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Tornadoes, Floods Rage in Midwest; Chemical Plant Burns Outside Atlanta
Aired May 25, 2004 - 13:00 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush pushing his message on Iraq. But is he giving America enough specifics about what's next?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: There's more violence in Baghdad, explosions as insurgents target an Iraqi police station. We'll have a live report.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Keith Oppenheim in Gurnee, Illinois, where the floodwaters, as you can see behind me, are rising. I'll have a live report coming up.
PHILLIPS: A huge cloud of smoke filled with dangerous chemicals forces evacuations and shuts down a major Atlanta highway.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is off today.
GRIFFIN: And I'm Drew Griffin. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
PHILLIPS: Where there's smoke, there's potential danger, just east of Atlanta this hour, from a huge fire at a warehouse filled with pool chemicals. The BioLab site in Conyers stores chlorine-based products in solid, liquid and gaseous forms, all of which have now been burning almost nine hours. Dozens of BioLab's neighbors are out of their homes. We get the latest now from CNN's David Mattingly -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we're about a quarter of a mile from the scene of the fire, and even here we occasionally catch whiffs of chlorine. That smell that you would associate at swimming pools. And that is the problem, the chlorine that's being put out as this warehouse burns; that towering plume of smoke now towering over the city of Conyers east of Atlanta. The warehouse containing large amounts of chlorinated product, and authorities here are now asking that anyone downwind of the plant, under that plume to take necessary precautions and possibly evacuate their homes, a request that is now affecting hundreds of people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JODI SHUPE, ROCKDALE CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We do not have a mandatory evacuation in place right now. All we are doing is telling everybody it's advisable that they do leave. If they're anywhere in the area of where the cloud of smoke is, if you have burning to your eyes, if you're having breathing problems, if you feel you're being affected by this in any way, you need to get out of the area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: So far about two dozen residents have sought treatment at nearby hospitals complaining of respiratory problems. The chlorine in the air could also cause possibly irritation to the eyes and skin. A 26-mile section of Interstate 20 very quiet right here behind me, which is right behind me here, has been -- I-20 has been closed. That main thoroughfare going east and west through this area, and through Atlanta, closed because of visibility conditions and possible air quality concerns.
Now authorities right now are also worried about the water, the runoff from the site as fireman continue to fight this fire. It happened with an explosion at -- between 3:30 and 4:00 this morning. So we're now well into our ninth hour of this fire going and it shows no sign of slowing down. All that water that they're putting on there is contaminated when it comes in contact with the chlorine. So there are environmental concerns as well. They're trying to contain that water, keeping it from reaching waterways nearby. The chlorinated substances that they are fighting in there are reported to be very slow-burning and very difficult to be put out, so this fire could be burning for some time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: David, you talk about the environmental threat, also the physical threat from a 26-mile radius, could that threat extend even farther outside of the 26 miles and get closer into neighborhoods and downtown Atlanta?
MATTINGLY: At this point, it's all because of the wind that downtown Atlanta has not been affected. The wind has been blowing to the east all morning long. It is expected to continue to do that with some variations to either the north or the south. So this is blowing away from metropolitan areas, which is good news for everyone upwind of this. Bad news, of course, from the more rural areas downwind of this area here in Conyers, Georgia.
PHILLIPS: All right. Our David Mattingly there in Conyers, thanks so much. We'll continue to check in with you -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Kyra, the Midwest hoping for a breather today after two, three, four days of violent storms and heavy rain. The National Weather Service tallied more than 50 reports of tornadoes just yesterday. It took place in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma. For Nebraskans, the worst came Saturday when a twister all but wiped out a town of 276 people. One person there was killed.
Today, there is word debris from the counties hit hardest has turned up 20 miles away. One of several twisters reported in Missouri last night scored a direct hit on Main Street in Albany. That's 60 miles north of Kansas City. Several people hurt, including two who were inside a mobile home when the twister picked it off the ground and dropped it onto a car. The whole town still without power and it expects to remain so at least one more day.
