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CNN Live Saturday

Wilma Batters Yucatan; Arrest Made in Pamela Vitale Murder; Lawyer's Slaying Raises Questions in Hussein Trial

Aired October 22, 2005 - 12:00   ET

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

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hurricane Wilma is lingering over the Yucatan. Mexico is getting a beating. What does that mean for Florida? Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Lisa Sylvester. Let's get to the latest with Hurricane Wilma.
Here is the latest on Hurricane Wilma, a powerful Category 3 storm and still walloping the Yucatan Peninsula with relentless wind and rain. This slow moving storm has sustained winds of 150-miles-an- hour and could dump more than three feet of water in some areas. Nearly 500,000 people in Cuba are being evacuated from soggy coastal areas. Wilma is not expected to make a direct hit on the nation, but the storm could inflict serious damage as it passes by Sunday.

And in Florida, the National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane watch for the Keys, residents under a mandatory evacuation order beginning at Noon today. Governor Jeb Bush is holding a press conference on hurricane preps in just about an hour from now, and CNN will carry that live.

Right now, let's turn to Jacqui Jeras, our meteorologist, to give us the very latest. We see that massive storm about 400 miles long, just churning there, and we know that's headed over to Florida. Can you give us the latest, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, well the latest is, like you mentioned, it's huge storm, so we don't want to want to focus so much on direct landfall because this is going to be affecting much of Florida, regardless whether, you know, whether or not you get the eye or not. OK, the storm, at this time, is over the Yucatan Peninsula, 115-mile-per-hour winds. It's been steadily decreasing throughout the morning. You can see overnight, we've been losing about 5-miles-per- hour every three hours. And we'll continue to watch this go down as long as it stays over land. But, it's starting a northerly drip, it's basically been stalled out near Cancun, but now it's starting to slowly to the north and eventually we expect it to be back over the open water. And when that happens, it could intensify a little bit more.

Here's the radar picture out of Cancun and it gives you an idea of the structure of the storm and it's well organized, still at this time, and producing torrential downpours. Ten to 20 inches on average can be expected. Hurricane watches have been posted from the dry Tortugas all the way to the Keys and it does include Florida Bay. Well you're not under a watch, as this time, on the west coast of Florida, we expect watches will be posted later on today as that storm gets closer. We'll watch for those tropical storm force winds to make their way closer.

And this is our in-house computer model forecast, and I think it's got a really good handle on the timing of this storm and where it's going to be going. Back over the open water here, overnight tonight, getting closer toward Cuba. And look at the tropical storm force winds extend out so far from the center of the storm, affecting the Keys by mid day to mid afternoon tomorrow, then affecting much of the Florida coast. Look at that. In fact, right now, a high threat of rip currents on the northern coast of the coast, across the Florida Panhandle into Alabama because of the high surf from this storm.

Our computer model forecast does have it intensifying back up to a Category 3 after we think it will weaken to a two before it gets back over the open water. So, we do need to prepare for a Category 3, weakens as it gets closer towards Florida because of those unfavorable upper level winds and water temperatures cooler here. And our best estimate on landfall will be sometime on Monday morning, moving very quickly across the peninsula and out into the Atlantic.

And one more quick note, Lisa, is that we have another tropical system, this is a tropical depression, TD No. 25, just south and west of Puerto Rico. It should stay away from the United States, but likely in the history book with his Tropical Storm Alpha by this time tomorrow.

SYLVESTER: Oh no, that's not what we want to hear, not another storm brewing off the coast. But thank you very much Jacqui, we appreciate it.

Now the National Hurricane Center has just released its latest advisory. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has details coming up, but first, let's check with our crew in Cancun, Mexico. As Wilma slammed on shore, our CNN crews recording wind gusts of 150-miles-an-hour and the storm surge in that city -- it's resort city is forecast to reach 11 feet. Our own Susan Candiotti is in the howling thick of it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The winds are less strong than they were from a Category 3 to a Category 4. The difference really is incremental at this hour. As the sun is coming up, the wind is still screeching and howling. There is water dripping down the walls of the ceilings of the hotel where we hunkered down for the night. This place is facing the Gulf of Mexico, so we are looking out to the east. And it would appear as though the wind has changed direction from yesterday when it was coming in directly from the east. Now it appears to be coming in from the southeast, which might represent a bit of a curvature of the, you know, the counterclockwise winds from Wilma.

