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Lou Dobbs Tonight

Hurricane Isabel Strikes East Coast; France, Germany Offer Limited Support in Iraq

Aired September 18, 2003 - 18:00   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.


LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Isabel is sweeping inland after hammering coastal communities in North Carolina and Virginia. We'll have live reports from our correspondents all along Isabel's path.
Counting the costs of Isabel, what the hurricane means for travelers and homeowners. Jan Hopkins and Peter Viles report.

Friendly foes or faux friends? France and Germany change course. They offer the United States limited help in Iraq. Kitty Pilgrim reports.

Success and satisfaction in life, how one businessman with an obsession for popular culture and music became the head of a global media empire.

ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Thursday, September 18. Here now, Lou Dobbs.

DOBBS: Good evening.

Hurricane Isabel is hammering the East Coast tonight. And the full force of the storm is charging inland at 24 miles an hour. At least one death has been blamed on the storm. And President Bush has just declared a major disaster in North Carolina. The hurricane pounded the shore with 100-mile-an-hour winds, torrential rain, and tidal surges more than six feet high.

The eye of Hurricane Isabel made landfall at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on the southern part of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. In North Carolina, almost 100,000 people have lost power. The governor has mobilized 600 National Guard troops. Isabel has also hit neighboring Virginia, and hit Virginia hard; 800,000 Virginians are without power tonight. Forecasters say this hurricane could produce isolated tornadoes.

CNN correspondents are all along the East Coast, reporting on the path of this storm: Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Kris Osborn is in Richmond, Virginia; Ed Lavandera at North Topsail Breach, North Carolina; and Susan Candiotti at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

We turn first to Jeanne Meserve -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The winds are incredibly intense here. Someone told me one of the local radio stations was reporting things were dying down. That is certainly not the case.

You can see the wind and rain are just whipping. I'm watching the roof of the hotel next door. (AUDIO GAP) this afternoon, a very dangerous situation, because (AUDIO GAP) a flying missile that could (AUDIO GAP) Fortunately, we didn't see anybody hurt by any of this. But, as I say, pieces are still continuing to fly.

DOBBS: Jeanne Meserve, we have lost your audio. We can tell just from the video and from the difficulty you're having there speaking how strong that storm is still in Virginia Beach.

Let's turn now to the eye of hurricane. It's tonight moving into Virginia from North Carolina. Kris Osborn is in Richmond and joins us now -- Kris.

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Lou.

Well, yes, there has just been, in the last few minutes, somewhat of an intensification, stronger wind gusts, some heavier rain, some small debris flying around. Emergency officials in the state of Virginia tell us -- you referred to this as well -- as many as 40 percent of the entire state are without power. In this residential community in Richmond, the entire place is without power as well.

We can give you a quick look around. And you can see, there have been some fallen limbs. Some trees are down. There have been some acorns and twigs flying about in the air, along with some heavy rainfall. Various utility trucks have been driving up and down the streets. Some roads have been closed. They've been trying to repair downed power lines.

The community, though, Lou, I can tell, by and large, has been holding up pretty well.

Case in point, I'm joined by Patrick Wilson (ph).

Thanks so much for joining me tonight live on CNN.

(CROSSTALK)

OSBORN: How are you holding up? And tell me what you and your family have gone through today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing fine. For the most part, the major concern that is that we've had so much rain in the past that that limb that you see out there that's already cut up fell down last week, just due to too much rain. And our major concern is that we're going to have trees fall on any of the residences. So that's why you don't see cars parked on the streets.

OSBORN: Absolutely. There have been some fallen trees.

Talk to me about your cellar. I understand you boarded up down there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just basically closed up the best we could, put towels around the windows, doors, that sort of thing.

OSBORN: A lot of concern about flooding?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without a doubt. Most of the homes in this area have sump pumps that they have installed. They use their basement as living space. Without power, the such pumps aren't going to work. So they're looking for backup power for that.

OSBORN: And then lastly, Patrick, how are the kids and the family holding up? A day home from school, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're doing great. It's given us an opportunity to spend a little quality time together. We closed up our distribution facility around 2:00 this afternoon. So it gave us a little extra time to spend with the family.

OSBORN: Yes, erring on the side of caution, an upside, if you will, to the disastrous situation.

Thank you very much, the entire Wilson family.

Lou, back to you. If there is anything possible in terms of a positive aspect to this, the hurricane, as we understand from meteorologists, is moving quickly, which means there's less occasion for flooding. That being said, Lou, of course, very concerned about flooding throughout this whole area -- back to you.

DOBBS: Absolutely, Kris. And the Wilsons making the best of a bad day, at least in terms of the weather, a good day for family, it looks like. Kris Osborn, thank you.

Hurricane Isabel passed through North Topsail Beach in North Carolina earlier. Residents there tonight are assessing the damage.

Our Ed Lavandera is there with them -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Lou.

Well, this is a very thin island. Over here, you have the Atlantic Ocean. The Intercostal Waterway is just over here to my left. These dunes along here that you see are supposed to protect all of the homes and buildings on this island from the storm surge. Initially, the concern was, is that the storm surge would be so high that perhaps some of the lower levels of the buildings and hotels and homes that are on this island would be flooded out, but that's not happened.

We have driven through parts of North Carolina just slightly north of where we are, up to Morehead City, as well as New Bern, throughout the day. What we have seen is just rather low levels of flooding in some areas. We've also seen some roads that have been littered with debris, some downed power lines and some downed trees, but, by and large, a very good situation. We talked to a couple of police officers along the way.

They're saying, hey, considering this was such a strong storm, being on the southern edge of this hurricane has turned out to be a good thing for this part of North Carolina, as the damage has been minimal to this point. However, they're still urging people to be very cautious. The rain continues to fall. The wind also -- the wind speeds continue to stay at a pretty steady rate, probably about 35, 40 miles an hour at this point, occasionally.

So they are still urging people to stay inside. If you don't need to be outside, don't come out. And, by and large, as we have driven around today, people seem to be heeding that warning. We didn't see anyone -- or virtually very few people on the road today, so people listening to those occasions. We have heard from many people, as the this storm was approaching, that this is the type of storm that many people in North Carolina, although they are veterans of this type of storm, that they had been paying very close attention to the warnings that had been put out -- Lou.

DOBBS: Ed, thank you very much -- Ed Lavandera.

Let's go now to Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach -- Virginia Beach, Virginia, still being hard hit, as you can see.

Jeanne, can you hear me?

MESERVE: Lou, I can hear you.

This is how bad the situation is here in the city of Virginia Beach. They have pulled emergency responders off the streets. Fire, police, EMS have been told not to respond. We're told, if there is a life-or-death situation, they will consider it on a case-by-case basis. But if it isn't life or death, they are not coming to (AUDIO GAP) a dive rescue team that's been going (AUDIO GAP) the boardwalk here.

They are trying to keep vehicles from driving up and down here and to keep people, not only from going on the boardwalk, but going out into the surf. A couple of minutes ago, we saw a couple of guys down in there wading in the white water, drinking beer. They thought they were having a good time. It looked more like a dangerous time to us. The water is still incredibly rough. Is it coming up occasionally over the boardwalk here, even though the tide has been going down for the last five hours and the storm surge is yet to come.

(AUDIO GAP) structural damage, we're told, that in "Newport News" today, there was a 14-story building full of elderly (AUDIO GAP) evacuated (AUDIO GAP) the height of the storm because there was structural damage. They took them (AUDIO GAP) to shelters. And in some of those shelters here in Virginia Beach, there is no power. People went there to escape the storm and then they founded they suffered some of the (AUDIO GAP) just in this area (AUDIO GAP) 640,000 people without power -- Lou, back to you.

DOBBS: Jeanne, thank you. And, Jeanne, those amazing pictures. Be careful out there, this storm still obviously punishing Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Some residents in Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks ignored officials to evacuate that area.

Susan Candiotti is in Kill Devil Hills -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Lou.

No power here either in Kill Devil Hills. We were located in the northeastern quadrant of Hurricane Isabel as it made landfall about 80 miles or so south of here. You're seeing a picture of me being shot from a balcony of the motel where we are staying in. On the other side of it, that's where the ocean is located.

Let's take a live look now at that. They were predicting waves as high as 20 feet. It's unclear whether they ever made it quite that high. Certainly, they were talking about a storm surge of up to 15 feet or so. And there was a lot of flooding caused locally here because of that. Back here, we can tell you, that the motel where we are staying did take some damage. You can see parts of it blew off, scaring a lot of people who were staying here.

And the power is still out here in Kill Devil Hills. Now, we took a drive just about a mile north of where we're staying here. And that's where the street flooding started. Those streets are still impassable, to a large degree. You certainly can't get by in a car. In an SUV, you have much better luck. And we do so some traffic now back out on the street again.

We did talk to some people who ignored the mandatory evacuation order about why they decided to stay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's more dangerous sometimes to leave, because you're in traffic. And in those strong winds, it's very dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you get stuck, where sometimes you get stuck. You go to Raleigh or something and you end up getting the worst of the storm there and stuck there, and you can't get back to your home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: We're still getting strong wind gusts here. This is Route 12 that runs north and south behind me.

You can see traffic, some traffic flowing again. They're talking about the possibility of curfews here tonight. But no final decision has been made about that. I talked to a resident here just a little while ago who has been spending time at the motel. He says he's not going back tonight. In his words, "I don't want to see what my house looks like yet" -- back to you, Lou.

