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American Morning

Is Rahm Running?; Biden to Dems: "Stop Whining"; Florida's Fierce Race; Prenups Gain in Popularity; Midterm Campaigns Heat Up; Soldier in Afghanistan Deploys To Remote Forward Base; Country Comes Home

Aired September 28, 2010 - 07:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is a Tuesday, September 28th. Thank you for joining us on the Most News in the Morning. I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. We have a lot to talk about this morning. Let's get right to it.

President Obama's chief of staff is expected to announce Friday he's stepping down. Rahm Emanuel said to be ready to leave the Obama administration to make a run for mayor of Chicago. Our Susan Malveaux is traveling with the president this morning. She's going to join us for details.

ROBERTS: Vice President Joe Biden, known for speaking his mind, delivers a blunt message to Democrats: "Stop whining and get out there." But is it enough to rally supporters in November? "The Best Political Team on Television" is breaking it down for us today.

CHETRY: And more women saying "I do" to prenups -- spelling out exactly what gets what and who does not should their happily ever end badly. Christine Romans breaks down why there is a sudden rise in these agreements.

ROBERTS: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation going on right now. You might want to talk about prenups. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.

CHETRY: Well, ready to leave the Obama administration. Chief of staff Emanuel is likely stepping down as the president's right-hand man. The announcement making it official could come as early as Friday.

ROBERTS: The next stop for the tough-talking Emanuel: Chicago, in the bid to become the next mayor of the Windy City.

Suzanne Malveaux is traveling with the president. She joins us live from Albuquerque, New Mexico, this morning.

So, how certain is this?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We are pretty certain of this, John and Kiran. Multiple sources are telling CNN that it is all but certain -- so that's pretty certain -- that he is actually going to make a run for it.

This is -- we're talking about somebody who's a very colorful character inside of the White House. He's been nicknamed "Rahmbo" from time to time, the member of the Chicago mafia, obviously, a member of the inner circle -- Obama's inner circle from Chicago. His imprint is on everything, very powerful person. Even got a nudge from the president just yesterday on camera saying, "Look, you got to decide this thing pretty quickly."

We understand he's making an announcement as quickly as this Friday.

There's a lot of work that needs to be done, obviously, in running for mayor of Chicago, who's got about -- more than 12,000 signatures he's got to put on a petition before the November 22nd primary. Well, rather, February is the primary but November 22nd being that deadline.

In all likelihood and White House aides will tell you, there's nobody who can replace Rahm Emanuel, but at least temporarily, they're looking at the deputy chief of staff, Pete Rouse, as the favorite to go ahead and fill the shoes at least for the short term. But this is an assignment, it's a job, it's an adventure that Rahm Emanuel has made no mistake that he is eager to take on, would like to take on. And very likely, that announcement is coming just within days now -- John, Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Let's talk about another member of the administration who says what he means and mean what is he says, Vice President -- or sometimes he doesn't -- Vice President Joe Biden. He was speaking before a crowd in New Hampshire and this is what he said, he's said basically said quit the whining to the base.

He said, "I'd like to remind our base constituency to stop whining." He went on to say, "Get out there and look at the alternatives." He went to say the president has done an incredible job and he's kept his promises.

So, that's on message, Suzanne, for this administration?

MALVEAUX: You know, we know that from time to time, the vice president has kind of gone off message, if you will, off the reservation.

But we know that this is the White House, the president included, that they want to get across to folks, look, get off the duffs here. This is the time. This is the time now. You got five weeks left. We need the Democratic base. We know we haven't always pleased you.

But there's huge differences between the Democrats and the Republicans in this race that it is critical that this is a moment that they believe -- and, you know, it might be a long shot -- but they believe that if you get at least some of those surge voters -- that 15 million folks who came out and voted for the first time back in 2008 for President Obama, candidate Obama, if you can get just a sliver of them, the young folks, minorities, people who are sitting on the sidelines, to come out and vote, potentially, in some of the swing states, like where we are here in New Mexico, as well as later, Wisconsin, Iowa, you can get some of those candidates on board.

And the message here is, is that, look, don't give up yet. Get involved here. It is not too late. The House and the Senate may still be in the Democrats' hands but you need to do something about it.

So, yes, Biden's actually on message at this time and we're going to hear some similar language from the president, as well.

ROBERTS: Five weeks until Election Day. Suzanne Malveaux for us in Albuquerque -- thanks.

A developing story out of Iraq this morning: An American soldier is in custody, suspected in the shooting deaths of two fellow servicemen and the wounding of a third. The murdered soldiers have been identified as Specialist John Carrillo and Private First Class Gebrah Noonan. The military has officially declared them, quote, "noncombat deaths." The suspect, Specialist Neftaly Platero is being held at pretrial confinement.

