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American Morning
Hurricane Katrina's Aftermath
Aired September 03, 2005 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of National Guard troops fanning out across the hurricane zone, and now reinforcements are on the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today I ordered the Department of Defense to deploy additional active duty forces to the region.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
President Bush directing more than 7,000 additional troops to assist in the massive Katrina relief effort. Aid is now pouring into the Gulf Coast region, disaster relief visible on the streets of New Orleans, along with vocal leadership of Army Commander Lieutenant General Russell Honore.
And Texas is home, for now, to more than 153,000 evacuees. You see a few of them there in the Astrodome. It's full, though. Houston's mayor says he'll find room for all, however. A live report just ahead on a special weekend edition of AMERICAN MORNING.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back, everybody. We're coming to you live, these are live pictures at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The pace has picked up. Evacuees arriving more and more every single hour. Early this morning we had one helicopter every couple of minutes. Now we've got at least eight, nine, ten on the tarmac, 11, a couple more in the air, and people are coming in by the hundreds.
Here's the question, where are you going to put them? Some of the most seriously wounded will be evacuated out to area hospitals or hospitals in other states. But for those who are just now evacuees, who have no place to go, and who are searching for their loved ones who they lost or left behind, they now begin another phase in a chaotic process.
It is really quite a sight to imagine that this is a major American airport that is now become essentially a military field hospital. Miles, we're going to have lots of reports, obviously, this morning from where we are, and also take a look at some of the implications now. The storm is way past, but the effects will be felt for a long, long time.
M. O'BRIEN: It is precious baggage indeed, Soledad. Thank you very much. We'll get back to you very shortly. Every hour, we are bringing you the most critical issues facing Katrina survivors. We begin with evacuations. Thousands of people are still in their homes, stuck in their attics, on the roofs. This tape is from this morning. They're still there on their deck, waiting for somebody. Helicopter -- I think it was about two hours ago.
More than 350,000 homes in New Orleans damaged or destroyed. I'll say that again, 350,000 homes. Ninety percent, nine-zero percent, of the city is out of commission. Just take a moment to think about that. That's amazing numbers.
Meanwhile, the effort to pump out the floodwater, not an easy one. The Army Corps of Engineers bringing in pumps and generators from around the country. This is at the 17th Street breach, on the levee that kind of start the whole dominoes tumbling. They're breaking some levees deliberately, however, to allow the floodwater to run out. I don't quite fully understand how this all works, but they're engineers, after all.
Let's go to New Orleans now, get on the ground, and see what's going on. We've been saying all morning that a corner has been turned. Jeff Koinange is at the convention center where there has been so much concern about, well, just horrific conditions. And the general sense is, first of all, as you can see behind him, there's presence of authority there, which is a good sign that things are getting better there.
Jeff, bring us up to date.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, like you said, right outside this convention center. This has been the home to thousands of people all this week, Miles. And, you know, until you're on the ground, you just cannot comprehend the magnitude of this problem here.
Look, people are just walking by with carts. This is their life right there. In the carts. Miles, more people, this is all they could salvage from the flooding. People just living literally from hand to mouth. Look over there. If you just see these folks over there, this is the only shade. I think we're going to have to move a little bit as the cops pass by, Miles.
But even as they do pass by -- OK, they're giving instructions, Miles, that folks should proceed on forward because the busses to take them over to Houston should be here any moment. But Miles, take a look at this situation. This is their home. This is where they have the kitchen, their bathroom, their bedroom. That's all they can live on.
It is such a pathetic situation, Miles. It looks like a refugee camp in a third-world country. And the people are angry. Miles, the biggest problem, you have to see this, the biggest problem, toilet facilities. Everybody's been complaining. And look what people have done. People are actually digging out holes, burning out holes in chairs and using this and a bucket underneath as their bathroom because there are just no toilet facilities. It is that depressing. And you can just imagine the diseases that will come out of this. It's going to be unbelievable if something is not done about it, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Jeff, connect the dots here for me. You've covered some refugee crises all over the world. What's different? What's the same? What ties these kinds of stories together?
KOINANGE: Well, I'll tell you what, Miles. First of all, a refugee situation is a refugee situation. Like you say, I've done so many of these, the numbers, the smells, the sounds, they're all the same. But at the same time, one would not expect to see that right here, Miles. I'm getting major deja-vu feelings here like I've been here before, but I haven't.
This is different, Miles, because this is not supposed to happen this in this country. But it is happening, and it seems -- at least it had seemed like it was out of control, for the most part. At the end of the day, Miles, as long as people are taken care, the basic services -- that's all they ask for, water, food, sanitation, toilet facilities.
