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TS Bonnie/Hurricane Charley Aim At Fla.; Tapes Of Peterson/Frey's Recorded Conversations; PGA Championship

Aired August 12, 2004 - 13:30   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.


RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's a quick check on business news. Coming up, you may think your fixed rate credit card will hold steady as interest rates inch higher. Later this hour, I'll tell you why credit card issuers may have a different plan.
CNN's LIVE FROM charges on after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In the news right now, Florida braces for a one-two punch as Tropical Storm Bonnie drenches the Panhandle. Hurricane Charley has its sights set on the Tampa Bay area. 380,000 people have been asked to evacuate there. Sarasota County has ordered the evacuation of mobile homes and all of the barrier islands. More on the weather in just a moment.

A helicopter crash in Afghanistan has killed one Marine and wounded 14 lowers. The Black Hawk went down in Khost province, which boarders Pakistan. U.S. Central Command says hostile fire was not involved. Four of the injured were evacuated to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

Keeping the flame burning: The Olympic flame on its way to the Acropolis in Athens. Live pictures right now from the Greek capital, a day before the official openings of the games. Obviously that's the path which the torch will be taking soon. Meanwhile, the U.S. Women's Soccer Team cruised to an easy 3 to nil victory against host Greece in one of the opening events of the games.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Returning now to Florida and nature's one-two punch. Hurricane Charley is expected to make landfall sometime tomorrow. But first, people in the Panhandle have Tropical Storm Bonnie to contend with.

Orelon Sidney is tracking it all for us from the CNN Weather Center.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Fredricka. It is going to be a very busy 36 hours at least for Florida, and then continuing up the eastern seaboard as we go through tomorrow.

Bonnie's made landfall. It's dropping lots of rain now. And you can see kind of the tail end there of Bonnie as she becomes elongated. It's also interacting with a frontal system moving in from the northwest. That's going to be affecting the track of Charley, we think, later on.

You can see now that Charley looks extremely healthy. Center of low pressure just about here. We're currently about 430 miles south of Naples. That's where the center of the storm is located. As it moves across Cuba, I expect for it to become a little more disorganized. But then, we expect, as it moves back over the Gulf of Mexico, for it to become better organized, and perhaps Category Two, borderline Category Three before landfall.

337 miles from Key West, now. Maximum winds, 90 miles per hour, moving northwest at 17. 8:00 tomorrow morning is when you can expect it to pass close to Key West. The winds will be increasing. Gusts to 120; that's Category Two. So, we're not looking at this point for very bad damage at Key West.

But as it goes inland in Tampa, it could be stronger, perhaps a strong to borderline Category Three. Storm surge will be something we're worried about as it makes landfall tomorrow afternoon -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And Orelon, it's expected it may pick up the pace because of those warm waters in the Gulf?

SIDNEY: Well, mainly it's going to pick up the pace because of that trough of low pressure, that cold front. The cold front is kind of what helps to steer and push the storm. So, the air out ahead of the cold front is moving very rapidly to -- from the southwest to the northeast.

And you can see that that's exactly where the track is expect to take it. It's going to push it on faster. We hope it moves very rapidly. The faster it moves, the less rain it's going to drop.

WHITFIELD: All right, we want it to be speedy then. All right, thanks a lot, Orelon Sidney.

SIDNEY: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: And we'll have more coverage on the two storms bearing down on Florida in just a few moments. Max Mayfield from the National Hurricane Center will be joining us live -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: If there was any doubt that Scott Peterson was a liar and adulterer, it has surely been dispelled in the past few days, as his former paramour, Amber Frey, took the stand in California, offering the jury some salacious testimony.

Of course, Peterson is on trial for the murder of his wife and unborn child. And the question for observers is: What has Frey's testimony done for the prosecution's case?

CNN's Rusty Dornin is our favorite Peterson trial observer. She joins us now from Redwood City with more. Hello, Rusty. RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, jurors are -- right now are listening to some tapes where Scott is claiming to be in Madrid, Spain, and Amber Frey is pretending to believe him.

But also, the court is now releasing tapes of their recorded conversations that we've been talking about the past few days. And in one of the ones that CNN has just received, it's on New Year's Eve. That is the one where Scott is in France.

He's calling Amber and -- please remember, during this recording, keep in mind, that during this call, this is right before the candlelight vigil for Laci Peterson. She'd only been missing for about six days. Let's listen.

SCOTT PETERSON: Amber, it's New Years (INAUDIBLE)?

AMBER FREY: Yes, good morning. Are you having a good time?

