if you think the men and women of the national hurricane center have been busy,'s there's one off the coast of africa, but that's still over a week away. just a crazy storm. >> thank you very much. we'll check in with you as needed. wherever the storm goes next, this is already the worst hurricane they have ever seen in the bahamas. five confirmed dead. unfortunately that number likely to grow. the confirmed fatalities were all on the abaco islands. sharon has an apartment there. i spoke to her by phone just a short time ago. >> how are you and those around you doing right now? >> caller: i think everyone here is pretty much in shock. it's utter destruction everywhere we look. everyone is happy that we're aive, but it's just -- you know, the aftermath, it's awful. >> have you been riding this out in your home? >> caller: yes. when it started, my friend and i decided to stay and she decided to stay with me. we rode it out in our home. last night we started to take on a bit of water. so we were a bit panicked but not so much until this morning when we kind of woke up in about 10 inches

stories of hundreds of women computers, mathematicians and engineers working at the nasa and its precursor organization, the national advisory committee on aeronautics. from the 1930's to the 1970's. in the early days of the space program, women and their talents were critically important, but often overlooked. women were typically not permitted to serve in any visible position or recognized publicly for their contributions. women of color faced additional daily indignity of racial discrimination. in spite of these challenges, to apply chose their considerable talent to achieve what is arguably one of the nation's crowning technological achievements, landing the first humans on the move. the success of the nasa space program was due in large part to their brilliance, hard work and perseverance in the face of adversity. what better example can we hope to give our sons and daughters? this bill will bestow congress' highest civilian honor in recognition of the achievements of katherine johnson, dr. christine darden, dorothy vaughan, and mary jackson, and all of the other women computers, mathematicians and engineers at naca and nasa during this important time in our hi

s. by religious zealots who force fertile women into sexual servitude as child-bearers. you will bear children for them. >> brown: the new nationcalled gilead. >> reporter: the new nation is called "gilead." what did you think you were doing then, at that time? >> i tught i was getting in trouble. reporter: you thought y were getting in trouble becae of the story? es well, it answered the qution, if the united states were to become totalitaria t what kind ofalitarianism would it become? >>deporter: atwood, now 79 author of more than 60 books, is canadian, but traces part of her ancestry to early american puritans. "the handmaid's tale" struck a deep and lasting chord for millions of readers the world over. we talked this summer in her toronto neighborhood. you've got to be amazed by what enhe handmaid's tale" has grown into as phen. >> it's out of control. ( laughs ) well, i can't do anything about it. come back! >> reporter: not a chance. the story has been made into a 1990 film, an opera and ballet, a graphic novel and, reaching millions more, the emmy awd- winning hit hulu series, which has completed its third season. atwood

national political conventions. >> we've seen an awful lot of years of the wan. this one could be different, but the economy is so bad and that is something that women care about a great deal >> woodruff: s born mary martha corinne morrison claiborne boggs in new orleans, and early on, picked up the nickname "cokie." it was a political family. her father, hale boggs, a democratic congressman from louisiana, became the u.s. house majority leader, and her mother, lindy, who succeeded her husband in office after he died in plane crash in alaska. the young cokie boggs graduated from wellesley college in 1964 with a degree in political science. two years later, she married journalist steven roberts, and the couple went on to have two children.tt after g her start in local news and then cbs, roberts ined npr in 1978, when it was still an upstart. she became the congressional correspondent-- a job she held for ten years. she later became npr's senior news analyst and commentator. she also served as a congressional correspondent and frequent contributor to the "macneil/lehrer newshour," our predecessor.th included her award-winning coverage of the iran-contr affair in the 1980s. >> the contradic

national museum on african-american history and culture. mr. raskin: my first question s actually about that. it's obviously inspired other efforts as the chair was saying to create museums on the woman and -- on american women and on latino museum, an asian american museum. tell me, one of the remarkable things about the african-american museum is, first of all, i think it's now the most popular museum destination, is that right? mr. bunch: it's one of the most popular. mr. raskin: one of them. it's a remarkable thing when you go over there, you get people coming from all over the place, all over the world, all over america. large, multiracial, multicultural crowds coming in to check it out. and so i'm wondering if you'd reflect for a moment on how museums that focus on a certain commention of the american experience can speak universally to everybody in the country and how should we think about all these proposals coming forward for other museums similar to that? mr. bunch: i think the most important thing that we did in building the national museum of african-american history and culture was from the beginning saying, this was not a museum by a community for a particular community. that we said this is an