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Hurricane Season Begins; Workers Race to Repair New Orleans Levees; Troops Get Refresher in Core Values Training; Tragic Mix-Up Leads to Fresh Grief

Aired June 01, 2006 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, HOST: Hello, I'm Carol Lin at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Kyra Phillips has the day off.
Rules of engagement. Negative attention on U.S. Marines prompts renewed focus on values training.

And it's zero hour along the Gulf Coast. Hurricane season is here today. Who's ready, who's not, and what's in store for the next six months?

Plus, a possible princess. Mommy's in the states. Could Daddy be in Monaco?

Preparations, predictions, anticipation. The 2006 hurricane season is officially here. The Gulf Coast has barely started to patch itself together from Hurricane Katrina. And now forecasters predict another busy season in the weeks and months ahead.

So let's go straight to CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf for the very latest outlook.

Reynolds, anything out there?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Let's look at what we have out there for the time being. For the time being, things are pretty quiet. But Dr. William Gray from Colorado State University is, indeed, forecasting a very busy season.

Here are the numbers for you. We're going to give you the straight deal. You can expect for the 2006 Atlantic outlook, according to Dr. Gray, he's expecting 17 named storms. Now out of those 17 named storms, he is forecasting that nine will become hurricanes. Five -- five out of those nine will become major hurricanes, which would be Category Three and higher.

Now just to give you a point of reference, on average, we have 9.6 named storms, 5.9 of which become hurricane, 2.3 major hurricanes. So with just those numbers alone, it does appear that it is going to be an above average year.

Now let's go back in the past. Let's take you back to 2005. We're going to show you the original numbers that he forecasted. And then we're going to show you what come to fruition.

Now, the original forecast held 15 named storms. Eight would become hurricanes, he said, and four would become major hurricane, again, Category 3 and higher.

Now, of course, what happened last year was just unbelievable. We had 27 named storms, 15 hurricanes, seven major hurricanes that occurred in parts of the Atlantic basin into the Gulf of Mexico, as well as on the eastern seaboard. Now, again, this is -- again, you look at the numbers. And all it comes down to is that we're expecting a very, very busy season.

With that in mind, the best thing you can do is just be prepared. And you can do that by simply watching CNN. Of course, your hurricane headquarters.

Back to you.

LIN: You bet. Reynolds, also we're going to be talking with Max Mayfield later on in the program about -- from the National Hurricane Center about what to expect and why people aren't prepared once again.

WOLF: He's the best.

LIN: You bet. All right, we'll be talking with you later, as well.

In the meantime, we want to show you that it is a 24/7 race to rebuild, and it's been on ever since Katrina's waters drained from New Orleans. CNN's Sean Callebs met the night shift Hard at work on the levees and floodgates for his report on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 9 p.m. at night. John Dassau is three hours into a 12-hour graveyard shift. The foreman leading his team in a race against time to finish the massive floodgates at the 17th Street Canal that could mean life or death for an American city.

JOHN DASSAU, WELDING FOREMAN: This is very important. I mean, without something like this, another Katrina would happen here. I could just -- New Orleans can survive. I've been here all my life.

CALLEBS: Dassau likes to boast his Louisiana roots stretch back nearly 300 years. This student of history knows if water races down the canals again from Lake Pontchartrain, ripping through levees, it could mean the end of the city he loves.

DASSAU: I've got to do what I've got to do to make it safer for me and to help my family rebuild, you know?

CALLEBS: His crew is working seven days a week, 12 hours a day, part of the round-the-clock operation. They will admittedly miss the June 1 deadline to wrap up. Now, it's a battle to finish the job before a hurricane hits.

RANDY KEEN, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Since day one, we've worked as fast as we could work, done it as fast as we could. CALLEBS: Ninety percent of the people working here are locals. Most either lost homes or suffered heavy damage. For the time being, personal loss is pushed aside to focus on the task at hand.

TODD MCALLISTER, SITE SUPERVISOR, NIGHT SHIFT: This is where we live, OK? What we're doing is going to protect, hopefully save, the places us and our families live the next time.

