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Latest Facts and Figures on Hurricane Ivan; Bloodshed in Iraq; CIA Boss Hearings

Aired September 14, 2004 - 14:00   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: Up first this hour, a serious storm requiring serious action. That's how Alabama's governor describes the hurricane that probably will inundate his state's coastline, along with those of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, starting late tomorrow night. This is the view from space as Hurricane Ivan, now Category 4, crawls across the Gulf of Mexico, having ripped the Caribbean from Grenada to Grand Cayman Island.
Let's go straight to CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras for the latest facts and figures -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We just got the 2:00 update in, and Hurricane Ivan remaining strong as a Category 4 hurricane, winds of 140 miles per hour. So it's leveled off a little bit.

We saw some weakening this morning, and now we're kind of holding steady at this hour as a major Category 4. Keep in mind, we don't get a big change on the forecast track until the 5:00 advisory, if there will be any changes to that at all.

A little bit of a change here. Tropical storm warnings now across Cuba and across the Yucatan Peninsula, rather than the hurricane warnings. The hurricane watch remains in effect for Morgan City, Louisiana, extending all the way over to St. Marks in Florida.

This will likely be changed to a hurricane warning, we think, sometime this evening, possibly as early as the 5:00 advisory, because we are expecting to see those tropical storm-force winds arriving some time tomorrow morning, with the hurricane-force winds beginning to move in tomorrow evening. So it's 24 hours that you are expecting the hurricane conditions when the warning is put in effect instead of the watch.

This is the forecast track from the 11:00 advisory. Continuing on the north-to-northwesterly track, and likely making landfall here into the central Gulf Coast. But keep in mind, we still have a margin of error, we still have at least 36 hours it looks like before this will likely make landfall. So there still could be some changes in the track. We're also likely going to be seeing some changes in the intensity.

When will you start to feel the impact? These are the forecast winds. This is the wind model coming in and showing us this blue outline, 39 miles per hour plus sustained winds, pushing it in likely tomorrow morning. So you will start to see that increase, the winds. Also, you're likely to start to see some of those higher ways beginning to move in -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: First and foremost, among the serious action urged in Alabama are mandatory evacuations from the 400-mile- long danger zone. That area includes the spring break Mecca of Panama City Beach, and CNN's David Mattingly is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mandatory evacuations went into effect for Panama City Beach at noon Eastern Time. But it's clear, at least for the tourists, that they made their plans to move yesterday. All morning long, we barely see more than a dozen beach- goers out here.

As for the 35,000 full-time residents, it's time to board up and move out as well. But there's nothing really keeping them here right now because almost off the business is driven here by tourism.

Concerns right now are actually for what will happen six months from now if long-term reconstruction is necessary. That could interfere with the $60 million spring break business, one of the perks of being the country's biggest spring break destination, with up to 400,000 partiers coming here very year.

Of course, the scene right now is drastically different with this empty beach, a far cry from what we could see here in the spring. But for right now, the order of the day, literally, is to pack up and leave.

MAYOR LEE SULLIVAN, PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA: If it moves on through, you tend to have less damage. But if, like it did in south Florida, it just camps out on your front door and just continues to beat you up, then that's a concern that we have. Getting people off the island, getting property secured, and getting through this thing is -- is all -- it's just tough, because there's nothing you can do but wait.

MATTINGLY: During the storm all eyes are going to be on this white sand beach. This is the moneymaker here in Panama City Beach, and it's something they spend millions of dollars on after Hurricane Opal came through and gouged out large portions of it back in 1995. So everyone will be leaving and wondering what will be left when they come back.

David Mattingly, CNN, Panama City, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. The big question right now, where is Hurricane Ivan? For that, we want to go to the National Hurricane Center and speak with Ed Rappaport.

Hi there, Ed.

ED RAPPAPORT, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good afternoon.

NGUYEN: Tell us where Ivan is. And this thing has been fluctuating between a Category 5, a Category 4. Where is it right now?

RAPPAPORT: You know, Ivan is centered about 400 miles south- southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana. It's a very big hurricane, you're right. It has fluctuated from Category 4 to Category 5.