Now, the -- we can only speak, of course, from where we are. The phones are out, the power has been out for hours and hours and hours. The hope is, however, that the hotel residents that were moved by authorities, I guess it was a day and a half ago, to hotels in downtown Cancun, which is about a half hour from here, presumably, they are all right. They did have provisions at the time, they seem pretty well set, and the people there were in fairly good spirits when I talked with them. There was nothing else they could do, but just to ride out the storm where they are.

Now, as the sun is now coming up we -- if the roads are passable -- will go outside and check things out. That might be a little while before we are able to do that. I know yesterday they were covered in parts and you couldn't get through because of the high water and in some sections -- and in some areas the debris. So, the question is, how long will these conditions last? As you have been hearing, perhaps throughout the day, so it may be difficult to get around.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SYLVESTER: And Florida is already feeling the effects of Hurricane Wilma. We want you to take a look at these pictures now. The outer bands of rain are causing flooding in Fort Lauderdale. Tropical storm force winds extend up to 200 miles from the hurricane center.

Many Floridians aren't waiting for Wilma to get closer. They've boarded up and are getting out now. And just a few minutes ago, mandatory evacuations were ordered for all residents of the low-lying Florida Keys. Mandatory evacuations are in effect for areas close to the Gulf Coast like Naples, Florida and Dan Summer is the director of Emergency Management in Collier County where Naples is located and he joins us now on the phone.

Dan, what did you tell us about preparations that are being made? Are people taking this seriously now that we have the example of Hurricane Katrina to look to?

DANNY SUMMERS, DIR. COLLIER CO. EMERGENCY MGMT.: Yes, indeed they are. They're doing very well. We issued a voluntary precautionary evacuation as early as Wednesday when we saw the Category 5 storm event and expected a very fast-moving storm. Well we have been fortunate in that we have gained additional time as a result of the storm's slow passing over the Yucatan. However, at least in Collier County and most of the southwest Florida, everyone has used that time for an evacuation opportunity and yesterday our mandatory evacuation took place at 12:00 noon.

We had very few traffic problems. We gave everyone ample time to prepare. There were, occasionally, the couple of spot fuel outages, but no fuel shortages. All of that seems to be working very well and it has given our emergency operations center additional time to stage additional resources and make additional plans. So, Collier County and our partners around the surrounding counties, we have been in good communication and feel very ready at this point.

SYLVESTER: Once the storm, this hurricane, leaves the Yucatan Peninsula, it is expected to pick up speed as it moves through the Gulf and pick up intensity, a fast-moving storm at that point. What are you telling your residents in terms of what they should do, the residents, for instance, who are saying they don't want to leave? What are you advising them? SUMMERS: We have had very little non-compliance with our evacuation recommendations. We had good compliance with the voluntary. The mandatory is going very well. Our municipalities continue to check on some of those low-lying areas. I think we will not have a situation of any significance related to non-compliance of our evacuation orders. We feel very comfortable. We continue to check on those communities. We used a number of notification systems and I think we'll be in good shape for the storm's arrival.

SYLVESTER: Dan Summers, thank you very much, joining us from Naples. Best of luck to you as you weather this storm.

SUMMERS: Thank you...

SYLVESTER: Florida Governor Jeb Bush is scheduled to give a news conference about storm preparations in his state and that news conference is set to begin at the top of the hour. CNN will carry it live and we'll have live reports from other Florida cities getting ready for the hurricane. That's just ahead.

Coverage of the approaching storm. Stay tuned today to CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

Are we getting back -- checking some other stories now in the news, defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on a whirlwind tour through Asia and Europe after a brief stop today in Mongolia, Rumsfeld flew on to Lithuania. He's scheduled to attend NATO talks in the Lithuania capitol on Monday. The tour included earlier stops in South Korea and China.

Iraqis are still waiting on the outcome of last week's constitutional referendum. The final results are not likely until a few days from now. Initial returns indicate the charter passed. Officials say, in counting the votes, they found no serious cases of fraud, but they're still verifying some returns.

