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American Morning

Hurricane Wilma's Fury; Car Bombs Hit Near Hotel in Baghdad

Aired October 24, 2005 - 11:00   ET

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

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President George W. Bush speaking just some moments ago after a cabinet meeting, saying firstly, "I've signed a major emergency declaration today for Florida." He said that the federal government will work with local and state authorities to respond to Hurricane Wilma.
He also emphasized to the citizens of Florida, just listen to local authorities, they will tell what you to do and when it will be safe to go back home. He also said that in the meeting they discussed the response to hurricanes Katrina and Rita, saying Louisiana, Alabama and Texas, the residents there all need help and that they will do it in a fiscally sound way.

On the CIA leak investigation, he was asked a question, he would not comment on anything there. On Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court, President Bush said people can learn through -- about Harriet Miers through the hearings. He said he hoped they would be fair.

And finally, we're awaiting an announcement by the president for replacement on the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan. We're expecting that announcement at 1:00 this afternoon. And CNN will bring that to you live.

We want to go now back to Baghdad, where there has been major explosions. Three blasts, actually, have rocked an area outside a hotel called the Palestine Hotel. That's where a lot of international journalists are housed.

Now, there were -- there were two explosions initially that apparently lured police to the area, and a third one apparently then designed to harm those first responders. That's according to initial reports we've received. There apparently are casualties. We don't know the details, though.

Moments ago, CNN's Nic Robertson said that these blasts were targeted in an area because they were so close to journalists. He quoted U.S. officials and the Iraqi government officials saying what the whole thing is here is that insurgents want these sorts of attacks to be captured on camera, they want to do this when they know that they will be able to make the most impact.

The roundabout that you're seeing there in the middle of the television screen is where the statue of Saddam Hussein, by the way, came down that ended the war. But the insurgents, really, the message that they're saying here is that, we can choose the time and the place of the attack, and we can do it in front of cameras whenever we want to.

We're going to bring you more details on this as soon as we get it. But again, an attack near and around the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad.

We want to now focus our attention on Hurricane Wilma once again, where the east coast is taking the brunt of the fury about three hours -- more than three hours after the storm has made landfall on the west coast.

Miles O'Brien joins us now. He's doing a marvelous job out there -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Zain.

Yes, Hurricane Wilma, we're still feeling the effects here of Wilma in Naples, the southwestern portion of Florida. As Wilma moved across the state, 20, 25 miles an hour, very fast for a hurricane, it didn't lose much steam.

It was at Category 3 when it struck here. And we really got battered here for quite some time. And then as it moved across the Everglades, it was still fed by that warm water in the Everglades. And as it reached the east coast, it was still at Category 2 levels. And as a result, we're getting all kinds of reports of significant damage on the east side of Florida. Perhaps, in some respects, more damage there than we got -- than we have here on the west coast, although that all remains to be seen.

The eye of the hurricane is now moving its way out into the Atlantic. CNN's Jacqui Jeras in the weather center. She's been watching it for us.

Where is Wilma right now? And when I say -- William's so big, Wilma is in a lot of places, Jacqui. But the center of the eye, where is it now?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's about over Palm Beach, Miles. And just a little more than half of the eye of the storm, which is 60 miles across, has made its way offshore right now. I'm very concerned about what's going on at this time in the Fort Lauderdale area.

I was talking about that eye wall and that next band starting to push on through here. Very strong westerly flow coming in with very heavy wind gusts. Reporting 69-mile-per-hour sustained gusts to 96. We're likely going to see wind gusts in excess of 100 miles an hour as this continues to blow on through here. That includes you down in Hollywood.

Miami is doing a little bit better at this time. We can check in on Miami and show you the conditions there.

They're not in this eye wall band, this outer eye wall. There you can see 61-mile-an-hour gusts, 41 mile per hour, so sustained tropical storm-force conditions. But there are other bands that are going to be pushing on through, and Miami could get hit very hard.

But we're particularly concerned about what's going on right in this neighborhood. And this is going to be ongoing for the next couple of hours. So you need to stay inside with very dangerous conditions at this time.

Here you can see that very large eye, not quite as strong on the northern eye wall right now. There's Fort Pierce, 36-mile-per-hour with winds, with wind gusts up to 56 miles per hour.

The storm surge should be subsiding across the southwest coast of Florida now. And we'll watch for the storm surge to be picking up across Lake Okeechobee at this time.

