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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Bermuda pounded by Hurricane Fabian; President Bush To Address Nation, World Suday Night; Women's Group To Protest Schwarzenegger In Santa Monica

Aired September 05, 2003 - 17:00   ET

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

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


WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now an accident in Disneyland out here in California. A roller coaster ride derails and there are injuries and one death.
Also happening right now in Erie, Pennsylvania, the FBI is searching for evidence related to a mysterious bank robbery and bombing.

Also on the weather front, double trouble, right now a hurricane and a tropical storm are slamming the shores simultaneously.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Storm siege, a brutal hurricane batters Bermuda while Florida faces flooding from Tropical Storm Henri.

Terror alert, the FBI on the hunt for these four men said to pose a threat to Americans but what do they look like now?

Is al Qaeda plotting to hijack airliners over the United States?

A well known television reporter under arrest accused of membership in al Qaeda.

And, he died after robbing a bank from a bomb strapped to his neck but some say that's not the man they knew.

LINDA PAYNE, WELLS' LANDLADY: He was laid back. He didn't want a whole lot of things.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Friday, September 05, 2003. Hello from Los Angeles, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

Two major storms each a potential killer, each bearing down right now on a tropical paradise. Fabian, a category three hurricane already pounding Bermuda with wind gusts of 100 miles an hour and experts say stronger winds are still to come and in Florida, it's Henri, a tropical storm that could drop more than a foot of rain on ground that's already saturated.

You can see both storms on this satellite image. Take a look. Fabian, a giant compared to the tiny island nation it's about to swallow and Henri packed with rain slowly engulfing Florida. We'll take you to Tampa live this hour. Let's begin with hurricane Fabian, potentially the strongest storm to hit Bermuda in almost 80 years.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is live. He's joining us from Bermuda via satellite phone. Gary, tell us what you can see and feel right now.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via satellite phone): Well, Bermuda is getting walloped as we speak. As you said, 100 mile-per- hour gusts are now hitting this British territory that is only 20 square miles. They've escaped the wrath of most hurricanes over the last several decades. This appears to be the fourth time in the last 77 years that Bermuda has been directly hit.

Police at this point aren't sure how much damage there is. We can tell you we just took a car out on the road. We couldn't drive for more than five minutes. We were trapped because there were trees and power lines blocking the roads in all directions. We finally got back to where we started.

At that point, a huge trunk came off a tree, hit the top of our car. That gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. Everyone in the car was OK. And then, to top it off, we came back and some of our video equipment caught fire from all the water and wind, a fire we had to put out. It gives you an idea what's going on here, the strongest hurricane wind they've had here in Bermuda since 1926 - Wolf.

BLITZER: Gary Tuchman take care of yourself. Be careful. We'll be checking back with you obviously throughout the evening here on CNN.

Joining me now on the phone, John Burchall, he's the public affairs officer for the Bermuda government. Tell us how bad this situation, John, is right now.

JOHN BURCHALL, BERMUDA SPOKESPERSON (via telephone): Well, right now the eye of the storm has passed west of us and we had winds as high as 120 miles per hour beating down on our island which is severely stressing the ability of our island to cope with a storm of this magnitude.

BLITZER: John, how many people are affected on Bermuda, residents as well as tourists as far as you can guess right now?

BURCHALL: I would estimate that would be in the region of about 65,000 people, residents plus guests, many of whom did leave the island by American Airlines flight last evening but there's still a sizeable population of people who are residents.

BLITZER: And one final question, John. I know you got a lot going on over there. Is everyone protected to the best of your knowledge, the government of Bermuda, is everyone in relatively safe conditions?

BURCHALL: Well, we are fortunate that our houses for the most part are made of concrete and stone so that enables us to withstand quite a lot of the strong winds but our roofs can be subjected to much stress and there have been some reports of roofs being blown off as a consequence of the high winds.

BLITZER: John Burchall of the Bermuda government thanks very much. Good luck to everyone on Bermuda, a lovely island almost all of the time.

For the latest information on hurricane Fabian and tropical storm Henri I'm joined by Max Mayfield. He's the director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Max, tell us about these two problems.

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, as you have said, Wolf, this is a very, very powerful hurricane that is hitting Bermuda right now. The only hurricanes they've had in recent memory have been weaker hurricane, category one, maybe category two hurricanes. The last really major hurricane they had that was close enough to cause this much damage was back in 1926.

So, the eye has passed just to the west of the island. It's now about 30 miles to the northwest of Bermuda but they're still getting part of that eye wall and I would think they will get hurricane conditions for another three maybe four hours, tropical storm force winds through midnight tonight.

BLITZER: What about tropical storm Henri that's hitting or is about to hit Tampa, the area around there in Florida?

MAYFIELD: Yes, well the problem with Henri is with the rainfall the ground is very, very saturated over much of Florida. The river stages are very high so it doesn't take much more rain to cause some real significant flooding here. That's going to be the main concern.

This is a weak tropical storm. We think it will continue to slowly move over the state. We're still in for some heavy rains here of course in the peninsula through tonight and all day tomorrow.

BLITZER: Max Mayfield thanks very much of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. We'll be checking back with you and we'll have much more on both of these weather problems throughout this hour.

But let's move on to something that's happening out here in California right now, a deadly accident at Disneyland in Anaheim. One person was killed, ten other injured when a locomotive broke loose from a train on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Derek Bell of our affiliate KCAL and KCBS is there and he's joining us now live. Derek, tell us what happened.

Wolf, we're showing you the pictures right now of that ride. As we push in, we'll show you that stricken replica rail car that apparently derailed about 11:22 local time this morning. We understand again 11 people were initially injured, one person, a male, actually died of his injuries.

Six of the victims were transported to local area - make that to UCI Medical Center, four to others. We understand they range in age from nine to 47 years old. There were four males, four females and two minors.

Now, the ride is completely shut down. Park officials have cordoned off the area and park goers are not allowed anywhere near. So, again, ten people injured, one person killed in a mishap here at Disneyland earlier this morning.

This is Derek Bell live in Sky 9, back to you Wolf.

BLITZER: One very quick question for you, Derek, before I let you go. Has this ever happened before at Disneyland?

BELL: Unfortunately yes it has. Periodically we have people that are injured on the rides here and unfortunately in the last few years a couple of park goers have been killed on rides.

BLITZER: Derek Bell of our affiliates KCAL and KCBS, Derek thanks very much.

Joining us now for a little bit more on this development, Sergeant Rick Martinez with the Anaheim Police Department, sergeant tell us what you know, what happened and what's happening right now?

SGT. RICK MARTINEZ, ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Well, Wolf, it's a little too early in this investigation to find out exactly what caused this accident but it appears that one of the trains on the ride somehow separated. It caused a lot of injuries or injury to a lot of people on the attraction. Unfortunately one person was killed. He was pronounced dead here at the scene.

Right now, we have Anaheim Police Department, fire department, working closely with Disney to take care of the people that were injured and also find out exactly what caused this accident.

BLITZER: And normally in this kind of investigation I assume you look for all possible causes, all possible culprits if you will, including everything ranging from human air to technical problems to foul play. Is there any indication right now what may have happened?

MARTINEZ: Right now, Wolf, there is no indication that anything other than an accident took place. It does appear to be an accident. We don't think that there is any reason to believe that this was anything other than that; however, it's still too early. We have to look at all of the factors to conduct a very thorough investigation and find out exactly how this happened.

BLITZER: All right, we'll be following it with you along. Sergeant Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department we'll be checking back with you as well.

(BREAKING NEWS)

We have another breaking news story we're following right now, this one that has interested a lot of us, a lot of our viewers around the country, the strange case involving the pizza delivery man who robbed a bank in Erie, Pennsylvania and then was killed by a bomb attached to his neck.

CNN's Mike Brooks is in Erie, Pennsylvania. He's joining us live on the phone. What is this new development Mike?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Wolf, I'm on the scene right now in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania at a garage where the FBI is doing, conducting a search right now of the cinder block garage at Fourth and Cherry Street in downtown Erie.

I spoke with the FBI spokesperson. He said this search is, in fact, in connection with the Brian Wells bank robbery case and right now on the scene we have the Erie Police bomb squad, the Pittsburgh office of the FBI, the FBI's Evidence Response Team, along with technicians and special agents from the FBI explosives lab in Quantico, Virginia.

They apparently showed up here at about 2:30, asked the owner for consent to search and they went ahead and consented to the search inside. I spoke with the owner, Willie Feliciano (ph) and he said that his stepson has gone with the FBI for questioning.

He said they took him away from the scene and he doesn't know where they are right now but they took him away to talk to him and apparently he said his son is an associate of Brian Wells. What this means right now we'll hope to find out shortly - Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, we'll be checking back with you, Mike Brooks, and we'll have more on this mysterious story later this hour.

