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American Morning

State of Emergency After Hurricane Katrina; Congress Gives More Money To Victims of Hurricane; Survivor's Family Member Off To Iraq

Aired September 09, 2005 - 08:30   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. We're coming to you live this morning from downtown New Orleans. We're at the foot of Canal Street right across from police command and control.
Good morning, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad, from New York.

Also ahead, we're going to talk about everything that was unique about the rich, old, carefree culture of New Orleans. And whether those days and that culture can ever come back. Let's get another check of the headlines in the meantime. Carol Costello in with that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning. I hope so. Good morning to all of you.

"Now in the News."

The U.S. citizen rescued after 10 months in captivity in Iraq is just hours away from seeing his family. Contractor Roy Hallums left Baghdad aboard a military transport plane earlier today. These pictures just coming in of that scene. He was rescued earlier this week by a dramatic raid of U.S. troops. Before leaving, Hallums thanked the soldiers and gave credit to his family for never giving up hope.

Former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger being ordered to pay a $50,000 fine for taking documents out of the National Archives. Berger admitted to smuggling classified papers ahead of congressional hearings on the 9/11 attacks. Berger also loses his security clearance for three years and must do 100 hours of community service. Berger said Thursday he deeply regrets his actions.

President Bush scheduled to speak at a swearing in ceremony for his former advisor, Karen Hughes. Hughes will be officially sworn in as the undersecretary of public diplomacy and public affairs in less than two hours. Hughes says her first challenge is to change the world's perception of the government's response to Hurricane Katrina.

More Mexican aid is on the way to the United States. Some 200 soldiers from the Mexican army have crossed the Rio Grande into San Antonio, the site of the Alamo. They're carrying food, water and medical supplies for thousands displaced by Katrina. This if the first time a Mexican army unit has crossed onto U.S. territory since the Mexican War of 1848. One of the headlines in a Mexican newspaper read, "Reinventing the Alamo."

So more help on the way, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: All right. Some good news there. All right, Carol, thanks.

Let's get a shot, if we can for you, of police headquarters, now police command and control. When you see the bulk of the news conferences on television, this is where the police operate out of. And you can see lots of coolers and lots of water because that's really been critical keeping everybody supplied. Clearly they do have generators going but no full power and not for a really long time.

This was, early on, of course, Harrah's Casino. Or as they say here in New Orleans, casino. But people at Harrah's say they don't expect that this they'll even be able to assess the total damage to their building for at least four weeks, maybe even more.

We've told you about a lot of the folks who have been leaving New Orleans. The tens of thousands who have left the devastation here. This morning we want to share the story of one man who stays. He's got a critical job. He's a deck hand on the ferry that runs from Jefferson Parish over to St. Bernard Parish where they are trying desperately to rebuild. Even though he has lost everything, he's doing his part to help.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, (voice over): It's the end of a long day for Charles Williamson, one of two deck hands on the Plaquemines Pride. And with the sun setting on the Mississippi, the water looks still and beautiful. You'd never know this is ground zero of the nation's biggest natural disaster. The ferry runs between Jefferson Parish, largely spared by Hurricane Katrina, and St. Bernard Parish, utterly destroyed in her wake. It's a short ride, probably not even five minutes, carrying military supplies, and gear, and law enforcement personnel and workmen to and fro all day, every day. For Charles, it's the best way to get information about his neighborhood. He's one of the tens of thousands of unlucky ones who lost everything in the flood.

CHARLES WILLIAMSON, FERRY OPERATOR: Water damage and everything. It's still sitting on a block but it's all water damaged and everything.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Just the other day, Charles left the ferry to go home to see what he could salvage.

Was there anything you wanted to recover that you couldn't?

WILLIAMSON: Yeah.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: What?

WILLIAMSON: A picture of my mother. I got a big, old picture of my mother in my home but I can't get to it.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Invaluable, irreplaceable.

WILLIAMSON: That's the only one we had. When my grandmother passed away, my aunt give me that one. And that's the only one we have of her. And I had it in my house and I can't get to my house to get it.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: He will go home again soon to try to save that photo.

WILLIAMSON: I ain't going nowhere. I'm here till I die. I ain't going nowhere. I'm 40 years old. I ain't going nowhere.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: So he stays on the job, helping to bring these critical supplies, helping, in a way, to rebuild his parish and hastening, maybe just a little, his return back home.

