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American Morning
In Florida, Thousands Still Without Water, Gas and Electricity; Tension Mounts in Washington
Aired October 27, 2005 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Florida, thousands still without water, gas and electricity. A lot of angry people. But is it really the government's fault this time around? We're live there. We'll tell you.
Waiting, waiting, waiting some more. With every passing day, the tension mounts in Washington. What are the new signs this morning the CIA leak investigation may be coming to a close?
South Side, North Side, any way you slice it, in Chicago they are celebrating the World Series White Sox this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.
ANNOUNCER: From the CNN broadcast center in New York, this is AMERICAN MORNING with Soledad O'Brien and Miles O'Brien.
O'BRIEN: Good morning.
Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING.
Top of the hour.
I'm Miles O'Brien.
Soledad is still off, enjoying a mud pack, probably, right now in a spa.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: Mud packs are good.
O'BRIEN: That's not so bad.
But Zain Verjee is here.
Good to have you with us.
VERJEE: Thank you, Miles.
It's always fun to be with you.
O'BRIEN: Let's get to a story that has a familiar ring to it, just a little different dateline.
The heat is on in Florida. We're not talking about the weather. Fortunately, the weather is not a problem there. But tempers are flaring. People are angry at the government's response to Wilma.
Food, ice, water, especially gasoline, all scarce this morning. No electricity to pump it.
Allan Chernoff is live at a gas station in Sunny Isles, Florida, where they do have a little electricity -- Allan, when last we saw you, there was a little bit of a fueling fracas underway behind u.
Did everything get rectified?
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, we've had several of those since. Witness the road warriors of Southern Florida. The line begins more than a half mile in that direction. And then it extends all the way down here. You can see the green light. It goes around the block, around the block, around the block and finally ends up at this Citgo station.
The line began forming at 4:00 in the morning.
Now, keep in mind, there are only about a handful of gas stations open right now because the power is out in so many portions of Southern Florida. Here in Sunny Isles, they do have the power so they can pump gasoline. But the line has been moving very slowly.
Why is that? Because people are hoarding. Not long ago, there was a fellow in a vehicle. He filled up his vehicle. He had 10 two gallon containers of gasoline. He kept pumping and pumping and pumping. He filled it up until he had paid more than $100 for gasoline.
So the folks here certainly getting a little, a little testy. Things have been getting nasty. Some people trying to sneak into line and essentially people are getting fed up right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA PERONE, SUNNY ISLES RESIDENT: This is ridiculous. I feel like I'm in a Third World country. We come from Venezuela, from Peru, from Cuba, everywhere, and this is the same thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: There have been also long lines at grocery stores, long lines at distribution centers for water and ice. And the acting director of FEMA says a lot of this actually could have been avoided.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID PAULISON, ACTING FEMA DIRECTOR: We had a lot of people standing in lines yesterday that we didn't like to see. But that's why we tell people have 24 hours or, excuse me, 72 hours of food and water, so you don't have to stand in line.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHERNOFF: Keep in mind, the power is still going to be out in many portions of Southern Florida for a few more weeks, according to the utility company, and that means we could be seeing these lines for some time to come -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Allan, a lot of the gas stations I waited in line at when I was there just a few days ago, they had like limits on the amount of gas you could buy, say, $20, which, of course, these days isn't that much. The guy with the jerry cans, he probably should be shot. That's ridiculous.
CHERNOFF: Absolutely absurd. And, frankly, there are a lot of police officers here. They've got their hands so full that they're just busy trying to protect the lines, making sure that people don't sneak into line. And as a result, as you can see, there are no police officers actually at the pumps. Frankly, if some of the cops were at the pumps, I think these lines would be moving a lot more quickly.
O'BRIEN: You know what you need to do, Allan? Go over there and start policing it. You've got the CNN windbreaker on there and say look, only $20 worth, that's it.
Good luck.
CHERNOFF: Miles, we certainly did give that fellow a little bit of a hard time.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you, Allan.
