if there's any zebras crossing out in montauk. but fill us in on the rest of the weather. >> one never knows what one might come across here in montauk. but today, for sure, lots of sunshine. it's absolutely gorgeous. and this will be the picture up and down the northeast for today in the wake of tropical storm earl. it's going to be beautiful. lots of sunny skies. boston, checking in at 85 degrees. here in montauk, 82. 83 in nags head, north carolina. we're still keeping an eye on some of the rough surf. for the most parts, just absolutely gorgeous. unfortunately, maine, you're going to see some afternoon showers.h@ thanks so much. more on your saturday forecast later on in the show. dan and bianna? >> mary, thank you. >>> coming up on "gma," chilling 911 tapes shed new light on the tense hostage drama at the discovery channel the world watched unfold for four hours. >>> a lot of people love nascar. but few of us get to ride in one of the cars. this morning, nascar superstar dale jarrett takes our erin andrews on a little test dr

now, in addition, forecasters are expecting a storm surge here in the montauk area of up to three feet, but authorities say it is not a major concern. erica. >> hill: elaine quijano elaine, thanks. another summer resort area, cape cod, massachusetts, is also in earl's path. we find dean reynolds in chatham tonight. dean, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, erica. well, don't be fooled by the beautiful weather on the cape. they know what's out there, and they-- the word along the shoreline is "leave," and preferably "leave now." sailors were lining up to haul their boats ashore as hurricane warnings went up the flag poles along the coast. is this a potentially dangerous storm? >> absolutely. >> reporter: heavy rain and winds up to 75 miles an hour are expected in seashore areas, meaning that the two bridges on and off cape cod will be closed once the storm hits. if they close those bridges, are people marooned here? >> they'll have to turn around and come back from where they came from. >> reporter: now officials are concerned people will wait until the last minute to leave and be

peter alexander in montauk at the tip of new york's long island. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. there are more battering waves hitting this coast tonight, but be clear. there is also great relief here that this storm has largely stayed out at sea. still, by the end of today, 13 states will have felt the impact of earl. like an unwelcome guest overnight along north carolina's outer banks, hurricane earl crashed the start of the labor day weekend. al roker witnessed its arrival. >> right now, we're getting the worst of these feeder bands and i've got -- oh, my gosh. the winds are really whipping. >> reporter: punishing winds and rain pounded the coast. the weather channel's jim cantore was in cape hatteras. >> as you can see, we are still taking it on the chin. this water is compliments of pamlico sound and it continues to push up with these strong northerly winds. >> reporter: dawn revealed roads that looked like rivers and a beach full of tires that were submerged for decades as an artificial reef. but because earl's

next in its path, montauk, the far eastern tip of new york's long island. a storm that continues to obliterate the calm in north carolina. i'm john berman, in montauk, new york. >> always tough to tell exactly what we're going to see as earl makes its way up the northeast. >> it has weakened. so, a messy weekend for folks on the east coast. still, not as bad as it could have been. that's good news. >> very least, labor day weekend might be a damp one for people around there. >>> that's what's making news in america this morning. >> get more from abc news later on "good morning america" or anytime at abcnews.com. >> havab ♪ >>> in the news this friday morning, a major development in an east bay murder spree. police will search a landfill for a missing hercules man. we're learning more about a confrontation police think sparked the rampage. on the peninsula federal aviation investigators will be back at the scene of a plane crash that killed three. the san carlos city council votes to disband its police department. the san mateo county sheriff's deputy will t

>> hill: elaine quijano in montauk tonight. thanks. so what's happening to earl and what can we expect tonight? david bernard is our cbs news hurricane consultant and chief meteorologist at cbs 4 miami. david, of course, this was a powerful category four storm at one point, peak winds of 145 miles per hour. it seems to be weakening rather quickly. what's happening? >> well, it's pretty simple, erica. let's look at the map where this storm is located now. it's moving from very favorable warm water in the 80s to water temperatures in the 70s, and a cold front is coming toward the east coast, that's helping to push earl out, and that's not a real favorable factor for strengthening, either. so those two things together are causing earl to weaken quite a bit. >> hill: while it is weakening quickly, this doesn't exactly mean folks in new england are in the clear tonight, david. >> no, erica, it will be a nasty night in new england, particularly in rhode island, massachusetts, and coastal areas of maine. radar and satellite indicates heavy sq

the storm surge even split montauk in two. more than 600 people died in what's remembered as the long island express. >> we still talk about it to this day. >> reporter: first cousins emily column and frances ecker were just 5th graders then. in the day before satellite imagery, few here knew what a hurricane was. >> everybody's house was in your backyard. there was cottages floating all over. took three days for that water to recede. >> reporter: on long island they are anticipating coastal flooding again. >> i don't mind the ocean as long as i know it's way out there. >> reporter: less than 24 hours until earl's arrival. most agree this looming storm couldn't come and go soon enough. peter alexander, nbc news, montauk, new york. >> reporter: this is michelle franzen on cape cod. boat owners in chatham harbor scramble to move vessels out of harm's way. all of cape cod along with nantucket and martha's vineyard now bracing for hurricane earl. locals like fred bennett are taking notice. >> you have to pay attention. i didn't ge

