a storm named irene has already flooded parts of the caribbean. strong winds, downpours and floods are now hitting puerto rico and the storm system could strengthen in the next few hours. >>> and d ter this half hour, the planning involved in a secret wedding. how the groom gave his bride the surprise of his life. it's our favorite story of the day. >> some women in the news room didn'tike this idea. i thought it was pretty romantic and considerate. >> as long as he picked out everything according to plan. >> yes, always a tough part. >> just how she'd like it. >> we know to follow orders. >>> before that, breaking news overnight in libya where anti-government rebels have now taken control of tripoli. thousands are celebratatg in the main square which rebels and residents have renamed martyr square. >> the fate of moammar gadhafi is unknown this morning but it's clear his reign is over. abc's chuck sivertsen reports. >> reporter: outside tripoli, the final push was on. the rebel advance was turned back several times during the day with a libyan sp

. >>> in the caribbean tropical storm emily is getting stronger. the storm now headed toward the dominican republic and haiti. forecasters say they should get hit by heavy rain and 45-mile-per-hour winds by midday. emily is expected to continue toward the bahamas. it may bring rain to miami by friday afternoon and wilmington, north carolina, by sunday evening. >>> a homeless man is in custody this morning after jumping the fence at the white house yesterday. he was captured and apparently

and will move around the caribbean islands. this bears watching closely especially if you live in florida or the east coast. the heat's going to continue to crank, dallas, oklahoma city, their streak of 100-plus days continues at 30 and growing. some of the heat will continue to grow up toward the north. 108 the expected high temperature in dallas. 100 in kansas city. this will stay with us, i think, across the day today. new york, you'll see evening thunderstorms. same deal with d.c. and philly. might see delays this, and san francisco some fog. traveling by car, and a lot of folks are this summer holiday season, ali, check this out. imagine if you're on a family vacation and you're driving down the interstate in memphis and a snake -- wow. >> i was wondering what that was. wow. >> pops out of the hood of your car and on to the windshield. >> what are you supposed to do about that? >> well, scream. especially the little girls in the back. i know i would be screaming like a little girl probably. then pull over and maybe through

sometimes, the western caribbean, sometimes the eastern caribbean, sometimes by sea or air. i would have acknowledged small arrows, but that is not the only route. that would be the dominant route. what happened? as you can well imagine, those both in south america and north america and in the caribbean took steps, countermeasures, efforts to shut down this route of transportation. how would things look 10 years later? i would suggest -- i am going to try it myself this time. things would look more like this. ne, the big thick arrow is moving up the eastern pacific. there is a new arrow that you are beginning to see in the year 2000, which symbolically represents the movement of the product across the atlantic to new markets in europe and elsewhere around the world. the other two arrows have not disappeared. i am not suggesting that no product move 11 years ago through the caribbean or central america, but they were no longer the dominant routes. may i note as well the fact that i start my big arrow in columbia is not my insertion that all of the product comes from colombia,

the historic mission district for its 33rd year to showcase the very best of latin america and the caribbean cultures and traditions. now therefore be it resolved that i, ed win lee, along with the board of supervisors, in recognition of the celebration of our diversity, proclaim may 28 to 29, 2011, as carnaval weekend in san francisco! >> so, greetings. i would get to follow the mayor. well, of course let me start by saying to mayor ed lee, on behalf of san francisco cultural arts traditions, on behalf of the artists and per for mars that take part -- performers that take part in carnaval, in part of all the carnaval community, we thank you very much for this proclamation and we are deeply honored that you showed up here today personally to present it. now, mayor lee, if you'll forgive me, i was told there would be a teleprompter. so i'm not that good of a speaker. just off the cuff, so i've got a couple of notes. and basically i want to make this brief because i want to get on to the performances but there are three things that i would like you guys to remember or to address. one is sort o