WILLIAMSON: All right. See y'all tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: There is something, Miles, very particular, I think it's fair to say, of the folks who live in New Orleans. And that is that, that sense of home and of place here. You consistently ask people, why would you want to stay? It smells. There are flies. The water is filthy doesn't come close to describing how bad it is. And they say, this is where I was born, this is where I plan to die. We've heard that time and time and time again. And I don't know that I've been anywhere elsewhere where people have that kind of connection to their own land as they do here in New Orleans.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: You know, I was reading this morning, Soledad, this is true. New Orleans is home to more natives, more natives, than any other city in the U.S. And it is not uncommon for those natives to have lived on the same block in some cases for as long as five generations next to other families that have done the same thing. It really is an extraordinary place in a country that is so mobile.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: We've met a lot of people, especially at the Red Cross shelter where we were reporting from in the middle of the week, who going to the shelter outside and being transported outside of the state and then coming back, that was the first time they'd ever left their homes. The first time they had ever left their communities. And that, again, we hear that story over and over again. And that, I think, really reemphasizes that sense of wanting to return home.

So when you have stories like forced evacuations and no clear game plan about when people will be able to return. And politicians using the word like bulldoze people's homes. You have to I mean the those words just stab people in the heart at such a terrible time anyway.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it all does. As a matter of fact, our next guest, Soledad, is going to talk a little bit about that for us. Writer and author Julia Reed is an authority on all things southern. New Orleans is her hometown. She's a contributing editor for "Newsweek." She writes this week about hope in the ruins of her beloved city. She's also a senior writer for "Vogue." She joins us from Jackson, Mississippi.

Julia, good to have you with us this morning.

JULIA REED, "NEWSWEEK" CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Thank you, Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Have you had a chance to get back yet?

REED: I'm on my way back as we speak. I'm on as soon as I get out of here, I'm going home.

MILES O'BRIEN: Do you have any idea what to expect?

REED: You know, my house is on a pretty high ground. I mean, which, by the way, I moved into about a week before this happened.

MILES O'BRIEN: Really?

REED: But I am extraordinarily lucky I think. I mean, I hope I still am. But last report said that. And, you know, as are most people who live in the french quarter, the garden district uptown. You know, a lot of the places that people sort of know as New Orleans, the tourist zone, so to speak, is safe and dry and I think a lot of people are really chomping at the bit to get back in there to rebuild their lives in a city that, as you just were talking about, people are so passionate about.

You know, Soledad, I had to laugh when she was talking about, you know, why would you want to stay here? The heat is so terrible and the flies and it smells bad and the water's terrible. Well, that's sort of true on most days. You know, New Orleanians kind of have a survivors mentality. You know there's a bumper sticker that was popular a while ago that the sort of city fathers had printed up one that said, "New Orleans Proud To Call It Home." And immediately one popped up saying, "New Orleans, Proud To Call It Hell."

You know, it's fresher Hell than usual now but I think people are proud of the fact that, you know, they're devoted to this city and it doesn't matter that they live in the face of, you know, hurricane treats and unbearable heat and humidity and all that kind of stuff because the great things that make it worthwhile to live there are so much they just overpower them.

MILES O'BRIEN: You wrote recently, from the beginning the city was different. A heady mix of French, Spanish, Black and Roman Catholic cultures separated it from the mostly protestant, Anglo Sax and rest of the country, and even the rest of the south. New Orleans gave us, the world, jazz and creole cooking, America's only indigenous offerings in the fields of music and cuisine. That kind of encapsulates it all. You know, unique is a term that is often misused. This is a unique city.

REED: It really is. Walter Percy called it the only exotic city in this country. And it would be, I mean, Denny Hastert aside, it would be a tragedy just to bulldoze it, which, obviously isn't going to happen. I mean, for one thing, New Orleans is, you know, one of the most important ports in the country. It takes 60,000 people to operate those ports. They'll be back and they'll be rebuilding the neighborhoods, which is where a lot of this stuff came from. I mean, you know, this food and this art and the music didn't just spring from Bourbon Street, which is what people look at on television. The neighborhoods are important.

But, you know, the good thing is, I mean Allan Tousan (ph) has already said, and, you know, he's lost his home, or at least the first floor which contained his stineway (ph). He's calling this an intermission. I mean the good things about musicians is, you know, there are so many people donating instruments and all that kind of stuff and keeping them going on the road. They're already I mean, I've looked at a million web sites with like the James Beard Foundation, and the Southern Foodway Association and even Viking Range, you know, having fundraisers to keep these chefs going until they can come back and reopen their businesses.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, here's the thing though . . .

