Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Hurricane Ivan Update; Faked Documents?; New Terror Tape
Aired September 10, 2004 - 9:01 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Another huge hurricane stalking the Caribbean. Ivan moving straight toward Jamaica. And after that, Florida.
A new twist in the controversy over the president's military service. Did someone forge key documents to make the president look bad?
And authorities in Connecticut investigating a scene of devastation. A church blown to pieces on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
COLLINS: Well, good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins in for Soledad, still enjoying her maternity leave and those two beautiful little babies.
Miles O'Brien is here.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm dying to see them. I'm Miles.
COLLINS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And Bill is off as well, getting some much deserved rest. He's still drying out from that hurricane, I think.
COLLINS: Yes. He did not have babies. Just want to throw that out. There were calls about that earlier.
All right. Some of the news making headlines this morning.
For the first time in two-and-a-half years, al Qaeda is threatening the U.S. again with a videotaped message -- you see it here -- by Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant. We're going to look at what the terror experts are learning from this tape and what it tells us about bin Laden.
O'BRIEN: Also, Scott Peterson's father in a tough position. He was called by prosecutors yesterday to testify against his son in the Laci Peterson murder trial. We're going to look at his day in court. And we'll ask, which side did he help?
Jack Cafferty off today. Andy Borowitz is here. He's reading e- mails. And we'll get to those in just a little bit.
But, first, let's check the stories "Now in the News." Daryn Kagan is at the CNN Center.
Good morning, Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, good morning to you.
We begin in Connecticut, where officials are at the site of an explosion this morning. It happened in Colchester, about 25 miles southeast of Hartford, some two years ago. It's a Ukrainian church that was leveled by a blast. There are no reports of any injuries. Officials are combing the site now, looking for a cause.
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is remembering the September 11 terror attacks this morning. Within the last half-hour, Rumsfeld met for a special breakfast with some lawmakers. This is the same group that he was dining with on the morning of the attacks. This afternoon, Rumsfeld gives a progress report on the global war on terror.
To world news. Police in Indonesia are searching this hour for a suspect in connection with the bombing outside the Australian embassy. At least nine people died yesterday in that explosion. More than 180 others were injured.
Officials say that at least one suicide car bomber is responsible. They are blaming a local terrorist group with ties to al Qaeda.
A problem aboard the International Space Station. The main oxygen generator has failed. NASA says there are backups, and there are plenty -- that there's plenty of oxygen onboard to sustain the station's astronauts. The cosmonaut and astronaut on the space station will try to fix that problem later today.
I'm sure Miles can tell us a lot more about how that works and how they fix it.
Back up to you.
COLLINS: Yes, he's taking notes right here.
KAGAN: Yes.
COLLINS: He's going to carry them with him.
O'BRIEN: Don't worry, they're not going to be run out of oxygen anytime soon. We'll be watching it very closely for you.
Thank you, Daryn. Talk to you a little later.
COLLINS: Hurricane Ivan has a calling card for Jamaica today. The powerful Category 4 hurricane is expected to make landfall there tonight. Its effects already being felt, though.
The storm has sustained winds of nearly 150 miles. Ivan is blamed for at least 23 deaths in the Caribbean, 17 of those on the island of Grenada. Officials say Ivan will hit Jamaica and Cuba before making its way to the Florida Keys and possibly up Florida's west coast.
Scattered evacuations continue this hour in the Florida Keys. And residents are on their way out this morning. Yesterday, tourists were told to evacuate. CNN's John Zarrella is in Key Largo now with more.
Good morning to you -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
That's right, an orderly evacuation under way here in the Florida Keys. At 7:00 a.m. this morning, it began for residents. As you said, non-residents, tourists, that was ordered yesterday.
The lower Keys began this morning at 7:00 a.m. At noon, the middle Keys will begin to evacuate. And then at 4:00 p.m., the upper Keys, where we are, will begin to evacuate.
You can see this is U.S. 1 leading out of the Keys. It is the only road in and out of the Florida Keys.
Quite a bit of traffic. a boat going by there. Lots of boats, lots of travel trailers and lots of cars this morning. But no backups, no major problems here.
Keys officials say that they expect that 60,000 people will evacuate the Florida Keys today out of a total of about 80,000. Dow in Key West, folks telling us that it already resembles a ghost town, that many of the places are closing down.
The shops are boarded up. Hotels have boarded up. And that folks are definitely taking the evacuation very, very seriously.
Of course, the last time was 1998, when Hurricane George came across the middle Keys. A lot of people did not evacuate then. And after that storm went through as a Category 2, and really scared the heck out of a lot of people, they said they would never make that mistake twice.
So the folks down hear saying the most difficult thing police say they may have is getting some of the old-timers to leave. That's the tough part.
