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CNN Live Today

Hurricane Watchers Fear Frances will Strengthen in Gulf; 7 U.S. Marines Killed in Fallujah Blast

Aired September 06, 2004 - 10:00   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.


BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to everyone from the CNN headquarters here in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Daryn Kagan.
The National Hurricane Center is due to issue an update on Frances in about an hour. And it's appearing more likely that the gathering storm will be elevated to hurricane status again before landfall this afternoon. Right now, its eye is reforming over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is headed towards the Panhandle. Landfall is predicted between Apalachicola, southwest of Tallahassee and St. Marks, which is directly south of the capital.

In Iraq, seven U.S. Marines are killed in a blast near Fallujah. Three Iraqi guardsmen also died when a car apparently loaded with explosives blew up next to their convoy. It was the deadliest single attack on U.S. troops in Iraq in four months.

Russia remembers victims of Friday's school massacre with two days of mourning. The death toll stands at 338 hostages, nearly half of them children. The families of 120 of those victims conducted funerals in the town of Beslan near the Chechen border. Russia's state-run television reports that the government has a suspected hostage taker in custody.

Former President Bill Clinton is in surgery right now, undergoing a heart bypass operation. Mr. Clinton was hospitalized Friday after suffering chest pains and shortness of breath. An angiogram showed blockages in some of his coronary arteries. Full recovery is expected in a month or two.

While Panhandle residents brace for Frances, people in other parts of Florida are beginning to tally damage from that storm.

CNN's Sean Callebs is on the state's east coast in Ft. Pierce.

Good morning to you, Sean. It's been a very long weekend for the folks in Florida.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's been a very long weekend. And also, very tense for a lot of people here. First time there's been a sign in a few days, they want to get out and look at the damage. This, of course, the marina in Ft. Pierce. If you look out there, some people who owned boats, who are out on these docks have been blown in. But in the past few minutes, we've had law enforcement officers as well as Armed National Guard troops come in. And now they have told all the residents to get off the dock. They say the area is simply not safe. So they're keeping everybody behind the barricade. This happened, I'd say, within the last 10 minutes or so.

For the previous two and a half or so hours, people had been out inspecting the damage. Now, really, the marina here at Ft. Pierce had been kind of the revitalization effort for the city. And this was an area -- Mike, we can pan out and look at the boats. You can see them all piled on top of one another. In the past -- these docks went out several hundred feet. But when the height of Frances blew through this area, it just ripped the docks from their moorings. A lot of them were simply Styrofoam encased in concrete. And they all blew in, causing a very serious damage at the end of this area.

And a lot of people actually live on the boats out here. There are about 200 slips, only about 100 were being used when the hurricane hit. The lion's share of those, at 20 boats simply gone, damaged, destroyed. Authorities can't find them. And of the 80 boats that are still here, a lot of them have suffered serious damage. This is the first day people have been able to get out after the hurricane. This is the first place a lot of people came. But within the past 10 or 15 minutes, you can see way down on the end of the dock, there's one, a sheriff's officer or a city police officer. Only saw him for a brief moment before he went down there. He got everybody off the docks. Told them if they're on their boat now, get what you need and get off this minute.

Now there are National Guard troops down there as well, working with the police. National Guard troops up here at the barricade. At the top of the marina. They are apparently going to be keeping people from coming out and inspecting any kind of damage here for the rest of the day. They say the area is simply not safe.

And you can look behind me at this dock; it's kind of caved in where boats continually slammed into it during the hurricane. There are actually some people walking out trying to get access to their boats. Clearly you can see why officers had some concerns about that.

Very emotional for a lot of people. Because people who own these boats are very serious about it, it's expensive. It's very time- consuming. And for them, it is really a passion. They really wanted to get out and see how the boats fared. For a handful, they were pleasantly surprised. But for the majority, they simply couldn't believe the sheer devastation. Betty, they say they don't even recognize this place anymore.

NGUYEN: Absolutely and the pictures say it all. Thank you, Sean Callebs in Ft. Pierce, Florida this morning.

Well, here are some more France facts. Two deaths have been blamed on the storm, both in the areas of Florida. Now, we also want to go right now to the other story. Once a hurricane, now a tropical storm headed for the Panhandle, after cutting a swath across the state's south-central region.