If that can be taken care of, these folks won't riot, these folks won't cause any problems. They would look forward to the next step, but they have to be taken care of, and that took a long time in coming, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I mean, I don't want our viewers to think we're trying to justify hooliganism, but it's important for people to understand the context of all of this and the conditions, and I think you're giving us a sense of that. Let's not bury the lead here. As that -- I guess he was a member of the National Guard drove by, he said the busses are on the way. Have we determined why the busses were stopped in the first place yet?
KOINANGE: Not yet, Miles, and that's what everybody is asking. Why were they stopped? Why aren't they continuing to flow (ph) like they were doing? We actually spoke to one general, General Jones (ph), of the National Guard, who doing a walk-about a little while ago.
He says in the next few days, all of these folks here will have been taken out of here. That's what he says. He's says they've seen the situation, they are on the ground, they've assessed it. And he promised, he said, in the next few days, all these folks will have been evacuated.
M. O'BRIEN: How many people are there, though? Can he really pull this of in the next few days?
KOINANGE: Very good question. We actually asked him that. And Miles, he told us that there's upwards of 30,000. He said it himself, there's at least 30,000 more people in this area who need to be evacuated. That's still quite a few more. Imagine those who are already at the Astrodome in Houston. A lot more people still need to be evacuated, the buses are on their way. Hopefully, that operation will continue into the rest of this day, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: I don't know how many busloads that is, but that's a lot of buses.
KOINANGE: That's a lot of buses, Miles. A lot of busses. In fact -- go ahead.
M. O'BRIEN: No, you finish up.
KOINANGE: In fact, the biggest complaint from people here is they're saying, "How many busses does it take to move a city, to evacuate a city?" He says -- they were saying, this is not right. This should have been a 24-hour process. Again, you can point all the fingers you want, you can lay all the blame you want, at least it's finally being done, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. I'm going to choose to focus on that last point, at least it's finally being done. We're glad to tell people that. And we're sorry it's Saturday.
FEMA is under intense scrutiny as it works to help hurricane victims. For more on its progress, let's go to Alina Cho. The director of FEMA gave a briefing with an update on this relief effort, giving the overall picture there. Mike Brown was in Baton Rouge, that's where Alina Cho is.
Alina, good morning to you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, good morning to you. FEMA director Michael Brown has just toured the area. He did so yesterday. He called it a heart-wrenching experience. He said the area of devastation covers 90,000 square miles. And to put things into perspective, that area is greater than all of Great Britain.
Now, to the hard numbers a bit. We can tell you, according to FEMA, that yesterday, 4,000 people were airlifted out of New Orleans. Ninety percent of the Superdome is reportedly evacuated, though hard to confirm that number. And 7,500 lives to date have either been saved or rescued. FEMA officials, despite the criticism, say they are working as fast as they can.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BROWN, FEMA DIRECTOR: It is unacceptable to look at the television and see these people who are stranded. It breaks my heart to see these people who are stranded. As they continue to be evacuated and come out of their homes and make their way to dry ground, we'll continue to do everything we can to rescue them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: FEMA officials say that three Carnival cruise ships also have been opened up as temporary housing. Now Miles, earlier, state officials held a briefing and they gave us an update. They said that 7,200 inmates from two prisons in the New Orleans areas have been evacuated. Those inmates are now in other state prisons. And the state prison population, by the way, has gone up by 40 percent just in the past couple of days. These are the other prisons because the New Orleans prisons have been evacuated.
Another point of note, a temporary holding facility has been set up in New Orleans, a sign that the criminal justice system is back in working order. This is to handle new arrests, presumably the looters and the carjackers, and these people are expected to face federal charges within the next couple of days -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Alina Cho in Baton Rouge, thank you very much. While Alina was talk, we got a call from Sanjay Gupta, who is also working hard on this story. He spent a lot of time this week, as you know, at Charity Hospital, which is the sort of the main receiving hospital there in New Orleans, a storied institution that takes in the indigent and so forth.
Had about 1400 patients in there. We can now tell you they've all been evacuated. They're gone from Charity Hospital, as well as the medical personnel. And they're presumably at the New Orleans airport, where Soledad is. We'll check in with her in a little bit. But to underscore that point, Charity Hospital is now completely evacuated of patients and medical personnel. We're glad to tell you that as well.
Texas is taking in the majority of hurricane victims evacuated from Louisiana. It's estimated nearly 154,000 people have already arrived in the Lone Star State. Peter Viles is at the Houston Astrodome.
Peter, they kind of closed down the Astrodome sooner than they thought, and yet the arms are still open there in Texas. I guess they deserve a lot of credit here, don't they?
