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American Morning
A Huge Relief Bill Speeds Through Congress; Battle of Wills Between Police, Holdouts Going to Next Level
Aired September 09, 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. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien reporting to you live from New Orleans, where this morning a battle of wills between the police and the holdouts going to the next level. It won't be easy, could get ugly. Police are preparing for forced evacuations.
A huge relief bill speeds through Congress, nearly $52 billion, $1.5 billion to be spent each day for the next five weeks. And more is to come. We're live in Washington this morning.
And some new pictures from the Astrodome in Houston. Long lines for a $2,000 debit card. Could this be the beginning and the end of a much anticipated program? On this AMERICAN MORNING
Hey Miles, welcome back to this morning, everybody. We want to show you where we are in downtown New Orleans. We're at the foot of Canal Street, right across from where police have set up their headquarters. Their command and control is at the Harrah's casino, and can you see their just starting to feed the troops and some of the officers, as well, this morning as thing are getting under way.
Also, we want to show you the Hilton hotel in the background. Some of the folks from FEMA are staying there also, some of the people who are going to be repairing the infrastructure here are staying there as well.
Earlier this morning, we were able to show you that the lights are on the generators are working, and they're actually able to house some people pretty effectively.
And then, Jay, if you give us a shot of the aquarium, we'll pan over here. The Audubon Aquarium, it survived the storm. It did pretty well in Katrina, but, of course, the terrible news for the staff there, that actually a lot of the marine life, the aquatic life, perished in the wake of the storm because they lost power, the life support systems failed.
They were able to save the sea otters and the penguins. They were able to save a 250-pound sea turtle. That's because the staff really acted heroically, did not abandon the animals, they stayed as Katrina came onshore and they stayed even as there was looting and civil unrest going on in right in this area. So that's where we are this morning, Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you very much, Soledad. We'll be back with you in just a moment. We begin with a look at the mission critical news for you. New Orleans police say just about everyone willing to leave the city is gone, and we underscore "willing to leave." Now they are gearing up to forcibly remove the thousands who remain in their homes.
Washington is sending more emergency relief money. Late Thursday night, the president signed a $51.8 billion spending bill, some of that set aside for the FEMA debit cards, up to $2,000 apiece. On Thursday, FEMA officials said the debit program would only continue in the Houston area, however. Other victims would need to receive their money in check or electronic funds transfer form.
And in Mississippi, about 200,000 homes and businesses without power this morning. Mississippi Power says it plans to restore electricity to customers by Sunday -- Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks. Well as you mentioned just a moment ago, FEMA handing out those debit cards finally after a fairly long wait.
Betty Nguyen is at the Astrodome where things got a little tense, didn't they, Betty? Good morning.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, things were very tense. Good morning, Soledad. Yesterday, in fact, we were under a temporary lockdown because of all the crowds that were gathering to get the American Red Cross debit cards. Those are still being handed out today, and I can tell you lines are long but not nearly as crowd as they were yesterday and the chaos has really subsided.
But let's talk about those FEMA debit cards, up to $2,000 per family. Those line are extremely long. People started lining up overnight, believe it or not. We talked to some folks who said they had slept there overnight, some got there around midnight, 2:00, 3:00, you name it. All hours of the morning.
And the lines were very, very long. Those debit cards, though, indeed are being distributed today here at the Reliant Park and the three shelters that are housed here, including the Astrodome shelter. That would be available to evacuees in the Houston area starting tomorrow, but nationwide, we're being told be FEMA, that because of all the chaos yesterday, that they are going back to the old system of direct deposit and distributing checks.
But I want to let you see a gentleman who we talked to a little bit earlier who had been in line, basically, throughout the entire morning, very early in the morning. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT SMITH, EVACUEE: People like to jump, I guess. They want to jump in line, they can't wait. The line is so long, it's wrapped around the block, and it ain't going to work. They don't want to wait. They want to jump it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Not only did it wrap around the block, the lines were just wrapping around themselves. And on top of that, he was talking about people jumping in line. In fact, we were just over there and we saw a lot of that. We saw people really getting very upset because they had waited overnight and all of a sudden people would come and jump in line in front of them.
One lady got into it with an officer because she was very upset about that, because there's a lot going on here, there's a lot of tension. A lot of people just waiting and desperately needing some help so that they can get started here in their new home in Houston -- Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, they just need the cash, one would imagine. Betty, quick question for you. When they give a check or they do a direct deposit. I mean, here at least, the folks in New Orleans have a lot of local banks. How do you access your money? It seems like a direct deposit wouldn't really be that helpful.
NGUYEN: Exactly. I was talking to Miles about this a little bit earlier. It seems like the debit card is a good idea, but because of all the chaos yesterday, FEMA has said that it's going to resort back to the old method. But there are a lot of questions and we're trying to get those answers because these are temporary shelters.
