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American Morning
Eye on Hurricanes; 'The State of the Union'; Hostage Crisis
Aired September 24, 2004 - 9:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The last of Ivan now dying in Texas. His second time around, though, nothing like the first. But it was a rainmaker.
The name they're worried about now is Jeanne. That hurricane may be just days away from hitting Florida again.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi prime minister here in the U.S., triggering all kinds of political recoil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was appalled at the complete lack of respect Senator Kerry showed for this man of courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Thirty-nine days to go before the election 2004. How do the shifting poll numbers change the look of the electoral map? The red states versus the blue states on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right. Good morning everyone. Nine o'clock here in New York. I'm Bill Hemmer, along with Heidi Collins, in for Soledad.
Good morning to you as well.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: Going to get back to this whole story in Iraq, the excruciating videotape and the stories of hostages throughout the week, Americans beheaded there. We'll talk with Jesse Jackson this hour. He has worked in the past on hostage negotiations.
There was a suggestion earlier in the week about negotiating on this front, quickly dashed by Ayad Allawi. We'll talk about what can happen in cases like these that we're seeing now in Iraq today.
COLLINS: All right. Tough situations for sure.
Also, Kelly Wallace has the final part of her series on election year issues. This morning it is health care. Tens of millions of people are without health insurance, so we're going to look at what each candidate says he will do to change that situation.
HEMMER: In the meantime, here's Jack again.
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, sir.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, asset or liability to the John Kerry presidential campaign? AM@CNN.com.
HEMMER: Stirred it up today, didn't you?
CAFFERTY: Yes, a little bit.
HEMMER: I know you did.
Back to Kelly Wallace now. Top of the news, top of the hour here.
Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all.
Good morning, everyone.
A new director is set to take over the CIA. Nominee Porter Goss arrived at the White House a short while ago. His swearing-in ceremony is set to get under way in the Oval Office any moment now. And, of course, President Bush is there, and is expected to take part in that ceremony.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi is meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld this hour. They are discussing the security situation in Iraq this morning. The meeting comes just a day after Secretary Rumsfeld suggested that parts of Iraq might be excluded from elections set for January due to rising violence in the country.
A bill extending three popular middle class tax cuts awaits President Bush's seal of approval. The $146 billion package easily passed through Congress yesterday. The president has pledged to sign it into law. It is the fourth major tax relief package of the Bush administration.
And the Senate has approved up to $680 million for the Darfur region of Sudan. Most of the money will be transferred from an $18 billion fund earmarked for the rebuilding of Iraq. Ethnic violence in the African nation has left 90,000 dead and over a million people homeless.
It's a tough, tough situation there.
A quick look at the headlines. Back to Heidi and Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Kelly. Thanks for that.
Here we go again, folks. In Florida, bracing for yet another storm there. This time it is Jeanne in the Atlantic.
Residents along the state's east coast know the drill by now, and all too well. Stock up on the supplies, seal up the windows. A hurricane watch in effect from Florida City to St. Augustine.
It was Tropical Storm Jeanne that caused massive flooding in Haiti. This is a satellite image before Jeanne hit. Here's what the town of Gonaives looks like now.
More than 1,000 Haitians have died, mostly due to flooding there. More than 1,000 others are listed as missing. The death toll, we are told, could top 2,000 in the coming days.
And despite, survivors have been fighting each other to get emergency supplies. Riot police have been called in now to help with that.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., remnants of what was once Hurricane Ivan drenching Texas and Louisiana, causing some flooding in parts. Hurricane Ivan killed at least 100 people in the Caribbean and here in the U.S. as well. And that means yet another busy weekend for the folks in Florida, and Chad Myers.
Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, of course. Good morning, Bill.
This is going to be a very difficult storm to forecast, as it already has been. It already did a loop out here in the Atlantic. But as it approaches Florida, it's going to make a hard right turn.
If it makes it early enough it will stay offshore. That's not likely. But as it turns, it could actually hug the shore all the way up even into the Carolinas.
Obviously, Jeanne down there, Lisa, and a couple storms in between. Zoom in to Jeanne, it's the most important storm we have right now, obviously.
It's a little bit of a circulation problem here in the morning hours. Losing a little bit of its identity of an eye. That's good news. Every time we lose the eye we probably lose a little intensity.
Winds still forecast to be 100 this afternoon. But I think those winds are down. They're sending out a Hunter aircraft -- a hurricane Hunter aircraft later on today to figure that out.
The forecast winds, though, do get higher as it approaches Florida. And yes, this has been a very active season. Oh, my gosh. And it could get worse even before it gets better.