It's a Category 4 now, but it has hurricane-force winds that extend out about 100 miles from the center on either side. And so as the hurricane moves to the north-northwest, and to the north, makes landfall late tomorrow and early Thursday, there is going to be a huge area that experiences hurricane-force winds, plus a large storm surge, maybe 15 feet near and to the right of where the center comes ashore.

NGUYEN: So which -- I know there's a huge area, but can you tell us which areas are going to be slammed by this hurricane when it does come ashore?

RAPPAPORT: Well, it's going to be a 200-mile wide area that gets hurricane-force winds. And so we can't tell you exactly where that is.

Let me switch to another graphic for you. We have a forecast that brings the center up to the coast tomorrow night. But because it's so large, and because there is some uncertainty in the track, there's a hurricane watch all the way from Oregon City, Louisiana, over to St. Marks, Florida. Now, later today, we will be changing this to a hurricane warning for a portion of this area, and that means that hurricane conditions will be occurring, will begin in less than 24 hours.

NGUYEN: Ed, how far north are some of the effects of Ivan going to be felt?

RAPPAPORT: Well, Ivan, as we said, is very strong, it's very big. It will slowly weaken as it moves inland.

We have this concern at the coast for the storm surge and the winds, but we have just as great a concern inland for some very heavy rain. In fact, there are indications that Ivan may stall to the north up here, and that will be a serious flood event if that occurs.

NGUYEN: Quickly, Frances was a slow-moving storm. How is Ivan compared to Frances, and do you expect it to slow any before it hits the coast of the United States?

RAPPAPORT: Well, Ivan is moving at just under 10 miles per hour, and we think that that motion will continue. But that's still relatively slow, and it's going to prolong the pounding that the coast gets and then prolong the rain for the inland areas.

NGUYEN: All right. Ed Rappaport at the National Hurricane Center. Thank you so much for that -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: For the first time in many, many days, Ivan is not a clear and present danger in the Caribbean. But in the western part of Cuba, as in Grenada, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, northern Venezuela, the damage is done. CNN's Lucia Newman filed this report from the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're just outside the capital of Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba. What you see behind me was, until yesterday, a huge empty field. Now it is completely flooded, as you see, by the rain brought on by Hurricane Ivan. The water now reaching up to the top of the trunks of the trees.

Just up the highway is another village called Las Canas (ph), a seaside town mostly used for tourism, but where a lot of residents also lived. And that has been completely flooded by the ocean.

The waves are still coming in. In fact, they're coming in through the back door of many of the houses. The beach is completely gone.

Residents there, as in other seaside villages here in Pinar del Rio, were evacuated way in advance of Hurricane Ivan. And, in fact, they're not being allowed to return to their homes until the seas recede. Electricity has still not been reestablished here in Pinar del Rio for fear of electrocution.

In the meantime, the economic damage caused by this hurricane has -- is yet to be determined. But it is expected that it will take a heavy toll on this area's tobacco crop. This is the part of Cuba, of course, where most of Cuba's tobacco for its famous cigars is grown.

But there has been no report so far of any major injuries or deaths. So, all in all, many people in Cuba saying that they feel very lucky, especially when they see what Hurricane Ivan did to other islands in the Caribbean.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Pinar del Rio Province.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, from Cuba to Florida, we'll continue to follow everything Ivan, anytime, anywhere. Just stay tuned into CNN. Our Jacqui Jeras working the weather center, and, of course, we have correspondents all around the globe.

Now overseas to Iraq, where it's been an especially bloody day. Dozens of people have been killed in a pair of attacks. We get the latest from CNN senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers. He's in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There were two lethal attacks on police in Iraq today. Either one of them taken by itself might have been criminal; taken together, they were horrific, killing more than 60 people. The worst occurred in Baghdad itself, about 10:00 in the morning. The target, a police station in the busy market area.

Young Iraqi men were queuing up, trying to enlist in the new Iraqi police force. They were the targets.

