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Christmas Day Weather Hits Florida Hard; Saddam Hussein Death Sentenced Upheld; Earthquake Shakes Taiwan Coast

Aired December 26, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Rick Sanchez.

Tony Harris and Heidi Collins are on vacation.

Now, for the next three weeks, you're going to watch events happen live on this Tuesday, the 26th day of December.

Here's what's in the rundown right now.

Holiday heartbreak -- dozens of Florida families lose everything to Christmas Day storms. Weather giving the holiday's a bumpy rid across the country.

A prominent Spanish doctor makes a Havana house call. His diagnosis? Cuba's Fidel Castro does not have cancer.

And Saddam Hussein convicted of mass murder. This hour, an appeals court makes an announcement that could clear the way for him to hang. A news conference in THE NEWSROOM.

We're going to bring you a lot of news over the next couple of hours.

But let's being with this -- new fears of a potentially destructive tsunami this hour in South Asia after a powerful earthquake off the coast of Taiwan.

For the very latest now, let's go to CNN meteorologist Chad Myers -- Chad, this is unbelievable. I mean this is the actual anniversary of the last big one there, wasn't it?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I just can't believe it's actually two years to the day.

SANCHEZ: Wow!

MYERS: I mean it's just an amazing turn of events here. But it was only a 7.1 earthquake, not the 9.0 that was the Banda Aceh problem.

Here's China, here's Taiwan and the Philippines to the south. There was a shake, there was a quake under the sea floor that could push a wall of water, a bubble of water, if you will, up and then out, kind of like throwing the stone in a pond and the ripples kind of go out. The problem is the ripples are moving almost 600 miles per hour.

It was only 13 miles from the tip of Taiwan to the earthquake. We have heard no reports of any surge of water to Taiwan itself. But the Meteorologist Service now out of Japan says that the bubble of water is actually traveling to the south, into the islands of the Philippines and also to the northern and western sections of the Philippines.

It could be a one meter wave, so about three feet and some inches. But if that get into funneling into a harbor or something like that, that one meter wave can actually turn into something much larger. Six to 10 feet not out of the question if you get the right type of topography under the ground.

You can actually see how the topography, how the trenches are here between the Straits of Taiwan; also, the South China Sea and all the way down here.

So it's going to be a couple of hours that they're holding their breath, getting away from the shore, getting all the vacationers or even the people that live there, the residents, away from those coastal areas in the northern Philippines -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: So this is really the kind of thing, all you can do is watch it.

MYERS: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Because, I mean, the monitoring systems are really not that sophisticated yet, right?

MYERS: No. There's not that many of them. We don't know -- it would be nice to have a monitoring system or a buoy every hundred miles.

SANCHEZ: Right.

MYERS: That just doesn't happen. They're thousands of miles apart. And the only way to know is that, yes, we know an earthquake hit. We know it was under the sea floor. It could have made something a lot more sinister than just shaking of the Earth. And if that wave is headed to the south -- right now we don't think there's any way it headed to the east, into the Pacific, into the Hawaiian Islands or into the United States West Coast at all.

But still, when there are buoys out there and one of those waves runs over the buoys, all of a sudden those forecasts change rapidly.

So we'll keep you advised.

SANCHEZ: Here's what we're going to do, Chad.

We'll be checking back with you from time to time just to see what's going on.

MYERS: Great. SANCHEZ: We monitor that situation.

Also, we'll get back to you in just a little bit to find out what's going on down in Florida and other parts of the country that were suddenly hit with some severe weather.

We'll check back with you, buddy.

MYERS: Fair enough.

SANCHEZ: Clean up today -- that's exactly what we're talking about after a terrifying Christmas across parts of Florida. Tornadoes damaging dozens of homes. Amazingly, Florida gets hit with a lot of tornadoes, perhaps not as vicious as the ones that you hear about in Kansas, but these were vicious enough for the folks affected.

Amazingly, there were no serious injuries reported at this time.

CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti is in the hard hit town of San Antonio, near Tampa.

I mean this thing just came with a fury, didn't it -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It did. And imagine people sitting around on Christmas morning opening up their presents. Yes, it was raining outside. Some people heard that there was some severe storms coming their way, but not many people were listening or paying that much attention.

And, all of a sudden, they said bam! They were hit by what was probably, forecasters are saying, a tornado that hit here.