FRED FUCHS, PROJECT MANAGER: We actually feel that this is where we're trying to correct what happened to us.

CALLEBS: Engineers say close to 80 percent of the flooding that devastated New Orleans came from two canals, areas where some 10,000 tons of steel are now going into place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, I'm going to hook you up some air.

CALLEBS: The night is a constant barrage of noise, sparks, and seemingly endless work. Somewhere over the months, Dassau found what he needed to move on.

DASSAU: I feel at peace, really. I mean, I don't know, I can't say I'm religious, but things happen for a reason.

CALLEBS: A sense of peace, maybe, but only the harsh reality of another punishing hurricane will decide if the months of work and billions of dollars have been worth it.

Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Anderson Cooper and the "360" team return to New Orleans for the first day of hurricane season. A new report reveals shocking details about how prepared we are for the storms to come. "A.C. 360" tonight, 10 Eastern on CNN.

Leveled by Katrina, struggling to recover. How one Gulf Coast community is eying another hurricane season. We're going to take you back to Bay St. Louis.

Plus, I'm going to be speaking to Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, in the next hour of LIVE FROM.

ANNOUNCER: Stay with CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

LIN: Two more weeks, maybe even more. It may be that long before we get the official military report on exactly what happened in Haditha, Iraq. A two-pronged investigation is under way, looking for answers to the questions. Did Marines gun down Iraqi civilians intentionally, and if so, did they lie to cover it up?

Well, an Army general says no matter what the investigation turns up, the coalition's position is clear.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAJ. GEN. WILLIAM CALDWELL, U.S. ARMY: I'd like to express our heartfelt condolences to the families that lost a loved one in that accident. We mourn the loss of all innocent life, and the loss of any life is always very tragic and very mis -- unfortunate. But let me be very clear about one point. The coalition does not, and it will not, tolerate any unethical or criminal behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: The Pentagon promises full transparency, that the findings will be made public.

Now, in the meantime, all coalition troops in Iraq will receive some reinforcement in the rules of war. It's called core warrior values training.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our troops have been trained on core values throughout their training. But obviously there was an incident that took place in Iraq that's now being investigated. And this is just a reminder for troops either in Iraq or through our military that there are high standards expected of them and that there are strong rules of engagement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: CNN's Kathleen Koch live at the Pentagon right now.

Kathleen, what is core values training?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Core values training, Carol, is basically a refresher course, we're told. They're going back over training that these forces got before they left the United States, before they head into Iraq, in the rules of engagement. What they say is that everyone will be reminded to, quote, "adhere to legal, moral and ethical standards on the battlefield."

But again this is something that everyone is taught before they get on to that battlefield. But obviously, in light of what's happened in Haditha and there have been other incidents where Iraqi civilians have been killed by members of the U.S. military, in a variety of incidents.

We were told this morning by the general three or four parallel investigations, or separate investigations, are still in their infancy into some of these incidents. So clearly someone needs a refresher course, and they believe there's no time like the present.

LIN: Who's going to get it?

KOCH: This will be given not only to the roughly 130,000 U.S. forces there but all members of the coalition. We're told the number about 150,000. So everyone. And that will take place over the next 30 days. And we're told that if they end up emphasizing a particular area, they find things they need to stress more there, that they haven't taught the troops before they left the U.S., then that kind of information could trickle back here to bases in the United States, where that -- those particular subjects that may have been overlooked will be emphasized more strongly here.

LIN: Kathleen, thank you so much.

KOCH: You bet.

LIN: Now, 38 years ago, another American war. And a massacre of unarmed civilians. Those who remember what happened at My Lai, Vietnam, are already drawing parallels to Haditha. Here's a fact check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the morning of March 16th, 1969, the men of Charlie Company of the Army's America division entered the South Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. They were on a search and destroy mission, to root out communist Viet Cong guerrillas believed to be hiding in the village.

Charlie Company had only been in country three months. During that time, the company had suffered 28 injuries, including five soldiers killed. Soldiers admit Charlie Company was angry and frustrated.

