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CNN Live At Daybreak
Widespread Damage Across Southeastern U.S.; New Intelligence Report Paints Bleak Picture for Future of Iraq
Aired September 17, 2004 - 05:00 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: The dangers from Ivan remain. Today, the big threat -- flooding.
It is Friday, September 17.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, in Iraq the U.S.-led coalition says it killed about 60 so-called foreign fighters in an air strike in Fallujah. The coalition says the fighters have ties to a terrorist leader. Iraqis claim many of the dead were women and children.
Now there's a person to blame for the deadly attack on that school in southern Russia. Chechen terrorist leader Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the attack and several others in Russia.
Different results from two national polls on the Bush-Kerry race. A Gallup poll just out this morning shows the president widening his lead. But a new Pew Center poll shows the race is a dead heat.
To the forecast center now and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
Flooding definitely the problem today, all the way across, actually, Pennsylvania now. This moisture is going to come up over West Virginia, over parts of southern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and then it's going to park itself right over, we'll call it the turnpike, if you will, right there across I-80 or I-76, right across central Pennsylvania. That's where the heaviest rain is going to be later on this afternoon.
Right now, the heaviest rain is back out here, across I-75, I-65, from Louisville back over to Cincinnati and also all the way down south, even into parts of Georgia and also extreme eastern Tennessee. The rain just will not let up.
The highest wind gust that I could actually find, it's about 40 miles per hour this morning. So this thing has really tapered off to just a tropical depression. It is no longer a tropical storm. One of those long fingers, though, all the way down still from Valdosta, Georgia this morning. So the scope of this thing, from Pennsylvania to Florida.
Here is something else we want to watch for you, Jeanne. Jeanne not very organized this morning. Back to a tropical storm Jeanne. It was a hurricane for a while. It lost some energy overnight because it hit Hispaniola, it hit Haiti right there. Sixty-five miles per hour. And there are the numbers, 19.5 and 70.1. When it was over the Dominican Republic it was really losing energy. But it was also dumping a lot of rain. And there was flooding there. And you can see where Jeanne goes right off the coast here of Florida by Tuesday. And then the models actually turn it to the left, into the coast of the U.S. We're not sure where yet. And then there's a tropical storm Karl. It's going to be a category four hurricane. The only good news is it's in the middle of the ocean and it's planning to stay there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, I hope so.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
As Chad pointed out, Ivan no longer a hurricane. But it was one furious storm just 24 hours ago. Ivan killed 13 people in the Southeast, seven of them in the Florida Panhandle. It left more than one and a half million people without power in five states. Early estimates of insured losses are from $2 billion to $10 billion. National Guard troops have been sent to Pensacola, Florida and to Baldwin County, Alabama.
Take a look at this. This is a street in Pensacola. Officials there say the damage is extreme. Four Pensacola hospitals were damaged by the storm. Many beachfront homes and businesses have been heavily damaged, as well. Some communities have imposed curfews. Twenty-eight hundred National Guard troops now heading to Pensacola. National Guard troops also are being sent to Baldwin County, Alabama. And the state's governor will get an aerial tour of the destruction later this morning.
The damage does extend into Georgia. A tree fell on this car in Atlanta. Several tornadoes were spun off by Ivan and much of the state got at least seven inches of rain. Parts of Interstate 75 absolutely flooded. Oh, rush hour was an absolute mess.
Ivan does remain a danger. These are new pictures just into CNN from our affiliate, WLOS. This is western North Carolina, where about 20 people had to be evacuated because of flooding.
Gulf Shores, Alabama, Pensacola, Florida just two of the communities that took a right cross from Ivan.
Our Anderson Cooper watched Ivan sweep ashore from a Gulf Coast hotel room. He filed this report the day after.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ivan the hurricane proved terrible indeed, tearing into Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Cat 3 storm, ransacking homes or reducing them to rubble all along the Gulf Coast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mother Nature is something not to be messed with. That's for sure.
COOPER: Flooding and damage are widespread and like the storm itself exceptionally intense. Insured losses alone are estimated in the billions. Ivan left some bridges in Florida and Alabama impassable. Signs are down. Trees are down. So are power lines. Ivan's ferocity knocked out electricity to more than a million people in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was the scariest thing I ever seen in my life. I won't never stay home again.
COOPER: Alabama's coastline braved a direct hit.
GOV. BOB RILEY (R), ALABAMA: We knew it was going to be brutal. We knew it was going to be huge. We knew it was going to affect almost the entire state.
COOPER: Flooding on its Barrier Islands is catastrophic.
LEANNE RILES, BALDWIN COUNTY EMA DIRECTOR: The majority of the condos and single homes, rental homes, Orange Beach all the way down to what was the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It is no longer there. I just can't express the devastation that's there.
COOPER: To the west, coastal Mississippi was not spared from the destruction. Many businesses and homes have been damaged. But it was Florida's panhandle, already storm weary from two recent hurricanes, that was pummeled by Ivan's punishing winds.