PETERSON: Amber? Hey, Happy New Years.

FREY: Happy New Years.

PETERSON: I wanted to call you.

FREY: Thank you.

PETERSON: Amber, are you there?

FREY: I'm here.

PETERSON: Amber...

FREY: I wish you could hear me.

PETERSON: I'm on the -- I think that you're there. I'm near the Eiffel Tower. This New Year's celebration is unreal. The crowd is huge.

FREY: The crowd's huge?

PETERSON: Amber?

FREY: Yes, I'm here.

PETERSON: Amber, are you there? I can't hear you right now, but I'll call you on your New Year's.

FREY: OK, I'll hear from you then.

PETERSON: Amber? Amber, I miss you. I'll see you soon.

FREY: OK. I hope...

PETERSON: Again, that call was placed during the candlelight vigil for Laci Peterson. He was in Modesto, California, not Paris, France. Prosecutors are trying to prove that he is so callus and so cavalier about this whole thing that he would do something like that in the middle of the very intense search for Laci Peterson.

And call was being played in the courtroom right now. Many of these calls sound like, you know, chitchat between two love-struck teenagers. In this one, they're talking about potty training her daughter. He reads a poem from Boris Pasternak. She quotes something from the Bible.

Coming up, though, is going to be the call where Scott Peterson does admit to her who he really is and that his wife has been missing and keeps asking for her forgiveness. And it's January 6th that Amber Frey also asks Modesto Police for protective custody. So, I think we're going to be hearing in these calls -- a lot more tension is going to be introduced into the conversation -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: All right, Rusty Dornin, thanks very much -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's overcast and windy along the shores of Lake Michigan and Eastern Wisconsin. That's where golf's final major championship of the year is underway.

The world's best took to the links today at Whistling Straits in the town of Kohler. And for an early look at the leaderboard, we're joined by Patrick Snell of CNN Sports. And I understand, a couple international golfers did well, but American Tiger Woods, he didn't start off the first round too good, did he?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. No, it could be better as far as Tiger Woods is concerned.

Welcome to the course. I'm delighted to be joined by Lorin Anderson, who's managing editor of "Golf" magazine. Many thanks for joining us, Lorin. Much is made of this course. Given how good some of these players are, how tough do you feel it is?

LORIN ANDERSON, "GOLF" MAGAZINE: Well, it's the big unknown this week. I mean, very rarely does a major championship go to a course that the best players in the world have ever seen.

So, nobody really knew what to expect today, and some the early players coming off the course have said it really wasn't set up as difficult as it could be. A lot of the pins were set in the middle of the greens, and the wind has been blowing all day, so we really didn't expect to see the kind of scores we've seen.

And I think the course has probably played a little easier than a lot of the guys expected. And the guys who haven't teed off yet are looking at the scoreboard, wondering where all those birdies are going to come from this afternoon to stay in the race.

SNELL: Let's look at the last four holes. Many players have described them as treacherous. They can make or break you a round. Take us through some of the dangers of the last four.

ANDERSON: Yes, the last four holes are really amazingly difficult. In length, first of all. You have two par fours that are over 500 yards on the last four holes, which we've never seen in a major before.

And the 17th hole is kind of the signature hole of this golf course, a 223-yard par three that if you hit the ball one foot left of the green, it's going to end up in Lake Michigan.

So, it's going to be quite a finish on Sunday, because you could be two or three ahead, or two or three behind, and you know those last four holes, somebody's round could completely unravel, or if somebody could make a birdie or two, they could pick up a ton of ground in a hurry. So, the last holes on Sunday are going to be huge in this tournament.

SNELL: Ernie Els has started very well. He's currently six under in his opening round. What do you feel we're seeing from him? He narrowly failed to win the British Open. He came second. He lost in the playoff. Are we getting a backlash from that, do you think?

ANDERSON: Yes, I mean, as far as determination go, Ernie's said every day since the British Open that, you know, there's another major left and I'm going to be ready for it. He's been on form all year.

I mean, two second place finishes in majors already, with Augusta and the British, and a top 10 finish at the U.S. Open. If anybody's primed to win a major this year who hasn't yet, it's certainly Ernie Els.

SNELL: Tiger woods currently one over. He was three over, so he is improving out there, but he's currently tied for 36th. What do you think his mentality is at the moment? This could be his 10th major without winning it.

