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CNN SATURDAY NIGHT

Interview With Patty Hensley; Hurricane Ivan Devastates Gulf Coast

Aired September 18, 2004 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY NIGHT.
Ahead this hour, CNN's interview with the wife of one of the Americans taken hostage in Iraq. She spoke to her husband just hours before he disappeared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATTY HENSLEY, WIFE OF HOSTAGE: As you can imagine, it's unbelievable. It's been very devastating. We have a daughter that doesn't understand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Patty Hensley tells us how the family is holding up and what she wants the U.S. government to do.

Also, the first images of the immense devastation at Pensacola Naval Air Station. More than 90 percent of the buildings there were damaged or destroyed. These stories and a lot more next on CNN SATURDAY NIGHT.

Good evening, I'm Carol Lin. Up front tonight, the massive devastation following Hurricane Ivan. In our spotlight segment, the emotional rollercoaster and what's ahead for a family who just returned to their home.

Also, Florida insurance rates tripled since Hurricane Andrew, but a controversial plan to have everyone nationwide pay higher premiums for natural disasters is our hot topic tonight.

And you get the last call question on a national disaster insurance program. It is your chance to weigh in. So stay tuned.

Right now, first, we begin with two Americans and a Brit held hostage somewhere in Iraq tonight and a plea from a wife for her husband's life. It is an all too familiar sight, the grainy video of hostages blindfolded and displayed on an Arab network today.

Eugene Armstrong, Kenneth Bigley, and Jack Hensley there seen on the far right. Now in a moment, you will hear form Jack Hensley's wife. The men worked for a reconstruction company based in the Middle East and were helping to rebuild Iraq. So what will save them? Well, their kidnappers say they will cut off their heads in 48 hours unless all female Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Umm Qasr prisons are released. As the best hostage negotiators will tell you, a hostage's best hope of coming out alive is in getting the kidnappers to see their captives as human beings, not political pawns.

Tonight, the wife of 50-year old Jack Hensley talked with CNN International anchor Colleen McEdwards to get her message to the kidnappers. Patty Hensley started with a statement about her husband's work and life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATTY HENSLEY, WIFE OF JACK HENSLEY: I'm Patty Hensley, and I am the wife of Jack Hensley, who's being held captive in Iraq. And I'd like to make a statement.

I'm speaking to the people who are responsible for holding my husband Jack Hensley, who is the son of Jerry Hensley. My Jack has been a guest in your country for the past six months. My husband Jack came to your country so that he could provide for our family. Jack is the father of Sarah Hensley, whom he loves very much. In fact, Jack recently used his vacation time to return to the States to surprise her for her 13th birthday.

Sarah misses her father very much. And it is our -- it is your decision if he can come home back to her. Jack is a simple, generous man, who loves the Iraqi people and has made many friends while in Iraq. Since Jack has been a guest in your country, he has been treated with honor and dignity. We ask for your mercy in freeing Jack and his co-workers, so that they can continue to return home to their loving families. And it is your decision whether this happens.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Patty, I know that you spoke to your husband on the Internet by e-mail shortly before this happened. Tell me what that conversation was like and what it was like for you afterward, finding out this devastating news that he'd been abducted?

HENSLEY: It was our usual daily conversation of how are things going for you? How are things going for me? You know, he oftentimes mentioned tension, but it came and went. So in some ways, we weren't overly alarmed.

As best I can tell, in putting timeframes together within 45 minutes of the time that we stopped chatting, this abduction occurred. And I unfortunately was not aware until the next morning, but needless to say, I was horrified.

MCEDWARDS: How did you find out?

HENSLEY: My habit is, again, to log into the Internet every morning and sometimes Jack is there. And I can chat with him at that time -- the time differences are when I'm going to bed, he's getting up and vice versa. And there was a news item on AOL that two Americans and one Briton had been captured. I knew that that was the make-up of the household that he was living in there. And as I read further, and they identified the company, and further described the villa that they were living in, it immediately hit me that this was a very strong possibility it was them.

And I immediately started making phone calls to confirm whatever I could confirm. So that's all I know at this point until...

MCEDWARDS: Yes. What exactly was your husband doing over there?

