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American Morning
Deadly Ivan Marching Across South
Aired September 16, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that's Hurricane Ivan. We've been watching it actually for several days now, and you can see where it made landfall. Mobile, Alabama would be the closest place that we could tell you it made landfall. We've got Bill Hemmer there. We're going to check back with him in just a moment.
But first, we want to take you back here, the opening bell ringing on Wall Street this morning. The Dow Jones Industrial average starts trading at 10231. There you hear the bell. Down more than 86 points, though, yesterday. So that's kind of a bummer. But at the Nasdaq Marketsite, the Composite Index opens at 1896, down nearly 19 points. I thought we were going to have some good news there. But no.
We want to go ahead now and get back to the hurricane coverage we've had for you this morning and check in with Rick Sanchez. He's still in the thick of it, Ivan's furry in Panama City Beach.
Rick -- tell us how things are there now. The last time we checked, you were blowing around quite a bit. It still looks like you are.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The impact of the tornadoes here -- and last I checked we were still under a tornado warning -- has been the -- I suppose the most impressive part of Ivan, if we can use that word, throughout the last twelve hours through this morning we have been under tornado warnings. I've lived in Florida most of my life. I've never seen so many tornado touchdowns in one particular area in such a short period of time.
And as we now know, sadly, those tornadoes have caused the deaths of as many as seven, possibly eight people. Officials in Calhoun County put out a statement earlier today that in Blountstown, five people have perished as a result of a massive tornado that tore through that town.
And we're also -- we have also confirmed information that two people died here, one of them not far from where I'm standing right now on Thomas Road, as a result of structural damage to the building he was trying to ride out the storm in, which was his daughter's real estate business. So, it's serious business.
It's ironic that we would be one of the geographic locations furthest from the eye of the storm, but yet still within the cone of impact, as it's often referred to, and yet we have had the most loss of life. There is another incident that we have been following this morning that we've been trying to get to, but officials are keeping the media pretty far away. And that is a fire that's at a trailer park that was at one point fully engulfed. And fire officials simply couldn't get to it. So, the mayor, Terry Sullivan, said they were going to do the best they could. They sent police officials but not fire officials until they were finally able to get there. I understand they had two under control, but the third may still have been on fire, at least when last we checked, and that was about 45 minutes ago.
The winds are still blowing. They've turned around and they're coming from another direction, because the storm has headed now in a direction more in a northeasterly direction. So, because the winds have flipped, some of the objects that were being pushed in one direction yesterday are now going in the other. So, we're seeing them loosen up, and we're seeing an awful lot of debris, gates, railings, small trees, the things that are usually associated with damage from a category 1 or a tropical storm.
Aside from the tornadoes, that's what we've been seeing in this vicinity. But we haven't ventured out too far because of the tornado warnings that we're under right now.
Back to you.
COLLINS: Yes, Rick, thanks so much.
Actually, I'm looking down here. About a dozen tornadoes apparently in that area total. So unbelievable. Hopefully that will be the end of that. Who needs it, huh?
We're going to pass it over now to Bill once again in Mobile, Alabama, for the very latest coming from there as well -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Heidi, we're down here on Royal Street right now. And this is what you're going to see not just in Mobile, Alabama, but all over the U.S. southeast. Mobile is a town of 250,000 people, and they literally have trees lining just about every street of this beautiful town in the southern part of the U.S. and so many live oaks, those giant oak trees that you see up and down so many wonderful streets here. This is what causes the power outages, and it also causes the emergency crews a number of headaches trying to access the places they need to go.
Rob Marciano is back with me here. A little bit of rain still, some gusts, pretty strong at times even. How much longer do you think before we're out of here?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it will be getting better and better as the day goes along. You see those clouds. They're just whipping around. Everything is coming out of the west. You know that means the storm's up there, and it's heading out and then weakening at the same time.
But, Bill, there will be gusty weather and some little squalls that will move through, but nothing compared to what we saw last night, that's for sure.
HEMMER: Indeed you're exactly right about that. From the west now moving to the southwest, and then eventually from the south, I'm assuming for this pattern for Ivan before it clears out.
MARCIANO: Absolutely. And, you know, if you look at the damage on the street here, where we were perched, which is just right up there on the fourth floor, I mean, we couldn't really have been in a safer spot considering all of the debris that was flying up and down this road during the last twelve hours.
HEMMER: You were out here about three hours ago, almost four hours ago now, right before the sun came up here -- well, the sun is not really out. That's an oxymoron. It's daylight, though, and we can see a lot better.
