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California Taking a Pounding; Future of Iraq; Bush in Europe
Aired February 22, 2005 - 11:59 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. To our viewers, thanks very much for joining us.
Unfolding this hour here on NEWS FROM CNN, California taking a pounding. Right now, landslides, floods, tornadoes, even avalanches pummeling the Golden State. And the worst may not be over with yet. We're live on the story.
In Brussels, an American president in a European court. You'll get an international perspective on American diplomacy from NATO's secretary-general. He'll join me. And from journalists from France and Britain.
Also, a Shiite moderate emerging as Iraq's likely prime minister. This hour we'll have a live report from Baghdad. We'll also hear from a prominent Kurd; namely, Iraq's current foreign minister.
First, some other headlines "Now in the News."
A possible plot to kill the American president. A former high school valedictorian charged today in federal court with supporting al Qaeda and conspiring to assassinate President Bush. American Ahmed Abu Ali was detained in Saudi Arabia for nearly two years before being returned late last night to the United States. He was in court earlier today.
A battle over property now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Residents of New London, Connecticut, are fighting to keep their land. The city government wants it for private economic development and says it has the right to take it under the power of eminent domain.
Michael Jackson back in court in Santa Maria, California, for jury selection in his child molestation trial. The judge delayed proceedings one week ago after Jackson was briefly hospitalized with the flu. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to charges he molested a 13- year-old boy and gave him alcohol.
Among the most popular stories this hour on cnn.com, Chris Rock wants to clarify what he meant when he said, "Straight men don't watch the Oscars." Rock will host the Oscars for the first time this Sunday night.
Also popular on the Web, a developing story out of Texas. Police have arrested a man on charges of capital murder in connection with the disappearance of a pregnant woman and her son. The new developments coming up also this hour, within minutes, on this program. First to a saturated southern California, where conditions seem to be going from bad to worse. More storms on the horizon. Every hour more hillsides collapsing, homes teetering on the brink.
Hundreds of residents have been urged to grab what they can and simply get out. Already landslides have hit about half a dozen communities around Los Angeles, including Glendale. That's where CNN's Chris Lawrence is standing by to cover this story for us.
What's the latest, Chris?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you can't judge the situation here by the way it looks right this moment. Sure, you know, the sun's starting to peek out, it's dry right now. But a lot of the damage has already been done. It's been raining a lot this morning, and a lot of the ground has already been saturated with that water.
If you take a look up there, you can kind of see what I'm talking about. Even though it's clear right now, you can see that steady stream of water just running down the hill. It's been like that now for a few hours, because a lot of these slopes now are so soaked with water that they're very unstable. And when that rain starts up again, in the next hour or in a few hours, you can -- it's a good bet that that mud is going to start flowing down the hill again.
To give you an idea of just how powerful that can be, let's show you a little bit of the Highland Park area of Los Angeles County, where you can see that several homes are literally on the brink of sliding down the hills. One of the swimming pools there looks like it's just inches away from collapsing, also a patio in that area. That's because the soil there is very quickly slipping away.
Police have cordoned off and evacuated about four homes in that area. And right now they're trying to decide whether they should put a yellow tag on those homes, which means they would only have -- people would only have access to them during the daytime hours, or to red-tag them, meaning they would restrict access during all hours. Some of the people who live in these areas say, yes, they're used to seeing a little bit of rain in the wintertime, but nothing like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE REIDINGER, GLENDALE RESIDENT: It carries mud, trees, debris. We shoveled out the storm drains here on the street a couple of times because they would -- they would just get plugged up and then the water's got no place else to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Yes, that's what everybody's saying. They've come out here with shovels. Earlier today, people were right here in this neighborhood. Some of the work crews trying to move that mud out while they had a chance during the downtime like this, because they know that rain's going to come back and the mud's going to come. But the way that the storm is coming in waves, it's really hard for firefighters to predict how many more people may have to be evacuated -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Lawrence reporting for us from southern California. Chris, thanks very much.
So far this year, southern California has recorded, get this, nearly 32 inches of rain. Unfortunately for those folks, more is on the way. Our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, joining us now from the CNN Weather Center.
What's the expectation, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, more rain. In fact, we could even see one to three inches of rain across parts of southern California for today into the valley areas, and a little bit higher than that as you get on up into the mountains.
The area we're particularly concerned about right now, over towards the Channel Islands, and then from about Oxnard, extending on up towards Point Conception, where some very heavy shower and thunderstorms are moving on in, bringing rainfall rates around a half of an inch to an inch an hour. And this will be lasting for several hours.
There are also some new scattered showers which are developing offshore just to the south of Los Angeles. These are moving northward. So we will watch for an increase in the activity as we head into the afternoon hours for today. And there's also a slight risk that some of these thunderstorms may become severe once again.
