Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Recapping Damage Caused by Hurricane Charley; Discussing Importance of Imam Ali Mosque

Aired August 16, 2004 - 08:00   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 VIDEO CLIP)
PENNY FAHRBACH, LOST HOME: There's no gas stations. You can't go get gas. You can't go to the grocery store. They're closed. You know, it's devastating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Charley is gone, but it will not be forgotten. It's time for residents to pick up the pieces.

The showdown in Najaf -- does the U.S. have no choice but to wait out the radical cleric leading the militia?

And an unusual hearing in the Michael Jackson case. The man putting Jackson on trial takes the stand to testify on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone on a Monday morning.

Welcome back.

Heidi Collins along with me here. We team brown, today, by the way, if you get the memo.

COLLINS: Do we win?

HEMMER: I don't know. I guess we're going to work for UPS after the show or something.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: But welcome.

It's Monday morning and there's an awful lot of cleaning up to do this morning along Florida's West Coast. Residents sifting through what remains of their homes after hurricane Charley tore through that state. In a moment, we'll talk with a local sheriff about how the effort is going thus far. And they've got a long way to go, too, as we talk about it today.

COLLINS: They sure do. Also, the fight for control of Najaf. Experts now saying radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is taking a page from the playbook of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. Author Bruce Feiler will explain exactly what that means. Feiler was in Iraq and Iran this past spring. We'll talk about that.

HEMMER: Also, more on the 9/11 hearings today on Capitol Hill. Three former CIA directors scheduled to testify. James Woolsey is one of them. He's our guest. He tells us what he thinks of the recommendations now being considered. We'll get to Mr. Woolsey a bit later this hour here.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, Jack is with us now.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's the UPS slogan, find out what brown can do for you?

HEMMER: Yes, as a matter of fact.

CAFFERTY: I know the answer and it's not pretty.

Coming up today in the "Cafferty File," the story of a serial snuggler in Louisiana who apparently makes great nachos.

And the story of a 30-year-old Twinkie that's not Paris Hilton.

COLLINS: OK.

All right, we look forward to those.

Thank you, Jack.

Moving back to Florida now, many Florida residents are only now George Tenet a glimpse of the devastation left behind by hurricane Charley. We'll get an update from the sheriff in Charlotte County in just a moment.

But first, Tom Foreman begins our coverage in Punta Gorda.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the chaos of Florida's Gulf Coast, Harvey Rothberg (ph) came from Connecticut to check on the vacation home he retreats to every year, to see if it survived.

HARVEY ROTHBERG: It looks really bad. I don't know if I can get more nervous than I am right now.

FOREMAN: Coming home, especially for those who live here permanently, is proving painful for many. More than 450 retirees live in Windmill Village. All their homes were damaged, many flattened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rolls, chicken.

FOREMAN: They're using their ruined clubhouse to share food and frustration over lifetime savings lost.

FAHRBACH: All the motels are filled, because it's not just here, it's all over. You know, and there's no gas stations. You can't go get gas. You can't go to the grocery store. They're closed. You know, it's devastating.

FOREMAN: Hundreds of insurance agents, often in their own ravaged offices, are helping file emergency claims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And everything's falling off the walls, all the moisture, the dry walls. Everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get things dried up as best as you can.

FOREMAN: That process is expected to go on for months.

(on camera): It is a measure of how widespread the damage is that many people say they still have no idea when help will come to their neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks good.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Harvey Rothberg wound up being lucky. But others...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where we used to sleep.

FOREMAN: ... are now living in half ruined homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now we're just kind of bedding down over here.

FOREMAN: With little hope of anything better any time soon.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Punta Gorda, Florida.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Port Charlotte is among the communities hit hardest by hurricane Charley. And so how are residents doing there this morning?

Sheriff Bill Cameron is joining us live from that area to fill us in on the details.

Welcome to you, Sheriff.

Thanks for being with us on such a very busy day for you.

When you first saw the area and you looked around, tell us a little bit about what you saw.

SHERIFF WILLIAM CAMERON, CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA: It's kind of hard to describe the devastation. You would have to have experienced it in person. I don't even think the images on TV can do it justice. COLLINS: Tell us a little bit, then, about how residents are doing. How are they feeling as you talk to them today?

CAMERON: Well, it's an amazing community. Everybody is pulling together and the spirits are much better than I ever could have hoped for. The community is just really responding to this together. Of course, you know, we're into about the third day here so we're, we've got some tensions rising because we've been out of air conditioning, water, electricity for a couple of days now. So it's starting to get difficult.

COLLINS: We've talked with some of the experts from FEMA who say that folks really just need everything down there. But if you could categorize what they're telling you they need the most, what would that be?

CAMERON: Well, water is always a commodity that's in great need. We have a lot of people whose homes are destroyed and a lot of their personal property gone. So our local Florida community has been responding with a lot of resources and they're just starting to pour in in droves now. And believe it or not, one of the more challenging things is coordinating those as they're arriving and coordinating all of the volunteers. We're trying to get a handle on that now.

COLLINS: Sure. I can imagine. And also looking behind you, you can just see a mass of trees down behind you.

What do you think the biggest challenge will be, as far as cleanup efforts go, when these days go on?

