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American Morning

Hurricane Relief Efforts Still Underway

Aired September 08, 2005 - 09:00   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, I'm Soledad O'Brien, coming to you live from New Orleans this morning. Crews are back at work once again today, back at work in the hardest hit communities as well, St. Bernard's Parish. The bodies of 30 people were found in a nursing home on Wednesday, many of them elderly, caught helpless as the waters rose. We'll have more from there this morning.
In Houston, long lines at the Astrodome. Confusion over a plan to provide $2,000 debit cards to evacuees. We're live on the scene where many people may not get what they're expecting.

And in Mississippi, getting the bare essentials to survivors of the storm. Is red tape holding up this massive effort? We'll take a look at all of that on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning, Miles. We're on the I-10 freeway this morning, right above Tulane Avenue. Good morning.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Soledad. We'll be back with you in a moment.

But first, let's get a look some mission critical news for folks. So far, no sign of forced evacuations in New Orleans. Thousands of people remain in the city. Right now, police are helping those who would like to leave. They'll start the forcing of people out after that.

The death toll in Louisiana still unknown. The last confirmed number was 83, but local officials say they're preparing for a very high number. Mississippi's death toll climbed to 201. That, too expected to rise.

Postal officials urging evacuees to submit a change of address notification, even if that means listing an interim shelter or a temporary location. This will help the agency deliver vital documents. Post Office says it has handed out more than 15,000 Social Security checks at collection points all throughout the region.

Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks. I want to show you where we are this morning. We're on the I-10 freeway. And every time some of these big trucks goes by, the whole thing sort of shakes. Nobody else on the road, though, unless they're workers, more or less, or unless they're law enforcement. They zip by every once in a while.

You can see how much water there still is in the city, even though the pumps are on their way, slowly, to being repaired. And we want to show you some pictures of Charity Hospital this morning. You'll remember we talked a lot about that as the hurricane struck and the aftermath of the flooding. They had a huge problem there eventually.

They were able to evacuate the patients and the workers and some of the visitors from that hospital, as well. But you can see really what they were dealing with from this vantage point. All that water made it impossible to try to move those patients out -- Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Soledad.

In Mississippi, the hurricane death toll has climbed to 201. Search and rescue teams still digging through the debris, hoping for survivors. Meanwhile, workers are trying to get victims the relief they so desperately need. Allan Chernoff, live now in Biloxi.

Alan, give us the latest on the relief situation there.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, we certainly do have the federal government on the ground here. As you can see behind me, debris right along the curbside. And we have blocks and blocks of this. Folks from the Navy as well as Marine Corps have been helping to clear the roads, get the debris, the trees off to the side.

And people from FEMA as well have been going through the homes, each home, combing through then putting an X over there after they go through the home and then a number, meaning the number of bodies found in the home. Zero over here, zero in that light greenhouse as well. So at least in those two homes, nobody passing away as a result of the horrific hurricane.

But FEMA also has been talk about giving immediate financial aid, $2,000 to each person. But that absolutely has not been the experience of people here in Biloxi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATRINA ROBINSON, BILOXI RESIDENT: I called them and they told me to call back in 14 days. Don't call back until 14 day.

CHERNOFF (on-camera): 14 days?

ROBINSON: Yes. And I told the woman I might not be there. She said, but she got to have an address, she don't care if I don't live there. So, I mean, it's hard because we ain't got no money, we ain't got no food no, we ain't got no clothes. I've been going to different places to get clothes, trying to find clothes for my kids. And it's hard to find clothes for my boys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: The residents of Biloxi are able to get some food. And the Salvation Army as well as Papa John's Pizza are providing food. Breakfast right now, sausage and egg pizzas as well as some gravy on those pizzas as well. The Salvation Army will be serving lunch and dinner later today. Miles, back to you.

M. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff in Biloxi, good to see that people are getting a warm meal, at the very least, in the wake of all this.

S. O'BRIEN: All Miles, thanks.

I want to show you some pictures from St. Bernard Parish. We spent the day there yesterday. "Utterly devastated" doesn't really even come close to describing just how bad things are there. Some have put the estimates at 100 percent damaged in that community.

An extra hit for them, the nursing home, the local nursing home, St. Rita's nursing home, they finally got in there to see the condition of some of the bodies. Thirty plus people inside who perished when the flood waters rose. The DMORT teams, the mortuary group that's going to start bringing those bodies out to the morgues, were in there with a big refrigerator, beginning their long and arduous work of clearing out those bodies.

