good morning. it is wednesday, august 17th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." i'm carol costello live in new york. let's start with the last leg of president obama's bus tour. minnesota and iowa are in the can. he wraps things up today with a couple of town hall meetings in western illinois. the president says the tour is to create job creation in rural areas. republicans say it's to promote his re-election campaign. for the last couple days, obama urged congress to extend the payroll tax cut and approve a

new road construction bill to help jolt the economy. he's accusing republicans of letting partisanship get in the way of recovery. president obama talked about that with cnn's wolf blitzer. >> i'm going to be accountable. i think people understand that a lot of these problems were decades in the making, people understand this financial crisis was the worst since the great depression, but ultimately they say, look, he's the president. we think he has good intentions, but we're impatient and we want to see things move faster. i understand that. i'm sympathetic to it. we'll keep on putting forward ideas that will be good for the country. we're going to need a partner from congress. on the other side of the political spectrum, listen to what governor rick perry said in iowa and he's not backing off. you might hear him catch more heat for it today. politicians from president obama to rick santorum thought perry went overboard when he talked about the federal reserve and its chairman ben bernanke.

listen. >> if this guy prints more money between now and the election, i don't know what you all would do to him in iowa, but we would treat him pretty ugly down in texas. i mean printing more money to play politics at this particular time in american history is almost treasonness in my opinion. >> treason you may know is punishable by death. the guests and staff hurt when lightning hit seaworld in orlando have been released from a doctor's care and they should be doing fine. the bolt struck discovery cove where you can snorkel and swim with dolphins. emergency crews don't think anyone took a direct hit. at least six people complained of feeling sick right afterwards. they were take tone the hospital. guests leaving the park thought the lightning struck some of the equipment, too. >> i've never been scared by

lightning until today because it was right above us. they told us to clear the pool, so we came out of the pool and were all sheltering underneath. then there's a huge crack. today is the first day of school in joplin, missouri. remember a tornado killed more than 130 people back in may and pretty much leveled the city, including the high school. the town is still rebuilding. at least students will have a place to go today. take a look. the school district has turned part of a mall into a school. upper class men will go here. ninth and tenth graders will go to a middle school. a student who lost both parents in the storm still has bruises from his encounter with the tornado. >> we saw it as it was hitting st. john's. so my mom took off shutting all the doors and letting our dogs inside. i looked up and saw sky and then something large hit my back. that's the last thing i remember. >> to see how things have turned

out and how wonderful joplin has turned around, it's pretty simple. you know it's going to be all right. >> over the summer, teachers got extra training. they'll be able to help students who are still traumatized by that devastating storm. >> when you hear about america's credit rating, you probably either fall asleep or think really bad thoughts, right? well, i have good news for you this morning, fitch ratings has reaffirmed the country's aaa status. take that standard & poor's. fitch did say it might restabilize the out put. if this comes about two weeks after s&p demoted the u.s. to aa plus status. by the way, standard & poor's dished out another downgrade to a company you might have heard of, google. s&p changed google stock to a sell from a buy and/ed $200 from

the price target. google has announced plans to buy motorola mobility. analysts think that's a risky move. now to the world's markets, the world's money, how it's doing. let's go to kristie lu stout in hong kong. what's the buzz on world markets today? >> let's focus first on europe where stocks are on retreat. the meeting between the french president nicolas sarkozy and german chancellor angela merkel failed to produce a decisive plan. investors are not banking on a break through. right now we're see them all in the red. here in asia it's more of a mixed picture t. nikkei closed down about .5%. exporters like honda, here in hang seng closed higher. that's to do a boos in the the financial sector here. >> christie lou, you mentioned the meeting between sarkozy and angela merkel. why were investors so

disappointed in what they came up with. >> let's walk through what came out of the meeting, basically three things. one a proposal to make eurozone leaders to meet more often to coordinate economic policy. two, a plan to tax financial transactions in the eu. lastly, a call to force euro member countries by law to balance their budgets. what the meeting did not produce, and this is what the markets are focusing on, it did not produce any proposal for so-called euro bonds. these are securities issued by eurozone countries to spread the burden of borrowing. economists say that would have been the best hope for solving the debt crisis there. carol? >> kristie lu stout in hong kong. this time a month ago astronauts were in space for their final mission. comedian stephen colbert had them on his show last night and gave his farewell to the final frontier. here is your "punch line," pay very close attention. >> i say if we can't go to space, nobody can.

