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Stormy in the South; General John Abizaid Testifying Before House and Senate Committees on War in Iraq; Impact Mass Kidnapping is Having on Iraqi Students; Jennings Versus Buchanan Recount in Florida's 13th District; Medical Side of Happiness; Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes To Tie the Knot

Aired November 15, 2006 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Ground-shaking thunder, flooding rains, and fierce winds strong enough to blow tractor trailers off the roads. It's a stormy day in the South.
Our Reynolds Wolf tracking it from the CNN weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it was a rough night in Arkansas. Reporter Brian Heap of CNN affiliate WPTY looks at the damage done in parts of the state just before dawn.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN HEAP, REPORTER, WPTY: I talked to one of the local sheriffs around here in ST. Francis County, Arkansas. He tells me that Wheatley almost was blown off the map about 10 years ago by a strong storm, got much luckier today.

This is the kind of damage that we're taking a look at. It's really, you know, downed trashcans. And, of course, you look back here, you see power poles bent over, signs destroyed, billboards ripped off.

No significant structural damage that we can see. The real story was early this morning on I-40. Take a look at some of these big rigs.

We counted six big rigs overturned in an eight-mile span from about Wheatley, Arkansas, over to Palestine, Arkansas. Of course, in one of those cases I talked to a wrecking crew driver. He told me that the driver of the truck had to actually be removed from the truck, that the rescuers had to break the windshield to get him out of there and get him in the ambulance to get him some help. And one trucker that I talked to earlier this morning, said he was very thankful he wasn't out on the road when the worst of it hit.

JOHNNY GREGORY, TRUCKER: I woke up, the truck was shaking violently about 4:00. And I thought someone had hit my truck. So I got up. And the rain was blowing so hard it was like a fire hose against the windshield.

ALAN ROBERTS, TOW TRUCK OPERATOR: You remember the year that the storm hit Memphis, the 90-mile-an-hour winds? We had several that day turned over here as well.

HEAP: So this was probably the worst day since that?

GREGORY: Yes, by far.

HEAP: Now, we had reports of four people being hospitalized this morning as a result of the storms. We're told that three of those people have been released. One person still in serious condition. That's the driver of that truck -- at least we believe it's the driver of that truck who had to be removed out of that windshield there. We're told that he has been upgraded now to serious condition.

As far as storms this time of year, they're not unheard of in the November -- in the November time frame here in the mid-South. This is typically our second storm season of the year, our second tornado season of the year.

So they do happen occasionally. This one, though, caught us a little by surprise.

Reporting from Wheatley, Arkansas, Brian Heap, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And when weather becomes the news, you can become a CNN correspondent. If you see severe weather happening, just send us an I-Report. You can go to CNN.com, click on "I-Report," or type in iReport@CNN.com on your cell phone and share your photos or video.

LEMON: A difficult and divisive war overseas. New political battle lines at home. The top U.S. general for Iraq is on Capitol Hill today.

John Abizaid is getting a preview of how Democrats will take on the war when they take over Congress in January. And he's indicating they might have a fight on their hands.

Our Jamie McIntyre is watching it all from the Pentagon.

Hi, Jamie.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Very interesting hearing, Don.

General John Abizaid, the U.S. central commander with responsibility for Iraq and Afghanistan, basically throwing cold water on two of the big ideas for a possible way ahead in Iraq.

First, he said he is against the proposal advocated by some, including Democratic Senator Carl Levin who, will be taking over the Senate Armed Services committee, for a phased withdrawal, a definite timetable within the next four to six months, withdrawal of U.S. troops. Abizaid arguing that that would not be something that would be welcomed to him. He needs the flexibility to stay ahead.

Also casting cold water on the suggestion from Senator John McCain, who is advocating more U.S. troops to restore stability in the short term. That's something that he also said would be unhelpful. And in an exchange with Senator McCain, argued that that did not mean he was just staying the course.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I regret deeply that you seem to think that the status quo and the rate of progress we're making is acceptable. I think most Americans do not.

