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Lou Dobbs Tonight
Florida Keys Evacuated for Storm; Threat of Rita Suspends Repopulation of New Orleans
Aired September 19, 2005 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, HOST: Thanks, Wolf. Good evening everybody.
Tonight, tens of thousands of people are on the move in Florida. Tropical Storm Rita is closing in on the Florida Keys and could hit Louisiana within days. We'll have a live report from Key West and an update from the National Hurricane Center.
Plus, New Orleans suspends the return of its residents because of fears about potential impact of Tropical Storm Rita. Mayor Ray Nagin says the city's flood defense are simply too weak. We'll have the latest from New Orleans.
And rising charges tonight that some insurance companies are trying to take advantage of Hurricane Katrina victims. A leading class action attorney declares insurers should honor their obligations. That attorney is my guest.
Tonight, another major storm is barreling toward the United States, forcing New Orleans to suspend the reopening of that city. Tropical Storm Rita could be a Category 1 hurricane by the time it hits the U.S. coast. Hurricane warnings are in effect in southern Florida tonight. According to some projections, Rita could then turn north toward Louisiana.
John Zarrella in Key West, Florida, reports on the mandatory evacuations of tens of thousands of people from the Florida Keys. And Mary Snow in New Orleans reports on that city's decision to suspend the return of its citizens. We begin with John Zarrella -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine. That's exactly right. They have ordered mandatory evacuations here for good reason.
This is the fifth time in the last two years, three times last year, for three of the four hurricanes that hit Florida, then Hurricane Dennis earlier this year. And now for Rita ordered evacuations, mandatory evacuations, for the entire Florida Keys.
That was ratcheted up earlier today because of the concern that this storm could be a Category 2 hurricane by the time it gets here. Not the case so far, but that certainly is the concern.
People in the lower Florida Keys, the middle Keys, and the upper Keys, all ordered, both residents and tourists, all ordered to evacuate. There are some 25,000 people who live in Key West, 80,000 in all in Monroe County, told to go to those evacuation shelters on the mainland. All day today you could see, of course, behind me you can see, boarded up, a building here all boarded up. This is Duvall Street, the main drag in Key West. And for anybody who knows Key West, you know that it's always crowded here on Duvall Street.
Take a look down Duvall Street. Should be filled with tourists. Not a soul on the street tonight. People are definitely taking this very seriously now, and many people have made plans to begin to move out.
Florida Highway Patrol saying traffic is steady on the overseas highway. That's U.S. 1, that one way in, one way out single-lane road in and out of the Keys. Steady traffic. But it is moving good.
Evacuations of all three hospitals in the Florida Keys are being completed tonight. And buses have been staged at a pick-up point at Key West Hospital -- or rather, at Key West High School in order to move people out who have no other means of transportation to get out. Clearly here in Florida, they do not want to see a repeat of what happened in New Orleans three weeks ago -- Christine.
ROMANS: John Zarrella in Key West. Thanks, John.
Joining us with the latest on the direction of Tropical Storm Rita is Jacqui Jeras at the CNN Weather Center. Jacqui, where is this storm headed tonight?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's heading up to the west-northwest right now, moving across the Bahamas and should be moving towards the Keys, we think, early tomorrow morning, making landfall maybe tomorrow, late afternoon into the evening hours.
It's nearly a hurricane now. It has 70 mile per hour winds. Has to be up to 74 to become a hurricane. And we think that will be happening later on for tonight.
Starting to feel the impacts of Rita already across the Florida Keys and south Florida. Some thunderstorms moving across the Dry Tortugas right now. These will become more numerous, we think, as we head through the night tonight and tomorrow.
In the morning tropical storm force winds will be felt. And we think by mid to late morning the hurricane force winds will be felt.
So hurricane warnings have been posted for much of south Florida, extending all the way throughout the Keys. Tropical storm warnings from Golden Beach extending on northward. That means that hurricane or tropical storm, depending which warning you're under, conditions are expected in less than 24 hours.
Here's the projected path now as we -- what we expect and the continued directions. Should still stay on that west to northwesterly path and just either going to make landfall or just brush by the Keys.
And check out the intensity now: 100 mile per hour maximum sustained winds. That puts it in Category 2 strength, meaning we could see some structural damage. Roofs could be blown off of homes, some power outages can be anticipated. And storm surge in the Keys of six to nine feet. We could see some storm surge in Miami-Dade County as high as three to five feet. And maybe about three to five inches of rainfall, as well.
Additional strengthening as it moves toward the Gulf of Mexico. Still not certain exactly where it's going to be going, but it looks like we're going to have another major hurricane making landfall into the western Gulf.
New Orleans can't be ruled out, but the likelihood, the models are in better agreement now, heading in towards Texas. So we'll have to watch northern Mexico, all of Texas, Louisiana, even keeping our eye on Mississippi. This is still a good four, five days away. That will be late this week, late Friday and into Saturday when we could see a second landfall -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Jacqui Jeras. Thank you, Jacqui.
