calling until they were called by their keeper and subsequently all congregated in the corner nearest the keeper for a short time. according to keepers, the giant pandas did not appear to respond to the earthquake at all. pandas from the west coast. we're totally impressed with that. actually, i just made that part up. details of what happened during yesterday's quake. obviously best news thing in the world today. that path of uncertainty. hurricane irene picks up steam as it churns toward the east coast. calling it quits, the visionary ceo behind apple's massive success decides to step down. and diamonds in the rough. a dog swallows a rather expensive meal at a georgia jewelry store. good morning, everyone, i'm lynn

berry. those stories and more, straight ahead. this is "first look on msnbc." and we begin this morning with on its way. officials in the bahamas are getting disturbing damage reports from hurricane irene, as it batters the islands there, and now heads towards the u.s. right now irene is a powerful category 3 storm and it's only expected to get worse. so for the very latest on the storm's path, let's get right to meteorologist bill karins. bill, a lot of people freaked out about this, so what do we need to know? >> you don't need to be freaked out, but you do need to be prepared. if you're prepared you'll be going through this event just fine. what has changed since yesterday? well, this storm is now looking like more and more it's not going to swing and miss. this is going to hit somewhat,

looks almost definitely eastern north carolina, and now it looks more and more likely that the midatlantic to new england will be threatened by this storm. just got new information from the national hurricane center, so i'm kind of digesting that as we go here, but the general -- right now the storm is trying to reorganize. this happens with these storms, the center of the eye will break apart, then it will reform. that's what's happening right now. still a category 3 storm. the hurricane center thinks it could still briefly become a category 4 storm, but then the water gets cooler and the storm will begin its weakening process. but at the same time that the storm weakens as it many comes up the east coast, it's not going to weaken in time to spare everyone. it looks like we'll get hit in southern new england and possibly a strong hurricane in eastern north carolina. by sunday at 2:00 a.m., it will already hit the outer banks as a category 2. notice the cone of uncertainty goes to washington, d.c., and still off the coast. but then it just rockets from all day sunday, this storm is going to fly right through the heavy populated areas of i-95.

the latest forecast has it many coming onshore the outer banks and then on top of long island. this has shifted a little further to the west. we had a trend to the east, now it's trending to the west. it looks like new york city, philadelphia, jersey shoreline, maryland and delaware coastline, you're not going to miss this storm. this is an historic storm everyone will remember when it's all said and done, and then the storm will rocket and disappear as we go throughout the day monday. by then it should be dissipating. our computer models is where we get our guidance, where the hurricane center gets their guidance of where the storm is going to go. we had a couple off the coast yesterday. no longer. they've shifted west, and that's why the shuhurricane center shid their forecast. we even have one that inc. webr up the chesapeake bay. the favorite track is right along the jersey and maryland coastline and up into southern new england. that would bring the storm surge over the top of southern new england in a significant way come early sunday morning into sunday afternoon. and as far as our forecast, this is just one of our computer

models. there is the storm down here, and we can track it up the coast. you can kind of see how our many computers are projecting it with the center right along the jersey shore as we go throughout sunday morning. this is a storm system that will be affecting just millions of people on i-95 and knocking power out to thousands, if not millions, as we go throughout this storm. so as far as the last, one last little map here to show you where the computer models are. we still have a track far to the east as boston and providence, and as far west as the chesapeake, that's why the hurricane center right now has it many coming over long island. we're still three days away. as we get closer, we'll narrow this area of impact, but you need to be preparing now from midatlantic up to new england. people say, how should i be preparing. >> that's the most important part. >> you should be preparing in the coastal areas to be without power with your family for up to a week. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. and as irene picks up steam en route to the u.s.,

preparations are underway along the east coast with evacuation orders already in effect and residents boarding up their homes. kristen dahlgren has more from kill devil hills in north carolina. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. obviously still a lot of uncertainties with this storm, but it could be the first major hurricane to hit the east coast in seven years. it's being called possibly the most significant hurricane threat to the northeast in a much longer time than that. so people getting ready, as you said. some evacuation orders already in effect here in the outer banks along the southern part of the outer banks. there are mandatory evacuations going into effect for everybody this morning, both residents and tourists here we we are in the northern part of the outer banks right now. it will just be for tourists this morning, but they could issue mandatory evacuation orders for residents later on today. officials watching very closely, people here getting ready, boarding up, stocking up as well. now, irene has already raked

through the bahamas, the turks and caicos. we're told there are reports of widespread damage in some of the southern islands there. as the storm moves here, tens of millions of people watching very closely along the east coast, the entire east coast to see exactly where it goes, lynn. >> all right. kristen there for us in north carolina. thanks. let's get to libya now where rebels are on the hunt for moammar gadhafi, placing a bounty for his capture. all of this as battles continue with loyalists vowing to fight on. brian mooar is in washington with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, lynn. gadhafi's whereabouts still unknown this morning as libyan rebels continue to crush the last pockets of government resistance in the capital of tripoli. there's a $2 million bounty now on gadhafi's head, but gadhafi, through that audio message, is urging supporters to march on to

