news that's coming to us out of tripoli. journalists say they have been freed from a hotel after days of captivity by gadhafi loyalists that were near the compound of muammar gadhafi. we'll have more of that coming out of tripoli. hi. i'm thomas roberts and it is a busy morning so far. i want to get straight to it because we have a lot to talk about in the first major hurricane to threaten the u.s. in 30 years is now a category 3 storm. moments ago we saw a new advisory from the national hurricane center about the path of irene packing top winds of 115 miles per hour. this storm is growing stronger as it cuts a path through the caribbean. it is expected to make landfall in north carolina's outer banks this weekend. meteorologist mike bettes is tracking the storm in the weather channel's headquarters in atlanta. mike, bring us up to speed. what kind of impact can we expect on the east coast? >> thomas, all eyes are focused on this one because we do

anticipate some potentially very serious impacts. i'm going to bring you the latest stats. 150-mile-an-hour winds, that's not changing. northwest movement at 12, so it's not nearly as much of a westerly component as it is a northerly component, just now coming through the bahamas, turks and caicos getting hit very hard here. this shows the eye which basically is a stadium effect as the center of that eye just fans out at the top here. it's a beautiful view down inside, but you can see as it comes over the islands just how powerful it is. this is certainly a strengthening storm. we anticipate it potentially going to a category 4 storm. right now category 3, hurricanes in effect and the computer models shows us the short term and then they fan out quite a bit. there could be a near miss or a direct hitov over the outer ban of north carolina. this would happen on saturday.

and then potentially go to new england striking new jersey or far out to the cape or the atlantic. a lot of uncertainty at the tail end of the forecast with this, but nonetheless, it's been a very long time, in fact, decades, since we've had a land falling hurricane in the northeast and a lot of us not necessarily knowing what to do with this as the hurricane heads our way. as it approaches nasa, it will be a category 4 storm, weakening as it heads northbound, but still a hard storm as it approaches north carolina and then heading northbound, a cat 2 as it heads to the northeast and into new england again. what this means along the jersey shore, power outages could be prevalent for many of us. high threat here for flooding, p for power outages and storm surge. we need to be on the alert. >> people need to close out their summer vacations and pay attention, that's for sure.

mike bettes accide, thanks. a lot of people are evacuating a small island as hurricane irene burroughs to the north coast. they're loading up on supplies and home improvement chores while some communities are unfazed by the approaching storm. >> we had no idea whether it would hit here or not, so we came on. we're going to enjoy our vacation as planned. >> nbc's kerry sanders is live from emerald isle, north carolina. what are the preps people are doing there as i know they're vacationing and watching what's taking place? >> exactly, and they are moving very slowly, but that is to be anticipated because of the distance of the storm, because there is about a 48-hour window. i think later this afternoon, people will start hunkering down on some plans, at least, of what they're doing. i just got off the phone with the administrator for fema, craig fugate, and he has been in touch with the white house not

only to tell president obama about the -- well, advising him about the evacuation on okracoke island km started in morning about 5:00 with the tourists and tomorrow with the 800 remaining residents on board that island, but also to advise him about the path of this storm, because it's possible, with where irene is going, that the impacts will be beyond, of course, the north carolina coast, up the coast, all the way up into new england. of course, remember, the president is on vacation on martha's vineyard, so advising him about his own personal plans as well. the officials here in north carolina, of course, are in touch with fema as well as the national hurricane center, and that is why the county officials in hyde county, which is part of okracoke, decided they would implement the tourist evacuation from the island, getting that ferry back and forth. the first ferry off had about 12 cars on board. thomas, the situation is i think

in the next ten or eight hours, we'll see people come up with their plans on what they're doing. we don't see people put up shutters on their windows, but that will come. >> as we talk about the landfall as early as saturday, walk us through some of the preparations that are under way right now, i guess to create the sense of urgency the residents will need, as you say, when we get closer to that gap window of knowing exactly what's going to happen. >> what really happens here is the delicate line between creating that sense of urgency but also not cry wolf or having any sense of hype. because if you look at irene, and we go back a couple days, there were folks in south florida who were monitoring the situation, and they didn't jump into the home depots to get the lumber to start putting on the windows just yet, they weren't cleaning out the grocery stores. and now with the path the storm was taking, that was a wise move. that's sort of what's going on right now. one thing fema says, and this

