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Univ. of Iowa Under Water; Eastern-Midwest U.S. Barge Traffic at Standstill; Obama Addresses Fatherhood

Aired June 15, 2008 - 18:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Too many fathers are MIA. Too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities; they're acting like boys instead of men.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Barack Obama getting personally, very personal, on a topic that and hits very close to home for him.

Cities under water, homes and livelihoods are destroyed, and the flood zone gets even bigger.

And who's winning hearts and minds in Iraq, the United States or al Qaeda? There are some bloody details in a CNN exclusive that we are going to be sharing with you that actually includes public assassinations. We'll start right now.

And hello, again, everybody, I'm Rick Sanchez. The upper Midwest is still water world tonight, Missouri, Michigan, Indiana. But nowhere is the flooding so profound, so complete, so destructive and overwhelming than in Iowa. Today's deepest disaster in Iowa City, this is the campus of Iowa University we're about to show you. Take a look at this, it's deluged with river water. That's the University of Iowa, 30,000 students go to school there.

Now let's take you upstream. This is Cedar Rapids, you're looking at right there. Would you believe this is an improvement from yesterday? The water, we understand right now, has been staying -- or receding a little bit, enough to let some homeowners return to their property, but only to grab what they could and then get back out and get to dry ground.

And this is a tower cam shot here, this is downtown Des Moines. The water has stopped rising there as well. But, we're now being told that a levee has crumbled there and it has forced people in a 200-home neighborhood to make a run for it.

All right, this is what you see on CNN, live reporters following this for the better part of the last 48 hours if not more, certainly more in Chad's case. Dispatched to the middle of a disaster zone, Christian Far, he's in Iowa City, upper left; Jim Acosta, Cedar Rapids, we saw him yesterday, he's there upper right; and of course, CNN's man at to the scene as usual, our meteorologist Chad Myers is going to be able to take us through this.

Christian, let's go to you first please, and bring us up-to-date on what you're seeing there. You are in Iowa City, right?

CHRISTIAN FARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are in Iowa City, Rick. We are at the University of Iowa on the campus. We're on the top of a parking deck and it gives us a pretty good vantage point of the devastation that's here at the University of Iowa. Hopefully we can cut to our second live camera that we have up here that can really give you a good idea of what we are seeing up here.

A lot of buildings are under water. One of those buildings is the performing arts building, we also have the technology building, some residence halls are under water. But one building I want to focus on in particular, and that's the art museum building, and this is worth $300 million to $400 million worth of artwork is stored.

Well, the university took that artwork out of the building long before the flood waters came in here. They took them out secretly because they wanted to make sure that they had enough security to handle this artwork to bring it to Chicago where it is hidden right now. It's in an undisclosed location. They have not told us.

The university president actually told us that story. We spoke to her a few hours ago and here is her reaction to all this water on campus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALLY MASON, PRES., UNIVERSITY OF IOWA: It's a shocking, mind- numbing sight. But we also know we have work to do. And we're staying focused on the work that needs to be done and we're going to stay focused on safety and making sure that we come back better, bigger, stronger when this is all over and we will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FARR: Let's get back to our other camera where you can see people again taking advantage of this vantage point where you can see all of the buildings under water. Summer classes were supposed to start tomorrow, but that has been deferred. They're not sure when they're going to start those classes, they're going to take it on a week-by-week basis.

Right now there is some good news. They believe the Iowa River has crested, it should not go up any further than maybe a few inches. We have got some good weather right now considering the fact that some thunderstorms have been passing through here.

Another point of contention is that they don't have any power on the university's campus. They have brought some generators in and hopefully they can get it back up and running. But still, the recovery process, a long way to go -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right. Christian, hang tight, man, we might be wanting to come back to you as we follow this story. You're really right in the thick of things today, you're in the zone that we're going to be following.

Yesterday it was Cedar Rapids, that's where Jim Acosta was following the story. We'll go back now to Jim Acosta to see how things have been developing through the course of the day.

Well, if you're standing anywhere near where you were yesterday, it looks better.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rick, this is exactly -- or almost exactly where I was standing yesterday, right in the middle of First Avenue in downtown Cedar Rapids. And this is dramatic improvement over what we have seen over the last 24 to 48 hours. You can put the waders away and just put on some tall boots as we walk through the water here.

