Tropical Storm Fay Eyes Florida, Storm Gaining Strength; Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf Resigns
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Pakistan's president, a key ally in the hunt for bin Laden says he's stepping down. Fay eyes Florida. The coast preparing for the worst.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't want to take a chance for the children.</s>CHETRY: The storm set to strike today. And Grand Canyon rescue. Hundreds in a giant hole filling with flood waters.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like you would think in a movie.</s>CHETRY: The search continues for campers and tourist on this AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome. Good to see you this morning. So from the east to the west there is weather.</s>ROB MARCIANO, CNN CO-HOST: Yes.</s>CHETRY: Which is why -- this always happens when Rob is going in for John Roberts.</s>MARCIANO: It does seem to happen.</s>CHETRY: We got Fay.</s>MARCIANO: Yes.</s>CHETRY: And we also have a situation that caused a lot of problems out in the Grand Canyon.</s>MARCIANO: Yes. Possibly we have some international news. John Roberts is taking a little bit of a long weekend. He'll be back tomorrow, but I'm happy to be here.</s>CHETRY: Well, we're glad to have you and we start with breaking news. President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf saying he will resign. Musharraf, a long-time U.S. ally in the war on terror said that he's stepping down to avoid an impeachment fight that would harm Pakistan's interest. The country's ruling coalition was taking steps to remove Musharraf. We'll have more on what it means to the U.S. and concerns about Pakistan's nuclear status as well as the hunt for Osama bin Laden still ahead. Right now, Cuba getting drenched as Tropical Storm Fay marches towards Florida. There's a look right now. Forecasters say Fay could strengthen into a hurricane by the time it makes landfall somewhere over the Keys later today. At least five people were killed in the Caribbean and dozens of communities in Cuba have been evacuated. Speaking of evacuations, they could resume today at the Grand Canyon after a dam burst. It happened in northern Arizona yesterday after days of heavy rain. The wall of water took out hiking trails, footbridges. Helicopters lifting more than a 170 people living along the Colorado River to safety before calling off air evacuations due to the darkness. A flash flood warning is in effect.</s>MARCIANO: Back to our breaking news weather wise. Emergency workers are on standby as Tropical Storm Fay sets its sight on Florida. It's the sixth storm of this hurricane storm already blamed for five deaths in the Caribbean. Warnings and watches are up for the Florida Keys and the west coast of Florida. Right now, winds are about 50 miles an hour so a decent tropical storm. Those winds extend out to about 100 miles and neither direction. It's about 150 miles to the south southeast of Key West. But right now it is pummeling Cuba in a big way with damaging winds and some flooding rains especially on the coastline, and CNN's Morgan Neill is live for us in Havana, Cuba. Good morning, Morgan, what's the situation there?</s>MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob. Well, thousands of people have been evacuated in the path of this storm in various parts of Cuba. Here in Havana, the storm appears to have moved to the east of us so it doesn't look as though we'll be in the path of the storm itself. But what authorities are saying is we can't really see it. But I'm just along the seawall here and there's a risk that because of the pattern of the storm, the ocean itself could flood this low-lying area just along the Malecon, here in Havana. Of course, Cuba is just the latest stop for this storm. It's been felt throughout the region.</s>NEILL (voice-over): Tropical Storm Fay picked up momentum Sunday hitting Cuba's southern coast with gusty winds and heavy rains that pushed and swirled closer to the island. Hurricane watches were posted along much of Cuba's central and western coast, including Havana as the storm picked up strength. Already, Fay has left at least five people dead in its wake after battering Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Nearly 12,000 people were evacuated in the Dominican Republic and power was cut to some 15,000 homes according to local reports. Target now, the Florida Strait, predictions that could reach hurricane strength as it pushes back over water.</s>BEN NELSON, FLORIDA STATE METEOROLOGIST: The main threats with Fay as the National Hurricane Center, and the state emergency response team diagnosis right now are tornadoes and flooding.</s>NEILL: Forecasters said the storm could hit the Florida Keys Monday night. In the Keys, schools are closed. Tourists are being urged to leave and shelters are being opened. The governor has declared a state of emergency and 9,000 Florida National Guard troops are ready.</s>GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: Florida is prepared and we are ready and we'll be vigilant.</s>NEILL: Residents rushed to prepare for the incoming storm buying plywood, batteries, generators and candles. In some areas, water sold out within hours of stores opening. And out in the Gulf of Mexico, U.S. oil companies like Shell are already pulling workers off offshore platforms preparing for Fay's arrival. Back here in Cuba, the island must now start to deal with the damage.