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American Morning

Presidential Plan; Tropical Storm Ophelia; FEMA's Role; Road to Recovery

Aired September 16, 2005 - 08:59   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Miles O'Brien live in Chalmette, Louisiana. It is a mud-caked, soaked, desolate, apocalyptic scene here. Residents tomorrow will get their first opportunity to see it firsthand in all its emotional power. Last night, the president saying he will provide the money to rebuild -- Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Miles, we're also tracking Tropical Storm Ophelia hovering beside North Carolina's Outer Banks for more than a full day and the destruction there. Look at these pictures that shows it.

Plus, a developing story out of Iraq, another car bombing today, 10 Iraqis killed. Three days of violence and a mounting toll on this AMERICAN MORNING.

ANNOUNCER: From the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.

S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody.

We're going to have more on that situation out of Iraq in just a few moments.

First, though, let's get right to Miles. He is just east of New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish.

Miles, just a moment ago, we heard you kind of coughing. And I have to ask you, how you're feeling, because I know the stench is bad, the air is bad, the water is filthy. How are you holding up?

M. O'BRIEN: Well, I've got to admit, Soledad, I've been thinking about that. I've been very congested, breathing in all this stuff. And I attributed it initially to allergies. But there's not a lot of living trees here right now, so there's probably something else going on. And, quite frankly, that's something that these residents who are going to be coming back here tomorrow for the first time need to consider.

The sheriff's office says it won't force them out if they want to stay here for whatever reason, they will be allowed to do so. I can't imagine why anybody would want to. There's not much to recover, quite frankly. It won't take long to do that. And living here, well, it's just, basically, it's like being on another planet, I suppose.

Take a look at this one scene right here, Soledad. I just want to show you. This is green water here, just kind of in this muck. And this mud here is infested with oil. It's a very toxic brew.

But as you look at it, if you look very carefully here, there's a bunch of fish in here. And we've seen a couple of crabs. I'm trying to perturb them a little bit and give you a sense of what's going on here. There's some living crabs and fish in here. We saw a snake.

The point I'm trying to make here is life is incredibly hearty. Here in the wake of this, life goes on. The question is, will it be the same for the human beings who lived here? Yes, it's hearty people that settled here, but this is unprecedented.

The president was about four-and-a-half miles from where I stand, last night, Jackson Square, heart of the French Quarter. It was an important prime time speech in the wake of Katrina with lots to say about aid, rebuilding, about the role of race and poverty and how much of a role the federal government should play.

CNN's Dana Bash is at the White House this morning with more on the president's speech.

Dana, good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

And the president will sort of punctuate the week later this morning with a speech at the National Cathedral here in Washington to mark the National Day of Prayer in honor of the victims of Katrina.

But you're right, last night the president laid out a host of priorities for rebuilding the whole Gulf Coast. But he also had a personal priority, and that is to show the kind of empathy that many people thought he lacked initially. And he said directly to the victims of Katrina, you are not alone.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not only did the president take responsibility for inadequate government response to Katrina, he conceded he failed his own test.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Four years after the frightening experience of September the 11th, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency. When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I, as president, am responsible for the problem and for the solution.

BASH: That stunning statement, in a relatively pristine French Quarter, of an otherwise devastated New Orleans, part of his first formal address in an attempt to regain American's confidence. He learned a lesson from the ill-coordinated government response.

BUSH: It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the Armed Forces.

BASH: Mr. Bush struck a hopeful tone, promising the government will pay for what he called one of the largest reconstruction efforts the world has ever seen.

BUSH: We will do what it takes. We will stay as long as it takes to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives.

BASH: No new price tag. But the president asked Congress to pass several new initiatives, including a Gulf Opportunity Zone; tax relief for small business; worker recovery accounts, up to $5,000 for training, education, and child care for Katrina victims looking for jobs; an Urban Homesteading Act to help lower-income victims rebuild.

The chief White House goal of this speech, to turn around the perception the president was initially detached from the tragedy. He delivered his own instructions for families trying to reunite.

