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CNN Live Sunday

The Slow Road To Recovery Begins In Algiers, New Orleans; A Behind The Scenes Look At Thad Allen

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: Two different leaders, two different opinions. Should nearly 200,000 New Orleans residents be encouraged to return so soon? We will try to sort through conflicting points of view.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, will there be enough supplies to support all the incoming residents. I am Keith Oppenheim in Algiers, a neighborhood in New Orleans. I'll have a live report coming up.

WHITFIELD: And here comes another storm system. Hurricane watches in effect for the Florida Keys, mandatory evacuations are underway for non-residents in the Florida Keys. We will bring you the latest.

Good afternoon, I'm Fredericka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is a special weekend at CNN. We are 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 we have photos, we are showing them. But in other cases, no images are available. If you have any information about any of these children, please call 1-800-842-5678. That's 1-800-THE LOST. Your help could reassure parents and reunite families.

We will have the latest on the recovery efforts in the Gulf but first a look at other stories making our news.

Afghanistan takes another key step toward its road to democracy. Voters went to the polls earlier to choose members of parliament and provincial councils. The threat of violence remained a concern.

American troops and Afghan forces provided security at polling places nationwide. Officials now say efforts by the insurgents to disrupt the elections were insignificant. Vote counting begins on Tuesday.

Fifteen years after the fault of a Berlin Wall Germany is again at a crossroads. Exit polls suggest the country could soon have a new leader. Those polls indicate that Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Party is leading Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder's Social Democratic Party in today's parliamentary voting.

But with less support expected, it is not yet clear whether Merkel has enough seats to form a ruling majority. Without a majority, Merkel's party would have to form a coalition government and Schroeder's party could play a big role in that coalition.

In Chicago federal investigators are trying to determine what caused yesterday's commuter train derailment. They are checking to see if the train might have been speeding. The accident killed two passengers and injured more than 80 others.

ANNOUNCER: CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

WHITFIELD: Three weeks after Hurricane Katrina slammed the north central Gulf Coast, forecasters are keeping a close watch on the tropics now. There's another weather system of concern. Let's check in with CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano for the latest. Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Fredricka. This one is close and that's why we're concerned about it. Not a tropical storm yet but it's a tropical depression with winds of 35 miles an hour. The 2:00 advisory puts it 385 miles east-southeast of Nassau. So here's Nassau. The center is down through here, but it's heading due west at 10 miles per hour.

So that sort of motion is bringing it to the southern tip of Florida here in the next couple of days, that's why we're concerned about it. Also these satellite pictures getting a little bit more organized. And it is probably going to be named a tropical storm later on tonight or early tomorrow morning.

And for that reason, the National Hurricane Center has issued tropical storm warnings for the Lower Bahamas, including the Turks and Caicos Islands, and hurricane watches now are out for the northwestern Bahamas and southern tip of Florida and the Florida Keys, meaning hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours. So that's the concern right there because the track is going to be bringing it likely close to the Florida Keys, if not through them.

Here's the last forecast track out of the National Hurricane Center. You see that L means right now it's just a tropical depression. This hollowed out hurricane symbol mean it's going to be a tropical storm between now and tomorrow morning and then strengthening, likely, to a Category 1 storm by late tomorrow into Tuesday and then by Wednesday heading to the Gulf of Mexico. And then there's this cone of uncertainty.

This could easily head towards Miami, maybe skim Cuba, but there's no doubt that the water temperatures right here are upwards of 84, 85 degrees, so that is a lot of fuel to get this thing going. And that's our biggest area of concern.

We have another tropical storm out there that we are actually more concerned about a couple days ago. It's Philippe, it's right here. I's further away, that's why we are paying more attention to tropical depression number 18.

We'll have another weather update in about 45 minutes, Fredricka. That's the latest from here. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Look forward to that, thanks so much, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

WHITFIELD: The death toll across the Gulf Coast is rising after Hurricane Katrina. It is now blamed for at least 879 deaths, including 646 in Louisiana. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin has the authority to tell evacuees when they may return and his plan already has some residents returning this weekend. The first area reopening is Algiers, which is on the west bank across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter.