GEN. JOHN ABIZAID, U.S. CENTCOM COMMANDER: Well, Senator, I agree with you. The status quo is not acceptable. And I don't believe what I'm saying here today is the status quo. I am saying we must significantly increase our ability to help the Iraqi army by putting more American troops with Iraqi units in military transition teams to speed the amount of training that is done, to speed the amount of heavy weapons that gets there, and to speed the ability of Iraqi troops to deploy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: So what does Abizaid believe? Well, he says he's had direct discussions with the Iraqis, who say they do not favor more U.S. troops to help restore security in the short term. They think that would undermine their cause.

Abizaid is arguing for a speed-up of the transition to Iraqi forces, as you heard him mention there. And he's also saying that he believes that the situation can be turned around. In his words, he said, "We haven't turned the corner yet," but he remains optimistic and said he thinks the next four to six months will be crucial.

Of course, it seems like every time we have one of these hearings, Don, somebody says the next six months is crucial.

LEMON: Senior Pentagon Correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Well, in Baghdad, it's happening again, or should I stay still? Dozens of bodies turning up across the Iraqi capital.

CNN's Arwa Damon brings us up to date from yesterday -- Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Kyra.

That's right, 55 more bodies, according to the Iraqi emergency police, have shown up at the Baghdad morgue. Unidentified bodies believed to be the country's latest victims of sectarian violence. The death count here just keeps rising.

And the Iraqi minister of higher education is threatening to resign after that mass kidnapping that happened yesterday. He is threatening to resign if the Iraqi government does not take more active steps to secure the release of the remaining hostages. Now, there are still conflicting reports as to how many Iraqis were taken captive and how many have been released at this stage. But the one thing that we do know and we can bring to you is the impact that this mass kidnapping and the violence is having on Baghdad students.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON (voice-over): For many of these students, any future is a dream. Each day a nightmare.

Fifty thousand students are officially enrolled in Baghdad University, but you couldn't tell it from looking at the campus. Even more deserted the day after a mass kidnapping at Iraq's Ministry of Higher Education.

MAHA NIDAL, COLLEGE STUDENT (through translator): If the ministry had someone kidnapped from it, how can we feel secure? Here at the university, there is not much security. If any militia wanted to come, we could be kidnapped easily.

DAMON: On campus, we met biology student Maha Nidal and her cousin. They were among the brave ones showing up. They fear their studies could be a casualty.

NIDAL (through translator): How do you know that a future of a country, any country, not necessarily Iraq, has been destroyed? It's when there is no justice, no security, and no education. If you reach the stage of no studies and no education, and when you lose that, that's it. The people are finished, there is no future.

DAMON (on camera): Students here estimate that on a good day, 40 percent of their classmates will show up at university. But they say more often than not, their professors aren't here to teach.

(voice-over): Lectures have come to a near standstill. These students are lucky enough to have their biology class in session, though the professor did not want to be photographed and stepped out of the room. Most of the senior professors here already fled or were killed.

NIDAL (through translator): Rad Mala (ph), the head of our department, was killed last year. Gunmen came to his house and killed him. It was very hard for us. He was like one of the students. He kept us strong.

DAMON: Maha Nidal says extremist elements want to divide Iraqi society and drive out secular, moderate thought.

NIDAL (through translator): This is what they want, the gunmen, the terrorists. Any force right now with its hands in destruction wants this, no education, no learning, no future. They want ignorance to rule so they can have control.

DAMON: Deserted hallways, testimony to the fear that has already driven many away. (END VIDEOTAPE)

DAMON: If things in Iraq stay on the current path, the impact of this brain drain on the nation, according to one educated Iraqi, is fatal -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Arwa Damon live from Baghdad.

Thank you.

LEMON: All right. We have some new information and a new tornado warning, a new tornado warning to report.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Straight ahead, Democrats aren't the only ones returning to power on Capitol Hill come January.

LEMON: The one-time leader of the Senate Republicans mounts a dramatic comeback of his own.

That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Plus, new insecurity surrounding America's most secure prison. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM, why some are calling this Supermax facility Superlax.

