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American Morning
Hurricane Charley's Aftermath; Officials Asking Al-Sadr To Pull Out Of Mosque In Najaf; Peterson, Bryant, Jackson Trial Updates
Aired August 16, 2004 - 07:00 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Here comes another one. It's bad. It's bad.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hurricane Charley arriving with deadly force. Now it's time for the massive task of cleaning up.
Meanwhile, the concern out west is the huge wildfire. Thousands of acres have burned. Hundreds of firefighters trying to beat back the flames there.
And the Michael Jackson show back in court today. The one-time King of Pop facing down the man putting him on trial on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER (on camera): Good morning, everyone. Starting a new week. Bill Hemmer here in New York, along with Heidi Collins. Good morning to you.
They are picking up the pieces in such a dramatic way, too, in Florida. Hurricane Charley, an incredible amount of damage, especially along that west coast, southwestern part of Florida. We'll talk to one man who stuck around during the storm and saw his entire home destroyed and how he is doing today. Just one story that represents so many thousands today in Florida.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It sure does.
Also, we're going to take you live to Iraq. The U.S. operation to take control of Najaf is dominating the headlines there. Iraqi officials trying to come up with a way to get radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to withdraw his fighters. CNN's John Vause is there; he'll bring us up to speed.
HEMMER: Also, Kobe Bryant will appear in court this morning for his last pretrial hearing. Summer (ph) sang already: They believe it might be the last time he steps into a courtroom for this case.
We'll talk about that with Lisa Bloom of Court TV with us this morning here. COLLINS: Jack Cafferty is back, everybody. A round of applause.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: No, no, no...
HEMMER: That alarm clock still works?
CAFFERTY: ... no applause.
Let me tell you, I was away a week, and the first e-mail I get on my computer when I sign on this morning is the Top 10 Jim McGreevey jokes that are going around. The New Jersey governor who got himself in all this difficulty with the gay lover from Israel and the six- figure job that he handed out to the kid who wasn't qualified while he's married at home with a daughter while he claims to be -- it's just -- and my one regret last Thursday when the story broke was that I wasn't here.
Well, we're going to get caught up this morning.
HEMMER: That we will.
CAFFERTY: I can't wait.
HEMMER: And welcome back.
CAFFERTY: Thank you.
COLLINS: Thanks, Jack.
Back to Florida now. The state is digging through massive devastation this morning after Hurricane Charley hit the state with winds of up to 145 miles an hour.
Here now the latest damage assessment. More than one million residents still without power. Officials say it may be two weeks before power is restored to the worst-hit areas. Twenty-five Florida counties have been declared disaster zones. Florida Governor Jeb Bush estimating more than $15 billion in damages caused by Charley. And Florida's $9 billion citrus industry has been devastated by the storm.
The Punta Gorda area was hit hardest by Charley's wrath. What is the scene in the region this morning? Well, we begin with Ed Lavendera in Port Charlotte, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Charley found a fountain of confidence in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico Friday. It was here where Charley erupted from a Category 1 to a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 miles per hour.
At the time, Charley seemed on a collision course with Tampa Bay.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The big headline -- Target: Tampa Bay. LAVANDERA: But the biggest surprise came at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on Friday when the storm took a sudden turn and forecasters changed Charley's projected path. The target shifted about 70 miles south of Tampa.
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It doesn't look like this storm system is going to make any more of a jog. It is headed pretty much right towards the Ft. Myers area.
LAVANDERA: You could hear the urgency in the warnings of emergency workers ordering hundreds of thousands to evacuate.
CRAIG FUGATE, DIR. FLA. EMERGENCY MGMT.: You have to move now. You cannot delay. Your options are running out.
LAVANDERA: Shortly before 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, Charley unleashed its fury on Florida's southwest coast. Thousands left homeless. The storm's fury was intense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the past five minutes or so, we have been experiencing winds in excess of 100 miles an hour. It is tearing off roofs.
LAVANDERA: The aftermath left people numb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a bomb had went off, sir. It was unbelievable. The tree fell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you surprised to find you're in one piece?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, very much. I mean, I'll never do it again. I'll leave as soon as they say get out. You know, it was -- it was terrifying.
LAVANDERA: On Sunday, President Bush joined his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, touring the area's hardest hit and promising relief to the thousands of victims.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to take a while to rebuild it. But the -- but the government's job is to help people help rebuild their lives. And that's what's -- that's what's happening.
LAVANDERA: One image from the ferocious weekend seemed to say it all and summed up what people here feel they've been through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): It's expected to be another hot, sunny, muggy day here. No rain, which is the good news, and that'll help in the cleanup process. But there's still a lot of work to be done. Emergency crews still going neighborhood by neighborhood, home by home, searching for any other possible victims. And it is a process that will continue.
Emergency workers saying they're focusing on the basics here, just trying to provide enough food, water and shelter for all the people that are still left temporarily homeless -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Ed Lavendera, live from Port Charlotte this morning. Ed, thanks so much.
HEMMER: No more real threat from Charley. Now there's Earl to watch. And Rob Marciano's doing just that at the CNN Center, in for Chad today.
