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The Situation Room

Speculation on Next Supreme Court Nomination; Wildfire Rages in Southern California; United Nations Gears Up to Counter Threat of Bird Flu

Aired September 29, 2005 - 15:07   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The United States now has a new chief justice, John Roberts, sworn in moments ago as the 17th chief justice of the United States. The president there together with John Paul Stevens, the associate justice, doing the honors.
As we saw here live in THE SITUATION ROOM, the new chief justice has been given the oath of office at this White House ceremony.

Earlier, just -- it took just a few minutes for the Senate to give John Roberts leadership of the Supreme Court, perhaps for decades, the vote, 78-22. All of the Senate Republicans and half of the Senate Democrats voted in favor of the conservative appeals court judge.

Let's bring in our reporters and our analysts.

Our congressional correspondent Joe Johns is on Capitol Hill. Our senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, is in New York.

Let's begin over at the White House with our Elaine Quijano.

A dramatic moment in American history. It hasn't happened many times before. It now sets the stage, though, Elaine, for the next step. The president must come forward with a new nominee for the Supreme Court. What are you hearing?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.

In fact, even as that final vote was being -- those final votes were being cast, certainly talk focusing on just what the president's next move will be.

But, first, to back up a little bit, this day started with Judge Roberts actually coming to the White House this morning, ahead of that vote in the Senate, and the judge watching in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, along with a few dozen White House staffers who have helped guide him through the confirmation process, watching those votes come down, and eventually President Bush coming by and congratulating Judge Roberts -- Judge Roberts on his confirmation, so, certainly, the culmination of many months of work.

It was Judge Roberts who pointed out that it was actually a couple of months ago, in July, when he was first nominated for the position of the associate justice, the one vacated, being vacated by the retiring Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and, of course, just recently switching that nomination to be chief justice.

But, in terms of the timeline, Wolf, in how soon it could be, we are told that that pick will not be announced today, but it could happen as early as tomorrow. Now, White House spokesman Scott McClellan, though, being very careful to say that we are now in a -- quote -- "window of possibility" and that a decision could come really at any time, starting tomorrow.

Now, in terms of a list, we are told that it is a short one, but no names are being circulated, the White House playing those names very close to the vest -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Elaine, thanks very much.

Let's bring in our congressional correspondent Joe Johns. He's been watching this all day -- 78 to 22, the final vote, all 55 Republicans voting in favor, 22 Democrats voting in favor of confirmation of John Roberts, 22 opposed, Jim Jeffords, the sole independent, voting in favor of confirmation, a deeply divided Democratic Party, at least on this nominee, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: That's true.

It's interesting, Wolf, that, when you look at all that has transpired today, you realize that the issue of judicial nominations was a factor in the last presidential campaign, certainly an undercurrent among conservatives who were concerned about the type of judicial nominee the president might bring. Then today, you see in the vote the possibility that this vote on Roberts could be a factor in the next midterm election, five Democrats from red states voting in favor of the nomination. These Democrats who, in fact, are up for reelection, so a lot on the minds of the people who were voting today.

There's also, of course, the issue, as you were just talking to Elaine about, of the coming nomination. That, too, could be a factor. Some Democrats had actually got word from liberal groups, telling them, you need to vote against Roberts to send a strong message to the White House about the next nominee, of course, no idea when we will hear who that next nominee will be -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Joe, thank you very much. We will watch every step of the way.

Jeff Toobin is our senior legal analyst. He's joining us now as well.

He's only 50 years old, Jeff. And that sets the stage, assuming he's a healthy man, 30, maybe 40 years on the Supreme Court. We just saw John Paul Stevens. He's been there for 30 years. So, this is going to be a long time for -- for John Roberts as chief justice.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: And, boy, isn't -- he sure is off to an impressive start.

You know, one thing worth noting, Wolf, I think, is that there is -- every time John Roberts has appeared in public since he's been nominated, he has spoken without notes, off the cuff, no prepared text. That's pretty unusual in Washington, as you know.

