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Frances Packing Tropical Storm 65-Mile-Per-Hour Winds.
Aired September 06, 2004 - 09:28 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. 9:30 on the East Coast. You're looking live at Carrabelle, Florida. That is where Frances is now headed.
Still packing a punch, too. Tropical-storm winds of 65 miles an hour. There is some concern that perhaps this storm gains a little more strength throughout the day today over the warm waters of the Gulf and may strengthen back to a Hurricane 1 or Category 1 hurricane strength.
The threshold there is 74 miles an hour. We'll see.
The bottom line is for the Panhandle. A lot of wind and a lot of rain as that storm moves up through there and into Georgia and Alabama later in the day today.
Relief convoys ready to fan out over Florida. A lot of people need help. Two million without power today, 90,000 still in shelters, with just an extraordinary amount of people here in Florida.
Over the weekend, one death blamed in Florida, and two deaths blamed in the Bahamas from Frances. And overall, so many people so far telling us that they simply got lucky, that when Frances came through, yes, she was big and she was strong, and she lasted a long time, but the cities here, especially places like Melbourne, seems to have fared the damage pretty well to this point.
I'm Bill Hemmer live in Melbourne. Kelly Wallace, back in New York City, again with us today, and on this Labor Day.
We labor together, Kelly. How are you? Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Still incredible to think about the size of that massive slow-moving storm.
HEMMER: So true.
WALLACE: Yes. Bill, thanks so much. We'll be back to you shortly.
Also, we're going to talk about a change in banking rules you probably haven't heard of but which could make it a lot easier for you to bounce a check. That's ahead.
But right now, let's check on the stories "Now in the News" with Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center.
Good morning again, Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Kelly.
Former President Bill Clinton is undergoing heart bypass surgery right now. The operation was under way by about 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. One cardiology expert says Clinton should do fine in the surgery because of his age - he's 58, and his overall good health.
U.S. aid planes are now arriving in southern Russia. These images just in to CNN. Take a look. The cargo includes medicine and medical equipment for hundreds of people to assist victims of the massacre at a school in Beslan. U.S. officials in Moscow say the U.S. government has allocated $50,000 for support of the hostage victims. That is the largest amount that can be sent immediately under U.S. law.
Strong aftershocks have rattled western Japan after two powerful quakes. Almost 40 people were hurt in the actual quakes. They were centered far off the coast. But the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya felt them. And buildings swayed as far away as Tokyo.
Now to Oslo and the Munch Museum which is closed today for security upgrades. You remember two weeks ago robbers stole one of the world's most famous paintings, the Scream. The thieves simply pulled it off the wall in front of stunned tourists. Now, the bold daytime theft was the first armed robbery at a gallery in Norway.
That's it for me here in Atlanta. We're going to send it off to Bill this morning. Bill?
HEMMER: I still wonder how they got away with that heist, Betty.
NGUYEN: Broad daylight in front of everybody.
HEMMER: Yes. Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center. Thanks, Betty.
I want to get straight away to St. Augustine. Kathleen Koch is monitoring things there where, you know, Kathleen, I mentioned 90,000 people in shelters. That doesn't come close to the amount of people in hotels right now still without power and electricity. Good morning to you in St. Augustine.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. That is a large part of the story here in northeast Florida because this was a refuge. This is where thousands of people came from south and central Florida thinking they could escape Hurricane Frances. Instead, Frances followed them all the way up here. And now a lot of people are trying to now decide, do they go back home. Well, a lot of them are hitting the road. One of them right now with us is Jorge Rodriguez from Palm Beach. He came here with his wife and his three kids. They've been here since Wednesday night. Now they're heading back south. So what's the plan?
JORGE RODRIGUEZ, PALM BEACH, FLA., RESIDENT: Drive south and see where we can get a hotel that has electricity.
KOCH: What are you hearing about damage in your area? RODRIGUEZ: A lot of damage. The zoo, I hear, had some significant damage. And a lot of houses inland from the water had a lot of wind damage. Our community, we can't get in. I've had friends that went in to try to get in and see what happened, and we can't get a report. So we'll go today, try to get in, see what the damage is and then drive south to Miami or somewhere, where I can get a hotel.
KOCH: The four-hour drive up here took you eight hours on Wednesday. What are you expecting as you head south?
RODRIGUEZ: Yes. I don't know. I hope it's going to be lighter than coming up. But, as you said, it was eight hours parked on 95 coming up. It was horrible.
KOCH: Jorge, thanks a lot. Good luck to you. And, Bill, emergency officials, though, are encouraging people not to try to head home yet. They're very concerned about a lot of downed power lines, traffic lights down. It's going to really increase, you know, the jam-ups you're going to see on the highways and the roadways in Florida. And the power companies say they can't even get their buckets out, the trucks out to fix the power lines because, for instance, right up here in the northeast corner, we're still under a tropical storm watch. The rain is pouring down. The winds are whipping, and it's not really safe to be out. Back to you.
