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CNN Live At Daybreak

Hurricane Frances Batters Florida, Bill Clinton to Go into Surgery Monday, National Mourning Begins in Russia

Aired September 06, 2004 - 05:00   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)
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And let me tell you this, the rain feels like somebody...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Frances sloshes into the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the Florida Panhandle now.

It is Monday, September 6 and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning, everyone.

From the CNN Global Headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Catherine Callaway.

I'm in today for Carol.

Thanks for being with us.

In the news this morning, Frances number two in a series. The massive hurricane battered and flooded the Florida Peninsula then headed out to sea as a tropical storm. But Frances will be back and this time zeroing in on the Florida Panhandle, with a second landfall expected this evening.

Bill Clinton, former president and best-selling author, is expected to undergo heart surgery this morning. Surgeons will bypass some clogged coronary arteries, as many as four of them, in fact. The surgery could be delayed to allow medicine to take effect.

A two day national mourning period has begun in Russia and funeral services are being held for some of the hundreds killed in a shootout between terrorist hostage takers and Russian troops, and many of the victims are children.

The 39th Jerry Lewis Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association is underway this holiday weekend and Ed McMahon anchors the telethon. Nearly a million volunteers and a host of performers and other celebrities will be involved.

Tropical storm Frances is still with us, but already there is a new and very powerful hurricane named Ivan on the horizon. It could have Florida in its sights.

So will Ivan be the terrible?

Our Chad Myers is in Melbourne, Florida and Rob Marciano is in our Weather Center here in Atlanta.

Rob, let's start with you this morning.

You know, where do we begin, Frances or Ivan?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we'll begin with Frances. That's the first order of concern. Ivan is well out there. It's going to be at least five days before we even have to deal with it, and it possibly might just die to the south. Frances has been the headache that the Florida residents have yet to be able to shake. And now it's moving offshore. It has -- it's still a tropical storm. It decreased in intensity overnight last night as it moved over the land and came back offshore, just north of Tampa. And now it's becoming a little bit better organized. The winds are about 60, 65 miles an hour. So it doesn't have much more to go to get back to hurricane strength status and the waters right in here are 80, 85 degrees.

By the way, this red box indicates a tornado watch out. Sometimes we get these spin up thunderstorms or tornadoes that can happen from the north and east of the center of the storm.

The track of this thing is going to bring it toward Panama City and Apalachicola as we go through the next several hours, probably making landfall again later this -- late afternoon or early evening. And it very well could strengthen into a hurricane as it does that.

Here's the wind field, and you can see the eye of this thing as it is expected to make landfall around Apalachicola over toward Destin and Tallahassee.

As far as -- I don't have a map for you for Ivan just yet, Catherine, but I can tell you this, it's a major hurricane and it's moving quickly. They're probably going to have hurricane watches and warnings out for parts of the Caribbean Islands later on this afternoon. And it could be in the Bahamas later this week.

CALLAWAY: That is some bad news, Rob.

MARCIANO: But we have several days to talk about that and we'll deal with Frances, get her out of here, and then we'll move on to Ivan tomorrow.

CALLAWAY: All right, Rob, thank you.

Let's go to Chad now, who has been in Melbourne for several days -- Chad, you might as well just stay down there with Ivan on the way.

Can you believe it?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's basically a joke in the live truck this morning is so where are we going to meet you next week? Is it going to be in the Caribbean? Is it going to be in the Gulf? Is it going to be in Florida? Again, yes, and the folks here are not very happy about that storm, either. A little shell-shocked with what we have now. A lot of folks not even sleeping. It's ironic, you said this morning happy Labor Day or -- and I'm thinking to myself is it a holiday? Nobody here thinks it's a holiday. Nobody here cleaning up is in a partying mood, so to speak. Probably not too many hot dogs on the grill down here.

But the farther you get down to the south, the worse the damage is. As you get down closer down to what's called Barefoot Bay, a little farther down south there, all the way down to about Sebastian Inlet, that's where the winds were stronger. We really fared well here in Melbourne. If you have loved ones, you can't get a hold of them, power lines are down. There is no water. There is no electricity. You can't even take a shower in the morning. You can't even see what you're trying to do in the morning, especially at 3:00 in the morning when you're getting up.

So a lot of folks here are just going to hunker down, going to kind of sit it out.

