good day, everybody, i'm contessa brewer, we are covering big news from coast to coast, right now the big story monster storm. irene's a category three and getting bigger as it heads towards the u.s. east coast. as irene barrels towards the united states, flags now warn beach goers to stay away from rough waters. >> i heard it was going to be a dangerous hurricane. >> the impacts of a major hurricane as we well know many the carolinas down through florida can be really devastating. >> from the bahamas to florida, north carolina, and all the way to new england, the east coast is bracing for irene.

>> up and down the eastern seaboard everybody has to be prepared. >> trying to get in a little bit of beach time before some rougher stuff comes in. >> it's already a major category three hurricane. forecasters say irene could reach category four status with winds of 100 miles per hour. >> we've gone through eight tropical storms this season. none of them became a hurricane. now we get a monster of a storm. >> north carolina governor warned people to get ready to get out. >> prepare, plan for the worst, and pray for the best. >> preparations on the island started this morning. the nation's capital is on alert for the storm. it could hit there over the weekend. so today officials are deciding whether to delay sunday's dedication of the long awaited martin luther king memorial. in south florida, long time residents who remember andrew's devastation in 1992 are already stocking up. >> i'm nervous.

>> it terrifies me. >> and right now irene's hugging the baa hall mas but moving closer to south florida and the carolinas. the national hurricane center predicts it could be a big threat to new england and maybe long island on sunday. kerry sanders is in emerald aisle, north carolina, what are you seeing there, kerry, just rough surf. >> reporter: it's totally unrelated to irene. folks have gathered at the beach like they do every day, enjoying a wonderful day. a breeze, a little bit of dark clouds on the horizon, but they're all aware of irene about 900 miles that direction make its way here. while people are not going to the grocery stores and clearing out the water and the food or putting up any sort of shutters yet, they're all aware that really in about the next 24 hours they are going to have to start getting into gear. tourists have told me some that they may wind up leaving tomorrow morning cutting their vacation short because they understand the projected path of

irene, which you needed is not only potentially going to impact the carolinas, but potentially up along the coast all the way up into new enland which is why the white house has been getting regular updates from fema not only because the president needs to know what's potentially happening, but at the same time the president is in martha's vineyard. so irene may wind up impacting that area as well. the governor as you said here in north carolina is talking about potentially activating a special response as early as thursday. she's told the national guard members that they need to be on alert. things are beginning to crank up. i think the most evidence of that is on an island 16-mile long island on the outer banks here. it's one of the barrier islands there are around 200 miles of barrier islands here in north carolina. the difference about this island is folks get on and off this island on a ferry, by a boat. so they started telling tourists get your cars, start leaving the

island so the first one off this morning had about a dozen cars and they're going to continue that throughout the day. they're going to make that ferry free to encourage people to get off today. that will leave about 800 people on the island that are residents and hopefully they'll all get off the island tomorrow. >> the evacuations take time. i wanted to point out, let's show you what irene compares to. katrina took a similar path forming in the bahamas crossing over southern florida, hit louisiana as a category three storm in august of 2005. then andrew was the first named storm of the '92 hurricane season. it reached category five status when it hit south florida on august 24th on this day in 1992 when you were in reporting in miami covering hurricane andrew. i wanted to show you a little bit of that. >> reporter: we're underneath metro rail, the winds are gusting outside our car up to

165 miles per hour. >> we saw some of these people it looked like in florida preparing saying this just brings back bad memories of andrew. does it for you? >> reporter: it's bad memories of andrew and more recently of wilma. here's the real problem, when we haven't had a major hurricane or even a hurricane making landfall in recent years as you know, the shifts in our nation's population, new people move in and they have never experienced a hurricane. they're not exactly sure what to do. then you have that impact of people who have been through it and kind of want to forget about it and so they don't really move until the last minute. so it sometimes can lead to what appears to be a panic as the roads are all clogged and people are trying to get out. whereas if you take some time and sort of put a plan together on the front end, it moves a lot smoother. bottom line right now if you're doing nothing, you should at least take your car down to the gas station, top the gas tank off so that you know you have a full tank so if you have to

