>> now, she faces charges of child abuse early this friday morning, september 24th, 2010. captioning funded by cbs the weekend is upon us, good friday morning to all of you. i'm maggie rodriguez. >> i'm harry smith. good morning. >> a busy new days around here so let's get to the dangerous flooding in wisconsin and minnesota where heavy rains left many areas covered in several feets of water and there's even more rain in the forecast today. poly wagner of our minneapolis station brings us up to date this morning from owatonna, minnesota. >> reporter: here in southern minnesota the intense early autumn rain triggered flooding that knocked out roads and flooded homes. the water kept rising through the night and the rain isn't over yet. the high water forced hundreds of people to leave their homes. floodwaters overwhelmed owatonna, where residents battled the rising water through the day. >> enough! enough rain. sglosht over ten inches of rain fell in some areas yesterday. and it's not just the damage to buildings and roadways. valuable farmland is being swamped, as well. >> higher than we've seen it back in the early '60s, so we're on record, uncharted territory right now. >> reporter: the governors of minnesota and wisconsin declared emergencies for large parts of the states. in wisconsin the small town of arcadia got the worst of it, the national guard called in. nearly 350 homes there were evacuated, as three-foot waves of floodwater surged through the city. back in minnesota, residents worked through the day and into the night but, for some, it was a losing battle. >> yeah i feel really helpless watching the water come up in my basement and there's nothing you can do. you just watch it rise. >> reporter: the red cross opened a shelter in southern minnesota. somewhat dryer weather is forecast for today. but, another storm system is expected over the weekend. maggie? >> thank you. we'll get the extended fore tsdzforecast from dave in a moment. first, harry. now to politics one of the biggest issues in congress right now the bush-era tax cuts will expire next year and will not be decided until after election day. dfkt leaders made the decision as sarah palin announced a challenge to a key group of democrats in congress. cbs news congressional correspondent nancy cordes is in washington with more. nancy, good morning. >> harry, good morning. sarah palin has positioned herself as the nexus between the republican and tea parties working aggressive to get some in both parties elected. in what was shaping up the biggest battle of the fall, senate democrats backed down and decided to put off a showdown over bush -era tax cuts until after the all-important november elections. some democrats think with the campaign out of the way, it would be easier to reach a compromise with the gop. republicans may be less willing to compromise if sarah palin's latest attack on vulnerable democrats succeeds. >> it comes in the form of a new website called takebackthe twenty. alaska's former governor is raising money targeting twenty house democrats with deceit, all from conservative districts and voted for the health care bill. >> if republicans turn out and conservatives turn out in these districts republicans may have a good chance to recapture those house seats. >> reporter: if they do, palin will be able to claim partial credit, elevating her stature in a party lacking a clear leader, with two years to go before the presidential election. in a new interview on fox news, palin sent the strongest signal yet she's open to running for president. >> a reason to run is if nobody else were to step up with the solutions that are needed to get the economy back on the right track. i would offer myself up in the name of service to the public, but i also know that anybody, anybody can make a huge difference in this country without a title, without an office, just being out there as an advocate for solutions that can work to get the country on the right track. >> reporter: now that the campaign season is in full swing, palin is using facebook and twitter to take swipes at the current administration almost daily. lies, damned lies, obamacare, six months later she tweeted to her 260,000 followers last night. she doles out advice to candidates endorsed on twitter telling delaware's christine o'donnell to shun the national media. o'donnell says she has stopped doing those interviews and so when she speaks, they listen, hairley. thank you very much. joining us ann cowell tur and maria cardona. good morning. >> ann, let me start with you, this whole i went on the website this morning with the 20 different congressional seats she's trying target, the sort of pledge to america which sounded like a response to the tea party, and sarah palin yesterday. is she the detacto head of the republican party right now? >> she's very powerful. i mean, the same way we kept being asked is rush limbaugh the head, she has that sort of influence right now which is why i always find it kind of strange when people ask if she's going to run for president. i mean, i like what she said just there, kind of a threat to republican presidential candidates, you better be saying the right things or maybe i will get in. but, to give up what she has now and run for president would be like rush giving it up and running for president. she has more influence than a president does. >> is that really the truth, what that was yesterday in that interview with greta was listen to me, listen to who we are and if you -- if you embrace our orthodoxy, you'll have a chance? otherwise, i will put my foot