If people get checks mailed to them, where is it exactly going to go, especially when they find a permanent home? Also, those banks are closed. Maybe they don't even have a bank account, so how are they going to get those direct deposits? We're looking for the answers, and of course, we're going to bring it to you when we get them.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, and many people have local banks, so they're not even going to the big national banks which they could probably access in another state. All right, Better, I know you're going to ask some of those questions ahead -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Soledad. Late last night, president signed a $51.8 billion aid package for hurricane victims. FEMA will get most of that money. Bob Franken live at White House, now.
Bob, how will that money be spent? Presumably, some of that will go to those debit cards or however that money gets into people's hands.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It will, but of course, this is a work in progress. It's going to be spent at the rate over the next give weeks of almost a billion and a half dollars a day, $1.4 billion, $50 billion goes to FEMA, which is a controversy been able to get its arms around this crisis.
The defense department, the Pentagon, is going to get $1.4, obviously very visible with the troops that are on the ground. The Army Corps of Engineers gets another $800 million -- excuse me, $400 million. And that's for preliminary work on what is going to be a huge amount of additional work. But as I said, there's quite a bit of controversy over the performance of FEMA and those coordinating this response to Hurricane Katrina, leading many, including Republicans, to suggest that somebody new needs to be put in charge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: We need a single person, I've suggested Colin Powell in specific. It doesn't have to be him. There are certainly many others that have that same background. I happen to like the fact that he's got a military, a logistical background. I think what you need somebody who can be not only in charge and has the responsibility, but the authority to get things done. Somebody who can cut through the red tape, that can make the decisions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: Right now the White House is deflecting those suggestions, saying that there are good people already in place. But as we all know, Miles, there's quite a bit of controversy over that.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes, there is, Bob Franken. And you say "people" plural, not one person comes to mind. And that may be the point. Thanks very much.
Governor Haley Barbour calls the damage to Mississippi's Gulf Coast "breathtaking." Highways, brides, and rail lines a total mess, and power still out for about 200,000 homes and businesses. Allan Chernoff live in Biloxi.
And, Allan, I understand international aid is on its way, today. Tell us about that.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. The search-and-rescue effort is completed here in Biloxi. The coroner said it is all done. So now the focus clearly on reconstruction, rebuilding, and the military has been playing a major role. The Navy is here right now, and they're going to be getting a helping hand from Mexican sailors.
They'll be docking right aside that U.S. vehicle -- vessel rather -- in about an hour and a half or so, so they'll be coming right here, and that's clearly something a little bit historic, Mexican sailors, right here in Mississippi. Not something you see every day. Probably something that maybe has never been seen at all.
The real focus here on clearing out all the debris, and what's been happening throughout town is that people have been going back to their homes, if their homes are still standing. They've been cleaning out all of the waterlogged debris, getting it onto the street.
In many cases it's still sitting in the homes. I mean, just absolutely horrific scenes of people having lost virtually all of their possession. So the soldiers, the sailors, they've been helping out. They've been clearing out the sidewalks and also the streets so that people can at least get by over here. But it's not just the cleanup effort as well. The sailors here from the Navy have also been helping to restore the sewage system and also to get the water flowing again. The water is not yet potable, but they're hoping that it will be fairly shortly. Everybody's been relying on bottled water over here.
The base of operations is just down the beach, and this is called Camp Restore, and they have about 40, 50 sailors over there. Half of them just came back from their duty in the Mediterranean.
Miles, back to you.
M. O'BRIEN: Allan Chernoff in Biloxi. Good to see help coming from whatever quarter it comes from.
Let's check the headlines, now. Carol Costello with that. Good morning, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Miles. Good morning to all of you. Now in the news, the U.S. citizen rescued after ten months in captivity in Iraq is heading home. Contractor Roy Hallums boarded a military transport plane earlier today. You can see him there, we just got these pictures in. This is from a farm house outside of Baghdad.
The tip came from an Iraqi prisoner, by the way, that's how he came to be rescued.
FEMA coming out in defense of Director Michael Brown this morning. A new "Time" magazine article claims there are inconsistencies in Brown's official biographies. Brown's resume reportedly says he was an assistant city manager with oversight on emergency services. But "Time" cites research that says Brown was only an assistant to the city manager. FEMA claims the report is based on false information.
The annual Black Family Reunion Celebration kicking off in Washington. More than half a million people are expected at the National Mall in Washington for a weekend of festivities. They start today. Performers this year include gospel singer Kirk Franklin and Chaka Khan. And despite the name, organizers say the event is open to everyone, quote, "It's all about families."
