can't interfere with his trial. we can oversee his trial, but we shouldn't interrupt it in any way. jut let the libyan citizens take control. if they choose to kill him, then they will. if they decide to release him, then let it be. the citizens will make the right decisions for themselves.÷ facebook.com/americanmorning and thanks as always for your comments. >> we haven't heard the idea that somebody is going to find him and release him. >> yeah, i don't think that's going to happen. >> or elect him. >> he maybe escapes to another country. >> this is the thing, the rebels have done a good job but they have been disorganized and this is what happens. this is a topic they must be thinking very seriously about. >> there's an international hunt for him now. >> and it's a hunt that our good friend and colleague kyra phillips is following right now. good morning. a lot of nervous people up and down the east coast right now. hurricane irene is battering the bahamas right now as we speak and the storm is only expected to strengthen. the forecast track still curving

up the east coast all the way to canada. this is a huge storm, folks. just check out the view from the international space station. we're all over irene, where it is, where it's going. we've got jim spellman riding out the storm in the bahamas. john zarrella is in wrightsville beach, north carolina, and jacqui jeras here in the hurricane headquarters. jim, let's start with you. what's the situation there? >> reporter: good morning. the winds have been blowing like this for hours now. about an hour and a half ago they really picked up a lot. you can see the sea is being blown over the sea walls here, a lot of the low-lying roads along the coastal areas already have water on them. fortunately so far we have yet to see any major damage to structures. reports coming in just within the last hour of widespread power outages across the island, as you may expect, as lines get blown down. so far they have avoided that main blast. just about all of the tourists in the area that could get out have gotten out. for those who aren't in the

resort hotels, the much more modest homes, it's going to be a lot tougher for them. everybody hoping they can get through the next two or three hours when the winds are expected to die down some. >> all right, jim, we'll keep talking. please keep us updated. we want to turn our attention also to the east coast. an official hurricane watch has been issued for coastal north carolina all the way up to the virginia border and that's where our john zarrella is, where it's looking pretty beautiful right now at wrightsville beach. john? >> reporter: yeah, kyra, pretty tranquil right now and probably for the next 36 hours or so it will remain this way. no real wave action, the surf is out, the tide is out right now, but mandatory evacuations for tourists already under way on some of the outer banks. there's actually video of folks on ocracoke island. they're already coming in on the ferries, getting out of harm's way. not exactly knowing what to expect. right here where we are in

wrightsville beach, we're under a tropical storm watch. just north of us is where the hurricane watch begins. of course includes all of those outer banks. now, tens of millions of people, because this storm is paralleling the u.s. east coast, are beginning and have already started to prepare. down in charleston, south carolina, the shelves have been empty of water, of gas cans, of food staples for a couple of days now. up here we tried to buy some stuff yesterday. gas cans, for example. couldn't find any gas cans here in the wrightsville beach, wilmington, north carolina, area. that's what you're going to start seeing progressing all the way up the u.s. east coast as more and more people start to say, hey, you know what, we better start paying real close attention to this because it's looking like it's going to be awfully close, if not on the coastline right up into new england. so a very dangerous situation

certainly developing and certainly that needs to be -- people need to be paying very close attention to from here in north carolina right up to maine. >> all right, john, we'll be talking more. jacque, you're watching it right now. >> yeah, this is turning out to be an extremely dangerous storm that is just lashing through the bahamas as we speak. the impact is already being felt in the united states. take a look at that, that's showers and thundershowers from irene hitting south florida. the winds are going to be strong here today. beach erosion expected and a really high risk of rip currents. this is a huge storm, guys. take a look, the wind field is about 500 miles across. as we take a look at the cloud field itself, look at how big this is, nearly 800 miles just to give you an idea. the size of the storm really does matter because the bigger the storm, the greater the storm surge.

and we're real concerned about that for the bahamas. 7 to 11 feet above normal tide and we'll watch this up the coast too and surge will be a problem for us. 115-mile-per-hour category 3 storm ripping through the bahamas today. it will approach the carolinas early on saturday morning. that's why we have the hurricane watches and tropical storm watches posted. that means conditions are possible in 48 hours. so that's your saturday morning. then it's expected to ride on up towards the north and to the east. even if we don't get a direct landfall here, even if we get the best coast scenario, we're still expecting widespread power outages and extensive flooding. worst case scenario would be two different landfalls, one across the outer banks and then another possibly up towards long island, possibly towards providence, possibly even over towards atlantic city. as that thing scrapes the coast that, would just be terrible in terms of coastal flooding and those strong winds and everybody would be getting that. but the storm will be weakening

after it gets across north carolina. why? part of it because of the winds coming in with the cold front and another part of it, take a look at those water temperatures. they do get cooler. so we would be talking about more like a category 1 or 2 storm for the northeast as opposed to a 3 or 4 for the carolinas. >> jacqui pointed out new york on the map there. new york is not used to earthquakes or hurricanes, but they could be two for two this week. mayor michael bloomberg right now holding a news conference on preps for hurricane irene. let's go ahead and listen in. >> they have much greater impact on the system and so we think we are a little bit ahead of where we want to be, at least we hope we are. but we're doing everything we can. since 2002, you should know that we've invested nearly $2 billion in city wide sewer system upgrades, including $242 million specifically where we are in southeast queens, which has helped reduce flooding in what

is the most flood-prone area in our city. now, the city has already seen the power of mother nature once this week and mother nature may not be done with us yet. i'm sure that many of you are following the story of hurricane irene. i would like to give you an update on how we're preparing our city for all possible scenarios. unfortunately, there is an element of unpredictability when it comes to the weather, and so we hope for the best, but we prepare for the worst and that's why this city is, i think, ready for this weekend. by the time irene gives us -- gets to us, which it's forecast to do sometime on sunday, it certainly will be a powerful storm, possibly as strong as a category 2 hurricane on long island. but anything can happen in terms of its direction and its severity. at this point the forecast does not indicate that the storm will hit new york city with that strength, but we certainly will

see its effects here, including tropical storm-like conditions such as heavy rains and winds of 60 miles an hour or more. and as a matter of fact you're going to see some of mother nature later this afternoon if the forecasters are right. there is a band of heavy thunderstorms that are scheduled to move across this city later today and so take the normal precautions. when you're out in thunderstorms, don't go out into a field, get inside, inside a car or inside a building and be careful and also it's a good time to check in on any neighbors who live alone and could use some help. if the worst scenario is going to happen this weekend, we will activate other elements of our coastal storm plan, including the possibility of evacuating new yorkers who live in low-lying areas that could be affected by such storm surges. and that includes places such as coney island and manhattan beach in brooklyn, far roccaway and

