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The Situation Room
Hurricane Wilma Most Intense Atlantic Storm on Record; Katrina Response; Saddam on Trial; Florida Keys Have Mandatory Evacuation; Public Transportation Is Good Way To Travel
Aired October 19, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's now 5:00 p.m. here on the East Coast, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
It's the most intense Atlantic hurricane on record. There's a good chance, a very good chance, as we just heard, it will hit Florida.
Chad Myers is standing by. You heard it with us, all of us were watching.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
BLITZER: And it seems sort of unpredictable, although three of those three models still show it going across Florida.
MYERS: It's going to be more predictable, Wolf, when they fly that jet. I know you heard him talk about it. What is he talking about? What kind of jet?
This is a canister that they drop. It's called the dropsonde. It drops out of a Gulfstream IV jet.
This jet has a 13-hour mission. It flies back and forth and back and forth. And they drop hundreds of these things. And it's very expensive to fly this jet.
When you put all of the data from all of these little dropsondes, almost like the weather balloons, you know, the things that they go up and then they break, and then they float back down? Same thing, just kind of a different canister.
It's almost the size of that thing you put your money in at the bank, and then you put it in the machine and it goes -- and it takes it up. It's the same size as that. A small little parachute, it falls to the ground.
When that jet goes out tomorrow, we're going to have a much better idea, and all the models are going to agree a whole lot more. This is the reason why they're not agreeing so well today, because we didn't get a jet. And they only get 250 hours in that jet a year and then they are out of money. So we are getting to that point. We are already at Wilma. So you know they've spent a lot of money already.
Another thing, he talked about weakening if it slows down. How come? Because if the storm doesn't move, if it doesn't move very much -- we'll move it ahead and show you here that the storm is moving very slowly. When a storm kind of sits there over the same area, it mixes up the water. So that hot water that was on top is now getting mixed with colder water that's down below. And hurricanes need hot water to grow.
So if it doesn't move very much, it's not going to grow. And now this thing is losing some intensity. It's still a Cat 5, but it could -- he talked about it going to a Cat 4 tomorrow.
One last thing, the wobbling -- wobbling like a top he called it. And I was thinking when you asked me this question earlier, Wolf, here's the storm. Look at this thing going back and forth and back and forth. If you ride your bike at 15 miles an hour, you are going in a straight line. When you come to a one-mile-per-hour, or a half-a-mile- per-hour part of that bike, you are going to have to use the handlebars to keep that bike straight up. And this is kind of what's going on.
We don't have forward momentum. And this storm is wobbling like a bike that is slowing down to a stop. And you are trying to keep control. But you can't really, because eventually you're going to fall over.
Now, we're waiting for some wind. He talked about the wind in the Jet Stream that could push this thing somewhere. And it will.
Here are the computer models he was talking about. About 10 of them still over Florida, but some of the latest ones, they are taking them into account, but they didn't change the forecast that much. Some of the latest ones actually not even getting this storm into the Gulf of Mexico at all, keeping it south of Cuba, and possibly missing the U.S. altogether.
BLITZER: Is there any way of determining, Chad, which of those forecasts, which of those models may be better than the other models? I assume that some of them have better track records than other ones.
MYERS: The problem is that we have 15 of these, Wolf. Some of the ones that are so good in the first 24 hours don't do very well after 48 hours. They just go crazy. And the ones that do well after 48 hours don't do very well at the beginning.
So if you are off by 100 miles in one day, and even if you do very good the next three days, you are still off. So what would be nice is to kind of blend all these. It's called a super ensemble. In Florida State they blend them all together, use the best of all worlds, and try to make one consensus forecast, and that's what the Hurricane Center puts out for you.
BLITZER: A final question. When do -- he was hinting that maybe by tomorrow morning we would really know if it's going to hit Florida, if it's going to miss Florida, where it's going to go. I assume that that's -- that would be a good indication. Do you think we will know by tomorrow morning?
MYERS: I think that's optimistic. When I was listening to Max, I have not heard him so noncommittal about a storm, because -- well, look at it. It can go left or right. It's wobbling with no real reason right now. And we still have some days to figure this out. We're not going to know tomorrow.
BLITZER: What we do know, Chad, and just reiterate, this is still a Category 5 monster...
MYERS: Yes, absolutely.
BLITZER: ... very, very -- about as dangerous as it gets.
MYERS: Yes, absolutely. This at a time this morning -- when I got here at 4:00 this morning, this was the strongest hurricane ever on record in the Atlantic Basin -- Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, or Atlantic, the deepest pressure ever.