MARCIANO: Yes.
HEMMER: There's a building. I don't know if you can go up here for a second. Right up here on the side of this building here, where the window literally broke out right onto the street below. And we have seen windows get blown out in our hotel and a number of buildings around the area. But by far it was not the dominant damage that we saw, which is a really good sign for people here.
MARCIANO: But I'm sure it kept a lot of folks, including you, up last night. You tried to get some sleep, I know, but you probably had a hard time doing it, didn't you?
HEMMER: I'll tell you what, the winds were thunderous outside. Sometimes you wondered if that window was even going to stay in the frame it was hitting it that hard. Is it true that some of the windows, especially here in Mobile, are built to withstand a certain wind strength?
MARCIANO: I was told by the hotel manager that the windows in this hotel could withstand winds over 100 miles an hour. And that one that broke may have been broken by wind or it may have been broken by other flying debris. But most of the windows remained intact. And we easily had winds in excess of 80 or 90 miles an hour last night.
HEMMER: Well, Ivan is moving north now. Thank you, Rob. Good to see you.
Back to your colleague now, Chad Myers, watching the satellite and the radar system.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: You might recognize the voice. Now can you put the voice to the face. This is John McNeil who was on with us here at CNN throughout the night, a resident of Mobile, Alabama.
Nice to see you in person. How did you do last night?
JOHN MCNEIL, RESIDENT OF MOBILE, ALABAMA: It was a rough night. This was -- you know, one of the scary things about sitting one of these things out is listening to the pine trees snapping all night. It sounds like somebody snapping their fingers, and then you hear the big crash when it hits the ground. You can't see anything, because it's pitch black dark. But it's scary.
Now the water is coming up, because the wind, as you were saying, has shifted. And I live on Dog River (ph), and it's coming up pretty fast.
HEMMER: How long you been in this town, John?
MCNEIL: Forty-eight years, I think, I'm 48 years old.
HEMMER: So you remember Frederic from 1979. There was a lot of fear at this time yesterday that Ivan would be as strong as Frederic. It did not amount to that, but still a deadly storm along the way.
MCNEIL: It is. And fortunately, so far in Alabama (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But one thing that's different about this storm than Frederic is this has a lot more rain. We didn't have any rain with Frederic. It was a dry hurricane. So, the trees aren't going to do as well in this particular hurricane.
HEMMER: How did you get through the night? Were you with family or not?
MCNEIL: We had family at our house. And after the sun came up, we looked at everything and then started up the generator. So, it will be a couple weeks before we have power, but we'll make it.
HEMMER: Why don't you show our viewers what you have in your right hand?
MCNEIL: Well, you know, I don't know if you've mentioned it or not, but Mobile is the mother of Mardi Gras, where Mardi Gras first started. And all of these trees that are falling, this is the parade route. So, these get caught up in the trees during the Mardi Gras parade, and nobody can get them until they're blown down by a hurricane. You can see them all stuck up there.
HEMMER: So, those beads have probably been up there for months, you're saying.
MCNEIL: Oh, they've been up there since last January or February.
HEMMER: It's good to see you, John. And best of luck to you and the folks in your town here getting back on your feet, all right?
MCNEIL: Thank you.
HEMMER: John McNeil, Mobile resident.
Back to Heidi again now in New York City -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks so much for that. We want to check on stories now in the news this morning.
U.S. officials are trying to confirm the whereabouts of two Americans believed to have been kidnapped in Iraq overnight. An Iraqi official said the men were taken hostage from their home in Baghdad, along with a British national. They're reportedly employed by a construction firm based in the Middle East.
President Bush says sweeping proposals in Russia could undermine democracy. The president's comments come in response to sweeping changes proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the war on terror. One of the plans would unify Russia's security services similar to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
And President Bush is pushing his health care agenda in Minnesota this morning. Any moment now the president will address supporters in a rally in Saint Cloud.
Meanwhile, the Democratic challenger, John Kerry, is Las Vegas bound. This afternoon Kerry will address the National Guard Association convention, the same group President Bush spoke to just a couple of days ago.
Once again, here's Bill again in Alabama.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi.
I'll tell you what, I'm seeing a lot more people coming out of their homes right now with the strength of Ivan having pushed through. We're not out of the woods just yet. But I can tell you, this is a bar. It's called Veets, well-known here in Mobile, Alabama. Five hours ago we went inside that place. The owner was there. The manager was there. A buddy of theirs was sleeping on a cot across the room. They were playing video poker throughout the night trying to get through the storm. They say tonight, Heidi, they've got a band among friends, and they say they will play here coming off the heels of Ivan.