. >> and preparing for irene, next up the hurricane pounds the caribbean and is now pounding the east coa >>> a rough night in the bahamas as hurricane irene, 115 mile-an-hour winds pounded the island chain. they are taking aim in the east coast. hurricane watch is in effect in north carolina where 200,000 residents and tourists are facing evacuation orders. >> we are asking people all over eastern north carolina to take this storm very seriously and to begin implement their plan. >> preparations are being done all along the atlantic seaboard. navy ships of being moved out to sea. coastal residents are already preparing for the worst. >> here is another perspective of irene from space. this is what the storm looked like from the international space station as it passed over the bahamas yesterday. >>> mike is here with more. >> let's take a look at the radar. you see the outer bands of irene affecting the southeastern sections and southwestern sections and you can see the eyewall if you look over to the east there or right side of your television screen. you can see

. >> and preparing for irene, next up the hurricane pounds the caribbean and is now pounding the east coast. ababababababababi >>> a rough night in the bahamas as hurricane irene, 115 mile-an-hour winds pounded the island chain. they are taking aim in the east coast. hurricane watch is in effect in north carolina where 200,000 residents and tourists are facing evacuation orders. >> we are asking people all over eastern north carolina to take this storm very seriously and to begin implement their plan. >> preparations are being done all along the atlantic seaboard. navy ships of being moved out to sea. coastal residents are already preparing for the worst. >> here is another perspective of irene from space. this is what the storm looked like from the international space station as it passed over the bahamas yesterday. >>> mike is here with more. >> let's take a look at the radar. you see the outer bands of irene affecting the southeastern sections and southwestern sections and you can see the eyewall if you look over to the east there or right side of your television screen. you can se

. >> in haiti and the dominican republic and the caribbean. >> mubarak is on trial six months after -- he has denied all the charges against him, among them, ordering the killing of protesters. >> he ruled egypt with an iron fist. now, for four hours, he lay in a hospital bed in a cairo court. officials mandated that he appear personally to answer for charges related to the deaths of 146 people. prosecutors say he gave orders for security forces to use live ammunition. he gave the command said to let ever was necessary to restore order. the presiding judge asked how he pleaded. he completely denied all the charges. the former interior minister was also head of the security forces and the secret police. his sons were also present, answering the charges of corruption. outside the police academy, restless crowds watched live coverage of the proceedings. few shows sympathy. >> if anybody feels empathy because of his condition, issue of the videos of those tortured during his reign. >> you agree that he deserves to be executed a thousand times over. >> leaders have long demanded that he be

she said my son is getting married tomorrow at the caribbean hilton, could you please come? and i went. i hadn't seen her in 30 years. we were kids together. and after the wedding, there was a reception and she introduced me to

hurricane irene lurks in the caribbean preparing to bear down on the eastern u.s. >>> aftershock. how the east coast is reacting to tuesday's rare earthquake in virginia. >>> and hot water. a woman who forced her adopted son to eat hot sauce is now a woman who forced her adopted son to eat hot sauce is now facing her own punishment. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello, and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with a gathering storm. as predicted, hurricane irene regained strength overnight growing to a category 2 storm. and high above the earth you can see in this harrowing image that was taken from the international space station just how huge hurricane irene is as it passes over the caribbean. experts say the storm could grow to a category 4 monster by the time it makes landfall this weekend. in fact, some forecasts predict irene could become the most powerful storm to hit the east coast in more than a decade. let's go right now over to meteorologist todd santos. he's tracking i

it's got to go through the caribbean right now. it's 250 miles southeast of san juan and puerto rico. it's banging around in the northeastern caribbean islands be tu waves are only 40 miles an hour. barely a tropical storm. it's got a ton of heavy rain with this. this thing, already, though, is much, much larger than don, and we think that will be the case going forward. hates to go over the island of hispaniola which has many mountains and that may knock it down a touch. this is our forecast computer model which shows the track going toward the dominican republic and eventually toward the southern bahamas and likely toward the state of florida, at least the east coast. the models this morning have nudged a little bit farther to the east, so not guaranteed to make landfall in miami, that's for sure. so just prepare right now mentally and then we'll update this forecast going forward, but certainly the southern tip of florida all the way up to the carolina coast and even the northeast will have to watch this one very, very carefully