Now, I want to explain to you a little bit -- you can see this curvature around with this cloudiness. That's our upper level area of low pressure. And here's the reason why it's just been unrelenting for more than a week across California.
We have what we call a cutoff low offshore. This is the northern branch of the jet stream, and here is the southern branch, and normally storm systems will ride along with the jet streams. Well, this one is stuck in the middle and cut off from the main flow. So it's just been sitting there and spinning. So we have to wait for a new system to move in or a change in the long wave pattern before there's any relief.
The good news is, an approaching trough is going to help to kick this on in towards the four corners we think by Thursday. So the rain still heavy today and tonight. Tomorrow it will become a little bit more sporadic, a little bit more on and off, and Thursday it looks like finally we'll have a dry day. And it looks like that should stretch out all the way through the weekend.
To put it in perspective for you, put some numbers together to show you what southern California has endured just since Thursday, in the coastal valley area the rains have totaled between four to nine inches. In the higher elevations of the mountains, 10 to 20 inches of rainfall. And then even higher than that, up around 7,000 feet plus, in the San Gabriel Mountains, reporting seven feet of snow, and that is just since Thursday. We'll see another couple feet possible on top of that by late for tomorrow. And then, Wolf, as I said, the break finally coming in. It will be one week total from Thursday to Thursday, and then we'll finally see the better weather and a lot of sunshine coming in.
BLITZER: We'll look forward to the better weather. Jacqui Jeras, thanks very much.
And within the past hour we've been getting new information on this story. Police in Fort Worth, Texas, have announced that a man has been charged with capital murder in the case of a double disappearance. Capital murder meaning that suspect eligible for the death penalty.
A spokesman says authorities now believe Lisa Underwood is dead. So is her son, 7-year-old Jayden. Their whereabouts, though, remain unknown at this time.
Thirty-seven-year-old Stephen Barbee was arrested overnight in Tyler, Texas. That's east of Fort Worth. And while there's no known motive, Barbee is said to have known the mother, who was seven months pregnant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE JONES, FORT WORTH POLICE: We don't know who the father of the unborn child is. We know that at one time Mr. Barbee and Ms. Underwood were romantically involved. But we don't know what the current status of their relationship is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Police on horseback are searching for the missing mother and boy. The search is centered on Denton, Texas. That's north of Fort Worth, where the victim's vehicle was found in a creek bed yesterday. We'll continue following the story for you.
In Iraq, the main Shiite coalition has picked the candidate it wants to lead Iraq's next government. Ibrahim al-Jaafari is now likely to become the next prime minister, but he still faces a new hurdles. He beat out another prominent politician who simply dropped out of the running earlier today.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is joining us now live from Baghdad with all the late-breaking details -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that other politician, Ahmed Chalabi, dropped out of the running, he said, to maintain the unity of the United Iraqi Alliance. One reason he might have done that was because this -- this Shia Muslim grouping had been taking so long to come up with deciding who their nominee for prime minister would be that the current transitional prime minister threw his name back in the ring yesterday, indicating that perhaps he could win support from within that alliance itself to put him in that position. But today they did come up with an announcement. Ahmed Chalabi, of course, very popular in the United States at one time, fell out of favor here in Iraq more recently for dealings with Iran. And yet, rose back to be able to challenge for the position of prime minister.
But Ibrahim al-Jaafari won out, it appears, won the nomination, because he's seen as a unifying figure. And that's what politicians say is needed here in Iraq. If the country is to progress without falling into civil war, that the government needs somebody in charge of it who will bring the different parties together.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari fled into exile in 1980, lived 10 years in Iran, and moved on to London. While he was in London, was in opposition, in exile, brought together some of the disparate political elements there to challenge and work against Saddam Hussein's rule. And it's really that experience and that legacy that's believed to have carried him into this position today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Nic, there's no -- there's no, I guess, lack of indications, there's no lack of surprise that the favorite among so many U.S. officials was the current interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, himself also an Iraqi Shiite. What happens to him?
ROBERTSON: Well, there's any number of things that could happen. Certainly, at this time, Jaafari's nomination still has to win the approval of the Kurds. They're indicating that this could take a very long time.
There could be divisions within the United Iraqi Alliance because of that. That could give Allawi the opportunity perhaps to really push his name for prime minister, win some support from within that alliance, win the backing of the Kurds. That can't be ruled out at this stage.
Perhaps what he'll end up with is a key role in the government in another ministry. Perhaps he'll walk away from the political process right now.
There will be elections again later this year. And it's widely believed that he is a popular politician here. He is a secular figure, he's won support from both Sunnis and Shias. That he could walk away now, campaign hard for the end of the year, perhaps get out to campaign in some of the areas in the country, the south that he couldn't get to this time, win support, and come back a much stronger politician towards the end of the year -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Ayad Allawi very popular within the Bush administration. Someone whose probably political future has not been completed yet. We'll watch all the politicking under way in Iraq, together with Nic Robertson. Thanks, Nic, very much.