There may be a new threat to Americans. Have you seen, and we'll you show you their pictures, these four men? We'll tell you why the FBI is looking for them right now.

Also, as I said more on this development in Erie, Pennsylvania, the FBI is on the search.

And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The fact of the matter is you got to forget about the '70s. I was a different person then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll tell you why Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to wipe the '70s out of this campaign. We're live in Los Angeles. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The concern about air travel from the FBI, that story and much more coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: A manhunt, a plot and an arrest, major developments today in the war against terrorism. The FBI is searching for four men who it says may be planning terror attacks on Americans at home or abroad. Officials say some of the information comes from al Qaeda detainees.

At the same time, the federal government is warning that al Qaeda has plans to hijack airliners flying over or near the United States but not originating in this country. Officials say most flights originate in Canada and that the two countries are working on security measures.

Also, a well known Al-Jazeera TV correspondent was arrested at his home in Spain today accused of membership in al Qaeda. Tayseer Allouni interviewed Osama bin Laden shortly after the September 11th attacks. A Spanish official says Allouni is believed to have aided key al Qaeda figures.

Now more on that worldwide hunt for four terror suspects, the latest from our Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena, she's joining us in Washington.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The FBI strongly suspects these four men are terrorists who could be planning to attack Americans or U.S. interests and is asking police agencies worldwide to help find them?

JOHN PISTOLE, FBI ASST. DIRECTOR: The intelligence that we have indicates that they are likely operating independent of one another which makes it more of a challenge for us and also gives us reason to want to get this information out to the public and to our partners around the world.

ARENA: Information on the men came from a variety of sources including al Qaeda detainees and overseas intelligence agencies. Their whereabouts are unknown and there is no information suggesting any of the four is currently in the United States.

Alerts have been issued before on two of the four, Abderraouf Jdey and Adnan El Shukrijumah. Shukrijumah's family, which lives in south Florida insists he's got no terror connections but the FBI describes him as a first among equals saying he's got a lot in common with the ringleader of the September 11th attacks.

PISTOLE: He is of significant concern to us because of his similarities to Mohamed Atta in terms of his ability to, we believe, pilot an aircraft, his fluency in English, his familiarity with the United States and his ability to use false documents perhaps to get into the United States undetected.

ARENA: Shukrijumah's ability to pilot airplanes is especially worrisome in light of the latest alert from homeland security warning that al Qaeda maintains and interest in attacking commercial aircraft.

PISTOLE: He may be the best suited al Qaeda operative in the world to commit such an act that we believe al Qaeda is still interested in planning.

ARENA: That's not to say law enforcement thinks Shukrijumah is the only serious player. Officials say they have information linking Karim El Mejjati to the May attacks in Casablanca.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: Officials stress that there is no information suggesting an attack is imminent or that any plan has reached an operational phase. Still, they warn intelligence on the four comes on top of a mountain of information suggesting al Qaeda is planning multiple attacks against the United States - Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena thanks very much for that report.

And, for a good look at the four suspects simply go to fbi.gov. The problem is those pictures may be of only limited value.

CNN's Sean Callebs spoke with an expert who spent a good part of his life on the terror trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are right there just a click away with the obligatory warning about being armed and dangerous but do these photos help?

CMD. SGT. MAJ. ERIC HANEY, U.S. ARMY (RET): He looks like you could probably pick him out of the construction workers right here on the side of the building.

CALLEBS: Retired Command Sergeant Major Eric Haney spent part of his career tracking terrorists, is one of the founders of Delta Force.

HANEY: The casual observer, the person who just casually meets this person or sees them it's almost impossible for them to make any use of these photos.

CALLEBS: It would also really help if the photos show different profiles but there is one useful clue. It's difficult for suspects to alter the shape of their eyes and before you write off this web page warning, Haney says consider this.

Zubayr Al-Rimi, Karim El Mejjati, Adnan El Shukrijumah and Abderaouf Jdey have to live somewhere. Not only do people see them come and go. This high profile alert could force them underground.

HANEY: It makes them move more often. It makes them act a little more aberrant than a normal person is in society. It causes those little red flags to start popping up.

CALLEBS: So, if nothing else, it disrupts the way they're operating.

HANEY: It makes life a lot harder for them. CALLEBS: We've all seen the images from September 11th of the hijackers walking through airport security unchallenged. There are efforts to develop high tech facial recognition but they are moving slowly. The information may not be comprehensive but getting any information could lead to an arrest. Haney points out it was a citizen's tip that led to the arrest of the suspected Beltway snipers.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Could the bizarre bank robbery in Pennsylvania be a suicide plot? There are more questions than answers in the case at least now but what do we know about Brian Wells? We'll talk to a former FBI investigator.

Will the United Nations reach a compromise on Iraq? The secretary-general did the first exclusive interview since the U.N. mission bombing in Baghdad. He spoke with CNN's Richard Roth, that later.

More on our top story, hurricane Fabian is hitting Bermuda right now. We'll go there live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): What's the deadliest hazard associated with hurricanes, high winds, high tides, tornadoes, inland flooding, the answer coming up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BREAKING NEWS)

BLITZER: Let's go right to the White House where CNN's Kathleen Koch is standing by with word of an important development - Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A Bush senior administration official tells CNN that President Bush is requesting time from the television networks on Sunday night for a major address to the American public.

The official says that this address will be on the subject of terrorism with a focus on Iraq. This source tells CNN that it was back on August 26th that the president and his aides began first talking about the idea of giving such a speech to the nation. That was when President Bush was speaking to the American Legion in St. Louis.

This official says: "We want to bring the country up to speed on where we are and on where we're headed." Now, Wolf, this decision to make this speech, it's expected to last about 15 minutes and the president would make it from the White House residence. It comes just as the White House obviously is beginning, is presenting this draft U.N. resolution to gain international support both monetarily and militarily in Iraq and it comes also as many members of Congress, many of them also Republicans, have come back here to town and pressured the president to come out to speak to the American public to give voters an idea of just what the administration's game plan is - Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Katheen Koch with that important word, the White House wants President Bush to address the nation Sunday night 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Of course, CNN will have live coverage of that.

Breaking news that we've been following in Erie, Pennsylvania, police are searching a garage in connection with the case of Brian Wells, the pizza delivery man who robbed a bank last week.

What happened shortly afterwards is not only puzzling but extremely bizarre. Wells was killed when a bomb attached to his neck exploded. That brings us to this question. Just who was Brian Wells?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Brian Wells seems to carry those descriptions so often applied in these bizarre stories. Neighbors say he was a loner, a quiet guy, kept to himself. Not much known about him. That's usually the description of perpetrators not victims. It's not clear if Brian Wells was either of those but his landlady who spoke to CNN's Mike Brooks believes she knows.

PAYNE: He would not be interested in doing it himself. He would not be interested in robbing a bank. He would not be interested in making a bomb. It was done to him. He was a victim.

BLITZER: We know Brian Wells was 46 years old. We know he lived alone with three cats in this rented cottage in Mill Creek, Township near Erie, Pennsylvania. We know he worked as a pizza delivery man and used a Geo Metro to make his runs. Linda Payne says the Spartan lifestyle seemed to satisfy him.

PAYNE: He was laid back. He didn't want a whole lot of things. He didn't have a whole lot of things. All he really needed was a car to deliver the pizzas with and a couple of CDs.

BLITZER: Various accounts describe Wells as timid, not wanting to attract attention to himself, few, if any close friends. The "Erie Times News" reported that he grew up in Erie, one of seven children, a high school dropout and that his father died in 1990.

He spent his free time working on old cars. A source close to the investigation says in his car a homemade cane-shaped device capable of firing like a gun was found and authorities say a search of Wells' home yielded several auto parts but apparently not the kind of equipment needed for this type of crime.

Was Brian Wells a shy solitary person blindsided by unimaginably bad luck? Was he a twisted mind who concocted this plot all by himself? Could there have been some combination of those scenarios? So far we only know about a violent end to what seemed to be a private uncomplicated life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And, joining us now in Washington for more on this very strange case, the former FBI investigator Gregg McCrary. He's the author of "The Unknown Darkness," profiling the predators among us. Gregg thanks very much for joining us. Have you ever seen a case similar to this?

GREGG MCCRARY, FMR. FBI INVESTIGATOR: No, not exactly Wolf. This is, as you stated, a very bizarre and very unusual case and therefore the way the investigators have to approach this is really like (unintelligible) that it isn't our job to believe or disbelieve anybody or anything.

We're there to gather facts, to find facts and that's what we have to do and that's what they appear to be doing, moving incrementally through this and now conducting a search this afternoon.

