even falls, with forecasters predicting potentially catastrophic flooding. >> i'm al wli velshi. raging floodwaters from hurricane irene washed him away, but a new jersey man lived and now telling us how he survived mother nature's wrath. in just a few hours the government's new jobs report. will it be welcome news for you, your job, and the recovery? we'll break it down on this "american morning." good morning, everyone. it is friday, september 2nd. jobs day, september 2nd. welcome to "american morning." it's our super bowl, carol. >> it is. >> we're going to stick jobs news in between weather news. >> weather and jobs. that's right. >> it continues. weather reports, weather issues it continue to dominate our news. getting uneasy in the big easy this morning. we're taking a look at what's causing all of the stress. it's a tropical depression that is forming in the gulf of mexico. and new orleans could be in for a very rough weekend. flooding in new orleans. never want to have to say those things again. oil giants like exxon have evacuated their workers from offshore rigs, sent choppers to bring everyone home. the national hurricane center is issuing a tropical storm warnings with ten inches of rain expected over the next few days. >> what i want to tell folks is what we do know, there is high wind, there is a lot of rain and it's going slow. that's not a good prescription for the city of new orleans. >> it's mayor mitch landrieu. louisiana governor jindal has declared a state of emergency. it was six years ago this week when hurricane katrina came roaring through that city. boy, we've got pictures to show you what it looks like but i don't think anybody is going to forget that. >> i don't want to see that picture anymore. no good memories from that. >> jennifer delgado tracking this system, live from the extreme weather center in atlanta. what's it looking like? i saw you giving these forecasts a little earlier with carol and it looks -- never seen a storm forecast like that. >> yeah. you know, the problem is we don't have any steering winds to push tropical depression number 13 anywhere and over the last several hours it's really been kind of basically stationary. you can start to see more convection popping towards the south and southeastern portion of the storm. you can't pick out a center of circulation. the rain working into parts of louisiana, gusts up to 45 miles per hour, sustained winds at 39 or should say 35 miles per hour. now as i show you the trek, ali, this what is you were asking about, it's not going to be moving very much. notice by sunday, 2:00 a.m., approaching the southern coastline, louisiana, and then by monday, 2:00 a.m., still in that southern part of louisiana. what this is going to be doing, it's going to be causing a strong storm surge, we're also going to be talking about extremely heavy rainfall as it sits and spin, it pulls in all that moisture from the gulf and look at the rainfall totals, we're talking 10 to 15 inches and even some of the localized areas could see roughly 20 inches of rainfall. that is going to lead to some problems with flooding across parts of louisiana and even as well into parts of mississippi. now, for your forecast today, if you're going to be going down to the gulf of mexico, a lot of people planning to go to the beaches, not a good weekend for them by any means. elsewhere across the u.s., we are going to see some severe storms popping up. you can see for areas including michigan and then over towards the northeast as well as new england, we're going to see temperatures increasing as well as the relative humidity levels starting to rise. i point that out because we're also going to look at the chance for a few isolated storms to pop up. i know so many people are cleaning up after hurricane irene and the weather conditions will start to go downhill as we go through the weekend. ali, back over to you. >> thanks very much. we'll be keeping a close eye on this with you and your team in atlanta. >> they could use some of that rain in texas this weekend. the lone star state in the midst of a historic drought and dealing with several major wildfires. the largest not far from dallas has destroyed dozens of homes but crews may finally be getting the upper hand as we head into the weekend. cnn's jim spellman live in possum kingdom lake, it texas. good morning. are they closer to getting this thing under control? >> yeah, they are, christine. the first thing we noticed this morning, we're no longer smelling smoke and seeing ash come down. that's definitely a good sign. yesterday all day they hit this fire with helicopter drops and plane drops of retardant, be helicopter drops of water, and plane drops of retardant to get any hot spots out and keep it from spreading and as contained as possible. little help from the winds, the fire blew back on to it itself earlier in the day and they were able to make a lot of progress. still 50% contained. we expect that to go up today. some residents are allowed to go back home, putting together plans to get the rest of the people to come back to the heavily damaged areas and this is a big tourist area, and the economy here relies on that to try to get tourists back for this weekend for the last labor day weekend here of the summer and try to get some help there. one thing people have been asking us all week here is, is that system in the gulf going to give us rain here. unfortunately, not again. these drought conditions are going to remain until they get significant rain. therefore, could have more fires for weeks, months to come here, christine. >> jim spellman in possum kingdom lake, such a texas name. i have to find -- dig into the origin of that. >> evidently it's the resort town. a lot of big, huge, beautiful homes there, vacation homes, are located there. >> no disrespect to texas or possum kingdom lake, but i told carol as you were talking to jim, i bet like a bunch of reporters went there and said let's just mess with our networks and tell them we're in possum kingdom lake. i know i'm going to get tweets from people, i'm sure it's a great place. some of the areas hardist hit by irene are getting relief from the white house. president obama declaring a disaster in vermont. rescue crews finally able to reach the town of rochester, vermont, which was cut off when roads into and out of the town were washed away by floodwaters. the