President Bush is in Europe, and the effort to heal the rupture over Iraq continuing. Today, the European allies agreed to pitch in to help train Iraqi security forces. In terms of Iraq, it's a little, but for NATO it's perhaps a bit more. With the story from Brussels, CNN's Robin Oakley. ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf.
Well, President Bush is calling this now the listening tour. And he certainly heard some news himself today that he wanted to hear from NATO. All 26 members of the NATO alliance will now pitch in to training the Iraqi security forces in one way or another.
In many cases, it's only going to be symbolic. But 16 countries will be training Iraqis within Iraq. The others will be training Iraqis outside Iraq, or at least contributing funds to help pay for others to do so. And the president greeted this news with enthusiasm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every contribution matters. Twenty-six nations sitting around that table said it's important for NATO to be involved in Iraq.
It's a strong statement. And NATO is involved in Iraq. And NATO is doing a vital mission, which is to help an officer corps emerge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OAKLEY: After the criticisms of the NATO alliance by Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Mr. Bush reiterated his faith in the alliance. He said it was the most successful alliance in world history, it was the cornerstone of the relationship between America and Europe. But it doesn't mean because of that that he is at ease with everything the Europeans are suggesting.
They want to relax the embargo on selling weapons to China. And Mr. Bush made it absolutely clear he was reiterating his opposition to that idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: There is deep concern in our country that a transfer of weapons would be a transfer of technology to China, which would change the balance of relations in -- between China and Taiwan. And that's of concern.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OAKLEY: Mr. Bush said that both with Condoleezza Rice, and with him, the Europeans had explained what they were trying to do, that it wasn't going to mean any more arms actually being sold to China, and that they were listening to America's objections. But he said at the end of the day it wasn't him they've got to convince but Congress -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Robin Oakley reporting for us from Brussels. Robin, thank you very much.
Terrifying and deadly. Natural disasters target parts of the Middle East and south Asia. In central Iran, a powerful earthquake flattens about 40 villages, killing at least 370 people, injuring nearly 1,000. The magnitude 6.4 quake was centered about 600 miles from Tehran. Heavy rain has hampered rescue efforts. But Iranian Red Crescent officials say they do not need outside help.
In central Indonesia, a frantic rescue operation is under way after heavy rains caused a hillside to collapse. On top of it was a garbage dump. Underneath it now, up to seven homes and more than 100 people.
Warnings of more avalanches in Indian Kashmir. And officials are urging villagers who live in the most mountainous areas to leave. At least 175 people have died in the massive snowslides of the past three days. As many as 300 could still be missing.
NATO nations pledging support to train Iraqi security forces. Is this a sign of a new NATO attitude, or do issues still linger? Up next, I'll speak with the NATO secretary-general.
And the Shiite ticket has put its candidate up for prime minister of Iraq. I'll talk with the Iraqi foreign minister about how the new government in Baghdad is shaping up when the NEWS FROM CNN continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More now on the United States and Europe, and the rift over Iraq. Today, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, found enough common ground to commit to helping to train Iraqi security forces.
You're looking at pictures we just got in. All the European leaders, together with President Bush, at this summit in Brussels, Belgium. This is the so-called class photo. The entire leadership of the Europeans, the Americans, getting together for this class photo. These are the pictures just coming in from Brussels.
We're standing by also later this hour for a news conference. The foreign ministers of the European countries, including the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, gathering for this class photo.
Within today's NATO agreement, though, there are still some lingering signs of division. Just a short time ago, I spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. He's at the NATO meeting in Brussels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Secretary-General, thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back to CNN.
First of all, on NATO's involvement in training Iraqi security personnel, once again, if you could explain to our viewers why France, some of the other NATO allies, are still refusing to actually train police or security officers inside Iraq as opposed to outside Iraq. JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Well, let me -- let me first of all say that all 26 nations participate. Some do it inside. Some do it outside Iraq.
We'll train a thousand officers inside and 500 officers outside Iraq. And all allies very much agree about the importance of this mission, the importance for Iraq to bring security and stability to Iraq, and to get Iraq on its own feet as soon as possible. So all allies participate.
BLITZER: So will NATO actually go into Iraq the way it has gone into, shall we say, Afghanistan?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: NATO is in Iraq, but on a training mission which is already taking place in Baghdad. NATO is now going to have that mission up and running.
There was a consensus around the table of the NATO summit. NATO has more ambitions.