It was largely spared from the hurricane and flooding and its infrastructure and services are mostly intact. But plans over the next few weeks to put residents back into the Garden Districts and other areas are getting a yellow caution flag from federal officials. They are worried about health risks.

Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, the point man in the government's relief efforts details those concerns earlier today on CNN's LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIDE ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, U.S. COAST GUARD: They are still trying to reconstitute the 911 system. Some of these people may not have telephone service, there is not power and there is not potable water. If you put people in that situation and you have an extreme weather event, you are very, very challenged to try and get notifications and to get them out and we think that should be the subject of deliberate planning and a very thoughtful approach to how you renew the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins us from Algiers with the status report on bringing residents back into that neighborhood and right now, how does it look, Keith?

OPPENHEIM: Well it's kind of busy around here at this point, Fredricka. I am actually at a warehouse in Algiers that's used to store floats for Mardi Gras. And it's at this warehouse that neighbors, by themselves created an outside grocery store and supply center with the help of organizations, specifically the Church of Christ National Relief Organization and also security help from the military, the 82nd airborne. And folks have been coming here at the range of 400 to 500 people a day have been coming here getting some of the things they need to go back into their homes.

Tomorrow is the day that Algiers, that this neighborhood officially becomes a place where people can come back into the neighborhood. But unofficially people have been doing it for a little while. One of the people with me right now just coming back is Wandalyn Johnson. Hi, Wandalyn.

WANDALYN JOHNSON, ALGIERS RESIDENT: Hi, how are you.

OPPENHEIM: You have just been kind of grocery shopping now here. Do you mind just showing me a few of the things you needed to get right here.

JOHNSON: Yeah, what I did was I have a 12-year-old daughter, so I had to get some if you don't mind, I had to get some essentials, but soap, toilet tissue, food, lotion, shampoo, just all the essentials, toiletries, it's all needed.

OPPENHEIM: Right. So you are getting basic subpoena pries to get your household going. Give me a sense of what your concerns for the next few days. Because as far as I can tell, this is where you can get things and there aren't that many places close by where you can.

JOHNSON: Well, truly I am thankful to God this is one of the places because it's very close to my home. But I guess my major concern would be, of course, the drinking water. I did go and get my shots and ...

OPPENHEIM: You have running water at your home.

JOHNSON: Yes, we have running water at the house.

OPPENHEIM: Do you feel you can drink it or you would not?

JOHNSON: No, I would not drink it.

OPPENHEIM: Do you have electricity?

JOHNSON: Yes, sir. We have electricity, we have electricity and we have gas. So we can boil the water. So ...

OPPENHEIM: It sounds like you can function within your immediate neighborhood but because the city in a larger sense really isn't functioning, you have to travel father to get anything you need beyond these basics here.

JOHNSON: Beyond these basics, I don't know where we would go, I really don't know where we would go as far as the metro area goes. I really don't know where we would go. Because -- Especially for medical. That bothers me, also.

OPPENHEIM: Yeah. I should point out to you, I don't know if you know it here, Wandalyn, they have a basic medical service tent here on site so that might help you.

JOHNSON: Yes, okay, because I do have a blood pressure problem.

OPPENHEIM: Right.

JOHNSON: Yes, I suffer with my blood pressure. But like I said, I am so thankful to God that is these people are here, because without them, there would be nothing, there would be nothing. And we're able to survive. We're able to survive. So ...

OPPENHEIM: Well, goods luck to you, and I appreciate you giving us sometime. And one other little tidbit I will add, kind of a bit of local news reporting. I can because some of the folks asked me to mention they are very low on pet food. There are a lot of animals in this neighborhood and throughout the city. They are asking if anyone can bring pet food for cats and dogs to this site in Algiers, near the warehouses for where the Mardi Gras floats are kept at Blaine Kern's (ph) Mardi Gras warehouses, that that would be a major, major contribution that they would appreciate. Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. The word is out. Keith Oppenheim, thank you so much.

