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The Situation Room
Florida Deals With Aftermath of Katrina; Floods Strike Switzerland
Aired August 26, 2005 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Wolf Blitzer. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where news and information arrive at one place simultaneously. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you the day's top stories happening right now.
It's 3:00 in South Florida, which is picking itself up, brushing itself off, and taking stock of the damage left by Hurricane Katrina.
Over in the Gulf of Mexico, it's 2:00 p.m. Katrina gaining new strength and eying new targets. We're on an oil rig which may soon feel the power of the storm.
And it's 9:00 p.m. in Switzerland, where floods have brought death and destruction, a fate shared by much of Central Europe right now.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
After churning across Southern Florida, Hurricane Katrina has burst into the Gulf of Mexico, where its winds now top 100 miles an hour. It could hit Florida yet again as a much stronger storm.
CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is standing by live in our hurricane headquarters. Our Ali Velshi is on a drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico.
But let's begin with CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano. He's joining us from Miami-Dade County. Rob, what's the latest?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, a tremendous amount of rain last night and some wind with this storm.
We are now 15 miles south of Miami. The center of this storm struck where we were last night, up in Hollywood, so about 40 miles away. And this is how much rain fell so far away from the center of this storm. We're in Cutler City. Radar estimates, 15 to 18 inches of rainfall in about a 12-hour period.
You know, they have a tremendous problem with flooding rains in Florida, because it's so flat. But they've got canals, about 2,000 miles worth of canals that can deal with flooding rains like this. But I don't care what kind of system -- you get that kind of rain in that short of a time, this is what's going to happen. So, getting around town has been a nightmare for a lot of folks, not only because of water, but because of wind that's taken down trees across the roadways. Power is out everywhere. So, stoplights have been an issue as well. I think we have some of video of what this looked like earlier today, because the waters are already beginning to recede.
Even as we continue to get hit by rain bands, it seems like, every 10, 15 minutes, another squall comes through. Some folks even got out their canoes, got out the jet skis just to kind of make light of the situation. But it's been a headache for a lot of folks.
You know, the last couple of days, we have been talking about really the tremendous amount of rain with this storm. Probably the biggest surprise that a lot of folks, a lot of residents, a lot of emergency managers in Broward and Dade County have experienced were the winds.
It was a Category 1 storm, Wolf. And, last year, we had 2, 3 and 4 category storms. So, it didn't seem like it was going to be much. But a hurricane is a hurricane, tremendous amount of rain, also can produce damaging winds. We had an overpass collapse and lots of other damage, a couple of trailer parks completely devastated.
So, as this thing winds itself up in the Gulf of Mexico, people in South Florida, who haven't seen a major storm, really, since Hurricane Andrew, are starting to pick up the pieces. And it looks like the water is going to be slow to recede.
Back to you.
BLITZER: What's the latest, Rob, based on what you know, on the fatalities? How many were killed in this hurricane?
MARCIANO: I do know in Broward County, there were four fatalities, most of all of which were from people actually going out into the storm during the height of the storm. Three of those fatalities were from trees falling on people who were in cars or who were walking down the street just checking out the storm.
Another fatality was somebody who was driving during the storm, ran off into a ditch and hit a tree. So, as far as I know, there's been four, all-storm related, all because people were out during the storm.
BLITZER: I see a car driving right behind you through this little flooded area. How stupid is that or how smart is it based on what you know?
MARCIANO: Well, Mike, if you can turn -- there's a motorist (ph) right here who just decided, you know what? His car is a little too low profile to get through.
Higher-profile vehicles, higher-rise, four-by-fours have been able to make it through here. But you get any sort of coupe or sedan that sits lower to the ground, it's not going to happen. The waters are starting to recede. And maybe this road will be passable, but for everybody, later on. But the only folks who are able to get through of those in really high four-by-fours or semis at this point, not the smartest thing to go through if you have a little-bitty car. Back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: I think you are absolutely right. Rob Marciano, covering this aftermath of this Hurricane Katrina in Miami-Dade County.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Let's find out where Katrina is heading right now.
For that, we will turn to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She's at the CNN hurricane headquarters. Jacqui, what's the latest?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's heading toward the Gulf Coast, we think, eventually, Wolf.
But we have seen a little bit of a dip now once again. It's moving west-southwest. And that's actually really bad news because it means it's going to be hovering over the Keys a little bit longer and it also means it's going to be staying over open water longer because it's going to take a little bit longer for its trip all the way on up to the north.
And so, we're expecting this to become a major hurricane when it makes landfall. Right now, we're looking at a Category 2 storm, maximum winds around 100 miles per hour. And the Keys are continuing to get slammed at this time. Very concerned about flooding in the lower Keys. We saw those pictures from where Rob is. Well, we will likely be seeing pictures like that across the lower Keys.
