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CNN Live Today
Already Battered Florida Pounded by Jeanne; Coalition Forces Strike Al-Sadr's Stronghold; Syria Meets with Coalition General in Damascus for Border Talks; Bush and Kerry Gear Up for the First Debate; Tips for Avoiding Predatory Lenders.
Aired September 27, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in today for Daryn Kagan.
Now Tropical Storm Jeanne moves up through Georgia today after pounding Florida. The state's fourth major hurricane in six weeks has caused extensive damage and left 1.9 million homes and businesses without power. At least four people have been killed in Florida. President Bush has declared a state of -- the state a major disaster area, clearing the way for more federal aid to help with the recovery.
U.S. air strikes targeted insurgents in the Baghdad district of Sadr City early this morning. Iraqi officials say five people were killed and 46 others wounded. Women and children are among those injured. Fighters loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been clashing almost daily with U.S. and Iraqi forces.
A U.S. military official says Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahari are more likely to be in Pakistan than Afghanistan. The head of coalition forces in Afghanistan says key al Qaeda figures feel more protected in the remote areas of Pakistan. No major al Qaeda figures have been killed or captured in Afghanistan since 2002.
And John Kerry takes a break from debate preparations. He has a town hall-style meeting with voters in Spring Green, Wisconsin later this hour. Kerry is huddling with aides at a Wisconsin resort ahead of Thursday's first presidential debate in Miami.
In Florida, life after Hurricane Jeanne begins anew this morning. Jeanne is now moving across central Georgia. It weakened overnight to a tropical storm but remains dangerous with heavy rains and 50-mile- per-hour winds. That's a shadow of the monster that howled ashore just before midnight on Friday. The 120-mile-an-hour winds plowed into Hutchinson Island near Stewart on Florida's east coast.
Well, the last three weeks have been horrific. That's how an owner of a mobile home park describes life in Vero Beach, Florida. The coastal town had just begun its recovery from Frances when Jeanne slammed into the area.
CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman is in Vero Beach with a closer look.
And Gary, this area suffered some devastating flooding. GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Betty, it's really been difficult for the people here in Vero Beach. You know, we've driven all over the parts of south Florida that have been devastated by these two hurricanes over the last three weeks, but this particular area we're in right now really stands out. This is Vero Beach, Florida. Vero Beach is well known for being the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training. Dodgertown, it's been here for generations. But it's also now known as a place that has suffered greatly. Over the last three weeks suffered in September 2004 with two different hurricanes.
This subdivision that we're in has about 350 homes. And of the 350 homes, about 347 of them have been damaged. I'm almost tripping on some of the damage here. This gives you an idea right here what we're tripping on. But this gives you an idea of the sheet metal that is all over here. Of the 347 homes, many of them have been completely destroyed. And they have a lot of work to do here in Indian River County with all the devastation. Millions and millions of dollars in this county alone.
And with us right now, I'm going to show you these folks right here. These folks, this is Liz Daley and Bob Ebeling. To their right over here, is their house where they have lived for five years. Their house has been totaled. And now I want to talk with them. They moved here from Boston five years ago to come to the sunshine and the beautiful weather of Florida.
I know you evacuated. You came back. When you saw this what did you think?
BOB EBELING, HURRICANE JEANNE VICTIM: Well, I was stunned. You know, I didn't think it would be that bad just seeing and looking all around us. The devastation and destruction is unimaginable. You know, especially I think from people like us and from up north, you know.
TUCHMAN: I want to ask you, Liz -- and I'm sorry for what you're going through. When you came here and saw your house, could you even imagine this would have happened?
LIZ DALEY, HURRICANE JEANNE VICTIM: No. I was devastated.
TUCHMAN: What are you going to do now? You were telling me before you can't really go back into it.
DALEY: Well, we can. But what we're going to do is take down some more of that aluminum that's hanging up there, and see if we can get it somewhat looking like a house again.
TUCHMAN: I want to ask you, any consideration going back to Boston?
EBELING: Yes, we've been talking about it.
TUCHMAN: Because of the hurricanes? EBELING: Yes, really. You can see, you know, you can work on houses, and you know, this can happen like in a day, your house is all destroyed. It's different, you know, back in Boston. You know, the nice snow falls on you; you have a Nor'easter and dig yourself out. It doesn't kill you; it doesn't wreck your house. But this is entirely different.
TUCHMAN: Well, you left and you weren't hurt. And that's the most important thing. Bob, Liz, I wish you the best.
