Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

President Bush Meets With Iraqi Prime Minister in Baghdad; Congressman Patrick Kennedy to Plead Guilty to Driving Under Influence of Prescription Drugs; Tropical Storm Alberto

Aired June 13, 2006 - 11:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Want to go right to the tape. President Bush making a statement during his surprise visit to Baghdad.
Let's listen in.

And we should start hearing the leaders speak in just a minute. That's President Bush making a surprise trip. We didn't know about it until today. It's a five-hour trip to Baghdad. This was taped just a few minutes ago.

Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for this opportunity to visit with your cabinet.

I have expressed our country's desire to work with you, but I appreciate you recognize the fact that the future of your country is in your hands. The decisions you and your cabinet make will be determinant as to whether or not a country succeeds, that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself.

I'm impressed by the cabinet that you've assembled. You've assembled people from all parts of your country, representing different -- different religions and different histories and traditions. And yet, the cabinet here represents the entire Iraqi people. And I appreciate your commitment to representing the people of Iraq.

I'm impressed by the strength of your character and your desire to succeed. And I'm impressed by your strategy.

We discussed -- I discussed earlier with the prime minister and here with his cabinet and with members of my cabinet the strategy necessary to have a country that is capable of answering to the needs of the people. We discussed the security strategy. We discussed an economic strategy and a reconstruction strategy. And all of it makes sense to me.

And so, I've come to not only look you in the eye, I've also come to tell you that when America gives its word, it will keep its word. And it's in our interest that Iraq succeed. It's not only in the interest of the Iraqi people, it's in the interest of the American people and for people who love freedom. Iraq is part of the war on terror. Iraq is a central front on that war. And when Iraq succeeds in having a government that -- of and by and for the people of Iraq, you will have dealt a serious blow to those who have a vision of darkness, who don't believe in liberty, who are willing to kill the innocent in order to achieve a political objective.

And so, Mr. Prime Minister, I want to thank you for giving me and my cabinet a chance to hear from you personally and a chance to meet the members of this team you've assembled. It's an impressive group of men and women. And if given the right help, I'm convinced you'll succeed. And so will the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, is going to speak now. He is speaking Arabic. So we'll go ahead and wrap up what President Bush is there to say and do.

As he told the Iraqi prime minister, he came to look him straight in the eye. This originally, as we understood it, was going to be a video conference from Camp David to the Iraqi prime minister and the new cabinet, the newly formed cabinet in Baghdad, but President Bush did a surprise and went to Baghdad himself.

The president flanked by the Iraqi prime minister on his left and the U.S. ambassador to Iraq on his right. He said he came to look the prime minister in the eye and to give him the message that when America gives its word, it keeps its word.

With more on the surprise trip and the plans behind it and its intent, let's go to the White House while we watch these pictures unfold and welcome in Elaine Quijano. And then we'll go to the Pentagon and talk to Barbara Starr.

Elaine, you first, please.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, it was interesting to note as I was listening to the president something that a senior administration official said on Friday, and that is, at the time, of course, we were not aware that this trip was in the works. But certainly what officials were saying here is that this video conference meeting between the members of the president's cabinet and the new Iraqi cabinet was essentially a "getting to know you" session.

They said don't look for any kind of announcements or pronouncements out of these particular meetings, that, again, were supposed to have been via video conference. Now, of course, though, that startling image of President Bush in Iraq on the other end of the video conference line.

His officials, meantime, back here in the Washington, D.C., area nearby at Camp David watching on the other end. We hope to get that tape shortly as well.

But we heard that sentiment essentially echoed. And there, in fact, you see the image. This is what the president's own top cabinet officials at Camp David were seeing.

This was an image that came as a surprise, certainly. Only a handful of officials actually were made aware ahead of time that the president was going to be traveling to Baghdad. We know the vice president knew, as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

But there were other top officials there, including the director of National Intelligence, John Negroponte; Alberto Gonzales, the attorney general, Mike Johanns, the agriculture secretary; and Sam Bodman among those, the energy secretary. All of them unaware that the president was going to be heading overseas for this trip.

