let's take you back to virginia tech. that campus is on lockdown after reports this morning from three 14-year-old summer campers that they thought they saw a man with a long-barrel, short-handed gun under some sort of cloth or sweatshirt. the description that they gave of the man is that he is a white man with light brown hair, roughly 6 feet tall, wearing a blue and white striped shirt, gray shorts, brown sandals, and described as being clean-shaven. right now there are not a lot of students on campus. however, they were alerted through facebook and the campus website to remain on lockdown. campus officials put out that notification this morning, saying that a person with a gun reported near dietrick. that's a reference to a dining hall. they said stay inside, secure doors. emergency personnel responding. call 911 for help. at the top of this hour, we had a brief press briefing from campus as well as police officials, who said they did get this report from summer campers, three kids. they did decide to put out a credibl

breaking news from virginia on the campus of virginia tech. we're getting word, right now, trying to piece it together, about 10 minutes ago a local affiliate confirms the campus siren system was ac investigated and the reason it was activated is because the police claim a person with a gun was spotted near a dining hall and the university police asking people all over campus to stay inside and secure their doors. we all remember what took place there, three years ago, an awful, deadly shooting that went on an hour-and-a-half and police are conducting a search for the gunman and trying to confirm what he has and what he wants and spotted outside of a dining hall the campus of virginia tech and the campus now in lock-down and the siren system has been activated and virginia tech knows the drill all too well and we're working our sources in virginia and we'll get more information on that, and that is just developing, at the moment. just crossing here, a few moments ago. so stay tuned for more. we'll get you information from the campus. alisyn: m

from virginia to canada. dave, really quickly, hometown sites here, 72 miles an hour, 68 in waldorf, alexandria, 43 mile per hour gusts and 55 measured in the district. another location in the district, 44. here's the highest rainfall total updated for you, annapolis, 7.29. >>s of rain at the naval academy. impressive. >> it really is. that's a great deal of rain. >> imagine if it was cold enough. 70 inches of snow. >> do i have to? >> no, no. cut me off. >> okay. a true snow lover giving us that comparison right now. jummy olabanji has been aggregating the great video and pictures you've been second to us and sharing them. they're wonderful. along with great views we're seeing from other places, a lot of folks around here continue to send us their pictures, jummy. >> absolutely, dave. i feel like people are starting to wake up, speaking with our producer, cara. we are getting more pictures as the morning goes on. people are starting to wake up and assessing what's going on around them. we're getting pictures

virginia, hundreds, more than 500 on virginia beach have sought shelter as the storm continues north and a few things of interesting around the big cities. new york they have had subways closed and the buses every kind of public transportation shut down for 2 1/2 hours. and that is times square right not heart of it all and some people wanted to get out of the town so they have flooded the midtown car rental agencies and it sounds as if car rental ages all over the new york city area are running out of cars because new yorkers can not it is still for more than 15 or 20 20 seconds so european tourist whose have no idea what is happening they think they are in london. it is new york. there is a lurk coming. the funny shoes ... noise to have you with us. the storm is headed to new york city tomorrow. but jersey shore you are first! ♪ [ male announcer ] this is our beach. ♪ this is our pool. ♪ our fireworks. ♪ and our slip and slide. you have your idea of summer fun, and we have ours. now during the summer event get an exceptionally engineered mercedes-benz for an exceptional pri

he is in virginia at the virginia tech campus right now with the latest. again, the investigation of a report of a man carrying a weapon on campus who was last seen near a residence hall. we want to be cautious as we report this, but we'll keep you up to date. as we get more information, we'll bring it on to you. breathg intelligence that's helping people rethink how they live. ♪ in here, video games are not confined to screens. ♪ excuse me, hi. my grandfather lived in this village. [ woman speaking italian ] [ male announcer ] in here, everyone speaks the same language. ♪ in here, cars call mechanics before you do. ♪ [ radio chatter, siren wails ] pass me to the patient, please. [ male announcer ] in here, doctors see you before you get to the hospital. no, we didn't pass it. yeah, pull up the map. [ male announcer ] in here, friends leave you messages written in the air. that's it right there. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's the at&t network... a network of possibilities... and what's possible in here is almost impossible to say. ♪ >>> again, the l

