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Live From...
Fighting In Najaf; Bonnie In Fla., Charley Coming; No Authority To Grant Gay Marriage In S.F.; New Study On Antidepressants And Children
Aired August 12, 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Bonnie's moving in, Charley's hot on her heels. Live pictures now from Clearwater Island Beach, Florida, where the storm clouds are gathering, the wind is blowing the photographer, and we are tracking the storms.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Rebel raids -- smoke billowing from the home of a militant Iraqi cleric as U.S. Marines move in. The latest on the battle for Najaf.
O'BRIEN: Devil in the details -- Amber Frey back on the stand testifying against her former lover, Scott Peterson.
WHITFIELD: Also this hour, a ruling just came in from California from the supreme court there on gay marriage licenses. We'll have the latest on whether the mayor exceeded his authority on that, coming up. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
WHITFIELD: Up first this hour, U.S. forces are moving in against Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi militia. Today, they raided al-Sadr's house, and now it appears the offensive could be entering a dramatic new phase.
CNN's Matthew Chance is embedded with U.S. forces in Najaf, and he joins us now via videophone -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, thank you. And it certainly is a new phase in this offensive against the Medhi Army on the part of the U.S. forces and Iraqi National Guard forces on the ground here.
The Medhi Army, of course, fighters loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. It's him they were targeting today, it seems -- at least his house in Najaf -- U.S. Marines backed by Iraqi forces moving into the area of Muqtada al-Sadr's house.
The first thing they did was actually raid what used to be a maternity clinic, which had been taken over by the Medhi Army. They came under heavy fire there, mortar fire, rocket-propelled grenade fire. But they did seize a big weapons cache as they secured that area. They then were told -- called in a dramatic air strike on a building right next door, in between this maternity hospital and the home of Muqtada al-Sadr.
That destroyed the building. They recovered, they covered that ground -- captured that ground, rather. Then the assault on Muqtada al-Sadr's house in itself -- apparently no damage was done to the house, and Muqtada al-Sadr himself was not inside.
But throughout the whole of this battle in this small area of Najaf, we understand there were casualties both on the U.S. side -- although that's been unconfirmed at this stage -- and certainly on the side of the Medhi Army -- just one of the instances that we've been reporting throughout the day of how these thousands of U.S. troops and the Iraqi forces that are fighting alongside them are cracking down on the Medhi Army in Najaf.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew, did the forces believe that al-Sadr was in that home at the time of seizing it?
CHANCE: No, they didn't. We had a conversation with one of the commanding officers here in this base in Najaf before the mission went out to raid the maternity hospital. They thought there might be trouble in that area because it obviously is the place where Muqtada al-Sadr has his bodyguards. It's the area where he has the majority of his popular support, in the area around his actual home.
They know he's not in his house. But I think they wanted to send a strong message that, you know, in this crackdown on the Medhi Army, not even the top, top leadership, Muqtada al-Sadr himself would be immune.
WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew Chance, thanks very much, embedded with forces in Najaf. Well, these clashes have been boiling over to other cities across Iraq. Intense fighting has flared between Mehdi and Iraqi government forces in the southern city of al-Kut. More than 70 Iraqis have been killed over the past couple days, and more than 100 wounded.
O'BRIEN: Two storms, one state -- Florida is coping with a big, sloppy mess, and it's about to get worse. Within the past hour, about 380,000 people were asked to evacuate low laying areas around Tampa, Florida. They were asked but not ordered to leave just yet. Charley expected to strike the west coast sometime tomorrow. Florida Governor Jeb Bush says the storm is the big worry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: My principal message here today is to urge people who have not experienced a hurricane to take this very, very seriously. They have today, really, to prepare for a storm, to identify the means of evacuation if it's suggested that they do so, or if, in fact, they're in the low laying areas on the coast and they're ordered to do so, to plan for this in advance, to prepare their families and to be organized in advance, and to listen very carefully to what local officials say.
(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: As if Hurricane Charley isn't enough to worry about, another problem already at hand, right now, Florida's Panhandle is getting drenched by Tropical Storm Bonnie.
Its center came ashore about 90 minutes ago. Bonnie weakened during the night and morning, so high winds aren't really the big problem there. But there's more than enough rain to make up for the lack of wind.
For the very latest on the forecast, let's go right now to meteorologist Orelon Sidney. She's upstairs in the Weather Center and has the latest for us -- Orelon?
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot.
We are currently, of course, tracking the two storms. Bonnie now really isn't much of a tropical cyclone. You can see that it's become elongated. Some of the storms trailing back into the Gulf of Mexico, and it's moving off to the northeast, merging with an area of low pressure, a cold front, moving in from the west.