through the door? >> well, i haven't spoken to her but i kind of took it that way. i wouldn't say exactly orthodoxy but, no more john mccains or bob doles. >> let me switch this to maria. just looking at this from an outside perspective, the republicans, the tea party, sarah palin, the ones with the momentum and with the enthusiasm. if you are a democrat trying to run in this atmosphere, what do you say, what do you do, where do you go for a message? >> i think what you do is that you have to draw a very clear contrast between what you would be offering as a democrat, especially to working-class families and middle-class families and what the republicans would be offering if they were to take over in november. and, frankly, the pledge to america makes it very clear that they would be going back to the same regurgitated and importantly failed economic policies that were in place before 2006, when they were in power. john boehner said himself, we are going to be no different than we've been. >> it's interesting, though, they basically did a giant focus group online, what do you want us to be about? and that's what they wrote in this pledge. by and large what it seems to me is, it's about less government and less taxes. isn't that -- it seems to me, this atmosphere of this recession that doesn't go away, even though it's officially over. >> right. >> that seems to be something -- >> we were giggling about that in the makeup run. oh, the recession is over, yea! of course that's the republican philosophy and, yes, it is smaller government, lower taxes. there's more to it. i mean, in some ways like the contract with america, it has -- such simple points that you can't believe this isn't already the case. the contract with america, for example, had congress has to live under the laws it passes itself. this new pledge has congress gets three days to read a new bill. you have to fight the constitutional provision before passing a law. these are common-sense proposals. >> maria, let me ask you this, is the president of the united states, is president obama, an asset or a liability to democrats running this fall? >> well, i think overall he's a huge asset. but, clearly, the democrats have to focus on their own districts and what's going on in their own campaigns. but again, i think that it would be -- it behoove democrats to make that distinction between what the democrats would be offering or going to continue to offer in terms of the change that everybody voted for and everybody's frustration has been that that change has not come fast enough. if republicans come into power, we are clearly seeing from this pledge to america they would put the insurance industry back in power, wall street back in power, and, frankly, middle-class families and working-class families would, once again, go to the back burner, while they focus on extending the tax cuts for multi-millionaires and billionaires and will cost $700 billion in the future. >> americans have six weeks to figure it out. maria, ann, thank you both very much for being here this morning. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> for more than a year we've followed the story of three american hikers arrested along the iraq-iran border. last week one, sarah shourd, was freed from prison in iran and since then has been calling for the release of the others, he her fiance, shane bauer and her friend josh fattal. after speaking with her mom several times the past year, it is my absolute pleasure to welcome sarah herself. good morning. >> thanks. good morning. >> wonderful to have you here with us. i saw you on sunday when were you freed and looking at you today, i get the same impression. there's not this look of joy, of celebration yet in your face. >> no. this is not what i thought it would be. you know, i thought this would be the end and at this point i don't know when the end is going to come so now i'm in this position the families have been in all along of anxiety and uncertainty and really no guarantees. of course, we have hope, but we don't know when this is going to end. >> hope shane and josh will be released. have you had any word since you've been free about how they are doing? >> no. i mean, as soon ace left the prison walls behind me, there's absolutely no communication and i have no way of knowing if they're okay or what's going on with them, you know, if there's been changes in their conditions now that i'm not there any longer. >> can you tell us what your days were like? i know you spent most of your time, 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. >> yeah, it's true. and shane and josh were my lifeline. my whole day was centered around anticipating the short periods of time i would get with them in that courtyard. >> how much time would that be? >> in the beginning, nothing for the first almost three months and then half an hour. it slowly increased with begging and pleading and, you know, a lot of tears. but, i would, you know, anticipate and center my whole day around that time, it was my only human contact. so, when the hour new drew and i never exactly when i would be taken out but i would start pacing around the room and wringing my hands and often just crying full of anxiety. when i saw them, shane and josh, just incredibly compassionate, supportive young men. we would sit around in a circle and hold hands. every time i felt i was slipping away they would bring me back. >> you saw them an hour a day. the rest of the time you were by yourself in that room. how big a room are we talking? >> about maybe five feet by ten. >> and that's where