I can tell you that after what we have seen over the last day or two, this is progress, some 1,200 city blocks, at the last tally, under water at one point, 24,000 people evacuated, $736 million in damages.

But the big story of the day here today, Rick, in Cedar Rapids is that many of these residents, thousands of these residents were given the opportunity to go back to their homes and check on their properties, but this is what they had to do. We have some video to show you here.

They had to line up at police and National Guard checkpoints. Men, women and children lining up around the block, sometimes for hours to get wristbands only so they can go back to their homes, check on their properties and then carry out whatever they could in plastic bags. It is no surprise that it is getting frustrating, people are losing their cool.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you have your whole life tied up in a house, all the possessions, all the -- well, everything, it's all wet, you know. You can't do anything. Salvage a few things and go from there. But I hope that people that are doing decision making, do it fast. Because the longer is more painful. You can't move on, you can't put closure to something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now in all of this nasty water, Rick, there are some silver linings, one of them is the drinking water that people have been relying on in their communities, we can tell you that the city is not as much worried about that situation as they were yesterday.

They got another pumping well in action. So the water situation has improved dramatically, but I'm standing right in the middle of downtown Cedar Rapids on a Sunday afternoon. I should not be jaywalking the way I am through this intersection. This downtown is going to be shutdown for a while, the power is still off.

And there are still no people down here, just emergency crews checking on these buildings down here to make sure there aren't any looters taking advantage of a town that has definitely fallen on hard times -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: That's amazing. Well, today you're jaywalking. The last time you and I were talking, you were fishing with a net in the middle of Main Street or something, right? I mean, it's...

ACOSTA: That's right. We have got some video to show you later of that. We actually caught one, we can show that to you later on, Rick.

SANCHEZ: We'll -- I'll look forward to hearing and seeing your fish story. Jim Acosta, following the situation there in Cedar Rapids.

Now flooding of this magnitude seemed unimaginable last week to the thousands of people now homeless across Iowa. And while we can tell you the situation is dire, let's show you some Associated Press photos now that really take the story where it needs to go.

This picture, this was snapped a few hours ago on a flooded street in Coralville where the Iowa River crested earlier than expected. We're hearing that the water there is expected to drop there no more than three feet by Saturday.

The Coast Guard is out in full force doing what they can to secure the area. I know, when you think of Coast Guard, you don't think of Iowa, right? You think of coastal cities. The curfew in the area goes into effect in under three hours, we're told. Residents there are being told to go inside and stay there until 6:00 tomorrow morning.

And of course, major concerns this hour on campus at the University of Iowa. That's in Sioux City, where we were talking about earlier -- sorry, Iowa City, where we were showing where Christian Farr was moments ago. These workers, see them right there, are trying to shore up a building that houses the university's computer system before the water seeps in.

Do we have another? Yes, put this one up. Look at this, take a look at this, it's a bridge that's submerged along state highway 92. See the very top is where the road goes down, then it comes back up where those two gentlemen are walking. Look to the left, see that Subway sign? That's the sign they put on top of the Subway building. So that's how deep that water is right there in what would be very much a commercial area.

All of that water you see right there is going to hopefully try and drain off into the Mississippi. And a new host of problems will then emerge. Let's go to Chad Myers now, he has been following this.

Chad, you know, you know what's interesting about this, we have been watching this over 24-hour spans from one day to the next, and it's like you see it go from one city to then the next city and then maybe it might even be going to other cities still.

Yesterday Cedar Rapids inundated, today we're looking at Iowa City, inundated.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Correct. It's because of the way the bubble and the crest happens. It's just a -- it's a matter of fact that the water comes in, it comes into the basin, and you have this what we call a bubble, it's just -- it's the high water mark of the flood itself.

And I'll take you to one here. This is actually Cedar Rapids. I wanted to put this in so you could see it. This is a hydrograph from the U.S. Geological Survey here. The river went to 31 feet. The old record flood was 200 feet. So this is -- I don't even know. This is a 500- or a 1,000-year flood.

They have never even -- they have never seemed that the river could ever go this high. But now look how fast it went down. This is one day right there. So the river went down almost five feet yesterday, still going down now.

