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CNN Live At Daybreak

Authorities Starting to Pump Water Out of New Orleans; Body of Chief Justice William Rehnquist Will Lie in Repose at Supreme Court

Aired September 06, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Tuesday, September 6.
New Orleans is a bit less flooded this morning. Authorities are starting to pump water out of New Orleans, and they're trying to pump hope for a recovery back in.

Also, miles and miles of debris -- whole communities wiped out. What will it take for coastal Mississippi to rebuild?

And they've lost their homes, they've lost their city and now they live in a football stadium. Are they better off? A former first lady says they might be.

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

We'll have more on the latest hurricane recovery efforts in just a minute.

Also ahead, Katrina made a huge dent in the oil industry. We'll tell you if a global effort to ease oil prices is working.

And high costs do not discriminate, but a growing number of people are saying the government does. The relief effort faces the race card.

But first, now in the news, the high price you're paying at the pump is the focus of a Senate panel today. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will look into factors that have driven gas prices up. Certainly Katrina played a part, but the panel also will look at constraints on oil refinery capability.

In just under four hours, the casket containing Chief Justice William Rehnquist's body will arrive at the Supreme Court. Some of his former law clerks will act as pall bearers. People can view the casket today and tomorrow.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says Iraq has become an even greater center of terrorist activity than Afghanistan under the Taliban. Annan tells the BBC that many Muslims feel victimized and isolated and they are angered by developments in Iraq.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad -- good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: The evacuation of New Orleans continues with both people and water being moved out. Let's look at the latest details of the critical mission along the Gulf Coast.

New Orleans has now been secured. That's according to commanding Lieutenant General Russel Honore. Police say the city has moved from chaos to organized chaos.

The military presence is being seen and felt all along the Gulf Coast. Currently, 38,000 National Guard members are on the ground, along with about 13,000 active duty troops. Those soldiers have helped distribute a massive amount of food and water. So far, nearly nine million meals have been handed out, and that number will continue to grow.

The Coast Guard has been at the forefront of rescue operations. They say they've rescued more than 22,000 people using boats and helicopters. Some of those evacuees will be getting back on boats. Several thousand will leave Houston for two cruise ships docked off the coast of Galveston, Texas.

And there is progress to report back in New Orleans. The break in the 17th Street Canal levee has been repaired and the process of pumping the water out of the city has finally begun. Now that so- called dewatering process could take up to three months. And that's just to get the water out. Rebuilding the damage left behind could take much, much longer.

CNN's Ed McCarthy joins us now from New Orleans with more on the shaping up and cleaning up of the city -- you know, Ed, one of the things I'm thinking is all of that dirty sewage laden water is being pumped back into Lake Pontchartrain. And then it'll go into the Mississippi River, won't it?

ED MCCARTHY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's true. To get it out of New Orleans, that will be a big help in this process. That water is just an awful smell to behold. You just can't believe how bad that smell. That's why reporting has been doubly difficult in this area. You certainly don't want to touch that water, because you don't know what you could get after that, where there's always the chance of typhoid or something else.

So that's why there are health concerns here, Carol, and I'm sure that that's another angle that people will have to think about -- where is that water going? You make a very, very good point there.

In the meantime, though, when the water recedes, we are seeing horrible scenes here, with more bodies. And we know that this death toll now, as Mayor Ray Nagin has said, will probably be around 10,000. There are others who are saying it will much higher than that.

COSTELLO: Are they beginning to pick up those bodies now? And where are they taking them, Ed? MCCARTHY: They are taking them to temporary mortuary sites. We have morticians that are in teams that they've called in and apparently they are making the call to get more and more of these specialized people in here. And I've been told that they're even being paid $1,000 a day if they're willing to do the duty, to come in here to help with the task of recovering these bodies. And we talked earlier about how difficult it is to identify many of these people because it's a week ago since Katrina hit. So, really, it's a very, very grizzly task and you really have to think that someone who does this work is very specialized and devoted to what they do.