Look at that, dry conditions. Fort Myers, 54-mile-per-hour wind guts. But we're below sustained tropical storm-force winds now. So that's some good news.

Naples not reporting anything right there. A lot of these weather observing sites are getting blown out, so to speak. And we're losing some information in many of these areas. And that's going to be very possible into Fort Lauderdale, Miami, into the Hollywood area as well.

We just got a new package in from the National Hurricane Center, the 11:00 advisory, and they're bringing us updates now every two hours. And that will continue at least through 5:00.

There you can see the satellite imagery. Sustained winds are at 105 miles per hour. So that's still a healthy Category 2 hurricane.

We expect it to gradually continue to weaken, and it's moving up to the north, into the east, still, about 25 miles per hour. Hard to believe that the storm could move much faster than that, but it is expected to continue to accelerate on up to the north and the east.

And then the next thing we need to worry about is if this is going to be merging with Tropical Depression Alpha and a mid-latitude storm system. And that's all going to come together across the Mid- Atlantic states late tonight and into tomorrow. And this is going to be a huge wind and wet weather event across the Northeast tomorrow. We expect major traffic issues, along with some heavy rain and even some snow into the mountainous areas -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much. CNN's Jacqui Jeras.

Go ahead, Dave, you can wipe the camera. That's all right. Let's get that scared away.

Thank you very much, Jacqui.

Wilma still a problem. And in particular, a little while ago we spoke to the mayor of Key West. And as you will recall, because you've been watching CNN all through this, we know many people in Key West resisted the order to evacuate. It's a big week there. There's a festival under way, kind of a combination of Halloween and Mardi Gras. And a lot of people stayed put.

As a matter of fact, only about 20 percent evacuated. So as a result, they are now faced with a bit of a problem because there's been a tremendous amount of flooding in the wake of Wilma.

Joining us now from Key West, CNN's Kareen Wynter, who's on the streets there.

Kareen, how much flooding is there still?

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, to put it this way, Miles, we just had a couple come up to us. We're staying at a hotel on Duval Street, which is downtown Key West. And they said they had to swim -- that's right, swim -- with their two terriers in their hands to get out of their house. That's how much water they received. And they said when they stepped outside, all the cars on that street were just completely submerged in water.

So it gives you an idea of some of the devastation in parts of this area. We're having so many people come to this hotel for shelter. But not just that, another part of town, at a high school.

We're going to bring in right now the public information officer for Key West, Mike Haskins (ph).

Tell us about the situation at that high school, the shelter of last resorts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police have been coming by and reporting to me what's going on, because we're stranded here. We can't get over to the EOC. And I asked them why it took so long. And to get to the -- to get to the high school, they're evacuating people in their homes that are being flooded, taking them to the high school.

They have had to use boats both to get people out of their homes and take them into the high school. So the water, they say, is receding now. But it's still, at some point, waist high on a lot of people. And the high school, as you know, is used as a refuge of last resort. So that's what they're there for.

WYNTER: Mike Haskins (ph), thanks for your time. We'll let you get back to work.

You just heard a little bit of what's going on here, Miles.

Very quickly, in addition to that, emergency vehicles have had such a tough time getting into those streets that are experiencing significant flooding, partly because of all the trees. We're not talking branches, but huge sections of trees blocking those intersections. And so that's been a tedious task for them. The mayor out and about right now, trying to survey some of the damage assessment all around the city -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Kareen Wynter in Key West.

You know, Zain, we were talking about how people in Key West, first of all, tend to be resistant to authority. But couple that with the fact that they were, quite frankly, hurricane wary, this was their fourth evacuation just this season, and many people said, "We're staying put." Well now they've got a bit of a problem there with people trapped in their homes and no real easy way to get people to high ground right at this moment.

So we'll be watching that one closely -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles O'Brien in Naples.

Thank you so much, Miles.

We're following another major developing story out of Baghdad today. The Palestine Hotel -- now, this is a hotel that houses many foreign journalists -- it has been hit in a rocket and a car bomb attack, according to Iraqi police. It appears there is considerable damage to this hotel.

There were three blasts in total. I mean, look at these powerful blasts, particularly the third one, according to our reporter on the scene, Nic Robertson. The cameras are all pointed in this direction, so insurgents would know that this would be captured in this way by foreign journalists. I believe this is a picture that we got from The Associated Press.

Nic Robertson will bring us a live report when we come back.

