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CNN Live Today

On Alert for Hurricane Wilma; Tom DeLay in the Hot Seat

Aired October 21, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

(WEATHER REPORT)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A top look at our -- stories.

Congressman Tom DeLay appeared in court this hour on money laundering and conspiracy charges. DeLay is accused of illegally funneling corporate donations to Texas state legislative candidates. DeLay denies any wrongdoing. DeLay's attorney asks the judge, a Democrat and a moveon.org contributor, to recuse himself. The judge agreed to let another judge hear the recusal motion.

A fire inside a subway store room shuts down trains in the heart of New York City. The Transit Authority says lines are down in both directions between Broadway and Lafayette and along 34th Street. The Sixth Avenue corridor also is out of service. We'll follow this developing story throughout the hour.

A lawyer for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants has been kidnapped and killed. The body of Sadoon al Janabi was found Thursday outside a Baghdad mosque. He had been defending a former chief judge of Hussein's revolutionary court.

A 23-year-old mother is due to be arraigned this morning in California for allegedly murdering her three young children. Lashaun Harris is accused of tossing the children into the San Francisco Bay on Wednesday. Relatives say she has a history of mental health problems and had stopped taking her medication.

In Iraq, four U.S. servicemen have been killed in two separate incidents in Anbar Province. Three marines were killed by a roadside bomb and a soldier was killed by indirect fire. Thursday's deaths bring the number of U.S. troops killed in Iraq to 1,990.

Live coverage is straight ahead from Florida, as Hurricane Wilma creeps closer. Reports from Sanibel Island, Naples and Key West when LIVE TODAY returns.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: If you live along the coast, you want to know how to protect your home from high winds and hurricanes. "Five Tips" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hurricane Wilma is pounding the Yucatan Peninsula this morning. Forecasters say the Category 4 storm could hit Florida in a couple of days. Our reporters are covering storm preparations. We have Kareen Wynter in Key West, Jeanne Meserve standing by in Naples.

And we begin with Allan Chernoff on Sanibel Island -- Allan?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, people here are preparing, but preparing reluctantly. That's because this is an absolutely beautiful island. Many people come here for vacation. They don't want to leave. But it's also a very vulnerable island, a full mile into the Gulf of Mexico. And the police chief is concerned for that very reason. He hasn't called for a mandatory evacuation just yet, but he's waiting for a more a definitive forecast before making the call to tell people to get out.

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CHIEF BILL TOMLINSON, SANIBEL ISLAND POLICE: If they're decisive, we will make that recommendation tonight at City Council and we'll make the recommendation that people begin a mandatory evacuation Saturday morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Of course, some people already have left. Their homes are shuttered. And if you drive through the main road here, you'll see not too much activity. In fact, this morning, the traffic flow has been mainly out over the bridge, back to Fort Myers, back to the mainland. But as you can see, the pelicans are still hanging around. I think they're enjoying the peace and quiet -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, enjoy it now. All right, Allan Chernoff, thank you so much.

Let's head south now, and Florida's west coast, where we find Jeanne Meserve in Naples -- Jeanne.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. We traveled town to posh Marco Island this morning. There they were putting up hurricane warning flags. It's clear that a lot of residents have already left. The streets were almost eerie in their silence. And at the local public boat ramp at 8:00 this morning, they normally would have put in 15 boats -- this morning, they had put in exactly one.

Authorities on the island say they're expecting winds of 109 miles per hour, with gusts of 136 miles an hour. Expecting about six inches of rain, but their real concern is the storm surge.

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BILL MOSS, MARCO ISLAND CITY MANAGER: We are a relatively low community. Most of the homes are built at the 10-foot elevation. So if we get a storm surge of 10 -- or at one time, they were predicting 16 feet -- that could be fairly substantial damage for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MESERVE: Here in Collier County, they're expecting a mandatory evacuation order to go into effect at noon today, but it's been extended. It was supposed to end at noon tomorrow. Now it will end at 8:00 a.m. Sunday, a reflection of the fact that Wilma is just taking her time getting here. Back to you -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeanne. Thank you so much. Well, let's check in now with CNN's Kareen Wynter. She is even further south, as south as you can get, Key West.

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, good morning to you. Well, we just got an update from the city, regarding the status of those ever-changing mandatory evacuations that were tentatively set for Saturday. And now we've been told that they're on hold indefinitely, as the city and the county -- they're working closely together to try to pinpoint a closer projected landfall for Wilma. They don't want to have to keep moving it and confusing residents here. So that's on hold.

