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Hurricane Felix Brushes Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire; President Bush's Secret Visit to Iraq; Several Presidential Candidates Laboring on the Campaign Trail

Aired September 03, 2007 - 10:59   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are with CNN.
I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.

Developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Labor Day, 2007.

Here's what's on the rundown.

President Bush surprising soldiers in the Iraqi desert. The first video of the commander in chief in Iraq coming a short time ago.

Hurricane Felix taking aim at Central America now. The Category 5 storm could hit early tomorrow.

Look who's laboring on Labor Day. On the presidential campaign trail, in the NEWSROOM.

Our top story this hour, a potential catastrophe in the making for parts of Central America. Hurricane Felix, now a dangerous Category 5 storm, barreling towards the region. Winds near 160 miles an hour. A hurricane warning already in place in Honduras and Nicaragua. Parts of Belize and Guatemala also likely to feel the storm's impact.

Just hours ago, Felix skirted popular tourist spots in the southern Caribbean. Pounding surf and high winds, the hurricane's calling card in Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. It toppled trees and flooded homes on all three islands. Felix the second hurricane of the Atlantic season.

The second one, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I know, and the second number 5, too. How about that?

COLLINS: Yes.

JERAS: Really just an impressive storm, Heidi.

We've got the 11:00 advisory in now. And the winds are down just a smidgen, down five miles per hour. Still a powerful Category 5, winds 160 miles per hour. The storm is not quite as symmetrical as it used to be. Look at how it was really even all the way around the circle, and now, at the most recent couple of frames here, it's a little bit more lopsided. We're seeing more convection here on the east side of this storm.

It doesn't mean that much overall. We see natural fluctuations in intensity, especially when a storms are a Category 3 or more. They also go through what we call eye wall replacement cycles, and when they do that they'll weaken and then they'll end up ramping back up and ultimately become stronger than they were before.

So, overall, we're not anticipating very big changes with the strength. It will likely be a 4 or a 5 as it makes landfall. And we think that's going to come in very near the Honduras-Nicaragua border, and that's going to be less than 24 hours from now, we're talking dawn-ish tomorrow morning.

Now, what happens after that? There is a little bit more uncertainty. And our spaghetti models, as we call them, computer model forecasts, and every one of these lines representing a different computer model. And look at the consensus of them as they move in towards Honduras and Nicaragua, moving especially across northern parts of Honduras.

But as we head out here into time, look at how they kind of spread out. This one, the H warp, as we call it, just kind of out to lunch, bring it up towards the Gulf of Mexico. One of our better models keeps it over land the whole time. And if it does that, eventually it will be dissipating and just kind of fizzling out.

But best estimate right now is that we'll see landfall early tomorrow morning, potentially another one in southern Belize, we think, on Wednesday. And then maybe heading into the Bay of Campeche. We'll see what happens there, but it looks more and more unlikely, Heidi, that Texas will be affected by this storm.

COLLINS: Well, there's some good news there. I know these things can change, but all right, Jacqui. We'll check back with you a little bit later on with this. Thanks so much.

Hurricane Felix's brush with Aruba caught on tape by one of our I-Reporters. Jeffrey Nolen is an American working on the island. He and his daughter took a tour of some of the damage after the hurricane had passed. They ended up rescuing an Aruban couple and their dog.

Earlier in the NEWSROOM, Nolen spoke with us on the phone from Aruba.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFFREY NOLEN, I-REPORTER: I noticed that there was a good outpour of people from Aruba just going out helping everybody, just taking amongst their own. We were -- Aruba was great as far as providing alerts and everything for this event. Everybody recovered. As a matter of fact, kids are back in school this morning. COLLINS: Wow, that's amazing, especially because we are reporting here now a Category 5 storm. Had you ever seen anything like this before?

NOLEN: Well, I had gone down after Hurricane Katrina and worked with FEMA during the disaster recovery, and it prepared us a little bit knowing that -- you know, what could happen. So we're a little bit prepared for that.

