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American Morning

Update on Hurricane Ivan; Out on the Campaign Trail; Goss Nomination

Aired September 14, 2004 - 9:00   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Downgraded, but not by much. Hurricane Ivan losing some of its muscle, but not a whole lot of its punch.
A chaos across Iraq. Surprise attacks in two cities, killing dozens of police officers and creating scenes of carnage there.

We'll talk with the police officers in Wisconsin who were there when a baby was dropped on the highway during a high speed chase.

And just who said what to whom? A crazy baseball brawl. Relief pitchers taking on the fans on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: All right. Good morning, everyone.

Soledad is home resting. We'll get her back in mid October. Heidi Collins with us again today.

Good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: Heating up on the campaign trail yet again. President Bush and John Kerry back again, stumping across the country. Behind the scenes, the campaigns have some new poll numbers to dig through. We'll talk to Carlos Watson about that, analyzing the shift in the swing states, what it might mean today, in a moment.

COLLINS: Also, expect some tough questions from Democrats today as Porter Goss goes before his confirmation hearing to be CIA director. We'll look at whether he's expected to make it through or not.

HEMMER: All right.

Jack Cafferty, good morning on a Tuesday.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing?

You mentioned that guy throwing that chair in the baseball game between the Rangers and the A's. Hit one guy in the head, broke a woman's nose. Nasty bit of business. What ought to happen to a guy who loses his cool during a ball game? AM@CNN.com, if you're so inclined.

HEMMER: America's pastime.

CAFFERTY: Did I tell you about the new law in California?

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: Heard about it.

CAFFERTY: Good.

HEMMER: Thanks.

COLLINS: Thank you, Jack.

Want to check on the headlines now with Daryn Kagan, things "Now in the News" at the CNN Center.

Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning to you.

Medical personnel in Baghdad are tending this hour to dozens of casualties from this morning's car bomb attack. Insurgents launched an explosion outside a police station. At least 47 people were killed. More than 100 others are wounded.

And just hours ago in Baquba, gunmen attacked a police minibus, killing a dozen officers.

Back here in the U.S., President Bush is expected today to request about $3.1 billion. That's for hurricane relief. It's to help Florida repair the damage caused by hurricanes Charley and Frances. It's also going to include money for the flooding that Charley and Tropical Storm Gaston caused in the southeastern states, including here in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. In just a few minutes we're going to have an update for you with Chad Myers on Hurricane Ivan.

A ceremony is being planned at the Pentagon this morning to remember American prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Myers are among those taking part. The ceremony will also feature personnel from each of the military services.

Bill, back to you in New York.

HEMMER: All right, Daryn. Thanks for that.

Baghdad is certainly a big story today. But so, too, is Hurricane Ivan, setting its sights now on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Winds weakening slightly in the last hour, making it just below a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane. Ivan spending much of yesterday and overnight pounding the western edge of Cuba, damaging homes there.

Here's a look now, the latest images of Ivan as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico. Maximum sustained winds right about 155 miles an hour, with much stronger gusts.

Ivan likely to make U.S. landfall somewhere between New Orleans in the West and Florida's Panhandle to the East late Wednesday or early Thursday morning. Ivan already blamed for more than 60 deaths in the Caribbean.

Ed Rappaport is tracking Ivan's path. He's at the National Hurricane Center this hour in Miami with the latest there.

And Ed, good morning. We have been talking entirely too much over the past two months. What do you see on your radar? What's Ivan going to do?

ED RAPPAPORT, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, you're right. We have a little bit of good news this morning in that Ivan has weakened now back to a Category 4. But that's still very dangerous.

A Category 4 hurricane at landfall will cause extensive damage, both from wind and the storm surge along the coast. And we're talking about perhaps a storm surge of about 15 feet.

HEMMER: With a storm surge on the Gulf side, it is more dangerous, then, than it would be on the Atlantic side with that water rush?

RAPPAPORT: It depends. But -- well, actually a 15-foot storm surge is the same on either side. But in this case, the Gulf of Mexico is particularly prone to high storm surges. And there's a long history of this.

We're very concerned about the area that you mentioned from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, both because of the wind and the storm surge. And then inland from fresh water flooding due to the rainfall.

HEMMER: Is that also because of the -- less altitude adjustment there, or less change between the sea water and the land? Whereas on the East Coast, you probably have a little more of a buffer?

RAPPAPORT: That's right. But you lose either way.

In the Gulf of Mexico, it's a little shallower as you approach the coastline. So you get a greater storm surge, but somewhat less in the way of waves. On the East Coast, the storm surge is not quite as high, but you get much higher waves.

HEMMER: Yes. We mentioned New Orleans to the West, we mentioned St. Marks in Florida to the East. Where is the projected path now? Can you be more precise?

RAPPAPORT: Well, we wish we could. And that's part of the -- and part of the reason that we have such a wide area of a hurricane watch, which is now Morgan City, Louisiana, and St. Marks, Florida, is that we can't be any more precise, at least at this stage. We're talking about a landfall 36 to 40 hours away.

And the other reason why we have such a large area of hurricane watch is this is a very big hurricane. We have hurricane-force winds extending out 100 miles to the East and not quite that far out to the West. So this entire area needs to prepare for a major hurricane landfall in the next 36 hours.

