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Rains Cause Flooding in South California; Powell Briefs Bush on Tsunami Damage; Marines Helping to Clear Rubble in Sri Lanka; Speculation Begins that Newt Gingrich May Run for President

Aired January 10, 2005 - 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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Holding on for dear life. Rescuers try to save this man after pulling his two sons from the flooded torrent. We have their gripping story. Ouch!
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rescue workers also trying to save a mobile home park north of Los Angeles. Several homes have been destroyed. Another 100 threatened by a flash flood. I'll have a live report.

BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: And helping tsunami victims. The U.S. pledges long-term help for those in need. We have reports from the White House and hard-hit Sri Lanka.

O'BRIEN: And you're fired! Consequences for CBS News employees after an independent panel investigates its story on President Bush's National Guard's service.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: I'm Betty Nguyen in today for Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

All right. If it stopped raining now in Southern California, which it won't, and it didn't rain again for the rest of 2005, the year would go down as average.

Put another way, areas around Los Angeles have had a year's worth of rain since New Year's, eight inches in L.A. yesterday alone. Several more inches are forecast before it clears up, maybe by midweek.

In the meantime, nine deaths are blamed on floods and mudslides, though one driver almost made it 10. He and his BMW were carried two miles down a raging Coyote Creek in Cerritos before firefighters were able to drop him a rope from an overpass.

Now, as you just saw there, the man lost his pants in the current, then lost his grip on the rope. He finally made it to land, not only unhurt, but we are told that he is in good spirits.

We want to get more now on the high water and high drama from CNN's Peter Viles in Santa Clarita, which is 30 miles north of Los Angeles -- Peter.

VILES: Betty, I can tell you there's a rescue mission of another sort going on up here in Santa Clarita. Behind me is a mobile home park, about 100 homes located in a valley.

A river has formed in the past couple of days. This was a dry creek bed. Now it is a raging river. It is threatening the entire mobile home park, four or five homes already destroyed. There were 100 in total.

And that piece of equipment there is trying to save the houses. He's trying to dig the river deeper and build a bank up there to protect those homes.

So far, so good. But we have seen the water go over those banks a couple times this morning.

Now, there are no people in those homes behind us. They were all evacuated last night, although this morning when we came here, a number of the homeowners have showed up, to essentially keep an eye on their property from across this river that didn't exist a couple of days ago.

We spoke to one woman. She was upset. She has four dogs in one of those homes over there, but she also put it in perspective: her home has not been destroyed. Here's what she had to say, her fears about some of her neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel sad for all these people. They're worse than me. Worse situation than me. So everything is destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VILES: Now the biggest problem in this region, as you might imagine, has to do with traffic and the roadways. A lot of them are in deep water. There are mudslides in places, rockslides in places.

Yesterday up in Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway, this vehicle hit a mudslide and literally went into the Pacific Ocean. There were five people in the vehicle. One was killed in this accident. Four were rescued.

And this kind of scene of traffic accidents continues all the way down almost as far as San Diego. This is Temecula, if we can see that, Temecula, down near San Diego. Water is so deep in places that people had to abandon their cars.

And as for the weather outlook today it is raining heavily now. It's been raining all morning. We're expecting more rain later today. And then more rain tomorrow, finally maybe some clearing on Wednesday.

But as you pointed out, Betty, we have already set a record -- rather we have already beat the average annual rainfall in the Los Angeles area in just 10 days of this year -- Betty.

NGUYEN: And the pictures are just so telling. Are there any kind of shelters being set up for the people whose homes are in harm's way? VILES: Yes, the shelter -- there is a shelter for the people living in these homes set up just down the road. And most of them are down there. There's not much they can do here, other than stand in the mud and the rain.

And we are actually headed over to that shelter later this afternoon. Just a handful of people up here looking at the homes. Most of them, maybe 100 families or so are in that shelter down the road, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Peter Viles in Santa Clarita, California, for us. Thank you, Peter.

We will get the outlook for California and everywhere else from CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras at quarter past this hour on LIVE FROM.

O'BRIEN: And now to another force of nature thousands of miles away from California.

President Bush says the U.S. is in it for the long haul when it comes to helping tsunami victims. But does that translate into more U.S. dollars?

