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CNN Live Sunday
Tropical Storm Rita Moves Through Florida Straits; Center for Missing & Exploited Children Reunited Families Displaced by Katrina
Aired September 18, 2005 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Its name is Rita and it's barreling toward the U.S. Will the latest tropical storm become a hurricane? We are live in the region.
And in New Orleans, going home, but to a place that's not the same. The people, the neighborhoods, and the streets forever changed.
And remember the dolphins of Katrina? Swept away when the storm hit, their story of survival straight ahead.
It's September 18th and you're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin. To our top story in just a moment. But first, the stories making news right now.
CNN has been showing names and pictures of children missing after Hurricane Katrina on the left side of your television screen all weekend. And in that time, calls to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the hotline, have tripled.
Kids have been reunited with their families, nine, because of pictures shown right here on CNN. So we're going to continue working the center to show these faces throughout the day tomorrow.
And in the meantime, there are weather worries today. Tropical Storm Phillipe formed in the Atlantic last night, and Tropical Storm Rita is threatening parts of Florida. Rob Marciano manning the CNN Weather Center right now.
Rob, give us an idea of where Rita stands?
ROB MARICIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Rita is the closest one, so that's our area of concern. Phillipe way out here and actually may very well head into the open Atlantic. But Rita, a little smaller storm, not quite as strong, but a lot closer, that's our area of concern right now.
We'll zoom in just a bit. Here's Florida, Cuba, the Bahamas, and here is Rita. Most of the action with Rita is to the north of this system. But notice the last couple of frames of this, it really starts to get bright as far as the colors are concerned. That indicates some strengthening.
It's heading into some weather here that's pretty much non- existent, very light upper level winds here. They had a little bit of some strong southerly winds in the upper level of the atmosphere. So not really allowing it to develop very quickly. But once it gets into this area, it's a little bit more quiet, the waters are super warm.
And some of the buoys down across the Keys are reporting water temperatures 88, 89 degrees Fahrenheit. So that is just toasty and hurricanes love that stuff. So this thing is going to strengthen, no doubt about that.
Because of that, hurricane watches have now been posted from the National Hurricane Center for the northwest Bahamas and also for the Keys of Florida. Just extended a couple of hours ago from Deerfield Beach on the east side of Florida, around the southern tip towards East Sable -- East Cape (ph) Sable is where we're looking at hurricane watches. Hurricane watches mean that hurricane conditions are possible in the next 36 hours.
Well, this track from the National Hurricane Center takes it due west. It goes from this open circle, which indicates tropical storm, to the closed circle with the number one indicating a Category 1 hurricane expected to move through the Florida Straits during the day on Tuesday, likely Tuesday morning.
Then really the question is, how strong does it get and how close does it get to the Florida Keys? So we'll have to watch that carefully. But it's going to get nasty across the Keys and that's why there are some evacuation orders, as you mentioned, Carol.
And then it gets in the Gulf of Mexico, likely to make some sort of second landfall late next week, possibly in Texas or somewhere in the U.S., we'll talk more about that.
But first of all we're concerned about Florida and we'll folks there up-to-date on Rita throughout the night. Back to you.
LIN: You bet. All right, thanks, Rob.
A mandatory evacuation order for tourists is in effect in the Keys, effective at noon today. The only way to get off the chain of islands and back to the mainland is a single highway, U.S. 1, you're looking at it right now. For an update on what's going on on the ground, let's check in with Dave Malkoff with CNN affiliate WFOR. Dave is live in Key West right now.
Dave, does it look like that just about all the tourists are gone so far?
DAVE MALKOFF, WFOR REPORTER: Take a look for yourself, it does not look like that. A lot of them are sticking around. And you were just talking about U.S. 1, we've got a seven-mile bridge that runs all through there.
It's a two-lane road, so it's very difficult to get everyone out of here. They're trying to get the word out. They have issued a state of emergency all throughout the Florida Keys, but I will call it a state of soaking wet.
We just had a little band come through, and you see it left some water here in the street. There are about 15,000 bikers down here this weekend. You can take a look at them riding through the streets here.
They are here for something called the Poker Run. And the Poker Run has been cut short right now because of this storm coming through. And they are very nervous about this storm, so they are asking all of the non-residents to leave.
But Key West has two sides. They have the official side where they want people to leave and get out of here and get out of harm's way. And then they have the storm-weathered people who have been down here storm after storm, decade after decade. And they are going to stick it out, even though they may be asked to leave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JIMMY WEEKLEY, KEY WEST, FLORIDA: You know, over the last two years we've had so many hurricanes and so many major hurricanes like Charley and Ivan and Katrina, I think a lot of people have seen what that damage could be and I think a lot more people are taking heed to the evacuation notices when they're given.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A storm. They call wind and rain a storm?
