Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

State of Emergency; The Roberts Hearings

Aired September 12, 2005 - 10:59   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And two stories dominate this hour of news on CNN.
President Bush sees New Orleans up close two weeks after Hurricane Katrina came calling. The central Gulf Coast struggles to get its footing.

And the man the president wants to be the next chief justice of the United States is ready for his close up. Confirmation hearings for Judge John Roberts are just an hour away. We'll get a live preview.

And good morning, everyone, I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta, in for Daryn Kagan today.

First, to this hour's "Mission Critical."

An update on urgent issues in the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone. New Orleans police say they are able to respond to calls now with help from outside law enforcement agencies. The security situation is so improved, business owners are being allowed into deserted downtown office buildings today. They can retrieve essential papers but must leave immediately.

Health officials have lifted boil water advisories for some water systems in southeastern Louisiana. The water did not contain harmful levels of bacteria.

The Air National Guard will begin spraying New Orleans with pesticides tonight. Authorities want to prevent an outbreak of mosquito-borne diseases, particularly West Nile. The pesticide contains a blue dye to let pilots see areas they have covered.

FEMA says 10 families have moved into trailers in the town of Patterson, Louisiana. They are the first evacuees to move into long- term government housing. State officials complain FEMA isn't getting the mobile homes to the area fast enough. The agency says 1,000 trailers are on the way.

And the Army Corps of Engineers says it should be able to drain New Orleans by the end of October. The city is about half covered in water today. That's off a high mark of 80 percent.

Now to President Bush in New Orleans, he ventured into the heart of the flooded city today. His first on-the-ground look at waterlogged neighborhoods. From New Orleans, the president goes to Gulfport, Mississippi. He ends the day at the White House. And that's where we find our White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning.

We understand President Bush is heading back to the USS Iwo Jima. That is, of course, where he started his tour last night, where he arrived there, docked in the Mississippi River overlooking the convention center in New Orleans. Meeting this morning with his staff, his emergency personnel who are briefing him on the situation on the ground.

Also, of course, according to pool reporters, those who are traveling directly with the president, he got a firsthand look today at a military convoy, we're told, rolling through the French Quarter, as well as residential areas, as well as downtown. One of those pool reports saying in fact those convoys traveling through the mud and the stench of some of those damaged regions.

We also, of course, just got word that the president did take a few questions about the recovery effort. He said, essentially, that the people of New Orleans would be designing the vision of a new city, the federal government would assist, but the people of Louisiana would lay out that vision.

He was also asked about the racial angle here, whether or not it was a slow response because many of those who suffered were black, were poor. This is not a verbate but simply an overview, saying that he said the storm didn't discriminate, neither will the recovery, that the recovery will be comprehensive.

Also he was asked about some of the missteps of the federal government saying, again, that there will be time to take a step back to see what went wrong. He was asked about whether or not there was some sort of delay in the hampering of the effort because of the troops in Iraq. The president saying it's preposterous to claim the mission in Iraq had anything to do with this.

And then finally asked again whether or not FEMA let him down in this federal response. The president, summarizing here, saying that there is plenty of time to play the blame game. I don't make decisions on polls. As you know, of course, poll numbers showing the president at an all-time low when it comes to his job approval rating, some 39 percent.

HARRIS: CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House.

Suzanne, thank you.

And some signs of life around New Orleans today. Business leaders are getting into downtown offices just briefly to collect papers, and the airport is gearing up for limited commercial flights tomorrow. CNN's Sean Callebs joins me this morning from New Orleans.

And, Sean, the president was very close to where you are right now.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. We're in Jackson Square. And if you look at it, Tony, it looks unaffected by the hurricane. Well that's because workers with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, as well as some Coast Guard workers to my left, have basically been in here for the past 24 hours and they have the debris out.

But come out on Decatur, this is exactly where the president drove down. About one hour ago, he got a pretty good glimpse of all the trash out here.