HEMMER: Ed, thanks. We'll be talking again in the coming hours. Ed Rappaport at the Hurricane Center in Miami.

Chad Myers at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Chad, you were listening there.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HEMMER: What's your take?

MYERS: He brought up a very good point. Even if this thing does hit Mobile, Pensacola, you're going to be Cat 2 hurricane winds, maybe even over to Destin and Fort Walton Beach, Category 1 hurricane winds. Just because you don't get the eye, this thing is so huge, it almost fills up the entire eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane warnings obviously still across Cuba and the Yucatan, and now the hurricane watch, as he was saying, all the way from Morgan City, right on back into St. Marks.

The big cities, New Orleans, you are not out of it. In fact, you are dead in it. If this thing doesn't turn, this is headed right to you.

The forecast is for it to turn, though, to Mobile, Biloxi. Mobile, Pensacola, Panama City, you are all in that hurricane watch tonight.

Here's the latest, what we call the wind field forecast. Right now, the winds are 155. There may even be some gusts to almost 200 miles per hour.

But the problem is, Bill -- I know you're headed this way tomorrow -- the problem is that this thing, don't think of it as a point. This is a huge area of wind. Tropical storm-force winds actually come onshore as early as tomorrow morning. And then hurricane-force winds in the evening.

So even though the eye may be 100 miles offshore or more, there will certainly be hurricane-force winds onshore well before the eye. Conditions start to deteriorate rapidly. Even at about 30 miles per hour, there's no way you could hold onto a piece of plywood and try to get it onto your house.

You need to get everything you want to get done. You need to get it done today. HEMMER: All right. Chad, thanks. Chad Myers. We'll talk again in 30 minutes, all right? OK -- Heidi.

COLLINS: On the campaign trail, John Kerry meets with seniors in Wisconsin and Ohio today before heading to Detroit. Yesterday, the Democrat criticized President Bush on the lapse of the assault weapons ban, saying the president, "chose to make the job of terrorists easier."

President Bush yesterday made health care the focus of his campaign stops. Today, the president is out West. And after a rally near Denver, Colorado, he heads to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he will meet with members of the National Guard.

President Bush beginning to open some ground between himself and John Kerry in some of the battleground states. So is the Kerry campaign in need of a September surprise? CNN political analyst Carlos Watson is here now to comment on that.

So what do you think? Need a little help? I mean, these poll numbers we've been talking about this morning, eight points up for President Bush among likely voters, four points up among registered voters.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And even in states that people like Michael Dukakis, who didn't do at all, won, states like Wisconsin and Iowa. So no two ways about it. They need a little bit of help in September. And two things to think about in terms of how they can seize the initiative here, John Kerry in particular.

One, may be a series of innovative ads. You saw how the Swift Boat ads, as much controversy as they generated, ultimately dominated conversation in August. Perhaps for John Kerry, who's announced a $50 million blitz, that some of the new ads are to begin this month, you might see a fresh new ad that may break through, may capture your attention, may talk about an issue that hasn't been talked about yet.

The other thing, Heidi, that could surprise us a little bit are some new voices. Ralph Nader so far has directed most of his fire at the Democrats. Who knows if we'll see some of that fire perhaps directed at someone like President Bush.

COLLINS: Yes, and you mentioned the issues now. When we talk about the Swift Boat controversy, the fundamental question there is, who cares about that? Is it the campaigns, or is it actually the voters, the people at home? What would be the issues that John Kerry would have to focus on then to really draw in some of those voters?

WATSON: Sometimes you need something hard-hitting that captures attention. In the primaries, it was outsourcing. And we talked about that yesterday. But here's another issue that could grab attention.

What about the importation of prescription drugs? You know, if you're a senior, you're paying tremendous amounts of money for your prescription drugs, and you're looking over across the way in Canada, and you're saying, "Boy, the cheaper drugs over there." That's a hot issue that you're starting to see play out in some of the individual states, like Illinois. It could become a big national issue. I wouldn't be surprised to hear John Kerry talk about it because, again, there's a clear distinction between where President Bush feels they should go forward on that issue and where John Kerry is. So prescription drugs for seniors, that could be a big issue, importing them from Canada.

COLLINS: This week, though, that topic is sort of the issue for President Bush's campaign. So interesting.

But what do you think about foreign policy? I mean, maybe that could be an issue, as well, talking about North Korea or Iraq for Senator Kerry.

WATSON: Well, you know, Bill Clinton did something very interesting, Heidi, in 1992. He chose some international hotspots that weren't big in the news, but he used them in order to make symbolic points.

As you'll recall, he talked about China. He talked about Bosnia back then. He talked about Haiti.

Maybe if you're John Kerry, you move beyond Iraq, as well, and you find places like the Sudan, you find places like the nuclear threat going on in North Korea. You look over to what's going on in Iran, instead of Iraq, and maybe you make some larger symbolic points.

So I wouldn't be surprised if he chooses some hotspots that are not Iraqi hotspots in order to make some broader foreign policy points about nuclear protection. Also, about human rights violations, places like the Sudan.

COLLINS: Interesting. OK.

Well, what about -- you know, we talk and talk and talk about the presidential race, obviously. That is the topic. But what about the Senate race? What's going on there?