Here's an explanation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS (voice-over): Ivan, Frances, Charley and Jeanne, sounds like a school house lineup, but these storms were anything but child's play. They've killed hundreds, cost billions, crippled communities, and crushed spirits. And experts say coastal residents should brace themselves. Weather like this may be around for a while.
CHRIS LANDSEA, NOAA, HURRICANE RESEARCH DIV.: We've been in a busy period since 1995, and it's part of a long-term cycle where we go back to busy conditions for about 25 to 40 years.
MYERS: He's referring to what's called a storm cycle, a climatic condition characterized by more active or less active hurricane seasons. And this one is packing a punch.
Although experts don't have all the answers, they compare historic storm, sea surface temperatures and other records to current data. And then try to predict how long that cycle will last and how severe a storm season will be.
They found that the 19 named storms that defined the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season churned through the warmest regional ocean temperatures in recorded history. That hot event was the start of a very active phase in this storm cycle, marked by stronger and more frequent storms than in decades past. And if the 2004 hurricane season is an indication what have this storm cycle has in store, it looks like the Caribbean and U.S. coastal residents should prepare to face more wet, wild weather.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS: The warm water that we talked about in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and in the Gulf of Mexico, that's the fuel to the fire. That's the steam that gives off from the ocean.
You can see the humidity coming off the ocean, building into the hurricane. The hurricane uses that moisture to build itself. So the warmer the water, the more powerful the hurricane.
We don't get hurricanes in the winter, Bill, because the water's too cold. We get hurricanes obviously when the water's hot. And they're hot right now.
This hurricane is moving into 84-degree water tonight and tomorrow. That could make it strengthen even more.
HEMMER: And you've got a long time to go, too, in this season. It's not over yet.
MYERS: Right.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad, for that. Good series -- Heidi. COLLINS: Another hurricane of sorts. To politics now.
Today, we begin a weekly segment called "The State of the Union." We're looking at the political map and which states would go to President Bush and which would go to John Kerry if the election were held today.
CNN's newest research shows President Bush has pulled ahead in two key states, Iowa and New Hampshire, giving him 33 states, the red states, and 301 electoral votes, more than enough to win the election. Iowa's seven electoral votes had been up for grabs. But this week's CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll shows the president has opened a six percentage point lead on Senator John Kerry.
Last August, the numbers, though, were just the opposite. The president has solidified his leads in West Virginia and Nevada, which together have 10 electoral votes.
And in Florida, CNN's poll shows George Bush up by three percentage points among likely voters. The Quinnipiac University poll also released today showed the president eight percentage points ahead of Senator Kerry among Florida's registered voters.
The Kerry campaign clearly using Iraq as an issue now, trying to regain strength in the polls. But the White House leaves no attack unchallenged. Yesterday, Senator Kerry and Vice President Cheney exchanged words over the optimistic view presented by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy. But the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground oppositions and the troops all tell a different story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: I was appalled at the complete lack of respect Senator Kerry showed for this man of courage when he rushed out to hold a press conference and attack the prime minister, the man America must stand beside to defeat the terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: For more now, let's go to Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.
Suzanne, some people call it bickering, some people call it fighting words.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, really the president has a delicate balancing act that he's engaged in. On the one hand, he recognizes he has to acknowledge the difficulties on the ground in Iraq. But at the same time, project and promote optimism that the U.S., as well as Iraq, are on the right course.
It was just yesterday that the president used the prime minister of Iraq, Ayad Allawi, here at the White House to try to help and make that case. The president taking on his opponent's charges, making the case that he has not misled the American people, that he has not engaged in a war of choice, but rather he said it was a critical front in the war on terror, and that this Iraq policy is not a colossal failure, as his opponent has said.
Now, this is something that the president is going to take on the road. He did so yesterday in a quick stop in Maine. He is going to be today in Wisconsin.
This is a traditionally Democratic state. The president is going to be hitting two areas that have high unemployment rates, much higher than the national average.
Janesville, he lost badly in that area, has an unemployment rate of about eight percent. We're seeing seven percent.
These are places where the president thinks he can make some inroads, however, and the polls showing that it's rather close. I should also let you know, as well, Heidi, he's going to be heading off to the Crawford ranch. That is where he's going to be practicing his debating skills for Thursday. That's when he squares off face to face with Senator Kerry in Miami.
COLLINS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much for that from the White House this morning. And you mentioned senator Kerry. He will give more details on his plan to fight the war on terror this morning. That's coming up at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, live right here on CNN -- Bill.
HEMMER: Heidi, in a moment here, fall is here, school is in session, and some kids and teachers are getting help online. It's part of our "Extra Effort" segment we'll get to a bit later this hour.
COLLINS: Also ahead, more comments, more controversy from Teresa Heinz Kerry. We'll tell you what she said this time.
