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American Morning

Two Huge Storms Bearing Down in Florida; Drug Debate; Scott Peterson Trial

Aired August 12, 2004 - 8:59 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.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Nine o'clock here in New York. Bill Hemmer, along with Heidi Collins. Soledad resting at home.
How are you? Are you all right?

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Doing well, thank you.

HEMMER: One more hour to go. The marathon continues.

Watching two major stories today, one in Iraq, the other here in the U.S. Reports from Najaf say there is heavy fighting outside the home of the radical cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. forces, Marines, backed by Iraqi forces, trying to take control of the city and that militia. We'll get you there live in a moment for the very latest this hour.

COLLINS: Pictures coming in, still pretty amazing.

Also, we are tracking two big storms closing in on Florida now, tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley. We'll take you there live to see how the locals are bracing for this double whammy.

HEMMER: And if you're tired of expensive prescription drugs, one state now deciding to sue the FDA so its residents can have some cheaper alternatives. We'll talk to the governor in that state in a moment.

Jack is off. Toure is in. We'll get back to Toure a bit later this hour.

In the meantime, though, these two huge storms now bearing down in the Sunshine State. Chad Myers live in Panama City Beach, tracking the weather there. Ed Lavandera is in Clearwater, Florida. Two different locations. First to Chad this hour.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I could fly probably to his location, just right over the horizon and down. You're thinking, now, why are you so far away? That's 250 miles away. This is Bonnie and that is Charley.

Charley a much more significant storm than we have here. Right now, I can hold up my wind meter here. I'm seeing about some maybe 14 miles per hour. Had some gusts to about 25. But that's it. Here's the radar picture. The rain is still wrapping in. And every time there's a rain band that comes in, the winds pick up significantly. Had a gust earlier to about 37 miles per hour down at Apalachicola Bay, and that entire area is seeing a little bit more of the heavier winds, because that's where the strongest of the rain showers have been.

Bonnie, right now, 55 miles per hour, moving to the north and northeast. It will eventually come over this area, right over Panama City Beach, and will continue to go right into Georgia, into South Carolina, North Carolina, into Virginia. There won't be much of it left by the time it gets to Virginia, but there will be enough rain coming down that, yes, we're going -- we're going to saturate the ground, and then Charley is going to come right along the Florida Keys, right on up through about Clearwater, Tampa, and then right on up through that same trek again.

So, yes, I know we're focusing on Florida, but Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and even the District of Columbia, be on guard as this storm, as the second storm goes on top of the same track that the first storm did here, Bill. We're going -- we're about to go downhill real fast. A lot of lightning and thunder right off here to our -- our east.

The winds are coming in. The waves are coming in. In about 15 minutes we're going to lose this live shot anyway, so back to you, bud.

HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks. Hang in there out there.

Ed Lavandera at a pretty good location.

Looks good now, Ed. Good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks fantastic right now, let's be honest. But that's part of the problem, a lot of apathy here in this part of Florida.

You know, there hasn't been a direct hit on this part of Florida since 1921 from a hurricane. And, quite frankly, when you talk to a lot of people, that's exactly the kind of reaction you'll get. They'll believe this Hurricane Charley when they see it.

Now, of course that presents a lot of problems for emergency management officials. If you look out across the bay, that's Clearwater Beach Island. About 80,000 to 100,000 people live in this area, depending on what time of year you're talking about. And there are only three roads that take you out of this area. So if flooding becomes a problem, it's one of the issues that emergency management officials are worried about.

Now, right now, we have hurricane warnings along the very southwest edge of Florida. Hurricane watches up until about here. We're on the northern edge of the hurricane watch area that has been highlighted so far. We understand from what Chad has been telling us throughout the morning that this Hurricane Charley will be coming here through the Tampa area. So a lot of people on their toes. And we imagine they'll be paying a lot of attention to this story here today -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Ed. Thanks for that. Also Chad as well. We are watching it from here -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Thousands of American troops attacking insurgents in Najaf now. Black smoke has filled the sky as helicopters and tanks bear down on militants loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. troops have encircled the Imam Ali Shrine, a holy site to Shiite Muslims, where the militants are massed. A spokesman for al-Sadr says severe bombing has destroyed several holy places.

Right now, about five minutes past the hour. Time for a look at some of today's other news and Daryn Kagan.

Hi, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning again.

We also begin in Iraq. The CIA denying reports that any of its employees have gone missing in Iraq. A video posted on an Islamic Web site earlier this week shows what appears to be the beheading of a man identified as an American CIA operative. Efforts to verify the video and that recording have been unsuccessful.

An embattled Ahmed Chalabi is back in Iraq. He's facing an arrest warrant accusing him of counterfeiting, a charge that Chalabi denies. Iraq's interior ministry reportedly says it will not try to arrest him, at least not until they can finalize the legal case against him.

A new study shows bystanders performing CPR and using automated external defibrillators are as effective as saving cardiac arrest victims as highly-trained paramedics. New research showing the chances of surviving cardiac arrest rise dramatically if fast-acting bystanders perform CPR and can use a defibrillator before paramedics arrive. The study appears in today's "New England Journal of Medicine."

Memorial services are set today for music legend Rick James. A public viewing for the funk great was held yesterday in California. James will be buried in his native Buffalo, New York, on Saturday. He's best known for his hit "Super Freak."

James died in his sleep last Friday at his home in California. An autopsy was not able to determine the cause of his death. Rick James, only 56 years old.