Our drew Griffin joins us live with his investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, if you're really, really bad and you get caught, you go to Supermax, the maximum security federal lockup in Colorado, home for the country's most hardened criminals. But just because they're out of circulation doesn't necessarily mean they're out of commission.

CNN's Drew Griffin has the inside story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in the shadows of the Colorado Rockies are many of our worst known terrorists: Ramzi Yousef, the first World Trade Center bomber; 9/11 wannabe Zacarias Moussaoui; the shoe bomber, Richard Reid; the Olympic bomber, Eric Rudolph; the Unabomber, one of the Oklahoma City bombers; all locked up for life in the nation's toughest prison, Supermax.

Almost every hour is spent in these cells. Eat here, shower here. Solid doors and narrow windows make it hard to even see another inmate. Yet, official documents show the prison is understaffed.

Phone calls are not always monitored, neither is the mail. Supermax is a danger of becoming super lax.

(on camera): If those terrorists being held inside Supermax are plotting and planning their next attack right now, chances are the federal government wouldn't even know it.

(voice-over): Who says so? The Justice Department itself. Last month the inspector general said the Bureau of Prisons quote, is unable to effectively monitor the mail of terrorists and other high risk inmates in order to detect and prevent terrorism and criminal activities.

One criminal case in point, the 18th Street Gang marks its turf and runs drug sales near downtown Los Angeles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What has happened is that every street corner now has a gang.

GRIFFIN: The gangs extort kickbacks. They call it taxes or rent from the street dealers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You'd better pay your taxes, pal, or else you're going to get killed or you're not going to deal dope in my town.

GRIFFIN: The man running the drug gang? The FBI says it is Ruben Castro, from his cell at Supermax.

(on camera): And even though he's behind bars and away for life, he still holds that power?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most definitely.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Prosecutors charge for the past three years, Castro has been able to give orders in telephone calls and coded letters from Supermax.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And he uses his girlfriend, wife or mistress or whatever she is or any other person that will take a message out.

GRIFFIN: Inmates are allowed only a handful of calls a month, but the Justice Department report says half of those phone calls were not monitored in the last year that it checked.

The Madrid train bombings in 2004 triggered the recent Justice Department report. After those attacks, investigators discovered an al Qaeda follower had been writing to terror suspects in Spain from his cell at Supermax, yet the staffing levels have continued to drop. The report says personnel assigned to the check mail and phone calls often are sent to cell blocks instead as substitute guards.

MIKE SCHNOBRICH, PRISON GUARDS UNION: I think they are pulled from those positions on occasion more often than they should be to work in other parts of the prison to make sure we're that maintaining security there.

GRIFFIN: The guard force has fallen well below what it was when Supermax opened. Last year, a minimum manpower figure was set. Supermax is now under that. Inmates too often are winning a war of wits.

TERRI FLYNN, ASST. U.S. ATTORNEY: They have time and they have the patience to figure out ways to communicate with each other.

GRIFFIN: Prosecutor Terri Flynn helped convict two leaders of the Aryan Brotherhood this fall, of starting a race war at the Lewisburg Federal Prison in Pennsylvania by sending out a message from Supermax written in invisible ink.

FLYNN: In the case of the Lewisburg message, it was written in grapefruit juice. And pretty much you write it in a Q-tip or a toothpick and then the back of it is heated up and the message becomes visible.

GRIFFIN: The gang also used a code based on how many letters were printed or written in long hand.

FLYNN: This would be a C.

GRIFFIN (on camera): It's somewhat ingenious.

FLYNN: It is. The decipher system was that was developed by Sir Francis Bacon in the 15th century.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): We did try to get answers from the warden here at Supermax. He declined to be interviewed on camera. So did the top prison officials in Washington. Colorado legislator Buffie McFadyen district includes Supermax. She says money must be found soon to beef up security here.

(on camera): If somebody is in there right now over that hill and they are plotting and planning a terrorist attack, there's a good chance that we wouldn't know about it, yes?

BUFFIE MCFADYEN, COLORADO STATE REP.: Absolutely. It could happen. Could happen. And that should be frightening for any citizen in the United States of America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: So what's being done to fix this?