NATO is also going to set up what we call a training academy very near to, very close to Baghdad. And let's not forget, NATO's equipping in large quantities the Iraqi army. So I think the NATO mission is a substantial one. And it is the priority, as you know, of the Iraqi government. And I'm sure that it will be the priority of the government which is going to be formed in Iraq.
BLITZER: As you know, and all of our viewers know, NATO operates on a consensus basis. All the members of NATO have to agree. What's the concern about having a robust NATO presence in Iraq along the lines of what it has in Afghanistan?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: At the moment, NATO is, of course, focusing on what the Iraqi government wants. And I think we -- I have to explain to your viewers that we have to change our mentality.
We saw landmark elections in Iraq. We saw great courage by the Iraqi voters, by the Iraqi people. I'm not used to it in the Netherlands, that people tell me you'll be shot when you're going to vote. So I have the greatest respect for the courage of the Iraqi people.
But now we must switch our own minds, if I may use that expression, to following what are the priorities of the Iraqis themselves. What are the priorities of the Iraqi government?
The first and most important priority of the Iraqi government is training and equipping. And that's exactly what NATO is doing, focusing on leadership to have a sort of multiplying effect.
If you train the trainers, if you train leaders, they can do a lot. And the multinational force, of course, is doing a lot, as well.
But I think NATO is a very necessary and essential complement to what the multinational force is doing. And we are following, and I think that's the only thing we could do and we should do, Iraqi priorities.
BLITZER: The German chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder is floating an idea to have the transatlantic strategic dialogue take place within a U.S.-EU, European Union, framework and get NATO basically out of the picture. What do you think of his proposal?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, I spoke yesterday night at length with the German chancellor. He, in fact, reinforces what I have been saying the past eight or nine months, and that is that the North Atlantic Alliance, the North Atlantic Council should be more intensively used as a political forum between all 26 member states of the North Atlantic Alliance.
NATO is a political military organization. President Bush has reaffirmed that strongly during the summit we have had here in Brussels today. I think in this respect, we have agreement, and the chancellor has clarified his position by saying that he didn't mean at all to make NATO less important than other international organizations, but to use NATO to the full, militarily, in our operations and missions, but also very much politically. And I must say that President Bush, Chancellor Schroeder, the other leaders and myself, as secretary-general, we do agree.
BLITZER: Are you prepared, is NATO prepared -- and you speak for NATO -- to dispatch troops to Gaza, the West Bank, as part of some sort of Israeli-Palestinian peace deal?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Let's take developments as they come. At the moment, we see that, of course, the responsibility for the negotiations is first and foremost in Israeli and Palestinian hands. Then we have the international community and the quartet, which is dealing with the process, assisting the process. Then we have the important role played by Israel's neighbors, a country like Egypt, a country like Jordan.
Let's see if there would be a peace agreement, if there would be a need with parties to see a NATO role. I think we would have a discussion around the NATO table, but only if we're needed. That's the situation as I see it, in the hope, of course, that there will be a peace agreement as soon as possible. But let us not, as NATO, play a direct role in the peace process, because others are more qualified and in a better position to do that.
BLITZER: Does NATO want Syria to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon right away? And would NATO play a role in securing Lebanon?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, the brutal murder of Prime Minister Hariri was discussed over lunch, I must say. NATO leaders very much agree that the -- that the people who committed this horrendous act should be brought to justice as soon as possible. I can add that the integrity, territorial integrity of Lebanon is of extreme importance.
This is what I mean by NATO taking on a more political role. Because what's happening in Lebanon is relevant, of course, for security and stability in the region. NATO is not envisaging, to answer your question more directly, to send troops or forces there. But it's clear, crystal clear to me, that what is, in fact, written down in a Security Council resolution should happen.
Syria should leave Lebanon. We should respect the territorial integrity of Lebanon. And we should condemn, and the culprit should be brought to justice who committed this horrendous murder of Mr. Hariri.
BLITZER: Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, thanks very much for joining us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And from Brussels, let's go back to southern California. We're getting some new images, some new pictures in -- from the horrible weather that's been going on. Take a look at this.
We're told this is a sinkhole in the Sun Valley area of southern California. That's northwest of Los Angeles. It happened supposedly last night, but as you can see, it's getting worse. The sinkholes on these main areas, part of the mudslides, the horrible, horrible weather conditions in southern California.
Chris Lawrence is our man on the scene. He was telling us about this earlier in this hour. But we'll continue to watch what's happening with the weather.
Look at what can happen from a simple sinkhole as it expands on a road in southern California. That's in Sun Valley, northwest of L.A.
When we come back, he's the dominant Shiite's candidate to become prime minister of Iraq. Now comes the question, can Ibrahim al- Jaafari unify the nation's political leadership? I'll speak with Iraq's current foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired February 22, 2005 - 11:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. To our viewers, thanks very much for joining us.