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the one near the epicenter in virginia is on lake anna virginia, and that plant has two reactors and both tripped automatically and shutdown, and the plant has declared a quote unusual event which by the way is the lowest stage in their emergency scale. let me go now to tom costello, my colleague standing by, and i understand that you have new updates for me as well. >> well, the information that you have what i just put into the hot file, tamron, and that is right. i got off of the phone with the nuclear regulatory commission, and they saying that that plant there in virginia that is near the episen is ter acenter is on virginia, and both of to reactors have tripped there, and it is described unusual event, their words, which is the lowest stage of the emergency scale. now they will do a walk-down inspection and assess the conditions to maintain safety there, and it is not clear if there are any other concerns there. however, five other plants have declared unusual events. and these are five other nuclear plants along the east coast. hope creek, new jersey, salem, new jersey, oyster

this is the heart of virginia. i would say, the rolling hills of virginia and as we drove through, you drive past -- i told my cameraman, i think we drove past a dozen civil war battlefields as you drive here. it has that old-town, old dominion feel to it. families going back a long time live here and they'll pull together and make it work. thankfully, nobody is injured seriously and nobody has died and everybody can go to sleep tonight grateful for that. >> absolutely. tom costello who really rushed to get there. thank you very much. >>> how prepared is the east coast for a major earthquake? we'll talk to robert bazell, as well as a representative from the red cross. their phones have been ringing off the hook in the washington, d.c. area. you're watching "hard ball" only on msnbc. ometimes cleaning up after your dishcloth? bounty extra soft can help. it's super durable, and in this lab test bounty extra soft leaves this surface three times cleaner than a dishcloth. even with just one sheet. super clean. super sof

we'll break it down. >>> plus, breaking news at virginia tech. the school is still in lockdown after three teenagers told police they saw a gunman on campus. all that plus talking 2012 and richard engel live in somalia on the famine crisis. r ] members of the american postal workers union handle more than 165 billion letters and packages a year. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united states postal service doesn't run on your tax dollars. it's funded solely by stamps and postage. brought to you by the men and women of the american postal workers union. ♪ [ tires squeal ] an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. i

i want to go to virginia beach, virginia right now. amber, what's going on in virginia beach? >> reporter: wolf, i'm out here in virginia beach and the center of hurricane irene is about two hours south of us but we're definitely already feeling very intense effects of the storm. look how ominous the sea looks out there. tremendous waves. lots of wind and rain and the wind is pounding you. unlike the outer banks, south of us, the city of virginia beach doesn't have sand dunes to protect it from a storm surge. this is a city with a population of more than 400,000 people. it's a popular tourist destination for people living up forecast. the boardwalk is lined with hotels, restaurant, bars. it's taking a big financial hit if a storm surge comes over here and enters the city. if i could have you step over here and show our viewers. we're witnessing breaking news. look at that water. the storm surge is coming up here. we've even sometimes when it's been approaching this boardwalk and going over the side and that's a big concern for residents that this water will enter this city. on

if you go to west virginia, democracy essentially doesn't exist. if you are a property owner, you have no right to stop corporations from raining boulders, poisoning your children and wells, drying up your streams. you don't have the right to participate in local democracy, which is the fundamental zoning laws and planning laws. in west virginia, you can't zone out these kinds of corporate activities. the transparency has disappeared in government, which is the hallmark of democracy. the agencies that are supposed to protect the west virginia public have become the instrumentialities for the companies they are supposed to regulate and the judiciary and virtually every elected public official has been corrupted by big coal. 2/3 of the people in west virginia want to see mountaintop removal banned and this is what happens when corporations take over government. you see the tea party out here saying big government is a big threat to democracy and i agree with that. i agree. when we have a government that tortures bill, suspends our bill of rights and

joining us now is the executive director of pro choice virginia and a member of the virginia coalition to protect women's health, a group of medical providers and advocates formed specifically in response to virginia's new trap law. ms. keen, thank you for joining us. i appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me, rachel. >> did i describe what's going on in virginia accurately? do you expect that these regulations will effectively shut down most of the abortion providers in the state? >> well, i think tomorrow, once the draft regulations come out, i will have a better answer for that question. but if there's -- if they are following the same track that our proponents are pushing, that they emulate the south carolina regulations, then, yes, we have a really big problem on our hands here. and i fear that the majority of our women's health care facilities will be forced to either close their doors or cease offering first trimester abortion care. >> what would be the effect -- as i understand it, the idea is that abortion clinics that perform first trimester abortions will be regulat

and norfolk, virginia. philadelphia, parts of new jersey where they have 1 million people already evacuated. so truly, all the way up this eastern sea board. they haven't dealt with a storage this huge in quite some time. really trying to get out in front of it. >> thank you for braving the storm for us. farther north, new york city is bracing for what could be a direct hit. the buss and trains are shut down. the storm surge could send water flooding into lower manhattan, into the burros. it's the first mandatory evacuation ever in new york city. >> if you haven't left, you should leave now. not later this evening, not this afternoon, but immediately . >> emergency authorities warn those who stay behind will be on their own. winds are expected to knock out power to millions in new york suburbs. strongest winds and rain are expected to hit the city early tomorrow morning. >> dry and calm weather center, i might add. not standing out on the beaches here, thankfully. the storm trap track of irene hasn't change