DALEY: Thank you.
TUCHMAN: Thank you very much.
DALEY: Thank you.
TUCHMAN: There's a folklore here that Vero Beach was named Vero Beach because it's short for veered off. Hurricanes never hit this area in the 20-century. But now twice in the month of September, they've been greatly affected.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: Gary, we see that couple has come back to survey the damage. Are you seeing a lot of people heading back into their neighborhoods? Or are people still being urged to stay away?
TUCHMAN: Right now, most people have not come back. They have stayed away. We can tell you from everyone we have talked to who has come back here, only one family stayed behind in their home during this hurricane. And their house, fortunately for them, wasn't as damaged as some of the others. But to stay here, obviously would have been a grave mistake for this particular family.
NGUYEN: Yes. Thank goodness they evacuated. Gary Tuchman, thank you so much.
Well, for many Floridians the misery deepens. Nearly 2 million homes and businesses are without power. Seemingly countless homes have some measure of damage. Not just from Jeanne but also the three major hurricanes before it.
CNN's Sean Callebs is in Steinhatchee, Florida near Tallahassee, with a look at the damage there.
Good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. We're actually in the heart of the bend in Florida separating the peninsula from the Panhandle. Among those 1.9 million homes without power, you can count most of the residents here in Taylor County.
The winds have changed somewhat dramatically. They were coming in from the north, gusting last night at around 55 miles per hour, getting a little bit higher at times but now coming directly from the south. And this is the swollen water of the Steinhatchee River. and last night it was down about eight feet below this. So really the wind, the surge has raised it quite a bit. And there was some low- level flooding in this area. You can look over here. You can see some of the remnants of it, just off the side of the road. You can see the debris line up there. A lot of people were worried in this area as the water began to creep closer and closer to homes. I got off the phone with the sheriff's office in the last hour, and they say that a lot of power lines down, a lot of tree limbs down. Some low- lying areas have been flooded but nothing severe.
Here's one of the problems. We've all seen the palm trees swaying in the breeze during all of these hurricanes that punished Florida. But this area has a lot of live oaks you can see back there, and some pine trees, they come down a little bit easier than the palm trees. Look up here.
People are prepared just a little bit better. Some of the new homes going up in this growing area of the county. And you can see they're actually on 10 foot stilts or so. They expect that the river is going to flood on occasions, so they do what they can to try and prepare for it.
Residents in this county, however, feel that they've been quite lucky. All the hurricanes that have hit Florida, none have directly hit this area. And if you talk to a lot of the residents, they say you can think back for years and years and years, nobody can remember a severe hurricane hitting this area. Charley skirted the area. Frances brought a lot of flooding and knocked power out for a couple of days. Nothing terrible. Ivan just barely missed the area.
They were worried last night about Jeanne because a lot of the homes in this area were built way before Hurricane Andrew, and way before the stricter codes came into this area. But once again, Betty, it appears this area, the bend in Florida, fared pretty well.
NGUYEN: Yes. It's pretty sad when one out of four isn't too bad for the folks there.
CALLEBS: Exactly.
NGUYEN: Sean Callebs, thank you so much in Steinhatchee, Florida.
The man in charge of the United Nations relief efforts in Haiti says illness and disease is spreading, and the crisis is getting worse as mud slides and floodwater hinder the delivery of food. Jeanne washed over Haiti with devastating floods that killed at least 1500 people. A thousand other people are still missing, and many are presumed dead. Some 300,000 are homeless.
Now our "Situation Report" from Iraq. It's been another day of insurgent attacks on coalition efforts. A car bomb exploded in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul this morning, killing three members of the Iraqi National Guard. Three other Guardsmen and four civilians were wounded. Also this morning, a suicide car bombing at a checkpoint near the town of Fallujah. Four Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed there. The checkpoint is operated by both Guard members and U.S. troops. And a roadside bomb blast killed a member of the Iraqi National Guard in northern Iraq. That happened about 20 miles south of Baquba.
We're also following a developing story out of eastern Baghdad. Earlier today, the U.S. launched air strikes on what it calls anti- Iraqi forces in Sadr City. Five people were killed and dozens wounded, including women and children.
Now for the latest we want to go to the capital and CNN senior international correspondent Brent Sadler.
What do you know -- Brent?
BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Betty. Yes, continuing air strikes against strongholds of resistant to the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. What we've seen overnight were air strikes, as you said, against a Shiite slum district of eastern Baghdad. Air strikes against what the U.S. military here describes as positively identified hideouts of militant Shiites loyal to the renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Remember last month it was Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army who were fighting U.S. forces, also Iraqi forces around the mosque in Najaf, one of the holiest cities in Iraq.
Sadr was allowed to pull back, and he's reconstituted some of his forces at least in Sadr City. And that's why we're seeing an extension of air activity in Sadr City. That needs to be seen, Betty, in the context of offensive actions not just in that part of Baghdad, but also in key areas, no-go areas like Fallujah this past several days. Air strikes against the known whereabouts of loyalists who were following Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the top terror suspect. This part of a widening strategy by U.S. military forces, and the Iraqis to try and secure tough areas ahead of planned elections at the end of January -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Brent, besides these air strikes what else is being done to stop the insurgency?
SADLER: Well, it's on many levels. Not just the military level. It's also a blend of political efforts to like, if you can imagine, cleaning away from the terrorists the insurgents. The so-called insurgents, those that are made up of former regime loyalists. The idea is to try and attract them into a political process and isolate the foreign fighters, the Jihadists.
And part of that ongoing effort has been this day, top-level talks in the Syrian capital Damascus; Syrian neighbors, Iraq. And the Syrians under tremendous U.S. pressure to get aboard the policy in Iraq, to cut off a flow of funds and foreign fighters moving from Syria into Iraq, and feeding the insurgency. And a Two-Star U.S. general is now in Damascus with Iraqi interim government officials from the Interior Ministry, meeting face-to-face with their Syrian counterpart, in the hope of really doing something serious that will plug up that stem of money and recruits crossing the border -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Now are we talking about joint patrols or just cooperation between Syria and Iraq and the U.S.?
SADLER: Joint patrols between U.S. forces and the Syrian army on the ground may be something of a stretch. But what you're looking at here is the probability in the next true months, perhaps even a shorter time frame, of border guard cooperation. Iraqi border guards. And that's a growing force here in Iraq today. Cooperating with their Syrian opposite numbers on the other side of the border. But this is still a lot of work to go.
NGUYEN: All right. Brent Sadler, thank you so much from Baghdad today.
The first presidential debate for election 2004 is this week. We'll tell you what the candidates are doing to prepare for the Thursday night duel.
And shorter combat tours for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. One military official says the idea is being considered. We'll get a live report from the Pentagon.
Also later, city life with children. We'll sit down with two women who speak from experience about the risk, the benefits and how to make it all work.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Now to the race for the White House. Thirty-six days until Election Day and the presidential candidates are boning up on foreign policy and homeland security for their first debate, which is on Thursday. President Bush spent the weekend at his Texas ranch preparing for a face-off with John Kerry. Bush will take a break today for campaign appearances in southwestern Ohio.
Now for more we want to go to Washington where White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is standing by with the latest.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. Well, just moments ago, President Bush leaving his Crawford ranch for Ohio to make those two stops back on the campaign trail. But it was this weekend he spent there essentially preparing for this critical debate. We are told the president was comfortable. That he was relaxed. That he has been at this for three months now. But of course it's intensified, these mock debate sessions. We're told playing Senator Kerry is New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg. Also playing the moderator is his ad advisor and media guru, Mark McKinnon.
Now, Mr. Bush was fired a number of questions. He was given time accuse, very much like what you're going to see in Thursday's format. He is also watching videotapes, we're told, of Kerry's famous debates with Massachusetts Governor William Weld. He is listening to audiocassettes of Kerry's most frequently used attack lines on the campaign trail. We are told that he is list being to those cassettes between his campaign stops on Air Force 1. Sometimes even listening to those tapes while he is working out.
Of course, the focus of the first debate is on foreign policy, Iraq policy. The polls still showing that President Bush very much his strong suit when it comes to foreign policy. But at the same time, the Bush campaign is continuing to play this game of low expectations. They are portraying Senator Kerry as very much a far superior debater to President Bush. So that whatever the outcome, President Bush looks like the winner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN BARTLETT, COMMS. DIR., WHITE HOUSE: He was an all-star debater down in his Ivy League preparation in school. He's been in the Senate. That's where it's just the most august body of where debate takes place on a daily basis. So he's a very skilled debater. President Bush, I'm sure, won't probably -- he'll probably stumble over a word here or there. But I think by the end, people will know where he stands on the issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And the president continuing talking about those issues today in Ohio. Very interestingly, the first county he is going to, he lost that county by just 324 votes. Then he is following that with a trip to another county where he won by 40,000 votes. This is very reflective of the Bush campaign's strategy to try to win some of those undecided voters, at the same time shoring up his base -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Suzanne, we want to put up a live picture right now of the president as he begins to depart from Waco, headed to southwestern Ohio for two campaign events today. But I wanted to ask you, as we just heard in that sound bite, Kerry is a skilled debater. What are some of the specifics of President Bush, and what he's going to be focusing on, knowing that Kerry is such a skilled debater?