There are some folks, though, who do not want to leave, even though some assistance is being offered to them and evacuation is being offered to them. Let's get right to Karl Penhaul. He's on Canal Street this morning and to talk a little bit at the new plan for forced evacuations.

Karl, good morning.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, Soledad, there are no signs of those forced evacuations. And what law enforcement officials have said is first of all, they're going to get out of the way the voluntary evacuations. These essentially are the people, or seem to be the people, that first decided they were going to tough it out, they were going to stay in New Orleans, and then as the days have gone by, they've realized that conditions really aren't unlivable.

There are no public utilities. There's this fetid, filthy water lying around. And they've finally given up and said, "No, we do want to get out. We've changed our minds. We want to get out." But there is still a hard core of people. And overall, police estimate that between 10,000 and 15,000 people are still left in New Orleans. And there is definitely a hard core that don't want to leave under any circumstances. Moments ago, one of those residents had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DELIA LABARRE, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: We would like to ask the mayor to meet with us, those who are here, instead of just this forced evacuation, which I understand is actually illegal, according to our attorneys. We would like to ask him to meet with us, those who are here and would like to stay, and those who wanted to come in, they're all over the country. They will come in, they will drive, to have a sit-down and talk with him about rebuilding this city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PENHAUL: What the police say is, once the next wave of voluntary evacuations is completed, then they'll begin to force people out of their homes. They still haven't specified exactly how they will do that. But as the evacuations continue, the body bags are arriving. And the Federal Emergency Management Agency has said that 25,000 body bags are now in Louisiana. So far, though, the death toll stands in 83 in Louisiana, officially, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, officially. But of course, many people, as you know, Karl, are predicting that will go much, much, much higher. Karl Penhaul for us this morning down on Canal Street. Karl, thanks.

Let's get back to Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad.

Once jam-packed with evacuees, officials expect the Houston Astrodome to be cleared out a week from Sunday. Meantime, the evacuees still there awaiting to hear from FEMA about these debt cards worth $2,000. Lots of confusion about them this morning. Betty Nguyen was with us last hour talking about how they have not been distributed just yet.

Betty, have we gotten to the bottom of this one yet?

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, they say they are not distributing, FEMA, and will not distribute those $2,000 debit cards today. They're still working out the details on how to actually get them to the folk whose need them. They need to figure out how to get them registered in the system, and make sure folks who are coming here to get those cards are indeed the evacuees who need those cards.

So that is going to be taking place soon. But we have been told this morning that those debt cards will not be passed out today. But here's another bit of confusion for you, Miles. Right now, there is a line all of the way down the Reliant Center. People have started lining up since 5:00 a.m. local time to get a debit card from the Red Cross.

Now, this is a different type of debit card. We don't know how much those debt cards are because we haven't found any Red Cross people on-site just yet, although the lines have started, what, three hours ago now for people to stand in line looking for those debt cards.

But here is where the confusion lies. They believe that these debit cards are indeed the FEMA debit cards, which are up to $2,000 per family. They are not. These are separate. There is a Red Cross debit card and a FEMA debit card. And that Red Cross debit card, as I mentioned, will not be handed out today. So, again, a lot of confusion. People just want to get some kind of assistance here because, as you mentioned, people are moving out of these four main shelters here in Houston.

We got a headcount for you, too, Miles. As of early this morning when they did the headcount in the four main shelters, including the Astrodome, which is behind me, we have learned that there are 8,096 people here. That is a far cry from the 27,000 that we had heard just two days ago -- Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, they've done a great job handling it and organizing it, and one of the big things they've been focusing on, of course, are getting some kids in school. How is the enrollment going, how is all the school days? How are they going?

NGUYEN: Well, I have to tell you, since this morning we have seen, I don't know, about a dozen buses pass by us. Children start school today. Now, these are children, the evacuees from the four main shelters. They were registered yesterday and school does start today. The buses have lined up. Some 1,885 students registered for class today from these shelters.

And not only will the students board the buses, but so will the parents. The parents are going with students to these schools so they can go through orientation and see where these students are going to go to school, see where these children are going and where they'll be learning once they leave these shelters -- Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Betty, it's quite a scene there. I hope they get that debit card situation worked out. But those debit cards, all that they've lost, no banks, no addresses, the debit cards really are the way to go for them, aren't they?

