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American Morning

Mayor of New Orleans Demanding More Help; President Bush Expected to Survey Damage on the Ground

Aired September 02, 2005 - 08:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A developing story overnight in New Orleans. Explosions heard. Now reports of a chemical fire in the city. The morning begins with more chaos and the mayor of New Orleans is demanding much more help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM WWL RADIO INTERVIEW)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: I need reinforcements. I need troops, man. I need 500 buses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: In Houston, new pictures overnight of the evacuees who have made it to the Astrodome. Already, though, questions -- can the stadium handle the flood of people? It's quickly spilling over into the nearby arena.

And heading to the communities destroyed by Katrina, President Bush is expected to survey the damage on the ground.

Those stories ahead on this AMERICAN MORNING.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning and welcome.

I'm Miles O'Brien reporting live this morning from New Orleans' Louis Armstrong International Airport. It's hard to believe I walked through here on Sunday, through this very terminal, and it was a typical airline terminal. Today it has become what amounts to, well, you might think of a MASH unit. It's not MASH. This is a disaster medical assistance team which is coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

These are people who were unable to evacuate themselves as Katrina bore down on the City of New Orleans. They have since been airlifted to this point, where they're being evaluated by medical personnel. Many of them were in bad shape before Katrina ever happened and their situation is made worse, of course, by the fact that they were enduring the storm and having to weather the storm. And it took some time for them to get here.

And, of course, we've all heard the story of what is going on inside the hospitals that have run out of electricity and water and the like. Imagine trying to do medical care without all of that.

This is a transshipment point. These people will be sent on, evaluated and sent on to other medical facilities that are not affected and taken care of.

It is a chaotic, overwhelming scene but it is a scene of great heroism and also, quite frankly, it is one of the more organized things that anybody has going right now in the City of New Orleans.

We'll talk more to some of the people here who are doing all the things to try to keep these people safe and healthy as they move on to really uncertain destinations -- Soledad.

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

We'll talk a little bit about more chaotic scenes, that explosion and fire, for example, early this morning. It happened just across the Mississippi River from the famed French Quarter in the Algiers Section. The concussion felt for miles, though. Flames lit up the sky.

Chris Lawrence is joining us by videophone -- Chris, now that the light is up, we can actually get a pretty good picture of it over your shoulder.

Where did this happen? What's the latest? Have they sent HAZMAT teams in yet? Are there HAZMAT teams to send?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are HAZMAT teams here in New Orleans, Soledad, and they have been dispatched to that area. Right now there is a thick cloud of black smoke that is covering an area of downtown. It's almost like a black rainbow over downtown New Orleans.

Let's let you take a listen to what we heard and saw as we woke up this morning.

That was the explosion that got everybody up and running here at the police station in New Orleans this morning, an explosion at a chemical plant or warehouse across the Mississippi River.

We've now learned that at least one officer, perhaps more than one, was -- has been overcome by the fumes and is being treated. But apparently the police have been in contact with the building's owner, who says there are no hazardous materials inside the building.

As far as security is concerned, police have been taking fire at times overnight. They have returned fire on the ground. People blatantly firing on a police station here. There's a sign here at this police station that they put up called Fort Apache and they have been defending it just like the real one.

As far as the human toll here, we can tell you that the police are saying their goal is to have the Louisiana Superdome completely evacuated by the end of the day today -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Chris, a quick question for you. Here's how it looks from here. It looks as if things are deteriorating even more today than yesterday.

Is that fair to say?

LAWRENCE: I think it's fair to say. I mean any time that you've got police holed up in a police station trying to defend it, you know, that tells you this is unlike any other American city in the country. And from what we're hearing, these officers who are here are some of the ones who have stuck around, because some officers have deserted their posts. So the officers who are left, they're doing it with less manpower, trying to do what they can to keep as much of the peace as possible.

But it is tough out there.

S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, I cannot believe that we are talking about New Orleans today, that we are talking about New Orleans.

Chris Lawrence for us.

Chris, thanks.

New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, is pleading for more help from Washington, D.C. He's also lashing out at federal relief efforts so far.