CNN's Tom Foreman is in the northwest Florida fishing village of Carrabelle and he joins us with the latest there. How are people preparing?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, the thing is a lot of people are preparing in the way that they do after a lifetime living on the water. Some people have boarded up. A few people have gone away. But many people are more or less going about their daily business. They have to be watching the pictures, though, that Sean showed you a few minutes ago. There are dozens and dozens of boats in this marina that have been put here for safekeeping. They have to be watching those pictures and wondering if that's what's going to happen here. Because they do know a lot about the water.

That's why they don't take some of these evacuation orders as seriously as perhaps they should. The mayor was explaining about it a while ago saying very difficult to get people to move out after so many years of experience with this.

But if you look at this area right now, the water's fairly far down. When this storm comes into this area, it's going to cause a tidal surge. It will all come rushing back in. And the water has been way down because of the northern winds pushing it out. But all that's going to come. The last time they had a big, big storm here, the water was up to my chest in this area. So they have an idea of how much damage it can do, and how far it can go in this area.

This is the area that everybody is watching. Out in this direction is where the storm is. About 100 miles out there, turning perhaps into a hurricane at this point, we don't know for sure what's going to happen. For now, people here are largely trying to go about their work. We've seen a few boats actually coming and going right now. And the squalls, which were hitting us a while ago, have laid down at the moment.

The big question, of course, is what's going to come later on today? A lot of experienced people here looking out to the ocean and wondering themselves -- they're out to the Gulf, and wondering themselves what will happen with this storm? Will it be a hurricane? This is the place it's going to hit first, if it is. And this is the place where we will know -- Betty.

NGUYEN: We'll be watching. Stay safe. Tom Foreman in Carrabelle, thank you..

Now, back to those Frances facts. Two deaths have been blamed on the storm, both in Alachua County. One woman was killed when a tree crashed on her mobile home, and a man was killed in a car accident. More than two million people are without power. The actual number may be even greater than that, since many evacuated residents haven't returned home just. And at least -- at last count, that is, more than 90,000 people are staying in 332 shelters statewide.

Well, one more note on Frances. Florida's Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings will join us at the bottom of the hour to talk about the efforts to get power back up and gasoline in the gas stations.

Bill Clinton's heart bypass surgery has been under way for a couple of hours now. Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is outside New York Presbyterian Hospital with an update.

Good morning, Dr. Gupta.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The operation preparations probably began around 6:45 this morning. The operation is now under way. Dr. Craig Smith is the chairman of Cardio Thoracic Division here at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The two types of ways that they can do the operation, either traditional way where they actually open the chest and bypass the vessels involved, stopping the heart, or the keyhole surgery. We've been hearing from the representatives inside Dr. Smith's office that this is going to be the traditional sort of operation. In fact, stopping the heart and then restarting it at the end of the operation.

Obviously it's been a whirlwind sort of weekend for the Clintons. They released this statement a little bit earlier yesterday talking about the operation, talking about the weekend.

They say, "While bypass surgery certainly isn't something that we look forward to, we are very lucky that the condition was detected in time to have this procedure before something more serious occurred. It is a reminder that while diet and exercise are important, nothing substitutes for regular checkups and talking to your doctor. This sure isn't how we planned to spend Labor Day weekend 2004. We're doing our best to enjoy it and hope that you and your family have a safe and happy weekend."

A lot of people asking about the hospital behind me, New York Presbyterian. Here's how "U.S. News and World Report" looked at all the various heart hospitals. The rankings, you can see the top 5, top 7. This is number seven, still in the top 10. A very good hospital indeed. Betty, again, the operation under way at this time.

NGUYEN: Let's talk a little bit about this bypass surgery. How common is this procedure? And how long will it take for him to recover?

GUPTA: Well, the operation is a fairly routine operation for heart surgeons. They've been doing this operation for a long time. Three to 400,000 of these are done every year, so a fairly routine, if you will, operation. Although no operation is routine until it is completed and the patient is doing well. I think people are going to be surprised at how quickly he's out of the intensive care unit. Probably no more than a day or so. He'll probably be out on the general care floor for a few days. Probably be out of the hospital in less than a week.

Overall, full recovery, though, Betty, that can take a couple of months, getting your body and mind back up to speed. You may have some aches and pains. You may have intermittent fatigue, intermittent depression, things like that. But it all tends to get better in most patients within a couple of months.

