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CNN Live At Daybreak

Road to Recovery; Emmy Awards

Aired September 19, 2005 - 05:30   ET

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

KELLY WALLACE, CNN ANCHOR: From the Time Warner Center in New York, I'm Kelly Wallace, in today for Carol Costello, who is on assignment in New Orleans.
Good morning, everyone, thanks so much for waking up with us.

And just a reminder to keep an eye on the left side of your screen, CNN has teamed up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. You can help reunite these displaced children with their parents by calling the number on the screen, if you have any information at all about any of the children whose pictures you see on CNN today.

But first, these stories "Now in the News."

A state of emergency has been declared in Florida ahead of Tropical Storm Rita. The impending storm led to the ordered evacuation of thousands of tourists in the Florida Keys. The local high school will be a storm shelter today.

There has been an explosion this morning at the British Embassy in Croatia. British officials say one person was wounded when an explosive device blew up in a mailroom. Authorities are now investigating.

Germany will be forced into a coalition government after Sunday's elections failed to produce a clear majority. The Conservative Party held a slight edge over Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's party in the parliamentary elections.

To Chad Myers at the Forecast Center in Atlanta.

And, Chad, where is Rita now?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Rita is in the Bahamas. It is literally already making some wind there. You say wait, how did we get to R?

WALLACE: Yes.

MYERS: Well, because Phillipe is already right here. The good news, it is not headed in to the islands. In fact, it's actually going to go straight north almost and even miss Bermuda. But that is Rita. That is not going to miss things. That is going to get right through the Florida Straits. Here's Nassau, here's Miami, there is Havana. This storm is headed right in that direction. Probably over Case Al Bank (ph), for that matter. Hurricane warnings already in effect for the Florida Keys, from the Dry Tortugas, right up to Ocean Reef. And then tropical storm warnings north of there. Hurricane warnings mean hurricane conditions are expected within 24 hours or less.

Have to keep watching this. The storm will be a Category 1, according to the Hurricane Center here. But quickly, just like Katrina, as soon as it gets into the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico, it's forecast to be a major hurricane, back to Category 3 strength. They don't take it any farther than that. Could be bigger than that, but let's hope not.

But it does have a really strange-looking path. It's turning to the left for a while here. This is still the forecast. Now remember it could change, because as it gets into the Gulf of Mexico, then it's forecast to turn right. And we know what lives to the right of there.

Here's where it's going here. The storm runs through the Bahamas. This is 14 different computer models that we all use. Actually, one turns it hard to the right, right over Key Largo, just to the north of Marathon. A couple more take it right over Key West, right as a hurricane, Category 1, possibly a strong Category 1. And then a few take it into parts of New Orleans, and then the rest take it back in to Texas. A significant storm to worry about for the Gulf Coast, and even for the Key Largo area, right on down to Key West, as it gets a little bit stronger.

We'll keep you advised -- Kelly.

WALLACE: And, Chad, quick question, again looking at all the models there, what would be sort of the earliest date that we could see if in fact it heads into the Gulf and to parts of New Orleans? What would be the earliest date we're talking about?

MYERS: Right, we're talking about it affecting the Keys tomorrow and then west of Key West on Wednesday. In the central part of the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, and then probably a landfall possibly around Friday. So it's going to be a long storm. We'll be very busy here in the Hurricane Center down in Miami and also here at CNN.

Back to you.

WALLACE: Yes, we'll be watching it. OK, Chad, talk to you in a few minutes.

Well talking about New Orleans, some residents of that city have the go ahead to return home today, especially those who live in areas least affected by Hurricane Katrina. It is part of the mayor's plan to repopulate the city and rebuild.

We will report zip code by zip code as the residents return. Today, people who live in communities with the zip code 70114 are being allowed back home. This is the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans.

And here's a little bit about it. More than 60 percent of the people own cars there, about 75 percent of Algiers residents are African-American, 21 percent are white. The average age of the people who live there is 30, and their average annual income is about $32,000.

Well when President Bush spoke to the nation last week from Jackson Square in New Orleans, he was facing Algiers across the Mississippi River.

And our Carol Costello is in the Algiers neighborhood on this morning.

Carol, good morning to you, and good to talk to you. So you've been in New Orleans I know since Saturday. Give us a sense of what you've been seeing as some business owners and now today as some residents are coming back.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well let me tell you about the city of New Orleans, first off, because when you land at the airport, Kelly, I'm telling you, it's eerie. I mean you know when the pilot announces 20 minutes and you're going to land, there was not a sound on that plane. There were 30 people onboard.