. >> a lightning strike destroys richard branson's caribbean holiday home. actress kate winslet is among the guests who escape unhurt. >> libya was once responsible for about 2% of the world's oil production, but production has slumped since war began in february. it will be years before output is back to normal. brian my began reports. >> since march this year, anti-gaddafi rebels have been trying to reopen oil fields as a top priority, but there's been considerable damage to pipelines, oil fields, and storage facilities. this amateur footage shows an attack on the oil field perpetrated by gaddafi loyalists after its capture by rebels. all production stopped as a result. although officials from the national oil company say some oil could flow within three weeks, more meaningful production is likely to take much longer. >> in order to be able to return exports to the full $1.3 million barrels a day, this may likely take six to 12 months, if not more. >> indeed, getting libya's oil flowing again will be as much about politics as about repairs. the biggest oil

hurricane irene lurks in the caribbean preparing to bear down on the eastern u.s. >>> aftershock. how the east coast is reacting to tuesday's rare earthquake in virginia. >>> and hot water. a woman who forced her adopted son to eat hot sauce is now facing her own punishment. good morning. i'm lynn berry. those stories and more are straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc. today we begin with a gathering storm. as predicted, hurricane irene regained strength overnight growing to a category two storm. now, high above the earth this harrowing image was taken from the international space station as hurricane irene passed over the caribbean. experts say the storm could grow to a category four monster by the time it makes landfall this weekend. in fact, some forecasts predict irene could become the most powerful storm to hit the east coast in more than a decade. let's go right now over to meteorologist todd santos. he has been tracking irene for us. todd, it's sort of ominous. they're saying this will be huge. what do we need to know? >> you want to bring it into a few areas initia

tropical storm watches are up for the parts of the caribbean. it's approaching south florida by friday. if you're there, going there, you might want to look at your plans. >>> and iraq is considering whether to ask the u.s. to extend the stay of american troops past 2011. iraq's prime minister is hoping for a final decision in the next day or two. >>> let's go around the world with zain verjee. she is in london. zain, interesting new developments in the israeli/palestinian conflict. israeli's benjamin netanyahu is changing things to revise peace talks. tell us what's going on. >> this is a dramatic policy shift. he's basically saying let's discuss it to the palestinians, using the 1967 cease-fire line. he's also telling the palestinians, look, you've got to recognize the state of israel and that it is a jewish state and that do not go to the united nations later this year and unilaterally declare the palestinian state. the palestinians are saying what proposal? we haven't got a proposal. they want details and information. remember, too, the u.s.

very gloomy in the caribbean, charles. that's because we have a tropical storm. it newly formed just yesterday. right now i'd say it's located 450 kilometers to the east of puerto rico. if you notice as we go through the next 72 hour, not expecting much strengthening on it. along the path we're going to be dealing with some very heavy rainfall and that includes parts of haiti as well as the dominican republic. right now we have a tropical storm warning any place you're seeing blue. that means expect tropical storm conditions within the next 36 hour. if you're traveling across the region, expect weather to deteriorate as we go through the next two days. you can see on the satellite imagery. you can see the convection starting to flare up, moving toward the west. again, weather is going to be searing as we go through the next essentially hours for puerto rico and for other parts across caribbean. you can see the track of the potential storm system, moving to the south of the dominican republic. now, as we look across parts of europe, we're expecting a chance today

hurricane irene intensifying as it makes its way through the caribbean and now threatens to strike the u.s. mainland by later this week. >>> we've been hearing for months about the expected big drop in gas prices. now, by the way, at a national average of $3.58 a gallon they've come down some from their peak. but the price of crude has dropped a lot more. so why is gas still so high? mark strassmann takes a look. >> love you. all right. >> reporter: odetta mohammed is a single mom, a registered nurse and a frustrated commuter. she drives 70 miles a day and spends $80 a week on gas. >> look at this! my god! >> reporter: you think between the oil companies, and the convenience stores, that you're always getting the best possible price? >> no, of course not. don't quite understand the phenomenon when the gas prices in barrels, the price of gas is going down yet the gas prices are still going up. sounds like a -- a profit-type margin. >> reporter: often the price of crude oil and gasoline rise together. but gas usually lags behind crude as prices fall. the price of u.s.-produced crude oil