was reiterated by the national hurricane center, people go to that map and they see the cone and they look at the dot that is the eye, and they assume if they look at that eye and they see it a sort of distance off the coast that they're okay. don't forget that the hurricane force winds and then the tropical force winds extend quite a distance. i mean, 100-plus miles out from that eye, so even if you see that eye off the coast, let's say you're guessing 60, 70 miles, it doesn't mean you're in the clear if you're a coastal resident. but the delicate line between making sure that you understand that there could be some urgency and not falling prey to panic because of some sort of hype is a very delicate line, and really, i think the best advice, especially to newcomers, people who have never seen a hurricane, have moved into a region, is to listen to their local officials. when their local officials start saying stock up, move out, follow their warjz, follow their suggestions. >> nbc's kerry sanders in north

carolina. we're moving on to libya. american journalists who have been held by gadhafi loyalists in a hotel are now free. they've been held by gunpoint by gun-wielding guards who refused to give up their post despite the rebels elsewhere in the city. they were freed just moments ago, though. this is what we heard. [ gunshots ] >> it's still raging between rebels and fighters there in libya as this continues to wage on there. these people loyal to colonel muammar gadhafi there. the libyan leader is vowing to fight until victory or death, releasing a radio statement early this morning. but 24 hours after rebels breached his compound, his wh e

whereabouts remain a mystery. nbc chief foreign correspondent richard engle is in tripoli with the latest for us. richard, good morning. >> people are still here, firing guns in the air. they've been doing this since yesterday when rebels entered gadhafi's compound. for the first time we've heard from gadhafi himself. he issued a radio statement on which he called on his supporters to take up arms. he called on people in tripoli to rise up and to cleanse the city -- that was the word he used -- to cleanse the city of rats. by rats, he's certainly referring to rebels like members of the opposition who took up arms against him six months ago. there is no sign that anyone has done that so far, but gadhafi is effectively calling on libyans to fight each other, he's calling for a civil war. there is one still very dangerous situation that remains in this city. about 30 journalists are still

being held in a hotel by gadhafi supporters. these journalists are being held against their will, and earlier today there was reports of some gunfire around the hotel, but we haven't heard any specific information of shooting in the hotel complex itself. richard engle, nbc news in green square, libya. >> because of issues going on this morning in libya, we had richard file that report earlier. the breaking news we got at the top of the hour, the juournaliss have been freed. experts say aftershocks are possible after the biggest earthquake to hit the northeast in 67 years. it rattled nerves all up and down the east coast. the 5.8 quake affected a lot of people from virginia to new york and the closing of ten nuclear plants. in virginia, a startling ripple effect radiating across 28 states. those who felt it startled

enough to evacuate their buildings. >> it scared me enough to get up and leave. i'll ride roller coasters and i'm not scared, but that kind of shifted my stomach. >> i was looking around, thinking, you stop playing. and then i grabbed myself and went. >> east coasters are not used to this. luke rester live in washington, d.c. on the mall where monuments are still closed today. i know a lot of people are trying to get there to see some of the sites before having to get their families back home to start the school year may be a little disappointed to know things are closed. >> good morning, thomas. the day after the earthquake, it's not necessarily business as usual here in washington, d.c. a number of monuments are actually reopened, however, there are two that are not. specifically the one over my right shoulder, that would be the washington monument. it is now closed indefinitely

