high water, we're going to find a way out of it whether the country winds up helping us or not. damage assessment. the aftermath of a storm that battered some and never really appeared for others. stealing the spotlight. beyonce glows at the video music awards as she makes a surprise announcement. and snake on a bus. a seven foot boa cob stricter is found catching a ride in columbia. >> good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

well, we begin this morning with irene's aftermath. as clean-up from hurricane irene continues all along the east coast this morning, federal officials say severe flooding is the biggest concern in the weak of the storm that left at least 23 people dead. here in new york city it is expected to be a frustrating morning commute as the rails, the roads, and the runways slowly reopen. nbc's jay gray joins us from new york city's times square which yesterday was a virtual ghost town. jay, good morning to you. >> good morning, lynn. you are absolutely right. could be a tough road or a tough route, depending on what mode of transportation you use. look, irene may be gone, but the devastation from the massive storm will linger from here through the outer banks for a

long time. >> a flood of people filled times square overnight. want the rain and wind so many had worried about over the weekend. >> it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be. >> trains, buses, and airports will all come back on-line throughout the day today in new york and tunnels and bridges are now open to traffic. >> nobody likes to shut down the economy of the city. nobody likes to inconvenience people, but human lives are much more important. >> that's the reason the mayor ordered the first ever evacuation of coastal neighborhoods more than 300,000 new yorkers moved to higher ground. >> i think that the mayor did the very thing he could. he acted prudently, and i applaud him and although work that he has done. >> reporter: while it was not the storm most expected, irene did cause problems in the city. >> when i looked out my heart sank because all of a sudden the water was up to the level of the cars. >> reporter: firefighters pulled more than 60 people from the floodwaters on staten island, while sea water filled the streets in bay head, new jersey. >> we knew about 11:30, 12:00 we

had made a mistake by staying, but we couldn't go anywhere. we were stuck. >> reporter: driving rains overwhelmed areas of upstate new york and vermont. the water ripping away this 141-year-old bridge. route 12 was washed away along the carolina coast. rivers were fished their banks. trees were snapped and power lines brought to the ground. hundreds of thousands are still without electricity this morning, and in some of the hardest hit areas. it could be more than a week before the power is restored. of course, the lights still on here in times square. they may call new york the city that never sleeps, but this weekend this area and the entire east coast got a rude wake-up call from irene. that's the latest from here in times square. i'm jay gray. lynn, now back to you. >> jay, thanks so much. well, vermont was not thought to be a prime target of irene, but by the time the storm reached the state yesterday its

hurricane force winds had been downgraded. still, irene packed enough rain to get a shocking punch to the area. nbc's randy gillenhall reports. >> reporter: tropical storm irene dumped water into every nook and cranny in southern vermont. it caused rivers to overflow. >> everybody's homes are going to become on the water. >> reporter: families were caught off guard in west bralgtsborough evacuating their homes as the water suddenly rose. >> i'm waiting for my husband to help the neighbors make sure them and they are kids are all right. >> reporter: it all happened so fast as irene tore through southern vermont. it's difficult to explain just how fast this water rose. in just six minutes that house was completely dry. it is now completely under water. it's bringing back memories to the streets spring floods. these roads are completely washed out. there's debris every where, sxets not even the worst.

in downtown quiet creeks became raging rivers. >> oh, my god. >> reporter: businesses and neighborhoods are under water, and it's still rising. >> it's the weirdest thing i have seen. i see it in tv all the time. i see it in movies. i never thought i would actually get to see it in real life. >> reporter: studly debris against to break free and float away. stoo there it goes. there it goes. there it goes. >> reporter: even a car gets sucked downstream. property damage will be very high and this isn't even the worst hit area in the state. >> some amazing images coming out of there and a lot of parts of new england. that was wptz's randy gillenhall reporting. as irene battered the east coast, it was dick cheney's new memoir that whipped up a new controversy with secretary of state colin powell. in sunday's tv interview powell called criticisms made in his former bush administration colleague's new book "cheap shots."

in an earlier nbc interview cheney predicted his memoir, set to be released tomorrow, would cause "heads to explode in washington. a description powell said he expected from a supermarket tabloid. not a former vice president. stirring up more controversy in that same exclusive interview the former vice president answered questions from nbc's jamie about his views on water boarding. >> in your view, we should still be using enhanced interrogation? >> yes. >> no regrets? >> no regrets. >> should we still be water boarding terror suspects? >> i would strongly support using it again if circumstances arose where we had a high value detainee, and that was the only way we could get him to talk. >> even though so many people have condemned it, people call it torture, you think it should still be a tool? >> yes. >> and you can catch the full interview with former vice president cheney. that's tonight on a special "dateline" at 10:00 p.m. eastern

time on your nbc station wrshs. elsewhere on the xaen trail, during a stop yesterday in sarasota, florida, presidential candidate michelle bachmann raised some eyebrows making a reference to hurricane irene, implying the storm was a political message from above. >> what does god have to do to get the attention of the politicians? we've had an earthquake. we've had a hurricane. >> bachmann said she would consider oil and natural gas drilling in florida's everglades if it could be done without harming the environment. here's your first look at some of the other news going on around mshg today. thecle cal wildfire ignited from an exploding propane tank continued to spread outside the yosemite national park over the weekend. evacuation orders have kept nearby residents out on the street as firefighters battled to increase containment of the fire. so far the fire has scorched 4,700 acres and is only 35%