And in less than about a week, it's going to be below flood stage, back completely in the rivers. Now not saying that it's not going to rain and it's not going to rain today, at least. But because there still will be some chance of showers throughout the week, those levels could slow down going down. But because that water went up so fast, even Gary Tuchman said that water went up about seven feet in one day there, it's going to go down just as fast.

There you go with the rainfall into parts of Michigan. They had a couple of tornado warnings today, but nothing that I really think is spinning. Alpena, Michigan, you have a storm that's spinning about four miles north of you, way up north there. And we will watch that as the day goes on, because there will be a lot of thunder and lightning here.

We have seen a couple of thousand lightning strikes in the past hour here. That's the storm that was going towards Traverse (ph) City, it has now moved off into the Lake Huron area. And rain showers kind of sliding down, see the odd direction today? They're actually coming down from the northeast -- or from the northwest, kind of just getting a little bit farther to the south as the day goes on. And we'll watch it for you as the night goes on as well too -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: Hey, you know, I bet, Chad, a lot of folks who are watching us and they're watching these pictures, and you know, listen, I have been in this game for a long time and I know that you can go to any place, stand in a puddle, and make it look like there's real bad flooding because if the camera is only zooming in on that one area, you're wondering, well, what's left of the other area?

Are we talking in these towns -- and you can't have a camera everywhere, by the way. But are we talking about, from an expansive point of view, flooding that is covering large swathes of these cities or just near the area where the river is?

MYERS: Well, you have to realize that Iowa is pretty flat. I mean, there is some topography in Iowa probably more than in Kansas or in parts of Nebraska. But because these rivers do get so very wide, miles and miles wide because of the topography isn't like this, you know, the water doesn't go up, it just goes out, and then you really do get a large number of people that are affected, not just a small, narrow channel or valley.

Let's say a flood you might get in Pennsylvania, if the Susquehanna floods. like it did back in Agnes in 1972, it went up a lot, but, you know, 95 percent of the people lived above the flood, here everybody is in it because the water has just spread out so far and the corn crop is in it and the beans are in it and the wheat is in it too, and that's not going to help commodities at all as we go on to the -- hopefully they can get these things replanted, but it's getting late in the season to double crop now if you have just lost a crop. It's going to be a little bit too late.

SANCHEZ: Yes, forget about commodities, my wife would say, I'm just tired of paying for more groceries, which is probably going to end up as we talked to one of our experts yesterday, saying it's going to happen a few months down the way.

Chad, we'll keep checking back with you. I know you're real good at explaining these kinds of things to folks, so we'll keep using you in that sense. Hang tight.

Also, while this plays out along the Mississippi, you may think that it doesn't impact you if you don't live in the Midwest. Well, it's like Chad and I were just talking about, before it's over, we're going to be feeling this impact of this disaster. Barges that transport goods across the country, many aren't even moving right now. And that's not all. Let's put this all together for you economically now.

Here's Allan Chernoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When the Mississippi River just fills up with water and gets close to overflowing, the locks that allow navigation through the river can no longer operate. They can't allow water out and water certainly can't come in anymore.

So large barges that are key to the Midwestern economy simply cannot move through the river and already the Army Corps of Engineers has been shutting down these lochs. In fact, this is an area between Davenport and St. Louis which will come up in just a second.

It all started last week, the Army Corps of Engineers began shutting down, beginning in Illinois City, and moved down to Canton, then it closed more locks, moving all the way into to Saverton. And finally by Monday, it will have closed locks all the way down to Winfield, Missouri, a distance of about 300 miles along the river, essentially freezing traffic there.

This is having an absolutely devastating impact because the barges that move through the river just carry so much material, the typical tug is pushing 15 barges at a time, consider that amount to the same capacity as 900 semi trucks. So it's just a lot in terms of any type of shipments, whether it be coal, grain, whatever, it's all going along the river. And tug operators, the barge operators, they are getting devastated; they say they're losing $10,000 a day.

LARRY DAILY, PRES., ALTER BARGE LINES: The coal that goes into power plants that generates electricity that runs your computer or your television, all of those things are going to have an impact from this. And that's part of the story you're looking at here. And people don't realize what we're doing out here allows so much of our cost of living to be so much cheaper than it really could be.

