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CNN Live Sunday

Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; Anniversary of 9/11

Aired September 11, 2005 - 10:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Four years ago today the biggest terrorist attack in U.S. history killed nearly 3,000 people. You're looking at live pictures from Ground Zero in New York and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
And good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta. And Betty Nguyen will be joining us later from Houston, Texas. It's been a grueling time for Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Blanco as her state deals with some of the worst devastation in its history. Many people in Louisiana are criticizing the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. But Blanco is not pointing fingers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, LOUISIANA: Did I ask the president for help? Yes, I did. I asked him before the storm came because I know what a storm can do to my state, and I know that we need help. He wanted to help. We both got caught in trying to make bureaucracy work on something bigger than it ever imagined it would have to work on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Other officials in Louisiana aren't being as diplomatic, the mayors of storm ravaged Slidell, Louisiana and Pascagoula, Mississippi say the federal response is still too slow.

Pascagoula's mayor says FEMA officials wears their badges and look good but his city isn't getting the resources they need. Signs of life are slowly returning to New Orleans as the massive cleanup kicks into high gear. But the road to recovery is going to be a long and difficult one. Let's go straight now to the Crescent City and CNN's Dan Simon. Dan, good morning.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. It's going to be a blistering hot day in the City of New Orleans today. I'm standing on the famous Riverwalk and in just a few hours the president will be choppering in to the Iwo Jima battleship. His third trip to the region.

A lot going on today in the City of New Orleans. Of course, the focus again on the recovery of bodies. Yesterday crews actually recovered seven bodies from a nursing home, obviously we're not sure exactly what happened there. But seven more bodies were recovered from an elderly home. And there's also been a lot of progress in terms of cleaning up the city. Of course, there was so much trash after those days when it made landfall, and the Superdome and the Convention Center were obviously in filthy indescribable conditions over there but crews making good progress.

And also fires are continuing to flair up. We saw a fire just across from us over there on the west bank of the Mississippi River. And there was a situation where there was a house fire yesterday where a helicopter dumped some water and it actually hit a utility pole. So some dramatic video there.

Once again, we're picking up the pieces in New Orleans, and of course, we'll have much more a lit later on, Tony?

HARRIS: Okay, Dan, thank you.

And now to Houston, Texas, my co-anchor, Betty Nguyen. Betty, good morning.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Tony. It's a Sunday morning here in Houston and mass is being offered here as well as other denominations. They'll have services as well. On this Sunday, though, Pope Benedict XVI is offering a message to hurricane victims. Let's go now to CNN's faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher in Baton Rouge. Delia?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I have feedback!

Hello, Betty, we're expecting the Vatican delegation to arrive shortly. They will be having mass at 10:00 here in Baton Rouge and they will serving the area, visiting some of those relief centers and of course discussing the very important 50,000 displaced Catholic school students from the New Orleans district. You know, there are many churches here, Betty, which are involved with opening their doors and housing some of these evacuees. I had the privilege of joining a Southern Baptist minister, Larry Chapman, just the other day as he ministered to the emotional and spiritual needs of some of these evacuees.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: And when you go into one of these shelters, how do you approach the whole thing? How do you approach all these people sitting around?

LARRY CHAPMAN, SOUTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER: Basically, the ones -- I just walk up to them, introduce myself and begin to talk with them, you just hope that they will open up to you, and some will and some won't.

You ready?

Hello, Miss Lady (ph). How you doing today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, how are you? CHAPMAN: I seen you come in yesterday, how are your feet and legs today?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They give me medicine for them.

CHAPMAN: They give you some good stuff?

So I try to find out where they are and just give them comfort for a few moments. And like I said, I'm kind of like a whipping post for people to vent, bring out their frustrations.

Father we lift them to you, we praise you and we thank you and we ask that you help them through this day to make their stay here as comfortable as possible.

All I can do is try to give them peace and comfort and pray for them. Tell them I'm sorry.

You got a meal of champions today. Potted meat. Can't get much better than that, you got a good meal in a can, got your Bible, got you a good bed.

GALLAGHER: Want to take a walk outside and see what's going on?