contained. in chicago graffiti was discovered scrawled on one of the legs of a giant 26 foot statue depicting marilynn monroe's iconic pose from the film "seven year itch." the black markings appeared to be the modern equivalent of a couple's name scrawled into a tree. no arrests have been made. finally, tributes to the king of pop kicked off a day his birthday in hollywood. for the second year in a row a in addition mob surprised bystanders with a choreographed performance to michael jackson's songs. jackson would have turned 53 today. well, now for a look at your national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist jeff. he has your weather channel forecast. jeff, you've been busy this weekend. now we're seeing vermont, a lot of the new england areas, this severe flooding. >> yeah. it's definitely had this after effect from the storm that did bring anywhere from seven to, yes, even 14 inches of rainfall to places like north carolina. also one of our top wind gusts. cedar ferry island in north

carolina with 115-mile-per-hour wind gusts. when that storm made landfall at cape lookout, north carolina. as we look on the radar, you'll be happy to find that we're not seeing too much here in the way of rainfall across the northeast. most of the storm has exited at this point, but as we have been mentioning, back behind this storm we are looking at some flooding concerns, and still some winds that are even gusting at this hour to 32 in portland. 23 in boston. 24 right up into maine at this point. all right. let's get you into those flood warnings and watches right now. a good section of the interior northeast is dealing with these flooding concerns. we're going to see that stay with us likely here over the next three to four days as we could see some all-time record river crests here in and throughout the northeast. some of the spots to watch, some of the hot spots will be right along easton, stockton, and new hope on the delaware river. definitely some big-time problems possible there. a lot of cooler and also dryer

air making its way back here into the eastern u.s. back behind irene. that's the good news. we should have a couple of days here, some dry weather for the east coast. as we look at those current numbers, yes, this is correct. 89 right now for your morning temperature in dallas. 85 in san antonio, and then as we look at our forecast today, sunny skies in atlanta, and we're looking at partly cloudy conditions in new york and washington, but watch out for thunderstorms down to orlando and miami. if you are traveling that way, yes, it does mean, lynn, some travel delays at the airports. it's already rough when you have to travel these days, but that might make it a little bit worse. >> unfortunately. all right. thank you so much, jeff. coming up, wall street seeks business as usual after irene. asia likes what it hears from big ben, and an amazing example of someone giving back to their community. your first look at this morning's bess headlines is straight ahead. another milestone for derek jeter. a thrilling finish to the little league world series. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. i'm good about washing my face.

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welcome back to first look. i'm lynn berry. here are some of the news making news this morning. the man convicted of the 1988 lockerbie airline bomber, his father is in a coma at their tripoli home in very critical condition. he claims no doctor will treat him, that his father's medicine was stolen when their home was looted, and that they are without water and electricity. a human rights group says muammar gadhafi supporters have shot down civilians using grenades on some. meanwhile, fighting continued late yesterday as rebels closed in on gadhafi's hometown. gadhafi's whereabouts are still unknown. in iraq yesterday a suicide bomber attacked baghdad's largest sunni mosque killing at least 29 people. the bombing happened while worshippers were praying.

so far no group has claimed responsibility. in pennsylvania as law enforcement was dealing with hurricane irene yesterday, they were also hunting for an army officer suspected of killing four people in pennsylvania and virginia. at one point the 37-year-old opened fire on police, wounding two. he was later found dead in a wooded area in pennsylvania. the police chief says he was leaving it to the coroner to determine if the suspect's wupd was self-inflicted. among the victims, according to officials, his former wife, her boyfriend, and the boyfriend's young son. and in columbia an unwanted passenger was caught hitching a ride in the back of a bus. a seven foot boa constricter was found in a box. nobody came forward to claim the snake, which had its mouth taped. it was eventually released into the wild. hopefully far away from everyone else. now here's your first look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 11,284 after

gaining 134 points on friday. the s&p grew 17 points. the nasdaq rose 60. taking a look at overseas trade this morning, in tokyo the nikkei was up 53 points. on hong kong the hang seng climbed 282. well, wall street will definitely be open for business today. the real question is how many traders will be there to trade? with the new york city subway system sputtering to a stop this morning and commuter rail service into the city still suspended after hurricane irene, even the most willing investor may have a hard time getting around. the new york stock exchange and the nasdaq will definitely be open because most transactions today are electronic, the major exchanges said even if a storm's impact had been more severe, they were prepared. the new york mercantile exchange, where among other things, oil futures are traded, just a few blocks from the new york stock exchange will be open. big trading firms such as

