be back on american soil. heather: plus, we re keeping an eye on the straw poll voting going on in florida. we ll bring you the results as soon as they re announced. gregg: and that massive nasa satellite seen in the sky over california before crashing somewhere. the latest on the effort to determine just where the debris landed and the odds the space junk could hit somebody on earth. there s only one bottle left ! i ve got to tell susie ! the vending machine on elm is almost empty. i m on it, boss. new pony sorry ! we are open for business. let s reroute greg to fresn
forces in libya are free tonight. late word of a new kidnapping and last ditch battles that may be linked to moammar gadhafi s escape plan. and cnn goes inside the virginia nuclear power plant near the epicenter of that historic quake. we have a lot of questions about nuclear safety and whether the east coast is prepared if another big one hits. wolf blitzer s off today. i m joe johns. you re in the situation room. hurricane irene is bearing town on the bahamas with winds of up to 120 miles an hour right now, and the national weather service warns this category 3 monster could be upgraded, upgraded to a category 4 tomorrow. that means irene could be capable of catastrophic damage when it slams the east coast in the days ahead. the storm has been pounding the turks and caicos and other islands and gaining strength along the way. there are reports of damage but so far no serious injuries. we do have a view from space that gives you an idea of just how big the storm is. it
two major stories happening right now. one in iowa where republican presidential candidates are taking part in the state s critical straw poll. and then in south carolina, texas governor rick perry is about to throw his hat into the ring. we ll have live coverage of that big announcement. first we begin with breaking news this hour out of pakistan. an intense search is under way for an american kidnapped from his home in lahore. the victim is identified as warren weinstein, a development expert, who works for a u.s.-based consulting firm. reza sayah is live from islamabad. what more have you learned about this kidnapping? reporter: well, fredricka, if you look at the details of how this kidnapping went down, i think it s clear that it was a very intricate and well-coordinated plot. police say it happened around 3:15 a.m. saturday morning, eight to ten assailants were involved in this kidnapping, according to police. it is the month of ramadan, a lot of muslims fasting in
is a high wire act that has not happened in iowa before. in the past they didn t have a debate before the straw poll voting. there is a lot of danges. susan is right about the undecided nature it is the most fluid republicans have seen . the ballot on the straw poll will contain the write in blind. they put it in well because they didn t know what was going to happen. the stakes are enormous and tim pawlenty who spent the most time and money here has the most to lose. if he doesn t do well in the debate, that will bode badly and ople will be asking him if heel stay in. you give us a sense of the feeling on the ground out there. they are interested but they are in the shopping phase. some of them have had committed to a candidate. but they can be convinced by
go out and play a round of golf for me. yeah. looking forward to it right now. thanks, kelly. jamie: looks like in the back drop. the eye on election 2012, a number of presidential candidates are speaking to folks at the rrp leadership conferences going on in new orleans and it s underway right now. and there s going to be straw poll voting providing us a glimpse of the early party favorite and doug luzader is joining us now live in washington. hi, do you go, what do you think we ll learn today? hey, jamie, well, it s really a measure of grass roots republican support. a lot of g.o.p. players and perhaps more importantly, fundraisers are taking part in this. from the candidates, a lot of red meat, for conservatives who want to take the white house back next year. and here is former pennsylvania senator rick santorum. how to climb the hill with barack obama and the rest of the democratic caucus on your shoulders. and it s incredibly un it s unbelievable how much this admi