A lot of the folks they call the conks. They want to stay. They said they've ridden them out before, and they'll stay to ride this one out if need be. And those are the people that police, Heidi, are very concerned about, who may decide, even those of mandatory evacuation, to stay behind and not leave -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Oh, we hope they go. All right. John Zarrella, thanks so much for that -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hurricane Ivan is aiming for Jamaica, meanwhile. Residents there are preparing for the worst. They're stockpiling supplies and boarding up windows.
Ivan has already caused catastrophic damage in other parts of the Caribbean. Grenada comes to mind, of course.
Barbara Carby is with the Jamaica Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. She joins us on the line now from Kingston.
Ms. Carby, can you hear me?
BARBARA CARBY, JAMAICA OFFICE OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Yes, I can hear you. Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. How is the evacuation process going, and do you have plenty of places to put people and make them safe?
CARBY: Well, not many persons have evacuated. We only really have about 300 persons in shelters at this point in time.
O'BRIEN: Really? A nation of inexcess of two million people, and you only have 300 people in shelters?
CARBY: No -- yes.
O'BRIEN: OK. Should we be concerned about that? Are you concerned about it?
CARBY: Well, yes, we are concerned. I mean, we called for the evacuation in the first place because we feared for their -- for their safety. But historically, people have been very reluctant to evacuate.
O'BRIEN: I suppose those who remember Gilbert might be more willing to evacuate, or do people just sort of come up with their own personal plan to ride things out where they live?
CARBY: Yes, most people seem to prefer to ride things out where they live. Some persons, of course, would have gone to relatives elsewhere, and they would have evacuated from their homes and gone to relatives or friends elsewhere. So they would not be in our shelters.
O'BRIEN: Ideally, where would you like them to go, though?
CARBY: Well, to somewhere where it doesn't flood and they're not in the danger from the storm surge, and the building is substantial and, you know, not in danger of collapse.
O'BRIEN: And there's no way to get off the island right now. The flights are full, correct?
CARBY: Well, the airport has been closed now, actually.
O'BRIEN: OK.
CARBY: So there's no way to get off the island. But, I mean, there's plenty of places on the island to evacuate, too, because, as you know, it's quite mountainous. So there's lots of high ground and safe structures. O'BRIEN: All right. Barbara Carby, who is with the Jamaica Office of Disaster Preparedness in Kingston, telling us only 300 people there have made their way to shelters.
Thanks for your time -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Wow. More on the storm's track now. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center -- CNN Center, that is, with the latest forecast.
It does not sound good in Jamaica for those folks who are not out.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That concerns me an awful lot -- 2.7 million people actually live there, and this thing is just going to get the brunt of every side of this hurricane.
It had a much more distinct eye yesterday, but the storm is moving directly to Kingston, Jamaica, which is right there. Keep it in line. A little bit of disorganization in the overnight hours. But I wouldn't let that fool you.
Still, winds at 145. Winds are going to be coming in this way on this side of the island, as it goes by, becoming on this side of the island, and then you'll have Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in sights as it moves past Jamaica tonight.
145, Gusting to 180; 150, gusting to 185 as it goes over Jamaica. A lot more than 300 people have to get into those shelters.
And then back here, almost over Havana, Cuba, which is right there, now we're talking about Sunday night into Monday. Now Monday morning, very close to Key West. And it you still have your memory of Charley, you see where it's going, somewhere between Tampa and Fort Myers.
Now, Heidi, I want to tell you that this is the center of the track. The thing could go all the way to this side of the yellow line, it could go all the way to this side of the yellow line. It looks less likely that it's going to the right now than maybe going to the left. The computer models, though, most of them, somewhere into Florida by Monday afternoon.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Well, obviously, again, the immediate concern Jamaica there.
MYERS: Sure.
COLLINS: Hope those people are going to be safe.
MYERS: Yes.
COLLINS: Certainly appreciate it. Chad, thanks so much.
MYERS: You're welcome. COLLINS: Miles.
O'BRIEN: The CIA is analyzing the latest videotape by a top al Qaeda leader that was shown on Al-Jazeera yesterday. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice this morning did not seem concerned by the tape as she ticked off the administration's progress in the war on terror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, we will, of course, go through all of the authentication procedures that are always carried out, and we'll see about the tape. These tapes do appear from time to time. And they've tended to appear on the -- on or near the anniversary of September 11. So I wouldn't be surprised if, in fact, it was a tape from the al Qaeda leadership.
The key, though, here is that, three years ago, this was a leadership that was sitting happily in Afghanistan with full support of the Taliban government, with training camps in Afghanistan, with infrastructure in Afghanistan. They were able to roam freely in places like Pakistan, because Pakistan was not yet a warrior in the -- the fight against al Qaeda.
