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Three Hearings Held Today on 9/11 Commission Recommendations; Floridians Assessing Damage; U.S. Basketball Team Loses; Michael Jackson's Lawyer to Question D.A. on Stand; Kobe Bryant Criminal Case Expected to be Dropped

Aired August 16, 2004 - 10:30   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.


DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: The latest survey shows that gas prices have dropped nearly a nickel a gallon in the last three weeks. And the prices have fallen 20 cents since the last peak three months ago.
But you'd better fill up now. Analysts say wholesale gas prices are already on their way up.

And a live picture, President Bush arriving to speak in Cincinnati later today. He will be addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Significantly, President Bush expected to make a major announcement concerning the deployment of U.S. troops around the world. Pulling many out of Europe and Korea and redeploying them, bringing many back to the U.S. Much more on that just ahead. We'll be carrying the president's comments live at the top of the hour here on CNN.

Three hearings on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations are being held on Capitol Hill today. Our congressional correspondent Ed Henry is here with that story, trying to cover three at one time.

Good for you. Good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

You're right; the hearings just keep on coming. In addition to those three today, there will be several more throughout this week.

Congress is basically trying to pack in as much work as possible this week, as the Republican National Convention draws closer, when Congress will finally go on vacation. They're normally not working in August.

But right now, today, as you mentioned, three hearings dealing with the 9/11 Commission's final report, those 41 recommendations for reform.

Right now, the first hearing we should mention, Senator John McCain chairs the commerce and transportation committee. Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, the commission chairs, the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission, are testifying along with Asa Hutchison, the No. 2 official to the Department of Homeland Security. The focus there is port security, rail security, air security, taking a very close look at the transportation systems throughout the nation.

A second hearing, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee taking an extremely close look at the proposal for a national intelligence director. You're seeing James Woolsey right now, the former CIA director during the Clinton years. He is one of the many former CIA directors testifying today before the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

And also, Senator Pat Roberts, though he doesn't normally sit on that committee, came forward today, along with his ranking member, Democrat Jay Rockefeller, to talk a lot about these proposals that are kicking around.

In particular, Senator Roberts pointed out that he thinks the Senate needs to be very careful about how they craft this national intelligence director.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R-KS), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: As Congress does move toward legislating the so-called intelligence reform, guided by the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission report, and many of the other various proposals for change, Senator Rockefeller and I will keep in mind that we should first do no harm, and avoid as best we can the law of unattended consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Daryn, that third hearing will come this afternoon before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The bottom line there is that the chairman of that panel, John Warner, appeared on CNN's "LATE EDITION" yesterday and made very clear that he does not think the Pentagon should give up all or most of its 85 percent control of the nation's intelligence budget. That could lead to some fireworks, obviously.

This new national intelligence director, a lot of people in Congress have been saying the new NID, as they call it, should get most of that budget power, that that will be key.

Another thing to look for tomorrow, Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee. That's the first time he will be appearing before that panel since early May, when as you remember, his job very much on the line over the prison abuse scandal -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, it will be interesting to hear his comments on the comments we expect President Bush to make in about a half hour about redeploying American troops around the world.

But my Ed Henry question of the day has to do with intelligence, but with Porter Goss. It seems the word on the hill is Democrats do not intend to put up a fight against his nomination to head the CIA.

HENRY: The Democrats have put it a little differently. They say they will ask very tough questions of Mr. Goss, very tough questions of the Bush administration in general. The Democrats want to make sure that Mr. Goss will be independent of the White House, independent of the administration. If in fact he does become CIA director.

But as you point out, it looks like there will be very little actual opposition. It looks like Goss will actually get through.

There is little confusion about what he exactly will do. There's a report in "Newsweek" today, suggesting that, in fact, the White House wants to let Goss start out, perhaps, as CIA director, but move on to that national intelligence director job, that he might actually become the top dog.

Obviously, I think Democrats will want to make sure, and even some Republicans, like Pat Roberts, want to sort that out and find out exactly what job Porter Goss is going to be taking -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And then there are Democrats who might be thinking this is just going to be lasting a few months, too, in case -- if John Kerry were to win, that perhaps...

