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American Morning
Comair Crash; Tropical Storm Ernesto; Shuttle Atlantis; President's Gulf Trip; A Look Back
Aired August 28, 2006 - 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: From a runway too short for an airplane of that size. The result, a fiery crash that killed all but one of the 50 people onboard. This morning, federal investigators want to know what went wrong that led to that decision on Comair Flight 5191. CNN's Jason Carroll is in Lexington with more.
Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Miles, another question that investigators are trying to find out is why the crew didn't apparently immediately recognize that they were on the wrong runway. The investigators are hoping that the cockpit voice recorder provides some answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL, (voice over): As a inspectors of inspectors from the National Transportation Safety Board recovered bodies from the buried wreckage from Comair Flight 5191, distraught family members waited to hear about the fate of their loved ones. Of the 50 people on board, 47 passengers, three crew members, only one survived, the first officer pulled from the wreckage now in critical condition. He is an important part of the investigation which suggests the plane crashed after the pilot attempted takeoff from the wrong runway, runway number 26.
DEBBIE HERSMAN, NTSB SPOKESWOMAN: The evidence that we have from on scene that we have collected and the information that we have that's preliminary from the flight data recorder, indicate that this aircraft was lined up and took off from runway 26.
CARROLL: The tower cleared the regional jet bound for Atlanta for takeoff at 6:05 a.m. from Lexington's Bluegrass Airport. The Comair jet should have been taxied on runway 22. Instead, the pilot used run way 26. At 3,500 feet, its half the length of the runway he should have been on. Too short, investigators say, for a jet of that size. And at 6:10 a.m., the plane crashed into farmland and burst into flames.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw over the hillside, I saw the flash of light and then the explosion and then just a big plume of smoke come up.
CARROLL: Not long after the crash, stories of personal tragedy surfaced. On board, John Hooker (ph), a former University of Kentucky baseball player, and his new bride, Scarlet Parsley (ph). The couple had married the day before the crash and were headed for their honeymoon.
KEITH MADISON, FORMER BASEBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY: And he was a very, very excited, very happy guy last night. And Scarlet was a beautiful young woman and she seemed very happy. And it's just a tragic loss.
CARROLL: Investigators say they have recovered over 30 bodies. They also have the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder, which could ultimately reveal why the plane was on the wrong runway.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: And just a few moments ago, a representative from the University of Kentucky Medical Center called us back to give us an update on Jim Polehinke (ph). He is the first officer. That spokesperson says that Jim Polehinke is still in critical condition.
Investigators today will continue downloading information from the cockpit voice recorder. The cockpit voice recorder, as well as the data recorder are in Washington, D.C., being analyzed. They are hoping to get a better understanding of what instructions the crew was given and if they understood those instructions.
Soledad.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Jason Carroll for us this morning. Jason, what a tragedy, huh? That is so sad. Thanks for the update.
Let's turn now to talk about Tropical Storm Ernesto. The storm's bearing down on Cuba right now. In Florida, a state of emergency is already in effect. A hurricane watch is in place for Miami. And a little bit further south in the Keys, an evacuation order is already underway. CNN's Rusty Dornin live for us in Key West.
Hey, Rusty, good morning to you.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Also we're going to going to bring in Chad Myers in just a moment, Rusty, and have him chat with you as well.
Go ahead.
DORNIN: OK. It's Key West, very quiet. Of course, it's very early in the morning. You wouldn't imagine a lot of people are out. But a lot of the tourists we saw seemed to be going home, last night and even this morning.
But they still are making deliveries at the local stores. Someone just brought something into that Banana Republic across the street. But he did say he's only going to stay open for about three or four hours. And that seemed to be the tone all up and down Duval Street where we were talking to the merchants last night. Some were going to board up and close for the day, but there were some that were going to stay open and see what happens when Ernesto gets out of Cuba. Because, of course, because we are in The Keys, one of the most vulnerable areas in the United States for hurricanes because they're so low lying and surge, of course, is such a danger, they have already done an operational center that's open this morning, an emergency operations center. They've canceled all the schools until further notice. And they've also put in shelters for people with special needs that need to be taken to some areas.