But this "getting to know you" session really reflected in the president's own comments, as you noted. He's saying that he has had the opportunity to look the new prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, in the eye. Also, to give that message, as you noted, that when America gives its word it keeps its word. But this is a president who very much values face-to-face time, the ability to look others in the eye and have that kind of connection.

So this is a man, Nuri al-Maliki, the United States certainly has invested a lot in, in terms of looking to him for his leadership. We heard the areas discussed there, security, reconstruction.

Also something that officials have noted they like as well is this idea that Nuri al-Maliki has floated of national reconciliation. Of course, much has been made of the tenuous situation among the different ethnic groups in Iraq, but they feel that Nuri al-Maliki is on the right track. President Bush sending that message, delivering it himself in person -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Elaine Quijano at the White House.

Once again, we can explain to our viewers at home what they're watching. This grainy picture is actually what they see at the video conference at Camp David. As we understood it, before we knew about the surprise visit, they were going to have the Iraqi officials in Baghdad, and then you're going to have President Bush and his cabinet officials watching at Camp David. And this is, in fact, what it looks like, the view from Camp David.

President Bush will also meet with members of the U.S. military.

For more on that, let's bring in our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon -- Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, you know, the question for the U.S. military people that want to hear the answer to is troops, troops, troops. When will the troops come home?

General George Casey, the top U.S. military commander Baghdad, once again over the last several days talking about a gradual reduction as the Iraqi security forces get better and can take over more of the operations there. Iraqi officials talking. Hopefully, they say, trying to bring down the U.S. troops levels by the end of this year to something around 100,000 or just under that, from the current level of about 130,000.

The president's visit clearly is an effort to somewhat put the ball in the court of the new Iraqi government. Prime Minister Maliki saying that, look, this is now the government in charge, he's got a defense minister, he's got an interior minister. The president saying it's in their hands, trying to encourage this very fragile new Iraqi government to take hold and really begin to get its troops out there and moving.

But there is no question, Daryn, it's going to be a very tough road ahead. No one is predicting significant troop withdrawals anytime soon.

KAGAN: All right. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.

Thank you.

Let's keep it on the a military topic and welcome in retired General David Grange, who joins us to talk about the military aspect of this.

General, good morning.

BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning to you.

KAGAN: What do you make of the president's visit?

GRANGE: Well, first of all, I think the face-to-face visit was a tremendous move just to show confidence and commitment of the United States of America to the success of this effort in Iraq. And I think you can't beat that.

I mean, you have to get out and about if you're a leader with this type of mission, the resources and sacrifices that have been made. So I think it was a great move to do such a thing, whether you like Bush or not.

KAGAN: This also comes at a time when we're hearing as of tomorrow there'll be 70,000 Iraqi troops and police officers moved into the Baghdad area in an effort to retake that city.

What do you think of that?

GRANGE: Well, obviously a strategy to put a stranglehold on Baghdad, control it, instead of working the fringes with -- with just the minimum amount of forces required to try to maintain some type of rule of law, put in their overwhelming forces, where they maintain the momentum from the benefits of taking out Zarqawi and some of the other insurgent leaders. Don't let that momentum slip away, but continue to force that aggressive offensive spirit and get a handle on this right now to give the government a chance to succeed.

KAGAN: As we look a this picture of President Bush and the Iraqi prime minister, Maliki, there from Baghdad, this new prime minister says he can see a day coming when the number of U.S. troops going from 130,000 to maybe less than 100,000, or fewer than 100,000. President Bush being consistent. He's not ready to make that kind of commitment.

When do you see a draw-down in troops coming?

GRANGE: Well, I think if things go the way they are now -- and there's no guarantee -- as conditions change, then, of course, you may have to go the other way and maybe even reinforce the number of troops. But if conditions go the way they are now, I think near the end of this year, that late, you know, into the fall, late summer, into the fall, they'll start maybe moving some U.S. troops out of there. But again, it truly is situational dependent, and the enemy has a vote.

And so, things can change. But right now, it looks like they're on a nice glide path to plan troop withdrawals.

KAGAN: Retired Brigadier General David Grange.

General, thank you for your time today.

GRANGE: Thank you.

KAGAN: Let's go live back to Baghdad, where we're watching the scene unfold, President's Bush's surprise five-hour visit, and get the perspective of what this will mean from the ground in Iraq.

