bubbly. is there a bubble about to burst for gold. that could be. a lot of analysts point out inflation over the last ten years has averaged about 2.4% every year. gold prices right now, gold has inflated 21% every year over the last ten years on average. so it may be overinflated now. it may be worth less than you're actually paying for it. that's the question right now. there's a range of opinions on this. everywhere from gold could go up to 5,000 an ounce or falling back to around $1600 an ounce. it's still pretty high. >> i won't be wiping out my cash accounts to buy gold at this moment on your advice, carter evans. "american morning" continues right now. get ready to get out. i'm ali velshi. the southeast united states on alert as hurricane irene grows into a category 2 storm. it causes some serious damage in the caribbean. >> breaking news this morning out of libya, i'm christine romans. what could be gadhafi's last

stand, reports of explosions near a compound where he may be hiding. and i'm carol costello. a new poll predicting a tight race in 2012, whether obama versus romney, bachmann, perry or paul on this "american morning." good morning to you. it is tuesday, august 23rd. this is "american morning." we have a lot going on today here. this weather in the united states. >> that's right. >> politics and, of course the developments in libya. >> start with breaking news in the battle for libya this morning. the arabic news network al arabiya reporting explosions near the compound where moammar gadhafi is believed to be hiding, this coming as the regime is teetering on the bring of collapse. nobody has seen gadhafi since the opposition rolled into tripoli over the weekend. >> his son, saif al islam, made a surprise appearance after the libyan opposition claimed they

captured him. he showed up at a western hotel with journalists and spoke to matthew chance and said his father is alive and well in tripoli. the international criminal court apparently was negotiating his transfer to the hague when that happened. >> in this really strange encounter, saif even invited cnn out on the town, which is currently under siege. listen to this. >> >> let's go. >> no. >> go. >> wait, i have to -- >> no. we have to -- i have to move right away. >> may i get a picture, sir? >> victory. >> that is remarkable. unclear what he meant when he said i'll take you to the hottest places in tripoli. we don't know what that means --

>> night clubs. >> hottest battle places or night clubs. another one of sis hiss siblings, mohammed gadhafi, whose capture was recorded live on al jazeera on the phone, escaped yesterday according to the libyan ambassador to the united states. escaped what seemed to be a house arrest of some sort. >> some people say he was hijacked. the rebel group said he was hijacked. it's unclear what is going on. >> unclear what is going on? in the meantime the fierce battle rages on for control of parts of tripoli. this is a youtube video posted yesterday taken from inside a family's home. black smoke rising all around them. the sounds of machine gunfire and a rocket-propelled grenade launch. you can hear one woman calling for help from god. >> all right. reports now in libya of explosions near a compound where gadhafi may be hiding. ar what damon live from

tripoli's airport waiting to see if it's safe enough to go on the streets this morning. good morning, arwa. what's the latest on the reported exploixs at the gadhafi compound. what do we know now about that? >> well, christine, the gadhafi compound has really been the focus of some of the most intense fighting, ever since rebel fighters began their initial push into tripoli. what we are now hearing is there are ongoing sounds of explosions, smoke rising above that part of the capital. we're around 15 miles to the south at the tripoli international airport that rebel fighters captured yesterday. they said that fighting has been quite intense, what they have managed to do is clear the area to the west of the airport and now they're running probing missions to the east and up north. there is a straight shot from here all the way to the compound, but they fully anticipate there is going to be a fairly intense battle because on that road there are many significant military positions. gadhafi military positions. there is, for example, a

refueling station, there is also an oil storage facility but must to the east there are two main military compounds. they're telling us right now they're trying to push forward very slowly, trying to see what kind of resistance they encounter before they begin to pull back. they most certainly expect a very fierce battle ahead. >> arwa, al jazeera, reporting rebel fighters are closing in within 500 meters of that compound. the opposition saying that sleeper cells have secretly armed residents helped them take tripoli. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right. we heard that from the fighters we are with. seems as if the rebels established these sleeper cells early on in the uprising in various neighborhoods and these sleeper cells, based on what we're told v a fairly complex chain of command. and the minute they received the word go, that the operation to try to attack tripoli was going to be taking place s they all rose up as well and joined in the effort.

however, although we are hearing from opposition fighters that they do control or they say that they control most of the capital and they say that they especially control the areas to the west, at the very same time they are saying that they have been forced back from certain positions as gadhafi forces appear to have regrouped and launched various counter attacks. >> all right. arwa damon at the airport in tripoli, thank you so much. let's get back to gadhafi's sons, shall we? our matthew chance, as you saw a moment ago, spoke with saif gadhafi. his appearance coming after reports of his capture. it may prove that the opposition is as good at spinning as the guy they're trying to topple. matthew with more on his strange encounter with saif gadhafi. >> all this cur fufle in the lobby of the hotel. i was woken up around my room, ran downstairs and everyone pointing at this white armored land cruiser saif is the in there. i walked in, knocked on the door, he was about to drive off.

it opened up, i said saif, i need to see you with my own eyes. i leaned in, i turned on the light on the ceiling of the -- in the back seat of this land cruiser. there he was. i took a photograph of him. and i asked him about where his father was. he said all of his family are in tripoli. he went on to say that, you know, it was all a trick, the rebels coming in to tripoli, that we've now broken their backbone. and we've given them a hard time. he then invited me to get into the car and to drive around tripoli so he could prove how, you know, how much it was under the government's control. but before i had to chance to do that, the door closed and he drove off. but it was quite incredible because i mean, as we've been discussing, we all thought the rebels had reported, the icc, international criminal courts in the hague, had confirmed, we believed, he was in the custody of the rebels. he's not, he's free and driving around tripoli. one correspondent that's been

here much longer than me said that, you know, the thing is about libya, the trouble is with reporting it, is that kind of lying is the national sport. obviously it was a little tongue in cheek. but, you know, the fact is both sides in this conflict have been, you know, spinning us a line, both sides have been exaggerating, both sides have been telling us untruths, and it's been very difficult, all along, for the whole -- for the past six months it's been difficult picking through that and trying to get to the truth or as close to it as we can. this was another, you know, really vivid example of that. >> of course the most disturbing part of this, saif gadhafi, was supposedly running the country in the place of his father. he was his closest political adviser and there were reports that the international criminal court in the hague, it was preparing to try this guy. >> yeah. >> matthew chance we're trying to get him on the phone. we believe the power might be

out in the hotel. he's still trapped in that hotel in tripoli. >> there are developments in libya and we're following them closely. >> we could learn more about these reported strikes during a nato briefing that is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. eastern. people will update us on the libya mission and we'll carry that live. we've got continuing breaking news here in the united states. the first atlantic hurricane of the season is now a category 2 storm headed toward the southeast united states. president obama has declared an emergency for puerto rico. the storm causing floods, landslides and power outages there. earlier this morning the storm kicked up dangerous surf along the northern coast of the dominican republic. irene is also flooding streets and knocking down trees. the track of the storm is -- which is predicted, by the way, to be a category 4 by later this week, a very serious storm, could be anywhere from florida to virginia, some tracks have it just off of land, some have it

on land. the folks in the carolinas are preparing now for possible evacuations. also along the coast officials are warning residents and vacationers to start reviewing their emergency plans. emergency officials are also checking truck, fork lifts, generators and computers to make sure everything is working. jacqui jeras joins us live now in the cnn hurricane headquarters. unusual this storm could take a track that makes it substantially more powerful after crossing over land and wide swath of united states in that cone of uncertainty, jacqui. >> yeah. all signs really point towards huge intensification here, ali. the main reason why this is a stronger storm than what we thought over the weekend, is because the position that it's in right now. the center of the storm is just north of the dominican republic and the computer models initially brought it over the land. had this moved over the island those mountains would have ripped this thing apart and a

weaker storm. in the meantime it stays over the warm water which is going to allow it to get stronger and make irene a formidable storm, unfortunately. category 2 now. 100-mile-per-hour winds. slow to intensify today, even though it's over water it is interacting with hispaniola and going to move through the turks and caicos and bahamas on thursday and we'll feel tropical storm force conditions in parts of south florida by thursday morning. what happens after that, models bring it towards of the north and curving back. look at this huge area where this cone of uncertainty is. it includes parts of georgia and all the way up into the northeastern united states and there you can see the carolinas are in the bull's eye at this time. so things are not looking good for the pusp great to see that video, see everybody getting ready in south carolina. >> best thing you can do. can't control the hurricane. only control how you're going to react to it. jacqui, thanks very much. we'll be in touch with you and staying on top of this with

cnn's team. the president of standard & poor's is stepping down. s&p's parent company mcgraw-hill announced deven sharma will leave his post which the end of the year replaced by the chief operating officer of citibank. beside's s&p downgrade of america's credit rating the agency is being investigated by the justice department for allegedly overrating mortgage backed securities at the height of the housing bubble. in politics, new evidence that next year's presidential election could be too close to call. according to a new gallup poll, president obama is running neck and neck with the top four republican presidential candidates. he's ahead of congresswoman michele bachmann by four percentage points, 48 to 44. he's tied with texas governor rick perry at 47%. the president leads congressman ron paul by two percentage points, 47 to 45. and the president trails former governor mitt romney by two percentage points, 46 to 48%. >> speaking of mitt romney, might be fair to say that mitt

romney's renovation plan is going to do little to change some people's perceptions that he's -- he lives in a rarefied environment. the republican presidential candidate is reportedly planning to demolish his $12 million, 3,000 square foot ocean front home in california and replace it with a property that's nearly four times larger. these are pictures of the home he's planning to tear down. a campaign official says the two bedroom home, $12 million two bedroom home, is no longer adequate. >> isn't it la hoya. is there anything less than -- i'm just saying. it is a very -- >> it is a very expensive part of california. >> two bedrooms. >> i don't think he's going to start renovating now. he will wait until the proper time. >> yeah. people can renovate all they want. from a perception perspective, this is got that i said corporations are people. not incorrect, just he's definitely not saying the man of the people stuff. >> just saying. >> now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, why isn't america more

excited about its presidential contenders. marching toward 2012 and the first republican primary, some of the most talked about an candidates are those who aren't running. want proof? young gun republican congressman paul ryan, to the chagrin of many in the gop, the arc ticket of the republican budget that would cut federal spending by $6.2 trillion, has issued a definitive no. ryan says while humbled by the encouragement, i have not changed my mind and, therefore, i am not seeking our party's nomination for president. the desire for alternative blood is as fresh as it ever was. when supporters were begging new jersey governor chris christie to run and they continue today even after he made his lack of desire crystal clear. >> i said what do i have to do short of suicide to convince people i'm not running. apparently i have to commit suicide. to convince people i'm not running. >> why can't christi and company

be. because in the recent cnn poll, only 14% of republican voters say they are very satisfied with the field. ouch. it's not like democrats are jumping up and down either. 28% of democrats would rather see a candidate other than president obama nominated. a record high or low for him. there have been calls for hillary clinton to run in 2012. it makes you wonder, is there anyone out there who could inspire the entire country, anybody who would want to be president when the economy is in the toilet, and two wars continue to drag on. so the talk back question today, why isn't america more excited about its presidential contenders. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> i wonder if it's a reflection of the people in the field or a reflection of the times we live in? no matter what you're not going to be satisfied because the problems are so insurmountable. >> who in his right mind would run in 2012 with things the way they are in the country. lot of tough hurdles to jump

over. >> like buying stocks at the bottom, things so bad, run in 2012 and get elected ha ded -- to get better, right? >> isn't that what we thought. >> ahead on "american morning," the rape charges against dominique strauss-kahn made headlines worldwide, but turns out, prosecutors had a bigger problem. namely the credibility of the accuser. >> one of wall street's powerful ceo is laurg up. we'll tell you who it is and why after this. >> with gadhafi's regime on the brink of collapsing we could see oil production restored in libya. but will that be easy? and what can we expect to see with gas prices here in the united states? we will break it down. it's 16 minutes past the hour. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane.