You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VERJEE: It is sunset in Baghdad, Iraq. And this was the scene moments ago, three blasts illuminating the evening sky in Iraq, in and around the Palestine Hotel, which houses mainly foreign journalists.

Nic Robertson is our senior international correspondent. He is in Baghdad, and he joins us now with more on this -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Zain, what we have been told by the Baghdad police so far is that there were three car bombs that went off. According to APTN, who live in the hotel, very close to where the explosions happened, they say two rockets were fired and then there was a massive explosion.

What we saw from here, a mile and a half away, first of all, we heard two small explosions. And then from the roof here, one of my colleagues was able to see that third explosion go off, a massive bright flash, followed by a huge cloud of dust rising up. A very, very big explosion, even by the standards of Baghdad.

Now, we know from police so far that there are some casualties. We don't have exact -- exact figures so far. Security sources close to the scene did say that after the first two explosions, Iraqi police moved into the area. And just as they moved in, that's when the third -- the third bomb detonated. But a very, very big explosion, coming just when people here would have been going home at the end of their day, breaking their fast, because this is Ramadan, going home to their families.

This also is very much what U.S. military officials here and Iraqi government officials say they have been concerned about. They say that they believe insurgents want to try and instill fear and panic in people by perpetrating a massive spectacular attack right in front of international cameras.

If you analyze in a first analysis of this incident, it does tend to indicate that those first two small explosions alerted journalists to the fact that something was happening. They already had their cameras running, witnessed those pictures of the massive explosions that came when the third bomb went off.

So the indications, perhaps at this stage, perhaps, that insurgents chose a location close to international live television cameras to perpetrate this particular, very massive attack. No details on exact casualties so far -- Zain.

VERJEE: Nic, this also occurs at a politically sensitive time, right, where we're going to be learning the final results of a referendum on a draft constitution?

ROBERTSON: Absolutely. Some of the results coming out today.

Two of the provinces in the country have voted against the referendum, two provinces where the majorities are Sunnis. The Sunnis make up the insurgency.

There's been a lot of anger in the Sunni community, the community the majority of the insurgents come from, this week -- or last week, rather, over the trial of Saddam Hussein. So the last week or so has been a particularly tense time. There have not been attacks on this particular scale, but insurgent attacks have been slightly down, but have been continuing.

Just in Baghdad alone yesterday in the space of one hour, there were three attacks on U.S. patrols as they went about the city. Three different car bombs, five soldiers were wounded. So the insurgents very active, but nothing on the scale over recent weeks -- Zain.

VERJEE: Give us a sense, Nic, of this kind of area. You know, describe it to us a little bit. We saw pictures a moment ago of a roundabout, which is Firdos Square, where the statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down on live TV in April of 2003. Give people a sense of the area.

ROBERTSON: Absolutely. This is the heart of downtown Baghdad, a main road.

Normally you can expect to find this roundabout that pretty much everyone in the world has seen from when Saddam Hussein's statue came down on the 9th of April, 2003. The same camera positions recorded the explosions this evening.

The roads that pass through there, a main road in the center of Baghdad. And this time of day, likely to be quite busy, full of people. You'd also expect to find street vendors on that roundabout, perhaps changing -- perhaps changing money, perhaps selling fruit and fruit juice at the side of the road.

At this time of night, perhaps slightly less busy because it's Ramadan, because people would have been going home to break their fast. But nevertheless, there would very likely have likely been quite a few people around when the bombs went off -- Zain.

VERJEE: Nic, is the insurgency getting stronger or weaker? From your vantage point on the ground, what is your assessment?

ROBERTSON: I think if you analyze the figures, and if you just take some very broad, basic figures, the numbers of U.S. casualties last year, about 77 U.S. soldiers dying every month. This year, the statistics are about 66 U.S. soldiers dying every month.

If you look at the statistics relating to the elections in January and the referendum just last week, the violence has gone down. If you look at the level of attacks, they are down in October, compared to January.

So the number of attacks are down. The insurgents are still able to strike, it seems, when they want, where they want and how they want. Certainly these days they choose softer targets.

This morning, an assistant in one of the ministries was assassinated while on the way to work. Last year, it was ministers and deputy ministers who were targeted.

So it seems that the insurgency, while very capable, while very active, and while still very deadly, is not at the level it was in terms of the numbers of attacks and lethality that it was perhaps four or five or six months ago -- Zain.

