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The Situation Room
Gulf Coast Gets First Hurricane Warning of the Season; Bush Holds War Council at Camp David
Aired June 12, 2006 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: To our viewers here in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures are arriving all the time. Standing by CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you tonight's top stories. Happening now its 7:00 p.m. in Florida where the Gulf Coast gets the first hurricane warning of the season and many residents get a mandatory evacuation order. Others are urged to make emergency preparations right now. Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center joins us live. He's standing by.
Will the death of Iraq's most wanted man make a real difference in the U.S. mission? Its 7:00 p.m. at Camp David Maryland, where President Bush holds a war council. And he's gone from commander in chief to campaigners in chief. Democratic candidates are finding out that Bill Clinton is a huge draw and that he can raise big bucks. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Tonight, the first real threat of the 2006 hurricane season. Tropical storm Alberto is getting closer and closer to Florida's gulf coast right now and it could reach hurricane strength very soon. Hurricane warnings are in effect for the Tampa Bay area to south of Tallahassee. More than 20,000 people in that region now are under orders to evacuate. The Florida governor Jeb Bush isn't taking any chances after Katrina and other devastating storms. And he doesn't want coastal residents to take any chances either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JEB BUSH, (R) FLORIDA: We know from experience that every storm is different but we know that all of them have the potential to make life miserable for people that are impacted by these storms. And so we want everybody to take this storm -- tropical storm Alberto very seriously.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: The National Hurricane Center director Max Mayfield is joining us now live from Miami. Give us the latest information how this storm is tracking Mr. Mayfield?
MAX MAYFIELD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Okay Wolf, it's still a strong tropical storm, it's not a hurricane and at least the good news here is that I don't see anything right now that makes me think we're seeing any intensification. We were forecasting it to become a category one hurricane it still has some potential to do that. The one thing I'd like to emphasize is that it just doesn't take a hurricane to cause some significant storm surge in this area of the Gulf of Mexico. There's nothing magical between 70 and 75 miles per hour there when you cross that hurricane threshold. And they are indeed going to get some storm surge here in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. The highest deluge will likely be up in this area of Crystal Rivers, Cedar Key, up in the Appalachia Bay. With some storm surge even down to the Tampa Bay area but not as high down there, if it stays on our track.
BLITZER: The sustained winds right now are -- what did you say they were?
MAYFIELD: They're 70 miles per hour. You have to get up to 74 to become a hurricane. We still have some time for that to happen before it makes landfall. But at least right now we're not seeing anything to make us think that it's strengthening.
BLITZER: When will this storm by your estimates now make landfall?
MAYFIELD: Well the landfall would be probably very early tomorrow morning, probably before sunrise. But this is a case where you really don't want to focus on the landfall because these rain bands are already impacting much of the peninsula and the coastal areas of the gulf. So conditions will continue to deteriorate through the night. Don't expect something magical's going to happen right up until landfall.
BLITZER: Stand by for a moment Mr. Mayfield, our meteorologist Rob Marciano is in Cedar Key right now, that's a part of this warning zone area. I just want him to give us an assessment, a report on what's going on. Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Wolf, winds have pretty much sustained what they've been doing for the past couple of hours. At times the rain has been coming down heavily and then slacking off just a little bit. But consistently the winds have been out of the east and southeast, which tells us that the storm it's direction relative to us hasn't changed a whole lot. Behind me, you can see the water is actually low tide now or at least the tide is going out. But typically the tide would go out to at least that white pole and often in a severe low tide, out to those black poles. I don't know if you can see that. So, another indication that the winds here are kind of holding this water in a little bit more than they typically would during low tide. High tide comes in later on tonight at about 4:00 in the morning, about when this storm should be about parallel to this. Now Wolf if Max is still there, I have a question that I'm curious about, I'm wondering if he can answer it. Max are you there with me?
MAYFIELD: You bet, yeah, go ahead, Rob.
MARCIANO: Max, tropical storm Arleen around this time last year and around this same area, headed into the panhandle, eerily similar at least as far as timing, how early in the season that storm formed. Is this sort of any indication or omen as to what we might see in the coming months?
MAYFIELD: We looked at that very carefully when we have our first named storm and the truth is there's not a good correlation with the amount of activity we end up having throughout the season and the first storm. But having said that, we're already forecasting a very active season, you know well above average. This is just the middle of June, the peak of the season is really the middle of August to near the end of October. So we've got a long, long way to go and this is just the beginning.
BLITZER: Rob do you have another question that you want to ask Mr. Mayfield?