Concerns about the potential impact of Tropical Storm Rita drove oil prices sharply higher today. Crude oil prices rose by $4.39 to end the day at $67.39, rather, a barrel. About 30 percent of U.S. oil production comes from off-shore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico.
The rising threat from Tropical Storm Rita today forced New Orleans to suspend the return of its residents. Mayor Ray Nagin said the city's flood defenses are too weak to withstand another major storm.
Mary Snow has our report from New Orleans -- Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, just a short time ago New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said that he is putting on hold re- entry program that began today. He is encouraging people to leave New Orleans on Wednesday, perhaps earlier, saying because of Tropical Storm Rita, it is not safe to stay.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: Our levee systems are still in a very weak condition. Our pumping stations are not at full capacity. And any type of storm that heads this way and hits us will put the east bank of Orleans Parish in very significant harm's way. So I'm encouraging everyone to leave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Now day one of the re-entry program actually began here in Algiers. We are right across from New Orleans. We're on the west bank of the Mississippi River. It's a very different situation here. There's drinkable water. There's also electricity.
Very different scene across the river in the French Quarter and the Central Business District. These areas had been slated to start letting residents in. But, federal officials had voiced skepticism. Even President Bush voiced concern today. Federal officials had said that it was too soon for people to move back.
And Ray Nagin today saying that because of the threat of the storm, he has changed his mind and is stopping the program -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right, Mary Snow in New Orleans. Thanks, Mary.
President Bush's televised speech about Hurricane Katrina last week has done nothing to lift the president's approval ratings. A new CNN/"USA Today" Gallup poll says only 41 percent of voters approve of the president's handling of the hurricane disaster.
Suzanne Malveaux reports from the White House -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Christine, President Bush today met with his Homeland Security Council, cabinet members, of course, where he vowed, he pledged, that they would continue focusing on the recovery effort.
All of this, however, of course, not being reflected in the approval numbers, the poll numbers really seen at an unprecedented low if we go through some of the numbers.
First of all, his overall job approval now at 40 percent. That has been pretty consistent. The handling of the economy, lowest ever. These numbers, 35 percent. Handling of Iraq at 32 percent.
Also of course, there seems to be a difference in how the president sees Hurricane Katrina, as well as the American people. Those polled in terms of responding to this, many people saying that they would be willing -- would like to see cut spending in Iraq, 54 percent, and would be willing to have a raise in their taxes, a hike in their taxes, some 17 percent. President Bush against both of those ideas.
And finally, of course, just how this investigation should unfold in the early missteps of the government, there are 81 percent who say they believe an independent panel would be necessary for that investigation; 18 percent say congress should handle that. That's the plan that the president has endorsed.
Should also let you know, Christine, as well President Bush will be back in the hurricane-damaged regions again tomorrow. That will be his fifth trip. And the latest poll shows that 58 percent believe that the president has been going for political reasons. They do not believe that he sincerely cares about the victims.
The White House certainly hopes to change some of these trends -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Suzanne Malveaux. Thank you, Suzanne.
Still to come, reuniting families torn apart by Hurricane Katrina. We'll have a special report on the massive effort to help children and their families get together again. And the rising threat from Tropical Storm Rita. We'll go live to the National Hurricane Center for the latest on Rita's direction and force.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Tonight, a look at one of the most difficult aspects of Hurricane Katrina: families torn apart.
For the past few days here on CNN on the left side of your screen, we've been showing you pictures of children missing in the wake of this storm. There have already been some success stories as a result.
Joining me now from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia, is our Brian Todd -- Brian.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christine, good evening.
Yes, there have been some success stories. We're going to tell you about one in just a moment. We're going to show you the room here first. This is the 15th day that this hotline has been set up. They set this up originally on Labor Day. Since that time, the calls have come in and have multiplied exponentially. And they have had many success stories.
Right now they list 2,393 children as missing. But there have been 883 cases that have been resolved, reunited with their parents or main care givers. We're going to talk about one of those cases right now.
My guest here is Peggy Pitta. She is a volunteer here, former New York City law enforcement officer.
Peggy, you were involved in a case over the weekend where a 7- year-old girl had gone missing from her mother, and we put the picture up on CNN. You got a call then. What happened after that?
PIGGY PITTA, VOLUNTEER: That I did. I answered the phone, and it was a very delighted grandmother. She was sitting with her granddaughter. They had just seen the granddaughter's picture up on that TV set. And they knew immediately that their mom, the mom they were looking for, had to be alive, because that's where the picture would have come from.
TODD: And they didn't know before that the mother was alive?
PITTA: They did not know. They had no idea. They were looking for the mom, but they had no idea she had made it out. This is nearly three weeks after they were separated. So, they were thrilled.
TODD: Well, congratulations to you and good luck with the rest of your work here. Peggy Pitta. Peggy, thanks very much for joining us.
