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American Morning

Katrina: Six Months Later

Aired February 27, 2006 - 09:00   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures, Bourbon Street, the French Quarter, New Orleans, USA. It's the gap between partying, you might say -- 8:00 in the morning local time. Not a lot of revelers on the street at this moment. They do have to rest some time. Not much, but they do have to rest some time.
And this is one of the few moments when the streets get quiet and they need a little bit of cleanup. And that's part of why there was some controversy over whether they should have a Mardi Gras celebration because there is so much that needs to be cleaned up here in the city of New Orleans and in this whole region in the wake of Katrina.

Good morning to you. I'm Miles O'Brien, reporting live from Slidell, Louisiana. We have a special edition of AMERICAN MORNING for you this morning and the next few days. And Soledad, about 25 miles south of me at the convention center in New Orleans.

Good morning, Soledad.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hey. Good morning to you, Miles.

We have a little bit of the same situation that they have on Bourbon Street. Not quite so bad with, you know, a little bit of the garbage that needs to be cleaned up. And there's something disturbing about running into people at your hotel who are coming in as you're getting ready to go out to work.

Same thing, though, little plastic bags, little bits of debris, because, of course, this is where two of the big parties are held. They're setting up for a third party, as well, after the big parade.

So a lot happening here as well.

The convention center, though, in some ways notorious. Remember just six months ago the pictures -- if we can show them -- of people just desperate for help, literally crying out for food and for water in horrible conditions, camped out inside, camped out outside, furious as the days went by and they weren't getting any kind of assistance.

Today it's a much better scene. Much cleaned up. Actually, three of the halls have been completely renovated. They've ripped out that nasty carpet that was frankly full of debris and feces and urine. They've replaced a lot of the windows. They've done a really good job of bringing it back ahead of schedule, actually.

Still a ways to go. We're going to talk about that ahead. Also ahead this morning, we're going to meet some of our friends from just six months ago. I mean, there are so many heroes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. But boy, the Coast Guard, I think it's fair to say, takes the cake with over 6,000 rescues and the videotape we showed, the Coast Guard members just plucking people out of the water, out of the water. I mean, it was unbelievable to see, unbelievable to be a part of, the fly-around.

So we're going to talk to some of our old friends -- they have been nice enough to fly back, there are some pictures of them landing just moments ago -- and chat about not only what's changed but how Hurricane Katrina six months later has changed them.

That's all ahead this morning. Let's get right back to Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Looking forward to hearing from them.

They are good people, early and undisputed heroes of Katrina. When you're looking for that, that's where they are, in those orange helicopters, plucking those people off those roofs, bringing many of them to safety.

I'm in Slidell, Louisiana, about 25 miles north of where Soledad is right now. And we're on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. In many respects, whole sections of this city are in just as bad a shape of what you would see in, say, the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. The concern here is that the Lower Ninth Ward gets so much more attention from the media and this city has not received quite as much.

We were here a couple of days after the storm, but the mayor wishes that the media were casting just as much of a spotlight on this place.

In the wake of this storm, in the wake of Katrina, 4,000 homes here remain uninhabited. Many of the homes I'm standing on, on Brookwood Drive here in Slidell, have those FEMA trailers in front. They're probably going to be here for quite sometime.

It's interesting, though. In the midst of all of this, in the midst of the heartache and tragedy that goes along with the trailers and the homes that are destroyed, there's a party. And there's some things about this region that can't be taken away.

You can't take away Mardi Gras. You can't take away the Carnival season. And for me, it was my first opportunity to participate in that. And I was privileged to get a front row seat.

I was on top of a float in the Bacchus Parade last night. Bacchus, of course, the god of wine. How appropriate. One of the big krewes in New Orleans.

For several hours, these huge lit-up floats made their way through the streets of New Orleans, tossing beads and trinkets to the crowd. The crowd just alive with excitement, and a lot of smiles on people's faces.

A lot of families. It was nice to see children on the streets of St. Charles Avenue.

In many respects the city taking a turn. But, of course, that ignores those neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth. So it really is a mixed bag here at the six-month mark.