Now, there were bigger ones in the Pacific, you know, because it's a bigger ocean and sometimes a warmer ocean. But this was at one point in time the biggest storm ever.
BLITZER: All right, Chad. Thank you very much.Chad Myers helping us understand what we have just heard from Max Mayfield at the National Hurricane Center.
Tom Foreman is here in THE SITUATION ROOM and he's looking at this Wilma, as well. You have got a little analysis of the storm surge that we could be bracing for.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we could be. And the big part here is the could be, because you look at those paths, we are a long way away from knowing exactly where this thing goes right now with this kind of movement.
There's the big picture of the storm sitting out there in the middle of everywhere. But let's move in and let's take a look at what we're talking about here.
If these paths were to come in the way that we thought they might, coming in here, some coming out this way, some going up toward Florida, and we followed some of those that went up toward Florida, and we went right up to Naples, what you would find is that one of the paths goes in right above Naples, which is a city of about 20,000 people, but lots and lots of tourism, lots of people moving in and out of that area.
This is what would happen if you had a Category 2 storm come into Naples. You would have this degree of flooding. Look at that. That's a lot of area being covered. Now, a lot of this is lowland, a lot of it -- some of it's marshy already. But that's the difference, from this to this with a Category 2.
You move it up a little bit higher -- let's say we went to a Category 3 storm -- then you're going to have this level of flooding. It's going to go from this at a Category 2 to this much at a Category 3, if you can believe that, unbelievable amount of change there, if I can move it back over there one more time. That's where it would be if you had a Category 3 storm. That's all that would be left in that area.
And if you go to a Category 4, I want you to look at this. You know what's coming now. That's what you get if you go to a Category 4 storm. Basically everything in that area would wind up under water -- obviously not squared off like this. This is an approximation. But that's what you're talking about, and the reason we are talking about that is because the storm path that we're looking at, one of them goes right up here.
The big question is, is that the one? It's like that kid's game where you have all the strings and you pull which one and see which one leads to the prize on the self. Hopefully this is one that an awful lot of places will not have to deal with and maybe the storm will bust up a bit in the process.
BLITZER: Max Mayfield was very transparent with us. He said as good as the science is, as good as the forecasting is, they simply are not sure right now where this thing is heading exactly, but he does say be very, very careful. This is still a very dangerous storm.
Stand by for a moment, Tom.
Ali Velshi is watching this with us. He's joining us from New York. What are you picking up, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tom was just talking about Naples and the tourism in Naples, Florida. One of the places that a lot of those tourists go to is the Ritz in Naples. And I was just on the phone with the managing director, Ed Staros over at the Ritz, just asking what they're doing. He said, look, they've done this 100 times before. They know down to the last flashlight what they need to do.
But he was mentioning, Tom, there's a main road that goes up and down inland about a mile and a half or so. Maybe it's US 41. I'm forgetting. But if they get to the point that it looks like it's serious, they evacuate that whole area one and a half miles in, and that would mean that the hotel and all of those residences and condos in there also get evacuated. So they are -- they are preparing for it. He said they have a meeting every six hours. And the next one will be right after -- right after they've got their latest information on the latest update.
But that's what's going to happen. He said that a lot of people are canceling because of the hurricane. And as a result of that, you know, all cancellation fees are waved and all that. But there are only about 100 people in the hotel on Friday or Saturday this weekend because of that.
The other thing to keep in mind, Wolf, is Florida has been under a state of emergency because of Dennis, Katrina and Rita. Governor Jeb Bush might extend that.
Now, under a state of emergency in Florida, gouging is illegal. You cannot charge excessive prices for gasoline, lumber, water, ice, shelter, or generators, or food. And they've put out a number. It's 1- 800-HELP-FLA, 1-800-HELP-FLA. And the Agriculture and Consumer Services commissioner would like people to call in if they see instances of gouging in Florida. They have had more than 10,000 calls since they opened this up before Dennis in July. And they're following up on about 3,000 complaints.
Also, they have information on pet-friendly shelters and places like that to go. So they'd like everybody to be as prepared as possible.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Ali. Good information. Thank you very much.
And remember, Ali and Tom, what Max Mayfield just said. You saw it live here on CNN in giving the latest forecast. He said he was reporting this information with, in his words, "much lower confidence than we normally have, given the wobbly nature of this powerful Category 5 storm."
Jacki Schechner is joining us now with the situation online. I suspect, Jacki, there's tons of interest online. What's going on with Wilma?
JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Well, not only that. I wanted to show you some more Web cams, not just here in the United States, but also other places around the world.
The Cayman Islands, want to show you these. These refresh every few minutes. You can see how the weather's getting really nasty and stormy.