CHETRY: The CIA is stepping up its bombing campaigns in Pakistan in an effort to cripple terrorist strongholds along the Afghanistan border. U.S. officials say the CIA has launched 20 strikes with unmanned drone aircraft this month alone. That's the most ever during a single month, and more than twice the number of attacks we've seen in other months.

ROBERTS: And the son of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is getting a military promotion. Twenty-eight-year old Kim Jong-un was promoted to rank of general. He is widely expected to inherit power from North Korea's dear leader. Questions about Kim Jong-il's health had sped up plans for succession.

CHETRY: Well, they're here. That's according to seven former members of the U.S. Air Force talking about extraterrestrials. They also say they're not happy with us. A lot of jaws dropped yesterday at the Washington Press Club when a group of Air Force veterans, six of them former officers, talked about UFO sighting throughout the '60s, '70s and '80s.

ROBERTS: They are convinced that extraterrestrials have been visiting our nuclear facilities and even deactivated some missiles that are based in Montana in 1967.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT HASTINGS, UFO RESEARCHER: I believe, these gentlemen believe, that this planet is being visited by beings from another world who, for whatever reason, have taken an interest in the nuclear arms race which began at end of World War II. Regarding the missile shutdown incidents, my opinion, their opinion, is that whoever are aboard these craft are sending a signal to both Washington and Moscow among others that we are playing with fire, that the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons potentially threatens the human race and the integrity of the planetary environment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Well, if extraterrestrials do make a public appearance on this planet, the United Nations apparently wants to be prepared for it. There's set to appoint Mazlan Othman, an astrophysicist from Malaysia, to coordinate mankind's response when they arrive.

CHETRY: Right. Take us to your leader.

ROBERTS: Hopefully, the outcome -- hopefully the outcome will be better than in the film, "Mars Attacks."

CHETRY: Exactly.

ROBERTS: That wasn't good, though.

CHETRY: Well, Rob Marciano is in the extreme weather center with us this morning. You know, we talk about a lot of things in the sky that we can't always identify. What about you meteorologist, do you believe in life out there in the great beyond?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's our job as meteorologist to study anything that falls from the sky, like meteors and -- so, once a spaceship actually falls out of the sky and lands on the earth, and we'll find a little green and we'll be real believers. But, no, I'm open to it, you know? Why not? There's definitely life out there somewhere. I just haven't seen it yet.

Hey, guys, it's been definitely raining across the East Coast the last couple of days and the problem is it's going to stay that way for the next couple of days. Look at all the rain up and down on the radar here, all the way down towards Florida. And this is going to continue because we got a little something that's brewing down there in the tropics.

Here's a picture of it on the satellite picture. The National Hurricane Center is going to send a plane in this thing this afternoon and investigate it.

Pretty good chance that it becomes at least a depression if not a tropical storm here before the day, if not today, tomorrow, and it's forecast to drift up through Florida and up the East Coast. That's why we're looking at much more rain for places like North Carolina that just got hammered with rainfall yesterday and they'll get more rain today and then more wet as this thing rolls up.

This thing could be Tropical Storm Nicole here in the next day or two. So, we'll be tracking this very, very carefully. And we'll talk more about the possibilities of its track a little bit later on the program.

John and Kiran, back up to you.

ROBERTS: Looking forward to that. Rob, thanks so much.

MARCIANO: All right, guys.

CHETRY: Well, Alaska's best-known hockey mom traded the ice rink for the dance floor last night. Sarah Palin and her younger daughter Piper were sitting front and center to watch Bristol Palin perform on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." The former Alaska governor, more diplomat than politician, she praised all the judges and praised all the other dancers saying, quote, "Great to see all this courage and joy."

ROBERTS: But there was, inevitably, some drama. Check out before the show's host interviewed Sarah Palin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to support them right now, call, text and log on to ABC.com. There's booing in the ballroom. We don't know why.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why is there booing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: They don't know why there is booing. But there was cheering after they introduced Sarah Palin. So, maybe they were just booing actress Jennifer Grey's scores.

CHETRY: Yes. There's a lot of booing that goes on during that show. Because if you have your favorite and they don't get the score you want, you boo.

ROBERTS: Difficult to know exactly why.

CHETRY: All right. Well, the Florida governor's race is considered one of the most hotly contested battles of the midterm elections and we want you to meet the candidates. Yesterday, we interviewed GOP candidate Rick Scott. A lot of you wrote in and asked us, "Hey, why don't you talk to the Democrat, Alex Sink?" Well, we are. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most Politics in the Morning. It's 12 minutes past the hour right now.