it's time to nuke the moon. besides helping america stay number one, it will also greatly reduce werewolf attacks. so space program, we bid you a fond farewell as we look back at some of nasa's greatest moments. jim? ♪ >> one small step for man. one giant leap for mankind. ♪

>> he's so funny. you've heard of snakes on a plane. how about fire crackers on a plane? we'll fill you in. first, check out the quote of the day here it is. this is the quote. we're not in texas anymore. find out who said this about republican presidential candidate rick perry and why. it's eight minutes past the hour. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the jetta, awarded a top safety pick by the iihs. that's the power of german engineering. hurry in and lease the jetta s for just $179 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand

for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon. now nine minutes past the hour. this is your a.m. wake-up call. back to the quote of the day. the quote s we're not in texas anymore. republican presidential candidate rick santorum said that about his fellow candidate

rick perry. he spoke to our own john king last night regarding governor perry's treason comments and ben bernanke printing money. >> we don't do that. we don't impeach people. we don't charge people with try son because we disagree with them on public policy. you may say they're wrong, say lots of things about how misguided the policy is. you don't up the ante to that type of rhetoric. it's out of place. hopefully governor perry will step back and realize we're not in texas anymore. >> treason is pretty darn serious, rob. if i accuse you of treason, if you were found guilty, you would be punished by death. >> let's not start the day that way. i want to get it going nice and easy. good morning, carol. it will be a little more nice and easy weatherwise and travelwise across much of the northeast especially. here are the travel delays expected later today. a little smaller list than what

we saw yesterday. early thunderstorms in chicago, late thunderstorms in miami, tampa and orlando, the typical stuff with that stalled frontal boundary that's over you this time of year. san francisco, some morning clouds and fog to keep you comfortably cool. west coast looking good, severe thunderstorms across the midsection of the country. we'll see triple digit heat. it's back. the northeast spinally on the dry side. watching this disturbance now into the central caribbean. a better chance of developing into something. it's moving quickly. that's the good news. here is what the computer models are saying at the moment. bring it on a more southerly track, but a more reliable one brings it across the yucatan and potentially into the southern gulf of mexico. that certainly bears watching over the coming days. speaking of the tropics, south florida beaches, always a popular spot to cool off when it's hot out and a dip into the aqua blue waters. we've got a gel lish fish

problem. we showed video yesterday north of miami beach. this is video out of haulover beach. you go in the water right now the way it is, 95% chance of getting stung. look at those puppies. they don't have the long ten tackles, but enough to put a little zip in your step. stay out of the water for now. it's a seasonal thing. the currents will take them somewhere else soon hopefully, hopefully. >> put a little zip on your step, you'd be hopping on one foot. jellyfish! thank you, rob. a southwest flight leaving las vegas was delayed tuesday because of fire crackers. a flight attendant found them in a plastic bag underneath the seat. passengers were deplaned. bags were rescreened. nothing more was found. the plane finally left about an hour late. no one claimed the fireworks. the faa is resurrecting a

program to get air traffic controllers out of the tower and into the cockpit. the controllers would not fly the plane, of course, but they wroub able to get a firsthand look at what they do from the pilot's perspective. the program stopped after 9/11 because of security concerns. we've all seen busy airports. look at this space shuttle "discovery" and endeavor almost butting heads at the kennedy space center. discovery will be heading to the smithsonian and endeavor to the california science center. if you're slurping down a cup of coffee this morning, good news, you may be arming yourself against skin cancer. preventative measures never tasted so good. na look so handsome once i get these little white pieces off you. how many do i have? more than you think. [ female announcer ] you can't pass mom's inspection with lots of pieces left behind. that's why there's charmin ultra strong. its diamondweave texture is soft and more durable versus the ultra rippled brand. so it holds up better for a more dependable clean. fewer pieces left behind.