COLLINS: It sounds though like maybe even people were surprised that the damage wasn't worse. Is that the case?

NOLEN: Well, it is. And you have to look at the way buildings are built here in Aruba.

They're a little bit more of a brick and mortar rather than a stick and brick type building down here. So they tend to be -- they realize they're in a hurricane zone and they build a little bit better for it.

And with it being on an island, we do have limited place for the water to go, so that's why my daughter and Gracie (ph) and Valentine (ph) and I, both honor students, by the way, went out and said, what can we do to help?

COLLINS: Well, excellent. Hey, tell me the story, would you, of these people -- this couple that you rescued with the dog. What happened? How did you find them?

NOLEN: Well, basically, we were going around the north side of the island right below what is called the Alta Vista Church. And we had just went through this.

Now, we're going through it in a Defender, which is a fairly good prepared Land Rover. And we saw these guys and we said surely they're not going to do that. And because when we went through it, the water was up over the hood, you know, over four feet of water.

COLLINS: Yes.

NOLEN: And we turned around and said, they didn't make it. And I said, "What can we do?" And, you know, Gracie (ph) waded back out in there, who Gracie (ph) just received her rescue diver certification so she got to put this into practice.

COLLINS: Excellent.

NOLEN: And these are two seniors in high school. So, you know, youth can do a lot.

So we found a way back through there and hooked up the straps and was able to get the vehicle back out of there. And the little dog was just yapping right around. It was -- it was a good -- we were very fortunate that nobody was hurt and that we were able to get everybody out.

I'm just so proud of the kids. Gracie (ph) and Valentine (ph) did a great job.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: If you see severe weather happening in your area, send us an I-Report. Just go to CNN.com and click on "I-Report," or type ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone and share your photos or video.

The other story we are watching this morning, a top-secret trip. President Bush in Iraq right now, making a surprise visit ahead of a key progress report on the war.

Live to CNN's Aneesh Raman, who is in Baghdad for us this morning.

Aneesh, tell us a little bit about the president's trip.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hey, Heidi.

It's his third since the fall of Saddam to Iraq. The president arrived, alongside Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. As they arrived on the ground, they were met by U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, and General David Petraeus, both of whom, of course, next week are set to deliver a report on progress in Iraq in Washington.

He arrived in the western Al Anbar province, not in the capital of Baghdad, and that is clearly a deliberate choice. The president has been keen to hail success in Al Anbar province as a result of a change in military strategy, where U.S. forces there have divided the local Sunni population against al Qaeda, brought them into the fold, and in doing so decreased attacks.

Now, that sort of strategy has been mimicked elsewhere in Iraq. I was just embedded south of the capital where members of the 3rd ID re trying that as well.

The surge, they say, has given them the capability to go into new areas, divide the population, but all of this, U.S. military commanders on the ground will tell you, is about buying time, giving more breathing room to the Iraqi government to get Iraqi security forces up and running. That is why perhaps the most contentious meeting the president might have is later today when he meets with Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki. We expect a statement from President Bush after that.

You'll recall Iraq's parliament had taken the month of August off. They're set to convene again tomorrow. Huge issues still outstanding for them to resolve.

And it's really the political instability, the lack of consensus that President Bush likely will be pushing on Prime Minister Maliki. And what will be most interesting, Heidi, is how he describes that relationship.

You'll recall he's been at times ambivalent about support for Iraq's prime minister. So how he characterizes their talks will be something everyone here will be listening for -- Heidi.

COLLINS: They've been talking for such a long time about possible military improvement, anyway, or progress, but very little on the political side.

And speaking of the military, let's talk for a moment, Aneesh, about Basra.

British troops withdrawn from their base? Are they completely out now or still at the airport? What's the latest?

RAMAN: Yes, they're still at the airport. They've withdrawn from the third and final base in Basra, the city. We have new video of the hand-over ceremony that took place early this morning.