An important distinction to make. This one was one of the cases that Peggy dealt with that she just talked about. Among the children listed as missing are children who are actually under the care of an adult, either social services or another adult, but whose parents have not been located. That makes up a good portion of the children still listed missing.
But again, 2,393 kids listed as missing tonight; 883 cases have been resolved. They're going to keep this call center up for the indefinite future until they either resolve all the cases or they otherwise know what happened to these children -- Christine.
ROMANS: All right. Brian Todd in Alexandria, Virginia. Thank you, Brian.
We reported earlier that New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has suspended the reopening of the city because of the threat of Tropical Storm Rita. We'd like to know how you feel about this issue. Do you agree with Mayor Nagin's decision to suspend the return of evacuees to New Orleans? Yes or no. Cast your vote at LouDobbs.com. And we'll bring you the results later in the broadcast.
For some hard-hit victims of Hurricane Katrina, the process of rebuilding and recovery is easier than for others. Take for example, Keesler Air Force base located right on the Mississippi coast.
Keesler is a key training base for the Air Force. And despite the fact that 95 percent of its buildings sustained some damage, students and some base workers are already returning.
CNN's Jamie McIntyre toured the base and has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The high winds and water damaged almost everything to some degree at Keesler Air Force Base, located right on the Mississippi coast. And in a bit of poetic injustice, the colonel in charge of the base infrastructure, known officially as Keesler's mayor, lost his house to fire at the height of the storm.
(on camera) You've lost everything.
COL. BRUCE BUSH, USAF, SUPPORT COMMANDER: Pretty much everything, including our car, which was in the garage. And all our personal belongings. We took a uniform -- I had a uniform on, and couple other items. My wife had a couple other items with her, as we went to shelter. And that was it. That's all we had left.
MCINTYRE: You said your son is a firefighter? Is that...
B. BUSH: How ironic. That's one of his things that we had framed for him in his room.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Hardest hit was the base housing. About 1,800 houses on this base, and about 800 of them are not in any condition that can be lived in. Example is this house which belongs to Staff Sergeant Deanna Attaway. STAFF SGT. DEANNA ATTAWAY, U.S. AIR FORCE: This is what I came back to.
MCINTYRE (on camera): Fish tank?
ATTAWAY: Yes. We had the same fish that I hadn't managed to kill in about five years. And now we don't know where it is. But -- and it's just like the pictures that I wasn't able to grab. That's what I miss. Yes. We even put our big screen TV on top of the coffee table, thinking that it would protect it, because I said if we get any water, it will be a couple inches, maybe a foot, and it should be safe. And...
MCINTYRE: And this is the big screen.
ATTAWAY: That's the big screen, and this is the coffee table it was on.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): Sergeant Attaway knows she's better off than many victims. The Air Force will replace her house.
In fact, the Air Force base benefited from a lot of things the surrounding communities didn't have: a clear command of command, a workable plan for evacuation, plenty of air lift, hurricane-proof shelters, water from wells, lots of supplies, even limited communications that never failed.
(on camera) What's it going to take to put this base back together? The way it was or perhaps even better?
B. BUSH: Roughly about the latest estimates are approaching $900 million.
MCINTYRE: And time?
B. BUSH: And lots of time and effort.
MCINTYRE (voice-over): When the base commander surveyed the damage to Keesler the morning after, he guessed it might take a month to get back to normal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the floating casinos.
MCINTYRE: But when he took a helicopter tour of the surrounding Biloxi area, he revised his estimate to sometime in March or April, destruction was so great.
(on camera) Anybody who has ever thought about running out a hurricane.
(voice-over) No one died at Keesler, and the base is proud it could help others as it dug out. But everything from helicopter air drops of supplies to clean water from its own water system, to doctors from its hospital.
Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Biloxi, Mississippi. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Still ahead, new warnings tonight of a possible bird flu pandemic. Will the United States be prepared? We'll have a special report.
And, residents in Florida brace for tropical storm Rita which is heading straight for the Keys. We'll have the very latest from the National Hurricane Center.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: In Indonesia, two children have been hospitalized with suspected bird flu. The government has put that entire country on high alert. Four people have already died from bird flu in Indonesia. Health experts are gravely concerned that bird flu may turn into a worldwide crisis.
Kitty Pilgrim reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the Jakarta Zoo, dozens of birds tested positive for avian flu. And so may two children at the city's hospital. Tests are still being done.
There have been several outbreaks in recent months. The disease killed three people in the capital of Indonesia in July, and another woman last week.
The H-5-N-1 flu is most often found in chickens but can now jump species. Human to human transmission is believed possible. So far the isolated outbreaks in humans is highly lethal but contained.
LAURIE GARRETT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Right now it's 55 percent lethal to human beings. 1918, which is the last great flu pandemic we had, was a less than two percent lethal, and it killed more than 50 million people in the world.
PILGRIM: Last week the World Health Organization stepped up warnings of a potential global pandemic. President Bush at the United Nations proposed a partnership for countries to join in cooperating to isolate the disease.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If left unchallenged, this virus could become the first pandemic of the 21st century. We must not allow that to happen.