There you can see a lot of that rain coming down, an additional five to eight inches on top of what you already have. And that is going to be bringing your totals somewhere between about 15 and 20 inches. Still getting tropical storm force sustained winds, 39 miles per hour right now in Key West. We have been seeing gusts, at times, 60, even 70 miles per hour.
We are expecting the forecast track to be moving back on up to the north, however. We have got a storm system right now, believe it or not, that is across the Upper Midwest. And that's going to help to pull Katrina on up to the north. In the meantime, it's going to be staying over the open waters and that means it's going to continue to strengthen, likely becoming a Category 3, we think, within maybe even 24 hours, and then heading on up towards Florida once again.
Now, there's still a lot of uncertainty as to exactly where Katrina is going to go. Best estimate means the one-two punch, unfortunately. But keep in mind, some of the models are bringing it over towards New Orleans. So, we still don't know exactly where it's going to go. So, if you live in Louisiana, anywhere across the Northeastern Gulf, you need to be paying close attention. Looks like landfall will likely be sometime on Monday, maybe around midday.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, we will be watching it every step of the way. Category 3, that's about 125 miles an hour. As Katrina gathers strength in the Gulf of Mexico, it may pose a serious threat to oil drilling operations. There already have been some evacuations from offshore facilities.
Our Ali Velshi is on the Noble Max Smith drilling rig. That's off the coast of Louisiana. He's joining us via videophone with a good inside look at what's going on.
Ali, explain to our viewers what's happening where you are.
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Wolf, the situation has changed since we got here earlier today.
What we thought we were going to, because we are about 135 nautical miles south of Louisiana, we thought we were a little far west for there to be a lot of action on this rig. So, we were going to talk to them about what sort of thing they do in preparation for a hurricane. However, en route here on the helicopter, we learned that, because of the turn in direction of Katrina, this rig has been instructed to begin evacuation of nonessential personnel.
I'm in the Noble Max Smith rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico and they are now preparing for an evacuation of nonessential personnel. Over my shoulder, you can see the helicopter that we came in on. Now, in less than an hour, that helicopter is going to fly off this pad to make room for a helicopter that will be evacuating the first of those personnel. Somehow, I managed to negotiate that, as nonessential as we are, we will probably leave after that helicopter, as long as there isn't a turn in events.
But what's happening here is, it's about 50 or 60 men on this ship who are doing all the necessary things on a checklist to shut this rig down in preparation for an evacuation. The storm is about 500 miles away from here. They are still tracking it actively. And it's unclear as to whether they'll need to do a full evacuation. But there are 4,000 rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. And, right now, hundreds and perhaps thousands of them are undergoing what I'm seeing right now on this rig -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Ali, explain to our viewers the direct connection between the hurricane and this oil rig and what everyone pays for gasoline at the pump.
VELSHI: Well, it's pretty straight. One-third of all the oil, more than one-third of all the oil that we consume in the United States is drilled or brought in through the Gulf of Mexico, especially those ports around Louisiana. And what happens here is, certainly after Hurricane Ivan, it shut the entire Gulf oil drilling down.
And they don't want to risk all of these rigs and platforms, so, when weather looks severe, they start to shut things down. Right now, we are using most of the oil that we bring in and refine in the United States. So, when speculators see that there's a chance that things might be offline for a few days, they start bidding up the price of oil. We already have a slowdown at the refineries. So, the price of oil goes up, but the refineries risk not getting enough oil into the process for making the gasoline.
So, the greater the threat, the higher the price of oil and that will eventually trickle its way through into the price of gas.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We will check back with you soon, Ali, on that evacuation from the drilling rig off Louisiana. Ali Velshi is our man on the scene there today.
And we will go back to Florida in just a few moments. We will check in with the Red Cross for details on how it's helping families recover from the storm and what it's doing to get ready for the next landfall. Much more coverage coming up here on CNN, your hurricane headquarters.
Time now for the "Cafferty File," Jack Cafferty joining us today from New York with a good question, I assume, Jack.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we will know after we get the response. Thank you, Wolf. Ali looking a little like one of the Village People there on that oil platform.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: You like that -- you like that hat?
CAFFERTY: Yes, I want to get one of those.
BLITZER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: Get that CNN logo on there.
This is tantamount to the inmates taking over the asylum, this story here. Some Texas public high school principals are going back to school to learn Spanish. The Dallas School Board voted last night 5-4 to require some principals to become bilingual. The Dallas School District is about 65 percent Hispanic. The idea is to make it easier for parents who cannot speak English to communicate with their kids' principals.
Of course, the taxpayers will have to pay for all these classes for the principals to become bilingual. This has nothing to do with the students at the schools. It's being done because the parents refuse to learn English.
Here's the question. Should public school principals in Dallas, Texas, be required to speak Spanish? You can e- mail us at CaffertyFile -- one word -- @CNN.com.