HENRY: That's what some people are suggesting, that a politician should not get the job, because they should not be pushed out if a Democrat were to come in. In this case, if Porter Goss gets the job, John Kerry would very likely pick somebody different, Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Ed Henry, we're picking you to stick around for the next hour. You're still in a job. We'll be back with you on Capitol Hill in our next hour. Thank you, Ed.

President Bush says that in disasters like Hurricane Charley the spirit of America really shines through, the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor. The president toured some of the damaged areas with his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The president said the government would help people rebuild their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The job of the federal government, the state government is to start resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas. And that's exactly what's happening now. We choppered over and saw the devastation of the -- of this area. A lot of people's lives are turned upside down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And if you need to contact, or if you were a victim of Hurricane Charley, the federal emergency management number is 1-800- 621-FEMA. The Florida information 24-hour hotline, 1-800-342-3557.

Well, like an unwelcome guest, Charley left Florida, but not without leaving some bad memories behind. Tom Foreman shows us that people got out of the way to get out of the storm's way, as well. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the chaos of Florida's Gulf Coast, Harvey Rothberg came from Connecticut to check on the vacation home he retreats to every year, to see if it survived.

HARVEY ROTHBERG, OWNS VACATION HOME IN FLORIDA: It looks really bad. I don't know if I can get more nervous than I am right now.

FOREMAN: Coming home, especially for those who live here permanently, is proving painful for many. More than 450 retirees live in Windmill Village. All their homes were damaged, many flattened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rolls, chicken.

FOREMAN: They're using their ruined clubhouse to share food and frustration over lifetime savings lost.

PENNY FAHRBACH, LOST HOME: All the motels are filled, because it's not just here. It's all over. And there's no gas stations. You can't go get gas. You can't go to the grocery store; they're closed. You know, it's devastating.

FOREMAN: Hundreds of insurance agents, often in their own ravaged offices, are helping file emergency claims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything's falling off the walls. All the moisture, the drywalls, everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get things dried up as best as you can.

FOREMAN: That process is expected to go on for months.

(on camera) It is a measure of how widespread the damage is that many people say they still have no idea when help will come to their neighborhood.

ROTHBERG: Looks good.

FOREMAN: Harvey Rothberg wound up being lucky.

But others...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where we used to sleep.

FOREMAN: ... are now living in half-ruined homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now we're just kind of bedding down over here.

FOREMAN: With little hope of anything better anytime soon.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Punta Gorda, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: And we have a dramatic view inside of Hurricane Charley's fury through the lenses of two storm chasers. They put their lives on the line to get those images while gathering information.

And to talk with it -- talked about that experience with our Carol Lin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM REED, STORM CHASER: We were working for a variety of private sources. We were collecting meteorological data and testing, actually, a new device that allows us to check radar in situations like this.

But while he was praying, I was -- my method of praying was to try and document it as best I could. But I -- as far as keeping calm, I think you can hear in my voice, it was very difficult.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, at least you were able to get some information out about where you were, what was happening around you.

What did that feel like? What was that force of the wind?

REED: Very intimidating. Very humbling. We usually, as researchers, will take shelter much sooner. And I've covered nine hurricanes. But this is the first time a hurricane has ever increased its wind speeds so quickly while we were in one location.

LIN: What do you mean?

REED: Within minutes. Just within a few minutes we went from 75-mile-an-hour winds to 125-mile-an-hour. And we were forced to take a shelter of last resort, as we call it.

Greg had spotted the carport, and we knew we needed to put something between us and the oncoming wind. And that was the house. And we were very lucky that it was a solid structure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Other news on that just ahead, plus Kobe Bryant in court for his final appearance, ahead of jury selection, in his criminal rape case. But will the criminal case against him be dismissed? We'll look at that, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, somebody on Wall Street woke up on -- in a good mood today. Let's check the markets.

Rhonda Schaffler, why is everybody so happy out there?