HEMMER: And if they're going to be on the road, make sure they have a full tank of gas, because the gas stations we can see throughout this entire area are completely shut down. Thanks for that, Kathleen. I want to go further south now from St. Augustine down the coast to Fort Pierce, absolutely walloped. It wasn't the eye that came forward there, but just north of the eye anyway, and that's where we find Sean Callebs this morning there. Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill. Indeed, the brunt of Frances has long since left this area. And for the first time in several days, residents here in Fort Pierce are being greeted with sunshine. As you can see, this is just part of the dock of the marina that has basically been leveled. I won't go down any further than that for obvious reasons. But panning back this way, you can see the total devastation of the marina here. And really, this marina was the centerpiece of the revitalization for the city. A lot of people have been out this morning to look either at their boats, a lot of others just to look at the overwhelming damage. And many people say they don't even recognize this place.
If you look down that way, you'll see a concrete dock. Well, actually, that dock used to be about 300 yards southwest of where we're standing right now. When Frances came in, the fierce winds, the water blew the dock loose from its moorings and brought it and all the boats that were moored there slamming into this area, causing a great deal of damage. Those docks are actually styrofoam encased in concrete. We've been able to talk to a few people who have boats out here. They say a lot of people actually live on some of the sail boats out here. And the people that do dock here, they say they're serious boaters. They invest a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of effort. When people come out here today, you can just see they are heart broken.
Usually this dock can hold about 200 boats. But because it's not vacation season just yet for the northerners who come down, there are only about 100 boats, at least 20 of them simply gone. Presumed destroyed by Hurricane Frances. Of 80 left, a lion's share of them are damaged beyond repair. If you can pan out here on the Intercoastal just a little bit, you can see the remains of one sailboat and bits of others that are tossed out there as well. Repairing this area, cleaning it up is going to take weeks, perhaps months.
Across the way you see a little strip of land. That is Hutchinson's Island, a little barrier island that was simply punished during the height of Frances. Residents are not allowed back on that island just yet. There are police, firefighters, other emergency workers over there. They say it's very dangerous, trees down all over the place, power lines, Bill, what we have seen up and down this coast, truly a mess, truly a costly mess and one that's left its mark on this area.
HEMMER: Yeah, exactly right, Sean. Too, and the widespread damage, too, is absolutely -- it takes you back a little bit. I mean, hundreds of miles up and down the coast. We saw a 45-foot yacht was sinking in the marina, a 50-foot yacht down as well. So a lot of people right now reeling after this. Sean, thanks for that.
Also I want to show you some videotape here. Brevard County, the fire department, in the middle of this storm at 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning, right when Frances was really starting to unleash herself on the Melbourne area, they had to go out and respond to a fire, in fact, two of them at the time. They were not able to put out this house fire. But they say they were able to save the entire city block. And they did it -- they did it under hurricane force wind conditions. So hats off to them and the men who stayed behind at their fire station to keep this place safe over the weekend. I want to get to Rob Marciano quickly now watching the weather as Frances moves again up toward the panhandle. Rob, good morning there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Thank you, rob. Appreciate it. Here's Kelly again in New York. Kelly?
WALLACE: Thanks again, Bill.
Politics also in the news on this Labor Day. President Bush probably expected a post-convention bounce, but the latest polls show a surprising lead in his race against Senator John Kerry. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider tells us what the new numbers mean for both campaigns.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there are a couple polls that came out, much of the interviewing done during the conventions. But let's take a look because they show exactly the same result. First of all, "Newsweek" did a poll in which they interviewed people on September 2nd, the last day of the convention and the day after, which shows an 11-point lead for President Bush, 52 to 41, with 3 percent for Ralph Nader among registered voters.
Now, the Time Magazine poll also was done. This was done during the convention, exactly, but exactly the same numbers, 11-point lead for Bush, 52 to 41, 3 percent for Nader. That shows a pickup for president Bush above 50 percent, which is where he needs to be because in the end, the election is a referendum on the incumbent president, and he's got to be above 50 percent for him to feel -- to breath easy about his reelection prospects.
WALLACE: Let's take a look at another number coming from the "Newsweek" poll. Asked the president's favorability rating, "Newsweek" saying 55 percent, giving him a favorable rating, 40 percent unfavorable. That is the highest favorable rating for President Bush all year. How significant is this for the president, how damaging for Democratic Senator John Kerry?
SCHNEIDER: It is significant, because Americans find President Bush likable. When he got up and spoke at the convention, a lot of the Americans looked at him and said, how can there be all these Bush haters out there who despise this man? You can see them in the streets of New York. He's a very likable fellow. That's exactly the same thing that once happened to President Clinton when he was president. There were legions of Clinton haters all over the country. But when Clinton got up to speak just like President Bush, he was a very likable person. And in the end, it deflected all that hatred and criticism.
WALLACE: Bill, as you know, Democrats downplaying these numbers. But a couple of interesting things we learn or reports are Former President Bill Clinton on the phone with John Kerry for 90 minutes from his hospital room. We also know two prominent Democrats joining the Kerry campaign. What does this say to you?