BUSH: Please call this number: 1-877-568-3317. That's 1-877- 568-3317. And we will work to bring your family back together.

BASH: And try to move past allegations from some that race played a role in the slow response.

BUSH: Poverty has roots in the history of racial discrimination, which cut off generations from the opportunity of America. We have a duty to confront this poverty with bold action.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And the president set a goal of trying to get all evacuees out of shelters by mid October. He also ordered the Department of Homeland Security to review all emergency plans for major cities, agreed that the administration would cooperate with a Republican-led investigation on Capitol Hill. But he did not endorse any kind of outside commission to look into what went wrong -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Dana Bash at the White House, thank you very much -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: To Mississippi now, Miles.

Mississippi lost a quarter million homes, some of its most critical businesses and more than 200 people to Hurricane Katrina.

Allan Chernoff has been in Biloxi for us for a long time now.

Allan, good morning to you. The folks in Mississippi, the residents there who are trying to pick up the pieces of whatever remains, what did they think of what the president said last night?

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Generally, Soledad, the president did strike the right tone. People here in Mississippi heard exactly what they wanted to hear, in terms of the idea that the Gulf Coast is going to come back, that the federal government will create an enterprise zone in this area to help build businesses, $5,000 to each person, if they need it, to help find a job.

The mayor of Gulfport told us, shortly ago, that this is exactly what his community needs. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRENT WARR, GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI: I did really like what the president had to say. I think he hit it on all accounts. I was especially appreciative of the fact that he said that we were going to have a special zone designed in this area to spur economic activity. I think that that's going to be a great idea. And I do believe that the investors are going to appreciate that, and they probably just need a little nudge, and this should do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: The issue, though, for people who have lost everything, such as the people who used to live right here, I'm standings on the stoop of a house that no longer exists. The issue for these people is what do they do about getting their home back?

They've been talking with their insurance companies. And, as we've been reporting, many insurance company agents have been saying it was a flood that caused this damage. And the people are concerned they're not going to get paid back anything. Those people may be looking to the federal government to get some compensation. And the president did not make any promises on that point -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Lots to still iron out, clearly.

Allan Chernoff for us in Biloxi today.

Allan, thanks.

Let's look at the aftermath of another storm, Ophelia, nowhere near the power of Katrina, but because it hovered over the coast of North Carolina for three days, there is considerable damage to talk about. Winds are now down to tropical storm strength. Officials getting their first look at the damage today.

And Rob Marciano is assessing that damage in Salter Path, North Carolina.

Rob, good morning to you. Are people, where you are, surprised at just how devastating this Category 1 storm was or were they really maybe expecting it could be this bad?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely surprised. A lot of the old-timers I talked to rode out Hurricane Hazel back in 1954, that was a Cat 4 storm, the granddaddy of them all here in North Carolina. They said it didn't get this bad then, so kind of a freak deal here.

Behind me, what you see is the north side facing restaurants and fishing houses that face what's Bogue Sound. But the key here is that it's on the north side away from the actual ocean. But look how these buildings were actually blown out from a surge and then battering waves. We've got a fishing -- fish processing house here.

And these, besides the cinder block walls that were completely blown in from this, every pier that you see, every mooring you see here, had some sort of pier or dock, or even a restaurant that was out over the water, that's completely gone. A lot of these restaurants had fishing boats come right up to the back of them, right up to the back of them, unload their fish and it pretty much would go right to your table. So that's gone as well.

The key here, why this was such an unusual event, and as we continue to pan now towards the east, look how calm the water is now, and it's pretty breezy right now. Still the water is calm. This is a sound.

But on either side of Bogue Banks, which has inlets on the east side and the west side, we've got the ocean water coming in. It was pushed in from Hurricane Ophelia during the surge and during the high tide. And because this storm was so slow moving, east winds were persistent for two days, water just piled up in the center of this sound. When the north winds kicked in, when Ophelia, not even making official landfall here, passed off to the east, the north winds kicked in and took that bubble, or that bulge of water and moved it directly south towards these businesses on the north side of Bogue Banks.