More than two dozen homes across the state were destroyed; more than half of them in what's called Tampa Bay Golf Club and Country Club here. We're on Caddy Shack Lane. This is one of the homes that was severely damaged. A family here at home and believe it or not, no serious injuries.

We're going to walk you down the street here to a man who lives next door to that house.

This gentleman's name is Denny Meyer.

Denny, you were home when this happened.

Tell us what was happening when the storm came through yesterday morning.

DENNY MEYER, HOMEOWNER: Well, we had just finished -- my kids were visiting me. We had just finished opening presents. And all of a sudden I heard a noise.

We had just finished. They walked to different areas of the house. I heard a noise, looked out and I saw these pine trees. There were these palms over here that were like para-level to the ground. So I knew there was a problem. So I started yelling. Then all of a sudden -- all of a sudden all of this came in through that window and blew everything inside the house to the back. It picked me up and threw me. And -- I was standing in the foyer, it threw me into the master bedroom...

CANDIOTTI: Were you hurt?

MEYER: ... onto the floor.

No, I was fine. Fortunately, I landed on the carpet. But I was fine and...

CANDIOTTI: You had to have been scared.

MEYER: It was scary. The whole -- really, it only lasted about, I'm guessing, about seven seconds. So it really wasn't a whole long time to think about it.

CANDIOTTI: Do you have any inkling, any warning that this was headed your way?

MEYER: Well, I heard the noise. I heard -- that was it. I had a weather radio, but we were opening the presents so I didn't have it on. But I heard the noise. We had been through a tornado up in Ohio before we moved down here, so I knew that distinctive noise and I knew that there was one coming. So -- but there really wasn't time to react. It was -- it was one of those...

CANDIOTTI: A frightening thought.

MEYER: Yes, very.

CANDIOTTI: Now, you at least have a generator, right?

MEYER: Yes.

CANDIOTTI: So you have power. There are a lot of underground wires in this community, so fortunately a lot of people didn't lose power here, is that right?

MYERS: Yes, we're pretty -- we're fine. We've got underground utilities here. So most everybody, I think, has power, except for the houses that have been declared uninhabitable.

CANDIOTTI: One last thing I have to ask you.

MEYER: Sure.

CANDIOTTI: Florida escaped unscathed during this hurricane season.

What do you make of this happening?

MEYER: It's just -- I...

CANDIOTTI: Just when they thought you were in the clear. MYERS: I know. This is just freak. I don't think we really get tornadoes that much down here. And at least when we do, they're kind of the lower category tornadoes, not like I'm used to up in Ohio. We get the F3s and the F4s up there. So this was kind of a piece of cake.

And nobody was really hurt seriously back here, so that's the important part.

SANCHEZ: Now, of course, it's simply a matter of trying to get a hold of insurance agents -- obviously they weren't available on Christmas Day -- to try to assess exactly how much damage there is throughout these various areas of Florida -- Rick, back to you.

SANCHEZ: Susan Candiotti following that situation for us.

We thank you so much, Susan.

Let's go back to Chad now and talk about this.

As I was reading about this, Chad, I was interested to note that part of this storm or tornado hit right above Tampa and then another one -- well, this is what I was going to ask you.

Is it a different system or the same system that continued on and then formed tornado or tornadic like situations in the central part of the state?

MYERS: It actually was the same super cell storm, Rick. But it lost some intensity. It gained it back, lost it and gained it back again. It skipped from where Susan was. It kind of lifted a little bit in Eastern Pasco-then back down again in Lake County, making some Democrat around Leesburg, on up through the Ocala National Forest, knocking some trees down, picking up again and then coming back down near Deland and also on up toward Daytona Beach.

So it really was one large cell, one super cell that just kept going. It was weakening, it would come back; weaken, come back. And basically that tornado skipped all the way across and eventually even out into the Atlantic Ocean.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MYERS: classic setup yesterday, though, Rick.

I question you lived in Florida a long time. That was a classic el nino, southern stream, southern branch storm making tornadoes across Florida yesterday.

SANCHEZ: And I may...

MYERS: And we are in it, so we're going to get more like that before the year is over.

SANCHEZ: I mentioned this to the viewers earlier, because I was in Florida. Florida gets as many tornadoes as just about anybody. It's just that they're not as severe as the ones that usually cross the Plains States, for example, correct?

MYERS: Correct. You're going to get your F0, 1s, 2s down there, where your Plains has a little bit of a different scenario -- drier air, more energy, more moisture coming off the Gulf of Mexico. They have a chance to run-for a longer time, as well. Then you get the 3s, 4s and 5s up there.