virginia governor bob americadonald. virginia is in the path . a lot of concern there. >> elizabeth river. it is a bad timing with the winds at their peak at the same time as high tide. so storm surge is dangerous and we urge no body to go out or anywhere near the water right now. it is extremely, extremely hazardous. aware that we have dramatic power outages in the state currently. and the last report 796,959 customers without power. that means hook ups and that means on average two and half people per hook up. and we are looking close to two million people without power. that is do minia and coops and others we expect it to be over that point and certain with this storm tracking the way it is, tropical storm force winds expected for 6-9 hours and rainfall amounts 10-12 inches or more, far greater number will. we expect limbs and trees to be down. it is a significant number. 283,000 in hampton roads and more of that in richmond. because of the heavy rain and gusts and number of trees down. 350,000 in richmond and 21,000 in northern virginia and

here is the campus of virginia tech in what experts, virginia. this happened to near dietrich dining hall that is not the far away from were the first shootings took place back in april to down seven. if the university issued an alert on its web site telling students and employees to stay inside and to secure their doors. hot and the police chief said the three kids that were interviewed at seems pretty credible. at this moment virginia tech is still under lock down fact because of the gunmen reported on campus. gil >> is a look at some other stories we're following. we're getting word that a hiker's detained in iran may be released possibly this month. we are also watching wall street. we have seen the numbers plummet this morning. a big drop due to the jobless numbers and the financial crisis in europe.0 36 million lbs. of ground turkey is being recalled because of possible salmonella contamination. one person nationwide has died. " 70 have been made sick. >> we are following the battle in washington over the faa. president obama is urging cong

it's part of the central virginia seismic zone. it's a place that has had earthquakes in the past, but this is the largest one we've ever seen. so it's relatively garden variety, just in a place that's had them, but not very often. >> pelley: why was it felt so far up and down the east coast? >> well, out on the east coast your rocks are hard and cold and no faults breaking them up. so it's like a good, solid bell. it does a better job of transmitting the energy than the broken-up rocks here on the west coast. so we always see it. the previous times the magnitude close to 6, and felt over the whole east coast. and it's just what your rocks are like out there. >> pelley: and would we expect any aftershocks from this? >> definitely expect aftershocks. we've recorded a couple so far. so far they've all been smaller than magnitude 3. and therefore would only have been felt right on top of the epicenter itself. to get an aftershock large enough to be felt, say, in new york, would be pretty surprising. but if it will happen, it will be w

richmond, virginia, 50 miles away. there's a central area up the james river, west of henrico county, west of richmond, up to charlottesville, that's where most of the earthquakes will occur. louisa county, into richmond and virginia, felt an awful lot of shaking and quite a bit of damage in some spots we're assuming. >>> we want to go live to new york where our richard roth is standing by. richard, give us a sense of what's happening there in manhattan. >> basically here, this is lower manhattan in new york city. and certainly, a jittery place. ten-year anniversary of 9/11 coming up. everyone very sensitive. there are subway lines, underground trains running. when i felt this, i felt that's a little bit shaky for the number 6, 5, 4 running up the lexington avenue line. when other people said did you feel that, i think it was a quake. it was a much wider scope. we've had a major evacuation of all of these buildings here. we've talked to several people who described what they felt. >> bunch of people from the office, ta

southeast virginia, virginia beach area, and all of hampton roads is experiencing up to now tropical storm force winds. heavy rain bands. we've already got some reports of power outages. we've closed one major tunnel, and other tunnels and bridges will close because of high winds. we're feeling the impact now, but the worst is honestly still to come. it is the water and flooding on the coastline orrin land. it looks like this band is going to go right over even the central part, and you are there in the central part, and you say you can see already flooding on the roads or the coast, or the sustained winds. >> well, alex, with all storms, it's all of the above. >> all of them, yeah. >> in the low lying areas along the coast is what we're really concerned about flooding. norfolk, portsmouth, other places. i was down there yesterday to talk to the mayors and the emergency operations there, and they've done a great job giving mandatory evacuation orders for all the low-lying areas. they've had pretty good compliance, farce we can tell. 150 to 200,000 people were subject to mandatory eva

that is the virginia beach fishing pier. you look at the very end, you can see the waves, which are massive waves, coming up towards the shore and they're just coming in one by one and they are continuing to grow, continuing to intensify. the one thing that has really not changed in the past three or four hours has been how far up these waves have encroached closer to the boardwalk. they have receded just a little bit. so some good news there. if you look, though, along the boardwalk, you will see, as we wipe our lens, you'll see some of that sand that already started washing up. it washed up along the board walk. it washed up along the bike path, which is starting to flood again as well. earlier this morning they had flooded, it receded and again it is back up. so we are continuing to monitor the conditions here. i want to again reiterate to folks who think they can come drive out here and take a look at it officers are continuing to patrol the boardwalk. they're stopping folks as they drive up, telling them to go back, so