broad channel in queens, south beach, midland beach and other low-lying areas on staten island and battery park city in manhattan. now, we don't have enough information yet to make that call. there are still too many unknowns. but we will make a decision on whether to call for evacuating certain areas based on the track, the speed and the strength of the storm as it moves from the bahamas up the east coast. in the meantime, there are some steps that new yorkers can take to prepare themselves for the storm. first, find out if you live in a hurricane evacuation zone, and you can do this by going on the city's website, nyc.gov and typing in your address or by calling 311 and giving your address to the call taker. if you do live in an evacuation zone, now is a very good time to check in with your friends or family in other parts of the city and identify a place you could stay if the weather gets bad. secondly, new yorkers can

prepare themselves by stocking up on some basic supplies and making what we call a go bag. a bag that you can take with you if you had to leave your home at a moment's notice. some of the things you should have in your go bag are drinking water, a first aid kit, a flashlight, any important medications that you take, essential documents, such as passports or other forms of i.d. and an extra set of car and house keys. now, city government is also taking every possible step to prepare for the storm. yesterday we activated our command center at the office of emergency management and we are checking in regularly with the national weather service. i spent a lot of time on the phone today with mta chairman jay waller and we are in constant communication with the state and closely coordinating any needed resources with state officials and agencies. and i will say that the mta and the state have been phenomenally cooperative, as you would

expect. we're all in this together and the seamless cooperation with us and the state and us with the mta i think comes about from an awful lot of planning that we have done over the recent period. the heads of all the city's emergency response agencies, including nypd, fdny, oem, transportation, health and buildings are taking steps to ensure that we have the right staff and resources for any contingency. we have an enormous emergency shelter system and a database of thousands of city employees who would be called upon to run evacuation centers and shelters if we needed to open them. response agencies have had regular drills and exercises to practice what we would do in the event of an emergency and we are prepared to handle one. the police department is positioning, for example, 50 small boats at station houses in low-lying areas. the nypd special operations division also has several helicopters and 33 police boats at the ready.

our city's public hospitals have tested their emergency generators and have topped them all off with fuel. they have also made sure that they have adequate medical supplies and food on hand in case the weather disrupts deliveries. our parks department is prepared to evacuate -- to schedule forestry crews, inspectors and contractors to be available on sunday and monday to handle emergency tree conditions. we have engaged emergency forest contractors and have the ability to activate those contracts immediately. we are also reviewing the flood plan for the u.s. open at flushing meadows, corona park, and we are discussing contingencies for the world police and fire games, which are scheduled to start on friday. to help control flooding, the department of environmental protection will have extra maintenance crews out in the field. the crews will respond to highway and street flooding by clearing catch basins like the one we just saw being cleaned out in front of the church or pumping water out of flooded

sewers. our sanitation department has instructed the mechanical street sweeper operations to pay special attention to any litter conditions near storm sewers in order to allow for a freer flow of rainwater into the storm sewer system. and our department of transportation is deploying crews to 26 designated flood locations to clear debris from catch basins. in addition, three department of transportation facilities with high likelihood of flooding will be evacuated and the equipment will be moved to higher ground. now, we expect that irene will have an effect on our beaches, and we're urging anyone who chooses to swim in the ocean today or this weekend to be extremely cautious and to watch out for rip tides. in the event of rough surf at beaches, we are prepared to close those areas to the public and move equipment. but the most dangerous thing in this city probably that we're the most likely to have tragedies is people that go swimming.

don't go swimming if there isn't a lifeguard there. don't go swimming when the beaches get closed. i know some people love to go in the rough waves, it's exciting -- >> michael bloomberg right now holding a live news conference on preparations for hurricane irene. something interesting, i just went to the website, the governor -- sorry, the mayor mentioned nyc.gov. there's actually a spot on the website you can go to, you can visit the hurricane evacuation zone finder. if you missed the live presser there, he actually mentioned specific areas with regard to possible evacuations, and if you're able to get online and go to nyc.gov it's real easy. move the cursor down to hurricane evacuation zone finder and you'll find if indeed you're in a low-lying area and you're specifically an area that should prepare for hurricane irene. we'll continue to follow this news conference. we're keeping a close eye on irene all throughout the day and throughout the weekend. as we get new developments, we'll bring it to you. also ahead, steve jobs and

his surprise announcement and the impact on apple. we'll take a closer look just ahead. and also, more rattled nerves in virginia this morning with at least one aftershock following tuesday's rare earthquake. we'll update you from there as well. ♪ with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. and the more i focus on everything else, the less time i have to take care of me. that's why i like glucerna shakes. they have slowly digestible carbs to help minimize blood sugar spikes, which can help lower a1c. glucerna products help me keep everything balanced. [ golf clubs clanking ] [ husband ] i'm good! well, almost everything. [ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars. helping people with diabetes find balance. [ male announcer ] glucerna. delicious shakes and bars.

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[ cherie ] i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah. [ kimberly ] and university of phoenix made it possible. learn more at phoenix.edu. live pictures out of norfolk, virginia. we got word the navy ships would be pulling out to sea in order to protect themselves from hurricane irene and that is happening now. of course you want to keep these ships in good condition because there's assets on there that will be able to respond to those in need if indeed hurricane irene causes some serious damage to the area, so we're watching

the navy as they're preparing for hurricane irene as well out of norfolk, virginia. all right, we're checking other stories across the country. mineral, virginia, felt a 4.5 aftershock just a few miles away from the epicenter of tuesday's earthquake. no serious damage was reported there. meanwhile the washington monument is closed indefinitely as engineers devise a plan to repair the cracks that appeared following tuesday's earthquake. and the nearby washington national cathedral also suffered some damage. it's going to be closed through at least saturday. the dedication event for the martin luther king memorial that was supposed to be held there is now going to move to another church. and in los angeles, american airlines says it's investigating the collapse of a jetway at l.a.x. airport late last night. two people were hurt in that fall. we're told the injuries are not life-threatening. it's pretty hard to imagine that a man more creative, innovative or visionary than steve jobs. he actually changed the way we use computers, phones, even the

way we listen to music. jobs has shocked the business world by announcing that he's resigning as apple's ceo. cnn's poppy harlow has the story for us. >> reporter: the impact was immediate. apple stock fell 5% in after-hours trading wednesday when steve jobs announced he's stepping down as ceo. fans of jobs were surprised by the news. >> he resigned? >> yes. >> iem sorry to hear it because he was so great for the company. he's so creative, so innovative. >> reporter: jobs, who has been on medical leave since january released a statement. i have always said if there ever came a day when i could no longer meet my duties and expectations as apple's ceo, i would be the first to let you know. unfortunately, that day has come. >> it's really hard to overstate just how important steve jobs has been to business, to the economy, what he's done, because he's really revolutionized so many businesses. >> reporter: computers, mobile