Charley, however, still down to the south, still looking very healthy, and about to make its move across the western portion of Cuba.
Quickly, I do want to show you that not only do we have to worry about heavy rain, but we have to worry about tornadoes with systems, tropical cyclones moving inland. And we have do have two tornado watches: one in effect for northern parts of Florida, southern Georgia; the other one extending northward, even in parts of North Carolina, around Raleigh.
So, this will be going on through the afternoon as that low pressure system, what will be soon the remnants of Bonnie, continue to work their way up the coast.
Some of this rainfall, though, is really much needed, especially in parts of Georgia and through the Carolinas, as we've been behind. The problem is, it's falling so quickly, it's generating flooding. And we have flood and flash flood warnings throughout the morning. You'll continue to see that. This area in green now, your flash flood watches that will be in effect through the afternoon.
Here's the latest on Charley -- looking for an update now in the next hour. 337 miles from Key West. Maximum winds 90 miles per hour, still Category One. Moving to the northwest at 17. It doesn't look like it's going to slow up very much. It's continuing to move very rapidly to the north, and it's going to start taking a little more of a turn later on tonight, moving past the Florida Keys about 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and continuing to strengthen, we believe.
The question's going to be: How strong will it be, and where will it actually make landfall? Could be a problem with some storm surge, could be a problem with the winds if it does get up to a strong Category Two or Three. But you see all the pictures with the nice sunny skies out ahead of it? That's because with a hurricane, you get those upper level winds to sink on both sides -- all sides of the storm, and that produces warm and clear conditions out ahead of it. So, don't be deceived. This is a very dangerous storm that's taking its aim on Florida -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: Orelon, you say Charley's moving rapidly. Is it strengthening rapidly, as well? Sometimes storms that move fast don't strengthen as much.
SIDNEY: That's very true, and it's strengthening gradually. We've seen a little bit of an increase overnight. It held at about 75 miles per hour, and now it's up to 90. Forward speed -- if it's very fast, as you said, sometimes keeps it from developing.
But at this point, it's moving along about as they expect. They expect it to be a strong Category Two, maybe borderline Category Three by the time it makes landfall tomorrow, we think somewhere along the west coast of Florida, again maybe the Florida Panhandle. But it looks like the Tampa area may be the part we're most concerned about.
O'BRIEN: All right, Orelon. Next time we see you, let's talk a little bit about storm surge, OK?
SIDNEY: Sounds good.
O'BRIEN: All right, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, let's do a little Florida geography right now. Tampa is near Florida's west coast, across a big bay, Tampa Bay, and you get to a wedge of land that's actually on the Gulf of Mexico, and that's where Clearwater is located and also where we find our Ed Lavandera, who is waiting for the storm. And so far, Ed, it looks like the calm, sort of -- little bit of wind -- but the calm before the storm.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's funny. The winds started to pick up throughout the morning, and there's a pretty strong gush of wind right now. If you can look, the lifeguards here have put out the medium warning colored flags out here on the beach. There are still people enjoying the afternoon out here, as it's been a mostly sunny day.
The winds are picking up stronger, however, and we do understand that the emergency management officials have been meeting throughout the morning trying to plan out exactly what they're going to tell people and what they should be doing. Now, we do understand that there have been orders for evacuation in Key West, mandatory evacuation of non-residents.
There have been voluntary evacuations as you move a little bit further north toward Naples, and we imagine that we'll continue to see that here in the hours ahead as the storm tracks continue to put Hurricane Charley on a direct path toward the Tampa area. And officials here, one of the things they're very concerned about is that this region of Florida has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane in more than 80 years.
So, when you walk around town here and you ask people, "Hey, are you nervous, what are you thinking about the hurricane," they just tell you, "We'll believe it when we see it." And that's exactly what has some emergency management officials worried, even to the point where -- here's an interesting anecdote we just watched a little while ago.
But if you look over here at this truck -- it's a City of Clearwater dump truck, which they use to kind of clean the trash up along here on the beaches -- just a short while ago, there was a guy there cleaning it out, washing it down, hosing it down with soap and water. We were asking him why he was doing that, and they say they're having a truck on standby just in case they need to evacuate people out of high water.
They say that truck could probably drive from two to three, four feet of water. So, they're going to have that on standby in case this situation gets to that point. So, a little behind the scenes feel as to what the officials here in Clearwater are doing to prepare as Hurricane Charley motors its way this way -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Now Ed, usually, the tide is pretty calm there in Clearwater. What's it looking like about now?
