breaking news on msnbc. rebel forces capture most of tripoli and arrest two sons of libyan leader moammar gadhafi as he holds on to his last thread of power. where is the libyan dictor now? we're covering this very fast-moving developing story on the ground. and then back here at home irene slamming into puerto rico as the first hurricane of the atlantic season, and it's expected to take aim at the u.s. east coast possibly as a category 2 or 3. and then a potential new bombshell in the search for a maryland woman missing in aruba. a new witness could tear the main suspect's story right apart. hi, everybody. great to see you today. i'm thomas roberts. it's nice to have you with me. and as i was telling you, we are watching this huge story, history really unfolding before our eyes in libya at this hour. this is new video this morning of rebels celebrating as they make their push against the last line of gadhafi forces in

tripoli. four decades of gadhafi's rule are now close to coming to an end. the result of a rapid advance by rebel forces over the weekend and the culmination of months of fighting in cities and towns across the libyan coast. nbc news can confirm that two of gadhafi's sons are in custody, saif and mohammed. and al jazeera reporting a third has been captured. we're working on that confirmation. but sources close to gadhafi's inner circle say that saif did try to flee dressed as a woman. meanwhile, the search for gadhafi continues after south african officials denied that they were trying to help the colonel flee to that country. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engel is inside tripoli with the very latest for us. richard, good morning. >> reporter: the celebrations are ongoing here in tripoli. this city is still in the process of falling to the hands of the rebels. they now control about 80% of tripoli. but there are still some pockets of this city where fighting is

taking place. particularly around gadhafi's own compound in the center of the city. but so far you can see there is incredible enthusiasm here. people have been coming out into the streets, firing guns in the air. we've seen people drop to their knees, kissing the ground. fireworks in the sky. this all began yesterday, when rebels decided that the time had come and many of them, thousands of them decided just to march on tripoli. most of them were walking. some people walked 20 or 30 miles to reach tripoli. and when they got to the edges of the city, gadhafi's forces just melted away. we could see the uniforms of gadhafi's troops strewn along ground as they just took them off and decided not to fire on their own people. it's not over yet. there is still fighting in this city. but according to the rebels, they have liberated most of it and are well on the way to taking the rest. richard engel, nbc news, tripoli. >> richard, thanks very much. and bobby ghosh joins me now

live in the studio. he is "time" magazine's deputy international editor. bobby, it's good to see this morning. it's amazing to watch, as i said at the top of the hour, it's history unfolding right before our eyes after 42 years of gadhafi's rule. where do you think he is right now, and do you suspect that it is just a matter of time of following the money to figure it out? >> well, it may be -- we may be able to get there quicker than that. i think it's quite clear where he's not. he couldn't have gone west. he couldn't have gone east because both those areas were already taken by rebel forces. he would not be able to go north through the sea because there's no place to go. if he went to europe, he'd be arrested immediately and taken off to the icc. so south was the only way he could go. unless he's holed up in a spidey hole somewhere in tripoli itself. the south is where instinctively he would want to go. that's where the desert is. that's where the best hiding places are. and that's closer to sort of sub-saharan africa, we are still has pockets of support among governments there. >> when we talked about the sons being arrested too, that nbc can

confirm that are in custody, a third potentially in custody, that's being reported overseas, what do you think is likely to happen to them? >> well, i think the icc, the international criminal court, has said that it wants saif al gadhafi, the most prominent of his sons. there's an indictment against him. it's a little unclear whether the transitional council wants to hand him over yet. we've had different statements from different people in the council. but it's encouraging that he wasn't immediately dragged through the streets of tripoli and beaten up or worse, or killed. it looks like the transitional council, the rebels are keen to see this man in court and keen to have a proper trial. and i think some -- we should take something positive out of that. >> as we've been watching over the last six, almost seven months now we know that the rebels are united in this effort to bring gadhafi down, to then take over libya and try to resurrect it after 42 years of gadhafi rule. but what is the united states's