Let's get a break. More on the economic impact right now not only for Alabama, but all over the southeast during this very, very busy hurricane season. Andy has that. Back in a moment after this break on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Well, at least the street sign right there is still standing up, but we've seen some of them crashed down on the street. Mobile, Alabama, now a live shot from there this morning after Hurricane Ivan went through there, leaving that area -- this is Water Street to be specific -- leaving that area 80 percent of those folks without power now. About 250,000 people in total, including the Gulf Shores area. So it's going to be a tough, tough day and many days ahead for them. We'll check in with Bill, who is standing by in Mobile, in just a few more minutes.
But for now, we want to check in with Jack and the "Question of the Day," talking about Iraq.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, they need to get that power restored so those people can be watching this program. I mean, we're not doing this...
COLLINS: Yes, that would be very important.
CAFFERTY: We're not doing this for our health.
COLLINS: That's right.
CAFFERTY: I mean, get those TV sets on down there.
There's a classified intelligence report out that the president asked for -- it was done last July -- suggesting that things are not looking too good when you look at the future in Iraq. Three possible scenarios in this report, including an all-out civil war sometime between now and the end of next year.
So, the question we're asking is: How optimistic are you about the future in Iraq? We've gotten hundreds of letters.
M. writes: "I've never been optimistic about the future of Iraq after we invaded it. It's a disaster that will only get worse. And when a leading Republican" -- this would be Chuck Hagel in Nebraska. "When a leading Republican says we're in trouble, I feel sorry for our soldiers there. The president has misled the people."
Gail in North Haverhill, New Hampshire: "Success cannot always be measured in dollars and cents. Throughout our history there have been times when things looked worse before they looked better. I predict we will be successful in Iraq if we press on as a united United States."
And Rick in Indianapolis writes: "If the president had credible evidence in advance that the prospects were bleak, he's guilty of perpetuating a myth to prop up his presidency. The only platform on which he gains a small majority of support is the war effort and combating terrorism. If that platform is built on quicksand, shame on him and all around him."
I invite you to join us for "IN THE MONEY" this coming weekend when our guest will be Pat Buchanan, a former presidential candidate, author and conservative whatever. We're going to talk about what's happened to the Republican Party. They used to stand for some of the things that they -- they used to stand against some of the things that they're doing now, like spending money and running up big deficits. And Mr. Buchanan is going to weigh in on that. And he's got a new book out, and we'll talk to him about that as well.
We're going to look at the action on Wall Street. The markets have been open for a few minutes. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." He's got a look at that., some new inflation news, and some more problems in the airline industry.
And it's your birthday. COLLINS: Happy birthday!
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: And the kitchen sink. Thank you very much.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
SERWER: What a day to have a birthday.
Anyway, let's talk. They are trading stocks this morning on Wall Street up a little bit. Let's go to the Big Board and see what's going on down there. You can see the Dow is up 17 points after falling 86 points yesterday, Jack. Sort of a classic give-and-take with the uncertainty of Ivan yesterday stocks fell. Now that we see what it's really all about, not as bad as perhaps we anticipated, not the worst-case scenario. Stocks are moving up again.
Martha Stewart inching up. We know about her deciding to go to jail. That sort of takes uncertainty away there. That stock is moving up.
Delta is down 4 percent this morning. Why? Because they're saying their financial position is worsening. Is it possible they will be looking at chapter 11? It's definitely possible.
Obviously the storms, not just Ivan, but Charley and Frances are really having a very devastating impact on the airline industry that, of course, is already in very, very bad shape. You can imagine all of the flights to Florida that have been canceled over the past four weeks. Gulf port airports are closed until this afternoon at the very earliest. At least five Gulf airports have suspended flights through this afternoon. You really need to check with your airlines if you're flying down to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
And now here's more bad news. Jeanne is on the way. That means flights are suspended to Puerto Rico and other areas. And again, this is just the worst possible news for the airline industry. And this is such a valuable place for them to fly, particularly Delta and new airlines like JetBlue as well.
COLLINS: Yes, it's amazing to think about how much they lose in just one day of not flying.
SERWER: One day they can lose $5 million to $10 million just like that.
CAFFERTY: Incredible!
SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, obviously a lot more important news for the folks, though, who live there other than airline travel. Bill Hemmer is standing by now in Mobile, Alabama.
