Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

Hurricane Ivan Still Causing Damage In the U.S.

Aired September 17, 2004 - 22:00   ET

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

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


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: All right. Have a good night. Good evening everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Aaron Brown is on assignment. For millions of people who live along the nation's Gulf coast, this week will be remembered as devastating and difficult because of the deadliest hurricane in five years. From here on out, as other hurricanes threaten the coast, Ivan will be used as a reference point. Tonight, however, Ivan no longer a hurricane but a tropical depression is still very much a part of the present. And that is where we begin, the whip tonight, Jacqui Jeras is at the weather center in Atlanta to start us off with a headline. Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, Ivan may no longer be a hurricane, but it continues to put a path of destruction across parts of the United States. Dozens of tornado warnings tonight. This is how many I've had since 7:00 tonight. Still the threat is out there. We'll tell you where the worst of the weather has been coming up.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Jackie. On to Orange Beach, Alabama, which took a hard hit when Ivan passed through. CNN's Gary Tuchman has the headline there. Gary?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the death toll has climbed to 23 from hurricane Ivan, a storm that continues to affect the lives of millions of people in the eastern United States. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Florida's panhandle also took a nasty beating from Ivan. CNN's David Mattingly is in Pensacola. David, a headline?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it sounds cliched to say that people are picking up the pieces but that is exactly what's happening here in the panhandle. For some people the pieces are not very big, a testament to how thorough Ivan was in its destruction.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, David. And what began as a very bloody week in Iraq ended the same way. CNN's Walt Rogers is in Baghdad with the headline. Walt?

WALT ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, there were more car bombs in Baghdad, more overnight air strikes in Fallujah, death toll approaching 60 there. And there's no telling when this death toll's going to stop rising. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Walter. More with you in a moment. Also on the program tonight, the Pentagon releases more documents on President Bush's military service but the debate over his guard duty continues.

Also, covering the national campaign, the challenges of the local media in the race for the White House. All of that straight ahead. We begin now with Ivan's aftermath. There are many ways to measure the damage and we'll get to that in a moment.

But first, the latest on the weather itself. Ivan has produced major flooding across the Gulf coast region and beyond. In Tennessee, flood waters destroyed homes and businesses and forced evacuations. The story is much the same in North Carolina where heavy rain and wind has forced evacuations along rivers and knocked out power to thousands.

And tornadoes are another problem in many places. In Virginia twisters HAVE left a trail of damage in their wake. Flooding a problem there as well. Jacqui Jeras joins us now from the weather center in Atlanta. Jacqui, what's the latest from where you are?

JERAS: The tornado threat continues tonight Fredricka with just one warning in place at this hour for Suffolk County. This is in southern Virginia. You can see that little swirl marker right there. It is moving on up to the north and could be moving to the western suburbs of the Norfolk area in about 20 minutes or so. A huge connective line nearly 400 miles long stretch from Charleston up to Washington, D.C. this evening and spawned about 45 different tornadoes.

These are the reports that we've had in the last 24 hours including one which touched down at Washington Dulles airport but no reports of damage there. A tornado watch remains in effect for the Washington, D.C. area, extending up into southern Pennsylvania until midnight tonight. Then we may see another watch box issued and of course, that flood threat also continues. The good news that I have for you tonight Fredricka, as we were worried about what was hurricane Jeanne weakened very rapidly today down to a tropical depression. We did have concerns that it could be affecting the United States sometime early next week. Right now the latest projections have changed, keeping tropical depression Jeanne out into the water and keeping it away from that strong hurricane status, so some very good news tonight about Jeanne, although Ivan will be a problem throughout the weekend with flooding in the Appalachians. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. A big relief on one, still a headache on the other. Thanks so much Jacqui.

The U.S. death toll from hurricane Ivan has climbed to at least 23 and the full scope of damage from the storm is still revealing itself. Numbers provide one measure of a hurricane's aftermath. The American Red Cross said today it has served more than six million meals to 331,000 people in more than 900 shelters so far. There are other measures as well. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): He was a man who most likely had no warning about the horror that was about to occur. Late Wednesday or early Thursday during the wrath of hurricane Ivan, a trucker driving across Florida's Escambia (ph) Bay on interstate 10 plunged into an abyss. A portion of the bridge had washed away but there was no way to tell. The unidentified victim's 18 wheeler split in half, the cab plunging into the bar. The victim was pronounced dead after his body was found on Friday.

He is one of at least 23 people in five states who have lost their lives as a direct result of hurricane Ivan. Damage is estimated in the billions of dollars. In places like Orange Beach, Alabama, the devastation is immense. June Lovell's beach front home has been ruined.

JUNE LOVELL, RESIDENT: We worked hard to get all of this and we can do that again. You know, we lived with little or nothing and we can do that again. So it's tough to start over, but we can do it.

TUCHMAN: The eye of the hurricane passed over coastal Alabama, resulting in one death in the state. Many emergency officials here say if residents hadn't been so compliant about evacuating, the death toll would have been dramatically higher based on the extent of the damage.

GOVERNOR BOB RILEY (R) ALABAMA: This is the first time in my lifetime we've had anything like this occur. So there's no question, we not only need to build back, we need to build back as soon as we can.

TUCHMAN: The remnants of Ivan led to multiple rescues in West Virginia where scores of people ending up trapped in buildings and cars. Helicopters and four-wheel vehicles were used in the effort to save lives. On Friday alone, rain from Ivan stretched more than 700 miles from South Carolina to New England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: About 1.8 million customers in seven states are still without power, including each and every one of the 4,000 people who live here in Orange Beach, Alabama. This beach front town is completely dark except for our TV light that's lighting up the damage behind me and completely desolate, desolate because the people who lived here have been told they cannot come back to their homes for an indefinite time period because the damage is still considered too extensive and dangerous here. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Unfortunately when too many people do go home, there won't be a home there still standing. Gary Tuchman, thanks so much.

Florida has seen no mercy in the last several weeks of this hurricane season. The state's panhandle took a beating from Ivan, leaving residents to size up their losses, their future and the brutal reality that many will have to start from scratch. Here's CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Jewel and Ken Fuel (ph) were in the midst of remodeling their bay side home in Navarre, Florida when Ivan made other plans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is bedroom over here. This is the kitchen, used to be an island across here. The only thing that's left in the kitchen is the granite countertops.

MATTINGLY: The house on the water they retired to from California just two years ago is beyond repair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just wonder, why me, you know, why me.

MATTINGLY: Windows, doors, even brick walls are missing. Not a single piece of furniture is left. All of it taken by a hurricane more devastating than anyone imagined. I didn't even see any furniture out in the front yard. Where did it go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been looking for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. When we left we tried to get everything up as high as we could. We tried to get it off the floor if we could. But we haven't even seen our couches.

MATTINGLY: The storm surge was so powerful it tore through these homes and took everyone's belongings to who knows where. Here at the Pugh's (ph) home, for example, this is their bath tub. No one put it here. This is where the storm left it. As for their appliances, they're across the street, on the curb over there. That's their dryer. Their refrigerator is actually a few yards back, behind their neighbor's house. No house in this water front neighborhood was spared. Those on stilts fared only slightly better. Next door to the Pughs, it now takes a ladder to get into the house. Inside Jenny Bryant (ph) finds that her furniture stayed, but it's ruined, so is the carpet and the ceiling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll probably have to bulldoze it down and -- but it will be -- just a lot because we won't rebuild.

MATTINGLY: The Pughs won't rebuild, either. When they evacuated, they took three days worth of clothes, photographs and papers. What they didn't take, they lost. The only thing they have to do now is fall back on their sense of humor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what we're going to do now is we're going to wait for insurance and then we're going to --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go to Australia for six months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: One thing they can't joke about right now, however, is the possibility of looting. Neighbors tell them that outsiders have been in the neighborhood helping themselves to the ruins. It's probably not the last time we're going to hear reports about this because it is so dark without the electricity on and the damage is so wide spread and police cannot be everywhere. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, David, the Pughs demonstrated why they will not be staying in their damaged home. But what about the other woman who is staying in her home? Is there some danger as to why some of these residents choose to stay in their damaged homes?

