i m tamron hall. coming up on news nation. north carolina national guard is using helicopters to deliver food and water to towns completely cut out from communication after the bridges there and roads were flooded. we ll get an update plus the latest on the massive flooding in new jersey and north carolina. also, new details about former vice president dick cheney s memoir including how he s now going after senator john mccain. and from the dog fighting ring to a super bowl ring? the eagles are shelling out $100 million to michael vick just two years after he was released from prison. will they get their money s worth? and what happened here? details on the college party that went shall i say horribly wrong. well, there s major fallout from the widely criticized u.s. operation aimed at tracing the flow of illegal weapons into mexico. pete williams joins me now with the details.
bridges opening? i don t think we ll see it fully receding until this weekend being realistic about it. the water is still rising. we may have to reevacuate about 3,000, 4,000 more people out of the presidential apartments. a lot of seniors will have to be evacuated more so than have been evacuated already. putting them into a particular place that s what we re working out with the red cross. the mayor s trying to stay on top of things. this is going quickly. we ve had cooperation from the state, the locals. the o.e.m. office has done a spectacular job staying on top and coordinating. coordination is so important. you can go through this thing one at a time. every specific thing is unique. we have a situation up at one of the public schools, lincoln school because of what happened up river on the other river where toxins have been spilled into the water it s coming down
lashing new england with powerful winds and rain. hello again, everyone. i m fredricka whitfield. i m brooke baldwin. let s get you caught up on what we know at this hour on this storm. president obama an hour away from making the statement about the storm. he will be doing so 5:00 eastern from the rose garden. we ll bring it to you live as soon as we see the president. irene continues to lose power since making landfall this morning. floodwaters are receding on new york s long island and downtown manhatt manhattan. evacuation orders for low lying areas including the rockaways were lifted just last hour. residents are venturing out to examine the storm damage. the storm has proven to be fatal. at least 15 people across six separate states were killed during the storm. irene s powerful winds toppled trees, knocked down power lines, damaged homes. early wind damage estimates alone are expected to top more than $1 million. more than 4 million people without power. as hom
one of the biggest stories is the possibility of historically high storm surges up the eastern seaboard. the areas at risk now, norfolk, virginia, up to williamsburg. irene has weakened from its category 2 status but remains a powerful and dangerous storm and tens of millions of people remain in its path. officials say irene has caused at least six deaths, three people in north carolina, two in video including an 11-year-olds boy. near daytona beach, florida, a surfer was pronounced dead after being pulled from the water. highways, trains, and airports are closed. mass transit has been shut down here in new york. the same for philadelphia just after midnight. two million people have been ordered to get out of irene s way. some have ignored the warnings. defense secretary panetta has ordered 6,500 troops to be ready
[ inaudible ] reporter: the reference is a storm of seven feet to eight feet as the teeth of the storm takes a bite out of the town at that point. if you have water that s six or seven or eight feet above where we re standing now, you will have to move. the water will be up [ inaudible ] evacuations for people who haven t listened to the mandatory. and a guy looked at his boat and was making what are you going to do? [ inaudible ] that s the kinds of chances people are education. i know, i m taking a chance with my own house and that sorts of thing. you hope that the worst doesn t happen. yeah. thank you very much, mike, for your live report there. we, again, apologize for technical issues that we re having.