All Eyes on Ivan as It Nears Gulf Coast
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan. Let's check the headlines at this hour. Whirling winds of 140 miles per hour, worry and woe from Florida to Louisiana. Ivan the irrepressible is spinning its fury across the eastern path of the Gulf of Mexico. It is threatening to unleash its wrath on several states. Already there are several hurricane watches and warnings and mass exodus by residents in its path. The very latest on the storm in a couple minutes. Iraq, first though. Experts are trying to identify three beheaded bodies left on the highway north of Baghdad. Those bodies said to be those of male Iraqis were found in Balad. Officials say their heads were found nearby. Each corpse was found dressed in T- shirts, jeans and other western style clothing. In Afghanistan, three Americans are found guilty of torturing Afghans in a private jail. Jonathan Idema, Brent Bennett are sentenced to 10 year jail terms and Edward Caraballo to eight years in prison. The men are also charged with illegal detention. Reportedly, they wanted to help in the war on terror. Their lawyer says the case was not handled properly and they are planning an appeal. And amid fear and doubt, children go back to school for the first time since the siege in Beslan. Worried students, teachers and parents resumed classes, while some students say they were afraid to return. That terror attack left over 300 dead many of them children. And let's get right to our coverage on Hurricane Ivan. Chad Myers is in the weather center tracking the storm's path. All eyes are on Ivan as its eye and, as Chad was just pointing out, its entire spread of the storm casting a withering gaze at the Gulf Coast. It is due to buzz onto that coastline some time early tomorrow, meaning it's still too early to know exactly where. Bill Hemmer and meteorologist Rob Marciano are along Alabama's Mobile Bay. That area now seen as the potential center of landfall. Kathleen Koch is in nearby Biloxi, Mississippi, and Jason Bellini in New Orleans, the low line city fearing that this storm could be the big one. Let's -- and we also have in Panama City, Rick Sanchez. Let's begin our coverage at Mobile Bay. My partner, Bill Hemmer -- Bill.</s>BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Daryn, good morning again. The conditions right now are pretty decent, actually. But again, they will be going down, and down, and down as we progress further into the day on Wednesday, then overnight tonight as Chad was pointing out. One of the big concerns here up and down the coast is this storm surge. Nine years ago, Hurricane Opal overnight went from a Category 1 hurricane to a Category 4. Now, it weakened before it came across land, but what the impact of that storm increasing did was it created this huge stir of water out in the Gulf and created this wall of water 15, 16 feet high that came rushing on shore. And that's where most of that damage was caused in the area like Fort Walton, Florida and also Destin, Florida. And that again, is the big concern for this storm as well. Category 4, we cannot say it enough. It is a monster right now. And when Ivan makes landfall, Ivan will determine that at this point. To help us out, here is Rob Marciano watching all of that. And Rob, hello again to you.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLGIST: Hi again, Bill. As you know, just a gentle breeze right now. We've had a couple of spits of rain, but that is about it. The main rain bands still off shore. Right now I'm facing east, where the winds are coming from. But we're somewhat protected by a building. So if I'm facing east that means that the storm is that way down to the south. And if the track is correct, which brings it just to the west of Mobile; we would be in the absolute worst part of the storm. We're watching for it to turn a little bit more. That would bring us to a better spot theoretically. But we're still watching for that to happen. If it comes up the Gulf, winds will eventually turn to the south. And that's when we'll see the strongest winds; that right quadrant. Roll with me a little bit and show you some of the topography or at least some of the buildings here in Mobile. This is what's called Government Plaza. Very interesting design, and we're still trying to track down if not the architect, some of the specs on this building. Look at how it faces pretty much due south or southeast. That's where the winds are expected to be coming from at hurricane force later on today. And those two top canopies, to an amateur like me, looks like it just wants to grab some wind. So I'm curious to see what that is designed to hold. Beyond that, of course, is a huge port. A big business here in Mobile exporting, or at least the forest products