MALKOFF: They said it's going to be windy and rainy, that's it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When that concrete building is gone, then I'll believe it's a storm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALKOFF: A true parrothead. If you're in Margaritaville, and there are about 26,000 people who live in Key West, right now they've not asked to leave. But on a 24-hour basis, they can ask them to get out of here if this storm looks like it's coming this way.
We're live in Key West. I'm Dave Malkoff. Carol, back to you.
LIN: Well, it sure is coming your way, and tell those guys it's not just a little wind and rain, the winds are blowing at 40 miles an hour right now and it's headed right for them. Stay safe out there, Dave. Thank you very much.
LIN: While the keys are preparing for the storm, the Gulf recovers. Louisiana officials say the death toll from Katrina is now 646, the total across the region is 883, both numbers, though, are expected to rise.
New Orleans' mayor wants a third of the city's residents to come home to the Garden District, the French Quarter, and to Algiers, just across the Mississippi River in zip code 70114. And that is where our Keith Oppenheim is right now.
Keith, it looks like some work is getting done.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even though tomorrow, Carol, is the day that people are officially allowed to move back into the Algiers neighborhood section of New Orleans, people are already moving back.
Over here is a cafe called Toot Suite (ph), and it's kind of a meeting spot around here. Pardon the sound of a whole bunch of choppers coming overhead right now. And I talked to a group of neighbors earlier about what it's like and what they do have.
For example, they say they mostly have running water. They have electricity. They, in some cases, have cable TV and Internet service. There is concern about the fact that there is only one emergency supply center around here, and just a few stores opening up.
So there is worry as to what it will be like tomorrow and the next few days when more people start to come into the neighborhood. But others more optimistic and feel that Algiers will be a real foothold and part of New Orleans' revival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MCCARTHY, ALGIERS RESIDENT: I hope that as a community everybody is already pulling together. They've -- a lot of people stayed during the storm to keep things together. It's one of the few areas affected. And I think it could be a big plus for other parts, because we're up and running, or as close as we can be. I think it's a big plus. And the more people that come back to this neighborhood, I think the better off we'll all be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: Everything, of course, is relative. We've been to a lot of neighborhoods in New Orleans where things are not nearly as good as they are here. There is a Home Depot down the street, we are told, that has opened up. And Walgreen's just opened up.
No grocery stores nearby. People have to use an emergency supplies center that is operated by a relief organization to get basic food. But, you know, people can drive about 20 minutes from the Algiers neighborhood to get what they need. And, again, by comparison, that's not bad. And a lot of folks want to get back here.
The question is, what will they do about work? For example, some folks who were just sitting in these chairs behind me, they were attorneys, some of them. Their clients are all gone. Some of their businesses are no longer here. But things build upon one another, and the hope is that if people come back, that will help spur the economy and it will be more people to work with and sell to.
Back to you.
LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Keith.
As the Gulf region begins to turn the corner toward recovery, CNN will continue keep you as close to the story as possible. Beginning tomorrow and all week, we'll be reporting zip code by zip code as New Orleans rebuilds.
Tomorrow, for example, we're going to focus on the 70114 zip code and the West Bank section of New Orleans called Algiers. And of course we are going to continue tracking developments throughout the Gulf region.
Now much of the time people coming back to their homes don't know what they're going to find. And the search for what's left can require some imagination.
Jeff Koinange joined one man's homecoming.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Raymond Gaspard is a rare sight in a city filled with misery. He found his boat some 10 blocks from his home with the help of global positioning software.
RAYMOND GASPARD: It was there three days after the storm, when the water came up. And then I went online and I couldn't find it again. So I just started scanning and I picked it out.
KOINANGE: The boat is in better shape than his house. His once well-manicured lawn covered with fallen trees caked in mud.
(on camera): What was your first impression as you looked around this deserted desolate ghost town?
GASPARD: It looked like someone dropped a bomb in some ways. All the big trees, all these old oak trees and stuff, it just looked like a bomb fell somewhere.
KOINANGE (voice-over): Inside, nothing was spared from Katrina's wrath, not even his favorite pet fish.
GASPARD: Two survivors in there now, was three.
KOINANGE: His living room a mixture of dried mud and mildew stains.
GASPARD: About two feet, right about here is the water line, in this area.
KOINANGE: Further inside, more evidence of Katrina's destruction.
GASPARD: The water was actually deeper in here the way it looks.
