cnn's jim spellman is seeing its power firsthand. he's now in the bahamas. we'll try to get jim spellman. we don't have him quite yet because the wind is blowing really, really hard in the bahamas at this moment. let's head into atlanta and check in with jack can jeras. can you tell us the track of the storm? >> we can, carol. we've seen more changes and it bridges it closer to hugging the coast of the united states, potentially from north carolina all the way on up northward. i do want to tell people, this is just in. normally we get this 20 minutes before the top of the hour and it literally just came in. bear with me. the hurricane watches you've been talking about, this is the north carolina coast, from north of surfacy to the north carolina/virginia border. tropical storm watches in addition for that north of modesto beach to surfacy. basically what that means is hurricane conditions are expected in about 48 hours, but tropical storm watch means tropical storm conditions are expected in about 48 hours. the storm did weaken just a smidge yesterday. we're at 115 miles per hour. that's down from 120. but it's still same category 3 and a very, very major threat as it moves through the central bahamas right now. it's been lashing the bahamas. lots of damage being reported in southeastern parts of the islands. let's talk about that track here. this is the latest for you showing you that it could intensify once again throughout the day today and into tomorrow. it's going to stay off the coast of florida. we're talking about 200, 250 miles off the coast, but the tropical storm force winds extend out about 250 miles, so it's going to be brushing the coastal areas at times. we're expecting a lot of high surf today. there are wind advisories in effect even into central parts of florida as irene continues to approach. as we head into saturday, that's where we even going to see it as it heads toward the carolinas. you're going to see these conditions. by saturday morning at the latest, landfall is a possibility here and then moving on up into the northeastern parts of the united states. now, the computer models we were talking that it was shifting east, east, east the last couple of days, guess what, carol, they've shifted off to the west and they're showing more consensus, so we are concerned that this could be scraping all the way up the coast and bringing a lot of damage and a lot of flooding to a whole lot of people. >> man. at least we'll all be sharing in the misery, right? >> there you go. >> we did manage to get jim on the phone. he's in the bahamas. he's in nasa. so jim spellman, what's it like there? >> reporter: hi, carol. i i i'm having trouble out here. high winds. i'd say probably a tropical storm. not hurricane-level winds just yet but still punishing pounding winds. as it passes through -- so far, though, a quick drive through town this morning they haven't seen any major damage. a few trees down, signs blown over, but no structures seem to be majorly damaged that we can see at this point. back to you. >> all right. jim spellman, we'll let you go. we know you probably have to take cover at some point and of course we'll have jim on a little later in the show and we'll continue to get updates from jacqui jeras. in other new this morning there's still no sign of moammar gadhafi. they're hoping a big pile of cash will flush him out of the shadows. they've put a bounty on him, dead or alive. rebels are stille fighting loyalists especially around the airport. cnn's arwa damon is in the thick of things. she told anderson cooper why the airport is such a fierce area. >> reporter: the reason why there's been such, is they believe gadhafi's loyalties are trying to clear a route for gadhafi and his family members to shou escape. the rebels are do not control the areas to the east of the airport. there's two military bases located there. it's populated with gadhafi loyalists. there's a church of highway that runs south of trip will to the airport complex here, anderson. >> the rebels are asking other countries to give libya money that has been frozen in their banks the last couple of months. the united nations might vote on that. did you feel this one? it was a 4.5 magnitude tremor, really just an aftershock. there are not any reports of damage unlike tuesday ice 5.8 earthquake, although that earthquake did crack the top of the washington monument. it's going to be closed for a while as engineers figure out how to fix the cracks. the quake damages three corner spires and flying buttresses. the animals at the national zoo, they knew the quake was coming. keeper says about 15 minutes before the shakers began the apes scrambled up into their lookouts, the flamingos gathered a big pink defensive ball and snakes that normally would have been asleep were slithering around. >> all of these behaviors were atypical given the behaviors that we observe in these animals of this time of day every single day. >> and, by the way, only the pandas had no reaction. they just laid around sleeping is as they normally do. just about two weeks shy of the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11, authorities have identified a set of remains from ground zero. 40-year-old james was an ic consultant who worked in the tower. the new york medical examiner's office says dna testing is being done on over 400 samples of remains. some relatives have met with attorney general eric holder. they asked him to expand a hacking investigation. they want to know if employees of rue put murdock's news corp hacked into their loved ones' cell phones, voice mails or computers. it's led to several arrests and resignations in the uk. john edwards says he needs more time to get ready for his trial. the trial is supported to start in october but edwards says his daughter is getting married that mount plus he needs to get a new attorney to get him up to speed on his case. the former democratic presidential candidate is accused of breaking campaign contribution laws. steve jobs, the matter mooind behind the iphone, ipad and other gats that rocked the world is resigning as ceo of apple. how he broke the news and who stepping up as apple's next chief executive is next. but here is our quote of the day. here's the quote. there are gonna be heads exploding all over washington. find out who said this and why. that's coming your way in 90 seconds. 