And in northern Illinois, all eyes are on the Des Plaines River which is about to crest in a town called Gurnee, 5 1/2 feet above flood stage. Folks there and downstream fear a repeat of a flood in 1986 which cost victims, taxpayers and insurance companies more than $100 million. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is there live -- Keith.
OPPENHEIM: Hi, Drew. It looks like I'm standing in the river here, but I'm not, I'm just standing on the street being which has overflowed with the Des Plaines River. Behind me you can see the very handy form of transportation that people are using, canoes and various boats to move supplies.
Take a look down behind me on Philthorne (ph) Road, it is well flooded. There's a school back there which is closed. If we move over in this direction, you can see in the distance that there are a number of businesses that are well under water. Just an example of how...
(AUDIO GAP)
OPPENHEIM: ... record levels of floodwaters in this area, reaching five feet above flood stage. And perhaps by tomorrow we'll be above six feet above flood stage. In the past couple of hours, we spoke to Commander Jay Patrick of the Village of Gurnee Police Department to ask how it's been like for people and how they've been coping.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CMDR. JAY PATRICK, GURNEE, IL. POLICE: It's not something you want to see, obviously, or go through because it costs a lot of money, it creates a lot of damage. And there are some new residents that aren't used to it unfortunately. And this has been pretty heart- wrenching for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: We're crouching down in the river area just to give you a sense of what happens with water flow, Drew. If water doesn't have a place to go in its main river bed it will move elsewhere, which is exactly what's happening now. As you look behind me, you can see that the water is really moving back to its natural flow into the main river stream, but right now, it's in the middle of the street and that's making life pretty tough for people around here.
Back to you.
GRIFFIN: Keith, that's the question I wanted to ask you. We're seeing blue skies. Is the water receding now? Do you have a forecast for more rain?
OPPENHEIM: Well, the good news is the weather is better and there does not appear it be a great deal of rain in the forecast, Drew. But the water flow will continue to mount as the river dictates. In other words, because there is flow upstream and it's making its way slowly down here, the crest for this area is probably not going to be until late tomorrow night when it will reach close to six feet above flood stage, the highest it has ever been as far as anyone around here knows.
GRIFFIN: Keith Oppenheim, live in Gurnee, Illinois, thanks for that report -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, as we mentioned, the region may get a break today. But things change quickly in the springtime as we all know. Let's check in for a real-time outlook from CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, the good news is that there's not any rain really in the forecast for northern parts of Illinois. The river is expected to crest tonight it sounds like, but it should stay outside of its banks until Sunday. So that's five days of those floodwaters still standing there. And now is the time you want to keep in mind this is not stuff you want to walk in, folks, it's not stuff you want to play in, certainly not stuff that you want to drive in. The water is very dirty.
And this is really a very dangerous situation. We also having flooding across many creeks and tributaries across Illinois, also back into Iowa. And the rainfall that you see right now is all very, very light. Take a look at what's going on across central parts of Missouri. We do have an isolated severe thunderstorm producing some nickel-sized hail in Benton (ph) County, right down here south of I- 70. These are all pushing off to the east right now.
We have a slight risk of severe thunderstorms and it's all going to be farther to the south than where all the damage was yesterday and the day before. It was really northwestern Missouri, into parts of Iowa, into Nebraska, into Kansas, where the problems were yesterday/ So things are going to be a little farther south. And this is going to be more of a hail event, maybe a damaging wind event today, rather than a tornado event.
Now heavy rain is going to be possible in some areas. We're talking an additional one to two inches on top of what you already have . But thankfully, it's falling southward of where all the problems were. But of course, all that water runs on down south. But we are going to be watching this area very closely for flooding potential across St. Louis, over towards Cincinnati, across the Ohio Valley and into parts of the Northeast. And this is the rain forecast through tomorrow morning. The severe weather forecast just about in those same areas.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui Jeras, thanks. In just a few minutes, we're going to talk about federal help for victims of the storms and high water with Undersecretary Michael Brown. That's about half past the hour on LIVE FROM...
GRIFFIN: Among the changes we know now to look for in a semi- sovereign Iraq is a new American general in charge there. After 13 months in Baghdad, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez is on his way out. Pentagon officials insist this is normal, not a reflection on any wrong moves on Abu Ghraib or anywhere else. In line to replace him is Army Vice Chief of Staff George Casey.