LAVANDERA: Well, we can show. You know, it's kind of picked up. As the wind has, the surf here on the beach has picked up as well. You know, we talked to a couple -- lot of tourists around here, so many of the tourists that are here are from Cincinnati, Ohio, and other places further inland, so tropical weather isn't something that they're necessarily used to, and a lot of people saying that it's very hard to spend a whole lot of time in that water.
And as you imagine, the lifeguards are here on duty, making sure that everyone stays safe. We haven't seen any problems here, but definitely, it's a strong surf. And most people we're seeing just enjoying the sunshine, sitting on the beach and enjoying the last moments of sunshine before Hurricane Charley arrives.
WHITFIELD: All right, nice looking surf, but potentially dangerous. Ed Lavandera, thanks very much from Clearwater -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Across the continent from Florida, Californians facing just the opposite problem today -- fire. The biggest trouble is in the northern part of the state --this blaze about 150 miles north of San Francisco. A wildfire near the eastern edge of the Shasta Lake has destroyed at least 40 homes. The cause? Sparks from a lawnmower. Strong, shifting winds are fanning the flames. About 300 spent the night in shelters.
WHITFIELD: Elsewhere in California, a major ruling on same-sex marriages. Its supreme court rules that San Francisco cannot issue anymore licenses for same-sex marriages, like we saw earlier this year.
Reporter Donna Tetreault joins us live with more details on that -- Donna.
DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, that has been the burning question, whether or not city officials here in San Francisco, the mayor, Mayor Gavin Newsom, and the county clerk, whether or not they were able and it was legal for them to issue same- sex licenses, same-sex marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
And the ruling just came down. We just received the ruling here. It's very thick. We just looked at it a bit. And right now, it's pointing out that officials lacked the authority to issue marriage licenses.
All of the licenses that were issued, more than 4,000 licenses, are now all void. And San Francisco's mayor and clerk said that the family code is unconstitutional under the California constitution.
But today's ruling says that that is not correct, and all of those licenses are now void. Now, it's important to note that today's rulings will not be definitive rulings on whether the gay marriage licenses are legal in California.
That is also here clearly in this ruling. That question will be decided when -- the City of San Francisco will challenge the constitutionality of barring gay marriages. And the city plans to file that opening brief for the challenge the first week of September.
So, here today, California Supreme Court has ruled that the 4,000 marriage licenses, gay marriage licenses that were issued six months ago, are now void -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Donna Tetreault, thanks very much for that update. Well, let's find out what's next for the thousands of same- sex couples who got married last winter in San Francisco. We heard from Donna that those licenses are now void.
CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is standing by in New York to help sort all of this out.
So, automatically, these licenses are voided because the supreme court rules that the mayor overstepped his bounds?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: That's exactly right, Fredricka. It is as if these people were never married in the first place. They are today not married. The possibility still exists that they may be able to get married in California, but that will take a further ruling from the California Supreme Court.
And it's worth remembering, this is a fairly conservative court. It's unlikely that they will do what the Massachusetts court did, which was essentially order the state to have same-sex marriages.
So, I think this is a major setback, not a big surprise, but certainly a major setback for the cause of gay marriage.
WHITFIELD: And when you say there's still a possibility for those same-sex couples based on another ruling, are we talking about the issue of constitutionality?
TOOBIN: That's right. All today's ruling said was, "You, Gavin Newsom, and your administration, you don't have the authority simply as the mayor of a city to declare that California must allow same-sex marriages. That is simply outside of your authority." It says nothing about the institution of marriage and whether the law has to allow it.
A separate lawsuit is now proceeding through the California courts, which addresses that very question: Is it discrimination against gay people to prohibit them from getting married? That's the core issue. That's the substantive issue. That wasn't decided today. That will be decided almost certainly by the fall...
WHITFIELD: And particularly because if it is the case that states are not allowed to prohibit marriages without a legally valid reason, might it be that this mayor thought that because of that, it was within his jurisdiction to allow these same-sex marriages?
TOOBIN: Well, actually, Gavin Newsom, the mayor, went farther than that. He said that, based on his interpretation of the law, which pretty clearly said only people of different genders may get married, he thought that was a discrimination. He regarded it, in his own judgment, that that was discrimination against same-sex couples.
What the California Supreme Court today said is, "You, Mr. Mayor, don't have the right to make that judgment. Only a court has the right to make that change, or only the legislature has the right to change the law. A mayor can't do it on his own."