The race for Florida governor is considered one of the most hotly contested midterm battles. Yesterday, we met Florida's GOP candidate for governor, Tea Party favorite, Rick Scott, millionaire businessman who seemed to come out of nowhere and win the primary.

Well, this morning, his opponent, Democratic candidate Alex Sink joins us. She is currently the state's chief financial officer. The latest Mason-Dixon polling has her leading by some seven points.

And right now, we're going to meet the candidate. Alex joins us live this morning from Tallahassee.

Thanks so much for being here.

ALEX SINK (D), FLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Good morning, Kiran.

CHETRY: So, we took a look at the polling. You're up by seven points right now. But, as we know, five weeks out, anything can change and there has been a lot of enthusiasm on the side of the Republicans and, certainly, on the side of Tea Party candidates.

How do you keep from getting swept up into that?

SINK: Well, I have absolutely been swept up by the enthusiasm of crowds all over the state of Florida. We had a record crowd last night in Gainesville, Florida. People are very enthusiastic about supporting me, supporting my plan for Florida's future.

They know I've lived here in Florida for 25 years, been an intimate part of our community and our civic life, statewide business leader. And they know that I have a plan to get Floridians back to work.

CHETRY: Now, it's interesting that you noted your time living in Florida. Rick Scott has been a resident for, I believe, seven years. Yet, it seems to be the year of the outsider.

How do you establish yourself as someone who can come in there and change what needs to be changed when you've been part of Florida's government?

SINK: Well, I have -- I'm not a career politician, Kiran. I only ran for office once before in my whole life and that was four years ago because I wanted to come to Tallahassee as the state's CFO to bring my 26 years of business experience to this office of CFO and look out for our taxpayer money. And that's exactly what I've done for the last four years.

CHETRY: Well, I want to ask you about that because that's been a point of criticism and it's been something that your -- that your opponent seized upon. Rick Scott, yesterday, has been actually talking about running this ad about your role overseeing pensions in Florida, saying that you were warned about making risky investments. It led to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now, "PolitiFact," which checks those ads, said that it was mostly false because you weren't directly involved, in charge of pensions and investments. But they also said it was fair to question your role in overseeing the pensions.

Did you not ask enough questions? Were there things that you could have done better to prevent the loss of that money?

SINK: Well, we saw Rick Scott spend $65 million of his own money in the Republican primaries spreading these mostly false ads about his primary opponent, and he's just using the same tactics here.

The facts are this -- as we all know, the markets had their biggest dive since the Great Depression and every pension fund was impacted by that. The good news for Floridians is that the Pew Trust has rated Florida's pension fund as being one of the fourth strongest pension funds in the country. And I'm one of three trustees that oversee the pension fund and I'm pleased that we are so highly rated.

CHETRY: But they said - and this is "The St. Petersburg Times" story that audits warn that you may have been overexposed to this particular investment, its $5.4 billion apartment complex, and that in the end, you were forced to write off the entire $250 million investment. Were there mistakes made as you sat on that board of three overseeing that pension?

SINK: Well, let me tell you what happened as a result of some mistakes that were made shortly after I took office four years ago. I asked for the resignation of the Executive Director and he is gone. We have a new executive director for our pension fund now.

CHETRY: All right. I also wanted to ask you about this. Politifact also checked the accuracy of another ad, basically talking about your time when you were an executive. And they questioned whether or not it was a good idea to be talking about laying off people which you had to do when you were in charge and making money and how well that sits with the voters in Florida. What's been the response when people question, hey, you know, do you understand the plight of the little guy if, in corporate America, you had to oversee layoffs?

SINK: Well, absolutely. I estimate that as many as 100,000 people here in Florida at one time, over the course of my career worked with me and what we did when we were facing consolidations was we put hiring freezes on. We used attrition to be sure that we were able to fill jobs with the existing people. We transferred people and at the end of the day, there were never massive job layoffs or losses in the banks that I oversaw. Contrary to interestingly enough Rick Scott's whole business model was based on buying hospitals around the country and shutting them down and causing thousands of people to lose their jobs.

CHETRY: So you think he's not being truthful when he says that he will -- he has a plan that will create 700,000 jobs in Florida? Do you think that that's not true?

SINK: Well, the people who have closely evaluated his plan, independent authorities, say that his plan is full of flaws and full of shams. And you know, that's just a typical politician, who's doing anything he possibly can just to get elected, spreading negative lies and putting forth numbers and plans that aren't based in reality.

CHETRY: So do you think you're running a more positive campaign and you will run a more positive campaign going forward as you guys race out these five weeks?

SINK: The disappointing thing that we saw, the way he ran the Republican primary was all we heard were negative ads and we didn't hear a bunch about what Floridians really care about. Kiran, I have been travelling all around this state. What I'm hearing, particularly from small businesses, because I built my plan around small businesses, is they want to hear about the things they care about. Their challenges. Staying in business. Access to credit. One of the biggest problems.