ANDERSON: Yes, I think Tiger's back in the same old funk again. I mean, he's not had a tournament this year where he's had four really good driving rounds. And again today, he started out birdie, double bogey, bogey, on the first three holes. And so he's just having trouble controlling the ball off the tee, and I think that, again, if he can't control it off the tee for four straight days, he's not going to be there on Sunday afternoon.

SNELL: OK, many thanks for your expertise. Lorin Anderson of "Golf" magazine, thanks for joining us. I'll send it back to CNN Center.

WHITFIELD: All right, Patrick Snell, thanks very much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Still ahead on LIVE FROM, bracing for Bonnie and Charley. We've got some more on the storm's one-two punch for Florida. Max Mayfield among the people at the National Hurricane Center watching this for you. We'll be joined by one of his people in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: These new picture just in out of Najaf, as U.S. Marines are among the part of the multinational forces taking on, in its eighth day of battle, taking on loyalists to loyalist to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, that's taking place in Najaf.

Right now, these new pictures are showing forces entering the home of al-Sadr during the battles taking place there today. But al- Sadr was not at home. It's not that the multinational forces expected him to be, but they simply wanted to raid this home, and they're also sending a very serious message to the loyalists there, that they are serious about the business that they are undertaking there, at the orders and encouragement of the interim government in Iraq. More on this as we get it -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Today, as we track the tempestuous pair bearing down on Florida, Bonnie and Charley, we wonder why the storm namers when they got to the sea storm this year did not choose Clyde. Even Elliott Ness and his G-men could not stop what we're seeing unfold in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Joining us now for an update from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Deputy Director Ed Rappaport.

Ed, good to have you with us.

ED RAPPAPORT, DEP. DIR., NATL. HURRICANE CENTER: Good to be with you.

O'BRIEN: Give us an update. First of all, you have Charlie there as it approaches Cuba, also battered the Cayman Islands. Give us a sense of ways going on on the ground there right now.

RAPPAPORT: Yes, we've been talking about how Hurricane Charley was likely to intensify, and you can see on a radar image from Cuba, a very well defined eye now. And in fact, the hurricane hunters in their aircraft have been flying through Charley, and they found that it has intensified. Maximum winds have gone up now to 105 miles per hour. That makes Charley category two, and we're forecasting it could become category three in the next 12 to 24 hours.

O'BRIEN: All right, so quickly strengthening now. That's the first time I think we've seen it ratcheted up to category two. A lot of concern about storm surge on this one. Give us a sense mow as you project out its path, what areas should be most concerned right now?

RAPPAPORT: OK, I'm going to change the graphic a little to show you what we're thinking. Here's where the center of Hurricane Charley is at this time. It's moving toward the northwest. It's growing to cross Cuba in the next 12 hours or so, and then head out into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.

The next target will potentially be the Florida Keys. Our hope is that our forecast track is perfect -- it won't be, but we hope it's perfect, so that the worst of the weather will be a little bit west of the keys.

The problem after that, though, is we're expecting a landfall by late tomorrow along the west coast of Florida. If it's category two to category three. That means at least a 10-foot storm surge in that area. O'BRIEN: All right, 10-foot storm surge is nothing to trifle with. And briefly, before we get away, we're about to lose our satellite window, give us an update on what's going on with Bonnie now.

RAPPAPORT: Bonnie has moved inland. It's now mainly a rain event, a little bit of wind, will continue northeastward through the southeastern states and the Mid-Atlantic.

O'BRIEN: Ed Rappaport is the deputy director at a very busy place right now, the National Hurricane Center. We'll talk next time about naming storms. Bonnie and Clyde would have been better, I think, don't you?

All right, appreciate it, Ed.

RAPPAPORT: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: I think it's time to take a little journey and let's think about Olympics a little bit.

O'BRIEN: Should we?

WHITFIELD: Because the flame is on its way. Remember yesterday, it was in Piraeus, and it overnighted there, and now today it is just about at the steps, one of the most important set of steps, the Acropolis, in Athens.

O'BRIEN: You know, I'd hate to be a bother here, but it looks like its out.

WHITFIELD: Oh, you know what? He's waiting for someone to come pass the baton, or the flame, so to speak.

O'BRIEN: OK, just wanted to make sure.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and I have a feeling, I think I was told that might be Carl Lewis, but I don't recognize the back of his head, do you?

O'BRIEN: You know, the hat is down low, but that certainly is Carl Lewis' physique.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, we'll try to sort that out.

O'BRIEN: You know what, let's see if he sprints. If he takes a sprint and he's gone like lickety-split, we'll know.

WHITFIELD: We're going to leave real lickety-split for a moment and then we'll be back on the other side.

