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Hurricane Katrina One Month Later; What's Next for Republicans With Congressman DeLay Indicted?

Aired September 29, 2005 - 07:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hurricane Katrina one month later. New Orleans mayor standing by his plan to bring people back to some neighborhoods.
And in Washington, what's next for Republicans with Congressman Tom DeLay indicted? We'll look at the case against and the spiralling problems for the GOP, on this AMERICAN MORNING.

Good morning to you.

Soledad is in New Orleans this morning, but unfortunately, she's barely able to talk above a whisper now. We hope she feeling better soon, and we will soldier on here.

Right now, let's start in Southern California. Wildfires in four Southern California counties are raging out of control this morning. Some 700 firefighters desperately trying to gain an upper hand. At least one home has been destroyed in the town of Chatsworth. That's north of L.A., in the San Fernando Valley. Evacuations ordered, more may come. Some 7,000 acres of scorched L.A., Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

Dan Simon live in Chatsworth with more.

Dan, the firefighters doing pretty well there so far?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they definitely have their hands full with this one. Miles, you can see the flames out in the distance roaring incredibly. This fire more than doubled overnight. We're basically standing in a parking lot, and the smoke is just so heavy. You can see the ashes coming down. We know that only 5 percent of this fire so far has been contained. Hundreds of homes are threatened. One-hundred and thirty homes so far have been evacuated. And it's just continuing to get worse overnight.

We know that helicopters were making drops. At least ten helicopters -- and this very rare -- were making night drops. It's dangerous to make night drops, because sometimes they can't see the power lines. And once again, we're basically standing in this crowded area. If the camera pans, you can actually see some of the evacuees just kind of standing here in the parking lot. They're wondering what's going on with their homes.

We're about to get an update, we're told, about in the next 30 minutes, but a real dicey situation here in Southern California.

Miles, back to you.

O'BRIEN: Dan Simon in Chatsworth, thank you very much.

The indictment of House Majority Tom DeLay, the latest in a series of blows to the Republican leadership. So far the administration is standing by DeLay, a chief ally in Congress. Elaine Quijano live at the White House with this.

Elaine, how concerned is the White House about the indictment?

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Miles.

The White House certainly feeling some concern, but at the same time, officials say they believe they can move forward on the president's agenda. Nevertheless, though, as you mentioned, Tom DeLay is seen as critical to this White House in rounding up Republican support, particularly on issues where members of the president's own party might be reluctant to follow. Now that's been evidenced on close votes on issues like Medicare. And looking ahead, a prime example of that is what was to have been a centerpiece for President Bush's legislative agenda, reforming Social Security.

Now The White House is standing by Tom DeLay, as in the past. Back in April, when criticism swirled, the president made clear he backed the majority leader, and now the White House is signalling continuing support for him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT MCCLELLAN, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECY.: Yes, Congressman DeLay is a good ally, a leader who we have worked closely with to get things done for the American people. The president's view is that we need to let the legal process work. There's a process in place, and we'll let that work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: Now this really is the latest in a series of challenges for the Bush White House. The president has already been dealing with approval ratings hovering around 40 percent or so, way down by a number of issues, including the response to Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq war and high gas prices.

And of course at the same time, the CIA leak investigation is still open, and, of course, recently there has also been the investigation now into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's stock dealings.

So all of this, Miles, adding to the complications for the Bush administration -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Elaine Quijano, at the White House, thank you very much.

The full Senate votes today on Judge John Roberts as chief justice of the U.S. His confirmation seems to be a foregone conclusion. The same cannot be said, however, about the other Supreme Court vacancies.

Bob Franken is on Capitol Hill.

Bob, how close is the administration to putting forward another nominee?

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're talking about probably the early part of next week, but that fight one is going to look this look like, to use a phrase we've been using in a different context, the calm before the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FRANKEN: The fight over the chief justice has been barely a squabble compared to what we can expect over the next Supreme Court nominee.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's all kind of jockeying already about what the president should do or what he shouldn't do.

FRANKEN: President Bush will be trying to replace Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and her swing vote with someone who could tilt the court rightward. The president's playing it very close to the vest.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The list is wide open, which should create some good speculation here in Washington. And make sure you notice when I said that, I looked at Al Gonzalez, so you can really create speculation.

FRANKEN: Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez has always been on a perceived short list as the possible first Hispanic justice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It would seem unlikely that President Bush is going to put up another white male to replace now Sandra Day O'Connor.