HEMMER: And Jesse Jackson, success in the past with POWs and hostages and getting them freed. Could he do the same in Iraq? And should he? We'll talk to him after the break on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The British government says it is doing all it can to save the hostage Kenneth Bigley. But Prime Minister Tony Blair insists there will be no negotiations with Iraqi terrorists.
Bigley, seen on a Web site pleading with the Prime Minister Blair to save him from the fate of his two other American companions who were beheaded earlier this week. Overnight, Bigley's 86-year-old mother collapsed and was rushed to the hospital hours after an emotional appeal that she made to the kidnappers to free her son.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson making a personal appeal for the release of Kenneth Bigley. Reverend Jackson's had some success in the past over the years for matters like these. He's here to talk about the situation ongoing now in Iraq.
And good morning.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, APPEALING TO HOSTAGE-TAKERS: Good morning.
HEMMER: Thanks for your time today.
This situation is different from where you've been involved in the past. In the past, we have seen traditional wars being fought and traditional negotiations. Would you wade into Fallujah on matters like these?
JACKSON: Well, when Mr. Hamill was there from Mississippi, we made a moral appeal through Al Jazeera and through BBC. And he said he was released, when he called me, that the captors had seen it on CNN.
They actually expected me to come. I did not go only because I did not know where to go to. We brought Americans home from Cuba and Syria and Yugoslavia.
HEMMER: Yugoslavia.
JACKSON: And we knew with whom to negotiate. Here we don't. So all we can do now is to do as the pope and others are doing, is to make moral appeals to whomever it may concern.
HEMMER: There are a number of people who have a variance of opinions on this. Listen to Ayad Allawi, what he said yesterday at the White House regarding this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: I know it is difficult, but the coalition must stand firm. When governments negotiate with terrorists, everyone in the free world suffers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Everyone in the free world suffers. If you negotiate with one, you put others at danger. Do you agree with that?
JACKSON: No. You know, I don't agree with what Putin did by rushing to kill the people in Russia, for example.
When South Africa was a terrorist state, we negotiated. We called it constructive engagement. Right during the height of when Reagan was calling Russia an evil empire, the embassy in Washington we were negotiating.
So what's to this not talking with? If your neighbor's over a fence and someone has a hatchet, talking is your only weapon.
It would be wrong to agree with the terrorists, but it would be foolish to not talk with whoever has the hatchet and your life is at stake. And so whether this is through a front line negotiation or back backwater, it is morally right and sensible to appeal to those who have the odds, who have the weapons to spare someone's life.
HEMMER: There has been no negotiating. And the president said that, the military said that, Ayad Allawi has said that. With the circumstances we are seeing every day, why would they listen to a Jesse Jackson?
JACKSON: Well, I do not know, except the moral appeal has a way of getting through. And I recognize that there's a lot of pain on both sides. And that such angst toward our government -- and why were they listening to the pope, why were they're listening to imams? A number of forces are reaching out.
I do not understand the politics of not talking. And even sometimes we can make mistakes.
We've been a big controversy here, Bill, where Dan Rather got some bad -- a bad source and rushed to the camera, and had to apologize. President Bush got bad source, Chalabi. The CIA and FBI rushed to war.
He's not apologized. Both of them rushed. And both of them made the mistake. But where do we balance off this behavior?
HEMMER: If I could, though, at the beginning, you said a moral appeal. Where's the morality in beheading of an innocent person who's being held now?
JACKSON: There is no morality in killing a person. It is morally right to appeal for them not to kill another person. That's where the morality comes in. And hopefully there's some -- some scepter of humanity there.
You know, we had no-talk policy essentially toward (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and toward Milosevic and towards Saddam Hussein. And yet, as a non-government person, I was able to appeal to them.
It was in their interest not to use the soldiers in Iraq, the soldiers in Yugoslavia, or the women in Iraq as focus (ph). It was an appeal, the reason -- and they heard the appeal and they were released. And so negotiation works in ways no talk never does. I hope this man's life is spared.
HEMMER: It's certainly worth talking about. Good to see you, Reverend. Jesse Jackson here in New York.
JACKSON: Thank you, sir.
HEMMER: We'll talk again -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, Kelly Wallace brings us the final part of a weeklong series, "Promises, Promises."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE (voice-over): Who has the prescription to cure health care in America? Both candidates say they can lower costs and help patients. But can they turn the promises into reality? "Promises, Promises" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Jack's back, and the "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.
We haven't heard a lot from her since she made that famous "shove it" comment to the reporter right before the Democratic convention. But she's back now. And she's talking about the issues.
For example, she thinks Osama bin Laden might get caught sometime next month just in time for the election. She says she's embarrassed about getting tax cuts that were advocated by President Bush.