SCHNEIDER: Well, Clinton may be the one in the hospital, but Kerry's campaign needs a rescue operation. It suggests that it's in some difficulty, that he's having trouble finding his message. And I can tell you for free what it has to be. It has to be domestic issues, the economy, health care. That's the only issue on which Kerry's going to run or win, rather. He's got to refocus his campaign. He's not going to win on the Vietnam war, which is the -- which was the focus of the Democratic convention. He's not going to win on national security. And he's certainly not going to win if the election is a referendum on Kerry's record. It's got to be recast as a referendum on Bush's record and on the economy. Clinton and his advisers know how to do it.
WALLACE: Senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, who was with us a little earlier this morning. Still to come, new rules going into effect next month could mean you're more likely to bounce checks. We'll find out what you need to know so you don't end up paying for a mistake. Plus, we'll go live to Dr. Gupta for an update on former President Clinton's bypass surgery and try to find out the likely cause behind his condition. That's all ahead right here on American Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: And a story we've been following all morning. former President Clinton is in the midst of heart bypass surgery in New York City at this hour. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been updating us live from New York Presbyterian Hospital. Sanjay, what's the latest from there?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes, the operation preparations began probably about 6:45. The operation is now underway. Most likely he has had his heart stopped, as they performed a traditional, sort of, operation. Dr. Craig Smith performing the operation. He is chief of cardiothorasic division here at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Listen, it's been a busy weekend for the Clintons, no doubt. But the process of heart disease started many years earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Like many of the approximately 400,000 patients who get bypass surgery each year, also called CABYG, or coronary artery bypass grafting, his symptoms really seemed to come out of nowhere. Even Bill Clinton who exercised, starting eating a healthier diet, took Statin medications and got presidential level medical care for eight years, can fall prey to relentless arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I just had a feeling a couple days ago I had to have it checked. When I finally got some tightness in my chest and I hadn't done any exercising. The first time that ever happened to me. And we did this angiogram and found out I had blockage that was too significant to open and put a stent in.
GUPTA: When President Clinton left office, he had an elevated cholesterol at 233. The upper edge of normal is 200. Most doctors recommend even lower. His so-called bad cholesterol or LDL was 177. It had jumped 40 points in his last year of presidency alone. Normal is less than 130.
Now, he has to have the operation, which typically involves opening the chest, stopping his heart from beating, taking healthy blood vessels from the chest wall itself as well as leg vein and stitching these new blood vessels in to bypass the diseased ones and then restarting his heart. He might also have something known as keyhole surgery, which involves putting small endoscopes in the heart and doing the same operation while the heart is still beating.
DR. HARVEY HECHT, BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER: This is still an ongoing debate. The off comp (ph) procedures have a lower frequency of some of the other complications of bypass surgery such as the mental problems, the depression.
GUPTA: Either way, the odds are in his favor with less than a few percent complication rate. But he will need several weeks of rehabilitation for his body and his mind.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA: And we have talked to representatives from Dr. Craig Smith's office, talked with them this morning. They say that President Clinton is undergoing the traditional type of heart surgery. That is a tried and true method, Kelly. You get about 400,000 of these performed every year, fairly low complication rate. Someone as young and as healthy as Bill Clinton, healthy otherwise as Bill Clinton, he should do very well from this operation, Kelly.
WALLACE: And, Sanjay, taking a look, how long will it take to have the former president fully recover? What's your estimation?
GUPTA: Well, fully recovers is a more difficult question. He'll probably be out of the hospital surprisingly fast, probably within the next few days. I think people are going to be surprised by that. I think in terms of full recovery, in terms of all the aches and pains which often accompany an operation like this and as well as getting your mind back - you know, sometimes patients have a little bit of depression. They have a little bit of fatigue after that. They could probably take a couple of months. It'll probably be late into the fall, early winter before he's back 100 percent most likely, Kelly.
WALLACE: Sanjay, thanks so much. We'll keep checking in with you throughout the day. Sanjay Gupta reporting outside New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Well, after more than a decade of consecutive wins, a California high school football team is getting a taste of what it's like to be on the losing end. No, they're far from losers. Saturday night in Seattle, in the green and white, De Lasalle High of Concord, California was defeated by the team from Bellview, Washington.
De Lasalle had not lost since 1991, scoring 151 straight wins, the longest winning streak in America. An amazing, amazing record indeed.
Well, still to come, you better keep up to date on your checkbook. New rules could result in more rubber checks. We'll talk to "consumer reports" to get the lowdown.
Plus, Frances still menacing much of Florida. We'll go back to Bill for a live update. Stay with us right here on American Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: New federal regulations taking effect next month will speed the check clearing process for banks. But the so-called check 21 law could be a catch-22 for consumers leading to higher fees and more bounced checks. Gail Hillebrand with Consumer Reports joins us now from San Francisco to break it all down. Gail, thanks for being with us.
GAIL HILLEBRAND, CONSUMER REPORTS: You're welcome.
WALLACE: Gail, first off, explain exactly what this new law would do. HILLEBRAND: Essentially it will facilitate banks processing your check electronically. The original check will no longer go back to your bank, so that if you need the original check, it won't be there. Instead, you'll have to ask for a different kind of thing called a substitute check, which is basically a paper copy of an electronic picture of your original check. This process is going to make checks move faster, and checks that you write will come out of your account faster.
WALLACE: But you also have a concern about higher fees for consumers. How much in terms of higher fees are we talking about?