virginia, too, is bracing. let's check in with our affiliate now in norfolk, virginia. let's listen in. they're talking to the governor there of virginia, by the way, right now. >> minor reports of standing water in the roads and trees being downed. but as you know, people really need to know, we've closed the midtown tunnel and the hampton roads bridge tunnel, the bay bridge tunnel is in the process of being closed. and some of those will be closed until sometime tomorrow. midtown tunnel maybe until tomorrow night. people need to know the major arteries will not be available because they're too dangerous because of the winds and the flooding. but overall, people seem to be doing exactly what they're supposed to. i talked to the mayor this morning and the virginia beach eoc is doing well. just because it's downgraded 85 miles an hour, there are very dangerous hours still to come with tornado warnings and heavy rains and flooding potential is a great significance. >> governor mcdonald, that brings us to another question, realizing the storm hasn't even really completely

joining me is virginia governor bob mcdonnell. thank you for taking time out from what i know is a tense period for you. you predicted in storm could be deadlier than hurricane isabel in 2003. what are you hearing that makes you believe that? >> i think it's the swath of the storm and the speed of this storm. we are expecting some areas in southeast virginia and the eastern shore to have four to six hours of hurricane-force winds and up to 20 hours or more of tropical storm-force winds. we've got about a million people in southeast virginia that are going to experience hurricane-force winds, which means widespread power outages and everything that goes with that. we want to prepare people for the very worst. our people are ready. i visited hampton and virginia beach and norfolk. met with the mayors, the emergency operations people. i think we are ready. >> how are the evacuations going? there are people who are going to stay. do you have a message for them? >> i empowered them by executive order yesterday all the localities to iss

this is for everyone that is in north carolina and virginia. we are calling for a category 2 landfall at this point, still looking at a storm surge. instead of 6 to 10, probably down to 6 to 9. rainfall will be huge no matter what the strength of the storm is. we're also going to be watching the peak of this storm for the outer banks and north carolina, sometime from saturday 4:00 a.m. to about 11:00 p.m. it is going to take so long to get through the tropical storm force winds, you'll probably be in your homes for a good 18 hours. further up the coast, again, still looking at a cat 2, cat 1, this is for people in jersey shoreline, delaware, chesapeake bay and virginia. your impact will be as early as tomorrow morning. to all clear probably by about sunday into the middle of the day, maybe noon, 2:00. you'll have sunday evening to assess your cleanup. but saturday is your day you'll want to be inside and extensive damage, still expected virginia beach, norfolk area, all the way up along the coast. now, with the weaker storm, the storm surge and

just outside washington is alexandria, virginia. it's a lot of low-lying ground and a lot of docks with a lot of vessels. and luke russert tonight. how are they faring there? >> reporter: good evening, brian. the rain has been falling steadily since about 10:00 a.m. today. that is the main concern because as you mentioned, this area is prone to flooding. in 2003, during hurricane isabel up to three plox were submerged underwater. power was out for days and boats moved. there's a fear, i spoke to the mayor specifically today that that could happen again. so here's what we have to look at. tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., it's high tide. we've heard about this storm surge that's coming off the atlantic ocean going through the chesapeake bay. it's going to feed the potomac river mind me. at possibly 8:00 a.m., the water could break this dock where i'm standing and go into the city. now, the city of washington, d.c., there's a state of emergency as there is in the commonwealth of virginia. folks over there are holding tough. there is a wo

virginia at that point in time included what is now virginia, kentucky, and west virginia. it was not a happy state. in fact, it later broke up. kentucky was seated right around this time. west region and, not until the civil war. but the other thing jefferson was talking about was who controls the senate. all the maritime stays there were talking about, the green states on the map have rivers and waterways that flow to the atlantic. west of the appellation. directly into the gulf and find their way to the mississippi river. at that point in time the mississippi river was controlled. what is not tennessee, since it has not yet been made a state, they proclaimed themselves the state. they talked about proclaiming themselves a republic and opening negotiations in spain for navigation along the mississippi river. congress had to get its act in gear pronto. they also wanted to -- the issue would be, in terms of spain, who would control the river. the beast revision -- i guess the biggest, when did congress began to tinker with the founding fathers' vision? we hear a lot about t

beach, virginia. irene hit the coastline this morning with winds at 90 miles per hour. the winds are now at 85 miles per hour. and tropical storm conditions have spread into coastal virginia, maryland, and delaware. as irene heads north. >>> what a different situation here. make a little fog but really a nice day. >> right. that's our biggest complaint, we are very lucky and we'll have a gorgeous forecast just as warm as yesterday. we found some sunshine above that low cloud deck. we will all begin to see that sunshine in just a couple hours. right now some of our inland areas dealing with mostly sunny skies. we on the other hand along the bay and coast dealing with mostly gray, even dense fog and drizzle to start your morning. temperatures in the 50s to low 60s. lunchtime numbers, 60s along the coastline, 70s around the bay. and approaching 81-degree or so for some of the hottest inland areas. that already by noontime some for some of us it will be warm already by 12:00. 83 napa. 86 expected in santa