PILGRIM: U.S. health experts worry that there is not enough of the drug Tamiflu, produced in Europe, which could potentially be used to treat people if there is an outbreak. Another solution is to develop a new vaccine.
ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: The CDC is watching this as a hawk, as it were. They are very, very carefully monitoring what's going on in Southeast Asia. So we have a candidate vaccine that looks promising. We need to rev up the production of that, both the vaccine and the drug.
PILGRIM: Specialists say if a person with a common case of flu would also be infected with avian flu, that could spark a new mutated strain.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: It can mutate that capacity all by itself, or it can simultaneously infect a human being that's already infected with the normal virus, and exchange genetic material and pick up that capacity. So the more wide spread the avian flu virus is, the more likely that is to occur.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PILGRIM: Now the CDC says there is no -- currently no vaccine to protect humans against the avian virus, but the World Health Organizations are trying to develop one. The problem is the virus may be able to mutate and develop beyond the reach of any vaccine that is currently in production -- Christine.
ROMANS: So currently we've seen isolated human-to-human transmission. That's scary enough. But we haven't seen any mass cases yet.
PILGRIM: Well, the whole world is on alert for that. Because that's the point, where human to human transmission is pervasive, where you lose control of the virus. And they don't know whether this virus will get stronger as it goes into that stage or weaker as it goes into that stage.
ROMANS: And that comparison to the 1918 flu, that's chilling.
PILGRIM: It certainly is. The numbers are astounding.
ROMANS: All right. Kitty Pilgrim. Thank you very much, Kitty.
When we return, a new storm threat to the Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center updates us live on Tropical Storm Rita.
And, if Rita hits New Orleans, can New Orleans' damaged levees hold? The commander of the Army Corps of Engineers will be my guest on this new disaster scenario.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: Three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, residents of the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers were allowed to return home to their homes today. Jeff Koinange reports on how one Algiers resident is aiding the relief effort and giving hope to shattered lives.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Katrina transformed 44-year-old Lilly Duke from independent film producer to rescue worker. After the storm hit, she put away the camera and picked up the phone. Duke and several other volunteers started making calls to get help where it was needed most. She called the Church of Christ disaster relief organization. Within days, convoys of trucks carrying food, water and other essentials made it to New Orleans.
LILLY DUKE, INDEPENDENT FILM PRODUCERS: People are walking here. People are driving here. They're coming on their bikes. It's -- we need more food.
KOINANGE: Duke's home in the Algiers district was partly destroyed by the storm. She hasn't left her post since. And as more New Orleans residents return, the crowds at Duke's open-air warehouse continue to grow.
DUKE: We started out at about like 300, 400. And then our average last week was four to five. Yesterday we were just under 700. Today, I'm averaging 250 every two hours.
KOINANGE: Among them, mother of six, Ava Irvin, who had evacuated to Houston. She just saw her house for the first time.
AVA IRVIN, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: I'm a little caught up right now, because I just went into the house, and the whole inside of the house is completely just falling down to the floor. And my mom just passed in June, and that was her house. And it's just, you know, a real trying time for me.
KOINANGE: Or Clara Allen, who is taking care of a great granddaughter and her extend family. She says she'd be helpless without Duke's efforts.
CLARA ALLEN, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Oh, lord, God, is it great. I tell you. I have soap supplies and cleaning goods. It means so much. It really is. It's a blessing.
STEVEN, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: Sure. Every little bit of sanity we get helps us out. And this is something that really helps, something we really needed.
ALLEN: Duke says she's just happy to be able to help.
DUKE: The bottom line is we're all Americans. No matter what state I live in, I'm just glad to be living in the United States. That's the bottom line. We're all Americans. Let's take care of each other.
KOINANGE: Seeing this realized drama through the end, Duke says, is more important than any movie.
Jeff Koinange, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: Jeff Koinange joins me now from New Orleans -- Jeff.
KOINANGE: That's right, Christine. I can tell you I'm standing actually on a levee here in Algiers in the west bank, a place where a lot of residents have started returning in the last few days.
But following these -- this news by Mayor Ray Nagin that people should evacuate, we're getting a lot of mixed feelings. Some folks telling us they don't want to endure what they have the last few days. Others saying simply they want to stay because they are already here. Others simply telling us they feel cursed with Tropical Storm Rita just on the horizon -- Christine.
ROMANS: Some big decisions for the residents of Algiers. That's to be sure. Jeff Koinange from New Orleans. Thank you very much, Jeff.
A reminder now to vote in tonight's poll. Do you agree with Mayor Nagin's decision to suspend the return of evacuees to New Orleans? Yes or no. Cast your vote at Loudobbs.com. We'll bring you the results in just a few moments.
There is growing concern in New Orleans tonight that even a glancing blow from a new hurricane will trigger new flooding and a new levee crisis for the city. Joining me tonight from Washington, Lieutenant General Carl Strock, the commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Sir, thank you for joining us.
