Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning: Wake Up Call

Irene Causes Mandatory Evacuations Beginning Today; Bounty Offered on Gadhafi; FCC Looks At Cell Phone Logjam; Report On China's Military Buildup

Aired August 25, 2011 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. It is Thursday, August 25th. This is you're A.M. WAKE-UP CALL.

I'm Carol Costello, joining you live from New York. Thank you for joining us.

Let's get you up to speed on Hurricane Irene.

Hurricane watches have been issued for parts of the United States. Mandatory evacuations go into effect in just three hours for tourists along the North Carolina outer banks. Jacqui Jeras will tell us what the storms have been doing overnight.

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.

So, let's head into Atlanta and check in with Jacqui Jeras.

Can you tell us the track of the storm?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: 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 that this is just in. Normally we get this 20 minutes before the top of the hour and it literally just came in. So, bear with me.

The hurricane watches that have been posted, you are talking about. This is for the North Carolina coast, from north of Surf City to the North Carolina/Virginia border. And then tropical storm watches in addition for that north of Modesto Beach, North Carolina, to Surf City, North Carolina.

Basically what that means is that hurricane conditions are expected in about 48 hours, but tropical storm watch means tropical storm conditions are expected in about 48 hours.

Now, 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.

All right. Let's talk about that track here, Carol. 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 maybe 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. Now, as we head into Saturday, that's where we even going to see it as it heads toward the Carolinas.

And you're going to be seeing these conditions possibly two mornings from now. 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 all the last couple of days -- well, 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.

COSTELLO: Oh, man. At least we'll all be sharing in the misery, right?

JERAS: There you go.

COSTELLO: We did manage to get Jim on the phone. He's in the Bahamas. He's in Nassau.

So, Jim Spellman, what's it like there?

JIM SPELLMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Hi, Carol. I'm sorry. I'm having trouble out here. (INAUDIBLE) High winds. I'd say probably a tropical storm. Not hurricane-level winds just yet, but still punishing pounding winds.

As it passes through (INAUDIBLE).

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.

COSTELLO: 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 is still no sign of Moammar Gadhafi. Rebel forces are hoping a big pile of cash will flush him out of the shadows. They've put a bounty on his head, more than $1 million, dead or alive. His regime maybe in its death row but it's not quite dead yet. Rebels are still fighting loyalists in gun battles in parts of Tripoli, 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And the senior commanders here believe that the reason why there's been such an effort by Gadhafi forces to try to retake control over this airport is because he believes that Gadhafi's loyalties are trying to clear a route for Gadhafi and his family members to somehow 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, we're being told. Nor do the rebels control the chunk the highway that runs south from Tripoli to the airport complex here, Anderson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: The rebels are asking other countries to give Libyan money that's been frozen in their banks the last couple of months. The United Nations might vote on that today.

Did you feel this one? Another quake hit near Mineral Springs, Virginia, just after 1:00 a.m. Eastern. It was a 4.5 magnitude tremor, really just an aftershock. There are not any reports of damage unlike Tuesday's 5.8 earthquake -- although that earthquake, it did crack the top of America's favorite obelisk.

The Washington monument is going to be closed for a while as engineers figure out how to fix the cracks at the very top.

The National Cathedral will also be closed down for several more days. The quake damages three corner spires and some flying buttresses.

The animals at the National Zoo, they knew the quake was coming. Keeper says about 15 minutes before the shaking 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DON MOORE, SMITHSONIAN NATL. ZOOLOGICAL PARK: All of these behaviors were atypical given the behaviors that we observe in these animals of this time of day every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: 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 10-year anniversary of the 9/11, authorities have identified a set of remains from Ground Zero. Forty- year-old Ernest James was an IT consultant who worked in North 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 Rupert Murdoch's News Corp hacked into their loved ones' cell phones, voice mails or computers. A hacking scandal involving Murdoch employees has led to several arrests and resignations in the U.K.

John Edwards says he needs more time to get ready for his trial. His lawyers have asked for a delay. The trial is supposed to start in October but Edwards says his daughter is getting married that month, plus he needs to get a new attorney to speed up on a case, or a new attorney rather to get him up to speed on his case. The former Democratic presidential candidate is accused of breaking campaign contribution laws.

Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind the iPhone, the iPad and other gadgets 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, first, here is our quote of the day. Here's the quote: "There are going to be heads exploding all over Washington." Find out who said this and why. That's coming your way in 90 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It is nine minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE- UP CALL. Welcome back.