CNN's Kathleen Koch bringing us up to date, live now from the White House.

Hello, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

No new federal commitment of aid to the tsunami-ravaged region yet, but the president, though, did today get a very sobering briefing from Secretary of State Colin Powell, who just came back from a five- day trip to the region.

Powell described the destruction in some areas as unbelievable, like Hiroshima, as if they'd been hit by a nuclear bomb. He explained that U.S. efforts there are entering a second phase, more focused on rehabilitation and reconstruction to the affected areas.

The tally now, the U.S. government has through the weekend spent a total of $78 million, that out of a $350 million that President Bush has dedicated, at least initially, to the efforts.

And President Bush told relief workers today that the government and relief agencies worldwide will stay focused on the massive task ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States government and the NGOs that have worked so hard for so long in the region are committed to this area of the world for a long time.

This is one of these projects that's not going to happen overnight. The intense scrutiny may dissipate and probably will. But our focus has got to stay on this part of the world. We have a duty. We have made a commitment, and our commitment is a long-term commitment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Mr. Bush thanked the 1,000 workers at the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development that's coordinating the tsunami relief effort, saying that the world has, quote, "taken notice," and the American people are grateful.

President Bush, in his remarks, also thanked the U.S. military, as well as the American public for its outpouring of financial support for tsunami victims. And Mr. Bush urged Americans to view their tsunami donations as what he called, quote, "extra help" and not to then take that money -- take away money that they would otherwise donate to other very needy charities in the U.S. and worldwide.

Miles, one more thing to mention: President Bush got a briefing this afternoon on tsunami detection systems here in the United States. And they talked about how those systems work and whether or not they can be improved and expanded worldwide.

O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the White House, thank you very much -- Betty.

NGUYEN: With forklifts and bulldozers, U.S. Marines came ashore in some of the hardest-hit areas today.

CNN's Satinder Bindra filed this report by videophone from the town of Gintota, which is in southern Sri Lanka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're now entering phase two of the U.S. relief operations here in Sri Lanka.

In phase one, U.S. helicopters were carrying supplies to parts of the country that need them most. Now, U.S. Marines are on the ground here in southern Sri Lanka.

I'm in a small village called Gintota. And in this village itself, about 15 to 20 houses were completely damaged and destroyed. There was tons of rubble laying about here. But ever since the Marines have arrived, they've cleared up this rubble, and the bad smell that existed here before has now gone.

Over the next five to ten days, one U.S. amphibious ship, several landing craft and water purification equipment will also arrive in the region.

Clearly, Sri Lankans here are pleased with the U.S. effort. But many to the north of here, many Indians are concerned. India is the regional power, and many in India believe if the U.S. continues to remain here for some time, then the geopolitical balance in this part of the world could be disturbed. I did put these concerns to the general commanding the Marines here, and he said, and he did stress this was purely a humanitarian mission. He also stressed that the Marines would leave as soon as the Sri Lankans asked them to do so.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Gintota, southern Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. Now I want to show you some pictures that really illustrate the tsunami's devastating force. Take a look at this.

Almost instantaneously, a busy street becomes a deadly river of debris. An amateur photographer took this video as the wall of water descended on Indonesia's Aceh province. The photographer was on his way to a wedding at the time.

Banda Aceh was closest to the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the tsunami. As you can see, the area suffered enormous destruction.

You can see more of these images on our web site. There's also news, survivor stories, and information about how you can help. That's at CNN.com -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Iraq's interim prime minister says the January 30 elections will not be delayed, despite more insurgent violence.

Two attacks in Baghdad targeted police to tell you about, the city's deputy police chief, assassinated on his way to work this morning. His car sprayed with gunfire, killing his son, as well, his son a police officer.

And a suicide car bomb went outside off a police station in southern Baghdad. Three officers, four other people killed.

NGUYEN: The U.S. embassy in Kuwait is warning Americans there of a possible terrorist attack. Officials say they have credible information that someone is driving around in a small black car, planning to randomly attack westerners. The advisory urged Americans to keep their heads down and their eyes open.

O'BRIEN: Developments in Iraq are breaking the hearts of families in Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wanted to be everybody's hero. And he said he was going to, in this war, to serve his country. And he said he wore his uniform very proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Six members of a National Guard unit struck down by a bomb blast. Their family members share their stories and their grief a little bit later on LIVE FROM.

