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CNN Live At Daybreak
Ivan Update; Arab View of Iraq Violence
Aired September 15, 2004 - 06:00 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Getting out of the Big Easy -- Louisiana residents clog highways trying to escape from Ivan.
It is Wednesday, September 15.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, there is word this morning of a grizzly discovery in Iraq. According to wire services, three beheaded corpses have been found on a road north of Baghdad. A U.S. military spokesman is quoted as saying the bodies are believed to be those of Arabs.
As armed guards stand by, children are returning to school in the southern Russian city of Beslan this morning. It's been two weeks since a terrorist siege at the school killed 335 hostages, many of them children.
He's back! Get this, former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, yes, that Marion Barry, has won the Democratic nomination for a seat on the city council. The spot almost assures him of a win in the November general election because in that ward, I don't think there's one Republican.
On the Gulf Coast, there is bumper to bumper traffic in Mississippi and Louisiana. People are evacuating as Hurricane Ivan approaches with 140 mile per hour winds.
But let's check in with Chad for all the specifics -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good morning, Carol.
Rob Marciano, my colleague...
COSTELLO: Ooh, and we have Rob...
MYERS: ... is out in the field in Mobile Bay. He's going to give us the latest from there, as well.
Here is the latest on the satellite picture. It's going to be right up here and still moving to the north-northwest at about 12 miles per hour. A very significant storm. Here are the very latest numbers -- 26.1, 87.8. Winds at 140, still at category four. To get back to a category five, and I don't anticipate this happening, it would have to get to 156 miles per hour. It weakened a little bit overnight and that's some of the good news.
But the other bad news, if you will, because it's got a lot of bad news with it, it still will be, or at least very close to be, a category four when it makes landfall very, very close to where my colleague is right there in Mobile Bay.
Some of the very latest models that we're looking at from the Baron's System has that bottom moving a little bit farther to the east than that, though. Don't focus on the line just yet. This storm is still hundreds of miles offshore and it still could move left or move right. It's probably going to move a little bit farther to the right because that's what's been happening as this system has been moving from left to right, making a little bit of a turn back up into parts of Alabama. So, that makes Pensacola.
Anyway, the whole right side of the storm is going to be the hardest hit side one way or the other. But as it gets closer, everybody there needs to keep watching -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're not kidding.
OK, Rob Marciano, I see you. You have your anemometer with you. The winds look pretty calm now, actually.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, not too bad, Carol. Right now they're just blowing 10, 12, 15 miles an hour out of the east- northeast. We expect them to continue at that direction for a good chunk of today and then depending on the track of this thing switch to a more southerly direction if this eye wall heads to our west, which would not be good.
And then later on tonight, if it would head to our east, which would be much better, we would expect the north wind, which, as Chad knows, would be a much lighter effect.
We rolled into town last night. Mobile a beautiful city and it was a beautiful twilight. Some video for you as we try to get our bearings rolling around the area. Just a few puffy cumulus clouds, some sun rays breaking through those clouds at times. There's the USS Alabama battleship Clark. They don't move that ship, by the way. It stays there. So, they're just hoping for the best as it remains tied down along the bay.
But there's the sun breaking through Jacob's Ladder. Still hurrying to protect life and property. Plywood, ply board continues to be put up across town and larger vessels heading out to sea, or more likely heading up river. And that one particular sign that we saw on one of the local restaurants -- "Everybody Pray." That's certainly an ongoing theme here.
The last time they got hit with a major hurricane, Carol, was back in 1979, a direct hit from Hurricane Frances. It was a category three storm, with winds of 130 miles an hour. And it had a storm surge of eight to 12 feet. We certainly hope that that doesn't happen today if this thing shifts to the right. It will have less of an effect.
We're right on the Mobile River, which dumps right into Mobile Bay. There is a lot of water out there and Mobile itself, Carol, is not very far above sea level. It floods very easily. Even if we don't get a storm surge, much like New Orleans, if we just get a ton of rain, we could see these streets flooded without any problem at all.
Of course, we'll be here throughout the storm.
COSTELLO: All right, absolutely.
Rob Marciano, we'll check back with you in Mobile, Alabama this morning.
And while Rob prepares to face the storm in Alabama, people all along the Gulf Coast are also bracing for Ivan.
CNN's Sara Dorsey joins us from Pensacola, Florida with the latest from there -- good morning.
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
The winds are starting to pick up here in Pensacola, a good sign that Hurricane Ivan is moving in. Just driving through this town, you can tell that people here are preparing for something very bad. The homes are boarded up. All the businesses are boarded up. Many of those will not reopen today. Also, the Barrier Islands are closed as of 6:00 Central time here, as people prepare for this category four hurricane.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY (voice-over): Preparations continue along the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Ivan approaches the U.S. Plywood is a hot commodity, as residents board up and get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started saying hey, we may need to do something here, because it's starting to get kind of close.