probably worst fear in all of this? i know we got into this saying your enemy's enemy is my friend. what do we do now when it comes to trusting how the rebels are going to proceed if they do continue with their push, their advance, and really stamp out gadhafi for good? >> well, the worst fear is chaos, as anywhere, chaos that allows some more extremist elements, al qaeda and so on, to take root and find a new place from which to attack the west. i think the chances of that happening are really quite small. so far the rebels have done almost efg right. they have a transitional council. it may not be the most effective one in the world, but it's held together. they have taken all these different towns on their way to tripoli, and in each of those towns we've noticed there hasn't been looting, there hasn't been sort of widespread killing of pro-gadhafi forces. so they've restrained themselves. and it suggests that there is a degree of leadership and of command and control, which i think is positive. now it's for the western governments, mainly the european

governments, mainly the uk and france, to try and help the transitional council to the next phase, which is how to rule, how to create infrastructure and not so much physical infrastructure but institutions in a country that hasn't had them. >> "time" magazine's bobby ghosh. bobby, great to see you this morning. thanks for your time. >> anytime. president obama is staying up to the minute on events unfolding in libya. he released a statement last night saying in part that "tripoli is slipping from the grasp of a tyrant. the surest way for the bloodshed to end is simple. moammar gadhafi and his regime need to recognize that their rule has come to an end. he needs to relinquish power once and for all." nbc's kristen welker is live on martha's vineyard traveling with the president. so kristen, bring us up to speed. what is the president doing to stay abreast of all of this? and the latest statement that we have from the president coming last night. do we expect him to make any more statements or even show up before a camera today? >> reporter: hi there, thomas. well, the white house is being quite measured and quite careful in terms of what the president

will or will not be saying. they will not have him speak. unless they can confirm 100% what exactly is happening on the ground there in libya. information a bit murky right now. so the president released that statement that you mentioned last night. will he speak? that is of course the big question. we don't know. if they can get confirmation that, for example, gadhafi has left the country, they will confirm it. and then you might see a verbal statement from the president. as of right now, we are expecting a briefing from the deputy press secretary later on this morning, early afternoon. but right now everything is quite fluid. in terms of what the president's doing to stay on top of the situation, he's getting regular briefings. his counterterrorism adviser john brennan is here. he was briefed by brennan throughout the day yesterday even though he did have some social functions as well. the president also held a conference call at about 9:00 yesterday evening with some of his top advisers, including his chief of staff, bill daly, and

several others. so the white house trying to stay on top of this situation. we do expect to get some new information later on this morning. thomas? >> kristen, i think a lot of americans are probably looking at this and wondering if this means american boots are going to go on the ground. i know we have been covering this since the very beginning and our efforts included with nato and what's been going on from the air. but now we've seen this turn i think a lot of people are going to think that probably boots on the ground is going to be necessary in the near future. >> reporter: well, right now, thomas, pentagon officials are telling our folks here at nbc news that there is no indication that there will be u.s. boots on the ground. you mentioned the nato-led military. as you remember, the united states was quite clear in saying we were playing a support role in that nato-led military effort. if you couple that with the war fatigue that exists right now in the country, thomas, with iraq and afghanistan, it would be difficult to make the case to have boots on the ground. but as of right now pentagon officials saying there is no indication there will be u.s.

boots on the ground, but of course there's a lot of concern about the transition, if and when gadhafi does leave, as you just discussed in your last segment, a lot of concern about the chaos that might ensue. thomas? >> kristen welker on martha's vineyard for us this morning. kristen, thanks. gadhafi losing his grip on power. we're going to continue to follow the breaking developments that are happening in tripoli. moment by moment developments. rebels closing in on this libyan leader's compound. ahead, the washington bureau chiefs of al jazeera and al arabiya will join me. and the new martin luther king memorial opened its doors just moments ago. we're going to talk to the reverend jesse jackson, who knew and worked with the civil rights icon. what would king be fighting for today? what's up, smart?