Now to our quote of the day. This is the quote: "There are going to 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 former President George W. Bush. I can't wait.

Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple, has stepped down as CEO of the tech giant he helped create. Jobs 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."

Let's head to Kristie Lu Stout. She's in Hong Kong.

Wow. IPods, iPhones, iPads, all that happened under Steve Jobs. That changed the game, didn't he?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Exactly. He totally did. And right now, it's a good moment for us to go to the legacy of him as a CEO. It's worth just going through how many businesses Apple has transformed under Steve Jobs. You got the personal computer, from the Apple two, making the computer finally affordable enough for anyone to own to the Macintosh, launched back in 1984, making it accessible for anyone to use.

The iPod, which surpassed the Walkman, become the personal music player of its generation. The iTunes Store, it transformed the music business. Some say it killed the music business. Well, it is the music business. It is now the world's biggest music store.

And, of course, the iPhone -- turning the mobile phone into a computing platform and, of course, what I always have with me, the iPad, which is ushering a post PC era of mobile computing, accessing data in the Cloud.

And 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.

COSTELLO: I mean, I know he's been having health problems, he had pancreatic cancer, liver 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?

STOUT: Well, that's just merely speculation at this point. It was interesting because there was a "Wall Street Journal" report about a month ago when the reporter asked him the question about, "Is there a succession plan in place? And Steve Jobs' response to that was, quote, "That is hogwash." But in that resignation letter, that was announced and passed on the world today, Steve Jobs said quite clearly that a succession plan is in place.

We know that Tim Cook is the new CEO of the company. He's done it before, earlier this year. He's done it in 2009. He also did it in 2004. He previously served as Apple's chief operating officer, overseeing sales and supply chain.

And word inside Apple is that he's widely popular, but he's not a products 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.

COSTELLO: Yes. Nobody quite like him. See? A team of people have to take over for him.

Kristie Lu Stout reporting live from Hong Kong -- many thanks. Mitt Romney turns down a Labor Day invite to South Carolina. 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 Kiss- and-Make-Up Day. So, go on, make up with your enemy.

It's 13 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Fourteen minutes past the hour.

First, an earthquake, and now, a hurricane threatening the east coast. The late-night comedians are getting a kick out of Mother Nature. Here's your morning punch line.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

DAVID LETTERMAN, COMEDIAN: I hate when we have natural disasters hit. We go the hurricane coming and the young women over there, flash dancers, already are strapping themselves to the pole.

CRAIG FERGUSON, COMEDIAN: The earthquake and the hurricane Irene approaches the East Coast. You see that's what happens when you cancel "Oprah."

LETTERMAN: Hit pretty hard here in New York City. Here's how big the earthquake was yesterday. The supermodels were actually swaying.

Meanwhile President Obama is still vacationing on Martha's Vineyard, enjoying the sun and fun there on Martha's Vineyard. It's really sad when your SPF factor is higher than your approval rating.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

COSTELLO: Time now for your Political Ticker with our friend Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius POTUS, live from Washington.

Good morning, Tim.

TIM FARLEY, SIRIUS XM POTUS: Good morning.

COSTELLO: I think we should start with Mitt Romney, or has an interesting strategy. Jim DeMint is hosting this forum in South Carolina and Mitt Romney said, hmm, I'm going to skip it.

FARLEY: It's interesting to me that Mitt Romney is sort of like the George Constanza of politics this year. Remember the episode on "Seinfeld" where George did the opposite of everything that he would originally do? Well, that's pretty much what Mitt Romney is doing this time around. He's ignoring South Carolina.

Jim DeMint is more associated with the right. He's a member of the Tea Party caucus in the Senate. Mitt Romney saying I'm not going to go there right now and really putting his eggs in the New Hampshire basket, if you will. So, he's not to be going to this what he would consider to be a very conservative forum, the powder dry caucus in the Palmetto State. And Senator DeMint likes to fashion himself as a king-maker I think you could easily say.

So, Mitt is pretty much passing that by. But I think he's focusing on New Hampshire. And as you and I have talked about several times,, Carol, it's the long game for Mitt Romney. He's looking at delegate count and he's looking at all the states. South Carolina probably not going to be very, very good to him.

COSTELLO: Well, 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 state. It's a very Christian-oriented state. So, maybe that's the reason why.