DOBBS: Susan, thank you very much -- Susan Candiotti.

And, of course, we will be going back to our correspondents whenever developments occur, as we follow the path of Hurricane Isabel.

Hurricane Isabel, by the way, is charging inland at 24 miles an hour. And to put that in some context for what you can expect if you live along the East Coast, that is a 500-mile-wide swathe that is it carrying torrential rains and high winds with it. Where exactly does it go next? We have a much clearer idea of the path of Hurricane Isabel. And we have a better idea of what impact it may have on inland communities. We'll be joined by meteorologist Rob Marciano next.

And in other news tonight, it is definitely still a war in Iraq. We have just received word that another three Americans have been killed in Iraq. Earlier today, terrorists ambushed another U.S. convoy in Iraq. We'll have the stories for you.

And old Europe trying to sound like new Europe again. France and Germany, friends or foes? They say they want to help now in Iraq. Kitty Pilgrim will report.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Hurricane Isabel is now sweeping northwest. It's moving at 24 miles an hour. It brings with it, of course, high winds and torrential rains to inland communities. It has already hammered a 500-mile wide swathe along the central East Coast. The Outer Banks of North Carolina took the first hit.

Here now, a look at the progress of the storm today, beginning with Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The winds now are gusting up to about 40, 45 miles per hour. The rains, from time to time, are heavy. Sometimes, they will let up. We are told this highway here, Highway 12, will be flooded over before the morning is over with.

You can see the seas, the angry seas at this point.

They are now estimating that perhaps 50 percent of the local residents stayed. We thought it was more like maybe 10, 15, 20 percent. Since people heard this was not go to be a Category 4 or a Category 3 hurricane, once they heard 105 miles per hour, a good half have of them, in all likelihood, have decided to stay. And that's about 30,000, 35,000 residents, all told, here. So maybe 15,000 people stayed behind.

Some of the building is starting to fall apart. Take a look over here. Siding has fallen off of the building over the hour piece by piece. It's been a little dangerous at times. Also, a piece of a gutter has come off. People are now hiding, basically, underneath this building here to make sure that they don't get hit by any of this siding that has come off. But the winds clearly have picked up.

Ow! Ow! Ow!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

CABELL: Got hit with a piece of wood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Shortly after Hurricane Isabel had made landfall.

Its path now will take it much further inland tonight.

Rob Marciano is at the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta.

Rob, what can we expect now from Isabel over the next several hours?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, certainly, it is going to weaken, Lou, but it's still a strong storm. So it's going to take a while for it to do that, a Category 1 hurricane at this point, 90- mile-an-hour winds. It's 40 miles east-southeast of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.

And you can see, it is picking up steam, northwesterly movement at 24 miles an hour. That's good news. Because the sooner we get it out of here, the better. Here's a quick check on what we did for wind gusts this afternoon as this made landfall around 1:00 across the North Carolina coastline. We did have wind gusts of 100 miles an hour. And that, of course, verifying the forecast of this thing. Here we go.

Ocracoke, 100 miles an hour. Cape Hatteras had 96 mile-an-hour wind gust. And Cedar Island had 86 mile-an-hour wind gusts. Those are beginning to subside. What are the current wind speeds right now, or at least the current wind gusts? Washington, D.C., check this out, is showing a wind gust at 52 miles an hour already, as we're getting winds out of the north and northeast.

Here's the center of the storm. And it will continue to drift up to the north. Luckily, it will continue to weaken as well.

Here's what we expect as far as a storm track is concerned -- or, first off, the radar of this thing, this red box highlighting a tornado watch typically on the right side of these systems. It's where we have a lot of spin. So we'll have tornado watch box out until 8:00 tonight. That could easily shift a little bit farther north as this thing tracks up to the north.

So the east part of this system the most powerful part of the storm. Luckily, it will weaken. There will be some flooding issues, especially as high tide along the Chesapeake Bay, as the winds take up to the south and east. But the faster this thing moves, Lou, the less flooding issues we'll have. So we're liking that this thing is picking up speed. It will affect folks all the way up to the Canadian border by tomorrow night -- back to you.

DOBBS: Rob, this, as you have mentioned, the speed is moving up. How quickly do you expect to see the winds themselves ebb? How quickly will we see this become a tropical storm, in your best judgment?

MARCIANO: I suspect, in the next six hours, it will be downgraded to a tropical storm status. But in the next two to three hours, big cities like Richmond and Washington, D.C., will see tropical-storm-force and, in some spots, hurricane-force winds. So the next two to three hours will be quite stormy for those cities.

DOBBS: Rob Marciano, thank you very much.

MARCIANO: You bet.

DOBBS: Hurricane Isabel has all but shut down air travel all along the Eastern Seaboard. Airports are closed tonight. Hundreds of flights have been canceled. The effects are hitting travelers, however, all across the country.

Patty Davis joins us now with more on the story from Herndon, Virginia, and the Federal Aviation Administration's command-and- control center.

Patty, what's the situation there tonight?

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Lou, it's grown from hundreds of flights canceled to thousands of flights canceled. And that is making the job of the nation's air traffic controllers a lot easier, in terms of dealing with this hurricane.

We're joined by the national operations manager here at the command center, Rico Short.

Tell us where the delays are now because of the hurricane.

RICO SHORT, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Currently, our delays are associated with La Guardia, arrivals into La Guardia, arrivals into Philadelphia. Our Washington metropolitan airports really are no delays because of, as you mentioned, a number of cancellations.

DAVIS: Right. Now, what about the -- how are you routing all that traffic? How are you getting around the hurricane? There's still some traffic out of there.

SHORT: Yes, out of New York air, we are taking some of the traffic that's going westbound north around Isabel.

DAVIS: Why don't you show us?

SHORT: OK.

Right here, we're taking them north around Isabel. As you can see, the tops right now reported at around 25,000 to 30,000 extending up through New York. So with that, with the tops right now at the level, the departures can top Isabel actually going out to the West Coast. DAVIS: Now, once Isabel moves inland, what do you do?

SHORT: As far as moving inland, what we -- the plan is to reroute some of the New York traffic out over our Atlantic routes, back behind the weather. That's the initial plan, as we speak.

DAVIS: Now, I understand, at some point, you even had some planes flying over the hurricane. Isn't that dangerous?

SHORT: Well, again, at the northern edge, the tops right now are around 25,000. So, for our normal air carriers, who can reach 31,000, 35,000, they can top the northern edge of Isabel.

DAVIS: OK. All right, thanks a lot, Rico Short, FAA national operations manager here at the control center.

Let's just go over some of those delays again, Philadelphia, La Guardia, Reagan National Airport closed, Dulles airport ceasing all operations here in the Washington area. Baltimore/Washington International canceling all of their operations. Also, Richmond, Norfolk, Raleigh-Durham, no flights for the rest of the night. Charlotte, however, is now open as the hurricane is passing.

But make sure that you call your airline if you have a flight later today or tomorrow, because you may not see flights again until about noon tomorrow -- Lou.

DOBBS: Patty Davis, thank you very much.

Well, it's not only the airlines, of course, that have been stalled and disrupted by Hurricane Isabel. Amtrak halted service today south of Washington, D.C. And for the first time in history, Washington's Metro subway service was shut down.

Peter Viles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Isabel may have come ashore 300 miles to the south, but the nation's Capitol was built on a swamp and took no chances today, literally locking up the city's subway system.

Congress and the federal government effectively shut down. The president headed for the hills, Camp David in the Maryland mountains. While most federal workers headed home, transportation experts headed to a crisis center to monitor the nation's infrastructure.

ROGER BOHNERT, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Our biggest concern right now is the populated areas around Portsmouth and Norfolk. As the storm moves through that area, there's the shipping port, as well as containers and quite a bit of population.

VILES: The Navy moved warships out of harm's way in endangered harbors. Then the Coast Guard closed down the ports of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Port of Baltimore took ships on a case-by-case basis. Ports of Philadelphia and New York stayed open.

Amtrak canceled East Coast service heading south from Washington. But the rails heading north were open early in the day and fairly crowded. One former senator climbed aboard.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: On a day like this, there's a little more certainly with Amtrak.

VILES: But, by mid-afternoon, Amtrak was cutting some northbound routes from Washington, as the wind and the rains moved north up the coastline.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VILES: Lou, the main transportation problem here in New York City is the one Patty Davis talked about a moment ago, in the skies.

On the ground, I can tell you, the trains from Washington are still running on time, no big crowd down at the train station, business as usual there. We haven't really felt the rain yet from Isabel, but we are starting to feel the winds from Isabel here in New York. But, as of right now, Lou, this is the kind of storm here in New York you can cover in a suit and tie. You don't need a raincoat -- Lou.

DOBBS: And I know that you are extremely appreciative of that fact. Peter Viles, thank you very much.

Coming up next: With the advent of Hurricane Isabel, you should know that cost of homeowners insurance for those who live all along Isabel's path will be going up. You should also know that they're not the only ones who will be paying higher premiums. So will you. Jan Hopkins will tell us just how high those premiums are likely to go.

And in other news tonight: a massive explosion at an oil pipeline in Iraq. Tonight, another attack on U.S. troops, three soldiers dead, another two wounded. We'll have the latest.