VERJEE: Nic, as we continue to look at the pictures that have come into us from a little bit earlier, you said, first, two rockets appeared to have been fired and then there was a massive explosion. Is it clear from our sources on the ground there where that third -- that massive explosion came from?

ROBERTSON: Well, judging from the pictures and talking about it with a colleague here who's very familiar with some of the back streets around there, that explosion seemed to occur across the roundabout behind the mosque that is situated on the roundabout, in amongst some trees, close to what he thought was the agriculture ministry building. It seems that this vehicle full of explosives -- the police have said the third explosion was a car bomb -- was parked just a little bit away from the hotel, perhaps 100 yards or so away. Hidden, it seems, at the side of the road in trees where it wouldn't have, perhaps, drawn any attention, any unwarranted attention from the police or from anyone else who is looking out for car bombs -- Zain.

VERJEE: CNN's senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, reporting to us from Baghdad on three explosions that have rocked Iraq's capital at about sunset in Baghdad there, near two hotels housing international journalists. Tat according to Iraqi police.

We're going to continue to cover that story and bring you more information when we have it. We don't know how many casualties there are, but we are working to get you specifics.

We'll be back with more on Hurricane Wilma when CNN continues.

This is your hurricane headquarters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien, live from Naples, Florida.

And we're just about 50 yards from an inlet and the beach in that direction. And that's the only road that allows us to this location here. It is now a canal.

The storm surge has come in off of the intercostal. As Hurricane Wilma has passed through, it brought this water up behind it. And we're fairly well stranded here. And I think there's a fair amount of flooding like this beyond here.

We can't say for certain. We haven't trekked out yet. But lots of trees uprooted, lots of superficial damage to these buildings over here. Roof tiles off and that sort of thing.

And really, in many respects, perhaps the biggest surprise is twofold. First of all, Key West, Florida, where people sort of resisted the whole notion of evacuating, we are told the flooding is almost 100 percent of the island of Key West, sometimes two, sometimes three feet. They're trying now to get people who are stranded in their homes to some higher ground.

Also, what might have surprised quite a few people on the other side of Florida, the east coast, is the amount of damage that we have found there. This storm, Wilma, is a big storm. It was Category 3 when it came through here. Category 2 right now. And has caused significant damage as it's come across Florida.

This is the eighth named storm in 14 months to strike the state of Florida. And if there's any sort of silver lining in that, it's that this state is well equipped to handle these sorts of things.

We heard from the governor, Jeb Bush, just a little while ago, talking about how supplies of water, ice and food are pre-positioned and hopefully will be in this area fairly quickly.

CNN's John Zarrella is in Marco Island. That's about 30 miles south of where I am. And he, like many of the people in our crew here, based on the east coast of Florida. And I bet, quite frankly, right now John Zarrella is thinking an awful lot about what's going on there right now because there's damage in his home, as well as the home of everybody here who lives and works in Miami.

John, you've had a chance to talk to your wife. And thing there's are not so good, are they?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, they're not so good at all. We're right up along Interstate 595, for people who know where that is, just west of Fort Lauderdale, the community of Davie, Florida. And we had a big 50-foot pine tree come down, and it crushed the back screened enclosure.

My wife said the screened enclosure is tinker toys. There are roof tiles that are off. And probably the cars have been damaged, windows broken in the cars.

There's just neighbors that have lost their roofs. Some people who have trees on top of their roofs.

So it's a mess in the Fort Lauderdale area, which may well have taken, you know, the brunt of that eye wall, the south side of the eye, the southern eye wall, which was the worst side of the eye. So, yes, some very extensive damage.

Fortunately, everybody is OK. But when I talked to my wife, I told her, "You've still got a couple more hours to go through, and it's going to be at least as bad as what you've already been through. So be prepared." And that was one thing she certainly didn't want to hear, was that it was going to be significantly bad.

And it still is here, Miles. It's amazing how much this wind is still kicking up and blowing. Certainly tropical storm force here, just consistent, steady wind. The waves are pounding in now, even more than they were earlier today, other than when we had the storm surge roll through here.

I can tell you, I will guarantee you that this storm will be the most significant impact on southeastern Florida, whether it's Collier County, where we are, whether it's over in Miami-Dade and Broward, certainly the most significant event since Andrew in 1992. And this storm is immensely larger than Andrew, which was very, very powerful but very tightly wound and small.

