CNN - The Situation Room and Lou Dobbs Tonight - 2005-09-08

Channel: malgent

Transcript

Language: English (original, YouTube automatic captions)

[0:01] The president sends his top partners

[0:02] into the Gulf region once again where

[0:04] the White House warning of an ugly

[0:07] situation. I'm quoting now, an ugly

[0:09] situation once those flood waters

[0:11] recede. The same might be said now about

[0:14] the partisan sniping going on here in

[0:16] Washington reaching new levels every

[0:18] day. Returning to the race question, a

[0:21] top Democrat says skin color and

[0:23] economics played a significant role in

[0:25] who lived and who died along the Gulf

[0:28] Coast. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in the

[0:30] situation room.

[0:48] This hour in the disaster zone,

[0:49] authorities appear to be tightening

[0:51] their control over in New Orleans, and

[0:53] they're searching for up to 15,000

[0:56] people still hold up in the city. The

[0:58] Coast Guard says it will do what the

[1:00] military won't, help police remove

[1:02] residents by force if necessary. In

[1:06] Houston, tens of thousands of evacuees

[1:08] are lining up to get two different debit

[1:10] cards, one from FEMA and the other from

[1:12] the Red Cross. The lines and the

[1:15] confusion about who qualifies and when

[1:17] the cards are available prompted a

[1:19] lockdown over at the shelter complex in

[1:21] Houston earlier today. that lockdown is

[1:24] over. And Mississippi's governor says he

[1:26] expects power to be restored by Sunday

[1:29] to all homes and businesses in his state

[1:31] that are in good enough shape to get

[1:33] electricity. And just moments ago, the

[1:35] US House of Representatives

[1:37] overwhelmingly approved 51.8 billion of

[1:41] aid to the disaster zone just a day

[1:43] after President Bush requested it. A

[1:46] Senate vote expected today or tomorrow.

[1:50] The official death toll across the

[1:52] region now stands at 294.

[1:55] But of course, that number is expected

[1:57] to rise dramatically. In fact, 25,000

[2:00] body bags have been delivered to New

[2:02] Orleans. Temporary morgs there are set

[2:05] up to process as many as 1,000 bodies a

[2:08] day. Tens of thousands of hurricane

[2:10] evacuees remain in shelters.

[2:14] About 56,000 uh in Louisiana, 5,500 in

[2:18] Mississippi. Almost almost 79,000

[2:21] evacuees are spread out across nine

[2:24] states, mostly in the South and

[2:26] Southwest. As for the financial impact,

[2:29] an estimated 10,000 workers who lost

[2:32] their jobs due to Katrina, filed for

[2:34] unemployment benefits last week. The

[2:37] postal service is urging evacuees to

[2:39] submit change of address forms so they

[2:41] can get social security checks and other

[2:43] forms of assistance out to them. Let's

[2:46] go to New Orleans right away. the

[2:48] situation there. CNN's Carl Penhal

[2:50] standing by live. Carl,

[2:53] >> well certainly so no sign yet of the

[2:55] forced evacuations that were pledged by

[2:57] Mayor Ray Negan. Uh but what has been

[3:00] going on in the course of the day is

[3:02] that all law enforcement officials,

[3:04] we're talking here about police both

[3:06] from the state and out of state and many

[3:08] other of the law enforcement agencies

[3:10] that have flocked to New Orleans,

[3:11] they've been working on voluntary

[3:12] evacuations. So taking out people who

[3:15] still want to get out of the city. Uh

[3:18] the procedure there has been bringing

[3:19] them by pontoon boat or by uh fan boat

[3:23] onto dry land and then bringing them

[3:25] either by truck or by helicopter over

[3:27] towards the convention center area and

[3:30] then from there they're being shipped

[3:31] out to the New Orleans airport and then

[3:33] from there being taken to other parts of

[3:34] the country that are now receiving

[3:36] evacuees. But there's still no idea when

[3:38] the process of forced evacuations will

[3:41] get underway. Uh but the it's the

[3:44] essential to get this first wave out

[3:45] first, nor any details of how those

[3:47] forced evacuations will get underway

[3:49] because many of the agents that are

[3:50] involved in law enforcement here,

[3:51] although they say yes, they're willing

[3:53] to take part in forced evacuations, say

[3:55] that they don't yet feel comfortable

[3:56] going into people's homes and dragging

[3:58] people out. They say that they feel that

[4:00] they've suffered enough so far. Well,

[4:02] that that would be very very painful,

[4:03] not only for all the people of New

[4:05] Orleans, but for the whole country to

[4:07] have to watch those kinds of scenes

[4:09] where individuals didn't voluntarily

[4:11] leave, but the but but but but the

[4:13] government, local government, state,

[4:14] federal, whatever, goes in there and

[4:17] physically removes them, forces them to

[4:19] leave their homes. These are desperate

[4:21] people to begin with. What's the latest

[4:23] on disease, the fear of disease, the the

[4:26] toxic waste that clearly exists in so

[4:29] much uh uh so such a great part of that

[4:31] area?

[4:33] >> Well, toxic on a number of levels,

[4:34] Wolfe, because not only as health

[4:36] officials have been telling us is this

[4:38] filthy flood water home to EC coli,

[4:41] bacteria and other bacteria likely to

[4:43] cause more common diseases like diarrhea

[4:45] and uh and respiratory infections such

[4:47] as colds and influenza. But there's also

[4:50] toxins in there in terms of chemicals.

[4:52] Uh paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne

[4:54] that I was talking to said one of his

[4:56] buddies went into the ward and received

[4:58] three third degree burns from chemicals

[5:00] in the water. And we know there's all

[5:01] sorts of gasoline and natural gas in

[5:03] there as well. Uh so that is very

[5:06] problematic, but not so far any sign of

[5:09] anything uh disastrous like cholera,

[5:12] typhoid or malaria in those waters.

[5:14] Health officials say those possibilities

[5:16] are rather remote at this stage. Wolf.

[5:18] All right, Carl Penhole on the uh

[5:20] streets of New Orleans for us. Thanks,

[5:22] Carl, very much. Uh I want to show our

[5:24] viewers some live pictures we're getting

[5:25] in right now. Once again, uh helicopters

[5:28] picking up these sandbags, these huge

[5:30] sandbags. Uh workers getting those

[5:33] sandbags ready. There's a lot of them

[5:34] there. They clearly still need a lot of

[5:36] them to fill in the holes uh in the

[5:38] flood walls, to fill in the holes in the

[5:40] leveies to try to get the water from to

[5:43] stop from coming in to New Orleans to

[5:46] get those leveies back in action. and

[5:47] we'll watch these pictures for our

[5:50] viewers. But in the meantime, want to

[5:51] bring in CNN's Deborah Farret. She's in

[5:53] New York, but Deborah's got some new

[5:55] information on a new tool that's being

[5:57] used to try to find some of the bodies.

[5:59] Deb, what are you picking up?

[6:01] >> Well, Wolf, what we're hearing is that

[6:02] as many as five unmanned drones, the

[6:05] same kinds that they use in Iraq are now

[6:07] at the Belchase Naval Air Station. The

[6:09] plan is to try to get them up into the

[6:11] air at night. They've got heat seeeking

[6:13] devices on them. Uh these drones would

[6:15] then fly over homes and try to pick up

[6:18] images of anybody who might be moving

[6:20] around. This would have a twofold

[6:21] purpose. One, find people who are still

[6:24] living and try to rescue them. Because

[6:26] this is attached to a GPS system, the

[6:28] coordinates would go directly back to a

[6:30] communication center so people could go

[6:32] go be picked up and rescued, but also to

[6:35] help law enforcement monitor any

[6:36] potential criminal activity. for

[6:38] example, if they see people in areas

[6:40] where they're definitely not supposed to

[6:42] be, then they could mobilize some sort

[6:43] of law enforcement agency to go out and

[6:46] at least try to stem whatever might be

[6:47] going out there. Right now, uh the plan

[6:50] is in the works. They're trying to cut

[6:51] through some of the red tape, but they

[6:52] are hoping that they might be able to

[6:54] get those unmanned drones up in the air

[6:55] pretty quickly.

[6:56] >> And and did you point out who's going to

[6:58] be operating those unmanned drones? We

[7:00] know that in in in Iraq and in

[7:02] Afghanistan often it's the CIA that does

[7:05] so. But what about uh in New Orleans and

[7:07] and elsewhere in the Gulf region in this

[7:09] in our Gulf region as opposed to their

[7:11] Gulf region?

[7:12] >> Well, right now we're being told that

[7:14] there is one person who would be manning

[7:16] one of those drone uh drones. He's a

[7:18] Navy pilot and he was operating a

[7:21] similar drone over in Iraq. So that's at

[7:23] least one of the vehicles that would be

[7:25] used and one of the people who would be

[7:26] operating it. Well,

[7:27] >> all right, Deb, thanks very much. Very

[7:28] interesting new angle in this story. All

[7:31] the tools being used, as much new high

[7:33] technology as possible to deal with this

[7:36] relief, this rescue, this search

[7:38] operation that continues in New Orleans

[7:40] and in the entire Gulf region. In the

[7:43] meantime, President Bush is trying once

[7:44] again today to show he and his

[7:46] administration are actively engaged in

[7:48] disaster relief. At the same time,

[7:50] Democrats are ratcheting up their

[7:52] criticism of the Republican response

[7:54] when the hurricane hit. And now there

[7:57] are new developments. CNN's Dana Bash,

[7:59] our White House correspondent, is over

[8:01] at the White House. Our congressional

[8:02] correspondent Ed Henry's on Capitol

[8:04] Hill. Dana, let's start with you. What's

[8:06] the latest there?

[8:07] >> Wolf, you're absolutely right. What

[8:08] we're seeing here at the White House

[8:10] today is a continuation of uh the

[8:12] attempt to try to reverse some of that

[8:13] initial criticism. Today, what the

[8:15] president announced were some

[8:17] initiatives to try to cut through the

[8:18] red tape. uh some initiatives like

[8:20] relaxing requirements uh in order to get

[8:22] some of these evacuees their benefits or

[8:25] federal benefits like uh like Medicare,

[8:27] Medicaid, unemployment checks faster.

[8:29] Also promised that uh states taking in

[8:32] evacuees would be reimbursed. All of

[8:34] this, the president said, is part of an

[8:36] effort that will take some time.

[8:39] We have much more work to do,

[8:43] but the people who have been hurt by

[8:44] this storm know that need to know that

[8:47] the government is going to be with you

[8:49] for the long haul.

[8:52] The

[8:52] >> White House is well aware of the fact

[8:54] that Americans will start seeing a lot

[8:56] more of what we have been reporting on

[8:57] CNN today. Bodies being recovered. uh

[9:00] and they want to show that the president

[9:01] is first of all in touch with with what

[9:03] is going on on the ground and also they

[9:06] understand that Americans uh might have

[9:08] some more outrage when they hear more

[9:10] and more of the grim news. So the

[9:12] president announced today that he

[9:14] understands that and he actually called

[9:15] for a national day of prayer on

[9:17] September 16th.

[9:18] >> When the president Dana says he's in it,

[9:21] the federal government's in it for the

[9:22] long haul. What what does he mean by

[9:24] that? Well, if they're actually trying

[9:26] to figure out exactly what they mean by

[9:27] that here at the White House today,

[9:29] several meetings, not just today, but

[9:31] really all week, trying to figure out

[9:32] how to really get a handle on what needs

[9:35] to be done in the long term. You know,

[9:37] the vice president has been down in the

[9:38] region today. That is somewhat of a

[9:40] factf finding mission for the president

[9:42] to try to get some answers. What's

[9:43] needed for relocation, what's needed for

[9:46] rehabilitation, and also there were some

[9:48] Republican leaders here at the White

[9:49] House today talking about what kind of

[9:51] legislation might be needed to go

[9:52] through Congress on this. One

[9:54] interesting thing, Wolfe, is that two

[9:56] prominent Republican senators told us

[9:58] coming out of the White House that they

[10:00] told the president he absolutely needs

[10:01] to find somebody outside the

[10:03] administration, an official of influence

[10:05] to take on this long-term project, that

[10:07] it's absolutely essential. And you know,

[10:08] we've been hearing from senior officials

[10:10] that that is already something that

[10:11] they've been discussing here at the

[10:12] White House for a few days now.

[10:13] >> All right, Dana, thank you very much. Uh

[10:15] President Bush's request for 51.8 8

[10:19] billion, the second installment in

[10:21] hurricane disaster assistance, now

[10:23] heading to the US Senate after the House

[10:25] passed it very quickly and very

[10:27] overwhelmingly just a few moments ago.

[10:29] Let's go to our congressional

[10:30] correspondent Ed Henry. He's following

[10:32] this part of the story. Ed Wolf, as if

[10:34] we needed another example of just the

[10:36] utter devastation in the Gulf region,

[10:38] that 10.5 billion dollar relief fund

[10:41] that Congress passed last week has

[10:42] already evaporated. That's why they had

[10:44] to speed through this $51.8 eight

[10:46] billion dollars that you mentioned just

[10:48] moments ago going through the House,

[10:50] likely to go through the Senate tonight.

[10:52] But for the first time today, very

[10:54] interestingly, we started hearing some

[10:55] very sharp questions from lawmakers in

[10:58] both parties about the soaring price tag

[11:00] of all this. On the Republican side, you

[11:02] have people like Mike Pence saying there

[11:04] should be some spending cuts and other

[11:05] federal programs to pay for it. On the

[11:07] Democratic side, you have people like

[11:08] Senator Harry Reid complaining and

[11:10] raising questions about the fact that

[11:12] much of this money is going to end up in

[11:14] the hands of FEMA, the much maligned

[11:16] agency, and he's wondering whether it's

[11:18] really going to get to the people who

[11:19] need it most.

[11:22] Let's figure out how we're going to pay

[11:23] for it.

[11:25] Congress must ensure that a catastrophe

[11:30] of nature does not become a catastrophe

[11:33] of debt for our children and

[11:36] grandchildren. First of all, the money

[11:39] for the relief effort goes basically to

[11:41] FEMA, more than 90% of it. After

[11:44] everything that has happened with FEMA,

[11:46] is there anyone anyone who believes that

[11:50] we should continue to let the money go

[11:51] to FEMA and be distributed by them? Now,

[11:55] House Majority Leader Tom Delay just

[11:56] acknowledged moments ago that in fact

[11:58] this is obviously big money. Some people

[12:01] on both sides of the aisle saying it's

[12:02] going to eventually in total reach well

[12:05] over $200 billion, but Delay assured his

[12:08] colleagues there will be accountability.

[12:10] It will get to the people who need it.

[12:11] Wolf, yesterday around this time, uh, we

[12:13] heard the Republican leaders in the

[12:15] House and the Senate announce what they

[12:17] called would be a biccameal uh,

[12:19] bipartisan commission committee to go

[12:22] ahead and investigate what went wrong to

[12:24] report back by February. Democrats today

[12:27] saying never mind, they're not

[12:29] interested.

[12:30] >> That's right. Democrats are basically

[12:31] saying they do not feel they were

[12:32] adequately consulted about the formation

[12:35] of this bipartisan biccameal committee.

[12:38] As you mentioned, they also say they do

[12:39] not believe it's going to have teeth to

[12:41] really ask and answer the tough

[12:43] questions. So, they're basically

[12:44] boycotting at this point and instead

[12:46] saying they want an independent

[12:48] commission. On the Republican side, they

[12:50] reject all that. Of course, they say

[12:51] they did adequately consult. They're

[12:53] also saying they are going to move

[12:54] forward with this investigation with or

[12:56] without the Democrats, but they

[12:57] certainly hope the Democrats, in the

[12:59] words of the Republicans, do not sherk

[13:00] their responsibility that they hopefully

[13:02] come across the table. But, uh, final

[13:04] note, you know, today, House Democratic

[13:06] Leader Nancy Pelosi once again ripped

[13:08] into President Bush, saying he was out

[13:10] of touch and that he was basically

[13:11] oblivious to what really happened in the

[13:13] in the first days after this hurricane.

[13:15] Republicans are saying that's not

[13:16] helping the bad around here, Wolf.

[13:18] >> All right, Ed Henry reporting for us on

[13:20] Capitol Hill. Thanks very much. Anger at

[13:22] the administration extends beyond

[13:24] Washington, at least in one particular

[13:26] case. When the vice president, Dick

[13:28] Cheney, was in Mississippi earlier

[13:30] today, he heard one uh critic vent his

[13:33] frustration by shouting an obscenity at

[13:36] him twice.

[13:38] >> You've got, as I was talking to the

[13:40] mayor, uh in those areas, one of the

[13:42] things you got, Mr.

[13:44] >> Got to figure out what to do with uh all

[13:47] of the uh

[13:48] >> debris.

[13:50] >> Are you getting a lot of that, Mr. Vice

[13:51] President? And uh it's the first time

[13:53] I've heard it as a friend of John or of

[13:56] never mind.

[14:01] >> Vice President clearly shrugging that

[14:03] off. Let's go to CNN's Jack Caert. He's

[14:06] standing by in New York. Uh you heard

[14:08] that bleep, I hope. Uh Jack,

[14:11] >> um the vice president said that's the

[14:12] first time he heard it. Didn't he utter

[14:14] the same phrase to Senator Patrick Ley

[14:16] on the floor of the United States

[14:17] Senate?

[14:18] >> Yes.

[14:19] >> Yeah. So it wasn't the first time he

[14:20] heard it. He said the first time he

[14:22] heard it the first time he heard it in

[14:23] this context of this of this trip.

[14:26] >> You know what? I'll bet it's not the

[14:27] last. At long last, here's a here's a

[14:30] bulletin, Wolf. At long last, the

[14:32] Democrats have agreed on something. It's

[14:35] been a long time, but they have come

[14:36] together on this. From Hillary Clinton

[14:38] to Howard Dean to Nancy Pelosi, the

[14:41] Democrats are pouncing on the weak

[14:42] response of the Bush administration in

[14:44] the initial days following Katrina. And

[14:46] while Democrats blame Republicans, the

[14:48] Republicans want to shift the blame away

[14:49] from the federal government and shift it

[14:51] down to the local and state officials.

[14:53] Even some prominent Republicans are

[14:55] calling on the president to have an

[14:57] independent investigation of all of

[14:59] this. And in this humble reporter's

[15:01] opinion, if there's not an independent

[15:03] investigation, the investigation won't

[15:05] be worth the paper it's written on. The

[15:07] fact that there are still victims of

[15:09] Katrina who need to be rescued and who

[15:11] are dying every day, of course, doesn't

[15:13] stop our politicians from the posturing

[15:15] and the fingerpointing, it's

[15:16] particularly obvious and distasteful

[15:19] when it comes from those who are trying

[15:21] to turn a massive government failure

[15:23] into a political opportunity for

[15:25] themselves. See some of the names

[15:27] mentioned above. Here's the question.

[15:30] What effect will Hurricane Katrina have

[15:32] on the off-year elections in 2006?

[15:36] Caerty file at CNN.com.

[15:38] Well, thanks Jack. Jack Caferty in New

[15:41] York. Coming up, help on the way.

[15:43] Emergency workers on the ground are

[15:45] delivering basics, but online, people

[15:47] are coming up with other creative ways

[15:50] to give and to help. We'll have some

[15:52] specific details. Plus, the president

[15:54] and the disaster. We have striking new

[15:56] snapshots of Americans attitudes towards

[15:59] Mr. Bush in these difficult times. In

[16:02] other words, new poll numbers. And we've

[16:04] heard so many stories of evacuations,

[16:06] rescues, and reunions. Coming up, our

[16:09] own Donna Brazil will bring us up to

[16:12] date on her family's remarkable story

[16:15] and their plans to get together again.

[16:18] You're in the situation.

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[16:34] Stop the swearing and keep the class

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[16:37] >> Who's going to help you stay in control

[16:39] when things are out of your control?

[16:47] >> Someone should.

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[17:53] >> CNN Monday, Chief Justice nominee John

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[19:04] >> Remarkable new 911 stories and all new

[19:07] CNN Sunday night 8 Eastern.

[19:12] More live pictures coming in right now.

[19:14] uh Chinook helicopters taking these

[19:16] sandbags three at a time, 2 and 3,000 lb

[19:19] sandbags to fill in the holes in those

[19:21] leveies, the breaches to try to stop the

[19:24] water from coming into New Orleans, get

[19:26] that city back into some semblance of

[19:28] shape. It's going to take a very, very

[19:31] long time as we see this process unfold.

[19:33] Looks like about every minute or so, uh,

[19:35] a new helicopter comes in, picks up more

[19:38] sandbags, they load them up, and then

[19:40] they move them out. You got Chinuk

[19:42] helicopters. You got Blackhawk

[19:44] helicopters uh doing this kind of work.

[19:46] Uh dangerous work especially for the

[19:49] workers underneath those blades as they

[19:52] load up these helicopters. Anytime you

[19:53] fly these helicopters in these kinds of

[19:55] sandy environments, there's always an

[19:57] element of danger. But uh these are

[20:00] especially well-trained troops who are

[20:02] engaged in this very very important

[20:05] operation. We'll continue to watch it uh

[20:07] together with you.

[20:09] If you've got it, they can use it.

[20:11] Donors are coming up with all sorts of

[20:13] unusual items for hurricane survivors

[20:15] and they're showing up on the internet.

[20:17] Our internet reporter Jackie Sheckner is

[20:20] checking the situation online. Jackie,

[20:22] >> there are plenty of these Wolves. We'll

[20:23] give you some more of them if you want

[20:24] to help out. Here's some more ideas for

[20:26] you. Katrinalist.net is a site that's

[20:29] compiling a lot of the databases online

[20:31] and putting them all into one place so

[20:33] you can search for family members. What

[20:35] they need help with is half hour of data

[20:38] entry. If you've got a half hour to

[20:39] spare, they need somebody who can put

[20:41] some of these names online for them.

[20:42] Also, programmers needed to help. You

[20:45] can volunteer for them at

[20:46] katrinalist.net.

[20:48] Another way you can help out on the

[20:49] ground. A lot of people asking, well, if

[20:51] I'm there in person, what can I do?

