Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

'Take It Back'; Katrina Warnings

Aired January 25, 2006 - 08:31   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Lots of what if's to talk about in the months since Hurricane Katrina struck. The Senate is investigating whether the Bush administration ignored warnings of massive devastation days before the storm hit. Could some of the destruction have been avoided had the people in New Orleans heard all those early warnings. Could lives have been saved?
Here's Gulf coast correspondent Susan Roesgen this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Leroy Thomas aimed his video camera out his window on August 29, there was a lot of wind, but not much water, not right away. Yet, the water in the street didn't go down, as it always had before. It kept rising. Soon, Thomas would find out what higher-ups in Washington had known at least two days earlier: Hurricane Katrina was going to be a catastrophe.

LEROY THOMAS, HURRICANE KATRINA SURVIVOR: The worst of it is when my front door broke and the water actually came into my home. I thought I was going to drown.

ROESGEN: Thomas heard the evacuation warnings from New Orleans' mayor and the National Weather Service, but he says they sounded just like many evacuation orders from many past hurricanes.

THOMAS: I have heard that before, but I guess I was looking for that one sign that would have let me really know that this was going to be bad that I didn't get.

ROESGEN: President Bush did warn people to move to safe ground and follow local officials' instructions (AUDIO GAP) or that thousands might die, so Thomas says he didn't realize the danger.

THOMAS: The water was to my knee, but, when the water stopped, the water was here.

ROESGEN: Without that, Thomas, like others, say they were left to face the nightmare on their own. Thomas says he had nowhere left to go but up to the roof, through the stairs up into the attic.

When his video camera got waterlogged, he grabbed his still camera and continued to document the water's rise up the attic stairs. Eventually, he wound up alone in a boat for two days, without water, food or power, and then herded into a shelter with tens of thousands of others, exactly the dire predictions in the Homeland Security report.

THOMAS: Going through the storm was bad. It was the aftermath that was more frightening and more degrading, not being able to eat, not being able to do basic needs, brush your teeth, wash your face, sleeping on the interstate. I don't want nobody to go through what I have been through -- nobody.

ROESGEN: Thomas says the federal government's failure to warn residents of the storm's predicted aftermath cost him and many others their homes and some even their lives.

THOMAS: That if you knew this information, you knew this was going to happen, you are telling me -- I'm a citizen of this country -- you don't care about my welfare. I'm expendable. Apology will be fine, but apology ain't putting my life back together.

S. O'BRIEN: Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, we're going talk to Senator Joe Lieberman about the investigations into the government response to Hurricane Katrina and whether the White House ignored those early warnings -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR; Politics now. Will Rogers once said he didn't belong to an organized political party. (INAUDIBLE) and he said, he was a Democrat. So how to herd the cats that is that party. A couple of characters sitting beside me have some ideas. They've penned a book. It's called "Take It Back, Our Party, Our Country, Our Future." I'm joined by the authors. You might have seen them on our air here and there. They've been on some other broadcasts leading up to this. But that's OK. We're not going to quibble with them on that. They are allowed to push their book. CNN political commentators Paul Begala and James Carville, good to have you guys with us.

JAMES CARVILLE, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: We call it shoveling steam.

M. O'BRIEN: Shoveling steam. Yes, well, that's a living. That's a living.

It's good to have you with us. Let's talk, you know, issues -- it seems like there are a lot of issues out there. Domestic spying, for example. Actually, the term, the White House doesn't even like that term. But that's a term I'm sure a lot of Democrats have used. And yet the polls show Americans support the president on this. It's difficult for Democrats to make hay on most any issue, isn't it?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POL. CONTRIBUTOR: Well, no. It depends on the issue. Actually the latest CNN poll has the Democrats -- very slightly, but 51-46 people think that president is not doing the right thing by spying on us.

But this will be an interesting fight, because the president is fighting on terrain where he's potentially strong, saying I want to fight terrorism, but also very potentially weak, when he's saying trust me. I don't have to see a judge. I'm only tapping al Qaeda, after all, Miles. Well, how do we know that? He won't show a judge. He won't show anybody. And I think Democrats are doing the right thing here. We criticize him a lot in the book, because I think too often Democrats are too weak. On this one, Democrats have been strong in principle. They're standing up and they're saying, no, sir, have you to follow the Constitution, and I think that's good.

M. O'BRIEN: What issues do you like?

CARVILLE: You know what, I like the issue of terrorism. The biggest contributor to terrorism is pointed out again and again and again, particularly Tom Friedman, is the high price of oil. This administration has pursued everything it can to jack up the price of oil. The no conservation. They've done everything that they can. And you know what, as long as we're facing $67 barrel oil supporting the intelligence services of these autocratic regimes in the Middle East, as long as we have this kind of thing we are not going to be able to do it.