Also, it was interesting. When he said thank you, the first person he said thank you to was not President Bush, who nominated him, or the senators who voted to confirm him. It was to the senior associate justice, John Paul Stevens. He is starting to establish an independent persona. He's no longer part of the executive branch. He is part of the judiciary.

And I thought it was interesting that he paid great tribute to John Paul Stevens, 85-year-old, 30-year veteran of the Supreme Court, before he even thanked the man who nominated him. Could be a sign of things to come.

BLITZER: We will watch every step of the way, especially the next few days, to see who is going to get the nominee slot for Sandra Day O'Connor.

Jeff Toobin, thank you very much.

And we will have more on this historic day coming up here in THE SITUATION ROOM. The United States now has a chief justice.

We're going to move on to another important story we're following on the other coast of the United States. That would be in California, a giant wildfire burning out of control right now in Southern California. These are live pictures that you are seeing right now. The region's notorious Santa Ana winds are fanning the flames. And entire neighborhoods outside of Los Angeles are being threatened right now.

CNN's Dan Simon is there live for us. He's joining us live.

Set the scene for our viewers who are just tuning in, Dan, what we're seeing.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good afternoon, Wolf.

We got 17,000 acres that have been charred so far. This is one of the neighborhoods that was really threatened. You can actually still see some hot spots in some of the areas. You can sort of see the smoke off in the distance.

About an hour-and-a-half ago, if you were with us, you could really see the flames coming down on these homes. It was such a frightening situation. You had helicopters making water drops. You had all types of fire trucks here on the street and you had residents evacuating.

Matter of fact, we have a couple of folks over here. We got Sheldon Katz.

Your brother actually lives in this house. And you told me that what the firefighters did to save your brother's house was just incredible.

SHELDON KATZ, RESIDENT: Incredible job, Dan. The L.A. County and Ventura County, the Helicopters came in, in triplicate dropping water. The flames were licking the side of the mountain, probably one of the most experience -- scary experience things I have ever -- ever seen.

SIMON: They were really coming down fast.

Giovanni, you've been up all night. This is your buddy over here. Tell us what you've been up to.

GIOVANNI BARILE, RESIDENT: Well, we came by and saw the flames. The mountain was literally on fire. So, anything we could do, hosing down the front and hosing down the back -- we thought about getting out the equipment in the back and maybe cutting something down, but we didn't have time, as the helicopters were coming, you know, three at a time and just -- just doing a perfect job.

SIMON: Guys, thanks very much.

Wolf, we got 3,000 firefighters here on the scene. And, miraculously, only one house, only one house has gone up in flames, but, at this point, only 5 percent containment. Of course, we will be monitoring the situation all day long. And we will have the very latest for you coming up in the next hour -- Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: All right, Dan, thanks very much.

Local officials are briefing reporters right now. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: Is there some way of being able to quantify how many homes have been evacuated? Is that even possible?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is.

I don't have that information, but we can get that for you. But, right now, there's been -- as you heard earlier, many communities have been evacuated. And I don't have the exact number. But we did identify a lot of those communities that have been evacuated.

QUESTION: I know that you haven't determined a cause of this fire. But you had a fire break out in Browns Canyon yesterday morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.

QUESTION: A second fire in Moorpark yesterday afternoon, and this fire. Is arson being looked at as a possible cause or are these fires possibly related to arson?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, those fires that you mentioned are all under investigation, with our arson investigators looking at potential causes. However, we haven't determined from the initial investigation of any commonality with these fires. So, it's still under investigation. We're still looking at all angles, and -- but we haven't -- have any -- any data that -- or any -- through the investigation, anything that has revealed any arson. That still is undetermined at this time.

QUESTION: Chief (INAUDIBLE) if you would, have meteorologists been able to give you any information which will allow you to build, in as much as what airpower could do, on putting containment lines around this or whether you can put ground forces to start to build a containment line at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, we're doing that and have done that yesterday. We're getting that meteorologists' report. We do that in our planning meetings, getting a constant weather update.