KOINANGE: All the renovating Gaspard did wiped away by a single storm.
GASPARD: And I've been picking at it, little by little. I've shored it up, did a whole bunch of sheet rock work in here, redid all the walls, and so put new doors in, cabinets. Now it's back at square one.
All right. Hey, boy, I hope you all see this, Rachel (ph), Rebecca (ph), and Sidney (ph), Champagne (ph) is here.
KOINANGE: Gaspard's three children were safely evacuated, they are living with relatives in Mississippi.
GASPARD: I walk out and normally there is a bunch of children playing down the block here, and friends over here, yes, it's like the plague came through here or something. Everybody is gone.
KOINANGE: But he still hopes New Orleans will be back to normal in the not-too-distant future.
GASPARD: I know we're going to come back. It's going to -- it's like bad grass, it's not going -- you can't kill it. It will come back, we're going to rebuild.
KOINANGE: Jeff Koinange, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And as you notice on the left side of your screen, pictures of missing children. We are trying to reunite children and parents who are split up because of Katrina. Our Gary Nurenberg now joins me live from the headquarters of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia.
And the great thing about this project, Gary, is that it's actually working.
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let us give a very good example to start right away. Earlier this morning on CNN, we introduced you to 8-year-old Alex Davis, who had not been seen since the hurricane struck. We reported at that time he was last seen with his mother in New Orleans during the hurricane, had not been heard from since. His mother actually was able to see that insert on CNN, called the rest of the family, and now a reunification of that family is going to happen within days.
Let us introduce you to a beautiful 2-year-old. Amber Cook, last seen on September 4th in a hotel in Shreveport during the hurricane. She was last seen with her grandmother, Linda Cook, who is hearing impaired. Her father, Gene Cook, her mother, Vanessa Cook, they've not been heard from since September 4th.
One of the ironies, when the family called the Center for Missing and Exploited Children to report this case, the phone was picked up by a volunteer who actually turns out to be a cousin of that family.
And, Carol, to show you how undiscriminating Katrina is, that family is a cousin of General Russel Honore, who is leading the military effort in New Orleans.
Joining us now is Tina Schwartz, who is with the center. How is it going?
TINA SCHWARTZ, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Going well. I mean, we're making progress, there is a lot of work ahead of us, but we're definitely making progress. Every day kids are being reunited with their families. So it keeps us moving.
NURENBERG: More than 3,000 cases reported to you so far. How many have been solved?
SCHWARTZ: About 850 have been resolved. So there is definitely reason to be optimistic about this. This organization is built on hope. And so we're not going to stop until all these cases have been solved.
NURENBERG: You know, Tina, just the two cases we have talked about, there is reason for such excitement that we were able to find Alex Davis earlier today.
SCHWARTZ: Right.
NURENBERG: But such frustration that Amber and her family still missing.
SCHWARTZ: Right.
NURENBERG: For the volunteers working the phones, is there a sense of accomplishment here or a sense of frustration that it's not going even better than it is?
SCHWARTZ: Oh, I think accomplishment. Like I said, the National Center is built on hope. We believe that every missing child, you know, there is always hope. Elizabeth Smart was a good example of that, you know, even nine months later. There is no reason to give up.
And -- but all the people working on the ground and at the Katrina missing persons hotline, Red Cross, all the other organizations, definitely reason for hope and for optimism.
NURENBERG: Tina, thanks very much for helping us.
SCHWARTZ: Mm-hmm, thank you.
NURENBERG: Carol, later in the evening we will give you further updates of the calls that are starting to come in. Some families are starting to be reunited. And as the evening progresses, we'll tell you more.
LIN: I bet you're going to get some results. Thanks, Gary.
Well, the job of rebuilding after Katrina will cost billions of dollars. So just ahead, we're going to show you what members of Congress are saying about how we should pay for it all.
And later, the dolphins of Gulfport, Mississippi, we're going to get an update on how they're doing.
And tonight, at 8:00, please join Paula Zahn for a special "CNN PRESENTS: The Heroes Among Us."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Members of Congress approved billions in hurricane relief in the days after the storm hit, but with spending on Katrina expected to now reach at least $200 billion, many lawmakers are worried how we're going to pay for the recovery costs.
CNN's Elaine Quijano has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a visit to the disaster zone Sunday, lawmakers said the immense job of rebuilding after Katrina should fall squarely in the federal government's shoulders.
REP. TOM DAVIS (R), VIRGINIA: This is something I think every American identifies with. It could be their community the next time.