MATTINGLY: Their neighbor is actually not staying in their home. She will be staying in a mobile home that they have that is away from that area. Both the Pughs and their neighbors say they're not going to rebuild. They're going to bulldoze the area. Move out all the debris and then sell the lots to someone else who may want to build there in the future.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Mattingly, thanks so much.

On to the political storm that has been dominating headlines for weeks. Today the Pentagon released more documents linked to President Bush's Air National Guard service during Vietnam. There are different views on what can be drawn from the documents and their release. Here's CNN's Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a Federal judge ordered a full release of all documents relating to George W. Bush's time in the National Guard, Pentagon officials say they looked beyond Bush's personnel records for anything relating to his service or his squadron. In fact, the bulk of the 79 pages of additional documents are histories of an Alabama National Guard unit which don't mention Bush.

So they do little to answer the question of whether Bush showed up for alternate service in Alabama in 1972 or 1973 after he was suspended from flying status in Texas for missing a required physical. But he included as a 1968 thank you letter written by his father, then a congressman, in response to the commander of his son's training base who had written a complimentary letter two weeks earlier.

That a major general in the Air Force would take interest in a brand new Air Force trainee made a big impression on me, the future first President Bush wrote about his son. I do have the feeling he will be a gung-ho member of the U.S. Air Force. The Democratic National Committee was quick to cite the letter as evidence of preferential treatment. These documents demonstrate yet again that George Bush was a fortunate son who received special, consideration unavailable to the average American it said in a statement.

The White House insisted the new documents show it's fulfilling the president's request to release everything regarding his military service. Among the new documents, a press release written about young Lieutenant Bush sent to his hometown Houston newspapers which reflects the drug culture of the time. George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed. Oh, he gets high all right, but not from narcotics, noting his solo flight in an F-102 fighter jet.

Predictably, the White House insisted the documents were more proof that President Bush fulfilled his military obligation. While the Democratic National Committee chairman said the president was truly proud of his service he wouldn't be releasing the documents on a Friday night. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: After weeks of being at the center of aggressive q questioning and unrelenting ad campaigns, the Vietnam war medals of Senator John Kerry were, quote, properly approved according to the U.S. Navy inspector general. Tonight a memo obtained by CNN says the Navy will take no further action on that question. Meantime on the campaign trail, Kerry got in a war of words with the Bush White House calling it wasteful and deceitful. Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator John Kerry playing to a young audience in Denver before trying to score points with grown ups at a nearby town hall meeting.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today the president's been running around the country in the last days saying how everything's rosy.

LOTHIAN: Earlier in the day in Albuquerque, Kerry launched a blistering attack on Vice President Dick Cheney's links with Halliburton and on President Bush.

KERRY: We need a president and a vice president who aren't going to sacrifice the taxpayer's money on the altar of no bid cronyism.

LOTHIAN: Kerry said his administration would not be a slave to special interests and borrowed a line from a well-known reality show.

KERRY: As commander in chief, I've got two words for companies like Halliburton that abuse the American taxpayer and the trust, "you're fired."

LOTT: The Bush/Cheney campaign retorted that these latest attacks were tired and recycled. But the Kerry campaign was relentless on the issue today, greeting the vice president as he visited Oregon with this new ad.

CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL: Dick Cheney received $2 million from Halliburton.

LOTHIAN: The ad will also play in key battleground states next week.

(on-camera): Even though the Kerry campaign believes this is an issue that will resonate with voters who see it as yet another example of special interests winning out over the average American, there is no independent polling to back that up.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): A new Gallup poll gives Bush a substantial lead in the race but Kerry advisors are downplaying the numbers, citing instead a half dozen other polls that show the race is a statistical dead heat. Dan Lothian, CNN, Aurora, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: In what will likely be felt as a blow to Democrats, the Florida supreme court ruled six to one that reform party candidate Ralph Nader's name will appear on the November 2nd ballot. Many Democrats blame Nader's run in 2000 for taking votes from Gore in swing states, including Florida. The court threw out arguments that Nader should be kept off the ballot, saying state law favors ballot access.

Straight ahead on NEWSNIGHT, it was another bloody day in Iraq and one more day of anti-American sentiment.

Also, the fight against terrorism in Russia turns into a fight against President Putin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Lethal attacks in Iraq growing in size and frequency in recent days. Today an Iraqi police convoy was the target of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, while earlier in Fallujah, U.S. war planes zeroed in on a suspected terrorism meeting site. Both deadly attacks fueling anger among Iraqis, saying Americans have brought fear, not freedom. Here's CNN's Walt Rogers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS (voice-over): These Iraqi police vehicles bore the brunt of the latest suicide car bomb that killed three policemen and five civilians in central Baghdad.

This witness said a car first approached the temporary Iraqi checkpoint but was turned away. Then he said the suicide bomber drove back to the checkpoint and blew himself up. Earlier in the morning, two other suicide bombers tried to attack a U.S. Army checkpoint further up the same street, but the soldiers opened fire and the suicide bombers were killed before they could hurt others.

In between these two checkpoints, Iraqi children fled continuing gun battles between the U.S. military and the insurgents, this as the Americans tried to weed out stubborn urban resistance here in Baghdad, but they get no credit from the Iraqis.

A woman complained the Americans have been here for 24 hours and there are so many wounded. The Iraqi health ministry estimated 10 wounded.

At Friday prayers, the hostility again bubbled into sermons. In the Shiite mosque, the faithful vowed to spill their blood for Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of a rebellious militia.

This Muslim sheik denounced what he called the criminal acts perpetrated against the Iraq people in Fallujah and in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City by what he called quote, the arrogant occupiers.

The Americans were also denounced amid the rubble of another U.S. air strike in Fallujah, this Iraqi calling President Bush a criminal who should stop boasting about freedom. U.S. war planes targeted another Abu Musab Zarqawai meeting site in Fallujah. U.S. military sources claim 60 of his supporters were killed but Iraqi police say 20 civilians died in the air strike.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: No matter which death toll statistics you choose to believe, the numbers continue to jump upward for both Iraqis and Americans, challenging, at least in the minds of many Iraqis, the premise that this war has been a success story. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Walt, there are some reports that are saying that these insurgent attacks may be linked to the upcoming U.S. as well as Iraqi elections. Any truth to that?

ROGERS: Well, I'm sure there's some truth to it, but even if there were no American elections or no Iraqi elections, this insurgency is growing and the basis of the insurgency is to throw the Americans out of Iraqi. The basis, the breadth of the insurgency as I say, is getting broader every day. It is old elements from Saddam Hussein's army, from its police force but there are also the foreign fighters coming in from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria. These are Muslims who just want the United States thrown out of what they perceive to be holy Muslim land. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Walt Rogers, thanks so much from Baghdad.

Well a key argument from the Bush White House in support of the war in Iraq was that that country (UNINTELLIGIBLE) stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons. According to a draft of a report due out this month, the top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq concluded that country did not have a major programs for weapons of mass destruction. The report did find however, that Saddam Hussein never abandoned his WMD ambition, operated small clandestine chemical labs, continued to deceive U.N. inspectors about those labs, imported banned material and worked to obtain ballistic missiles beyond prohibited ranges. The findings are consistent with those of former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, who joins us now from Washington. Good to see you David.

DAVID KAY, FMR U.S. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good to see you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, you reported on those labs back in October. What did you find then?

KAY: Well, we found then a series of labs run mostly by the Iraqi intelligence service. They were relatively small, mini, centered in residential areas in homes. They were capable of producing small amounts of chemical or biological agents. Many seem to be directly associated with assassination activities which unfortunately were a central purpose of the Iraqi intelligence service.

