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CNN Live Sunday

Local New Orleans TV Station Remained On Air Through Crisis; Afghanistan Holds Successful Parlimentary Elections

Aired September 18, 2005 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Unfolding this hour, evacuation orders go up for parts of the Florida Keys. Another storm is brewing in the Atlantic. We'll keep you updated.
Parts of New Orleans are preparing to reopen, but not everyone thinks that's such a great idea right now.

And the stress caused by Katrina, coming up we'll look at what survivors and their families can do to help cope with this disaster.

Good afternoon. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN center in Atlanta. This is a special weekend at CNN. We're working with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find children separated from their families by Hurricane Katrina.

The children on the left side of your screen have been reported missing. In cases where we have photos, we're showing them, but in other cases, no images are available. If you have information about any of these children, please call 1-800-843-5678, that's 1-800-THE- LOST. Your help could reassure parents and potentially reunite families.

We'll have the latest on the recovery efforts in the Gulf, but first a look at other stories making news right now.

Weather forecasters are taking a serious look at a tropical depression that's popped up east of the Bahamas. It's not a named storm, but already a hurricane watch is impacting the Florida Keys. A storm update straight ahead.

In Afghanistan, counting of election ballots begins on Tuesday. Afghan voters went to the polls today to choose members of parliament and provincial councils. Officials say efforts by insurgents to disrupt the elections were insignificant, but the threat of violence remains a serious concern. American and Afghan forces provided security at polling places across the country.

In Germany, exit polls suggest the country could soon have a new leader. Those polls indicate that Angela Merkel Christian Democratic Party is leading Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his Social Democratic Party in today's parliamentary voting. It's not yet clear whether Merkel has enough seats to form a ruling majority.

Hurricane Katrina is still a fresh wound along the Gulf Coast, and now there's another threatening storm to worry about. CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano is here to explain where it is, what it is, and what it's going to do -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, just a couple of days ago it was just a swirl of clouds. And now it's getting better organized.

A couple of things in the satellite, this swirl is already a tropical storm, it's pretty far away. This one right here is very close, and it's a strengthening tropical depression, could be our next tropical storm, which would be Rita, already into the Rs. And the problem with where it is, it's already very close to South Florida. Into the Bahamas it is. And heading towards the Florida straits as it continues to gather strength.

Water temperatures in through here, 85, 86, 87, even found one buoy at Long Key reporting an 89 degree water temperature. So, what that means is that there's plenty of fuel for the fire here and this thing is going to strengthen, there's no doubt about that.

Tropical storm warnings are already up for the southeastern Bahamas. And that means tropical storm conditions are either happening or expected in the next 24 hours.

This yellow line indicates tropical -- or a hurricane watch has been posted -- two flags flying there, meaning hurricane conditions are possible in the next 36 hours.

One thing I haven't seen in recent memory is seeing a hurricane watch posted before we've even had a named storm. So, that tells you how serious the situation is when the folks at the National Hurrican Center are already throwing those up.

The L goes to the symbol that is a tropical storm, so that is expected tonight and tomorrow morning. And then Tuesday morning, probably going to be a category 1 hurricane when it starts interacting with the Florida keys, at the least it be in the Florida straits, and heading quite rapidly. So, it could be raking the Keys for a good chunk of Tuesday morning.

And then into the Gulf of Mexico where the waters are still warm and likely continuing at least a category 1 storm, hopefully continuing west and not veering up towards New Orleans. We'll just have to wait and see. One step at a time, Fredricka. Right now we're worried about South Florida as early as Monday night, and Tuesday morning.

Another update in about 45 minutes. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll look for that. Thanks so much, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

WHITFIELD: Although a tropical depression, it has promped mandatory ee evacuations for nonresidents in the Keys south of the Seven Mile Bridge. On the telephone, the director of the Monroe County Evacuation Management Service, Irene Toner. Ms. Toner, are you imposing evacuations much earlier than you traditionally do? IRENE TONER, MONROE COUNTY EVACUATION MANAGEMENT: Well, usually, when we go into a hurricane watch, which means that he with can expect the conditions within the next 36 hours, that's when we start the evacuation process for nonresidents. That's a standard procedure for us.

WHITFIELD: How are you getting that message out to those mostly tourists, nonresidents throughout the Keys?

TONER: We're working very closely with the TDC. Andy Newman does (INAUDIBLE) to all the hotel and motel associations within the Keys. We're also sent notification to all the media on the mainland, as well as the local radio stations. And then we posted on our Web site, and our local channel 76 Television, as well as our information hotline.