And if you look to my right, this is a pretty nasty indication of what folks are dealing with. This is a septic and grease trap pumping vehicle, and, really, the amount of sewage, waste water that is in the floodwater, really a huge problem at this time. We heard from the Coast Guard earlier today who are doing search and rescue operations. And authorities are really concerned about the safety of their personnel heading out into this muck and mess. It still covers about half of the city.

You talked about it earlier, at the height of the storm, about 80 percent of New Orleans was covered by floodwater. The pumps are doing their jobs. It is down to about 50 percent right now.

President Bush is scheduled to leave New Orleans in about an hour and 20 minutes. Not only will he see this area, also the convention center. We know work is going on there in a big way as well. Bulldozers out moving all the muck and trash that built up after Katrina.

And, really, that the epicenter of where basically everything went wrong right after the hurricane blew through the area. Those people were trapped in that area, no food, no water, for some time. But now it is getting cleaned up to a large degree.

You talked about the business owners coming back in. The French Quarter really is kind of springing back to life. And power has been restored in some areas. Before dawn, we could see some lights on in some hotels just down the way.

Another motorcade coming through here right now.

Also sewage treatment plants, Tony, are also working.

But a big task for officials today, search and rescue operations. They are not giving up, concerned that people still could be trapped in their homes. Last count, I heard they had rescued about 126 people. Really working around the clock in conditions that you can imagine are just horrific -- Tony.

HARRIS: And, Sean, just a quick question now, we're seeing a lot of movement, the city trying to repair itself, and folks on the ground doing the hard work there. But we have to keep in mind, don't we, that there are still some pretty devastated areas not too far from where you are.

CALLEBS: I mean exactly. This is not really indicative of what the area looks like. We drove in yesterday from Houston. I-10, their term, is not serviceable. I would say it's been washed away. And once you come in on 55, you get in just off Lake Pontchartrain, and Jefferson Parish just over the way, simply where the water has gone down, the mud, the muck, the smell is horrible.

I mean it is going to take some time to clean up this area. Remember the French Quarter is above sea level. A lot of other parts where we have been the past few days not that lucky. And it is going to take some work if indeed they are going to be able to resurrect these areas -- Tony.

HARRIS: Yes. CNN's Sean Callebs for us.

Sean, thank you.

Want to show you some live pictures now from over the last couple of weeks that we've been following Hurricane Katrina. We've been benefit of some wonderful pictures from a helicopter pilot earlier in the hurricane relief effort. We've been seeing pictures from J.T. Alpaub (ph).

But this is Rick Jackson (ph) who is the pilot now showing us pictures over the coast of New Orleans. And I understand there was a cruise ship. Maybe we just flew past the cruise ship. The cruise ship, Sensation, which is, there it is, which is home to some evacuees, we understand, at this point. Live pictures in to us now at CNN of the cruise ship, Sensation, there along the New Orleans coast.

Let's bring in Chad Meyers now as we're also following downgraded...

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right.

HARRIS: Well, it was a hurricane, now it's Tropical Storm Ophelia that we're talking about.

MYERS: It's been back and forth now four times, Tony. Now down to a tropical storm. It gulped in some drier air. Now think about that like you're going down the freeway and all of a sudden you run out of gas, or you run out of gas for 10 seconds. It's like gulping air out of your gas tank. Your car is going to slow down. Well, this thing has slowed down in the overnight hours just because of that.

We'll move you ahead and show you what's going on. The center of the hurricane, which was a hurricane, now tropical storm, almost empty, almost devoid of any deep convection. We need for this thing to fire back up with yellows and oranges for it to become a hurricane again. Hopefully that doesn't happen.

It's getting over some pretty cool water right now. It's been spinning over the same water for so long it's called upwelling. You spin it long enough, and the warm water that's on top goes away and it gets mixed up with some of that colder water down below. That's is actually the visible. That's a pretty decent shot there of the storm.