Bill, we were looking at some of these numbers. When you look at all five states that have been affected by this, about 400,000 people are without power now. It just makes things so much worse.
HEMMER: Indeed it does. And I'll tell you what, Heidi. That number is going to change. I mean, Ivan is still strong. And you used to live in Atlanta, Georgia. You know how many trees are up and down every street there in the city of Atlanta. Once they take some wind and those trees start to hit the ground, they take power lines with them. And you can expect again that number to go up a little higher.
To show you the strength of Ivan quickly, look at this steel street light here. I mean, this is solid steel that got literally knocked over in the middle of the night. It's just a small sample of the damage throughout the city of Mobile.
In a moment, though, a success story coming on the heels of Ivan. We'll get to that in a moment here. Back after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back here live in Mobile, Alabama. The flooding, to our vantage point anyway, here in the city is not extensive. But there is flooding jamming up some of the streets now as more residents come out to take a look at what Ivan has left behind.
I want to show you one other thing here, shooting down the street here. Government Street is down the way here. You can see a number of trees now coming into the curb area and onto the street. The canopy ripped apart, a bit of a metal sign that came off this building right here. It's going to be a familiar sight all over the southeast U.S. And also this street light here, too. We saw so much of this two weeks ago in Florida. It's a repeated scene here now in Mobile, Alabama.
Before we close out our show today, I want to say good morning yet again to the Roussos. This is Georgia and Jimmy. And we talked yesterday. Your restaurant 25 years ago was almost wiped out. It took you two years to recover.
JIMMY ROUSSOS, ROUSSOS RESTAURANT: It was completely wiped out.
HEMMER: You had a lot of concern about this storm. How did you do last night?
J. ROUSSOS: We did fine. Our restaurant is fine. There is no damage at all. No windows are out. No leaks. We're ready for Alabama power to turn our power on and take us into business.
My big concern today is my daughter at the University of Alabama. They have tornadoes up there after we have storms. And she's at the Alpha Gamma Sorority House. And I'm concerned about her today.
HEMMER: Well, we wish her the best of luck. You know, we've been watching the satellite and the radar image, and hopefully those people are heeding the warnings. When is the restaurant going to open back up, because -- well, you've got a big smile on your face. GEORGIA ROUSSOS, ROUSSOS RESTAURANT: I hope I feed you supper tonight. But for sure lunch tomorrow.
HEMMER: Hey, listen, I'll take you up on that, OK? Good news from your perspective. And thank you again for coming back to share with us.
Back to New York again with Heidi.
COLLINS: Bill Hemmer, we knew that was coming. We knew you were waiting on some cheeseburgers from the Roussos there.
CAFFERTY: Typical press trying to hustle a free meal.
COLLINS: That's OK. Hungry guy.
All right, coming up on CNN, we are going to be sticking with Ivan and the path of Ivan all around the Gulf Coast region. Folks are trying to get a handle on just how bad the damage is. That will be coming up next hour on "CNN LIVE TODAY." And AMERICAN MORNING will be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: All right. Well, that is all from us right here on AMERICAN MORNING. Quickly before we give it back to Bill, the average American working woman spends twice as much time as the average American working man caring for the children and working in her home.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: I just want to make sure everybody heard that correctly.
CAFFERTY: I suggested...
COLLINS: A Department of Labor report out.
CAFFERTY: I suggested that was the way it should be. And my oldest daughter called immediately from Tucson and labeled me a chauvinist pig.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: I think you'd be getting a lot more phone calls if people knew your phone number, too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
SERWER: Oh, yes, let's put that -- no, we don't put that on the screen.
CAFFERTY: Yes. And I'd love to hear from all of you.
COLLINS: Anyway, have a great day, everybody. We want to give it back to Bill in Mobile, Alabama, once again to wrap things up for us here AMERICAN MORNING -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hey, Heidi. We're at the intersection of Royal Street and Government Street. Folks from BellSouth are just driving by. You're assessing what, gentlemen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just trying to get some routes for our employees to get to work today.
HEMMER: Yes. Based on what you've seen so far, how are the streets here in Mobile?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad. Very bad.
HEMMER: Any idea of how long it will take to clear it up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No idea now. No idea. Days.
HEMMER: All right. Well, good luck, OK, gentlemen? Thank you. Move on out.