The good news is it has stopped raining finally. The wind is still blowing. The wind is still blowing at at least 30 miles per hour. Behind me there, some of the very strong sea grapes. I mean if you've ever seen a sea grape, this thing is just hearty as could be and lost an awful lot of that vegetation. All of that vegetation has been blown inland. We are now back on the Barrier Island, the place that we were three days ago. They finally let us back on the island. There is damage here, but it's not catastrophic, and that's great news for people who are here from Indy, Atlantic Beach, all the way to Satellite Beach right on down south almost down to about -- to Barefoot Bay -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Chad, how are a lot of people getting along there, you know, with the utilities down? There are some five million people without power. What about water, those kind of things?

MYERS: Yes, there wasn't any water yesterday. I didn't even turn it on this morning. Typically when the power goes out, the pumping stations can't pump. I did hear from the city manager that they do have their own generators. They're trying to get that water back going again this morning.

How are people faring? We were driving to a different live shot location down south about 20 miles south of here last night, about 6:00, and I'm not kidding you and I'm not exaggerating, there were 60 to 100 cars in line for one Hardee's that was open. It was all boarded up. No one was going inside. Everybody was going through drive-thru. I couldn't count the number of cars in that line. It was a traffic jam just to drive through and get a burger at Hardee's last night.

CALLAWAY: Oh, well, Chad, all right, well, we'll be back with you later this morning.

MYERS: All right.

CALLAWAY: Sitting in the dark waiting for the all clear. It's been a long night, it's been a long holiday weekend for millions of residents there in Florida who are staying in shelters or confined to their homes. They've got, as Chad said, no electricity, sitting in parking lots along some of the evacuation routes, in fact.

Well, meanwhile, new evacuations have now been ordered for Florida's panhandle, the next target of one time hurricane and now tropical storm Frances.

Here's David Mattingly with the rest of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Frances lumbered ashore bashing Florida's east coast barely more than three weeks after Hurricane cut a path of devastation from the west.

There was not enough time to complete the cleanup. Major repairs and reconstruction were far from over.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: We didn't need to have another hurricane. Hurricane Charley was a very high intensity storm and did a tremendous amount of damage right over the center part of the state. Now we have this second hurricane which is going to be a very wet hurricane.

So we could have some serious problems there.

MATTINGLY: Hurricane Charley destroyed at least 12,000 homes, 19,000 more were rendered uninhabitable. Property loss estimates exceed $6 billion.

But where Charley was a category 4 bullet dashing across the state in a matter of hours, Frances is a slow-moving behemoth, arriving as a category 2 but big enough to potentially cause problems in nearly every county in the state.

Twelve hours after landfall, millions of Floridians were without electricity and the battering in some parts of the state hadn't even begun.

This is bigger than what I think we saw there in Charley and again as we speak power is still going out. I want people to understand, the storm makes landfall, just doesn't end. There's still a very powerful storm crossing the state.

If there is one benefit emerging from these one, two disasters is that the lessons of Charley were not quickly forgotten. Frances prompted the largest evacuations in Florida history. Millions listened and got out of harm's way. David Mattingly, CNN, St. Augustine, Florida.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CALLAWAY: And for more on Hurricane Frances, including how to avoid con artists that are looking to cash in on your misery, just log onto our Web site at cnn.com. Hurricanes or not, the presidential campaign rolls on and President Bush was in Parkersburg, West Virginia Sunday. It was his eighth visit to West Virginia this year. He told a crowd John Kerry would hurt small business owners with tax hikes. This afternoon he attends a rally in Poplar Bluffs, Missouri before heading on to Kansas City.

Meanwhile, Kerry spent part of this Labor Day holiday in Ohio, another so-called battleground state. He criticized Bush for his record on jobs and health care. And today he heads to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and Racine, West Virginia. After that, it's on to Cleveland.

There's also been a change in Kerry's campaign staff. He has added John Sasso, a veteran political strategist, to his traveling campaign.

Staying with politics now, in our news across America this morning, in Illinois, American Muslim leaders have wrapped up their community's biggest convention, but they still haven't decided if they'll back a presidential candidate this year. Some Muslims are bitter over how President Bush has waged the war on terror. But Muslim leaders say that that does not mean John Kerry can count on an endorsement.

And in North Carolina, two brothers are behind bars, accused of fatally shooting two other young men at a weekend tailgate party. Witnesses say that a fist fight broke out before the shooting, which happened outside a North Carolina State University football game. One of the victims is a Marine officer.