It is forecast by 8:00 tomorrow morning, see that one there in the middle, to become a hurricane again. And then turn to the right and then run up the northeastern part of North Carolina, somewhere between Morehead City, maybe Cape Hatteras, maybe as far west as Wilmington. Notice the shoreline angle here. It's going to make a huge difference for landfall. There may be a very large area of landfall on this.

And we're still not convinced that that is the perfect scenario. That's the hurricane center forecast. And they always talk about the cone, how wide the cone can be and don't just follow a line. Well there's 14 different lines on this map. They are all different computer models showing completely different scenarios. Some still into South Carolina, many of them into North Carolina and a few of them doing a buttonhook out here in the Atlantic Ocean, with many of them just flying on off into the north Atlantic.

That would be the best case scenario, if it gets up into the north Atlantic, finally flying away and kind of taking itself out to sea, into the colder water where it would actually just disintegrate and do basically nothing.

It has done a couple of loops. Did one loop in the overnight hours. The track, so far here, with the blocking high to the north of it. The high keeping it south. It can't move out like most hurricanes do. Can't move away. And so what's happening here, the high pressure moves to the east. The tropical storm with a hurricane moves to the west around the backside of this and then eventually off into the north Atlantic. That's the forecast so far. This thing has been unpredictable for the past five days. That said -- Tony.

HARRIS: Finicky storm, wanting to be a hurricane, can't make up its mind.

MYERS: It has an identity crisis.

HARRIS: Yes. All right, Chad, thank you.

MYERS: All right.

HARRIS: And checking some other stories "Now in the News."

Hurricane Katrina helped push gas prices in the United States to an all-time high. The latest Lundberg Survey shows the average price for regular self-serve hit $3.01 a gallon. That's a 38-cent spike in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It's being blamed on the supply shrinkage caused by the storm.

It may be a while before the Saints go marching back to New Orleans, but their far-flung fans are celebrating today. The Saints beat the Carolina Panthers yesterday 23 to 20. With the Louisiana Superdome out of commission, the team plays its home opener next weekend against the New York Giants in the Meadowlands.

As Americans marked the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, al Qaeda's leader in Iraq weighed in on the Hurricane Katrina disaster. An Islamic Web site posted a recording from Abu Musab al- Zarqawi. He says the storm was an answer to the prayers of Iraqis and Afghans who have suffered under American occupation.

More than 170 world leaders are gathering in New York this week to mark the 60th anniversary of the U.N. President Bush is scheduled to appear before the world body on Wednesday. It comes as the U.S. faces tough challenges, both at home and abroad, with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and international opposition to the Iraq war.

After 38 years, Israel has ended its occupation of Gaza. The remaining Israeli forces pulled out of the territory earlier today. Palestinian leaders called the withdrawal a great moment and said the next goal will be ending the Israeli occupation in the West Bank.

The recent peace in Northern Ireland has given way to violence. Dozens of injuries are reported in Belfast after two straight days of rioting by Protestant extremists. The violence broke out Saturday when police prevented a Protestant group from parading near a Catholic part of west Belfast.

It's confirmation time and it's critical. In about 45 minutes, John Roberts will be on the Capitol Hill grill, but it won't be a picnic for the chief justice nominee. A live report from Capitol Hill on today's hearings is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Only 16 men have held the job. Next hour, federal appeals court Judge John Roberts gets his chance to be the 17th chief justice.

National correspondent Bob Franken is on Capitol Hill for the opening round of confirmation hearings.

Bob, good morning.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

And we're going to get a real sense today about the tenor of these hearings, the mood of these hearings. This is the day for all the preliminaries. The preliminaries will include statements, sometimes interminable statements, from the members of the committee, Republican and Democratic, who will be laying down their markers, what they want to cover. John Roberts, only very late in the day, will make his opening statement.

And then you get to the grilling tomorrow. And the grilling is going to be an attempt at grilling, certainly by those who are adversaries of the administration, those of the liberal persuasion who have questions about John Roberts and his conservative points of view and what the record shows.