Back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Daryn. Thanks for that.

On the campaign now, the countdown to November 2, 83 days on the calendar. Democratic nominee Senator John Kerry starting his day yesterday in Nevada, then headed off for a stop in Los Angeles.

Senator Kerry promising to fight a "more sensitive war" if elected. Senator Kerry heads from LA to Oregon later today, expected to visit three cities, Medford, Eugene and Portland.

Yesterday, President Bush campaigned in Arizona and New Mexico. They president saying, when it comes to spreading peace, we're turning a corner. This morning, the president is scheduled to speak at a United Brotherhood of Carpenters event in Las Vegas, then the president continues his swing to the West, with a stop in the state of California.

Also, the president and the first lady sit down with Larry King for an exclusive interview tonight at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 on the West Coast, only with Larry here on CNN -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Vermont is taking the Feds to court over the cost of prescription drugs. It will be the first state to sue the Food and Drug Administration for barring the importation of drugs from Canada.

State officials say they're trying to save residents money. The FDA says it has safety concerns.

I spoke to Vermont Governor Jim Douglas from Montpellier, Vermont. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Governor Douglas, as you know, your attorney general has filed this lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration because the agency denied your request to allow you to import less expensive drugs from Canada. Tell us, how much money do you believe your plan would have saved the people of your state?

GOV. JIM DOUGLAS (R), VERMONT: We really don't know. There are some drugs, of course, that are cheaper in the United States. But overall, we think there would be some aggregate savings. Some prescriptions are quite a lot less expensive when re-imported -- re- imported from Canada.

It's important that we provide access to low-cost pharmaceuticals because of the high cost of health care generally, and it's drugs in particular that are driving those costs up. It's great that people are living longer, but that means they're more dependent on pharmaceutical products. And we have to make sure that we make them available at the lowest possible cost.

COLLINS: All right. I want to read you a statement, if I could, from the FDA on their position on this issue.

They say, "Although we deeply understand the desire of some citizens to have access to less expensive medications from other countries, we also know that often those medications do not meet American standards for safety and quality. And we thus stand by the principle that the health and safety of our citizens must come first."

How would your plan guarantee the safety of the citizens of your state?

DOUGLAS: There's no question that safety has to come first. We want to be sure that pharmaceutical products are safe and reliable for the people of our state and of any state. But many of the problems that we've seen have not been from reimported drugs, but from problems with pharmaceuticals produced and consumed right here in the United States.

So obviously safety has to be a concern, and we want to work with the FDA to assure that. But I have to believe in the 21st century we can find a way.

COLLINS: In fact, you mentioned drugs in the United States. I mean, we all remember the Tylenol scare about 20 years ago or so. But, you know, the acting head of the FDA said that his most serious concern is actually the terrorists could tamper with drugs. Are you concerned about a terrorism threat to importing drugs?

DOUGLAS: Well, I'm certainly concerned about terrorism threats against our country in many different ways. And we want to take that seriously. But, you know, we can't let the terrorists paralyze America. We can't change all of our decisions and take steps strictly in response to terrorist threats.

So we have to take precautions, as we do in other areas of homeland security concerns. But I believe that we can work together with the FDA to find a way to provide some reasonable assurance of the reliability of these products.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Governor of Vermont, Jim Douglas there -- Bill.

HEMMER: Get a break here. Another day on the witness stand for Amber Frey. Scott Peterson's former mistress tells about their affair. More from Jeffrey Toobin about what we're learning there in a moment.

COLLINS: And has the Bush campaign made a U-turn on turning the corner? "Political Pop" is ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Now to the Scott Peterson trial, and more testimony from Amber Frey expected today. Peterson's former mistress due back on the stand after jurors heard hours of phone calls that Frey had recorded at the request of police. And our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, back with us here to talk about developments.

Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Are my SATs high enough to merit discussion of...

HEMMER: You know, I think you qualify, as a matter of fact. TOOBIN: OK, thank you. I just -- OK. I'm no Andy Borowitz, but that's OK.

HEMMER: You know, very few of us are, actually.

TOOBIN: That's true.

HEMMER: Back in the courtroom here with Amber Frey, when the police encouraged her to record these phone conversations, have they been able to get the evidence out of these conversations that they wanted?

TOOBIN: I don't think so. I mean, you know, these have been salacious, they've been interesting, they've been kind of juicy.

You know, they make the point over and over again that he lied to Amber Frey about his background, where he was, his whereabouts, his marriage. But, you know, does any of it prove that he murdered his wife? You know, I don't know. I can't say for sure what the jurors are thinking. But it is not tremendously persuasive to me.

HEMMER: As a former prosecutor, then, you're putting on your case, and you're lining up all of your evidence. And Amber Frey fits how into your scenario? And if this is your best witness, who do you go to after this?

TOOBIN: You know, I think this is not their best witness. I think the best evidence in this case has always been the fact that Laci's body turned up 80 miles away from their house in the precise location Scott Peterson was on the day he went fishing, Christmas Eve.

This is really kind of a sideshow. Obviously, he was having an affair with her. But remember, he only met her on November 20. Is the prosecution's theory really that he fell in love so blindly in one month that he killed his -- that he killed his wife? I just -- I don't buy that.

HEMMER: The jury's going to decide whether this guy is a murderer or not.

TOOBIN: Sure.

HEMMER: But he has one heck of an imagination. If you go through the transcripts of these phone calls, he says he was in Brussels and called Amber Frey. Talked about himself being a pudge boy, a little overweight is how he referred to it. Said, "Because I had all these suits I had here in Brussels." This guy had an active mind.