SANCHEZ: Chad Myers, always so good at explaining these things to us.

Appreciate it.

MYERS: I do my best to do my duty.

So long.

SANCHEZ: Thank you, Chad.

Let's go with the breaking news out of Iraq that we've been telling you about.

This is a news conference at the bottom of the hour that we're expecting, an announcement about the fate of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

You know that there has been a decision in his case. Also there's some appeals that were pending.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote is following the situation for us from Baghdad.

Is there any news as far as the appeals are going -- Ryan?

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, we don't know too much at this point. What we expect is that within the next half hour, the appellate chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal will -- is expected to pass down its ruling on the Dujail appeals case.

Now, the Dujail case is the case in which Saddam and seven co- defendants were accused of killing 144 Shiites in the Iraqi city of Dujail under Saddam's rule.

On November 5th of this year, Saddam Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity for the murder of those Shiites in that city and he was, on November 5th, sentenced to death by hanging.

He immediately appealed. There was an automatic appeals process. The appellate court, the appellate chamber of the Iraqi High Tribunal, began to review the case on December 5th of this year. It wasn't exactly clear when they were going to hand down their ruling.

We are now hearing just within the last half hour, we have confirmed from a spokesman from the Iraqi High Tribunal that they will pass down their ruling at the half hour, within the half hour.

Now, very important here, if the appellate chamber decides to uphold the previous court's, the Iraqi High Tribunal's decision, its verdict and the sentencing, then according to Iraqi law, Saddam Hussein would have to be put to death, would have to be hanged within the next 30 days.

It could happen at any moment from the moment that that verdict is upheld, if it is going to be upheld, by the appellate chamber.

So this is a very, very pivotal moment here in modern Iraqi history. Saddam Hussein's fate really on the line. We could see the -- that fate clarified in the next 20,25 minutes -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: A question to you, and I imagine a lot of people may think that it's a system very much like the one we have here, where you don't just get one appeal, but then a series of appeals to different courts.

Do we know at this point whether this would be the final appeal or could there be a continuation?

CHILCOTE: A good question. Just some quick news we're just getting right now.

We also heard from a source inside the court that the court has upheld -- that the appellate chamber has upheld the verdict and sentence of Saddam Hussein. This is coming from one source right now inside that court.

They also tell us that the sentence has been upheld by the appellate chamber, clearing the way for Saddam Hussein to be executed, to be hanged within the next 30 days.

All of this, Rick, coming from one source.

Now, to get to your question about would there be any appeals? Is there a chance that Saddam, with this ruling, would not be put to death? Well here is a couple of things to consider.

First of all, according to Iraqi law, it's quite clear -- he has to be put to death within 30 days. That is very clear. According to international law, it is almost assumed that the Iraqi government would have the ability to ask for a stay, to stay the execution.

Now, will the Iraqi government ask for a stay? Will the Iraqi government stay the execution?

The Iraqi government, up until now, dominated by Shiite Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, has said absolutely not. They want to see this execution. In fact, the Iraqi prime minister earlier this year was promising the execution by the end of the year.

But international law -- almost everyone agrees on this -- mandates, really, that the Iraqi government at least consider staying the execution.

There is another reason why, even if they want to see Saddam Hussein put to death, they might stay the execution, and that is that there is another case against Saddam Hussein right now for another crime. It is an ongoing trial. There is a verdict expected perhaps in the next couple of months. And it may be that the government decides that they want to postpone the execution if this, indeed, is the case that the court is upholding the verdict of the previous court.

They may want to postpone that simply so they can see justice work -- run-its course in the second case -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Ryan Chilcote, that's a good explanation, because what it means, what it suggests to us is that there may still be some wiggle room in this for those that may have thought this thing was going to be very resolute and pragmatic, at this point.

Once again, just to bring our viewers up to date, the headline here in this conversation that we've been having is that the highest court in Iraq has basically decided to uphold the death sentence of Saddam Hussein. And as you heard Ryan report just moments ago, there is a possibility that this could mean that Saddam Hussein could be put to death within 30 days. Of course, there's also a possibility that there could be some changes.

Tom, you want to stay with this?

Do we want to -- let's do this. Let's get back to Ryan as we gather more information on that developing story and move on to other stories taking place also in Iraq.

Another day, another grim milestone. The Pentagon says that a roadside bomb near Baghdad killed three U.S. soldiers. The explosion pushing the American death toll past a macabre measure at this point.