GOV JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: The larger Pensacola area appears to have experienced the brunt of the storm.
COOPER: Thousands of National Guard troops have been called up as recovery operations in Florida begin anew.
MARTY EVANS, PRES., AMERICAN RED CROSS: Our post disaster efforts will focus in on helping people get shelter, get clothing, get some very basic household requirements and then provide mental health support.
COOPER: Once ashore, Ivan lost some of its punch and was downgraded to a tropical storm. It continues to dump torrential rains across the southeastern U.S. causing more flooding, downing trees and power lines in Georgia.
KEN GRAHAM, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: I can't stress enough how dangerous Ivan remains.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Anderson Cooper reporting.
We'll get another view of one of those hard hit communities 90 minutes from now when we go live to our Chris Lawrence. He's in Pensacola this morning.
It is hard to believe, but another deadly storm may be heading this way. People are keeping an anxious eye on Jeanne. As you heard Chad say just a few minutes ago, that system has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it is expected to regain strength and actually could hit the United States by Tuesday. Jeanne slammed into the Dominican Republic as a category one hurricane. It killed a baby and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Earlier in Puerto Rico, the storm killed two people and caused extensive flooding.
November 2 is fast approaching. Just 46 days to go in the countdown to election day. Two new political polls are telling very different stories this morning about how the presidential race is shaping up. The Gallup poll shows President Bush widening his lead over Senator John Kerry among likely voters. Fifty-five percent favor Bush, 42 percent Kerry. But a Pew Research Center poll, also of likely voters, has the race dead even, with 47 percent favoring Bush, 46 percent favoring Kerry. The margin of error for both polls, 3 1/2 percentage points.
After a morning campaign rally in the nation's capital, President Bush heads to Charlotte, North Carolina today. He'll attend a meeting with supporters and a fundraiser for a Republican Senate candidate. He then ends the day in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he'll spend the weekend at his family's vacation home.
Kerry, Senator Kerry is in New Mexico today. He's holding a town hall meeting in Albuquerque and then later is on to a Denver suburb. Aides say he'll focus on health care at a town hall meeting there. Kerry spends the night back in Boston.
A new intelligence warning takes a hard look at the realities of the future for Iraq. And while the picture it paints is grim, President Bush is focusing on the positive, while Senator Kerry is trying to make some political hay.
CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at wartime politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bleak intelligence report has come to light during a particularly violent period in Iraq. But on the campaign trail, President Bush remained optimistic.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It wasn't all that long ago that Saddam Hussein was in power with his torture chambers and mass graves. And today, this country is headed toward elections. Freedom is on the march. FOREMAN: But the White House admits the classified report written in July by the National Intelligence Council says Iraq's political, economic, and security troubles could lead to civil war at worst and a shaky democracy at best.
John Kerry jumped on it.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe you deserve a president who isn't going to gild that truth or gild our national security with politics, who is not going to ignore his own intelligence.
FOREMAN: Even some of the president's supporters are worried that Mr. Bush is playing politics. Tony Blankley of "The Washington Times" writes, "I find it hard not to suspect that an aggressive military policy to put down the insurgency is on hold until after the American election."
While major operations against insurgents would have potential political risks, such as many casualties and Iraq spinning out of control, CNN's Jamie McIntyre says:
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Pentagon officials that I've talked to insist that the subject of the presidential elections has not come up in any of the planning meetings they've had about the strategy in Iraq.
FOREMAN: Still, many presidents have faced this. Bill Clinton was accused of launching missiles to distract from his troubles, Ronald Reagan of invading Grenada to improve his poll numbers.
(on camera): Historians say the facts almost never support such claims and trying to manage a war for political gain is a bad bet, because wars are too unpredictable.
ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Every decision is infused with politics. But typically it is a grand strategic vision of the president, right or wrong, that motivates war, not naked, raw politics.
FOREMAN: Whatever the motives behind the management of this war, this new information makes clear only that Iraq's future remains confoundingly uncertain.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: In another expected report out on Iraq, inspectors say while they never found weapons of mass destruction, there is evidence Saddam Hussein had hoped to revive his old weapons programs. Sources familiar with that report say top U.S., the top U.S. inspector in Iraq found that Hussein, or Saddam Hussein, was in violation of U.N. agreements. No word yet if the report will be released before the November election.
Just one word. The word is "illegal," and it's causing an uproar in parts of the international community. British and Australian leaders who are facing reelection joined in with Secretary of State Colin Powell in defending the Iraq war. But this week, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called the war illegal.
Listen to this exchange with a BBC reporter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I'm one of those who believe that there should have been a second resolution, because the Security Council indicated that if Iraq did not comply, there will be consequences. But then it was up to the Security Council to approve or determine what those consequences should be.
QUESTION: So you don't think there was legal authority for the war?
ANNAN: I have made it, I have stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council, with the U.N. charter.
QUESTION: It was illegal?
ANNAN: Yes, if you wish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Annan's spokesman later played down the statement, saying the secretary general's position has not change over the last year.