MARCIANO: Just one more just so I'm not missing the point here as far as why these storms this time of year develop typically in the northwestern Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico. Is it merely a matter of water temperature or there are more atmospheric conditions that are considered when you talk about where these things form this time of year?
MAYFIELD: It's both. In this case we had a disturbance down there. We did have the warm water temperatures. The upper level environment was not particularly favorable until sometime last night and that's when we saw the strengthening. But this is not unusual at all to have the first storm form in the northwestern Caribbean and move up into the gulf.
BLITZER: Alright Rob, stand by, we're going to get back to you because clearly this storm is getting closer and closer toward the Florida coast right now. This has been a while since a storm of this nature, if it makes landfall as a hurricane, since we've seen anything like this, Mr. Mayfield, isn't it?
MAYFIELD: Well you will have to go back to 1966 and Hurricane Alma to have one this early make landfall that is in the United States. But this is not a hurricane yet. So we don't want to get too academic, there. I really don't know that I would read too much into this. I might add for Rob's sake here, Cedar Key is right there where the little white dot is. The winds are definitely not on shore there yet, so when those winds become more on shore into that Cedar Key area during the night here, that's when he's going to have some of that storm surge come up into that area.
BLITZER: Mr. Mayfield, stand by for a moment, we have an affiliate reporter Adam Landau from our affiliate WJXT. Adam, first of all, where exactly are you?
ADAM LANDAU, WJXT REPORTER: We are in Keeton Beach, Wolf and the big concern here is the storm surge. We haven't seen anything in terms of winds yet, we are starting to see some heavy rains. But people here are taking this very seriously and we can show you why. You can see already, the ocean is calm here but you can see just how close it comes to the beach. Now we're told the last time they saw a really bad storm surge here was back in 1993 and at least six people died in this very area alone. So people are taking this very seriously, there's mandatory evacuations. They're not too worried about damage to property, because most of the homes here were damaged and they're not built on stilts, but they're worried about loss of life. And there's a mandatory evacuation that goes into effect at 8:00 p.m., though they expect the worst of things to be here at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. Wolf?
BLITZER: Alright, we'll be watching with you Adam. What do you make of that eyewitness account Mr. Mayfield from Adam Landau our affiliate reporter?
MAYFIELD: Well Keeton Beach is right up in here and that's absolutely right -- there's where they had the loss of life in that March '93 storm. It was a wintertime storm, but it was very much like a category one hurricane. It really makes a difference on the track itself. If the track comes in just a little bit to the south of Keeton Beach, the high storm surge will be near into the south of where the center across the coast. If it goes into the north of there, they're going to get the water piled up in the Keeton Beach area. But this whole area of the Gulf of Mexico is very, very vulnerable to storm surge.
BLITZER: Now the assumption has always been, correct me if I'm wrong Mr. Mayfield. That once this storm hits the Florida peninsula, it will slow down but then potentially it could pick up speed after it crosses and gets back into the Atlantic, is that right?
MAYFIELD: Well the intensity I thin is what you're talking about there. And if the center of the storm stays over land, which is really what we're forecasting right now for another 24 and 36 hours and beyond, it will weaken and become a depression here in another 24 or 36 hours. If the track is just a little bit to the right of that and the center comes out over the Atlantic, well then all bets are off and we could see it strengthen again here. But right now we're expecting the biggest impact to be over Florida, storm surge, rain, some isolated tornadoes and some wind too.
BLITZER: So just to be precise, people who live along the eastern coast, the eastern seaboard right now, the Atlantic, should they do anything right now or just watch this.
MAYFIELD: No. Just they need to monitor this and obviously listen to the advice of local officials. But the biggest (INAUDIBLE) would likely be rainfall along the immediate path which most likely will be right along the coastal areas here, head down through the Carolinas.
BLITZER: Our meteorologist Rob Marciano Mr. Mayfield has another question he wants to ask you. Rob, go ahead.
MARCIANO: Max about how warm are water temperatures out there in the Gulf of Mexico? From what I can see (INAUDIBLE) reports 80 to 82 tops. Was there anything significantly warmer than that in that loop current that you guys attributed to this intensification?
MAYFIELD: Well the thing about the thing about the loop current Rob, is that you say it is very warm, but it's also very deep water. And that -- when it moved over that last night and the upper level winds relaxed a little bit, that's when we saw the intensification. We've always been very, very honest with people and including to congress here, recently, too, that we have real limitations in (INAUDIBLE) forecast. But we have the right idea here. We're forecasting some intensification, it did strengthen, it's not a hurricane yet but still has some chance to become a cat one before landfall.