WHITFIELD: So there was no assessment then that these small clandestine labs could actually mushroom into something much bigger on a larger scale causing some sort of mass destruction? KAY: Well, they certainly could carry out R&D research activities related to it. In and of themselves, they could not have grown. The physical facilities weren't there, but they certainly could have maintained program capabilities that if resources and people were available, might have been able to increase.

WHITFIELD: Well, paint a picture of the physical facilities that were there. Are we talking about labs that were being operated out of someone's kitchen?

KAY: Well, actually a number of them were centered in residential houses and grew out of the kitchen. Others were in shopping centers. These were scattered in place that the Iraqis thought U.N. inspectors would not find them. They were concealed in city centers and in residential areas, mostly quite small. I mean you're talking about two, three, four rooms at max, so they were not huge research facilities.

WHITFIELD: And so were these labs dealing with dual use type of chemicals or chemicals that are specifically and solely used for the building of weapons of mass destruction, biological chemical weapons, etc.

KAY: Well unfortunately there are few chemicals that have solely a peaceful use. They were clearly being used for the purpose of producing chemical and biological agents, but the feed stock, the chemicals involved, would have had other uses if used in a different and a more peaceful way.

WHITFIELD: So why did the U.N. never felt like they could connect the dots between Saddam's intent to progress in the weapons of mass destruction program and actually putting it into play?

KAY: Well, what happened during the inspection period, the U.N. inspection period, is that back, U.N. inspectors eliminated the no Iraqi facilities. The Iraqis then went to small clandestine facilities such as these which are very, very hard to find. You really need a human source to take you to them. As a U.N. inspector, you're not going to run across them and the Iraqis went to great lengths to be sure the U.N. inspectors didn't run across them and nor did they declare them, as they were supposed to, under U.N. resolutions. The Iraqis were in clear violation and went to great lengths to hide these.

WHITFIELD: The final version of this 1500 page report is expected to be released sometime within the next couple of weeks. Do you expect that anything particularly revealing will come of it?

KAY: No I think essentially it's painted the picture that's consistent with what we determined last October with greater depth. I'm going to say at this point, the inspection effort in Iraq is largely immaterial. That is, we know enough to know that the intelligence report of the war was wrong. The solution to that problem is in Washington, not in Baghdad and in Baghdad the problem is not the past. The problem is as Walter Rogers pointed out, a broadening insurgents movement that we do not yet have a strategy for coping with. I think actually the effort needs to be put in dealing with the future and less in resurrecting the past. We know those mistakes. We need to clean them up, but that cleaning up is in Washington, not Baghdad.

WHITFIELD: OK, former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, thanks so much for joining us from Washington tonight.

KAY: Thank you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, still to come on NEWSNIGHT, a remarkable story of survival in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan. And the conflict in Chechnya, voice of those who see life as death.

Also, the race for the White House, national politics at the local level.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The race for the White House, a tight horse race if you look at some national polls, a shoo-in for one of the candidates, if you believe other results. So much should we read into these polls and what explains the differences? Earlier I asked CNN political analyst Bill Schneider those questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: There are four different national polls, all of them saying a little something different. What are they reading?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We have three national polls that show the race a sudden dead heat. One shows Bush ahead by a point, one shows Kerry ahead by a point and one shows an absolute tie. These are polls by the Pew Research Center, Harris Interactive and the "Investors Business Daily." Three out of four show a very close race. One, the Gallup poll, does show Bush significantly ahead, 13 points among likely voters, eight points among registered voters, but that poll appears to be the outlier.

WHITFIELD: One point versus 13 points, huge difference there. Is there a reasonable explanation for these disparities?

SCHNEIDER: Well, the most reasonable explanation that I can figure out is that the polls that show a close race all ask people how they would vote after they ask voters a series of questions about the issues, how they feel about the economy, about the war in Iraq, about health care, about the candidates and at the end of that, they ask people now, how will you vote in this election if you had to vote right now, Bush or Kerry. In those polls, the race is very close. The Gallup poll, which is the only one that shows Bush significantly ahead, asks people how they would vote right at the outset. They ask people before they investigate the issues.

What does that suggest? It suggests that when people think about the issues, they're more inclined to vote for John Kerry and we've seen that before. Voters who say their decision is based on the issues, tend to favor Kerry. Voters who say they are voting for candidates on person grounds tend to favor Bush.

WHITFIELD: So we've been talking primarily about national polls. What about these state polls? What do they indicate?

SCHNEIDER: Well, the state polls show Kerry still in trouble and of course those are the polls that count, because in the electoral college system, there is no national election. There is only elections in 50 separate states, plus the District of Columbia. In a number of Kerry states that were hosts for Bush in - I'm sorry, that went for Gore in 2000, the so-called blue states, Kerry looks like he's in trouble. The race is very close in Pennsylvania, which was a blue state for Gore in 2000. In Maine, in Minnesota and in Wisconsin, which was a Gore state, Kerry seems to be running behind George Bush.

WHITFIELD: So we've been hearing both camps say they want to focus more on the issues, the issues as of late, voters have said they want to hear more about the economy. They want to hear more about the wars, the ongoing wars on terrorism and the war in Iraq. So if that's the case, then why does it seem that whether it's the latest intelligence document or whether it's the latest reviews on Congress, all paint a very pessimistic view of the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism. It seems as though Americans are still very much in support of the way the Bush administration is handling things. Doesn't it seem like a contradiction?

SCHNEIDER: Well, think of it this way. There are three different issues that are dominating this election: the economy, that's John Kerry's issue. He does very well on that, although recently Bush has made some gains. The war on terrorism, clearly Bush's issue and the Republican convention really made that central to the message they wanted to send out. Bush will be strong in fighting terror.

Iraq is a key. The Iraq issue has been helpful to Kerry because voters who vote on Iraq are dissatisfied with the war and unhappy with the way things are going. But their numbers were diminishing. The White House did a very smart thing. At the end of June, they staged a very elaborate ceremony in Baghdad where the United States, the occupying power, handed over power to the Iraqi government. Ever since the end of June, Iraq has diminished in importance as a concern to American voters.

Those who were concerned were voting for Kerry, but their numbers were falling. Now the latest news from Iraq may make it a bigger issue. There's been tragedies in Iraq, people killed, bombings, the situation looks chaotic. We have these intelligence reports from July that show very pessimistic assessments of the future in Iraq. You've had Republican senators, Chuck Hagel from Nebraska, Dick Lugar from Indiana, who have been expressing alarm over how things are going in Iraq. Those events have happened only in the last couple of days. They haven't sunk in yet. We'll see next week in Iraqi is suddenly becoming a bigger issue and if it is hurting the White House the way you suggest it might.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bill Schneider, thanks so much. Of course the next couple weeks are going to be certainly very pivotal as it's only a little over a month and half before election day. SCHNEIDER: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks Bill.

Well, evening programs like this and national publications are the only news media outlets feeding the public's appetite for what's become a vitriolic presidential race. Millions of Americans get their information from local news and CNN's Jonathan Freed explains that what really matters maybe how it plays in Peoria or in this case, Madison, Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They say all politics is local. But in presidential politics, a candidate's stump speech often follows a national script, designed to have a broad appeal. Thing is, that doesn't always appease the local media at a campaign stop. Mike Johnson is a television reporter covering John Kerry's swing through Madison, Wisconsin and he's not interested in the national message.

MIKE JOHNSON, WMTV: And I'm going to look for any responsive nuance that he talks about today, anything that appeals to the Wisconsin voters here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike focuses on what Kerry has to say.

FREED: Back at the station, they explain their viewers are interested in things like local jobs and health care, rather than the president's National Guard service or John Kerry's tour in Vietnam, which have been preoccupying national media.

JIM DICK, WMTV NEWS DIRECTOR: Since this feeling of that was 30 years ago. We got issues today. Let's get back to those.