Police, or people, rather, are trying to get away from a spreading wildfire in northern California, in Sonoma County. Fire burned several homes and has chewed up more than 10,000 acres. Another fire in the Sierra Foothills has been contained, but 13 homes have been destroyed there. And now a new fire has broken out in Amador County. Some firefighting resources have had to be diverted to that area.

There's still plenty ahead for you on this Labor Day holiday morning. Terrorism at that school in southern Russia -- is there something that Moscow wasn't telling us? At 15 after, we're going to take you live to the scene where that hostage situation played out.

And at 34 minutes after the hour, we'll show you how Frances pounded Paradise. Our Karl Penhaul will have that story.

At 46 after, he's smiling now, but later this morning, former President Bill Clinton will undergo bypass surgery. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta will explain what will happen.

At 23 after, a shocker in Seattle. The nation's top high school team takes a tumble.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this September 6 morning. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Your news, money, weather and sports.

At about 14 after this morning, former President Bill Clinton is expected to have open heart surgery this morning. Surgeons will bypass four clogged coronary arteries. The former president told CNN that he isn't worried about the operation.

And strong aftershocks could have Japan shaking for the next 10 days. Two powerful offshore earthquakes hit the region Sunday, injuring about 38 people. In western Japan, people have been told to head to higher ground to get away from possible tsunamis.

In money, a big donation for the American Red Cross as they help victims of hurricane Frances. Exxon Mobil announced a $100,000 donation to help Red Cross efforts in Florida.

And in culture this morning, the 61st Venice Film Festival is under way with dozens of movies competing for the Golden Lion Award. Among them is "Vanity Fair," the 19th century drama that stars Reese Witherspoon.

And in sports this morning, it'll be Tiger Woods and V.J. Singh playing head to head today for the number one ranking in golf. Singh leads Woods by three strokes in the Dutch Bank Championship and if he wins, he takes over the number one spot from Woods.

Let's check in now with Rob Marciano and find out what's going on with Frances.

MARCIANO: Hey, Catherine, there's Frances in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: Back in about 15 minutes -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Thank you, Rob.

It is a national day of mourning in Russia. They are grieving the loss of life and innocence for hundreds of children that were caught in the crossfire. At least 338 people, half of them children, were killed during the tragic end to the school stand-off in southern Russia. Hundreds of others were either injured or missing. And in what will be a constant scene over the next few days, families have begun burying their loved ones.

But did the Russian government mislead families about the threat to their children?

For more now, let's head to CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm not sure that the families feel that they were misled about the nature of the threat, but a lot of the families here certainly feel that they were misled about the scale of the threat. There are a lot of questions why initially the Russian government said that there were just 130 hostages inside, then revised that number to 354 hostages, where now we know that there were more than 1,100 hostages inside. And there are questions even now about why so many people are still missing, so many of the hostages, between 200 and 300 of them.

Among them is this one girl here. Her name is Agunda Gasolova (ph). She would have turned 13 this November. And what a lot of the families have done is they've put these signs up around town and they are asking if anyone has seen her to call them. And they put their phone numbers here. Two hundred to 300 people still missing, many of them thought to be dead, perhaps lost between the numerous morgues and hospitals in the various cities where the wounded and dead were brought.

Now, there are, Russian officials are saying, at least 400 people still in hospitals, about half of them children. The size of this catastrophe, of this tragedy, is just enormous.

Now, numbers are one thing, but if you -- when you actually see some of the grief, it's just overwhelming. We went to a double funeral yesterday. It was the first day of funerals. It was for a 12-year-old girl named Elena (ph) and her 13-year-old sister Irena (ph). They were buried at what's called the Memorial Cemetery. Their brother, who is the twin of one of the two, survived. Both of those girls made it through the siege inside the school, but were shot in the back by the hostage takers as they tried to flee.

Now, the funerals will continue today. And inside this school that's here, where the siege ended and the fighting began on Friday, lots of families have come to pay their condolences. They have a makeshift memorial inside the gymnasium where most of the hostages were kept -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Ryan, a lot of Americans here who are watching at home want to know about international aid and what the needs are and what they're receiving.

CHILCOTE: The United States has sent two planes. They are expected to arrive here in about three hours. The, onboard is some medical equipment. That medical equipment is going to be passed from some American officials to some Russian officials on the ground and then those planes will leave. They're not actually going to get off the plane. This is really an unprecedented act of humanitarian assistance from the United States, actually sending aid to Russia. Also rather unprecedented that the Russian government is accepting it.