COSTELLO: Yes. They have to be very passionate about it. And just, you know, you talk about identifying people, most of their medical records are probably gone. Maybe everything in their homes are gone. Who knows where their family members are and how they can, I mean, it's just going to take a very long time to identify all of these people.

MCCARTHY: And, you know, Carol, even the people that were able to escape -- and we have a constant flow of helicopters every five minutes that go over, those choppers heading into New Orleans to get more and more people, bringing them back. I watched the process here at the airport and it was interesting to watch how they have baggage carts that come across the tarmac to pick these people up. And then they take them to the airport. And I've seen this whole process and talked with the National Guard about how they do it.

They have MASH units set up. They have medical units where people go through for screening and when it's determined that they are healthy enough to travel on, they will be allowed to go on buses and then go to another destination. But in the meantime if they're not, they are sent to other hospital units here that are up and running to help those in need.

COSTELLO: Ed McCarthy reporting live for us from New Orleans this morning.

Now, part of that clean up includes recovering the bodies left behind. We were talking about that. The death toll in Louisiana officially stands at 71. But you heard Ed say it, Mayor Nagin told us there could 10,000 people who did not survive the storm. Katrina is responsible for deaths in four other states, including 160 in Mississippi. But all of these numbers could rise.

Just like in and, the toll in Mississippi is expected to rise, as I said. It could take weeks before rescue and recovery teams make their way through the wreckage along Mississippi's Gulf Coast.

As for the survivors, they want to know if enough aid is coming to help those in desperate need.

CNN's Chris Huntington is in Biloxi.

What's the answer to that question -- Chris?

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, the pace of recovery here is uneven, to put it in a general term. Civility has certainly been restored here in coastal Mississippi on a large -- to a large measure due to the remarkable efforts of the U.S. military. We are on the beach in Biloxi, in what has become Camp Restore. And this -- we have a Navy amphibious unit here camped on the beach out of Norfolk, Virginia, out of the Little Creek Naval Base there.

Just down the beach, members, about 150 or so members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina are also camped with an amazing array of equipment ready to do whatever is necessary to help the recovery effort here, from Navy cooks going to shelters. In one case here in Biloxi, to -- the massive job of clearing debris and continuing the effort to search for those who may be trapped in their homes here along the coast of Mississippi.

When I say the pace of recovery is uneven, there are amazing efforts made to clear debris, to restore power and so forth, but sometimes those efforts failed, frankly. We saw huge transformer explosions yesterday in Biloxi, as they've been making efforts to restore the power here. So an effort that went awry there initially.

Frankly, the same can be said of people's emotions here in Mississippi. There was a sense of optimism and relief a couple of days ago. That seems to have dipped in some measure. Really, as people get their feet on the ground they realize the magnitude of what they face and that it's going to be a long, long time until their lives are returned to any semblance of order -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Chris Huntington reporting live from Biloxi, Mississippi this morning.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, the costs of Katrina. How the catastrophe on the Gulf could hit wallets from Boston to Boise.

Also, former First Lady Barbara Bush, oh, she raised some eyebrows this morning over some comments about evacuees living in the Astrodome. We'll tell you what she said.

And later, some leaders in the black community say racism played a factor in the late response to help hurricane victims. We will debate that issue.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It's 6:12 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

In the wake of hurricane Katrina, some red flags are being raised about the training given to first responders at emergencies. Congressional investigators say some of them are concerned their training and equipment are aimed more at fighting terrorism rather than dealing with natural disasters.

In money news, Jerry Lewis' annual Labor Day Muscular Dystrophy Telethon raised about $1 million for hurricane Katrina relief. Another $55 million was pledged to fight M.S. Lewis says he was surprised the telethon raised so much money so soon after the hurricane.

In pop culture, "Transporter 2" took the top spot at the box office over the holiday weekend. The sequel pulled in a little more than $20 million. And that is a record for the traditionally slow Labor Day weekend.

In sports, the hardest working man in football is retiring. Jerry Rice, the certain Hall of Famer, walks away after 20 years in the game. He holds 38, 38 NFL receiving records, including the one for most all time touchdowns. Thirty-eight records.

MYERS: Isn't that awesome? I didn't even know there were 38 records.