victory or martyr dom. safe passage now looking very unlikely. meanwhile, the united states has vowed to there's a report that while foreign journalists have been held, four more italian journalists have been captured. >> unfortunate development. brian, thanks. we have learned former vice president dick cheney kept a secret letter of resignation hidden away in his safe from the earliest days of the bush administration. cheney has a new book coming out and he spoke exclusively to nbc about that letter. >> reporter: why did you do it? >> i did it because i was concerned for a couple of reasons. one was my own health situation. the possibility that i might have a heart attack or a stroke

that would be incapacitating. and there was no mechanism -- there is no mechanism for getting rid of a vice president who can't function. >> reporter: this book is going to make a lot of people angry. >> there are going to be heads exploding all over washington. >> reporter: you know that. >> yes. >> watch "dateline" monday 10:00/9:00 central time on your local nbc station. and other news going on around america today, a couple of florida shop lifters had a wrench thrown into their getaway plan when a bystander stopped the suspects from leaving. the suspects attempted to ram their way free but the good samaritan refused to back down, forcing them to retreat in reverse. the suspects narrowly avoided a crash before they were pinned against a wall and later arrested. a california fire once feared for potentially catastrophic consequences continued to burn on wednesday,

but more than 24 hours since the propane tanker burst into flames officials no longer fear an explosion. they have lifted evacuation orders and decided to just let the fire burn itself out. and finally, in georgia, one dog dined on a very expensive meal. when $10,000 worth of indictments turned up missing, x-rays proved the store's mascot was the culprit. the dog apparently consumed the loose diamonds left on a back office desk. after nature took its course, the owners were able to retrieve and clean the merchandise. see, i told you i didn't think you'd want to know how that story ended. and now for a look once again at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins. hurricane irene, you said to prepare, so prepare us. >> i've done my commercials for lowe's, home depot and everyone else. >> they thank you. >> those lines will not be short, and generators will

probably be in high demand. that's just the way it's going to go. a lot of people could lose power for possibly a week. generators sound like a pretty good investment. but here's what we're looking at, as far as what i'm seeing now. if you're in coastal areas, the time to prepare is now. what that means, if you're in an evacuation area, figure out where you're going to go in case you do have to evacuate. now, this is going to be a major rain storm the west side of the track. we don't know exactly where it's going to come on shore yet, but pause built of flooding, if you're on the east side, that's where we get the storm surge and damaging winds. by the time it gets to new england, i don't think we'll see roofs torn off, it will most likely be category 1, which means trees. trees are going to be extremely vulnerable. this will be a tree trimming storm. trees falling on houses, trees falling on cars, power lines, and that's why we're going to have a long duration of power

outages. we haven't had one of these go through new england in a long time. when that happens, trees are going to fall, especially the old ones. we are going to see thunderstorms throughout new england, so be prepared for that later today. the rest of the country is rather quiet with heat the big story in texas. but trees, probably the biggest message. i think after this storm is all said and done people in the midatlantic will look at trees on their property differently. thanks so much. well, a huge resignation shakes wall street. your first look at business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, a walk-off at the little league world series, and plenty of love in minnesota. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. here's some of the top stories making news this morning. the washington monument will be closed for repairs indefinitely

after a half dozen cracks, including a four-footer, were discovered following tuesday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake in virginia. there have been at least five aftershocks, including one today measuring 4.5. angela merkel tops this year's forbes list of most powerful women followed by secretary of state hillary clinton. last year's leader, michelle obama ranks eighth. an unmanned russian rocket carrying three tons of food and fuel to the international space station crashed minutes after takeoff. nasa, however, says the station crew is not in any danger. and citing a weak economy, aaa estimates 31.5 million americans will travel 50 miles or more over labor day weekend, a more than 2% decrease from last year.

and now the dow opens at 11,320 after rising 143 points yesterday. the s&p grew 15 points. the nasdaq added 21. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, the nikkei inched up 132 points while the hang seng climbed to 85. well, another booming day on wall street was overshadowed after the closing bell by an e icon stepping down. steve jobs issued a stunning resignation as chief executive of apple, the company he co-founded in a garage. the 56-year-old survived pancreatic cancer but has been on medical leave since january with an undisclosed condition. he's been elected chairman and tim cook will serve as ceo. jobs said he could no longer, quote, meet my duties and expectations as apple's ceo. apple skidded after hours after a brief halt in trade.