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happening now, this is the very latest video from tripoli. joyous celebrations unfolding in green square, which rebels are now calling martyrs square. rebels have mounted a dramatic charge with opposition forces claiming control. up to 95% of tripoli. although there are reports of resistance from gadhafi loyalists. rebels say that they have arrested gadhafi's two oldest sons. right now there's no word about the whereabouts of colonel gadhafi himself. all right. right now here at home hurricane irene approaching haiti and the dominican republic after lashing puerto rico with heavy rain and 75-mile-per-hour winds. but what does it mean to the eastern shoreline? because this storm is expected to intensify over the next several days as it heads towards the mainland, where it could target florida, georgia, even the carolinas by thursday. the weather channel's carl parker joins us this morning with more on that. carl, good morning. >> good morning to you. a lot to figure out here in the next couple of days. and here's the latest advisory from the national hurricane

center. the winds now 80 miles an hour. that is a minimal hurricane. it's now moving off toward the west-northwest about 13 miles an hour and in that general motion is going to continue. i want to show you what's going on as far as the structure of the storm. the center of the storm is now just off to the north and to the east of hispaniola. the big question in the next 24 hours is how much interaction do we see here. certainly the inflow of the storm is being disrupted by the very tall mountains on hispaniola and that's really going to have a lot to do with how strong the storm will become ultimately. it may suffer a little bit in this next 24 hours, and if that happens it could also move a little farther west. if it is a stronger storm, it tends to respond more to the upper-level flow and that would drive it more toward the northwest. but beyond that time it is most likely going to be in this very warm water here without much land interaction at all. a very favorable upper-level environment. so it's entirely conceivable that we're talking about a major hurricane getting up toward the coast of florida or perhaps toward the coast of the carolinas. now, the models have been trending more to the right. that's been going on for a while

now, but if you're watching that and you're thinking, well, gosh, it looks like we're in good shape in florida, that may not necessarily be the case. we've certainly not disinvolved florida at this time. there's going to be a lot to figure out in the next couple of days. but this could be a major threat to the southeast coast. thomas, back to you p. >> still a lot of moving parts. carl, thanks a lot. appreciate it. >> you bet. the first major national memorial for civil rights icon martin luther king jr. opened to the public today just moments ago on the nation's capital. the memorial sits on the national mall ben between the lincoln and jefferson memorials and will be officially dedicated on sunday. that is the 48th anniversary of the reverend king's "i have a dream" speech. nbc's mara schiavocampo toured the memorial earlier this morning and joins us now. and this is a $100 million tribute to dr. king. mara, what's it like on the inside from your perspective? >> reporter: yeah, a lot of money and 15 years in the planning but now it's done. it's a glorious day. couldn't have better weather for an event like this. and as you mentioned, it just opened to the public a few

minutes ago, but we got a chance to go in a few hours ago to get a little tour earlier this morning and bring you this first look. the main part of the memorial consists of three parts. these two represent the mountain of despair. visitors will pass through here and immediately come upon the stone of hope, featuring that large granite statue of dr. king. the concept for this memorial comes from the famous speech made on the march on washington in 1963 where dr. king famously said "out of the mountain of despair comes a stone of hope." the memorial also features two large walls containing 15 of dr. king's most famous quotes, all hand-etched into blocks of granite. and the centerpiece of it all, the granite sculpture of dr. king, standing more than 30 feet tall. the national mall's first such memorial to an african-american. now, thomas, as you mentioned, the official dedication takes place this sunday, the 28th. up to 300,000 visitors are expected to come in the city for

that. president obama's expected to speak. it is going to be a big event for sure. thomas? >> we will look forward to that. mara schiavocampo. mara, thanks so much. joining us now is a man who knew and also worked with martin luther king jr. in the civil rights movement. that is reverend jesse jackson. he is the president of the rainbow push coalition. reverend, it's great to see you. this marks the ninth memorial on the mall, which includes lincoln, fdr, and jefferson. how do you think that dr. king's legacy fits in with theirs for this country? >> well, when you think about jefferson and that definition of democracy which co-existed with slavery, blacks determined to be 3/5 of a human being, and you have lincoln fighting the war to save the union and to end slavery. you have dr. king completing that, the american dream. so somewhere between lincoln and jefferson, there he stands, a man of peace helping to complete the agenda. you know, we speak of that "i have a dream" speech, but he said, you know, that it's the broken promise.