A huge blast blew a hole in the ground. It was indeed a car bomb. Human flesh was later seen dangling from rooftops and from electrical wires.

A group calling itself the Unification and Jihad group, affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Americans' most wanted man here in Iraq, claimed responsibility. Ironically, most of the Iraqis at the scene of the carnage were more determined to blame the car bomb and the deaths on the Americans. They were shouting, "Damn you, Bush, damn the Jews."

And many of them refused to admit it was a car bomb. They alleged that it was a missile fired by an Iraqi -- fired by an American helicopter overhead.

In Baquba, the story was similar, although the carnage was not quite as bad. There, 12 police officers were killed. Those 12 police officers were traveling in two vans, being delivered home after work. Then, two cares with insurgents pulled alongside the police vans, sprayed them with automatic weapons fire. Again, 12 Iraqi police officers killed there.

This is a most dangerous profession in Iraq, being a police officer. In the last 14 or 15 months, more than 700 Iraqi police and security officials have been killed.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And attackers also went after an oil pipeline in northern Iraq. That explosion melted cables leading to a main power station nearby. This set off a chain of events that left much of that country without electricity.

NGUYEN: He tossed a baby out of his moving car, then the car chase really got going. Who lived to tell the tale? Next.

And, is the job market heating up now that temperatures are cooling down? The outlook ahead in "Biz."

Plus, it's all fun until someone chews a squeaker out of their Bush or Kerry pet toy. Jeanne Moos scours the Internet for stuff to keep you smiling through the pain of a long campaign. LIVE FROM whips out the credit card after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: You know that voice, Patti LaBelle. We're going to be talking with her live right here on LIVE FROM a little bit later this hour. So do stay tuned for that.

But in the meantime, the Senate Intelligence Committee began confirmation hearings today on President Bush's nominee to head the CIA. Porter Goss is a Republican congressman from Florida. The high- stakes hearing comes at a time when the intelligence community's reputation is tarnished. And CNN's national security correspondent, David Ensor, has more on Goss and reaction to his nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Porter Goss already has 10 years under his belt at the CIA as a young officer, and 15 in the Congress, many of them as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, keeping an eye on the community that he has been nominated to lead.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), NOMINATED TO HEAD CIA: The essence of our intelligence capability is people. And we have some wonderful Americans doing a great job.

ENSOR: Goss is well liked. But critics charge he's been too easy on the CIA over intelligence failures in Iraq and elsewhere, and too close to the Bush White House.

(on camera): Were you disappointed when you heard the president had nominated him?

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Yes, I was. I was a little more than that. I was kind of shocked. I mean, I really didn't think he was going to do it, because it's a -- it's a fairly clear partisan choice.

LEE STRICKLAND, FMR. CIA OFFICER: There's been various times when -- when the agency has been too close to the White House. And those -- those have led to great difficulties. I'm thinking back when Mr. Casey was DCI, for example.

ENSOR (voice-over): William Casey was President Reagan's director of Central Intelligence. He supplied weapons to Nicaraguan rebels, despite a congressional began, using funds from arm sales to Iran that were also illegal. But some Democrats, like former Senator Bob Graham, praised Goss as a patriot, willing to stand up to the president if necessary and tell him things he may not want to hear. Senior Republicans agree.

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I don't know of a better choice the president could pick at this point in time. He doesn't need any on-the-job training. He could take over that job tomorrow morning.

ENSOR (on camera): Goss is expected to be confirmed. But his path from there is anything but clear. Amid proposals for intelligence reform, his job could soon be changed. And in the event the voters should choose a new president in seven weeks' time, he's unlikely to be kept at the CIA.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And just ahead, an insider's explanation of Goss's confirmation process. I'll talk with former Congressman Bob Barr about today's hearing -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Strap in for a wild ride across America. Feuding with fans lands a chair-hurdling pitcher in trouble.

And most parents drop their kids off at school. This baby was dropped out of a speeding car. The story when LIVE FROM returns.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And job seekers might finally be in luck. One surveys shows a sunny outlook for hiring. Details on that when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: News across America now.