a big jump in july durable goods orders eased double-dip recession worries. buying was fueled by many still holding out hope ben bernanke will announce new stimulus in a wyoming speech tomorrow. gold fell more than $100 wednesday, one of the steepest falls ever. after hitting a 2 1/2 year low tuesday, bank of america shot up 11%, calling speculation of a merger with rival jpmorgan chase baseless. home builder toll brothers rose 4.5% on giant quarterly income. google will pay half a billion dollars to settle a criminal probe into ads it ran from online canadian pharmacies that led to illegal imports. collective brands, parent of payless shoe source and stride rite is closing almost 500 stores and looking to sell. and finally at 5,500 tweets per second, tuesday's east coast

earthquake traffic set a twitter record, beating out news of osama bin laden. a lot of those, that photo of the lawn chair just tipped over, it was good. coming up, a wild pitch, wild catches, and wild walk-off winners. plus, a baseball glove? who needs a glove? your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

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the lead in the american league east got even hotter wednesday night. here's nbc's fred roggin. good morning. after missing nine games, the red sox david ortiz wasted no time making his presence known in texas. ortiz hit the first pitch he saw for an rbi single. they beat the rangers 13-2. coco crisp hit two home runs and knocked the yanks out of first place. his second late in the tenth, they went on to win it 6-4. colorado rockies and astros tied at ten. game winning run on third and rodriguez threw it to the backside. in came a run, rocks won in a wild pitch 7-6. if you have a 3-d tv this one is for you. joey votto is shot to left. the camera followed it and followed it and here it comes right in your living room. nice grab by the cameraman. now to a grab on the field. drew stubbs fouled, mike stanton

makes the grab and tumbled over the wall. marlins beat the reds 6-5. if you liked that, you'll love this. fouled, robert andino managed to snag the ball with his bare hand. almost looked like he was showing off for the crowd. robert andino with a hands on way to play baseball. sad news out of baltimore. former cy young winner mike flanagan passed away yesterday. a member of the 1983 world series team, flanagan was found dead at his maryland home. he was 59. and finally, to the kids who play for the love of the game and a chance to is in the first week of school, california and mont scoreless in extra innings and ben askelson ended it. walk off home run first pitch of the inning. montana advances, they'll play either pennsylvania or california on saturday. that's your first look at sports. i'm fred roggin. now for another quick look amount the weather, here is nbc

meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning once again. >> good morning. for those just joining us, i want to give you an update on what the hurricane center -- able to zoom in exactly what the thinking is here as far as the big cities go between boston and d.c., including down towards rich monday amond and raleigh, . they don't want you to he can inform us on the center line, as we've seen in the last three days it can go as far to the right or left, it can shift. the yellow cone of uncertainty are the areas of risk. right now we're going all the way from d.c. even a little west of there to a track still possibly could be off the coast. but it's looking more and more likely this is not going to be a swing and a miss, this is going to have a significant impact for someone in either southern new england or the midatlantic. the latest forecast path has it coming off the north carolina coast, raking right along the delaware and maryland coastline right along the jersey shore, making a landfall over long island, coming up into connecticut. the right side of the storm will

be the strongest, the left side of the storm will be where the heaviest rains will be. the possibility of flooding and storm gusts will be enough to bring down the trees. the models continue to be tracking over southern new england. notice the mae erjority are ovew york city to providence, but one is over the chesapeake bay. we haven't ruled any of that out, lynn. today we also have thunderstorms but i know everyone's going to be -- everyone's really wondering what they need to do now. >> bill, thanks so much. coming up, a report that the new show of a once high rolling reality tv show gets the ax. plus,ing a new message on jim carrey's website has followers wondering. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. [ male announcer ] members of the american postal workers union

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. it's time now for entertainment news. anhathaway who played a fictional princess says she'd consider a real royal, if asked. she told "the sun" she thinks kate middleton, duchess of cambridge, is great and would play the princess if offered. vulture reports after dismal ratings, paris hilton's "the world according to paris" is not returning. you'll have to adjust your tivo, bill. and finally, jim carrey is head over heals for 22-year-old actress emma stone. >> how old is he? >> and doesn't care who knows it. even if he sounds a little stalkerish and looks really stalkerish. blogs are buzzing over whether or not a video posted on his website is a joke. the 49-year-old makes fun of

getting older saying he would marry stone if it was age appropriate, only to conclude it is not. that's probably smart. >> comedians can get away with so much more than the rest of us. maybe it's just a joke. >> fyi, guys, not attractive. not appealing. >> 49, 22, a little -- >> posting on the website your plea for marriage. not attractive. i'm lynn berry, this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" starts right now. steve jobs, the man who has revolutionized the way we live our lives has stepped down from apple, the company he founded in 1976. the question is, why is he leaving now and what does a media world without steve jobs look like? we'll have a live report from apple headquarters in california. meanwhile, hurricane irene grows as it makes a bee line to the east coast with experts saying it could cause destruction from north carolina all the way up t