If I step across here and show you another one of these, if I can hold that one up -- there you go -- you can see they are getting progressively worse as we move along. I found a map to show you kind of an idea of where we are tracking this. Here are the Cayman Islands I was just showing you.
We also have Web cams in Cozumel and Cancun. Let me show up some of those pictures for you. You can see what those look like. There's Cozumel. You can see how it's getting progressively worse. The sky has been darkening throughout the day, as we've been watching these cameras.
Then also in Cancun, this is the sky downtown. And this, again, will refresh as it gets darker and the weather is getting worse.
Online, if you want to track some of the models that Max Mayfield was talking about, you can go to the site wunderground.com. We really like this site. It's got some really interesting graphics.
This one is the probability. These are all of the areas that could possibly be affected by this hurricane. You can see just how massive that space is. We really have no idea where this is going.
Again, the tracking models online, you can see the variations actually are much more similar to one another than they were yesterday when we took a look at this. But you can see they're still kind of all over the place.
And this never ceases to amaze me. We keep coming back to this one over the course of the season. This is the 2005 hurricane data just for the Atlantic alone. This is from Unisys, and it's an amazing snapshot of just how many storms we have seen this season.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right. Jacki, thank you very much.
Preparations for Hurricane Wilma come as the government assesses the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina.
Our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve tracking that story. Jeanne?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the Homeland Security secretary appeared before the House Select Committee investigating the Katrina response. And let's put it this way, Michael Chertoff has had better days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice over): If Michael Chertoff thought that firing Mike Brown as head of FEMA would deflect criticism from himself and his department, boy, was he wrong.
REP. CYNTHIA MCKINNEY (D), GEORGIA: Mr. Secretary, if the nursing home owners are arrested for negligent homicide, why shouldn't you also be arrested for negligent homicide?
REP. CHRISTOPHER SHAYS (R), CONNECTICUT: You told us that you didn't have the authority to have an evacuation. And it's kind of like Pontius Pilate washing his hands. That's the way it comes across to me.
MESERVE: Calling himself no hurricane expert, Chertoff said he relied on Mike Brown to be his commander in the field.
REP. STEVE BUYER (R), INDIANA: Well, if all of that's true, why did you on Tuesday -- did you have to designate him as the guy in charge?
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Well, the reason I did it...
BUYER: Because it was you. It was you.
MESERVE: Congressman Steve Buyer marched right out of his seat to make Chertoff acknowledge his own responsibility.
CHERTOFF: That's correct. Now...
BUYER: It's you, right?
CHERTOFF: Right. MESERVE: Chertoff's public line during the Katrina recovery, the federal response effort was going well. But he told the committee he didn't find out about the levee breaks until the day after they occurred, how he sometimes had trouble getting Mike Brown to return his calls, and how he couldn't get answers to some questions then or now.
CHERTOFF: Certainly as the hours rolled on, between Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, I pushed harder and harder about why things weren't moving. I still don't know the full story about why some things didn't move.
MESERVE: FEMA was overwhelmed by Katrina, Chertoff acknowledged. Crippled by outmoded systems for purchasing and distributing aid, and poor planning.
CHERTOFF: I think that the challenge of dealing with this kind of an ultra catastrophe is one that requires a lot of work beforehand, months beforehand. It doesn't require work 48 hours before the event. You are past planning, you've got to be executing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: To prevent a replay of the Katrina response, Chertoff says he will create teams to do rapid emergency reconnaissance after catastrophes and designate in-charge individuals ahead of them. Former FEMA employees say he is reinventing the wheel, that the agency used to do those things when FEMA was a more functional organization.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: A rough day for the secretary, indeed. Thanks, Jeanne, very much. Jeanne Meserve is our Homeland Security correspondent.
Up next, Saddam Hussein on trial. We'll show you what he said in the courtroom. Plus, his oldest daughter speaking out. Our Christiane Amanpour is standing by live in Baghdad.
Also, fear of a bird flu pandemic on the rise. Now word of a vaccine. Can it really stop a global outbreak of the virus?
And we're tracking Hurricane Wilma. It's a powerful Category 5. We'll hear from Max Mayfield, the director of the National Hurricane Center. He's standing by.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: It's a question of guilt or innocence. Did Saddam Hussein order the torture and murder of scores of his own people after some tried to assassinate him back in 1982? The first trial against him started today in Baghdad, an historic day.
This was Saddam Hussein's plea...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Go ahead, please, Mr. Saddam. Are you guilty or not guilty?
SADDAM HUSSEIN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF IRAQ (through translator): I said what I said, and I am not guilty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, was in the courtroom during these proceedings. She's joining us now live from Baghdad with a complete update.