In just a few moments we're going talk to the president of the New Orleans City Council, Oliver Thomas, about that. We'll ask him how his city is doing, we'll ask him about some controversial comments he made about people returning to the city and how those who return to public housing, as he puts it, better have a job and better be ready to go to work. Well talk to him in just a little bit -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you know, it's interesting when you talk about these floats and the celebrations, I've run into lots of people who are from here but who have been displaced. So they are now out of town, but who have come back for Mardi Gras, who've said in a lot of ways it's been cleaned up.

There are fewer people and there may be a little bit more tame (ph). I ran into a guy with his 16-year-old daughter and a bunch of her friends and they said they had a great time. And he said normally he wouldn't bring his young teenage daughter to a celebration, you know, right on Bourbon Street, right, you know, in the French Quarter because, frankly, it gets a little too raucous.

One big question out of all this was, how has the security been? Because the crowds are diminished, that has got to be helping the police. But at the same time, there are concerns, are there enough cops to watch everything?

And we got a report from that this morning from Chris Lawrence.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It doesn't matter if it's the middle of the day or after midnight, the New Orleans Police Department says it's ready for any trouble during this year's Mardi Gras celebrations.

(on camera): How prepared are you right now?

SUPERINTENDENT WARREN RILEY, NEW ORLEANS POLICE: Well, we're prepared.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): I spoke with Police Superintendent Warren Riley as we walked through the Lower Ninth Ward, an area of the city heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina and a place where residents still have not been able to return home.

(on camera): Are you doing anything to keep tourists from wandering into areas like this?

RILEY: No, we have officers on patrol. We're really focused more on looting. Obviously this area won't be looted very much because it's so devastated. LAWRENCE (voice-over): The city of New Orleans recently banned guided tours that had been taking people through neighborhoods like this one. Riley admits the police department has about 200 fewer officers than it did before the storm, but he's getting help from 200 state troopers and federal agents. Riley also says shortening the celebration to eight days saved the city millions of dollars.

RILEY: We normally run the Mardi Gras off $3.1 million and overtime expenses for -- just for police. This year we're doing that off $1.2 million.

LAWRENCE: Pre-Katrina, the prison system could house 7,000 inmates. Now it can only hold 1,100. To help, officials built this temporary facility just to process people arrested during Mardi Gras.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Processing the inmates may be a little slow at first, but they're going to be revolving straight in, straight out. And the people arrested on serious charges, they're going to -- obviously they're going to stay.

LAWRENCE: A bigger problem could be people who need to see a doctor. Only two hospitals in New Orleans have reopened with fully functioning emergency rooms.

RILEY: You know our biggest concern actually has been a medical situation, the ability to handle a number of emergencies.

LAWRENCE: So far there have not been any major incidents. And officials say if they can avoid them for two more days, Mardi Gras 2006 will end on a safe note.

Chris Lawrence, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: To a large degree, a lighter turnout has meant fewer people and fewer problems as well.

Lots of other news to get to this morning. Let's get right to Carol back in New York.

Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, Soledad.

Good morning to all of you. Some other stories we're following this morning.

In Baghdad, a mortar attack killed at least four people, including two women. Tensions still high after that mosque attack last week.

And Saddam Hussein's lawyer says the former dictator has lost 10 pounds. He apparently spent about a week and a half on a hunger strike, but he started eating again for health reasons. The trial is expected to start up again tomorrow. A Dubai company says it has formally requested another security review for 45 days, but will it be enough to avoid a showdown in Congress? Lawmakers from both parties raised a red flag on the ports deal, expressing concern for national security. President Bush says it's the right thing to do.

In the meantime, details are coming out about a letter to President Bush about the domestic spying program. A group of House Democrats want a special council to investigate whether the program violated federal criminal law.

Sheryl Crow's North American tour is now on hold. It was set to begin next month, but that was before Crow was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent surgery last week. Her former fiance, Lance Armstrong, says he's spoken with Crow and she is expected to make a full recovery.

And there is a new thing in dance this morning. I'm sure you heard about how Drew Lachey out--whirled the competition on "Dancing With The Stars." Lachey and professional dancer Cheryl Burke wowed the audience and the judges with their rendition of "Hound Dog."

