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CNN Live At Daybreak
President Bush and Lessons Learned; Contract Question; Energy Angst
Aired September 27, 2005 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is Tuesday, September 27. President Bush wants you to ease up on the gas pedal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We can all pitch in by using -- by being better conservers of energy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Katrina and Rita reveal a tear in the nation's energy muscle. We'll tell you what the president wants you to do about it.
Plus, having faith and providing shelter in times of disaster. But should the government ante up when the offering plate is passed?
And a little barbecue, a faithful companion. Tigertown shakes off those hurricane woes and goes wild. We'll tell you if the Tigers got tamed in their home opener.
ANNOUNCER: From the Time Warner Center in New York, this is DAYBREAK with Carol Costello and Chad Myers.
COSTELLO: And good morning to you. We'll have more on President Bush in just a minute.
Also ahead, talk about a PR tour. Karen Hughes travels to the Middle East hoping to polish the U.S. image overseas. Is it working?
And queen for a day. Well, at least for a night. We'll explain.
But first, "Now in the News."
There's been another suicide bombing in Iraq, and again police are the targets. Just about three hours ago a suicide bomber killed nine police recruits and injured 23 others. It happened in Baquba, about 35 miles north of Baghdad.
Separate attacks in Afghanistan leave two U.S. service members dead and a third injured. One was killed in a ground assault west of Kandahar. Another soldier was wounded. A marine was killed when a U.S. base near Asanabad came under fire.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves for Haiti today. She'll meet with the leaders of Haiti's interim government and U.N. officials there. The trip is meant to show U.S. support for the country's upcoming elections.
And the parents of the Brazilian who was killed on the subway in London are on their way to that city today. He was killed by British police in July after being mistaken for a terrorist in London's subway system. They'll visit the station where he was shot.
To the forecast center now and Chad.
Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Carol, we're together two days in a row. Oh.
COSTELLO: I know. It's amazing.
MYERS: They didn't take you to "AMERICAN MORNING" or anything?
COSTELLO: No, I'm still here.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: And I'm glad.
MYERS: All right. All week, maybe. We'll work on it.
Good morning, everybody.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MYERS: So maybe the summer is finally coming to an end. So you have to kind of be careful what you ask for, because snow's not that far behind.
COSTELLO: Oh, don't say that.
MYERS: No, no, no. I'm just kidding.
COSTELLO: Oh, that's awful. Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: I'd love to see snow if that would hurricane season.
COSTELLO: Oh, you know, you got that right. That's a point.
MYERS: OK.
COSTELLO: Thank you, Chad.
MYERS: You're welcome.
COSTELLO: More frequent flyer miles for President Bush today. He's getting an aerial tour of the damage from Hurricane Rita. The president leaves Washington just about three hours from now for Beaumont, Texas. He'll be briefed by officials in charge of relief operations, and then he'll get a tour of the areas hardest hit by Rita. Also on his itinerary, Lake Charles, Louisiana. That's one of the cities that suffered extensively from Rita. And then from Lake Charles, he returns to the White House. And that will happen some time late this afternoon.
The president did take a beating in the opinion polls after Hurricane Katrina hit and left many in New Orleans stranded in water up to their rooftops. Our Suzanne Malveaux tells us how the president changed his plans for Rita after the lessons he learned from Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): First stop, FEMA headquarters in Washington Friday, where he vowed not to get in the way. San Antonio was to be next. The press corps landed, but the president decided he would be a distraction there and went directly to Colorado Springs to ride out the storm at the military command center there. Saturday, as Rita blew ashore, Mr. Bush was briefed in Colorado Springs.
BUSH: ... to help our fellow citizens who are in need.
MALVEAUX: Austin, Texas...
BUSH: When they come, we have a duty.
MALVEAUX: ... San Antonio...
BUSH: There were still some amazingly heroic efforts.
MALVEAUX: ... and briefed again Sunday in Baton Rouge.
BUSH: I know a lot of people want to get back home.
MALVEAUX: No foul weather gear needed for a hurricane-hunting president. What he did find was a fairly smooth operation, cooperation among federal, state and local officials. The president said his goal was to see how to best handle crises like this. An unstated goal, wading out from a flood of criticism for his handling of Katrina.
Back then, he followed his CEO instincts, stick to a schedule, let the people he put in place do their jobs. Local, state and federal agencies were, after all, supposed to work together.
Mr. Bush remained at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. Aides say he could do anything there that could be done at the White House. In fact, at the ranch he warned those in Katrina's path to get out of the way.
BUSH: Hurricane Katrina is now designated a Category 5 hurricane. We cannot stress enough the danger this hurricane poses to Gulf Coast communities.