WHITFIELD: So, the next potential step then, with this ruling, would this mean that the legislature or perhaps even the attorney general might take the next step to try and make an issue of constitutionality where it would be restated, and amendment in the California constitution, that marriage is only legal if completed by a man and woman?
TOOBIN: Well, that's one possibility. But even before we get to that step, the California courts will consider that under the California constitution, as it is now configured, the current California constitution -- is gay marriage required? That issue is now before the courts. That'll be decided in the fall.
The legislature may act. There's an initiative process in California where voters can participate in creating their own laws, unlike most states. But the issue of gay marriage, whether it's required, that's before the courts now, and it will be decided in the fall.
WHITFIELD: So, yes or no, any of these people who got the 4,000 marriage licenses, do they have any legal recourse?
TOOBIN: They are not married now. They can sue, but they have no recourse immediately. They are not married.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jeffrey Toobin from New York. Thanks so much for joining us -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: On alert and tracking the storms, the National Hurricane Center is in full tilt mode, DEFCON 1, if you will. We'll take you there live and talk with the center's director just ahead on LIVE FROM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... will not destroy the evil men who killed 3,000 Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Sense and sensitivity, the war on terror and the campaign trail. And this one -- children and antidepressants, growing concern that it can be a deadly combination. Dr. Gupta has the latest on that for us. You'll want to stay tuned for that. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: All right, listen up, parents. Here's some news you should know about medicine your children are being prescribed, potentially. There are new concerns today about kids who take certain antidepressants and their risk for suicide. The issue has been in the news a lot lately, as you know, and now, the FDA is taking a closer look.
Here's CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Though you haven't heard it from the FDA, depressed children who take some antidepressants are more likely to exhibit suicidal behavior than depressed children who avoid those medications.
DR. STEVE HYMAN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: We don't want treatments that are meant to help to inadvertently harm.
GUPTA: But they do sometimes cause harm by increasing the risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts by almost two times. According to Dr. Steven Hyman, Harvard Provost and former director of the National Institutes for Mental Health.
The alarm bells were sounded in Britain a year ago. Here in the United States, the FDA is going to release results of its own studies next month. The studies are done, and Dr. Hyman has already seen the preliminary results.
HYMAN: We have data now which raises the possibility that with a variety of these SSRI antidepressants, some children have an increased likelihood of suicide-related behaviors. And I think this data has never been available to be seen before.
GUPTA: The data that shows the very drugs that treat depression can sometimes also lead to the most tragic outcome of depression itself. Nobody really knows why this happens, but Dr. Hyman has a theory.
HYMAN: But there's long been concern that for a certain number of people, soon after starting treatment, they might gain the energy or have side effects which might lead them to attempt suicide.
GUPTA: And therefore, the riskiest times are at the beginning of treatment or when a dose is being changed. Interestingly, Prozac appears to be the safest with regards to suicidal tendencies.
HYMAN: In fact, based on the current data, one should probably begin treatment with Prozac and only use the other drugs if Prozac isn't tolerated by that child.
GUPTA: Depression can be treated effectively in adults and children, but when starting or changing medications, close monitoring is always a must.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: To sort out all the medical information out there, we invite you to head to our Web site. You'll find the latest research, even some fitness news. That's at cnn.com/health.
WHITFIELD: With a hurricane and a tropical storm moving in, the State of Florida is bracing for a beating. The latest on where the storms are headed and their impact as they move inland, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
And in the Scott Peterson murder trial, more taped conversations with his former mistress Amber Frey. We'll take you to the courthouse coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Turning now to election 2004 and a sensitive issue. Vice President Dick Cheney on the hustings, taking aim at John Kerry for using the word "sensitive" when describing his plan to fight global terrorism.
Last week, Kerry told a Unity Conference that he'll reach out to allies with a war on terror that is more -- and we're quoting him now -- "effective, thoughtful, strategic, proactive, and sensitive." The Bush campaign isn't letting that one pass unnoticed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHENEY: Senator Kerry has also said that if he were in charge, he would fight a more sensitive war on terror. America has been in too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was won by being sensitive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Now, in response to those comments, Kerry accuses the administration of alienating allies and says, "Arrogance isn't a virtue when the lives of our men and women are on the line," that last bit a quote there.
President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush appear in an exclusive joint interview tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
WHITFIELD: Well, if you thought the housing market was starting to cool off, think again. Rhonda Schaffler joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on surprisingly strong numbers -- Rhonda?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired August 12, 2004 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Bonnie's moving in, Charley's hot on her heels. Live pictures now from Clearwater Island Beach, Florida, where the storm clouds are gathering, the wind is blowing the photographer, and we are tracking the storms.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Rebel raids -- smoke billowing from the home of a militant Iraqi cleric as U.S. Marines move in. The latest on the battle for Najaf.