Condoleezza Rice is putting her diplomatic duties aside today. It's a home coming weekend for the secretary of state. She was in Alabama on two day visit and she was accompanied by British-born secretary Jack Straw. Yesterday, she and Straw stopped in Brigham where Rice attended school. A couple of hours from now, they're scheduled to attend the Alabama Tennessee football game in Tuscaloosa.

We want to take you now to these pictures that are just in from Broward County, Florida, courtesy of our affiliate, WSVN. These are flooding pictures. The Florida coast area has already been getting a significant amount of rain from the outer bands of Hurricane Wilma. You can see this vehicle, very dangerous flooding conditions as it tries to make it through. And usually in these flooding conditions, people are advised, you know, that they really don't know the depth of the water that it might seem that it's not that deep. They suddenly drive their vehicles and get stuck. So, clear warning for residents to be careful in Broward County, Florida.

Now we've got Lucia Newman on the line, she is in Cuba. And the ferocious storm is headed her way. Let's check in now. Lucia, what can you tell us about the conditions of Cuba where you are staying?

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Lisa. Well, right now, it's getting more and more windy, it's extremely cloudy, but hasn't been raining, at least not up until now, here in Havana. It is raining, though, and has been since yesterday rather consistently, although not heavily on the western tip of Cuba in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Rio Province, which will be hit first when the storm begins moving in this direction. The outer bands of the hurricane have already, we understand, flooded a river in a place called (UNINTELLIGIBLE) which is on the far western tip of that province.

Now, of course, there -- people were evacuated the day before yesterday. Authorities are taking no chances. They're taking what some even consider even extreme measures, evacuating so far more than 300,000 people from (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and parts of Havana Province, and there'll probably be more evacuated as that storm moves closer and closer to us here, Lisa.

SYLVESTER: Be careful there, Lucia. We saw the flooding just a few minutes ago in Broward County, Florida, I'm sure you're expecting, if you haven't already, a significant amount of rain there as well. Thank you very much, Lucia Newman, for join us.

Coming up a case in California, almost too horrific to imagine. A mother accused of throwing her three young children into the San Francisco Bay. We'll have the latest details on the suspect and what her family is saying about her mental state.

And at the top of the hour, a live news conference from Florida Governor Jeb Bush on hurricane preparations in his state. You're watching CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYLVESTER: We have been tracking Hurricane Wilma and we want to take you now live to show you these pictures from Broward County, Florida, courtesy of our affiliate, WSVN. You can see flooded streets there, cars, pickup trucks just slip sliding away.

This is a very significant storm. And what they are getting, essentially, is the outer band of Hurricane Wilma, just to put this in perspective. This isn't even Wilma coming ashore. This is just the outer band of Hurricane Wilma, dumping significant amount of rain there. They are expecting as much as 11 inches in parts of Florida as the storm continues.

So, this is the storm people have to take very seriously. We know that Florida has been use to storms and hurricanes in the past. But, in light of what happened with Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans people are taking this much more seriously. We will continue to update this story throughout the afternoon.

Now turning to California. Prosecutors there say a teenager will be tried as an adult in the beating death of a well-known defense attorney's wife. Sixteen-year-old Scott Edgar Dyleski was charge yesterday with one count of murder in connection with the slaying of Pamela Vitale. Defense attorney and legal commentator, Daniel Horowitz, says he found his wife's brutally beaten body at their San Francisco area home last Saturday. Dyleski made his first court appearance yesterday. His bail is set for $1 million. Law enforcement officials say Pamela Vitale was beaten to death with a piece of crown molding and they say a crucifix was carved in her back.

Law enforcement officials say Dyleski lived near Daniel Horowitz and Pamela Vitale's estate and they say Vitale may have confronted the teen on her property. Let's go now to Jim Zamora, the "San Francisco Chronicle" reporter who has been following this case very closely.

What can you tell us about how likely are they to get a life without the possibility of patrol? Will they seek the death penalty? What's the maximum charge that prosecutors may seek?

JIM ZAMORA, "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE": At this time, Scott Dyleski is charged with murder with using a bludgeon and because of his age, he does not turn 17 until October 30, he can only face a maximum penalty at this time of 26 years to life. That means he would serve 26 years minimum and then the possibility of patrol after that date. California -- under California law, he cannot face the death penalty for the crime that he's charged with.