Appreciate that. On my behalf, I appreciate that -- Zain.
VERJEE: Miles, there's been a major ruling in the 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center.
The Port Authority, which was in charge of the buildings, has been found negligent. A jury saying officials should have known the underground garage was vulnerable to terrorists. Six people were killed, 1,000 injured.
CNN legal analyst Jeff Toobin joins me now -- Jeff, what's the significance of this? Could lawsuits follow?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, this lawsuit did not address the issue of damages. But the next stage in it will. And it means it will be a likely very big settle -- a very big damage judgment against the Port Authority for all these people, the six people killed, the thousand people injured, perhaps even the businesses that were damaged in the course of that, as a result of that bombing. And, you know, there may be settlements, as well. So it's very bad news for the Port Authority.
VERJEE: They found the Authority 68 percent responsible for the attack and they assigned the terrorists 32 percent responsibility.
TOOBIN: Right. This will be an argument for people who want to abolish the jury system. I mean, you know, the idea that the Port Authority is twice as responsible as the people who actually set off the bomb, I mean that is very hard to understand for a lot of people and it may simply be wrong. And it'll be challenged on appeal.
In fairness to the verdict, though, in fairness to the jury, the key evidence in the case was that a committee of the Port Authority, their security committee, warned the Port Authority that this underground parking garage was vulnerable to terrorism. In fact, there were...
VERJEE: So they have a basis for that?
TOOBIN: Right. The report said a time bomb laden vehicle could be driven into the World Trade Center and parked in a public parking area. That is, of course, exactly what happened. That report was in 1985. The Port Authority did not shut down the parking garage, so the jury decided to hold the Port Authority responsible.
VERJEE: Jeff Toobin, thank you.
TOOBIN: You're welcome.
VERJEE: Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's check some headlines now.
Carol Costello here with that -- hello, Carol.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Miles.
Good morning to all of you.
Washington is gearing up for a decision in the two year CIA leak investigation. Gearing up. We hope so.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald met with the judge on Wednesday after the grand jury meeting. The "Washington Post" is reporting any possible charges could be announced tomorrow. That's when the grand jury session is set to expire.
Answers from Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers could be made public today. Miers was supposed to turn in her second attempt at the Senate Judiciary Committee questionnaire last night. Committee leaders called Miers' initial responses incomplete.
In the meantime, an ad opposing Miers' nomination is hitting the air waves nationwide. A conservative group, Americans for Better Justice, calls on President Bush to withdraw her nomination.
People in New Orleans' hardest hit district heading home today, at least for a little while. The Lower Ninth Ward will let in buses starting in the next hour for a so-called look and leave. Former residents can view the damage to their homes from the buses. Pastors and counselors will be on hand. Mayor Ray Nagin says he hopes this will give them closure, but they will not be allowed to step outside of the bus. Too dangerous.
Good news for some tourists stranded in Mexico after the storm. About 6,000 people finally got flights out of Cancun on Wednesday. Many had been waiting around for days outside of Cancun's main airport. But thousands more are still in Mexico, hoping, keeping their fingers crossed that they will get flights out of there today. And get the Wheaties box ready because the party's not going to stop on Chicago's South Side today. The Chicago White Sox defeated the Houston Astros Wednesday night, to win the World Series. Series MVP Jermain Dye drove in the winning run in the eighth inning, leading the team to a 1-0 victory. The Sox took the Series in a sweep, claiming their first title in 88 years.
And let's talk about Halloween, because when it comes to pumpkins, white is the new orange. White pumpkins are becoming the latest trend for carving Halloween Jack-'O-Lanterns. The ghostly pumpkins are albinos, and you know what that means. They're naturally white and not painted. They don't have any orange pigment.
While the ghost pumpkins are a little more expensive, fans say they look more ghoulish. Don't they? Look. Is that scarier than the orange pumpkins?
O'BRIEN: Whoa!
COSTELLO: Yes.
And kids can draw on them and, jeez, white pumpkins are great.