CHERNOFF: One hundred eighty million tons of coal are actually shipped along the river every year, and that coal supplies power plants. So far no reports of shortages, but if this continues for an extended period of time, certainly it could impact the ability of some utilities to provide power to consumers in the Midwest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: That was Allan Chernoff reporting, a story -- or a part of the story that we're going to stay on top of which affects "ISSUE #1." Our severe weather expert Chad Myers and I are going to have a lot more on this catastrophic Midwest flooding. That's coming up at 10:00 Eastern, by the way. We're going to break this down, but we expect that the waters will continue to flow south and affect not only Iowa City, which we have been zeroing in on today, but also places like Quincy and Hannibal as you go further south, those are in parts of Illinois and Missouri.

We want to see your photos as well for this flood zone. So remember to send us your iReports. Go to cnn.com and click iReport. Or just type in ireport@cnn.com right into your cell phone. Remember, of course, as you're doing any of these or getting any of these pictures, stay safe.

All right. Coming up, a presidential hopeful raised without his father talks about fatherhood and you bet it gets personal.

Also new video, secret al Qaeda files, CNN gets exclusive access and we're going to share them with you. Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back, I'm Rick Sanchez here at the world headquarters of CNN. Barack Obama sending a strong message to fathers today, almost a lecture. Take responsibility for your children, he seemed to be saying, words coming from a very personal place, from a man whose own father essentially left him when he was a child.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ (voice-over): It was Barack Obama's first church service since resigning from Trinity United Church of Christ. Visiting a South Side Chicago congregation, he talks personally on the role of faith in his life.

OBAMA: People ask me sometimes, how do you manage all this? Folks talking about you on cable and...

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: I said, trust in the lord.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: I trust in the lord, he looks after me.

SANCHEZ: With his wife and daughters looking on, Obama delivers a broader Father's Day message, calling on fathers, especially in the African-American community, to play a greater role in their children's lives.

OBAMA: But if we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that too many fathers are also missed, too many fathers are MIA, too many fathers are AWOL, missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities; they're acting like boys instead of men.

SANCHEZ: Even straying from his script to make this point.

OBAMA: Any fool can have a child. That doesn't make you a father.

SANCHEZ: Obama shares his own experience of a father who left home when he was only 2, though admitting his story had a different ending.

OBAMA: I know what it means to have an absent parent. My father wasn't in the house when I was growing up. I have to say my circumstances weren't as tough as they are for many young people today. I was growing up in Hawaii. And Hawaii is not quite as tough as the South Side.

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: I'm just telling the truth.

SANCHEZ: Even while acknowledging failings of his own.

OBAMA: And I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father, knowing that I have made mistakes, I'll continue to make more, wishing that I could be at home more for my girls and my wife.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Here's a question as you watch that, are they sincere thoughts from a man who's trying to say something to America or is it Machiavellian politics from a guy who's trying to make sure that he gets the values voters on his side? Interesting question, isn't it? We're going to take that apart tonight, right here at 10:00. It's something new we're doing with Mark Preston, we call it "Preston on Politics."

And by the way, new numbers out this weekend on who's ahead, Barack Obama or John McCain. We'll break those down with you as well.

And this, it's not just about Cuba anymore. I'm going to sit down with young Cuban-Americans to find out what's really shaping their first-ever American vote now. Is it about that guy in the green suit? Or are they thinking more like just other American kids? "League of First Time Voters" tonight at 10:00.

And terrorism on tape, al Qaeda secrets captured in Iraq. We have got them for you in a CNN exclusive that involves political assassinations in public. Back in two.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back to the world headquarters of CNN. I'm Rick Sanchez. Tonight a look John McCain and Barack Obama by the numbers. And in this case from a Latino perspective, there's a Wall Street Journal poll out this week that says that Barack Obama leads with Latino voters 62 to 28 percent.

Now this is a surprisingly large number, considering that Latinos were not in favor of Barack Obama during the primaries, no, no, they were in favor of Hillary Clinton, consistently. Then there are Hispanics in Miami. Come back to me if you could, Clyde (ph).

This is a little different. Because in Miami is where Hispanics have been anti-Fidel Castro in their sentiments. It has made them for many, many years much more conservative and much more Republican. So they're different than many other Hispanics. I wanted to know if that was still the case. So I went there for part one of this week's "League of First Time Voters."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OBAMA: It is time, I believe, to pursue direct diplomacy with friend and foe alike, without preconditions. Now there must be...