O'BRIEN: Devil in the details -- Amber Frey back on the stand testifying against her former lover, Scott Peterson.
WHITFIELD: Also this hour, a ruling just came in from California from the supreme court there on gay marriage licenses. We'll have the latest on whether the mayor exceeded his authority on that, coming up. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield in for Kyra Phillips.
O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.
WHITFIELD: Up first this hour, U.S. forces are moving in against Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mehdi militia. Today, they raided al-Sadr's house, and now it appears the offensive could be entering a dramatic new phase.
CNN's Matthew Chance is embedded with U.S. forces in Najaf, and he joins us now via videophone -- Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, thank you. And it certainly is a new phase in this offensive against the Medhi Army on the part of the U.S. forces and Iraqi National Guard forces on the ground here.
The Medhi Army, of course, fighters loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. It's him they were targeting today, it seems -- at least his house in Najaf -- U.S. Marines backed by Iraqi forces moving into the area of Muqtada al-Sadr's house.
The first thing they did was actually raid what used to be a maternity clinic, which had been taken over by the Medhi Army. They came under heavy fire there, mortar fire, rocket-propelled grenade fire. But they did seize a big weapons cache as they secured that area. They then were told -- called in a dramatic air strike on a building right next door, in between this maternity hospital and the home of Muqtada al-Sadr.
That destroyed the building. They recovered, they covered that ground -- captured that ground, rather. Then the assault on Muqtada al-Sadr's house in itself -- apparently no damage was done to the house, and Muqtada al-Sadr himself was not inside.
But throughout the whole of this battle in this small area of Najaf, we understand there were casualties both on the U.S. side -- although that's been unconfirmed at this stage -- and certainly on the side of the Medhi Army -- just one of the instances that we've been reporting throughout the day of how these thousands of U.S. troops and the Iraqi forces that are fighting alongside them are cracking down on the Medhi Army in Najaf.
WHITFIELD: And Matthew, did the forces believe that al-Sadr was in that home at the time of seizing it?
CHANCE: No, they didn't. We had a conversation with one of the commanding officers here in this base in Najaf before the mission went out to raid the maternity hospital. They thought there might be trouble in that area because it obviously is the place where Muqtada al-Sadr has his bodyguards. It's the area where he has the majority of his popular support, in the area around his actual home.
They know he's not in his house. But I think they wanted to send a strong message that, you know, in this crackdown on the Medhi Army, not even the top, top leadership, Muqtada al-Sadr himself would be immune.
WHITFIELD: All right, Matthew Chance, thanks very much, embedded with forces in Najaf. Well, these clashes have been boiling over to other cities across Iraq. Intense fighting has flared between Mehdi and Iraqi government forces in the southern city of al-Kut. More than 70 Iraqis have been killed over the past couple days, and more than 100 wounded.
O'BRIEN: Two storms, one state -- Florida is coping with a big, sloppy mess, and it's about to get worse. Within the past hour, about 380,000 people were asked to evacuate low laying areas around Tampa, Florida. They were asked but not ordered to leave just yet. Charley expected to strike the west coast sometime tomorrow. Florida Governor Jeb Bush says the storm is the big worry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: My principal message here today is to urge people who have not experienced a hurricane to take this very, very seriously. They have today, really, to prepare for a storm, to identify the means of evacuation if it's suggested that they do so, or if, in fact, they're in the low laying areas on the coast and they're ordered to do so, to plan for this in advance, to prepare their families and to be organized in advance, and to listen very carefully to what local officials say.
(END VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: As if Hurricane Charley isn't enough to worry about, another problem already at hand, right now, Florida's Panhandle is getting drenched by Tropical Storm Bonnie.
Its center came ashore about 90 minutes ago. Bonnie weakened during the night and morning, so high winds aren't really the big problem there. But there's more than enough rain to make up for the lack of wind.
For the very latest on the forecast, let's go right now to meteorologist Orelon Sidney. She's upstairs in the Weather Center and has the latest for us -- Orelon?
ORELON SIDNEY, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Thanks a lot.
We are currently, of course, tracking the two storms. Bonnie now really isn't much of a tropical cyclone. You can see that it's become elongated. Some of the storms trailing back into the Gulf of Mexico, and it's moving off to the northeast, merging with an area of low pressure, a cold front, moving in from the west.