A harrowing police chase in Wisconsin caught on tape. A domestic violence suspect takes off with his girlfriend's baby inside the car. Well, at one point, he dumped the 8-month-old girl right onto the road, car seat and all.

Well, the car later crashed and the suspect was killed. But police say the baby is fine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. DAN PAMENTER, BROWN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: The whole ending is sad, but it could have been -- it could have been much worse. You know, of course, everybody is relieved that the baby was left out of the car. And at that point, we could -- we could look at it at a different light.

Before that, we had to really handle this whole incident very gently, and not create any kind of a panic on his part. So it was -- it was good, you know, as it -- as it turned out that he released the baby.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, talk about panic, how about this one? A Major League melee in Oakland, California. Texas Rangers relief pitcher Frank Francisco is arrested on a battery charge after throwing a chair at a rowdy A's fan during last night's game.

That's what she looks like. Her nose was actually broken. The baseball commissioner's office is now investigating the incident.

Turning 93 at 14,000 feet. Nancy Gifford (ph) of Newport News, Virginia, celebrated her birthday with a tandem sky dive. There she is. Gifford (ph) says that she was inspired by former President George Bush's recent jump to mark his 80th. NGUYEN: Good for her.

Well, on the jobs front, a new survey shows the hiring outlook is the strongest it's been in years. Rhonda Schaffler joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with that report.

Hi there, Rhonda.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Now it's to spring Fashion Week in New York. Most people think being a supermodel would be one of the most glamorous jobs in the world. But according to one of the hottest new models to walk the runway, it's not always a walk in the park.

Here's CNN's Jason Bellini.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Karolina Kurkova, the 20-year-old model from the Czech Republic, gets checked out on runway walk after runway walk. She's a model supermodel for New York's Fashion Week.

CAROLINA HERRERA, FASHION DESIGNER: And she shows very well, and people love to see her because she's so full of life and beautiful.

BELLINI: It's 8:00 a.m., two hours before the first show. Kurkova takes us along...

KAROLINA KURKOVA, MODEL: Yellow shoes and rain, not a good thing.

BELLINI: ... to learn the myths and realities of modeldom.

KURKOVA: Let me get this straight...

BELLINI (on camera): You eat whatever you want. You don't work out.

KURKOVA: I eat whatever I want. I work out sometimes.

BELLINI: You know how many women -- I know a lot of women who would absolutely hate you.

KURKOVA: I know, but I hope they don't hate me. It's not important to be skinny. I feel everyone is beautiful the way they are.

BELLINI (voice-over): Myth: supermodels have it easy.

KURKOVA: Everyone thinks, oh, go on, it's so easy, you just look beautiful and you just walk on the catwalk and you look amazing. Maybe between the shows you have to take a flight to go to London for one day then come back. You know, go straight to work, no sleep. You don't have time to eat.

Well, we're going to a fitting for this young upcoming designer. His name is Valdi (ph), and it's a choice actually tonight.

I love this. Look at this. How cute is this?

BELLINI: Reality: models hate the question...

KURKOVA; What do you do to look so beautiful? Like, what kind of beauty products do you use? Like, do you -- I don't really do anything. You know, I was just -- I don't -- I'm just who I am. It's just a question you get all the time.

BELLINI (on camera): We're back stage at the Tommy Hilfiger show, and Karolina Kurkova will walk the runway a total of five separate times today. There's nothing glamorous about the life of a supermodel. Oh, wait, I take that back.

(voice-over): Being a model means always being on, being beautiful, even in curlers.

KURKOVA: It's always, "Oh, Karolina, can you do this?" "OK, now can you look there? OK, now can I ask you this?"

"Karolina, can you go there? Can you get dressed." So you always basically -- all day you're like a machine.

BELLINI: The reality is you've got to love the camera...

KURKOVA: That was just for you.

