ron mott is standing by at laguardia airport. i mentioned flooding at the airport, let's say you can get to the airport, i think it's going to be tough to find any hardware there for a long while. >> reporter: absolutely, brian, good evening to you. air travel simply put is going to be a mess and that's going to have a ripple effect across the country. you can see some folks here at laguardia trying to get out in advance tonight of irene's arrival. we have mass transit shut down this weekend in new york and new jersey. and philadelphia. airlines are expected to cancel 5,000 flights and counting between now and monday as the airlines are trying to get their aircraft out of harm's way and if you're holding a ticket on amtrak, you might want to call ahead because certain trains from boston all the way down to miami have either been cancelled or those routes have been shortened, so clearly, brian, this weekend, travel on the east coast is going to feel the effects of irene. >> this is what they mean by hunkering down, ron mott for us

laguardia open. ground stops reported at nuke airpo newark airport here.heard from others transportation has not been impacted by this. it may clear out the commute. a lot of people we spoke to on the streets, at this point, i'm going head home. >> do you think a lot of people actually left the city earlier as a result of this? >> reporter: i think that is what happened. one woman said i can't reach my home. i'd rather drive out and see my family for myself. >> peter alexander, thanks very much. stay with us. i'm joined now by kristen welker, who's with the president, or has been following the president on his vacation on martha's vineyard, and kristen, i understand you do have some kind of statement from the administration. is that right? >> reporter: we're just getting a little bit more information, martin. we're just learning according to white house officials that president obama held a conference call at 2:50 this afternoon. playing golf when this all happened, when the earthquake struck here at martha's vineyard and he spoke with some of his top advi

and two airports, jfq and laguardia were -- j.f.k. and laguardia were closed down. >> i was on the phone with the customer and it started to shake. i told her to should -- to hold on. the computer almost came off the desk. >> i we -- we didn't know what it was. >> he says it is a wake up call for the east coast. >> we are not prepared at all. our buildings don't sway like those in california and japan. our buildings would collapse if we had a major earthquake in manhattan. >> which is scary to say the least. the last quake this big on the east coast happened in new york in 1944. in contrast, california has felt 35 quakes of that size since then. this fellow, captioned "dc earthquake devastation" was circulateed on twitter and facebook. it is tongue and cheek. another californianedaid "we have those for breakfast out here." >>> they are working all night in a bay area community trying to replace a broken well pom. it can't happen soon enough for hundreds of people who are being told to boil their water before using it. it is happening

>> reporter: delta ticket agent tania delpratt is the calm center of laguardia airport's new storm. rebooking. >> will you be checking a bag? >> reporter: delta airlines alone has to help 100,000 stranded passengers. it canceled another 400 flights today. >> what time was your departure? we try to find flights as fast as we can. sometimes we have to call another airline, even though they are experiencing the same problems. >> reporter: not everyone is going to get out today? >> not everyone is going to get out. >> reporter: 13,600 flights across the country were grounded. some travelers may have to wait until the end of the week to get where they want to go. mark rosenker is a transportation analyst. >> aircraft right now may be in the wrong airports, the crews may well be in the wrong cities. all of these have to be put back together in a sequenced fashion. >> reporter: getting back on track was a challenge across the northeast. new york subways reopened, but first, inspectors had to walk all 660 miles of track. washed-out tracks, fallen trees, and mudslides still blocked commuter

laguardia will be reopening.orts as well. >>> tropical storm irene leaves shoulder-high waters in pennsylvania where four deaths are now reported. we'll take you there live next. longest-lasting , full-size truck on the road or because heavy duty made motor trend's 2011 truck of the year. no, it was good because you told us so. consider this a thank-you. the chevy model year wrap up. get in on our greatest model year yet. right now, combine the all-star edition discount with other offers for a total value of $6,000. our greatest model year yet is wrapping up. >> welcome back to our special coverage of hurricane irene. we have updates on the new york area airports. according to the faa, they are telling us newark airport will reopen tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. eastern time. jfk international will also reopen at 6:00 a.m. monday morning. and laguardia as well will open monday morning once again at 7:00 a.m. we have newark 6:00 a.m., jfk at 6:00 a.m. and laguardia at 7:00 a.m. it's interesting. apparently they hav

you were at laguardia last night when it was an absolute ghost town. well, we may never see it like that again. it's going to take a while to get all that tin in here and fill those planes with people and start getting 12,000 canceled flights back online. >> reporter: it is. but it's going to start tomorrow morning, brian. the port authority says that they will begin taking arrivals early tomorrow morning at new york's three major airports, newark, laguardia and jfk. then they hope to actually have departures by late morning. you know what it depends on? that subway system. because that's how most airport workers get to work. >> i knew you'd raise that complication. all right. anne thompson in a newly vibrant times square on the last sunday night of august 2011. anne, thanks. >>> now let's go down the atlantic coast. one of the first places to bear the early brunt of this storm. though in typical veteran north carolina hurricane style, along with our own kerry sanders, atlantic beach, north carolina, to be exact, kerry, good evening. >> reporter: good