There are many people who say that even though he has tremendous people skills and is a very good lawyer, obviously all of that masks a right wing agenda, according to the critics. And they're going to question him about such things as his commitment to civil rights, abortion rights, that type of thing. It will be the job of Roberts to try and be as nonspecific as possible, which is a polite way to put it.

Roberts has been counseled repeatedly not to take any stands on issues, arguing as predecessors have done, that you really can't do that when you're about to become a judge or a justice.

What can be expected is that he comes out on the side of stare decisis. Get used to that term, it's a term that we're going to hear a lot, meaning, of course, already decided. That is one of the principles of law, even at the Supreme Court. The issues such as Roe v. Wade are going to be issues that are put into that context.

So it's going to be a week that could be very telling in terms of more what the Senate is going to be able to do. If things go as planned and barring any surprises, Roberts will face a confirmation vote as early as next week in the Senate, then would be ready by October 3 to be Chief Justice Roberts going to the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the person who he was first nominated to succeed Sandra Day O'Connor does not have a replacement now. She is expected to be on that bench. The president expected not to nominate somebody to replace her until after the Roberts matter is handled here in the Senate -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. CNN's Bob Franken for us.

Bob, thank you.

CNN is live at the top of the hour for Judge Roberts' confirmation hearings. Wolf Blitzer anchors our coverage all afternoon from Washington.

Once again a live look now at the Port of New Orleans, open again for shipping two weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated not only the port but also the city of New Orleans. Let's not forget Gulfport, Mississippi, Biloxi, Mississippi and parts of Alabama as well. But a sign that life is beginning to return to normal in New Orleans. The Port of New Orleans, how important is this port, open again for shipping two weeks after Hurricane Katrina.

A quick break and we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And in just a moment, we'll have pictures, new pictures in to CNN of the president arriving on the USS Iwo Jima. As you know, the Iwo Jima is sort of the control center now for the effort on the ground in New Orleans, as well as in Mississippi.

And the president, as you know, toured the French Quarter a little earlier today where he had an opportunity to see some of the areas hit there, as well as a helicopter tour of New Orleans as well.

Here's the president.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRES. OF THE UNITED STATES: ... ... thank the governor for joining us today and thank the mayor for joining us.

My impression of New Orleans is this: that there is a recovery on the way, there's progress being made, but there's a lot of serious and hard work yet to be done.

I was briefed today about the search and rescue that continues. I was also briefed about different projects that are taking place, containment the oil spill. The electricity is beginning to be turned back on.

The mayor is anxious, of course, to get parts of the city up and running, but he's also mindful that there's a lot of work to be done for that to happen.

General Honore and Admiral Allen briefed us as well about the close coordination between the federal government, state government and local government, all aimed at solving problems. And, you know, we just came through an area that had had substantial water in it, and the de-watering is an indication that the city is moving forward.

But I repeat: We got a lot of work to do, a whole lot of work to do. And my pledge again to the governor and the mayor is the federal government will work closely in coordination with the authorities.

You know, one of the things that people are beginning to think about is the long-term revival of New Orleans, for example, or the surrounding parishes. My attitude is this: The people of New Orleans can design the vision. The people of New Orleans can lay out what New Orleans ought to look like in the future and the federal government will help. The people of Louisiana can lay out their vision of what Louisiana will look like and the federal government can help.

I think that the best policy is one in which the federal government doesn't come and say, "Here's what your city will look like." The best policy is one where the local folks say, "Here's what we want our city to look like, and let's work together to achieve that vision."

And so as we're beginning to get through this recovery phase and the rescue phase and the transitional phase, recovery phase, we beginning to think through how to reconstitute this really important state, as well as along the Mississippi coast as well.

BUSH: At any rate, again, I want to thank you all for being here. Appreciate you taking the time. And I'll answer a couple of questions.

QUESTION: What do you make of some of the comments that have been made by quite a number of people that there was a racial component to some of the people that were left behind and left without help?