CAMERON: Well, right now our biggest challenge is restoring power. You can imagine, we're in south Florida. It's a very hot community. We get rain just about every day and a lot of the people that are living without air conditioning or without power, when the dark falls, that's whenever you get a little bit worried. And I've talked to several residents that say in the daytime it's not so bad because they're busy doing things. But at night time, they really feel kind of alone and they have no electricity and people are trying to protect their own property.

We have shelters set up that have air conditioning, that have showers. But people are just afraid to leave their homes for the security of their own neighborhoods.

COLLINS: Talk to us a little bit more about that, if you could, sheriff.

What is the security situation?

CAMERON: The National Guard has sent us a lot of help and local law enforcement and area law enforcement throughout the entire state. We established a curfew two nights ago, starting at 9:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m. for the hours of darkness that only emergency personnel are moving during those hours. And we're stopping any traffic. But it's a big neighborhood and even with all of those resources, people are having to take a lot of this stuff into their own hands, the security of their own neighborhoods.

COLLINS: All right, so you've got a curfew and the National Guard and a little bit of aid coming in slowly but surely.

We certainly wish you and all of the people down there the very best in the coming days.

CAMERON: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Sheriff Bill Cameron, thanks again for your time -- Bill.

HEMMER: Charley is gone in terms of it being a storm or a weather maker. Now there is Earl to worry about.

Rob Marciano is tracking that storm now, in for Chad -- Rob, good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Charley took an exit stage right quickly yesterday. Twenty-four hours ago, it was in through Boston and many areas across Massachusetts saw an excess of two and three inches of rainfall in the form of rain falling in that area, not regarding to Charley.

All right, two other storms to talk about. This is hurricane Danielle. It's a strong one, moving to the northwest at 19 -- 17 miles an hour. But the key is here it's moving to the northwest and eventually will recurve back out into the open Atlantic Ocean. Not a problem.

After Danielle, tropical storm Earl formed, but it's formed a little bit closer to us across the Leeward and Windward Islands. And now it has winds of about 45 miles an hour. It is heading off to the west, eventually northwest, as well, scooting to the south of Jamaica. This is the latest hurricane track out of the National Hurricane Center. And over the next 24 to 48 hours, it will strengthen a little bit, possibly strengthening to hurricane force status. And then once it gets past this area, say during the day on Tuesday or Wednesday, you know, it could go down to the south or it could make a right turn up into the Gulf of Mexico, we're just going to have to wait and see, Bill.

But you're right, tropical storm Earl could become a hurricane, and we'll seriously watch it over the next couple of days.

HEMMER: All right, thumbs down on that if that's the case, Rob.

MARCIANO: Yes.

HEMMER: Thanks for that.

Carol Costello with us today watching the other news.

Again, Carol, good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill.

Thank you.

Iraq's National Conference has agreed to send a delegation to Najaf to meet with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Iraqi officials want to encourage al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army to withdraw from the Imam Ali Mosque. Some two dozen fighters are reportedly holed up in that mosque and are threatening to blow it up if attacked. Three U.S. personnel were killed in the area yesterday.

Here in the United States, California's attorney general says it has found no evidence that Michael Jackson was mistreated by sheriff's deputies when he surrendered to them last November. The announcement comes as Jackson made a surprise visit to an L.A. church. The pop star is due in court later today. He'll face Tom Sneddon, the district attorney who tried to bring charges against Jackson in 1993.

North Korean officials say they will not attend working meetings ahead of a new round of nuclear talks next month. The U.S. had said it wanted to meet as soon as possible with the six countries that would attend. But North Korean officials say the U.S. is not sincere in its efforts to resolve the stand-off.

And ticket sales at this year's Summer Olympics are falling way short of expectations. Olympic organizers cited in the "Washington Post" say they sold nearly three million tickets as of Saturday. That's slightly more than half of the some five million tickets available.

Back to New York and Bill.

HEMMER: Watching a lot of the events over the weekend, you can see these venues. They're not even half full. And that's sometimes an over statement.

COSTELLO: Even the swimming.

HEMMER: Yes, very true. Swimming and diving, normally the most popular, and always sold out in the past, but not the case so far in Athens.

Thank you, Carol.

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, President Bush prepares to unveil a plan to redeploy U.S. military forces worldwide and bring tens of thousands of troops back home. We'll talk about that in a moment.

HEMMER: Also, when it comes to kicking the smoking habit, who has the tougher time? Is it men or is it women? Sanjay has that a bit later this hour.

COLLINS: And the stand-off in Najaf -- is radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr following a script once used by the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran? We'll take a look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Iraq's government is sending a delegation to ask radical Shiite latest development Muqtada al-Sadr to pull out of the Imam Ali Mosque. His Mehdi Army has been holed up there, threatening to blow up the shrine and keeping U.S. forces at bay.

Bruce Feiler, author of "Abraham: A Journey To the Heart of Three Faiths," can tell us why this mosque is so important. He's with us now to tell us the answer to that question.

I mean we have been talking about it. As far as Shiites go, the holiest shrine of all. Talk about that a little bit.