Unfolding this hour here on NEWS FROM CNN, California taking a pounding. Right now, landslides, floods, tornadoes, even avalanches pummeling the Golden State. And the worst may not be over with yet. We're live on the story.
In Brussels, an American president in a European court. You'll get an international perspective on American diplomacy from NATO's secretary-general. He'll join me. And from journalists from France and Britain.
Also, a Shiite moderate emerging as Iraq's likely prime minister. This hour we'll have a live report from Baghdad. We'll also hear from a prominent Kurd; namely, Iraq's current foreign minister.
First, some other headlines "Now in the News."
A possible plot to kill the American president. A former high school valedictorian charged today in federal court with supporting al Qaeda and conspiring to assassinate President Bush. American Ahmed Abu Ali was detained in Saudi Arabia for nearly two years before being returned late last night to the United States. He was in court earlier today.
A battle over property now before the U.S. Supreme Court. Residents of New London, Connecticut, are fighting to keep their land. The city government wants it for private economic development and says it has the right to take it under the power of eminent domain.
Michael Jackson back in court in Santa Maria, California, for jury selection in his child molestation trial. The judge delayed proceedings one week ago after Jackson was briefly hospitalized with the flu. Jackson has pleaded not guilty to charges he molested a 13- year-old boy and gave him alcohol.
Among the most popular stories this hour on cnn.com, Chris Rock wants to clarify what he meant when he said, "Straight men don't watch the Oscars." Rock will host the Oscars for the first time this Sunday night.
Also popular on the Web, a developing story out of Texas. Police have arrested a man on charges of capital murder in connection with the disappearance of a pregnant woman and her son. The new developments coming up also this hour, within minutes, on this program. First to a saturated southern California, where conditions seem to be going from bad to worse. More storms on the horizon. Every hour more hillsides collapsing, homes teetering on the brink.
Hundreds of residents have been urged to grab what they can and simply get out. Already landslides have hit about half a dozen communities around Los Angeles, including Glendale. That's where CNN's Chris Lawrence is standing by to cover this story for us.
What's the latest, Chris?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, you can't judge the situation here by the way it looks right this moment. Sure, you know, the sun's starting to peek out, it's dry right now. But a lot of the damage has already been done. It's been raining a lot this morning, and a lot of the ground has already been saturated with that water.
If you take a look up there, you can kind of see what I'm talking about. Even though it's clear right now, you can see that steady stream of water just running down the hill. It's been like that now for a few hours, because a lot of these slopes now are so soaked with water that they're very unstable. And when that rain starts up again, in the next hour or in a few hours, you can -- it's a good bet that that mud is going to start flowing down the hill again.
To give you an idea of just how powerful that can be, let's show you a little bit of the Highland Park area of Los Angeles County, where you can see that several homes are literally on the brink of sliding down the hills. One of the swimming pools there looks like it's just inches away from collapsing, also a patio in that area. That's because the soil there is very quickly slipping away.
Police have cordoned off and evacuated about four homes in that area. And right now they're trying to decide whether they should put a yellow tag on those homes, which means they would only have -- people would only have access to them during the daytime hours, or to red-tag them, meaning they would restrict access during all hours. Some of the people who live in these areas say, yes, they're used to seeing a little bit of rain in the wintertime, but nothing like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE REIDINGER, GLENDALE RESIDENT: It carries mud, trees, debris. We shoveled out the storm drains here on the street a couple of times because they would -- they would just get plugged up and then the water's got no place else to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE: Yes, that's what everybody's saying. They've come out here with shovels. Earlier today, people were right here in this neighborhood. Some of the work crews trying to move that mud out while they had a chance during the downtime like this, because they know that rain's going to come back and the mud's going to come. But the way that the storm is coming in waves, it's really hard for firefighters to predict how many more people may have to be evacuated -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Lawrence reporting for us from southern California. Chris, thanks very much.
So far this year, southern California has recorded, get this, nearly 32 inches of rain. Unfortunately for those folks, more is on the way. Our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras, joining us now from the CNN Weather Center.
What's the expectation, Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, more rain. In fact, we could even see one to three inches of rain across parts of southern California for today into the valley areas, and a little bit higher than that as you get on up into the mountains.
The area we're particularly concerned about right now, over towards the Channel Islands, and then from about Oxnard, extending on up towards Point Conception, where some very heavy shower and thunderstorms are moving on in, bringing rainfall rates around a half of an inch to an inch an hour. And this will be lasting for several hours.
There are also some new scattered showers which are developing offshore just to the south of Los Angeles. These are moving northward. So we will watch for an increase in the activity as we head into the afternoon hours for today. And there's also a slight risk that some of these thunderstorms may become severe once again.