(STOCK REPORT)

KAGAN: Rhonda, thank you for that. We'll see you later in the morning. Humiliated. Did I say humiliated? Yes, somebody was humiliated. That's the word for what happened to the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team. Our sports correspondent, Larry Smith, live in Athens, Greece, with the grim details.

Lar, hello.

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, how are you? Good afternoon to you from Athens.

First things first. How about very quickly, swimming tonight in about two hours, the race of the century. Michael Phelps versus Ian Thorpe in the men's 200-meter freestyle. Phelps sure to win his second gold, shot at gold, for a record-tying seven gold medals in the swimming pool.

But as you mentioned, the dream team, oh, it hurts even a day later: 92-73. They lost to a Puerto Rican team they had beaten five times in the past 13 months.

The USA outside shooting has been poor, and it showed in this one as well. Just three for 24 shooting from the outside.

Now, this team may not have the stars or the talent of the dream teamers of yesteryear, but Coach Larry Brown says the way they are treated is still the same.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY BROWN, U.S. BASKETBALL COACH: I don't think anybody should be surprised. I'm not surprised, because I know what these teams are about.

Duane Wade said it best: Aurora (ph) said they've been practicing together three months twice a day. To get our guys to do it would be next to impossible, because I don't think they understand the urgency of it. They don't understand how important it is to the teams we're playing against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: By the way, this U.S. team, they still can win a gold medal. This is just a preliminary round. And they can very easily get into the quarterfinals. They're expected to do that. They take on Greece tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, the odyssey of those Greek sprinters, just continues. And it will so -- will do so until at least Wednesday. Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou both asked for and received 48-hour extensions to explain why they failed to show up for their Thursday mandatory drug meeting.

Now, the Greek Olympic Committee has already withdrawn them from the games. However, their ultimate fate does rely -- does fall in the hands of the International Olympic Committee. And they'll meet with them on Wednesday. Let's go back to you.

KAGAN: I want to start -- I want to continue where you started, Larry, and that's with Michael Phelps, the U.S. swimmer. So much hype about him trying to break Mark Spitz' record of seven gold medals. But seeing how the men's relay did last night, probably that is not going to happen.

SMITH: Well, because he -- last night, getting the bronze medal, he now can't get the eight. He still can get seven. However, Ian Thorpe is so strong in the 200-meter freestyle which is going to run here in a couple of hours, it's going to be very difficult for him to beat Thorpe. But anything still is possible.

Hey, you know, even if he wins five or six golds, that's still pretty good.

KAGAN: Yes. Not a bad souvenir to bring home from Athens. Larry Smith in Athens, thank you.

And we're going to take a break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at what is on the docket today in our look at legal briefs.

In the Scott Peterson double murder trial, Amber Frey will be back in the courtroom this morning. The jury will hear move of the taped telephone conversations between the former lovers, as they are played into evidence.

CNN will carry live reports of details of those exchanges. Peterson is charged with killing his pregnant wife and unborn son.

The sexual assault trial of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant is scheduled to start August 27. A hearing is scheduled for later today in Eagle, Colorado. And there is speculation that the criminal complaint may be dropped. The woman has filed a civil lawsuit, seeking monetary damages.

Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, celebrities in the courtroom today. Harvey Levin, executive producer of the television show "Celebrity Justice."

Harvey, good morning.

HARVEY LEVIN, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hi, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's start in your state of California. Santa Maria, up the coast from where you are. You've got to explain to me, Harvey, what's going to take place here. The D.A. gets to be questioned by Michael Jackson's defense attorney. How does that work?

LEVIN: Well, it is extraordinary. I have to tell you, with the premise of this whole thing is, you have to look at trials like a Broadway show. This is carefully choreographed.

What Michael Jackson's lawyer, Tom Mesereau, is doing is he's turning the tables. He has called the D.A. himself, Tom Sneddon, to the stand. And he will ask him questions about why he raided the office of Michael Jackson's private investigator, an investigator hired by Jackson's first lawyer, Mark Geragos.