[20:53] Well, in Houston specifically, go to

[20:55] volunteerh houston.org.

[20:57] This will connect you to another page

[20:59] and that's a longer volunteer career,

[21:01] I'm sorry, volunteer career, volunteer

[21:03] center rather, us. and it gives you an

[21:05] idea of how you can help out like in a

[21:07] warehouse for example in Pasadena,

[21:09] Texas. They need volunteers to do that

[21:11] sort of work for them. Another idea,

[21:13] displaced.com.

[21:15] This is an idea to help out people in

[21:17] the creative industry. If you've got a

[21:19] desk, you've got an unused computer,

[21:21] you've got a phone you're willing to

[21:22] share, you can help people get back on

[21:24] their feet again. That's displaced.com.

[21:27] And finally, wanted to show you this

[21:28] one. bluesforatrina.com.

[21:30] if you've got a musical skill or if you

[21:32] work in the service industry, they need

[21:34] help putting together some of these

[21:35] benefit concerts. So, these are some of

[21:37] the ways other than just giving money,

[21:38] which of course they do need as well,

[21:40] ways that you can help out your time and

[21:42] your energy, some of those links for you

[21:44] online. Wolf

[21:46] >> Jackie, thank you very much. Jackie

[21:48] Shner, our internet reporter, uh Zayn

[21:51] Vie is, uh joining us now. Zay, uh we're

[21:54] seeing something rather historic unfold.

[21:57] Mexican troops operating in the United

[21:59] States. These are live pictures we're

[22:01] showing our viewers. They're bringing in

[22:03] uh assistance to the United States. What

[22:06] this is about 150 years since this has

[22:08] happened. Mexican troops operating in

[22:10] the United States.

[22:11] >> They haven't operated the Mexican

[22:13] military in the US since 1846. This is

[22:16] the first time the uh Mexican army

[22:19] convoy has uh begun crossing into the

[22:21] United States. Uh you're looking at live

[22:23] pictures. They are heading towards San

[22:25] Antonio, Texas. They're carrying uh

[22:28] humanitarian aid to victims of the

[22:30] hurricane. They're carrying things,

[22:31] Wolf, like mobile kitchens that can make

[22:34] food for up to about 7,000 people. There

[22:37] are water treatment plants on this

[22:38] convoy as well. You've got uh military

[22:41] engineers, doctors, and nurses as well.

[22:44] All in all, you you have about 45

[22:46] vehicles in the convoy. You're looking

[22:48] at them now uh heading down a main road

[22:51] into San Antonio in Texas. Uh Mexico is

[22:54] among about 90 other countries and

[22:57] agencies around the world that are

[22:59] offering aid to the United States. And

[23:02] this certainly is something quite

[23:04] historic. And as you say, not since the

[23:06] the uh mid 1800s has uh the Mexican

[23:10] military operated in this country.

[23:12] Mexico has offered uh disaster aid to

[23:15] other countries, but never to the United

[23:17] States. Wolf,

[23:18] >> it would go back to the Mexican-American

[23:19] War. Thanks very much, Zayn. Uh, a

[23:21] fascinating development and outpouring

[23:23] of support for the victims of the

[23:26] hurricane coming in from around the

[23:28] world. Katrina's toll, can the president

[23:31] weather the political storm that's

[23:33] breaking out here in Washington? Stay

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[26:15] Here's a look at some of the hot shots

[26:17] coming in uh to the situation room from

[26:19] our friends at the Associated Press.

[26:21] Still photographs likely to be in your

[26:23] newspapers tomorrow. At Camp Victory in

[26:26] Kuwait, members of the Louisiana

[26:27] National Guard rest before their

[26:29] departure for New Orleans. Many lost

[26:32] homes, jobs, and loved ones in the

[26:33] devastation left by Hurricane Katrina.

[26:36] In downtown New Orleans, ATF agent David

[26:40] Deer helps patrol the streets. In Ocean

[26:43] Springs, Mississippi, residents wait in

[26:46] long lines for FEMA assistance. And in

[26:48] Houston, Texas, a young evacuee waits

[26:51] for the bus on her first day of school.

[26:53] Hundreds of evacuees have already been

[26:55] enrolled in Texas schools. Just a few of

[26:57] the photographs coming in from the

[26:59] finest photographers in the world over

[27:02] at the Associated Press. Let's take a

[27:04] look at some more live pictures coming

[27:06] in. Once again, this mission, we've been

[27:07] watching it unfold over the past several

[27:10] days, especially today. They're very,

[27:12] very busy. the US military Chinook

[27:14] helicopters uh taking on these huge

[27:16] sandbags and moving them over into the

[27:19] uh breaches in the levies to try to make

[27:22] sure that the water stops flowing into

[27:25] into uh New Orleans from uh from the

[27:28] Mississippi River and uh make sure that

[27:31] those breaches can be filled that the

[27:33] sandbags are eventually dropped and then

[27:35] they uh hopefully will fill up those

[27:38] holes so that the water will stop coming

[27:41] in. When President Bush, while President

[27:43] Bush has been under fire, his wife has

[27:46] stepped into more than once, has stepped

[27:49] in more than once to try to present a

[27:51] softer image to the American public.

[27:53] Mrs. Bush is back in the disaster zone

[27:56] today, touring damage in Mississippi and

[27:58] highlighting the plight of school

[28:00] children displaced by the hurricane.

[28:03] Back here in Washington, her husband

[28:04] faces a different kind of storm. That

[28:07] would be a political firestorm. Let's

[28:09] bring in our senior political analyst,

[28:11] Bill Schneider. He's joining us now. How

[28:13] does the president rate the pre how does

[28:15] the public uh Bill rate the president's

[28:17] response at least so far in the new

[28:19] numbers, the new poll numbers you're

[28:21] watching? Well, Wolf, for the first

[28:23] couple of days after the storm hit the

[28:24] Gulf Coast, there was a rally to support

[28:27] the president, which people typically do

[28:29] in a crisis, but it wore off fast. By

[28:33] this week, according to the CBS News

[28:35] poll that just came out, President

[28:36] Bush's handling of Katrina has turned

[28:39] sharply negative. We see those numbers

[28:42] right there. Uh what about uh the storm?

[28:45] How's it affected the president's

[28:47] overall rating?

[28:48] >> Well, last week the president had a very

[28:50] low overall rating, 41%, and this week

[28:53] his rating remains low, 42%. No

[28:57] significant change. Is there any

[28:58] evidence of a political price that the

[29:00] president is paying for the supposed

[29:03] delay? Uh I guess uh the delay I guess

[29:05] we could just simply say forget about

[29:07] the word supposed the delay in getting a

[29:10] a response in those first few days to

[29:12] the hurricane victims.

[29:14] >> Well, yes, his image as a leader has

[29:16] been tarnished. After 9/11, 83% of

[29:19] Americans considered Mr. Bush a strong

[29:21] leader. Last year when he went into his

[29:24] re-election campaign, 64%. Now that

[29:27] number has dropped dramatically to 48%

[29:30] who describe Bush as a strong leader.

[29:33] What Americans saw last week, Wolf, was

[29:35] a vacuum of leadership. No one seemed to

[29:37] take charge and it damaged this

[29:39] president's image as a take charge guy.

[29:42] >> Has the storm in this new poll changed

[29:45] people's priorities around the country?

[29:47] >> Wolf, the nation's agenda has shifted.

[29:50] Ever since 9/11, people gave top

[29:52] priority to the war on terrorism. Now

[29:54] that is completely turned around. By two

[29:56] to one, better than two to one, the

[29:58] public says domestic policies are more

[30:01] important even than the war on terror.

[30:04] And it's not just Katrina. In the latest

[30:06] Pew pole, Bush gets his lowest rating

[30:08] not on his handling of Katrina or even

[30:10] Iraq, but on the nation's economy. And

[30:12] that wolf is why Democrats are becoming

[30:15] more aggressive. Democrats are Democrats

[30:17] feel it's their agenda now.

[30:20] >> Bill Schneider, thanks very much. Bill

[30:22] Schneider watching all these poll

[30:23] numbers for us, our senior political

[30:26] analyst here in the situation room.

[30:27] We've been showing you amazing aerial

[30:30] pictures of the rescue and recovery

[30:32] operation unfolding in Louisiana. Up

[30:35] next, we'll head back to New Orleans.

[30:37] We'll hear from helicopter reporter JT

[30:39] Alpa. Stay with us.

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[33:34] >> These are live pictures we're seeing. Uh

[33:37] San Antonio, Texas. A convoy, a military

[33:40] convoy moving up a highway there. Uh,

[33:43] but it's no uh normal military convoy.

[33:46] These are not United States forces.

[33:48] These are Mexican forces. They've

[33:50] crossed the border from Mexico into

[33:52] Texas just a little while ago. They're

[33:54] moving uh in now with assistance that

[33:57] the Mexican government is providing the

[33:59] United States in the aftermath of

[34:00] Hurricane Katrina. Mexico, like so many

[34:03] other countries around the world, 90 at

[34:05] least, volunteering to provide some

[34:08] assistance. the world reaching out

[34:10] trying to assist the United States,

[34:11] including Mexico. This is the first

[34:13] time, by the way, since the Mexican

[34:15] American War more than 150 years ago,

[34:17] that Mexican troops have formally been

[34:20] operating inside the United States.

[34:24] Helicopter reporter JT Alpa is about to

[34:26] show us the plight of some of the

[34:28] residents in the New Orleans area. This

[34:30] is video that was shot a little bit

[34:32] earlier today.

[34:35] Rosalie and Richard Bruno who have been

[34:37] residents of this area for nearly 46

[34:39] years. And I spoke to them this morning

[34:41] and they asked me to come take a look at

[34:43] this area and see see how their house

[34:45] was. And I explained to them the

[34:46] operations that were going on in this

[34:48] area. And they were told and I'm not I

[34:50] don't know by who, but they were told

[34:51] that maybe they could come back on

[34:53] Monday. And I had to tell her that that

[34:55] was very unlikely just because of all

[34:57] the water is still being drained out of

[34:59] this area and it's all migrating to this

[35:01] area. We're going to pan right here,

[35:02] Dave. Just pull out a little bit. I'm

[35:04] going to show you the homes just to the

[35:05] right of the your frame here. The homes

[35:07] in this area are still the water levels

[35:09] up to the rooftops.

[35:12] All these homes here, keep coming right

[35:14] for them, Dave. You can see as you pan

[35:15] up this row that all these rooftops,

[35:20] rooftop levels just below lifted. We're

[35:21] going to push in there and just show you

[35:22] how the waters are still extremely high

[35:26] in these areas. And because this is

[35:28] where all most of the water is being

[35:30] drawn back to and out of the canal. So

[35:33] again, uh Rosalie Rosalie Bruno, a um uh

[35:38] a very very sad woman. Her daughter

[35:40] Kathy Singleton was there with us and

[35:43] they live in the 6,400 block of Belair

[35:45] Drive for 45 years. She we sat down, we

[35:48] talked for half an hour this morning and

[35:49] she told me what they had gone through

[35:50] and their evacuations and and uh and she

[35:53] really was just needed some news about

[35:55] her neighborhood. She wasn't giving

[35:57] giving the information. So I promised

[35:58] that I would come out and kind of show

[36:00] her this. home. Hopefully, she's

[36:01] watching and and uh showing her this

[36:04] area. And I told her it's going to be a

[36:06] very long time, if ever, they're going

[36:09] to be able to get in here. And again,

[36:10] it's story after story. And that's just

[36:12] one individual story of some of the

[36:14] personal contact that we've had with the

[36:16] people in this area.

[36:19] >> Reporter JT Alpa flying over New Orleans

[36:23] earlier today, showing us these dramatic

[36:26] pictures. You see those flood waters up

[36:29] to the roofs of those homes still up

[36:32] there on this day. Uh and uh they got to

[36:35] get that water out of New Orleans and

[36:37] they got to do it quickly. They're doing

[36:39] the best they can. Up next, the blame

[36:41] game. Are Democrats going too far and

[36:43] criticizing the federal government's

[36:45] response, specifically the Bush

[36:47] administration's response? Are

[36:49] Republicans going too far in their

[36:52] response? I'll speak with two political

[36:54] experts. They're standing by here in the

[36:55] situation room. Stay with us

[37:02] >> tonight. Anderson Cooper still in the

[37:05] storm.

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[39:26] Despite the devastation, Hurricane

[39:27] Katrina has caused also a political

[39:30] firestorm here in Washington. There are

[39:33] new criticisms of harsh comments from

[39:35] Howard Dean and new comments on Vice

[39:37] President Dick Cheneyy's first visit to

[39:39] the disaster zone. Here with me uh two

[39:42] guests, CNN political analyst Bill Paul

[39:44] Begala, former Bill Clinton adviser and

[39:46] CNN contributor and president of

[39:48] American Cause Bay Buchanan. Now, let's

[39:50] listen to what Howard Dean, the chairman

[39:52] of the Democratic Party, said last

[39:54] night, among other things.

[39:57] Survivors are being evacuated and and as

[40:00] the order is restored and the water res

[40:02] and we sort through the rubble, we have

[40:04] to come to terms with the ugly truth

[40:06] that skin color, age, and economics

[40:09] played a significant role in who

[40:11] survived and who did not.

[40:14] >> Paul, is he is he right when he

[40:16] specifically skin color played a role?

[40:19] didn't say that. He said skin color and

[40:21] age and skin color age and economics

[40:23] played a significant role in who

[40:25] survived and who did not.

[40:26] >> And it's not just Howard Dean saying

[40:27] that or you know some irresponsible rap

[40:30] artist who apparently said that last

[40:31] week. Uh Don Imus nobody's idea of the

[40:33] liberals. He's a radio talk show host

[40:35] based in New York. He's been saying all

[40:36] along that President Bush maybe it's not

[40:39] that he doesn't care about black people.

[40:40] Immus says he doesn't care enough. And

[40:42] when that sort of conversation gets

[40:43] going I happen to think it's not race

[40:45] that it's more class than race. I think

[40:47] uh that President Bush would have been

[40:48] just as neglectful of poor white people

[40:50] in say rural Vermont. I think it's more

[40:52] about class than race. But these racial

[40:54] tensions are there and I think both

[40:55] parties going to be very careful about

[40:56] that.

[40:57] >> What do you think?

[40:57] >> And those racial tensions are there and

[41:00] they should not uh be stroked by people

[41:02] in in in position like Howard Dean who

[41:04] knows better. It's clear that the people

[41:06] who are poor in New Orleans were

[41:08] overwhelmingly African-American. We

[41:10] can't we can't change that fact. It's

[41:12] also true that the poor and the elderly

[41:14] and the sick should have been taken out

[41:15] of that city before Katrina because we

[41:16] all know they'd be the least likely to

[41:18] be able to get it on their own. So there

[41:19] was a mistake made whoseever fault it

[41:21] was that should be gotten. We should

[41:22] understand but it wasn't anything to do

[41:24] if they were black. It was their

[41:25] circumstances. So I agree with Paul and

[41:27] I think that leaders in this country

[41:28] should be very careful. Be sure they

[41:30] throwing out that race card because that

[41:31] is not beneficial to either party. It's

[41:33] certainly not to the nation.

[41:34] >> I think you agree with Bay on that.

[41:35] Right.

[41:36] >> Right. But I want to I'm not a great

[41:37] Howard Dean fan, I have to say. But I

[41:39] think he was not playing a race card

[41:40] here the way that that rap artist was. I

[41:42] think he was saying something that's

[41:43] inarguably true. At least I guess it's

[41:44] arguably true. But I think he's right

[41:46] about that that race was one of many

[41:48] factors that disadvantaged these folks.

[41:50] >> That rap artist being Kanye West. I'm

[41:52] not a big rapper. I'm more of a George

[41:54] guy than

[41:54] >> Conway. Let's talk about the vice

[41:55] president. He's there today. He's

[41:58] touring the region. We're going to be

[41:59] hearing from him shortly. He was in

[42:01] Gulfport, Mississippi earlier in the

[42:03] day. Here's an excerpt of what he said.

[42:06] I really want to say a word on behalf of

[42:09] so many folks who are getting it right.

[42:10] That is to say that uh I think the

[42:12] police and law enforcement and fire

[42:15] first responders, fire officials have

[42:18] done just a phenomenal job.

[42:20] >> What do you think, BA about the vice

[42:21] president now stepping in and being

[42:23] appointed by the president effectively

[42:25] to take charge and make sure the red

[42:27] tape, the bureaucracy is not there?

[42:29] >> A week late. I would like to have seen

[42:31] him put the vice president in charge

[42:33] last week to be quite honest. Um, I I

[42:35] think it's an excellent idea. We still

[42:36] hear stories that that things are not

[42:38] getting done as smoothly smoothly as

[42:40] they should. And if it takes someone

[42:41] like the vice president of United States

[42:42] who can say no, it's going to be done

[42:43] this way and that's it. He's clearly a

[42:45] take charge kind of guy and can do it.

[42:47] And I don't think it's too high of a

[42:48] person or personality to be in charge of

[42:50] this terrible disaster.

[42:51] >> I have to say the White House is usually

[42:53] much better at the optics of setting up

[42:55] these kinds of events. Contrast that

[42:56] with the footage you showed a little

[42:57] while ago here in the situation room of

[42:58] Laura Bush, our first lady. Warm, uh,

[43:01] gracious, surrounded by kids. There's

[43:03] Dick Cheney standing alone. Uh, and he

[43:05] is not a warm and fuzzy guy. He looked

[43:07] like he was sort of looking around.

[43:08] Anybody here got a pet they need

[43:09] euthanized? You know, I'm ready to help.

[43:11] He's just a grouchy old guy. Now, maybe

[43:13] that contributes to a sense of

[43:14] competence which is sorely lacking. But

[43:16] I I think they're going to have a a real

[43:18] problem here because it is too late. I

[43:20] mean, the the damage is done. They do

[43:21] have to do the cleanup now, but be

[43:23] interested to see how long Dick Cheney

[43:24] stays on the ground and actually runs

[43:25] things. I doubt it will be for very

[43:26] long.

[43:27] >> Well, necessarily on the ground out

[43:28] there on the road, but but in in an

[43:30] office where people are calling saying,

[43:31] "We got a problem. there's something

[43:32] that's not happening and he can make a

[43:34] difference. He can make a change. He can

[43:36] tell FEMA look at you're not doing it

[43:37] that way or can tell the National Guard

[43:39] you're going to do it this way. Somebody

[43:40] that can break all that that red tape

[43:43] and make things run smoother. I think

[43:44] he's an excellent choice.

[43:45] >> The video that we're seeing, take a look

[43:46] over there behind you, Bay. Uh you can

[43:48] see the the media there. The vice

[43:49] president has just arrived at this

[43:51] location. He's going to tour the

[43:53] sandbagging operation. We've seen those

[43:55] giant helicopters lifting up those huge

[43:58] uh sandbags and taking them over to fill

[44:00] up the breaches in the uh in the levies.

[44:01] the vice president's there. That's why

[44:03] all that those reporters uh are shooting

[44:06] uh uh taking pictures of the vice

[44:08] president right now. Uh if he speaks, by

[44:10] the way, we're going to carry his

[44:11] remarks live. Go ahead.

[44:12] >> I hope so because earlier today uh local

[44:15] residents while he was speaking were

[44:17] hurling the fbomb at him or a word a

[44:19] word the vice a word the vice president

[44:21] knows well having used it on the Senate

[44:22] floor himself. Uh but also another

[44:24] resident on the AP wire copy of the

[44:26] neighborhood he was traveling through

[44:27] ostensibly to help was complaining that

[44:30] he was distracting from the relief

[44:31] effort. Now when people on the ground

[44:33] who he's supposedly trying to help are

[44:34] angry, this thing is a mess for the

[44:36] White House.

[44:36] >> Paul, that that is exactly what what's

[44:37] happened here. You've taken two isolated

[44:39] incidents and you haven't mentioned that

[44:41] there was all kinds of people who were

[44:42] thrilled to have him down there talking

[44:44] to him and they said, well they I read

[44:46] it in the paper. They said people in

[44:47] Mississippi are very very pleased with

[44:49] the response that they're getting from

[44:50] the federal government and that it's the

[44:51] people in New Orleans that are more

[44:52] upset. So there's two sides of this

[44:54] story.

[44:55] >> Let's talk about the investigation now.

[44:56] Yesterday the Republican leadership in

[44:58] the House and Senate announced they want

[44:59] to form a bipartisan biccameal committee

[45:03] to investigate what was going on and and

[45:06] conclude some have some conclusions by

[45:07] February. The Democrats today said you

[45:09] didn't consult us. We don't want to be

[45:11] part of it. Uh is that smart on the part

[45:12] of Democrats? Well, I think ultimately

[45:14] Congress should probably look into this,

[45:16] but I think uh and I think Bill Fris,

[45:18] the Senate Majority Leader, Republican,

[45:19] is is probably doing a good thing

[45:21] politically for himself to distance

[45:22] himself from the White House and say,

[45:23] "We're going to investigate this." The

[45:25] problem is if Congress investigates it,

[45:27] it will exempt Congress from its own

[45:28] investigation. Congress is going to find

[45:30] some culpability here. And that's why I

[45:32] think Hillary Clinton has the smartest

[45:33] move where she's called for a Katrina

[45:34] Commission like the 9/11 Commission. And

[45:36] if Congress is partially at fault, and

[45:38] I'm sure it is, let them be criticized.

[45:39] If it's the White House, let them be

[45:41] criticized. If it's the governors of

[45:42] these states, let them be. So, I think

[45:44] an independent panel rather than a

[45:45] congressional panel would be preferable.

[45:46] >> You know, I I don't have a problem with

[45:48] an independent one, but I think Congress

[45:49] also should investigate. I mean, they

[45:51] made a major play. They put FEMA under

[45:52] here into that homeland security. They

[45:54] were part of that. Now, should FEMA be

[45:56] taken back out? And this is something

[45:57] they should study and see if they should

[45:59] take some action here. So, I think the

[46:01] Democrats make a real mistake by playing

[46:03] this kind of kindergarten game. Oh, you

[46:04] didn't ask me first of all. I'm not

[46:05] going to play your game. I won't do

[46:07] this. They have a responsibility. And

[46:08] I'll tell you what the American people

[46:10] are looking for is leadership. They're

[46:11] not looking for game and blame. They're

[46:13] looking for leadership and they haven't

[46:15] found it. They're upset with Republicans

[46:16] and the Democrats aren't stepping

[46:18] forward.

