i'm christine romans. hurricane forecasters feeling the heat because the wrath of irene didn't live up to all that hype. and i'm carol costello. like a hurricane, rick perry stormed to the front of the gop presidential pack. the latest cnn polling gives him a double-digit lead over mitt romney. is the texas governor built for the long run? well, good morning. it is tuesday, august 30th. we are still dealing with the after effects of this hurricane. things for a lot of people starting to get back to normal. >> the river still cresting and could happen over the next day or two in some spots. water is still rising in parts of the country. we begin with hurricane irene. the storm's impact will be felt for months after the winds died down. the death toll rising to at least 27 people. along with the estimated cost, the cost of cleaning up this mess from north carolina through new england, obama administration officials will visit three states today that were hit hard by hurricane irene. virginia, north carolina and vermont. where floodwaters are still r e rising, higher than they've been there in 80 years. the governor saying entire communities in his state are under water with hundreds of residents still trapped. 260 loads washed out by flooding in the state making the effort to reach people who need help that much harder. amber lion is live in saxton river, vermont. the governor says in some cases, they can't even get into these towns to assess the damage. in other cases, these towns have been wiped out. >> i mean, that is the biggest issue facing the rescue crews and people trying to get in and help some of the communities and here in saxton river if you look behind me this is one of the main roads through town. when the local river flooded it caked on a layer of mud that makes this nearly impassable. yesterday, we were trying to get about 30 miles northwest and we kept running into road block after road block. you would see residents pulling out maps trying to figure out ways to get around the state, trading ideas with each other, trying to figure out how you can make it from point a to point b because it's nearly impossible. some communities in vermont now are essentially islands after the roads and bridges leading into town and out of town have been just completely wiped out. governor shumlin also says that right now, many people are stranded. they don't quite know how many people are stranded because once again, the road system has become just so devastated here. three deaths have been confirmed after people were washed away in floodwaters being swept away. many people still missing, although the governor was vague on the exact number. now unlike many states, governor shumlin says there were no evacuations ordered for vermont and he says that that's because many of these cities are in low-lying areas. also there are very few areas large areas and towns of dry land. the governor says it would have been impractical to evacuate many of these communities. he has come under quite a bit of criticism for that. governor shumlin also told cnn that today they're expecting more flooding as these creeks and brooks flow into the state's larger rivers and rescue crews will continue to be out assessing the damage and helping the people in these communities. christine? >> amber, thank you so much. certainly the green mountain state with its beautiful mountains and valleys is trying to harness an awful lot of water right now. thank you. 23 people including two pregnant women and two infants have been rescued from a vacation home in upstate new york. rescued by a chopper, bridges crumbled around them in the town of prattsville, new york, on sunday. the damage there was unexpected, almost unthinkable. a town of about 600 people almost entirely washed away. last night on "ac 360" anderson cooper spoke to one local reporter who was stranded there when the water rushed in. >> we arrived here probably the late afternoon. we didn't know what prattsville looks like. this is not in our usual coverage area. it was all water. i would not have known there was an established community unless somebody said you see that house there, there's supposed to be other houses around there. >> emergency workers rescued close to 90 people on sunday before 70-mile-an-hour wind gusts ground the effort. dozens are believed to be in shelters and safe. >> to rob marciano. always amazes me after the hurricane blows over, what a beautiful day arrives afterward. >> it can also be really, really hot when the sun comes out. it has been pleasant, dry and low levels of humidity, but the waters in many areas still rising. one such place the passaic river west of here in new jersey one of our affiliates wabc had their chopper up and showing some of the flooding and preparations. in boontown, about 20 miles west of manhattan. the suburbs here where they're making preparations for this river which is forecast to crest later this morning through this afternoon. you see some of the rushing waters there. a little bit ragged video but those were live, forgive us for that. passaic river expected to crest today. all the rivers in