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CNN Live Today
A Look at Florida After Frances; Polls Show Bush Leading Kerry by 11 Points; Is al Qaeda Linked to Terrorist Attacks in Russia?
Aired September 06, 2004 - 11:30 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.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen here in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening "Now in the News" for Labor Day, September 6.
The latest on Frances. What you're looking at here is hundreds of people -- hopefully we'll get that live shot. People lined up in Ft. Pierce to get supplies.
An advisory issued this hour now puts Frances 60 miles southeast of Apalachicola, Florida. Winds remain steady at 65 miles an hour, but forecasters say Frances could be a minimal hurricane when it hits the Panhandle this afternoon.
Former President Clinton remains in surgery this hour for a coronary bypass. He was admitted last week after complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath.
Hot, dry weather and erratic winds are fanning wildfires across three northern California counties this hour. The worst fire is in Sonoma, where 10,000 acres are burning and more than 100 homes are in danger.
And Typhoon Songua is bringing heavy wind and flooding to Japan's southern islands today. As much as 20 inches of rain could fall over the next few days.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
Northeast Florida missed the brunt of Frances but still took a good beating. CNN's Kathleen Koch is in St. Augustine this morning.
How bad is the damage there, Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the head of emergency operations for the county, the spokesman, Paul Williamson, said very fortunate. That's the way to describe not only how historic St. Augustine fared, but all of St. John's County.
Now, you can look around behind me and see pretty much the extent of the damage in the downtown area. It's just some branches down. In the historic plaza that's beyond some of these buildings, there are some very large historic old oak trees that came down in the hurricane as it roared through here last night. Top winds were thought to gust over 60 miles an hour. And the big old trees just couldn't take it.
Now the trees like those and a lot of branches that came down are responsible for the massive power outages even in this county in the far northeast corner of the state. Roughly two-thirds of the entire county is without power and what we're being told is that, like much of the rest of the state, it could be several days before the power gets on because it's still raining, as you can see here. The winds have died down a bit. We're still under, though, a tropical storm warning and a flood watch. And the power companies simply don't want to send anyone out in the trucks, put them up in those buckets where they're very vulnerable to the winds and have someone get hurt, so they're really waiting for the remains of Frances to just sweep on through before they send anyone out.
But what we are seeing here now is -- this is interesting, Betty. A corner of the state where a lot of people fled to get away from Frances, now they are stuck here with no power, they're saying we may as well just go home.
So we've seen a lot of people lined up at the gas station, gassing up their cars and they're getting ready to head south and they know it's going to be a long trip. A lot of people, you know, of this same state of mind and so the roads headed south from here are going to be jam-packed and it's going to be quite a long drive -- Betty.
NGUYEN: You know, that's interesting, Kathleen, because in some parts of the state, gas is at a premium. Some people just can't seem to find it at the pumps.
KOCH: Well, and that is what everyone is saying as they leave here and we're recommending to them, you know, get to the nearest gas station here. There is still plenty of gasoline in St. John's County, fill up. But we're hearing there are very long lines at the gas stations. People know what they have ahead of them. What they don't know is what they're going to find when they get home.
So we've actually talked to some people who live, say, in the Melbourne area, in the Palm Beach area who are afraid they're going to find homes severely damaged, homes with no electricity and they're booking homes in Miami.
So they're going to stop, check on their homes and then head on south where they hope they'll be able to find a warm meal and some electricity.
NGUYEN: Let's hope so. CNN's Kathleen Koch in St. Augustine today. Thank you for that. Well, with all this talk about Frances, let's see where she is right now. And for that we go to Rob Marciano. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Betty. Here's the latest...
NGUYEN: I hear you but I don't see you. There you are!
MARCIANO: Here is the latest for you. The radar imagery showing actually getting a little bit better organized. And there is Tallahassee. This is the area that we were concerned about, Panama City. It looks like now it will probably head more towards Perry and then through the big bend here.
This corner of the southwest edge of the storm getting a little bit better organized. I mean, it's sitting right over water that's 80, 85 degrees. You can see the convection around it.
So it is inching on shore right now. It just doesn't have -- if it were to sit here, it would probably strengthen to hurricane status, no problem. But it looks like it may get onshore before it gets some much more better organized. Much more better -- that's probably bad English.
Anyway, down to Tampa, we're looking at squally weather down there. I mean, Tampa which was missed by Charley three weeks ago has been getting peppered by tropical storm force winds and heavy rain for -- it's seemingly over 12 hours now and it continues to get fed in moisture off the Gulf of Mexico.
Also, the wind field from this thing is still pretty wide. We have tropical storm winds out to at least 70 if not 80 miles from the center. And Jacksonville, Daytona, back through -- well, not so much Orlando, but certainly back through Tallahassee, we're seeing winds gusting to 30, 35, even 45 miles an hour in spots.
And then look at the rain shield all the way up into central Georgia. And we've had tornado warnings as far north as Savannah and the South Carolina-Georgia border.
All right. Let's go to GR-115 and we'll show you that grand swath again. There's Charleston back through Savannah. Savannah in that tornado watch as these little spin-out thunderstorms can pop up kind of like -- you know, you think of these feeder bands kind of like arms from the hurricane. And then with one of those arms, maybe throwing a little frisbee out there. That's how the air spins away from hurricanes.
So for that reason, you get often these little tornadoes that will pop up. Atlanta may be in the mix later on today as far as rainfall and gusty winds. Already starting to see gusty winds took today. There is Tampa and fairly rare that this tornado watch extends well to the south and east of the system.
Tropical storm winds, you've got 65 miles an hour moving to the northwest at 8. It is officially 65 miles east-southeast of Apalachicola and now instead of heading towards Apalachicola and Panama City, it looks like it's going to scoot in this way over the next three to four hours and hopefully we will be done with it but it will bring a tremendous amount of rain across much of the eastern third of the country.