What the defense is arguing is all of that was protected by the attorney/client relationship. And Sneddon crossed the line. according to Jackson's new lawyer. And that Sneddon took a personal interest in this by actually going out there, taking photographs, surveilling the office. What they're saying is, Tom Sneddon is on a vendetta.

Michael Jackson doesn't have to be there today, but he is going to be there. What they're trying to do is project an image that Jackson is not the villain, that he's a victim. They're going to try and show that this is a renegade prosecutor. And the image here is almost more important than the substance, Daryn.

KAGAN: And you can do that? You can put the D.A. -- apparently you can. I guess it wouldn't be happening if you couldn't.

LEVIN: Yes.

KAGAN: I just have never heard of it.

LEVIN: It's rare. It is absolutely rare to do. But what they're doing is they're trying to argue that all of this material is inadmissible, and they want sanctions against the prosecutor. And since Sneddon took a personal interest, he's fair game in terms of being called to the stand.

KAGAN: All right. Some interesting stuff.

Are there cameras in that courtroom for that?

LEVIN: No. No. But as a matter of fact, there is actually a petition to allow still photographs, which Jackson would desperately want.

KAGAN: Yes, I bet we would for that one.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant also in court in Eagle, Colorado. This is the criminal case. Harvey, is this one all but done?

LEVIN: It is all but done, Daryn. What I'm hearing from Eagle is this, and these are people directly connected in all sides of the case, is that the prosecutor does want to find a graceful way out.

This woman has now told prosecutors she wants nothing to do with that case. They don't even have an expert to rebut testimony that this woman may have had sex hours after leaving Kobe's hotel room.

They've appealed the Colorado Supreme Court, asking the court to reverse the judge and not allow her sexual activity prior and after the Kobe encounter into the trial. They're probably going to lose that motion.

And I'm told it probably won't happen today but will happen later this week once the Colorado Supreme Court rules. The D.A. wants a graceful exit.

KAGAN: And so with that, how strong is this woman's civil case?

LEVIN: Well, the civil case is really interesting, because if the criminal case is gone, the civil case is the only game in town. And what Kobe Bryant doesn't want is to have a trial, especially if it doesn't involve his freedom.

They're arguing in the civil case, essentially that he's a serial sexual assaulter for women he first meets. And they're suggesting they're going to put other women on the stand.

I doubt Kobe Bryant wants to have a trial like that. So my guess is at some point before the trial this case would settle as well.

KAGAN: It's been an interesting run in Eagle, Colorado. Harvey, thank you. Good to see you.

LEVIN: Great talking to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: The president's troop redeployment announcement is just moments away. You're going to see -- see that speech live. There's a live picture from Cincinnati, Ohio. We'll have details on how thousands of troops could be impacted by the president's announcement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Charley as a storm, a thing of the past. Now Earl is what Jacqui Jeras is keeping her eyes on.

Hi, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Keeping you busy. Jacqui, thank you.

Let's move into that next hour and start by taking a look at what's happening now in the news.

First to Florida. They're picking up the pieces and assessing the damage from Hurricane Charley. Officials say at least 17 people were killed, and damage to insured homes alone is estimated at $1 billion. We'll have a live report from one of the hardest-hit areas coming up.

Forecasters say that a tropical weather system -- you heard Jacqui Jeras talking about this -- is moving through the Caribbean. It has been downgraded. That was Tropical Storm Earl, now just a tropical wave.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Danielle is moving through the open waters of the Atlantic, posing no threat to land at this time. Crews are trying to tame a wildfire that has destroyed 22 homes in Reading, California. And the weather is not helping there; temperatures expected to hit 100 degrees today. The fire has burned more than 7,800 acres and forced about 300 people from their homes.

President Bush this hour announces a major repositioning of U.S. troops abroad. Seventy thousand uniformed personnel from bases in Europe and Asia will be affected by the move. Most will be reassigned here to the U.S. to help fight the war on terror.

We'll have the president's announcement live in just a few minutes. And there's live pictures from Cincinnati.