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 CNN's Kimberly Osias at the Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, Virginia.

Kimberly?

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. Well, there are still about 21 children that are missing from their parents, but the good news is about 854 cases have been resolved. And I tell you when that happens, it's an amazing thing, just while we were here within the last hour, one of those resolutions actually occurred. This is interesting. Take a look at little eight-year-old Alex Davis.

He was last believed to have been in New Orleans. Now, this is an amazing story, really a testament to the power of the public and the power of television, really working in concert with the center here. The father was in Houston. Reported and missing, sent the picture in here to the center. CNN put his picture up. His mother saw the picture in Baton Rouge, she called in and let everybody here know that she and the son were okay. That reunion is slated to happen very soon. And joining me now is Charles Pickett, senior case manager. You guys are really upstairs, a little bit out of the fray but in the front lines, nonetheless. What has it been like to witness that just now, I mean, these successful endings?

CHARLES PICKETT, SENIOR CASE MANAGER: Well, I know I talked to a very happy mother this morning, both two-hold, that she was okay but that her family was looking for her and wanted her to know they were okay. I got the father talking to her. She was excited to talk to him for the first time in several weeks, since this whole thing had taken place. There's a lot of elation going on in Baton Rouge and in Texas.

OSIAS: Incredibly emotional and a tough time to really be at this and you've been doing this for 20-some years, I think you said. How tough is the nature of this problem?

PICKETT: The issue is there, but the reunification like this, bringing kids home make it all good. And then make it possible to know in concert, as you said, with the media, and the public how we can bring these children home.

OSIAS: It makes it all worth it when you have those moments, doesn't it? PICKETT: Oh, it's -- we have got several other CNN recoveries that have just taken place in the last few minutes, a couple of boys were actually playing on a football team and hadn't been in touch with their mother or anything else but were going on with their life until somebody could help bring them together and CNN today is really making a hit and helping us bring these babies home.

OSIAS: Well, it's a small part. Everybody wants to take action and wants to do something and it gives them something tangible to do to really look at these faces and see if anything kind of jars their memory -- or even a name. Oftentimes when you see that silhouette on the left side of your screen, the name may actually -- like one teacher actually called in, saw the name of her student and sent in a picture. So it really is an all-out effort. Everybody, really working together to help these victims.

And I want to show you, introduce you to one other little girl and show you what some of these case managers like Mr. Pickett are really up against. Take a look at this face. This is little Kalite. We don't know her last name because she can't tell caseworkers what her last name is, she's believed to be, I think, about four years old, three, two, they are just not sure. And oftentimes, these children don't know their addresses, they can't tell tht information, so it really makes it very, very difficult for these folks on the ground, the foot soldiers on the ground and the people back here, as well. She is believed to have been missing from New Orleans we are now told she's in a shelter in Oxford, Mississippi, really seeking to find her parents, and there are a number of stories like Kalite and a number of faces, so really, kind of key in on those and see if it jogs your memory if you can do anything to kind of help these folks really band together and make a difference.

FREDRICKA: Thanks so much, Kimberly Osias. Let's hope that Kalite's family members are watching.

WHITFIELD: And this programming note. Beginning tomorrow and throughout the week, we will show you the business owners and residents as they come home to their neighborhoods, ZIP code by ZIP code. Tomorrow we will focus on 70114, known as the Algiers district. It is an historic neighborhood of Creole cottages and Victorian home.

Algiers is home to about 2,30 people, and it sits directly across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter in New Orleans. CNN will be there as residents begin rebuilding their lives.

Signs of progress in Iraq. The war-torn nation nails down the details of its draft resolution and there's no letup in the violence. We'll bring you an update coming up next.

And if you think hurricanes have become more powerful, you are not imagining it. Find out why they are parking more of a devastating punch. And still ahead a search for a home by a New Orleans woman lands her in the arms of her brother and an entire community.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: In the fight for Iraq, increased violence has not stopped the progress of that country's emerging democracy. The United Nations soon will distribute 5 million copies of Iraq's newly drafter constitution. Voters will decide whether to approve the document next month.