Their moves upset frontrunner Stacie Keibler. The leggy pro wrestler was voted off halfway through the finale.

So those legs didn't get it going -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, it was 7 votes to 9.

COSTELLO: I knew you would get into it eventually.

MYERS: All the viewers did call in though.

Good morning -- good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I know how fascinated you are by that show.

MYERS: Yes, exactly. It's right up there with my "Idol."

(WEATHER REPORT)

M. O'BRIEN: I like that. Thank you for squeezing a few more degrees out for me, Chad. It is very appreciated.

We have enjoyed the warmth of the sun. It was very chilly here early on. Not what I expected given what it was like six months ago when we were here after Katrina, when it was just so sweltering.

Coming up, we're going to talk to the president of the New Orleans City Council. The other day he had some controversial words. He said people who return to public housing in the city of New Orleans better be coming with a job, better be ready to roll up their sleeves and work.

Does he have a point? It did stir up a controversy. We'll ask him about that. And then, St. Bernard Parish, we've told you an awful lot about that place, where the devastation is almost complete. Well, imagine on top of everything else people there having to deal with an emerging gang problem. We'll tell you about that.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Welcome back. I'm Miles O'Brien, reporting live from Slidell, Louisiana, where they are in the midst of a recovery, just like they all are throughout this region. Not just the city of New Orleans, but of course a lot of our focus has been on that city because of so much heartache that came in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

The president of the city council there is a friend of ours on the program, Oliver Thomas. He joins us now live from the French Quarter on Bourbon Street, the Royal Sonesta Hotel.

Oliver, good to have you back with us this morning.

OLIVER THOMAS (D), PRESIDENT, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: Miles, happy Mardi Gras. And thank you again for all of your coverage. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: You know -- well, it's good to be here, I'll tell you that. And I've really enjoyed experiencing Mardi Gras. It's kind of strange to make this my first Mardi Gras.

I'm curious what you think about whether it feels right to be celebrating this year.

THOMAS: Well, you know, there are a couple of feelings. For some of us, it's not really about the celebration, it's about the economic development, the jobs and the opportunity to help with the recovery.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. You know -- you know what?

THOMAS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: I don't think we heard a single bit of that, Oliver.

THOMAS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: You're the city council president. Tell him to turn off his siren, will you?

THOMAS: Yes, he just did. I just told him.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Good. Now...

THOMAS: Yes. All right. You're about to get another one.

For some of us, it's about the jobs, the economic development, the recovery. All of the people who work, the small businesses who make money because of Mardi Gras, a lot of people came into town because their businesses work with a lot of the krewes, a lot of the balls, a lot of the -- you know, the catering, a lot of the events that are associated with Mardi Gras.

For others, for some people, it's therapy. We had a few people come up to us yesterday after a (INAUDIBLE) and say, look, I really wasn't sure about Mardi Gras, but I'm having a good time. You know, we're kind of forgetting everything that happened right now. So -- and they enjoyed themselves.

So, it's a lot of mixed emotions. And the city needs the money.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes, mixed emotions it is. Well, you know, the economic argument is a strong one, I'm sure. Let me ask you this...

THOMAS: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: ... last week, you were talking to some housing officials, and I just want to share...

THOMAS: Yes. Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: I know you know what you said, but let's share with our viewers what you said to them. OK? Let's listen.

THOMAS: I hope it's the whole thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS: Anybody who's not coming back to roll up their sleeves to contribute, that's what we need. We need committed people. We don't need soap opera watchers all day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. It probably wasn't the whole thing. Why don't you put it in context for us, Oliver.

THOMAS: Before that statement, I asked Dr. Jarman (ph) and the housing authority residents, you know, if we could work with them to set up some training programs so that the people who are coming back to public housing, the able-bodied, not the elderly and disabled, but the able-bodied people who were coming back could participate in this economic recovery by learning a skill or learning a trade. And currently, I'm putting together a meeting with some trade groups, Job One, the housing authority, where we can talk about doing that, training people to participate in this recovery.