In the meantime, though, bombs and mortars, conflict, casualties, centered on the capital of Baghdad, and the holy city of Najaf. We get all this from CNN's Harris Whitbeck who is there live in Baghdad -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drew, it certainly has been a day of violence in the Iraqi capital. The latest round of explosions was heard at around 4:30 this afternoon here in central Baghdad. Three rocket-propelled grenades were launched against an Iraqi national police station, causing slight injuries to two U.S. soldiers. Iraqi national police responded to the site from where these rocket-propelled grenades were launched, an apartment building. They responded with small arms fire and then they entered the apartment building and found an improvised rocket launcher at that spot.
Now earlier this morning a suicide bomber caused an explosion near the Australian embassy, also near central Baghdad. It was also in an area that houses Australian military personnel who are operating in Iraq as part of the coalition, and also, the offices for the World Food Program, which is part of the United Nations. There were two people who were slightly injured in that blast and, again that happened early this morning here in Baghdad.
Down in Najaf, U.S. forces who are fighting militias belonging to the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr came under, at times, intense mortar fire today. There have been skirmishes throughout the day there between the U.S. forces and militia men. The militia men claim that U.S. forces fired upon a holy shrine in Najaf.
The shrine, which is considered to be the holiest site for Shiites around the world, the United States is insisting it did not conduct any military operations around that shrine. And they say that that shrine might have been fired upon by the militia men themselves in order to be able to blame the United States. The U.S. has insisted for quite some time now that it goes to great lengths to avoid military operation around sites that could be sensitive and they want to avoid offending sensibilities in -- here in Iraq -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Harris Whitbeck, live in a very dangerous Iraq, thank you, sir -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Did President Bush make the most of his opportunity to sell America on his plan for Iraq? We're going to talk about the substance of the sell just ahead on LIVE FROM...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like kind of a nightmare kind of thing. It's like, man, this can't really happen to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The aftermath of battle. We'll take you inside an Iraqi firefight through the eyes of these men who fought it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Did it lack specifics or are the details left to the Iraqis? President Bush addressed the nation last night with a five- point presentation on what's next in Iraq. But did he point to anything that could quell fears and build confidence among Americans and Iraqis? More now from CNN's Elaine Quijano, she's with the president at a health care event in the battleground state of Ohio -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra. President Bush is here at Youngstown State University in Ohio to talk about health care. Ohio, as you said, a key state, one that President Bush won by 4 percentage points in 2000. He'll be meeting here today to discuss expanding access to health care for low-income individuals.
But of course last night his focus was the American audience. But the subject, international affairs, namely, Iraq. During that speech last night at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the president laid out what he called his five-step plan regarding Iraq's future. But a speech that critics content did not give enough specifics about the U.S.' role in Iraq.
Now this morning, some strong images coming out of the White House. The president visiting with Iraqis who are receiving medical treatment here in the U.S. These Iraqis, tortured under Saddam Hussein's regime, had had their hands cut off, meeting with the president at a time when the administration is trying to counter a lot of negative publicity, namely, over those images coming out of Iraq with the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, the white house clearly trying to counter some of those negative images.
Also this morning, the president spoke with French President Jacques Chirac, looking for backing on that new U.N. resolution supporting the planned interim Iraqi authority. The U.S. and Britain circulated a draft resolution of that yesterday. But France has expressed concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What President Chirac and others have said is they want to make sure that the transfer of sovereignty to the interim government is a real transfer. And that's what we want. We want there to be a complete and real transfer of sovereignty so that the Iraqi citizens realize the fate of their country is now their responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now this morning, before President Bush left the White House, he was asked whether or not it was imperative that Iraq end up with a democracy. Now the president did not use the term, democracy, instead saying it was imperative that the Iraqis develop a constitution they can call their own and then repeating a line from last night that the administration's intention was never to have Iraq look like America.