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


Aired August 12, 2004 - 13:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's a quick check on business news. Coming up, you may think your fixed rate credit card will hold steady as interest rates inch higher. Later this hour, I'll tell you why credit card issuers may have a different plan.
CNN's LIVE FROM charges on after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: In the news right now, Florida braces for a one-two punch as Tropical Storm Bonnie drenches the Panhandle. Hurricane Charley has its sights set on the Tampa Bay area. 380,000 people have been asked to evacuate there. Sarasota County has ordered the evacuation of mobile homes and all of the barrier islands. More on the weather in just a moment.

A helicopter crash in Afghanistan has killed one Marine and wounded 14 lowers. The Black Hawk went down in Khost province, which boarders Pakistan. U.S. Central Command says hostile fire was not involved. Four of the injured were evacuated to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.

Keeping the flame burning: The Olympic flame on its way to the Acropolis in Athens. Live pictures right now from the Greek capital, a day before the official openings of the games. Obviously that's the path which the torch will be taking soon. Meanwhile, the U.S. Women's Soccer Team cruised to an easy 3 to nil victory against host Greece in one of the opening events of the games.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Returning now to Florida and nature's one-two punch. Hurricane Charley is expected to make landfall sometime tomorrow. But first, people in the Panhandle have Tropical Storm Bonnie to contend with.

Orelon Sidney is tracking it all for us from the CNN Weather Center.

ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot, Fredricka. It is going to be a very busy 36 hours at least for Florida, and then continuing up the eastern seaboard as we go through tomorrow.

Bonnie's made landfall. It's dropping lots of rain now. And you can see kind of the tail end there of Bonnie as she becomes elongated. It's also interacting with a frontal system moving in from the northwest. That's going to be affecting the track of Charley, we think, later on.

You can see now that Charley looks extremely healthy. Center of low pressure just about here. We're currently about 430 miles south of Naples. That's where the center of the storm is located. As it moves across Cuba, I expect for it to become a little more disorganized. But then, we expect, as it moves back over the Gulf of Mexico, for it to become better organized, and perhaps Category Two, borderline Category Three before landfall.

337 miles from Key West, now. Maximum winds, 90 miles per hour, moving northwest at 17. 8:00 tomorrow morning is when you can expect it to pass close to Key West. The winds will be increasing. Gusts to 120; that's Category Two. So, we're not looking at this point for very bad damage at Key West.

But as it goes inland in Tampa, it could be stronger, perhaps a strong to borderline Category Three. Storm surge will be something we're worried about as it makes landfall tomorrow afternoon -- Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: And Orelon, it's expected it may pick up the pace because of those warm waters in the Gulf?

SIDNEY: Well, mainly it's going to pick up the pace because of that trough of low pressure, that cold front. The cold front is kind of what helps to steer and push the storm. So, the air out ahead of the cold front is moving very rapidly to -- from the southwest to the northeast.

And you can see that that's exactly where the track is expect to take it. It's going to push it on faster. We hope it moves very rapidly. The faster it moves, the less rain it's going to drop.

WHITFIELD: All right, we want it to be speedy then. All right, thanks a lot, Orelon Sidney.

SIDNEY: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: And we'll have more coverage on the two storms bearing down on Florida in just a few moments. Max Mayfield from the National Hurricane Center will be joining us live -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: If there was any doubt that Scott Peterson was a liar and adulterer, it has surely been dispelled in the past few days, as his former paramour, Amber Frey, took the stand in California, offering the jury some salacious testimony.

Of course, Peterson is on trial for the murder of his wife and unborn child. And the question for observers is: What has Frey's testimony done for the prosecution's case?

CNN's Rusty Dornin is our favorite Peterson trial observer. She joins us now from Redwood City with more. Hello, Rusty. RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, jurors are -- right now are listening to some tapes where Scott is claiming to be in Madrid, Spain, and Amber Frey is pretending to believe him.

But also, the court is now releasing tapes of their recorded conversations that we've been talking about the past few days. And in one of the ones that CNN has just received, it's on New Year's Eve. That is the one where Scott is in France.

He's calling Amber and -- please remember, during this recording, keep in mind, that during this call, this is right before the candlelight vigil for Laci Peterson. She'd only been missing for about six days. Let's listen.

SCOTT PETERSON: Amber, it's New Years (INAUDIBLE)?

AMBER FREY: Yes, good morning. Are you having a good time?

PETERSON: Amber? Hey, Happy New Years.

FREY: Happy New Years.

PETERSON: I wanted to call you.