lincoln, you promised the emancipation proclamation 100 years ago. congress, you promised the 13th amendment. and yet today we come from texas across to florida up to maryland, we can't use a single public toilet. on that day many of us had just left jail in the south engaged in terror tactics and confrontation heaped upon us at that time. he was in the middle of a fight. he was defiant. a freedom fighter. a man who saw ultimate love as the great healing force. >> sir, this memorial has been 25 years in the making now. it's been surrounded by some controversy, over the fact that a chinese artist actually carved the stone that we're looking at right now. do you think that some of that criticism is actually founded? >> no. dr. king was a globalist. if anything, as i think his hands and his arms in this position, think about it. when he received his nobel peace prize, he gave all the money to the other civil rights organizations. when you think about his quest to end the war in vietnam and

invest in the war for justice at home, he was inclusive. he would often say to us, i am the pilot, but it's the ground crew that keeps the plane flying. so he's -- i think that's a sign of strength, a man with a place on that mall that will be forever there. so i find some joy in watching it. but also i think about the unfinished business. he was killed as he fought to put poor people on the agenda, as he sought to end unnecessary war, as he sought to reconcile people. so his work is yet incomplete. >> when we talk about that in modern-day times, economic equality would certainly still be on dr. king's radar. do you gi that lgbt equality would also be his modern-day civil rights focus? >> of course it would be. he believed human rights would be measured by one yardstick for all human beings. he would be delighted that barack obama is the president. the night he won, i thought about if dr. king could have

been there just for a moment, to see a fruit of his labor, he would be proud of him. he'd be very mindful of the foes of president obama, those that in fact attack him relentlessly as he used his powers to stop the hemorrhaging of 100,000 jobs a month. a measured stimulus that got us in the right direction. he'd be concerned about those that would hold up the budget, gender equality for women, those who would hijack the debt ceiling issue and take away resources from working poor people. that would be on his mind. i think as i see him standing up there the issue of too much wealth, too many wars and too much poverty would be very much part of his agenda. too much concentrated wealth. too many wars and too much poverty. he'd be right in the middle of that debate. >> reverend jesse jackson, it's wonderful to spend time with you this morning. thanks for your time. a global celebration. flags of colonel moammar gadhafi's government were pulled down from libyan embassies

around the world today replaced by the tricolor flag of the rebels. could this be the start oof leaders in the region falling as well? and could dominique strauss-kahn, dsk, soon be walking away all smiles? nbc news has learned the sex assault case against the one-time imf chief may be on its way out. a live report next. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing's helped me beat my back pain. then i tried this. it's salonpas. this is the relief i've been looking for. salonpas has 2 powerful pain fighting ingredients that work for up to 12 hours. and my pharmacist told me it's the only otc pain patch approved for sale using the same rigorous clinical testing that's required for prescription pain medications. proven. powerful. safe. salonpas.

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bring us up to speed. what is the latest about this all going away for the former imf chief. >> incredible developments. the case looks like it will be dropped tomorrow in court. prosecutors have called the maid who made the allegations and her lawyer down for a 3:00 meeting today where they're expected to outline why the d.a.'s office needs to drop this case. and the defense -- the lawyer for the maid continues to say she was sexually assaulted, this prosecution needs to go forward. but the d.a. says look, this maid has lied to us time and again about being raped in the past when it didn't happen, about some of the timeline of the events in the hotel with dominique strauss-kahn afterwards, that she wasn't truthful about that, and that because of these credibility issues the d.a.'s office has come to the conclusion without this lead witness how do you move forward, how do you move forward with a witness who's a liar basically is what the d.a.'s office is saying. >> so the recourse for this woman who may have some credibility issues, it still doesn't mean she may not have been a victim, does she have any

kind of recourse or appeal or is it strictly civil? >> basically right now they filed a civil lawsuit in the bronx. her attorney is calling for a special prosecutor to step in. but that would need the d.a.'s office to step aside and say okay. that is not going to happen, is our understanding. so it appears after 3:00 today papers will be filed outlining all the reasons why the d.a.'s office wants this case closed, dismissed. but again, it's because they cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an assault took place. dominique strauss-kahn maintains his innocence. she says he attacked her. there is dna evidence in that hotel room. what exactly happened, unclear. >> we'll know more about the legalities this afternoon, but it seems you say the handwriting is on the wall about this one. all right, jonathan, thank you. all right. so surviving the roller coaster ride that you may be experiencing on wall street. if you've been worried about the ups, the downs with the dow, we have some advice with what to do with your money. plus, investors are keeping a very close eye on the price of oil as we watch the rebel advance in libya and what looks