There are about 500 British troops at that base. They now join the majority of the 5,500 British troops that are in the city's air base.

This is not a change in military strategy, the British government has been keen to point out, part of a long process that was announced back in February by then-prime minister Tony Blair. A process that could see British troops out of Iraq in the coming months.

Now, what this shows is that the new prime minister, Gordon Brown, seems intent on following through with this process, and it is a process, Heidi, that has many American and Iraqi critics. They say Basra is not even in control of the Brits for them to hand over to Iraqi security forces, that Shia militias have infiltrated and essentially are running the show there. The Basra provincial governor, for example, was fired by the country's prime minister some months ago but has refused to step down.

We have seen, according to U.S. military intelligence, in some of the other southern provinces that the Brits have already handed over Shia militias really taking control. So, a lot of people are wary of the Brits leaving too early.

They still remain in Basra, but the key issue will be what happens next in that province and whether or not Iraqi security forces truly take control or whether the militias take power -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. There'll be a lot to see as the days go on, possibly the weeks.

Thanks so much.

Aneesh Raman coming to us from Baghdad this morning.

Meanwhile, want to give you some background on Basra.

It's Iraq's second largest city and it controls a key land supply line from Kuwait to Baghdad. It is also near important oilfields.

Following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's rule, Britain controlled security across Basra and other parts of southern Iraq. Britain has already handed over control of four southern provinces to Iraqi security forces.

In Basra, British forces will remain to train and supervise Iraqi forces. The Basra palace has come under attack from rival armed militia groups battling for control. Some of those groups have been linked to Iran.

While overseas, President Bush is also going to Australia. Sydney playing host to this year's Asia-Pacific summit. Twenty-one world leaders are scheduled to attend. Among the expected topics: global trade, climate change and the war in Iraq.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Forget the holidays. Several presidential candidates are laboring in New Hampshire today.

Our senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley, is part of the best political team on television. She is in Manchester as we look at these live pictures of Barack Obama now at the microphones.

Candy, what's going on there today?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it has been over the weekend a pretty packed time here in New Hampshire. Right now we have Barack Obama, we have Chris Dodd, we have Mitt Romney, all in the state working the crowds.

Labor Day, as you know, has sort of been the traditional kickoff for the campaign, the fall campaign. The problem is, of course, it's been going on for some time. So just look at this as a time when they begin to ratchet things up. And, in fact, the campaigns are already into it a little bit.

Hillary Clinton was here last night talking about how it is possible and how it is necessary to work within the system. I've been talking to campaigns, both the Obama campaign and the Edwards campaign, who say, listen, great. Any time she wants to defend the system we're all for it, because these are campaigns who are talking about changing the system. So we'll hear a little bit about that today from Barack Obama.

The candidates that aren't here, most of them, anyway, are in Iowa. In fact, the campaign is ongoing -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. And I'm hearing that John Edwards might have picked up some key endorsements today. What do you know about that?

CROWLEY: Absolutely. He's up in Pittsburgh today, probably the one candidate that isn't in one of these early states, but for an important reason. He's picked up the United Mine Workers endorsement and the United Steelworkers endorsement, which is a big deal simply because they can provide ground troops, they can provide sort of a structure to get voters out. And, of course, there is money that comes in. So the Edwards campaign obviously is touting this and saying, we now have with previous union endorsements the biggest bloc of union endorsements so far. So this was a pretty happy time for them up in Pittsburgh.

COLLINS: OK. Candy, I wonder, is anybody there talking about Fred Thompson? I mean, there might be people -- excuse me. Go ahead.

CROWLEY: Certainly. Look, the Republicans are talking about him.

The Democratic race, interestingly, has been pretty set on a national level for the past several months. Hillary Clinton has held a pretty good lead so far, at least in those national polls.