DORSEY: The mayor of New Orleans is urging the half million residents there to evacuate. Interstates servicing the Gulf Coast states are packed with bumper to bumper traffic, mostly evacuees. Corners' offices along the Gulf Coast are preparing for the worst.
JIM POLLARD, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: The corner's office has gone as far as to create a form for public safety officials to take to those residents, who we hope will be extremely few in number, asking them to give information to identify their bodies.
DORSEY: Hurricane Ivan, like a roll of the dice, remains unpredictable. It's outcome yet to be determined.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been open about a little over 10 years. And we've been hit with five main storms. And we've had just over $30 million of damage in that time. So, it's been a tough 10 years, but we also bounce back and, as I'm sure we will this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: And Governor Bush yesterday asked residents to heed the warnings and get out. But still some people here have decided to ride this storm out in their homes.
We're live from Pensacola.
Sara Dorsey. Back in to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Always a couple.
Thank you, Sara.
With Ivan expected to hit some time early tomorrow morning, DAYBREAK's special coverage of this powerful hurricane begins an hour earlier than usual. We're going to start at 4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific time. So, be sure to join us then, if you happen to be up, that is.
An update this morning on those memos involving President Bush's military service. Three document experts who examined the memos for CBS now tell us they could not verify the authenticity of the documents. The memos allege Bush got special treatment in the Texas Air National Guard. One expert tells us the network, which would be CBS, ignored her concerns. CBS continues to stand by its story.
In news across America now, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Richardson are the latest governors to receive letters rigged to catch fire. Twenty of the letters have been sent to statehouses across the country. No one has been hurt in any of the incidents. All of the letters carried that postmark from a maximum security prison in Nevada. Officials there say they have a person of interest in the case.
The collapse of an air traffic control radio system affected about 400 planes in southern California. Controllers at one facility couldn't talk to pilots for about three hours. Flights had to be rerouted, delayed or canceled. FAA officials say the planes were not in danger because pilots could talk to controllers at other facilities. Los Angeles, Oakland and Las Vegas were among the affected airports.
About 40 volunteers are looking for the remains of Lori Hacking in a Salt Lake City landfill. She's been missing since July. Her husband has been charged with her murder. Searchers say they're prepared to sift through the 4,600 tons of trash for as long as it takes to find the body. The same volunteers searched for human remains in the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
Terror attacks have been killing dozens in Iraq. What is the reaction in the Arab world to the escalating violence? Our senior Arab affairs editor joins us with perspective in about four minutes. Plus, at 17 minutes after, The Gap targets another market. We'll tell you how its new line of clothing -- we'll tell you about the new line of clothing and who it's aimed at.
And at 22 minutes past, arrested -- a Texas Rangers player, a pitcher, finds himself in legal trouble for the way he reacted to rowdy fans.
And this morning we're asking you, what is the best way to deal with rowdy fans and rowdy baseball players? E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: In Iraq this morning, three beheaded bodies found. And it's been especially bloody there in the past several weeks. This morning, what the Arab world is saying about it.
Our senior Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr joins us now.
You want to start with the latest news out of Iraq, those three bodies that were found beheaded?
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, three bodies that are beheaded, they look Arab. They could be any, of any nationality, really. These kidnappings have been very sporadic. We're not sure who's being taken hostage and why. Some people are criticizing the situation, saying that hostage takers now take the hostages and then decide what they want, depending on their nationality, depending on their country's involvement in the war in Iraq.
It's very sad. The -- watching Arab media, I mean you're getting very depressed reading Arab media, because people are starting to feel that things are totally out of control at this point. And there is major pessimism, if you will, that the situation is going to only get worse and no one at this point is able to get the Iraqis and the rest of the world out of it.
COSTELLO: Who do -- I mean who does the Arab -- I don't know how to grammatically say this, but Arab television, what are they saying about the insurgents in Iraq, where they come from, who they are?
NASR: Well, there are reports about these groups. There are three main groups. We always talk about these three main groups. But every now and then you have these unknown groups with these weird names that pop up. They take people hostage.
Right now it's becoming worse than a business. You remember over the weeks we've been describing it as a business. You take hostages, then you make demands, then you produce a video, you air it on Arab networks or on Islamist Web sites.
Now it's getting out of hand. Now you don't know who these groups are anymore, because take the French journalists, for example. They've been taken hostage for weeks now. There were appeals from all over the world, especially the Islamic world. There were appeals from extreme groups such as the Islamic Jihad, such as Hamas, such as Hezbollah and the Islamic Brotherhood...