BRUCE FEILER, AUTHOR, "ABRAHAM": Well, it really goes back to the foundation moment of Shia Islam. When the Prophet Mohammed died in 632 there was no successor. There was a battle, basically. Some wanted to appoint a successor. Others wanted his son and his son-in- law and cousin, Ali, Imam Ali, to be the leader.

Imam Ali was murdered, actually, soon after the Prophet's death in Kufa, not far from Najaf. And per his instructions, they tied his body, dead body, to a camel. It wandered in the desert, ended up in Najaf. And that's where they buried him, built it to him and the shrine rose up around that.

COLLINS: All right, now you said something else that was very interesting a while back. You said that Muqtada al-Sadr is actually following a playbook, if you will, of the Ayatollah Khomeini in being inside this mosque.

What do you mean by that?

FEILER: Well, Shia Islam has traditionally been the more meditative and mystical of the branches of Islam, closer to Sufism. It's the smallest at 15 percent, much smaller than the Sunni Muslim sect is. And basically it was Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1960s who changed that. He was exiled by the shah and ended up in 1965 in Najaf, where he lived for 13 years.

There, he advocated overthrowing the shah of Iran, compared the shah to a puppet government and said the United States was essentially like Yasid, who was the original Sunni who massacred the followers of Imam Ali. And that's what Muqtada al-Sadr is doing, because he has a problem, which is he doesn't have the natural authority that Khomeini at the time, in the 60s, had.

COLLINS: Too young.

FEILER: Exactly. So what he's doing is he's basically following the script of Khomeini in a way to give himself more authority and to latch into these really deeply emotional ideas in Shia Islam, which has always been really victimized in its language.

COLLINS: Yes, but how complicated does it make it, then, for armed forces, I mean, who are obviously not Muslim? FEILER: Oh, I think that one thing we know is that religion is going to be dominant in Iraq for the next maybe number of decades. And if the question is who lost the Shrine of Ali, who is responsible for its damage, there is no way that we're going to win that argument.

But I think there's a really interesting parallel that's not been talking about, which is in November 1979, 200 Sunni militants actually occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca. And the Saudi government waited a couple of weeks and then, with French paratroopers, actually liberated them.

But they did something first, and that is they got permission from the religious authorities.

COLLINS: Right.

FEILER: There's a split in the Shia community now between the violent extremism of Sadr and the more moderates. And what I hope is what's happening with this expedition today is that the prime minister is trying to get approval from the senior Shias in Iraq to try to do something, because if they don't do it, there's no way we're going to win that argument.

COLLINS: Yes. And then what happens if something does happen to the mosque? I mean what will the fallout be?

FEILER: Well, I think that what you've got is you've got 150 Shia Muslims around the world that are going to be very upset. And I think the larger Muslim world, who views this as an occupation, as a threat to Islam, is going to be really rattled. So if that is the question, then we've lost the war. And the larger goal, let us not forget, is the democracy conference going on in Baghdad, which was already upended this weekend.

COLLINS: Right.

FEILER: And the larger region. So there's no reason, I don't think, at the moment, to risk the larger goal for ousting Sadr this week. There's no compelling military reason for that.

COLLINS: Quickly, can you give us a sense of how much support he really has all across the country?

FEILER: Well, I think his support is not really in Najaf. We hear a lot about that they don't want him there because their economy is based on tourism, largely from Iran. His support is essentially in Sadr City, the slum in Baghdad, which has about 30 to 40 percent of the population, and in the southern cities. Anybody who's young, disaffected, sort of rabble rousers from the street, as we often hear, that's where his support is.

COLLINS: Sure.

FEILER: But that is not insubstantial, yet at the same time we've basically held off going after them across the country for months. And there really doesn't appear to be a compelling reason to have the showdown right now.

COLLINS: All right, Bruce Feiler, thank you so much for that very, very interesting stuff.

FEILER: My pleasure.

COLLINS: Appreciate it.

FEILER: Great to be with you.

COLLINS: All right, Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi.

In a moment here, a showdown in the Olympic pool. The latest from Athens coming up in a moment here.

Also, answer this question -- which city will host the 2006 Olympic Winter Games? We'll have the answer after a break.

Also, live to Athens and back with Jack after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Here's the answer to today's quiz, Olympic quiz 2004. Which city hosts the Winter Games in 2006? And the answer is, Jack?

CAFFERTY: Jacksonville, Florida.

HEMMER: Close.

COLLINS: Close.

HEMMER: They were in the running, though. Torino, Italy, 543 days to go and counting.

CAFFERTY: Who cares?

HEMMER: Seventy-nine days to go before the election, by the way.

CAFFERTY: Do we care about this now?

HEMMER: Absolutely we do.

CAFFERTY: We do? No we don't.

HEMMER: We're in the spirit of the Olympics and yet we push on.

To Athens now. It was not supposed to go this way for the men's basketball team. Larry Smith is there live -- Larry, good afternoon.

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bill.

How are you?

Yes, let's face it, let's not call the USA basketball team the Dream Team. The only dreaming was -- that's been doing, been done is by Puerto Rico. They can only -- could have dreamed it would have been this easy. 92-73 last night. The U.S. men's team is practicing today, trying to find some answers before they take on Greece tomorrow night. This is some action from last night. The USA, poor outside shooting. They have -- we knew that was one of the weaknesses and they went only three for 24 in this game last night. 92-73, the worst round in Olympic history for the Americans.