BLITZER: The bomb that was attached to his neck, I've never seen anything like that have you?

MCCRARY: I personally have not, no, but that will be looked at by people with expertise in that area. I'm sure ATF is involved in looking at this as well. Notes that he had, he apparently had a note with him that gave him instructions as to how to do this as well as perhaps a demand note of some sort as well.

All those things will be analyzed. They'll be looked at. They'll be looked at from behavioral people. They'll also be sent to the lab for fingerprints. All the forensic testing that will go on they'll be looking at ink and all of that sort of thing and just trying to find out facts and make some sense out of this very bizarre situation.

BLITZER: What about this other, this other weapon if you can call it that.

MCCRARY: Right.

BLITZER: This walking stick or cane which actually was a gun that could fire a bullet. That seems to be rather unusual finding that in his car.

MCCRARY: It does especially if we think he was forced into this. If you're forcing him against his will why would you arm him or give him an opportunity to use a weapon against you if someone else was forcing him to do it? Again, I'm not implying that he did this on his own but these are questions that are logical, that have to be asked and we have to find some answers to those.

BLITZER: And then there's this other colleague of his who's found dead only a few days later, another pizza delivery man, law enforcement suggesting this is perhaps simply a coincidence but it seems pretty remarkable if, in fact, it is a coincidence, two dead pizza men in Erie, Pennsylvania within a matter of days.

MCCRARY: Right and that I'm sure they're exploring as well to look if there's any indication of foul play or anything that would indicate any connections and, again, this starts with victimology or the study of the victim if you will or, in this case, Mr. Wells, the prime player here, whether he was a victim or offender, we don't know.

We have to move out from there. Look at his friends, associates, colleagues. They'll be pulling phone records trying to identify people close to him and get all of those people interviewed and see if -- just see what the facts show.

BLITZER: Greg McCrary, we always get some good insight from you. Thanks very much for joining us.

MCCRARY: My pleasure. Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

And Hurricane Fabian, as we've been reporting, is whipping Bermuda right now. Buildings are shaking under heavy wind and rain. We'll bring you a live report. That's coming up next.

Also ahead, girl power. Find out why some women in California are about to speak out against one of California's most powerful candidates.

And later, is the U.N. close to a compromise on Iraq? We'll hear from the secretary-general. He spoke with our own Richard Roth earlier today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's happening right now, a hurricane bashing a tourist mecca. We'll check in with CNN's Gary Tuchman under siege. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on our top story. The eye wall of Hurricane Fabian pounding Bermuda right now with wind gusts topping 130 miles an hour.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is there. He's joining us now live by phone.

I take it you're safe inside a building, Gary, but tell us what you know.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're leaning against a very sturdy hotel building right now on the ocean, Wolf. And we've had hurricane force winds for two and a half hours and we may have hours more left.

Fabian is a huge system. It appears the eye itself has just passed to Bermuda's west to the eerie and temporary calmness of the eye is not occurring. But the brunt of the winds are, with 100 miles per hour, according to the Hurricane Center about two hours ago and the winds have only increased since then.

Now the hotel we're standing next to is shaking right now. The windows, the doors, I'm looking out on the ocean and I see in the ocean wood planks, baskets, shoes, balls, chairs, deck chairs from pools floating around in the ocean right now. A restaurant that is connected to this hotel has just been completely washed into the ocean.

It's impossible now to ascertain -- even the police say it's impossible to ascertain how many damage has been all over Bermuda and if there are any casualties. The fact remains there hasn't been a death in Bermuda from a hurricane since 1953. Authorities are hoping that stands true this time.

But right now it's just impossible. The roads are completely impassable -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And clearly those pictures we've been showing are pictures from earlier, before this hurricane passed over Bermuda. We'll be checking back with Gary to make sure he's OK, to make sure everyone else is OK.

TUCHMAN: Thank you so much, you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see you later.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Gary Tuchman reporting live from Bermuda.

Let's check in now on the situation in Florida's Gold Coast, possibly facing more than a foot of rain on ground that's already saturated.

Gina Maravilla of our CNN affiliate Bay News 9 is in St. Petersburg with the latest.

Gina, tell us what's happening now.

GINA MARAVILLA, BAY NEWS 9 CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now here at St. Petersburg it's pretty calm, as you can see behind me. We're close to the mouth of Tampa Bay.

The brunt of Henri, Tropical Storm Henri is actually expected to hit in a few hours from now, north of here. They are expecting winds around 40 miles or hour but the winds are not the concern. The rain is the concern. As Wolf mentioned earlier, we have received a record amount of rain here in the Tampa Bay Area and there are some neighborhoods around here that are already flooded. So as you can imagine, a deluge of rain from Henri is a big concern.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARAVILLA (voice-over): As Henri approaches, here's the concern for residents who live in neighborhoods like this. Just how much of a driving force will the storm have? Emergency managers are keeping an eye on low-lying communities like Shore Acres in East St. Petersburg. They're already up to their sidewalks in water. And while they're used to flooding, some are worried because Henri isn't even here yet and the water is creeping on to their lawns and closer to their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter said if it gets too high, for me to call her at work and she's going to come home and move stuff up stairs.

MARAVILLA: Joan Mikim's (ph) street already has about a foot- and-a-half of water built up. She's tuned into weather reports while she watches the water. And to add to their nervousness, Mikim and her neighbors say when people drive by, it causes a wave of concern.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people have water driven into their homes because of -- or into their garages, first off, when the water is high like that from the wakes off the tires and the cars.

MARAVILLA: As residents in low-lying neighborhoods like these brace for Henri, they're hope that it won't make too big of a splash.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARAVILLA: The key word there hoping. You're looking at a live shot here. Just to give you an idea of how little of a concern the wind is here. You can see the windows right here on St. Pete Beach not boarded up at all. Again, people not worried about the wind. They are worried about the rain and what it will do to the already saturated ground out here.

At this point, there are no evacuation orders in effect, no mandatory as well as voluntary evacuations. But nonetheless, you can imagine people on pins and needles here as they watch to see just how much rain is going to be dumped here and how it's going to affect the neighborhoods -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Gina Maravilla of our affiliate Bay News 9, thanks very much for joining us.

Our meteorologist Orelon Sidney is tracking Hurricane Fabian as well as the Tropical Storm Henri from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta -- Orelon.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, thanks a lot.

Fabian still a big problem for folks in Bermuda and Henri is going to be a problem as we head through the weekend, as we just talked about.

Fabian now starting to interact with the troth of low pressure coming in from the west. You're going to see the winds die off, I think, as some shear starts to pick up with that troth coming in. Here's Bermuda, of course, the center of the storm just passed to the north over the past hour, hour-and-a-half. And the very latest coordinates now -- I've got the updated conditions for you. Still looking at 120 mile an hour winds. It's now moving north, northeast, though at 20 miles an hour, 30 miles northwest of Bermuda is where they're pinning the center right now. And it is still, of course, a very dangerous Category 3 storm with hurricane force winds extending out over 100 miles from the center. So it's not over yet.

Tropical Storm Henri has winds now of 50 miles an hour, but it's nearly stationary and that's a big problem for folks in Florida. It looks like you're going to see very heavy rains, as we heard about, continuing into the weekend. Good news is, not expected to develop into a hurricane -- Wolf.

BLITZER: That's good news under the circumstances. Thanks very much, Orelon Sidney.

The U.N. secretary-general is speaking out. Will the U.N. reach a compromise on a new Iraq resolution. We'll have his answer.

And here in California, some women are about to speak out. Find out where they're -- why they're displeased with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

And over in Iraq, the defense secretary is continuing his tour. Does he like what he's seeing out there?

First, the answer to our "News Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked, what's the deadliest hazard associated with hurricanes? The answer: inland flooding. Floods have caused more than half the hurricane-related deaths in the last 30 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As we reported just a little while ago, President Bush will address the nation Sunday night, 8:30 p.m., Eastern. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is in Indianapolis, Indiana. She's covering the president's trip to the Midwest today. She's yoining us now live with some more detail, how this decision came about -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, White House spokesman just give us some details just moments ago about how this all came about. As you know, he's going to be giving a major address on 8:30 on Sunday to the American people. And McClellan he was saying that really the president felt that this was the right time to give a progress report -- I'm quoting here, "felt it was a good time to talk to the American people about our progress and our need to go forward when it comes to the efforts inside of Iraq."

He said there were many discussions that had taken place at the Crawford ranch through video teleconference calls as well as those visits, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, the National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. He said it was just last week when he was in St. Louis that it turned into serious discussions about going forward to the American people.

When asked whether or not this was also going to be addressed to an international audience as well as the American audience, McClellan said, of course, that of course, he hopes that the world is listening, that the president wants to convey that a peace and free and stable Iraq will also mean a peaceful and free and stable world as well in the Middle East.