BELLINI: ... as much as the camera loves you. Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)


Aired September 14, 2004 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour, a serious storm requiring serious action. That's how Alabama's governor describes the hurricane that probably will inundate his state's coastline, along with those of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida, starting late tomorrow night. This is the view from space as Hurricane Ivan, now Category 4, crawls across the Gulf of Mexico, having ripped the Caribbean from Grenada to Grand Cayman Island.
Let's go straight to CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras for the latest facts and figures -- Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We just got the 2:00 update in, and Hurricane Ivan remaining strong as a Category 4 hurricane, winds of 140 miles per hour. So it's leveled off a little bit.

We saw some weakening this morning, and now we're kind of holding steady at this hour as a major Category 4. Keep in mind, we don't get a big change on the forecast track until the 5:00 advisory, if there will be any changes to that at all.

A little bit of a change here. Tropical storm warnings now across Cuba and across the Yucatan Peninsula, rather than the hurricane warnings. The hurricane watch remains in effect for Morgan City, Louisiana, extending all the way over to St. Marks in Florida.

This will likely be changed to a hurricane warning, we think, sometime this evening, possibly as early as the 5:00 advisory, because we are expecting to see those tropical storm-force winds arriving some time tomorrow morning, with the hurricane-force winds beginning to move in tomorrow evening. So it's 24 hours that you are expecting the hurricane conditions when the warning is put in effect instead of the watch.

This is the forecast track from the 11:00 advisory. Continuing on the north-to-northwesterly track, and likely making landfall here into the central Gulf Coast. But keep in mind, we still have a margin of error, we still have at least 36 hours it looks like before this will likely make landfall. So there still could be some changes in the track. We're also likely going to be seeing some changes in the intensity.

When will you start to feel the impact? These are the forecast winds. This is the wind model coming in and showing us this blue outline, 39 miles per hour plus sustained winds, pushing it in likely tomorrow morning. So you will start to see that increase, the winds. Also, you're likely to start to see some of those higher ways beginning to move in -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: First and foremost, among the serious action urged in Alabama are mandatory evacuations from the 400-mile- long danger zone. That area includes the spring break Mecca of Panama City Beach, and CNN's David Mattingly is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mandatory evacuations went into effect for Panama City Beach at noon Eastern Time. But it's clear, at least for the tourists, that they made their plans to move yesterday. All morning long, we barely see more than a dozen beach- goers out here.

As for the 35,000 full-time residents, it's time to board up and move out as well. But there's nothing really keeping them here right now because almost off the business is driven here by tourism.

Concerns right now are actually for what will happen six months from now if long-term reconstruction is necessary. That could interfere with the $60 million spring break business, one of the perks of being the country's biggest spring break destination, with up to 400,000 partiers coming here very year.

Of course, the scene right now is drastically different with this empty beach, a far cry from what we could see here in the spring. But for right now, the order of the day, literally, is to pack up and leave.

MAYOR LEE SULLIVAN, PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA: If it moves on through, you tend to have less damage. But if, like it did in south Florida, it just camps out on your front door and just continues to beat you up, then that's a concern that we have. Getting people off the island, getting property secured, and getting through this thing is -- is all -- it's just tough, because there's nothing you can do but wait.

MATTINGLY: During the storm all eyes are going to be on this white sand beach. This is the moneymaker here in Panama City Beach, and it's something they spend millions of dollars on after Hurricane Opal came through and gouged out large portions of it back in 1995. So everyone will be leaving and wondering what will be left when they come back.

David Mattingly, CNN, Panama City, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. The big question right now, where is Hurricane Ivan? For that, we want to go to the National Hurricane Center and speak with Ed Rappaport.

Hi there, Ed.

ED RAPPAPORT, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good afternoon.

NGUYEN: Tell us where Ivan is. And this thing has been fluctuating between a Category 5, a Category 4. Where is it right now?

RAPPAPORT: You know, Ivan is centered about 400 miles south- southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, Louisiana. It's a very big hurricane, you're right. It has fluctuated from Category 4 to Category 5.

It's a Category 4 now, but it has hurricane-force winds that extend out about 100 miles from the center on either side. And so as the hurricane moves to the north-northwest, and to the north, makes landfall late tomorrow and early Thursday, there is going to be a huge area that experiences hurricane-force winds, plus a large storm surge, maybe 15 feet near and to the right of where the center comes ashore.