One of the company's platoon leaders was Lt. William Calley. Calley would later testify, even though there was no enemy fire or sign of the Vietcong, he ordered his men to enter the village firing. He said he was following orders.

In a three-hour period, North Vietnam estimated Charlie Company soldiers killed more than 500 unarmed men, women, children and babies. The actual death toll remains disputed. A U.S. military investigation put the number at about 200.

Because of a cover-up by some of those involved, the American public did not learn of the atrocities until the story was broken by journalist Seymour Hersh a year later. Although more than two dozen soldiers were charged with crimes, most of the charges were dropped.

Calley was the only member of Charlie Company convicted of murder and was sentenced to life in prison, a sentence that was later reduced. He served only three years under house arrest and was released in 1974.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: A routine military training mission has ended in tragedy. Four soldiers were killed and another was hurt this morning when an Army helicopter crashed in Georgia. The MH-47 Chinook was flying from Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, en route to Fort Rucker in Alabama. And it crashed in Doerun, a small South Georgia community near Albany.

The chopper clipped the wire of an Albany television station before it hit the ground. But it's not clear whether that caused the crash.

A desperate search for an abducted attorney is over. Coming up, we're going to tell you how it ended.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: We want to take you live to the White House right now where President Bush has just finished swearing in his candidate for the U.S. Court of Appeals, Brett Kavanaugh. A divisive nomination as Democrats have criticized Kavanaugh for being more of a Bush loyalist and not having enough time in the court. But he won confirmation just before the Memorial Day weekend.

All right. In the meantime, in Birmingham, Alabama, today, a female lawyer is safe, and her suspected abductor is in custody. But the motive for the crime remains unclear.

CNN's Amanda Rosseter has a report on what we know so far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMANDA ROSSETER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dramatic end to a day-long manhunt as Birmingham police and U.S. marshals pulled the suspect from this second floor room at the Comfort Inn.

MARTY KEELY, U.S. MARSHAL: Went down very quickly. Went down very quickly. Information was developed quickly. And once it was developed, the officers here acted on it.

ROSSETER: They rescued 34-year-old Sandra Eubanks Gregory, who was found bound on the hotel room floor. Police say she had no apparent injuries but was taken to a local hospital to be examined.

KEELY: We did find a weapon in the room. And there was not much resistance.

ROSSETER: The ordeal was caught on tape, as it began, around 8:30 in the morning. A surveillance camera at a downtown parking lot caught the gunman as he approached Gregory outside her car, then forced her in through the passenger side and drove off.

A statewide manhunt ensued as Gregory's ATM card was used at three locations to withdraw cash. Then the suspect checked into the Comfort Inn, showed his I.D., gave a cell phone number, paid with cash and used a coupon. The hotel manager described the scene to Nancy Grace on CNN's Headline News.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He walked in alone. He came in. He asked for a room. I checked him in, took a copy of his driver's license. I gave him the room key and he left.

ROSSETER: Three to four hours later, a tip to police from a male caller gave the name of the hotel and the room number.

(on camera) The judge in the case has granted detectives an additional 48 hours to gather their evidence. The suspect is expected to face three counts of robbery and kidnapping.

Amanda Rosseter, CNN, Birmingham, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Life in prison, no chance of parole. John Allen Muhammad received that sentence not once but six times in a Maryland courtroom today. He was convicted Tuesday of six of the sniper killings that terrorized millions of people back in 2002. Muhammad already has been sentenced to death in neighboring Virginia for one of the shootings there.

Well, a tragic mix-up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON MOWERY, GRANT COUNTY CORONER: The one thing that I am most -- regret the most, is it did happen on my watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: A coroner makes an emotional apology. He misidentifies the dead. Details ahead on LIVE FROM. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: They're still pulling bodies from the rubble of Saturday's earthquake in Indonesia. And bird flu is now only compounding the woe of this nation of islands.