Rob, good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, Charley is gone, but now we're ramping up towards the peak of hurricane season, which is the second week of September. Not one, but two storms out here. This is Hurricane Danielle -- that formed first -- and then Hurricane Earl -- or Tropical Storm Earl formed after that. But Danielle looks like it's going to stay off to sea. It's way out there.
Earl, though, a little bit closer to home. A similar origin to Charley about two weeks ago. Its west-northwesterly direction at 20 miles an hour will continue it toward the Gulf of Mexico. Right now, sustained winds are about 45 miles an hour. So, mild weakening -- or strengthening is expected over the next 24 to 48 hours. That will bring it somewhere around or just south of Jamaica.
And then, after that, you know, it could go anywhere. It could over toward the Yucatan Peninsula or into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the week. And as that happens, then all eyes are on Earl at that point. It could very well be a hurricane by the time we get to 2:00 in the morning on Wednesday, and that is the official forecast out of the National Hurricane Center.
This is where Charley was about a week ago before it made that right turn. The question is: Does Earl make that right turn? Does it strengthen to a hurricane? We'll just have to wait and see, Bill. We'll keep you up to date throughout the week.
HEMMER: Rob, normally they follow alphabetical order. How did we go from C to E?
MARCIANO: Well, Danielle was formed first, but formed so far away from us -- well off the coast of Africa. And that one is not going to bother us at all. Then Earl formed, and that formed a little bit closer to us.
So, that's why we made the jump from C to E. There is a D, but she's not going to bother anybody.
HEMMER: Thank you, Rob. Talk to you a bit later this morning.
To other news now, Carol Costello, watching that from Atlanta, as well. Good morning there, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR Good morning, Bill. Thank you.
President Bush is unveiling a plan today that could call back tens of thousands of U.S. troops from overseas. An official says the plan would withdraw some 100,000 family members and military support staff from Europe and Asia. It would have no effect on troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The president will announce the plan in an address in Ohio later this morning.
Officials in Venezuela say President Hugo Chavez appears to have survived a referendum that sought to oust him from office. Polling hours were extended twice yesterday as record numbers of people turned out for the vote. And elections officials says preliminary results showed a majority support for Chavez. The opposition calls the numbers a fraud and says it will contest them.
In northern California, high winds are feeding a blaze that has consumed 20 homes and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents. It The fast-moving fire swept through the mountain community of French Gulch near Redding this weekend. Nearly 8,000 acres have been burned. More than 1,500 firefighters continue to battle the fires.
In golf, Vijay Singh hangs on with a 4 over par 76 to win the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. The 41-year-old Singh held on yesterday through a playoff of Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. Singh took his second Wanamaker Trophy, third career major, and fifth win for the year.
Back to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: And it was a good one. All right, Carol. Thanks so much.
Want to take you to Iraq, now, where it's going to be -- they're going to be asking radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to pull his fighters out of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. The U.S. operation to put down al-Sadr's uprising has dominated the Iraqi National Conference in Baghdad.
John Vause is live there now with the very latest. John, hello.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. With the ongoing fighting in Najaf, it seems that the delegates at this national conference are now trying to do what has alluded the U.S. and Iraqi governments to date, and that is convince Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi militia to lay down their weapons, leave the Imam Ali Mosque, and join the mainstream political process.
Later today or early tomorrow morning, a 21-person delegation will leave Baghdad for Najaf. the Arabic network al-Arabiya is reporting that Muqtada al-Sadr himself is ready to welcome their arrival.
Now, this is the second day of this national conference. More than a thousand delegates are here. Their main purpose is to elect a 100-person interim assembly, which will advise the Iraqi interim government in the lead-up to elections next year. They have not gotten around to that.
The main topic of discussion all day yesterday and most of today has been the ongoing violence in Najaf and demands on the interim Iraqi government to bring about a peaceful solution -- Heidi?
COLLINS: John, we know that neither U.S. forces or Iraqi forces have tried to go into that mosque. Tell us why.
VAUSE: Well, as far as the U.S. forces, they remain in control of the military operations in Najaf. Iraqi forces have been put under their control, but everyone is taking their orders from the interim Iraqi prime minister. And while this conference has been going on, in some ways, you've seen the process of democracy evolving over the last day-and-a-half.
From the floor of the delegates here, there have been demands that the mosque is not attacked, that there is no offensive against Muqtada al-Sadr until the interim Iraqi government exhausts every possibility of finding some kind of peaceful resolution.
So, the prime minister in many ways was forced into that. He was prepared to launch an all-out offensive, by most reports. He has pulled back from that, and now it seems that that offensive is on hold while this delegation goes down there to try one more time to talk Muqtada al-Sadr out of the mosque -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Hope it works this time.
All right, John Vause, thanks so much, live from Baghdad.
HEMMER: We're about 10 minutes past the hour, just getting started on this Monday morning. How would you like to be in that locker room with Larry Brown yesterday, huh?
COLLINS: Nope.
HEMMER: Absolute shocker in Athens for the U.S. men's team in basketball. Full Olympic update in a moment here. We'll get you caught up on what's happening in Greece.
