all of this just days after sherrod was fired for what appeared to be racist remarks. tara mergener is in washington with much more on this story. boy, things have changed in a matter of, what, 24 hours, tara? reporter: that s right, betty. good morning. after accepting apologies from both the white house and the a agriculture secretary, sherrod weighs her option but the controversy rages on. shirley sherrod is still deciding on whether to go back to the department of agriculture. she has a unique set of skills which would lend assisting usda as we deal with trying to turn the page on our civil rights chapter. reporter: secretary tom vilsack offered to rehire the 62-year-old wednesday for a new role, just days after firing her over this speech. and here i was helping a white person save their land. reporter: the edited clip posted online by conservative bloggers appeared to show sherrod making racist remarks, but it soon became clear the comments were taken out of c
cut a path dangerously close to the oil soaked gulf. now a tropical storm strength, it appears alex will miss the gulf coast, but area residents know all too well the storm season has only just begun. nbc s leanne gregg has more. reporter: along the gulf coast where the struggle is on to hold back oil, a cautious sigh of relief. for now it appears cleanup operations will not have to be stopped because of the incoming storm. forecasters say alex is likely to make landfall later this week in northeast mexico or southeast texas. well away from the massive oil leak and the gulf states from louisiana to florida struggling with the cleanup. these things can change, we all know that from the experience we have with hurricanes, but the initial report was very good. reporter: the storm swept across the yucatan peninsula and could become a hurricane now that it s reme merged in the gulf water. but even though this one may miss the oil saturated region, hurricane season is only be
the first main storm of the atlantic hurricane season has cut a path dangerously close to the oil soaked gulf. now a tropical storm strength, it appears alex will miss the gulf coast, but area residents know all too well the storm season has only just begun. nbc s leanne gregg has more. reporter: along the gulf coast where the struggle is on to hold back oil, a cautious sigh of relief. for now it appears cleanup operations will not have to be stopped because of the incoming storm. forecasters say alex is likely to make landfall later this week in northeast mexico or southeast texas. well away from the massive oil leak and the gulf states from louisiana to florida struggling with the cleanup. these things can change, we all know that from the experience we have with hurricanes, but the initial report was very good. reporter: the storm swept across the yucatan peninsula and could become a hurricane now that it s reme merged in the gulf water. but even though this one may