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CNN Live Sunday

Hurricane Charley: Two Days Later

Aired August 15, 2004 - 16:00   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Billions of dollars in damage and thousands homeless, but the numbers only tell part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are we going to do? How are we going to get any help? What about these people that lost all their homes? When do we go back to work? When is the electricity coming on? It's scary. I've never been through anything like this before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lots of questions ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Moving beyond the devastation from Hurricane Charley. Plus a major repositioning of U.S. forces around the world. We'll have a live report from Washington. Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at these headlines.

The confirmed death toll in Florida from Hurricane Charley is now 16. President Bush flew over storm-ravaged areas of southwest Florida this morning with his brother Governor Jeb Bush. Afterwards, the President reassured victims in Punta Gorda the state was providing security for their neighborhoods. Details in a minute.

Meanwhile, two more named storms are over the Atlantic. Hurricane Danielle is several days from land but Tropical Storm Earl is centered just southwest of Grenada with sustained winds of 45 miles an hour. Meteorologist Orelon Sydney reports on all of that in just six minutes.

More violence in Najaf. Iraq's interior ministry says 25 armed foreigners are holed up inside the Imam Ali Mosque are and threatening to blow it up if attacked. U.S. military says snipers killed two American troops in fighting today outside the mosque. A third has been killed in northern Baghdad. Iraqi leaders call it democracy in action. Shiites protesting violence in Najaf had interrupted a Baghdad conference on shaping democracy in Iraq. John Vause wraps up today's events in Iraq in about 15 minutes. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Up first, this hour, surveying the damage in Florida, flipped mobile homes, broken trees and roofless houses are just some of the sites President Bush saw today as he toured areas ravaged by Hurricane Charley. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us from Punta Gorda. Ed? ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, you know there are thousands of people who need reassuring here on Florida's southwest coast after what has been a long two hard days of cleanup. It's a hot, muggy, sunny day here but the cleanup continues of crews continue the cleanup process here along the southwest coast of Florida.

And, of course, the big news of the day is the presidential visit of George W. Bush, who came here this morning, greeted at the airport, nearby airport by his brother, the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, of course. They toured the area by helicopter as well as their motorcade made it through one of the main avenues here in Punta Gorda earlier today. And the President walked little bit on the streets here to get a firsthand look at some of the damage. He also met with emergency management officials, and the President vowing that the federal relief will be coming if it hasn't already started flowing in already and making sure the money he gives to the people needs to help. Sixteen counties in the State of Florida have been declared federal disaster areas and those people need the money quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The job of the federal government and the state government is to surge resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas, and that's exactly what's happening now. We choppered over and saw the devastation of this area. Lot of people's lives are turned upside down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Over the last couple of days, a lot of officials have been taking aerial tours of the area, they describe it as a ten mile wide swath of destruction that Hurricane Charley had brought in through this area. You can still see some of the debris that has been left in the streets of Punta Gorda. You know one of the things that officials are dealing with now, can you get a sense, look this way here, is the long lines of traffic that are coming through the town here, and it's a situation that has emergency officials a little bothered and concerned because a lot of these people don't necessarily live in this area.

One of the bridges coming into Punta Gorda is backed up for quite a ways as well and it's just because a lot of sightseers coming down to this area wanting to get a firsthand glimpse of all the damage and quite frankly, a lot of the other officials are starting to think that that's slowing the process down. So they want us to remind people if you don't have to be in the area, please stay away, because there are hundreds of people who have plenty of work to do and they've got a long time to do this. Because this cleanup process isn't going to take just days it's going to take months. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And how much of a hindrance is that for officials? Is it in the search-and-rescue efforts or is it in trying to restore some power to the area?

LAVANDERA: Well, there's a little bit of everything going on. You know ,we've seen a lot of crews going neighborhood by neighborhood making sure that in the vast number of mobile home parks in this area that there isn't anybody still trapped inside, so they're still going through that making sure all the buildings are checked out. We can probably assume that a lot of that is done in the area, and we also see the big trucks moving in to start repairing the power lines and get the infrastructure going. And also, the other thing they're dealing with is just getting people the basics, thousands of people still left homeless who need food, water and shelter so providing that on a daily basis is still a number one priority as well.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera from Punta Gorda, thanks very much for that report.

Well, the full extent of Hurricane Charley's fury is just now coming to light. The storm killed at least 16 people in Florida, and state officials say it caused billions of dollars in damages. Al Zimmerman from CNN affiliate Bay News 9 has more on the cleanup efforts in Punta Gorda.

AL ZIMMERMAN, BAY NEWS 9 CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Fredricka. You get the idea from the last report that life is far from normal around here, people spend a lot of their time just trying to avoid debris, you can see behind me a lot of roofing materials, a lot of insulation, obviously, a lot of wood and bricks all over the place. They also spend a lot of time trying to deal without power. But I talked with a lot of people around here who say if they just get a little help, a little more help, they'll be okay.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZIMMERMAN (voice-over): In this city in pieces a visit from President Bush gives people here peace of mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing the destruction firsthand will maybe speed up the process of helping people rebuild down here.

ZIMMERMAN: Money and manpower are desperately needed in the area where downed power lines still line streets for miles. And neighborhoods littered with piles of debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never did I would dream it would come visit me.

ZIMMERMAN: Joe Rupsis (ph), who was inside his home in this condominium when Charley churned through is among hundreds of storm victims who are now hoping to find help to find new homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is--this is my worldly possessions now. Everything else will have to be left there and go down with the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just devastation to me. Never seen anything like it.

ZIMMERMAN: But storm victim Kyle Kilgallin (ph) says this community is strong. The people here united, and he says together, they will rebuild what Charley ripped away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, no problem. We're strong here. Punta Gorda is a very strong community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZIMMERMAN: They're having a good attitude about all of this, saying look our homes may be gone but we survived this, most of us survived this. Now, a few other things I should update. First of all, cell phones in this area do not work very well. People in this area have not been able to use their cell phones, but we understand that more than 100 generators are being shipped from other parts of the United States to southwest Florida so that they can put power back to the cell phone towers so people can use their cell phones, and, again, power and electricity throughout homes is still out, and you saw power lines down here, well, until they get the lines back up, they're not going to turn the switch back on, so that could take awhile. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And of course then comes problem how do you recharge those batteries without electricity. Al Zimmerman, thanks very much.

Well, Charley is now toothless and missing an eye, but other storms are looming on the horizon. Meteorologist Orelon Sydney is tracking all of that from our weather center. Orelon?

ORELON SYDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Fredricka. Not only toothless, missing an eye, claws are gone, the whole thing has just dissipated. The only thing left now is just an area of rain and it's just barely hugging the coast of Maine before heading now into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia into the Canadian Maritimes. So it's no longer a tropical system, it's just a big area of rain being absorbed by a trough of low pressure.

Good news, though. The system moved so fast it didn't drop nearly as much rain as we thought it would, so flooding has not been a big problem along the Eastern Seaboard. Folks down in Florida, though, here are your afternoon thunderstorms. There's still the remnants of that cold front back to your west. Put that together with a little bit of-it almost looks like a sea breeze going on here across the state. The daytime heating, the humid conditions, that will continue, probably seeing thunderstorms in much of your area through the rest of the week. They're going to be more scattered as we go into Monday.

This, now, is Tropical Storm Earl, it is moving into the extreme eastern part of Caribbean Sea, the latest coordinates on that storm, 90 miles west of Grenada. To give you an idea how close it is to the United States, the distance from Grenada to the U.S. is about the same as the distance from Boston, Massachusetts to Dallas, Texas. So it's still way out there. Winds are holding at 45 miles an hour currently moving to the west at 28. And as long as it's moving this fast, it's probably not going to develop much more. A very rapid forward motion tends to keep tropical cyclones from developing much.

Here's the 72-hour forecast. Where it's located now, expected to continue a little bit to the north and west. By Wednesday, we expect it to be in the central portion of the Caribbean Sea. Keep an eye on that as well. Back to the lower 48 we go. Scattered thunderstorm activity around the nation this evening. Warm conditions for the Mississippi Valley and a little chance of severe thunderstorms here in the northern plains. We'll take a look at rest of your weather in the next half hour. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Orelon.

Well, while Hurricane Charley devastated parts of Florida, other states in its path escaped much of its wrath. Charley lost steam as it moved over the Carolinas but not before flooding some streets in South Carolina and causing power and phone outages in Myrtle Beach. In North Carolina, high winds damaged several homes in Kitty Hawk. One person suffered minor injuries. Elsewhere, flooding prompted road closures and a curfew in one county. And wind gusts of 82 miles an hour battered Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The damage included uprooted fences and several power outages.

Well, thousands of U.S. military troops in Asia and Europe will soon be calling a new base home. Up next, President Bush's plan to reposition U.S. forces around the world.