There was an Italian plane that came in earlier in the morning with a mobile burn center -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, Ryan.

Ryan Chilcote, thank you.

And still to come on DAYBREAK, we're going to give you another look at Frances in just a minute. And then 30 hours of heavy rain and high wind has taken a toll on people and property in south Florida. Our Sean Callebs will be along and show you the damage there.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Monday, September 6.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Welcome back, everyone.

It's about 22 minutes after the hour now.

So what are the stories out there getting your attention on our Web site?

We're going to go to cnn.com and see what you've been reading this morning.

Of course, no big surprise here with the siege suspects shown on television in Russia. Certainly days of mourning ahead there, as we saw in the report just a minute ago. A man believed to have been a hostage taker, one of the believed hostage takers, was shown on television there. I think they've been questioning several suspects in that tragedy. And now the funerals have begun.

MARCIANO: Yes, it's almost surreal it's so tragic, you know?

CALLAWAY: Yes, it is. I don't think there are words to describe that. International aid, I think countries all over the world are pouring in assistance to that and those people who have lost so many loved ones.

On a much lighter note, though...

MARCIANO: What's the other story we know?

CALLAWAY: This is funny to me. Remember the two Muppets, the scientist on the Muppet show?

MARCIANO: Do you remember the songs? Are you going to sing a little ditty for us, one of those songs?

CALLAWAY: Do you actually know that song?

MARCIANO: No, but if you, you know, if you start it, I might have someone else chime in.

CALLAWAY: You might remember? OK, what it is is they had to vote who they thought were their favorite screen scientists. And Muppets Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker won.

Who do you think came in second?

MARCIANO: The Hamburglar? I don't remember them.

CALLAWAY: He's not a scientist, Rob.

MARCIANO: I don't remember.

CALLAWAY: Dr. Spock, remember, on "Star Trek?"

MARCIANO: Oh, that's right.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

MARCIANO: All right. No, it's Mr. Spock, isn't it?

CALLAWAY: Or Mr. Spock. Well, he's a doctor, isn't he?

MARCIANO: Bones was doctor.

CALLAWAY: Bones was the doctor.

MARCIANO: Yes.

CALLAWAY: I guess it's Mr. Spock then. Yes.

MARCIANO: Anyway, I'm not to...

CALLAWAY: All right, we're going to move on to the Burning Man. Here's a celebration that I didn't even know existed. Thirty-five thousand people celebrated this Burning Man celebration in the Nevada desert. I guess they just go out in the middle of nowhere and...

MARCIANO: I've never celebrated that one. It's weird. I don't even understand it. Tell me more.

CALLAWAY: Well, they burn a 40-foot neon and wooded icon of a man deep in the desert.

MARCIANO: See, I thought they were lighting somebody on fire.

CALLAWAY: Well, now -- not a person.

MARCIANO: OK.

CALLAWAY: Good grief, Rob.

All right, well, you know, now you can make plans for next year. There you go. Those are the top stories that you're reading about this morning and...

MARCIANO: I hope you're enjoying your Labor Day.

CALLAWAY: All right.

And here's what's all new in the next half hour.

Stay with us, everyone.

Before barreling into central Florida, Frances made an unwelcome visit to the tourist islands of the Bahamas. Karl Penhaul will tell us what happened there.

Also, former President Bill Clinton prepares for heart surgery this morning and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will have the latest on the bypass surgery coming up.

And your dog may be at risk. A popular drug to fight off heartworms is now being recalled. We'll tell you what that drug is and a lot more, just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Candace Bushnell started writing a column on life as a single woman in Manhattan for the "New York Observer" 10 years ago, she had no idea it would evolve into a best- selling book or spawn the hit TV series "Sex and the City." But Bushnell isn't resting on her manolos. She has since penned two "New York Times" best-sellers, has another novel due out in the spring and a contract for two more.

CANDACE BUSHNELL, BEST-SELLING NOVELIST: You can become a writer if you're willing to give up men, marriage and children. It definitely is a profession of sacrifice and self-belief. The one piece of advice that I would give is get paid for it as soon as possible. And if that means writing a story and getting paid $50 in your local town newspaper, do that.