They were able to get financing freely because Saudi Arabia had not cracked down on terrorist financing and was not aggressively pursuing that. They had the ability to -- to work with impunity from lots of territory.
Their world is shrinking. We now have an Afghan government that is, of course, an ally in the war on terrorism.
We've down in Iraq a leader who was a destabilizing force in the Middle East. And now we have a chance for a different kind of Middle East.
We have, of course, made progress in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, hopefully improving our chances of denying those terrible weapons to -- to places, to groups like al Qaeda. And we've taken down three-quarters of the al Qaeda leadership and members.
So their world is shrinking. We are making strides forward in this war on terrorism. And we will win it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: This morning, questions are being raised, meanwhile, about the authenticity of some documents relating to President Bush's National Guard service. Those documents appeared in a "60 Minutes II" report on CBS, and it raised doubts about whether the president fulfilled his commitment to the Guard.
Several media organizations, including "The Washington Post," report document experts question whether the type face and the papers could have been produced by typewriters available at the time. CBS is standing by the story. Suzanne Malveaux is standing by the White House with more on all this.
Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, this is just the latest twist in a complicated story. This, of course, involving those newly discovered documents regarding the president's service in the Texas Air National Guard some 30 years ago, whether or not he met his requirements or received special treatment. Those documents signed by his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, it was first aired on "60 Minutes II."
Of course, the question is now whether or not they are actually authentic. "The Washington Post" and other news organizations say analysis of those documents suggest that several of them could have been generated by computer or word processing, not by a typewriter that would have been used in the Vietnam War era.
Now, the widow of Killian stands by those claims, saying that these are forgeries. But CBS releasing a statement yesterday saying they are standing by their story, by their sources. According to "The Washington Post," one of those sources was Killian's immediate supervisor.
In the meantime, CBS says that it is conducting its own internal investigation. The big question here, Miles, of course, is what is going to be the impact on the campaign. Well, I already can tell you that the Democratic National Committee, as well as the Republicans, both of them gearing up for a big fight here. Perhaps you will see competing ads exploiting the issue -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: So it goes on and on. All right. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you very much.
Still ahead on the program, college can be expensive.
COLLINS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Don't need to tell us that. We're saving already. The kids are young. We're still saving.
So one Ivy League-bound woman, she went looking for help on Wall Street. "Extra Effort" is coming up.
COLLINS: OK. Also, Scott Peterson's dad takes the stand as a witness for the prosecution. But already it looks like that may have been a mistake. Jeffrey Toobin will be here on that.
O'BRIEN: And al Qaeda threatens the U.S. in a new videotape we've been telling you about. But what does it say about enemy number one? OBL ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The CIA is analyzing a new al Qaeda tape that appeared on the Arab network Al-Jazeera. On the tape, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant says Mujahadeen fighters will triumph in Iraq, in Afghanistan. So what does this tape say about the status of al Qaeda, which is perhaps the most important question this morning?
CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen recently traveled to Afghanistan. He has an article in the upcoming issue of "The Atlantic Monthly" called "The Long Hunt for Osama." He joins us live from Washington.
The article is great, Peter. I invite everybody to read it.
This tape, the timing is certainly no surprise. We expected to see things near the anniversary. I guess what's surprising to a lot of us watching this closely is the fact that it's a videotape.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Indeed. And also not a badly shot videotape, as we can see here. It's, you know, somewhat professionally done.
Unusually, Ayman al-Zawahiri has a gun on his side. He's a medical doctor, he's not a fighter. I don't know what the significance of this is, but we've never seen him with a gun before. But, you know...
O'BRIEN: Peter, it also looks, quite frankly, like he's reading from a teleprompter. Is that possible?
BERGEN: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
BERGEN: But he's certainly somebody who appears fairly relaxed. He obviously has a certain comfort level to put out this videotape.
As you pointed out, it's kind of unusual for them to do videotapes. We've had 20 audio-videotapes in the past since 9/11 from either bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri. And perhaps only three of them with video attached. So this is an unusual development.
O'BRIEN: Now, why do you suppose we're seeing al-Zawahiri? If they feel emboldened enough to do what they just did, why not put Osama bin Laden on the tape?
BERGEN: That's a very good question. I don't know. We may hear from bin Laden himself perhaps -- you know, it could be tomorrow, or it could be two months from now.
They tent to sort of tag team it. Bin Laden will do one segment, Ayman al-Zawahiri will do the next one.
O'BRIEN: And it's worth reminding people of the close relationship between these two men. Just if you could describe it in a nutshell how they interact with each other and how their partnership has been formed over the years.