CNN's Jennifer Eccleston takes a closer look at Iraq's draft constitution.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Iraq's parliament signed off on revisions to the country's draft constitution.

(voice-over): It's now in the hands of the United Nations who will print it and begin distributing some 5 million copies. Now, the draft was not voted on by a National Assembly. A leading M.P. declared it was a matter for the people and not the parliament.

Now the final draft does make some minor concessions to the Sunni minority including a mention that Iraq is a founding member of the Arab league. Sunnis wanted the charter to highlight Iraq as an Arab country. Sunnis also oppose provisions that would create an autonomous federal region, fearing the charter will decentralize the government, giving greater autonomy to southern Shiites in line with the autonomy already enjoyed by Kurds.

Some leading Sunnis said they will campaign to defeat it when it goes to a national referendum on October 15th. Meantime the violence continues this weekend in Baquba, north of Baghdad. Six civilians were killed in separate attacks and on Saturday a Kurdish member of Iraq's parliament was among three people fatally shot while traveling on a convoy traveling to Baghdad and almost at the same time a remotely detonated car bomb exploded in a market in a Baghdad suburb.

Police say some 30 people were killed with 38 others wounded. That attack took place in a predominantly Shiite area. These are the latest grisly incidents are in a week long wave of deadly attacks here in the capital and other cities and it comes amid growing concerns over mounting sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Arabs.

Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: He is leading the federal effort to rebuild the Gulf region destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. How is Vice Admiral Thad Allen handling that massive task. We will give you an insider's look to what a typical day is like for him.

And up next, the growing strength of hurricanes hitting the U.S., how nature is giving them a more powerful punch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FREDRICKA: Hurricane Katrina at one point was a Category 5. That's a monster of a storm. And was it a sign of things to come? And what's to blame for these so-called super hurricane? Some answers now from CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After years of relative quiet in the Atlantic, monster hurricanes seem to be breaking out all over. Now a study in the journal "Science" appears to confirm there really has been a greater number of stronger hurricane in recent years.

Peter Webster, Judy Curry and come leagues crunch the numbers on 35 years of data from hurricanes and cyclones over the globe. The data suggests the number of storms per year has remained relatively stable over time but in recent years, the strength of the storms is has spiked.

PETER WEBSTER, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: The intensity of hurricanes in all of the basins, including the Atlantic Ocean have increased substantially so that there are more Category 4 and 5 hurricanes.

SIEBERG: So, what's behind the more powerful hurricanes? Well, scientists say natural climate cycle like El Nino and La Nina play a big roll. The study says the spike in storm intensity mirrors a rise in ocean surface temperatures, which, in turn may be linked to global warming. But it's too soon to make that link conclusively.

JUDITH CURRY, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: There's certainly a significant component that is associated with greenhouse warming. How much is associated with natural variability, that just hasn't been sorted out.

SIEBERG: Other scientists point to a government-funded study that suggests global warming will affect hurricanes gradually over the next 100 years or so.

CHRIS LANDEA, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: So if that's the case, that may be good news that global warming may not have an appreciable impact on hurricanes.

SIEBERG: Whether it's global warming or cyclical, most experts agree that the monster hurricane trend is not going to ease up any time soon. Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Checking the latest development in the Gulf region this hour. The State of Louisiana adds 67 victims to the official number of dead from the Hurricane Katrina. The state's confirmed death toll now stands at 646. Also today, Louisiana officials cast doubt on a goal put forth by President Bush to have evacuees now in shelters moved by mid-October to a more stable housing environment. About 100,000 evacuees are still living in shelters. A top official suggests the president's proposal may be overambitious.

And a hurricane watch in effect for the Florida Keys. Local authorities have ordered evacuations for tourists south of the Seven Mile Bridge near Marathon Key. A tropical depression is gaining strength today. Forecasters say it may become a tropical storm and potentially enter the Gulf of Mexico.

Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is a special weekend at CNN. We are 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 photographs, we are showing them. But in other cases, we don't have photographs 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.