Today, hundreds of chickens are being slaughtered in a village in West Java after another death is blamed on bird flu. Although the World Health Organization has not yet confirmed that the 15-year-old boy died from the H5N1 virus, the global health group does note that Indonesia averaged one human bird flu death every 2 1/2 days back in May.

That rate puts Indonesia just behind Vietnam as the world's hardest-hit bird flu country. There's still no evidence that bird flu, though, passes easily from person to person, and no cases yet have turned up in the United States in animals or in people.

Now a nightmare of emotions. First, the frightening news followed by relief for one family and grief for another. And then just weeks later, the roles are reversed. One family thought their daughter had died in a car accident, only to learn that she had survived. While the family which maintained the bedside vigil learned that their daughter died at the scene.

Here's CNN's Miles O'Brien.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOWERY: The one thing that I am most -- regret the most, it did happen on my watch.

MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST, "AMERICAN MORNING": An emotional apology from the coroner of Grant County, Indiana, following a tragic case of mistaken identity.

For weeks, the family of 22-year-old Laura VanRyn believed she had survived a car wreck in April, a wreck that killed four students and an employee of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. But as the woman emerged from a coma Tuesday, Laura's parents realized it was not their daughter after all.

MOWERY: She was asked if she knew her name, which is standard procedure. She said yes she knew her name. And she spoke her name.

O'BRIEN: She said her name was Whitney Cerak. But that was one of the Taylor students thought to have died in the crash. It turns out the student who died was Laura VanRyn.

KEVIN EVANS, DEPUTY CORONER: One family had tragedy and the other family had a sense of joy.

O'BRIEN: While it is unclear how the coroner confused the identities at the scene of the accident, there's no doubt there is a striking resemblance. A hospital spokesman says, "Both families understand how this could have happened. We rejoice with the Ceraks. We grieve with the VanRyns." And so it is for students at Taylor University.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I guess I feel like we're all starting right where we were again. And just starting the grieving all over again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to believe there are even any emotions let to take care of it because we were already numb.

O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And of course you can start your day with miles O'Brien and Soledad O'Brien weekdays on "AMERICAN MORNING" at 6 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

Backpacks, fast food and personal computers -- all pretty standard fare for today's kids. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange to explain.

Susan, what happened to the plain old television set?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That is the interesting part of this survey, Carol. We all know kids love electronics. They can't get enough in the households. This study found that households with kids under the age of 14 are more likely to have a desktop computer than a TV. This according to a new survey by NPD Group. Ninety-four percent of those households have a PC, followed closely by DVD players and TVs.

TVs aren't the most popular form of entertainment among kids either. The top product personally owned by kids through their allowance and gifts between the ages of 4 and 14 are video game systems. That's followed by CD players and TV.

The study also says that kids are actively using consumer electronics by the age of 7. That's about six months earlier than the same study showed a year ago. And my guess is, Carol, they're showing their parents how to repair the electronics by the age of 8.

LIN: Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. So is there anything electronically that they're not playing with?

LISOVICZ: Yes. Interestingly enough, Carol, the only category in which kids still lag behind is digital music player ownership. Twenty-three percent of households with kids have them but fewer than nine percent of the owners were children.

But there's evidence that, too, could be changing. Twice as many kids have personal music devices than a year ago.

Meanwhile, cell phone ownership among kids 4 to 14 has shot up by 50 percent since last year. The numbers overall track with the growth rate among all households, which is making electronics companies and marketers take notice. They now have to consider young children when designing and marketing new products like cell phones and their cell phone rings and their cell phone colors and all of that -- Carol.

LIN: Things for little hands. All right, what's happening on Wall Street today?

(STOCK REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: As the U.N. mulls sanctions against Iran, Iran is rejecting a U.S. Proposal to join multilateral talks. CNN international's Jim Clancy just spoke with John Bolton, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Ambassador Bolton, what do you think is going on now in Tehran? We've heard the experts say that this is going to be debated right up to the top of the Islamic Republic's government. What do you think?

JOHN BOLTON, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I have no idea what they're going to do at the top levels of the Iranian government. What I do know is that those levels have made a strategic decision, which they've been pursuing for close to 20 years, to acquire a nuclear weapons capability. And it's that strategic decision that we need to reverse.