NGUYEN: Sanjay, I think a lot of people may be wondering if Clinton's South Beach diet played any role in this?

GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's interesting, a lot of people asking that. You know, actually a fan talked to the former president at a press conference. This is how that conversation took place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look a little thinner.

BILL CLINTON (D), FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I'm a little thinner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What have you been doing? What's different?

CLINTON: I work out a lot. And I went on the South Beach diet for a while. That helped. But the combination, I have a wonderful man who comes in two or three times a week and you work out. You know, when you get older, you've got to really watch it. It get's harder. The older I get, the harder it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: You know, the thing about it is, Betty, honestly, I think the South Beach diet probably had very little to do with it for two reasons. One is that he really wasn't on it that long in the scheme of things. Heart disease is a process that takes years and years to develop. The second thing is, is there are some differences between South Beach diet and just a high fatty food diet. South Beach diet tends to focus on the good fats, if you will. And those are less likely to be associated with heart disease. So probably not a big role here, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta in New York this morning, thank you.

Well, change is good. John Kerry is out campaigning on the heels of a weekend talk with President Clinton. We'll tell you what advice Clinton gave Kerry.

And a live report from Baghdad on the car bomb attack that claimed the lives of some Marines.

Also ahead, Russian families bury victims of a school massacre. A live report from Beslan on families coping with that loss.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Take a look at this. These are live pictures coming from our affiliate WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida. Look at the damage there. As much debris has fallen into many of these pools and back yards throughout Florida. We'll talk with the lieutenant governor of Florida in just a little bit about what's being done to rebuild after Hurricane Frances. So do stay with us for that. Now, our situation report from Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We want to get a situation report now from Iraq. Seven U.S. Marines were killed in a car bombing on the outskirts of Fallujah today. It is the biggest U.S. death toll from a single attack in Iraq in about four months. Three Iraqi troops were also killed in that explosion.

Iraqi leaders are stepping back from earlier reports they captured Saddam Hussein's deputy commander of armed forces. Officials say tests showed the man taken was not Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, but a relative who is also wanted.

And there are reports that two French hostages held in Iraq may be released. The journalists were captured by a militant group demanding France rescind a new law banning Muslim headscarves in schools.

We want to get more details on these developments from Iraq, and CNN's Diana Muriel is in Baghdad.

Diana, what more can you tell us about this car bombing?

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have had confirmation from U.S. forces that seven U.S. Marines were killed and three Iraqi National Guardsmen killed in this car bomb attack that took place in Fallujah. That's a city, which is within the Sunni Triangle to the west of Baghdad. It took place outside of the city's center, about nine miles north of the city center late on Monday morning. According to one military source, the engine from the vehicle landed a good distance away from the blast site, so powerful was the bomb used. We know that there are a number of wounded. We don't have any details on precisely how many or what the nature of those injuries are. But we understand that they are receiving medical attention.

Fallujah has long been a trouble spot for the U.S. forces here in Iraq. U.S. forces have not patrolled inside the city since April when they withdrew after a three-week siege that took place at Fallujah. The city is very much associated with groups of insurgents who have been manufacturing bombs, not just for use in Fallujah, but also in other parts of Iraq, according to intelligence sources. Recently, in recent weeks, the U.S. has been launching long-distance air strikes from the outskirts of the city, attacking what they describe as insurgent safe hazards within Fallujah -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Diana Muriel in Baghdad, thank you very much.

One more note from overseas. Strong aftershocks are rumbling across western Japan today, after these two powerful earthquakes jolted the region yesterday. Thirty-eight people are reported injured. The offshore quakes registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 and 7.3. Meanwhile, a powerful typhoon lashed Japan's southern islands. At least 21 people were hurt. Tens of thousands of homes were left without power. A hostage taking that ended with the loss of more than 150 children. And a live report from Beslan, Russia as families continue to search for missing and bury their dead.

Plus we go to Florida from Disney World to the orchards, the economic fallout from Hurricane Frances.

I'll speak with the Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings about what officials plan to do next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: It's a national day of mourning in Russia, as the nation pauses to honor more than 330 victims of Friday's school massacre. The family of 120 of those victims held burials today in the town of Beslan, near the Chechen border. The death toll stands at least 338 hostages. Nearly half of the victims are children. About 100 people are unaccounted for, and grief-stricken families in Beslan don't expect any good news to emerge from the school's ruins.