because last night structural engineers found a crack at the top of the monument and they want to make sure it's structurally sound before they let tourists back in. no clue as to when that will reopen. another iconic building closed at this time, the national cathedral about a few miles north of me here in washington, d.c. often known as the nation's church, it's held presidential funerals, the 9/11 memorial service. that actually fell. they're going to have structural engineers look at that building and make sure it's structurally sound before tourists are allowed to re-enter. a lot of federal workers were allowed to stay home. a lot of federal buildings still closing including the agriculture department, the labor department, department of homeland security. in fact, on my way to the capital at 9:00 a.m., which is usually a hectic commute, the streets were wide open, a lot of workers given the option to telecommute. it might be a little while before you can get back in the

washington monument or the national cathedral, thomas. >> luke, thank you so much. what does this quake mean for the east in the immediate future? was it just a fluke, a lifetime event, or is this a precursor to something bigger koccoming downe line? peggy, what do you make of what happened yesterday, and i know the east coasters are making a big deal about this because it's not something we are accustomed to. we have the four seasons here on the east coast and the west coast has just great weather and they can expect earthquakes on the west coast. were you as surprised as i was? >> i was as surprised as you were. i don't know about the seismic sensor on the east coast because that's mostly what we have out here and that's what i concern myself with. but there are earthquakes everywhere, and apparently there is a nest in virginia who has had quite a bit of earthquakes over the years. none of them this big so far.

>> historically the east coast doesn't get many earthquakes. this is the first we've had of this size in 67 years. so if this is so uncommon, do you think that, as you're saying you weren't so aware of this area in virginia, do you think it should be investigated for potentially bigger things to come? is this kind of a foreshadowing quake? >> it's always hard to say, is it a foreshadowing quake. i don't think it is. there have been big kwquakes on the east coast, the 1886 charleston earthquake and 1927 off the grand banks in new england, those are the biggest two i know about, and of course the earthquakes that are to the west of this location in new madrid. it's the 200th anniversary of them this year. the question is, do they foresee more? in order to have really big earthquakes, you need to have really long faults.

the longer, the bigger the fault, the longer, the bigger the earthquake that can happen, and we don't have evidence of any really big, really long faults on the east coast. so it could get a little bit bigger than this. i wouldn't expect it to get much bigger in this location of virginia. >> as i said, east coasters, we are not used to this. everybody out west has lived through these before. a 5.8 quake, though, is really nothing to sneeze at, but do you think the east coast may have overreacted because we're not used to getting these? >> well, there are two things that are different for the east coast. one is that you don't have them, so yes, it's very unsettling. it shakes you up, we could say. but there is the shaking going on that you don't usually feel, and the other thing that's different from the west coast is that the area that's shaking, that feels the shaking, is much larger simply because the crust in the east is much more contiguous, harder, and so when

somebody hits it somewhere with a relatively small earthquake, one could say it rings like a bell all over the east, and the bigger the earthquake, the farther the area that it's felt. for california earthquakes of magnitude 5.8, 5.9, the area that it's felt is much smaller than what was felt on the east coast. a different part of the question is new york city where the buildings are relatively tall, and so the period that the buildings shake at is very similar to the period of the earthquake waves, and the large buildings probably felt a good deal more shaking than smaller buildings. >> it just goes to prove that the east coast and west coast have more in common than we originally thought. peggy, great to have you on this morning, appreciate it. peggy helwig. stay tuned, because at the bottom of the hour we're going to be talking to quake expert edwards on how to stay prepared for earthquakes regardless of the magnitude. also, the breaking news we were telling you at the top of the hour, when we come back, the

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welcome back, everyone. let's get you up to speed with what's taking place in hurricane irene. there's how it's forming on the east coast, or right now on the islands below florida there. but as it's coming toward the east coast, we got the latest advisory at the top of the hour that the storm is going to be coming this way, and coming toward the florida coast where the storm is expected to come as a category 3, and it's going to turn toward the north-northwest and then turn thursday night coming up toward new york and then further on. but the storm is going to change

roughly, maybe, from a category 3 to a category 2 storm once it crosses over from maryland near ocean city and then on up. but we're going to continue to follow that. we're also following breaking news out of libya for you. international journalists held by gadhafi loyalists in a hotel reportedly now freed. an ap reporter who entered this hotel earlier on wednesday found the journalists were wearing helmets and flak jackets and clustered on the floor where a guard said they were not permitted to leave. we're going to talk with andrea mitchell. she joins us from washington, d.c. andrea, as we watch this unfold, i think a lot of people were wondering why the journalists didn't feel they had the right to leave, but as we've learned now, there were these armed guards inside that were loyal to muammar gadhafi who were letting them know full well that they were not going to leave that building.