And Ophelia appears to be losing steam. It was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm earlier this morning. But that storm hanging around Florida's eastern coast. And Chad, we wish it would just go away.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's going to try to go away, Carol. It's going to try move off to the east a little bit, but then a high pressure system is going to stop it. It's going to be like a little wall out here. So as it travels on up into the Atlantic and still in very warm water, it's going to hit a high that's going to push it back to the west. Kind of worried about Jacksonville, Savannah, and Charleston for late in the week, maybe early next week. Eighty-six, Orlando, if you're traveling there today, 82 in New York. A beautiful day in New York tomorrow, sunshine and 75. A cold front goes through today. Temperatures, humidity down. It is going to feel like a perfect fall day in the city tomorrow. All the way down to Baltimore as well, if you want to get out.
Windy across the Pacific Northwest. It is fall here over the weekend. A huge trough of cold air comes ripping down out of the north and northwest and temperatures are going to be in the 30s across Colorado, Wyoming, and also even into Montana. So warm on the east, still got Ophelia. It's a busy day even though it's all settled down from last week -- Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks, Chad. Still to come, the latest on rescue efforts in New Orleans. We'll talk to the doctor in charge of the triage unit at the city's convention center.
Plus, the state officials at Louisiana back New Orleans forced evacuations. We'll talk to the lieutenant governor about that. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. Where we are, at foot of Canal Street, is really not very far from the convention center. In the convention center parking lot is a triage unit set up to help some of the evacuees who have medical problems. Dr. Dan Diamond is medical director of that triage unit, he's with Northwest Medical Team.
Nice to talk with you, thanks for being with us this morning. What kind of patients are you seeing and how many?
DR. DAN DIAMOND, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, NORTHWEST MEDIAL TEAM: We're seeing, on average, about 100 to 175 patients a day. Most of the patients that we're seeing are absolute destitute poor folks of New Orleans. It's the people with chronic diseases, the elderly, the people that have been out of their medication since the hurricane hit.
S. O'BRIEN: When they come to you, and they're obviously not in very good condition, especially now at this point, 10, 11, going on 12 days in. What do you do? How do you treat them?
DIAMOND: Well, we treat them with hope and enthusiasm and some compassion. If they have wounds, we bandage their wounds up. If they need stabilization, for example, an asthmatic that's not breathing well, we'll treat them right there on the scene to get them stabilized before we put them on the helicopters or the buses to get them out.
S. O'BRIEN: And where will they go from the helicopters and buses? Does it depend on the situation they're in?
DIAMOND: It does. If they're normal healthy people, they'll get either bused or helicoptered to the airport. We're now changing things a little bit today and we're going to be diverting some of the patients to the local hospitals. We have three local hospitals that are set up and running. They have open beds, which is great news. We want to keep these people in some of the surrounding parishes so everybody's not getting displaced out.
S. O'BRIEN: Because already, obviously, displacement is a huge problem. When we were talking just a moment ago, you said that you could have been here very quickly, and you couldn't get in, you couldn't get into help people. Why not?
DIAMOND: That's true. And a lot of people don't realize this, physicians are licensed by state. And I have a license in the state of Washington, but I'm not licensed to practice in Louisiana. And it took several days of work to get reciprocity between Louisiana and our state so that I could come in and work. Otherwise, I would come in and...
S. O'BRIEN: So you couldn't give medical care to people because you were waiting on approval of the license that you already had in Oregon?
DIAMOND: In Washington.
S. O'BRIEN: In Washington state?
DIAMOND: That's correct. If I come down and without that license...
S. O'BRIEN: How fast could you...
DIAMOND: I just can pass out band-aids.
S. O'BRIEN: How fast could you have been here?
DIAMOND: I could have been here within 24 to 48 hours, closer to 24 hours.
S. O'BRIEN: After the storm.
DIAMOND: Northwest Medical Teams has a commitment to be anywhere in the world for a large disaster within 24 to 48 hours.
S. O'BRIEN: So you could go to Thailand to help the tsunami survivors, but could not come into New Orleans?
S. O'BRIEN: Absolutely. Our response time is faster internationally than it is at home because of these issues like licensure. And that's just tragic.
S. O'BRIEN: Sounds like the rules are getting in the way and with disastrous consequences. I mean, people, easily, are losing their lives because they can't get the care they need.
DIAMOND: It would be great if we had some sort of a national licensure, so we could cross state borders, even if it's just in case of emergencies, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Or at least in emergencies, yes. How frustrating is -- I mean, you know, you're a doctor, you take the Hippocratic oath. How frustrating is it to watch pictures on TV when people clearly desperately need your care, and you're waiting for a phone call saying your license is now approved?