BUSH: You know, my attitude is this: The storm didn't discriminate and neither will the recovery effort. When those Coast Guard choppers, many of whom were first on the scene, were pulling people off roofs, they didn't check the color of a person's skin. They wanted to save lives.

I can assure people -- and I know from the statements at the local level as well -- that this recovery is going to be comprehensive. The rescue efforts were comprehensive and the recovery will be comprehensive.

QUESTION: Mr. President, does the federal government need the authority to come in earlier, or even in advance, of a storm that threatening?

BUSH: I think that's one of the interesting issues that Congress needs to take a look at. And it's really important that as we take a step back and learn lessons that we (OFF-MIKE) that we're able to work closely together, and that's one of the key issues.

QUESTION: Do you recommend that Congress consider allowing the federal government to act more quickly?

BUSH: I think it's very important for Congress to take a good close look at what went on, what didn't go on, and come up with a series of recommendations.

And my attitude is that we need to learn everything we possibly can; we need to make sure that this country is knitted up as well as it can be in order to deal with significant problems and disasters.

BUSH: In the mean time, we've got to keep moving forward.

And I know there's been a lot of second guessing. I can assure you I'm not interested in that. What I'm interested in is solving problems. And there will be time to take a step back and to take a sober look at what went right and what didn't go right.

There's a lot of information floating around that will be analyzed in an objective way. And that's important. And it's important for the people of this country to understand that all of us want to learn lessons.

If there were to be, you know, a biological attack of some kind, we've got to make sure we understand the lessons learned, to be able to deal with catastrophe.

QUESTION: Will what is needed to get this area back on its feet have any impact on the timing of troop withdrawals in Iraq?

BUSH: In Iraq?

QUESTION: Yes.

BUSH: We've got plenty of troops to do both. And let me just talk about that again. I've answered this question before. And you can speak to General Honore if you care to; he's the military man on the ground.

It is preposterous to claim that the engagement in Iraq meant there wasn't enough troops here. It's pure and simple.

Do you care to comment on that?

LIEUTENANT GENERAL RUSSEL HONORE, COMMANDER, 1ST ARMY: Well, we have about 90,000 members of the Reserve and National Guard deployed of a total force of about 400,000. So 90,000 are deployed. We've got the capability. We're here. We're demonstrating, indeed, every day; we're performing a mission.

With the great support of the National Guard from multiple states, the response is here, the troops are getting the job done under the conditions that you see here today. And they're making America proud that we have that capability.

We have capability. We're applying it -- air, land and sea -- our federal forces, in support of the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi, under the direction of the adjutant general. The system is working. We've got the capability. And we're looking forward to get the job done, to get the job completed, until the governors tell us otherwise.

BUSH: The troop levels in Iraq will be decided by commanders on the ground.

BUSH: One, our mission is to defeat the terrorists, is to win. Secondly, the strategy is as Iraqis stand up, we will stand down.

And so to answer your question about the decisions made on the ground in Iraq, they will be made based upon the ability of the Iraqis to take the fight. And more and more Iraqi units are getting more and more qualified.

There's still a lot of work to be done there.

Obviously, we're going to make sure we have a troop presence to help this political process go forward. There's an election -- the ratification of the constitution election will be coming up. And, of course, there will be elections later on this year. And we will have the troop levels necessary to make sure those elections go forward.

After all, the enemy wants to stop democracy. See, that's what they want to do; they want to kill enough people in the hopes that democracy won't go forward.

They tried that prior to more than 8 million Iraqis voting. They were unable to stop Iraqis from voting because people want to be free.

Deep in everybody's soul, regardless of your religion or where you live, is the desire to be free. And they can't stop it and they can't stop democracy from moving.

And so what we're going to do is help make sure those elections are accessible to the Iraqi people.

QUESTION: Mr. President, there is a belief (inaudible) for two weeks now on the ground that FEMA let the people here on the ground down. And perhaps in turn, (inaudible) evidence of what it's done to your popularity (inaudible).

Do you think that your management style, relying on your departments, relying on the advice that you got in this particular scenario, let you down?