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that's the power of german engineering. hurry in and lease the jetta s for just $179 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. good morning, everybody, and welcome back. i'm thomas roberts. we're covering the very latest developments coming to us from libya. 95% of tripoli is now in the hands of rebels. at least two of moammar gadhafi's sons are in custody. but the real moment of victory will be that with the capture of gadhafi himself. joining me now to discuss this further is al jazeera washington bureau chief abdurahim fulkara. and hisham melhem is the washington bureau chief for al arabiya. thank you for being with me. hisham, i want to start with you because where do we think gadhafi could be and also what kind of options would we think are available to him in terms of exile? >> i think he's still in

tripoli. i think he was surprised by the speed with which the revolutionaries controlled tripoli. the best option, of course, would be that he would be captured alive, to stand a fair trial. i don't think the libyan system can try him or give him that fair trial anytime in the near future. so therefore, the icc, the international court of justice should deal with him and his sons. because i think the libyans now should focus on making sure that the beginning of a bumpy, precarious transitional period should not be marred by acts of vengeance or violence. and i think the beginning so far has been good. we did not see any lootings, any mass violence, as we've seen in baghdad after the fall of that iraqi dictator. so there are encouraging signs. and i think the libyan regional council is aware that the whole world is watching and so far

they have been acting responsibly. >> abdurahim, what do we think is going to happen with gadhafi's sons? we have two confirmed in custody, a third potentially in custody. >> well, obviously the most prominent among those three is saif al islam because not only was he the heir apparent to gadhafi when it was thought that gadhafi's rule would go on, but he was so pivotal to al gadhafi in so many ways. he was the guy who actually had helped bring libya back into the fold of the international community following years of sanctions. what happens to him now is obviously a matter of contention between the icc, the international criminal court, and the libyans themselves. many libyans would actually like to see him tried in libya. but regardless of what the venue is, i think there's consensus among the libyans and the icc that he should be tried. and it's actually -- his trieshlgs should that happen,

would be so significant, not just in helping libyans deal with scars of the past but also together -- if gadhafi is also caught and put on trial, together with that, that would infuse huge momentum into arab uprisings elsewhere in the arab world, particularly in a place like syria. >> hisham, how much credit should the obama administration be able to take for this type of transition? >> well, the main actors here were the libyans. but it's a fair question to say whether the libyans could have done it by themselves. and keep in mind, this -- the uprising in libya began as a peaceful uprising, but it immediately, because of the repression of the gadhafi forces, it degenerated into an armed rebellion, an uprising. and it's an open question whether they could have done it without the international intervention on the part of nato. so the president of the united

states, let's be frank about it, was a reluctant player. he was forced. he didn't want to see benghazi becoming another arab srebrenica. so he did the right thing, i think. everybody was surprised because it took that long because libya had a fourth-rate armed forces. and yet the nato aerial attacks proved once again the limits of air power. and also, it raises questions about the ability of nato to conduct military operations without america in the lead. >> abderrahim, explain to everybody, as we watch this unfold, what is next for the people of libya and these people that are thirsty for their own freedom. how can they trust the intentions of the rebels to make sure that the corruption is completely filtered for a brand new day there? >> well, i mean, top of the priority at this moment obviously is bringing the whole of tripoli under the control of the transitional council because there are still pockets being controlled by the supporters of el gadhafi, who as was said

earlier, we don't know at this particular point in time where exactly he may be. and then there's the issue of trying to come together in a post-gadhafi libya to actually rebuild the country, as we've seen throughout the last six months. almost the entire infrastructure in libya has been destroyed in the fighting. so there's going to be a significant amount of building to do. but more importantly, more important than building the infrastructure is actually building the politics. this is a country that over the last four decades has not had any institutions. el gadhafi himself has been the institution. it does not have a civil society. all those things are going to have to percolate into a system which now the international community, whether the europeans or the united states, by virtue of the role that they've played in libya, are demanding that it be as representative of the aspirations of the libyan people as possible.

