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American Morning

Katrina: Two Months Later

Aired November 04, 2005 - 09:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. Bottom of the hour. It's AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Miles O'Brien and we're in Pass Christian, Mississippi, this morning. Two months since Katrina, we've been all throughout the Gulf region, spent a good amount of time in the New Orleans area, talking about how people are trying to recover, get back their lives together.
Came to Mississippi this morning. Different kind of damage here. Soledad, I know you've traveled extensively through here post-Katrina. You know, it's interesting, they're calling it pre-K and post-k now. Post-Katrina.

And it's a different kind of damage here. You know, in New Orleans, it's very subtle. You look at houses and you go that house looks fine, and then you go in and it's a wreck because it was flooded. Here, it's wiped clean like it was a bomb that went off here. It's very different.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. Pretty shocking. And some of those -- is that just -- I mean, there's nothing there? No one's cleaned that up? That's just scraped off by the force of the storm, really?

M. O'BRIEN: It's exactly it. And every now and then, you'll see a pile of plates. Obviously people have been coming here, trying to gather up what they can. In just a little bit, we're going to talk to someone who owns the -- I was going to say the home -- the slab, I guess, down there and ask him what's next for him. Because I just -- you know, imagine coming back to your home and that's all you have left. It's a difficult thing to come back from.

S. O'BRIEN: Sure is. All right, Miles, we look forward to that update. Thanks.

(NEWSBREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: I'm standing in, I guess, probably the living room of 132 Alise Turn (ph) Avenue here in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Not much left.

The homeowner, slab owner, if you will, is John Haas. John also works at the Oreck Corporation as a vice president. That's the vacuum cleaner company we told you about a little while ago. John, I just can't imagine what it would be like to come back after a storm and see this. In your wildest dreams, did you think it would be this bad? JOHN HAAS, PASS CHRISTIAN, MISS. RESIDENT: No, not at al. We moved most everything up to the second level, because we thought it was safe. I mean, even Camille, you know, the mother of all storms at the time basically didn't get to that level. And so I figured I'd come back to a mess on the first level, but not -- nothing like this at all.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, we have a picture of your home, the before picture. It's a nice place and a beautiful view. It's -- you know, this is the American dream, isn't it? To have a place like this overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.

HAAS: Well, you work a long time to get to this point. As there were 19 other residents here that are in the same shape I am, a lot of those -- about half of those were retired people. This was their dream home that they retired to. And in our case, I'm still working. But it's a great place to come home to in the evening and spend the weekends. And it's a great part of the country.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, it's interesting. As I look here, it -- your houses are built up on mounds, as opposed to piers. So you had some elevation. You probably thought -- relatively new construction, seven years now. You probably thought you were pretty safe.

HAAS: Absolutely. (INAUDIBLE) 14 1/2 feet, where we're standing right now. And that was considered to be safe and that was the building code, so everyone complied with that. But this was a different kind of storm.

M. O'BRIEN: I should I say. How does -- when you factor all of that in, what does that make you think as you look toward rebuilding? Your neighbor there with his concrete structure, his fortress, did OK. Is that the only thing you want to live in on the beach? Well, there was a meeting Wednesday, a town hall meeting for the city of Pass Christian, and basically they're looking at going to 17 to 18 feet.

But I would be allowed to go back since the structure, the slab, is still sound, but then you have to question whether or not I may want to take some of Scott's (ph) advice and elevate just a little bit.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, 17 or 18 feet, that's still, given what you experienced here, would not have been enough.

HAAS: It wouldn't have been. No.

M. O'BRIEN: What -- it's got to be difficult. I mean, part of you, I suspect, along the way has thought maybe I should move inland or move on somewhere else.

HAAS: I moved down here with my wife 15 years ago, and we rented for a couple of years, just to find out where we wanted to live. And we knew we wanted to live on the water. So -- but there's a cost, potentially, when you do that. But understanding that and you get insurance -- every insurance known to mankind and try to cover that. But ultimately, it really doesn't get it all. M. O'BRIEN: So you're going to take the risk again probably?

HAAS: I think I am.