What a day it was in Baghdad, Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was. And people had so anticipated this day.
It has been adjourned now until November 28, the attorneys saying they needed more time to prepare. But Saddam Hussein, as you saw when he ended his plea, remained seated.
He was quite defiant throughout. He does not recognize the jurisdiction of this court. He told the judge that, with all due respect, I have nothing against you personally, but this is all illegal, he said.
His plank of his defense, according to his attorneys, is to suggest that everything, starting from the invasion of Iraq by the United States in 2003, was illegal, and everything that has come after it is illegal. Therefore, he doesn't respect or abide by it whatsoever. That's going to be the plank, as well as obviously maintaining his innocence.
I must say, it was extraordinary to see him in court again. He looked older, he looked slightly weaker. I thought he shuffled in slower. But he was defiant. He wasn't rude to the judge, but defiant.
He was there with seven co-defendants, and while they were all dressed in the loose Arab dress and the headgear, he prefers to maintain sort of a presidential demeanor and is wearing a borrowed suit that he's given every time he comes out in public. And he was having -- he was wearing leather shoes, whereas the others were all in plastic sandals.
So trying to hang on to this image of himself as the continued president of Iraq.
Wolf.
BLITZER: What was the general reaction that you found from Iraqis themselves to what happened today?
AMANPOUR: Well, I was not able to get out into the streets since I was in court for most of the day. But there were Iraqi journalists inside the courtroom. And there was a mixture of silence, of some sort of jeering when he didn't answer the correct questions.
They are listening very, very intently. Many of them still harbor, even though he's stripped of all his power and he's behind bulletproof glass and in that cage-like dock, and otherwise he's in a detention facility, they still feel, I think, some fear.
I think people feel in the depths of their psyches that this person who ruled their lives with such fear for 35 years could somehow, somehow do a Houdini and get out of it and come back. It's clearly not going to happen, but people are really, really glued to this case.
BLITZER: Christiane Amanpour was in the courtroom in Baghdad. She's there as well right now. Thanks very much, Christiane, for that report.
One of Saddam Hussein's daughters is speaking out about this day in the courtroom.
Our Zain Verjee is over at the CNN Center in Atlanta. She picks up that part of the story. Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Wolf, Raghad Hussein is the eldest daughter of the former Iraqi dictator. She watched her father in court from Jordan. And she's living there in exile. In a phone interview with the Al-Arabiya network, she praised her father.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
RAGHAD HUSSEIN, SADDAM HUSSEIN'S DAUGHTER (through translator): He is a hero. And he will remain a hero. And the hoodlums, when they step forward, let them describe their own self. They do not dare to describe my father, as if he is not brave.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VERJEE: Raghad Hussein, seen here in an exclusive 2003 interview with CNN, calls her father's courtroom appearance the most wonderful thing she has ever seen.
Saddam Hussein pleaded not guilty today to charges stemming from a 1982 mass killing. Raghad Hussein says she watched the proceedings with her children in Jordan. She says other family members watched separately, but she adds, they were in constant phone contact.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
R. HUSSEIN (through translator): We received phone calls from all of our family and loved ones. The messages were coming in nonstop. Everyone was very happy and described him as a lion. And he was described as a wolf. And he was described as brave.
The most beautiful descriptions I heard today.
(END AUDIO CLIP) VERJEE: Her devotion belies the fact that Raghad and her sister Rana have been estranged from their father for years. They were married to brothers who defected to Jordan in 1995. But months later, they were lured back to Iraq with promises of forgiveness, only to die in a shootout believed ordered by Saddam himself.
The daughters were held under virtual house arrest in Iraq until they were allowed to flee the country shortly before the U.S. invasion. Raghad Hussein won't comment on her father's case. She says people can decide for themselves whether he is guilty or innocent.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
R. HUSSEIN (through translator): It is for you to decide what the verdict is based on what we all watched this day. And you will make the right decision.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VERJEE: And Wolf, Saddam Hussein has a third daughter named Hallah. And his sons, you'll remember, Uday and Qusay, were killed in a gun battle with U.S. forces in July of 2003.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Zain, thank you very much. Zain Verjee reporting for us.
Coming up, Florida on alert for a hurricane that's breaking records already and could bombard the state this weekend. We will ask Sarasota's mayor about the fear and the precautions that already are taking place.
And with bird flu anxiety on the rise, is there a new breakthrough in the battle to prevent a global epidemic?
You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More now on our top story, the record-breaking hurricane. It's called Wilma. Florida officials understandably taking the threat very, very seriously.