So the damage is going to be far more widespread in this one than in Andrew. Certainly, hopefully not as significant, but more widespread. So there's going to be a heck of a mess to clean up from one side of the coast on the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic side. It's going to be a big, big mess here in southern Florida -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: You know, that brings up such an important point, John, because we focus so much on the strength of the storm, is it a Category 5, is it Category 4, whatever the case may be. And of course I guess it was about 13 or 14 months ago Charley came through here. It was a stronger storm, but just by comparison, much smaller and zipped through here very quickly. And caused, as a result, overall, much less damage.

So here we are with Wilma, technically a weaker storm, and we're probably -- when the bill comes due on this one, it will probably be in the -- it will probably be in the top 10, I would think.

ZARRELLA: Oh, without a doubt. It's going to be many, many billions of dollars. You're right, Hurricane Charley cut a very narrow swathe up there through Punta Gorda ad did extreme damage, but it was a very narrow swathe of extreme damage. And same with Andrew when it went through Homestead and South Dade. But now you take a storm with a 50 or a 75-mile wide eye and you put those strong winds around that, and you imagine, the damage is going to be through 10, 15, 20 counties in Southern Florida, and the big ones on the east coast, where you've got five million-plus people through Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County, who are all going to be significantly impacted by this event.

So you're absolutely right, the big storm, big -- and this is a big, fast mover, but still, it is unleashing a terrible amount of damage from one side of the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic on the east, Miles, and it's still, as you're experiencing it, it's let up, but it's still pretty potent over here.

O'BRIEN: It is. And I'm actually standing -- I'm not on the beach side. I'm protected from the beach by a big building, and we're still getting blown around here very much. And you know, another point to bring out here, John, is quite literally a lot of people on the east coast were blindsided by this, because they made some assumptions, perhaps we all make assumptions about how hurricanes operate when they get over land, which were not valid ones in this case, because this hurricane drew its strength from the Everglades as it went across, and really was not any weaker for the wear.

ZARRELLA: No, not one bit weaker. And you're absolutely right, I think all of us on the East Coast, myself included, did not expect what was being dished out on the East Coast, no question about it. You know, the storm had been up and down. And I can tell you, we sat there watching the forecast for the last few days. There was speculation, you know, initially that it might only be a one when it reached the Florida coast line, then the speculation was it might be a two, and then back to a one. So it kept struck waiting as to what this thing was going to do. And then of course by late last night, yesterday evening, we were staring at a category three, and they don't call category threes major hurricanes for nothing. I'm sure we all can -- will certainly be able to attest to that when we get home and are able to look at our homes and our property. But certainly it's a major hurricane and for a good reason -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: It seems like every storm we cover we learn a little new facet, a new nuance to these things. We think we know it all. We think we know it all. We really don't even come close, because each of the storms, Mother Nature throws us yet another spin on the curveball. And we oftentimes don't hit the pitch very well. About four hours ago, John, you and I were going through the thick of it. For viewers who weren't here, take a look at what it was like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZARRELLA: This is the worst it's been now. It's really blowing now.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: We were down there probably about 20 or 30 minutes ago, the entire beach now is gone.

O'BRIEN: We're at a point now where, I'm sure we're going to bear witness to a lot of structural damage once this passes. I know that these palm trees are designed to handle this kind of wind. I'm not designed as well to hand it, that's for sure.

COOPER: The winds here are probably the strongest that I've seen all morning. What kind of wind speed do you think this is?

ZARRELLA: It's clearly got to be sustained to 85, 90 miles an hour, maybe gusting to 100, maybe more.

COOPER: This is probably the worst that we have seen, really even in the last minute or so. This is really bad. This is the worst it's been.

ZARRELLA: Yes, definitely, this is the worst it's been. We were just saying, this sand will peel the skin off of you, it's so (INAUDIBLE).

COOPER: I just want to show you what is left of the beach, Chris, if can you come over here. This whole walkway we were on earlier. But it is completely covered in water. And you -- yes. I've never seen anything like this, just with the storm surge taking away this whole beach.

ZARRELLA: It's racing down now, wind coupled with the water, it's just peeling that beach away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'BRIEN: Anderson Cooper, John Zarrella, myself, just about four hours ago, as Wilma's eye came ashore here in Naples and in Marco Island.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: The Reuters News Agency is reporting that the White House will announce that Ben Bernanke will be the nominee to replace the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan. Ben Bernanke is currently the chairman of the President's Council of Economic Advisers. This is going to be another key position that U.S. president George Bush is going to nominate. He is apparently considered to be the top candidate, also to replace Alan Greenspan. We will continue to bring you the details when we can.