And renewed trouble in the streets Najaf. We'll tell you who is reportedly threatening to destroy revered Muslim holy site.

And, still to come, a tough test for the struggling mens' U.S. basketball team in Athens as it takes on Puerto Rico. We'll tell you how it all turned out when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A redeployment of U.S. forces serving around the world. President Bush is expected to outline a plan tomorrow for bringing home tens of thousands of troops. Elaine Quijano at the White House with details. Elaine, who is this applying too?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. Well, first of all, we don't have exact troop numbers yet. But we do know from a senior administration official that this plan would bring home some 100,000 family members as well as military support staff back to the United States. Now, according to Pentagon officials this has been an ongoing process a long time in the making. President Bush, as you said, is set to make that announcement this week, a change in where and how the United States positions its military forces around the world.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld actually talked about this earlier this month. Pentagon and senior administration officials say that this announcement will describe a major reduction and repositioning of U.S. forces. Most of the reductions coming from Europe, the rest from Asia, say officials.

Now, this move is designed to reflect a ready posture for the war on terror, rather than the Cold War stance adopted years ago when officials believed the Soviet Union posed the biggest threat to America. Now, U.S. officials are emphasizing that they have consulted with American allies and members of Congress along the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN WARNER, (R) VIRGINIA: It's a wise decision, and some of the dispersal into the new NATO countries, former Warsaw Pact countries showing our support for their courage, having stood up through those many years to of adversity and...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, obviously, we're having some technical difficulties there. But for the most part this looks to have the support from both sides of the aisle. However, this being, of course, coming against the backdrop of an election year as well coming off of the Iraq War, already, some of the President's opponents, his critics are coming out suggesting that perhaps this announcement is motivated by the fact that U.S. troops, they say, are overextended throughout the world. That particular comment coming from Senator John Kerry spokesman Tad Devine earlier today. What the White House has said repeatedly in the past is that President Bush looks to the commanders on the ground in order to make his decisions about if and when additional troops may be needed around the world. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano from the White House. Thanks much. And apparently this redeployment will not affect the U.S. troops that are now stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The president has not offered a timetable, in fact, to bring home some U.S. troops from Iraq. Rebels loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al- Sadr clashed with Iraqi and U.S. forces in Najaf today, at least two al-Sadr supporters were killed. Journalists have been ordered out of city. Iraq's interim government has ordered troops not to attack the Imam Ali Mosque. Iraq's interior ministry says 25 heavily armed foreigners are holed up inside the shrine and are threatening to blow it up if attacked. Two U.S. troops were killed by sniper fire near the shrine today and were new attacks in Baghdad. Our John Vause has details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Iraqi insurgents it was the obvious target, firing five mortars at Baghdad's convention center, inside the heavily fortified Green Zone. More than 1,000 delegates gathered to elect a national assembly which would advise the interim Iraqi government in the run-up to elections next year. The mortars missed their mark, slamming into a bus station half a mile away killing two Iraqi civilians, wounding 17 others. Inside the convention there were protests from one group of Shiite Muslim leaders demanding to an end to the U.S.-led offensive in Najaf. Speaker after speaker rose to condemn the ongoing fighting around the sacred Imam Ali Mosque. The interim government had hoped this conference would unite Iraqis.

IYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We all put our efforts together to build our country and to stop that stem of the evil actions of evil people and terrorism. VAUSE: But the man at the center of the uprising in Najaf, Muqtada al-Sadr, and his followers, boycotted the national conference.

HAMID AL-KIFAERY: In fact, the only difference we have with them is that if they lay down their arms and come talk to us, we are all here welcoming. We're all ears to hear whatever they want to say.

VAUSE: But the time for talking in Najaf is over. Negotiations between the Iraqi interim government and the Sadr militia broke down Saturday. A day later gunshots and explosions echoed through the city. Most of the fighting centered around the sprawling cemetery next to the Imam Ali Mosque.

(on camera): The interim government describes the national conference as the first delicate steps towards real democracy, but the ongoing violence in Najaf threatens to not only derail the conference but also undermine the legitimacy of the government itself.

John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The political cloud that hangs over the Olympic Games. Why the world's best athletes are sometimes at mercy of international diplomacy.

And from the politics of sports to the politics of late night comedians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: John Kerry went to the Grand Canyon yesterday, he said he wanted to go someplace that made his head look a little smaller.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Still to come, a chance to give your funny bone a stretch.

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WHITFIELD: Day two of the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, and already some record-setting performances and major upsets. For the first time since NBA players joined the U.S. Olympic team in 1992, a shocking humiliation for the United States mens' basketball team. They lost 92-73 against Puerto Rico.

In men's swimming South Africa won the gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle relay with the world record time. The Netherlands took the silver and United States got bronze, and this apparently dashes American teenager Michael Phelps's dreams of taking home eight gold medals but he still could tie Mark Spitz's seven gold medals at the Games.

Well, the Olympic Games have always been about sports, competition and excellence and the absence, usually, of politics within the games. But outside it's a very different story. And here is CNN's Michael Holmes joining us from Athens. Hello, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, to you, Fredricka. That's right. The purists would like to say that the Olympics is all about sport and sport alone. The realists might say dream on. The reality is probably a combination of both.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): Once long ago wars stopped while the Olympics were on, a peaceful respite when conflict paused and harmony reigned. In fact, the Olympic charter describes the games as a way for sport to enhance harmony around the world. But the truth is politics sometimes gets in the way. The tight security around Athens suggests that these Olympics, like so many before them will reflect the politics of their times.

BILL SAPPORITO, TIME MAGAZINE: Among the athletes themselves there will be no politics. It's simply going to be competition. In the broader sense, I think U.S. athletes will probably get booed in the stadiums. You know, the Greeks and other spectators may whistle at national anthem. So I think we're going to see some of that. There's no avoiding it.

HOLMES: Since the beginning of the modern Olympics back in 1896 the Games have been canceled just three times. Once during the First World War, twice during the Second. Countries have fallen in and out of favor, but perhaps the darkest days for the Olympics came in 1972.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early this morning armed Palestinian guerrillas raided the sleeping quarters of the Israeli team.

HOLMES: Germany had billed the Munich Olympiad as the Games of Peace and Love but terror stole the spotlight. 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team returned home in coffins after a dramatic hostage-taking by Palestinian gunmen and disastrous rescue attempt by German authorities.

RICHARD POUND, IOC MEMBER: There are some countries that are always targets for possible terrorist activity and we learned that unfortunately 32 years ago in Munich.

HOLMES: After Munich the Olympic movement was hit again, this time by a steady string of boycotts. In 1976, 32 nations boycotted the Montreal games after the East German team became embroiled in a doping scandal. Four years later, then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter urged countries to boycott the Moscow Games to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Then, in a tit-for-tat move characteristic of the Cold War, the Soviet Union retaliated with a boycott of the next Olympics, in Los Angeles. It was pure politics. Even the International Olympic Committee mixes sports and politics; South Africa was banned for 32 years because of apartheid. The Taliban's Afghanistan was excluded due to its ban on female athletes. This year, however, five athletes will represent Afghanistan at the Olympics, including two women. POUND: Sport's had a remarkable run of solving problems that politician couldn't do. We've had the two Chinas together in the Olympic movement. We've had North and South Korea march together in the Olympic movement. We probably did more to solve the apartheid problem in South Africa than all of the political forces put together.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES: And Fredricka, in these games, politics already intruding into sport, it started with Iran's world champion judo exponent, his name Arash Miresmaeili, withdrawing from the competition because his first opponent was to be an Israeli. He later changed his mind and came in for the weigh-in for his event and was curiously overweight, so he won't be competing against that Israeli. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yeah, you said his country doesn't recognize Israel as a country, as a state. All right. Michael Holmes, joining us from Athens, thanks so much.

Well, helping the victims of Hurricane Charley. I'll talk with the head of the American Red Cross to find out what's being done and how can you help. Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It scared the hell out of me. You dream about someday a hurricane hitting us head on, and hello, here it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Tracking Charley's deadly path through the Sunshine State. And still to come. Taking the pulse of a political career following a personal bombshell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, here is what is happening now in the news. President Bush tours hurricane-damaged Florida. The president assured hard-hit communities that federal disaster aid is on the way. State officials are estimating damages in the multibillions of dollars. The storm killed at least 16 people, and we'll go in-depth on the hurricane in a minute.

The interim Iraqi government has ordered all journalists to leave the embattled city of Najaf. The ministry of interior says it is for the journalists' safety. Two U.S. troops were killed there today after being targeted by a sniper.