REED: Because New Orleans . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, go ahead and finish your point and then I want to ask you a question. Go ahead.

REED: Well, I mean, somebody said that New Orleans without like oysters is like Paris without wine. I think it will take a while for the oyster beds. Probably about three years. But, you know, I think that all of those things will be cranked up pretty soon in the restaurants.

MILES O'BRIEN: Here's the thing, though, I appreciate your optimism. I think it's go.

REED: Well, I don't have a choice.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, yes, what choice do you have at this point? But the point is, and you eluded to this, it's not just the french quarter. What made this city what it is, is all those other neighborhoods. And some of them are not great neighborhoods too. We're talking about shotgun houses, that kind of thing. How are you going to rebuild a city with all those components, that kind of patina, if you will? In short, how do you stop it from being Disney-fide as you move forward? REED: Well, you know, like I said, I mean, you've got a lot of working class jobs and, you know, there's going to be a lot of federal money, you know, floating around. And, you know, developers are coming in already saying with all of these sort of gentrification plans. Light rail system. I mean I'm thinking, light rail to where?

But, anyway, I don't think you'll see that. I mean, a lot of those houses are not and like neighbors like Tremay (ph), which is, you know, where Louie Armstrong played, you know, Fogard Meriny (ph), which is incredibly historic and it has quite a patina. It's right on the river. Most of those places are not under water. I mean the ninth ward, you know, which is what you see mostly underwater right now, you'll have to rebuild part of that and uptown.

I mean, but I don't think you're going to see a Disney vacation. I mean you've got people that do need to get back in quickly. Don't forget, I mean, the first things are going to be up and running besides the port or the hotels and the restaurants. These are all people who can come back in.

You know, I mean, like you were talking about, you've got these folks who are raring to get back in, not just wealthy people who want to get back to their houses which are being guarded by armed guards and stuff now. You've got people I mean what about those folks displaced in Idaho? You don't think I mean I don't think that those folks are going to stay and relocate. I mean it's they're sitting in the middle of . . .

MILES O'BRIEN: A long way from Bourbon Street, Julia.

REED: Yes. I mean people want to come home. They love the city.

MILES O'BRIEN: Yes.

REED: And I don't think they're going to come back and find gentrified housing.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Well, do us a favor. We're going to be down there next week. Let's try to after we get off the air here, let's exchange some numbers. I'd like to catch up with you as you return to your house, if you don't mind.

REED: That would be great.

MILES O'BRIEN: Julia Reed is contributing editor for "Newsweek" and senior writer for "Vouge." Thanks for being with us and good luck on your trip back.

REED: Thank you so much.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's check in with Chad with the forecast.

Chad, good morning to you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

MILES O'BRIEN: Still to come, the impact of that $51 billion relief package approved by Congress. How can the U.S. afford it? Andy Serwer has done some number crunching for us. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MILES O'BRIEN: My, a big aid package, which follows another aid package, $52 billion yesterday, another $10 billion before. They're definitely throwing money at the problem. The question is, where is it going? Is it being spent properly? Will it get to the people who need it? These are big questions and Andy Serwer has answers to all of these. Well, he's got some.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let's say some.

MILES O'BRIEN: Preliminary indication, at least.

SERWER: Right. We'll break it down for you, let's put it that way, Miles.

Truly staggering sums. Yesterday, Congress passing and the president signing a spending bill of nearly $52 billion passed unanimously in the House almost unanimously or unanimously in the Senate, almost unanimously in the House.

Here's how it breaks down. Most of it goes to FEMA. And $50 billion goes to that agency. Defense Department, Army Corps of Engineers gets some.

Now the money is really starting to add up, Miles. We've got about $62 billion here has been spent already on Katrina. And look how that dwarfs the spending for the hurricanes last year.

Now some officials are suggesting this whole thing could end up costing as much as $20 billion to clean up Hurricane Katrina. How does that compare? The war in Iraq, we've spent $300 billion to date. And interestingly, the budget deficit next year is estimated to be $314 billion.

So it's all in sort of the same neighborhood. No doubt that budget deficit will go up, by the way. In fact, White House officials are already acknowledging that fact, Josh Bolton is.

And here's an interesting side note. There's concerns about oversight with all this spending, Miles. And it's probably a good question because we're understanding here that federal workers with government credit cards are now being allowed to spend as much as $250,000 on a single purchase up from $15,000. So you can see there is the potential for abuses there, I would suggest.

