good morning, everyone. we're going to get to that breaking news out of afghanistan, in just a moment. as reports are coming in on americans killed in a helicopter crash. we're also going to hear from that supporter of president obama who told him she was tired of defending him. and former president clinton weighs in on that and sarah palin. he's in town for his global initiative. and how he felt walking chelsea down the aisle last month. we're going to begin with breaking news this morning. the helicopter crash in southern afghanistan. nine u.s. soldiers have been killed. let's go to miguel marquez in afghanistan with the latest. miguel? >> reporter: in addition, to the nine soldiers killed, one u.s. soldiered injured, one afghan death, as well. it's just north of where i am, in kandahar province. it happened in zabul province, a mountainous region. troops are coming here every day by the hundreds or thousands. the last time the u.s. suffered this bad a crash was back in 2006, when a chinook went down. we're not entirely certain what type of chopper this was. the taliban has claimed credit. but u.s. officials here say there's no credible claim of enemy fire in that region. and they still don't know what brought the chopper down. often, the taliban takes credit for these things just to do it. this is part of an overall effort here in kandahar and across the country. the surge of troops that president obama ordered are in-country. and they are moving into the final phase of that surge, getting ready, getting into the hottest of the offensive operations. but they will be conducting. it is likely that we're going to see here in kandahar and other places, as those operations continue. those casualties go up. george? >> that's right, miguel. we've seen it. as the surge has been ramping up over the last month, american casualties have gone up, as well. >> reporter: they have, indeed. and we, even today, i'm with the 101st airborne, there's a ceremony for two soldiers who were killed on a base here. they have suffered many casualties over the past several days. the offensive since ramadan and since the elections especially are now over, the offensive here by u.s. troops is kicking into high gear. all of those surge troops are in place. the u.s. and afghan officials say that the afghan army is as ready as it's going to be. and they want to move to protect places like kandahar and other areas throughout the country. trying to take it from the hands of the taliban and build some level of governance here. >> okay. miguel marquez, thanks very much. >> he'll keep us updated, george. turning to politics now. and president obama faced some anxious supporters on monday. people who voted for him and are now worried about their livelihoods and a new normal in a sputtering economy. jake tapper live at the white house with this. >> reporter: good morning, robin. that's right, president obama got an earful from his base. so much so, last night he said he had a message for griping and groaning democrats. his words, folks, wake up. this is not an academic exercise. it's not the choice between us and the all mighty. it's between us and the alternative. in philadelphia, the president tried to rally dispirited democrats for senate democrat joe sestak. >> i want to talk about enthusiasm. energy. why you need to work for joe. >> reporter: the president is trying to battle the enthusiasm gap. conservatives, excited to head to the polls in a few weeks. liberals, not so much. >> is the american dream dead for me? >> reporter: the president met some of these angst-ridden members of his base earlier at a cnbc town hall meeting. >> having a family. having even a marriage is awfully expensive. >> i'm exhausted of defending you, defending your administration. defending the mantle of change i voted for. and deeply disappointed in where we are right now. >> reporter: thelma hart said the recession had taken an enormous toll on her family. >> we felt we were beyond the hot dogs and beans era of our lives. >> right. >> quite frankly, it's starting to knock on my door. is this my new reality? >> reporter: he gave her his idea for student loans and health insurance. >> my goal here is not to tell you that everything is where it needs to be. it's not. but we're moving in the right direction. >> reporter: but he did not answer her fundamental question about whether this is her new reality. >> i think i bought into the belief that he has something special to move the needle faster and more deliberately, and quite frankly, more beneficially for the middle class than the realities are. >> reporter: this, even though economists say the recession officially ended in june 2009. we're producing more as a country than a year ago. >> for the average american, none of this matters. not until we create enough jobs to bring down unemployment. and we're a good 6 or 12 months away from that. >> reporter: in an abc news/yahoo! poll says 47% of the public says it doesn't matter for the economy whether republicans or democrats are in charge. >> thanks, jake. now, to my exclusive interview with president clinton. he understands exactly what president obama is going through right now, after experiencing a mine field of his own in 1994. when i sat down with him, he had advice for president obama and praise for sarah palin. we begin with the clinton global initiative. it's raised $60 million to help over 200 million people around the world. and i asked president clinton which project excites him? >> i have to say two. first, the fact that these business people still want to invest money in haiti and help haiti come back. and this, we have what are called action networks, now, that meet on subjects that people really care about all year long. the haiti action network, they're roaring back with a new set of business commitments. i'm very excited about that. the other things i'm excited about relate to ideas that will create jobs. here in america and around the world. >> reporter: you may have seen the front page of "the new york times," heartbreaking letters from the 1.3 million homeless. >> yeah. >> reporter: in haiti. and the letters all