you sure clean up nice. yes i do. [ female announcer ] we all go. why not enjoy it a little more with charmin ultra strong? and to help feel fresh and clean, try charmin freshmates. that's not going to satisfy you. come on. it's time for a better snack. try this. it's yoplait greek. it has two times the protein of regular yogurt. you'll feel satisfied. [ female announcer ] yoplait greek. it is so good. oh, and there's a smile.

it is so good. another good thing about geico so like say you need to report a people wclaim, alright./7. a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track your claim, print an estimate. you want an english muffin? they literally hand you a toasted muffin with butter and jam. (sigh) whaa. tasty. that's, that's a complete dramatization of course, but you get my point. vo: geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. president obama will wrap up his bus tour today to promote job creation. but jon stewart is not buying it. here is your punch line. >> the president of the united states has the privilege and benefit of being able to stay above the fray. months away from having to get his hands dirty from swing state bus travel. >> president obama goes to minnesota starting a three-day,

three-state bus tour. >> oh, for [ bleep ] sakes. seriously? obama is back in campaign mode already. >> white house officials insist this is an of fishlt event, not a campaign event. >> the obama administration insists this is not a campaign trip. >> right, no. it's not a campaign trip. i'm sure the president just had some frequent greyhound miles he had to burn. by the end of august or he'd lose them. plus i hear the naturally occurring swing state red, white and blue bunting fields are in full bloom. time for your political ticker with tim farley host of "morning briefing" on sirius radio. ron paul is not feeling the love. he put out a very interesting campaign ad. we'll play a bit of it right now. >> okay. >> -- a story of failed policies, failed leadership, a story of smooth-talking

politicians, games of he said, she said. rhetoric and division. one man has stood apart. >> now, tim, the really interesting part of that ad is ron paul put in both republicans and -- president obama, rick perry was in there. michele bachmann was in there. why would he be attacking his fellow republicans in this particular way and comparing them to president obama? >> he is playing the short game i think, carol, because here is what it comes down to. in 2007 barack obama knew in order to win the campaign and get the nomination you had to get the delegate count. that was david plouffe's strategy all along. this year republicans are in somewhat the same boat as democrats in 2008, that is they have proportional delegation decided by primaries an caucuses. ron paul can have a real influence on this campaign. he can take delegates. probably if you look at it from the big swimming pool of delegates, he'll take more from michele bachmann and rick perry

than from mitt romney. because he can do that, he can be competitive in a state like newspaper where he's opening his concord headquarters today, he can take delegates away and have an influence on how this turning out. he's not running for re-election in 2012 to congress. he's got a lot of money. he may not get the nomination but can certainly have an influence on the way this thing plays out. >> it certainly seems he had hurt feelings. he's saying look, i came in second in the iowa straw poll and nobody is talking about me, what's the deal here? >> he had that in depth conversation with piers morgan the other night. he's already posted some of the stuff john cafferty was posting on "the situation room" yesterday, it's already on the ron paul website. he knows he's getting some love. this ad may have people paying attention. it's all about getting dem gats. if he gets a few in his pocket, people will have to take him a little more seriously. >> we'll see. tim farley, host of "mourning

briefing" on sirius powe does. a group has filed a second lawsuit against the federal government saying the new fda labels are unconstitutional, forcing cigarette makers to turn each box into a, quote, mini build board for the government. as it staunds now, the new labels will be on boxes no later than september 2012. if you're worried about skin cancer, try drinking coffee. rutgers researchers say caffeine guards against nonmelanoma skin cancers. it helps uv-damaged cells die. it sounds bad, but it's better than letting them turn cancerous. on this day in history in 1998 president bill clinton admitted to having an affair with white house intern monica lewinsky. let's give a shout-out to

secretary of state hillary clinton for standing by herman for the last 13 years. ♪ [ female announcer ] now, give dry, damaged hair a whole new life! with aveeno nourish plus moisturize. active naturals wheat formulas target and help repair damage in just 3 washes. for softer, stronger... ... hair with life. [ female announcer ] nourish plus. only from aveeno. excuse me? my grandfather was born in this village. [ automated voice speaks foreign language ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, forklifts drive themselves. no, he doesn't have it. yeah, we'll look on that. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network.