But in the meantime, they strongly urge residents to pack their bags and, in essence, evacuate. And that's because they're getting word from officials all across the state of Florida that hotel rooms are almost booked up completely. And so they don't want people to run to the challenge as they leave Key West of not having a roof over their head once this storm hits.

We're on very busy Duval Street here in Key West. You can see some businesses behind me boarded up. Business owners aren't the only ones takes precautionary measures. So are residents. It was a such a different activity from what we're seeing today -- yesterday, as people tried to basically stay ahead of the storm, boarding up on their property and making sure that it's still standing once they get back.

But Fred, I have to tell you that concern has switched to a greater level of complacency now that those mandatory evacuations are on hold. People are deciding to perhaps ride the storm out here. So we'll have to assess the situation and see if that indeed changes.

WHITFIELD: Kareen Wynter, thank you so much in Key West.

And if you head a little bit further north from there, Homestead, Florida. Many of you remember Homestead because it was so hard hit by Hurricane Andrew years ago.

Well, now, you're seeing a lot of residents taking the only kinds of precautions they know how, which is sandbagging. And they're going to take a lot of those sandbags back to their home to help kind of use it as a barrier for their homes when, indeed, there is any kind of flooding. Folks taking all kinds of measures, from putting plywood up, hurricane shutters, and this, as well, sandbagging.

With South Florida on alert for Hurricane Wilma, we want to look at ways to prepare your home for such a dangerous storm. CNN personal finance editor Gerri Willis joins us now with today's top five tips.

Good to see you.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE MINISTER: Good to see you, Fredricka.

Well, we looked at some of the measures some folks in Homestead, Florida are taking, which is sandbagging. You begin this list, by talking about securing your garage, certainly not something a lot of folks keep in mind. Well, they should because 80 percent of the damage from hurricanes is caused by garage doors that open up. Here's what happens, the wind rushes into your house and it pops your roof like a bottle cap, Fredricka. You've got to make sure that the garage is secure. Now you can find expensive solutions that will cost you thousands of dollars, but the best thing to do is to check and see if there is a pressure rating on your garage door. If there isn't, then you want to reinforce it, either with plywood or with steel. That's the cheapest way to go.

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, now reinforcing your windows. Everyone knows they should do that, but it's how?

WILLIS: Well, you reinforce your windows by buying some expensive impact-resistant windows, but there's probably a cheaper way to do it. You saw it in some of the reports we saw before. These shutters, often they're metal, are more cost efficient. They're $50 to $60 per square foot to install, which is actually the most cost efficient to do out of there. If you want them made out of wood, you can buy them that way, just make sure they're 3/4 of an inch thick to be absolutely safe.

WHITFIELD: Gluing your roof down. Certainly you're not suggesting that you do it as a homeowner, but you get professionals to do it.

WILLIS: Well, you can get a professional to do it, absolutely. And seems like a crazy thing. You're going use glue to keep your roof on? Well, guess what, some construction is not that good, and part of the problem with roofs is they're just not that well made and they blow of quickly, as I was describing before. You can get some premium flooring adhesive, and what you're going to do is you're going to connect that to the roof beams and the supports, just put it in with the caulking gun. It's that easy, and you stand to have your roof stay on just a little bit longer. It may be all that you need to keep your house safe.

WHITFIELD: And then you want to take note of the trees around you, because often they become projectiles in storms like this.

WILLIS: That's right. And also they can fall in your house. Let's face it, sick trees are a danger to you, and your neighbors and your family. Here's a signal that you have a sick tree in your area. You have mushrooms growing out of the tree itself, large mushrooms, maybe an infestation of insects, you'll see that, and then you've got to obviously watch out for those long limbs that are projecting out over the top of your house.

WHITFIELD: And then secure things around your house.

WILLIS: We say this every time that a hurricane comes. Major winds, even tropical storm winds, can actually turn toys, patio furniture into projectiles that are very, very dangerous for your family and your neighbors. Be sure to put those away. That's a quick fix that can save you time, money, even lives -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Gerri Willis, thank you so much.

The Saddam Hussein trial just took a complicated and concerning turn. One of the lawyers has been murdered. The details straight ahead.

