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CNN Live At Daybreak

Recovery Efforts in Wake of Hurricane Katrina; What to Expect as Confirmation Hearings for John Roberts Begin Today on Capitol Hill

Aired September 12, 2005 - 06:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Monday, September 12.
The president is waking up in New Orleans this morning for another tour of the area's devastation. It is the president's third trip to the Katrina ravaged region. Still, some are asking is it enough?

Also, back to school -- a phrase that never meant so much to a group of students in Mississippi.

And getting the power back on -- not an easy task, but one that is moving forward. One company leader tells us what it takes.

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

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

We'll have more on those stories in just a moment.

Also ahead, John Roberts center stage on Capitol Hill this morning as confirmation hearings begin for the man who could be the nation's next chief justice.

But first, now in the news, parts of Belfast, Northern Ireland look like a war zone. Police and Protestants have clashed for two days and police fear more violence tonight. The hard-line Protestants are angry that police prevented them from parading near a hard-line Catholic part of Belfast on Saturday.

Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, says hurricane Katrina answered the prayers of Iraqis and Afghans who have suffered under U.S. occupation. The comment came in an audiotape posted on an Islamic Web site on the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Hurricane Ophelia has lost some of its punch. The storm is meandering off the Carolina coast, barely hanging onto its hurricane status. What's the wind speed now -- Chad?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Seven-five, Carol, right at that very lowest category one possible. Seventy-four and above makes it a hurricane. It was a tropical storm over the weekend for a while, kind of wobbling back and forth between strong tropical storm and minimal hurricane. It is gulping in dry air here. Typically, a big hurricane, a big bad hurricane will have much brighter colors than we're seeing here. This thing has a big wide eye, as well. I mean the whole thing is so huge that it's just not organized. It isn't really getting all of the power that it needs from the warm water.

It appears, though, that we've got a big circulation here. But the eye, the center of the eye is way out there, 220 miles away from shore. So it is not an organized storm at this point, but it's still over the Gulf Stream. That water is still warm. The air around it is dry so they're kind of battling each other.

Here you go. This is where the storm goes. It tries to move toward South Carolina and still may, and then turns to the right. That's the official Hurricane Center forecast, staying at about 75 or 80 miles per hour.

Tropical storm warnings all the way from Cape Lookout right on down to Edisto Beach, all the way through Charleston into the Isle of Palms, as well.

You asked why is that so big? That's a long area. It would take you a long time to drive from Cape Lookout all the way down to Edisto Beach on a highway. Now why is that so big? Because the computer models still are very much not in agreement of where this storm is going to go. The storm is still kind of widely scattered, some turning it to the right.

This is the map that we show you a lot of the times. There's 14 different models, 14 different scenarios on here. Some take it completely out into the ocean. A few make another button hook and a few of them, most of them, take it up into North Carolina -- Carol.

COSTELLO: I know you'll keep a close eye on it.

MYERS: We certainly will.

COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: OK.

COSTELLO: Now for our mission critical update on what's happening in the disaster zone, President Bush will tour the area again today. The president's third trip to the region includes stops in New Orleans and in Gulfport, Mississippi. President Bush spent the night aboard the USS Iwo Jima, the command ship for relief operations.

The Air National Guard will dust New Orleans with pesticide today. Health officials have warned that standing water is an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes and, of course, they can carry many diseases, including the West Nile virus. The risk to humans from the pesticide is said to be very minimal.

Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans is now open to cargo traffic and they will begin accepting commercial flights as early as tomorrow. The airport's director says he expects about 30 flights in and out per day. There are still about 5,000 relief workers living in the terminals and in the baggage claim area.

And there are still more than 11,000 people living in shelters in Mississippi. There are similar numbers in Louisiana. Louisiana's head of homeland security is critical of FEMA for what he calls a slow response to provide temporary housing there.

But a FEMA spokesman says help is on the way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID PASSEY, FEMA SPOKESMAN: I know that we have 1,000 manufactured homes or travel trailers moving in this direction. As we've said from the beginning, our first focus is on lifesaving and life sustaining operations. We're now providing assistance to people so that they can meet immediate needs and can start to explore the housing options.