COLLINS: Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant is in court for what's supposed to be his final pretrial hearing, but will the case ever even make it to jury selection?
HEMMER: Also, Michael Jackson expected to have a front-row seat today as the man prosecuting him on child-molestation charges takes the stand. All ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: An unusual courtroom confrontation on tap today in the Michael Jackson matter. The man who's trying to put Jackson behind bars will testify at this pretrial hearing, and Jackson gets a front- row seat for all of it.
Our Donna Tetrault is live in Santa Maria.
Good morning, Donna.
DONNA TETRAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, Michael Jackson doesn't have to be in court today, but he will be, along with several family members. Now, also, the California attorney general has just wrapped up an investigation in which Michael Jackson claimed that he had been manhandled by police while in custody last November when he was arrested.
Now, the findings are sealed at this point, but CNN has learned from sources close to the case that there was no misconduct.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson!
TETRAULT (voice-over): It was a surprise appearance at the First AME Church in Los Angeles when Michael Jackson showed up for Sunday service. His brother, Randy, and attorney Tom Mesereau were by his side. Jackson also met with children attending Sunday school. He answered only one question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would it be OK if we went to the Neverland Ranch?
MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: (INAUDIBLE).
TOM MESEREAU, JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: It was a beautiful service. He worshipped god like all of us.
TETRAULT: There was no mention of his next public appearance in a Santa Maria courtroom to fight child molestation charges. Jackson maintains his innocence.
A source tells CNN it's going to be a family reunion in the courtroom, all there to witness the district attorney, Tom Sneddon, on the stand, the man leading the prosecution of Michael. Jackson's lawyers will argue that D.A. Sneddon overstepped his role as prosecutor when he personally went to Los Angeles to investigate the case.
ARTHUR BARENS, LEGAL EXPERT: The district attorney has put himself in the middle of this case as much as he's put Mr. Jackson in the middle of this case. And we don't want to overlook his conduct, and has he acted in a manner that is legally appropriate. And that's what the defense seeks to challenge now.
TETRAULT: At issue, did investigators have the right to search the Beverly Hills office of private investigator Bradley Miller? The private investigator worked for Mark Geragos, Jackson's previous counsel. It's important because any evidence collected at Miller's office would be considered off limits to prosecutors and could be thrown out if the judge rules it was gathered illegally.
BARENS: In this instance, much of the material discovered by the prosecution, if it's eliminated, could absolutely cripple the prosecution's case and make the district attorney unable to proceed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TETRAULT (on camera): And Jackson is currently free on $3 million bail. Now that will also be discussed today at today's hearing, because attorneys for Jackson will argue that the amount was excessive -- Bill.
HEMMER: Donna, we saw the crowd the last time he was around in court. What's expected today?
TETRAULT: That same crowd is expected, and already this morning here, the courtroom will not begin -- the hearing will not begin until 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and already this morning there are several fans out here waiting for Michael Jackson and waiting to get a glimpse of him -- Bill.
HEMMER: Donna Tetrault, all right, live in Santa Maria, California this morning -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A California jury today will hear Scott Peterson try to convince his mistress he had nothing to do with the disappearance of his wife.
Rusty Dornin now from Redwood City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As searchers beat the brush for signs of a missing Laci Peterson, her husband was spending hours on the phone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER FREY: Yes, I'm here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Pillow talk with his mistress amber Frey, and seemingly endless lies about a European trip. Finally jurors heard the conversation tape taped two weeks following his wife's disappearance, where Peterson reveals one of his biggest secrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PETERSON: The girl I'm married to, her name is Laci. She disappeared just before Christmas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Then Frey began hours of her own interrogation of Peterson. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETERSON: My god, Amber, I had nothing to do with her disappearance.
FREY: Then who did?
PETERSON: We don't have any idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Repeatedly Frey asks Peterson what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETERSON: I am so sorry, but I can't tell you about those things right now.
FREY: Why? Why? Why not right now?
PETERSON: It would hurt entirely too many people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Peterson apologized for his lies, but continues his deceit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETERSON: OK, I wasn't in Madrid. That was a lie. The second phone call was only the truth.
FREY: So did you even go on that fishing trip in Alaska with your family?
PETERSON: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Peterson never went to Alaska. The jury has followed the transcripted intently, even chuckling at times when Peterson said he hardly ever lied to Frey.
First up Monday morning, the court will play the end of a conversation in which Amber Frey talks about her fears.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREY: And not to have this fear inside my heart that you had something to do with this and that you may have possibly and potentially have killed your wife.
PETERSON: No, you don't need to have that fear. You know me well enough.
FREY: What was that? PETERSON: I am not an evil guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Two more days of tapes and then Frey will resume her testimony.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Frey testified that she contacted police when she realized who Peterson was, and recorded the conversations at their request.
HEMMER: We know thousands are homeless today in Florida, billions of dollars in damage. The valuable citrus crop has been devastated. In a moment, we'll talk with the head of FEMA, the federal agency that is helping to bring hope to Florida.