at one point it was moving westerly at 16 miles per hour, just booking along in the eastern caribbean, and now it's hit the brakes. basically what's happening is the center is redeveloping in another spot. you're seeing quite a bit of convection, thunderstorms around the center there. so that would indicate strengthening, but the air kroft that has been flying in there all morning is not reporting any sort of good organization or strengthening as far as the winds are concerned. . but regardless , the rain will e a huge issue. here is the forecast tresk. we don't take to hurricane strength, as a matter of fact, it may have a hard time getting over the mountains of hispaniola, but what gives us because and uncertainty as we get towards friday and saturday, obviously the continental u.s., southern bahamas, potentially the southeast coastline could be in the path of this thing and that is a concern if it strengthens into a hurricane. people might be cheer leading this thing if it stay as tropical storm status because a lot of the southeast could use the rain. as far as how much rain, puer

the passengers on the caribbean airlines flight in guyana were indeed lucky. there wawas no fire. and the jet stopped just short of a 200-foot ravine. another key question, did the pilots of this plane forget to open the wing flaps that would have been critical for slowing the plane down on landing? it appears from the pictures they may not have been deployed. the black boxes have been recovered. they will help unravel this accident. lisa stark, abc news, washington. >>> and the frantic search continues for a missing new hampshire girl who was last seen nearly a week ago. divers searched a pond yesterday for clues to the disappearance of 11-year-old celina cass. her father pleaded for the girl's return. he was in the hospital when she disappeared. >> if she hears me now, tell her daddy's okay now, i'm getting much better, i'm recovering from the hospital. so whenever you're ready to come home, daddy will be here for you, waiting for you. whoever else can give are in charge, state troopers o and warrant police station, any of the officers, be grateful, my appreciation. >> the fbi i

right now heading into the extreme eastern caribbean sea. haiti may get the worst of it as far as heavy rains in the days ahead. so here's the new forecast just out from the national hurricane center. two things we like to avoid. storms going into the gulf of mexico because the water is extremely warm and then it usually does hit the u.s. we like it to curve out to sea into the open atlantic. this storm will be interesting because it has to go first through the mountainous terrain of hispaniola. there's tall mountains here. there's a chance that emily won't survive that. if it does survive, then it will have a chances to regenerate. the hurricane center right now thinks that they're going half and half, they think it could dissipate, it may survivsurvive. it will be close to florida or the bahamas. and then the cone of uncertainty through georgia and south carolina. so areas in the northeast need to pay close attention. the key time period will be in two days from now if it survives going over haiti. if it doesn't, we're all fine. if it does

as it pushes through the caribbean. keeping residents and tourists under cover. >> we're nervous that we're not going to have a flight out of here. in puerto rico, a state of emergency declared after the hurricane pummelled the island monday. trees and power lines came right down. streets were founded. and power cut off to more than 1 million people. just more destruction from a storm that already hammered the u.s. virgin islands as a tropical storm. you can see the sheer size of it in these nasa images from space. working its way across the caribbean towards the united states where it could become a monster category 4 storm with winds between 131 and 155 miles an hour. here in the u.s. countless flights to and from the islands were canceled monday and residents in florida, georgia and the carolinas are wisely preparing. stocking up on any supplies they may need from plywood to secure their windows to water and batteries. >> i remember hurricane andrew, i was completely unprepared for it but this time i'm going to be pr

hurricane warnings in the caribbean as a powerful system moves closer to our shores. >>> gold rush. investors are cashing in, and so are thieves. tonight, the new dangers of wearing gold. >>> football scandal. shocking allegations threaten to bring down a college powerhouse. >>> and, swimming with sharks. taking a dip with some of the most dangerous creatures on earth. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. after months of bloody stalemates and setbacks in the fight to reclaim their country, libyan rebels tonight have fought their way into tripoli and are waging an all-out assault on the quickly disintegrating regime of moammar gadhafi. as we first reported here last night, the battle for typically had begun. rebel fighters have made steady progress in their offensive on the capital. there are reports they have captured a son of gadhafi. tonight spontaneous celebrations are under way in typically in anticipation that the end is near. u.s. officials tonight have tol