BUSH: Look, there'll be plenty of time to play the blame game. That's what you're trying to do.

QUESTION: No. I'm trying to ask you...

BUSH: You're trying to say somebody is at fault.

And, look, I want to know. I want to know exactly what went on and how it went on.

And we'll continually assess inside my administration.

I sent Mike Chertoff down here to make an assessment of how best to do the job. He made a decision. I accepted his decision.

But we're moving on. We're going to solve these problems.

BUSH: And there'll be ample time for people to take a look back and see the facts.

As far as my own personal popularity goes, I don't make decisions based upon polls. I hope the American people appreciate that. You can't make difficult decisions if you have to take a poll. It's been my style ever since I've been the president.

And, of course, I rely upon good people. Of course, you've got to as the president of the United States. You set the space, you set the strategy, you hold people to account.

But, yes, I'm relying upon good people. That's why Admiral Allen is here. He's a good man. He can do the job. That's why General Honore is here.

And so when I come into a briefing, I don't tell them what to do. They tell me the facts on the ground and my question to them is, "Do you have what you need?"

QUESTION: Did they misinform you when you said no one anticipated the breach of the levees? BUSH: No. What I was referring to is this: When that storm came by, a lot of people said we dodged a bullet. When that storm came through at first, people said, "Whew." There was a sense of relaxation. And that's what I was referring to.

And I myself thought we had dodged a bullet. You know why? Because I was listening to people probably over the airwaves say, "The bullet has been dodged." And that was what I was referring to.

Of course, there were plans in case the levee had been breached. There was a sense of relaxation at a critical moment.

And thank you for giving me a chance to clarify that.

QUESTION: Mr. President, where were you when you realized the severity of the storm?

BUSH: I knew that a big storm was coming on Monday. That's why I spoke to the country on Monday morning about it. I said, "There's a big storm coming."

I had presigned emergency declarations in anticipation of a big storm coming. Which is, by the way, extraordinary. Most emergencies the president signs after the storm has hit. It's a rare occasion for the president to anticipate the severity of the storm and sign the documentation prior to the storm hitting. So, in other words, we anticipated a serious storm coming.

But as the man's question said, basically implied, "Wasn't there a moment where everybody said, 'Well, gosh, we dodged a bullet,' and yet the bullet hadn't been dodged?"

Last question, yes.

QUESTION: Mr. President, this is two weeks in. You must have developed a clear image, at this point, of one critical thing that failed, one thing that went wrong in the first five days.

BUSH: Oh, I think there will be plenty of time to analyze particularly the structure of the relationship between government levels.

But, again, what I think Congress needs to -- I know Congress needs to do; and we're doing this internally as well -- is to take a sober look at the decision-making that went on.

And what I want the people of this state and the state of Mississippi to understand is that we're moving forward with relief plans, and we're going to move forward with reconstruction plans, and we're going to do so in a coordinated way.

And it's very important for the folks in New Orleans to understand that, at least as far as I'm concerned, this great city has got ample talent and ample genius to set the strategy and set the vision. And our role at the federal government is -- you know, obviously within the law -- to help them realize that vision. And that's what I wanted to assure the mayor.

(CROSSTALK)

BUSH: No, no, no. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And that's the president from a while ago this morning. We can tell you that was a while ago, because we know exactly where the president is now, on the ground. He's in St. Bernard Parish. We'll talk about that in just a moment. The president with New Orleans Mayor Roy Nagin, you saw behind him, General Honore, Admiral Thad Allen of the Coast Guard, the man who is now the new point person on the ground for relief efforts on the ground, the man replacing Michael Brown, the director of FEMA.

There is still a lot of hard work to be done. You heard the president say, the president talked to General Honore about coordinating, doing a better job of coordinating the communication between the federal effort and the state and local officials. He said the people of New Orleans can design the future of their city moving forward.