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They scrambled very quickly. They thought they could put about 25,000 people in the Astrodome. They realized they could not put that many in there and still have a safe and clean environment. So they cut it of at 15,000 and the building is considered full, even though you have there 60,000 seats in there.
That said, they quickly found three other very large buildings in the Houston area, and two of them are pretty much empty at this point. So the people who are leaving New Orleans, getting on buses now, there are 14,000 spaces for them here in Houston in these emergency shelters. Basically, two big convention centers.
But the number you said at the top there, 153,000, may be the key number. That includes the people who left New Orleans before the storm. Here in Houston, they're figuring maybe 100,000 to 200,000 people are in Houston now, most of them came here before the storm. They evacuated when they were told to.
This latest group, which now numbers 19,000 in Houston, who have come on the buses, were rescued from the storm. But the city has to deal with both groups, and both of those groups are going to tax the infrastructure here. That said, the city says they think they can do it. When they get full, Dallas and San Antonio are expected to be able to handle equal numbers, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, and we should point out, the president has declared a disaster area for Texas, so they can get funding to help pay for this. But there's only so many classrooms, for example, for these kids to go in. So it really will be tough.
VILES: It will be tough. And they've already registered, to our knowledge, over 3,000 new students for the school year that begins essentially next week. So they have no idea how many of these families are going to stay here. They're trying to get ready as best they can. And as you said, the federal government will eventually help them pay for this.
M. O'BRIEN: Peter Viles at the Astrodome. Thanks.
Still to come on the program, restoring order in New Orleans. It's on the top of the agenda for the troops arriving in the city. And up next, we'll talk to CNN military analyst James "Spider" Marks about regaining control of the city. He knows General Honore well, and he'll give us some insights into his brand of leadership. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. RUSSELL HONORE, COMMANDER, JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: Put those weapons down. Get those goddamn weapons down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
M. O'BRIEN: It's like right out of a movie. That's General Russell Honore. He is the right man for the right job, maybe a little late, but he is there on the streets of New Orleans, trying to relieve some of the tension and get some help to these people. Our military analyst General James "Spider" Marks has spent some time with General Honore.
And I suspect when General Honore says something to you, says jump, you say "How high?" right?
GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Miles, he's done that. And I need to tell you, you know, the image you were just showing. Those are easy orders to follow, and frankly, that was one of the softer kind of sessions of guidance that Russ Honore would provide.
M. O'BRIEN: It is a family show, Spider. But, yes, I think -- you know, when I see this right now, I'm reminded how symbolic leadership can be, because that is a symbolic thing. And the fact we're watching it carries with it its own level of symbolism. But to say, you know, "Just take the weapon down," means so much, doesn't it?
MARKS: Well, it does. And let me tell you just for a sec, Russ Honore is absolutely the right guy. You are correct to comment on that. And the Army made a wise decision to put that first army commander in charge down there.
Russ is from the area, he knows the people. These are his folks, these are the folks he grew up with. But more importantly, Russ Honore is a when-in-charge-take-charge kind of guy. He's no-nonsense, he is focused on the details.
And fundamentally, in this case, he understands that mission number one is to provide calm and to provide humanitarian assistance and to provide an uplifting presence. Leadership is all about marching to the sound of the guns. And in this case, the crisis is right there in the middle of New Orleans, that's where Russ Honore is going to be.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, let's face it. By the way, we just found out, we should tell you, the president is actually going to go back to the region on Monday. It will be interesting to see how things have changed by Monday for the president from the two visits.
But let's talk about what I consider to be some fairly reckless rhetoric, this shoot-to-kill stuff that people kept talking about, "We're going to take out those looters," that kind of stuff. To me, this completely diffuses that whole notion. I mean, after all, these people are largely victims. Yes, there are thugs among them, but they are largely victims.
MARKS: Correct. And the thugs among them are a small, infinitesimally small percentage of what you see. These are great people just trying to get by. They are desperate, they are on edge, and they're living in water, toxic water, for the last four or five days.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, so the last thing they need is to have an M-16, to see the business end of an M-16.
MARKS: And Miles, and that's true the point that Russ Honore is making. Swing your weapons, put the barrel pointed down, put your hat on correctly, look these citizens in the eye and say, I'm here to help you. You know, the anecdote of Russ Honore walking over to a mother whose children were kind of falling out of her arms, and he picks up both of these kids. That's what you do. You don't have to wait for orders to do that.
This is a humanitarian effort. And those soldiers on the ground, soon to be Marines as well, and additional active soldiers on the ground, will do just that, and Russ is ensuring that's going to take place.