[46:18] >> Going to leave it right there. Uh but

[46:20] this debate will continue. In fact, it's

[46:22] probably only just getting started.

[46:23] Coming up, a situation room update. A

[46:25] few days ago, we told you how our own

[46:28] Donna Brazil's appearance on this

[46:29] program helped save her family members,

[46:32] at least one of them, and several others

[46:34] unaccounted for in New Orleans. In a few

[46:36] minutes, we'll have the latest at her

[46:38] family situation. Donna standing by to

[46:40] join us.

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[49:04] >> Right now, Oregon kids are becoming

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[49:30] kids.

[49:34] >> Remarkable New 911 stories and all new

[49:36] CNN Sunday night 8 Eastern.

[49:47] Got some live pictures coming in from

[49:49] the skies uh o over New Orleans right

[49:52] now. These are pictures that uh

[49:54] helicopter pilots are are bringing our

[49:56] viewers. You see some areas still very

[49:58] very flooded in New Orleans uh on this

[50:01] part of the canal. Uh perhaps in the

[50:03] other part of the canal not as flooded,

[50:05] but look at how high those waters go.

[50:07] Once again, almost to the roofs of a lot

[50:09] of those homes and clearly

[50:10] understandable now why authorities want

[50:13] people to leave if they're still stuck

[50:14] up there. This is a good time to get out

[50:17] as quickly as possible. Here in the

[50:19] situation room, we've been thrilled to

[50:21] bring you stories of lives saved and

[50:24] loved ones found along the Gulf Coast.

[50:26] One of those stories featured our own

[50:28] Donna Brazil, whose sister was rescued

[50:31] in New Orleans along with four other

[50:32] people after Donna made an emotional

[50:35] appeal on this program earlier in the

[50:37] week. We promised to check back with

[50:39] Donna to see how her family is doing.

[50:40] Donna's here in the situation room right

[50:43] now. Donna, uh, uh, how's the, first of

[50:45] all, how's your sister doing?

[50:47] uh your Sheila, your sister who was

[50:49] >> Sheila. Sheila is doing very well. She's

[50:50] with Lisa and my niece and uh she's

[50:52] doing very well. I'll see in a couple of

[50:54] days and she's strong. She's holding up

[50:57] very well. She's of course worried about

[50:58] a lot of other people who she felt that

[51:01] uh stayed behind, but she's she's very

[51:03] doing very well.

[51:04] >> We have another of your sisters and you

[51:05] are blessed with a huge family indeed.

[51:08] Your sister Zola Golden is joining us

[51:10] now on the phone. Zola, where are you?

[51:12] >> I'm uh in San Antonio, Texas.

[51:14] >> Say hi to your sister.

[51:15] >> Hi Donna. How are you?

[51:16] >> Hey boo. What's going on?

[51:17] >> Okay. I'm okay. I'm glad to see that

[51:19] you're doing okay and I'm grateful for

[51:21] CNN for Aaron Shir Sheila on the air as

[51:24] well.

[51:25] >> Zola, what about you and your story? H

[51:27] how did you get through this? Where were

[51:29] you?

[51:29] >> We were at home. Wolf. We we uh we

[51:32] wanted to stay at home. My father who

[51:34] lives next door to us, he's a diabetic.

[51:36] We had no idea that the levies were

[51:38] going to break and the waters was going

[51:40] to be as high as they grew, you know. So

[51:43] you were you were in New Orleans when

[51:44] the storm hit?

[51:46] >> Yes, we was in New Orleans

[51:47] >> inside your home.

[51:48] >> Yes, we were at home. We suffered wind

[51:49] damage and the uh the waters started

[51:52] rising up at uh Tuesday morning.

[51:55] >> And so then what happened?

[51:56] >> Uh Tuesday morning the waters were like

[51:59] 8t high. So there were helicopters

[52:01] flying around and we were just waving

[52:04] and they were we were told that they

[52:05] were going to the hospitals rescuing the

[52:07] sick the sick people, you know, first at

[52:09] the hospital. Friday morning at between

[52:12] uh 8:45 and nine nine nine o'clock a.m.

[52:15] we were rescued by two boatmen from

[52:18] Shreport, Louisiana.

[52:20] >> You uh uh and and what your husband,

[52:23] your daughter, and your father,

[52:24] >> right? My husband, my daughter, and my

[52:26] father were rescued 9:00. We were on the

[52:28] porch of our home. We live in a

[52:30] two-story home. The water the water was

[52:32] maybe it wasn't receding as fast as we

[52:35] thought it would. Uh but however, we

[52:39] were able to get these two men to bring

[52:40] us to Carolton and two-lane Avenue where

[52:44] the water wasn't as high where we was

[52:46] flown from flown from the bridge to the

[52:49] uh the New Orleans and National Airport

[52:51] and from there we was brought to Texas

[52:53] to San

[52:54] >> Donna. The uh the whole uh during those

[52:57] critical days, did you have any idea

[52:59] what was going on with your dad and your

[53:01] sister?

[53:01] >> We had no communication. The last time I

[53:03] talked to my dad was Monday morning,

[53:05] talked to Zola. Zola, remember the last

[53:08] thing I told you to do?

[53:09] >> Yeah. You told me to run some water in

[53:11] the in the bathtub. Was that correct?

[53:12] >> That's correct. I told her to fill up

[53:14] her bathtub. Zola wasn't born when

[53:16] Hurricane Betsy uh struck us in 1965.

[53:19] And I wanted her to be very prepared

[53:21] because I was afraid that they would be

[53:23] without power and water. Uh they don't

[53:26] have any cell phone, no satellite phone,

[53:28] no way of contact. And so we just had to

[53:30] depend on our friends to to help them

[53:32] out.

[53:33] >> All right. Uh you're you're going down

[53:34] to the region now. Give us your next

[53:36] assignment.

[53:37] >> Well, we have found temporary housing

[53:39] for at least seven members of our

[53:41] family. I have 14. We have a large

[53:44] family. Uh we're going to use those

[53:46] seven homes to help others relocate. Uh

[53:49] I have family in South Carolina. My

[53:51] brother Kevin just telling Zilla that uh

[53:54] Chad's family is in Houston, Texas. and

[53:56] Zola and Lenel will be reunited and with

[53:58] Sheila and Lisa and and Cheryl uh this

[54:01] weekend on Saturday. I'm going home

[54:03] tomorrow. We got my friends. They've

[54:05] helped me. Uh we Wolf, we got enough

[54:07] stuff. I want to let you know Paul

[54:08] Vagala does not have a living room set.

[54:10] So when he go home, his wife gave me his

[54:12] living room set. So uh we're grateful

[54:14] for all of the love and and the outpour

[54:15] and the support.

[54:16] >> That's very nice of him.

[54:17] >> Heyola, thanks very much. Good luck to

[54:20] you and all your family and friends down

[54:22] there. Donna, we'll be checking back

[54:23] with you from the road. May I add, may I

[54:25] would like I would like to say I would

[54:27] like to say thank you to Red Cross for

[54:28] their help and the citizens of San

[54:30] Antonio because they have been so

[54:32] helpful and so volunteering and the

[54:33] volunteers there at the Kelly Air Force

[54:35] Base.

[54:36] >> Thank you, Zola. Thank you very much.

[54:38] Thank you, Donna. We got some important

[54:40] breaking news coming in.

[54:42] >> This is CNN breaking news.

[54:45] >> CNN's Rob Barciano is at the CNN weather

[54:48] center. What's going on, Rob?

[54:50] >> Latest from the National Hurricane

[54:51] Center, Wolf. Tropical Storm Ailia has

[54:53] been upgraded now to a hurricane, the

[54:55] seventh hurricane of the season and just

[54:57] 60 or 70 mi off the shoreline of

[54:59] Florida. Here's Cape Canaveral. Here's

[55:02] the center of uh of the storm itself.

[55:05] And obviously the spiral bands continue

[55:07] to fire up. You see the explosion of

[55:09] storms here. Well, what's the forecast

[55:10] for this? It is not moving. That's the

[55:12] biggest challenge in forecasting a storm

[55:14] when there are no stir steering

[55:16] currents. And the problem also is that

[55:18] it's sitting over very warm waters of

[55:19] the Gulf of Mexico. So, a situation for

[55:22] sure. And as far as uh the forecast

[55:24] track is concerned, we still think or

[55:25] the National Hurricane Center thinks it

[55:27] will drift a little bit farther to the

[55:28] northeast and then possibly loop around.

[55:30] So, that's a problem. Also, I heard some

[55:32] fuzz. I'm not sure if that was my

[55:33] microphone acting up, Wolf. But,

[55:35] >> no. Uh but I just want to uh get a

[55:37] little clarification because earlier in

[55:39] the day there was some suggestion Rob

[55:41] that that uh her now it's a hurricane

[55:44] Oilia could make a Uturn and head back

[55:46] towards the coast of Florida or perhaps

[55:49] Georgia or or or South Carolina. What

[55:52] what's the best estimate guess right

[55:54] now?

[55:54] >> Well, it's important to note that when

[55:56] there are no steering currents, it's

[55:57] stuck in between a couple of things

[55:58] right now. So, it's not moving at all.

[56:00] So, until we get a definitive motion

[56:02] away from the coastline, we're not even

[56:03] sure it's going to do that. But right

[56:04] now, you're right, if the possibility of

[56:07] it going out to sea and then looping

[56:09] around is there. Matter of fact, that's

[56:10] the official forecast track out of the

[56:12] National Hurricane Center through days

[56:14] five. And if you remember Hurricane Gene

[56:16] last year, which came on shore uh across

[56:18] Central Florida that did a loop-de-loop

[56:20] as well. So, it's not completely unheard

[56:22] of. Back to Florida up to the Georgia

[56:25] coastline. The Carolinas are completely

[56:26] out to sea. Any of those scenarios is

[56:29] possible.

[56:29] >> Well, what would make it do a

[56:30] loop-de-loop as you say or a U-turn?

[56:32] sort of make a circle in the Atlantic

[56:35] and come back and be dangerous to US

[56:37] land and people.

[56:38] >> Well, there's a there's an area of high

[56:39] pressure that's prevalent this time of

[56:41] year in the Atlantic Ocean called the

[56:42] subtropical ridge. And it's one of the

[56:44] main reasons that hurricane stay to the

[56:46] south and then move from uh from east to

[56:48] west. That is pretty weak right now.

[56:50] We've got a couple of hurricanes that

[56:51] are kind of battering that ridge, but

[56:52] once they move out, we expect that to

[56:54] strengthen a little bit. And what that

[56:56] will do is pretty much put a big bowl of

[56:59] air, basically a rock in a stream up in

[57:01] this general direction. So when it does

[57:03] try to start to move that way, it could

[57:04] easily hit that area of high pressure,

[57:06] hit that rock in that stream and maybe

[57:08] be deflected back in this direction. So

[57:10] that's kind of the the the realm of

[57:12] thinking from the National Hurricane

[57:13] Center and the computer models that that

[57:15] we tend to look at.

[57:16] >> And so just to recap, uh if this is now

[57:18] a hurricane category 1

[57:20] >> Mhm. category one storm with 75 mph

[57:22] sustained wind, so a weak category 1,

[57:24] some strengthening is certainly uh

[57:26] possible as it stays over the Gulf

[57:28] Stream. The waters there are still 85

[57:30] degrees plus. So, as long as it sits

[57:31] right there, strengthening is possible

[57:33] and uh that's what we expect to happen.

[57:35] So, category 1 about 60 to 70 miles east

[57:38] of Cape Canaveral. Right now, hurricane

[57:40] force winds only extend about 15 miles

[57:42] from the center. So, it is a small

[57:43] storm, but uh right now it looks like it

[57:46] continues to gather strength.

[57:47] >> All right, CNN's Rob Marciano reporting

[57:49] from the CNN Weather Center. Rob, thank

[57:51] you very much. Let's check in with CNN's

[57:53] Jack Cavern who's been uh getting

[57:55] responses to his question this hour.

[57:57] Jack,

[57:58] >> uh before we get to that, did you hear

[58:00] the news? You remember that uh that big

[58:02] fat ugly guy that won the very first

[58:04] Survivor show over there on CBS?

[58:07] >> Yeah, sort of.

[58:08] >> Richard somebody Hatch or he's been

[58:10] indicted for tax evasion. Apparently, he

[58:12] forgot to pay any taxes on that million

[58:14] bucks that he won on that television

[58:15] show. The other question I had was is

[58:17] loop-de-loop, is that a meteorological

[58:20] uh term?

[58:20] >> It's a scientific term.

[58:22] >> Okay.

[58:24] >> Uh the question this hour is this. What

[58:26] effect will Hurricane Katrina have on

[58:28] the uh 2006 off-year elections? Ken in

[58:32] Yuma, Arizona uh writes, "Katrina will

[58:34] have no impact on the elections. The

[58:36] American electorate has a long history

[58:38] of not holding elected officials

[58:39] accountable. At election time, heavily

[58:41] funded, well-chestrated rhetoric will

[58:43] overcome any outrage we feel today."

[58:45] Dartton in LA writes, "The Republicans

[58:47] will finally lose control of both houses

[58:49] of Congress, leading the way to a

[58:50] Democrat winning the presidency in

[58:52] 2008." Carlos in Houston, Texas. It'll

[58:54] be interesting to see how many people

[58:56] running for office in 2006 will try to

[58:58] take credit for sending General Honore

[59:00] to New Orleans. Gan writes, "If Katrina

[59:02] doesn't affect the '06 elections, I will

[59:04] have to resign myself to believing sadly

[59:07] that most of this nation has truly drunk

[59:09] the Kool-Aid and prefers to remain in

[59:11] willful ignorance of the ugly truths in

[59:13] front of their eyes." And Elridge

[59:15] writes, "I don't think the Republicans

[59:16] can get themselves elected dog catcher

[59:18] in 2006 unless they agree to a two

[59:21] bipartisan investigation of the Katrina

[59:22] relief effort debacle. Frankly, I think

[59:24] there's going to be major house cleaning

[59:26] in both houses of the Congress." The one

[59:28] and only time I ever watched Survivor

[59:30] Wolf, I saw that guy, Richard, whatever

[59:31] his name was, uh, waiting around in the

[59:34] surf nude, uh, trying to catch a fish

[59:36] and and I said, "You know what? I'm

[59:38] never watching this program again." And

[59:39] I and I never did.

[59:41] >> Jack, thanks very much. We're going to

[59:42] check back with you in a few moments.

[59:44] All right. Thanks.

[59:45] >> It's 5:00 p.m. here in Washington and

[59:47] you're in the situation room where news

[59:49] and information from around the world

[59:51] arrive at one place simultaneously.

[59:53] Happening now, it's 400 p.m. Central

[59:56] time in New Orleans where an

[59:57] environmental disaster may be brewing in

[60:01] the stagnant flood waters. Missing kids,

[60:04] possibly hundreds of them, separated

[60:06] from their families by the disaster.

[60:08] Now, a new effort to try to reunite

[60:11] them. From New York to New Orleans,

[60:13] there are some of the heroes of 9/11.

[60:15] We'll show you what role they're playing

[60:17] right now in the new disaster 4 years

[60:20] after 9/11. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in

[60:23] the situation room.

[60:40] Right now, the critical mission involves

[60:42] a multi-prong strategy. Recovering

[60:44] bodies, saving lives, and caring for the

[60:47] desperate and the displaced. In

[60:49] Washington, another down payment on the

[60:52] relief effort. The House of

[60:53] Representatives passed an almost $52

[60:55] billion emergency supplemental bill,

[60:58] setting aside some $1.5 billion per day

[61:02] for 5 weeks. The Senate is expected to

[61:04] vote on the bill shortly. Meanwhile,

[61:06] uneasy but unavoidable work. FEMA takes

[61:09] in 25,000 body bags in Louisiana and

[61:13] temporary morgs could handle up to 1,000

[61:16] bodies per day. And a new meaning to the

[61:19] phrase to serve and protect. Amid

[61:22] evacuation orders for New Orleans

[61:24] holdouts, the police are trying to use

[61:27] the power of persuasion to avoid the

[61:29] compulsion of the law. Police say

[61:31] they're not forced not forcing out the

[61:34] up to 15,000 remaining residents, at

[61:37] least not yet. And if that's not enough,

[61:39] there's a new hurricane to worry about

[61:42] right now. We just heard it. This one

[61:44] off the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Oilia. But

[61:48] first, the recovery from Hurricane

[61:50] Katrina. From 47 states to the three

[61:53] states in the disaster zone. There's an

[61:56] outpouring of goodwill in Illinois.

[61:59] generosity is playing in Peoria, but the

[62:02] city has waited so long for an expected

[62:04] 700 evacuees, they're closing down a

[62:07] center specifically set up for them. It

[62:10] opened last weekend, but today it's

[62:12] turning off the air conditioning, the

[62:14] water, the electricity, and moving to a

[62:16] church. Kansas says it can handle 4,500

[62:19] evacuees, but only 800 have come so far.

[62:23] communities there are organizing to find

[62:25] evacuees, shelter, medical care, and in

[62:28] jobs. And in New York, this message to a

[62:32] National Guard unit that's been

[62:33] airlifting relief supplies for 5 days.

[62:36] Please take the days the day off.

[62:39] Officials asked the 109th Airlift Wing

[62:41] not to transport any supplies today

[62:44] because crews need some time to sort out

[62:46] the tons of supplies the unit has

[62:49] already delivered.

[62:51] We're getting some live pictures right

[62:53] now. Take a look at this uh a train uh

[62:56] in New Orleans. Uh there it is. What

[62:59] used to be a train at least uh the the

[63:01] cars clearly derailed from that train.

[63:05] CNN's Ellie Veli is watching all of this

[63:07] uh together with us. Ally, it's pretty

[63:09] devastating these live pictures we're

[63:11] seeing.

[63:11] >> Yeah, it's it's a yard. Those are

[63:12] containers. Uh you can see on some of

[63:14] them CSX uh on them. CS CSSX is a major

[63:18] intermoal uh transportation company.

[63:21] Those are uh you know as we've mentioned

[63:22] so many times New Orleans and that area

[63:25] around the Gulf is a major major port

[63:27] for importing and exporting and a lot of

[63:29] stuff is stored there. So even if the

[63:31] port's not going in and out, there's a

[63:33] lot of things that are stored in New

[63:34] Orleans, a lot of those are food stuffs

[63:36] and and things that we export and

[63:38] import. And one of the things that's

[63:39] going on right now is that the Port of

[63:41] New Orleans was saying that the

[63:42] companies that deal with a lot of the

[63:44] stock are trying to find out what's at

[63:47] the port, what has to go to their

[63:48] customers, what has to get out. But as

[63:49] you can see there, whatever's in those

[63:50] containers and those those uh those

[63:52] train cars, uh you know, who knows

[63:55] what's in there. If it's food stuffs,

[63:56] it's spoiling and if it's if it's other

[63:57] things that could be damaged, that's not

[63:59] even part of the damage that we're

[64:00] thinking about. Who knows what is uh

[64:02] what is in those containers? Companies

[64:04] like CSX carry all sorts of things along

[64:06] rail yards. Some of those containers can

[64:08] be attached to trucks and get driven

[64:09] around the country. Uh this is is part

[64:12] of the big mess that we're going to

[64:13] start to see as the water levels recede

[64:15] and we start to get reports uh about

[64:16] what's been damaged and what's been

[64:18] lost.

[64:18] >> And those containers simply thrown

[64:20] around as if they're little toys. Those

[64:22] are heavy heavy containers. You see the

[64:24] power of that storm in that water. Ally,

[64:27] we'll check back with you. In the

[64:28] meantime, though, we'll keep these

[64:29] pictures up over New Orleans. These are

[64:31] live pictures that you're seeing. Let's

[64:33] check in with our Jeff Quinnangi. He's

[64:35] on the the ground for us in New Orleans.

[64:37] Jeff, what's happening today?

[64:40] >> I'll tell you what. Well, if you were

[64:41] talking about the outpouring of support,

[64:43] we actually saw the convoy of NYPD

[64:46] vehicles, about a couple of dozen of

[64:48] them just rolling through town and you

[64:50] could see people were waving at them.

[64:51] People were clapping. This is what

[64:54] togetherness is all about, Wolf. And

[64:55] there law enforcement agencies all the

[64:56] way from New York to California. We've

[64:58] seen them all across this city. Security

[65:00] is very tight. They're working together.

[65:02] Let me give you a sense of where we are

[65:04] right now. Well, right behind me, this

[65:05] is where the ferry, this is the entire

[65:07] ferry area. People would come, thousands

[65:09] of people would be thronged in this

[65:10] area. But now, it's a security zone. You

[65:12] see those APCs behind me? You see

[65:14] National Guard trucks driving in and

[65:16] out. This is basically the staging area

[65:18] for all law enforcement agencies. And if

[65:20] I walk just a little bit here, well,

[65:22] just so that you can get a sense, the

[65:24] agencies are all gathered here. This is

[65:27] their basic staging area. I don't know

[65:28] if you can see back there. This is where

[65:30] they come for a bit of RNR, a meal, a

[65:32] glass of water, bottle of water here and

[65:34] there before they go out on their

[65:35] missions. And there are thousands of

[65:37] them. Wolf, you was talking about about

[65:38] 15,000 residents left in New Orleans.

[65:41] Well, I think law enforcement here

[65:43] outnumbers the residents right now

[65:45] because there are so many on the ground

[65:47] making sure that a that the city is

[65:50] secure and b when the evacuations begin

[65:52] at least the people wouldn't have to

[65:54] worry about their homes or that those

[65:56] who leave them. We actually took a drive

[65:58] throughout this morning. Wolf in several

[66:00] neighborhoods asking people whether

[66:01] they're going to be whether they're

[66:02] going to agree to leave the city. Many

[66:04] of them were telling us that they don't

[66:06] want to leave their city. Wolf, what

[66:08] about the whole uh uh issue of uh of

[66:11] health as it's unfolding? Are you seeing

[66:14] evidence that people who are who who are

[66:16] left behind or others, rescue workers,

[66:19] police, anyone are coming down with

[66:21] illnesses yet?