TOOBIN: He certainly -- he had an active imagination. But some of it, you're going to want to say, like, who cares?

You know, you have -- you know, for example, some people have drawn great significance to the fact that he said, well, you know, his favorite movie was "The Shining," where a crazy -- a crazy guy tries to kill his wife with an ax. You know what? So what that that's his favorite movie. That doesn't prove anything.

HEMMER: And then he told Amber to watch "The Love Affair," the film that was made decades ago. He recommended that from Paris, apparently, over the phone.

TOOBIN: Yes. I mean, but again, it's kind of interesting. But, you know, could a prosecutor seriously argue to a jury, convict this man because his favorite movie is "The Shining," and a husband -- you know, that's where a husband tries to kill his wife? I just think it's trivial.

HEMMER: Flip it around just a little bit. If you're mark Geragos, how far do you go to try to discredit Amber Frey?

TOOBIN: You know, Mark Geragos, knowing how aggressive he is, will probably, you know, spend days and days cross-examining her. I'm not sure that's the right strategy. I think the right strategy may be simply to dismiss her.

He was a married man who had an affair, who was -- you know, which surely deserves condemnation. But it is not evidence of a murder. And oftentimes, it is better for -- in front of a jury to say, look, so what. Take her testimony as true.

Obviously I don't think she's lying about much of anything. I mean, there's no -- the conversations speak for themselves. But in terms of the actual evidence against Scott Peterson, it just doesn't seem that much to me.

HEMMER: See, that's what we get out of a 1400 SAT.

TOOBIN: I appreciate that.

HEMMER: Was it 1400?

TOOBIN: It was 1500.

HEMMER: Ooh.

TOOBIN: It was 670, 640. Now I can't even do the math. No, it was 1300, 1300. I'm sorry.

HEMMER: Keep working on it.

TOOBIN: I'm sorry.

HEMMER: Thanks, Jeff.

TOOBIN: It's been a long time.

HEMMER: That's right. Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: Hundreds of firefighters are battling fast-moving flames in northern California. The fires have already destroyed dozens of structures and are threatening hundreds more buildings near Lake Shasta. Residents have been evacuated from the resort area now, and Miguel Marquez is live from Orland, California, to give us the very latest.

From what we see behind you, Miguel, it looks OK where you are. But what's going to be happening as the day continues there?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the temperatures are going to go way back up. And these fires are hitting this area a little earlier than they normally do.

The fire season really doesn't start here until about the end of August typically. And they're -- they're getting a jump on it because of drought conditions here.

We're sort of in the middle, in between these two fires right now. The biggest of the fires is up near Lake Shasta, right north of Redding, California. It's called the Bear Fire. It has burned now -- we've got some new numbers -- 3,000 acres.

It is 40 percent contained, though. That gives you an idea of how quickly they can jump on top of this fire overnight.

Part of what's helped them is that it's burned right up to the lake shore of Lake Shasta, so that's helped them with that containment figure. There's about 1,165 firefighters on this fire, 40 structures have burned. They know many of those are houses, but they don't know how many of them are houses.

About 300 structures are threatened at this point. The terrain is mountainous. It's a lot of grass and brush and flashy stuff, as firefighters say. It burns very fast, very hot, very rapidly.

They're expecting very hot temperatures and very low humidity today. The fire right now is moving to the south. And way south of there, near Oroville, California, about 90 miles north of the capital, Sacramento, the Oregon fire is burning.

They have about 750 acres burning. That's about 45 percent contained. Talking to firefighters a little earlier today. They say that they have had a pretty good night of digging dozer line around that fire, and they expect that they will get that one under control in the hours ahead.

But, of course, the weather always plays a very big factor in this. They're expecting those triple-digit temperatures today. The humidity goes down, and the fire and this sort of brush, very difficult terrain to fight fires in, could take off all over again.

So far, only one house lost in the Oroville fire, in the Oregon fire. But there were five injuries, five minor injuries. Three to civilians, two to firefighters.

So it looks for California, at least in the north, fire season has already begun. And we haven't even seen the southern California burning as much as we did last year.

Back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Miguel Marquez, thanks so much for that and the update.

HEMMER: We'll get a break here. In a moment on AMERICAN MORNING, Tiger's on the prowl, trying to end his long slump in the PGA championship. It starts today. A preview in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We are watching these storms in Florida, not quite sure how they're going to gather more steam. And, if so, when they come on land, how much damage could entail then?

George Gainer has seen it all before, though. He's chairman of the Bay County Florida Board of County Commissioners, live in Panama City.

And Commissioner Gainer, good morning to you.

GEORGE GAINER, CHAIRMAN, BAY COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: How much concern do you have at this point?

GAINER: Our biggest concern now is going to be about four or five inches of rain. As you know, we're in a very low-lying area here. And it seems like the rain is going to be the biggest threat that we're going to have here now.

The winds, of course, as you know, have been downgraded quite a bit. And we're just right now are -- you know, you see the emergency operation center, and it's pretty much concentrating on the low-lying areas and any rise in water.

HEMMER: So if you're saying it's just a rainmaker, with regard to Bonnie, as opposed to Charley -- and we'll talk about that in a moment -- do you think you dodge this one?

GAINER: I think we're going to get a free ride on this one as far as the winds go. I think the good lord said that place is just too pretty to have it blown down right now. And he's -- he gave us a pass.