As mentioned earlier, any time we have significant changes in the weather, we put that out to everybody, broadcast that to the entire operation, to now over 2,500 firefighters on this incident, get that information out there. So, we have been doing that and putting those in.

QUESTION: How far (INAUDIBLE) line you built?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For actual control line right now? Right now, we only 5 percent containment. And we don't have a lot of that control line.

However, we have been doing a lot of indirect line, using our air tankers to help support our structure protection and in -- in different areas, not only in Ventura County, L.A. County and L.A. City.

QUESTION: How long before indirect containment and indirect lines from airpower becomes permanent control lines?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, when we get a little more -- we get a little bit more stable weather, we will start doing more direct attack in certain areas along the flanks of this fire, where we can start building in more permanent control lines.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) all talking about spotting, the fact this fire appeared to be spotting as much as a mile away from the actual fire wall. Is that still a concern for you at this point?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think what you heard earlier was spotting up to a half-mile. That is actually information that is contained in the written plan that comes out that's developed by the staff here, agreed upon by the incident commanders.

And our weather person actually interprets the National Weather Service weather report, provides whether reports for microclimates that we see here and actually can tell us, based on direct observation and weather reports, an estimate of how far we might see spotting. And he did that exactly this morning when we developed the plan. BLITZER: All right, speaking of weather, we will continue to monitor this briefing in Los Angeles. High winds, high temperatures, low humidity, that would be perfect conditions for the Southern California blaze.

Let's get the latest fire forecast from our meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. She's in the CNN Weather Center.

Bonnie, we will keep these pictures up there for our viewers. But this is pretty dramatic stuff.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It sure is, Wolf.

And it's not surprising. Usually, the Santa Ana season occurs between October and March, kind of peaking in December, when we have some of that cold air. As we take a look at this, you'll see the location of where the fires are on our map, just to the north of the San Fernando Valley. And because that area is so populated, that was a major concern, just on the fringe of some of the most populated areas in Southern California.

The Santa Ana winds actually come downslope, down the mountains, compress. The heat grows and they get stronger. And, right now, as we take a look at our forecast for the fire weather, there is a little bit of good news. Yesterday, we had tremendous wind gusts, up to 50 miles per hour. But, as we look at the forecast for the rest of the day today in Southern California, on into this evening, you'll see that the gusts are going to be a little bit lighter at 30 miles per hour, still strong, still very hot, sunny and dry.

But the winds are just a little bit lighter than where they were this time yesterday. Unfortunately, though, Wolf, this situation is still conducive for strong fire weather right now. Any time you have that hot, dry air coming down the mountain and you have warm temperatures, it's definitely ripe for the fires.

BLITZER: All right, Bonnie, we will get back to you. Thank you very much.

Let's bring in our Jack Cafferty. He's in New York. He's watching this with us.

Are you looking at these pictures, Jack, of the way these firefighters are trying to protect many of these million-dollar homes in the San Fernando Valley?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I was going to say, the thing that occurred to me is, that fire is not burning in the low-rent district. Those look like multi-million-dollar houses on those hillsides.

That one shot of the helicopter coming in, but guest was that a chemical borate drop that it made? It didn't look like water, but very close to a big home right there in the picture with a swimming pool in the back.

BLITZER: It's -- it's an awful situation. We saw these helicopters operating only a few days ago in Louisiana and New Orleans, putting out fires. And now we see different helicopters, but they are basically doing the same thing, trying to put out these fires outside of Los Angeles.

CAFFERTY: And those poor folks that live in those hills in Southern California, if it's not fires, it's heavy rains; it's floods; it's mudslides. It's just a precarious part of the country that I think maybe Mother Nature didn't intend for us to inhabit quite as densely as we have.

I hope they can -- hope they can keep this thing out of that guy's backyard there.

As expected, Judge John Roberts, Wolf, is now the nation's new chief justice. Roberts sets the bar very high, though, and President Bush may not have it so easy next time around in filling the moderate swing vote seat being vacated by Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The president is expected to quickly announce his choice. He suggested earlier this week it could be a woman, might be a minority, could be both.