Also two other shelters opening in Key West and on the Marathon Key, for folks who live on both or they just don't feel safe in the house where they are, even in a bad storm, those people will be allowed to go there. But, Soledad, no one in The Keys is being asked to leave. And they will not be asked for a mandatory evacuation unless Ernesto turns into a category three storm, which, at this point, it doesn't look like it's going to.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Rusty Dornin for us. Rusty, thanks.
Let's ask Chad Myers if that's likely.
Chad.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It all depends on how much of the storm, Soledad, remains over water and how much on the center of the circulation remains on Cuba. Right now, the flight explorer out there, the hurricane hunter aircraft, right on top of the storm right now. Just flew right through it again and has a location now, very, very close to Guantanamo Bay. That little bay right there. Here's the south end of Cuba. And the storm itself, the center, very close here.
Well, if this thing gets across Cuba and back into the water, that's very warm water south of the Bahamas. West of the Turks and Caicos. That area there, that very warm water, could make it expand into a category two or three if it gets in here. The forecast isn't for that, at least not for right now. The forecast keeps it over Cuba, keeps it over kind of a rugged area in Cuba, too. A rough terrain tries to tear the storm up.
So the storm stays a tropical storm until late tomorrow. And then as it gets back into the Gulf Stream, right here through the Florida Straits, that's when the storm begins to pop up again. Begins to fire up again and gain strength. And then making landfall as a category one in The Keys.
Now that's the middle part of the center of the storm. I mean we always talk about this could be going left, all the way to Pensacola. That's why they're checking there. And it could go right and miss Florida completely.
So the storm, as it kind of waivers across Cuba, will actually be interacting with the land. And that land could push it around a little bit, especially when you get that big topography of the big terrain there in Cuba. So we'll have to keep watching the storm. We'll watch some rainfall in New York. Maybe slow down some airports there. Also an awful lot of rain throughout the Midwest. And that could slow down airports from Minneapolis through Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City this morning.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks for watching it for us.
MYERS: You're welcome.
S. O'BRIEN: Be sure to stay with CNN, of course. We're your hurricane headquarters.
Miles.
M. O'BRIEN: Ernesto giving some gray hair to space shuttle managers. They don't want Atlantis on the launch pad in a hurricane or even tropical storm strength winds. Do they would like it either to be in space or in the hangar. So what to do? Well, it appears they're hedging their bets a little bit. CNN technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg joining us from the Kennedy Space Center with more.
Hello, Daniel.
DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Miles.
That's right, sun coming up here at Kennedy Space Center. But could the sun be going down on Tuesday's scheduled launch. You know we're talking about Tropical Storm Ernesto. You saw a live picture of the shuttle there on launch pad 39B.
Yesterday we got some images from the International Space Station, which is the place that the folks on the ground here, the crew, would like to be headed towards. They got some shots of Tropical Storm Ernesto from the International Space Station. Of course it basically stands between the astronauts and getting up to the ISS.
We also learned last night about what they're considering in terms of some rollback procedures, which would mean taking the shuttle off the launch pad, putting it back in the protective vehicle assembly building, and last night NASA managers talked about some of the wiggle room that they have got in this schedule.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEROY CAIN, LAUNCH INTEGRATION MANAGER: Of course, rollback preparations means just that. And the vehicle would still physically be at the pad until Tuesday about noon when we actually jack the vehicle up and start doing the rollback.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIEBERG: So one of the first things they would have to do is offload the onboard cryogenics. Some of the fuels that are onboard there. But the other big thing they have to do, of course, is to move the about 4.5 million pound shuttle off its launchpad. That would take considerable time.
And it's done with these crawler transporter vehicles that go very slow. If they're fully loaded, less than one mile per hour. So it takes about six to eight hours just to do that. But there are preparations that they have to do before they even get to that stage.
We were expecting to hear something after 7:00 a.m. this morning Eastern Time on what their decision would be. If they do decide to begin those rollback preparations, which would be offloading those fuels, that would essentially kill Tuesday's launch at four. But as you say, Miles, they're sort of holding a few cards close to the vest saying, we could still possibly try again on Wednesday. But right now it certainly seems to be pointing to a rollback here. Which is not unprecedented, we should say. This has certainly happened in the past.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. So, the fish or cut bait point today then, the moment when they'd actually have to move Atlantis is about noon Eastern Time? Is that correct?