DIAMOND: It got to the point that I was so angry that I couldn't watch the TV anymore. My team -- and I had ten of us that were on standby, ready to come. My team is trained for 10 or 11 years now specifically for mass casualties.
And to be ready to help and hear these cries from the doctors and the nurses down here that they needed help, to have it all packed and loaded to come and not be able to come, was some of the most agonizing days of my entire life. It was terrible.
S. O'BRIEN: And I have to imagine that the circumstance that you're describing is the circumstance any doctor -- frankly, we've heard that story in little bits and pieces from people who want to volunteer. And these aren't just regular citizens. These are trained people with actual skills that could be life-saving, or with the Red Cross, turned away apparently from delivering supplies and setting up feeding stations.
DIAMOND: Yes, I don't know much about what the Red Cross has been doing.
S. O'BRIEN: But your circumstance...
DIAMOND: From our perspective, it was very frustrating.
S. O'BRIEN: And doctors everywhere, I would imagine, are under the same situation?
DIAMOND: Yes, tough one. It's a balance between -- what they don't want is to have 3,000 doctors just show up at the airport and say, "Hey, I can help." But they need to be able to get the teams in that are trained to help.
S. O'BRIEN: What you don't want is to have no doctors being able to get into a community of people who desperately needs help.
DIAMOND: That's true, if you have 3,000 doctors that you need to feed and house.
S. O'BRIEN: That's right. It's provides its own problems, but I guess there's emergencies sometimes that provides other problems. Before you go, I want to get a shot of Dr. Dan, as he calls himself, Dr. Dan's socks and shoes. You kind of stuck out as you were walking, you know.
DIAMOND: Well, you know, one of my goals is to bring hope to people. And if I can make a couple people smile along the way today down here today, that's what we want to do. We want to let people know that it's going to be OK. And I'm willing wear my crazy tie-dye socks and shoes, whatever it takes, to bring some hope and encouragement to the patients that we're taking care of.
S. O'BRIEN: I'm sure it's appreciated. Nice talking to you, Dr. Dan.
DIAMOND: Nice talking to you, too. Thanks.
S. O'BRIEN: Miles?
M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Soledad. Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, we look back at another deadly hurricane that slammed into New Orleans 40 years ago today. Why the lessons learned from Hurricane Betsy, as it turns out, were not enough to save lives in the aftermath of Katrina. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Hurricane Katrina is a disaster like no other. But 40 years ago today, another storm flooded New Orleans. And as CNN's John Zarrella tells us, in some sense, the city has never recovered from that one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The images out of New Orleans today are in color, 40 years ago, they were in black and white. Otherwise, they look the same. In September, 1965, Hurricane Betsy slammed south Florida, flooding neighborhoods, downing trees, and smashing store fronts.
UNIDENTIFIED NEWSMAN: Betsy struck at the worst possible time, high tide at night.
ZARRELLA: Just like Katrina, Betsy strengthened in the Gulf and hit Louisiana as a category four storm. Unlike Katrina, which went east of the city, Betsy made landfall and moved just to the west of New Orleans.
JASON DUNION, METEOROLOGIST, NOAA: New Orleans did catch that portion of the hurricane eyewall, is what we call it. And what that did was bring a lot of flooding up the Mississippi River.
ZARRELLA: The Mississippi River poured into the city. Seventy- five people were killed, and for days, the city's inhabitants sloshed through waist-deep water. In the wake of Betsy, Congress authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to build better flood protection.
Construction began in 1967 and was still under way 38 years later when Katrina hit. And over the years, it became increasingly obvious that the flood protection system under construction wasn't going to be high enough. Project Storm, as the Army Corps called it, would protect the city from a category three, considered the most likely to hit the city.
AL NAOMI, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: That was well before Hurricane Camille, or any of the big storms that they realized could possibly hit. If we were to ask them for a Project Storm today, it's like it wouldn't give us the same Project Storm.
ZARRELLA: With the city sinking, wetlands eroding, and the wall too small, the Army Corps began a study five years ago to see how much it would cost to raise the levees to protect against bigger storms. The study isn't done. In 2001, Naomi told us it would take at least 15 years and lots of money to upgrade the system once the project was approved.
NAOMI: I think it's going to be in the billions, billions of dollars. I don't know how much, depends on the plans we come up with, but it's going to be very expensive.
ZARRELLA: That seemed like a lot of money four years ago, but today, it's only a fraction of what it's likely going to cost now to rebuild New Orleans and the wall that protects it.
John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
M. O'BRIEN: The Army Corps of Engineers tells us this morning the water in New Orleans is receding now at a rate of four to six inches a day.
