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Hurricane Wilma Back up to Category 3; Hotel Attack; Fed Nomination

Aired October 24, 2005 - 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: As you can imagine, things developing with Hurricane Wilma. Jacqui Jeras in the weather center with the most recent -- or developments, I guess we should say - Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Kyra. We just got word now that this is back up to a Category 3 status. Wilma packing winds now of 115 miles per hour.

This huge eye is back over open water, and water temperatures here on average about 81, 82 degrees. And that is warm enough to help this thing intensify once again and hold on to this hurricane status. So Wilma once again a major hurricane.

The Hurricane Hunters flew into the plane and recorded those maximum winds. So it is back up and it is still strong. And of course the eastern coast still feeling the effects of this storm. The outer eye wall is just offshore, but we're going to see some intensification possibly still here right along the coast.

Here's West Palm Beach, extending down toward Port Salerno, and that is where some of the worst conditions can be expected here, along the I-95 corridor and just to the east of there. Melbourne right now, 39 mile-per-hour maximum sustained wins. That's tropical storm-force strength, with gusts up to 58.

We can still expect to see a few gusts of hurricane force, mostly just along the coast. We will still see tropical storm-force winds extended across still much of the western coast.

There you can see gusts to 45 miles per hour in Miami right now. Westerly sustained winds at 39 miles per hour. And there you can see that big, large eye.

So a little bit of strengthening has taken place here with Wilma. And we understand that we'll get a special advisory in from the National Hurricane Center within the next 20 or 30 minutes or so to help update the forecast and the intensity of the storm.

This is the forecast track right here as of the top of the hour. And there you can see it moving very dramatically up to the north and to the east.

So once again, back up to Category 3 now, 115 mile-per-hour winds -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: wow. OK, Jacqui. Keep -- keep us updated, will you? Thank you.

Meanwhile, hit harder than expected was the island nation of Cuba. Parts of western Cuba were evacuated days in advance, but not Havana. And as it turned out, the Cuban capital took it on the chin. Massive waves scaled the city's sea walls and flooded Havana's streets.

CNN's Lucia Newman is in Havana right now. She joins us by telephone -- Lucia.

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN HAVANA BUREAU CHIEF: Kyra, I'm speaking to you from one of those avenues, normally a beautiful park. I'm up to my waist in water right now.

There are amphibious armored vehicles that were used by the Cubans during the Angolan War now driving along these streets, trying to pick up people who are trapped in their apartments. The water in some cases up to the ceiling.

It's -- people who have lived here all their lives say they've never seen anything like this before. And Kyra, this is a country that's used to hurricanes. They've had dozens and dozens of them, even up to Category 5. But there's never been something like this in Havana.

It started shortly after midnight. Nobody was expecting it. Plus, it was pitch dark, the power had been cut off from the afternoon yesterday. So a lot of the people just couldn't even see it coming.

It's really quite an extraordinary scene here. The waves are enormous. They're still pounding the Malicon (ph) seaside drive and making their way up to seven city blocks inward -- inland. It extends for miles and miles, downtown, midtown and even uptown Havana -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Now, Lucia, you know, I guess we can in many ways take for granted our resources from the National Hurricane Center to our weather team. What about there in Cuba? Does any team like that exist? Is there any way to track these conditions? Because you're saying this caught folks off guard.

NEWMAN: Yes. Well, what caught them off guard -- yes, what caught people off guard was the fact that the storm had already passed.

Now, we know that after the eye of the storm passes the island up on the north shore -- the north side of this island, that it is prone to storm swells, but -- and surges -- but not like this. This is -- it was much stronger than expected. Usually a little bit of penetration from waves into the inland is expected.

But they do have a lot of communication with the National Hurricane Center in Miami. So it's not from lack of information. It's just like it happens so often if these cases, as it happened also in New Orleans. It takes people from surprise.

PHILLIPS: It sure does. Lucia Newman there live from -- or joining us via phone from Cuba.

Lucia, thank you so much.

Now, Marco Island at first light ground zero or close enough for Wilma. At that point, a Category 3, with top winds of 125 miles an hour. Seawater overran the beaches and washed over the boardwalks. And there's plenty of downed trees. But the police chief tells us that Marco Island may have sidestepped the worst of Wilma's dreaded surge.

That surge, several feet of water on top of the normal tides, was largely reserved for the largely unpopulated Everglades. Even Everglades City has only about 700 people on a busy day. And the majority of those cleared out over the weekend.

Our Jason Carroll is traveling in the disaster zone in an SUV we've dubbed "Hurricane One." Here is what he encountered in the Naples area earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've done is we've pulled off US 41 and we've zigzagged through a neighbor. I just wanted to see how some of the neighborhoods in Naples were doing. You can see what it looks like here with some of the trees out there in the front.