COSTELLO: To let these guys go?
NASR: Let these guys go. No one is letting them go.
So, that brings the question, who are these people? Who knows? At this point there are experts telling us that these people might not even be Muslim or Iraqi in the first place.
Now, one interesting development this week, you know, Secretary Powell had an interesting revelation about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I want us to listen to what he said and I'll tell you the Arab reaction to this.
COSTELLO: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We know that there had been connections and there had been exchanges between al Qaeda and the Saddam Hussein regime. And those have been pursued and looked at. But I have seen nothing that makes a direct connection between Saddam Hussein, that awful regime and what happened on 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We know what the reaction has been to that here in the United States, but what about the in the Arab world?
NASR: In the Arab world they're shaking their heads, saying a little bit too late. First of all, the al Qaeda connection, in their mind, never existed. It was all made up. And Arab media are very keen to explain that the situation in Iraq is as explosive as it is today because of the U.S. and because of the U.S.'s actions in Iraq.
And they're saying that since the war last year and at the end of it, especially at the end of it, there was a period of time when the borders of Iraq were so open that every terrorist in the world that wanted to go in was able to go in.
And when we talk about these kidnappings, there is a group that's linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is a Jordanian born terrorist with links to al Qaeda. Now he's setting shop, I mean he's set up shop in Iraq. Now he has statements that come out about beheadings and kidnappings and demands. He has a whole Web site just for him.
And people are warning that now this guy is in and he's very active. And the question is why is he in Iraq, not because he had relationships with the Saddam Hussein regime before. It's because the U.S. did what it did in Iraq and opened the borders and made the country so weak when it comes to terrorism.
COSTELLO: Octavia Nasr, thank you for joining us with the Arab perspective this morning.
NASR: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Time for a little business buzz now.
There is something new going on at The Gap, and it's not another ad campaign.
Carrie Lee has all the details live from the Nasdaq market site.
Ooh, I'm excited to hear this.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, the "Wall Street Journal" reporting that The Gap is setting to roll out a new line of specialty stores aimed at women aged 35 and above. Not something you hear every day. This is The Gap's first new retail chain in a decade. They plan to open as many as 10 new stores by the end of the year. We're not sure what they're going to look like, what they'll be called, where they will be located.
It's an interesting concept, though. Certainly risky, because a lot of the clothes The Gap already sells are worn by this group of women already. However, there are 40 million women born between 1946 and 1964, and this is a group with a lot of spending power. So, we're expecting to see these stores, again, according to the "Journal," in the latter half of 2005, adding to The Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy chains that it already runs.
That's the latest.
COSTELLO: You know, it kind of scares me to think of that, because what are they going to sell, like pants with elastic waists?
LEE: You know, well, I think that traditionally you think of older women, that older demographic -- not that 35 is old -- but they're saying that they're going to sell items for a range of occasions. And the idea here is not to try to make older people get into a younger demographic, but still kind of hip. You know, they're saying think of stars like Kim Cattrall or maybe Demi Moore.
This is kind of the new older woman, or at least a woman not in her 20s. So, maybe that's the type of idea they're going for. It could be very appealing, yes. We'll see.
COSTELLO: Yes, because as you know, we've still got it.
LEE: That's right. That's right.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
LEE: OK, Carol.
COSTELLO: Carrie Lee, live from the NASDAQ market site.
Out of control fans, out of control player -- you have probably seen these pictures, oh, a couple of times by now. A Texas Ranger pitcher hurling a chair at a fan. He broke her nose. We'll talk more about that ahead.
Plus, what can be done about rowdy fans, and rowdy baseball players, for that matter? That's our DAYBREAK "Question of the Morning." E-mail your thoughts, daybreak@cnn.com.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Craig Bueno -- Craig Bueno was one of the Oakland As fans involved in that fight with the Texas Rangers' players. He's expected to tell his side of the story at a news conference today. Bueno's wife Jennifer was the woman hit by that flying chair. You see it there. She suffered a broken nose and she says a civil suit is quite likely.
Rangers rookie pitcher Frank Francisco threw that chair into the stands. He was arrested and charged with aggravated battery.
You know, I'm a sports fan. This really upsets me. So, I wanted to talk more about it.
DAYBREAK sports contributor Chris Cotter is here to help us out.
CHRIS COTTER, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: You think a civil suit is likely? I think a civil suit is a definite.
COSTELLO: It's a given.
COTTER: I mean it's -- it might even be -- I think the stadium is a public stadium there. They're going to sue the City of Oakland, the State of California, the federal government.