Still to come, the latest on the mandatory evacuations in New Orleans. City officials say they're ready to use force if necessary. Find out whether state officials are on board of this plan. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning, welcome back, everybody. We're coming to you from the foot of Canal Street, which is just across, really, from the police headquarters where they've set up their command and control operations. And as the sun rises and we get into the morning, things get busier and busier.
The forced mandatory evacuations have now been called for, and there's an estimation that somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people remain in the city. Some of them get to remain because they're working. We've seen workers cleaning up the street. They are the exemption, they get to stay. And they live in New Orleans.
Some, though, are fighting it tooth and nail. That brings us right to Dan Simon. He's only a few blocks away from where I am, in the middle of Canal Street.
Dan, good morning.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
The two headlines today, rescue and resistance. Authorities are continuing to try to search for people, any possible survivors. At this point, they don't think there are too many left, but nevertheless, the search goes on.
The second headline, resistance. It's just amazing. As you alluded, there are about somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people still left in the city. And the question is, how do you get these folks out of town? These people are so passionate. They don't want to leave and go to a shelter. They say they have enough food and water to sustain themselves. And so it's a tricky situation of in terms getting these people out of town. And at some point, it's going have to get ugly, according to some folks. There have already been a few arrests.
There was one example yesterday of an elderly woman, this is a frail woman, really kind of a sad situation. She's obviously exhausted, and so are the police for that matter, but this is a woman, who again, as I said, is frail, and she was pointing a weapon at the police, and that's why they had to take her down.
But once again, Soledad, a real challenge facing the city as they have to get these folks out of town. It's obviously not safe to be here, because of the disease and so forth. And so those are the challenges facing the city today.
S. O'BRIEN: Well, Dan, you know, certainly we've seen people on our air talking about how they're armed and they're going to resist. But you have a number of people who are not armed and they're going to resist as well. And I guess there are lots of questions how this mandatory evacuation order and forcible removal will actually play out? I mean, are they going to handcuff citizens and march them from their homes. Will they pull guns on people in their own homes to get them to leave?
SIMON: Well, the police department has made it clear they definitely does not want to use force to get these folks out. But at a certain point, they may have to, because of the defiant attitudes. I spoke to one gentleman who says, if the police enter his property, he will shoot them. And based upon his facial expression and his tone of voice, he seemed serious. So it is going to be a very tough situation for the police department, and the question is, is how patient are they going to be?
Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: And when you think of police department, these are local people. They understand how the people don't want to be removed from their homes, because they are the people who live in New Orleans. They probably don't want to be removed from their homes either if -- and certainly are, you know, devastated in the wake of the destruction of their homes, too.
All right, Dan Simon, thank you very much for that. Let's get right back to Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Boy, that picture, Soledad ,of that officer tackling that elderly, frail woman is difficult to swallow this morning, I'll tell you that.
S. O'BRIEN: It is. But I got to tell you, miles, it's going to come to that, and I think you're going to see more of that. That's a real indication of just how people do not and will not leave. And you know, people here carry weapons, and people are stockpiling weapons in their homes because they're not going to leave their homes. Wait until you start seeing pictures of the actual way the removals are forced. I mean, I'm curious to know, will they put handcuffs on a little old lady and haul her out? Will they draw weapons? Will a SWAT team go in and remove an 87-year-old who doesn't want to leave her home? And how do they get there? I mean, a lot of the questions are in water. A lot of questions remain, and I think we're going to see over the next several days and weeks some really sort of tough-to- take pictures, like that one.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, the worst thing is it does take resources away from moving forward in the cleanup.
All right, Soledad, thank you very much.
The residents of San Antonio, Texas have welcomed about 13,000 hurricane evacuees into their community. On Wednesday night, less than half that number had to be housed in San Antonio shelters. Joining me now from that city is the mayor, Phil Hardberger.
Mr. Mayor, good to have you with us this morning.
MYR. PHIL HARDBERGER, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Thank you, Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Bring us up to date on the numbers -- how many evacuees do you have? How many in shelters? How many in people's homes?
HARDBERGER: Well, as you said, we took in 13,000. We have a little bit less than 6,000 now. We have been able to link up the rest with friends and family across the states, and they have now departed the area, or at least the great majority of them have departed the area. Some of them have actually found places here in San Antonio.
M. O'BRIEN: Now you got a metropolitan area there of about a million people, about 13,000 evacuees. Difficult to absorb or is that something you feel the city can take in stride?
HARDBERGER: Well, I think we can take it in stride. Of course I'm sure a lot of the evacuees are going to want to go home as soon as they can. I was listening about what's going on in New Orleans. Many of these people have lived their entire lives in New Orleans or one of the parishes there. So the great majority, I believe, will return home as soon as they get an opportunity to do so. But no doubt, a couple thousand, I would estimate, will probably actually remain in San Antonio, and we're able to accommodate that, if that is their desire.