HENSLEY: His official title for the company he was working for was business developer. He would go to areas that were specifically demolished by all of the strife that's going on over there in conjunction with other companies that over there. They would evaluate what was needed, whether it be the water systems rebuilt, the schools rebuilt. At one time, they were looking at one of the -- the historic museums on how to restore the culture back to the Iraqi people. The electrical grids, they were building housing for the workers that are part of putting all this back together.

MCEDWARDS: So he's really -- he's one of the people who's there helping Iraq rebuild?

HENSLEY: Well, that was him. He felt that he could provide a service to them, having traveled abroad before. And it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. And he felt secure in doing this.

MCEDWARDS: What's your understanding of how this happened? How does he get abducted?

HENSLEY: Not through just stories with my husband, but with other people that I've known in Iraq, it's apparently a common daily thread that because you are a foreigner, you're not an Iraqi or Iranian or Afghanistan or Pakistanian (sic) that you are obvious. And there could be idle threats or there could be real ones. And you just don't know the difference between the two.

And apparently, this was not an idle threat. There was concerns for a few days before this happened that something was wrong. And before they were able to put their finger on it, the situation happened.

MCEDWARDS: What kind of concern? Can you elaborate on that at all?

HENSLEY: Well, I believe it's been in the news, but there -- they were provided with round the clock guards at their home, Iraqi guards who were armed. And the guards had stopped showing up for work. Or showed up for work and had some excuse as to why they couldn't stay. And...

MCEDWARDS: And is that true, as far as you know? The guards weren't showing up? They weren't there at the time? HENSLEY: Right, even in the morning, they were abducted, there was no guard as there should have been. And everybody was working on it, trying to figure out what's wrong and what do we need to do? And before they had an opportunity, this happened.

MCEDWARDS: What's it been like for you and your family since this happened?

HENSLEY: Well, as you can imagine, it's unbelievable. It's been very devastating. We have a daughter that doesn't understand. She believes that everyone in the world is good. You know, that's what she's been taught all this time.

To a certain extent, it's very surreal. And you know, I've known the man 23 years. He is one of the kindest, gentlest people who wanted to help and the last person in the world that I would have expected this to happen to. You know, he has no military affiliations. He's not there to fight. He's there to help the Iraqi people. And all of the -- all three of these guys are all that way. And why they've been picked, I have no idea.

MCEDWARDS: So no sense why he would be targeted. How are you as a mother coping? And how are you protecting your 13-year old daughter from all of this?

HENSLEY: It's hard to explain to her. To be honest, I've basically just kept her in the dark. I mean, she is aware that her daddy has been kidnapped. She does not understand the full extent of what that actually means. She has not watched or followed any of the previous abductions or what has been the outcome of those.

She is not aware of the threat that we're under now. I don't believe she'd understand that all -- because she believes everybody's good in the world. You know, and why they would want to hurt her dad, she would never understand.

MCEDWARDS: Was she worried about him going to Iraq to work?

HENSLEY: At first, it was like Daddy going on a business trip somewhere. The magnitude of how far away and how long it took him to get there finally sunk in with her, that he's not in another state where she can just pick up the phone and call him any time she -- excuse me -- wants.

He can't come home any time he wants. That's when it began to sink in that this probably is not like previous travel he's done for business. And she wasn't really sure how to handle that. And we are very close, thank God. And she has just relied on me to be her strength. And if need be, explain things to her. Of course, I can only explain so much.

MCEDWARDS: Tell me what you think ought to be done in a situation like this? I mean, there have been countries that have sent delegations. Do you think there should be negotiations? Do you think their demands should be met to save lives? HENSLEY: Well, you know, the government's position, the United States government's position in the past, and understandably so, is that we're not going to negotiate with terrorists.

There's a big part of me that supports that 100 percent, but now that it's at home, it's harder for me to say that.

MCEDWARDS: Patty, the next hours in a day or so are obviously going to be a really difficult time for you and your family. Just share with us how you're going to spend it, how you're being kept informed, what you've got ahead for yourself in the next few hours?

HENSLEY: A great many of church friends have gathered around. So we are praying, of course. In some ways, I hate to say it, but we're praying for the captors as well, because I don't realize they -- I don't think they realize what they've done with these three gentlemen in particular.