Now, they called an exhibition root by Italy a couple of weeks ago their wake up call, so I guess they hit their snooze button in this one.

How about some swimming? Michael Phelps last night losing his bid for a record eight swimming gold medals, as the U.S. four by 100- meter freestyle relay team finished with the bronze behind South Africa's world record mark.

Now, tonight it's the 200-meter freestyle, a chance for Phelps to win his second gold in a field that boasts the four fastest swimmers in history. Phelps has already been in the pool today, by the way. He had tied for the best time as he qualified for the 200-meter butterfly semifinals. That is tonight. Now, the finals in that event, we expect Phelps to be a part of that. That'll be tomorrow night.

Also, three cheers for Iraqi soccer, as they beat Costa Rica 2-0. They're now 2 and 0 in these games and already have qualified for the quarter finals in the Olympic soccer competition. This, Iraq's soccer, it's their first games since 1988. What a great success story for the Iraqis -- Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: Also, Larry, what's the status on these two Greek athletes, who apparently drugged -- failed a drug test?

SMITH: Well, they didn't fail it, they missed it, which in some eyes, in the international track community, that's like a failed test. Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou have now been granted a 48-hour extension to explain why they missed that mandatory drug test on Thursday. The Greek Olympic Committee has already withdrawn them from the games. That happened on Saturday. But their ultimate fate rests in the International Olympic Committee, which will now hold a hearing, their investigative panel, on Wednesday, to hear what the reasons are. If they still say that they are not allowed to play in the games, they could still appeal, then to a higher court, the Court of Arbitration for Sports.

All this happening -- by the way, track and field doesn't take place until Friday, so this could go on for a few days still.

HEMMER: All right.

Thank you, Larry.

A great backdrop, as always, the Acropolis there in Athens. It looks wonderful.

SMITH: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you -- Heidi.

COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the Question of the Day, which is not about the Olympics.

CAFFERTY: No, it's about New Jersey.

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Despite calls for New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey to resign immediately, including calls now from some Democrats, members of his own party, McGreevey says he's going to stay in office until November the 15th, which would then allow the Democrats to maintain their hold on the governor's mansion through at least next year. Some say that that's political opportunism. That's one word for it.

Anyway, the question is do you think Governor McGreevey should leave office before November 15?

Gary, or Gerry, I guess it is, in Des Moines, Iowa, where I used to work once upon a time: "I have my family by my side while I ponder Jack's heavy question. I'm torn by indecision. My thoughts run wild. It takes all my courage and bravery to say to Governor McGreevey, 'shove off.'"

Larry in Shreveport, Louisiana: "Mr. McGreevey is a coward. He's still proving it to the people of his state. He is powerless to govern at this point. He still does not want the people to decide who should be the governor. He is yet another disgusting example of how low politics can go, especially when mixed with personal agendas that have nothing to do with who can best govern a state."

Wally in Louisville, Kentucky: "Hey, Jack, spare us your righteous indignation. Politics are politics and they all do what they think they can get away with. Why should he not stay and help his party, especially if it irritates the hell out of you?"

And Virginia in Parlin, New Jersey -- he's my governor, you know? I live over there in that place.

Virginia in Parlin, New Jersey: "Jack, I'm sick and tired of your opinions. You're saying McGreevey should be kicked out because he's gay." I didn't say that. "That's like me saying you should be kicked out of CNN because you're old."

I am old. But I have two years left on a contract so get used to it, Virginia. I ain't going anywhere.

HEMMER: Yes. Help me understand, the rules are this, right, the election is November 2. He says he's going to stay on until the 15th of November. The way I understand it, in your home state of New Jersey...

CAFFERTY: It's not my home state. My home state is Nevada.

HEMMER: OK, well...

CAFFERTY: I just live in New Jersey.

HEMMER: Well, the state in which you live...

CAFFERTY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: If he resigns before the 2nd of September, which is 60 days before the general election...

CAFFERTY: Yes, that's correct.

HEMMER: Then they would...

CAFFERTY: They'll make him call a special election.

HEMMER: OK. I see. But if he goes past the date of September 3, then he locks it in for a Democrat to finish his term in 2006.

CAFFERTY: That's exactly how that works out.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: It's kind of like that upper left hit to the...

HEMMER: No, it was a right. It was a right...

CAFFERTY: A right upper cut to the...

HEMMER: A right hand to the jaw.

COLLINS: Hey, are we going to be neighbors?

CAFFERTY: Oh, I don't know. What did you have in mind?

COLLINS: Oh, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: I mean we can work it out, you know?

COLLINS: Yes, all right.

CAFFERTY: We can work something out.

COLLINS: We can ride in together, right?

CAFFERTY: Well, no.

COLLINS: All right.

Still to come this morning, three men who used to run the CIA testify on the 9/11 Commission recommendations. We'll hear from one of them, coming up in just a few moments.

And President Bush prepares to unveil a plan to redeploy U.S. military forces and bring tens of thousands of troops back home.

We're live at the White House, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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 - 08:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENNY FAHRBACH, LOST HOME: There's no gas stations. You can't go get gas. You can't go to the grocery store. They're closed. You know, it's devastating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Charley is gone, but it will not be forgotten. It's time for residents to pick up the pieces.