MALVEAUX: Well, it's actually rather predictable what he's going to be focusing on. Because he has been listening to some of these attack lines from Senator Kerry. He has also, of course, been watching his style when you look at those tapes and when he debates Massachusetts Governor Weld. But essentially it's going to be what the stump speeches are. I mean it's going to be about Iraq policy. It's going to be about this line that the president has gone off message here. That he is not focusing on the war on terror. He's not focusing on Osama bin Laden as well as Afghanistan.
Those are the kinds of things that he is going to have to fight. Those are the kinds of attack lines that he is expecting.
NGUYEN: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much for that.
And handling one devastating storm is hard enough. But handling a series of them seems unimaginable. Coming up, the Red Cross on how workers and rescuers are keeping up with the hurricanes.
And predatory lending? Don't let your need for a loan lure you into a trip.
Gerri, can you help?
GERRI WILLIS, CNNFN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Betty. We'll tell you how to spot a predatory lender from a mile away when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: After a weekend of debate preparations in Crawford, Texas, the president -- this is tape of him in Waco boarding Air Force 1. Today he is heading to southwestern Ohio for two campaign events. Again this is happening in Waco, the president just boarding Air Force 1 heading to Ohio.
And if you're a first-time homebuyer, well, you may want to think about refinancing. And there are some shadowy figures just waiting for you out there.
CNNfn personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with tips to protect you from predatory lenders.
Hi there, Gerri. It doesn't sound too good, predatory lenders.
WILLIS: Yes. Betty, they are absolute scam artists. The first red flag to watch for are high-pressure salespeople. They'll tell you stuff like this. You know what? I'm your only chance to get a loan; you'll never get a loan unless you deal with me. Or they might tell you to lie on some of your application material, saying that you make more money than you actually do. If you hear either of these pitches run for the hills. It's a bad deal and you're dealing with a scam artist. Keep in mind that if you sign on for too much debt, at the end of the day you could lose the House, ruin your credit rating.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And someone asks you to lie, that's definitely not a good sign. What about knowing your home's value?
WILLIS: Well, another thing that these scam artists do is they also inflate your home's value. They have appraisers working for them that will say your house is worth more than it is. So it makes sense for you to know your home's value. Hire your own appraiser for $300 to $600. Or simply go on some of the Web sites of the real estate agencies in your area; see how much homes of that same size and configuration of yours are going for. You can also go to dumania.com to find out just how much homes in your area have sold for recently.
NGUYEN: Yes. Knowledge is power.
OK. There's something out there called steering. What is that all about and why should you be aware of it?
WILLIS: Steering is bad news. This is when a lender tells you, you know what? We can only give you the kind of rate we give people with bad credit histories. Check it out. Make sure that you're not one of those people, because if they put you into one of those higher rates, you could be paying 9 percent to 20 percent on that loan. It's easy enough to check out your credit rating. Go to one of the big Web sites, Expedia -- or pardon me. Experion.com is a great Web site to go to. Find out exactly what your rating is. Six eighty or higher, you should get the best rates out there.
NGUYEN: And aside from rates, I think a lot of people get confused over the fees. Which fees are really legitimate?
WILLIS: Well, if you hear payment-processing fees, document preparation fees, those are things you do not want to pay. If somebody is charging you $200 to get your credit rating, huh-uh, it doesn't cost that much. Make sure you're not paying junk fees.
NGUYEN: And is there help out there, free help? We want free help.
WILLIS: Well, you know, everybody wants some help out there. A couple of places to go: hud.gov, that's the Department of Housing and Urban Development their Web site can give you some help. Also give them a jingle directly in your area, because they'll actually help you look through some of these documents and make sure that you aren't dealing with a scam artist -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, good advice. Gerri Willis, thank you so much.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: Well, there are so many emotional stories being lived out right now in Florida. You'll meet some of those struggling to cope with their losses.