phones, digital music. jobs' influence has been unparalleled. his latest product, the ipad, continues to break records. analysts say it's the fastest-selling technological device ever. jobs co-founded apple in 1976 from his family's garage. nine years later, a power struggle led to his exit, but jobs returned again in 1996. soon after becoming ceo and transforming the company into what it is today, one of the biggest corporations in the world, worth nearly $350 billion. earlier this month, apple briefly passed exxonmobil as the stock market's most valuable company. >> an ipod. a phone. are you getting it? >> reporter: but it's not only because of jobs' innovation. he's also a brilliant marketer. >> the secrecy and the kind of theater that apple brings to every product launch, every

other company in the world, whether they're in, you know, electronics, consumer electronics or clothing or automobiles, they can learn from apple and what they do. >> reporter: in the only commencement address jobs ever gave in 2005 at stanford university, he touched upon the secret of his success. >> the only way to do great work is to love what you do. if you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. >> poppy joining us live now out of new york. for all the apple investors, what does this mean for them and the future of the company? >> reporter: it's a great question, because many people equated apple solely with steve jobs. he's clearly the visionary of this company. he picked it up off of its knees, turned it around completely in a dramatic turn-around that will go down in the history books. looking at shares before the market opens, apple shares down about 2.6%. that is not a steep decline. right now people have to decide if they believe that apple is bigger than one man.

i think it's important to reiterate here that steve jobs is still staying on as chairman of apple. he is not going away from the company. also the man who's now taking over, tim cook, is a man who's been by steve jobs' side for years. this is a company that had a plan. and it also plans years and years out. they have a vision for the next iphone, the next ipod, the next ipad so there's a lot in the pipeline still for apple. but again this is a huge loss of a visionary at the helm of this company. >> speaking of visionaries and powerful men, you have a direct line to warren buffett and apparently you're getting breaking news regarding an investment he's making? >> reporter: absolutely. this is very interesting. buffet's company, berkshire hathaway, that holding company has just announced they're making a $5 billion investment in bank of america. why do you care about it? this is one of the most widely held banks and portfolios across the board. your 401(k), your ira, it was also struggling, down 50% plus this year alone. there were a lot of concerns

about the health of the bank, how strong it was this week. this is one thing and one thing only. this is an injection of confidence in bank of america, one of the biggest banks in the world. warren buffett saying in a press release that just came out, he said bank of america is a strong, well-led company. he called the ceo and said that he wanted to invest in it. he says he's impressed with the profit-generating abilities of the bank. so this is an injection of confidence. warren buffett holds stock in a lot of companies, wells fargo, u.s. bank corp. he invested $5 billion in goldman sachs in the middle of the financial crisis. this is a big boost for bank of america. you'll want to watch the market in nooine minutes when it opens. shares of bank of america are trading up 25% on that news. >> all right, poppy harlow, thanks. next hour we'll take a closer look at the state of steve jobs' health with our dr. sanjay gupta. he'll tell us what he thinks jobs' next steps might be. also just ahead, the news that could impact apple's stock and what will it do to the

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forbes list of the world's most powerful women reads like a who's who of select and political power. back on top, german chancellor. here to tell us more about it, i hear you came in 101. i apologize, but you are still the one of the most powerful women here at cnn. >> reporter: i know. at least i scraped at 101. you, however, got in at 593. i don't know, you're losing your touch? all right. so angelo amerimerkel number on

forbes most powerful woman. a lot of question as to why? well, she is trying to save europe, the euro, the debt crisis because germany, the country that she runs is the most powerful economy in europe. that's what a lot of people are talking about. a little more information about her. she has a doctorate in physics. she entered politics when she was 36 years old. she's known for being pretty tough, hard-nosed, all business all the time. so you can imagine her shock when, take a look at this video, president george w. bush a few years ago massaged her shoulders. she's not exactly the touchy-feely type here. and this caused a lot of -- there it is. it caused a lot of consternation on her part. other women on the list, hillary clinton came in at number 2, the secretary of state. the brazilian president number three. melinda gates took number 6.

michelle obama number 8. lady gaga number 11, even ahead of oprah. kyra, you need to work on your standing. >> hey, look who's talking. we'll keep doing that. thanks. love you. ditto. alison kosik, another most powerful woman. standing by at the new york stock exchange where investors are reading over the latest numbers on the job front right now. what do you think, how are things looking as we get ready for the opening bell here? >> reporter: hey, stock futures are looking pretty good, thanks to word that berkshire hathaway will invest $5 billion in bank of america. a nice shot in the arm for bank of america whose shares have really been hit hard. can't say the same for the jobs picture. new numbers showed weekly jobless claims rose more than expected, up to 1417,000. it's a disappointment but the labor department says the numbers are a bit stwatd because of the verizon workers on strike. investors still on a bit of

an edge as the central bank conference gets under way here in wyoming. the meeting is today. the fed chief, ben bernanke, his speech comes tomorrow. now, the expectations for what comes out of this are a bit more dialed back for another round of stimulus, but wall street is kind of antsy. it wants to know what bernanke is thinking. the other hot topic here on wall street, steve jobs' resignation. apple shares are down 2.5% in the premarket. they have recovered quite a bit from a bigger drop in after-hours trading on wednesday. trading volume for apple shares expected to be very heavy when the opening bell rings in about one minute. keep this in mind, this is an individual company story, it's not a broader market story. if we do see the market take a turn to go lower, you can't necessarily pin it on what's happening with apple shares today. >> all right, alison kosik there at the new york stock exchange. thanks. getting some breaking news out of libya. this is according to reuters, i might add. rebels reporting that they may

potentially have moammar gadhafi surrounded. apparently there is a number of apartment buildings just outside gadhafi's compound. now a group of rebels reporting that they have surrounded these apartment buildings near the compound of moammar gadhafi, saying they believe that he is inside, that they have him surrounded. he could possibly be hiding out with a number of his sons. rebels reporting exchanging gunfire with gadhafi loyalists inside those buildings. no details to why they believe gadhafi is inside these apartment buildings, but they are saying this is a quote now from the rebels, according to reuters, they are hunkered down in a small hole. once again, this is coming from rebels being reported by reuters that they believe they have moammar gadhafi surrounded, hidden in some apartment buildings right there near his compound that was taken over by

rebels just two days ago. we're following that story for you. coming up, it looks deceptively calm from space, but the bahamas seeing a much different side of hurricane irene right now. a number of reports of serious damage. we will take you there for a live report. have i got a surprise for you!