COSTELLO: I know.

MYERS: I didn't know they had 38 categories.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: That's a look at the latest headlines for you.

Some charge racism slowed President Bush's response to the disaster in New Orleans. Well, this morning the president's mother may have inadvertently fueled the fire. Barbara Bush made some startling assumptions about how Katrina victims are faring. More than 17,000 evacuees are living on cots in the Houston Astrodome and another 7,400 are at nearby centers.

The president's parents toured both shelters on Monday and afterward, Barbara Bush talked to National Public Radio.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, COURTESY NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO)

BARBARA BUSH, FORMER FIRST LADY: Almost everyone I've talked to said we're going to move to Houston. And so many of the people in the arenas here, you know, were underprivileged anyway. This is working very well for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Also, former President Bill Clinton is criticizing FEMA. He told us the government failed Katrina victims and we must not fail them a second time. Clinton was among those visiting evacuees at the Houston Astrodome. Many of them got a chance to talk to the former president, and he later talked with CNN about the relief effort.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our government failed those people in the beginning. And I take it now there is no dispute about it. A hundred percent of the people recognize that, that it was a failure. We should have some sort of Katrina commission. It should be bipartisan, non-partisan, whatever. We ought to really look at this, as I always tried to. What is the best structure and what are the best kinds of personnel decisions you can make to be good at emergency management?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But the president's father is defending his son. After touring the shelters, former President Bush told CNN's Larry King he doesn't like the criticism being leveled at his son's handling of the hurricane recovery effort. But he says as president, it goes with the territory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM CNN'S "LARRY KING LIVE")

GEORGE HERBERT WALKER BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People want to blame someone. I've never been much for the Monday morning quarterbacking, and to be very candid, Larry, I think some of the criticism has been grossly unfair, particularly when they suggest the president doesn't care in all of that. You have to understand that people that are hurting are going to criticize. I thought President Clinton put it pretty well today when he said let's get on with it and then there'll be plenty of time to assign blame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Former Presidents Bush and Clinton have announced the formation of the Bush/Clinton Katrina Fund. Donations go directly to the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. You can contribute by logging onto the Bushclintonkatrinafund.org.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, a progress report on the Gulf oil rigs as gas prices hover at the $3 plus mark. But our pocketbooks may feel the effects of Katrina in some other unexpected places. Carrie Lee has that after a break.

But first, good morning. Atlanta, Georgia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: It's time for a little "Business Buzz."

Oil prices have fallen in post-holiday trading today. Light crude dropped nearly a $1, to $66.70 a barrel. The drop comes after industrialized nations agreed to release 60 million barrels of crude from emergency stockpiles. Four U.S. refineries could be out of action for weeks or even months because of, of course, hurricane Katrina.

Americans were paying high prices for gas even before Katrina struck, though. The hurricane just made it worse. Right now you're paying over 30 percent more for gas than before the storm. AAA says the average cost for regular unleaded is $3.20 a gallon. That's $0.75 more than before Katrina. Analysts say prices are starting to level off, though. Let's hope so.

U.S. consumers will soon be feeling the effects of hurricane Katrina at more places than just at the gas pump. We could see higher prices from everything from coffee to detergent.

Carrie Lee joins us now to explain further -- good morning.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.

Good morning.

Well, in a few months, maybe even in a few weeks, we're going to see higher prices for a lot of things, potentially, at the grocery store. And this is because major ports along the Gulf Coast, of course, have been disrupted by hurricane Katrina.

About $150 billion worth of cargo is shipped through the Gulf Coast region annually, according to Economy.com, and that accounts for about one fifth of all U.S. imports and experts.

Now, analysts think consumers will pay more for items like coffee, chocolate, fresh produce, paper and even cleaning products. And it's not just the ports. Getting goods in and out of the region will also be tough, because the area's railway and trucking infrastructure has been damaged, as well. And that could push costs up also. And if energy prices remain high, companies will see higher costs for both manufacturing products and shipping them around the country. And they might pass along those higher prices to consumers.