Before we go, though, an Olympic quiz for you. When and where were the first Olympic Games held? Give you a hint. It was in Greece. Name the city. The answer and update from Athens in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Before the break, we asked you: When and where were the first Olympic Games held? The answer: Olympia, Greece, 776 B.C.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Team in modern times now suffered a couple of early shocks at the Games in Athens. The Men's Basketball Team stunned by Puerto Rico on Sunday 92-73. It's the first Olympic loss for America since NBA players started competing in the games. The U.S., led by Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan, still a chance for a gold medal. We'll keep you posted on what happens there. They play Greece next.
Swimming star Michael Phelps is going to have a tough time trying to match Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals. He and the U.S Team finished third to South Africa in the men's four (ph) by 100 Freestyle relay on Sunday
Plenty of joy, though, in Iraq again. The Iraqi Soccer Team knocked off Costa Rica 2-nil over the weekend. That's in the quarterfinal match. And they are going nuts in Baghdad yet again after that stunning upset by the Iraqi team.
That's an Olympic update. Here's Heidi now with more.
COLLINS: And the more I have is sitting right next to me. Jack Cafferty, welcome back -- "The Cafferty File."
CAFFERTY: Thank you. Yes, it's nice to be back, I think.
Golan Cipel -- I think is the way you say this guy's name -- he's the one that got tangled up with New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. He claims the governor sexually harassed him, says he's not gay, he's always been a heterosexual, and that the whole thing was McGreevey's idea. I love this story.
Other ongoing investigations into McGreevey activities could spell more trouble for the governor. Recent polls indicate that people don't think we have the whole story yet. I don't think we do either, and I can't wait for the rest of it.
Meanwhile, despite calls for McGreevey to resign immediately, including calls from some Democrats even, McGreevey says he's going to stay on until November 15th, which is a patternly (ph) transparent political move designed to keep the Democrats in power in New Jersey through at least next year.
So, here's the question: Do you think the governor ought to leave before November 15th? He should leave yesterday, never to be seen or heard from again.
And this whole news conference thing where he stood up and said, you know, "I've decided to come out of the closet" -- he got caught. This was not about doing the right thing. This was about having no choice but to own up because he got caught being a bad guy. They said, "He was so courageous, and it took so much courage for him to" -- baloney. He got caught.
HEMMER: If you read some of the stores coming out over the weekend, there was pressure within the Democratic party in New Jersey to get him to leave ASAP.
COLLINS: I think a lot of people thought we was going to leave at that news conference and say, "This is it."
CAFFERTY: He should leave today.
HEMMER: Good to have you back, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thank you.
HEMMER: There is some relief on oil and gas prices -- for now, anyway. Christine Romans working for Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
A guy named Hugo Chavez in Venezuela has a direct connection to your family budget. That's because he is the president of the fifth largest oil exporter, and he survived a referendum on his tenure.
And so, it looks as though the oil is going to keep flowing out of there; 2.6 million barrels a day is what they pump out. As you know, it is an extremely tight oil situation in this world right now. We've got huge demand from India, huge demand from China. Of course, the United States, we suck up as much oil as we possibly can. And crude oil prices have gone through the roof: $46 a barrel. Unbelievable! Looks like they will be down a little bit today. That might help the stock market. But down a little bit because it looks like the Venezuela situation will be calm.
HEMMER: They're going to stay down for now, but not for long.
ROMANS: Not for long, and the gas price data from the Trilby Lundberg survey that shows that gas prices are down several dollars over the past -- or several cents, rather, over the past few weeks. But cheaper last week, but don't get any used to it. It looks like $1.72 in Tulsa, $2.26 in Honolulu, but they expect gas prices, because of oil prices, will be going up.
HEMMER: $46 a barrel?
ROMANS: $46 a barrel. There are calls for 50.
COLLINS: Oh, great.
ROMANS: So, there you go.
HEMMER: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome. Sorry, bad news.
HEMMER: No, it's OK. You have what you have, right?
ROMANS: I have what I have.
HEMMER: Let's get a break here. In a moment, some "90-Second Pop" to start your workweek on this Monday.
Who is the best dressed? There's a new list out. Some people think this pick is just plain crazy. And Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt may be ready for a major role change. Their plans ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING. Boy, a whole lot of cleaning up to do today along Florida's west coast after Hurricane Charley passed through and did this. Devastating results. We'll talk to the head of FEMA, Michael Brown, to see what's being done on these days ahead.
Also in this next 30 minutes, Michael Jackson faces down the man putting him on trial. Santa Barbara County D.A. Tom Sneddon in court today, expected to be a rather unusual pretrial hearing. And Lisa Bloom of Court TV is here to explain what we expect to happen today in court. Stay tuned for that.
COLLINS: I think there are going to be some guests in that courtroom.
Plus, some "90-Second Pop." Afghan President Hamid Karzai gets a lot of style points for his fashion sense, but somebody else tops "Esquire" magazine's world best dressed list. Number one might come as a bit of a surprise to you.
Do you own that?
HEMMER: No.
COLLINS: Yes?
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 16, 2004 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Here comes another one. It's bad. It's bad.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hurricane Charley arriving with deadly force. Now it's time for the massive task of cleaning up.