[66:23] >> Nothing right yet. And again, it's early

[66:25] days. And we were asking the residents,

[66:27] "Aren't you worried about an outbreak of

[66:28] disease?" And they said, "Look, we are

[66:30] New Orleans residents. We've lived here

[66:32] all our lives. That's what most of them

[66:33] were telling us. We know what it's like

[66:35] to be on the ground." In fact, they were

[66:37] telling us the soldiers and the security

[66:38] forces should worry about their health

[66:40] because they're coming in from other

[66:42] states. For the most part, Wolf, people,

[66:44] especially who are living with pets,

[66:46] they don't want to leave here because

[66:48] wherever they are taken, the pets might

[66:50] not be allowed. And again, people who

[66:52] are living their expensive homes, they

[66:53] don't know whether their homes will be

[66:55] safe or not. At the end of the day,

[66:57] Wolf, a lot of people adamant about

[67:00] staying in their city, no matter what

[67:02] state or condition it's in.

[67:03] >> And and what about uh any problems uh in

[67:06] terms of law enforcement, security,

[67:08] looting? Any evidence of that? It simply

[67:11] uh has gone away. Is that is that the

[67:13] latest information you're getting?

[67:15] for the most part. However, we spoke to

[67:17] a couple of officials of the National

[67:18] Guard and they were telling us something

[67:20] very interesting here. Wol, they were

[67:21] saying they're finding lutters because

[67:23] the water level in some parts is is

[67:25] decreasing. It's going down. So, what

[67:27] potential looters do is they go into the

[67:29] homes where the water has gone down,

[67:31] loot them, and bring the goods towards

[67:33] the dry land. So, when National Force

[67:35] National Guard forces are on patrol,

[67:37] they finally see they suddenly see a

[67:39] door that's opened that wasn't opened

[67:41] before. And when they go in, they find

[67:43] they find a room full of electronic

[67:45] goods or furniture or whatever it is and

[67:47] they and they confiscate those goods. So

[67:49] there is a trickling. There's still a

[67:51] few stragglers left of looters, but for

[67:53] the most part, National Guardsmen, law

[67:55] enforcement agencies, they tell us for

[67:58] the most part, the looting is down to a

[68:00] minimal. Rule will Jeff Coini reporting

[68:02] for us from New Orleans. Jeff, thank you

[68:04] very much. Officials in New Orleans

[68:06] can't seem to say it enough. The flood

[68:08] waters are toxic. They're brimming with

[68:11] E. E coli, other bacteria and chemicals.

[68:14] As the water pours back into Lake Poncha

[68:17] Train and beyond, there are serious

[68:19] concerns about the effect on the

[68:21] environment. Here in the situation room

[68:23] with us, the Interior Secretary Gail

[68:25] Norton. Madam Secretary, thanks very

[68:27] much for joining us. Uh, it's been

[68:29] portrayed at least by some as a

[68:32] potential environmental disaster. What

[68:35] has happened in in Louisiana and

[68:38] Mississippi? Uh, is this an

[68:40] environmental disaster in the works?

[68:43] >> We in the United States have been

[68:44] fortunate that we have not had to cope

[68:46] with the kinds of health problems that

[68:49] people in many parts of the world have

[68:50] to cope with on a daily basis. The

[68:53] concern about having clean drinking

[68:56] water for people is obviously a big one.

[68:59] The concern about waterbornne diseases

[69:01] is something we usually don't have to

[69:03] cope with in the United States. We're

[69:05] working to try to address those things.

[69:07] Uh my Bureau of Reclamation, for

[69:09] example, has just provided a uh water

[69:13] purification system for the hospital in

[69:15] Buxy that will help 40,000 people have

[69:19] pure water. That's something that is is

[69:22] vitally important that we focus on the

[69:23] basic needs right now for the health and

[69:26] safety. In in New Orleans specifically,

[69:28] some of the contaminated water

[69:30] supposedly includes, and we see evidence

[69:32] that it does, raw sewage, bacteria,

[69:35] heavy metals, pesticides, toxic

[69:37] chemicals, human and animal remains. Uh

[69:41] it sounds potentially once this water is

[69:43] removed from the streets of New Orleans

[69:45] into Lake Poncha Train, shall we say,

[69:47] which has been a source of a lot of the

[69:49] clean water uh in in New Orleans in that

[69:51] area, this could be a love canal, a

[69:54] toxic waste zone in the in the works.

[69:56] Are you concerned about that?

[69:57] >> I think we'll have to see what the

[69:59] situation is. A lot of those kinds of

[70:01] things are ones that obviously our usual

[70:03] sewage treatment facilities take care

[70:05] of. Those are things we're going to have

[70:08] to assess. We've been fortunate though,

[70:10] I think, in that the billions of dollars

[70:13] and the technological developments we've

[70:15] had over time have helped a lot. Uh for

[70:18] example, on the offshore oil and gas

[70:21] platforms that my department is in

[70:24] charge of, we are not aware of any

[70:27] significant spill on the the federal

[70:29] waters because the shut off valve

[70:32] systems actually worked. So there's the

[70:35] damage while it's it's terrible because

[70:37] of the the feces and the you know those

[70:41] kinds of things is not as bad as perhaps

[70:44] it could be. So, in other words, someday

[70:46] people will be allowed to come back, you

[70:48] believe, and live in New Orleans and not

[70:50] worry about long-term toxic uh waste?

[70:53] >> Well, obviously, we need to assess those

[70:55] things, and that's something we don't

[70:57] know at this point. There's going to

[70:58] have to be a long-term assessment, but

[71:00] for right now, the real focus is on

[71:02] disease and clean water and trying to

[71:05] cope with those kinds of things that are

[71:08] immediate public health concerns.

[71:09] There's been some concern over the years

[71:10] that the destruction of wetlands uh

[71:12] around New Orleans contributed has now

[71:15] contributed to this disaster that we've

[71:17] seen. Can those wetlands be restored? Is

[71:20] this a priority for the Department of

[71:22] Interior?

[71:23] >> We've been working with the core of

[71:24] engineers and studying the wetlands

[71:26] issues. Our wildlife refuge system has a

[71:29] number of refues that do preserve

[71:31] wetlands in that area. There has been a

[71:34] great loss of wetlands over time and we

[71:38] have been looking at the restoration of

[71:40] that. Uh in the recent energy bill, the

[71:43] state of Louisiana would share in a

[71:46] billion dollars that was passed that

[71:48] would go toward coastal restoration and

[71:51] shared with some other states. And so

[71:52] there are some steps that have been

[71:54] taken, but obviously that's one of the

[71:55] issues that we want to be involved in

[71:58] assessing what needs to be done in the

[72:00] future. The vice president, by the way,

[72:02] uh Dick Cheney, has now landed in this

[72:04] area where they're doing sandbaggings,

[72:06] 17th Street Canal. That that's his

[72:08] helicopter. We'll keep an eye on that.

[72:09] We'll listen to the vice president once

[72:11] he gets to the the microphones. Our Ally

[72:14] Veli has a question for you. Uh if you

[72:17] have a second, uh Ally, go ahead.

[72:19] >> Madam Secretary, thank you. Uh you know,

[72:21] one of the things we follow very closely

[72:22] here in business news is the MMS, the

[72:24] Minerals Management Service. And one of

[72:26] the things that's been coming out is the

[72:28] fact that uh natural gas prices, natural

[72:30] gas coming out of the Gulf has been

[72:32] affected by the storm. It's not

[72:33] something we think about because it's

[72:34] not as topical as gasoline prices and

[72:37] oil prices. But we've heard the

[72:39] Department of Energy uh secretary say

[72:41] today that people who heat their homes

[72:43] with natural gas could be paying 71%

[72:45] more this winter than than last winter.

[72:48] Your your take on the natural gas

[72:49] situation? It seems more alarming than

[72:51] the oil situation

[72:52] >> from the offshore oil platform

[72:54] situation. We saw a about 87% of the

[72:59] natural gas that was taken offline just

[73:01] as the hurricane hit. We're up to about

[73:05] 40% that remains offline. But although

[73:09] the the situation looks fairly good from

[73:11] the platform perspective, we expect on

[73:13] both oil and gas that about 90% of the

[73:16] supply would be able to flow with the

[73:19] platforms being restored. We still have

[73:22] the onshore receiving areas to worry

[73:25] about and so not all of it that might be

[73:27] available from the platforms might be

[73:30] able to be received by the the terminals

[73:32] and the gas compression stations on

[73:35] shore. Is there as much of a a a

[73:38] complication when we talk about the oil,

[73:39] we talk about the platforms and the rigs

[73:42] getting online to get the uh oil through

[73:44] the pipelines to the refineries in the

[73:46] Gulf and then through the through the

[73:48] gas pipelines to the to the gas

[73:50] stations. Uh with the natural gas

[73:52] situation once you get the production

[73:54] back online in the Gulf, is it a more

[73:56] direct transmission to to people's

[73:58] homes?

[73:58] >> You still have processing facilities

[74:00] onshore. You still have pipelines that

[74:02] have to function. And so we've been

[74:05] working with the Department of Energy

[74:07] and the Department of Transportation so

[74:09] that we can get that whole unified

[74:12] system operating again. It's obviously

[74:14] very complex.

[74:15] >> So let's get back to this some of the

[74:17] initial questioning. Just the bottom

[74:19] line, is there any estimate or is it way

[74:22] too early right now to assess when it

[74:24] will be safe from an environmental

[74:26] perspective for people to go back to New

[74:28] Orleans?

[74:29] >> I think it is too early to be able to

[74:31] tell at that. We have been doing water

[74:33] quality testing. We are doing aerial

[74:37] overflights through the USGS to to look

[74:39] at the the damage, you know. So, we are

[74:42] working with the EPA to try to assess

[74:44] the the situation. But, you know, at

[74:48] this point, we really need to focus on

[74:50] the kinds of of steps that people need

[74:52] to do to protect themselves. And, you

[74:55] know, that includes people being sure to

[74:58] to shower off. and we have to provide

[74:59] clean water for them to to shower off

[75:01] after they've been in those areas.

[75:03] Obviously, clean drinking water is

[75:06] something that is very important. And

[75:08] so, at this stage, we're really focused

[75:10] on just trying to do those things that

[75:12] the common sense things that need to be

[75:14] done to protect people's health.

[75:17] >> The Secretary of the Interior, Gail

[75:18] Norton, thanks very much for spending

[75:19] some moments with us here in the

[75:21] situation room.

[75:22] >> Thank you. Appreciate

[75:23] >> you're you're looking at these live

[75:24] pictures. is the vice president of the

[75:25] United States has been touring the uh

[75:27] devastated area along the Gulf Coast.

[75:30] He's now in New Orleans. Uh this is an

[75:32] area uh along one of the canals that

[75:35] that was breached earlier. Uh we expect

[75:37] to hear from the vice president uh

[75:40] fairly soon as he makes his way to the

[75:42] microphones. We'll hear what he has to

[75:44] say. We'll bring that to our viewers.

[75:46] We'll continue to watch these pictures.

[75:48] In the meantime, let's check in with

[75:49] CNN's Jack Caerty. He's in New York and

[75:52] he's got another question for this hour.

[75:54] Jack.

[75:55] >> Oh, indeed I do, Wolf. Thanks very much.

[75:58] Somewhere along the way, FEMA became a

[76:01] dumping ground for the president's

[76:03] political cronies with little experience

[76:05] in disaster relief. The AY's first

[76:08] director was Joe Albba. He was President

[76:11] Bush's 2000 campaign chairman. Albba

[76:14] brought in the current failure, Michael

[76:16] Brown. His previous work was with

[76:19] Arabian Horses. Uh, the number two guy,

[76:22] Brown's top deputy at FEMA, is a fellow

[76:24] named Patrick Rhod. He worked for the

[76:27] president's 2000 election campaign. The

[76:30] number three guy at FEMA is Brooks

[76:32] Alcheler. He used to work in the White

[76:35] House. His job was planning presidential

[76:37] trips. And FEMA's long-term recovery

[76:40] director is a guy named Scott Morris. He

[76:43] produced television and radio

[76:45] commercials for the Bush campaign.

[76:47] The federal agency charged with handling

[76:50] national emergencies is staffed at the

[76:53] very top by a bunch of political hacks

[76:55] with virtually no experience that

[76:57] qualifies them to respond to something

[77:00] like Katrina. But I digress. Some people

[77:03] are now suggesting making the military

[77:05] responsible for organizing the efforts.

[77:07] Things in fact picked up noticeably and

[77:10] considerably in New Orleans once they

[77:12] got there. So here's the question this

[77:14] hour. Should the military be put in

[77:16] charge of handling domestic disasters

[77:18] such as hurricanes? Caertify file at

[77:20] CNN.com.

[77:23] You know, uh, Jack, uh, what happened in

[77:25] 1992

[77:27] after Hurricane Andrew in Florida, the

[77:30] first President Bush was severely

[77:32] criticized for supposedly not doing

[77:34] enough for for Floridaidians in the

[77:37] immediate aftermath of Andrew and and

[77:40] some pundits suggested later that he

[77:42] lost Florida to Bill Clinton in that

[77:45] election precisely because of that

[77:47] reason. You remember that?

[77:48] >> I do. And I can remember a mayoral

[77:50] election in New York that turned on the

[77:52] fact that snow plows didn't get into

[77:54] some of the outlying neighborhoods soon

[77:55] enough after a particularly heavy

[77:57] snowstorm. And that mayor was promptly

[77:59] voted right out uh into the street as it

[78:02] were. So uh the voters do remember if

[78:04] the uh if the damage that's inflicted

[78:07] upon them is severe enough. They tend to

[78:09] remember and when they go to the ballot

[78:11] box sometimes they try to get even. As

[78:13] we watch the vice president make his

[78:15] way, I believe, to some microphones to

[78:17] to to report to us what he's seeing and

[78:20] what he's hearing. I I just want to

[78:21] point out there are some suggestion that

[78:23] this president, learning from his

[78:24] father's mistake, wanted political

[78:27] associates of his to be in charge of

[78:29] FEMA to make sure the response would be

[78:32] perfect, especially to Flidians in the

[78:34] aftermath of hurricanes because that's

[78:36] where a lot of hurricanes hit.

[78:38] >> Yeah. Well, it didn't work out so well,

[78:40] did it?

[78:40] >> Sometimes it doesn't necessarily work. I

[78:42] mean, where where are the qualifications

[78:44] for these people? None of these guys is

[78:45] qualified, based on the stuff I'm

[78:47] reading, to head up an emergency

[78:48] management agency. One of them work with

[78:50] Arabian Horses. The rest of them are all

[78:52] guys off the campaign trail, plan

[78:54] presidential trips, produce TV

[78:55] commercials. I mean, don't you need

[78:57] somebody at the top running the

[78:59] organization that has some some

[79:01] semblance of an idea of what the hell is

[79:03] required when there's an emergency?

[79:05] >> All right, Jack. Uh, we got we got the

[79:07] point.

[79:07] >> I got carried away. All right, we're

[79:09] going to check back with you and we'll

[79:10] hear what our viewers think about this

[79:12] sensitive subject as well. Uh we're

[79:14] getting some live pictures, not only of

[79:15] the vice president who's making his way,

[79:17] we believe toward some microphones in

[79:19] New Orleans, but these are live pictures

[79:21] coming in uh from aboard a helicopter.

[79:24] And you can see the flood waters. They

[79:26] may be receding, but they still look

[79:28] pretty deep in this part of New Orleans

[79:30] that we're looking at right now. And

[79:32] we'll continue to watch both of these

[79:35] live uh pictures. Uh the vice president

[79:37] is there. Uh the uh floodwaters on the

[79:40] uh left part of the screen also there.

[79:43] We'll see if the vice president makes it

[79:45] to the microphones. Uh we'll stand by.

[79:47] He's with Lynn Cheney, his wife, and

[79:49] other officials, his uh party clearly

[79:52] getting a bird's eye view of what uh is

[79:54] happening in this region today. We'll

[79:57] watch to see if the the vice president

[79:59] does uh come over to the microphones.

[80:01] We'll bring you his words when uh he

[80:03] makes those. In the meantime, with New

[80:05] Orleans mostly evacuated, Baton Rouge,

[80:08] Louisiana is busting at the seams, could

[80:11] that city's infrastructure literally

[80:13] fall apart? That story that's coming up.

[80:15] Plus, the youngest survivors of the

[80:18] storm missing and suffering. We'll focus

[80:20] on the mission to reunite children and

[80:23] their parents separated when Katrina

[80:26] hit. And later, almost 4 years to the

[80:29] day after 9/11, New York firefighters

[80:32] and New York police face disaster once

[80:35] again. Much more of our coverage here in

[80:37] the situation room right after this.

[80:48] CNN Prime Time tonight at 8, Paula now

[80:52] takes you beyond the headlines. Paula is

[80:54] on. Now, CNN prime time tonight 8

[80:57] Eastern.

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[83:12] Welcome back to the situation room. I

[83:13] want to show our viewers, we're looking

[83:14] at two uh live uh pictures over here,

[83:17] aerial uh photographs, live pictures

[83:19] coming in from a helicopter flying over

[83:22] New Orleans, this part of New Orleans,

[83:24] uh relatively unflooded. We'll continue

[83:26] to watch that. Uh over here, we looking

[83:29] at the vice president of the United

[83:30] States, Dick Cheney. He's now arrived at

[83:32] that 17th Street Canal area for to

[83:35] eyewitness the sandbagging operation

[83:37] that's unfolding there. What they do is

[83:40] they take these giant helicopters, they

[83:42] lift up these sandbags, move them over

[83:44] to the breaches uh in the canal uh to

[83:47] try to uh into the leveies to try to

[83:49] make sure that that area uh is uh the

[83:52] water stops flowing into the city and it

[83:54] stays where it's supposed to stay. But

[83:56] that sandbagging operation has been

[83:58] critical. We've been watching it now for

[84:00] several days. is the vice president is

[84:01] there. He's going to see uh see it for

[84:03] himself. Uh we anticipate he will be

[84:06] making some remarks. Once he does, we'll

[84:08] bring those remarks to you live. In the

[84:10] meantime, Baton Rouge, Louisiana is

[84:13] bearing a very heavy burden. Its

[84:15] population has doubled and its

[84:17] infrastructure is bending under the

[84:19] weight of the evacuees. CNN's Alina Cho

[84:22] is there. She's joining us now live uh

[84:24] with more. Uh let's talk a little bit.

[84:26] Alina, what about the people have moved

[84:28] into Baton Rouge? give us a sense of

[84:30] what's happening there.

[84:32] >> Well, Wolf, here's the situation. It is

[84:34] really an incredible thing to see.

[84:36] You're talking about a city of a quarter

[84:38] of a million people under normal

[84:40] circumstances. You are absolutely right.

[84:42] The population has swelled to more than

[84:44] a half million. Uh the one thing that we

[84:46] have noticed time and time again is the

[84:49] traffic. One woman told me she lives 2

[84:51] miles away. It takes uh two miles from

[84:54] work rather. It takes her 25 minutes to

[84:56] get there. Uh this is also causing a

[84:58] massive strain on the housing market.

[85:01] Just last week there was 3,500 homes on

[85:03] the market. Now there are just 500. You

[85:07] cannot get a rental property. Everything

[85:08] is rented. You can't get a hotel room

[85:11] because everything is booked for the

[85:12] foreseeable future. But the one bright

[85:15] light, Wolf, is that uh it is uh it has

[85:18] been good for business. Uh the Chamber

[85:20] of Commerce tells me uh that all of

[85:22] these extra people are pumping in an

[85:25] additional $10 million a day into the

[85:28] local economy. Wolf,

[85:29] >> what businesses, Elena, are moving into

[85:31] Baton Rouge right now?

[85:33] >> Well, a variety of businesses. They're

[85:36] still trying to sort all of that out,

[85:37] but we can tell you uh that when all the

[85:39] numbers um are sorted out and counted.

[85:42] It looks like uh there will be anywhere

[85:44] from a,000 to 2,000 businesses moving

[85:47] here into the area from New Orleans into

[85:49] Baton Rouge. The big question is how

[85:52] long are they going to stay? Are they

[85:54] going to move here permanently? And all

[85:56] uh officials will tell us is that it

[85:58] depends really on a number of factors,

[86:01] but one of them is it depends on whether

[86:04] the owners are parents because once they

[86:06] settle here, uh put their children into

[86:08] schools, they may want to move here per

[86:10] permanently.

[86:11] >> Alina, thank you very much. Alina Chose

[86:13] reporting for us from Baton Rouge,

[86:15] Louisiana. I want to go back to New

[86:16] York. CNN's Ellie Vel is getting some

[86:18] new information for us on those FEMA

[86:20] debit cards. $2,000 potentially. What

[86:23] are you picking up, Ellie? Well, you

[86:25] know, I I don't understand. I'm not

[86:26] quite clear on why this doesn't why this

[86:28] can't be worked out, but FEMA is now

[86:30] saying that because of the confusion

[86:32] around the whole debit card situation.

[86:34] We we now have a situation where they

[86:36] will give the debit cards to the

[86:38] remaining 8,000 people at the Astrodome

[86:41] and then they're going to mail checks

[86:42] for $2,000 to everybody else, the other

[86:45] evacuees who need them. So, they're

[86:46] they're encouraging people to sign up

[86:48] with the US Postal Service to make sure

[86:50] that their checks get to the right place

[86:52] and and that they should get these

[86:53] checks out within the next couple days.

[86:55] It's it's puzzling to me. This is this

[86:57] is the one thing they've they've got to

[86:58] get cleared up. And we're still not

[87:00] clear on why this is the case. But now,

[87:01] FEMA saying 8,000 uh more evacuees who

[87:05] are in the Astradome will be handed the

[87:06] debit cards. Everybody else gets a check

[87:08] for it. So, sign up so that they know

[87:10] where to send it to.

