i'm randi kaye. journalist can tell you there's nothing like the deadline to focus the miechltd with hours to spare to make sure the world's biggest economy can make good on its debts and commitments is headed to the president's desk. as you may have seen live right here on cnn, the senate signed off on the plan about 90 minutes ago. and for all the anxiety, acrimony and alarm the vote wasn't even close. it was largely in line with last night's vote in the house, so with a signature from president obama, the united states will stay clear of default until 2013 at the early left. the president's pen is poised. >> this compromise guarantees more than $2 trillion in deficit reduction. it's an important first step to ensuring that as a nation we live within our means. yet it also allows us to keep making key investments in things like education and research that lead to new jobs and assures that we're not cutting too abruptly while the economy is still fragile. >> let me remind you what this deal actually

randi kaye has it after the president. >> there's nothing wrong with america that can't be fixed. what is broken is our politics. [ applause ] >> think about it. over the last six months, we have had a stri

. >>> cnn newsroom continues right now with randi kaye. >> hi there, suzanne. thank you.ell, three major stories on the radar this hour. starting with a major hurricane. category 3 irene batters the bahamas and eyes the carolinas. chad myers is watching that. >>> a hostage ordeal is over in tripoli, but the fighting goes on, and moammar gadhafi still out of sight. >>> and washington surveys the damage from the earthquake that shook the east coast almost 24 hours ago. i want to start with a huge and still growing hurricane irene. chad myers is watching it all for us. what's it doing now, chad? and exactly where might it be headed? >> well, it's headed to the bahamas. and right now, if you want to get a map, it's right over crooked island in the bahamas. and later on it'll be going over long island at the bahamas. the irony is that there's the potential, at least in the cone that in four days it could go over long island, new york. right now at 115 miles per hour forecast to get significantly stronger than that. and let me tell you why. for a while, it was being torn up by

you know, you can visit randi kaye's facebook page at/randi kaye cnn.com for a link to the entire articlepost office. do they need to deliver a major change. our team will weigh in on that next. >>> we've been talking throughout theshow about the post office and plans to cut 120,000 jobs. the administrators say they need to cut the jobs to be financially viable. so how bad are they now? try eight and a half billion dollars in the red just last year. they're already looking at closing more branches and getting rid of saturday delivery. one other thing could help get them in the black. privatization. in 1971, the postmaster general was removed as a cabinet position, but the government still holds a lot of control over the postal service. so that's a question for our stream team today. should the post office be privatized. joining me now cnn analyst roland martin and march of skoet a of the memphis tea party. you've worked with fed ex and ups. is this a job that a private company could do? >> absolutely. you could transition all the parcel delivery into a ups or fed ex system essentially wit

randi kaye continues with "cnn newsroom." >> i would go for the bacon, too. >>> too much water and too much drought, we begin this hour with the on going impact of irene. >>> in new jersey, they are still doing round the clock rescues around the surging passaic river. hundreds in all picked up by first responders in rafts. >>> in vermont, you're looking at i-report photos with the ground washed out from under the tracks. floods wiped out almost three roads and bridges in vermont alone, isolating 13 communities. as of this morning, relief workers on four wheel drive vehicles made their way into four of them. from north carolina to maine nearly 1.8 million homes and businesses are still waiting for the power to come back. and that's down from more than $6 million on sunday. 43 deaths now blamed on the hurricane and tropical storm. one was a survivor of the holocaust. >>> i want to get back to new jersey where they cannot think about recovery while they are still doing rescues and evacuations. chris knolls is in little falls, a name that no longer fits. the passaic river is at record leve

. >>> meantime in the 1:00 hour eastern time, randi kaye will talk live with two veterans, one meeting with president obama today. we'll get their take on the president's plan to better prepare vets for the workforce. >>> and the july jobs report beyond the number, we'll talk with an economist about what the report means for the overall economy and we're watching the markets minute by minute after idea's big sell off. right now the dow down by 70 points. now it's rebounded a little bit, down 59 points. we'll keep watching that for you. it's me? alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? you ready? one, two, three. [ both ] ♪ emma, emma bo-bemma ♪ banana-fana-fo-femma ♪ fee-fi-fo-femma ♪ em-ma very good sweety, how do you feel? good. yeah? you did a really good job, okay? let's go back to drawing. there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. our premium litters now work harder to help neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. aren't getting enough whole grain. but actually, i

the news room continues with randi kaye. >> thank you, and have a great day. >>> two more events to go now in the president's three-day tour in the midwest. this is a live picture right now as we are waiting for the president to speak in atkinson, illinois. and then it's back to washington tonight and then off to martha's vineyard for vacation. and he is not only putting together a plan to grow jobs and the economy, but he is planning to announce it september 5th, the same week congress returns from the summer break. president obama has actively been meeting with some to create a plan. the question is how specific will it be and will it help? white house officials tell us it's a work in progress, and will include tax cuts and infrastructure ideas that could create jobs, and measures that target unemployed, and struggling economic sectors. they say the president is working on a debt reduction proposal and will present the so-called super committee, and as you know it's the 12 lawmakers tasked with cutting trillions from the federal deficit. their plan is due at the end of november. and