boil down to, when is the help going to get there? what are you going to do? why isn't it getting through? >> first, we had a meeting today of this haiti reconstruction commission. and the united states got their money through. their money will be coming forward. i pointed out to them that we have approved $1.6 million in investment. and $750 million of it is not funded. we're going to be approving a lot more. and we're going to have a huge housing expo in october, which will enable us to begin massive redevelopment. moving people out of the camps into the homes. housing always takes the longest. secondly, there's a lag in the aid that's been promised and the aid that's been released because of the economic problems in the donor countries. and so, what i told them today, i said, look. just pick one of these things you want to do. and tell us when you're going to give the money. and all the haitian members came up from haiti. look at them. they know what economic hardship is. they will be okay if you don't give everything right away. >> reporter: tell them it's coming down the road. >> tell them what you're going to give and when you're going to give it. >> reporter: president obama did a whole town meeting today. and one woman got up and just said, simply, i'm exhausted of defending you. a lot of democrats, a lot of supporters of the president, feel that way. what does he do about it? what does he say? >> i would say, i know a lot of people are mad. and a lot of people are tired, apathetic. and i respect that because we're not yet out of the hole we got in. it's okay to be mad. but make a choice based on what should we do now? and who is more likely to do it? they want to repeal the financial oversight bill, which is designed to keep this disaster from occurring again. i think our choice is better. we have plans to help small business, manufacturing and clean energy. we know they don't believe in clean energy. and so far, they're not for our small business plan. our choice is better. do what's best for you. that's what i think he should say. >> you and president obama get set up as polar opposites. everybody used to hit you for mr. i feel your pain. and everybody says, the conventional wisdom, he's too remote. he's too detached. how does he get that back? >> i think he's doing the right thing by going out and explaining things. i think the problem is not that he's empathetic. i think he is letting people show they're anger, show their disappointment. that's a good way to do it. the truth is, it's the similarities that are getting him in trouble. i knew i had done the right things in '94. i would like to see him do something i didn't do. i would like to see him say, the only thing that matters is what we do now. here's the three things i want to do now. here's why i think our side's more likely to do it. and let me tell you something. we couldn't get out of the $3 trillion hole in 21 months. give us two more years. don't go back to the policies that dug the hole. if we don't do better, you can vote against us all and i'll be on the ballot, too. vote against it all. >> reporter: give people permission to vote against you? >> absolutely. people feel disempowered. they're angrily because they think they're doing everything, single thing they know to do. and nothing makes it better. >> reporter: there's a big debate out there about sarah palin. i think a lot of democrats believe she's the best thing to happen to president obama in 2012. mark halperin disagreed in "usa today." i want to see what you think about this. she is much like bill clinton. what doesn't kill her makes her stronger. think what you like. but she's extraordinarily strong. is he right? >> i think she's a resilient character. and we may be entering sort of a period in politics that is sort of fact-free, where experience in government is a negative. i mean, even though i was actually slightly younger than president obama when i was elected, i was the longest-serving governor in the country. i thought it was important to do the job and show results and to be able to acknowledge that you made mistakes and learn from them. i don't think we know what's going to happen in 2012. but in the republican primaries, she's popular with the conservative base. she's a compelling, attractive figure. >> is she qualified to be president? >> american people can elect whomever they want. but she served, you know, not a full-time term as governor. and she went out and did this. we don't even know she's going to run for president. >> reporter: what's your gut on that? >> i think she's clearly a public figure who speaks well and persuasively to the people who listen to her. and she's somebody to be reckoned with.her. and she's tough. look, i remember when people were making fun of her, i read that her husband broke his arm in the middle of the iditarod race and finished a 500-mile race with a broken arm. where i come from, people like that. they think that's pretty good. my view is, it's always a mistake to underestimate your opponent. and it's also virtually always a mistake to attack them personally, as opposed to disagreeing with them on what they want to do. >> i also asked the president about walking chelsea up the aisle. he reflected on that. we'll have that our next hour. >> he is as passionate as ever. we're now going to turn to the latest on one family's tragic loss. a registered sex offender is now in custody in connection with the death of a police chief's daughter. 