citigroup and night capital are prepared to start the day normally. bank of america was waiting for word on new york's public transit system. asian markets started off the day higher thanks to friday's prediction of long-term u.s. economic growth by a fed chief ben bernanke. an independent survey out yesterday showed hiring by small businesses slowed in august, suggesting recent stock market turmoil may have hampered job creation. and that may not bode well for this week's biggest economic data. that would be friday's august jobs report. most analysts find it hard to imagine the nation's jobless rate of 9.1% dramatically improved. and, finally, some good news for you. in a region with some of the nation's highest unemployment, fresno, california, county school superintendent larry powell is giving back in a big way. get this. he is going without his next three years of salary. that would add up to over $800,000. that would be a lot of help for

that area. coming up, curtis granderson grabs the major league home run lead. the saints march against the raiders. plus, a thrilling battle between california and japan and the little league world series. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching first look on msnbc. 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. five bucks. that's a lot of green. a vacation on a budget with expedia. make it work. booking a flight by itself is an uh-oh. see if we can "stitch" together a better deal. that's a hint, antoine.

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>> hi there. good morning. add another accomplishment to derek jeter's resume. in the first game of a double-header, the captain surpassed mickey mantel for the most games played in pinstripes. then in the nightcap, his teammate curtis granderson took over the major league league in home runs. granderson gave the yankees a 3-2 lead. he has 38 this season. the rest of the team must have learned go sg from granderson, bought cano and -- hit back to back to back jacks. the yairnkees had an -3 win. the race in the american league west is red hot. rangers and angels go back and fort until the seventh inning. the go ahead rbi. texas wins 9-5, and now have a three-game lead in the west. speaking of hot, you can get much hotter than the race david price striking out a franchise record 14 over second innings. rays shut out the blue jays.

reds and nationals. cincy down one in the ninth. alonzo ties it with a solo shot, and we're off to extra innings. in the 14th joey knows how to hit home runs. he also knows how to empty. that's 5-4. sticking with baseball, sort of. the oakland raiders are one of the last teams to play on a baseball field. jason campbell throws to third. derek hagen gloves it and gets the green light to come home. 37 yard home run. i mean, touchdown. unfortunately, not enough. saints pull away late to double up the raiders 40-20. finally, congratulations to the little leaguers from california. they beat japan in dramatic fashion to win the little league world series. nick praudo hits a walk-off single with the bases loaded in the sixth. couldn't ask for a better finish to cap off a great tournament in williamsport, pennsylvania. that's your first look at sports. i'm mario solis. now for another quick look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist jeff with the forecast. >> i love this weather wall.

>> big difference, isn't it? >> this is amazing. this is beautiful. we can see those maps nice and large here as we take a look at the northeast. what we're finding is what was once hurricane irene with those wide reaching impacts from storm surges at a coastline. flooding rains have now pushed out, and we're starting to see dryer weather. that's the good news. however, the flooding threat is going to remain. we will see some of our biggest problems across albany, new york, hartford, connecticut, outside of boston, and also into burlington, vermont, with flood watches and warnings in place. and the next area on the map today that we're concerned about when it comes to rainfall is right here across the central and also the southern rockies with some heavier rainfall developing. as for the temps right now, the big spot to be concerned about -- i'm not sure. can i walk over here? yeah. okay. 89 in dallas. 85 in san jose, and 75 in atlanta. this weather map is so large. all right. as far as today's map goes, we have 106 expected in dallas. 105 in san antonio. 92 in atlanta. for those of you in new york city, heading back to work

today, 82 degrees expected for you, and a little bit better here at lynn in dallas from 106 today to 105 tomorrow. >> wow. big doings. >> we're getting -- giving you a cooldown, folks. >> baby steps. >> thank you so much. >> sure. >> well, who sits atop the box office this monday morning? plus, the year's highlights in music and show biz. the video music awards. your first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. [ female announcer ] what if your natural beauty could be flawless too? discover aveeno

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry. now for your entertainment news. at the box office this weekend there was no stopping "the

help." on a slow late summer weekend and even more sluggish business thanks to irene "the help" managed to take the top spot with just over $14 million. finishing a surprising second was the action tale "colombiana" with just over $10 million. at the always crazy video music awards. look closely. that is lady gaga. she opened the show performing in a unique leather jacketed male alter ego getup. yeah. britney spears captured the night's first awhart for best pop video, and later was honored with an mtv video van guard award. katie perry, who had ten nominations, was dressed in a unique manner as well. she wam away with three trophies, including video of the year. the night's biggest news came from beyonce, and she announced husband jay zee are expecting. after performing, beyonce ended

the number taking off her jacket, rubbing her belly, and in the audience it was very cute, jayzee looking very happy, clapping for his it is lady and kanye west hugging him. very sweet. >> it's going to be like something to do with a new dance and a new video with her. she'll be doing something about the baby and probably the belly rub. >> you know, bump alert. this is big in hollywood. >> i'm lynn berry, and this is "first look" on msnbc, but stay tuned. way too early with willy geist starts right now. hurricane irene, she has come and gone, but the question is how big and how costly will cleaning up after her be? and on the eave of the release of his new tell-all memoir we're learning more about dick cheney's thoughts on his years in the west wing. the question is which of cheney's colleagues think his memory might be fuzz where i? >>. the mtv moour music awards, and topping the list of the spectacle that you had to see,