So I think the Democrats can seize on energy independence as the single most effective way to fight terrorism. Clearly, we have done the right thing in Afghanistan. Clearly we have to figure a way out of Iraq.

M. O'BRIEN: But what we found out in the last election -- and you go through it, this is a tough book to write, because in many ways you're pointing the finger at yourselves, or at least your good friends and how the campaign is run. What really turned to you to be the sleeper issue was this whole cultural divide in this country. How do the Democrats address that fundamental concern in middle America that they just don't get what they value?

BEGALA: I think that's one of the major -- that's of the real problems Democrats have. And for me, it was a revelation. I was sitting in this building on election night, having confidently told the country, predicting that John Kerry would win, and watching him lose. And I called my old boss, Bill Clinton, and I've never done this before, but I reported the conversation in this book, because it was so enlightening.

Before anybody chewed on the exit polls, even Bill Schneider hadn't had a chance to go through things yet, Bill Clinton had. And he said, here's what went wrong. We Democrats didn't talk to people on those social and culture issues. It doesn't mean Democrats have become right-wingers, but we have to show respect.

And I think in the book we make the case that people of faith, which we are, ought to bring that faith to bear -- one of the chapters is titled "God is a Liberal." And In my view, he is.

And why is it that the only thing you're supposed to say if you're a Christian in public life, is I hate homosexuals? Well, Jesus never said that; 3,000 times he told us to take care of the poor. Well, that's a Democratic value. M. O'BRIEN: The problem is, though, these value discussions end up as bumper sticker kind of slogans, when it is a little more nuanced than that. So how does a Democrat respond to that?

CARVILLE: Well, number one is, is you talk about it. You assure people. You do as Senator Clinton did, who said, I'm pro choice, but we have to figure out ways to have fewer abortions, if you will. You remind people that the ultimate Christian value is how do we treat each other. There's no other thing even close to that.

So I think -- but the way you don't do it is to run away from it or not talk about it, or not talk about how faith shaped a person, shaped their political views. I think as we point out in the book, we have a much stronger argument when we do that.

M. O'BRIEN: You talked about senator Clinton. I want to show you a quick poll. You've seen this, CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll, just recent -- would you vote for Hillary Clinton for president in 2008. Definitely vote for her, 16 percent, consider, 32 percent, definitely vote against, 51 percent. What do those numbers tell you, Paul?

BEGALA: She's going to have a tough race, if she decides to run. She hasn't even decided. She is a senator from New York. She needs to get reelected.

But that's one of the sort of wraps on Hillary, well, she's too polarizing. Well, the good of that is she is strong. OK, and I'm so tired of Democrats being positioned as weak. Let them try to swift boat Hillary Clinton, it'll never happen. She has a core commitment of supporters, she has a core commitment of haters, but I think, certainly in New York, she won election here where she never even lived, and she carried a whole lot of red counties. I mean, New York is not just Manhattan.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, but New York is not Ohio either, right?

(CROSSTALK)

M. O'BRIEN: You know what I mean? I mean, the point is you got to win Ohio to win, right? How are you going to do that, James?

CARVILLE: Well, I think -- hey, we're going all the way to 2008. I think if there's anybody that understands the need for strength and the need for toughness, the way America is, it would be Senator Clinton.

And you know, when she came to New York, people said she could never win. And I would never underestimate a Clinton. I mean, right now President Clinton is the most popular human being on the Earth, and Senator Clinton is probably one of the most popular politicians in the history of New York State.

So you know, I've seen a lot of polls that had them both way down. And you know what counts is intelligence, toughness and savvy, and that's a point that we make in the point, and I think she has it in spades. M. O'BRIEN: The book is "Take it Back."

Your friends mad at you for writing these things?

BEGALA: Some, yes. Frankly, yes. We've gotten real static from some of our Democrat friends. We love the party. And there are many strong Democrats out there. We mentioned one, Hillary Clinton. Harry Reid, the leader in the Senate, is stronger than garlic in a milkshake. But too many Democrats have been too weak for too long. That's why we wrote the book.

M. O'BRIEN: All right, Mr. Begala and Carville, always a pleasure having you drop by. Just we are kind of giving a little taste of what's to come as the political season begins, just getting started.

(CROSSTALK)

CARVILLE: We'll have a lot to talk about on this sofa in the coming months, I promise you.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, we will.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MARKET REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, everyone always wonder how the other half lives. But do you ever go out and find out for yourself? Tonight on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," we're going to meet a remarkable woman, author Norah Vincent, and went undercover as a man for 18 months.