M. O'BRIEN: Are there a lot of school-aged children in your group of evacuees, and have the schools been able to handle it?
HARDBERGER: Yes, there are a number of school children, and they are getting enrolled into our schools right now so that they don't miss too much school. Of course, this is a burden on the school systems, especially as the evacuees are mostly in one school district, one area. We have several school districts, and so it's hard on that school district, and we are very much hoping that the federal authorities, who have said they're going to reimburse all for of our expenses will take that into consideration.
M. O'BRIEN: Have you put in an official request for that, yet?
HARDBERGER: We have.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. What about -- are you setting deadlines, for example, for getting evacuees out of shelters and getting them settled in one way or another. How are you handling that?
HARDBERGER: Well, there's two things. One we have actually set no hard deadlines. We have four shelters here that we're taking care of the 13,000, now taking care of the 6,000. We hope to start closing those as soon as we get an opportunity to do so. Of course, we won't close them all at one time. We'll close one and take those people that are still there and put them in another, and eventually hope to limit the number, and eventually go away altogether.
We also are getting a great deal of help from our people here. We have an evacuee fund, a hurricane relief fund, that is helping in this process. USAA, the big insurance company, just yesterday donated $1 million for the use of the evacuees here in San Antonio.
M. O'BRIEN: Mayor, what are you hearing from your constituents? Because, you know, this is great to see a city open up its arms as Houston has done, as other cities have done. By the same token, you must hear from people who say, look, we can't handle all this. What do you say to them?
HARDBERGER: Well, the great majority of people in San Antonio are very warm hearted, a lot of generosity. Mi casa es su casa is the very common saying around here, and they've done that. But yes, you're right, there are a few people that say, how about us? All of this effort is being made for people that are out of town. And we've got homeless too, or we've got school problems and this and that. But it's a very small number. It's there, but most of the constituents, I think, are proud of themselves of what they have done, and they should be proud of themselves.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, and we are proud of them as well.
Mayor Phil Hardberger, city of San Antonio, thanks for being with us.
HARDBERGER: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Back to you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks a lot.
Back to the mandatory evacuation order. As we mentioned, there are estimates that run from anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people in the city. Hundreds of thousand are still here and are refusing to leave. Let's right to the Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu. He joins us from Baton Rouge this morning. It's nice to talk to you, sir. Thank you very much for your time.
We really haven't heard the governor weigh in on the mandatory evacuation. Does she say that in fact, yes, all citizens have to get out and will be brought out by force?
LT. GOV. MITCH LANDRIEU, LOUISIANA: Well, let me first say I know you had the mayor of San Antonio on just a minute ago, and I want to thank him and all the people for everything that they're doing. They've just been terrific. The mandatory evacuation order is something that's under consideration. One of the things that is seriously considered is whether or not there is a significant health threat to the people that are there.
The Centers for Disease Control is testing the water, and we're trying to make sure we don't put people who are there in another situation and put them in harm's way. So we're being very deliberate. We're going very slow. As you can tell now, there are some areas of the city that are dry. The health risk might not be what we originally thought. So we're working on that over the next couple of days, and we'll try to flush that out a little bit better. Right now, people are not going to be forcibly removed from the city.
S. O'BRIEN: So no one is being forcibly removed? i've run into people who've said that they've been made to leave your houses. So it sounds like your policy is contradicting some of the other policies that we've actually seen play out, sir?
LANDRIEU: Well, to a certain extent. But again, those would probably the exceptions rather than the rule. I think they're strongly urging people to leave. Obviously, it's a very delicate situation that we have to work through. You can tell now because of this discussion that we're in the second phase, and there a lot of things going on. We're trying to coordinate them a little bit better, and hopefully we'll come to some resolution, but, of course, the most important thing is the health and safety of all of the citizens that are there. There is no water right now. The food is limited. And so it's one of the things that are being considered. I'm sure the mayor and the governor will get together in short order and make a final determination about that.
S. O'BRIEN: We saw pictures of that little old lady being tackled because she had a weapon. We saw pictures of the little old lady being tackled because she had a weapon. You are going to have residents who are not armed, who will have to be removed if it comes to that. Are you going to advocate arresting people, citizens, in their own home? Will you say it's OK to handcuff someone in their own living room?
LANDRIEU: Soledad, I think you guys are kicking this up a little higher temperature than it needs to be right now. It would be very hard to see any kind of difficult conflicts that put either citizens or rescue folks in harm's way, because of that, we're being very deliberate about that to make sure that what we're in the business of is saving lives, not risking them.