And voters headed to the polls in Venezuela today. They are deciding whether to recall President Hugo Chavez or back his government for another two years. Local observers say today's turnout is the largest in the South American country they have ever seen. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

When Hurricane Charley roared through Florida, it battered some of the very places where people went to seek help. Three hospitals in hard hit Charlotte County were heavily damaged. One of them evacuated all their patients after a part of the roof was blown off. A nurse who was on duty when the storm came recalled the ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRY MCGUIRE, NURSE: Like the wrath of god. It was horrible pelting winds, driving rain, windows being thrown in, blown in. Our staff here was absolutely incredible. As the windows were being blown in, the staff all came together and went against the windows to protect our patients. It was absolutely phenomenal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Those harrowing moments came during the hurricane. Well, how did it all begin anyway? Here's a timeline of Charley's destructive journey through Florida, from beginning to end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What's the latest, Orelon?

SIDNEY: We now do have a category 4 hurricane that is more than a major hurricane. The last time a category 4 hurricane hit the United States was Hurricane Hugo.

CHIEF CHARLES RINEHART, PUNTA GORDA POLICE: This morning, the county emergency manager made a mandatory evacuation order for our low-lying areas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hurricane Charley is approaching the Tampa Bay area. A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for all mobile home parks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It scares the hell out of me. You dream about someday a hurricane hitting us head-on, and hello, here it is.

SIDNEY: It still looks like it's going a little bit more north than northeast, so I think it's going to continue to push its way across Punta Gorda.

DON GERMAISE: If you can see what I'm looking at right now, you would realize just how important it is to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the evacuation warning. Again, we are hunkered down on the first floor because the second story roof is starting to blow off.

DENIS PHILLIPS: You went through the absolute strongest part of Hurricane Charley. I'm estimating the winds that you just weathered were about 155, maybe 160 miles an hour, because the pressure dropped down significantly as it made landfall, and it was probably the strongest that it ever was when it moved through Boca and up toward Punta Gorda. So that was no cat 2 you just weathered. You weathered a borderline cat 5.

GLENN SELIG: We are venturing out, and we have left the hotel. And I can tell you now that we're driving around, damage is extensive. We're right now entering an office park where half of it's gone. SIDNEY: These are some very dangerous winds headed towards Kissimmee and Orlando, moving through those areas now.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I talked to the mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer. He says that they have clocked the same winds of 70 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 85. That's in the City of Orlando.

SIDNEY: It's moving off the coast of Florida now, around Daytona Beach.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where the winds have been gusting, according to the police, up to 90 to 95 miles per hour. Right now, the roads are starting to flood. On this abandoned road, you can see across the street, some of the signs have been blowing off the buildings as the brunt of Hurricane Charley comes to the east coast of Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are first aerial pictures from the Tampa area, where we're seeing some real devastation there. The homes, obviously, the roofs ripped off of these homes. We'll be giving you these live pictures all morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are in Punta Gorda, and the rescue operation, search and rescue, of course, getting into full swing. Earlier today, there were search and rescue crews not far from where I'm standing, going through a condominium building. They found some people in there, but they were all safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charley has left death along with devastation. Several deaths being reported in Punta Gorda, north of Ft. Myers. And authorities there have ordered body bags and refrigerator trucks.

GOVERNOR JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: Our worst fears have come true. And my heart goes out to people that, right now, are homeless, are scared. And all I can assure you is that the team assembled here -- and literally thousands of other people from across the country, both from government and just people that are going to be organized to act on their hearts to help, will be here, and assistance is forthcoming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen anything up in this area like this. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)... didn't do this much damage. But thank god we've got our lives.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Now back over the open waters. It may strengthen a little. It looks like it's trying to do that, but we do think it's going to come on shore... back on shore across the Carolinas as a category 1 storm.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As this is near the height of the storm, it is almost impossible to see across a roadway with so much rain in the air right now. And take a look at this wind and how it's ripping across this vegetation here and out into the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, we were scared, you know. And the car totaled, the trees were on the house, and what can you do? Just ride through it. Now the cleanup begins. As always, they just keep cleaning it up, that's it. You know, everybody's doing everything they can do, you know, and get their lives back together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A timeline of Charley from beginning to end since Friday. Well, the American Red Cross has setup about 300 disaster relief shelters in Florida and the Carolinas because of the devastation. The woman who heads the agency toured the hardest hit areas today with President Bush in Florida. Marty Evans, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, joins us now from Punta Gorda, Florida.

Good to see you, Marty. Although, unfortunately, it's always under circumstances like this that we get to meet up on the air.

MARTY EVANS, PRES. & CEO. AMERICAN RED CROSS: You're right.

WHITFIELD: Well, before I ask you about your... I'm sorry, before I ask you about the visit in Florida there, let me ask you about how filled those 300 shelters are.

EVANS: Well, Fredricka, we're now down to 25 shelters that the Red Cross is operating. It turns out that many people want to go back to their homes, even though they've been significantly damaged. So we're not finding the demand for shelters quite as high as it could have been.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, your impressions, then, as you toured the devastation there with the president this morning.

EVANS: Well, I don't think TV pictures really can describe what it looks like to have your whole neighborhood just destroyed. And it's neighborhood after neighborhood... trailer park as well as regular dwellings. The president reached out to the people. Governor Bush accompanied him. And we heard the stories of how people wanted to get back to life.

They knew they had to clean up. They were trying to clean up the particular neighborhood we visited. And it was really touching when they thanked the state... they thanked the emergency responders for being on the scene.

WHITFIELD: It seems the needs would be obvious after a natural disaster. We're talking about shelter, food, drinking water. But because this is a fairly remarkable place, Punta Gorda, which was the ground zero from Charley -- remarkable in that the majority of the population was elderly -- are there other needs that have to be met that are beyond the obvious?

EVANS: Well, you've hit on one of the most important issues, and that's the mental health needs. People have to cope. They have to learn to deal with this. They have to get on with the rest of their life. And it's very hard for them to work through this. And that's why Red Cross mental health volunteers are particularly important. They're not only an immediate shoulder to cry on right in the aftermath of it, but they help the people begin to plan a strategy to figure out what to do next... how to either move back into their homes or to move on. And in some cases, many cases, people are going to have to move on and find new shelter, really start a new life.

WHITFIELD: You've got mental health volunteers. What other kind of volunteers are you all in need of right now?

EVANS: Well, we have volunteers, about a thousand, that have come to the state. We're adding 600 more today and tomorrow. And so, for the time being, we have a goodly supply of Red Cross trained volunteers. We'll be putting out the call in the next several days for additional volunteers, because we know that people in the community want to help.

In the meantime, people who want to help can make a financial contribution. This is going to be very expensive to help people get back onto their feet, to provide them that clothing, and shelter, and food that they need. And so, we're asking the public to donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

WHITFIELD: Do they just go to, perhaps, your Web site to get more information on that?

EVANS: It's very easy, Fredricka. You can go to RedCross.org, or you can call 1-800-HELP-NOW and make a contribution. And no contribution is too small. We really need the support of the American public. The Red Cross is not a government agency, and so the work that we do in neighborhoods that's going on right now is being funded by the generosity of the American public.

WHITFIELD: Well, Marty Evans, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, thanks so much for taking the time to be with us. We know you are incredibly busy right now, and our hearts go out to all of you who are putting all of your energies into helping so many people in need there.

EVANS: Thanks very much, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, it could end up to be the political bombshell of the year. What's next after New Jersey Governor McGreevey's surprise announcement that he's gay and leaving office? I'll talk with a reporter from Newsweek about the possible fallout. And the links of a championship -- we'll have a live update from Whistling Straits as golf's best battle it out in the final major of the year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's some of the news across America right now. In Eagle, Colorado, lawyers for the woman accusing basketball star Kobe Bryant of sexual assault are taking flack for criticizing the judge in the case. The attorneys have complained their client can't get fair treatment at Bryant's trial because of court mistakes. A member of a legal self-regulation panel says they may have violated a gag order and ethics rules. In Santa Monica, California, pop star Michael Jackson will appear with members of his family at his pretrial hearing tomorrow on child molestation charges. Jackson's attorneys will be confronting District Attorney Tom Sneddon, his legal nemesis for more than a decade now.

And in Buffalo, New York, thousands paid last respects to funk singer Rick James. The Grammy award winner died in his sleep last week at his southern California home. He was 56.

New Jersey Governor James McGreevey says he's going back to work tomorrow after dropping a political bombshell on his state last week. In a hastily called news conference, McGreevey, with his wife and parents at his side, confessed to an extramarital homosexual affair. But the other man at the center of it all says he's not gay, he's straight, and a victim of sexual harassment by the governor. Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating whether the governor was the target of an extortion plot. McGreevey, a Democrat, announced his resignation, effective in November. State Republicans say he needs to leave office right away.

And in this highly scripted political season, this unscripted political moment has many people talking and speculating. Joining us live is Newsweek senior writer Charlie Gasparino, and he's joining us from New York. Good to see you, Charlie.