Ironically, her husband could have voted against extending those yesterday, but instead, he didn't vote at all, either for or against. But we digress.
Here's the question: Is Mrs. John Kerry, Teresa Heinz, helping or hurting her husband's campaign?
Mary Ann in Newport News, Virginia, "Jack, of course Teresa's a plus. At least when she speaks you know it's honest. I'm sick and tired of plastic Laura. Give me a gal that's confident enough to speak her mind and let the chips fall where they may. Honesty in government, how refreshing."
Ed in Lowell, Massachusetts, "I look at Teresa Kerry as a rich, spoiled child. As such, she should be seen and not heard."
Rex in Fort Wayne, Indiana, "For all thinking people, she's helping the campaign, because she demonstrates in so many ways that she's an independent woman who has thoughts and ideas of her own. For those that think women should be in the kitchen baking cookies, her comments probably hurt the campaign."
And finally, my man Dave over there in Japan, where, by the way, we are on in primetime, and we ought to be on in primetime here as well, "The truth is" -- this from Dave -- "The truth is, I don't know enough about her to pass judgment. But this is 'The Cafferty File,' so here goes."
"The only way she could do more harm to her husband's campaign is if she had a wardrobe malfunction while singing a duet of the French national anthem with Muqtada al-Sadr. And besides that, her name's too long."
Thank you, Dave. COLLINS: I think he thought about that one for a long time.
CAFFERTY: Dave is one of our more creative pen pals.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes.
CAFFERTY: Got about a dozen of them out there that are pretty damn sharp when it comes to writing these e-mails.
COLLINS: All right, Jack. Thanks so much for that.
You know, we've probably all thought about it once or twice, running away with the circus. But a chance to do just that.
Well, Cirque du Soleil, you may have seen this very popular group in Vegas or one of their world renowned traveling shows. So we're focusing on Cirque this weekend on "People in the News."
We'll take you to the world training facility in Montreal, and to Vegas, as Cirque celebrates their 20th anniversary. And here now, a sneak peek under the big top at the trapeze in Alegria.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS (voice-over): The mobile village is anchored by the Grand Chapiteau, the Big Top. Valued at $1 million, it seats 2,500 people within its imposing dome design.
Nearby are wardrobe, tour offices, laundry utilities, a school, everything needed on the road. Even a gourmet kitchen and dining area, created by popping open four 48-foot trucks.
Gaston Ali (ph) has been traveling with Alegria for five years. He is one of the 550 artists performing worldwide for Cirque du Soleil. A trapeze artist from Argentina, he has only known a circus life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father was a trapeze artist. My grandfather was a trapeze artist. So I think it would be in the blood, pretty much.
COLLINS (on camera): Tell me about the day that you auditioned or tried out for Cirque du Soleil. I mean, how does that work? How did that go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it was back in '97. I was working in Rio de Janeiro, and Cirque was looking for people. And I said to my family, "I want to try."
COLLINS (voice-over): After Gaston (ph) was chosen, the hard part was just beginning. The high-flying artists must practice for hours every day. He says he's never afraid, but the nerves are still there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every show it cause for me butterfly in my stomach. You know, just the last two tricks are the hardest ones to do. And so we do a flip and we have to catch the trapeze. But it has to be very precise, because you don't know when the trapeze is going to go away and you're going to fall off.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And be sure to catch "People in the News" for a complete look at Cirque du Soleil. That's tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, with encore showings -- yes, encore showings -- at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Saturday and 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
CAFFERTY: You speak the French?
COLLINS: Do a little French when you go there.
CAFFERTY: That's pretty cool stuff.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: They do things that are not humanly possible, and they should be downright illegal.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: You should see a show.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Are you saying they don't have a net under that trapeze even when he's practicing?
COLLINS: No, no. Hard-as-rock stage.
CAFFERTY: Wow. Man. I mean, that's the star of the show. That's an asset. And if he slipped and fell they could be out of business.
HEMMER: That's an asset.
CAFFERTY: Why don't they just put that mat up there?
COLLINS: Yes, well, they have him all wired up so that if they do fall...
CAFFERTY: Oh, OK. He's got the safety harness on?
COLLINS: Yes, but don't tell anybody. OK, we have to go.
Still to come, your Friday morning dose of '90-Second Pop." A small screen makeover for Martha Stewart. The domestic diva turns to the guru of reality TV.
Plus, it's Bennifer, version 2.0 coming up as AMERICAN MORNING rolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 24, 2004 - 9:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. The last of Ivan now dying in Texas. His second time around, though, nothing like the first. But it was a rainmaker.