There has been a more unsettled Republican race. Even though Rudy Giuliani has kind of led for a number of months, hanging over the entire Republican race has been, who else is going to jump in?

Fred Thompson jumps in this week, really high expectations. The question is, can he meet those expectations? Can he shake this race up?

So that's something we'll begin to see in the weeks ahead in the Republican race.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Candy Crowley.

Candy, thanks so much for that.

CROWLEY: Thanks, Heidi.

COLLINS: A soggy Labor Day weekend along parts of the Georgia coast. Floodwaters on the rise after the Savannah area gets a dousing from torrential rains.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Put this in the category of too little, too late. Senator Larry Craig finally got a voice, words of support from one of his fellow Republicans back in Washington.

I'm Dana Bash in Boise, Idaho. And I'll have more on that coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Senator Larry Craig leaving office but still in the news. Craig's turning their attacks on Republican leaders and the way they handled the men's room sex scandal.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash is joining us now live from Boise, Idaho.

Dana, are there any Republicans coming to his defense?

BASH: There is one now. And it certainly is the kind of thing that Senator Craig, I am sure, wished that he heard last week, when all you heard really was the sound of silence from Republicans on a national level.

Now Senator Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is coming out and saying that he actually thinks that Senator Craig does have a pretty good case in trying to overturn the guilty plea that he signed, he signed admitting to misconduct in a Minneapolis men's room airport. Senator Specter saying that he actually does have a chance to be vindicated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R-PA), RANKING MEMBER, JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: He's got his life on the line and 27 years in the House and Senate, and I'd like to see him fight the case because I think he could be vindicated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, that is likely going to go down in the category of too little, too late, since Senator Craig did, of course, resign his seat already, effective September 30th, and did so because of the intense pressure that he got from his fellow Republicans back in Washington who just wanted this whole scandal to simply go away. In fact, one of the Republican leaders in the Senate who was involved in trying to get Senator Craig out essentially boasted about the strategy that they use in order to do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN (R), NEVADA: One of the things that I'm proudest about our leadership is the swift action, not only calling for an immediate Senate investigation, ethics investigation, removing him from his committees, but also sending the signal to him that it was probably best that he resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So Republicans in Washington are breathing a sigh of relief right now, in the words of one Republican I talked to, that this category 4 political storm seems to be behind them. But I can tell you, Heidi, that in talking to some sort of people on the street here in Boise, many people think that Senator Craig did, in the end, make the right decision in resigning. But there is resentment, a growing resentment here in Idaho, towards Republicans in Washington for the way that they pushed the senator out that represented them for 27 years in Washington.

COLLINS: Well, Dana, what about some of the Democrats that are claiming Republicans have sort of a double standard when it comes to scandals?

BASH: You know, that's interesting as well. That's sort of another group that was deadly silent last week.

Democrats just sort of sat back and let Republicans eat their own last week. And now you have the Senate Judiciary chairman, Patrick Leahy, saying that Republicans have a double standard.

Why? Because he said that Republicans are letting Senator David Vitter of Louisiana off the hook, and because perhaps he comes from a state with a Democratic governor and that's a seat that they could potentially lose. While they decided to try to make an example out of Senator Craig, an example, Senator Leahy is suggesting that Republicans are trying to show the country that they won't stand for corruption, and Senator Leahy is accusing Republicans of being able to do that because Idaho is such a deeply red Republican state and there is no question that Republicans won't lose this particular seat.

COLLINS: Dana Bash for us in Boise, Idaho, this morning.

Thanks so much, Dana.

Trapped in a classroom. A gunman on a rampage. A horrific real- life lesson for journalism students at Virginia Tech. Their Internet postings are now in a book.

Here's our Gary Nurenberg with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): On the morning of April 16th, Virginia Tech instructor Roland Lazenby was teaching a media writing class.

SUZANNE HIGGS, VIRGINIA TECH JOURNALISM STUDENT: He was talking about press releases and how to write those.