Charley, however, still down to the south, still looking very healthy, and about to make its move across the western portion of Cuba.
Quickly, I do want to show you that not only do we have to worry about heavy rain, but we have to worry about tornadoes with systems, tropical cyclones moving inland. And we have do have two tornado watches: one in effect for northern parts of Florida, southern Georgia; the other one extending northward, even in parts of North Carolina, around Raleigh.
So, this will be going on through the afternoon as that low pressure system, what will be soon the remnants of Bonnie, continue to work their way up the coast.
Some of this rainfall, though, is really much needed, especially in parts of Georgia and through the Carolinas, as we've been behind. The problem is, it's falling so quickly, it's generating flooding. And we have flood and flash flood warnings throughout the morning. You'll continue to see that. This area in green now, your flash flood watches that will be in effect through the afternoon.
Here's the latest on Charley -- looking for an update now in the next hour. 337 miles from Key West. Maximum winds 90 miles per hour, still Category One. Moving to the northwest at 17. It doesn't look like it's going to slow up very much. It's continuing to move very rapidly to the north, and it's going to start taking a little more of a turn later on tonight, moving past the Florida Keys about 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning and continuing to strengthen, we believe.
The question's going to be: How strong will it be, and where will it actually make landfall? Could be a problem with some storm surge, could be a problem with the winds if it does get up to a strong Category Two or Three. But you see all the pictures with the nice sunny skies out ahead of it? That's because with a hurricane, you get those upper level winds to sink on both sides -- all sides of the storm, and that produces warm and clear conditions out ahead of it. So, don't be deceived. This is a very dangerous storm that's taking its aim on Florida -- Miles?
O'BRIEN: Orelon, you say Charley's moving rapidly. Is it strengthening rapidly, as well? Sometimes storms that move fast don't strengthen as much.
SIDNEY: That's very true, and it's strengthening gradually. We've seen a little bit of an increase overnight. It held at about 75 miles per hour, and now it's up to 90. Forward speed -- if it's very fast, as you said, sometimes keeps it from developing.
But at this point, it's moving along about as they expect. They expect it to be a strong Category Two, maybe borderline Category Three by the time it makes landfall tomorrow, we think somewhere along the west coast of Florida, again maybe the Florida Panhandle. But it looks like the Tampa area may be the part we're most concerned about.
O'BRIEN: All right, Orelon. Next time we see you, let's talk a little bit about storm surge, OK?
SIDNEY: Sounds good.
O'BRIEN: All right, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, well, let's do a little Florida geography right now. Tampa is near Florida's west coast, across a big bay, Tampa Bay, and you get to a wedge of land that's actually on the Gulf of Mexico, and that's where Clearwater is located and also where we find our Ed Lavandera, who is waiting for the storm. And so far, Ed, it looks like the calm, sort of -- little bit of wind -- but the calm before the storm.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's funny. The winds started to pick up throughout the morning, and there's a pretty strong gush of wind right now. If you can look, the lifeguards here have put out the medium warning colored flags out here on the beach. There are still people enjoying the afternoon out here, as it's been a mostly sunny day.
The winds are picking up stronger, however, and we do understand that the emergency management officials have been meeting throughout the morning trying to plan out exactly what they're going to tell people and what they should be doing. Now, we do understand that there have been orders for evacuation in Key West, mandatory evacuation of non-residents.
There have been voluntary evacuations as you move a little bit further north toward Naples, and we imagine that we'll continue to see that here in the hours ahead as the storm tracks continue to put Hurricane Charley on a direct path toward the Tampa area. And officials here, one of the things they're very concerned about is that this region of Florida has not taken a direct hit from a hurricane in more than 80 years.
So, when you walk around town here and you ask people, "Hey, are you nervous, what are you thinking about the hurricane," they just tell you, "We'll believe it when we see it." And that's exactly what has some emergency management officials worried, even to the point where -- here's an interesting anecdote we just watched a little while ago.
But if you look over here at this truck -- it's a City of Clearwater dump truck, which they use to kind of clean the trash up along here on the beaches -- just a short while ago, there was a guy there cleaning it out, washing it down, hosing it down with soap and water. We were asking him why he was doing that, and they say they're having a truck on standby just in case they need to evacuate people out of high water.
They say that truck could probably drive from two to three, four feet of water. So, they're going to have that on standby in case this situation gets to that point. So, a little behind the scenes feel as to what the officials here in Clearwater are doing to prepare as Hurricane Charley motors its way this way -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Now Ed, usually, the tide is pretty calm there in Clearwater. What's it looking like about now?