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Aired September 16, 2004 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, that's Hurricane Ivan. We've been watching it actually for several days now, and you can see where it made landfall. Mobile, Alabama would be the closest place that we could tell you it made landfall. We've got Bill Hemmer there. We're going to check back with him in just a moment.
But first, we want to take you back here, the opening bell ringing on Wall Street this morning. The Dow Jones Industrial average starts trading at 10231. There you hear the bell. Down more than 86 points, though, yesterday. So that's kind of a bummer. But at the Nasdaq Marketsite, the Composite Index opens at 1896, down nearly 19 points. I thought we were going to have some good news there. But no.
We want to go ahead now and get back to the hurricane coverage we've had for you this morning and check in with Rick Sanchez. He's still in the thick of it, Ivan's furry in Panama City Beach.
Rick -- tell us how things are there now. The last time we checked, you were blowing around quite a bit. It still looks like you are.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The impact of the tornadoes here -- and last I checked we were still under a tornado warning -- has been the -- I suppose the most impressive part of Ivan, if we can use that word, throughout the last twelve hours through this morning we have been under tornado warnings. I've lived in Florida most of my life. I've never seen so many tornado touchdowns in one particular area in such a short period of time.
And as we now know, sadly, those tornadoes have caused the deaths of as many as seven, possibly eight people. Officials in Calhoun County put out a statement earlier today that in Blountstown, five people have perished as a result of a massive tornado that tore through that town.
And we're also -- we have also confirmed information that two people died here, one of them not far from where I'm standing right now on Thomas Road, as a result of structural damage to the building he was trying to ride out the storm in, which was his daughter's real estate business. So, it's serious business.
It's ironic that we would be one of the geographic locations furthest from the eye of the storm, but yet still within the cone of impact, as it's often referred to, and yet we have had the most loss of life. There is another incident that we have been following this morning that we've been trying to get to, but officials are keeping the media pretty far away. And that is a fire that's at a trailer park that was at one point fully engulfed. And fire officials simply couldn't get to it. So, the mayor, Terry Sullivan, said they were going to do the best they could. They sent police officials but not fire officials until they were finally able to get there. I understand they had two under control, but the third may still have been on fire, at least when last we checked, and that was about 45 minutes ago.
The winds are still blowing. They've turned around and they're coming from another direction, because the storm has headed now in a direction more in a northeasterly direction. So, because the winds have flipped, some of the objects that were being pushed in one direction yesterday are now going in the other. So, we're seeing them loosen up, and we're seeing an awful lot of debris, gates, railings, small trees, the things that are usually associated with damage from a category 1 or a tropical storm.
Aside from the tornadoes, that's what we've been seeing in this vicinity. But we haven't ventured out too far because of the tornado warnings that we're under right now.
Back to you.
COLLINS: Yes, Rick, thanks so much.
Actually, I'm looking down here. About a dozen tornadoes apparently in that area total. So unbelievable. Hopefully that will be the end of that. Who needs it, huh?
We're going to pass it over now to Bill once again in Mobile, Alabama, for the very latest coming from there as well -- Bill.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Heidi, we're down here on Royal Street right now. And this is what you're going to see not just in Mobile, Alabama, but all over the U.S. southeast. Mobile is a town of 250,000 people, and they literally have trees lining just about every street of this beautiful town in the southern part of the U.S. and so many live oaks, those giant oak trees that you see up and down so many wonderful streets here. This is what causes the power outages, and it also causes the emergency crews a number of headaches trying to access the places they need to go.
Rob Marciano is back with me here. A little bit of rain still, some gusts, pretty strong at times even. How much longer do you think before we're out of here?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it will be getting better and better as the day goes along. You see those clouds. They're just whipping around. Everything is coming out of the west. You know that means the storm's up there, and it's heading out and then weakening at the same time.
But, Bill, there will be gusty weather and some little squalls that will move through, but nothing compared to what we saw last night, that's for sure.
HEMMER: Indeed you're exactly right about that. From the west now moving to the southwest, and then eventually from the south, I'm assuming for this pattern for Ivan before it clears out.
MARCIANO: Absolutely. And, you know, if you look at the damage on the street here, where we were perched, which is just right up there on the fourth floor, I mean, we couldn't really have been in a safer spot considering all of the debris that was flying up and down this road during the last twelve hours.
HEMMER: You were out here about three hours ago, almost four hours ago now, right before the sun came up here -- well, the sun is not really out. That's an oxymoron. It's daylight, though, and we can see a lot better.
MARCIANO: Yes.