The number of American troops killed in Iraq is now greater than the death toll on September 11th, 2001. As of a few hours ago, 2,977 U.S. forces have lost their lives in Iraq, a grim number no matter how you look at it.

And there's this story. A new wave of violence rippling across the country. It's a series of explosions that left at least 25 people dead, more than 100 others wounded. Almost all the attacks taking place in and around the capital.

Iraqi officials also targeted today. Gunmen opened fire on a car, killing a high ranking general with the Interior Ministry. Also, another group of assailants took captive a government trade official.

An update now from a Spanish doctor who examined Fidel Castro. He says that the Cuban leader does not have cancer. Also, he's recovering slowly from his emergency intestinal surgery. That's how the doctor explained it.

Again, it's a Spanish doctor. Right now there are no plans for more surgery. The doctor, who is now back in Madrid, flew to Havana last Thursday. The Cuban president, as you recall, had the operation back in July when we reported it. He has not been seen in public since then. For now, his brother Raul is in charge of Cuba's government.

Once again, we're going to bring you the very latest on that situation we told you about with Saddam Hussein. The highest court there in Iraq basically upholding the death sentence against the former Iraqi leader. We're hoping to be able to parse this a little more for you and bring you the very latest information as we get it.

Also ahead, by the way, last minute shopping turned deadly. People flee a raging department store fire. That story is ahead from THE NEWSROOM.

Also, another battlefront -- Ethiopian troops fight Islamist forces in Somalia.

What does that mean for the United States?

And paying respects to a music pioneer -- an icon whose influence lives on, James Brown, his life and legacy, in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: You're looking at it. It's the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Rick Sanchez.

Good morning, everyone.

Nigeria rocked by a massive oil pipeline explosion this morning. The Red Cross says at least 200 people are dead. Now, this happened just outside Lagos. And that's the capital, by the way. Thieves apparently tried to tap into a pipeline to steal fuel. This happens all the time there. They -- instead, what they did is they triggered a huge blast, which also fed to a massive fire in a heavily populated area.

Stealing from fuel pipelines has become all too common in Nigeria. Nigeria, as you know, has a huge, huge reserves of oil there. Earlier this year, at least 150 people died when vandals tried to tap a similar pipelines outside of Lagos, as well.

We'll keep tabs on that story.

Meanwhile, police in the Philippines are investigating a devastating department store fire. This one happened Christmas Day. Twenty-four people died in the blaze. Police are blaming it on holiday fireworks being sold illegally inside the store. They say that the fire spread quickly. You can see a woman that's trying to escape right there from the flames on the roof of the store, almost tight-roping across the roof. Several people were trapped inside. Police say a key escape route, an exit door at the back of the store, was actually padlocked when it should not have been.

A potential powder keg in Africa. Ethiopian troops battling Islamic forces in Somalia. The U.S. on the sidelines, hoping to avoid, if they can, any direct involvement. Now, CNN's Barbara Starr was recently in the region. She knows it.

And she's joining us now live from the Pentagon for a briefing on this.

What do we know at this point -- Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Rick.

You are quite correct. U.S. troops -- there are about 1,800 of them in the Horn of Africa, right between Somalia and Ethiopia. They plan to stay out of the fighting.

Of course, their job in the Horn of Africa is mainly humanitarian relief efforts for the people of that region.

But make no mistake, this latest war between Somalia and Ethiopia is of great concern to the United States; great concern that this could be yet the next front in the war on terror.

What has happened here, essentially, is Somalia, much of that country is now run-by a fundamentalist Islamic militia. Ethiopia, next door, has a large Christian population and they are very concerned about this militia movement. They believe that they are calling for a new Jihad. This Islamic militia is known to shelter al Qaeda members. So there's a lot of concern about that.

Ethiopia now launching attacks to try and put that Islamic militia back. Actually, the video we're showing right now is some of what we shot in the region when we were there just a few weeks ago.

This is U.S. troops training Ethiopian commandos in anti- terrorism operations, which sort of tells you which side the U.S. is on in this war, even though they don't plan to get involved.

So it's really heating up the tensions in the Horn. Ethiopia has bombed the airport in Mogadishu. There are said to be a great number of Somalis injured, refugees on the road. All of that fundamentally, Rick, of course, leading to great concern by the U.S. that this is yet another area of instability -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and, obviously, the key is how to keep it from escalating, right?