SIEBERG: That's what they're saying. That we would hear at least some time this morning on what decision they would make. And then they would have to go from there. And, of course, once they do decide to move it off the launch pad and back, that's sort of the point of no return. Even if the hurricane does change paths, they would sort of have to make a lot of other arrangements to go back and get into that formation to try a launch again.
M. O'BRIEN: And they're trying to launch before September 7th in order to meet that narrow launch window and accommodate the Russians and so forth. Are they going to be able to pull that off with a rollback?
SIEBERG: Boy, it sure looks pretty tough, Miles. A lot of people asking that question last night. It sort of has to do with finding a parking place up at the International Space Station and not getting in the way of the Russian schedule, in a sense. Right now, a lot of questions remain about whether that could actually be pulled off in time for September 7th or there would have to be some rather delicate diplomatic negotiations with the Russians to see if perhaps they could find another way around that current schedule.
M. O'BRIEN: That's a long way to go to not get a parking place, though, isn't it?
SIEBERG: Yes, absolutely.
M. O'BRIEN: Daniel Sieberg, thank you very much.
Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: The party might still be going on this morning for winners of the 58th annual Emmy Awards. Conan O'Brien hosted the ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. last night. "The Office" took home the trophy for the best comedy.
The heart-pounding spy thriller "24" won the Emmy for the outstanding drama series. And after five tries, the star of "24, Kiefer Sutherland, picked up the award for best actor in a drama.
And Mariska Hargitay won the best actress in a drama award for her role in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." Didn't she just have a baby? You look at her. Look how great she looks. Moving on.
Tony Shaloub took home the trophy . . .
M. O'BRIEN: She does look good, yes.
S. O'BRIEN: Just great.
For best actor in a comedy for "Monk." Julia Louis-Dreyfuss won for best actress in a comedy for the "New Adventures of Old Christine," which is getting some really good reviews. A little controversy, though, in a prerecorded skit, which was meant to spoof the TV show "Lost." Host Conan O'Brien is seen in this plane crash sketch. And this is a sketch that aired hours after 49 people died in a plane crash in Lexington, Kentucky. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you headed to Los Angeles for the Emmys, Mr. O'Brien?
CONAN O'BRIEN: That's right. I'm hosting. It's my second time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you nervous?
CONAN O'BRIEN: Nervous? What could possibly go wrong?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
S. O'BRIEN: Well, needless to say, some of the folks were watching that in Kentucky. (INAUDIBLE) in poor taste.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, yes. Not the best time for that.
S. O'BRIEN: No. No it wasn't.
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, President Bush visits the Gulf Coast. It's on the eve of the first anniversary of Katrina's landfall. And Ernesto is looming. The question is, is the White House ready for another big storm? We'll take a look.
S. O'BRIEN: And how about the last big storm? The road blocks to New Orleans's recovery for Hurricane Katrina. The governor of Louisiana talks about the biggest challenges that face the crescent city this morning.
M. O'BRIEN: And a moment to remember for Iraq's most notorious prison. Abu Ghraib is what we're talking about. We'll tell you about that milestone ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Happening this morning in Colorado. John Mark Karr slated to appear in court. The suspect in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case expected at a brief hearing. Karr will be advised of his rights and any charges him.
At least 10 British tourists are among those hurt by bomb blasts that wounded 27 in Turkey. The attacks occurred along Turkey's Mediterranean coast and in Istanbul's commercial district. No claims of responsibility, however.
In Baghdad at least 11 are dead, 63 wounded after a suicide bombing there. It happened at an Iraqi police recruiting station.
We'll be back with more in just a moment. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: President Bush is marking the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina with a two-day visit to the Gulf Coast. He's going to be in Mississippi most of today, then it's on to Louisiana. But this return visit may resurrect a dark period in his presidency. CNN Whit House correspondent Ed Henry has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): In advance of his 13th trip to the Gulf region since Katrina, President Bush has been trying to downplay expectations.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a time to recommit ourselves to helping them. But I also want people to remember that a one-year anniversary is just that because it's going to require a long time to help these people rebuild.