According to a new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, 33 percent of Americans would like to see a new justice who would make the court more conservative; 30 percent would like to see a new justice that would make the court more liberal; 29 percent say leave the court just the way it is ideologically.

So, here's the question: What kind of candidate should President Bush nominate to the Supreme Court? CaffertyFile -- one word -- @CNN.com. We will read some of your thoughts on this a bit later.

My hunch is, Wolf, the next one is going to be the Pier Six brawl.

BLITZER: Well, we will soon find out. Could be tomorrow, could be Monday. We will have to wait and see.

Jack, thanks very much.

And we're going to continue to watch these fires in Los Angeles. These are live pictures you are seeing right now. You see the smoke. You see the fires. They are getting very, very close to those million-dollar homes right now in Los Angeles. Those firefighters are working as hard as they can on the ground, in the air, helicopters coming in as well. We will monitor this situation closely for you.

We're also monitoring other stories we're following, including what's happening today in Iraq, another awful day, insurgents launching multiple deadly attacks earlier in the day. Our security council is standing by to discuss what has happened.

Plus, New Orleans police officers accused of looting, and the whole thing may have been caught on videotape. We will have that story.

And, a little bit later, the indicted House majority leader, Tom DeLay, he'll be live in THE SITUATION ROOM here today. Find out what he has to say about the allegations that have been made against him.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: You're back in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks for joining us.

Were New Orleans police officers among the looters that pillaged the city? Exactly a month after Katrina struck, more residents are now being allowed back to check their losses and the police department is beginning an internal investigation.

Let's go live to New Orleans. Our Mary Snow is standing by with more -- Mary.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, just as New Orleans is trying to rebuild, get the city back on track, the New Orleans Police Department is saying it's investigating as many as 12 police officers. They are investigating allegations these officers took part in looting immediately following Hurricane Katrina, when the city erupted into chaos, the police department saying it is looking into two incidents.

And we expect to hear from the new superintendent, Warren Riley, in just a little over an hour from now. He took over two days ago, when Eddie Compass said that he was quitting. And the police department is saying that the new superintendent, Warren Riley, saw news reports, and this is what prompted this investigation.

Now, this comes as the city is beginning to open up to more businesses today. Tomorrow, it's expected that more residents will come. This is in eight targeted zip codes here in New Orleans on the east bank. But some are expressing concerns that it may be too early.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW (voice-over): Rush hour in New Orleans. Hundreds of workers are bused in every day to clean out a major hotel. With no stores open, they rely on the Salvation Army for food and water. This is Canal Street, which is key to the city's livelihood. It was spared major flooding, leaving stores like Russ Giroir's largely unscathed. Even so, he doesn't see business coming back any time soon.

RUSS GIROIR, STORE OWNER: We have a store and a lot of the merchandise is still intact. But who do you sell to? It's going to be a long months and a long before this, you know, gets back to normal, for sure.

SNOW: For now, normal means the National Guard, the military and emergency workers, many from other cities, making up a big part of the city's population.

General Myles Deering of the National Guard has the job of helping to ensure security as the military population scales back.

GEN. MYLES DEERING, OKLAHOMA NATIONAL GUARD: You still have the criminal element that -- that's out there. And, as the city reentry program starts and the repopulation, those elements reenter the city also.

SNOW: Some voice concern over crime. Others are worried about threats like disease. Water is not safe to drink on the east bank. Electricity is not fully restored. Mold has formed, requiring huge pumps like these in some buildings to suck out the moisture.

Hospitals are just starting to reopen. Mobile clinics like this one from Americare's are trying to fill the gaps. It provides tetanus shots that residents are being urged to get, along with medications. Pharmacies aren't open. Some question the city's plan of having people return now.