i am randi kaye. we're glad you are with us. we start off with the victims of irene. for those of you who think irene was a dud, well, tell that to the families of the 21 people who died in that storm and the people that lost their homes and the estimated $10 billion price tag is nothing to sneeze at either. irene may not have been as bad as expected in some areas, but worst in others. vermont, much of the state is under water. a short time ago president obama declared a state of emergency making vermont elvauable for disaster relieve. >> it will take time to recover from the storm of this magnitude. the affects are being felt across much of the country. in new england and states like vermont where there has been an enormous amount of flooding. the responses continues and i want to make sure fema and other agencies are doing everything they can to help people on the ground. >> check out the video of vermont. it shows the power of irene destroying one of the state's treasures. that's the bartonville bridge. and that is just one area's dilemma. take a look at this amazi

. >>> cnn newsroom continues right now with randi kaye. >> thank you, suzanne. >>> roads and bridges trashed and washed away, whole communities isolated or worse. hundreds of people stranded or flooded out, a some rivers and streams still rising. almost 48 hours after the rains of irene, much of the northeast is still in the depths of disaster. this is vermont. take a look here, where craig fugate is touring the floods and promising federal help even if it means postponing long-term help for prior disasters. in new jersey, first responders are rafting house to house rescuing hundreds of families, pets included, from the bloated passaic river. it is cresting today well above what's considered major flood stage. likewise, the connecticut river due to crest at midnight. from florida to massachusetts, at least 40 deaths are being blamed on hurricane/tropical storm irene. more than three million homes and businesses still don't have power. flood warnings still are in effect in five states from vermont to new jersey. all this brings me to my colleague, mary snow, in patterson, new jersey.

very interesting product. >>> for more about pot ponics, check out randi kaye, cnn.ck us out tomorrow same time and channel. >>> it was a big weekend for republican presidential candidates. are there three front runners? now we'll check in with paul steinhauser after this. [ male announcer ] imagine all of your missed opportunities in one place. ♪ the front-row tickets you never bought. the lucrative investment you never made. the exotic vacation you never took. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus rx. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer. whether it can be done safely and responsibly. at exxonmobil we know the answer is yes. when we design any well, the groundwater's protected by multiple layers of steel and cement. most wells are over a mile and a half deep so there's a tremendous amount of protective rock between the fracking operation and the groundwater. natural gas is critical to our future. at exxonmobil we recognize the challenges and how important it

i'm randy kaye in atlanta. >> i'm martin savidge. the federal government has begun mobilizing response to deal with hurricane irene. emergency aid will be critical to countless communities where irene, now a tropical storm, is causing catastrophic flooding this is margaretville, a small village in the catskill mountains, about two and a half hours south of the city. within the past hour president obama addressed the government's response to this natural da disaster. >> i do want to underscore that power may be out for some time, perhaps days. i want to make sure dhs, fema and other agencies are doing everything in their power to help folks on the ground. >> reporter: irene is now over central vermont and moving north at 25 miles per hour, it's still got plenty of juice to make life miserable with 50-mile-per-hour winds and torrential rains. some of our best images have come from you, our ireporters. fred moore took this video of irene as it washed over west haven, connecticut. all up and down the coast we are seeing the impact irene

i'm randi kaye is michael holmes. it's coming up on 2:00 p.m. in the east coast.e want to welcome everyone. it makes it about 8:00 p.m. in libya. >> it will be interesting watching the pictures we've seen. ramadan is 8 p.m. in the world. there will be the call for the fast. it will be interesting to see how many people get off the street to break the fast. when i was with the rebels, 120 degrees in the desert. under islamic law, if you like, you are allowed to break the fast in the day in a time of pat will. drink, eat and the like. but so many of these guys were not. they were fighting through the heat, through the day. it's going to be interesting to see what happens. it's almost time for the official, you'll hear it on the -- through the -- the call -- these are pictures by the way from the airport. live pictures where arwa damon is. i have never heard anything like we were hearing with sara sidner a little earlier. >> yeah. she was trying to tell us exactly what was going on at gadhafi's compound in tripoli. at times it was hard to hear her over the gunfire. w