Prosecutors believe that he came onto the property as part of a scam where he was using stolen credit cards to order supplies for growing marijuana in a remote area of the hills about 25 miles east of San Francisco. They believe that he confronted Pamela Vitale and a struggle ensued and he bludgeoned her 39 times with a piece of wooden crown molding that was being used in the remodeling and construction of their new home.

SYLVESTER: I know that this case is very much in the early stages, but how important will DAN evidence play in this case? And also what sort of evidence has investigators been able to piece together at this point?

ZAMORA: Investigators, even last night, after Scott Dyleski was charged and in custody, were still searching the property nearby there. He lives in a home about a mile down the road from Horowitz and Vitale. But, if you hike up the hill, there's sort of a remote path, it's only about quarter of a mile that way.

There were deputies searching that area late last night, they brought out generators, they brought out lights. So, they're still looking for evidence. That's clear. One of the things they believe is that he took some clothing from the home. They're also examining possible DNA that may have been found in Miss Vitale's fingernails. One of the odd things about this case is that after the crime, they believe that the killer of Miss Vitale went and used a shower and cleaned -- took a shower there and cleaned himself and cleaned his clothing with a solvent.

Now, it's unclear exactly what else happened in that scenario, what other items might have been taken. They don't believe that the motive here was robbery, but there could be significant smaller pieces of evidence that Scott Dyleski could have taken from that scene and that's the focus of what investigators are looking at, at this time.

SYLVESTER: Jim Zamora from the "San Francisco Chronicle," thank you very much for giving us that update.

ZAMORA: Thank you.

SYLVESTER: A mother charged with murdering her three sons by dropping them into San Francisco Bay is under suicide watch at a hospital jail ward. Lashaun Harris has pleaded not guilty. A family member says she has schizophrenia and has stopped taking her medication.

Right now we want to turn, though, our focus to the hurricane on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. Slow-moving Wilma gives FEMA plenty of time to prepare for a Florida landfall. We'll look at the agency's readiness for the storm.

And Florida Governor Jeb Bush talks the agonizing hurry up and wait for Wilma. His news conference at the top of the hour. See it live on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYLVESTER: We want to take you back out live to Florida now where flooding continues in Broward County, Florida. We've been showing you these pictures all morning long. You can see -- it looks to be about six inches or so in parts of Broward County, Florida. Now, this is an area that was already hit hard last year by Hurricane Charley.

It's going to be a very dicey situation as these next few days continues. Because, just keep in mind, that this hurricane has not even hit landfall yet. It's actually not expected to reach Florida's coast until Monday afternoon. So, if this is what we're seeing now you can expect, as the days go on, just how much more difficult and how many more problems this storm is going to pose.

Right now, Hurricane Wilma is a Category 3. It's expected to slow down to a Category 2. It's still packing a severe punch, though, with 150-mile-per-hour winds, a major, major concern. Storm surges, that's a huge worry for the Florida Keys in southwest Florida. And at the top of this hour there -- a mandatory evacuation order took effect for the Florida Keys. Although, there are some residents who are saying they are going to stick it out and hang in there.

Broward County, taking a looking at these pictures, you can see the pickup trucks trying to wade through. We're going to keep these pictures up as we continue on. But right now, we want to check in with Susan Candiotti who is in Cancun, who bared the brunt of this storm. She actually rode the storm out.

Susan, what can you tell us?

CANDIOTTI: Lisa, the storm just has not let up for two days and apparently is still stuck off shore. I've covered a lot of hurricanes but that's what makes the big difference here. Usually they come, they hit, they move on. This one just won't leave. And that is the big difference, particularly in Cancun between this storm and, for example, Hurricane Emily that hit back in July.

We drove around today. We talked with some Mexican employees of a shopping center, a huge complex, where the roof basically caved in, a beautiful glass mural. There is debris on the floor, there is water on the floor.

About 15 people spent the night riding out the storm there. I asked were they worried about their families. No, they said they felt that they were in pretty good shape. They live about a half hour away from where we are, which is basically a strip of luxury hotels. Their families live in the center of town and, according to these workers, they made out all right. All communications have been bad. I asked whether they have seen any police vehicles, any emergency vehicles in the commercial area where we are. They had not. And nor have we.