This is something the president felt was the right time to do and that the American people needed all of the information -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux, our White House correspondent covering the president's trip to Indianapolis today. Thanks, Suzanne, very much.

And, of course, CNN will have live coverage Sunday night. The president addresses the nation, indeed, the world, Sunday night 8:30 p.m. Eastern from the White House.

And if you're just tuning in for the first time today, a stunning, truly stunning development, the arrest of an Al Jazeera journalist and some alarming alerts from federal officials.

Joining me now from Washington to discuss all of these developments in the war on terror, CNN terrorism analyst Peter Berman. Peter, the arrest of this Al Jazeera journalist, some of our viewers might not be familiar with Tayseer Allouni but he is well known to you and me, to a lot of our viewers. He's a big, big reporter out there. What happened?

PETER BERMAN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, he was Kabul bureau chief of Al Jazeera during the war. In fact, he did the last television interview with bin Laden, an interview that for some reason didn't air at the time but was later aired without Al Jazeera's permission. You see it here on CNN.

What happens with this arrest is still a little unclear. What the judge -- what the Spanish sources are saying is that he had some contacts with two alleged al Qaeda members. Was providing them with some sort of support. What that type of support is is not clear yet. The arraignment's on Monday.

It, to me, a very surprising development. After all, Al Jazeera, while it has its critics, is sending the notion of that one of the lead correspondents would, even allegedly, be involved with al Qaeda to me is quite surprising.

BLITZER: Very surprising indeed. We'll continue to watch the story. The Spanish government today arresting Tayseer Allouni of Al Jazeera. Another development, Kelli Arena reportering the search for these four people believed to be al Qaeda operatives, posibly here in the United States. What do you make of this?

BERMAN: Well, two of these men have been out there and the FBI have been look for them already, another two are names that are not known to me. What do I make of that? I think there is concern as the 9/11 anniversary comes around, even though the alert has not gone up that al Qaeda may take it as an opportunity to strike again.

They did last year, Wolf, after the 9/11 anniversary although they didn't strike in the United States, they did blow up the huge bomb in Indonesia, killing 200 people. They attacked an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen. They also assassinated an American diplomat in Jordan.

So, it is not impossible, although it may not be on the anniversary itself, but within, shall we say, a two or three-week window to use the opportunity to attack again. And we have heard, by the way, Wolf, that there will probably be another tape coming out from al Qaeda, perhaps even audio tape from bin Laden himself marking as it were the anniversary of 9/11.

BLITZER: All right, we'll stand by for that. Peter Berman thanks very much much for that information.

In a tape message earlier today, the defense secretary today, Donald Rumsfeld told Iraqis the regime of Saddam Hussein is finished, as if to underscore that point he paid a visit to the former leader's hometown. Under tight security, extraordinary security, Rumsfeld met with U.S. troops in Tikrit, telling them they are doing, and I'm quoting now, "an outstanding job." The commander of U.S. forces operating out of Tikrit said today he believes Saddam Hussein is hiding out in the area.

And the U.N. Security Council members are discussing the Bush administration's proposal for an expanded role in Iraq for the U.N. The U.S. move comes amid mounting costs of the Iraqi mission and a growing death toll of American troops on duty in the country.

Three security council members who oppose the war, France, Germany, and Russia have raised concern the U.S. plan does not give enough power to the U.N. But in an exclusive interview with CNN's senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth, the U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan, expressed optimism, a deal can be worked out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I think it is possible to get a compromise resolution. I have suggested to the P-5 foreign ministers that they meet with me on common ground and the way forward. And I hope that meeting will take place in the not too distant future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And this important note, you can see all of Richard Roth's exclusive interview with Kofi Annan tomorrow. That's Saturday, on CNN, 6:00 p.m., and again 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

A federal court rules on the California recall and Arnold Schwarzenegger under fire from some women's groups. I'll talk to one of the chairmen of his campaign. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting today from Los Angeles. The California recall has cleared another legal hurdle. A federal court is rejecting the latest claims that minority voters could be disinfranchised.

Meanwhile the Republican candidate, Arnold Schwarzenegger, campaigned in conservative country today in Orange County, California. He tried to shift attention from the controversy over an interview he gave a pornographic magazine more than two decades ago in which he made comments about women that -- many of them say are degrading.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) CALIF. GOV. CANDIDATE: Today we have to look in the future, which is the future of this state. It's not what was said in the '70s by me that has ruined the economy of California. What has ruined the California economy is Bustamante and Gray Davis. They are the twin terminators of Sacramento.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Some women's groups have scheduled a demonstration tonight in Santa Monica to protest against Schwarzenegger. It's supposed to take place outside his campaign headquarters.

For more now on the recall, I'm joined from Washington by Congressman David Dreier, Republican of California. He's the co- chairman of the Schwarzenegger campaign. Congressman thank you very much for joining us.

REP. DAVID DREIER, (R) CALIFORNIA: I'm out here in California. We've got a rolls reversed. Usually I'm out there and you're here. I hope you will water my plants while I'm here -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Not going to happen.

DREIER: You'll have a great time. On the Bill Maher show too.

BLITZER: All right. David Dreier, let's get to the serious business at hand. The comments that Arnold Schwarzenegger made in the '70s generating concern among some women at least out here in California. How concerned are you about this development?

DREIER: Not only not concerned, I think that arnold hit the nail on the head. Today for the first time in 100 years, in the 100-year history of the California Chamber of Commerce, this nonpolitical organization stepped forward and endorsed a candidate that was Arnold Schwarzenegger because they know about the economic problems that exist.

What's happened, Wolf, is there are a lot of people, the chairman of the Democratic party out there, a wide range of other people who are trying to devert this. And as Arnold said, it was over a quarter of a century ago that he gave this interview with "Oui" magazine. People have moved clearly beyond that.

We've got to focus on the problems that exist today in California and the future, and he's come forward with a wide range of specific proposals repealing the tripling of the car tax, focusing on this $38.2 billion deficit that we've had, realizing that what we need to do is we need to, as Arnold says, get California's economic engine moving again. That's where he's focused. He's rallying conservatives, Wolf.

BLITZER: Congressman...

DREIER: In a very strong way with those issues.

BLITZER: Let's talk about his decision to skip this first debate. Some people out here suggest that he was scared. The only debate he's going to participate in is a debate he'll get the questions days, maybe a week in advance, perhaps could memorize some of his lines. This is a problem for him, the perception he's not ready, let's say, for prime time.

DREIER: All right, Wolf, I will tell you, he is a unique candidate. Never before who we have seen someone like this, who has come from body building to acting, where's he's been very successful, great business man and a wonderful family. You know, it's very, very unusual combination for a candidate.

He's eager to debate. He asked me me to negotiate these debates and I received from Larry King here requests and we've gotten over a dozen requests and what we concluded is rather than picking one network over another, we would have a debate which would allow for a free flow of ideas.

I requested just yesterday of the California Broadcasters Association to eliminate this idea of having the questions go to the candidates before the debate. And unfortunately they've said no so far, but I still am going to encourage once again for them to do that so we can have a spontaneous reaction.

You know, Wolf, we've seen Arnold Schwarzenegger give a wide range of one on one interviews with television outlets, on talk radio, so he is clearly open there to lots of questions and lots of challenges and there are calls for specifics and he's answering them and will continue to answer them.

BLITZER: All right. A little bit more than four weeks to go in this campaign. As usual, thanks very much for joining us.

DREIER: Always great to be with you. Have fun tonight on Bill Mayer's show. It was great two weeks ago.

BLITZER: We'll talk about that later this hour. Thanks very much, David Dreier.

The results of our Web question. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Let's take a look at our Web question of the day. The results if Gray Davis is ousted. Who amoung these front-runners should replace him. Look at these numbers, Cruz Bustamante, at least amoung our viewers who went to the Web and voted way ahead of the rest of the pack. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

And a reminder you can always watch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll also see you this Sunday noon eastern for the "LATE EDITION," last word in Sunday talk. Among my special guests, the National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Sunday noon Eastern.

This final note, tonight if you want, you catch me at our own sister network, HBO's "Real Time With Bill Mayer." That's at 11:00 pm Eastern, 8:00 Pacific. I can assure you, that will be different. Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Los Angeles. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

END

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Address Nation, World Suday Night; Women's Group To Protest Schwarzenegger In Santa Monica>


Aired September 5, 2003 - 17:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now an accident in Disneyland out here in California. A roller coaster ride derails and there are injuries and one death.
Also happening right now in Erie, Pennsylvania, the FBI is searching for evidence related to a mysterious bank robbery and bombing.