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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. welcome back to "american morning." the sex assault case against dominique strauss-kahn has been falling apart for weeks now. in a few hours the entire case could be history. >> a court hearing in new york today, prosecutors are expected to tell the judge that they cannot prove that the former imf chief raped a hotel maid. they're planning to ask to have the charges dismissed. making the recommendation, the manhattan d.a. says if they couldn't believe the accuser, nafissatou diallo, beyond a

reasonable doubt, how do they expect a jury to do so. >> cnn's susan candiotti has been following the story since the beginning live outside the courthouse in lower manhattan. what will happen later today? >> good morning, carol. we'll find out whether the judge will accept the motion from prosecutors to dismiss the case. it boils down to two things, according to prosecutors they simply didn't believe miss diallo and they couldn't prove a rape occurred. in terms of the credibility issues they said in their words, she simply wasn't truthful in matters big and small, and when it came down to it, they couldn't prove a rape occurred. there wasn't enough physical evidence and the case would simply come down to a he said/she said. this is how the district attorney summed it up. quote -- obviously this is not sitting well with miss diallo or

the lawyer who has been representing her. he maintains that she is sxleetsly believable -- completely believable, she did have enough evidence in this case, and that she cooperated fully with the authorities and he said, what is happening here simply sends the wrong signal to victims. >> manhattan district attorney, cyrus vance, has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case. he has not only turned his back on this innocent victim, but he has also turned his back on the forensic, medical and other physical evidence in this case. >> and mr. thompson, miss diallo's lawyer, still has another motion out there, asking

this judge to appoint a special prosecutor and throw the district attorney off the case. we'll see what happens. now obviously the lawyers for dominique strauss-kahn are pleased. we haven't heard from strauss-kahn yet. but they issued this statement. quote, mr. strauss-kahn and his family are grateful that the district attorney's office took our concerns seriously and concluded on its own that this case cannot proceed further. we'll see what happens in court this day. prosecutors say it boils down to this, quote, a prosecutor's duty is to seek justice, not simply to win cases. but really in the end, is there any winner in this case? guys, back to you. >> what a mess. susan candiotti live in lower manhattan, thanks. remember the beginning how the prosecutor said this is an unimpeachable witness we believed her from the beginning, this case is so solid, we would never go after someone of his stature without having such a solid case. what an amazing turn of events.

>> for dominique strauss-kahn, it totally trashed his reputation. >> absolutely. still to come on this "american morning," a drastic attempt to stop violent flash mobs, is it working in one of america's biggest citys. >> following the story of hurricane irene. it is a hurricane tearing through the caribbean right now and gaining speed and intensity. the water is warm. that's making it worse and the path, it's on a path that may hit the united states. jacqui jeras is tracking irene in the cnn hurricane headquarter. an update after the break. t to d a way to break through. to make science as exciting as a video game. i need to reach peter, who's falling behind. and push janet who's 6 chapters ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] with interactive learning solutions from dell, mrs. davis can make education a little more personal. so every student feels like her only student. dell. the power to do more.

minding your business this morning, u.s. stock futures trading significantly higher ahead of the opening bell. markets posted modest gains.

the fed chief speaking in jackson hole a at a fed conference later this week. the last time that happened last year it signalled a fed stimulus. some hopes in the markets that bernanke could make some sort of announcement on friday. gold prices keep going up another record last night, $1900 an ounce, up $100 in two weeks. the week over week rise for gold has analysts worried this could be a bubble ready to pop. we've heard that before, haven't we? say the last i don't know $700. investors flocking to the precious metal for security in this shaky economy. goldman sachs ceo lloyd blankfein retained counsel related to an investigation by the justice department. the doj said the bank misled clients and housing market activities. lots of buzz about this because this lawyer also represent the bernie ebbers during his downfall. swiss bank ubs is slashing 3500 jobs as part of cost cutting measures. it puts it at about 33,000 job

cuts in banking. bank of new york melon, credit suisse, hsbc all announced restructuring plans that included layoffs this year. bank of america stock, taking another beating, shares down near 52-week low. as investors remain nervous about the bank's ball hans sheet and explosive to the mortgage xri crisis. stock fell nearly 8% by the end of trading. stock in this bank is down about 50% over the past year. bank of america shares cut in half. it's the nation's largest bank. rivals ford and toyota making nice joining forces to develop a hybrid system for pickups and suvs. they'll share development costs to make the technology more affordable to customers, to you. working together the companies hope to meet the 2025 deadline set by the white house for new fuel economy standards. for the latest news about your money, check out the new cnnmoney.com. "american morning" will be back after this quick break.

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hurricane irene is intensifying into a category 2 storm.

it could get bigger, expecting it to become a category 4 storm in just days. no one along the east coast isn't paying very close attention to this on this "american morning." good morning. it's tuesday, august 23rd. welcome back to "american morning." boy, busy today. >> it is busy today. we have hurricane irene out there, the situation in libya, which is really, really strange, so let's get to this morning's top stories. al jazeera reporting rebel trucks loaded with heavy machine guns have surrounded the compound where moammar gadhafi is believed to be hiding. >> meantime moammar gadhafi's son saif al islam holding an impromptu interview with reporters at a hotel yesterday. clearly he's not captured like opposition leaders had claimed only hours before. the rebels say they're still in control of 90% of tripoli, but

saif al islam gadhafi is saying that they've broken the back of the insurgency. it just gets a little more chaotic in tripoli. meantime a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit southern colorado near the new mexico border overnight. the largest quake to hit that area in almost 40 years. reports of rock slides along a highway, some damage to structures but no word of injuries. >> hurricane irene carving out a destructive path through the caribbean. forecasters say irene is only getting nor intense, could turn into a category 4 hurricane. irene may hit the united states by the week's end. jacqui jeras is tracking irene from cnn hurricane headquarters. what are we looking senate. >> just north of hispaniola now and interacting with that land which is very mountainous, by the way. it doesn't look all that impressive on satellite but we're talking about 100-mile-per-hour maximum sustained winds. it will be slow to strengthen today but as long as the center stays over the open water we'll see that thing start to ramp up. this will be moving through the

bahamas by tomorrow and through thursday. we'll start to feel the tropical force winds throughout south florida as early as thursday morning. the storm expected to move northerly and take a head towards the carolinas, still too early to tell exactly where. the southeast coast needs to be prepared for a major hurricane this weekend. back to you guys. >> jacqui, thank you. we will be watching this as we always do at cnn very closely. as jacqui says your can't control the hurricane. you can control your behavior and your preparation for it. >> absolutely. world leaders are looking to free up billions of dollars of libya assets, frozen because of sanctions against the gadhafi regime. the money could go to the national transition council to help the rebels revolution. jill dougherty joins us live from the state department. hi, jill. so, who's going to manage this? >> well, it's going to be the ntc, the ntc is a work in progress. as we know it's the opposition,

the rebels leadership, political leadership, and they are going to be creating, at least that's the plan, they're going to be creating a transition government, a transitional authority, which would then, you know, put in place elections and the constitution. but sometimes we focus on the fighting on the streets, but what's really important, really important, to the people of libya, is getting essential services back on. water, electricity and other things. the state department is focuse s as they said in a briefing, focused like a laser in speeding up the amount of money they can get to libya. now, that would be money from the international community, some of it would be for humanitarian concerns, health concerns, et cetera. the other part is that 30 roughly $30 billion ta was frozen by the u.s. and now they want to unfreeze. here's how victorian newland, the spokeswoman for the state department, explained it.

>> this is libya's money that was frozen because it had been under the control of the tyrant gadhafi. as we are able to unfreeze it, we need to work with the libyan government, we need to work with the libyan people, on how they would like this money spent. you know, the first priority, i think, that they will have is for the humanitarian needs of their people to ensure no more libyans suffer at this time and we'll go from there. >> all right. so, libyan money, 10% of it only, is basically in cash liquid. the rest is in assets. it could be property and other things. that ntc will have to decide what they want to do with that. the rules are complicated because you have to in some cases they have to go to the u.n. to -- because of the sanctions or the u.s. could do some things unilaterally by

itself. >> complicated stuff. jill dougherty live at the state department this morning, thank you. with the gadhafi regime nearing an end one question at hand what does this mean for oil prices? libya has one of the largest oil reserves, frankly the largest in africa, at one time producing 1.8 million barrels a day. that accounts for 2% of the world supply. light sweet crude, goes right to the refineries, what they like to run the factories and cars with. the civil war that started in april oil production shut down. only 2% of world supply it had an effect. the u.s. tapped into its strategic petroleum reserve. middle eastern countries increased production to compensate for the libyan oil that was off-line. how long before you tart to see oil production resume again. libya could be producing over a half a million barrels a day in a few months and even though its largest oil customers are in

europe the impact on gasoline prices could be felt worldwide. one energy expert saying drivers in the u.s. could expect to save 4 to 6 cents a gallon. that's a timetable quite frankly that's really up for debate because there are a loot of factors at play here including how quickly a secure government is in place and the extent of the damage to the country's refineries, pumps, pipelines as a result of the fighting. we're going to take a closer look at libya's oil reserves and what it could mean for the country's future later. a an expert in oil prices and energy risk management service and former middle eastern presidential adviser mark ginsburg will join us live at 7:30 eastern. part of the billions in kwaelts the gadhafi regime amassed part is in gold. that part of the gadhafi portfolio is getting valuable. he had a thing for gold. turns out that was a safe haven that worked for the country but

not for him. >> don't know if it was as much as a wise investment gadhafi having a thing for a lot of things gathering stuff. we will keep a close eye on that. good discussion about oil prices and how this could hit you at home. thanks. a roman historian once said, quote, the best day after a bad emperor is the first. the libyan rebels hoping to topple moammar gadhafi's regime and rebuild. but they face numerous challenges even if they succeed. recently the opposition's credibility and progress has come into question. director of the middle east center at the london school of economics, fawas joins us from london. you always help us clarify some of these issues. first of all i suppose it's not atypical that there's going to be confusion, particularly at this point, where rebels clearly -- our own reporters on the ground have said made substantial advances right into the capital, but it does seem there have been claims made by the rebels, including the capture of saif al islam, who we

saw clearly not captured, that have brought their, you know, their statements into credibility, questions into credibility. is that par for the course? are they lying? is it just bad information getting out? is it because it's not centralized? what do you make of the information we've had in the last 72 hours? >> ali, good morning. as you well know, we call the fog of warfare. the dust has not settled. the fight is very intense. and the reality is, the rebels have made some significant advances. if you asked me a few days ago, i would have said the battle of tripoli would be costly, prol g prolonged and messy. the rebels control significant quarters of tripoli. and you're absolutely correct. the rebels have not been forthcoming with us, not because they're lying to us, i think it's part of what we call the propaganda that's taken place in libya. they're trying to demoralize the remnants of gadhafi.

