Gulf Shores, Alabama Bears Scars of Ivan's Arrival; Suicide Car Bombing in Iraq
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's take a look at what is happening now in the news. People in the southeast begin the long recovery following Hurricane Ivan. The storm has been blamed for more than a dozen deaths in the U.S.; many houses have been flooded or destroyed. More than 1.7 million homes and businesses in five states are without power. Even the Red Cross has taken a hit from Ivan, appealing for money and blood donations. A car bomb exploded today near an Iraqi police checkpoint in central Baghdad. Iraqi officials say at least eight people were killed and 41 others wounded. Earlier today, another car bomb detonated in Baghdad killing the two occupants inside. U.S. forces opened fire on the vehicle after it tried to break through a security perimeter. A Chechen rebel leader says that he was behind recent terrorist operations in Russia. In an e-mail posted on a Chechen rebel web site, Samil Basayev called the Beslan school massacre a terrible tragedy. He blames though, the killings on President Vladimir Putin saying, quote, "The Kremlin's vampire ordered troops to storm the school," end quote. Basayev also claimed responsibility for the two airliner crashes and a Moscow bombing. And get ready for a possible pat down at the airport. The government is implementing new security checks. Those start next week. All passengers must take off their jackets before passing through metal detectors. And more people will be subjected to hand searches. The 9/11 Panel recommended screeners do a more thorough job of detecting explosives. Ivan has seen its might fade and its legacy build in recent hours. That swirling ferocity first unleashed on the Gulf Coast has left billions of dollars in damage, and the highest death toll in the U.S. since Hurricane Floyd five years ago. After leaving a trail of damage stretching across several states, a downgraded Ivan slapped western North Carolina with up to eight inches of rain. Rescuers spent the night whisking people out of their homes and onto higher ground. The danger could again be measured in inches, when howling winds plowed into some of Atlanta's tree-lined streets. Several drivers narrowly escaped being crushed to death when towering oaks toppled onto to their cars. One Franklin County motorist died this way. Two other people in northern Georgia were also killed. Damage estimates range from two to $10 billion in insured losses. But it is worth noting that such figures do not include the massive damages from flooding. That's because private insurers don't cover flooding. So how relentless has how Ivan's rains been? Well, consider this. Flash flood watches and warnings are now in effect from Tennessee to New Jersey, as remnants of the storm slog northward. Well, Ivan first made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama. Its winds measured 130 miles an hour. Then at that point it did. Then its ferocity is being more fully measured now. Our Bill Hemmer reports from the community, which bears the scars of Ivan's arrival.</s>BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): It is hard to miss the mark of Ivan. The cleanup's just beginning and so are the stories.</s>MARTHA HOWARD, GULF SHORES RESIDENT: It is as noisy as it can. The house is shaking, the doors are shaking, the windows are shaking. You know, the noise is just tremendous.</s>HEMMER: People here will get used to this sound. Doctor Lyle Cooper is already trying to get his practice up and running. But he admits it may take weeks. (on camera): How long will it take now for you to get this place up and running again?</s>DR. LYLE COOPER, GULF SHORES RESIDENT: I hopefully will be back in a week or two. Hopefully we'll get some electricity, some power back. I don't know about the water. I haven't checked anything to see if that's working yet.</s>HEMMER (voice-over): For miles along state Route 59, giant trees that stood the test of time could not pass the test of nature. Twisted metal clings to gasoline pumps. Businesses and stores have been cut in half. (on camera): This storm is so strong, even businesses that took precautions completely wrecked. This is a tax store, and a phone store. Also there's a supermarket here. The brick wall here is down, and if you look down this aisle, you can see the roof is gone, too. (voice-over): And in some areas there is a new landscape. Here in Gulf Shores this overflowing lagoon has sliced a river's path across a highway. Just beyond, a stretch of beachfront property is cut off. But the mayor is not panicking.</s>DAVID BODENHAMER, MAYOR, GULF SHORES, ALABAMA: Well, you know, this is not our first rodeo. But unfortunately, you know, it's the biggest one we've ever had. And we certainly are sympathetic with everybody north of us that experienced this. I mean it was bad for us. We know it was bad for a lot of other people.