>> as richard engle reported earlier today, they were fully held hostage. they had armed guards surrounding them and they were the gadhafi loyalists who were surrounding that hotel. they did not have the freedom to leave. some may have gotten out, but basically this was a rescue, according to those journalists tweeting out. a rescue done by the red cross helped get them out. that was a very dicey situation in there, and it's with great relief that our colleagues and friends are report they go actually got out of the hotel. >> what does it mean to everyone who is watching how the control of tripoli has shifted over the last 24 hours, especially now that these journalists have been freed, the gadhafi loyalists are now not holding them within the hotel, and that change of power is, you know, we've seen it happen now. >> thomas, it's very significant that the rebel leaders have managed to establish checkpoints, they've done what they said they were going to do and tried to create some control

over tripoli and heading toward tripoli to symbolically take control of the capital. but as you can see, there is still fighting and particularly around the airport area and until the gadhafi loyalists put down their arms, this is still a very dicey situation. i think it could go for days, if not weeks, if they can't gain control of it. the real issue is where is gadhafi, and this appeals to him to keep fighting and chasing down the rats, in his words. that is the most alarming thing today. >> we continue to watch and wait and see. thank you, andrea. the former libyan ambassador to the united states joins us to talk about this. it's nice to have you on, sir. as andrea was just pointing out, gadhafi is still at large. if he is captured, do you expect libyans want to see him stand trial for what he's done over the decades, or do you suspect they just want to see him reach a swift end? >> the libyan people would very

much like to see gadhafi released by the forces and face a trial for what he did. of course, this is a very sensitive issue, and they want him to see his demise for the people he's killed. >> people have been in contact with the libyan leaders during this conflict that's been ongoing. do they hold the power to control what happens next in that country, in your estimation? >> the way they control tripoli, the way they take over the coronation we witnessed between the tnt and the leadership of the existence of the people in different cities, and the minimum casualties during the

controlling of tripoli make me feel very confident that the tnc has the krcredibility, they hav the ability to control what happens in the near future. >> how concerned are you with so much transition within libya and surrounding countries that even terrorist groups or a civil war could transform movement we've seen? >> i believe for them talking about libya, the young people that are fighting to gain their dignity, their freedom, to feel free. i'm sure they would not allow a anybody to control them. this is the right time for libya to get together, and you can see the changes had taken place are

incredible. the spirit of the people, they want to practice their democratic system, and that's going to happen. i'm not worried in libya that they have problems. gadhafi still has some pockets here and there. i think he wants to tell the national committee that he's still around but he's desperate. >> we'll let you know where exactly he surfaces. thank you so much for joining us this morning and your insights. >> thank you. dominique strauss-kahn. we're going to talk about him. now a freeman after the sexual assault case against him was dismissed. is he angry that he was paraded -- look at him with his arms behind his back when he was first arrested -- and is a civil suit coming up in the courts next? [ male announcer ] this...is the network -- a network of possibilities. in here, the planned combination

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so the latest forecast track has hurricane irene slamming the coast this weekend, hitting north carolina on saturday and continuing up the coast to new england by monday. coastal residents are prepping for high winds and the potential of extreme flooding without knowing how bad this storm will be. joining me now, craig fugat, head of fema, as we all know it. craig, it's nice to have you on this morning, and i know you're taking to twitter and other social media to get the word out about this to people. how concerned, in your estimation, should people be as they watch this storm, as they watch irene unfold? >> let's make sure that we understand that, you know, this is not just a point on the map and that if people are ready, if they've got their plans and they've got their supplies, what they need to do is monitor to the storm. i would say the people that need to be concerned are the people who haven't gotten ready, don't know if they live in an evacuation zone, don't know what they're going to do if irene