CLANCY: What is the time frame, to your knowledge that we're talking about here, if the U.S. is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon?

BOLTON: We haven't put a specific timeline out there. But I can tell you, from what the Iranians themselves have said, they have used previous negotiations with the Europeans to perfect their uranium- conversion technology and, I'm sure, to advance their uranium- enrichment technology. They've admitted this publicly. Their former nuclear negotiator did so in a speech several months ago.

So we're acutely aware that there's a sense of urgency here. The time is not necessarily on our side, and the Iranians will not be able to drag this out indefinitely.

CLANCY: Do you trust the Iranians? Do you take them at their word?

BOLTON: Of course not. That's why the secretary said yesterday that we have to have a full and verified suspension of uranium- enrichment technology. And I think any agreement, whatever scope may come in the future, has to be fully verified as well. That's a critical condition.

CLANCY: Is there any other move that the U.S. can make right now? Some people are wondering, they're wondering whether the U.S. will back down on this offer, make it somewhat easier for the Iranians, to draw them into talks, without which there can't really be much more diplomacy, with the Iranians at least?

BOLTON: Well, the issue here is not who's doing what diplomacy; the issue is Iran pursuing nuclear weapons. If that bothers you, as it bothers us, we need to take steps to prevent them from acquiring that capability, and it's the substantive outcome, not the procedural niceties, that we need to focus on.

CLANCY: But have to engage them talks?

BOLTON: We have given them an offer, if they're willing to suspend, their uranium-enrichment activities, which is the same precondition that the European countries have put to come back to the table with the Iranians. So we are completely in sync, in that sense, with Iran. And therefore,, the spotlight and the choice rests with Tehran.

CLANCY: Many people have predicted that a military option is being pursued here. They predict that Iran will not cooperate with the Europeans, will not cooperate with the United States. How long would it be before that kind of an option would even be considered?

BOLTON: Well, the president's been very clear that he wants a diplomatic and peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear weapons program. But he's also said, quite emphatically, that it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons. That's why he's said, further, that he never takes any option off the table, and I hope the Iranians take that point seriously.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: And, in the meantime, an American network television journalist, Kimberly Dozier, is awake and asking about her colleagues. Dozier is the CBS journalist who survived a car bombing in Baghdad this week. Her two-man crew, a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter were killed. Dozier is in critical condition at a military hospital in Germany. Doctors there brought her out of sedation today, and she reportedly is communicating with family member at her bedside.

Now Paul Douglas and James Brolan, the CBS cameraman and sound tech both died in that bombing that injured Dozier. The two men's bodies are back in their native England. The British flag-draped coffins arrived in London a couple of hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So many kind people have sent so many kind messages from around the world and stories that we've never even heard. And it just shows that he didn't just touch our hearts, he touched the hearts of so many people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: Now, we're told that CBS reporter Kimberly Dozier learned only today that her colleagues were killed in Monday's explosion.

Well, two weeks or more -- it may be that long before we get the official military report on what happened in Haditha, Iraq.

Military investigators began to look into what happened in Haditha last November when 24 civilians were killed. They began to uncover inconsistencies that brought the official story into question that began the chain of events, which is expected to result in some murder charges against some Marines.

More now from CNN's senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Corporal James Crossan was one of 12 Marines in a four-vehicle convoy that was hit by a roadside bomb, the incident that set other Marines of his unit on a house-to-house hunt for the bombers. He told CNN, Haditha was a dangerous place.

CPL. JAMES CROSSAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It's like any other place in Iraq, the -- you can't tell who the bad guy is. We found the majority of them, and we got rid of them, but the place is just crawling with insurgents and IEDs everywhere, still.

MCINTYRE: The IED blast killed Miguel Terrazas, a fellow Marine who Crossan called his right-hand man. Corporal Crossan suffered a broken back and pelvis and was knocked unconscious. He said his fellow Marines were not the kind to snap, but he couldn't be sure. CROSSAN: I don't know what happened, but they might have got scared or they were just pissed -- really pissed off and did it. But, like, just the person -- it just depends on the person. Like, after seeing so much death and destruction, pretty soon, you just become numb and really don't think about it anymore.