And we're very grateful for that. And we just hope that all the forecasts are true, and that we don't get more than we expect. We're prepared for the worst here.

HEMMER: Yes. Well, listen, I've been through the area, and I agree with you about the beauty down there. Quickly, this is tourist season. Is there much of a financial impact?

GAINER: Well, a lot of the tourists have left. But since it got downgraded in time, I don't think that there will be a big impact. And most of them just go just far away to get out of the -- the main winds anyway, and then they come back the next day. So by this time tomorrow, you won't realize that there was a problem out here at all. HEMMER: Yes. Listen, George, thanks for your time. George Gainer is down there in Panama City watching Bonnie and, of course, Charley, on the heels of Bonnie. Thank you. And good luck again, OK?

GAINER: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Want to check in now with Toure and the "Question of the Day" once again.

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Yes. Yes, some really good answers.

In New York City, we're a constant target for terrorists. But if you're in Ohio, Delaware, Tennessee, do you really deep down fear that an attack is going to happen to you? Is it just a big city concern?

Do you believe, the "Question of the Day," terrorism will affect you directly if you're not in New York City or in D.C.? Some answers.

From Dana in Max, North Dakota, "It may be true that I don't feel an immediate threat, but before I'm a North Dakotan, I'm an American. No matter where my country's attacked, I feel the impact."

That's real.

Brett from Atlanta, "I don't worry about terrorism at all. I live in Atlanta, which has the CDC, a good, potential target." That's true. "But I refuse to give these cowards the satisfaction that I live even one minute of my life in fear of them."

Joy from Iowa -- we got two from Iowa. We mentioned Iowa in the first block. I think they felt personally speaking to them.

Joy from Iowa says, "I feel safer in Iowa than if I lived in a coastal state. However, I live in the fallout radius of the NORAD complex in Omaha. What would be the effects of a missile hitting that military target?"

And Paul from Iowa, "Yes, it's primarily a big city concern. I was in the war on terrorism in Iraq for a year. Maybe that's why I now reside in Iowa."

And an update from the Toure experience.

HEMMER: Yes.

TOURE: Dr. Gupta, SAT score, 1530.

HEMMER: Whoa.

TOURE: And Soledad, if you're watching, please tell us, what did you get? We're dying to know.

HEMMER: Gupta, 1530? Wow. TOURE: He's a monster.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: No, no, no. I mean, to get your SAT scores, you really remember?

TOURE: Oh, no, I remember.

COLLINS: All right.

TOURE: I did -- I did good.

COLLINS: Mine must have been like really low for me to just drop that out of my brain. I mean, I honestly have no idea. Whatever. I'll find out.

HEMMER: Thank you, Toure.

COLLINS: Can I give it to you tomorrow?

TOURE: Sure.

COLLINS: Because I'm sure people really care.

TOURE: Sure.

COLLINS: OK.

HEMMER: Watching this story of Mike Wallace. Picked up a bit of a scuffle apparently on Tuesday night here in New York City. Jay Leno, a bit of fun at the expense of the veteran journalist from CBS. Here's Jay from last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Mike Wallace is smart. There's a -- you know why he did this? You know why he got arrested? It's a plot to get the first jailhouse interview with Martha Stewart. That's what I think.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: That's what I think. He's smart. Anyway, but god bless Mike, you give him lemons, what happens, Kevin?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lemonade.

LENO: He makes lemonade. That's right. This Mike Wallace, he is still going to be on "60 Minutes" this Sunday. Well, show the opening. Here you go.

MORLEY SAFER, "60 MINUTES": I'm Morley safer.

ED BRADLEY, "60 MINUTES": I'm Ed Bradley.

LESLEY STAHL, "60 MINUTES": I'm Lesley Stahl.

MIKE WALLACE, "60 MINUTES": I'm Mike Wallace.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That's good for a laugh. Mike Wallace defended himself yesterday on the streets of New York, said it was a bit of an overstatement. So we will see how this goes, huh?

COLLINS: We will.

HEMMER: All right. What did he say? Did he say, "I lunged at someone and I haven't done that in how long?"

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: That's funny.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here. Watching Bonnie, watching Charley in Florida. Live on the scene in a moment there.

Also, why an eye exam could be your first clue to high blood pressure. Sanjay is back with that in a couple of minutes after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Hello. Welcome back, everybody. We are going to get to the opening bell in just a moment. It's just about half past the hour now, 9:00 hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Also ahead, we want to take you live to Florida and check on the weather, as you've been hearing about this morning. You see it there. Chad Myers is standing by.

Some storms coming those people's way. And they are bracing for that one-two punch. That's the unusual thing about Tropical Storm Bonnie, with Hurricane Charley right behind her. So we'll see how things are shaping up.

HEMMER: A couple of hours ago, someone said it's been 100 years since they've had two storms like this back to back.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: So we'll watch that.

Also looking for signs of high blood pressure. If you are, it turns out your eye exam could be of some help, too. Sanjay's on that in a few moments.

Meanwhile, on Wall Street, opening bell a few short seconds away. Down day yesterday for the Dow 30. Not bad, though. Off about six points in trading -- 9938 is your opening mark today. And with the Feds raising rates on Tuesday, with that signal, also Cisco giving concerns about the coming quarter.

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Aired August 12, 2004 - 8:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. Nine o'clock here in New York. Bill Hemmer, along with Heidi Collins. Soledad resting at home.
How are you? Are you all right?

