we're tracking the storm as it takes aim at the east coast with reports from mark strassmann, jim axelrod, and david bernard. chip reid tells us the earthquake did more damage than we thought. barry peterson in tripoli, walks us through qaddafi's inner sanctum. we'll give you an early look at the new 9/11 memorial. and as america opens another memorial, byron pitts finds the photographer who immortalized a king. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. the first hurricane of the season is on a collision course with the east coast. here's the view from space. irene looks like an organized storm around a well-defined eye. this is the track over the past 12 hours. the hurricane has grown to a category 3, 120-mile-per-hour winds and heavy rain have damaged homes, knocked out power, and touched off flooding on the caribbean islands. irene is on track to hit the east coast this weekend from north carolina to new york. we have correspondents in the hurricane zone tonight. first, mark strassmann in wrightsville beach, north carolina. >

>> pelley: and jim axelrod with a rare inside view of the markets in full frenzy. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. in every presidential election people talk about how the iowa straw poll can't be taken seriously-- and then they take it seriously. the poll, to be taken tomorrow, is in a sense the first test of the republican field. last night as a you are the cane-raiser, the major declared candidates held a debate. there are two republicans who can't afford to lose the iowa caucuses six months from now and they went at each other last night. norah o'donnell is in iowa. >> reporter: good evening, scott. and saturday's straw poll is the biggest test to date for these republican candidates. and while the results may say a great deal about an organization's strategy and how they're doing, this is also a great deal about perception. >> tomorrow is the down payment on taking the country back! >> reporter: michele bachmann's been campaigning in iowa for just two months but is already favored over many

we have chip reid in washington and jim axelrod in times square. the rebels seize the dictator's headquarters. >> this is something that the people of libya have never seen. this was qaddafi's playground. >> pelley: barry petersen is inside the compound. irene is getting stronger and headed for the east coast along a track that no hurricane has taken in years. and the music men leave us. we think you'll be amazed when you hear all the hits they wrote. ♪ ain't no mountain high enough ♪ captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. it wasn't the big one everyone has been predicting. it was the small one no one saw coming. an earthquake hit the east coast today, a magnitude 5.8. it was centered in virginia and felt as far south as atlanta and as far north as maine. some injuries are reported along with some damage. and while the quake is considered moderate, it was one of the strongest ever recorded on the east coast. and it triggered evacuations in washington and new york and nuclear power plan

our jim axelrod is in the heart of the big apple, times square. jim, what's happening? >> anthony, as you can see behind me, times square is deserted this morning. hardly the cross roads of the world as new york city waits for the approach of the hurricane irene. a couple of hours ago you would still see people out on the streets, the odd taxi cab coming by. right now you'll see an emergency services truck. you'll see a police fire truck, a utility truck but aside from that, it is really empty here in manhattan as people await for the arrival of hurricane irene. the big concern on manhattan island this morning is storm surge. concern of 4-8 feet storm surge as irene arrives coinciding with a high tide and flooding and the worries about sea water mixing with electricity in lower manhattan. really the main concern this morning. >> mason: jim axelrod in times square, thanks, jim. we'll be back with jim in a few minutes. president obama is to meet with his top advisors on irene's status this morning. the president has declared a federal emergency in nine eastern states in w

jim axelrod, wyatt andrews, and michelle miller are in the storm zone. mark strassmann is following the airlines' attempts to get back in the sky, now that irene has cleared out. as qaddafi's family escapes, barry peterson has discovered the high-flying life the dictator was living. and anthony mason with the new journalists, in a world where everyone carries a camera. >> i was frantically deleting old videos from my camera to open up space for it. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. turns out it wasn't the wind, it was the water. long after hurricane irene fell apart, rain from the storm did the greatest damage. parts of 13 states from north carolina to maine are deep in floodwaters. at least 35 people have died in the region. some homes were reduced to rubble. nearly five million homes and businesses are spending another night without power. even in a flood, there was fire. in pompton lakes, new jersey, this home erupted. they think it was a gas line that broke. the house was safely eva

jim axelrod looks at how the cutback in economic spending could take a cut in spending. >> reporter: the economy is stalling sales. new jersey developer russ lepino could have broken ground on this $12 million housing project more than a year ago. >> if the market sales were better, the rate of the sales we would have been started here already. >> reporter: lepino just turned financing on another project to cross town for the same reason. his banker, frank sorentino, said the lack of consumer confidence is what's contaminating the recovery. >> when you look at the hysteria in the marketplace people are second-guessing decisions they would ordinarily make. >> reporter: look no further than the changing credit card habits as proof. credit card delinquencies are at their lowest level in 17 years as consumers use cash not for new purchases but to pay down old debt. outside of philadelphia, xavier walter paid off all of his $20,000 in credit card debt. he's got a strict cash only policy now. >> it's more a weekly budget now and daily budget and minute by minute budget. i'm constantly maki

jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >>> and coming up a little later on "the early show," kwounting the and destruction and getting things moving all along the east coast. >>> and then colin powell's beef with dick cheney. >>> plus, the california school official who's slashing his own salary to save programs for students. that and more a little later on "the early show." that will do it for the morning news on this monday morning. appreciate you joining us. i'm terrell brown. thank you, everybody. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com vitac -- www.vitac.com \s 4:30 ,,,,,,

jim axelrod is north of wall street in times square. >> reporter: scott, you know, right behind me, we have a rugby team from australia wrapping up an exhibition giving you a sense of what the mood is like in times square, contrasted to a couple of hours ago when this place was absolutely deserted, didn't see anything but the occasional police vehicle going by. so in new york right now, the feeling is, yes, there was a bullet dodged, but we don't want to mislead anybody. it didn't take much to find some trouble in and around the new york metropolitan area. for instance, let's show you some pictures we have from elmsford, new york, in westchester county, and you get a sense while people are certainly enjoying the aftermath now, there was some serious business earlier today, a rescue being performed of some information out there in westchester county in elms ford. the big concern at this point is not-- has nothing to do with the winds and the rapes. it has to do with the potential for flooding, especially in the low-lying areas of manhattan. battery park, the south street seaport, place

jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >> mitchell: up next, the three doctors, how a friendship pact leadccess. success. with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if your mood worsens, you have unusual changes in mood or behavior or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. cymbalta is not approved for children under 18. people taking maois or thioridazine or with uncontrolled glaucoma should not take cymbalta. taking it with nsaid pain relievers, aspirin, or blood thinners may increase bleeding risk. severe liver problems, some fatal, were reported. signs include abdominal pain and yellowing of the skin or eyes. talk with your doctor about your medicines, including those for migraine, or if you have high fever, confusion and stiff muscles, to address a possibl

jim axelrod is in times square tonight. jim, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, russ. you heard the old phrase, better to be lucky than good. well, when it comes to how well prepared the people who run new york city were for irene, fair to say they were both. as some new yorkers sloshed around their basements, bailing out flood waters, others contended with more than 650 downed trees, this afternoon those who had been ordered to leave for higher ground returned to their homes. >> i think, you know, kind of shutting down the city was a good thing. >> reporter: and there was remarkably little complaining. >> if they had been under- prepared and people had been injured, or had died, houses had been flooded, they would have been criticized. >> reporter: no one knows that better than new york mayor michael bloomberg. >> it is our responsibility to make sure that everybody is safe in the city. >> reporter: the mayor was sharply criticized for the city's slow response to last winter's blizzard. not this time. bloomberg was proactive, shutting down the subway system yesterday

jim axelrod of the crossroads of the world, times square.as come right up broadway. >> it has. frankly, it didn't hit new york nearly as hard as was predicted. there was enormous concern that the hurricane force winds were going to create problems especially with the skyscrapers. it turned out to be just that really, concern. not that the city won't have its share of problems from the storm. >> reporter: irene pondered the new jersey shoreline this morning. the boardwalk in belmar, new jersey was turned. the arrival coincided with the high tide. storm surge is a major threat for new york city. low-lying areas of manhattan are protected by a single, and a system of pumps, but with predictions and surges up to 8 feet, they may not be enough. wind gusts toppled trees in brooklyn more than 100,000 without power in new york city, 50,000 in westchester county, more than 150,000 on long island, and more than 160,000 in new jersey. 370,000 people were ordered out of low-lying areas of new york city. the streets all over were empty this morning as mo

we asked jim axelrod to find out how a cutback in consumer spending is threatening the recovery. >> reporter: from televisions to townhouses, consumer fear of the future is stalling sales. >> the pace of sales is slower than we ordinarily would like to see them. >> reporter: new jersey developer russ luppino could have broken ground on this $12 million housing project more than a year ago. >> if the market sales were better, the rate of the sales we would have been started here already. >> reporter: luppino just turned down financing on another project across town for the same reason. his banker, frank sorrentino, says this lack of consumer confidence is what's contaminating the recovery. >> when you look at the hysteria in the marketplace, people are second guessing decisions they would ordinarily make in a different fashion. >> reporter: look no further than america's changing credit card habits as proof. credit card delinquencies are at their lowest level in 17 years as consumers use cash, not for new purchases but to pay down old debt. >> i haven't borrowed a penny at home. >> reporter:

before we speak with one very angry woman, cbs news national correspondent jim axelrod has a look at represent them in congress. >> reporter: now that they're home maybe it's no surprise that senators from arizona like john mccain -- >> you say we need to raise taxes on the american people that's not true. we need to raise taxes on the wealthy. >> reporter: to house members from colorado like corey gardner are getting an earful. >> i think our government has gone to pot. >> reporter: but with disapproval of congress at an all-time high of 82%, the surprise may be how civil most town hall meetings have been around the country. congressman joe walsh's town hall outside chicago it was a contentious as a kiss. >> thank you. >> reporter: nothing compared to two augusts ago. >> fascist pig! >> reporter: when voters breathe the fire over health care reform. it all makes sense to congressman walsh, a tea party republican. >> now a lot of folks don't know who to direct their ire too. they're confused. >> reporter: maybe another old rule of politics, voters hate congress but love their congres