And that's where we find our John Vause -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Well, we heard Barbara Starr saying before the big question is troops, troops, troops? And the answer to that will be, security, security, security.

And that is what the prime minister was telling the U.S. president today at this meeting. He said, "We are determined to succeed. We have to beat the terrorists. We have to defeat the hardships. God willing, all this suffering will be over soon, all the troops will return home." And he added, "With our gratitude."

So what the president wants to hear from the prime minister is his plan to try and take back the streets of Baghdad, and also a wider security plan for Iraq in general. The president has said repeatedly that when the Iraqi security forces will stand up, then U.S. forces will be able to stand down. And as you mentioned, we are starting to see some of that security plan put into place hopefully in the next 12 hours or so, here in Baghdad alone, with 70,000 Iraqi forces on the streets.

Now, that crackdown will be over, we're told, when the prime minister says it is over. It seems to be open-ended at this stage, and will be indeed a very big task for the Iraqi forces to try and take back parts of Baghdad which are now under the control of militias. Sadr City, for example, under control of a Shiite militia.

Also, they have to win the trust of the Iraqi people. And there's been a huge problem here with the militants, the insurgents dressed as Iraqi forces, policemen and soldiers attacking Iraqi civilians.

So there's a lot of problems here for this new prime minister. That's what this talk will be about when he holds these discussions with the U.S. president over the next couple of hours. They've already been meeting for about two hours. About another two hours to go -- Daryn.

KAGAN: John Vause live from Baghdad.

Thank you for that.

Now, while this was happening there, we were showing you that grainy picture, a somewhat grainy picture of what the video conference looks like from the cabinet meeting at Camp David. Our Ed Henry was in that cabinet meeting. He'll join us live from just outside Camp David in just a minute.

Also, we are watching Alberto. It has been downgraded a bit. Chad Myers, our severe weather expert, is following that. And we'll also talk to correspondents up and down the coast of Florida.

You are watching CNN, the most trusted name in news, and your hurricane headquarters. We're back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: New pictures of White House deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove. A good reason he has such a big smile on his face today. He and his attorneys getting word that he will not face any charges in the CIA leak probe.

And in light of that news, the White House releasing this statement today: "We are pleased that the special counsel has concluded its deliberations. Karl is, as he has been throughout the process, fully focused on the task at hand -- crafting and building support for the president's agenda." So five times in front of the federal grand jury, but Karl Rove will not face any charges.

So it's a good day for this Bush administration. Not only did they get the news about Karl Rove, but President Bush pulls off a surprise five-hour visit to Baghdad. That's where he is right now, meeting with the new Iraqi prime minister. He said he wanted to go look him in the eye and talk to him face to face.

Now, while the president was stealing away to Baghdad, the world thought he was at Camp David. So did our Ed Henry. That's where he's been covering what was supposed to be a two-day summit on what the future of Iraq, both in the military and a political situation. So my Ed Henry question of the day, as we find you there, is, Ed, where were you when you found out the president actually was in Baghdad?

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I was right here, about a mile from Camp David. And I was going through security, cleared by the Secret Service.

Got on a bus to be taken up to Camp David to be in part of that cabinet meeting on this end, supposedly with president, vice president, key members of his war cabinet. And I was on a bus with a small group of other reporters and photojournalists, and all of a sudden various e-mail devices started buzzing like crazy, as you can imagine, with speculation that the president was actually in Iraq, not here at Camp David.

We were all trying to confirm this, obviously. But literally, a lot of high-level officials and various people with us had no inkling at all.

This was reported first out of Iraq for security reasons. There was no word of it here. They obviously were trying to keep it under wraps. And then we eventually made it over to Camp David, and we were able to spend a few minutes inside the Camp David side of this.

And I can tell you, when we went in the room, there were two big television screens there. One on the left said "Baghdad." It obviously showed the president with Prime Minister Maliki next to him.

There was a second TV that showed the war cabinet here on this end that was right with us. And the vice president was leading that group in the president's absence.

We were there just for a few moments. We saw the remarks, as you did.