The name they're worried about now is Jeanne. That hurricane may be just days away from hitting Florida again.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi prime minister here in the U.S., triggering all kinds of political recoil.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was appalled at the complete lack of respect Senator Kerry showed for this man of courage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Thirty-nine days to go before the election 2004. How do the shifting poll numbers change the look of the electoral map? The red states versus the blue states on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
HEMMER: All right. Good morning everyone. Nine o'clock here in New York. I'm Bill Hemmer, along with Heidi Collins, in for Soledad.
Good morning to you as well.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
HEMMER: Going to get back to this whole story in Iraq, the excruciating videotape and the stories of hostages throughout the week, Americans beheaded there. We'll talk with Jesse Jackson this hour. He has worked in the past on hostage negotiations.
There was a suggestion earlier in the week about negotiating on this front, quickly dashed by Ayad Allawi. We'll talk about what can happen in cases like these that we're seeing now in Iraq today.
COLLINS: All right. Tough situations for sure.
Also, Kelly Wallace has the final part of her series on election year issues. This morning it is health care. Tens of millions of people are without health insurance, so we're going to look at what each candidate says he will do to change that situation.
HEMMER: In the meantime, here's Jack again.
Good morning.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, sir.
Teresa Heinz Kerry, asset or liability to the John Kerry presidential campaign? AM@CNN.com.
HEMMER: Stirred it up today, didn't you?
CAFFERTY: Yes, a little bit.
HEMMER: I know you did.
Back to Kelly Wallace now. Top of the news, top of the hour here.
Kelly, good morning.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you all.
Good morning, everyone.
A new director is set to take over the CIA. Nominee Porter Goss arrived at the White House a short while ago. His swearing-in ceremony is set to get under way in the Oval Office any moment now. And, of course, President Bush is there, and is expected to take part in that ceremony.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi is meeting with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld this hour. They are discussing the security situation in Iraq this morning. The meeting comes just a day after Secretary Rumsfeld suggested that parts of Iraq might be excluded from elections set for January due to rising violence in the country.
A bill extending three popular middle class tax cuts awaits President Bush's seal of approval. The $146 billion package easily passed through Congress yesterday. The president has pledged to sign it into law. It is the fourth major tax relief package of the Bush administration.
And the Senate has approved up to $680 million for the Darfur region of Sudan. Most of the money will be transferred from an $18 billion fund earmarked for the rebuilding of Iraq. Ethnic violence in the African nation has left 90,000 dead and over a million people homeless.
It's a tough, tough situation there.
A quick look at the headlines. Back to Heidi and Bill.
HEMMER: All right, Kelly. Thanks for that.
Here we go again, folks. In Florida, bracing for yet another storm there. This time it is Jeanne in the Atlantic.
Residents along the state's east coast know the drill by now, and all too well. Stock up on the supplies, seal up the windows. A hurricane watch in effect from Florida City to St. Augustine.
It was Tropical Storm Jeanne that caused massive flooding in Haiti. This is a satellite image before Jeanne hit. Here's what the town of Gonaives looks like now.
More than 1,000 Haitians have died, mostly due to flooding there. More than 1,000 others are listed as missing. The death toll, we are told, could top 2,000 in the coming days.
And despite, survivors have been fighting each other to get emergency supplies. Riot police have been called in now to help with that.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., remnants of what was once Hurricane Ivan drenching Texas and Louisiana, causing some flooding in parts. Hurricane Ivan killed at least 100 people in the Caribbean and here in the U.S. as well. And that means yet another busy weekend for the folks in Florida, and Chad Myers.
Chad, good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, of course. Good morning, Bill.
This is going to be a very difficult storm to forecast, as it already has been. It already did a loop out here in the Atlantic. But as it approaches Florida, it's going to make a hard right turn.
If it makes it early enough it will stay offshore. That's not likely. But as it turns, it could actually hug the shore all the way up even into the Carolinas.
Obviously, Jeanne down there, Lisa, and a couple storms in between. Zoom in to Jeanne, it's the most important storm we have right now, obviously.
It's a little bit of a circulation problem here in the morning hours. Losing a little bit of its identity of an eye. That's good news. Every time we lose the eye we probably lose a little intensity.
Winds still forecast to be 100 this afternoon. But I think those winds are down. They're sending out a Hunter aircraft -- a hurricane Hunter aircraft later on today to figure that out.
The forecast winds, though, do get higher as it approaches Florida. And yes, this has been a very active season. Oh, my gosh. And it could get worse even before it gets better.
Here's an explanation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS (voice-over): Ivan, Frances, Charley and Jeanne, sounds like a school house lineup, but these storms were anything but child's play. They've killed hundreds, cost billions, crippled communities, and crushed spirits. And experts say coastal residents should brace themselves. Weather like this may be around for a while.