LAVANDERA: Well, we can show. You know, it's kind of picked up. As the wind has, the surf here on the beach has picked up as well. You know, we talked to a couple -- lot of tourists around here, so many of the tourists that are here are from Cincinnati, Ohio, and other places further inland, so tropical weather isn't something that they're necessarily used to, and a lot of people saying that it's very hard to spend a whole lot of time in that water.
And as you imagine, the lifeguards are here on duty, making sure that everyone stays safe. We haven't seen any problems here, but definitely, it's a strong surf. And most people we're seeing just enjoying the sunshine, sitting on the beach and enjoying the last moments of sunshine before Hurricane Charley arrives.
WHITFIELD: All right, nice looking surf, but potentially dangerous. Ed Lavandera, thanks very much from Clearwater -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Across the continent from Florida, Californians facing just the opposite problem today -- fire. The biggest trouble is in the northern part of the state --this blaze about 150 miles north of San Francisco. A wildfire near the eastern edge of the Shasta Lake has destroyed at least 40 homes. The cause? Sparks from a lawnmower. Strong, shifting winds are fanning the flames. About 300 spent the night in shelters.
WHITFIELD: Elsewhere in California, a major ruling on same-sex marriages. Its supreme court rules that San Francisco cannot issue anymore licenses for same-sex marriages, like we saw earlier this year.
Reporter Donna Tetreault joins us live with more details on that -- Donna.
DONNA TETREAULT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, that has been the burning question, whether or not city officials here in San Francisco, the mayor, Mayor Gavin Newsom, and the county clerk, whether or not they were able and it was legal for them to issue same- sex licenses, same-sex marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
And the ruling just came down. We just received the ruling here. It's very thick. We just looked at it a bit. And right now, it's pointing out that officials lacked the authority to issue marriage licenses.
All of the licenses that were issued, more than 4,000 licenses, are now all void. And San Francisco's mayor and clerk said that the family code is unconstitutional under the California constitution.
But today's ruling says that that is not correct, and all of those licenses are now void. Now, it's important to note that today's rulings will not be definitive rulings on whether the gay marriage licenses are legal in California.
That is also here clearly in this ruling. That question will be decided when -- the City of San Francisco will challenge the constitutionality of barring gay marriages. And the city plans to file that opening brief for the challenge the first week of September.
So, here today, California Supreme Court has ruled that the 4,000 marriage licenses, gay marriage licenses that were issued six months ago, are now void -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Donna Tetreault, thanks very much for that update. Well, let's find out what's next for the thousands of same- sex couples who got married last winter in San Francisco. We heard from Donna that those licenses are now void.
CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin is standing by in New York to help sort all of this out.
So, automatically, these licenses are voided because the supreme court rules that the mayor overstepped his bounds?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: That's exactly right, Fredricka. It is as if these people were never married in the first place. They are today not married. The possibility still exists that they may be able to get married in California, but that will take a further ruling from the California Supreme Court.
And it's worth remembering, this is a fairly conservative court. It's unlikely that they will do what the Massachusetts court did, which was essentially order the state to have same-sex marriages.
So, I think this is a major setback, not a big surprise, but certainly a major setback for the cause of gay marriage.
WHITFIELD: And when you say there's still a possibility for those same-sex couples based on another ruling, are we talking about the issue of constitutionality?
TOOBIN: That's right. All today's ruling said was, "You, Gavin Newsom, and your administration, you don't have the authority simply as the mayor of a city to declare that California must allow same-sex marriages. That is simply outside of your authority." It says nothing about the institution of marriage and whether the law has to allow it.
A separate lawsuit is now proceeding through the California courts, which addresses that very question: Is it discrimination against gay people to prohibit them from getting married? That's the core issue. That's the substantive issue. That wasn't decided today. That will be decided almost certainly by the fall...
WHITFIELD: And particularly because if it is the case that states are not allowed to prohibit marriages without a legally valid reason, might it be that this mayor thought that because of that, it was within his jurisdiction to allow these same-sex marriages?
TOOBIN: Well, actually, Gavin Newsom, the mayor, went farther than that. He said that, based on his interpretation of the law, which pretty clearly said only people of different genders may get married, he thought that was a discrimination. He regarded it, in his own judgment, that that was discrimination against same-sex couples.
What the California Supreme Court today said is, "You, Mr. Mayor, don't have the right to make that judgment. Only a court has the right to make that change, or only the legislature has the right to change the law. A mayor can't do it on his own."