We are vigilantly at our house by the phone. We are just waiting for updates from anyone and everyone. I personally have not left my house this Wednesday night until today when you all gave me this opportunity.

It's just a lot of praying and a lot of waiting. You know, and maintaining life as normally as we can.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Patty Hensley's story and message to her husband's kidnappers. Jack Hensley is being held with another American, Eugene Armstrong, of Michigan and Briton Kenneth Bigley.

Meanwhile, there has been no let up on the violence in Iraq. Today's car bombings ended one of the bloodiest weeks since major combat ended. At least 19 people were killed and 67 wounded in a suicide car bombing in Kirkuk in front of an Iraqi national guard headquarters. Several guardsmen and recruits were killed or injured. Two American soldiers died after a car bomb exploded on the road to the Baghdad airport. Officials are also investigating another blast on the same road. And I do have, though, one sliver of good news. For the first time in 14 years, Iraq's national carrier, Iraqi Airways, resumed international flights. It had been grounded by sanctions and the war.

Now still to come on CNN SATURDAY NIGHT, Hurricane Ivan reeks havoc across the southeast. CNN goes inside the damaged homes and a naval air station. Plus, paying for Hurricane Ivan and Charley and Francis and all the others. You could end up footing the insurance bill, no matter where you live. Is that fair? My next guest has a plan.

And we want to hear from you. Should you pay a higher insurance premium to help disaster zones rebuild? That's our last call question tonight. Give us a call at 1-800-807-2620. We're going to air your responses at the end of this program.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Now Ivan hasn't been a hurricane for days, but even as a tropical depression, it is a killer. A Mobile, Alabama neighborhood looks more like a war zone. Look at this. Trees uprooted. Houses have become stacks, like toothpicks. Furniture and personal belongings thrown in all directions.

Disaster officials got their first look at homes on the shore islands today. And it will still be a couple of days before people who live here can even return to look at their property. The roads are still too dangerous.

Now President Bush is coming to the Gulf Coast tomorrow. And now, the human cost. At last report, 25 people were killed by the wind, the flooding, the destruction. The numbers follow Ivan's track south to north. The most people died in Florida, as you can see, and North Carolina, where 30 homes were wiped out by what survivors call a wall of water.

Now in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, Macon County, North Carolina, the residents of tiny Peak's Creek faced Ivan's fury head on. CNN's Brian Todd is there tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a serene community tucked in a narrow valley of the southern Appalachians, a calamity that has shaken even seasoned emergency officials.

WARREN CABE, MACON CITY, N.C., EMERG. SVCS. DIR.: Part of these homes don't even look like homes any more. It looks like you have just swept the whole thing down and piled it up in a pile somewhere.

TODD: A massive mudslide Thursday night destroyed more than 20 homes, wiping away much of the tiny village of Peak's Creek. People who lived through this are telling absolute horror stories about what happened that night. What you're looking at is the foundation of a house that had stood here for about 30 years.

(on camera): Here's where the house stands now. Underneath that tree is the family car.

(voice-over): The home belongs to Marilyn Jones. She and her husband got out just in time.

MARILLYN JONES, LOST HOME IN MUDSLIDE: Terrible, absolutely terrible. It was like a -- the debris was just coming through the air. And then sounded like a freight train coming through. And we were able to run through the house and jump out the back door before our house started sliding.

TODD: Some houses escaped that fate by mere inches. Residents had no advanced warning of mudslides. And we asked a survivor if they blamed the authorities.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had no warning. They had no way of knowing it was going to get that mudslide up there and all that was coming down. There's no way they could have known it.

TODD: As rescue crews pick through the debris and search for the missing, an ominous prediction. A top emergency official tells us the overall recovery effort could take several months.

Brian Todd, CNN, Franklin, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, before inflicting its toll on western North Carolina, Georgia was hit hard from swollen Lake Seminole in the southwest across metro Atlanta, and over the southern Appalachians. Ivan swept away homes and sent rivers out of their banks, surprising even those who weathered powerful storms before.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've never seen it this bad at all. But I was actually just talking to somebody that came by like earlier in the day. What is that floating?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a refrigerator)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Crazy. About 30,000 households in Georgia are dark tonight. Many power outages are in the mountainous Northeast areas and expected to remain so for a few more days.