In an interview he did last night with Garland Robinette of WWL Radio, you can hear his anger and his frustration, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM WWL RADIO INTERVIEW)

GARLAND ROBINETTE, WWL RADIO: Have you talked with the president?

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

ROBINETTE: What is he saying?

NAGIN: ... the 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'll tell you, man, Garland, I keep hearing that it's coming. This is coming, that is coming. And my answer to that today is B.S. where is the beef?

ROBINETTE: What...

NAGIN: Because there is no beef in this city. There's no beef anywhere in southeast Louisiana and these (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) ships that are coming, I don't see them.

Now, I will tell you this, and I give the president some credit on this. He sent one John Wayne dude down here that can get some stuff done. And his name is General Honore. And he came off the doggone chopper and he started cussing and people started moving. And he's getting some stuff done.

They ought to give that guy -- if they don't want to give it to me, give him full authority to get the job done, and we can save some people.

ROBINETTE: What do you need right now to get control of this situation?

NAGIN: I need reinforcements. I need troops, man. I need 500 buses, man. What are they talking about, you know, one of the briefings we had they were talking about getting, you know, public school bus drivers to come down here and bus people out of here. I'm like you've got to be kidding me. This is a natural disaster. Get every doggone Greyhound bus line in the country and get their (OBSCENE WORD OMITTED) moving to New Orleans.

That's, they're thinking small, man. And this is a major, major, major deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: The mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. And he is saying I need reinforcements, I need troops. It's a major American city asking for help again today.

President Bush is going to make several stops today in the areas devastated by the hurricane. We're going to tell you what his plans are today. He should get to New Orleans, though, get on the ground in New Orleans or fly over New Orleans around 2:30 in the afternoon today.

Much more on exactly what's coming to us out of New Orleans, the latest on the fire we've been telling you about, also, the evacuation efforts, the folks who are still in the Superdome, trying to make their way to the Astrodome, which is now full, and how that's spilling over.

We've got all those -- updates on all those situations coming up in just a few moments.

Stay with us.

You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

We've been reporting all morning on the chaos out of New Orleans today. And the numbers of dead apparently growing every single hour. Similar loss to tell you about in Mississippi, as well. And, in fact, you may remember the story of one man -- his name is Hardy Jackson, in Mississippi. You might recall that he cried to a reporter as he told her that he was searching for his wife, who he could not help during the storm.

Let's listen to her piece.

Her name is Jennifer Mayerle and she's from WKRG-TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

HARDY JACKSON, SURVIVOR: I tried, I tried, I tried to save you. I tried, baby. Why did you let go? Why?

JENNIFER MAYERLE, WKRG-TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the first time Hardy Jackson has been back to the place where he lost his wife. He wanted to say good-bye.

JACKSON: She told me no matter what happens, Hardy, she said if we do fall in, she said hold onto to something. Just hold there and I'll get you, because I could swim. And she could swim.

MAYERLE: The house split in two and Tony was swept away by the storm surge. Hardy clung to a tree, about to let go himself.

JACKSON: Until this man, Mr. Suarez, he called me, "Hardy!" I was screaming, hollering and shaking, you know, being like there, you know, for four or five hours.

MAYERLE: Ronnie Suarez pulled Hardy to safety.

JACKSON: For you did for me, man, that morning, I just want to say it again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

RONNIE SUAREZ: OK, brother.

JACKSON: Thank you. Thank you.

MAYERLE: First neighbors, now forever friends. Hardy Jackson has a long road ahead. Authorities told him his wife's body was found nearby. But he hasn't been able to identify her yet. He tried to walk to the temporary morgue in Gulfport, some 12 miles away, but couldn't make it on his own. So we helped him make the trip, only to be met with discouraging news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody that came from Biloxi would have stayed in Biloxi. They're only bringing bodies out of Harrison County here. So if she was over in Biloxi, they kept her body in Biloxi.

MAYERLE: Hardy knows his love of 29 years is gone. He says he'll stay strong to take care of his family, Tony's last wish.

JACKSON: It's just, it hurts. This hurts. But I ain't going to give up. I'm going to try to do my best to raise my kids, like I been doing.