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Doing well, thank you.

HEMMER: One more hour to go. The marathon continues.

Watching two major stories today, one in Iraq, the other here in the U.S. Reports from Najaf say there is heavy fighting outside the home of the radical cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. forces, Marines, backed by Iraqi forces, trying to take control of the city and that militia. We'll get you there live in a moment for the very latest this hour.

COLLINS: Pictures coming in, still pretty amazing.

Also, we are tracking two big storms closing in on Florida now, tropical Storm Bonnie and Hurricane Charley. We'll take you there live to see how the locals are bracing for this double whammy.

HEMMER: And if you're tired of expensive prescription drugs, one state now deciding to sue the FDA so its residents can have some cheaper alternatives. We'll talk to the governor in that state in a moment.

Jack is off. Toure is in. We'll get back to Toure a bit later this hour.

In the meantime, though, these two huge storms now bearing down in the Sunshine State. Chad Myers live in Panama City Beach, tracking the weather there. Ed Lavandera is in Clearwater, Florida. Two different locations. First to Chad this hour.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I could fly probably to his location, just right over the horizon and down. You're thinking, now, why are you so far away? That's 250 miles away. This is Bonnie and that is Charley.

Charley a much more significant storm than we have here. Right now, I can hold up my wind meter here. I'm seeing about some maybe 14 miles per hour. Had some gusts to about 25. But that's it. Here's the radar picture. The rain is still wrapping in. And every time there's a rain band that comes in, the winds pick up significantly. Had a gust earlier to about 37 miles per hour down at Apalachicola Bay, and that entire area is seeing a little bit more of the heavier winds, because that's where the strongest of the rain showers have been.

Bonnie, right now, 55 miles per hour, moving to the north and northeast. It will eventually come over this area, right over Panama City Beach, and will continue to go right into Georgia, into South Carolina, North Carolina, into Virginia. There won't be much of it left by the time it gets to Virginia, but there will be enough rain coming down that, yes, we're going -- we're going to saturate the ground, and then Charley is going to come right along the Florida Keys, right on up through about Clearwater, Tampa, and then right on up through that same trek again.

So, yes, I know we're focusing on Florida, but Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and even the District of Columbia, be on guard as this storm, as the second storm goes on top of the same track that the first storm did here, Bill. We're going -- we're about to go downhill real fast. A lot of lightning and thunder right off here to our -- our east.

The winds are coming in. The waves are coming in. In about 15 minutes we're going to lose this live shot anyway, so back to you, bud.

HEMMER: All right, Chad. Thanks. Hang in there out there.

Ed Lavandera at a pretty good location.

Looks good now, Ed. Good morning.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It looks fantastic right now, let's be honest. But that's part of the problem, a lot of apathy here in this part of Florida.

You know, there hasn't been a direct hit on this part of Florida since 1921 from a hurricane. And, quite frankly, when you talk to a lot of people, that's exactly the kind of reaction you'll get. They'll believe this Hurricane Charley when they see it.

Now, of course that presents a lot of problems for emergency management officials. If you look out across the bay, that's Clearwater Beach Island. About 80,000 to 100,000 people live in this area, depending on what time of year you're talking about. And there are only three roads that take you out of this area. So if flooding becomes a problem, it's one of the issues that emergency management officials are worried about.

Now, right now, we have hurricane warnings along the very southwest edge of Florida. Hurricane watches up until about here. We're on the northern edge of the hurricane watch area that has been highlighted so far. We understand from what Chad has been telling us throughout the morning that this Hurricane Charley will be coming here through the Tampa area. So a lot of people on their toes. And we imagine they'll be paying a lot of attention to this story here today -- Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Ed. Thanks for that. Also Chad as well. We are watching it from here -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Thousands of American troops attacking insurgents in Najaf now. Black smoke has filled the sky as helicopters and tanks bear down on militants loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. troops have encircled the Imam Ali Shrine, a holy site to Shiite Muslims, where the militants are massed. A spokesman for al-Sadr says severe bombing has destroyed several holy places.

Right now, about five minutes past the hour. Time for a look at some of today's other news and Daryn Kagan.

Hi, Daryn.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning again.

We also begin in Iraq. The CIA denying reports that any of its employees have gone missing in Iraq. A video posted on an Islamic Web site earlier this week shows what appears to be the beheading of a man identified as an American CIA operative. Efforts to verify the video and that recording have been unsuccessful.

An embattled Ahmed Chalabi is back in Iraq. He's facing an arrest warrant accusing him of counterfeiting, a charge that Chalabi denies. Iraq's interior ministry reportedly says it will not try to arrest him, at least not until they can finalize the legal case against him.

A new study shows bystanders performing CPR and using automated external defibrillators are as effective as saving cardiac arrest victims as highly-trained paramedics. New research showing the chances of surviving cardiac arrest rise dramatically if fast-acting bystanders perform CPR and can use a defibrillator before paramedics arrive. The study appears in today's "New England Journal of Medicine."

Memorial services are set today for music legend Rick James. A public viewing for the funk great was held yesterday in California. James will be buried in his native Buffalo, New York, on Saturday. He's best known for his hit "Super Freak."

James died in his sleep last Friday at his home in California. An autopsy was not able to determine the cause of his death. Rick James, only 56 years old.

Back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Daryn. Thanks for that.

On the campaign now, the countdown to November 2, 83 days on the calendar. Democratic nominee Senator John Kerry starting his day yesterday in Nevada, then headed off for a stop in Los Angeles.