Well, the Gulf shores largest military base and one of the largest employers in the region took the full brunt of Hurricane Ivan. Now no one was hurt at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, but nearly every building was damaged.

CNN's Chris Lawrence got a tour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Naval Air Station in Pensacola was built for battle, but after taking the full force of Hurricane Ivan, part of it looks like it's been in a war.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to restore our power. We're trying to restore our water.

LAWRENCE: Although no one was injured, 90 percent of the buildings on base suffered significant damage. And the cost to fix them could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Ivan's impact is still being felt along coastline communities and inland. Hundreds of thousands of people still don't have power in Florida. And across the Gulf Coast and beyond, insurance companies estimate Ivan caused between $2 and $10 billion in damage.

(on camera): To put it in perspective, Hurricanes Charley and Francis caused about $11 billion in damage combined. (voice-over): Some small businesses will have to rebuild from the ground up. And after crews clear debris from the roads, some families have come home to a complete wipe out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't even find like one piece of furniture. There isn't a couch. There isn't a chair, nothing that's intact at all.

LAWRENCE: It's people like that who Gary McMann volunteered to help, bringing free food, water and gasoline to give away.

GARY MCMANN, GOOD SAMARITAN: I do not want money. God will bless me anyway.

LAWRENCE: But for every good Samaritan, there's someone trying to take advantage of a bad situation, like the 15 people police have arrested in this county for looting.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, Pensacola, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Federal emergency crews got some four legged help in central Alabama. The dogs are looking for anyone who got trapped, after defying the governor's orders to evacuate.

Toby Roth is Alabama Governor Bob Riley's chief of staff. He joins us now from Montgomery.

Toby, I know that you've got to talk to us on your cell phone because still some storm damages is causing some interference with our communications. So thanks for making the effort to be here.

I'm wondering, is...

TOBY ROTH, ALA. GOVERNOR'S CHIEF OF STAFF: Good to be here. Like a lot of Alabamians, I'm making due as best I can here tonight. So it's good to be with you.

LIN: You bet. And we appreciate it.

Are you in a position now to be able to tell what the final damage toll, the final death toll in our state is right now?

ROTH: No, we're not. We've still been -- in terms of a dollar value total, we're still working with insurance department and federal officials on that estimate. The human toll, we have -- here in Alabama, I believe, had a few fatalities. The number appears to be in the 4 to 5 range right now, but that assessment is still going on at this time.

LIN: You know, some states, particularly Florida, it was so dangerous to even be out on the streets after the hurricane and the storms passed, that entire cities were closed to the public. People were warned to stay in shelters.

Are people beginning to come out? Is life somewhat returning to normal? Are people allowed to go and assess their damages?

ROTH: Well, it is beginning to return to normal some. We did similar evacuations south of Interstate 10 and quite frankly, are very glad that we did that because of the devastation there.

I was with the governor and with federal officials yesterday, as we flew over the Alabama coastline. We were beginning to see some signs there. But down on the coast in particular, we are still not allowing any residents back in to those coastal communities.

A little further inland, life is beginning to return to normal. Electricity is beginning to come back. And of course, that's a real key to life, getting back to normal for so many people across our state.

But that is improving. And we've already in the last day, utility officials here in the state have restored power to roughly half of those who lost it at the worst point of outage some time late Thursday.

LIN: So how many people do you think are homeless right now?

ROTH: Homeless in our shelters? The Red Cross shelters, the latest figures I saw this morning had approximately 5,000 plus Alabamians still in or even Floridians as well, still in Red Cross shelters. I'm sure there are some others who weren't in those actual shelters.

We have really tried to get those people back into their homes, but many of them will have to stay in shelters or alternative living arrangements for some time.

LIN: You know, I talked to the director of FEMA earlier today. They're staging in something like a dozen states right now, from the Gulf to New England.

ROTH: Right.

LIN: Is the governor satisfied with the federal response so far in your state?

ROTH: So far, they have been tremendously helpful. They have brought all kinds of resources and personnel down to help us and utilities.

Of course, I've done the same. As you've heard, the president will be here tomorrow. So we have been very pleased and very grateful.