But, again, the president here, turning his attention to domestic affairs, set to talk about health care here in Youngstown, Ohio -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Elaine Quijano, thanks so much. And John Kerry jumped into the chorus of criticism after the president's speech. He said it was full of general principles, not specifics, and that the president should reach out to America's allies. Kerry also said it is time to turn words into action by offering real leadership to the world.
GRIFFIN: We're going to hear from Carlos Watson later on on how the president and John Kerry are doing in the polls and what the reaction is to last night's speech.
But first...
PHILLIPS: Tornado in Kansas, Nebraska. Flood waters rising in Illinois. The Midwest hit hard with natural disasters. We'll talk with the man in charge of making sure people there get federal help, straight ahead.
GRIFFIN: And if you get happy do you also want to be healthy? Fast food giant McDonald's is betting you'll want to do both. We're pulling up to the second window ahead on LIVE FROM...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MARKET REPORT)
GRIFFIN: We're going to turn to some different numbers now. The president's push toward transition in Iraq comes at a low point in his popularity. CNN analyst Carlos Watson has been examining the numbers for us. He had to score big last night, Carlos, that's what the critics are telling us. Did he?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The president gave the first, as you said, of six speeches. And I'm not sure he accomplished everything he needed to. Apart -- people have talked about a number of audiences that he was trying to appeal to, certainly to the American public, certainly to international governments, even to the Iraqi people.
But I think his two toughest critics probably were Republican members of Congress like John McCain as well as Republican members of the press. In all, they've been quiet today. I would wait to see what happens over the next week, including at the end of this week, to see if there are any difficult editorials that are written.
GRIFFIN: Poll numbers, the most recent poll numbers we have on President Bush's job performance, but I want to talk about audience, because last night, though, almost everybody watched right it here on CNN, Carlos, the broadcast networks did not carry this. Was he able to reach as wide an audience as he needed to, especially given the fact that we're heading into the summertime malaise? WATSON: I think in some ways it may be difficult, Drew, the fact that the networks didn't cover it and he didn't get as much coverage. And as you said, here comes vacation, Memorial Day, lots of people heading off, high school graduations, college graduations, summer plans.
And so for the president, the next six weeks will probably be the quietest period we've had from a political sense, not necessarily a policy sense, but a political sense, in a long time. Could be good news, could be bad news. Could be bad news if in fact the polls freeze in place and he remains behind John Kerry. Could be good news though if he's able to turn the policy around, meaning if the fighting on the ground in Iraq seems to stabilize with the coalition troops coming out on top.
If in fact, some of these civil infrastructure that he talked about yesterday, the hospitals, the schools, the roads, even the economy begins to come back, but a lot to be done over the next six weeks. And then don't forget, last but not least, he still is working hard to bring in some international cooperation. And as he said today when he talked about President Jacques Chirac of France, that's still a very tough and difficult challenge for him to meet.
GRIFFIN: Carlos, you have a unique position in that you travel all over the country assessing opinion from people. The economy's doing better. Job outlook is looking better. Are people now focusing on one issue, Iraq, in the presidential election?
WATSON: You know, it's interesting that you say -- you're right, every week I've been in a different battleground state from Florida to Pennsylvania to Arizona to Minnesota. And tonight at 8:00 Eastern on Paula's show, I talk about my conversation in Louisiana. And while early on I heard more about the economy and less about the war, as things have gone on, I'm hearing a lot more about the war, and the war in a variety of different ways.
You're hearing about the prison abuse scandal. It's very interesting, by the way, Drew, to see the difference in reactions not only along party lines, but along gender lines in some cases. Also hearing more about the need for more troops, and people's perspective on that. That's an increasingly heated and difficult debate. So very interesting conversation as you go to these battleground states, including Louisiana.
GRIFFIN: And Carlos, real quickly, are we hearing much at all John Kerry, his name has not come up in this entire conversation?
WATSON: You know, I still -- with six conversations down in six different states, Drew, I have yet to hear the kind of passionate support for John Kerry that he would like to hear. Although you still have got to give him another month-and-a-half and see if after the Democratic convention if he doesn't begin to see that passion.