And if you want to hear more about this story, let me recommend that you tune in LOU DOBBS TONIGHT. Christine Romans has been working on this for a while. She will have an in-depth report tonight on LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, beginning at 6:00, requiring American school principals to learn Spanish because the parents of Hispanic kids who live in this country are refusing to learn the language of the country in which they reside.
We are circling the drain in this country these days, Wolf.
BLITZER: I suspect you have strong feelings on this. But don't share them with our viewers now, but, later, after we get the e-mail.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: I don't want you to influence the result of the -- what our e-mailers are going to be telling us. But you'll share your personal thoughts later.
CAFFERTY: Can I just say one thing?
BLITZER: Yes.
CAFFERTY: It's outrageous. That's all.
BLITZER: All right. Well, OK. Well, you shared some personal thoughts.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Jack, we will be getting back to you shortly.
CAFFERTY: All right.
BLITZER: Still to come, President Bush taking a pounding in the polls over Iraq, his vacation overshadowed by waning public opinion. Will he change gears or stay the course? We will take you live to Crawford. We have some new poll numbers coming out as well.
Also, Lance Armstrong fights back, accusations of doping. And the French are up in arms. He's up in arms. We will hear what he has to say about the charges.
Plus, sniper on a hunger strike. The convicted killer, John Allen Muhammad, staging a protest.
And a little bit later, wild weather. Look at this. It's not only Florida. Europe is being pounded by fire, floods and drought. We will take you there. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Hurricane Katrina dumped more than a foot of rain in parts of South Florida, and more than a million people are without electricity. With power lines and trees down and widespread flooding, residents still face plenty of danger.
Joining us now from Ft. Lauderdale is the American Red Cross Spokesman Peter Teahen.
Peter, thanks very much for joining us. You've covered -- you have been involved in a lot of other similar emergency situations. What's the status right now? What's the situation like in South Florida?
PETER TEAHEN, AMERICAN RED CROSS: The people did a wonderful job of preparing and getting ready for the storm last night.
Red Cross was there ready and supporting local emergency management. We were able to provide housing for 32,000 potential families last night in shelters. We didn't need that many. But we were available. Today, we're out with damage assessment teams. We have our staff and equipment coming in to help provide meals, financial assistance to families, and mental health support to those who were touched by this disaster.
It's an unfolding disaster and Red Cross was there before working with emergency management and here every day, the next few weeks, making sure that families are cared for.
BLITZER: This was a Category 1 hurricane. American Red Cross, other relief organizations have been involved in Category 3 and Category 4 hurricanes. How does this compare with some of the other ones?
TEAHEN: Well, when we look at the categories of hurricane, we look at the winds and the damage that's out there. It's only important if you are the one whose house is affected and families touched. So, this was a pretty important disaster for those families who have been flooded or homes were affected.
As Katrina moves north, American Red Cross is already making plans to support emergency management up in the Panhandle, from Tallahassee to New Orleans, if need be, to support in evacuation, development of shelters, and staffing, personnel and equipment to be there immediately after the storm to help families affected.
BLITZER: A lot of people underestimated the impact, the lethality, if you will, of Katrina. How much of a problem was that? The expectation was that it wouldn't be that bad. But, clearly, in some places, it was very bad.
TEAHEN: We all want it to happen somewhere else. And that was the attitude last night, I think, for many people.
The folks I talked to yesterday said, oh, it's just going to be a rain event. And so, I think a lot of people were surprised how deadly this storm became. And that's the message that we deliver all the time. Don't assume that you're going to get by. Be prepared. Make your plans. Have your go kit ready in case you need to evacuate. And expect the worst and be glad that the worst doesn't happen.
But preparedness is a key message. And hopefully the folks up in the Panhandle and the northern part of the Gulf of Mexico will pay attention to what happened here and say, we're not taking any chances. We're going to listen what the officials say and act accordingly.
BLITZER: Peter Teahen is with the American Red Cross. Peter, thank you very much for joining us.
Remember, stay with CNN, your hurricane headquarters.
Still to come here in THE SITUATION ROOM, the cost of war, President Bush losing ground in the polls. There's a new poll coming out. We will have it here. Will he stand firm in the face of a divided public? We are going to go live to Crawford.
Also, Lance Armstrong fights back. Hear what he has to say to the French about allegations of doping.
And a little bit later, the trouble with tobacco. A country singer gets an earful from a governor over chew.
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Iraqi negotiators are struggling to come up with a constitutional compromise on power-sharing. Fearing they'll be left out, Sunni Muslims took to the streets once again today, while the White House now confirms President Bush has called a top Shiite official, urging him to seek a deal.
Our White House correspondent, Suzanne Malveaux, is standing by live in Crawford, Texas.
But let's go to CNN's Aneesh Raman in Baghdad first for the latest from there. What is the latest, Aneesh?
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're waiting to hear from the speaker of Iraq's National Assembly, Hajim al-Hassani, to see where things stand tonight.