(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 September 6, 2004 - 05:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And let me tell you this, the rain feels like somebody...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Frances sloshes into the Gulf of Mexico and heads for the Florida Panhandle now.

It is Monday, September 6 and this is DAYBREAK.

Well, good morning, everyone.

From the CNN Global Headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Catherine Callaway.

I'm in today for Carol.

Thanks for being with us.

In the news this morning, Frances number two in a series. The massive hurricane battered and flooded the Florida Peninsula then headed out to sea as a tropical storm. But Frances will be back and this time zeroing in on the Florida Panhandle, with a second landfall expected this evening.

Bill Clinton, former president and best-selling author, is expected to undergo heart surgery this morning. Surgeons will bypass some clogged coronary arteries, as many as four of them, in fact. The surgery could be delayed to allow medicine to take effect.

A two day national mourning period has begun in Russia and funeral services are being held for some of the hundreds killed in a shootout between terrorist hostage takers and Russian troops, and many of the victims are children.

The 39th Jerry Lewis Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association is underway this holiday weekend and Ed McMahon anchors the telethon. Nearly a million volunteers and a host of performers and other celebrities will be involved.

Tropical storm Frances is still with us, but already there is a new and very powerful hurricane named Ivan on the horizon. It could have Florida in its sights.

So will Ivan be the terrible?

Our Chad Myers is in Melbourne, Florida and Rob Marciano is in our Weather Center here in Atlanta.

Rob, let's start with you this morning.

You know, where do we begin, Frances or Ivan?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, we'll begin with Frances. That's the first order of concern. Ivan is well out there. It's going to be at least five days before we even have to deal with it, and it possibly might just die to the south. Frances has been the headache that the Florida residents have yet to be able to shake. And now it's moving offshore. It has -- it's still a tropical storm. It decreased in intensity overnight last night as it moved over the land and came back offshore, just north of Tampa. And now it's becoming a little bit better organized. The winds are about 60, 65 miles an hour. So it doesn't have much more to go to get back to hurricane strength status and the waters right in here are 80, 85 degrees.

By the way, this red box indicates a tornado watch out. Sometimes we get these spin up thunderstorms or tornadoes that can happen from the north and east of the center of the storm.

The track of this thing is going to bring it toward Panama City and Apalachicola as we go through the next several hours, probably making landfall again later this -- late afternoon or early evening. And it very well could strengthen into a hurricane as it does that.

Here's the wind field, and you can see the eye of this thing as it is expected to make landfall around Apalachicola over toward Destin and Tallahassee.

As far as -- I don't have a map for you for Ivan just yet, Catherine, but I can tell you this, it's a major hurricane and it's moving quickly. They're probably going to have hurricane watches and warnings out for parts of the Caribbean Islands later on this afternoon. And it could be in the Bahamas later this week.

CALLAWAY: That is some bad news, Rob.

MARCIANO: But we have several days to talk about that and we'll deal with Frances, get her out of here, and then we'll move on to Ivan tomorrow.

CALLAWAY: All right, Rob, thank you.

Let's go to Chad now, who has been in Melbourne for several days -- Chad, you might as well just stay down there with Ivan on the way.

Can you believe it?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's basically a joke in the live truck this morning is so where are we going to meet you next week? Is it going to be in the Caribbean? Is it going to be in the Gulf? Is it going to be in Florida? Again, yes, and the folks here are not very happy about that storm, either. A little shell-shocked with what we have now. A lot of folks not even sleeping. It's ironic, you said this morning happy Labor Day or -- and I'm thinking to myself is it a holiday? Nobody here thinks it's a holiday. Nobody here cleaning up is in a partying mood, so to speak. Probably not too many hot dogs on the grill down here.

But the farther you get down to the south, the worse the damage is. As you get down closer down to what's called Barefoot Bay, a little farther down south there, all the way down to about Sebastian Inlet, that's where the winds were stronger. We really fared well here in Melbourne. If you have loved ones, you can't get a hold of them, power lines are down. There is no water. There is no electricity. You can't even take a shower in the morning. You can't even see what you're trying to do in the morning, especially at 3:00 in the morning when you're getting up.

So a lot of folks here are just going to hunker down, going to kind of sit it out.