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checking top stories now, libyan rebels still battling moammar gadhafi loyalists, control all of tripoli. the opposition has posted a $1.4 million bounty for gadhafi's capture or death. as you might have heard just within the past six minutes, reuters reporting that a group of rebels is saying they have besieged a cluster of apartment buildings near moammar gadhafi's compound. they believe they have him surrounded. we are following that story that reuters is reporting. and steve jobs stepping down as apple's ceo. he's leaving that post for health reaches but will stay on as the company's chairman. and hurricane irene could cause major damage along the

eastern seaboard this weekend, even if the storm doesn't make a direct hit, there are concerns about flooding and power outages. that's already a reality in the bahamas. the island is just being battered today. our jim spellman is right there in its capital. jim, bring us up to date. >> reporter: yeah, being battered is right. it's just been hour after hour these driving winds and rains coming off the caribbean. fortunately so far we haven't had major damage but we are starting to get reports of power outages, downed power lines, that sort of thing. just within the last half hour or so we've seen officials coming out, police, people from the electric company, surveying the situation. unfortunately, we've seen a few onlookers who are curious. this is just nothing that anybody wants to mess with. the same when it hits the united states. people always want to come out on the beach and walk around and these winds come out of nowhere. i'm having a hard time standing

up during some of them so i would definitely encourage people not to do that. they're really hoping here they can make it about two more hours here on nassau. unfortunately for all the people on this island there's nowhere for them to get too much shelter except staying away from the coast and riding it out. >> jim, our connection with you breaking up a little bit there. we'll stay in touch, though. we are watching you streaming there for us. meanwhile the other developing story right now, we're getting word, this is from reuters now. they're reporting that a group of rebels has claimed a cluster of apartment buildings where they believe moammar gadhafi is hiding out with some of his sons. this is once again coming to us from reuters, reporting a group of rebels saying they believe they have moammar gadhafi surrounded. our arwa damon who has been reporting for us just outside of tripoli's airport, we got the news to her. she's joining us now live where

we have set up post there. arwa, can you confirm this? are you hearing this news at this point? it's reuters that is reporting this, that they believe rebels have surrounded moammar gadhafi hiding out in some apartment buildings not far from his compound. >> reporter: no, the rebels down here do not have any sort of information with regards to that. what they do have, however, is this mobile home that they say they just got off of the farm that belongs to gadhafi. now, it is located around 15 minutes away from the international airport complex. they have just begun to comb through it. they say in their view this farm was something of a paradise. we're going to try to go as far as we can given our cable restrictions. the rebels brought this in honking loudly, absolutely

overjoyed that they captured it. they say they're still going through trying to find what else they can. they say that they did encounter a little bit of resistance when they were there. i'm trying to get a key for that door because there's a whole chunk to the back. wait, here we go. that's not going to happen. anyway, they were telling us they did encounter a little bit of a firefight when they did enter gadhafi's compound, this farm that he owns not a far distance from here. they said they have taken some detainees. they were describing these massive tents that he has set up in the garden air conditioned, a life of luxury that he was living in while they were suffering they're telling us. they say that they still have to comb through it because there were some people that were protecting this farm that they say fled, so they're going to try to go back, continue to comb through it but they brought this here. they're telling us that it is a caravan, a mobile home that they got from gadhafi's farm not too

far from here. >> so, arwa, is there a belief that gadhafi was living in this mobile home at some point or hiding out in this mobile home? >> reporter: well, actually when i was walking through the first time and this door wasn't locked, there was a bed that was made up and so they were speculating that perhaps he had spent a night or two in there, but there weren't very many personal belongings, personal effects that would indicate anything more beyond that. but there is a bed that's made up and it's kind of been tossed around. the rebels of course have been going through here, absolutely overjoyed with this find. they're planning on going back to the farm, trying to see what else they can find there. >> okay, got it. you let us know if you get that key. actually is he going to go open it now, arwa?

if you just -- if you're just tuning in. arwa damon here just outside tripoli's airport where there was word, arwa was actually reporting this to us yesterday, that a farm not far from the airport there is where gadhafi might have been hiding out. and the rebels claiming this bit of a luxury motor home there not far from the airport. arwa was able to get inside. if indeed she does get through that door, it gives us an insight of what possibly could have been a place moammar gadhafi might have been staying, hiding out while the rebels were looking for him. meanwhile reuters is reporting that rebels are telling one of its reporters that they have surrounded moammar gadhafi in a cluster of apartments not far from his compound, which was taken over by the rebels just two days ago. we are working to confirm that story, but at this point we're going to move on from libya and talk more about the storm that's

already -- so many people here are preparing for. we're talking about hurricane irene. our jacqui jeras will have some potentially life-saving tips for all of you that are wondering what should i do next. [ male announcer ] they'll see you...before you see them. cops are cracking down on drinking and riding. drive sober, or get pulled over.

rebels reporting now to us that they believe they have surrounded a number of apartment buildings not far from moammar gadhafi's compound that was taken over by rebels just two days ago. they believe that they have moammar gadhafi surrounded in these apartment buildings. we've been working our sources, our nic robertson calling into us now. nic, what do you think of this information that the rebels are saying -- do you know anything about these apartment buildings not far from the compound? do you think there's any truth to this? >> reporter: -- >> nic robertson, are you

connected? >> reporter: yes, i see you. what we are being -- >> nic, i lost you again. >> reporter: what we're being told by rebels command headquarters on the western half of tripoli is that they have sent more rebel fighters to surround a building or several apartment buildings close to gadhafi's palace compound. he and his sons may be holed up there. we have to preface that with the fact that it is wild with such rumors. we have also heard from -- none p of this has turned out to be true. this could -- >> all right. i'm having a bad time hearing nic. is he on a satellite phone, guys? all right. can you tell me where he is?

okay. all right. nic -- basically nic is calling into us from libya. he made his way there. he's calling in to us from a satellite phone. what we are trying to get more information on, are these reports that are coming out from the rebels, a group of rebels, that they have surrounded a cluster of apartment buildings not far from moammar gadhafi's compound. they are saying they have moammar gadhafi surrounded, possibly with some of his sons. and there's the hotel not far from the compound where journalists had been trapped, our matthew chance and some 30 other journalists, diplomats had been holed up and were released yesterday. that's right close to the compound. there's also a group of apartment buildings in that same exact area where rebels are saying they have moammar gadhafi surrounded, possibly with some some of his sons. as a matter of fact, what one of the rebels is saying is that

they are hiding in a hole, a small hole. it makes you think of saddam hussein who was found hiding in a spider hole in iraq when he was captured. but rebels coming forward now saying that they believe moammar gadhafi has been surrounded. his sons as well. some of his sons with him in an apartment -- some apartment buildings not far from his compound that was taken over by rebels just two days ago. we'll try and get back in touch with nic robertson who is now there in libya. he's working his sources and we will try to confirm that, obviously, and bring you that news. okay, the other big story that we're talking about today and that's preparing for hurricane irene. communities up and down the east coast, including navy ships that you can see here heading out from norfolk, virginia, all getting ready. we'll take you there live.