WHITFIELD: At what point do you start notifying residents there? And how many are there?

TONER: Well, we have approximately 84,000 residents. They're aware, as soon as we issue evacuation for nonresidents, the word is out. We have two various evacuation processes in the county where during category 1, 2 or higher we always have a mandatory evacuation for nonresidents.

We have general evacuation for residents only if it's category 3 or higher. So, at this point we may be looking -- we will be looking to shelter within the county for the general population.

WHITFIELD: Now, at this point when you have a mandatory evacuation in effect for the nonresidents, you still have the flow of both sides of U.S. one, correct? Or at what point do you start moving north traffic only?

TONER: Usually that's up to the law enforcement. But for the most part we do not shut down southbound traffic unless it's absolutely necessary, and that would be the call of our sheriff's office.

But at this point, the road south is open. But mostly you have people coming in that are residents that were away for the weekend or people that own homes down here, they're coming down to secure their properties.

WHITFIELD: All right. Irene Toner, Monroe County Emergency Management Service, thanks so much for being with us on the telephone.

TONER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: On now to New Orleans. Contrary to the words of Thomas Wolff, residents can go home again, but to what is another matter entirely? The once familiar is now alien, the once orderly, shambles. And the availability of the basics: food, water, electricity, is spotty at best. And at worst, lingering dangers that are risks to everyone's health and public safety as a whole. Some federal officials fear New Orleans' mayor Ray Nagin is jumping the gun by encouraging people to return so soon. The city of Algiers, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans is seeing a small influx of people and supplies. It's a tight-knit community, anticipating more residents to return tomorrow. CNN's Keith Oppenheim is there with more on what they're finding -- Keith.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

And folks in this neighborhood are relatively confident about the opening of this neighborhood, which officially opens tomorrow. But unofficially, as you can see behind me, it has kind of opened already.

This is a coffee house on the corner of Verette and Alex in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans. It's called Tout Suite. You can see folks over here are enjoying a cup of coffee outside.

And I'm going to walk down the street to a homeowner, because homeowners are now with electricity and running water, and have been for a little while here. This is Barry Hays.

Hi, Barry.

BARRY HAYS, ALGIERS RESIDENT: Hi.

OPPENHEIM: Give us a sense of how long you have been here, and overall, what your concerns are about being back in your neighborhood now.

HAYS: I've been here since Thursday night. And security is not a concern because the national guard has been here in force. We have runing water. We have sewer, we have power. Although, at times the power goes out, you know, so my concern is, is it going to stay on for good? Or, you know, are we going to continue with occasionally of and on?

OPPEHEIM: And you were telling me earlier that you have a wife, two sons. They have kind of had temporary housing in Dallas, and then now Shreveport. Are you comfortable with them coming back pretty soon or you don't know?

HAYS: Well, right now we're planning on Tuesday, Wednesday of this coming week. And I'm very much looking forward to them getting back. I miss you.

OPPENHEIM: I bet you do. Yeah, It's emotional, yes. Yeah, it's hard to not have your family with you.

But, you know, on the other side of it, Barry, you live in a part of New Orleans that has done so much better, because you're on the south side of the river, and far away from the floods of Lake Pontchartrain waters. So do you feel lucky that you have the kinds of worries that you have as opposed to others have?

HAYS: Lucky and blessed. The day after the hurricane, we came back to the house to se what condition it was in. And when I saw that we were just missing some roof shingles, I felt like the luckiest person that ever lived.

OPPENHEIM: Barry, I was talking to your neighbors at the coffeehouse, and some of them were telling me that they see this neighborhood, Algiers, as the place that might be able to save the rest of New Orleans. That government and other folks can stage here, and go across the river and help out. Do you believe that?

HAYS: I definitely believe that. Not only that, but the morale of this neighborhood is incredible. Thursday night when I got back, there was actually a celebration going on.

I went down there. There were 100 National Guardsmen. They were cooking everything -- all the residents found, you know, everything you could imagine to cook for them. Somebody Broke out a trumpet and played "America the Beautiful." And then Blain Kern (ph), the owner of Mardi Gras World where they make all the Mardi Gras floats, he came back in his SUV with a lady sticking out the roof -- the sunroof -- and they started throwing beads to all the National Guards.

OPPENHEIM: Like a Mardi Gras.

HAYS: Right. Exactly.