NGUYEN: So which -- I know there's a huge area, but can you tell us which areas are going to be slammed by this hurricane when it does come ashore?

RAPPAPORT: Well, it's going to be a 200-mile wide area that gets hurricane-force winds. And so we can't tell you exactly where that is.

Let me switch to another graphic for you. We have a forecast that brings the center up to the coast tomorrow night. But because it's so large, and because there is some uncertainty in the track, there's a hurricane watch all the way from Oregon City, Louisiana, over to St. Marks, Florida. Now, later today, we will be changing this to a hurricane warning for a portion of this area, and that means that hurricane conditions will be occurring, will begin in less than 24 hours.

NGUYEN: Ed, how far north are some of the effects of Ivan going to be felt?

RAPPAPORT: Well, Ivan, as we said, is very strong, it's very big. It will slowly weaken as it moves inland.

We have this concern at the coast for the storm surge and the winds, but we have just as great a concern inland for some very heavy rain. In fact, there are indications that Ivan may stall to the north up here, and that will be a serious flood event if that occurs.

NGUYEN: Quickly, Frances was a slow-moving storm. How is Ivan compared to Frances, and do you expect it to slow any before it hits the coast of the United States?

RAPPAPORT: Well, Ivan is moving at just under 10 miles per hour, and we think that that motion will continue. But that's still relatively slow, and it's going to prolong the pounding that the coast gets and then prolong the rain for the inland areas.

NGUYEN: All right. Ed Rappaport at the National Hurricane Center. Thank you so much for that -- Kyra. PHILLIPS: For the first time in many, many days, Ivan is not a clear and present danger in the Caribbean. But in the western part of Cuba, as in Grenada, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, northern Venezuela, the damage is done. CNN's Lucia Newman filed this report from the Cuban province of Pinar del Rio.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're just outside the capital of Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba. What you see behind me was, until yesterday, a huge empty field. Now it is completely flooded, as you see, by the rain brought on by Hurricane Ivan. The water now reaching up to the top of the trunks of the trees.

Just up the highway is another village called Las Canas (ph), a seaside town mostly used for tourism, but where a lot of residents also lived. And that has been completely flooded by the ocean.

The waves are still coming in. In fact, they're coming in through the back door of many of the houses. The beach is completely gone.

Residents there, as in other seaside villages here in Pinar del Rio, were evacuated way in advance of Hurricane Ivan. And, in fact, they're not being allowed to return to their homes until the seas recede. Electricity has still not been reestablished here in Pinar del Rio for fear of electrocution.

In the meantime, the economic damage caused by this hurricane has -- is yet to be determined. But it is expected that it will take a heavy toll on this area's tobacco crop. This is the part of Cuba, of course, where most of Cuba's tobacco for its famous cigars is grown.

But there has been no report so far of any major injuries or deaths. So, all in all, many people in Cuba saying that they feel very lucky, especially when they see what Hurricane Ivan did to other islands in the Caribbean.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Pinar del Rio Province.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, from Cuba to Florida, we'll continue to follow everything Ivan, anytime, anywhere. Just stay tuned into CNN. Our Jacqui Jeras working the weather center, and, of course, we have correspondents all around the globe.

Now overseas to Iraq, where it's been an especially bloody day. Dozens of people have been killed in a pair of attacks. We get the latest from CNN senior international correspondent Walter Rodgers. He's in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There were two lethal attacks on police in Iraq today. Either one of them taken by itself might have been criminal; taken together, they were horrific, killing more than 60 people. The worst occurred in Baghdad itself, about 10:00 in the morning. The target, a police station in the busy market area.

Young Iraqi men were queuing up, trying to enlist in the new Iraqi police force. They were the targets.

A huge blast blew a hole in the ground. It was indeed a car bomb. Human flesh was later seen dangling from rooftops and from electrical wires.