The good news is it has stopped raining finally. The wind is still blowing. The wind is still blowing at at least 30 miles per hour. Behind me there, some of the very strong sea grapes. I mean if you've ever seen a sea grape, this thing is just hearty as could be and lost an awful lot of that vegetation. All of that vegetation has been blown inland. We are now back on the Barrier Island, the place that we were three days ago. They finally let us back on the island. There is damage here, but it's not catastrophic, and that's great news for people who are here from Indy, Atlantic Beach, all the way to Satellite Beach right on down south almost down to about -- to Barefoot Bay -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Chad, how are a lot of people getting along there, you know, with the utilities down? There are some five million people without power. What about water, those kind of things?

MYERS: Yes, there wasn't any water yesterday. I didn't even turn it on this morning. Typically when the power goes out, the pumping stations can't pump. I did hear from the city manager that they do have their own generators. They're trying to get that water back going again this morning.

How are people faring? We were driving to a different live shot location down south about 20 miles south of here last night, about 6:00, and I'm not kidding you and I'm not exaggerating, there were 60 to 100 cars in line for one Hardee's that was open. It was all boarded up. No one was going inside. Everybody was going through drive-thru. I couldn't count the number of cars in that line. It was a traffic jam just to drive through and get a burger at Hardee's last night.

CALLAWAY: Oh, well, Chad, all right, well, we'll be back with you later this morning.

MYERS: All right.

CALLAWAY: Sitting in the dark waiting for the all clear. It's been a long night, it's been a long holiday weekend for millions of residents there in Florida who are staying in shelters or confined to their homes. They've got, as Chad said, no electricity, sitting in parking lots along some of the evacuation routes, in fact.

Well, meanwhile, new evacuations have now been ordered for Florida's panhandle, the next target of one time hurricane and now tropical storm Frances.

Here's David Mattingly with the rest of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Frances lumbered ashore bashing Florida's east coast barely more than three weeks after Hurricane cut a path of devastation from the west.

There was not enough time to complete the cleanup. Major repairs and reconstruction were far from over.

SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D), FLORIDA: We didn't need to have another hurricane. Hurricane Charley was a very high intensity storm and did a tremendous amount of damage right over the center part of the state. Now we have this second hurricane which is going to be a very wet hurricane.

So we could have some serious problems there.

MATTINGLY: Hurricane Charley destroyed at least 12,000 homes, 19,000 more were rendered uninhabitable. Property loss estimates exceed $6 billion.

But where Charley was a category 4 bullet dashing across the state in a matter of hours, Frances is a slow-moving behemoth, arriving as a category 2 but big enough to potentially cause problems in nearly every county in the state.

Twelve hours after landfall, millions of Floridians were without electricity and the battering in some parts of the state hadn't even begun.

This is bigger than what I think we saw there in Charley and again as we speak power is still going out. I want people to understand, the storm makes landfall, just doesn't end. There's still a very powerful storm crossing the state.

If there is one benefit emerging from these one, two disasters is that the lessons of Charley were not quickly forgotten. Frances prompted the largest evacuations in Florida history. Millions listened and got out of harm's way. David Mattingly, CNN, St. Augustine, Florida.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CALLAWAY: And for more on Hurricane Frances, including how to avoid con artists that are looking to cash in on your misery, just log onto our Web site at cnn.com. Hurricanes or not, the presidential campaign rolls on and President Bush was in Parkersburg, West Virginia Sunday. It was his eighth visit to West Virginia this year. He told a crowd John Kerry would hurt small business owners with tax hikes. This afternoon he attends a rally in Poplar Bluffs, Missouri before heading on to Kansas City.

Meanwhile, Kerry spent part of this Labor Day holiday in Ohio, another so-called battleground state. He criticized Bush for his record on jobs and health care. And today he heads to Canonsburg, Pennsylvania and Racine, West Virginia. After that, it's on to Cleveland.

There's also been a change in Kerry's campaign staff. He has added John Sasso, a veteran political strategist, to his traveling campaign.

Staying with politics now, in our news across America this morning, in Illinois, American Muslim leaders have wrapped up their community's biggest convention, but they still haven't decided if they'll back a presidential candidate this year. Some Muslims are bitter over how President Bush has waged the war on terror. But Muslim leaders say that that does not mean John Kerry can count on an endorsement.

And in North Carolina, two brothers are behind bars, accused of fatally shooting two other young men at a weekend tailgate party. Witnesses say that a fist fight broke out before the shooting, which happened outside a North Carolina State University football game. One of the victims is a Marine officer.