And, again, as I indicated, we will have additional details on other housing options that will become available later this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And now for a look at the cleaning up and cleaning out of New Orleans.

CNN Radio's Jim Roope joins us from the battered city.

He's live in New Orleans this morning -- good morning, Jim.

JIM ROOPE, CNN RADIO: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: There are signs of hope this morning.

Tell us about them.

ROOPE: Well, the signs of hope are little by little, but they are there. First of all, you mentioned the debris, the cleanup. God, truckloads of stuff, especially in front of the convention center. That was a disaster area just three or four days ago. That is pretty cleaned up. A lot of the business district is cleaned up. Power is restored to a lot of those areas. Some places have running water. There's even maybe a pizza place opens up here, a gas station opens up there.

Little by little things are coming back to life. And the floodwaters are receding.

We talked yesterday with Steve King, the Iowa congressman who flew over the area here. He was at the airport last night. And talking with him, he says that he really believes they can have this place completely dried out within a month. And I asked him well, how do you know that for sure? And he says well, I'm a drainage expert. He's got a hydrology background and a construction background, so he knows what he/'s talking about.

So it's a lot of things that are looking up and the president will see a very different scene here today.

COSTELLO: Who will the president visit? Most of the residents are gone, aren't they? ROOPE: I think he's going to -- he's spending a lot of time with relief workers and the soldiers on the Iwo Jima here this morning, to, I guess, keep their momentum going, keep their spirits up, and letting the residents know, via television, those who can see it, probably, and just being here, that things are moving forward. He wants to check on the progress.

I think he really is here to make sure that things are moving forward as he wants them to move forward. In fact, Congressman King is saying he's very impressed with the latest response by the administration, by the president. So he believes, and I think he's right, that the president is here just to make sure things keep going. A little kick in the butt doesn't hurt anybody.

COSTELLO: You've got that right.

I know that some people are going to be allowed back into their homes to gather whatever belongings they have left.

When will that happen and where will it happen?

ROOPE: It's happened in a few areas. I saw some people coming in in trucks, U-Hauls, pickup trucks. In some of the drier areas, in the Garden District and other places where they have to have their I.D.s checked to get in there. But I have seen people go into those areas.

Now, I'm guessing it's to survey their property and maybe pick up a few things. They're not necessarily being escorted in, but they're being told they can get in and there's a curfew, a time where they have to get out. So I'm -- I believe that's probably what's going on with all of that. And it's going to take a while for the rest of the city to open up that way, especially in the flooded areas, because it is still a real bad situation in many of these areas.

COSTELLO: Yes, you know, I just can't imagine what it would be like to go back to your home, gather what belongings have not been damaged by floodwaters and then to know your home will probably be bulldozed.

ROOPE: Yes, you're losing everything. And they have that look on their faces like what do I do now? Where do I go from here? Who's going to help me? Because there's a lot of people who don't have resources, really, outside of what they have on their backs or in the bag they're carrying.

So it's a real desperate situation for a lot of them.

COSTELLO: Jim Roope from CNN Radio live from New Orleans this morning.

Evacuees from Louisiana are starting to move out on their own and into their adopted hometowns in Texas. In fact, there are just a few thousand people left in Houston's four main shelters. Texas took in around 240,000 people in the wake of the hurricane. The Louisiana governor, Kathleen Blanco, talked with some of them during a visit to the Houston Astrodome. Blanco also wanted to extend some thanks to her neighbor state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO (D), LOUISIANA: They immediately, without hesitation, said yes, yes, we will take your citizens, we will care for them, we will give them food, we will give them shelter, we will give them what they need. What they didn't tell us is that they were going to give them love, they were going to give them dignity, they were going to give them respect, they were going to give them honor.

All of our citizens have had that experience here in our neighboring state of Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: A little bit of normalcy will return to Gulfport, Mississippi today. That's where a local elementary school reopens to remaining students. And they've welcomed other students whose schools were badly damaged by Katrina.