M. O'BRIEN: You know, it's interesting. This is not, you know, the typical military mission that you go to West Point to learn about. But it really is a mission that only the military can perform, isn't it?
MARKS: Absolutely. I mean, we have often observed that we are a phase three, a heavy combat arms military in a phase four. That's support and post-combat operations world. So the military -- the military can't choose the missions it's required to perform. And in this case, this is a very clear mission that requires that type of leadership.
But also, the military has experience in this. We have done this before. Detroit in the 60s, D.C. in the 60s, Los Angeles in the early 90s. I mean, there is a lot of experience. And then overseas, places like Somalia and Haiti and elsewhere in the world. In Afghanistan most recently, and today in Iraq. I mean, these missions sets the military has done before and we know how to do them.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Spider Marks, as you were talking, the one picture that strikes me is that police officer, obviously not in the general's chain of command, being asked, not being told by the general, to put his weapon down. He kind of looks at him and he does it.
MARKS: Hey, Miles, let me tell you. That guy at that moment was in Russ Honore's chain of command.
M. O'BRIEN: There we go. Who do we have here? This is -- now, you know, this is the kind of pictures you want to show here. I don't know if you can see this, Spider. We've got some live pictures, this is Jeff Koinange's position, right there at the convention center. And this is a one-star there. I don't know if you know -- do you know this guy?
MARKS: I do not.
M. O'BRIEN: Anyways, that was -- really, a hug speaks volumes here. "Folks, you've been through the mill, we're here to help."
MARKS: Absolutely, Miles. And that's exactly what has been happening and will continue to happen. But there's really hard tasks that have to take place as well, all the convoys rolling in, the medical evacuation by air and ground, the search and rescue that has to continue. Russ Honore has a multitude of tasks. They're happening simultaneously, but he knows what his priorities are and he's about it.
M. O'BRIEN: Spider marks, thanks.
MARKS: Thank you, miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, we'll talk to a former FEMA official about the framework in place that was supposed to handle a disaster like this. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: The federal government is facing fierce critics who say the response to the Gulf Coast disaster came much too slowly. Tom Foreman joining us once again from Washington. Tom, the criticism is not only that it was slow, but too little as well, a tepid response. We're seeing that turnaround now, but it is, after all, Saturday -- Tom? TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, on Monday, Miles, Fema was telling me very proudly they had pre-positioned trailers and technicians and all sorts of people in this big thing they called an Arc of Relief, all along the outside of the zone here. And the plan was, as the storm hit, they were going to sweep in behind it, hit the Gulf shore, hit New Orleans, and this is all going to happen, some of it by Monday evening.
Now people over here in Congress are saying it turned out to be an immense failure.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): Federal officials have said over and over, Katrina was a once-in-a-lifetime event. More destruction, more flooding, more fatalities, and more stranded refugees than anyone could have imagined.
BUSH: This is one of the worst storms in our nation's history.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no way a catastrophe can be minimized.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an ongoing disaster.
FOREMAN: But a catastrophe like this has been imagined. Last year, FEMA ran a five-day drill about a hypothetical hurricane named Pam hitting New Orleans. It showed that the city could fill with water, that thousands could die, and many would not evacuate. A hundred thousand poor new Orleaneans did not own cars even before the storm.
But despite the lessons of that drill, in real life, large-scale deliveries of water, food, transportation, and medical services are just now beginning to arrive in New Orleans, five days after the storm.
REP. CAROLYN KILPATRICK (D), MICHIGAN: This is real human need, and I'm outraged by the lack of response from our federal government.
FOREMAN: Angry complaints are coming from many quarters, including those who monitor the nation's readiness for a terrorist strike.
RUSSELL LARSEN, INSTITUTE FOR HOMELAND SECURITY: We had three days advance notice. Could you imagine a terrorist attack with no advance notice?
FOREMAN: Stung by the accusations, the department of homeland security, which oversees FEMA, has issued a list of accomplishments. Thousands of lives saved, tens of thousands of refugees evacuated, hundreds of shelters opened. Meals, water, blankets, fuel. Not bad, disaster officials say, on 150 miles of coast where bridges, roads, phones, electricity, police, fire, and medical services were torn to pieces. RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: All the systems that we rely upon to mobilize the response were themselves destroyed by this terrible disaster. So when you add the two things together, interlocking failures of infrastructure systems and the scale of the storm, the government was really unable to get off as quickly as everyone wanted it to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (on-camera): Nonetheless, congressional hearings are now on the way, as you would expect -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Tom Foreman in Washington. Thank you very much.