DR. GEORGE FALLIERAS, TULANE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: We're concerned about the infrastructure of the city. We're concerned about people coming back en masse and not having adequate medical care, not having an operational level-one trauma center.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SNOW: Still, others, Wolf, say that it's very important to get this city up and running and, the sooner they can do that, the sooner these services can be restored. The mayor said he's going to take a look and see how it goes this weekend. By next Wednesday, he could extend the repopulation program -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Mary, thanks very much -- Mary snow in New Orleans for us.

We will take a quick break. When we come back, is a killer flu headed for the United States right now? We will go live to the White House, speak live with the president's top health official.

And Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, was indicted yesterday. He joins us later here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Much more of our special coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Could the current bird flu pandemic soon be ravaging the human population? The United Nations is gearing up for a campaign to counter a global threat that they fear one day could kill tens of millions of people. Are Americans at risk?

Let's bring in CNN's Brian Todd. He's been investigating. Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, health experts in this country get that question all the time -- will the deadly avian flu spread to the U.S.? Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services say there's no way to know for sure. CDC officials say it's unlikely, but not impossible. And all the top health organizations in this country and abroad are watching this strain with real concern.

We have had a technical problem with the piece. We hope to bring that to you later.

In the meantime, we do have to tell you there is no confirmed cure for avian flu and no vaccine as of yet, although the U.S. government has purchased a vaccine in development. For now, anti- viral medications on the market can combat avian flu, but those have not proven very effective so far.

Once a vaccine is made, HHS officials say they hope to stockpile enough of that for 20 million people and enough anti-virals for another 20 million people, but it is important to note that all the top health experts that we spoke to say that so far, this virus is confined to four countries in Asia. Those countries are Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam. And so far, the virus has not spread very easily among humans -- Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Brian, thank you very much.

How real is this bird flu threat in any case, and is the United States ready to meet it?

Joining us now from the White House is the Health and Human Services secretary, Mike Leavitt. Mr. Secretary, thanks very much for joining us. How worried should we be right now about this bird flu, which has been described as THE gravest health threat, potentially, down the road to human beings?

MIKE LEAVITT, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We have had three pandemics in the last hundred years. These things happen, and consequently we do need to be concerned about it. The likelihood of it happening is uncertain, but the warning signs are troublesome.

BLITZER: What are those warning signs?

LEAVITT: Well, we have 140 million birds in the world, many of them wild birds, who go from continent to continent, who are infected with the avian influenza virus. We also have transmission between birds and people, and animals and people. It has not yet become and efficient enough virus that it will transfer between people. That's the triggering point of grave concern. Right now, we're working and taking steps to make certain that we're ready, should that occur.

BLITZER: Tell our viewers what steps you're taking to prepare potentially for this pandemic.

LEAVITT: As Brian reported earlier, Tamiflu is an antibiotic -- an anti-viral, rather, that does allow those who are infected a much higher percentage of survival. We're also working with manufacturers of vaccines to develop technology that would allow us to create vaccines that could be available to the American people.

BLITZER: We're told, though, that this Tamiflu, which is potentially -- this anti-viral drug -- that the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stockpiled enough to treat 2.3 million people. Considering there are almost 300 million people in the United States, that's a tiny percentage. LEAVITT: That is not enough, and we will obviously need to go into the market and procure more. The epidemiologists tell me that we can expect, if this should come in its full force, somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of the population who could in fact be infected. We need to make certain we have Tamiflu for at least that many, ultimately.

BLITZER: How long will it take to get enough Tamiflu in stock?

LEAVITT: We're working currently with the manufacturer of that product to determine that. But I will say that, while Tamiflu is important, it is not the only thing we must do. We need to focus on the vaccines. Ultimately, that's the way we'll provide real protection to the American people. And currently, we lack the manufacturing capacity, and in some ways, the technology, to be able to provide that vaccine, something that we'll have to ask the Congress to deal with.

BLITZER: Do you have any idea how long -- assuming Congress goes along -- how long that might take to get the vaccine in stock?

LEAVITT: Well, we're not talking months. We're talking about longer than that because we don't have the technology, or for that matter, the manufacturing capability. And that's a general problem.