GRIFFIN: Both senators in Colorado are pleading, begging, asking the Bureau of Prisons and the attorney general to do something, to give them enough money to at least hire a guard that can look at the mail. Look at all the mail and the phone calls.

It seems simple, Kyra, but there's budgetary issues involved here, union issues involved here. And the work is just not getting done.

PHILLIPS: Why do they have rights to even communicate at all?

GRIFFIN: Interesting, huh? These guys supposedly put away for life, shouldn't be able to have any communications in the eyes of prosecutors.

In fact, the prosecutor prosecuting the white supremacist guy, the Aryan Brotherhood guys, says don't -- they wanted the death penalty. Not death. At least put them in a prison and don't let them communicate with the outside because they're ordering killings from inside the prison.

The judge still weighing that decision. The defense says, look, if you put a guy away for life and don't let him communicate with anybody, it is virtually a death sentence.

So they have rights. Prisoners in this country have rights. That's what makes it our country. But when they use those rights to...

PHILLIPS: To kill others...

GRIFFIN: ... break the law, kill others, deal drugs, you've got to question it.

PHILLIPS: So could it change? I mean, is the pressure on now?

GRIFFIN: The pressure is definitely on, especially after the inspector general's report to at least monitor all these mailings, to hire an Arabic-speaking guard who can look at the translations to see if there's any messages being sent out. Yes, the pressure is there.

Where is the money? That is the question.

PHILLIPS: Interesting. Look forward to the follow-up. Thanks, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Yes.

LEMON: Destruction and debris from Arkansas to the Atlantic. We're tracking the severe weather sweeping the South right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Plus, an offshore earthquake sets off a tsunami scare in the Pacific. Thousands of people put on alert. Live pictures from Honolulu and an update from the NEWSROOM straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Earlier there was a tsunami scare from the Japanese islands all the way to Alaska. But to everyone's relief, it was a washout.

The waves that hit the beaches in the eastern Pacific were at the highest 16 inches. Not six feet, as many had feared.

Tsunami warnings went out right after a powerful earthquake struck the region. The Hawaiian islands also went on alert, as did the coastlines of Alaska, British Columbia and Washington State. All those alerts are now canceled.

And our Reynolds Wolf tracking that story and severe weather right here in the U.S.

(WEATHER REPORT) (MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: Like the sequel to a bad movie, they're counting votes again in Florida.

COLLINS: State election oversees, well overseers rather, say that they're determined to get it right. Some voters, well they're not so sure. We're going to have the latest on the recount. Oh, yes, like flashback. Next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Well, the rise and fall of a mover and shaker in Washington. At the height of his influence, lobbyist Jack Abramoff wined and dined the most powerful in the Capitol. But earlier today, he began a six-year prison term in a minimum-security lockup in Maryland. That's over a fraudulent deal to buy a fleet of casino ships in Florida. Now, Abramoff is still awaiting sentencing for corrupting government officials and their staffers. He's best known for lavishing D.C. lawmakers with gifts, trips and campaign cash.

LEMON: Another big comeback at the U.S. Capitol a week after Democrats re-tip the balance of power. Republicans pick their Senate leadership for the 110th Congress. Kentucky's Mitch McConnell will be minority leader, no surprise there. But in the hard-fought race for minority whip, Trent Lott, the former Senate majority leader edged Lamar Alexander by a single vote. Lott says he's ready to get back to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TRENT LOTT (R), MISSISSIPPI: I'm honored to be a part of this leadership team, to support Mitch McConnell and all of my colleagues to do a job that I've always really loved the most -- count the votes. And all Mitch is going to want me to do is find a way to count the magic 60 or the magic 51 and I'll do my very best in that effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: You might remember Lott resigned his majority leader post back in 2002 after his comments at Strom Thurmond's birthday party that was widely seen as racially insensitive.

COLLINS: It's a Florida election that's headed for a recount. There's even a Katherine Harris angle. Sound familiar? It's not George versus Gore, or Bush versus Gore rather, but Jennings versus Buchanan in Florida's 13th District.