terminal also a big terminal for coal. There have been a few Naval ships as well. Talked to a Coast Guard commander earlier today. He said commercial ports are closed as Far East as Panama City and as far west as Biloxi and Gulfport. They are not going to give any help to any commercial vessels and probably not to anybody who that happens to be out there in trouble. They've been told to either head out to sea or head up river. These are pictures from last night. Wasn't that beautiful? Look at those rays popping through that cloud. That was the USS Alabama. That's a museum; it's stationed there. It's not going anywhere so they can just hope for the best there. Residents, of course, still scurrying to board up to protect property last night. That's the Bay Bridge and goes over one of the rivers here. And some of the smaller vessels seeking shelter up river there. And then an ongoing theme not only last night, but certainly throughout the day today and overnight tonight, will be one that we've seen across Mobile and that's, well, everybody pray. That is the latest from this side of the building. Bill, a little bit later on, we do expect the winds to pick up obviously, slowly but surely throughout the day today. They'll be coming from the east-northeast to the east. If they start turning south, Bill, due south, that means we're on the bad side of this storm. We'll be watching for that. Big winds, and obviously like you mentioned a big storm surge as well. Frederick in '79, you know it. It was a Category 3. And they have recent memories of that and they're not good. They're hoping not to have that sort of situation later on tonight.</s>HEMMER: Yes. Too many memories too, Rob. Thanks for that. Rob Marciano riding it out here in Mobile. Coming in last night, it was quite evident that a lot of people were taking these evacuation orders to heart heading out of town. A lot of red taillights going north and going west. Also quite notable to see the amount of plywood, several miles inland, boarding up businesses and homes and a number of shops that we came by last night. It appeared to us anyway, as if they were getting ready more here than what we saw in Florida, as a result of Frances sitting off the coast of the east coast of Florida two weeks ago. That's the story in Mobile, Alabama. Let's move much further west now to New Orleans, where if the track is right that Chad is showing right now, that storm is moving away possible -- away from New Orleans, which is going to be really good news for that town, if the current projected path holds. Here's Jason Bellini on that side of the story. Jason, good morning there.</s>JASON BELLINI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill. I'm in the upper French Quarter, one of those famous parts of this city, where ordinarily along the Mississippi river right here, you'd see artists, buskers, tourists; there's a lone trombonist who has been playing this morning out here along the river. But it's very quiet. We spoke to this trombonist who said he was here two years ago for Hurricane Isadora. He said he said he was the last one here after they evacuated. He just likes to play when this city is quiet. Now, we're walking around a little bit because this is the heart of the city. I'm going to show you Cafe Du Monde right here. One of the most famous places to get coffee and beignets. And here there's nobody. It is closed for the day. Normally, there'd be long line of people standing right there. And then back here you have St. Louis Cathedral. And interestingly, this cathedral was built in 1789. And it replaced a cathedral that had been destroyed by a hurricane in 1722. And right below it is the statue of General Jackson. And General Jackson, we're told, under the worst of circumstances if the hurricane were to hit here directly, and fortunately it appears that will not happen, the water that would come from the Mississippi River that would overflow its banks could come up to General Jackson's nose submerging this city in 14 feet of water. A very scary possibility. I'm going to walk back over here so you can hear this trombonist, Bill. So it's kind of an eerie morning here, as a lone trombonist plays his very somber song to a very limited audience -- Bill.</s>HEMMER: All right, Jason. Jason Bellini watching the story there just outside the French Quarter in New Orleans. Back here in Mobile, Alabama though, they are learning some hard lessons from the past too, Daryn, about the evacuation orders. Interstate 65 runs north south, essentially out of Mobile up to Montgomery. Today they are reversing the south-bound lanes, which essentially means that you're going to get twice the traffic heading out of town than you would coming into town. They double the lanes, give people a lot more road space to get out of here. And hopefully that will be a alleviating some of the jam that we saw last night here heading out of Mobile. We'll talk to you again, Daryn, in a couple minutes live here in Mobile, Alabama. The storm's not here yet, but he's lurking. Ivan ready to come on shore.