I probably shouldn't have made the soap opera statement. But, you know, a lot of us are real serious about this. And a lot of us know that if we don't do it ourselves it's not going to get done.

We need committed able-bodied people who want to help us rebuild do that. And that means everybody. So I don't think anything is wrong with teaching a person how to fish so they can feed themselves for a lifetime instead of giving them a fish. Malcolm X said that one of the greatest forms of slavery was the federal welfare system, a system of dependency.

I think he was right. I think people who can get out there and work and learn to earn can help us with our recovery.

Now, does that exclude anybody else? No, it doesn't. A lot of people took some of the sound bites and they ran with it.

But look, I stick by my statement that we need people who want to be trained, educated, and willing to grow our economy. PSAs...

M. O'BRIEN: All right. But Oliver...

(CROSSTALK)

THOMAS: ... shows that we've created pockets of poverty that have existed for a long time. We need to change that.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. But here's the thing, though.

THOMAS: But go ahead, Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: What -- we have to wrap this up fairly quickly. But I just want you to amplify on this.

THOMAS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: The real -- the concern and the reason people got so upset about it is the great concern is that when New Orleans returns, whenever it recovers...

THOMAS: Yes. Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: ... a whole pocket of people at the lower end of the spectrum are not going to be a part of that city anymore. That's the concern. You've got to be concerned about that.

THOMAS: Oh, yes, but that's not real life. I mean, you know, there isn't 100 percent unemployment any place in the world that I know of. And there definitely isn't 100 percent employment in cities of urban America.

But if we can start training people to participate to build our middle class and to build our working class, that is a good thing. Nobody has convinced me that it's not a good thing. And we have pockets of poverty and under-employment and unemployment that have existed in this community for years and years. Even when things were going well those neighborhoods didn't change.

We need to make an effort to change those communities, change those neighborhoods, so if there is going to be a recovery, everyone can participate in that recovery. And I think that's a good thing to do. And I think -- and I think we ought to stick to that and make sure that it happens.

M. O'BRIEN: Oliver Thomas is the president of the New Orleans City Council.

Always a pleasure having you with us. We'll talk with you later. Happy Mardi Gras.

THOMAS: Miles, god bless. Thank you. Happy Mardi Gras.

M. O'BRIEN: All right -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks.

You know, so many heroes to talk about in Hurricane Katrina from people, as we have been told, teenage boys who helped rescue little old people, little old people who said they didn't want to go first, take somebody else when the choppers came to rescue them. And then, of course, the folks who were flying those choppers.

We're going to talk this morning to some true heroes. Members of the Coast Guard have come back six months later to share their story with us once again.

We're back in just a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: One thousand eighty deaths in Louisiana are attributed to Hurricane Katrina, 2,000 people are still listed as missing. But there are some 33,000 people who truly owe their very lives to the hard work of members of the U.S. Coast Guard, who immediately, really among the first to get in there and start pulling people out off the rooftops, or right out of the water.

This morning we're joined by some friends/heroes, I'm proud to say.

Roberto Torres is a pilot; Taylor Carlisle a co-pilot; and Galen Farris, who is an electronics engineer -- electronics technician -- did I get them right?

Nice to see you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

LT. TAYLOR CARLISLE, U.S. COAST GUARD: Good to see you.

S. O'BRIEN: Wow. You know, how -- how did what you did affect you? I mean, do -- have you had the time to think about sort of -- you just -- you told a story about how you were flying and you had your hand back and you were holding babies in.

CARLISLE: Yes, ma'am. S. O'BRIEN: Because you had -- you had a chopper full of babies. And to make sure that none of them would crawl anywhere, you know, you had one hand so you could fly and the other hand to hold in babies. And I thought that was one of the most remarkable stories.

Months later, do you think about that still?

CARLISLE: Every day. I mean, we are going through such a huge historical event that we almost -- you know, we talk about it I don't know how many times a day. But we talk about it, and it's a good way for us to work through everything, also.