O'BRIEN: You know, I bet somewhere there was a "Martha Stewart Living" article on how white pumpkins are in. Don't you think that might have started this?
COSTELLO: I think it might have, because they're very in vogue among some in our community.
VERJEE: But do white pumpkins make it feel like Halloween and (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?
COSTELLO: No, I'm a traditionalist. I like my orange pumpkin.
VERJEE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Yes.
COSTELLO: Punkin'.
VERJEE: Orange punkin'.
COSTELLO: Punkin pie.
VERJEE: Orange punkin'.
O'BRIEN: All right, let's check the weather, shall we?
Good frost on the pumpkin weather all throughout the nation, white, orange or otherwise.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you can mix and match.
O'BRIEN: There you go.
JERAS: You can mix and match. A little of the old, a little bit of the new.
(WEATHER REPORT)
VERJEE: Still to come, more on the mounting frustrations in Florida. It's a desperate situation for thousands of senior citizens after Wilma. Are they getting enough help?
O'BRIEN: Also, the second term blues for President Bush. Jeff Greenfield telling us how the president can turn around a long stretch of bad P.R.
VERJEE: Plus, George stops by -- George Clooney. He'll talk about success and his new film and the injuries that almost kept the movie from happening.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Sunny Isles, Florida -- this is the location where Allan Chernoff is. He says that gas line is about a half a mile long. Some people are hoarding, filling up multiple gas cans. And that's causing quite a bit of tension and anger this morning in the wake of Wilma.
You know, millions in Florida are without power still, three days after Wilma. As a matter of fact, Florida Power & Light, the big utility there, says it could be several weeks before everybody is back in business. And as a result, a lot of necessities are running low -- food, medicine. And, of course, homes are damaged and exposed to the elements.
This story, sadly, has become all too familiar to us. We're just moving it to a different location.
Let's check in with Henri and Joan Borstel.
They're joining us from their damaged condo in Boca Raton, Florida.
Mr. and Mrs. Borstel, good to have you with us this morning.
HENRI BORSTEL, FLORIDA SENIOR CITIZEN: Thanks.
O'BRIEN: First of all, just give me a little situation report there.
How much damage was caused to your condo? Howe are things going there getting repairs made?
H. BORSTEL: As far as repairs go, we don't know yet. We're still in the process of getting people to come in and to acknowledge our damage here. We do have an awful lot of damage. I've lost -- I have three buildings in New Castle Association and I lost three roofs on all three buildings, so that if we get a rain soon, we're going to get flooded. My fourth floors are going to be flooded out. O'BRIEN: And now we should point out to our viewers, you're the president of the association. Your wife is the treasurer.
H. BORSTEL: Yes.
O'BRIEN: So you're probably getting an ear full from some of your fellow residents like when are the contractors going to be showing up, when are we going to get this done.
Is it -- are people getting testy with you or are they patient?
H. BORSTEL: No, no. I had a meeting late yesterday of my unit owners and we explained to them the problems and the situation. And fortunately this time of year, a lot of people aren't here. They're snow birds. And we are coping with what we have and the people are, too. They've been great in here in New Castle. And from what I understand, in the village as a whole.
O'BRIEN: All right, we are glad to hear that. And we hope that holds out.
Let me ask you this, Mrs. Borstel, one of the big concerns that we've run into on this one is older folks living, you know, several floors up, unable to get up and down because of elevators not working.
First of all, are your elevators working? Are there people stranded in your complex? And, if so, how are they getting some help?
JOAN BORSTEL, FLORIDA SENIOR CITIZEN: OK, it's true, we can't get people up and down the elevators, because they're run by electricity, of course. What we're doing is we're making sure that everybody is safe. We're getting food. We'll get some more ice in today. And we're trying our best to make sure that every neighbor is OK.
As soon as we get the buses running inside the village and outside the village, when it's safe, they will at least be able to get over to some of these shopping centers that are open, and it will at least give them something to do.
But we are making sure that everybody is OK. Neighbors are checking in on everybody, for those that can't get around.