For more on that, we are joined on the phone now by the Sarasota mayor, Mary Anne Servian. Mayor, thanks very much for joining us. I assume you were listening to Max Mayfield about as closely as anyone. What was going through your mind as you heard this latest forecast?
MAYOR MARY ANNE SERVIAN, SARASOTA, FLORIDA: Well, our emergency operation center has been preparing the city and county residents, and we are understandably cautionary. We know that people need to get out there and get their hurricane supplies, or check the supplies they have, and to stay very closely tuned to the weather. We will know much more in the next 24 hours.
BLITZER: So what are you telling people in the Sarasota area to do right now in terms of preparing for this hurricane?
SERVIAN: Well, everyone in Florida certainly has a list of what they need for hurricane preparedness. We are asking them to check the supplies that they have, and if they don't have them, we're asking them to please make sure that they go out and get them within the next 24 hours.
And we have also alerted the public housing, we've alerted our special needs folks to be on standby. And we have also enlisted -- enlisted the help of the Sarasota County School District to have school buses prepared in the event that we need to begin emergency evacuations on Saturday.
BLITZER: Is there a need for anyone at this point, any special category of individuals to start thinking of leaving, if you are very old or frail or sick? Is it smart to wait, or to simply get out of Dodge?
SERVIAN: Well, we have not issued any evacuation orders yet. What I always tell folks that ask, if they are able to and they have somewhere that they think they can go that's safe, to go ahead and do that, not to wait until the last minute and cause panic and congestion on the streets. Those folks that are special needs, they know that well in advance of the storm, 24 hours ahead of time, we will call for the evacuation for special needs on our barrier island and low-lying areas, and anyone else with special needs.
BLITZER: Marry Anne Servian is the mayor of Sarasota. Good luck, Mayor. Good luck to everyone in Sarasota ...
SERVIAN: Thank you very much.
BLITZER: ... as well as the rest of Florida. And we just heard -- as you know, we heard Max Mayfield with his latest forecast -- Florida still very much, very much, a target of this Category 5 storm, winds right now about 160 miles per hour.
Is there new reason to hope that Florida, though, could be spared the worst? There's probably not all that much hope for that, but we are continuing to watch this hurricane.
We are also watching another announcement that has just been made in the fight against bird flu. Does a new vaccine show promise?
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More now on our top story -- that would be Hurricane Wilma, a record-setting storm on track to hit Florida in the coming days.
Max Mayfield, the director of the National Hurricane Center, issued this warning a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: ... or helping that. We don't want to overdo it, but we certainly don't want to let down our guard either. This is -- this is a Category 5 hurricane and -- and still one of the lowest pressures ever, you know, in a hurricane in the whole Atlantic Basin since records have been kept.
So, no, you don't want to let your guard down, especially if it does start moving faster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Bring that to me. Bring me that...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) it doesn't really have, like, a weak side (INAUDIBLE)
MAYFIELD: No. And the -- the slow-moving ones often do appear very symmetric.
And the, perhaps, amazing thing is that this very small eye wall is still there. We have evidence from satellite and the aircraft that the outer eye wall is still there also. But it's been sort of amazing to us that that innermost eye wall has been able to maintain itself. Those 160-mile-per-hour winds are in a very, very limited area, that little white around the eye itself here that, I think, you may be able to see it on the visible imagery here.
But that -- I -- it would be very, very unusual for that to maintain itself, you know, all through the night here. I suspect that we will have a -- a weaker hurricane by tomorrow morning, but still a powerful Category 4 hurricane, with the wind field spreading out more than we have today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: And we're just getting this in from Monroe County in the Keys in Florida. A mandatory evacuation of the Keys is now planned to begin Thursday -- that would be tomorrow -- at noon Eastern. So far, only a mandatory evacuation of tourists has been under way. Now a complete evacuation of the Keys plan to begin on Thursday, tomorrow, at noon Eastern.
Craig Fugate is the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. He's joining us on the phone from the state capital, in Tallahassee. What do you make of this decision to have a mandatory evacuation from the Keys, Craig?
CRAIG FUGATE, DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Well, we call that good preparedness.
We have been working with Monroe County. This is not the first time we have had to prepare for hurricanes this year. And they're following their plan. And again, our goal is to get people to safety well before a storm would cut off those evacuation routes. BLITZER: How, if at all, has this latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center affected your planning?
FUGATE: Well, you know, we were looking at this storm in the forecast being a major hurricane yesterday. So, you know, we were already anticipating a stronger storm. Obviously, the Cat 5 kind of got everybody going early this morning.
But again, it's our plans to prepare for these storms. And our -- we worked on our officials to get ready.