STARR: Well, that's right, because basically this Islamic militia that now runs much of Somalia is calling for a new Jihad, is trying to recruit people for its religious war. And this militia movement, the U.S. very strongly believes, shelters members of Al Qaeda that were responsible for the 1998 attacks on the U.S. embassies in East Africa.

So already great concern that Somalia still is an al Qaeda safe haven and that this fighting is not going to ease that situation at all.

SANCHEZ: Barbara Starr from the Pentagon.

We thank you so much for that briefing and that update.

STARR: Thank you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Let's bring you up to date now on a story that we're following. It looks pretty, but there's a bit of a precarious situation going on down there. That's not far from Denver, actually, closer to Golden, Colorado, which is only 15 miles from the area that we're talking about right now.

As it's being explained to us, authorities are saying that they're investigating reports of an explosion at a mine. It's a uranium mine out there. It's just in the foothills west of Denver, as I mentioned, not far from Golden.

This is Jefferson County. The sheriff there is Jim Shiers (ph) and he's saying that there's no immediate confirmation of an explosion, but authorities are en route. Shiers (ph) says he received a report of a possible explosion some time around 6:30 a.m. That's Denver time, obviously.

The incident occurred just outside that area, about 15 miles from Golden.

As we get more information on the story, we will continue to bring you up to date and bring you the very latest information.

Meanwhile, let's do this, Minding Your Business.

Ali Velshi is joining us now with a preview of what he's going to have coming up.

What you got -- Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rick.

I'm going to tell you about cell phones. For those of you who are like me, who use it for nothing but phoning, you're going to start seeing ads on your cell phone. I'll talk about that when I come back.

Stay here in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Let me tell you why we're showing you a picture of Saddam Hussein there.

First of all, I'm Rick Sanchez.

Welcome back to THE NEWSROOM.

We are learning this morning that an appeals court in Iraq has upheld the death sentence of Saddam Hussein.

Now, you may be wondering, does that mean that he will, in fact, be put to death and possibly soon?

Well, yes and no. By Iraqi law, it means that he possibly will be put to death within the next 30 days. At least that's the way their laws are written.

By international law, though, there may be some more appeals and even the possibility of a stay, or at least the consideration of a stay. So it's really kind of an iffy question at this point.

But, again, the headline at this point that we can bring you is that a court there in Iraq has upheld the death sentence of Saddam Hussein. It's a story that we're going to be covering for you here at CNN throughout the morning.

Meanwhile, on to other stories that we're following. And this one having to do with something that could very soon affect you. Yes, more commercials. If you're tired of seeing ads just about everywhere you look, well, you may need to get rid of your cell phone in the future.

Ali Velshi is Minding Your Business -- boy, more pop-ups? Is that what we're -- is that where we're heading?

VELSHI: Well, it could be pop-ups on your cell phone. I -- now, I don't know about you, Rick. I'm one of these guys who doesn't use his cell phone for anything but phone calls.

SANCHEZ: Right.

VELSHI: I don't get pictures with it. I don't surf the Web on it. But people do. Verizon now saying that in early 2007, it's going to start allowing banner ads on cell phones.

Now, you know, people do surf on their phones and the kind of people who would advertise on a phone are people who can take advantage of your age, your gender and where you are. This location- based advertising might be something interesting.

So, you know, fast food restaurants or some people that will say are you interested in a pizza slice? There's one two blocks from here.

In 2006, about $150 million were spent on cell phone advertising. That's not a whole lot. But there's expectations that by 2010, it'll pop up to $1.3 billion.

SANCHEZ: Wow!

VELSHI: So it's a big market. I'm not interested, but apparently...

SANCHEZ: Well, but you know what's interesting about this is, unlike a lot of other things, where you have a little more time, when you're on your cell phone, you're paying for that time. You're paying for those...

VELSHI: Yes, and I...

SANCHEZ: So if they're using your time to sell you something, it seems a little innocuous, doesn't it?

VELSHI: I'm trying to figure out -- and we're trying to sort of -- I think this will all shake down to figure out that what people are going to be really annoyed with is if they are, in fact, paying for it. You know, we're moving toward a model where people have sort of unlimited time or when you're surfing, if the ad comes down, maybe you're not paying for it.

Because I can't imagine anybody is going to be interested in that, Rick, the idea that I get to watch a little ad for 30 seconds and it's coming off of my time.

So, we'll see how this is accepted.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes.

VELSHI: They're going to have to figure out a smart way of doing this. Oh, well, that's the new life.