BLITZER: We'll be speaking often I assume Mr. Mayfield, not only over the next day or two but throughout this hurricane season. Thanks to you and all your colleagues who do such important and excellent work for the American public, we really appreciate it. Rob Marciano, be careful where you are, we'll be checking back with you as well.
And to our viewers, this night we're going to be following the storm throughout the night including much more coming up this hour. If you're a citizen journalist by the way in the middle of it all, you could send us your pictures or your videos right here to THE SITUATION ROOM at cnn.com, we'll be anxious to get your eyewitness accounts. Jack Cafferty is off this week, he'll be back next week.
Coming up, the president convenes his war council. What's his strategy now that Iraq's most wanted terrorist is dead? We're going to have a live report. And former President Bill Clinton trying to get republicans a run for their money. Can democrats bank on him to help them win this fall? And a proposal that could change the way Americans watch and pay for cable television. It's sparking a culture war, pitting Christians against Christians. Stay with us, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Complete update on the hurricane warnings along Florida's gulf coast. Also, we'll speak with the commanding general of the U.S. Army's Corps of Engineers on what to expect during this hurricane season. Are the Army Corps of Engineers and the levees ready for this problem? All that coming up.
First though, some other important news we're watching. Will the death of Iraq's most wanted terror leader make a real difference for the overall U.S. mission in Iraq? President Bush right now at Camp David, he's been huddling with his top security team to plot strategy in Iraq. Let's go live to our White House correspondent, Ed Henry, standing by near Camp David. Ed?
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, after five hours of closed door meetings with his top advisers, the president was still vague about exactly when U.S. troops can come home but he had an unambiguous message for the new Iraqi government, the ball is in your court.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: President Bush kicked off the two day summit at Camp David with his war council by immediately trying to pass the torch of responsibility to the Iraqis.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The success in Iraq will depend upon the capacity of the new government to provide for its people. We recognize our responsibilities to help that new government. HENRY: The president is clearly trying to shift the U.S. to a more supportive role, but is stopping short of calling for major U.S. troop cutbacks. Leery of going too far out on a limb with violence on the ground continuing.
BUSH: This is a process of getting to know the -- understand the Iraqi capabilities, particularly the command and control structure and what we need to do to help them achieve victory.
HENRY: The president is hoping to get a better assessment Tuesday when his war cabinet meets by secure video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and his cabinet. Earlier Monday the president got a briefing from his war commanders and tried the delicate balancing act of cheering the death of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, while still trying to be cautious about its affect.
BUSH: I fully recognize it's not going to end the war.
HENRY: Despite the president's attempts to lower expectations, democrats say the American people are anxious to hear more about troop redeployment.
JOHN PODESTA, FORMER CLINTON CHIEF OF STAFF: The very nature of moving up to Camp David I think raises the stakes and I think that he'll be under some pressure to deliver the goods, if you will.
HENRY: But administration allies say the summit can help focus the public on the big picture.
TORIE CLARKE, FORMER PENTAGON SPOKESWOMAN: It's very, very complex stuff. And it's not a simple black or white answer to anything, so the way to manage expectations, the way to make sure people don't get false expectations, is to be communicating with constantly and drawing them into the process, if you will.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: The president said the enemy is trying to break the will of the American people and the goal of this summit is to remind Americans the sacrifice is worth it. The president will continue to make that case tomorrow afternoon, 2:30 eastern time when he returns to the White House and holds a press conference in the Rose Garden. Wolf?
BLITZER: We'll be watching that obviously. Ed thank you very much. Our latest poll shows the death of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi may have boosted American's optimism about the war at least a little bit. In a new CNN poll taken after the terror leader was killed, 43 percent now say things are going well for the United States in Iraq. That's up five percentage points from March, but 54 percent still say things are going badly. The U.S. military has been recreating the final moments of Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, who was killed Wednesday in that U.S. air strike on his hideout, just north of Baghdad. Let's go live to CNN's Zain Verjee, she's joining us with more. Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the military has put together a precise accounting of the terror leader's last moments in part to dispel any rumors about his death.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: Abu Musab Al Zarqawi was the target when an F-16 dropped a pair of 500-pound bombs.
MAJ. GEN. BILL CALDWELL, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: At 6:12 p.m. local time, a coalition aircraft launched a kinetic strike on an isolated safe house.
VERJEE: His safe house was obliterated by the blast, but death did not come instantaneously for the terrorist leader. Another 28 minutes went by at the site before the U.S. military says it had boots on the ground.
CALDWELL: At approximately 6:40 p.m., coalition forces were on the scene and took possession of Zarqawi in order to positively identify him both visually and by searching for known scars.