Now on the question of a racial component to the relief effort, you heard the president say that the storm didn't discriminate, and the relief effort will not discriminate. The exact words, "The storm didn't discriminate, and neither will the recovery effort." He said that the recovery will be comprehensive.

A couple other notes here, the president said he is not interested in second guessing, not interested in the blame game. He's busy learning the lessons that this storm dealt. And the president said it was preposterous to claim that the troop deployment in Iraq slowed efforts along the Gulf Coast.

As mentioned, the president is now on the ground at St. Bernard Parish, and he's going to get an opportunity while on the ground there to meet with a number of the residents. The president will then fly to Gulfport, Mississippi, and tour the relief effort on going there in Gulfport, Mississippi.

For more on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, you can check out our Web site for up-to-the-minute information. The address, CNN.com.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: As we mentioned a few moments ago, President Bush is scheduled to arrive shortly on Mississippi Gulf Coast to get another look at the hurricane damage there. In much of that region, there are more signs of recovery every day. CNN senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is with us now from Gulfport, Mississippi. Hello, Allan.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Tony.

And if the president does come down the main drag of Gulfport here, 25th Avenue, he's going to see debris up and down the street. He also cannot possibly miss the Palace Grill, where the front window, as you can see, was completely blown out. The roof also severely damaged. The owners have been cleaning up for the past two weeks. It's two weeks since the storm. This place has been an institution for 28 years.

Now, the cleanup also progressing. Even across the street, can you see the heavy machinery, working on cleaning up the debris. What they're trying to do is get all the debris out into the street. It will then be picked up and put on to dump trucks and they're shipping it out as quickly as they possibly can.

A major effort also under way in the office buildings here. If we look up, we can actually see the air conditioning ducts going into the Hancock Bank building. What they're doing there is pumping air conditioning into the building. That will help dry it out. They've also got dehumidifiers at work there and air purifiers.

Those have been running 24/7 for more than a week now. The whole idea is they get it dried out, then they can come on in, pull out the carpeting, pull out all the sheetrock, and then begin the reconstruction. They're doing that at at least four major buildings here in town.

We've spoken with a few people in Gulfport and they say they're glad the president is coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD PATTISON, GULFPORT RESIDENT: I feel very relieved. He's my protector. He's a very compassionate man and I know he's trying to do his best to help the United States, plus us down here.

CHERNOFF: Now, you know, a lot of people in the country have been critical to the federal response to the hurricane.

PATTISON: Well, they shouldn't be critical of them, because they're doing the best they can.

ROBERT DAVIS, GULFPORT RESIDENT: I guess it shows that he has an interest here or wants to show he has an interest here in what's going on here. Probably good at election time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: Well, the president is going to see lots of devastation, but also the beginning of the recovery phase. Lots of cleaning up here -- Tony?

HARRIS: Allan Chernoff for us. Allan, thank you.

And you can see there on the right side of your screen, pictures from just a few moments ago of President Bush on the back of a truck, taking a look at more of the damage in New Orleans. I believe this is through the French Quarter. Yes, the French Quarter.

New video into CNN right now. You see -- I think that's Kathleen -- yes, the governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco. And the pictures of -- and the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, on the back of a truck, taking a look as they drive through the French Quarter, at the damage wrought by Hurricane Katrina.

We'll take a break and we'll come back with the story from Houston, as CNN LIVE TODAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Live pictures now of Judge John Roberts about to enter the confirmation room. You see him there with chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Arlen Specter and Democrat Patrick Leahy, having a conversation. The confirmation hearings to begin in about 14 minutes from now.

As you heard earlier, it is going to be a lot of sort of preliminary work today. A lot of speech-making by the 16 senators. Once again, live pictures, Judge John Roberts, just moments before his confirmation begins. And, of course, we'll have live coverage with Wolf Blitzer from "THE SITUATION ROOM" at the top of the hour.

And now, the city of Houston has been doing its best to settle all of the hurricane evacuees. CNN's Betty Nguyen is there with the latest from Houston -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Tony.