HENRY: It's also taken a long time for the president to rebuild his political standing. Battered so badly by the initial images of a commander in chief flying over the devastation, while human beings below endured horrific suffering.
CROWD: We want help!
HOWARD DEAN, DNC CHAIRMAN: The response to Katrina was effectively the end of the president's presidency in the sense that people sort of all of a sudden saw the small man behind the curtain.
HENRY: Which may help explain why the president so eagerly embraced Rockey Vacarella, a rare Katrina victim willing to sing his praises.
ROCKY VACARELLA, KATRINA VICTIM: I wish you had another four years, man.
HENRY: The White House perhaps hoping that would counter the high profile blunders.
BUSH: And, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job.
HENRY: Former FEMA Director Michael Brown is admitting mistakes, but also lashing out at the president.
MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: It was a failure at all levels. And someone had to take the fall. And so clearly I was chosen to be that happy scapegoat.
HENRY: Rather than fire back, Bush officials say they're focused on the future, namely whether or not the federal government can handle another catastrophe. The urgent question at hand.
DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: We have pre-positioned a lot of supplies and people, regardless, regardless of where a storm hits. Whether it's in the Gulf Coast, whether it's in Florida or up and down the east coast, we're ready to move.
HENRY: Only time will tell whether such predictions prove accurate. Michael Brown says one lesson he learned is that FEMA should be returned to an independent agency, a move President Bush has rejected so far.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: It was a year ago today that Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans. AMERICAN MORNING's Dan Lothian has a look back now at what was happen 24 hours before Katrina made landfall.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): As the Gulf Coast braced for Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans native Lorrie Metzler prepared to get out of town with her 9-year-old son Michael.
DR. LORRIE METZLER, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: The writing was on the wall. You had an enormous category five hurricane headed straight for the mouth of the river. You know, hello. I mean, it was like, get out.
LOTHIAN: A year ago today, Metzler was arriving in Pensacola, Florida. 7:00 a.m. Central Time, Katrina was upgraded to a category five storm. Forecaster were making dire predictions about the city Metzler had left behind.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Certainly New Orleans is going to be getting a very strong, intense blow from this storm.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the really strong winds clip Lake Pontchartrain, that's going to pile some of that water from Lake Pontchartrain over on the south side of the lake.
LOTHIAN: 11:00 a.m., the city issues its first ever mandatory evacuation order.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: We are facing a storm that most of us have feared.
LOTHIAN: But long before that, thousands of people had already started evacuating. Governor Kathleen Blanco, just off a call with the White House, added to the urgency.
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, NEW ORLEANS: This is a very dangerous time.
LOTHIAN: Those without transportation began lining up at the Superdome, the shelter of last resort. Michael Brown, FEMA's director at the time, insisted the government was ready.
MICHAEL BROWN, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm. We're going to move fast. We're going to move quick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to use the service elevators.
LOTHIAN: Some doctors and nurses at area hospitals started moving medicines and other supplies to higher ground. Metzler, a physician, was concerned as she followed the news from hundreds of miles away.
METZLER: I was very worried about the medical facilities. I was very worried about how we were going to get the sick people out.
LOTHIAN: By now, the military had a small presence in New Orleans, but would their numbers be enough? And there were growing concerns about the levees. Would they hold? Katrina was still hours away. It was getting harder to leave the city. President Bush urged everyone to evacuate and offered reassurances.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will do everything in our power to help the people and the communities affected by this storm.
LOTHIAN: Katrina wrote the rest of the story with a catastrophic ending.
METZLER: I think most of us live with a lot of anger about what should have been and what should have happened and the way it should have gone down and how we really should not have had the problems that we had.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Metzler says that even now many of her friends simply don't want to talk about the storm. In fact, one year later, they don't want to hear about the anniversary and they really don't want to deal with this whole issue until the end of this week after the anniversary has passed and after they know there's no danger from the storm out in the Gulf.
Back to you, Soledad.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, what terrible timing of Ernesto. It's really put everybody's nerves on edge, Dan, I'm sure as you well know.
LOTHIAN: That's true.