Here's CNN's Susan Candiotti.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Barbara and Ken Sanderson cast their ballots on different days during early voting. BARBARA SANDERSON, FLORIDA VOTER: I voted for Christine Jennings and when the review ballot came up, there was no X next to her name.

CANDIOTTI: Both say electronic touch screen machines did not at first record their votes for a U.S. Congressional seat.

KEN SANDERSON, FLORIDA VOTER: I know I pressed that button.

CANDIOTTI: Both caught the mistake in time and reported it, but wonder how many others didn't.

K. SANDERSON: It's kind of startling and I'm upset about it and angry.

CANDIOTTI: So is Democrat Christine Jennings' campaign. Unofficially, she lost the election by under 380 votes, less than a quarter of one percent.

CHRISTINE JENNINGS (D), FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: The recount will show that I'm going to be the congresswoman for district 13.

CANDIOTTI: Not so fast says her Republican opponent. Vern Buchanan says he's the winner fair and square.

VERN BUCHANAN (R), FLORIDA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We won it on election night and that process needs to play itself out this week.

CANDIOTTI: The race is so close, Florida law requires a recount. At issue, why thousands of people who cast their ballots in Sarasota County did not vote in the Jennings-Buchanan race? When no vote is recorded, that's called an under-vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 205 for Buchanan, 205 for Jennings and 140 under-votes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 157 under-votes.

CANDIOTTI: In all, 18,000 under-votes in one of five counties involved in the race. Experts say that's at least 10 times higher than normal. Did all those voters ignore the race on purpose? Or did the touch-screen machine malfunction? Non-partisan groups say the problem with Florida machines is no paper trail and no way to decipher a voter's intent.

DAN SELIGSON, ELECTIONLINE.ORG EDITOR: It would be odd that this high number of people, more than 18,000 people would show up, register, you know, wait in line and then not cast a ballot in a House race.

CANDIOTTI: After 2000's hanging chad debacle, Democrats again are crying foul.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: It defies reason that we're back in a critically important election with a submicroscopic margin and a system that went wrong, once again. CANDIOTTI: And who's seat is the prize? Katherine Harris', who Democrats blame for 2000's mess.

KATHY DENT, ELECTION SUPERVISOR: It does give you a little bit of the deja vu.

CANDIOTTI: Sarasota election officials defend their electronic machines.

DENT: We'll see it through until the very end.

CANDIOTTI: Stand by the machines?

DENT: Yes, unless proven differently.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): The courts are now involved, granting an emergency motion that forces all sides to agree on a fair way to test the machines, while once again in Florida voters' confidence is tested.

(voice-over): For now, you'll find congressional hopefuls Buchanan and Jennings both posing with incoming freshmen. Each invited, yet keeping their distance, wondering who gets to stay.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Sarasota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The recount is over in Connecticut. Democrat Joe Courtney has been elected to Congress. A second look at the second district results gave Courtney a 91-vote victory over incumbent Republican Rob Simmons. That's out of 250,000 votes cast. The first ballot count on election night gave Courtney a wider lead at 167 votes.

PHILLIPS: Pee-wee football -- spit it out. There we go. The performance from the grown-ups -- you're not going to believe this. Sportsmanship is sidelined in this game, a blow-by-blow account. These are all parents that are coming out and tackling each other.

LEMON: You look at it and you're going phew, I didn't know what was going on.

PHILLIPS: You're far from pee-wee too. That's for sure.

LEMON: Can a snapshot of the present predict the future state of mind of the subject? Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has that answer and that story straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: All right. Telling your future from a photograph. Well, it's not a sham, at least not in the hands of people who know what to look for. All this week our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is looking at the medical side of happiness. Today he finds a smile really can be your umbrella against life's downers. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good. Where's that smile? There it is.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That smile means more than you think. Psychologist Dacher Keltner studies human emotion. To see if a smile reflects real happiness, Keltner looks for telltale muscle movements.

DACHER KELTNER, PSYCHOLOGIST: And this has the zygomatic major and a little bit of the obicularis oculi.