This has been such a mammoth task across our state, across the Florida panhandle. It has been one that we are certainly trying to work with local mayors, local officials and meet their needs. But quite frankly, everyone across South Alabama communities across -- counties across South Alabama are in tremendous need right now. And we are grateful to all the help we've had from other states and from federal officials as well. LIN: Toby Roth, so many families out there just grateful even now to have a cup of water or bag of ice or a hot meal. You've got a big job ahead in your state. Thank you.

ROTH: We do. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, what's left of Ivan is now dumping rain on Eastern Maine. And Canada's New Brunswick spinning over the Bahamas tonight. If you can believe this, tropical storm Jeanne is gaining strength.

Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN Weather Center.

JACQUI JERAS, METEOROLOGIST: It was once considered a threat to the U.S., but now it appears Tropical Storm Jeanne is weakening and will likely surge through the Bahamas, and then take a trip on up to the north. The tropical storm has winds now down to 45 miles per hour, although it could intensify once again, to hurricane strength by early next week.

The official forecast has it moving into the north, northwest, and staying away from the United States. Still bears watching, but right now, does not appear like it's going to be a threat.

We have another tropical storm into the Eastern Pacific. This is tropical storm Javier. That one will weaken, as it moves across Baja, California and heads towards the southwest into Arizona by Monday. A big cold front has pushed in across the southwest. And that is already brought you rain. And the remnants of Javier could cause additional flooding problems for early next week.

What was left of Ivan certainly history now, as it has moved offshore. May bring a little bit of light rain to the coastal areas of the Mid Atlantic for your Sunday afternoon. Otherwise, high pressure will be dominating in the eastern seaboard, bringing refreshing cooler air and plenty of sunshine. Carol, back to you.

LIN: Thanks, Jacqui Jeras for that.

You can track Jeanne and this hurricane season on CNN.com/hurricanes. We've got picture galleries and an archive of video reports from Hurricane Ivan. And you can sign up for severe weather e-mail alerts.

Now so far, three back to back hurricanes have caused more than $20 billion in damage. Still to come, a new proposal that says you should foot the bill for disasters, no matter where you live.

And that's our last call question for tonight. Should you pay a higher insurance premium to help disaster zones rebuild? Give us a call at 1-800-807-2620. We're going to air your responses at the end of the broadcast.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) LIN: Well, they go hand in hand, big disasters, followed by huge insurance claims. And before you can say what's my deductible, the premiums are hiked.

It is our hot topic tonight. Should the rest of the country pay higher premiums for those who live in disaster prone zones? It's a question I put to California insurance commissioner John Garamendi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN GARAMENDI, CALIF. INSURANCE COMMISSIONER: Every time there's a major disaster, such as we had in California in the fire storms of 2003 or these recent hurricanes in Florida, the insurance companies almost always do things that are adverse to the consumers.

What they will do is to non renew those that are in the dangerous areas. They won't give them additional insurance. We saw after Andrew, the insurance companies pulled out of Florida, saying that they're not going to provide any insurance. That required the state to come in and provide for a substitute program, which is now in effect and seems to be providing at least some very basic and hopefully adequate insurance.

We saw the same thing here in California, when we had the Northridge earthquake. The insurance companies took one look at it, said we're not going to provide any more homeowners insurance in California if we have to provide earthquake insurance.

One major problem that we found here in California, following the fire storms, is that many, many of the homes in California, and it's estimated as much as 65 percent of the homes across the entire nation, are underinsured. They do not have enough insurance to rebuild when they have the kind of total losses that are occurring in these hurricanes and certainly occurred here in the fires in California.

LIN: Right, because a lot of people don't frankly read their policy. And they don't know that many of the policies, especially in Florida, have special deductibles, for example, that people are required to pay a percentage of their insured value. What is going to be the solution?

GARAMENDI: Well, I think the solution is to recognize that the entire nation, particularly in this era where we are facing global climate change and global warming, we're going to see more and more severe weather events, more fires, more floods, more hurricanes, more tornadoes.

We really need a national program that takes all of these potential disasters and provides insurance across the nation for wind storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires. Wrap them all into one. Let's call it a national natural disaster insurance program.