S. O'BRIEN: People were so grateful. I mean, there was a lot of blame going around, as you know. I mean, FEMA was like the worst four-letter word you could come up with. But everybody spoke about the Coast Guard, I think, truly, because you guys were the first people in there. You didn't have to sort of wait to be sent in.

Is that right?

LT. ROBERTO TORRES, U.S. COAST GUARD: Yes. We were first. We actually -- I was amongst one of the first helicopter crews in, and they were there just a day or two later.

And we started working right away. We sure did. And it was very, very interesting.

And now that we had some time to kind of think about it -- because while we were doing it, because we were so involved with it, we obviously weren't watching the news or anything. So we've really been able to catch up on some stuff and really kind of see images of what we were doing.

It's kind of weird. You know, afterwards we have seen what we were doing.

S. O'BRIEN: It's shocking. I mean, look at this. Look at these babies. And then they have, of course, the baskets where you would pull people up. And I know -- I mean, even though that's your job, you probably don't see it the way we see it.

So what do you think about it now?

TORRES: Well, I think it's just -- you know it is just a job.

S. O'BRIEN: Don't just tell me it's your job. No. It can't be just your job.

TORRES: No, I mean, I think as time passes we see how, like you said, how historical of an event it was. But really, it is our job. And everybody -- that's kind of the way we look at it. And, you know, it's just something that we do on a day-to-day basis.

We're still doing it. Obviously not under hurricane conditions, but we have...

S. O'BRIEN: I was going to ask you about that.

Galen, you guys are -- I mean, I would have thought, like, now a little bit of a break. You know, the end of hurricane season, the end of Hurricane Katrina, and now you get to sort of slow down. But you're still doing a lot of rescues, aren't you guys?

LT. GALEN FARRIS, U.S. COAST GUARD: Well, this unit particularly has always been pretty busy with rescues that they've done.

S. O'BRIEN: What kind of rescues?

FARRIS: Well, there's still medevacs. There's a lot of fishing vessels and oil rigs out there that we get called on quite a bit.

We also -- you know, just about any kind of call that you need we'll be there. We've always been there. That's what we do. So it just happened that they all hit us at once that one time. We're ready because it's something that we train for and we're...

S. O'BRIEN: Thirty-three thousand people. I mean, that's a -- that's a -- that's a big number. I'm sure you haven't read, because it's like this big, the White House report that just came out the other day. And then, of course, the House committee had their own report which is equally thick. But people kind of broke it down. And as you know, there's been lots of finger pointing about blame.

I'm just curious, personally, do you -- is that important to you, to figure out sort of where the ball was dropped? Or do you think it's not your job?

TORRES: Well, personally, yes, I don't think it's my job. And I think that I'm just very proud to be part of an organization that has gotten some very good press, I guess. But really because, you know, we really did a good job. And, yes, it's not really my business to look at other agencies.

But I'm very proud to be part of an organization that I can tell my family that I know we were out there doing it. It wasn't a matter of trying to portray it that way. It's just what it -- you know, that was a fact. That's exactly what we were doing.

S. O'BRIEN: I know. I mean, you know, people say heroes, it kind of gets old. But I think the Coast Guard really just truly heroes.

It's nice to see you guys and catch up with you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks.

S. O'BRIEN: You still haven't let me ride around in the chopper, but we'll talk about that later.

Roberto and Taylor and, of course, Galen, nice to see you guys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll get you up there.

S. O'BRIEN: Thanks for stopping by.

CARLISLE: Nice to see you again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no problem.

S. O'BRIEN: You can be a little more quiet when you depart, because you made a lot of noise, blew a lot of stuff around coming in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We flew right over you.

S. O'BRIEN: Appreciate that.

Ahead this morning, we're going to take you inside really, literally, just inside Hall J here of the convention center. Right back there they set up medical facilities. As you know, medical concerns a huge problem here in New Orleans. I mean, what happens if someone has some kind of severe trauma?

How can they help them? Big question. We'll take you inside for some answers, hopefully.

And then a man I truly love. What can I say? Harry Connick, Jr. talks to us about why he's not here. He happens to be a superstar on Broadway right now. But he'll talk to us about what he is doing for his people here.

That's all ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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