And, by the way, Bachmann and Perry do plan to go to Jim DeMint's little shindig.

FARLEY: Indeed. And you're making a good point there, that it is a very conservative state, evangelical even. And that's one of the reasons why Mike Huckabee did so well there in 2008. Jim DeMint endorsed Mitt Romney in 2008. This is not 2008 though.

So, again, Mitt Romney playing the long game, not necessarily ignoring South Carolina but it's not one of his priorities right now.

COSTELLO: OK. 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.

FARLEY: He is indeed. And he did play a little golf yesterday in a place called the Mink Meadows Golf Course. There were a few local golfers who were upset because the president took up all the golf carts, not just him but, of course, his entourage.

(INAUDIBLE) has an interesting piece in the "Boston Globe" today about 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, Carol, about Irene, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Josh Earnest noted yesterday that the president is not planning to cut short his vacation. He's scheduled to be back in D.C. for Sunday's dedication for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. But they're going to have to watch because it could affect New England. But, certainly, Washington, D.C., is watching to see what Irene does and specifically to the celebration on Sunday.

COSTELLO: I know, because that could be postponed depending on which direction Irene turns. Of course, we'll keep an eye on it as you keep an eye for politics for us.

Tim Farley, thanks so much for joining us -- Tim Farley, host of "Morning Briefing" on Sirius POTUS.

Moammar Gadhafi wanted dead or alive. Libyan rebels are offering a seven-figure bounty for the fugitive leader. We're going to take you live to Tripoli.

It's 19 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE- UP CALL.

Here are three things you need to put on your radar.

Hurricane Irene, the National Hurricane Center says 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 Michael Jackson. Attorneys for Conrad Murray asking that jurors be sequestered during trial.

And be on a lookout for a possible in the cost of your coffee. Coffee companies like Kraft and J.M. Smucker are reversing their past price hikes. The easing in prices is being attributed to the drop in coffee futures and improved coffee growing weather conditions.

Libyan leaders are trying to firm up their grip on Tripoli, while spurring on a manhunt for the fugitive leader Moammar Gadhafi. He's wanted now dead or alive. Rebels have a bounty on his head -- about $1.5 million to anyone who captures him, but pockets of fierce fighting persists.

One of Gadhafi's sons, Saadi, tells CNN he is ready to talk ceasefire to spare the city a sea of blood. Rebels confronted loyalists near the Rixos Hotel where dozens of journalists held for days are finally free.

Here's our Matthew Chance in the moments before he was let go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hopefully, now they're going to get in those cars and they're going to take us --

Bye. Bye, BBC. Good luck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bye, Matthew.

CHANCE: Good luck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good luck.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Matthew is a happy man today.

But let's go around the world with our own Sara Sidner. She's live in Tripoli.

So, Sara, what are things like in the capital now?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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 in Martyr Square. 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 there's still been a firefight 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, that you can't go down there. There are snipers on tops of building. They showed us evidence of cars that had bullet holes through the window. And so, there is a sense that the rebels are in control of even more of the city, but not all of the city, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, one of Moammar Gadhafi's sons is saying, "Hey, I'm ready to negotiate a ceasefire." I mean, do his words carry any weight?

SIDNER: Actually, I think that what we're hearing from the opposition is that we're beyond that. We're beyond negotiating with you. 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? What is he referring to?

But most people are taking it with a grain of salt, saying this is a regime that doesn't even realize that it's lost its grip because the people in inner sanctum, the family members of Moammar Gadhafi and Colonel Gadhafi himself 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 when they saw the uprising happen and they saw Gadhafi's reaction in Benghazi when he leveled tanks at his own people. That is what set this all off, a part of really what's happening across the Mideast and North Africa. But that's what set these people off. Civilians have turned themselves into soldiers over the past six months.

COSTELLO: Fascinating stuff. Sara Sidner, live from Tripoli this morning -- thank you.

It is now 26 minutes after the hour. Let the watches and mandatory evacuations begin. Hurricane Irene is coming on. The Carolinas now preparing for its weekend arrival. More on that big storm right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Thursday, August 25th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello joining you live this morning from New York. It's 30 minutes past the hour.

Get ready for Irene. Hurricane watches are now in effect for parts of the North Carolina coast. Storms have been pounding the Bahamas all night long. CNN's Jim Spellman is in Nassau in the middle of it all. What damage are you seeing, Jim?