. >> i'm randi kaye. our special coverage of hurricane irene will continue at 10:00 p.m. >>> but right now, dr. sanjay gupta reports with "the last heart attack." thank you for watching. >>> everywhere you look, it seems a heart attack is just waiting to happen. more than a million heart attacks a year. that's one, just about, every 30 seconds. just in the united states. if you haven't had a heart attack yourself, you likely know someone who has. i've got a secret to share -- with what we know right now? we could see the last heart attack in america. i've been investigating this for over a year. i've got lessons to share, things you need to know, things your doctor may not tell you. >>> i was lucky i didn't die of a heart attack. >> reporter: former president clinton, like too many people, was busy. and for years he ignored warning signs from his heart. but in 2004, during an exhausting book tour, there was something different. >> i had a real tightness in my chest when i was getting off the airplane and

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. >>> the cnn newsroom continues right no with randi kaye. randi. >> thank you very much. no matter how you look at eryan, it is a monster. potentially the biggest hurricane to hit the u.s. in six year. it's on track to slam coastal north carolina on sunday and maybe new york city late sunday. chad myers has the latest facts and figures, and we'll get to those in a moment. jim spellman is weathering the worst of irene right now in nassau in the northwest bahamas. how bad is it right now? >> reporter: hi, randi. it appears that maybe the worst of it has passed in nassau. still a lot of high winds and still some rains and high surf here occasionally coming over the sea walls, but i think the worst here is orr and it passed. amazing how well they've weathered this here. we have not seen any damage. just a quick ride through downtown nassau, and it seems that they've got lucky and their preparations really worked. some of the southern islands in the bahamas didn't make it well. we have reports of serious did he have tags in some of the settlements down there and even some of t

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for much more about internet essentials, check out my facebook page at facebook.com/randi kaye, cnn.rrow same big eye time, same channel. >>> how do americans really feel about raising taxes when it comes to the deficit reduction bill? paul stein houser joins us next. [ male announcer ] imagine all of your missed opportunities in one place. the winning horse you could have picked. ♪ that "old flame" you should have called. ♪ that leap of faith you never took. but there's one opportunity that's too good to miss. the lexus golden opportunity sales event, with exceptional values on the lexus is. but only until september 6th. see your lexus dealer. the new congressional super committee is supposed to figure out a way to get a handle on u.s. deficits and debt. good luck with that, right? paul steinhauser joins me from washington. when it comes to debt reduction, what do americans really want the super committee to do besides clean up the mess? >> reporter: they definitely want washington to clean up the mess. randi, we asked that and we went in the field and did a poll. check out this bra

. >>> randi kaye is up next. >>> you can see it, down 403. play here, and with that let's go to two of the best market watchers, ali velshi. and what is causing today's selloff? >> well, it's the lack of direction ask leadership, and this idea that we have economic growth slowing down worldwide, and nobody quite seems to have the solution as to how to fix

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randi kaye was told that kelly thomas could still be alive today if one of the officers had been helduntable in mam's case. >> and had the police department and the da taken note and brought mr. [ bleep ] to the foreground and questioned him about falsifying reports and bringing false charges against mr. mam. he would not have been there that night beating kelly thomas. >> on the other side, fullerton issued this statement about the mam case saying. "based upon the information brought to our attention over the last week, acting chief hamilton is very concerned and has ordered an internal affairs investigation into the matter to determine what happened that evening in october of 2010 and the court case this year. there is a strong possibility that we arrested the wrong person that night. veth mam". >>> the attorney for ma'am and kelly thomas' family is preparing to file a similar state and maybe even federal lawsuit in thomas' case at a later time. meanwhile, the fbi, the orange county district attorney's office and now an independent consultant are all investigating the fullerton poli

randi kaye mentioned wolf blitzer. we want to talk politics off the top. president obama is campaigning today. that's right. i said campaigning for reelection across the midwest. take a quick look at the news he got just before leaving the nation's capital. a new personal low in his job approval rating in the latest gallup poll. look at that number. 39. 39% here of people approve of the job he is doing. 54% disapprove. less than 15 months before the president faces the voters. so there on the banks of minnesota's cannon river, president obama coming out loaded forbear saying the dead debate say that some politicians and he didn't mention parties would rather see their opponents lose than see american win. tough words. take a listen. >> we ended up creating more uncertainty and more damage to an economy that was already weak. now, we can't have patience with that kind of behavior anymore. i know you're frustrated. i'm frustrated too. >> three states in just three days. by bus for president barack obama. you have minnesota, iowa and then illinois. my colleag

that all happened, fortunately, randi kaye, outside and not inside the car. we turn it over to you. >> thank you. >>> well, a deal is a deal, but it's not a law until both houses of congress pass it and the president, of course, signs it. that's why the drama, anxiety and suspense is as thick as the august humidity at this hour. lawmakers are gearing up to raise the debt ceiling before the treasury defaults on some of the government's debts and obligations as soon as tomorrow. the house is expected to vote first. the senate and then sometime tonight. what are they voting on? so glad you asked. the plan worked out over the weekend by the house and senate leaders called for up to $2.4 trillion in new borrowing, and slightly more in long-term spending cuts. the process, for that, i want you to take a look here. i will not try and walk you through it. it's a mess. the bottom line is 917 billion dml spending cuts with a special committee in charge of finding $1.5 trillion cuts by the end of the year, and the debt limit rises by $900 billion now, and $1.5 later. al