HILLEBRAND: There are two kinds of places where you might see higher fees. Banks may start charging to receive this special document called the substitute check where they didn't charge before to get the original check or they may charge more for that document. There also are widely different industry estimates about how many more bounced checks there will be. One industry expert says there could be 7 million more bounced checks a month. And if that happens, that will be 170 million a month in additional bounced check fees.
WALLACE: What about a safety and security issue, if checks are being cleared electronically. Could this possibly make it easier to forge a check?
HILLEBRAND: It's not that it will be easier to forge a check, it's that it may be harder to prove that the forgery occurred. The new law looks at this and says, if the consumer got back a substitute check, a substitute check, not any kind of copy but the special kind of copy called the substitute check, and can't prove the forgery because of it, then the bank is supposed to make good the losses. But it will be harder for law enforcement to put the forgers in jail because the original checks will no longer be around.
WALLACE: Obviously no one wants to see their checks bouncing. So what can consumers do to protect themselves from bounced checks, and also from facing these higher fees?
HILLEBRAND: There are a couple of things you can do. First, this has always been good advice, but is especially important now. Don't write a check if the money is not already in your account. Don't write the check before you make the deposit. But second, ask your bank if they're going to make funds available on the day that the check clears instead of waiting the maximum time allowed by federal law. Banks don't have to take advantage of all the time federal law gives them. So ask them if they're going to make your deposits available when your deposit really clears instead of waiting the longer time period. Also ask your bank if they're going to charge you fees associated with the substitute check. And if the answer is yes, there's still time to shop for another bank.
WALLACE: How concerned are you overall about this new law and the implications for consumers?
HILLEBRAND: I think it's going to be hard to get used to the idea that money's leaving our accounts more quickly than it's coming in, because checks are clearing more quickly than deposits. The new law does gives consumers an important new right. But it's hard to get to. You only get this new right if you're getting this special kind of paper copy called the substitute check. So you need to read your statement carefully. If you see a problem with a check that you wrote, it went through twice, it went through for the wrong amount, you need to contact your bank and ask for a substitute check. And once you have that substitute check, you can require the bank to sort out the problem or give you your money back within ten business days.
WALLACE: And Consumers Union is urging banks to make the new check-clearing law more consumer friendly. And you can visit its Web site, consumersunion.org, for information about an online petition it has put together to try to get that message to banks.
Now we go to my colleague, Bill, back in Melbourne, Florida. Hi again, Bill.
HEMMER: Hi, Kelly, thanks for that. Next hour in CNN Live Today, Betty Nguyen picks up our coverage for what's happening with Frances. Sixty-five miles an hour. It may strengthen back up to hurricane strength. Betty's going to talk with the lieutenant governor in Florida. We are back in a moment live in Melbourne on American Morning after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: It is almost 10:00 here in Melbourne, Florida. I want to, as we close out our coverage here, take you back a little bit over the past two or three days and pause for a second and kind of recognize the reporters out here only because they were the ones who -- well, I mean, some would consider that they weren't using much intelligence being out in these hurricane force winds. But I will tell you after being here and talking with the people in the hotel 24 hours a day, it is the reports of these reporters out here that so many people rely on to get the information they need. A look back right now, the fury of Frances as seen through the eyes of the camera lens the past couple of days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ferocious winds happening now. An estimated 100-mile-an-hour plus sustained winds are moving into this area now. It is the nightmare that these folks have been worried about.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is amazing. This is the worst so far. I can't turn my head right now. I don't know how Scott is doing it. It feels like rocks pelting your body That's what it feels like right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be large scale, every shingle on the roof going to be gone. You may not lose the sheeting under the roof, but you're going to start losing - and we're already seeing it now. You're going to start losing siding, just because it just keeps going and going and going. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The conditions, I would say, are not good right now. As we've been saying, the sustained winds right now are 90 miles per hour. And if you've ever wondered if a 170-pound man could withstand 95 mile per hour wind, the answer is yes, but barely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is powerful. And let me tell you this, rain feels like somebody nailing you with pins, needles and rice all at the same time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Again, from the past weekend. I can tell you in our hotel before the power went out late on Saturday, every single hotel room and every television in the lobby of the hotel had it tuned on to this hurricane, trying to get the latest information they could. Now they are without power yet again. Maybe it comes back in a couple of days. We just will wait and see. I want to show you the coolest cat in Florida quickly. When we were here Friday, there was this cat off to the side here at this structure where we are, this Holiday Inn hotel. Well, earlier today the cat came back. Don't know a name. Wouldn't take any of our food. But she made it through Frances. Back to Kelly again in New York now.
WALLACE: Bill, great job and great to be with you and great to be with you, Toure, as well.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Great to be with you, too. You're such a dime (ph).
WALLACE: You're so cute. We'll see you again tomorrow, OK? That'll do it for all of us at American Morning. Betty Nguyen is at the CNN Center to take you through the next few hours on CNN Live Today. Good morning again, Betty.
NGUYEN: Good morning and thank you.
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Aired September 6, 2004 - 09:28 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. 9:30 on the East Coast. You're looking live at Carrabelle, Florida. That is where Frances is now headed.