NGYUEN: Absolutely, because people just need a little bit of money to get on their feet. A lot of them are finding homes, they're finding houses, whether it be temporary or long term. But they need that money to buy gas, to buy food, to buy clothes, just to really get started in this new life that they're having to leave here in Houston or in the surrounding cities -- Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: Betty Nguyen, at the Astrodome. Hopefully, a week from Sunday, it will be vacant, ready for a tractor pull or something else. But thank you very much.

Let's take a look at pictures coming in now. This is the morning aerial tour from our friends at Helinet. There's one of those pumping station we've been telling you about. I believe there are 160 or so of them that, along with the levees, keep below sea level New Orleans dry.

I think about 20 to 30 of them, I don't have the numbers right in front of me, are now operative. They still have a lot of work to do, obviously. Many of them were outright damaged, and of course there's the power situation, getting generators and so forth. These are massive pumping stations with a series of pumps. New pumps are being sent to New Orleans.

And you can see the kinds of problems you run into. You know, these are potentially intake areas here. You've got all this debris, which can literally gum up the works and can cause some difficulty there. So the problem is truly immense. And when you look at some of the areas that are most hard hit, St. Bernard Parish we've been talking a lot about this morning, it's going to take some time before that is dry. Take a look at, you know, kind of the flotsam and jetsam there, just like a gas can there, looks like a cooler over here. And just any number of things that would have been lying around households, a lot of lumber, of course, and all of that gumming up the works. It's also made it difficult for them to continue that effort to pump out those neighborhoods of New Orleans that are behind breached levees that had been repaired.

They literally have to have people sort of standing by at the grates to clear away some of this stuff that gets in the system to allow that pumping to continue. At our last count, we saw approximately 60 percent of the city of New Orleans was under water.

And that's an improvement, but still, it's going to be quite some time -- I saw an estimate this morning, perhaps 24, 30 days for the center part of New Orleans to become dry. When you get down to the areas of St. Bernard parish, an even grimmer pictures, probably 80, 90 days. Maybe much longer.

Still some levee breach to repair. You know, we focused so much on that 17th Street canal, but there's still others, five or six of them, that need repairs as well. So big task still under way. And as you can see plainly there from these shots, still quite a bit of water in the city of New Orleans this morning. And it is not pleasant water, by any stretch of the imagination.

Let's get some other headlines in now. Carol Costello in with that.

Good morning, Carol.

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

Now in the news, Vice President Dick Cheney is the president's new point man for hurricane recovery. The vice president is set make stops in Gulfport, Biloxi, and in Baton Rouge, and report back to the president on the recovery effort there. The visit comes as the Congress is preparing to approve another $51.8 billion in federal aid for the gulf region.

U.S. troops in Iraq is pounding suspected Al Qaeda sites. Military officials say warplanes near the Syrian border hit what is believed to be a safe house for one of the cell leaders.

In Baghdad, an American held hostage in Iraq for ten months is coming home. His ex-wife -- the ex-wife of Roy Hallums told us just last hour that he is expected to be reunited with his family within the week.

President Bush is set to get final recommendations today on streamlining domestic military bases, but federal judges have already agreed to temporarily block some of the recommendations. At issue, proposed changes to two National Guard air bases in Tennessee and Connecticut. The Justice Department is appealing. And tropical storm warnings are in effect for parts of Florida's eastern coast. Tropical Storm Ophelia is about 70 miles offshore, near Cape Canaveral. It is expected to gain strength in the next 24 hours. As for where it goes, well, let's check in with Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm afraid no one knows that at this point in time, Carol. The winds are just too light in the upper atmosphere. There are no real forces pushing this anywhere. Here's the storm, and I want you to notice -- I want you to notice the word "light." See how an hour ago, the rain was actually north of that word? Now it looks like part of the eyewall is actually sagging southward.

That either means that the eye is getting smaller or this is just sagging a little bit to the south in the past hour or so. There will be a lot of rain on the Texas east coast, a lot of battering waves as well, as high as ten feet with rip currents out there, significant rip currents, all of the way from Melbourne right on up into North Carolina.

The storm officially, by Sunday, is moving away, but by Monday and Tuesday, is curling back around. We're going to have to watch all this. Look at some of these models here. There are computer models that I show you. This is what we call the spaghetti map here. But some going off to the east. Some doing a complete loop.

Two models, this morning, taking it back to down to the Turks and Caicos. And then a few, after a couple of loops or so, moving it back across Florida. A very confused storm because the winds are so light. If you don't have winds, you can't push it one way or the other. We have to wait for winds to come in before it moves.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Chad.