FREED: That feeling is strong at the local newspaper too where they recently put class cutbacks at the University of Wisconsin on page one and the latest campaign controversy on page three.

ELLEN FOLEY, EDITOR, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL: Out challenge is to talk about the local issues without losing the perspective of global and national context.

FREED: Meanwhile, John Kerry's speech is over and reporter Mike Johnson says it was light on local issues.

JOHNSON: He's a national candidate and we got the national speech today.

FREED: And this time, Kerry doesn't stop to answer any local reporters' questions. The campaign says there just wasn't time. Now it's air time for Johnson.

His report focuses on the few Wisconsin specific statistics that Kerry did mention and since Kerry didn't stop to talk, there's not much context. The lack of direct access to candidates frustrates both local and national reporters, but it gives them more room to take their own direction with their reporting. Jonathan Freed, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, a remarkable story of survival in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan, a scary close call for one family in Florida. This is NEWSNIGHT around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back now to the aftermath of Ivan. You've seen the pictures of the bridge, the fallen trees and the flooded streets. Well, CNN's Jason Bellini has a story from the Florida panhandle that upstages some of those images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the aftermath of Ivan, in this neighborhood in Escombia (ph) on the outskirts of Pensacola, Florida, you wonder how any stay behinds could have survived.

Taylor Smith (ph) held her baby as the water in her parent's house kept rising and rising.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was preparing myself to watch my children drown.

BELLINI: Her son was so scared, he says he began to throw up. Smith's mother, Debbie Marshborn (ph) took charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) water and snacks and diapers.

BELLINI: After water from the storm surge reached their waist, she ordered everyone to the attic. Three hours later the eye of the storm passed and the water receded.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt responsible for putting them through this.

BELLINI: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is searching house by house for people who may not have been so lucky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We focus on the fact that, for whatever reason are here, we need to help find them.

BELLINI: Local law enforcement rescued this man Friday, who was trapped and dehydrated. We heard the man in the orange shirt tell authorities his brother was missing. After seeing his house, he assumes he's dead. Smith says her family did one thing right. They didn't flee the house in panic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was my decision to come out here because I left a mobile home to come to a sturdy home. But it was my mom's decision not to go out in the storm and that's what saved our lives.

BELLINI: Despite the devastation that surrounds them, they could still be thankful. Jason Bellini, CNN, Pensacola, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, Russian President Putin vows to fight terrorism and the people of Russia vow to fight President Putin. You're watching NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Russia, a Chechen rebel leader today claimed responsibility for several recent terrorist attacks, including the deadly siege of a school earlier this month. The claim came as President Putin reversed himself and authorized a parliamentary investigation into the school attack, which killed hundreds of people, most of them children. Mr. Putin also vowed again today to crack down on terrorists. The tough stance he's taken in recent days is controversial. Here's CNN's Jill Dougherty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rare sign of dissent in Vladimir Putin's Russia. A tiny protest in Moscow against the president's proposals to strengthen his grip on Russia's political process, ostensibly in order to fight terrorism. On one protest sign, Mr. Putin as Hitler.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We in Russia are engaged in serious preparations at the moment to act against terrorism in a preventive manner.

DOUGHERTY: President Putin says Russia is now at war with terrorism, but some critics charge he is exploiting that war in order to centralize even more power in his hands.

VLADIMIR RYZHIKOV, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I believe there is no more doubt that this is an authoritarian regime and that the harshness of this regime is intensifying.

DOUGHERTY: Ryzhkov and other Putin critics claim the president has emasculated the Russian parliament, placing it under firm control of his United Russia political party. The Russian media, they charge tow the party line. President Putin's anti-terror political plans are sparking indirect criticism from the man who put him in office. Former President Boris Yeltsin urging that, in response to the Beslan school massacre, quote, we will not allow ourselves to abandon the letter and more importantly, the spirit of the constitution.

Supporters of President Putin deny democracy in Russia is in jeopardy. They say he's trying to unite Russia.

ALEXANDER LEBEDEV, UNITED RUSSIA: Using substance (ph), the things which have been offered, you - they have to do with actually strengthening certain decision making processes in the country. DOUGHERTY: Russia is rejecting western criticism of President Putin's moves. This is an internal matter, the foreign ministry says, no one is going to make any decisions that contradict the will of the Russian people. Jim Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well the siege of the school is Beslan captured the world's attention with its pure horror, but long before the killing of the school children began, the conflict in Chechnya had already claimed thousands of lives, Russian and Chechen. A decade ago, Russia launched a major offensive against Chechen rebels fighting for independence. For most of that time, photographer Stanley Green has been documenting life and death in Chechnya. Open wound is the title he gave his book. Trolly (ph) is the publisher. Its images offer a rare window into a distant and complex place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOICE OF STANLEY GREENE, "OPEN WOUND" CHECHNYA: I was once told by someone in the Caucasuses (ph) if you choose a road and you drove down it long enough, you're going to wind up at a conflict or a war. And that's the way it is in Chechnya. You're going (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and you wind up in the war.

Central market is Chechnya was like the biggest market for various reasons. I mean let's face it, the Chechens are not angels. I mean there was a lot of banditry with the gun market. There was a lot of stolen goods there, black marketed goods, but basically it was this rising market and it's been reduced to nothing with continual bombing, the continual fighting.

The presidential palace was the symbol for the longest time. It was a symbol during the war. It was a symbol after the war. And the Russians wanted to destroy the symbol, so one day they came in and totally demolished it. The funny thing is, the Chechens sometimes go by it and put flowers on it. You know, it's very interesting. This rubble is still a symbol of Chechen independence.

The Chechens have been pushed so far into a corner that they're no longer feel that the world cares and they basically have declared war on Russia. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in this book long before this one (ph) happened, the atrocities that are helping destroy (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that it was important to paint a picture where you saw how these people have been brought to a point (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Welcome to hell. That was the sight that I saw driving into the city and I already passed a Russian patrol that basically said that you should leave or we'd be strung up, the Chechens and then again from Russians told us that they were hanging so-called rebels as an example. But in Chechnya what's interesting is that when somebody dies, they don't want the bodies to stay around long, so they go right out quickly risk their lives to get them safely somewhere where they can prepare them for burials.

The interesting thing about the bodies that you see laying around in the photographs, those are Russians. There's 30,000 Russians that were killed in January of '95 from the beginning of the bombing and so only in small instances where people go out, enrich themselves to save the Russians. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because she blames the fact that they hadn't been fighting the Russians, her child wouldn't have been killed and yet at the same time, she looks at life as death. She feels like she should be dead and not her child.

I put the color in there because through this book there's so much violence and it's very much stuff that really rips you up, that the color was to be used in a way to bring you back just a snap back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well now for some cheap celebrity news. Actor McCauley Culkin is probably wishing he were home alone about now. The child actor turned adult left (ph) tonight in Oklahoma City after being arrested for possession of marijuana and another controlled substance without a prescription. His publicist would not comment.

And then there's his friend Michael Jackson in a San Maria (ph) courtroom. The pop singer again told lawyers that he would never harm a child and that he also regrets making out of court settlements rather than fighting what he calls false charges. The 46-year-old super star faces multiple counts of child molestation and his trial is scheduled to begin January 31st.