Also on the weather front, double trouble, right now a hurricane and a tropical storm are slamming the shores simultaneously.

Stand by for hard news on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Storm siege, a brutal hurricane batters Bermuda while Florida faces flooding from Tropical Storm Henri.

Terror alert, the FBI on the hunt for these four men said to pose a threat to Americans but what do they look like now?

Is al Qaeda plotting to hijack airliners over the United States?

A well known television reporter under arrest accused of membership in al Qaeda.

And, he died after robbing a bank from a bomb strapped to his neck but some say that's not the man they knew.

LINDA PAYNE, WELLS' LANDLADY: He was laid back. He didn't want a whole lot of things.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: It's Friday, September 05, 2003. Hello from Los Angeles, I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.

Two major storms each a potential killer, each bearing down right now on a tropical paradise. Fabian, a category three hurricane already pounding Bermuda with wind gusts of 100 miles an hour and experts say stronger winds are still to come and in Florida, it's Henri, a tropical storm that could drop more than a foot of rain on ground that's already saturated.

You can see both storms on this satellite image. Take a look. Fabian, a giant compared to the tiny island nation it's about to swallow and Henri packed with rain slowly engulfing Florida. We'll take you to Tampa live this hour. Let's begin with hurricane Fabian, potentially the strongest storm to hit Bermuda in almost 80 years.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is live. He's joining us from Bermuda via satellite phone. Gary, tell us what you can see and feel right now.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via satellite phone): Well, Bermuda is getting walloped as we speak. As you said, 100 mile-per- hour gusts are now hitting this British territory that is only 20 square miles. They've escaped the wrath of most hurricanes over the last several decades. This appears to be the fourth time in the last 77 years that Bermuda has been directly hit.

Police at this point aren't sure how much damage there is. We can tell you we just took a car out on the road. We couldn't drive for more than five minutes. We were trapped because there were trees and power lines blocking the roads in all directions. We finally got back to where we started.

At that point, a huge trunk came off a tree, hit the top of our car. That gives you an idea of what you're dealing with. Everyone in the car was OK. And then, to top it off, we came back and some of our video equipment caught fire from all the water and wind, a fire we had to put out. It gives you an idea what's going on here, the strongest hurricane wind they've had here in Bermuda since 1926 - Wolf.

BLITZER: Gary Tuchman take care of yourself. Be careful. We'll be checking back with you obviously throughout the evening here on CNN.

Joining me now on the phone, John Burchall, he's the public affairs officer for the Bermuda government. Tell us how bad this situation, John, is right now.

JOHN BURCHALL, BERMUDA SPOKESPERSON (via telephone): Well, right now the eye of the storm has passed west of us and we had winds as high as 120 miles per hour beating down on our island which is severely stressing the ability of our island to cope with a storm of this magnitude.

BLITZER: John, how many people are affected on Bermuda, residents as well as tourists as far as you can guess right now?

BURCHALL: I would estimate that would be in the region of about 65,000 people, residents plus guests, many of whom did leave the island by American Airlines flight last evening but there's still a sizeable population of people who are residents.

BLITZER: And one final question, John. I know you got a lot going on over there. Is everyone protected to the best of your knowledge, the government of Bermuda, is everyone in relatively safe conditions?

BURCHALL: Well, we are fortunate that our houses for the most part are made of concrete and stone so that enables us to withstand quite a lot of the strong winds but our roofs can be subjected to much stress and there have been some reports of roofs being blown off as a consequence of the high winds.

BLITZER: John Burchall of the Bermuda government thanks very much. Good luck to everyone on Bermuda, a lovely island almost all of the time.

For the latest information on hurricane Fabian and tropical storm Henri I'm joined by Max Mayfield. He's the director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Max, tell us about these two problems.

MAX MAYFIELD, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, as you have said, Wolf, this is a very, very powerful hurricane that is hitting Bermuda right now. The only hurricanes they've had in recent memory have been weaker hurricane, category one, maybe category two hurricanes. The last really major hurricane they had that was close enough to cause this much damage was back in 1926.

So, the eye has passed just to the west of the island. It's now about 30 miles to the northwest of Bermuda but they're still getting part of that eye wall and I would think they will get hurricane conditions for another three maybe four hours, tropical storm force winds through midnight tonight.

BLITZER: What about tropical storm Henri that's hitting or is about to hit Tampa, the area around there in Florida?

MAYFIELD: Yes, well the problem with Henri is with the rainfall the ground is very, very saturated over much of Florida. The river stages are very high so it doesn't take much more rain to cause some real significant flooding here. That's going to be the main concern.

This is a weak tropical storm. We think it will continue to slowly move over the state. We're still in for some heavy rains here of course in the peninsula through tonight and all day tomorrow.

BLITZER: Max Mayfield thanks very much of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. We'll be checking back with you and we'll have much more on both of these weather problems throughout this hour.

But let's move on to something that's happening out here in California right now, a deadly accident at Disneyland in Anaheim. One person was killed, ten other injured when a locomotive broke loose from a train on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Derek Bell of our affiliate KCAL and KCBS is there and he's joining us now live. Derek, tell us what happened.

Wolf, we're showing you the pictures right now of that ride. As we push in, we'll show you that stricken replica rail car that apparently derailed about 11:22 local time this morning. We understand again 11 people were initially injured, one person, a male, actually died of his injuries.

Six of the victims were transported to local area - make that to UCI Medical Center, four to others. We understand they range in age from nine to 47 years old. There were four males, four females and two minors.

Now, the ride is completely shut down. Park officials have cordoned off the area and park goers are not allowed anywhere near. So, again, ten people injured, one person killed in a mishap here at Disneyland earlier this morning.

This is Derek Bell live in Sky 9, back to you Wolf.

BLITZER: One very quick question for you, Derek, before I let you go. Has this ever happened before at Disneyland?

BELL: Unfortunately yes it has. Periodically we have people that are injured on the rides here and unfortunately in the last few years a couple of park goers have been killed on rides.

BLITZER: Derek Bell of our affiliates KCAL and KCBS, Derek thanks very much.

Joining us now for a little bit more on this development, Sergeant Rick Martinez with the Anaheim Police Department, sergeant tell us what you know, what happened and what's happening right now?

SGT. RICK MARTINEZ, ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): Well, Wolf, it's a little too early in this investigation to find out exactly what caused this accident but it appears that one of the trains on the ride somehow separated. It caused a lot of injuries or injury to a lot of people on the attraction. Unfortunately one person was killed. He was pronounced dead here at the scene.

Right now, we have Anaheim Police Department, fire department, working closely with Disney to take care of the people that were injured and also find out exactly what caused this accident.

BLITZER: And normally in this kind of investigation I assume you look for all possible causes, all possible culprits if you will, including everything ranging from human air to technical problems to foul play. Is there any indication right now what may have happened?

MARTINEZ: Right now, Wolf, there is no indication that anything other than an accident took place. It does appear to be an accident. We don't think that there is any reason to believe that this was anything other than that; however, it's still too early. We have to look at all of the factors to conduct a very thorough investigation and find out exactly how this happened.

BLITZER: All right, we'll be following it with you along. Sergeant Rick Martinez of the Anaheim Police Department we'll be checking back with you as well.

(BREAKING NEWS)

We have another breaking news story we're following right now, this one that has interested a lot of us, a lot of our viewers around the country, the strange case involving the pizza delivery man who robbed a bank in Erie, Pennsylvania and then was killed by a bomb attached to his neck.

CNN's Mike Brooks is in Erie, Pennsylvania. He's joining us live on the phone. What is this new development Mike?

MIKE BROOKS, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Wolf, I'm on the scene right now in downtown Erie, Pennsylvania at a garage where the FBI is doing, conducting a search right now of the cinder block garage at Fourth and Cherry Street in downtown Erie.

I spoke with the FBI spokesperson. He said this search is, in fact, in connection with the Brian Wells bank robbery case and right now on the scene we have the Erie Police bomb squad, the Pittsburgh office of the FBI, the FBI's Evidence Response Team, along with technicians and special agents from the FBI explosives lab in Quantico, Virginia.

They apparently showed up here at about 2:30, asked the owner for consent to search and they went ahead and consented to the search inside. I spoke with the owner, Willie Feliciano (ph) and he said that his stepson has gone with the FBI for questioning.

He said they took him away from the scene and he doesn't know where they are right now but they took him away to talk to him and apparently he said his son is an associate of Brian Wells. What this means right now we'll hope to find out shortly - Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, we'll be checking back with you, Mike Brooks, and we'll have more on this mysterious story later this hour.

There may be a new threat to Americans. Have you seen, and we'll you show you their pictures, these four men? We'll tell you why the FBI is looking for them right now.

Also, as I said more on this development in Erie, Pennsylvania, the FBI is on the search.