Although leaders had been meeting all day today, no sign of a deal. But there were reports that the Shia put forth a final compromise, both to the Kurds and to the Sunnis, a compromise that would essentially sideline a number of questions when it comes to federalism, also to that other contentious issue of de-Baathification. That would certainly appease some Sunni concerns, But it raises inherently the question of whether the Kurds will come on board. They want as much and as explicit reference to federalism in this draft constitution as is possible.
So, we are waiting to hear whether they will extend this process forward or perhaps announce that talks have come to an agreement or just have come to an end and the draft constitution will go forward.
It's important to note, Wolf, the Iraqi government says the only legal deadline it had was on Monday, by when they had to have a draft constitution submitted to the National Assembly. And the only legal deadline they have ahead is October 15, the date by which the referendum has to take place. So, in the interim, we could see these deadlines of compromise that are self-imposed be continually pushed, as all sides try to agree on a draft constitution and avert that constitution being rejected in the referendum, Wolf. BLITZER: Very quickly, Aneesh. We know the splits between the Sunnis, Shia and the Kurds. But now it appears there's a significant split among the Shia themselves, with supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric, taking one stance and some of the more mainstream Shia taking another stance. Explain to our viewers how significant this could be.
RAMAN: It could be hugely significant, Wolf, and it piggybacks on violence we saw in Najaf in a similar situation, rival Shia factions.
On one end, Muqtada al-Sadr, his followers, the Badr Brigade, as well as those calling for federalism in this constitution -- sorry, for no federalism. And then you have Abdul Aziz Hakim, the man that Bush called, SCIRI, a Shia religious party that makes up the backbone of Iraq's government, pushing for federalism within the document.
So, internal friction within the Shia is something the Sunnis could play off upon politically to try and reject this in a referendum if it includes federalism, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, we will get back to you. Aneesh Raman, watching this for you from Baghdad. Thank you very much.
Let's head over to our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. She's near the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas. She's watching all of this as well. Suzanne, what are you picking up?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I can tell you, senior administration officials have been very cautious today about talking about this at all.
In terms of their language, they say they are hopeful, that they really want to make sure that this looks like this is an Iraqi-led process here. Obviously, they are very much aware it's not only a credibility test for the Iraqis, but for President Bush as well. And that is why he has become intimately and directly involved in this negotiation process.
We learned through White House Spokesman Trent Duffy earlier today that it was Wednesday, President Bush in Idaho, before returning to the Crawford ranch, made a critical call, that call to Shiite leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim to discuss the developments of the constitution, the developments.
He said -- while he wouldn't get into the particulars, he made it known that the White House position is, is that the Shiites, it's critically important for them to understand and appreciate Sunni participation, full participation.
They believe that, if they are in the political fold, that means that, ultimately, the insurgency will become weakened and that the White House position is, it would be a mistake for the Shiites to go around the Sunnis when it comes to bringing that constitution to the people.
And, Wolf, I should let you know, this comes at a critical time for the president. Just the latest polls, again, one showing a dipping in his job performance rate. The approval rate, this from the Gallup poll, shows that now 40 percent approve of President Bush's job performance, while 56 percent disapprove.
An administration official I spoke with said, look, they understand this is a difficult time. There are Iraqi casualties. There are American casualties. There are antiwar protests. But they believe that, ultimately, this is going to work. Look at the military track, as well as the political one.
Wolf.
BLITZER: In that Gallup poll, five points goes down, his job approval numbers, only in the past two weeks or so. Suzanne in Crawford, thank you very much for that.
And this note to our viewers. Sunday on LATE EDITION, I will speak with the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. He will join us Sunday at noon Eastern.
Mary Snow is tracking some of the day's other headlines. Mary is in Washington today, feeling in for Zain. Mary, what's going on?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, more decisions today from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Some of the news is good for affected states.
Commissioners voted to keep South Dakota's Ellsworth Air Force Base, with its 4,000 jobs, open. The Pentagon had recommended closure. Commissioners also OK'd a compromise for Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico. The base would not close altogether, but operations there would be greatly reduced. Now, it still could face closure in five years.
A federal judge is siding with Pennsylvania in the state's challenge to Pentagon recommendations to trim its Air National Guard. The judge ruled today that the Defense Department has no authority to close a National Guard unit without the governor's approval. The Pentagon had recommended that the BRAC commission deactivate Pennsylvania's 111th Fighter Wing. The judge declared the recommendation null and void. Other states are considering similar lawsuits.
And a 21-year-old Turk and an 18-year-old Moroccan have been arrested for creating and distributing the crippling Mytob/Zotob computer worm earlier this month. The worm infiltrated and disrupted computer systems here at CNN, ABC News, the "New York Times" and U.S. Immigration and Customs Services, among others. It targeted Windows 2000 and some early Windows XP computers.