Federal officials in New Orleans say privately that Mayor Ray Nagin's ambitious plan to repopulate the city took them by surprise. And Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, the federal official now in charge of relief efforts, has released a statement urging residents not to be too hasty about coming back.

CNN's Kyra Phillips spent some time with Admiral Allen and has some insight into his cautionary tone and Kyra, have Admiral Allen and Mayor Nagin met to sort this all out?

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I have to tell you they are on the cell phone with each other constantly throughout the day, Fredricka. And if it's not by cell phone, it's videoconference or it's meeting face-to-face. They are in touch on a constant basis.

And as you know, the mayor came forward and said, hey, I want to let at least 180,000 people back into this area. We want to get the economic flow happening as soon as we can to support this city. But then Admiral Allen is saying OK, sir, I am here to support you in whatever you want to do, but I am concerned. There are a lot of health concerns in this city and I don't think this is the best time for people to start coming back in big numbers.

So, We ran into the governor yesterday, also Senator Mary Landrieu. I asked both of them what they thought about this relationship between the two. And trying to take that relationship between the city of New Orleans, the state government and how is it all working out? And this is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARY LANDRIEU, (D) LOUISIANA: The admiral and the mayor are going to have to work that out. Because the mayor is the chief executive of the city, and these parish presidents are the chief executives of their parishes. But now that the military is hear to support them, those decisions have to be made jointly and respectfully.

But the mayor has an interest in getting this city stood up. Of course we all do, New Orleans is the major city in the region. But it has got to be done with the support of the law enforcement and the military. So, hopefully they can work that out on a schedule that works for them and for the people we serve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now as you know, we had very unique and exclusive access with Admiral Allen as he went through one of the biggest days so far of his mission. And that was at the beginning of the weekend when the mayor came forward and said he wanted folks back in the city. And he started scrambling and trying to figure out if he could make that happen and if it was a safe idea. And he met with everybody from the secretary of DHS, Michael Chertoff to the president of the United States. We spent the day with him when he did all of that. Here's an exclusive look once again of how it all went.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): He wakes up as early as 3:30 a.m., Vice Admiral Thad Allen wastes no time. He's leading the largest rebuilding effort in American history and his day is jam packed, from press conference to video conference. It's now 11:50. Inside his mobile command center, the admiral leads an executive conference call with DHS and FEMA. At issue, how to bring New Orleanians back home.

VICE ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: There's been some discussion in Washington about whether or not we should use vouchers to move (ph) temporary housing.

PHILLIPS: He's only a week into the job, but it's clear he's hit the ground running. And your mission is?

ALLEN: Community of effort, increased philosophy of what's happening, cut red tape. We need to treat the victims of this catastrophe as if they were our own family. What would you do if it was your child, your husband or your mother? How would you treat them? You need to have sensitivity when you're (INAUDIBLE) these people.

PHILLIPS: 1:00 p.m. Allen gets an urgent call to board the Iwo Jima. The bells mean the admiral's coming.

ALLEN: Folks, how are you doing?

PHILLIPS: Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff is about to land.

So right now Admiral Allen is going to meet with the secretary of Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff. They'll have a private meeting for about 30 minutes and then it's off to the next.

Good news, water levels are going down fast.

ALLEN: One of the reasons that this has happened much quicker than we thought is we've had evaporation that you wouldn't consider for this time of year.

PHILLIPS: 1:30, huddled inside the command post, a who's who of joint task force Katrina. Zip code by zip code, block by block, the national response plan unfolds right before our eyes. This is a hands on leader.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Admiral, thank you, sir for coming onboard.

ALLEN: Thank you, skipper. I don't know what the Navy term is, but fall out and gather around. So what I've been trying to do is build a sense of camaraderie, unity and team work among the Federal community that are bringing all the assets to this fight and the other thing I've tried to do is stay out of politics. I really appreciate it. Thank you, folks.

PHILLIPS: His predecessor, General Russel Honore is still part of the team. What do you think of Admiral Allen?

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, CMDR, JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: He's a go-getter, very competent, mature, strategic leader. He's the right guy for the right job at the right time.