LIN: But Commissioner, that means -- frankly, that means that if that were going on right now, I would be paying into a big pool, but I would be essentially subsidizing people who lived in disaster prone areas?

GARAMENDI: Well, that's true. And that's the nature of insurance. We all are in a big pool. We hope that the issue or the incident doesn't happen to us, that the disaster doesn't befall us. But if it does, all of the people in the pool will help out the person or the group or the community that did face the disaster. That's what insurance is all about.

LIN: Really? You think that's fair though for people who don't -- who choose specifically to live in areas that are relatively secure from tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and wildfires, that they should be paying for somebody else's lifestyle?

GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, there's likely to be the ice storm or the blizzard or something else. So we're all going to be affected. And in fact, the entire economy's affected, but there is a way to deal with that. And that is, that you vary the price.

Those people that live right on the earthquake faults in California or other parts of this nation, they should pay more. Those people that want to live on the Barrier Islands and the -- along the Gulf Coast of Florida or the very -- they should pay more. So you vary the price. That provides a financial incentive for those who live in those areas to make themselves as safe as possible and quite possibly not to rebuild in those areas.

LIN: Commissioner, thank you very much.

GARAMENDI: Good to be with you.

LIN: We want to hear from you. Should you pay a higher premium to help disaster zones rebuild? That's our last call question tonight. Give us a call at 1-800-807-2620. We're going to air your responses at the end of the program about 25 minutes.

Well, the who's who are stepping out in Hollywood tomorrow night. And find out who has the cloud in TV land.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC MCCORMACK, ACTOR: ...the writers write a very certain way, but they give us each our own sort of voice. And it kind of like a real quartet of instruments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Coming up, we're going to talk to the cast of "Will and Grace," nominated for best comedy series.

But first, in the courtroom this week, Scott Peterson was in tears. Find out why, next in our rap sheet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Both John Kerry and President Bush took a rest from the campaign trail, but we've got information about a pair of new polls released today, suggesting two key states are split between the two. The research 2000 Missouri polls show a seven point lead for President Bush in Missouri and a margin of twice that size in favor of Democratic Senator John Kerry in Illinois. It's the same party lines those states maintained in the 2000 elections.

In our rap sheet tonight, at the Scott Peterson murder trial this week, there was gruesome information about Laci Peterson's autopsy. And prosecutors tried to show that Peterson lied about cement, which they say he used to weigh down the body.

Reporter Gloria Gomez of KOVR-TV has been following the case from the very beginning. She joins us from Sacramento. Good evening, Gloria.

GLORIA GOMEZ, KOVR-TV: Hi, Carol.

LIN: Interesting testimony this week, where the jury saw pictures of Conner Peterson, the infant, or the fetus, the fetal remains floating from the Bay. How did the jury react to these very graphic photos?

GOMEZ: Very, very upset. I could tell you that most of those jurors were very upset looking at those photos, especially one of the alternates, who has four children of her own, she actually cried during most of those pictures, when they were shown on a full screen and would look down, constantly dabbing her eyes. Scott Peterson crying as well when those pictures were shown.

And one of the jurors, juror number 11, actually didn't even look at the photos, decided to instead look at the entire audience in the courtroom and really rock like she was really disturbed by those photos. Would never actually look at those pictures throughout the whole time, Carol.

LIN: Scott Peterson crying in court?

GOMEZ: He was crying in court. Several people witnessed that, that during those photos, that he would look up. And then eventually, he would just hunch over on the counsel table and actually dab his eyes and looked really upset throughout most of it.

Pretty much deciding not to look at those pictures, but because of the graphic testimony, you could tell he was visibly disturbed by it.

LIN: Now his attorney, his defense attorney Mark Geragos has argued that a satanic cult may have kidnapped Laci Peterson in order to steal her baby. The pathologist testified, though, that her uterus was intact, that it looks like the fetal remains were released -- were expelled from her decaying body in the Bay. So it doesn't -- does that undermine his argument that there may be a cult involved in this bizarre kidnapping?

GOMEZ: Right. It does. But at the same time, Carol, I got to tell you, he did give the defense a little bit of wiggle room, suggesting that he could not say 100 percent that there wasn't a live birth, because if you remember, there was just a torso found. There was no real visible signs of anything else. We have just a torso with no tissue. The only organ left was the uterus. So it was hard to determine cause of death. He was not able to.