on a typical day, some 70,000 passengers would have traveled through laguardia, alone. one of the nation's busiest. it would be a traveler's dream come true to see the empty lines. that is until you come across an empty check-in counter. closed indefinitely. this airport is a ghost town. as irene lashes the coast, hundreds of thousands of travelers are stranded up and down the eastern seaboard. no planes. no trains. the faa says irene has caused more than 10,000 flight cancellations. and delays that rippled across the country. it's too soon to know exactly when the airlines will be up and running normally. but the faa says they took measures to limit damages, covering equipment in the towers. >> we were worried about coming back on sunday, if we were going to be able to leave the east coast and come home. >> reporter: passengers hoping to take to the rails aren't fairing any better. amtrak told abc news it has canceled more than 300 trains. and by tomorrow, all service between washington, d.c. and portland, maine, will be suspended. so far, it seems most travelers have

laguardia will open an hour later at 7:00 eastern according to the faa.he new york city subway system is expected to start running again tomorrow afternoon, and the 1259 staten island ferry and tunnel rye opened. more good news. flights out of philadelphia and washington have also started up again. >>> now that the worst of what's currently tropical storm irene has passed over the new york area, the evacuation order lifted and some city bus, back on it's streets. cnn is live in new york by the hudson river with more on how things are improving. carmen? >> reporter: hey there, martin and randi. here's 9 thing. they're trying to get things up and running but it takes time. this is a very big system. some buss in new york city are running right now. still no subways running in new york city at all. a lot of this has to do with the flooding we saw earlier today. you know, i'm down at battery park. you see the winds still blowing. water, very rough beheeind me. an extra high tide. with that storm surge the water basically came up to where i'm standing. not muc

laguardia opened to both arriving and departing flights.are running with limited exceptions. >>> the lundberg survey believes hurricane irene could lead to lower gas prices because the storm kept people from traveling, putting a big dent in demand. >>> beyonce did she drop a bombshell. the singer cradling her belly bump at last night's video awards making it clear she and her husband jay-z are expecting their first baby. congratulations. >>> you are caught up on the day's headlines. "american morning" back in 60 seconds. >>> in libya the national transitional council warns leader moammar gadhafi is still a major threat. he's gone into hiding since the rebels took over tripoli last week and opposition fighters are giving loyalist troops hiding. loyalist troops have been given till later today to disarm or, this is how they put it, face liberation. gadhafi's forces killed nearly 150 civilian hostages. the charred bodies of those people were discovered in a warehouse yesterday. >> the rebel government turned -- that's their way of saying we'll

problem is, one of laguardia's runways is only 2200 feet away.come even closer. and if there's one thing that birds like, it's trash. >> this is a colossally stupid idea to locate a city garbage transfer station on the edge of an airport runway. >> reporter: opponents of the trash transfer site claim the federal aviation administration quietly is shortened its runway zone at the city's request to allow the project to move forward. a source with knowledge of the situation says, in fact, faa never changed its runway protection zone around laguardia. faa told cnn, the planned marine transfer station near laguardia airport is not located inside the runway protection zone at the airport. faa's parent the department of transportation, had an independent technical panel review the sanitation department's plan which will enclose the facility and have barges of garbage sealed to limit their attraction to birds. the panel gave a thumb's up to the trash center. >> the faa thinks it's safe and they're the professionals. >> reporter: as construction continues

is covering the ripple effects from all of in this morning at new york's laguardia airport.., good morning to you. it's empty there. >> reporter: i should say it is a ghost town up here in departures. no big surprise, 24,000 flights canceled already this weekend because of irene stranding thousands of frustrated passengers across the country. now, here in new york, the last departures are scheduled for 10:00 p.m. tonight. that's, of course, weather permitting. down in philadelphia, however, their airport will close at 6:00 p.m., not taking any chances. hurricane irene may not be listed on those flight monitors, but its arrival is grounding planes up and down the east coast. >> we have no idea what could happen. i don't know that anybody's actually ready for this storm. >> reporter: a hurricane hundreds of miles wide threatening the country's busiest airspace is draining passengers across the entire country. in chicago the luckiest made it back home from virginia. >> it was a nightmare in the -- we had a rental return car. everybody is trying to leave. >> reporter: friday my