QUIJANO: President Bush wants to rebuild hurricane-ravaged areas without raising taxes, saying doing so would slow down the economy. But some Democrats argue ruling out that option now is premature.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: Where is he going to find roughly a half a trillion dollars over the next several years for Iraq and for Katrina? I think this is -- I think we're not level with the American people.
QUIJANO: They question how the administration can keep tax cuts in place while simultaneously paying for Katrina.
SEN. BARAK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: We need some adult supervision of the budget process. And we need to take responsibility for this process, that's something that we need from the president as well as our congressional leaders.
QUIJANO: Although the Bush administration won't talk specifics, some estimates put the rebuilding costs at around $200 billion. Some Republicans with an eye on the deficit say Americans understand the money will have to come from somewhere.
REP. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: They expect the Congress to make the hard choices to pay for those expenses with real savings in other areas of government.
QUIJANO: They suggest delaying the new prescription drug benefit for seniors and putting off costly projects in their recently passed transportation bill.
SEN. JON KYL (R), ARIZONA: If we would simply take about a fourth of that and all of the various pork projects that were in that highway bill, and redirect some of that to the Gulf region, we would have billions of dollars to help rebuild that area.
QUIJANO: President Bush, who returned to the White House Sunday from a weekend at Camp David, offered no hints on how the federal government will pay for the reconstruction effort.
(on camera): Tuesday President Bush traveled back to the region, visiting Mississippi and Louisiana. It will be his fifth time on the ground there since the hurricane hit three weeks ago.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: New Orleans has one of the largest levee systems in the world, but it is already broken and patched in a couple of places. And now two tropical storms are giving cause for concern. Can the damaged levees of New Orleans withstand another storm?
For answers we're going to turn to Brigadier General Robert Crear, he is commander of the Mississippi Valley Division of the Corps of Engineers, and is joining me by phone from Vicksburg, Mississippi.
Sir, what do you think? Do you think that these levees are strong enough to withstand another tropical storm, maybe even a hurricane?
BRIG. GEN. ROBERT CREAR, CMDR., MISSISSIPPI VALLEY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Well, good evening, the current hurricane protection system does not ensure that the city would be protected against storms that would be contained in heavy rainfall, let along hurricanes.
LIN: So what is the status of the levees right now?
CREAR: Right now, as you know, they received a various degree of damage. No weaknesses we know of now or breaches of any length or severity. We have (INAUDIBLE) into the levees that were potentially cut to allow the water to drain. That helped us to do the unwatering. Then there were areas of levees overtopping, causing a variable amount of damage per overtopping site. So as you can see, the levees are not in good shape at all.
LIN: Mm-hmm. So what is the potential here then? If those levees break, are you talking about all that water coming back in to New Orleans?
CREAR: Well, right now the levees, at best, the weakest points will only protect against a tidal fluctuation. However, we can take measure of that to at least increase the level of protection. We can -- those canals that you saw on television that were breached, they are still weak. However we can put protection that will prevent the water from Lake Pontchartrain from entering those canals. And we do that pretty quickly if we know of a tropical storm heading our way.
LIN: Mm-hmm. But a hurricane, forget it, that's what you're saying?
CREAR: It would be -- to do a hurricane, the best -- I think the best course of action would be to make sure we have an evacuation program that I would say 48 hours that we would know that it is coming in, and we would know the severity of it, that would be the best course of action.
LIN: Right. Well, General, there is hardly anybody there at this point now, so, I mean, the evacuation order probably wouldn't be of much help. It would just slow down the recovery so greatly if the city were to be flooded again. CREAR: If the -- if it were flooded again, again, where we're concerned is this -- is loss of life. We are working as fast as possible to try to get at least an interim protection, repair to breaches that were in the levees, strengthen the breaches at both the 17th Street Canal and the London Avenue site at this point.
LIN: But at this point, how long is it going to be before those levees can be rebuilt?
CREAR: Right now we're looking at a goal of having the levees rebuild at least to what I call an interim level of protection by 1 December. And then get it back to the authorized project level that it was before by 1 June, 2006.
LIN: Mm-hmm. Interesting, June 1st, just in time for the next hurricane season, General.
CREAR: That's the goal, to get it done prior to the next hurricane season.
LIN: All right, sir. Brigadier General Robert Crear, thank you very much, and good luck, OK? Let's hope that Mother Nature turns her back this time on the Gulf Coast region.
CREAR: All right. Thank you. We'll need everybody's prayers on this one.
LIN: You got them.
Well, Katrina killed and displaced a lot of animals. So find out how the dolphins from the Gulfport, Mississippi, Oceanarium are doing?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Now an update on those dolphins from a Mississippi aquarium that were swept to sea by Hurricane Katrina. Scientists are having some success in rescuing them. So joining me now with an update is Moby Solangi, he is president of the Marine Life Oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi. He's on the phone right now.