The showdown in Najaf -- does the U.S. have no choice but to wait out the radical cleric leading the militia?

And an unusual hearing in the Michael Jackson case. The man putting Jackson on trial takes the stand to testify on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Bill Hemmer.

BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning everyone on a Monday morning.

Welcome back.

Heidi Collins along with me here. We team brown, today, by the way, if you get the memo.

COLLINS: Do we win?

HEMMER: I don't know. I guess we're going to work for UPS after the show or something.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: But welcome.

It's Monday morning and there's an awful lot of cleaning up to do this morning along Florida's West Coast. Residents sifting through what remains of their homes after hurricane Charley tore through that state. In a moment, we'll talk with a local sheriff about how the effort is going thus far. And they've got a long way to go, too, as we talk about it today.

COLLINS: They sure do. Also, the fight for control of Najaf. Experts now saying radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is taking a page from the playbook of Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini. Author Bruce Feiler will explain exactly what that means. Feiler was in Iraq and Iran this past spring. We'll talk about that.

HEMMER: Also, more on the 9/11 hearings today on Capitol Hill. Three former CIA directors scheduled to testify. James Woolsey is one of them. He's our guest. He tells us what he thinks of the recommendations now being considered. We'll get to Mr. Woolsey a bit later this hour here.

COLLINS: Meanwhile, Jack is with us now.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's the UPS slogan, find out what brown can do for you?

HEMMER: Yes, as a matter of fact.

CAFFERTY: I know the answer and it's not pretty.

Coming up today in the "Cafferty File," the story of a serial snuggler in Louisiana who apparently makes great nachos.

And the story of a 30-year-old Twinkie that's not Paris Hilton.

COLLINS: OK.

All right, we look forward to those.

Thank you, Jack.

Moving back to Florida now, many Florida residents are only now George Tenet a glimpse of the devastation left behind by hurricane Charley. We'll get an update from the sheriff in Charlotte County in just a moment.

But first, Tom Foreman begins our coverage in Punta Gorda.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the chaos of Florida's Gulf Coast, Harvey Rothberg (ph) came from Connecticut to check on the vacation home he retreats to every year, to see if it survived.

HARVEY ROTHBERG: It looks really bad. I don't know if I can get more nervous than I am right now.

FOREMAN: Coming home, especially for those who live here permanently, is proving painful for many. More than 450 retirees live in Windmill Village. All their homes were damaged, many flattened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rolls, chicken.

FOREMAN: They're using their ruined clubhouse to share food and frustration over lifetime savings lost.

FAHRBACH: All the motels are filled, because it's not just here, it's all over. You know, and there's no gas stations. You can't go get gas. You can't go to the grocery store. They're closed. You know, it's devastating.

FOREMAN: Hundreds of insurance agents, often in their own ravaged offices, are helping file emergency claims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And everything's falling off the walls, all the moisture, the dry walls. Everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Run down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get things dried up as best as you can.

FOREMAN: That process is expected to go on for months.

(on camera): It is a measure of how widespread the damage is that many people say they still have no idea when help will come to their neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks good.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Harvey Rothberg wound up being lucky. But others...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where we used to sleep.

FOREMAN: ... are now living in half ruined homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now we're just kind of bedding down over here.

FOREMAN: With little hope of anything better any time soon.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Punta Gorda, Florida.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Port Charlotte is among the communities hit hardest by hurricane Charley. And so how are residents doing there this morning?

Sheriff Bill Cameron is joining us live from that area to fill us in on the details.

Welcome to you, Sheriff.

Thanks for being with us on such a very busy day for you.

When you first saw the area and you looked around, tell us a little bit about what you saw.

SHERIFF WILLIAM CAMERON, CHARLOTTE COUNTY, FLORIDA: It's kind of hard to describe the devastation. You would have to have experienced it in person. I don't even think the images on TV can do it justice. COLLINS: Tell us a little bit, then, about how residents are doing. How are they feeling as you talk to them today?

CAMERON: Well, it's an amazing community. Everybody is pulling together and the spirits are much better than I ever could have hoped for. The community is just really responding to this together. Of course, you know, we're into about the third day here so we're, we've got some tensions rising because we've been out of air conditioning, water, electricity for a couple of days now. So it's starting to get difficult.

COLLINS: We've talked with some of the experts from FEMA who say that folks really just need everything down there. But if you could categorize what they're telling you they need the most, what would that be?

CAMERON: Well, water is always a commodity that's in great need. We have a lot of people whose homes are destroyed and a lot of their personal property gone. So our local Florida community has been responding with a lot of resources and they're just starting to pour in in droves now. And believe it or not, one of the more challenging things is coordinating those as they're arriving and coordinating all of the volunteers. We're trying to get a handle on that now.

COLLINS: Sure. I can imagine. And also looking behind you, you can just see a mass of trees down behind you.

What do you think the biggest challenge will be, as far as cleanup efforts go, when these days go on?