laguardia, the flight is taking you in or out tomorrow.jfk and newark, arrivals at 6:00, but departures commence at noon tomorrow. that's the deal with airports. in terms of mass transit, 4 million people a day in and around new york city take the subway. ultimate shut down unprecedented to say the least. trains will re-open tomorrow. the one through seven open by noon tomorrow, the first to get online. after that the remainder, we'll see at the earliest at 3:00 in the afternoon. so you heard the governor of new jersey saying if you don't have to go to work tomorrow, don't. you can see why. this is the tip of the iceberg. in terms of bus service, 2 million every day. big numbers. limited service has begun. restoring service and they are doing the bus service in this arena and this manner. manhattan first, the bronx, queens and picking up brooklyn. also in terms of the staten island ferry, it's open today and will be tomorrow. holland tunnel as well. and the trains, number one thing off track is amtrak. really philadelphia is the dividing l

jfk and newark will resume flight operations at 6:00 a.m., laguardia at 7:00 a.m.ome 12,000 flights were canceled, 41 at sfo just today. after two days, passengers seemed resigned, they are going to have to wait it out. >> i'm not frustrated. i think it's better to lay here on the ground or sit on the bench here than be in new york because there, i expect there is no electricity, and we have free wi-fi here, starbucks around the corner. >> sfo passengers may be in luck tomorrow. according to officials no flights have been canceled. and we have posted the latest on the storm's track and intensity along with pictures of the damage left behind at cbssf.com. >>> another monday, another b.a.r.t. protest. demonstrators say they are going to try to disrupt the evening commute again tomorrow and the impact will affect more than just the people who use b.a.r.t. don knapp is in san francisco with where these weekly protests are taking a financial toll on muni. don? >> reporter: that's right,. >> ann-marie: when b.a.r.t. tells its riders to get ready for another protest muni

and on the western edge of the sound, over towards laguardia and jfk.se airports are about to shut down. we're in the glide path of jfk, and come this time tomorrow, planes won't be running. buses, trains, they're shutting down this afternoon as well. so for the most part, this city and this long island, both nassau and suffolk, will be coming to a halt. and as this storm comes into town tonight and tomorrow, we expect conditions to go downhill tonight, t.j., and the height of this storm, as jacqui probably has mentioned, will be here probably between 8:00 in the morning and 2:00 in the afternoon. back out to you. >> all right, rob marciano on long beach, thank you once again. we're at 42 minutes past the hour and our irireporters have been capturing some video that we haven't been able to get to and get ourselves. we do appreciate it, to our ireporters. we'll take you to the front lines of their coverage. stay here. [ female announcer ] what if your natural beauty could be flawless too? discover aveeno positively radiant tinted moisturizers with scient

flight departure delays out of laguardia.ck out flight tracker at abc7news.com. >>> neighbors near menlo park have until next tuesday to save a 65 foot oak tree. that is the deadline imposed by the puc. they are waiting for a formal proposal to make a public park around the tree or it will be cut down. it stands in the way of the new hetch-hetchy pipeline project. utility says it will cost an extra $200,000 to tunnel under the tree and it could be only be justified if public funds are with it. >> the new bay bridge is looking like a christmas tree. crews switched on the new bridge's catwalk lights outlining its silhouette. crews prepare to add the suspension cables for the new span. cameras have been allowed to the tower for the first time. don sanchez is giving us the bird eye view. >> it begins right here, climbing over and around steel and construction site we made it to top. take a look. this is what it's like 525 feet above the bay, at the top of the tower and the cable will be suspended and these are the cat walks where

saturday airport closures, newark, laguardia, all around new york. also stewart, just north of new york city in poughkeepsie. philadelphia closing their airport at 6:00 tonight. and, of course, sunday airports, this is what we're talking about. a little bit farther north as the storm slowly lumbers into the northeast and southern new england. we get into boston and hartford and providence, rhode island. portland, manchester, new hampshire. even albany, new york. 2 1/2 hours northwest, of course, in upstate new york out of new york city, putting out a statement yesterday. high winds, an incredible amount of rain. and in terms of the rain, that really could be a calling card of irene. we could see 10 to 12 inches. 8 inches in albany, new york. but the problem is not just the rain alone. this has been the wettest august on record, 10 to 12 inches at the very least for this month. >> very saturated. >> that's it. the ground is saturated. can't support the winds and so much easier to tumble off, the trees, the power lines onto cars and homes. it mounts up

we have flight departure delays out of laguardia. otherwise, all the major airports are running on time. flight tracker, anytime you need it. abc7news.com. eric? >> mike, thank you very much. >>> 4:48 now. overseas markets are mixed this morning following yesterday's 77-point drop on wall street. asian markets didn't move very much. the nikkei index in tokia lost one-half of 1% in value. hong kong stocks gained a third of 1%. trading in europe is mixed with the stock prices lower in london and frankfurt and a little higher in paris. dow futures are pointing to a positive opening on wall street. >>> president obama takes the economic bus tour to illinois today as he focuses on creating jobs. the president is also answering republican criticism on his own job performance, especially from the newest candidate in the race. abc's karen travers has the latest. >> reporter: president obama heads to his home state of illinois today hoping to leave the republican attack behind him. over the state border yesterday in iowa, mr. obama and texas