S. O'BRIEN: Just terrible, terrible timing. We're going to be in New Orleans tomorrow on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Be sure to join us for our special coverage. We begin at 6 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning. That was Dan Lothian reporting for us.
Ahead this morning, my interview with Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco. She's going to talk to us about New Orleans recovery plan and some of the biggest obstacles that the city's still facing.
Plus, that deadly plane crash in Kentucky. How's it going to affect the already troubled Comair? Andy is "Minding Your Business." That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
M. O'BRIEN: Comair Airlines, a subsidiary of Delta, in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Comair as well. They did that at the same time. I guess they do that with subsidiaries. So this crash, this terrible tragedy, what is it going to mean for Comair. Andy Serwer is here with that.
ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Miles.
Obviously with a crash like this, the first concern is with the families. The second concern is figuring out what happened so it doesn't happen again. But there is another story and that concerns Comair, which is the commuter airline which owns the jet that crashed. Comair, as Miles said, is a subsidiary of Delta. And like it's parent company, it, too, filed for bankruptcy in September of last year and it is also trying to emerge, like Delta, the target would be next summer.
Now this crash, obviously, is a big blow. Not necessarily financially, because there is insurance that airlines always carry for these types of situations. But in terms of reputation, will it mean that passengers won't go on Comair. That they will avoid Comair? Generally this does not happen with airlines. Value Jet being the exception.
This company, Comair, has 168 jets. By the way, they're all Bombard Yeah (ph) jets. Eight hundred and fifty flights a day, to 110 cities. But you may remember, Miles, this company had another crash several years ago and also in Christmas of 2004 they had that terrible problem where they had a computer snafu and they had to cancel 1,000 flights. That would leave actually more of a bad taste in people's mouths . . .
M. O'BRIEN: You would think.
SERWER: It's just sort of a psychological thing that customers go through in these types of situations.
M. O'BRIEN: Here's the interesting thing. It's not a standalone company. But the bigger company, the corporate parent, is in trouble as well here. Does that help or hurt it, being linked to Delta?
SERWER: I would think it helps. I mean there's not a whole lot of financial resource there in this type of situation. But there are some and it does sort of shelter it from the blow. They could always change the brand, too. That's a possibility as well.
M. O'BRIEN: Yes. All right. Andy, thank you very much.
SERWER: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Top stories are straight ahead. One year after Hurricane Katrina, a natural disaster made worse by some manmade failures. Has the government really learned its lesson? We're going to ask the director of FEMA. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Good morning. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
M. O'BRIEN: And I'm Miles O'Brien. Thanks for being with us.
We are midway through the hurricane season, and fortunately it has not been all that it was cracked up to be. But as we mark the anniversary of the most devastating storm to hit this country, Katrina, the first hurricane, now tropical storm, Ernesto is bearing down on Cuba, and perhaps soon Florida. So, are we ready?
FEMA director David Paulison expected to give a briefing about that in about a half hour. He joins us now from there.
Mr. Paulison, good to have you with us. Let's put up the current track, the latest information we have from the hurricane center. Every time we see this so-called cone of uncertainty it moves a little to the east, and I'm sure you're hoping it keeps moving to the east, because that will put it out of harm's way.
But can you tell us, what is in place right now specifically? How are we ready? How has FEMA prepared for this storm?
DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: Well, first of all, the state of Florida is ready. They've already declared a state of emergency, they've started evacuation for the Keys, they're moving their supplies in, and we're in direct communication with them.
What FEMA is doing is we are moving our urban search and rescue teams. We have to in South Florida. We have two in Jacksonville. Our medical teams. We have two teams in Orlando, and 11 more teams around the outside of the state. We're also moving our supplies much closer. We've moved supplies into Homestead and into Jacksonville. And we've got a lot of supplies outside of that cone of influence, so we can move them in as soon as the winds die down.
But the most important thing is the state is ready. They have not requested assistance from us yet, but we're standing by to be as partners with them if they do need that assistance.
M. O'BRIEN: What about possibly of needing National Guard troops? Is that in place?
PAULISON: The troops are there if we need them. NORTHCOM is part of our team that we've put together. We've been in conference calls with them for the last two days. But so far, nothing is needed right now from the state. Right now they're handling it. They're one of the best prepared states in the country, so they're doing a good job.