already a tropical storm barrelling through the caribbean and could soon become a hurricane. the track right now shows it could be headed for florida. >>> it could be a dramatic turn as early as tomorrow in the case of that new york city maid, and one of the most powerful men in the world charged with attacking her. >>> and ththe wedding planner. the boyfriend who spent the last year asking his girlfriend simple questions. if we ever got married, what would you want? >> she said she wanted martha stewart paper balls. >> she had no idea what she was about to walk into. >> what? she's here? >>> good evening on this sunday night. as we come on the air with new reporting from the west coast. there are fast-changing developments out of libya tonight, where come knoll gadhafi's regime appears to be closer than ever to its end. these are the aimages coming in. rebels filling green square, the capital's main square there. tonight, no word on where gadhafi is, but there are reports that at least one of his sons, saif, has been detained. the rebels also say the top military unit in cha

the powerful hurricane ripping across the caribbean, burning richard branson's house to the ground. florida and the carolinas warned to get ready. >>> weighty questions. do men or women gain the most weight after marriage? what about divorce? can you guess? >>> and surf's "pup." meet ricochet, a four-legged force of nature who can hang ten, ride the waves and help a lot of people who need a best friend. >>> good evening. tonight, the world is watching a revolution in real time. after 42 years, libya's unpredictable moammar gadhafi is on the ropes and missing. with u.s. and nato support, the rebels rolled into tripoli, celebrated, but then communications went dark, so there is uncertainty and fear. we're asking the big questions. where is gadhafi? how long can he hide? and what does it all mean for the u.s.? and we begin our coverage with abc's jeffrey kofman who sent us this report as he traveled with the rebels toward tripoli. >> reporter: today, on the streets of tripoli, the smell of victory. tempered by fear and uncertainty. rebel forces are in control of almost all of libya and

custom patrol plate spotted 100 foot vessel in the western caribbean speding to the florida coast lane. they alert add nearby coast guard cutter which gave chicago's and stopped the subject marine. the suspects then scuttled it in an attempt to present ept the american authorities from recovering the drugs on board. authorities detain the crew before the vessel sank then the navy coast guard used so inner an types of dives to locate the sub 13 days later at the bottom of the caribbean. south american drug cartel increasingly turned to submarine. authorities say the so-called sub account for up to a third of the drug smuggled to the u.s. from south america. >>> different kind of sports story now. jints fans are of course hoping for a rae pete of world series glory but another group of bay area baseball players is chasing a series title of their own. they are hoping to win without the benefit of eyesight. this is a last minute batting prosecute for members of the west coast dog. one phrase you weren't hear is keep your eye on the ball. flt they are based in concord and premier beep baseb

now, we are expecting in terms of timing for this thing to move through the caribbean through the middle of the week. if it spends more time over land it will be a weaker storm. if it takes a track that keeps it over the open water, the storm could be stronger. the big question, of course, what everybody wants to know is what will happen over here? are we talking about a south florida storm, atlantic storm? a gulf storm? it is too early. the margin of error this far out, we are talking a couple hundred miles. so either side of that line, but at this point, every everyone needs to be prepared for a land fall next week or in to the weekend. we will keep you posted as the storm continues to develop over the next couple of days. our other weather story today is impressive video. if you are not at your tv come and look at this. this is from skokie, illinois. it is a suburb of chicago. there are thunderstorms that moved through here early this morning. lightning struck a power line, brought it down, which in turn toppled a gas line and ignited that fire. the firefighters were able to put it ou