So clearly, he said there was no vaginal birth. But he said he could not rule out a live birth, maybe suggesting to the defense that hey, well, there's a possibility there that maybe this baby was born alive, and that maybe it was kept alive for a short time, and then dumped into the bay sometime later.

LIN: All right. Gloria, what's this testimony about cement?

GOMEZ: Well, a concrete expert testified that the cement that Scott Peterson laid on his driveway did not match one of the anchors. Now that's important because Scott Peterson had told not only Brent Rocha, Laci's Peterson's brother, but also police that he had bought a 90 pound bag of cement and he used some of it for a boat anchor, and he used a lot of it for the driveway wall. The fact that it doesn't match, now the question is well what happened to the rest of the 80 pounds of concrete? And really, there's no explanation for it.

Prosecutors are going to say, well what happened to it is that the bottom of the San Francisco Bay.

LIN: Quickly, what do you expecting this coming week?

GOMEZ: Well, this is going to be the actual last week for the prosecution's case, sources tell me. And we're expecting to hear from the lead detective, Craig Grogan, who will talk about an interview he did with Scott Peterson early in the investigation, also expecting to hear some of the media interviews, as well as the arrests and what Scott Peterson was carrying in his vehicle when he was arrested, including camping gear and $15,000 cash.

LIN: There you go. All right, thanks very much, Gloria. We'll see you next week.

GOMEZ: OK.

LIN: Still to come tonight on CNN SATURDAY NIGHT...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...bedroom over here, this is a kitchen. Used to be a island across here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Personal stories about people who were robbed of possessions and hopes by Ivan. And later, who's the top cat of television? Members of one Emmy nominated show have their fingers crossed. We're going to be talking to them, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: In our spotlight segment tonight, picking up the pieces after Hurricane Ivan. We talked to a lot of officials during our storm coverage. We'd like to give you the hard numbers on damage, devastation, deaths. But there is nothing like the impact of seeing families go back to their homes, seeing what has remained after days, perhaps even in a shelter wondering.

Tonight, we're going to bring you the story of two families who lives were literally destroyed. David Mattingly has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is our family room.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jule and Ken Pugh were in the midst of remodeling their bayside home in Navar, Florida, when Ivan made other plans.

KEN PUGH, VICTIM: This is bedroom over here, this is the kitchen. Used to be an island across here. The only thing that's left in the kitchen is the granite countertops.

MATTINGLY: The house on the water they retired to from California just two years ago is beyond repair.

JULE PUGH, VICTIM: You just wonder why me. You know, why me?

MATTINGLY: Windows, doors, even brick walls are missing. Not a single piece of furniture is left. All of it, taken by a hurricane more devastating than anyone imagined.

I didn't even see any furniture out in the front yard. Where did it go?

J. PUGH: Well, I've -- we've been looking for it.

K. PUGH: I don't know. When we left, we tried to get everything up as high as we could. You know, we tried to get it off the floor if we could, but we haven't even seen our couches.

MATTINGLY (on camera): The storm surge was so powerful, it tore through these homes and took everyone's belongings to who knows where? Here at the Pugh's home, for example, this is their bathtub. No one put it here. This is where the storm left it.

As for their appliances, they're across the street. On the curb over there, that's their dryer. Their refrigerator is actually a few yards back behind their neighbor's house.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): No house in this waterfront neighborhood was spared. Those on stilts fared only slightly better. Next door to the Pughs, it now takes a ladder to get into the house. Inside, Ginny Bryant finds that her furniture stayed, but it's ruined. So is the carpet and the ceiling.

GINNY BRYANT, FLOOD VICTIM: We'll probably have to bulldoze it down. And -- but it'll be now just a lot because we won't rebuild. MATTINGLY: The Pughs won't rebuild either. When they evacuated, they took three days worth of clothes, photographs and papers. What they didn't take, they lost. The only thing they have to do now is fall back on their sense of humor.

K, PUGH: So what we're going to do now is we're going to wait for insurance. And then we're going to...

