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CNN Live Today

Hurricane Rita; Road to Recovery; Reuniting Families

Aired September 21, 2005 - 10:59   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush met this morning with Senate leaders. They discussed possible candidates to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's vacancy on the Supreme Court. The senators reportedly floated about a dozen names, but Mr. Bush did not reveal any favorites of his own. Meanwhile, a Senate panel is expected to vote tomorrow on the president's pick for chief justice, John Roberts. More in a live update in about 30 minutes.
Good morning, and welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY. Just past 10:00 a.m. in Galveston, Texas. Just after 11:00 in Alexandria, Virginia. We're at CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Daryn Kagan.

First up this hour, we are tracking Hurricane Rita. As we look at these radar pictures, the Texas coast is bracing for the possible arrival of what is now a monstrous storm. Hurricane Rita has reached Category 4 strength, making it capable of causing extensive damage to pretty much anything in its path. Rita's likely target is near Galveston, Texas, but Louisiana and northern Mexico could also be in the crosshairs.

Let's check in now with Chad Myers with the latest.

We just saw the 11:00 a.m. prediction or the forecast.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The advisory.

KAGAN: The advisory, yes.

MYERS: Yes. Yes, 140 miles per hour now. That's really a satellite estimate, because there hasn't been a hurricane hunter aircraft in it yet today. The one that was supposed to take off early this morning had some technical computer issues with the electronics itself. But a very symmetric storm, a round storm. A perfect storm itself, if you to talk about the inflow and the outflow of the storm.

Now, it's still not quite even as big as the state of Florida, but it is about to get larger and it is about to move into the west part of the Gulf of Mexico, which has very warm water in it. And then possibly make a turn to the right. There's Galveston. There's Houston. All the way back down even into Corpus Christi. Brownsville not out of the realm of possibilities here.

And here is what happens. I want you to notice this color right there. That red, that is 87-degree water. That's warmer than your pool will ever get, even with the heater on. There is that 87-degree water. That's where this storm is now. This is 88-degree water, darker red. And then as it gets on up into Texas, it loses a little bit of heat, maybe loses a little bit of intensity, but it is still forecast to be a Category 4.

Many times these storms will gulp some dry, cool air off the continental U.S. There is not a bit of dry, cool air. Dallas today, 101. New Orleans, 97. Heat index, 105.

So what does a Category 4 really mean? Wind speeds 131 to 155. Right now, it's 140, so smack dab in the middle. Small residences along and even anywhere near the water completely destroyed. Large trees blown down. This is exactly, exactly where Katrina was when it made landfall.

Terrain lower than 10 feet above sea level, completely flooded, completely lost, basically, as the winds come in and take down and the waves come down, the storm surge comes in and takes down all of those homes. You have to be very careful.

We have to keep watching it. It could go left, it could go right, but a very dangerous storm. It is right in the middle now of the ocean. It's right in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. There's no way for it to miss something. It's going to hit something. It's going to hit Texas, Florida, all the way back down even into Mexico. I don't think it's going to hit anywhere, though, from Louisiana eastward, as the high pressure is going to keep it moving to the west for the next three days.

Back to you.

KAGAN: All right, Chad, back with you many times throughout the next hour.

MYERS: OK.

KAGAN: Thank you.

MYERS: You're welcome.

KAGAN: So let's focus on Louisiana. It is still reeling with Hurricane Katrina, and it's preparing for this possible brush with Rita. The governor has declared a state of emergency in some parishes there and evacuations are under way again in storm-weary New Orleans.

That's where we find our Mary Snow this morning.

Mary, good morning again.

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, again, Daryn.

And we are outside of the convention center in New Orleans. This is where the mayor has told people to come. There's a staging area behind me. You see it's pretty empty. There's not many people in the city itself. But he has told people to, if they want to leave, they can't get out, they can come here. And he said there are about 500 buses available. He says about two bus loads of people left yesterday. So far this morning, we ran into one gentleman looking for a bus to leave. What has happened here is that the mayor has declared a mandatory evacuation here on the east bank, a voluntary evacuation over on the west bank, which was not heavily damaged. That is the area where residents started to come back in on Monday. Of course he's saying he doesn't want to take any chances. This, after the death toll is 801 people in Louisiana alone following Hurricane Katrina.