CHRIS LANDSEA, NOAA, HURRICANE RESEARCH DIV.: We've been in a busy period since 1995, and it's part of a long-term cycle where we go back to busy conditions for about 25 to 40 years.
MYERS: He's referring to what's called a storm cycle, a climatic condition characterized by more active or less active hurricane seasons. And this one is packing a punch.
Although experts don't have all the answers, they compare historic storm, sea surface temperatures and other records to current data. And then try to predict how long that cycle will last and how severe a storm season will be.
They found that the 19 named storms that defined the 1995 Atlantic hurricane season churned through the warmest regional ocean temperatures in recorded history. That hot event was the start of a very active phase in this storm cycle, marked by stronger and more frequent storms than in decades past. And if the 2004 hurricane season is an indication what have this storm cycle has in store, it looks like the Caribbean and U.S. coastal residents should prepare to face more wet, wild weather.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MYERS: The warm water that we talked about in the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and in the Gulf of Mexico, that's the fuel to the fire. That's the steam that gives off from the ocean.
You can see the humidity coming off the ocean, building into the hurricane. The hurricane uses that moisture to build itself. So the warmer the water, the more powerful the hurricane.
We don't get hurricanes in the winter, Bill, because the water's too cold. We get hurricanes obviously when the water's hot. And they're hot right now.
This hurricane is moving into 84-degree water tonight and tomorrow. That could make it strengthen even more.
HEMMER: And you've got a long time to go, too, in this season. It's not over yet.
MYERS: Right.
HEMMER: Thank you, Chad, for that. Good series -- Heidi. COLLINS: Another hurricane of sorts. To politics now.
Today, we begin a weekly segment called "The State of the Union." We're looking at the political map and which states would go to President Bush and which would go to John Kerry if the election were held today.
CNN's newest research shows President Bush has pulled ahead in two key states, Iowa and New Hampshire, giving him 33 states, the red states, and 301 electoral votes, more than enough to win the election. Iowa's seven electoral votes had been up for grabs. But this week's CNN-"USA Today"-Gallup poll shows the president has opened a six percentage point lead on Senator John Kerry.
Last August, the numbers, though, were just the opposite. The president has solidified his leads in West Virginia and Nevada, which together have 10 electoral votes.
And in Florida, CNN's poll shows George Bush up by three percentage points among likely voters. The Quinnipiac University poll also released today showed the president eight percentage points ahead of Senator Kerry among Florida's registered voters.
The Kerry campaign clearly using Iraq as an issue now, trying to regain strength in the polls. But the White House leaves no attack unchallenged. Yesterday, Senator Kerry and Vice President Cheney exchanged words over the optimistic view presented by President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KERRY: The prime minister and the president are here obviously to put their best face on the policy. But the fact is that the CIA estimates, the reporting, the ground oppositions and the troops all tell a different story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: I was appalled at the complete lack of respect Senator Kerry showed for this man of courage when he rushed out to hold a press conference and attack the prime minister, the man America must stand beside to defeat the terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: For more now, let's go to Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.
Suzanne, some people call it bickering, some people call it fighting words.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, really the president has a delicate balancing act that he's engaged in. On the one hand, he recognizes he has to acknowledge the difficulties on the ground in Iraq. But at the same time, project and promote optimism that the U.S., as well as Iraq, are on the right course.
It was just yesterday that the president used the prime minister of Iraq, Ayad Allawi, here at the White House to try to help and make that case. The president taking on his opponent's charges, making the case that he has not misled the American people, that he has not engaged in a war of choice, but rather he said it was a critical front in the war on terror, and that this Iraq policy is not a colossal failure, as his opponent has said.
Now, this is something that the president is going to take on the road. He did so yesterday in a quick stop in Maine. He is going to be today in Wisconsin.
This is a traditionally Democratic state. The president is going to be hitting two areas that have high unemployment rates, much higher than the national average.
Janesville, he lost badly in that area, has an unemployment rate of about eight percent. We're seeing seven percent.
These are places where the president thinks he can make some inroads, however, and the polls showing that it's rather close. I should also let you know, as well, Heidi, he's going to be heading off to the Crawford ranch. That is where he's going to be practicing his debating skills for Thursday. That's when he squares off face to face with Senator Kerry in Miami.
COLLINS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much for that from the White House this morning. And you mentioned senator Kerry. He will give more details on his plan to fight the war on terror this morning. That's coming up at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, live right here on CNN -- Bill.
HEMMER: Heidi, in a moment here, fall is here, school is in session, and some kids and teachers are getting help online. It's part of our "Extra Effort" segment we'll get to a bit later this hour.
COLLINS: Also ahead, more comments, more controversy from Teresa Heinz Kerry. We'll tell you what she said this time.