Senator Kerry promising to fight a "more sensitive war" if elected. Senator Kerry heads from LA to Oregon later today, expected to visit three cities, Medford, Eugene and Portland.

Yesterday, President Bush campaigned in Arizona and New Mexico. They president saying, when it comes to spreading peace, we're turning a corner. This morning, the president is scheduled to speak at a United Brotherhood of Carpenters event in Las Vegas, then the president continues his swing to the West, with a stop in the state of California.

Also, the president and the first lady sit down with Larry King for an exclusive interview tonight at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 on the West Coast, only with Larry here on CNN -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Vermont is taking the Feds to court over the cost of prescription drugs. It will be the first state to sue the Food and Drug Administration for barring the importation of drugs from Canada.

State officials say they're trying to save residents money. The FDA says it has safety concerns.

I spoke to Vermont Governor Jim Douglas from Montpellier, Vermont. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Governor Douglas, as you know, your attorney general has filed this lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration because the agency denied your request to allow you to import less expensive drugs from Canada. Tell us, how much money do you believe your plan would have saved the people of your state?

GOV. JIM DOUGLAS (R), VERMONT: We really don't know. There are some drugs, of course, that are cheaper in the United States. But overall, we think there would be some aggregate savings. Some prescriptions are quite a lot less expensive when re-imported -- re- imported from Canada.

It's important that we provide access to low-cost pharmaceuticals because of the high cost of health care generally, and it's drugs in particular that are driving those costs up. It's great that people are living longer, but that means they're more dependent on pharmaceutical products. And we have to make sure that we make them available at the lowest possible cost.

COLLINS: All right. I want to read you a statement, if I could, from the FDA on their position on this issue.

They say, "Although we deeply understand the desire of some citizens to have access to less expensive medications from other countries, we also know that often those medications do not meet American standards for safety and quality. And we thus stand by the principle that the health and safety of our citizens must come first."

How would your plan guarantee the safety of the citizens of your state?

DOUGLAS: There's no question that safety has to come first. We want to be sure that pharmaceutical products are safe and reliable for the people of our state and of any state. But many of the problems that we've seen have not been from reimported drugs, but from problems with pharmaceuticals produced and consumed right here in the United States.

So obviously safety has to be a concern, and we want to work with the FDA to assure that. But I have to believe in the 21st century we can find a way.

COLLINS: In fact, you mentioned drugs in the United States. I mean, we all remember the Tylenol scare about 20 years ago or so. But, you know, the acting head of the FDA said that his most serious concern is actually the terrorists could tamper with drugs. Are you concerned about a terrorism threat to importing drugs?

DOUGLAS: Well, I'm certainly concerned about terrorism threats against our country in many different ways. And we want to take that seriously. But, you know, we can't let the terrorists paralyze America. We can't change all of our decisions and take steps strictly in response to terrorist threats.

So we have to take precautions, as we do in other areas of homeland security concerns. But I believe that we can work together with the FDA to find a way to provide some reasonable assurance of the reliability of these products.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Governor of Vermont, Jim Douglas there -- Bill.

HEMMER: Get a break here. Another day on the witness stand for Amber Frey. Scott Peterson's former mistress tells about their affair. More from Jeffrey Toobin about what we're learning there in a moment.

COLLINS: And has the Bush campaign made a U-turn on turning the corner? "Political Pop" is ahead here on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Welcome back, everyone. Now to the Scott Peterson trial, and more testimony from Amber Frey expected today. Peterson's former mistress due back on the stand after jurors heard hours of phone calls that Frey had recorded at the request of police. And our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, back with us here to talk about developments.

Good morning to you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Are my SATs high enough to merit discussion of...

HEMMER: You know, I think you qualify, as a matter of fact. TOOBIN: OK, thank you. I just -- OK. I'm no Andy Borowitz, but that's OK.

HEMMER: You know, very few of us are, actually.

TOOBIN: That's true.

HEMMER: Back in the courtroom here with Amber Frey, when the police encouraged her to record these phone conversations, have they been able to get the evidence out of these conversations that they wanted?

TOOBIN: I don't think so. I mean, you know, these have been salacious, they've been interesting, they've been kind of juicy.

You know, they make the point over and over again that he lied to Amber Frey about his background, where he was, his whereabouts, his marriage. But, you know, does any of it prove that he murdered his wife? You know, I don't know. I can't say for sure what the jurors are thinking. But it is not tremendously persuasive to me.

HEMMER: As a former prosecutor, then, you're putting on your case, and you're lining up all of your evidence. And Amber Frey fits how into your scenario? And if this is your best witness, who do you go to after this?

TOOBIN: You know, I think this is not their best witness. I think the best evidence in this case has always been the fact that Laci's body turned up 80 miles away from their house in the precise location Scott Peterson was on the day he went fishing, Christmas Eve.

This is really kind of a sideshow. Obviously, he was having an affair with her. But remember, he only met her on November 20. Is the prosecution's theory really that he fell in love so blindly in one month that he killed his -- that he killed his wife? I just -- I don't buy that.

HEMMER: The jury's going to decide whether this guy is a murderer or not.

TOOBIN: Sure.

HEMMER: But he has one heck of an imagination. If you go through the transcripts of these phone calls, he says he was in Brussels and called Amber Frey. Talked about himself being a pudge boy, a little overweight is how he referred to it. Said, "Because I had all these suits I had here in Brussels." This guy had an active mind.