and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network. and not because silverado's the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size truck on the road or because heavy duty made motor trend's 2011 truck of the year. no, it was good because you told us so. consider this a thank-you. the chevy model year wrap up. get in on our greatest model year yet. right now, combine the all-star edition discount with other offers for a total value of $6,000. our greatest model year yet is wrapping up. i could not make working and going to school work. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunits that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing wh profesonals teaching things that they were doing every day, got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah,

and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. 22 minutes past the hour. here are three things that need to be on your radar today. president obama finishes his bus tour in his home state of illinois. at 11:00 a.m. eastern, a new

study will be released revealing how u.s. students compare to other countries when it comes to math and reading and what that may mean for long-term economic growth here in the united states. we'll be waiting to hear from pop star justin timberlake and the new managers of my space to announce their plans on how to revamp the slumping site. a daughter of guatemala says her daughter was kidnapped and then adopted. a judge says the american family has to return the little girl. let's go around the world with zain verjee in london. this is a heartbreaking case all around. >> it really is, carol. the guatemalan mother says she was going home with her three kids in guatemala and all of a sudden a woman grabbed her 2-year-old daughter, took her in a taxi. she never saw her again. what she ended up doing was going through thousands of international adoption papers and documents and finally found her daughter in it.

she decided, let's do a dna test and it checked out, the mother and daughter relationship. it started like a three-year case to get her daughter back. she was adopted by a u.s. couple bin the state of missouri. the couple says they had no idea the daughter they adopted was kidnapped. this is a situation that is really heartbreaking and so complicated for everybody involved. a judge has ruled that the missouri couple has to return the daughter back to her mother in guatemala. there are about eight arrests made over this adoption including a judge who is allegedly been accused of taking bribes an allowing this illegal adoption to occur. it's really a sad story, carol. >> all the way around. on another topic, a man in florida wakes up one day and checks his bank account and says, oh, my gosh, i'm a billionaire. >> those are good problems to have, carol. i don't think we should worry

about that, except what happened was that he checked his bank account. he saw he had almost a billion dollars, only one penny short. then he looked again and, boom, the money disappeared. what apparently happened, investigators say, there was some kind of a hacking situation, someone was moving money and they moved the money from a foreign account, from a foreign country into his account and then to an off-shore account. he isn't actually a billionaire. he could have been if he was quick enough, carol, but he wasn't. what happened was, that actually triggered a fraud alert on his account. he was totally messed up because he couldn't uses his credit cards, couldn't have checks, couldn't fill up gas in his car. he had no money. >> it's probably a good thing that he didn't somehow figure out a way to keep that money because he would have been in much, much bigger trouble in many more ways. zain verjee, thanks so much. >> he would have been a billionaire for a second. >> yeah, and then he would have been a hunted man.

thank you, zain. a serial criminal known as the -- i can't even say this -- as the behind slasher, guess, has an entire police task force trying to track him down. officers in northern virginia says the man has targeted nine young women slashing them in the buttocks with box cutters. some of the victims originally thought they just backed up into a sharp something, but now police have discovered a man is actually doing this to these women. a popular store is willing to pay "the jersey shore" cast not to wear its clothes saying the association hurts the brand. maybe they'll find something to wear for their gym, tan and laundry routine. [ female announcer ] now, give dry, damaged hair a whole new life!

with aveeno nourish plus moisturize. active naturals wheat formulas target and help repair damage in just 3 washes. for softer, stronger... ... hair with life. [ female announcer ] nourish plus. only from aveeno. 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?

you know that comes with a private island. really? no. it comes with a hat. you see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but... [ man ] there's never any seats for 25,000 miles. frustrating, isn't it? but that won't happen with the capital one venture card. you can book any airline anytime. hey, i just said that. after all, isn't traveling hard enough? ow. [ male announcer ] to get the flights you want, sign up for a venture card at capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? uh, it's okay. i've played a pilot before.