BERGEN: I mean, they've known each other since the mid '80s. Ayman al-Zawahiri is bin Laden's doctor. He's also sort of his intellectual mentor to a large degree.
Al Qaeda is a creation of both men. They're equally important in different ways. Bin Laden has the charisma, he has the money, he has the sort of religious aura. Ayman al-Zawahiri is an intellectual. He had the ideas, I think, to a large degree.
O'BRIEN: Give us a sense, then, sort of a status check, if you will, based on your travels, based on this tape, based on everything you've been able to gather, how live and how well is al Qaeda?
BERGEN: Well, we saw in Jakarta yesterday with the attack on the Australian embassy that al Qaeda affiliates remain active. Al Qaeda took a big hit post-9/11, but they're not out of business.
And it's -- al Qaeda, the organization, is, I think, in some disarray. But al Qaeda the larger sort of jihadist movement around the globe was very much energized by the Iraq war. And, you know, we're seeing in Iraq cities like Fallujah, Ramadi, these are like Taliban mini states now.
So we've done this ironic thing, where we went into kind of attack, a putative connection to al Qaeda in Iraq which wasn't there, and now we've sort of begun to create something that really corresponds to an al Qaeda-like regime in the western part of the country.
O'BRIEN: Peter, if tapes like these can be made and couriered (ph) and put on TV, clearly there are a number of people who know where these people are. Why has it been so difficult for U.S. forces, along with the Pakistanis, to get these two guys?
BERGEN: Well, that is -- you know, that's the $50 million question in the case of Osama bin Laden. You know, these guys are disciplined. They're secretive. They're not making obvious mistakes. They're not chatting on their satellite phones.
We don't have a mole within the inner circle of al Qaeda. And it's hard to find one person if they're smart and they want to avoid being captured.
People stay on the most wanted list in this country for years, or even decades. So, now -- you know, and that's in the United States. So in Pakistan, or on the Afghan border, that problem is, you know, a hundred times more difficult.
O'BRIEN: Peter Bergen, who has written extensively on al Qaeda, and in fact interviewed Osama bin Laden years ago, is out with an article, "The Long Hunt for Osama" in this month's "Atlantic."
Thank you very much for your time, Peter. Appreciate it.
BERGEN: Thank you, Miles. O'BRIEN: Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come, switching gears, and maybe even shoes, if it's dreary where you live, we've got a little piece of spring for you. We're talking inside fashion week for a sneak peek at next year's fabulous looks.
Stay with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz is back, and he really would like a laptop. But...
COLLINS: Here you go.
O'BRIEN: It's in the budget for next year, Andy. In the meantime, e-mails.
COLLINS: You can't open it, though.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: E-mails. Well, today, we're talking about political ads.
Now, you know, cigarette and hard liquor ads have already been banned from TV. But political ads may be even more toxic. And so we're asking you today, should we ban political ads from television? That is the question.
Charlotte writes, "I am getting so tired of seeing grown men acting like girls in third grade. We just need to ban advertisement of this political circus altogether and watch more 'CSI.'"
Yes, that's what's wrong with this country. Americans are not watching enough "CSI."
And J.R. from Lumber City, Georgia, writes, "Politicians should be able to lob their on-air diatribes at each other as long as they're paying for it. If they want to ban an ad, they need to ban that John Basedow workout video. I swear it's on every channel every final minutes."
And what's up with his hair? It seems to be getting blonder.
COLLINS: You're absolutely right. It's a huge concern.
O'BRIEN: I'm not a student of those ads.
BOROWITZ: That is a question for another day, I think.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: Andy, thanks so much for that.
Well, Herrera, Blass and Prada, they're some of the biggest names in fashion, as we've been reporting this week. Spring's outfits are parading the runway during spring fashion week right here in New York. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLINA HERRERA, DESIGNER: This is spring 2005. I had a great inspiration from the textiles and the imperial designs and jewels of the '40s. This is full of color, not black. It's all about legs.
MICHAEL VOLLBRACHT, DESIGNER, BILL BLASS: I like women who dress for men. I know that's a sexist thing, but I think smart women do dress for men. And I like sexuality in clothes.
KATE BETTS, EDITOR, "TIME STYLE AND DESIGN": Jeffrey Chow, who's a young designer, he is very skilled at dress-making, and it's beautiful, beautiful strapless stuff. I would say it's really a season of the dress. And then just very beautifully-crafted dresses. And it is like dress up, put on high heels, and sort of enjoy it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Always beautiful clothes. But we are going to get you the very latest on Hurricane Ivan coming up in just a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 10, 2004 - 9:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Another huge hurricane stalking the Caribbean. Ivan moving straight toward Jamaica. And after that, Florida.
A new twist in the controversy over the president's military service. Did someone forge key documents to make the president look bad?