So, my plan is going to call for tax credits and incentives and if you want to start up a business here in Florida, you don't have to pay any state taxes for the first three years. I'm out there talking about things like public education and transportation plans. We're not hearing any of that from Rick Scott. All we are hearing from him is negative lies against now me, his current opponent, just so that he can buy the governor's office.

CHETRY: All right. Well, I'm glad we had the chance to bring you on and get your point of view this morning, as well. Alex Sink, for governor of Florida, thanks for joining us.

SINK: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Well, more women are saying "I do" these days to prenuptial agreements. Guess what assets they specifically want covered. Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up at 22 minutes after the hour and Christine Romans "Minding Your Business," she joins us now with some news on pre-nups.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Pre-nups are on the rise. People are coming out of the paralysis the last few years. They are talking to divorce lawyers, they are trying to figure out how to preserve their assets going forward. A survey for the American Association of Matrimonial Lawyers shows that 73 percent of lawyers say that pre-nups are on the rise. Fifty-two percent say it's women who are initiating this request and that is a change. Women in particular wanting to protect pensions, 401k, retirements, and the like.

Now, over the past couple of years you saw sort of paralysis in divorce land. People kind of sat back. They couldn't sell the house. They could not afford the money to initiate a divorce. They were just kind of stuck. Deers in the headlights.

Now you are hearing from attorneys that you are starting to see divorces pick up again and things like prenuptial agreements, as people are trying to protect themselves, going forward even on things like health care. Suddenly, they're really concerned about who's going to pay out of pocket health care costs for kids or for themselves if they lost a job. So, a lot of people are going back and trying to renegotiate some of their divorce agreements but pre-nups on the rise and it's women who are really key here and keen here about keeping what they've earned and achieved. ROBERTS: They spent a lot of time and a lot of effort trying to provide for their retirement. They don't want some low life coming along and taking half of it if the marriage does not work.

ROMANS: Or if they want to make sure if they have left the workplace and they married that they are going to be protected and covered down the road on their own retirement. We have seen so much economic insecurity. People are trying to figure it out. But it is interesting that pre-nups making this shift. I mean, this group pointing that these pre-nups definitely making, these used to be, you know, the CEO man, with a lot of money and a little bit older --

CHETRY: Depressing. Spend as much time in the pre-counseling, worry less about the wedding and more about the marriage, you know? I mean -- they are almost preparing to fail. I mean, I know that that's a romantic notion that you are not -- that you are going to be married forever but, you know?

ROMANS: But a lot of divorce financial planners, talk about, you know, it's financial security. This is the most important thing. And women more than men fear for their financial security so that's something that is important here to remember, that women are really trying to make sure that they are covered. And the bottom line is people get divorced. You know? I mean, this is what happens.

ROBERTS: You know what they say. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

ROMANS: That's right. That is absolutely right.

ROBERTS: There's a sense of doing the pre-nup stuff, are you --

CHETRY: You are sort of throwing the towel in before it starts?

ROBERTS: Yes, exactly.

ROMANS: The other thing --

ROBERTS: Not risking the whole thing but sort of just casting this idea --

CHETRY: Hedging a bet.

ROBERTS: This idea, that it is probably not going to work out and so, or if it doesn't -- you know? What about the power of positive thinking?

ROMANS: This is true. But, you know, now the divorce groups and divorce lawyers and divorce financial planners are saying that they expect pent-up demand for divorce over the next couple of years, because there were people who were stuck together and didn't want to be. There were some marriage counselors who have told me in reporting this story in the past that there are couples who have stayed together because of the economic crisis. They couldn't afford to get divorced. Now -- Yes. We have done a lot of stories about people who are divorced living in the same house because they couldn't sell it. We have done stories about people who have stayed together because they -- it was just the one last thing they needed to get through it together.

CHETRY: The war of the roses.

ROMANS: Every couple is different.

CHETRY: Ultimate misery. You have to live under the same roof. Fantastic.

ROBERTS: And I love the final scene when he puts this -- fall off the top of the staircase and he puts his hand on her arm and she reaches over and takes it --

ROMANS: That is a great scene. That is such a good movie.

CHETRY: The best part.

ROMANS: That is such a good movie.

CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CHETRY: Oh, yes. "Romans' Numerals" by the way.

ROMANS: The "Romans' Numeral" is $3,000 to $5,000.

CHETRY: This is how much it costs for an average divorce?

ROMANS: To initiate a divorce, according to a divorce financial planner, $3,000 to $5,000.

ROBERTS: $3,000 to $5,000? In what universe?

CHETRY: That is to initiate. I guess that means --

ROMANS: How are you? Sound like that's a bargain.