And tonight's "Extraordinary Career," the man who tried his hand at a number of trades before finding his fit at a company that sparked a cultural pop revolution. We'll have his story ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Coming up next: With friends like France and Germany, some say, who needs enemies? The group some have called the axis of weasel now wants to help out a little in Iraq. Kitty Pilgrim will have our report.

Stay with us.

We'll also have the latest on Hurricane Isabel and its march inland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: It is still a war in Iraq.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed today, two others wounded, when they were ambush by small-arms fire near Tikrit. The soldiers were investigating a suspected launch site for rocket-propelled grenades when they were attacked. Earlier today, a U.S. convoy was ambushed in a town west of Baghdad. Two trucks were destroyed in that attack. The Army sent in reinforcements to the town, including five Abrams tanks, two Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

In another incident in Iraq, an explosion today out at an oil pipeline north of Baghdad. The chief engineer of the pipeline said saboteurs are definitely responsible for the resultant explosion and fire.

Two countries that strongly opposed the war against Saddam Hussein today have offered to help the United States in Iraq, but the offer is strictly limited. France and Germany now say they're willing to help train Iraqi police. But they didn't offer to send any troops to Iraq and there is no word about financial support either.

Kitty Pilgrim has the report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): France's Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder today were discussing plans to help train Iraqi police and security officers. But there is still a problem. The French have called for an absurdly rapid transfer of power to the Iraqis.

On Friday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the power transfer should take place in a month and elections in the spring. Today, Chirac amended that word to months and said the French position had not shifted. President Bush has been saying to the world community, in essence, put your money where your mouth is.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll continue to make the case that reconstruction aid is necessary. And we'll also remind our European friends that we're making good progress there.

PILGRIM: The United States wants to raise at least $10 billion next month at a donor conference in Madrid. Precious little has been pledged so far. The European Union has indicated it may give about $250 million. Japan will reportedly pledge $1 billion, a difficult position for Prime Minister Koizumi.

The shifting of European positions on Iraq was noted by the Greek foreign minister, George Papandreou, when he met with Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday.

GEORGE PAPANDREOU, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER: There may have been differences over the war, and there were differences over the war, why and if it should have taken place, but there's a genuine desire to see a stable Iraq, a representative government in Iraq, and an independent Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Now, Germany's Schroeder is calling for a road map for transferring power to the Iraqis, adding that the timing for the elections was important, but it's also important to get the process moving forward -- Lou.

DOBBS: Well, France and Germany may be indeed faux friends, but certainly the United States has not helped with its faux planning for the post combat operations in Iraq.

Well, presumably, we'll get some good donations when they have that conference next month.

DOBBS: And enthusiastic support, I'm sure. Kitty, thank -- Kitty Pilgrim.

Still ahead here, homeowners in the path of Hurricane Isabel may be in for a shock when it comes to their insurance premiums, and so may you. Jan Hopkins will have the story.

And extraordinary careers, tonight the story of a man who went broke, went back to what he loved, and now he runs the world's best- known music and pop culture company.

And, later, your thoughts about Dick Grasso's resignation as the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: More than a million people in Virginia tonight are without power. Hurricane Isabel is still pounding away at that area. Winds of 90 miles an hour, heavy rain reported all along the front of that storm.

And let's take a look now at the storm as it crossed into Virginia Beach, Virginia, earlier this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we have already seen pieces of debris from roofs flying off. We have reports from the Virginia Beach Fire Department that a pier 10 blocks from here, the end of a pier has been ripped off. It's being battered by the high seas. We also have reports of a couple of roofs being peeled back.

And, again, the great fear is that the full brunt of this storm has not even hit us yet. The waves are pressing over a very high seawall that they built just for this purpose, just for hurricanes.

But, you know, we've had curiosity seekers. There are a couple of them right here right now, and some SUVs coming out here all day just to experience the fury of Mother Nature.

But, you know, people think you can ride these things out. They think that you can come out and watch this, but as you can see, this is very dangerous. I wouldn't recommend anyone coming out here at this point. And they've cleared the whole beach front.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Right now, the eye of Hurricane Isabel is just crossing into Virginia.

I'm joined now by telephone by John Marshall. He's the secretary of public safety for the Commonwealth of Virginia

Mr. Marshall, thanks for being with us.

How extensive does it appear the damage is to this point?

JOHN MARSHALL, SECY. OF PUBLIC SAFETY, VIRGINIA: Well, good evening.

As I was listening in on that report, I would say that the winds are here. The tropical-force winds entered the state at 5:00 a.m. this morning, and it's my understanding now that the hurricane-force winds are on our border and headed down the coast.

So, we're having quite a few problems. As you mentioned, we have a million people without power. We have about 16 -- over 16,000 people in shelters, which is actually good because the citizens of Virginia are certainly taking this storm seriously. And we're continuing to take the calls at the State Emergency Operation Center to provide whatever assistance and response we can.

Obviously, there's a lot of debris blocking roads, and we have requests for high water vehicles and those type things.

DOBBS: What have you mobilized to this point, Mr. Marshall, in terms of police, fire, emergency, EMTs and paramedics?

MARSHALL: Right. Governor Warner was very proactive on this and actually declared a state of emergency on Monday, which enabled us to preposition a lot of our resources in the areas where we anticipated having some problems. So, that translates into -- we prepositioned Virginia National Guard soldiers on the eastern shore and in the eastern part of the state. We have well over 300 soldiers already there, and we can go upwards, 500 and on up, if we need to.

State troopers were deployed on the eastern shore and also in the eastern part of Virginia, and they've been already sent out there. And they're responding as they can, but in some areas, because of the wind conditions, they're not able to drive.

So, it certainly is a serious situation we're doing with, but we had a lot of equipment and manpower pre-deployed, which has been beneficial to us.

DOBBS: As you have pointed out, and Governor Warner has mentioned, in the issue of power outages that it may be several days before Virginians have power up. Do you have any better sense right now as to what is going on with the power situation, whether or not that can be accelerated?

MARSHALL: Well, we're -- we have quite a few resources. In particular, Dominion Power has doubled their workforce here, brought people in from out of state. But obviously, during the actual, you know, peak period of the storms, they're not able to get out there and do the work they have to. They simply can't for safety reasons.

But we are certain that, you know, once as the storm moves on, as soon as they can get out and do the important work they need to do that they're going to be there. And we'll provide whatever assistance, helping them get to where they need to get to.

DOBBS: Mr. Marshall, we thank you very much. John Marshall, the secretary of public safety for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It will be weeks before the damage resulting from Hurricane Isabel can assessed. Of course, there is no doubt, however, that people who live in the path of Isabel will be paying higher premiums for their homeowners' insurance as a result. But you may not know that your premiums as well are likely to go up.

Jan Hopkins has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAN HOPKINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Isabel continues to churn her way north, insurance companies, like Travelers, are in the area, monitoring the storm's progress. Claims adjusters are ready to roll to deliver help to homeowners.

LORETTA FORREST, CLAIM UNIT MANAGER, TRAVELERS: So, obviously in a tough position, and we're trying to do the best that we can quickly, and help them through a devastating situation.

HOPKINS: Since 1997, Travelers has been using mobile units to get to the scene of disasters quickly. Travelers and other insurance companies are using the latest in technology not only to respond to customers, but also to assess their risk. This has helped insurance companies ask for, and receive, increases in premiums.

The average price of homeowners insurance in the whole country was $418 a year in 1995. It's expected to be $1,615 next year. That's growing faster than inflation.

The insurance industry blames higher disaster costs and the desire of so many to live on the coast.

Hurricane Andrew cost insurance companies $20 billion. Since then, insurance premiums in Florida have more than doubled. In addition to paying more for an insurance policy...

(SATELLITE SIGNAL LOST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Turning ideas into reality requires special people.

Tom Freston was out of work, when he knocked on the door of a company that was beginning a music television channel. Preston now heads a media empire that not only dominates international television, but is a force for cultural change throughout the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS (voice-over): Almost 400 million households all around the world want their MTV.

TOM FRESTON, CEO, MTV: I don't want any crap out of anybody.

DOBBS: For Tom Freston, that international focus started early. Bored with his first job in advertising, Freston quit to travel the world.

FRESTON: And I started a business importing -- designing and importing clothes from Afghanistan and India. So, I, you know, spent eight years in that business.

DOBBS: But that business went bust, and Freston went home.

FRESTON: I made a bunch of money and lost it, and then came back to New York City with my tail between my legs, essentially. I was a music fan of the highest order. I ended up at the door of a company called the Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Company, and that was beginning with an idea for a video music channel. It's good work if you can get it.

DOBBS: Convincing them of his entrepreneurial skills, Freston was hired on the spot.

FRESON: I worked in an office that I split with some one that was filled with soda cans. It was where they stored the soda, and that's where we started. Serious.

DOBBS: MTV launched on the 1st of August, 1981.

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to MTV music television.

DOBBS: Freston's "I want my MTV" campaign...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want my MTV.

DOBBS: ... was an immediate success.

FRESTON: Well, we felt that if we could legitimatize the service, get major rock stars to endorse it, tell them to call their cable company and say "I want my MTV," these cable operators would say I better add this channel. There is a market for it. And it would work like a charm.

DOBBS: Today, the MTV networks include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central VH-1. FRESTON: Anybody coming in today? Any guests?

DOBBS: Freston's staff is notably young, diverse and obsessed with pop culture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you think about watching Comedy Central if it's a lot more alive?

DOBBS: That obsession carries all the way to the top.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll have them shot and ready to go for January.