ROLAND LAZENBY, VIRGINIA TECH JOURNALISM INSTRUCTOR: About halfway through class kids started getting a lot of messages.

NURENBERG: A student gunman had begun a rampage that would eventually kill dozens of students and teachers in a nearby building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think you guys were under the desks.

LAZENBY: I had them move away from the window, get on the floor.

NURENBERG: And then, started asking questions.

HIGGS: He's like, "All right, what's going on? Let's figure it out."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's normally a classroom, but it was turned into a newsroom on the 16th.

LAZENBY: I wanted to at least attempt to get them to react as journalists.

HIGGS: So his lessons turned into real-time -- media real-time journalism. And from then we just took off.

NURENBERG: Texting and calling for information from their locked-down classroom, they began posting to the Web site PlanetBlacksburg.com, beating professional journalists in the early rush for facts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're from here, and we knew where to get certain information.

NURENBERG: Obligation began to overtake fear.

HIGGS: The community needed to know and we had to get it out there.

LAZENBY: It took quite a bit for them to overcome their fears to do that. It is something I'll never forget.

NURENBERG: Expanding that work into a book, "April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers," led to some agonizing questions.

HIGGS: Whether it was too soon, is it right, are we handling it correctly, are we being sincere, are we doing the right thing?

NURENBERG: They decided they were.

LAZENBY: The book is the voices of the community. It is an oral history.

When this horrible thing happened it shattered Virginia Tech into millions of emotional shards. We recovered some of those shards to report the emotional record.

NURENBERG: "April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers" will help ensure future generations of the school's students don't forget.

Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Blacksburg, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The surprise of the day. President Bush is in Iraq right now. He secretly left the White House last night and traveled nearly 12 hours, landing at a U.S. military air base in Anbar province. That's west of Baghdad. Top advisers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, joined him, and Defense Secretary Robert Gates traveled there separately.

The president is expected to meet U.S. military officials and Iraqi leaders. He is set to make a speech as well. That will happen a little bit later today.

We will bring it to you live when it happens.

Meanwhile, a mission shift in Iraq. The British are out, the Iraqis are in. Basra, Iraq's second largest city, now manned by Iraqi soldiers.

Iraqi troops hoisting the Iraqi flag over the Basra palace base. The last 500 British troops withdrew from the compound overnight. They joined some 5,000 other British troops at the Basra airport on the outskirts of the city. British forces remain in the province to help train and supervise Iraqi soldiers. A catastrophe in the making, that's the concern right now in parts of Central America. Felix packing a powerful punch as it tracks toward the region.

All choked up over a lottery jackpot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did cry, a little, some tears, because it was good.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Good? Yeah! That's an understatement don't you think? Words from the man who won a share of the massive mega millions jackpot.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: A month-long battle finally ends in Lebanon. The army takes control of a refugee camp once the haven of militants linked to al Qaeda. More now from CNN's Ralitsa Vassileva.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Celebrations near Tripoli, Lebanon, as the army marks the end of a month's long standoff with Islamic militants holed up in a refugee camp. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora addressed the nation late Sunday claiming victory over those he called terrorists who were willing to destroy Lebanon.

FOUAD SINIORA, LEBANON PRIME MINISTER: This is an hour of pride and happiness. Pride for all our martyrs and soldiers who are in the south to protect our citizens and our country and our land and to confront all those terrorists. They succeeded in overcoming those terrorists.