So give us an idea, you have eight dolphins, right? How many have you been able to rescue so far?
MOBY SOLANGI, PRES., MARINE LIFE OCEANARIUM: We have rescued four and we have moved them to the Navy Seabees base in Gulfport, Mississippi. And they're there in the pools that were provided by the Navy.
LIN: Because this really has been a struggle, Moby. I mean, you actually managed to get some of them in a swimming pool. And then, what, the water rose again and then they escaped?
SOLANGI: Well, no, the first batch that we had put in the swimming pools, we relocated them. These animals had been swept away after the hurricane and they came back after about 12 or 13 days, which was remarkable. These are the ones that we are trying to rescue from the ocean.
LIN: How did they find each other in the ocean?
SOLANGI: Boy, I'll tell you, that is incredible. All eight of them stayed together. And when we saw them, they were really, you know, just totally overjoyed. They were flipping and started eating immediately. They are now under veterinary care.
And we've been able to take them one or two at a time. Initially we had to put them again in swimming pools because temporary pools from the Navy hadn't arrived. But as soon as they arrived, we moved them into them yesterday.
LIN: Mm-hmm. So how are you going to get the other four?
SOLANGI: Well, that's, again, a challenge. You know, we are working. We've got quite a few people from NOAA Fisheries and USDA and other agencies and our affiliate partners in the aquarium business, and they are all working together to make sure that these animals are recovered and...
LIN: Well, but how do you do it? I mean, do you go out? Do you whistle? Do you throw a net? Do you have a cage?
SOLANGI: What we have is a platform that we have put together in the wild. And these animals are fed three times a day. So these animals come to you and you feed them; and then we're training to slide on the mat. And when they slide, we are able to grab them and then put them in boats.
So we haven't had to use nets, but we are prepared to use any method to recover them. They are hanging in a very deep channel, so nets would not be effective. But the trainers are -- you know, have done an incredible job in -- who had bonded with these animals, working with them.
LIN: Mm-hmm. So what would happen then if you couldn't catch them, I mean, if they were just left to the wild?
SOLANGI: Well, you know, they've had opportunities to be in the wild, yet they have decided to return, come right back to our front yard. And so -- and of course as soon as the trainers started feeding them, they used their whistle commands and others to bring them back. And, you know, they have stayed together, in which we are very happy that they have done so.
LIN: It's remarkable, I mean, we're watching some of the picture of the capture and the release of this one particular dolphin in a swimming pool. And we saw the platform out there from where they're feeding them. I wish you luck. It has got to be a tough but exciting task. Clearly, these dolphins adore you.
SOLANGI: Well, it's really -- I think the real heroes are the trainers. And, of course, we really appreciate NOAA Fisheries that have provided use with logistics. We have really nothing left here. It has been the most devastating, you know, catastrophe. And having folks provide us the assistance has been, you know, the key to our success.
LIN: Moby Solangi, thank you so much.
SOLANGI: Thank you so much for having me.
LIN: Well, just ahead, we're going to get an update on the latest storms that threaten South Florida now.
Also ahead, a New Orleans television anchor shares his feelings about the devastation done to his home by Hurricane Katrina.
And at the top of the hour, be sure to join Paula Zahn for a special "CNN PRESENTS: The Heroes Among Us."
You're watching CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Welcome back. I'm Carol Lin. And here's a quick look at what's happening right "Now in the News."
A security scare at Palm Springs International Airport in California, the airport was temporarily shut down today when drove a pick-up truck through a fence onto the tarmac. The drive was arrested by police.
In Chicago, federal investigators say a passenger train was going too fast, almost 60 miles an hour above the speed limit, before yesterday's deadly derailment. Two people were killed and more than 80 injured in the accident. Train officials say service should be fully restored for the Monday morning commute.
And the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee predicts an easy confirmation for John Roberts as chief justice of the United States. Republican Arlen Specter is looking ahead and hopes the next Supreme Court nominee to replace Sandra Day O'Connor is like Roberts, conservative. The committee vote on Roberts' nomination is schedule for Thursday.
And a stark reminder tonight that hurricane season is in full force. Storm warnings and hurricane watches are posted in southern Florida as Tropical Storm Rita churns in the Atlantic, a mandatory evacuation for tourists in the Keys. Tracking the storm for us, CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider right now in the weather center -- Bonnie.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Carol, as you know, we just said goodbye to Ophelia and now we have to contend with Rita, unfortunately. Right now, the storm center is 355 miles to the east- southeast of the Bahamas. It's pretty evident in our satellite picture, and according to the latest advisory, with maximum winds at 40 miles per hour.