CHAPMAN: Sure.

GALLAGHER: What makes you do this? Why do you do this?

CHAPMAN: Love of Christ and Jesus Christ died for us and he loves all of us. And I know in a circumstance like this, people say that's hard to believe when you see all the devastation. But God is still God; he's in control and still loves us all.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: And I should say that all of these chap lanes and ministers are volunteers, they pay their own way to come here and help their neighbors. Betty?

NGUYEN: Thank you, Delia, and of course many people here in Houston say it's faith that got them through this tragedy and faith will keep them going. Tony, I do want to give you an update at the four main shelters in Houston. We've learned the bed count is down. There are fewer people staying in these shelters. And that is on target with what officials out here want to happen.

There are 5,500 evacuees in the four main shelters. That's down from 7,300 yesterday. And the plan is to have all of the evacuees out of these shelters by next weekend. And so far it seems it's on its way.

Back to you.

HARRIS: OK, Betty. Thank you.

And we're following another big story today. Let's get an update on the whereabouts of Hurricane Ophelia.

Bonnie Schneider is in the CNN Weather Center for us this morning. Bonnie, good morning.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Tony.

That's right. Ophelia, maximum winds at 85 miles per hour. The storm is still a couple hundred miles away from the shoreline but this forecast track takes it all the way to the north. We're going to show you that in just a moment.

In the meantime, just want you to know there's a hurricane watch posted. Cape Lookout, North Carolina, Edisto Beach, South Carolina. That's the area we're watching for hurricane conditions within the next 36 hours, meaning some strong winds so you can expect that and most likely some rough surface as well throughout the day today.

All right. Here is Ophelia right now. And as we take a look at latest coordinates. Here they are, latitude, longitude. The movement is stationary. This yellow band around the center of the storm indicates the tropical force winds that extend pretty far out. Not affecting the coastline just yet. We want to show that to you.

But as we put this map into motion, here's an idea what we can expect in the next 24, 36, even beyond. Here's the way the storm shapes up. Landfall according to the National Hurricane Center, there's a big cone of uncertainty through here, so it really could be anywhere in this vicinity.

However, as we look at this track, you'll see it comes over the Outer Banks, there's Cape Hatteras down there, just to the south of that, the Outer Banks sometime on Wednesday afternoon, crosses over the Pamlico Sound and then comes back over the Outer Banks once again and then the storm becomes a tropical storm by Thursday. So we're talking about landfall somewhere in he outer banks, somewhere in the vicinity of Wednesday rather than Tuesday.

And as we look ahead, you can see that this storm will eventually push out to the northeast but it does come close enough to the coastline back towards the Mid-Atlantic states and even the northeast that we'll be watching for some rough surf and some wind there as well.

So Ophelia is going to stretch across the east coast and bring some weather in some vicinity to a lot of different states, not just the Carolinas. And it is a storm we'll be talking about, incidentally, as you can see straight through the week. Landfall is still yet to be determined because our computer models are giving some conflicting reports of what's going to happen.

But the best estimate we can give you is just be aware, if you're in North Carolina, South Carolina, there's a hurricane watch posted in your area. And keep it tuned right here. I'm expecting an advisory from the National Hurricane Center right at 11. As soon as I have that I'll bring it to you.

Tony?

HARRIS: Very good. Bonnie, we appreciate it. Thank you.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

HARRIS: Some Florida Tech students went the extra mile to help the hurricane victims and they did it in their own boat. Hear their story next.

NGUYEN: And meet the mascot of the CNN crew in New Orleans. We'll bring you a happy reunion. That's a little bit later this hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A long march in the nation's capital is starting this hour. The Defense Department is marking the fourth anniversary of 9/11 with the Freedom Walk. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is leading the walkers. From the Pentagon they're heading to Arlington National Cemetery.

The walk ends with a concert by country singer Clint Black on the National Mall. President Bush is remembering the victims of two tragedies today, the deadliest terror attack in U.S. history and what's become the nation's worst natural disasters.

Our national correspondent Bob Franken joins us now from the White House. Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony. And the morning events included the remembrances by President Bush.