</s>NEILL: And so far, there have been relatively few reports of that kind of damage. But, of course, Rob, Fay isn't done with Cuba just yet.</s>MARCIANO: No, she's not. Morgan Neill live for us in Havana. Thank you, Morgan. And, of course, the concerns now to Florida here in the states where Fay could develop into a hurricane before making landfall there. CNN's Reynolds Wolf is tracking the storm live from the hurricane center down at Atlanta, and Reynolds's latest update just came in from the National Hurricane Center. What do you know?</s>REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, the latest we know, Rob, is that the storm, as you mentioned, moving over parts of Cuba right now. Not a whole lot of activity in downtown Havana. But take a look at the last couple of frames just boom. You see some explosive convection popping up that far from Nassau right across the strait of Florida. Now if you look at the state of Florida it sticks kind of like a knife blade. And as the storm exists its way to the north parts of Florida especially the keys are going to be experiencing some deteriorating conditions. Now as Rob mentioned moments ago, we do have some new information in from the National Hurricane Center. Winds currently at 50, gusting to 65. Now the center of the storm still 151 miles from Key West Florida. It still has a ways to go before it gets to the U.S. mainland and the latest path we have from the National Hurricane Center brings the center of the storm. Not the entire storm but just the center of circulation right past Havana. And as we get to 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday, late last night early morning on Tuesday, winds of 65 miles per hour right near Key West to Dry Tortugas will be right about here at Fort Jefferson. And then the storm would be making its way just to the north, possibly just coming onshore near Tampa by 2:00 a.m. with winds of 70 miles per hour and then eventually moving in to north Florida, south Georgia and the Carolinas. But, Rob, as you know very well, these storms can be really fickle. They do tend to deviate from path. Their wobbling system spinning some storms on them, rotating plainly (ph) very hard to judge. But right now, it is moving to the north. Looks like Florida is going to be hit next. Let's send it back to you.</s>MARCIANO: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us live from the hurricane headquarters in Atlanta. Thanks, Reynolds.</s>WOLF: You bet, man.</s>CHETRY: Also, breaking this morning, the political shakeup in Pakistan. Embattled President Pervez Musharraf resigns and it comes after weeks of pressure from the country's new ruling coalition calling on Musharraf to step down or face impeachment. So what does it mean for the U.S.? Well, joining us now on the phone CNN State Department correspondent Zain Verjee. Hi, Zain.</s>ON THE PHONE:  ZAIN VERJEE, STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kiran. Good morning. You know, the U.S. has really been bracing for this moment, the day Pervez Musharraf is forced to leave office. So this really isn't a surprise for the U.S. The truth is is that Washington has really moved on from just Pervez Musharraf and it's recognized that there are other players in Pakistan. So the State Department has had to adjust its policy accordingly. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that Pervez Musharraf has been a really good ally to the U.S. She was also asked whether the U.S. would give Musharraf asylum. She said that was not on the table. But the real key here for the U.S., Kiran, is that they want a refocus on the war on terror. They feel that all this political turmoil and political chaos has taken the Pakistani eye off the ball on that border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: As well, Pakistan a nuclear nation, are the weapons safe and is the U.S. concerned about that?</s>VERJEE: Well, the U.S. believes that for now the nuclear weapons are safe. But, yes, there is a lot of concern about that. The big fear is that Pakistan gets destabilized and the nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists. Now, Pakistani leaders have always maintained that the weapons are safe. But the truth is we don't know much about the nuclear weapons. Most people think that they are disassembled and then not ready to use. They say that different people have different parts of the code so it's not easy to activate it. Pakistani leaders have said those nuclear weapons are securely guarded by military forces. They've recently upgraded security and that they are safe but there is a very real concern -- Kiran.</s>CHETRY: All right. Zain Verjee, our State Department correspondent on the phone with us this morning, thank you.</s>MARCIANO: Well, some would say he rules the pool. Michael Phelps gets the gold medal record and now he stands to make millions of dollars in endorsements. We're live in Beijing. And Barack Obama and John McCain on abortion and taxes. Hear how both candidates answer the same tough questions in their own words. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." We'll be right back.