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[ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. it is nine minutes past the hour. this is your a.m. "wake-up call." et welcome back. now to the quote of the day. this is the quote. there are gonna be heads exploding all over washington. the quote came from former vice president dick cheney. he said that to nbc about the memoir he's about to release next week. he writes about a secret resignation letter and his formal thoughts about george bush. i can't wait. steve jobs has stepped down as ceo of the tech giant he helped create. job has been on medical leave since the beginning of the year. in his resignation letter he writes i have always said if there were ever a day when i could no longer meet my duties and expectations as apple's ceo, i would be the first to let you know. unfortunately that day has come. lit's head to kristie lu stout. she's in hong kong. wow. iphones, ipads, all that happened under steve jobs. that changed the game, didn't he? >> he did. it's worth going through how many businesses apple has transformed under steve jobs. the computer, the apple two, making it affordable for anyone to own to the macintosh launched in 1984. the ipod which surpassed the walkman. the itune store transformed the music business. some say it killed the music bisque. of course, the iphone turning the mobile phone into a computer platform and what i always have with me, the ipad, which is ushering a post pc era, all of those products came to market under the direction of one man, steve jobs, who, carol, the headline is, he's no longer ceo. >> i mean i know he's been having health problems, he had pancreatic cancer, live transplant, doesn't really talk much about his health so we don't know exactly how he's feeling. what's the speculation out there about why he decided to do this? >> that's just merely speculation at this point. there was a report about a month ago when the reporter asked him is there a success inline in place. steve jobs said, quote, that is hogwa hogwash. but in the resignation letter he said a succession plan is in place. tim cook is the new ceo. he's done it before. earlier this year and in 2009 and in 2004. he previously served as apple's chief operating sales. word inside apple is he's widely popular, but he's not a prop ukts guy. he's an operations guy. he's not going to be a new steve jobs. apple after steve jobs will be a leadership of a team of people, not just one person. but let's be clear on this. he's seriously ill. he's very sick, but steve jobs is still very much alive and he remains as chairman of the board. back to you. >> yab. nobody quite like him. a team of people have to take over for him. kristie lu stout reporting live from hong kong. et many thanks. mitt romney turns down a labor day invite. instead the republican front-runner has other plans. he'll give us more insight into his 2012 strategy. that's just ahead. and in honor of the bickering in politics today is the national day of kiss-and-make-up day. go on, kiss and make up. 13 minutes past the hour. a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track your claim, print an estimate. you want an english muffin? they literally hand you a toasted muffin with butter and jam. (sigh) whaa. tasty. that's, that's a complete dramatization of course, but you get my point. vo: geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. if something is simply the color of gold, is it really worth more? we don't think so. chase sapphire preferred is a card of a different color. unlike others, you get twice the points on travel, and twice the points on dining, and no foreign transaction fees. call now or apply at chasesapphire.com/preferred. your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! 14 minutes past the hour. first an earthquake, and now a hurricane threatening the east coast. late-night comedians are getting a kick out of mother nature. here's your morning punch line. >> i hate when we have natural disasters kick in. we have hurricane warnings and the young dancers are strapping themselves to the pole. >> see that's what happens when you can sell "oprah." >> here's how big the earthquake was yesterday. the supermodels were actually swaying. meanwhile president obama is still vacationing on martha's vineyard. it's really sad when your spf factor is higher than your approval rating. >> time now for your political ticker with our friend tim farley, host of "morning briefi briefing" from sirius. good morning, tim. >> good morning. >> i think we should start with mitt romney. jim demint was in north carolina and mitt romney said, hmm, i'm going to skip it. >> it's interesting to me that mitt romney is sort of like the george constanza of politics. remember the episode on "seinfeld" where george would do everything opposite? he's ignoring north carolina. jim demeant, more familiar with the righties. mitt romney says i'm not going to go there right now and putting his eggs in the new hampshire basket right now. he's not going to there. senator demint likes to fashion himself as a key maker. he's fashioning himself. tight is the long game for mitt romney. he's looking at delegate count and looking at all the states. south carolina probably not going to be very, very good to hum. >> the speculation is one of the reasons he's not going to do there he did poorly in 2008 in south carolina. i think he came in third after john mccain. also his mormon faith might be keeping him out of the faith. it's a very christian-oriented state. maybe that's the reason why. by the way, bachmann and perry do plan to go to jim demint's little shin dig. >> indeed. it's an