S. O'BRIEN: And with all due respect, sir, I have to say, the temperature is being raised, but in all fairness, not by us, the citizens who we've spoken to are literally furious.
Let's move on because I want to ask you about rescue. My understanding is that you actually were on a boat pulling people in and saving lives. Is that correct?
LANDRIEU: Well, what happened in the early days of the storm is that everybody did everything that they could to help. As you know, we had a number of Wildlife and Fishery agents who are heroes, just working down off of the St. Carrbridge in lower nine. I was in the boat with them helping down there. Everybody was just doing everything that they could. There was some folks down there that risked their lives in many instances, some folks that worked for the government, some folks that were just citizens. It was really an incredible scene. It was a very difficult time for many of us who this is very personally, you know, attached to. And it was just a tough couple days.
S. O'BRIEN: We talked to a gentleman yesterday, Tom Ergreeg (ph), whose mother died -- is presumed dead, I should say, in the flood of St. Rita's nursing home, and he said you came to talk to him personally to tell him that efforts were made in the final moments to rescue the elderly people inside. What can you tell me about that? Were you part of that rescue? What do you know?
LANDRIEU: Well, one of the complications, as you can tell, from this storm, when people do a postanalysis is communication, and the only way that we communicate was by person. So I was playing the role, in some instances, of getting down in some of the local areas, trying to talk to their emergency operation to find out what they really needed. And In the process of doing, we found out about St. Rita's home. We found out that they actually moved the hospital to the jail. We were just trying to find out as much information as we could so we could actually bring that back.
One of the pieces of information was that there were a number of people in St. Rita's nursing home that had to be medevaced. And so I brought that information back up here and gave it to the powers that be and tried to reconnect. And that was the major difficulty with the storm. And it was a very difficult time, as can you tell, and some things had to be handled that way.
S. O'BRIEN: Although, I would imagine that if the owners had followed the evacuation plan and not sort of waited for the last minute, it wouldn't have had to be handled that way. But I guess there's an investigation ongoing is my understanding.
Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu -- I'm sorry, go ahead, sir?
LANDRIEU: That's not necessarily true, Soledad. That's an unfair comment.
S. O'BRIEN: No, it's not.
LANDRIEU: Until we really figure out what happened, you know, I would just refrain from that now. We're really just focused on the first phase of this thing. We'll get into that. You're going to cover the congressional investigations. And let's talk about that then, and we'll deal with it all of it at that time.
S. O'BRIEN: I understand, sir. And just for the record, though, I will tell you that people who called into that nursing home told us that the nursing home informed them on Saturday as the storm was approaching that no, they were not planning to evacuate.
But you're right, we will certainly much more if and when there is a congressional investigation.
LANDRIEU: I'm not quarreling with that, with this piece of information. Let's spend some time, you know, continuing to save lives and get these folks back home right now.
S. O'BRIEN: I hear you, sir. All right, Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu joining us this morning.
Let's get a look at some of the stories that are make headlines today.
Carol, good morning to you.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad. Good morning to all of you.
Now in the news, hundreds of troops from the Louisiana National Guard are now heading home from Iraq to help with the Katrina relief efforts. They are members of the 256th Brigade. Homecoming is not exactly happy. They're commander spoke from Baghdad just a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. JOHN P. BASILICA, LOUISIANA NATL. GUARD: When you have 500 of your soldiers that have been affected as catastrophically, I have to tell you, that I feel like I'm very much affected. It saddens me terribly. It's just a terrible thing that they are going to come back from 18 months of sacrifice where they have risked their lives and have a disaster of this nature, don't have a home to come back to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: About three-quarters of the entire 256th Brigade Combat Team -- that's Almost 3,000 soldiers -- are expected to come home in the within the next two weeks.
S. O'BRIEN: Also in the Middle East, there is word Israel is wrapping up its pullout of Gaza ahead of schedule. The defense minister tells Israeli Army Radio that all troops will be out of Gaza by Monday. That's three days ahead of the deadline.
CNN security watch now. An American student has been charged with plotting to kill President Bush. Prosecutors say 24-year-old Ahmed Omar Abu Ali planned to either use multiple snipers or to blow up the president in a suicide bombing. He's also accused of trying to hijack and destroy commercial aircraft.
Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security. (WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Still to come, the long road to recovery for businesses crushed by Katrina. Sometimes the most basic need is for customers. A closer look at that is just ahead.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Some Democrats are criticizing President Bush for an executive order that allows hurricane-ravaged areas, federal contracts to pay workers at less than the prevailing wage. Andy Serwer will explain this for us -- Andy.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: I will? I'll try to explain it to you.
Let's start off with the markets, though, Miles. Stocks trading higher at this hour. Let's go down to the Big Board and check it out. Up 21 points. The Dow Jones Industrial Average. This even with the price of oil higher.
