love new york! >> it is cool to be asked to play in public, to be encouraged to have fun and be nice while doing it especially because people did so improve everywhere, let me return the favor, excellent job. best new thing in the world today, definitely. monster storm. hurricane irene lurks in the caribbean preparing to bear down on the eastern u.s. aftershock. how the east coast is reacting to tuesday's rare earthquake in virginia. and hot water. a woman who forced her adopted son to eat hot sauce is now facing her own punishment. good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

today we begin with a gathering storm. as predicted, hurricane irene regained strength overnight growing to a category two storm. now, high above the earth this harrowing image was taken from the international space station as hurricane irene passed over the caribbean. experts say the storm could grow to a category four monster by the time it makes landfall this weekend. in fact, some forecasts predict irene could become the most powerful storm to hit the east coast in more than a decade. let's go right now over to meteorologist todd santos. he has been tracking irene for us. todd, it's sort of ominous. they're saying this will be huge. what do we need to know? >> you want to bring it into a few areas initially.

the bahamas, considering you're talking about a system that has increased to 110 miles an hour, just one shy of being a category 3, but you can see the eye is likely to spend 9 nethe next co of days there. doesn't exit until late friday. so again a long time for the bahamas to be under the gun of a potentially major hurricane especially if it manages to hit category 3. as far as the track of the system go, we'll continue to watch this as it moves off to the west/northwest. going to make that turn off towards the north and east very slowly and we'll make sure we get the computer back up to that coming up. but saturday, talking about the area south of the outer banks of north carolina. and by saturday morning could potentially have a landfall there that is one of the area that's in the cone. so the northeastern coastline, prep time is now.

we could see a strike up the mid-atlantic coastline upwards of ten inches in 24 hours. so some areas that have already seen a lot of rain this month, get ready for potentially more that includes areas like new york city, southeast new england. that strong hurricane, that's the time frame for saturday morning eastern north carolina, so make sure you're ready before that. and of course that major rainstorm is one of the biggest issues as far as this system is concerned. so surf heights not a huge story at the moment, though there are a few bigger numbers up around ten feet closer to the storm. the coastline not showing the numbers yet, but if you're planning on a beach day especially into friday, really dangerous conditions especially the rip currents. they'll set up quickly. and there's a look at the water temperatures. you can see even as you get toward the northern edges, and the wind field right now, hurricane winds extend 0 miles out from the center. that could also grow and cover a

larger. >> real ominous forecast. all right, todd, thanks so much. and as the eastern united states keeps a watchful eye on irene, the region is still recovering from the shock of another of mother nature's phenomenons. a rare earthquake. it was quite bizarre. aside from slight damage to the washington monument and atop the national cathedral in the capital, the biggest toll the widespread rumble seemed to take was on people's nerves. kristen dahlgren has more. >> reporter: it was an unexpected afternoon shock along the east coast, unused to earthquakes. the shaking sent panicked people into the streets. >> i thought the building was about to come down. i didn't wait for nobody to tell me to evacuate. >> reporter: this is video from a virginia grocery store. in washington d.c. even the white house shook. the capitol and national monuments were evacuated. the national cathedral closed after losing chunks off its

center spire. the quake was centered northwest of richmond, virginia, and was felt from georgia and south carolina to maine, even michigan. >> they're felt over a much wider area and that has to do primarily the difference between older geologic structures. >> so workers evacuated buildings in many eastern cities like new york and philadelphia. >> felt tremors. everything was shaking. >> reporter: planes and trains were delayed. and now experts warn more rumbling could follow. >> we will have earthquakes that will occur over days and weeks ahead from an earthquake like this. fortunately, most often than not, the after shocks are smaller. >> reporter: good news for people along the east coast. kristen dahlgren, nbc news, washington. well, elsewhere muammar qadhafi's fate appears to be all

but sealed after rebels stormed and looted his tripoli compound wednesday. just hours ago with the elusive leader's whereabouts unknown, qadhafi released an audio address rallying loyal residents against rebel forces. brian mooar has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. gath has lost his seat of power, but clearly not his fight. this audio message said to be subdued, but nevertheless, defiant. he called on all libyans to converge on the capitol and eliminate what he called the traitors and the rats. qadhafi said he had made an undercover foray into the capitol, and he was downplaying the chaos, but it is clear that his compound has been overrun by libyan rebels. hundreds of them. they really struck at the heart of the qadhafi regime. they looted the armories. they knocked the head off a statue of qadhafi, but they walked away without the ultimate prize, the man himself. lynn.