and baltimore and jfk and laguardia. about jfk and laguardia, tonight and tomorrow, you will hear about zone a. that is the lowest area in and around new york city. the most vulnerable to storm surge and flooding. jfk and laguardia both in the zone a evacuation. a mental picture of the runways at the two airports covered in water. that is the expectations. the trains. amtrak cancelling south of washington d.c. have been canceled. anticipation of more cancellation. long island railroad is reducing service in anticipation of the service and moving heavy artillery out of low-lying areas to safer harbor. total shutdown for long island. pennsylvania, the septa. the river will be impacted. a lot of the trains running near or above the water. new york city. this is unprecedented. trains and buses and subways are all under the auspices of the metro transit association. we heard a lot about mayor bloomberg and continue to talk tomorrow morning. will they or won't they suspend service in the trains and buses and with the subways?

laguardia airport opened for arrivals and departures at 7:00 a.m.newark and kennedy airports took arrivals beginning at 6:00 a.m., and just a few minutes ago started taking departures as well. >> are we seeing massive delays? >> no. matter fact, faa is reporting delays of 15 minutes or less at all three of the major airports. >> that's not so bad there. i know new york, new jersey -- new jersey got hit hard, and new york got expected to be worst than it was. was there any damage that was done to the planes, the airports or the subway stations? >> no, at the three mayor airports there was nothing major. it will take a while for our team to get out there and look for debris on the runway, and the employees worked hard over the last 48 hours and coordinated with the faa and tsa and u.s. customs and the airlines to get everybody back up and running. >> sure, ron, i guess the mayor took a little criticism. there was a lot of shutting down much of the transportation system. do you think it was a good call when you look at it now? >> better safe than sorry

there were hollywood stars and political insiders like mayor laguardia. there was not an empty seat in yankee stadium but the country was immobilized as millions of americans and half the nation's population listen for free of the radio the kitchen and living room. nbc sports announcer gave the electrifying blow by blow description of the first-round collapse under the relentless downpour. as you can see i made boxing fan.hm schmeling isel going down. he is down. thean count is the number j four.a he is up left to the head left a good job and sterling is down five, six, seven, eight with the fight is over. schmeling is be to the first round. the fight lasted two minutes four seconds and was over.for personally i am not sure about flying 2,000 miles for the two minute match but on the other hand, you have the dining out story for the rest of your life. why do i mention that boxing match of the century? because this two days later roosevelt also climbed into the ring. june 24 is he gave a fireside chat and discussedteob what he intended to do with the conse

we'll go to laguardia. couple hundred planes going to laguardia right now.switch directions and which ones have left laguardia. fewer planes. about 35 planes in the air there. i guess that's decent. then in newark, you have planes coming in, lots of them, 115 or so. leaving that origin, now just open for a couple of hours, just about 25 planes in the air. now, the airports are not closed. they are completely open. the only airport having trouble is teeter borrow, we're still closed. a lot of people will get rental cars and drive because you can't wait long enough for the airplane. go to traffic.com. jam factor on the throughway, south is a ten. it's closed at one exit because it's stillwater over the roadway. how would you know that unless you checked it? if you're trying to drive through ts or philadelphia or new jersey, how would you know unless you checked first. otherwise, you'll idle in traffic for hours and hours. give it a couple of days before you start to move around the northeast a lot. >> excellent advice, chad. thank you very much. we've only sho

eastern with laguardia opening an hour later, but even if the airport is open, you still need to callhead to see if your flight is good to go. over the weekend nearly 12,000 flights were canceled nationwide. amtrak is hit or miss. some routes remain open, others closed. me fro north service from new york and the suburbs have been canceled. the storm pushed gas prices lower because millions of americans stayed home. that could push prices lower, but if refineries can't open back up, that could have the opposite effect. the lumberg survey puts the national average at $3.61 a gallon. joob at the movies "the help" cleaned up again. the ones that went helped the help stay on top of the box office. "columbiana" opened in second with "don't be afraid of the dark" rounding out the top three. and mtv held its music video awards in los angeles last night, but all the surprises and performances became overshadowed. beyonce is pregnant. following her performance the pop queen gave her baby bump a telltale rub, eliciting huge cheers from the audience and a big smile from her husband, rapper jay-z.