CHARLIE GASPARINO, SENIOR WRITER, NEWSWEEK: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, was Governor McGreevey's admission automatically a surrendering of his political life?

GASPARINO: I think so. I mean, right now, what he's fighting for is keeping the governorship of the State of New Jersey in Democratic hands. And that's essentially why he put off this resignation for a couple of months until after the election. Right now, if he...

WHITFIELD: Oh, sorry about that. We lost our transmission with Charlie Gasparino. We'll try to resume that as soon as we can. For now, we're going to take a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to try this again, resuming our conversation about New Jersey Governor James McGreevey and his career, and his announcement last week. Newsweek Senior Writer Charlie Gasparino is back with us from New York. All right, Charlie. We were talking about... you said that automatically this was a surrendering of his political life.

And so, my follow up on that is, is it because what is at issue is that he had this double life, that he was dishonest with his family and the public, or is it mostly about the fact that he hired someone, a high profile job, who might allegedly be the person who was at the center of his homosexual affair? GASPARINO: Right, I mean, it's obviously the latter. Listen, we had a president who was an adulterer, probably a serial adulterer, and people elected him twice. The problem here is that Jim McGreevey appointed his boyfriend, essentially, to one position in state government where you need someone of competence, and that's director of homeland security. And that's not good. People will not forgive that, and that's what you have here.

WHITFIELD: And so, now you also have a situation where Golan Cipel, the man who is at the center of this affair, is saying there was no sexual relation. In fact, he was a victim of sexual advances.

GASPARINO: Right, I should say alleged boyfriend. I mean, yeah, this thing gets dirtier by the day, which makes Jim McGreevey's move of not resigning all the more sleazy. If you think about it, he's essentially going to put his wife, his children, through months and months of these insane allegations just so New Jersey doesn't become a Republican state. I mean, that, to me, is pretty crass.

WHITFIELD: And so, now the FBI is looking into whether extortion is also part of the resignation. How far can this investigation go and realistically try to glean some kind of information about whether, indeed, that is the case?

GASPARINO: Right. You know, McGreevey's involved in some very high profile investigations that are ongoing regarding corruption in New Jersey. I mean, who knows what this guy knows. He may know where a lot of bodies are buried. And this could be the one thing that would have taken down Jim McGreevey. I mean, this gentleman may know a lot about some of the payments that were made that the government is investigating.

WHITFIELD: And, in fact, it was those other alleged scandals that some people were speculating was going to be the impetus for his resignation, and not that it was about revealing this homosexual affair.

GASPARINO: Right. I mean, you know, New Jersey politics are pretty rough. I mean, there's been a lot of sleaze over the last 10 years in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. This is the latest one, and this is pretty bad stuff. I mean, there's an ongoing investigation involving one of his top contributors, and now it seems to be going beyond that to, you know, possibly payoffs to people. I mean, this is getting very bad.

WHITFIELD: So why are the Republicans so hard pressed on trying to get a special election, trying to get him to resign right away, when there are many who will say that no matter what, if there were a special election, that it would probably go Democrat anyway?

GASPARINO: Well, you know, I'm not so sure about that. I mean, if there's a special election right now, the person the Democrats are going to put up is probably a supporter of McGreevey, and they're going to have to atone for a lot of McGreevey's sins. I think there's a good chance a Republican would win this election. The problem is that McGreevey is not going to step down, and there's not going to be a Republican in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. And basically, that's a bad thing for George Bush, because he thinks if there's a Republican governor, he can possibly win that state.

WHITFIELD: All right, Charlie Gasparino of Newsweek, thanks so much for hanging tough with us on our satellite problems, joining us from New York.

GASPARINO: No problem, thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, onto sports now. Golfer Vijay Singh is not whistling along in the final round of the PGA Championship today, after all. A stumble has allowed his playing partner to advance. Our Patrick Snell is in Haven, Wisconsin, watching the action on the greens at Whistling Straits. I know a huge disappointment for Vijay so far.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka, yes. It's Justin Leonard, of course, the Texan, who has a two-stroke advantage at the moment. He's gone to 11 under par. Now, I'm joined by Lorin Anderson, who's managing editor of Golf Magazine. Lorin, thanks for joining us again.

A quick word on Tiger Woods, who's coming to the end of his fourth and final round here. I think we can safely say he won't be winning this major either. That's 10 now for him. How would you assess the state of him now, his game, his overall sort of mentality?

LORIN ANDERSON, GOLF MAGAZINE: Well, he had a very tough time putting today. He missed a lot of short putts, but that really wasn't the problem this week. Tiger once again only hit about half of the fairways for the four rounds, and to win a major championship you have to drive the ball better than he's driving it. And I'm sure that between now and next April, when the Masters rolls in, he'll be working hard on correcting that problem.

SNELL: Now, onto the overnight leader, Vijay Singh, and putting, of course, a huge part of him and his preparation, his psyche. Tell us about this contraption he uses, because I know he swears by it.

ANDERSON: Yeah, for two hours a day all week, he's been on the practice green over here at Whistling Straits, rolling balls between a track. It keeps his blade straight, so he puts straight back and straight through. And you know, two hours a day, that shows the difference between how hard these guys work on their game and how hard the amateurs work on their game.

SNELL: Now, he's dropped three shots already today, as we speak. What does he need to do to get back on track, and how will he be coping out there in these big winds?

ANDERSON: Yeah, surprising, you know. He's a great frontrunner. He's won his last seven tournaments in a row where he's had this Saturday night lead, and he's won both of his majors with a Saturday night lead. So this is a little surprising that he gave a few strokes back early.

But the course is very difficult the last five holes. In fact, four of the five hardest holes on the course are on the final stretch, so anybody within two or three strokes is going to have a chance coming into those last few holes.

SNELL: Of course, among them, the Masters champ, Phil Mickelson at seven under par at the moment. What does he have to do to really kind of thrust his way up the leader board?

ANDERSON: Well, again, I think he knows that the course is playing much more difficult today. He had a misstep early on with a double bogey on the third hole, but he's not playing badly. He made a birdie. Since then, he's hanging in there. A couple of birdies on the back nine today could pass a lot of people.

SNELL: And finally, just to look at those last four or five holes, they are playing pretty treacherous at the moment, aren't they?

ANDERSON: Yeah, and the wind has really picked up. This is the most wind we've seen all week. And the 15, 16, and 17 are all going to play dead into the wind, and 18 is going to play over 500 yards of the big wind. So anybody that can par the last four holes that might have the lead on 15 tee is going to have a great chance to win.

SNELL: OK, Lorin Anderson, many thanks for your insights. From Whistling Straights course, I'll send it back to CNN Center.

WHITFIELD: All right, Patrick Snell, thanks so much. Onto politics now, the candidates for president keep trying to land their shots, and as usual, their hits and misses this week provided choice material for the late night comedy shows.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LENO: President Bush said yesterday... this is what he told everybody. He said it doesn't make any sense to raise taxes on the rich, because rich people can figure out how to dodge taxes. And then Dick Cheney said, "Shut up, you're ruining everything."

BUSH: My opponent hasn't answered the question of whether, knowing what we know now, he would have supported going into Iraq. That's an important question, and the American people deserve a clear yes or no answer.

JON STEWART, HOST, DAILY SHOW: A powerful demand for honesty from a man standing on a set decorated with fake hay bales.

LENO: President Bush was in Florida, where he asked voters to once again send him to the White House. And the voters in Florida said, once again, "We didn't send you there in the first place."

STEWART: But this gives John Kerry an opportunity, an easy opportunity to set himself apart, to make a clear, forceful, unambiguous statement... "No, I would not have voted for the authority, knowing there were no WMDs." Or just don't take the bait. Mr. Kerry, it's a softball -- hit is out of the park.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would have voted for the authority.

STEWART: You're trying to lose.

LENO: John Kerry went to the Grand Canyon yesterday. He said he wanted to go someplace that made his head look a little smaller.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, that's it for us. "NEXT@CNN" is coming up with a daring art exhibit on human anatomy. And here's Daniel Sieberg with a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL SIEBERG, HOST, NEXT@CNN: Ahead on "NEXT@CNN," El Nino may be on the comeback trail. Scientists go on a bat blitz, learning new things about these misunderstood mammals. And is beauty really skin deep? A new art exhibition puts that to the test.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And at 6:00 Eastern, CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues with Carol Lin. She'll talk with the lead doctor who recently helped separate conjoined twins in New York. And at 7 Eastern on "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," an in-depth look at Britney Spears. Thanks for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired August 15, 2004 - 16:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Billions of dollars in damage and thousands homeless, but the numbers only tell part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are we going to do? How are we going to get any help? What about these people that lost all their homes? When do we go back to work? When is the electricity coming on? It's scary. I've never been through anything like this before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Lots of questions ahead on CNN LIVE SUNDAY. Moving beyond the devastation from Hurricane Charley. Plus a major repositioning of U.S. forces around the world. We'll have a live report from Washington. Hello, and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after a look at these headlines.