FRESTON: The people who work for you have to somehow believe that even though you're not totally on top of things, you are connected. You sympathize with what's going on. Your instincts still have some validity.

You know, it looks different from mostly anything else that's out there these days.

You can talk in a variety of ways, and otherwise you're sort of just an empty suit.

DOBBS: The MTV networks are run as individual businesses with creative leadership.

FRESTON: Because I think that one sends a great signal to other employees of the company about what we're about.

DOBBS: Calculated risks are also encouraged.

FRESTON: This is the first animated reality show.

Whoever would have thought that a sea sponge, not your normal character, would become the animated hit of the last several years and a real cultural (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? That is Sponge Bob. You never know. Who ever would have guessed? No one. We thought the Osbournes would be a -- would do OK. But no one knew it would become a real phenomenon.

DOBBS: The phenomenon of MTV is still a shock to Freston.

FRESTON: I went to the VMAs last week, and it was -- when you see the arrivals at Rockefeller Center, I said, boy, it's almost taken over Midtown Manhattan and owned New York City for a night. It wouldn't have been your wildest dream in 1980. Well, it was inevitable, wasn't it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Tom Freston. In the early days of MTV, Freston was constantly told at every turn it would never work.

Here now is Jim Citrin. He is the author of "The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers." You know, when I think about Tom Freston over at MTV, and there are quite a few of us here still at CNN who remember 23 years ago being told it will never work. He obviously relishes the fact that it did.

JAMES CITRIN, AUTHOR, "5 PATTERNS OF EXTRAORDINARY CAREERS": Tom has built arguably the strongest cable franchise in the business, and he's got the best management team, who has done it with him.

DOBBS: How does he manage to create a creative environment and a commercial environment? Because, as you well know, business and creativity don't always go hand in hand.

CITRIN: That is really the secret of the success of MTV. Tom, who is a creative person, he learned that if you put a creative person at the head of MTV Networks, and at each of the individual networks, and partner them with a chief operating officer who is responsible for finance, operations, human resources, advertising and sales, it's a wonderful combination.

DOBBS: Now, for those young men and women out there, who are looking for an MTV-like success that would parallel that of Tom Freston. Here comes a guy who has been selling hippie clothes for eight years around the world. He goes belly-up and broke, walks in, and the next thing he's associated with an idea that's going to explode into MTV. How do they do that?

CITRIN: Well, there is certainly an amount of luck in being at the right place at the right time. But also he has grown up with it. He created a team; that he didn't do it himself. And it's just a good role model to point to for one and all.

DOBBS: You know, I was thinking, Jim, because you're responsible for recruiting talent and matching talent and leadership needs of corporations all over the country. The idea that he introduced, and that is being an empty suit. An empty suit at MTV would be found out pretty quickly given that culture. Empty suits, how do you avoid them? How do you avoid being one?

CITRIN: The point is to be credible in whatever field you're working in. At MTV, it's a creative culture, so you have to have a touch stone. In the news business, you have to be a journalist. In other businesses, it's about being in touch with the work that you're doing.

DOBBS: Well, I was actually thinking in terms of management roles rather than an anchor or a journalist, because, of course, we are absolutely perfect in every respect.

CITRIN: Of course.

DOBBS: It's always management you have to be concerned about.

CITRIN: The key is to partner. No one can do it alone. And, again, this organizational structure came from Tom's own passion to be a creative person. DOBBS: Right.

CITRIN: But he had the brains to know that you need sound business operations to build a successful enterprise.

DOBBS: Right.

CITRIN: So, that idea of, we call it, benevolent leadership in the book, playing to the strengths of others is really a key to the success.

DOBBS: Right. And it applies for news executives, manufacturing executives, publishing executives.

CITRIN: Yes, certainly.

DOBBS: Jim Citrin, thank you very much for introducing us to another extraordinary career.

CITRIN: Thanks, Lou.

DOBBS: Tomorrow night, we continue our look. Tomorrow night, a man who left a successful career. He didn't get the job he wanted, and he has simply taken a home remodeling supply company and done pretty well with it. We're talking about Bob Nardelli. He is the CEO of the world's largest home improvement company, and we will be taking a look at his career tomorrow night.

That brings us to tonight's poll, and we want to hear from you. The question is: how satisfied are you with your career? Very, somewhat or not all?

Cast your vote at CNN.com/lou. We'll have results for you later here in the show.

And coming up next, the big board's chairman, Richard Grasso, is gone. But the exchange has a lot of work to do to prevent another scandal like the one that forced his resignation. Christine Romans will have the latest for us. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: AOL Time Warner today made it official. It will soon drop AOL from its trade style. Chairman Richard Parsons says the move ends the confusion about the company's corporate name and the America Online brand.

The new Time Warner will also return to the stock symbol it used before AOL bought it three years ago. That symbol is TWX.

AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNN. Time Warner will be the parent company of CNN.

Now, AOL Time Warner didn't mention it, but the stock price was, we noticed here, a lot higher under the old symbol, TWX, than in their current symbol. We don't know that that had anything to do with the discussions of the decision, but we just thought we'd bring it up.

Speaking of stock prices, a pretty good day on Wall Street. the Nasdaq today rose above 1900 for the first time in a year and a half. Technology and financial stocks leading the rally. The Dow up 113 points. The Nasdaq up 26. The S&P 500 gaining 13.

More fallout tonight from the resignation of the New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso. There appear to be more questions than answers right now about the future management structure of the exchange.

Christine Romans is at the exchange with the very latest for us -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: And, Lou, tonight they are scrambling to fill a power vacuum left by Dick Grasso's resignation. Angry members met this afternoon with six directors to voice their concerns about the board and the black eye this controversy has given the stock exchange.

And lead director Carl McCall met first with SEC Chairman Bill Donaldson, and then with reporters to assure them things will change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL MCCALL, INTERIM LEAD DIRECTOR, NYSE: From today on, the New York Stock Exchange will operate differently. The New York Stock Exchange has been, and we are grateful to Dick Grasso for his leadership in helping to make this the premium equity auction marketplace in the world. And the people who are here with me today, the other people in this building and the board, we are fully committed to continue this tradition of excellence and to assure the investing public that this is the place to do business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: McCall called a special meeting of the board for tomorrow to talk about a successor to Mr. Grasso. The board, he says, is on target for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) governance review. On the table now, lesser members getting a place at the board, the chairman and the CEO positions being split, a potential for an IPO, all of this being discussed.

Now, Carl McCall is the man who signed Dick Grasso's most recent employment contract. He has defended his prior pay, and McCall is now the face right now for the NYSE, he said. And he joked he's not doing it for the money, Lou. Board members make $30,000 with $2,000 for each meeting they attend. And when pressed, he told us he voted to oust Dick Grasso on that call yesterday.

Meanwhile, at least 300 members spent almost two hours behind closed doors to talk about the exchange's next move. Members told me that the theme of this meeting was this, Lou: If Dick Grasso lost his job over the money, then what about the people who gave it to him? What about their jobs -- Lou. DOBBS: Well, those are important questions. And as we said at the outset, there are more questions right now than answers. But SEC Chairman Bill Donaldson says that its inquiry into the governance issues attendant to all aspects of the New York Stock Exchange will continue. What is your best sense of what's go on there this evening as the day wraps up?

ROMANS: Well, there is still scrambling. I mean, there is this other meeting tomorrow. There is a board meeting again next week. It looks as though they are accelerating this corporate governance review. Pretty much everything's on the table -- Lou.

DOBBS: Christine Romans, thank you very much -- reporting from the New York Stock Exchange tonight.

Still ahead, many of you are writing in about the Grasso fiasco. We'll have your thoughts right after this. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The results of our poll tonight. The question: How satisfied are you with your career? Thirty-eight percent of you said "very," 31 percent said, "somewhat," and 31 percent said "not at all." And that's a pretty good distribution. We'll hope for improvement for the 31 percent who said "not at all."

Taking a look now at some of your thoughts, writing in about our reports on exporting America.

Tom from Nevada said: "China didn't steal jobs from American workers. American corporations sent those jobs to them. When Americans can no longer afford the products of the major companies, they had better hope that the Chinese can."

Dennis Cronin in Columbia, Missouri: "We need to be equally concerned about India and Mexico, and not just China, with regard to losing American jobs. Just think how many jobs could be saved from layoffs if corporate America would curb its greed and put that excess back into the company."

Steven Grizzle of Illinois said about Dick Grasso's resignation: "I hope you guys will not let the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange get away with this fast one. They are obviously equally corrupt, along with Grasso. Keep on them, Lou."

And Tom of Richland, Washington: "One day after you had that poll about Dick Grasso and whether or not he should resign, he's gone. Might I suggest you hold a similar poll on Michael Powell? His misguided proposals on media consolidation pose a huge threat to local media coverage in this country."

DOBBS: Well, that's an interesting idea, and we're going to sort through a list of names if it works like that. And we'll certainly have that poll for you next week.

We love hearing from you. E-mail us at loudobbs@cnn.com. That's our show for tonight. Thanks for being with us. For all of us here, good-night from New York.

"ANDERSON COOPER 360" is coming up next.

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





Limited Support in Iraq>


Aired September 18, 2003 - 18:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Isabel is sweeping inland after hammering coastal communities in North Carolina and Virginia. We'll have live reports from our correspondents all along Isabel's path.
Counting the costs of Isabel, what the hurricane means for travelers and homeowners. Jan Hopkins and Peter Viles report.