But as you drive around, there is high water in a lot of spots on the roads here, where we are reporting to you from. Making it impossible for us to get to the downtown area where a lot of tourists are stranded. We are, however, talking, as I said, to the locals, who spent the night here.

SYLVESTER: We apparently just lost Susan Candiotti. She was describing the conditions there in Cancun, where overnight they were slammed by Hurricane Wilma. We'll continue to track this story as more information becomes available. Stay tuned with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

So there have been some leaks. They claim that he has to move the trial to some other location, another venue, to get a fair hearing. It also happens that Travis County, which is the capital, Austin, is probably the most Democratic and liberal part of Texas. So there's clearly a motive in getting the trial changed.

SYLVESTER: This clearly has not been a very good couple of months for the administration. To borrow a phrase -- I think Candy Crowley used this phrase -- the gang that can't shoot straight. What are the long-term implications? We've got the congressional races, for instance, coming up. SCHNEIDER: Oh, that's only a year ago away. And Republicans in Congress are nervous. What will happen in the next three years to Mr. Bush's agenda? And, by the way, what is his agenda for the next three years? We'll probably hear about it sometime around the State of the Union at the end of January.

But at the moment, the president seems to be much weakened. Doesn't have a lot of clout, and even his own party is in rebellion against him on spending issues in the House of Representatives, and the Harriet Miers nomination in the Senate. So as long as this president -- his poll ratings are low, his clout will be diminished and his ability to pursue any kind of agenda will simply be hampered.

SYLVESTER: They also have the CIA leak case hanging over their heads. This is expected to be a big week. What are expecting? What are you thinking? Indictments, or what will Patrick Fitzgerald come up with?

SCHNEIDER: I am not privy to his deliberations. No one in Washington is. That doesn't stop everyone from speculating. Right now, the speculation is he'll come up with some kind of charges, perhaps conspiracy or obstruction of justice or perjury. No one really knows for a fact.

Of course, he could come up no charges. That would be sensational, but it's possible. He says he's not going to file a report. He could even ask for the grand jury term to be extended. But I think the prevailing expectation, based on very little hard information, is that somebody will be charged with something. How's that for information?

SYLVESTER: We'll keep tracking that. Let me just squeeze one more question in in the time that we have. Miers, it seems that there's this whole crisis of confidence. She doesn't seem to have that ground swell of support that Roberts had -- Justice Roberts had. Now what does she and the administration, what do they need to do to essentially sell her to lawmakers?

SCHNEIDER: I think everything will depend on her confirmation hearings. When she goes before the Senate Judiciary Committee, her task will be to reassure all those senators who are going to be coming after her, asking her all kinds of questions, that she can handle herself well, that she's a lot smarter, more impressive, more accomplished than the caricature of her that has come out. She actually has broken barriers. She's been a distinguished lawyer in Texas. And she has to present herself as an impressive person, because all the publicity about her over the last few weeks has been very damaging.

SYLVESTER: Bill Schneider, always a pleasure. We appreciate your time.

And if you want to learn more about the ins and outs of politics, take a peak inside the reporter's notebooks. Tune into CNN's "ON THE STORY." That's tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

Coming up next, a couple of real talkers. A cat that will have your tongue wagging. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYLVESTER: And we will be updating the situation with Hurricane Wilma. Join us in the next hour as we go to the CNN weather center.

Halloween is just ahead. And if black cats creep you out this time of the year, wait until you hear the tale Jeanne Moos has on the tip of her tongue.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kids do it to catch snowflakes, apes do it to catch rain drops, snakes do it, models do it, even geniuses do it. So when a cat does it, what's the big deal?

BILL WHITTINGTON, CAT OWNER: Everybody laughs at me until they see her. They don't laugh no more.

MOOS: Forget nine lives, we are talking two tongues. The last time we saw something like this was at a sword swallower's convention where a guy named lizard man was showing off his fork tongue practicing tongue twisters like leg scissors.

But lizard man's tongue was surgically altered. the Cat was born this way, named five toes because she has one extra. It took several years for her owners to realize that five toes had two tongues.

WHITTINGTON: She flicked them tongues out, and with a yell, I let out. In the middle of the night in a dimly-lit bathroom, and you see a cat flick out two tongues, what would you do?