So, you know, the more morale here is fantastic. And living right next door to the coffee shop, it's like a small community center, they have constant ice, water...

OPPENHEIM: They're taking care of you.

HAYS: Yes. And this neighborhood is -- would be a wonderful place to stage whatever kind of government that we need.

OPPENHEIM: Thank you very much. We really appreciate your time. Barry Hayes.

And you can hear it in the voice of Barry and some of the other folks we were talking to, Fredricka, a lot of community here. And that's what they are relying on, at least in this neighborhood, for the long way back. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: A lot of them there, counting those blessings. Thanks so much, Keith.

So this s this return premature? The man who is leading federal relief efforts tells CNN he's urging Maror Nagin to slow down. Speaking earlier on CNN's "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER," Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen ticked off some of his concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICE. ADM. THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD: They're still trying to reconstitute the 911 system. Some of these people may not have telephone service. There is not power. And there's not potable water. So you put people into that situation, and if you have an extreme weather event, you're very, very challenged to try and get notifications and to try to get them out. And we think that should be the subject of some very deliberate planning and a very thoughtful approach of how you reenter the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHTIFIELD: Allen urges New Orleans residents to consider delaying their return until safer conditions are established.

As the gulf region begins the process toward recovery, CNN will keep you as close to the story as possible. Beginning tomorrow and all week, we'll be reporting zip code by zip code as New Orleanians try to rebuild. Tomorrow we'll following developments in area code 70114 as the residents of this west bank community continue to return. And that is the Algiers area.

And of course, we will continue tracking developments throughout the entire Gulf region.

We continue this hour to highlight one of the single most important priorities, and that is the effort to reunite children and parents who were separated during the chaos. For that part of the story, we turn to Gary Nuremberg. He's at the Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia -- Gary.

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Fredricka.

That effort is paying dividends. Last night between 12:00 and 7:30 in the morning, about 20 times as many as usual the number of calls to the center. And there's some good news to report. You may remember on CNN last night, we told you about the Hawkins families, Rodanesha (ph), Glenn and Robernique (ph).

Kathleen Koch told you her that her family members were trying to find them. Charles Picking has been on the case. And just moments ago it was resolved. Charles, what happened?

CHARLES PICKING, CTR. FOR MISSING & EXPLOITED CHILDREN: It was some real good news. We had a hotel manager in Ft. Worth who alerted us to the Glenn Hawkins (ph) child she thought was there at their hotel. And we did follow-up. And ended up in touch with his aunt who has him there, and he's safe.

And so then we started looking for Ronesha (ph) and Robinique (ph). And I just a few minutes ago I talked to Ranesha (ph), she's in a shelter in Houston and she's doing fine. And she's been in touch with Robinique (ph). And so it's been a very nice time to know that this whole family is safe and in touch with each other.

TUCHMAN: It must, as you worked the long hours here, give you a rush of adrenaline when you have an outcome like that and keep you going.

PICKING: And it does. And it just shows how community and CNN and us coming together can help bring these babies home.

TUCHMAN: Charles, thank you very much.

I'm told that the new numbers are 19 accounted for just in this weekend alone, 12 of them directly attributable to CNN.

PICKING: Oh, yes.

TUCHMAN: And you have some others you hope to resolve in the next few hours?

PICKING: We're working on them. When I leave here, I'm going back to the desk. I have got a couple of young boys, Radcliff (ph), that I'm hoping we're going to be able to resolve here in just the next half hour.

TUCHMAN: We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Fredericka, we'll let you know when and if that happens.

WHITFIELD: All right. I have got my fingers crossed as well. Thanks so much, Gary.

Coming home to New Orleans, people trying to get their lives back in order, but is there anything left when they get there?

And they're rolling out the red carpet for the Emmy awards, but tonight's show isn't all glitter and glam. We'll go live to Los Angeles this hour on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: In Afghanistan, voters went to the polls in that country's first parliamentary elections in 30 years. And there was violence aimed at derailing the elections.

A rocket struck near a United Nations warehouse on the edge of Kabul today. And five mortar rounds were fired on an area near a polling station in the Deh Chopan Valley. Authorities report no injuries.

CNN's Ryan Chilcote is embedded with U.S. troops there. He reports voter turnout was encouraging, but many had no idea who to vote for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): About 50,000 people live in the Deh Chopan Valley. And if you wanted to vote here, you had to come to this one polling station in for valley. It is now closed. But as you can see outfront, there are still a lot of people hanging out here, milling around, talking to one another. Realy quite an exciting day for these people.