drive out, you can at least not worry about having to fill up and being stuck at some line somewhere where other people are last minute. >> impatience is also worse when you really got to get out of dodge. let me bring in vivian brown for the latest on the track of this storm. where is it? where's it going? >> this is the monster that we are bracing for along the east coast. right now as you mentioned it is moving across the central bahamas. we did have reports of some devastation around the turks and caicos. this system is a very big one. i mean i don't to understate it. it's a category three hurricane that has the potential to become a category four with winds up to 130 miles per hour as it moves across the northern bahamas. again, this is the very latest. winds of 115 miles per hour which does make it a major hurricane. it is moving to the northwest at

12 miles per hour. now this is the projected path. as you notice as it moves into the northern bahamas near free port and nassau it could have 135 miles per hour winds making it a category four. once it moves north of the bahamas it will move back into open waters, we think it will stay east of florida. that is the good news. the bad news as it moves northward toward the outer banks of north carolina that's why we're evacuating already in the north carolina outer banks area here. but eventually now going through the weekend saturday morning into sunday morning we will all be implicating the immediate northeast coast here. so major, major concerns as we go through the weekend and eventually moving on into new england. so this is a serious situation, contessa. and everyone should be preparing right now. >> all right. thank you so much for the update, vivian, appreciate that. some serious damage in washington, d.c. from that 5.8

magnitude earthquake yesterday. 12 million people felt the shaking along the east coast. tremors tore up to montreal in the north and down to atlanta in the south. the worst earthquake to hit the east coast since 1944. the national cathedral built in 1912 sustained serious damage. in fact, it's already asking for donations to fix cracked buttresses, interior walls and one of the pinnacles at the top. and the washington monument is still closed after they found cracks at the top. bill lie i don't know is the spokesperson for the national parks service, how long did it take you to discover the cracks there? >> the monument closed right as the earthquake was happening yesterday around 1:51 to 2:00 in the afternoon. the monument has remained closed since. the crack was discovered approximately 6:00 many the evening after the united states park place helicopter as well as national parks service officials did a visual inspection from the

helicopter. the damage and there's a crack that is in the upper, upper reaches of the monument after -- most people are familiar with it as it goes to one central tip or point. on one of the sides in that very upper reaches of the monument is where there is a crack. we have an engineering firm, a structural engineering firm that is taking a look at it, examining, gathering data, gathering information as to the extent of the damage. they may need to take all of today or tomorrow or friday even to collect all the data that they need. they will then write a report and after which point the national parks service will evaluate the report and determine how to best move forward to make repairs. >> as i understand it, there's caution tape installed now that's keeping tourists and sight seers away from the washington monument. it's closed at this point. do you have any general estimation when it might reopen?

>> no, we do not. what's most important is the visitors' safety, keeping people safe. we need to do this correctly and we need the appropriate amount of time to get this correct. and we have to first off as i say rely on the structural engineering team to gather all the data, then they write a report. then the national parks service then we'll make a determination as to what repairs need to take place. that could take a number of weeks, but we don't know that. we simply don't have all of the information necessary -- in our hands yet that we need. >> all right, bill, thank you. keep us in the loop as you get new information. >> will do. >> thank you. by the way the jefferson and lincoln memorials were closed but they have now reopened and there are no injuries. as you might imagine people on the west coast are still mocking people in the northeast. californians, washingtonians they might be used to this kind

of thing. it really scared a lot of people who didn't know what was happening. tom costello has some of the best moments caught on tape. >> the earthquake hit in the middle of the day. >> there's another tremor. >> 1:15 mm time. interrupting a cooking show on tv in washington. >> the niche is nearly reddy. earthquake. >> those who felt the powerful quake could hardly believe it. >> my first impression was is the building coming down on me? i didn't know. yoipt to panic, but everything in me told me to get out of that building. >> people not used to earthquakes in this region ran from buildings. some dove under their desks. david harmon was making a commercial for his car service company in chantilly, virginia. >> what was that? my god, i think that was an earthquake. >> the 5.8 magnitude quake was centered here in the small town

