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American Morning

Interview With Governor Kathleen Blanco; State of Emergency in New Orleans

Aired September 02, 2005 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. It's half past the hour on this AMERICAN MORNING. Our coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues.
Let's get right to Miles. He's at the New Orleans Airport this morning.

Miles, what's the situation where you are?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Chaotic in a word. Soledad, it's a word that is fast becoming -- it may sound to our viewers overused, but it is a word that applies.

But there is an ordered chaos here, which comes out of the professionalism of these medical personnel. Truly what it is, is a tremendous effort on the part of these people from the air crews all the way on down to the medical personnel to do their job under incredibly dire circumstances, and in a situation where they are completely overwhelmed and really without the full capabilities that they would have in a typical emergency room, as we spoke with Sanjay Gupta a few moments ago. For example, they can't handle people on ventilators here.

So, this has become a hub of activity for the medical evacuations that have been occurring. This is a place really where patients should come to be sent on to other medical centers, where they will receive proper treatment.

But you can imagine what we're talking about here, Soledad, are the people who just had no way of evacuating, you know. You hear from people all the time, well, the people in New Orleans should have heeded the calls to evacuate, and that's why there is trouble in New Orleans.

Well, whether you agree with that point or not, these people here had no choice in the matter. These are elderly people. These are infirmed people. These are handicapped people who were in nursing homes and hospitals. Some in their homes who had no way to do any sort of evacuation on their own.

The governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, is with us now.

Governor, thank you for being with us.

GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, LOUISIANA: Thank you, Miles. M. O'BRIEN: There's a report in the "Times-Picayune" a New Orleans paper, this morning that of approximately 1,500 people waiting for rescue in a place called a Chalmette Slip area of New Orleans, 199 of them have perished while waiting to be rescued. What can you tell us that?

BLANCO: Miles, we have people going out there. We've been in touch with them. We've been working hard. We just did not have enough resource in a timely fashion.

I asked the president to send me 40,000 troops to help with all manner of activity, including transporting people and getting our rescue efforts reinforced. We still have a lot of people who are in need of rescuing.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, first of all, could you confirm that story for us before we move on here and talk about that larger issue? Did this, in fact, happen?

BLANCO: Well...

M. O'BRIEN: Did 100 people die there waiting to be picked up?

BLANCO: Miles, I cannot confirm that for you. There is nothing that would surprise me at this point in time, because of the depth of the tragedy and the seriousness and the vastness of the situation. When your whole civilization, your whole network of civilization falls apart, when you have no communications capacity, when you don't have power, you don't have -- and water incapacitates you, anything can happen. And it is, and it has happened.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about that request for federal troops, 40,000 federal troops. When did you make that request? Was it on your first phone call to President Bush?

BLANCO: OK. My first phone call -- or my first conversation with President Bush was asking for all federal firepower. I mean, I meant everything. Just send it. Give me planes, give me boats...

M. O'BRIEN: But did you specifically ask -- governor, did you specifically ask for troops? Did you ask that the Pentagon deploy troops? Because that is a very specific request that a governor...

BLANCO: We had...

M. O'BRIEN: ... needs to make of the federal government.

BLANCO: We had troops -- we had troops being deployed. We had the first wave of troops being deployed at the level of 12,000. But before we even got to 12,000, I asked for 40,000. So, you know, I saw that we needed to raise capacity...

M. O'BRIEN: When did you make that request, though?

BLANCO: Miles, I'm lost in the days.

M. O'BRIEN: When did you make that request? OK.

BLANCO: I don't even know what today is.

M. O'BRIEN: On Wednesday morning...

BLANCO: I made that request perhaps Wednesday.

M. O'BRIEN: When you spoke...

BLANCO: I announced it...

M. O'BRIEN: All right.

BLANCO: ... whatever day I announced it. But on Tuesday...

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, it clearly...

BLANCO: ... we didn't have the 12,000 that I had asked for. On Tuesday, the day after the hurricane, you know, the ramp-up was not as rapid as we needed.

M. O'BRIEN: Do you fault yourself for not asking for troops sooner?

BLANCO: Miles, I asked for everything the federal government could possibly deliver. You know, I'm a governor. You know, I think that people in the field were analyzing the situation. It was -- it was deteriorating. In the first instance, we didn't have all of the water in the streets. Then the dike broke.