Meanwhile, the concern out west is the huge wildfire. Thousands of acres have burned. Hundreds of firefighters trying to beat back the flames there.
And the Michael Jackson show back in court today. The one-time King of Pop facing down the man putting him on trial on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER (on camera): Good morning, everyone. Starting a new week. Bill Hemmer here in New York, along with Heidi Collins. Good morning to you.
They are picking up the pieces in such a dramatic way, too, in Florida. Hurricane Charley, an incredible amount of damage, especially along that west coast, southwestern part of Florida. We'll talk to one man who stuck around during the storm and saw his entire home destroyed and how he is doing today. Just one story that represents so many thousands today in Florida.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: It sure does.
Also, we're going to take you live to Iraq. The U.S. operation to take control of Najaf is dominating the headlines there. Iraqi officials trying to come up with a way to get radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to withdraw his fighters. CNN's John Vause is there; he'll bring us up to speed.
HEMMER: Also, Kobe Bryant will appear in court this morning for his last pretrial hearing. Summer (ph) sang already: They believe it might be the last time he steps into a courtroom for this case.
We'll talk about that with Lisa Bloom of Court TV with us this morning here. COLLINS: Jack Cafferty is back, everybody. A round of applause.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: No, no, no...
HEMMER: That alarm clock still works?
CAFFERTY: ... no applause.
Let me tell you, I was away a week, and the first e-mail I get on my computer when I sign on this morning is the Top 10 Jim McGreevey jokes that are going around. The New Jersey governor who got himself in all this difficulty with the gay lover from Israel and the six- figure job that he handed out to the kid who wasn't qualified while he's married at home with a daughter while he claims to be -- it's just -- and my one regret last Thursday when the story broke was that I wasn't here.
Well, we're going to get caught up this morning.
HEMMER: That we will.
CAFFERTY: I can't wait.
HEMMER: And welcome back.
CAFFERTY: Thank you.
COLLINS: Thanks, Jack.
Back to Florida now. The state is digging through massive devastation this morning after Hurricane Charley hit the state with winds of up to 145 miles an hour.
Here now the latest damage assessment. More than one million residents still without power. Officials say it may be two weeks before power is restored to the worst-hit areas. Twenty-five Florida counties have been declared disaster zones. Florida Governor Jeb Bush estimating more than $15 billion in damages caused by Charley. And Florida's $9 billion citrus industry has been devastated by the storm.
The Punta Gorda area was hit hardest by Charley's wrath. What is the scene in the region this morning? Well, we begin with Ed Lavendera in Port Charlotte, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Charley found a fountain of confidence in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico Friday. It was here where Charley erupted from a Category 1 to a Category 4 hurricane with winds of 145 miles per hour.
At the time, Charley seemed on a collision course with Tampa Bay.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The big headline -- Target: Tampa Bay. LAVANDERA: But the biggest surprise came at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time on Friday when the storm took a sudden turn and forecasters changed Charley's projected path. The target shifted about 70 miles south of Tampa.
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It doesn't look like this storm system is going to make any more of a jog. It is headed pretty much right towards the Ft. Myers area.
LAVANDERA: You could hear the urgency in the warnings of emergency workers ordering hundreds of thousands to evacuate.
CRAIG FUGATE, DIR. FLA. EMERGENCY MGMT.: You have to move now. You cannot delay. Your options are running out.
LAVANDERA: Shortly before 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, Charley unleashed its fury on Florida's southwest coast. Thousands left homeless. The storm's fury was intense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the past five minutes or so, we have been experiencing winds in excess of 100 miles an hour. It is tearing off roofs.
LAVANDERA: The aftermath left people numb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a bomb had went off, sir. It was unbelievable. The tree fell.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you surprised to find you're in one piece?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, very much. I mean, I'll never do it again. I'll leave as soon as they say get out. You know, it was -- it was terrifying.
LAVANDERA: On Sunday, President Bush joined his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, touring the area's hardest hit and promising relief to the thousands of victims.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to take a while to rebuild it. But the -- but the government's job is to help people help rebuild their lives. And that's what's -- that's what's happening.
LAVANDERA: One image from the ferocious weekend seemed to say it all and summed up what people here feel they've been through.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(on camera): It's expected to be another hot, sunny, muggy day here. No rain, which is the good news, and that'll help in the cleanup process. But there's still a lot of work to be done. Emergency crews still going neighborhood by neighborhood, home by home, searching for any other possible victims. And it is a process that will continue.
Emergency workers saying they're focusing on the basics here, just trying to provide enough food, water and shelter for all the people that are still left temporarily homeless -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Ed Lavendera, live from Port Charlotte this morning. Ed, thanks so much.
HEMMER: No more real threat from Charley. Now there's Earl to watch. And Rob Marciano's doing just that at the CNN Center, in for Chad today.
Rob, good morning.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Bill.
Yes, Charley is gone, but now we're ramping up towards the peak of hurricane season, which is the second week of September. Not one, but two storms out here. This is Hurricane Danielle -- that formed first -- and then Hurricane Earl -- or Tropical Storm Earl formed after that. But Danielle looks like it's going to stay off to sea. It's way out there.