And just ahead, a fiery traffic stop. This crash shuts down a major interstate. Understandable, seeing those pictures. We'll have details.

And get this: Newt Gingrich versus Hillary Clinton? A pair of lightning rods going at it. The former speaker of the house writes a book and raises speculation about the race for the White House in 2008. That one would sell papers, wouldn't it?

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, some amazing pictures from that wild weather out west. Wild is an understatement.

Firefighters rescued an elderly woman from her mobile home Sunday in Santa Clarita, California, after a nearby creek overflowed. The heavy rains turned Sausalito streets into streams. You could probably get that car cheap. It was left abandoned.

California firefighters tried to save a house near Crestline, filling sandbags to keep ahead of the rising waters. Imagine that image, if you will. I guess we don't have that one ready. But you can imagine, sandbags...

NGUYEN: Plenty of them, yes.

O'BRIEN: You've seen one sandbag, you've seen them all. So just paint a little picture in your mind, because obviously that picture was not there.

All right. It is shaping up to be a storm season for the record books.

NGUYEN: Yes, it is. And keeping track of all that wicked weather and your national forecast is our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras.

Hey, there, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right. News across America now to tell you about.

Who failed to flip the switch? Investigators are trying to determine why a switch was set in the wrong place Thursday. It sent a train hurdling into parked railcars in Graniteville, South Carolina.

Crews have patched the damaged car that was spewing toxic chlorine gas. Nine deaths now blamed on that. They're unloading the chlorine today.

"ANDERSON COOPER 360" takes a look at that accident and what it means to rail safety and its impact on residents. That's at 7 p.m. Eastern Time tonight.

More transportation problems, this one in North Carolina. A tanker truck overturned and erupted into flames, shutting down Interstate 95 near Selma in both directions. The driver sustained burns, has been taken to a hospital. Authorities aren't sure what caused it to flip.

And that sinking feeling in Florida. A hundred and ten-foot wide sinkhole destroyed one house in Volusia County on Sunday, damaged another -- part of another one. And no injuries were reported, however. Residents were briefly evacuated from 11 other homes. About 500 sinkholes open up each year in Florida.

NGUYEN: Turning to politics now. The ink on the president's inaugural address is not dry, but already there is talk about political hopefuls for 2008.

One is them is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Is he testing the waters or simply savvy enough to realize the speculation could help sell his new book?

Well, CNN political analyst Carlos Watson is decoding the signs and he joins us now.

Hey, there, Carlos.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Betty.

NGUYEN: Let's cut to the chase. So is Gingrich going to run, making plans to run, or is this just a way to sell books?

WATSON: Probably a little bit of both. Certainly, he's going to try and sell books. About 10years ago, there was a lot of speculation about whether or not Colin Powell would run for president. And the resulting publicity helped him sell a lot of his books.

I'm sure Newt Gingrich is smart enough to realize that, and I'm sure, having seen how many political books sold last year, I'm sure he's saying to himself, can't hurt to have the speculation. Consequently, he's talking about Iowa and New Hampshire a bunch.

NGUYEN: Exactly. I was going to mention that. I mean, do you think it's more than coincidence that he is going to Iowa and New Hampshire to promote this book?

WATSON: Well, you know, let's -- let's remember that Newt Gingrich's favorability numbers, even when he was speaker of the House, were never that great. I think the last numbers we had -- I guess these are after he was out of office, but in 2003, 39 percent favorable, 42 percent unfavorable.

By comparison, John McCain's got 55 percent favorability numbers; Rudy Giuliani has got 65 percent. So he never was the most popular.

But he does bring two things to the table. One, he's very good with the big ideas and really can hone in on something, whether it's Social Security or the war in Iraq. And he's willing to talk about those ideas.

And two, remember he was always a master fund-raiser, even before the Internet. And so coming up to 2008, if he did decide to run, Betty, you could think of him as a Republican version of Howard Dean. He could be, you know, the able to raise money on the Internet, choose a big topic, and really get hot kind of guy.

So I don't think he'll run, but if he does, it would be interesting.

NGUYEN: All right. So let's toy with the idea that he will run. If so, who could he be up against in the Republican Party?