And speaking of the new life, a survey has come up, Rick, that talks about how many people have VCRs and how many people have DVDs. Now, I'm actually a little surprised with the numbers. Apparently the last time there was a nationwide survey back in 1999, 89 percent of households had VCRs using VHS tape.

SANCHEZ: Right.

VELSHI: And 7 percent had DVD players.

2006 -- 81 percent have DVD players...

SANCHEZ: Wow!

VELSHI: ... 79 percent still have VHS players. I mean I was actually surprised to find the number is that high. So DVDs have just now, for the first time, edged out VHS in terms of players.

Do you have a VHS player at home?

SANCHEZ: Yes. And a DVR, as well, which is the next phase, right?

VELSHI: Oh, yes. I almost think a lot of people just switch right over, because the new DVRs, those things that you can control anything you watch at any time come with DVD burners in many cases, so people who want to save those shows just save them onto a DVD player.

SANCHEZ: It's amazing how eras of technology change and how we move from one place to another without even -- seemingly ...

VELSHI: Well, I'll tell you some other numbers that came out of -- it's a Nielsen survey: 73 percent of homes have computers. 27 percent of homes have some kind of an MP3 or a digital music device. And 16 percent have a PDA, the organizer diary. So yes, it's interesting. These are interesting numbers.

SANCHEZ: And it's a generational thing because I think you could say most of your friends have one, right a computer.

VELSHI: Correct.

SANCHEZ: But now -- how about your parents?

VELSHI: My parents are probably more computer literate than I do, but they like VHS tapes. Go figure. My mother has had an iPod for about two years and I don't know if she's switched it on yet. But she got a new Walkman she was very excited about.

SANCHEZ: It's always hard trying -- this is how it works, mom. Which button? And then they call you on the phone. I love them.

VELSHI: But, she can teach me how to do things on the computer. The kids aren't using the PDAs as much. They are doing everything on their phone. It going to be a growing trend. Every time I get a new phone, don't know how to use it, I just find some nine-year-old and say, show me how this works.

SANCHEZ: I'll let you borrow my son from time to time. Ali Velshi, thank you.

VELSHI: Good to see you buddy.

SANCHEZ: All right.

Well, a lot of cleanup on this day after Christmas, certainly in parts of north and central Florida. I don't know if you've heard, but there were some severe storms that swept across the state on Christmas Day.

Tornadoes and suspected tornadoes because some are still being investigated. That's why we call them suspected, by the way, touchdown in at least three counties. It was Columbia, Pasco and Volusia.

Dozens of homes were damaged, some of left in splinters literally. Trees uprooted, powerlines down, airplanes flipped over. Look at some of the pictures. This is the good news, though -- no serious injuries despite how those pictures may seem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I, I looked out the window. The wind started coming real hard, just started busting my window out. I looked outside, and you just seen everything rushing around. And then you just seen debris flying everywhere.

From my point of view, I have never seen anything like this. It's just like a war zone. Embry-Riddle took a beating, it happened here at the apartment complex and further on up. How we didn't lose any lives, God was smiling on us today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That's an interesting point he makes. Let's go over to Chad Myers. People look at pictures like those and they always wonder how it's possible that people wouldn't be hurt. Do you have a good explanation for that?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There were warnings on every tornado that touched down yesterday in advance of the tornado touchdown. That probably helped a little bit. Also I think a lot of people, especially at that university, on the second floor, you saw how badly that was battered. Hopefully they were gone home for Christmas. I suppose that helped an awful lot as well.

Rick, we've got no tornado threat today. But it's going to be back on Friday, and there may be 20 to 40 tornadoes on Friday, completely different area, central plains, and also they could be bigger.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: All right. Let's bring you up to date on this situation now. This is what we mentioned to you moments ago about this explosion that had been reported not far from Denver, actually a little closer to Golden, Colorado, made famous for Coors beer, right?

Well, here's what we now know, even though you heard what we mentioned awhile ago about a uranium mine in the area, the actual uranium mine hasn't been in operation for almost a decade.

What actually happened is a tension powerline that snapped and blew, so there was -- and this is important because we're talking about uranium here. There was no explosion in the mine itself.

So, what we know right now is there was some kind of explosion having to do with a high tension powerline, which is actually much more common than anything having to do with a mine at this point.

We'll obviously try to get a little more information there, but just judging from the pictures that we're looking at now and the preliminary information that we've been getting, it does not seem to be as serious as may have been reported when we first got this information.