CAMERON: Well, right now our biggest challenge is restoring power. You can imagine, we're in south Florida. It's a very hot community. We get rain just about every day and a lot of the people that are living without air conditioning or without power, when the dark falls, that's whenever you get a little bit worried. And I've talked to several residents that say in the daytime it's not so bad because they're busy doing things. But at night time, they really feel kind of alone and they have no electricity and people are trying to protect their own property.

We have shelters set up that have air conditioning, that have showers. But people are just afraid to leave their homes for the security of their own neighborhoods.

COLLINS: Talk to us a little bit more about that, if you could, sheriff.

What is the security situation?

CAMERON: The National Guard has sent us a lot of help and local law enforcement and area law enforcement throughout the entire state. We established a curfew two nights ago, starting at 9:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m. for the hours of darkness that only emergency personnel are moving during those hours. And we're stopping any traffic. But it's a big neighborhood and even with all of those resources, people are having to take a lot of this stuff into their own hands, the security of their own neighborhoods.

COLLINS: All right, so you've got a curfew and the National Guard and a little bit of aid coming in slowly but surely.

We certainly wish you and all of the people down there the very best in the coming days.

CAMERON: Thank you, Heidi.

COLLINS: Sheriff Bill Cameron, thanks again for your time -- Bill.

HEMMER: Charley is gone in terms of it being a storm or a weather maker. Now there is Earl to worry about.

Rob Marciano is tracking that storm now, in for Chad -- Rob, good morning.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

Charley took an exit stage right quickly yesterday. Twenty-four hours ago, it was in through Boston and many areas across Massachusetts saw an excess of two and three inches of rainfall in the form of rain falling in that area, not regarding to Charley.

All right, two other storms to talk about. This is hurricane Danielle. It's a strong one, moving to the northwest at 19 -- 17 miles an hour. But the key is here it's moving to the northwest and eventually will recurve back out into the open Atlantic Ocean. Not a problem.

After Danielle, tropical storm Earl formed, but it's formed a little bit closer to us across the Leeward and Windward Islands. And now it has winds of about 45 miles an hour. It is heading off to the west, eventually northwest, as well, scooting to the south of Jamaica. This is the latest hurricane track out of the National Hurricane Center. And over the next 24 to 48 hours, it will strengthen a little bit, possibly strengthening to hurricane force status. And then once it gets past this area, say during the day on Tuesday or Wednesday, you know, it could go down to the south or it could make a right turn up into the Gulf of Mexico, we're just going to have to wait and see, Bill.

But you're right, tropical storm Earl could become a hurricane, and we'll seriously watch it over the next couple of days.

HEMMER: All right, thumbs down on that if that's the case, Rob.

MARCIANO: Yes.

HEMMER: Thanks for that.

Carol Costello with us today watching the other news.

Again, Carol, good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Bill.

Thank you.

Iraq's National Conference has agreed to send a delegation to Najaf to meet with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Iraqi officials want to encourage al-Sadr and his Mehdi Army to withdraw from the Imam Ali Mosque. Some two dozen fighters are reportedly holed up in that mosque and are threatening to blow it up if attacked. Three U.S. personnel were killed in the area yesterday.

Here in the United States, California's attorney general says it has found no evidence that Michael Jackson was mistreated by sheriff's deputies when he surrendered to them last November. The announcement comes as Jackson made a surprise visit to an L.A. church. The pop star is due in court later today. He'll face Tom Sneddon, the district attorney who tried to bring charges against Jackson in 1993.

North Korean officials say they will not attend working meetings ahead of a new round of nuclear talks next month. The U.S. had said it wanted to meet as soon as possible with the six countries that would attend. But North Korean officials say the U.S. is not sincere in its efforts to resolve the stand-off.

And ticket sales at this year's Summer Olympics are falling way short of expectations. Olympic organizers cited in the "Washington Post" say they sold nearly three million tickets as of Saturday. That's slightly more than half of the some five million tickets available.

Back to New York and Bill.

HEMMER: Watching a lot of the events over the weekend, you can see these venues. They're not even half full. And that's sometimes an over statement.

COSTELLO: Even the swimming.

HEMMER: Yes, very true. Swimming and diving, normally the most popular, and always sold out in the past, but not the case so far in Athens.

Thank you, Carol.

COLLINS: Still to come this morning, President Bush prepares to unveil a plan to redeploy U.S. military forces worldwide and bring tens of thousands of troops back home. We'll talk about that in a moment.

HEMMER: Also, when it comes to kicking the smoking habit, who has the tougher time? Is it men or is it women? Sanjay has that a bit later this hour.

COLLINS: And the stand-off in Najaf -- is radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr following a script once used by the Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran? We'll take a look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Iraq's government is sending a delegation to ask radical Shiite latest development Muqtada al-Sadr to pull out of the Imam Ali Mosque. His Mehdi Army has been holed up there, threatening to blow up the shrine and keeping U.S. forces at bay.

Bruce Feiler, author of "Abraham: A Journey To the Heart of Three Faiths," can tell us why this mosque is so important. He's with us now to tell us the answer to that question.

I mean we have been talking about it. As far as Shiites go, the holiest shrine of all. Talk about that a little bit.

BRUCE FEILER, AUTHOR, "ABRAHAM": Well, it really goes back to the foundation moment of Shia Islam. When the Prophet Mohammed died in 632 there was no successor. There was a battle, basically. Some wanted to appoint a successor. Others wanted his son and his son-in- law and cousin, Ali, Imam Ali, to be the leader.