HEMMER: There's a building. I don't know if you can go up here for a second. Right up here on the side of this building here, where the window literally broke out right onto the street below. And we have seen windows get blown out in our hotel and a number of buildings around the area. But by far it was not the dominant damage that we saw, which is a really good sign for people here.
MARCIANO: But I'm sure it kept a lot of folks, including you, up last night. You tried to get some sleep, I know, but you probably had a hard time doing it, didn't you?
HEMMER: I'll tell you what, the winds were thunderous outside. Sometimes you wondered if that window was even going to stay in the frame it was hitting it that hard. Is it true that some of the windows, especially here in Mobile, are built to withstand a certain wind strength?
MARCIANO: I was told by the hotel manager that the windows in this hotel could withstand winds over 100 miles an hour. And that one that broke may have been broken by wind or it may have been broken by other flying debris. But most of the windows remained intact. And we easily had winds in excess of 80 or 90 miles an hour last night.
HEMMER: Well, Ivan is moving north now. Thank you, Rob. Good to see you.
Back to your colleague now, Chad Myers, watching the satellite and the radar system.
(WEATHER BREAK)
HEMMER: You might recognize the voice. Now can you put the voice to the face. This is John McNeil who was on with us here at CNN throughout the night, a resident of Mobile, Alabama.
Nice to see you in person. How did you do last night?
JOHN MCNEIL, RESIDENT OF MOBILE, ALABAMA: It was a rough night. This was -- you know, one of the scary things about sitting one of these things out is listening to the pine trees snapping all night. It sounds like somebody snapping their fingers, and then you hear the big crash when it hits the ground. You can't see anything, because it's pitch black dark. But it's scary.
Now the water is coming up, because the wind, as you were saying, has shifted. And I live on Dog River (ph), and it's coming up pretty fast.
HEMMER: How long you been in this town, John?
MCNEIL: Forty-eight years, I think, I'm 48 years old.
HEMMER: So you remember Frederic from 1979. There was a lot of fear at this time yesterday that Ivan would be as strong as Frederic. It did not amount to that, but still a deadly storm along the way.
MCNEIL: It is. And fortunately, so far in Alabama (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But one thing that's different about this storm than Frederic is this has a lot more rain. We didn't have any rain with Frederic. It was a dry hurricane. So, the trees aren't going to do as well in this particular hurricane.
HEMMER: How did you get through the night? Were you with family or not?
MCNEIL: We had family at our house. And after the sun came up, we looked at everything and then started up the generator. So, it will be a couple weeks before we have power, but we'll make it.
HEMMER: Why don't you show our viewers what you have in your right hand?
MCNEIL: Well, you know, I don't know if you've mentioned it or not, but Mobile is the mother of Mardi Gras, where Mardi Gras first started. And all of these trees that are falling, this is the parade route. So, these get caught up in the trees during the Mardi Gras parade, and nobody can get them until they're blown down by a hurricane. You can see them all stuck up there.
HEMMER: So, those beads have probably been up there for months, you're saying.
MCNEIL: Oh, they've been up there since last January or February.
HEMMER: It's good to see you, John. And best of luck to you and the folks in your town here getting back on your feet, all right?
MCNEIL: Thank you.
HEMMER: John McNeil, Mobile resident.
Back to Heidi again now in New York City -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Bill, thanks so much for that. We want to check on stories now in the news this morning.
U.S. officials are trying to confirm the whereabouts of two Americans believed to have been kidnapped in Iraq overnight. An Iraqi official said the men were taken hostage from their home in Baghdad, along with a British national. They're reportedly employed by a construction firm based in the Middle East.
President Bush says sweeping proposals in Russia could undermine democracy. The president's comments come in response to sweeping changes proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the war on terror. One of the plans would unify Russia's security services similar to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
And President Bush is pushing his health care agenda in Minnesota this morning. Any moment now the president will address supporters in a rally in Saint Cloud.
Meanwhile, the Democratic challenger, John Kerry, is Las Vegas bound. This afternoon Kerry will address the National Guard Association convention, the same group President Bush spoke to just a couple of days ago.
Once again, here's Bill again in Alabama.
HEMMER: All right, Heidi.
I'll tell you what, I'm seeing a lot more people coming out of their homes right now with the strength of Ivan having pushed through. We're not out of the woods just yet. But I can tell you, this is a bar. It's called Veets, well-known here in Mobile, Alabama. Five hours ago we went inside that place. The owner was there. The manager was there. A buddy of theirs was sleeping on a cot across the room. They were playing video poker throughout the night trying to get through the storm. They say tonight, Heidi, they've got a band among friends, and they say they will play here coming off the heels of Ivan.