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: There must be careful preparation, we will set a clear agenda. As president, I would be willing to lead that diplomacy at a time and place of my choosing.

SANCHEZ: Any president or person running for president of the United States over the last 50 years in this country, who would have said, I'm willing to sit down and talk to a Castro, would have been decimated, am I right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That's true.

SANCHEZ: What has changed?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not enough for somebody to come to Miami and say "viva Cuba libre" and (INAUDIBLE) and say they're going to win us over. I want to hear what they're going to do for our country, the United States.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Younger voters, second, third generation voters want to hear more than just Cuba, Cuba, Cuba, because we've heard it our whole lives.

SANCHEZ: Here's a question for you. Raul Castro is now the president of Cuba. It's no longer Fidel Castro, why not talk to this new president?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's still a Castro. That's what we have to realize.

SANCHEZ: So you can't negotiate with him and you can't deal with him because his last name is Castro?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The situation should not allow for us to just normalize relations right away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that being able to talk to Raul Castro, Obama being able to do that, it's more of a symbolic gesture. Right now the people in Cuba are apathetic about what's going on. You know, a lot of them think that nothing is going to happen, nothing is going to change because it has been the same for the last 45, 50 years.

And I think if a United States president is so bold as to go over there and have a meeting ask Raul to have a meeting, without any preconditions, OK, we're not saying all of a sudden the Cuban government is going to change, but everyone in Cuba is going to see that the leader of the free world is coming across 90 miles from his home country to go over there and just have a conversation. That is enough support to awaken those dormant feelings of trying to escape this regime.

SANCHEZ: How would that go over in Little Havana? Not well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that if you open up talks without any preconditions, you're legitimizing a regime that shouldn't be legitimized.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our window of opportunity was when there was no one supporting Cuba. Now that there's someone supporting Cuba again, we do not have that leverage of, OK, come to us and we'll take care of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there should be negotiations without any preconditions because, well, we really don't have the power to insist on preconditions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think with a regime that is so symbolic, to put preconditions, we will not get to the meeting. And without the meeting, we can't get progress. I feel like having points before you get to the table just makes it -- just creates more obstacles to get to the table, a table that we have been trying to get to for years.

(END VIDEOTAPE) SANCHEZ: News in and of itself that young Cuban-Americans are split on whether we should go down and talk to Fidel Castro. In the past they would say no, no. Well, how about this question, how about the embargo? Should the United States lift the embargo on Cuba? That's the next part, that's part two of my conversation, that's tonight right here at 10:00, important issue. By the way, there's an Elian Gonzalez twist to this. New news on Elian.

Listen, having a ball doing this, talking to people who are energized about this campaign. I'm flying all over the country every week to do this "League of First Time Voters." And you can join "League of First Time Voters" by going to cnn.com/league, cnn.com/league. Join, let me know what you got and who knows? Maybe I'll come by and pay a visit to your organization as well.

Coming up, all these supplies that you're about to see here were supposed to go to victims of Hurricane Katrina. But they ended up going to waste. Who's to blame?

Also new videos secret terror files of what Al Qaeda's doing in Iraq. It even includes public assassinations as part of their MO. Back in two.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Presumptive GOP presidential nominee John McCain spending part of his Father's Day with Iraq's foreign minister outside Washington.

Topping the agenda, outgoing talks over with -- the future of U.S. forces in Iraq. Foreign minister has said there are difficulties there with the negotiations and many Iraqis oppose an indefinite U.S. presence. But the foreign minister also tells CNN that he thinks an agreement will come by the end of July.

Meanwhile, McCain told reporters once again that the increase in U.S. troops in Iraq is working.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The surge is succeeding, there is still enormous challenges. Al Qaeda is on the run, but they are not defeated. And having said that, there's no doubt that the surge has succeeded. And we will be able, over time, to withdraw and come home with honor and victory, not in defeat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Many Democrats would obviously agree with Senator McCain. Zebari, for his part says -- that's the foreign minister -- he says that he also plans to speak with Barack Obama on this topic.

Over the last two weeks, our Michael Ware and his Baghdad bureau of colleagues have been very, very busy. They have been looking into computer hard drives that have been obtained by CNN exclusively. These are hard drives that are filled with materials seized from al Qaeda by U.S. ally and Iraqi militias. Those militias provided copies of the al Qaeda hard drives to the U.S. military and to CNN.