S. O'BRIEN: There he is.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, I was wondering if we had the wrong tape there for a moment. A very convincing man, we might add.

SERWER: That's a woman?

M. O'BRIEN: She/he joined a men's bowling team, went to strip clubs, even dated women as her alter ego, Ned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Within the dating world, you had a rude awakening as Ned, and you describe one woman in particular as being bitter and being angry, and that you actually felt like you were being attacked.

How surreal was that for you some.

NORAH VINCENT, WENT UNDERCOVER AS MAN: Well, in a way, it was funny, because some of the things she said, I just thought, you know, if you only knew who you were talking to! She was giving me this sort of feminist rant. And I thought, you know, honey, I've been there, I'm past that, you know? So, yes, it was a little bit surreal. And there were times when I wanted to rip off my disguise and say, you're wrong! You're just wrong! And, you know I really wanted people in the moment to see how wrong they were.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: Rip off the mask kind of thing. And wait until you hear the reaction she gets when she reveals her identity to these women. Very excited about that!

S. O'BRIEN: Wow!

I bet the hostile bitter one was even more hostile and bitter.

SERWER: Yes, can you imagine?

M. O'BRIEN: Hopefully security was nearby. I don't know, maybe so.

8:00 Eastern is PAULA ZAHN NOW, and that's one to watch, or at least TiVo for sure.

Coming up on the program, Hollywood descending on Utah. All sorts of bigshots and Gulfstreams are in the neighborhood for the Sundance Film Festival. They're looking for the next big thing. What is it? A closer look at the buzz machine that is Sundance, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: The Cannes Film Festival is still the premier event for event for major motion picture fans, but if you're an indie film lover, Sundance is where it's at. And if it is seen there, it will likely to be seen in a theater near you.

CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It can turn a small film into a very big deal. The Sundance Film Festival has become a place where filmmakers and taste-makers come together to discover the next big thing.

STEVE GILULA, FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES: There's an established tradition that if a film has heat or buzz, you can't hesitate. I mean, you have to express your interest and be very forthright.

ANDERSON: Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley of Fox Searchlight Pictures. They didn't hesitate when they saw a screening of "Little Miss Sunshine." This new comedy, starring Steve Carell, was the first film to be picked up by a major studio at this year's festival.

NANCY UTLEY, FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES: Sundance can be a tremendously powerful platform for a film to get launched. ANDERSON: And they should know. Fox Searchlight discovered such successful films as "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Garden State" here at Sundance. Remember "The Blair Witch Project"? Another Sundance success story, along with a documentary "Super Size Me" and "March of the Penguins."

The festival has also launched the careers of ground-breaking filmmakers. Director Steven Soderbergh brought "Sex, Lies and Videotape" to Park City in 1989. Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" became a Sundance favorite in 1992. And in 1994, Kevin Smith's "Clerks" changed his life forever.

KEVIN SMITH, FILMMAKER: Without Sundance, I would still be a jockeying a register in a convenience store. You know, I can't -- totally. I came here in '94, you know, and I was making five bucks an hour. And overnight -- well, over the course of ten days of the festival, I left here with a career.

ANDERSON: Critics complain the festival has become more important than the films it showcase. But actors like Matt Dillon, whose latest "Factotum" opened to great reviews at Sundance, says it's still vital for independent filmmakers.

MATT DILLON, ACTOR: This really is a place for filmmakers with a vision, young filmmakers, people taking chances, risky films, independent films.

ANDERSON (on camera): The core mission is still there?

DILLON: Absolutely. I don't think that's changed at all.

ANDERSON (voice-over): Brooke Anderson, CNN, Park City, Utah.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: So if you're a VIP and you show up at Sundance, let's talk swag. What do you get? Seems many stars want to go to Sundance for just that. Free watches? Look at those. That is included in a group -- Jennifer Aniston among them -- who walked away with a new purse full of jewelry. Much of the free swag can be had at free stuff suites, you know, hospitality suites. Stars can stop by, pick up pricey goods. The rest of us pick up rocks on the side of the road there. Check out -- oh, the shirts, whatever.

And let's talk about diamond encrusted sunglasses. One of the options. You have to deal with the Park City sun and camera flashing. So you know, the paparazzi. Justin Timberlake scored a pair of new platinum and diamond aviators. Very nice how the other half lives.

Tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING, all that swag. We're going to talk even more about the commercialization of Sundance. Has the film festival kind of lost its soul? And who are the big losers through all of that? That's ahead tomorrow on AMERICAN MORNING.

Today's top stories all coming up. We'll have your morning "House Call." We've heard for years how the fatty acids in fish are good for your heart. But can they protect you against cancer as well? Stay with us for the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com