M. O'BRIEN: In the meantime, you're at that trailer in Oreckville. So you're getting to know your fellow employees in ways you hadn't expected. How is life right now? It's got to be hard.

HAAS: My wife is in Alabama. We've got her from Louisville, Kentucky, where we started out commuting, and now she's in Alabama. So that's a two-hour commute for me on the weekends, and during the week I live in my little 18-foot trailer, which is just fine, for now.

M. O'BRIEN: You are ever so humble.

HAAS: Yes. Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, we wish you well, John Haas at his home site, and I suspect we'll come back here before too long, and you should be back at it again.

HAAS: You're always welcome.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, thank you very much. I'd like to come and have a cool beverage and watch the sunrise.

HAAS: We still do that from time to time, have a nice glass of chardonnay, sitting on the slab.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I wouldn't do the sunrise, but sunset.

HAAS: All right, John Haas, thank you very much.

Back to you, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles, thanks.

Coming up this morning, Andy has Wall Street's reaction to today's big job report. He's minding our business, just ahead.

And you know, dog bites man, not really an unusual story, but puppy saves man's life? Well, it's a great story, and we've got it up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Business news now, jobs report is out. A little disappointing. What do the markets think, though, is the big question, and Andy's "Minding Your Business" for that. Good morning.

ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning, Soledad.

A little tepid, but not too bad as evidenced by the market's reaction. Jobs reports, we'll do this first of all. We'll go down to the Big Board and see, the Dow Jones industrials up 12. Now, as for the job's report for October which cross the tape at 8:30 Eastern. You can see we gained 56,000 jobs. Unemployment rate ticks down to 5 percent to 5.1. We were looking to gain 124,000 jobs, so a little bit less than expected. However, not so much to cause any problems in terms of what economists think is coming. Got another job's story to tell you about, though.

This one possibly more disturbing, and that is Delta Airline pilots have re-established a strike committee, and what that means is it sets themselves up to go on strike if negotiations between the pilots and the airline continue to not proceed on a positive note as they have been over the past couple of weeks. Obviously, bankrupt Delta is trying to squeeze the pilot more and more.

And, Soledad, when pilots go out on strike, that is devastating to an airline, because unlike machinists or mechanics, it's very difficult to replace them, exactly.

S. O'BRIEN: I guess we'll watch it and see what happens.

SERWER: Indeed.

S. O'BRIEN: Andy, Thanks.

Did you hear the story about this guy in California?

SERWER: I've heard about it.

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: A familiar story actually. He saved his dog, whose name is Honey, by the way. He adopted her from a shelter, really had no idea, though, that very soon the dog would return the favor. And CNN's Ted Rowlands has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a northern California hospital, Michael Bosch had a very special visitor who he says saved his life.

MICHAEL BOSCH, PUPPY OWNER: Hi, Honey. Hello, Honey. Come here, baby. Come here. Come here to me.

ROWLANDS: Honey, a 5-month-old Cocker Spaniel, was with Michael Monday morning when he plunged 50 feet down his hillside driveway in an SUV.

BOSCH: When we got into the soft soil, it just started to tip. And I knew I was in trouble.

ROWLANDS: The SUV hit a tree. Michael and Honey were trapped, pinned inside, hanging upside down in a remote area on private land.

BOSCH: Well I sort of went through my mind, who is going to find me on 70 acres? ROWLANDS: Michael, who suffered a heart attack in August, said his heart was racing. He says he took a nitroglycerin pill to calm himself down. Then he saw a hole in a smashed window big enough for Honey to get through.

BOSCH: I saw the opening. And I said, Honey, you have got to go home. And I pushed her out that and scurried her up the hill.

ROWLANDS: Michael then waited, hoping he could stay alive until someone could find him.

BOSCH: My only hope was that dog.

ROWLANDS: Six hours later, now evening, a quarter mile away, Robin Allen came home from work and found Honey in her driveway.

ROBIN ALLEN, NEIGHBOR: She wanted to get my attention. There is no question about that.

ROWLANDS: Robin had never seen Honey, but the phone number on Honey's tag was Michael's. So, she drove the puppy home. When she opened her car door, she could hear Michael yelling.