The Army Corps of Engineers said that the city itself is essentially dry, that they have been able to pump water out faster than they had anticipated. The fear, though, is even several inches of rain, because the pumping stations and the levees have been weakened, and this is why the city is on guard.

Now, as far as how many people are actually here, I asked the mayor's office this morning. There's no firm count. However, there are thousands of military personnel here in New Orleans. They have been here for weeks now.

We ran up -- we caught up earlier today with Gen. Honore who is in charge of U.S. military personnel here in Louisiana. We asked him about repositioning troops.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, CMDR. JOINT TASK FORCE KATRINA: We'll be told when we've satisfied our mission. We're approaching that. And because I know our troops' families want to know when they're coming home, too. But Rita has a vote. And we'll see what lady Rita does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. SNOW: Now, outside of this convention area, there is a staging area for military personnel. And Gen. Honore saying that part of that is slated to be used for a military hospital. Also, the USS Iwo Jima and the USS Shreveport have been here. They are set to set sail out of New Orleans later today -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Mary, thank you.

Well let's look at the path of Rita. It came from the Key West area. And that's where the mayor of Key West having a news conference right now.

Here's Mayor Jimmy Weekley. Let's listen in.

MAYOR JIMMY WEEKLEY, KEY WEST, FLORIDA: Probably, again, about three or four feet of water there as well, as there was intrusion into the houses there as well, about a foot to two feet of water. Flagler Avenue, from First Street, up to the Key West high school, and then from the Key West high school up to about Fifth Street, there was an awful lot of flooding. Again, another three or four feet.

At approximately 1:15 this afternoon, we are expecting another high tide. We don't know what that impact will be on those areas where we've already had some flooding.

We are -- the police department does have the security around those areas to try to keep nonresidents out from those areas. We're asking nonresidents not to drive around sightseeing where there are flooded areas. Any residents that live in those areas to please respect their neighbors and drive slow, if they're able to get out of their neighborhoods.

So that's the status as of right now. The rest of the city is fine. We did not have any major property damage to any of our businesses or homes that we know of at this moment. We had about 1.63 inches of rainfall, which is a lot less than what was being told to the city. We're looking at 6 to 10 inches. So we feel fortunate there. The wind speed -- the height of the wind speed was about 62 miles per hour during the event yesterday. So -- pardon me?

QUESTION: Highest sustained gust?

WEEKLEY: It was the highest sustained, it was about 62 miles per hour. OK.

I'll now let the police chief.

KAGAN: Once again, we were listening in to the Key West Mayor, Jimmy Weekley, talking about how there was some flooding around Key West because of Hurricane Rita. But in general, that area was very fortunate in that it dodged the worst of Hurricane Rita, as we now watch it move into the Gulf of Mexico and toward the coast of Texas.

Which brings us to the mayor of Houston today calling on residents there to begin making plans to leave if they are in danger zones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL WHITE, HOUSTON, TEXAS: We are asking all residents in the Houston area and the greater Houston area that are in the storm surge area for a hurricane of this force and above to begin their -- making their evacuation plans. We're calling from -- for voluntary evacuation from several different areas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The mayor is calling on citizens who need help evacuating to reach out to family, friends and neighbors. The mayor saying there simply are not enough government vehicles to get everybody out.

Our complete coverage of Hurricane Rita continues in just a moment. Plus, finding a replacement for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. The president discusses possible choices with senators from both sides of the aisle.

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(STOCK MARKET UPDATE)

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KAGAN: Let's talk now about donations for Hurricane Katrina victims. They have been pouring in to charities across the country. Now, though, authorities are concerned that much of the money may not end up in the hands of legitimate groups.