WATSON: Well, there are a number of people, particularly in the Senate, who are considering. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska is one. Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader from Tennessee, is another. We're starting to hear a little about George Allen from Virginia.

So there are a number of people who are thinking about and considering. And maybe a few dark horses who may come along, people Lindsey Graham from South Carolina may decide to give it a shot. So a number of interesting candidates along with John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

NGUYEN: And you have to talk about the speculation that is already out there about a possible Newt Gingrich versus Hillary Clinton in 2008.

WATSON: You know what's so wonderful about all the political speculation surrounding Hillary; she seems to go well with anything. Whether it's Hillary versus Rudy, Hillary versus John McCain, Hillary versus whoever.

NGUYEN: Anything Hillary.

WATSON: Well, that's a real tribute to her, right? A first-term freshman senator. But people love talking about her in almost any context.

That certainly would be a huge showdown, if for no other reason than Hillary and her husband, the former president, certainly had more than their fair share of conflict with Newt Gingrich when he was speaker. So that would have lots of intriguing layers. But that's just one of several interesting match-ups we could hear about.

NGUYEN: And we have some time to chew on this possibility. Carlos Watson, thank you so much.

WATSON: Good to see you, Betty. Have a good one.

NGUYEN: You, too -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, the report is out on that debunked CBS report.

NGUYEN: Yes.

O'BRIEN: A report about the report about President Bush's military record.

NGUYEN: Yes. Ahead on LIVE FROM, we'll have the details on the independent panel's review of what went wrong and who lost their jobs.

O'BRIEN: That's the way it is.

And later on LIVE FROM, will your cell phone replace your wallet? We'll mash some digits on that one.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. A family-owned supermarket chain takes the top spot on a list of the best places to work for. I'll tell you if your company is on that list, coming up on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: You know, I think it might be a good idea to work on your grocery-bagging techniques, and then you might get a job with one of the greatest companies in this land of ours.

NGUYEN: What are you talking about, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Susan will fill us in.

NGUYEN: All right, Susan, please help us out here.

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 10, 2005 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Holding on for dear life. Rescuers try to save this man after pulling his two sons from the flooded torrent. We have their gripping story. Ouch!
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rescue workers also trying to save a mobile home park north of Los Angeles. Several homes have been destroyed. Another 100 threatened by a flash flood. I'll have a live report.

BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: And helping tsunami victims. The U.S. pledges long-term help for those in need. We have reports from the White House and hard-hit Sri Lanka.

O'BRIEN: And you're fired! Consequences for CBS News employees after an independent panel investigates its story on President Bush's National Guard's service.

From the CNN center in Atlanta, I'm Miles O'Brien.

BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: I'm Betty Nguyen in today for Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

All right. If it stopped raining now in Southern California, which it won't, and it didn't rain again for the rest of 2005, the year would go down as average.

Put another way, areas around Los Angeles have had a year's worth of rain since New Year's, eight inches in L.A. yesterday alone. Several more inches are forecast before it clears up, maybe by midweek.

In the meantime, nine deaths are blamed on floods and mudslides, though one driver almost made it 10. He and his BMW were carried two miles down a raging Coyote Creek in Cerritos before firefighters were able to drop him a rope from an overpass.

Now, as you just saw there, the man lost his pants in the current, then lost his grip on the rope. He finally made it to land, not only unhurt, but we are told that he is in good spirits.

We want to get more now on the high water and high drama from CNN's Peter Viles in Santa Clarita, which is 30 miles north of Los Angeles -- Peter.

VILES: Betty, I can tell you there's a rescue mission of another sort going on up here in Santa Clarita. Behind me is a mobile home park, about 100 homes located in a valley.

A river has formed in the past couple of days. This was a dry creek bed. Now it is a raging river. It is threatening the entire mobile home park, four or five homes already destroyed. There were 100 in total.

And that piece of equipment there is trying to save the houses. He's trying to dig the river deeper and build a bank up there to protect those homes.

So far, so good. But we have seen the water go over those banks a couple times this morning.

Now, there are no people in those homes behind us. They were all evacuated last night, although this morning when we came here, a number of the homeowners have showed up, to essentially keep an eye on their property from across this river that didn't exist a couple of days ago.