Let's get a break. More on the economic impact right now not only for Alabama, but all over the southeast during this very, very busy hurricane season. Andy has that. Back in a moment after this break on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Well, at least the street sign right there is still standing up, but we've seen some of them crashed down on the street. Mobile, Alabama, now a live shot from there this morning after Hurricane Ivan went through there, leaving that area -- this is Water Street to be specific -- leaving that area 80 percent of those folks without power now. About 250,000 people in total, including the Gulf Shores area. So it's going to be a tough, tough day and many days ahead for them. We'll check in with Bill, who is standing by in Mobile, in just a few more minutes.
But for now, we want to check in with Jack and the "Question of the Day," talking about Iraq.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, they need to get that power restored so those people can be watching this program. I mean, we're not doing this...
COLLINS: Yes, that would be very important.
CAFFERTY: We're not doing this for our health.
COLLINS: That's right.
CAFFERTY: I mean, get those TV sets on down there.
There's a classified intelligence report out that the president asked for -- it was done last July -- suggesting that things are not looking too good when you look at the future in Iraq. Three possible scenarios in this report, including an all-out civil war sometime between now and the end of next year.
So, the question we're asking is: How optimistic are you about the future in Iraq? We've gotten hundreds of letters.
M. writes: "I've never been optimistic about the future of Iraq after we invaded it. It's a disaster that will only get worse. And when a leading Republican" -- this would be Chuck Hagel in Nebraska. "When a leading Republican says we're in trouble, I feel sorry for our soldiers there. The president has misled the people."
Gail in North Haverhill, New Hampshire: "Success cannot always be measured in dollars and cents. Throughout our history there have been times when things looked worse before they looked better. I predict we will be successful in Iraq if we press on as a united United States."
And Rick in Indianapolis writes: "If the president had credible evidence in advance that the prospects were bleak, he's guilty of perpetuating a myth to prop up his presidency. The only platform on which he gains a small majority of support is the war effort and combating terrorism. If that platform is built on quicksand, shame on him and all around him."
I invite you to join us for "IN THE MONEY" this coming weekend when our guest will be Pat Buchanan, a former presidential candidate, author and conservative whatever. We're going to talk about what's happened to the Republican Party. They used to stand for some of the things that they -- they used to stand against some of the things that they're doing now, like spending money and running up big deficits. And Mr. Buchanan is going to weigh in on that. And he's got a new book out, and we'll talk to him about that as well.
We're going to look at the action on Wall Street. The markets have been open for a few minutes. Andy Serwer is here "Minding Your Business." He's got a look at that., some new inflation news, and some more problems in the airline industry.
And it's your birthday. COLLINS: Happy birthday!
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: And the kitchen sink. Thank you very much.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
SERWER: What a day to have a birthday.
Anyway, let's talk. They are trading stocks this morning on Wall Street up a little bit. Let's go to the Big Board and see what's going on down there. You can see the Dow is up 17 points after falling 86 points yesterday, Jack. Sort of a classic give-and-take with the uncertainty of Ivan yesterday stocks fell. Now that we see what it's really all about, not as bad as perhaps we anticipated, not the worst-case scenario. Stocks are moving up again.
Martha Stewart inching up. We know about her deciding to go to jail. That sort of takes uncertainty away there. That stock is moving up.
Delta is down 4 percent this morning. Why? Because they're saying their financial position is worsening. Is it possible they will be looking at chapter 11? It's definitely possible.
Obviously the storms, not just Ivan, but Charley and Frances are really having a very devastating impact on the airline industry that, of course, is already in very, very bad shape. You can imagine all of the flights to Florida that have been canceled over the past four weeks. Gulf port airports are closed until this afternoon at the very earliest. At least five Gulf airports have suspended flights through this afternoon. You really need to check with your airlines if you're flying down to Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
And now here's more bad news. Jeanne is on the way. That means flights are suspended to Puerto Rico and other areas. And again, this is just the worst possible news for the airline industry. And this is such a valuable place for them to fly, particularly Delta and new airlines like JetBlue as well.
COLLINS: Yes, it's amazing to think about how much they lose in just one day of not flying.
SERWER: One day they can lose $5 million to $10 million just like that.
CAFFERTY: Incredible!
SERWER: Yes.