Among the thousands of documents and hours of sometimes very graphic video, there's some fascinating insights about how al Qaeda actually does business.

And we need to warn you about something, some of this video -- in several parts, we've watched it -- is very touch to look at.

Here now CNN's Michael Ware.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Al Qaeda gunmen brought this man here to die. Staged for maximum impact, he's to be executed on this busy market street.

We don't know why. The al Qaeda members who recorded this tape offered no explanation.

But the anticipation is agonizing, leading to a moment we cannot show you.

A punishment for betraying al Qaeda or for breaking their strict version of Islamic law? Either way, it was public executions like this that would help lead to the unraveling of al Qaeda in Iraq. And al Qaeda knew it.

Its leaders recognize the greatest threat was the U.S. military, but the men in the crowds who witnessed the slaughters and who would eventually turn against them.

In fact, in a secret memo three years ago, a senior al Qaeda leader warned against a backlash for the public executions that were being carried out, he wrote, "in the wrong way, in a semi-public way. So a lot of families are threatening revenge and this is now a dangerous intelligence situation."

But U.S. intelligence did not pick up on this weakness for more than a year.

Most of these men were once insurgents, some even members of al Qaeda. But now they're on the U.S. government payroll, paid to assassinate al Qaeda.

All of these secrets come from here, the town of Ramadi.

Al Qaeda computer hard drives were discovered here when one of these U.S.-backed militias overran an al Qaeda headquarters. As for the al Qaeda members, they showed them no mercy.

Eventually the secret hard drives were passed along to both the U.S. military and to CNN. Until recently, this man, Abu Saif(ph), was a senior al Qaeda commander. He's now changed sides and confirms these odd genuine al Qaeda in Iraq documents -- documents that reveal a network that's sophisticated, well organized, meticulously bureaucratic, and thorough.

Real Admiral Patrick Driscoll is the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq.

REAR ADM. PATRICK DRISCOLL, U.S. MILITARY SPOKESMAN: What's kind of unique that you have -- because you have kind of a comprehensive snapshot of al Qaeda at a time where it was a network or a unit.

WARE: In one local headquarters alone, more than 80 execution videos were catalogued, not for propaganda that would never made public, but as proof of killings for al Qaeda superiors.

DRISCOLL: I was kind of surprised when I saw the degree of documentation for everything, pay records, those kind of things.

WARE: In addition to pay sheets, hit lists, and membership application form, there are detailed list of prisoners, held, tried and executed, and then this -- architectural schematic of a storage bunker on a U.S. base, proof al Qaeda has infiltrators inside America's compounds.

And despite the administration's Washington's insistence al Qaeda in Iraq is dominated by outsiders. In a secret correspondence obtained by CNN, the orders are given by Iraqis. Non-Iraqi fighters are used mostly in frontline roles such as suicide bombings.

And these pages contain a complex strategy for planning and executing a three-month wave of simultaneous al Qaeda attacks.

DRISCOLL: When you're talking about an organization that's a network of networks, it's pretty resilient and they're still determined elements in the al Qaeda hierarchy that want to win in Iraq.

WARE: Win to restore their own harsh justice.

Here, al Qaeda gunmen punishing thieves, dangling them from an overpass and shooting them from below.

While al Qaeda today no longer wields this power, the U.S. military is weary of its return.

DRISCOLL: The threat of al Qaeda, if not watched carefully and not pursued aggressively, will come back and be the largest threat.

WARE: Though al Qaeda in Iraq is now under pressure as never before, these documents and videos warned its threat is more organized and more menacing than many ever imagined.

After all, al Qaeda remembers, when not so long ago, it was welcomed by waving children. Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: What an amazing report.

Coming up, tons and tons of supplies intended for Louisiana victims of Hurricane Katrina. Instead they go elsewhere. Now FEMA is defending itself.

Astounding pictures from a region in crisis as well, not even this house of God right there is spared from the floodwaters in Iowa. We wait along with one pastor as he takes his first look. You will, too. Back in two.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in Atlanta.

Under water, under curfew and, understandably, stress. Relief organizations are doing all that they can to help these flood victims in the Midwest.