libya is obviously much like other countries in the region. it is a very complex fabric, especially ethnically and tribally. so that's going to be a major task, to actually conduct the reconstruction of libya in an atmosphere that -- where everyone feels they have a stake that is represented. >> it's going to need an international force to guide it forward. al jazeera's abderrahim foukara and al arabiya's hisham melhem. gentlemen, thank you for joining me today. investors hoping the end of gadhafi's reign will push crude prices lower. still holding above $100 per barrel. the national average for a but with the situation there still extremely volatile oil prices and stocks also are going to remain in flux today. but we're seeing some green arrows there as we look at what's taking place on wall street. the images there over the past

few weeks have depicted terror on the faces of traders as the dow took dive after dive. but just because the markets are on a wild ride doesn't mean investors like you should panic. so don't pull all your cash, put it under the mattress just yet. joining me now to help calm down all of us just a little bit, personal financial expert carmen wong ulrich. nice to see you this morning. >> good morning, thomas. >> as we watch this together as a nation, it's clearly a stressful time for anybody that thinks about what's going to be coming down the line for them in years to come. but let's talk about the rules for surviving this, especially for the people out there that are worried about how their future is unfolding before their eyes. >> yeah. the look of terror on those faces, that's a short-term terror because these guys are interested in the short term. first rule is you have to realize that if you're in the market this is a long-term commitment and a long-term investment. you should not fall prey to short-term thinking, which tends to be at this point fear. because here's the thing. you may pull all your money out now. when are you going to get back in?

we know this historically. since the great depression, the first three to five years after a big market downturn, rapid accelerated growth. great gains in the market. if you can try to pull yourself out, how do you know when to get back in? and the research shows that the folks who stay in through the bear market and continue to buy when things are on sale in the long term come out ahead because they get those gains as well. >> it's almost like a snap when we see the next year following a year like this one we could see a 20% rise almost. >> and you need to be able to ride this out and actually encourage and maybe even guarantee gains after 20 years. you want to make sure you don't have short-term money in your long-term investments. >> so diversification is always important. >> always. >> but know yourself, be careful of others. what do you mean by that? >> here's what i mean. you've got to know why and how you're reacting. you've got to know in terms of diversification, make sure you know what's in your nest egg, make sure you know yourself. but you have to know yourself. are you someone who can handle the ups and downs in the day-to-day market? and also know other people,

who's going to take advantage of you in times like this. there are a lot of folks who crawl out from underneath who try to take advantage of your fear, who say come over here, i've got a guaranteed return for you. be very, very careful. the best way you can make yourself feel better is gain more knowledge about what you're investing in. >> okay. and our fourth idea, topic is about risk? >> oh, yes. >> nothing is safe in this world. but so we all need to venture to have a little bit of risk and be cool with that? >> here's the thing. thomas, what scares me the most about what's happening right now, folks who are knee-jerking and pulling their money out, the real risk is exposing yourself to no risk at all. if you have all your money in cash, in money markets, in treasuries, and you're lucky to earn 1% or 2% a year, you're actually losing money every year. and our responsibility is -- our retirement is our responsibility. it's a lot of money you have to put away. you need to use risk to grow that money to increase the chances you actually can retire. so it's actually a huge risk if you take no risk at all. >> so what are the recommendations to alleviate this fear? >> alleviate fear, the best

thing you need to do is you need to learn, you need to educate yourself on how the markets work, how you can use the market to your advantage, and have a long-term strategy. so at times like this you're not going to be in fear. you're just going to watch. >> all right. that's right. just think about vacation another time. >> well, for us that will be another time. >> it will be another time. carmen, thanks so much. good to see you. appreciate it as always. so a new survey is under way for the remains of a woman missing in aruba. police are now scouring the island beaches there for the body of robyn gardner. meanwhile, the alibi of her male travel companion is in doubt. gary giordano claims that robyn went missing underwater during a snorkeling trip, but a local fisherman claims he saw this couple that day and that neither of them went in the water. >> the story has not been proven yet. it has not been anchored in the reality. and that means that it's for us very hard to comment on that at this point in time. but if that statement bears