of mineral, virginia. about 40 miles northwest of richmond, where surveillance cameras captured the moment the quake hit. rattling a gas station, small shops even shearing the bricks off the back of town hall. more than 80 miles from the epicenter they felt the tremors at the white house which evacuated for a time. the president briefed on the quake while on vacation in martha's vineyard where they felt the shaking, too. back in washington, the capitol and congressional offices were closed for nearly three hours as inspectors checked for damage. the capitol rotunda was littered from paint and plaster with chips falling from the dome ceiling. with the quake coming so close to the tenth anniversary of 9/11 a special kind of fear in new york where workers near ground zero spilled on to the streets. in washington where nervous workers were evacuated from the pentagon. >> as a product of 9/11, i immediately assumed the worst. i also never thought -- i never thought of an earthquake in washington, d.c. >> i'm tom costello here in

mineral, virginia. >> does the west coast think the east coast is a bunch of wimps? a 5.8 is a serious earthquake. that's nothing to sneeze at even in california, i lived there i know. go ahead weigh in. everybody else is, facebook, twitter, or on email. we have break news right now out of libya where about 30 journalists who have been held captive at a tripoli hotel are now free. we just got this video fed in of journalists leaving the hotel where armed men kept them from leaving for five days. the journalists say the red cross helped arrange for them to leave. u.s. officials say they believe muammar gadhafi is still hiding out in libya. the rebel council is offering amnesty to any of his entourage who capture or kill him. a businessman offered a $1.3 million reward for gadhafi's capture. some loyalists forces are still putting up a fight.

rebels came under sniper fighter fire today. richard engel has more now from tripoli. >> reporter: people are still here in green square celebrating. many of them celebrating firing weapons in the air from the first time we heard from gadhafi himself, he shished a radio station in 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 referring to members of the opposition who took up arms against him six months ago. there is no sign that anyone has done that thus far. but gadhafi is effectively calling on libyans to fight each other. he's calling for a civil war. >> we continue hearing threats from gadhafi and some of the remnants of his regime. we also see some attacks not massive attacks, but still

there's been shelling in some parts of libya. >> reporter: richard engel, nbc news, in green square, libya. texas governor rick perry's quickly rising to the top of the republican presidential field despite his team of so-called eggheads or maybe because of them. plus, a mother is charged with pouring hot sauce down her kid's throat. but is she guilty of child abuse? the verdict is in. first a look at wall street today. the price of gold slumped 4% as investors got a little more confident. and the dow is off 38 points. s&p is down by almost five and the nasdaq has dropped 22.r5 at midday. , (what) can i do for you today? ♪ [ female announcer ] need help keeping your digestive balance? align can help.

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we're getting some answers in the death of a woman found naked, hands and feet bound. she was hanging from the ball con any of her boyfriend's -- balcony of her boyfriend's mansion. her boyfriend's a millionaire. sources tell nbc news san diego have ruled the death of the woman a suicide. she was reportedly distraught over the accidental death of her boyfriend's 6-year-old son, max. he fell down the stairs while under her care just two days then before her own death. it's a guilty verdict for the hot sauce mom charged with child abuse after video of her disciplining her 7-year-old son appeared on dr. phil. she faces up to a year in prison. she punished her son by forcing him to take cold showers and then dumped hot sauce in his mouth when she said other forms of discipline didn't work. casey anthony will have a serve a year of probation on her 2012 conviction on check fraud. the court found anthony did not

serve her probation while in jail awaiting her murder trial for the death of her daughter, caylee. she'll have to report to the department of corrections by noon on friday. after two weeks on the campaign trail, texas governor rick perry's had a few bumps. during a a campaign stump in south carolina saturday he was asked about the significance of the civil rights movement. after this long and winding answer he ended up making a dubious comparison to republicans' fight for corporate tax rates. >> america's gone a long way from the standpoint of civil rights and thank god we have. as we go forward, america needs to be about freedom. it needs to be about freedom from overtaxation, freedom from overlitigation, freedom from overregulation. >> he also took some heat from his own party for calling fed chair ben bernanke treasonous and then there's this -- >> if you read my book "fed up",