>> brian, thanks. and last might on the rachel maddow show, she asked p.j. crowley how significant he thinks the capture of gadhafi's tripoli compound is. and what it would look like for libya in the weeks ahead. >> it's a huge psychological boost for the transitional tran transitional national down. so a very significant move in the short term now they have a challenge of security, making sure that the streets are controlled. and conditions return to normal. and also politics. now, demonstrating that as a regional power center they can now credit pbly lead the countr. it's one thing that they're

unified in opposition to gadhafi. it's another thing they come together and actually have to create a common vision for a country and then effectively move in that direction. that's where national assistance is going to be vital. i think maybe a second challenge for libya is the matter of oil. now, getting oil back flowing again will generate revenue for the country, but as we've seen with the resource curse in many countries, the fact that there is now something to fight over is no longer under the command of gadhafi means that's an enticing irritant or splinter that could pick at the unity that we hope that libya will achieve. n only on msnbc. in connecticut a crashing end. the driver was speeding before losing control and slamming into

the home, according to witnesses. no one was hurt inside that home, but, unfortunately, the person behind the wheel wasn't so lucky. the driver was removed from the car and taken to the hospital with serious injuries. thick clouds of black smoke billowed from a fiery wreck on a texas highway. the raging inferno erupted after a jeep collided with a tanker truck carrying 5,600 gallons of jet fuel. officials shut down the stretch of highway until the blaze burned itself out. one passenger in the jeep was taken to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. and finally, in arizona dozens of animals needed help wiggling out of an ugly situation. residents removed over 30 malnourished reptiles from a home of an animal hoarder who is scheduled to be featured on a cable tv show. so far no charges have been filed against the homeowner. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here once again is meteorologist todd santos with the weather channel forecast.

good morning. >> want to take you into the track forecast for irene considering we are dealing with a system that will intend quiwie of time in the bahamas. as i mentioned earlier, we are talking about a category 2 storm likely to strengthen to a cat 3 by later on today and even notice some of the winds showing up on the graphic here even by later on this afternoon, 120, those are category 3 winds. the same story as you make your way north. once it gets in to portions of eastern north carolina, still keep in mind portions of south carolina still in the fan as far as the potential track itself. but look what happens sunday into monday. this is the heavy rainfall across portions of the mid-atlantic and even portions of southeastern new england. some indications there that we could be dealing with a cat 1 hurricane by the beginning of this coming week. so we'll continue to watch that. so far the track is slowly inching eastward. for today, better chance for showers and thunderstorms across portions of the ohio valley

extending back down. some of the stronger storms heading in towards pittsburgh, already through detroit. bad news is good news on wall street. sort of. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. first for the red sox and a basketball great makes a shocking announcement. you're watching "first look" on mcht scht nbc. emily's just starting out... and on a budget.

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welcome back to "first look." here are some of the top news this morning. a city finds the postal service could save $1.5 billion annually if it slows down its two to three day delivery schedules for first class and priority mail deliveries by a day. casey anthony must report to a florida probation office by friday after losing an appeal in her check fraud case. the court disagreed with her argument that she completed the probation sentence while in jail awaiting a murder trial for her daughter's death.

she was acquitted in that case. this is disturbing. an alaska woman who squirted hot sauce into her adopted russian son's mouth as punishment, has been convicted of misdemeanor child abuse. she recorded the incident and sent it to the dr. phil show in a ploy, prosecutors say, to get on the show. she faces up to a year in prison. amy winehouse's family says no illegal drugs were found in her system when she died last month. there's no word whether prescription drugs were present. alcohol was found, but it is yet to be determined if that contributed to her death. and a new study estimates earth has almost 8.8 million species. so far scientists have only uncovered about a quarter of them. here's your first look at wall street.

the d dow opens at 11, 176 after spiking 322 points yesterday. the s&p jumped 38 points. the nasdaq shot up 100. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo the nikkei fell 93 points, while in hong kong the hang seng dropped 408. believe it or not, bleak economic news actually drove stocks to impressive heights tuesday, and that's because investors hope more weak data will force fed chairman ben bernanke to step in with a stimulus. that's despite not one fed official saying anything to encourage such speculation. bernanke gives his speech this friday in jackson hole, wyoming. a local manufacturing survey that pointed to a downshift in activity helped fuel those rescue hopes, as did fresh housing data showing sales of newly built homes hitting a six-month low in july. exxonmobile and chevron both shot up more than 4% as oil settled up more than $1 a barrel. tech stocks nvidia and jcs were

among the big gainers. both rising about 10%. while american express and jpmorgan chase added 4%. bank of america was the lone bluechip in the red sinking to a two and a half year low on growing concerns the nation's largest bank lacked enough capital to meet new global standards. meanwhile, shares of swiss banc ubs rose on news it's cutting back by slashing 3,500 jobs. overseas moody's has cut japan's debt rating by one notch. thanks to growing government debt. the "wall street journal" reports sprint nextel is next in line to sell apple's iphone 5 when it's released in mid-october. finally, if recent market crashes have you reaching for the nearest burger and fries, you're apparently not alone. a new study suggests that bad economic news can trigger a survival instinct that causes you to pick high calorie, life-sustaining foods over low