Still to come in the program, a hero amid the tragedy of Katrina's aftermath. You'll meet a sheriff who's reaching out to his neighbors in their time of need.

Plus, offers of hurricane relief are coming in from all around the world, but here it is again, folks, the term, is red tape keeping it from getting to the people who need it? We'll take a closer look. Remember, it's about the people, not the process. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Why do some people want to stay in their homes when so many others are just thrilled to be rescued? A look this morning at two rescues with happy endings, but not everybody's happy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice-over): From St. Bernard Parish, the story of two rescues, Allan Shakay and Dianna Lamarque and Shane McCloskey brought into Chalmette Slip. Allan covered in mud and cuts and bruises. Diana and Shane just happy to be alive. SHANE MCCLOSKEY, EVACUEE: I flagged the helicopter, they must have seen me. And they must have sent the boat over and they finally pulled us out of there. So I'm glad we're alive.

S. O'BRIEN: Diana wanted to evacuate, but couldn't.

DIANNA LAMARQUE, EVACUEE: I didn't have the funds to do it.

S. O'BRIEN (on-camera): So you figured you'd just kind of ride it out?

LAMARQUE: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): She credits her survival to her friends.

LAMARQUE: I was in good hands, put it that way. The guys prepared me.

MCCLOSKEY: She means a lot to me. I love her. And like I said, if she'd have drowned out, I would have had to drown, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Compare that with Rose and Pat Adams. Mother and son, they were rescued, too, and they aren't happy about it. They were pulled from Rose's house, one of the few in the parish not affected by Katrina.

S. O'BRIEN (on-camera): Did they force you or did they just sort of ask nicely?

PAT ADAMS, EVACUEE: Sort of in a forcing way. You know, we are St. Bernard citizens and we'll come back strong, no matter what it takes.

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): It'll take a lot. Water in Bernard parish is brackish and smelly, dead animals litter the highways, marshland used for drainage is covered with water. Yet Rose is angry.

ROSE ADAMS, EVACUEE: They're not supposed to force you out of your house. And I told my son that. I'm sure I could have stayed there. Nobody could have forced me out.

S. O'BRIEN: Now, she waits to be relocated along with her two cats and a dog.

R. ADAMS: It want to die in my own house. If I have to die, I'm old. And I'm ready to go, I'm not afraid of death. And if I could stay there and die in the same house where my husband died, which we bought together and lived together for a number of years, I want -- I would be happy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: There are some in the city who are calling for a meeting with the mayor to discuss the very issue of forced evacuations. They say that parts of the city are not underwater. That parts of the city, in fact, are high and dry and they think they should stay -- Miles?

M. O'BRIEN: It's going to be interesting to see how this one plays out, Soledad. I really wonder if the authorities will go to somebody like that's house and pull, you know, an elderly person out of their long-time home. That would not be a picture I'm sure they'd want to share with the world.

S. O'BRIEN: It would be curious to see what they would have done next if she had, in fact, refused even more to go. I mean, I asked her, "Were you forcibly removed or did they sort of ask you to go." And she said somewhere in between, a little bit of both. But if she had absolutely refused, one wonders would they have arrested her, would they have moved her out.

M. O'BRIEN: Interesting. There's a lot of legal issues to explore as well. All right, Soledad, back with you in just a little bit. Thank you very much.

Still to come on the program, countries around the globe are offering help on Katrina in its wake. But a lot of it is not getting through into the U.S. We'll look at the reasons why. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: There you see what was the 17th Street canal breach. And as you can tell, looking at these live aerials this morning courtesy of Helinet, the Corps of Engineers, they move quickly. Underneath there are those 3,000-pound sandbags, innumerable numbers of them. And on top, some sand and gravel and so forth to sort of keep tamp it all down in place.

Good temporary fix, certainly wouldn't handle a Katrina-like storm, we know that. But never the less, has laid the groundwork for pumping those neighborhoods you see right there dry. Still wet, though. It's going to take quite some time to do that, on the order of a month at least is what the Corps is saying right now.

Of course, that's weather permitting. A little bit of rain or, God forbid, another hurricane or tropical storm would set that back quite a bit. Once again, live pictures on a sunny morning in New Orleans, a sunny and still sad morning for the Crescent City. There you see a fire burning there.