We want to go to CNN's Ryan Chilcote who joins us now with the latest -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, this is the first of two days of mourning here in the southern Russian town of Beslan. This is, of course, one of Russia's worst terrorist acts, most violent terrorist in its history. Perhaps one of the world's most violent terrorists attacks that targeted children.

People have been gathering today in the school's gym that you see behind me; that the school's gym is where the terrorists kept the hostages inside from Wednesday to Friday. It was on Friday that the siege ended and the fighting began. Many of the hostages died either inside of that gym or as they were trying to flee it. Today it has about become a memorial. People are bringing carnations here and are going to pay their final respects to the dead.

Now, burials continue here. More burials today on the second day of funerals in the town of Beslan. Literally hundreds of people to bury. Nearly 340 people killed, according to the official count, but that number is expected to rise. There are some 200 to 300 people still missing. Now, we went to a double funeral. It was the funeral of two sisters, a 12-year-old Alina and 13-year-old Erina. Both those girls survived the siege, but were shot in the back as they made their way through the courtyard, trying to flee the school from the hostage takers who had sniper positions up on the roof.

Lastly, there are about 400 people still in Russian hospitals. Many of them children. Medical assistance, of course, very much in need here in southern Russia. The Italians sent a mobile burn lab yesterday to Russia. The United States sent two planes with medical equipment onboard earlier today. We understand that that equipment has been received and turned on to -- turned over to Russian doctors to use -- Betty.

NGUYEN: A little good news there. CNN's Ryan Chilcote, thank you so much for that.

I want to give you a live picture now, because we are following Frances and her destruction. This is a live look from our affiliate WPTV. As you can see, Frances plowed through the area very slowly but caused a lot of damage. This is a look at a neighborhood there, where some homes are destroyed and heavily damaged because of Frances and her strong winds and rain. You've seen the destruction that Frances brought to Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just got back after five months in Baghdad, Iraq. I thought that was a problem getting shot at.

NGUYEN: Now in their own words, hear from the victims.

Plus we'll talk to the lieutenant governor of Florida. Much more on Hurricane Frances and her destruction coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 6, 2004 - 10:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to everyone from the CNN headquarters here in Atlanta. I'm Betty Nguyen in for Daryn Kagan.
The National Hurricane Center is due to issue an update on Frances in about an hour. And it's appearing more likely that the gathering storm will be elevated to hurricane status again before landfall this afternoon. Right now, its eye is reforming over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico and is headed towards the Panhandle. Landfall is predicted between Apalachicola, southwest of Tallahassee and St. Marks, which is directly south of the capital.

In Iraq, seven U.S. Marines are killed in a blast near Fallujah. Three Iraqi guardsmen also died when a car apparently loaded with explosives blew up next to their convoy. It was the deadliest single attack on U.S. troops in Iraq in four months.

Russia remembers victims of Friday's school massacre with two days of mourning. The death toll stands at 338 hostages, nearly half of them children. The families of 120 of those victims conducted funerals in the town of Beslan near the Chechen border. Russia's state-run television reports that the government has a suspected hostage taker in custody.

Former President Bill Clinton is in surgery right now, undergoing a heart bypass operation. Mr. Clinton was hospitalized Friday after suffering chest pains and shortness of breath. An angiogram showed blockages in some of his coronary arteries. Full recovery is expected in a month or two.

While Panhandle residents brace for Frances, people in other parts of Florida are beginning to tally damage from that storm.

CNN's Sean Callebs is on the state's east coast in Ft. Pierce.

Good morning to you, Sean. It's been a very long weekend for the folks in Florida.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It's been a very long weekend. And also, very tense for a lot of people here. First time there's been a sign in a few days, they want to get out and look at the damage. This, of course, the marina in Ft. Pierce. If you look out there, some people who owned boats, who are out on these docks have been blown in. But in the past few minutes, we've had law enforcement officers as well as Armed National Guard troops come in. And now they have told all the residents to get off the dock. They say the area is simply not safe. So they're keeping everybody behind the barricade. This happened, I'd say, within the last 10 minutes or so.

For the previous two and a half or so hours, people had been out inspecting the damage. Now, really, the marina here at Ft. Pierce had been kind of the revitalization effort for the city. And this was an area -- Mike, we can pan out and look at the boats. You can see them all piled on top of one another. In the past -- these docks went out several hundred feet. But when the height of Frances blew through this area, it just ripped the docks from their moorings. A lot of them were simply Styrofoam encased in concrete. And they all blew in, causing a very serious damage at the end of this area.