WATSON: We've got some incredibly interesting Senate races going on. Now, if you count Zell Miller essentially as a Republican, and if you count the Independent...

COLLINS: Why would you do that?

WATSON: Why would you do that? A little speech here.

If you count the Independent, Jim Jeffords, essentially as a Democrat, Republicans control the Senate 52-48. But there are eight open Senate seats, some incredibly interesting races.

Instead of the Midwest, where you see a lot of the presidential activity going on, the South is where there's a lot of focus. States like Florida, my home state, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, all have really interesting races. I would watch Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. If the Democrats surprise there, they could have a shot at maybe tying it. But ultimately, if I'd put my money down, I'd bet on the Republicans holding control of the Senate.

COLLINS: Interesting. All right. You heard it here first.

WATSON: You heard it here first.

COLLINS: Carlos Watson, thanks so much for that.

WATSON: Good to see you.

COLLINS: Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Twelve minutes past the hour. In a moment, remembering Aaron Ralston. He's the rock climber who made an unthinkable sacrifice in order to survive. We'll catch up with him today and learn why the toughest part of his ordeal involved his mother.

Plus, a man caught in a high-speed chase slows down long enough to make a special drop-off. He died. But in a moment, we'll talk to the police officers who may have made the biggest stop of their lives in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back with Jack now and the "Question of the Day."

What was it?

CAFFERTY: The Big Apple campaign.

HEMMER: The Big Apple campaign here in New York. Yes. You know how they used to do the cows in Chicago. They'd dress them up, and a lot of the companies would buy....

COLLINS: Outdoor art.

HEMMER: Outdoor art, exactly.

CAFFERTY: They have apples in the city.

HEMMER: In fact, there's a red one right down there.

COLLINS: A big apple.

HEMMER: See it over there?

CAFFERTY: Well, look there.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Right next to the fruit cart that has all those other apples on it. HEMMER: As a matter of fact. And they're green.

CAFFERTY: Last night, during the ninth inning of the Texas Rangers-Oakland A's game, this mutant, Frank Francisco -- he's a relief pitcher for the Rangers -- got into an altercation with some Oakland A's fans next to the bullpen. The fans were talking trash, and this moron picked up a chair and threw it into the stands.

And he hit a man in the head, and he broke a woman's nose. And he's not in jail today, at least as far as we know, which is probably where he should be. What should happen to the baseball player who threw a chair into the stands is the e-mail "Question of the Day."

They dressed cows up in Chicago? I didn't know that.

HEMMER: A couple of years ago.

CAFFERTY: Vic in Guntersville, Alabama, "The commissioner of baseball should suspend the idiot for the rest of the season, then line up a pay-per-view event in the ring with this errant player and Bobby Knight. No gloves, just chairs. All proceeds going to the fans who got injured."

Marcus in Kofu, Japan, where AMERICAN MORNING, by the way, is on in prime time, "The ball player who threw the chair should have to sit out the rest of the season and possibly next in addition to paying the lady's hospital bills and apologizing. That's the easy question to answer. I think the more difficult issue to answer is what to do with fans who won't shut up and simply enjoy the game for what it is, a game."

Douglas in New York, "Try this: he should be taken to Yankee Stadium, and during the seventh inning stretch of a Yankee-Red Sox game, he should be brought out into left field in front of the bleachers, given various things that are throwable, and told to try, just try to throw something at the fans in the bleachers before they get to him. I'll bet on the fans."

And finally, Keith in Stafford, Virginia, "Boo hoo. These oversized toddlers who get paid to play a game and make more money in a year than my school district spends on educating the entire community, I feel terrible for them. While they're throwing tantrums, as well as baseballs, the kids who trade their cards are hitting each other more and more and learning less because their role models set lousy examples for them."

That's pretty good stuff.

COLLINS: Right.

HEMMER: Amazing video, too. Seeing that woman at a ballgame with blood all over her face?

COLLINS: Awful.

HEMMER: My god. CAFFERTY: Why is this guy not in jail?

COLLINS: I have no idea. They said they took him out some alternate exit.

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: And he was escorted out to a car that was parked on the field.

CAFFERTY: Maybe they should have just left him on the field and -- by himself after the game.

HEMMER: Yes. The red apple, by the way, I think McGraw-Hill building right there, between 49th and 50th. Is that right?

Look at that, Jack.

COLLINS: There you have it, just like magic.

HEMMER: You can pack your lunch and go sit next to the apple.

CAFFERTY: An apple a day.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Let's get a break here in a moment. What's the caped crusader doing across the pond at Buckingham Palace? Did you see this videotape? Batman front and center. We'll explain after this.

COLLINS: Just hanging out.

HEMMER: That's right.

COLLINS: What's the problem?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In Washington today, in the Senate side of the Capitol building, the intelligence committee starts hearings in the nomination of Porter Goss, who wants to be the next director of the CIA. The hearings could become heated.

As to why? Here's David Ensor in Washington with more on that.

David, good morning there.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Bill, the hearings could become heated because there's the whole question of reorganizing intelligence. Porter Goss may not agree with all of the 9/11 Commission recommendations. And then there is the man himself. He wants now to become director of Central Intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Porter Goss already has 10 years under his belt at the CIA as a young officer, and 15 in the Congress, many of them as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, keeping an eye on the community that he has been nominated to lead.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), NOMINATED TO HEAD CIA: The essence of our intelligence capability is people. And we have some wonderful Americans doing a great job.

