on the broadcast tonight, taking aim at the u.s. hurricane irene, a monster storm picking up speed along the east coast. and after that earth quake stun and aftershocks shook the east coast, what happens in a real emergency? a fighting spirit, a champion and role model now facing the challenge of alzheimer's. and balancing act. can working moms really do it all? new research tonight of what happens when they try. new research tonight of what happens when they try. "nightly news" begins now.

captions paid for by nbc-universal television good evening, i'm lester holt, in tonight for brian. still trying to shrug off yesterday's rare earthquake, the east is tonight bracing for irene. the now category 3 hurricane we have been telling you about is striking the bahamas at this hour with 120-mile-per-hour winds as it cuts an unwavering path toward a potential east coast landfall. tropical storm winds are blowing more than 200 miles from its nt.er. forecasters expect irene to intensify for a bit and then essentially hug the i-95 corridor up the east coast and as we look at the forecast track, that potentially puts tens of millions of americans at risk from flooding, rains and dangerous winds from north carolina to new england. already tonight, evacuations are under way along north carolina outer banks. our teams are in place and we have two reports tonight beginning with nbc's kerry

sanders on cedar island, north carolina. kerry? >> reporter: good evening, lester, this is the first hurricane to threaten the u.s. mainlands this year. if irene does make it to the land, the real concern is not just those powerful winds and the rain, but also the tidal surge, that storm surge that comes ashore that could inundate coastal areas like this. hurricane irene slammed the turks and caicos islands and portions of the southeastern bahamas with winds just under 100 miles an hour. tonight wide spread areas there are without power and phone lines. in nassau, long lines at the airport as tourists from toronto cut vacations short. >> we're very sad to be leaving early. >> we had to load up all of our luggage and put it in plastic bags in the bathtub. that sort of set in reality too.

>> reporter: pictures from the u.s. space station show the size of the storm and today officials began a mandatory evacuation in ocrocoke island to the mainland. the high tower family evacuated with their two dogs, harley and sampson. the ferries which usually require reservations are now taking passengers first come, first served. like the high tower family who evacuated with their two dogs harley and sampson. >> reporter: residents up the coast are starting to put up shutters, they're taking notice of forecasters warnings that this storm could impact millions up the coast as far a new england. coastal north carolina farmers have an estimated $150 million worth of corn, soybeans, cotton still in the ground. harry taylor just started to harvest his 2,000 acres. you're watching the clock, aren't you? >> we're racing the clock. >> reporter: officials told to leave heed the advice.

>> you come home and you have no damage and you say that was a big inconvenience. at least you have the option of coming back home. people that don't evacuate may not survive it. >> reporter: hurricane fran was the last category 3 hurricane to target north carolina, that was 15 years ago. 26 people died in that hurricane, a reminder of how dangerous hurricanes can be. lester? >> i want to go to al roker now, he's in nags head, north carolina in the path of irene, what's the latest on the storm track? >> reporter: here's the deal, ironically, itas a hurricane named ike three years ago that last hit the u.s. main land and southeastern texas, now irene threatening, here's the latest. right now it's 215 miles southeast of nassau, bahamas, 869 miles south/southeast of cape hatteras it's a category 23 storm, it's 100-mile-per-hour winds, it's moving north/northwest at 12.

later on this evening into tomorrow, this is going to intensify into a category 3, maybe even a category 4. then as we move toward friday, it will parallel the florida coast and the carolina coast. and then sometime early saturday morning into saturday afternoon, cut across the outer banks of north carolina as a category 3 storm. as it moves north, it gets to colder water, gets more wind shear, loses some strength but may cut across just parallel to the new jersey coast on into long island, and then on up into new england as we move into monday, as a category 2, a minimal 2 or a strong 1. that's still a lot of rain, a lot of wind and again that cone of uncertainty is about a radius of 250 miles. so a move either way can make a big difference. so all the way up and down the east coast from florida to new england nobody can breathe a sigh of relief until this thing gets up into the atlantic. >> al roker in north carolina