ALLEN: And then I realized he was yelling help.

ROWLANDS: It took rescue crews 45 minutes to get Michael out of the SUV and pull him up the hillside. With major injuries to his chest and legs, Michael was rushed to a waiting medical helicopter.

Michael only adopted Honey two weeks ago from this northern California pet shelter. He had been coming here looking for the right dog for more than a year and immediately spotted Honey two days after she arrived.

CAROL WILLIAMS-SKAGGS, MARIN CO. HUMANE SOCIETY: I think she was just meant to be his. I think that she worked her way here for that reason. It's a match made in heaven.

BOSCH: Yes. You're my baby, aren't you?

ROWLANDS: Despite five broken ribs and limited feeling in one of his legs, Michael says being reunited with Honey is already making him feel better.

BOSCH: She's never leaving my side again. I'll tell you that. That dog saved my life.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, San Rafael, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Kind of a nice story.

SERWER: I think we could make a Disney movie out of that.

S. O'BRIEN: They're probably working on it right now actually. SERWER: Honey.

S. O'BRIEN: Honey.

Hey. Daryn, I know you're working on things coming up in the next couple of minutes.

Good morning.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I just love that story. I just have to share, love the rescue animal stories.

We do have other news ahead. Next hour on CNN LIVE TODAY, earthquake aftermath. U.S. troops are bringing relief to the millions left homeless by the deadly quake in Pakistan. I will talk with the Navy commander just back from the third trip to the quake zone.

Plus, moms and dads, we have a messy child-raising controversy. Can you potty train your baby if you never put them in diapers? We've got the straight poop, so to speak.

I mean, Soledad. I've got to wonder, OK, you have four kids, including baby twins.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, none of them use diapers. I'm kidding. Of course they use diapers. We own stock in pampers. We are making money hand over fist on diapers. You know what, that's ridiculous babies practically come out of the womb in diapers, and you keep them that way until, what is like, to 16...

(CROSSTALK)

S. O'BRIEN: Metaphorical diapers after two and a half.

All right, Daryn, well, I'm looking forward to that one, you know.

KAGAN: I bet you are.

S. O'BRIEN: Because I sense a lot of eye rolling.

Thanks, Daryn.

Ahead this morning, a Friday dose of "AM Pop." Camilla won Prince Charles' heart. But do you think she can any chance of capturing America's heart. "AM Pop" looks at the royal couple's U.S. tour, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Look at that. Glamour, glamour, glamour. That, of course, Prince Charles and Camilla, the First Lady Laura Bush and her husband the president. A big whirlwind tour, in fact, for the royal couple. They're in New Orleans today. They had a big old shin dig at the White House yesterday and they were in New York City the day before that, as well. We're talking about the royals on the Friday edition of "A.M. Pop." Nicki Gostin from "Newsweek" joins us. Let's talk about the royal invasion. Good morning.

NICKI GOSTIN, "NEWSWEEK": Hi, how you doing?

S. O'BRIEN: How do you think it's gone for the royals? Camilla and Prince Charles, I mean, are they wowing everybody? Because the New York press, as you well know -- you know, frumpy is a word.

GOSTIN: A little harsh, right.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, they're always harsh. You know, like, you can't win. But overall, how are they doing?

GOSTIN: Well, I think that the tour is not as exciting as I think that they would wish it to be. But on the other hand, Camilla is getting some nice press, which I think is great for her.

S. O'BRIEN: What are they saying?

GOSTIN: They're saying that she seems down to earth, that she seems friendly, that she's got a good sense of humor. That clearly, Charles is very comfortable with her. He's a lot more comfortable than he's been in years. And that he loves her.

S. O'BRIEN: There was a nice article -- and I think maybe Tina Brown wrote it. But she -- talking about how he seems to kind of have come into his own after he married Camilla. And, as you say, the comfort that he never really seemed to have with Princess Diana, who was always the star.

GOSTIN: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Are people giving Camilla the credit for that, pretty much?

GOSTIN: Yes, definitely. I mean, they've been a couple on and off since 1970. So they're -- it's an amazing love story when you think about it.