GRIFFIN: Carlos, thank you so much. And for more of Carlos Watson's reports, great reports, his "American Pulse" segment on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW," that's at 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific. And we'll be right back with LIVE FROM...
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Aired May 25, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush pushing his message on Iraq. But is he giving America enough specifics about what's next?
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: There's more violence in Baghdad, explosions as insurgents target an Iraqi police station. We'll have a live report.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Keith Oppenheim in Gurnee, Illinois, where the floodwaters, as you can see behind me, are rising. I'll have a live report coming up.
PHILLIPS: A huge cloud of smoke filled with dangerous chemicals forces evacuations and shuts down a major Atlanta highway.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. Miles is off today.
GRIFFIN: And I'm Drew Griffin. CNN's LIVE FROM... starts right now.
PHILLIPS: Where there's smoke, there's potential danger, just east of Atlanta this hour, from a huge fire at a warehouse filled with pool chemicals. The BioLab site in Conyers stores chlorine-based products in solid, liquid and gaseous forms, all of which have now been burning almost nine hours. Dozens of BioLab's neighbors are out of their homes. We get the latest now from CNN's David Mattingly -- David.
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, we're about a quarter of a mile from the scene of the fire, and even here we occasionally catch whiffs of chlorine. That smell that you would associate at swimming pools. And that is the problem, the chlorine that's being put out as this warehouse burns; that towering plume of smoke now towering over the city of Conyers east of Atlanta. The warehouse containing large amounts of chlorinated product, and authorities here are now asking that anyone downwind of the plant, under that plume to take necessary precautions and possibly evacuate their homes, a request that is now affecting hundreds of people.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JODI SHUPE, ROCKDALE CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We do not have a mandatory evacuation in place right now. All we are doing is telling everybody it's advisable that they do leave. If they're anywhere in the area of where the cloud of smoke is, if you have burning to your eyes, if you're having breathing problems, if you feel you're being affected by this in any way, you need to get out of the area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: So far about two dozen residents have sought treatment at nearby hospitals complaining of respiratory problems. The chlorine in the air could also cause possibly irritation to the eyes and skin. A 26-mile section of Interstate 20 very quiet right here behind me, which is right behind me here, has been -- I-20 has been closed. That main thoroughfare going east and west through this area, and through Atlanta, closed because of visibility conditions and possible air quality concerns.
Now authorities right now are also worried about the water, the runoff from the site as fireman continue to fight this fire. It happened with an explosion at -- between 3:30 and 4:00 this morning. So we're now well into our ninth hour of this fire going and it shows no sign of slowing down. All that water that they're putting on there is contaminated when it comes in contact with the chlorine. So there are environmental concerns as well. They're trying to contain that water, keeping it from reaching waterways nearby. The chlorinated substances that they are fighting in there are reported to be very slow-burning and very difficult to be put out, so this fire could be burning for some time -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: David, you talk about the environmental threat, also the physical threat from a 26-mile radius, could that threat extend even farther outside of the 26 miles and get closer into neighborhoods and downtown Atlanta?
MATTINGLY: At this point, it's all because of the wind that downtown Atlanta has not been affected. The wind has been blowing to the east all morning long. It is expected to continue to do that with some variations to either the north or the south. So this is blowing away from metropolitan areas, which is good news for everyone upwind of this. Bad news, of course, from the more rural areas downwind of this area here in Conyers, Georgia.
PHILLIPS: All right. Our David Mattingly there in Conyers, thanks so much. We'll continue to check in with you -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Kyra, the Midwest hoping for a breather today after two, three, four days of violent storms and heavy rain. The National Weather Service tallied more than 50 reports of tornadoes just yesterday. It took place in Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma. For Nebraskans, the worst came Saturday when a twister all but wiped out a town of 276 people. One person there was killed.
Today, there is word debris from the counties hit hardest has turned up 20 miles away. One of several twisters reported in Missouri last night scored a direct hit on Main Street in Albany. That's 60 miles north of Kansas City. Several people hurt, including two who were inside a mobile home when the twister picked it off the ground and dropped it onto a car. The whole town still without power and it expects to remain so at least one more day.