COSTELLO: Oh, man! So, she's going to become a very wealthy woman, possibly.
COTTER: I would think so.
COSTELLO: Yes.
COTTER: There are a lot of wealthy people involved.
COSTELLO: Yes. Well, let me read you a quote from the Texas manager, Buck Showalter.
COTTER: OK.
COSTELLO: He says: "You get to a point like tonight, where obviously it's a break from the normal trash you hear from fans. Tonight it went over the line."
COTTER: Yes, and Craig Bueno said it did not go over the line. He said that everything that was said was normal trash talking, which to me, I don't know what going over the line is in baseball or any other sport. Trash talking is trash talking. Over the years, I'm sure every player has heard it from every single fan every which way. COSTELLO: Yes, but what if you're being heckled through the entire game?
COTTER: It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. That's what it means to be a visitor. I mean that's what it means to go to Oakland. That's what it means in the NFL to go to player the Raiders in Oakland. It's going to be tough.
COSTELLO: Yes, but you know what? You don't see that kind of stuff happening at football games. And I have a theory, and I could be completely wrong, of course.
COTTER: Well, share that theory with us and I'll tell you.
COSTELLO: But in baseball, you know, they're right out in the open. They can hear what the fans are saying...
COTTER: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... because the fans are very close to them. They're not wearing helmets.
COTTER: Yes?
COSTELLO: And they're not getting out their aggressions, as football players are, by hitting the other guy.
COTTER: Well, there's something to that. I mean baseball stadiums are designed that way. They want the intimacies. You know, new stadiums are designed much like the really old stadiums, where there aren't big fences. You aren't elevated up off the field. You're kind of right there along with the players. So, there's something to that. There's less separation in baseball than there are in other sports.
COSTELLO: We've been soliciting e-mails this morning. This is from Kenny. He's from Petersburg, Ohio. He says: "Put up a Plexiglas wall like they do at hockey games to protect those spectators and players."
A good idea?
COTTER: I don't think it's a good idea, because I think it takes away too much from the games, from the viewing of the game. When you think about hundreds of baseball games every year being watched and we have one situation in Oakland and they want to put up Plexiglas and ruin it for everybody who pays for all those seats...
COSTELLO: Oh, come on! Last season an Oakland player threw a cell phone from the stands and hit an outfielder, Carl Everett.
COTTER: It's been happening since the beginning of time. Maybe not cell phones...
COSTELLO: Well, what...
COTTER: Maybe those old portable phones that you used to have to have two hands to carry around. That would have really hurt.
COSTELLO: Oh, stop.
COTTER: But you know what I'm saying.
COSTELLO: This is from Laura. She's from Indiana. She says: "The fans should have big fines for their actions. They need to control the abuse they think they have the right to dish out."
COTTER: Well, I think they do have the right to dish it out. They bought those tickets as a fan. That's what they do. They can heckle the opposing player. Now, what you do is you fine the player a tremendous amount here. Frankie Francisco, the Texas Ranger player, should be fined, suspended this year and all of next year and should not be paid all of next year. That would send a message.
I'm tired of these $5,000 fines, $10,000 fines that are being levied out to these millionaires. Make them hurt. Hit them where it really hurts, in their wallet, and then everyone will say I don't want to be the next Frank Francisco and have to pay, because that's when it really hits them.
COSTELLO: Well, we're going to continue to follow this story.
Chris Cotter, thank you for coming in this morning.
COTTER: You're very welcome.
COSTELLO: All right, Ivan heads toward the Gulf Coast states. We'll have a live report for you from Mobile, Alabama as thousands heed evacuation orders to get out of town.
Talking politics, the hot topics surrounding the presidential candidates -- Bush on Iraq and Kerry on health care -- a breakdown of their latest comments just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The South prepares for another storm. This time Ivan is heading toward the Gulf Coast states.
It is Wednesday, September 15.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, a grizzly discovery this morning in Iraq. U.S. soldiers have found three beheaded bodies on a highway north of Baghdad. A U.S. military spokesman says it's believed the corpses, all men, are Iraqi civilians. He also says they were dressed in Western style clothing.
For the first time since that deadly terrorist siege at a school in southern Russia, students are back in class today. More than 300 hostages died in the incident two weeks ago, most of them children. The school where the massacre took place remains closed. It's become a makeshift memorial.
Back home, it could be good news for cash-strapped seniors. Health officials are announcing changes to the Medicare drug discount program. They say the changes will allow seniors to save more money on prescription drugs.
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Aired September 15, 2004 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Getting out of the Big Easy -- Louisiana residents clog highways trying to escape from Ivan.