At the last count, about 810 people had voted at this polling station. That may not seem like a lot if you consider that about half of the 50,000, maybe 25,000 of those people were of voting age. But it's a lot more than voted in the last election they had hear, the presidential election, in which just 3 villagers actually turned out at this polling station. So election officials are saying that they're very happy with the turnout at this point. Once they get inside the polling station, it was really quite an interesting scene. Take a look at this. This is the ballot for the parliamentary election. The voters here of the Deh Chopan Valley had to choose one candidate from this pool of several dozen.

Now, if you look here, next to the names of each of the candidates, you can see their picture. That's to help illiterate voters choose their candidate, the idea being that they certainly might be able to identify them.

Now, the problem in Deh Chopan Valley is that none of the candidates actually came here to campaign because they're scared of the Taliban. This is really the stronghold of the Taliban, there are about 600 Taliban fighters running around in this area, according to the U.S. military. And none of the people -- because the candidates came here, none of the voters said they could identify the candidates, they didn't any of know issues or anything like that.

So inside the polling station was really quite an interesting situation. People talking about -- they're asking who they voted for. Who they should vote for. Really consulting one another at the last minute just as they were marking their ballots.

Nonetheless, both the U.S. military and the Afghan government calling what they saw here in the Deh Chopan Valley a real big success. People turning out to vote in Afghanistan's first parliamentary election in more than 30 years in the Taliban stronghold.

Ryan Chilcote, CNN, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Afghanistan's president has strong opinions about his country's elections. Hamid Karzai called the day a historic day of self-determination for his people after, quote, "years of wars, interventions, occupations and misery." And Mr. Karzai says he's not at all concerned if candidates opposed to him win a majority of the seats in the particular parliament. He says he supports whatever decision the Afghan people make.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: But with determination to come out and vote in the parliamentary and provintial elections of Afghanistan, the Afghan people have proven once again that they know their interests, that they can work for tomorrow, that they have a vision and that they have voted for that vision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Vote counting begins on Tuesday with final provisional results expected in early October.

Covering Katrina: After losing everything, how New Orleans television station WWL managed to not only stay on the story, but on the air when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Through all the chaos endured by New Orleans, a local television station has been a rock of stability. Even during the height of Hurricane Katrina, the station never left air. And it's still going strong, even though it's harried staff is largely homeless now. Here's CNN's Alina Cho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On this day...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, City Hall is high and dry.

CHO: New Orleans TV station WWL is marking its 48th birthday.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're leaving sat 4 (ph) to City Hall.

CHO: Though she'll tell you she's far younger, it's news director Sandy Brelan's birthday, too, and she's celebrating it with had other family, her staff.

SANDY BRELAND, WWL NEWS DIRECTOR: I think it's because when we're working, we know what to do. And when we're not working, it's like, where do you start? We're just like everyone else.

CHO: Three-quarters of the WWL staff lost everything during Hurricane Katrina. Yet no one here is thinking about that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have got a crew headed down to St. Bernard this morning.

CHO: WWL was on the air 24/7 during the storm and immediately after. The only media outlet to broadcast. Its competitors were knocked off the air, but WWL had an emergency broadcasting facility in a high and dry area.

BRELAND: Our building, our facility is in the heart of the French Quarter and we know if new orleans took a direct hit, we couldn't operate out of that building.

CHO: When the levees broke, that building was immersed in four feet of water, but WWL planned for that, too, moving the staff to Baton Rouge, where it now operates out of the Public Broadcasting Facility.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roll four, track four.

CHO: Breland calls this the story of their lives.

BRELAND: We've covered so many stories, so many hurricanes and so many storms, but it was always someone else. This time it was us. It was our city, it was our homes, it was our families.

CHO: Many staffers are native to New Orleans, like assignment manager Greg Phillips.

GREG PHILLIPS, WWL ASSIGNMENT MANAGER: I mean, I have a very close relationship to the city. Like it's -- it's a big part of me, and -- sorry.

CHO: A big reason why this staff continues to work, without sleep, without knowing when they'll be able to go home again. Breland says she's days she's not just a boss, she's a counselor.

BRELAND: We hug and we cry. I've never cried with so many people and hugged with so many people, and they're my family. And I just tell them it's going to be better.

CHO: For now, the WWL staff continues to do what it does best, and Breland says the city of New Orleans has never needed them more.