TOOBIN: He certainly -- he had an active imagination. But some of it, you're going to want to say, like, who cares?

You know, you have -- you know, for example, some people have drawn great significance to the fact that he said, well, you know, his favorite movie was "The Shining," where a crazy -- a crazy guy tries to kill his wife with an ax. You know what? So what that that's his favorite movie. That doesn't prove anything.

HEMMER: And then he told Amber to watch "The Love Affair," the film that was made decades ago. He recommended that from Paris, apparently, over the phone.

TOOBIN: Yes. I mean, but again, it's kind of interesting. But, you know, could a prosecutor seriously argue to a jury, convict this man because his favorite movie is "The Shining," and a husband -- you know, that's where a husband tries to kill his wife? I just think it's trivial.

HEMMER: Flip it around just a little bit. If you're mark Geragos, how far do you go to try to discredit Amber Frey?

TOOBIN: You know, Mark Geragos, knowing how aggressive he is, will probably, you know, spend days and days cross-examining her. I'm not sure that's the right strategy. I think the right strategy may be simply to dismiss her.

He was a married man who had an affair, who was -- you know, which surely deserves condemnation. But it is not evidence of a murder. And oftentimes, it is better for -- in front of a jury to say, look, so what. Take her testimony as true.

Obviously I don't think she's lying about much of anything. I mean, there's no -- the conversations speak for themselves. But in terms of the actual evidence against Scott Peterson, it just doesn't seem that much to me.

HEMMER: See, that's what we get out of a 1400 SAT.

TOOBIN: I appreciate that.

HEMMER: Was it 1400?

TOOBIN: It was 1500.

HEMMER: Ooh.

TOOBIN: It was 670, 640. Now I can't even do the math. No, it was 1300, 1300. I'm sorry.

HEMMER: Keep working on it.

TOOBIN: I'm sorry.

HEMMER: Thanks, Jeff.

TOOBIN: It's been a long time.

HEMMER: That's right. Here's Heidi.

COLLINS: Hundreds of firefighters are battling fast-moving flames in northern California. The fires have already destroyed dozens of structures and are threatening hundreds more buildings near Lake Shasta. Residents have been evacuated from the resort area now, and Miguel Marquez is live from Orland, California, to give us the very latest.

From what we see behind you, Miguel, it looks OK where you are. But what's going to be happening as the day continues there?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the temperatures are going to go way back up. And these fires are hitting this area a little earlier than they normally do.

The fire season really doesn't start here until about the end of August typically. And they're -- they're getting a jump on it because of drought conditions here.

We're sort of in the middle, in between these two fires right now. The biggest of the fires is up near Lake Shasta, right north of Redding, California. It's called the Bear Fire. It has burned now -- we've got some new numbers -- 3,000 acres.

It is 40 percent contained, though. That gives you an idea of how quickly they can jump on top of this fire overnight.

Part of what's helped them is that it's burned right up to the lake shore of Lake Shasta, so that's helped them with that containment figure. There's about 1,165 firefighters on this fire, 40 structures have burned. They know many of those are houses, but they don't know how many of them are houses.

About 300 structures are threatened at this point. The terrain is mountainous. It's a lot of grass and brush and flashy stuff, as firefighters say. It burns very fast, very hot, very rapidly.

They're expecting very hot temperatures and very low humidity today. The fire right now is moving to the south. And way south of there, near Oroville, California, about 90 miles north of the capital, Sacramento, the Oregon fire is burning.

They have about 750 acres burning. That's about 45 percent contained. Talking to firefighters a little earlier today. They say that they have had a pretty good night of digging dozer line around that fire, and they expect that they will get that one under control in the hours ahead.

But, of course, the weather always plays a very big factor in this. They're expecting those triple-digit temperatures today. The humidity goes down, and the fire and this sort of brush, very difficult terrain to fight fires in, could take off all over again.

So far, only one house lost in the Oroville fire, in the Oregon fire. But there were five injuries, five minor injuries. Three to civilians, two to firefighters.

So it looks for California, at least in the north, fire season has already begun. And we haven't even seen the southern California burning as much as we did last year.

Back to you.

COLLINS: All right. Miguel Marquez, thanks so much for that and the update.

HEMMER: We'll get a break here. In a moment on AMERICAN MORNING, Tiger's on the prowl, trying to end his long slump in the PGA championship. It starts today. A preview in a moment on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: We are watching these storms in Florida, not quite sure how they're going to gather more steam. And, if so, when they come on land, how much damage could entail then?

George Gainer has seen it all before, though. He's chairman of the Bay County Florida Board of County Commissioners, live in Panama City.

And Commissioner Gainer, good morning to you.

GEORGE GAINER, CHAIRMAN, BAY COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: Good morning, Bill.

HEMMER: How much concern do you have at this point?

GAINER: Our biggest concern now is going to be about four or five inches of rain. As you know, we're in a very low-lying area here. And it seems like the rain is going to be the biggest threat that we're going to have here now.

The winds, of course, as you know, have been downgraded quite a bit. And we're just right now are -- you know, you see the emergency operation center, and it's pretty much concentrating on the low-lying areas and any rise in water.

HEMMER: So if you're saying it's just a rainmaker, with regard to Bonnie, as opposed to Charley -- and we'll talk about that in a moment -- do you think you dodge this one?

GAINER: I think we're going to get a free ride on this one as far as the winds go. I think the good lord said that place is just too pretty to have it blown down right now. And he's -- he gave us a pass.