</s>HEMMER: Late Thursday, the Alabama National Guard rolled out to help with security and with cleanup. That's welcome news to those who live here and who lived through it.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a little scary. A little scary. I mean we were doing some work and it was so calm you could light a cigarette.</s>HEMMER: Yes, the stories are just beginning, now that Ivan has gone away. Bill Hemmer, CNN, Gulf Shores, Alabama.</s>KAGAN: Florida Governor Jeb Bush will see both the damage and its victims firsthand. Right now, he's visiting the Pensacola Civic Center, which was turned, into a shelter for storm refugees. Many will have little reason to rush back to their homes. Many roads and major bridges are damaged or blocked by debris. And it could take weeks to restore electricity, water and sewer services in Pensacola and surrounding Escambia County. For all the latest weather if you're trying to track where Ivan, where Jeanne is just go on to cnn.com. The address is cnn.com/weather. We're going to move on to Iraq and yet another deadly attack on that nation's police force. A suicide car bombing has killed and injured dozens, after detonating near an Iraqi police checkpoint. Let's go to the capital, CNN's Diana Muriel has the latest on this developing story. Diana, hello.</s>DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn hello. Yes. The relative peace of the Iraqi holy day of rest this Friday shattered by yet another car bomb in the center of Baghdad. This was a huge explosive that detonated by a temporary police checkpoint that had been set up in al Rasheed Street, not far from Haifa Street, that now notorious scene of many violent incidents in this past week and indeed before. According to eyewitnesses, a car approached this temporary police checkpoint; it was turned away by the police officers. It came around again, and when it approached the barrier for a second time it detonated, killing, as far as the latest information says, eight people and 41 people injured. There were three police officers who were killed in the attack, 21 other police officers injured and seven cars in the immediate vicinity were damaged. The U.S. military arrived on the scene earlier to assist the Iraqi police. The U.S. military themselves had suffered an attempted car bombing at a checkpoint that they were maintaining on Haifa Street itself. A car had tried to ram the checkpoint. U.S. soldiers opened fire on the two men inside. They detonated the bomb but they killed only themselves. No one else was injured. But now Iraqi police have completely closed off Haifa Street. So another very violent day here in Baghdad -- Daryn.</s>KAGAN: Diana Muriel, thank you for the latest from the Iraqi capital. Back here in the U.S., two new polls are telling vastly different tales about the presidential race. Let's look at the numbers. A Gallup poll released today shows President Bush with a 13-percentage point lead over John Kerry among likely voters. Among registered voters, the Bush lead was eight percentage points. Support for the president is at its highest in the Gallup poll since the capture of Saddam Hussein. But then let's look at these set of numbers. This, by the Pew Research Center showing a dead heat. Among likely voters, the president has a 1-percentage point edge. Among registered voters, the candidates are tied. The conflicting assessments of the presidential race only heighten the importance of campaign stops. Let's check where they're going today. Next hour, Senator Kerry hosts a town hall meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The topic will be national defense. Then he's going to switch topics and states, focusing on health care at an afternoon rally in Aurora, Colorado. Next hour, President Bush leaves the White House for a campaign reception in the nation's capital. He'll then travel to Charlotte, North Carolina for a pair of events. He finishes the day in Kennebunkport, Maine, where he'll spend most of the weekend at his family's vacation home. In Hamilton, New Jersey a woman interrupted a speech by Laura Bush with a protest over the death of her son, a soldier serving in Iraq. Wearing a T-shirt with the message, "President Bush you killed my son," she heckled the first lady and then refused to leave. The woman was handcuffed, arrested, and taken away. A decision to leave that saved her life. You're going to hear from a woman who thought she could ride out Ivan in her mobile home. And we'll tell you what convinced her to leave. Also appearing together in the same courtroom for the first time, Michael Jackson and the mother of his accuser. We'll tell you why and what his attorneys might have to say to the woman. A live report is just ahead. Can "Sky Captain" kill the competition at the box office this weekend? We are going to ask Mr. Moviephone what he thinks.