MCINTYRE: CNN has learned, the preliminary investigation was conducted by an Army colonel, Gregory Watt, who sources say questioned officers, including battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani and Kilo Company commander Captain Lucas McConnell, as well as Marines at the scene of the killings, the most senior of which was a staff sergeant identified by "The New York Times" as Frank Wuterich.

Sources say Watt also confirmed that payments of $2,500 were made to the families of 15 of the victims, a total of $38,000 in compensation for the deaths of noncombatants.

TOM MALINOWSKI, WASHINGTON ADVOCACY DIRECTOR, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: A payment to a victim's family is not an admission of guilt, but it is an admission that these people were civilians and that they were killed by U.S. forces. Otherwise, they wouldn't be getting compensation.

MCINTYRE: The Pentagon is promising a full accounting once all the investigations are complete.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We, in the United States, hold our forces to a very, very high standard. And -- and it's proper that we should.

MCINTYRE: And President Bush insists, justice will be done.

BUSH: If, in fact, the laws are broken, there will be -- there will be punishment.

MCINTYRE (on camera): Pentagon officials won't say how long it will be before the results of the investigation are made public, but congressional sources are indicating it could be some time in the next two weeks.

Jamie McIntyre, CNN, Pentagon.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Parts of Florida are still cleaning up after last year's brutal hurricane season. But are folks there ready for this year's storms? You're going to find out when LIVE FROM continues.

So stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: It was late October when we hit the Ws. That's when Hurricane Wilma cut through south Florida and people there are still dealing with the damage as a new hurricane season begins today.

CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARY JOHNSON, HURRICANE VICTIM: Up in here, there's mold everywhere.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mary Johnson can still see and smell the effects of Hurricane Wilma from last year.

(on camera): How can you breathe in here?

JOHNSON: It's very hard. But when you don't have no where else to go, what choice do you have?

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): In Belle Glade, Florida, Johnson's story is not uncommon. No one will repair her home's interior unless the roof is fixed first. There's no insurance money left to do that. And FEMA turned her down. But condemning homes like Johnson's is not an option.

SHERI TAYLOR, DISASTER RESPONSE COALITION: What is the best thing, to render these families homeless, or to try and keep them there until such time as we can get either volunteer groups in to repair the homes or until we can find financial resources?

CANDIOTTI: After getting rocked by at least three hurricanes in the last two years, scores of homes in Belle Glade have yet to be repaired.

(on camera): People here face the same problems as others across the state. For example, if you have insurance to get a new roof, more often than not, there aren't enough building materials or contractors to go around. If you don't have insurance or FEMA writes you a check that isn't enough to cover the costs, well, you're also playing a waiting game.

(voice-over): Blue tarps are still a very common sight in south Florida. A recent survey of coastal residents says 83 percent have taken no steps to make their homes stronger. Up to 68 percent have no hurricane survival plan or supplies. Florida officials are running TV ads designed to shock people into action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, water is all in the house. The roof is completely caved in on us. We need emergency assistance, please.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, ma'am, we can't respond right now because of the condition the hurricane.

CANDIOTTI: If the ads work, all the better. But what about Mary Johnson?

JOHNSON: I am very worried.

CANDIOTTI: For some, help is on the way. SHEILA CHAMBERLAIN, "WE HELP": We're the last resort, when everything else has failed. And everybody's been waiting, actually, for assistance.

CANDIOTTI: "We Help" is one Palm Beach County group organizing volunteers and donors to get the job done. And it's working. Johnson will get a new roof. Many others are still waiting, as hurricane season gets under way.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Susan's report first aired on "AMERICAN MORNING" so you can start your day off with the news, weekdays, with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien, 6:00 eastern, right here on CNN.

Leveled by Katrina and struggling to recover. How one Gulf Coast community is eying another hurricane season. We're going to take you back to Bay St. Louis.