MALVEAUX: As Katrina came ashore, Mr. Bush kept to his schedule. A stop in Arizona, touting his drug program. A similar event in California. And after the levees broke, San Diego, to commemorate VJ Day and to discuss the war on terror. Then back to Crawford to give his managers time to get their reports in order as the president cut short his working vacation to get back to Washington.
At each stop he mentioned Katrina and concern for the people impacted. But by the time he went to the region, four days after the hurricane, the political storm was devastating to the president's standing. Could he have done something different then and now?
STU ROTHENBERG, POLITICAL ANALYST: For the president, really it's a no win situation in many respects, his reaction now to the hurricanes. Either he -- either he didn't do enough or he interfered.
MALVEAUX: White House officials say the president's travel is the cost of doing business.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: So, what about those lessons learned from these two terrible sister hurricanes? You may have heard the president in one briefing when he asked about giving the military a larger role in natural disasters. Listen to what the White House press secretary now says.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The military is the one organization that has the capability to quickly deploy large amounts of resources and assets to help stabilize a situation in the event of a major catastrophe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Some say true, but hold on just a minute. The White House's acknowledging the idea raises a lot of issues. Among them, an 1878 act banning the nation's armed forces from taking part in police- type activities on American soil.
One Louisiana sheriff is upset with FEMA's upset to Hurricane Rita, and that would be an understatement. The sheriff of Vermilion Parish tells CNN's Paula Zahn that FEMA should have moved faster to help people left homeless by the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish for once FEMA would cut all the red tape and expedite the supplies and the services needed for all of these people that have lost their homes. They need some type of help, some type of funds so they can start their lives all over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Vermilion Parish is one of the hardest-hit areas. Cities like Erath and Abbeville suffered very heavy flooding. Farther east, in Mississippi, the work is well under way clearing away the debris from Katrina. But now questions are being raised over the cost of the cleanup and who was doing the work. Do you think politics might be involved?
CNN's Allan Chernoff takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Biloxi, Mississippi, did not trust the federal government to hire contractors to clean out the tons of debris Hurricane Katrina left. Mississippi's third largest city conducted its own bidding.
Nine companies bid. Biloxi hired three firms. The cost of debris removal, $15.89 per cubic yard, as Biloxi reported to residents in this newsletter, estimating the cleanup cost at $50 million.
A.J. HOLLOWAY, MAYOR OF BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI: We hired three contractors and hopefully they can make at least one round and get the majority of it up.
CHERNOFF: The Army Corps of Engineers relied on pre-negotiated emergency contracts at first. Then it conducted a quick, but competitive bidding process, hiring four companies to remove debris in Mississippi and Louisiana. The rates vary widely, but some are cheaper than Biloxi's.
But the highest price for much of the debris hauling is $17 a cubic yard from Ashbritt, a Florida company that was a client of the former lobbying firm of Haley Barbour. Barbour, former head of the Republican National Committee, is now governor of Mississippi.
The cleanup contracts are for half-a-billion dollars and can be extended to as much as $1 billion each. At FEMA's parent, the Department of Homeland Security, the inspector general is skeptical. Through a spokesperson, he told CNN: "History shows debris removal is vulnerable to abuse. That's where the waste is. We're focusing on those contracts."
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D), MICHIGAN: I think it's now time for Congress and the president to call a halt to this absolute wasteful spending under the guise of Hurricane Katrina relief.
CHERNOFF: All the contractors referred questions to the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps says it is watching for abuse, its own auditors checking to make sure the companies haul away as much debris as their bills claim.
But, by the very nature of this work, it's difficult to precisely measure cubic yards when bulldozers are collecting hundreds of thousands of tons. Faced with an emergency, the federal government has hired large firms it believed could get the job done, a job so massive that it could cost taxpayers hundreds of millions more than anyone could have imagined.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And you talk about debris removal. In the city of New Orleans alone, 200,000 cars have to be thrown away somewhere.
We're going to have more on these contract questions coming up in the second hour of DAYBREAK. At 6:30 Eastern, we'll talk with Professor Josh Schwartz. He is one of the foremost experts on the laws governing federal contracts to try to enlighten you on whether your tax dollars are being wasted.
The former FEMA chief, Michael Brown, is still on the agency's payroll. Did you know that? Brown told congressional investigators that he is being paid as a consultant. He's helping to assess what went wrong with FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina.
Brown is scheduled to testify today in front of the House panel investigating FEMA's actions. Remember, he resigned on September 12 amid criticism for his handling or mishandling of the disaster.
Another area of FEMA's finances is making headlines this morning. The agency is pledging to reimburse churches and other faith-based organizations that provided food, shelter and other relief in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina.