ENSOR: Goss is well liked. But critics charge he's been too easy on the CIA over intelligence failures in Iraq and elsewhere, and too close to the Bush White House.

(on camera): Were you disappointed when you heard the president had nominated him?

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Yes, I was. I was a little more than that. I was kind of shocked. I mean, I really didn't think he was going to do it, because it's a -- it's a fairly clear partisan choice.

LEE STRICKLAND, FMR. CIA OFFICER: There's been various times when -- when the agency has been too close to the White House. And those -- those have led to great difficulties. I'm thinking back when Mr. Casey was DCI, for example.

ENSOR (voice-over): William Casey was President Reagan's director of Central Intelligence. He supplied weapons to Nicaraguan rebels, despite a congressional began, using funds from arm sales to Iran that were also illegal. But some Democrats, like former Senator Bob Graham, praised Goss as a patriot, willing to stand up to the president if necessary and tell him things he may not want to hear. Senior Republicans agree.

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I don't know of a better choice the president could pick at this point in time. He doesn't need any on-the-job training. He could take over that job tomorrow morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Goss is expected to be confirmed. But his path from there is anything but clear.

Amid suggestions of intelligence reform that is -- they're very much in the air. It's not clear whether the job he has been nominated for will exist much longer. It could well be changed.

And then there is the question of whether the voters will choose a new president in seven weeks. If they do, it doesn't look likely as if Mr. Goss would remain at the CIA -- Bill.

HEMMER: David Ensor, watching things there in D.C. Thank you, David -- Heidi.

COLLINS: A dangerous stunt on a Wisconsin highway. We've been showing you the video all morning long. An infant dumped from a speeding car during a police chase. Joining us now, the police officer who scooped that baby up on to safety. Sergeant Dan Pamenter is joining us.

First of all, I want to ask you, how is the baby? Boy or girl? Don't even know that much yet.

SGT. DAN PAMENTER, OUTAGAMIE COUNTY SHERIFF' DEPT.: It was an eight-month girl, and she's doing fine. She was just a little shaken up.

COLLINS: What did you think -- of course.

PAMENTER: I'm sorry.

COLLINS: Right. We're looking at the video right now. And, you know, you've been in law enforcement for awhile. Have you ever seen anything like this before?

PAMENTER: Not like this, no. It's the first.

COLLINS: What was your first reaction? What did you think?

PAMENTER: We need to get that baby up off the highway was the first reaction. And that's what we responded to, is getting the baby picked up and brought, you know, into a safe area.

COLLINS: Did you and the other officers have any idea that the baby was even in the car in the first place?

PAMENTER: No, we knew the baby was there because I had seen it earlier.

COLLINS: Whose baby is it? Was it the driver's baby?

PAMENTER: No, it wasn't his baby. I believe it was his girlfriend's. And he was not the father, from my understanding.

COLLINS: All right. Take us back to how this all started, if you will. We know there was some sort of domestic altercation. What happened from there?

PAMENTER: Well, the incident was reported to the police in that jurisdiction, and it wound up through that county and into our county, which is Outagamie County. And then it went north to Brown County.

While he was going through our county, he was driving pretty reasonable, had the speeds at reasonable speeds, 65, maybe 70 miles an hour. From there, he did do a couple of things that were unusual.

One, is when he -- it's a two-lane highway, Highway 41, and I was next to a motor home. And he was behind, and he wanted to pass, and he went in between the motor home and myself. And at that point is when I could see the baby on the front seat of the car. And it was in a car seat.

But I let him through, and then followed him after that. He was not going at high speeds until basically he got into the next county. And by this time, there were several state patrol cars following, and one ahead of him. And he started to get more aggressive, his speed started to increase to the 80 to 90-mile-an-hour at times.

COLLINS: Right.

PAMENTER: But then he would...

COLLINS: It did not end well for him. In fact, he was killed later on because of the incident and the way the chase ended.

How does it feel now when you look back on this and know that that baby was put out on the highway? You scooped that baby up before there was a tragic end here for the driver.

PAMENTER: Well, the whole ending is sad, but it could have been -- it could have been much worse. You know, of course everybody is relieved that the baby was left out of the car, and at that point we could -- we could look at it at a different light.

Before that, we had to really handle this whole incident very gently, and not create any kind of a panic on his part. So it was -- it was good. You know, as it turned out that he released the baby, and -- so...

COLLINS: Of course. All right. Sergeant Dan Pamenter, we certainly appreciate your excellent work, and the other officers involved, as well. Thanks so much for your time this morning.

PAMENTER: Thank you.

COLLINS: Bill.

HEMMER: Amazing stuff, Heidi. Thanks.

In a moment here, Ivan hit Cuba last night. Now headed for the U.S. We'll tell you where it might make landfall.

Also, when Aaron Ralston was trapped by an 800-pound boulder, he did the unimaginable to survive. Eighteen months later, he's telling his story to the world, and we'll talk to him this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired September 14, 2004 - 9:00   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. Downgraded, but not by much. Hurricane Ivan losing some of its muscle, but not a whole lot of its punch.
A chaos across Iraq. Surprise attacks in two cities, killing dozens of police officers and creating scenes of carnage there.