ROBERTS: Is that the whole divorce?

ROMANS: Initiate a divorce. So you could see why some people were sitting tight for a few years because a lot of people don't have $5,000 in their pocket these days.

ROBERTS: There you go. All right. Christine Romans for us this morning.

CHETRY: You depressed us.

ROBERTS: A lovely segment. A little dark cloud over us all this morning.

ROMANS: The married mother of three.

ROBERTS: Well, unlike many marriages, so far, so good for the Chicago Bears this season. The Bears beating the arch rival Green Bay Packers last night in dramatic fashion to kick the game winning field goal with four seconds remaining far a 20-17 victory. The Bears just one of three NFL teams still undefeated. The Steelers, the Kansas City Chiefs, also, at 3-0.

CHETRY: There you go. Christine is dancing back here. She is happy about this one.

ROMANS: I made my husband go to a school meeting last night. I was like, there's a school meeting? Are you kidding? I said, honey, we have to go. He said Bears-Packers but he went. He went.

CHETRY: See? Check the score on the Blackberry later. Well, a Democratic Congressman in a tough re-election bid is using Former President George W. Bush in a new TV ad but in a positive way? You get details from the cnn.com desk still ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Half past the hour. A look at the top stories now. President Obama's Chief of Staff appears to have one foot out the door. Rahm Emanuel expected to announce Friday that he's stepping down to run so that he can run for his dream job, Mayor of Chicago. Sources say he is already putting together a team to launch his campaign.

ROBERTS: Water higher than they have ever seen. Wisconsin's Governor has now declared a state of emergency in Columbia County after heavy rains pushed the Wisconsin River near Portage to an all- time high. The river's expected to peak again this morning. Officials say at least 100 homes are in danger. The mayor says local prison inmates are helping with sandbagging operations around a levy that started crumbling over the weekend.

CHETRY: And L.A. is broiling, the temperatures topping out at 113 degrees yesterday. They actually canceled classes. Firefighters spent most of their time helping heat stroke victims. The 113-degree reading topped the old record of 112 which was set in June of 1990. It probably felt all the more unusual because they have had a pretty mild summer.

ROBERTS: Yes. It's been actually, what? Low 60s, high 50s in San Francisco through most of the summer.

Well, time now for the latest news from "The Best Political Team on Television." And crossing the Political Ticker this morning, new poll number that is reveal which water Americans believed not only caused our current economic problems but can also cure them. Here's the hint -- it's same party.

CHETRY: Yes, that's right. Our senior political editor Mark Preston is live at the CNNpolitics.com desk this morning. Hey, Mark

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey, John and Kiran.

A poll new national CNN poll spells more trouble for Democrats heading into the midterm elections. We asked the Americans specifically about the economy. Who is more responsible for the economic problems that we're now facing as a nation, and 41 percent say it's Republicans, 35 percent say it's Democrats.

But we took the question one step further. Who has the best plan to help fix the economy? Kiran and John, well, 47 percent of Americans say Republicans have the best plan while only 41 percent say it's Democrats. So heading into the midterm elections, bad news for Democrats.

You know, for more than 12 years, John and Kiran, Democrats running against George Bush. They've been very critical of him except for now. We have seen Earl Pomeroy, a Democrat in North Dakota, is now running a TV ad where he shows footage of George Bush signing the Medicare prescription plan he passed during his tenure in office. Pomeroy voted for that plan much to the chagrin of Democrats at that time.

Now as we head into the midterm elections, North Dakota, a very Republican state, Pomeroy is highlighting. Pomeroy's campaign tells me they're showing that, in fact, the congressman is not beholden to the Democratic leaders here in Washington.

And look at these new poll numbers coming out in the last hour out of Connecticut. World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon is now in a statistical dead heat for that Senate seat up there with Attorney General Dick Blumenthal. McMahon is a Republican. She's running as a business woman, while Blumenthal is the gentleman who stepped in after long-time senator Chris Dodd realized he could not win reelection.

Blumenthal is expected to sail to re-election to win the seat, however, McMahon has proven to be a formidable candidate. In fact, this poll has shown in the last two weeks that the race tightened from six points down to three. Three points is within the margin of error. John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: She has deep pockets for campaigning, no question about this.

PRESTON: Yes, $50 million she's pledged to spend on the race.

CHETRY: All right, Mark Preston, thanks so much. A reminder right away for the latest political news. Go to our Web site, CNNpolitics.com.

ROBERTS: Coming up on the most news in the morning, "A Soldier's Story." U.S. troops leave the protective bubble of the base as they go out on patrol in Afghanistan. Jason Carroll gets a front row seat to the dangerous travel coming up next. It's 33 minutes after the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. It is an "A.M." original now. We have been following the story of Army Sergeant First Class Randy Shorter. He recently returned to Afghanistan. It is actually his third tour of duty.