Is the situation in Iraq getting any better or is it doomed to get worse? Our Pentagon expert, Jamie McIntyre, will give us more details on that new intelligence report that tries to answer all of your questions and spells out the worst case scenario.
But first, Michael Jackson expected in court this morning. We'll tell you who else is going to be there to face the singer.
And at 55 minutes past the hour, a look at the best of the worst from New York's Fashion Week.
Now here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: In overseas markets this morning, Japan's Nikkei close up 42 points.
The news not as good in Europe.
Britain's FTSE trading down 6 points.
France's CAC is down 11 points.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
The Pentagon has been ordered to make public all unreleased files about President Bush's National Guard service. A federal judge set a September 24 deadline. It's part of a Freedom of Information lawsuit brought on by the Associated Press.
A car bomb blows up in Baghdad today after trying to crash through a security perimeter. U.S. forces opened fire on the vehicle as it tried to break through. No U.S. or Iraqi forces were injured in that blast.
In money news, the Fed says you are getting richer, really. Total household wealth jumped a record $46 trillion in the second quarter of this year. That's an increase of almost 1 1/2 percent.
In culture, the primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for Sunday night. HBO is hoping to carry away the lion's share. They lead the way with 124 nominations. NBC a distant second with 65.
In sports, Boston Red Sox pitcher Kurt Schilling notched his 20th win of the season by beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 11-4. The victory keeps the Sox 5 1/2 games ahead of the Angels in the American League wild card race -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
Flooding a huge concern today all up and down the, oh, the Pennsylvania Plateau, the Allegheny Plateau right through Charleston, even to the west of Richmond into Roanoke. There you see the center of what was Ivan, now just a tropical depression. Really, the center not that far from Knoxville this morning. A little bit farther down to the south. But it's still raining across parts of South Carolina, southern Georgia and also into Florida.
We'll switch you over to the Vipir system. We can show you what's going on there. Rain showers and thunderstorms have really dumped a lot of rain -- we can't go there this morning, but we'll try to get that back for you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
Michael Jackson expected to be in court today to hear testimony from his accuser's mother. At issue are the numerous searches of Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
CNN's Miguel Marquez catches us up on the latest developments in this case, including a possible trial delay.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson's lawyers back in court, taking the offensive in an effort to suppress evidence seized from Neverland Ranch and the office of a Beverly Hills private investigators. It is now a case that's grown into a mountain.
STEVE CORBETT, "SANTA MARIA TIMES": The mountain of evidence, the mountain of paperwork continues to build. The more search warrants that the judge signs means that it may in fact delay this. The judge even said how long can you continue to file new search warrants, two, three years?
MARQUEZ: With search warrants numbers near 100 new search warrants being sought and DNA evidence still not turned over to the defense, the judge issued a stern warning. He wants this case to go to trial on time.
CORBETT: He's asking for help, his words. He's asking for help, and he's threatening sanction if he doesn't get help.
MARQUEZ: Another growing issue for Jackson, information about the case leaking to the press. The TV show "The Insider" obtained sheriff's interview with the accusers mother, conducted in summer 2003. In it she gives insight to the claim that Jackson and his people conspired to get her and her kids out of the country. After the documentary "Living With Michael Jackson" aired on ABC. In the taped interview, she says Jackson associates showed up to her East Los Angeles apartment and told her why she had to leave the country.
The accuser's mother said, quote, "OK, one of the reasons was because there was people that were going to kill the children and me, mostly my children" The interviewer then ask, "Who's telling you this?" And the mother says, "Uh, Michael's people"
And it is the alleged victim's mother who will testify tomorrow, all the while Michael Jackson and his family will be only a few feet away watching and listening to every word.
ARTHUR BARENS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY.: The trial is not going to be won or lost, in my opinion, by Michael Jackson, but by the credibility of his accuser and the witnesses they're going to bring to bear that support the accuser.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: We now have word of two explosions in Baghdad. We're going to get you a live report out of Baghdad. That's coming up in just a few minutes.
Also, Mother Nature puts on a fiery show in Japan. Take a look at that.
And we'll tell you why one Dodgers fan is hoping that Barry "The Bat Man: Bonds strikes out. We'll explain.
You're watching DAYBREAK for a Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is time to check out our Web clicks this morning. We always like to go to cnn.com to see what you're interested in.
MYERS: We certainly are.
COSTELLO: And three entirely different stories than what we led our newscast with at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.
The first story, the most clicked on story, number one, is about Rick James. Remember, he died back on August 6?
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: He was 56 years old.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Well, apparently he had nine different drugs in his system -- cocaine, methamphetamine, valium and vicodin, along with some prescription drugs.
MYERS: And five others, right.
COSTELLO: Oh, just so sad. Very sad. But the coroner said he actually died of natural causes and the drugs probably contributed to his death because a lot of his organs were enlarged, and that would include his heart.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Which I guess is a muscle, actually, to be completely accurate.
The second most clicked on story, Scott Peterson. He finally shows emotion in the courtroom and he begins to weep as a pathologist testifies about his unborn son.