Back with more AMERICAN MORNING in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Every half hour or so, we're bringing you the most critical issues facing the Katrina survivors. We begin with evacuations. Thousands of people still in their homes, still in their homes. It's Saturday. These are images from a helicopter taken just about a couple of hours ago. Ninety percent of the city out of commission.
Despite the flooding, parts of New Orleans are on fire. Firefighters telling CNN at least one of the blazes started under suspicious circumstances, but they have given up because there is not enough water to control the flames. There's a warehouse down by the river that is burning out of control as we speak.
And CNN now confirms the president will be back in the Gulf region on Monday. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice also plans to take a firsthand look at the devastation. She expected to visit her home state of Alabama tomorrow. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest on the recovery efforts.
Now let's go back to Soledad at the New Orleans Airport -- Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, we got another mission critical event. I think it's potentially shaping up here. You can see the helicopters and the military transport. They've been coming in and dropping off the people. But here's the crowd. We're exactly below where we were reporting all morning, and they've been dropping off hundreds and hundreds of people.
This scene right here is the same scene that you see inside the hospital, which of course is actually the airport. People just sitting around. These folks are not critically injured, but they have nowhere to go. And they haven't hooked up with their family members and they're completely at a loss for what to do. I want to quickly introduce to you a woman.
Your name is Edie Mathsy (ph).
EDIE MOTHSY, EVACUEE: Edit Mothsy (ph).
S. O'BRIEN: You were at the convention center, how bad was it?
MOTHSY: It was awful. Absolutely dreadful. We had no water, we had no lights in most of the buildings. The sewage got to be a little bit of a problem, to say the least. There was no police protection. There was just nothing. We were just put there. That's after being separated from my husband, who had been in the hospital, and they moved him without telling me where he was. And so all this time, I've not known where he is.
S. O'BRIEN: So now you're here. But where do you go now and what are you going to do?
MOTHSY: Well, I can go a lot of places if they'll let me get a car out of here. But I'm glad to be away from the convention center because it was really, really getting bad.
S. O'BRIEN: I see you're kind of -- you're laughing, but you've got to be angry.
MOTHSY: That's my personality, because I am livid, really. This is inexcusable to do this to people. We're human beings, we're not animals. It's poor planning, to say the least.
S. O'BRIEN: It's incredible.
MOTHSY: I don't think there are any buses there yet. Or there weren't when we left.
S. O'BRIEN: When you consider that this scene, Miles, is repeated here behind us, and it goes on. And then down here as well, there's a parking lot, and there's more people way down the field as well. And then imagine, inside the hospital, hundreds of people have been arriving since 4:00 in the morning. The crowds are growing.
They're going to have to figure out now what they're going to do with all these folks. There is some news, though, about some of the babies. And we've seen so many children, Miles. We want to get right to Elizabeth Cohen who has a report on some of the littlest evacuees -- Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We followed a group of babies who were trying to get the hospital, who were trying to get them out of New Orleans. There was a huge effort led by a private ambulance company called Arcadian Ambulances (ph) to air-lift these babies out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(voice-over): This helicopter arrived with precious cargo. 29 newborn babies rescued from a downtown New Orleans hospital. Most of them without their mothers. Jordan Abrams (ph) was one of the lucky ones. His mother, Tory (ph), made it onto the same helicopter to Women's Hospital in Baton Rouge. She gave birth a week ago at Louisiana State University Hospital in New Orleans. She tried to explain her ordeal to us on camera, but it was too difficult.
TORY ABRAMS, EVACUEE: We're just trying to recuperate now.
COHEN: She later told us that conditions inside the hospital were miserable. No electricity, no air conditioning, no working toilets. The nurses warned that soon, they would run out of formula for the babies. She was worried for her son.
In New Orleans, conditions were so bad, the hospital staff was unable to check out the strange lump behind his ear. Doctors here in Baton Rouge did an ultrasound and then admitted him for more tests. This nurse reassured her, while others did what they could to search for the parents of the babies who'd arrived alone. Doctors say all the 29 babies survived the ordeal, the harsh conditions in New Orleans, the transport to Baton Rouge, surprisingly well, even the preemies.
DR. STEVEN SPEDALE, NEONATOLOGIST: The babies are all in good conditions. They're all very stable.
COHEN: Doctor Steve Spedale and his neonatology team examined the babies when they arrived.
SPEDALE: Babies are very elastic. You have to bend them a lot to break them and they've had very good care. People have not slept in days down there and they have done everything they can for the babies. And that's why those babies are here. The credit goes to them are.
COHEN: A tribute to the heroism to the doctors and nurses who cared for these babies under the worst of conditions. A tribute to the spirit of the 29 of the tiniest survivors.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN: Now, Tory and Jordan, who we just told you about, mother and baby, they do have a place to go when Jordan gets out of the hospital. A local church is taking them in, as well as several other mother and baby pairs -- Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Elizabeth, I know you have an update on the story that you shared with us a couple of days ago.