A group calling itself the Unification and Jihad group, affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Americans' most wanted man here in Iraq, claimed responsibility. Ironically, most of the Iraqis at the scene of the carnage were more determined to blame the car bomb and the deaths on the Americans. They were shouting, "Damn you, Bush, damn the Jews."

And many of them refused to admit it was a car bomb. They alleged that it was a missile fired by an Iraqi -- fired by an American helicopter overhead.

In Baquba, the story was similar, although the carnage was not quite as bad. There, 12 police officers were killed. Those 12 police officers were traveling in two vans, being delivered home after work. Then, two cares with insurgents pulled alongside the police vans, sprayed them with automatic weapons fire. Again, 12 Iraqi police officers killed there.

This is a most dangerous profession in Iraq, being a police officer. In the last 14 or 15 months, more than 700 Iraqi police and security officials have been killed.

Walter Rodgers, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And attackers also went after an oil pipeline in northern Iraq. That explosion melted cables leading to a main power station nearby. This set off a chain of events that left much of that country without electricity.

NGUYEN: He tossed a baby out of his moving car, then the car chase really got going. Who lived to tell the tale? Next.

And, is the job market heating up now that temperatures are cooling down? The outlook ahead in "Biz."

Plus, it's all fun until someone chews a squeaker out of their Bush or Kerry pet toy. Jeanne Moos scours the Internet for stuff to keep you smiling through the pain of a long campaign. LIVE FROM whips out the credit card after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: You know that voice, Patti LaBelle. We're going to be talking with her live right here on LIVE FROM a little bit later this hour. So do stay tuned for that.

But in the meantime, the Senate Intelligence Committee began confirmation hearings today on President Bush's nominee to head the CIA. Porter Goss is a Republican congressman from Florida. The high- stakes hearing comes at a time when the intelligence community's reputation is tarnished. And CNN's national security correspondent, David Ensor, has more on Goss and reaction to his nomination.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Porter Goss already has 10 years under his belt at the CIA as a young officer, and 15 in the Congress, many of them as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, keeping an eye on the community that he has been nominated to lead.

REP. PORTER GOSS (R), NOMINATED TO HEAD CIA: The essence of our intelligence capability is people. And we have some wonderful Americans doing a great job.

ENSOR: Goss is well liked. But critics charge he's been too easy on the CIA over intelligence failures in Iraq and elsewhere, and too close to the Bush White House.

(on camera): Were you disappointed when you heard the president had nominated him?

SEN. JAY ROCKEFELLER (D), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Yes, I was. I was a little more than that. I was kind of shocked. I mean, I really didn't think he was going to do it, because it's a -- it's a fairly clear partisan choice.

LEE STRICKLAND, FMR. CIA OFFICER: There's been various times when -- when the agency has been too close to the White House. And those -- those have led to great difficulties. I'm thinking back when Mr. Casey was DCI, for example.

ENSOR (voice-over): William Casey was President Reagan's director of Central Intelligence. He supplied weapons to Nicaraguan rebels, despite a congressional began, using funds from arm sales to Iran that were also illegal. But some Democrats, like former Senator Bob Graham, praised Goss as a patriot, willing to stand up to the president if necessary and tell him things he may not want to hear. Senior Republicans agree.

SEN. JOHN WARNER (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I don't know of a better choice the president could pick at this point in time. He doesn't need any on-the-job training. He could take over that job tomorrow morning.

ENSOR (on camera): Goss is expected to be confirmed. But his path from there is anything but clear. Amid proposals for intelligence reform, his job could soon be changed. And in the event the voters should choose a new president in seven weeks' time, he's unlikely to be kept at the CIA.

David Ensor, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And just ahead, an insider's explanation of Goss's confirmation process. I'll talk with former Congressman Bob Barr about today's hearing -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Strap in for a wild ride across America. Feuding with fans lands a chair-hurdling pitcher in trouble.

And most parents drop their kids off at school. This baby was dropped out of a speeding car. The story when LIVE FROM returns.

RHONDA SCHAFFLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And job seekers might finally be in luck. One surveys shows a sunny outlook for hiring. Details on that when LIVE FROM continues.