LT. GEN. CARL STROCK, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Thanks very much. Good to be here.
ROMANS: It's almost just remarkable that you have this new hurricane or tropical storm at this point -- what's expected to become a hurricane either tomorrow or the next few days.
How vulnerable is a levee system in New Orleans to even a glancing blow from another storm?
STROCK: Well, there are a couple of factors here. First, there are about 13 different levee segments. Each one has its own characteristics.
So there is also a danger of additional damage due to a storm surge or hurricane like we saw earlier. But now we're also concerned about just the glancing blow and the rainfall that might occur, because the pump systems that normally pump out the rain water from New Orleans are only operating about 30 percent capacity.
So it's both concern for a hurricane and for any rains that are associated with a glancing blow.
ROMANS: What can you do over the next four to five days to shore up your defenses as best you can?
Well, the real priority of our effort right now is make sure the pumping systems are back in shape. That's priority one for us right now. We're also closing off the breaches, the levees. And we're ensuring that those breaches that do remain are subjected to as little stress as possible. So, for example, in the 17th Street Canal and the London Avenue Canal which everyone is familiar with, we're actually putting sheet pile walls across the face of the canal to prevent the storm surge from coming up and actually impacting those weakened portions of the levee.
ROMANS: Obviously, New Orleans just can't afford to take any chances with this new storm. Under what kind of -- I guess -- outlook are you operating as you watch the rest of the hurricane season?
There is this storm, but you still got more than a month to go here.
STROCK: That's right. So we're continuing to work our efforts to get pumping systems back in shape and then repair the levees. We won't be able to get the levees up to pre-storm conditions during this hurricane season.
So what we'll do is prioritize our effort and do as much repair as we possibly can on those most vulnerable portions of the levees.
ROMANS: Of course, you want to drain the water out of New Orleans.
Another storm, any rain, storm surge, any more breaches, that sends you back to square one.
STROCK: Possibly, yes.
For rainfall, we've got various models to predict the amount of water that would go into the city. They typically talk that over a six-hour period anywhere from 3 to 9 inches of rain could produce as much as 2 to 4 feet of water into the city.
So it's not at the catastrophic levels we saw in the previous hurricane. And that's good news, because that should keep the pumps out of the water and generators that operate those pumps out of the water.
So rainfall will be a problem. It will close off some parts of the city. But we don't think it will be catastrophic.
The real challenge for us would be to handle any kind of a storm surge or any hurricane that came close to the city.
ROMANS: Then ultimately you want to be able to rebuild these levees, drain the city, rebuild these levees and to be able to withstand potentially another Category 3.
How long-term of a project is that?
STROCK: We have a plan right now that we think we can get back to Category 3 protection -- that's pre-Katrina protection -- before next hurricane season. It's a very long-term and difficult thing. So that's certainly our objective; that by June of next year we'd have the system restored to its pre-Katrina conditions. Then, of course, we're in the process now of redoubling our efforts to study what it would take to bring a higher level of protection to New Orleans.
ROMANS: Carl Strock, commander of the Army Corp of Engineers, thank you, sir, for joining us. And best of luck to you in these coming days.
In Florida, officials have ordered a mandatory evacuation for the Florida Keys as Tropical Storm Rita continues to gain strength and barrels toward the coast. For more on this powerful storm, I'm joined by Ed Rappaport, Deputy Director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Thanks for joining us.
ED RAPPAPORT, DEPUTY DIR. NATIONAL HURRICANE CTR.: Good evening.
ROMANS: First of all, how strong is this storm, when do you think it's going to become a hurricane, and what's the risk here to the Florida Keys?
RAPPAPORT: Right now, Rita is a tropical storm with maximum winds near 70 miles per hour. That puts it just below the threshold for hurricane strength. We think it will become a hurricane overnight, and probably be Category 1, potentially, Category 2 hurricane, when its center passes near or over the Florida Keys on Tuesday. The greatest risk from Rita is going to be storm surge, which as we saw in Katrina can be very devastated. We don't think that surge will be nearly that high in the Keys. But as we're going to show you here in a minute with this colorized graphic, we do think there'll be, this red and orange area, perhaps six to eight or nine feet of storm surge in the lower Keys, and maybe four to five feet farther up, middle and upper Keys and southeast part of the Florida Peninsula.
ROMANS: And so then this storm moves across Southern Florida and into the Gulf. Three weeks ago we saw that with devastating results. Deep water, warm water. We don't know what happens then.
RAPPAPORT: Well, we're making a forecast for what's going to happen then, and the indications are that we're going to have the center pass into the central and western Gulf of Mexico, as you said. Don't know exactly where, but we're forecasting a track up through this area here, and then a turn more to the north late in the week. We do forecast that there will be strengthening and there will be a major hurricane threat for landfall, Category 3 or higher, by the end of the week in Texas and potentially Louisiana.