[87:11] >> Here's what I don't understand. A lot of

[87:12] these people don't have an address.

[87:14] >> Well, this is exactly it. I mean, that's

[87:15] one thing to say to people who have a

[87:16] house and an address. This seems to me

[87:18] like it's it's just got to be easier to

[87:20] get get these debit cards to people in

[87:23] their hands through distribution lines

[87:24] than to get homeless people and that

[87:26] newly homeless people to register uh

[87:28] with an address. I understand they're

[87:29] trying to get people to register with

[87:30] addresses, but that might be a slightly

[87:32] longer term situation than someone who

[87:34] needs the money. Now, the debit card

[87:36] seemed like a fantastic idea. These

[87:38] people have to eat, get clothes, get

[87:39] transportation. Um, again, we will

[87:41] continue obviously to keep everybody

[87:43] posted on what FEMA eventually decides

[87:45] to do with these debit cards, but for

[87:47] the moment, uh, it looks like they're

[87:48] going to give it to the people in the

[87:49] Astrodome and everybody else has to sign

[87:51] up and get it get a check mailed to

[87:53] them.

[87:53] >> All right, we'll watch this story. Some

[87:54] confusion, some significant confusion.

[87:56] Ally, appreciate it very much. Every

[87:59] hurricane survivor story is somewhat

[88:01] different, yet they all share some

[88:03] common threads. The fear and the

[88:05] courage, the anguish, the relief, and

[88:07] sometimes the anger. Thomas Gazo is one

[88:10] of those many survivors. He's a lifelong

[88:13] resident of Belaluxy, Mississippi. He's

[88:15] joining us now live. Thomas, thank you

[88:17] very much uh for joining us. Tell us

[88:20] your story. I I believe you're standing

[88:22] outside of what was your home. Is that

[88:25] right?

[88:26] >> Yes. Uh I'm standing about uh I'd say

[88:29] roughly about five blocks away from

[88:30] where I used to live.

[88:32] >> Where were you? Where did you where did

[88:34] you how did you survive this hurricane?

[88:37] Well, at this hurricane this time there,

[88:40] I listened to my wife and said, "Get

[88:42] out." She was afraid of drowning. And at

[88:45] exactly around 2:00 the Sunday before

[88:47] the storm, I decided to tell her, I

[88:49] said, "All right, let's go. We're going

[88:52] to go to my daughter's house." And we

[88:53] stayed something like 37 miles away from

[88:56] uh Buxy up in Van Clean.

[88:59] >> So, that basically saved your life and

[89:01] your wife's life, your your wife's

[89:03] recommendation. Is that fair to say?

[89:05] >> That's right. Yeah, I I think if it

[89:08] wouldn't been for her, we'd probably

[89:09] been up in an attic somewhere swimming

[89:11] around maybe. I don't know. The whole

[89:13] area that I live in is devastated.

[89:15] >> Well, talk a little bit about what it's

[89:17] been like uh in these days since uh

[89:20] Katrina hit Beluxy.

[89:23] Well, according to what I see,

[89:26] everybody's homes that I used to know

[89:28] because being born and raised in Buxy

[89:30] here, uh the people that I know a bunch

[89:33] of people that had died, perished in a

[89:36] storm, which I thought would never take

[89:38] place in this area, but under the

[89:40] circumstance not just in this area

[89:42] throughout uh Louisiana and uh the rest

[89:45] of Mississippi and Alabama also cuz uh

[89:49] I've been like I say, I born and raised

[89:51] on this coast and I've been from one end

[89:52] of here to Louisiana. And I I had a

[89:55] strange feeling one day that the people

[89:57] in New Orleans was going to really

[89:59] suffer just like they predicted it

[90:02] would. And and I'm sorry to hear that it

[90:04] did happen. And uh, of course, I know

[90:07] even with the situation as far as the

[90:10] casinos here in Buxy, the amount of

[90:12] people that was employed, including my

[90:15] children,

[90:16] >> uh, have no jobs. And uh

[90:18] >> okay, we're good.

[90:19] >> I'm sorry for the the other families as

[90:21] far as in the casinos and stuff there

[90:23] that don't have any jobs.

[90:26] Plus the millions of people that not

[90:28] able to go to work as as fortunate as I

[90:31] am cuz I work for the department of

[90:33] veterans in Bloxy and and I did work in

[90:35] Gulport which is no longer open but they

[90:38] found a spot for me uh in a second. Now

[90:41] >> Thomas, where where are you living now?

[90:43] What happens with your life and your and

[90:45] your family? Where do you live?

[90:48] Well, at at this present moment there,

[90:50] we're just staying from daughters to

[90:52] daughter's house

[90:53] >> and that's it. You're just staying with

[90:54] your daughter cuz your house is totally

[90:56] destroyed.

[90:58] >> Well, I have a roof and a frame of a

[91:00] house here. But if you go inside there,

[91:02] I'm I'm afraid there's some type of

[91:03] disease that's going to be there. I was

[91:05] in it today and there's some kind of

[91:07] yellow looking uh I don't know. I've

[91:10] never seen anything like it. There's

[91:11] some kind of disease growing on the back

[91:13] of the uh drawers and stuff. It's not

[91:16] just mold. I know what mold is, but this

[91:18] is something there that that I'm not

[91:20] used to seeing and and I have no idea

[91:22] what kind of bacteria germs it could be

[91:24] because I work in that field as far as

[91:26] in the uh laundry room. Well, good luck

[91:28] to you and your family. Our heart goes

[91:30] out to you, Thomas. Appreciate you

[91:32] spending a few moments sharing your

[91:33] story. It's only one story, but it's

[91:35] typical of so many thousands, hundreds

[91:38] of thousands of people who have suffered

[91:40] and that Mississippi coast has suffered

[91:42] a great deal. Yes.

[91:43] >> Good luck to you. Well, I just I just

[91:45] thank God that everybody survived it,

[91:47] that the ones that was able to get out,

[91:49] and I thank God to this day that I'm

[91:51] alive due to my wife's wish. Thank you.

[91:53] >> We're happy both of you are alive.

[91:55] Thanks very much, Thomas, for joining

[91:56] us. The unfortunate stories are not

[91:59] likely to end anytime soon. Coming up,

[92:01] perhaps the most vulnerable vict victims

[92:04] from this hurricane. Children, many

[92:07] still missing. We'll tell you what one

[92:09] national agency is doing to find out.

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[95:28] The disaster along the Gulf Coast has

[95:29] separated hundreds of people from the

[95:31] from their loved ones, including so many

[95:34] children. CNN's Brian Todd is joining us

[95:36] now live from Alexandria, Virginia to

[95:39] show us what what one group, one

[95:41] national center is trying to do about

[95:42] this. Brian

[95:45] >> Wolf, we're here at the National Center

[95:46] for Missing and Exploited Children. This

[95:48] is the special uh Katrina Victims

[95:50] Hotline Center. This place is literally

[95:52] swamped with calls, hundreds of them

[95:53] coming in each hour. Now, the calls

[95:54] first come into this room where they

[95:56] handle the the real bulk of the of the

[95:58] telephone uh bank. If a call needs to be

[96:00] vetted more specifically, it is

[96:02] transferred into this room where some

[96:04] very sensitive specific information is

[96:06] taken down and then relayed to teams in

[96:08] the field. Those teams are trying to

[96:10] find kids like 8-year-old Alex Davis.

[96:12] We're going to put a picture of Alex up

[96:14] here. He is 2 days past his 8th birthday

[96:18] and he was last seen with his mother at

[96:20] their home in New Orleans. It says here

[96:22] they told a relative they would be

[96:23] evacuating to a hotel, but they have not

[96:25] been heard from since then. Alex is one

[96:26] of 866

[96:28] children now listed as missing from

[96:30] Katrina and its aftermath. One of the

[96:32] people trying frantically to find Alex

[96:34] and so many hundreds of others like him

[96:36] is Bill Hagmire. Bill, thank you for

[96:38] joining us. Bill has been a longtime

[96:39] volunteer here, but he's been manning

[96:41] the phones for days. Bill used to run

[96:42] the FBI's child abduction and serial

[96:45] killer unit. Bill, take us through a

[96:46] typical phone call. What happens?

[96:47] >> Well, as soon as a call comes in, the

[96:49] first thing the volunteer is trying to

[96:50] do is to create a a calming dialogue.

[96:52] Um, these people, all of them are

[96:54] concerned. Many of them are very

[96:56] emotional and some of them are just

[96:58] downright angry at the situation

[96:59] overall.

[97:00] >> And you had some interesting anecdotal

[97:02] stuff about just the frame of mind that

[97:04] some of these people are in when they

[97:05] call.

[97:06] >> Some of them actually don't even know

[97:07] where they're calling from,

[97:08] unfortunately. And that's that's tragic

[97:09] in itself. They're looking for their

[97:11] children that they haven't seen since

[97:12] they get on the bus. We've had other

[97:14] relatives calling in looking for

[97:15] grandchildren. They don't know their

[97:17] names. We've had people calling in

[97:19] saying that their their brother was in a

[97:22] gang and if we do find him deceased,

[97:23] they want us to promise that we're going

[97:25] to have a homicide investigation and not

[97:26] just u pick him up and put him in a

[97:28] morg. It really runs the gamut of all

[97:30] ends of society.

[97:31] >> Well, Bill, good luck to you and

[97:33] everybody here uh manning the phones.

[97:35] Dozens of volunteers, about 40 or so at

[97:37] a given time, 16 hours a day. Wolf 8:00

[97:40] a.m. to midnight. If you want to call

[97:42] into the hotline if you know any

[97:43] information about Alex Davis or any of

[97:45] these kids, uh we'll we'll put up the

[97:47] number now. It is 1888-544-5475

[97:51] or go to www.mmissingkids.com.

[97:54] Wolf

[97:54] >> Brian, thank you very much. Useful

[97:56] information for our viewers coming up

[97:58] here in the situation room. They are

[98:01] there because they're familiar with

[98:03] disaster. New York City firefighters and

[98:06] New York City police officers. They're

[98:08] in New Orleans right now. We'll tell you

[98:11] what they're doing and has uh and why

[98:14] this has such special meaning for New

[98:16] York's finest and bravest. Nearly 4

[98:19] years to the day after 9/11.

[98:27] Here is a place in the Orient with

[98:29] features of the accident.

[98:32] Approach its history.

[98:42] to feel its presence.

[98:53] Ching, host city for the 29th Olympic

[98:56] sailing regata.

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[99:42] >> Tonight, Anderson Cooper still in the

[99:44] storm.

[99:45] >> They made sure we were safe.

[99:47] >> Ordinary people rise up to extraordinary

[99:49] challenges.

[99:51] A special look at Angels of the Storm.

[99:54] CNN Tonight, 7 Eastern.

[100:00] Katrina missing kids hotline. Take a

[100:02] look once again at that number. If you

[100:04] have any information that's useful, call

[100:06] 18885445475

[100:11] or go to uh www.mmingkids,

[100:14] all one word, missingids.com.

[100:18] Tomorrow night, 5 uh 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

[100:20] CNN will have a special on this very

[100:22] subject uh tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m.

[100:25] Eastern. It's a relationship forged in

[100:28] trials and fire. Firefighters and police

[100:30] officers from New York down in New

[100:32] Orleans right now to try to help out.

[100:35] CNN's Mary Snow is in New York. She's

[100:36] watching this story for us. A very

[100:38] emotional story. Mary, what are you

[100:40] picking up?

[100:41] >> Certainly is emotional, Wolf. And if any

[100:43] police or fire department in the country

[100:45] knows what it's like to face disaster

[100:46] and need support, it's New York City.

[100:49] And that is why more than 600 of the

[100:51] city's firefighters and police officers

[100:53] have gone to Louisiana, saying it's time

[100:55] to give back after the outpouring of

[100:57] help given to them after 9/11. New York

[101:00] City firefighters have joined the front

[101:02] lines in battling some of those huge

[101:04] blazes we've been seeing over the past

[101:05] couple of days in New Orleans. The fire

[101:07] department has sent over 300

[101:09] firefighters. Some are still on their

[101:11] way to New Orleans, and that includes

[101:13] the fire truck Spirit of Louisiana. The

[101:16] state of Louisiana gave that truck to

[101:17] New York after the September 11th

[101:19] attacks. New York City Fire Department

[101:21] lost 343 of its own. And since most of

[101:24] the team deployed are veterans, many

[101:27] were on duty during 911. One of the

[101:29] first firefighters sent, includes the

[101:31] son of a fire chief who was killed on

[101:33] 911. Now, many of the nearly 300 New

[101:36] York City police officers who've been

[101:37] sent to the region, were also on the

[101:39] force during the attack four years ago.

[101:42] The department had 2,000 volunteers. A

[101:44] police sergeant in New Orleans says

[101:46] officers are assisting in patrolling the

[101:48] French Quarter and Jefferson Parish. An

[101:50] interstate agreement allows them to have

[101:52] full police powers in Louisiana while

[101:55] they're there. Now, one officer said

[101:56] helping out right now is perhaps the

[101:58] best tribute they could give to everyone

[102:00] who died on 911. They plan to mark the

[102:02] 4-year anniversary together in New

[102:04] Orleans on Sunday and their emergency

[102:06] workers also from many states, including

[102:09] hundreds from Illinois, Maryland, Texas,

[102:11] and Georgia, just to name a few. Wolf.

[102:13] All right, Mary, thank you very much.

[102:15] Mary Snow reporting for us from New

[102:16] York. CNN Zay Vie is at the CNN Center

[102:20] in Atlanta. She's taking a closer look

[102:22] at what newspapers around the world are

[102:24] saying about this disaster here in the

[102:26] United States. Zay

[102:27] >> Wolf, the Calgary Herald in Alberta,

[102:29] Canada, offered an insider's perspective

[102:31] to the much criticized response to the

[102:33] disaster. Nathan Manning is the son of

[102:35] the former Canadian Reform Party leader

[102:37] Preston Manning. who was attending

[102:39] university in Louisiana and writes this.

[102:42] Much has been written about the

[102:43] disorganized efforts at evacuating New

[102:45] Orleans. But I saw a much more uplifting

[102:48] side of the story. The organization and

[102:50] spontaneous volunteer efforts of the

[102:52] doctors, social workers, and students at

[102:54] Louisiana State University in Baton

[102:56] Rouge, where I attend school, reflected

[102:59] a wonderful human spirit that pervaded

[103:01] all the activity there. Now, others were

[103:04] striking a less amiable note. Mexico's

[103:06] Laorada newspapers writing this. Perhaps

[103:09] the only good thing about Katrina is

[103:12] that it could accelerate Washington's

[103:14] withdrawal from Iraq. And Pakistan's

[103:16] newspaper, The Nation, says this. In the

[103:18] wake of the devastation wrought by

[103:20] Hurricane Katrina and Bush's inept

[103:22] response to the unfolding humanitarian

[103:24] crisis in New Orleans, the myth of

[103:27] America's superpower status has been

[103:29] shattered. A much friendlier, more

[103:31] understanding tone in the Australian,

[103:33] which says the poor initial response to

[103:36] Hurricane Katrina had to do with

[103:38] bureaucracy, not race or Iraq. In

[103:40] assessing the US response to Hurricane

[103:42] Katrina, keep in mind its scale. It

[103:44] devastated an area the size of Britain.

[103:47] Tell me the the country would have

[103:49] responded with perfect efficiency. Any

[103:51] country could have, Wolfe.

[103:53] >> All right. Uh, you're going to continue

[103:54] to monitor all world reaction for us,

[103:57] Zay. Thank you very much, Zane Burgie at

[103:59] the CNN Center. It's an important

[104:01] question. Who should be in charge during

[104:03] a natural disaster? Coming up, we've

[104:06] been asking you if the US military

[104:08] should be in charge. Jack Caerty reading

[104:10] your email. I'll have a sample when we

[104:12] come back.

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[106:58] >> Remarkable New 911 stories. An all new

[107:01] CNN Sunday night, 8 Eastern.

[107:09] The vice president, Dick Cheney, is now

[107:11] in New Orleans. He's touring areas

[107:13] devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Just a

[107:15] little while ago, this is videotape uh

[107:17] that we're just getting in. He got into

[107:19] that military Humvey and began an onthe

[107:23] scene inspection tour. You see the

[107:24] security guards uh walking in front and

[107:27] alongside that uh military Humvey. The

[107:31] vice president is inside. and he's going

[107:32] to see what's going on. At some point,

[107:35] we do expect him to make a statement.

[107:36] We'll try to bring you that statement

[107:38] once he does. In the meantime, though,

[107:40] he's sitting right there in the front

[107:41] seat as that Humvey drives along uh the

[107:45] streets of New Orleans. He's traveling

[107:46] with the military commander on the

[107:48] scene, the threear general Russell

[107:50] Honor, and other representatives, local,

[107:53] state, and federal authorities. They're

[107:55] in this convoy now. Uh and they're

[107:57] moving along. Uh we'll watch the vice

[108:00] president in the meantime. Well, we'll

[108:02] continue our coverage of this state of

[108:04] emergency. CNN's Tom Foreman, who spent

[108:06] many years working in New Orleans, he's

[108:08] joining us once again with his rather

[108:10] unique perspective given your history on

[108:12] this disaster. What are you picking up

[108:14] today, Tom?

[108:14] >> Well, you know, the biggest thing I'm

[108:15] picking up, Wolf, is that if there is a

[108:18] center of destruction here, and there is

[108:20] so so much all along the Gulf,

[108:22] everywhere, this is not to diminish any

[108:24] place, but one of the places that we're

[108:26] going to have to watch very closely over

[108:27] the next few days is going to be right

[108:29] here on the map. You see our big map of

[108:31] New Orleans. Here's downtown New

[108:32] Orleans. We've shown you this several

[108:33] times, but if we go in, there's a wide

[108:35] shot so you can see it all. If we go all

[108:36] the way in right here, this area to the

[108:39] east of town, this is called the Ninth

[108:41] Ward, the lower ninth ward. This canal

[108:44] over here, the industrial canal is one

[108:46] that broke where we had a lot of water

[108:48] pour in. What makes this important is

[108:51] over here is Shellmet, which is where we

[108:53] had some of the uh the folks who were

[108:55] found in the nursing home the other day.

[108:56] I believe in this area you're going to

[108:58] have an awful lot of casualties coming

[109:00] out. I hate to say that, but I think

[109:02] we're going to see many, many there

[109:04] because the nature of flooding there was

[109:07] different than it was in other places.

[109:08] If we look at our overlay of the

[109:10] flooding in this area, look at this huge

[109:12] amount of flooding all up in here, all

[109:15] over in here. What's different about

[109:17] this than all this flooding? The

[109:19] difference is that the flooding that

[109:21] happened in this area was explosive in

[109:24] nature. This is Lake Bourne over here.

[109:27] We don't talk much about Lake Bourne,

[109:29] but on Monday when this storm was

[109:30] sweeping in, Lake Bourne was pushing up

[109:33] through all these lowlands here very,

[109:35] very quickly. In addition to that, while

[109:38] that was happening, then we had Lake Pon

[109:40] Train up here starting to push down from

[109:43] above. That all put water pressure on

[109:46] this area that we're talking about, the

[109:48] Ninth Ward down into St. Bernard Parish,

[109:51] Shalomat, Arabi, all of these areas,

[109:53] workingclass neighborhoods, lots of

[109:55] folks that stay there, stay put there

[109:56] trying to take care of their property if

[109:58] they could, some because they couldn't

[109:59] get out. And then you had the levy break

[110:01] and fill in on this side. All reports

[110:04] out of this area were not of water

[110:06] merely rising rapidly like we saw in

[110:09] other parts of New Orleans on Tuesday,

[110:10] but of water rising at a cataclysmic

[110:14] rate on Monday. People talking about

[110:16] walking 30 feet and seeing the water

[110:19] rise 10 12 feet.

[110:21] >> Look at this Tom. This is video that

[110:22] we're getting. It's just coming into CNN

[110:24] now. Video coming in from the pool

[110:26] camera traveling with the vice president

[110:28] Dick Cheney. Uh every time we see

[110:31] destruction along this scale uh whether

[110:34] in Mississippi or or Louisiana, it's

[110:36] just heart-wrenching to see what a

[110:39] natural disaster the kind of damage that

[110:41] it can cause. uh these houses simply

[110:44] simply simply destroyed all up all and

[110:48] down all along the Gulf Coast

[110:50] >> and always remember something that

[110:51] people have to remember about hurricanes

[110:53] and it's easy to forget the water is

[110:55] what destroys things. Wind does wind is

[110:58] important and this these kind of winds

[110:59] will do a lot of damage but water

[111:02] getting into a building and shaking it

[111:03] around will will ruin it quickly and

[111:06] explosive water like we're talking about

[111:08] in the ninth ward and in Shalom and in

[111:10] St. Bernard Parish. This is what traps

[111:12] people and kills people all the time.

[111:15] And I think we're going to have to watch

[111:16] that area very closely.

[111:17] >> This area though looks like a

[111:19] Mississippi that uh that the vice

[111:21] president was flying over earlier today.

[111:23] This looks like simply devastated areas.

[111:26] >> And they had some of that there too. I

[111:28] mean, we had a witness the other day who

[111:29] was talking about in Beluxy coming out

[111:32] of his house. There was a little a

[111:34] little lagoon up. Yeah, this is further

[111:35] down the the shoreline. But he said he

[111:37] came out and there was a lagoon near his

[111:38] house. This man described at his house

[111:40] seeing a 30foot wave coming at him. Now,

[111:44] I know that's hard to judge and he knows

[111:46] it's hard to judge, but he's a man who's

[111:47] lived much of his life on the water and

[111:49] he said, "I'm telling you, I saw a

[111:50] 30-foot wave

[111:52] swelling up and pushing toward his

[111:54] house. He turned and left watching his

[111:56] house get destroyed behind him." Those

[111:58] stories of explosive water are going to

[112:00] lead us to where some of the some of the

[112:02] the greatest loss of life will

[112:04] ultimately be. And certainly all along

[112:05] that coast, you had that shallow part of

[112:07] the Gulf there pushing up. That water

[112:10] pushes easily when it's shallow like

[112:12] that and causes a lot of damage.