MOOS: Tongues can be a meal ticket. Take Mr. Winkal, Famed For a tongue that seems perpetually stuck, hanging out whether he's getting bathed or getting blow dried. Would Mr. Winkal have a stuffed animal in his image if it weren't for his tongue?

And if your dog's tongue is inadequate, there's always Humunga Tongue, a prize-winning doggy toy sold on the Moody Pet Web site.

Michelle Lavan dreamed it up inspired by her own dog's tongue, or lack thereof.

(on camera): The company slogan, a ball and a tongue all in one. They sold over 350,000 of these things.

(voice-over): Bite your tongue, or bad things can happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are going to stick your tongue at that girl. Oh, look at that.

MOOS: From the Rolling Stones, to Kiss, tongues are wagging. Rumor has it that Gene Simmons' tongue was actually a cow's tongue grafted on. Don't believe it.

The next edition of "Ripley's Believe It Or Not" will feature the cat who must be twice as well groomed. Maybe she's allergic to publicity. Cat got your tongues?

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SYLVESTER: Let's take you back out live to Broward County, Florida, where you can see the flooding has already started. They're seeing some direct effects of Hurricane Wilma. Now, this is from rain from the outer bands of Hurricane Wilma. It has still not made landfall. It's not expected to do so, in fact, until Monday afternoon.

But it is a Category 3 storm that's hanging out over the Yucatan Peninsula with winds of up to 115 miles per hour. And it is headed to the Florida area. There's a mandatory evacuation order now in place for the Florida Keys. Also Southwest Florida is also bracing for the brunt of Hurricane Wilma. Now, this is an area that was hit pretty hard last year by Hurricane Charley.

But, again, taking a look at these pictures, you can see it looks about maybe six inches of rain or so. It looks like it may be even a little bit higher, coming up at least to the ankles, perhaps to the knees on some of these people. Their cars are clearly stuck. We've seen such situations in the past with flooding where people try to drive down a road, they see that it's flooded but they still, for some reason, think that they can make it through.

And, of course, then their car gets stuck. And that's where they are right now, so they're just kind of hanging out right now. I'm sure their insurance companies will be getting claims from them in a short while. More flooding, though, more problems for Broward County, Florida.

Now we want to -- just a few minutes ago, we had Susan Candiotti joining us live from Cancun. She's using a satellite phone, but because of the conditions there, it's been very difficult. Communication problems, so we lost her for just a few minutes, but we will be checking back with Susan. She's fine right now.

She had a chance to venture out of the hotel to take a look at some of the devastated areas, but she hasn't been able to make it all the way downtown. That's the area where about 20,000 tourists are hunkered down. So we will be checking back with Susan throughout the afternoon.

Now, just a couple of days from now, Hurricane Wilma, as we said, is expected to slam ashore in Florida. Right now, storm preparations are in full swing, and mandatory evacuation orders are in place for the low-lying Florida Keys and parts of the state's southwestern Gulf coast. CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is with us now from Sanibel Island. Hi, Allan. ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Lisa. Well, a mandatory evacuation has just taken effect here on Sanibel Island. The police have been phoning residents, going door to door, urging people to leave, but they're not going to force anyone out. And one of the people staying is Dick Munech.

He owns the local campground and on that campground he has 400 exotic birds, also some lemurs. He loves his animals and has set up some cages to bring some of the birds in too, in case the storm does come over here. He did leave last year during the worst of Hurricane Charley, but now he knows he needs to stay with his pets.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK MUNECH, ANIMAL OWNER: I left for Charley and it was so traumatic trying to get back on, because of having to get here to feed that we -- I have an absolute philosophy. I'm never leaving again. There are places on this island you can go and sit it out, wait until it's gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Lee county officials had been planning to set up an animal shelter not too far away, but they decided against it, because the civic center where they were planning to do that actually can only handle maybe a Category 1 or maybe Category 2 storm. So instead what's been happening around here is that the Humane Society has already airlifted about 20 animals to shelters in other states -- Lisa.

SYLVESTER: Allan, what is your sense -- how many residents would you say are actually staying there and how many have left? Just a rough estimate or a percentage?

CHERNOFF: Well, there are only about 6,000 full-time residents here on Sanibel Island. The bulk of the population during the high vacation season are tourists, as many as 40,000 people. But I can't give you an exact number right now. The police don't even know exactly how many still remain on the island.