About an hour ago, a little over an hour ago the president was in the South Lawn of the White House leading a moment of silence. Joined by the vice president, their wives, others from the White House.

A moment of silence, a minute of silence to remember that national tragedy of four years ago.

This afternoon, the focus goes to that tragedy that is two weeks old now, Hurricane Katrina. President Bush is going to be leaving this very same South Lawn and is going to be heading to the Gulf area. He's going to be overnighting on a ship off New Orleans, the USS Iwo Jima and then will have events tomorrow in Louisiana and Mississippi before returning to the White House and returning to a political reality that he and his administration are bearing the brunt of the criticism over what many considered a botched response to Katrina.

The latest polls are really quite startling. "Newsweek," for instance has a new poll that shows that the president's approval rating is at 38 percent, the lowest point in his administration.

Others are nearby. AP, 39 percent approval rating, Pew, very highly respected poll, 40 percent, Zogby, 41 percent. "Time Magazine," 42 percent.

As for the president's Katrina response, well it really shows what is pushing this poll number downward. AP shows that the disapproval rating is 52 percent, the Zogby poll 60 percent and "Time Magazine" 61 percent of those polled disapprove with the way the president handled the Katrina responses.

A lot of finger-pointing between local and state officials and the federal government, but from the polls the president is the one suffering politically at least.

Tony?

HARRIS: CNN's Bob Franken for us. Bob, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Vice President Dick Cheney said he liked what he saw on the trip to Texas this weekend, the state has taken in thousands of Katrina evacuees, and Cheney says relief efforts there have been a big success. He says the evacuees he met in Austin are thankful and positive.

The vice president brushed off questions about the government's slow response in the hours and days after Katrina struck. Back to Houston now and Betty Nguyen.

Betty, we began this program by talking about Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and I understand she's planning a trip to where you are today.

NGUYEN: Indeed she is. She should be arriving about 1:00 p.m. local time here in Houston to tour the shelters here. And Tony, I've got to tell you, it's going to be interesting to see the response she gets from evacuees, because many are very frank saying that the government, both state and federal were very slow in the rescue and relief operations so we're going to be watching to see what kind of response she gets.

She'll be here with the lieutenant governor of Louisiana as well. There are a couple other people coming, Jesse Jackson and Louis Farrakhan will be touring the shelters as well. We're going to stay on top of all of that and see how the evacuees respond to them.

A lot of people, though, I must tell you, have come out here to these shelters, a lot of celebrities to show their support, including Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, Vanessa Williams, we have got some NBA players coming in today. So all of this keeps the evacuees, keeps their minds off of what they've been through. And also these celebrities provide them with a sense of hope and lets them know there are people around the nation care about their future and what they're going through.

Tony?

HARRIS: Betty you talk to so many of the evacuees there. Give us a sense, if you would, take a moment and talk about their spirits, their moods, the people that you've talked to.

NGUYEN: It just depends. Every day is different. Many people, of course, as we've been talking about are so very thankful to the compassion that's being shown here in Houston. Of course, the shelters have provided food and clothing and a place to sleep, the showers. All the essentials, the important things.

But they're really in need of assistance. Many of them are ready to get their lives on with. They want to find housing, they want to jobs. And yes, there are stations set up, but there is some confusion how to go about getting all of that.

But I think most of all what strikes me the most are mothers and fathers and children coming up looking for their loved ones. In fact, there's a mother sitting over here. She for the past two days has been talking to us about her son, a four-year-old boy, her only child she lost in the chaos of the evacuation. She's still waiting to hear from him. It's those stories that are the most difficult to tell. Buy it's important that we do that, important that we get that message out.

HARRIS: It's tough, thank you, Betty, appreciate it.

Still ahead, Hurricane Katrina hit close to hearts for these students at Florida Tech, let's take a look at them. There they are. Find out how they decided to help the victims. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, the images of devastation and the desperate need of survivors of Hurricane Katrina have prompted many people to take part in the relief efforts and Florida Tech students extended a helping hand because for them, the storm hit very close to home.