Police, or people, rather, are trying to get away from a spreading wildfire in northern California, in Sonoma County. Fire burned several homes and has chewed up more than 10,000 acres. Another fire in the Sierra Foothills has been contained, but 13 homes have been destroyed there. And now a new fire has broken out in Amador County. Some firefighting resources have had to be diverted to that area.

There's still plenty ahead for you on this Labor Day holiday morning. Terrorism at that school in southern Russia -- is there something that Moscow wasn't telling us? At 15 after, we're going to take you live to the scene where that hostage situation played out.

And at 34 minutes after the hour, we'll show you how Frances pounded Paradise. Our Karl Penhaul will have that story.

At 46 after, he's smiling now, but later this morning, former President Bill Clinton will undergo bypass surgery. And Dr. Sanjay Gupta will explain what will happen.

At 23 after, a shocker in Seattle. The nation's top high school team takes a tumble.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this September 6 morning. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Your news, money, weather and sports.

At about 14 after this morning, former President Bill Clinton is expected to have open heart surgery this morning. Surgeons will bypass four clogged coronary arteries. The former president told CNN that he isn't worried about the operation.

And strong aftershocks could have Japan shaking for the next 10 days. Two powerful offshore earthquakes hit the region Sunday, injuring about 38 people. In western Japan, people have been told to head to higher ground to get away from possible tsunamis.

In money, a big donation for the American Red Cross as they help victims of hurricane Frances. Exxon Mobil announced a $100,000 donation to help Red Cross efforts in Florida.

And in culture this morning, the 61st Venice Film Festival is under way with dozens of movies competing for the Golden Lion Award. Among them is "Vanity Fair," the 19th century drama that stars Reese Witherspoon.

And in sports this morning, it'll be Tiger Woods and V.J. Singh playing head to head today for the number one ranking in golf. Singh leads Woods by three strokes in the Dutch Bank Championship and if he wins, he takes over the number one spot from Woods.

Let's check in now with Rob Marciano and find out what's going on with Frances.

MARCIANO: Hey, Catherine, there's Frances in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MARCIANO: Back in about 15 minutes -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Thank you, Rob.

It is a national day of mourning in Russia. They are grieving the loss of life and innocence for hundreds of children that were caught in the crossfire. At least 338 people, half of them children, were killed during the tragic end to the school stand-off in southern Russia. Hundreds of others were either injured or missing. And in what will be a constant scene over the next few days, families have begun burying their loved ones.

But did the Russian government mislead families about the threat to their children?

For more now, let's head to CNN's Ryan Chilcote -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm not sure that the families feel that they were misled about the nature of the threat, but a lot of the families here certainly feel that they were misled about the scale of the threat. There are a lot of questions why initially the Russian government said that there were just 130 hostages inside, then revised that number to 354 hostages, where now we know that there were more than 1,100 hostages inside. And there are questions even now about why so many people are still missing, so many of the hostages, between 200 and 300 of them.

Among them is this one girl here. Her name is Agunda Gasolova (ph). She would have turned 13 this November. And what a lot of the families have done is they've put these signs up around town and they are asking if anyone has seen her to call them. And they put their phone numbers here. Two hundred to 300 people still missing, many of them thought to be dead, perhaps lost between the numerous morgues and hospitals in the various cities where the wounded and dead were brought.

Now, there are, Russian officials are saying, at least 400 people still in hospitals, about half of them children. The size of this catastrophe, of this tragedy, is just enormous.

Now, numbers are one thing, but if you -- when you actually see some of the grief, it's just overwhelming. We went to a double funeral yesterday. It was the first day of funerals. It was for a 12-year-old girl named Elena (ph) and her 13-year-old sister Irena (ph). They were buried at what's called the Memorial Cemetery. Their brother, who is the twin of one of the two, survived. Both of those girls made it through the siege inside the school, but were shot in the back by the hostage takers as they tried to flee.

Now, the funerals will continue today. And inside this school that's here, where the siege ended and the fighting began on Friday, lots of families have come to pay their condolences. They have a makeshift memorial inside the gymnasium where most of the hostages were kept -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Ryan, a lot of Americans here who are watching at home want to know about international aid and what the needs are and what they're receiving.

CHILCOTE: The United States has sent two planes. They are expected to arrive here in about three hours. The, onboard is some medical equipment. That medical equipment is going to be passed from some American officials to some Russian officials on the ground and then those planes will leave. They're not actually going to get off the plane. This is really an unprecedented act of humanitarian assistance from the United States, actually sending aid to Russia. Also rather unprecedented that the Russian government is accepting it.