also as you know, ali, the rebels have not really institutionalized their movement. there is no unified command and control, no unified army. you have desperate militias among the rebels saying whatever they would like, doing whatever they want, and that's not good. that's not good because, in fact, as we talk you and i, the rebels are not coordinating in tripoli. you have now the front lines in tripoli are expanding. but the reality is, even though there are many battles to be waged in tripoli, in sert and other places, i think that they have lost a war. i think the reality is, this is a significant historic moment for libya and i do hope, as you suggested, ali, basically the rebels will rise up to the occasion and basically seize the moment and begin the process of reconstructing state and society sooner rather than later. >> let's go back to how i started this discussion where we, quoting the roman who said, the best day after the fall of a bad emperor is the first. these folks are going to have a

lot of work on their hands, if they succeed in toppling gadhafi, because gadhafi made libya a mess. it's a country rich with natural resources. do we know who they are and what they are likely to do to take libya in a better direction? >> well, now, again this is a very critical question. all we know that the council, the rebels council, they made of groups, shades of opinions. elements of the gadhafi regime, old regime, ahead of the council, mustapha abdul jalil whiz the minister, tribal, revolutionary leaders, islamists, nationalists and that's why the next few days and next few weeks are very critical, ali, because the rebels must establish a transparent, functioning and inclusive government. the most difficult challenge facing the rebels is to bring in more and more shades of opinion, because libya is one of the most

diverse societies in north africa. you have regional divisions between the east and west, you have tribal divisions within the east and west, you have ideological divisions between islamists and nationalists and that's why what libya needs today, even though there are many battles to be waged, the political question, the institutional challenges, inclusiveness, rather than exclusion, should be the order of the day. libya should not go the iraq way. exclusion and revamp -- >> you hit the nail on the head. that is, of course, the concern, that it doesn't go the iraq way. fawas thanks for your input on it. fawaz is the director of the middle east center at the london school of economics. >> different the iraq way, the iraq way was we got in there and got saddam hussein out and put the pressure on saddam hussein. this is coming from within. >> them with help from the outside. >> there wasn't any planning either for what happened after the fall of saddam hussein. >> often isn't, yes.

>> but american officials have been in libya with some sort of political plan, so we'll see what happens. just ahead on "american morning," why isn't america more excited about the field of presidential contenders? we'll have some of your responses to our talkback question of the day. it's 42 minutes past the hour. where do you go to find a super business? you know, the ones who do such a super job, they're backed by the superguarantee®? only superpages®. wherever you are, wherever you're going, you'll find the super business you need. so next time, let the good guys save the day. get the superguarantee®, only at superpages®. in the book ... on your phone or online. a mouthwatering combination of ingredients...e for you! i know you're gonna love. [ barks ] yes, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. made with wholesome grains, real chicken, even accents of tomato and avocado. yeah! come on! [ barking ] gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo!

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it is 45 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "american morning." we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day and you did. we asked you this question, why isn't america more excited about its presidential contenders. this from halemon. i hope i pronounced that right. it says -- this from crystal -- this from doug --

keep the conversation going, facebook.com/americanmorning. we'll read more in the next hour. >> it's still hard to feel good about anybody or anything when you look around you and people are hurting. >> you're saying it's not the candidates as much as it's -- >> i'm saying that the bad economic condition and the bad -- the lack of opportunity makes people even that much more pessimistic about what their candidates can or can't do. >> quite possibly. we'll see what people have to say. top stories after a quick break. 47 minutes after the hour. you're watching "american morning." >> hi, i'm richard blaze, a chef out of atlanta. i'll probably clock around 130,000 miles this year. i'm a chef with many restaurants here in the southeast and might know me from "top chef." this is a day in the life richard blaze traveling. one of the things i have to pack is knives. my light saber, if you will. these are great head phones. even it if i'm not listening to

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discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers. . 50 minutes after the hour. here's what you need to know to start your day. the hurricane center predicts irene could grow to a category 4 storm as it approaches the carolinas later this week. the storm is passing just north of the dominican republic this morning, knocking down trees and flooding streets. the arabic news network al arabiya reporting explosions near the compound where moammar gadhafi is believed to be hiding as rebel fighters try to finish off moammar gadhafi's forces. one of gadhafi's sons, said to be in custody, resurfaced yesterday. he spoke to reporters outside a hotel in tripoli. 24-year-old woman injured in

that devastating stage collapse at the indiana state fair has died. meagan toothman has been on life support, had been on life support, since august 13th. six other people were also killed when the stage collapsed. philadelphia reportedly extending its strict curfew to crack down on violent teen flash mobs by two weeks. the city says the 9:00 p.m. weekend curfew is sending a strong message and will last until school starts in early september. "american morning" is back right after this.

how did a dusty old wallet become a symbol for courage and commitment for four generations, four generations of u.s.

soldiers. it started when a vietnam veteran decided to share his good luck, good luck charm as it were, with a fellow soldier. >> the small act of comradery started a bonding tradition in the military that is going to warm your heart. jason carroll joins us with this touching story of a dusty wallet bringing these guys together. >> i'm going to tease you with something and how we found the story on the tail a end of this. it started when a soldier in vietnam lost his wallet in the jungle of vietnam and had to get a new one. it began something that would last through four wars and create an enduring friendship between four men. >> reporter: they look like old friends but this is the first time david, keith, dennis and patrick, all war veterans, have met, thanks to something special to all of them. >> it is the wallet. >> that wallet, carried by dennis sheridan, throughout the vietnam war. >> seen both the good and the bad of combat. >> reporter: when his tour ended in 1970, sheridan packed it

away. >> in vietnam era, you wanted to forget, you didn't wear your uniform, you just wanted to leave it all behind you. >> reporter: the wallet sat in a trunk until more than 20 years later, when "operation deserts storm" began under the first president bush. >> i wanted to send something, didn't know what to send, we went to the trunk. >> what's in your hand? is that a beer? >> completely different war. >> there you go. >> reporter: sheridan passed his wallet on to his old bravo company. >> our platoon leader received a random letter. >> this is from me, carried in vietnam, be proud to carry it in "deserts storm." >> it was like, you know, i had been entrusted with the holly grail. >> reporter: captain young added his pictures. >> taken some time in 1990. >> reporter: young carried the wallet throughout his deployment in iraq holding on to it well after. >> we said well the next time, you know, we'll pass it forward. >> reporter: a decade later,

""operation iraqi freedom"" under the most recent president bush was beginning. >> i got the wallet in the mail from keith and he had a letter attached that, you know, it basically outlined, you know, that dennis had carried it in vietnam and he carried it through "desert storm" and it was my storm. >> reporter: captain granly did his part. >> to have two gentlemen, complete strangers, tell you we're counting on you to see this through and to take care of this, was pretty overwhelming and i had one of the soldiers to snap the picture of me real quick. >> reporter: and last year during the war in afghanistan, the wallet changed hands once again. this time, to captain patrick rest. >> i felt like i didn't deserve it, hadn't done anything in the army yet, but yet there's so much trust and faith that's placed in you. >> what it represents for us, at least for me, is it's sort of like a promise and a good look piece for him knowing he will

get through the tough times ahead of him. >> reporter: a war weathered memento that bonds these men. well, patrick will keep the wallet. the men hope he will not have to pass it on again. if there is another war, it will go to another soldier in the 3rd platoon of the bravo company. how we found the story i was in a hotel lobby and captain keith young was talking to my producer and i said what you talking about. he goes into this story and i said, you know, that is a story we should do on cnn. and that's how i found the guy. >> oh. >> fate i suppose. >> four great guys and complete strangers. first time they had gotten a chance to meet altogether. so it was nice to be there for that meeting. >> has it become sort of a good luck charm for them some. >> i think it has. i think that's what it's become for them. for all four of the men. what's interesting is, you know, when many of the men came home from vietnam, a lot of them felt as though they couldn't actually

feel good about what they had done for obvious reasons at that point in time, and this was the first time he was actually able to feel like i can actually now feel good about something that i did. >> yeah. they're all embracing each other through generations. >> it's incredible but the hope is they won't have to turn it over one more time. >> i hope not. thanks, jason. just ahead, tracking hurricane irene. it could be a category 4 storm by later this week. people on the east coast, especially in south carolina, they're already stocking up. we'll be back. anananananannounc] this...is the network.

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[♪...] >> male announcer: now, for a limited time, your companion flies free, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. conditions apply. breaking news this morning out of libya. what could be gadhafi's last stand, his compound under attack at this hour. new reports of explosions right now. danger is brewing as hurricane irene winds up in what could be a possible strike on the east coast and the national hurricane center is now warning, this storm could become a monster. on the verge of freedom, dominique strauss-kahn could walk after new york prosecutors determine the woman accusing him of rape has credibility issues. a medical breakthrough that offers patients with lou

gehrig's disease hope for a treatment and maybe one day a cure on this "american morning." and good morning to you. it is tuesday, august 23rd. welcome to "american morning." >> up first this morning, breaking news in the battle for libya. al jazeera is reporting hundreds of rebel trucks loaded with heavy machine guns have surrounded moammar gadhafi's compound. this coming as his regime is teetering on the brink of collapse. no one has seen gadhafi since the opposition rolled into tripoli over the weekend and now one of his sons says his father is safe and in tripoli. we're unclear whether he's in that compound that's been surrounded by rebels. >> that son, saif al islam gadhafi, made that statement during a surprise appearance, i think you can say, at a tripoli hotel, filled with western journalists. the opposition had claimed he was in opposition custody and he comes rolling into the hotel rixos. another one of his siblings,

mohammed gadhafi, escaped monday according to the libyan ambassador to the united states. both those developments a major setback in terms of morale for libyan opposition fighters. they're trying to hold on to their ground and finish off gadhafi after 42 years. arwa damon has more from tripoli's airport on these new reported explosions at the gadhafi compound. >> the compound has really been the focus of some of the most intense fighting ever since rebel fighters began their initial push into tripoli. what we are now hearing there are ongoing sounds of explosions, smoke rising above that part of the capital. we're around 15 miles to the south at the tripoli international airport that rebel fighters captured yesterday. they said that the fighting has been quite intense. what they have managed to do is clear the area to the west of the airport and now they're running probing missions into

the east and up north. because there is a straight shot from here all the way to the compound, but they fully anticipate it is going to be a fairly intense battle. on that road there are many significant military positions, gadhafi military positions. there is, for example, a refueling station and also an oil storage facility plus to the east, there are also two main military compounds. so they're telling us right now they're trying to push forward slowly, see what kind of resistance they encounter before they begin to pull back. they expect a fierce battle ahead. >> arwa, al jazeera, reporting rebel fighters are closing in within 500 meters of the compound. sleeper cells have secretly armed residents helped them take tripoli. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right. we heard that from the fighters that we are with as well, effectively seems as if the rebels set up and established these sleeper cells early on in