PHILLIPS: Just ask his aide, Lieutenant Katrina Harper, yes, her name is Katrina.

LT. KATRINA HARPER, COAST GUARD: It's like the Energizer bunny. He doesn't stop. He's just -- he does it all and he gets out there and touches the people he needs to touch especially with this recovery.

PHILLIPS: When Allen can't be at two places at one time, his chief of staff Captain Tom Atkin is there.

CAPT. TOM ATKIN, COAST GUARD: He's given us a vision from the very beginning, focus on helping the people. Treat them all like they're family and we'll make it happen.

PHILLIPS: I think he's calling you.

ATKIN: I'm sure he is. He likes me.

PHILLIPS: It's 4:30, Allen has raced ahead of us. The next stop a food tent where volunteers are feeding the hot, tired and weary troops under his command.

ALLEN: Thank you for everything you're doing for the country. Appreciate it.

PHILLIPS: Allen takes time to pose for pictures and thank the cooks. He barely has time to grab a shrimp skewer to go. ALLEN: Thank you. You guys are going to spoil me here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Courtesy of south Alabama.

ALLEN: Thank you. Thank you.

PHILLIPS: It's 6:00 in the evening now and the president of the United States just landed aboard the Iwo Jima via Marine One. Vice Admiral Allen is inside the carrier actually right now getting ready to greet the president, one more meeting in a head spinning day. Vice Admiral Thad Allen says, he's just getting started.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And I got to tell you, too, Fredricka, as we sat in on so many videoconference calls and listened to his cellphone calls and met everybody that he had to meet with, Admiral Allen is very concerned about the money. There is a lot of money coming in to help this city and other parts, of course, of the Gulf region, and constantly. my Producer Kim McCabe (ph) and I, noticed that he was concerned about how that money would be spent. And he didn't want to waste that money.

Now, we mentioned General Russel Honore, you know, the man that came in and really got America excited in many ways, because he came in here and he didn't mess around and he got help to the city immediately. Well, as you know, Admiral Allen is now the one in charge in making the shots. But he does work well with the general.

And as I got to know General Honore better, I came to find out through friends of his -- he didn't want to talk about it -- that he was getting ready to go meet the Louisiana National Guard yesterday. And an interesting connection, well, his son was coming back from Iraq. His son was coming back from fighting the war on terrorism over there, now he's coming back to Louisiana to get in on this battle, if you will, to get the city rebuilt.

As you know, General Honore and his family, this is their home state. It means a whole lot to them. So we were able to see that reunion in a very -- it was very quick and low very profile, because the general has not wanted to make that a big deal. He has wanted the focus to move off of him and off of his family. So it took a lot of negotiating to be able to be there. And he did allow it. But he said Kyra, I want you to make sure that you talk about the Louisiana National Guard, what they did in Iraq and what they are going to do now here in the United States.

So, we kept our word. And that's exactly what we're going to talk about tomorrow night, is the Louisiana National Guard and this dual mission they're taking on right now, Fred.

WHITFIELD: The dual mission, Kyra, that many of them have lost their homes, but they have to focus on the relief efforts there in the New Orleans area and other parishes who were hit hard.

PHILLIPS: Good point. 400 of those soldiers lost their homes, Fredricka. And while they were over fighting this war on terrorism, here they were worrying about their families and their homes. So, I have to tell you, there's a lot of relieved soldiers to be back here, to take care of their family, rebuild their homes and also fight to get this city up and running in a healthy way.

WHITFIELD: All right. Kyra Phillips, thanks so much. And we look forward to more reports out of the New Orleans area.

A family finds each other and a new home thanks to volunteers. Up next, the heartwarming story of a New Orleans sister and brother who are now calling San Francisco home.