And later...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The fact of the matter is you got to forget about the '70s. I was a different person then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: We'll tell you why Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to wipe the '70s out of this campaign. We're live in Los Angeles. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: The concern about air travel from the FBI, that story and much more coming up on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: A manhunt, a plot and an arrest, major developments today in the war against terrorism. The FBI is searching for four men who it says may be planning terror attacks on Americans at home or abroad. Officials say some of the information comes from al Qaeda detainees.

At the same time, the federal government is warning that al Qaeda has plans to hijack airliners flying over or near the United States but not originating in this country. Officials say most flights originate in Canada and that the two countries are working on security measures.

Also, a well known Al-Jazeera TV correspondent was arrested at his home in Spain today accused of membership in al Qaeda. Tayseer Allouni interviewed Osama bin Laden shortly after the September 11th attacks. A Spanish official says Allouni is believed to have aided key al Qaeda figures.

Now more on that worldwide hunt for four terror suspects, the latest from our Justice Correspondent Kelli Arena, she's joining us in Washington.

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The FBI strongly suspects these four men are terrorists who could be planning to attack Americans or U.S. interests and is asking police agencies worldwide to help find them?

JOHN PISTOLE, FBI ASST. DIRECTOR: The intelligence that we have indicates that they are likely operating independent of one another which makes it more of a challenge for us and also gives us reason to want to get this information out to the public and to our partners around the world.

ARENA: Information on the men came from a variety of sources including al Qaeda detainees and overseas intelligence agencies. Their whereabouts are unknown and there is no information suggesting any of the four is currently in the United States.

Alerts have been issued before on two of the four, Abderraouf Jdey and Adnan El Shukrijumah. Shukrijumah's family, which lives in south Florida insists he's got no terror connections but the FBI describes him as a first among equals saying he's got a lot in common with the ringleader of the September 11th attacks.

PISTOLE: He is of significant concern to us because of his similarities to Mohamed Atta in terms of his ability to, we believe, pilot an aircraft, his fluency in English, his familiarity with the United States and his ability to use false documents perhaps to get into the United States undetected.

ARENA: Shukrijumah's ability to pilot airplanes is especially worrisome in light of the latest alert from homeland security warning that al Qaeda maintains and interest in attacking commercial aircraft.

PISTOLE: He may be the best suited al Qaeda operative in the world to commit such an act that we believe al Qaeda is still interested in planning.

ARENA: That's not to say law enforcement thinks Shukrijumah is the only serious player. Officials say they have information linking Karim El Mejjati to the May attacks in Casablanca.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARENA: Officials stress that there is no information suggesting an attack is imminent or that any plan has reached an operational phase. Still, they warn intelligence on the four comes on top of a mountain of information suggesting al Qaeda is planning multiple attacks against the United States - Wolf.

BLITZER: Kelli Arena thanks very much for that report.

And, for a good look at the four suspects simply go to fbi.gov. The problem is those pictures may be of only limited value.

CNN's Sean Callebs spoke with an expert who spent a good part of his life on the terror trail.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are right there just a click away with the obligatory warning about being armed and dangerous but do these photos help?

CMD. SGT. MAJ. ERIC HANEY, U.S. ARMY (RET): He looks like you could probably pick him out of the construction workers right here on the side of the building.

CALLEBS: Retired Command Sergeant Major Eric Haney spent part of his career tracking terrorists, is one of the founders of Delta Force.

HANEY: The casual observer, the person who just casually meets this person or sees them it's almost impossible for them to make any use of these photos.

CALLEBS: It would also really help if the photos show different profiles but there is one useful clue. It's difficult for suspects to alter the shape of their eyes and before you write off this web page warning, Haney says consider this.

Zubayr Al-Rimi, Karim El Mejjati, Adnan El Shukrijumah and Abderaouf Jdey have to live somewhere. Not only do people see them come and go. This high profile alert could force them underground.

HANEY: It makes them move more often. It makes them act a little more aberrant than a normal person is in society. It causes those little red flags to start popping up.

CALLEBS: So, if nothing else, it disrupts the way they're operating.

HANEY: It makes life a lot harder for them. CALLEBS: We've all seen the images from September 11th of the hijackers walking through airport security unchallenged. There are efforts to develop high tech facial recognition but they are moving slowly. The information may not be comprehensive but getting any information could lead to an arrest. Haney points out it was a citizen's tip that led to the arrest of the suspected Beltway snipers.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: Could the bizarre bank robbery in Pennsylvania be a suicide plot? There are more questions than answers in the case at least now but what do we know about Brian Wells? We'll talk to a former FBI investigator.

Will the United Nations reach a compromise on Iraq? The secretary-general did the first exclusive interview since the U.N. mission bombing in Baghdad. He spoke with CNN's Richard Roth, that later.

More on our top story, hurricane Fabian is hitting Bermuda right now. We'll go there live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER (voice-over): What's the deadliest hazard associated with hurricanes, high winds, high tides, tornadoes, inland flooding, the answer coming up?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BREAKING NEWS)

BLITZER: Let's go right to the White House where CNN's Kathleen Koch is standing by with word of an important development - Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A Bush senior administration official tells CNN that President Bush is requesting time from the television networks on Sunday night for a major address to the American public.

The official says that this address will be on the subject of terrorism with a focus on Iraq. This source tells CNN that it was back on August 26th that the president and his aides began first talking about the idea of giving such a speech to the nation. That was when President Bush was speaking to the American Legion in St. Louis.

This official says: "We want to bring the country up to speed on where we are and on where we're headed." Now, Wolf, this decision to make this speech, it's expected to last about 15 minutes and the president would make it from the White House residence. It comes just as the White House obviously is beginning, is presenting this draft U.N. resolution to gain international support both monetarily and militarily in Iraq and it comes also as many members of Congress, many of them also Republicans, have come back here to town and pressured the president to come out to speak to the American public to give voters an idea of just what the administration's game plan is - Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Katheen Koch with that important word, the White House wants President Bush to address the nation Sunday night 8:30 p.m. Eastern. Of course, CNN will have live coverage of that.

Breaking news that we've been following in Erie, Pennsylvania, police are searching a garage in connection with the case of Brian Wells, the pizza delivery man who robbed a bank last week.

What happened shortly afterwards is not only puzzling but extremely bizarre. Wells was killed when a bomb attached to his neck exploded. That brings us to this question. Just who was Brian Wells?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Brian Wells seems to carry those descriptions so often applied in these bizarre stories. Neighbors say he was a loner, a quiet guy, kept to himself. Not much known about him. That's usually the description of perpetrators not victims. It's not clear if Brian Wells was either of those but his landlady who spoke to CNN's Mike Brooks believes she knows.

PAYNE: He would not be interested in doing it himself. He would not be interested in robbing a bank. He would not be interested in making a bomb. It was done to him. He was a victim.

BLITZER: We know Brian Wells was 46 years old. We know he lived alone with three cats in this rented cottage in Mill Creek, Township near Erie, Pennsylvania. We know he worked as a pizza delivery man and used a Geo Metro to make his runs. Linda Payne says the Spartan lifestyle seemed to satisfy him.

PAYNE: He was laid back. He didn't want a whole lot of things. He didn't have a whole lot of things. All he really needed was a car to deliver the pizzas with and a couple of CDs.

BLITZER: Various accounts describe Wells as timid, not wanting to attract attention to himself, few, if any close friends. The "Erie Times News" reported that he grew up in Erie, one of seven children, a high school dropout and that his father died in 1990.

He spent his free time working on old cars. A source close to the investigation says in his car a homemade cane-shaped device capable of firing like a gun was found and authorities say a search of Wells' home yielded several auto parts but apparently not the kind of equipment needed for this type of crime.

Was Brian Wells a shy solitary person blindsided by unimaginably bad luck? Was he a twisted mind who concocted this plot all by himself? Could there have been some combination of those scenarios? So far we only know about a violent end to what seemed to be a private uncomplicated life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER: And, joining us now in Washington for more on this very strange case, the former FBI investigator Gregg McCrary. He's the author of "The Unknown Darkness," profiling the predators among us. Gregg thanks very much for joining us. Have you ever seen a case similar to this?

GREGG MCCRARY, FMR. FBI INVESTIGATOR: No, not exactly Wolf. This is, as you stated, a very bizarre and very unusual case and therefore the way the investigators have to approach this is really like (unintelligible) that it isn't our job to believe or disbelieve anybody or anything.

We're there to gather facts, to find facts and that's what we have to do and that's what they appear to be doing, moving incrementally through this and now conducting a search this afternoon.

BLITZER: The bomb that was attached to his neck, I've never seen anything like that have you?