Now, I want to explain to you a little bit -- you can see this curvature around with this cloudiness. That's our upper level area of low pressure. And here's the reason why it's just been unrelenting for more than a week across California.
We have what we call a cutoff low offshore. This is the northern branch of the jet stream, and here is the southern branch, and normally storm systems will ride along with the jet streams. Well, this one is stuck in the middle and cut off from the main flow. So it's just been sitting there and spinning. So we have to wait for a new system to move in or a change in the long wave pattern before there's any relief.
The good news is, an approaching trough is going to help to kick this on in towards the four corners we think by Thursday. So the rain still heavy today and tonight. Tomorrow it will become a little bit more sporadic, a little bit more on and off, and Thursday it looks like finally we'll have a dry day. And it looks like that should stretch out all the way through the weekend.
To put it in perspective for you, put some numbers together to show you what southern California has endured just since Thursday, in the coastal valley area the rains have totaled between four to nine inches. In the higher elevations of the mountains, 10 to 20 inches of rainfall. And then even higher than that, up around 7,000 feet plus, in the San Gabriel Mountains, reporting seven feet of snow, and that is just since Thursday. We'll see another couple feet possible on top of that by late for tomorrow. And then, Wolf, as I said, the break finally coming in. It will be one week total from Thursday to Thursday, and then we'll finally see the better weather and a lot of sunshine coming in.
BLITZER: We'll look forward to the better weather. Jacqui Jeras, thanks very much.
And within the past hour we've been getting new information on this story. Police in Fort Worth, Texas, have announced that a man has been charged with capital murder in the case of a double disappearance. Capital murder meaning that suspect eligible for the death penalty.
A spokesman says authorities now believe Lisa Underwood is dead. So is her son, 7-year-old Jayden. Their whereabouts, though, remain unknown at this time.
Thirty-seven-year-old Stephen Barbee was arrested overnight in Tyler, Texas. That's east of Fort Worth. And while there's no known motive, Barbee is said to have known the mother, who was seven months pregnant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENE JONES, FORT WORTH POLICE: We don't know who the father of the unborn child is. We know that at one time Mr. Barbee and Ms. Underwood were romantically involved. But we don't know what the current status of their relationship is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Police on horseback are searching for the missing mother and boy. The search is centered on Denton, Texas. That's north of Fort Worth, where the victim's vehicle was found in a creek bed yesterday. We'll continue following the story for you.
In Iraq, the main Shiite coalition has picked the candidate it wants to lead Iraq's next government. Ibrahim al-Jaafari is now likely to become the next prime minister, but he still faces a new hurdles. He beat out another prominent politician who simply dropped out of the running earlier today.
Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, is joining us now live from Baghdad with all the late-breaking details -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, that other politician, Ahmed Chalabi, dropped out of the running, he said, to maintain the unity of the United Iraqi Alliance. One reason he might have done that was because this -- this Shia Muslim grouping had been taking so long to come up with deciding who their nominee for prime minister would be that the current transitional prime minister threw his name back in the ring yesterday, indicating that perhaps he could win support from within that alliance itself to put him in that position. But today they did come up with an announcement. Ahmed Chalabi, of course, very popular in the United States at one time, fell out of favor here in Iraq more recently for dealings with Iran. And yet, rose back to be able to challenge for the position of prime minister.
But Ibrahim al-Jaafari won out, it appears, won the nomination, because he's seen as a unifying figure. And that's what politicians say is needed here in Iraq. If the country is to progress without falling into civil war, that the government needs somebody in charge of it who will bring the different parties together.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari fled into exile in 1980, lived 10 years in Iran, and moved on to London. While he was in London, was in opposition, in exile, brought together some of the disparate political elements there to challenge and work against Saddam Hussein's rule. And it's really that experience and that legacy that's believed to have carried him into this position today -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Nic, there's no -- there's no, I guess, lack of indications, there's no lack of surprise that the favorite among so many U.S. officials was the current interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, himself also an Iraqi Shiite. What happens to him?
ROBERTSON: Well, there's any number of things that could happen. Certainly, at this time, Jaafari's nomination still has to win the approval of the Kurds. They're indicating that this could take a very long time.
There could be divisions within the United Iraqi Alliance because of that. That could give Allawi the opportunity perhaps to really push his name for prime minister, win some support from within that alliance, win the backing of the Kurds. That can't be ruled out at this stage.
Perhaps what he'll end up with is a key role in the government in another ministry. Perhaps he'll walk away from the political process right now.
There will be elections again later this year. And it's widely believed that he is a popular politician here. He is a secular figure, he's won support from both Sunnis and Shias. That he could walk away now, campaign hard for the end of the year, perhaps get out to campaign in some of the areas in the country, the south that he couldn't get to this time, win support, and come back a much stronger politician towards the end of the year -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Ayad Allawi very popular within the Bush administration. Someone whose probably political future has not been completed yet. We'll watch all the politicking under way in Iraq, together with Nic Robertson. Thanks, Nic, very much.