We spoke to one woman. She was upset. She has four dogs in one of those homes over there, but she also put it in perspective: her home has not been destroyed. Here's what she had to say, her fears about some of her neighbors.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel sad for all these people. They're worse than me. Worse situation than me. So everything is destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VILES: Now the biggest problem in this region, as you might imagine, has to do with traffic and the roadways. A lot of them are in deep water. There are mudslides in places, rockslides in places.

Yesterday up in Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway, this vehicle hit a mudslide and literally went into the Pacific Ocean. There were five people in the vehicle. One was killed in this accident. Four were rescued.

And this kind of scene of traffic accidents continues all the way down almost as far as San Diego. This is Temecula, if we can see that, Temecula, down near San Diego. Water is so deep in places that people had to abandon their cars.

And as for the weather outlook today it is raining heavily now. It's been raining all morning. We're expecting more rain later today. And then more rain tomorrow, finally maybe some clearing on Wednesday.

But as you pointed out, Betty, we have already set a record -- rather we have already beat the average annual rainfall in the Los Angeles area in just 10 days of this year -- Betty.

NGUYEN: And the pictures are just so telling. Are there any kind of shelters being set up for the people whose homes are in harm's way? VILES: Yes, the shelter -- there is a shelter for the people living in these homes set up just down the road. And most of them are down there. There's not much they can do here, other than stand in the mud and the rain.

And we are actually headed over to that shelter later this afternoon. Just a handful of people up here looking at the homes. Most of them, maybe 100 families or so are in that shelter down the road, Betty.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Peter Viles in Santa Clarita, California, for us. Thank you, Peter.

We will get the outlook for California and everywhere else from CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras at quarter past this hour on LIVE FROM.

O'BRIEN: And now to another force of nature thousands of miles away from California.

President Bush says the U.S. is in it for the long haul when it comes to helping tsunami victims. But does that translate into more U.S. dollars?

CNN's Kathleen Koch bringing us up to date, live now from the White House.

Hello, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Miles.

No new federal commitment of aid to the tsunami-ravaged region yet, but the president, though, did today get a very sobering briefing from Secretary of State Colin Powell, who just came back from a five- day trip to the region.

Powell described the destruction in some areas as unbelievable, like Hiroshima, as if they'd been hit by a nuclear bomb. He explained that U.S. efforts there are entering a second phase, more focused on rehabilitation and reconstruction to the affected areas.

The tally now, the U.S. government has through the weekend spent a total of $78 million, that out of a $350 million that President Bush has dedicated, at least initially, to the efforts.

And President Bush told relief workers today that the government and relief agencies worldwide will stay focused on the massive task ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States government and the NGOs that have worked so hard for so long in the region are committed to this area of the world for a long time.

This is one of these projects that's not going to happen overnight. The intense scrutiny may dissipate and probably will. But our focus has got to stay on this part of the world. We have a duty. We have made a commitment, and our commitment is a long-term commitment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: Mr. Bush thanked the 1,000 workers at the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Agency for International Development that's coordinating the tsunami relief effort, saying that the world has, quote, "taken notice," and the American people are grateful.

President Bush, in his remarks, also thanked the U.S. military, as well as the American public for its outpouring of financial support for tsunami victims. And Mr. Bush urged Americans to view their tsunami donations as what he called, quote, "extra help" and not to then take that money -- take away money that they would otherwise donate to other very needy charities in the U.S. and worldwide.

Miles, one more thing to mention: President Bush got a briefing this afternoon on tsunami detection systems here in the United States. And they talked about how those systems work and whether or not they can be improved and expanded worldwide.

O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch at the White House, thank you very much -- Betty.

NGUYEN: With forklifts and bulldozers, U.S. Marines came ashore in some of the hardest-hit areas today.

CNN's Satinder Bindra filed this report by videophone from the town of Gintota, which is in southern Sri Lanka.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're now entering phase two of the U.S. relief operations here in Sri Lanka.

In phase one, U.S. helicopters were carrying supplies to parts of the country that need them most. Now, U.S. Marines are on the ground here in southern Sri Lanka.