MYERS: Yes, that had to be sad. I mean no matter -- there wasn't a dry eye in the entire courtroom.
COSTELLO: Well, they were showing the autopsy photos, too. It was very grizzly. And the pathologist said that the baby couldn't have been born before Laci Peterson died.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: So he says that the baby died because she died.
MYERS: I see.
COSTELLO: Which has a lot of interesting implications for the case.
The third most clicked on story, "Player Dies After Lightning Strikes Team." I didn't really get a good chance to read this, so I'm going to read the first paragraph here. "A high school football player from Grapeland, Texas was injured when lightning struck the team as it finished practice. And he has died now of severe burns." MYERS: There's a 30-minute rule. If you hear lightning or you see the lightning and you hear the thunder, if it's less than 30 seconds between that time, you need to get inside someplace. And then after the last lightning has hit, you need to wait 30 more minutes before you go back outside again, because that's how long, sometimes, it takes for a storm to move away.
COSTELLO: Good advice.
Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: It's from the Weather Service.
COSTELLO: Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" now.
It's raining ash in Tokyo. Take a look at this. This is cool. The soot storm is due to a volcano in central Japan that's been erupting for four days now. I guess we won't see it.
MYERS: There it is!
COSTELLO: There it is! Mount Asama is shooting ash more than 3,000 feet into the air. Flaming molten rocks have also been spewing some 300 yards from the mountain's summit.
In Seattle, a bridal shop is trying to help area servicemen and women tie the knot. They're offering 100 free wedding dresses to military couples who want to get married. The dresses are worth about $1,200 apiece. The giveaway begins September 26 on a first come, first served basis.
And there's one Dodgers fan who hopes Barry Bonds goes into a long slump. Michael Mahan bought a block of more than 6,000 tickets in an effort to catch Bonds' 700th home run ball. That's just crazy. He gave away and sold some of the tickets to people who promised to give him the ball.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: The problem is his tickets are for three games in October. Get it? October? Bonds needs just one home run to reach 700. Mahan was hoping to sell the ball for about half a million dollars.
MYERS: He ain't going to make it. He might catch 702 or 703, but I don't know about 700.
COSTELLO: I don't think so.
MYERS: He'll be there by then.
COSTELLO: Unbelievable.
You want to chat a bit about Jeanne, because a lot of people are really concerned about that. MYERS: Yes, and still, and Ivan is not even out of our way yet. You know, a lot of flooding from Ivan today. Jeanne is actually on a track which is north of the islands and now right over about the Dominican Republic to the north of Haiti, right through the Bahamas -- like those people need another storm. And then it actually makes a left hand turn into the United States.
Whether that happens in Jacksonville, whether that happens in Cape Fear or all the way up to Cape Hatteras, nobody knows right now, because that's still five days away. But the official hurricane forecast -- I was looking at it a few minutes ago -- somewhere very close to Jacksonville is their official forecast. Remember, remember how far off some of the five day forecasts were even with Ivan? So we have to keep -- remember we were talking, we thought maybe this by five days it was going into Tampa? Well it passed Tampa by -- it missed that by 500 miles. And so could all of these five day forecasts. They can be that far off. That's just the center of where all the computers are taking it now.
COSTELLO: Well, that's -- OK. You're looking at the glass half full, which is a good thing, especially in light of what's happened over the past...
MYERS: Well, we certainly don't need another hurricane.
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: And then there's Karl, Karl out there, tropical storm Karl will be a category four hurricane in four days, but turning right, even to the east of Bermuda, heading up into the middle of the Atlantic.
COSTELLO: You know, talking about hurricane Ivan, some wacky things happened. In fact, it destroyed the zoo in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
MYERS: Yes. Yes.
COSTELLO: And a lot of the animals escaped, including Chuckie the alligator. And he is a big, big alligator. He weighs a ton.
MYERS: So to speak.
COSTELLO: So to speak. And you see that picture of him? This is Chuckie free somewhere in Alabama. And these pictures were captured by CNN's Gary Tuchman and crew. And they called the zoo officials, but they didn't get there in time.
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: So Chuckie escaped again.
MYERS: The funny part about this is they go, the headline of this washingtonpost.com, "Gator's Gone Wild!" And Chuckie is typically a three to six chicken alligator. Chuckie has not had any chickens at all now for the past two days. COSTELLO: Chuckie is not happy.
MYERS: Chuckie is hungry.
COSTELLO: Yes. So stay away from Chuckie.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And that's a good reason why you shouldn't walk in the flooded streets, because you never know what's under there.
MYERS: Or drive either.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
MYERS: It could bite your tire.
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 17, 2004 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The dangers from Ivan remain. Today, the big threat -- flooding.
It is Friday, September 17.
This is DAYBREAK.
And good morning to you.
From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello.
Now in the news, in Iraq the U.S.-led coalition says it killed about 60 so-called foreign fighters in an air strike in Fallujah. The coalition says the fighters have ties to a terrorist leader. Iraqis claim many of the dead were women and children.