GUPTA: In a genuine happy smile, the corners of the lips go up just as other muscles contract around our eyes.

KELTNER: Those are hard to fake and they -- several studies have shown correlate with feelings of happiness, with activation of the left hemisphere of the brain. If you see evidence of that muscle movement, you know the person is happy.

She got a lower score.

GUPTA: In one ground-breaking study, Keltner analyzed the smiles of women in their college yearbook photos. These two women look very much alike, but hold on -- look closer. The woman on the left, see how her skin pouches under her lower eyelids, but the woman on the right, that tiny protrusion isn't there. And see this little crinkle in her cheek? It's less intense in the other woman's smile. The woman on the left looks happier.

Researchers followed the sample of women as they got older. Keltner's findings? Those with genuine smiles in their college yearbook photos were significantly more likely to be happy a full 30 years later.

KELTNER: She feels more warmly towards others, she feels more confident and successful in achieving her goals, she feels less anxiety on a daily basis and warmer and more connected to her spouse.

GUPTA: We don't know exactly why. Maybe a smile reflects other factors: biological wiring, good health, good relationships that endure long after the photographer says cheese. But, somehow, a simple picture is a glimpse of the future.

KELTNER: The idea that I can take a snapshot of you in an artificial setting and then tell you what your life is like for 30 years, that's almost preposterous and, yet, it turned out.

GUPTA: One thing we learned, be happy now if you want to be happy later.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That was our Dr. Sanjay Gupta. And Sunday night, Sanjay has a full hour-long special. It's called "HAPPINESS AND YOUR HEALTH," a closer look at the surprising mind/body connection. It starts at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN, and in the meantime, you can go to our Web site, CNN.com/happiness.

PHILLIPS: Well, straight ahead, entertainment news with Sibila Vargas of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT."

Hey, Sibila, what's on tap?

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll give you an update of the wedding of the year, a supermodel trying to avoid a criminal conviction, and we'll find out who "People" magazine thinks is the sexiest man of the year. Think you know who it is? I'll tell you next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Let's head to the NEWSROOM. A developing story.

Carol Lin, what do you have for us?

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. To Montgomery, Alabama, Don, where you know the weather has been bad, but apparently the storm was so powerful that it slammed into an ice skating rink filled with preschoolers. About 30 preschoolers today inside that building. The building, destroyed.

The youngsters were huddled inside. One child suffered a broken bone and another had a head laceration, according to the Associated Press. But, fortunately, everyone else was fine.

We're still trying to figure out whether a tornado actually touched down or whether a strong thunderstorm can actually cause this much damage.

Reynolds? Yes?

We're talking to Reynolds Wolf at the CNN Weather Center.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: ... It's part of the same storm system. I don't know exactly what it could have been, straight- line winds or tornadoes. I know we've had reports of three tornado warnings in the area, but it could have been -- nothing confirmed as of yet.

LIN: All right. Apparently there was other tornado activity around the Montgomery area.

So, Reynolds, I mean, what else could cause this much damage? It looks like there was an earthquake. I mean, this video is utterly devastating. It looks like steel beams have collapsed and roofing material is just laying there.

WOLF: Certainly some rough stuff, to say the very least. You know, you're right, we did have reports of tornadoes in the area. Straight-line winds, to say the least. But I'm telling you, this is the scene that we're going to see in many places. Already we've had reports up and down parts of I-65. Some of the roughest weather we have right now is right along I-10, just to the east of Mobile. You've got Baymanet (ph), you have Fairhope, Perdido Key, Florida, moving closer to Ft. Walton beach. It's going to be in this area, not too far from Pensacola, where you have really rough weather at this time.

And one of the big problems we're having at this point is not just the potential for the damaging winds, the tornadoes, but also flooding is going to be an issue. And already we're seeing that pop up in parts of central Georgia and north Georgia.

So it's going to be very rough, to say the very least. Back to you.

LIN: All right. Thanks very much, Reynolds.

Kyra, it's amazing, the damage there.

Don, you take a look at that. You know, more than two dozen kids inside of there, preschoolers, just three, four years old.