We are awaiting Baghdad news conference, as we've been telling you about the on fate of Iraq's former dictator, Saddam Hussein. A spokesman for Iraq's appellate court said that the chamber has upheld his death sentence handed down last month.

Now according to Iraqi law, the execution as upheld would be carried out within 30 days. The conviction involves the 1982 massacre in Dujail. 148 Shiites were killed there in apparent retaliation for a failed assassination attempt on the Iraqi leader.

But, really the question is here, now that it's been upheld by this appellate court, does that automatically mean that we will soon see the execution of Saddam Hussein? To clarify this a little bit more, we have on the phone now Michael Scarf. He's a law professor with Case Western University. By the way, also he was an adviser to the Iraqi Special Tribunal. Sharf is the professor's name. I apologize for mispronouncing that professor. Thanks so much for being with us.

Can you clarify with us, for us, the possibility that this could not be as soon as apparently as being reported, that maybe this could drag out a little bit more? What could make that happen?

MICHAEL SHARF, LAW PROFESSOR, CASE WESTERN UNIVERSITY: Sure, Rick. There are those who believe that Saddam Hussein should not be executed until the end of the Anfal trial, which is the current trial that has been going on since August.

But in that trial, which has gone on already some four months, there have been a lot of victims and witnesses who have appeared in court and have pointed the finger at Saddam Hussein, and that's really what the hope was, that Saddam would be alive to face his accusers in that trial.

Unlike the Slobodan Milosevic case, where Milosevic was tried on his own at the Hague, Saddam Hussein has six co-defendants. So, if Saddam Hussein is executed in the next 30 days, that trial will not have to end. It will go to conclusion and there will be a verdict involving the other six defendants, just not Saddam Hussein.

Technically there may be ways to postpone his execution, but talking to people in Iraq, a lot of people in the government, people associated with the trial, the general feeling is that they've had enough of Saddam Hussein, they feel that he's gotten due process and that Iraq will be a better off place if he's no longer around. So, I would not be surprised if we see the end of Saddam Hussein within the next 30 days.

SANCHEZ: Is there not a predilection, a pressure in international law to at least give consideration to a stay?

SHARF: Well, certainly this trial has been subject to a lot of criticism on due process grounds, but what we saw was that most of the reports by human rights groups came out before the written judgment was released on November 22nd, and in the English version went up on the web on December 3rd.

Those people who have read the actual written judgment are pretty convinced that the 298 pages of the judgment did an effective job of fairly applying the law and explaining the findings of fact. Now, it's been three weeks since the defendants have filed their appeal. That's pretty quick for a judgment, and that raises a lot of alarm bells in my mind, but what this court tends to do is release its oral findings, its decision before it releases its written judgment.

So in the United States it would probably take several months for this judgment to have come out, but that's because the judges are writing it all down on paper. Here, we'll probably not see the written judgment of the appeals chamber for a couple more weeks. That's just the way they do it in Iraq.

I'm sure that they're going to be international criticisms, but overall if the written judgment is well written as the trial chamber judgment was, I think that this court's decision will hold up in history's eyes.

SANCHEZ: That's interesting. So, given your experience, and you certainly are as familiar as anyone with this case and some of the players involved, you think that this will most likely take place within the next 30 days, barring any ...

SHARF: I do, in fact.

SANCHEZ: We appreciate you sharing that with us. Michael Sharf, professor of law, Case Western University and certainly we'll get back to you if there are any more details on this.

SHARF: Good to talk to you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Likewise -- a new progress report today on Fidel Castro's condition. This is the latest from a Spanish doctor, you may have heard, who was flown into Cuba to examine the Cuban president. That doctor has held a news conference this morning and we're going to tell you what he said.

And there it is, moments ago, the opening bell in New York City, and it's Chanel having 13 pledge drive volunteers. Is that what's going on? Must be. We'll tell you more about it. We'll be back.

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SANCHEZ: A major change at the Duke lacrosse rape case. Will the prosecution press on, given all these developments that have taken place over the last couple of weeks? That's ahead. Stay with us. We're in the NEWSROOM.

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SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rick Sanchez. This morning a case in question. Rape charges dropped in the Duke lacrosse rape case. But the three accused players still face some other charges.

CNN's Jason Carroll has this story.