MILES O'BRIEN: So if you see a FEMA guy arriving in a stretch limo, be a little skeptical?

SERWER: Yes. I mean, let's not make light of this too much but these people, obviously, all have good intentions but that is a lot of money sloshing around the system.

MILES O'BRIEN: And it's a tremendous amount of latitude for individuals.

SERWER: Indeed.

MILES O'BRIEN: Let's hope it's watched very carefully.

SERWER: That's right.

MILES O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, a special and very brief reunion after Katrina. Find out how one Air Force captain surprised her family before heading off to Iraq. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Watching a child head off to war is never easy, obviously. But it's made even more difficult for one family and San Antonio, Texas, because they are still reeling from the disaster of Hurricane Katrina. Kelly Wallace has our story this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLY WALLACE, CNN CORRESPONDENT , (voice over): It will be a special and short homecoming just a day, 26-year-old Joy Morgan, a newly promoted Air Force captain based in Hawaii, is headed to Iraq at a time when some members of her own family are coping with all they lost in New Orleans. And so she plans a surprise, a visit to her San Antonio home. There are hugs, a few tears, and . . . CAPT. JOY MORGAN, U.S. AIR FORCE: Where's my grandma at? Hey, grandma.

JACQUELINE MORGAN, GRANDDAUGHTER GOING TO IRAQ: I knew. I knew. I knew.

JOY MORGAN: A grandmother whose's gut just told her, her oldest granddaughter was in town.

WALLACE: Have this time to be together right now, how moving is that?

MORGAN: All I can say, it's just a blessing. I mean, you can't really put it into words because I can say that I'm thankful that all we lost was a couple of houses and stuff. Because we still got our family. And they're going to stick together and rebuild and we'll be stronger than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're going to the army again?

JOY MORGAN: Air Force, baby.

WALLACE: Still, the timing of an Iraq trip is tough in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The family only tracked down its last missing relative earlier this week and other relatives who lost everything are here in San Antonio trying to pick up the pieces.

JACQUELINE MORGAN: I was walking around the Salvation Army the other day looking for a baby crib. And, you know, I was crying. And the man came up to me and I told him, my family is displaced but we're going to be okay, you know? And it's going to be okay. Yeah.

WALLACE: And, now, they try to cope with another challenge. Joy's six-month deployment to Iraq, ironically, she leaves the same day her uncle returns from the war-torn country. Joy's dad says the hardest part will be saying good-bye.

JOSEPH MORGAN III, DAUGHTER GOING TO IRAQ: I think it will be fine when we're there. I think it's when that plane leaves that it's really going to hit, that I won't be able to see her for a while. I won't be able to talk to her. And that's when it's really going to hit.

WALLACE: It may be tougher still on Joy's grandmother. The two talked a few times a day.

JACQUELINE MORGAN: And she calls me sometimes. And she just gets on the phone and she doesn't say anything. And grandpa's like, why are you on the phone, you're not talking. And she said, I just want to hear you breathe, you know? So, yeah, we are close. Yeah.

WALLACE: What may provide this family with the most comfort is Joy, herself.

JOY MORGAN: I just wanted to make a difference. I mean, I figure if my troops can do it, then I can do it, too. You know because you have you don't want to just sit back and always give orders. And I'm the kind of person who wants to be in the thick of things, so I want to be right alongside my troops and I'm getting an opportunity to do so.

WALLACE: She didn't have to go to Iraq. She volunteered.

JOSEPH MORGAN III: There's my baby.

WALLACE: Kelly Wallace, CNN, San Antonio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Joy, who's a captain with the 15th airlift wing of the Air Force, is scheduled to depart to Iraq today.

Miles, I want to show you a picture before we head back to New York and to you. This is a sign of progress. Really the first time, frankly, that I've had a chance to see anybody out with garbage bags picking up any of the litter that remains in the streets. Obviously, lots of the buildings have crumbled in the storm and then the looting caused huge problems as well.

When you talk about just the garbage that has littered these streets, bringing out the flies, frankly, today, it's nice to see that they're making a little progress. And that brings us back, quickly, Miles, to the folks who refuse to leave. Many of them said they were sticking around because things have to be cleaned up and they think they can get a job helping to clean up the city and make some money.

Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN: Well, if they're willing and able, why not? And, boy, it's nice to see even one full garbage bag. Surely there are countless others that lie ahead as they try to clean up that city, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: No question about that, Miles. That's for sure.

MILES O'BRIEN: All right. Back with more in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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