The good news out here today is that progress is being made. Evacuees are finding homes. They are leaving these shelters and they're going into temporary housing, whether that be an apartment, at a hotel where FEMA is offering reimbursement, or with friends and family.

I have here with me here today Brenda Holloway, who is looking for housing. Tell me about how that's going?

BRENDA HOLLOWAY, EVACUEE: It's going pretty good. Because they have a lot of people come in and talk to you about the different houses that they have, apartments or whatever. If you're Section 8 and you had it in New Orleans, you're getting it like that quick.

NGUYEN: Do you have a place to stay?

HOLLOWAY: Yes, I do.

NGUYEN: When do you get to move in?

HOLLOWAY: Hopefully this week. NGUYEN: Oh, that must be good news. But before you move in, of course, you're still looking for family members?

HOLLOWAY: Yes, I am.

NGUYEN: Tell me who you're looking for.

HOLLOWAY: I'm looking for Kioka Meyers (ph) and Juanica Meyers (ph) and Diane Meyers (ph).

NGUYEN: No, this is your sister-in-law and your two nieces. One is just 12 years old?

HOLLOWAY: Yes.

NGUYEN: When did you last see them?

HOLLOWAY: Probably about three weeks ago, is the last time we seen them.

NGUYEN: And where were they?

HOLLOWAY: We was all at my mother's house. That was the last time I seen them.

NGUYEN: And you said at some point, you think they may have been rescued and put onto a bridge?

HOLLOWAY: At some point, they was telling me that a lot of people after (INAUDIBLE) projects was rescued by boats and brought at the end of the Claiborne Bridge.

NGUYEN: But you walked that bridge?

HOLLOWAY: I haven't seen them.

NGUYEN: Goodness. Let's give a number out for folks who may know them or if they're even watching right now, that they can call you and let you know that they are, indeed, alive.

HOLLOWAY: I really appreciate that.

NGUYEN: What's that number? Actually, I have it right here. It's a new phone number. Everything is new for you here in Houston.

HOLLOWAY: Everything's new.

NGUYEN: Your home, your phone. Let me go ahead and give that number out.

HOLLOWAY: I appreciate it.

NGUYEN: So folks can call if they have seen Brenda's nieces and her sister-in-law. That number is 713-231-6448. Obviously, Brenda's very excited about starting her new life here in Houston. At the same time, you want to make sure that your family is all together once again.

HOLLOWAY: Yes, I do.

NGUYEN: Please call that number.

And I do want to tell you, as far as folks leaving these shelters, it's definitely progress, because we have learned that there are 4,600 evacuees now staying in the four main shelters here in Houston. That is down from the 5.200 who were here just yesterday. For a lot of folks, that is definitely a sign of progress. Because the goal, Tony, is to get everyone out of the shelters and into homes by this weekend.

Back to you.

HARRIS: OK, Betty. And once again, let me just sort of give that number once again. I know you know it, but you've got a lot of things going on there. 713-231-6245. The number you saw on the screen is the correct number.

CNN is live at the top of the hour with Judge Roberts' confirmation hearings. When they begin, we'll take you there. Wolf Blitzer anchors our coverage all afternoon from Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I want to take take moment and split the screen now. We'll throw up pictures of President Bush in just a moment here. We'll get to that in a moment. But right now, you're looking at pictures of the confirmation hearing for Chief Justice nominee John Roberts to begin at noon today before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Senate's Russell Caucus Room. A live picture there. Roberts' family on hand. And on the left of your screen, pictures of the president.

The two big stories we're covering today, the president taking a tour of the damage in the French Quarter, walking there with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. So two big stories that we're covering today, the live picture on the right there, in the Senate's Russell Caucus Room where the confirmation hearings will begin at noon, and President Bush a short time ago meeting with reporters reporting on his tour of the city of New Orleans.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: I'm Tony Harris. Up next, "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer. Wolf will have the golf-to-gavel coverage of the confirmation hearings on Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. That is at the top of the hour.

Have a great day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com