ROMANS: What are the chances you think for Louisiana getting hit again? Is it a slim chance at this point? It looks like it's on the fringe, the eastern fringe of the cone of possibility, but, you know, these things can change course.
RAPPAPORT: On the order of 2 to 10 percent is the chance for hurricane force winds there now.
ROMANS: All right. Ed Rappaport, thank you so much for joining us.
When we return, Dennis Kozlowski, a symbol of unchecked corporate greed, is sentenced to hard time in a New York prison. Our senior legal analyst will join us.
Plus, Gulf Coast homeowners who have lost everything are now being forced to fight the insurance industry. I'll talk to a leading class action attorney fighting to get insurance firms to pay up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: A disturbing story tonight out of the Gulf Coast where insurance companies are accused of trying to avoid paying coverage to hurricane victims. My guest tonight is fighting for those victims just as he successfully fought against tobacco companies in the 1990s. He plans to file suit this week against insurance companies who refuse to pay. Joining me now from Oxford, Mississippi, attorney Richard Scruggs. Sir, thank you for joining us.
RICHARD SCRUGGS, ATTORNEY: Thank you for having me.
ROMANS: You know, the insurance companies say that there's a difference between hurricane damage and flood damage, and that, you know, they don't cover flood damage. When you take a look at some of the devastation on the Gulf Coast, it's hard to see a difference between the two, isn't it?
SCRUGGS: Well, it actually isn't, because Noah had a flood. Katrina had a storm surge. And the insurance companies and everyone on the coast that's required to pay an additional premium for hurricane endorsement that they felt would cover this in order to get any coverage at all. And it's quite disheartening that the good hands people are using hair-splitting "Da Vinci Code" terminology and policies to try to vouch as coverage, even though, they diversified all this risk long ago in the worldwide markets.
ROMANS: Give me a sense of how many people down there on the Gulf coast have hurricane coverage or hurricane insurance, and they were paying their premiums loyally, and now may find themselves actually not covered.
SCRUGGS: I would say 80 percent to 90 percent of homeowners on the Gulf Coast have homeowner's policies that they've -- these are good, solid working men and women that pay their bills and pay their premiums, and all believe, as did I, my own home is totally wiped out and my family's homes were wiped out, and my -- the men and women -- started to say boys and girls that I grew up with there, are in the same fix, as is everyone on the coast.
ROMANS: Now you say there is something called a valued policy law. It's been litigated before, and essentially if there is a total catastrophe, a total devastation then these kind of distinctions the insurance companies can't really make. Is that right? Do you think that that's something you'll be able to use in this litigation.
SCRUGGS: That certainly one of the major tools that we'll use that was litigated in Florida just last year, and the court of appeals in Florida ruled that this valued policy law, if even a small amount of the damage was covered by wind, that the insurers have to pay the entire -- entire damages, according to the policy. And we have a similar law in Mississippi.
ROMANS: Some of the insurers, of course, say that if they have to pay out all of these claims, claims that they say they didn't collect premiums for, that it will be devastating to them. Of course, there are -- talk about the working men and women who it will be devastating to them if they can't get compensated for these homes that were destroyed by this hurricane. How do you balance these two?
SCRUGGS: Well, there will be hundreds of thousands of bankruptcy filings by people who would never dream of having to file bankruptcy if these insurers are allowed to dodge these risks, when in fact they have no real risk. They've diversified this risk to London and Paris and Zurich. That's who will have to pay this and not the American taxpayer, and certainly the backs of the working men and women of the Gulf Coast, the hundreds of thousands of them, shouldn't have to pay it.
ROMANS: Well, and many of these people are absolutely outraged. What are your chances, do you think, that you're going to be able to get compensation for them? Because the insurance companies are holding tough on this.
SCRUGGS: I've never been surer of anything in my life, despite what they say, about their -- about their hair-splitting coverage. I've never been surer of anything in my life. This is my own home, my own family, my own neighbors, everyone that I know who was wiped out here. This has become an issue of passion with me. Not something I wanted to do, by the way. Litigation is the last resort here.
ROMANS: I think the quote of the night, Mr. Scruggs, Noah was a flood. Katrina had a storm surge.
SCRUGGS: That's correct.
ROMANS: Thank you, sir.
SCRUGGS: And all major storms like Katrina, the main risk is storm surge to life and property.
ROMANS: All right. Richard Scruggs, thank you so much, sir.
Insurance companies have said they will fight the lawsuits, arguing that homeowners had the chance to purchase federal flood insurance. One spokesman for State Farm, the largest home insurer on the Gulf Coast, said, "insurers cannot pay for losses for which they haven't collected a premium." A spokesman for Allstate said, "this violates constitutional principles and ordinary concepts of fairness."
Turning overseas, new bomb attacks in Iraq and new fears tonight that country is on the brink of civil war. Today's bomb attacks killed 10 people as hundreds of thousands of Shiites gathered for a major religious festival. The bombings, just the latest in a wave of sectarian violence in recent weeks. Jennifer Eccleston reports from Baghdad.