SPELLMAN: So far, Carol, fortunately no major damage pound (ph) underway. Here's our live shot. No rooftops or buildings down. Signs down and a lot of high water in the streets. Flooding is a big concern. (INAUDIBLE) so I would say right now maybe (INAUDIBLE) still got a few more hours. (INAUDIBLE) so far the power is still on. The cell phones are still working. (INAUDIBLE)

COSTELLO: Jim Spellman reporting live. It's kind of hard to hear you because of all the wind, but thanks for the update. The good news there, no major damage, at least, not yet, but Irene is supposed to turn into a monster storm. Jacqui Jeras will be along shortly to tell you when it will hit the United States.

Tourists, D.C.'s national mall still not allowed in the Washington Monument after Tuesday's earthquake. There are cracks in the wall. So, the iconic 555-foot obelisk. So, it's now closed indefinitely as engineers study ways to repair the damage.

In the meantime, the FCC wants answers about overloaded cell phone networks in Washington right after the quake. Police and firefighters reportedly had no problems communicating but plenty of people said they could not get through to 911 when they were using their cell phones. So, now, the government is asking carriers and call centers for more information about exactly what happened and why there was no cell phone service for hours.

New warnings from the Pentagon about China's growing military. A top defense official says China's bigger and more modern army is potentially destabilizing to the pacific adding that it could stir up new tensions. This comes as Congress get a classified Pentagon report on China. Part of which has been made public. Talks about China's fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and its army which is 1.25 million ground troops strong.

Sheriff's detectives in Florida want to send a $293,000 bill to Casey Anthony. That's how much the Orange County Sheriff's Office says it spent working on the disappearance of Anthony's two-year-old daughter, Caylee, in 2008. A court hearing on the request was on the calendar today, but it's been bumped to September 2nd. Anthony was found not guilty of murder last month, but she was convicted or four misdemeanor counts of lying to officers, and prosecutors say that's why she should pay up.

"Forbes" magazine is out with its top 100 list of the world's most powerful women. So, let's go through all 100. I'm just kidding. Number 6, Melinda Gates, co-founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Number 7, Sonya Gandhi, the president of the Indian National Congress Party. At number 8, Michelle Obama who is, of course, the first lady. Number 9, Christine Lagarde who is managing director of the International Monetary Fund. And number 10, Irene Rosenfeld, the CEO of Kraft Foods.

We will have the top five coming up in 60 seconds. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's now 34 minutes past the hour. This is you're A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Now, back to the top five most powerful women in the world according to "Forbes" magazine. At number 5, Sheryl Sandberg who is the COO of Facebook. At number 4, Indra Nooyi who is the chief executive of PepsiCo.

Number three, Dilma Rousseff who is president of Brazil. Number two, Hillary Clinton who is U.S. secretary of state. And the number one most powerful woman in the world will be Angela Merkel who is the chancellor of Germany. Now, you know.

For morning money news, let's head to Christine Romans. She's live with me in New York. So, Christine, I found some news out of France kind of interesting. France, actually, is proposing tax increases along with spending in cuts to confront its debt, and Sarkozy is up for reelection.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Well, look, you know, France has to get economy in line. It has to keep its AAA credit rating. It is incredibly important for the stability of the European system and for the bailout of all the other countries that France stay AAA and get its financial house in order as the economy has closed. So, what are they proposing? Tax increases to confront some growing debt, $16 billion in tax increases.

Among the things, taxes on high wage earners and some big French billionaires have come out and said that they are for, you know, a special payment to help pay down the debt. Alcohol, tobacco, soda, new taxes on those things. Interesting. This will be debated in parliament, of course, maybe next month, and there could be some vigorous debate about this, but yes, a French president up for re- election proposing tax increases. There you go, Carol.

COSTELLO: Imagine that.

ROMANS: I can't in this country, can you? No. In this country, the tax increases, we call them other things, you know, they are fees or they're -- tax increases are not popular here, not at all.

COSTELLO: No, you're right about that. We're going to talk about Steve Jobs on "American Morning," so I'll catch you there in about --

ROMANS: All right. Bye-bye.

COSTELLO: Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

COSTELLO: Remember the lawmaker who shouted "you lie" at President Obama two years ago? Well, this morning, he is in the hospital. We're trying to find out more about his condition coming up.