ROBERTS: It wasn't long before he was on the move again beyond the protective walls of the base. Jason Carroll has the latest chapter of a soldier's story for us this morning. Good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. When I went out with the soldiers, one thing became clear to me, outside the wire they're never quite sure when their time is up. They maneuver outside bases in Afghanistan, always the risk of improvised explosives or bombs. It's one of the primary ways the Taliban attacks U.S. forces and it's part of life when operating outside the wire.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's going to get hands on the radios so there's no --

CARROLL: Sergeant Shorter hadn't been on the ground for two hours in southeastern Afghanistan and found him at work, testing weapons, quickly getting gear and platoons armed with vehicles ready to roll.

CARROLL (on camera): This is a moment when you have to get a lot done in a short period of time, right?

SGT. RANDY SHORTER, U.S. ARMY: That is correct. It's a frustrating time.

CARROLL (voice-over): Shortly after arriving at the base, Shorter's orders changed. His platoon, made up of 14 soldiers, convoy to a much smaller forward operating base just a few miles away located in an area where the Taliban still has a heavy influence.

CARROLL (on camera): We're about to go on a convoy outside the wire, meaning outside the protective perimeter of the base. Before you leave you have to make sure you have got your armored gear on. I have it and a helmet here for civilians. This is your last name and blood type. This is a precaution done any time you accompany troops outside the wire.

SHORTER: If we strike an IED, they know as soon as an IED, we as American forces want to pull our buddies out.

CARROLL: Little is said during the 20-minute trip. The road is known to be secure but in a volatile region like this, where 19 U.S. soldiers were killed in a single weekend, nothing is for sure. Shorter's role requires the platoon regularly operate outside the wire.

SHORTER: You know, every day you go out that wire, you know, you say your last -- you make peace with yourself and you just tell yourself, hey, today could be the day. You do what you have to do. Don't think too much of it and, you know, just hope you come back.

CARROLL: On this day, a delay. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what the enemy does.

CARROLL: Shorter's armored convoy, held up. Smoke nearby signals an IED may have been detonated.

SHORTER: Not confirmed, but there are reports regarding two -- I guess two teenagers on a motorcycle may have set off a remote motorcycle.

CARROLL (on camera): There's no age range for these people? Teenagers could do this. Doesn't matter?

SHORTER: It doesn't matter.

CARROLL (voice-over): No soldiers were hurt. So Shorter's platoon moves on to check a vital road to the north.

SHORTER: This whole stretch used to be pretty much a good IED alley because this is a main key road from the links.

CARROLL: This is familiar ground to Shorter. He checked the same spot in the last deployment two years ago.

SHORTER: I was stunned to see the same IED holes. There are a lot of flashbacks, but you see a lot of improvement. So that's a good thing.

CARROLL: Troops on patrol always eyeing anything remotely suspicious, the smoke from earlier, a reminder of what's at stake. Shorter is just one of 30,000 soldiers now flooding the most dangerous area of Afghanistan and fighting in a nine-year-old war, this year, it's deadliest on record.

SHORTER: As soon as I'm outside that wire, it's combat. I'm sorry to say, yes, may be green in other aspects but I'm ready to fight as soon as I walk out of that door.

CARROLL (on camera): Obviously, based on what they have happened today, they're ready to fight, as well.

SHORTER: Exactly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: Well, the last time Sergeant Shorter deployed to the same area of Afghanistan, his convoy hit a roadside bomb and his unit came under fire. Shorter says the insurgents have evolved. They've become better at making those bombs and they have become better at planting them. So this is what the soldiers up against every single day.

ROBERTS: How do they deal with the constant stress and anxiety of knowing every time they go out there something really terrible could happen?

CARROLL: I think that's a valid question. And it's really all about, a, good leadership and finding that down time, finding the time to be able to be with the guys and sort of unwind. You've got to be able to come back when you're back on these bases and find that time to decompress.

CHETRY: It's amazing to go through it once, but this is Randy, Sergeant Shorter's third tour.

CARROLL: Third tour of duty. He's come under fire before. He knows what it's like. It's more difficult for them first time out and dealing with this type of reality when they leave the base.

ROBERTS: You talked about back in the base and how important the downtime was. Tomorrow, back inside of the wire, the troops of 101st adjust to new life, life on the new base. Their tents, home for the next year. A look at life in Afghanistan that you won't see anywhere else, "A Soldier's Story" continues tomorrow on the Most News in the Morning.

