Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

State of Emergency; Security in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

Aired September 15, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: First light over the city of New Orleans, 17 days after Katrina struck here. Big road back to cleanup. Today the mayor of New Orleans will announce what he calls a phased repopulation. Fully a third of the population of this city he would like to see back in their homes in a matter of weeks. We'll be analyzing that statement and see whether that's a reality. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
Now back to Soledad in New York.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Miles. Thanks.

You know, if it weren't for that plywood behind you, it would look like sort of a normal scene now that the sun is up. It looks good, and yet kind of strange, because plywood is still boarding the windows. With the wideshot you starting with, it looks good. It's starting to look good. We're going to have much more from Miles in just a few moments from New Orleans.

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: In the wake of Katrina and in the wake of many of the pictures we saw on television, particularly the focus on the Superdome and the Convention Center and some of the images of looting, a lot of people have decided it is high time to arm themselves out of concern for their personal safety. Couple that with the fact that in the midst of all of that looting, a lot of weapons that were in pawn shops have now gone missing. That, along with the concern about fires, makes it a busy agenda for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

Joining me now is Mark Chait. He's a special agent with ATF. He's based here in New Orleans. This is his home.

And, boy, I guess you've got really a full plate right now. What's your priority right now? Is it to try to track down the guns that have gone missing, see if they have, in fact, fell in the wrong hands or maybe just were washed away?

MARK CHAIT, SPECIAL AGENT, ATF: Well, there's several issues that we're trying to address. Our number priority is to address violent crime. We have a large contingency of agents that were brought in from out of town, as well as the field division here. We've also gotten involved in some rescue missions to take people to safety. Just last week, we received information about a sniper shooting from an apartment complex. We mobilized our special response team, got in there quickly and made an arrest. At another occasion, that same team, while there were out on an enforcement mission were able to rescue 19 individuals from homes on their way out, so our mission is two fold, and now we're trying to help gun dealers secure firearms, to keep them out of the hands of criminals, and as well as to protect the inventory.

M. O'BRIEN: Let's talk about the issue of violent crime first, because the way it is right now, this place is a ghost town. Violent crime is less of a problem just by sheer virtue of lack of people here, but the mayor today is going to announce a repopulation plan. People are going to start coming back in. That has got to lead to concern about an uptake in crime. What are you and other agents doing to be ready for that?

CHAIT: Well, one is we're trying to use intelligence, and combined efforts with NOPD or other federal partners and state partners to be prepared for individuals coming back into the zone. Nothing changes with ATF. We're still targeting violent criminals, those individuals that are illegally possessing and using firearms, and we're going to do the same thing we always do. We have a violent crime impact team here in New Orleans. That team is ready and stood up here, so as soon as trends and crime patterns occur, we want to get on quickly and make federal arrests where we're capable, to put individuals in prison and do a full sentence.

M. O'BRIEN: Certainly the concern is that in the midst of all the confusion, of course, criminals will take advantage of that. But shift for one more moment we're talking about the uptick, the interest of purchasing weapons. The ATF doesn't take a stance on gun ownership, I know, but nonetheless, with that many more weapons sort of in circulation, that must cause some concern.

CHAIT: We've heard the news about the increase in purchases of firearms, and legal individuals can certainly buy firearms. There's no problem with that. Our concern is when they get into the hands of illegal criminals and individuals who want to use those firearms to commit crimes. And we're going to pay very close attention. This is an opportunity for law enforcement to really see how the city develops as people come in and pay attention to crime trends and address them swiftly, and that's what our objective is going to be.

M. O'BRIEN: In a way you're watching crime from the ground floor up, sort of from a clean slate. Mark Chait, with the Bureau of Alcohol, and Tobacco and Firearms. Get back to work. You've got lots to do.

Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles, thanks.

When President Bush took responsibility on Tuesday for the federal government's failures in responding to Hurricane Katrina, he was also questioned about the country's preparedness to handle another disaster or terrorist attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) S. O'BRIEN: Lee Hamilton is a former Indiana Congressman and the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission. Nice to see you, sir. Thank you for talking to us this morning.

LEE HAMILTON, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSION VICE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Curious to know what Hurricane Katrina spelled out for you about the nation's preparedness, or lack of it.

HAMILTON: Well, the overwhelming impression we had is we were a lot more vulnerable than I thought we were. I thought over the past four years we made more progress than we obviously did in our ability to deal with the aftermath of a disaster. We came up severely wanting in a number of areas.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, that's got to be very concerning to you. Let's listen to what the president said when he was asked a very similar question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Are we capable of dealing with a severe attack or another severe storm? And that's a very important question, and it's in our national interest that we find out exactly what went on and so that we can better respond.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Does it concern you, sir, that the president is asking that question, as opposed to answering the question?