HEMMER: And Jesse Jackson, success in the past with POWs and hostages and getting them freed. Could he do the same in Iraq? And should he? We'll talk to him after the break on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HEMMER: The British government says it is doing all it can to save the hostage Kenneth Bigley. But Prime Minister Tony Blair insists there will be no negotiations with Iraqi terrorists.
Bigley, seen on a Web site pleading with the Prime Minister Blair to save him from the fate of his two other American companions who were beheaded earlier this week. Overnight, Bigley's 86-year-old mother collapsed and was rushed to the hospital hours after an emotional appeal that she made to the kidnappers to free her son.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson making a personal appeal for the release of Kenneth Bigley. Reverend Jackson's had some success in the past over the years for matters like these. He's here to talk about the situation ongoing now in Iraq.
And good morning.
REV. JESSE JACKSON, APPEALING TO HOSTAGE-TAKERS: Good morning.
HEMMER: Thanks for your time today.
This situation is different from where you've been involved in the past. In the past, we have seen traditional wars being fought and traditional negotiations. Would you wade into Fallujah on matters like these?
JACKSON: Well, when Mr. Hamill was there from Mississippi, we made a moral appeal through Al Jazeera and through BBC. And he said he was released, when he called me, that the captors had seen it on CNN.
They actually expected me to come. I did not go only because I did not know where to go to. We brought Americans home from Cuba and Syria and Yugoslavia.
HEMMER: Yugoslavia.
JACKSON: And we knew with whom to negotiate. Here we don't. So all we can do now is to do as the pope and others are doing, is to make moral appeals to whomever it may concern.
HEMMER: There are a number of people who have a variance of opinions on this. Listen to Ayad Allawi, what he said yesterday at the White House regarding this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYAD ALLAWI, INTERIM IRAQI PRIME MINISTER: I know it is difficult, but the coalition must stand firm. When governments negotiate with terrorists, everyone in the free world suffers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Everyone in the free world suffers. If you negotiate with one, you put others at danger. Do you agree with that?
JACKSON: No. You know, I don't agree with what Putin did by rushing to kill the people in Russia, for example.
When South Africa was a terrorist state, we negotiated. We called it constructive engagement. Right during the height of when Reagan was calling Russia an evil empire, the embassy in Washington we were negotiating.
So what's to this not talking with? If your neighbor's over a fence and someone has a hatchet, talking is your only weapon.
It would be wrong to agree with the terrorists, but it would be foolish to not talk with whoever has the hatchet and your life is at stake. And so whether this is through a front line negotiation or back backwater, it is morally right and sensible to appeal to those who have the odds, who have the weapons to spare someone's life.
HEMMER: There has been no negotiating. And the president said that, the military said that, Ayad Allawi has said that. With the circumstances we are seeing every day, why would they listen to a Jesse Jackson?
JACKSON: Well, I do not know, except the moral appeal has a way of getting through. And I recognize that there's a lot of pain on both sides. And that such angst toward our government -- and why were they listening to the pope, why were they're listening to imams? A number of forces are reaching out.
I do not understand the politics of not talking. And even sometimes we can make mistakes.
We've been a big controversy here, Bill, where Dan Rather got some bad -- a bad source and rushed to the camera, and had to apologize. President Bush got bad source, Chalabi. The CIA and FBI rushed to war.
He's not apologized. Both of them rushed. And both of them made the mistake. But where do we balance off this behavior?
HEMMER: If I could, though, at the beginning, you said a moral appeal. Where's the morality in beheading of an innocent person who's being held now?
JACKSON: There is no morality in killing a person. It is morally right to appeal for them not to kill another person. That's where the morality comes in. And hopefully there's some -- some scepter of humanity there.
You know, we had no-talk policy essentially toward (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and toward Milosevic and towards Saddam Hussein. And yet, as a non-government person, I was able to appeal to them.
It was in their interest not to use the soldiers in Iraq, the soldiers in Yugoslavia, or the women in Iraq as focus (ph). It was an appeal, the reason -- and they heard the appeal and they were released. And so negotiation works in ways no talk never does. I hope this man's life is spared.
HEMMER: It's certainly worth talking about. Good to see you, Reverend. Jesse Jackson here in New York.
JACKSON: Thank you, sir.
HEMMER: We'll talk again -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come this morning, Kelly Wallace brings us the final part of a weeklong series, "Promises, Promises."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE (voice-over): Who has the prescription to cure health care in America? Both candidates say they can lower costs and help patients. But can they turn the promises into reality? "Promises, Promises" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Jack's back, and the "Question of the Day."
CAFFERTY: Thanks, Heidi.
We haven't heard a lot from her since she made that famous "shove it" comment to the reporter right before the Democratic convention. But she's back now. And she's talking about the issues.