MCCRARY: I personally have not, no, but that will be looked at by people with expertise in that area. I'm sure ATF is involved in looking at this as well. Notes that he had, he apparently had a note with him that gave him instructions as to how to do this as well as perhaps a demand note of some sort as well.

All those things will be analyzed. They'll be looked at. They'll be looked at from behavioral people. They'll also be sent to the lab for fingerprints. All the forensic testing that will go on they'll be looking at ink and all of that sort of thing and just trying to find out facts and make some sense out of this very bizarre situation.

BLITZER: What about this other, this other weapon if you can call it that.

MCCRARY: Right.

BLITZER: This walking stick or cane which actually was a gun that could fire a bullet. That seems to be rather unusual finding that in his car.

MCCRARY: It does especially if we think he was forced into this. If you're forcing him against his will why would you arm him or give him an opportunity to use a weapon against you if someone else was forcing him to do it? Again, I'm not implying that he did this on his own but these are questions that are logical, that have to be asked and we have to find some answers to those.

BLITZER: And then there's this other colleague of his who's found dead only a few days later, another pizza delivery man, law enforcement suggesting this is perhaps simply a coincidence but it seems pretty remarkable if, in fact, it is a coincidence, two dead pizza men in Erie, Pennsylvania within a matter of days.

MCCRARY: Right and that I'm sure they're exploring as well to look if there's any indication of foul play or anything that would indicate any connections and, again, this starts with victimology or the study of the victim if you will or, in this case, Mr. Wells, the prime player here, whether he was a victim or offender, we don't know.

We have to move out from there. Look at his friends, associates, colleagues. They'll be pulling phone records trying to identify people close to him and get all of those people interviewed and see if -- just see what the facts show.

BLITZER: Greg McCrary, we always get some good insight from you. Thanks very much for joining us.

MCCRARY: My pleasure. Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

And Hurricane Fabian, as we've been reporting, is whipping Bermuda right now. Buildings are shaking under heavy wind and rain. We'll bring you a live report. That's coming up next.

Also ahead, girl power. Find out why some women in California are about to speak out against one of California's most powerful candidates.

And later, is the U.N. close to a compromise on Iraq? We'll hear from the secretary-general. He spoke with our own Richard Roth earlier today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: It's happening right now, a hurricane bashing a tourist mecca. We'll check in with CNN's Gary Tuchman under siege. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More now on our top story. The eye wall of Hurricane Fabian pounding Bermuda right now with wind gusts topping 130 miles an hour.

CNN's Gary Tuchman is there. He's joining us now live by phone.

I take it you're safe inside a building, Gary, but tell us what you know.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're leaning against a very sturdy hotel building right now on the ocean, Wolf. And we've had hurricane force winds for two and a half hours and we may have hours more left.

Fabian is a huge system. It appears the eye itself has just passed to Bermuda's west to the eerie and temporary calmness of the eye is not occurring. But the brunt of the winds are, with 100 miles per hour, according to the Hurricane Center about two hours ago and the winds have only increased since then.

Now the hotel we're standing next to is shaking right now. The windows, the doors, I'm looking out on the ocean and I see in the ocean wood planks, baskets, shoes, balls, chairs, deck chairs from pools floating around in the ocean right now. A restaurant that is connected to this hotel has just been completely washed into the ocean.

It's impossible now to ascertain -- even the police say it's impossible to ascertain how many damage has been all over Bermuda and if there are any casualties. The fact remains there hasn't been a death in Bermuda from a hurricane since 1953. Authorities are hoping that stands true this time.

But right now it's just impossible. The roads are completely impassable -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And clearly those pictures we've been showing are pictures from earlier, before this hurricane passed over Bermuda. We'll be checking back with Gary to make sure he's OK, to make sure everyone else is OK.

TUCHMAN: Thank you so much, you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see you later.

BLITZER: Thanks very much, Gary Tuchman reporting live from Bermuda.

Let's check in now on the situation in Florida's Gold Coast, possibly facing more than a foot of rain on ground that's already saturated.

Gina Maravilla of our CNN affiliate Bay News 9 is in St. Petersburg with the latest.

Gina, tell us what's happening now.

GINA MARAVILLA, BAY NEWS 9 CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now here at St. Petersburg it's pretty calm, as you can see behind me. We're close to the mouth of Tampa Bay.

The brunt of Henri, Tropical Storm Henri is actually expected to hit in a few hours from now, north of here. They are expecting winds around 40 miles or hour but the winds are not the concern. The rain is the concern. As Wolf mentioned earlier, we have received a record amount of rain here in the Tampa Bay Area and there are some neighborhoods around here that are already flooded. So as you can imagine, a deluge of rain from Henri is a big concern.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARAVILLA (voice-over): As Henri approaches, here's the concern for residents who live in neighborhoods like this. Just how much of a driving force will the storm have? Emergency managers are keeping an eye on low-lying communities like Shore Acres in East St. Petersburg. They're already up to their sidewalks in water. And while they're used to flooding, some are worried because Henri isn't even here yet and the water is creeping on to their lawns and closer to their homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter said if it gets too high, for me to call her at work and she's going to come home and move stuff up stairs.

MARAVILLA: Joan Mikim's (ph) street already has about a foot- and-a-half of water built up. She's tuned into weather reports while she watches the water. And to add to their nervousness, Mikim and her neighbors say when people drive by, it causes a wave of concern.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people have water driven into their homes because of -- or into their garages, first off, when the water is high like that from the wakes off the tires and the cars.

MARAVILLA: As residents in low-lying neighborhoods like these brace for Henri, they're hope that it won't make too big of a splash.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARAVILLA: The key word there hoping. You're looking at a live shot here. Just to give you an idea of how little of a concern the wind is here. You can see the windows right here on St. Pete Beach not boarded up at all. Again, people not worried about the wind. They are worried about the rain and what it will do to the already saturated ground out here.

At this point, there are no evacuation orders in effect, no mandatory as well as voluntary evacuations. But nonetheless, you can imagine people on pins and needles here as they watch to see just how much rain is going to be dumped here and how it's going to affect the neighborhoods -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Gina Maravilla of our affiliate Bay News 9, thanks very much for joining us.

Our meteorologist Orelon Sidney is tracking Hurricane Fabian as well as the Tropical Storm Henri from the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta -- Orelon.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, thanks a lot.

Fabian still a big problem for folks in Bermuda and Henri is going to be a problem as we head through the weekend, as we just talked about.

Fabian now starting to interact with the troth of low pressure coming in from the west. You're going to see the winds die off, I think, as some shear starts to pick up with that troth coming in. Here's Bermuda, of course, the center of the storm just passed to the north over the past hour, hour-and-a-half. And the very latest coordinates now -- I've got the updated conditions for you. Still looking at 120 mile an hour winds. It's now moving north, northeast, though at 20 miles an hour, 30 miles northwest of Bermuda is where they're pinning the center right now. And it is still, of course, a very dangerous Category 3 storm with hurricane force winds extending out over 100 miles from the center. So it's not over yet.

Tropical Storm Henri has winds now of 50 miles an hour, but it's nearly stationary and that's a big problem for folks in Florida. It looks like you're going to see very heavy rains, as we heard about, continuing into the weekend. Good news is, not expected to develop into a hurricane -- Wolf.

BLITZER: That's good news under the circumstances. Thanks very much, Orelon Sidney.

The U.N. secretary-general is speaking out. Will the U.N. reach a compromise on a new Iraq resolution. We'll have his answer.

And here in California, some women are about to speak out. Find out where they're -- why they're displeased with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

And over in Iraq, the defense secretary is continuing his tour. Does he like what he's seeing out there?

First, the answer to our "News Quiz."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLITZER (voice-over): Earlier we asked, what's the deadliest hazard associated with hurricanes? The answer: inland flooding. Floods have caused more than half the hurricane-related deaths in the last 30 years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: As we reported just a little while ago, President Bush will address the nation Sunday night, 8:30 p.m., Eastern. CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is in Indianapolis, Indiana. She's covering the president's trip to the Midwest today. She's yoining us now live with some more detail, how this decision came about -- Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, White House spokesman just give us some details just moments ago about how this all came about. As you know, he's going to be giving a major address on 8:30 on Sunday to the American people. And McClellan he was saying that really the president felt that this was the right time to give a progress report -- I'm quoting here, "felt it was a good time to talk to the American people about our progress and our need to go forward when it comes to the efforts inside of Iraq."

He said there were many discussions that had taken place at the Crawford ranch through video teleconference calls as well as those visits, Secretary Rumsfeld, Secretary Powell, the National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. He said it was just last week when he was in St. Louis that it turned into serious discussions about going forward to the American people.