this uprising in these neighborhoods. the sleeper cells have a fairly complex chain of command. the minute they received the ward go, that the operation to try to attack tripoli was going to be taking place, they all rose up as well and joined in the effort. however, although we are hearing from opposition fighters that they do control or they say that they control most of the capital and they say that they especially control the areas to the west, at the very same time they are saying they have been forced back from certain positions as gadhafi's force appear to have regrouped and launched various counter attacks. >> that was arwa damon reporting from the airport in tripoli. to another developing story here in the united states, hurricane irene, it is growing in strength and could become the first hurricane to seriously threaten the east coast in years. right now the category 2 storm with winds of about 100 miles per hour is lashing parts of the dominican republic. and forecasters warn it could grow into a category 4 storm as

it moves toward the carolinas. the storm is really picking up steam since it pounded puerto rico yesterday. knocking out power and causing widespread flooding and landslides. president obama has declared a state of emergency on the island. as we speak, irene is lashing parts of the dominican republic. flooding the streets and knocking down trees there. a lightning strike from hurricane irene sparked a fire in the british virgin islands that destroyed the home of richard branson. the chairman of virgin group said about 20 people were in his home at the time, including the actress kate winslet. nobody was injured. >> he thanked her for getting his mother out of there, by the way. 90-year-old mother. >> she carried her out, kate winslet. quite a house. irene is predicted -- predicted track takes it from florida to virginia. people are getting ready. in florida stacking up on bottled water, flashlights and batteries and in the carolinas, officials are warning residents and vacationers along the coast to start reviewing their emergency plans. the latest, jacqui jeras, live

in the cnn hurricane headquarters. jacqui, what are you looking at? >>. [ no audio ] >> jacqui's talking silently. >> jacqui is looking at the radar and -- >> looking at it. >> very close attention. >> yeah. i think she was having trouble with her mike. >> hello. >> there she is. >> that's nice. when carol asks for jacqui, jacqui speaks. >> not listening to you, ali. >> that's what happens when you try to eat breakfast between weather hits. you don't want to hear me crunching, do you? sorry about that. anyway, let's tell you what's going on, latest with irene, strong category 2 hurricane at this time packing winds at 100 miles per hour. the center is to the north of the dominican republic. this is why this is going to be such a serious threat to life and property in the carolinas and into the u.s. it's because this thing stayed over open water, it stayed over that warm water in the energy source, so that means there's nothing in its way really just a couple of flat islands between

here and there, so this thing will continue to get stronger unfortunately. let's talk about that forecast track. it's going to be moving through the turks and caicos then through the bahamas on thursday and we're going to start to feel the impact of this in south florida already by thursday morning, we think. you folks could get tropical storm force winds. all the computer models no longer take this thing to florida and are curving it northward and heading up towards the carolinas. could be south carolina, could be north carolina. maybe a smidgen to the east of there. it's been 15 years since the carolinas have had a major hurricane. that's category 3 or better. we're expecting at least a 3, maybe a 4. we'll have to wait and see. getting prepared, that is the key right now. this thing probably isn't going to hit you until the weekend so you got a couple of days to make sure you stay in contact, have that plan in place, at least three days of food and water as this storm gets closer and closer to you. you can see the official forecast coming in early on saturday morning. maybe into sunday. those models, let's go ahead and it take a look at those by the

way. that big thick white line that you see, that's the official forecast from the national hurricane center. and you can see that we have still had a little bit of trending here on off towards the east. keep that in mind. and there you can see, none of those models any longer bringing that into florida. they're very close together. that gives us a lot of confidence in that forecast. so we need to be prepared for this major storm. a lot of rainfall, of course, concerned about that and the dominican republic and haiti. three to six inches, locally heavier amounts of flash flooding going to be a big concern and our friends in the bahamas, every island is going to get lashed by this storm. this is huge, guys, as we take a look at that satellite picture. that stretches across 400 miles wide. so this is a very powerful, very large storm. >> jacqui f it keeps trending to the east as you say, it might be, an off chance, does the gather steam and get more ferocious or dissipate as it moves north? >> well, you know, the water temperatures are warm all the way up, so trending east won't,

you know, necessarily make it any more. we don't think it's going to necessarily get past the outer banks but we'll have to bait and see. something to keep in mind for you guys, down the line, things happen after landfalls. inland flooding will be a big concern. this could move up even into new york city, not necessarily as a hurricane, potentially, but right now it could be a powerful storm for you guys next week with winds -- >> feeling like a noreaster. it could feel that way. >> so wet this spring. nobody needs any more rain up here. it's been so wet. thanks, jacqui. speaking of rain, parts of iowa drying out this morning after getting drenched with up to five inches of rain in just a few hours yesterday. this is the scene in council bluff, iowa. just outside owe mama ha. streets are submerged, several businesses had to be evacuated. the national guard was called to help rescue. get this, 24 kids trapped in their school bus, oh. the bus apparently stalled in about four feet of water. luckily there were no reports of any injuries, but boy, how was

school today? nothing happened. >> good story to tell, right? >> that's right. 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit southern colorado near the new mexico border overnight. there are reports of rock slides and damage to buildings, but no word of any injuries. today vice president joe biden is expected to tour the tsunami ravaged coastline of japan. biden says japan will recover from the disaster, just like the u.s. will put itself out of its debt crisis. japan is the final stop of biden's eight-day trip to asia. now is your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, why isn't america more excited about its presidential contenders? marching toward 2012, and the first republican primary, some of the most talked about candidates are those who are not even running. want proof? young gun republican congressman paul ryan to the chagrin of many in the gop, the architect of the republican budget that would cut federal spending by $6.2 trillion, has issued a

definitive no. ryan says while humbled by the encouragement, i have not changed my mind and, therefore, i am not seeking our party's nomination for president. the desire for alternative blood is as fresh as it ever was. when supporters were begging new jersey governor chris christie to run and continue today even after he made his lack of desire crystal clear. >> i said what do i have to do short of suicide to convince people i'm not running? apparently i have to actually commit suicide to convince people i'm not running. >> why can't christi and company just be? because in a recent cnn/orc poll, only 14% of republican voters say they are very satisfied with the field. ouch. it's not like democrats are jumping up and down either. 28% of democrats would rather see a candidate other than president obama nominated. a record high or low for him. there have been calls for hillary clinton to run in 2012.

makes you wonder, is there anyone out there who could inspire the whole country? anybody who would want to be president when the economy is in the toilet and two wars continue to drag on. so the talk back question today, why isn't america more excited about its presidential contenders? facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll read your comments later this hour. still to come this morning, new york prosecutors asking a judge to dismiss rape charges against dominique strauss-kahn because prosecutors say they can't prove them. a live report just ahead. you're watching "american morning." it's 12 minutes after the hour. ♪ with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced.

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since former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn was pulled off a paris bound plane and charged with raping a housekeeper in his new york city hotel room. looks like those charges will be dropped. cnn's susan candiotti live outside the courthouse. the accuser's credibility, how did this case physical apart? >> that's the main thing. two things really, credibility and evidence in this case. in the end, prosecutors said this was boiling down to a he said/she said case and that's very -- it's a difficult way to go to a trial and try to convince a jury one way or the other with that kind of evidence. they said there was simply not enough physical evidence to prove that the sex that happened wasn't forced versus consensual. that's what it boils down to. here's how the district attorney summed it up. he said, quote, whatever the truth may be about the encounter between the complainant and the defendant, if we do not believe her beyond a reasonable doubt,

we cannot ask a jury to do so. this, of course, not good news for miss diallo, who brought this case, who prosecutors and the police initially said was very credible, that her account was believable, but in the end, her lawyer is saying it was a bad move by the district attorney to now ask the court to drop the case because, among many other things, it sends the wrong signal to other rape victims. >> the manhattan district attorney, cyrus vance, has denied the right of a woman to get justice in a rape case. he has not only turned his back on this innocent victim, but he has also turned his back on the

forensic, medical, and other physical evidence in this case. >> miss deyal lo remains an alleged rape victim and will not have a chance to convince a jury, at least a criminal jury, otherwise. she still has a civil lawsuit in play. of course, this news is good news for dominique strauss-kahn and his lawyers who are happy to see that the prosecutor is going to try to dump the case. here's what he is -- his statement said, quote, mr. strauss-kahn and his family are grateful that the district attorney's office took our concerns seriously and concluded on its own that this case could not proceed further. so we'll wait to see what happens in court this day, but in the end, certainly i think everyone can agree on one thing, there are no winners in this case. back to you. >> a case that made international headlines and now a case that has crumbled. susan candiotti, thank you so much.

still to come, gold prices, you know how much i love to talk about gold prices. >> can you believe it. >> i can't. is it a bubble ready to pop? wall street buzzing after the precio precious metal keeps setting record after record. would you pay $16.5 million for a car? >> no. >> somebody did. what car and why after the break. discover customersl are getting five percent cashback bonus at the pump... and at many of the places their summer plans take them. it pays to switch, it pays to discover.

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minding your business this morning. right now u.s. stock futures trading significantly higher ahead of the opening bell. investors are looking ahead to friday when fed chief ben bernanke gives a speech in jackson hole wyoming. wall street hoping for some hint at plans that the fed has to help the struggling economy. gold prices just keep going

up. another record last night, $1900 an ounce. that's up $100 in the past two weeks. the week over week rise for gold has got some analysts a little worried this could be a bubble ready to pop, but investors are still flocking to the precious metal for security because of the shaky economy. goldman sachs ceo lloyd blank fine has retained counsel. a senate subcommittee said in april that the bank misled clients and congress about its housing market activities. lots of buzz about this because the lawyer, reid weingarten, represented bernie ebbers during his downfall. ubs is slashing 3500 jobs. since the beginning of the year more than 36,000 jobs have been slashed at some of the world's largest banks. the president of standard & poor's is stepping down, s&p's parent company mcgraw-hill announced this morning deven sharma will leave his post by the end of the year to, quote, pursue other opportunities.

no mention of the announcement of s&p's controversial downgrade of america's credit rating. would you spend $16.5 million on a car? someone did. a 1957 ferrari race car broke the auction record in california, but that is not the most expensive car sold. ferraris have gone for about twice that much in private sales according to a collector car insurer. for the latest news about your money check out cnnmoney.com. "american morning" back right after the break. [ woman ] jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage

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27 minutes past the hour. right now, rebels in libya are storming moammar gadhafi's compound in tripoli with gadhafi's regime on the verge of collapsing, obviously there's still a lot of uncertainty over libya's future. >> perhaps what's most important to the united states is libya's stockpile of chemical weapons

and explosives. what will happen to them. if libya find itself with no leader it's possible these weapons could fall into the wrong hands. barbara starr live at the pentagon this morning, looking into this. good morning, barbara. >> good morning to all of you. if there isn't enough to worry about, this is now a major concern. what are we talking about here? >> libya has a large quantity to start with of mustard gas. now, people will tell you, it's not in a form that can be readily put on a weapon and used to attack right now, but who controls that inventory? that's the issue, of course. could it fall into the wrong hands? could whoever has it right now basically sell some of it off to terrorists who might take it out of the country and store it? you're beginning to see what the concerns are for the u.s. intelligence community. it's things like the mustard gas, like large quantities of surface-to-air missiles, shoulder-fired launchers, large quantities of plastic

explosives, it's who controls this, whose hands is it going to fall into. a top u.s. official told me yesterday, that the u.s. is now making it very clear to this transitional national council that it will hold it responsible for making sure there is control over these weapons stocks and they don't fall into the wrong hands. but still, us the u.s. intelligence community has satellite coverage of this. 24/7, trying to keep eyes on all of this, trying to keep track of all of this very dangerous material and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. ali? >> barbara, we saw three scud missiles that were launched. what do we know about the control of the weapons? obviously i don't know if it's obvious, were those in the hands of the government? are they centralized? who controls them? >> you know, this now is the most immediate example of what we're talking about, isn't it? actually, to update this morning, nato is telling us, yesterday one scud missile fired a couple of days ago there was

another one, and a third one destroyed on the ground by a nato aircraft. by all accounts this is gadhafi loyalist troops. so look, still, they control very significant weapons. you don't just wheel a scud out and, you know, essentially light a match on the end of it. you have to know what you're doing. you have to be in control of those weapons and those launchers. scuds very inaccurate, but nonetheless, weapons of terror because they can basically hold a city at risk, they can terrorize a population. so very concerning that these scuds are being wheeled out and launch nato war planes even today, looking for them wherever they can find them. it's one of the reasons nato war planes are staying in the air, looking for any movement by these gadhafi loyalist fighters. >> that's another, yet another area of concern to be thinking about as this gadhafi regime looks closer to toppling. barbara starr at the pentagon. >> half past the hour.

top stories, hurricane irene gaining strength in the atlantic ocean, may be headed toward the u.s. it's a category 2 storm right now near the dominican republic but forecasters warn it could become a dangerous category 4 later in the week and by all accounts it's barreling closer to the carolinas. a new york city district attorney says he cannot prove the rape case against former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn and at a hearing this morning he will ask a judge to toss it out. they say they no longer believe dsk's accuser so how could they expect a jury to believe her? >> next year's presidential election could be a nail biter according to a new gallup poll. president obama is in a statisticcle dead heat when pitted against mitt romney, rick perry, ron paul or michele bachmann. it's a little early to call things dead heats. the crisis in libya, moammar gadhafi on the ropes, already talk of libya's oil fields coming back on-line. could we see a price drop at the pump?

will oil profits and libya's billions in frozen assets, will they be used to rebuild the country? peter buetel joins us from stamford, connecticut, the president of cameron hanover and author of "surviving energy prices" and marc ginsberg joins us from d.c., former u.s. ambassador to morocco. peter, start with you first, how quickly can the sidelined libyan oil get back on the market? we know the european market is hungry for this high quality crude to drive its economies. >> well, there's a great deal of disagreement on that. nobody's sure what state the oil fields are in. people are estimating some oil by the end of the year, some people have said as many as 18 months, but when this is their only export, their only hope of putting this government together, and tying this country up, i've got to think they're going to move heaven and earth to get it. i expect it's going to be a lot sooner than anybody guesses. i think that they're going to

have some oil almost within a month and i think within a quarter they're going to have a decent amount. of course, they have to get into these oil fields and inspect them, go through all of that, but i would be willing to bet every european person who knows how to deal with this, is going to be on planes down there to help them right away. >> they're huge investments in those oil fields by european companies, no question, who will want to take a look at their assets. >> particularly from italy. i expect that you're going to see a lot of italian experts down there in short order and i would expect some british and some french and possibly even american, although we don't get very -- we don't get any oil from libya. >> quick question, as every drop of libyan oil that gets back into the market, though, that's a good thing for u.s. consumers of oil even though the u.s. only consumes about, you know, 3% of their only, right? >> it's very good news, because

the libyan crude what is i call a cadillac crude, rich in gasoline and that means that gasoline that's been diverted from canada or from south america to replace this in europe, will then come to the united states. so it will push the price of gasoline lower at some point once it gets back into the market. >> already with gas moving lower because of worries about a weaker economy. ambassador ginsburg, it's been said you drill to the heart of every war and you strike oil. and oil is something here that's incredibly important for the rebuilding of this country and we've seen it, i guess, not meet up to expectations elsewhere like in iraq where we thought the rebuilding would be paid for by the richs underground. how important is the oil infrastructure to getting libya on a path to its new future? >> 95% of libya's revenues come from oil and last year or in the last few years, they've

generated close to about 40 to $45 billion a year in revenues and you take the difference between what they spend on their 6 million people in the country and the difference between what they spend in government and let's just say it's $30 billion, and the $12 billion that's leftover is going into the gadhafi family fortune. >> how do you make sure that money doesn't go into the pockets of groups of tribes or different leaders in groups who are trying to take control in the country? how do you make sure that the infrastructure of the country doesn't -- is used for the best interests of the country? >> that's going to be the $64,000 question to play a cliche here, because in the end all those oil revenues have been used in part and there's no doubt that gadhafi did spend money on the infrastructure in the country, there was a higher rate of education than there had been in the past, but gadhafi's government was pretty lavish when it came to spending money on tribal elders and tribal

leaders loyal to him and then squandering a great deal of that money and pocketing it and buying everything from water plants in italy to real estate in london to stashing money away in secret bank accounts in dubai and southeast asia. so getting repatriating hundred billion dollars if not $150 billion that's lying offshore, in addition to that oil revenue that needs to come on-line, is going to be a real test to the new transitional national council. >> 42 years of an iron grip rule. there is no transparency in this country. no institutions to speak of in this country. i'm wondering how do you think ambassador ginsburg, you make sure what happened in iraq where that oil wealth didn't really go to rebuilding, doesn't happen in libya? >> it's going to take the commitment on the part of a transparent national government that is going to first of all be able to get that money back, get those assets unfrozen from foreign governments, and most

importantly, prepare a budget that is going to be able to be reviewed by the imf, the world bank, and by other institutions. the key here and the one thing that is -- there is no doubt, transparency by international institutions overseeing this government is going to be key for the people of libya to understand they have a government that's going to be accountable to them, unlike the gadhafi government only accountable to the family. >> it's interesting, we don't even have moammar gadhafi, we don't know where he is. he hasn't been captured. he's not on trial. two of his sons resurface. these are still early days to be talking, of course, about oil wealth, but in the end, this is incredibly important for the people who are asking for freedom in this country, isn't it? >> no doubt that you know throughout the middle east, we talk about revolutions, political revolutions, but the real job here, job one, is going to be jobs. job creation, economic reform, whether it's in egypt, morocco

or in syria, these people who are revolting, revolting because they have no economic opportunity in their own country. they have been denied jobs. look at how many libyans have fled the country to try to get jobs elsewhere in europe. that's the real question here, is how will you basically use this oil revenue, which is incredible, i mean after all, libya is the third largest producer of oil in africa, one -- as peter said, the producer of cadillac crude, that's the richness for the country's future. >> marc ginsberg, ambassador, thank you so much. peter buetel, thank you. >> thank you. talking about the situation in libya, a bit of breaking news to share with you. we've been telling you that moammar gadhafi's compound, you know the place that encompasses his residence and military barracks has been surrounded by rebels, now we hear that nato jets are flying low over that compound. we don't know exactly what that means, but we do know there have been several loud explosions

coming from inside that compound. we do not know if moammar gadhafi is inside the compound, but we do know he's missing and he's hiding somewhere in the country of libya. >> that's what his kids are saying. >> at least that's what his kids are saying. when we get more information we'll pass it along. >> this compound has been hit many, many times. it's largely destroyed, so it's what we're unclear about with all these rebels, we know the rebels are surrounding it, we've seen evidence of trucks going in heavily armed, but we don't know whether this is symbolic or this is the last stand or what it is. >> where he could be. difficult to pull him out. when he would meet foreign dignitaries, he had this tent made of quilts and blankets, but there was an underground bunker and he was paranoid person. it's impossible to know what the situation is. >> not clear what's going on. >> they're attacking it and blowing it up for some reason. >> still to come, trying to prevent the same missteps made after iraq, why libya even after gadhafi could be a lingering

headache for the president. >> and a medical breakthrough for lou gehrig's disease. researchers say this could help them develop a treatment. dr. sanjay gupta will join us live with details. we're going to head on into the interview. krystal. . . krystal . . . what lead to your decision to go with the fusion? i just keep on going back to looks; it's a great looking car. how do your co-workers feel about your decision? they were the ones who were against ford. they were like they're a truck company. for the most part i am pretty sure i have changed most everyone's mind. krystal, you seem pretty comfortable up there, are you sure you haven't done this before? umm. . . i did 8th grade telecommunications class. how'd you learn to do that? what'd you use? every project we finish comes with a story built-in. it's how our rough ideas become "you did that yourself?" so when we can save more on the projects that let us fix, make, and do more...

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42 minutes past the hour. welcome back. if you're like us you woke up to some bizarre video today. the son of libyan leader moammar gadhafi, out for a night on the town in tripoli, hours after the world was told he was under arrest in custody and his father's regime was crumbling. what does this say about the rebels who said they had him in custody and could it be a headache for the president thousands of miles away vacationing on martha's vineyard hoping he isn't going to end up with another iraq on his hands. i'm not going there. a group to discuss this, will cain a cnn contributor and columnist at the blaze.com, charles glow is an op-ed columnist at "the new york times" and in san diego, ruben navred who is a contributor at cnn.com.

great to have you all here. i dmoenon't know if this will h political implications for the president but seeing the pictures of saif gadhafi is strange. >> it illustrates the complexity of what we're dealing with there. not only do we have an unclear goal, we have unclear allies. what are their motives, what country do they want? can we trust them about what they tell us? these people are divided along tribal, ethnic and sectarian lines. this is a hugely complex situation. >> charles, what if the government doesn't form as most americans would like it to form and to something that resembles a democracy? what if that doesn't happen and chaos breaks out what would that mean for the president? >> which of these new governments will form as americans want them to form? which of them will look like democracy as americans know democracy to be. it's not just libya where that becomes a striking issue. that is always across the arab world as all of these governments fall. and the truth is, is that none

of these may look like a democracy as americans think democracy should look. and how that plays politically back home, that won't even be on this president's watch. >> charles is right, the only difference is we've invested military and financially egypt -- >> not one american was injured and you say taxpayers will spend, $1.1 billion by the end of september but that's not a lot of mun yeen when you enter the factors in. i want to ask ruben, don't want to leave you out because you're in california, do most americans care in the long run about what happens in libya? >> i was thinking about that the other day when i heard the news the rebels closed in on tripoli. i think that the sense is no, they don't really care. there are those battles that we care about, wars we're heavily invested in usually because we have troops there, news reports about casualtities, god forbid and other neat and clean, if there is a thing, military

actions like this that people are not invested in and i think life goes on and we sort of walk by, you know, at the gym or whatever we see stories in the news, stories on television, we take note of it but we're not heavily invested in the outcome. that's probably more important for people running for president speaking to an issue that makes them presidential that tells them at a rate to be commander in chief speaking to an audience that has their mind somewhere else. >> let's talk about the man who is president, he's in martha's vineyard and morgan freeman, the actor, ran into him on the golf course and he said, he said he wanted to tell the president to, quote, get pissed off, fighting man, but knew the president wouldn't do it because it's not politically smart. charles, you're one of the people who's been writing that president needs to come out like hitting harder. what do you think about morgan? what do you think about what he said? >> i disagree to a certain degree. i'm not necessarily advocating he hit harder as much as he