Wachi Bandara and Keith Credo join us live from Orlando, Florida with more on their own efforts to help the storm victims. And gentlemen, I understand this disaster struck you both very deeply but for differing reasons. And Keith, let me start with you, talk to us about how this storm impacted you personally?

KEITH CREDO, FLORIDA TECH STUDENT: Well, I was actually born and raised outside of New Orleans in Kenner and went to my undergraduate at Tulane University and came over here for some graduate work, Florida Tech, and seeing images on TV and just hearing the personal stories from friends and families as to what was going on, just really just had the feeling I had to do something.

And that's really where it all started.

HARRIS: And Wachi, boy, tell us your story, yours is an amazing story.

WACHI BANDARA, FLORIDA TECH STUDENT: I was born and raised in Sri Lanka and when the tsunami hit down there, I didn't really get a chance to go over there, because of various reasons, I found myself here watching on TV watching what happened. And when the hurricane hit here, I couldn't do that again, I just couldn't justify that to myself, sitting down on my couch, and just watching what was going on, so when Keith brought up the idea of going, I had to go. It wasn't even a consideration.

It was -- I almost felt like it was something I owed to the grand scheme of things. I felt myself compelled to go, the four of us we went over there and tried to do what we could.

HARRIS: And Keith, we should mention there are two other members of your group. Tell us who they are and then tell us how you all came together?

CREDO: Yes, actually Jenny Frembling (ph) and Mineau Shirvastaba (ph) also came with us on the trip so it was four of us. And we came together, we knew each other from Florida Tech, we worked together in the same Department Residents Life (ph).

And when I told them what we were doing, they were so enthusiastic and so helpful. And we couldn't do it without the four of us. It was very much a team effort.

And in that sense, also, it was an effort of many other people too. When we decided we were going to go, we had many friends, calling agencies for us, calling FEMA, trying to get in touch with people, trying to connect us with the right people to where we could get in and help.

And that was actually a big factor which helped us down there. In Mississippi we met up with wonderful people in Newton County. Frank Dungan (ph), he worked with Newton County emergency management. He met us as we were purchasing the boat in Mississippi to bring down there, and he saw we had this large truck, he told us we need to fill that truck up. So he introduced us to some folks at a Clark Venable Baptist Church, and they had been stocking supplies in conjunction with some other churches up in Ohio. We were able to load up the u- Haul truck.

HARRIS: So how much did you take? How much in terms of supplies were you able to take?

CREDO: The supplies were actually donated from the churches. The boat, I purchased, I had extra money from a business account, and we were able to hitch the boat on the back and load up the supplies and bring them to where they were most needed.

HARRIS: Okay, Wachi, sort of talk me through what you saw. Take a moment and describe what you saw on the ground and the pain, suffering and needed in all the people you were able to visit and the folks that you were able to help.

BANDARA: Something I regret a lot, is that we were not able to go to parts of New Orleans where it was the worst hit. When we got the boat, what we wanted to do is go over there ourselves and go in the water and try to pull out, even just to help out anybody that we could.

HARRIS: Yeah.

BANDARA: But what we did see, we weren't able to go that far, but I still think that we did a lot of good. There was a lot -- what I admired the most and what touched me the most was the way that people all along the way that we went there came together to help the people in New Orleans.

There was no sense of -- we were almost welcomed into people's folds, they welcomed us into their homes, into their churches, they fed us and made sure we were taken care of on the way. Frank Dungan took very good care of us to make sure we were safe on the trip to Baton Rouge. And there are a lot of images I can take with me.

HARRIS: Well let me say this because we're just about out of time. And I want to thank both of you for your efforts. And I'm sure the people you touched down there greatly appreciated the effort that you both made. Thank you both.

CREDO: Thank you.

BANDARA: Thank you.

HARRIS: Wachi Bandara and Keith Credo. Thank you both, very much. We are just a few minutes away from the moment of silence at Ground Zero in New York. 10:29 a.m. Is when the second tower of the World Trade Center fell four years ago. We'll take you live to New York when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And now in the news, many good hearted Americans are opening up their homes to hurricane evacuees. The storm spared no one, including convicted murderers, rapists and sexual offenders so to be on the safe side, the FBI is opening its national criminal database to the public for the next two months. The computer program is being set up so homeowners can screen evacuees.