FRANKEN: Some of the women who are widely discussed include Edith Jones, appeals court judge from Texas, an outspoken opponent of abortion, Janice Rogers Brown on the D.C. circuit court, ditto, Maura Corrigan of the Michigan Supreme Court, an open admirer of Justice Antonin Scalia, Karen Williams, another conservative federal appeals judge, or none of the above.

In any case, look for a confirmation shredded.

SEN. RICHARD BURR (R), NORTH CAROLINA: If we aren't careful, no one will want that job.

FRANKEN: The president's selection is expected to be made public almost immediately after Roberts is sworn in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And we're told, as I mentioned, Miles, it could come the first part of next week, then the Democrats are going to have to decide whether they plan to use a filibuster, and the Republicans, whether they plan the so-called nuclear option to try an stop the filibuster, a lot of intrigue here at the Capitol -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Bob Franken, thank you very much.

Let's go to Iraq now. U.S. and Iraqi forces battling to weed out insurgents in northwestern Iraq. U.S. military sources estimate more than 1,000 insurgents are operating in and around the region.

Jennifer Eccleston is embedded with the U.S. Marines in Al Qaim, and she joins us now via videophone.

Jennifer, how much resistance are U.S. and Iraqi forces facing there?

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it depends on which area you go to. In some of these smaller towns along the Euphrates River here in the far regions of western Anbar province, which is a hotbed of insurgent activity, they are facing resistance, so much so that they're not even able to go into some of these towns. They are very much considered Al Qaeda and insurgent strongholds.

But what they're doing is something of a cat and mouse game, going into areas where they have appropriate forces. They go into these small towns. We went into one of them today. They do house-by- house searches. They go in. They question people. They're looking for arms caches. They're looking for facilitators, those who would give safe haven to insurgents.

They're also looking for the insurgents themselves. And as you mentioned, there are believed to be over 1,000 operating in this particular area of operations for the Marines. They've had some successes in nabbing some of those people. Just yesterday, it was members of the Striker Brigade with the Army that arrested 26 people, detained those people. Seven of them were considered high-value targets.

This is part of a broader campaign throughout this region, with stretches from the Euphrates River to the Syrian border. It's absolutely massive. You've got some of the lush towns along the Euphrates, the barren desert that leads you to the Syrian border. It is a main speeder route, a main transfer route, for these foreign insurgents coming into the country, and then eventually making their way down to Baghdad.

So this is an effort to weed out those insurgents, go in, take over some of these smaller cities, where they have the force capacity to do so, and establish a presence there. This is not something they've been able to do in the past, because the force capability was not there. Now they have enough troops, Iraqi troops, American troops, to go into at least some of these cities, secure them, and as they say here, security equals stability equals success. As long as there's a troop presence on the ground, they are able to weed out the insurgencies, convince the people here not to support them, convince them that they are creating a safe and stable environment for them, and also sweeping the insurgents back to the Syrian border -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer, tell us about these reports that there are actually posters which purport to be signed by Al Qaeda representatives, discouraging people from cooperating in any way with the Americans.

ECCLESTON: Absolutely. It's very much a campaign to intimidate the local population. These posters have been popping up, not only in the towns right outside of this base where I am now, Al Qaim, but along the main roads leading into that town, and others throughout the Euphrates River warning people not to join forces, warning them not to cooperate with the Americans, or the Iraqi forces for that matter, and telling people if they're not they're to join the insurgency, to join their fight, be it Al Qaeda in Iraq or the local Sunni insurgency here, the extremists, the former Baathist regime, if they're not willing to join forces with them, then they should leave the city.

One of the local commanders here said he saw evidence of that a couple of days ago. A number of residents have been fleeing Al Qaim in advance of some sort of an operation. And what they're seeing, those people moving to other cities along the Euphrates River. So that intimidation campaign is certainly working in some areas, forcing residents to flee their towns and never knowing what the outcome is going to be for their villages -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jennifer Eccleston in northwestern Iraq, thank you very much. He is in embedded with the U.S. Marines there.

Carol Costello is here. Soledad under the weather this morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I feel so bad for her.

O'BRIEN: We appreciate you coming on the dugout quickly for us.

COSTELLO: Yes, I came downstairs. Those two floors were hard to manage, but I'm here.