And in northern Illinois, all eyes are on the Des Plaines River which is about to crest in a town called Gurnee, 5 1/2 feet above flood stage. Folks there and downstream fear a repeat of a flood in 1986 which cost victims, taxpayers and insurance companies more than $100 million. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is there live -- Keith.
OPPENHEIM: Hi, Drew. It looks like I'm standing in the river here, but I'm not, I'm just standing on the street being which has overflowed with the Des Plaines River. Behind me you can see the very handy form of transportation that people are using, canoes and various boats to move supplies.
Take a look down behind me on Philthorne (ph) Road, it is well flooded. There's a school back there which is closed. If we move over in this direction, you can see in the distance that there are a number of businesses that are well under water. Just an example of how...
(AUDIO GAP)
OPPENHEIM: ... record levels of floodwaters in this area, reaching five feet above flood stage. And perhaps by tomorrow we'll be above six feet above flood stage. In the past couple of hours, we spoke to Commander Jay Patrick of the Village of Gurnee Police Department to ask how it's been like for people and how they've been coping.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CMDR. JAY PATRICK, GURNEE, IL. POLICE: It's not something you want to see, obviously, or go through because it costs a lot of money, it creates a lot of damage. And there are some new residents that aren't used to it unfortunately. And this has been pretty heart- wrenching for them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: We're crouching down in the river area just to give you a sense of what happens with water flow, Drew. If water doesn't have a place to go in its main river bed it will move elsewhere, which is exactly what's happening now. As you look behind me, you can see that the water is really moving back to its natural flow into the main river stream, but right now, it's in the middle of the street and that's making life pretty tough for people around here.
Back to you.
GRIFFIN: Keith, that's the question I wanted to ask you. We're seeing blue skies. Is the water receding now? Do you have a forecast for more rain?
OPPENHEIM: Well, the good news is the weather is better and there does not appear it be a great deal of rain in the forecast, Drew. But the water flow will continue to mount as the river dictates. In other words, because there is flow upstream and it's making its way slowly down here, the crest for this area is probably not going to be until late tomorrow night when it will reach close to six feet above flood stage, the highest it has ever been as far as anyone around here knows.
GRIFFIN: Keith Oppenheim, live in Gurnee, Illinois, thanks for that report -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, as we mentioned, the region may get a break today. But things change quickly in the springtime as we all know. Let's check in for a real-time outlook from CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras -- Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Kyra, the good news is that there's not any rain really in the forecast for northern parts of Illinois. The river is expected to crest tonight it sounds like, but it should stay outside of its banks until Sunday. So that's five days of those floodwaters still standing there. And now is the time you want to keep in mind this is not stuff you want to walk in, folks, it's not stuff you want to play in, certainly not stuff that you want to drive in. The water is very dirty.
And this is really a very dangerous situation. We also having flooding across many creeks and tributaries across Illinois, also back into Iowa. And the rainfall that you see right now is all very, very light. Take a look at what's going on across central parts of Missouri. We do have an isolated severe thunderstorm producing some nickel-sized hail in Benton (ph) County, right down here south of I- 70. These are all pushing off to the east right now.
We have a slight risk of severe thunderstorms and it's all going to be farther to the south than where all the damage was yesterday and the day before. It was really northwestern Missouri, into parts of Iowa, into Nebraska, into Kansas, where the problems were yesterday/ So things are going to be a little farther south. And this is going to be more of a hail event, maybe a damaging wind event today, rather than a tornado event.
Now heavy rain is going to be possible in some areas. We're talking an additional one to two inches on top of what you already have . But thankfully, it's falling southward of where all the problems were. But of course, all that water runs on down south. But we are going to be watching this area very closely for flooding potential across St. Louis, over towards Cincinnati, across the Ohio Valley and into parts of the Northeast. And this is the rain forecast through tomorrow morning. The severe weather forecast just about in those same areas.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui Jeras, thanks. In just a few minutes, we're going to talk about federal help for victims of the storms and high water with Undersecretary Michael Brown. That's about half past the hour on LIVE FROM...