</s>KAGAN: Absolutely. OK. You sit tight and enjoy those relatively calm skies while you can, Bill. We'll be back with you in just a moment. For all the latest on Hurricane Ivan, visit our continually updated web site. The address as always, cnn.com. Other topics out there. Author Kitty Kelley stands by her book. She says Sharon Bush approached her with details of drug use and infidelity in the Bush family. Overseas, a Russian mother recounts her agonizing decision to escape the hostage crisis in Beslan leaving behind one daughter. Also, the face that launched a chair. Texas Rangers pitcher Frank Francisco may have to field some blows himself. We'll tell but the legal charges he's facing. This is CNN LIVE TODAY.</s>KAGAN: Looking at a live picture of the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. Things look pretty calm down. Most people probably already got out of town. Twenty-four miles, we're told this is the longest bridge continuously over water. Twenty-four miles, as I mentioned. We're going to have a lot of news coming out of New Orleans, out of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Our coverage of Hurricane Ivan continues after this.</s>KAGAN: We'll be back to our hurricane coverage momentarily. Right now, we're going to take a look at some other news making stories "Coast to Coast." Starting in the west, one day after this base-brawl game in Oakland, the athletics and the Texas Rangers are blaming each other for that Monday night malay between the fans and the Rangers' bullpen. One woman suffered a broken nose when reliever Frank Francisco tossed a chair into the stand. Well, this is the update here. Francisco was arrested yesterday and charged with aggravated battery. Baseball executives are investigating.</s>RUSSELL SCHRADER, A.S. FAN: I go to about 15 to 20 games a year. This is probably the most heckling I've ever heard.</s>SANDY ALDERSON, EXECUTIVE V.P., MLB: There are no circumstances under which it is appropriate for players to engage fans, enter the stands. And as a consequence, that conduct will be addressed.</s>KAGAN: Alderson says that disciplinary action could be taken by the end of the week. Airliners are back in the skies over the western U.S. this morning. That after a radio outage forced planes to be grounded around Los Angeles. The FAA says that about 800 airplanes were in the affected airspace at the time that the communications system collapsed. The FAA Says there was no danger to the planes or the passengers when that happened. The political comeback of former Washington mayor Marion Barry is taking flight. After winning his party's primary last night for a city council seat, the disgraced Democrat imprisoned more than a decade ago on drug charges is almost assured victory, because so few Republican voters are expected in the November election. Well, it's a day after the president spoke to former comrades in the National Guard. Has the dust settled over his record of 30 years ago? And you might not live on the Gulf Coast, but don't think you're going to escape the impact of Hurricane Ivan. Gerri Willis is here to tell us about that. Hey, Ger.</s>GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, Daryn. It's a critical area to the U.S. economy. We'll tell you what you need to know when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.</s>KAGAN: As we continue our coverage of Hurricane Ivan, even if you live well beyond the reach of the hurricane, you might still feel the blow. Long after the mighty storm wheezes into the history books, your wallet could be bearing some of the scars. Our Financial News personal finance editor Gerri Willis joining us with a closer look at that. Gerri, good morning.</s>WILLIS: Good morning, Daryn.</s>KAGAN: Let's first talk about the oil industry. A large number of oil rigs off the coast of Louisiana, a number of them have been shut down. Just how big of an impact will that have on oil prices and other products here in the U.S.?</s>WILLIS: Well, you know, Daryn, this is a very big deal indeed. The Gulf provides 25 percent of the country's oil and natural gas needs. So it's a critical supplier to all of us. Take a look at this. There are some 382 platforms, as you're seeing here, where oil is drilled and pumped. About half of those have been closed. Pardon me 764 total, about half of those have been closed. Sixty of 117 rigs have been shut down. Now, 60 percent of U.S. oil production, Daryn, is completely shuttered. It is off the market right now. This could ultimately result in higher prices at the gas pump for you and me.