We're not quite done yet. We've got a look at some quick financial headlines before we go to break. The markets closed the week in the black. All three major stock indexes ending higher, in part of news that Ford Motor Company raised its earnings forecast. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well that's going to do it for us tonight. Aaron Brown is back in the chair on Monday. For most of you, Lou Dobbs tonight is next and for all of you have a great weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired September 17, 2004 - 22:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD: All right. Have a good night. Good evening everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Aaron Brown is on assignment. For millions of people who live along the nation's Gulf coast, this week will be remembered as devastating and difficult because of the deadliest hurricane in five years. From here on out, as other hurricanes threaten the coast, Ivan will be used as a reference point. Tonight, however, Ivan no longer a hurricane but a tropical depression is still very much a part of the present. And that is where we begin, the whip tonight, Jacqui Jeras is at the weather center in Atlanta to start us off with a headline. Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Fredricka, Ivan may no longer be a hurricane, but it continues to put a path of destruction across parts of the United States. Dozens of tornado warnings tonight. This is how many I've had since 7:00 tonight. Still the threat is out there. We'll tell you where the worst of the weather has been coming up.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Jackie. On to Orange Beach, Alabama, which took a hard hit when Ivan passed through. CNN's Gary Tuchman has the headline there. Gary?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the death toll has climbed to 23 from hurricane Ivan, a storm that continues to affect the lives of millions of people in the eastern United States. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Florida's panhandle also took a nasty beating from Ivan. CNN's David Mattingly is in Pensacola. David, a headline?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it sounds cliched to say that people are picking up the pieces but that is exactly what's happening here in the panhandle. For some people the pieces are not very big, a testament to how thorough Ivan was in its destruction.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, David. And what began as a very bloody week in Iraq ended the same way. CNN's Walt Rogers is in Baghdad with the headline. Walt?

WALT ROGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, there were more car bombs in Baghdad, more overnight air strikes in Fallujah, death toll approaching 60 there. And there's no telling when this death toll's going to stop rising. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Walter. More with you in a moment. Also on the program tonight, the Pentagon releases more documents on President Bush's military service but the debate over his guard duty continues.

Also, covering the national campaign, the challenges of the local media in the race for the White House. All of that straight ahead. We begin now with Ivan's aftermath. There are many ways to measure the damage and we'll get to that in a moment.

But first, the latest on the weather itself. Ivan has produced major flooding across the Gulf coast region and beyond. In Tennessee, flood waters destroyed homes and businesses and forced evacuations. The story is much the same in North Carolina where heavy rain and wind has forced evacuations along rivers and knocked out power to thousands.

And tornadoes are another problem in many places. In Virginia twisters HAVE left a trail of damage in their wake. Flooding a problem there as well. Jacqui Jeras joins us now from the weather center in Atlanta. Jacqui, what's the latest from where you are?

JERAS: The tornado threat continues tonight Fredricka with just one warning in place at this hour for Suffolk County. This is in southern Virginia. You can see that little swirl marker right there. It is moving on up to the north and could be moving to the western suburbs of the Norfolk area in about 20 minutes or so. A huge connective line nearly 400 miles long stretch from Charleston up to Washington, D.C. this evening and spawned about 45 different tornadoes.

These are the reports that we've had in the last 24 hours including one which touched down at Washington Dulles airport but no reports of damage there. A tornado watch remains in effect for the Washington, D.C. area, extending up into southern Pennsylvania until midnight tonight. Then we may see another watch box issued and of course, that flood threat also continues. The good news that I have for you tonight Fredricka, as we were worried about what was hurricane Jeanne weakened very rapidly today down to a tropical depression. We did have concerns that it could be affecting the United States sometime early next week. Right now the latest projections have changed, keeping tropical depression Jeanne out into the water and keeping it away from that strong hurricane status, so some very good news tonight about Jeanne, although Ivan will be a problem throughout the weekend with flooding in the Appalachians. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. A big relief on one, still a headache on the other. Thanks so much Jacqui.

The U.S. death toll from hurricane Ivan has climbed to at least 23 and the full scope of damage from the storm is still revealing itself. Numbers provide one measure of a hurricane's aftermath. The American Red Cross said today it has served more than six million meals to 331,000 people in more than 900 shelters so far. There are other measures as well. Here's CNN's Gary Tuchman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN (voice-over): He was a man who most likely had no warning about the horror that was about to occur. Late Wednesday or early Thursday during the wrath of hurricane Ivan, a trucker driving across Florida's Escambia (ph) Bay on interstate 10 plunged into an abyss. A portion of the bridge had washed away but there was no way to tell. The unidentified victim's 18 wheeler split in half, the cab plunging into the bar. The victim was pronounced dead after his body was found on Friday.

He is one of at least 23 people in five states who have lost their lives as a direct result of hurricane Ivan. Damage is estimated in the billions of dollars. In places like Orange Beach, Alabama, the devastation is immense. June Lovell's beach front home has been ruined.

JUNE LOVELL, RESIDENT: We worked hard to get all of this and we can do that again. You know, we lived with little or nothing and we can do that again. So it's tough to start over, but we can do it.

TUCHMAN: The eye of the hurricane passed over coastal Alabama, resulting in one death in the state. Many emergency officials here say if residents hadn't been so compliant about evacuating, the death toll would have been dramatically higher based on the extent of the damage.

GOVERNOR BOB RILEY (R) ALABAMA: This is the first time in my lifetime we've had anything like this occur. So there's no question, we not only need to build back, we need to build back as soon as we can.

TUCHMAN: The remnants of Ivan led to multiple rescues in West Virginia where scores of people ending up trapped in buildings and cars. Helicopters and four-wheel vehicles were used in the effort to save lives. On Friday alone, rain from Ivan stretched more than 700 miles from South Carolina to New England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TUCHMAN: About 1.8 million customers in seven states are still without power, including each and every one of the 4,000 people who live here in Orange Beach, Alabama. This beach front town is completely dark except for our TV light that's lighting up the damage behind me and completely desolate, desolate because the people who lived here have been told they cannot come back to their homes for an indefinite time period because the damage is still considered too extensive and dangerous here. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Unfortunately when too many people do go home, there won't be a home there still standing. Gary Tuchman, thanks so much.

Florida has seen no mercy in the last several weeks of this hurricane season. The state's panhandle took a beating from Ivan, leaving residents to size up their losses, their future and the brutal reality that many will have to start from scratch. Here's CNN's David Mattingly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Jewel and Ken Fuel (ph) were in the midst of remodeling their bay side home in Navarre, Florida when Ivan made other plans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is bedroom over here. This is the kitchen, used to be an island across here. The only thing that's left in the kitchen is the granite countertops.

MATTINGLY: The house on the water they retired to from California just two years ago is beyond repair.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You just wonder, why me, you know, why me.

MATTINGLY: Windows, doors, even brick walls are missing. Not a single piece of furniture is left. All of it taken by a hurricane more devastating than anyone imagined. I didn't even see any furniture out in the front yard. Where did it go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been looking for it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. When we left we tried to get everything up as high as we could. We tried to get it off the floor if we could. But we haven't even seen our couches.

MATTINGLY: The storm surge was so powerful it tore through these homes and took everyone's belongings to who knows where. Here at the Pugh's (ph) home, for example, this is their bath tub. No one put it here. This is where the storm left it. As for their appliances, they're across the street, on the curb over there. That's their dryer. Their refrigerator is actually a few yards back, behind their neighbor's house. No house in this water front neighborhood was spared. Those on stilts fared only slightly better. Next door to the Pughs, it now takes a ladder to get into the house. Inside Jenny Bryant (ph) finds that her furniture stayed, but it's ruined, so is the carpet and the ceiling.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll probably have to bulldoze it down and -- but it will be -- just a lot because we won't rebuild.

MATTINGLY: The Pughs won't rebuild, either. When they evacuated, they took three days worth of clothes, photographs and papers. What they didn't take, they lost. The only thing they have to do now is fall back on their sense of humor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what we're going to do now is we're going to wait for insurance and then we're going to --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go to Australia for six months.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: One thing they can't joke about right now, however, is the possibility of looting. Neighbors tell them that outsiders have been in the neighborhood helping themselves to the ruins. It's probably not the last time we're going to hear reports about this because it is so dark without the electricity on and the damage is so wide spread and police cannot be everywhere. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Now, David, the Pughs demonstrated why they will not be staying in their damaged home. But what about the other woman who is staying in her home? Is there some danger as to why some of these residents choose to stay in their damaged homes?