The Red Cross wants and needs you. The relief agency hopes to find 40,000 people to serve as volunteers for the long term hurricane recovery effort. One hundred sixty-thousand evacuees are filling 675 shelters in 23 states.

Back to New York City and Ground Zero, 10:29 a.m. is the moment, the moment when the second tower of the World Trade Center fell four years ago today. A moment of silence to begin in just a moment.

There will be a ringing of a bell, the bell will toll four times.

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK: How did New Yorkers respond to September 11th with such strength and compassion?

HARRIS: As you see, former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, the moment of silence has passed. And we do understand that the bells did toll this morning for the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack which were four years ago today, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

Mary Snow joins us live now from Ground Zero with more on today's observances. Mary? SNOW: Well, Tony, that was the last of four moments of silence that were held here today at Ground Zero. There are 320 pairs of siblings who have been reading the names of victims who were killed here that day. There were 2,749 people killed here on September 11.

The families, one by one reading the names, also at times stopping and delivering personal messages to their loved ones. As you just mentioned, the former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, who was mayor at that time now doing a reading.

He also was joined by Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, who did a reading earlier today and the mayor of New York and the governor of New York but mostly this ceremony has been very simple. The readings have been short, and the emphasis has been on the readings of the names.

Also, Tony, family members are walking down to two pools of water. These two pools mark the bedrocks where the tower stood. Seventy feet below street level. And families have been going down there throughout the morning laying flowers in those pools of water to remember their loved ones. Tony.

HARRIS: And, Mary, on the ground there, we watched this, we've been watching it all morning, actually. Give us a sense of just how moving this is from so close to where this observance is going on right now?

SNOW: Well, I think everyone will agree, and the governor of New York said it this morning that everyone here wants to keep a promise, and that is to remember the people who died here, remember them as individuals and not just numbers. For many families, this is the only time they come to Ground Zero, and, Tony, more than half of the victims here, the remains were never recovered. So many families consider this their sacred burial site, inside these 16 acres, only family members are here today.

Of course, millions of people come to this site throughout the year, but they are kept behind a fence. This is a very somber time with family members saying they're vowing to remember, and also, Tony, the mayor of New York reminded everyone today to keep in their prayers and thoughts the people who died in the London bombings and they also, of course, remembered the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

There was a second memorial held this morning in New Orleans. There are more than 300 firefighters from New York City who have gone there, and also more than police officers who have gone to help out and they say this is their time to give back. They remember how gracious everyone was to them.

HARRIS: CNN's Mary Snow. Mary, thank you. And near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, we're watching live coverage, just a moment here, of a commemoration ceremony at the United Airlines Flight 93 memorial. Forty passengers and crew members lost their lives when the hijacked airliner smashed into the ground four years ago today. A chapel with 40 chimes sits on more than 2,000 acres in the Pennsylvania countryside. A marble wall is inscribed with the names of those 40 heroes.

Let's listen in now to a children's choir.

(SINGING)

HARRIS: A children's choir singing at a commemoration ceremony at the United Airlines Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And at this hour in Washington, a walk of remembrance for the victims of 9/11 at the Pentagon. The Freedom Walk takes marchers from the Pentagon over the Memorial Bridge to the National Mall.

In Afghanistan, U.S. troops in Kabul observed a moment of silence for the victims of September 11th. The servicemen and women are with the Combined Forces Command at Camp Eggers. They're working hundreds of miles away but thinking of home. About 350 New York City firefighters took part in a 9/11 memorial service in New Orleans. The firefighters came south to help the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.

Dozens of New York police officers also came to Louisiana to help out. Let's go back to Betty Nguyen now in Houston.

NGUYEN: Back in New York, the focus is getting Ground Zero off the ground. And one man is becoming a central figure in that effort. CNN's Miles O'Brien introduces us to him.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Larry Silverstein is a man on a mission, renting office space at Ground Zero. Talk about a hard sell.

LARRY SILVERSTEIN, DEVELOPER: It's 40,000 square feet of space. Totally unobstructed, no columns of any kind on the interior.