It appears there's no shortage of people and countries ready to send help to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Andrea Koppel reports on the assistance that is being offered up from around the world and the red tape that is preventing it from getting here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

URI BAR ZEMER, SATELLITE PHONE COMPANY OWNER: This is about the most frustrating exercise in futility in my entire life.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Uri Bar Zemer owns a satellite phone company in Rhode Island and he wanted to help the victims and rescue effort after Katrina hit. He says he teamed up with German and Dutch telecommunications companies, ready to offer a satellite phone network to first responders capable of handling 5,000 calls at once. But more than a week and dozens of phone calls later, Zemer says he's still waiting to hear back from the U.S. government.

ZEMER: My sense is that there are lives being lost because the communications is not there to coordinate their rescue.

KOPPEL: Clean water, too, is in short supply. And yet, Sweden says one of its transport planes carrying a water purification system capable of processing close to 2,000 gallons an hour, has been sitting on the tarmac in Sweden for days. The State Department says it appreciates the more than 95 international offers, but insists that finding a match for them is a tedious process.

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: You don't accept them in the abstract. You accept a very specific thing to do a very specific -- serve a very specific need and purpose.

KOPPEL: But offers are still pouring in. In South Korea, civic groups are fundraising for Katrina's victims, eager to help a country that's helped them in the past. In Germany, 16 tons of ready-made meals are loaded onto military planes on route to New Orleans. A Mexican army aid convoy is headed to Texas with mobile kitchens that can feed 7,000 people a day. And Canada is sending Navy ships loaded with relief supplies and military personnel.

Just a snapshot of the massive outpouring of aid and assistance for Katrina's victims offered by U.S. allies and adversaries alike. But while the U.S. has accepted offers from some, the State Department has effectively dismissed offers from Cuba and Iran, and has as yet to green light tens of millions of dollars of other international offers, leaving anxious donors wondering what to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: That was Andrea Koppel reporting, and there are some live pictures once again as the morning tour of the aerial tour of the city of New Orleans continues, become a bit of a routine here. And there you see part of that I-10 overpass that we've been telling you about here.

There were some people there, as you recall, who were stranded on that overpass. And there's that pumping station we showed you just a little bit a while ago. And just before we went into the Andrea Koppel piece, I want to show you a picture here. It's kind of fascinating and says a lot about what's going on in New Orleans right now.

This is obviously a gas fire under -- underwater gas leak that is burning right through the water there. So it must be a fairly significant leak as the gas bubbles up. Somehow that got sparked off and that's just a scene of some of the numerous fires that are occurring in the city of New Orleans right now. That one does not appear to be threatening any structures, as we speak. Back to have our live pictures. We're watching that, seeing what's new, what's to be seen this morning on the city of New Orleans. Soledad is down there somewhere, and we'll be back with her in just a little bit. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

We're coming to you live from New Orleans this morning. We're right on the I-10 highway. This is a highway that was very badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina and the floods that followed. In some places, of course, it's completely come apart, submerged in other places.

As we come across the highway, you can see the Delgado Community College School of Nursing, and many of the other hospitals here as well, very badly damaged. As you look down here, several feet of water still remain, and water was a huge problem for these hospitals as they tried to evacuate their patients. Thousands of patients had to get out, and in many cases could not get out. A huge problem as we heard in our reports from Sanjay Gupta.

Look down this two-lane avenue, the water high, and it is receding somewhat, not as quickly certainly as folks here would like. And you can see the damage that still exists in this city of New Orleans today.

We've got a look at some other news this morning with Carol Costello who is in the studio.

Good morning, Carol.

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

Now in the news, word of suicide car bombing targeting a U.S. convoy in Baghdad. New pictures from the scene show the remains of a car being held up by Iraqi police. You see it there. Officials say the bomb went off just as a group of American security personnel were driving by. None of them were hurt. The attack comes one day after four U.S. security guards were killed in a roadside bombing in Basra.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is saying the people have already said no to same-sex marriage in California. Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he would veto a bill that defines marriage between two people, not specifically as between a man and a woman. A proposition was approved five years ago that prevents California from recognizing same-sex marriages from other states.

And millions of dollars have been donated to the Katrina relief effort. Among them, $1 million from the National Football League. The donation comes just as the 2005 NFL season kicks off.