And a U.N. report links Syria to the murder of Lebanon's former leader, and the link allegedly goes high up in the country's leadership. Live reaction from Beirut, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An attorney for one of Saddam Hussein's co-defendants has been kidnapped and killed. Sadoon Al-Janabi was abducted by five gunmen who stormed his office on Thursday. His body was found near a Baghdad mosque. He had been shot in the head. His death prompted Hussein's legal team to call for better protection. Al Janabi was defending Awad Hamad Al Bandar, former judge of Hussein's Revolutionary Court. Bandar is accused of sentencing 143 people to death following a failed assassination attempt on Hussein in 1982.

And kidnapped Rory Carroll is now a free man. The reporter for London's "Guardian Newspaper" was abducted in Baghdad on Wednesday. He told his parents he was held in a cell and released a day later to representatives of the Iraqi government.

Syria is disputing a U.N. report linking Damascus with us the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, calling the allegation false, unprofessional and politicized. Hariri was killed earlier this year in a bomb attack in Beirut. Many of his supporters claim Syria was involved, and a report submitted to the U.N. Security Council yesterday agree. While the U.N. report does not mention Syria's President Assad, it implicates Assad's brother-in-law, who is Syria's military intelligence chief. The report also implicates some pro-Syrian Lebanese leaders.

And, of course, we'll have much more on Hurricane Wilma churning around the Yucatan Peninsula right now, perhaps on a path toward Florida, when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay now speaking in Austin after appearing in court today.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

REP. TOM DELAY (R), TEXAS: I know that. And more importantly, Ronnie Earle knows that. You may be surprised to hear this from me today, but I find this is a very good day. For the first time in over three years, I was provided the opportunity to go before a court and refute these baseless charges that are the result of a political vendetta being acted out by Ronnie Earle. Now, unfortunately for Ronnie Earle, the facts and the law are on my side.

The only reason I had to be in that courtroom today was because Ronnie Earle has abused his prosecutorial power and he's pursued these contrived and baseless charges.

Because of actions that I took through the democratic process to rid this very legislature of years of unfair gerrymandering by Texas Democrats, I became a target for Ronnie Earle. Because I was successful in exercising my right to be involved in a political process that elected more Republicans, I became a target of Ronnie Earle.

DELAY: And because Ronnie Earle and the Democrat Party could not beat me at the ballot box and could not beat me on the floor of the House of Representatives, they are now desperately trying to challenge me in a courtroom.

In short, I have been charged for defeating Democrats, I have been charged for advocating constitutional representation, and I have been charged for advancing the Republican agenda.

Ronnie Earle and the Democrat campaign behind him will be unsuccessful. I will fight this prosecutor's abuse of the legal system, and I will be absolutely exonerated. I will not -- I will not -- let a prosecutor who pursues his political enemies by abusing the law and manufacturing baseless charges wreck our justice system.

Grand jury shopping and make-the-law-up-as-you-go injustice by the district attorney will not rule the day. The facts and the law will rule the day.

A fair trial with an impartial jury will look at the facts. And they will understand that, without a doubt, I committed no wrongdoing whatsoever.

I look forward to presenting those facts and putting my faith in the law and order to welcome my inevitable exoneration.

Thank you once again for this opportunity to talk to you all. And have a nice day.

WHITFIELD: All right. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay there, commenting shortly after coming out of a Travis County courtroom there in Austin, saying that he is pleased that for the first time in three years, he's had an opportunity to refute these charges. And he said the only reason that he is here today, quote, "is because Ronnie Earle has abused prosecutorial power." And he has been charged "for defeating Democrats." Those are the words from Tom DeLay.

Now, moments ago, after the court proceedings ended for today, Ronnie Earle had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RONNIE EARLE, TRAVIS CO., TX, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: I believe in the essential fairness of the people who live in Austin and Travis County.

QUESTION: Why should people trust this judge?

EARLE: This judge has a record of fairness to all who come before his bench. And again, membership in the political party does not determine the quality of justice in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, District Attorney Ronnie Earle and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, both seeing things very differently. And that's why you've got this court case now taking place in Travis County. And, of course, we'll have more on this case as we get more information and developments now.

Well, our political analyst Bill Schneider is with us, and perhaps we can get your point of view on this. Certainly, we've got a war of words taking place inside the courtroom and even outside. Tom DeLay saying, actually, he's celebrating the fact that he had a chance to be in court to refute these charges.