Coretta Scott King's chief physician says the widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. will remain hospitalized at least another month. Her doctor says she can speak short sentences and is recovering some strength on her right side, but right now is unable to walk. The 78-year-old Mrs. King is in rehab after suffering a major stroke and a mild heart attack on August 16. Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Mary, thanks very much. Mary Snow, welcome to Washington. We will get back with you shortly.
In the meantime, where is Katrina right now and what's it doing? Coming up, we will tell you what's happening, as I speak to the co- founder of HurricaneNow.com, our own former hurricane reporter Jeff Flock. He's standing by.
And Katrina isn't the only extreme weather story we're following. We're also tracking the floods, enormous floods, in Europe. We will tell you about the chaos and the casualties. We will go there live.
And the French have had their say. Now Lance Armstrong has his, his answers to the doping allegations against him, a CNN exclusive. That was on LARRY KING LIVE last night. We will tell you what he said.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Our former colleague Jeff Flock has been through a number of hurricanes. He's the co-founder of HurricaneNow.com. He's joining us now from Naples, Florida. Jeff, you've seen a lot of these. Give us a little comparison. How does this one, Katrina, rank with some of the others?
JEFF FLOCK, HURRICANENOW.COM: Well, it's interesting only, Wolf, in that it remains to be seen just how powerful this will be. But, you know, this was not unlike the track of Andrew in '92 that came across Florida, of course, did a lot more damage on the peninsula of Florida before heading on up north. That one came near New Orleans. This looks like it's more for the Panhandle, but a very similar track and a two- punch storm.
BLITZER: The whole business that you're in right now, watching these hurricanes, explain to our viewers what you're trying to do.
FLOCK: What we want to do is bring the whole chase mission live. You know me. I always could keep talking longer than you wanted me to, sometimes. And this gives us an opportunity to do that. You know, we've got the computer. This is my satellite dish right here. It's a little bit -- you know, we don't have to bring it down in the height of the storm.
So what we do -- last night, for example, we chased this storm all the way across Florida through the Everglades, on through the Tamiami Trail and, you know, watched the storm unfold as we went and continued to broadcast live. Sometimes it's not very interesting, sometimes you see kind of weird things happen. Sometimes somebody swears. But the idea is to show the storm unfold as it comes ashore live. And that's what we do. To our subscribers, we stream almost all the time, as much as we possibly can.
BLITZER: So instead of chasing or hunting for tornadoes, you're basically doing this as far as hurricanes are concerned. And you're going to be -- I assume you're going to be heading up to the Florida coast towards the Panhandle for Monday's arrival of Katrina on land?
FLOCK: Absolutely. And, of course, that's going to be, you know, that's going to be the real payoff to this one for people that look at hurricanes. It's going to be a huge storm up there. But, indeed, that's what we do.
Some say hurricane chasing is a misnomer, since they move so slowly. But you know, we have the ability now to move with them.
In the old days, with a satellite truck, you couldn't move with the storm. Now we have the technology to do that, to actually move with it. If we could, we'd get on a ship. And I'm sure that's the next incarnation. We'll get on a ship and be out there broadcasting from the storm as it's out in the Gulf. It would be a hell of a picture.
But for now, you know, when it moves inland from the coast on the Panhandle, we'll follow it inland. You know, maybe up to Alabama. Who knows where it winds up going, but we'll follow this storm.
BLITZER: And you're just driving every step of the way. When we spoke yesterday, you were near Ft. Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, I think that's where you were, just south of West Palm.
FLOCK: Yes.
BLITZER: Did you get the sense that people underestimated this Hurricane Katrina? That they really weren't ready for it?
FLOCK: Well, they did, in some ways. But you know, it was good that there weren't mass evacuations. Officials didn't panic everybody about it. When you give the evacuation order, when you say big hurricane is coming, you want that to be the case. You don't want everybody freaking out over every tropical storm or every barely Category 1 storm.
People were out in it yesterday and it was OK. You know, very few people got hurt when it comes right down to it.
But now, when it gets to the Panhandle, that's going to be a huge storm, and really people need to listen to officials on that one. And there will be big evacuations and you need to get out of the way.
BLITZER: Jeff Flock is the co-founder of HurricaneNow.com. We'll check back with you on Monday. Be careful out there, Jeff. Thanks very much.
Let's head out to the Gulf of Mexico. CNN's Ali Velshi is on an oil drilling rig out there. Ali, you're joining us via videophone. I understand the evacuation of this rig, about to begin?
VELSHI: Wolf, I got to tell you, it's very loud here, and I can hardly hear you. But what you are watching now is the beginning of the evacuation of non-essential personnel from the rig, the Noble Max Smith. We are in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, about 130 miles south of Louisiana. They have received word that the bad weather is headed this way, and have calculated that it would take them 58 hours to fully batten down and evacuate this rig.
The storm, if this computer's on its pattern, should start to affect this area in about 72 hours from when they got that warning, giving them about 12 hours of contingency. Now what's happening is they don't know whether they'll go through with a full evacuation. In the distance, we're able to start seeing bad weather actually starting to roll in, some lightning.