23-year-old valerie hamilton's body was discovered over the weekend. her funeral takes place today. with more, here's yunji de nies. >> reporter: concord police chief, merl hamilton, was overcome with grief, as he and family lit candles for the daughter he called val. >> that was our song. >> reporter: hundreds gathered to remember the 23-year-old swim coach and student who simply shined. >> i never had a friend show me and care for me the way that valerie did. >> reporter: valerie was found dead in a storage locker on sunday. she was last seen leaving a local bar with 34-year-old ni e michael neil harvey. >> i want to ask, robin, my law enforcement brothers and sisters across the country, to help me with this. all-get out there and find this guy for me. when it comes back my way, i'll pay you back. >> reporter: just hours later, fbi and u.s. marshalls arrested harvey, allegedly high on heroin, hundreds of miles away in his hometown of nigra falls. >> we fortunately got a tip. and that tip was successful. >> reporter: police have still not said how valerie died and whether she went willingly with harvey. the last phone call she made was reportedly to a friend at 3:00 a.m., asking her to come to harvey's hotel for a swim. for this officer of the law, the last few days have been pure agony. >> i figured my daughter, wherever she was, she was waiting for me to come through the door. >> reporter: sir, you appealed to the law enforcement community to capture harvey. what do you need from the community? >> to capture the one tomorrow that does it to somebody else. to help prevent it. >> reporter: now, harvey is reportedly denying he killed valerie hamilton. his neighbors spoke to our affiliate wsoc, and harvey said valerie died in her sleep. a lot of unanswered questions in this case. robin? >> there are. our hearts go out to chief hamilton and his family. juju chang has the morning's other news for us. >> good morning, robin and george. good morning, everyone. the national guard is apologizing for the ongoing wildfire that's burned several homes and thousands of acres near salt lake city. the guard admits no one checked the red flag wind conditions before a machine gun training exercise, which sparked the fire. and they waited hours before calling for help. advisers to the fda say more research should be done before the agency approves genetically-engineered salmon for human consumption. the salmon grows twice as fast as natural salmon. the fda holds a hearing today on whether the fish would carry a special label. and a showdown over the don't ask, don't tell policy towards gays in the military gets under way in the senate today. singer lady gaga rallied against the policy in maine monday. she used a colorful reference to the outfit made of meat she wore to last week's mtv awards. >> equality is the prime rib of what we stand for as a nation. and i don't get to enjoy the greatest cut of meat that my country has to offer. >> after the meat metaphor, you wonder why maine? well, the crowd was calling on maine's republican senators to support the repeal. that's the news at 7:17. always colorful. >> she's a brilliant speech -- singer. >> very talented. >> speech needs a little work. >> i think that's a little fair. thanks, george. thanks, juju. she won't be coming here anytime soon. thanks, george. now, to the weather. over to sam champion. good morning. >> good morning, robin, george, juju. lady gaga. good morning, everyone. let's get to the boards. one or two things we want to talk about. we're going to start with pictures out of cameron county, texas. more than nine inches of rain in three days. about 200 homes flooded. water rescues yesterday. and there's additional rain falling today to the tune of one to two inches in that brownsville area. flooding continues from that heavy rain. big-time heat all over the board today. look at memphis, almost a record at 98 degrees. houston at 88. dallas at 90. chicagoland, you're getting up to 88 degrees, as well. and the heat moves into the northeast, starting tomorrow. more on the heat in the next half hour. george, we're getting to the point in the country where this heat is not only unusual. but in many cities, it's never happened this late before. >> no kidding? >> no kidding. >> what happened to old indian sum center. >> we'll talk about it next half hour. >> okay. right now, we get to more trouble for lindsay lohan this morning. the actor is scheduled to appear before a los angeles judge on friday. her provags has been revoked and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest, following a failed drug test. mike von fremd has the latest. >> reporter: lindsay lohan has warned her friends she could end back in jail for twice failing her court-ordered drug tests. on her twitter page she says, substance abuse is a disease, which unfortunately doesn't go away overnight. >> right now, she's done about 20 days. now, she can expect to have added consequences and do another 30 days. and if she has another violation, it might be more than 30 days. we'll just have to see. >> reporter: what makes this latest setback so sad is that lohan seemed on the verge of a career comeback. >> pull it together. you're a mess. do you think anyone wants to work with a drunk? take it from me. they don't. >> reporter: she mocked herself in a skit at the mtv awards. >> that's it, kid. go get 'em. >> reporter: "saturday night live" reportedly wanted her to host the show. the movie "machete," in which she plays a pistol-packing nun, is now playing in theaters. and in a cover story with "vanity fair," she said she was turning her life around. i'm a completely different person now. different from that woman with obscenities painted on her fingernails in the presence of the judge. lohan will be back in beverly hills court friday, facing a judge who will again decide if this talented but troubled actress belongs back behind bars. for "good morning america," mike von fremd, abc news, hollywood. >> boy. you were just hoping this wouldn't happen. >> we all were, george. coming up, remember last week, the story that got so much reaction? the father that got on the school bus to confront the bullies of his daughter? he's going to join us live and tell us why he did it. that she would take care of her children. but she needed help. i used my american express open card to get half a million points to buy building materials to help build the jackson family a new home. well, i know if my dad was still around, he would have told me, with no doubt... he would have told me it's a no brainer and i knew that from the start. it was an honor. booming is moving forward by giving back. trying to be big like you, dad. you're so good at keeping everyone full... and focused with your fiber. 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