But look what they're dealing with. They can tell you it's bad, we can tell you it's bad, and now FEMA director David Paulson says it's bad. He spoke to Wolf Blitzer today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PAULSON, FEMA DIRECTOR: Some of the worst flooding I've seen since Katrina. I was there over the last couple of days, I went into Iowa, I went into Indiana and then into Wisconsin. All three states, the significant flooding.

The worst, obviously, is right there in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The downtown is under water. The residential area right next door -- all I saw was rooftops. That's all you saw was the peaks of the tops of the homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: FEMA's director David Paulson is pointing a finger at Louisiana state while defending his agency.

This controversy is about millions of dollars in supplies warehoused after Hurricane Katrina have finally disbursed but not to New Orleans' storms victims.

Abbie Boudreau with CNN special investigations unit found quite a few people who feel victimized again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Warehouses full of plates, cups and dinner wear, brand new coffee makers, stoves, cleaning supplies -- $85 million worth of brand new household items. $85 million. And your tax dollars paid for most of it.

The federal government stockpiled the warehouses to help Hurricane Katrina victims.

DEBRA REED, KATRINA VICTIM: It's unreal because we haven't received none of this. And I know I haven't.

BOUDREAU: CNN learned that Debra Reed and others who are still struggling never received any of this. And now they never will. Instead, we discovered for the last two years, FEMA did nothing. It just kept these items in storage. And then it gave it all away to other federal and state agencies for free.

REED: I fought to get my money. They wouldn't give it to me. So I ended up going under the bridge.

BOUDREAU: With nothing, she moved to a tent city.

REED: That'll be the tent right there. That's my tent rite there.

BOUDREAU (on camera): This one right there?

REED: Yes. The little bitty one.

BOUDREAU (voice over): Like hundreds of others, after the storm, Reed was homeless.

She lived here until a re-housing group called Unity of Greater New Orleans helped her find a home. But it's still nearly empty. She can't afford to buy even modest items.

MARTHA KEGEL, EXEC. DIR. UNITY: FEMA, in fact, refers homeless clients to us on a regular basis and asks us to house them. How can we house them if we don't have basic supplies?

BOUDREAU: In fact, Martha Kegel says FEMA never told her that it had tens of millions of dollars worth of brand new supplies meant for Katrina victims. She says FEMA was told in regular meetings the group was desperate for supplies and that now she's forced to beg for donations for those still in need.

KEGEL: It's hard to find these kinds of donations.

BOUDREAU (on camera): Right, and this warehouse, or if you'd call it a warehouse, is nothing like the FEMA warehouse where everything was completely brand new...

KEGEL: Right.

BOUDREAU: ... items stacked to the ceiling in some cases.

KEGEL: Right. Right.

BOUDREAU: This warehouse is really just full of mostly used items.

KEGEL: Right.

BOUDREAU: And it's in the back of an abandoned church.

(Voice over): So what happened?

FEMA tells CNN it did distribute household starter kits to 140,000 families. As for the rest of the warehouses and the $85 million of relief supplies, it says the need wasn't there anymore. And since it was paying more than $1 million a year to store them, it decided to give them away as government surplus.

KEGEL: It seems to me that FEMA is acting like this crisis is over, that it's been over. It's not over.

BOUDREAU: First, FEMA offered the household items to federal agencies, prisons, the post office, the Border Patrol and elsewhere. Next, the items were offered to all states, but, for some reason, Louisiana said no thanks. It took absolutely nothing.

Hard to believe, but a state official tell us they were unaware that Katrina victims still had a need for the household supplies.

In all, the government says it gave away 121 truckloads from the warehouses.

(On camera): FEMA turned down our request for an on-camera interview, saying the surplus property was, quote, "not news."

KEGEL: This stuff really, really is beautiful stuff.

BOUDREAU (voice over): Yet those who spend every day still helping victims of Katrina are stunned.

KEGEL: Just makes me sad to look at this. Is there any way we can still get this stuff? Is it all gone now? It's all gone.

BOUDREAU (on camera): It's all gone.

(Voice over): Abbie Boudreau, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our government in action. Maybe inaction would be a more appropriate term.

We'll continue to look into this for you.