So they're evacuating basically non-essential personnel. And the personnel remaining on this rig are tightening things up, closing up the wells so that it is capped, as required by the Department of Interior, and making sure everything is safe. This is possibly the last helicopter that will leave here today, because they want us to leave this rig, as well. Our helicopter has taken off and will be returning to pick us up very shortly.
At this point, because it's so far from the coast, it's a good hour-and-a-half to two to get to land. And they don't want to be flying these things at night, unnecessarily. So here you have nonessential personnel. In a few moments, you'll see this helicopter lift off, then head towards Louisiana, where they will then refuel and go to wherever it is that these workers, all men, are going.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. We'll watch it together with you. Ali, we'll check back with you shortly. Be careful out there in the Gulf of Mexico.
CNN is interested in your photos and video from the storm. You can log on to CNN.com/stories to send us your citizen journalist pictures and stories. Please include your name, your hometown, your phone number. We'll try to get some of them on the air.
CNN is your hurricane headquarters. And we'll have more coverage coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM, and all weekend as the storm pushes through the Gulf, heads back towards land, presumably, on Monday.
Now to other rough weather. This would be in Europe. In parts of Switzerland, they're cleaning up mud and debris coating the streets, while other areas in Central and Eastern Europe are still under water. Recent flooding has caused chaos and has claimed lives.
Our Chris Burns is in Bern, Switzerland. He's on the phone and he's got some details what's happening today. Chris, it sounds pretty bad.
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the awesome forces of nature of a hurricane, it's a little bit difficult to compare to this. But it's still the roar of a river right outside of your hotel room, is quite an awesome sound and sight. And the residents who are nearby who were evacuated are thinking about coming and moving back in their homes after they were helicoptered and boated out of there in haste a couple of days ago. But they're going to have to live with this roar for the next few days, and without power. And so it's a very, very slow return to normalcy.
There are other towns that we tried to live kind of like Swiss people today and driving around and facing these roadblocks. Authorities say that there have never been so many roads cut in 100 years here. And that's logical, after you -- if you consider that they got about a month's worth of rain in three days here, tearing up roads, tearing up homes. A number of people actually drowned and died in their homes in a number of these small beautiful, little idyllic towns that we tried to get to, but the roads were all blocked.
And this is also going on across more than a half dozen countries here in Central and Eastern Europe. In Germany, we're seeing that, as well. The water is starting to come down, but there are still flood warnings. The sandbags have worked in a number of places. There was a monastery, seventh century monastery, that was saved, thanks to sandbags. In Austria, they're getting some more fresh rainfall. There could be more mudslides over there.
Elsewhere over here in Switzerland, there are some ski villages that are cut off. And they are using helicopters to ferry supplies over to those people.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Well, wish them our best. Forty-three people dead so far. Awful weather in Europe, right in the heart of Europe. Chris Burns watching it for us. Thank you very much.
It's Friday, August 26. Straight ahead, hollowed out homes and battered buildings. We're following the damage from Hurricane Katrina from many angles, including what's online. We'll show you blogs -- wWhat the blogs are doing, and the resources you should know about. These are live pictures we're getting in from our affiliates in South Florida.
And talk about a storm, Lance Armstrong is in the middle of one after the French accuse him of doping. So what does he have to say? We'll have our CNN exclusive. He was on LARRY KING LIVE last night.
And some say it's elementary: public school principals in Texas speaking more than one language for a diverse student body. Our Jack Cafferty has your thoughts and his thoughts, all that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here in THE SITUATION ROOM, we're plugged into almost everything happening online. That means, at least on this day, blogs, pictures and resources about Hurricane Katrina.
Our Internet reporters, Jacki Schechner and Abbi Tatton are checking online. They've got the latest for us. Jacki?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Wolf. Yeah, blogs come in all different shapes and sizes, and not only do we get first-hand accounts. But we get some really good weather analysis we wanted to show you. This is Central Florida Hurricane Center at FLHurricane.com. They are weather enthusiasts. And they are following this, analyzing models, giving you data. It's really actually very visual, talking about how Katrina is now getting better organized in a very quick fashion.
Also the "Miami Herald," the local paper in South Miami is doing some wonderful reporting. Not only that, they have some great Web cams. This one out of the fifth floor of the "Miami Herald" offices overlooking Biscayne Bay. There's McArthur Causeway, but you can barely see it, because the weather is still very stormy. These are up- to-date photos, by the way -- a Web cam that updates constantly. This the western view.
Also, they are reporting the things that make it so fabulous to live in South Florida are also the things that make it dangerous. Indoor swimming. People's apartments getting flooded. Things like the shady areas getting hardest hit, trees falling. Also houseboats -- one of the wonderful things about being able to live down there. And two of them have sunk. Finally -- oh, look at that, Windows is now updating.