okay. the u.s. navy telling its people all the way from north carolina to maine get ready to get out of the path of hurricane irene. now, barbara starr at the pentagon, dozens of warships, aircraft clearing out, barbara. how big of an operation is this? >> reporter: oh, this is aircra. how big an operation is this? >> this is huge. 27 navy war ships putting out to sea this morning from norfolk, virginia. they are getting under way now as we speak. moving out of the path of the hurricane. it will take all day for them to get all 27 out of port. this is going to include the aircraft carrier eisenhower and several submarines and war surface ships.

they are on the move. they cannot stay in port and risk being damaged. these are expensive ships. some are going to stay in port. they cannot get everybody out. some will be tied up. some will go to sheltered areas and ride it out there. the navy is putting out to sea, hundreds, if not thousands of navy crewmen being on the ships manning them while their loved ones are back in port waiting out the storm. they will make a decision, later today, we are told, about the fighter jets and aircraft in the region in the mid-atlantic. they can fly those out quickly if they decide to. it is the ships, of course, that take so long to sail and get out of the way of the storm. kyra. >> if all hell breaks loose, these are the people that will come to the rescue as well. >> well, right. if this becomes a real disaster

of monday monumental proportio will turn around. the first responders will be the national guard up and down the east coast. we were told by the pentagon yesterday, there are 98,000 national guard troops available for disaster relief, if the governors and the federal government want to take advantage of them and use them and call them to duty. there will be considerable manpower up and down the east coast in the first response mode working with the states and the national guard and working with fema for a real disaster response that can move quickly. if it comes to that. hopefully it won't. >> barbara starr, thank you so much. everyone is being told to prepare for the hurricane. jacqui jeras, you have ideas where to begin here. look at the stash. as you were pumping up the juice on the flashlight.

>> this is the hand crank one. no batteries needed. the important thing to remember in a situation like this, kyra, it is not just the storm on the coast. not just irene, but flooding. hundreds of thousands of people will not have power. it will likely last for days and possibly weeks. people who live in new york city and philadelphia all need to worry about it. first thing is have a family disaster plan. talk to your husband. talk to your friends and family. where will you go? identify the safe places in your house and what kind of threats from storm surge to flooding and wind. review the safety skills. if you have to escape, if you are being told to evacuate, identify the routes and figure out where you will meet. have an out of town contact. the cell phones get cut off. you cannot get in touch with somebody. find somebody out of town. the disaster supply kit.

i have been carrying round the orange pack. you can make them yourself or go to home depot. they have them pre-made for you. bring these things with you if you are evacuating. water and food. all non-perishable. you want a three-day supply of things that will not spoil. when you don't have power, you don't have anything to cook. the can of beans or mres. you need those things. a first aid kit. that is huge. people get cut. power lines are down. debris is flying all over. make sure you have that stuff. medicines, too. especially prescription. have a good seven-day supply. you don't know when you will get to a pharmacy. we mentioned the flashlight. this one is great. you have a flashlight on it, but you also have a siren.

it has a noaa weather radio. you get all of the emergency weather. >> you don't need batteries. >> not on this one. some other things to have on hand? a camera. take pictures of the damage. you don't know when you will get back in the house or the damage will change. some other things, wide variety of cell phone chargers. you need to get those batteries going as well. a prepaid phone card. you don't know when you will get cash. have cash ready. make sure you fill up the gas tank. those go out. >> thank you, jacqui. stay with cnn. we will have all of the latest on hurricane irene from the bahamas all the way up the east coast. our jim spellman is still braving that storm. we will go live to nassau.

we are following lots of developments in the cnn newsroom. let's start with john live on the coast of north carolina. john. >> reporter: kyra, i'm on wrightsville beach as we are on hurricane watch as it begins the trek up the east coast. >> what kind of an impact could the hurricane cause for the carolinas and the northeast? we are talking a major impact even if landfall doesn't happen. find out what you need to be worried about and how to prepare coming up. i'm zain verjee in london. i'll tell you what insiders are saying about steve jobs stepping down today in a few minutes.

thanks so much. also ahead from the computer to the ipad, we will look back to the amazing success of apple under jobs leadership.

hurricane irene a huge storm right now. we are talking 55 million people up and down the east coast potentially impacted. the storm's track still curving

from the carolinas to new york. irene has been blasting the islands of bahamas with 1 115-mile-an-hour winds. we have john zarella on the coast and we have jacqui jeras in the studio with an update. jim spellman has more. >> reporter: we have pounding winds here and the driving rain. people are getting antsy. they have been in their homes since yesterday afternoon. they are trying to get out and get a peek. it is way too early for that. this is a tropical storm warning where john is. this is a tropical storm. this is tropical storm-force winds here. so far, fortunately, we are not hearing widespread damage reports in nassau. some settlements on the smaller

islands, we have some devastation. some 80% destroyed. houses uprooted from the foundations. they hope not to have any major damage here. still a bit iffy. this storm is probably at the most intense right now or even peaked a bit. the winds are still so strong. the outer islands will be tested. back to you, kyra. >> thank you. we appreciate it. there is a hurricane watch for coastal carolinas all the way up to the border. that is where john zarella is located. how is it looking in wrightsville beach? >> reporter: it is beautiful weather here and will be for the next 36 hours or so. the storm is miles way from us yet. i look back to last sunday and preparations have either been

done or under way by residents or will soon be under way as you move up the coast. on sunday, i went to the home improvement store and picked up a couple of cases of water. picked up a couple of gas cans just in case. by monday, everything was sold out down in south florida. that is the same as you start to progress up the coast. charleston, south carolina, home improvement stores and grocery stores hit hard a couple of days ago when they thought they were in the cone. now as you move further north in north carolina, a lot of preparations going on certainly on the outer banks. mandatory evacuations ordered for tourists. residents urged to get out. you will start seeing the same things progressing as you move up the eastern seaboard into new england. as you mentioned, kyra, tens of millions of people could be

affected over the next two-to-three days as hurricane irene approaches. close to or right along the u.s. eastern seaboard coastline. kyra. >> thank you. jacqui jeras is following the track for us. jacqui. >> the storm is getting closer, kyra. we will see it move near florida today. the storm is expected to stay 200 miles away from the florida coast, but the sheer size is bringing in showers and thundershowers and strong gusty winds. we have a picture right here to show you out of miami. the camera has been shaking around a bit. you have the occasional strong gusts as well as those rainy conditions. expect a couple inches overall throughout the day today. let's talk a little bit now about how intense this storm is. category three right now. 115-mile-an-hour winds. it will fluctuate through the day. it is going through an eyewall