And a massive mobilization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the effort to recover. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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Aired September 27, 2004 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm Betty Nguyen in today for Daryn Kagan.
Now Tropical Storm Jeanne moves up through Georgia today after pounding Florida. The state's fourth major hurricane in six weeks has caused extensive damage and left 1.9 million homes and businesses without power. At least four people have been killed in Florida. President Bush has declared a state of -- the state a major disaster area, clearing the way for more federal aid to help with the recovery.
U.S. air strikes targeted insurgents in the Baghdad district of Sadr City early this morning. Iraqi officials say five people were killed and 46 others wounded. Women and children are among those injured. Fighters loyal to rebel cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have been clashing almost daily with U.S. and Iraqi forces.
A U.S. military official says Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahari are more likely to be in Pakistan than Afghanistan. The head of coalition forces in Afghanistan says key al Qaeda figures feel more protected in the remote areas of Pakistan. No major al Qaeda figures have been killed or captured in Afghanistan since 2002.
And John Kerry takes a break from debate preparations. He has a town hall-style meeting with voters in Spring Green, Wisconsin later this hour. Kerry is huddling with aides at a Wisconsin resort ahead of Thursday's first presidential debate in Miami.
In Florida, life after Hurricane Jeanne begins anew this morning. Jeanne is now moving across central Georgia. It weakened overnight to a tropical storm but remains dangerous with heavy rains and 50-mile- per-hour winds. That's a shadow of the monster that howled ashore just before midnight on Friday. The 120-mile-an-hour winds plowed into Hutchinson Island near Stewart on Florida's east coast.
Well, the last three weeks have been horrific. That's how an owner of a mobile home park describes life in Vero Beach, Florida. The coastal town had just begun its recovery from Frances when Jeanne slammed into the area.
CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman is in Vero Beach with a closer look.
And Gary, this area suffered some devastating flooding. GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Betty, it's really been difficult for the people here in Vero Beach. You know, we've driven all over the parts of south Florida that have been devastated by these two hurricanes over the last three weeks, but this particular area we're in right now really stands out. This is Vero Beach, Florida. Vero Beach is well known for being the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training. Dodgertown, it's been here for generations. But it's also now known as a place that has suffered greatly. Over the last three weeks suffered in September 2004 with two different hurricanes.
This subdivision that we're in has about 350 homes. And of the 350 homes, about 347 of them have been damaged. I'm almost tripping on some of the damage here. This gives you an idea right here what we're tripping on. But this gives you an idea of the sheet metal that is all over here. Of the 347 homes, many of them have been completely destroyed. And they have a lot of work to do here in Indian River County with all the devastation. Millions and millions of dollars in this county alone.
And with us right now, I'm going to show you these folks right here. These folks, this is Liz Daley and Bob Ebeling. To their right over here, is their house where they have lived for five years. Their house has been totaled. And now I want to talk with them. They moved here from Boston five years ago to come to the sunshine and the beautiful weather of Florida.
I know you evacuated. You came back. When you saw this what did you think?
BOB EBELING, HURRICANE JEANNE VICTIM: Well, I was stunned. You know, I didn't think it would be that bad just seeing and looking all around us. The devastation and destruction is unimaginable. You know, especially I think from people like us and from up north, you know.
TUCHMAN: I want to ask you, Liz -- and I'm sorry for what you're going through. When you came here and saw your house, could you even imagine this would have happened?
LIZ DALEY, HURRICANE JEANNE VICTIM: No. I was devastated.
TUCHMAN: What are you going to do now? You were telling me before you can't really go back into it.
DALEY: Well, we can. But what we're going to do is take down some more of that aluminum that's hanging up there, and see if we can get it somewhat looking like a house again.
TUCHMAN: I want to ask you, any consideration going back to Boston?
EBELING: Yes, we've been talking about it.
TUCHMAN: Because of the hurricanes? EBELING: Yes, really. You can see, you know, you can work on houses, and you know, this can happen like in a day, your house is all destroyed. It's different, you know, back in Boston. You know, the nice snow falls on you; you have a Nor'easter and dig yourself out. It doesn't kill you; it doesn't wreck your house. But this is entirely different.
TUCHMAN: Well, you left and you weren't hurt. And that's the most important thing. Bob, Liz, I wish you the best.
DALEY: Thank you.
TUCHMAN: Thank you very much.
DALEY: Thank you.
TUCHMAN: There's a folklore here that Vero Beach was named Vero Beach because it's short for veered off. Hurricanes never hit this area in the 20-century. But now twice in the month of September, they've been greatly affected.