And we're very grateful for that. And we just hope that all the forecasts are true, and that we don't get more than we expect. We're prepared for the worst here.

HEMMER: Yes. Well, listen, I've been through the area, and I agree with you about the beauty down there. Quickly, this is tourist season. Is there much of a financial impact?

GAINER: Well, a lot of the tourists have left. But since it got downgraded in time, I don't think that there will be a big impact. And most of them just go just far away to get out of the -- the main winds anyway, and then they come back the next day. So by this time tomorrow, you won't realize that there was a problem out here at all. HEMMER: Yes. Listen, George, thanks for your time. George Gainer is down there in Panama City watching Bonnie and, of course, Charley, on the heels of Bonnie. Thank you. And good luck again, OK?

GAINER: Thank you.

HEMMER: All right -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Want to check in now with Toure and the "Question of the Day" once again.

TOURE, "ROLLING STONE" MAGAZINE: Yes. Yes. Yes, some really good answers.

In New York City, we're a constant target for terrorists. But if you're in Ohio, Delaware, Tennessee, do you really deep down fear that an attack is going to happen to you? Is it just a big city concern?

Do you believe, the "Question of the Day," terrorism will affect you directly if you're not in New York City or in D.C.? Some answers.

From Dana in Max, North Dakota, "It may be true that I don't feel an immediate threat, but before I'm a North Dakotan, I'm an American. No matter where my country's attacked, I feel the impact."

That's real.

Brett from Atlanta, "I don't worry about terrorism at all. I live in Atlanta, which has the CDC, a good, potential target." That's true. "But I refuse to give these cowards the satisfaction that I live even one minute of my life in fear of them."

Joy from Iowa -- we got two from Iowa. We mentioned Iowa in the first block. I think they felt personally speaking to them.

Joy from Iowa says, "I feel safer in Iowa than if I lived in a coastal state. However, I live in the fallout radius of the NORAD complex in Omaha. What would be the effects of a missile hitting that military target?"

And Paul from Iowa, "Yes, it's primarily a big city concern. I was in the war on terrorism in Iraq for a year. Maybe that's why I now reside in Iowa."

And an update from the Toure experience.

HEMMER: Yes.

TOURE: Dr. Gupta, SAT score, 1530.

HEMMER: Whoa.

TOURE: And Soledad, if you're watching, please tell us, what did you get? We're dying to know.

HEMMER: Gupta, 1530? Wow. TOURE: He's a monster.

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: No, no, no. I mean, to get your SAT scores, you really remember?

TOURE: Oh, no, I remember.

COLLINS: All right.

TOURE: I did -- I did good.

COLLINS: Mine must have been like really low for me to just drop that out of my brain. I mean, I honestly have no idea. Whatever. I'll find out.

HEMMER: Thank you, Toure.

COLLINS: Can I give it to you tomorrow?

TOURE: Sure.

COLLINS: Because I'm sure people really care.

TOURE: Sure.

COLLINS: OK.

HEMMER: Watching this story of Mike Wallace. Picked up a bit of a scuffle apparently on Tuesday night here in New York City. Jay Leno, a bit of fun at the expense of the veteran journalist from CBS. Here's Jay from last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Mike Wallace is smart. There's a -- you know why he did this? You know why he got arrested? It's a plot to get the first jailhouse interview with Martha Stewart. That's what I think.

(LAUGHTER)

LENO: That's what I think. He's smart. Anyway, but god bless Mike, you give him lemons, what happens, Kevin?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lemonade.

LENO: He makes lemonade. That's right. This Mike Wallace, he is still going to be on "60 Minutes" this Sunday. Well, show the opening. Here you go.

MORLEY SAFER, "60 MINUTES": I'm Morley safer.

ED BRADLEY, "60 MINUTES": I'm Ed Bradley.

LESLEY STAHL, "60 MINUTES": I'm Lesley Stahl.

MIKE WALLACE, "60 MINUTES": I'm Mike Wallace.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEMMER: That's good for a laugh. Mike Wallace defended himself yesterday on the streets of New York, said it was a bit of an overstatement. So we will see how this goes, huh?

COLLINS: We will.

HEMMER: All right. What did he say? Did he say, "I lunged at someone and I haven't done that in how long?"

(CROSSTALK)

COLLINS: That's funny.

HEMMER: Let's get a break here. Watching Bonnie, watching Charley in Florida. Live on the scene in a moment there.

Also, why an eye exam could be your first clue to high blood pressure. Sanjay is back with that in a couple of minutes after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Hello. Welcome back, everybody. We are going to get to the opening bell in just a moment. It's just about half past the hour now, 9:00 hour on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Also ahead, we want to take you live to Florida and check on the weather, as you've been hearing about this morning. You see it there. Chad Myers is standing by.

Some storms coming those people's way. And they are bracing for that one-two punch. That's the unusual thing about Tropical Storm Bonnie, with Hurricane Charley right behind her. So we'll see how things are shaping up.

HEMMER: A couple of hours ago, someone said it's been 100 years since they've had two storms like this back to back.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: So we'll watch that.

Also looking for signs of high blood pressure. If you are, it turns out your eye exam could be of some help, too. Sanjay's on that in a few moments.

Meanwhile, on Wall Street, opening bell a few short seconds away. Down day yesterday for the Dow 30. Not bad, though. Off about six points in trading -- 9938 is your opening mark today. And with the Feds raising rates on Tuesday, with that signal, also Cisco giving concerns about the coming quarter.

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