[112:13] >> All right, thanks very much Tom Foreman

[112:16] got a good perspective for us. Coming

[112:17] up, has FEMA become too politicized?

[112:20] Should the US military manage the

[112:22] response to natural disasters? What do

[112:25] you think? We'll hear what you think.

[112:26] Jack Caf, he's been reading your email.

[112:28] We'll take a quick break. We'll be right

[112:30] back.

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[113:38] >> How many days is 3 weeks?

[113:40] >> 21.

[113:41] >> Won't you, Mr. A? A

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[113:52] Why not take all of me?

[113:57] >> Mr. Bucket, welcome to

[113:58] >> residents

[114:03] in all sweets with all the comforts.

[114:11] >> Jack Cavern has been going through your

[114:13] email on the question of the hour. He's

[114:14] joining us once again from New York.

[114:16] Jack.

[114:18] >> Wolf. Somewhere along the way, FEMA has

[114:20] become a dumping ground for President

[114:23] Bush's political cronies. And most of

[114:25] them have little or no experience in

[114:27] disaster relief relief from the chief,

[114:29] Michael Brown, right on down the line. A

[114:31] lot of these guys at the top of FEMA are

[114:32] former campaign workers. And one guy

[114:35] planned presidential trips for the White

[114:37] House. Uh, one way to fix that would be

[114:39] to replace uh the leadership at FEMA and

[114:42] the responsibility for handling national

[114:44] disasters like a hurricane Katrina with

[114:46] the military. That's the question.

[114:48] Should the military be put in charge of

[114:49] handling domestic disasters such as

[114:51] hurricanes? Don, in Greenville, South

[114:53] Carolina, the military should not be

[114:55] given responsibility, FEMA needs new

[114:58] leaders and needs to regain autonomy. In

[115:00] other words, it should be out from under

[115:02] homeland security so that it has the 25

[115:05] or so agencies directly at its beck and

[115:07] call when the situation warrants. Todd

[115:10] in Ontario, Canada writes, "I'm sure the

[115:11] military could handle disaster relief

[115:13] more efficiently than FEMA, but it

[115:15] shouldn't be their responsibility. it

[115:17] should be handled by state officials.

[115:19] It's obvious the Bush administration has

[115:21] spent too much money on counterterrorism

[115:23] and cut too many essential services for

[115:25] the people. Terry writes, "It probably

[115:27] would not be a bad idea if we take their

[115:29] advice and let them do their job. They

[115:31] already have staging areas all over,

[115:33] experience deploying people, all the

[115:35] supplies at their fingertips. But the

[115:37] problem still remains who tells them

[115:39] they can go in. Do we leave it to them

[115:41] or the politicians?" Cara, Glendale,

[115:44] Arizona, why not the military?

[115:45] Obviously, FEMA isn't prepared to handle

[115:47] America's catastrophes. The military

[115:49] doesn't seem so politically motivated.

[115:51] And I like the military, particularly on

[115:54] Array's attitude. Just get it done.

[115:56] Reminds me of an old quote. Don't tell

[115:57] me how bad the storm is. Just bring the

[115:59] ship in. And Lisa in Haringen, Texas. I

[116:02] believe the military is doing the job of

[116:04] FEMA, so why not eliminate the red tape

[116:07] and overhead? Hey, I've worked in

[116:09] advertising. You think FEMA would give

[116:10] me a big job?

[116:13] >> Jack, we'll do this again tomorrow.

[116:14] Thanks very much.

[116:15] >> I can't wait.

[116:16] >> All right. Thank you very much. Uh we

[116:17] got some live pictures coming in. Live

[116:20] pictures coming in. Dick Cheney, the

[116:21] vice president of the United States.

[116:23] He's in the region right now. He's

[116:25] looking at one of the pumping stations.

[116:27] That's uh him with his uh back to us.

[116:29] You see the white hair. You see the blue

[116:31] shirt. He's getting briefed on this

[116:32] pumping station uh at the 17th Street uh

[116:36] levy uh where 17th Street canal where

[116:39] this levey simply broke. the vice

[116:41] president getting a on the scene

[116:43] inspection of what has happened. Uh we

[116:46] expect at some point to hear from him.

[116:48] Once we do, we will go back to New

[116:51] Orleans. Just ahead, flooding and fraud

[116:54] on the internet. Hurricane survivors

[116:56] need help. They need help right now. And

[116:58] there are plenty of people online

[117:00] willing to provide it. But do we need to

[117:02] be wary of some websites? Yes. We'll

[117:06] tell you some of that when we come back.

[117:12] Privacy, equality, the right to choose,

[117:16] fundamental freedoms Americans have

[117:17] cherished for generations. But John

[117:20] Roberts dismisses one of our established

[117:22] liberties as the so-called right to

[117:24] privacy and co-wrote a brief arguing

[117:27] that Row versus Wade should be

[117:29] overruled.

[117:30] Robert's legal record raises questions

[117:32] on whether he accepts the right to

[117:34] privacy. There's just too much at stake

[117:37] to let John Roberts become a decisive

[117:39] vote on the Supreme Court.

[117:41] >> So, we need 90 notebooks, Wi-Fi enabled

[117:44] ASAP,

[117:44] >> right?

[117:45] >> You just want me to make him appear now.

[117:47] >> All right.

[117:52] Ao,

[117:54] >> I'm just kidding. I'll call CDW. You'll

[117:56] have your notebooks in no time.

[117:58] >> Nobody responds like CDW with great

[118:00] technology like the ThinkPad X41 tablet

[118:03] PC. It's one of the lightest convertible

[118:05] tablets on the market. CDW, the right

[118:07] technology right away.

[118:08] >> So, you guys want me to conjure up some

[118:10] PCs, too?

[118:15] >> All over the internet, uh, there are

[118:17] people ready to help the hurricane

[118:18] survivors, but lurking among them, a few

[118:21] were trying to take advantage. Our

[118:23] internet reporter Abby Tatton is

[118:26] checking the situation online. Abby,

[118:27] what are you finding?

[118:28] >> Yes, Wolf. The Justice Department is

[118:30] warning people to be very wary when

[118:32] they're giving online. There are over

[118:35] 2,000 sites, they say, that have cropped

[118:37] up in the past few days since the

[118:39] hurricane, purporting to be helping the

[118:42] victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the

[118:44] Justice Department is warning that a lot

[118:46] of them could be bogus. Let's look at

[118:48] some of them here. Sopus.com is a

[118:50] computer security firm that's tracking

[118:53] some fishing emails, trying to get your

[118:55] credit card information. And this is one

[118:57] of those spam emails that they have

[118:59] tracked that they showed us. This

[119:00] purports to be from the American Red

[119:02] Cross. Shows up in an unsolicited email.

[119:05] Looks very much like it has the logo of

[119:07] the banner, but it's not. This is the

[119:09] legitimate site. Um, it's different. It

[119:12] has other ways to donate right there.

[119:14] The warning that they're giving is avoid

[119:16] these unsolicited emails. If you want to

[119:18] donate to the Red Cross, use a search

[119:21] engine like Google.com to find out the

[119:24] legitimate site. Avoid the unsolicited

[119:26] emails. Wolf

[119:27] >> Abby, thank you very much. We'll check

[119:28] back with you tomorrow. We're in the

[119:30] situation room every weekday afternoon 3

[119:32] to 6:00 p.m. Eastern. I'm Wolf Blitzer

[119:34] in Washington. Lou Dos tonight starts

[119:37] right now. Lou standing by in New York.

[119:38] Lou. Well, thank you. Good evening

[119:40] everybody. Tonight, New Orleans Mayor

[119:42] Ray Negan is giving hurricane survivors

[119:45] who refuse to leave their homes one last

[119:47] chance. Police and troops are trying to

[119:50] convince people to leave that city

[119:51] voluntarily. The next step, forcible

[119:54] removal. It's not altogether clear

[119:56] whether local, state, or federal

[119:59] agencies have the legal right to

[120:01] forcibly remove people from their homes.

[120:03] We'll be examining this critical issue

[120:04] here tonight. And on Capitol Hill, the

[120:07] highly partisan fight over who's to

[120:08] blame for the failure to respond quickly

[120:11] to this disaster is escalating. We'll be

[120:13] taking a look at one left-wing group

[120:16] that is at the center of what is

[120:17] increasingly a partisan battle. Senator

[120:20] John Kyle says this disaster makes him

[120:22] less certain that the United States can

[120:24] respond effectively to a terrorist

[120:26] attack against this country. Senator

[120:28] Kyle is our guest here. And I'll also be

[120:30] talking with a hero of 9/11, former New

[120:33] York City Police Commissioner Bernard

[120:34] Carrick. We'll be talking about the

[120:36] responsibilities of local governments in

[120:38] terrorist attacks and natural disasters.

[120:42] Tonight, there is word that a new

[120:43] hurricane is now charging toward the

[120:46] coast of Florida. We'll have the very

[120:48] latest for you on what is now Hurricane

[120:51] Oilia. Tonight, health officials in New

[120:54] Orleans are desperately concerned about

[120:56] the safety of as many as 15,000

[120:58] hurricane survivors who remain in that

[121:00] city. Those people face critical health

[121:03] risks. Rescue workers are making a new

[121:05] effort to convince remaining survivors

[121:07] to leave the city. Officials are also

[121:09] expressing new concern tonight about the

[121:11] rising number of fires in the city.

[121:13] There were four more fires today, 11

[121:15] fires yesterday. The hardpressed New

[121:18] Orleans Fire Department has now been

[121:19] reinforced by 800 firefighters from

[121:22] three states, New York, Illinois, and

[121:24] Maryland. The cost of this massive

[121:26] relief effort is escalating rapidly. The

[121:29] House of Representatives today passed an

[121:31] emergency spending bill for 52 billion

[121:34] of additional money. President Bush also

[121:36] announced new government incentives to

[121:39] help the hundreds of thousands of people

[121:40] who've left their homes and have no

[121:42] money. We begin our coverage tonight

[121:44] with a report by Jeff Coneni in New

[121:47] Orleans.

[121:48] >> If they bundle me up and carry me off,

[121:53] there will be gunfire.

[121:55] >> Austin Ado has been hauled out in his

[121:57] house in a wealthy New Orleans

[121:58] neighborhood for more than 10 days. And

[122:01] he says he's done this without anyone's

[122:04] help. He insists he's not worried about

[122:06] the outbreak of disease from stagnant

[122:09] corpseinfested waters.

[122:11] >> Why do they think that I am any more

[122:14] susceptible to disease than the soldiers

[122:17] that they've ordered to come evict us?

[122:21] >> He's not alone. Grady Hardy has been

[122:23] looking after his neighbors houses while

[122:25] they fled from Katrina. But if it comes

[122:27] to a forced eviction, he says he'll have

[122:30] no choice but to leave.

[122:31] >> Of course not. I can't resist armed

[122:33] force. I will verbally protest.

[122:35] Absolutely.

[122:36] >> Meanwhile, a few blocks away, James

[122:38] Favro is returning to inspect his home

[122:40] for the first time since the hurricane

[122:42] left much of his city submerged.

[122:45] >> He's been staying with friends several

[122:46] hundred miles away and is worried his

[122:49] multi-million dollar home may have taken

[122:51] a big hit.

[122:52] >> Look, I've got an open window up here,

[122:54] Dad. I'm going to have to go shut that.

[122:56] God knows what kind of water got in

[122:57] there.

[122:58] >> Bob McCleskkey is Favro's neighbor. He

[123:01] too is returning home for the first time

[123:03] and is pleasantly surprised his house is

[123:05] largely intact.

[123:07] >> No wind has blown out. I mean, it's just

[123:09] amazing.

[123:11] >> Both Mccleskey and Favro say they are

[123:13] leaving again now that they know their

[123:15] houses are okay. They say New Orleans is

[123:18] no longer where they want their families

[123:20] to be.

[123:21] >> Open door.

[123:22] >> There's a visible armed police presence

[123:24] everywhere in these streets. Some of

[123:27] these state troopers come from as far

[123:28] away as California and New York. There

[123:32] are also literally thousands of National

[123:34] Guard troops in just about every corner

[123:36] of this city. A Macabra reminder of a

[123:39] city in a state of emergency. When they

[123:42] come with the M16s to the house partying

[123:44] with their hands on the trigger, I'm not

[123:46] crazy. I will go.

[123:48] >> As the patrols intensify and with time

[123:51] running out, the city's remaining

[123:53] residents find themselves with two

[123:54] choices. leave or be forced to leave.

[124:01] >> Lou, bottom line, people don't want to

[124:02] leave the city for two basic reasons.

[124:04] One, a lot of them have pets. If they

[124:06] leave town, they don't know whether

[124:08] they'll be allowed to take their pets

[124:09] with them. Two, if they leave town, they

[124:12] don't know whether their houses will be

[124:13] safe if they are left unattended. Luke,

[124:17] >> Jeff, thank you very much, Jeff Coani.

[124:19] Firefighters in New Orleans are

[124:20] stretched to the limit tonight. New

[124:22] fires breaking out across the devastated

[124:24] city. Military helicopters carrying

[124:26] 750lb buckets of water moving in to

[124:29] battle a fierce blaze in a New Orleans

[124:31] home this afternoon. 100 firefighters

[124:33] from New Orleans are now battling those

[124:35] fires with help from 800 firefighters

[124:38] from all parts of the country. But New

[124:39] Orleans officials say the threat of

[124:41] massive new fires in their city is still

[124:44] very real tonight. One major concern

[124:46] that they have is the threat of new

[124:48] fires from broken underwater gas lines.

[124:51] And some of the fires they admit have

[124:53] been set by arsonists. And as long as

[124:55] remaining survivors remain in their

[124:57] homes and use candles, officials say

[124:59] there will be a serious threat of

[125:01] accidental house fires. President Bush

[125:03] today declared Friday, September 16th,

[125:05] as a national day of prayer and

[125:07] remembrance for victims of this

[125:08] disaster. President Bush also announced

[125:11] two major new government initiatives to

[125:12] help survivors. Dana Bash reports now

[125:15] from the White House. Dana. Well, Lou,

[125:17] first on the National Day of Prayer, the

[125:19] White House, unfortunately, uh, is well

[125:21] aware that the the American people are

[125:23] likely to see in the next few days and

[125:25] hear about more and more stories of

[125:27] bodies being recovered. Part of calling

[125:30] for prayer is to make sure Americans see

[125:32] the president uh, understanding what's

[125:34] going on on the ground and also uh,

[125:36] preparing Americans for more grim news

[125:39] and perhaps outrage among the American

[125:41] people about what went on. Now, on the

[125:43] initiatives you talked about, the

[125:44] president announced today, first of all,

[125:46] he said that every household who has

[125:48] been displaced, they will get $2,000

[125:51] from the government. And he also talked

[125:52] about some initiatives he said to cut

[125:54] through the red tape, primarily to make

[125:56] sure that those getting federal benefits

[125:58] like Medicaid, Medicare, unemployment

[126:00] will still get them. But he also made

[126:03] clear that people need to be patient.

[126:06] We have much more work to do.

[126:10] But the people who have been hurt by

[126:11] this storm know that need to know that

[126:13] the government is going to be with you

[126:15] for the long haul.

[126:17] Now, the big question here is how to

[126:20] actually confront that long haul

[126:22] monumental task of relocation and all of

[126:25] the things that the federal government

[126:26] is going to have to do that could take

[126:28] uh six to nine months, even longer. The

[126:30] president had a flurry of meetings about

[126:31] this today and all week. He also met

[126:34] with some members of Congress,

[126:35] Republicans, to talk about what

[126:36] legislation could be needed. And some

[126:38] Republicans here, Lou, came out of a

[126:40] meeting with the president and said that

[126:41] they told him that it's very important

[126:43] to get an outside official, somebody

[126:45] who's going to be down there, somebody

[126:46] who's very influential who can deal with

[126:48] this task for the long term. Lou,

[126:51] >> they're suggesting that the officials

[126:53] that are appointed by the government,

[126:54] uh, Homeland Security Chief Michael

[126:56] Churoff, FEMA director Michael Brown,

[126:59] are not adequate to the task. Well,

[127:01] that's certainly the question that we

[127:02] asked and the answer was uh that they

[127:05] are people who have their work cut out

[127:07] for them in the jobs that they are doing

[127:08] now and that this is going to be such a

[127:10] huge task where you're going to need a

[127:12] presence, a leader on the ground for so

[127:14] long that they think that somebody

[127:15] should be out there. No names we've

[127:17] heard floating around Washington, Rudy

[127:18] Giuliani, Coen Powell. The White House

[127:20] says that this is definitely something

[127:22] that's on the table, but they haven't

[127:23] made any decision yet. Lou,

[127:26] >> thank you very much. Dana Bash from the

[127:28] White House. President Bush today sent

[127:30] Vice President Dick Cheney to tour the

[127:32] disaster area. The Vice President, now

[127:34] in New Orleans, inspected flood damage

[127:36] and the damaged levies. Earlier, Vice

[127:39] President Cheney was in Gulfport,

[127:40] Mississippi, where he declared that

[127:42] emergency workers are making what he

[127:43] called significant progress in their

[127:45] search and recovery operation. Many

[127:48] evacuees are in Houston. City officials

[127:51] today ordered a lockdown at the

[127:52] Astradome, however, as people started

[127:55] rushing to get to those new debit cards

[127:57] that quickly became chaos. The chaos was

[128:00] so great and extended that officials

[128:02] were forced to uh shut down the

[128:05] operation. Betty Win is live at the

[128:07] Houston Astrodome tonight with the

[128:08] story. Betty,

[128:10] >> Lou, we've been under a temporary

[128:12] lockdown today because flooding into

[128:15] Reliant Park to get their hands on

[128:17] these. It's an American Red Cross debit

[128:20] card. It allows up to $2,000 per family

[128:23] for many of these evacuees. And so many

[128:25] folks rush in here to get their hands on

[128:27] them and wait in long lines. Lines span

[128:30] all the way down the side of the

[128:31] building at Reliant Center. People

[128:33] waited for hours on in. And there was a

[128:35] lot of confusion over whether these

[128:37] cards would be available and if they're

[128:38] the same thing as the FEMA cards. Plus,

[128:40] to to make matters worse, people from

[128:43] other shelters were coming in here when

[128:45] this was only supposed to be designated

[128:47] to evacuees at the Reliant Park area. On

[128:50] top of that, we have learned though

[128:52] despite the chaos, some 1,400 evacuees

[128:56] were given a process at least so they

[128:58] would be given these debit cards today.

[129:00] Now, but because of all the chaos, Lou,

[129:03] FEMA has decided to rethink these debit

[129:06] cards which they were planning to

[129:07] distribute tomorrow. We have learned

[129:09] that indeed they will continue

[129:10] distributing debit cards tomorrow,

[129:13] $2,000 per family here in the Houston

[129:16] area at the three or the four main

[129:18] shelters. But outside of this Houston

[129:21] area, we've learned from a regional

[129:22] officer with FEMA that they've decided

[129:24] to rethink that and they're going to go

[129:26] with electronic uh funds transferring,

[129:28] basically saying that they're going to

[129:30] electronically put the money in bank

[129:32] accounts or send evacuees checks. Uh so

[129:35] they've learned lessons from the chaos

[129:36] today and because of the lockdown and

[129:38] they've changed the method in which

[129:39] they're going to use these debit cards.

[129:41] But as for now, all the evacuees here in

[129:44] Houston will be getting the debit cards

[129:46] and that starts at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow.

[129:49] One last thing, amid all this chaos,

[129:51] people are still looking for family

[129:53] members. And we have a gentleman who

[129:55] came to us yesterday looking for his

[129:56] daughter. He in fact did find her. Take

[129:59] a listen.

[130:01] >> Everyone is fine now. Everyone is

[130:03] located and everyone is fine. And I'm

[130:05] fine now that I know where my daughter

[130:08] is and she's safe.

[130:12] >> That's right. That was George Parker. So

[130:14] excited to hear from his daughter.

[130:15] Indeed, she is in Arkansas of all

[130:17] places. Uh they they were in New Orleans

[130:20] when the water started rising in their

[130:21] apartment. They were luckily able to get

[130:24] out. Her husband had to undergo surgery

[130:26] though, but they are all alive and he is

[130:28] so thankful for that. Lou

[130:29] >> and Betty, that is part of the the

[130:32] horror that has been Hurricane Katrina

[130:34] and its aftermath uh in which uh not

[130:37] enough attention is probably paid and

[130:38] that is in addition to everything else

[130:40] that these victims of this hurricane are

[130:42] going through. The separation from their

[130:45] families is certainly a a critical part

[130:47] of that and at least in this instance a

[130:49] happy ending. Betty Win, thank you very

[130:51] much from the Houston Superdome. Tonight

[130:55] there is a new hurricane threat to this

[130:57] country. Tropical storm Ailia has

[131:00] strengthened into the seventh hurricane

[131:01] of the season. It is now off the coast

[131:04] of Florida. Rob Marciano is in our

[131:06] weather center with the very latest. Rob

[131:09] very close to the coastline of Florida.

[131:11] As a matter of fact, only 70 miles now

[131:13] east northeast of Cape Canaveral,

[131:15] Florida. So, right about there. 70 mi

[131:17] this way. And there you got it. An

[131:19] explosion of thunderstorms and expansion

[131:21] of the cloud canopy today. and then

[131:22] recon aircraft in there earlier this

[131:25] afternoon indicating that yes, winds

[131:27] have now gotten to 75 mph. That makes it

[131:29] a category 1 storm. Problem is it's

[131:32] stationary. It's sitting right over the

[131:33] Gulfream with waters of 85 degrees plus.