We are keeping you informed. CNN is the most trusted name in news.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com


Aired August 16, 2004 - 10:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, ANCHOR: The latest survey shows that gas prices have dropped nearly a nickel a gallon in the last three weeks. And the prices have fallen 20 cents since the last peak three months ago.
But you'd better fill up now. Analysts say wholesale gas prices are already on their way up.

And a live picture, President Bush arriving to speak in Cincinnati later today. He will be addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Significantly, President Bush expected to make a major announcement concerning the deployment of U.S. troops around the world. Pulling many out of Europe and Korea and redeploying them, bringing many back to the U.S. Much more on that just ahead. We'll be carrying the president's comments live at the top of the hour here on CNN.

Three hearings on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations are being held on Capitol Hill today. Our congressional correspondent Ed Henry is here with that story, trying to cover three at one time.

Good for you. Good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

You're right; the hearings just keep on coming. In addition to those three today, there will be several more throughout this week.

Congress is basically trying to pack in as much work as possible this week, as the Republican National Convention draws closer, when Congress will finally go on vacation. They're normally not working in August.

But right now, today, as you mentioned, three hearings dealing with the 9/11 Commission's final report, those 41 recommendations for reform.

Right now, the first hearing we should mention, Senator John McCain chairs the commerce and transportation committee. Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, the commission chairs, the co-chairs of the 9/11 Commission, are testifying along with Asa Hutchison, the No. 2 official to the Department of Homeland Security. The focus there is port security, rail security, air security, taking a very close look at the transportation systems throughout the nation.

A second hearing, the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee taking an extremely close look at the proposal for a national intelligence director. You're seeing James Woolsey right now, the former CIA director during the Clinton years. He is one of the many former CIA directors testifying today before the Senate Government Affairs Committee.

And also, Senator Pat Roberts, though he doesn't normally sit on that committee, came forward today, along with his ranking member, Democrat Jay Rockefeller, to talk a lot about these proposals that are kicking around.

In particular, Senator Roberts pointed out that he thinks the Senate needs to be very careful about how they craft this national intelligence director.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT ROBERTS (R-KS), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN: As Congress does move toward legislating the so-called intelligence reform, guided by the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission report, and many of the other various proposals for change, Senator Rockefeller and I will keep in mind that we should first do no harm, and avoid as best we can the law of unattended consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Daryn, that third hearing will come this afternoon before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The bottom line there is that the chairman of that panel, John Warner, appeared on CNN's "LATE EDITION" yesterday and made very clear that he does not think the Pentagon should give up all or most of its 85 percent control of the nation's intelligence budget. That could lead to some fireworks, obviously.

This new national intelligence director, a lot of people in Congress have been saying the new NID, as they call it, should get most of that budget power, that that will be key.

Another thing to look for tomorrow, Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld will appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee. That's the first time he will be appearing before that panel since early May, when as you remember, his job very much on the line over the prison abuse scandal -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Well, it will be interesting to hear his comments on the comments we expect President Bush to make in about a half hour about redeploying American troops around the world.

But my Ed Henry question of the day has to do with intelligence, but with Porter Goss. It seems the word on the hill is Democrats do not intend to put up a fight against his nomination to head the CIA.

HENRY: The Democrats have put it a little differently. They say they will ask very tough questions of Mr. Goss, very tough questions of the Bush administration in general. The Democrats want to make sure that Mr. Goss will be independent of the White House, independent of the administration. If in fact he does become CIA director.

But as you point out, it looks like there will be very little actual opposition. It looks like Goss will actually get through.

There is little confusion about what he exactly will do. There's a report in "Newsweek" today, suggesting that, in fact, the White House wants to let Goss start out, perhaps, as CIA director, but move on to that national intelligence director job, that he might actually become the top dog.

Obviously, I think Democrats will want to make sure, and even some Republicans, like Pat Roberts, want to sort that out and find out exactly what job Porter Goss is going to be taking -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And then there are Democrats who might be thinking this is just going to be lasting a few months, too, in case -- if John Kerry were to win, that perhaps...