GRIFFIN: Among the changes we know now to look for in a semi- sovereign Iraq is a new American general in charge there. After 13 months in Baghdad, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez is on his way out. Pentagon officials insist this is normal, not a reflection on any wrong moves on Abu Ghraib or anywhere else. In line to replace him is Army Vice Chief of Staff George Casey.
In the meantime, though, bombs and mortars, conflict, casualties, centered on the capital of Baghdad, and the holy city of Najaf. We get all this from CNN's Harris Whitbeck who is there live in Baghdad -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drew, it certainly has been a day of violence in the Iraqi capital. The latest round of explosions was heard at around 4:30 this afternoon here in central Baghdad. Three rocket-propelled grenades were launched against an Iraqi national police station, causing slight injuries to two U.S. soldiers. Iraqi national police responded to the site from where these rocket-propelled grenades were launched, an apartment building. They responded with small arms fire and then they entered the apartment building and found an improvised rocket launcher at that spot.
Now earlier this morning a suicide bomber caused an explosion near the Australian embassy, also near central Baghdad. It was also in an area that houses Australian military personnel who are operating in Iraq as part of the coalition, and also, the offices for the World Food Program, which is part of the United Nations. There were two people who were slightly injured in that blast and, again that happened early this morning here in Baghdad.
Down in Najaf, U.S. forces who are fighting militias belonging to the cleric Muqtada al-Sadr came under, at times, intense mortar fire today. There have been skirmishes throughout the day there between the U.S. forces and militia men. The militia men claim that U.S. forces fired upon a holy shrine in Najaf.
The shrine, which is considered to be the holiest site for Shiites around the world, the United States is insisting it did not conduct any military operations around that shrine. And they say that that shrine might have been fired upon by the militia men themselves in order to be able to blame the United States. The U.S. has insisted for quite some time now that it goes to great lengths to avoid military operation around sites that could be sensitive and they want to avoid offending sensibilities in -- here in Iraq -- Drew.
GRIFFIN: Harris Whitbeck, live in a very dangerous Iraq, thank you, sir -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Did President Bush make the most of his opportunity to sell America on his plan for Iraq? We're going to talk about the substance of the sell just ahead on LIVE FROM...
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like kind of a nightmare kind of thing. It's like, man, this can't really happen to me.
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PHILLIPS: The aftermath of battle. We'll take you inside an Iraqi firefight through the eyes of these men who fought it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Did it lack specifics or are the details left to the Iraqis? President Bush addressed the nation last night with a five- point presentation on what's next in Iraq. But did he point to anything that could quell fears and build confidence among Americans and Iraqis? More now from CNN's Elaine Quijano, she's with the president at a health care event in the battleground state of Ohio -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra. President Bush is here at Youngstown State University in Ohio to talk about health care. Ohio, as you said, a key state, one that President Bush won by 4 percentage points in 2000. He'll be meeting here today to discuss expanding access to health care for low-income individuals.
But of course last night his focus was the American audience. But the subject, international affairs, namely, Iraq. During that speech last night at the Army War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, the president laid out what he called his five-step plan regarding Iraq's future. But a speech that critics content did not give enough specifics about the U.S.' role in Iraq.
Now this morning, some strong images coming out of the White House. The president visiting with Iraqis who are receiving medical treatment here in the U.S. These Iraqis, tortured under Saddam Hussein's regime, had had their hands cut off, meeting with the president at a time when the administration is trying to counter a lot of negative publicity, namely, over those images coming out of Iraq with the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, the white house clearly trying to counter some of those negative images.
Also this morning, the president spoke with French President Jacques Chirac, looking for backing on that new U.N. resolution supporting the planned interim Iraqi authority. The U.S. and Britain circulated a draft resolution of that yesterday. But France has expressed concerns.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What President Chirac and others have said is they want to make sure that the transfer of sovereignty to the interim government is a real transfer. And that's what we want. We want there to be a complete and real transfer of sovereignty so that the Iraqi citizens realize the fate of their country is now their responsibility.
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QUIJANO: Now this morning, before President Bush left the White House, he was asked whether or not it was imperative that Iraq end up with a democracy. Now the president did not use the term, democracy, instead saying it was imperative that the Iraqis develop a constitution they can call their own and then repeating a line from last night that the administration's intention was never to have Iraq look like America.