Texas Instruments leading the markets higher with a positive forecast. That stock has been on fire. Yesterday, President Bush signed an order that would allow government contractors to pay workers less than the prevailing wage when rebuilding in ravaged areas, a federal project such as highways and let's say post offices as well. This is something called the Davis/Bacon Act, which says that workers must be paid basically the prevailing wage -- this would be laborers, not skilled workers, people carrying bricks and that sort of thing -- to rebuild these areas.
Now the president has signed this bill saying this would allow more workers to be hired. This is the argument that's used against the minimum wage. In other words, if you don't have a minimum wage it allows more workers to the hired. That's what these people are suggesting. Democrats are criticizing this, saying these are people who need the money the most. These are evacuees potentially, people in the area coming back, looking for work, rebuilding their own area, and it seems to me the contractors could be making a lot of money here. Shouldn't they be sharing this largess with employees?
M. O'BRIEN: Well, I mean, if we are talking about laborers who are there and displaced, this is a great way to get them on their feet. I see the point.
SERWER: The wage is about $9 an hour in New Orleans, the prevailing age, and presumably with this, the nullification of this law, they would be getting paid less than that. Kind of hard to understand, quite frankly.
M. O'BRIEN: All right, let's track this one, see how that goes.
Andy Serwer, thank you very much.
"CNN LIVE TODAY" with Daryn Kagan is up next.
Daryn, good morning to you.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, good morning.
At the top of the hour, an uncertain homecoming. Members of the Louisiana National Guard are on their way back from Iraq. They're just not sure what they are coming home to.
And avoiding charity scams. We all want to help or donate to Katrina victims. In today's top-five tips, you're going to find out how to protect yourself and get your money to the people who need it the most. That's all coming up at the top of the hour -- Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Thank you, Daryn. Appreciate that.
Still to come, survivors of Katrina get their first up-close look of the devastation the storm left behind. We'll meet a couple trying to rebuild their home, and their business and lives. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: We're just getting word now that President Bush is going to make a return trip back to the Gulf Coast, to Louisiana and Mississippi. That's going to happen on Sunday. Because we've got special weekend editions of AMERICAN MORNING all weekend, Saturday and Sunday, we're going to be able to bring that to you, cover that story for you as well. That's going to happen, President Bush coming on Sunday afternoon, we're told at this point.
Meanwhile, civilians are trying to pick up the pieces as they try to rebuild their lives.
Dan Lothian has the story of a couple that's putting a lot of time effort and into their business, even though they have no customers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New Orleans is still mostly under water, and the pain of this disaster is equally deep.
DAVE DELGER, DIVE SHOP OWNER: It's like living in a dream world.
LOTHIAN: Dave and Sunday Delger have owned this Jefferson parish dive shop for 14 years, selling equipment, giving lessons and taking customers on exotic trips.
D. DELGER: My major damage is wind. Water damage is back here.
LOTHIAN: They never thought Katrina would have hit them so hard, even though the couple had heard repeated warnings of the Big One since grade school. D. DELGER: You know, we grew up with that, but we've always avoided it. We've missed it, so to speak. But this one here was the Big One.
SUNDAY DELGER, DIVE SHOP OWNER: We were in denial. We really didn't believe it would happen.
LOTHIAN: Their business is heavily damaged. Their nearby home nearly destroyed.
D. DELGER: You know, it looks like a mini war zone in there.
LOTHIAN: They are now living with a relative in a town a few miles away.
D. DELGER: We'll stretch it out and see what we got.
LOTHIAN: Even as they make temporary repairs to the roof of their dive shop, the Delgers worry it may be harder to get back their customers than their utilities.
(on camera): People won't have money to go diving.
D. DELGER: People won't have money to go diving. They're too busy building their homes and their businesses.
S. DELGER: How long can we hold out without people coming in and shopping with us?
D. DELGER: This is our income. If this shop doesn't run and doesn't operate, then we have no other income.
LOTHIAN (voice over): In addition to all the hurdles they face in rebuilding, there's another thing. Sunday was to have undergone surgery on a damaged vocal cord at a hospital here in downtown New Orleans. Obviously, the procedure has been postponed indefinitely. And Sunday has absolutely no idea where her doctor is.
But this couple says it won't be defeated. After all, this town is where they were both born. This is home.
D. DELGER: We'll build. We'll come back.
LOTHIAN: Dan Lothian, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: The insurance commissioner says that, in fact, the insurance agents will be able to pay off their customers who've been just wrecked by the damage from Hurricane Katrina, so that provides a little bit, I guess, of hope for those folks.
A short break and we're back in just a moment with AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
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