HENRY: That's what some people are suggesting, that a politician should not get the job, because they should not be pushed out if a Democrat were to come in. In this case, if Porter Goss gets the job, John Kerry would very likely pick somebody different, Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Ed Henry, we're picking you to stick around for the next hour. You're still in a job. We'll be back with you on Capitol Hill in our next hour. Thank you, Ed.

President Bush says that in disasters like Hurricane Charley the spirit of America really shines through, the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor. The president toured some of the damaged areas with his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush. The president said the government would help people rebuild their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The job of the federal government, the state government is to start resources as quickly as possible to disaster areas. And that's exactly what's happening now. We choppered over and saw the devastation of the -- of this area. A lot of people's lives are turned upside down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And if you need to contact, or if you were a victim of Hurricane Charley, the federal emergency management number is 1-800- 621-FEMA. The Florida information 24-hour hotline, 1-800-342-3557.

Well, like an unwelcome guest, Charley left Florida, but not without leaving some bad memories behind. Tom Foreman shows us that people got out of the way to get out of the storm's way, as well. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Through the chaos of Florida's Gulf Coast, Harvey Rothberg came from Connecticut to check on the vacation home he retreats to every year, to see if it survived.

HARVEY ROTHBERG, OWNS VACATION HOME IN FLORIDA: It looks really bad. I don't know if I can get more nervous than I am right now.

FOREMAN: Coming home, especially for those who live here permanently, is proving painful for many. More than 450 retirees live in Windmill Village. All their homes were damaged, many flattened.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rolls, chicken.

FOREMAN: They're using their ruined clubhouse to share food and frustration over lifetime savings lost.

PENNY FAHRBACH, LOST HOME: All the motels are filled, because it's not just here. It's all over. And there's no gas stations. You can't go get gas. You can't go to the grocery store; they're closed. You know, it's devastating.

FOREMAN: Hundreds of insurance agents, often in their own ravaged offices, are helping file emergency claims.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything's falling off the walls. All the moisture, the drywalls, everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get things dried up as best as you can.

FOREMAN: That process is expected to go on for months.

(on camera) It is a measure of how widespread the damage is that many people say they still have no idea when help will come to their neighborhood.

ROTHBERG: Looks good.

FOREMAN: Harvey Rothberg wound up being lucky.

But others...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is where we used to sleep.

FOREMAN: ... are now living in half-ruined homes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And now we're just kind of bedding down over here.

FOREMAN: With little hope of anything better anytime soon.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Punta Gorda, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: And we have a dramatic view inside of Hurricane Charley's fury through the lenses of two storm chasers. They put their lives on the line to get those images while gathering information.

And to talk with it -- talked about that experience with our Carol Lin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM REED, STORM CHASER: We were working for a variety of private sources. We were collecting meteorological data and testing, actually, a new device that allows us to check radar in situations like this.

But while he was praying, I was -- my method of praying was to try and document it as best I could. But I -- as far as keeping calm, I think you can hear in my voice, it was very difficult.

CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, at least you were able to get some information out about where you were, what was happening around you.

What did that feel like? What was that force of the wind?

REED: Very intimidating. Very humbling. We usually, as researchers, will take shelter much sooner. And I've covered nine hurricanes. But this is the first time a hurricane has ever increased its wind speeds so quickly while we were in one location.

LIN: What do you mean?

REED: Within minutes. Just within a few minutes we went from 75-mile-an-hour winds to 125-mile-an-hour. And we were forced to take a shelter of last resort, as we call it.

Greg had spotted the carport, and we knew we needed to put something between us and the oncoming wind. And that was the house. And we were very lucky that it was a solid structure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Other news on that just ahead, plus Kobe Bryant in court for his final appearance, ahead of jury selection, in his criminal rape case. But will the criminal case against him be dismissed? We'll look at that, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, somebody on Wall Street woke up on -- in a good mood today. Let's check the markets.

Rhonda Schaffler, why is everybody so happy out there?

(STOCK REPORT)

KAGAN: Rhonda, thank you for that. We'll see you later in the morning. Humiliated. Did I say humiliated? Yes, somebody was humiliated. That's the word for what happened to the U.S. Olympic men's basketball team. Our sports correspondent, Larry Smith, live in Athens, Greece, with the grim details.