Plus, I'm going to speak with Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, in the next hour of LIVE FROM.

Live mermaids aren't the only attraction at a Florida water park. Just ahead, an alligator joins the attraction and sends swimmers heading for shore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: In central Baghdad, they were simply looking for work, but insurgents were busy with their own deadly labors. A bomb, hidden in a plastic bag, killed at least two construction workers and wounded 18 others today. The attack comes on the heels of a Pentagon report painting a grim picture of the insurgents' growing strength.

CNN's John Roberts has our report from "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were defining moments in the war for the hearts and minds of Americans on Iraq. Remember that now-famous "Mission Accomplished" banner, or how about this rosy pronouncement from the vice president that the insurgency had been all but crushed?

RICHARD B. CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The level of activity that we see today, from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.

ROBERTS: A year since that statement, the insurgency in Iraq is flourishing, and according to a just-released Pentagon report, will likely remain steady throughout 2006.

The contrast between those two assessments couldn't be sharper. But it's no surprise to Republicans like John McCain, who saw huge missteps in the administration's war plans.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: I think serious mistakes were made from the beginning by not having enough troops here. I think that's pretty well acknowledged by most experts now, and that caused us significantly greater problems.

ROBERTS: And the report is sure to mean more problems ahead for Republicans already facing a tough reelection. "Iraq is the blanket of pessimism that hangs over their fortunes," says political analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

STUART ROTHENBERG, "THE ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT": Republicans need a change in the overall mood. They need the public to get more optimistic, hopeful, to believe that the administration is, in some way, succeeding. This report suggests otherwise.

ROBERTS: And if the forecast of a robust insurgency wasn't enough, the Pentagon acknowledged for the first time in the report that Sunni insurgents have joined al Qaeda in recent months, increasing the terrorists' attack options.

MICHAEL O'HANLON, SENIOR FELLOW IN FOREIGN POLICY STUDIES, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: It's horrible. It's horrible news to see that Iraqi resistance fighters may be now adopting some of the tactics of al Qaeda, suicide bombings, mass-casualty events.

ROBERTS: But not all Republicans are running for the hemlock over this report. Surprisingly, some welcomed it. About time, they said, that official assessments matched both the reality on the ground and voters' perceptions of Iraq. And the most optimistic thought, it might even present an opportunity to draw distinctions with the Democrats.

ED ROGERS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: The best way to manage politically is to be honest with everybody, and then have a debate: Well, should we cut and run, or should we tough it out? That's a fair debate to have, and it's better than trying to convince people that things are going well, when they aren't.

ROBERTS (on camera): The report did contain some good news. The number of Iraqi forces able to take the lead in battling the insurgency is steadily increasing. But there was nothing in it to suggest that large numbers of U.S. troops may be able to come home soon. And that is the development American voters are waiting to see.

John Roberts, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: CNN's Anderson Cooper and the "360" team are going to return to New Orleans for the first day of hurricane season 2006. A new report reveals shocking details about just how prepared we are for the storms to come. That's "AC 360" tonight at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.

A heart attack, nothing more. An international investigation finds that is what killed former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milosevic -- not poison, not drugs. The Netherlands Forensic Institute also found no signs of violence and called allegations of murder entirely false. The one-time Serbian strongman was on trial for war crimes when he was found dead in his locked cell in March.

Supplies and people are pouring into Indonesia right now, trying to help survivors of Saturday's devastating earthquake. Those relief efforts include trying to get medical help to 30,000 or so people injured in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The death toll in the region has reached 6,200. But international efforts are helping, including an emergency medical unit manned by U.S. marines.

Meanwhile, there are nearly 650,000 people left homeless, and they're trying to cope with either blazing sun or pouring rain. Aid is coming from 20 different countries. The U.S., for example, has pledged $5 million to help Indonesia recover.

You can log on to CNN.com for up-to-the minute information on the Indonesian earthquake and find out how you can help the victims of this terrible tragedy.