COHEN: That's right. Three days ago, we told you about a mom who was missing her 5-year-old son. What happened was that she was in her home in New Orleans. She was pregnant, in labor. She jumped in the water and swam for 30 minutes, not to get help for herself, but because her 5-year-old son was having asthma attacks.
Well, she and her 5-year-old got separated. She ended up at Women's Hospital in Baton Rouge where she gave birth. She had no idea where her 5-year-old son was. Well, what happened was, a friend of hers had taken her son to the Astrodome in Houston. They saw our story on CNN, they contacted Women's Hospital, and soon mother and son will be reunited. S. O'BRIEN: Elizabeth, that's good news. It's nice to hear some good stories every once in a while. Many people have been pointing out the heroism of the folks, Elizabeth, who really, as you point out, the doctors and the nurses, who've done incredible things and try to save people's lives.
Also, though, people are pointing out the things that went horribly wrong. We want to get to John Copenhaver, a former FEMA director.
Mr. Copenhaver, thank you for talking with us. You've seen the pictures, certainly the last five days before and then today as well. What do you make of what you're seeing?
JOHN COPENHAVER, PRES. & CEO, DRI INTL.: Well, it's a mess, Soledad. My concern, I think, at this point is that the help has been late in arriving. It's there. It needs to be well coordinated. And the people that need it the worst need to be the first people to receive the assistance, the resource, and to be evacuated.
S. O'BRIEN: So what's the theory? That people were unprepared, that this is going to happen? Or is it that, "Listen, this a crisis. And this is kind of the best you're going to get. You're going to have to take care of yourself for a couple of days"? People here certainly, to a large degree, getting evacuated out, feel like they have been very much let down by the people they thought were going to save them.
COPENHAVER: Well, I would have to say that the help probably should have been there more quickly. I think that we all understand now that there should have been a military presence in New Orleans more quickly than there was.
And in terms of why there was not that presence, what some of the problems might have been, I guess I have to question the command and control capabilities, and the clarity of who was doing what, and who was making the decisions. If there's not clarity in terms of food...
S. O'BRIEN: Who was supposed to what?
COPENHAVER: Who was supposed to do what? FEMA's supposed to...
S. O'BRIEN: Yes.
COPENHAVER: FEMA is responsible under the National Response Plan for coordinating federal assistance. So FEMA should have been at the heart of it. But there are a number of...
S. O'BRIEN: So you're saying FEMA dropped the ball?
COPENHAVER: At this point, I can't say that conclusively, but we sure have to look at who was responsible for deploying military resource into the city of New Orleans, and why it was so long in coming.
S. O'BRIEN: You know, I guess I look at these people here, who are now here, and they've water and they've got food, and that's a huge plus. But they don't know where they're going next, and there's no registry, so they don't even know where their relatives may or may not be, if they're alive.
And I look at this and I think, what are we going to do if there's a terror attack, if it's not a hurricane that we see two days out, hitting a levee system that everybody knows is failing?
COPENHAVER: I would agree with you right now. It's a concern. We clearly haven't gotten done what we needed to get done as quickly as it was needed. And we had plenty of notice. We knew that this could happen in New Orleans and we also knew that Hurricane Katrina was tracking towards New Orleans long before it got there.
S. O'BRIEN: Here's a question for you. You know, when interviewed the Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, he said to me, one of the big problems with coordination has been that the cell phones have failed. And in my mind, I think, "But of course they fail." Everybody expects that they would fail. Was that not part of FEMA's plan, that communication will be a disaster? So what's the plan around that?
COPENHAVER: For critical communications links, you're supposed to have backup. You're supposed to have landline capability. If that fails, cellular capability. If that fails, radio capability. And if that fails, satellite capability. We know that communications are critical and that some of these networks can fail. That is not unanticipated.
S. O'BRIEN: At the end of the day, what do you think happened? Do you think that the administration is to blame? Do you think that FEMA's going to take the bulk of the blame? Do you think that if there's a good response and it seems like people are getting some help from the military troops who are now here and really moving things along today, we'll just have lessons learned? What's the fallout?
COPENHAVER: Well, the fallout has to be, first and foremost, lessons learned, and make sure that this never happens again. Whatever went wrong, whatever blame is going to be apportioned, whatever fingers are going to be pointed, they need to be pointed with the thought being let's never let this happen again. Let's learn from it, figure out what went wrong, figure out where the chain of command broke down, and make sure that those problems never hit again.