This is Hurricane Ivan which is a major hurricane with category 3 status right now, expected to strengthen to category 4 so we're watching this. It's moving quite rapidly at about 23 miles an hour.
So it will move into the Caribbean and maybe towards the island of Hispaniola and then possibly towards the Bahamas by the end of this week. Certainly something that we are watching carefully as we wrap up hurricane season.
The rest of the country though, thunderstorms along this front which is moving through St. Louis. High pressure under control out west. Continued heat with offshore winds not helping the fire situation out there. Meanwhile your Labor day across the northeast looking great. Barbecues and baseball games and even a few scattered football games and golf tournaments, big one happening up in Boston. That is the latest here from the Weather Center, Betty. Trying to get Frances onshore before she gets any stronger. If not, she will become a hurricane before she does so. We're trying to push it along for you.
NGUYEN: Let's hope that she doesn't become a hurricane. Flood waters are causing a big problem in much of Florida. In fact, Tampa, there's a lot of flooding in Tampa being reported right now. We want to go to WTVT's Dave Osterberg with a look at the flooding situation there -- Dave.
Thank you, Betty. We're actually in a place called Shore Acres Boulevard Northeast. When the storm actually went to our west, the southwest winds pushed all that water from Tampa Bay all the way up into Shore Acres. They're actually below sea level here. And the residents are completely taking it all in stride but the problem is that we've got almost this entire area stranded. Nobody can get out by car. The only way they can get out is either by canoe, those big huge water rescue trucks, or they just have to walk out.
But the problem, Betty, is that the power is still on in Shore Acres, so what the residents and the officials are very afraid of is the fact that these lines might come down and perhaps electrocute somebody because we have all of these residents walking around in this -- I'm in knee-deep water but in some cases, as you go out closer and closer to the bay, I'm about 10 to 12 blocks from Tampa Bay itself, you're looking at waist-high water in people's homes. The good news is there have been no serious injuries thus far in this Shore Acres area in northeast St. Petersburg which is in Pinellas County, but the storm which Rob was just telling you about sitting up there in Apalachee Bay continues to just churn these rain bands around. And we're so far away from the center but still experiencing 30 to 35 miles per hour winds.
So we weren't expecting this much in St. Petersburg, but the residents are taking it in stride because they've been through many of these storms most notable back in 1985 and that was Hurricane Elena.
NGUYEN: That's a very interesting situation because we saw one man walk with his dogs in a boat and then we're seeing a car trying to drive through that. Aren't barricades up to keep people out of that area?
OSTERBERG: I'm sorry, one more time?
NGUYEN: Well, we saw a man carrying some dogs in a boat a while ago walking through this water and now behind you there's a truck trying to make it through the flood waters. Aren't barricades up trying to keep people out of this area? Obviously, it's dangerous. OSTERBERG: Well, they're not letting anybody into the area. The problem is the residents are trying to get out and they really can't stop them. They've told them, please, don't leave your homes. If your home is not flooded, you're going to be OK. The water is going to start to recede but a lot of them are trying to get out. We saw earlier, these two little children, they were very, very young and they were very upset, they were afraid of the high water so the parents were carrying them out on their shoulders to get them back out and into safety but the problem is you see these trucks. Here are some of the larger trucks here. These are the trucks of the officials that come through the area and they do it every hour on the hour. They bring the EMS around to make sure that nobody is hurt, nobody needs anything because, obviously, it's too late to evacuate this area.
So at least the officials in St. Petersburg here are getting around to each house every hour on the hour and they're telling everybody, don't leave, because cars are getting stuck and then these emergency officials, they can't get out. They can't get around. But people aren't heeding the call. If you're watching us from the St. Pete area, just stay in your home if you're in the Shore Acres area. They will get around to you if you need something and they're there every hour on the hour or if you have a canoe, like these guys right here, I guess that's probably the best way to get out of here so far.
NGUYEN: Trying everything they can. Dave Osterberg with WTVT in Tampa. Thank you so much for that.
OSTERBERG: Thank you.
NGUYEN: There is a definite bounce in George W. Bush's step these days. It's a bump in the polls. A signal that the Kerry camp is in trouble. Well, the latest numbers are next.
And home on the ranch with the Bush family. "PEOPLE" magazine has the pictures. We're taking a look. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: On the heels of the GOP convention in the Big Apple, President Bush gets a big bounce. A new poll from "Newsweek" magazine shows Bush leading Senator Kerry by 11 points. This as Kerry makes a significant change in his campaign personnel. For more on these developments, we turn to CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Good morning to you, Bill. Let's talk about the changes in the Kerry camp. What does John Sasso bring to the campaign?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Experience. He worked with Michael Dukakis. He's got a lot of experience in Democrat politics and presumably he can push Kerry to change the agenda towards something more friendly to him like the economy and health care and also to make this campaign about Bush's record, not about Kerry's record where the only way Kerry can win, even has a chance of winning is to make it a referendum on Bush. As long as it was a referendum on his service record in Vietnam, he wasn't getting anywhere.
NGUYEN: Is it a little too late for these changes? Is there a danger in making changes so close to the election?
SCHNEIDER: Well, you still got two months and these elections in recent years have been decided really at the last minute. People have been delaying their final decision. Most Americans know how they're going to vote but those swing voters often delay their final decision until a week or two before the election and sometimes days before and that's why we have to keep polling right until the last minute. So, no, it's not too late.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's take a look at some of these numbers that are out. According to the latest "Newsweek" poll, in the presidential matchup, Bush is actually as you mentioned at the top of this, up 11 points over Kerry. Now, is this just a bump from the convention or is the Kerry train losing a little steam here?