We'll talk with the police officers in Wisconsin who were there when a baby was dropped on the highway during a high speed chase.

And just who said what to whom? A crazy baseball brawl. Relief pitchers taking on the fans on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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

HEMMER: All right. Good morning, everyone.

Soledad is home resting. We'll get her back in mid October. Heidi Collins with us again today.

Good morning.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.

HEMMER: Heating up on the campaign trail yet again. President Bush and John Kerry back again, stumping across the country. Behind the scenes, the campaigns have some new poll numbers to dig through. We'll talk to Carlos Watson about that, analyzing the shift in the swing states, what it might mean today, in a moment.

COLLINS: Also, expect some tough questions from Democrats today as Porter Goss goes before his confirmation hearing to be CIA director. We'll look at whether he's expected to make it through or not.

HEMMER: All right.

Jack Cafferty, good morning on a Tuesday.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: How are you doing?

You mentioned that guy throwing that chair in the baseball game between the Rangers and the A's. Hit one guy in the head, broke a woman's nose. Nasty bit of business. What ought to happen to a guy who loses his cool during a ball game? AM@CNN.com, if you're so inclined.

HEMMER: America's pastime.

CAFFERTY: Did I tell you about the new law in California?

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: Yes.

HEMMER: Heard about it.

CAFFERTY: Good.

HEMMER: Thanks.

COLLINS: Thank you, Jack.

Want to check on the headlines now with Daryn Kagan, things "Now in the News" at the CNN Center.

Daryn, good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Heidi, good morning to you.

Medical personnel in Baghdad are tending this hour to dozens of casualties from this morning's car bomb attack. Insurgents launched an explosion outside a police station. At least 47 people were killed. More than 100 others are wounded.

And just hours ago in Baquba, gunmen attacked a police minibus, killing a dozen officers.

Back here in the U.S., President Bush is expected today to request about $3.1 billion. That's for hurricane relief. It's to help Florida repair the damage caused by hurricanes Charley and Frances. It's also going to include money for the flooding that Charley and Tropical Storm Gaston caused in the southeastern states, including here in Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. In just a few minutes we're going to have an update for you with Chad Myers on Hurricane Ivan.

A ceremony is being planned at the Pentagon this morning to remember American prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Richard Myers are among those taking part. The ceremony will also feature personnel from each of the military services.

Bill, back to you in New York.

HEMMER: All right, Daryn. Thanks for that.

Baghdad is certainly a big story today. But so, too, is Hurricane Ivan, setting its sights now on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Winds weakening slightly in the last hour, making it just below a Category 5 to a Category 4 hurricane. Ivan spending much of yesterday and overnight pounding the western edge of Cuba, damaging homes there.

Here's a look now, the latest images of Ivan as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico. Maximum sustained winds right about 155 miles an hour, with much stronger gusts.

Ivan likely to make U.S. landfall somewhere between New Orleans in the West and Florida's Panhandle to the East late Wednesday or early Thursday morning. Ivan already blamed for more than 60 deaths in the Caribbean.

Ed Rappaport is tracking Ivan's path. He's at the National Hurricane Center this hour in Miami with the latest there.

And Ed, good morning. We have been talking entirely too much over the past two months. What do you see on your radar? What's Ivan going to do?

ED RAPPAPORT, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Well, you're right. We have a little bit of good news this morning in that Ivan has weakened now back to a Category 4. But that's still very dangerous.

A Category 4 hurricane at landfall will cause extensive damage, both from wind and the storm surge along the coast. And we're talking about perhaps a storm surge of about 15 feet.

HEMMER: With a storm surge on the Gulf side, it is more dangerous, then, than it would be on the Atlantic side with that water rush?

RAPPAPORT: It depends. But -- well, actually a 15-foot storm surge is the same on either side. But in this case, the Gulf of Mexico is particularly prone to high storm surges. And there's a long history of this.

We're very concerned about the area that you mentioned from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, both because of the wind and the storm surge. And then inland from fresh water flooding due to the rainfall.

HEMMER: Is that also because of the -- less altitude adjustment there, or less change between the sea water and the land? Whereas on the East Coast, you probably have a little more of a buffer?

RAPPAPORT: That's right. But you lose either way.

In the Gulf of Mexico, it's a little shallower as you approach the coastline. So you get a greater storm surge, but somewhat less in the way of waves. On the East Coast, the storm surge is not quite as high, but you get much higher waves.

HEMMER: Yes. We mentioned New Orleans to the West, we mentioned St. Marks in Florida to the East. Where is the projected path now? Can you be more precise?

RAPPAPORT: Well, we wish we could. And that's part of the -- and part of the reason that we have such a wide area of a hurricane watch, which is now Morgan City, Louisiana, and St. Marks, Florida, is that we can't be any more precise, at least at this stage. We're talking about a landfall 36 to 40 hours away.

And the other reason why we have such a large area of hurricane watch is this is a very big hurricane. We have hurricane-force winds extending out 100 miles to the East and not quite that far out to the West. So this entire area needs to prepare for a major hurricane landfall in the next 36 hours.

HEMMER: Ed, thanks. We'll be talking again in the coming hours. Ed Rappaport at the Hurricane Center in Miami.