Lar, hello.

LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hello, how are you? Good afternoon to you from Athens.

First things first. How about very quickly, swimming tonight in about two hours, the race of the century. Michael Phelps versus Ian Thorpe in the men's 200-meter freestyle. Phelps sure to win his second gold, shot at gold, for a record-tying seven gold medals in the swimming pool.

But as you mentioned, the dream team, oh, it hurts even a day later: 92-73. They lost to a Puerto Rican team they had beaten five times in the past 13 months.

The USA outside shooting has been poor, and it showed in this one as well. Just three for 24 shooting from the outside.

Now, this team may not have the stars or the talent of the dream teamers of yesteryear, but Coach Larry Brown says the way they are treated is still the same.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY BROWN, U.S. BASKETBALL COACH: I don't think anybody should be surprised. I'm not surprised, because I know what these teams are about.

Duane Wade said it best: Aurora (ph) said they've been practicing together three months twice a day. To get our guys to do it would be next to impossible, because I don't think they understand the urgency of it. They don't understand how important it is to the teams we're playing against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SMITH: By the way, this U.S. team, they still can win a gold medal. This is just a preliminary round. And they can very easily get into the quarterfinals. They're expected to do that. They take on Greece tomorrow night.

Meanwhile, the odyssey of those Greek sprinters, just continues. And it will so -- will do so until at least Wednesday. Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou both asked for and received 48-hour extensions to explain why they failed to show up for their Thursday mandatory drug meeting.

Now, the Greek Olympic Committee has already withdrawn them from the games. However, their ultimate fate does rely -- does fall in the hands of the International Olympic Committee. And they'll meet with them on Wednesday. Let's go back to you.

KAGAN: I want to start -- I want to continue where you started, Larry, and that's with Michael Phelps, the U.S. swimmer. So much hype about him trying to break Mark Spitz' record of seven gold medals. But seeing how the men's relay did last night, probably that is not going to happen.

SMITH: Well, because he -- last night, getting the bronze medal, he now can't get the eight. He still can get seven. However, Ian Thorpe is so strong in the 200-meter freestyle which is going to run here in a couple of hours, it's going to be very difficult for him to beat Thorpe. But anything still is possible.

Hey, you know, even if he wins five or six golds, that's still pretty good.

KAGAN: Yes. Not a bad souvenir to bring home from Athens. Larry Smith in Athens, thank you.

And we're going to take a break. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's take a look at what is on the docket today in our look at legal briefs.

In the Scott Peterson double murder trial, Amber Frey will be back in the courtroom this morning. The jury will hear move of the taped telephone conversations between the former lovers, as they are played into evidence.

CNN will carry live reports of details of those exchanges. Peterson is charged with killing his pregnant wife and unborn son.

The sexual assault trial of basketball superstar Kobe Bryant is scheduled to start August 27. A hearing is scheduled for later today in Eagle, Colorado. And there is speculation that the criminal complaint may be dropped. The woman has filed a civil lawsuit, seeking monetary damages.

Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, celebrities in the courtroom today. Harvey Levin, executive producer of the television show "Celebrity Justice."

Harvey, good morning.

HARVEY LEVIN, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hi, Daryn.

KAGAN: Let's start in your state of California. Santa Maria, up the coast from where you are. You've got to explain to me, Harvey, what's going to take place here. The D.A. gets to be questioned by Michael Jackson's defense attorney. How does that work?

LEVIN: Well, it is extraordinary. I have to tell you, with the premise of this whole thing is, you have to look at trials like a Broadway show. This is carefully choreographed.

What Michael Jackson's lawyer, Tom Mesereau, is doing is he's turning the tables. He has called the D.A. himself, Tom Sneddon, to the stand. And he will ask him questions about why he raided the office of Michael Jackson's private investigator, an investigator hired by Jackson's first lawyer, Mark Geragos.