reality, bears -- anchors in reality, it's something that might change the path of the investigation. >> let's talk more about the details of this story. investigative journalist michelle sigona joins us now. michelle, it's nice to see you. >> good to see you. >> based on you why experience, in cases like this one what is the latest development of that witness, that fisherman tell you? >> well, this could really change the tone of this case. and if this witness is in fact credible, they can step forward with this eyewitness account to be able to help to nail down that timeline, which again is finally someone with a set of eyes that said you know what, she wasn't in the water. now, richard forester is robyn's boyfriend. i just got off the phone with him again within the last ten minutes. and he said you know, what there's no way she went snorkeling, she was very particular about her hair and her makeup and would never put her head underwater. >> all right. so this is what gets me. and maybe it's because i watch too many "law & order"s. there's also this recent report that gary giordano try to cash a $1.5 million accidental death policy of robyn gardner they had

from american express listing him as the benefactor. so what type of red flag is that putting up? especially when a policy like this even exists in the first place. >> it is a big red flag, and it's something of course investigators are looking into. it doesn't say that he's guilty. again, i'm not saying that at all. but what i'm saying -- >> neither am i. okay. >> right. it is odd, definitely. and nowadays you can get an insurance policy for anything. but it's -- i think the question at hand is that when you have to go in and actually use it, you have to prove certain things. so i think that those things have to be proven before anything could actually be cashed out or cashed in for that matter. but it's definitely -- it's an odd twist to this investigation. >> as the case moves on, detectives have also reportedly seized in materials from giordano's home in maryland, including a cell phone. as i understand it, that contains some questionable images. so what do you know more about these pictures and how they might fit into cracking this investigation? >> well, i can tell you that the fbi in talking with them, they're definitely working with aruban authorities and you know,

at points when they will issue search warrants they are helping to collect evidence on this side, this side of the tape, and working with aruba to be able to figure out if there's anything to keep him there. and so the matters in the -- the evidence that they seize there could tell a lot about their relationship, how long they were talking, what kinds of photos they were sharing, video, how many times they met before. there's a lot, i'm sure, that could exist in his house prior to them leaving for this trip that tells a lot about their personal journey and their story together. we're going to wait to see just a few more days, and i think as the days go on we'll find out more. especially as people want to come forward and give information. if someone said, well, why would this person, this eyewitness, if he saw something, why didn't he come forward earlier? the thing is that a lot of times in these cases people are afraid, they don't understand what's going on. sometimes investigators have to go knocking on their door and really kind of help to squeeze out that information. >> sometimes they don't even remember pertinent details. >> they really don't remember or -- yeah, they don't remember

seeing things. so as time goes on, we may find more eyewitnesses in this and may find more evidence and information. >> michelle sigona. michelle, great to see you. thanks. >> good to see you. have a good day. >> thank you. free or not. the original judge in the trial of the west memphis 3 still thinks they're killers. circuit judge david burnett made that comment sunday, three days after damien echols, and the others were set free. questions remain about who murdered the boys. but when asked during an exclusive interview with nbc's "today show," baldwin refused to speculate. >> honestly, i don't know. and i am so leery of pointing a finger at anyone, no matter how i may feel they be suspect, simply because i've had the finger pointed at me and i know what it feels like and i do not want to get it wrong. in other news, casey anthony has returned to florida. her attorney, jose baez,

confirmed the news in a tv interview. baez says anthony will report to a probation office in orlando to start probation if their appeal fails. a judge ordered anthony to serve a year of probation for check fraud. if the order is upheld, she has until noon on friday to report. what's up, smart?

