they ve always underestimate always overestimated who the plans would help. martha: all right, we ll see if this works. thanks, cheryl. gregg: some unconfirmed reports that libyan rebels could be closing in on moammar qaddafi. we re going to get the latest from the pentagon. martha: big stories today. then you ve got hurricane irene, kicking up speed now, the bahamas getting battered, north carolina is batoning down the hatches now. we have more on the storm s track, right after this. you re missing that part of your life that just fulfills you. [ male announcer ] for us at humana, relationships matter too. the better we know you, the better we can help you choose the right medicare plan. that s why humana agents sit down with you to figure out your medicare options. and we have nurses you can call anytime, even at 3 a.m.
breaking news, we ll bring it to everybody. but the headline is she s done what she s supposed to do. jenna: some new information out of libya now, we re getting reports that a key rebel commander, a former umir of an al-qaeda link group is active in the area, this adds to the growing fears that a terror group could get its hands on qaddafi s most dangerous weapons, stockpiles of deadly chemicals, schulz of shoulder-fired missiles. nas correspondent catherine herridge follows this live from washington. what do we know? reporter: thank you jenna. he s becoming a more familiar face to the media, identifying himself as commander of the libyan rebels, sheikh abdul hakim bahaaj is from an al-qaeda-affiliated group. this is footage from the battle in tripoli, but bahaaj is linked to an islamic group, the lisj, he
qaddafi and his sons. they say they have them hold up. a moammar qaddafi spokesman has denied that. so far no proof that moammar qaddafi is actually in the mulling. he released an audiotape calling the rebels rats and calling on his followers to purify the city of tripoli. a bounty on moammar qaddafi by a businessman has grown to more than one million dollars. as far as the hunt for moammar qaddafi is being aided by nato forces as well. british reconnaissance and intelligence from nato will be used to try to help the rebels track and capture moammar qaddafi. megyn back to you. megyn: coming up a terrifying first day of school. [screaming] megyn: a bus full of students catching fire and then exploding. how the children got out and what set this off in the first place. wow.
intelligence-wise and i tr s our intelligence services are given accurate targeting information throughout the nato campaign to maybe have a better handle on this than we re getting now. but this is a very, very high priority, al-qaeda is in neighboring states like algeria, there s no doubt that activists will try to take the opportunity in libya. gregg: we are helping the libyan officials try to locate moammar qaddafi, we have agents on the ground and using surveillance equipment as well to try to locate him. i imagine that it extends to weapons stockpiles as well. what do you make of this report that qaddafi may be cornered, still in tripoli at a residential compound? obviously, i support any effort to corner him and eliminate him, with all due speed. but i think that it s a little troubling we have invested so many millions of dollars in our intelligence services and in collaboration with allies in this kind of a campaign. there s a little bit of a where s waldo exercise in
companies can supply an alternate means of getting crews up there. rick: that was my question as we wrap this up, tom, does this give the private industry a little kick in the you know what to get moving faster and get private spacecraft up in the air? is. yeah. certainly, the pressure is on for the commercial companies to first launch cargo later this year, and then crew transport. nasa s got to focus on that to get an alternate means to back up the soyuz. rick: tom jones is a former astronaut joining us this morning. always good to talk to you. you re welcome. jenna: major developments in the battle for libya. however, we just heard maybe from gadhafi himself. is this really the end of the line for the dictator? is we have breaking details straight ahead. [ music playing, indistinct conversations ]