And the key, I think, is the president right at the top telling Prime Minister Maliki directly, "The future of your country is in your hands." That has been the major theme here at this summit over the last two days from Camp David, all the way to Baghdad, which is that the U.S. government clearly, finally signaling that this is in the Iraqi government's hands.

I can tell you, though, Democrats on Capitol Hill, people like Senator Edward Kennedy, already saying they don't think that's enough. They think the president can't just say, "It's in your hands." They also want him to start making some pronouncements about when U.S. troops are coming home.

The president clearly does not want to do that yet -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And Ed, this is more than just a stunt, what the president is trying to pull off by sneaking in to Baghdad for a few hours. Still trying to get about the business of the day, which was the original intent of this two-day summit. HENRY: Yes. Certainly, I would not characterize it as a stunt. I mean, we obviously have to get more details on exactly how it went down, but our understanding is that, for certainly understandable security reasons, there was a very high secrecy level to all of the details here.

If any of this had leaked out that the president was heading to Iraq, and specifically Air Force One would be landing in daylight in Baghdad, right now, given the security situation, that would obviously be a major problem and would defeat the whole purpose of the trip.

I think clearly, the president was trying to directly show -- as he himself said, he wanted to look in the eye of Prime Minister Maliki. He had a 25-minute phone conversation with the prime minister last Thursday -- Wednesday or Thursday, as I recall, after al-Zarqawi was killed. But as the president noted, it's a whole different matter to look the prime minister in the eye and say the United States word is its bond.

And the president saying, while they're trying to shift the lion's share of the burden and the responsibility to the Iraqi government, the president is still also making clear the U.S. government is not going anywhere yet. They're sticking it out, despite the pressure, the domestic political pressure here. The president is staying -- is saying clearly that the United States is standing by Iraq -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. Ed Henry, just a little bit away from Camp David.

Ed, thank you for that background perspective.

Getting other news from Capitol Hill. A new development in the case of Congressman Patrick Kennedy, the Democrat from Rhode Island who recently admitted that he had an addiction problem and went to rehab.

Dana Bash joins us on the phone now with the latest on Congressman Kennedy -- Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Daryn.

Well, CNN has learned that Congressman Kennedy has decided to plead guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs. And he will actually appear in the D.C. Superior Court this afternoon to formally present that plea agreement with his lawyer to the judge there.

Now, we remember, of course, it was the beginning of May that Patrick Kennedy crashed his car into a security barrier just outside the Capitol. For a couple of days it was really unclear what happened, why it happened. But then, of course, at the end of the week he said that it was because he has had a problem with prescription drugs, and then he checked himself into the Mayo Clinic, into rehab. But now we're told by Congressman Kennedy's chief of staff, Sean Richardson (ph), that after I guess a little bit more than a month now of Congressman Kennedy's lawyers working with first the Capitol Police and the attorney general in the District of Columbia, they have come up with a plea agreement that will essentially say that he's going to plead guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs. And we should hear from the congressman later this afternoon at that D.C. courthouse -- Daryn.

KAGAN: How serious is that crime? Is that a misdemeanor, Dana? And how would this affect his status in Congress?

BASH: Well, we're just trying to -- those are all excellent questions, and we're just getting this information. We're still trying to get the details of exactly what the plea agreement is.

We don't -- our understanding this early is that there is no jail time involved in this. You know, we know that when it comes to essentially what amounts to a DUI, it is almost automatic that somebody loses their license. We imagine that will happen.

But in terms of the actual details of this plea agreement, which have been worked out, we're still working on getting those details. And then the obvious next question that you asked is what this means for his standing in Congress.

You know, he has remained a congressman throughout this trip to rehab, a trip to rehab that we didn't know about prior that was in December. But this is obviously a whole different ball game, pleading guilty to something like this.

We'll have to just wait and see what this means for him in terms of his service.

KAGAN: Right. Up to this point, though, Dana, he has said -- when asked about it, he has said he intends to stay. And, of course, up for re-election in November, and intends to go through with that.

BASH: Correct. And I -- as I said, I spoke to the congressman's chief of staff and there was zero indication that he had plans to change -- to change that. Zero indication that he had any plans to leave Congress, that's for sure.