I'm going to attempt to get out here since it's daylight, a little bit safer in terms of seeing what's blowing our way, so I can show you some of the flooding, minor flooding that we've seen out here. I don't know if you can get a sense of just how deep it is.

Not too deep, but the water is moving towards these homes here, coming up to their front doors. So you can see how the water is moving in, the rain still pounding down here in Naples. Winds still very strong as well, as we've been moving along in Hurricane One through the area.

And this pretty much sums up what we've been seeing all morning long. In the daylight hours, though, obviously a lot more clear.

The wind has caused a great deal of minor flooding throughout the area. It's really the wind, though, that's really incredible. It's absolutely so intense, so strong. It's been roaring through before we got out of Hurricane One.

It was tough to judge just how strong the wind was. We were judging it by how much it was rocking our car back and forth. But now that we're outside, you really get a sense of what you've been hearing for miles. And Anderson, down there on the beach, in terms of just how strong and powerful the winds are as Hurricane Wilma bears down on Naples.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Along with Jason Carroll, Jeanne Meserve also rode out the storm in Naples, on the west coast of Florida. She just filed this for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're at the Admiralty (ph). It's a condominium in Naples, Florida. We've been holed up here for about three-and-a-half hours while Wilma has been whipping the area. I want to show you from this vantage point what she's been doing.

Look at all this water. This down here was driveways and roadways, and now it is a river. You know, you've heard the term "rushing like a river." Well, this is it. This is really it.

And look at these trees just collapsing under this wind. They're down all over the place. There's a big one over there. Another one right here.

You can just see how the whole root system has come right up out of the ground. Just the pressure of the wind and the moisture in the soil conspiring to bring these gigantic and old trees right down.

Underneath us down here is a parking garage. It was empty just a couple of hours ago, except for some cars, of course. And water is just flowing around this corner and right down into the parking lot -- parking garage. It's now about chest deep down there. Absolutely incredible.

And now we look around at some of the other buildings in the area and, you know, they don't look all that damaged. This white one over here, I see what looks to be a window out and something flying out. I've seen a couple of awnings down, but the physical structures actually seem to be fairly intact. It is the vegetation that is really suffering in this wind and in this rain that Wilma has produced.

This is that same area, but here from ground level you can see this water and how the wind is just beating it, just beating it, whipping it along. And you also get a better sense of the debris that's coming down.

Look at this. Huge limbs, huge limbs. And we're really getting battered here still three-and-a-half hours after Wilma really made her force known here.

Let me show you something in here. I told you earlier about the parking lot downstairs that was flooded. Well, look down here.

Look at the water. Look at that door. It's up past the doorknob. It's filthy. It really reminds me of New Orleans and what we saw there.

This is sand. What makes this unusual is that the beach is on the other side of the building. But the sand last been blown over here by the wind through these portals on the first floor of this building.

This is the beach where we were earlier. Come out here now. It's pretty amazing. If you look down here, you can see how the waves have totally eroded this beachfront.

This was a nice dune to climb before. The water's way off shore. I'm not sure if that's (INAUDIBLE). For a while out here it looked like Moses parting the Red Sea. There was just a wall of water out here.

And the sand really hurts, let me tell you. We're being sandblasted, all of us.

Let's go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Unbelievable. That's our homeland security correspondent, now turned hurricane pro, Jeanne Meserve.

Well, three hours after Hurricane Wilma slammed into Florida's west coast the state's east coast was feeling that storm's wrath. This was the scene in Aventura. It's a suburb of Miami. Overturned newspaper stands littered the streets and uprooted trees, blocked the roads.

The obstacles, combined with strong winds and heavy rains, made driving miserable and dangerous. Conditions were ripe for twisters, and there were tornado warnings in counties all along the coast, with several reported touchdowns.

For more on Hurricane Wilma, let's go to meteorologist Dave Hennen.

And Dave, maybe you can tell us more about those touchdowns, too.

DAVE HENNEN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I can talk about why we saw this hurricane strengthen again, Kyra. Let me show you this map. We'll show you a couple things on this map.

First of all, we had the center of the storm move over land. It moved very quickly, didn't really have a chance to weaken.

Yesterday, down in this area of the Gulf of Mexico, right in there, it's called the Gulf Loop Current. Very hot water, and that's why it intensified yesterday.

The hurricane moved here. Here's clearly the center of the storm right now. And we have what's called the gulfstream, which runs something like this off the coast. That's very hot, deep water, as well. And so the hurricane moved over that, intensified once again. It's going to move out of the gulfstream pretty quickly, and so it will probably weaken once again.