Joe Becker, with the Red Cross, is quoted in "The Washington Post" this morning. He says, "It is appropriate for the federal government to assist the faith community because of the scale and scope of the effort and how long it's lasting."
But a reverend who would presumable be on the receiving end of the FEMA reimbursement says, "The people have been so generous to give that for us to ask for reimbursement would be like gouging for gas. That would be a crime against heaven." And that is a direct quote.
And I'm going to read more on what he had to say. This came from the Reverend Flip Benham, Chad. He's the director of Operation Save America.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: He said his group has been dispensing food and clothing, and that bibles and tracks go out with everything we put out. In Mendenhall (ph), Louisiana, he said he preached to evacuees while the mayor directed traffic and the sheriff put inmates in the county jail. Yet, Benham said he would never accept a dime from the federal government.
Of course the big rub here is some people think this is a violation of the separation of church and state.
MYERS: Right. And what -- only one thing that -- on this page from "The Post" that you didn't read was -- that I thought was important, "FEMA officials said religious organizations would only be eligible for payments if they were requested by the state or federal governments."
If they actually asked the churches to help. If the churches just helped on their own, no payments. That's just how it goes.
COSTELLO: And the other part of that is the church has to actually, you know, apply...
MYERS: Apply.
COSTELLO: ... for federal money.
MYERS: And churches saying they're just not going to do that.
COSTELLO: But some churches are.
MYERS: Well...
COSTELLO: Especially those churches who have housed evacuees for, like, you know, for a month now. So we wondered...
MYERS: And had fed them, you know, and all that, too.
COSTELLO: Right.
MYERS: I mean, there's a lot of money involved here for -- you know, you put 15,000 people under one roof, it takes some money.
Should FEMA reimburse these faith-based groups? Go to DAYBREAK@CNN.com and let us know what you think. This is -- this is kind of a sticky subject between that church and state thing. Let us know -- Carol.
COSTELLO: DAYBREAK@CNN.com.
MYERS: Yes.
COSTELLO: In other news "Across America" this morning, grieving mother turned anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan was arrested outside of the White House. It happened during an anti-war protest. Sheehan and several others were arrested after they sat down on the sidewalk despite being told repeatedly by the police that they were breaking the law.
The sentencing phase of Lynndie England's prisoner abuse trial is set to begin today. A military jury convicted England on several counts of mistreating prison detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. England could receive a maximum sentence of nine years in prison.
Three people are recovering this morning after being shot by a former employee of a nail polish factory in New Windsor, New York. Police say Victor Piazza shot two co-owners and an office manager at Verla International before killing himself. Piazza was reportedly fired after being arrested in 2004 for having child pornography on his work computer. Still ahead on DAYBREAK, first Katrina and then Rita. What will the hurricanes mean for your gas and home heating bills? We'll have the latest. And that comes your way at 18 past the hour.
Also ahead, a listening tour. What's that? Well, U.S. envoy Karen Hughes is on a mission to improve the U.S. image in the Arab world. She's listening, but what is she hearing?
And on the defensive. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist under fire for selling stock in his family's hospital company.
But first, here's a look at what else is making news this Tuesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: International markets mixed this morning. Tokyo's Nikkei down 82 points. The London FTSE up 13. The German DAX down 12.
And while we're at it, we have to check on the oil. In futures trading, crude is down 22 cents a barrel to $65.60 this morning.
President Bush says he might tap into the strategic oil reserve again. But he also says it may be the time to increase production here at home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: The storms have shown how fragile the balance is between supply and demand in America. I've often said one of the worst problems we have is that we're dependent on foreign sources of crude oil. And we are. But it's clear as well that we -- we're also really dependent on the capacity of our country to refine product. And we need more refining capacity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: The president also thinks you should do more to conserve energy. Even so, analysts say gas prices could hover near $3 a gallon for weeks or even months.
CNN's Ali Velshi takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's true, most refineries were spared the worst of Hurricane Rita, but your wallet might not be.
TOM KLOZA, OIL PRICE INFO. SERVICE: The hurricanes are going to haunt us for really about four, five, six weeks or so. And then we'll be OK in November and December.
VELSHI: At a national average of about $2.80 a gallon, gasoline costs nearly a dollar more than it did a year ago. If it stays around this price, that's 500 bucks more per year for the average American driver, 500 bucks seems like a deal compared to what you'll soon pay to heat your home, especially if you live in more than 50 million American homes that is use natural gas.
The government says that if it is a cold winter, it could cost you 71 percent more to heat your house this year than it did last year. That's $600. If you use heating oil, you will pay about 30 percent more to heat your home this winter.