And authorities in Connecticut investigating a scene of devastation. A church blown to pieces on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Bill Hemmer and Soledad O'Brien.
COLLINS: Well, good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins in for Soledad, still enjoying her maternity leave and those two beautiful little babies.
Miles O'Brien is here.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm dying to see them. I'm Miles.
COLLINS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: And Bill is off as well, getting some much deserved rest. He's still drying out from that hurricane, I think.
COLLINS: Yes. He did not have babies. Just want to throw that out. There were calls about that earlier.
All right. Some of the news making headlines this morning.
For the first time in two-and-a-half years, al Qaeda is threatening the U.S. again with a videotaped message -- you see it here -- by Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant. We're going to look at what the terror experts are learning from this tape and what it tells us about bin Laden.
O'BRIEN: Also, Scott Peterson's father in a tough position. He was called by prosecutors yesterday to testify against his son in the Laci Peterson murder trial. We're going to look at his day in court. And we'll ask, which side did he help?
Jack Cafferty off today. Andy Borowitz is here. He's reading e- mails. And we'll get to those in just a little bit.
But, first, let's check the stories "Now in the News." Daryn Kagan is at the CNN Center.
Good morning, Daryn.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, good morning to you.
We begin in Connecticut, where officials are at the site of an explosion this morning. It happened in Colchester, about 25 miles southeast of Hartford, some two years ago. It's a Ukrainian church that was leveled by a blast. There are no reports of any injuries. Officials are combing the site now, looking for a cause.
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is remembering the September 11 terror attacks this morning. Within the last half-hour, Rumsfeld met for a special breakfast with some lawmakers. This is the same group that he was dining with on the morning of the attacks. This afternoon, Rumsfeld gives a progress report on the global war on terror.
To world news. Police in Indonesia are searching this hour for a suspect in connection with the bombing outside the Australian embassy. At least nine people died yesterday in that explosion. More than 180 others were injured.
Officials say that at least one suicide car bomber is responsible. They are blaming a local terrorist group with ties to al Qaeda.
A problem aboard the International Space Station. The main oxygen generator has failed. NASA says there are backups, and there are plenty -- that there's plenty of oxygen onboard to sustain the station's astronauts. The cosmonaut and astronaut on the space station will try to fix that problem later today.
I'm sure Miles can tell us a lot more about how that works and how they fix it.
Back up to you.
COLLINS: Yes, he's taking notes right here.
KAGAN: Yes.
COLLINS: He's going to carry them with him.
O'BRIEN: Don't worry, they're not going to be run out of oxygen anytime soon. We'll be watching it very closely for you.
Thank you, Daryn. Talk to you a little later.
COLLINS: Hurricane Ivan has a calling card for Jamaica today. The powerful Category 4 hurricane is expected to make landfall there tonight. Its effects already being felt, though.
The storm has sustained winds of nearly 150 miles. Ivan is blamed for at least 23 deaths in the Caribbean, 17 of those on the island of Grenada. Officials say Ivan will hit Jamaica and Cuba before making its way to the Florida Keys and possibly up Florida's west coast.
Scattered evacuations continue this hour in the Florida Keys. And residents are on their way out this morning. Yesterday, tourists were told to evacuate. CNN's John Zarrella is in Key Largo now with more.
Good morning to you -- John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
That's right, an orderly evacuation under way here in the Florida Keys. At 7:00 a.m. this morning, it began for residents. As you said, non-residents, tourists, that was ordered yesterday.
The lower Keys began this morning at 7:00 a.m. At noon, the middle Keys will begin to evacuate. And then at 4:00 p.m., the upper Keys, where we are, will begin to evacuate.
You can see this is U.S. 1 leading out of the Keys. It is the only road in and out of the Florida Keys.
Quite a bit of traffic. a boat going by there. Lots of boats, lots of travel trailers and lots of cars this morning. But no backups, no major problems here.
Keys officials say that they expect that 60,000 people will evacuate the Florida Keys today out of a total of about 80,000. Dow in Key West, folks telling us that it already resembles a ghost town, that many of the places are closing down.
The shops are boarded up. Hotels have boarded up. And that folks are definitely taking the evacuation very, very seriously.
Of course, the last time was 1998, when Hurricane George came across the middle Keys. A lot of people did not evacuate then. And after that storm went through as a Category 2, and really scared the heck out of a lot of people, they said they would never make that mistake twice.
So the folks down hear saying the most difficult thing police say they may have is getting some of the old-timers to leave. That's the tough part.