SCHNEIDER: Well, we've seen Bush gaining some ground slowly over the course of last month ever since the Swift Boat Veterans ads started coming out and Kerry's convention produced really no bounce at all for him. There has been a steady momentum on the part of President Bush. He has now moved as we just saw above 50 percent. That's crucial for an incumbent. You always look at the incumbent's number. When he's above 50 percent, what it suggests is that a majority of voters is now prepared to vote for him for reelection. That has not been true until now so it's a bit of a breakthrough and it means the campaign really starts as it always does after Labor Day, it starts with Bush a slight favorite.
NGUYEN: And let's take a look at some of these other numbers. When asked about the economy, those polled show Bush ahead 49 percent to Kerry's 43 percent. Are you surprised by that at all?
SCHNEIDER: It is a bit surprising because the economy is Kerry's issue. Among voters who say the economy is their number one concern, Kerry is in the lead but that's a minority of voters. What it says is that Kerry has to refocus the agenda on domestic issues, on the economy, on health care, on jobs in order to have a chance of winning.
Look, the Democratic convention was about the Vietnam War. The Republican convention was about 9/11. What the voters -- what many voters want to talk about is the economy. Neither convention addressed that issue. Kerry has to do that to have a chance of winning.
NGUYEN: CNN's Bill Schneider, always a pleasure. Thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
NGUYEN: As world leader President Bush tends to policy and politics. As husband, he tends to family matters and parental duties. His daughters dating, his dog Barney. Those are just some of the personal matters the president talks about in this week's "People" magazine.
Here with more on the exclusive interview is senior editor Patrick Rogers live in New York. Good morning to you.
PATRICK ROGERS, SENIOR EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: What surprised you most about this glimpse into the Bushes' personal lives?
Well, it wasn't terribly surprising. I think what was most surprising is to see the president of the United States just completely relaxed at home on his ranch with his two daughters.
NGUYEN: It seems like a close-knit family, yet we saw Laura and the twins speak at the Republican National Convention. Has this become a family affair, campaigning for President Bush?
ROGERS: Absolutely. I think it's been a big coming out for these two daughters to step out on the campaign trail with their dad and it makes for good theater. The president, like four years into his presidency, is now able to present a new image to the country and that's a father of these two very attractive and vivacious daughters.
NGUYEN: You gained some interesting insight. I was reading the article. And one of the questions that really struck me. You asked the twins what three things do they think their dad would bring to a deserted island if he was sent to one. What did they have to say about that?
ROGERS: Well, first of all it was three things not three people. The three things. And the first thing they said was Barney, his dog, his Scottish terrier, who is running around there and, clearly, the president absolutely dotes on this dog. You've never seen a dog so well-groomed and manicured in your life.
NGUYEN: No doubt.
ROGERS: So there was that and then a fishing pole or running shoes. That was an either/or and they both said the Bible without -- you know, absolutely no prompting. They said the Bible, too. And it was funny. We asked what would Mrs. Bush take along and the president piped in that she'd take along a vacuum cleaner and then Jenna Bush said, "yes, and some Windex." So a very clean, meticulous lady.
NGUYEN: Exactly. I didn't think she did that much cleaning around the White House.
ROGERS: That ranch is spick and span. So either she does it or she has someone do it.
NGUYEN: They may have a little bit of help there. Whether President Bush wins or loses, this article really posed the question, do you think you're going to be the last Bush in the White House. And he said no. Interesting.
ROGERS: He said no. He did. He said that his father had set such a strong example, the first President Bush, that, you know, there very well could be someone else coming up through the ranks. He didn't say who. He said that his father had shown the family that you could enter politics for all of its back and forth and ugliness and -- that does happen during politics and, yet, come through a good person. You could still be a good person and go through all of that. So he said that it's a possibility. The girls both said, it's not us.
NGUYEN: Quickly said that, didn't they?
ROGERS: Yes, they did.
NGUYEN: All right. Patrick Rogers in "People" magazine. Interesting article. Thank you so much.
ROGERS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Days of sorrow and mourning in Russia as child after child and victim after victim laid to rest. Officials speculate there could be an al Qaeda connection to last week's school massacre. The story is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Flags fly at half-staff across Russia this hour and the wails of mourners could be heard in Beslan as the nation pauses to remember more than 330 adults and children killed in last week's school massacre. The families of 120 of those victims held burials today. More than 400 people are still hospitalized this morning. U.S. aid arrived today in the form of medical supplies, including burn beds and monitoring equipment.
And there are questions about whether there may be an al Qaeda connection in the Russia school massacre. Moscow blames Chechen rebels for the carnage as well as for two other terrorist attacks over the past two weeks. As CNN's Maria Ressa reports, al Qaeda appears to have influenced the Chechen drive for an independent Muslim state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what's left of two Russian passenger planes. Russian authorities say two Chechen women, suicide bombers, boarded the planes and triggered mid-air explosions, killing all 89 people on board. This terrorism expert says it's nearly identical to a plot first hatched as part of the 9/11 attacks.
According to the 9/11 commission report, al Qaeda was considering a number of plans prior to 9/11, including one that called for suicide bombers to board planes in Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong and then trigger mid-air explosions. The report concluded this plot was canceled by Osama bin Laden but not forgotten.
While there are no confirmed links between 9/11 and the Russian attacks, there is little doubt among terrorism experts that there is an al Qaeda influence on Chechen rebels who have stepped up attacks on Russian soil.
Within days of the Russian plane explosions, another terrorist attack in this Russian school. Hundreds were killed. Many of them children. It is the second highest casualty rate from a terrorist attack since 9/11. Russian officials were quick to say Arab fighters were among the attackers killed and the Russian news agency quotes an unnamed source saying the attack was financed by Abu Omar As-Seyf, the man Russian officials say is al Qaeda's representative in Chechnya but as of yet, Russian officials have not made any evidence of this link public.