threatens their community. if you've got your plans and your supplies, you're good. if you don't, get ready. >> it's about having that plan in place so you can pull the trigger if you need to. it's the 19th anniversary of hurricane andrew. that's one of the most powerful storms to hit the u.s. this storm nowhere close to that. where are you moving your teams and how are you working with local governments to prepare? it's just as fluid a situation for you as it is for everyone at home that needs to prep and watch this. >> right. we started out in the virgin islands in puerto rico. we still have teams in puerto rico. they have mudslides and flooding. it's still raining out there. but we have teams as far south as florida, moving up to the new england area, and we're moving teams based on where we see this threat occurring. right now a lot of our focus is in the carolinas and the mid-atlantic. we've been talking to our state counterparts all the way up to the new england states as they watch this storm track. >> if they hit the d.c. area,

this could affect the delay or dedication of the mlk memorial where president obama is expected to speak this weekend. it's one thing to have an earthquake on tuesday and a hurricane by the weekend. do you think this is really going to have much effect on some of the plans that are coming for the mid-atlantic? >> well, it's a little bit too early to forecast what will be happening here, but the national park service and the national park service police will be the incident commander for this. we're sharing information, and they're looking at what impacts and what they'll have to do. but the national park service, that's their area of responsibility and the park police are actually going to be in command of the activity. >> and craig, just once again, remind everybody they need to have their action plan in place about knowing whether or not they are in an evacuation route, what route they should be taking if they are ordered to do so, correct? >> you just reminded them, but if they need more help, go to ready.gov, or if you're on a mobile phone, go to mfema.gov to

know what you can do to prepare yourself now just in case irene has you evacuating or getting prepared for high wind. >> craig fugate, thanks for your time. >> thanks. breaking news this morning. we're getting a better look at the nation's economy. the cbo, congressional budget office, is reporting our budget will hit $1.2 trillion this year. that's down from the last two years. the agency adds the deficit reduction package passed by congress will reduce deficits by over $3 trillion over the next decade. rick klein is a columnist for the "washington post" as a policy analyst and joins me now. ezrick, i want to get your numbers on the cbo. good news or bad news? >> they will not affect the president in any way at any time or in the future. these projections change a little bit year to year as the economy gets a little bit

better. we've lopped a little off the budget. that could, of course, change, but these numbers are so big that these changes don't affect the way the public understands them, and because they don't affect the economy, the cbc not expecting a big drop. >> i want to highlight some of the numbers when it comes to the president and debt. $4 trillion in debt since he took office. almost triple the number when president bush was in office. how big will this factor into his reelection bid? >> it will be certainly an issue, but i would just go back and say some of it is the prescription drug benefit, not much. some of it is the wars, not much of it. a lot of it is the bush tax cuts. when you have an economic collapse like we have, spending

goes up because they need all this help, and revenue goes down because they lose their jobs and they don't have the income to pay taxes. that's why the deficit is so high. you cannot trace it back to this administration and even previous administrations past. deficits and economy go hand in hand. >> while we're on this, mark rubio talked about the major debt. he's also been talked about as a potential candidate for the gop ticket. listen to what he had to say about that. >> if your mother asks you to accept the vp spot, what will you say? [ applause ] >> it's a great honor to be thought of in that way. i have -- as i joked earlier today, i have no interest in serving as vice president for anyone who could possibly live all the years of the presidency. >> nothing wrong with listening to your mom and taking her advice, but rubio single hand he

hadly saved nancy reagan. he was escorting her into the reagan library when she fell and almost hit the floor. luckily he was on her elbow and able to hold her up and keep her up. when he talks about the gop and whether or not he's ready to be a part of any vice presidential aspirations, what does that tell you? do you think it's really out there? at least it's floating in the ether. >> it's certainly out there, but i'll be surprised if mark rubio's mother does run for president and does win the gop nomination. i would consider that unlikely. but even if someone else does and they name mark rubio, he's like toll take it. he's not going to be president, not going to be vice president, not going to be serving as ambassador. he settled that less than a year ago. so when the call comes and the opportunity presents himself, previous denials don't amount to much. >> he certainly did a great deed in helping the first lady.

so did you feel it? it is the question people all up and down the east coast are asking each other. maybe a more important question should be, are you prepared? we're going to break down what you need to do should is happen once again. back after this. ncer ]e a where'd you get that idea?