The charges being that he helped collect $190,000 from corporations and then funneled it through the Republican party to try to get other legislators elected there in Texas. And Ronnie Earle saying that this is illegal, this is not allowed in the state of Texas. And that's why these charges are being pursued.

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. There could have been a crime committed. It looks very much like somebody did something wrong. The question is, exactly how much did Tom DeLay know? Are his fingerprints on this at all? Was it was a money laundering operation? Those are the allegations that a grand jury, at least one grand jury in Texas, has seen fit to bring charges, believing that there's probable cause that Tom DeLay did have something to do with it.

Tom DeLay is doing a couple of things here. Number one, he's creating the impression that he's fine. He's having a great week. Everything has going very well. He says repeatedly, everyone knows what this is all about, which is his second line of attack. That this is all about partisanship, it's all about politics. The prosecutor, now the judge, they all have it in for me. They're Democrats. And this is nothing but politics as usual. There isn't any real substantive basis behind these charges. So he's -- it's called spin and he's trying to get the best case he can. When you've got a lemon, you make lemonade.

WHITFIELD: But at the same, his attorney Dick DeGuerin making a fairly powerful argument there in and outside the courtroom, saying that the judge should recuse himself because he has supported a group that has very openly been in opposition of Tom DeLay. And now a senior judge is going to consider that motion being made by the defense. It seems like that just might be a good argument, right? SCHNEIDER: Well, that's a strong argument. You've got to keep in mind that in Texas, they have partisan election judges. When you have a partisan election of judges, it's very likely that the judges are going to be -- hello, partisan. And that's exactly what happened here. I can argue -- look, I agree, it does not look good for a judge giving money to a group like that. It's a little bit surprising, as Jeff Toobin said.

WHITFIELD: It is. All right. Bill Schneider, thank you so much for your point of view. We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A Category 4 and Hurricane Wilma is a serious threat to the Yucatan Peninsula right now. On the telephone phone with us is Kurt Jansen. He is in Cancun. He operates a nightclub there called The City. And Kurt, you've been living there for about seven years now.

KURT JANSEN, NIGHTCLUB OWNER: That's right.

WHITFIELD: Have you endured other storms?

JANSEN: Well, we had a storm in July, but this is the worst thing that has happened to me in Cancun.

WHITFIELD: Ordinarily, when you've got a storm threatening your area, do you try to at least go to high ground, or do you stay put, like you are now?

JANSEN: Well, you know, the part where we are now in Cancun is a little bit higher. There's not really problems with water. There is a lot of wind here. I'm standing close to a window and I can see what's happening outside.

WHITFIELD: So describe -- what are you seeing?

JANSEN: Well, the wind is very hard. There are trees everywhere. You see things flying around. We still have electricity, thank God, but we had some failures already, that the light went out for like ten seconds and then came back. So we still hope that this is going to stay like this. But we just heard on the radio that the hurricane will be here in one hour.

WHITFIELD: There were an awful lot of tourists who did not get a chance to catch some of those last flights out. Have you interacted with any of them? Have you seen them? Do you know where people have gone?

JANSEN: Yes. I know that a lot of people still took the bus and they went to Merida, which is like 330 kilometers, like 200 miles from here. And the airport is still open there. So probably they could catch a flight over there. Also, we have a lot of safe hiding places here in Cancun, where all these people got by bus. And the government takes care of them. WHITFIELD: Hiding places meaning some bonified shelters or reinforced buildings?

JANSEN: Yes, shelters.

WHITFIELD: OK. And how about -- now your building, I understand that it was built about -- I guess in 2004? So that's a fairly up-to- date structure. Do you have a fairly good feeling about how it might endure these kind of hurricane-force winds?

JANSEN: Well, I just had -- I just had a conversation with my security people. They're still on the premises. They stayed there all night, and they're going to stay there until the hurricane is completely gone. We have some water damage because of some drainage that got some leaves in it, I guess. The beach club is harmed very badly. Like ten minutes ago, my chief security told me that the swimming pool is gone, the Jacuzzi is gone.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

JANSEN: So, yes, the waves are very, very high. It's washing away a big part of our beach club. The club itself, it's a huge building. It's very strong. It should resist.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Kurt Jansen, best of luck to you. And try to be safe there.

JANSEN: We'll do our best. Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks for taking the time out. We'll try and check back with you later on.

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