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♪ it's the at&t network... a network of possibilities... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. ♪ rick perry's presidential run could give president obama a boost. a new report in politico says an army of trial lawyers are preparing for battle with the texas governor and could send heaps of money the president's way. now, the problem lawyers have with perry is an achievement he proudly triumphs on the campaign trail. >> back in the '80s and the '90s texas was a very litigious state. so we passed the most sweeping tort reform in 2003. and it still is the model in the nation. >> all right. so joining me now is politico reporter alex burns, who wrote that article. alex, explain to all of us, are

these lawyers -- they're so afraid of perry's tort reform that they'll start campaigning against him before he's even the actual gop nominee? >> well, some of them will, thomas. there's one houston trial lawyer named steve mosston. he and his wife donated 9 -- almost $9 million to democrats in texas last cycle. they're getting ready form a series of pac. s including a super pac to take on perry at the presidential level. even the folks not getting involved root now, wealthy trial lawyers across the country in places like california, new york, but also the deep south, say that they are prepared to really open their checkbooks to take on this guy. >> perry has really shaken up the gop field with his announcement, throwing his hat in the ring this past week. jon huntsman pinging, though, a fight with him. first this war of words over global warming between the two. and then this on sunday. take a listen. >> i'm not sure that the average voter out there is going to hear that treasonous remark and say that sounds like a presidential candidate. that sounds like someone who is serious on the issues. >> all right.

so is he drawing more attention to himself by picking this fight with perry, and is it the right time to do that? >> you know, he certainly is drawing more attention to himself. i think what jon huntsman has clearly accomplished in the last couple of days is he has sort of earned himself a place back in the 2012 conversation after really being written off. but i think the big question here is, you know, does defending the federal reserve, attacking sort of creationism attacking creationism and skepticism and evolution, staking out a position in favor of taking on global warming, are there actually republican voters who want a candidate like that? i'm not sure that there are. >> we'll continue to watch as it unfolds before us. we have a long way to go. alex, great to see you, thanks. nbc is teaming up with politico to host the next republican debate on september 7th. brian williams will moderate the debate from the regan library. hey, the

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welcome back, everybody. it's time for the flip side. months after the arab spring began muammar gadhafi may be on the way out of libya. what's become of the other leaders targeted by middle east residents? the thu sheegs president fled. he was sentenced last week to 60 years in prison for corruption and other charges. but he and his family remain comfortably exiled in saudi arabia. former egyptian president mubarak stepped down in february on the 18th day of protests against his regime. but the 83-year-old fell ill and remained many the country and then in a stark image on his fall from power, he appeared on a gurney inside a cage many the courtroom on the first day of his corruption trial this month. yemeni president has been in saudi arabia since june 3rd when an attack on his compound reportedly left him with 40% of

his body burned. he's in recovery threatening to return. but in his absence they're moving forward to his transition. president assad in syria is keeping his vicious crackdown on anti-government protesters going clinging to power despite international calls for his resignation. right now the hunt for colonel gadhafi continues. that's going to do it for me today. i'm going to see you back at 11:00 a.m. eastern time tomorrow and every weekday for that matter. you can follow me on twitter. contessa brewer is here to pick things up for the next hour. it's good to have you back in the studio. we continue to take a close watch on the situation in libya where the rebels are taking tripoli. the search continues for any sign of gadhafi at this hour. richard engel is standing by live.

stay with us. we'll be right back. for a while now, you've been taking an antidepressant. but your cloud of depression is still with you. maybe it's time to ask your doctor about adding seroquel xr to your antidepressant to treat your depression. seroquel xr is a once-daily, extended-release tablet, which means medication is released around the clock. for many, seroquel xr, when added to an antidepressant, was proven more effective than an antidepressant alone at helping people feel less depressed. call your doctor if you have unusual changes in mood,

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good monday. i'm contessa brewer covering the big news coast to coast. the top story breaking news from overseas around the world countries are beginning formally to recognize libya's national transitional council and the end of muammar gadhafi's regime in libya. rebels are in control of the capital, and reportedly taken other state tv, but still unanswered, where's gadhafi? the celebrations began almost immediately. >> finally libya is free. for 42 years we've been suffering. >> from just outside the white house to the streets of tripoli. >> we are free. we are now free. >> the civil war that's gripped libya for six months reaches a dramatic conclusion with rebel troops pushi