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JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The latest blow to the prosecution in the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case came on Friday, when district attorney Michael Nifong dropped the rape charges against David Evans, Collin Finnerty, and Reade Seligmann, this after the alleged victim told the D.A.'s office on Thursday she can't be certain the three players accused players raped her after she was hired to dance at a team party last March. Nifong would not speak about the case, but in court documents he wrote, she initially believed that she had been vaginally penetrated by a male sex organ. She can no longer testify with certainty. Since there is no scientific or other evidence independent of the victim's testimony, the state is unable to meet its burden of proof.

JOE CHESIRE, DAVE EVANS' ATTY.: These boys are absolutely innocent. They never touched her. They were never alone with her together in any place. So it's not possible that they kidnapped her, touched her, raped her, assaulted her or did anything else to her.

CARROLL: Defense attorneys say this most recent development leaves them enormously confident that they will eventually clear their clients, but they say they're frustrated that the district attorney did not drop all the charges. The three former players still face first-degree sexual offense and kidnapping charges.

WADE SMITH, COLIN FINNERTY'S ATTY.: Mr. Nifong, if you are listening, do the rest of this, do the honorable thing, end this case, because there isn't a case to bring. And those are my thoughts.

CARROLL: Defense attorneys point to what they say are several flaws in the prosecution's case. First, two separate DNA tests showed no match between the alleged victim and the Duke lacrosse players. Second, they say a timeline will show at least two of the players were not at the party when the accuser says the assault took place. They also take issue with how the D.A. had the accuser identify her attackers.

This video of the lineup shows part of the process during which defense attorneys say she was only shown pictures of lacrosse players. Typically in a lineup, dummy pictures are also used for a more accurate result.

Colin Finnerty's father expressed relief at the news on Friday, but also said that Nifong should drop the case entirely.

KEVIN FINNERTY, COLIN FINNERTY'S FATHER: This man has been using this case for his own personal and political gain. We're not pleased with that.

CARROLL (on camera): Defense attorneys also criticized the D.A. for apparently waiting nine months to formally interview the accuser. Had he done so earlier, they say, perhaps this case would not have gotten this far. Again, they are calling for the district attorney to drop all charges.

Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Meanwhile, bargain hunters prowling stores today for after-Christmas deals. The shopping frenzy and many unhappy returns. Or happy in some cases. That's in the NEWSROOM.

Also, the year in Iraq. Hope turns to despair, a look back, on the NEWSROOM.

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SANCHEZ: As we swing across the CNN NEWSROOM, that's what it looks like, a lot of busy people, even this holiday season, working for us. You already know this, how to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 a.m. to noon Eastern, but did you know you can take us with you anywhere on your iPod? That's right, the CNN NEWSROOM podcast, it's available 24/7, right on your very own iPod.

Welcome back, everybody.

So you got exactly what you wanted for Christmas, right? OK, maybe not. If you got stuck with a tacky tie -- hey, who wrote that? -- or a so-so sweater, don't sweat it. It's time to hit the mall.

Our Rusty Dornin has more on this.

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RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For those returning items, Dawson White of Bachrach men's store has some advice -- tags, tags, and more tags.

DAWSON WHITE BACHRACH MEN'S CLOTHING: With the merchandise, we're going to need the tags which are attached to it. Our label, of course, you know, is always on our merchandise, so we know what's ours and what's not. But that's just the easiest thing about it, the receipt, merchandise and the tags.

DORNIN: Returns might be down ever so slightly this year, because more people are buying gift cards, letting that impossible person to shop for buy their own gift.

And the number of online' shoppers also is rising. Gift cards and Internet shopping are up more than 20 percent this year. How jolly is the season looking overall? Sales are up a mere 5 percent over last year, but that translates into roughly $457 billion, and the National Retail Federation says it's not over yet.

SCOTT KRUGMAN, NATIONAL RETAILER FEDERATION: The week after Christmas is becoming an incredibly important part of a retailer's business. It can account from somewhere from 10 to 15 percent of holiday sales. Between returns, gift card redemptions and clearance sales, retailers are going to see a lot of store traffic. And any time you're seeing heavy amounts of traffic in the stores, that's an opportunity to make some more sales.

DORNIN (on camera): While many of us complain the season starts way too early, for retailers, the longer they can stretch it out, the better.

Rusty Dornin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: Some of the stories that we're following for you this morning, Iranians under arrest, Washington under the gun, the developing story, unfolding in the NEWSROOM.

Also, devastated on Christmas, violent storms leaving hundreds of homeless in Florida as a result of the storm. Many of counting their blessings, though, this day after Christmas. We will tell you why, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

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