Friendly foes or faux friends? France and Germany change course. They offer the United States limited help in Iraq. Kitty Pilgrim reports.

Success and satisfaction in life, how one businessman with an obsession for popular culture and music became the head of a global media empire.

ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Thursday, September 18. Here now, Lou Dobbs.

DOBBS: Good evening.

Hurricane Isabel is hammering the East Coast tonight. And the full force of the storm is charging inland at 24 miles an hour. At least one death has been blamed on the storm. And President Bush has just declared a major disaster in North Carolina. The hurricane pounded the shore with 100-mile-an-hour winds, torrential rain, and tidal surges more than six feet high.

The eye of Hurricane Isabel made landfall at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time on the southern part of the Outer Banks in North Carolina. In North Carolina, almost 100,000 people have lost power. The governor has mobilized 600 National Guard troops. Isabel has also hit neighboring Virginia, and hit Virginia hard; 800,000 Virginians are without power tonight. Forecasters say this hurricane could produce isolated tornadoes.

CNN correspondents are all along the East Coast, reporting on the path of this storm: Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Kris Osborn is in Richmond, Virginia; Ed Lavandera at North Topsail Breach, North Carolina; and Susan Candiotti at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

We turn first to Jeanne Meserve -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The winds are incredibly intense here. Someone told me one of the local radio stations was reporting things were dying down. That is certainly not the case.

You can see the wind and rain are just whipping. I'm watching the roof of the hotel next door. (AUDIO GAP) this afternoon, a very dangerous situation, because (AUDIO GAP) a flying missile that could (AUDIO GAP) Fortunately, we didn't see anybody hurt by any of this. But, as I say, pieces are still continuing to fly.

DOBBS: Jeanne Meserve, we have lost your audio. We can tell just from the video and from the difficulty you're having there speaking how strong that storm is still in Virginia Beach.

Let's turn now to the eye of hurricane. It's tonight moving into Virginia from North Carolina. Kris Osborn is in Richmond and joins us now -- Kris.

KRIS OSBORN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Lou.

Well, yes, there has just been, in the last few minutes, somewhat of an intensification, stronger wind gusts, some heavier rain, some small debris flying around. Emergency officials in the state of Virginia tell us -- you referred to this as well -- as many as 40 percent of the entire state are without power. In this residential community in Richmond, the entire place is without power as well.

We can give you a quick look around. And you can see, there have been some fallen limbs. Some trees are down. There have been some acorns and twigs flying about in the air, along with some heavy rainfall. Various utility trucks have been driving up and down the streets. Some roads have been closed. They've been trying to repair downed power lines.

The community, though, Lou, I can tell, by and large, has been holding up pretty well.

Case in point, I'm joined by Patrick Wilson (ph).

Thanks so much for joining me tonight live on CNN.

(CROSSTALK)

OSBORN: How are you holding up? And tell me what you and your family have gone through today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're doing fine. For the most part, the major concern that is that we've had so much rain in the past that that limb that you see out there that's already cut up fell down last week, just due to too much rain. And our major concern is that we're going to have trees fall on any of the residences. So that's why you don't see cars parked on the streets.

OSBORN: Absolutely. There have been some fallen trees.

Talk to me about your cellar. I understand you boarded up down there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just basically closed up the best we could, put towels around the windows, doors, that sort of thing.

OSBORN: A lot of concern about flooding?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without a doubt. Most of the homes in this area have sump pumps that they have installed. They use their basement as living space. Without power, the such pumps aren't going to work. So they're looking for backup power for that.

OSBORN: And then lastly, Patrick, how are the kids and the family holding up? A day home from school, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're doing great. It's given us an opportunity to spend a little quality time together. We closed up our distribution facility around 2:00 this afternoon. So it gave us a little extra time to spend with the family.

OSBORN: Yes, erring on the side of caution, an upside, if you will, to the disastrous situation.

Thank you very much, the entire Wilson family.

Lou, back to you. If there is anything possible in terms of a positive aspect to this, the hurricane, as we understand from meteorologists, is moving quickly, which means there's less occasion for flooding. That being said, Lou, of course, very concerned about flooding throughout this whole area -- back to you.

DOBBS: Absolutely, Kris. And the Wilsons making the best of a bad day, at least in terms of the weather, a good day for family, it looks like. Kris Osborn, thank you.

Hurricane Isabel passed through North Topsail Beach in North Carolina earlier. Residents there tonight are assessing the damage.

Our Ed Lavandera is there with them -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Lou.

Well, this is a very thin island. Over here, you have the Atlantic Ocean. The Intercostal Waterway is just over here to my left. These dunes along here that you see are supposed to protect all of the homes and buildings on this island from the storm surge. Initially, the concern was, is that the storm surge would be so high that perhaps some of the lower levels of the buildings and hotels and homes that are on this island would be flooded out, but that's not happened.

We have driven through parts of North Carolina just slightly north of where we are, up to Morehead City, as well as New Bern, throughout the day. What we have seen is just rather low levels of flooding in some areas. We've also seen some roads that have been littered with debris, some downed power lines and some downed trees, but, by and large, a very good situation. We talked to a couple of police officers along the way.

They're saying, hey, considering this was such a strong storm, being on the southern edge of this hurricane has turned out to be a good thing for this part of North Carolina, as the damage has been minimal to this point. However, they're still urging people to be very cautious. The rain continues to fall. The wind also -- the wind speeds continue to stay at a pretty steady rate, probably about 35, 40 miles an hour at this point, occasionally.

So they are still urging people to stay inside. If you don't need to be outside, don't come out. And, by and large, as we have driven around today, people seem to be heeding that warning. We didn't see anyone -- or virtually very few people on the road today, so people listening to those occasions. We have heard from many people, as the this storm was approaching, that this is the type of storm that many people in North Carolina, although they are veterans of this type of storm, that they had been paying very close attention to the warnings that had been put out -- Lou.

DOBBS: Ed, thank you very much -- Ed Lavandera.

Let's go now to Jeanne Meserve in Virginia Beach -- Virginia Beach, Virginia, still being hard hit, as you can see.

Jeanne, can you hear me?

MESERVE: Lou, I can hear you.

This is how bad the situation is here in the city of Virginia Beach. They have pulled emergency responders off the streets. Fire, police, EMS have been told not to respond. We're told, if there is a life-or-death situation, they will consider it on a case-by-case basis. But if it isn't life or death, they are not coming to (AUDIO GAP) a dive rescue team that's been going (AUDIO GAP) the boardwalk here.

They are trying to keep vehicles from driving up and down here and to keep people, not only from going on the boardwalk, but going out into the surf. A couple of minutes ago, we saw a couple of guys down in there wading in the white water, drinking beer. They thought they were having a good time. It looked more like a dangerous time to us. The water is still incredibly rough. Is it coming up occasionally over the boardwalk here, even though the tide has been going down for the last five hours and the storm surge is yet to come.

(AUDIO GAP) structural damage, we're told, that in "Newport News" today, there was a 14-story building full of elderly (AUDIO GAP) evacuated (AUDIO GAP) the height of the storm because there was structural damage. They took them (AUDIO GAP) to shelters. And in some of those shelters here in Virginia Beach, there is no power. People went there to escape the storm and then they founded they suffered some of the (AUDIO GAP) just in this area (AUDIO GAP) 640,000 people without power -- Lou, back to you.

DOBBS: Jeanne, thank you. And, Jeanne, those amazing pictures. Be careful out there, this storm still obviously punishing Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Some residents in Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks ignored officials to evacuate that area.

Susan Candiotti is in Kill Devil Hills -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Lou.

No power here either in Kill Devil Hills. We were located in the northeastern quadrant of Hurricane Isabel as it made landfall about 80 miles or so south of here. You're seeing a picture of me being shot from a balcony of the motel where we are staying in. On the other side of it, that's where the ocean is located.

Let's take a live look now at that. They were predicting waves as high as 20 feet. It's unclear whether they ever made it quite that high. Certainly, they were talking about a storm surge of up to 15 feet or so. And there was a lot of flooding caused locally here because of that. Back here, we can tell you, that the motel where we are staying did take some damage. You can see parts of it blew off, scaring a lot of people who were staying here.

And the power is still out here in Kill Devil Hills. Now, we took a drive just about a mile north of where we're staying here. And that's where the street flooding started. Those streets are still impassable, to a large degree. You certainly can't get by in a car. In an SUV, you have much better luck. And we do so some traffic now back out on the street again.

We did talk to some people who ignored the mandatory evacuation order about why they decided to stay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's more dangerous sometimes to leave, because you're in traffic. And in those strong winds, it's very dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you get stuck, where sometimes you get stuck. You go to Raleigh or something and you end up getting the worst of the storm there and stuck there, and you can't get back to your home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: We're still getting strong wind gusts here. This is Route 12 that runs north and south behind me.

You can see traffic, some traffic flowing again. They're talking about the possibility of curfews here tonight. But no final decision has been made about that. I talked to a resident here just a little while ago who has been spending time at the motel. He says he's not going back tonight. In his words, "I don't want to see what my house looks like yet" -- back to you, Lou.

DOBBS: Susan, thank you very much -- Susan Candiotti.

And, of course, we will be going back to our correspondents whenever developments occur, as we follow the path of Hurricane Isabel.