Now there's a person to blame for the deadly attack on that school in southern Russia. Chechen terrorist leader Shamil Basayev has claimed responsibility for the attack and several others in Russia.
Different results from two national polls on the Bush-Kerry race. A Gallup poll just out this morning shows the president widening his lead. But a new Pew Center poll shows the race is a dead heat.
To the forecast center now and Chad -- good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.
Flooding definitely the problem today, all the way across, actually, Pennsylvania now. This moisture is going to come up over West Virginia, over parts of southern Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and then it's going to park itself right over, we'll call it the turnpike, if you will, right there across I-80 or I-76, right across central Pennsylvania. That's where the heaviest rain is going to be later on this afternoon.
Right now, the heaviest rain is back out here, across I-75, I-65, from Louisville back over to Cincinnati and also all the way down south, even into parts of Georgia and also extreme eastern Tennessee. The rain just will not let up.
The highest wind gust that I could actually find, it's about 40 miles per hour this morning. So this thing has really tapered off to just a tropical depression. It is no longer a tropical storm. One of those long fingers, though, all the way down still from Valdosta, Georgia this morning. So the scope of this thing, from Pennsylvania to Florida.
Here is something else we want to watch for you, Jeanne. Jeanne not very organized this morning. Back to a tropical storm Jeanne. It was a hurricane for a while. It lost some energy overnight because it hit Hispaniola, it hit Haiti right there. Sixty-five miles per hour. And there are the numbers, 19.5 and 70.1. When it was over the Dominican Republic it was really losing energy. But it was also dumping a lot of rain. And there was flooding there. And you can see where Jeanne goes right off the coast here of Florida by Tuesday. And then the models actually turn it to the left, into the coast of the U.S. We're not sure where yet. And then there's a tropical storm Karl. It's going to be a category four hurricane. The only good news is it's in the middle of the ocean and it's planning to stay there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, I hope so.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
As Chad pointed out, Ivan no longer a hurricane. But it was one furious storm just 24 hours ago. Ivan killed 13 people in the Southeast, seven of them in the Florida Panhandle. It left more than one and a half million people without power in five states. Early estimates of insured losses are from $2 billion to $10 billion. National Guard troops have been sent to Pensacola, Florida and to Baldwin County, Alabama.
Take a look at this. This is a street in Pensacola. Officials there say the damage is extreme. Four Pensacola hospitals were damaged by the storm. Many beachfront homes and businesses have been heavily damaged, as well. Some communities have imposed curfews. Twenty-eight hundred National Guard troops now heading to Pensacola. National Guard troops also are being sent to Baldwin County, Alabama. And the state's governor will get an aerial tour of the destruction later this morning.
The damage does extend into Georgia. A tree fell on this car in Atlanta. Several tornadoes were spun off by Ivan and much of the state got at least seven inches of rain. Parts of Interstate 75 absolutely flooded. Oh, rush hour was an absolute mess.
Ivan does remain a danger. These are new pictures just into CNN from our affiliate, WLOS. This is western North Carolina, where about 20 people had to be evacuated because of flooding.
Gulf Shores, Alabama, Pensacola, Florida just two of the communities that took a right cross from Ivan.
Our Anderson Cooper watched Ivan sweep ashore from a Gulf Coast hotel room. He filed this report the day after.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ivan the hurricane proved terrible indeed, tearing into Gulf Shores, Alabama as a Cat 3 storm, ransacking homes or reducing them to rubble all along the Gulf Coast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mother Nature is something not to be messed with. That's for sure.
COOPER: Flooding and damage are widespread and like the storm itself exceptionally intense. Insured losses alone are estimated in the billions. Ivan left some bridges in Florida and Alabama impassable. Signs are down. Trees are down. So are power lines. Ivan's ferocity knocked out electricity to more than a million people in Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was the scariest thing I ever seen in my life. I won't never stay home again.
COOPER: Alabama's coastline braved a direct hit.
GOV. BOB RILEY (R), ALABAMA: We knew it was going to be brutal. We knew it was going to be huge. We knew it was going to affect almost the entire state.
COOPER: Flooding on its Barrier Islands is catastrophic.
LEANNE RILES, BALDWIN COUNTY EMA DIRECTOR: The majority of the condos and single homes, rental homes, Orange Beach all the way down to what was the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It is no longer there. I just can't express the devastation that's there.
COOPER: To the west, coastal Mississippi was not spared from the destruction. Many businesses and homes have been damaged. But it was Florida's panhandle, already storm weary from two recent hurricanes, that was pummeled by Ivan's punishing winds.
GOV JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: The larger Pensacola area appears to have experienced the brunt of the storm.
COOPER: Thousands of National Guard troops have been called up as recovery operations in Florida begin anew.
MARTY EVANS, PRES., AMERICAN RED CROSS: Our post disaster efforts will focus in on helping people get shelter, get clothing, get some very basic household requirements and then provide mental health support.