Betty, back to you.
NGUYEN: Gary, we see that couple has come back to survey the damage. Are you seeing a lot of people heading back into their neighborhoods? Or are people still being urged to stay away?
TUCHMAN: Right now, most people have not come back. They have stayed away. We can tell you from everyone we have talked to who has come back here, only one family stayed behind in their home during this hurricane. And their house, fortunately for them, wasn't as damaged as some of the others. But to stay here, obviously would have been a grave mistake for this particular family.
NGUYEN: Yes. Thank goodness they evacuated. Gary Tuchman, thank you so much.
Well, for many Floridians the misery deepens. Nearly 2 million homes and businesses are without power. Seemingly countless homes have some measure of damage. Not just from Jeanne but also the three major hurricanes before it.
CNN's Sean Callebs is in Steinhatchee, Florida near Tallahassee, with a look at the damage there.
Good morning, Sean.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. We're actually in the heart of the bend in Florida separating the peninsula from the Panhandle. Among those 1.9 million homes without power, you can count most of the residents here in Taylor County.
The winds have changed somewhat dramatically. They were coming in from the north, gusting last night at around 55 miles per hour, getting a little bit higher at times but now coming directly from the south. And this is the swollen water of the Steinhatchee River. and last night it was down about eight feet below this. So really the wind, the surge has raised it quite a bit. And there was some low- level flooding in this area. You can look over here. You can see some of the remnants of it, just off the side of the road. You can see the debris line up there. A lot of people were worried in this area as the water began to creep closer and closer to homes. I got off the phone with the sheriff's office in the last hour, and they say that a lot of power lines down, a lot of tree limbs down. Some low- lying areas have been flooded but nothing severe.
Here's one of the problems. We've all seen the palm trees swaying in the breeze during all of these hurricanes that punished Florida. But this area has a lot of live oaks you can see back there, and some pine trees, they come down a little bit easier than the palm trees. Look up here.
People are prepared just a little bit better. Some of the new homes going up in this growing area of the county. And you can see they're actually on 10 foot stilts or so. They expect that the river is going to flood on occasions, so they do what they can to try and prepare for it.
Residents in this county, however, feel that they've been quite lucky. All the hurricanes that have hit Florida, none have directly hit this area. And if you talk to a lot of the residents, they say you can think back for years and years and years, nobody can remember a severe hurricane hitting this area. Charley skirted the area. Frances brought a lot of flooding and knocked power out for a couple of days. Nothing terrible. Ivan just barely missed the area.
They were worried last night about Jeanne because a lot of the homes in this area were built way before Hurricane Andrew, and way before the stricter codes came into this area. But once again, Betty, it appears this area, the bend in Florida, fared pretty well.
NGUYEN: Yes. It's pretty sad when one out of four isn't too bad for the folks there.
CALLEBS: Exactly.
NGUYEN: Sean Callebs, thank you so much in Steinhatchee, Florida.
The man in charge of the United Nations relief efforts in Haiti says illness and disease is spreading, and the crisis is getting worse as mud slides and floodwater hinder the delivery of food. Jeanne washed over Haiti with devastating floods that killed at least 1500 people. A thousand other people are still missing, and many are presumed dead. Some 300,000 are homeless.
Now our "Situation Report" from Iraq. It's been another day of insurgent attacks on coalition efforts. A car bomb exploded in the northern Iraqi town of Mosul this morning, killing three members of the Iraqi National Guard. Three other Guardsmen and four civilians were wounded. Also this morning, a suicide car bombing at a checkpoint near the town of Fallujah. Four Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed there. The checkpoint is operated by both Guard members and U.S. troops. And a roadside bomb blast killed a member of the Iraqi National Guard in northern Iraq. That happened about 20 miles south of Baquba.
We're also following a developing story out of eastern Baghdad. Earlier today, the U.S. launched air strikes on what it calls anti- Iraqi forces in Sadr City. Five people were killed and dozens wounded, including women and children.
Now for the latest we want to go to the capital and CNN senior international correspondent Brent Sadler.
What do you know -- Brent?
BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Betty. Yes, continuing air strikes against strongholds of resistant to the Iraqi government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. What we've seen overnight were air strikes, as you said, against a Shiite slum district of eastern Baghdad. Air strikes against what the U.S. military here describes as positively identified hideouts of militant Shiites loyal to the renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Remember last month it was Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army who were fighting U.S. forces, also Iraqi forces around the mosque in Najaf, one of the holiest cities in Iraq.