tonight. al, thank you. now to the aftermath of the earthquake that rattled the east coast yesterday, tens or millions, perhaps 100 million people felt it. today damage assessment and the big concern is what they found at the washington monument. tom costello joins me from there. tom? >> reporter: hi, lester, good evening. they found a crack at the very top of the washington monument, it's about four feet, they say, by about an inch wide and it's near the top, really, near the top of the washington monument. so right now this 555 foot building is off limits to the public. the day after the earthquake shook the east coast, more surveillance camera video of the moment it all started, 1:51 p.m. and everyone, it seems has a story to tell. >> it was like this big shake and then a pause for like three seconds and then it shook more. >> reporter: in washington the chief concern remains the cracks near the top of the 137-year-old washington monument, it remains closed as structural engineers survey the damage. >> they need to probably go back tomorrow and again on friday to determine what is going to be

necessary. >> reporter: on capitol hill, crews have cleaned up the paint chips and plaster that fell from the capitol dome but today more cracks were found running along the walls of two committee hearing rooms. meanwhile, the national cathedral which lost handmade capstones and angels during the quake has no insurance to pay for the damage, it's also closed for now. the most powerful quake to hit the east coast in 67 years shook buildings and people as far north as montreal, as far south as atlanta and chicago to the west. at the epicenter of the quake, 90 miles south of d.c. in mineral, virginia, they spent today shoring up and picking up. while the overall damage was minor, yesterday may have been a much-needed wakeup call to disaster or terror response plans. in d.c., traffic was in gridlock yesterday. >> when everybody leaves at the same time, we don't make a lot of progress. >> reporter: as d.c.'s mass exodus hit the highways. >> the one thing the district of

columbia should learn from yesterday's event is evacuation planning as it's currently predicated is not working. >> reporter: and across the east coast, cell phone service was also overwhelmed and jammed while texting generally got through. amazing information there, texting and also social media works. remember that in the event of an emergency. but also amazing is there was no significant damage to dams, to nuclear power plants, to bridges, to airports so even tomorrow, most of the federal buildings that were closed today as well as d.c. area schools are expected to reopen. overseas now to libya and shockwaves of another sort. the rebels as we have been reporting have control of tripoli, but gadhafi from somewhere in hiding is vowing to fight to the death. we have a team on the ground in libya tonight, chief foreign correspondent richard engel and our own stephanie gosk who got there late this afternoon. we'll begin with richard in central tripoli. richard?

>> reporter: good evening, lester. libyans are now offering a reward for gadhafi, nearly $2 million for him dead or alive in addition to amnesty for anyone who turns him in. as fighting continues near gadhafi's compound, libya's long-time leader himself is now in hiding. in a radio address, his first statement since he was forced from power, gadhafi calls on his remaining supporters to rise up. go cleanse all of tripoli, go out and clear it of all the rats, he said. the tables have turned dramatically on gadhafi. now he's the rebel on the run trying to foment resistance. the rebels have taken tripoli, but not secured it. today they set up check points. and fired on suspected gadhafi loyalists. but the rebels have no central command and their political leadership is hundreds of miles to the east. in benghazi.

a degree of chaos has set in here, there are simply too many gunmen and no central control. the rebels fire in the air, but also accidentally at each other, into buildings and cars. no one is in charge. in green square today, rebels fired to celebrate without aiming, they spun powerful anti-aircraft guns like rides in an amusement park, all of it next to children who came to join them. it certainly is not safe, but tripoli is also not baghdad after the fall of saddam hussein. few crimes have been reported. libya has a great deal to gain from stability, if it can only achieve it. a wealth of oil, more than 1,000 miles of pristine, mediterranean coastline. and a population of only 6 million. after 42 years, gadhafi is a fugitive, unlikely to return to