Unbelievable to see the damage here from a Category 1 storm. And we were saying it the whole time that what was going to do this place in was the slow-moving aspect of this storm. But even after saying that, Soledad, I didn't think we'd see something like this. And the locals didn't think they'd see something like this either.

Luckily, most of them, when they saw the water rising, they just ran to higher ground, knocked on their neighbor's door and said, hey, this is crazy, let me in. And that's how they rode out the storm. So tight community here and they got through this storm. And it seems like they're going to get through rebuilding as well.

Back to you.

S. O'BRIEN: We certainly hope so.

All right, Rob, thanks a lot.

More on Ophelia now with Chad Myers at the CNN Center, he's got the latest look.

Tropical storm now, Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: And, as you said, you know it's a hurricane. That's why they cal them hurricanes, they do a lot of damage.

MYERS: They sure can.

S. O'BRIEN: But still, it's pretty shocking, I've got to tell you.

MYERS: You know, we had 92-mile-an-hour gusts. This storm was not maybe as intense as, obviously, Katrina was or other storms that we talk about here that have hit the Outer Banks. But when you have wind that blows in that direction for so long, this thing just never moved. Well, finally it is moving. It is now moving at about 10 miles per hour to the north-northeast.

But when it wasn't moving and these winds were battering the coast, Hatteras Village, 95 miles an hour. Cape Lookout, 92. Bald Head Island, which is really down by Cape Fear, 84 miles per hour. And Cape Hatteras, at the lighthouse, 83 miles per hour.

Here's the storm. I have to back you up to Tuesday, September the 6th. It's the 16th. It was a Tropical Depression Number 16. Came up, made a little loop to the east of Florida. Another loop to the east of South Carolina. Made a run at Myrtle Beach and from Cape Lookout all of the way to the Virginia/North Carolina border. Still a tropical storm warning in effect.

Now where does it go? Well now that it's picked up speed, it's going to start to really move. And it's going to move right on into potentially the Cape Hatteras region. This is the problem for this weekend. Some of the new computer models take that center right over Nantucket and then on up. Now it's not going to be a hurricane then, but it's still going to have very heavy winds and extremely heavy waves. And that can batter some of those ocean-side homes up there -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right. Interestingly you show us how long we've been talking about this storm -- Chad.

MYERS: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: I mean, really, literally for two weeks almost going on.

MYERS: Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks a lot.

MYERS: You're welcome.

S. O'BRIEN: Headlines now. Carol Costello has a look at those this morning.

Hey, Carol, good morning again.

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

"Now in the News."

A deadly suicide car bombing in Iraq. We just got these pictures in to CNN. You can see the damage left behind. It took place outside of a Shiite mosque north of Baghdad. At least 10 people were killed. More than 20 others wounded. Earlier, gunmen opened fire in a series of attacks throughout Baghdad killing at least 12 people.

A plan to shut down 22 major military bases in the United States is heading to Congress now. President Bush approved the plan Thursday, signing off on the version he got from an independent panel last week. The proposal includes shutting down Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. The plan will apparently save the Pentagon an estimated $37 billion over 20 years.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is reaching out to those effected by Katrina along the Gulf Coast. The secretary will be in Gulfport, Mississippi, today. He'll take part in a ceremony for the National Day of Prayer for the victims of the hurricane during his visit there.

And California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants a second term. The actor turned governor is expected to make the official announcement in San Diego today. The event coincides with the opening day of the State Republican Party Convention. At least two Democrats have announced they want to run against Governor Schwarzenegger next year.

Let's head back to Miles in New Orleans.

M. O'BRIEN: Thank you very much, Carol.

You know this is a place where there is no phone, there is no lights, there is no water, there is no sewer, and in the midst of this, the whole thought of keeping informed is a pretty difficult notion. How do you keep in informed?

