> bill plante at the white house, thank you very much. it appears men can feel like they lost weight without diet or exercise. just go shopping. 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[ man ] freestyle lite test strips. hello again, it's 7:25. it's a more comfortable morning out there. it's a pretty day's start. sharon will have the traffic after the weather. we have a nice day shaping up. if you're been you want, you know it was a cool night. we'll have a little bit of a breeze today much like yes and not as windy. 76 degrees is the daytime high and sunny, breezy and cooler than yesterday's 92. another clear, breezy and cool night with starlight and a full day of sunshine friday with 75 degrees and overnight lows in the 50s. now, over to sharon with the roads. hi, there, tim, good morning. we don't have many problems out there. just one accident in the city. that's on brendan avenue. we have a traffic light out and that's at north charles. watch for debris on the westside on the outer lupe approaching 70 and as far as delay. there's the delays on 95 southbound between whitemarsh and the beltway. that will take you ten -- minutes. and there's a live look outside at the beltway. that's the westside. this is brought to you by bill's. bills has it all for you don, back