Still packing a punch, too. Tropical-storm winds of 65 miles an hour. There is some concern that perhaps this storm gains a little more strength throughout the day today over the warm waters of the Gulf and may strengthen back to a Hurricane 1 or Category 1 hurricane strength.
The threshold there is 74 miles an hour. We'll see.
The bottom line is for the Panhandle. A lot of wind and a lot of rain as that storm moves up through there and into Georgia and Alabama later in the day today.
Relief convoys ready to fan out over Florida. A lot of people need help. Two million without power today, 90,000 still in shelters, with just an extraordinary amount of people here in Florida.
Over the weekend, one death blamed in Florida, and two deaths blamed in the Bahamas from Frances. And overall, so many people so far telling us that they simply got lucky, that when Frances came through, yes, she was big and she was strong, and she lasted a long time, but the cities here, especially places like Melbourne, seems to have fared the damage pretty well to this point.
I'm Bill Hemmer live in Melbourne. Kelly Wallace, back in New York City, again with us today, and on this Labor Day.
We labor together, Kelly. How are you? Good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. Still incredible to think about the size of that massive slow-moving storm.
HEMMER: So true.
WALLACE: Yes. Bill, thanks so much. We'll be back to you shortly.
Also, we're going to talk about a change in banking rules you probably haven't heard of but which could make it a lot easier for you to bounce a check. That's ahead.
But right now, let's check on the stories "Now in the News" with Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center.
Good morning again, Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Kelly.
Former President Bill Clinton is undergoing heart bypass surgery right now. The operation was under way by about 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. One cardiology expert says Clinton should do fine in the surgery because of his age - he's 58, and his overall good health.
U.S. aid planes are now arriving in southern Russia. These images just in to CNN. Take a look. The cargo includes medicine and medical equipment for hundreds of people to assist victims of the massacre at a school in Beslan. U.S. officials in Moscow say the U.S. government has allocated $50,000 for support of the hostage victims. That is the largest amount that can be sent immediately under U.S. law.
Strong aftershocks have rattled western Japan after two powerful quakes. Almost 40 people were hurt in the actual quakes. They were centered far off the coast. But the major cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya felt them. And buildings swayed as far away as Tokyo.
Now to Oslo and the Munch Museum which is closed today for security upgrades. You remember two weeks ago robbers stole one of the world's most famous paintings, the Scream. The thieves simply pulled it off the wall in front of stunned tourists. Now, the bold daytime theft was the first armed robbery at a gallery in Norway.
That's it for me here in Atlanta. We're going to send it off to Bill this morning. Bill?
HEMMER: I still wonder how they got away with that heist, Betty.
NGUYEN: Broad daylight in front of everybody.
HEMMER: Yes. Betty Nguyen at the CNN Center. Thanks, Betty.
I want to get straight away to St. Augustine. Kathleen Koch is monitoring things there where, you know, Kathleen, I mentioned 90,000 people in shelters. That doesn't come close to the amount of people in hotels right now still without power and electricity. Good morning to you in St. Augustine.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. That is a large part of the story here in northeast Florida because this was a refuge. This is where thousands of people came from south and central Florida thinking they could escape Hurricane Frances. Instead, Frances followed them all the way up here. And now a lot of people are trying to now decide, do they go back home. Well, a lot of them are hitting the road. One of them right now with us is Jorge Rodriguez from Palm Beach. He came here with his wife and his three kids. They've been here since Wednesday night. Now they're heading back south. So what's the plan?
JORGE RODRIGUEZ, PALM BEACH, FLA., RESIDENT: Drive south and see where we can get a hotel that has electricity.
KOCH: What are you hearing about damage in your area? RODRIGUEZ: A lot of damage. The zoo, I hear, had some significant damage. And a lot of houses inland from the water had a lot of wind damage. Our community, we can't get in. I've had friends that went in to try to get in and see what happened, and we can't get a report. So we'll go today, try to get in, see what the damage is and then drive south to Miami or somewhere, where I can get a hotel.
KOCH: The four-hour drive up here took you eight hours on Wednesday. What are you expecting as you head south?
RODRIGUEZ: Yes. I don't know. I hope it's going to be lighter than coming up. But, as you said, it was eight hours parked on 95 coming up. It was horrible.
KOCH: Jorge, thanks a lot. Good luck to you. And, Bill, emergency officials, though, are encouraging people not to try to head home yet. They're very concerned about a lot of downed power lines, traffic lights down. It's going to really increase, you know, the jam-ups you're going to see on the highways and the roadways in Florida. And the power companies say they can't even get their buckets out, the trucks out to fix the power lines because, for instance, right up here in the northeast corner, we're still under a tropical storm watch. The rain is pouring down. The winds are whipping, and it's not really safe to be out. Back to you.