CNN's Allan Chernoff is in Gulfport. He has more on that's story -- good morning.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Right. Two weeks after the hurricane it is the first day back to school here at St. James Catholic. It'll be the first school to reopen in the entire Gulf Coast region here in Harrison County.

Yesterday, the Mississippi National Guard was out here cleaning up the playground, but they didn't have to do too much inside of the school. Actually, only three windows were destroyed during the storm here. The local pastor said that was darned near miraculous.

They have 300 children who attend the school here and they'll be accepting 35 displaced children. Probably the number will go higher down the road. The pastor says that he'll be evaluating each child on a child by child basis. So they'll probably have more coming on in.

Of course, as you mentioned, this is very important for families psychologically, just to get back to a normal routine. But it is going to be a little difficult because one third of the families that send children here suffered some damage either to their homes or to their businesses and they're probably going to have a little trouble paying tuition. So they're going to be trying to fundraise in here, trying to get some more money into the school. And the pastor is saying he's certainly hoping that they will not have to lay off any teachers.

By the way, the public schools are hoping to reopen during the first or second week of October. They're cleaning out the schools and also trying to find all the teachers and make sure that the teachers and the bus drivers and everyone is taken care of, that they have a place to stay if their home has been destroyed -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And what about transportation and getting these kids to the schools?

CHERNOFF: Well, exactly. That is part of the issue. They have to make sure that the bus drivers are able to get to their buses, that the buses are operating. So there are all sorts of logistical challenges.

Of course, the damage has been spotty. Closer to the coast, it's been just awful. A little further away, not quite as bad. This immediate neighborhood not hit as hard as some others. So that's certainly a help to this school.

COSTELLO: Definitely so.

Allan Chernoff live in Gulfport, Mississippi this morning.

Still to come this hour, remembering the day that changed America forever. Tributes across the country mark a somber fourth anniversary.

Also, who will get the job of cleaning up after Katrina? Some are already crying foul about who's getting the work.

And the first day of confirmation hearings for John Roberts. What will, or, perhaps more importantly, won't be asked of him?

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: We wanted to show you this picture of the lights on in the City of New York honoring those lost in 9/11. Beautiful, aren't they? Of course, this morning, as the sun comes up, the lights have faded. And as the nation struggles with hurricane Katrina, it has paused to remember that other national tragedy. Oh, it still looks beautiful this morning, doesn't it?

Several ceremonies were held Sunday to mark the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, including a Freedom Walk in honor of the 184 people killed at the Pentagon. And a memorial service was held in Pennsylvania for the 40 people killed when the hijacked plane crashed into a rural field.

Perhaps the most emotional ceremony was held at ground zero in New York, honoring the 2,749 people killed at the World Trade Center. Siblings of those killed read the names of the victims as family members dropped roses into a reflecting pool. The brother of one victim offered optimism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Define us not by how we left. Define us by how we lived, by how we laughed, by how we loved. That's what they'd say. Make us the reason you embrace life, not the reason you don't. It's your spirit that keeps ours alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports.

It is 6:15 Eastern.

Here's what's all new this morning.

Confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee John Roberts begin at 12:00 Eastern today on Capitol Hill. Of course, he's the president's pick to become chief justice of the United States. Abortion is expected to be an issue at the hearings.

In money news, gas prices are still surging. They've gone up more than $0.38 a gallon in the wake of the hurricane. A new survey shows a gallon of self serve regular now costs an average of just over $3.

In culture, B.B. King is getting an early start to his birthday celebration. The king of the blues turns 80 on Friday. He's got a new book coming out, then a new album comes out tomorrow and he's already broken ground on a $10 million B.B. King Museum. So happy birthday.

In sports, the New Orleans Saints pulled off a last second win over the Carolina Panthers. Kicker John Carney, who had the game winning field goal, said the players knew the game had special meaning for the people back home in Louisiana. The Saints pull it out. They win 23-20 in dramatic fashion.

That was a really cool moment -- Chad.

MYERS: Sure it was. Look at that, straight down the middle.

COSTELLO: Isn't that something?