Alina Cho, CNN, Baton Rouge.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Another storm is brewing in the Atlantic. As evacuation orders go up for parts of the Florida Keys. Rob Marciano is here following the store from the CNN weather center. He'll join us live coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. A quick look at what's happening now in the news. The Florida Keys are under a hurricane watch. And there's a mandatory evacuation in place for nonresidents in the lower Keys. Forecasters expect the tropical depression east-southeast of the Bahamas to strengthen into tropical storm Rita.

A driver broke through a perimeter fence at Palm Springs International Airport in Southern California earlier today. Operations were temporarily suspended. The driver was apprehended by police without any gunfire.

German politicians are jockeying to form new coalitions as results come in from parliamentary elections. Conservative challenger Angela Merkel is bidding to become the country's first female chancellor. Exit polls show her Christian Democratic Party getting the most votes slightly ahead of the social Democrats headed by Chancellor Gerhard Shroder.

We want to remind you that the photographs you see on your television screen are some of the hundreds of children either missing or displace the by hurricane Katrina. This is part of our effort to use CNN's reach to resolve these cases. Our latest information is that nine of these children have been reunited with their loved ones directly as a result of our continuing efforts this weekend.

We want to go back to Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center to keep a close eye on this tropical depression number 18, and is it strengthening, does it appear to be moving toward the distribution of tropical storm? MARCIANO: It looks like, yeah, it's definitely getting more organized as we like to say. Just the cloud canopy is getting a little bit more in that familiar spiral shape, at least the top half of it is. We'll zoom in and I'll show you just that.

Here's the southern Florida, Miami, the Keys, Cuba, Bahamas here, and here's tropical depression 18 here. You see that kind of fanning out of the clouds, which means we're starting to get some outflow, meaning it's starting to get into areas where there's not a whole lot going on in the atmosphere, and hurricanes like that. They also like warm water. And the water temperatures here, some of the buoys back to through the Keys, I found them as warm as 89 degrees, so that's just really, really heated up for some fuel for this fire.

Right now the center of it is about 385 miles east-southeast of Nassau, it's heading to the west, and that track is expected to continue until further notice. Here is the latest forecast track out of the National Hurricane Center the red L indicates depression that little hollow shape indicates tropical storm expected by at least tomorrow, probably tonight and then strengthening to a category 1 storm. Interacting with very warm water. By Tuesday morning, it could be a category 1 storm raking the Keys. The only good news with this storm is it's moving fairly rapidly, a westerly movement at ten miles an hour.

And then it will get into the Gulf of Mexico, waters there very warm, where it goes from there? We just don't know yet. Texas could very well be a hot spot toward the beginning part of next week. Tropical storm warnings are up for the southeastern Bahamas, hurricane watch is up for the Keys and the northwestern Bahamas. Meaning hurricane conditions are possible in the next 36 hours.

Fredricka we'll be getting the latest from the National Hurricane Center, the 5:00 advisory is due in. They may very well upgrade this to a tropical storm Rita. We'll let you know as soon as that happens.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Rob Marcanio.

Coming home, those words are usually comforting and reassuring, but for New Orleans area residents, these are anxious times. What the hurricane didn't destroy, the floods may have finished off, or looters might have carried them away. Add to those fears; mix messages from a mayor eager to see his city rebuilt, and federal officials urging a delay.

Is it safe or isn't it? Is there anything left worth going back for? And where do we go from here? New Orleans' garden district was spared some of the worst of what Katrina had to offer. It never flooded. And city officials hope it's one of the first neighborhoods to rebound. But its business owners are allowed to return, it's clear the tasks ahead are daunting, and in some cases completely overwhelming. CNN's Ed Lavendera is there as two people returned to their shops, their lively hoods to start over.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ED LAVENDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Starting over doesn't scare Vinh Vu; he's done it before. Twenty-six years ago he and his family emigrated from Laos and settled in New Orleans. He vows to get his furniture refinishing shop up and running again soon.

VINH VU, STORE OWNER: For me, I appreciate what I have here. I'm proud. I'll wake up and do all over again. That's opportunity for me.

LAVENDERA: Vu was one of the first business owners back on Magazine Street in the city's garden district. Hurricane Katrina blew the roof off his workshop, machinery was ruined, and pieces of furniture were tossed around the neighborhood.

MARGARET RICHMOND, ANTIQUE SHOP OWNER: They broke the doors.

LAVENDERA: Just down the street, Margaret Richmond, drove back into town and was stunned to see the condition of her antique store.