</s>KAGAN: But right, now are oil prices going up or down in anticipation of all this?</s>WILLIS: Prices were higher yesterday. There's some expectation that they could give back some gains today. But look, ultimately prices could head higher because of this interruption of supply. Big question is with all of this product offline right now, how long will it take it to get back online? That's the big question. You know, we had last month the big record 49-40 for U.S. light crude oil supplies per barrel cost. Now, we're off that now at about 44-20. But Daryn, you got to ask yourself, with this interruption going on, what can happen next? We've got OPEC meeting today. If they raised their quotas, they're going to produce more. But this isn't seen as having a big impact on prices. So events coming together here that could ultimately hurt your wallet.</s>KAGAN: Hmm. All right. Also looking at ports. You've got the Port of Mobile. You have the Port of New Orleans supplying that middle part of the country. Someone waiting for that new refrigerator to show up, other goods.</s>WILLIS: Big commodities port. You know: food, grains coffee, you name it; it all comes through that port. It has been shut down completely. So you can see some interruptions here of things like: steel, forest products, copper, rubber, coffee. Doesn't sound like a big deal but it's a lot of goods that people use every single day. What we're also seeing here is that, you know, the Coast Guard is out there. They're controlling traffic on the Mississippi. So, you know, everything is sort of seized up right now, Daryn. And we're waiting to see just what the impact of this storm could be. How long some of these supplies could be interrupted for? But could result in higher prices for some commodities, at least in the short term, as we wait for, you know, this port to reopen.</s>KAGAN: All right. And meanwhile we kind of sit and watch and wait. Gerri Willis, thank you for...</s>WILLIS: You're welcome.</s>KAGAN: ... that end of the story. Talking about Ivan, you heard Chad Myers say don't think about the eye. It's not about the eye. The scope. Look at this from space; the scope of Ivan is enormous, especially when looking from space. We are tracking Ivan's every move every way we can. And then, hate to do this to you, but right behind Ivan is Jeanne. Still a tropical storm right now. But you know how things are going this year. Puerto Rico preparing for another battle with Mother Nature.</s>KAGAN: Let's go live to New Orleans. Here is the Mayor Ray Nagin.</s>RAY NAGIN (D), MAYOR, NEW ORLEANS: I'm sure most of you have been watching the news. The news today seems to be much better than we've heard in the past. We have had, as the National Weather Service describes it, as a short-term movement to the north for Hurricane Ivan. And I would emphasize what they said, a short-term movement to the north. There's no mention of this storm at this point moving easterly. Some of the models that show some projections suggest that it's going to the east, but the hurricane itself is not recognized that, nor verified. One other thing I will point out to you to make sure that everyone does not get too comfortable with this shift. A 30-mile shift to the west from the current projections would put New Orleans definitely in hurricane force wind territory. As of today, between the hours of 11:00 to 1:00 p.m., we should start to experience tropical storm winds and the hurricane -- National Hurricane Advisory is basically saying that we could be -- most likely would be grazed by hurricane force winds. Grazed by hurricane force winds. The lake surges will be anywhere from three to five feet with another two feet of waves -- two foot of waves. So that's not a significant concern at the moment. But we are still in the cone of certainty, as they say, as it relates to this hurricane. So we're not quite out of the woods, but the storm has moved northerly, which gives us some cause for some relief. But we're still going to be facing some very serious winds in the next couple of hours. And I've directed Chief Compas as it relates to our next steps and the chief will come up and brief you on that.</s>CHIEF COMPAS: Pursuant to the authority granted by Section 9 of Section 329.6 of Title 14 of the revised statutes, I'm issuing two orders that the chief law enforcement officer...</s>KAGAN: We're listening in to the New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. We had a chance to talk with him yesterday, as he was encouraging folks in that area to evacuate. He was talking about just this little bit of good news, that Chad Myers was telling us earlier, how that the storm shift right now appears just to give a little bit of a break to New Orleans.