replacement cycle. it will weaken the storm a bit, but ramp back up. we are expecting this to become a four again as it continues to bash the bahamas. it will spend tomorrow moving along the florida coast and the carolinas. those watches, which are in effect right now, means you have 48 hours to prepare. make those final preparations really before you feel these conditions. saturday morning, you will feel it in the carolinas and possible landfall late on saturday. scraping on up to the coast and northeast. there will be weakening here in the northeast because of wind shear and cooler water temperatures. a category one or two if we get that landfall. if we don't get that secondary landfall, we think the impacts will be great because of heavy rain, a lot of flooding and damaging winds. if you cannot stay tuned to cnn 24 hours a day, i know you have to take a break or go to work. track us on cnn.com/hurricane. you can find the latest

satellite intensity and compute m models. it is impacting the entire northeast and new england. kyra. >> did you see mayor bloomberg's news conference? >> parts of it. >> people are saying new york? what about the high-rise buildings? give me your take on new york city and boston. the mayor wanted to direct people toward its web site. nyc.gov. you can go to the hurricane evacuation zone finder to see if you are in a low-lying area and you may need to evacuate. >> absolutely. if this hurricane came up to manhattan, we would be talking about battery park and the tunnels getting under water. if this was a category three

that hit new york city, we could see storm surge as high as 30 feet. that could be a major deal. right now, it is iffy if it will hit new york city or long island. it is something that we need to be looking at. we will talk more about some storms that we have seen throughout history in the last number of years. the long island express as well as gloria and bob. we will talk about why this has been a difficult hurricane to predict. that is coming up in a half hour. >> jacqui, thanks. we will keep a close eye on irene all day for you and for the weekend. all right. something we got word of last hour. we are continuing to talk about out of libya. it is a group of rebels claiming they have moammar gadhafi and some of his sons surrounded in an apartment complex right near the gadhafi compound or former gadhafi compound since rebels took it over two days ago where we saw all of the fighting take

place. dan rivers for us in tripoli now. dan, what are you finding out with regard to what the rebels are saying about surrounding moammar gadhafi and the apartment complex? >> reporter: i have been down the complex this morning and there is a firefight going on at one end of it. whether it is over the custody of colonel gadhafi or not is impossible to tell at the moment. we have to be skeptical about the claims from the rebels. yesterday, they told us they thought they found him and they all head off in the pickup trucks with guns and later we realized that was a false alarm. we have to be cautious about thinking that this could be him. clearly, there is some sort of firefight going on there. i think it is the western end of the former gadhafi compound. it is a huge area, this

compound. it is likes six square kilome r kilometers. it is massive. there is a mixture of bunkers and house of resistance, which is a shrine to his resistance forming from the 1980s. a normal an accommodation there. we were around the houses and some have been ransacked. no sign at the moment if his forces are in the compound. the fighting is just beyond the compound at one end and toward the abu salem district. we have been told that is where they are all heading. that is where the fight is going on at the moment. whether gadhafi is there or not, i think is really difficult to say right now. >> and one of the big questions is do they want him dead or alive, dan? >> reporter: i mean, it depends who you ask. there will be a lot of people

here who would gladly see him dead. there is a reward out for him. $1.7 million. and an amnesty for any of his diehard compatriots who turn him in. we have no idea if he is in tripoli or if he had fled to the desse desseer desert. one thing is clear, this city is not free yet. we are told south of the main ring road that runs through the center of the city, south of that, down toward the airport and tripoli zoo is still pretty dangerous. there is stiff resistance from gadhafi loyalists. >> dan rivers joining us live out of tripoli. dan, thanks. if you are just tuning in, we are following the breaking news that rebels are reporting that

they believe they have moammar gadhafi surrounded with some of his sons, apparently in an apartment complex not far from the compound. the other story we are following is steve jobs. the master behind the iphone and ipad and mac computer. today, he is not kn longer in t driver's seat. he announced he is resigning as ceo. we have zain verjee with the latest from london. >> reporter: let me tell you what the insiders are saying. eric schmidt said steve jobs was one of the most successful ceos in america in the last 25 years. he uniquely combined an artist's touch and engineer's vision to build an extraordinary company.

check out what jeff weiner said. he is the most insightful business speaker i have ever heard. he speaks the way he designs product. not a single wasted word. to this day, some of the most valuable lessons i learned in business came from listening to him on stage. the former california governor schwarzenegger said this, steve jobs is one of california's greatest inn know straightovato. it is likely to have an impact for a long time. what a lot of people are saying is that it was steve jobs' personality that made apple apple. >> thanks. we will take a closer look at the state of steve jobs health. dr. sanjay gupta will be here to tell us what jobs' next steps

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cathedral will be closed on saturday. the dedication for the martin luther king event will be moved to another church. american airlines is investigating a collapse of the jet way at l.a.x. last night. we are told the injuries of the two people are not life threatening. steve jobs created must-have gadgets before people knew they had to have them. now apple's ceo says he has to step down. dr. sanjay gupta is joining me. he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, correct? there are questions about his health. >> there hasn't been a lot of information coming forward. this is rare. about 2,500 cases a year in the country. not a lot of data on this thing. back in 2003, he was diagnosed. for a while, he did not want to have surgery. he wanted to treat it with diet. in 2004, he had the operation. he lost a lot of weight.

>> can you treat something like that with a diet? is that something you would advise? >> i think what we know this is a type of tumor if removed initially, a lot of patients are cured. not just treated, but cured. most doctors want to recommend the surgery. it is rare. there is not a lot of data. he needed the operation in 2004 and he lost weight. the tumors produced a lot of hormones and he lost weight. he had the liver transplant in 2009. obviously, i read the same statement you did. it is hard to decipher what that means. is the liver transplant failing? is the hormone problem the reason? who knows? >> it is a guessing game. is it fair to say looking at all

of those scenarios what could be the next steps? >> there are a couple of things that could progress. the liver problem. if he had a rejection, that is a significant problem. whatever it is, kyra, he seems to believe it is not treat able. he has taken long medical leaves in the past. this time, for whatever reason, this is not something that will be treatable. >> got it. that is not good news. >> it was tough to read that statement. that day has come. he put that in there. >> sanjay, thanks. coming up after the break, entertainment news. will and jada smith have denied rumors they are breaking up. that is coming up next. [ woman ] welcome back, jogging stroller. you've been stuck in the garage, while my sneezing

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a crew back up will and jada's story. the vmas may go hostless. we have a.j. with all of the stories. we have the crew of jada's show? >> let's get you caught up on the will smith and jada smith story. there were rumors they were splitting up. that would be a bombshell.