The confirmed death toll in Florida from Hurricane Charley is now 16. President Bush flew over storm-ravaged areas of southwest Florida this morning with his brother Governor Jeb Bush. Afterwards, the President reassured victims in Punta Gorda the state was providing security for their neighborhoods. Details in a minute.

Meanwhile, two more named storms are over the Atlantic. Hurricane Danielle is several days from land but Tropical Storm Earl is centered just southwest of Grenada with sustained winds of 45 miles an hour. Meteorologist Orelon Sydney reports on all of that in just six minutes.

More violence in Najaf. Iraq's interior ministry says 25 armed foreigners are holed up inside the Imam Ali Mosque are and threatening to blow it up if attacked. U.S. military says snipers killed two American troops in fighting today outside the mosque. A third has been killed in northern Baghdad. Iraqi leaders call it democracy in action. Shiites protesting violence in Najaf had interrupted a Baghdad conference on shaping democracy in Iraq. John Vause wraps up today's events in Iraq in about 15 minutes. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Up first, this hour, surveying the damage in Florida, flipped mobile homes, broken trees and roofless houses are just some of the sites President Bush saw today as he toured areas ravaged by Hurricane Charley. CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us from Punta Gorda. Ed? ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Well, you know there are thousands of people who need reassuring here on Florida's southwest coast after what has been a long two hard days of cleanup. It's a hot, muggy, sunny day here but the cleanup continues of crews continue the cleanup process here along the southwest coast of Florida.

And, of course, the big news of the day is the presidential visit of George W. Bush, who came here this morning, greeted at the airport, nearby airport by his brother, the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, of course. They toured the area by helicopter as well as their motorcade made it through one of the main avenues here in Punta Gorda earlier today. And the President walked little bit on the streets here to get a firsthand look at some of the damage. He also met with emergency management officials, and the President vowing that the federal relief will be coming if it hasn't already started flowing in already and making sure the money he gives to the people needs to help. Sixteen counties in the State of Florida have been declared federal disaster areas and those people need the money quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The job of the federal government and the state government is to surge resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas, and that's exactly what's happening now. We choppered over and saw the devastation of this area. Lot of people's lives are turned upside down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: Over the last couple of days, a lot of officials have been taking aerial tours of the area, they describe it as a ten mile wide swath of destruction that Hurricane Charley had brought in through this area. You can still see some of the debris that has been left in the streets of Punta Gorda. You know one of the things that officials are dealing with now, can you get a sense, look this way here, is the long lines of traffic that are coming through the town here, and it's a situation that has emergency officials a little bothered and concerned because a lot of these people don't necessarily live in this area.

One of the bridges coming into Punta Gorda is backed up for quite a ways as well and it's just because a lot of sightseers coming down to this area wanting to get a firsthand glimpse of all the damage and quite frankly, a lot of the other officials are starting to think that that's slowing the process down. So they want us to remind people if you don't have to be in the area, please stay away, because there are hundreds of people who have plenty of work to do and they've got a long time to do this. Because this cleanup process isn't going to take just days it's going to take months. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And how much of a hindrance is that for officials? Is it in the search-and-rescue efforts or is it in trying to restore some power to the area?

LAVANDERA: Well, there's a little bit of everything going on. You know ,we've seen a lot of crews going neighborhood by neighborhood making sure that in the vast number of mobile home parks in this area that there isn't anybody still trapped inside, so they're still going through that making sure all the buildings are checked out. We can probably assume that a lot of that is done in the area, and we also see the big trucks moving in to start repairing the power lines and get the infrastructure going. And also, the other thing they're dealing with is just getting people the basics, thousands of people still left homeless who need food, water and shelter so providing that on a daily basis is still a number one priority as well.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera from Punta Gorda, thanks very much for that report.

Well, the full extent of Hurricane Charley's fury is just now coming to light. The storm killed at least 16 people in Florida, and state officials say it caused billions of dollars in damages. Al Zimmerman from CNN affiliate Bay News 9 has more on the cleanup efforts in Punta Gorda.

AL ZIMMERMAN, BAY NEWS 9 CORRESPONDENT: Hello there, Fredricka. You get the idea from the last report that life is far from normal around here, people spend a lot of their time just trying to avoid debris, you can see behind me a lot of roofing materials, a lot of insulation, obviously, a lot of wood and bricks all over the place. They also spend a lot of time trying to deal without power. But I talked with a lot of people around here who say if they just get a little help, a little more help, they'll be okay.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZIMMERMAN (voice-over): In this city in pieces a visit from President Bush gives people here peace of mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seeing the destruction firsthand will maybe speed up the process of helping people rebuild down here.

ZIMMERMAN: Money and manpower are desperately needed in the area where downed power lines still line streets for miles. And neighborhoods littered with piles of debris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never did I would dream it would come visit me.

ZIMMERMAN: Joe Rupsis (ph), who was inside his home in this condominium when Charley churned through is among hundreds of storm victims who are now hoping to find help to find new homes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is--this is my worldly possessions now. Everything else will have to be left there and go down with the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is just devastation to me. Never seen anything like it.

ZIMMERMAN: But storm victim Kyle Kilgallin (ph) says this community is strong. The people here united, and he says together, they will rebuild what Charley ripped away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, no problem. We're strong here. Punta Gorda is a very strong community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZIMMERMAN: They're having a good attitude about all of this, saying look our homes may be gone but we survived this, most of us survived this. Now, a few other things I should update. First of all, cell phones in this area do not work very well. People in this area have not been able to use their cell phones, but we understand that more than 100 generators are being shipped from other parts of the United States to southwest Florida so that they can put power back to the cell phone towers so people can use their cell phones, and, again, power and electricity throughout homes is still out, and you saw power lines down here, well, until they get the lines back up, they're not going to turn the switch back on, so that could take awhile. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And of course then comes problem how do you recharge those batteries without electricity. Al Zimmerman, thanks very much.

Well, Charley is now toothless and missing an eye, but other storms are looming on the horizon. Meteorologist Orelon Sydney is tracking all of that from our weather center. Orelon?

ORELON SYDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Fredricka. Not only toothless, missing an eye, claws are gone, the whole thing has just dissipated. The only thing left now is just an area of rain and it's just barely hugging the coast of Maine before heading now into New Brunswick and Nova Scotia into the Canadian Maritimes. So it's no longer a tropical system, it's just a big area of rain being absorbed by a trough of low pressure.

Good news, though. The system moved so fast it didn't drop nearly as much rain as we thought it would, so flooding has not been a big problem along the Eastern Seaboard. Folks down in Florida, though, here are your afternoon thunderstorms. There's still the remnants of that cold front back to your west. Put that together with a little bit of-it almost looks like a sea breeze going on here across the state. The daytime heating, the humid conditions, that will continue, probably seeing thunderstorms in much of your area through the rest of the week. They're going to be more scattered as we go into Monday.

This, now, is Tropical Storm Earl, it is moving into the extreme eastern part of Caribbean Sea, the latest coordinates on that storm, 90 miles west of Grenada. To give you an idea how close it is to the United States, the distance from Grenada to the U.S. is about the same as the distance from Boston, Massachusetts to Dallas, Texas. So it's still way out there. Winds are holding at 45 miles an hour currently moving to the west at 28. And as long as it's moving this fast, it's probably not going to develop much more. A very rapid forward motion tends to keep tropical cyclones from developing much.

Here's the 72-hour forecast. Where it's located now, expected to continue a little bit to the north and west. By Wednesday, we expect it to be in the central portion of the Caribbean Sea. Keep an eye on that as well. Back to the lower 48 we go. Scattered thunderstorm activity around the nation this evening. Warm conditions for the Mississippi Valley and a little chance of severe thunderstorms here in the northern plains. We'll take a look at rest of your weather in the next half hour. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks a lot, Orelon.

Well, while Hurricane Charley devastated parts of Florida, other states in its path escaped much of its wrath. Charley lost steam as it moved over the Carolinas but not before flooding some streets in South Carolina and causing power and phone outages in Myrtle Beach. In North Carolina, high winds damaged several homes in Kitty Hawk. One person suffered minor injuries. Elsewhere, flooding prompted road closures and a curfew in one county. And wind gusts of 82 miles an hour battered Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The damage included uprooted fences and several power outages.

Well, thousands of U.S. military troops in Asia and Europe will soon be calling a new base home. Up next, President Bush's plan to reposition U.S. forces around the world.

And renewed trouble in the streets Najaf. We'll tell you who is reportedly threatening to destroy revered Muslim holy site.