We flew right into the Louis Armstrong Airport, not a sound. People were glued to their windows looking out to see the storm damage. And as you landed and got into the airport, it's sort of up and running, not many employees around. It's just eerie. The lights are half on, and you get the feeling of what's wrong, you know.

This is the notice we got when we got to our hotel, and this is for the city of New Orleans. It says on behalf of Mayor C. Ray Nagin and the city of New Orleans, welcome home. Number one, you are entering at your own risk. The city of New Orleans remains a hazardous site.

Number two, there's a curfew in place until further notice. That means you can't be outside between 6:00 and 8:00, 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. I'm saying. Police and fire services are limited. The 911 system is not fully functional. You still can't drink the water in the French Quarter and in the downtown area.

Now when you go to the neighborhood of Algiers, which is what, 15 minutes away from the city of New Orleans, if that, it's on the West Bank. It sits higher elevation, so it didn't get flooded. It has its own water system. And because the electrical system is above ground, they have electricity because the electrical workers could come up and put the lines back up.

People are slowly trickling back in. The biggest problem that I see is there's a lack of grocery stores. In fact, one woman told me that she went to a Walgreen's and they are only letting people in five at a time. Supplies are limited because it's hard to get stuff in to New Orleans, so she was only able to buy one gallon of milk. So they've set up like big food distribution centers, at least two in Algiers, but these were set up by the residents themselves because FEMA really isn't a presence in that neighborhood. Still, Kelly, there are signs of hope and people are coming back. But I got to tell you, this new tropical storm out there, that really concerns people.

WALLACE: It has to concern people, Carol. And of course you know that there is this public disagreement between the mayor and also the vice admiral who's leading the federal relief effort about is it too soon even to be allowing people to go into neighborhoods like Algiers which were not significantly affected. As you talk to people on the ground, what are they saying about this?

COSTELLO: They support their mayor, especially in Algiers, because they're eager to get home. They say they're pretty self- contained and their neighborhood really wasn't affected.

But when you go into the city of New Orleans and into the central business district, it's still pretty scary. I mean most of it's dark. The electricity is spotty. And most people I would say agree with FEMA that it may be too soon to return there.

But to Algiers, it's not too soon. But people really support the mayor down here, don't get me wrong, I didn't talk to one people in that neighborhood of Algiers who did not support Mayor Nagin. I even asked them who would you listen to, FEMA or Mayor Nagin? And people said our mayor. We're proud of him. Come on home.

WALLACE: Come on home. Well, Carol, we are really interested to hear your reports. We'll be checking in with you at the top of the hour.

And you can see Carol's reports here on DAYBREAK and also this morning on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Chad, it's really fascinating to listen to Carol to get a sense of what she's sort of seeing there on the ground.

MYERS: Yes, and she's in the part that didn't get hit hard. You know I mean when you get across the bridge and you get into those areas that have been underwater, basically you've had sewage on the ground for how many days now, even though they're pumping it out.

Here we go, our "Question of the Day" is, is it too early, is it too soon for New Orleans residents to return? And Carol was talking from Algiers, which is a completely different suburb across the river, West Bank it's called there, didn't get flooded. The levees there did not break, so everybody there ready to go home. Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com and let us know what you think.

I try to be as judicious as I can and read them from both sides, but I have to tell you, Kelly, there's only one side on this one, at least from our viewers so far. So if you think they should go back, you need to let me know.

With no usable tap water, no guarantee of phone, electricity or 911, another hurricane on the way, it's suicidal to send people back in there. From Peter (ph) it says I do not -- it doesn't matter what I or anyone else thinks, but to return to New Orleans right now is asking people to go back to a sewer. Who wants to live there?

And then from Linda (ph) in Delaware, I don't think anybody really knows what it's going to do here, because I lost my health to a dangerous mold in the walls of my home. They haven't been educating people on how this dangerous mold can affect their health.

And from Belver (ph) in the Bronx, I used to admire the way Ray Nagin handled himself through Katrina, but now I think the stress has gotten to him. Tell people to return to a place with no hospitals, no 911 and no potable water, it's just ludicrous to me.

And they go on and on and on and on and on, and so will we. Let us know what you think, DAYBREAK@CNN.com.

WALLACE: But you know, Chad, and it's not clear that many people in New Orleans, well, obviously if you're in New Orleans, you don't necessarily have all the power you need to be watching CNN right now.

MYERS: How true.

WALLACE: But if you listened to Carol, people there on the ground say they support their mayor.

MYERS: Sure.

WALLACE: They want to come on home. All right.