Today we're talking about avian flu, or H5N1, as it's referred to in the scientific community. Tomorrow it will be another. These pandemics aren't just about avian flu; it's about a whole series of viruses that mutate constantly, that ultimately find a way to skip into a new generation for which there is no human immunity. We need to protect ourselves as a country and have the infrastructure in place no matter what the strain.

BLITZER: One final question, Mr. Secretary: Is this your top priority right now?

LEAVITT: It is our top public health priority.

BLITZER: All right. Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt, thanks very much and good luck to you. Good luck to everybody at HHS. We need all the help we can get as far as this potential threat down the road is concerned.

Much more of our coverage coming up, including: One seat filled, one more to go. What kind of candidate should President Bush appoint to the United States Supreme Court? Jack Cafferty's been going through your e-mail, he has your answers. He'll be joining us soon.

Plus, Tom DeLay: the indicted Texas congressman forced to step down as House Majority leader. He'll be our guest here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

That's coming up during our 5:00 hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BLITZER: There has been a surge of violence in Iraq today. A coordinated series of three car bombings went of in the town of Balad, north of Baghdad. At least 62 people are dead, more than 70 people are injured. The explosions happened about 10 minutes apart. Two were in the same location, the second blast killing many who had gathered after the first. Balad, the home of a major U.S, air base in the area.

A federal judge, meanwhile, is ordering the release of more than 80 photos of prisoner abuse at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, pictures not yet seen by the public. The Pentagon was holding onto them, saying publication could damage America's image and incite violence against U.S. forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan, even though similar photos have already been widely seen. The ACLU sued to have the pictures released under the Freedom Of Information Act.

Joining us now here in our "Security Council," CNN National Security Advisor John McLaughlin and CNN Military Analyst, retired Brigadier General James Marks. Thanks very much to both of you for joining us.

On these photos: since so many of these Abu Ghraib pictures have already been released, I don't know what the argument is -- at least the ACLU makes the argument, and the judge accepted that argument -- that, how much more damage could be done to U.S. credibility and to U.S. forces by releasing more photos?

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Well, Wolf, leaving aside the legal issues here, which I just can't comment on, I guess my judgment would be that releasing these photos would be something that would sustain recruitment in the terrorist movement. A lot of damage was done by Abu Ghraib; this would only revive that impression the Abu Ghraib created and would obviously be used by the jihadist movement as propaganda.

BLITZER: In other words, give them more ammunition to go out and recruit. That was the argument that General Richard Myers, the outgoing chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made before the judge, and the judge said the law doesn't hold up to that argument.

BRIG.GEN. JAMES MARKS, USA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I tend to agree with John that it -- you need to look at this and understand that these digital photos will be slapped on some portal, and it will sustain the recruitment effort. And that's how recruitment is being done, primarily through Southwest Asia, is over the Internet.

BLITZER: Do they need more ammunition? It seems like they're killing a lot of people already. Look what's happening in Iraq today. Al Qaeda and its associated groups, they have the incentive; do they really need more incentive?

MCLAUGHLIN: Well, General Marks' point about the Internet is a very important point. One could argue whether they need more incentive or not, but the Internet is an enormously important tool for the jihadist movement at this point. In fact, I would say that, between ideology and the Internet has tended to supersede geography and hierarchy in the whole movement. So migrating these pictures out would have a powerful impact.

BLITZER: The other argument that the ACLU made and the judge accepted was that here are cases where there was abuse, allegedly, by U.S. military personnel, torturing Iraqi prisoners or other prisoners at Abu Ghraib, and that the American public has a right to know what the U.S. military is up to.

MARKS: Nobody has made any official determination that torture has taken place -- let's make sure we're straight there. There has been forms of abuse.

BLITZER: The degrading of human beings.

MARKS: There was abuse, and the United States military raises its hand and said yes, it took place, and yes, we're fixing the problem.

But look, there have been two very in-depth studies that have taken place, investigations that have taken place -- by General Tony Taguba and General George Fay -- separate and distinct. And they both made determinations that culpability existed at certain levels. I'm not certain what else will be determined or what the benefit or effect will be of having these -- what the ACLU is trying to achieve by having these photos released.