CHETRY: When we come back we're going to check in with Rob Marciano tracking more rain in the northeast. Los Angeles had a heat record yesterday, another one today. He's checking out all of the extreme weather for news a minute. It's 42 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Not exactly beautiful beach weather in New York City today. Cloudy, 71 degrees, thunderstorms later on today with a high of 76. Today, very much like it was yesterday.

CHETRY: You've probably praying for a beach living in L.A. They had 113 degrees as a high yesterday, could be looking to break the record again today.

Our Rob Marciano is keeping track of all of the weather for us. Had a relatively -- I mean, relatively cool summer at least in much of California, right?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Yes they almost broke the record as far as you know having it be the coolest summer on record. In most places like Los Angeles and San Diego, they were at least in the top five so not a whole lot of going to the beach this summer but yesterday, certainly.

And today, again, with temperatures getting up and over 100 degrees, they are doing just that. L.A. as you mentioned 113. That's the hot, that's the all-time record. And the thing is that they set that at 12:15 at 1:00, the thermometer at USC where they take the official rating stopped working so it may have been even warmer than that.

Now, the humidity was low; non-existent but nonetheless, you get up and over 100 and smoking hot. In Burbank, 110.

Now on the East Coast, we're cool, a kind of a tale of two extremes. That's what happens typically in weather especially for the lower 48. And we're cooler and wetter certainly on the East Coast with this -- bit of a tropical connection, dumping some heavy, heavy rain in some spots.

D.C., you're under flood watch for the next couple of hours as these -- these showers continue to roll up the eastern seaboard. Yesterday, they just slammed Wilmington, North Carolina. Ten inches -- over ten inches in a 24-hour period. Typically you would need a hurricane to do that. And that's -- that almost broke the record set back when Floyd come through.

And other spots I'm seeing similar numbers. The problem is we're not going to see this rainfall really stop or will come back in sometime.

I do want to touch on what's going on the tropics. This is the reason, that tropical connection to get down to the northwestern Caribbean and this thing looks like it wants to develop. It may very well become a Nicole here in the next 48 hours and then drift up towards the Florida Peninsula and then scoot up the coastline of the U.S.

So this is going to be interesting to watch and unfortunately for the folks who got the heavy rain yesterday, they'll probably get heavy rain again as we get towards the end of this week.

John and Kiran, keep the umbrella handy.

ROBERTS: So -- so Rob what was this lame thermometer at USC that broke?

MARCIANO: You know, they're pretty laid back out there. I don't know. It just stopped. It stopped working and they sent the technicians there in the afternoon to try to fix the thing but by then it was too -- too late. It went from 113, dipped down to 111, then got back up to 112 at 1:00 and then -- stopped working. I think the thermometer probably went to the beach, too.

CHETRY: It wasn't built to withstand temperatures --

MARCIANO: No. I mean --

CHETRY: Come on.

ROBERTS: You would -- you would think that USC would have a good thermometer. You would just think.

MARCIANO: Maybe the thermometer was distracted by what was walking around USC in 110-degree heat.

ROBERTS: Ok Rob.

CHETRY: You had to bring it back around. All right Rob, thank you.

ROBERTS: Thanks Rob.

MARCIANO: See you, guys. ROBERTS: Country comes home tonight for the first time since floodwaters nearly destroyed it five months ago. The Grand Old Opry House in Nashville is back in business tonight.

CHETRY: Yes, the house had to go through a stunning renovation and now it's going to be a huge show. Country star and Grand Ole Opry member Trace Adkins gave our Amber Lyon an exclusive backstage tour. She joins us live from Nashville this morning.

You wouldn't know it that five months ago that place was under water.

AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, Kiran. It looks beautiful right now. I'm here standing on the actual stage of the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee. And just to put things in to perspective for you guys this morning, there are some country music fans who would probably trade in their first-born children to stand on this very stage.

This whole place is the Mecca for this genre of music and back in May this whole bottom level was filled with water. It was almost like a giant swimming pool in here. Everything below that balcony that you're looking at had to be replaced; $20 million later, this place is ready to open up tonight and I was able to get a unique tour with a really tall guy and with a deep voice. Trace Adkins.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYON (on camera): So how high did the water get?

TRACE ADKINS, COUNTRY SINGER: On stage it was four feet deep.

LYON: So it would have gone over my head right here?

ADKINS: It would have been over your head right here. Over my head, right here too.

LYON: So for someone who might not know a lot about the history of country music, what is so legendary about the stage here at the Grand Ole Opry?

ADKINS: The Grand Ole Opry really put country music on the national stage and every artist -- virtually every artist that's ever had a record deal and had any measurable success has played on the Grand Ole Opry.

This -- in this particular circle right here, all of the legends have stood. This was on stage at the Raman (ph) auditorium. Hank Williams has stood in this circle. Patsy Kline stood in this circle, Johnny Cash. Everybody has stood in this circle.