This storm, though, is likely to strengthen, it's moving to an area that's more favorable for development. And when we look ahead for Rita's future, it definitely looks promising that we're going to see a hurricane develop.
Well, here's where we have some tropical storm warnings: over parts of the Bahamas and a hurricane watch now in effect the northwestern sections of the Bahamas, and also the Florida Keys, stretching all the way to Deerfield Beach, that's new as of the 5:00 advisory, all the way down further to the Florida Keys.
So a hurricane watch means you may see hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours. That's why even though Rita sort of just popped up, we have to take it very seriously.
Here's a look at the track. This, again, is from the Hurricane Center. It has the storm developing into a hurricane by the time we get to early next week. And the track, it takes it south of the Florida Keys, but remember, we have that cone of uncertainty, so the storm could wobble a little further north, a little further south.
And if it does indeed interact with Cuba to a great deal, especially in the more mountainous terrain of Cuba, we could see this storm break up just a little bit and lose some of its intensity.
The problem is that Rita is moving over some of this very warm water from the western Caribbean Sea through the Yucatan Straits and then back on into the Gulf of Mexico where the water temperatures are very warm.
And we also had very little wind shear to break apart this storm. So that's why we're looking at a favorable environment for Rita to develop. Rita is not the only storm out there, of course not, this busy season, we also have Philippe.
Philippe formed late last night, a tropical storm, and we have the latest on Philippe and the track for this one. Now Philippe is likely to become a hurricane as well, it's also moving into an environment that's favorable for development.
The good thing about Philippe, though, is that it's far away, at least far away enough from the land masses that we don't have any watches or warnings posted with Philippe. And it's moving in towards more of the open waters of the Atlantic. But as we look towards the future, we're going to have to keep a watch on Philippe.
Hopefully it will keep its trend and move to the north-northeast and eventually away from land. The immediate threat right now, of course, is Rita. And that's the one we're watching to bring some really not such great weather to the Florida Keys, that's why there is a hurricane watch right now -- Carol.
LIN: All right. Thanks, Bonnie.
Now before Katrina slammed ashore as a dangerous Category 4 hurricane nearly three weeks ago, it was a much more powerful Category 5 storm. And many about the intensity of the storms developing over the Atlantic Ocean, are they getting more severe?
Here's our technology correspondent, Daniel Sieberg. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After years of relative quiet in the Atlantic, monster hurricanes seem to be breaking out all over. Now a study in the journal Science appears to confirm there really has been a greater number of strong hurricanes in recent years.
PETER WEBSTER, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Let's assume that we have 250 for the heck of it.
SIEBERG: Peter Webster, Judy Curry and colleagues crunched the numbers on 35 years of data from hurricanes and cyclones all over the globe. The data suggests the number of storms per year has remained relatively stable over time. But in recent years, the strength of the storms has spiked.
WEBSTER: The intensity of hurricanes in all of the basins, including the Atlantic Ocean, have increased substantially so that there are more Category 4 and 5 hurricanes.
SIEBERG: So what's behind the more powerful hurricanes? Well, scientists say natural climate cycles like El Nino and La Nina play a big role. The study says the spike in storm intensity mirrors a rise in ocean surface temperatures which, in turn, may be linked to global warming. But it's too soon to make that link conclusively.
JUDITH CURRY, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: There's certainly a significant component that is associated with greenhouse warming. How much is associated with natural variability? That just hasn't been sorted out.
SIEBERG: Other scientists point to a government-funded study that suggests global warming will affect hurricanes gradually over the next 100 years or so.
CHRIS LANDSEA, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER.: So, if that's the case, I mean, that may be good news that global warning may not have an appreciable impact on hurricanes.
SIEBERG: Whether it's global warming or cyclical, most experts agree that the monster hurricane trend is not going to ease up anytime soon.
Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: This weekend, we've been showing you some people who have been able to get back to the New Orleans area as the water recedes. For example, in Saint Bernard Parish, people were allowed to visit homes and businesses to see what's left. But parish officials say they might not be allowed to stay until next summer. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin wants up to 180,000 people to return to the city. But the head of the federal relief effort says that there are plenty of reasons to slow down. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICE ADM. THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD: They're still trying to reconstitute the 911 system. Some of these people may not have telephone service, there is not power and there is not potable water. So you put people into that situation and if you have an extreme weather event, you're very, very challenged to try and get notifications and to get them out. And we think that is to be the subject of some very deliberate planning and a very thoughtful approach on how you reenter the city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Many reporters covering the terrible damage left by New Orleans flood waters come from outside the area. The site is even more devastating for those from New Orleans. WDSU lead anchor Norman Robinson was among those going home for the first time.