HEMMER: And if they're going to be on the road, make sure they have a full tank of gas, because the gas stations we can see throughout this entire area are completely shut down. Thanks for that, Kathleen. I want to go further south now from St. Augustine down the coast to Fort Pierce, absolutely walloped. It wasn't the eye that came forward there, but just north of the eye anyway, and that's where we find Sean Callebs this morning there. Sean, good morning.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Bill. Indeed, the brunt of Frances has long since left this area. And for the first time in several days, residents here in Fort Pierce are being greeted with sunshine. As you can see, this is just part of the dock of the marina that has basically been leveled. I won't go down any further than that for obvious reasons. But panning back this way, you can see the total devastation of the marina here. And really, this marina was the centerpiece of the revitalization for the city. A lot of people have been out this morning to look either at their boats, a lot of others just to look at the overwhelming damage. And many people say they don't even recognize this place.
If you look down that way, you'll see a concrete dock. Well, actually, that dock used to be about 300 yards southwest of where we're standing right now. When Frances came in, the fierce winds, the water blew the dock loose from its moorings and brought it and all the boats that were moored there slamming into this area, causing a great deal of damage. Those docks are actually styrofoam encased in concrete. We've been able to talk to a few people who have boats out here. They say a lot of people actually live on some of the sail boats out here. And the people that do dock here, they say they're serious boaters. They invest a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of effort. When people come out here today, you can just see they are heart broken.
Usually this dock can hold about 200 boats. But because it's not vacation season just yet for the northerners who come down, there are only about 100 boats, at least 20 of them simply gone. Presumed destroyed by Hurricane Frances. Of 80 left, a lion's share of them are damaged beyond repair. If you can pan out here on the Intercoastal just a little bit, you can see the remains of one sailboat and bits of others that are tossed out there as well. Repairing this area, cleaning it up is going to take weeks, perhaps months.
Across the way you see a little strip of land. That is Hutchinson's Island, a little barrier island that was simply punished during the height of Frances. Residents are not allowed back on that island just yet. There are police, firefighters, other emergency workers over there. They say it's very dangerous, trees down all over the place, power lines, Bill, what we have seen up and down this coast, truly a mess, truly a costly mess and one that's left its mark on this area.
HEMMER: Yeah, exactly right, Sean. Too, and the widespread damage, too, is absolutely -- it takes you back a little bit. I mean, hundreds of miles up and down the coast. We saw a 45-foot yacht was sinking in the marina, a 50-foot yacht down as well. So a lot of people right now reeling after this. Sean, thanks for that.
Also I want to show you some videotape here. Brevard County, the fire department, in the middle of this storm at 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning, right when Frances was really starting to unleash herself on the Melbourne area, they had to go out and respond to a fire, in fact, two of them at the time. They were not able to put out this house fire. But they say they were able to save the entire city block. And they did it -- they did it under hurricane force wind conditions. So hats off to them and the men who stayed behind at their fire station to keep this place safe over the weekend. I want to get to Rob Marciano quickly now watching the weather as Frances moves again up toward the panhandle. Rob, good morning there.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Bill.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HEMMER: Thank you, rob. Appreciate it. Here's Kelly again in New York. Kelly?
WALLACE: Thanks again, Bill.
Politics also in the news on this Labor Day. President Bush probably expected a post-convention bounce, but the latest polls show a surprising lead in his race against Senator John Kerry. Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider tells us what the new numbers mean for both campaigns.
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there are a couple polls that came out, much of the interviewing done during the conventions. But let's take a look because they show exactly the same result. First of all, "Newsweek" did a poll in which they interviewed people on September 2nd, the last day of the convention and the day after, which shows an 11-point lead for President Bush, 52 to 41, with 3 percent for Ralph Nader among registered voters.
Now, the Time Magazine poll also was done. This was done during the convention, exactly, but exactly the same numbers, 11-point lead for Bush, 52 to 41, 3 percent for Nader. That shows a pickup for president Bush above 50 percent, which is where he needs to be because in the end, the election is a referendum on the incumbent president, and he's got to be above 50 percent for him to feel -- to breath easy about his reelection prospects.
WALLACE: Let's take a look at another number coming from the "Newsweek" poll. Asked the president's favorability rating, "Newsweek" saying 55 percent, giving him a favorable rating, 40 percent unfavorable. That is the highest favorable rating for President Bush all year. How significant is this for the president, how damaging for Democratic Senator John Kerry?
SCHNEIDER: It is significant, because Americans find President Bush likable. When he got up and spoke at the convention, a lot of the Americans looked at him and said, how can there be all these Bush haters out there who despise this man? You can see them in the streets of New York. He's a very likable fellow. That's exactly the same thing that once happened to President Clinton when he was president. There were legions of Clinton haters all over the country. But when Clinton got up to speak just like President Bush, he was a very likable person. And in the end, it deflected all that hatred and criticism.
WALLACE: Bill, as you know, Democrats downplaying these numbers. But a couple of interesting things we learn or reports are Former President Bill Clinton on the phone with John Kerry for 90 minutes from his hospital room. We also know two prominent Democrats joining the Kerry campaign. What does this say to you?
SCHNEIDER: Well, Clinton may be the one in the hospital, but Kerry's campaign needs a rescue operation. It suggests that it's in some difficulty, that he's having trouble finding his message. And I can tell you for free what it has to be. It has to be domestic issues, the economy, health care. That's the only issue on which Kerry's going to run or win, rather. He's got to refocus his campaign. He's not going to win on the Vietnam war, which is the -- which was the focus of the Democratic convention. He's not going to win on national security. And he's certainly not going to win if the election is a referendum on Kerry's record. It's got to be recast as a referendum on Bush's record and on the economy. Clinton and his advisers know how to do it.