Earl, though, a little bit closer to home. A similar origin to Charley about two weeks ago. Its west-northwesterly direction at 20 miles an hour will continue it toward the Gulf of Mexico. Right now, sustained winds are about 45 miles an hour. So, mild weakening -- or strengthening is expected over the next 24 to 48 hours. That will bring it somewhere around or just south of Jamaica.
And then, after that, you know, it could go anywhere. It could over toward the Yucatan Peninsula or into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the week. And as that happens, then all eyes are on Earl at that point. It could very well be a hurricane by the time we get to 2:00 in the morning on Wednesday, and that is the official forecast out of the National Hurricane Center.
This is where Charley was about a week ago before it made that right turn. The question is: Does Earl make that right turn? Does it strengthen to a hurricane? We'll just have to wait and see, Bill. We'll keep you up to date throughout the week.
HEMMER: Rob, normally they follow alphabetical order. How did we go from C to E?
MARCIANO: Well, Danielle was formed first, but formed so far away from us -- well off the coast of Africa. And that one is not going to bother us at all. Then Earl formed, and that formed a little bit closer to us.
So, that's why we made the jump from C to E. There is a D, but she's not going to bother anybody.
HEMMER: Thank you, Rob. Talk to you a bit later this morning.
To other news now, Carol Costello, watching that from Atlanta, as well. Good morning there, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR Good morning, Bill. Thank you.
President Bush is unveiling a plan today that could call back tens of thousands of U.S. troops from overseas. An official says the plan would withdraw some 100,000 family members and military support staff from Europe and Asia. It would have no effect on troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The president will announce the plan in an address in Ohio later this morning.
Officials in Venezuela say President Hugo Chavez appears to have survived a referendum that sought to oust him from office. Polling hours were extended twice yesterday as record numbers of people turned out for the vote. And elections officials says preliminary results showed a majority support for Chavez. The opposition calls the numbers a fraud and says it will contest them.
In northern California, high winds are feeding a blaze that has consumed 20 homes and forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents. It The fast-moving fire swept through the mountain community of French Gulch near Redding this weekend. Nearly 8,000 acres have been burned. More than 1,500 firefighters continue to battle the fires.
In golf, Vijay Singh hangs on with a 4 over par 76 to win the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. The 41-year-old Singh held on yesterday through a playoff of Justin Leonard and Chris DiMarco. Singh took his second Wanamaker Trophy, third career major, and fifth win for the year.
Back to you, Heidi.
COLLINS: And it was a good one. All right, Carol. Thanks so much.
Want to take you to Iraq, now, where it's going to be -- they're going to be asking radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to pull his fighters out of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf. The U.S. operation to put down al-Sadr's uprising has dominated the Iraqi National Conference in Baghdad.
John Vause is live there now with the very latest. John, hello.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi. With the ongoing fighting in Najaf, it seems that the delegates at this national conference are now trying to do what has alluded the U.S. and Iraqi governments to date, and that is convince Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi militia to lay down their weapons, leave the Imam Ali Mosque, and join the mainstream political process.
Later today or early tomorrow morning, a 21-person delegation will leave Baghdad for Najaf. the Arabic network al-Arabiya is reporting that Muqtada al-Sadr himself is ready to welcome their arrival.
Now, this is the second day of this national conference. More than a thousand delegates are here. Their main purpose is to elect a 100-person interim assembly, which will advise the Iraqi interim government in the lead-up to elections next year. They have not gotten around to that.
The main topic of discussion all day yesterday and most of today has been the ongoing violence in Najaf and demands on the interim Iraqi government to bring about a peaceful solution -- Heidi?
COLLINS: John, we know that neither U.S. forces or Iraqi forces have tried to go into that mosque. Tell us why.
VAUSE: Well, as far as the U.S. forces, they remain in control of the military operations in Najaf. Iraqi forces have been put under their control, but everyone is taking their orders from the interim Iraqi prime minister. And while this conference has been going on, in some ways, you've seen the process of democracy evolving over the last day-and-a-half.
From the floor of the delegates here, there have been demands that the mosque is not attacked, that there is no offensive against Muqtada al-Sadr until the interim Iraqi government exhausts every possibility of finding some kind of peaceful resolution.
So, the prime minister in many ways was forced into that. He was prepared to launch an all-out offensive, by most reports. He has pulled back from that, and now it seems that that offensive is on hold while this delegation goes down there to try one more time to talk Muqtada al-Sadr out of the mosque -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Hope it works this time.
All right, John Vause, thanks so much, live from Baghdad.
HEMMER: We're about 10 minutes past the hour, just getting started on this Monday morning. How would you like to be in that locker room with Larry Brown yesterday, huh?
COLLINS: Nope.
HEMMER: Absolute shocker in Athens for the U.S. men's team in basketball. Full Olympic update in a moment here. We'll get you caught up on what's happening in Greece.
COLLINS: Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant is in court for what's supposed to be his final pretrial hearing, but will the case ever even make it to jury selection?
HEMMER: Also, Michael Jackson expected to have a front-row seat today as the man prosecuting him on child-molestation charges takes the stand. All ahead this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.