at laguardia. newark, new jersey, scheduled to open at 6:00, as well. about six hours ahead of schedule. should put smiles on people's faces. >> a little bit ahead of schedule. okay. but five days is a long time for her to wait. thank you, bianna. >>> and still ahead right here on "world news," we're goingo take you out into the streets of the city that never sleeps, as it hunkered down for a hurricane and we met the unsung heroes working through the night. >>> and the day's other news, including what may be the biggest blow to al qaeda since the death of osama bin laden. [ woman ] we take it a day at a time. that's how it is with alzheimer's disease. she needs help from me. and her medication. the exelon patch -- it releases medication continuously for twenty-four hours. she uses one exelon patch daily for the treatment of mild to moderate alzheimer's symptoms. [ female announcer ] it cannot change the course of the disease. hospitalization and rarely death have been reported in patients who wore more than one patch at a time. the most common side effe

the port authority says laguardia will actually reopen to arriving and departures at 7:00 tomorrow morning. jfk and newark will open at 6:00 with departures starting there at noon. the regents other airports reopened this afternoon. >>> irene could soon effect prices at the price pump. the storm will drive demand and gas prices down over the next few weeks. here in the bay area prices are already down compared to last month. the average price for a gallon of regular is 2-cents less than last month at $2.88. gas is also cheaper in oakland and in san jose where you can fill up for an average of $3.81 a gallon. you can find the least expensive gas in the area by going to ktvu.com and choosing consumer from the drop down menu. >>> people in the gulf region are preparing for a solemn anniversary tomorrow. monday is the six year mark since hurricane katrina first made landfall with winds of 100 miles per hour. it happened at 7:10 a.m. scenes of new orleans on rooftops rivetted americans. the storm caused $135 billion worth of damage. memorials and other remembrances are planned for throughout th

just in, charlotte, philly, now washing and laguardia have all flight delays. go to abc7news.com >> reporter: i'm terry mcsweeney live at apple store where a lot of people are say it ain't so steve. steve jobs stepping down at ceo of apple. is it a health issue? there is another explanation. we'll have it for you and hear from steve jobs in just a minute. >>> also this morning, thousands of people are back home in placer county. >> fog add drizzle for your morning commute and cooler weather for the afternoon. >>> good morning. i'm sue hall. we have a an accident in daly city blocking a lane of the freeway. details coming up. >> and a public outcry forces oakland school board members to change their minds to promoting an officer to the district police force. he was involved in a deadly shooting earlier this year. i'm eric thomas. >>> topping the news the man behind the i-pod and iphone is no longer behind the bosses desks. he resigned yesterday and everybody is wondering if health is the reason. terry mcsweeney is live at the new apple store in berkeley. >> repo

. >>> flight arrival delays at sfo 71 minutes, baltimore, philly and laguardia. ú >> closed captioningght to you by mancini sleepworld. >>> time for business news, stock futures are mixed after the labor department released the jobs report last hour. [ bell ringing ] >> there is the opening bell. >> the number of people filing for unemployment benefits rose to the highest level in months, and news berkshire hathaway will invest $5 billion in bank of america. live to new york stock exchange in 15 minutes. >> this morning, traders may be focused on one specific stock, apple, for the first time in 21st century, the ceo isn't someone named jobs. many wonder what it means for the iconic company. terry mcsweeney joins us live from berkeley store. >> reporter: a lot of people are saying how stunned they are that he is stepping down. some are saying they kind of expected it. not leaving apple he will be the chairman of the board but no longer ceo, not running the day to day operations. he hasn't been running the day to day operations for years now. let's take a look at some pictures of steve j

three major airports resumed service, laguardia and j.f.k.ere closed. 1500 flights are cancelled and out it could be days and weeks before some of the 4.35 million without electricity get it back. john hendron has more on irene's impact. >> reporter: new england took irene's final punch. >> i know it would be once in a lifetime sight. >> after ravaging the states, it battered through the northeast's biggest cities, philadelphia, new york and boston. 65 million americans brace forward an epic disaster of hurricane, winds and water. at the most ferocious, winds reached 115 miles an hour but what killed the most people was a hazard in their own backyard. >> it was so dark, i heard the tremendous crash. my first thought was my wife who was 15 feet away from where the tree came down. >> reporter: 4.35 million homes and businesses have gone dark. more than 20 americans died. >> first let me say this is a storm that has claimed lived. my thoughts and prayers are with those that lost loved ones. those whose lives have been affected by the storm, you

just in we do have flight departure delays out of laguardia ♪ [ female announcer ] something unexpectedo the world of multigrain... taste. ♪ delicious pringles multigrain. with a variety of flavors, multigrain pops with pringles. >>> who had is to blame for the san bruno pipeline explosion. we may find out today. n.t.s.b. is releasing a report and families and pg&e are waiting to hear it. i'm terry mcsweeney and the story is a minute away. >>> also this morning, a wild night in richmond has as gunmen open fire on an suv and started a gas leak at gas station. hours later a woman was shot on interstate 80. >> a deputy is involved in a shooting into on n cupertino. investigators say he was forced to open fire after a pedestrian he was trying to stop fired at him. >> weather-wise, more clouds this morning and they will be stubborn. slow reveal of sunshine cooler temperatures today and tomorrow but warming trend for the holiday weekend. >> live shot of southbound 680, problems san ramon valley commute and also thoroughfare in cupertino that remains shut down. >> 5:31 on tuesday morning. i'm