But, again, the president here, turning his attention to domestic affairs, set to talk about health care here in Youngstown, Ohio -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Elaine Quijano, thanks so much. And John Kerry jumped into the chorus of criticism after the president's speech. He said it was full of general principles, not specifics, and that the president should reach out to America's allies. Kerry also said it is time to turn words into action by offering real leadership to the world.
GRIFFIN: We're going to hear from Carlos Watson later on on how the president and John Kerry are doing in the polls and what the reaction is to last night's speech.
But first...
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GRIFFIN: We're going to turn to some different numbers now. The president's push toward transition in Iraq comes at a low point in his popularity. CNN analyst Carlos Watson has been examining the numbers for us. He had to score big last night, Carlos, that's what the critics are telling us. Did he?
CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: The president gave the first, as you said, of six speeches. And I'm not sure he accomplished everything he needed to. Apart -- people have talked about a number of audiences that he was trying to appeal to, certainly to the American public, certainly to international governments, even to the Iraqi people.
But I think his two toughest critics probably were Republican members of Congress like John McCain as well as Republican members of the press. In all, they've been quiet today. I would wait to see what happens over the next week, including at the end of this week, to see if there are any difficult editorials that are written.
GRIFFIN: Poll numbers, the most recent poll numbers we have on President Bush's job performance, but I want to talk about audience, because last night, though, almost everybody watched right it here on CNN, Carlos, the broadcast networks did not carry this. Was he able to reach as wide an audience as he needed to, especially given the fact that we're heading into the summertime malaise? WATSON: I think in some ways it may be difficult, Drew, the fact that the networks didn't cover it and he didn't get as much coverage. And as you said, here comes vacation, Memorial Day, lots of people heading off, high school graduations, college graduations, summer plans.
And so for the president, the next six weeks will probably be the quietest period we've had from a political sense, not necessarily a policy sense, but a political sense, in a long time. Could be good news, could be bad news. Could be bad news if in fact the polls freeze in place and he remains behind John Kerry. Could be good news though if he's able to turn the policy around, meaning if the fighting on the ground in Iraq seems to stabilize with the coalition troops coming out on top.
If in fact, some of these civil infrastructure that he talked about yesterday, the hospitals, the schools, the roads, even the economy begins to come back, but a lot to be done over the next six weeks. And then don't forget, last but not least, he still is working hard to bring in some international cooperation. And as he said today when he talked about President Jacques Chirac of France, that's still a very tough and difficult challenge for him to meet.
GRIFFIN: Carlos, you have a unique position in that you travel all over the country assessing opinion from people. The economy's doing better. Job outlook is looking better. Are people now focusing on one issue, Iraq, in the presidential election?
WATSON: You know, it's interesting that you say -- you're right, every week I've been in a different battleground state from Florida to Pennsylvania to Arizona to Minnesota. And tonight at 8:00 Eastern on Paula's show, I talk about my conversation in Louisiana. And while early on I heard more about the economy and less about the war, as things have gone on, I'm hearing a lot more about the war, and the war in a variety of different ways.
You're hearing about the prison abuse scandal. It's very interesting, by the way, Drew, to see the difference in reactions not only along party lines, but along gender lines in some cases. Also hearing more about the need for more troops, and people's perspective on that. That's an increasingly heated and difficult debate. So very interesting conversation as you go to these battleground states, including Louisiana.
GRIFFIN: And Carlos, real quickly, are we hearing much at all John Kerry, his name has not come up in this entire conversation?
WATSON: You know, I still -- with six conversations down in six different states, Drew, I have yet to hear the kind of passionate support for John Kerry that he would like to hear. Although you still have got to give him another month-and-a-half and see if after the Democratic convention if he doesn't begin to see that passion.
GRIFFIN: Carlos, thank you so much. And for more of Carlos Watson's reports, great reports, his "American Pulse" segment on CNN's "PAULA ZAHN NOW," that's at 8 Eastern, 5 Pacific. And we'll be right back with LIVE FROM...
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