President Bush is in Europe, and the effort to heal the rupture over Iraq continuing. Today, the European allies agreed to pitch in to help train Iraqi security forces. In terms of Iraq, it's a little, but for NATO it's perhaps a bit more. With the story from Brussels, CNN's Robin Oakley. ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Wolf.
Well, President Bush is calling this now the listening tour. And he certainly heard some news himself today that he wanted to hear from NATO. All 26 members of the NATO alliance will now pitch in to training the Iraqi security forces in one way or another.
In many cases, it's only going to be symbolic. But 16 countries will be training Iraqis within Iraq. The others will be training Iraqis outside Iraq, or at least contributing funds to help pay for others to do so. And the president greeted this news with enthusiasm.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every contribution matters. Twenty-six nations sitting around that table said it's important for NATO to be involved in Iraq.
It's a strong statement. And NATO is involved in Iraq. And NATO is doing a vital mission, which is to help an officer corps emerge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OAKLEY: After the criticisms of the NATO alliance by Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Mr. Bush reiterated his faith in the alliance. He said it was the most successful alliance in world history, it was the cornerstone of the relationship between America and Europe. But it doesn't mean because of that that he is at ease with everything the Europeans are suggesting.
They want to relax the embargo on selling weapons to China. And Mr. Bush made it absolutely clear he was reiterating his opposition to that idea.
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BUSH: There is deep concern in our country that a transfer of weapons would be a transfer of technology to China, which would change the balance of relations in -- between China and Taiwan. And that's of concern.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OAKLEY: Mr. Bush said that both with Condoleezza Rice, and with him, the Europeans had explained what they were trying to do, that it wasn't going to mean any more arms actually being sold to China, and that they were listening to America's objections. But he said at the end of the day it wasn't him they've got to convince but Congress -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Robin Oakley reporting for us from Brussels. Robin, thank you very much.
Terrifying and deadly. Natural disasters target parts of the Middle East and south Asia. In central Iran, a powerful earthquake flattens about 40 villages, killing at least 370 people, injuring nearly 1,000. The magnitude 6.4 quake was centered about 600 miles from Tehran. Heavy rain has hampered rescue efforts. But Iranian Red Crescent officials say they do not need outside help.
In central Indonesia, a frantic rescue operation is under way after heavy rains caused a hillside to collapse. On top of it was a garbage dump. Underneath it now, up to seven homes and more than 100 people.
Warnings of more avalanches in Indian Kashmir. And officials are urging villagers who live in the most mountainous areas to leave. At least 175 people have died in the massive snowslides of the past three days. As many as 300 could still be missing.
NATO nations pledging support to train Iraqi security forces. Is this a sign of a new NATO attitude, or do issues still linger? Up next, I'll speak with the NATO secretary-general.
And the Shiite ticket has put its candidate up for prime minister of Iraq. I'll talk with the Iraqi foreign minister about how the new government in Baghdad is shaping up when the NEWS FROM CNN continues.
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BLITZER: More now on the United States and Europe, and the rift over Iraq. Today, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, found enough common ground to commit to helping to train Iraqi security forces.
You're looking at pictures we just got in. All the European leaders, together with President Bush, at this summit in Brussels, Belgium. This is the so-called class photo. The entire leadership of the Europeans, the Americans, getting together for this class photo. These are the pictures just coming in from Brussels.
We're standing by also later this hour for a news conference. The foreign ministers of the European countries, including the secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, gathering for this class photo.
Within today's NATO agreement, though, there are still some lingering signs of division. Just a short time ago, I spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. He's at the NATO meeting in Brussels.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Secretary-General, thanks very much for joining us. Welcome back to CNN.
First of all, on NATO's involvement in training Iraqi security personnel, once again, if you could explain to our viewers why France, some of the other NATO allies, are still refusing to actually train police or security officers inside Iraq as opposed to outside Iraq. JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER, NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL: Well, let me -- let me first of all say that all 26 nations participate. Some do it inside. Some do it outside Iraq.
We'll train a thousand officers inside and 500 officers outside Iraq. And all allies very much agree about the importance of this mission, the importance for Iraq to bring security and stability to Iraq, and to get Iraq on its own feet as soon as possible. So all allies participate.
BLITZER: So will NATO actually go into Iraq the way it has gone into, shall we say, Afghanistan?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: NATO is in Iraq, but on a training mission which is already taking place in Baghdad. NATO is now going to have that mission up and running.
There was a consensus around the table of the NATO summit. NATO has more ambitions.