VERJEE: General Caldwell says a coalition medic found Al Zarqawi lapsing in and out of consciousness. The wounded man was bleeding and his breathing was labored. His condition quickly deteriorating.
CALDWELL: The medic registered no pulse or respirations and at 7:04 p.m. on 7 June, realized that Zarqawi was dead.
VERJEE: After his death, military medical examiners were flown into Iraq to conduct an autopsy.
CALDWELL: There was extensive (INAUDIBLE) injury to the longs, with bruising and disruption of the lung tissue. There was bleeding in the middle ear on both sides and there was no evidence of firearm injuries.
VERJEE: The military doctors say lung injury caused Al Zarqawi's death.
CALDWELL: He must have been in an enclosed space where the peak pressure of the blast was magnified. That is how we know he was inside the house when he was hit.
VERJEE: The military says the autopsy results are clear. There is no evidence to suggest Al Zarqawi was either beaten or shot. The FBI positively identified the remains through DNA testing.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE: The military also performed an autopsy on Al Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, Sheikh Abdul Rahman. Discussions are underway with the Iraqi government as to what will be done with their remains. Wolf?
BLITZER: In addition to those two, another man was killed in that blast as well as three women. Zain, thank you very much. Still to come tonight in THE SITUATION ROOM, we're tracking Alberto on the verge potentially of becoming the first hurricane of this Atlantic hurricane season. We're going to get the latest forecast from our hurricane headquarters. Plus a judge shot in his own courtroom, it's happened again. We have the latest on his condition and the search for the shooter. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Hurricane warnings issued on Florida's gulf coast. Alberto, the first named storm getting closer and closer. A complete update, that's coming up. Zain Verjee though is joining us right now from the CNN Center with another look some other important stories making news. Zain?
VERJEE: Hi again Wolf. A family court judge in Reno, Nevada was shot in his own courtroom. Now police are investigating how and why. After the shooting law enforcement shut down surrounding blocks, they locked down the courthouse and searched office by office. 53 year old Judge Chuck Well (ph) is said to be conscious and talking with his family. Police don't know if the shot came from inside or outside the building.
Serious but stable. That's the current medical condition of Ben Roethlisberger, he's the quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Officials say that he was hurt in a motorcycle accident today, in which witnesses say he wasn't wearing a helmet. Last year the 24- year-old Roethlisberger was named the National Football League's rookie of the year and this past February he led the Steelers to their Super Bowl win.
It hasn't happened in 13 years, the nation's crime and murder rates make a major jump. A new FBI report says the murder rate jumped nearly 5 percent last year, but the overall crime rate was up 2.5 percent. Experts say the fact that many people imprisoned in the late 1980s are only now being let out, is actually one of the causes of the spike. And there are new developments in a story that reported last week. The controversy swelling around the landmark Philadelphia cheese steak restaurant Gino's. The owners posted a sign saying customers have to order in English. Now the city's human relations commission's filed a complaint saying essentially that the policy's discriminatory because it discourages some people from eating there. But the owner Joseph Vento says that he won't back down. Wolf?
BLITZER: Mary Snow had reported that story for us on Friday. Zain thanks very much. Just ahead, right now it's a tropical storm but it aspires to become a hurricane and it could become a hurricane. Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras will tell us where Alberto is right now, where it appears to be heading.
And what would happen if you could subscribe just to the cable channels you want? Like CNN obviously and not the ones you don't want. That plan could soon go into effect. We're going to tell you why some Christian groups are fighting for and against a new law. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to THE SITUATION ROOM, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're following a developing story, it's our top story. Tropical storm Alberto on the verge of becoming a hurricane and bearing down right now on Florida's west coast. Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is joining us now from the CNN hurricane headquarters with more on the latest track that we're getting. Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Wolf, it's making its time and getting much closer towards the big bend area here. The storm however by the way not looking nearly as together as it did in the overnight and early morning hours when it really blossomed up and we saw those winds up to 70 miles per hour. It's kind of holding steady overall in terms of those winds. But we would bump it up a little bit or bring it down a little bit. They are very common to have fluctuations in the storm like that in terms of intensity. Either way it will likely be a strong tropical storm or a weak category one making landfall. And there you can see that forecast track, the big cone covering most of the big bend area. And we don't want you to focus so much on landfall, we think it's going to happen early tomorrow morning, possibly even around sunrise. But the tropical storm forced winds already arriving right now.
And this is going to be a big rain event. Of course the rains have already been going on for nearly 48 hours and they will continue likely for another maybe 24 hours plus, depending where you live.
There is a threat of tornadoes. We've got a tornado watch in effect across much of central Florida that we haven't seen much action on that, so that could pick up a little bit later on.