Hurricane Isabel, by the way, is charging inland at 24 miles an hour. And to put that in some context for what you can expect if you live along the East Coast, that is a 500-mile-wide swathe that is it carrying torrential rains and high winds with it. Where exactly does it go next? We have a much clearer idea of the path of Hurricane Isabel. And we have a better idea of what impact it may have on inland communities. We'll be joined by meteorologist Rob Marciano next.

And in other news tonight, it is definitely still a war in Iraq. We have just received word that another three Americans have been killed in Iraq. Earlier today, terrorists ambushed another U.S. convoy in Iraq. We'll have the stories for you.

And old Europe trying to sound like new Europe again. France and Germany, friends or foes? They say they want to help now in Iraq. Kitty Pilgrim will report.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Hurricane Isabel is now sweeping northwest. It's moving at 24 miles an hour. It brings with it, of course, high winds and torrential rains to inland communities. It has already hammered a 500-mile wide swathe along the central East Coast. The Outer Banks of North Carolina took the first hit.

Here now, a look at the progress of the storm today, beginning with Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The winds now are gusting up to about 40, 45 miles per hour. The rains, from time to time, are heavy. Sometimes, they will let up. We are told this highway here, Highway 12, will be flooded over before the morning is over with.

You can see the seas, the angry seas at this point.

They are now estimating that perhaps 50 percent of the local residents stayed. We thought it was more like maybe 10, 15, 20 percent. Since people heard this was not go to be a Category 4 or a Category 3 hurricane, once they heard 105 miles per hour, a good half have of them, in all likelihood, have decided to stay. And that's about 30,000, 35,000 residents, all told, here. So maybe 15,000 people stayed behind.

Some of the building is starting to fall apart. Take a look over here. Siding has fallen off of the building over the hour piece by piece. It's been a little dangerous at times. Also, a piece of a gutter has come off. People are now hiding, basically, underneath this building here to make sure that they don't get hit by any of this siding that has come off. But the winds clearly have picked up.

Ow! Ow! Ow!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

CABELL: Got hit with a piece of wood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Shortly after Hurricane Isabel had made landfall.

Its path now will take it much further inland tonight.

Rob Marciano is at the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta.

Rob, what can we expect now from Isabel over the next several hours?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, certainly, it is going to weaken, Lou, but it's still a strong storm. So it's going to take a while for it to do that, a Category 1 hurricane at this point, 90- mile-an-hour winds. It's 40 miles east-southeast of Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina.

And you can see, it is picking up steam, northwesterly movement at 24 miles an hour. That's good news. Because the sooner we get it out of here, the better. Here's a quick check on what we did for wind gusts this afternoon as this made landfall around 1:00 across the North Carolina coastline. We did have wind gusts of 100 miles an hour. And that, of course, verifying the forecast of this thing. Here we go.

Ocracoke, 100 miles an hour. Cape Hatteras had 96 mile-an-hour wind gust. And Cedar Island had 86 mile-an-hour wind gusts. Those are beginning to subside. What are the current wind speeds right now, or at least the current wind gusts? Washington, D.C., check this out, is showing a wind gust at 52 miles an hour already, as we're getting winds out of the north and northeast.

Here's the center of the storm. And it will continue to drift up to the north. Luckily, it will continue to weaken as well.

Here's what we expect as far as a storm track is concerned -- or, first off, the radar of this thing, this red box highlighting a tornado watch typically on the right side of these systems. It's where we have a lot of spin. So we'll have tornado watch box out until 8:00 tonight. That could easily shift a little bit farther north as this thing tracks up to the north.

So the east part of this system the most powerful part of the storm. Luckily, it will weaken. There will be some flooding issues, especially as high tide along the Chesapeake Bay, as the winds take up to the south and east. But the faster this thing moves, Lou, the less flooding issues we'll have. So we're liking that this thing is picking up speed. It will affect folks all the way up to the Canadian border by tomorrow night -- back to you.

DOBBS: Rob, this, as you have mentioned, the speed is moving up. How quickly do you expect to see the winds themselves ebb? How quickly will we see this become a tropical storm, in your best judgment?

MARCIANO: I suspect, in the next six hours, it will be downgraded to a tropical storm status. But in the next two to three hours, big cities like Richmond and Washington, D.C., will see tropical-storm-force and, in some spots, hurricane-force winds. So the next two to three hours will be quite stormy for those cities.

DOBBS: Rob Marciano, thank you very much.

MARCIANO: You bet.

DOBBS: Hurricane Isabel has all but shut down air travel all along the Eastern Seaboard. Airports are closed tonight. Hundreds of flights have been canceled. The effects are hitting travelers, however, all across the country.

Patty Davis joins us now with more on the story from Herndon, Virginia, and the Federal Aviation Administration's command-and- control center.

Patty, what's the situation there tonight?

PATTY DAVIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you, Lou, it's grown from hundreds of flights canceled to thousands of flights canceled. And that is making the job of the nation's air traffic controllers a lot easier, in terms of dealing with this hurricane.

We're joined by the national operations manager here at the command center, Rico Short.

Tell us where the delays are now because of the hurricane.

RICO SHORT, FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Currently, our delays are associated with La Guardia, arrivals into La Guardia, arrivals into Philadelphia. Our Washington metropolitan airports really are no delays because of, as you mentioned, a number of cancellations.

DAVIS: Right. Now, what about the -- how are you routing all that traffic? How are you getting around the hurricane? There's still some traffic out of there.

SHORT: Yes, out of New York air, we are taking some of the traffic that's going westbound north around Isabel.

DAVIS: Why don't you show us?

SHORT: OK.

Right here, we're taking them north around Isabel. As you can see, the tops right now reported at around 25,000 to 30,000 extending up through New York. So with that, with the tops right now at the level, the departures can top Isabel actually going out to the West Coast. DAVIS: Now, once Isabel moves inland, what do you do?

SHORT: As far as moving inland, what we -- the plan is to reroute some of the New York traffic out over our Atlantic routes, back behind the weather. That's the initial plan, as we speak.

DAVIS: Now, I understand, at some point, you even had some planes flying over the hurricane. Isn't that dangerous?

SHORT: Well, again, at the northern edge, the tops right now are around 25,000. So, for our normal air carriers, who can reach 31,000, 35,000, they can top the northern edge of Isabel.

DAVIS: OK. All right, thanks a lot, Rico Short, FAA national operations manager here at the control center.

Let's just go over some of those delays again, Philadelphia, La Guardia, Reagan National Airport closed, Dulles airport ceasing all operations here in the Washington area. Baltimore/Washington International canceling all of their operations. Also, Richmond, Norfolk, Raleigh-Durham, no flights for the rest of the night. Charlotte, however, is now open as the hurricane is passing.

But make sure that you call your airline if you have a flight later today or tomorrow, because you may not see flights again until about noon tomorrow -- Lou.

DOBBS: Patty Davis, thank you very much.

Well, it's not only the airlines, of course, that have been stalled and disrupted by Hurricane Isabel. Amtrak halted service today south of Washington, D.C. And for the first time in history, Washington's Metro subway service was shut down.

Peter Viles reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Isabel may have come ashore 300 miles to the south, but the nation's Capitol was built on a swamp and took no chances today, literally locking up the city's subway system.

Congress and the federal government effectively shut down. The president headed for the hills, Camp David in the Maryland mountains. While most federal workers headed home, transportation experts headed to a crisis center to monitor the nation's infrastructure.

ROGER BOHNERT, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Our biggest concern right now is the populated areas around Portsmouth and Norfolk. As the storm moves through that area, there's the shipping port, as well as containers and quite a bit of population.

VILES: The Navy moved warships out of harm's way in endangered harbors. Then the Coast Guard closed down the ports of Wilmington, North Carolina, and Hampton Roads, Virginia. The Port of Baltimore took ships on a case-by-case basis. Ports of Philadelphia and New York stayed open.

Amtrak canceled East Coast service heading south from Washington. But the rails heading north were open early in the day and fairly crowded. One former senator climbed aboard.

GEORGE MITCHELL, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: On a day like this, there's a little more certainly with Amtrak.

VILES: But, by mid-afternoon, Amtrak was cutting some northbound routes from Washington, as the wind and the rains moved north up the coastline.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VILES: Lou, the main transportation problem here in New York City is the one Patty Davis talked about a moment ago, in the skies.

On the ground, I can tell you, the trains from Washington are still running on time, no big crowd down at the train station, business as usual there. We haven't really felt the rain yet from Isabel, but we are starting to feel the winds from Isabel here in New York. But, as of right now, Lou, this is the kind of storm here in New York you can cover in a suit and tie. You don't need a raincoat -- Lou.

DOBBS: And I know that you are extremely appreciative of that fact. Peter Viles, thank you very much.

Coming up next: With the advent of Hurricane Isabel, you should know that cost of homeowners insurance for those who live all along Isabel's path will be going up. You should also know that they're not the only ones who will be paying higher premiums. So will you. Jan Hopkins will tell us just how high those premiums are likely to go.

And in other news tonight: a massive explosion at an oil pipeline in Iraq. Tonight, another attack on U.S. troops, three soldiers dead, another two wounded. We'll have the latest.

And tonight's "Extraordinary Career," the man who tried his hand at a number of trades before finding his fit at a company that sparked a cultural pop revolution. We'll have his story ahead.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Coming up next: With friends like France and Germany, some say, who needs enemies? The group some have called the axis of weasel now wants to help out a little in Iraq. Kitty Pilgrim will have our report.