RICHMOND: They stole all of the jewelry; all of the jewelry cases are empty. And then they started knocking things down.

LAVENDERA: A shopping cart full of antiques, as if somebody just didn't quite get it all out of the store fast enough.

RICHMOND: They just kind of like swept through it like a cyclone. It's certainly been a nightmare, yeah. I don't know from one day to the next what's going to happen.

LAVENDERA: Richmond drove into the city on the first day business owners were allowed back in the garden district, but she never made it inside her store. Police nailed the door shut to keep looters out. She wants her insurance company to see this mess first.

RICHMOND: I them to see how it is, you know, because I don't want -- I want them to see how it looks.

LAVENDERA: Does it kind of drive you crazy? You drove all this way and --

RICHMOND: Yes, it does drive me crazy, yes. I drove all this way, and I can't get in.

LAVENDERA: Despite the highly publicized effort to get business owners back to the city, we haven't seen a rush of people coming in. Traffic on the streets has been light, and many storefronts remain boarded up. No one knows for sure how long it will take for business to thrive again here, but they do know it won't happen until people come back home for good.

VU: I love this town. I love our town. I can't get away. I might come back slow, maybe six months, seven months, but I'm not going to get away from here.

LAVENDERA: Vinh Vu is done for the day.

VU: That's it. Ready to leave. LAVENDERA: But for him, it's just the beginning of a long journey home.

Ed Lavendera, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Ed's story touched on one topic that will continue to be a major issue in the rebuilding of New Orleans, as it is for any city hit by disaster, insurance. Louisiana's insurance commissioner says too many people gamble on their coverage and end up with less than they need.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J. ROBERT WOOLEY, LOUISIANA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER: I think there will be some loss suits, in fact some have been filed here in Louisiana all ready. And we're going to deal with them just like we have everything. People have to realize is 60 percent of the people in this country are underinsured. Everybody takes that chance that it won't happen here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

In fact, the World Trade Center was under insured. They only insured the collapse of one tower. They never thought of a catastrophe that would eliminate both towers. It's not uncommon, people take that chance. We go around every year at the start of hurricane season and tell people, your homeowners doesn't cover flood. If it floods in areas that don't normally flood during hurricane season, and you should purchase additional coverage.

WHITFIELD: The National Flood Insurance Program received approval last week to borrow $3.5 million for the settlement of Hurricane Katrina claims. And the losses to program could go even higher.

About 100,000 evacuees are still in shelters across the country, finding more comfortable, temporary living conditions for them is a huge challenge. Our next guest is helping with that effort by connecting evacuees with people who are offering them shelter in their own homes. David Riley joins us now from Nashville, Tennessee. He's the founder of Open House Project. Good to see David.

DAVID RILEY, FOUNDER, OPEN HOUSE PROJECT: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Well how did this come about, to connect victims with homeowners who are willing to open up their homes to people they don't even know?

RILEY: That is a great question. The Open House Project was founded by the three managing partners of a private equity firm in Nashville called the Incubator Group. Several months ago we developed a division to our firm called My Life, My Business as an educational arm to help with business owners in developing nations. And then Katrina struck. Thousands of people have been displaced, and we thought, what better place to implement this process than in our own backyards.

So the three of us got together, and when we actually started working through the process, we realized that their needs as of right now aren't necessarily business help. It's their basic needs, food, shelter, so literally from idea to launch, within 24 hours we had the Open House Project up and running as a place designed to help match up displaced families with host families.

WHITFIELD: Wow. But before you could reach out to those evacuees, you had to know that you had enough families who are willing to open up their homes for a lot of these evacuees. How did you line them up? How did you convince them? Was there a lot of convincing to do? Were people volunteering right away?

RILEY: You know, I've got to say that America is great. I've seen such an outpouring of love and compassion by America as a result of this crisis. It would literally bring to you tears. We literally just launched the idea. We started working through our own contact -- our own contacts in our e-mail accounts, word of mouth shot it out, and people were just signing up left, right, and center. In fact --

WHITFIELD: You essentially just asked the question, hey is there anybody out there who wants to open up their homes to people they don't even know?

RILEY: Literally, yes. Are people willing to open up their homes and help, each and every one of us, the three partners that started the project, we spent a little time on the streets, and we knew what it felt like to be a little hopeless, and we all had help from someone in that way.