Imam Ali was murdered, actually, soon after the Prophet's death in Kufa, not far from Najaf. And per his instructions, they tied his body, dead body, to a camel. It wandered in the desert, ended up in Najaf. And that's where they buried him, built it to him and the shrine rose up around that.

COLLINS: All right, now you said something else that was very interesting a while back. You said that Muqtada al-Sadr is actually following a playbook, if you will, of the Ayatollah Khomeini in being inside this mosque.

What do you mean by that?

FEILER: Well, Shia Islam has traditionally been the more meditative and mystical of the branches of Islam, closer to Sufism. It's the smallest at 15 percent, much smaller than the Sunni Muslim sect is. And basically it was Ayatollah Khomeini in the 1960s who changed that. He was exiled by the shah and ended up in 1965 in Najaf, where he lived for 13 years.

There, he advocated overthrowing the shah of Iran, compared the shah to a puppet government and said the United States was essentially like Yasid, who was the original Sunni who massacred the followers of Imam Ali. And that's what Muqtada al-Sadr is doing, because he has a problem, which is he doesn't have the natural authority that Khomeini at the time, in the 60s, had.

COLLINS: Too young.

FEILER: Exactly. So what he's doing is he's basically following the script of Khomeini in a way to give himself more authority and to latch into these really deeply emotional ideas in Shia Islam, which has always been really victimized in its language.

COLLINS: Yes, but how complicated does it make it, then, for armed forces, I mean, who are obviously not Muslim? FEILER: Oh, I think that one thing we know is that religion is going to be dominant in Iraq for the next maybe number of decades. And if the question is who lost the Shrine of Ali, who is responsible for its damage, there is no way that we're going to win that argument.

But I think there's a really interesting parallel that's not been talking about, which is in November 1979, 200 Sunni militants actually occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca. And the Saudi government waited a couple of weeks and then, with French paratroopers, actually liberated them.

But they did something first, and that is they got permission from the religious authorities.

COLLINS: Right.

FEILER: There's a split in the Shia community now between the violent extremism of Sadr and the more moderates. And what I hope is what's happening with this expedition today is that the prime minister is trying to get approval from the senior Shias in Iraq to try to do something, because if they don't do it, there's no way we're going to win that argument.

COLLINS: Yes. And then what happens if something does happen to the mosque? I mean what will the fallout be?

FEILER: Well, I think that what you've got is you've got 150 Shia Muslims around the world that are going to be very upset. And I think the larger Muslim world, who views this as an occupation, as a threat to Islam, is going to be really rattled. So if that is the question, then we've lost the war. And the larger goal, let us not forget, is the democracy conference going on in Baghdad, which was already upended this weekend.

COLLINS: Right.

FEILER: And the larger region. So there's no reason, I don't think, at the moment, to risk the larger goal for ousting Sadr this week. There's no compelling military reason for that.

COLLINS: Quickly, can you give us a sense of how much support he really has all across the country?

FEILER: Well, I think his support is not really in Najaf. We hear a lot about that they don't want him there because their economy is based on tourism, largely from Iran. His support is essentially in Sadr City, the slum in Baghdad, which has about 30 to 40 percent of the population, and in the southern cities. Anybody who's young, disaffected, sort of rabble rousers from the street, as we often hear, that's where his support is.

COLLINS: Sure.

FEILER: But that is not insubstantial, yet at the same time we've basically held off going after them across the country for months. And there really doesn't appear to be a compelling reason to have the showdown right now.

COLLINS: All right, Bruce Feiler, thank you so much for that very, very interesting stuff.

FEILER: My pleasure.

COLLINS: Appreciate it.

FEILER: Great to be with you.

COLLINS: All right, Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi.

In a moment here, a showdown in the Olympic pool. The latest from Athens coming up in a moment here.

Also, answer this question -- which city will host the 2006 Olympic Winter Games? We'll have the answer after a break.

Also, live to Athens and back with Jack after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Here's the answer to today's quiz, Olympic quiz 2004. Which city hosts the Winter Games in 2006? And the answer is, Jack?

CAFFERTY: Jacksonville, Florida.

HEMMER: Close.

COLLINS: Close.

HEMMER: They were in the running, though. Torino, Italy, 543 days to go and counting.

CAFFERTY: Who cares?

HEMMER: Seventy-nine days to go before the election, by the way.

CAFFERTY: Do we care about this now?

HEMMER: Absolutely we do.

CAFFERTY: We do? No we don't.

HEMMER: We're in the spirit of the Olympics and yet we push on.

To Athens now. It was not supposed to go this way for the men's basketball team. Larry Smith is there live -- Larry, good afternoon.

LARRY SMITH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Bill.

How are you?

Yes, let's face it, let's not call the USA basketball team the Dream Team. The only dreaming was -- that's been doing, been done is by Puerto Rico. They can only -- could have dreamed it would have been this easy. 92-73 last night. The U.S. men's team is practicing today, trying to find some answers before they take on Greece tomorrow night. This is some action from last night. The USA, poor outside shooting. They have -- we knew that was one of the weaknesses and they went only three for 24 in this game last night. 92-73, the worst round in Olympic history for the Americans.