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that just makes the stories even better. more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. add some style to your sink, with this moen banbury faucet for the new lower price of $79. we take you back now to libya and talk about the breaking news we had at the top of the hour. the international journalists have been freed from the hotel after being held for days by men loyal to muammar gadhafi. you can see them being escorted from the building there. they were held at gunpoint from nervous, gun-wielding guards who refused to give up their posts despite the rebels elsewhere in the city, and as they were being told to let them out, they weren't budging. a press reporter who entered the hotel earlier on wednesday did find the journalists wearing

helmets and flak jackets. they were clustered on a second floor area where a guard was saying they were not permitted to leave. again, they have all now been freed. i want to turn back to the northeast where they're talking a lot about what we witnessed yesterday, taking a toll on damage of the 5.8 magnitude earthquake. the washington monument closed indefinitely as cracks were found in its peak. it raises the question, how prepared are we if something like this were to happen here again? the author of preparedness works with organizations like the red cross to deal with emergency situations, and he joins me in the studio. we are less than a day out of all this, and folks out west, obviously, they can make a little bit of fun of the people on the east coast. we're not really used to this. >> we're not used to it. >> so the jaded west coasters are saying 5.8, big deal. for people here in 22 different states that felt this rattle, they wondered what the heck was going on.

so is this something where this is a great lesson to learn how to become prepared, because people were not expecting this yesterday and probably were not prepared at all at home when something like this strikes. >> we on the east coast, a lot of the stuff out in the pacific that you see, because there is a frequency of earthquakes that we don't have here, we -- since we don't have that level of preparedness in terms of our infrastructure here, civilians are going to have to take up the slack. in other words, we, the civilian population, is going to have to prepare ourselves for this inevitabily. earthquakes don't happen frequently here, but yesterday was indicative of what could happen here. they're cyclic, so every 100 years or so we have a fairly significant earthquake here, so we need to prepare for it because our infrastructure isn't, so civilians have to be ready. >> not just prepare but also

educate yourselves on what you should do. we're showing a lot of video now where people came out of their buildings. this is not the advice people would get in california. i think a lot of people were asked to leave their buildings as well. so how would advise people ask people overseeing big, large buildings to educate themselves on what they need to know and how best to protect their people? >> first of all, they're going to have to stage drills because they'll have to get a more orderly process for people when they do leave the building. what we saw yesterday is like a panic, and the last thing you need is a bunch of panicked people during an earthquake, an actual earthquake. people have to know that in some cases, you might not be able to take an elevator because an elevator is something you would not want to get caught up on if for some reason the actual shaft was warped because of the lateral motion of the building. again, the buildings here are not decide to sway -- skyscrapers sway to a certain

extent because of wind, but they're not like the buildings in japan that have counterweights on top that allow it to move back and forth along a wave. so we've got to know where to go, where not to go. if an earthquake were to hit right now, you've got lightweight things. i would hope this desk would be enough to protect you from the lights overhead. >> i don't think so. >> you would have to find something, man. you would have to find something. we got to find something in here you can i'd under. a good arched doorway, a bathroom, someplace. people need to know where they can go in their respect active work environments and places they can kind of hide and ride out the earthquake. >> show us what you've got on your wrist. >> this is my bandit. i have my watch, i have my pens, and i have my post-it pads, and i have my wallet and i have all of my gear. that's if you want to get slick.