. >> this video caught the shaking in virginia. there were no serious injuries, but the quake sent people running into the streets in new york and washington, d.c. the magnitude 5.8 quake hit about 40 miles northwest of richmond, virginia. but people felt it as far away as toronto and georgia. so if this was a moderate earthquake by west coast standards, why do those waves travel thousands of miles? sharon chin with the answer. >> miles from the virginia epicenter, people felt the shaking all the way from maine to atlanta and cleveland. >> there's another tremor. holy macro. >> why would a 5.8 quake befelt so far and wide when a west coast tumbler is only felt in the area. >> earth is hotter in california than it is in the east coast and when the earth is hot, the seismic energy doesn't travel away from the earthquake fault nearly as far. >> while california is known as earthquake country, it's not as well known that most of the u.s. is at risk for an earthquake. this usds map shows a few american states in white that do not have a

the district fire chief is with the virginia beach fire virginia beach fire department. you have had the twister that you are busy with and also just horrible things that happened with fallen trees in your area. >> we have experienced tons of streets being closed because of trees and power lines coming with the major flooding. >> i know two fatalitis and one of them to do with a fallen tree. >> right. >> an 11 year old boy sitting at his home and the tree hit the apartment building. >> what is your greatest challenge. storm bappeds are whipping parts was virginia. >> middle part out of the virginia beach area. we are getting heavy rains and bands and tropical storm. everyone is hoping for no more reports of any more mange damage and tomorrow morning in bright daylight we'll do damage asessment. >> they a lot of full to pull out the trees. vance cooper with the virginia we'll be right back. beach fire department. we'll be right back. [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north

and see how the water is come around and ready to spank virginia beach. the worst of the red rain in the red there. it is northeastern side of the eye to the northwestern side of the eye. if you watch on the back side, look how the storm, the eye is right on the coastline and right on that coastline below cape hatteras and myrtle beach, it is dry and dumping the water on the land. the eye of the torm is over the land. fascinating to find out what happens when it gets back over the. how much break up intensity. we'll report for you this at the top of the hour. johnathon is in atlantic beach, north carolina. you are still getting it there in >> we sure are. we may have been lulled in a false sense of complacency. it was qualm as the eye passed by . the tailent with the winds acting up in the opposite direction we are seeing it ripping the roofing and metal she'ding sliding by and a play house for kids in the hotel below me knocked over and behind me, the fishing pier which has been sustaining damage in the entire storm. now it is sustaining damage to the mi

the epicenter much closer to richmond, virginia. mineral, virginia. about 87 or so miles outside of washington, d.c. we're following what's going on very closely. i want to bring in trent rawls. he works at the bureau here in washington. you were a block away. that's the train station here in the nation's capitol. what happened? where were you inside, trent? what did you see? >> i was in the food court. as i was ordering my lunch. as i sat down to eat my lunch, i felt a strong shake. so i thought maybe it was the train. then it happened again. it got furious and then maybe seconds after that, the roof started collapsing, towels started falling from the roof and everybody was running for their lives. i had no idea what was going on. i was trying to get out of there and protect myself in a timely fashion. >> the food court was pretty crowded when you were there. >> it was lunchtime, peak hours, extremely crowded. had a lot of elderly folks in wheelchairs and things of that nature. pretty much everyone was doing the best they can to try to get out there

the state of virginia. after a short break we'll speak the mayor of fairfax who joins us live here on msnbc. impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. [ jim ] i need to push out a software upgrade. build a new app for the sales team in beijing. and convince the c.e.o. his email will find him... wherever he is. i need to see my family while they're still awake. [ male announcer ] with global services from dell, jim can address his company's i.t. needs through custom built applications, cloud solutions and ongoing support in over 100 countries. so his company sees results. and jim sees his family.