And a lot of people actually live on the boats out here. There are about 200 slips, only about 100 were being used when the hurricane hit. The lion's share of those, at 20 boats simply gone, damaged, destroyed. Authorities can't find them. And of the 80 boats that are still here, a lot of them have suffered serious damage. This is the first day people have been able to get out after the hurricane. This is the first place a lot of people came. But within the past 10 or 15 minutes, you can see way down on the end of the dock, there's one, a sheriff's officer or a city police officer. Only saw him for a brief moment before he went down there. He got everybody off the docks. Told them if they're on their boat now, get what you need and get off this minute.

Now there are National Guard troops down there as well, working with the police. National Guard troops up here at the barricade. At the top of the marina. They are apparently going to be keeping people from coming out and inspecting any kind of damage here for the rest of the day. They say the area is simply not safe.

And you can look behind me at this dock; it's kind of caved in where boats continually slammed into it during the hurricane. There are actually some people walking out trying to get access to their boats. Clearly you can see why officers had some concerns about that.

Very emotional for a lot of people. Because people who own these boats are very serious about it, it's expensive. It's very time- consuming. And for them, it is really a passion. They really wanted to get out and see how the boats fared. For a handful, they were pleasantly surprised. But for the majority, they simply couldn't believe the sheer devastation. Betty, they say they don't even recognize this place anymore.

NGUYEN: Absolutely and the pictures say it all. Thank you, Sean Callebs in Ft. Pierce, Florida this morning.

Well, here are some more France facts. Two deaths have been blamed on the storm, both in the areas of Florida. Now, we also want to go right now to the other story. Once a hurricane, now a tropical storm headed for the Panhandle, after cutting a swath across the state's south-central region.

CNN's Tom Foreman is in the northwest Florida fishing village of Carrabelle and he joins us with the latest there. How are people preparing?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, the thing is a lot of people are preparing in the way that they do after a lifetime living on the water. Some people have boarded up. A few people have gone away. But many people are more or less going about their daily business. They have to be watching the pictures, though, that Sean showed you a few minutes ago. There are dozens and dozens of boats in this marina that have been put here for safekeeping. They have to be watching those pictures and wondering if that's what's going to happen here. Because they do know a lot about the water.

That's why they don't take some of these evacuation orders as seriously as perhaps they should. The mayor was explaining about it a while ago saying very difficult to get people to move out after so many years of experience with this.

But if you look at this area right now, the water's fairly far down. When this storm comes into this area, it's going to cause a tidal surge. It will all come rushing back in. And the water has been way down because of the northern winds pushing it out. But all that's going to come. The last time they had a big, big storm here, the water was up to my chest in this area. So they have an idea of how much damage it can do, and how far it can go in this area.

This is the area that everybody is watching. Out in this direction is where the storm is. About 100 miles out there, turning perhaps into a hurricane at this point, we don't know for sure what's going to happen. For now, people here are largely trying to go about their work. We've seen a few boats actually coming and going right now. And the squalls, which were hitting us a while ago, have laid down at the moment.

The big question, of course, is what's going to come later on today? A lot of experienced people here looking out to the ocean and wondering themselves -- they're out to the Gulf, and wondering themselves what will happen with this storm? Will it be a hurricane? This is the place it's going to hit first, if it is. And this is the place where we will know -- Betty.

NGUYEN: We'll be watching. Stay safe. Tom Foreman in Carrabelle, thank you..

Now, back to those Frances facts. Two deaths have been blamed on the storm, both in Alachua County. One woman was killed when a tree crashed on her mobile home, and a man was killed in a car accident. More than two million people are without power. The actual number may be even greater than that, since many evacuated residents haven't returned home just. And at least -- at last count, that is, more than 90,000 people are staying in 332 shelters statewide.

Well, one more note on Frances. Florida's Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings will join us at the bottom of the hour to talk about the efforts to get power back up and gasoline in the gas stations.

Bill Clinton's heart bypass surgery has been under way for a couple of hours now. Our senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is outside New York Presbyterian Hospital with an update.