Well one particular outlet, WWL Radio has become a real lifeblood for residents, as well as all of us, to just have a sense of what is going on in this terribly stricken region. We'll talk to the news director about their Herculean efforts after a brief break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody. You're taking a look at some live pictures from Chalmette, Louisiana, site of much devastation.

And FEMA, stands for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, has been there. Also has been under some intense criticism, even losing its director because of its poor response to Hurricane Katrina.

But what exactly is the agency's job in a crisis like this one?

CNN's Kathleen Koch explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): FEMA, with roughly 2,000 employees, it's a small agency with a big job, mitigating and preparing for the impact of disasters, as well as coordinating response and recovery in the aftermath. Before a predictable disaster, like a hurricane, the agency works with states to preposition food, water, ice, cots, vehicles and manpower. Once a presidential disaster declaration is made, FEMA pulls together the assets of 32 federal agencies to respond. JANE BULLOCK, FMR. FEMA CHIEF OF STAFF: Such as the military that can go in and do security, do medical help. Such as the Department of Transportation that can go in and help clear roads, help rebuild bridges. We have used the Corps of Engineers. We have used military reserve groups.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have food and water?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

KOCH: The federal effort supports, but does not trump, state and local authority.

JOHN COPENHAVER, FMR. FEMA REGIONAL OFFICIAL: FEMA is not going to come in and literally seize control of the situation and start giving orders that are directly opposite the orders or the direction given by the governor or by the mayor.

KOCH: A FEMA local hire program draws on disaster victims in the area to help rebuild their stricken region, and FEMA coordinates expenditure of the massive federal aid dollars that pour in after a devastating emergency.

BULLOCK: Well we have standing contracts for travel trailers and things of that sort. We also have standing contracts for engineering firms that will go in and help rebuild, work with schools to rebuild. Also, housing inspectors.

KOCH: Responding to the aftermath of a terrorist attack is FEMA's job, too, especially since it was folded into the Homeland Security Department. Many jobs and growing concern that FEMA could be overwhelmed.

Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: FEMA officials declined our interview request for this report. Congress is launching an investigation into the slow response by FEMA and other government agencies, though some Congress people are pushing for an independent inquiry.

Let's get right back to Miles. He is in St. Bernard Parish this morning.

Hey -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Hello, Soledad.

Think of all the things we take for granted, phone, lights, Internet, whatever the case may be, it's all gone here. One of the things you might not even think about is cash. You can't get to an ATM. There are no businesses that are open. This is not a cash economy here. But some businesses have stepped in to this dire situation and are staying in business an old fashion way, they're using barter. We'll have that story in just a moment. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: This morning, First Lady Laura Bush is visiting the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The center set up a hotline for missing persons from Katrina and has reunited 700 children with their families, but a staggering 2,000 children are still missing.

Brian Todd is live for us at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that's in Alexandria, Virginia.

Brian, good morning to you, what's the first lady going to see this morning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, she's going to be in this room in a matter of minutes to thank these dozens of volunteers. These are all former law enforcement officers who have come here from all over the country for one express purpose, to track missing children. You mentioned the numbers just a moment ago, a little over 2,000 missing children from the hurricane and its aftermath.

We're going to give you some of them right now. Paul Riley, 1- year-old, last known to be with his mother in New Orleans. He has not been seen since the hurricane struck.

You've got older children as well. Haley Dalon, she just turned 13 last week. She has gone missing, along with her sister Kayla (ph), who is about a year older than her. They were last known to be with their mother in Meraux, Louisiana.

And then back in Mississippi, you've got 6-year-old John Habarta, last known to be at his grandparents' house in Kiln, Mississippi. They say he may go by the first name Cameron (ph).

These are three of the more than 2,000 children that's missing.