BLITZER: All right. So, tell us what you are doing.
FUGATE: Well, we have already worked with -- through our mutual aid agreements with other states -- with the North Carolina folks to bring down the C-130s to help evacuate the Keys tomorrow.
We are bringing on National Guard planning teams. And our state emergency team here is -- is mobilizing. And we have asked Governor Bush to issue an emergency declaration, declaring the emergency, which he will be doing this evening. So, we are well into our preparing phase and getting ready for the storm.
BLITZER: So, are you bringing in the -- the federal government, military, into this, FEMA? Are they -- what are they doing, if anything? What do you want them to do?
FUGATE: Well, really, I have already talked and worked with our -- our FEMA counterparts. They will be joining us here tomorrow in the EOC. And we will go to a unified command.
And pretty much, our military requests are going through our adjutant general at the National Guard. And, again, these aircraft requested are coming from the National Guard in North Carolina. Governor Bush and our team here in Florida is a pretty robust team. So, we will be working through FEMA for that assistance that we may need to support our state response.
BLITZER: What are you doing to plan for major traffic problems, if there are evacuations from major populated areas in -- in South Florida? What -- what do you do to -- to prepare for that?
FUGATE: Well, part of it is, is -- is making sure that, as you heard earlier from the mayor in Sarasota, that, you know, people heed those evacuation orders and, again, just travel tens of miles, not hundreds of miles.
We don't have the situation, with the exception of the Keys, we evacuate the entire population of those coastal communities, just the ones in the storm surge area. And I would remind you, Wolf, and everybody, that last year in Florida, we evacuated more people for hurricanes than have been evacuated so far this year from these hurricanes.
BLITZER: All right. And once again, a mandatory evacuation planned to begin tomorrow, noon Eastern, for the Keys -- that from Monroe County Emergency Management.
Thanks very much, Craig Fugate. Good luck to you and everyone in Florida.
FUGATE: Thank you, sir.
BLITZER: Craig is the director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
The airlines and the airports, understandably, preparing for Hurricane Wilma to hit Florida.
Ali Velshi has more on that. What are you picking up, Ali?
VELSHI: You know, the -- the calmness with -- with which Craig was talking, that seems to be reflected with everybody I am talking with, airports, airlines, hotels.
Florida has had experience with this before. They are sort of treating it: Look, we are going to be prepared. We are going to know what has to happen.
Now unfortunately, some of that calmness may go too far with some of the airlines. We have spoken to most of the majors that fly in and out of Florida. Continental and Delta and ATA and Southwest seem to have very liberal policies about re-booking. Anybody who re-books starting now for travel between now and Sunday, or even a couple days beyond that, tend to -- will be able to re-book without penalty, without cancellation fees.
And you know, you have got a little window with -- when -- which -- within which to re-book. I don't think anybody suspects that anyone is trying to pull a fast one and change their travel plans. People don't want to fly into a hurricane, even if they're not there on the exact day.
American and AirTran have surprising policies, in that you -- you -- unless you are booked on -- on Saturday or Sunday, they are not -- they are charging you for -- for making changes, which is just -- I -- I mean, I kind of figure, if you are on those airlines and you want to plan ahead and change things, you should be allowed to.
But, bottom -- bottom line here is, you need to talk to your airline and figure out what their policies are and be able to make your changes now. And some of them are going to charge a change fee. It's too bad that they're doing that. But everybody is trying to plan ahead for this. And if you are traveling into the region, don't wait until the last minute or assume that it's going to be something you are going to be able to do easily.
Airlines are all expecting this. And they are -- they're opening their phone lines and ready to at least take your bookings. Some of them will take 50 bucks off your hands, too, but let's hope not too many of them.
Wolf. BLITZER: And I know those flights out of Florida are booking up very, very quickly right now...
VELSHI: Yes.
BLITZER: ... people planning to get out, if necessary. Thanks very much, Ali, for that update.
Lou Dobbs is getting ready for his program that begins right at the top of the hour. Lou, what are you working on?
LOU DOBBS, HOST, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: Wolf, thank you very much.
What we're working on is what the nation will be paying attention to over the next several days, the 9/11 Commission criticizing the Bush administration for not following its recommendations on national security.
And tonight, we are reporting on the intensifying legal battle between former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and a Texas prosecutor, a Texas court today issuing an arrest warrant for Congressman DeLay. We will have complete coverage.
Also tonight, as you have been reporting, Wolf, Hurricane Wilma is now the most powerful storm ever in the Atlantic. And it could well be headed toward the United States. We will have the very latest -- and why the Mexican government is suddenly interested in a murder case in the United States that shocked the entire country.