KAGAN: All right. Dana Bash with the latest on Congressman Kennedy.

He intends to plead guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs. Will make a court appearance later today.

On to our big weather story today. Alberto ushering in the hurricane season, even though it never reached that status.

As it is approaching landfall, it is weakening as a threat. Forecasters now saying Alberto probably won't deliver hurricane-force winds or violent storm surges when it comes ashore very soon, but it will bring another double menace. Alberto is packing heavy rain and could spawn inland tornadoes across several states.

CNN crews are posted all along the Gulf Coast. And our severe weather expert, Chad Myers, is manning the controls in the weather office, the hub of CNN's hurricane headquarters.

First, though, we want to go to Crystal River, Florida. Jason Lanning, with our affiliate Bay News 9, is in the water north of Tampa.

And if I remember Crystal -- if I remember Crystal River, you might run into a manatee in those waters where you are.

JASON LANNING, REPORTER, BAY NEWS 9: Yes. Yes, it's the first time I've ever stood in a manatee area. We're in about waist-deep water here.

Really not seeing anything that was out of the ordinary. We expected to see about a five to seven-foot storm surge in this area. That's exactly what is happening right now, as we give you a little wider look.

I'm standing on a boat dock here that is about normally two feet above water, but it's now about two and a half to three feet below water. And we want to illustrate here -- and that's the reason we're in the water, to show you how deep things are getting, especially for homeowners right along the water here in Citrus County along the nature coast.

Right to my right, you've got a drop-off of about three feet. And then there's this apartment building or small home. That is taking on about four to five feet of floodwater.

Keep in mind, we're on the north side of King's Bay, and everyone that lives on the north side, whether it is a homeowner or business owner, is taking on water at this hour. And the water is really inching up, hour by hour. It has been doing so since about 3:00 or 4:00 this morning.

The big concern, this water isn't subsiding one bit. In fact, we have another high tide coming this afternoon. So emergency management officials here in Citrus County are keeping a close watch on the water levels. As they get higher, they creep closer to US 19, which is about 300 yards to your right, if you're watching here.

Not expected to reach that point. But again, the water starting to level off now, almost to the level of where that roadway is. So if the water goes up another foot or two, it very well could make it out there. It's just hard to say at this point.

We'll know more after 3:00, when this second high tide sets in.

KAGAN: All right, Jason. Thank you. And by the way, if a manatee does swim up, you will -- you will know. You can't miss them.

LANNING: All right.

KAGAN: They're huge. Gentle, but huge. Thank you.

Jason Lanning, reporting live from Crystal River.

Let's check in with Chad Myers, our severe weather expert, on what the storm looks like from radar.

Hello.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That is a classic storm surge.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Well, you mentioned the National Hurricane Center. Don't go anywhere, Chad.

Let's go ahead and welcome in, you and I, Max Mayfield, the director of that center.

Max, good morning.

MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: What can you tell us about the weakening of Alberto?

MAYFIELD: Well, Chad's got it nailed there. The center -- in fact, we just got a recontext (ph) in, and it agrees with the radar there. It's just a little bit off the coast there up near Keaton Beach (ph) area.

Most of the circulation is already over land. So the winds are diminishing. That storm surge, though, as I think that was Chad, if I saw that right there, Crystal River is right down here. And while that flow remains on shore, that's going to keep that storm surge piled up on the coast. It should not be life-threatening if we're just careful here for a few more hours.

KAGAN: Chad, your question for Max?

MYERS: Well, this storm surge that we saw that this reporter was standing in was not a huge tidal wave. And it isn't really that, but it is kind of an inundation of the low-lying areas.

What area are you the most concerned with now, Max?

MAYFIELD: Well, we're still concerned with that same area there, really, Crystal River, up through Cedar Key.

MYERS: Yes.

MAYFIELD: Steinhatchee, Keaton Beach (ph), Dekel Beach. Not very populated, but there are people who live there.

MYERS: We know most of those people did not evacuate. Are you concerned at all, or is it not going to be that bad?

MAYFIELD: Well, some of them did, at least the reports that we're getting from the emergency managers.

MYERS: Oh, that's good.