Certainly, at least a few hundred, but we don't have an exact figure as to that. The majority of people have left, driven right down that causeway behind me, one lane in either direction. And as you can see, the traffic right now heading primarily back to the mainland.

SYLVESTER: Allan Chernoff joining us from Sanibel Island. Thank you very much.

Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is keeping track of Hurricane Wilma. And she's with us now from the CNN Weather Center with the very latest information -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Lisa, we're looking at a Category 3 storm that's just drifting over the Yucatan Peninsula at this time, 115 mile per hour winds, so that's in the lower range of Category 3 strength. And it's been steadily weakening all day. And we're expecting it to continue to do so, but it's likely going to take at least another six to 12 hours before it gets back off the peninsula and over open waters, which would be good news for Cancun.

But once it does that, it is going to start to intensify a little bit once again and it could be a little bit stronger at that time. Hurricane watches have been posted for all the Florida Keys, including Florida Bay. Also extending over towards the Dry Tortugas, but we do anticipate watches to be issued later on today for the west coast of Florida, possibly up towards Naples, into Ft. Myers and maybe even into Tampa Bay.

We'll see what the National Hurricane Center says, but the reason why these watches have been issued already is because we're expecting the tropical storm force winds to be arriving just over 24 hours from now, 24 to 36 hours. And we want to give you enough time to get out of here before those winds get too strong and you can't get over some of those bridges.

So, the sooner, the better, obviously. And we do need to prepare for a major hurricane at landfall. Though our best estimate at this time is that it will likely be a Category 2 somewhere across the southwest Florida coast on Monday morning -- Lisa.

SYLVESTER: All right. Thank you very much, Jacqui Jeras, for that update. Now we want to take you back out to Broward County, Florida. We've been monitoring this situation in the last few minutes or so. You take a look at these pictures.

This is of water that's about ankle deep. That's just sitting in Broward County. Vehicles are trying to slowly make their way through this water, flooding. And keep in mind that this is just the outer band of Hurricane Wilma showing its effect.

And this area is bracing for the brunt of Hurricane Wilma as we just heard Jacqui Jeras reporting. It is expected to be a Category 2 hurricane when it reaches Florida's coast. Now, the Florida keys are bracing for an expected hit from Hurricane Wilma as well. Reporter Yvonne Nava with our affiliate WPLG is in Key West -- Yvonne.

YVONNE NAVA, KEY WEST, FLORIDA: Well, good afternoon, Lisa. That mandatory evacuation order is in effect. It set in around 12:00, so half an hour since then. Taking a look here on Duval Street, not too much traffic, but earlier, there was a lot of traffic. So this may be a very, very good sign, a sign that people are actually heading out, like county officials want them to.

Now one thing that's very important, we are under a hurricane watch. A hurricane watch for all of the Florida keys, of course, including Key West. So what that means is that although conditions are favorable now, there's the sun that's out, a nice little breeze, no rain at all, that can definitely change within the next 36 hours or less. That means that we'll be experiencing hurricane-like conditions, hurricane force winds.

So definitely, county officials want people to definitely pay attention, pack their bags, leave right now. And right now, I did notice that there's less traffic. It was a lot heavier earlier. So that's a very good sign. It means that people are taking precaution, maybe going to the mainland, going to visit family and friends, just making sure they are safe.

You know, we have been here since Wednesday. And the evacuation orders were in effect on Thursday, they were pushed back to Friday, and then today. So finally, it is in effect.

We want to let you know, there are no shelters here. There is a shelter at Florida International University. And city buses here, shuttle buses are actually transporting people free of charge to FIU to make sure they're safe. So that's the very latest conditions here. Not too bad, but we'll definitely be feeling the effects of Hurricane Wilma very, very soon. I'm Yvonne Nava in Key West.

SYLVESTER: Yvonne Nava joining us from WPLG. Thank you very much.

Ahead of Wilma's expected arrival, Florida Governor Jeb Bush is urging people in his state to keep an eye on the storm and not get frustrated by its slow pace. Governor Bush plans to hold a briefing at the top of the hour, and we'll have live coverage when it happens.

If you're away from your TV, can you keep track on the latest on Hurricane Wilma on our Web site. Just log on to CNN.com for the up to the minute information. And now this.