Now, many economists are now worried about the widening economic impact of the storm. They think, or some think, the Federal Reserve may not raise interest rates when it meets on September 20th. If that happens, that would be the first time since May, 2004 that it has left rates unchanged.

A quick check on futures. Things looking up for today's session. We'll see what happens at 9:30.

COSTELLO: Yes, we will.

LEE: Carnival Cruise Lines, though, says that they will see a hit on profits because of the hurricane. They have two big ships that operate out of New Orleans. Obviously, it's going to be a while before those things get up and running.

COSTELLO: Yes. And cruise ships are opening up their doors, so to speak, to the evacuees from New Orleans.

LEE: Right.

COSTELLO: The elderly get served first.

LEE: That would be a nice thing...

COSTELLO: Yes.

LEE: ... because elderly were not treated exactly in the front of the line in getting out of the City of New Orleans.

COSTELLO: No. When you saw those pictures of elderly people from nursing homes just lying there, stripped of all of their dignity.

LEE: Absolutely heartbreaking.

COSTELLO: And some of them dying. I know, yes.

Carrie Lee, many thanks to you.

LEE: OK.

COSTELLO: As the nation focuses on relief for hurricane victims, the highest court in the country is in mourning. Beginning today, the body of Chief Justice William Rehnquist will lie in repose at the Supreme Court.

CNN national correspondent Bob Franken joins us live from the White House to tell us more -- hello, Bob.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.

He is lying in repose. He will be buried tomorrow. He was a practicing Lutheran, but the Washington Catholic Cathedral is going to be opening up to accommodate the friends and admirers who will be paying their last respects to the man who was chief justice so long and associated with the Supreme Court. And then the Capitol gets ready for the hearings on his nominated successor. His successor, who is a former law clerk of Chief Justice Rehnquist, will be now the subject of hearings. He was already going to be considered by the Senate to be the replacement as an associate justice for Sandra Day O'Connor. Now, of course, he's been elevated, in effect, by the president. His nomination is now chief justice.

The Democrats and those who have already come out as his adversaries are saying the stakes are even higher, it should not be such a slam dunk that he's going to be approved.

Now, the president has to find a successor as the nominee to Sandra Day O'Connor. And we're told that true to her promise, she will stay on until that successor is named, meaning that we can expect, unless there is a huge surprise, that the Supreme Court, when it convenes in less than a month, will have nine members, including a new chief justice -- Carol.

COSTELLO: As far as chief -- the chief justice's body lying in repose, can people go by his casket?

FRANKEN: There will be -- when it occurs at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, his coffin will be brought up the steps of the Supreme Court and laid in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, in the spot where Lincoln's body laid, by the way. And then friends and family will have the first opportunity to pay their respects. Then it's open to the general public until tonight, before preparations are made for tomorrow's funeral.

COSTELLO: Until 10:00 p.m. Eastern, I believe.

FRANKEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: All right, Bob Franken reporting live from Washington.

Still to come on DAYBREAK, nations across the globe try to ease oil prices in the wake of hurricane Katrina. Is it working? Carrie Lee will tell us more in our "Business Buzz."

Also, some say race played a factor in the government's slow response and Katrina's rescue efforts. We'll get all sides of that debate. That's coming up in the next half hour of DAYBREAK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

Thank you for waking up with us.

Chad will have the forecast in just a minute.

Also coming up this half hour, the price of oil on the move again. Could there be some relief in sight?

And overall indifference or blatant racism? We'll debate whether race was a factor in the days after the hurricane.

But first, now in the news, high gas prices are the focus of a Senate hearing today. The Energy and Natural Resources Committee will look at the impact of Katrina on gas prices and supplies, as well as other factors contributing to the spike.

This morning, Chief Justice William Rehnquist's body will be placed in the Supreme Court's Great Hall, where it will lie in repose for two days. The nation's 16th chief justice will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery tomorrow.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says Iraq has become an even greater center of terrorist activity than Afghanistan under the Taliban and he tells the BBC that many Muslims feel victimized and isolated and they're angered by developments in Iraq.

To the Forecast Center -- good morning, Chad.

MYERS: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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