A lot of the folks they call the conks. They want to stay. They said they've ridden them out before, and they'll stay to ride this one out if need be. And those are the people that police, Heidi, are very concerned about, who may decide, even those of mandatory evacuation, to stay behind and not leave -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Oh, we hope they go. All right. John Zarrella, thanks so much for that -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Hurricane Ivan is aiming for Jamaica, meanwhile. Residents there are preparing for the worst. They're stockpiling supplies and boarding up windows.
Ivan has already caused catastrophic damage in other parts of the Caribbean. Grenada comes to mind, of course.
Barbara Carby is with the Jamaica Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management. She joins us on the line now from Kingston.
Ms. Carby, can you hear me?
BARBARA CARBY, JAMAICA OFFICE OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Yes, I can hear you. Good morning.
O'BRIEN: Good morning to you. How is the evacuation process going, and do you have plenty of places to put people and make them safe?
CARBY: Well, not many persons have evacuated. We only really have about 300 persons in shelters at this point in time.
O'BRIEN: Really? A nation of inexcess of two million people, and you only have 300 people in shelters?
CARBY: No -- yes.
O'BRIEN: OK. Should we be concerned about that? Are you concerned about it?
CARBY: Well, yes, we are concerned. I mean, we called for the evacuation in the first place because we feared for their -- for their safety. But historically, people have been very reluctant to evacuate.
O'BRIEN: I suppose those who remember Gilbert might be more willing to evacuate, or do people just sort of come up with their own personal plan to ride things out where they live?
CARBY: Yes, most people seem to prefer to ride things out where they live. Some persons, of course, would have gone to relatives elsewhere, and they would have evacuated from their homes and gone to relatives or friends elsewhere. So they would not be in our shelters.
O'BRIEN: Ideally, where would you like them to go, though?
CARBY: Well, to somewhere where it doesn't flood and they're not in the danger from the storm surge, and the building is substantial and, you know, not in danger of collapse.
O'BRIEN: And there's no way to get off the island right now. The flights are full, correct?
CARBY: Well, the airport has been closed now, actually.
O'BRIEN: OK.
CARBY: So there's no way to get off the island. But, I mean, there's plenty of places on the island to evacuate, too, because, as you know, it's quite mountainous. So there's lots of high ground and safe structures. O'BRIEN: All right. Barbara Carby, who is with the Jamaica Office of Disaster Preparedness in Kingston, telling us only 300 people there have made their way to shelters.
Thanks for your time -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Wow. More on the storm's track now. Chad Myers is at the CNN Center -- CNN Center, that is, with the latest forecast.
It does not sound good in Jamaica for those folks who are not out.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That concerns me an awful lot -- 2.7 million people actually live there, and this thing is just going to get the brunt of every side of this hurricane.
It had a much more distinct eye yesterday, but the storm is moving directly to Kingston, Jamaica, which is right there. Keep it in line. A little bit of disorganization in the overnight hours. But I wouldn't let that fool you.
Still, winds at 145. Winds are going to be coming in this way on this side of the island, as it goes by, becoming on this side of the island, and then you'll have Cayman Brac and Little Cayman in sights as it moves past Jamaica tonight.
145, Gusting to 180; 150, gusting to 185 as it goes over Jamaica. A lot more than 300 people have to get into those shelters.
And then back here, almost over Havana, Cuba, which is right there, now we're talking about Sunday night into Monday. Now Monday morning, very close to Key West. And it you still have your memory of Charley, you see where it's going, somewhere between Tampa and Fort Myers.
Now, Heidi, I want to tell you that this is the center of the track. The thing could go all the way to this side of the yellow line, it could go all the way to this side of the yellow line. It looks less likely that it's going to the right now than maybe going to the left. The computer models, though, most of them, somewhere into Florida by Monday afternoon.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Well, obviously, again, the immediate concern Jamaica there.
MYERS: Sure.
COLLINS: Hope those people are going to be safe.
MYERS: Yes.
COLLINS: Certainly appreciate it. Chad, thanks so much.
MYERS: You're welcome. COLLINS: Miles.
O'BRIEN: The CIA is analyzing the latest videotape by a top al Qaeda leader that was shown on Al-Jazeera yesterday. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice this morning did not seem concerned by the tape as she ticked off the administration's progress in the war on terror.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, we will, of course, go through all of the authentication procedures that are always carried out, and we'll see about the tape. These tapes do appear from time to time. And they've tended to appear on the -- on or near the anniversary of September 11. So I wouldn't be surprised if, in fact, it was a tape from the al Qaeda leadership.
The key, though, here is that, three years ago, this was a leadership that was sitting happily in Afghanistan with full support of the Taliban government, with training camps in Afghanistan, with infrastructure in Afghanistan. They were able to roam freely in places like Pakistan, because Pakistan was not yet a warrior in the -- the fight against al Qaeda.