vermont have crested but the damage done there. and we still have flood warnings out down the connecticut river valley from massachusetts into connecticut proper as the water tries to evacuate out into long island sound. let's show you what's the latest on our new tropical storm. it's katia. way out there in the atlantic ocean, between west africa and the leeward islands. this one has a big circulation. it's got decent organization. winds of only 45 miles an hour. of course it's a satellite estimate. as we go through time we expect it to strengthen. west/northwest moving at 17 miles an hour. the forecast track from the national hurricane center, accelerate it to the west/northwest and ramp it up to category 1 status fairly rapidly potentially becoming a major hurricane by the time it does get to the leeward islands. does take a northerly scoot but this bears serious watching as we get towards next week, it could make an approach across to the coastline of the united states. little bit closer to home, here's what's happening. there's your quiet weather across the northeast for the cleanup weather and the heat continues across the south. cleanup effort, a lot of pictures of the devastation of vermont, the flooding in new jersey, but places like connecticut and eastern massachusetts, i mean the entire coastline got hit hard. pictures from swampscott, north and east of boston, the harbor about 30 vessels were ripped off their moorings and thrown inland and now stuck. they have to bait for a serious high tide or get some tow boats out there to make it happen. you know, so much coastline, this is such an incredible storm, guys, because we have the effects inland, the most dramatic effects inland, yet there are miles and miles of coastline that were affected by this as well and millions of people. back to you. >> i know. like fairfield, connecticut, not many realize that's right on the long island sound, like i think five houses collapsed there, lots of trees down, including a tree down on my house there. >> oh, no. carol. >> really? >> yeah. but i feel fortunate because no one was in the house. >> you're right. >> and you can't remove the tree, right, because it's the neighbor's tree that fell on the house and, you know -- it's her insurance that will cover it. there's all sorts of problems now. >> oh. lot of has sells. but you're right, good of you -- nobody was injured but still a pain. flooding has cut off communities across new england and there are new images of the destruction this morning. in new hampshire floodwaters left a 30-foot hole in a bridge over one river, trapping dozens of people. one witness says rocks the size of pick-up trucks were coming down the river when the storm hit. wow. >> and in east haven, connecticut, looks like they were living on a faultline. irene tore the beach front homes to shreds. what carol was talking ability. at least five houses have been destroyed or will have to be torn down because of irene. >> we can say that it's just stuff, but we can say that, because it's not our stuff. and when it's your home, it's a different scenario. >> to find out how you can make a difference and help those devastated by hurricane irene, visit our impact your world page, at cnn.com/impact. to libya now, a potential break in the international manhunt for moammar gadhafi's family. algeria is revealing it has allowed the fugitive dictator's wife, daughter, and two sons to enter that country for humanitarian reasons. the new libyan government wants them back. and a senior rebel commander telling cnn gadhafi's son khamis is dead. the military commander said to have died during a battle in northwest libya. a federal judge is temporarily stopped alabama's tough immigration law from taking effect this week. in her ruling the judge said she needed more time to consider the legal challenges against the law. among other things, the law makes it a crime to knowingly give a ride to anyone who is in the country illegally. also public schools must determine every student's legal status. talk a little sports, the comeback is complete. eagles quarterback michael vick has signed a new, six-year, $100 million contract with the philadelphia eagles. $40 million of that is guaranteed. in the past year, he's gotten nearly everything back, his starting job back, new endorsement deals and now that blockbuster contract to go with it. a few years ago, he was bankrupt. >> he was? jail. >> and then bankrupt. >> yeah. coming up on "american morning," chaos erupts in an ohio courtroom. a man attacks a judge, it's all caught on tape. we'll tell you how this wild scene turned out. >> former vice president dick cheney settling some scores and delivering his version of events in the bush white house. some conflict there we want to tell you about, revealed in his new memoir. this what they call a texas two-step. rick perry was the last candidate who entered the race, now he is stomping the rest of the gop field. is there a nomination in his future? ten minutes past the hour. 