COLLINS: All right, obviously a lot more important news for the folks, though, who live there other than airline travel. Bill Hemmer is standing by now in Mobile, Alabama.
Bill, we were looking at some of these numbers. When you look at all five states that have been affected by this, about 400,000 people are without power now. It just makes things so much worse.
HEMMER: Indeed it does. And I'll tell you what, Heidi. That number is going to change. I mean, Ivan is still strong. And you used to live in Atlanta, Georgia. You know how many trees are up and down every street there in the city of Atlanta. Once they take some wind and those trees start to hit the ground, they take power lines with them. And you can expect again that number to go up a little higher.
To show you the strength of Ivan quickly, look at this steel street light here. I mean, this is solid steel that got literally knocked over in the middle of the night. It's just a small sample of the damage throughout the city of Mobile.
In a moment, though, a success story coming on the heels of Ivan. We'll get to that in a moment here. Back after this on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: Back here live in Mobile, Alabama. The flooding, to our vantage point anyway, here in the city is not extensive. But there is flooding jamming up some of the streets now as more residents come out to take a look at what Ivan has left behind.
I want to show you one other thing here, shooting down the street here. Government Street is down the way here. You can see a number of trees now coming into the curb area and onto the street. The canopy ripped apart, a bit of a metal sign that came off this building right here. It's going to be a familiar sight all over the southeast U.S. And also this street light here, too. We saw so much of this two weeks ago in Florida. It's a repeated scene here now in Mobile, Alabama.
Before we close out our show today, I want to say good morning yet again to the Roussos. This is Georgia and Jimmy. And we talked yesterday. Your restaurant 25 years ago was almost wiped out. It took you two years to recover.
JIMMY ROUSSOS, ROUSSOS RESTAURANT: It was completely wiped out.
HEMMER: You had a lot of concern about this storm. How did you do last night?
J. ROUSSOS: We did fine. Our restaurant is fine. There is no damage at all. No windows are out. No leaks. We're ready for Alabama power to turn our power on and take us into business.
My big concern today is my daughter at the University of Alabama. They have tornadoes up there after we have storms. And she's at the Alpha Gamma Sorority House. And I'm concerned about her today.
HEMMER: Well, we wish her the best of luck. You know, we've been watching the satellite and the radar image, and hopefully those people are heeding the warnings. When is the restaurant going to open back up, because -- well, you've got a big smile on your face. GEORGIA ROUSSOS, ROUSSOS RESTAURANT: I hope I feed you supper tonight. But for sure lunch tomorrow.
HEMMER: Hey, listen, I'll take you up on that, OK? Good news from your perspective. And thank you again for coming back to share with us.
Back to New York again with Heidi.
COLLINS: Bill Hemmer, we knew that was coming. We knew you were waiting on some cheeseburgers from the Roussos there.
CAFFERTY: Typical press trying to hustle a free meal.
COLLINS: That's OK. Hungry guy.
All right, coming up on CNN, we are going to be sticking with Ivan and the path of Ivan all around the Gulf Coast region. Folks are trying to get a handle on just how bad the damage is. That will be coming up next hour on "CNN LIVE TODAY." And AMERICAN MORNING will be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: All right. Well, that is all from us right here on AMERICAN MORNING. Quickly before we give it back to Bill, the average American working woman spends twice as much time as the average American working man caring for the children and working in her home.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
COLLINS: I just want to make sure everybody heard that correctly.
CAFFERTY: I suggested...
COLLINS: A Department of Labor report out.
CAFFERTY: I suggested that was the way it should be. And my oldest daughter called immediately from Tucson and labeled me a chauvinist pig.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: I think you'd be getting a lot more phone calls if people knew your phone number, too.
CAFFERTY: Yes.
SERWER: Oh, yes, let's put that -- no, we don't put that on the screen.
CAFFERTY: Yes. And I'd love to hear from all of you.
COLLINS: Anyway, have a great day, everybody. We want to give it back to Bill in Mobile, Alabama, once again to wrap things up for us here AMERICAN MORNING -- Bill.
HEMMER: Hey, Heidi. We're at the intersection of Royal Street and Government Street. Folks from BellSouth are just driving by. You're assessing what, gentlemen?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just trying to get some routes for our employees to get to work today.
HEMMER: Yes. Based on what you've seen so far, how are the streets here in Mobile?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bad. Very bad.
HEMMER: Any idea of how long it will take to clear it up?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No idea now. No idea. Days.
HEMMER: All right. Well, good luck, OK, gentlemen? Thank you. Move on out.
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