MAYERLE: He found one picture encrusted in mud that he'll treasure. Her love and kindness will stay in his heart forever. So will the words of encouragement from people around the country.

(on camera): "I was in tears as he told his story. Is there any way I can send a check to you to give to Mr. Jackson?" (voice-over): He says the nation has given him hope.

JACKSON: There's still, there's still good people in the world. I want to say thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. I never can stop thanking you. Thank you.

MAYERLE: In Biloxi, Mississippi, Jennifer Mayerle, News 5.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: The story of Hardy Jackson still, of course, unfinished at this time.

Let's get right back to Miles -- Miles, good morning again.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning again, Soledad.

You know, we've been telling you about the evacuees and the trip between the domes, from Superdome to Astrodome. And, of course, this morning the story that the fire marshal in Houston has essentially stopped allowing evacuees inside the Astrodome. His contention is that it is full. The officials there in Houston and in Texas say other facilities will be identified to take care of these evacuees.

One of the people in limbo -- and there are lots of them as the buses continue to arrive there -- the buses are in the pipeline -- is Avery Clark.

He joins us now from Houston.

Avery, what are they telling you there?

AVERY CLARK, HURRICANE EVACUEE: Well, right now they're saying you need to sign up and try to seek medical help before you can receive anything. And they said that when you sign up...

M. O'BRIEN: Are they telling you whether you'll be able to get inside the Astrodome?

CLARK: The Astrodome, there's no hope for me right now. It's over full. The best thing they said to do is go seek and get medical help and I guess I'll have to take it from there. The Astrodome is out.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, when you say take it from there, though, you're there with nothing -- transportation, money...

CLARK: Well...

M. O'BRIEN: ... all the things you need to go seek medical care.

What are you going to do?

CLARK: I'm going to go over here and get the medical care that I need. But I may decide days that are worse than this. So, you know, I have a few dollars that I had stashed, that I made it through with. And hopefully I can find a hotel or something to get my family to get fresh clothes, something to eat, you know? We just have to pull through this together.

M. O'BRIEN: What...

CLARK: We made it this far. There was 12 of us and we made it this far...

M. O'BRIEN: Well, and...

CLARK: ... and there's been -- and it was a worse situation in New Orleans than this. And I was able to get water and food for them. So, I mean, I have my health and strength. I just have to see if I can get a newspaper or something and see can I start trying to get me a job or something.

M. O'BRIEN: Avery, do you feel as if officials there in Houston are making it more difficult than it needs to be for the evacuees? What is the general sense there among evacuees who know now that they won't be getting inside the Astrodome?

CLARK: Well, the thing of it is the situation from New Orleans, it's like flashbacks. I've been from the convention center to the Superdome. People piled on top of people, falling out, people dying, bodies floating. I mean then you have to come back to a situation to be piled up with maybe, I don't know, 60,000 or 70,000 more people still dehydrated, dirty and haven't taken a bath. You don't know what the next move is going to be, you know? We don't know how long, if I was able to get in, how long would I be in there without clothes, a hot bath and a hot meal.

M. O'BRIEN: Avery Clark, we wish you and your family well, as you move on, and on a course that obviously is just not very clear right now. Who knows where it will end? -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles, it is shocking to me that this is a man who's looking for a job? I mean shouldn't he be looking for a shelter, for a bed, for someone to feed and clothe the 12 members of his family that he's been able to get out of town with?

The complete and utter breakdown in any kind of system of an event that, frankly, we know has been predicted for a long time.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, and I mean I think we should caution folks, just remember, the people of Texas have opened their arms up to these evacuees and have said they would take tens of thousands. But the reality is turning out not to be -- well, it's a grim reality because it is such an overwhelming number, at the very least. And there are personal stories which are difficult to swallow through all of this. And I just hope that people like this don't get the runaround. That's the last thing they need -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: You're 100 percent right.

All right, Miles, we've got a short break. Still to come this morning, expects warned that New Orleans was vulnerable to catastrophic hurricanes. So why did the warnings seem to go unheeded? We'll take a closer look at that just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: For decades, we've heard that those protective levees of New Orleans were vulnerable to the big one, a category four or a five hurricane. Well, Katrina was a category four storm and we are witnessing the disastrous results.