evangelical state. jim deminute endorsed mitt romney in 2008. this is not 2008 though. mitt romney playing the long game, not necessarily ignoring south carolina but it's not one of his priorities right now. >> so the hurricane is coming and it's going to hit, i don't know, the east coast sometime this weekend and president obama is going to -- we keep talking about president obama and his vacation. no, he's not going to cut his vacation short. he's staying. >> he is indeed. and he did play a little golf yesterday in a place. there were a few local golfers who were upset because he took up all the golf carts, not just him but his entourage. there's a much more mooted response this time around to the president's visits in martha's vineyard, but to the point you were making about irene, it was noted yesterday that the president is not planning to cut short his vacation. he's scheduled to be back in d.c. for the dedication for the martin lieu thr king jr. memorial but they're going to have to watch because it could affect new england. washington, d.c., is watching to see what it does because of the celebration on sunday. >> that could be pose posted depending on which direction it turns. tim farley. moammar gadhafi wanted dead or alive. we're going to take you live to tripoli. it's 19 minutes past the hour. [ male announcer ] get ready for the left lane. the volkswagen autobahn for all event is back. right now, get a great deal on new volkswagen models, including the jetta, awarded a top safety pick by the iihs. that's the power of german engineering. hurry in and lease the jetta s for just $179 a month. ♪ visit vwdealer.com today. 21 minutes past the hour. this is your "wake-up call." there are three things you need to put on your radar. hurricane i ryan, the first watches and warnings for the united states could come as early as this morning. at 9:00 a.m. eastern new york mayor michael bloomberg will hold a press conference to discuss preparations for the storm. at 1:00 eastern a hearing in the case against the doctor accused of killing mikage jackson. attorneys for conrad murray asking that jurors be sequestered. coffee companies like craft and smucker are reversing their past price hikes. the easing is being attributed to coffee futures and improving coffee growing weather conditions. they're spurring on a manhunt for the fugitive leader moammar gadhafi. he's wanted dead or alive. rebels have a bounty on his head, about $1.5 million for anyone who captures him, but pockets of fierce fielting persists. one of gadhafi's sons saadi is talking cease-fire to spare the city a sea of fire. dozens of journalists health -- held for days. here's matthew chance before he was let go. bye, bye, bbc, bye matthew. good luck. >> good luck. >> matthew is a happy man today but let's go around the world with our own sara sidner. she's live in tripoli. sara, what are things like in the capital now? >> reporter: they've been pretty quiet this morning. it's pretty normal because in the morning time everyone's sleeping and frankly it usually is quite a calm scene but people starting to come out now. there are fewer check points we're noticing in the area where we are. this was the scene yesterday of a lot of explosions because people were blasting off rounds in celebration. but there is a general sense that this entire city is not completely secure. i know a fire fight has been going on around the airport, which is about 15 miles away from here. so what's happening is the rebels are trying to go from street to street and try and secure each and every neighborhood. that has not been an easy task. they were telling us ads we're trying to turn down some of these streets over the past 15 hours or so, you can't go down there. there are snipers on tops of building, evidence of cars that had bullet holes through the window. so there is a sense that the rebels are in control of even more of the city but not all of the city, carol. >> so one of moammar gadhafi's sons is saying, hey, i'll ready to negotiate a cease-fire. do his words carry any weight? >> reporter: actually i think that what we're hearing from the opposition is that we're beyond that. we're beyond that. in hearing things like the city is going to run with blood, some people find that absolutely ridiculous because they know that the rebels have control of much of the city. however, the people don't know what he's referring to, is he referring to a massive army that's going to pop out of somewhere or nowhere? is he referring to chemical weapons, the mustard gas that the gadhafi regime has in its grips? most people are taking it with a grain of salt. they're saying this is a regem that doesn't realize it's lost its grip. the inner families of moammar gadhafi is believed to be delusional and does not understand how much of this country is now controlled by the people who are opposing them. and many of these people, carol, to be fair, are regular citizens who have come from their neighborhoods who decided they'd had enough and they saw the uprising happen and they saw gadhafi's reaction in benghazi when he levelled tanks at his own people. that is what set this all off, a part of really what's happening across the mid east and north africa. but that's what set these people off. civilians have turned themselves into soldiers over the past six months. >> fascinating stuff. sara sidner live from tripoli this morning. thank you. et it u now 26 minutes after the hour. let the watches and evacuations begin. hurricane i ryan is coming on. they're preparing for its weekend arierchlt more on the big storm right after the break. well-being. we're all striving for it. purina cat chow helps you nurture it in your cat with a full family of excellent nutrition and helpful resources. purina cat chow. share a better life. that's not going to satisfy you. come on. it's time for a better snack. try this. it's yoplait greek. it has two times the protein of regular yogurt. you'll feel satisfied. 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