Stay with us.

We'll also have the latest on Hurricane Isabel and its march inland.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: It is still a war in Iraq.

Three U.S. soldiers were killed today, two others wounded, when they were ambush by small-arms fire near Tikrit. The soldiers were investigating a suspected launch site for rocket-propelled grenades when they were attacked. Earlier today, a U.S. convoy was ambushed in a town west of Baghdad. Two trucks were destroyed in that attack. The Army sent in reinforcements to the town, including five Abrams tanks, two Bradley Fighting Vehicles.

In another incident in Iraq, an explosion today out at an oil pipeline north of Baghdad. The chief engineer of the pipeline said saboteurs are definitely responsible for the resultant explosion and fire.

Two countries that strongly opposed the war against Saddam Hussein today have offered to help the United States in Iraq, but the offer is strictly limited. France and Germany now say they're willing to help train Iraqi police. But they didn't offer to send any troops to Iraq and there is no word about financial support either.

Kitty Pilgrim has the report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): France's Jacques Chirac and Germany's Gerhard Schroeder today were discussing plans to help train Iraqi police and security officers. But there is still a problem. The French have called for an absurdly rapid transfer of power to the Iraqis.

On Friday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the power transfer should take place in a month and elections in the spring. Today, Chirac amended that word to months and said the French position had not shifted. President Bush has been saying to the world community, in essence, put your money where your mouth is.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We'll continue to make the case that reconstruction aid is necessary. And we'll also remind our European friends that we're making good progress there.

PILGRIM: The United States wants to raise at least $10 billion next month at a donor conference in Madrid. Precious little has been pledged so far. The European Union has indicated it may give about $250 million. Japan will reportedly pledge $1 billion, a difficult position for Prime Minister Koizumi.

The shifting of European positions on Iraq was noted by the Greek foreign minister, George Papandreou, when he met with Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday.

GEORGE PAPANDREOU, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER: There may have been differences over the war, and there were differences over the war, why and if it should have taken place, but there's a genuine desire to see a stable Iraq, a representative government in Iraq, and an independent Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PILGRIM: Now, Germany's Schroeder is calling for a road map for transferring power to the Iraqis, adding that the timing for the elections was important, but it's also important to get the process moving forward -- Lou.

DOBBS: Well, France and Germany may be indeed faux friends, but certainly the United States has not helped with its faux planning for the post combat operations in Iraq.

Well, presumably, we'll get some good donations when they have that conference next month.

DOBBS: And enthusiastic support, I'm sure. Kitty, thank -- Kitty Pilgrim.

Still ahead here, homeowners in the path of Hurricane Isabel may be in for a shock when it comes to their insurance premiums, and so may you. Jan Hopkins will have the story.

And extraordinary careers, tonight the story of a man who went broke, went back to what he loved, and now he runs the world's best- known music and pop culture company.

And, later, your thoughts about Dick Grasso's resignation as the chairman of the New York Stock Exchange. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: More than a million people in Virginia tonight are without power. Hurricane Isabel is still pounding away at that area. Winds of 90 miles an hour, heavy rain reported all along the front of that storm.

And let's take a look now at the storm as it crossed into Virginia Beach, Virginia, earlier this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And we have already seen pieces of debris from roofs flying off. We have reports from the Virginia Beach Fire Department that a pier 10 blocks from here, the end of a pier has been ripped off. It's being battered by the high seas. We also have reports of a couple of roofs being peeled back.

And, again, the great fear is that the full brunt of this storm has not even hit us yet. The waves are pressing over a very high seawall that they built just for this purpose, just for hurricanes.

But, you know, we've had curiosity seekers. There are a couple of them right here right now, and some SUVs coming out here all day just to experience the fury of Mother Nature.

But, you know, people think you can ride these things out. They think that you can come out and watch this, but as you can see, this is very dangerous. I wouldn't recommend anyone coming out here at this point. And they've cleared the whole beach front.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Right now, the eye of Hurricane Isabel is just crossing into Virginia.

I'm joined now by telephone by John Marshall. He's the secretary of public safety for the Commonwealth of Virginia

Mr. Marshall, thanks for being with us.

How extensive does it appear the damage is to this point?

JOHN MARSHALL, SECY. OF PUBLIC SAFETY, VIRGINIA: Well, good evening.

As I was listening in on that report, I would say that the winds are here. The tropical-force winds entered the state at 5:00 a.m. this morning, and it's my understanding now that the hurricane-force winds are on our border and headed down the coast.

So, we're having quite a few problems. As you mentioned, we have a million people without power. We have about 16 -- over 16,000 people in shelters, which is actually good because the citizens of Virginia are certainly taking this storm seriously. And we're continuing to take the calls at the State Emergency Operation Center to provide whatever assistance and response we can.

Obviously, there's a lot of debris blocking roads, and we have requests for high water vehicles and those type things.

DOBBS: What have you mobilized to this point, Mr. Marshall, in terms of police, fire, emergency, EMTs and paramedics?

MARSHALL: Right. Governor Warner was very proactive on this and actually declared a state of emergency on Monday, which enabled us to preposition a lot of our resources in the areas where we anticipated having some problems. So, that translates into -- we prepositioned Virginia National Guard soldiers on the eastern shore and in the eastern part of the state. We have well over 300 soldiers already there, and we can go upwards, 500 and on up, if we need to.

State troopers were deployed on the eastern shore and also in the eastern part of Virginia, and they've been already sent out there. And they're responding as they can, but in some areas, because of the wind conditions, they're not able to drive.

So, it certainly is a serious situation we're doing with, but we had a lot of equipment and manpower pre-deployed, which has been beneficial to us.

DOBBS: As you have pointed out, and Governor Warner has mentioned, in the issue of power outages that it may be several days before Virginians have power up. Do you have any better sense right now as to what is going on with the power situation, whether or not that can be accelerated?

MARSHALL: Well, we're -- we have quite a few resources. In particular, Dominion Power has doubled their workforce here, brought people in from out of state. But obviously, during the actual, you know, peak period of the storms, they're not able to get out there and do the work they have to. They simply can't for safety reasons.

But we are certain that, you know, once as the storm moves on, as soon as they can get out and do the important work they need to do that they're going to be there. And we'll provide whatever assistance, helping them get to where they need to get to.

DOBBS: Mr. Marshall, we thank you very much. John Marshall, the secretary of public safety for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

It will be weeks before the damage resulting from Hurricane Isabel can assessed. Of course, there is no doubt, however, that people who live in the path of Isabel will be paying higher premiums for their homeowners' insurance as a result. But you may not know that your premiums as well are likely to go up.

Jan Hopkins has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAN HOPKINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Isabel continues to churn her way north, insurance companies, like Travelers, are in the area, monitoring the storm's progress. Claims adjusters are ready to roll to deliver help to homeowners.

LORETTA FORREST, CLAIM UNIT MANAGER, TRAVELERS: So, obviously in a tough position, and we're trying to do the best that we can quickly, and help them through a devastating situation.

HOPKINS: Since 1997, Travelers has been using mobile units to get to the scene of disasters quickly. Travelers and other insurance companies are using the latest in technology not only to respond to customers, but also to assess their risk. This has helped insurance companies ask for, and receive, increases in premiums.

The average price of homeowners insurance in the whole country was $418 a year in 1995. It's expected to be $1,615 next year. That's growing faster than inflation.

The insurance industry blames higher disaster costs and the desire of so many to live on the coast.

Hurricane Andrew cost insurance companies $20 billion. Since then, insurance premiums in Florida have more than doubled. In addition to paying more for an insurance policy...

(SATELLITE SIGNAL LOST)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) DOBBS: Turning ideas into reality requires special people.

Tom Freston was out of work, when he knocked on the door of a company that was beginning a music television channel. Preston now heads a media empire that not only dominates international television, but is a force for cultural change throughout the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS (voice-over): Almost 400 million households all around the world want their MTV.

TOM FRESTON, CEO, MTV: I don't want any crap out of anybody.

DOBBS: For Tom Freston, that international focus started early. Bored with his first job in advertising, Freston quit to travel the world.

FRESTON: And I started a business importing -- designing and importing clothes from Afghanistan and India. So, I, you know, spent eight years in that business.

DOBBS: But that business went bust, and Freston went home.

FRESTON: I made a bunch of money and lost it, and then came back to New York City with my tail between my legs, essentially. I was a music fan of the highest order. I ended up at the door of a company called the Warner Amex Satellite Entertainment Company, and that was beginning with an idea for a video music channel. It's good work if you can get it.

DOBBS: Convincing them of his entrepreneurial skills, Freston was hired on the spot.

FRESON: I worked in an office that I split with some one that was filled with soda cans. It was where they stored the soda, and that's where we started. Serious.

DOBBS: MTV launched on the 1st of August, 1981.

ANNOUNCER: Welcome to MTV music television.

DOBBS: Freston's "I want my MTV" campaign...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want my MTV.

DOBBS: ... was an immediate success.

FRESTON: Well, we felt that if we could legitimatize the service, get major rock stars to endorse it, tell them to call their cable company and say "I want my MTV," these cable operators would say I better add this channel. There is a market for it. And it would work like a charm.

DOBBS: Today, the MTV networks include Nickelodeon, Comedy Central VH-1. FRESTON: Anybody coming in today? Any guests?