NATO is also going to set up what we call a training academy very near to, very close to Baghdad. And let's not forget, NATO's equipping in large quantities the Iraqi army. So I think the NATO mission is a substantial one. And it is the priority, as you know, of the Iraqi government. And I'm sure that it will be the priority of the government which is going to be formed in Iraq.
BLITZER: As you know, and all of our viewers know, NATO operates on a consensus basis. All the members of NATO have to agree. What's the concern about having a robust NATO presence in Iraq along the lines of what it has in Afghanistan?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: At the moment, NATO is, of course, focusing on what the Iraqi government wants. And I think we -- I have to explain to your viewers that we have to change our mentality.
We saw landmark elections in Iraq. We saw great courage by the Iraqi voters, by the Iraqi people. I'm not used to it in the Netherlands, that people tell me you'll be shot when you're going to vote. So I have the greatest respect for the courage of the Iraqi people.
But now we must switch our own minds, if I may use that expression, to following what are the priorities of the Iraqis themselves. What are the priorities of the Iraqi government?
The first and most important priority of the Iraqi government is training and equipping. And that's exactly what NATO is doing, focusing on leadership to have a sort of multiplying effect.
If you train the trainers, if you train leaders, they can do a lot. And the multinational force, of course, is doing a lot, as well.
But I think NATO is a very necessary and essential complement to what the multinational force is doing. And we are following, and I think that's the only thing we could do and we should do, Iraqi priorities.
BLITZER: The German chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder is floating an idea to have the transatlantic strategic dialogue take place within a U.S.-EU, European Union, framework and get NATO basically out of the picture. What do you think of his proposal?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, I spoke yesterday night at length with the German chancellor. He, in fact, reinforces what I have been saying the past eight or nine months, and that is that the North Atlantic Alliance, the North Atlantic Council should be more intensively used as a political forum between all 26 member states of the North Atlantic Alliance.
NATO is a political military organization. President Bush has reaffirmed that strongly during the summit we have had here in Brussels today. I think in this respect, we have agreement, and the chancellor has clarified his position by saying that he didn't mean at all to make NATO less important than other international organizations, but to use NATO to the full, militarily, in our operations and missions, but also very much politically. And I must say that President Bush, Chancellor Schroeder, the other leaders and myself, as secretary-general, we do agree.
BLITZER: Are you prepared, is NATO prepared -- and you speak for NATO -- to dispatch troops to Gaza, the West Bank, as part of some sort of Israeli-Palestinian peace deal?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Let's take developments as they come. At the moment, we see that, of course, the responsibility for the negotiations is first and foremost in Israeli and Palestinian hands. Then we have the international community and the quartet, which is dealing with the process, assisting the process. Then we have the important role played by Israel's neighbors, a country like Egypt, a country like Jordan.
Let's see if there would be a peace agreement, if there would be a need with parties to see a NATO role. I think we would have a discussion around the NATO table, but only if we're needed. That's the situation as I see it, in the hope, of course, that there will be a peace agreement as soon as possible. But let us not, as NATO, play a direct role in the peace process, because others are more qualified and in a better position to do that.
BLITZER: Does NATO want Syria to withdraw all its troops from Lebanon right away? And would NATO play a role in securing Lebanon?
DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, the brutal murder of Prime Minister Hariri was discussed over lunch, I must say. NATO leaders very much agree that the -- that the people who committed this horrendous act should be brought to justice as soon as possible. I can add that the integrity, territorial integrity of Lebanon is of extreme importance.
This is what I mean by NATO taking on a more political role. Because what's happening in Lebanon is relevant, of course, for security and stability in the region. NATO is not envisaging, to answer your question more directly, to send troops or forces there. But it's clear, crystal clear to me, that what is, in fact, written down in a Security Council resolution should happen.
Syria should leave Lebanon. We should respect the territorial integrity of Lebanon. And we should condemn, and the culprit should be brought to justice who committed this horrendous murder of Mr. Hariri.
BLITZER: Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, thanks very much for joining us.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: And from Brussels, let's go back to southern California. We're getting some new images, some new pictures in -- from the horrible weather that's been going on. Take a look at this.
We're told this is a sinkhole in the Sun Valley area of southern California. That's northwest of Los Angeles. It happened supposedly last night, but as you can see, it's getting worse. The sinkholes on these main areas, part of the mudslides, the horrible, horrible weather conditions in southern California.
Chris Lawrence is our man on the scene. He was telling us about this earlier in this hour. But we'll continue to watch what's happening with the weather.
Look at what can happen from a simple sinkhole as it expands on a road in southern California. That's in Sun Valley, northwest of L.A.
When we come back, he's the dominant Shiite's candidate to become prime minister of Iraq. Now comes the question, can Ibrahim al- Jaafari unify the nation's political leadership? I'll speak with Iraq's current foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, right after the break.
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