HAMILTON: Well, we were very deficient at a number of levels, federal, state and local. I don't think it's a question of, are we capable? My answer to that is affirmatively, yes, we are capable. But we have not shown the political will to make the very hard choices that must be made when it comes to deciding fairly simple questions, who's in charge? You have to have someone in charge at the scene. If it's a national disaster, it requires state, local and national response. You have to have communications so that the first responders can talk to one another. Those things are very apparent. We just haven't had the political will to bring them about.

S. O'BRIEN: But communication -- I'll stop you there for a second, if I may. Communication was something that the 9/11 Commission found so severely wanting in your investigation.

Let me play for you a little bit of what Rudy Giuliani said to me over the weekend about communication.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FMR. NYC MAYOR: A lot of things can be done to assist, and probably should have been done faster, including setting up a bandwidth just for emergency personnel, dedicated to emergency communication and getting that implemented all throughout the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

S. O'BRIEN: Technologically, the technology is there to do that right now. So who is to blame that four years after 9/11, these things that everyone has said are simple to do are not being done?

HAMILTON: In order to do what the mayor is talking about, and I think he's right on the mark, you have to set aside the radio spectrum for first responders. The radio spectrum is enormously profitable. Huge amounts of money are made if you can control some of that spectrum. And many have been reluctant to give it up.

There is legislation now pending in the Congress that will correct this, but it does not correct it till 2009. That's unacceptable. First of all, the bill hasn't been passed. Secondly, if it's passed, the date is far too far into the future.

S. O'BRIEN: When you talk about a lack of political will, then, is it the people? We are not, as people living in this country, not putting the pressure? Is it the politicians who are not fulfilling the wishes? Is it the president who's not showing leadership? Who is it?

HAMILTON: I think the president has been right on this issue. My impression is that it has been stalled in the Congress for quite a long period of time. I think it's beginning to move. I hope it is. It certainly should. Lives are at stake. If the first responders cannot communicate with one another, you lose lives. That's what we did in 9/11, that's what happened in Katrina.

S. O'BRIEN: Lee Hamilton is the former vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission. Nice to see you as always, sir, thank you very much for your time.

HAMILTON: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Time to get another look at the headlines. Let's get right to Carol Costello. Good morning again, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad. Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, a new round of violence in Baghdad today. At least 30 people were killed in three suicide bombings. The attacks come just one day after some 150 people were killed in a series of incidents throughout Iraq. Al Qaeda in Iraq has claimed responsibility.

President Bush is heading to New Orleans for his fourth visit to the ravaged Gulf Coast. And while there, the president will address the nation in his first primetime address since Katrina struck last month. He's expected to announce a new package of federal funding to help evacuees rebuild their lives. CNN will have live coverage of the president's speech tonight. That starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Our special coverage begins at 7:00.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is getting one last crack at questioning chief justice nominee John Roberts. On Wednesday, Roberts told lawmakers the Supreme Court should try to reach some quote, "consistency" in dealing with church versus state disputes. The panel expect to vote on his nomination one week from today. CNN will have live coverage of the Roberts confirmation hearings this morning in a special "SITUATION ROOM" that starts at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, in just about 15 minutes.

And Britain's Prince Harry is celebrating his 21st birthday. Doesn't that make you feel old? The prince is spending the day at the military academy he's attending. Known as the wilder of Prince Charles' sons, Harry says he is in no hurry to lose his, quote, "child streak." Also, unlike his brother, Harry has decided not to have an extravagant birthday bash. Apparently he's celebrating with just a small group of friends. And I'm sure no photographers will be allowed inside, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Happy birthday. Thanks, Carol.

Still to come this morning, hundreds of foster children still missing or unaccounted for in Katrina's aftermath. We'll take a look at the efforts to track them down. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Many children affected by Hurricane Katrina are dealing with the trauma of being separated from their families. In the very worst cases, those separations are permanent. But what about children who were under state care when Katrina struck? Who was watching out for them?

Marketa Garner Gautreau is with the Louisiana Department of Social Services. Nice to see you, thank you for talking with us this morning. How many children do you have over the whole state in the care of social services, and how many of them have you not been able to locate?

MARKETA GARNER GAUTREAU, LA. DEPT OF SOCIAL SERVICES: OK, well, on any given day in Louisiana, we have in between 4,500 and 5,000 children in care. Those that were in the affected area were roughly about 2,000. And, so far, we have found 1,500 of those 2,000.

S. O'BRIEN: So it's 500 children that are still unaccounted for at this time. What's your guess about what's happened to these children? Do you assume that they're sort of scattered with their foster families? Do you assume that 500 children are dead?