VASSILEVA: Lebanese troops hunted for militants who tried to escape over the weekend, searching fields and houses, killing dozens. The army says at least five soldiers were killed in the battle. It's been a long, drawn-out fight for the military that started in May when deadly clashes broke out. Back then security forces were conducting raids near Tripoli when militants from the al Qaeda-inspired Fatah al Islam reportedly fired on them, beginning Lebanon's worst internal violence since the end of the country's civil war in 1990. The army surrounded the Nahr al-Bared camp where the militants were based, triggering an exodus of thousands of Palestinian refugees. The ensuing standoff lasted more than three months. Now it seems the army's patience may have paid off. Claiming the battle is over, soldiers have moved into the camps searching for unexploded ordnance. The whereabouts of the head of the Fatah al Islam, Shaker Al-Abssi, are still unknown. Some reports indicate he may have escaped during Sunday's clashes. Yet on the streets, the drums and celebratory gunfire welcome back what residents hoped would be a return to normal life. Ralitsa Vassileva, CNN, Atlanta.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, so, do you think your boss is a jerk?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was an alcoholic, abusive type guy that threw things, basically.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: American society, is it breeding bad bosses?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz in New York. Well, the financial markets are closed today but investors are still recovering from the wild ride in August. The numbers and the forecast for September next. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to show you some more pictures coming in to us now, these are live coming in from the Defense Department. More on President Bush's unannounced trip to Iraq. As you probably know by now, he landed in al Assad Air Base that is the very western portion of Iraq. He's been getting ready to address these troops at al Assad Air Base, about 7,000 marines, 3,000 soldiers. The White House is saying that President Bush came specifically to try and meet face-to- face with some of the commanders and some of the soldiers to learn more about the challenges that they face there. Also apparently, hoping to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, some local Sunni leaders, all moving them closer in his words, toward political reconciliation. There has been quite a bit of talk about whether or not this was some type of publicity stunt but the White House pushing back strongly on that saying, no. He wanted to come and see everything first-hand himself before the reports come out in September. Hearing now from General Petraeus. We've been telling you all about that, we'll bring that to you of course when it happens as well. Just some interesting pictures coming into us from Iraq this morning.

Idaho Senator Larry Craig calls it quits. Done in by his arrest in an airport men's room. What's next for Craig and Idaho? Here now, CNN's Kara Finnstrom.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM (voice-over): The spotlight in Idaho now shifts from Senator Larry Craig to Idaho's Governor, Butch Otter a fellow Republican who must choose Craig's temporary replacement. He insists he hasn't given anyone the nod yet.

GOV. C.L. "BUTCH" OTTER, (R) IDAHO: I made no decision on that and any report to the contrary is dead wrong. You guys got bad information and you're spreading it around. It is dead wrong. I have made no decision.

FINNSTROM: Key Republicans say possible candidates include Lieutenant Governor Jim Risch, Representative Mike Simpson and former governor and interior secretary Dirk Kempthorne. The hope is whoever gets the seat will have an edge on becoming the Republican candidate in 2008. As for Craig's sudden fall from grace, top Senate Republican John Ensign now says it was Craig's guilty plea that caused the Republican leadership to call for his resignation.

SEN. JOHN ENSIGN, (R) NEVADA: He admitted guilt, guilt is something that I thought was not only embarrassing to himself and his family but also to the whole United States senate.

FINNSTROM: But at least one Republican senator, Arlen Specter, says Craig shouldn't give up his fight for vindication.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER, (R) PENNSYLVANIA: He said he intends to resign. If he could change the underlying sense of the case, feel of the case, listen. You can go to court and you can withdraw a guilty plea. If that case goes to trial, and I've seen matters like this since my days as a prosecutor, he wouldn't be convicted of anything.

FINNSTROM: Craig has now hired the same high-profile attorney representing former NFL star quarterback Michael Vick. And Saturday the senator told us he will fight the accusations, in his words, like hell. But even if Craig were to win a legal victory, some Republicans say they can't imagine a political comeback. Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Boise, Idaho.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Up one day, down the next. Covering Wall Street is like riding the cyclone at Coney Island. Susan Lisovicz in New York now with the details of the market's wild ride. Hi there Susan, we know the story about Coney Island too.