it's going to move up to virginia beach. it's making landfall somewhere near long beach, all of this rain is pouring onshore. it's ponding at work, this rain is going to last. understand that there are winds 40 miles an hour all the way from atlantic city, all the way down into central parts of north carolina and south carolina. put this into motion for the next three hours. it moves offshore, 7:00, ocean city, you're already in the dark green, that's 60-mile-per-hour winds, richmond, you're in the 40s-mile-per-hour winds, washington, d.c., baltimore, you're getting there, by about 1:00 in the morning, and philadelphia, all the way to long branch in north carolina, about 40 miles an hour, but by 2 3:00 in the morning, there are some very big winds in the ocean, they don't wrap all the way around for a while. but you will see the winds here, 70-mile-per-hour, will affect the eastern sections of long island. right there, 6:00 in the morning, this storm running up ore atlantic city and then toward new york city, the closest app

the epicenter down in virginia in betwee between charlottesvild richmond, virginia. >> reporter: any federal building will be evacuated. even though the president's staff is in martha's vineyard, i can tell you police are streaming the streets. here come some authorities trying to get people to the side of the road. and people are just waiting to hear what is going on. i'll also say that this was a pretty quick event. at least from our perspective. it only lasted a few seconds. but clearly everybody felt that throughout washington, d.c. megyn: we are hearing that the earthquake of 6.0 has hit the eastern coast. we are hearing different reports of rumbling up to 25 seconds. one report saying it came in about two wavers. this is from our capitol hill producer reporting what he felt. that there was shake for five seconds. then it intensified. then it shook the entire capital. the longest shake close to 30 seconds. chandeliers were swinging in the capitol building. some small art fell off the walls. no one can get through. the lines are down. no one has cell phone service or at least cen

nearly a million people in north carolina and virginia are without power. irene is expected to arrive in new york city sometime tomorrow morning. the big concern there, flooding from this storm surge. president barack obama visited fema headquarters just a short time ago, earlier today and he said the government is ready to deal with whatever happens. the president has already declared state of emergencies in nine states, they are north carolina, virginia, maryland, new jersey, new york, connecticut, massachusetts, rhode island and new hampshire, these states now can get federal aid to help them recover from any hurricane damage. all right, let's head down to the mid-atlantic area, ocean city, where they are starting to see the storm right now. it's windy, it's rainy. >> reporter: it's not much of a beach day here in ocean city, this is one angry, hungry city, sometimes these waves are coming right up to where we're standing and threatening the dunes which were built to try to protect all this valuable real estate here. fortunately these buildings are prett

beach, virginia, right? >> look how dark that is. through the haze and look being at the pier. you can see the waves come one after another and how high the surf has grown. we talked to the governor an hour ago and he was getting ready for this part of the state to take a walop. southeastern corner of the state of virginia as we watched the waves roar on through. that scene is playing out in town after town and state after state. here in new york state they closed incoming flights and shut them down. newark and la guardia and jfk and out on long island, that is an island that stretches west to east hundred miles due east of the new york city. they are getting ready if the worst comes. far eastern end of long island, laura is with us now. what is the situation where you are now? >> hi, bill, the message on do you know road, main artery that cuts through west hampton beach is get out. police and fire telling people to get out of the here and leave immediately. there are mandatory evacuations going on since ear

again, this is virginia tech. the school is now in regular session but there is a summer session taking place. i'm sure you remember campus police were criticized for not alerting everyone about a shooting in the past. again, breaking news. virginia tech on lockdown. reportedly somebody may be on campus with a weapon. we'll have more details as information comes in. >>> 7:15. today is president obama's 50th birthday. as alison burns reports from our washington, d.c. newsroom, the president raked in a lot of money last night at a fund- raiser. >> reporter: that's right. it was the president's first campaign trip out of washington in about a month. it started with a serenade from jennifer hudson. ♪ happy birthday to you [ cheers ] >> reporter: back in his home city of chicago, the president tried to refocus on his campaign and he took a stab at congress after -- congress after the weeks of the negotiations. >> we don't have time to play these partisan games. [ cheers ] >> we've got too much work to do. >> reporter

la parte peor, en oxford, virginia. washington estÁ más al oeste. la trayectoria, aquÍ la tenemos, y podemos remitirnos directamente a ella. el centro estarÍa alejado de la capital del paÍs, esto no significa que las bandas de lluvias no afectan a la capital, sin embargo lo peor en cuanto a vientos y lluvias estÁ algo alejado, afectando a las costas de nueva jersey y virginia. un dÍa bastante complicado y hay que estar viendo que pudiera pasar. siempre me gusta hablar de esto, con estas tres cosas que estoy viendo en las imÁgenes del satÉlite, no estÁ 100% seguro de que va a llegar hacia el norte, como es ahora. >> ya hay un reporte sobre plantas nucleares. >> queremos informarles que parece que una de las plantas nucleares en carolina del norte no ha sufrido daÑos. estÁ funcionando en 65%, y estas son noticias buenas que nos llegan, porque sabemos la devastaciÓn que causó la planta nuclear en fukushima. >> nosotros seguiremos informando durante todo el dÍa lo que suceda con irene. >> vamos a hacer una breve pausa comercial.