COOPER: Once ashore, Ivan lost some of its punch and was downgraded to a tropical storm. It continues to dump torrential rains across the southeastern U.S. causing more flooding, downing trees and power lines in Georgia.
KEN GRAHAM, NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: I can't stress enough how dangerous Ivan remains.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: Anderson Cooper reporting.
We'll get another view of one of those hard hit communities 90 minutes from now when we go live to our Chris Lawrence. He's in Pensacola this morning.
It is hard to believe, but another deadly storm may be heading this way. People are keeping an anxious eye on Jeanne. As you heard Chad say just a few minutes ago, that system has now been downgraded to a tropical storm, but it is expected to regain strength and actually could hit the United States by Tuesday. Jeanne slammed into the Dominican Republic as a category one hurricane. It killed a baby and forced thousands of people to flee their homes. Earlier in Puerto Rico, the storm killed two people and caused extensive flooding.
November 2 is fast approaching. Just 46 days to go in the countdown to election day. Two new political polls are telling very different stories this morning about how the presidential race is shaping up. The Gallup poll shows President Bush widening his lead over Senator John Kerry among likely voters. Fifty-five percent favor Bush, 42 percent Kerry. But a Pew Research Center poll, also of likely voters, has the race dead even, with 47 percent favoring Bush, 46 percent favoring Kerry. The margin of error for both polls, 3 1/2 percentage points.
After a morning campaign rally in the nation's capital, President Bush heads to Charlotte, North Carolina today. He'll attend a meeting with supporters and a fundraiser for a Republican Senate candidate. He then ends the day in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he'll spend the weekend at his family's vacation home.
Kerry, Senator Kerry is in New Mexico today. He's holding a town hall meeting in Albuquerque and then later is on to a Denver suburb. Aides say he'll focus on health care at a town hall meeting there. Kerry spends the night back in Boston.
A new intelligence warning takes a hard look at the realities of the future for Iraq. And while the picture it paints is grim, President Bush is focusing on the positive, while Senator Kerry is trying to make some political hay.
CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at wartime politics.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The bleak intelligence report has come to light during a particularly violent period in Iraq. But on the campaign trail, President Bush remained optimistic.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It wasn't all that long ago that Saddam Hussein was in power with his torture chambers and mass graves. And today, this country is headed toward elections. Freedom is on the march. FOREMAN: But the White House admits the classified report written in July by the National Intelligence Council says Iraq's political, economic, and security troubles could lead to civil war at worst and a shaky democracy at best.
John Kerry jumped on it.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe you deserve a president who isn't going to gild that truth or gild our national security with politics, who is not going to ignore his own intelligence.
FOREMAN: Even some of the president's supporters are worried that Mr. Bush is playing politics. Tony Blankley of "The Washington Times" writes, "I find it hard not to suspect that an aggressive military policy to put down the insurgency is on hold until after the American election."
While major operations against insurgents would have potential political risks, such as many casualties and Iraq spinning out of control, CNN's Jamie McIntyre says:
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN MILITARY AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Pentagon officials that I've talked to insist that the subject of the presidential elections has not come up in any of the planning meetings they've had about the strategy in Iraq.
FOREMAN: Still, many presidents have faced this. Bill Clinton was accused of launching missiles to distract from his troubles, Ronald Reagan of invading Grenada to improve his poll numbers.
(on camera): Historians say the facts almost never support such claims and trying to manage a war for political gain is a bad bet, because wars are too unpredictable.
ALLAN LICHTMAN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Every decision is infused with politics. But typically it is a grand strategic vision of the president, right or wrong, that motivates war, not naked, raw politics.
FOREMAN: Whatever the motives behind the management of this war, this new information makes clear only that Iraq's future remains confoundingly uncertain.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: In another expected report out on Iraq, inspectors say while they never found weapons of mass destruction, there is evidence Saddam Hussein had hoped to revive his old weapons programs. Sources familiar with that report say top U.S., the top U.S. inspector in Iraq found that Hussein, or Saddam Hussein, was in violation of U.N. agreements. No word yet if the report will be released before the November election.
Just one word. The word is "illegal," and it's causing an uproar in parts of the international community. British and Australian leaders who are facing reelection joined in with Secretary of State Colin Powell in defending the Iraq war. But this week, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan called the war illegal.
Listen to this exchange with a BBC reporter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: I'm one of those who believe that there should have been a second resolution, because the Security Council indicated that if Iraq did not comply, there will be consequences. But then it was up to the Security Council to approve or determine what those consequences should be.
QUESTION: So you don't think there was legal authority for the war?
ANNAN: I have made it, I have stated clearly that it was not in conformity with the Security Council, with the U.N. charter.
QUESTION: It was illegal?
ANNAN: Yes, if you wish.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Annan's spokesman later played down the statement, saying the secretary general's position has not change over the last year.
Is the situation in Iraq getting any better or is it doomed to get worse? Our Pentagon expert, Jamie McIntyre, will give us more details on that new intelligence report that tries to answer all of your questions and spells out the worst case scenario.