WALLACE: Senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, who was with us a little earlier this morning. Still to come, new rules going into effect next month could mean you're more likely to bounce checks. We'll find out what you need to know so you don't end up paying for a mistake. Plus, we'll go live to Dr. Gupta for an update on former President Clinton's bypass surgery and try to find out the likely cause behind his condition. That's all ahead right here on American Morning.
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WALLACE: And a story we've been following all morning. former President Clinton is in the midst of heart bypass surgery in New York City at this hour. Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been updating us live from New York Presbyterian Hospital. Sanjay, what's the latest from there?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes, the operation preparations began probably about 6:45. The operation is now underway. Most likely he has had his heart stopped, as they performed a traditional, sort of, operation. Dr. Craig Smith performing the operation. He is chief of cardiothorasic division here at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Listen, it's been a busy weekend for the Clintons, no doubt. But the process of heart disease started many years earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA (voice-over): Like many of the approximately 400,000 patients who get bypass surgery each year, also called CABYG, or coronary artery bypass grafting, his symptoms really seemed to come out of nowhere. Even Bill Clinton who exercised, starting eating a healthier diet, took Statin medications and got presidential level medical care for eight years, can fall prey to relentless arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I just had a feeling a couple days ago I had to have it checked. When I finally got some tightness in my chest and I hadn't done any exercising. The first time that ever happened to me. And we did this angiogram and found out I had blockage that was too significant to open and put a stent in.
GUPTA: When President Clinton left office, he had an elevated cholesterol at 233. The upper edge of normal is 200. Most doctors recommend even lower. His so-called bad cholesterol or LDL was 177. It had jumped 40 points in his last year of presidency alone. Normal is less than 130.
Now, he has to have the operation, which typically involves opening the chest, stopping his heart from beating, taking healthy blood vessels from the chest wall itself as well as leg vein and stitching these new blood vessels in to bypass the diseased ones and then restarting his heart. He might also have something known as keyhole surgery, which involves putting small endoscopes in the heart and doing the same operation while the heart is still beating.
DR. HARVEY HECHT, BETH ISRAEL MEDICAL CENTER: This is still an ongoing debate. The off comp (ph) procedures have a lower frequency of some of the other complications of bypass surgery such as the mental problems, the depression.
GUPTA: Either way, the odds are in his favor with less than a few percent complication rate. But he will need several weeks of rehabilitation for his body and his mind.
(END VIDEOTAPE) GUPTA: And we have talked to representatives from Dr. Craig Smith's office, talked with them this morning. They say that President Clinton is undergoing the traditional type of heart surgery. That is a tried and true method, Kelly. You get about 400,000 of these performed every year, fairly low complication rate. Someone as young and as healthy as Bill Clinton, healthy otherwise as Bill Clinton, he should do very well from this operation, Kelly.
WALLACE: And, Sanjay, taking a look, how long will it take to have the former president fully recover? What's your estimation?
GUPTA: Well, fully recovers is a more difficult question. He'll probably be out of the hospital surprisingly fast, probably within the next few days. I think people are going to be surprised by that. I think in terms of full recovery, in terms of all the aches and pains which often accompany an operation like this and as well as getting your mind back - you know, sometimes patients have a little bit of depression. They have a little bit of fatigue after that. They could probably take a couple of months. It'll probably be late into the fall, early winter before he's back 100 percent most likely, Kelly.
WALLACE: Sanjay, thanks so much. We'll keep checking in with you throughout the day. Sanjay Gupta reporting outside New York Presbyterian Hospital.
Well, after more than a decade of consecutive wins, a California high school football team is getting a taste of what it's like to be on the losing end. No, they're far from losers. Saturday night in Seattle, in the green and white, De Lasalle High of Concord, California was defeated by the team from Bellview, Washington.
De Lasalle had not lost since 1991, scoring 151 straight wins, the longest winning streak in America. An amazing, amazing record indeed.
Well, still to come, you better keep up to date on your checkbook. New rules could result in more rubber checks. We'll talk to "consumer reports" to get the lowdown.
Plus, Frances still menacing much of Florida. We'll go back to Bill for a live update. Stay with us right here on American Morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WALLACE: New federal regulations taking effect next month will speed the check clearing process for banks. But the so-called check 21 law could be a catch-22 for consumers leading to higher fees and more bounced checks. Gail Hillebrand with Consumer Reports joins us now from San Francisco to break it all down. Gail, thanks for being with us.
GAIL HILLEBRAND, CONSUMER REPORTS: You're welcome.
WALLACE: Gail, first off, explain exactly what this new law would do. HILLEBRAND: Essentially it will facilitate banks processing your check electronically. The original check will no longer go back to your bank, so that if you need the original check, it won't be there. Instead, you'll have to ask for a different kind of thing called a substitute check, which is basically a paper copy of an electronic picture of your original check. This process is going to make checks move faster, and checks that you write will come out of your account faster.