LISOVICZ: Yes, I've ridden that cyclone! I've managed to comb my hair though after all the riding we did in August, you and me both, Heidi. August was an unusually volatile month for stocks to put it mildly. The Dow Industrials moved up or down by more than 100 points in 14 of 23 trading days last month with lots of wild swings late in the day. Even so, the Dow and S&P 500 were each up more than 1 percent for the month, and the NASDAQ jumped 2.25 percent. Who knew? But analysts say a lot could still go wrong in the early part of September which is traditionally the weakest month for the stock market. One analyst notes that if the Fed does not provide the interest rate cut that the market is expecting, stocks could get hammered and Heidi we have a ways to go before that meeting on September 18th.

COLLINS: Yeah, we do. Obviously one of the biggest reasons for all that volatility has been this terrible news that we got about mortgages gone bad, tighter credit. I mean we just kept hearing about it day after day and I'm sure we're not done.

LISOVICZ: That's right. I mean if you remember, just take a look at Friday, for example. It was a good day for the market, stocks jumped after Fed chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank was ready to act as needed to protect the economy from the mortgage fallout, but he adds that the fed is not prepared to bail out investors who make bad decisions. The president of course also spoke on ways to help out distressed homeowners. But a growing number of prominent economists are worried that the spreading impact of the housing and mortgage crisis could drop the economy into a recession. Bloomberg News says they're worried that the economy could weaken dramatically. Part of the concern is that many people will have less money to spend on other things as they use more of their income to cover housing costs and consumer spending of course is the driving force that keeps the economy growing. By the way, the last recession was from March to November 2001. Eight painful months. Heidi, just in case you needed to remember that?

COLLINS: Yeah, thank you, Susan., appreciate that.

LISOVICZ: Enjoy the rest of your holiday Heidi.

COLLINS: You too Susan, thanks so much. We'll see you tomorrow.

LISOVICZ: Thank you, you got it.

COLLINS: In about 10 minutes or so "YOUR WORLD TODAY" will be coming up right here on CNN. Jim Clancy is the man who will be in front of the camera for that program. Hi there, Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so good that I am in front of the camera. I wouldn't know what to do on the other side of it. Well you know obviously we're all following what's going on in Iraq. That surprise visit by President Bush, right now he's at an air base, but we're going to hear his comments there with his top security advisers, we'll hear it live and we'll bring it to you Heidi.

Meantime, in Britain, symbols of dignity, heritage and honor for more than 500 years. Well guess who is joining the ranks of the renowned Beefeaters? We'll have her story from the tower.

Plus, getting ready for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. It seems Sydney, Australia's citizens are up in arms. Is it politics? Is it economics? No, we'll tell you why some are saying it's all gone too far in Sydney. All coming up at the top of the hour on "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Heidi, hold the fort down there by yourself today. Have a good one.

COLLINS: Just 10 more minutes to go, all right Jim. Thanks so much, we'll see you in a few minutes.

As you heard Jim talking about President Bush, that's right. A live shot now. He's dropping in on U.S. troops in the Iraqi desert. He surprised us, too. The trip and the president's address. You will see it right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Trash, washing up on some New Jersey beaches. Beer bottles, needles, condoms, medical waste, stuff you really don't want to be swimming in. Lisa Salvati of affiliate News 12 New Jersey has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time I've seen this in 25 years.

LISA SALVATI, NEWS 12 NEW JERSEY (voice-over): Garbage is washing ashore on Normandy Beach, everything from bottles to wrappers, to plastic containers. It's embarrassing for Tony San Philip. He has guests in for the Labor Day weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm telling them how clean our beach is and all of a sudden I see this.

MARY KOWAL, SILVER BEACH, NEW JERSEY: Let me tell you, somebody had to have dropped something from somewhere. It's unbelievable.

JAE LI, SILVER BEACH, NEW JERSEY: Condoms, tampons, that's just not good stuff. Not stuff you want to be swimming in.

SALVATI: Tonya Lavin organized a cleanup.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew I had rubber medical gloves at home and plastic bags, so I got a bunch of people.