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JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Grieving families, Shiite Muslims, their sons, husbands and fathers victims of insurgent bombs and bullets. A community bitterly angry at their personal loss and outraged as they are now so openly targeted by Sunni Muslim extremists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I blame the terrorists. They kill civilians just because they're Shiite.
ECCLESTON: Riyad Abdul Hassan's (ph) brother was injured in last week's deadly van bombings. For him, Iraq has already plunged into civil war.
But when does perception become reality? Abu Musab al Zarqawi wants Shiites like Riyad (ph) to transfer perception of sectarian strife into the reality of civil war. In an Internet audio message, purportedly that of Zarqawi, he took responsibility for the latest wave of terror, and once again declared war on Shiites. He also urged Sunnis to wake up and join the fight.
While the pool of home-grown militants seems abundant, it's difficult to assess whether they're waging a war of resistance, one against Iraq's Shiite-Kurd dominated government and coalition forces, or whether they're adopting Zarqawi's vision. Either scenario is fraught with complications.
But Iraqi and U.S. officials remain confident, at least in public, that upcoming elections will prompt disenfranchised Sunnis to air their grievances and affect change via the ballot and not the bullet.
It's a drift towards civil war, a massive Shiite backlash against the Sunni-led insurgency that tempers such optimism.
BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT, U.S. ARMY: There are tremendous dangers associated with that. Just the notion of sectarian violence, to tear apart everything that the Iraqi people have, to tear apart their -- the fabric of their society, their nation, the government they put in.
ECCLESTON: And it casts serious doubt on Washington's hope for troop withdrawals.
In this mixed Sunni-Shiite Baghdad neighborhood, residents stand united against those who seek to drive them apart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They won't succeed, because the Iraqi people are educated and we know better than to fall into this trap.
ECCLESTON: But there is no denying that tit-for-tat killings are rising. Shiite and Sunni mosques are bombed, clerics are assassinated. And bodies are frequently dumped on the streets, many the victims of sectarian violence. (on camera): Despite the horrific bloodshed, Iraqis remain cautiously hopeful that civil war is still avoidable. But with each fresh act of violence, that hope recedes, and the chasm of Sunnis- Shiite strife appears to open a little wider.
Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: In another sign of rising instability in Iraq, British troops in Basra today clashed with supporters of an anti-Western cleric. The Iraqis set fire to at least one British armored troop carrier. The clashes began after Iraqi police arrested two undercover British soldiers. Later, British armored vehicles smashed their way into an Iraqi jail and freed the two British troops.
Another major challenge for the United States, the nuclear ambitions of North Korea and Iran. North Korea has now promised to abandon its nuclear program, but skeptics are already voicing doubts about the agreement. At the same time, Iran appears determined to press ahead with its nuclear program. State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel reports.
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ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A handshake after years of saber-rattling. North Korea, in an apparent break-through, agrees to abandon its nuclear weapons program, a vindication for the Bush administration, which insisted North Korea negotiate with its neighbors and not just the United States.
But President Bush isn't ready to celebrate just yet.
BUSH: And what we have said is, great. That's a wonderful step forward. But now we got to verify whether or not that happens.
KOPPEL: In 1994, North Korea made a similar promise, but years later, the U.S. discovered it had continued to develop a secret nuclear weapons program. Now, the Bush administration wants to make sure Pyongyang can't cheat and get away with it.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The proof, so to speak, is going to be in the pudding. We are going to now have to have a very clear road map for verification, a very clear road map for dismantlement, because that is the core issue here.
KOPPEL: In exchange for giving up its nukes, the U.S. and its allies will give North Korea's leader what he wants most -- diplomatic recognition and security guarantees from the United States, and oil and energy assistance from North Korea's neighbors. Talks over a light water reactor won't start until Pyongyang makes good on its pledge.
But as former North Korea negotiator during the Clinton years says, the devil is in the details. WENDY SHERMAN, THE ALBRIGHT GROUP: We have no idea where their uranium enrichment program is located, and North Korea is a country filled with mountains and caverns and underground tunnels. And it wouldn't take much to hide such a program.
KOPPEL: The apparent agreement with North Korea, a sharp contrast to the escalating nuclear stand-off with Iran, whose new president broke off talks with the European Union and struck a defiant tone at the United Nations, refusing to give up Iran's nuclear program.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOPPEL: Now, during this week's meeting of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency in Vienna, the U.S. is working with the European Union to try to build international pressure on Tehran, hoping very much that the same multilateral approach that seems to be working with North Korea will work with Iran, Christine.
ROMANS: Andrea, out of these two countries, what makes it more likely that it's North Korea that will make a deal?
KOPPEL: Quite simply, it's economics. When you look at the North Korean economy, it's -- to say stagnant is putting it mildly. It's one of the world's most isolated countries. The World for Food (sic) Program estimates that there could be as many as 6.5 million North Koreans who may starve this year, the worst famine since what they had in the 1990s.