Back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: An unusual courtroom confrontation on tap today in the Michael Jackson matter. The man who's trying to put Jackson behind bars will testify at this pretrial hearing, and Jackson gets a front- row seat for all of it.
Our Donna Tetrault is live in Santa Maria.
Good morning, Donna.
DONNA TETRAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, Michael Jackson doesn't have to be in court today, but he will be, along with several family members. Now, also, the California attorney general has just wrapped up an investigation in which Michael Jackson claimed that he had been manhandled by police while in custody last November when he was arrested.
Now, the findings are sealed at this point, but CNN has learned from sources close to the case that there was no misconduct.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michael Jackson!
TETRAULT (voice-over): It was a surprise appearance at the First AME Church in Los Angeles when Michael Jackson showed up for Sunday service. His brother, Randy, and attorney Tom Mesereau were by his side. Jackson also met with children attending Sunday school. He answered only one question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would it be OK if we went to the Neverland Ranch?
MICHAEL JACKSON, ENTERTAINER: (INAUDIBLE).
TOM MESEREAU, JACKSON'S ATTORNEY: It was a beautiful service. He worshipped god like all of us.
TETRAULT: There was no mention of his next public appearance in a Santa Maria courtroom to fight child molestation charges. Jackson maintains his innocence.
A source tells CNN it's going to be a family reunion in the courtroom, all there to witness the district attorney, Tom Sneddon, on the stand, the man leading the prosecution of Michael. Jackson's lawyers will argue that D.A. Sneddon overstepped his role as prosecutor when he personally went to Los Angeles to investigate the case.
ARTHUR BARENS, LEGAL EXPERT: The district attorney has put himself in the middle of this case as much as he's put Mr. Jackson in the middle of this case. And we don't want to overlook his conduct, and has he acted in a manner that is legally appropriate. And that's what the defense seeks to challenge now.
TETRAULT: At issue, did investigators have the right to search the Beverly Hills office of private investigator Bradley Miller? The private investigator worked for Mark Geragos, Jackson's previous counsel. It's important because any evidence collected at Miller's office would be considered off limits to prosecutors and could be thrown out if the judge rules it was gathered illegally.
BARENS: In this instance, much of the material discovered by the prosecution, if it's eliminated, could absolutely cripple the prosecution's case and make the district attorney unable to proceed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TETRAULT (on camera): And Jackson is currently free on $3 million bail. Now that will also be discussed today at today's hearing, because attorneys for Jackson will argue that the amount was excessive -- Bill.
HEMMER: Donna, we saw the crowd the last time he was around in court. What's expected today?
TETRAULT: That same crowd is expected, and already this morning here, the courtroom will not begin -- the hearing will not begin until 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and already this morning there are several fans out here waiting for Michael Jackson and waiting to get a glimpse of him -- Bill.
HEMMER: Donna Tetrault, all right, live in Santa Maria, California this morning -- Heidi.
COLLINS: A California jury today will hear Scott Peterson try to convince his mistress he had nothing to do with the disappearance of his wife.
Rusty Dornin now from Redwood City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As searchers beat the brush for signs of a missing Laci Peterson, her husband was spending hours on the phone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER FREY: Yes, I'm here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Pillow talk with his mistress amber Frey, and seemingly endless lies about a European trip. Finally jurors heard the conversation tape taped two weeks following his wife's disappearance, where Peterson reveals one of his biggest secrets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT PETERSON: The girl I'm married to, her name is Laci. She disappeared just before Christmas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Then Frey began hours of her own interrogation of Peterson. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETERSON: My god, Amber, I had nothing to do with her disappearance.
FREY: Then who did?
PETERSON: We don't have any idea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Repeatedly Frey asks Peterson what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETERSON: I am so sorry, but I can't tell you about those things right now.
FREY: Why? Why? Why not right now?
PETERSON: It would hurt entirely too many people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Peterson apologized for his lies, but continues his deceit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETERSON: OK, I wasn't in Madrid. That was a lie. The second phone call was only the truth.
FREY: So did you even go on that fishing trip in Alaska with your family?
PETERSON: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Peterson never went to Alaska. The jury has followed the transcripted intently, even chuckling at times when Peterson said he hardly ever lied to Frey.
First up Monday morning, the court will play the end of a conversation in which Amber Frey talks about her fears.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREY: And not to have this fear inside my heart that you had something to do with this and that you may have possibly and potentially have killed your wife.
PETERSON: No, you don't need to have that fear. You know me well enough.
FREY: What was that? PETERSON: I am not an evil guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Two more days of tapes and then Frey will resume her testimony.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Redwood City, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Frey testified that she contacted police when she realized who Peterson was, and recorded the conversations at their request.
HEMMER: We know thousands are homeless today in Florida, billions of dollars in damage. The valuable citrus crop has been devastated. In a moment, we'll talk with the head of FEMA, the federal agency that is helping to bring hope to Florida.