power, but so far, no leadership has emerged to take his place. richard engel, nbc news, tripoli. >> reporter: tripoli's hotel with its marble floors and chandeliers has for months been headquarters for the world's press, covering the uprising. less than two miles from moammar gadhafi's compound is where gadhafi got his message out through his spokesman and through his son saif and sometimes in person. it is where a woman claiming to have been raped by gadhafi's gunman came to tell her story. and it's been the last holdout for government forces and a virtual prison for more than 30 journalists held at gunpoint by gadhafi loyalists. among them, nbc's john rang. >> we were trapped along with the rest of the press corps and we all, all of us, faced a very, very difficult dilemma. >> reporter: and rebels poured into tripoli monday. security at the hotel vanished, power was lost, food and water ran low.

cut off, the reporters didn't know who was winning the battle raging outside, neither did the gunmen holding them hostage. the tense standoff continued for days. finally this morning john ray and his team managed to escape. >> go, go, go. we basically went out of a fire door, at the backdoor across the open ground and hunkered down by a wall. >> reporter: they were finally safe. hours later, so were their colleagues, encouraged by the international red cross, the gunmen suddenly gave up and let all their prisoners free. >> finally one of the guards was disarmed, in the hotel a couple of hours ago, he sat down and cried, he wept. he fears for his life now. >> reporter: soon after the uprising began, they started giving out these visas to journalists but we weren't allowed to move freely, instead we were really a captive audience for the government's propaganda. this week that captivity got

very scary for them. you could see the relief on their faces that it was finally over. >> stephanie, thank you for the reporting. up next as "nightly news" continues this wednesday, a legendary woman in the fight of her life against alzheimer's disease. tonight how she reacted when she learned the devastating news. and later how moms who also work full-time outside the home can be happier. ,

we have learned this evening that steve jobs, the visionary ceo of apple has resigned. jobs has been fighting pancreatic cancer since 2004. and in his resignation letter, he wrote, i have always said if there ever came a day where i could no longer meet my duties and expectations as apple's ceo i would be the first to let you know, unfortunately, he writes, that day has come. apple executive tim cook has been named the new ceo of apple effective immediately. there's new research about alzheimer's disease. in research published tonight,

doctors at the mayo clinic report that using certain brain scans they are getting closer to figuring out who will get alzheimer's before memory loss or other symptoms appear. nearly 5 million americans currently have alzheimer's. every 70 seconds someone develops the disease. as we reported here last night, pat summitt, the hall of fame basketball coach at the university of tennessee has revealed that she is in the early stages of alzheimer's at age 59. tonight msnbc's chris jansing has more on what happened when summit got her stunning diagnosis and how her fighting spirit is part of a new game plan. >> reporter: for 37 years as coach of the tennessee lady volunteers, pat summitt has built a reputation as a fiercely tough competitor, but nothing prepared her for an unbeatable component. >> earlier this year doctors at the mayo clinic diagnosed me

with an early onset dementia, alzheimer's type. >> reporter: a young 59 with eight national championships, she reacted to the doctor's dire prognosis with denial and then anger. >> at first i think she was a little mad, she was about to punch him in the face. >> reporter: in truth there had been clues, including uncharacteristic memory lapses, even in the heat of a game. but pat summitt didn't become the winningest coach in college basketball history by giving up. so after allowing herself a few months to grieve and to accept the devastating diagnosis, she made a bold decision. >> i plan to continue to be your coach. >> reporter: her lawyers told summit the university had every right to fire her, instead they embraced her. >> we're going through uncharted waters, but we're really glad that we have the captain that we do that's leading us and that's pat summitt. >> reporter: her long-time assistants will take on new responsibilities, but she'll still be courtside doing what she's always done best. >> she's really focused on

putting women first, women having the opportunity to do whatever they want. >> reporter: when she broke the news to her team tuesday, she ended up comforting them. >> the tears were from just the sadness and the shock of the whole thing, but by the end, no one was crying because it turned motivational really quick. >> reporter: facing the toughest challenge of her life, pat summit is living the virtues she's always taught, honesty, compassion, and determination. >> my mom says, it is what it is, but it will be what you make it. >> reporter: and those closest to pat summitt know, even an unwinnable challenge will not defeat her. now the course of early onset alzheimer's is unpredictable. but tyler summit says his mom is hitting the gym hard, she's doing math problems and puzzles to help her cognitive ability, just what her doctors have suggested. when we come back, dick cheney's secret plan that we didn't know about until now.