S. PUGH: Go to Australia for six months.

MATTINGLY: David Mattingly, CNN, Navar, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Well, in addition to the widespread damage, Ivan claimed 25 lives in five southeastern states. A big story that we've been covering.

We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It's the mob against the White House at tomorrow's night's Emmys. Conventional wisdom says "The Sopranos" will again try to topple "The West Wing" for best dramatic series. But it's the best comedy category that has our attention tonight.

CNN's Sabila Vargas has been talking to the cast of "Will and Grace," a big contender for that award.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SABILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the cast of Will and Grace has certainly got a lot to celebrate. They're up for seven nominations, including comedy series. They just rolled out a new season. And now they're taking the music world by storm with a new CD.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL: What the hell?

(laughter)

GRACE: Give us a minute.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: Well, let's talk about your Emmy nomination. Congratulations again. Five consecutive years. What is it? What's the secret?

MEGAN MULLALLY, "KAREN WALKER": Well I do think we have...

DEBRA MESSING, "GRACE ADLER": Good writing. MULLALLY: ...really good writing. Really good comedy writing. And I'd put it up against any other comedy writing, television or film. And consistently funny and good.

VARGAS: After a while, do you just kind of say, you know what? Been there, done that? I don't need another Emmy on my mantle. Let's be honest.

MESSING: No.

ERIC MCCORMACK, "WILL TRUMAN": Everybody needs another one. It's just kind of gravy though. I mean, it's -- there is a certain -- for me, anyway, there's a sense of like OK, I achieved that. If it doesn't happen again, that's -- I'm OK with it. It'd be nice if it did. It'd be great, but it's not crucial.

MULLALLY: It's just -- you know what it is? It's just nice. It's flattering. It's a great recognition for all of us on the show and all -- you know, everybody who works so hard on the show.

SEAN HAYES, "JACK MCFARLAND": It keeps the morale up. You know, we all feel very -- when we go back to work, we feel confident and font and like we're still doing the right thing.

MCCORMACK: It's nice to be invited to the parties.

MESSING: I think it's against an actor's DNA to actually expect adulation or any sort of...

MCCORMACK: Yes, you almost expect the opposite.

VARGAS: Talk to me about the CD. It seems very fabulous. Music seems to be very important to all of you? I mean, that's something that not -- I mean if you watch the show, OK, you know that music is definitely has an influence.

MCCORMACK: I think if you're on the set for long enough, you'll eventually hear all of us sing something stupid. I mean, we just naturally -- it's just...

MESSING: Every week, at some point.

MCCORMACK: Part of the way we rehearse is we're just very silly with each other. We allow ourselves to goof around. And a lot of that's singing.

VARGAS: Do you think perhaps that is one of the secrets why you guys are so great together?

MULLALLY: I think that does have a lot to do with it. Yes, we all have the same feel...

MESSING: We do.

MULLALLY: ...for the timing of the words. MCCORMACK: Yes, the writers write a very certain way, but they give us each our own sort of voice. And it kind of like a real quartet of instruments.

VARGAS: And you can buy the CD. "Will and Grace," let the music out at record stores. And of course, the whole cast will be here tomorrow at the 56th annual Emmy Awards.

Back to you, Carol.

LIN: All right, our thanks to Sabila Vargas, who is going to be covering the Emmys for us. Now for a complete list of the Emmy nominations and profiles of the nominees, be sure to long on to cnn.com/entertainment.

And that's all the time we have tonight. We leave you now with your responses to tonight's last call question. Should you pay higher or a higher insurance premium to help disaster zones rebuild?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLER: I already pay enough premiums for the state that I live in. If you choose to move in areas where it's at high risk, then you need to be responsible for ensuring that you have the insurance that you need.

CALLER: I'm not going to pay for million dollar homes to be rebuilt on the ocean, where they don't belong.

CALLER: It is for rich people. It is a luxury. And it is unreasonable.

CALLER: Yes, I think we should. The insurance business is a business. They're not in the charity business. They're a very wealthy business, but I do believe that the consumers have to pay the price. And who else is there to pay?

CALLER: They chose to live in that area around the water and so forth. And if we in Ohio would get hit, we would expect to do our own insurance rates. And no, I do not think we should.

CALLER: Yes, I think we should. It's all of our responsibilities to do it. We really should do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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