Good morning, Dr. Gupta.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. The operation preparations probably began around 6:45 this morning. The operation is now under way. Dr. Craig Smith is the chairman of Cardio Thoracic Division here at New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The two types of ways that they can do the operation, either traditional way where they actually open the chest and bypass the vessels involved, stopping the heart, or the keyhole surgery. We've been hearing from the representatives inside Dr. Smith's office that this is going to be the traditional sort of operation. In fact, stopping the heart and then restarting it at the end of the operation.

Obviously it's been a whirlwind sort of weekend for the Clintons. They released this statement a little bit earlier yesterday talking about the operation, talking about the weekend.

They say, "While bypass surgery certainly isn't something that we look forward to, we are very lucky that the condition was detected in time to have this procedure before something more serious occurred. It is a reminder that while diet and exercise are important, nothing substitutes for regular checkups and talking to your doctor. This sure isn't how we planned to spend Labor Day weekend 2004. We're doing our best to enjoy it and hope that you and your family have a safe and happy weekend."

A lot of people asking about the hospital behind me, New York Presbyterian. Here's how "U.S. News and World Report" looked at all the various heart hospitals. The rankings, you can see the top 5, top 7. This is number seven, still in the top 10. A very good hospital indeed. Betty, again, the operation under way at this time.

NGUYEN: Let's talk a little bit about this bypass surgery. How common is this procedure? And how long will it take for him to recover?

GUPTA: Well, the operation is a fairly routine operation for heart surgeons. They've been doing this operation for a long time. Three to 400,000 of these are done every year, so a fairly routine, if you will, operation. Although no operation is routine until it is completed and the patient is doing well. I think people are going to be surprised at how quickly he's out of the intensive care unit. Probably no more than a day or so. He'll probably be out on the general care floor for a few days. Probably be out of the hospital in less than a week.

Overall, full recovery, though, Betty, that can take a couple of months, getting your body and mind back up to speed. You may have some aches and pains. You may have intermittent fatigue, intermittent depression, things like that. But it all tends to get better in most patients within a couple of months.

NGUYEN: Sanjay, I think a lot of people may be wondering if Clinton's South Beach diet played any role in this?

GUPTA: Yes. You know, it's interesting, a lot of people asking that. You know, actually a fan talked to the former president at a press conference. This is how that conversation took place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look a little thinner.

BILL CLINTON (D), FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I'm a little thinner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What have you been doing? What's different?

CLINTON: I work out a lot. And I went on the South Beach diet for a while. That helped. But the combination, I have a wonderful man who comes in two or three times a week and you work out. You know, when you get older, you've got to really watch it. It get's harder. The older I get, the harder it is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: You know, the thing about it is, Betty, honestly, I think the South Beach diet probably had very little to do with it for two reasons. One is that he really wasn't on it that long in the scheme of things. Heart disease is a process that takes years and years to develop. The second thing is, is there are some differences between South Beach diet and just a high fatty food diet. South Beach diet tends to focus on the good fats, if you will. And those are less likely to be associated with heart disease. So probably not a big role here, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta in New York this morning, thank you.

Well, change is good. John Kerry is out campaigning on the heels of a weekend talk with President Clinton. We'll tell you what advice Clinton gave Kerry.

And a live report from Baghdad on the car bomb attack that claimed the lives of some Marines.

Also ahead, Russian families bury victims of a school massacre. A live report from Beslan on families coping with that loss.

This is CNN LIVE TODAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Take a look at this. These are live pictures coming from our affiliate WPTV in West Palm Beach, Florida. Look at the damage there. As much debris has fallen into many of these pools and back yards throughout Florida. We'll talk with the lieutenant governor of Florida in just a little bit about what's being done to rebuild after Hurricane Frances. So do stay with us for that. Now, our situation report from Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We want to get a situation report now from Iraq. Seven U.S. Marines were killed in a car bombing on the outskirts of Fallujah today. It is the biggest U.S. death toll from a single attack in Iraq in about four months. Three Iraqi troops were also killed in that explosion.

Iraqi leaders are stepping back from earlier reports they captured Saddam Hussein's deputy commander of armed forces. Officials say tests showed the man taken was not Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, but a relative who is also wanted.

And there are reports that two French hostages held in Iraq may be released. The journalists were captured by a militant group demanding France rescind a new law banning Muslim headscarves in schools.

We want to get more details on these developments from Iraq, and CNN's Diana Muriel is in Baghdad.