And be sure to tune in to CNN all this week, we will focus on business owners and residents as they come home to their neighborhoods. And we will be covering them zip code by zip code. Tomorrow, our attention will focus on the zip code 70114, known as the Algiers District. It is home to 2,300 people and sits just across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter. CNN will be there as residents and business owners begin rebuilding their lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Another family is back together in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This story from Emoryville, California outside of San Francisco, from reporter Tony Zarella. He is with our CNN affiliate, KRON.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY ZARELLA, KRON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They say home is where the heart is. And that, more than anything, is why the Jones family of New Orleans is able to start over here in the Bay area. Eleanor Jones, arriving with her five children tonight, joining her brother Alfred and his family who moved here two weeks ago.

ELEANOR JONES, HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIM: We never left the city of New Orleans before. So, they didn't know what to expect. So, we're and I just thank God. And I thank God for leading us, thank God for my brother, you know, to help me to come this far.

ALFRED JONES, HURRICANE KATRINA VICTIM: You know, after begging and pleading with her and getting in contact with different people, especially like she mentioned Lisa. I mean, Lisa has been incredible throughout this whole ordeal. And she kind of like helped me to convince my sister that this was the right move for her.

ZARELLA: Lisa Maria and her good friend Eric Matz (ph) spearheaded the welcome wagon, getting the community from Santa Rosa to donate everything from a house, to furnishings, to food, to clothing, even baby supplies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome home!

LISA MARIA, RELIEF EFFORT ORGANIZER: I feel like I was driven to just do work. And I don't know why I was doing it. I just felt moved to do it. And now that it's done and the family is here, I feel relieved.

Just the community, it was just amazing. we'D mention it to someone like in line at the supermarket, they would mention it to someone else. Then the next thing we know, someone was coming by with a donation.

ZARELLA: In fact, 16-month-old Kiki (ph) has already connected with the neighbors.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yeah. Oh, no, not by the -- oh!

ZARELLA: For at least a couple of weeks, all of the Joneses will be together under one roof, until Eleanor and her children move into their own new home, finally leaving tragedy behind and starting over with a lot of help from a lot of new friends.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And that report from Emoryville, California from Tony Zarella, of CNN affiliate KRON.

Well, it still doesn't have a name, but that's not stopping Florida officials from calling for an evacuation of part of the Keys. Up next, an update on tropical depression 18.

And I'm Sibila Vargas at the Shrine Auditorium as television prepares for its biggest night. I'll give you a sneak peek at Emmys. And tell you you how they will be dealing with Katrina when CNN LIVE SUNDAY continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this edition of "Breaking Big," sculpted a business from a twisted idea.

RICHARD X. ZAWITZ, FOUNDER & CEO, TANGLE TOYS: Tangled Toys, it's a series of interconnected 90 degree elements. And you can twist them and turn them and bend them into just about any shape you want. Tangle Toys began as a sculpture of my senior thesis in college. I decided to focus my studies on how I could create an object that would appeal to just about anyone, anywhere, any time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After 24 years in the tangle business, Richard Zawitz saw his company's revenues jump from $6 million to $12 million.

ZAWITZ: The reason my revenues doubled in 2004, was I met some wonderful people from Wal-Mart and they loved the tangle. I was able to place it with the impulse department, which meant it was going to the checkout counters. And it flew off the shelves.

My goal was -- has been and always will be, to make sure every man, woman and child on this planet has a tangle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The 57th Annual Emmy Awards airs tonight for TV viewers. It's a chance for a little escape from the grimness of the hurricane. Sibila Vargas has a preview. She's in Los Angeles and looking oh so pretty, Sibila.

VARGAS: Why, thank you. Thank you very much. But probably not as pretty as most of the celebrities that are going to be walking down this red carpet in a few hours. This place is going to be jam-packed, of course. There's a lot -- you know, last minute preparations.

People are wondering, though, this year with Katrina, how will Emmy deal with that? Well, the producers want to keep it light. They say now more than ever, people need to laugh.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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

VARGAS (voice-over):: Despite the devastation left by Hurricane Katrina. Television's biggest celebration is going forward pretty much as planned.

KEN EHRLICH, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, EMMY TELECAST: I don't think there was a moment where we basically said we were going 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, GOLDDERBY.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 well, what's appropriate, you know? Do we have a frivolous, glamorous night when there are so many lost their lives -- their 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 acknowledgement will come in floral form.