WALLACE: But you also have a concern about higher fees for consumers. How much in terms of higher fees are we talking about?
HILLEBRAND: There are two kinds of places where you might see higher fees. Banks may start charging to receive this special document called the substitute check where they didn't charge before to get the original check or they may charge more for that document. There also are widely different industry estimates about how many more bounced checks there will be. One industry expert says there could be 7 million more bounced checks a month. And if that happens, that will be 170 million a month in additional bounced check fees.
WALLACE: What about a safety and security issue, if checks are being cleared electronically. Could this possibly make it easier to forge a check?
HILLEBRAND: It's not that it will be easier to forge a check, it's that it may be harder to prove that the forgery occurred. The new law looks at this and says, if the consumer got back a substitute check, a substitute check, not any kind of copy but the special kind of copy called the substitute check, and can't prove the forgery because of it, then the bank is supposed to make good the losses. But it will be harder for law enforcement to put the forgers in jail because the original checks will no longer be around.
WALLACE: Obviously no one wants to see their checks bouncing. So what can consumers do to protect themselves from bounced checks, and also from facing these higher fees?
HILLEBRAND: There are a couple of things you can do. First, this has always been good advice, but is especially important now. Don't write a check if the money is not already in your account. Don't write the check before you make the deposit. But second, ask your bank if they're going to make funds available on the day that the check clears instead of waiting the maximum time allowed by federal law. Banks don't have to take advantage of all the time federal law gives them. So ask them if they're going to make your deposits available when your deposit really clears instead of waiting the longer time period. Also ask your bank if they're going to charge you fees associated with the substitute check. And if the answer is yes, there's still time to shop for another bank.
WALLACE: How concerned are you overall about this new law and the implications for consumers?
HILLEBRAND: I think it's going to be hard to get used to the idea that money's leaving our accounts more quickly than it's coming in, because checks are clearing more quickly than deposits. The new law does gives consumers an important new right. But it's hard to get to. You only get this new right if you're getting this special kind of paper copy called the substitute check. So you need to read your statement carefully. If you see a problem with a check that you wrote, it went through twice, it went through for the wrong amount, you need to contact your bank and ask for a substitute check. And once you have that substitute check, you can require the bank to sort out the problem or give you your money back within ten business days.
WALLACE: And Consumers Union is urging banks to make the new check-clearing law more consumer friendly. And you can visit its Web site, consumersunion.org, for information about an online petition it has put together to try to get that message to banks.
Now we go to my colleague, Bill, back in Melbourne, Florida. Hi again, Bill.
HEMMER: Hi, Kelly, thanks for that. Next hour in CNN Live Today, Betty Nguyen picks up our coverage for what's happening with Frances. Sixty-five miles an hour. It may strengthen back up to hurricane strength. Betty's going to talk with the lieutenant governor in Florida. We are back in a moment live in Melbourne on American Morning after this.
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HEMMER: It is almost 10:00 here in Melbourne, Florida. I want to, as we close out our coverage here, take you back a little bit over the past two or three days and pause for a second and kind of recognize the reporters out here only because they were the ones who -- well, I mean, some would consider that they weren't using much intelligence being out in these hurricane force winds. But I will tell you after being here and talking with the people in the hotel 24 hours a day, it is the reports of these reporters out here that so many people rely on to get the information they need. A look back right now, the fury of Frances as seen through the eyes of the camera lens the past couple of days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The ferocious winds happening now. An estimated 100-mile-an-hour plus sustained winds are moving into this area now. It is the nightmare that these folks have been worried about.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is amazing. This is the worst so far. I can't turn my head right now. I don't know how Scott is doing it. It feels like rocks pelting your body That's what it feels like right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be large scale, every shingle on the roof going to be gone. You may not lose the sheeting under the roof, but you're going to start losing - and we're already seeing it now. You're going to start losing siding, just because it just keeps going and going and going. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The conditions, I would say, are not good right now. As we've been saying, the sustained winds right now are 90 miles per hour. And if you've ever wondered if a 170-pound man could withstand 95 mile per hour wind, the answer is yes, but barely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is powerful. And let me tell you this, rain feels like somebody nailing you with pins, needles and rice all at the same time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Again, from the past weekend. I can tell you in our hotel before the power went out late on Saturday, every single hotel room and every television in the lobby of the hotel had it tuned on to this hurricane, trying to get the latest information they could. Now they are without power yet again. Maybe it comes back in a couple of days. We just will wait and see. I want to show you the coolest cat in Florida quickly. When we were here Friday, there was this cat off to the side here at this structure where we are, this Holiday Inn hotel. Well, earlier today the cat came back. Don't know a name. Wouldn't take any of our food. But she made it through Frances. Back to Kelly again in New York now.
WALLACE: Bill, great job and great to be with you and great to be with you, Toure, as well.
TOURE, CNN POP CULTURE CORRESPONDENT: Great to be with you, too. You're such a dime (ph).
WALLACE: You're so cute. We'll see you again tomorrow, OK? That'll do it for all of us at American Morning. Betty Nguyen is at the CNN Center to take you through the next few hours on CNN Live Today. Good morning again, Betty.
NGUYEN: Good morning and thank you.
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