MAYFIELD: But this is -- you know, this was not a hurricane, you know, or the storm surge could indeed have been up around eight or 10 feet. I might add, too, it's not a very wise thing to be standing in that waist-deep water.

MYERS: Yes.

MAYFIELD: We always hear about the electrocutions and snake bites. And I don't advise that.

MYERS: That's exactly where I was going. I know a lot of people obviously die from drowning, but the electricity is going to be still flowing in the lines. And when the water gets that high, then you've got charged water.

MAYFIELD: And I can name countless storms and hurricanes where people have been electrocuted by doing that.

KAGAN: We'll have to put a call into Jason Lanning and tell him to get the heck out of the water.

MYERS: There you go.

KAGAN: Hey, Max, what about the threat of tornadoes if the storm moves up into Georgia and South and North Carolina?

MAYFIELD: It's still there. We've talked to the tornado experts out of the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma. And not just in Florida here, but Georgia and these outer rain bands as they move over the coastal areas there of South Carolina. There's still a potential for some isolated tornadoes.

KAGAN: All right, Max Mayfield. Max, beginning of a very busy season. I'm sure we're going to be talking to you many times.

MAYFIELD: We have a long way to go. Thank you.

KAGAN: And that we do. And hopefully it'll be times like this, when you're downgrading storms.

KAGAN: Thank you, Max, and, Chad, of course. We'll be talking to you many times before the end of the hours. So let's go and see what it looks like on the ground. Let's go to St. George Island, a barrier island off the coast of Apalachicola, a great place, by the way, to take your dog. They're very friendly to dogs there.

Susan Roesgen there, probably without a dog, because she's there to work and bring us the latest.

Susan, hello.

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't have my dog with me, Daryn, but I've got my a boogie board, the boogie board I found here on the beach.

The surfers were the first people to get back in the water here, and now as you can see, other people have started to come out and stroll along the beach. I have seen a few people with their dogs, many people with children. I think they're collecting starfish and shells over there. They're trying to salvage what is left of this day, and it might not be too bad after all. Some reports of a few power outages in this area, some reports of some minor street flooding, but no reports of any injuries, no serious damage to any buildings. And partly that's because this area is what they call the forgotten coast. It's one of the few areas along the Gulf Coast that isn't just wall-to-wall condos. It's a nice area. People come out to the Apalachicola area to kayak and canoe, and they come here to St. George Island to swim and soak up the wind and sun and sand, which they may be able to do a little more of later today -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, and it is a place that knows only knows too well about the danger of hurricanes, so it has had its share.

OK, don't know if Susan can hear. Susan Roesgen reporting live from St. George Island, thank you.

Tropical Storm Alberto is the first of this Atlantic Hurricane season. It likely will not be the last. But the storm of another kind has been brewing since last year. Insurance companies versus homeowners. We're going to tell you how that battle's playing out in Florida, just ahead.

This is CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Of course our other big story is Tropical Storm Alberto. It appears to be downgrading a bit, but still of some concern along the Florida coast.

Let's check in with Susan Candiotti at Clearwater Beach, along the Gulf Coast, on the west coast of Florida, looking very sunny and a bit breezy.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Any day is a good day to come tout beach, but it certainly is sunny enough. It's also windy here in the Clearwater-Tampa-St. Petersburg area. You can see a lot of people have come out this day now that the sun has stopped hammering them throughout the day on Monday.

However, as you can see from those red flags at the lifeguard station, the water is off limits to any beachgoers, because of the possibility of very dangerous rip currents. Therefore, people are ordered out of the water, and so far everyone is paying attention to those warnings. You can see how high the waves are, up to six feet we hear.

Now the high wind and waves did apparently play a huge role in helping to rip a construction barge off its moorings in the middle of the night, in Tampa Bay, and it slammed into the Howard Franklin Bridge, which connects Tampa to St. Petersburg.

We can also tell you that apparently the reason that we are in this sunny weather loop right now is the bad weather, the trailing end of the storm of Alberto is on either side of us as the wind are coming from south to north and from the northeast. They're to the west and to the east of us. And we are smack there in the middle of a little bit of cloud cover. This is a band on either side of us of showers and thunderstorms that are following in the wake of Alberto.