What the defense is arguing is all of that was protected by the attorney/client relationship. And Sneddon crossed the line. according to Jackson's new lawyer. And that Sneddon took a personal interest in this by actually going out there, taking photographs, surveilling the office. What they're saying is, Tom Sneddon is on a vendetta.

Michael Jackson doesn't have to be there today, but he is going to be there. What they're trying to do is project an image that Jackson is not the villain, that he's a victim. They're going to try and show that this is a renegade prosecutor. And the image here is almost more important than the substance, Daryn.

KAGAN: And you can do that? You can put the D.A. -- apparently you can. I guess it wouldn't be happening if you couldn't.

LEVIN: Yes.

KAGAN: I just have never heard of it.

LEVIN: It's rare. It is absolutely rare to do. But what they're doing is they're trying to argue that all of this material is inadmissible, and they want sanctions against the prosecutor. And since Sneddon took a personal interest, he's fair game in terms of being called to the stand.

KAGAN: All right. Some interesting stuff.

Are there cameras in that courtroom for that?

LEVIN: No. No. But as a matter of fact, there is actually a petition to allow still photographs, which Jackson would desperately want.

KAGAN: Yes, I bet we would for that one.

Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant also in court in Eagle, Colorado. This is the criminal case. Harvey, is this one all but done?

LEVIN: It is all but done, Daryn. What I'm hearing from Eagle is this, and these are people directly connected in all sides of the case, is that the prosecutor does want to find a graceful way out.

This woman has now told prosecutors she wants nothing to do with that case. They don't even have an expert to rebut testimony that this woman may have had sex hours after leaving Kobe's hotel room.

They've appealed the Colorado Supreme Court, asking the court to reverse the judge and not allow her sexual activity prior and after the Kobe encounter into the trial. They're probably going to lose that motion.

And I'm told it probably won't happen today but will happen later this week once the Colorado Supreme Court rules. The D.A. wants a graceful exit.

KAGAN: And so with that, how strong is this woman's civil case?

LEVIN: Well, the civil case is really interesting, because if the criminal case is gone, the civil case is the only game in town. And what Kobe Bryant doesn't want is to have a trial, especially if it doesn't involve his freedom.

They're arguing in the civil case, essentially that he's a serial sexual assaulter for women he first meets. And they're suggesting they're going to put other women on the stand.

I doubt Kobe Bryant wants to have a trial like that. So my guess is at some point before the trial this case would settle as well.

KAGAN: It's been an interesting run in Eagle, Colorado. Harvey, thank you. Good to see you.

LEVIN: Great talking to you, Daryn.

KAGAN: The president's troop redeployment announcement is just moments away. You're going to see -- see that speech live. There's a live picture from Cincinnati, Ohio. We'll have details on how thousands of troops could be impacted by the president's announcement.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Charley as a storm, a thing of the past. Now Earl is what Jacqui Jeras is keeping her eyes on.

Hi, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Keeping you busy. Jacqui, thank you.

Let's move into that next hour and start by taking a look at what's happening now in the news.

First to Florida. They're picking up the pieces and assessing the damage from Hurricane Charley. Officials say at least 17 people were killed, and damage to insured homes alone is estimated at $1 billion. We'll have a live report from one of the hardest-hit areas coming up.

Forecasters say that a tropical weather system -- you heard Jacqui Jeras talking about this -- is moving through the Caribbean. It has been downgraded. That was Tropical Storm Earl, now just a tropical wave.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Danielle is moving through the open waters of the Atlantic, posing no threat to land at this time. Crews are trying to tame a wildfire that has destroyed 22 homes in Reading, California. And the weather is not helping there; temperatures expected to hit 100 degrees today. The fire has burned more than 7,800 acres and forced about 300 people from their homes.

President Bush this hour announces a major repositioning of U.S. troops abroad. Seventy thousand uniformed personnel from bases in Europe and Asia will be affected by the move. Most will be reassigned here to the U.S. to help fight the war on terror.

We'll have the president's announcement live in just a few minutes. And there's live pictures from Cincinnati.

We are keeping you informed. CNN is the most trusted name in news.

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