Rains pulling back into the Tampa-St. Petersburg area. We're also looking for some very heavy showers on up to the north of there, heading towards Gainesville and we could see a good one to two inches per hour with those rain showers as they move through.
So not a great night to go out and travel, certainly, and conditions are going to continue to deteriorate here pretty rapidly. This is our forecast, rainfall amounts over the next 48 hours and look at the wide area that is affected here by this storm.
And Wolf, we've been focussing so much here this afternoon and evening on what's going to be happening in Florida, we also want to pay attention to the neighbors in Georgia and on into the Carolinas. This storm is going to continue on a northeasterly track and may bring equally heavy amounts of rainfall into those coastal areas. Back to you.
BLITZER: Jacqui, we're going to continue to stay in touch with you. Thank you to Jacqui Jeras.
Meanwhile, might this swirling threat from this current hurricane season now underway eventually become yet another problem for New Orleans and is that city even ready for another storm?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Joining us now is Lieutenant General Carl Strock. He's the commander and chief engineer of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. General, thanks very much for coming in.
Before we get to New Orleans and levees, how ready you are, maybe you are, maybe you're not, what about Florida and this first tropical storm -- named storm, Alberto, which could become a hurricane? Are you worried about any Corps of Engineer projects right now in Florida?
LT. GEN. CARL STROCK, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: No, I wouldn't say any of our projects. There are really not up in the area where we expect to have landfall. There is some concern about Lake Okeechobee on the part of the some of the locals down there because it's an older dike that was built in the '30s. But we're very confident that Okeechobee can handle any rainfall that might arise from this storm.
BLITZER: This is the Herbert Hoover dike, and there's been a lot of fear that it, what, could break?
STROCK: Well, there's concern that it could, but we're confident that it will be able to hold whatever water comes. The water level in Okeechobee right now is about 12.5 feet, and we can easily handle up to 17 feet of water. So there's really no danger in Okeechobee right now as a result of this storm.
BLITZER: What about the levees in New Orleans? This is -- the new hurricane season started -- a year ago, you said -- and let me read to you what you said -- "We have a plan right now that we think we can get back to Category 3 protection -- pre-Katrina protection -- before next hurricane season. It's a very long-term and difficult thing, so that's certainly our objective, that by June of next year we would have the system restored to its pre-Katrina conditions."
You said that on September 19, 2005.
Are the levees right now at pre-Katrina conditions?
STROCK: They are equal to or better than they were pre-Katrina. Absolutely.
BLITZER: So what does that mean in case there's a hurricane in New Orleans right now, that people of New Orleans would not have to worry about the levees breaking?
STROCK: A risk still remains. About 30 percent of the flooding in the city was caused by overtopping and rainfall. So there would still be flooding in the city of New Orleans.
And I think that the local authorities down there have really improved their evacuation plans, and that's really the key. If you've got another Katrina-like storm, I think clearly evacuation is the first step, but I do not anticipate any of the catastrophic failures of the projects that we saw last year.
BLITZER: And that would be for Category 3. There would be over- topping. What about Category 1 or Category 2?
STROCK: Well, in fact, Katrina was a Category 2 in the immediate area of New Orleans, and what you had is the surge associated with a Category 4 or 5 storm. So if the path of the storm as it runs up through the gulf is what really determines how much water you'll get in the city. So that's what we really have to watch out for.
BLITZER: We're watching these -- the pictures of Alberto right now. I just look at those pictures, and I know a lot of our viewers look at them. And I'm sure you look at them. You begin to get nervous, knowing potentially what could happen over the next several weeks or months.
How is the level of cooperation, in the aftermath of Katrina, in this new hurricane season, that you see now with state, federal, local authorities, the U.S. military, the Corps of Engineers? How are you doing?
STROCK: It's excellent. I think we're well poised. We talked about the readiness of our works, but we're also ready in terms of our response and recovery mechanisms.
In fact, with Alberto, the FEMA Region 4 down in Atlanta has already stood set up a 24/7 emergency operations center. We are in there with them. We have liaisons with the state. We have prepositioned commodities, and we have response teams on call to go in. So I think we're leaning forward much more than we did last year.
BLITZER: Because a lot of our viewers might not know what the Army Corps of Engineers really does as far as hurricane preparedness, hurricane reaction, the whole work they do. Explain briefly what you do.
STROCK: Well, we're part of the national response plan. There are 15 support functions. We are ESF3, which has to do with public works. Our role is to provide bulk ice and water for those who need it right after the storm. We do debris removal. We do temporary housing. We do temporary roofing to allow people to reoccupy their homes. We do temporary electrical power, and we provide just general technical assistance on public works.