MYERS: And there are many places that didn't get wet. I mean you go to the Garden District, all the way up even to from the 17th Street Canal eastward, that's where it flooded. But westward,...

WALLACE: Right.

MYERS: ... it didn't get wet. The levees held there. So people are saying my house is fine, why can't I go home?

WALLACE: Why can't I go?

MYERS: Yes.

WALLACE: All right, Chad, talk to you in a few minutes.

MYERS: All right.

WALLACE: Coming up next here, through the storm, how one family on the Gulf Coast is picking up the pieces of their lives, not just for themselves, but also for their friends.

And which star shined the brightest? We will take a look at the big winners at this year's Emmy Awards.

But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Monday morning, September 19. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: Your news, money, weather and sports. It's almost 46 minutes after the hour. And here is what is all new this morning.

Mayor Ray Nagin wants to speed up the return of people to New Orleans, but the feds are telling him to slow down because it's still too dangerous there. Nagin meets today with the head of the federal hurricane relief effort.

North Korea is promising to give up its nuclear weapons program. That news came just hours ago in a joint statement at the six-nation talks in Beijing.

In money, a new storm in the Atlantic is renewing concerns over gas supplies. The price of U.S. light crude oil is up 70 cents to nearly $64 a barrel.

In culture, moviegoers switched from horror to romance this weekend. The new Reese Witherspoon movie, "Just Like Heaven," was number one at the box office with $16.5 million. "Heaven" knocked the "Exorcism of Emily Rose" out of the top spot.

In sports, tempers flare during the first race for NASCAR's Nextel Cup. Ryan Newman managed to avoid all the action to win the race. Tony Stewart still leads the points after finishing second.

Chad, were you watching?

MYERS: I watched some of it. I had -- it was my wife's birthday yesterday, so we had a birthday party at the house, so I couldn't really...

WALLACE: So happy birthday to your wife.

MYERS: I couldn't sneak in. Happy birthday to, Sally, good morning.

WALLACE: That's great.

MYERS: She's sleeping.

Here's your satellite picture of Rita. It is still a tropical storm, but it is getting stronger. It is forecast, in fact, to be a Category 1 hurricane, possibly strengthening close to a Category 2 by the time it makes its closest approach to Key West. And then gets into the Gulf of Mexico as a Category 3. A major hurricane, again, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Your tropical storm force warnings, all the way from Nassau, back down almost to the Turks and Caicos, and from Ocean Reef, right on down to Key West and the Dry Tortugas. The orange areas that you see there, though, those are tropical storm warnings.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WALLACE: All right, Chad, talk to you in a few minutes.

Continuing now with more about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People all along the Gulf Coast are trying to get their lives back in order. For many, that means a lot of hard work. And for one family in Gulfport, Mississippi, they aren't just rebuilding for themselves, but for their friends.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON PARKS, RESTAURANT OWNER: I'm Don Parks, and the restaurant is the Palace Restaurant in Gulfport. It's a family-owned restaurant. We started working last week. We're cleaning and making preparations to get the roof on. As soon as we get that done, we're going to have the electrical work done, the ceiling tiles. We'll try and get it open as soon as we can. The two daughters that work here, they love it. And I love it, you know, and I just don't want to get out of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've worked here on and off, you know, my whole life. When I first saw it like that, it was very heartbreaking. We all came down, as we do as a family, started cleaning, picking up insulation, ceiling tiles. And it's looking a heck of a lot better. The whole ceiling fell out. But yet you have all these glasses that didn't get touched, didn't get moved. Business cards that were by the register, they were just in tact.

We're not fancy, but we have these laminated. You can get a cheeseburger $1.70. We have the same people come in every day. They don't have to look at the menu. They know what the special is for Tuesday. I'm worried about a lot of my friends now, because that's -- they're not just customers.

These booths are right where they were. We kind of used the skid lines on the wall to put them back on there. Back booth is my dad's booth and his friends. They were big fishing people, you know, fishing buddies.

My whole life has been spent in this business, you know, with my family. And we're definitely coming back. We made out OK, I would say, because we've all got our lives, we're all healthy and here and that's what matters the most.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: New Orleans is beginning to turn the corner toward recovery. Throughout the week, we've been telling you this, we're going to report zip code by zip code as residents return.

Just a short ride, a ferry ride, excuse me, across the Mississippi River from Canal Street takes you to the historic Algiers neighborhood. About 60 percent of Algiers residents own one or two cars. The rest don't. Seventy-five percent of the neighborhood African-American.

Since New Orleans relies heavily on tourism, most of the workers in Algiers are in service-related jobs. The average age of Algiers residents is 30 years old. The average income around $31,000 a year. And median home value there is $84,000, well below the national average, which is $140,000.