Finally, Babalu Blog, just wanted this too -- this is in Miami saying it is very hot. My kingdom for an air conditioner. No electricity there.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Pictures too on the Web at Flickr.com, Scott O'Baer (ph) here. Look at this. No thank you. Recording Broward County, the destruction in the streets there. And also live blogging from Broward County.
Last night, this southern woman on the net, she describes herself, was going out, taking photos of what was going on. She went inside very quickly, noting that four people had already died in Broward at that point.
All in all, this blog, Florida Masochist, would you believe, they are saying, you are a glutton for punishment if you live there, saying South Florida was really fortunate.
But the Panhandle -- a Pensacola Beach blog, they're gearing up for what could be an attack to their coastline early next week. Pensacola a target again. Reporting already that gas lines are forming up there.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, guys. Thanks very much. Very useful information. We'll check back with you in the next hour.
Lance Armstrong on LARRY KING LIVE. Coming up, the cyclist stops by for some Q&A. The questions, of course, on doping allegations against him. The answers, we'll have some of his answers for you. That's coming up.
And some amazing images of an amazing rescue operation in Oregon. We'll tell you precisely what happened.
And Kinky for governor. It's a colorful campaign under way in Texas. We'll speak with the man behind it. That would be Kinky Freidman. He'll be my guest. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Here's a quick look at some of the shot shots coming in from the Associated Press, pictures likely to be in your hometown newspapers tomorrow.
New Mexico, detonation at Holloman Air Force Base. A disposal team blows up 4,500 pounds of obsolete rocket mortars.
North Korea. Two daughters reunite with their mother from South Korea. They haven't seen each other for over half a century since the war split the country apart.
Iraq. Sunni protesters carry pictures of Saddam Hussein to the rally against the new constitution.
China. Two giant pandas relax at a research center.
Hot shots from the best photographers around the world who capture the news for all of us.
Let's check in with CNN's Mary Snow. She's got a quick look at other stories making news. Mary?
SNOW: Wolf, authorities at a Maryland jail are not saying whether convicted John Allen Muhammad is taking food again on his own or otherwise. The convicted Washington area sniper began a hunger strike four days ago. This after being transferred to Montgomery County to face more murder charges. A Maryland judge yesterday approved a request to force feed him. Muhammed is to face trial for the sniper style murders of six people in 2002.
Two brothers in Aruba who had been detained, then released in connection with Natalee Holloway's disappearance, are now back in custody. Satish and Deepak Kalpoe were rearrested today on suspicion of acting together with other people to rape and kill the Alabama teenager. Aruban prosecutors say new evidence has arisen in the investigation.
Playwright August Wilson says he's dying of liver cancer. The 60- year-old Pulitzer Prize winner made the revelation in an interview with the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette". Wilson was diagnosed with the disease in June and since doctors have given him three to five months to live. He has been finishing a 10-play cycle chronicling the twentieth century black experience in America. He earned Pulitzers for two of his plays, "Fences" and "The Piano Lesson."
Lance Armstrong sticks to his guns and says allegations that he used performance enhancing drugs when he won his first Tour de France in 1999, in a word, stink. In an exclusive interview on CNN's LARRY KING LIVE last night, the seven-time Tour winner did not budge. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANCE ARMSTRONG, SEVEN-TIME TOUR DE FRANCE WINNER: I have never doped. I can say it again, but I've said it for seven years. It doesn't help. But the fact of the matter is I haven't.
And if you consider my situation, a guy who comes back from arguably you know, a death sentence, why would I then enter into a sport and dope myself up and risk my life again? That's crazy. I would never do that. That's, no. No way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: We'll take a closer look at Armstrong's battle to defend his name and his sports legacy later in THE SITUATION ROOM. That will be at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. And stay with us for that.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Mary. We'll be watching. Thanks very much. We'll check back with you.
Let's in the meantime check in with Jack Cafferty. Anybody respond to your question this hour, Jack?
CAFFERTY: What do you suppose?
BLITZER: I suspect three or four people might have sent you an e- mail.
CAFFERTY: I think we got close to 800 e-mails in slightly over half-an-hour. Did we make Zain Verjee mad yesterday?
BLITZER: No. Zain's been -- she's been working very hard. She's got a few days off.
CAFFERTY: Oh. OK. I just, you know, wouldn't want to do that.
BLITZER: She's not mad at you. She likes you.
CAFFERTY: I like Zain a lot. She's all right.
The Dallas, Texas, school board last night voted 5-4 to require some public school principals to become bilingual in Spanish. The idea is to make it easier for parents who can't speak English to communicate with their kids' principals. The solution to the communications problem is not to get the parents to learn English, even though they do live in the state of Texas, but rather force the public school principals to learn Spanish.
That's the question. Should the school principals in Dallas be required to speak Spanish?
Mitsuko in Raleigh, North Carolina. "This country's language is English. If you're going to move here, we don't have to learn your language, you need to learn ours. If we all started moving to Mexico, do you think they'd give their principals learn English requirements? Give me a break."