[131:36] So that's one of the reasons that it has

[131:37] strengthened and it's one of the reasons

[131:39] that there could be some more

[131:40] strengthening here in the next day or

[131:42] two. This is the forecast track out of

[131:44] the National Hurricane Center. It is

[131:46] stuck. It is not moving anywhere right

[131:47] now which makes it extremely difficult

[131:48] to forecast until we get some sort of

[131:50] movement. But right now, the forecast is

[131:52] for it to pick up a little bit of steam

[131:54] and head towards the northeast as a

[131:56] category 1 storm for the next couple of

[131:57] days and then maybe even do a loop,

[132:00] which is uh not unheard of, but

[132:02] certainly rare, especially when you have

[132:04] winds, steering winds as weak as they

[132:06] are right now. Key here is that the

[132:08] National Hurricane Center has not issued

[132:10] a hurricane watch or warning yet.

[132:12] Tropical storm watches and warnings have

[132:14] been issued. A tropical storm warning

[132:15] means that tropical storm conditions

[132:18] expected in the next 24 hours. But

[132:19] because they haven't issued a hurricane

[132:21] warning, it indicates that they're

[132:22] pretty confident of this thing not

[132:23] jogging too far to the west to give the

[132:25] coastline hurricane strength conditions

[132:27] at least for right now. Uh Lou, so we'll

[132:29] watch this thing. It is sitting right

[132:30] now and it continues to strengthen and

[132:32] it could very well be a threat to the

[132:34] coastline of the US before it's it's

[132:36] done. Back to you,

[132:37] >> Rob. Thank you, Rob Marciano. News that

[132:39] none of us wanted to hear but uh which

[132:41] we have to pay great attention to. Thank

[132:43] you, Rob. Still ahead here, New Orleans

[132:45] residents have one last chance to leave

[132:47] their homes before New Orleans police

[132:49] force them out. I'll be talking with our

[132:51] senior legal analyst Jeffrey Tub about

[132:53] whether police and other authorities

[132:56] actually have the legal power to remove

[132:58] them from their homes in the blame game

[133:00] on Capitol Hill. Why Congress is unable

[133:03] to put political bickering and partisan

[133:06] advantage seeking aside as they try to

[133:08] help disaster victims. And the man who

[133:11] led New York's police response to

[133:13] September 11th says state and local

[133:15] officials are greatly to blame for the

[133:18] failure to respond adequately in New

[133:20] Orleans. I'll be talking with former New

[133:21] York City police commissioner Bernard

[133:23] Carrick about the breakdown next.

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[135:40] >> An extraordinary example today of how

[135:42] the hurricane disaster could be used by

[135:44] highly partisan groups on both sides of

[135:47] the political spectrum to win political

[135:49] advantage. USA Today reported that the

[135:52] liberal group Move On.org planned to use

[135:55] images from the disaster to criticize

[135:58] Supreme Court nominee Judge John

[136:00] Roberts. But move on.org later insisted

[136:03] it never had any plans whatsoever to

[136:05] produce such an ad. Kitty Pilgrim has

[136:07] our report. Kitty

[136:08] >> Lou, it's really interesting how these

[136:09] 527s and political action groups are

[136:12] steering the national debate today. Move

[136:14] on.org. A political action group

[136:16] organized a rally outside the White

[136:18] House with victims of the hurricane.

[136:20] They were chanting shame and their

[136:23] flyers read President Bush stop blaming

[136:25] the victims of Hurricane Katrina and get

[136:27] to work helping them. Well, a story in

[136:30] USA Today claims that Move On.org was

[136:33] planning on running ads next week

[136:35] opposing judicial candidate John Roberts

[136:37] that would feature hurricane victims.

[136:39] Move on.org denied that story. They say,

[136:42] "We have no plans and have never had

[136:44] plans to produce such an ad." Well, then

[136:47] you have the head of another group, the

[136:49] Family Research Council, calling a press

[136:52] conference saying, "I am outraged that

[136:54] move on.org or would exploit the

[136:56] suffering of the people of my state and

[136:58] the Gulf region in their ongoing

[137:00] campaign to destroy Judge Roberts. Well,

[137:03] we spoke to USA Today the reporter Mark

[137:06] Meett and he stands by his story. He

[137:08] finds it odd that move on.org would tell

[137:11] him about the ads on Wednesday and then

[137:13] deny them on Thursday. But ad or no ad,

[137:17] these political groups, Lou, are

[137:18] definitely using the hurricane for their

[137:21] own political message. I

[137:22] >> It's extraordinary. It is unseammly. on

[137:25] both sides of the political spectrum. We

[137:27] should point out whether conservative or

[137:29] liberal uh uh radically left or

[137:31] radically right. Uh it's it's beyond

[137:35] distasteful. It is it's lacking in

[137:38] civility. It is treating the American

[137:40] people like they're fools, as if labels

[137:42] are adequate to to uh to project a

[137:45] reality. This is absurd.

[137:47] >> It seems very transparent and certainly

[137:49] the American public is capable of seeing

[137:51] beyond this, I think.

[137:52] >> And USA Today stands by its story. They

[137:54] absolutely do and the reporter does too.

[137:57] >> Well, I thought if one certainly the

[137:58] other. Thank you very much, Kitty

[138:00] Pilgrim. As politicians argue about who

[138:03] is to blame in the uh inadequate

[138:05] response to this disaster, as many as

[138:07] 15,000 New Orleans residents are tonight

[138:10] being ordered to leave their city or

[138:12] face forcible removal. Many of those

[138:15] residents are stranded. But many, if not

[138:18] most, simply refuse to leave. Those

[138:21] residents are living without power. They

[138:23] do not have jobs. In some cases, lacking

[138:26] refrigeration and all of the necessities

[138:28] of life they remain. The threat to their

[138:31] health, however, is rising by the hour.

[138:34] But can New Orleans or any other

[138:36] government entity legally force them to

[138:38] leave their property? We ask our senior

[138:40] legal analyst, Jeffrey Tubin, to examine

[138:42] the question, and he joins me now.

[138:44] Jeffrey, are these authorities acting uh

[138:47] according to the law?

[138:48] >> They they they certainly are. Although,

[138:50] as always with the law, there are

[138:52] varying interpretations, but there is a

[138:54] specific statute that allows the

[138:55] governor and the mayor to do what

[138:57] they're doing. And maybe I could just

[138:58] read it and we can say what it says. It

[139:00] says, "The governor can direct and

[139:03] compel the evacuation of all or part of

[139:06] the population from any stricken or

[139:08] threatened area within the state if he

[139:10] or she deems this action necessary for

[139:13] the preservation of life or other

[139:15] disaster mitigation, response, or

[139:17] recovery." that would seem to cover um

[139:21] what what's available in New Orleans?

[139:23] >> That's that's just a New H that is a

[139:25] Louisiana state statute on disaster

[139:28] relief.

[139:28] >> And the fact is that uh the talk of a

[139:32] mandatory evacuation order. Did they

[139:34] also have that power before Katrina hit?

[139:37] >> They did. This was a law that that was

[139:38] on the books before.

[139:40] >> And one wonders at why it was not used

[139:42] and that is the responsibility of the

[139:44] mayor or the governor or both.

[139:45] >> Each both have separate authority. Those

[139:47] statutes are somewhat diff different,

[139:49] but they're basically uh offer the same

[139:51] uh power to to each official.

[139:53] >> Now, uh General Honore, the the man in

[139:56] charge of the military down there says

[139:58] his people aren't going his troops are

[140:00] not going to his soldiers are not going

[140:02] to be participating in forcible removal.

[140:04] Uh is that also within the

[140:06] >> That would be within their right. You

[140:08] know there's a famous old law called

[140:09] posiccomatadus which says that ordinary

[140:13] American troops cannot be used in any

[140:15] sort of police action within the 50

[140:18] states. However, the national guard is

[140:20] exempted from that and national guard

[140:22] can always make arrests. So if general

[140:24] honore wanted to order his troops to

[140:26] make arrests, he can.

[140:28] >> Jeffrey Tubin, thank you very much for

[140:30] laying out the law and uh as always, we

[140:32] appreciate it.

[140:34] >> Coming up here next, the blame game over

[140:36] the hurricane. It began long before any

[140:38] organized relief effort was actually

[140:41] underway along the devastated Gulf

[140:42] Coast. Believe it or not, it is now

[140:45] becoming increasingly intense. We'll

[140:46] have a special report on that. And then

[140:48] the chairman of the Senate Terrorism

[140:50] Subcommittee is determined to avoid a

[140:52] similar response in the event of a

[140:54] terrorist attack against this country.

[140:56] Senator John Kyle is our guest. That and

[140:59] a great deal more still ahead. Stay with

[141:01] us.

[141:03] >> CNN Prime Time beginning at 7:00. Angels

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[143:56] >> The heartstoppping race against time to

[143:58] save the children of Katrina. Larry

[144:00] King, CNN tonight.

[144:03] >> Tonight, charges and countercharges

[144:05] about which official, whether local,

[144:07] state, or federal, failed to do his or

[144:09] her part. And the charges and

[144:12] countercharges have become increasingly

[144:14] partisan and bitter. Federal, state, and

[144:16] local officials are doing anything they

[144:17] can now to assign blame and avoid taking

[144:21] responsibility now for what has been

[144:23] universally described as a slow and

[144:25] inadequate response to this disaster.

[144:27] Lisa Sylvester reports. After the levies

[144:30] broke and chaos ripped through New

[144:32] Orleans, Mayor Ray Negan thrashed the

[144:34] federal government for not doing enough

[144:36] in an interview with WWL radio's Garland

[144:39] Robinette.

[144:40] >> Don't tell me 40,000 people are coming

[144:42] here. They not here.

[144:45] It's too dog on late now. Get off your

[144:48] asses and let's do something.

[144:50] >> Democratic lawmakers blamed the Bush

[144:52] administration for ignoring poor black

[144:54] constituents.

[144:55] >> I'm ashamed of America. I'm ashamed of

[144:58] our government.

[144:59] >> Fingerpointing quickly focused on

[145:01] Department of Homeland Security

[145:03] Secretary Michael Churoff. And right

[145:05] below him, Federal Emergency Management

[145:07] Chief Mike Brown, a well-connected

[145:10] political appointee. I think Mike Brown

[145:12] has demonstrated that he can't handle

[145:14] the job.

[145:15] >> The White House was on the defense.

[145:17] >> There's some that are interested in

[145:18] playing the blame game. This is getting

[145:20] into where some want to engage in a

[145:22] blame game. The time for bickering and

[145:24] blame gaming is later.

[145:26] >> By midweek, Republicans started openly

[145:28] shifting the blame to state and local

[145:30] leaders. Louisiana Governor Kathleen

[145:33] Blanco for refusing to sign over control

[145:35] of the National Guard to the federal

[145:37] government. Mayor Negan for sending his

[145:39] citizens to the Superdome and Convention

[145:41] Center and not out of the city and for

[145:44] his failure to move 12,000 buses that

[145:47] could have carried people to safety to

[145:49] higher ground.

[145:49] >> The emergency response system was set up

[145:52] to work from the bottom up. Uh and and

[145:55] it's it's the local officials trying to

[145:59] handle the problem. When they can't

[146:00] handle the problem, they go to the state

[146:02] and the state uh uh uh does what they

[146:05] can do. Anyone who could have prevented

[146:08] this is being blamed, including Congress

[146:10] for giving FEMA a skimpy budget.

[146:12] Louisiana's federal representatives for

[146:14] funneling Army Corps of Engineers funds

[146:16] to the wrong projects. Even the people

[146:19] of New Orleans, those who didn't follow

[146:21] the mandatory evacuation order.

[146:24] Republican leaders in the House and the

[146:26] Senate say they plan to investigate what

[146:28] went wrong and who is to blame. But

[146:30] Democrats say there should be a 9/11

[146:32] type of independent commission. Senate

[146:34] Democratic leader Harry Reid said today,

[146:36] "An investigation of the Republican

[146:38] administration by a Republican

[146:40] controlled Congress is like having a

[146:42] pitcher call his own balls and strikes."

[146:44] Lou,

[146:45] >> uh, as if it were a game, an

[146:47] unfortunate, uh, if you will, metaphor.

[146:50] Thank you very much, Lisa Sylvester.

[146:52] Congress today approved almost two

[146:54] billion, 52 billion rather, in new aid

[146:57] for the devastated Gulf Coast. The

[146:59] eventual price tag for this disa

[147:01] disaster will certainly go much much

[147:03] higher. Initial estimates say that it

[147:05] could cost the government as much as

[147:06] $200 billion or more. All of this as the

[147:10] partisan bickering continues on Capitol

[147:12] Hill over just who is to blame for the

[147:15] slow response to this disaster. Ed Henry

[147:18] is on Capitol Hill now and has the

[147:19] latest for us. Ed. Lou, to give you an

[147:21] idea of how fast this money is burning,

[147:24] the $10.5 billion dollar relief fund

[147:26] that Congress funded last week has

[147:28] already been spent in less than a week.

[147:30] That's why this $52 billion is needed.

[147:32] It was passed by the House a couple of

[147:34] hours ago. It's going to be passed by

[147:35] the Senate at about 7:00 tonight,

[147:37] Eastern time. But today, for the first

[147:39] time, we started hearing some tough

[147:41] questions by leaders in both parties

[147:43] about how high this price tag will be

[147:44] and whether or not it's a blank check.

[147:46] You're hearing Republican lawmakers like

[147:48] Mike Pence say they're concerned. They

[147:50] want to see some cuts in other federal

[147:52] programs in order to offset all this

[147:54] relief money. You're hearing Democrats

[147:55] like Senator Harry Reid say they're

[147:57] concerned that over 90% of the money is

[147:59] going to go to FEMA, the belleaguered

[148:01] federal agency that has had a lot of

[148:02] questions about its management raised.

[148:04] Take a listen to to what they had to say

[148:06] today.

[148:08] Let's figure out how we're going to pay

[148:09] for it.

[148:11] Congress must ensure that a catastrophe

[148:16] of nature does not become a catastrophe

[148:19] of debt for our children and

[148:22] grandchildren. First of all, the money

[148:25] for the relief effort goes basically to

[148:27] FEMA, more than 90% of it. After

[148:30] everything that has happened with FEMA,

[148:32] is there anyone anyone who believes that

[148:35] we should continue to let the money go

[148:37] to FEMA and be distributed by them?

[148:41] And Senator John McCain told me that

[148:43] Congress could probably have a better

[148:44] job of finding ways to pay for this if

[148:46] they cut some of the pork out of the

[148:48] recent highway and energy bills, but

[148:50] obviously that's very unlikely to

[148:52] happen.

[148:53] That is a clearly partisan spin on a

[148:55] straightforward uh piece of legislation

[148:58] to provide over $50 billion uh in

[149:01] disaster relief. Uh is that a Democratic

[149:03] strategy?

[149:05] >> Oh, I'm I'm not certain about that. I

[149:06] mean, that's why you heard Republican

[149:07] Mike Pence there also raising questions.

[149:09] In fact, 11

[149:10] >> No, Ed, I ask you, is it a is it a

[149:12] Democratic strategy? I understand that.

[149:14] >> Right. 11 conservative Republicans voted

[149:16] against it on the floor. In terms of the

[149:17] Democrats, clearly there have been

[149:19] allegations that they're politicizing

[149:20] this. We heard Harry Reid just yesterday

[149:22] say that the investigation into what

[149:23] went wrong should include whether or not

[149:25] the president's vacation affected the

[149:27] relief efforts. Uh, you know, I don't

[149:28] think it's a specific Democratic

[149:30] strategy necessarily, but clearly

[149:32] Democrats in terms of going after

[149:33] Michael Brown, certainly that is part of

[149:35] their strategy. They want to put the

[149:37] blame right at his doorstep. The idea

[149:39] whether Republican or Democrat that uh

[149:42] this country should pay for what it uh

[149:44] uh for its government programs whether

[149:45] disaster relief, war or uh welfare is a

[149:50] is generally considered to be prudent

[149:53] governance. Uh it has been honored in

[149:55] the breach obviously in recent years. Uh

[149:57] the the fact is that this this clash

[149:59] between Democrats and Republicans on

[150:01] Capitol Hill, Ed, uh the Republicans uh

[150:04] are are saying just as eagerly and as

[150:07] quickly uh as Democrats in my experience

[150:10] here over the last uh week that uh

[150:13] they're not pleased with FEMA or Michael

[150:15] Brown either. What is the sense there in

[150:17] Washington as to whether or not he will

[150:19] in fact be fired?

[150:20] >> I think it's almost gotten beyond

[150:22] Michael Brown at this point. The

[150:23] administration is not really putting him

[150:24] out there very much. You can see Michael

[150:26] Churoff and other officials being put

[150:28] out further. And in fact, while some

[150:30] Republicans like Senate Majority Leader

[150:32] Bill Fris just today said that clearly

[150:33] the federal government, including FEMA,

[150:35] did not do enough early on, you're

[150:37] hearing other Republicans like Tom

[150:38] Delay, as you heard a moment ago, trying

[150:40] to push it more to to the state and

[150:42] local officials and say that there's

[150:43] been too much focus on the federal

[150:45] government and that this is a shared

[150:46] responsibility.

[150:47] Yeah, I don't think uh you know just in

[150:49] for clarity of uh uh reporting I don't

[150:52] think there is any doubt that the that

[150:54] the inadequate slow response to this

[150:56] disaster is certainly shared by uh the

[150:59] federal, state and local governments.

[151:02] That shouldn't be in question. Thank you

[151:04] very much Ed Henry. Democratic National

[151:06] Committee Chairman Howard Dean says race

[151:08] was a factor in who lived and who died

[151:10] in Hurricane Katrina. Dean made those

[151:13] comments in a speech to the National

[151:14] Baptist Convention of America in Miami.

[151:17] It is one of the largest

[151:18] African-American religious groups in

[151:20] this country.

[151:21] Survivors are being evacuated and and as

[151:25] the order is restored and the water res

[151:27] and we sort through the rubble, we have

[151:28] to come to terms with ugly truth that

[151:31] skin color, age, and economics played a

[151:35] significant role in who survived and who

[151:37] did not.

[151:40] Dean also said, "Many people die

[151:42] because, in his words, the federal

[151:43] government lacked vision." Dean later

[151:45] claimed he was not pointing, let me

[151:48] repeat this, he said later that he was

[151:50] not pointing the finger of blame.

[151:53] Senator John Kyle of Arizona is

[151:55] promising to hold comprehensive hearings

[151:56] into just what went wrong in both the

[151:58] planning and the response to this

[152:01] hurricane disaster. As we've reported

[152:03] here tonight, Congress approved nearly

[152:04] $52 billion of new disaster aid. Some

[152:07] Democrats are strongly opposed, as we

[152:10] told you, to FEMA's role in distributing

[152:11] those funds. Some Republicans also

[152:14] concerned about the price tag. Senator

[152:16] Kyle joins us tonight from Capitol Hill.

[152:18] Senator, good to have you here. In your

[152:20] opinion, this $52 billion, we know it's

[152:23] the first installment. Uh, is FEMA the

[152:26] right agency to distribute the money? Uh

[152:29] it's the second installment actually and

[152:31] I I think we really don't know whether

[152:33] FEMA is the right agency but right now

[152:35] the entity that has to sign the

[152:37] contracts that a lot of this money ends

[152:39] up uh uh fulfilling uh is is FEMA.

[152:42] That's just the way the law is set up

[152:44] and so it's going to go through there.

[152:45] But the House put in and the Senate

[152:47] agrees that we need to have inspectors

[152:48] general who will be closely monitoring

[152:51] this spending as it's occurring. And I

[152:53] believe that that's going to occur so

[152:55] that at least we'll have a good

[152:56] transparency in in terms of where the

[152:59] money went and whether it was spent

[153:01] appropriately.

[153:02] >> Senator, there has been criticism uh

[153:04] much of it partisan in nature, but those

[153:07] who are looking at this response by the

[153:09] federal, state, and local governments

[153:11] with clear uh nonpartisan eyes say that

[153:14] this is simply an inadequate way for a

[153:16] superpower to respond to a disaster,

[153:18] whether a natural disaster is in this

[153:20] case or a terrorist attack.

[153:22] uh what is your thinking and what do you

[153:24] plan to do?

[153:25] >> Well, first I I hesitate to uh prejudge

[153:28] the the uh results of uh work that's

[153:31] going to be done by members of Congress

[153:33] when they look back and report in

[153:35] February as the speaker and the majority

[153:37] leader have announced. It'll be a

[153:39] bipartisan biccameal commission that

[153:41] will investigate what went wrong and uh

[153:44] make recommendations for what needs to

[153:45] be done in the future. My subcommittee

[153:48] deals with terrorism and homeland

[153:49] security. And what I'm going to be

[153:51] focusing on later after the emergency is

[153:53] concluded is what would have happened

[153:55] had this been a terrorism event. And

[153:58] indeed, there are terrorist events that

[153:59] could approximate what happened here

[154:02] from the breach of a dam or a levy uh to

[154:04] the necessary evacuation of an area the

[154:07] size of New Orleans, for example. And

[154:09] we're going to find out whether or not

[154:11] we do have adequate plans, and if so, we

[154:13] think they can be adequately carried

[154:14] out. My own sense is that as a result of

[154:17] what happened here, we'll conclude that

[154:18] we have a lot more work to do.

[154:20] >> Uh as you would in knowing you, you

[154:22] would not want to prejudge in any way

[154:24] because you are a careful and thoughtful

[154:27] uh public servant. Uh but the fact is if

[154:29] this were a terrorist attack, we're now

[154:31] four years in uh by Sunday it will be 4

[154:34] years exactly from September 11th. What

[154:37] were your thoughts as you have watched

[154:39] uh this response move forward in New

[154:43] Orleans? Uh and to think it's 4 years

[154:45] from September 11th.

[154:48] After about a day and a half, my thought

[154:50] was that we are not prepared for the

[154:54] kind of terrorist attack that I

[154:56] anticipate will be attempted on us. And

[154:58] that's why I immediately decided we

[155:00] would have to look into this because I

[155:02] think we can expect attempts at

[155:04] terrorism. you can easily postulate a

[155:06] kind of event almost very very much like

[155:09] this and clearly we weren't ready for

[155:11] this. I think we'll find there are a lot

[155:13] of things that need to be sorted out.