SALVATI: Lavin says she became very concerned when she saw that it was not just ordinary garbage washing up but medical waste.

LAVIN: I did pick up two hypodermic needles, one with the sharp container on the top. The other one without the sharp container. That was the most upsetting, just to see those two things. Somebody could step on those.

SALVATI: At about 3:00 lifeguards were told by police to close the beach. And for residents like Tony San Philips, that stinks.

TONY SAN PHILIP, SILVER BEACH, NEW JERSEY: Either a ship or something dumped this garbage here and this is very unfair. People are here on vacation, they want to go in the water, they can't go in.

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COLLINS: Beaches in Monmouth and Ocean counties, those beaches are back open this morning. Environmental authorities are trying to determine where that trash came from. So far, nothing.

Are you bullied by the boss? You're not alone this Labor Day. A new poll says nearly 40 percent of American workers have had that experience. Here's our Kara Finnstrom.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have you no style or sense of fashion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that depends on what's your --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, that wasn't a question.

FINNSTROM (voice-over): Hollywood's nightmare boss in "The Devil Wears Prada."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tales of your incompetence do not interest me.

FINNSTROM: The stuff of fictions are disturbingly familiar?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was an alcoholic, abusive type of guy that threw things, frustrating.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had a boss that one time was a coach that happened to communicate via verbal yelling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a waiter and I quit my job because my boss was yelling at me daily.

FINNSTROM: Hundreds of Americans just told similar horror stories to the AFL-CIO's worst boss contest. And 13 states are considering laws that would make it easier to sue an abusive boss. Whether we're acknowledging it more or today's workplace breeds more bad bosses --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our society is very aggressive, very individualistic.

FINNSTROM: Reform advocates like Doctor Gary Namie believe new laws are needed.

GARY NAMIE, EMPLOYEE RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Most same-sex same-gender harassment is invisible in the eyes of the law. So when people think that harassment is a big broad protection and we're going to have civil kind, non-abusive workplaces, it's not true.

FINNSTROM (on camera): Supporters of this legislation like the idea of holding those nightmare bosses accountable. (INAUDIBLE) what about the small businesses and the big corporations behind those bosses.

ED MARTINEZ, LA CO. ECON. DEVELOPMENT CORP.: What they mean boss, who gets to decide that definition if these laws were to pass is an entire Pandora's Box or endless litigation would open up.

FINNSTROM: Business advocate Ed Martinez contends the problem should resolve itself because smarter, modern day workers won't stomach abuse and bad bosses cause costly high turnover rates.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's absurd.

FINNSTROM: Some employees think legislation is overkill. Any thoughts on whether you should be able to sue a bad boss.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes sense to me. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really. I mean we already have too many lawsuits in this country.

FINNSTROM: Professor Robert Sutton wrote book on "Jerk Bosses." He says calling out bad bosses may be new.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you put people in a position of power they turn into an insensitive jerk.

FINNSTROM: But he says what the country is grappling with is an age old imperfection. Kara Finnstrom for CNN, Los Angeles.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: President Bush and his unannounced trip to Iraq. He's dropping in on troops in the Iraqi desert. You see a live shot there, al Assad Air Base. We'll tell you more about the trip and the president's address coming up a little bit later right here, you'll see it live on CNN.

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COLLINS: Hitting the jackpot. The first of four mega millions lottery winners has come forward. It's him, Bunky Bartlett bought the winning ticket at a liquor store outside of Baltimore. That ticket, worth one-quarter of the $330 million prize. That's about 82 million bucks. Bunky says he's already bought a new car, a Ford Explorer, if you're wondering. But what about the other winners? The owners of the other three winning tickets have not come forward. Those tickets bought in Houston, Texas, Buckingham, Virginia and Villas, New Jersey. CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news happening across the globe and right here at home. Have a great Labor Day everybody, see you tomorrow.

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