Now, they called an exhibition root by Italy a couple of weeks ago their wake up call, so I guess they hit their snooze button in this one.

How about some swimming? Michael Phelps last night losing his bid for a record eight swimming gold medals, as the U.S. four by 100- meter freestyle relay team finished with the bronze behind South Africa's world record mark.

Now, tonight it's the 200-meter freestyle, a chance for Phelps to win his second gold in a field that boasts the four fastest swimmers in history. Phelps has already been in the pool today, by the way. He had tied for the best time as he qualified for the 200-meter butterfly semifinals. That is tonight. Now, the finals in that event, we expect Phelps to be a part of that. That'll be tomorrow night.

Also, three cheers for Iraqi soccer, as they beat Costa Rica 2-0. They're now 2 and 0 in these games and already have qualified for the quarter finals in the Olympic soccer competition. This, Iraq's soccer, it's their first games since 1988. What a great success story for the Iraqis -- Bill, back to you.

HEMMER: Also, Larry, what's the status on these two Greek athletes, who apparently drugged -- failed a drug test?

SMITH: Well, they didn't fail it, they missed it, which in some eyes, in the international track community, that's like a failed test. Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou have now been granted a 48-hour extension to explain why they missed that mandatory drug test on Thursday. The Greek Olympic Committee has already withdrawn them from the games. That happened on Saturday. But their ultimate fate rests in the International Olympic Committee, which will now hold a hearing, their investigative panel, on Wednesday, to hear what the reasons are. If they still say that they are not allowed to play in the games, they could still appeal, then to a higher court, the Court of Arbitration for Sports.

All this happening -- by the way, track and field doesn't take place until Friday, so this could go on for a few days still.

HEMMER: All right.

Thank you, Larry.

A great backdrop, as always, the Acropolis there in Athens. It looks wonderful.

SMITH: Yes.

HEMMER: Thank you -- Heidi.

COLLINS: We want to check in with Jack now and the Question of the Day, which is not about the Olympics.

CAFFERTY: No, it's about New Jersey.

COLLINS: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Despite calls for New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey to resign immediately, including calls now from some Democrats, members of his own party, McGreevey says he's going to stay in office until November the 15th, which would then allow the Democrats to maintain their hold on the governor's mansion through at least next year. Some say that that's political opportunism. That's one word for it.

Anyway, the question is do you think Governor McGreevey should leave office before November 15?

Gary, or Gerry, I guess it is, in Des Moines, Iowa, where I used to work once upon a time: "I have my family by my side while I ponder Jack's heavy question. I'm torn by indecision. My thoughts run wild. It takes all my courage and bravery to say to Governor McGreevey, 'shove off.'"

Larry in Shreveport, Louisiana: "Mr. McGreevey is a coward. He's still proving it to the people of his state. He is powerless to govern at this point. He still does not want the people to decide who should be the governor. He is yet another disgusting example of how low politics can go, especially when mixed with personal agendas that have nothing to do with who can best govern a state."

Wally in Louisville, Kentucky: "Hey, Jack, spare us your righteous indignation. Politics are politics and they all do what they think they can get away with. Why should he not stay and help his party, especially if it irritates the hell out of you?"

And Virginia in Parlin, New Jersey -- he's my governor, you know? I live over there in that place.

Virginia in Parlin, New Jersey: "Jack, I'm sick and tired of your opinions. You're saying McGreevey should be kicked out because he's gay." I didn't say that. "That's like me saying you should be kicked out of CNN because you're old."

I am old. But I have two years left on a contract so get used to it, Virginia. I ain't going anywhere.

HEMMER: Yes. Help me understand, the rules are this, right, the election is November 2. He says he's going to stay on until the 15th of November. The way I understand it, in your home state of New Jersey...

CAFFERTY: It's not my home state. My home state is Nevada.

HEMMER: OK, well...

CAFFERTY: I just live in New Jersey.

HEMMER: Well, the state in which you live...

CAFFERTY: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: If he resigns before the 2nd of September, which is 60 days before the general election...

CAFFERTY: Yes, that's correct.

HEMMER: Then they would...

CAFFERTY: They'll make him call a special election.

HEMMER: OK. I see. But if he goes past the date of September 3, then he locks it in for a Democrat to finish his term in 2006.

CAFFERTY: That's exactly how that works out.

HEMMER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: It's kind of like that upper left hit to the...

HEMMER: No, it was a right. It was a right...

CAFFERTY: A right upper cut to the...

HEMMER: A right hand to the jaw.

COLLINS: Hey, are we going to be neighbors?

CAFFERTY: Oh, I don't know. What did you have in mind?

COLLINS: Oh, (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

CAFFERTY: I mean we can work it out, you know?

COLLINS: Yes, all right.

CAFFERTY: We can work something out.

COLLINS: We can ride in together, right?

CAFFERTY: Well, no.

COLLINS: All right.

Still to come this morning, three men who used to run the CIA testify on the 9/11 Commission recommendations. We'll hear from one of them, coming up in just a few moments.

And President Bush prepares to unveil a plan to redeploy U.S. military forces and bring tens of thousands of troops back home.

We're live at the White House, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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