O'BRIEN: Good work. Good work.

COSTELLO: All right. Good morning, everyone.

Now a progress check on New Orleans. It's been one month since Hurricane Katrina made landfall. Mayor Ray Nagin has given the green light for more residents to return. People who live in these eight zip codes can return to their homes on Friday.

Adaora Udoji is live with us.

What other details can you tell us about it?

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. We're at the convention center. They're still here in downtown, a little bit of flooding on the first floor of the garage, but not in the rest of the city. That is why Mayor Nagin is going back and starting up that re-entry plan that they actually had in place before Rita came in, and they are opening the central business district, the French Quarter, and also uptown so that business owners can come in and take a look at the damage. And again, like you said, the residents can come in tomorrow. But I've got to tell you, Carol, we've met a handful, at least, of people who have snuck their way in because they're in such a rush to come in and see their homes and get to some of their things.

Further south in Algiers, the mayor says the repopulation is going quite well there. People have been coming in. There's water there. There's also electricity. But in those areas that were flooded after Rita, like the Lower Ninth Ward, that is completely blocked off, and will be for some time. Work continues on those sections of the levees that have been breached where there are gaping holes. And so small steps forward here in New Orleans -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Well, I know the Algiers neighborhood has a separate sewer system, and water system and electrical grid, but in the city of New Orleans, you still can't drink the water, and I think the electricity is still spotty. But what progress has been made to make business owners want to stay?

UDOJI: Carol, you're right, those things are very true, but I also have to say that yesterday was the busiest day I've seen here in a month in New Orleans. There are more cars on the streets. You see more shops that are open along Bourbon Street, at least they are struggling to get open, to assess what kind of inventory they have, what is going to be necessary in order for them to move forward.

You also see lots of streets are far cleaner than they were, even yesterday or the day before. Again, there are major problems all in and around because of that spotty electricity. But outside of the city and some of those areas that are really devastated, like in the northeast of the city or the Lower Ninth Ward, there are homes that were underwater for two-and-a-half weeks or more, there is mold that is creeping in in those areas. You still have streets, where there are lines down and lots of trees, so it's very -- you see the progress much more so downtown than you do anywhere else in the city -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Adaora Udoji live in New Orleans this morning. Thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

O'BRIEN: Still to come, the future of the Louisiana Superdome. Will it ever be reopened? We'll ask one of the officials in charge of the battered stadium.

COSTELLO: Also, many people are still missing in Katrina's aftermath. We'll get an update on efforts to reunite families divided by the storm.

O'BRIEN: But first up, more on the Tom DeLay indictment. We'll look at the possible fallout for the Republican Party.

Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O'BRIEN: Tom DeLay says his indictment in a campaign-finance scandal is the product of a partisan witch hunt by a Democratic district attorney. The Texas prosecutor says it's not about politics, but criminal intent. The indictment might not be the last straw for Republicans, but it is part of a fairly big bale of political trouble. CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein, also "The L.A. Times," joining us from Washington.

Ron, good to have you back with us. Let's just talk briefly so people fully understand what Tom DeLay has been charged with here.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He's been charged with conspiracy in attempt alleged by the prosecutor to evade Texas law, which prohibits corporate contributions to legislative candidates. The charge is that Mr. DeLay participated in a conspiracy to funnel money through the Republican National Committee, corporate money, to those candidates in evasion of Texas law.

Now the first question people will ask is, well, why does the House Majority Leader want to elect state legislative candidates in Texas? He wanted to elect them so they would reopen the redistricting plan, which is usually done once a decade after the census, the drawing of congressional district lines. He wanted the new Republican majority to draw lines more favorable to Republican candidates. That's exactly what they did when after took power in 2002, and Republicans gained five seats out of the Texas delegation to solidify their majority in the House.

And it was actually a very successful strategy, and a lot of people would say, hey, they is just sour grapes on the part of Democrats.

Let's talk, though, about the impact to the Republican Party here. And I think, outside the beltway, a lot of people may not realize how powerful a man Tom DeLay is.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, you have two really levels of impact. One is the practical operational level. The other is the broader, and symbolic and perhaps electoral level. On the first front, Tom DeLay has been an extraordinarily successful legislative leader. His nickname is "The Hammer," which gives you an idea of his operation style. He has really been the linchpin or the fulcrum between the inside players on the Hill and of those who support Republicans outside K Street, lobbyists, business groups and so forth. On the other hand, the Republicans have a pretty deep bench, a good team in the house. They've been in power for a decade now. Roy Blunt, who has stepped up, the majority whip, is a very effective politician, who isn't as polarizing as delay.