WHITFIELD: So did you or are you trying to make a concerted effort to try and match up, you know, some of these families to make sure that they are compatible and that, you know, everyone will get along and that it's the perfect match?

RILEY: It is. I mean, it's going to be tough. It's tough to find the perfect match in a sense, and that's one of the things that the host families are just being absolutely incredible about. They're literally taking in people left, right, and center. We have the process set up so that when a displaced family, when their information is put into the system, it will pull up a list of potential matches, matching them up with the questions they answered. We then submit e- mails to all the potential host families and they contact the displaced family directly, so it's done anonymously.

WHITFIELD: And how long does this arrangement last, potentially?

RILEY: That's a great question. One of the questions in fact that we ask both of the displaced family and the host family, time and time again, they're saying, we'll help as long as it takes.

WHITFIELD: That's remarkable. A lot of folks are watching this, hearing your words; they're inspired to want to do something as well. What do they do to get started to reach out to some of these evacuees? RILEY: What we really need, we need people that are willing to do two things. One still voluntary their homes. There are a lot of displaced victims out there. And we need more spaces. And then two, we need people that are willing to go and set up shop at a shelter, to help up facilitate the match-making process. It just takes a little time to get plugged in, but the results are unbelievable.

Again, Jarrett and I had the opportunity to spend a little time at one of the shelters here in Nashville, to get to see some of the fruits of our labor and it brought us to tears. We were getting hugs, and people that are getting matched up and getting an opportunity to start their lives over again.

WHITFIELD: And I understand, in some of the cases, people are opening up their homes by way of, perhaps they have rental property, and they're forfeiting renting it out and deciding, let's open up these rental properties rent-free, of course, to some of these evacuees to help them out. I know you guys are hearing all kinds of interesting stories and arrangements.

RILEY: It is unbelievable. I've been telling a lot of my friends and coworkers. And business partners, if you're ever having a down day, logon to the openproject.org and read some of the messages that the American people are putting up.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Riley founder of Open House Project, thanks so much. Thanks for sharing your stories. And, thanks on behalf of a lot of evacuees who are feeling like now they have a roof over their heads because of the project that you founded.

RILEY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well starting tomorrow and throughout the week, CNN will be covering the return of residents to New Orleans zip code by zip code. Tomorrow we focus on the 70114 zip codes, that's the Algiers area of New Orleans. And, of course, we'll continue to track developments across the Gulf region.

Well tonight is the Emmys, and soon the red carpet will be abuzz with excited celebrities, and, of course, the fans who are lined up waiting to see them as well. But tonight's awards are going to be about more than who's wearing what? A live update from Los Angeles straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: Aid to help the victims of hurricane Katrina have been pouring in from generous donors around the world. One charity effort is reaching out to children affected by the disaster. From the hearts of other kids. Kathleen Koch has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MCKENZIE SCHNEIDER: Basically the duffle bag is because they don't have much to carry their stuff in. And so like I thought the stuffed animal was a really, really good touch, because when I'm sad and lonely and I'm upset, I'm looking for something that I can cuddly.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Fourteen year-old Mckenzie Schneider along with her family and cheerleader friends spent the weekend in Buoy, Maryland packing bags of stuffed animals for Louisiana and Mississippi.

SCHNEIDER: My uncle, my aunt --

KOCH: Also helping seven evacuees from New Orleans, relatives of Naikia Lewis-Wilson of Boui.

NAIKIA LEWIS-WILSON, VOLUNTEER: We figured it would be a small way of helping people that have been through the same thing we've been through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we need a bunch of people sitting here. Doesn't matter if you're sitting on are standing.

KOCH: Mckenzie's brother Brock brought his fraternity brothers to help.

BROCK SCHNEIDER, VOLUNTEER: They're boxing them up, and putting numbers, and loading them back into the truck.

KOCH: As soon as Mackenzie learned of the extent of the devastation, she was moved to act.

M. SCHNEIDER: It was horrible. Like, I couldn't imagine being in their situation. So I just felt like it was in my place to do something for them.

KOCH: This isn't the first time Mckenzie has reached out to children in need. When she was seven she founded the group "Children to Children."

M. SCHNEIDER: We give duffle bags and stuffed animals to the kids in foster care. So they don't have to carry their stuff in trash bags.

KOCH: Her benefactor is the Freddie Mac Foundation, and stuffed animals are donated from around the country. Mackenzie's mother couldn't be more proud of her daughter's selfless spirit.

MARGIE SNYDER, MAKENZIE'S MOTHER: I'm very proud of her. I can't wait to see what she does when she is grown up.