M. O'BRIEN: All right. This is perhaps, could be, the first big test of your tenure at FEMA. What keeps you up at night? What are you worried about? What are the things you think you might have missed?
PAULISON: I think the most things that keep me up at night is not so much FEMA, but our personal preparedness, making sure that our residents are prepared to take care of themselves for the first couple days after the storm until all of the supply lines can get set up.
You know, we saw in Wilma that we had tens of thousands of people standing in line for food, and water and ice when, quite frankly, that was not a devastating storm. So I'm hoping we don't see that again this year.
You know, my house is down there. We spent a few weekends ago getting ready. My wife and I went to Wal-Mart, and Costco and Home Depot to get our supplies ready, so we're hoping everybody else follows suit.
M. O'BRIEN: I want to share a poll that came out recenelty Mr. Paulison. This was conducted by A.P.-Ipsos, and they asked Americans if they felt that we're ready to handle another disaster. And the question is, are we not ready to handle another disaster? Now, 57 percent of us believe we're not ready. That is actually a worsening trend from September a year ago. How do you explain that? Why do people have so little confidence right now in the federal government, given all that has transpired?
PAULISON: Well, I think what happened in Katrina has really reduced the level of confidence in what we can do. What I think what has not happened is people don't recognize how far we've come since Katrina, what we've done to this organization as far as communications -- that means our information sharing -- how we are going to operate out of a unified command system, so we are sharing that information. We know what each other's doing. And we're doing our planning together and our response together, and we know who is responsible for doing what. Significant difference, and the whole philosophy of how we're going to respond to the disasters from last year.
M. O'BRIEN: I noted that you've changed the procedure for providing immediate aid to victims of hurricane. In the wake of Katrina, there was a $2,000 grant give to most anybody who was a victim. This became a real problem as far as fraud. I think upwards of 20 percent of the money was fraudulently used, and so now you've reduced the amount of money that people get in the event of a storm, victims who need this funding, to $500. Is that, in a sense, are you punishing the victim for the transgressions of the government?
PAULISON: What we've actually done is to -- we've gone back to where we usually do that. This expedited assistance program is something FEMA rarely uses. In its 30-year history, it's probably only used it less than a half a dozen times. We upped it to $2,000 last year because we had people scattered all over this country, in every state in the union, and far from home, no access to bank accounts, they needed clothes for themselves and their children, school was starting, so we felt $2,000 was the right amount.
But the most important thing, the most important thing is we've now put an identity verification system in place so we can very clearly tell you who you say you are and did you live where you said you lived? And that will stop most of that type of fraud we saw during Katrina.
M. O'BRIEN: What is the biggest lesson, do you think, of Katrina? At this point, do you feel, is it a matter -- simply put, of communication? Is the government perhaps too cumbersome to properly and nimbly respond to these kinds of crises?
PAULISON: I don't think so. It was several things that went wrong. One was the communication piece. Another was the types of logistics and being able to track that. We didn't have the ability to do that. And third was the victim registration piece, not having a robust enough system to be able to register people quickly enough and fairly enough to find out what their needs were. And we've looked at all three of those very carefully. We've been working on them for nine months. I'm comfortable that this organization can be nimble, it can be agile, and we can move quickly.
M. O'BRIEN: David Paulison is the director of FEMA. Thank you for your time, sir. Good luck.
PAULISON: Thank you.
M. O'BRIEN: Soledad?
S. O'BRIEN: We're getting this just in to CNN. It looks as if NASA is beginning its rollback of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. You were talking about this earlier, a slow rollback.
M. O'BRIEN: Well, they're beginning the process. Yes, they're beginning the process.
S. O'BRIEN: Yes, because they have now said that they're going to pull the space shuttle off of its launch pad, because they're concerned about Tropical Storm Ernesto approaching. Obviously how long does it take to roll it back once you've rolled it out?
M. O'BRIEN: Well, there's a whole process of getting ready to roll it back, but then the actual move to the hangar is about a day, and you know, it's a long, laborious process. You don't go fast on that -- with that crawler, that transport vehicle, and that's why they have to make these decisions so far in advance. It's interesting, as fast as the space shuttle goes, Mach 25 -- it's 17,500 -- miles on the ground, it doesn't go fast ever at all.