O'BRIEN: His 52 story building overlooking the site is nearly done, ready for occupancy next March. It's called World Trade Center 7, the same as the building it replaced. An office tower Silverstein developed in the 1980s across the street from the Trade Center site.

The last building to fall after the terror attack, it's the first to rise again. It took only two years for the construction workers to finish the 741 foot steel frame. When the Twin Towers and five other buildings fell on September 11th four years ago, about 12 million square feet of office space was lost. Silverstein's goal, replace it all.

SILVERSTEIN: We're at the beginning of the process, and that we have an obligation to do an extraordinary job to the very best of our ability.

O'BRIEN: The Freedom Tower will be next. The 1776 iconic tower at the center of the master rebuilding plan. Silverstein knows companies may have jitters about locating at Ground Zero, so he's exceeding fire codes.

SILVERSTEIN: This is a two foot thick section of concrete sheer wall.

O'BRIEN: Fire stairwells are wider than they need to be. A concrete casing reinforced with steel protects them and elevator banks. There are two sprinkler systems and stronger fireproofing.

SILVERSTEIN: What you've got here is a structure designed to with stand massive forces.

O'BRIEN: The rent is competitive for Manhattan, $50 a square food. The views are arguably priceless. One problem, right now Silverstein is the only tenant.

SILVERSTEIN: However, I will tell you that it's my expectation that in the not very distant future we'll he be signing additional tenants.

O'BRIEN: But it won't be easy. Sure, there is the fear factor, but also the companies displaced by 9/11 have moved on. And there is a glut of empty office space in Lower Manhattan. But Silverstein believes the 9/11 memorial might actually lure businesses. A destination workplace, like the Trade Center Silverstein had the misfortune to lease for 99 years just six weeks before it destroyed. With an insurance payout of $4.5 billion, Silverstein hasn't missed a payment.

SILVERSTEIN: A hundred and twenty million dollars a year, $10 million a month, $300,000 a day, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays and that's why I have to get back to work.

HARRIS: A man working furiously to restore a hole in the sky line.

SILVERSTEIN: I'm only 74, and I think I'm going to go out with a bang.

O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And here in Houston, Katrina survivors are remembering 9/11 victims. They had a moment of silence at 7:45 local time this morning. Now to Washington, DC where a commemorative quilt for 9/11 victims is on display today, and as you can imagine every stitch has a meaning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Kim (ph), I'm from the U.K. and I travel with the quilt and work the shows. I only missed two shows. I think this is number 29. I've only missed two.

Right now I'm adding patches. We have such wonderful reactions from families, colleagues and friends. They're amazed that strangers would care enough to create the blocks, the tributes to their loved ones. Every person that died on 9/11 is represented. There's 25 blocks per panel, 142 panels, so 3,550 blocks altogether. Eighteen countries all over the world took part in the making of the blocks.

There's all nationalities represented here. It happened on U.S. soil but it was an attack on the world, on everyone's freedom. And if the families come in and want to add things to the block, then they give me the details, whatever they want, and we work on that together.

And these are ones that are generated from our last show where we met with Wayne's (ph) family, and then they get pinned on and then when I work my way around the quilt, around all the alterations during the show.

One family gave me this beautiful shot here of his wedding day, and one of him at his restaurant. He owned a restaurant in New York.

Okay. That's Wayne Dunn (ph). That it is. And hopefully they'll be very pleased how it's turned out. It's not just a number, anymore, you see it's not 3,000 people, it's 3,000 families.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Good morning and welcome back, I'm coming to you live outside of the Astrodome shelter here in Houston. But to our east, I want you to take a look at the latest video coming out of Biloxi Mississippi.

Look at this. The scene is still very unsettling there. The damage is simply enormous. The cleanup that awaits is a challenge to say the very least. CNN's Allan Chernoff joins us live from Biloxi with the very latest. Good morning, Allan.

ALAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty, and as you can see behind me, thee are piles and piles of debris. This extends for miles down the entire coastline. But the focus right now is on central services and getting municipal buildings back in order. We got the Navy Seabees. Those are the construction crews from the navy. They're all over town right now. They're working in a couple of the local schools including Biloxi High. They're getting debris out, trying to get the schools back in shape.