needs to figure out a way to connect. leadership is about leading people, having people follow. if more and more people who would be following you are falling away you have a problem. the president was able to tell america what america wanted to hear in 2008. that changes over time. it's like you go to your doctor and sometimes you want your doctor to say don't worry about it, we'll fix it, it's going to be okay. when you keep having to come back and you're still ill you start to lose fate in the doctor and say doctor give it to me straight. how did i get here, what's the problem, you know, how long will i be sick. that's kind of what america wants to hear now. and the president is having a little bit of time adjusting his messaging to deal with what america wants to hear. that's why you keep hearing rumbles about people like chris christie, even if you disagree with his politics you feel like the guy is going to give it to you straight. >> somebody who is trying to give it to people straight, perhaps, is congresswoman maxine

waters. out in california, she was at a jobs fair and said the tea party can go straight to hell. is that the kind of thing voters are looking for? >> do i have to answer that? >> yes. >> that should be obvious. no, that's not what people are looking for. we have continued calls for civility and that should apply to everyone. telling a group of voters they should go to hell, i don't think fits in that box, carol. i mean, no. >> but, ruben, i'll ask you this question, because i think there's a gallup poll out and it says 30% of americans don't have favorable opinions of the tea party. so maybe that is the enemy to latch on to at this particular time. to resonate with voters on the democratic side that is? >> right. absolutely. i think it is. disagree with my friend will. i think it is very much something people want to hear. they want people to attack the tea party, if you happen to be on the left that's what you want. the problem for obama is, you know, if he were to strike back he's supposed to strike back at his critics in the black

community including maxine water who say he's neglecting inner voters, or latino voters. he has problems beyond the tea party here. a complex look at the situation tells us that the president's support is withering underneath his feet across the board, even among liberals, parts of his base. it's not a question of the president not being tough enough. he just has to be much more capable and competent in a job he's doing and he's not pulling it off. >> to ruben, the problem with that analysis on the tea party, whether that's what people want to hear, who cares what people want to hear. it's what they should want to hear. the tea party has given you plenty of substantive ideas and areas for which to criticize them. there's in need to just say go to hell. doesn't get anything accomplished. >> i wish we could continue this conversation. >> it fires up the base. >> it does that. charles, will and ruben in california, thank you for joining us this morning. ali? >> thanks, carol. still to come this morning, a medical break through in the cause of lou gehrig's disease and what it could mean for a

treatment. dr. sanjay gupta joins us live with the details. this is an interesting story. [ male announcer ] learn more at stamps.com/tv

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♪ welcome back to "american morning." a medical breakthrough may offer some help with people with als and also called lou gehrig's disease. they found a common thread among patients that could let to an effective treatment and maybe even a cure. >> chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta is joining us now. let's start with the baskeds. als is known as lou gehrig's disease. what is it. >> this is exciting stuff for sure and possibly finding a cause for this. als a neurodegenerative disorder certainly no cure and no effective treatment for some time. it affects all of the different muscles in the body. let me show you here, if i can, for a second here. think about the brain continuously sending yimpulses o

the muscles in the body. if this pathway is sending a message to the muscle starts to die off, what happens is the muscles eventually just stop working, they just have no function whatsoever and that can affect the diaphragm as well which is why people, about universally, three to five years don't survive this and you get paralysis in the hands and feet first and it moves progressively more and more toward the center of the body. it's one of the most frustrating things i'll tell you to try to address in my world, the world of neuroscience. now they think they found this protein that seems to be present in every patient they have been studying since the late 1980s that has als, this one protein. that's a big deal and could be a cause. >> sanjay, what exactly does that mean? does that mean they are close to treating it or are they close to a cure? >> well, the science moves frustratingly slow for most people outside the world of

science. i will tell you first of all, this protein what they think it does, it's sort of a natural recycling mechanism for the body. in all different places in the body you have cells that grow and die and have you a mechanism to get rid of that clutter, if you will. they believe this protein called ubiclin 2 is recycling dead neurons and neurons that aren't functioning as well. if that breaks down you start to develop clutter so that is what they believe the mechanism is. a big deal because people haven't known what causes this exactly for some time. what does it mean in terms of treatment which i guess is the important question, building protein could be a target. is there a way to potentially take that protein and turn it back on again so the recycling mechanism starts all over? that is what they are hoping could happen. who knows. that could be several years still down the line but this is how science moves here sometimes. a big sort of development like this and then lots of work afterward. >> it focuses the resources and focuses the attention of researchers and narrows down the

possibilities and, hopefully, that helps longer term. sanjay, thank you so much. >> exciting stuff. thank you. we asked you to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. we asked you why isn't america more excited about its presidential contenders? this from bonner. i'm not excited about the current presidential contenders because i'm not excited about america. don't get me wrong. i'm a patriotic american but since 2000 i have grown disillusioned with an american government that embraces rash decisions as opposed to modern discussion and passionate promise and common sense. americans would like to see our elected officials as public servants who are elected to represent the welfare of the people and the country. it seems it has become about power and partisanship and publicity. who is not seeking power or publicity? who are the politicians who are true public servants looking out for us, the sit ens of the country and not after their own political career. fran says perhaps we are tired

of this country caught in a tug of war. the only victory is pull the other side into the mud. the only way to move forward is someone step in the middle and start pulling the two extremes together. keep the conversation going. facebook.com/americanmorning. i'll a little depressed after these. >> cheerier ones the next hour. ahead next hour, breaking news on the battle for libya. moammar gadhafi's compound under atta attack. we will have a briefing the top of the next hour.

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libya. m christine romans. cnn confirms gadhafi's compound is under attack right now. new details of what could be moammar gadhafi's last stand. hurricane irene picking up speed. i'm carol costello. right now, the storm is tearing along a path that could bring it

to the southeastern united states. we are tracking the storm live from the cnn hurricane headquarters. and goldman sachs ceo hires a hot shot lawyer. he has not been charged with anything. find out why he is seeking counsel on this "american morning." ♪ good morning, everyone. it's tuesday, august 23rd. hurricane, big hurricane moving up the coast now. also big developments in libya right this minute. >> right now. >> gunfire breaking out around that hotel where western journalists are staying and we are following breaking news a few miles away, too, near moammar gadhafi's compound. opposition fighters telling cnn that gadhafi's compound is now under attack. nato jets have been spotted flying low over the compound which has been bombed several times before this conflict. >> right now gadhafi remains at large and no one knows for sure where he is but his son came out and said his father is in safe

and in tripoli. arwa damon is live for us from tripoli's airport. two things going on at the same time right now. we understand that the hotel, as carol said, that western journalists are in, there is gunfire going around the hotel and the issue of the compound. tell us what you know. >> reporter: well, rebel commanders tier at the tripoli international airport is telling us there is a renewed assault on colonel gadhafi's compound. now there has been some pretty intense fighting, both there and around that hotel where international journalists are staying ever since the rebel fighters launched that their assault into tripoli. here at the airport airport we have been hearing gunfire and explosions around an hour and a half. rebels captured the strategic location around mid-day yesterday and this is critical it's effectively a straight shot from here up to that compound. it's around 15 miles away.

but there are a number of significant military installations that rebel fighters have to bypass. they have been trying to push forward up that strategic highway ever since they arrived here but they say they are encountering stiff resistance. they want to try to send reinforcements for those that are fighting at the compound. >> what do we know, arwa, about -- his son, saiaf is saying he is in tripoli but we don't know. what is the significance of the compound? it's been attacked several times before. is it possible? is it a bunker? what do we think is going on there? is it symbolic? >> reporter: most certainly it is the key position that the rebel fighters want to try and capture, because of the symbolism behind it, because there is a widespread belief if they are able to capture the compound, that most certainly

would deal a defeating blow to gadhafi forces. of course, the opposition fighters are trying to figure out for themselves where gadhafi may be hiding. i'm sure you can still hear the gunfire going off around mere and there is explosions in the background. there is shooting at gadhafi forces in the distance, i am hearing right now, as they continue to battle along that highway that is running from where we are right now to the north straight to the compound. there are also clashes we have been hearing about earlier happening to east of here. so most certainly we are seeing this intensifying assault as these rebel fighters really try to push through and capture that compound that they believe will then lead them to have the ability of capture all of tripoli and eventually they hope to secure the entire country. >> we see you're wearing your bullet-proof vest. i know it's hard to stay safe at this point. we are trying to get matthew chance who is at that hotel where he says the hotel is not necessarily under attack. stand by. arwa, we have him right now.

>> we should go to matthew chance right now. >> fighting on on the that hotel. matthew, what is going on where you are? >> reporter: well, yes, i'm in this hotel, the hotel in the center of tripoli. they close to that compound of moammar gadhafi. all morning there has been ferocious clashes, gunfire, explosions taking place in the direction of that compound. you can't see the compound from our vantage point here. at one point, all of the journalists gathered in the hotel moved downstairs into the basement because we felt there was some sort of incoming artillery shells striking areas very close to where the hotel is. there has been a lot of outgoing artillery as well and a huge battle underway at the moment between the rebels and the gadhafi loyalists who we now know to be holed up, to some extent, at least, inside that gadhafi compound in the center of tripoli. and so that is the situation, as i see it, at the moment from our

very limited vantage point. >> matthew, i just wondered. you ran into saif gadhafi last night. it was kind of a surprise meeting. he was supposed to be in the custody of the opposition. how involved might he be in what is happening right now in tripoli? >> reporter: clearly he is a senior figure and one of the most senior figures in the gadhafi regime and it is topped by his father obviously. the assumption, i suppose we must make, is that, you know, what is happening now is basically coming under the command of moammar gadhafi and his son saif gadhafi. a surprise meeting we had last night. we were told by the rebels and even the international criminal court who have an indictment on saif gadhafi he had been taken into custody when the rebels moved into tripoli.

he came to this hotel in an armored convoy of about three or four van cruiser vehicles just to show himself and to show the international media who gathered here that that is not the case. i have to say it was a bit of a pr, too, for the gadhafi loyalists because it shows that, you know, not everything the rebels say can be entirely trusted. >> matthew, who is at the hotel with you now? is there still a presence of loyalists to gadhafi? they were heavily armed yesterday, you told us. have you seen members of saif gadhafi entourage or did they disappeared after last night? >> reporter: they disappeared after the lat last night. i asked him where his father was. he said he was in tripoli like the rest of his family. the rebels coming into tripoli had been a trick and now they had broken their backbone and given them a hard time.