good morning to you. it is wednesday, august 17th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." it's 30 minutes past the hour. i'm carol costello joining you live from new york. president obama's three-day bus tour through the heartland hits illinois this morning. he'll hold a pair of town hall meetings, one at a hybrid company, another at a farm market. it comes days after he sat down with cnn's wolf blitzer, talking about jobs, partisan politics and putting jock before country. the president says vigilance as key as the country approaches the tenths anniversary of 9/11. >> the biggest concern we have right now is not the launching of a major terrorist operation, although that risk is always there. the risk that we're especially concerned of right now is the

lone wolf terrorist, somebody with a single weapon being able to carry out wide scale massa e massacres of the sort we saw in norway recently. >> republicans have blasted the midwest swing saying it's a taxpayer-funded campaign tour disguised as an extended public policy discussion. pentagon investigators are doing some digging at dar pa. the defense research projects agency that develops cutting-edge technology for the military. they're looking at a big contract awarded to red x defense koe owned by the agency's director and run by her father. director gina dugan says the contract was awarded fair and square. darpa is responsible for creating a predecessor to the stealth aircraft technology and predator drone. stanford university is offering a free artificial

intelligence class free online to everyone. last checked, more than 79,000 people have enrolled which will be taught by two silicon valley luminaries. the goal is to offer it beyond the palo alto campus but to the world. walmart is stuck in a two-year sales slump at its u.s. stores. another quarterly report, another dip in domestic sales. the implications are bigger than walmart itself. the retailer is considered a barometer for american consumer spending because it accounts for nearly 10% of all non-auto-related retail dollars spent. that said, internationally the company saw quarterly profits rise. wells fargo is getting ready to test drive a monthly fee for debit card users. starting in october, customers in georgia, new mexico, nevada and oregon will three a $3.00 monthly fee. new debit card feetion have been

popping up since the fed put a cap on the swipe fees that banks can charge retailers. of course, banks are looking for ways to replace that revenue. the situation and his "jersey shore" cast mates may want to stop fist pumping when they hear this. abercrombie and fitch is willing to pay the crew to not wear their brand. the retailer is offering, quote, substantial payment for the cast mates to wear something else, saying the association is damaging its image. so much for saying all publicity is good publicity. now time for a little laugh. rick perry, the newest republican candidate to jump in the race. comedian jon stewart takes on the texas politician. here is your punch line. >> rick perry has hit the ground running and was firing all guns, or to put that slightly more factually, campaigning around iowa in a bus. >> president obama has been downgrading american jobs, he's been downgrading our standing in

the world. >> he's going to talk about jobs, but i think the only job he cares about is the one he's got. >> i think you want a president that is passionate about america, that's in love with america. >> you want a president that's in love with america. you want a president who would in a rainstorm grab america's hand and take shelter with america in a nearby barn. it's a long campaign, man, you're going to have to dial back the texas a notch. you're already as yosemite sam levels. you have to dial it back to walker texas ranger territory. more americans are paying their credit card bills on time. experts say there's still one big bill people are putting aside. first, today's businessman special is about the play station 3. coming up in 60 seconds, we'll tell you about a big price slash to the video gaming system. ♪ let me entertain you

♪ let me make you smile ♪ let me do a few tricks ♪ some old and then some new tricks ♪

♪ i'm very versatile ♪ so let me entertain you ♪ and we'll have a real good time ♪ [ male announcer ] the new hp touchpad starting at $399.99. ♪ it's now 36 minutes past the hour. this is our "a.m. wake-up call." now back to our businessman special, as if you need another excuse to buy electronics, sony cut the price of play station 3 by 50 bucks. the ps 3 game came out five years ago. sony has sold more than 50 million play station 3s. for more morning money news, let's go to christine romans.