Coming up, the couple planning to be first in line when same-sex marriage becomes legal tomorrow in California.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And we welcome you back, I'm Rick Sanchez. California bracing for a busy week. Tomorrow county clerks all over the state start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. California joins Massachusetts as the only state to allow gay and lesbian couples to get married.

CNN's Ted Rowlands introduces us to one county clerk who plans to be first in line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks so much, appreciate it. Thank you.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For the past 19 years, every marriage license issued in California's Contra Costa County has had Stephen Weir's signature on it and as county clerk he also performs weddings.

STEPHEN WEIR, CONTA COSTA CO. CLERK: For that magic period of time, you're assisting them with something that's really, deeply, deeply personal for them and I get emotional doing that.

ROWLANDS: Last month's Supreme Court decision legalizing same- sex marriage has had Weir's scrambling to prepare for a flood of marriages, including his own.

WEIR: I promised myself and my partner and the community that when this was legal I'd be first in line.

ROWLANDS: Weir and his partner John Hemm who live with their two dogs in this suburban home have been together for 18 years. They say ever since they had this fake wedding photo taken as sort of a joke years ago, they've actually been serious about wanting to get married, but never thought they'd have the chance.

JOHN HEMM, WEIR'S PARTNER: Didn't think it would ever happen.

ROWLANDS: The plan is for the couple to be the first in the county to fill out one of the new marriage forms which says party A and B instead of "Bride" and "Groom." Then in front of family, friends and all of Steve's colleagues get married in the county wedding room.

But there could be uninvited guests.

Outspoken Kansas resident Fred Phelps has said he will be there to protest. The local sheriff is planning for trouble.

Steve says he's not worried.

WEIR: If these folks want to come here, they're exercising their constitutional rights and I'm exercising my constitutional rights, and my family and friends are going to be there to celebrate this, and there isn't anybody that's going to take any of that away from us.

ROWLANDS: Weir, who's 59, says he knows many people, including some in his office, are uncomfortable with same-sex marriage. He says he also knows that John, who's 58 and has been battling AIDS for more than 10 years, is, without a doubt, the person he wants to marry.

WEIR: Finally, after 18 years, getting the chance to do something that's good and right and proper for us to do.

HEMM: Just tell the man I love that I love in front of everybody and just have a wonderful time and just have that experience everybody else has.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: By the way, we should add that Boston is hosting a gay pride weekend including the annual parade. And Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick and his 18-year-old daughter Katharine are among the marchers.

He is the state's first sitting governor to march in the parade and this week Katharine Patrick announced publicly that she is a lesbian after first coming out to her parents.

Governor Patrick has long been an advocate for gay rights.

Coming up you have seen the panoramic flooding pictures. We've shown you a region in crisis. But next, one man shares his story of floods and faith.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We have been showing you and telling you the Midwest is under water, until things dry out for further -- rather recommended mode of transportation a boat like the one carrying this minister in Iowa City, Iowa.

His story now in his words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF GILMORE, IOWA CITY MINISTER: And so when we heard the flood was coming again, everybody thought, oh, it will be OK, it will be OK.

We were safe in '93. So when we first went in, it was -- I was so taken aback by all the water and the different perspective. I actually -- within the first few minutes, I didn't know where I was.

That's the auditorium?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GILMORE: I mean, dude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We lose it.

GILMORE: Totally it's gone.

I've been through the building thousands of times over the last 17 years.

Look at this floating.

And this is a perspective that you would never, ever dream of having to witness.

My first time in here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: We have told you a lot about Tim Russert's death this week.

But I want to tell you about another person that we here at CNN lost this week. You probably saw him many times. He sat right there behind me as the guy who made sure what I said was right.

Bob Coleman took CNN's journalism and nurtured it into something better.

Chances are, if you saw our report here read by me or anybody else, Bob had checked it, polished it, and made it sing, as we like to say.

Bob died earlier this week. His list of professional accomplishments was impressive from St. Louis to San Francisco, to CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.

Bob also worked in Miami as an assistant news director where he once gave a young, real poor and real green Hispanic kid a chance to be a news reporter. That was me more than 20 years ago.

To his wife Adrian and daughter Nancy, who made him smile so much, we say thank you for letting us share in the big guy's life. He was a gentleman and a gentle man and we -- I will miss him dearly.

Good night. Good-bye, Bob.