Let me show you one other thing on this map. All these little dots on here, these are airplanes. And look at the lack of airplanes in the air around the hurricane at the present time.

A number of airports are closed. Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Key West, and even Cancun's airport are closed, as well. This is the area. Not one plane flying in south Florida at this time.

Normally, I don't know the number, Kyra, but it's a lot more than zero. I would imagine there's a couple dozen planes at any one time flying in and out of Miami. But there is nothing flying out of that area right now.

PHILLIPS: Wow. All right. Dave Hennen, we'll continue to check in with you.

Meanwhile, we're expecting to hear from FEMA. How prepared was FEMA this time around? A briefing, 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time. We're going to bring that to you as soon as acting director David Paulison steps up to the mic.

More LIVE FROM right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A daring, deadly strike in Baghdad possibly aimed at international journalists. In a coordinated attack, three huge bombs, including a cement mixing truck packed with explosives, blew up outside two hotels that housed a lot of foreign reporters in Iraq. At least 10 people were killed, 18 others were wounded.

Now, according to Iraqi officials, the victims were Iraqi police officers and civilians. The explosions occurred just minutes apart as many people were headed back to their break after a daily fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Well, closing in on a grim milestone in Iraq, U.S. officials announced today a Marine was killed by small arms fire in Ramadi. That brings the 1,998 number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq since the war began.

The flare-up in insurgent attacks also has killed another two dozen people over the past two days. Five of them in this car bombing near an Iraqi police patrol in northern Baghdad. In addition, police have discovered seven bodies around that city.

Joining us now by phone with more on today's bombings in Baghdad, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Steven Boylan. He's the director of the Combined Press Information Center there in Baghdad.

Colonel, it's been a while since we've chatted. I wish it was better news. But what can you tell me about what has happened today?

LT. COL. STEVEN BOYLAN, U.S. ARMY: Well, thank you, Kyra.

So far, they're still out at the hotel site with a quick reaction force, as well as the forces that are stationed in and around the hotel. From what we understand right now, none of the journalists were killed. There was no casualties to any coalition forces, which include U.S. forces, of course.

And you summed it up pretty well. There were at least three bombs, and I know that we engaged at least one of the vehicles as it was coming towards the area.

PHILLIPS: And Colonel, we're actually watching the video right now. It actually captures the cement truck on tape. And you see it backing up a number of times, sort of ramming into the wall. Obviously there's a lot of construction going on, a lot of rebuilding going on.

What can you tell me about the security in this area? I know it's tough to screen everybody, every vehicle coming through. And it's a daunting task. But, you know, is that what appears to have happened here, is that, with so much going on, it's hard to screen every vehicle?

BOYLAN: Well, it would be impossible to screen every vehicle that's traveling the roads of Iraq, and especially Baghdad, because it is a congested area. That area is outside of the international zone. It's outside in the main streets in areas in Baghdad. It's a well- known area.

It's not too far from the international zone. And if the terrorists wanted to make a statement and to continue their form of media attention, they exceeded their expectations, I'd say, quite well. Nothing like demonstrating your capabilities near where a lot of journalists are living and working.

PHILLIPS: Yes, no doubt. And Colonel, I mean, just even -- it's pretty amazing when you see the cement truck captured on this videotape. And the fact that there are cameras set up in a number of areas throughout Baghdad, does that help you at all? Does that help the soldiers at all track down where these insurgents are coming from, maybe their tactics, where they're operating out of, how they came in, how they came out?

I would just imagine from an intel perspective, you know, it helps to have some of this on videotape.

BOYLAN: Well, any type -- any time we can get documentation of what is going on, that is a great help. In this case, I believe the video that everybody was seeing was from the hotel itself. So again, it goes to learning their tactics, their techniques, so that we can do things to circumvent their tactics. And fortunately, you know, for the size of explosion, the death toll could have been much worse than it was, and the injuries could have been much, much worse.

PHILLIPS: It's sort of ironic this square close to where this happened, Colonel, you'll remember is where soldiers and Marines came in and tore down that statue of Saddam Hussein that once stood in that square. We're actually looking at videotape from that moment.

We haven't seen the square. I think it's how do you -- it's Fardus Square, is that right?

BOYLAN: I believe so. It's been a long time since anybody that I've been out there...

PHILLIPS: Has paid attention to it. BOYLAN: ... been involved in that area.

PHILLIPS: Sure, no doubt.

Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan there, U.S. Army.

Appreciate your time today. It's always a pleasure to talk to you, Steve.

BOYLAN: You too. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: All right.