DOBBS: Freston's staff is notably young, diverse and obsessed with pop culture.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you think about watching Comedy Central if it's a lot more alive?

DOBBS: That obsession carries all the way to the top.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll have them shot and ready to go for January.

FRESTON: The people who work for you have to somehow believe that even though you're not totally on top of things, you are connected. You sympathize with what's going on. Your instincts still have some validity.

You know, it looks different from mostly anything else that's out there these days.

You can talk in a variety of ways, and otherwise you're sort of just an empty suit.

DOBBS: The MTV networks are run as individual businesses with creative leadership.

FRESTON: Because I think that one sends a great signal to other employees of the company about what we're about.

DOBBS: Calculated risks are also encouraged.

FRESTON: This is the first animated reality show.

Whoever would have thought that a sea sponge, not your normal character, would become the animated hit of the last several years and a real cultural (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? That is Sponge Bob. You never know. Who ever would have guessed? No one. We thought the Osbournes would be a -- would do OK. But no one knew it would become a real phenomenon.

DOBBS: The phenomenon of MTV is still a shock to Freston.

FRESTON: I went to the VMAs last week, and it was -- when you see the arrivals at Rockefeller Center, I said, boy, it's almost taken over Midtown Manhattan and owned New York City for a night. It wouldn't have been your wildest dream in 1980. Well, it was inevitable, wasn't it?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOBBS: Tom Freston. In the early days of MTV, Freston was constantly told at every turn it would never work.

Here now is Jim Citrin. He is the author of "The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers." You know, when I think about Tom Freston over at MTV, and there are quite a few of us here still at CNN who remember 23 years ago being told it will never work. He obviously relishes the fact that it did.

JAMES CITRIN, AUTHOR, "5 PATTERNS OF EXTRAORDINARY CAREERS": Tom has built arguably the strongest cable franchise in the business, and he's got the best management team, who has done it with him.

DOBBS: How does he manage to create a creative environment and a commercial environment? Because, as you well know, business and creativity don't always go hand in hand.

CITRIN: That is really the secret of the success of MTV. Tom, who is a creative person, he learned that if you put a creative person at the head of MTV Networks, and at each of the individual networks, and partner them with a chief operating officer who is responsible for finance, operations, human resources, advertising and sales, it's a wonderful combination.

DOBBS: Now, for those young men and women out there, who are looking for an MTV-like success that would parallel that of Tom Freston. Here comes a guy who has been selling hippie clothes for eight years around the world. He goes belly-up and broke, walks in, and the next thing he's associated with an idea that's going to explode into MTV. How do they do that?

CITRIN: Well, there is certainly an amount of luck in being at the right place at the right time. But also he has grown up with it. He created a team; that he didn't do it himself. And it's just a good role model to point to for one and all.

DOBBS: You know, I was thinking, Jim, because you're responsible for recruiting talent and matching talent and leadership needs of corporations all over the country. The idea that he introduced, and that is being an empty suit. An empty suit at MTV would be found out pretty quickly given that culture. Empty suits, how do you avoid them? How do you avoid being one?

CITRIN: The point is to be credible in whatever field you're working in. At MTV, it's a creative culture, so you have to have a touch stone. In the news business, you have to be a journalist. In other businesses, it's about being in touch with the work that you're doing.

DOBBS: Well, I was actually thinking in terms of management roles rather than an anchor or a journalist, because, of course, we are absolutely perfect in every respect.

CITRIN: Of course.

DOBBS: It's always management you have to be concerned about.

CITRIN: The key is to partner. No one can do it alone. And, again, this organizational structure came from Tom's own passion to be a creative person. DOBBS: Right.

CITRIN: But he had the brains to know that you need sound business operations to build a successful enterprise.

DOBBS: Right.

CITRIN: So, that idea of, we call it, benevolent leadership in the book, playing to the strengths of others is really a key to the success.

DOBBS: Right. And it applies for news executives, manufacturing executives, publishing executives.

CITRIN: Yes, certainly.

DOBBS: Jim Citrin, thank you very much for introducing us to another extraordinary career.

CITRIN: Thanks, Lou.

DOBBS: Tomorrow night, we continue our look. Tomorrow night, a man who left a successful career. He didn't get the job he wanted, and he has simply taken a home remodeling supply company and done pretty well with it. We're talking about Bob Nardelli. He is the CEO of the world's largest home improvement company, and we will be taking a look at his career tomorrow night.

That brings us to tonight's poll, and we want to hear from you. The question is: how satisfied are you with your career? Very, somewhat or not all?

Cast your vote at CNN.com/lou. We'll have results for you later here in the show.

And coming up next, the big board's chairman, Richard Grasso, is gone. But the exchange has a lot of work to do to prevent another scandal like the one that forced his resignation. Christine Romans will have the latest for us. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: AOL Time Warner today made it official. It will soon drop AOL from its trade style. Chairman Richard Parsons says the move ends the confusion about the company's corporate name and the America Online brand.

The new Time Warner will also return to the stock symbol it used before AOL bought it three years ago. That symbol is TWX.

AOL Time Warner is the parent company of CNN. Time Warner will be the parent company of CNN.

Now, AOL Time Warner didn't mention it, but the stock price was, we noticed here, a lot higher under the old symbol, TWX, than in their current symbol. We don't know that that had anything to do with the discussions of the decision, but we just thought we'd bring it up.

Speaking of stock prices, a pretty good day on Wall Street. the Nasdaq today rose above 1900 for the first time in a year and a half. Technology and financial stocks leading the rally. The Dow up 113 points. The Nasdaq up 26. The S&P 500 gaining 13.

More fallout tonight from the resignation of the New York Stock Exchange Chairman Richard Grasso. There appear to be more questions than answers right now about the future management structure of the exchange.

Christine Romans is at the exchange with the very latest for us -- Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS: And, Lou, tonight they are scrambling to fill a power vacuum left by Dick Grasso's resignation. Angry members met this afternoon with six directors to voice their concerns about the board and the black eye this controversy has given the stock exchange.

And lead director Carl McCall met first with SEC Chairman Bill Donaldson, and then with reporters to assure them things will change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL MCCALL, INTERIM LEAD DIRECTOR, NYSE: From today on, the New York Stock Exchange will operate differently. The New York Stock Exchange has been, and we are grateful to Dick Grasso for his leadership in helping to make this the premium equity auction marketplace in the world. And the people who are here with me today, the other people in this building and the board, we are fully committed to continue this tradition of excellence and to assure the investing public that this is the place to do business.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: McCall called a special meeting of the board for tomorrow to talk about a successor to Mr. Grasso. The board, he says, is on target for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) governance review. On the table now, lesser members getting a place at the board, the chairman and the CEO positions being split, a potential for an IPO, all of this being discussed.

Now, Carl McCall is the man who signed Dick Grasso's most recent employment contract. He has defended his prior pay, and McCall is now the face right now for the NYSE, he said. And he joked he's not doing it for the money, Lou. Board members make $30,000 with $2,000 for each meeting they attend. And when pressed, he told us he voted to oust Dick Grasso on that call yesterday.

Meanwhile, at least 300 members spent almost two hours behind closed doors to talk about the exchange's next move. Members told me that the theme of this meeting was this, Lou: If Dick Grasso lost his job over the money, then what about the people who gave it to him? What about their jobs -- Lou. DOBBS: Well, those are important questions. And as we said at the outset, there are more questions right now than answers. But SEC Chairman Bill Donaldson says that its inquiry into the governance issues attendant to all aspects of the New York Stock Exchange will continue. What is your best sense of what's go on there this evening as the day wraps up?

ROMANS: Well, there is still scrambling. I mean, there is this other meeting tomorrow. There is a board meeting again next week. It looks as though they are accelerating this corporate governance review. Pretty much everything's on the table -- Lou.

DOBBS: Christine Romans, thank you very much -- reporting from the New York Stock Exchange tonight.

Still ahead, many of you are writing in about the Grasso fiasco. We'll have your thoughts right after this. Please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: The results of our poll tonight. The question: How satisfied are you with your career? Thirty-eight percent of you said "very," 31 percent said, "somewhat," and 31 percent said "not at all." And that's a pretty good distribution. We'll hope for improvement for the 31 percent who said "not at all."

Taking a look now at some of your thoughts, writing in about our reports on exporting America.

Tom from Nevada said: "China didn't steal jobs from American workers. American corporations sent those jobs to them. When Americans can no longer afford the products of the major companies, they had better hope that the Chinese can."

Dennis Cronin in Columbia, Missouri: "We need to be equally concerned about India and Mexico, and not just China, with regard to losing American jobs. Just think how many jobs could be saved from layoffs if corporate America would curb its greed and put that excess back into the company."

Steven Grizzle of Illinois said about Dick Grasso's resignation: "I hope you guys will not let the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange get away with this fast one. They are obviously equally corrupt, along with Grasso. Keep on them, Lou."

And Tom of Richland, Washington: "One day after you had that poll about Dick Grasso and whether or not he should resign, he's gone. Might I suggest you hold a similar poll on Michael Powell? His misguided proposals on media consolidation pose a huge threat to local media coverage in this country."

DOBBS: Well, that's an interesting idea, and we're going to sort through a list of names if it works like that. And we'll certainly have that poll for you next week.

We love hearing from you. E-mail us at loudobbs@cnn.com. That's our show for tonight. Thanks for being with us. For all of us here, good-night from New York.

"ANDERSON COOPER 360" is coming up next.

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