Not surprising, says al Qaeda expert Rohan Gunaratna.
ROHAN GUNARATNA, AUTHOR, "INSIDE AL QAEDA": Al Qaeda has had very longterm involvement in the Chechen conflict so we have seen a continuous flow of al Qaeda and other Arab mujahedeen (ph) that would work with the Chechen groups and these foreign fighters inspired the Chechen Muslims exactly to operate like al Qaeda.
RESSA: Among the first, Ivan Omar Khattab believed by some to be a protegee of Osama bin Laden went to Chechnya to set up the International Islamic Brigade.
But the Chechen struggle is much more than just a theater of operations for al Qaeda. It is also a source of inspiration, fueling a global jihad like in southeast Asia, where intelligence sources say al Qaeda's arm the Jima Islamiyah (ph) plotted to hijack a Russian plane from Bangkok and crash it into Singapore's airport.
RESSA (on camera): After the plot leader was arrested, authorities here asked him why he chose a Russian plane. His answer, he said he wanted revenge for what the Russians are doing in Chechnya. Maria Ressa, CNN, Singapore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And we're coming right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Before we wrap up the hour, we want to show you this. Trouble not just with water, but with fire caused by Frances. Frances ripped down power lines along with trees and buildings. One of those power lines sent flames roaring through a tire plant in Hillsboro. These pictures coming from Coconut Beach Fire Department yesterday.
And that is going to do it for me. Betty Nguyen here at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Up next, Drew Griffin in today for Wolf Blitzer.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Betty. We'll continue the news here from the CNN Center in Atlanta. In for Wolf Blitzer this Labor Day. No holiday for the headlines. It's a busy hour ahead but, first, let's take a look at what is happening right now in the news.
Assessing the damage from Hurricane Frances even as the storm churns its way now toward landfall for a second time. Two deaths in Florida being blamed on Frances. Now a tropical storm drifting over the Gulf of Mexico. There's where it could regain strength before hitting the Florida Panhandle. CNN live up and down that coast. There has been a deadly attack on U.S. troops. A car bomb on the outskirts of Fallujah in Iraq killing seven marines this morning. The U.S. military command in Baghdad says three Iraqi guardsmen also died in that blast. Two Humvees destroyed when an apparent suicide bomber set off his explosives-packed vehicle. A live report in about ten minutes from now.
Waiting for word in New York where former president Bill Clinton is undergoing and should be wrapping up heart surgery this hour. The operation began at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We're going to have a live update. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is standing by at New York Presbyterian Hospital. We'll have that.
We begin with the latest on the wrath of Hurricane Frances. Damage widespread across Florida. At least two deaths are linked to this storm and that toll may climb as search and rescue teams comb through the debris. A marina and Fort Pierce, just miles from where Frances came ashore yesterday as we described as a total loss.
Here it is. The storm knocking down untold power lines and trees. Three million homes and businesses without electricity. Utility crews are working around the clock now trying to restore power and they'll soon be getting some help. Crews are on their way from Georgia and north Florida.
Federal emergency officials say they're also mounting a massive response to the storm, bringing in food and water, medical teams and rescue crews. Right now, Frances is drifting over the Gulf of Mexico. It could regain some of its punch. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano tracking Frances.
And Rob, yet another hurricane to watch.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's true. Ivan, we'll speak briefly about that. Here's what's going on with Frances.
The effects from this thing, even though it hasn't regained strength to hurricane status, the winds away from the system, though, or at least the core winds away from the system, are also spawning some tornadoes. And you can see everything feeding off the Gulf of Mexico.
Tampa Bay has just been getting hammered in the past 12 to 18 hours with heavy rain and winds gusting to tropical storm force. So they missed it by Charley and they're getting if from Frances.
All right. We'll take the radar beam off here and show you just the highlighted counties that are under tornado warnings here for the next 15 to 30 minutes. These are radar-indicated tornadoes. And for that reason, there are warnings out.
All right. We'll widen the swath of this thing. You can get an idea of exactly how big this system is as the rain shield moves not only through Georgia, not only through South Carolina, but all of the way into North Carolina as well, and heavy rains just offshore of North Carolina. Here's the center. You can see the swirl. It's trying to get a little bit better organized over this very warm water, but it's almost inland and through Apalachee Bay, it looks like just to the east of Tallahassee and through Perry, and then across I-10 is what this thing will do.
Over really the next couple of hours is where it will be making landfall. So hopefully we'll get this thing in and out and it won't strengthen any farther.
All right. Over to the GR-115, and I'll show you the latest numbers on this thing, with winds just 65 miles an hour. It remains a strong tropical storm, and we expect it to remain at that level.
The official forecast keeps it at tropical storm status as it moves off to the northwest at eight miles an hour. Officially, it's east-southeast of Apalachicola by 65 miles.
All right. Tropical storm winds will extend out from this thing, but the main thing will be the rains that will be in engulfing much of the southeast and across the Appalachians as well.
Onshore, easily tonight at 8:00 p.m., winds gusting away from this thing to tropical storm force, and then dissipating throughout the day tomorrow. A heavy rain event for much of the eastern third of the country.
All right. You mentioned this, Drew. It's Hurricane Ivan.
It's growing. It's a Category 3 storm, and expected to regain its strength to Category 4 status, passing over Barbados, across the Lesser Antilles and into the Caribbean, 115-mile-an-hour sustained winds possible with this thing as it continues its trek to the west- northwest at 23 miles an hour.
Hispaniola Thursday morning could be under the gun with this thing. And then we'll watch it after that. It could get into the Bahamas.