The goal is to get schools reopened by October 3rd. They're getting a hand, as well, from Mexican sailors and Dutch sailors. For the third consecutive day they've come ashore. Their ships are in the Gulf of Mexico and they've been coming ashore every morning to give a hand, helping out here.

FEMA also has been coordinating some of this work. And the mayor here says he's actually happy with FEMA's help.

A.J. HOLLOWAY, BILOXI MAYOR: FEMA -- I'm working with FEMA. They've been responsive. Certainly everybody wants it right now. But you have to understand the circumstances. We have ... CHERNOFF: The Seabees have also been working down the coast in Gulfport. Especially important is the Port of Gulfport. Right now there's tons of debris in there. The Navy Seabees working to get rid of that. It's especially important because in Gulfport they import bananas and they export chickens.

Russia is one of the main customers and Russians are close to canceling the contracts, we hear. So the big push is to get that port open to get the chickens out and get them to Russia. They're hoping to have those ports open within the next two weeks.

Betty?

NGUYEN: Very important, Allan Chernoff, thank you for that. Folks trying to put their lives back together want to get their homes back in order and in order to do that, many are facing the challenge of dealing with insurance adjustors, here is CNN's Chris Huntington with that part of the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the Hurricane Katrina hit Gautier, Mississippi it ripped apart this house, the home of 88-year-old Florence McGlamrock (ph) and her 83-year-old sister, Grace Bush.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could have surf boarded those waves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were that big?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was an ocean.

HUNTINGTON: Grace is talking to Anna Eaton (ph), a catastrophe claims adjustor for State Farm Insurance, the biggest home insurer in the states hit by Hurricane Katrina.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your wind policy will come into play as well as the flood policy.

HUNTINGTON: That's crucial, determining how much damage was caused will have a huge impact on the payout. Because homeowners' insurance typically covers damage from wind but not from flooding.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Out of curiosity, where was the tractor before it ended up here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tractor was stored under the deck where the rain would not get on it.

HUNTINGTON: This might look like a total write-off but Eaton cannot jump to that conclusion and must record the details of the destruction and what she thinks caused it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You start piecing it together ant putting it back together. HUNTINGTON: The sisters knew Katrina was coming and that their neighbors were evacuating, but they insisted on staying along with Florence's son Wayne (ph) and his wife, Julie.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We felt this house is strong enough to over stand anything it would throw at us.

HUNTINGTON (on camera): This house was built in 1977. So it's essentially modern construction and the floor sits about 20 feet above the normal level of Mississippi Sound, which is about 500 yards that way through a bayou.

During hurricane Katrina the water level reached about here. But what the water didn't rip out the wind did.

(voice-over): With their wooden house no match for Katrina, they fled to the brick house across the street, left vacant by neighbors already long gone. From a second story window they watched Katrina shred their house.

You just watched pieces flying off your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes. Of course by then it was getting dark, night time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we couldn't see anymore.

HUNTINGTON: Grace and Florence did ignore the calls to evacuate but they had bought flood insurance in addition to their regular homeowners' policy. The vast majority of Katrina's victims did not have it.

The federal government provides blood insurance but with hard caps on the payouts. $250,000 for the house and $100,000 for the contents, and the government relies on insurance companies to determine the cause of the damage. State Farm could take weeks to assess, and it may limit their payout.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say the vast majority of damages here are caused by flood.

HUNTINGTON: But there is no doubt that Katrina robbed Grace and Florence of their possessions. For that, Eaton cuts them a good sized check, the exact amount she could not disclose.

Do you think you'll rebuild on this site assuming that ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think so.

HUNTINGTON: Just how much money they'll have to rebuild depends on State Farm's decision about wind and water.

Chris Huntington, CNN, Gautier, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: Now from the devastation to the reunions. In New Orleans we're going to show you a reunion of a furry kind. We want you to meet Missy, Max and Champ. They are all hurricane survivors. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And let's get the very latest now on Hurricane Ophelia. Let's go upstairs to the CNN Weather Center and CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. Hi, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Hi, Tony. Right now Ophelia, still a hurricane, weakened slightly.