And, still to come, a tough test for the struggling mens' U.S. basketball team in Athens as it takes on Puerto Rico. We'll tell you how it all turned out when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A redeployment of U.S. forces serving around the world. President Bush is expected to outline a plan tomorrow for bringing home tens of thousands of troops. Elaine Quijano at the White House with details. Elaine, who is this applying too?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Fredricka. Well, first of all, we don't have exact troop numbers yet. But we do know from a senior administration official that this plan would bring home some 100,000 family members as well as military support staff back to the United States. Now, according to Pentagon officials this has been an ongoing process a long time in the making. President Bush, as you said, is set to make that announcement this week, a change in where and how the United States positions its military forces around the world.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld actually talked about this earlier this month. Pentagon and senior administration officials say that this announcement will describe a major reduction and repositioning of U.S. forces. Most of the reductions coming from Europe, the rest from Asia, say officials.

Now, this move is designed to reflect a ready posture for the war on terror, rather than the Cold War stance adopted years ago when officials believed the Soviet Union posed the biggest threat to America. Now, U.S. officials are emphasizing that they have consulted with American allies and members of Congress along the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN WARNER, (R) VIRGINIA: It's a wise decision, and some of the dispersal into the new NATO countries, former Warsaw Pact countries showing our support for their courage, having stood up through those many years to of adversity and...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now, obviously, we're having some technical difficulties there. But for the most part this looks to have the support from both sides of the aisle. However, this being, of course, coming against the backdrop of an election year as well coming off of the Iraq War, already, some of the President's opponents, his critics are coming out suggesting that perhaps this announcement is motivated by the fact that U.S. troops, they say, are overextended throughout the world. That particular comment coming from Senator John Kerry spokesman Tad Devine earlier today. What the White House has said repeatedly in the past is that President Bush looks to the commanders on the ground in order to make his decisions about if and when additional troops may be needed around the world. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Elaine Quijano from the White House. Thanks much. And apparently this redeployment will not affect the U.S. troops that are now stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The president has not offered a timetable, in fact, to bring home some U.S. troops from Iraq. Rebels loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al- Sadr clashed with Iraqi and U.S. forces in Najaf today, at least two al-Sadr supporters were killed. Journalists have been ordered out of city. Iraq's interim government has ordered troops not to attack the Imam Ali Mosque. Iraq's interior ministry says 25 heavily armed foreigners are holed up inside the shrine and are threatening to blow it up if attacked. Two U.S. troops were killed by sniper fire near the shrine today and were new attacks in Baghdad. Our John Vause has details on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Iraqi insurgents it was the obvious target, firing five mortars at Baghdad's convention center, inside the heavily fortified Green Zone. More than 1,000 delegates gathered to elect a national assembly which would advise the interim Iraqi government in the run-up to elections next year. The mortars missed their mark, slamming into a bus station half a mile away killing two Iraqi civilians, wounding 17 others. Inside the convention there were protests from one group of Shiite Muslim leaders demanding to an end to the U.S.-led offensive in Najaf. Speaker after speaker rose to condemn the ongoing fighting around the sacred Imam Ali Mosque. The interim government had hoped this conference would unite Iraqis.

IYAD ALLAWI, IRAQI INTERIM PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We all put our efforts together to build our country and to stop that stem of the evil actions of evil people and terrorism. VAUSE: But the man at the center of the uprising in Najaf, Muqtada al-Sadr, and his followers, boycotted the national conference.

HAMID AL-KIFAERY: In fact, the only difference we have with them is that if they lay down their arms and come talk to us, we are all here welcoming. We're all ears to hear whatever they want to say.

VAUSE: But the time for talking in Najaf is over. Negotiations between the Iraqi interim government and the Sadr militia broke down Saturday. A day later gunshots and explosions echoed through the city. Most of the fighting centered around the sprawling cemetery next to the Imam Ali Mosque.

(on camera): The interim government describes the national conference as the first delicate steps towards real democracy, but the ongoing violence in Najaf threatens to not only derail the conference but also undermine the legitimacy of the government itself.

John Vause, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The political cloud that hangs over the Olympic Games. Why the world's best athletes are sometimes at mercy of international diplomacy.

And from the politics of sports to the politics of late night comedians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: John Kerry went to the Grand Canyon yesterday, he said he wanted to go someplace that made his head look a little smaller.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Still to come, a chance to give your funny bone a stretch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Day two of the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, and already some record-setting performances and major upsets. For the first time since NBA players joined the U.S. Olympic team in 1992, a shocking humiliation for the United States mens' basketball team. They lost 92-73 against Puerto Rico.

In men's swimming South Africa won the gold medal in the 400 meter freestyle relay with the world record time. The Netherlands took the silver and United States got bronze, and this apparently dashes American teenager Michael Phelps's dreams of taking home eight gold medals but he still could tie Mark Spitz's seven gold medals at the Games.

Well, the Olympic Games have always been about sports, competition and excellence and the absence, usually, of politics within the games. But outside it's a very different story. And here is CNN's Michael Holmes joining us from Athens. Hello, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, to you, Fredricka. That's right. The purists would like to say that the Olympics is all about sport and sport alone. The realists might say dream on. The reality is probably a combination of both.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): Once long ago wars stopped while the Olympics were on, a peaceful respite when conflict paused and harmony reigned. In fact, the Olympic charter describes the games as a way for sport to enhance harmony around the world. But the truth is politics sometimes gets in the way. The tight security around Athens suggests that these Olympics, like so many before them will reflect the politics of their times.

BILL SAPPORITO, TIME MAGAZINE: Among the athletes themselves there will be no politics. It's simply going to be competition. In the broader sense, I think U.S. athletes will probably get booed in the stadiums. You know, the Greeks and other spectators may whistle at national anthem. So I think we're going to see some of that. There's no avoiding it.

HOLMES: Since the beginning of the modern Olympics back in 1896 the Games have been canceled just three times. Once during the First World War, twice during the Second. Countries have fallen in and out of favor, but perhaps the darkest days for the Olympics came in 1972.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Early this morning armed Palestinian guerrillas raided the sleeping quarters of the Israeli team.

HOLMES: Germany had billed the Munich Olympiad as the Games of Peace and Love but terror stole the spotlight. 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team returned home in coffins after a dramatic hostage-taking by Palestinian gunmen and disastrous rescue attempt by German authorities.

RICHARD POUND, IOC MEMBER: There are some countries that are always targets for possible terrorist activity and we learned that unfortunately 32 years ago in Munich.

HOLMES: After Munich the Olympic movement was hit again, this time by a steady string of boycotts. In 1976, 32 nations boycotted the Montreal games after the East German team became embroiled in a doping scandal. Four years later, then-U.S. President Jimmy Carter urged countries to boycott the Moscow Games to protest the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan. Then, in a tit-for-tat move characteristic of the Cold War, the Soviet Union retaliated with a boycott of the next Olympics, in Los Angeles. It was pure politics. Even the International Olympic Committee mixes sports and politics; South Africa was banned for 32 years because of apartheid. The Taliban's Afghanistan was excluded due to its ban on female athletes. This year, however, five athletes will represent Afghanistan at the Olympics, including two women. POUND: Sport's had a remarkable run of solving problems that politician couldn't do. We've had the two Chinas together in the Olympic movement. We've had North and South Korea march together in the Olympic movement. We probably did more to solve the apartheid problem in South Africa than all of the political forces put together.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HOLMES: And Fredricka, in these games, politics already intruding into sport, it started with Iran's world champion judo exponent, his name Arash Miresmaeili, withdrawing from the competition because his first opponent was to be an Israeli. He later changed his mind and came in for the weigh-in for his event and was curiously overweight, so he won't be competing against that Israeli. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Yeah, you said his country doesn't recognize Israel as a country, as a state. All right. Michael Holmes, joining us from Athens, thanks so much.

Well, helping the victims of Hurricane Charley. I'll talk with the head of the American Red Cross to find out what's being done and how can you help. Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It scared the hell out of me. You dream about someday a hurricane hitting us head on, and hello, here it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Tracking Charley's deadly path through the Sunshine State. And still to come. Taking the pulse of a political career following a personal bombshell.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well, here is what is happening now in the news. President Bush tours hurricane-damaged Florida. The president assured hard-hit communities that federal disaster aid is on the way. State officials are estimating damages in the multibillions of dollars. The storm killed at least 16 people, and we'll go in-depth on the hurricane in a minute.

The interim Iraqi government has ordered all journalists to leave the embattled city of Najaf. The ministry of interior says it is for the journalists' safety. Two U.S. troops were killed there today after being targeted by a sniper.