It's Labor Day, Drew.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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Aired September 6, 2004 - 11:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen here in Atlanta. Let's check what's happening "Now in the News" for Labor Day, September 6.
The latest on Frances. What you're looking at here is hundreds of people -- hopefully we'll get that live shot. People lined up in Ft. Pierce to get supplies.
An advisory issued this hour now puts Frances 60 miles southeast of Apalachicola, Florida. Winds remain steady at 65 miles an hour, but forecasters say Frances could be a minimal hurricane when it hits the Panhandle this afternoon.
Former President Clinton remains in surgery this hour for a coronary bypass. He was admitted last week after complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath.
Hot, dry weather and erratic winds are fanning wildfires across three northern California counties this hour. The worst fire is in Sonoma, where 10,000 acres are burning and more than 100 homes are in danger.
And Typhoon Songua is bringing heavy wind and flooding to Japan's southern islands today. As much as 20 inches of rain could fall over the next few days.
Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.
Northeast Florida missed the brunt of Frances but still took a good beating. CNN's Kathleen Koch is in St. Augustine this morning.
How bad is the damage there, Kathleen?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the head of emergency operations for the county, the spokesman, Paul Williamson, said very fortunate. That's the way to describe not only how historic St. Augustine fared, but all of St. John's County.
Now, you can look around behind me and see pretty much the extent of the damage in the downtown area. It's just some branches down. In the historic plaza that's beyond some of these buildings, there are some very large historic old oak trees that came down in the hurricane as it roared through here last night. Top winds were thought to gust over 60 miles an hour. And the big old trees just couldn't take it.
Now the trees like those and a lot of branches that came down are responsible for the massive power outages even in this county in the far northeast corner of the state. Roughly two-thirds of the entire county is without power and what we're being told is that, like much of the rest of the state, it could be several days before the power gets on because it's still raining, as you can see here. The winds have died down a bit. We're still under, though, a tropical storm warning and a flood watch. And the power companies simply don't want to send anyone out in the trucks, put them up in those buckets where they're very vulnerable to the winds and have someone get hurt, so they're really waiting for the remains of Frances to just sweep on through before they send anyone out.
But what we are seeing here now is -- this is interesting, Betty. A corner of the state where a lot of people fled to get away from Frances, now they are stuck here with no power, they're saying we may as well just go home.
So we've seen a lot of people lined up at the gas station, gassing up their cars and they're getting ready to head south and they know it's going to be a long trip. A lot of people, you know, of this same state of mind and so the roads headed south from here are going to be jam-packed and it's going to be quite a long drive -- Betty.
NGUYEN: You know, that's interesting, Kathleen, because in some parts of the state, gas is at a premium. Some people just can't seem to find it at the pumps.
KOCH: Well, and that is what everyone is saying as they leave here and we're recommending to them, you know, get to the nearest gas station here. There is still plenty of gasoline in St. John's County, fill up. But we're hearing there are very long lines at the gas stations. People know what they have ahead of them. What they don't know is what they're going to find when they get home.
So we've actually talked to some people who live, say, in the Melbourne area, in the Palm Beach area who are afraid they're going to find homes severely damaged, homes with no electricity and they're booking homes in Miami.
So they're going to stop, check on their homes and then head on south where they hope they'll be able to find a warm meal and some electricity.
NGUYEN: Let's hope so. CNN's Kathleen Koch in St. Augustine today. Thank you for that. Well, with all this talk about Frances, let's see where she is right now. And for that we go to Rob Marciano. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Betty. Here's the latest...
NGUYEN: I hear you but I don't see you. There you are!
MARCIANO: Here is the latest for you. The radar imagery showing actually getting a little bit better organized. And there is Tallahassee. This is the area that we were concerned about, Panama City. It looks like now it will probably head more towards Perry and then through the big bend here.
This corner of the southwest edge of the storm getting a little bit better organized. I mean, it's sitting right over water that's 80, 85 degrees. You can see the convection around it.
So it is inching on shore right now. It just doesn't have -- if it were to sit here, it would probably strengthen to hurricane status, no problem. But it looks like it may get onshore before it gets some much more better organized. Much more better -- that's probably bad English.
Anyway, down to Tampa, we're looking at squally weather down there. I mean, Tampa which was missed by Charley three weeks ago has been getting peppered by tropical storm force winds and heavy rain for -- it's seemingly over 12 hours now and it continues to get fed in moisture off the Gulf of Mexico.
Also, the wind field from this thing is still pretty wide. We have tropical storm winds out to at least 70 if not 80 miles from the center. And Jacksonville, Daytona, back through -- well, not so much Orlando, but certainly back through Tallahassee, we're seeing winds gusting to 30, 35, even 45 miles an hour in spots.
And then look at the rain shield all the way up into central Georgia. And we've had tornado warnings as far north as Savannah and the South Carolina-Georgia border.
All right. Let's go to GR-115 and we'll show you that grand swath again. There's Charleston back through Savannah. Savannah in that tornado watch as these little spin-out thunderstorms can pop up kind of like -- you know, you think of these feeder bands kind of like arms from the hurricane. And then with one of those arms, maybe throwing a little frisbee out there. That's how the air spins away from hurricanes.
So for that reason, you get often these little tornadoes that will pop up. Atlanta may be in the mix later on today as far as rainfall and gusty winds. Already starting to see gusty winds took today. There is Tampa and fairly rare that this tornado watch extends well to the south and east of the system.
Tropical storm winds, you've got 65 miles an hour moving to the northwest at 8. It is officially 65 miles east-southeast of Apalachicola and now instead of heading towards Apalachicola and Panama City, it looks like it's going to scoot in this way over the next three to four hours and hopefully we will be done with it but it will bring a tremendous amount of rain across much of the eastern third of the country.