actually in 1897 near a county in virginia not far from blacksburg, virginia where the last event of this size occurred. in fact, the largest we really recorded or monitored, in recorded history in this part of the country. and it's a moderate, modest to moderate sized earthquake but one that could have minimal damage associated with it. >> and what do we know about any potential aftershocks that occurred? are you able to tell us anything than? >> yes. we've had two we've recorded so far. magnitude 2.2 and magnitude 2.8 but would anticipate with the next several weeks we could have numerous aftershocks up to one ma in a tude level below the main shock. rule of thumb. up to the middle of nag ma tude 4, 4.5, something like that in that neighborhood, would not be unexpected. >> would you surprised, though, that the impact of this earthquake was commonwealth as far afield as toronto in canada and atlanta? >> no, not really. because we're well aware in at least the seismological community earthquakes in the eastern part of the country tend to carry their seismic energy much more efficient

location closing in on virginia on the virginia coastline as you can see the clouds moving in and the rain bands as well. forecast track as we do take this into tonight and tomorrow. here we are as we take this into sunday morning at 7:00 our time, closing in on new york new york city as a category one her dane -- hurricane and still capable of producing significant amounts of rainfall and extreme amounts. hurricane warnings shaded in red. storm surge today around 5 to 9 feet and north of that point 4 to 8 feet and rainfall expectations 4 to 1 inches. here san francisco rainfall, this is what we typically get on average for the year. so not only amazing but dangerous. >> thank you. >>> president obama visited fema head quarters today and urged people in the path of the storm to evacuate if ordered to do so. the president greeted workers this morning at the washington dc command center. in the meantime the defense department put 6500 u.s. troops on stand by to help out with relief efforts. >>> new york city under the first hurricane watch in a quarter century. officials warned people i

in fairfax, virginia, northern virginia, there is the mother of one of our producers in "the situation room." peter, jackie, tell us where you were and what happened. >> well, when the earthquake occurred, i was in the kitchen and the cabinets came opened and several of the spice bottles came out and crashed on the floor. so then after -- but that was about it and i didn't think much about it. a few minutes later i went upstairs, you know, just to go to the bathroom, actually, and you will all of a sudden when i turned the corner, there was a big hole in the ceiling. so apparently some bricks had fallen off the firewall inside the wall of my townhouse and had fallen through the ceiling and there was all of the debris on the vanity in the barmt. >> it looks like serious destruction over there. when the fire department came over there, what did they find? >> caller: yes, fairfax county fire marshal were great. they really cannot assure me of the structural integrity of the wall at this point. so tomorrow i have to get a structural engineer out to confirm that it is safe. can i not go to

host: what is the status of virginia's economy? virginia's economy? what effect will this debt deal have on state aid to virginia? guest: our economy has weathered the economic downturn better than most. it has recovered faster than most. in large part, because of the interaction with the federal government. the federal government is an enormous presence in terms of federal employees, military, retirees, and in terms of dollars. one of the county's i represent, fairfax county, i believe it is the number one believe it is the number one county in terms of federal contract dollars every year. prince william county is not far behind. anything that affects federal spending and federal activity obviously has a disproportionate impact on the economy of virginia. we have benefited from the federal government and we will not be ineffective if we shrink deck government. host: this is coming in from emanuel cleaver. guest: i respectfully disagree. i understand that in the heat of the moment, the disappointment that we cannot get everything that we wanted. but t

look at those waves coming to us from andrea, alexander, in virginia beach, virginia. the winds were very strong, andrea tells us. it was hard for her storong. in fact, as she was taking some of these videos, she started shaking around. let me emphasize to everyone, we don't want you to take any risks in taking these, but if you can safely take photos or videos, send them to us at ireport.com. you'll see it's very easy. and we're getting new details now on hurricane irene. they're coming right up after this. no, this is new bayer advanced aspirin... clinically proven to relieve tough pain twice as fast as before. what, did you invent this or something? well, my team did. i'm dr. eric first, from bayer. wow. look. it has microparticles. it enters the bloodstream faster and rushes relief right to the site of pain. better? great! thanks. [ male announcer ] new bayer advanced aspirin. extra strength pain relief. twice as fast. test our fast relief. love it, or get your money back. [ male ] using clean american fuel is just a pipe dream. ♪ [ female announcer ] we're rolli