And voters headed to the polls in Venezuela today. They are deciding whether to recall President Hugo Chavez or back his government for another two years. Local observers say today's turnout is the largest in the South American country they have ever seen. Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

When Hurricane Charley roared through Florida, it battered some of the very places where people went to seek help. Three hospitals in hard hit Charlotte County were heavily damaged. One of them evacuated all their patients after a part of the roof was blown off. A nurse who was on duty when the storm came recalled the ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRY MCGUIRE, NURSE: Like the wrath of god. It was horrible pelting winds, driving rain, windows being thrown in, blown in. Our staff here was absolutely incredible. As the windows were being blown in, the staff all came together and went against the windows to protect our patients. It was absolutely phenomenal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Those harrowing moments came during the hurricane. Well, how did it all begin anyway? Here's a timeline of Charley's destructive journey through Florida, from beginning to end.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: What's the latest, Orelon?

SIDNEY: We now do have a category 4 hurricane that is more than a major hurricane. The last time a category 4 hurricane hit the United States was Hurricane Hugo.

CHIEF CHARLES RINEHART, PUNTA GORDA POLICE: This morning, the county emergency manager made a mandatory evacuation order for our low-lying areas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hurricane Charley is approaching the Tampa Bay area. A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for all mobile home parks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It scares the hell out of me. You dream about someday a hurricane hitting us head-on, and hello, here it is.

SIDNEY: It still looks like it's going a little bit more north than northeast, so I think it's going to continue to push its way across Punta Gorda.

DON GERMAISE: If you can see what I'm looking at right now, you would realize just how important it is to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) the evacuation warning. Again, we are hunkered down on the first floor because the second story roof is starting to blow off.

DENIS PHILLIPS: You went through the absolute strongest part of Hurricane Charley. I'm estimating the winds that you just weathered were about 155, maybe 160 miles an hour, because the pressure dropped down significantly as it made landfall, and it was probably the strongest that it ever was when it moved through Boca and up toward Punta Gorda. So that was no cat 2 you just weathered. You weathered a borderline cat 5.

GLENN SELIG: We are venturing out, and we have left the hotel. And I can tell you now that we're driving around, damage is extensive. We're right now entering an office park where half of it's gone. SIDNEY: These are some very dangerous winds headed towards Kissimmee and Orlando, moving through those areas now.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I talked to the mayor of Orlando, Buddy Dyer. He says that they have clocked the same winds of 70 miles per hour, with gusts of up to 85. That's in the City of Orlando.

SIDNEY: It's moving off the coast of Florida now, around Daytona Beach.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Where the winds have been gusting, according to the police, up to 90 to 95 miles per hour. Right now, the roads are starting to flood. On this abandoned road, you can see across the street, some of the signs have been blowing off the buildings as the brunt of Hurricane Charley comes to the east coast of Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are first aerial pictures from the Tampa area, where we're seeing some real devastation there. The homes, obviously, the roofs ripped off of these homes. We'll be giving you these live pictures all morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are in Punta Gorda, and the rescue operation, search and rescue, of course, getting into full swing. Earlier today, there were search and rescue crews not far from where I'm standing, going through a condominium building. They found some people in there, but they were all safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charley has left death along with devastation. Several deaths being reported in Punta Gorda, north of Ft. Myers. And authorities there have ordered body bags and refrigerator trucks.

GOVERNOR JEB BUSH, FLORIDA: Our worst fears have come true. And my heart goes out to people that, right now, are homeless, are scared. And all I can assure you is that the team assembled here -- and literally thousands of other people from across the country, both from government and just people that are going to be organized to act on their hearts to help, will be here, and assistance is forthcoming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen anything up in this area like this. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)... didn't do this much damage. But thank god we've got our lives.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Now back over the open waters. It may strengthen a little. It looks like it's trying to do that, but we do think it's going to come on shore... back on shore across the Carolinas as a category 1 storm.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As this is near the height of the storm, it is almost impossible to see across a roadway with so much rain in the air right now. And take a look at this wind and how it's ripping across this vegetation here and out into the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Man, we were scared, you know. And the car totaled, the trees were on the house, and what can you do? Just ride through it. Now the cleanup begins. As always, they just keep cleaning it up, that's it. You know, everybody's doing everything they can do, you know, and get their lives back together.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A timeline of Charley from beginning to end since Friday. Well, the American Red Cross has setup about 300 disaster relief shelters in Florida and the Carolinas because of the devastation. The woman who heads the agency toured the hardest hit areas today with President Bush in Florida. Marty Evans, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, joins us now from Punta Gorda, Florida.

Good to see you, Marty. Although, unfortunately, it's always under circumstances like this that we get to meet up on the air.

MARTY EVANS, PRES. & CEO. AMERICAN RED CROSS: You're right.

WHITFIELD: Well, before I ask you about your... I'm sorry, before I ask you about the visit in Florida there, let me ask you about how filled those 300 shelters are.

EVANS: Well, Fredricka, we're now down to 25 shelters that the Red Cross is operating. It turns out that many people want to go back to their homes, even though they've been significantly damaged. So we're not finding the demand for shelters quite as high as it could have been.

WHITFIELD: OK. Now, your impressions, then, as you toured the devastation there with the president this morning.

EVANS: Well, I don't think TV pictures really can describe what it looks like to have your whole neighborhood just destroyed. And it's neighborhood after neighborhood... trailer park as well as regular dwellings. The president reached out to the people. Governor Bush accompanied him. And we heard the stories of how people wanted to get back to life.

They knew they had to clean up. They were trying to clean up the particular neighborhood we visited. And it was really touching when they thanked the state... they thanked the emergency responders for being on the scene.

WHITFIELD: It seems the needs would be obvious after a natural disaster. We're talking about shelter, food, drinking water. But because this is a fairly remarkable place, Punta Gorda, which was the ground zero from Charley -- remarkable in that the majority of the population was elderly -- are there other needs that have to be met that are beyond the obvious?

EVANS: Well, you've hit on one of the most important issues, and that's the mental health needs. People have to cope. They have to learn to deal with this. They have to get on with the rest of their life. And it's very hard for them to work through this. And that's why Red Cross mental health volunteers are particularly important. They're not only an immediate shoulder to cry on right in the aftermath of it, but they help the people begin to plan a strategy to figure out what to do next... how to either move back into their homes or to move on. And in some cases, many cases, people are going to have to move on and find new shelter, really start a new life.

WHITFIELD: You've got mental health volunteers. What other kind of volunteers are you all in need of right now?

EVANS: Well, we have volunteers, about a thousand, that have come to the state. We're adding 600 more today and tomorrow. And so, for the time being, we have a goodly supply of Red Cross trained volunteers. We'll be putting out the call in the next several days for additional volunteers, because we know that people in the community want to help.

In the meantime, people who want to help can make a financial contribution. This is going to be very expensive to help people get back onto their feet, to provide them that clothing, and shelter, and food that they need. And so, we're asking the public to donate to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

WHITFIELD: Do they just go to, perhaps, your Web site to get more information on that?

EVANS: It's very easy, Fredricka. You can go to RedCross.org, or you can call 1-800-HELP-NOW and make a contribution. And no contribution is too small. We really need the support of the American public. The Red Cross is not a government agency, and so the work that we do in neighborhoods that's going on right now is being funded by the generosity of the American public.

WHITFIELD: Well, Marty Evans, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, thanks so much for taking the time to be with us. We know you are incredibly busy right now, and our hearts go out to all of you who are putting all of your energies into helping so many people in need there.

EVANS: Thanks very much, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, it could end up to be the political bombshell of the year. What's next after New Jersey Governor McGreevey's surprise announcement that he's gay and leaving office? I'll talk with a reporter from Newsweek about the possible fallout. And the links of a championship -- we'll have a live update from Whistling Straits as golf's best battle it out in the final major of the year.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here's some of the news across America right now. In Eagle, Colorado, lawyers for the woman accusing basketball star Kobe Bryant of sexual assault are taking flack for criticizing the judge in the case. The attorneys have complained their client can't get fair treatment at Bryant's trial because of court mistakes. A member of a legal self-regulation panel says they may have violated a gag order and ethics rules. In Santa Monica, California, pop star Michael Jackson will appear with members of his family at his pretrial hearing tomorrow on child molestation charges. Jackson's attorneys will be confronting District Attorney Tom Sneddon, his legal nemesis for more than a decade now.

And in Buffalo, New York, thousands paid last respects to funk singer Rick James. The Grammy award winner died in his sleep last week at his southern California home. He was 56.

New Jersey Governor James McGreevey says he's going back to work tomorrow after dropping a political bombshell on his state last week. In a hastily called news conference, McGreevey, with his wife and parents at his side, confessed to an extramarital homosexual affair. But the other man at the center of it all says he's not gay, he's straight, and a victim of sexual harassment by the governor. Meanwhile, the FBI is investigating whether the governor was the target of an extortion plot. McGreevey, a Democrat, announced his resignation, effective in November. State Republicans say he needs to leave office right away.