Defending super bowl champs the New England Patriots hosting the Oakland Raiders tonight. Randy Moss makes his debut as a wide receiver for Oakland, while Tom Brady and the Pats become their drive to become the first team to win three state Super Bowl titles.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: Eighty-nine Wal-Mart stores were damaged in the path of Hurricane Katrina, and still the company was very helpful in the recovery efforts. In fact, the Jefferson County -- sorry, the Jefferson County -- Jefferson Parish sheriff, sorry about that, had only high praise and wonderful things to say about the company and some of the representatives. Here's what he said:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF HARRY LEE, JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA: The vice president of Wal-Mart, Ronny Hayes, came up here to introduce himself and he handed me his card, and he said, sheriff, I know your people are in a lot of stress, need a lot of things. He said, I'm opening the Harrow Inn (ph) store, go in take whatever you need. And when we got there, there wasn't a Wal-Mart employee there, but the door was open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Ronny Hayes joins us this morning. Nice to talk to you, Mr. Hayes. Thanks for very much being with us. Give me a sense of where you were when the storm actually hit New Orleans.

RONNY HAYES, REGIONAL V.P., WAL-MART: When the storm hit New Orleans, I was in Bentonville, Arkansas. I immediately went down to the effected area on Tuesday, Tuesday morning.

S. O'BRIEN: You in fact were one of the very first people who landed and started to help. How did you get in?

HAYES: Well, we were able to get in by establishing relationships with the local law enforcement. They were a great help to us.

S. O'BRIEN: You brought with you some things and did some things that were utterly invaluable to some of the law enforcement officials who were absolutely decimated by the power of the storm and by the flooding as well. What exactly did you do?

HAYES: Well, I'll tell you, we were able to combine all the resources that we have available to us with our great logistics system and great technology. We were able to start putting things into place very quickly once I was able to find out what the needs were from the local law enforcement. And I will tell you that what I found was officers that also lost their homes and had great need, but in addition to that, they were still required to go out there and do their jobs. So what I did is I set up a command center at a Wal-Mart store, and we gave them a place to come and sleep at night, to get a change of underclothes, to get food, to get basic necessities.

S. O'BRIEN: Some people have said -- and I know you've heard this -- that you did a significantly better job than FEMA did in bringing some aid to the area. Listen to what the sheriff, again, Harry Lee, had to say about you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: If the federal government would have responded as quickly as Wal-Mart did, we may have solved a lot of problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: That's pretty high praise coming from the sheriff.

HAYES: Well, I tell you, I felt like I establish address great relationship with Sheriff Lee. And I will tell you, once again, our great systems and technology enabled me to react much quicker than most others. And we were able to -- go ahead.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, when you say that, and you've said it twice now, it makes me ask the question, if you can respond quickly because of your technology, why can't the federal government respond just as quickly? Shouldn't they in some ways have equally impressive technology?

HAYES: Well, I will tell you, being down in that area, it was very chaotic. And the thing that made this very difficult was the safety factor, and I think the advantage that I had was that I had this relationship with a local law enforcement. And as a result, they were able to get us into areas of the city that other organizations were not able to get into.

S. O'BRIEN: I want to ask you about the Wal-Mart employees because, of course, we mentioned that 89 of your stores were effected. What happens to them?

HAYES: Well, I will tell you the -- to date, we've been able to get all of those Wal-Mart stores back open, with the exception of 14 that are still currently down.

But I will tell you, we've got 34,000 associates that have been impacted by the hurricane. What we've been able to do is provide assistance and aid to these associates. And the way we've done that is, you know, we've placed 1,000 of these displaced associates in jobs at Wal-Mart stores where they are currently located. And then in addition to that, we're giving them financial assistance. They can go to a local Wal-Mart store and apply for up to $1,000 cash assistance to provide for their immediate needs.

S. O'BRIEN: That's terrific news. I'm sure they all appreciate that.

Ronnie Hayes joining us this morning. It's nice to get a chance to meet with you, at least on TV, because I spent the day with the sheriff, and he speaks so highly of you. Thanks for talking with us.

HAYES: Thank you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles, the noise behind me is actually -- let me just tell you, we're seeing the choppers in the air, of course. They're continuing their visual surveys of the region. Another day of search and rescue, another day of recovery right here in New Orleans.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much, Soledad. Back to you in a moment as we look at some of the live pictures from Helinet there as they continue their survey of St. Bernard Parish.

But first, a look at another big story to tell you about. Ford announcing a huge recall involving 3.8 million trucks and SUVs. We'll tell you which vehicles are affected, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: An important story that's not part of our Hurricane Katrina coverage. Ford is recalling nearly four million vehicles, one of the largest recalls in automaker history. There's concern over cruise control switches that have caused fires. Now part of the recall, Ford F-150 model, years 1994 to 2002; Expeditions, 1997 to 2002. Also on the list, Lincoln Navigators, '98-2002. And Broncos, model years '94-'96.