For example, she thinks Osama bin Laden might get caught sometime next month just in time for the election. She says she's embarrassed about getting tax cuts that were advocated by President Bush.
Ironically, her husband could have voted against extending those yesterday, but instead, he didn't vote at all, either for or against. But we digress.
Here's the question: Is Mrs. John Kerry, Teresa Heinz, helping or hurting her husband's campaign?
Mary Ann in Newport News, Virginia, "Jack, of course Teresa's a plus. At least when she speaks you know it's honest. I'm sick and tired of plastic Laura. Give me a gal that's confident enough to speak her mind and let the chips fall where they may. Honesty in government, how refreshing."
Ed in Lowell, Massachusetts, "I look at Teresa Kerry as a rich, spoiled child. As such, she should be seen and not heard."
Rex in Fort Wayne, Indiana, "For all thinking people, she's helping the campaign, because she demonstrates in so many ways that she's an independent woman who has thoughts and ideas of her own. For those that think women should be in the kitchen baking cookies, her comments probably hurt the campaign."
And finally, my man Dave over there in Japan, where, by the way, we are on in primetime, and we ought to be on in primetime here as well, "The truth is" -- this from Dave -- "The truth is, I don't know enough about her to pass judgment. But this is 'The Cafferty File,' so here goes."
"The only way she could do more harm to her husband's campaign is if she had a wardrobe malfunction while singing a duet of the French national anthem with Muqtada al-Sadr. And besides that, her name's too long."
Thank you, Dave. COLLINS: I think he thought about that one for a long time.
CAFFERTY: Dave is one of our more creative pen pals.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes.
CAFFERTY: Got about a dozen of them out there that are pretty damn sharp when it comes to writing these e-mails.
COLLINS: All right, Jack. Thanks so much for that.
You know, we've probably all thought about it once or twice, running away with the circus. But a chance to do just that.
Well, Cirque du Soleil, you may have seen this very popular group in Vegas or one of their world renowned traveling shows. So we're focusing on Cirque this weekend on "People in the News."
We'll take you to the world training facility in Montreal, and to Vegas, as Cirque celebrates their 20th anniversary. And here now, a sneak peek under the big top at the trapeze in Alegria.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS (voice-over): The mobile village is anchored by the Grand Chapiteau, the Big Top. Valued at $1 million, it seats 2,500 people within its imposing dome design.
Nearby are wardrobe, tour offices, laundry utilities, a school, everything needed on the road. Even a gourmet kitchen and dining area, created by popping open four 48-foot trucks.
Gaston Ali (ph) has been traveling with Alegria for five years. He is one of the 550 artists performing worldwide for Cirque du Soleil. A trapeze artist from Argentina, he has only known a circus life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father was a trapeze artist. My grandfather was a trapeze artist. So I think it would be in the blood, pretty much.
COLLINS (on camera): Tell me about the day that you auditioned or tried out for Cirque du Soleil. I mean, how does that work? How did that go?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it was back in '97. I was working in Rio de Janeiro, and Cirque was looking for people. And I said to my family, "I want to try."
COLLINS (voice-over): After Gaston (ph) was chosen, the hard part was just beginning. The high-flying artists must practice for hours every day. He says he's never afraid, but the nerves are still there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every show it cause for me butterfly in my stomach. You know, just the last two tricks are the hardest ones to do. And so we do a flip and we have to catch the trapeze. But it has to be very precise, because you don't know when the trapeze is going to go away and you're going to fall off.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And be sure to catch "People in the News" for a complete look at Cirque du Soleil. That's tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Eastern, with encore showings -- yes, encore showings -- at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Saturday and 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.
CAFFERTY: You speak the French?
COLLINS: Do a little French when you go there.
CAFFERTY: That's pretty cool stuff.
(CROSSTALK)
HEMMER: They do things that are not humanly possible, and they should be downright illegal.
(CROSSTALK)
COLLINS: You should see a show.
HEMMER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Are you saying they don't have a net under that trapeze even when he's practicing?
COLLINS: No, no. Hard-as-rock stage.
CAFFERTY: Wow. Man. I mean, that's the star of the show. That's an asset. And if he slipped and fell they could be out of business.
HEMMER: That's an asset.
CAFFERTY: Why don't they just put that mat up there?
COLLINS: Yes, well, they have him all wired up so that if they do fall...
CAFFERTY: Oh, OK. He's got the safety harness on?
COLLINS: Yes, but don't tell anybody. OK, we have to go.
Still to come, your Friday morning dose of '90-Second Pop." A small screen makeover for Martha Stewart. The domestic diva turns to the guru of reality TV.
Plus, it's Bennifer, version 2.0 coming up as AMERICAN MORNING rolls on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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