. >> and we have flight arrival delays into sfo, and flight dlart you are out of laguardia. check out flight trackekekekeke. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >>> good thursday morning. we thank you for waking up and joining us what could be a wild day on wall street. >> i'm kristen sze. >> live picture from the new york stock exchange where the opening bell just rang. overnight, stock futures went from positive to negative and then back to positive just a short time ago to the latest weekly jobs report just released by the labor department. last week, new unemployment benefits fell below 400,000. this wild ride on wall street is now having a political effect on president obama. now more from zblrk the latest sell-off concerns with france could be the next country to face a credited downgrade because of debt issues. >> the market reacts not only to certain aspects but also automakers. >> on wall street a week of massive swings. dow was down 600 points, up 400 on tuesday but those gains and more gone on wednesday. dow closed down 519 points. last time

only delays in laguardia. check out flight tracker at abc7news.com. go! go! completing an atm deposit in record time... that's a step forward. go! go! with deposit friendly atms, you can make ultra fast, secure deposits with no slips or envelopes. take a step forward and chase what matters. >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. [ bell ringing ] >>> bell is ringing on wall street marking the opening of the trading day. u.s. stock futures are falling after the dow rose more than 240 points. stocks started strong after tropical storm irene caused less damage than expected. we'll take you back to the new york stock exchange to see how things are option in about 15 minutes. >> topping the news in richmond, police are looking for the link between two shootings. in the first someone fired into an suv that crashed into a gas meter. in second a woman says she was shot at on interstate 80. now confirmation of a third shooting. amy hollyfield is live in richmond police department. >> reporter: highway closure and evacuation, this one had it all. che

laguardia, j.f.k. and newark. bay area flights are being disrupted, as well. 40 flights have been cancelled today. >> reporter: vacationing tourists came up from sidney last week. they talked about the quake earlier in the week. >> it's very interesting out here. >> the flight to new york was cancelled. >> it was cancelled and we went on line, it's been called and we couldn't get in touch with american airlines. >> they have been in line for two and a half hours. it's all because of hurricane irene. she is responsible for more than 600 flight cancellations nationwide so far. east coast airports are experienced serious delays. irene is stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers. >> anyone planning to get a seat on any of the airlines this weekend will have a tough time. >> this will be a very busy travel weekend before lane day, a week away and there are not a lot of extra seats on the plane right now. we work three or four days with the flight and there are not enough seats to updated people. >> people like be r

you can do the same in laguardia. the problem is immediately. no planes will fly.re will be substantial damage to the airfields. that will be a challenge. that disrupts the national air traffic system. the bottom line, we have a lot of people packed in an island. just like we think of the gulf coast, water comes up and you need to get out of the way. that is harder in new york city or long island. >> stephen, thank you. we wish you the best this weekend. as well as anyone dealing with it. >>> if you are not in the storm's path, travel throughout the country will be impacted by the storm. we are checking the airports and rails and roads and everything. >>> president obama is tracking hurricane irene as he wraps up his vacation. we will expect a statement from the president live shortly. wt do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty p

new york's laguardia airport will allow both takeoffs and landings as are 7:00 a.m. the storm is blamed for at least 21 deaths in the united states. 4 million people are now without power. emergency crews are cleaning up debris. the u.s. government estimates wind damage alone will amount to more than $1 billion. >>> the people in new york city are drying out after irene's visit. long island just east of the city, the hardest hit part of new york state. and manhattan, got soaked. difficult in the coming days. we have the scene from battery park. >> reporter: there are 8 million people here in the city of new york. it swells to 14 million during the day when people come into work. most come in on mass transit. it's really the life blood of the city. the rail systems that bring you into the city and in the subways when you get here. the problem with the subways is, they aren't reopened yet and they are not going it reopen in time for the morning commute. mayor bloomberg here in new york city basically says what needs to happen first and what is happening right now is th

my flight to laguardia last night actually arrived 40 minutes late which by laguardia standards is actuallyarly and the gate's not ready. we actually got in on time. it's their fault there. why all these delays now? >> the problem is so many planes flying in such narrow airspace. and it's about scheduling. it is not about weather. even in great weather these statistics actually apply. why? because they're flying at different times. if you have a runway that can only do 20 takeoffs in an hour, why are the airlines allowed to schedule 34 flights during that time snit doesn't take a math genius to realize you better bring a copy of "war and peace." >> you will read the whole book. things that well traveled folks know to avoid this. you're probably the most well traveled person we know. >> yes. >> what do we could? >> take the first flight out of the day. that's a no brainer. then pick alternate airports. not just to fly from but to fly to. but you want to fly to oakland instead of san francisco, providence instead of boston, i'm a big fan of milwaukee instead of chicago. it's a secret third ai