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PHILLIPS: News across America now.

A harrowing police chase in Wisconsin caught on tape. A domestic violence suspect takes off with his girlfriend's baby inside the car. Well, at one point, he dumped the 8-month-old girl right onto the road, car seat and all.

Well, the car later crashed and the suspect was killed. But police say the baby is fine.

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SGT. DAN PAMENTER, BROWN COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: The whole ending is sad, but it could have been -- it could have been much worse. You know, of course, everybody is relieved that the baby was left out of the car. And at that point, we could -- we could look at it at a different light.

Before that, we had to really handle this whole incident very gently, and not create any kind of a panic on his part. So it was -- it was good, you know, as it -- as it turned out that he released the baby.

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PHILLIPS: Well, talk about panic, how about this one? A Major League melee in Oakland, California. Texas Rangers relief pitcher Frank Francisco is arrested on a battery charge after throwing a chair at a rowdy A's fan during last night's game.

That's what she looks like. Her nose was actually broken. The baseball commissioner's office is now investigating the incident.

Turning 93 at 14,000 feet. Nancy Gifford (ph) of Newport News, Virginia, celebrated her birthday with a tandem sky dive. There she is. Gifford (ph) says that she was inspired by former President George Bush's recent jump to mark his 80th. NGUYEN: Good for her.

Well, on the jobs front, a new survey shows the hiring outlook is the strongest it's been in years. Rhonda Schaffler joins us from the New York Stock Exchange with that report.

Hi there, Rhonda.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

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NGUYEN: Now it's to spring Fashion Week in New York. Most people think being a supermodel would be one of the most glamorous jobs in the world. But according to one of the hottest new models to walk the runway, it's not always a walk in the park.

Here's CNN's Jason Bellini.

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JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Karolina Kurkova, the 20-year-old model from the Czech Republic, gets checked out on runway walk after runway walk. She's a model supermodel for New York's Fashion Week.

CAROLINA HERRERA, FASHION DESIGNER: And she shows very well, and people love to see her because she's so full of life and beautiful.

BELLINI: It's 8:00 a.m., two hours before the first show. Kurkova takes us along...

KAROLINA KURKOVA, MODEL: Yellow shoes and rain, not a good thing.

BELLINI: ... to learn the myths and realities of modeldom.

KURKOVA: Let me get this straight...

BELLINI (on camera): You eat whatever you want. You don't work out.

KURKOVA: I eat whatever I want. I work out sometimes.

BELLINI: You know how many women -- I know a lot of women who would absolutely hate you.

KURKOVA: I know, but I hope they don't hate me. It's not important to be skinny. I feel everyone is beautiful the way they are.

BELLINI (voice-over): Myth: supermodels have it easy.

KURKOVA: Everyone thinks, oh, go on, it's so easy, you just look beautiful and you just walk on the catwalk and you look amazing. Maybe between the shows you have to take a flight to go to London for one day then come back. You know, go straight to work, no sleep. You don't have time to eat.

Well, we're going to a fitting for this young upcoming designer. His name is Valdi (ph), and it's a choice actually tonight.

I love this. Look at this. How cute is this?

BELLINI: Reality: models hate the question...

KURKOVA; What do you do to look so beautiful? Like, what kind of beauty products do you use? Like, do you -- I don't really do anything. You know, I was just -- I don't -- I'm just who I am. It's just a question you get all the time.

BELLINI (on camera): We're back stage at the Tommy Hilfiger show, and Karolina Kurkova will walk the runway a total of five separate times today. There's nothing glamorous about the life of a supermodel. Oh, wait, I take that back.

(voice-over): Being a model means always being on, being beautiful, even in curlers.

KURKOVA: It's always, "Oh, Karolina, can you do this?" "OK, now can you look there? OK, now can I ask you this?"

"Karolina, can you go there? Can you get dressed." So you always basically -- all day you're like a machine.

BELLINI: The reality is you've got to love the camera...

KURKOVA: That was just for you.

BELLINI: ... as much as the camera loves you. Jason Bellini, CNN, New York.

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