BLITZER: The president, yesterday after being briefed by his generals and the intelligence community, said, expect more of these insurgent attacks in the coming days in advance of the mid-October election -- on the referendum on the constitution in Iraq. How much worse could it get?

MCLAUGHLIN: Definitely expect more violence. This is a crucial moment, not only for the United States and for Iraq, but also for the insurgency. What's at stake here for Zarqawi and all of his followers is that the Sunni population is going to make some kind of a choice, here. They're either going to vote for or against this constitution. And no matter how they vote, they will have participated in the political process, and that's a bad thing from Zarqawi's point of view. So he's going to do everything he can between now and then to disrupt that election, and to do two or three things: I think his strategy is going to focus on attacking Iraqi Security Forces. July, for example, had the highest number of Iraqi Security Force attacks since the beginning of the war.

We're going to see more use of car bombs; car bombs are up dramatically since last year, even though the number of attacks is down overall. If you look at the January election period, there were 135 a day, now we're down to about 70. But at the same time, car bombs are way up. So we're going to see more of that.

There will be more violence here; the stakes are high for the jihadists.

BLITZER: What do you think? What's your bottom line assessment -- what can we expect in the coming weeks? MARKS: The Sunnis will lose if they don't participate politically. What you will see, again as John indicated, is the amount of violence won't necessarily increase in numbers, but the tactical significance of those events will. You might see greater explosions, more devastating explosions, but the full number won't necessarily increase.

BLITZER: General Marks --

MCLAUGHLIN: The other thing -- the other thing --

BLITZER: Very quickly.

MCLAUGHLIN: The other thing important here, Zarqawi declared war on the Shiite community on September 14th; that's something he's stressed for a long period of time.

BLITZER: John McLaughlin, Spider (ph) Marks, thanks to both of you for joining us.

More of our coverage coming up. We'll check back on that wildfire, out of control in Southern California.

Also, the newest chief justice -- this chief justice of the United States, only moments ago, took his oath of office. But who should be the next person to raise their right hand? Coming up, what kind of candidate should he or she be? We've been asking you that question; Jack Cafferty has been going through your e-mail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Jack Cafferty's been going through your e-mail on his question for this hour. He's joining us now, live -- Jack?

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: There's some silly people watching THE SITUATION ROOM this afternoon, Wolf. Judge John Roberts, now the nation's new chief justice -- so the question becomes, what kind of candidate should President Bush nominate to the Supreme Court to replace the moderate voice of the retiring Sandra Day O'Connor?

Tom in Proctorville, Ohio, writes, "President Bush should nominate a person with an open mind, willing to simply decide cases on the merits. In our polarized society, the only qualifier would be a moderate. The court needs someone able to see shades of gray, rather than absolute black or white."

Another Tom, in Alma, West Virginia, writes, "The president should nominate someone far enough to the right that both sides of the abortion issue can have the fight they've been spoiling for. Let them spend their millions and bring Congress to a halt. It's time to decide the most divisive issue in the country one way or the other."

Patrick in Pasadena writes, "I want to see George Bush antagonize the only supporters he has left and nominate a liberal: maybe Barbra Streisand. I hear if your approval rating drops below 10 percent, you dry up and blow away." Steven in New York writes, "Bushy should get back to his norm and nominate another buddy with no qualifications. So much damage to do, so little time."

And Tom in Surfside, Florida: "Jack, we were hoping the president would appoint you to head up FEMA in order to spare us your curmudgeonly tirades. If you could tone it down just a bit, maybe we can get you the Supreme Court job instead. I bet you'd look cute in a robe and a wig."

BLITZER: I take it you think Tom from Surfside, Florida, is one of these silly people.

CAFFERTY: I'm not going to try to analyze what that guy in Surfside, Florida, might be all about. I'm not up to that.

BLITZER: All right. Jack, thanks very much. We're going to get back to you very soon.