S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, you know, the people here are angry. Grateful to be alive, frankly, but angry. And angry to be, you know, left in situations where they've been living like animals without any security for days. We've heard that over and over and over again.
COPENHAVER: I don't blame them.
S. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much for talking with us, John. I certainly appreciate your time.
A short break. You're watching a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING. And we're back in just a few moments. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: From live performances to telethons to individual contributions as high as $1 million, celebrities stepping up to the plate for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Correspondent Sibila Vargas reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The heartbreaking images of a hurricane's wrath have stunned the country and left many distraught. Now, some of the biggest names in Hollywood are coming together to help those whose lives have been shattered about by Katrina.
Chris Rock is just one of the stars who will be part of a BET Network celebrity telethon.
CHRIS ROCK, PERFORMER: The food, the music, you know. But it's the people. It's not even about New Orleans. It's just people have no place to go. There're refugees in America. You know, if it was a place with no flavor, no music, no food, you know, we should -- everybody should come together and try the best to help out people.
VARGAS: Comedy legend Jerry Lewis echos Rock's emotions. Lewis announced that his annual muscular dystrophy telethon also will raise money for hurricane relief.
JERRY LEWIS, PERFORMER: If you want to send me 20 bucks for my kids, send ten. Send the other ten to these people in this trouble. The trouble those people are in is unlike anything that has ever happened to this country before, including 9/11.
VARGAS: After 9/11, the major networks banded together for the star power telethon "America: A Tribute to Heroes," and they're hoping to join forces again. Louisiana-born Ellen DeGeneres has expressed interest in hosting the multi-network special reportedly scheduled to air next week.
And remember the major celebrities on hand for NBC tsunami relief concert back in January? NBC is putting the finishing touches on another one.
TIM MCGRAW, PERFORMER: Just imagine the children who are involved, the babies and the children who are helpless. The only thing that we can do is just pour money into organizations like the Red Cross who are going to do the best to get down there and help people.
VARGAS: Tim McGraw, Harry Connick Jr., and Wynton Marsalis, who all had ties to the impacted area, will be on hand for the NBC event scheduled tonight. Leonardo DiCaprio was just one of the major stars who will be there.
Big names are on board for MTV, VH1 and CMT's live performance special. Green Day, Ludacris, Alicia Keys, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, and many more, will air across all three major networks.
Dave Matthews Band also will play a benefit concert in Denver September 12th. The group says, quote, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the communities that have been affected by Katrina. The devastation and human loss is heartbreaking."
Sibila Vargas, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: OK, so what can you do, you might ask? We hope you're thinking about that right now. If you'd like to make a contribution, we invite you to tune in to CNN tonight. Larry King will be hosting a three-hour special entitled "How You Can Help." That's tonight, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. We will be back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: At the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, they are coming. They're being evacuated out of some of the worst situations in downtown New Orleans and coming here. But I've got to tell you, Miles, as they come chopper-load by chopper-load, carrying plastic bags full of whatever they've got, bags, luggage of whatever they've managed to salvage, there's no place for them to go.
I mean, you can see here, they come through this sort of set up processing center, and then they just kind of camp out. Those who are most critically ill will go right into triage and they will be evacuated out to area hospitals or into other states.
But look at the scene. I mean, this has filled up, and inside the terminal, same exact scene. People just camped out, moving from place to place to place. It has all the signs of trouble, Miles, because it's hot out here. A lot of these folks are wearing the same clothes that they've been wearing when the storm struck. I mean, they're covered in putrid water and feces. They're hot, they're thirsty. There is ice water, there is some food, but these are not ideal conditions. And it's unclear at this time, where are all these folks going to go -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, you bring up a very good point, Soledad. When I was talking to some of the medical personnel there the other day -- I'm sure you've had a chance to see the east terminal as well. The west terminal is the triage center, the medical. And then the east terminal is for people who do not need medical attention.
That facility there was never supposed to be a holding place for just plain old evacuees who don't need medical attention. And as a result, they're taxed in ways they weren't expected to be taxed. In other words, these are medical personnel being asked to handle sort of an evacuation issue as well. It's a real burden for them, and it takes them away from their real mission.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles, you know, even though folks who are not critically ill, some of them are sick. I mean, there's a guy whose tongue is swollen, and he's very parched, and he's been told, "Well, you know what? You're not the critically ill one yet. Drink some water and just wait here."
And it's understandable, the doctors and nurses are dealing with so much, they've got to prioritize. But look in this crowd. Look at all these kids. I mean, there are so many young children being carried and held and dragged by their parents. It is a tough situation.