get a copy of it and read it. it is because i talk about the entitlement programs in there. >> nothing like pushing a presidential campaign and a book at the same time. but perry's been telling voters to go get his book "fed up" released in november. in this book perry had some harsh things to say about social security. he calls the program embraced by millions a ponzi scheme. the campaign is trying to back away from that. they say the book doesn't reflect the governor's current thinking. the book was just released last november. all of this might lead you to believe that perry's campaign is less than disciplined. this book says something different. he's also the washington correspondent for monokl magazine. >> thanks for having me. >> tell me about your research in the way perry and his people are conducting this campaign? >> well, the 2006 campaign is

the thing i really focus on which is an unprecedented effort on the part of perry and his top political advisor dave carney to try to figure out what works in campaigns. and they invited in these four political scientists they call the eggheads and invited them to run randomized field experiments like drug trials on every aspect of the campaign's budget that they could successfully design and experiment around. and the results, the findings from these experiments really changed how perry ran his re-election in 2010 and sort of shaped their thinking as they geared up for this presidential run. >> if the focus really is on what works, what wins elections, it would stand to reason that it's less about what your platform is than about how you conduct the campaign and retail politics was a really important part of his gubernatorial campaign. is that something that can

translate on a national scale? >> sure. i think broadly there are a lot of questions that they are asking and the eggheads are asking about how much lessons from the 2006 campaign with the very well known governor can be transferred to a race where he's running in states where people don't know him that well. it's about both things working. the messaging needs to be good and the issues need to be in sync with the electorate, the mechanics of campaigns do matter. dave carney said i'm going to be spending $40 billion in a campaign in texas. i want to make sure i spend that money well. perry's a very aggressive fundraiser. very successful fundraiser. i think we'll be seeing results of that soon in the presidential race. >> here's the weird thing. i just showed this clip where he's telling people to buy his book. the campaign is saying that doesn't reflect his current thinking. there's kind of a disconnect? >> i think in that particular instance he wrote that book when he wasn't thinking of running for president. they have seen the value of in person campaigning.

they did an experiment early in 2006 where they randomized perry's travel around the state. they were able to measure the positive effects of him being in a given city had on his approval rating, campaign contributions and volunteer sign ups. they realized that having perry set foot in a place was a lot more useful than having him do tv appearances there or just putting tv ads on the air there that's one of the reasons that perry has had an aggressive schedule that has created nice pieces of video for you. >> we can expect to see more diners getting surprise visits from rick perry in the campaign to come. good to talk to you. >> thanks for having me. hurricane irene makes her way to the east coast when the category three storm is expected to make landfall. we're going to give you a look at that and the forecast track. plus new rumors about the iphone 5. this could make millions of cell phone users very happy.

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caught on camera, residents in northern california, forced to flee when a rail car filled with volatile gas erupted in flames. 500 homes many lincoln were forced to evacuate when the tank got so hot officials thought it might explode. former first lady nancy reagan took a tumble during an event at the reagan presidential library last night. look at that. luckily florida senator marco rubio was there to save the day. he caught the 90-year-old as she stumbled. mrs. reagan was not hurt. hot on the web today in one of the top google searches this hour. legendary tennessee women's basketball coach pat shum mitt facing her toughest opponent. she said she's suffering from early on set dementia.

summit has more wins in college basketball history, men or women. she is 59 years old. she's been at tennessee for 37 seasons and has won eight national championships. as if there wasn't enough diet books out there, now comes one aimed at children ages 6 to 14. doctors say it just sends the wrong message. that the book may actually make things worse for kids strug wlg their kid. they worry it could end up leading to eating disorders. it's called maggie goes on a diet. kids aren't supposed to diet. it's the story of a girl who transforms hrs from a chubby teen to a slender soccer star. i just really -- are they or aren't they splitting up? a report came out saying will smith and jada pinkett smith saying they're separating. the couple said no, way. now tmz reports no, they are having troubles and singer marc anthony may be at the heart of