We will have that special report, all of that and a great deal more, coming up at the top of the hour. Please join us.
Now back to you, Wolf.
BLITZER: Nineteen minutes, but who is counting? That's Lou Dobbs. Thanks very much. His program begins in 19 minutes, right at the top of the hour.
Still to come, Europe on alert, with more cases of bird flu confirmed. We are tracking concerns of a global outbreak and the efforts to prevent it.
And later, your ticket to Powerball fever. The jackpot is in the stratosphere, but so are the odds are against winning.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: More signs today that bird flu may be spreading further, now that Russia is confirming an outbreak south of Moscow. That's adding urgency to the race to try to develop a new vaccine.
Today, Hungary announced a possibly -- a possible breakthrough.
Let's bring in our Brian Todd. He's watching this story. Brian. BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, it's important to stress, this is one claim by one government. And they are still very early in the testing process. But it does illustrate how fast health officials around the globe are working to combat this deadly strain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): Eastern Europe, the latest battleground against bird flu. With several cases now reported in poultry in Turkey and Romania, it is Romania's neighbor Hungary, that is claiming a significant potential victory against the current strain that has proven deadly in humans.
ANDRAS SIMONYI, HUNGARIAN AMBASSADOR TO UNITED STATES: With 99.9 percent accuracy, we can say that this medicine works.
TODD: Hungary's ambassador to the U.S., in close consultation with his health minister, tells CNN his nation has developed a vaccine that could protect humans and animals from the avian flu virus.
The health minister was among some 100 volunteers injected with the vaccine less than a month ago. He says that the antibodies to the virus were found in his blood. Hungarian officials stress, while these initial results are very promising, the government is waiting for another round of test results later this week.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also has a vaccine in development that has shown promise. In a recent interview with CNN, a World Health Organization official spoke of the vaccine being tested in the U.S.
DICK THOMPSON, INFLUENZA SPOKESMAN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: There have been early clinical trials with this vaccine. And what we have seen is that it does stimulate an immune response. How protective that is, we are not going to know until people are actually challenged with the virus.
TODD: Flu viruses are constantly changing. And, if the avian flu virus continues to change, there is no guarantee that the Hungarian or American vaccines will work. Still, Hungarian officials are confident after their initial results.
SIMONYI: If we have found a solution to the immediate threat, it will be much easier to find a -- a solution for -- against the -- the next strain. But this -- this was the immediate objective. And -- and -- and I have no doubt that we will be now concentrating on how to beat the mutations as well.
TODD: The World Health Organization hasn't yet put out a statement on the Hungarian vaccine.
CNN contacted Dr. Anthony Fauci, a leading official at Health and Human Services involved in vaccine development, for reaction to the Hungarian claim. He says a meaningful evaluation cannot be made at this point without seeing the data. But he pointed out, the development of a vaccine against bird flu is a complex process that has to involve clinical trials to determine safety and whether the response to the vaccine matches the virus in question.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: So, are Hungarian officials jumping the gun with their optimism? The jury is still out.
Separately, the British government is seeking bids from pharmaceutical companies for a vaccine to protect its entire population. But again, they say that until they know the exact strain they may be fighting, they are just not sure how to arm themselves.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Brian, thank you very much. Let's hope someone comes up with that vaccine, and soon.
Up next. Yesterday, it was a car. Today, it is a train -- day two of our commuting experience. What's really going on below ground? Tom Foreman will tell us.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. The lines are long, the chances are slim, but the payout is huge. So is the interest, big interest in Powerball. Tonight's pick of five white balls and one red one could make someone $340 million. That's a lot of cash.
Mary Snow is in Greenwich, Connecticut. How are sales over there, Mary?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I will tell you, Wolf, it has been increasing throughout the day.
And, you know, this is a tony town. In fact, it's one of the wealthiest in the country, so you might not expect it to be the hubbub of a get-rich-quick scheme. But the thing is that New -- neighboring New Jersey and New York don't sell tickets for Powerball.
So here in Connecticut, lines are really brisk -- sales are brisk. And officials say that, for ever minute, there are $10,000 worth of sales taking place in the state of Connecticut. It is one of 27 states where the Powerball lottery is being held.
And you know, people who have been coming by -- there are about 100 people outside waiting to get in here -- some buying a ticket, a single ticket, some buying $500 worth, many spending more on their gas tanks than actually buying tickets. The chances, as you say, are very slim, 1 in 146 million, or, as some say people here, slim to none.