President Bush really has to select a man, experts say, that will appeal to both politicians and to the financial markets. Alan Greenspan at the helm of U.S. economic policy for about 18 years, and he's anticipated to step down in January. CNN is working to confirm more details. And we will bring it to you live when President Bush announces the nominee at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.

We want to take you now to Baghdad in Iraq, where Iraqi police are confirming to us that ten people are now dead and 15 people at least have been injured. After three explosions rocked Iraq's capital at sunset on Monday. This in an area near two hotels housing international journalists, as well as international contractors as well.

Now apparently there were two rocket attacks, and then a third massive explosion that could have been in an area that is actually a roundabout in that particular vicinity, and that's where Saddam Hussein's statue fell down on the 9th of April, 2003. Initial reports are saying that the first two explosions essentially lured police to the area, and the third one apparently being designed to harm those first responders.

Again, those casualties we're getting, 10 dead and 15 injured, captured on camera because international journalists' cameras are pointing in that direction.

Let's go now to our coverage on Hurricane Wilma, and to Naples and Miles O'Brien -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Zain. We're here in Naples, and we're still feeling fairly strong winds, certainly tropical-force winds, if not on the borderline of hurricane, probably tropical force where we are right now.

And meanwhile, on the East Coast, they're getting an assessment -- of course it's still happening, but they're getting an assessment of the damage as the storm Wilma has come through there.

Joining us on the line right now is our Miami producer, Kim Segal. She's joining us from our Miami bureau, a building which has suffered some extensive damage through all of this.

Kim, what happened and how are things right now?

KIM SEGAL, CNN PRODUCER (on phone): Well, Miles, about 8:00 this morning, we were in the office and four of our windows had just broke in. It was because of the wind. Nothing hit them. So the windows have broken in and there's debris everywhere, because the wind was whirling through the office.

I just had a chance to get outside, because it's calm here in North Miami now. And I went outside, looked off the top of our building. And all the windows facing south -- and this is about a nine-story building, -- all of them are blown in. So the situation exactly where I'm standing does not look good. So I can't imagine what things are going to look like elsewhere.

O'BRIEN: So South-facing windows. So as the storm came through, -- and, you know, typically, if you were getting ready for a hurricane, you wouldn't be so worried necessarily about southern facing windows there. SO I wonder how many people would have boarded up in that direction?

SEGAL: I don't know, but I sure hope a lot of them did because the windows in this building, they do not have hurricane shutters on them. Luckily in our office, we have this film we put on them so they wouldn't shatter. So the windows came down just in one piece. So we were lucky, because we were sitting not too far from them and they didn't come down. But if you didn't board up facing south, you're going to be in trouble, I'm afraid.

O'BRIEN: So nobody was hurt, and the facility itself, is it functional?

SEGAL: No. All our equipment, we had to turn it off because our equipment racks are right near where the windows were. You're getting rain, you're getting wind, there's debris everywhere. So, you know, you can get into the office, but you really can't operate out of it. And the other offices on top of us, all the windows are blown in.

O'BRIEN: Now what about your home? Have you had a chance to assess damage there?

SEGAL: No. And I'm not sure when I'll get a chance. Unfortunately, I do not have hurricane shutters myself, which I should. And I face the ocean in Fort Lauderdale. So I know my family's OK, my colleagues are OK and their families. So that's all that matters.

O'BRIEN: Yes, that is the most important thing. But, it's -- you know, this is a bit surprising, isn't it?

SEGAL: It really is. It was interesting. Because I talked to a lot of people yesterday who were debating on whether even to put shutters up in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. And I always say, you know, if you have them, you might as well put them up. And luckily, at least the people I know and I talked to, we convinced them to do so. And that was the right move.

O'BRIEN: Kim Segal, our Miami producer inside what remains of our Miami bureau in North Miami. Thank you very much. Good luck picking up the pieces there. We'll probably be seeing you before too long here.

We're going to take a break. CNN remains your hurricane headquarters, no matter what time of day. We're with this storm as it continues. And in its wake, stay with us as we check in with the National Hurricane Center after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Welcome back as we continue our coverage of Hurricane Wilma. CNN, your hurricane headquarters. I'm Miles O'Brien, live in Naples, Florida. The eye of Hurricane Wilma has moved its way across the Florida peninsula, is making its way out to sea. There's still a lot more wind, a lot more weather, a lot more damage that will be done by Wilma.