LEMON: That video, Carol, was just amazing. I mean, that roof is just completely demolished. And you said a couple of injuries -- I think we're going to get that video back -- it's just amazing that no one was killed in all this.

You said no fatalities, right?

LIN: No fatalities, a cut head and a broken bone. I mean, I know that kids are resilient, but I'm so glad for that today, out there in Montgomery.

LEMON: All right, keep watching that for us, Carol.

All right, we'll be right back.

Severe weather happening right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: "TomKat" tying the knot and Gorgeous George gets another nod -- make that a gawk -- from "People" magazine.

CNN entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas joins me with entertainment headlines.

Sibila, Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, getting married Saturday. I know you're flying out for that party. Or are you just thinking about your man George?

VARGAS: It's kind of hard. But you know, I do have the dress ready, you know, and I've got my nails done. But, you know, I haven't gotten the invitation just yet to that wedding. I think it got lost in the mail.

PHILLIPS: It might be one of those last-minute things. It's all right.

VARGAS: But you're right, the wedding of the year is coming up. "TomKat" will make it official on Saturday in what promises to be a lavish ceremony at a beautiful castle in Bracciano, Italy.

Katie Holmes will be wearing an Armani dress and tenor Andrea Bocelli is apparently going to be singing to the couple. Even though the castle can accommodate more than 1,000 people, they're going to keep the guest list at a minimum, at least that's what Oprah Winfrey said when she wasn't invited. Oprah's so gracious, though. She's still planning on buying them a wedding gift, and I'm sure it's going to be a great one.

And one business note here, Tom Cruise had also announced a new project. He's set to star in a movie titled "Lions for Lambs" with Meryl Streep and Robert Redford. Redford will also be directing. This will be the first movie to be produced by Cruise's new production company, United Artists, so he's got a new baby, a new wife, a new movie. He's in definite Cruise control.

PHILLIPS: Well, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, two of the sexiest men Hollywood has ever had. But I hear that "People" magazine is telling us, well, sexy this year is somebody else.

VARGAS: Yes, you know that Justin Timberlake song "I'm Bringing Sexy Back".

PHILLIPS: Oh, boy, I knew she would have to sing it at some point within the story. Very good.

VARGAS: Apparently it's George Clooney. He is the sexiest man this year according to "People" magazine.

PHILLIPS: I know you think so.

VARGAS: I do.

And I know who you think so -- who you think should be on the cover. It is the second time he's been told he's sexier than anyone else by the publication. And according to Clooney, that may tick off his buddy, Brad Pitt, who, up until now, had been the only man who had ever been given that honor twice.

The two of them would banter about it, when Clooney would say "Sexiest man of the year", Pitt would almost always reply, "two times". And that's actually his become nickname for Pitt. I'm sure that somehow he'll get over it.

But how much fun would it be to choose between those two? Clooney? Pitt?

PHILLIPS: I don't know.

VARGAS: Tough job at "People" magazine.

PHILLIPS: Yes, but look at the front page of the magazine again.

Look, my man's on there, McDreamy.

VARGAS: McDreamy, he made it.

But you know, maybe they should split it. But they know what they're doing.

PHILLIPS: All right. Talk about someone who may be sexy, but with a dangerous edge. We always like that, right?

VARGAS: Yes, she's sexy, but according to some, her behavior can be downright ugly, Kyra. Naomi Campbell was in a Manhattan criminal court this morning to face assault charges. This was charges that was -- that she assaulted her housekeeper last March with a cell phone. That result was a cut that needed four staples to close it.

The court was adjourned until January to give Campbell's attorneys and the District Attorney's office time to work out a plea agreement. This is just another chapter in Campbell's career of run- ins with her personal staff that has spilled into court. And we'll keep you posted when a plea agreement is reached.

Coming up, tonight, though, on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", the outrage over O.J. Should he be paid millions for his book and TV special on how his ex-wife Nicole Simpson might have been murdered?

The anger and reaction on TV's most provocative entertainment news program, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT", 11:00 p.m. Eastern on "Headline Prime".

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Sibila, thanks.

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