We're going to take a quick break. We're waiting of course for acting director of FEMA David Paulison to step up to the podium there and debrief on preparations for Wilma, how it all went, where FEMA assets were. We'll check in as soon as he steps up to the podium.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: In like a lion, out like a slightly weaker lion. Not the month of March, but Hurricane Wilma's march across the Sunshine State. The seventh hurricane to hit Florida in 14 months in and out in six hours. Wilma came ashore around daybreak just south of Naples on the southwest coast with top winds of 125 miles an hour.

I bet you've never seen grass blowing out of the ground. Check that out. Unbelievable. It's actually a layer of sod and a very unsteady tree getting pummeled on Pompano Beach on Florida's east coast, just north of Fort Lauderdale.

And then around Miami, hurricane-force winds are only now letting up more than four hours after these pictures came to us from our affiliate WPLG. At last report, Wilma's vast eye was 65 miles northeast of West Palm Beach, spreading northeastward at 25 miles an hour.

Now, while Florida is focused on Wilma, a Category 5 financial announcement from the president today as he names his choice to replace the soon to retire Alan Greenspan. As head as the Federal Reserve.

CNN's financial correspondent, Kathleen Hays, has more on the nominee and why it's such big news.

But first of all, you knew Alan Greenspan pretty well. Or you know him pretty well, right, Kathleen?

KATHLEEN HAYS, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I've -- let's just say I've covered him for a long time. Last saw him in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and kind of trailed him around.

We all try to get Mr. Greenspan to give us tidbits, but it's a very, very hard. He's a cagey man. He's done it for a long time. And of course for his successor this is a big question, too, because it's never easy to follow a legend, a maestro. And that's just what Ben Bernanke will have to do if he's confirmed by the Senate as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve, succeeding Mr. Greenspan, whose reigned now for more than 18 years. But most of the economists and market types I've spoken to today say Ben Bernanke has what it takes to do the job.

First, he's a really smart economist. As the president noted in his announcement today, Bernanke graduated with honors from Harvard University, got his Ph.D. from M.I.T., not a place for lightweights. And he taught at Stanford and Princeton before going to the Fed in 2002.

Quickly made his mark as one of the big thinkers at the Fed. And 2002, in fact, after the 9/11 attacks and the U.S. recession, he argued strongly the Fed should avoid a dangerous downward spiral in prices called deflation. When he left the Fed to head up a council of economic advisers, it was widely viewed as a eye sign the president had put Bernanke at the head of his short list of possible Greenspan successors and wanted to give him a chance to establish some solid Republican credentials.

So a brilliant economist, former Fed governor, and a stint on the Bush team. What does Bernanke lack? The number one rap against him he doesn't have experience in the real world dealing with financial markets.

He's never worked on Wall Street. Greenspan, remember, was a consultant who advised financial firms and big Fortune 500 companies. So the big question is, how would Bernanke deal with a stock market crash, with a hedge fund meltdown, with another financial crisis overseas? Right now it looks like the market is giving Bernanke the benefit of the doubt.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

PHILLIPS: So Kathleen, what do you think? Will Greenspan write a book, will he go on a long vacation? What do you think he'll do?

KAYS: Somehow I think I see a lot of speaking engagements in his future, you know. He only makes -- Kyra, the Fed chairman makes less than $200,000 a year. Alan Greenspan has never been in this for the money.

He loves his job. But we can't help but think -- I can't help but think that now he has a chance to keep his expertise out there. He's going to keep talking, he's going to keep influencing the Fed, but again, maybe making a little more money, too.

PHILLIPS: There you go. Maybe relax a little bit.

HAYS: Yes.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Hays, thanks so much. Well, now that the president has chosen a replacement for Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, we were wondering what that job really entails. And here's a few Fed facts.

The Federal Reserve was created by Congress in 1913. It is independent both in political and economic sense, and that means that no one in the executive, legislative or judicial system gets to sign off on the Fed's decisions. And more surprisely, it actually pays for itself with interest that it makes off investing government money in the open market, and interest it makes off loans to regular banks. Any money left over goes straight to the U.S. Treasury.

And the Fed's board of governors has seven members, including a chairman and a vice chairman.

A couple questions you may have about them, how much does the nation's big money man make himself? Well, you heard Kathleen. The answer, Greenspan's salary, actually $180,000 for this year.

And another question. Can board members of the Federal Reserve invest in the stock market? Well, there are few restrictions, but generally the answer is yes.

And we're waiting, of course, for that live briefing. FEMA acting director David Paulison expected to step up to the microphone, tell us how it all went for Hurricane Wilma and how FEMA is still involved. And resources are in certain places. He'll tell us all about it, hopefully 2:30 Eastern Time.

We'll be right back. More LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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