EHRLICH: The magnolia is the state flower of both Louisiana and Mississippi. So we've got one. And we have got 144 of them, which we are 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 monologue. Degeneres 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.

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, any 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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS: And part of the evenings highlight will be an American- like Idol competition called "Emmy Idol." And we will have Donald Trump, Megan Melagli (ph) taking part of it, as well as William Shatner. They'll be performing some TVs popular theme songs. And so, again, they are keeping it rather light. But again, with Ellen hosting the show, she's a New Orleans native, you got to know that they are going to be sensitive. And I think they're going to -- it's going to strike the right tone.

WHITFIELD: Well, that's good to hear. We know it's quite a few hours away yet, and we see a lot of -- you know, buzz of activity behind you. In fact there are folks that are sitting already kind of in the rafters behind you.

VARGAS: Oh, yes, they are getting ready.

WHITFIELD: What time can they expect to start seeing some of the celebs? Because I imagine that's all they want to see.

VARGAS: That's all they want to see. They are not concerned about me or you. They want to see Eva Longoria, Terry Hatcher, all of them making their way down. And that's going to happen about 3:00 p.m. our time, L.A. time, so about 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sibilia Vargas thank you so much on the red carpet there for the Emmys tonight.

Well tourists are being told to evacuate Florida's lower Keys not because of a hurricane, right now it's a tropical depression, but it is threatening to strengthen. CNN's meteorologist Rob Marciano is tracking the developing storm -- Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi Fredricka.

This thing has been kind of lingering in the southeastern Bahamas. There's a couple things on the map, this flair up of storms here. I will talk about that in a second -- and this guy right here which is getting a little better organized as it heads towards the west. We'll take a little bit closer look at it. Here's Miami, there's Key West, Havana, Cuba, back to the Turks and Caicos Islands back here. This is where the storm is beginning to develop.

Winds of 35-miles-an-hour right now. So, it's only a tropical depression, but likely to become Tropical Storm Rita here before this day is out. And it's just under 400 miles, about 385 miles to the east-southeast of Nassau, Bahama. And -- well, forecast tract is going to bring it through the lower Keys it looks like over the next couple of days. Tropical storm warnings out as this thing continues to interact with the lower part, southern Bahamas.

Northwestern Bahamas and the Keys, under a hurricane watch which means that hurricane conditions are possible within 36 hours.

So those two double flags flying quite early. I am not sure I have seen hurricane flags posted before this thing has -- before a storm has even become a tropical storm. So that's of concern. And one of the reasons is that the water temperatures are very, very warm near the Florida Keys.

So, here's the forecast track from the National Hurricane Center. You see that west movement. You see it strengthen to a tropical storm likely tonight or tomorrow. And then, if anything, it takes a little bit of a dive. A category 1 storm expected Tuesday morning interacting likely with the Florida Keys, or at the least -- at the very least, in the Florida straights with category 1 strength winds. And then continuing into the Gulf of Mexico.

Note the due west movement. Right now, longer range forecast continue it on more of a westerly tract. That would bode well for folks in New Orleans, but not necessarily folks in Texas.

Back to the wider map we go. For the past couple of days, we have been more concerned with this storm. This is Tropical Storm Philippe. But now its track looks like it wants to sneak into the open Atlantic Ocean. So, that would be a good thing for sure. Expect Philippe to strengthen to a hurricane.

But right now of greater concern, Fredricka, is what could very well be Tropical Storm Rita here before the end of today. And we'll talking more about that, and hopefully get a reporter out of either Miami or the Florida Keys before this day is done, also. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks Rob. We will be watching for that. But right now it's about 35-mile-per-hour. It needs to be at least 39 miles per hour before it comes a tropical storm. Of course, we will be getting updates from you, Rob, throughout the day.

Well, "IN THE MONEY" is coming up next. And I'll be back at 4:00 Eastern for another edition of CNN LIVE SUNDAY. We will bring you the story of one man's online mission to get housing for Katrina evacuees and tell you how you might be able to help.

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