BLITZER: So if this Alberto becomes a hurricane and causes damage to the coast -- west coast of Florida, the Army Corps of Engineers, you get involved?
STROCK: We get involved if the state authorities ask us to be involved. Florida has a very sophisticated response process, and so we don't anticipate, for example, getting involved in debris in Florida like we might in another state, which isn't used to handling this on a routine basis.
But yes, we would certainly have some role. In addition to our role with FEMA, we have a responsibility for navigable waterways, the gulf intracoastal waterway runs down in that area. The Atlantic and the coastal waterway runs up the coast. So as soon as the storm passes, we will be out there with survey boats to ensure that the channels are open and that navigators are not in any kind of danger.
BLITZER: So right now, I assume your men and women under your command are at a higher state of alert, given the fact that the first tropical storm has developed, and this could be, unfortunately, a very busy season.
STROCK: Absolutely. You know, we don't anticipate Alberto is going to be a huge, significant storm, but it does give us an opportunity to shake out our readiness procedures and make sure our people are good to go.
BLITZER: We're almost out of time. This report, that Berkeley report, the independent levee investigation team that came out May 22, you probably saw it. One of the quotes that said, "There were extensive and persistent failures to demonstrate initiative, imagination, leadership, cooperation, and management," not just the Army Corps of Engineers but across the board.
What's the major lesson that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has learned since last hurricane season that you're applying right now?
STROCK: I think probably the principal one is that we need to look at these systems as systems and not a series of discrete projects. And that was really one of the issues down in New Orleans, with a lot of overlapping jurisdictional boundaries, a lot of projects that came together in different ways, designed for different purposes. So it's really taking more of a systems approach to the work we do.
BLITZER: That's a big lesson. Good luck, General. We hope everything goes smoothly. Thanks for your important work.
STROCK: Thank you very much, Wolf. Appreciate it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Let's go to our Internet reporter Abbi Tatton. She's standing by with some online resources that could help you to monitor these hurricane conditions -- Abbi?
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Wolf, these are satellite images from Rutgers University that show sea-surface temperatures in the Gulf and in the Atlantic. You can click on these different regions to see just how warm the water has been.
This here is the Gulf, the area here is Florida. The yellow and the red areas, all of those above 80 degrees. The National Weather Service says a hurricane only forms if the temperatures are above 80 degrees. Look at this here. This is called the loop current. Basically if a storm goes over that area, it intensifies, it gets more energy. This is a picture from a few days ago. Here is today's picture. This great white area here is Alberto. The image doesn't show through the clouds there, you can see that it's right over those warm waters. All these images available at the thecoolroom.org -- Wolf?
BLITZER: Abbi, thank you very much. And we're going to have much more coming up on this tropical storm Alberto, that could become the first hurricane of this season. Also coming up, Bill Clinton apparently has a very green thumb. Members of his party know it and we're going to tell you why they're lining up right now to share the stage with him this election year.
And imagine watching your T.V. without having to flip through all those channels you never watch. It's not a plan that could become law. So why is that angering some Christian conservatives? Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Tonight, Florida Democrats have more cash in their war chests, thanks to Bill Clinton. The former president is more in demand than ever on the fund raising circuit. CNN's Mary Snow is following Clinton's 2006 money trail. Mary?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, That money trail is taking former president Bill Clinton across the country. He's raising millions for candidates and you can expect to see a lot more of him in the coming months.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW (voice-over): Whether it's the party faithful in Florida, Maine's Gubernatorial race or Arizona senate race, Democrats are turning to former president Bill Clinton to draw crowds and cash. Right now he's on tap for more than two dozen fund raisers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill Clinton is still a rock star in the Democratic Party.
SNOW: On Sunday in Coral Gables, Florida, Senator Bill Nelson's campaign says President Clinton helped deliver 500,000 donor dollars.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm truly a little out of practice for this. Somebody else in my family has to get votes these days.
SNOW: That someone else, Senator Hillary Clinton, has gotten help from her husband as she seeks re-election in New York, even though Senator Clinton is seen as a big Democratic fund raiser in her own right. Still, she's getting competition for Bill Clinton's attention.
MASSIE RITSCH, CENTER FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS: Right now Bill Clinton is a more attractive headliner for your event than he was in 2000, for example, when you rarely saw Al Gore associate himself with Bill Clinton.
SNOW: That was in wake of the impeachment scandal. 2004 political observers say Democrats started warming to President Clinton, but they say some parts of the country may still be cool to him.