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welcome back to msnbc. i'm contessa brewer. attorney general eric holder meets with some of the 9/11 family members about the phone hacking scandal this afternoon. the families requested the meeting. dominique strauss-kahn is considering filing a countercivil lawsuit against the maid who filed charges of criminal assault. the post office might have figured out a way to save $1.5 billion by slowing delivery speeds for first class and priority mail. and according to reports sprint will start selling the iphone 5 when it's reportedly released in mid october. officials at the national hurricane center now say irene could hug america's eastern coastline this weekend

potentially becoming a big threat to new epg land on sunday. let's get the latest from eric fisher. >> reporter: good afternoon, contessa. the bottom line here is we're still a couple of days away from east coast impacts. we're inside the 48 hour window, once you're there, you have to think about where gour doing to go, if you're going to get money out of the bank, stock up on food and water, if the worst happens you're in a much better spot. if you don't prepare, we know the result. you take a look on the beach ash few people outside enjoying the sun. much fewer than what we saw yesterday. if you look down to my left here, my right, the pier this was rebuilt after the last major hurricane made landfall in north carolina. that was fran in 1996. so some memories here for a place that sees a lot of action from the tropics. in terms of what they're doing right now the governor has issued a statement of emergency for hide county and put the national guard on standby. she is urgent residents to visit

their state website to find some of those tips to prepare for irene's approach. some of the information coming in from this morning's models indicating a little jog to the west right again. anyone up to new england should prepare for a very significant event and listen to all the local authorities. take the warnings seriously. >> thank you so much. let me go to nbc's lilia who is in the bahamas now. are the tourists leaving these islands? >> reporter: well many of them are, contessa. i've got to tell you right now there are many people in the pool, the beach if it weren't for some mild winds and the fact there is a category three headed this way, this would be the perfect day many the bahamas. many tourists, hundreds are scrum blg through the airport before it closes. we're just hours away from the airport shutting down all planes. we are receiving especially here in the hotels in the larger

islands a great deal of tourists evacuated from smaller islands, smaller resorts. we were talking to a couple from a tiny resort. they were upset their vacation was cut short with cabanas on the beach. during the last hurricane that was resoert was completely wiped out. now they're approaching the bigger hotels here in nassau and grand bahama. they're trying to get out as many people as possible. >> what about the locals in the bahamas now? >> well, locals are finishing they're setting up and securing their homes. people are scrambling into gauche stores and hardware stores. authorities are having a hard time making sure that people who are in evacuation zones come into shelters. most people don't want to leave their homes. they think they're safe enough. unfortunately there is a very dangerous storm surge expected in several areas. there was a message from the

prime minister yesterday. he is concerned about people and concerned about their safety especially the residents of the bahamas. let's hear what he had to say yesterday. >> do we have the sound? >> reporter: he was actually alerting -- i thought we had the sound from that. he was alerting citizens to take this seriously. the problem with people living in the caribbean is they've been warned so many times that a hurricane is coming and then nothing happens or they go through the hurricane and nothing really happens to their home that they don't take enough precaution. in this case it is a serious storm. a lot of water coming in. they are alerting people to take this is way it should be. >> thank you very much. i appreciate that. in libya dozens of foreign journalists are enjoying their first moments of freedom after being held captive at a hotel in tripoli. they're calling it in hotel from hell. they were there for five days.

the international red cross helped secure their release. drove them in cars and vans to another hotel for emotional reunions with friends and colleagues. still no word on mo mar gadhafi's whereabouts. yesterday he took the radio to call on residents to free the capital from devils who have taken it over. we have the washington, d.c. bureau chief for al jazeera. good to tee you. what do you think in terms of the rebels calming the violence and securing some sort of stability for the residents? >> their effort to entirely secure the capital continue. it's obviously proving a little bit more difficult than they had originally expected. yesterday with them taking over the headquarters of gadhafi and tripoli was obviously a very, very, vrks significant step. at least psychologically to tell