It is Wednesday, September 15.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, there is word this morning of a grizzly discovery in Iraq. According to wire services, three beheaded corpses have been found on a road north of Baghdad. A U.S. military spokesman is quoted as saying the bodies are believed to be those of Arabs.
As armed guards stand by, children are returning to school in the southern Russian city of Beslan this morning. It's been two weeks since a terrorist siege at the school killed 335 hostages, many of them children.
He's back! Get this, former Washington, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, yes, that Marion Barry, has won the Democratic nomination for a seat on the city council. The spot almost assures him of a win in the November general election because in that ward, I don't think there's one Republican.
On the Gulf Coast, there is bumper to bumper traffic in Mississippi and Louisiana. People are evacuating as Hurricane Ivan approaches with 140 mile per hour winds.
But let's check in with Chad for all the specifics -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good morning, Carol.
Rob Marciano, my colleague...
COSTELLO: Ooh, and we have Rob...
MYERS: ... is out in the field in Mobile Bay. He's going to give us the latest from there, as well.
Here is the latest on the satellite picture. It's going to be right up here and still moving to the north-northwest at about 12 miles per hour. A very significant storm. Here are the very latest numbers -- 26.1, 87.8. Winds at 140, still at category four. To get back to a category five, and I don't anticipate this happening, it would have to get to 156 miles per hour. It weakened a little bit overnight and that's some of the good news.
But the other bad news, if you will, because it's got a lot of bad news with it, it still will be, or at least very close to be, a category four when it makes landfall very, very close to where my colleague is right there in Mobile Bay.
Some of the very latest models that we're looking at from the Baron's System has that bottom moving a little bit farther to the east than that, though. Don't focus on the line just yet. This storm is still hundreds of miles offshore and it still could move left or move right. It's probably going to move a little bit farther to the right because that's what's been happening as this system has been moving from left to right, making a little bit of a turn back up into parts of Alabama. So, that makes Pensacola.
Anyway, the whole right side of the storm is going to be the hardest hit side one way or the other. But as it gets closer, everybody there needs to keep watching -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, you're not kidding.
OK, Rob Marciano, I see you. You have your anemometer with you. The winds look pretty calm now, actually.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, not too bad, Carol. Right now they're just blowing 10, 12, 15 miles an hour out of the east- northeast. We expect them to continue at that direction for a good chunk of today and then depending on the track of this thing switch to a more southerly direction if this eye wall heads to our west, which would not be good.
And then later on tonight, if it would head to our east, which would be much better, we would expect the north wind, which, as Chad knows, would be a much lighter effect.
We rolled into town last night. Mobile a beautiful city and it was a beautiful twilight. Some video for you as we try to get our bearings rolling around the area. Just a few puffy cumulus clouds, some sun rays breaking through those clouds at times. There's the USS Alabama battleship Clark. They don't move that ship, by the way. It stays there. So, they're just hoping for the best as it remains tied down along the bay.
But there's the sun breaking through Jacob's Ladder. Still hurrying to protect life and property. Plywood, ply board continues to be put up across town and larger vessels heading out to sea, or more likely heading up river. And that one particular sign that we saw on one of the local restaurants -- "Everybody Pray." That's certainly an ongoing theme here.
The last time they got hit with a major hurricane, Carol, was back in 1979, a direct hit from Hurricane Frances. It was a category three storm, with winds of 130 miles an hour. And it had a storm surge of eight to 12 feet. We certainly hope that that doesn't happen today if this thing shifts to the right. It will have less of an effect.
We're right on the Mobile River, which dumps right into Mobile Bay. There is a lot of water out there and Mobile itself, Carol, is not very far above sea level. It floods very easily. Even if we don't get a storm surge, much like New Orleans, if we just get a ton of rain, we could see these streets flooded without any problem at all.
Of course, we'll be here throughout the storm.
COSTELLO: All right, absolutely.
Rob Marciano, we'll check back with you in Mobile, Alabama this morning.
And while Rob prepares to face the storm in Alabama, people all along the Gulf Coast are also bracing for Ivan.
CNN's Sara Dorsey joins us from Pensacola, Florida with the latest from there -- good morning.
SARA DORSEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you.
The winds are starting to pick up here in Pensacola, a good sign that Hurricane Ivan is moving in. Just driving through this town, you can tell that people here are preparing for something very bad. The homes are boarded up. All the businesses are boarded up. Many of those will not reopen today. Also, the Barrier Islands are closed as of 6:00 Central time here, as people prepare for this category four hurricane.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY (voice-over): Preparations continue along the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Ivan approaches the U.S. Plywood is a hot commodity, as residents board up and get out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We started saying hey, we may need to do something here, because it's starting to get kind of close.