Three years ago, the "New Orleans Times-Picayune" ran a five part series, an award winning series. And it was called "Washing Away: How South Louisiana Is Growing More Vulnerable To A Catastrophic Hurricane."

Joining us this morning from Washington is one of the series' writers, John McQuaid.

John, thanks for talking with us this morning.

I want to read a couple of the words from this article, the series of articles: "Surging water," you wrote, "is the biggest threat to New Orleans. Whoever remains in the city will be at grave risk."

You went on to write this: "Tens of thousands more would be stranded on rooftops and on high ground, awaiting rescues that could take days or longer."

You quoted the Red Cross in this series of articles as saying there will be a very big death toll, a very high death toll.

This was three years ago.

Was there no plan that followed out of your five part award winning series?

JOHN MCQUAID, "NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE": There were a number of responses. The Corps of Engineers had begun a study to look at what it would take to upgraded the levee system, which was never designed for this type of storm. But they were very early in that process and it was not clear if it was going to go forward.

There were responses from emergency managers, trying to come up with plans for this type of contingency. Those had also just started to get off the ground. And so basically we were not ready for the situation, which is obvious now.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, clearly. But, you know, FEMA did a drill. They actually did this exact drill over the summer, last summer. I know people in the military who took part in this drill, a category five storm hits New Orleans. And so obviously people knew there was some kind of a problem. Was the basic idea well, we'll all sit around and just cross our fingers and not confront the reality of what clearly has already been written about and laid out as a potential catastrophe?

MCQUAID: Yes. I mean, basically to respond to something like this, you need sustained attention. You need lots of money. You need coordination from the highest levels of government and preparation. And, you know, obviously, you know, at lower levels there was some activity going on. People were paying attention. But it just never came to fruition.

S. O'BRIEN: So was everybody aware there was a problem?

I mean it certainly couldn't have been a surprise to the Army Corps of Engineers. They knew how risky this whole levee system has been and is.

I mean who's been surprised here?

MCQUAID: No one who has paid attention to this situation in the past five to 10 years is surprised that -- at what happened. People who haven't been paying attention are obviously stunned. And, yes, there was sort of a cross your fingers mentality. Something like this depends on a storm hitting at a very precise angle, at a very precise strength, which is relatively unlikely. And so it's hard if you're in Congress or the Corps of Engineers to make an argument to say look, we need billions of dollars to fix this problem when you can't exactly quantify, you know, whether it's going to happen next year or in 100 years.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, I guess I hear you on that with the specific angle. But, of course, the idea that hurricanes come into New Orleans all the time, a lot, during hurricane season, the idea that it's a city that's below sea level, I mean did anything come out of your series of articles? You won awards for it, but did someone say wow, this is a big problem, we need to implement something?

MCQUAID: Well, obviously the flip side of this is if you have a -- such a severe vulnerability as New Orleans, that it doesn't matter, you know, if it's not going to happen once in 500 years, you need to prepare for it. And so that's sort of the message we're getting here.

Our series did not really generate a lot of response in terms of the category four or five storm hitting New Orleans and the bowl filling. There was some response, you know, there was a bunch of issues with coastal restoration. Coastal restoration is a whole other problem which also contributes to flooding in the area.

So we got some response to that. But Louisiana is a very complex environment. There are all these different problems that they're dealing with and so the focus was not on the, you know, the worst case scenario.

S. O'BRIEN: John McQuaid of the "New Orleans Times-Picayune."

I know that some of your colleagues are there and that you just started printing the paper again today.

Thanks for your time this morning.

MCQUAID: They're.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come, what's going to be the political fallout from the catastrophe? You're looking at some live pictures, aerial pictures of, it looks like rail cars -- we lost our signal there, but that is the follow-up from the fire.

We're going to bring you more information on what happened there. We'll take a closer look at that and also we'll take a closer look at the upcoming political fallout. We're talking about finger pointing, who is to blame? A lot of discussion about that ahead, as well.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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