They were able to get financing freely because Saudi Arabia had not cracked down on terrorist financing and was not aggressively pursuing that. They had the ability to -- to work with impunity from lots of territory.
Their world is shrinking. We now have an Afghan government that is, of course, an ally in the war on terrorism.
We've down in Iraq a leader who was a destabilizing force in the Middle East. And now we have a chance for a different kind of Middle East.
We have, of course, made progress in proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, hopefully improving our chances of denying those terrible weapons to -- to places, to groups like al Qaeda. And we've taken down three-quarters of the al Qaeda leadership and members.
So their world is shrinking. We are making strides forward in this war on terrorism. And we will win it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: This morning, questions are being raised, meanwhile, about the authenticity of some documents relating to President Bush's National Guard service. Those documents appeared in a "60 Minutes II" report on CBS, and it raised doubts about whether the president fulfilled his commitment to the Guard.
Several media organizations, including "The Washington Post," report document experts question whether the type face and the papers could have been produced by typewriters available at the time. CBS is standing by the story. Suzanne Malveaux is standing by the White House with more on all this.
Suzanne, good morning.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.
Well, this is just the latest twist in a complicated story. This, of course, involving those newly discovered documents regarding the president's service in the Texas Air National Guard some 30 years ago, whether or not he met his requirements or received special treatment. Those documents signed by his superior, Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, it was first aired on "60 Minutes II."
Of course, the question is now whether or not they are actually authentic. "The Washington Post" and other news organizations say analysis of those documents suggest that several of them could have been generated by computer or word processing, not by a typewriter that would have been used in the Vietnam War era.
Now, the widow of Killian stands by those claims, saying that these are forgeries. But CBS releasing a statement yesterday saying they are standing by their story, by their sources. According to "The Washington Post," one of those sources was Killian's immediate supervisor.
In the meantime, CBS says that it is conducting its own internal investigation. The big question here, Miles, of course, is what is going to be the impact on the campaign. Well, I already can tell you that the Democratic National Committee, as well as the Republicans, both of them gearing up for a big fight here. Perhaps you will see competing ads exploiting the issue -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: So it goes on and on. All right. Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Thank you very much.
Still ahead on the program, college can be expensive.
COLLINS: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Don't need to tell us that. We're saving already. The kids are young. We're still saving.
So one Ivy League-bound woman, she went looking for help on Wall Street. "Extra Effort" is coming up.
COLLINS: OK. Also, Scott Peterson's dad takes the stand as a witness for the prosecution. But already it looks like that may have been a mistake. Jeffrey Toobin will be here on that.
O'BRIEN: And al Qaeda threatens the U.S. in a new videotape we've been telling you about. But what does it say about enemy number one? OBL ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: The CIA is analyzing a new al Qaeda tape that appeared on the Arab network Al-Jazeera. On the tape, Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant says Mujahadeen fighters will triumph in Iraq, in Afghanistan. So what does this tape say about the status of al Qaeda, which is perhaps the most important question this morning?
CNN terrorism analyst Peter Bergen recently traveled to Afghanistan. He has an article in the upcoming issue of "The Atlantic Monthly" called "The Long Hunt for Osama." He joins us live from Washington.
The article is great, Peter. I invite everybody to read it.
This tape, the timing is certainly no surprise. We expected to see things near the anniversary. I guess what's surprising to a lot of us watching this closely is the fact that it's a videotape.
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Indeed. And also not a badly shot videotape, as we can see here. It's, you know, somewhat professionally done.
Unusually, Ayman al-Zawahiri has a gun on his side. He's a medical doctor, he's not a fighter. I don't know what the significance of this is, but we've never seen him with a gun before. But, you know...
O'BRIEN: Peter, it also looks, quite frankly, like he's reading from a teleprompter. Is that possible?
BERGEN: I don't know.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
BERGEN: But he's certainly somebody who appears fairly relaxed. He obviously has a certain comfort level to put out this videotape.
As you pointed out, it's kind of unusual for them to do videotapes. We've had 20 audio-videotapes in the past since 9/11 from either bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri. And perhaps only three of them with video attached. So this is an unusual development.
O'BRIEN: Now, why do you suppose we're seeing al-Zawahiri? If they feel emboldened enough to do what they just did, why not put Osama bin Laden on the tape?
BERGEN: That's a very good question. I don't know. We may hear from bin Laden himself perhaps -- you know, it could be tomorrow, or it could be two months from now.
They tent to sort of tag team it. Bin Laden will do one segment, Ayman al-Zawahiri will do the next one.
O'BRIEN: And it's worth reminding people of the close relationship between these two men. Just if you could describe it in a nutshell how they interact with each other and how their partnership has been formed over the years.