they have been a great pair. will has said in interviews before that divorce is not an option in how he lives his life. there was another report claiming that jada was acting inn appropriately with her co--star marc anthony. there was a group of paparazzi getting a shot of them. the crew is saying there was no hanky panky seen on set. it would be sad to see this couple break up. here is hoping everything is all right. >> true. they seem like such an all american family and couple. all right. they just had the funeral for russell armstrong and there is a call to cancel the show? >> there have been a number of

calls to cancel the show. his estranged wife taylor is calling out. in what i found out to be an unusual move, the magazine put that cancellation call as the lead story on their web site. i think it is unlikely the show will go away. there was the funeral service for armstrong in glendale, california. much of the cast was in attendance. bravo did not film it. a second service is planned for his family in texas where, according to e news, he will be cremated. armstrong's family and taylor armstrong has been fighting since his death. this is how they worked it out. >> reshuffling going on at the music awards. >> the big news about the host of the vmas. mtv says there will not be a host. they will not have a single host. it is part of an experiment of a

non-traditional format. some are speculating the move was made out of necessity because mtv could not find someone to handle all of the duties. they did the same thing back in 2007 and in 2004. in my mind, the host doesn't matter. it is part of the build up. when you see the promos on mtv to tell you to watch this person as host, that is where the value comes in. they will do just fine without the host. the awards are in a couple of weeks. >> how about you? you should host them. that is what i suggest. >> i'm busy. i have plans. >> a.j., thanks. if you want information on everything in the entertainment world, a.j.'s got it. "showbiz tonight" on hln. a poll puts rick perry in the lead among republican voters, but there is a candidate

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checking top stories. hurricane irene hitting the bahamas with winds of 115 miles an hour. it is possible irene could make two u.s. landfalls this weekend. first in the carolinas and then new york. rebels believe moammar gadhafi is surrounded. rebel fighters outside the compound. gadhafi and some of his sons are hiding out in that compound. steve jobs is leaving his post for health reasons, but will stay on as chairman. looking at the best political topics. 30 seconds on the clock and three questions. will cane and john avalon and roland martin. in his memoir set to be released next week.

dick cheney urged president bush to bomb syria. was cheney more of a hawk than we gave him credit for? >> we often blow hard and talk about things we don't know about. i want to say this. as a conservative, we treat the principals of unintended congress. we forget it in foreign policy. at the same time, i realize we live in a world that is not a bubble. you have to realize there are people whose interest work against you. when it comes to judgment of cheney and others, i will take the road of humility. >> roland? >> what the hell kind of answer was that, will? everybody in the room except dick cheney didn't raise their hands. dick cheney's philosophy was bomb away.

he continued to go out and assert there were wmds in iraq. it is not shock that he wanted to do this. thank god other people were in the room with common sense. >> your answer is he is darth vader? >> you have to be curtis lemae. you have to be on top of those attacks. i don't think there is no one in the world that is glad that they don't have nuclear weapons. thanks to the israelis for following through. >> perry is in the clear lead of gop contenders followed by romney. is there a potential candidate who could vault into the lead by entering the race? roland? >> you could jump in. john could jump in. will could jump in at the top of

the poll. my philosophy of this is anybody who is speculating to get it, shut up and make a decision. i don't get all of the pining for the perfect candidate. it doesn't matter who is sitting at the top of a poll. fred thompson's numbers were sky high. rudy giuliani's numbers were sky high. >> will? >> you should listen to a guy like roland talking about no perfect candidate. democrats knew that. they dealt with gore and kerry for years. fred thompson was at the top of the charts. rick perry needs to realize somebody could jump it. it could be chris christie or jeb bush. >> john? >> the center is still open with rick perry is at the top of the polls. the problem is the candidates

who could shake up the race like paul ryan and mitch daniels have said they will not run. the folks who could shake up the race have decided to wait this one out. still a question mark on sarah palin and rudy giuliani. we will see about that. >> if roland and will jumped in, who's v.p. would you like to be? >> answer it, john. >> i'll have to think about that. i'll do some horse trading. >> you get free health care. >> 20 seconds each. the head of starbucks has led more than 100 other ceos now into promising donation campaigns. who else would we like to see their nose out of the campaign, shall we say? roland? >> how about this, starbucks, why not say we are not going to spend my money when it comes to our lobbyists. we don't care about your

individual campaign donations. you want to impress me? all of the ceos, pull your lobbyists out of d.c. then you will impress me. >> i'm not so cynical about this. these guys will not contribute so to send a message to washington they should come to a deficit deal. we always lament the role of money and politics. >> i agree with will on this one. these folks should be applauded for taking a stand. maybe people in washington will listen to money and the need to turn back the tide to bipartisanship. they will try to drive a truck through the citizens. >> pull the lobbyists out. >> roland always has to get in the last word. have you noticed that? >> tell me there was a no tie on thursday. >> i will talk to you coming up.

give me a few days to breathe. thousands of people fleeing inland. we have talked about the navy ships that are headed out to sea for safety and up and down the east coast. we have a lot of people prepping for hurricane irene. it is heading for north carolina now. plenty points beyond. we are talking about 55 million people potentially affected. irene, a major category three storm, right now. it is already taking a toll on the bahamas. serious damage reported there. jim spellman is still hanging in there. he is in nassau with the latest. bring us up to date. >> reporter: hi, kyra. it is impressive. this storm has been like this for 12 hours now with no signs of letting up. you see drives winds and pouring rain. some smaller islands have received terrible damage.

some reports of whole villages wiped out. the southern islands is where the damage is located. here in nassau, we don't see any major damage. we are getting more reports of power outages, but no structural damages. the winds here are more like a tropical storm-force winds than the category three hurricane it is. i feel like people are getting too confident. they are coming out and walking on the beach. you can see from the spray here, that it is an active storm. you can get a preview of what the carolinas and the east coast will see in a couple of days. >> jim spellman, it is harder to hear him now as he is streaming to us out of the island there.

we will keep talking to jim. jacqui jeras will join us as look at the path of the storm and why it is a tough one to forecast. also ahead, from the mac computer to the iphone, we will look back at steve jobs success at apple as he tells us he is stepping down. it's been a good year for chevy. and not because silverado's the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size truck on the road or because heavy duty made motor trend's 2011 truck of the year. no, it was good because you told us so. consider this a thank-you. the chevy model year wrap up. get in on our greatest model year yet. right now, combine the all-star edition discount with other offers for a total value of $6,000. our greatest model year yet is wrapping up.

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steve jobs, he changed the way we used computers and phones and listen to music. he shocked the business world by resigni resigning as ceo. >> today apple is going to reinvent the phone. >> reporter: he has been called a modern day thomas edison. >> you can do multifinger gestures on it and boy have we patented it. >> reporter: others tried to emulate his style, but rarely with the same success. jobs and steve wozniack.