DORSEY: The mayor of New Orleans is urging the half million residents there to evacuate. Interstates servicing the Gulf Coast states are packed with bumper to bumper traffic, mostly evacuees. Corners' offices along the Gulf Coast are preparing for the worst.
JIM POLLARD, MISSISSIPPI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: The corner's office has gone as far as to create a form for public safety officials to take to those residents, who we hope will be extremely few in number, asking them to give information to identify their bodies.
DORSEY: Hurricane Ivan, like a roll of the dice, remains unpredictable. It's outcome yet to be determined.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been open about a little over 10 years. And we've been hit with five main storms. And we've had just over $30 million of damage in that time. So, it's been a tough 10 years, but we also bounce back and, as I'm sure we will this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORSEY: And Governor Bush yesterday asked residents to heed the warnings and get out. But still some people here have decided to ride this storm out in their homes.
We're live from Pensacola.
Sara Dorsey. Back in to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Always a couple.
Thank you, Sara.
With Ivan expected to hit some time early tomorrow morning, DAYBREAK's special coverage of this powerful hurricane begins an hour earlier than usual. We're going to start at 4:00 a.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific time. So, be sure to join us then, if you happen to be up, that is.
An update this morning on those memos involving President Bush's military service. Three document experts who examined the memos for CBS now tell us they could not verify the authenticity of the documents. The memos allege Bush got special treatment in the Texas Air National Guard. One expert tells us the network, which would be CBS, ignored her concerns. CBS continues to stand by its story.
In news across America now, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bill Richardson are the latest governors to receive letters rigged to catch fire. Twenty of the letters have been sent to statehouses across the country. No one has been hurt in any of the incidents. All of the letters carried that postmark from a maximum security prison in Nevada. Officials there say they have a person of interest in the case.
The collapse of an air traffic control radio system affected about 400 planes in southern California. Controllers at one facility couldn't talk to pilots for about three hours. Flights had to be rerouted, delayed or canceled. FAA officials say the planes were not in danger because pilots could talk to controllers at other facilities. Los Angeles, Oakland and Las Vegas were among the affected airports.
About 40 volunteers are looking for the remains of Lori Hacking in a Salt Lake City landfill. She's been missing since July. Her husband has been charged with her murder. Searchers say they're prepared to sift through the 4,600 tons of trash for as long as it takes to find the body. The same volunteers searched for human remains in the wreckage of the World Trade Center.
Terror attacks have been killing dozens in Iraq. What is the reaction in the Arab world to the escalating violence? Our senior Arab affairs editor joins us with perspective in about four minutes. Plus, at 17 minutes after, The Gap targets another market. We'll tell you how its new line of clothing -- we'll tell you about the new line of clothing and who it's aimed at.
And at 22 minutes past, arrested -- a Texas Rangers player, a pitcher, finds himself in legal trouble for the way he reacted to rowdy fans.
And this morning we're asking you, what is the best way to deal with rowdy fans and rowdy baseball players? E-mail us at daybreak@cnn.com, daybreak@cnn.com.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Wednesday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: In Iraq this morning, three beheaded bodies found. And it's been especially bloody there in the past several weeks. This morning, what the Arab world is saying about it.
Our senior Arab affairs editor Octavia Nasr joins us now.
You want to start with the latest news out of Iraq, those three bodies that were found beheaded?
OCTAVIA NASR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, three bodies that are beheaded, they look Arab. They could be any, of any nationality, really. These kidnappings have been very sporadic. We're not sure who's being taken hostage and why. Some people are criticizing the situation, saying that hostage takers now take the hostages and then decide what they want, depending on their nationality, depending on their country's involvement in the war in Iraq.
It's very sad. The -- watching Arab media, I mean you're getting very depressed reading Arab media, because people are starting to feel that things are totally out of control at this point. And there is major pessimism, if you will, that the situation is going to only get worse and no one at this point is able to get the Iraqis and the rest of the world out of it.
COSTELLO: Who do -- I mean who does the Arab -- I don't know how to grammatically say this, but Arab television, what are they saying about the insurgents in Iraq, where they come from, who they are?
NASR: Well, there are reports about these groups. There are three main groups. We always talk about these three main groups. But every now and then you have these unknown groups with these weird names that pop up. They take people hostage.
Right now it's becoming worse than a business. You remember over the weeks we've been describing it as a business. You take hostages, then you make demands, then you produce a video, you air it on Arab networks or on Islamist Web sites.