But first, Michael Jackson expected in court this morning. We'll tell you who else is going to be there to face the singer.
And at 55 minutes past the hour, a look at the best of the worst from New York's Fashion Week.
Now here's a look at what else is making news this Friday morning.
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COSTELLO: In overseas markets this morning, Japan's Nikkei close up 42 points.
The news not as good in Europe.
Britain's FTSE trading down 6 points.
France's CAC is down 11 points.
Your news, money, weather and sports.
It's 5:15 Eastern.
Here's what's all new this morning.
The Pentagon has been ordered to make public all unreleased files about President Bush's National Guard service. A federal judge set a September 24 deadline. It's part of a Freedom of Information lawsuit brought on by the Associated Press.
A car bomb blows up in Baghdad today after trying to crash through a security perimeter. U.S. forces opened fire on the vehicle as it tried to break through. No U.S. or Iraqi forces were injured in that blast.
In money news, the Fed says you are getting richer, really. Total household wealth jumped a record $46 trillion in the second quarter of this year. That's an increase of almost 1 1/2 percent.
In culture, the primetime Emmy Awards are scheduled for Sunday night. HBO is hoping to carry away the lion's share. They lead the way with 124 nominations. NBC a distant second with 65.
In sports, Boston Red Sox pitcher Kurt Schilling notched his 20th win of the season by beating the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 11-4. The victory keeps the Sox 5 1/2 games ahead of the Angels in the American League wild card race -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
Flooding a huge concern today all up and down the, oh, the Pennsylvania Plateau, the Allegheny Plateau right through Charleston, even to the west of Richmond into Roanoke. There you see the center of what was Ivan, now just a tropical depression. Really, the center not that far from Knoxville this morning. A little bit farther down to the south. But it's still raining across parts of South Carolina, southern Georgia and also into Florida.
We'll switch you over to the Vipir system. We can show you what's going on there. Rain showers and thunderstorms have really dumped a lot of rain -- we can't go there this morning, but we'll try to get that back for you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
Those are the latest headlines for you this morning.
Michael Jackson expected to be in court today to hear testimony from his accuser's mother. At issue are the numerous searches of Jackson's Neverland Ranch.
CNN's Miguel Marquez catches us up on the latest developments in this case, including a possible trial delay.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Jackson's lawyers back in court, taking the offensive in an effort to suppress evidence seized from Neverland Ranch and the office of a Beverly Hills private investigators. It is now a case that's grown into a mountain.
STEVE CORBETT, "SANTA MARIA TIMES": The mountain of evidence, the mountain of paperwork continues to build. The more search warrants that the judge signs means that it may in fact delay this. The judge even said how long can you continue to file new search warrants, two, three years?
MARQUEZ: With search warrants numbers near 100 new search warrants being sought and DNA evidence still not turned over to the defense, the judge issued a stern warning. He wants this case to go to trial on time.
CORBETT: He's asking for help, his words. He's asking for help, and he's threatening sanction if he doesn't get help.
MARQUEZ: Another growing issue for Jackson, information about the case leaking to the press. The TV show "The Insider" obtained sheriff's interview with the accusers mother, conducted in summer 2003. In it she gives insight to the claim that Jackson and his people conspired to get her and her kids out of the country. After the documentary "Living With Michael Jackson" aired on ABC. In the taped interview, she says Jackson associates showed up to her East Los Angeles apartment and told her why she had to leave the country.
The accuser's mother said, quote, "OK, one of the reasons was because there was people that were going to kill the children and me, mostly my children" The interviewer then ask, "Who's telling you this?" And the mother says, "Uh, Michael's people"
And it is the alleged victim's mother who will testify tomorrow, all the while Michael Jackson and his family will be only a few feet away watching and listening to every word.
ARTHUR BARENS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY.: The trial is not going to be won or lost, in my opinion, by Michael Jackson, but by the credibility of his accuser and the witnesses they're going to bring to bear that support the accuser.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COSTELLO: We now have word of two explosions in Baghdad. We're going to get you a live report out of Baghdad. That's coming up in just a few minutes.
Also, Mother Nature puts on a fiery show in Japan. Take a look at that.
And we'll tell you why one Dodgers fan is hoping that Barry "The Bat Man: Bonds strikes out. We'll explain.
You're watching DAYBREAK for a Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: It is time to check out our Web clicks this morning. We always like to go to cnn.com to see what you're interested in.
MYERS: We certainly are.
COSTELLO: And three entirely different stories than what we led our newscast with at 5:00 a.m. Eastern.
The first story, the most clicked on story, number one, is about Rick James. Remember, he died back on August 6?
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: He was 56 years old.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Well, apparently he had nine different drugs in his system -- cocaine, methamphetamine, valium and vicodin, along with some prescription drugs.
MYERS: And five others, right.
COSTELLO: Oh, just so sad. Very sad. But the coroner said he actually died of natural causes and the drugs probably contributed to his death because a lot of his organs were enlarged, and that would include his heart.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: Which I guess is a muscle, actually, to be completely accurate.