For most Americans, it's still hundreds of dollars that you won't have to spend on other things, the other things you buy that make America one of the strongest economies in the world. And that's if nothing else goes wrong.
PHIL FLYNN, ALARON TRADING CORP: We are extremely invulnerable. If we have another tropical storm that shuts down production, I fear for the economy.
VELSHI: The president knows it is a real fear. For the second time in a month, he urged Americans to conserve.
BUSH: We can all pitch in by using -- by being better conservers of energy. We can curtail nonessential travel that makes sense for the citizen out there to curtail nonessential travel. It darn sure makes sense for federal employees.
VELSHI: Oil companies are urging conservation too. ExxonMobil is buying full-page ads encouraging drivers to save gas by reducing trips. Why would Exxon ask drivers to cut back? Because for some Americans high fuel prices are making conservation an economic decision rather than an environmental one. And if Americans get serious about conserving fuel, it will hurt the industry a lot more than the hurricanes did.
Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Your news, money, weather and sports. It is 5:20 Eastern. Here's what's all new this morning.
President Bush plans to tour areas hit by Hurricane Rita today. The president is expected to talk with local officials and review oil refinery damage during stops in Beaumont, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana.
The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has won a key vote of confidence. Voters decided against early elections in ousting Sharon as leader of the ruling Likud Party. The vote was pushed by opponents unhappy with Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan.
In money news. Google is getting more ambitious with streaming video. Google video was showing UPN's debut episode of the TV show "Everybody Hates Chris" in its entirety on the Internet. Yahoo! and AOL have done similar Web casts. In pop culture, the actor Don Adams has died. He's best known for his role as Agent 86 on TV's "Get Smart." But he's also known to millions as the voice of the cartoon characters Tennessee Tuxedo and Inspector Gadget. What you probably didn't know is that he was a marine in the Pacific during World War II.
Don Adams was 82.
In sports, "Monday Night Football" now. The Denver Broncos dominated the Kansas City Chiefs on their way to a 30-10 win. Both teams are now two and one on the season -- Chad.
MYERS: Good morning, Carol.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COSTELLO: Thanks, Chad.
That's a look at the latest headlines for you this morning.
Put enough English soccer fans together and you'll probably get a fight. Put some English soccer mascots together and, well, you get this. Your DAYBREAK "Eye Opener" is next.
And this land is your land, this land is my land. And seeing this land is about to cost us all a lot more money. More green for our national parks coming up.
You're watching DAYBREAK for Tuesday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MYERS: Ah, coming in from Angie in Alabama, "It's better to give than to receive. This is what religion is all about, helping those in need."
What do you think? Should FEMA reimburse faith-based groups -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. If FEMA does reimburse these groups, which it seems to be it's going to do, this will be the first time in history it's done such a thing.
MYERS: But only the groups that FEMA actually asked to help them.
COSTELLO: See, a lot of people think it's a violation of separation of church and state.
MYERS: All right. And the e-mails are coming in.
COSTELLO: Plus, these churches -- I know. Plus, these churches, you know, have donations from volunteers. That's an interesting question.
DAYBREAK@CNN.com. It is now time for our DAYBREAK "Eye Opener."
Never too late to live out your dreams. Just ask 71-year-old Muriel Saunders (ph). She was recently crowned homecoming queen at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma. Saunders was among five finalists, all of whom were in their 20s. She survived cancer 40 years ago and said she hopes to change the country's image of the elderly.
This 6-month-old St. Bernard proves puppies will eat almost everything and anything. Little Elsie (ph) here apparently swallowed a 13-inch knife. It lodged between her esophagus and stomach.
Surely, you've heard about this. This has been in the news for days. It stayed in her stomach four days before it was surgically removed.
MYERS: Oh.
COSTELLO: Elsie does have an eight-inch scar, but she's reportedly doing just fine. And Chad, she is back with her family.
MYERS: Oh my gosh. I can't even look at that picture. It scares me.
COSTELLO: It's a little early in the morning, isn't it?
They're usually on the sidelines energizing the crowds, but in England several soccer clubs and charity mascots had a chance to show off their athletic prowess in the annual Grand National race. It featured them sprinting 200 meters while leaping over fences.
MYERS: This has to be an ESPN commercial at some point in time.
COSTELLO: I know, exactly. The winner was this speedy red squirrel. He's named Scoop Stick.
MYERS: Where's Harry Husker? Oh, he fell down.
COSTELLO: They need you to dress up as Harry -- we just thought you needed to laugh this morning.
Here's what's all new in the next half-hour of DAYBREAK.
Sure, in-flight television is a nice perk, until your flight hits the evening news. Would you turn the channel? Would you watch the crisis as it unfolds? More on that story still to come on DAYBREAK.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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