she's actually one floor up. how are the markets shaping up this morning? >> well, futures are looking lour right now at this point, just a little bit. carol, the volatility continues. who knows how it's going to end up. yesterday you had the marked off by 90 points or something. hey, that's just a barely nothing day after what he eve seen, right? >> right. i don't even pay attention anymore because it's too depressing and i don't understand what's happening. >> i'll pay attention for you. >> thank you. that's why i like having you here. there's also this new report that shows americans are doing a better job of paying off their credit cards on time which is a good thing but the news isn't all good. >> no, it's not. the reason why they're paying their credit cards on time is because they're scared to death of having the company close their credit, right? people know that, if they mess up, they're going to have higher interest rates and the credit card company can shut them out. they're trying to hold on to that credit lifeline. also, because the banks have

been so stingy with credit, the kind of people getting cards are more likely to pay their bills on time. also people are taking on new student loan debt and they're often paying their credit card bills, carol, before their mortgage. think of that. so they're trying to keep a hold of that credit card bill because they're paying month-to-month bills and they can't jeopardize that. >> that's a sad, sad commentary on what's happening with our economy, isn't it? sort of says it all. >> it is, but we can't have all that credit card debt hanging over our heads. pay it down by whatever means. it's a good thing. >> christine romans, i'll see you in just a bit. thank you. coming up, we'll talk about a mysterious and illusive beast in california. is it a pig? is it a rat? is it a pig-rat? we'll let you make the call. first, here is your get smart question. what percentage of young adults admit to getting bored with social media? is it 11%, 21% or 31%?

we'll have the answer in 90 seconds. stick around. snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon. ♪ we were skipping stones ♪ and letting go ♪ over the river and down the road ♪ ♪ she was waiting up around the bend ♪ ♪ smile at me and then you take my hand ♪ [ female announcer ] nature valley granola bars, where delicious ingredients like toasted oats, with rich dark chocolate, sweet golden honey, or creamy peanut butter come together in the most perfect combinations. ♪ i was thinking that i hope this never ends ♪ ♪ yeah, i was just thinking ♪ i hope this will never end [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them.

cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over. with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. and the more i focus on everything else, the less time i have to take care of me. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. glucerna products help me keep everything balanced. [ golf clubs clanking ] [ husband ] i'm good! well, almost everything. [ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars. helping people with diabetes find balance. it's 40 minutes past the hour. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." back to your get smart question. what percentage of young adults admit to getting bored with

social media? 11%, 21%, 31%. you might surprised. the answer is c, 31%. see. there's hope after all. now it's time for our political ticker. let's bring in our senior political editor mark preston live on the throne from bedford, newspaper. good morning, mark. >> good morning, carol. >> let's talk on president obama's bus tour. it's ending soon. i guess what i'm wondering is after the bus tour ends, will he go on vacation? >> he is. he's going on vacation to cape cod. he's going to come under criticism for that given the fact that the economy is in such dire straits. this is an age-old thing. we always have critics attacking the president whenever he goes on vacation. we heard that during the bush years. he will be wrapping up. president obama will be wrapping up his three-day tour that went through minnesota, iowa, wraps up today in illinois. on this tour he was very critical of republicans. in the interview with wolf

blitzer, accused of them putting politics ahead of the national interest. i would have to say the 2012 campaign has gotten under way with not only republicans, but also with president obama. >> no doubt about that. let's talk about one of the men who want to be president -- monday and women, speaking about rick perry and history son comment. he said if ben bernanke, the fed chair, prints more money, then he may be guilty of treason which, of course, is punishment by death. karl rove even come out and say, um, we shouldn't be saying stuff like that. >> yeah. not only karl rove, but other bush administration officials came out and said it was an inappropriate comment. we have to say karl rove and rick perry aren't necessarily best of friends. what the studies hoe is rick perry is starting to get his footing on the ground right now. the campaign is not even a week old. he sometimes shoots from the hip. so we've seen comments like this. we've seen other comments.