Now it's getting out of hand. Now you don't know who these groups are anymore, because take the French journalists, for example. They've been taken hostage for weeks now. There were appeals from all over the world, especially the Islamic world. There were appeals from extreme groups such as the Islamic Jihad, such as Hamas, such as Hezbollah and the Islamic Brotherhood...
COSTELLO: To let these guys go?
NASR: Let these guys go. No one is letting them go.
So, that brings the question, who are these people? Who knows? At this point there are experts telling us that these people might not even be Muslim or Iraqi in the first place.
Now, one interesting development this week, you know, Secretary Powell had an interesting revelation about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. I want us to listen to what he said and I'll tell you the Arab reaction to this.
COSTELLO: OK.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We know that there had been connections and there had been exchanges between al Qaeda and the Saddam Hussein regime. And those have been pursued and looked at. But I have seen nothing that makes a direct connection between Saddam Hussein, that awful regime and what happened on 9/11.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We know what the reaction has been to that here in the United States, but what about the in the Arab world?
NASR: In the Arab world they're shaking their heads, saying a little bit too late. First of all, the al Qaeda connection, in their mind, never existed. It was all made up. And Arab media are very keen to explain that the situation in Iraq is as explosive as it is today because of the U.S. and because of the U.S.'s actions in Iraq.
And they're saying that since the war last year and at the end of it, especially at the end of it, there was a period of time when the borders of Iraq were so open that every terrorist in the world that wanted to go in was able to go in.
And when we talk about these kidnappings, there is a group that's linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who is a Jordanian born terrorist with links to al Qaeda. Now he's setting shop, I mean he's set up shop in Iraq. Now he has statements that come out about beheadings and kidnappings and demands. He has a whole Web site just for him.
And people are warning that now this guy is in and he's very active. And the question is why is he in Iraq, not because he had relationships with the Saddam Hussein regime before. It's because the U.S. did what it did in Iraq and opened the borders and made the country so weak when it comes to terrorism.
COSTELLO: Octavia Nasr, thank you for joining us with the Arab perspective this morning.
NASR: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: Time for a little business buzz now.
There is something new going on at The Gap, and it's not another ad campaign.
Carrie Lee has all the details live from the Nasdaq market site.
Ooh, I'm excited to hear this.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, the "Wall Street Journal" reporting that The Gap is setting to roll out a new line of specialty stores aimed at women aged 35 and above. Not something you hear every day. This is The Gap's first new retail chain in a decade. They plan to open as many as 10 new stores by the end of the year. We're not sure what they're going to look like, what they'll be called, where they will be located.
It's an interesting concept, though. Certainly risky, because a lot of the clothes The Gap already sells are worn by this group of women already. However, there are 40 million women born between 1946 and 1964, and this is a group with a lot of spending power. So, we're expecting to see these stores, again, according to the "Journal," in the latter half of 2005, adding to The Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy chains that it already runs.
That's the latest.
COSTELLO: You know, it kind of scares me to think of that, because what are they going to sell, like pants with elastic waists?
LEE: You know, well, I think that traditionally you think of older women, that older demographic -- not that 35 is old -- but they're saying that they're going to sell items for a range of occasions. And the idea here is not to try to make older people get into a younger demographic, but still kind of hip. You know, they're saying think of stars like Kim Cattrall or maybe Demi Moore.
This is kind of the new older woman, or at least a woman not in her 20s. So, maybe that's the type of idea they're going for. It could be very appealing, yes. We'll see.
COSTELLO: Yes, because as you know, we've still got it.
LEE: That's right. That's right.
COSTELLO: Thank you.
LEE: OK, Carol.
COSTELLO: Carrie Lee, live from the NASDAQ market site.
Out of control fans, out of control player -- you have probably seen these pictures, oh, a couple of times by now. A Texas Ranger pitcher hurling a chair at a fan. He broke her nose. We'll talk more about that ahead.
Plus, what can be done about rowdy fans, and rowdy baseball players, for that matter? That's our DAYBREAK "Question of the Morning." E-mail your thoughts, daybreak@cnn.com.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Craig Bueno -- Craig Bueno was one of the Oakland As fans involved in that fight with the Texas Rangers' players. He's expected to tell his side of the story at a news conference today. Bueno's wife Jennifer was the woman hit by that flying chair. You see it there. She suffered a broken nose and she says a civil suit is quite likely.
Rangers rookie pitcher Frank Francisco threw that chair into the stands. He was arrested and charged with aggravated battery.
You know, I'm a sports fan. This really upsets me. So, I wanted to talk more about it.
DAYBREAK sports contributor Chris Cotter is here to help us out.
CHRIS COTTER, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: You think a civil suit is likely? I think a civil suit is a definite.
COSTELLO: It's a given.