Compare that to Iran, which has the world's second largest gas reserves; it's swimming in oil. Iran is sitting pretty right now, while North Korea is in desperate need of economic assistance.
KOPPEL: Indeed. All right, Andrea Koppel at the United Nations, thanks.
In Afghanistan, election officials are getting ready to count ballots after yesterday's parliamentary vote, the first free legislative elections in Afghanistan in more than a quarter century. And despite threats from the Taliban, there were no major reports of violence or intimidation at the polls. But turnout was light, just over 50 percent.
There is also concern over whether warlords, who once ruled Afghanistan, will regain political power. Voting results are expected next month.
Germany remains in a state of political paralysis tonight after this weekend's close federal elections. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and challenger Angela Merkel both failed to win an outright majority, and both candidates are beginning talks with other parties in hopes of forming a governing coalition. Schroeder and Merkel both said today that they have won the right to lead Germany. Both refused to join forces in a so-called grand coalition government.
Here in the United States, an urgent call to reform our country's voting system. A panel headed by former president Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker is calling for sweeping changes to the way Americans vote. The panel is urging photo IDs for all voters and a verifiable paper trail for electronic votes.
Still ahead, the man who bought the infamous $15,000 umbrella stand. Dennis Kozlowski is heading to prison. A stiff sentence for Tyco's former CEO.
Plus, as the United States tallies up the costs of Katrina, NASA is gearing up more than $100 billion in new spending. It wants to go back to the moon. Details coming up.
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ROMANS: Justice was served today in New York where the former head of Tyco, Dennis Kozlowski, was sentenced up to 25 years in prison. Kozlowski and former Tyco CFO, Mark Swartz, were found guilty in June of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from the company. Swartz received the same sentence. The pair was also ordered to pay a total of $239 million in fines and restitution. The case exposed their extravagant corporate lifestyles which included a $2 million toga party for Kozlowski's wife in the Mediterranean and an $18 million apartment in Manhattan, equipped with a $6,000 shower curtain, a shower curtain that's now very famous. Joining now me now to discuss the case, our Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Grand larceny, falsifying business records up to 25 years, the good old days of white collar crime are over.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, a lot of the people at WorldCom, at Enron, at Adelphia, they're in prison now. You know, the spate of white collar crime that went on in this country in the late '90s, early 2000, it's over, and a lot of people have been prosecuted, and these guys are going to do some heavy time.
ROMANS: This is a particularly tough sentence, when you look at where they're going to serve it.
TOOBIN: Right. Most white collar crime is prosecuted in federal court, which means the people go to federal prison, which tends to be not that bad. You've heard of Club Fed or Camp Cupcake where Martha Stewart went. There is no Camp Cupcake in the New York federal system. They could go to Attica, they could go to Sing. Even if they don't go to those famous prisons, they'll go to a place that's not very nice.
ROMANS: What kind of message are you getting, if you're someone like Ken Lay or Jeff Skilling or Enron or someone still awaiting a trial?
TOOBIN: Well virtually all of the big white collar cases have ended successfully for the government. All these people have been convicted with very few exceptions. They're looking at very serious time, and I'd be a little nervous if I were Mr. Lay or Mr. Skilling.
ROMANS: Do you think that the public has sort of forgotten about the whole corporate scandals? I mean, it has been several years since this really blew up.
TOOBIN: You see, the problem is that when it takes this long, when it takes four or five years, as white collar investigations almost always do, the immediacy of the deterrent effect is gone, that, you know, if you saw people slapped in handcuffs right away, people would have that fresh in their minds. Now Tyco, it sounds like ancient history, and in some respects it is, but people should know that these people did not get away with it, and this fraud has been prosecuted very successfully, and quite a few people are going to jail for a long time.
ROMANS: That's right. At least 8 to 25 years in state prison. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you very much for that.
Now the results of tonight's poll. Ninety-three percent of you agree with Mayor Nagin's decision to suspend the return of evacuees to New Orleans, 7 percent do not.
NASA today unveiled a new $104 billion plan to return astronauts to the moon in 13 years. The plan includes a new space vehicle. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin described it as Apollo on steroids. The new space vehicle will use a capsule similar to Apollo's and lander capable of carrying four astronauts to the moon's surface. Those four astronauts could stay on the moon for as long as a week, if all goes according to plan, the first crew would travel to the moon in 2018.
Still ahead here, a preview of tomorrow's broadcast.
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ROMANS: As of tonight, Judith Miller the Pulitzer Prize winning "New York Times" reporter has been in prison now for 75 days for protecting her confidential sources in the White House CIA leak case.
Thanks for being with us tonight. Please join us tomorrow. We'll be joined by Senator Tom Coburn. He is leading the fight for budget cuts to off-set the costs of Hurricane Katrina.
And the man in charge of the Port of New Orleans is hoping to have it up and running within six months. He joins us to explain how he'll make that happen. For all of here, good night in New York. "ANDERSON COOPER 360" starts right now.
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