lit be interesting to see, carol, will he start to have a more disciplined message going forward? he is considered the biggest threat right now to mitt romney who has been leading in the polls all along. rick perry will be here in bedford, newspaper, and i'll be back with you in a few moments i guess. >> yes, on "american morning." we look forward to that. if rick perry tones it down too much, he loses his charm. that's what makes him stand out from the krout. mark preston, many thanks. the world's largest rodent -- i know that story came right after a political story. but there's no connection there, i swear. the largest rodent is cappie berra. but you already knew that, about 120 pounds, big as a pig and native to south america. but one of them is in california teasing people near a golf course. it's been seen on and off for the last three years, but no one has been able to catch it or kill it. authorities believe it's probably someone's pet that ran

away, someone who just had to have a giant pilling-rat in the house. coming up, we'll tell you where you and your pet cappie berra can find a house for under 150 grand. today is national day of thrift shops. if you think the resale business is only about corner stores an strip malls, check this out. in the last year, the multi billion dollar retail industry has seen a 7% spike in sales. good will industries alone did more than $2 billion in business last year. with the economy the way it is, not unexpected. it's 44 minutes past the hour. yx and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. aren't getting enough whole grain. but actually, it's never been easier to get the whole grain you want from your favorite big g cereals. from cheerios to lucky charms, there's whole grain in every box.

make sure to look for the white check. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the cc. and every volkswagen includes scheduled carefree maintenance. that's the power of german engineering. right now lease the volkswagen cc sport for just $289 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today.

good morning to you. it is wednesday, august 17th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." i'm carol costello live in new york. it's 47 minutes past the hour. time to get up and face the day with a dazzling smile. the guest and staff hurt when lightning hit seaworld in orlando have been released from a doctor's care and should be doing absolutely fine this morning. the lightning bolt struck discovery cove. emergency crews don't think anyone took a direct hit. at least six people did complain of feeling sick right afterward, so they were take tone the hospital. guests leaving the park thought the lightning struck some of the equipment, too. >> i've never been scared by lightning until today. it was right above us. it was really, really scare us. >> they told us to clear the pool, so we came out of the pool

and were sheltering underneath and then there was a huge crack. >> in wisconsin two democrats have held on to their state senate seats in a recall election. they faced republican challengers after the controversy over collective bargaining rights for public employees. remember that sparked huge demonstrations in madison this past winter. last week six republicans faced a recall vote. two of them lost their seats. the gop still has a majority in the wisconsin state senate. when you hear about america's credit rating, you probably either fall asleep or think really bad thoughts, right? i have a bit of good news this morning. fitch ratings has reaffirmed the country's aaa status. take that standard & poor's. fitch did say it might revise its outlook from stable to negative if the deficit super committee doesn't get something done or if the economic recovery is weaker than expected. this comes two weeks after s&p demoted the united states to a aa plus status.

nato says it's making significant advances in libya. it says rebels looking the top moammar gadhafi are eyeing tripoli. that could kickoff a new chapter in the fight. zain verjee is live in london. what's going down in libya? >> hi, carol. well, the rebels in libya are saying moammar gadhafi's days are numbers. they say they hope to be in tripoli, the capital by the end of the month. what's happening right now is they've been seizing more ground and taking more cities they say. there's effectively a ring around tripoli. it's unclear exactly when or if they would march. they say they're going to do it. nato saying it's made significant advances and it has destroyed moammar gadhafi and the regime's ability to operate militarily in any kind of an effective way. let's see what happens. but the pressure is definitely rising on the libyan leader. it's unclear to many experts how he can survive this. >> wow. another fascinating story out there, this teenager with the

fake bomb strapped around her neck. they made an arrest in louisville, kentucky. she's now talking about the ordeal. >> yeah, she is. imagine, you think you have a bomb tied around your neck. she sat with it for ten hours. fortunately it was a fake. the man was looking for money, extortion, making financial demands. listen to what she had to say finally when she spoke to the media. >> how are you feeling? >> very relieved. >> are you sleeping better at night? >> i suppose, yeah. it's good. it's all very surreal. >> your mom said you're wondering why you? were you asking that question? >> yeah, yeah, i think we're all wondering. >> guy, we're going to go. thank you. >> what many people were wondering is why did he target her and that particular family? was there any kind of a relationship between the two? what people are saying is that