I'm in a small village called Gintota. And in this village itself, about 15 to 20 houses were completely damaged and destroyed. There was tons of rubble laying about here. But ever since the Marines have arrived, they've cleared up this rubble, and the bad smell that existed here before has now gone.

Over the next five to ten days, one U.S. amphibious ship, several landing craft and water purification equipment will also arrive in the region.

Clearly, Sri Lankans here are pleased with the U.S. effort. But many to the north of here, many Indians are concerned. India is the regional power, and many in India believe if the U.S. continues to remain here for some time, then the geopolitical balance in this part of the world could be disturbed. I did put these concerns to the general commanding the Marines here, and he said, and he did stress this was purely a humanitarian mission. He also stressed that the Marines would leave as soon as the Sri Lankans asked them to do so.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, Gintota, southern Sri Lanka.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: All right. Now I want to show you some pictures that really illustrate the tsunami's devastating force. Take a look at this.

Almost instantaneously, a busy street becomes a deadly river of debris. An amateur photographer took this video as the wall of water descended on Indonesia's Aceh province. The photographer was on his way to a wedding at the time.

Banda Aceh was closest to the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the tsunami. As you can see, the area suffered enormous destruction.

You can see more of these images on our web site. There's also news, survivor stories, and information about how you can help. That's at CNN.com -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Iraq's interim prime minister says the January 30 elections will not be delayed, despite more insurgent violence.

Two attacks in Baghdad targeted police to tell you about, the city's deputy police chief, assassinated on his way to work this morning. His car sprayed with gunfire, killing his son, as well, his son a police officer.

And a suicide car bomb went outside off a police station in southern Baghdad. Three officers, four other people killed.

NGUYEN: The U.S. embassy in Kuwait is warning Americans there of a possible terrorist attack. Officials say they have credible information that someone is driving around in a small black car, planning to randomly attack westerners. The advisory urged Americans to keep their heads down and their eyes open.

O'BRIEN: Developments in Iraq are breaking the hearts of families in Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wanted to be everybody's hero. And he said he was going to, in this war, to serve his country. And he said he wore his uniform very proud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: Six members of a National Guard unit struck down by a bomb blast. Their family members share their stories and their grief a little bit later on LIVE FROM.

And just ahead, a fiery traffic stop. This crash shuts down a major interstate. Understandable, seeing those pictures. We'll have details.

And get this: Newt Gingrich versus Hillary Clinton? A pair of lightning rods going at it. The former speaker of the house writes a book and raises speculation about the race for the White House in 2008. That one would sell papers, wouldn't it?

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Well, some amazing pictures from that wild weather out west. Wild is an understatement.

Firefighters rescued an elderly woman from her mobile home Sunday in Santa Clarita, California, after a nearby creek overflowed. The heavy rains turned Sausalito streets into streams. You could probably get that car cheap. It was left abandoned.

California firefighters tried to save a house near Crestline, filling sandbags to keep ahead of the rising waters. Imagine that image, if you will. I guess we don't have that one ready. But you can imagine, sandbags...

NGUYEN: Plenty of them, yes.

O'BRIEN: You've seen one sandbag, you've seen them all. So just paint a little picture in your mind, because obviously that picture was not there.

All right. It is shaping up to be a storm season for the record books.

NGUYEN: Yes, it is. And keeping track of all that wicked weather and your national forecast is our meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras.

Hey, there, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: All right. News across America now to tell you about.

Who failed to flip the switch? Investigators are trying to determine why a switch was set in the wrong place Thursday. It sent a train hurdling into parked railcars in Graniteville, South Carolina.

Crews have patched the damaged car that was spewing toxic chlorine gas. Nine deaths now blamed on that. They're unloading the chlorine today.

"ANDERSON COOPER 360" takes a look at that accident and what it means to rail safety and its impact on residents. That's at 7 p.m. Eastern Time tonight.

More transportation problems, this one in North Carolina. A tanker truck overturned and erupted into flames, shutting down Interstate 95 near Selma in both directions. The driver sustained burns, has been taken to a hospital. Authorities aren't sure what caused it to flip.

And that sinking feeling in Florida. A hundred and ten-foot wide sinkhole destroyed one house in Volusia County on Sunday, damaged another -- part of another one. And no injuries were reported, however. Residents were briefly evacuated from 11 other homes. About 500 sinkholes open up each year in Florida.