libya that this regime is first named. this regime seems finished in terms of being able to run libya or significant parts of it. it's not finished as we can see in terms of having the potential to continue to create trouble for the new authorities in tripoli as they take over, over the next days, weeks and perhaps even longer. >> it seems that the communications are so bad that the guards who were holding those journalists hostage and originally i understand it was 15 guards who had them then down to two, those guards had no idea that the city was in rebel control. >> it's just part of the jn atmosphere of confusion that currently reigns in tripoli. and in terms of denial, there's every indication that based on what we heard from gadhafi and his speech last night, there's every indication that he is still in denial even because he

sees that as a powerful propaganda tool to continue to make libyans feel that he's in control or because he's being ill advised by people who are very close to him as to what is actually is going on in tripoli and elsewhere in libya. >> thank you so much for joining us today and for keeping tabs on that situation. up next, too close to call. if the election were held today it would be a nail biter for president obama. at least that's what the polls show against four different republican candidates. plus a huge discovery that could one day possibly ease a lot of the pain at the pump. we'll be right back. also get a free flight. you know that comes with a private island. really? no. it comes with a hat. you see, airline credit cards promise flights for 25,000 miles, but... [ man ] there's never any seats for 25,000 miles. frustrating, isn't it? but that won't happen with the capital one venture card. you can book any airline anytime. hey, i just said that.

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i'm andrea mitchell. coming up next on "andrea mitchell reports," muammar gadhafi's whereabouts are still a mystery as rebel forces fight

to keep tripoli from falling back into loyalist hands. plus, north carolina already evacuating the outer banks as hurricane irene heads its way. we'll talk to the lieutenant governor about the emergency preparations there. and a legendary basketball coach faces her greatest challenge. he'll with the pat summit story. we'll see you here in 15 minutes. president obama better rest up in martha's vineyard. he's got his work cut out for his this fall. today's gallup poll shows his approval at a new low of 38 percent. i need to stress. it's a daily number, so it constantly goes up and down. the republican presidential candidates appear to be coming on strong. gallup shows they're neck in neck with the president. all are within the margin of error and against michele bachmann the president leads 48 to 44. he leads ron paul 47 to 45.

the president's in a dead heat with rick perry and against front runner mitt romney he's behind 46% to romney's 48%. we have karen fin yi and a former aide to john boehner. >> how much trouble is the president really in? >> realistically speaking these are not numbers that you are not very happy with. again, as you pointed out in the intro, it is a snapshot in time, particularly because it's one thing to poll these head to heads in the abstract. it's really a different thing when you've had a head to head season of campaigning and then you poll. as of right now you're comparing the two without being able to compare them on the issues. obviously that's what the campaign is for. i think until we have that it's

going to be really hard to tell what people really are thinking. >> mitt romney announced he's going to unveil a jobs plan the same week that the president says he's going to unveil his plan. and now michele bachmann says she's going to release her own health care plan. david, host really a bigger threat to the president's re-election? >> there are a couple of things. this survey was the first time that i had seen a lot of the republican candidates be even with the president. i want to see another survey to be sure this is where it's at. in large board to move across the board with all the candidates is the president can't sustain a high unemployment rate the way he has, poor economic environment the way he has and another gallup poll 71% of the country dus approved of how he's handling the economy. ultimately what you're seeing it goes back to speaker boehner's question that he defined for the 2010 election, where are the jobs? what's incumbent upon this president and the republican candidates they have to answer that. the president has this track

record of having -- he's never been below 8% unemployment since he's been president. >> karen, what are you getting a kick out of the fact that michele bachmann has her own health care plan? at this point again in this poll she would give the president a run for his money? >> most of the republican strategists aren't looking at michele bachmann to head the ticket. if you're a campaigner, you can throw all kinds of things out there that is different. a couple of points about president obama, what's interesting is in a number of key states he's still doing quite well. i did a three-hour call in show last week and was stunned by the number of moderates and independents that called in and said the president is really trying how come the republicans are block them? beyond the national polls at the local level his message seems to