But first, here is today's "Get Smart" question. Steve Jobs just resigned as the CEO of Apple. What was his salary last year? Was it, A. $80 million, was it 40 million dollars, or was it C. a dollar? The answer coming up in two minutes. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Thirty-nine minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE- UP CALL. Now, back to our "Get Smart" question. Steve Jobs just resigned as CEO of Apple. So, what was his salary last year? Was it $80 million, was it $40 million, or was it $1? Well, the answer is C. Since he rejoined Apple in 1997, Jobs has made $1 a year.

Now, it's time for our "Political Ticker." So, let's bring in CNN political reporter, Shannon Travis, who's kind enough to wake up early with us. He's live on the phone from Washington. Good morning, Shannon.

VOICE OF SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Good morning, Carol. Always happy to wake up early for you.

COSTELLO: That's why I like you so very much.

TRAVIS: Series that we're watching here, Carol. Congressman Joe Wilson from South Carolina, a lot of our viewers may remember he's the congressman who shouted you lie at President Obama during a joint session of Congress back in 2009. He was hospitalized, apparently, yesterday. It's unclear if he's still in right now, but he had to go to the hospital. Apparently, this stems from something that happened or that was announced publicly last week.

Last week, his staff said publicly that he came down with Rocky Mountain spotted fever, likely through a tick bite while working in his yard. Another communications director later said that he was taking antibiotics for symptoms of Lyme Disease. Again, we want to be clear that we're not saying -- we're not sure if he does have Lyme Disease, but that he was taking antibiotics to treat symptoms of it.

So, yes, the congressman has had to cancel some appearances, apparently, from this illness that he's come down with, and we certainly wish him well, a speedy recovery -- Carol. COSTELLO: Oh, yes. And I hope he doesn't have Lyme Disease because it's really nasty and very hard to get rid of.

TRAVIS: Yes. It's pretty bad.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about the Starbucks CEO and his plan to withhold campaign donation. It seems to be catching on.

TRAVIS: Yes. Something our viewers may want to think about as they sip their morning coffee. OK. So, last week, Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks, he basically told Republicans and Democrats here in Washington, you know what, you want my money, stop all the fighting, stop all the bickering. Apparently, now, he's got over 100 other CEOs to join him. They've all signed this pledge, Carol, to basically say we're going to stop giving to your campaign.

All of you lawmakers who are running for reelection, you want our money, you're soliciting donation, we're not giving you a dime until you stop the sniping, stop the gridlock. Now, last week Schultz said -- and this is a quote. I'm going to read this. "All it seems people are interested in is reelection and not fixing problems to help people."

Some of these other CEOs who have joined up with CEO Starbucks are Tim Armstrong of AOL, Scott Griffith of Zipcar, Walter Rob of Whole Foods, and Bill Campbell of Intuit. And get this, Carol, these CEO's, at least Schultz, hope that every day, Americans would do the same thing, that they would withhold their political contributions until the parties in gridlock in Washington stops.

COSTELLO: We'll see what happens, but it's interesting that so many CEOs have signed up. One hundred, so far, and maybe more. Shannon Travis, thanks for joining us this morning.

Hurricane Irene. It's coming. Check out how it looks from space. It's better to be above it than below it. We'll track the storm for you next.

But first, this day in history back in 1718, the French founded the city of New Orleans. In 1803, Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States, and the Louisiana purchase for $15 million. It's 43 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Good morning to you. It is Thursday, August 25th. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining us this morning. We're live from New York. It is 45 minutes past the hour.

Let's get you up to speed on Hurricane Irene. Hurricane watches are now in effect for parts of the North Carolina coast. A mandatory evacuation goes into effect later this morning for tourists along the outer banks. So, let's check in with meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. She's tracking this storm. Any other watches and warnings? I know you're getting updates all the time. JERAS: Yes. We did get the watches that were updated just this morning, just at the top of the hour. Let's go ahead and show you the maps. It's spell it out for you, and this is for your the Carolinas. So, from the Virginia, North Carolina state line down to Surf City is where we have a hurricane watch in effect and from Surf City southward to Edisto Beach, that's where we have the tropical storm watches.

So, these are watches. And, basically, what a watch means is that hurricane or tropical storm conditions are expected within 48 hours. So, we're talking about Saturday morning. That's when we're talking about those winds beginning to pick up and really starting to feel the impact of this storm. Hurricane warnings are all in effect across the Bahamas Island chains. It's about 80 miles away from Nassau, as we speak.