Yet many are coming here. They say they are using birthdays, even numbers from Chinese fortune cookies. If you remember, that's been used before in Powerball. And they say, at the very least, it gives them a chance for daydreams. Mostly everybody has a way of how they will spend this money if they win it. Wolf.
BLITZER: How many did you buy for yourself, Mary? And be honest.
SNOW: What's that?
BLITZER: How many did you buy for yourself?
SNOW: Well, we are having a pool sharing, Wolf. And you are in, too.
BLITZER: I have...
SNOW: So, it's a community purchase.
BLITZER: So, how many tickets did you buy?
SIMONYI: We're going to buy 10.
BLITZER: Ten tickets. All right.
SNOW: And if -- yes. So, everybody will get a part -- part of it, if we win.
BLITZER: Everybody in THE SITUATION ROOM, the whole staff.
SNOW: Somehow, I don't think it's...
BLITZER: Is that right?
SNOW: ... going to happen.
BLITZER: All right, Mary.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Mary Snow. Let's hope that that $10 pays off with $340 million.
Up next, on day two of our commuting experience, our Tom Foreman taking the subway. Just what is happening down there? Tom Foreman, he is standing by. He will tell us.
Stay with us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: He was only 31-years-old when he seized power, in what he called a people's coup, in Ghana in 1979. Air Force Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, the man known to many simply as J.J., later installed himself as president, and would go on to rule Ghana for the next dictate as a strong-arm dictator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY JOHN RAWLINGS, PRESIDENT, GHANA: You can buy someone's loyalty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Early in his second decade of power, Rawlings changed course, looking to the West for aid and introducing a series of economic reforms. He was elected and then reelected as president before he gave up power voluntarily in 2001.
The flamboyant Rawlings, a qualified helicopter pilot, still takes pleasure in flying himself around, and continues to play an active role behind the scenes, rallying Ghana's fledgling opposition.
RAWLINGS: I don't have any regrets, because, by our intervention and the sacrifice that we made, as painful as it was, I know that's what saved the nation.
ANNOUNCER: He's also busy writing his memoirs and says he'll soon be publishing his account of his sometimes turbulent rule.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Rising gas prices, highways that look like parking lots -- is there a better way to get to work?
This week, CNN's Tom Foreman putting that question to the test. Yesterday, it was a car. Today?
FOREMAN: The subway, the Metro, which, admittedly, right off the bat, only works in some cities in this country. You can't do it everywhere, because the systems aren't extensive enough. However, where it exists, many people absolutely believe this is the way to go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice-over): Day two of our great commuting odyssey starts with a short suburban drive to the nearest Metro station, where I grab a newspaper, buy a ticket -- almost $5 round-trip -- and hurry to watch the latest train to D.C. take off without me.
(on camera): Just missed it. Well, this is one of the things you learn about mass transit, compared to your private car. You're no longer completely in control. The trains and buses will run when they run. And you try to hop aboard.
(voice-over): For decades, mass transit has been heralded as a critical key to solving traffic problems everywhere. And most of the largest, oldest cities have systems that undeniably work for many people.
In D.C., ridership is up eight percent from just a year ago.
STEVEN TAUBENKIBEL, PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST, WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY: Last two months now, we're averaging well over 700,000 commuters on an average weekday. FOREMAN (on camera): Seven letters, state flower of North Carolina?
(voice-over): If I relied entirely on Metro buses and trains, I could get to work for under $35 a week. But, because the bus schedules don't work in a practical way for my job or life, and I choose the convenience of driving to the train station, it costs about $125 a week. That's almost the same as driving all the way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: So, depending on how you look at it, you -- you can make this work for you or not, but only in certain circumstances. That's why our next stop will be the intrepid bicycle.
BLITZER: I can't wait for that. All right, let's talk about the state flower of North Carolina -- seven letters.
FOREMAN: It's dogwood. And...
BLITZER: Really?
FOREMAN: Yes. You are -- you are going to like the bicycle thing, because I look great in spandex. I'll tell you that.
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: We are going to see that tomorrow right here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
FOREMAN: Lucky you.
BLITZER: Tom Foreman riding ...
(LAUGHTER)
BLITZER: ... that bike in from Bethesda, Maryland, downtown.
Thanks very much, Tom.
We are here in THE SITUATION ROOM every weekday afternoon, 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern. I will be back tomorrow. We will have all the latest on Hurricane Wilma. Stay with us for that.
In the meantime, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT getting ready to start right now -- Lou Dobbs joining us live from New York. Hi, Lou.
DOBBS: Thank you, Wolf. Good evening, everybody.
We begin tonight with a major development in the intense legal battle between former House majority leader Tom DeLay, and Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle.
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