MYERS: And oh, oh, it gets in there.

Good morning, Carol.

That was great news for those guys there. I know the Carolina fans are probably rooting just as hard for the Saints, as well.

Good morning.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: Still to come on DAYBREAK, getting the lights back on in Louisiana. It's no small task, but one that is getting done thanks to many hard workers. I mean they are making amazing progress. We're going to talk to the CEO of one company that's making it happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A little "Business Buzz" this morning. Recovering from hurricane Katrina is projected to cost well over $100 billion.

And as Carrie Lee tells us, there's already controversy over who's getting some of that reconstruction.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You knew this story was going to come out, right?

COSTELLO: Yes.

LEE: Well, yes, some of these first deals are going to companies with ties to the Bush White House. And similar to what we saw a few years ago, they're no bid contracts. Now, these are the same type that got the administration into trouble in Iraq.

Front and center is a man named Joe Albaugh. Now, he's the former head of FEMA, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and President Bush's former campaign manager.

Well, he's now a lobbyist and at least two of his corporate clients have received Katrina contracts. The first is Shaw Group. It says it received a $100 million emergency FEMA contract for housing management and construction and a $100 million deal from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Also, number two is Kellogg, Brown & Root. This is a unit of Halliburton, which Dick Cheney, of course, our vice president, used to lead. It received nearly $30 million in Pentagon contracts to begin rebuilding Navy bases in Louisiana and Mississippi.

And finally, Bechtel National has also been selected by FEMA to provide short-term housing. President Bush named Bechtel's CEO to his export council.

Now, the Bush administration connections are attracting renewed attention from watchdog groups. Going back to Shaw Group, which says Albaugh was providing the company with general consulting on business matters. They're not saying whether he played a direct role in any of the Katrina deals.

So that's the latest, Carol.

But quite a controversy.

COSTELLO: Well, why no bid contracts? Is it a time factor?

LEE: That could be part of it. You know, we don't really know exactly what the rationale was. They probably just want to get the job done. We know FEMA was criticized for taking a few days to get things rolling in at least New Orleans in the first place. Maybe they're trying to avoid some of that controversy, but certainly starting up some other controversy here.

COSTELLO: Yes. And I'm sure that will go on for days and days.

LEE: Yes.

COSTELLO: And probably months.

A quick look at the futures?

LEE: Yes, we had a nice week last week. The bulls for stocks. Oil prices coming down, stocks going up.

This morning, though, futures looking pretty flat for this Monday morning.

COSTELLO: All right, Carrie Lee, thanks to you.

LEE: OK.

COSTELLO: Another big task, cleaning up New Orleans. Piles of trash and rubble are being collected across the city. When DAYBREAK comes back, we're going to take you back there live.

Plus, we'll take you to Capitol Hill. The man who wants to sit at the top of the nation's highest court will good evening in the hot seat. We'll tell you what to expect.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

COSTELLO: And good morning to you.

Thank you for waking up with us.

President Bush wakes up on board a relief ship in the Gulf this morning as his third tour of the disaster zone continues.

But first, now in the news, at high noon in Washington, the Senate Judiciary Committee begins the showdown over Judge John Roberts. Roberts is the president's choice to succeed the late William Rehnquist as chief justice. Bob Franken has details live from Washington in just a few moments.

A flag ceremony highlights the Israeli Army's exit from Gaza two weeks ahead of schedule. The pullout ends 38 years of Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory.

Volcano experts report Mount Saint Helens is growing more restless. Scientists say a new lava dome is building inside the volcano's crater. So far, there's been little seismic activity or emissions of steam, but the experts warn that could change suddenly.

MYERS: Yes.

COSTELLO: That's something else to watch, Chad.

MYERS: Exactly, Carol. Since Friday afternoon, Mount Saint Helens had a 2.5, a 2.9, a 2.8, a 2.7 and a 2.9 earthquake. So, it's kind of shaking out there. Now, those are small little earthquakes. We can barely even feel them. But, you know, it's kind of like when your stomach is rumbling, you can feel what's going on down there, you just don't know how much.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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