The second most clicked on story, Scott Peterson. He finally shows emotion in the courtroom and he begins to weep as a pathologist testifies about his unborn son.
MYERS: Yes, that had to be sad. I mean no matter -- there wasn't a dry eye in the entire courtroom.
COSTELLO: Well, they were showing the autopsy photos, too. It was very grizzly. And the pathologist said that the baby couldn't have been born before Laci Peterson died.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: So he says that the baby died because she died.
MYERS: I see.
COSTELLO: Which has a lot of interesting implications for the case.
The third most clicked on story, "Player Dies After Lightning Strikes Team." I didn't really get a good chance to read this, so I'm going to read the first paragraph here. "A high school football player from Grapeland, Texas was injured when lightning struck the team as it finished practice. And he has died now of severe burns." MYERS: There's a 30-minute rule. If you hear lightning or you see the lightning and you hear the thunder, if it's less than 30 seconds between that time, you need to get inside someplace. And then after the last lightning has hit, you need to wait 30 more minutes before you go back outside again, because that's how long, sometimes, it takes for a storm to move away.
COSTELLO: Good advice.
Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: It's from the Weather Service.
COSTELLO: Time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" now.
It's raining ash in Tokyo. Take a look at this. This is cool. The soot storm is due to a volcano in central Japan that's been erupting for four days now. I guess we won't see it.
MYERS: There it is!
COSTELLO: There it is! Mount Asama is shooting ash more than 3,000 feet into the air. Flaming molten rocks have also been spewing some 300 yards from the mountain's summit.
In Seattle, a bridal shop is trying to help area servicemen and women tie the knot. They're offering 100 free wedding dresses to military couples who want to get married. The dresses are worth about $1,200 apiece. The giveaway begins September 26 on a first come, first served basis.
And there's one Dodgers fan who hopes Barry Bonds goes into a long slump. Michael Mahan bought a block of more than 6,000 tickets in an effort to catch Bonds' 700th home run ball. That's just crazy. He gave away and sold some of the tickets to people who promised to give him the ball.
MYERS: Right.
COSTELLO: The problem is his tickets are for three games in October. Get it? October? Bonds needs just one home run to reach 700. Mahan was hoping to sell the ball for about half a million dollars.
MYERS: He ain't going to make it. He might catch 702 or 703, but I don't know about 700.
COSTELLO: I don't think so.
MYERS: He'll be there by then.
COSTELLO: Unbelievable.
You want to chat a bit about Jeanne, because a lot of people are really concerned about that. MYERS: Yes, and still, and Ivan is not even out of our way yet. You know, a lot of flooding from Ivan today. Jeanne is actually on a track which is north of the islands and now right over about the Dominican Republic to the north of Haiti, right through the Bahamas -- like those people need another storm. And then it actually makes a left hand turn into the United States.
Whether that happens in Jacksonville, whether that happens in Cape Fear or all the way up to Cape Hatteras, nobody knows right now, because that's still five days away. But the official hurricane forecast -- I was looking at it a few minutes ago -- somewhere very close to Jacksonville is their official forecast. Remember, remember how far off some of the five day forecasts were even with Ivan? So we have to keep -- remember we were talking, we thought maybe this by five days it was going into Tampa? Well it passed Tampa by -- it missed that by 500 miles. And so could all of these five day forecasts. They can be that far off. That's just the center of where all the computers are taking it now.
COSTELLO: Well, that's -- OK. You're looking at the glass half full, which is a good thing, especially in light of what's happened over the past...
MYERS: Well, we certainly don't need another hurricane.
COSTELLO: No.
MYERS: And then there's Karl, Karl out there, tropical storm Karl will be a category four hurricane in four days, but turning right, even to the east of Bermuda, heading up into the middle of the Atlantic.
COSTELLO: You know, talking about hurricane Ivan, some wacky things happened. In fact, it destroyed the zoo in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
MYERS: Yes. Yes.
COSTELLO: And a lot of the animals escaped, including Chuckie the alligator. And he is a big, big alligator. He weighs a ton.
MYERS: So to speak.
COSTELLO: So to speak. And you see that picture of him? This is Chuckie free somewhere in Alabama. And these pictures were captured by CNN's Gary Tuchman and crew. And they called the zoo officials, but they didn't get there in time.
MYERS: No.
COSTELLO: So Chuckie escaped again.
MYERS: The funny part about this is they go, the headline of this washingtonpost.com, "Gator's Gone Wild!" And Chuckie is typically a three to six chicken alligator. Chuckie has not had any chickens at all now for the past two days. COSTELLO: Chuckie is not happy.
MYERS: Chuckie is hungry.
COSTELLO: Yes. So stay away from Chuckie.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: And that's a good reason why you shouldn't walk in the flooded streets, because you never know what's under there.
MYERS: Or drive either.
COSTELLO: Exactly.
MYERS: It could bite your tire.
COSTELLO: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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