This is Hurricane Ivan which is a major hurricane with category 3 status right now, expected to strengthen to category 4 so we're watching this. It's moving quite rapidly at about 23 miles an hour.
So it will move into the Caribbean and maybe towards the island of Hispaniola and then possibly towards the Bahamas by the end of this week. Certainly something that we are watching carefully as we wrap up hurricane season.
The rest of the country though, thunderstorms along this front which is moving through St. Louis. High pressure under control out west. Continued heat with offshore winds not helping the fire situation out there. Meanwhile your Labor day across the northeast looking great. Barbecues and baseball games and even a few scattered football games and golf tournaments, big one happening up in Boston. That is the latest here from the Weather Center, Betty. Trying to get Frances onshore before she gets any stronger. If not, she will become a hurricane before she does so. We're trying to push it along for you.
NGUYEN: Let's hope that she doesn't become a hurricane. Flood waters are causing a big problem in much of Florida. In fact, Tampa, there's a lot of flooding in Tampa being reported right now. We want to go to WTVT's Dave Osterberg with a look at the flooding situation there -- Dave.
Thank you, Betty. We're actually in a place called Shore Acres Boulevard Northeast. When the storm actually went to our west, the southwest winds pushed all that water from Tampa Bay all the way up into Shore Acres. They're actually below sea level here. And the residents are completely taking it all in stride but the problem is that we've got almost this entire area stranded. Nobody can get out by car. The only way they can get out is either by canoe, those big huge water rescue trucks, or they just have to walk out.
But the problem, Betty, is that the power is still on in Shore Acres, so what the residents and the officials are very afraid of is the fact that these lines might come down and perhaps electrocute somebody because we have all of these residents walking around in this -- I'm in knee-deep water but in some cases, as you go out closer and closer to the bay, I'm about 10 to 12 blocks from Tampa Bay itself, you're looking at waist-high water in people's homes. The good news is there have been no serious injuries thus far in this Shore Acres area in northeast St. Petersburg which is in Pinellas County, but the storm which Rob was just telling you about sitting up there in Apalachee Bay continues to just churn these rain bands around. And we're so far away from the center but still experiencing 30 to 35 miles per hour winds.
So we weren't expecting this much in St. Petersburg, but the residents are taking it in stride because they've been through many of these storms most notable back in 1985 and that was Hurricane Elena.
NGUYEN: That's a very interesting situation because we saw one man walk with his dogs in a boat and then we're seeing a car trying to drive through that. Aren't barricades up to keep people out of that area?
OSTERBERG: I'm sorry, one more time?
NGUYEN: Well, we saw a man carrying some dogs in a boat a while ago walking through this water and now behind you there's a truck trying to make it through the flood waters. Aren't barricades up trying to keep people out of this area? Obviously, it's dangerous. OSTERBERG: Well, they're not letting anybody into the area. The problem is the residents are trying to get out and they really can't stop them. They've told them, please, don't leave your homes. If your home is not flooded, you're going to be OK. The water is going to start to recede but a lot of them are trying to get out. We saw earlier, these two little children, they were very, very young and they were very upset, they were afraid of the high water so the parents were carrying them out on their shoulders to get them back out and into safety but the problem is you see these trucks. Here are some of the larger trucks here. These are the trucks of the officials that come through the area and they do it every hour on the hour. They bring the EMS around to make sure that nobody is hurt, nobody needs anything because, obviously, it's too late to evacuate this area.
So at least the officials in St. Petersburg here are getting around to each house every hour on the hour and they're telling everybody, don't leave, because cars are getting stuck and then these emergency officials, they can't get out. They can't get around. But people aren't heeding the call. If you're watching us from the St. Pete area, just stay in your home if you're in the Shore Acres area. They will get around to you if you need something and they're there every hour on the hour or if you have a canoe, like these guys right here, I guess that's probably the best way to get out of here so far.
NGUYEN: Trying everything they can. Dave Osterberg with WTVT in Tampa. Thank you so much for that.
OSTERBERG: Thank you.
NGUYEN: There is a definite bounce in George W. Bush's step these days. It's a bump in the polls. A signal that the Kerry camp is in trouble. Well, the latest numbers are next.
And home on the ranch with the Bush family. "PEOPLE" magazine has the pictures. We're taking a look. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: On the heels of the GOP convention in the Big Apple, President Bush gets a big bounce. A new poll from "Newsweek" magazine shows Bush leading Senator Kerry by 11 points. This as Kerry makes a significant change in his campaign personnel. For more on these developments, we turn to CNN's senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Good morning to you, Bill. Let's talk about the changes in the Kerry camp. What does John Sasso bring to the campaign?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Experience. He worked with Michael Dukakis. He's got a lot of experience in Democrat politics and presumably he can push Kerry to change the agenda towards something more friendly to him like the economy and health care and also to make this campaign about Bush's record, not about Kerry's record where the only way Kerry can win, even has a chance of winning is to make it a referendum on Bush. As long as it was a referendum on his service record in Vietnam, he wasn't getting anywhere.
NGUYEN: Is it a little too late for these changes? Is there a danger in making changes so close to the election?
SCHNEIDER: Well, you still got two months and these elections in recent years have been decided really at the last minute. People have been delaying their final decision. Most Americans know how they're going to vote but those swing voters often delay their final decision until a week or two before the election and sometimes days before and that's why we have to keep polling right until the last minute. So, no, it's not too late.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's take a look at some of these numbers that are out. According to the latest "Newsweek" poll, in the presidential matchup, Bush is actually as you mentioned at the top of this, up 11 points over Kerry. Now, is this just a bump from the convention or is the Kerry train losing a little steam here?