laguardia and kennedy.y. we'll be right back. sam is tracking this from lower manhattan.report from philadelphia on the flflflflflfd woman: the odds of this daughter of a clergyman can help your kids' scho get extra stuff. ♪ like musical instrents. ♪ and new art supplies. ♪ because they're e only cereals with box tops for education. last year, schools earned over ten million dollars from big g cereals. you can raise money foyour kids' school. look for this logo... only on big g cereals. you can make a difference. >>> point pleasant beach, new jersey, the waves continue to get higher and higher. as hurricane irene passes through there. reeking havoc up and down the east coast and philadelphia as well. >> they're getting the back end of the hurricane. bianna has photos as well. >> so many people are tweeting completely submerged. s tree, you can't see multiple feet of water. here's another one, this is one of the local affiliate stations. you can see a tree down, you can barely walk up. a sea of water flooding the area as well. a massive tree down on a major city street the

you are so quick to say, you have laguardia and jfk, whatever that is over there.y don't work but you can fly out of here all the time. >> eric: it's only affecting the airports more than 90 miles away from the larger metropolitan airports. before we go further. listen to what mr. obama said about this topic earlier today. >> this is a lose-lose, lose situation. that can be easily solved if congress gets back in to town and does its job. they don't even have to come back into town. the house and the senate through procedural agreement do this through the unanimous concept and they can have the fights they want to have when they get back. don't put the livelihood of thousands of people at risk. don't put projects at risk. don't let $1 billion at a time when we're scrambling for every dollar we can, get left off the table because congress did not act. >> bob: another one you can thank eric and the tea party for, for slowing down -- because at the time they were going to use to debate the bill sucked up by the tea party and the ridiculous effort of the american people

laguardia will reopen to both arrivals and departures at 7:00 a.m. delays and cancellations are still expected. >> brian: near all of subway lines should up and running at 6:00 p.m. the first shut down in the city's history. amtrak train traveling across the northeast. all service from boston to philadelphia cancelled. your best bet is to call amtrak or check their web site. >> alisyn: incredible how random the hurricane's path was. in manhattan proper. at least upper manhattan, it was not even a heavy rainstorm. i mean, there have been worse storms. but then all surrounding it, connecticut, new jersey, long island, your part, i mean just drenched and deadly for people. >> steve: indeed. meanwhile, those power outages in long island being called catastrophic. let's go to adam housley is he in newport, rhode island with the latest. good morning, adam. >> good morning. still people in the northeast without power and winds gusting in some cases knocking down trees. if you drive around the area here before the sun went down last night, you will see trees

laguardia, arrivals and delays commence. departures.ut of jfk or newark, arrivals begin at 6:00. but if you are leaving and tomorrow is your departure day you depart beginning at noon. in terms of amtrak, really struggling the most of any mass transit to get its legs back. what they have on the rails, flooding on the rails and power outages and debris on the train tracks. philadelphia is the deciding factor between philadelphia and boston there is no amtrak tomorrow at all. still suspended south of that through baltimore, that's up and active. that's on track at this point. that's a quick look at travel. more about flooding and a look at the hudson valley coming up. >> good luck to people moving on a monday. thank you. this destructive weather weekend got started on the outer banks in north carolina. that state felt the strongest punch of hurricane irene and they have a big cleanup ahead. our cnn david mattingly has been there since before the storm hit. >> reporter: a stunning view of the power of hurricane irene. north carolina's high

all three of the major airports, newark, laguardia and jfk are all open and operational for incoming and outgoing flights. but you still want to check with your individual carriers, my colleague, deborah feyerick, trying to come in from europe, is still having residual delays and problems there. all the bridges are operational and clear and open. where we're seeing the most problems is on amtrak. amtrak says much of the northeast lines are operational, but we spoke to commuters, trying to get to washington, washington, d.c. still having some problems there. when we checked downstairs, we saw cancellations all over the board, especially to destinations such as boston and philadelphia. new york city's mayor basically saying that the commute was going to be, quote, unquote, a challenge. that might be an understatement for some. kyra? >> jason carroll for us there at penn station. jason, thanks. jackqui jeras, he was talking about travel and a lot of things are up and running. you're doing the same thing, but with power outages. we talked about how this storm wasn't as big as we thought

we got them around new york including laguardia, jfk and newark.allowing any arrival flights. why? because then when they get to at the airports where would they go? what would they do and how would they get there because there's no mass transit. that's the scenario. nothing coming in to new york. hudson valley similar. fairfield, connecticut, hurricane warnings in fairfield, connecticut and along that 95 corridor. that bumps up along the long island sound. pretty scary scenario. awaiting on the governor of connecticut who has talked about potentially banning any roadway, any highway traffic on those interstates in connecticut. we'll learn more about that later today but he's potentially saying he wants everybody off the road tonight. beginning tomorrow no road traffic. incredible scenario. something the northeast has never seen. >> who would have thought. thanks very much. fleece our viewers out there if you have a chance, send us more ireports. we love your ireports. don't do anything risky or dangerous to get those reports. video, still photogra