you had your meals? >> yeah. everything. >> everything. were they kind you to, were the guards kind? >> there's -- it's a mixed bag. some are really compassionate. i mean, it's a difficult job to have to have to watch people suffering. the rest of the world, you know prisoners are practically invisible, their pain is invisible. we can't see shane and josh right now, even though they're cramped in a little cell. their cell is the same size as mine was but there's two of them in there really with their beds taking up half the room they exercise side by side on a space the size of a towel and they have no idea when they are going to get out. they've committed no crime. they don't deserve to be there. and so, i want to make their pain more visible because when i was there my pain was invisible. and, you know, even the guards could just slam the door and walk away. no matter how much i cried and or at times i screamed, you know. >> are you hopeful that they will be with you, that your fiance shane, who proposed in prison, will be with you and you can have your wedding soon. >> yeah. of course i'm hopeful. i mean, you know, hope is what sustains you and we know this is going to end. there's too many people in governments around the world that want this to end and i believe there can be, you know, a resolution that both sides are satisfied with. i believe it's better for everyone to end this. >> we wish you well. we've been with you this long and we're going to stay with it until it's over. >> all right. thank you. >> thank you so much, sarah shourd. nice to meet you. >> you, too. >> time to check on the news with jeff glor at the news desk. >> good morning, everyone. three members of the international space station crew including an american woman were supposed to be back on earth this morning. instead they are stuck in orbit. thanks to bulky clamps holding up their reentry spacecraft. the latest this morning from our space consultant bill harwood in orlando. do flight controllers know exactly what is wrong, how to fix it and is the crew in any danger this morning. >> i'm not sure about what it will take to fix it. when they last left this when the crew went to bed it was unresolved and wasn't clear what the problem. what jeff, this is an extremely reliable system. they've been using it for decades. these hooks that hold the soyuz capsule in place release to let it go, that didn't happen and they're going to have to fix that. as to whether they're in danger or not, no, they were perfectly safe inside the capsule but the issue is the station has six people on board two of these capsules. there was an emergency that required a quick evacuation, right now, until there is resolved, three of those crew members don't have a way to get off. that's something that obviously gives you pause for concern. >> i would say so. bill harwood joining us from orlando, this morning. thank you so much. we'll check back again with you soon. 41-year-old teresa lewis the first woman executed in this country in five years. protesters gathered outside the virginia prison where she was given a lethal injection last night convicted of arranging the murders of her husband and his son for a quarter million dollar life insurance policy. popular 1950s singing star eddie fisher has died. ♪ oh, my papa, to me, you are so wonderful ♪ >> fisher a singer but best known for marriages of course first in 1955 to film star debbie reynolds. they were called america's favorite couple then the biggest scandal of the day left her to marry elizabeth taylor who divorced him in 1959 to marry richard burton. fisher died wednesday in california of complications of hip surgery alt age 82. just about 16 minutes past the hour right now. dave price, back from las >> forgive me talking about owatonna, minnesota, watching it northeast looks good. that's your weather picture. >> you owe a ton apologies for mispronouncing. just kistd. thanks dave. two girls slug it out it's on tape. a mother arrested for egging on her daughter during the fight. we'll take you inside this case causing quite a controversy. >> lindsay lohan's drug abuse lands her back in court today. could she be back behind bars? 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[ man #2 ] freestyle lite test strips. ♪♪ a flavor paradises aof delicious fishes ♪♪ ♪ friskies seafood sensations. ♪ ♪ feed the senses. hello again, the fog the reaching half way down the tower here on tv hill. i dare say, it's in the air around you, where ever you are. we'll have the latest on traffic after bernadette woods is in the first warning weather center. it's a foggy and warm start to the day. temperatures right now, we're 70 degrees in baltimore and 70 for baltimore and 73 in d.c.. closer in and 60 in westminster and 70 in bel air this morning. and sunshine will take over and as it does, we'll go up to 93 degrees this afternoon and tonight, 68 for the low and a slight chance for a shower with it tomorrow. and a chance for a shower sunday. and we'll cooldown over the weekend. now, for a check of the roads, we'll send it to sharon gibala. >> hi, there, bernadette, good morning. the fog is the biggest issue on the morning commute. it's still foggy and jammed on the topside of the beltway. the outer lupe is backed up. it will take you nine minutes to get through that. there's the westside backed up with a 12 minute drive and there's 95 south of the beltway. watch for delays in the southbound lane. one accident to talk about on reisterstown road on 695. this is brought to you by bill's. bills has it all for you call for more information. >