O'BRIEN: Let's check in...
J. BORSTEL: So that we're not having...
O'BRIEN: Oh, you finish up.
I'm sorry.
I thought you were done.
J. BORSTEL: No, that's what we're doing, and making sure everybody is OK. O'BRIEN: All right. The governor, before the storm, said two things that I thought were interesting. First of all, he said basically if we don't have necessary supplies in place in 24 hours, we're a failure. The other thing he said was this.
Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JEB BUSH (R), FLORIDA: People had ample time to prepare and it isn't that hard to get 72 hours worth of food and water, just to do the simple things that we asked people to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'BRIEN: Seventy-two hours of food and water. He was actually speaking after the storm when he said that, but he said it before.
Did people listen there? Does the average person in your complex typically have 72 hours worth of water and food in their apartment?
Mr. Borstel?
H. BORSTEL: We all have...
J. BORSTEL: Yes, we all have -- everybody has food and water. Our water is fine to drink, so we don't have a problem for even getting water in. It's not necessary. But the problem is we have sternos, but a lot of them don't and would be afraid to even use them. So we have -- they have to rely on food that is non-perishable in order to be healthy to eat.
O'BRIEN: Mr. Borstel, what would you say...
J. BORSTEL: So that's what...
O'BRIEN: ... what would you say about the response? The governor said if you want to blame anybody, blame me or the state officials?
H. BORSTEL: Yes, well...
O'BRIEN: Don't blame the Feds.
What do you say?
H. BORSTEL: Well, let's face it, it starts at the top and rolls downhill. Everything does. And the thing is we all tried to stock up on everything we could. But, you know, you can't stock up on perishables. And a certain amount -- certain things that we wanted and we needed we did stock up on. But it's already Thursday and we're starting to run low on a lot of stuff.
The Red Cross was in yesterday. State Representative Irv Slosberg was in here running to make sure that we're -- that the seniors are getting fed. We are working very hard. I'm not only president of New Castle, but I'm also on the management and operations committee that runs the village here and we make sure that we are getting food to the proper places and the proper people.
As far as medical response, our -- we have a station right outside our village here, Station 53, and they've been coming in and roving. And if anybody needs them, they're there in minutes notice.
So, I mean, we really can't complain when it comes to those things that we are getting. But the main thing is ice and food that we're going to need to come in at a regular basis now.
O'BRIEN: Can I...
H. BORSTEL: Without the electricity...
O'BRIEN: Can I get a quick final thought for you?
H. BORSTEL: Yes?
O'BRIEN: Because we are running out of time.
We're doing a series this week on retirement and today we're focusing on retiring on the coast.
Do you have any regrets? And would you encourage others to retire where you retired?
H. BORSTEL: I have no regrets. We're here 24 1/2 years. This is our third hurricane. It's the worst, I will admit, but it's still Florida, it's still beautiful. And people are going to come no matter what. It's no different than California with their earthquakes. We have our hurricanes, they have their earthquakes.
O'BRIEN: Mrs. Borstel, you agree?
J. BORSTEL: Absolutely. I'm sure that we'll survive and we'll get through it. And let's hope next year will be a little better, that's all.
O'BRIEN: All right, Henri and Joan Borstel from Boca Raton, thank you very much.
And coming up, we will do that retirement series. Gerri Willis here and she'll give you, you know, the pitfalls, potentially, of retiring on the coast, what you should watch out for, how you can keep yourself safe as you spend a little time soaking up the sun, like the Borstels.
That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O'BRIEN: Well, I am now 46. And I think about retirement a lot.
VERJEE: Oh, you don't look it. O'BRIEN: At 3:45 every morning I think about retirement, when that alarm goes off. And, you know, a lot of people our age are thinking about it not just for us, but for our parents, as well. And, of course, many of our parents have chosen what the Borstels did, 24 years in a condo in Florida. That used to be the gold standard retirement, you know, condo, shuffle board, all that stuff.
VERJEE: Well, it's been...