The second layer of impact of course is looking forward to the election and does this become part of an issue that could threaten Republicans in 2006?

O'BRIEN: Well, there is a lot more that we can throw into the mix here, and yes, you're right, this is a very deep and well- disciplined team, no question, but they're up against some tough adversaries here -- the Karl Rove investigation, the CIA leak goes. Bill Frist now kind of in the spotlight. You've got the Katrina botched-response issue. You've got the war in Iraq. You've got gas prices. This is a multifront war they're fighting.

BROWNSTEIN: This is a year where the Republicans probably wish they could sort of rollover and ask for a do-over. I mean, they got off on the wrong foot with the public with the intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. The approval rating for Congress tumbled then, and they've never really recovered. They've had two separate sets of problems.

As you suggest, they've had external events, real world events, dissatisfaction with the progress on the war in Iraq, high gas prices, uneasiness about the economy, the federal response to Katrina. And now a series of ethics allegations, including the Rove, the Valerie Plame investigation. Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader, facing questions.

What you've got now is an approval rating for Congress which is not much higher than it was in 1994, when, as every Republican knows, they swept the Democrats out of power, making historic gains and gaining control of both chambers. It's still a long way to go, but they are facing what I think even most Republicans acknowledge is a very stormy political climate right now.

O'BRIEN: All right. So look into your crystal ball. Is there -- is it possible there will be some sort of repeat of that really pivotal mid-term election you refer to there?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think it could get up to that level of loss, simply because in the redistrict unit we talked about around the country after 200, so many seats were drawn in the House to make them safe for one party or the other. Likewise, in the Senate, the Democrats are facing the tough terrain because many of the most competitive seats are in states where President Bush is strongest, the red states.

But having said that, if you look at the overall numbers that we're talking about, and you could throw in the president having some of the lowest approval ratings of his tenure, there's no question that a potential is building for a wave that could scramble these calculations and put the Republican majority, if not at risk -- put them at risk of not of losing their majority, certainly having it significantly reduced.

O'BRIEN: All right. These are the kinds of events you like to cover, Ron Brownstein.

BROWNSTEIN: Absolutely, yes.

O'BRIEN: All right. Thank you very much for being with us. He's our analyst and with "The L.A. Times" as well. Always a pleasure.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Carol.

COSTELLO: Exciting times for him. Still to come on AMERICAN MORNING, Andy's "Minding Your Business." More Americans than ever are having a hard time paying credit card bills on time. Experts say there's one big reason why. That's just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A record number of people are behind schedule on their credit card payments. So, what could be the reason? Andy Serwer is minding your -- this isn't surprising, really.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" COLUMNIST: You have a clue, don't you?

COSTELLO: I do.

SERWER: You do.

COSTELLO: Gas prices.

SERWER: Higher gas prices, Carol, starting to take their toll on the American economy. This is just another sign. The American Bankers Association came out with a survey yesterday that shows a record number of Americans are behind on their credit card payments; 4.81 percent of all cardholders are now behind on their payments. And they say, carol, it is because of higher gas prices. Also, they're saying that it's because of the low savings rate. You may know that Americans are saving less than ever, which is not a good sign.

And here's the truly scary part, I'm sorry to say. This survey was done for the months April to June. In June, gas prices were $2.13. They're now a good 60, 70 cents higher than that. So you can just imagine when they update those numbers, they are sure to climb.

COSTELLO: And what about high home heating bills that we're expecting this winter?

SERWER: Right.

COSTELLO: I mean, some people are going to put that on their credit cards because they'll have no other choice.

SERWER: That's true. And I think that is going to happen. But you know, some people would say, well, the credit card companies make plenty of money, so, they're just going to have to bite the bullet, like the rest of us.

COSTELLO: Yes, while you're charged interest.

SERWER: That's true.

COSTELLO: Really, really high interest.

SERWER: They make out. Don't worry about them.

COSTELLO: Believe me, I don't feel sorry for the credit card companies. Sorry -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Still to come in the program, one month after Katrina hit, the future of the badly damaged Louisiana Superdome. It's still up in the air. Should it ever be reopened? That story is ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

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