Now they did have some power outages here in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. About 5,000 customers currently without power. However, the utility companies, two of them, expect everyone to have their power restored by day's end. So Tropical Storm Alberto not bad at all in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area. They are keeping an eye, however, a little bit of an eye, on the afternoon high tide.

However, they are telling us they expect it to be lower than expected. Therefore, they're not as concerned as they were a bit earlier about the possibility of some flooding in low-lying areas.

Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: Susan Candiotti, live in what is now sunny Clearwater Beach. We're going to get back to this hurricane story in just a moment.

First, though, I want to give you a new development on the Patrick Kennedy story. As we mentioned, the Rhode Island congressman later today will plead guilty to driving under the influence of prescription drugs. That after an incident that happened back in May when there was a car crash in the middle of the night.

However, we are also hearing now from the Congressman's office, this'll not affect his plans to stand for re-election in November. Those go ahead as scheduled.

Well, it is the start of the hurricane season, and Alberto drenching parts of Florida, actually that's sunny there. But a lot of homeowners still recovering from last year's hurricane season. Insurance companies raising their rates. Lawmakers are trying to help.

Tom Gallagher is Florida's chief financial officer, and he joins me live from now Florida.

Tom, good morning.

TOM GALLAGHER, FLORIDA'S CFO: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: Do you feel like your state is in an insurance crisis right now?

GALLAGHER: Yes, we are. But it's starting to spread into other states, along the Atlantic and of course the Gulf coast. We're having many homeowners find out that their insurance is not going to be renewed. We've been having this happen in Florida for quite a while, but now it's spreading up the East Coast, into New York, and Connecticut. It's becoming a national problem, and I think that we've calling for a national catastrophic fund for a long time to back up our state catastrophic fund in Florida, and to back up our homeowners, so that we know we can get available insurance and hopefully have it affordable, too.

KAGAN: Meanwhile you've implemented a mitigation program in Florida. How does that work?

GALLAGHER: Yes, we're excited about that. The governor has done a great job in leading us here in Florida, and he signed this bill, which the legislature passed, and we have $250 million that are available. One, our office is coordinating we're about to put out the rules and announce it in the next 30 days. What you can do to get your home inspected free. If you have a home that's worth less than half-a-million dollars, you can apply and get a free home inspection. That inspector will tell you what you need to do to fortify your home against storms.

And if you do carry those out, there's up to a $5,000 matchable grant from the state to help you get those things done. And then, you will save money on your insurance, because if you have that mitigation done on your property, they're required to give you discount on your insurance. And it's a really great program. I'm excited about it. I know it's going to be good for a lot of Floridians.

KAGAN: So, meanwhile, you have people whose policies are being canceled, perhaps seeing their rates increase, sometimes double, 95 percent. Do you think it's going to come to people just picking up and leaving Florida because they can't afford to pay their home insurance?

GALLAGHER: Well, you know, I hope not. So many people love to come to Florida. We have a thousand people a day moving into Florida. They're still coming. We don't want to see this get to be a crisis where people end up having to sell their homes and move. That's a very sad thing to see. We're doing everything we can to try and keep the rates down as much as possible.

But our number one goal, of course, is to make sure we have insurance available. And then we also are concerned about how much it costs. And the legislature really helped us in one area. We were going to have a 20 percent assessment on every homeowner in the state of Florida because of citizens property insurance, and the legislature put $700 million in there so that there won't be that 20 percent assessment. It'll be a small one of 3 or 4 percent.

KAGAN: In particular...

GALLAGHER: So we're moving in the right direction.

KAGAN: In particular today, we're seeing a lot of small communities that Alberto was threatening, you know, like Cedar Key and Steinhatchee. Not just homeowners in there, there are small business owners in there. You know, the person who owns the small market, let's just say, on St. George Island or the person who owns the gas station. Isn't insurance a problem for them as well?

GALLAGHER: It sure is. Insurance for property, whether it's a commercial building or an individual's home, is a very serious problem in Florida right now. It's a problem that exists, you know, around the world, when you look at it, because it's the reinsurers that these companies that write business in Florida must use in order to have a backup on taking on the risk. That cost and availability is way out of line.