national guard is resupplying a number of landlocked towns that became islands overnight. disaster declarations issued in north carolina, new york and new jersey. the governor will tour patterson, new jersey, which has been swamped. the water has begun to recede and residents are concerned that potential health risks from what's left behind, that might be the next cause of trouble for them. firefighters exposed to toxic dust after the world trade center towers collapsed ten years ago, are much more likely to develop cancer. that is the finding of a new study headed up by the chief medical officer of the new york city fire department. here's the headline, firefighters at ground zero face a 19% greater risk of cancer than firefighters who were not at ground zero. that finding comes as a source of relief for many of the big apple's bravest. >> it's nice to start hearing that there's studies that are backing what we're -- what many firefighters and rescue workers and construction workers are suffering with, and it's about time that these studies coming out of the federal government are challenged and challenged quickly and decisively. >> right now the 9/11 health and compensation act passed by congress last summer does not cover cancer treatment for first responders. the national institute for occupational safety and health says the position will next be reevaluated in 2012. they had just reevaluated and said they don't have enough evidence that cancer is caused by 9/11 should be covered. still not going to get reevaluated until next year. >> families of first responders don't want to wait another year. they say it's simply not fair. >> sanjay will be talking about this later as well at 7:30. >> switching to peru, authorities bringing murder charges against joran van der sloot. the prosecutors are seeking a 30-year sentence for the death of stephany flores, a peruvian woman found dead in his lima hotel room in may of last year. van der sloot was once the prime suspect in the disappearance of alabama teenager natalee holloway in aruba. he was never charged had in her murder. the u.s. government reportedly set to sue some of the nation's biggest banks. according to the "new york times" the agency that oversees fannie mae and freddie mac looking to recoup billions of dollars lost after the height of the housing bubble. the lawsuits are expected to claim the banks misrepresented the quality of the mortgage securities. >> they weren't high quality, darn. >> why did it take so long? >> yeah. >>. the cleanup after this mess has been ugly and -- >> my guess as to why it takes so long, we have seen so many examples of regulators going after financial companies in the past that haven't succeeded and i think people get frustrated with that. my guess is that they wanted to get it right, take as long as -- >> they're building their case. >> yeah. >> issued subpoenas last year. i think they're running out of time. there's legal deadlines coming up. they have to act now because they will run out of time. >> for most americans the economic indicator that matters the most is their job. this morning, the government releases its august jobs report. we get that once a week, it's the first friday of the new month. this report is expected by economists to show that we added 75,000 jobs in august. that is far less than the 200,000 jobs or so that we would need to see consistently month after month, to lower the nation's unemployment rate. although many economists say in this kind of economy, that's pie in the sky. yesterday, white house press secretary jay carney made it clear, americans want action not political bickering over what day the president is going to speak about his jobs plan. >> what the american people expect the president to do, what the american people expect their senators and congressmen and women to do is listen to them, and take action. they do not give a lick about what day next week the president speaks before congress. >> you can see president obama's jobs speech next thursday at 7:00 p.m., eastern time, right here on cnn and that, carol, is before the kickoff, right? >> yes. >> so happy about that. >> full 90 minutes. big night at carol's house. popcorn, couple of beers. still to come, cars stretch as far as the eye can see in parts of libya. dan rivers is going to find out why for us. >> and a potentially frightening new report, thousands of guns missing from their manufacturers and there may be no way to find them. we'll have details on that coming up next. >> anger over chaz bono joining "dancing with the stars." here's what some folks are saying on how the show is responding. we'll tell you about that after the break. it's our talk back question of the morning. [ cherie ] i always had a job, ever since i was fourteen. 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. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. her morning begins with arthritis pain. that's a coffee and two pills. the afternoon tour begins with more pain and more pills. the evening guests arrive. back to sore knees. back to more pills. the day is done but hang on... her doctor recommended aleve. just 2 pills can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is lara who chose 2 aleve and fewer pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. a voice said to be former libyan leader moammar gadhafi taunting the world, despite the intense manhunt for him. in the message the voice declares th declares that libya's capital has been moved from tripoli to sirte. the voice also called on libyans to continue the fight against the west. you're looking at video right now of nato targeti ining bar r in a desert town. that's where some reports say gadhafi may be hiding. tripoli this morning is a city dangerously close to running out of water. it is believed that gadhafi loyalists cut the water supply near its main source which is south of the capital in an area that's not controlled by the rebel government. the first relief shipments have begun to arrive in tripoli's harbor, but much more water, much more water will be needed to meet demand across the city. libya, as you know, is also a major oil producing country, but right now, it's got a gasoline shortage. dan rivers waited in one of the long gas lines that are plaguing the city. >> reporter: the fuel situation in tripoli is still pretty bad. there are still incredibly long cues. it's