You know, everything has changed so dramatically. You know, I'm not going to stand here and play the blame game. We have a problem. You know, I say let's get to the problems. We'll talk about all of the circumstances later. But, you know, everybody here...

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Then let's...

BLANCO: ... looks at it, looks in the mirror and says...

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the problem then.

BLANCO: ... I wish I would have known this an hour earlier. I could of done this an hour earlier or a day earlier.

But, you know, we're asking for ramp-up. It has finally arrived or is in the process of arriving. It just takes a while.

And I'll tell you something, we are all frustrated. The biggest thing that we needed was buses. You know, If we'd been able to get buses in a day earlier, we wouldn't have had the kind of chaos, the kind of deteriorating situation that was there. We were told 500 buses were on the way.

M. O'BRIEN: Before you get away, let's...

BLANCO: We needed 5,000. We didn't even know that at the time. M. O'BRIEN: Before you get away, how many boots are on the ground now in New Orleans? And how soon will we begin to see that show of federal support that you have asked for from the Pentagon upwards of 40,000 troops? How soon?

BLANCO: Well, I think you're going to see a show of force today and in the days to come. Now, we don't need it just there. We need it in communities all across the state. We need help, because we've doubled the size of many communities.

M. O'BRIEN: So, can you give us specifics? What has the Pentagon told you about when these troops will be here?

BLANCO: They said -- well, I think, you know, you're going to see them arriving. I believe at the airport you're seeing arrivals. You'll see them all day today. We've seen them last night, yesterday afternoon. You know, finally we see some progress. The response time...

M. O'BRIEN: Is it too little, too late, though?

BLANCO: ... never is adequate. It's never too late. We've still got thousands and thousands of people that we have to solve problems for. We have huge numbers of survivors, of displaced people. You know, we've got to create some order out of a chaotic situation.

M. O'BRIEN: Governor Kathleen Blanco, thanks for your time.

Let's check some other headlines. Carol Costello in New York with that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News."

Congress is expected to send $10.5 billion in aid to Katrina survivors. Senators approved an emergency measure last night. The House plans to take up the legislation later today. President Bush has said that more funds would follow.

In the meantime, the president is getting another closer look at the hurricane-devastated Gulf Coast this morning. Less than two hours from now, the president is expected to head out to Mobile, Alabama. He'll survey the coast by helicopter with a stop planned in Mississippi. He's also expected to deliver remarks from the city of New Orleans, but that part of his trip could change. We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, First Lady Laura Bush is expected to be in Louisiana to meet with those seeking shelter in the Cajun Dome Arena.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is angry. He's accusing federal officials of thinking small and dragging their feet in responding to the urgent needs of the people of New Orleans. In an interview with WWL Radio's Garland Robinette, Mayor Nagin says he needs military troops and hundreds of buses. But so far, officials are giving him empty promises.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: I've talked directly with the president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did he say?

NAGIN: I've talked to the head of homeland security. I've talked to everybody under the sun. I've been out there, man. I flew these helicopters, been in the crowds, talking to people, crying don't know where their relatives are. I've done it all, man. And I tell you, man, Garland, I keep hearing that it's coming. This is coming, that is coming. And my answer to that is today is B.S., where is the beef?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

COSTELLO: We'll hear much more from Mayor Nagin's interview in the next hour.

Delta Airlines is sending a jet to pick up some Katrina evacuees from New Orleans. A flight that had brought relief supplies to the city Thursday morning came back with about 140 people. Passengers that did not have a place to stay in Atlanta were being flown to other cities at Delta's expense.

Rock and roll legend Fats Domino, among the lucky ones, being plucked from the flooded-out city of New Orleans. The singer's daughter says she saw a picture of the rescue in a New York newspaper. It's not clear where the 77-year-old singer has been since the rescue. Also friends said there was no word on the whereabouts of his wife, Rosemary.

And finally, some celebrities are putting their money to work. Sean Diddy Combs -- or it's just Diddy Combs now, I guess, and Jay-Z have pledged $1 million to the American Red Cross. The two rappers announced their joint donation Thursday, saying they hoped it would inspire others to give.

Also making donations, Celine Dion and the partners of her Las Vegas show, "A New Day," and Oscar winner Nicolas Cage, who has a home in New Orleans. Each is donating $1 million.

And, Soledad, many more just common folks are donating money as well. The Red Cross received literally millions of dollars from many other generous Americans.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and they need absolutely every single dime as well. Carol, thanks.