>> into a $2 billion company. >> reporter: in 1984, jobs introduced the macintosh. sales were slow and there were internal divisions in the company. jobs was forced out. his second act a decade later is considered one of the greatest ceo tenures of all time. >> it is called the ipod touch. >> reporter: jobs brought us the ipod and a string of other life-changing technologies like the iphone and ipad. for a few years now, jobs has looked thin and frail. his health problems, including a bout with cancer are well known. two years ago, he had a liver transplant. he writes to the board, if there is ever a time i cannot meet my

expectatio expectations as ceo, i will let you know. unfortunately that day has come. as the new ceo tim cook takes the reins, he has never taken over a company that has been more profitable. jobs will be chairman of the board while the company he started enters a new phase. >> alison kosik is joining us live from wall street. apple shares are trading on the down side. how big of a hit? >> not too bad. down 1.75 a share. investors, i think, seem to r l realize that his resignation is not impacting apple. although losing a visionary like jobs is huge. the company has a solid pipeline of products and executives who

understand his vision. wall street focusing on bank of america shares today. they are getting a nice pop thanks to berkshire hathaway. up 13%. wall street, overall, the dow down 114 points. struggling to shake off a rise in the weekly jobless claims. kyra. >> also with reports to the housing market. the white house may take steps to help struggling homeowners? >> the obama administration is considering proposals to help homeowners and try to stimulate the economy. one proposal would allow millions with government-backed loans to refinance them at current loan mortgage rates which are around 4%. there are estimates it could save $85 billion a year. the new york times said the administration is renting out the foreclosed properties to keep the homes from flooding the

market even more. as you can imagine, the president is trying to do everything possible to get americans out buying homes again and keep them in their homes. there are critics that are fearful that the mass refinancings could make borrowing more expensive. they are claiming they don't address the real problem. the homes are worth less than the mortgages. >> alison kosik, thank you so much. coming up, we are tracking hurricane irene. it could strengthen more as the east coast is bracing for the latest landfall. we will have the latest from cnn headquarters. the first of the mandatory evacuations are under way. we will tell you where next. bay p . clinically proven to relieve tough pain twice as fast as before. what, did you invent this or something? well, my team did. i'm dr. eric first, from bayer. wow. look. it has microparticles. it enters the bloodstream faster

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all right. as the east coast prepares for the possible arrival of hurricane irene, there is an exodus of ships and cars and people from the outer banks. a mandatory evacuation order in effect rather in ocracoke island. navy has ordered ships to move out to sea to prevent damage. montauk is preparing for power outages and flooding should irene keep its current storm track. they are taking hurricane precautions in new hampshire. the people there being advised to stock up on food supplies in advance of the arrival later this weekend. we have jacqui jeras taking a look at hurricane irene. it has been pretty hard to forecast. there is historical significance

to this. >> there is. we have been going back and forth of the impact. we were thinking florida and south carolina. then north carolina. the forecasts were good overall as it moves through the caribbean and bahamas. the main thing that has been controlling the storm is the area of high pressure which has been driving it toward the west. now it is starting to pull north. the things that are impacting the forecast and where it will go for the u.s., two things. two troughs or two cold fronts are coming through. the first one is slamming into the northeast. if you are at the airport right now, you hate it. there are a ton of delays. that front is not as strong as we thought. we are not starting to see that pull up to the north. the second will come through this weekend. that is what we think will make it turn up to the north and east. the intensity of the two fronts, as they come on through and the timing of them, has everything to do with irene.

the models are coming closer together. they are clustered over the carolinas. we have a lot of confidence in the forecast down here. the split is greater as you head up to the northeast. the things are clustering a bit more in that area as well. one of the things that we can look at to help us figure out what will happen with irene in addition to those types of models we were looking at is history. there have been hundreds of tropical storms that have hit the coast. some like 1938. the long island expressway hurricane. this hit long island as a category three storm. 500-to-700 people died. incredible storm surge with this thing. trees uprooted all over new york. the other one we like to compare this to is hurricane gloria. hurricane gloria made a couple of landfalls.

it was a category three storm that caused $1.8 billion worth of damage. it moved across the northeast as well. last, but not least, we saw hurricane bob in 1991. that made landfall on long isla island. if you did that in today's dollars, we are talking about $39.2 billion in damage. unknown fatalities. >> we will keep tracking this and have more throughout the weekend. >> i'll have an update on the track and intensity. >> thanks. the ceo of starbucks and 100 other business leaders will stop pouring campaign cash into washington. we will tell you why. on. nd empty hotel roo 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.

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ceo howard schultz and a number of others are saying they are tired of partisan gridlock. we are poppy harlow in new york. you had a chance to talk to schultz about the pledge. >> reporter: i did, kyra. this is a radical movement you don't see this often. howard schultz wrote a letter to fellow ceos asking them to come on board. he is saying washington needs to get it together before we give anymore money to political campaigns. he had 100 plus ceos sign on. republicans and democrats. tim armstrong. the ceo of whole foods. the nasdaq and new york stock exchange. their message is two part. washington, get it together and

stop the partisan bickering. he is asking these ceos to hire and not wait for washington to create a jobs plan. take a listen to how he explained this move to me. >> what i'm trying do and i'm so thankful that the other ceos have joined me is send a powerful message to washington that we do not want to impress the status quo. we want to be respectful and be civil in our concern and criticism. we are begging you to please not only go back to work, but end the partisanship and represent the citizens of the country and do everything we can to remove the unbelievable fracturing of trust so we can get the economy back again and start hiring and remove the crisis of uncertainty. >> reporter: remove the crisis for uncertainty. that is his goal. as i said, a bold move. what he said, kyra, if we do not see a major turn around in

washington, there will be severe consequences. one of them is harming america's brand on the global stage. it will hurt the equity of america where we stand in the global economy if our politicians cannot get it together. he is asking people to really speak with their pocketbooks. this is turning into a movement. he has received thousands of e-mails from people who said they agree. >> let's hope the ceos hire some people as well. thanks. stories making news, 11:00 eastern time, the department of corrections will hold a hearing for casey anthony on fraud check charges. then an exeter in new hampshire. mitt romney talks about jobs. and eric holder will speak at a lunch before the mlk

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presidential race. now he is at the top of the gallop poll. he is at 29% right now. outdistancing mitt romney at 17%. ron paul at 13%. michele bachmann is at 10%. people are looking for an alternate candidate. you don't always want to be the front runner, but for rick perry, this is important. it shows the candidacy is being taken seriously and it shows the big money contributors that they have an opening and willing to give money. good news for perry. we cannot say he is the front runner, because this is one poll, but good news for the perry campaign. kyra. >> mark, thanks. we will have the next political update in an hour. for all of the latest political news, go to our web site cnnpolitics.com. that