then the doors closed and the convoy drove off. here in the hotel, we got about 35 journalists that are kind of sticking together through this as much as possible. there are also, you know,, obviously, gadhafi gunmen in the lobby, loyalists, saying they are here to protect us. one of them said to us earlier, "don't worry, we have got your back." but we are not permitted to leave the hotel, according to the government's loyalists, the gadhafi loyalists we have spoken to, that is because that is for our own protection. but, you know, for many, many hours, in fact, the electricity is on and one of the reasons why i can talk to you on this telephone. but for many, many hours, we have been sitinged sitting in pitch blackness and running short on food and water and so doing what we can to kind of gather up the various things that are lying around the hotel so we can sit this out, if

necessary, for several days, but beyond that, i think we're going to have a problem. >> matthew, there was some talk, as these rebels in the city start to rise up, that there might have been people inside the city ready to get the signal to go and somehow they would be in coordination with nato when you started to see nato jets flying over the compound, that would be a coordinated effort. do you know anything about that? first of all, do you hear the jets, seen the jets flying over the compound and does it give you some sense of a coordinated effort between the rebel cells in the city and nato? >> reporter: you know, it's interesting you ask that question, because i was discussing it with my colleagues earlier. we are not hearing, at the moment, any nato jets in the skies over tripoli. we are hearing explosions and what we are assuming those explosions are are artillery shells being exchanged between the two sides in this area of the gadhafi compound. but what we are not hearing, the

kind of heavy air strikes that we witnessed in this city, in the area of tripoli the past several weeks and the past several days and not hearing aircraft in the skies over this area that is in the hands of gadhafi forces. so it's difficult for me to, you know, admittedly, it's difficult for me to, you know, give a very comprehensive assessment of what the military situation is like outside because, at the moment, i'm lying on my belly in a hotel room, hoping we don't get hit by a shell. but, you know, obviously, the assumption would be, i suppose, there would be a degree of coordination. they seem to be supporting the rebels essentially throughout this clearing the road for the rebels into tripoli. you'd expect, wouldn't you? that they would be talking to the rebels right now as well but i have no idea whether they are

on the nor. >> matthew, you've been to that compound in the past, probably many times. if moammar gadhafi is inside that compound, could he safely hide somewhere with the type of artillery fire that is being levied at that building right now? >> reporter: it would be difficult to say. clearly, you know, if he is, indeed, in that compound, we don't know whether he really is, presumably, he had some sort of bunker system there. we know that the compound, over the past couple of months, has been repeatedly struck by nato air strikes, many of the buildings have been very badly damaged indeed. but gadhafi -- didn't say he was in the compound but the assumption that is where they were at and that is why there is such a fight for control of that compound right now. presumably, you know, colonel gadhafi is a very, you know, kind of canny leader and has managed to survive 42 years of

that because of that as the leader of libya. presumably he would have built a network of bunkers in anticipation of something like this he could be hiding out with his family. we don't know whether that is the case. we don't know whether he is in that compound or whether he is somewhere else in the city or in the country. but i think we have to work on that assumption. >> matthew chance on his belly in a hotel room in tripoli. >> stay safe, matthew! >> stay safe, please. nato holding a press briefing on the war. let's listen to that. >> ability to a point that they come in and control capabilities are severely affected that they have severely -- mobility capabilities because of control many access within the country and they have a lot of senior leaders who have either defected

or have been captured. so, basically, let be clear here. despite the noise that could be making today in tripoli, the regime has passed the tipping point and is going done -- down, sorry. so for us it's more a matter of when than if it's indeed, the ca case. >> i would still like to understand. i understand you are protecting civilians but i still would like to know how you are doing it now in tripoli, where there are, i think, many people around this bunker where gadhafi is supposed to be and what are the military charges nato can have if so many people around? what are you doing there? >> as i mentioned, i command current operation as we are conducting them now, but what i could tell you is there is still weapons out there and there's still targets that we could --

it -- if we have any signs that it could represent a threat to the population. no later than later than yesterday we took out for example two who were firing in the direction of brega from the west of the city, so these weapons were actually firing when we engaged them. of course, in the urban city of tripoli, the situation is far more complex, but we still do have the precision munition that could allow us to take some targets if, again, we believe that there is the threat against the civilian population. we have done so in the past. we have taken some facilities, buildings, pieces of artillery, radar sites with very accurate precision, so we have the capability to do so and, believe me, we will do so if there is

any horrific condition. >> james? >> yes. two questions. unless tripoli falls quickly, the rebels are going to need close air support. has nato categorically ruled out that option and providing it, that is. secondly, nato nations are debating today and later on the renewal of a mandate. do you foresee any need for the use of combat aircraft after mid september? thank you. >> i will only talk about the first part which is about close air support. we do not provide close air support and let's keep in mind that the institution in greater tripoli is very complex. we talk here about urban, urban fighting so, basically, being engaged directly beside combatant would not -- would

naturally be practically. what we are doing is more to look at what is -- i can't go into the details, but, essentially, we're looking at what is going on on the ground and what we could identify -- >> we are listening in and continue to monitor this nato news conference as colonel lovoi is answering questions about what is going on in nato. you just heard our conversation. we talked to arwa damon and matthew chance and getting word now from our crews in tripoli that people are streaming out of tripoli now toward the city of zawiyah so some sense there are developments. conflicting developments. we heard there were nato jets flying low over gadhafi's compound. >> matthew chance snolt airing aircraft but a vigorous fight under way in that gadhafi compound. as this confusion and uncertainty reign in libya rebel leaders are battling control for that city, the whereabouts of

libya's leader gadhafi still unknown. two sons reportedly captured over the weekend, they are now free. what is next for libya? a look at this morning's opinion pages where this is the topic of conversation. showing comparisons made between the situation in libya and what happened in iraq after the u.s. invasion. the main concerns that ga gafda could plunge that into -- what will the new libya look like? it surely won't be western style democracy and in the end might not even be one country. "the washington post" opinion piece looks what it will take to help libya become a stable nation. libyan capacity to organize themselves should not be underestimated but tripoli may require international peacekeepers to keep order at

least in the initial phase. any kinds of comparisons to iraq makes everyone very, very nervous because, of course, that insurgency and what happened after that initial invasion really caught the u.s. by surprise and many, many people, thousands of people lost their lives. >> in iraq there was no post-war plan. i think what people have to keep in mind is what we consider democracy won't necessarily seem like democracy if something like democracy is put into place in libya. they kind of have to come up with their own thing. but they are being helped out by american officials, at least one, as far as we know, has gone to visit and talk with the opposition leaders. >> that's right. >> we will see what happens. >> the european influence will be great in this too. the investment in the oil fields and infrastructure of the country already coming from long established european ties as well. >> i think it's safe to say most americans don't want the united states heavily involved in libya, you know, after the nato mission ends. >> politically, it's impossible,

don't you think? >> yeah. >> we have our cnn teams with up to the minute information and we are following that nato press conference. it is 19 minutes after the hour. we will be right back. if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. unlike others, you get twice the points on travel, and twice the points on dining, and no foreign transaction fees. call now or apply at chasesapphire.com/preferred.

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we are following break willi willing news. gadhafi's compound is under attack right now. at the same time, our matthew chance reporting heavily gunfire around a tripoli hotel where journalists are stuck including matthew chance. reporting that car loads of people are streaming out of tripoli right now as the battle for the entire country intensifies. rebels reporting gadhafi forces are posing as rebels in tripoli. >> a lot of conflicting information coming out of there. i think we can confirm a lot is going on in tripoli this morning. president obama calling on the missing moammar gadhafi to

refas. that gadhafi could stop the killing by making one final gesture. >> i want to emphasize that this is not over yet. as the regime collapses, there is still fierce fighting in some areas and we have reports of regime elements threatening to continue fighting. although it's clear that gadhafi's rule is over, he still has the opportunity to reduce further bloodshed by explicitly relinquishing power to the people of libya and calling for those forces that continue to fight to lay down their arms for the sake of libya. >> there is new evidence that next year's presidential election could be too close to call. of course, because it's really far away still. according to a new gallup poll, president obama is running neck and neck with the top four republican presidential candidates. he is ahead of congresswoman michele bachmann four percentage points and tied with rick perry at 47%.

he leads ron paul by two percentage points 47 to 45 and the president trails mitt romney by two percentage points, 46 to 48. >> the fact is nobody is very excited about any of the presidential contenders. >> 400 days still to go? a lot could happen in three days. >> true. >> talking about the excitement factor, though, here is your chance to talk back on the big story of the day. the question for you this morning why isn't america more excited about its presidential contenders? marching toward 2012 and the first republican primary some of the most talked about candidates are those not even running. want proof? paul ryan to the chagrin of many in the gop, the architect of the republican budget that would cut federal spending by $6.2 trillion has issued a definitive no. ryan says while humbled by the encouragement, i have not changed my mind and, therefore, i am not seeking our party's nomination for president. the desire for alternative blood

is as fresh as it ever was when supporters were begging new jersey governor chris christie to run and even today after he made his lack of desire crystal clear. >> i said what do i have to do sort of suicide to convince people i'm not running? apparently, i actually have to commit suicide to convince people i'm not running! >> why can't christie and company just be? because in a recent cnn/orc poll, only 14% of republican voters say they are very satisfied with the field. ouch! it's not like democrats are jumping up and down either. 28% of democrats would rather see a candidate other than president obama nominated. a record high. or low for him. there have been calls for hillary clinton to run in 2012. it makes you wonder. is there anyone out there who could inspire the entire country, anybody who would want to be president when the economy is in the toilet and two wars continue to drag on. so the talkback question today

is why isn't america more excited about its presidential contenders? facebook.com/"american morning"morning i'll read your comments later this hors. >> i still maintain people aren't as excited about their opportunities right now. wall street's bumpy ride on an upswing right now. we will check the morning markets coming up. gold prices on a tear but the milestones are coming so fast shrast $1,900 an ounce! some experts say this could be a bubble popping. it's 26 minutes after the hour. [ male announcer ] this is the network. a network of possibilities. 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.

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"minding your business" this morning. right now u.s. stock futures are trading higher ahead of the opening bell. investors looking ahead to friday from bernanke's big speech in wyoming. wall street hoping for hints the fed's future plans to help out the struggling economy. gold prices another record last night. $1,900 an ounce up a hundred dollars in the past two weeks. the rise for gold has got some analysts worried this could be a bubble ready to pop but investors flocking to the precious metal for security in the shaky economy. standard & poor's is stepping down.