Jean Jennings is the editor-in-chief of "Automobile" magazine. She joins us from Ann Arbor, Michigan this morning.

Jean, good to have you with us.

JEAN JENNINGS, "AUTOMOBILE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Give us a non-engineers explanation as to what the problem is.

JENNINGS: Being a non-engineer, I can tell you that this cruise control has a switch that shuts the cruise control off when you press on the brakes. The problem is the wire is not really off. It's hot all the time. Now that wire connects the switches connected to the brake master cylinder at one end to the cruise control electrical components at the other. And what is separating them is the thin membrane separating the brake fluid from the actual electrical components in the switch. Investigators have found that this membrane can crack, allowing drops of brake fluid to fall down into those components and short them out. It corrodes them. Typically it will short it out. But in some cases, it changes the resistance inside there, causing a flare-up, causing a fire. Cars are apparently catching on fire with the switch off, with the key out of the ignition.

M. O'BRIEN: So if you have one of these vehicles, you would be wise and prudent to get yourself to a dealer. I suspect with a recall of this size, it might be hard to keep parts in stock.

JENNINGS: Oh, yes. They're definitely not going to have parts, because what we're going to do is put a circuit breaker in there so if there is a corrosion problem it will shut the power off. There will not be parts available. But what they can do is disconnect the cruise control for you until they get parts. It will mean two trips to the dealership.

M. O'BRIEN: So if you'd prefer to keep your cruise control going, at the very least, don't park your vehicle in the a garage, right?

JENNINGS: Yes, park it in the middle of a parking lot. You know, it's not surprising that will is a recall of this magnitude, because this is involving the most popular vehicle in America for the past 30 years. So they've sold a lot of these vehicles. They've had 550 complaints of fires.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, it's interesting, though, the numbers -- there's all kinds of numbers on this, and there's already been one recall involving a million vehicles. Supposedly 16 million in all might be affected by this. The math is still not adding up for me.

Take a look at this statement from Ralph Nader who's been a watchdog of this industry for many, many years now, back to the Coverre (ph) days, for gosh sakes. He says, "This is not enough. Ford Motor Company's sluggish and piecemeal approach to its automotive responsibilities betrays motorists safety. If this has now been recalled on three separate occasions, why isn't it simply removed from the fleet?" Good question.

JENNINGS: It is a good question. And I think the first couple times they didn't know what was going on. Now they are actually -- you can go on the Ford Web site, and they'll tell you exactly what is going on, what they know is going on.

The question is, is the part set up the same way in other vehicles? Is it located in the same fashion? We don't know. Is the part -- is it robust enough, are the pieces they're using robust enough in these cost-saving days?

What we do know are there are a lot of recalls all the time. Get ready for more recalls to come in under the shadow of this big one. Cars have many, many hundreds of moving parts. What you hope for is that you figure out what's wrong quickly, you solve the problem yourself quickly, and the problem isn't big enough you end up on CNN.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes. And we should point out Toyota had a recall yesterday, probably trying to sneak one in under the shadow.

JENNINGS: A million vehicles. And that was a good one, too. I mean, that involved power steering system, which could cause a problem in the front end while you're driving down the road.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Jean Jennings. Always appreciated.

Back with more in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's check the markets. Oil prices? Talking about oil prices?

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Yes, we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about stock prices. After two days of gains this week, remember Monday, the market was closed. Stocks taking a bit of a breather this morning.

What are we down there?

M. O'BRIEN: Thirty-seven.

SERWER: Thirty-seven.

M. O'BRIEN: Thirty-six, 37.

SERWER: Thirty-seven, 36 on the Dow Jones Industrials. A big report on the nation's oil inventories at 10:00, and that will move the market. So you can stay tuned for that.

I want to update you a little bit of a story we were talking about yesterday, not having to do with Hurricane Katrina, has to do with the hottest consumer product out there, the iPod. Yesterday Steve Jobs in San Francisco announcing the new iPod phone, which we have a picture of for Miles O'Brien right there, who was interested in seeing what it looked like.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much. I was curious.

SERWER: No wheel on the front but its that same sort of interface. Good reviews its getting.