Our technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pictures tug on your heartstrings and so do the words. Web sites asking for your money to help hurricane victims, Donate-Katrina.com, Christiandonations.com, Katrinafamilies.com. But these donation sites aren't run by a charity, they're owned by Frank Weltner of Jew Watch, an anti-Semitic Web site, according to Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.

JAY NIXON, MISSOURI ATTORNEY GENERAL: Weltner is a relatively well known neo-Nazi in St. Louis who was on September 2 formed a Web site that then he funneled contributions through that were literally meant for Katrina victims to fund his neo-Nazi right wing Jew Watch site and others.

SIEBERG: Nixon has obtained a preliminary injunction to shut down these 10 Web sites and freeze Weltner's accounts. In part, because Weltner's organization is not registered with the state as a professional fund raiser or charity. Nixon is seeking a permanent injunction, and a judge may also levy fines against Weltner.

NIXON: Well it's stunningly distasteful to take people's love and try to funnel and fund your hate with it. And the bottom line is, to go through the time to get 10 domain names, to form a new company, to set up this Web site, and then try to channel that money into that receptacle is the highest form of consumer fraud, as well as being very distasteful.

FRANK WELTNER, JEW WATCH: Well the attorney general is mistaken on this. What I was actually doing was funneling people from Jew Watch to the donation site, so that if they wanted to, they could donate money to the Katrina fund. And all of that money would have gone to the Katrina fund and nothing would go to me or to Jew Watch.

SIEBERG: According to Weltner, his fund raising efforts would help all victims of Katrina, regardless of race or religion.

(on camera): Weltner claims he only received 3 cents while his donation sites were active and that he never misrepresented himself to any prospective donors. He also says the reason he didn't simply steer people from his sites to a major charity is because he wanted to take credit for any money that was raised.

(voice-over): Nothing about this story should discourage you from donating online, but you should decide for yourself which charities are bona fide. And there are tools out there to help you. Charitynavigator.org rates charities and helps explain where your dollars go. With countless charities popping up online after Katrina, experts also recommend sticking with the major ones, like the Red Cross, or checking directly with your state attorney general office or the IRS.

Also, legitimate charities will not send unsolicited e-mail or spam asking for money. When in doubt, type in the name of the charity from scratch in your Web browser. It may mean an extra step, but it will help ensure your money gets into the right hands.

Daniel Sieberg, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Still ahead, the latest on efforts to reunite families separated in Katrina's aftermath. We'll go live to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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KAGAN: Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Committee votes on the nomination of John Roberts as the next chief justice of the United States.

Right now, Senator Ted Kennedy on the floor of the Senate about how he will vote.

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Only the admissions office is covered. If the entire institution is to be covered, however, it should be on the basis of something more solid than federal aid to the students.

You see what we're getting at here. Again and again, Judge Roberts refused to say whether he still agrees with those words. He only said, well, senator, the administration's policy was as I articulate. It was my job to articulate the administration's policy.

That's no answer at all. I never asked about the policy of the Reagan. I only asked whether today he still believed it would disavow his earlier position. Given his repeated refusal to answer, I can only conclude he still holds those views today.

KAGAN: So just a little bit of sound there from Sen. Ted Kennedy, not satisfied with answers he got during the hearings of the Senate Judiciary Committee with Judge Roberts.

Once again, that vote coming tomorrow with the Senate Judiciary Committee.

We've been hearing from various Democrats, they are not a united group on this idea. The Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, saying he would also vote against Judge Roberts in that nomination. But just a little bit ago, live, also, we saw Sen. Patrick Leahy, and he says he will support Judge Roberts. So more of that ahead with our Bill Schneider, also with Joe Johns at the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, we move on. About 30 minutes away from now, we should be getting an update from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Since Katrina hit, more than 3,600 displaced or missing children have been reported to the center. And about 1,000 cases have been resolved.

Our Kimberly Osias joins us from that center in Alexandria, Virginia, with the latest.

Good morning.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Daryn.