S. O'BRIEN: And also part of the problem with his actual marriage, that love story.

GOSTIN: Yes, definitely. It's very human. The mistakes were made, there weren't -- no one was an angel in the situation. But they clearly love each other and I thought it was so sweet at MOMA event on Tuesday night in New York, he referred to her as my darling wife Camilla. I don't think he ever referred to Diana as my darling wife.

S. O'BRIEN: It's kind of a new phase in his life. What's the tone now, do you think, out of Buckingham Palace? I mean, is there -- are things -- you say they'd like it to be a little more dramatic. And I thought maybe they were actually aiming for less dramatic. You know, the dinner in Washington, D.C., was not the star-studded event that you saw years ago. GOSTIN: Right. But for the royal family to continue, it has to have pizzazz, because otherwise, why else are you interested in it, really? And I think that he is a serious person. He's interested in serious subjects which...

S. O'BRIEN: The environment and...

GOSTIN: Right. Organic food, he's very interested in that, which is part of the reason he's going to San Francisco, is he's meeting up with Alice Waters (ph), who's a buddy of his.

S. O'BRIEN: She's a chef who runs an organic restaurant and has really, for many, many years kind of lead the way on that front.

GOSTIN: Yes, she's the doyan (ph) of fresh food, really, in America. And he's going to a food market, a fresh food market in San Francisco and going to an organic farm, too.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you think that there are going to be efforts to sort of make Camilla more glammy. Because if she's losing points in the tour, it really is that, you know, her outfit -- you know, she's no Diana on that front.

GOSTIN: No, she's not. She apparently tried very hard. She brought over more than 50 dresses with her.

S. O'BRIEN: Fifty?

GOSTIN: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: That might be the problem, see?

GOSTIN: Too much choice.

S. O'BRIEN: You just got to pick, like, three and go with the one that feels right.

GOSTIN: Exactly. And she had a personal staff of five to help her. She had her hair stylist...

S. O'BRIEN: Too many people.

GOSTIN: Right. And three dresses. And it just -- she just can't do it. She cannot do it for some reason. It's sort of sad, really.

S. O'BRIEN: What she need is like Beyonce's mom's stylist to kind of...

GOSTIN: I think so.

S. O'BRIEN: ... you know, whip her into a little shape. But, you know, I think you're right. In all fairness, she's getting high remarks for sort of her impact on him.

GOSTIN: Definitely. S. O'BRIEN: And maybe at the end of day, we all -- we look into our hearts and that's the more important thing. Or maybe not. Nick Gostin, nice to see you, joining us from "Newsweek" this morning.

Coming up on Monday on AMERICAN MORNING, actress Teri Garr is going to join us. She's got a new book. It describes her life growing up in what she calls her a gypsy showbiz family. She also has multiple sclerosis, and she's going to take about that battle. That's on Monday. We start at 7:00 a.m. Eastern.

A short break and we're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad, it's been a remarkable week and it's been a week of real contrast, which I think you've witnessed as we've gone all along through New Orleans and all the way ending up in Mississippi. And part of me was kind of hoping when we came back it would all be well on the road to cleanup. There would be armies of people sweeping up and the process would be well under way. I haven't seen that.

I see, you know, little drips and drabs of cleanup, but it's been very slow. It's such an incredible blow to these people. And, you know, with no place for them to even come back to begin the process. They're in this real conundrum right now with so many open questions. So I think it's going to be a long time, very long time. before there's any sense of normalcy here.

S. O'BRIEN: You know, it's -- and, as you say, it's the story everywhere. You know, can't put the cart before the horse. Do you rebuild and you're not ever going to be protected? Do you build on stilts, do you build higher? Do you build a cement house? You know, what do you do? Will you get the money? Will you continue to have your job? I mean, there are so many questions that have to be answered before you go in that direction.

Miles, excellent job. We'll see you become on Monday, right?

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, coming back Monday, look forward to seeing you.

S. O'BRIEN: OK. We'll see you then. That's it for AMERICAN MORNING.

Let's head to Daryn Kagan. She's at CNN Center. She's going to take you through the next couple of hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.

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