Sadr was allowed to pull back, and he's reconstituted some of his forces at least in Sadr City. And that's why we're seeing an extension of air activity in Sadr City. That needs to be seen, Betty, in the context of offensive actions not just in that part of Baghdad, but also in key areas, no-go areas like Fallujah this past several days. Air strikes against the known whereabouts of loyalists who were following Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the top terror suspect. This part of a widening strategy by U.S. military forces, and the Iraqis to try and secure tough areas ahead of planned elections at the end of January -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Brent, besides these air strikes what else is being done to stop the insurgency?
SADLER: Well, it's on many levels. Not just the military level. It's also a blend of political efforts to like, if you can imagine, cleaning away from the terrorists the insurgents. The so-called insurgents, those that are made up of former regime loyalists. The idea is to try and attract them into a political process and isolate the foreign fighters, the Jihadists.
And part of that ongoing effort has been this day, top-level talks in the Syrian capital Damascus; Syrian neighbors, Iraq. And the Syrians under tremendous U.S. pressure to get aboard the policy in Iraq, to cut off a flow of funds and foreign fighters moving from Syria into Iraq, and feeding the insurgency. And a Two-Star U.S. general is now in Damascus with Iraqi interim government officials from the Interior Ministry, meeting face-to-face with their Syrian counterpart, in the hope of really doing something serious that will plug up that stem of money and recruits crossing the border -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Now are we talking about joint patrols or just cooperation between Syria and Iraq and the U.S.?
SADLER: Joint patrols between U.S. forces and the Syrian army on the ground may be something of a stretch. But what you're looking at here is the probability in the next true months, perhaps even a shorter time frame, of border guard cooperation. Iraqi border guards. And that's a growing force here in Iraq today. Cooperating with their Syrian opposite numbers on the other side of the border. But this is still a lot of work to go.
NGUYEN: All right. Brent Sadler, thank you so much from Baghdad today.
The first presidential debate for election 2004 is this week. We'll tell you what the candidates are doing to prepare for the Thursday night duel.
And shorter combat tours for troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. One military official says the idea is being considered. We'll get a live report from the Pentagon.
Also later, city life with children. We'll sit down with two women who speak from experience about the risk, the benefits and how to make it all work.
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NGUYEN: Now to the race for the White House. Thirty-six days until Election Day and the presidential candidates are boning up on foreign policy and homeland security for their first debate, which is on Thursday. President Bush spent the weekend at his Texas ranch preparing for a face-off with John Kerry. Bush will take a break today for campaign appearances in southwestern Ohio.
Now for more we want to go to Washington where White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is standing by with the latest.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. Well, just moments ago, President Bush leaving his Crawford ranch for Ohio to make those two stops back on the campaign trail. But it was this weekend he spent there essentially preparing for this critical debate. We are told the president was comfortable. That he was relaxed. That he has been at this for three months now. But of course it's intensified, these mock debate sessions. We're told playing Senator Kerry is New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg. Also playing the moderator is his ad advisor and media guru, Mark McKinnon.
Now, Mr. Bush was fired a number of questions. He was given time accuse, very much like what you're going to see in Thursday's format. He is also watching videotapes, we're told, of Kerry's famous debates with Massachusetts Governor William Weld. He is listening to audiocassettes of Kerry's most frequently used attack lines on the campaign trail. We are told that he is list being to those cassettes between his campaign stops on Air Force 1. Sometimes even listening to those tapes while he is working out.
Of course, the focus of the first debate is on foreign policy, Iraq policy. The polls still showing that President Bush very much his strong suit when it comes to foreign policy. But at the same time, the Bush campaign is continuing to play this game of low expectations. They are portraying Senator Kerry as very much a far superior debater to President Bush. So that whatever the outcome, President Bush looks like the winner.
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DAN BARTLETT, COMMS. DIR., WHITE HOUSE: He was an all-star debater down in his Ivy League preparation in school. He's been in the Senate. That's where it's just the most august body of where debate takes place on a daily basis. So he's a very skilled debater. President Bush, I'm sure, won't probably -- he'll probably stumble over a word here or there. But I think by the end, people will know where he stands on the issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: And the president continuing talking about those issues today in Ohio. Very interestingly, the first county he is going to, he lost that county by just 324 votes. Then he is following that with a trip to another county where he won by 40,000 votes. This is very reflective of the Bush campaign's strategy to try to win some of those undecided voters, at the same time shoring up his base -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Suzanne, we want to put up a live picture right now of the president as he begins to depart from Waco, headed to southwestern Ohio for two campaign events today. But I wanted to ask you, as we just heard in that sound bite, Kerry is a skilled debater. What are some of the specifics of President Bush, and what he's going to be focusing on, knowing that Kerry is such a skilled debater?