Chad Myers at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Chad, you were listening there.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

HEMMER: What's your take?

MYERS: He brought up a very good point. Even if this thing does hit Mobile, Pensacola, you're going to be Cat 2 hurricane winds, maybe even over to Destin and Fort Walton Beach, Category 1 hurricane winds. Just because you don't get the eye, this thing is so huge, it almost fills up the entire eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Hurricane warnings obviously still across Cuba and the Yucatan, and now the hurricane watch, as he was saying, all the way from Morgan City, right on back into St. Marks.

The big cities, New Orleans, you are not out of it. In fact, you are dead in it. If this thing doesn't turn, this is headed right to you.

The forecast is for it to turn, though, to Mobile, Biloxi. Mobile, Pensacola, Panama City, you are all in that hurricane watch tonight.

Here's the latest, what we call the wind field forecast. Right now, the winds are 155. There may even be some gusts to almost 200 miles per hour.

But the problem is, Bill -- I know you're headed this way tomorrow -- the problem is that this thing, don't think of it as a point. This is a huge area of wind. Tropical storm-force winds actually come onshore as early as tomorrow morning. And then hurricane-force winds in the evening.

So even though the eye may be 100 miles offshore or more, there will certainly be hurricane-force winds onshore well before the eye. Conditions start to deteriorate rapidly. Even at about 30 miles per hour, there's no way you could hold onto a piece of plywood and try to get it onto your house.

You need to get everything you want to get done. You need to get it done today. HEMMER: All right. Chad, thanks. Chad Myers. We'll talk again in 30 minutes, all right? OK -- Heidi.

COLLINS: On the campaign trail, John Kerry meets with seniors in Wisconsin and Ohio today before heading to Detroit. Yesterday, the Democrat criticized President Bush on the lapse of the assault weapons ban, saying the president, "chose to make the job of terrorists easier."

President Bush yesterday made health care the focus of his campaign stops. Today, the president is out West. And after a rally near Denver, Colorado, he heads to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he will meet with members of the National Guard.

President Bush beginning to open some ground between himself and John Kerry in some of the battleground states. So is the Kerry campaign in need of a September surprise? CNN political analyst Carlos Watson is here now to comment on that.

So what do you think? Need a little help? I mean, these poll numbers we've been talking about this morning, eight points up for President Bush among likely voters, four points up among registered voters.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: And even in states that people like Michael Dukakis, who didn't do at all, won, states like Wisconsin and Iowa. So no two ways about it. They need a little bit of help in September. And two things to think about in terms of how they can seize the initiative here, John Kerry in particular.

One, may be a series of innovative ads. You saw how the Swift Boat ads, as much controversy as they generated, ultimately dominated conversation in August. Perhaps for John Kerry, who's announced a $50 million blitz, that some of the new ads are to begin this month, you might see a fresh new ad that may break through, may capture your attention, may talk about an issue that hasn't been talked about yet.

The other thing, Heidi, that could surprise us a little bit are some new voices. Ralph Nader so far has directed most of his fire at the Democrats. Who knows if we'll see some of that fire perhaps directed at someone like President Bush.

COLLINS: Yes, and you mentioned the issues now. When we talk about the Swift Boat controversy, the fundamental question there is, who cares about that? Is it the campaigns, or is it actually the voters, the people at home? What would be the issues that John Kerry would have to focus on then to really draw in some of those voters?

WATSON: Sometimes you need something hard-hitting that captures attention. In the primaries, it was outsourcing. And we talked about that yesterday. But here's another issue that could grab attention.

What about the importation of prescription drugs? You know, if you're a senior, you're paying tremendous amounts of money for your prescription drugs, and you're looking over across the way in Canada, and you're saying, "Boy, the cheaper drugs over there." That's a hot issue that you're starting to see play out in some of the individual states, like Illinois. It could become a big national issue. I wouldn't be surprised to hear John Kerry talk about it because, again, there's a clear distinction between where President Bush feels they should go forward on that issue and where John Kerry is. So prescription drugs for seniors, that could be a big issue, importing them from Canada.

COLLINS: This week, though, that topic is sort of the issue for President Bush's campaign. So interesting.

But what do you think about foreign policy? I mean, maybe that could be an issue, as well, talking about North Korea or Iraq for Senator Kerry.

WATSON: Well, you know, Bill Clinton did something very interesting, Heidi, in 1992. He chose some international hotspots that weren't big in the news, but he used them in order to make symbolic points.

As you'll recall, he talked about China. He talked about Bosnia back then. He talked about Haiti.

Maybe if you're John Kerry, you move beyond Iraq, as well, and you find places like the Sudan, you find places like the nuclear threat going on in North Korea. You look over to what's going on in Iran, instead of Iraq, and maybe you make some larger symbolic points.

So I wouldn't be surprised if he chooses some hotspots that are not Iraqi hotspots in order to make some broader foreign policy points about nuclear protection. Also, about human rights violations, places like the Sudan.

COLLINS: Interesting. OK.

Well, what about -- you know, we talk and talk and talk about the presidential race, obviously. That is the topic. But what about the Senate race? What's going on there?

WATSON: We've got some incredibly interesting Senate races going on. Now, if you count Zell Miller essentially as a Republican, and if you count the Independent...