MATTINGLY: Their neighbor is actually not staying in their home. She will be staying in a mobile home that they have that is away from that area. Both the Pughs and their neighbors say they're not going to rebuild. They're going to bulldoze the area. Move out all the debris and then sell the lots to someone else who may want to build there in the future.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Mattingly, thanks so much.

On to the political storm that has been dominating headlines for weeks. Today the Pentagon released more documents linked to President Bush's Air National Guard service during Vietnam. There are different views on what can be drawn from the documents and their release. Here's CNN's Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a Federal judge ordered a full release of all documents relating to George W. Bush's time in the National Guard, Pentagon officials say they looked beyond Bush's personnel records for anything relating to his service or his squadron. In fact, the bulk of the 79 pages of additional documents are histories of an Alabama National Guard unit which don't mention Bush.

So they do little to answer the question of whether Bush showed up for alternate service in Alabama in 1972 or 1973 after he was suspended from flying status in Texas for missing a required physical. But he included as a 1968 thank you letter written by his father, then a congressman, in response to the commander of his son's training base who had written a complimentary letter two weeks earlier.

That a major general in the Air Force would take interest in a brand new Air Force trainee made a big impression on me, the future first President Bush wrote about his son. I do have the feeling he will be a gung-ho member of the U.S. Air Force. The Democratic National Committee was quick to cite the letter as evidence of preferential treatment. These documents demonstrate yet again that George Bush was a fortunate son who received special, consideration unavailable to the average American it said in a statement.

The White House insisted the new documents show it's fulfilling the president's request to release everything regarding his military service. Among the new documents, a press release written about young Lieutenant Bush sent to his hometown Houston newspapers which reflects the drug culture of the time. George Walker Bush is one member of the younger generation who doesn't get his kicks from pot or hashish or speed. Oh, he gets high all right, but not from narcotics, noting his solo flight in an F-102 fighter jet.

Predictably, the White House insisted the documents were more proof that President Bush fulfilled his military obligation. While the Democratic National Committee chairman said the president was truly proud of his service he wouldn't be releasing the documents on a Friday night. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: After weeks of being at the center of aggressive q questioning and unrelenting ad campaigns, the Vietnam war medals of Senator John Kerry were, quote, properly approved according to the U.S. Navy inspector general. Tonight a memo obtained by CNN says the Navy will take no further action on that question. Meantime on the campaign trail, Kerry got in a war of words with the Bush White House calling it wasteful and deceitful. Here's CNN's Dan Lothian.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Senator John Kerry playing to a young audience in Denver before trying to score points with grown ups at a nearby town hall meeting.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today the president's been running around the country in the last days saying how everything's rosy.

LOTHIAN: Earlier in the day in Albuquerque, Kerry launched a blistering attack on Vice President Dick Cheney's links with Halliburton and on President Bush.

KERRY: We need a president and a vice president who aren't going to sacrifice the taxpayer's money on the altar of no bid cronyism.

LOTHIAN: Kerry said his administration would not be a slave to special interests and borrowed a line from a well-known reality show.

KERRY: As commander in chief, I've got two words for companies like Halliburton that abuse the American taxpayer and the trust, "you're fired."

LOTT: The Bush/Cheney campaign retorted that these latest attacks were tired and recycled. But the Kerry campaign was relentless on the issue today, greeting the vice president as he visited Oregon with this new ad.

CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL: Dick Cheney received $2 million from Halliburton.

LOTHIAN: The ad will also play in key battleground states next week.

(on-camera): Even though the Kerry campaign believes this is an issue that will resonate with voters who see it as yet another example of special interests winning out over the average American, there is no independent polling to back that up.

LOTHIAN (voice-over): A new Gallup poll gives Bush a substantial lead in the race but Kerry advisors are downplaying the numbers, citing instead a half dozen other polls that show the race is a statistical dead heat. Dan Lothian, CNN, Aurora, Colorado.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: In what will likely be felt as a blow to Democrats, the Florida supreme court ruled six to one that reform party candidate Ralph Nader's name will appear on the November 2nd ballot. Many Democrats blame Nader's run in 2000 for taking votes from Gore in swing states, including Florida. The court threw out arguments that Nader should be kept off the ballot, saying state law favors ballot access.

Straight ahead on NEWSNIGHT, it was another bloody day in Iraq and one more day of anti-American sentiment.

Also, the fight against terrorism in Russia turns into a fight against President Putin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Lethal attacks in Iraq growing in size and frequency in recent days. Today an Iraqi police convoy was the target of a car bomb explosion in Baghdad, while earlier in Fallujah, U.S. war planes zeroed in on a suspected terrorism meeting site. Both deadly attacks fueling anger among Iraqis, saying Americans have brought fear, not freedom. Here's CNN's Walt Rogers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS (voice-over): These Iraqi police vehicles bore the brunt of the latest suicide car bomb that killed three policemen and five civilians in central Baghdad.

This witness said a car first approached the temporary Iraqi checkpoint but was turned away. Then he said the suicide bomber drove back to the checkpoint and blew himself up. Earlier in the morning, two other suicide bombers tried to attack a U.S. Army checkpoint further up the same street, but the soldiers opened fire and the suicide bombers were killed before they could hurt others.

In between these two checkpoints, Iraqi children fled continuing gun battles between the U.S. military and the insurgents, this as the Americans tried to weed out stubborn urban resistance here in Baghdad, but they get no credit from the Iraqis.

A woman complained the Americans have been here for 24 hours and there are so many wounded. The Iraqi health ministry estimated 10 wounded.

At Friday prayers, the hostility again bubbled into sermons. In the Shiite mosque, the faithful vowed to spill their blood for Muqtada al-Sadr, leader of a rebellious militia.

This Muslim sheik denounced what he called the criminal acts perpetrated against the Iraq people in Fallujah and in the Baghdad slum of Sadr City by what he called quote, the arrogant occupiers.

The Americans were also denounced amid the rubble of another U.S. air strike in Fallujah, this Iraqi calling President Bush a criminal who should stop boasting about freedom. U.S. war planes targeted another Abu Musab Zarqawai meeting site in Fallujah. U.S. military sources claim 60 of his supporters were killed but Iraqi police say 20 civilians died in the air strike.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROGERS: No matter which death toll statistics you choose to believe, the numbers continue to jump upward for both Iraqis and Americans, challenging, at least in the minds of many Iraqis, the premise that this war has been a success story. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And Walt, there are some reports that are saying that these insurgent attacks may be linked to the upcoming U.S. as well as Iraqi elections. Any truth to that?

ROGERS: Well, I'm sure there's some truth to it, but even if there were no American elections or no Iraqi elections, this insurgency is growing and the basis of the insurgency is to throw the Americans out of Iraqi. The basis, the breadth of the insurgency as I say, is getting broader every day. It is old elements from Saddam Hussein's army, from its police force but there are also the foreign fighters coming in from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria. These are Muslims who just want the United States thrown out of what they perceive to be holy Muslim land. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Walt Rogers, thanks so much from Baghdad.

Well a key argument from the Bush White House in support of the war in Iraq was that that country (UNINTELLIGIBLE) stockpiles of biological and chemical weapons. According to a draft of a report due out this month, the top U.S. weapons inspector in Iraq concluded that country did not have a major programs for weapons of mass destruction. The report did find however, that Saddam Hussein never abandoned his WMD ambition, operated small clandestine chemical labs, continued to deceive U.N. inspectors about those labs, imported banned material and worked to obtain ballistic missiles beyond prohibited ranges. The findings are consistent with those of former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, who joins us now from Washington. Good to see you David.

DAVID KAY, FMR U.S. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Good to see you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, you reported on those labs back in October. What did you find then?

KAY: Well, we found then a series of labs run mostly by the Iraqi intelligence service. They were relatively small, mini, centered in residential areas in homes. They were capable of producing small amounts of chemical or biological agents. Many seem to be directly associated with assassination activities which unfortunately were a central purpose of the Iraqi intelligence service.