Up next, a raging inferno, literally: hundreds forced to flee their homes as a wildfire closes in. We'll get a live update from Southern California.

And later here in THE SITUATION ROOM, he's been forced to step aside by a grand jury indictment: now he's fighting back. I'll go one on one with the former House Majority leader, Tom DeLay. He'll be my guest. Stay with us.

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BLITZER: I'm going to show you some live pictures we're getting in from Southern California right now. Look at this huge wildfire underway right now. Strong winds and low humidity are fueling this wildfire. Already it's scorched at least 17,000 acres and continues to threaten dozens of homes. Hundreds of people already have been forced to evacuate, according to local officials. The winds are hampering efforts to contain the fire, which started yesterday near Chatsworth -- that's northeast of Los Angeles. So far, only 5 percent of the fire has been contained, as the Santa Ana winds push the flames southwest toward the ocean.

Zev Yaroslavsky's joining us on the phone right now. He's the supervisor for the Third District.

I take it, Zev, this is your district?

ZEV YAROSLAVSKY, THIRD DISTRICT SUPERVISOR: Yes, I represent the western part of Los Angeles County, and this is in my district, unfortunately.

BLITZER: How bad is it?

YAROSLAVSKY: Well, we've so far been very fortunate, Wolf. There' have been six structures -- one home and five other structures -- burned since yesterday -- 2000 homes were saved by an incredible firefighting effort by a number of agencies in the Southern California area, including the state, the L.A. city and county fire departments, etc. The wind has cooperated until just about 30 seconds ago, when I got on the phone with you, and it looks like, where I'm standing, here at the south side of the fire, the winds have picked up a little bit and the smoke seems to be shifting. So we're all gazing out there to just -- trying to ascertain what exactly is going on.

Our concern is that the fire not move south. If it moves south, it will be because of a pick-up in the wind, and if it moves south, it will move towards the 101 -- US 101 freeway, which, if it hops that freeway, it will burn all the way to the ocean, and there are a lot of homes, a lot of communities between the 101 and the ocean. So that's been kind of the goal, was to keep it north of the 101. Those who know Los Angeles know what I'm talking about.

And now there seems to be a perceptible increase in the velocity of the wind, so -- as we speak.

BLITZER: All right. Zev, if you can hear me, I'm going to have you come back if you can. We're going to continue to watch this story, but we're going to have to take a quick break right now. Zev Yaroslavsky is the supervisor for the Third District in L.A. County. He'll be back here in THE SITUATION ROOM. That's coming up -- much more on that wildfire.

Also, we're watching what's happening right now in New Orleans. Is it happening too fast, the recovery, or fast enough? One month exactly after Katrina hit -- a question for an outspoken Louisiana congressman. That's coming up. You're in THE SITUTATION ROOM.

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BLITZER: It's almost time for the markets to close. "The Closing Bell;" let's check in with our Ali Velshi. He's in New York, he's watching this and more. Ali, what are you picking up?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've just heard -- we're checking our damage reports on what's going on. One of the things that we should worry about a little bit, Wolf, is that the Strategic Petroleum Reserve -- remember that we were reporting to you, that of the four sites, three of them were shut down because of Hurricane Rita, two of them they weren't able to access. Well, they've got reports now on two of them, including the Big Hill reserve, which we were at just after Hurricane Katrina struck. That reserve and another reserve have no power and would not be able to access the oil in them if it needed to be released for at least 10 days. That's being reported by the Department of Energy.

They still are not clear on what the damage is. At the moment, the main problem is that there isn't power going to those two Strategic Petroleum Reserve storage centers in Texas. So that's one piece of news we've got.

The other one, Wolf, is that the number of people who have filed claims as a result of being out of work directly related to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are now up to 279,000. We're expecting that number to go as high as 4000 (SIC), Wolf. BLITZER: The whole situation -- does it have an impact on the markets? They're about to close.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

BLITZER: Good day today, but we don't know what will happen tomorrow. Thanks, Ali, very much.

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