This is packing winds of 115 miles per hour. This is a very powerful Category 3 storm. And we're going to continue to see some changes in intensity with this thing. It's likely going to get stronger as it continues to move through the Bahamas, but we will see it likely kind of wobble back and forth. It's very common for hurricanes to change their intensity from time to time. Now, Saturday morning, that's when we're going to start to feel the impact through the Carolinas.

This is going to last through the day Sunday as it starts to ride up the northeastern coast. Now, look at that cone. Don't focus on that skinny little line, but if it does take that skinny line, I have to tell you, that's going to be one of the worst-case scenarios, Carol, because that would be two landfalls that we're talking about and with that eye just staying off the coast, that will allow to stay a little bit stronger and bring in more coastal flooding, in addition, the heavy, heavy rainfall.

We're expecting a potential for hundreds of thousands of people to be without power. That includes you up there in New York. So, make sure you've got what you need for at least three days and take a long time having (ph) to recover from Irene.

COSTELLO: I've got peanut butter and jelly. I have bread.

JERAS: Good.

COSTELLO: And I have toilet paper which is always good.

JERAS: Water.

COSTELLO: Water. Bottled water. Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that that thing will turn in the right way.

JERAS: Let's hope.

COSTELLO: Thank you. I hope so. Thank you, Jacqui.

We've been showing you what the hurricanes looks like from outer space. Things like this are absolutely mesmerizing, aren't they? But they also give forecasters, like Jacqui Jeras, a better idea where the storm is going and how strong it will get, so you can get out of the way. That's why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA is campaigning against budget cuts.

A major weather satellite will die in five years, and if the funding isn't there to replace it, forecasters could lose a crucial tool. We'll keep you posted.

Libya's fugitive leader, Moammar Gadhafi, is wanted dead or alive. The rebels are offering a seven-figure bounty to anyone who turns the man as pockets of fighting persist. So, let's go around the world with Sara Sidner. She is live in Tripoli. There seems to be some activity over your shoulder. I know that you can't move from that location right now, but what's your best guess?

SIDNER: Best guess is we know that it's toward the Bab al-Aziziya compound, that's the Gadhafi compound, a place where the average person could not go a massive -- it's almost a neighborhood, Carol, to itself. It's that big inside buildings all over the place. We've been seeing smoke coming from there over the past few days, but now, a very large plume of smoke in the area to the south of where we are, which is Martyr Square.

I'm going to let you get a bit of a view of that plume of smoke. There's really, really going there. So, there's definitely a major fire over there. We noticed when we were there last time that it was taking motors (ph), and those motors (ph) were coming from outside of the compound and being shot into the compound by Gadhafi loyalists and that really made headlines a day ago, because this is a place where Moammar Gadhafi had set up his own kingdom, if you will, a place where the average citizen just could not go.

You had to be a very close ally or a very close friend or family member of the Gadhafi regime to (INAUDIBLE) major massive gates that surrounded his compound. And now, his own people are firing into that compound trying to root the rebels out. I just heard a blast coming from that area as well. So, clearly, there are some issues over there.

We have not been able to make it to that area, but we are going to head there in just a bit to try to figure out exactly what's going on and if, in fact, that is Bab al-Aziziya on fire again.

COSTELLO: The next question has to do with Moammar Gadhafi. There's now a bounty on his head. Do you think that will help?

SIDNER: $1.4 million is a lot of money, but, you know, we should be clear, Libyans always tells us, we are not a poor nation. We know what we have. We know we have resources such as oil. You don't see desperation here. You don't see a starvation here. People seem to be doing OK, although, annoyed with the fact that this is a rich nation and a lot of people don't have a whole lot.

But, I think that this bounty is another incentive, and I think it was put there as an incentive to get some of the people who are the closest to Moammar Gadhafi and who are loyal to that regime to finally defect and say, OK, I know where he is, here he is, and go for the money if not for a cause. So, that's one of the reasons I think that the National Transitional Council has put that in place. But the question, really, is at this point is whether or not anyone would do that, because what is happening and what we're hearing from people who were a real loyalists is that they believe what they were hearing from the Gadhafi regime, that the Gadhafi regime was in complete control or control of 80 percent of Tripoli and was in complete control of the rest of the country, and suddenly, they're faced with the reality right in their face.

They can no longer deny that the Gadhafi regime has been broken in this country. And I think those that are surrounding him and he, himself, may be a bit delusional in thinking that they somehow still have some control over Libya -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Sara Sidner, thanks so much. Live from Tripoli this morning.