SCHNEIDER: Well, we've seen Bush gaining some ground slowly over the course of last month ever since the Swift Boat Veterans ads started coming out and Kerry's convention produced really no bounce at all for him. There has been a steady momentum on the part of President Bush. He has now moved as we just saw above 50 percent. That's crucial for an incumbent. You always look at the incumbent's number. When he's above 50 percent, what it suggests is that a majority of voters is now prepared to vote for him for reelection. That has not been true until now so it's a bit of a breakthrough and it means the campaign really starts as it always does after Labor Day, it starts with Bush a slight favorite.
NGUYEN: And let's take a look at some of these other numbers. When asked about the economy, those polled show Bush ahead 49 percent to Kerry's 43 percent. Are you surprised by that at all?
SCHNEIDER: It is a bit surprising because the economy is Kerry's issue. Among voters who say the economy is their number one concern, Kerry is in the lead but that's a minority of voters. What it says is that Kerry has to refocus the agenda on domestic issues, on the economy, on health care, on jobs in order to have a chance of winning.
Look, the Democratic convention was about the Vietnam War. The Republican convention was about 9/11. What the voters -- what many voters want to talk about is the economy. Neither convention addressed that issue. Kerry has to do that to have a chance of winning.
NGUYEN: CNN's Bill Schneider, always a pleasure. Thank you.
SCHNEIDER: Sure.
NGUYEN: As world leader President Bush tends to policy and politics. As husband, he tends to family matters and parental duties. His daughters dating, his dog Barney. Those are just some of the personal matters the president talks about in this week's "People" magazine.
Here with more on the exclusive interview is senior editor Patrick Rogers live in New York. Good morning to you.
PATRICK ROGERS, SENIOR EDITOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: What surprised you most about this glimpse into the Bushes' personal lives?
Well, it wasn't terribly surprising. I think what was most surprising is to see the president of the United States just completely relaxed at home on his ranch with his two daughters.
NGUYEN: It seems like a close-knit family, yet we saw Laura and the twins speak at the Republican National Convention. Has this become a family affair, campaigning for President Bush?
ROGERS: Absolutely. I think it's been a big coming out for these two daughters to step out on the campaign trail with their dad and it makes for good theater. The president, like four years into his presidency, is now able to present a new image to the country and that's a father of these two very attractive and vivacious daughters.
NGUYEN: You gained some interesting insight. I was reading the article. And one of the questions that really struck me. You asked the twins what three things do they think their dad would bring to a deserted island if he was sent to one. What did they have to say about that?
ROGERS: Well, first of all it was three things not three people. The three things. And the first thing they said was Barney, his dog, his Scottish terrier, who is running around there and, clearly, the president absolutely dotes on this dog. You've never seen a dog so well-groomed and manicured in your life.
NGUYEN: No doubt.
ROGERS: So there was that and then a fishing pole or running shoes. That was an either/or and they both said the Bible without -- you know, absolutely no prompting. They said the Bible, too. And it was funny. We asked what would Mrs. Bush take along and the president piped in that she'd take along a vacuum cleaner and then Jenna Bush said, "yes, and some Windex." So a very clean, meticulous lady.
NGUYEN: Exactly. I didn't think she did that much cleaning around the White House.
ROGERS: That ranch is spick and span. So either she does it or she has someone do it.
NGUYEN: They may have a little bit of help there. Whether President Bush wins or loses, this article really posed the question, do you think you're going to be the last Bush in the White House. And he said no. Interesting.
ROGERS: He said no. He did. He said that his father had set such a strong example, the first President Bush, that, you know, there very well could be someone else coming up through the ranks. He didn't say who. He said that his father had shown the family that you could enter politics for all of its back and forth and ugliness and -- that does happen during politics and, yet, come through a good person. You could still be a good person and go through all of that. So he said that it's a possibility. The girls both said, it's not us.
NGUYEN: Quickly said that, didn't they?
ROGERS: Yes, they did.
NGUYEN: All right. Patrick Rogers in "People" magazine. Interesting article. Thank you so much.
ROGERS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Days of sorrow and mourning in Russia as child after child and victim after victim laid to rest. Officials speculate there could be an al Qaeda connection to last week's school massacre. The story is next.
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NGUYEN: Flags fly at half-staff across Russia this hour and the wails of mourners could be heard in Beslan as the nation pauses to remember more than 330 adults and children killed in last week's school massacre. The families of 120 of those victims held burials today. More than 400 people are still hospitalized this morning. U.S. aid arrived today in the form of medical supplies, including burn beds and monitoring equipment.
And there are questions about whether there may be an al Qaeda connection in the Russia school massacre. Moscow blames Chechen rebels for the carnage as well as for two other terrorist attacks over the past two weeks. As CNN's Maria Ressa reports, al Qaeda appears to have influenced the Chechen drive for an independent Muslim state.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARIA RESSA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what's left of two Russian passenger planes. Russian authorities say two Chechen women, suicide bombers, boarded the planes and triggered mid-air explosions, killing all 89 people on board. This terrorism expert says it's nearly identical to a plot first hatched as part of the 9/11 attacks.
According to the 9/11 commission report, al Qaeda was considering a number of plans prior to 9/11, including one that called for suicide bombers to board planes in Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and Hong Kong and then trigger mid-air explosions. The report concluded this plot was canceled by Osama bin Laden but not forgotten.
While there are no confirmed links between 9/11 and the Russian attacks, there is little doubt among terrorism experts that there is an al Qaeda influence on Chechen rebels who have stepped up attacks on Russian soil.
Within days of the Russian plane explosions, another terrorist attack in this Russian school. Hundreds were killed. Many of them children. It is the second highest casualty rate from a terrorist attack since 9/11. Russian officials were quick to say Arab fighters were among the attackers killed and the Russian news agency quotes an unnamed source saying the attack was financed by Abu Omar As-Seyf, the man Russian officials say is al Qaeda's representative in Chechnya but as of yet, Russian officials have not made any evidence of this link public.
