It was a relief to look up today, because looking down or at the horizon isn't very uplifting. Trees are still down, power is still out for tens of thousands (the numbers, thankfully, are dropping), and the rivers are cresting, especially in New Jersey.
Tree cutting, not surprisingly, is a good business to be in these days - because they can't restore power until they first get the trees off the live wires. And they can't do that without chain saws. Have you ever tried to move a large downed tree branch? I tried on Sunday. It wouldn't budge.
We'll have the latest on the flooding and the clean up from the weekend's storm, at 11. Meteorologist Lee Goldberg leads our coverage.
We're also following politics tonight. Hiram Monserrate, the former New York State Senator from Queens who was unceremoniously kicked out of office by his fellow senators after his conviction for attacking his girlfriend, is trying to win his seat back in a special election to fill the vacancy created by his expulsion.
Talk about chutzpah. Our political reporter Dave Evans is on the story for us tonight, at 11.
And we're following the mounting tensions in the Middle East. But this time it's not so much between the Israelis and Palestinians, although for sure those tensions remain, and in fact today there was violence.
No, this time most of the tension is between Israelis and the United States. The Obama Administration has protested the Israeli government plan to build Jewish housing in contested parts of East Jerusalem. The Palestinians are hoping that, under a negotiated peace that seems like a pipe dream these days, East Jerusalem will become their capital.
The administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu embarrassed the U.S. last week, announcing during a visit to Israel by Vice President Biden, that more housing would be built. Now special envoy George Mitchell has cancelled a long-planned trip to Israel, as the U.S. regroups to figure out how to deal with what is becoming the worst diplomatic crisis between the two countries in decades.
We'll have the latest, at 11.
We'll also have any breaking news of the night, plus Scott Clark with the night's sports. I hope you can join Liz Cho and me, tonight at 11.
BILL RITTER