COLLINS: Why would you do that?

WATSON: Why would you do that? A little speech here.

If you count the Independent, Jim Jeffords, essentially as a Democrat, Republicans control the Senate 52-48. But there are eight open Senate seats, some incredibly interesting races.

Instead of the Midwest, where you see a lot of the presidential activity going on, the South is where there's a lot of focus. States like Florida, my home state, South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, all have really interesting races. I would watch Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. If the Democrats surprise there, they could have a shot at maybe tying it. But ultimately, if I'd put my money down, I'd bet on the Republicans holding control of the Senate.

COLLINS: Interesting. All right. You heard it here first.

WATSON: You heard it here first.

COLLINS: Carlos Watson, thanks so much for that.

WATSON: Good to see you.

COLLINS: Bill.

HEMMER: All right, Heidi. Twelve minutes past the hour. In a moment, remembering Aaron Ralston. He's the rock climber who made an unthinkable sacrifice in order to survive. We'll catch up with him today and learn why the toughest part of his ordeal involved his mother.

Plus, a man caught in a high-speed chase slows down long enough to make a special drop-off. He died. But in a moment, we'll talk to the police officers who may have made the biggest stop of their lives in a moment after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: Back with Jack now and the "Question of the Day."

What was it?

CAFFERTY: The Big Apple campaign.

HEMMER: The Big Apple campaign here in New York. Yes. You know how they used to do the cows in Chicago. They'd dress them up, and a lot of the companies would buy....

COLLINS: Outdoor art.

HEMMER: Outdoor art, exactly.

CAFFERTY: They have apples in the city.

HEMMER: In fact, there's a red one right down there.

COLLINS: A big apple.

HEMMER: See it over there?

CAFFERTY: Well, look there.

HEMMER: Yes.

CAFFERTY: Right next to the fruit cart that has all those other apples on it. HEMMER: As a matter of fact. And they're green.

CAFFERTY: Last night, during the ninth inning of the Texas Rangers-Oakland A's game, this mutant, Frank Francisco -- he's a relief pitcher for the Rangers -- got into an altercation with some Oakland A's fans next to the bullpen. The fans were talking trash, and this moron picked up a chair and threw it into the stands.

And he hit a man in the head, and he broke a woman's nose. And he's not in jail today, at least as far as we know, which is probably where he should be. What should happen to the baseball player who threw a chair into the stands is the e-mail "Question of the Day."

They dressed cows up in Chicago? I didn't know that.

HEMMER: A couple of years ago.

CAFFERTY: Vic in Guntersville, Alabama, "The commissioner of baseball should suspend the idiot for the rest of the season, then line up a pay-per-view event in the ring with this errant player and Bobby Knight. No gloves, just chairs. All proceeds going to the fans who got injured."

Marcus in Kofu, Japan, where AMERICAN MORNING, by the way, is on in prime time, "The ball player who threw the chair should have to sit out the rest of the season and possibly next in addition to paying the lady's hospital bills and apologizing. That's the easy question to answer. I think the more difficult issue to answer is what to do with fans who won't shut up and simply enjoy the game for what it is, a game."

Douglas in New York, "Try this: he should be taken to Yankee Stadium, and during the seventh inning stretch of a Yankee-Red Sox game, he should be brought out into left field in front of the bleachers, given various things that are throwable, and told to try, just try to throw something at the fans in the bleachers before they get to him. I'll bet on the fans."

And finally, Keith in Stafford, Virginia, "Boo hoo. These oversized toddlers who get paid to play a game and make more money in a year than my school district spends on educating the entire community, I feel terrible for them. While they're throwing tantrums, as well as baseballs, the kids who trade their cards are hitting each other more and more and learning less because their role models set lousy examples for them."

That's pretty good stuff.

COLLINS: Right.

HEMMER: Amazing video, too. Seeing that woman at a ballgame with blood all over her face?

COLLINS: Awful.

HEMMER: My god. CAFFERTY: Why is this guy not in jail?

COLLINS: I have no idea. They said they took him out some alternate exit.

HEMMER: Yes.

COLLINS: And he was escorted out to a car that was parked on the field.

CAFFERTY: Maybe they should have just left him on the field and -- by himself after the game.

HEMMER: Yes. The red apple, by the way, I think McGraw-Hill building right there, between 49th and 50th. Is that right?

Look at that, Jack.

COLLINS: There you have it, just like magic.

HEMMER: You can pack your lunch and go sit next to the apple.

CAFFERTY: An apple a day.

(CROSSTALK)

HEMMER: Let's get a break here in a moment. What's the caped crusader doing across the pond at Buckingham Palace? Did you see this videotape? Batman front and center. We'll explain after this.

COLLINS: Just hanging out.

HEMMER: That's right.

COLLINS: What's the problem?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HEMMER: In Washington today, in the Senate side of the Capitol building, the intelligence committee starts hearings in the nomination of Porter Goss, who wants to be the next director of the CIA. The hearings could become heated.

As to why? Here's David Ensor in Washington with more on that.