This latest advisory has the maximum winds at 80 miles per hour. Our last one was at 85. So a slight weakening and a slight adjustment on the track. Just to let you know where we're focusing, the Outer Banks of North Carolina looks like this is where the National Hurricane Center is saying it will get close to if not make landfall.

Still not 100 percent sure on this track but here's the latest. Right now we're talking about Wednesday for a possible landfall, but notice how it comes to not even making landfall. That's why we're going to watch it so closely.

Now, the watch that was issued earlier today was continuing. So keep in mind there's a hurricane watch from Cape Lookout, North Carolina, southward to Edisto Beach in South Carolina. That means hurricane conditions are expected within the next 36 hours. The Hurricane Center, though, Tony, says that this watch may be lifted a little bit further north today. We will keep you up to date.

HARRIS: Okay. Bonnie, thank you.

Out of the anguish of tattered lives from Hurricane Katrina comes one of those stories that just is begging to be told.

NGUYEN: It sure is. Gary Tuchman has the story of one man and his best friends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This story is partly about two month old Max.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is his first hurricane.

TUCHMAN: A mascot of the CNN staff in New Orleans, thanks to his owner, Bernard Williams (ph), who fled his home during Katrina, befriended us at CNN, who we then hired as a maintenance assistant.

(on camera): The day before the hurricane, everything was dry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, dry, normal, pretty day.

TUCHMAN: We decide today do a story on Bernard returning to his home to see the damage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's my street here.

TUCHMAN: With the puppy seeking shade under a boat seat we see that Bernard's street is only suitable for boats, the inside of his home flooded. But we feel a little anxiety because we know Max the puppy's mother and brother and a cat were not evacuated. They were left with just a little food and water 12 days ago at a neighbor's house with a slightly higher elevation.

But then.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's both my dogs. His mother and brother.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Your dog's mother and brother. I think they know we're coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the mother, that's Missy and that's Champ. Hey, Champ, hey, Missy, don't come out here, don't you come out here. You stay there.

Oh, they're skinny. Stay there, stay there. Don't you come out there,Champ. Missy, go back.

TUCHMAN: Stay, stay. Go back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my cat.

All three of those are mine.

That's the whole family here. That's her puppy. Come on, Champ. See, that's Missy.

Here, here's momma, you can't tell?

TUCHMAN: Missy, she's hungry.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here comes kitty cat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All three of these live together.

TUCHMAN: Okay, guys, gal, here's some water for you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's real water.

TUCHMAN: These are some thirsty dogs.

(voice-over): Missy, Champ and Mindy the cat were safe and completely coincidentally, when the boat got back to dry land, Humane Society volunteers from Missouri were looking for strays and they guarantee the big dogs and cats will be taken care of until Bernard gets a new home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have veterinarians standing by.

TUCHMAN: And as for Max we'll be staying with us at CNN as long as Bernard is. Gary Tuchman, CNN, New Orleans.

(on camera): Hello, Max, Max.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: So nice to see that. You know, the animals, the pets are often the silent victims in situations like this. And to many people, Tony, those aren't just pets, those are family members.

HARRIS: Let me understand this, we're adopting Max, is that's what happening? Until Bernard gets back on his feet again?

NGUYEN: That's what it sounds like.

HARRIS: All right. We'll make preparations.

NGUYEN: Can't wait to see Max.

HARRIS: All right, Betty. Well, that does it for us.

NGUYEN: It sure does. Here in Houston, outside the Astrodome shelter, I got to tell you, people are picking up and getting on with their lives. The numbers here at the shelter have dwindled. There's now only 5,500 people compared to thousands upon thousands that came here earlier in the week. That's good news, progress is being made.

HARRIS: That is great news to hear, Betty, and stay tuned for more CNN coverage of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath. The commander of the joint task force for Hurricane Katrina, Lieutenant General Russel Honore. The mayor of New Orleans calls him one "John Wayne dude."

He joins Wolf Blitzer for an extended three hour LATE EDITION. That's next on CNN.

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