COTTER: I mean it's -- it might even be -- I think the stadium is a public stadium there. They're going to sue the City of Oakland, the State of California, the federal government.
COSTELLO: Oh, man! So, she's going to become a very wealthy woman, possibly.
COTTER: I would think so.
COSTELLO: Yes.
COTTER: There are a lot of wealthy people involved.
COSTELLO: Yes. Well, let me read you a quote from the Texas manager, Buck Showalter.
COTTER: OK.
COSTELLO: He says: "You get to a point like tonight, where obviously it's a break from the normal trash you hear from fans. Tonight it went over the line."
COTTER: Yes, and Craig Bueno said it did not go over the line. He said that everything that was said was normal trash talking, which to me, I don't know what going over the line is in baseball or any other sport. Trash talking is trash talking. Over the years, I'm sure every player has heard it from every single fan every which way. COSTELLO: Yes, but what if you're being heckled through the entire game?
COTTER: It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. That's what it means to be a visitor. I mean that's what it means to go to Oakland. That's what it means in the NFL to go to player the Raiders in Oakland. It's going to be tough.
COSTELLO: Yes, but you know what? You don't see that kind of stuff happening at football games. And I have a theory, and I could be completely wrong, of course.
COTTER: Well, share that theory with us and I'll tell you.
COSTELLO: But in baseball, you know, they're right out in the open. They can hear what the fans are saying...
COTTER: Yes.
COSTELLO: ... because the fans are very close to them. They're not wearing helmets.
COTTER: Yes?
COSTELLO: And they're not getting out their aggressions, as football players are, by hitting the other guy.
COTTER: Well, there's something to that. I mean baseball stadiums are designed that way. They want the intimacies. You know, new stadiums are designed much like the really old stadiums, where there aren't big fences. You aren't elevated up off the field. You're kind of right there along with the players. So, there's something to that. There's less separation in baseball than there are in other sports.
COSTELLO: We've been soliciting e-mails this morning. This is from Kenny. He's from Petersburg, Ohio. He says: "Put up a Plexiglas wall like they do at hockey games to protect those spectators and players."
A good idea?
COTTER: I don't think it's a good idea, because I think it takes away too much from the games, from the viewing of the game. When you think about hundreds of baseball games every year being watched and we have one situation in Oakland and they want to put up Plexiglas and ruin it for everybody who pays for all those seats...
COSTELLO: Oh, come on! Last season an Oakland player threw a cell phone from the stands and hit an outfielder, Carl Everett.
COTTER: It's been happening since the beginning of time. Maybe not cell phones...
COSTELLO: Well, what...
COTTER: Maybe those old portable phones that you used to have to have two hands to carry around. That would have really hurt.
COSTELLO: Oh, stop.
COTTER: But you know what I'm saying.
COSTELLO: This is from Laura. She's from Indiana. She says: "The fans should have big fines for their actions. They need to control the abuse they think they have the right to dish out."
COTTER: Well, I think they do have the right to dish it out. They bought those tickets as a fan. That's what they do. They can heckle the opposing player. Now, what you do is you fine the player a tremendous amount here. Frankie Francisco, the Texas Ranger player, should be fined, suspended this year and all of next year and should not be paid all of next year. That would send a message.
I'm tired of these $5,000 fines, $10,000 fines that are being levied out to these millionaires. Make them hurt. Hit them where it really hurts, in their wallet, and then everyone will say I don't want to be the next Frank Francisco and have to pay, because that's when it really hits them.
COSTELLO: Well, we're going to continue to follow this story.
Chris Cotter, thank you for coming in this morning.
COTTER: You're very welcome.
COSTELLO: All right, Ivan heads toward the Gulf Coast states. We'll have a live report for you from Mobile, Alabama as thousands heed evacuation orders to get out of town.
Talking politics, the hot topics surrounding the presidential candidates -- Bush on Iraq and Kerry on health care -- a breakdown of their latest comments just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: The South prepares for another storm. This time Ivan is heading toward the Gulf Coast states.
It is Wednesday, September 15.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, a grizzly discovery this morning in Iraq. U.S. soldiers have found three beheaded bodies on a highway north of Baghdad. A U.S. military spokesman says it's believed the corpses, all men, are Iraqi civilians. He also says they were dressed in Western style clothing.
For the first time since that deadly terrorist siege at a school in southern Russia, students are back in class today. More than 300 hostages died in the incident two weeks ago, most of them children. The school where the massacre took place remains closed. It's become a makeshift memorial.
Back home, it could be good news for cash-strapped seniors. Health officials are announcing changes to the Medicare drug discount program. They say the changes will allow seniors to save more money on prescription drugs.
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