Did you feel this one? Another quake hit near Mineral, Virginia just after 1:00 a.m. eastern. It was a 4.5 magnitude tremor. Really, it was just an aftershock. There are not any reports of damage unlike Tuesday's 5.8 quake. That quake cracked the top of America's favorite obelisk, the Washington Monument.

It's going to be closed for awhile as engineers try to figure out how to fix this. The National Cathedral will also be closed for several more days. The quake damaged three corner spires and some flying buttresses, also damaged some sculptures on the lawn.

The animals, by the way, at the National Zoo knew the earthquake was coming. People say about 15 minutes before the shaking began, the apes scrambled up into their lookout. The flamingos gathered in a big pink defensive ball, and snakes that normally would have been asleep were slithering around.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DON MOORE, SMITHSONIAN NATL. ZOOLOGICAL PARK: All of these behaviors were atypical given the behaviors that we observe in these animals at this time of day every single day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Only the pandas didn't move. They were just waiting to be fed, as usual.

In other news this morning, Steve Jobs, the mastermind behind Apple has stepped down as CEO. Jobs has been on medical leave since the beginning of the year. He will stay on as the company's chairman, however. Jobs co-founded Apple in his family's garage back in 1976. Tim Cook, Apple's operations chief, will replace him as CEO.

Let's take a look at the word of the day now. That would be mustard gas. Find out exactly what that is and why it's important this morning right after this break. It's 53 past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: It is 57 minutes past the hour. This is your A.M. WAKE-UP CALL. Now, back to word of the day. Mustard gas. It's a colorless, oily liquids whose vapor is used in chemical weapons. If you breathe too much of that stuff, it can kill you. You need to know about this today because the United States is trying to secure Libya's mustard gas supply south of Tripoli.

The mustard gas is not weaponized. It would be difficult to use, but there are concerns the materiel could be diverted or sold to third parties, you know, like terrorist groups.

That earthquake that took the east coast by surprise has given late night comedians plenty to joke about. So, here's your punch line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN: Earthquake, it's unusual to get them here in New York. 5.8 on the Richter scale. 5.8. I've had bigger heart attacks than that. Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

CRAIG FERGUSON, HOST, THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH CRAIG FERGUSON: Experts are saying that, you know, this kind of thing only happens once a century. It's Larry King's third.

(LAUGHTER)

LETTERMAN: Out of Washington, D.C., close to the epicenter, so strong down there Nancy Pelosi, you know Nancy Pelosi, her hair actually cracked. There was a crack in her hair. They're going to have to caulk it.

FERGUSON: Apparently, there's a crack in the Washington Monument. Calm down, Marion Berry (ph), I said, a crack.

LETTERMAN: Hillary Clinton suffered some structural damage in her pant suit.

(LAUGHTER)

LETTERMAN: The earthquake was so strong that the Tea Party shifted to the center.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

LETTERMAN: Yes. That's right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: It's the gift that keeps on giving, at least, for a time (ph) that earthquake. Let's go to Carter Evans. He's live at the NASDAQ MarketSite here in New York. Carter, how are the markets shaping up this morning?

CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, so far, we're essentially flat a little bit to the down side. Check it out. U.S. stock futures here on the CNNMoney.com premarket page, Dow down three points, NASDAQ up (ph) 50, the S&P 500, down about two. I just notice how it was clipped here, stocks, winning. Charlie Sheen would love that, right?

OK. So, yes, the premarket is a little bit lower today. What do we have that could change that today as far as economic reports? Well, it's Thursday. So, we get those weekly unemployment numbers that are expected to decline slightly after last week's increase -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about gold, because, as I always tell Christine Romans, I love talking about the price of gold, but the price seems to be fading these days.

EVANS: Yes, your bling lost a little. It's lost there yesterday, huh. Gold fell 95 bucks an ounce, about five percent. Check this out. Here's the chart yesterday. A big drop there, the reason, we've got an interesting report on goods (ph) orders. It was actually very good showing an increasing four percent in July.

That pretty much dashed the hopes of any more stimulus from the fed chair when he speaks on Friday, but ahead, again, Carol, everybody is looking to that speech on Friday to see what the fed chief has to say.

COSTELLO: Well, they certainly are. Carter Evans, many thanks to you. "American Morning" continues right now.