GAUTREAU: Oh, no. Absolutely not. We do not assume they are dead. We believe that our foster family system worked. We know that our every foster parent has an evacuation plan in case of a natural disaster. And those plans are reported to their caseworkers. Part of the problem has been that we've only found 85 percent of our work force out of this affected area.

And as we find our foster parent caseworkers, they are saying, I've talked to my families, I've got all my kids, they've got their medications, everything is fine. So we anticipate finding all of our children. It's just going to take us a few days to get the rest of our caseworkers back, as the affected areas open up and the phone lines come up and the communication improves. We are just entering child by the hundreds daily.

S. O'BRIEN: So you're pretty convinced that it's much more an issue of just connecting people together than any sort of dire result of the storm.

GAUTREAU: Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: How many employees have been affected? I mean, how many are on the job now and how many are you missing?

GAUTREAU: Well, we're -- like I said, we have about 85 percent of those out of the affected area. That was roughly 600, 650 people out of that area. Most of them are back now. The greatest hit areas, the Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemine, St. Bernard Parish, those are people that really went out of state, went to Atlanta, went to Texas, went to friends because they knew that their area of devastation was going to take a long time to come back. And so they've taken the time to go and try to get settled and get some respite before they come back and start the rebuilding process.

S. O'BRIEN: What's a state going to do? I mean, I have to imagine for any child, foster child or not, the trauma of the storm and then being evacuated, maybe living in other states -- may be being compounded for children who are already in sort of precarious living situations in the first place. What will your office do for these kids?

GAUTREAU: Well, our first, most important function is mental health services. These children were already separated and divided from families or they would not have been in the foster care system. So this is a double whammy against those kids. Now they've not only lost their birth parents for whatever period of time they're in the system, now they've had to evacuate their home, their neighborhood, their friends, their schools. And the mental health issues are the biggest concern for our children and families for the next many, many months to come.

S. O'BRIEN: Marketa Garner Gautreau is from the Louisiana Department of Social Services. Thank you, nice to talk to you.

GAUTREAU: It's good to be here, thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, Andy is "Minding Your Business." Delta and Northwest both filing for bankruptcy on Wednesday. So what happens if you have a ticket from them? That's up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: How will bankruptcies at Delta and Northwest affect passengers who are booked on future flights? Andy's got a look at that this morning. Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning. A question we've been asking several times over the past couple of years as all the airlines have declared bankruptcy, basically, if you have a ticket on either of these carriers, you're OK, you're safe. They're not planning any cutbacks right now. Frequent flyer miles, you're also safe, but I always like to say, start to use them up, because you never know what's going to happen. Future bookings might get some cancellations.

Bankruptcy's running rife in this industry, Soledad. Since 1978, 100 airlines or more have declared bankruptcy, including a dozen big or major airlines that have gone chapter 11, or liquidated. Look at this, since 9/11, United, Hawaiian, U.S. Air, and you move on to ATA, now Delta and Northwest. And before that, who could forget Eastern, Braniff, Midway, Pan Am, TWA. Deregulation provided Americans with lots of cheap tickets, no question about that. But you think about the hundreds of thousands of Americans who worked in the airline industry have had an incredibly tough time.

Also, Yes, we got cheap ticks, but service declined, seats are bad. They got rid of the food.

S. O'BRIEN: The bailouts actually eventually...

SERWER: The bailouts, right, cost us billions of dollars. Did this work? I say not. Yesterday stocks were treated across the board, and this morning, futures are up a little bit. Here we go, yesterday's red ink.

And some important news here just very quickly, the first jobless report coming out in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; 68,000 Americans lost their jobs and have filed for unemployment insurance after the hurricane. Now, that number is expected to climb. That's just the first week. So that's an interesting signal right there.

S. O'BRIEN: It sure is. Andy, thanks.

Time to check in with Miles for one last time.

Good morning, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning, Soledad.

Live pictures Bourbon Street, a Mardi Gras (INAUDIBLE) bead is hanging down there. Who knows what lies ahead for Mardi Gras of 2006. The mayor today here, Ray Nagin, will announce a phased repopulation. One of the things he's got to consider is that, fire hydrants. That's fire protection is an issue.

Obviously the good news is there's some pressure coming out of there. The bad news is it's leaking. Just one of many little details that go along with bringing upwards of a third of the city back into their homes. I'm Miles O'Brien. That's all the time we have for AMERICAN MORNING. On behalf of Soledad O'Brien and the rest of the AMERICAN MORNING team, we'll see you tomorrow. Let's go now to "THE SITUATION ROOM."

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