many saying it's become immune to the paper modes of lethal fighting machines and shake a stick to montauk when a tree defense budget costs americans tax money taking over six hundred billion dollars a minute. eliminating the signs of age the russian doctor trying to have made a medical breakthrough solve the problem of wrinkles and kill some diseases he says he's found an antioxidant that stops the gradual deterioration comes with old age. sexual minorities enjoy interests and their own well coming home. the government on the books church of encouraging hatred against an unconventional sexual preferences ok so that said and done some good. for him hundreds of delegates met thrash out how the world with the taps ever shifting to moms what was among the key themes it's one which former south african president thabo mbeki knows well well to his sister charles. the form of the at the gathering . very much for joining. us for the ideas of this forum one of the key in this form of the modern state to build a modern state. of theirs we can talk about some universal general proceeds or model. to

and our john berman is live in the middle of it all tonight in montauk, new york. john, good evening to you. >> reporter: good evening, david. well, the eye of the storm right now is about 150 miles that way, and as you can see, it's kicking up pretty serious waves here. the highest waves at this beach today were about 15 feet. they've come crashing all the way to where i'm standing right now. this is normally a pretty wide beach. now nothing here at all. this area, they've shut down the trains to this part of long island there's no more ferry service in and out. they're expecting top winds to reach 50 miles an hour. going to get a few inches of rain here. but the real issue, the big waves. one interesting thing, david, there's only one way in and out of this part of long island, one road. on my way here, i noticed all the cars were still coming this way from new york city, so, people not scared to come spend the holiday weekend here, even with this weather. david? >> very soaked john berman, proof that earl has arrived. and we want to move north now to cape cod, m

in montauk, the fear isn't just damage to boats. but also to beaches. you know what's going to happen with the storm on friday? >> i know it's going to happen. this beach is going to be gone. >> reporter: water and waves, pushing through all the way to the street. in the huge hurricane of 1938, the surge was enough to sever the tip of long island. in new jersey, they're already battling the sea. lifeguards at this beach, forced to save dozens of people. >> i got thrown around pretty good. >> reporter: to the north, on cape cod, they're snapping up batteries. >> batteries, flashlights, chargers, battery backup. >> reporter: and on the tony island of nantucket, right in danger's way, a battle to save some beautiful homes. >> we don't know whether we'll survive. >> reporter: officials are urging people on the island to shelter in place. hunker down at home and hope. one thing we haven't seen here yet at least is people boarding up their homes or taking precautions like that. everyone we've talked to is treating today as d-day. today is the day they'll deci

that's montauk right there. the waves have been very high there already. hurricane warnings are all up for cape cod and martha's vineyard and nantucket. boats being pulled from the water. shelters being set up in some areas. fema, sending supplies and telling people not to be lulled into any sense of security. >> being prepare said what they're saying. we have our correspondents in the storm zone, up and down the coast. we lead off with sam champion on virginia beach. hey, sam. >> good morning, george. good morning, elizabeth. this is a category 2 hurricane. there was some weakening overnight. when you talk about hurricane-force winds at 74 miles per hour, 78 miles per hour up against the outer banks, you know you're talking about still a powerful, nasty storm. look at the skies here. look at the clouds. they're spinning around us. this storm is about 120, 125 miles straight off the coast of virginia beach here. and the waves are breaking about 10 or 15 feet. there, there's an additional five or six feet of spray on top of the waves. it's an incredible sig

guest: montauk into these people who voted for him -- in talking to these people voted for him, he has to make this about him and thus its failure -- success or failure of his presidency. we saw in 2009 but the governor's races in virginia and new jersey and the senate race in massachusetts, it was not simple enough for the president to draper's arm around a democratic candidate and say martic locally supports my martic locally supports my agenda so boat -- creigh deeds supports my agenda, vote for him. he has to say my presidency is under attack and you need to come out and vote or else everything you did in 2008 will be in jeopardy. that is what he will be doing tuesday. host: the timing of this, is this some of the white house thinks they should have done earlier or is the timing crucial right now to get people excited? guest: they have the five weeks left. they don't want to peak too soon. if he started doing this a couple of months ago, that might have been a little early. but that said, there is not a lot of time here. they're trying to maximize this particular event. the tuesday

nonetheless we know the people in montauk, long island, are preparing for whatever earl becomes as itmomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomomo n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n

guest: montauk into these people who voted for him -- in talking to these people voted for him, he has to make this about him and thus its failure -- success or failure of his presidency. we saw in 2009 b the governor's races in virginia and new jersey and the senate race inassachusetts, it was not simple enough for the president to dper's arm around a democratic candidate and say martic locally supports my martic locally supports my agenda so boat -- creigh deeds supports my agenda, vote for him. he has to say my presidency is under attack and you need to come out and vote or else everything you did in 2008 will be in jeopardy. that is what he will be doing tuesday. host: the timing of this, is this some of the white house thinks they should have done earlier or is the timing crucial right no to get people excited? guest: they have the five weeks left. they don't want to peak too soon. if he started doing this a couple of months ago, that might have beea little early. but that said, there is not a lot of time here. they're trying to maximize this particular event. the tuesday rally in