WHITFIELD: So there was no assessment then that these small clandestine labs could actually mushroom into something much bigger on a larger scale causing some sort of mass destruction? KAY: Well, they certainly could carry out R&D research activities related to it. In and of themselves, they could not have grown. The physical facilities weren't there, but they certainly could have maintained program capabilities that if resources and people were available, might have been able to increase.

WHITFIELD: Well, paint a picture of the physical facilities that were there. Are we talking about labs that were being operated out of someone's kitchen?

KAY: Well, actually a number of them were centered in residential houses and grew out of the kitchen. Others were in shopping centers. These were scattered in place that the Iraqis thought U.N. inspectors would not find them. They were concealed in city centers and in residential areas, mostly quite small. I mean you're talking about two, three, four rooms at max, so they were not huge research facilities.

WHITFIELD: And so were these labs dealing with dual use type of chemicals or chemicals that are specifically and solely used for the building of weapons of mass destruction, biological chemical weapons, etc.

KAY: Well unfortunately there are few chemicals that have solely a peaceful use. They were clearly being used for the purpose of producing chemical and biological agents, but the feed stock, the chemicals involved, would have had other uses if used in a different and a more peaceful way.

WHITFIELD: So why did the U.N. never felt like they could connect the dots between Saddam's intent to progress in the weapons of mass destruction program and actually putting it into play?

KAY: Well, what happened during the inspection period, the U.N. inspection period, is that back, U.N. inspectors eliminated the no Iraqi facilities. The Iraqis then went to small clandestine facilities such as these which are very, very hard to find. You really need a human source to take you to them. As a U.N. inspector, you're not going to run across them and the Iraqis went to great lengths to be sure the U.N. inspectors didn't run across them and nor did they declare them, as they were supposed to, under U.N. resolutions. The Iraqis were in clear violation and went to great lengths to hide these.

WHITFIELD: The final version of this 1500 page report is expected to be released sometime within the next couple of weeks. Do you expect that anything particularly revealing will come of it?

KAY: No I think essentially it's painted the picture that's consistent with what we determined last October with greater depth. I'm going to say at this point, the inspection effort in Iraq is largely immaterial. That is, we know enough to know that the intelligence report of the war was wrong. The solution to that problem is in Washington, not in Baghdad and in Baghdad the problem is not the past. The problem is as Walter Rogers pointed out, a broadening insurgents movement that we do not yet have a strategy for coping with. I think actually the effort needs to be put in dealing with the future and less in resurrecting the past. We know those mistakes. We need to clean them up, but that cleaning up is in Washington, not Baghdad.

WHITFIELD: OK, former U.S. weapons inspector David Kay, thanks so much for joining us from Washington tonight.

KAY: Thank you Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, still to come on NEWSNIGHT, a remarkable story of survival in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan. And the conflict in Chechnya, voice of those who see life as death.

Also, the race for the White House, national politics at the local level.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The race for the White House, a tight horse race if you look at some national polls, a shoo-in for one of the candidates, if you believe other results. So much should we read into these polls and what explains the differences? Earlier I asked CNN political analyst Bill Schneider those questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: There are four different national polls, all of them saying a little something different. What are they reading?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We have three national polls that show the race a sudden dead heat. One shows Bush ahead by a point, one shows Kerry ahead by a point and one shows an absolute tie. These are polls by the Pew Research Center, Harris Interactive and the "Investors Business Daily." Three out of four show a very close race. One, the Gallup poll, does show Bush significantly ahead, 13 points among likely voters, eight points among registered voters, but that poll appears to be the outlier.

WHITFIELD: One point versus 13 points, huge difference there. Is there a reasonable explanation for these disparities?

SCHNEIDER: Well, the most reasonable explanation that I can figure out is that the polls that show a close race all ask people how they would vote after they ask voters a series of questions about the issues, how they feel about the economy, about the war in Iraq, about health care, about the candidates and at the end of that, they ask people now, how will you vote in this election if you had to vote right now, Bush or Kerry. In those polls, the race is very close. The Gallup poll, which is the only one that shows Bush significantly ahead, asks people how they would vote right at the outset. They ask people before they investigate the issues.

What does that suggest? It suggests that when people think about the issues, they're more inclined to vote for John Kerry and we've seen that before. Voters who say their decision is based on the issues, tend to favor Kerry. Voters who say they are voting for candidates on person grounds tend to favor Bush.

WHITFIELD: So we've been talking primarily about national polls. What about these state polls? What do they indicate?

SCHNEIDER: Well, the state polls show Kerry still in trouble and of course those are the polls that count, because in the electoral college system, there is no national election. There is only elections in 50 separate states, plus the District of Columbia. In a number of Kerry states that were hosts for Bush in - I'm sorry, that went for Gore in 2000, the so-called blue states, Kerry looks like he's in trouble. The race is very close in Pennsylvania, which was a blue state for Gore in 2000. In Maine, in Minnesota and in Wisconsin, which was a Gore state, Kerry seems to be running behind George Bush.

WHITFIELD: So we've been hearing both camps say they want to focus more on the issues, the issues as of late, voters have said they want to hear more about the economy. They want to hear more about the wars, the ongoing wars on terrorism and the war in Iraq. So if that's the case, then why does it seem that whether it's the latest intelligence document or whether it's the latest reviews on Congress, all paint a very pessimistic view of the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism. It seems as though Americans are still very much in support of the way the Bush administration is handling things. Doesn't it seem like a contradiction?

SCHNEIDER: Well, think of it this way. There are three different issues that are dominating this election: the economy, that's John Kerry's issue. He does very well on that, although recently Bush has made some gains. The war on terrorism, clearly Bush's issue and the Republican convention really made that central to the message they wanted to send out. Bush will be strong in fighting terror.

Iraq is a key. The Iraq issue has been helpful to Kerry because voters who vote on Iraq are dissatisfied with the war and unhappy with the way things are going. But their numbers were diminishing. The White House did a very smart thing. At the end of June, they staged a very elaborate ceremony in Baghdad where the United States, the occupying power, handed over power to the Iraqi government. Ever since the end of June, Iraq has diminished in importance as a concern to American voters.

Those who were concerned were voting for Kerry, but their numbers were falling. Now the latest news from Iraq may make it a bigger issue. There's been tragedies in Iraq, people killed, bombings, the situation looks chaotic. We have these intelligence reports from July that show very pessimistic assessments of the future in Iraq. You've had Republican senators, Chuck Hagel from Nebraska, Dick Lugar from Indiana, who have been expressing alarm over how things are going in Iraq. Those events have happened only in the last couple of days. They haven't sunk in yet. We'll see next week in Iraqi is suddenly becoming a bigger issue and if it is hurting the White House the way you suggest it might.

WHITFIELD: All right. Bill Schneider, thanks so much. Of course the next couple weeks are going to be certainly very pivotal as it's only a little over a month and half before election day. SCHNEIDER: That's right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks Bill.

Well, evening programs like this and national publications are the only news media outlets feeding the public's appetite for what's become a vitriolic presidential race. Millions of Americans get their information from local news and CNN's Jonathan Freed explains that what really matters maybe how it plays in Peoria or in this case, Madison, Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN FREED, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They say all politics is local. But in presidential politics, a candidate's stump speech often follows a national script, designed to have a broad appeal. Thing is, that doesn't always appease the local media at a campaign stop. Mike Johnson is a television reporter covering John Kerry's swing through Madison, Wisconsin and he's not interested in the national message.

MIKE JOHNSON, WMTV: And I'm going to look for any responsive nuance that he talks about today, anything that appeals to the Wisconsin voters here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike focuses on what Kerry has to say.

FREED: Back at the station, they explain their viewers are interested in things like local jobs and health care, rather than the president's National Guard service or John Kerry's tour in Vietnam, which have been preoccupying national media.