. >> transportation secretary ray lahood went to new york city's laguardia airport yesterday to point out the impact of this partial shutdown. he stood in plain view of an old traffic control tower that's supposed to be demolished by a company based in brooklyn. the contract to do that work is for $6 million. a whole bunch of jobs, right? like the other $2.5 billion worth of improvement projects this one is on hold. secretary lahood has said the partial shutdown will not affect airline safety amid all the chaos and uncertainty here, the faa did miss a deadline to publish new safety rules. and to add injury to the existing insult here, in addition to all the people out of work and the work that needs to get done not getting done. the faa shutdown is also projects to directly cause taxpayers more than a billion dollars. when you buy an airline ticket, you pay tax on that ticket that the faa collects, except with no faa, the government cannot collect that tax, so the government loses that income. delta airlines, the airline lobbying so heavily to strip funding rights in this bill, they w

more planes to laguardia and you end up in binghamton and have to rent a car.t of these airlines at some point, today or tomorrow, will start doing the free change things, and just take your time, be patient and do what you can. the cars are safe. i'm not -- cars are safe is something else, because look at this. haven't had this graphic up all day, drew. this is 6 to 10 inches in purposele of rainfall. let's say that the forecast is correct, somewhere here, here and here. because of the way the waves come in and because of the way the wind comes in and the elevation change here with the appalachian mountains, everywhere from eastern north carolina, almost the low country of south carolina, and up into new york city, d.c., will all get 6 to 10 inches of rainfall. some spots a foot -- a foot of rain, so some of these roadways are actually going to be flooded. this is just a weekend to not go to the beach, hunker down at home and watch television, and i heard somebody say get -- i don't know what channel it was. gettur portable tv. do portab do portable tvs even w

they're ready to complete the work, taking down the tower at laguardia. and there are construction workers all over america that are ready to go to work. this is their season. this is the time when they make their money. for their families. so they can pay their house payments, they can buy food, they can make their car payments and for members of congress to give speeches about jobs and then go on their vacations while construction workers have vacated their jobs rings very hollow. members of congress could easily have put 74,000 construction workers and f.a.a. employees back to work. but instead they went on vacation. congress turned a blind eye to these workers and their families. the shutdown of the f.a.a. is now in its 12th day. with members of congress on vacation, this means they are leaving these 74,000 workers without a paycheck, without an ability to pay their mortgages, to pay their rent, to make their car payments, to take their own families on vacation for at least six weeks. airport construction projects around the country worth $11 billion

and you have laguardia, which is now open to inbound and outbound flights.y are accepting flights, but flights won't be going out until afternoon. when it comes to getting out, we will tell you already flights for today have been canceled. and most airlines say they won't be on normalized schedules until tomorrow. that seems like better news than you might expect after a huge hurricane. but for people who are stuck at a place like newark international airport, there was no solace in that. >> you see it on tv. and you never think that it's going to happen to you. so now i know what to do when uh i come up -- once i finish with my last appointment, i'll fly out, i'm not going to ever stay again. >> i'm tired. i'm english, this is frightening for me. i'm a lone, traveling female. it's a frightening experience. >> reporter: it's brutal to be stuck in an airport. the key here is don't call ahead. so many people not able to get through on the phone. it's 2011, break out that smartphone, that ipad, check out your status updates online. and if you have trouble there

kennedy and laguardia airports flood zone.lower manhattan all in the orange or yellow potential flood zone. and that's just new york city. >> this is not just going to be a sure incident. this is going to be a statewide incident the way it is projected now. if it continues on the current track from a flooding perspective, this could be a 100-year event. so people should not -- should not take this lightly. >> that's new jersey governor chris christie advising people who live along the jersey shore that riding out storm is not a smart thing to do, and that the entire state needs to take this very seriously. he also declared a state of emergency, as did the governors of north carolina, virginia, maryland, and new york. people on the west coast of the u.s. made fun of easterners for how east coasters react to the earthquake this week. and right now i'm sure floridians are mocking the northeast for how it is anticipating this hurricane irene. but you know what, 65 million people in the path of a really big storm make fun all you w

you get to williamsburg, you get water there and that's right where laguardia is. water is trying to rush from two separate directions and you can't do it very long without that water rising. i suspect it will be wet not with rain but with salt water because of the water getting pushed in from the ocean by tomorrow. >> the different areas to be worried about. we will continue to check in with you, chad. let's go brian todd. what are conditions like where you are? >> we're just getting hit with the outer bands and you can see how bad it is here. we are getting ripped by wind and very strong rain. we are on the edges of the river here. they are very worried about flash flooding getting hit pretty hard. the marge management director. i spoke to him a little while ago. 6,000 customers are without power. they are very worried about power lines snapping down. came down over here and saw a lot of power lines very violently in the wind. there is a big concern in this area. experts have told us that a lot of time when people died during and after hurricanes it is because th