And so we're working as hard as we can to keep insurance available. And we know that it is a crisis in Florida, making sure that we have insurance. And we're going to continue working with both the reinsurance market out there -- our insurance commissioner is working with them every day -- and with our small insurance companies to keep them able to write the business that they're writing right now and not have to give up policies because they don't have the reinsurance to stay in business.

KAGAN: Tom Gallagher, Florida's chief financial officer. Thank you for your time and good luck for the financial challenges that face your state in the near future.

GALLAGHER: Thank you very much, Daryn.

KAGAN: Thank you, Tom. Thank you very much. We'll continue to follow Alberto.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check the markets. Not doing a lot of action in the markets today. But actually, that's a good thing, because it's been so rough lately. You can see the Dow was up just a tiny bit, up six points. Nasdaq barely moving at all. It is up less than a point. More business news just ahead.

First, though, let's check in on what's happening with world news. A lot more of that coming up at the top of the hour. Here's Hala Gorani to tell you what we can expect -- Hala.

HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Daryn.

"YOUR WORLD TODAY" starts in about 15 minutes. We're going to have the latest on that surprise George Bush visit to Iraq. We're also going to be speaking to the former Pentagon spokeswoman, Victoria Clarke, about the timing of this visit, what this means for the president with his popularity back home and also what it means for the new Iraqi prime minister.

We're also going to be covering the chaos in Gaza. Our Fionnuala Sweeney is live in Jerusalem. A think tank has just issued a report saying that the Palestinians are in a state of near civil war and that one act of violence could trigger total mayhem.

And we're going to be shifting gears, as well. The World Cup, more action. Today Brazil makes its debut against Croatia, and in just a few minutes, France plays against Switzerland. We'll be following that and more for you at the top of the hour. YOUR WORLD TODAY at noon Eastern -- Daryn, back to you.

KAGAN: All right. Very good. Looking forward to all of that. Hala, thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Other big story today, President Bush making his surprise visit to Iraq. He has already spoken with the Iraqi prime minister. In about an hour and a half, he'll be speaking with U.S. military troops there. You're going to hear what the president had to say in this surprise visit, coming up in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Top story, President Bush makes a surprise visit to Baghdad. His first stop, he meets with the new Iraqi prime minister and had these comments. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for this opportunity to visit with your cabinet.

I have expressed our country's desire to work with you, but I appreciate you recognize the fact that the future of your country is in your hands. The decisions you and your cabinet make will be determinant as to whether or not a country succeeds, that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself.

I'm impressed by the cabinet that you've assembled. You've assembled people from all parts of your country, representing different -- different religions and different histories and traditions. And yet, the cabinet here represents the entire Iraqi people. And I appreciate your commitment to representing the people of Iraq.

I'm impressed by the strength of your character and your desire to succeed. And I'm impressed by your strategy.

We discussed -- I discussed earlier with the prime minister and here with his cabinet and with members of my cabinet the strategy necessary to have a country that is capable of answering to the needs of the people. We discussed the security strategy. We discussed an economic strategy and a reconstruction strategy. And all of it makes sense to me.

And so, I've come to not only look you in the eye, I've also come to tell you that when America gives its word, it will keep its word. And it's in our interest that Iraq succeed.

It's not only in the interest of the Iraqi people, it's in the interest of the American people and for people who love freedom. Iraq is part of the war on terror. Iraq is a central front on that war. And when Iraq succeeds in having a government that -- of and by and for the people of Iraq, you will have dealt a serious blow to those who have a vision of darkness, who don't believe in liberty, who are willing to kill the innocent in order to achieve a political objective.

And so, Mr. Prime Minister, I want to thank you for giving me and my cabinet a chance to hear from you personally and a chance to meet the members of this team you've assembled. It's an impressive group of men and women. And if given the right help, I'm convinced you'll succeed. And so will the world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: That was President Bush just within the last couple of hours in Baghdad, meeting with the Iraqi prime minister. Next up, he meets with members of the military and civilians in Baghdad. And you'll see that in about an hour and 15 minutes here on CNN.

I'm Daryn Kagan. International news is up next on "YOUR WORLD TODAY." And then I'll be back with the latest headlines from here in the U.S. in about 20 minutes.

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