Much more to tell you about, because we've got to turn to Mississippi now. The devastation there is so massive and so widespread that authorities can't even get to some places to even start searching for survivors.

Let's take an aerial view now of downtown Biloxi. This is the before picture. OK. Now let's take a look at the after picture. Everything leveled. Everything just wiped out. Downed trees, a sea of debris.

We want to go to Kathleen Koch. She's live in Biloxi for us.

We haven't seen, Kathleen, the looting that we've been seeing in New Orleans. But what's the situation like where you are?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Soledad, basically, dawn is breaking here on another day, where truly an altered state of reality prevails, where people live, exist and function in the middle of massive piles of debris, where bodies are found on a daily basis in the rubble.

The death toll, officials estimate right now in the state of Mississippi, at 126. But everyone knows that that is low. It's a very low estimate. It's going to be much, much higher.

Some 900,000 people in the state are still without power. There hasn't been the degree of looting that there has been in New Orleans. But it's still a great concern here.

Some aid has finally begun trickling in. A military helicopter landed yesterday here in Biloxi, began off-loading supplies. Dozens of people when they found out about it began to line up to get what they could.

But obviously, as you said, the devastation is spread up and down the entire length of the 78-mile-long Mississippi Gulf Coast. I made my way yesterday to the town where I had grown up, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. I found that my high school, Bay Senior High School, has been turned into a shelter for some 600 people.

The main artery that used to connect our part of the coast to the rest of it, a two-mile-long bridge, has been torn down by Hurricane Katrina. People now stand where the bridge was and try to make phone calls.

My house is gone. The business my family used to run is gone. But it's the same story for so many people -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Kathleen, I saw your report. And it was utterly heartbreaking. I mean, really, it brought everybody who was watching just to tears to see how bad it is and how bad it's going to be until some help gets in there. Have you seen any kind of military presence, any kind of help?

KOCH: I will tell you that when we arrived here in Gulfport, just to the west of here on Tuesday, the National Guard was there in the streets of downtown. We saw them there keeping watch. They were beginning to clear the downtown area there.

Then when we were in Waveland and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, yesterday, we saw the National Guard there. But FEMA and the Red Cross, we saw the first Red Cross officials yesterday morning in Biloxi. And we were stunned, because we've all been here for days, and we don't know why it's taken so long.

S. O'BRIEN: Kathleen Koch for us. Kathleen, thanks.

Still to come this morning, we're going to bring you the very latest from Louie Armstrong Airport right here in New Orleans. It's become this MASH unit now. We'll talk to one of the FEMA officials that is there on the ground. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Miles O'Brien live from New Orleans Armstrong Airport. We're in the west terminal, which is a busy place, a busy place for really all of the wrong reasons.

What you're seeing here in operation is a disaster medical assistance team coordinated by the federal government. It is an effort to treat patients, people who could not evacuate themselves, and evaluate them and move them on to other medical centers able to take care of them now. Obviously, the city of New Orleans and the medical centers there can't handle this pressing situation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN (voice over): At New Orleans Louis Armstrong Airport, the helicopters are flying a carefully-choreographed ballet, arriving at a sad stop on a long journey with no end in sight, carried on conveyors and carts into a terminal that is now all about triage. They are the oldest, the sickest, the most frail, and they are flown here, grasped by caring hands, medical workers here from all over the country to do what they can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1, 2, 3!

M. O'BRIEN: Treat those who can be helped. Make the others as comfortable as they can be.

They were injured in the storm or ill before Katrina, and further battered by their ordeal. They are mothers clutching newborns or, in this case, simply photos. She, on her way to Houston. Her baby's destination for now unknown.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

One of the people in charge here is Captain George Havens. And he is with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as the military.

Captain Havens, seen here, it's just truly overwhelming to me. I'm a layperson. You, as an expert in this, is a bit of overwhelming as well? CAPT. GEORGE HAVENS, FEMA: It's been very busy. At times it can seem overwhelming. It's been a steady flow of patients. But our medical teams that are here have stepped up to it, and they're keeping pace with it.

M. O'BRIEN: Truly, I've said it several times this morning already, I don't think it can be said enough, the efforts of the staff here are heroic. And having said all of that, the conditions are difficult.

HAVENS: The conditions are difficult, but this is what the National Disaster Medical System does. We respond to disasters, provide medical care as it's needed. And this is our job.