JIM DICK, WMTV NEWS DIRECTOR: Since this feeling of that was 30 years ago. We got issues today. Let's get back to those.

FREED: That feeling is strong at the local newspaper too where they recently put class cutbacks at the University of Wisconsin on page one and the latest campaign controversy on page three.

ELLEN FOLEY, EDITOR, WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL: Out challenge is to talk about the local issues without losing the perspective of global and national context.

FREED: Meanwhile, John Kerry's speech is over and reporter Mike Johnson says it was light on local issues.

JOHNSON: He's a national candidate and we got the national speech today.

FREED: And this time, Kerry doesn't stop to answer any local reporters' questions. The campaign says there just wasn't time. Now it's air time for Johnson.

His report focuses on the few Wisconsin specific statistics that Kerry did mention and since Kerry didn't stop to talk, there's not much context. The lack of direct access to candidates frustrates both local and national reporters, but it gives them more room to take their own direction with their reporting. Jonathan Freed, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Still to come on NEWSNIGHT, a remarkable story of survival in the aftermath of hurricane Ivan, a scary close call for one family in Florida. This is NEWSNIGHT around the world.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Back now to the aftermath of Ivan. You've seen the pictures of the bridge, the fallen trees and the flooded streets. Well, CNN's Jason Bellini has a story from the Florida panhandle that upstages some of those images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the aftermath of Ivan, in this neighborhood in Escombia (ph) on the outskirts of Pensacola, Florida, you wonder how any stay behinds could have survived.

Taylor Smith (ph) held her baby as the water in her parent's house kept rising and rising.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was preparing myself to watch my children drown.

BELLINI: Her son was so scared, he says he began to throw up. Smith's mother, Debbie Marshborn (ph) took charge.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I (UNINTELLIGIBLE) water and snacks and diapers.

BELLINI: After water from the storm surge reached their waist, she ordered everyone to the attic. Three hours later the eye of the storm passed and the water receded.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt responsible for putting them through this.

BELLINI: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, is searching house by house for people who may not have been so lucky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We focus on the fact that, for whatever reason are here, we need to help find them.

BELLINI: Local law enforcement rescued this man Friday, who was trapped and dehydrated. We heard the man in the orange shirt tell authorities his brother was missing. After seeing his house, he assumes he's dead. Smith says her family did one thing right. They didn't flee the house in panic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was my decision to come out here because I left a mobile home to come to a sturdy home. But it was my mom's decision not to go out in the storm and that's what saved our lives.

BELLINI: Despite the devastation that surrounds them, they could still be thankful. Jason Bellini, CNN, Pensacola, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Ahead on NEWSNIGHT, Russian President Putin vows to fight terrorism and the people of Russia vow to fight President Putin. You're watching NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Russia, a Chechen rebel leader today claimed responsibility for several recent terrorist attacks, including the deadly siege of a school earlier this month. The claim came as President Putin reversed himself and authorized a parliamentary investigation into the school attack, which killed hundreds of people, most of them children. Mr. Putin also vowed again today to crack down on terrorists. The tough stance he's taken in recent days is controversial. Here's CNN's Jill Dougherty.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rare sign of dissent in Vladimir Putin's Russia. A tiny protest in Moscow against the president's proposals to strengthen his grip on Russia's political process, ostensibly in order to fight terrorism. On one protest sign, Mr. Putin as Hitler.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We in Russia are engaged in serious preparations at the moment to act against terrorism in a preventive manner.

DOUGHERTY: President Putin says Russia is now at war with terrorism, but some critics charge he is exploiting that war in order to centralize even more power in his hands.

VLADIMIR RYZHIKOV, MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I believe there is no more doubt that this is an authoritarian regime and that the harshness of this regime is intensifying.

DOUGHERTY: Ryzhkov and other Putin critics claim the president has emasculated the Russian parliament, placing it under firm control of his United Russia political party. The Russian media, they charge tow the party line. President Putin's anti-terror political plans are sparking indirect criticism from the man who put him in office. Former President Boris Yeltsin urging that, in response to the Beslan school massacre, quote, we will not allow ourselves to abandon the letter and more importantly, the spirit of the constitution.

Supporters of President Putin deny democracy in Russia is in jeopardy. They say he's trying to unite Russia.

ALEXANDER LEBEDEV, UNITED RUSSIA: Using substance (ph), the things which have been offered, you - they have to do with actually strengthening certain decision making processes in the country. DOUGHERTY: Russia is rejecting western criticism of President Putin's moves. This is an internal matter, the foreign ministry says, no one is going to make any decisions that contradict the will of the Russian people. Jim Dougherty, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well the siege of the school is Beslan captured the world's attention with its pure horror, but long before the killing of the school children began, the conflict in Chechnya had already claimed thousands of lives, Russian and Chechen. A decade ago, Russia launched a major offensive against Chechen rebels fighting for independence. For most of that time, photographer Stanley Green has been documenting life and death in Chechnya. Open wound is the title he gave his book. Trolly (ph) is the publisher. Its images offer a rare window into a distant and complex place.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOICE OF STANLEY GREENE, "OPEN WOUND" CHECHNYA: I was once told by someone in the Caucasuses (ph) if you choose a road and you drove down it long enough, you're going to wind up at a conflict or a war. And that's the way it is in Chechnya. You're going (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and you wind up in the war.

Central market is Chechnya was like the biggest market for various reasons. I mean let's face it, the Chechens are not angels. I mean there was a lot of banditry with the gun market. There was a lot of stolen goods there, black marketed goods, but basically it was this rising market and it's been reduced to nothing with continual bombing, the continual fighting.

The presidential palace was the symbol for the longest time. It was a symbol during the war. It was a symbol after the war. And the Russians wanted to destroy the symbol, so one day they came in and totally demolished it. The funny thing is, the Chechens sometimes go by it and put flowers on it. You know, it's very interesting. This rubble is still a symbol of Chechen independence.

The Chechens have been pushed so far into a corner that they're no longer feel that the world cares and they basically have declared war on Russia. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in this book long before this one (ph) happened, the atrocities that are helping destroy (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that it was important to paint a picture where you saw how these people have been brought to a point (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Welcome to hell. That was the sight that I saw driving into the city and I already passed a Russian patrol that basically said that you should leave or we'd be strung up, the Chechens and then again from Russians told us that they were hanging so-called rebels as an example. But in Chechnya what's interesting is that when somebody dies, they don't want the bodies to stay around long, so they go right out quickly risk their lives to get them safely somewhere where they can prepare them for burials.

The interesting thing about the bodies that you see laying around in the photographs, those are Russians. There's 30,000 Russians that were killed in January of '95 from the beginning of the bombing and so only in small instances where people go out, enrich themselves to save the Russians. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) because she blames the fact that they hadn't been fighting the Russians, her child wouldn't have been killed and yet at the same time, she looks at life as death. She feels like she should be dead and not her child.

I put the color in there because through this book there's so much violence and it's very much stuff that really rips you up, that the color was to be used in a way to bring you back just a snap back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well now for some cheap celebrity news. Actor McCauley Culkin is probably wishing he were home alone about now. The child actor turned adult left (ph) tonight in Oklahoma City after being arrested for possession of marijuana and another controlled substance without a prescription. His publicist would not comment.

And then there's his friend Michael Jackson in a San Maria (ph) courtroom. The pop singer again told lawyers that he would never harm a child and that he also regrets making out of court settlements rather than fighting what he calls false charges. The 46-year-old super star faces multiple counts of child molestation and his trial is scheduled to begin January 31st.

We're not quite done yet. We've got a look at some quick financial headlines before we go to break. The markets closed the week in the black. All three major stock indexes ending higher, in part of news that Ford Motor Company raised its earnings forecast. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Well that's going to do it for us tonight. Aaron Brown is back in the chair on Monday. For most of you, Lou Dobbs tonight is next and for all of you have a great weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com