Well there's definitely a trend shift here at the center. The calls are really trickling off and really those resolved cases are really increasing. And while that is certainly good news, those reunifications are certainly good news, it is not good news that Rita is now a Category 4, really looming out there. But certainly there have been a number of lessons that have been learned with Katrina looking towards Rita out there.

And joining me now is Robert Snow, who is the floor supervisor here, to talk a little bit about that.

Really, I know this was a situation that we've never seen anything like it really before. And they're not missing persons in sort of that pure sense. People are really scattered, and that is certainly good news. But what sorts of things have we learned from Katrina looking ahead?

ROBERT SNOW, PHONE BANK FLOOD MANAGER: Well, we've learned we could handle an awful lot of calls here. We've really taken in a great deal. And a lot has been learned by this experience.

OSIAS: You know it is really critical to have sort of a family plan. I mean a lot of times you know, as we've learned, these caseworkers go in and some children don't know their last name. I know when I was little, you know I had a name and address in my shoe. I mean, something as basic as that. What sorts of things can folks do now that the power is still on, there's still TV in some areas, what sorts of things are really critical?

R. SNOW: Well once they get relocated, it's always a good idea to contact other family members, those folks that we've already taken cases in on. And if they're going to be relocated again, we would like to know that. They should contact us.

But there is some good basic ideas to write your children's names either on them or put them, some kind of identification on them. And follow the directions of the authorities and the state. So people, if you're asked to evacuate, do it, follow the authority's recommendations. They're there on site and they should be the ones that are calling the shots.

OSIAS: And really, looking at having folks call in, where their whereabouts are still unknown. We're talking about, you know, at least several thousand and more that are still unaccounted for. Really important, even now with Rita, more so, isn't it, to kind of get a handle on that?

R. SNOW: Well it is. And because many of those children you know are actually they're with a relative they may be. They may be in a shelter. But we want to get these -- start to put back together. And if we have already, as I said, taken the case in and we're working on the case, and the folks are going to move again, let us know where they're going to be going so we can assist and get the reunifications going. And, obviously, if there is another challenge, why we'll have to meet that.

OSIAS: Great. Thank you so much.

And in talking about those reunifications, take a look at this one. This we just learned a little while ago about little Alexandria and Dwayne Spradlin. Alexandria 6 years old, Dwayne Spradlin 4 years old, the mother was with the two children. The grandmother called the case in and opened the case.

Now the children were enrolled in a new elementary school in Pineville, Louisiana. Now, listen to this. School secretary saw the picture on TV, called law enforcement in Pineville, who in turn called the center and then connected the dots furthermore. Then those law enforcement officials made the calls to both the mother and the grandmother. Hopefully we will be seeing more of these happy reunions taking place -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, thank you for that, Kimberly Osias in Alexandria, Virginia.

Back to political news now, the confirmation of John Roberts for chief justice is very close to a vote. It's supposed to happen tomorrow.

Now President Bush must find a replacement on the Supreme Court for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. He is seeking advice from Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle. Analysis on his possible choice right after the break.

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KAGAN: Hurricane Rita is now a dangerous Category 4 storm churning through the Gulf of Mexico, as we take a look at what's happening "Now in the News." It has sustained winds of 140 miles per hour and is moving toward the Gulf Coast. Based on current projections, Rita could strengthen and make landfall near Galveston, Texas, late Friday or early Saturday.

Former President Jimmy Carter accuses the Bush administration of failing to maintain FEMA, an agency Carter created. He says the administration broke his promise that FEMA's leaders would always be highly qualified. Carter also criticized the decision to put FEMA within the Department of Homeland Security. And he said the agency is grossly under funded.

As many as 26 Georgia gas stations may face fines over high prices. A huge spike in prices over the Labor Day weekend prompted the governor to suspend the state gas tax. The stations could be fined for not reducing their prices to reflect the sales tax moratorium.

Indonesian officials say a Bird Flu outbreak that had killed at least four people could quickly become an epidemic. The health minister says right now the outbreaks are sporadic, but the situation could worsen. Health experts and agricultural experts have converged on Jakarta to help control the virus.

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