O'BRIEN: Maybe not so anymore.
VERJEE: It's been such a brutal hurricane season.
We want to show you this. Look, this was Holly Beach, Louisiana before hurricane Rita. And then, look at this, after. This now, we want to show you, is Gulfport, Mississippi before hurricane Katrina. Now take a look at this, after hurricane Katrina.
And, finally, here is Orange Beach in Alabama before hurricane Ivan last year. And now look at it after.
Look at that, Miles.
O'BRIEN: Yikes!
VERJEE: Utterly destroyed.
But look, you know, with careful planning, retiring to a community on the water can still be fairly rewarding, right?
Gerri Willis is here with us to tell us about more -- Gerri.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Good to see you guys.
A lot of people out there are asking should I move to these areas? Couldn't I get a great deal now that the storms have been through? I've got to tell you, the surprising answer is no.
Guess what? Prices are already moving higher. Along the Gulf Coast we're starting to see a boom in real estate because speculators out there figure they can get a great bargain and they're trading these properties already.
So, another lesson here, I have to tell you, even if you wait, a year later in Florida, after the hurricanes to hit, last year, prices are up 45 percent, the sixth fastest growth in the country. Even if you go back to Andrew, look back to Andrew before the boom in housing. Prices fell after Andrew in a couple of towns there, Miami, a couple of other cities 2, 3 percent in the quarters after. But they rebounded after.
The long-term story is people love these coastal communities.
O'BRIEN: People want to live there and they're not making any new waterfront properties.
VERJEE: And that's what those two people you just talked to a moment ago just said to you.
O'BRIEN: They are there.
VERJEE: They're elderly.
O'BRIEN: No regrets.
What about the government? Should the government be stepping in and helping out now? I mean they subsidize the flood insurance program as it is.
VERJEE: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Is it the government's job to be kind of encouraging people to live on the coast?
WILLIS: Well, I've got to tell you, Miles, that is a hotly debated question right now. But if you're moving to the coast, it's up to you to plan ahead for yourself. You need to get that flood insurance. That's A number one of what we learned certainly from Katrina.
Floodsmart.gov is a great place to go to find out more about flood insurance. But you've also got to make sure that you have enough home insurance. You've got to make sure you're not under- insured. Make sure you don't get a cash value policy, but a replacement value policy. If you get a cash value policy, you're not going to get all the money that you need to replace the things that go inside your house.
VERJEE: In what areas would it be good to buy?
WILLIS: Well, you know, I talked to a friend of ours called Michael Schlachter at Weather 2000. He advises industry on long-term trends and weather. And this is critically important. Normally you don't have access to his kind of advice.
He says if somebody gave him millions and millions and millions of dollars to buy a coastal house, he's not doing it in Florida. He's not doing it in North Carolina. Maryland, Baltimore, New Jersey, further up the coastline, because it's very rare that those hurricanes make that turn left into those areas.
O'BRIEN: However, taking a dip in February off the coast of Delaware won't be so nice, will it?
WILLIS: Well, I didn't say that I could save you winter. But, you know, if you're really looking for safety, that's the area to go to.
O'BRIEN: That Maine coast is nice and safe. But, boy, you don't want to swim there.
All right, Gerri Willis, thank you very much.
WILLIS: You're welcome.
VERJEE: And tomorrow, don't forget, ends our series with two installments, not one, but two. If your retirement dreams were ruined by hurricane Katrina, find out what financial planning steps you can take now to rebuild your retirement.
And also a look at the so-called sandwich generation and how to avoid being overwhelmed by the needs of an aging parent.
O'BRIEN: Ahead on the program, Georgie...
VERJEE: Georgie Porgie pudding and the pie. Kissed the girls and made them cry.
O'BRIEN: Please, go right ahead.
WILLIS: Can I stay? Can I stay?
O'BRIEN: He'll be talking about his new film, "Good Night and Good Luck" and why he didn't cast one of Hollywood's biggest stars as his lead. And that big star would be himself, of course.
That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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