This storm is not over. It's a big storm. And you might think it's over because the eye is over your head. Do not be lulled into thinking that at all. Stay inside. Keep shelter where you are. No time to be moving around, no time to be assessing damage just yet.

As a matter of fact, let's -- chick in the Hurricane Center, which was right in the path of this, as well. Good thing they built themselves a nice bunker there so they can keep operating like they are right now.

Ed Rappaport is with us. Ed, just bring us up to date. Where's Wilma headed right now?

ED RAPPAPORT, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Wilma has moved offshore, at least the center has moved offshore, in the last hour or so. But the backside of the hurricane still has one more significant band, mainly to the south and to the west of the eye. Big eye, as you can see here, moving offshore.

Unfortunately, this band has some hurricane force winds in it still. So the northeastern tip of Broward County and Palm Beach County still have another 30 minutes to an hour of hurricane force winds, at least in gusts.

O'BRIEN: So there's still a lot of weather left. This has been going on for some time. We've got to -- I just want to reiterate that message, that this storm is not done yet.

RAPPAPORT: Right. And particular for Broward and Palm Beach County. Those areas have experienced the eye, so the weather actually got much better a while. But we know that their winds are going to return to hurricane force in just a matter of minutes, right behind the eye. And so we still have some concerns up there. And there's still some storm surge flooding, but we think that will be diminished over to southwestern Florida and the Florida Keys later today.

O'BRIEN: Tell us -- give us the big picture on storm surge. What have you experienced, what have you seen, what are you hearing about possible storm surge -- East Coast as well?

RAPPAPORT: East Coast, we have not seen significant surge, although there has been likely some in the two to four foot range up to the north of the center, where there was an east wind. There's also been some surge on Lake Okeechobee, with hurricane force winds reported there, driving the water south along the south shoreline. We don't think that there's been a problem with the water going over the levees there or over the -- through Lake Okeechobee. '

But our other concern is the southwest coast, where the highest surge likely occurred. After the center went ashore, when the winds turned out of the west and piled up water into there, we are hearing about considerable flooding in the Florida Keys, including Key West, due to the storm surge that occurred there.

O'BRIEN: Yes, I can attest to that. As a matter of fact, Ed, I'm standing in front of some storm surge which came in as the wind shifted, just the way you described. And all of a sudden, our access route to this condominium was -- became a canal. And as we've been reporting, Key West is covered over by storm surge. Most of this was fairly well within your projections.

The one thing that caught me off guard -- and maybe I missed it -- was how little this storm -- it didn't -- it did not weaken as it went across the Everglades. In other words, it gained strength or it maintained strength as it went across the Everglades.

RAPPAPORT: Well, we think that the landfall was at 125 miles per hour. And in each of our subsequent advisories, we did the bring the wind speed down. That was our estimate. It's now down to 105. So there was a gradual weakening. Unfortunately, because it moved quickly, there wasn't a lot of time over land. If it had been a slower mover like it had been at the Yucatan Peninsula, the winds would have weakened more before it got to southeast Florida. Unfortunately, then, the reverse is, we would have had a lot more rain like they did in the Yucatan Peninsula.

O'BRIEN: Instead, you know -- we just got a report from our Miami producer, Kim Segal, who you know well. All the southern windows in the office building that houses our bureau had been blown out. I suspect we'll going to be seeing a lot of damage like that.

RAPPAPORT: Yes, I think there will be a lot of damage. We know there's a building across the street from us here that had considerable damage. We didn't have that impact here. But I think when we go outside later today, when it does become safe, we're going to see a lot of debris around. Mainly trees, but some of the less fortified structures are also going to have some damage.

O'BRIEN: Ed Rappaport with the National Hurricane Center, thanks for the update, and we'll be back in touch with you.

And let's send it back to Zain now -- Zain.

VERJEE: Miles, this just coming in to CNN. A source close to the administration has confirmed to CNN that Ben Bernanke will be the nominee to replace the chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan. Alan Greenspan will be stepping down on the 31st of January, when his term expires. He is 80 years old. For 18 years, Mr. Greenspan has really shaped U.S. economic policy.

Ben Bernanke is the chairman of the President's Council for Economic Advisers. He's also a former Fed governor. He was considered one of the policy trendsetters while at the Central Bank, really promoting the virtues of an inflation target to guide monetary policy in the United States. He then left the Fed to become the head of the President's Council of Economic Advisers.