And he took a cameraman with him.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NORMAN ROBINSON, WDSU CORRESPONDENT: This is the gut-wrenching view of Spring Lakes (ph) subdivision. This is one of the oldest communities in what's called New Orleans East. The destruction is just totally thorough. It's overwhelming. We've had people asking us questions all over the country. What does the east look like? What does my neighborhood look like? Well, this gives you some appreciation of the widespread destruction, devastation. It's like no-man's land.
As you could see, the door is hard to open because of -- actually, we had to force it open because it was swollen from all the water. The mold is climbing up, up the walls. It's well above my head. And this was my granddaughter's piano. It was on the other side. It was abutted to this wall. And it looks like the storm surge did some rearranging of the furniture of its own.
It moved the sofa from over here to over here where the piano was. It moved the piano from over against that wall here. And left it laying in the middle of the floor. This is what's left of the family room. This is the place that we all gather for family occasions and social events, and it's a complete mess.
Now, this almost looks like it was built into this chair. This is -- that's about half an inch thick. But it's completely unusable. There's nothing salvageable in here. This was a sturdy oak table and look at it. The table is now concave.
I tell you, you just get a tremendous respect for Mother Nature when you look at stuff like this. This is utterly, just almost indescribable. It's so much wreckage. I've never seen anything like this in my entire life. The sofa ended up from the family room over here. I don't even want to touch this. The mold growing here, it is just -- it's just yucky. This is what's left of the kitchen, or should I say what's not left of the kitchen. Look at that. That's just complete ruination everywhere you look. The cabinets are moldy. And this looks like moss hanging on the oak tree outside. This is utter chaos.
If you want an example of what the inside of your house probably looks like if you're in this neighborhood, I think that this pretty much reflect reflects what it looks like. And it's not a pretty picture and is not a place you really want to be.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, again, that was anchorman Norman Robinson of CNN affiliate WDSU returning to his New Orleans home for the first time.
Now as the Gulf turns towards recovery, CNN is going to keep you close to the story. Starting tomorrow we are going to report zip code by zip code as the rebuilding begins. We're going to focus on the 70114 zip code on Monday. That's the Algiers neighborhood, a ferry ride across the Mississippi from Canal Street and the French Quarter, one of the city's oldest areas. It's full of modest Creole cottages.
And, of course, we're going to be tracking the developments throughout the Gulf region.
Now in Germany, the voting is over in an election that was as close as can be. We're going to have results.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: An extremely close election today leaves the question of Germany's future leadership unanswered, at least for now. Both Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and challenge Angela Merkel have claimed the right to head the next German government.
Exit polls show Merkel's Christian Democrat alliance won slightly more votes than Schroeder's Social Democrats, but not enough seats for a clear victory. The outcome may come down to results in Dresden where voting was postponed until October 2nd because of a candidate's.
Now balloting over in Afghanistan, voters there are lined up by the millions today to choose a new parliament. And they did so despite a Taliban call for a boycott and militant attacks that claimed 15 lives throughout the day. Afghan voters were also choosing 34 provincial councils. Heavy security kept most violence away from Afghanistan's polling places. Officials begin counting the votes Tuesday. The results are expected in about a week.
A grisly discovery today in Iraq: police say the bodies of 20 men, apparently members of the Iraqi security forces, were found dumped in a river north of Baghdad. This comes as Iraq's draft constitution moves one step closer to a referendum.
CNN's Jennifer Eccleston has the latest from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraq's parliament signed off on revisions to the country's draft constitution. It's now in the hands of the United Nations who will print it and begin distributing some 5 million copies.
Now the draft was not voted on by the national assembly. A leading MP declared the charter's acceptance was a matter for the people and not the parliament. Now the final draft does make some minor concessions to the Sunni minority, including a mention that Iraq is a founding member of the Arab League.
Sunnis wanted the charter to highlight Iraq as an Arab country. Now Sunnis also opposed provisions that would create an autonomous federal region, fearing the charter will decentralize the government, giving greater autonomy to southern Shiites in line with the autonomy already enjoyed by Kurds. Some leading Sunnis have said they'll campaign to defeat when it goes to a national referendum on October 15th.
Meantime, the violence continues this weekend in Baquba, north of Baghdad, six civilians were killed separate attacks. And on Saturday a Kurdish member of Iraq's parliament was among three people fatally shot while traveling on a convoy to Baghdad.