And in this highly scripted political season, this unscripted political moment has many people talking and speculating. Joining us live is Newsweek senior writer Charlie Gasparino, and he's joining us from New York. Good to see you, Charlie.

CHARLIE GASPARINO, SENIOR WRITER, NEWSWEEK: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, was Governor McGreevey's admission automatically a surrendering of his political life?

GASPARINO: I think so. I mean, right now, what he's fighting for is keeping the governorship of the State of New Jersey in Democratic hands. And that's essentially why he put off this resignation for a couple of months until after the election. Right now, if he...

WHITFIELD: Oh, sorry about that. We lost our transmission with Charlie Gasparino. We'll try to resume that as soon as we can. For now, we're going to take a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, we're going to try this again, resuming our conversation about New Jersey Governor James McGreevey and his career, and his announcement last week. Newsweek Senior Writer Charlie Gasparino is back with us from New York. All right, Charlie. We were talking about... you said that automatically this was a surrendering of his political life.

And so, my follow up on that is, is it because what is at issue is that he had this double life, that he was dishonest with his family and the public, or is it mostly about the fact that he hired someone, a high profile job, who might allegedly be the person who was at the center of his homosexual affair? GASPARINO: Right, I mean, it's obviously the latter. Listen, we had a president who was an adulterer, probably a serial adulterer, and people elected him twice. The problem here is that Jim McGreevey appointed his boyfriend, essentially, to one position in state government where you need someone of competence, and that's director of homeland security. And that's not good. People will not forgive that, and that's what you have here.

WHITFIELD: And so, now you also have a situation where Golan Cipel, the man who is at the center of this affair, is saying there was no sexual relation. In fact, he was a victim of sexual advances.

GASPARINO: Right, I should say alleged boyfriend. I mean, yeah, this thing gets dirtier by the day, which makes Jim McGreevey's move of not resigning all the more sleazy. If you think about it, he's essentially going to put his wife, his children, through months and months of these insane allegations just so New Jersey doesn't become a Republican state. I mean, that, to me, is pretty crass.

WHITFIELD: And so, now the FBI is looking into whether extortion is also part of the resignation. How far can this investigation go and realistically try to glean some kind of information about whether, indeed, that is the case?

GASPARINO: Right. You know, McGreevey's involved in some very high profile investigations that are ongoing regarding corruption in New Jersey. I mean, who knows what this guy knows. He may know where a lot of bodies are buried. And this could be the one thing that would have taken down Jim McGreevey. I mean, this gentleman may know a lot about some of the payments that were made that the government is investigating.

WHITFIELD: And, in fact, it was those other alleged scandals that some people were speculating was going to be the impetus for his resignation, and not that it was about revealing this homosexual affair.

GASPARINO: Right. I mean, you know, New Jersey politics are pretty rough. I mean, there's been a lot of sleaze over the last 10 years in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. This is the latest one, and this is pretty bad stuff. I mean, there's an ongoing investigation involving one of his top contributors, and now it seems to be going beyond that to, you know, possibly payoffs to people. I mean, this is getting very bad.

WHITFIELD: So why are the Republicans so hard pressed on trying to get a special election, trying to get him to resign right away, when there are many who will say that no matter what, if there were a special election, that it would probably go Democrat anyway?

GASPARINO: Well, you know, I'm not so sure about that. I mean, if there's a special election right now, the person the Democrats are going to put up is probably a supporter of McGreevey, and they're going to have to atone for a lot of McGreevey's sins. I think there's a good chance a Republican would win this election. The problem is that McGreevey is not going to step down, and there's not going to be a Republican in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. And basically, that's a bad thing for George Bush, because he thinks if there's a Republican governor, he can possibly win that state.

WHITFIELD: All right, Charlie Gasparino of Newsweek, thanks so much for hanging tough with us on our satellite problems, joining us from New York.

GASPARINO: No problem, thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, onto sports now. Golfer Vijay Singh is not whistling along in the final round of the PGA Championship today, after all. A stumble has allowed his playing partner to advance. Our Patrick Snell is in Haven, Wisconsin, watching the action on the greens at Whistling Straits. I know a huge disappointment for Vijay so far.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka, yes. It's Justin Leonard, of course, the Texan, who has a two-stroke advantage at the moment. He's gone to 11 under par. Now, I'm joined by Lorin Anderson, who's managing editor of Golf Magazine. Lorin, thanks for joining us again.

A quick word on Tiger Woods, who's coming to the end of his fourth and final round here. I think we can safely say he won't be winning this major either. That's 10 now for him. How would you assess the state of him now, his game, his overall sort of mentality?

LORIN ANDERSON, GOLF MAGAZINE: Well, he had a very tough time putting today. He missed a lot of short putts, but that really wasn't the problem this week. Tiger once again only hit about half of the fairways for the four rounds, and to win a major championship you have to drive the ball better than he's driving it. And I'm sure that between now and next April, when the Masters rolls in, he'll be working hard on correcting that problem.

SNELL: Now, onto the overnight leader, Vijay Singh, and putting, of course, a huge part of him and his preparation, his psyche. Tell us about this contraption he uses, because I know he swears by it.

ANDERSON: Yeah, for two hours a day all week, he's been on the practice green over here at Whistling Straits, rolling balls between a track. It keeps his blade straight, so he puts straight back and straight through. And you know, two hours a day, that shows the difference between how hard these guys work on their game and how hard the amateurs work on their game.

SNELL: Now, he's dropped three shots already today, as we speak. What does he need to do to get back on track, and how will he be coping out there in these big winds?

ANDERSON: Yeah, surprising, you know. He's a great frontrunner. He's won his last seven tournaments in a row where he's had this Saturday night lead, and he's won both of his majors with a Saturday night lead. So this is a little surprising that he gave a few strokes back early.

But the course is very difficult the last five holes. In fact, four of the five hardest holes on the course are on the final stretch, so anybody within two or three strokes is going to have a chance coming into those last few holes.

SNELL: Of course, among them, the Masters champ, Phil Mickelson at seven under par at the moment. What does he have to do to really kind of thrust his way up the leader board?

ANDERSON: Well, again, I think he knows that the course is playing much more difficult today. He had a misstep early on with a double bogey on the third hole, but he's not playing badly. He made a birdie. Since then, he's hanging in there. A couple of birdies on the back nine today could pass a lot of people.

SNELL: And finally, just to look at those last four or five holes, they are playing pretty treacherous at the moment, aren't they?

ANDERSON: Yeah, and the wind has really picked up. This is the most wind we've seen all week. And the 15, 16, and 17 are all going to play dead into the wind, and 18 is going to play over 500 yards of the big wind. So anybody that can par the last four holes that might have the lead on 15 tee is going to have a great chance to win.

SNELL: OK, Lorin Anderson, many thanks for your insights. From Whistling Straights course, I'll send it back to CNN Center.

WHITFIELD: All right, Patrick Snell, thanks so much. Onto politics now, the candidates for president keep trying to land their shots, and as usual, their hits and misses this week provided choice material for the late night comedy shows.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LENO: President Bush said yesterday... this is what he told everybody. He said it doesn't make any sense to raise taxes on the rich, because rich people can figure out how to dodge taxes. And then Dick Cheney said, "Shut up, you're ruining everything."

BUSH: My opponent hasn't answered the question of whether, knowing what we know now, he would have supported going into Iraq. That's an important question, and the American people deserve a clear yes or no answer.

JON STEWART, HOST, DAILY SHOW: A powerful demand for honesty from a man standing on a set decorated with fake hay bales.

LENO: President Bush was in Florida, where he asked voters to once again send him to the White House. And the voters in Florida said, once again, "We didn't send you there in the first place."

STEWART: But this gives John Kerry an opportunity, an easy opportunity to set himself apart, to make a clear, forceful, unambiguous statement... "No, I would not have voted for the authority, knowing there were no WMDs." Or just don't take the bait. Mr. Kerry, it's a softball -- hit is out of the park.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would have voted for the authority.

STEWART: You're trying to lose.

LENO: John Kerry went to the Grand Canyon yesterday. He said he wanted to go someplace that made his head look a little smaller.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, that's it for us. "NEXT@CNN" is coming up with a daring art exhibit on human anatomy. And here's Daniel Sieberg with a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL SIEBERG, HOST, NEXT@CNN: Ahead on "NEXT@CNN," El Nino may be on the comeback trail. Scientists go on a bat blitz, learning new things about these misunderstood mammals. And is beauty really skin deep? A new art exhibition puts that to the test.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And at 6:00 Eastern, CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues with Carol Lin. She'll talk with the lead doctor who recently helped separate conjoined twins in New York. And at 7 Eastern on "PEOPLE IN THE NEWS," an in-depth look at Britney Spears. Thanks for joining us.

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