Also, you can see here some animals as well. This is James White (ph) and his dog. He told us the story of how this dog saved his life. But, you know, there are numbers of dogs and other pets that have been saved, and there's no facility set up to really hold them -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: It just broke my heart when I was in Slidell, all of these obviously well-cared for, trained pets would come up to the water, seeking a little bit of attention. It's a thing we haven't talked much with, but there're a lot of abandoned animals, house pets.
Let's continue this discussion here with Soledad. I want to bring in a couple of others. Jeff Koinange, he's at the convenstion center. Tom Foreman is in Washington. Tom has a lot of history and background on New Orleans.
But let's begin with Jeff. You are you seeing -- it's a mixed message, I hear, from you this morning. On the one hand, appalling conditions, the kinds of thing most Americans would be appalled to know would be in their country. On the other hand, it seems as if we've got things kind have under control there. So this seems to be, I think, when we look back on this, this day may be a pivotal day.
JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No doubt about it, Miles. No doubt. And here we are, on the street where the convention center is, as we've been all morning. And here's the deal, Miles. The buses are on the ground. We can tell you that. And people are making their way. As you can see, Dominick (ph) will just show you, there's some folks going down this street. They're heading towards where the buses are, which is about a block and a half away, and there's long lines right there, Miles.
Thousands of people lined up in single file, waiting to get on those buses. There's heavy guards. But people are in a very orderly fashion. They're lining up, no one's complaining, all of these folks making their way. And what they're leaving behind, Miles -- look what they're leaving behind.
If we see up the street, it's just -- well, it's emptying very fast, but lots and lots of garbage everywhere. You can see that. This is how they've been living, Miles, the last five, six days. This is exactly the way they've been living.
And some of them are still here because this busing will take a while. Look at how people are living, Miles. This sidewalk here, this is where they're living, these makeshift tents. Miles, this situation is still not under control, but it is moving.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's bring Tom Foreman in here for a moment. Tom, you know, you have such familiarity with the city. We've been talking earlier about the fires that are burning there, literally out of control. And who knows where -- this could really be a problem down the road if it keeps burning. Give us a little geography lesson on what we were seeing burn there this morning.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what you're looking at this morning, as we fly into New Orleans here and take a look at it, it looks to me as if it's the Louisa Street Wharf, which is down at, for New Orleaneans, Charter Street and Louisa Street. They will know where that is. We wouldn't expect everybody else to know.
But if you look at the French Quarter down here, if we go all the way into the French Quarter, this is where the Superdome, you've seen that many, many times today. Right there, if you go in a little bit closer, here's the French Quarter right here. The burning we're talking about right now is down this way. This is the edge of the French Quarter right there, and right down here is what is burning. In this area.
So far, seems to be out by the water, and boy, do we hope it stays there, because many of the great treasures, not just of New Orleans, but of this nation's culture and history are right there in New Orleans. And we can hope that so many of them somehow survive this -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. You know, and it was good to see the wind was blowing it toward the water as opposed to back toward the city.
FOREMAN: Hope it goes that way.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. Soledad, what's it like being there as a mother of young children?
S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, you know, I think all of us who have young children know how hard it is just to haul them around under very normal circumstances. These are completely abnormal circumstances. The children are tired. They're actually very just listless. As they come off the flight, some the military personnel are sort of forcing water down their throats and making sure they get water in them.
But they're wiped out. And I think what's, to some, even the insult added to injury -- and I've got to say, they're grateful that they're alive, because some people they know are not. I've heard over and over again, "Why are we living like dogs. Why are we living like animals? We're not animals. Why are we being treated like animals?" And, you know, it's tough to hear after a while. They're grateful they're alive -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: All right, Soledad. Good words. And it makes me want to go home and hug my kids a little tighter. Soledad O'Brien, Tom Foreman, Jeff Koinange, good work. Thanks for your insights, there. We're going to be back with more in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: That's about all the time we have on this edition of AMERICAN MORNING, trading places today. I left a vehicle for Soledad, Baton Rouge Airport. There it is. See the mud? Kind of a Mad Max operation there. That's -- sorry I couldn't clean it up for you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: That's all right, Miles. We're grateful to have a vehicle. We're grateful to be able to put some gas into it; much more than many people here can say. We're going to head out -- head into the city of New Orleans and cover some more stories for you. We'll be back tomorrow morning.
M. O'BRIEN: By all means, please stay safe and we look forward to hearing your reports tomorrow. Great job out there.
S. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's continue on with our coverage. The coverage doesn't stop here on CNN, of course. And our Katrina coverage now with Tony Harris and Betty Nguyen. Here's Betty in Atlanta. Good Morning, Betty.
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