be getting through. that's the most important thing for the white house at this point. >> when we're talking about these polls, can i give you a little background. when we look at the history of these surveys at this point in the campaign in 1999 you had then texas governor george bush leading al gore by 14 points but gore ended up winning the popular vote although he still lost the election. in 1995 bob dole had a two-point lead over clinton and clinton ended up winning by eight. 1983 ronald reagan was one point ahead of walter mondale but reagan won by 18 points. a lot of this could change between now and election day. when we're looking at who makes the headway and takes it to tend, who are you expecting we're going to see at the end? >> let me go back to those three examples. all three examples what helped,

reagan, clinton and gore was ta the economy really took off. and all three in those cases. that is not what's occurring here. next month in terms of this point in the cycle for reagan he created 1.1 million jobs in september. at this point barack obama is just rolling at a plan. that's the difference between the two. he had 1.1 million jobs being created and obama's just now rolling out the plan. that's the problem the president faces. >> david, i remind you that ronald reagan pursued a course of both raising taxes and cutting spending and that is a policy that the republicans in congress flat out refuse to even consider. so -- >> let's also consider we're more than a year away from the election. there's plenty of times to create jobs to turn the economy around. it will be interesting. >> if you have to take a look at

the projections the growth projections pulled back in some cases under 2%. where is the growth, where are the jobs? >> i can't help it, i'm an optimist. i always look at the bright side of life, you know what i'm saying? i'm going to leave it there, you guys. thank you for joining me. >> thanks. we'll be right back. well-being. we're all striving for it. purina cat chow helps you nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life.

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all right, people. i know you west coasters think it's hysterical that new yorkers ran screaming from their office buildings over this rt wake. online we're getting into some real trash talking back and forth about who's tougher east coaster or west coasters here in los angeles we don't get out of bed for a 6.5. i get a 5.8 when they cat jumps off her perch. you all fall apart for a 5.8. paul ra cooper says i've lived in california throw half an inch of gasp a bit of snow or a

cloudy day at them and they freak out. it's all subjective. dobt tay them too seriously. amanda kelly chimes in. the west coast can bite the east coast, they live on faults we don't. apparently we do. sundayy marie says i think it evens out. you can get me on facebook, twitter. i love this one today. many americans are struggling to find work right now in north dakota they're saying what job crisis in the unemployment rate is just a little more than 3%. the reason a recent oil boom has turned into a jobs gusher. cnbc's brian shackman is live in kill dear, north dakota. how does this work?

>> reporter: you have to wear an outfit like this. you're in the baake next shale deposit. there's 24 billion barrels of recoveriable oil. billions of investment dollars have come in creating thousands of jobs. we have a dynamic in willston, north dakota where they have more jobs than people available. they don't have housing for people. they're paying $15 at a local mcdonald's because everyone wants to work in the oil business. the walmart is understaffed. they sell out of things every day. unbelievable stories. one story a man came in from spokane, washington, they stayed overnight in the walmart parking lot. woke up, got a job for $90,000, he was making $30,000 a year before. one day he has a job fracing.

>> i've got to ask about the environmental concerns. >> reporter: it is an issue. if it was restricted this place would go away. right now there's no big picture environmental concerns. they're going full bore, full speed ahead with it. right now it's no problem out here. >> brian, thank you so much. proosht it. love the outfit. doesn't it look like a village people outfit. i don't want to push him in that direction. >> reporter: thanks. >> it looks really good on you. thanks for joining me today. i'm contessa brewer. see you back here noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. out west. "andrea mitchell reports" without the hard hat. >> thanks very much. up next on "andrea mitchell reports," tracking hurricane irene, we'll have a report from top officials in north carolina on what they're doing to prepare. plus, the challenges of rebuilding libya. who's keeping track of muammar gadhafi's chemical weapons? and presidential politics

with john sununu has the republican party moved too far to the right for voters in his granite state. "andrea mitchell reports" up next on msnbc. [ male announcer ] heard this one? listen to this. three out of four americans don't get enough vegetables. so here's five bucks to help you buy v8 juice. five bucks. that's a lot of green. go to v8juice.com for coupons. you can count on us.

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