a hurricane with winds of 120 miles an hour now, and it's gaining strength as it cuts through the caribbean. the big question -- will irene strike the u.s.? where, when and how hard? it's on its way, bearing down now on the bahamas, and abc's linsey davis is there. good evening, linsey. >> reporter: good evening, george. irene has clearly arrived. and it is hitting us hard, not only bringing us drenching rain, but increasingly rough surf. the storm surge is expected to get ten feet or higher and that could obviously cause some significant damage. irene's rampage through the caribbean produced widespread destruction when it was just a category 2 hurricane. now, as a 3, with 120-mile-per-hour winds and up to a foot of rain on the way, the bull's eye is on the bahamas. and irene is just getting started. flying into the storm, hurricane hunters took measurements. but from space, the true size of irene became clear. >> it has taken more shape since we've seen it the lala two nights. there's definitely a central eye formed. >> and mike, we see that -- it's hard to believe that it's that big. >> r

it's expected to continue strengthening as it tears through the caribbean before heading through the east coast of the united states. >>> nbc's lilja luciano joins us from nassau, bahamas, about 300 miles from the center of the storm. thanks for joining us. what is the latest? >> reporter: thank you, chris, right now although i have a couple of tourists sunbathing as we speak behind me, here hotel staff and government officials are taking all precautionary measures necessary. down in the south, in the southeastern bahamas where hurricane irene is pounding as we speak, officials are trying to get people out of their homes and evacuation zones and into the shelters that have been allocated by the government for them. i just got off the phone with the director of the local emergency management agency. he says we're having a hard time because people don't want to leave their homes. here the rule is, is the old tale of the boy who cried wolf, and for all of us, i grew up in the caribbean, for all of us who are used to caribbean weather, sometimes it's kind of hard to take into effect and

this is heading towards the northern caribbean. likely will be a tropical depression or tropical storm. we said that yesterday. they got another aircraft rolling in there today. if it becomes a tropical storm looks healthier this morning on the satellite. its name would be emily and our initial computer models are showing some tracks through the northern caribbean and potentially towards the u.s. we'll be watching emily very carefully. i didn't say ceiling i don't think. >> you didn't say rain deficit either which was good. >> nice, carol. >> thank you, rob. >>> still to come on "american morning," our question of the day, it's pegged off the debt ceiling agreement. we want to know who won last night. wall street, main street or was it someone else? send us an e-mail, tweet, tell us on facebook. we'll read your comments throughout the morning. [ jasmine ] i want to be a pediatrician so i want to major in biology. miss gopie is the best teacher i ever had. she's amazing, i love her. [ jade ] i'm teaching jasmine ap biology. i knew s

in the early 1990's, she has been a pioneer in educating youth and the general public on caribbean dance in the san francisco bay area. -- korean dance in the san francisco bay area. once again, are round of applause for our opening number. it is such a pleasure to be with you here tonight for this special celebration. please stand now for our national anthem, sung by ayumi perry. ayumi. >> ♪ oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly str eaming and the rockets red glare the bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there o say does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ♪ [applause] >> and up in coming -- an up- and-coming singer-songwriter. thank you for the beautiful rendition of the national anthem. please be seated now. >> cameras, cameras. >> and if you are a sponsor and are looking for your seat, we have them all down here, all

we have irene in the caribbean. >> rolling through the caribbean last is 101 mile-an-hour winds in bahamas. its category 3, major hurricane with those winds. going to the northwest at about 12 miles an hour. it's going through the bahamas and taking a little bit of a jog to the north so folks in florida that recurve to the north and eventually the northeast is going to take place. let's take a look at the latest hurricane track, looks like irene will pick up steam and be a category 4 hurricane later today and tomorrow. should hit cape hatteras as a category 3 and then once it passes there, the cooler ocean waters will drop it down to possibly a tropical storm as it rolls near new york and possibly hart to ford connecticut. it will be interesting to see. first hurricane up in new england in a long time. >> bring it back home and take a look the cloud cover, vollmer peak back to mount diablo. clouds are everywhere. they have a lot of moisture. watch out for the drizzle during your morning commute. temperatures in the 50s except for along the coast. north bay valleys, upper 50s. we have cloud