[155:15] For example, the relationship between

[155:16] the local, state and federal governments

[155:19] in terms of authority. My sense is the

[155:21] federal government was prepared to move

[155:22] a lot quicker than it did because you

[155:25] had a local and state response that we

[155:28] rely upon first. Is that appropriate in

[155:30] every case? Uh these are the kind of

[155:32] things we're going to have to sort out

[155:34] and not to point fingers and blame

[155:36] people, but to simply constructively

[155:37] understand what we need to do to make

[155:39] sure it never happens again.

[155:41] >> Absolutely. Well, Senator Kyle, we thank

[155:42] you very much for being here and for

[155:44] moving forward with those hearings.

[155:46] Thank you. Still ahead, new concerns

[155:48] that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

[155:50] hurt this nation's ability to respond to

[155:53] this hurricane disaster. I'll be talking

[155:55] with General David Graange about that

[155:56] issue and charges tonight that poorly

[155:58] run relief efforts on the Gulf Coast

[156:00] cost human lives. We'll have a firsthand

[156:02] account of the devastation and the

[156:05] response. To find out how you can help

[156:06] the victims of Hurricane Katrina, please

[156:09] call the Red Cross at 100

[156:11] 800 HELP now. That's 1800 HELP now. Or

[156:15] for a full list of the charities to

[156:17] which you can donate, please go to

[156:19] CNN.com. We'll continue in one moment.

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[157:02] Robert's legal record raises questions

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[158:00] >> In the wake of Hurricane Katrina,

[158:02] foreign aid has poured in from all

[158:04] around the world. But one country

[158:06] sending a convoy of troops and aid is of

[158:10] special interest. Casey Wyan has the

[158:12] report. Casey. Lou, we're about to show

[158:14] you some pictures that would have been

[158:16] unimaginable just a couple of weeks ago.

[158:19] This is a convoy of Mexican army troops

[158:22] crossing the Rio Grand entering the

[158:24] United States. It's the first time

[158:26] they've been this far north since the

[158:28] Mexican-American War in 1846.

[158:32] But these Mexican soldiers are unarmed.

[158:34] Some 200 are now in Texas to help

[158:37] provide humanitarian aid to victims of

[158:39] Hurricane Katrina. They've brought

[158:41] mobile kitchens, water treatment

[158:43] facilities, and medical personnel.

[158:47] >> It is very heartening when the United

[158:50] States is in a time of need that our

[158:53] good friends and neighbors in Mexico

[158:55] respond

[158:57] uh with a very generous generous offer.

[158:59] I think the uh uh the the fact that this

[159:03] is an overland con convoy is symbolic of

[159:06] that close relationship and we very much

[159:08] appreciate the Mexican people and the

[159:11] Mexican government coming to the aid of

[159:13] those who need it.

[159:15] >> A Mexican Navy ship has also arrived in

[159:18] US waters off of Mississippi with

[159:20] helicopters and other search and rescue

[159:22] equipment. Of course, as we've often

[159:24] reported, the relationship between the

[159:26] United States and Mexico has grown

[159:28] increasingly tense in recent months,

[159:30] mainly over the issue of illegal

[159:31] immigration. But for now, at least,

[159:33] there's a clear spirit of cooperation.

[159:35] We spoke with several lawmakers and

[159:37] other groups who've been sharply

[159:39] critical of the Mexican government in

[159:41] the past, and none of them found

[159:43] anything bad to say about this mission.

[159:45] Lou,

[159:46] >> in fact, there's a great deal good to

[159:47] say about this. Uh the fact is that that

[159:49] is a a great gesture, a gesture shared

[159:52] by a number of other countries. Uh any

[159:55] reason why Mexico could not send this

[159:56] aid without sending troops.

[159:59] >> Uh not sure why they couldn't send it

[160:01] without sending troops, but they do have

[160:03] an elite search and uh rescue team that

[160:05] proved itself in previous uh disasters

[160:08] in Mexico. So these were the best

[160:10] personnel that they thought they could

[160:12] send that could be of the most use to

[160:13] the United States. Lou,

[160:15] >> outstanding. And our thanks go to the

[160:16] government of Mexico. Thank you very

[160:18] much, Casey Wyatt. Mexico, of course, is

[160:20] not the only country sending aid to the

[160:22] United States after the hurricane. Here

[160:24] are just some of the many offers of aid

[160:27] from all around the world. China has

[160:29] sent 600 gas generators, almost 25,000

[160:32] bed sheets, and a thousand tents. France

[160:35] has delivered tarps, tents, and food.

[160:38] South Africa has sent a generator to

[160:40] help produce fresh drinking water. And

[160:42] the list goes on. The need is obviously

[160:45] great. And joining me now is our Chris

[160:47] Huntington. He's just returned from the

[160:50] coast of Mississippi, from Waveland to

[160:52] the west to Baloxy to Pascola. Uh Chris

[160:55] reporting spent a week there covering

[160:57] the devastation, the rescue and recovery

[160:59] effort. Chris, how would you describe

[161:01] the the scene there that you you just

[161:04] left? I would say up and down the

[161:05] Mississippi coast the situation is

[161:07] stabilizing Lou but it is very severe in

[161:09] certain pockets and that speaks to the

[161:12] uneven and I would say even confused at

[161:15] times even chaotic command and control

[161:17] situation that's on the ground. You have

[161:18] immense resources that we've been

[161:20] detailing for a week now flooding into

[161:22] the region now Mexico sending help.

[161:25] >> Absolutely. the you know we focus

[161:27] greatly because the the epicenter of

[161:29] this disaster uh is of course New

[161:32] Orleans where the greatest number of

[161:33] victims were uh where the greatest

[161:35] number of refugees were created nearly

[161:36] the entire population is now uh out of

[161:39] the city but the the entire Gulf Coast

[161:42] devastated. You're talking about an area

[161:43] that is 75 mi in length and in many

[161:47] places as far as 2 mi inland that is

[161:50] blown away, flattened or at best

[161:53] uninhabitable. It is an immense area and

[161:56] you think of trying to make sense and

[161:59] get systematic about an area that large

[162:01] that is the nature of the challenge that

[162:04] the response effort is facing and there

[162:06] are amazing efforts being made by these

[162:08] people but in many cases they are

[162:10] redundant they are without a mission

[162:12] literally we asked

[162:15] US naval officers what is your mission

[162:18] here and they didn't have a direct

[162:20] answer other than to say we're here to

[162:22] help but we don't know exactly what

[162:24] we'll be doing. Now, they are finding

[162:25] jobs. Don't get me wrong, these people

[162:26] are all willing to help. But the trouble

[162:28] is consistently from law enforcement

[162:31] coming in from out of state, civilians,

[162:33] >> volunteers,

[162:34] >> volunteers coming in from out of state.

[162:35] They're showing up and they're asking

[162:36] who's in charge. And that answer is

[162:39] often very delayed in coming. I'll give

[162:42] you a specific example that we were

[162:44] standing right next to uh a sheriff from

[162:46] Lancing, Michigan, and you see the

[162:48] insignia on the car. So, we flag these

[162:50] guys and we ask them what they're up to.

[162:52] advanced scout for a convoy of relief

[162:54] supplies trying to find out who they

[162:55] could report to and where they could set

[162:57] up. Encountered a Beluxy police officer,

[163:00] asked that question. The answer not

[163:02] immediately forthcoming. Not that it the

[163:04] answer doesn't exist, but they couldn't

[163:05] find the guy who knew where the other

[163:07] guy was, who was in charge. The most

[163:09] pointed thing that we encountered in

[163:11] terms of that speaks to to the

[163:13] disconnect that's happening throughout

[163:14] the region, FEMA came into a

[163:17] distribution center in Beluxy and

[163:21] basically Bigfooted the operation and

[163:22] said, "We want to run it and we want

[163:24] this to be the distribution center and

[163:26] people are going to come here." And the

[163:27] locals with local knowledge said, "Wait

[163:28] a minute. Folks can't get here. They

[163:31] can't We've got folks 5 miles away.

[163:33] They're not going to walk. We've got

[163:34] folks who have no gas. They can't drive.

[163:35] We need to go out to them. We know where

[163:37] they are." And there was an argument

[163:39] that we were told lasted the better part

[163:40] of a day about how that operation would

[163:42] distribute its goods.

[163:44] >> Well, that's a shame and hopefully we're

[163:46] beginning to see some considerable

[163:47] improvement in that. Uh certainly we've

[163:49] been able to report on substantial

[163:51] progress. Uh the shame is that uh the

[163:54] organization and as you put it, command

[163:55] and control has not been in place uh

[163:57] from uh even before the the strike by

[164:00] hurricane Katrina. Chris Huntington,

[164:02] thank you very much.

[164:04] Search teams are tonight stepping up

[164:06] their efforts to rescue abandoned pets

[164:08] in New Orleans as well. Rescue workers

[164:10] saying time is running out to save

[164:12] thousands of pets. Those pets have been

[164:14] without clean drinking water for more

[164:16] than a week without food. They say dogs

[164:18] are now roaming the streets in packs

[164:21] looking for food. Animal rights groups

[164:23] say pet rescuers were not allowed to

[164:25] begin their work in New Orleans until

[164:26] late Sunday. and they say rescue teams

[164:29] should have been able to move into the

[164:30] area much sooner to help save those cats

[164:33] and dogs. Still ahead here, the man who

[164:36] led New York City police during

[164:39] September 11th, a hero of September

[164:41] 11th. I'll be joined by the former New

[164:43] York City police commissioner, Bernard

[164:45] Kerry. We'll be discussing what the

[164:46] hurricane response tells him about our

[164:48] nation's disaster preparedness, also our

[164:51] nation's energy crisis. The price of

[164:53] gasoline has stopped rising, but it

[164:56] isn't falling and it may take weeks for

[164:58] motorists to see any major relief at the

[165:00] pump. Our special report is next. Stay

[165:03] with us.

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[167:08] >> Lots of criticism tonight about the

[167:09] response to this hurricane at all levels

[167:11] of government. One major issue is

[167:13] whether we have enough troops to

[167:14] adequately respond to disasters. General

[167:16] David Graange joins me now to tell us in

[167:18] his judgment whether or not that is the

[167:20] case. General Grange, good to have you

[167:22] here. Is it or is it not a valid issue?

[167:27] >> It is a valid issue. When you're

[167:29] deployed around the world at the same

[167:31] time, you have a major troop requirement

[167:34] in your homeland. Insurance a concern

[167:37] and the troops are stretched thin, but

[167:40] there are enough troops available to

[167:42] handle disaster like this if they're

[167:44] employed correctly.

[167:46] >> Have they been in your judgment deployed

[167:48] correctly as you put it? Because this it

[167:50] took a long time by any anyone's

[167:53] imagination. I know we're going to have

[167:54] congressional hearings. We're going to

[167:55] have bipartisan hearings. The fact is

[167:57] this was not a superpower's response to

[167:59] a national natural disaster.

[168:01] >> I believe it's a it's a poor response.

[168:03] And I think the issue is you cannot

[168:05] force federal troops, as an example, on

[168:08] local government. You cannot force a

[168:10] governor to mobilize national guard. You

[168:13] cannot force uh neighbor states to send

[168:16] troops to another state unless that

[168:18] governor wants that. And so it really

[168:20] does come from the bottom up. And you

[168:22] need to prepare early. You need to be

[168:24] prudent on early decisions. General, you

[168:26] you acknowledge that that did play a

[168:28] part. Yet at the same time, we heard the

[168:30] defense secretary and the chairman of

[168:32] the joint chiefs of staff say not a

[168:35] problem. Why can't we get cander and

[168:37] directness in what is patently obvious

[168:39] to anyone?

[168:40] >> Well, it's a you know, this this mission

[168:42] is a national mission from from local,

[168:45] state, and and federal levels. And uh

[168:48] everybody needs to respond immediately

[168:50] and understand their role. And it is a

[168:52] disconnect between uh you you see a lack

[168:55] of cander I think all the way around and

[168:57] and that's really kind of shameful for

[168:59] the United States of America.

[169:01] >> All I can say is amen, brother. General

[169:03] Grange, thanks for being here.

[169:05] >> Thank you.

[169:05] >> Bernard Carrick is one of the heroes of

[169:07] 9/11. As New York's police commissioner,

[169:10] Bernie Carrick helped lead the response

[169:12] to the terrorist attack. A response that

[169:13] set a standard the city of New Orleans

[169:15] did not meet in the wake of Hurricane

[169:17] Katrina. So, how much responsibility

[169:20] should local and state officials have in

[169:21] such catastrophes? Bernie Carrick is

[169:24] with me now. Bernie, good to have you

[169:25] here.

[169:25] >> Thanks.

[169:26] >> Your reaction. There's great focus on

[169:28] FEMA director Michael Brown. Uh FEMA did

[169:31] not distinguish itself. The federal

[169:33] government has not distinguished itself,

[169:34] nor have the state and local

[169:35] governments, it seems to me, at least in

[169:37] the wake of this hurricane. What is your

[169:40] What are your thoughts?

[169:42] Well, I I guess I I would agree with the

[169:44] president in uh you know, in saying that

[169:47] the response was inadequate, uh if you

[169:50] will, um the federal response and and

[169:52] the president uh took action immediately

[169:55] to fix that. But I think the rest of the

[169:58] country, the entire country has to

[169:59] realize an event like this, the primary

[170:02] responsibility lies on the local and

[170:05] state government. People tend to forget.

[170:07] They keep saying, "Well, what about New

[170:09] York? What about 9/11? I was a municipal

[170:12] police commissioner. Rudy Giuliani was

[170:14] the mayor of New York City, but he was

[170:17] the leader. He was the manager. We need

[170:20] to manage an event like this. And we had

[170:23] that in New York City.

[170:24] >> What would have been your reaction? Uh

[170:26] reports that uh hundreds of New Orleans

[170:29] police officers simply ran from this

[170:32] this tragedy.

[170:33] >> Uh you know what, Lou? I I I would hope

[170:36] that wasn't the case. And I I don't know

[170:38] if that's that's a true statement or

[170:40] not. Uh we didn't see anything like that

[170:43] on September 11th. And uh and I got I

[170:45] got to give the the members of the New

[170:47] Orleans Police and Fire departments now

[170:49] that are out there working on a daily

[170:51] basis. Uh they've got a tremendous job

[170:53] to do, a difficult job to do. Um I I

[170:57] don't understand that. Uh you know, we

[170:58] had people uh in the hole at ground

[171:01] zero. Uh all the death and destruction

[171:04] at ground zero. There was a time the

[171:06] third day in I had to force Joe Dunn, my

[171:10] first deputy, uh Joe Espazito, my chief

[171:12] of department. I had to force them to go

[171:14] home for 4 hours to get some sleep. Um I

[171:18] I don't I don't I don't know if I'm

[171:21] hopefully that wasn't the case. Uh if it

[171:23] was, I I don't understand it.

[171:25] >> Did you ever think you would see uh

[171:28] Well, let's talk first about FEMA. uh

[171:31] Michael Brown been calls for his uh

[171:33] resignation or his firing. Uh how how

[171:36] much accountability should there be?

[171:38] >> Well, I think there has to be

[171:40] accountability all the way around. I

[171:41] mean, from the state, local and federal

[171:43] level. Uh and as somebody mentioned

[171:45] earlier, one of your guests said, you

[171:47] know, there'll be hearings. Take it from

[171:49] me, there will be hearings and people

[171:51] will Monday morning quarterback and

[171:53] judge this for the next 10 years. Uh I I

[171:57] think every aspect of this has to be

[171:59] looked at. FEMA, uh DHS, uh the federal

[172:02] response, state and local response,

[172:05] everything has to be looked at and then

[172:06] the people that's responsible will make

[172:08] the decisions uh appropriately uh as we

[172:11] would in New York City.

[172:13] >> Did you think you'd ever see something

[172:14] like this?

[172:16] >> Uh you know what, Lou, it's it's a it's

[172:18] a disaster that nobody uh thinks uh you

[172:21] would see. I mean the the the damage,

[172:24] the devastation, the death. Um you know,

[172:27] but it it demonstrates how important

[172:29] preparedness is in a post 911 world.

[172:33] Personally, my opinion, my opinion only,

[172:36] I think there were many, many things

[172:38] that could have been done to prevent

[172:40] this.

[172:42] >> Lauren Carrick, as always, straight

[172:44] talking. We thank you for being here.

[172:46] >> Thank you.

[172:47] Another major question tonight is what

[172:49] has been the impact on President Bush as

[172:52] a result of this disaster? We ask our

[172:54] senior political analyst Bill Snyder to

[172:56] take a look into this. And Bill, what

[172:58] have you found?

[172:59] >> We found a big hit for President Bush's

[173:01] image. Uh he's done what his father did.

[173:03] He went from a record high after 9/11 to

[173:06] record lows in his current job approval

[173:07] ratings. Uh and in particular, he's

[173:09] taken a hit in his image as a strong

[173:12] leader. That was very powerful after

[173:14] 9/11. And now Americans haven't seen

[173:16] much leadership just as Mr. Carrick

[173:18] said. There's also been a shift in the

[173:20] agenda. Uh Americans now give priority

[173:23] to domestic issues in over the war on

[173:25] terror for the first time since 9/11.

[173:28] And that's why Democrats are coming out

[173:30] with the new aggressiveness because

[173:32] they're saying this is our agenda now.

[173:36] Bill, this the fact is in these polls he

[173:40] is uh in the lowest point of in nearly

[173:43] every poll I think every poll in point

[173:45] of fact taken recently he's at the

[173:46] lowest point of his presidency. What

[173:48] does he do now?

[173:49] >> Well, what the president obviously has

[173:51] to show he's in charge. He has to get

[173:53] this situation turned around as quickly

[173:55] as possible and convince Americans that

[173:57] he's in charge. Instead, what we're

[173:58] seeing in Washington is very

[174:00] demoralizing. Both sides are saying we

[174:02] will not play the political blame game.

[174:04] We demand bipartisanship and what are

[174:06] they doing on both sides? They're

[174:08] blaming each other. What kind of sense

[174:10] does that make?

[174:11] >> Uh assuming that wasn't a rhetorical

[174:14] question, Bill, I will answer it. None

[174:16] whatsoever. Bill Snyder, thank you.

[174:18] >> Okay.

[174:18] >> Still ahead, no relief for Americans at

[174:20] the gas pump tonight. Americans still

[174:22] paying more than $3 for a gallon of

[174:24] gasoline. We'll have that special report

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[176:46] AAA says gasoline prices are falling

[176:48] again. They say the national average is

[176:50] now $3.3 a gallon. That's down just

[176:53] about a penny. And Americans all across

[176:56] this country aren't expected to feel any

[176:57] major relief at the pump anytime soon.

[177:00] Bill Tucker has the story.

[177:03] The good news is that our energy

[177:05] infrastructure is recovering and

[177:07] gasoline prices are beginning to come

[177:09] down, but it may be a few weeks before

[177:11] consumers get some real relief at the

[177:13] pump.

[177:14] >> Prices will probably stabilize. They'll

[177:16] probably be at $3 or around three bucks

[177:19] for self-s serve. are going to let it

[177:21] for a while. I think before we get back

[177:24] to those pre- Katrina levels, it

[177:27] probably won't happen until around

[177:29] December or so. Um, I mean, that's sort

[177:32] of our our best kind of crystal ball

[177:34] sort of guess.

[177:35] >> More than half of the oil produced in

[177:37] the Gulf of Mexico remains out of

[177:39] production, while recovery of natural

[177:41] gas production is only slightly better.

[177:44] Six refineries in the region remain shut

[177:47] down with the biggest refinery,

[177:48] Chevron's Pascagula plant, not expected

[177:51] to be back up and producing for months.

[177:54] There is some hope that refineries in

[177:56] Norcco and St. Rose may return to

[177:58] production before the end of this week.

[178:01] Two of the shutdown refineries are back

[178:03] up and they're running in Convent,

[178:05] Louisiana and Sarland, Alabama. The

[178:08] bottom line is that it will cost more to

[178:10] keep warm this winter. Whether you heat

[178:13] with natural gas, electricity, or home

[178:15] heating oil, but the Energy Information

[178:17] Administration does expect gasoline

[178:20] prices to decline.

[178:22] >> Our medium recovery projection for

[178:24] gasoline is about uh 260 a gallon for

[178:28] the fourth quarter. Uh which uh sounds a

[178:31] lot by historical standards, but by the

[178:33] prices I saw today, many people would

[178:35] probably welcome that. Uh for next year

[178:38] we're looking at an average of about

[178:40] 240.

[178:42] >> Now who had ever thought that 240 a

[178:44] gallon would have sounded good. A lot of

[178:46] that scenario depends on how quickly

[178:47] those refineries can get back online.

[178:49] And Lou Chevron's Pascula plant is

[178:51] severely damaged and they don't know

[178:53] when that's coming back up.

[178:54] >> 240 a gallon. That sounds pretty

[178:56] optimistic right now. I think everybody

[178:58] in the country would sign up for it.

[178:59] Bill Tucker, thank you. Finally tonight,

[179:01] Pulitzer Prizewinning New York Times

[179:03] reporter Judith Miller has been in

[179:05] prison now for 64 days for protecting

[179:06] her confidential sources in the White

[179:08] House CIA leak case. Thanks for being

[179:11] with us tonight. Please join us here

[179:12] tomorrow. For all of us, good night from

[179:14] New York. A special edition of Anderson

[179:16] Cooper 360 starts right now. Anderson

[179:20] Lou, thanks very much. Good evening from

[179:21] New Orleans. All the latest breaking

[179:23] news on the disaster. Plus, no

[179:25] politicians, no bureaucrats, just

[179:27] heroes. People on the ground saving

[179:29] lives unaided and alone. It is 4 pm on

[179:32] the West Coast, 700 p.m. on the East,

[179:34] and 6 PM in the bleaguered but still

[179:37] surviving city of New Orleans. 360

[179:39] starts now.

[179:41] >> Tonight, Angels in the Storm, a special

[179:44] edition of Anderson Cooper 360.

[179:47] 10 days after Katrina, the Coast Guard

[179:49] and those brave guys dangling below the

[179:51] helicopters