FREY: Thank you.

PETERSON: Amber, are you there?

FREY: I'm here.

PETERSON: Amber...

FREY: I wish you could hear me.

PETERSON: I'm on the -- I think that you're there. I'm near the Eiffel Tower. This New Year's celebration is unreal. The crowd is huge.

FREY: The crowd's huge?

PETERSON: Amber?

FREY: Yes, I'm here.

PETERSON: Amber, are you there? I can't hear you right now, but I'll call you on your New Year's.

FREY: OK, I'll hear from you then.

PETERSON: Amber? Amber, I miss you. I'll see you soon.

FREY: OK. I hope...

PETERSON: Again, that call was placed during the candlelight vigil for Laci Peterson. He was in Modesto, California, not Paris, France. Prosecutors are trying to prove that he is so callus and so cavalier about this whole thing that he would do something like that in the middle of the very intense search for Laci Peterson.

And call was being played in the courtroom right now. Many of these calls sound like, you know, chitchat between two love-struck teenagers. In this one, they're talking about potty training her daughter. He reads a poem from Boris Pasternak. She quotes something from the Bible.

Coming up, though, is going to be the call where Scott Peterson does admit to her who he really is and that his wife has been missing and keeps asking for her forgiveness. And it's January 6th that Amber Frey also asks Modesto Police for protective custody. So, I think we're going to be hearing in these calls -- a lot more tension is going to be introduced into the conversation -- Miles?

O'BRIEN: All right, Rusty Dornin, thanks very much -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Well, it's overcast and windy along the shores of Lake Michigan and Eastern Wisconsin. That's where golf's final major championship of the year is underway.

The world's best took to the links today at Whistling Straits in the town of Kohler. And for an early look at the leaderboard, we're joined by Patrick Snell of CNN Sports. And I understand, a couple international golfers did well, but American Tiger Woods, he didn't start off the first round too good, did he?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. No, it could be better as far as Tiger Woods is concerned.

Welcome to the course. I'm delighted to be joined by Lorin Anderson, who's managing editor of "Golf" magazine. Many thanks for joining us, Lorin. Much is made of this course. Given how good some of these players are, how tough do you feel it is?

LORIN ANDERSON, "GOLF" MAGAZINE: Well, it's the big unknown this week. I mean, very rarely does a major championship go to a course that the best players in the world have ever seen.

So, nobody really knew what to expect today, and some the early players coming off the course have said it really wasn't set up as difficult as it could be. A lot of the pins were set in the middle of the greens, and the wind has been blowing all day, so we really didn't expect to see the kind of scores we've seen.

And I think the course has probably played a little easier than a lot of the guys expected. And the guys who haven't teed off yet are looking at the scoreboard, wondering where all those birdies are going to come from this afternoon to stay in the race.

SNELL: Let's look at the last four holes. Many players have described them as treacherous. They can make or break you a round. Take us through some of the dangers of the last four.

ANDERSON: Yes, the last four holes are really amazingly difficult. In length, first of all. You have two par fours that are over 500 yards on the last four holes, which we've never seen in a major before.

And the 17th hole is kind of the signature hole of this golf course, a 223-yard par three that if you hit the ball one foot left of the green, it's going to end up in Lake Michigan.

So, it's going to be quite a finish on Sunday, because you could be two or three ahead, or two or three behind, and you know those last four holes, somebody's round could completely unravel, or if somebody could make a birdie or two, they could pick up a ton of ground in a hurry. So, the last holes on Sunday are going to be huge in this tournament.

SNELL: Ernie Els has started very well. He's currently six under in his opening round. What do you feel we're seeing from him? He narrowly failed to win the British Open. He came second. He lost in the playoff. Are we getting a backlash from that, do you think?

ANDERSON: Yes, I mean, as far as determination go, Ernie's said every day since the British Open that, you know, there's another major left and I'm going to be ready for it. He's been on form all year.

I mean, two second place finishes in majors already, with Augusta and the British, and a top 10 finish at the U.S. Open. If anybody's primed to win a major this year who hasn't yet, it's certainly Ernie Els.

SNELL: Tiger woods currently one over. He was three over, so he is improving out there, but he's currently tied for 36th. What do you think his mentality is at the moment? This could be his 10th major without winning it.

ANDERSON: Yes, I think Tiger's back in the same old funk again. I mean, he's not had a tournament this year where he's had four really good driving rounds. And again today, he started out birdie, double bogey, bogey, on the first three holes. And so he's just having trouble controlling the ball off the tee, and I think that, again, if he can't control it off the tee for four straight days, he's not going to be there on Sunday afternoon.