MALVEAUX: Well, it's actually rather predictable what he's going to be focusing on. Because he has been listening to some of these attack lines from Senator Kerry. He has also, of course, been watching his style when you look at those tapes and when he debates Massachusetts Governor Weld. But essentially it's going to be what the stump speeches are. I mean it's going to be about Iraq policy. It's going to be about this line that the president has gone off message here. That he is not focusing on the war on terror. He's not focusing on Osama bin Laden as well as Afghanistan.
Those are the kinds of things that he is going to have to fight. Those are the kinds of attack lines that he is expecting.
NGUYEN: All right. Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much for that.
And handling one devastating storm is hard enough. But handling a series of them seems unimaginable. Coming up, the Red Cross on how workers and rescuers are keeping up with the hurricanes.
And predatory lending? Don't let your need for a loan lure you into a trip.
Gerri, can you help?
GERRI WILLIS, CNNFN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Betty. We'll tell you how to spot a predatory lender from a mile away when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.
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NGUYEN: After a weekend of debate preparations in Crawford, Texas, the president -- this is tape of him in Waco boarding Air Force 1. Today he is heading to southwestern Ohio for two campaign events. Again this is happening in Waco, the president just boarding Air Force 1 heading to Ohio.
And if you're a first-time homebuyer, well, you may want to think about refinancing. And there are some shadowy figures just waiting for you out there.
CNNfn personal finance editor Gerri Willis is here with tips to protect you from predatory lenders.
Hi there, Gerri. It doesn't sound too good, predatory lenders.
WILLIS: Yes. Betty, they are absolute scam artists. The first red flag to watch for are high-pressure salespeople. They'll tell you stuff like this. You know what? I'm your only chance to get a loan; you'll never get a loan unless you deal with me. Or they might tell you to lie on some of your application material, saying that you make more money than you actually do. If you hear either of these pitches run for the hills. It's a bad deal and you're dealing with a scam artist. Keep in mind that if you sign on for too much debt, at the end of the day you could lose the House, ruin your credit rating.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And someone asks you to lie, that's definitely not a good sign. What about knowing your home's value?
WILLIS: Well, another thing that these scam artists do is they also inflate your home's value. They have appraisers working for them that will say your house is worth more than it is. So it makes sense for you to know your home's value. Hire your own appraiser for $300 to $600. Or simply go on some of the Web sites of the real estate agencies in your area; see how much homes of that same size and configuration of yours are going for. You can also go to dumania.com to find out just how much homes in your area have sold for recently.
NGUYEN: Yes. Knowledge is power.
OK. There's something out there called steering. What is that all about and why should you be aware of it?
WILLIS: Steering is bad news. This is when a lender tells you, you know what? We can only give you the kind of rate we give people with bad credit histories. Check it out. Make sure that you're not one of those people, because if they put you into one of those higher rates, you could be paying 9 percent to 20 percent on that loan. It's easy enough to check out your credit rating. Go to one of the big Web sites, Expedia -- or pardon me. Experion.com is a great Web site to go to. Find out exactly what your rating is. Six eighty or higher, you should get the best rates out there.
NGUYEN: And aside from rates, I think a lot of people get confused over the fees. Which fees are really legitimate?
WILLIS: Well, if you hear payment-processing fees, document preparation fees, those are things you do not want to pay. If somebody is charging you $200 to get your credit rating, huh-uh, it doesn't cost that much. Make sure you're not paying junk fees.
NGUYEN: And is there help out there, free help? We want free help.
WILLIS: Well, you know, everybody wants some help out there. A couple of places to go: hud.gov, that's the Department of Housing and Urban Development their Web site can give you some help. Also give them a jingle directly in your area, because they'll actually help you look through some of these documents and make sure that you aren't dealing with a scam artist -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, good advice. Gerri Willis, thank you so much.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: Well, there are so many emotional stories being lived out right now in Florida. You'll meet some of those struggling to cope with their losses.
And a massive mobilization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the effort to recover. Stay with us.
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