its ships to leave the airport and the state of virginia has a hurricane irene approaches from the caribbean this storm is threatening to bear down on the eastern seaboard in the next couple of days. the system has already pounded the bahamas with strong winds and torrential rain. as it moves north, it is forecast to strengthen to major category 4 storm with winds of more than 200 kph. hail storms swept through parts of germany early thursday morning. the emergency services were called in to help in many places. some people collected stones the size of golf balls. streets, buildings, and basements were flooded. heavy rains battered the german state. >> the draw for the group's stage of the champions league has taken place. in group e, chelsea. titleholder's barcelona. >> their lives have been devastated by extreme drought. 12 million people on the horn of africa could die because there is not enough to be. on thursday, african leaders met in the ethiopian capital and pledged millions of dollars in aid. the united nations has declared famine in five areas in somalia. millions are struggling i

these pictures show what irene has done in the caribbean. there is word that the hurricane has damaged 90% of the homes on two southern islands in the bahamas. the dominican republic was also hit hard. so far, no deaths have been reported. >>> voluntary evacuations are underway tonight along north carolina's outer banks. tomorrow, the evacuations are mandatory. many remember hurricane floyd in 1999. despite news of this latest hurricane, some people are refusing to leave. >>> here's the latest on irene. right now, it stands at category 3. as it moves up the east coast, by tomorrow about 5:00, it's going to go to about a category 4. that's the forecast. here's the timeframe, friday, it stays offshore. saturday, off the carolinas. then it moves up into the new england states. probably a tropical storm as it moves toward the new england states. here are all the possible tracks it could take. it shows all the forecast model solutions. you can see it keeps it offshore through saturday. then most of the solutions run through boston, most likely le

sometimes the western caribbean, sometimes the eastern caribbean, sometimes by sea, sometimes by air. i would have acknowledged small arrows but that is not the only route, but that would be the dominant route. what happened? as you can well imagine, those in south america and in north america and in the caribbean took steps, countermeasures, made efforts to shut down this route of transportation. so how would things look 10 years later? i would suggest -- i'm going to drive myself this time -- it would have looked more like this. notice several things. one, the big thick arrow has moved to the west and is moving up the eastern pacific. second, there is a new arrow that you're beginning to see in the year 2000. that is an arrow which symbolically represents the movement of the product across the atlantic to new markets in europe and elsewhere around the world, and please note that the other two errors have not disappeared here i am not suggesting that no product moved 11 years ago through the caribbean or through central america, but they were no longer the dominant routes. and, final

this woman married a caribbean and was not welcomed by the japan. they were later imprisoned by the authorities. >> of course, my mother was japanese. my father was a political prisoner. >> the journey takes only five hours. the southern tip of the island's >> the northern coast of japan is just 40 kilometers away. >> the major northern city is modern after russia and it is here that some of the japanese have recently returned to make their homes. this woman's father worked on the white house and missed the last boat to japan in 1945. her parents brought up the family and died. she promised to mother that she would return to japan and 10 years ago, she did. >> i felt very sorry for my mother. she had to bring up 8 children and did not have enough time to learn russian. >> ironically, when she makes her tea, the gas she is using probably comes from -- this was offshore from the island where she grew up. the russians have found vast reserves of natural gas which have been liquified and pumped into ships. this has been operating for more than two years

the caribbean is watching this as well as parts of the u.s. right now here is the area under the hurricane warning anywhere in red. certainly for the bahamas and turnlgs and caicos, weather conditions will continue to deteriorate through the night and into the morning. the problem is with this hurricane it's been producing heavy rainfall. the problem is for areas including the bahamas as well as turks and caicos islands, it's very flat. so we'll be dealing with the heavy rainfall. on top of that storm surge, roughly two to five meters. flooding is going to be a really big problem there. let me show you some of the history of irene as it moved through puerto rico. you can see the streets really flooded there. it really looks like a river, really something you don't want to see people driving through streets like that with flash flooding and roads washed away. look how close it is to many homes across parts of puerto rico. let's go to the dominican republic. purportedly one person died when their car was swept away. we'll talk about the potentia