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>> the last two big name candidates who got in late did not have the staying power. go back four years and fred thompson the former senator, jumped into the race with a lot of fanfare, jumped in late, immediately jumped in the polls but didn't have much staying power and was out in the premierery process. back four years earlier, wesley clark, the former general, former head of nato, same thing, lot of fanfare, didn't have the staying power, did not do well after an initial bump in the polls. one thing about rick perry this guy is a good politician, compared to maybe those two other names we just mentioned. but ali, one other thing, a lot is going to happen in the next two months. you have five presidential debates over the next two months including two from cnn. a lot could change this race. rick perry will be tested for the first time. >> september 11th in tampa. >> september 12th. >> i'm sorry. tampa. good to see you my friend. >> thank you. talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question, should candidates religion matter? consider mitt romney, once a strong frontrunner for the republican nomination, the latest cnn/orc poll shows romney slipping in a distant second. the man at the top, you heard, texas governor rick perry, a man who loudly touts his christian religion, remember the prayer rally? >> like all of you, i love this country deeply. thank you all for being here. and indeed -- indeed the only thing that you love more is the living christ. [ applause ] >> i'm not saying perry's christian faith is why he's on top, but romney's not, but romney's mormon faith does not resonate with conservative christian voters, voters who are a force in republican primary elections. as outgoing "new york times" executive editor bill keller put it -- keller's magazine article questioned how religion might influence perry's presidency and that of other gop candidates. not that religion has not been a factor in other presidential campaigns. remember reverend jeremiah wright in 2008. candidate obama was forced to explain his association with the controversial preacher. >> reverend wright's comments were not only wrong, but divisive. divisive at a time when we need unity, racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems. >> still, christian, jewish, mormon, atheist, what does it matter? this is america where we celebrate the freedom to believe what we choose. the talk back question this morning, should a candidate's religion matter? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> can't wait for those. >> such a good question. very excited about that. >> a former vice president dick cheney taking aim at some of his bush white house colleagues in his new memoir. cheney accusing colin powell of undermining the president on the iraq war and questioning whether condoleezza rice was a competent secretary of state. in an nbc interview, cheney was asked about events on the eve of the war which aren't quite the way president bush remembers them. >> makes it sound like he was in charge and decisive. your version makes it sound like you were. >> well, i think there's no question that the president was in charge ta day. my version is in my book. his version's in his book. we agreed that we'd authorize our [ inaudible ] hijacked aircraft that refused to divert. >> you did recommend it to him. his is somewhat different. that's not surprising. in a fog of war that morning all kinds of things going on. >> dick cheney's memoir "in my time" comes out today. he promised heads would be exploding all over washington. >> this is very tab bloids-everything. he's going to appear everywhere including cnn. >> it will probably generate a great deal of money. >> he wants to set his agenda for his legacy. that's what he's concerned about right now. >> this is deet fintive -- his definitive story about what happened, his recollections as he says. >> let's face it, what vice president have you ever talked about like you talk about dick cheney. >> probably none during his term and probably none so much after. >> right. we never even remember vice presidents. >> question of the day, which vice president got more ink than dick cheney. hurricane irene took a heavy toll but those dire warnings for the mother of all storms some say didn't pan out. we're going to hear what hurricane forecasters are saying about it now. it's 22 minutes past the hour. ♪ it was the best day yeah! ♪ it was the best day ♪ because of you [echoing] we make a great pair. huh? progressive and the great outdoors. we make a great pair. right, totally. uh... that's what i was thinking. covering the things that make the outdoors great. call or click today. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. sxwlipdsing your business. a solid rally in stock markets yesterday. the dow rose more than 2%, so did the s&p 500, and the nasdaq was up about 3.3%. three major factors driving markets higher, good news of a bank merger in greece. that signaled stability in europe. there was a solid report on consumer spending here in this country. relief that hurricane irene caused less damage than had been feared. today we get the closely watched case-shiller price home index for june. that tr