if you want to get regular, you can carry your own personal kit and the personal kit has all the things you may need in an earthquake. you can have a mini flashlight, you have a thing called a multi-tool. a lot of guys have the multi-tool. this is the thing where you have the wrench and the pliers -- >> it comes in handy. >> it comes in handy during an earthquake, and a when i feistl because a lot of times you need to call for help. these are things people can carry in their offices, they won't have much problem with it, it won't interfere with their profile or whatever, so people have to begin to prepare themselves for earthquakes and all of the things you wouldn't think would happen in the east coast. >> you say cash and load determination. good to have you on today, as always. muammar gadhafi is speaking out as the world watches his regime fall. and the families of pan am

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and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life. we are following the very latest developments in libya, journalists held in the hotel. there they are leaving. then the search for gadhafi himself, it continues. they believe the colonel is still in libya. his daughter has reportedly called for all libyans to stand with her father and standing for foreign interference in that country. the fall of the gadhafi regime is certainly a joyous event for people in libya, but it's small consolation for those who lost loved ones in the pan am flight more than a decade ago.

the request to release lockerbie is in frustration, but now they're in ruins there. one of the families of pan am flight 103 joins us now. tell us the emotions you've been feeling over the last several days that you've been watching this. >> frankly, i'm elated to see the progress the libyan people have made in the last six months to hold gadhafi accountable for decades of his brutal vitality and to seek justice for the mass murder of innocent civilians. this is something that none of the world's superpowers has been able to achieve in 22 years. >> when the dust settles and people start evaluating what's taking place in libya, do you think it's important to re-evaluate al-maghrahi.

he was returned to libya because he was dying of cancer, but he's seemed to outlive any doctor's declaration of his death. >> al-megrahi did not leave alone. nothing could have been execute government has never issued indictments against gadhafi or his brutal regime. they never tried to prosecute him or seek justice or accountability for the mass murder of american citizens. actually conversely, the u.s. government rewarded gadhafi when he turned over the two indicted for criminal trial by giving billions of dollars of oil contracts as well as billions in zero, practically zero interest loans. so this is really important for us our hope lies with the libyan

people that gadhafi is arrested and also his henchmen, his regime and they are tried in either at the libyan court system or in the international criminal court. >> victoria, you lost your husband in the pan am flight. how important is it to you that gadhafi is brought to justice? captured and brought to jous tis? >> well, we need to get him out of business. we've seen that -- i felt his brutality one day, but the libyan people have lived with his brutality and the mass murder of innocent civilians for 42 years. we have to get him out of business. my hope is also that our government and the uk government does not try to find a country that will give him asylum or immunity from prosecution. he, his sons and his regime need to be put out of business and held accountable for their murderous actions. >> you make some very great

points. thanks for coming on today. i appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. so the big question, did we overreact? how the west coast is now mocking the east coast online over yesterday's earthquake. that's going to make up our flip side. stick around. we're back right after this.

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welcome back. to the flip side, our look beyond the headlines. yesterday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake was the biggest one on the east coast since 1944. seems like a big deal, california alone has 35 quakes of that size at least in the same time period. it's no wonder the west coast has little sympathy for us earthquake new bees you could almost hear the west coast running. running outside is the last thing you're supposed to do in arn earthquake. you're supposed to duck under a desk, stand in the doorway.

it's pretty clear why our trauma on the eastern seaboard draws nothing but sworn. sarah atkinson tweeted 5.9, that's what us californians use to stir our coffee with. the 2011 either quake, the biggest east coast, coast fukushima daiichi since gangster rap. >> the west coast is the best coast. >> i'll see you back here tomorrow. contessa brewer in the peanut gallery next to me. >> i don't know why you didn't let me just participate in that. >> you could have. >> you know what the east coast has that the west coast doesn't have yet? hurricanes. and hurricane irene could be a good one. >> in hurricanes? >> these are the guys complaining about carmagaddeno.

>> where are you from, canada? >> oh, for sure. hurricane irene more on this ahead. a look at rick perry's unusual campaigning methods as well. she has a lot of people working for him. could it pay off in the end. you could save a bundle with geico's multi-policy discount. geico, saving people money on more than just car insurance. ♪

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