And then also the really big news is the iPod Nano, which is replacing the Mini completely. This is its smaller version of the Mini. Look at that. He's pulling it right out of his change pocket there. And you can see how thin it is when you turn it. Slightly less battery life. Slightly fewer songs. But it's so small, the prices are about the same.

M. O'BRIEN: Four gigabytes in that size.

SERWER: Yes, it's pretty amazing.

And what Apple did that was truly amazing was that no one knew about this at all, Miles, which is truly amazing, you know, with all the rumors and buzz out there. And if you go to Apple's Web site, the Mini is completely gone. You know, that's the little one with the colors.

M. O'BRIEN: Doesn't exist, I know.

SERWER: And so it's going to be ready for Christmas, the Nano obviously.

M. O'BRIEN: So now you've got to upgrade.

SERWER: Got to get a new one. Kids definitely will, right?

M. O'BRIEN: That Steve Jobs knows how to put on a show, doesn't he?

SERWER: Sure does.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy Serwer, thank you very much. See you tomorrow.

SERWER: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: "CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan is up next.

Daryn, what's going on?

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, we have much more ahead on the Gulf Coast. You might remember Hardy Jackson. You can't forget his face. It was one of the most memorable and devastating images during Hurricane Katrina. He lost everything, including the love of his life. We have an update on his plight ahead.

Also can you manage an hurricane worse than Katrina? The original storm of the last century. We're going to look back at the great hurricane of 1900. All that's just ahead.

For now, back to you.

A hundred and five years ago today. All right, thank you very much, Daryn.

Let's get right back to Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks. The Sheriff of Jefferson Parish is one of the heroes to I'm merge from Hurricane Katrina. Here's his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Jefferson Parrish Sheriff Harry Lee is on a mission. His parish was mostly spared the wrath of Katrina, and now he's assisting his counterpart in St. Bernard. Now it's on to the ferry and across the Mississippi, a short ride, but a huge distance if you're measuring Katrina's toll.

LEE: They have really been decimated. I mean, really bad. What I'm hearing, and they may have to -- they may lose the whole parish. They may have to pull up every house down there.

S. O'BRIEN: It's his first trip to the parish even though he's been providing vehicles and help since the storm struck.

LEE: I just want to eyeball him. Jack has a lot of problems down there, and (INAUDIBLE) sending a helicopter, sending a representative, I want to go look him in the eye and tell me what he needs.

S. O'BRIEN: It's a long, circuitous route to St. Bernard Parish, past miles of battered trees and mangled homes. In the week and a half since Katrina struck, Sheriff Lee says he still thinks about the response.

LEE: You just can't plan for something like this.

S. O'BRIEN: Sheriff Jack Stevens arrives at Camp Katrina, and it's a warm welcome for two friends who survived the very worse. They talk, man to man, sheriff to sheriff about what was lost and what's worked.

SHERIFF JACK STEVENS: They put 600 Guardsman from Colorado down here.

S. O'BRIEN: They compare notes on the recovery and how the work at Camp Katrina, the center of Sheriff Steven's operations, is coming along. He's seen enough. And with yet another offer of he help, Sheriff Lee, who's led Jefferson Parish for 26 years, gets back in his truck for the ride home.

LEE: It hurt me that was I not able to help these people.

STEVENS: It's just the price you pay for living in paradise.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Edwin Compass (ph), the chief of police in New Orleans, said Lee is a hero. He provided ammunition and vehicles and stepped in and helped out -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Always good to see nose stories. As a matter of fact, Soledad, in the sea of sadness, we have seen some amazing stories along those lines, as well as some amazing family reunions after Katrina.

One in particular. On Wednesday AMERICAN MORNING's Kelly Wallace told us about a little girl in San Antonio in a shelter. She'd been separated from her parents and grandparents. Well, her family saw the story on CNN. She was reunited with her mom and dad early this morning. We are very happy to report that. We wish we could do that all day long, as a matter of fact.

We're back with more in a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Miles, the choppers are back in the air. And as we wrap up things for today, we're going to head back out and continue to report some of the stories of recovery, and of rescue and of rebuilding here in New Orleans -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. We look forward to seeing your visit with Delia, the woman who has stayed in her house. I'm very curious what she's all about and what her places looks like. We'll see that tomorrow.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, we will.

M. O'BRIEN: That's among the many things we'll see as Soledad comes back to New Orleans tomorrow.

That's all the time we have here for this edition of AMERICAN MORNING. Daryn Kagan is at the CNN Center to take you through the next three hours. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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