Not surprising, says al Qaeda expert Rohan Gunaratna.
ROHAN GUNARATNA, AUTHOR, "INSIDE AL QAEDA": Al Qaeda has had very longterm involvement in the Chechen conflict so we have seen a continuous flow of al Qaeda and other Arab mujahedeen (ph) that would work with the Chechen groups and these foreign fighters inspired the Chechen Muslims exactly to operate like al Qaeda.
RESSA: Among the first, Ivan Omar Khattab believed by some to be a protegee of Osama bin Laden went to Chechnya to set up the International Islamic Brigade.
But the Chechen struggle is much more than just a theater of operations for al Qaeda. It is also a source of inspiration, fueling a global jihad like in southeast Asia, where intelligence sources say al Qaeda's arm the Jima Islamiyah (ph) plotted to hijack a Russian plane from Bangkok and crash it into Singapore's airport.
RESSA (on camera): After the plot leader was arrested, authorities here asked him why he chose a Russian plane. His answer, he said he wanted revenge for what the Russians are doing in Chechnya. Maria Ressa, CNN, Singapore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And we're coming right back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Before we wrap up the hour, we want to show you this. Trouble not just with water, but with fire caused by Frances. Frances ripped down power lines along with trees and buildings. One of those power lines sent flames roaring through a tire plant in Hillsboro. These pictures coming from Coconut Beach Fire Department yesterday.
And that is going to do it for me. Betty Nguyen here at the CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Up next, Drew Griffin in today for Wolf Blitzer.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Betty. We'll continue the news here from the CNN Center in Atlanta. In for Wolf Blitzer this Labor Day. No holiday for the headlines. It's a busy hour ahead but, first, let's take a look at what is happening right now in the news.
Assessing the damage from Hurricane Frances even as the storm churns its way now toward landfall for a second time. Two deaths in Florida being blamed on Frances. Now a tropical storm drifting over the Gulf of Mexico. There's where it could regain strength before hitting the Florida Panhandle. CNN live up and down that coast. There has been a deadly attack on U.S. troops. A car bomb on the outskirts of Fallujah in Iraq killing seven marines this morning. The U.S. military command in Baghdad says three Iraqi guardsmen also died in that blast. Two Humvees destroyed when an apparent suicide bomber set off his explosives-packed vehicle. A live report in about ten minutes from now.
Waiting for word in New York where former president Bill Clinton is undergoing and should be wrapping up heart surgery this hour. The operation began at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We're going to have a live update. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is standing by at New York Presbyterian Hospital. We'll have that.
We begin with the latest on the wrath of Hurricane Frances. Damage widespread across Florida. At least two deaths are linked to this storm and that toll may climb as search and rescue teams comb through the debris. A marina and Fort Pierce, just miles from where Frances came ashore yesterday as we described as a total loss.
Here it is. The storm knocking down untold power lines and trees. Three million homes and businesses without electricity. Utility crews are working around the clock now trying to restore power and they'll soon be getting some help. Crews are on their way from Georgia and north Florida.
Federal emergency officials say they're also mounting a massive response to the storm, bringing in food and water, medical teams and rescue crews. Right now, Frances is drifting over the Gulf of Mexico. It could regain some of its punch. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano tracking Frances.
And Rob, yet another hurricane to watch.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's true. Ivan, we'll speak briefly about that. Here's what's going on with Frances.
The effects from this thing, even though it hasn't regained strength to hurricane status, the winds away from the system, though, or at least the core winds away from the system, are also spawning some tornadoes. And you can see everything feeding off the Gulf of Mexico.
Tampa Bay has just been getting hammered in the past 12 to 18 hours with heavy rain and winds gusting to tropical storm force. So they missed it by Charley and they're getting if from Frances.
All right. We'll take the radar beam off here and show you just the highlighted counties that are under tornado warnings here for the next 15 to 30 minutes. These are radar-indicated tornadoes. And for that reason, there are warnings out.
All right. We'll widen the swath of this thing. You can get an idea of exactly how big this system is as the rain shield moves not only through Georgia, not only through South Carolina, but all of the way into North Carolina as well, and heavy rains just offshore of North Carolina. Here's the center. You can see the swirl. It's trying to get a little bit better organized over this very warm water, but it's almost inland and through Apalachee Bay, it looks like just to the east of Tallahassee and through Perry, and then across I-10 is what this thing will do.
Over really the next couple of hours is where it will be making landfall. So hopefully we'll get this thing in and out and it won't strengthen any farther.
All right. Over to the GR-115, and I'll show you the latest numbers on this thing, with winds just 65 miles an hour. It remains a strong tropical storm, and we expect it to remain at that level.
The official forecast keeps it at tropical storm status as it moves off to the northwest at eight miles an hour. Officially, it's east-southeast of Apalachicola by 65 miles.
All right. Tropical storm winds will extend out from this thing, but the main thing will be the rains that will be in engulfing much of the southeast and across the Appalachians as well.
Onshore, easily tonight at 8:00 p.m., winds gusting away from this thing to tropical storm force, and then dissipating throughout the day tomorrow. A heavy rain event for much of the eastern third of the country.
All right. You mentioned this, Drew. It's Hurricane Ivan.
It's growing. It's a Category 3 storm, and expected to regain its strength to Category 4 status, passing over Barbados, across the Lesser Antilles and into the Caribbean, 115-mile-an-hour sustained winds possible with this thing as it continues its trek to the west- northwest at 23 miles an hour.
Hispaniola Thursday morning could be under the gun with this thing. And then we'll watch it after that. It could get into the Bahamas.
It's Labor Day, Drew.
(WEATHER REPORT)
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