LYON: So after the floods, they had to redo all the dressing rooms in here because the water came up so high and Trace is going to give us a little tour back there.

ADKINS: This is little Jimmy's dressing room. He always has his dressing room.

LYON: This is Jimmy Dickens. Poor Jimmy's only 4'8" and Jimmy had to stand on the ladder to be at eye level with Trace.

ADKINS: He was like Garth Brooks in his day. I mean --

LYON: Like the stud?

ADKINS: Oh he was huge. I mean, he wasn't ever huge but he was huge. This is the debut room. You know everybody -- there are different quotes on the wall in here from people about their first night performing on the Grand Ole Opry but it's always something that scares everybody to death.

LYON: Oh so this is where they put all the rookies in?

ADKINS: Yes for your first night. There is Taylor Swift. Darius Rucker.

LYON: And what is the importance of tomorrow night's concert to country music.

ADKINS: Well, it's just, you know, we're back in business. You know? We're back home. We're back home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LYON: And back out here on the stage, we got a shiny new drum set waiting to be played at tonight's concert. All this equipment on the stage had to be replaced because of this water and tonight's concert is called "Country Comes Home" and rightfully so -- John, Kiran.

ROBERTS: What's -- what's the line-up for tonight?

LYON: We've got a lot of big headliners. You know, Jimmy Dickens, little Jimmy Dickens, who you saw in the package, also we have Trace Adkins, Keith Urban and Brad Paisley among a lot of others.

ROBERTS: My guy Keith Urban is going to be there tonight.

LYON: So it's going to be packed show tonight.

ROBERTS: Excellent. Yes because he and Brad Paisley --

LYON: I'll tell him you said hi, John.

ROBERTS: Do that. I went to meet him in Atlanta last year, it's fabulous concert and love the guitar players. But he -- he and Brad Paisley also lost a lot of their equipment in the flood, right?

LYON: Yes. A lot of people out here, their personal homes were destroyed. And Trace Adkins, who we interviewed, said that his home had damage but he says he was most concerned about this Opry House because there's so much history here. CHETRY: You know, Kenny Chesney sent pictures as well and his -- I guess one of the buildings on his property. It was just -- it was only a roof and it was surrounded by water. So they went through a lot.

Five months later, to be up and running, no small feat, so good stuff. Thanks, Amber.

CHETRY: Well, pomegranates. We know they're good for you. But can you advertise that they prevent heart disease or cancer? The fed's cracking down on bogus super food health claims, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: That was on red phone this morning.

CHETRY: That's always trouble. 55 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to The Most News in the Morning. It's time for your "A.M. House Call", stories about your health and perhaps misleading claims out there -- it helped start the pomegranate craze but now the Federal Trade Commission is suing Pom Wonderful, the maker of the expensive pomegranate juice and the uniquely shaped jars. There you see them.

Saying that there's really no science to support claims that their product can prevent or treat heart disease -- Pom Wonderful released a statement saying it disagrees with the allegations that the FTC is wasting taxpayer money to, quote, "persecute the pomegranate".

ROBERTS: Well, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream will no longer be able to claim that its ingredients are all natural after the Center for Science and the Public Interest accused the company of deceiving its customers.

CSPI found that 48 of Ben & Jerry's 53 flavors have ingredients that either don't exist naturally or have been chemically modified. Things like cocoa, processed with alkali and maltodextrin (ph) which is a sweetener produced from corn starch in corn syrup. I think the corn is natural but what you do with it isn't.

CHETRY: Exactly. All what happens in the processing.

Fifty-six minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: I guess one of the topics of conversation today is going to be this press conference that was held at the National Press Club in Washington. Former Air Force officers --

CHETRY: Air Force officers -- in some cases --

ROBERTS: saying that there's plenty of evidence that UFOs have visited.

CHETRY: First hand accounts described what it was like, viewing an object in the woods dripping molten rock. It will be interesting to see whether or not this -- there's any merit to it and how you prove that.

People who believe in this as I'm discovering from reading my e- mail this morning really believe in it. There are skeptics out there, obviously. But you have to think that, you know, whether or not you believe in, you know, creation or you believe in evolution, you'd have to be arrogant to think that among the billions and billions of stars and billions of galaxies we are the only thing out there.

CHETRY: Yes. I mean maybe it's beyond our capacity to even see them. Who knows? But that's a conversation for another day.

We'd love to hear from you. Go to our blog, cnn.com/amfix.

That's going to do it for us. Thanks so much for being with us today. We'll be here bright and early.

ROBERTS: Meantime, the news continues on CNN with Kyra Phillips in the "CNN NEWSROOM". Good morning Kyra.