SNELL: OK, many thanks for your expertise. Lorin Anderson of "Golf" magazine, thanks for joining us. I'll send it back to CNN Center.

WHITFIELD: All right, Patrick Snell, thanks very much -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Still ahead on LIVE FROM, bracing for Bonnie and Charley. We've got some more on the storm's one-two punch for Florida. Max Mayfield among the people at the National Hurricane Center watching this for you. We'll be joined by one of his people in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: These new picture just in out of Najaf, as U.S. Marines are among the part of the multinational forces taking on, in its eighth day of battle, taking on loyalists to loyalist to Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, that's taking place in Najaf.

Right now, these new pictures are showing forces entering the home of al-Sadr during the battles taking place there today. But al- Sadr was not at home. It's not that the multinational forces expected him to be, but they simply wanted to raid this home, and they're also sending a very serious message to the loyalists there, that they are serious about the business that they are undertaking there, at the orders and encouragement of the interim government in Iraq. More on this as we get it -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Today, as we track the tempestuous pair bearing down on Florida, Bonnie and Charley, we wonder why the storm namers when they got to the sea storm this year did not choose Clyde. Even Elliott Ness and his G-men could not stop what we're seeing unfold in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

Joining us now for an update from the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Deputy Director Ed Rappaport.

Ed, good to have you with us.

ED RAPPAPORT, DEP. DIR., NATL. HURRICANE CENTER: Good to be with you.

O'BRIEN: Give us an update. First of all, you have Charlie there as it approaches Cuba, also battered the Cayman Islands. Give us a sense of ways going on on the ground there right now.

RAPPAPORT: Yes, we've been talking about how Hurricane Charley was likely to intensify, and you can see on a radar image from Cuba, a very well defined eye now. And in fact, the hurricane hunters in their aircraft have been flying through Charley, and they found that it has intensified. Maximum winds have gone up now to 105 miles per hour. That makes Charley category two, and we're forecasting it could become category three in the next 12 to 24 hours.

O'BRIEN: All right, so quickly strengthening now. That's the first time I think we've seen it ratcheted up to category two. A lot of concern about storm surge on this one. Give us a sense mow as you project out its path, what areas should be most concerned right now?

RAPPAPORT: OK, I'm going to change the graphic a little to show you what we're thinking. Here's where the center of Hurricane Charley is at this time. It's moving toward the northwest. It's growing to cross Cuba in the next 12 hours or so, and then head out into the southeastern Gulf of Mexico.

The next target will potentially be the Florida Keys. Our hope is that our forecast track is perfect -- it won't be, but we hope it's perfect, so that the worst of the weather will be a little bit west of the keys.

The problem after that, though, is we're expecting a landfall by late tomorrow along the west coast of Florida. If it's category two to category three. That means at least a 10-foot storm surge in that area. O'BRIEN: All right, 10-foot storm surge is nothing to trifle with. And briefly, before we get away, we're about to lose our satellite window, give us an update on what's going on with Bonnie now.

RAPPAPORT: Bonnie has moved inland. It's now mainly a rain event, a little bit of wind, will continue northeastward through the southeastern states and the Mid-Atlantic.

O'BRIEN: Ed Rappaport is the deputy director at a very busy place right now, the National Hurricane Center. We'll talk next time about naming storms. Bonnie and Clyde would have been better, I think, don't you?

All right, appreciate it, Ed.

RAPPAPORT: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: I think it's time to take a little journey and let's think about Olympics a little bit.

O'BRIEN: Should we?

WHITFIELD: Because the flame is on its way. Remember yesterday, it was in Piraeus, and it overnighted there, and now today it is just about at the steps, one of the most important set of steps, the Acropolis, in Athens.

O'BRIEN: You know, I'd hate to be a bother here, but it looks like its out.

WHITFIELD: Oh, you know what? He's waiting for someone to come pass the baton, or the flame, so to speak.

O'BRIEN: OK, just wanted to make sure.

WHITFIELD: Yes, and I have a feeling, I think I was told that might be Carl Lewis, but I don't recognize the back of his head, do you?

O'BRIEN: You know, the hat is down low, but that certainly is Carl Lewis' physique.

WHITFIELD: OK, well, we'll try to sort that out.

O'BRIEN: You know what, let's see if he sprints. If he takes a sprint and he's gone like lickety-split, we'll know.

WHITFIELD: We're going to leave real lickety-split for a moment and then we'll be back on the other side.

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