RITSCH: I would expect Democrats to call on Bill Clinton to show up in areas where Democrats traditionally do well and where they have more of a solid liberal base than in the swing areas where he might be more polarizing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SNOW: President Clinton's office says each fund-raisers he attends for candidates raises at least $500,000, but in many cases, it's well over a million.
BLITZER: Efforts underway in congress right now to try to change the way we all use cable TV and that's dividing some Christian conservatives. CNN's Chris Lawrence is joining us now live from Los Angeles. He's got the story. Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator John McCain is pushing this a la carte cable plan but there's no traditional red state, blue state kind of split. In fact it's taking some traditional allies and turning them into unlikely opponents.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blooper.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Millions of cable TV subscribers get their stations as part of a package bundled together. "South Park" is in the same group as, say, "The 700 Club" and dozens of other stations and some evangelical and family groups don't like it.
TIM WINTER, EXEC. DIR. PARENTS TV COUNCIL: When I go to the news stand, I can buy Ranger Rick for my daughter. I'm not also forced to buy "Hustler."
LAWRENCE: The Parent's Television Council is pushing a plan where customers would only pick and pay for specific channels like Hallmark. Their unlikely opponent, Christian broadcasters themselves.
COLBY MAY, FAITH & FAMILY BROADCASTERS COALITION: They have literally thousands and thousands of examples of people who were not intending to go see a religious program, but, in fact, when they surfed by, something caught them.
LAWRENCE: Colby May represents Christian broadcasters who say their mission of outreach means they must stay in the bubble package.
MAY: It helps the people who, frankly, if they were asked to preselect religious programming would not necessarily do so. If they had not pre-selected it, then in fact it wouldn't be available for them at that moment of crisis or that moment of need.
LAWRENCE: Critics say it's about reefing the largest number of customers. If not enough people select the religious station, their impact and fund raising is affected. Tim Winter says Christian broadcasters criticize the graphic language on shows like "The Shield," but don't mind being bundled together in the same cable package with them.
WINTER: I don't think anyone in their congregation would be happy to know that they are taking the same business approach that many pornographers are. Where, by virtue of coming along and being forced into families' living rooms, they get an economic benefit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: The pick and choose plan could also affect CNN's parent company as well. Time Warner is the nation's second largest cable provider and owns a number of stations. Time Warner opposes the plan because it says customers would pay more money for fewer channels. Wolf.
BLITZER: Chris Lawrence in L.A. Thank you. This note, if you signed one of those petitions in support of a gay marriage ban, your name and address may be posted on line right now. Our Internet reporter Abbi Tatton is standing by with more on this controversial campaign. Abbi?
TATTON: This on line effort to out people who signed petitions supporting a ban on gay marriage started with Massachusetts residents who had signed petitions in that state. Today it's been extended in partnership with a Jacksonville, Florida, church, this now included Florida residents that have signed similar petitions there.
It's not just their names. Over 450,000 full names and addresses of people that have signed these petitions. The organizers of this effort are urging people to contact people on that list. The database is searchable. They say they want people to enter a discussion about gay marriage.
They also want to identify potential fraud in these signatures. This effort does have it's opponents. Florida for Marriage has been collecting these petitions and they call this a gross invasion of privacy.
BLITZER: Thank you. Up ahead, in Afghanistan fresh rounds of violence and Taliban. The Taliban could be on a major comeback. What should forces battling the insurgency do? We are going to tell you about a unique new weapon they are using to fight fire with fire. This is something you're going to see only on CNN.
And it rocked Japan with some unexpected force. We will tell you what happened and how it left some people hurt. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Bottom line in the markets: All three major indexes lost ground once again today with the Dow down about 100 points.
There are new developments concerning the small group of U.S. Marines under investigation for allegedly killing 24 innocent Iraqis in Haditha. Let's bring in our senior Pentagon correspondent Jamie McIntyre -- Jamie.
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we heard a lot about the allegations about a civilian massacre at Haditha, but we're just now beginning to get the other side of the story from defense attorneys who argue there was neither a crime nor a cover-up. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE (voice-over): According to his attorney, Sergeant Frank Wuterich led a four-man team that killed Iraqi civilians in two houses in Haditha, under the belief that armed insurgents were hiding among them. Although Wuterich says he did not fire the shots. But he does admit being one of the Marines who shot five men who got out of a car and ran, thinking they were insurgents driving a potential car bomb. The Iraqis turned out to be unarmed.
Still, attorney Neal Puckett insists his client followed the standard rules of engagement, and that when it was clear at day's end the dead were mostly civilians, including women and children, he accurately reported those facts to his superiors.