Diana, what more can you tell us about this car bombing?

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have had confirmation from U.S. forces that seven U.S. Marines were killed and three Iraqi National Guardsmen killed in this car bomb attack that took place in Fallujah. That's a city, which is within the Sunni Triangle to the west of Baghdad. It took place outside of the city's center, about nine miles north of the city center late on Monday morning. According to one military source, the engine from the vehicle landed a good distance away from the blast site, so powerful was the bomb used. We know that there are a number of wounded. We don't have any details on precisely how many or what the nature of those injuries are. But we understand that they are receiving medical attention.

Fallujah has long been a trouble spot for the U.S. forces here in Iraq. U.S. forces have not patrolled inside the city since April when they withdrew after a three-week siege that took place at Fallujah. The city is very much associated with groups of insurgents who have been manufacturing bombs, not just for use in Fallujah, but also in other parts of Iraq, according to intelligence sources. Recently, in recent weeks, the U.S. has been launching long-distance air strikes from the outskirts of the city, attacking what they describe as insurgent safe hazards within Fallujah -- Betty.

NGUYEN: CNN's Diana Muriel in Baghdad, thank you very much.

One more note from overseas. Strong aftershocks are rumbling across western Japan today, after these two powerful earthquakes jolted the region yesterday. Thirty-eight people are reported injured. The offshore quakes registered a preliminary magnitude of 6.9 and 7.3. Meanwhile, a powerful typhoon lashed Japan's southern islands. At least 21 people were hurt. Tens of thousands of homes were left without power. A hostage taking that ended with the loss of more than 150 children. And a live report from Beslan, Russia as families continue to search for missing and bury their dead.

Plus we go to Florida from Disney World to the orchards, the economic fallout from Hurricane Frances.

I'll speak with the Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings about what officials plan to do next.

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NGUYEN: It's a national day of mourning in Russia, as the nation pauses to honor more than 330 victims of Friday's school massacre. The family of 120 of those victims held burials today in the town of Beslan, near the Chechen border. The death toll stands at least 338 hostages. Nearly half of the victims are children. About 100 people are unaccounted for, and grief-stricken families in Beslan don't expect any good news to emerge from the school's ruins.

We want to go to CNN's Ryan Chilcote who joins us now with the latest -- Ryan.

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Betty, this is the first of two days of mourning here in the southern Russian town of Beslan. This is, of course, one of Russia's worst terrorist acts, most violent terrorist in its history. Perhaps one of the world's most violent terrorists attacks that targeted children.

People have been gathering today in the school's gym that you see behind me; that the school's gym is where the terrorists kept the hostages inside from Wednesday to Friday. It was on Friday that the siege ended and the fighting began. Many of the hostages died either inside of that gym or as they were trying to flee it. Today it has about become a memorial. People are bringing carnations here and are going to pay their final respects to the dead.

Now, burials continue here. More burials today on the second day of funerals in the town of Beslan. Literally hundreds of people to bury. Nearly 340 people killed, according to the official count, but that number is expected to rise. There are some 200 to 300 people still missing. Now, we went to a double funeral. It was the funeral of two sisters, a 12-year-old Alina and 13-year-old Erina. Both those girls survived the siege, but were shot in the back as they made their way through the courtyard, trying to flee the school from the hostage takers who had sniper positions up on the roof.

Lastly, there are about 400 people still in Russian hospitals. Many of them children. Medical assistance, of course, very much in need here in southern Russia. The Italians sent a mobile burn lab yesterday to Russia. The United States sent two planes with medical equipment onboard earlier today. We understand that that equipment has been received and turned on to -- turned over to Russian doctors to use -- Betty.

NGUYEN: A little good news there. CNN's Ryan Chilcote, thank you so much for that.

I want to give you a live picture now, because we are following Frances and her destruction. This is a live look from our affiliate WPTV. As you can see, Frances plowed through the area very slowly but caused a lot of damage. This is a look at a neighborhood there, where some homes are destroyed and heavily damaged because of Frances and her strong winds and rain. You've seen the destruction that Frances brought to Florida.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just got back after five months in Baghdad, Iraq. I thought that was a problem getting shot at.

NGUYEN: Now in their own words, hear from the victims.

Plus we'll talk to the lieutenant governor of Florida. Much more on Hurricane Frances and her destruction coming up.

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