M. O'BRIEN: I want to make it clear here, this is not like a full-fledged what you'd expect from a MASH unit in a military environment, with surgery and the capability of handling all kinds of other things. This is more of a quick evaluation type of situation, right?

HAVENS: Well, it is a quick evaluation, but that's just the first step. We do not do surgery, but we can treat patients all the way from critical patients that need ventilators and some of those critical care items, all the way to those that just have contusions and bruises.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We just heard from Sanjay Gupta, who is at Charity Hospital. There is a presumption out there I guess at the hospitals that you can't handle patients with vents. Can you?

HAVENS: Yes we can. We have ventilators in stock here, and we can certainly treat them. We've been getting those patients from the hospitals regularly.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We need to get that word to Charity Hospital, because apparently they are under the assumption that you can't accept them. So maybe there is a communication gap here. We certainly would understand that, given the circumstances. Give us a sense, if you can, of the numbers, the number of people coming in, the number of people being dispatched. And where are they going?

HAVENS: We've certainly seen thousands of patients up till this time. We typically treat them medically here. We move them into another area for evacuation out of here by the military. And that's been going on since we first hit the ground.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. As I understand, for example, yesterday, 500 patients were dispatched out of here between 2:00 and 9:00. And they were going just to regional centers all around a radius around New Orleans.

HAVENS: Actually, a lot of the people that are flying out are flying out to other states for follow-on treatment.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. How long can you keep going doing this? HAVENS: We can go on as long as we get re-supply. When we first hit the ground we're good for 72 hours. And as long as we can keep that supply chain in place we can keep going.

M. O'BRIEN: I have the sense of watching this that there is -- it is chaos. It is overwhelming. But it is organized.

HAVENS: It is organized chaos. There is a fog of chaos sometimes. But this is what we do. This is our job.

M. O'BRIEN: Captain George Havens, keep up the good work here. And we wish you well in that effort.

HAVENS: Thank you, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: We'll be back with more AMERICAN MORNING in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. You're looking at some of the first pictures that we've had a chance to bring to you. This is a fire taking place apparently at a rail yard, on fire, some of these boxcars across the river from the French Quarter. At least one big explosion was reported earlier this morning.

And, of course, at the time when there is no other light in the city of New Orleans, it stuck out. Very loud, also very bright. It was believed to have started near the railroad district. It took place about 4:30 in the morning. And authorities have sent in -- or we should say are trying to send in hazmat teams, because they're concerned about what might be inside some of these cars, these railroad cars.

They heard a big boom is what they reported to us. And they've been hearing gunfire all night. But, of course, these are some of the first pictures we're seeing from the scene.

Let's talk business news now. Thousands of complaints about price gouging at the pump are sparking demands on Capitol Hill for investigation.

Andy Serwer is "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: You knew it was going to happen.

SERWER: Oh, absolutely. Over 5,000 complaints to the Department of Energy yesterday alone, Soledad. And gasoline prices soaring.

This just in from AAA. They say the new national average price of gasoline, $2.81. They've been raising it. They can't keep up with the price increases. I think a lot of people in the United States would be happy to pay 2.81. In Georgia, the reports of $6-plus gasoline. More lines, more shortages. Particularly complaints coming from North Carolina, Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania.

And, of course, with this holiday weekend coming, this could really get pretty ugly.

But, of course, and this is very legitimate. People are being urged not to panic. Please don't top off your tank. Don't buy extra gasoline. People trying to arbitrage a little bit, buying gas now before they think the price will go up later. That is a very difficult situation, but it's understandable.

Let's talk a little bit about the supply chain here of petroleum. We have some pictures from a big oil rig out in the Gulf. This is the Mars platform, owned by Royal Dutch Shell, a multi-multimillion-dollar platform. You can see the damage there is extensive.

The federal government may encourage new refinery construction. Nine refineries are still shut down in the Gulf region. And that's 11 percent of U.S. capacity, Soledad. So still a lot of problems on that front.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and encouraging, great in the long run maybe, but certainly no relief in the short-term for people.

SERWER: Absolutely. It will take a long time to build.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thanks.

SERWER: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Coming up in just a moment, the very latest out of New Orleans. The city is slipping now even further into chaos this morning. It's been rocked by at least one explosion. We're showing you some of the pictures. Gunfire continues to echo across the city. Some of the gangs are now heavily armed and outnumbering the police officers. Much more on all of this ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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