and extreme southeast virginia and the hampton roads. five-10 inches of rain and isolated tornados and frequent wind gusts and sustained. there is a lot of the beach erosion. future track of irene after today will move off shore and across the del mar and affect ocean city, mar land and delaware. storm surge in delaware bay possible. and during the day on saturday, up in the injuriesy shore and crossing in long island during the day on sunday. and then finishing its trek in the canadian provinces on monday. we'll get possibly of four-eight feet of storm surge flooding anywhere on the east coast depending on the locality up to long island. there will be concerns tomorrow, particularly in the flood prone areas. and the storm will pass there. and additionally. a swath of heavy rain. five-10 inch rain that we are seeing and continuing in the heavly populated areas of the northeast. and a lot of flooding and flash flooding and river flooding is anticipated . again, with the strong winds flowing, expect trees down and power outages in the area

if you legally own a gun in virginia, you can openly carry it in public. >> god bless. >> virginia is the greatest state. >> however, i believe you cannot openly carry and get drunk. you can drink, but you can't get drunk. >> what's the difference? >> for some people, some people can have a drink or two and not be drunk. >> i am not familiar with that. so on to the next. >> matt you said these people haven't worked in years. they don't have benefits and half are on welfare. >> what's the question? >> they have no benefits, but they are on welfare. >> it is on television. >> welfare is benefits. >> if they are on welfare you can't say they have benefits. >> one out of the three. >> in baseball allstar. possibly hall of fame. >> you say people should be taken away for talking loudly in a movie theater. >> i do. >> and i thank you and wish you would write a book. >> i hear people talk and say, hey, hey, hey. >> does that work? >> no, i have been beaten up a lot. even by the girl i am with. it is her talking. >> you brought up the entitle meant that -- the entitlement that people feel. a

he's in alexandria, virginia. a very good morning to you. we know it's not going to stay calm for long. >> reporter: good morning, alex. really expected to feel the real effects of hurricane irene some time about saturday afternoon today. the real threat in alexandria, virginia, just across the river from washington, d.c., is the river behind me. it's elt vated right now. there has been flooding in the pags. -- past. folks are take it all in stride. there's a bar about two blocks away having a hurricane watch party saying i survived irene o2011. you want to see the hostess. people here are in the light mood early on in the day. the state of virginia there's 15,000 resident who is have lost power further down south in the state. that number's expected to rise. the three things that people are worried about, power, floods and trees. 2003 hurricane isabel hit washington, d.c. it caused over $1 billion worth of damage. a lot of that came from dpauling frees on power lines and into houses. there's a lot of homes here that are built around large,

, the junior senator from west virginia giving me a moment or two. i've known agnes for many years, i've worked with her on generic drug issues for the last decade, more than that when i was in the house of representatives, and she had a commitment for the underdog that is rare in this world, especially for someone as successful as she was. i remember hearing her story as a greek immigrant and with -- with a mother who actually could not read and write and how agnes was so important to that family after her father died when agnes was a very young woman, a girl still. and how agnes went to brooklyn college and was the only woman i believe the only woman there at the time. and something else agnes did, and i apologize to the senator from new york, now the presiding officer for not hearing all of his remarks but agnes really stepped up after hurricane katrina and helped not just give some of her wealth to these musicians who didn't have jobs because of the disruption in new orleans, but stepped up and actually hired these musicians so they were actually

after he had helped immobilize the virginia troops and then had joined the confederacy when virginia finally did join the confederacy, he had been sent out to deal with the problem in the western part of virginia which became west virginia where mcclelland actually had overseen successful union occupation of much of that area. then mcclelland was called to washington in july, and lee was sent out to western virginia to try to recover that area. in august of 1861. and every effort he made turned out to be a failure. he came into, came under all kinds of criticism from the richmond newspapers, he was called granny lee, as you suggest. then in november of 1861 jefferson davis sent him to the south atlantic coast to charleston just in time for lee to witness the capture of port royal by the union navy and the occupation of the south carolina and the georgia sea islands by union forces, another major reverse for the confederacy. and lee had to try the deal with what was going to be the consequence of that. and he gave orders to pull back out of range of the union navy all acorrect me if i

it at the center was right there in the middle of virginia. and the scary thing about this place is that there is a nuclear power plant just about 10 mi. away. so you can see the proximity, the nuclear reactors in were right there. you heard catherine say that there were two nuclear reactors that automatically taken off line thanks to the safety systems and this was not a west coast earthquake the effects were widespread. people reported feeling this down in the carolinas and up north and we glenn even as far west as michigan. michigan and mineral about 600 mi. from one another today's earthquake caught a lot of people off guard. scientists with the u.s. geological in menlo park say that the earthquake in the east are rare but they do happen. charles clifford has their thoughts on today's events. >> in virginia has been more than a century since they have had an earthquake of this side. >> he is with the usgs and says there researchers are not surprised that a strong quake occurred in virginia but he understands why people may be confused. >>