WHITFIELD: So, the next potential step then, with this ruling, would this mean that the legislature or perhaps even the attorney general might take the next step to try and make an issue of constitutionality where it would be restated, and amendment in the California constitution, that marriage is only legal if completed by a man and woman?
TOOBIN: Well, that's one possibility. But even before we get to that step, the California courts will consider that under the California constitution, as it is now configured, the current California constitution -- is gay marriage required? That issue is now before the courts. That'll be decided in the fall.
The legislature may act. There's an initiative process in California where voters can participate in creating their own laws, unlike most states. But the issue of gay marriage, whether it's required, that's before the courts now, and it will be decided in the fall.
WHITFIELD: So, yes or no, any of these people who got the 4,000 marriage licenses, do they have any legal recourse?
TOOBIN: They are not married now. They can sue, but they have no recourse immediately. They are not married.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jeffrey Toobin from New York. Thanks so much for joining us -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: On alert and tracking the storms, the National Hurricane Center is in full tilt mode, DEFCON 1, if you will. We'll take you there live and talk with the center's director just ahead on LIVE FROM.
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DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... will not destroy the evil men who killed 3,000 Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Sense and sensitivity, the war on terror and the campaign trail. And this one -- children and antidepressants, growing concern that it can be a deadly combination. Dr. Gupta has the latest on that for us. You'll want to stay tuned for that. Stay with us.
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O'BRIEN: All right, listen up, parents. Here's some news you should know about medicine your children are being prescribed, potentially. There are new concerns today about kids who take certain antidepressants and their risk for suicide. The issue has been in the news a lot lately, as you know, and now, the FDA is taking a closer look.
Here's CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Though you haven't heard it from the FDA, depressed children who take some antidepressants are more likely to exhibit suicidal behavior than depressed children who avoid those medications.
DR. STEVE HYMAN, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: We don't want treatments that are meant to help to inadvertently harm.
GUPTA: But they do sometimes cause harm by increasing the risk of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts by almost two times. According to Dr. Steven Hyman, Harvard Provost and former director of the National Institutes for Mental Health.
The alarm bells were sounded in Britain a year ago. Here in the United States, the FDA is going to release results of its own studies next month. The studies are done, and Dr. Hyman has already seen the preliminary results.
HYMAN: We have data now which raises the possibility that with a variety of these SSRI antidepressants, some children have an increased likelihood of suicide-related behaviors. And I think this data has never been available to be seen before.
GUPTA: The data that shows the very drugs that treat depression can sometimes also lead to the most tragic outcome of depression itself. Nobody really knows why this happens, but Dr. Hyman has a theory.
HYMAN: But there's long been concern that for a certain number of people, soon after starting treatment, they might gain the energy or have side effects which might lead them to attempt suicide.
GUPTA: And therefore, the riskiest times are at the beginning of treatment or when a dose is being changed. Interestingly, Prozac appears to be the safest with regards to suicidal tendencies.
HYMAN: In fact, based on the current data, one should probably begin treatment with Prozac and only use the other drugs if Prozac isn't tolerated by that child.
GUPTA: Depression can be treated effectively in adults and children, but when starting or changing medications, close monitoring is always a must.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
O'BRIEN: To sort out all the medical information out there, we invite you to head to our Web site. You'll find the latest research, even some fitness news. That's at cnn.com/health.
WHITFIELD: With a hurricane and a tropical storm moving in, the State of Florida is bracing for a beating. The latest on where the storms are headed and their impact as they move inland, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.
And in the Scott Peterson murder trial, more taped conversations with his former mistress Amber Frey. We'll take you to the courthouse coming up.
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O'BRIEN: Turning now to election 2004 and a sensitive issue. Vice President Dick Cheney on the hustings, taking aim at John Kerry for using the word "sensitive" when describing his plan to fight global terrorism.
Last week, Kerry told a Unity Conference that he'll reach out to allies with a war on terror that is more -- and we're quoting him now -- "effective, thoughtful, strategic, proactive, and sensitive." The Bush campaign isn't letting that one pass unnoticed.
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CHENEY: Senator Kerry has also said that if he were in charge, he would fight a more sensitive war on terror. America has been in too many wars for any of our wishes, but not a one of them was won by being sensitive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Now, in response to those comments, Kerry accuses the administration of alienating allies and says, "Arrogance isn't a virtue when the lives of our men and women are on the line," that last bit a quote there.
President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush appear in an exclusive joint interview tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.
WHITFIELD: Well, if you thought the housing market was starting to cool off, think again. Rhonda Schaffler joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with the latest on surprisingly strong numbers -- Rhonda?
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
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