Well, it look like Prince Albert can't keep anything in the can. The bald truth -- that is, there is a second love child out there. We're going to have more on the man who's putting the grr in Grimaldi, just ahead.

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CLANCY: Iran is rejecting a U.S. offer for multilateral talks because it opposes the condition that Iran first suspend nuclear activities. Well, now the action moves to Vienna, where Iranian government officials and the secretary of state Condoleezza Rice are hoping to lobby members of the U.N. Security Council to their side.

National security correspondent David Ensor joins me live with more on the high-stakes diplomatic chess match. David, they're meeting right now. Any word?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Carol, no word yet. But, yes, a very high-stakes meeting here in this building behind me, which is the British embassy compound in Vienna. This is where the Perm 5, the permanent 5 members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are all represented, as they discuss what kinds of carrots and sticks, what incentives and disincentives, to offer Iran in order to try to convince it to turn back on its determination to enrich uranium, which, of course, the IAEA suspects may be for the purpose of making bombs. Iran denies that. The U.S., to put it mildly, does not believe those denials.

So Condoleezza Rice is in there with her counterparts, trying to convince them to put some pretty sharp sanctions on the table, and, also, some carrots, some incentives, to really try to convince Iran not to go down the road towards a nuclear weapon. And the president wants it done diplomatically. This is the diplomatic effort right here. Within the next few hours, we should be able to hear whether there's been success today. U.S. officials are hoping there will be. There may or may not be. But the meeting among the foreign ministers will end this evening -- Carol.

LIN: All right, David, thank you. David Ensor, thank you very much on that.

And we've got more on Iran in the next hour of LIVE FROM, so stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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LIN: Oh, boy, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, an alligator comes along to spoil everything. That's the case at Florida's Weeki Wachee Springs and with a longtime spot best known for its mermaid shows.

Here's reporter Dawn Pellas of affiliate WFTS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAWN PELLAS, WFTS REPORTER (voice-over): It's called the only city with live mermaids, but on Saturday, Weeki Wachee Springs became known for something else.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People come here usually to see a mermaid show, and they got to see a gator show.

PELLAS: John Glutch (ph) was there when this nine-foot gator swam into Buccaneer Bay Water Park (ph). When lifeguards spotted it, he says they immediately cleared the water and the chase was on.

JOHN ATHANASON, WEEKI WACHEE MARKETING DIRECTOR: It was all over the place. It started by -- the dock behind me. It ended up at the mermaid theater, swimming past the windows. We just could not get it to go down river.

PELLAS: Marketing director John Athanason says that's when they called a professional gator trapper.

ATHANASON: There's been so many problems in the last month with gator attacks and people losing their lives. It is mating season right now with alligators. And we weren't about to take any risk with our park guests or our employees.

PELLAS: Here's a closer look at the takedown on tape, captured on home video. Listen to the crowd as the trapper, Darrell Plank, pulls the gator out of the water.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they got the gator up on the swimming dock, the whole park just erupted into applause and cheering. It was exciting, really.

PELLAS: But for Plank, a close call he wouldn't want to repeat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the amount of people that was here, I mean, anything could have happened with the amount of people and the kids that was in the water at the time when I arrived. PELLAS (on camera): This isn't the first time that Weeki Wachee has had an alligator. The trapper tells us he was called out here about three months ago on another gator call. But the bottom line here is, this gator was caught and no one was hurt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIN: Again, that was reporter Dawn Pellas of CNN affiliate WFTS.

Well, a monarch or a social butterfly? The sitting ruler of Monaco is now saying that he does have a second illegitimate child. Through his lawyer, Prince Albert acknowledges paternity of a California teenager. A 14-year-old birth certificate indeed lists the unmarried prince as the father of Jazmin Grace Grimaldi. No less than a year ago, shortly on the heels of his father's death, Albert admitted he had a 2-year-old son born out of wedlock to a flight attendant from Togo. Neither offspring is eligible to ascend to the throne in Monaco, since neither was born into a Catholic marriage.

More on this story straight ahead in the second hour of LIVE FROM, which starts right now.

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