better than it used to be, but check it out. this is the back of the cue for gas. i want to show you just how long it is. this cue just goes on and on and on. it's ironic because libya actually has the largest oil supply in the whole of africa, the ninth largest in the world. experts say it has some 23 years of oil reserves. and before the war, it used to pump about 1.3 million barrels a day. but now, all the people in this cue care about is when these petrol cues are going to subside. some of them say they've been waiting in the scorching heat for hours. and finally, this is the front of the cue. the coastal road is open so it means some supplies are coming in, but you get the idea of just what an agonizing wait it is simply to fill up your car. dan rivers, cnn, tripoli. >> wow. >> usually in the news business -- they tell you to cut it up and give different shots. that was one of those things where one shot -- >> unbelievable. you could run out of gas waiting in line. >> when you have gas and water shortages doesn't matter sometimes you've overcome a dictator that denuded your country for decades, people need the basics and agitating. >> you have a country sitting on the largest oil reserves in africa but all these people waiting in line to get gas. >> not that they saw many benefits from it anyway. >> that's a good point. new this morning, 16,000 guns have gone missing from their manufacturers since 2009. that's according to a new report from the brady center, an anti-gun violence group. claims that some of these guns don't have a serial number which means they might be impossible to trace. some gun industry advocates are disputing those findings. a referee tackled and beaten at a high school football game in sarasota, florida. it started with a ref and a coach arguing over a call. the ref tries to walk away, but several coaches rush the field. moments later, a player, a player tackles the ref, coaches and players are facing felony battery charges. >> just unbelievable. >> now is your chance to talk back on one of the stories of the day. the question for you this morning, is the criticism against chaz bono and abc fair. even if you're not a fan of abc's "dancing with the stars," i'm sure you've heard, hundreds of viewers are not happy about chaz bono's invite. >> i hope that, you know, fair, open-minded people take the opportunity to get to know me week by week and realize that, you know, there's nothing scary about me and transgender people are, you know, just people like everybody else. >> but the hopes of acceptance are not apparent yet. on abc's message board there were angry comments hundreds like this one -- this isn't the first time a tv show has been accused of pushing an agenda. in 1992, vice presidential candidate dan quail blasted the values of the single and pregnant murphy brown. >> it doesn't help matters when prime time tv has murphy brown, a character who supposedly epitomizes today's intelligent, highly-paid professional woman, mocking the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice. >> today, there are more than 11 million single mothers in america. can you imagine an outcry about murphy brown today? granted, transgender is depicted on mainstream television are more controversial but "dancing with the stars" executive producer conrad green told "the hollywood reporter" we don't have an agenda of any sort. i think of the 120 celebrities we've put on the show, we've had i think now three transgender or gay contestants. if that's a homosexual agenda, we're not doing very well at it. the talk back question this morning, is the criticism against chaz bono and abc fair? facebook.com/americanmorning. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> looking forward to it. coming up on "american morning" -- >> i thought i would be out in the street and literally done and be dead. and i guess an angel or somebody was watching me get to where i had to go. >> you have to hear this guy's story, how he survived hurricane irene after staying too long in his house in new jersey. we'll have that for you on the other side. it's 21 minutes after the hour. where do you go to find a super business? you know, the ones who do a super job? superpages.com®. for local maps, reviews and videos & it's the only local search site with the superguarantee®. so next time, let the good guys save the day. get the superguarantee®, only at superpages®. in the book, on your phone or at superpages.com®. naomi pryce: i am. i'm in the name your own price division. i find empty hotel rooms and help people save - >> - up to 60% off. i am familiar. your name? > naomi pryce. >> what other "negotiating" skills do you have? > i'm a fifth-degree black belt. >> as am i. > i'm fluent in 37 languages. >> (indistinct clicking) > and i'm a master of disguise >> as am i. > as am i. >> as am i. > as am i. >> well played naomi pryce. minding your business this morning. that jobs report comes out about two hours from now. the most important economic indicator in the world, economists forecast the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 9.1%. how many jobs were created in august? economists say 75,000 jobs is what they are expecting. if it's worse than that, it could be trouble for the markets today. the white house forecasting sluggish economic growth next year, white house says it will be a slower recovery than first thought. in its latest budget office report the administration says unemployment will remain high, not coming down to pre-recession levels until at least the year 2017. that report and frankly concerns about a weak jobs market pushing u.s. markets lower yesterday. the dow, s&p 500, nasdaq closing about 1% lower. this morning stock futures down 2. you have losses in asian and european markets as people wait for that big jobs report and brace for disappointment. the u.s. government reportedly set to sue at least a dozen of the nation's largest banks. according to the "new york times" the agency that oversees fannie mae and freddie mac wants to recoup billions lost after the height of the housing bubble. bank of america, goldman sachs, some of the banks named in the suit according to "the times." goldman and jp morgan declined our request for comment. amazon offering to bring 7,000 jobs to california opening two new distribution centers there. there's a catch, it's only if lawmakers temporarily stop trying