NGUYEN: Turning to politics now. The ink on the president's inaugural address is not dry, but already there is talk about political hopefuls for 2008.

One is them is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Is he testing the waters or simply savvy enough to realize the speculation could help sell his new book?

Well, CNN political analyst Carlos Watson is decoding the signs and he joins us now.

Hey, there, Carlos.

CARLOS WATSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, Betty.

NGUYEN: Let's cut to the chase. So is Gingrich going to run, making plans to run, or is this just a way to sell books?

WATSON: Probably a little bit of both. Certainly, he's going to try and sell books. About 10years ago, there was a lot of speculation about whether or not Colin Powell would run for president. And the resulting publicity helped him sell a lot of his books.

I'm sure Newt Gingrich is smart enough to realize that, and I'm sure, having seen how many political books sold last year, I'm sure he's saying to himself, can't hurt to have the speculation. Consequently, he's talking about Iowa and New Hampshire a bunch.

NGUYEN: Exactly. I was going to mention that. I mean, do you think it's more than coincidence that he is going to Iowa and New Hampshire to promote this book?

WATSON: Well, you know, let's -- let's remember that Newt Gingrich's favorability numbers, even when he was speaker of the House, were never that great. I think the last numbers we had -- I guess these are after he was out of office, but in 2003, 39 percent favorable, 42 percent unfavorable.

By comparison, John McCain's got 55 percent favorability numbers; Rudy Giuliani has got 65 percent. So he never was the most popular.

But he does bring two things to the table. One, he's very good with the big ideas and really can hone in on something, whether it's Social Security or the war in Iraq. And he's willing to talk about those ideas.

And two, remember he was always a master fund-raiser, even before the Internet. And so coming up to 2008, if he did decide to run, Betty, you could think of him as a Republican version of Howard Dean. He could be, you know, the able to raise money on the Internet, choose a big topic, and really get hot kind of guy.

So I don't think he'll run, but if he does, it would be interesting.

NGUYEN: All right. So let's toy with the idea that he will run. If so, who could he be up against in the Republican Party?

WATSON: Well, there are a number of people, particularly in the Senate, who are considering. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska is one. Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader from Tennessee, is another. We're starting to hear a little about George Allen from Virginia.

So there are a number of people who are thinking about and considering. And maybe a few dark horses who may come along, people Lindsey Graham from South Carolina may decide to give it a shot. So a number of interesting candidates along with John McCain and Rudy Giuliani.

NGUYEN: And you have to talk about the speculation that is already out there about a possible Newt Gingrich versus Hillary Clinton in 2008.

WATSON: You know what's so wonderful about all the political speculation surrounding Hillary; she seems to go well with anything. Whether it's Hillary versus Rudy, Hillary versus John McCain, Hillary versus whoever.

NGUYEN: Anything Hillary.

WATSON: Well, that's a real tribute to her, right? A first-term freshman senator. But people love talking about her in almost any context.

That certainly would be a huge showdown, if for no other reason than Hillary and her husband, the former president, certainly had more than their fair share of conflict with Newt Gingrich when he was speaker. So that would have lots of intriguing layers. But that's just one of several interesting match-ups we could hear about.

NGUYEN: And we have some time to chew on this possibility. Carlos Watson, thank you so much.

WATSON: Good to see you, Betty. Have a good one.

NGUYEN: You, too -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, the report is out on that debunked CBS report.

NGUYEN: Yes.

O'BRIEN: A report about the report about President Bush's military record.

NGUYEN: Yes. Ahead on LIVE FROM, we'll have the details on the independent panel's review of what went wrong and who lost their jobs.

O'BRIEN: That's the way it is.

And later on LIVE FROM, will your cell phone replace your wallet? We'll mash some digits on that one.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange. A family-owned supermarket chain takes the top spot on a list of the best places to work for. I'll tell you if your company is on that list, coming up on LIVE FROM.

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O'BRIEN: You know, I think it might be a good idea to work on your grocery-bagging techniques, and then you might get a job with one of the greatest companies in this land of ours.

NGUYEN: What are you talking about, Miles?

O'BRIEN: Susan will fill us in.

NGUYEN: All right, Susan, please help us out here.

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