KOCH: Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The show must go on. Sibila Vargas is live in Los Angeles.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh this is absolutely an incredible day. You can hear the fans right now going wild because Ellen Degeneres, the host of the show just walked down the red carpet. She's going to give the show a sensibility like no others. She's from New Orleans, and the question is, how will Emmys deal with Katrina this year? We'll have more when CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello everyone, I'm Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Weather Center with today's allergy reports. Some of the highest concentration of pollen levels will be into parts of the west a across central California, throughout much of Nevada, and into the great basin. The biggest problem here is going to be the ragweed, also a little ragweed across the Dakota's. But looking very good, a cold front pushing through this region, so you're doing great from Minneapolis, threw Milwaukee, into Chicago, and the pollen almost non- existent into parts of the Tennessee River Valley. Hope you have a happy weekend.

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WHITFIELD: Tonight is the annual TV love fest known as the Emmy Awards. It will be hosted by comedian Ellen Degeneres, who is also a native of New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina expected to play a prominent role. CNN's Sibila Vargas has already staked out her spot on the red carpet and she joins us now with a preview.

VARGAS: Absolutely, it's red hot out here, I'm not just talking about this carpet, I'm talking about the weather, but it's always hot in sunny California. And I can tell you it's extremely exciting. The fans are just waiting for the celebrities to walk down this red carpet. That will be in about an hour. So you can imagine the excitement is palpable. I want to tell you, Fred, one of the questions on a lot of people's mind is how will Emmy deal with Katrina? Well producers want to keep it light. They think that now more than ever it's time for people to laugh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are on the east side of New Orleans.

VARGAS: Despite the devastation left by hurricane Katrina, television's biggest celebration is going forward pretty much as planned.

KEN EHRLICH, EXE. PROD. EMMY TELECAST: I don't think there was ever a moment where we basically said we're going to go away.

VARGAS: Inside the Shrine auditorium, the preparations are much like last year. The red carpet has been rolled out, the dress code remains unchanged.

TOM O'NEILL, GOLDERBY.COM: It's important that it doesn't look like Hollywood fiddling while New Orleans burns.

VARGAS: But there are some subtle changes designed to show support for the victims of hurricane Katrina.

MELISSA GREGO, TELEVISION WEEK: You have to walk that line of what's appropriate, you know, do we have a frivolous, glamorous night when there's so many people who have lost their lives, they're livelihoods? It is going to be business as usual, but I do expect there to be at least some acknowledgment of what's going on. VARGAS: Part of that acknowledgment will come in floral form.

EHRLICH: The magnolia is the state flower of both Louisiana and Mississippi, so we got one, and we've got 144 of them, in which we're going to give to presenters and performers on the show.

VARGAS: During the telecast, viewers will be invited to donate money for hurricane relief. Host Ellen Degeneres, a New Orleans native is expected to refer to the disaster in her opening monolog. Degenerous won praise for the way she hosted the Emmys four years ago, a show that was twice delayed following the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan.

GREGO: She proved that she could do it back in 2001. It's a very lucky thing for both the industry and the audiences that she's going to be hosting this year.

VARGAS: And some people think the country could use some good cheer right now. Including Degeneres herself.

EHRLICH: She says, you know, on Emmy night we need to make people laugh, not forget about what's happened, but laugh. So I think viewers are in for a terrific evening.

VARGAS: And, again, it will be about hurricane Katrina a lot of the talk. And still be highlighting -- they'll be giving the presenters some magnolias again from Louisiana and Mississippi, this is the state flower. If you hear the fans, they're absolutely going crazy because right now on the red carpet is Ellen Degeneres. I'm not sure if we can get a shot of that because she's kind of far away. I think that's the excitement. I think she's going to add an incredible sensibility to this year's Emmys.

She did such a wonderful job, a stellar job back in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks, and I think that's what a lot of people are expecting. Expect a well-balanced show. Fredericka back to you.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder if the audience members can also expect a delay, whereas last year there was a delay just in case somebody might say something unsavory.

VARGAS: Yeah, I think you're probably referring to Mr. Kanye West which two weeks ago during the NBC Telethon he said words about President Bush, which sparked some controversy. They are not concerned about commentary. We spoke to the Emmy people. They're more concerned about matters of indecency, but there will be a 30-second delay. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sibila Vargas, thanks so much. We'll be watching in Los Angeles. And we will be right back.

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