Now earlier today on CNN, the president and CEO of this center told us that the reasons for these children going missing really run the spectrum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNIE ALLEN, CEO, NATIONAL CENTER FOR MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN: Many of these children may be missing for innocent reasons, with neighbors or other family members. There may be some who have been taken for inappropriate reasons. And, of course, there are some that we know did not survive the storm. So we are continuing to focus on every child and every case and we need the public's help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: And the first lady, as we said, will be here in a matter of minutes to highlight ways that you can help the public and help this center find missing children. Here's one of the ways, by calling the Katrina Missing Person Hotline. It is 1-888-544-5475 or you can go to www.missingkids.com -- Soledad. S. O'BRIEN: All right, Brian. And we also put that phone number up on the screen so folks could see it. Gosh, you know, you just see all these kids. I tell you where it doesn't have a red stamp that says recovered, it just breaks your heart. You hope that the bulk of them get back to their parents.

TODD: Absolutely.

S. O'BRIEN: That's terrible.

Brian Todd with an update for us.

Brian, thanks. We'll check in with you again when the first lady actually gets a chance to tour the facility.

TODD: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's get right back to Miles. He is back in -- back in -- just outside of really of New Orleans in Chalmette, Louisiana.

How far away exactly, Miles, is Chalmette from downtown New Orleans?

M. O'BRIEN: Well we started in the French Quarter this morning, and on the GPS it said it was 4.3 miles to where we are. That's not as the crow flies, that was the actual driving distance. So you know on a good day, certainly no traffic now, of course, about a 10-minute drive. So we're not far away.

But it is a world away, in so many respects, from the French Quarter, which, as we've been telling you so much, was protected because it has higher ground. This part of the world, St. Bernard Parish, is not, key levee failures, a breach, and, as a result, 99.9 percent of this parish was under as much as 25 feet of water.

This past week, Soledad, I have not spent a single nickel of paper money. There's nobody here to receive it. There's no businesses and yet there is an economy that is operative here right now. That's how people like CNN and our business operates. We have to feed our troops, get fuel for our trucks. And there are entrepreneurs who are kind of stepping in to this dire breach to provide those services. But in many cases, no cash is accepted.

Dan Lothian explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In New Orleans, it's anything but business as usual. At St. Claude Used Tires (ph), Ernest Weems and his crew keep the wheels of emergency and police vehicles rolling. Fixing flats caused by tons of debris on the road. But few people are paying the listed prices up front.

ERNEST WEEMS, PROPRIETOR: Well some of them do and some of them don't, you know. Some of them, you know, they put it on a book, you know.

LOTHIAN: With cash hard to come by, it's a makeshift credit system, names, badge numbers or other identifying information are written down. They trust the money for repairs will come in the mail later.

WEEMS: Whatever I can do to help out, man, you know. I'll get my reward later, you know.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Others are turning to a barter system. This downtown hotel has given more than 70 rooms to a local phone company in exchange for special services.

(voice-over): Attorney and businessman Robert Fenet was able to get his hands on extra diesel fuel.

ROBERT FENET, BARTERING BUSINESSMAN: This is the lifeblood right here.

LOTHIAN: But now needs propane to help a facility for displaced families.

FENET: I'm trying to swap diesel fuel for propane, because it's all in short supply down here. The bartering is just people trying to get by.

LOTHIAN: A slightly different system is brewing at Johnny White's (ph), a French Quarter tavern that has stayed open throughout the city's crisis. When the bottles get low, the owner taps into his other two bars, which is closed. As a last resort, he goes to competitors who evacuated.

MARCIE RAMSEY, BAR MANAGER: People that have access to bars here have been selling us stuff when we run out over there.

LOTHIAN: Ride Hamilton sometimes makes deliveries.

RIDE HAMILTON, BARTERING BUSINESSMAN: We're allowed to go into some of the bars. We leave a note saying what we took and then pay for it when these bars open up again.

LOTHIAN: If necessity is the mother of invention, Hurricane Katrina has forced some in this city to reinvent the way they do business.

Dan Lothian, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: When we return, we'll tell you about a radio station that has performed heroically. It was on the air all through the storm and has stayed on the air nonstop ever since, providing invaluable information. We'll explain how they did it, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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