NEAL PUCKETT, STAFF SGT WUTERICH'S ATTORNEY: I don't know if someone else above his level in the chain of command did, but I know that Sergeant Wuterich reported everything either to his immediate commander who was there on scene or over the radio back to the company, and there was no attempt on his part to misrepresent anything or to cover anything up.
MCINTYRE: So where did the information come from that went into a press release issued the next day that said "15 Iraqi civilians were killed from a blast of a roadside bomb?" The release said after gunmen attacked the convoy with small arms fire, that Marines and Iraqi army soldiers returned fire, killing eight insurgents.
PUCKETT: Sergeant Wuterich got on the radio and said -- he used specific -- he remembers using the words "collateral damage." Houses cleared. He was asked by whoever was on the other end of the radio, how many KIA? And he said approximately 12 to 15. So that's where the 15 number comes from.
I can tell you that at the end of the day, Sergeant Wuterich and his squad were still there, and they assisted in the removal of the bodies to be taken to the hospital. So there was an accurate count at the end of that day, 24 civilians were killed.
MCINTYRE: Puckett says his client reported the Iraqis died from gun shots, or in some cases shrapnel from fragmentation grenades that were thrown into the houses just before the Marines broke in, firing weapons. And Puckett insists Wuterich never claimed the deaths were the result of either a roadside bomb or a firefight.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCINTYRE: And Puckett also tells CNN that when Sergeant Wuterich went off to clear those houses where the women and children were killed, that his plan was sanctioned by a higher-ranking Marine officer, a second lieutenant who had arrived with a quick reaction force on the scene -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jamie McIntyre, doing some strong reporting on the story. Thank you, Jamie, very much.
Let's find out what's coming up right at the top of the hour. Paula is standing by. Hi, Paula.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf. Thanks.
Coming up, we'll be devoting a lot of attention to Tropical Storm Alberto. We will also have an eye-opening look at something most of us buy every summer to protect ourselves and our children from cancer. But is your sunscreen really keeping you safe? I know I was pretty shocked by the findings of our consumer reporter Greg Hunter's report. I bet he has some very good information for us all. It's not necessarily screening out all the rays you think it is.
BLITZER: Paula, thank you very much. We will be watching you at the top of the hour.
Coming up next, something you will see only here on CNN. Our reporter in the sites of a drone. We're going to show you what's going on in the battle over the Taliban in Afghanistan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back. Our senior international correspondent Brent Sadler has the remarkable story of predator and prey in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Osama bin Laden, believed captured on tape by a CIA Predator spy plane some six years ago, a tall figure wearing a white robe, recorded before the 9/11 attacks.
Critics call it a missed opportunity to kill him.
The Predator could hunt, but not kill back then. But today's version, still searching for bin Laden over Afghanistan, carries powerful Hellfire missiles.
(on camera): If you have ever wondered what it's like to be in a Predator's eye view, then here it is. End of shift for another bird coming in to land, siting in on our position.
(voice-over): Not just seeing us here in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, but also 8,000 miles away in Nevada, where Predators are flown by pilots who never leave the ground, through a satellite link.
CAPT. JON SONGER, COMMANDER, PREDATOR SQUADRON: Predator operates on a secret or top secret level on a normal basis.
SADLER: The basic design is little more than a snowmobile engine strapped to a glider.
(on camera): I know you can't talk a lot about the secret stuff that's inside the plane, but give me some idea of what we can see here.
SONGER: Well, at the front of the aircraft, you have the video camera, and it's got both electrooptical and infrared capability. What does that mean? It can see both in daylight and at night.
SADLER: This Predator launch site runs these birds of prey like clockwork, wheeling them in and out of here for military tasks that not so very long ago would have been missions impossible.
(voice-over): The Predator's evolving role as a flying assassin in the war on terror draws fire. Critics dispute the legality of targeted killing, under U.S. and international law, especially if host nations are not told of a lethal strike.
Its deadly fire power was recently triggered over the Afghan battlefield by this 23-year-old operator. She was ordered to launch a Predator missile from these controls in Kandahar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We found a group of insurgents, so we followed them and we were cleared hot to shoot.
SADLER: Twelve confirmed kills.
Predators are not fast, cruising at about 80 miles an hour, but they have long reach, some 450 miles range. Over 20 hours on 100 gallons of fuel.
SONGER: Incredible. Absolutely unbelievable, to be able to do this from Vegas and, you know, destroy a high-value target, perhaps bin Laden himself one day.
SADLER: If the Predator gets a second chance.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Kandahar, southern Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: What remarkable equipment, that Predator, indeed.
Thanks very much for joining us. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. Up next, "PAULA ZAHN NOW" and Paula standing by in New York -- Paula.
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