BERGEN: I mean, they've known each other since the mid '80s. Ayman al-Zawahiri is bin Laden's doctor. He's also sort of his intellectual mentor to a large degree.
Al Qaeda is a creation of both men. They're equally important in different ways. Bin Laden has the charisma, he has the money, he has the sort of religious aura. Ayman al-Zawahiri is an intellectual. He had the ideas, I think, to a large degree.
O'BRIEN: Give us a sense, then, sort of a status check, if you will, based on your travels, based on this tape, based on everything you've been able to gather, how live and how well is al Qaeda?
BERGEN: Well, we saw in Jakarta yesterday with the attack on the Australian embassy that al Qaeda affiliates remain active. Al Qaeda took a big hit post-9/11, but they're not out of business.
And it's -- al Qaeda, the organization, is, I think, in some disarray. But al Qaeda the larger sort of jihadist movement around the globe was very much energized by the Iraq war. And, you know, we're seeing in Iraq cities like Fallujah, Ramadi, these are like Taliban mini states now.
So we've done this ironic thing, where we went into kind of attack, a putative connection to al Qaeda in Iraq which wasn't there, and now we've sort of begun to create something that really corresponds to an al Qaeda-like regime in the western part of the country.
O'BRIEN: Peter, if tapes like these can be made and couriered (ph) and put on TV, clearly there are a number of people who know where these people are. Why has it been so difficult for U.S. forces, along with the Pakistanis, to get these two guys?
BERGEN: Well, that is -- you know, that's the $50 million question in the case of Osama bin Laden. You know, these guys are disciplined. They're secretive. They're not making obvious mistakes. They're not chatting on their satellite phones.
We don't have a mole within the inner circle of al Qaeda. And it's hard to find one person if they're smart and they want to avoid being captured.
People stay on the most wanted list in this country for years, or even decades. So, now -- you know, and that's in the United States. So in Pakistan, or on the Afghan border, that problem is, you know, a hundred times more difficult.
O'BRIEN: Peter Bergen, who has written extensively on al Qaeda, and in fact interviewed Osama bin Laden years ago, is out with an article, "The Long Hunt for Osama" in this month's "Atlantic."
Thank you very much for your time, Peter. Appreciate it.
BERGEN: Thank you, Miles. O'BRIEN: Heidi.
COLLINS: Still to come, switching gears, and maybe even shoes, if it's dreary where you live, we've got a little piece of spring for you. We're talking inside fashion week for a sneak peek at next year's fabulous looks.
Stay with us right here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Andy Borowitz is back, and he really would like a laptop. But...
COLLINS: Here you go.
O'BRIEN: It's in the budget for next year, Andy. In the meantime, e-mails.
COLLINS: You can't open it, though.
ANDY BOROWITZ, HUMORIST: E-mails. Well, today, we're talking about political ads.
Now, you know, cigarette and hard liquor ads have already been banned from TV. But political ads may be even more toxic. And so we're asking you today, should we ban political ads from television? That is the question.
Charlotte writes, "I am getting so tired of seeing grown men acting like girls in third grade. We just need to ban advertisement of this political circus altogether and watch more 'CSI.'"
Yes, that's what's wrong with this country. Americans are not watching enough "CSI."
And J.R. from Lumber City, Georgia, writes, "Politicians should be able to lob their on-air diatribes at each other as long as they're paying for it. If they want to ban an ad, they need to ban that John Basedow workout video. I swear it's on every channel every final minutes."
And what's up with his hair? It seems to be getting blonder.
COLLINS: You're absolutely right. It's a huge concern.
O'BRIEN: I'm not a student of those ads.
BOROWITZ: That is a question for another day, I think.
(LAUGHTER)
COLLINS: Andy, thanks so much for that.
Well, Herrera, Blass and Prada, they're some of the biggest names in fashion, as we've been reporting this week. Spring's outfits are parading the runway during spring fashion week right here in New York. Here's a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLINA HERRERA, DESIGNER: This is spring 2005. I had a great inspiration from the textiles and the imperial designs and jewels of the '40s. This is full of color, not black. It's all about legs.
MICHAEL VOLLBRACHT, DESIGNER, BILL BLASS: I like women who dress for men. I know that's a sexist thing, but I think smart women do dress for men. And I like sexuality in clothes.
KATE BETTS, EDITOR, "TIME STYLE AND DESIGN": Jeffrey Chow, who's a young designer, he is very skilled at dress-making, and it's beautiful, beautiful strapless stuff. I would say it's really a season of the dress. And then just very beautifully-crafted dresses. And it is like dress up, put on high heels, and sort of enjoy it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Always beautiful clothes. But we are going to get you the very latest on Hurricane Ivan coming up in just a moment here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