also, who's the most powerful woman in the world? there's a new name at the top of the list tonight.

news from the presidential campaign trail tonight. less than two weeks after jumping into the race for the republican nomination, texas governor rick perry has taken a commanding lead in at least one national poll, the first since his entry. gallup has perry leading with 29%. romney with 17%. ron paul and michele bachmann placed third and fourth. myrrh's -- perry's numbers in this poll are up 11 points from last month before he formally entered the race. we learned today that former vice president dick cheney wrote a secret letter of resignation that was kept hidden away from earliest days of the bush administration. cheney has a book coming out and spoke exclusively to nbc news. >> reporter: why did you do it? >> i did it because i was concerned for a couple of reasons. one was my own health situation, the possibility that i might have a heart attack or a stroke that would be incapacitating. and there was no mechanism,

there is no mechanism for getting rid of a vice president who can't function. >> and you'll be able to see more of that interview on a special edition of "dateline" on monday night at 10:00 eastern time. forbes magazine released the list of the most powerful women in the world. topping the list is german chancellor angela merkel, followed by secretary of state hillary clinton at number two. first lady michelle obama who topped the list last year has fallen to number eight, michele bachmann is number 22, beating sarah palin at number 34. and on the list for the first time, our own ann curry, number 66. the full list is on our web, nightly.msnbc.com. up next here tonight, news for working moms struggling with the pressure to do it all just right.

at a time of so much economic uncertainty, the pressure to perform at work is growing for millions of americans which can be extra hard on working mothers. 66% of women with children under 18 are in the workforce and a new study shows that while overall working women have better mental health, there's a catch. the study also contends that women need to let go of the idea of a supermom. here's nbc's kate snow. >> reporter: elise bohannon

scott is working more hours than ever at the epilepsy foundation in maryland after seven years at home with her four children. >> when i'm at home, i'm thinking what did i not do at work? and then when i'm here at work, obviously i'm thinking of the children. >> reporter: are we all trying to be supermom? maybe and that can harm a woman's mental health. >> women tend to experience more guilt. >> researcher katrina lube actually cites all the supermoms we saw in the '70s and '80s, the study looked at 1,200 working women, all of them working moms and found those who expected to be able to do it all with ease, suffered the increased risk of depression. >> if you expected to be able to

do it all without any tradeoffs, then you're more likely to feel a sense of failure or frustration with yourself. >> oh, sure, honey, you go ahead. >> reporter: on the other hand if you're not expecting ward cleaver to help out around the kitchen maybe you won't be so disappointed when you're the one baking the birthday cake. >> reporter: for more working moms, that is not a new concept. a mom of two wrote a book called "forget perfect" a decade ago. >> you might want to set a really what are bar for your career and a high bar for your time with your kids, but a low bar for matching hand towels. >> all of this is fuel for the daily mom conversation online. susan has a 20-month-old and a newborn, she's planning to be back at work full-time in october. on her blog she says she tucks her supermom cape under her work jacket. >> i don't have high expectations, i have realistic expectations. >> reporter: we can be less than perfect, she says in a post today and then call ourselves super. kate snow, nbc news, new york. >> that's our broadcast for this wednesday night, thank you so much for being with us. i'm lester holt, in tonight for brian. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. we hope to see you right back here tomorrow evening. good night, everyone.

-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. we begin with developing news this evening. i'm jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. it's a local story with a global impact. steve jobs resigning as the head of apple and his successores already ready to go. >> we have in-depth and team coverage. scott mckbcgrew has a look at t tech titan's legacy. >> let's begin with scott budman who joins us live from apple headquarters.