And of course our own Carol Costello is reporting live there. And we'll check in with her at the top of the hour.

Time now, though, to read some e-mail.

Chad, what are you getting from our viewers?

MYERS: Finally got a couple that are in favor of people going back.

Jerry (ph) from Racine, Wisconsin says the only person that can make that decision is the individual. Put yourself in their shoes, I seriously doubt that most of us would stay away from our homes and lives this long. Let them return if they want. Additionally, at some point somebody is going to have to rebuild this place. Who's going to do it? Certainly I would not expect someone else to clean up my house and property when I was capable enough to do it.

And from Sarah (ph), what is Mayor Nagin thinking? Maybe on the West Bank people feel safe in their homes and reenter. But with the storm on the way and no infrastructure, even if only one computer model puts a Category 3 over New Orleans, we should have learned from Katrina that you can never be too safe.

And from Dennis (ph) in Michigan, I feel for those people affected by the hurricane. But before anyone returns, I would think that they would fix the levee system so it doesn't flood again. If not, what are they thinking?

Listen to Admiral Thad Allen, he says stay away, stay away. He's not Chicken Little. If he says it's not time, then it's not time. That was Peter (ph) from Virginia.

WALLACE: And, Chad, you know what's interesting, it'll be something to watch if city officials change their thinking watching Rita. If Rita is projected to really cause some damage in Louisiana, they might say, you know what, hold off until this storm passes.

MYERS: Forecast to be a major hurricane, Kelly, another.

WALLACE: Another. Awful experience of deja vu all over again.

OK, Chad, talk to you in a few minutes.

Coming up in our next hour of DAYBREAK, a new controversy in the Roman Catholic Church to tell you about. A Vatican initiative has gay rights activists up in arms. We'll talk to both sides of the debate.

And what do a feuding family and a group of castaways have in common? We'll bring you all the highlights from TV's biggest night in our next hour.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WALLACE: And welcome back.

Some "Entertainment News" to tell you about.

Newcomers and old-timers alike won top honors at the 57th Annual Emmy Awards. The ceremony paid tribute to the stars, but Hurricane Katrina also captured some of the spotlight.

More now from CNN's Sibila Vargas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELLEN DEGENERES, EMMY AWARDS HOST: Come on, if you don't win tonight, it doesn't mean you're not a good person, it just means you're not a good actor.

(LAUGHTER)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Emmys featured plenty of one-name stars, between Ellen, Whoopi, The Donald and Conan. But it was another name that loomed over them, Katrina.

DEGENERES: Our thoughts and our prayers go out to everyone affected.

VARGAS: The hurricane was a recurring theme during the telecast. Some stars wore magnolias, the state flower of Louisiana and Mississippi. And CBS pointed viewers to its Web site where they could donate to hurricane victims through Habitat for Humanity.

Presenter Jon Stewart drew laughs with the rant that he pretended had been censored by CBS.

JON STEWART, ACTOR: There's something I'd like to say to the government officials in charge, thank you all of you local, state. Local and state. The most confident, acceptable, shockingly ept response ever.

VARGAS: A couple of the night's winners also referred to Katrina.

PATRICIA ARQUETTE, BEST ACTRESS-DRAMA: And I really want to send my respect and gratitude to all the volunteers who are helping out right now.

VARGAS (on camera): With Hurricane Katrina hitting just three weeks ago, the disaster wasn't far from people's mind, whether it was on the stage or here on the red carpet.

HUGH LAURIE, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: This is not a problem that is going to be solved in a matter of weeks or months. This is something that is going to affect people's lives for maybe a decade. GLENN CLOSE, BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE: I think it was shameful. I think it was shocking that it was handled so badly.

VARGAS (voice-over): Some stars were not shy about expressing their political opinions.

NAVEEN ANDREWS, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE: It's now obvious to everyone what this government's priorities really are.

VARGAS: The real purpose of the Emmys, of course, were to hand out trophies. That went ahead as planned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "Lost."

VARGAS: Newcomer "Lost" won for best drama. And veteran sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," which ended its run last season, won for best comedy.

Backstage the consensus was that the show struck the right note.

TONY SHALHOUB, BEST ACTOR-COMEDY: It is a night of celebration. And I think it really had a perfect balance. For us in the audience, it was a lot of fun.

VARGAS: Sibila Vargas, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALLACE: And coming up next hour on DAYBREAK, a live Emmy report from Los Angeles, we'll be joined by CNN Radio's Jim Roope.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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