David, good morning there.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Bill, the hearings could become heated because there's the whole question of reorganizing intelligence. Porter Goss may not agree with all of the 9/11 Commission recommendations. And then there is the man himself. He wants now to become director of Central Intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR (voice-over): Porter Goss already has 10 years under his belt at the CIA as a young officer, and 15 in the Congress, many of them as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, keeping an eye on the community that he has been nominated to lead.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), NOMINATED TO HEAD CIA: The essence of our intelligence capability is people. And we have some wonderful Americans doing a great job.

ENSOR: Goss is well liked. But critics charge he's been too easy on the CIA over intelligence failures in Iraq and elsewhere, and too close to the Bush White House.

(on camera): Were you disappointed when you heard the president had nominated him?

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Yes, I was. I was a little more than that. I was kind of shocked. I mean, I really didn't think he was going to do it, because it's a -- it's a fairly clear partisan choice.

LEE STRICKLAND, FMR. CIA OFFICER: There's been various times when -- when the agency has been too close to the White House. And those -- those have led to great difficulties. I'm thinking back when Mr. Casey was DCI, for example.

ENSOR (voice-over): William Casey was President Reagan's director of Central Intelligence. He supplied weapons to Nicaraguan rebels, despite a congressional began, using funds from arm sales to Iran that were also illegal. But some Democrats, like former Senator Bob Graham, praised Goss as a patriot, willing to stand up to the president if necessary and tell him things he may not want to hear. Senior Republicans agree.

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I don't know of a better choice the president could pick at this point in time. He doesn't need any on-the-job training. He could take over that job tomorrow morning.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: Goss is expected to be confirmed. But his path from there is anything but clear.

Amid suggestions of intelligence reform that is -- they're very much in the air. It's not clear whether the job he has been nominated for will exist much longer. It could well be changed.

And then there is the question of whether the voters will choose a new president in seven weeks. If they do, it doesn't look likely as if Mr. Goss would remain at the CIA -- Bill.

HEMMER: David Ensor, watching things there in D.C. Thank you, David -- Heidi.

COLLINS: A dangerous stunt on a Wisconsin highway. We've been showing you the video all morning long. An infant dumped from a speeding car during a police chase. Joining us now, the police officer who scooped that baby up on to safety. Sergeant Dan Pamenter is joining us.

First of all, I want to ask you, how is the baby? Boy or girl? Don't even know that much yet.

SGT. DAN PAMENTER, OUTAGAMIE COUNTY SHERIFF' DEPT.: It was an eight-month girl, and she's doing fine. She was just a little shaken up.

COLLINS: What did you think -- of course.

PAMENTER: I'm sorry.

COLLINS: Right. We're looking at the video right now. And, you know, you've been in law enforcement for awhile. Have you ever seen anything like this before?

PAMENTER: Not like this, no. It's the first.

COLLINS: What was your first reaction? What did you think?

PAMENTER: We need to get that baby up off the highway was the first reaction. And that's what we responded to, is getting the baby picked up and brought, you know, into a safe area.

COLLINS: Did you and the other officers have any idea that the baby was even in the car in the first place?

PAMENTER: No, we knew the baby was there because I had seen it earlier.

COLLINS: Whose baby is it? Was it the driver's baby?

PAMENTER: No, it wasn't his baby. I believe it was his girlfriend's. And he was not the father, from my understanding.

COLLINS: All right. Take us back to how this all started, if you will. We know there was some sort of domestic altercation. What happened from there?

PAMENTER: Well, the incident was reported to the police in that jurisdiction, and it wound up through that county and into our county, which is Outagamie County. And then it went north to Brown County.

While he was going through our county, he was driving pretty reasonable, had the speeds at reasonable speeds, 65, maybe 70 miles an hour. From there, he did do a couple of things that were unusual.

One, is when he -- it's a two-lane highway, Highway 41, and I was next to a motor home. And he was behind, and he wanted to pass, and he went in between the motor home and myself. And at that point is when I could see the baby on the front seat of the car. And it was in a car seat.

But I let him through, and then followed him after that. He was not going at high speeds until basically he got into the next county. And by this time, there were several state patrol cars following, and one ahead of him. And he started to get more aggressive, his speed started to increase to the 80 to 90-mile-an-hour at times.

COLLINS: Right.

PAMENTER: But then he would...

COLLINS: It did not end well for him. In fact, he was killed later on because of the incident and the way the chase ended.

How does it feel now when you look back on this and know that that baby was put out on the highway? You scooped that baby up before there was a tragic end here for the driver.

PAMENTER: Well, the whole ending is sad, but it could have been -- it could have been much worse. You know, of course everybody is relieved that the baby was left out of the car, and at that point we could -- we could look at it at a different light.

Before that, we had to really handle this whole incident very gently, and not create any kind of a panic on his part. So it was -- it was good. You know, as it turned out that he released the baby, and -- so...

COLLINS: Of course. All right. Sergeant Dan Pamenter, we certainly appreciate your excellent work, and the other officers involved, as well. Thanks so much for your time this morning.

PAMENTER: Thank you.

COLLINS: Bill.

HEMMER: Amazing stuff, Heidi. Thanks.

In a moment here, Ivan hit Cuba last night. Now headed for the U.S. We'll tell you where it might make landfall.

Also, when Aaron Ralston was trapped by an 800-pound boulder, he did the unimaginable to survive. Eighteen months later, he's telling his story to the world, and we'll talk to him this hour on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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