And almost at the same time a remotely detonated car bomb exploded in a market in a Baghdad suburb. Police say some 30 people were killed with 38 others wounded. That attack took place in a predominantly Shiite area.
Now these are the latest grisly incidents in a weeklong wave of deadly attacks here in the capital and other cities. And it comes amid growing concerns over mounting sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Arabs.
Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, tonight in Los Angeles, the television industry is honoring its own. Next, we're going to have a live report from where the stars are gathering for this evening's Emmy awards.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Well, Emmy awards are being handed out in Los Angeles. Host Ellen DeGeneres, a Louisiana native, is expected to pay tribute to Hurricane Katrina victims. And in the "life goes on" department, the red carpet has been rolled out and the stars are gathering. CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas is live in Los Angeles with a preview.
Sibila, you're out there somewhere.
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Oh yes, I'm out on the red carpet, and believe me, it's absolutely crazy. The last of the stars are making their way into the Shrine Auditorium. I got a chance to catch up with two of the "Desperate Housewives": Teri Hatcher and Marcia Cross. They spoke about the show, but also on some things that are on so many of our minds, Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERI HATCHER, "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES": Well, I think biggest positive point is that they kind of seem to be admitting where they went wrong and trying to think about doing some changes about it. And I guess that is a -- it's not necessarily -- we don't want that in our political system, but it certainly is a human quality to know that you can make a mistake and want a chance to try to do it differently.
MARCIA CROSS, "DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES": I don't know that this is the place to have a completely political discussion, but I certainly think as humans we've got some ways to go in developing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VARGAS: So as you can see, Katrina definitely making an impact out here. People talking about it, but the show, you know, with Ellen DeGeneres hosting it, she's a New Orleans native, there is going to be a balance for sure. People want to celebrate, but at the same time, they want to give homage to, you know, what's happening out in the world.
Carol, back to you.
LIN: Thank you very much, Sibila Vargas, reporting live in Los Angeles.
And now to the impact just one person can make in times of tragedy, and that includes kids as well. Six thousand children whose lives were uprooted by Hurricane Katrina will soon receiving a duffel bag with a cuddly stuffed animal all thanks to a 14-year-old girl in Bowie, Maryland.
CNN's Kathleen Koch has that remarkable story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAKENZIE SNYDER, FOUNDER, CHILDREN TO CHILDREN: Basically the duffel bag is because they don't have much to carry their stuff in. And so like -- and I thought the stuffed animal was a really, really good touch, like, because when I'm sad and lonely and I'm upset, I'm just -- I'm looking for something that I can cuddle.
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fourteen-year-old Makenzie Snyder, along with her family and cheerleader friends spent the weekend in Bowie, Maryland, packing bags of stuffed animals for Louisiana and Mississippi.
M. SNYDER: My uncle, my aunt...
KOCH: Also helping seven evacuees from New Orleans, relatives of Naikia Lewis-Wilson of Bowie. NAIKIA LEWIS-WILSON, VOLUNTEER: We figured it would be, you know, a small way that we could help out people that have been through the same thing we've been through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we need a bunch of people sitting here. It doesn't matter if you're sitting or standing by the stuffed animals.
KOCH: Makenzie's brother Brock brought his fraternity brothers to help.
BROCK SNYDER, VOLUNTEER: People are boxing them up, and then they're putting -- how many numbers? And loading them right back into the truck. So it's pretty efficient.
KOCH: As soon as Makenzie learned of the extent of the devastation, she was moved to act.
M. SNYDER: It was horrible. Like, I couldn't imagine being in their situation. So I just felt like it was in my place to do something for them.
KOCH: This isn't the first time Makenzie has reached out to children in need. When she was seven she founded the group Children to Children.
M. SNYDER: And we give duffel bags and stuffed animals to the kids in foster care so that they don't have to carry their stuff in trash bags.
KOCH: Her benefactor is the Freddie Mac Foundation, and the stuffed animals were donated from around the country. Makenzie's mother couldn't be more proud of her daughter's selfless spirit.
MARGIE SNYDER, MAKENZIE'S MOTHER: I'm very proud of her. I just can't wait to see what she does when she is grown up.
KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: That's all the time we have for this hour. But coming up at 8:00 Eastern, Paula Zahn hosts a special "CNN PRESENTS: The Heroes Among Us."
At 9:00 Eastern, "LARRY KING WEEKEND." And Larry's guest tonight is Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko.
And I'll be back at 10:00 Eastern tonight. We are tracking the latest storm, headed right for the United States. Where will Rita strike?
The hour's headlines when I come back, and then, "The Heroes Among Us."
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