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SYLVESTER: This reminder, coming up at 1:00 p.m. Eastern, Florida Governor Jeb Bush holds a news conference about Hurricane Wilma. We'll be bringing it to you live on CNN.

Meanwhile, turning to other news, Iraqi authorities are investigating this week's shooting death of attorney representing one of Saddam Hussein's codefendants. Sadoon Janabi represented Awad Hamad Bandar, the former chief judge of Hussein's Revolutionary Court. CNN's Aneesh Raman looks at what might lie behind the killing.

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ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Standing in the world's most secure courtroom, Sadoon Janabi argued the case, one of 13 defense attorneys in the first trial of Saddam Hussein and seven other members of his former regime that began on Wednesday morning. Thursday, Janabi was dead, his body found here, near a mosque in northern Baghdad, killed by a single bullet to the head, just hours after being kidnapped from his office.

MOHAMED IBRAHIM, WITNESS: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

RAMAN: Two pickup trucks with his 20 to 25 people inside them took him, says Mohamed Ibrahim. We do not know they were from the government of not. Janabi represented Awad Bandar, the former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, on trial for sentencing 143 villagers from Dujail to death after Saddam Hussein survived an assassination attempt there in July 1982.

Janabi's murder raises additional concerns for the Iraqi Special Tribunal, most immediately in terms of security which, according to the government, is offered to defense attorneys, something they say Janabi turned down. Kamal Allaw, chairman of the Iraqi Lawyer's Union, contends further steps need to be taken.

KAMAL ALLAW, IRAQI LAWYER'S UNION (through translator): The whole society should look after lawyers, but in this exceptional circumstance, the government should take full responsibility. But, unfortunately, nothing.

RAMAN: In a country where kidnapping and murder are commonly used to send messages and settle scores, it's not hard to find hatred for anyone connected to Saddam Hussein and his lieutenants.

(on camera): Janabi's murder raises logistical questions. On Sunday, there's set to be witness testimony in this trial by a critically ill detainee. How the death of a defense lawyer will affect that and the overall proceedings is now being debated among Iraq's legal circles. Aneesh Raman, CNN Baghdad.

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SYLVESTER: On a political note, these are troubled times for the Republican Party here in the United States. Coming up, Bill Schneider joins me to talk about the legal problems facing former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

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SYLVESTER: Updating our top story, Hurricane Wilma is still pounding Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. This slow-moving storm is blamed for at least two deaths in that region. Wilma's fury has dropped a little bit as it passes over land, and once it gets into the Gulf of Mexico, the hurricane is expected to head to south Florida and make another landfall, probably sometime Monday.

Across south Florida, the waiting and watching for Hurricane Wilma goes on. And so far, it's too early to pinpoint where the storm will make landfall in the state. So people across the southern Florida peninsula are boarding up, stocking up, or heading for higher ground. Mandatory evacuations orders are already in place for parts of the region, including the Florida Keys.

By any political yardstick, the last few months have been anything but grand for the Grand Old Party. One indictment, whispers of more questions, but few answers from a Supreme Court nominee. And the polls? The president sinks.

Senior political analyst Bill Schneider is in Washington today, joining me now. But this was a pretty remarkable week, seeing the mug shot, a smiling picture of Tom DeLay, fingerprinted, charged with money laundering and conspiracy. He says it's a political vendetta. What is the read in Washington? Legitimate charges or a vendetta or sorts?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think you could say most people think there could be both, a political vendetta, and there could something legitimate in those charges. Tom DeLay played it very smart. He got a mug shot taken to look like a campaign poster and he charged the judge with at least the appearance of a conflict of interest, because he given money to a group that opposes Tom DeLay. This case could take some time. I'm not sure that's in Mr. DeLay's interest because he wants to get this case over with as quickly as possible.

SYLVESTER: DeLay's lawyers -- as you mentioned, they are seeking a change of judge, and a change of venue. Talk us through and explain why this is so significant in this case.

SCHNEIDER: Well, the case was brought in Travis County, which is Austin, Texas. DeLay's attorneys claim that that is prejudicial to their client because there's been a lot of publicity about the prosecutor -- that's Ronnie Earle's investigations. There have been some leaks. They claim that he has to move the trial to some other location, another venue, to get a fair hearing.

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