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right now gadhafi remains at large. no one knows for sure where he is but his son came out and said his father is safe and is in tripoli. >> just minutes ago, nato gave us an update on the war and agreed with the opposition it's time for gadhafi to come out of hiding and face facts. >> for the gadhafi regime, this is the final chapter. the end is near. and events are moving fast. what is clear to everybody is that gadhafi is history and the sooner he realizes it, the better. >> moammar gadhafi's son is making a surprise appearance at a tripoli hotel last night that is filled with western journalists and taunting opposition forces who claimed he has captured him a day earlier. he said his father is safe and sound in tripoli. another one of his siblings,

muhammad escaped on monday according to the libyan ambassador to the united states. >> update to the video we showed you yesterday. libyan rebels say they have arrested this television anchor you see here waving a gun on state television on the air yesterday. she is apparently nabbed in her calf near a coffee shop. you can see the anchor warning rebels she and her colleagues, they will become martars and die for their country and their leader. it shows you the sort of, i guess, the theatrics on television. >> we have on the phone the shamom. we are getting a great deal of conflicting information right now out of tripoli. we have heard nato planes flying

over the compound. we hear there is a rebel attack underway at the compound and there is fighting in the streets. our matthew chance has heard mortar shells being exchanged. what is the information you have about what is under way in tripoli right now? >> the opposition forces are attacking bab al aziziya, the compound of gadhafi. confirmed now that they achieved to enter one of the main gates from what they call sogusanate and they are fighting gadhafi forces and they are surrounding the -- from many gates and nato interfere ten minutes ago by hitting some targets inside bab al aziziya. we are determined to take him over. >> do you think gadhafi is in

that compound, sir? >> i'm not sure gadhafi in that compound. some reports he might be near the border but i'm not ruling out anything. >> also we just wanted to ask you about saif gadhafi. i think people are confused because, you know, we thought that he had been arrested and was on his way to a criminal court, and then last night, we find out he's free. >> that situation was confusing. we admit our communications was not clear. i know the prime minister was talking with convoy and he did not confirm that saif is under arrest. ben ghazi confirmed that saif under arrest. you understand we entering a big

capital, a big city and we have many, many operation rooms in the city. sometimes, conflict reports like this happen, so what saif gadhafi, we don't know if he had been arrested but he escape but have to confine this with the leaders who are engaging in fighting there. they try to change the subject from we -- we are taking tripoli and like to chase the subject away as any movie that he is free and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. we are going to get him. maybe today or maybe tomorrow. there is no way he can escape from us. and also i have to mention, very important. i will instruct our troops to be

very -- to be very -- very, very, very nice with all people. we don't like a bloodshed and -- >> okay. >> i think some of our problem -- not follow the law enough for those criminals. >> let's talk about that for a second. you're saying you've entered the compound through one of the main gates. we are getting reports from al jazeera. these are hard to confirm. they say gadhafi troops are retreating from tripoli. tell me what the situation is. you want your troops to be good to those who they are capturing. have you been taking prisoners? have you taken gadhafi troops as prisoners? where are they being held? we did hear of another escape of one of gadhafi sons. how are you holding these people if you're asking your troops not to kill them? >> we are holding these people according to the district they have been arrested.

okay. we trust our forces that will treat them well, so we give them full authority. we cannot control a new city with over a million people in one day or in two days. you have to understand this. also we are -- we have a lot of arresting people from various places. we have gadhafi from high leader. we are dealing with leadership we have no instruction in tripoli right now and let us do this with very, very lawful ways. okay. we'd like to have a state of order and we'd like to do this in a very order so why we have gaps here and there. it might be used by dah gaffy. again, i'm -- against this p.m. i'm saying go to the whole picture. we are taking a move now.

we are moving toward there. the next battle in sirte, the home city of gadhafi. we are moving south so we are fighting in three or four fronts right now. >> sir -- >> don't forget at all that our troops are limited, but we are trying to finish the job. if i came to you a few days ago and said we are going to get tripoli in 24 hours, nobody would believe us. now we are doing it. so this is -- >> syrup, sir, sir, any way -- >> gadhafi. >> sir, is there any way for you to know how much of tripoli is under rebel control? >> i'm sure it's -- i have -- i have concern with estimation. i will be 100% tripoli is under our control. >> let me ask you how chosely you're coordinating with the

americans, europeans and nato. our reporters are in the rixos hotel and they are hearing mortars being exchaned and don't know how much coordination there is between nato and and the rebels and concerned how close this fighting is. can you tell us how closely you're coordinating with nato for your offensives? >> we have joint operation rule. we are full coordination of tripoli operation was coordinated with -- with a meeting in paris and other agents of the war with both our operation room and their staff and everything is coordinated with them fully. and now we have full coordination. we -- we -- we give them the situation on the ground. they -- they -- they plan and

they are according to that situation. so we have the most possible coordination and such -- this is free fighting. the coordination would be very difficult for nato and us so we are trying to do our best. this is a battle in the streets. this is not a regular war or a traditional war. >> so this is a good point you make. you're right. it's not a normal war. you're saying that maybe you have 85% of tripoli. nato has just said that tripoli is no longer under control of gadhafi forces. so the question now becomes who then, if you are controlling most of tripoli, who then takes charge? will there be a centralized command? is there someone who will be in charge of tripoli? >> the prime minister at security -- which will be taking control of tripoli, will be in place in very short time so this is the way.

i have to admit that quick victory in tripoli, we will -- we are not -- fully prepared for taking the political situation under control -- under control that fast, that fast. so give us few days so we can organize ourselves. again, again, we are admitting we are doing some mistakes and lacking some experience but we are trying to honestly do our best and we are doing our best according to the situation on the ground. this is very -- very controlled libya for 42 years. we have no institution. we have no organized forces. so we have -- we have to do that while we are fighting and we are doing this while we are fighting. >> having said that, sir, and if you track down moammar gadhafi, when you have him in custody, is

there an order out about how to treat him? >> we are going to, according to the instruction that all regime forces have from the -- and directory, that we have to treat those people according to international standards and we have to -- this has been with muhammad. we are trying to defect him and because we nip him staying in his home with his family, he feed, okay, so we are paying high price for trying to go international standard, with the people who cannot understand international standards and this is whap. we give in to our war and we get him in his house and if we and bab al aziziya. maybe people will be scared to do this again and i hope that will strain themselves from doing anything or harm anybody.

this is what we are trying to do right now, just to go with international standards and get our enemies. >> are you encountering much, i guess, allegiance to the gadhafi family? saif gadhafi and muhammad are still on the loose and his wife, some daughters, just don't know where they are right now. and moammar gadhafi, we don't know where he is. are you concerned about the potential for an insurgency, trying to protect him, or people who are waiting before they strike back at rebel forces? >> yes, yes. we have real concerns about that because they -- gadhafi -- this scene. people will get angry in the streets and cannot guarantee his safety if somebody spot him in any tripoli street. you have to understand that he

is trying to do these things and the things will harm him in the end, okay. we are still committed to go with international standards. we are committing to give them a fair trial and fair justice, but they are -- they are acting as a gang, not as responsible people, and maybe they will pay high price for that. >> do you have some agreement with nato as to what happens when you find moammar gadhafi? if a firefight ensues, are you going to kill him? >> hello? >> what are you going to do when you find moammar gadhafi? do you have an agreement with nato who apprehends him? are your people empowered to go in and get him and do they have orders -- >> no, no. this is our responsibility, not nato's responsibility. nato has no -- no participation on the ground. we are who is controlling the

ground. we are going to protect him if we got him in our hands and we give him a fair trial. this is what promise people to do and this is what we are going to do. >> sir, it does look like tripoli is certainly going to fall and soon you'll have control of the entire country. what kind of help do you need from the united states? >> first, we are very grateful for their help and for the community and our lives in europe and especially our brothers and -- we are grateful for everybody. and we are also -- we are seeking this and had been many -- that we need right now to facilitate with some of our funds so we can finance the current situation we are facing here. we need a lot of money to run

the run everything. if we can handle the mechanism will provide us with some of their money would be a great help. >> let me ask you about the rixos hotel that is still under the control of gadhafi forces. gunmen in the lobby and on the grounds and where much of the international media is focused right now. what can you tell us about the situation there and do you have any efforts under way to, i guess, liberate that hotel from the gadhafi control? >> okay. we pledge to protect the people over there and, you know, attacking gadhafi is easy. not a military target but because this hotel are -- they are using this hotel as a control and command and we know that and we know that most of them are there most of the time, but we cannot attack place where he has some -- some people and

has most generous. we are very careful to do anything not harming those people over there and continue to do that. >> you say the gadhafi regime is using that hotel as its command and control? >> yes, yes, yes. i'm sure about that. and your journalists might tell you they are not -- what his name -- and most of the time safe there. >> okay. >> as that fight gets closer to that hotel, though, are you troops in a position to protect the journalists that are there? because the gadhafi troops are saying they are protecting the journalists. we are concerned that the journalists will get caught in the cross-fire of both sides who say they are protecting the journalists. >> no, they are not going to be in the kocross-fire. the protection of journalists is our priority. protecting the citizens is our

priority. we will not do anything to harm them. the only thing i'm really worried about is the gadhafi forces try to take revenge against the journalists. this is something i cannot control. >> tell me about civilian casualties quickly. we have taken so much of your time and we know it's chaotic there but what do you know of civilian casualties in tripoli at this hour? >> we don't have exact figure of that. we know that the number of killings are -- that people are high. around 200 as of last night. we have many civilian casualties but not that -- that many. and we are not doing the counting right now. we are trying to provide the shelters who are bringing -- to

hospital maybe today or tomorrow. we are trying to facilitate tripoli with more ambulance and crews. we are doing our best in poor environment and gadhafi did not leave us with much option. >> mahmoud shammam, thank you for your information. he is the minister of information for the opposition, the rebel group in tripoli. i found most fascinating thing he told me they were not expecting tripoli to come down this fast. >> they need a few days to establish a security council to control tripoli and you've been hearing our matthew chance hung hunkered down. >> according to him. we don't know that for sure. >> precisely. >> for sure, it's an unsure situation. you remember tripoli is 2

million people so it's a big city. it's realistic to believe it's not falling in a day. >> we will be right back. 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.

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visit exelonpatch.com to learn more. breaking news out of libya. the opposition telling cnn that moammar gadhafi's compound is under attack right now. nato jets have been reported to be flying low over the compound. gadhafi right now remains at large and no one knows for sure where he is but his son did come out and say his father is safe and in tripoli. u.s. markets open in 45 minutes. stock futures trading higher ahead of the opening bell. investors looking ahead to friday for bernanke's big speech in jackson hole. they hope plans to help out the struggling economy in america. irene is passing north of the dominican republic. she is then expected to grow to a category 3 storm or stronger

as it approaches the southeastern united states later this week. a 24-year-old woman injured in that devastating stage collapse at the indiana state fair has died. megan toothman had been on life support since the august 13th accident. six other people were killed when the stage collapsed. a 5.3 magnitude earthquake hit mexico last night. reports of rock slides along a highway and damage to structures. next year's presidential election could be a nail-biter. according to a poll president obama is in a dead heat when pitted with his competitors. you're caught up on today's headlines. "american morning" will be back after the break.

battle over the compound in tripoli. the gadhafi compound there. earlier this hour nato gave update on the war and agreed with the opposition it's time for gadhafi to come out of hiding and face facts. >> for the gadhafi regime, this is the final chapter. the end is near. and events are moving fast. what is clear to everybody is that gadhafi is history and the sooner he realizes it, the better. >> barbara starr is live at the pentagon with information. you heard shammod earlier. everybody is talking about the weapons. did anything he say concern you?

i'm asking you in terms of the pentagon. >> reporter: they are watching this very carefully. let's be very clear. it is not just the pentagon. the cia, the u.s. intelligence community has eyes, as they say, eyes on libya 24/7 right now. very concerned about weapons, where they are, whose hands they may fall into in the coming days. the transition national council, we are told, is going to be held accountable for these weapon stocks and what happens to them. you know, the fact that the government forces, the gadhafi forces can still wheel out their scud mills and fire them, causing no harm, but yet still dealing with those weapons, that's a concern. i think in the coming hours today, something very important to watch is what the nato conference talked about and the fighting around gadhafi's compound in downtown tripoli. the coming hours today that is the focus of a lot of attention as the rebels and the government forces fight