Many economists also on Wall Street really saw this as a chance for Ben Bernanke to establish Republican credentials to make him better suited to be President Bush's choice to succeed Alan Greenspan. This is a key decision by President Bush. Anyone he nominates would have to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate as well, and also would have to be someone who really appeals to both financial markets and politicians.

At 1:00 p.m. CNN will bring you President Bush's announcement and bring you extended coverage.

Back to Miles now in Naples -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Zain. We've been talking all morning with our extensive array of people down in southwestern, southeastern, Florida, all the way from Fort Myers down to Key West, back up to Hollywood and parts in between. Jason Carroll in Hurricane One making his way across the Everglades now, and on Interstate 75.

And John King as well, very agile and mobile, as he made his way -- first reporter in to Everglades City, a place where there was tremendous concern about storm surge and damage. He was the first to report that things could have been a lot worse there in the wake of Wilma. He joins us now from Goodwin, Florida, which is outside Marco Island.

John, what are you seeing there?

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, you're right. I remember, earlier this morning, we tried to come here to Goodland. We couldn't get down the road. It was flooded, at one point this morning, up past my knees. We couldn't get our vehicle through. That water has receded. Still quite windy here, but the rain has passed.

This is a very gritty fishing village. We came here about 26 hours ago, and we were in Marco most of the day yesterday, Marco Island, pricey condominiums and yachts. This a much more gritty place, mostly trailer parks. They are not built to withstand hurricanes. And in this community today, we see the dramatic evidence that many of them have not -- roofs ripped off, trailer right to my front here. You can see behind me, it's a little difficult on the videophone, just metal and aluminum, the sheeting, the siding of the trailer homes, another one over here heavily damaged. All down the road, damage to these trailer homes.

As we've been setting up and waiting to be on the program, a small team from the sheriff's office just came in. They're now going door to door to make sure that nobody tries (INAUDIBLE) in this community, and is in their homes in need of any medical or other assistance.

When we were here yesterday, most people were evacuating. And, again, the trailer parks here -- I think we'll show you a quick shot of the harbor across the street. Some fishing boats over there as well. Stone crabs, as we showed you earlier, is a big business here. A lot of fishing boats over there. We've seen in the last little boat, some people coming to check on their boats. We're going to wander the town a little bit to get a sense of the destruction.

Here, Miles, we said in Everglade City, a lot of debris, not much structural damage. Here, there is quite a bit, considerable structural damage, perhaps to be expected, because most of the homes here in the waterfront community are trailer-park homes made out of sheet metal, and simply not meant to withstand 100 mile-an-hour-plus winds, and when Wilma came ashore for the first time, it was quite close to here -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, John, what's your sense of it, did people evacuate, particularly people in those vulnerable homes from Goodland?

KING: Here in Goodland, it's hard to -- some people put up protections around the trailer homes. You can't really board them up. We just met one gentleman down the street who said he just came home to check out his house, and he thinks he did okay. When we came here yesterday, we couldn't find anybody. We were told by the Marco Island police, that if there would be a hearty group anywhere riding it out, it would be here in Goodland. When we rode through, we couldn't find anybody. That doesn't mean somebody didn't try to ride it out.

As you can see right here as we speak, a family perhaps coming home to check out their house. We'll go ask them what's going on. But not many people rode it out here. Perhaps some did. And we're going to wander the community a little bit. And if they are here, we'll find their stories -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, check back in with us. John King in Goodland, Florida, as he continues his travels. It's really the first assessment of damage in many of these hard-to-get-to places.

Let's go to -- we're going to get to our other reporters, who are all throughout the region. CNN, of course, remains your hurricane headquarters, all day, all night, as we cover Hurricane Wilma and its aftermath.

Back with more many just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: We are just about out of town on this extended special edition of CNN's AMERICAN MORNING. Thanks to Zain Verjee, in for Soledad O'Brien today.

Nice work, Zain. We'll see you again tomorrow.

And we will be back tomorrow, not sure where we'll be coming to you from, as we continue our assessment of the damage in the wake of Hurricane Wilma. This county, Collier County, still trying to figure out how bad the damage is. On the East Coast of Florida, they're doing the same. Florida hit once again. And CNN is the place to stay to find out how badly it was hit.

Now Wolf Blitzer and "THE SITUATION ROOM."

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