There was an Italian plane that came in earlier in the morning with a mobile burn center -- Catherine.

CALLAWAY: All right, Ryan.

Ryan Chilcote, thank you.

And still to come on DAYBREAK, we're going to give you another look at Frances in just a minute. And then 30 hours of heavy rain and high wind has taken a toll on people and property in south Florida. Our Sean Callebs will be along and show you the damage there.

You're watching DAYBREAK for Monday, September 6.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CALLAWAY: Welcome back, everyone.

It's about 22 minutes after the hour now.

So what are the stories out there getting your attention on our Web site?

We're going to go to cnn.com and see what you've been reading this morning.

Of course, no big surprise here with the siege suspects shown on television in Russia. Certainly days of mourning ahead there, as we saw in the report just a minute ago. A man believed to have been a hostage taker, one of the believed hostage takers, was shown on television there. I think they've been questioning several suspects in that tragedy. And now the funerals have begun.

MARCIANO: Yes, it's almost surreal it's so tragic, you know?

CALLAWAY: Yes, it is. I don't think there are words to describe that. International aid, I think countries all over the world are pouring in assistance to that and those people who have lost so many loved ones.

On a much lighter note, though...

MARCIANO: What's the other story we know?

CALLAWAY: This is funny to me. Remember the two Muppets, the scientist on the Muppet show?

MARCIANO: Do you remember the songs? Are you going to sing a little ditty for us, one of those songs?

CALLAWAY: Do you actually know that song?

MARCIANO: No, but if you, you know, if you start it, I might have someone else chime in.

CALLAWAY: You might remember? OK, what it is is they had to vote who they thought were their favorite screen scientists. And Muppets Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker won.

Who do you think came in second?

MARCIANO: The Hamburglar? I don't remember them.

CALLAWAY: He's not a scientist, Rob.

MARCIANO: I don't remember.

CALLAWAY: Dr. Spock, remember, on "Star Trek?"

MARCIANO: Oh, that's right.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

MARCIANO: All right. No, it's Mr. Spock, isn't it?

CALLAWAY: Or Mr. Spock. Well, he's a doctor, isn't he?

MARCIANO: Bones was doctor.

CALLAWAY: Bones was the doctor.

MARCIANO: Yes.

CALLAWAY: I guess it's Mr. Spock then. Yes.

MARCIANO: Anyway, I'm not to...

CALLAWAY: All right, we're going to move on to the Burning Man. Here's a celebration that I didn't even know existed. Thirty-five thousand people celebrated this Burning Man celebration in the Nevada desert. I guess they just go out in the middle of nowhere and...

MARCIANO: I've never celebrated that one. It's weird. I don't even understand it. Tell me more.

CALLAWAY: Well, they burn a 40-foot neon and wooded icon of a man deep in the desert.

MARCIANO: See, I thought they were lighting somebody on fire.

CALLAWAY: Well, now -- not a person.

MARCIANO: OK.

CALLAWAY: Good grief, Rob.

All right, well, you know, now you can make plans for next year. There you go. Those are the top stories that you're reading about this morning and...

MARCIANO: I hope you're enjoying your Labor Day.

CALLAWAY: All right.

And here's what's all new in the next half hour.

Stay with us, everyone.

Before barreling into central Florida, Frances made an unwelcome visit to the tourist islands of the Bahamas. Karl Penhaul will tell us what happened there.

Also, former President Bill Clinton prepares for heart surgery this morning and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will have the latest on the bypass surgery coming up.

And your dog may be at risk. A popular drug to fight off heartworms is now being recalled. We'll tell you what that drug is and a lot more, just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Candace Bushnell started writing a column on life as a single woman in Manhattan for the "New York Observer" 10 years ago, she had no idea it would evolve into a best- selling book or spawn the hit TV series "Sex and the City." But Bushnell isn't resting on her manolos. She has since penned two "New York Times" best-sellers, has another novel due out in the spring and a contract for two more.

CANDACE BUSHNELL, BEST-SELLING NOVELIST: You can become a writer if you're willing to give up men, marriage and children. It definitely is a profession of sacrifice and self-belief. The one piece of advice that I would give is get paid for it as soon as possible. And if that means writing a story and getting paid $50 in your local town newspaper, do that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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