. >>> now, the "cnn newsroom" continues with randi kaye. >> have a great day. >> thank you. >>> the treasury is sending out checks as promised, and somehow there is just as much fear and uncertainty and economic anxiety as ever. we will tackle the next three main questions. what is going on with the stock markets? the dow is on track for the ninth straight day of losses. any guesses on how long it has been since nine straight days of loss? 33 years. lots of scary numbers are behind these, and we'll get to those in a minute. question number two, who will make the cuts. the debt deal left a hard decision on taxes and spending and entitlements to a 12-member super committee yet to be appointed. thirdly, why did congress leave so much unfinished business? lawmakers went on their august break leaving thousands of faa workers on unpaid furlough. they are also leaving $1 billion in uncollected taxes on the table in a fight over $14 million. it's time to get some answers. don't you think? >>> wall street is where we begin today. alison kosik is at the stock exchange. if the dow closes lower, we are

for more about the light bulb, visit my facebook page at facebook.com/randi kaye/cnn., same big eye time, same big eye channel. >>> you've heard all politics is local. today much of it centers on rural northeast iowa. that's where president obama is presiding over an economic forum aimed at cultivating new ideas to take back to washington. it's also where tthe governor o and contender is making up for lost time. grabbing headlines with outlandish comments. last nitric perry said that texans would treat ben ber bernanke pretty ugly. the group think progress.org had a camera rolling. >> printing more money to play politics at this particular time in american history is almost treason ous in my opinion. >> i want to bring in my go-to politicos to talk about this a little bit. mark preston, and paul steinhauser our deputy political director. guys, let's get to it. is this rick perry being rick perry or is this a candidate looking for some big buzz? >> you know, randi, i think it's rick perry being rick perry. he's starting to hit his stride and feel more comfortable on the

"cnn newsroom" continues right now with randi kaye. >>> thank you, suzanne. if we could forget what happened yesterday, today would look like a pretty great day on wall street. instead, this bounce in the dow is a relief. we're now up, looking at the big board there, about 170 points but it still leaves us more than 400 points below where we started the week. the plunge of course attributed to the downgrade of u.s. government credit by standard & poor's. yes, you got it. which attributes that decision in large part to the grid lock in washington, the inability of president obama and congressional republicans, yes, there we are right there, to get a meaningful handle on the deficits and the debt. now comes of course the federal reserve. we have ben bernanke here, which has used every tool in its box to keep credit flowing and interest rates low in the wake of the great recession. at 2:15 eastern, a little over an hour from now, the fed will tell us what if anything it plans to do in the wake of the downgrade, the debt snafu, the european debt snafu and the glo

randi kaye will pick it up from there. >> yeah, take a look right now. we will show you the dow. it's down 291 points. so we turn to the man himself, ali velshi, to tell us what on earth is going on? we snapped an eight-day losing streak yesterday and now this. why? >> it's a strange day. the dow to 90 or so is an improvement. we were down substantially more than that. this is the italian job, randi. we had the greece problem and then we moved into our debt ceiling problems and in the middle, italy showed up. italy has very serious problems and there are fears of default in italy. the head of the european central bank, their equivalent of ben bernanke gave a speech had morning and they said their economic growth is slowing, and traders took it as a note to say things are more serious than we thought. you combine that with the fact that the japanese central bank intervened to prop the yen up, and there's a fear that everybody is doing badly and nobody is there to pick up the slack. basically is that what is happening. money is coming out of the stocks. when you see that happening,

here's randi kaye. >>> the straw poll is history.than five months away and still, it is all about

i am randi kaye. victory comes when moammar gadhafi is captured. by that standard, there is no victory yet. it's closer this hour than any other time in the last six years. rebels hold most of tripoli. and a celebration today in green square, which the rebels renamed martyr's square, turned into a fire fight with the loyalists. green square is right on the coast there. gadhafi's compound, a few miles away has taken a pounding from nato air strikes. today is the scene of ferocious gun battles. for now it's still in the regime control. and as for the libyan dictator, he may still inbound hiding or on the run, but three of his sons are in custody. and that included the man on the left, and he is wanted for crimes against humanity, just like his father. and then rebels also captured this woman, a well-known anchor on state tv, and witnesses say she is unharmed and state tv has gone dark. and then sara sidner has spenlt the day on the streets in the capital. what is happening there now? >> reporter: i wanted to go back to what you talked about, the last