there's circumstantial evidence that they may have had some kind of a business connection. but really this is a girl who was in a family that is extremely wealthy living in a million dollar mansion in a suburb in australia and this was really just all about extortion. >> just an awful story. but i'm glad she's all right, though. it's such a weird story. i'm sure more information will come up soon. >> it is weird. he left an e-mail and a note that made references to a famous book based in hong kong, and it was talking about the novel and the plot. it was all just a little bit weird. people are scratching their heads. >> that's a lot about weird. zain verjee live in london. thanks so much. let's head to at any time and check in with rob marciano. any flight delays this morning. >> a little quieter after a rough couple days, especially across the northeast. you've had your fair share of rain. a nicer day in store today. take a look at the map. there you go. heat across the southern plains

again. got up to 107 yesterday for a record high in shreveport, louisiana. texarkana seeing 106. that's holding on. to the north is where a cold front is coming through. that's where you'll see severe thunderstorms popping up. florida will continue to see thunderstorms, especially in the afternoon. miami, tampa and orlando, because of that you'll see flight delays. early thunderstorms in chicago and san francisco expecting flight delays because of morning fog and low clouds. we're watching this storm -- not a storm yet, but a disturbance rolling across the central caribbean now. getting a little better organized. it's got obstacles to get through. right now forecast models are bringing it towards the yucatan, towards central america and potentially toward the southern gulf of mexico. this just in from a report out of scientific america, if you didn't know this one, heavy drinking before you go to bed, it doesn't get you a good night's sleep. apparently it raises your heart rate.

it says late night alcohol decreases the amount of overnight repair work your body needs to do. it doesn't say much about early evening heavy alcohol and getting up at 3:00 in the morning. i suppose that would go for the same thing. >> so they're not talking about a nice glass of wine before you go to bed. >> i guess you do it a couple hours before you go to bed. they say, moderate drink -- whatever moderate means. i think that's different for everybody. give yourself a good couple of hours if you're going to enjoy a glass of wine to relax with dinner before you go to bed. get that rem sleep, carol. i know you get plenty of it. >> oh, yeah. u.s. news crunched numbers and found big cities where you can still get a house for $150,000 or less. atlanta finished on top. the median price of homes is around $102,000. other cities in the top ten, minneapolis, las vegas, rochester, new york, phoenix, cleveland, cincinnati, buffalo,

st. louis and kansas city. of course, some of these cities have been hit hard with foreclosures. let's take a look at the word of the day. it would be treasonous. find out exactly what it means and why you need to know right after this break. it's 53 minutes past the hour.

57 minutes past the hour. this is your wam wake-up call. back to the word of the day. that would be treasonous. it means having faithless, having the cashing der of characteristic of a trait tore. the definition is the betrayal of a trust or offensive attempting by overt acts to

overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injury the sovereign or the sovereign's family. that means like overturn the government and maybe kill the leader of the country. you need to know that because republican presidential candidate rick perry said it would be treasonous for the federal reserve chairman ben bernanke to try to stimulate the economy by printing more money. today president obama finishes his bus tour in the home state of illinois. he'll host a couple town meetings today. at 11:00 a.m. eastern a new study will be released revealing how u.s. students compare to other countries when it comes to math and reading and what that may mean tore for long-term economic growth in united states. we'll be waiting to hear from justin timberlake and managers of my space to discuss how to revamp the social

networking site. not great news early today, carter. >> not great news, not bad news, at least not yet. a couple reports on producer prices. a look of inflation at the wholesale level. the mortgage index, we'll get a reading on that. earnings, we'll hear from targets, staples, bj wholesale and abercrombie and fitch today. let's take a look at futures right now, kind of mixed. dow futures up about eight points. nasdaq down about four, s&p 500 up about two. this is a look at cnnmoney.com. >> you're telling me earlier about this $40 million chicken order? >> what a big run to kfc, huh? 40 million bucks. who is buying $40 million worth of chicken? the u.s. government of course. here is the problem, the usda has been buying chicken from chicken farmers. this year it's $40 mill