. >> hurricane irene is turning into a bear this afternoon, growing over warm water, lashing the caribbean islands zeroing in on the bahamas. now, people in north carolina are taking cover. abc has the latest. >> in bahamas, business owners boarded up stores. and tourists lined up in airports. was it a quick get away they're hoping for. >> planned to have a week of relaxation. and we got here and spent two days and have to turn right back around. >> packing winds up to 120 miles per hour, irene is now a category three. soon suspected to grow into a category four. that is why residents in this tiny barrier island of north carolina are heading for higher ground. >> it's a low-lying island. if there is a bad storm, it won't take much of an elevation of sea level to create a lot of havoc. >> with winds over 400 miles, with irene is shaping up to be the most powerful hurricane to strike the east coast in decades. this is the storm from space. the image captured by the international space station. >> it's central eye is opening up. the central part is uniformed and dense. >> the force was on dis

she had swept across the caribbean bringing him to a phone rain flooding. irene plus is the first inning life since three years. he died to choice of unintentional -- you talk to us about an intense warm-up. >> we as a win speaking of right now -- some winds picking up right now and i assume i will jot down a couple degrees. temperatures turned on tomorrow and then again on thursday. and then they start to warm up again on friday. morning comes and is it some time tracking. we have been tracking it all summer. it gets out in record on wednesday but did it was to be some low 90s inland, but it will not be in the mid-upper 90s. so mid-nineties upper 80s. there were simply not reduced today. that will not be the case tomorrow. and that's not a very warm again with temperatures back into the low 90s. it looks like a nice warm one, some drizzle tomorrow morning in a week ago some very dense fog. his -- visibility will be reduced. 2 miles of it more fog and wind. the forecast ties come out that he stays in a valley and they will get pushed back. they will be push

packing 100-mile-an-hour winds, hurricane irene is plowing through the caribbean. the latest victim, turks and caicos. the sheer force of these winds nearly ripping street signs out of the ground. in the dominican republic, buildings are destroyed. trees knocked down. the national hurricane center's hurricane hunters flew directly into irene, shooting these incredible images. you can actually see the eyewall of the storm. but irene's just getting started and is expected to grow and strengthen in the caribbean. north carolina residents are already prepping for the worst. here in the bahamas, businesses are boarding up. and many t trists are lining up to get out of harm's way. honeymooners, jennifer and todd, spent the day at the airport trying to book flights and searching for hotels on their laptop. >> our hotel, they made the emergency announcement or whatever. and our hotel said they're going to kick us out. >> reporter: shannon drury was informed the entire island of eleuthera would be forced to evacuate. what did they say about the damage expected on the island

but mexico, caribbean islands, up towards the gulf coast states too we're looking at scattered showers and thunderstorms. plenty of wet activity going on here. now for the united states and in towards canada too. it's this area right along the border seeing a lot of activity. tonight watch out for severe storms. large hail, strong thundershowers. possibly tornadic activity. watch out if you are going to be in the area. highs, too, will be warm again for a lot of the eastern united states. 42 in oklahoma city. even up to 36 in d.c. as for europe, a little bit of a rain band forming towards east and heading into russia. isolated heavy showers will be possible here as well. out towards the west, a new system is starting to leave the peninsula towards france. this will include pockets of heavy downpours as well as showers. showers tonight for the british isles but that is going to be heading out from the north and looking at dry and calm conditions for central europe and berlin's high coming in at 26. we're looking at 24 degrees for kiev. that's a look at your conditions for now. i will le

this got some potential moving into the eastern caribbean. nothing now. probably won't be anything for a couple days. as it gets into the western caribbean, something that bears watching for folks that live in and around the gulf of mexico. all the rainfall that carol has been talking about in new york city, this what is you get. this is the prize. check it out. not just one, but double your pleasure there. the rare double rainbow is seen from the top of the time warner center there in the southwest corner of central park. as that shower moved to the north and east. notice this, guys, how in that -- the double rainbow there, how the colors are reversed. >> wow. >> from red to indigo. >> i feel so much better now. >> don't you? come on. >> who cares about the rain. that rainbow has made my day and my -- >> it does look like it ends -- the pot of gold may very well be in christine's parking spot there. >> close. >> what i did, rob, on the rainiest day in new york history i took with my husband and brother-in-law and sister-in-law, six kids under the age of