Jim in Jacksonville, Florida. "Absolutely not. School personnel have enough to do off the clock without pay, and should not be subjected to learning a new language."
Will in El Cerrito, California. "Bottom line, you are living in the past, Jack. California and Texas will soon be majority Hispanic, so calling it our country is silly. And I'd like to see you learn a new language at your ripe old age, especially without the financial resources to do so."
Victor writes, "I live in Dallas, went to school there. Unbelievable. The Dallas Independent School District, while having a number of superlative schools, has historically been one of the most poorly administered districts in the country. Frankly, the money would be better spent making more students speak English in the class of the same name.
And Lee writes, "We have bilingualism laws in Canada. It enables bilingual people to get jobs before better qualified English only candidates. The question is who decided which jobs should be bilingual? Principals today, news anchors tomorrow. Hola, Jack."
If you want to hear more about this story, Christine Romans has an in depth report coming up on LOU DOBBS TONIGHT, which airs at 6:00 Eastern Time. Very controversial topic. Very emotional topic.
BLITZER: You know, in Canada, in Quebec, everybody's got to be bilingual. All the schools, the lawyers, the police. Everybody has got to speak English and French.
CAFFERTY: Well if you live in an area where that's the way people communicate, I guess, you know, I sort of understand that. If I decided to go move to Berlin tomorrow, I'd probably learn how to speak German. I doubt that I would expect people who speak only German to go learn English just to accommodate me. I think that's asking a bit much.
BLITZER: I suppose a lot of kids in school -- let's go back many years, Jack, you and me. Did we really want our parents speaking to the principals?
CAFFERTY: No. That's the other thing. If your parents could not communicate with the principal, perfect.
BLITZER: All right, Jack. Thanks very much.
CNN, remember, is your hurricane headquarters. We're only minutes away from another update on Katrina. Where will it do damage next? How much worse might it be?
And when we go "Inside Politics", we'll go live to Crawford, Texas, where Cindy Sheehan and other anti-war protesters are getting some new competition.
And she's known for her country hit Redneck Woman. But officials in one state know Gretchen Wilson for something else. And they don't like it. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: We're about a minute-and-a-half away from the closing bell on Wall Street. We'll go there shortly. But let's head out to Ali Velshi in the Gulf of Mexico aboard an oil drilling rig. You're about to be evacuated, Ali.
VELSHI: We are, in fact. We've been told that we need to be on board our helicopter in 15 minutes to get out of here. We are looking at some weather. It's that season in the Gulf of Mexico. So we can see it coming in. We saw some lightning. It looks like some rain is going to be upon us, soon. Also, as far as the eye can see, Wolf, you can see rigs all over the place. There are upwards of 50 thousand people right now working in the Gulf of Mexico.
Some are being evacuated. Certainly, in the eastern part many have been evacuated. In areas like ours, rigs like this are evacuating nonessential personnel. You saw a little earlier, the first evacuation flight leaving. Many of those will be leaving if this weather continues to come in, in this direction.
And the helicopter that you saw, those are contract helicopters. So these guys get busy all of a sudden when a lot of rigs want a lot of people moving out. So it's got to be orchestrated very well. And that's what we've been watching today.
This was supposed to be finding out about what they would do in case they wanted to evacuate. It's turned into, in fact, a rig that is getting ready to shut down and evacuate if the weather doesn't turn away from this part of the Gulf of Mexico. We're south of Louisiana. We'll be boarding our helicopter in about 15 minutes and heading to Louisiana to refuel and then off to Houston and determine our next moves from there -- Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Ali, stand by. I just want to update our viewers on the closing numbers on Wall Street. The bell, the final bell is about to ring. There it is, it's ringing right now. Let's take a look. The Dow Jones Industrials down about 54 points. The NASDAQ down 12 points. Not necessarily a great day on Wall Street. Are you surprised, Ali?
VELSHI: No. In fact, I got to tell you Wolf, when I spoke to a lot of companies, even though I've been looking at oil very carefully in the last couple of weeks, when I spoke to other companies, it might have been in preparations for this. It wasn't widely expected it would have the impact that it did. It was kind of a feeling after Ivan, everyone has been braced for it and this wasn't going to be a big one to handle. Well, in fact, it has turned out it had greater impact than at least some businesses or people have been prepared for and that's nothing Wall Street likes to see.
And if more rigs shut down -- there are 4,000 of them out in the Gulf of Mexico -- that does mean speculators will start to bid the price of oil up, and that means a trickle down perhaps into the price of gas and that's the kind of things that causes markets to turn the other way. So we'll have to see how this behaves in the next few days to see not only what effect it has on markets but the production of oil and the flow of oil into the mainland.
BLITZER: Ali is on an oil drilling rig but he's about to be evacuated. Have a safe journey back on that helicopter, Ali, appreciate it very much.
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