When asked whether or not this was also going to be addressed to an international audience as well as the American audience, McClellan said, of course, that of course, he hopes that the world is listening, that the president wants to convey that a peace and free and stable Iraq will also mean a peaceful and free and stable world as well in the Middle East.

This is something the president felt was the right time to do and that the American people needed all of the information -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Suzanne Malveaux, our White House correspondent covering the president's trip to Indianapolis today. Thanks, Suzanne, very much.

And, of course, CNN will have live coverage Sunday night. The president addresses the nation, indeed, the world, Sunday night 8:30 p.m. Eastern from the White House.

And if you're just tuning in for the first time today, a stunning, truly stunning development, the arrest of an Al Jazeera journalist and some alarming alerts from federal officials.

Joining me now from Washington to discuss all of these developments in the war on terror, CNN terrorism analyst Peter Berman. Peter, the arrest of this Al Jazeera journalist, some of our viewers might not be familiar with Tayseer Allouni but he is well known to you and me, to a lot of our viewers. He's a big, big reporter out there. What happened?

PETER BERMAN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, he was Kabul bureau chief of Al Jazeera during the war. In fact, he did the last television interview with bin Laden, an interview that for some reason didn't air at the time but was later aired without Al Jazeera's permission. You see it here on CNN.

What happens with this arrest is still a little unclear. What the judge -- what the Spanish sources are saying is that he had some contacts with two alleged al Qaeda members. Was providing them with some sort of support. What that type of support is is not clear yet. The arraignment's on Monday.

It, to me, a very surprising development. After all, Al Jazeera, while it has its critics, is sending the notion of that one of the lead correspondents would, even allegedly, be involved with al Qaeda to me is quite surprising.

BLITZER: Very surprising indeed. We'll continue to watch the story. The Spanish government today arresting Tayseer Allouni of Al Jazeera. Another development, Kelli Arena reportering the search for these four people believed to be al Qaeda operatives, posibly here in the United States. What do you make of this?

BERMAN: Well, two of these men have been out there and the FBI have been look for them already, another two are names that are not known to me. What do I make of that? I think there is concern as the 9/11 anniversary comes around, even though the alert has not gone up that al Qaeda may take it as an opportunity to strike again.

They did last year, Wolf, after the 9/11 anniversary although they didn't strike in the United States, they did blow up the huge bomb in Indonesia, killing 200 people. They attacked an oil tanker off the coast of Yemen. They also assassinated an American diplomat in Jordan.

So, it is not impossible, although it may not be on the anniversary itself, but within, shall we say, a two or three-week window to use the opportunity to attack again. And we have heard, by the way, Wolf, that there will probably be another tape coming out from al Qaeda, perhaps even audio tape from bin Laden himself marking as it were the anniversary of 9/11.

BLITZER: All right, we'll stand by for that. Peter Berman thanks very much much for that information.

In a tape message earlier today, the defense secretary today, Donald Rumsfeld told Iraqis the regime of Saddam Hussein is finished, as if to underscore that point he paid a visit to the former leader's hometown. Under tight security, extraordinary security, Rumsfeld met with U.S. troops in Tikrit, telling them they are doing, and I'm quoting now, "an outstanding job." The commander of U.S. forces operating out of Tikrit said today he believes Saddam Hussein is hiding out in the area.

And the U.N. Security Council members are discussing the Bush administration's proposal for an expanded role in Iraq for the U.N. The U.S. move comes amid mounting costs of the Iraqi mission and a growing death toll of American troops on duty in the country.

Three security council members who oppose the war, France, Germany, and Russia have raised concern the U.S. plan does not give enough power to the U.N. But in an exclusive interview with CNN's senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth, the U.N. Secretary General, Kofi Annan, expressed optimism, a deal can be worked out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I think it is possible to get a compromise resolution. I have suggested to the P-5 foreign ministers that they meet with me on common ground and the way forward. And I hope that meeting will take place in the not too distant future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And this important note, you can see all of Richard Roth's exclusive interview with Kofi Annan tomorrow. That's Saturday, on CNN, 6:00 p.m., and again 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

A federal court rules on the California recall and Arnold Schwarzenegger under fire from some women's groups. I'll talk to one of the chairmen of his campaign. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting today from Los Angeles. The California recall has cleared another legal hurdle. A federal court is rejecting the latest claims that minority voters could be disinfranchised.

Meanwhile the Republican candidate, Arnold Schwarzenegger, campaigned in conservative country today in Orange County, California. He tried to shift attention from the controversy over an interview he gave a pornographic magazine more than two decades ago in which he made comments about women that -- many of them say are degrading.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R) CALIF. GOV. CANDIDATE: Today we have to look in the future, which is the future of this state. It's not what was said in the '70s by me that has ruined the economy of California. What has ruined the California economy is Bustamante and Gray Davis. They are the twin terminators of Sacramento.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Some women's groups have scheduled a demonstration tonight in Santa Monica to protest against Schwarzenegger. It's supposed to take place outside his campaign headquarters.

For more now on the recall, I'm joined from Washington by Congressman David Dreier, Republican of California. He's the co- chairman of the Schwarzenegger campaign. Congressman thank you very much for joining us.

REP. DAVID DREIER, (R) CALIFORNIA: I'm out here in California. We've got a rolls reversed. Usually I'm out there and you're here. I hope you will water my plants while I'm here -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Not going to happen.

DREIER: You'll have a great time. On the Bill Maher show too.

BLITZER: All right. David Dreier, let's get to the serious business at hand. The comments that Arnold Schwarzenegger made in the '70s generating concern among some women at least out here in California. How concerned are you about this development?

DREIER: Not only not concerned, I think that arnold hit the nail on the head. Today for the first time in 100 years, in the 100-year history of the California Chamber of Commerce, this nonpolitical organization stepped forward and endorsed a candidate that was Arnold Schwarzenegger because they know about the economic problems that exist.

What's happened, Wolf, is there are a lot of people, the chairman of the Democratic party out there, a wide range of other people who are trying to devert this. And as Arnold said, it was over a quarter of a century ago that he gave this interview with "Oui" magazine. People have moved clearly beyond that.

We've got to focus on the problems that exist today in California and the future, and he's come forward with a wide range of specific proposals repealing the tripling of the car tax, focusing on this $38.2 billion deficit that we've had, realizing that what we need to do is we need to, as Arnold says, get California's economic engine moving again. That's where he's focused. He's rallying conservatives, Wolf.

BLITZER: Congressman...

DREIER: In a very strong way with those issues.

BLITZER: Let's talk about his decision to skip this first debate. Some people out here suggest that he was scared. The only debate he's going to participate in is a debate he'll get the questions days, maybe a week in advance, perhaps could memorize some of his lines. This is a problem for him, the perception he's not ready, let's say, for prime time.

DREIER: All right, Wolf, I will tell you, he is a unique candidate. Never before who we have seen someone like this, who has come from body building to acting, where's he's been very successful, great business man and a wonderful family. You know, it's very, very unusual combination for a candidate.

He's eager to debate. He asked me me to negotiate these debates and I received from Larry King here requests and we've gotten over a dozen requests and what we concluded is rather than picking one network over another, we would have a debate which would allow for a free flow of ideas.

I requested just yesterday of the California Broadcasters Association to eliminate this idea of having the questions go to the candidates before the debate. And unfortunately they've said no so far, but I still am going to encourage once again for them to do that so we can have a spontaneous reaction.

You know, Wolf, we've seen Arnold Schwarzenegger give a wide range of one on one interviews with television outlets, on talk radio, so he is clearly open there to lots of questions and lots of challenges and there are calls for specifics and he's answering them and will continue to answer them.

BLITZER: All right. A little bit more than four weeks to go in this campaign. As usual, thanks very much for joining us.

DREIER: Always great to be with you. Have fun tonight on Bill Mayer's show. It was great two weeks ago.

BLITZER: We'll talk about that later this hour. Thanks very much, David Dreier.

The results of our Web question. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: Let's take a look at our Web question of the day. The results if Gray Davis is ousted. Who amoung these front-runners should replace him. Look at these numbers, Cruz Bustamante, at least amoung our viewers who went to the Web and voted way ahead of the rest of the pack. Remember, this is not a scientific poll.

And a reminder you can always watch WOLF BLITZER REPORTS weekdays, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll also see you this Sunday noon eastern for the "LATE EDITION," last word in Sunday talk. Among my special guests, the National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Sunday noon Eastern.

This final note, tonight if you want, you catch me at our own sister network, HBO's "Real Time With Bill Mayer." That's at 11:00 pm Eastern, 8:00 Pacific. I can assure you, that will be different. Until then, thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Los Angeles. "LOU DOBBS TONIGHT" starts right now.

END

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Address Nation, World Suday Night; Women's Group To Protest Schwarzenegger In Santa Monica>