Before we go, though, an Olympic quiz for you. When and where were the first Olympic Games held? Give you a hint. It was in Greece. Name the city. The answer and update from Athens in a moment here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Before the break, we asked you: When and where were the first Olympic Games held? The answer: Olympia, Greece, 776 B.C.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Team in modern times now suffered a couple of early shocks at the Games in Athens. The Men's Basketball Team stunned by Puerto Rico on Sunday 92-73. It's the first Olympic loss for America since NBA players started competing in the games. The U.S., led by Allen Iverson and Tim Duncan, still a chance for a gold medal. We'll keep you posted on what happens there. They play Greece next.
Swimming star Michael Phelps is going to have a tough time trying to match Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals. He and the U.S Team finished third to South Africa in the men's four (ph) by 100 Freestyle relay on Sunday
Plenty of joy, though, in Iraq again. The Iraqi Soccer Team knocked off Costa Rica 2-nil over the weekend. That's in the quarterfinal match. And they are going nuts in Baghdad yet again after that stunning upset by the Iraqi team.
That's an Olympic update. Here's Heidi now with more.
COLLINS: And the more I have is sitting right next to me. Jack Cafferty, welcome back -- "The Cafferty File."
CAFFERTY: Thank you. Yes, it's nice to be back, I think.
Golan Cipel -- I think is the way you say this guy's name -- he's the one that got tangled up with New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey. He claims the governor sexually harassed him, says he's not gay, he's always been a heterosexual, and that the whole thing was McGreevey's idea. I love this story.
Other ongoing investigations into McGreevey activities could spell more trouble for the governor. Recent polls indicate that people don't think we have the whole story yet. I don't think we do either, and I can't wait for the rest of it.
Meanwhile, despite calls for McGreevey to resign immediately, including calls from some Democrats even, McGreevey says he's going to stay on until November 15th, which is a patternly (ph) transparent political move designed to keep the Democrats in power in New Jersey through at least next year.
So, here's the question: Do you think the governor ought to leave before November 15th? He should leave yesterday, never to be seen or heard from again.
And this whole news conference thing where he stood up and said, you know, "I've decided to come out of the closet" -- he got caught. This was not about doing the right thing. This was about having no choice but to own up because he got caught being a bad guy. They said, "He was so courageous, and it took so much courage for him to" -- baloney. He got caught.
HEMMER: If you read some of the stores coming out over the weekend, there was pressure within the Democratic party in New Jersey to get him to leave ASAP.
COLLINS: I think a lot of people thought we was going to leave at that news conference and say, "This is it."
CAFFERTY: He should leave today.
HEMMER: Good to have you back, Jack.
CAFFERTY: Thank you.
HEMMER: There is some relief on oil and gas prices -- for now, anyway. Christine Romans working for Andy Serwer, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
A guy named Hugo Chavez in Venezuela has a direct connection to your family budget. That's because he is the president of the fifth largest oil exporter, and he survived a referendum on his tenure.
And so, it looks as though the oil is going to keep flowing out of there; 2.6 million barrels a day is what they pump out. As you know, it is an extremely tight oil situation in this world right now. We've got huge demand from India, huge demand from China. Of course, the United States, we suck up as much oil as we possibly can. And crude oil prices have gone through the roof: $46 a barrel. Unbelievable! Looks like they will be down a little bit today. That might help the stock market. But down a little bit because it looks like the Venezuela situation will be calm.
HEMMER: They're going to stay down for now, but not for long.
ROMANS: Not for long, and the gas price data from the Trilby Lundberg survey that shows that gas prices are down several dollars over the past -- or several cents, rather, over the past few weeks. But cheaper last week, but don't get any used to it. It looks like $1.72 in Tulsa, $2.26 in Honolulu, but they expect gas prices, because of oil prices, will be going up.
HEMMER: $46 a barrel?
ROMANS: $46 a barrel. There are calls for 50.
COLLINS: Oh, great.
ROMANS: So, there you go.
HEMMER: Thanks, Christine.
ROMANS: You're welcome. Sorry, bad news.
HEMMER: No, it's OK. You have what you have, right?
ROMANS: I have what I have.
HEMMER: Let's get a break here. In a moment, some "90-Second Pop" to start your workweek on this Monday.
Who is the best dressed? There's a new list out. Some people think this pick is just plain crazy. And Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt may be ready for a major role change. Their plans ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Just about half past the hour now on this AMERICAN MORNING. Boy, a whole lot of cleaning up to do today along Florida's west coast after Hurricane Charley passed through and did this. Devastating results. We'll talk to the head of FEMA, Michael Brown, to see what's being done on these days ahead.
Also in this next 30 minutes, Michael Jackson faces down the man putting him on trial. Santa Barbara County D.A. Tom Sneddon in court today, expected to be a rather unusual pretrial hearing. And Lisa Bloom of Court TV is here to explain what we expect to happen today in court. Stay tuned for that.
COLLINS: I think there are going to be some guests in that courtroom.
Plus, some "90-Second Pop." Afghan President Hamid Karzai gets a lot of style points for his fashion sense, but somebody else tops "Esquire" magazine's world best dressed list. Number one might come as a bit of a surprise to you.
Do you own that?
HEMMER: No.
COLLINS: Yes?
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