cal alternatives. apparently the life sustaining foods, i didn't really need an excuse before, but i'm glad i have one now. coming up, the red sox ride the long ball and the braves slam the cubs. plus, earthquake at the ballpark in cleveland. your first look at sports is straight ahead. al beauty could be flawless too? discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scientifically proven soy complex and natural minerals. give you sheer coverage instantly, then go on to even skin tone in four weeks. aveeno tinted moisturizers.

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welcome back. in sports we have sad news to start with, and it's regarding one of the greatest coaches in american sports. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning. pat summit is a hall of famer and the winningest coach in basketball history. she's 59 years old and announced yesterday that she is suffering the early onset of dementia, but that will not keep her off the bench. tennessee coach told reporters that she started feeling erratic early this year. she plans to rely on medication and mental exercises to manage her condition. she'll continue to coach as long as the good lord is willing. baseball, the red sox haven't won in texas until now. adrian gonzalez starting to heat up. he had a pair of homers. now to the bronx. the yankees were down six and rallied in the eighth. nick swisher cut the lead in half. new york is back in business. to the ninth. down one. swisher again. deep to right. but not deep enough.

a's won it 6-5. yanks and sox tied for first in the east. a couple of kids increased their lead in the nl wild card race. 22-year-old jason hayward hit a grand slam, and then that ties the rookie record. rays beat the cubs 5-4. astros and rockies. martinez with a fly ball to shallow right. then carlos gonzalez came out of nowhere to make the diving grab from a single to an out in the blink of an eye. rocky blindside the astros 8-6. finally, mariners and indians played a double-header when the earthquake hit the east coast and rattled the upper deck for nearly a minute. then after the quake, chu an aftershock. a three-run walk-off homer in the ninth. indians flipped their double-header on a wild day in the east. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin.

>> and now here's todd santos with your weather channel forecast. that looks much more calm than what's coming up. >> it does look good. of course the bahamas are not included at least in this map, but there are showers that will be showing up eastern great lakes extending down through the ohio valley, even southeast missouri. otherwise mid-atlantic very quiet today. anchorage, 58 there. talk about tomorrow, that's where some of the showers in the eastern great lakes get in through boston, new york city, philly, as well. you also get a better chance for showers and thunderstorms across portions of florida and most of these are actually a frontal boundary. so as far as the storm is concerned, as it progresses northward, we're still talking about a cat 2. could be a 3 later on today. there's a look at the time frame, so time to prepare especially now across areas for the eastern edge of north carolina including the outer

banks. some of the bigger impacts will be the heavy rainfall potential. >> todd, thanks. well, reports that one of hole wod's biggest power couples is on the rocks. plus she's order to gain weight and rid herself of bad car that. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. woman: downloading music can be expensive. so to save money, i trained my dog and this cockatoo to play all the hits of the '80's woman: hit it, mr. butters. ♪

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welcome back to "first look." time for entertainment news. this year megan fox plans on losing more than her role in the transformers franchise. after more than a year and a half on a vegan diet, she quits

because she wants to pack on some pounds. she's also removing a marilyn monroe tattoo due to its negative energy. will and jada were reported splitting, and then the couple released a statement saying we are still together, and our marriage is intact. a rep for pinkett smith threw some gas on the fire by denying rumors of an affair between pinkett smith and mark anthony. now anyone who hasn't heard the rumor has. and 85-year-old tony bennett will perform at video music awards for the first time since 1993 in a tribute to his friend amy winehouse. finally, you knew it had to happen sooner or later. lady gaga is visiting springfield. the simpsons episode lisa goes gaga airs next spring. she has the marge thing already going on. >> already a character herself,

so it works in well. >> and i have a feeling that there's going to be like a cartoon version of the meat dress. that's got to be in there shr. >> there's a lot to pull from as far as the simpsons writers are concerned. you know they're good. >> it seems like lady gaga find as way into every single facet of our life. i'm lynn berry and this is "first look." but stay tuned, "way too early with willie geist" starts right now. with the help of nato air strikes, libyan rebels overrun the compound from which moammar gadhafi has run the country for decades. and they loot his personal stuff, fur coats included. even as the dictator sends out one more defiant radio message. the question is, how much longer can gadhafi play this game of hide and seek? meanwhile a magnitude 5.8 earthquake shakes the nation's capital and sends shockwaves up and down the east coast. the question is just h