S. O'BRIEN: Not so much.
M. O'BRIEN: Not so much.
S. O'BRIEN: And of course the move cancels the planned launch of that mission. If they're going to roll it back into the hangar, it's not going to be taking off.
M. O'BRIEN: Not for a while.
S. O'BRIEN: No.
(NEWSBREAK)
(WEATHER REPORT)
M. O'BRIEN: Coming up in the program, that deadly Comair crash. Officials say the plane tried to take off from a runway that was not long enough. .
We'll ask one of the people in charge of the investigation how something like that could happen.
S. O'BRIEN: And there are lots of challenges in the year since Katrina. The levees, the rebuilding, the infrastructure, the money, or lack thereof. This morning, we talk to Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco about some of the challenges.
And red tape and rubble on the Gulf Coast now. You want to know which issue is really infuriating hurricane survivors? How they feel they've been treated by their insurance companies. We'll look at that, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: A year after Hurricane Katrina, fewer than half the residents have returned to the city of New Orleans, progress is brutally slow and much of the city is a mess. Yesterday I sat down with Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Blanco, and we talked about the pace of the recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. KATHLEEN BLANCO, LOUISIANA: Everybody wants to be back the way it was yesterday. That's just not possible. The laws of physics don't allow it. We have a very labor-intensive manual rebuilding that has to happen before we can feel that we have come the million miles that we need to be.
S. O'BRIEN: Plus you have the infighting when it comes to coming up with a plan, I mean, and you have New Orleans politics, realistically speaking, that slowed some things down, and you have people who are really fearful that they are going to lose maybe the one thing that they own, their homes, and you have a lot of other issues involved as well.
At what point do you think there will be a plan, a real plan, not just the process to a plan, but an actual plan about what the city's going to look like?
BLANCO: I think that there will be a real plan in just in the next few weeks in the coming months. People do need to know, and there's been just a lot of misinformation that was spread like wildfire. Folks can take news, whether it's good news or bad news. People are very realistic. I think sometimes their leadership a little bit nervous, probably more nervous than the folks themselves.
S. O'BRIEN: The federal government said almost $110 billion -- billion with a 'b' -- for the whole region. How much of that money comes to New Orleans?
BLANCO: Well, a significant amount comes to New Orleans. The $110 billion was from the very beginning when you had to take care of masses, huge masses of people, from the whole region, not just Louisiana, but Mississippi and Alabama.
S. O'BRIEN: But in Mississippi, they just give them the money, right? I mean, in Louisiana, the money goes into escrow. So you don't get a check. You have money in escrow, and you can draw down to work on your house. Mississippi they cut you a check.
BLANCO: Well, in Louisiana, we want you home. We want you to rebuild your house. We need a workforce. Our unemployment statistics are unbelievable. In July, our lowest unemployment ever, at 2.9 percent, is a wonderful bit of news. At the same time it present as dilemma. We need a labor force here. So we need people who are available to do this work. And that's our challenge I think all across the coast.
S. O'BRIEN: What about Ernesto? I mean, since you're listing the hurricanes, let's throw Ernesto in, because he's around the corner.
BLANCO: We are watching Ernesto, and we don't trust him.
S. O'BRIEN: What's the plan? If the hurricane comes, and now it's a mandatory evacuation, I mean, everybody's got to go. No shelters of last resort.
BLANCO: We have created three state shelters. The state never really had its own shelters before. But those are designated for people without transportation, and we will bringing them to the state shelters in north Louisiana.
S. O'BRIEN: One of the sheriffs said to me, what do I do if people don't go. I can't arrest them, I can't cuff then, I can't make them go. What do you if there's a couple that will not leave? And if there is a couple with children that won't go.
BLANCO: They need to talk to the people in Cameron Parish. Cameron was totally devastated, but did not lose a single life. It's erased off the map. All of the homes and the buildings, the businesses. But they didn't lose a single life. And they went in there and they got the last recalcitrant people who wanted to stay to actually leave. I think if you really have a mind to getting people out you can do that.
S. O'BRIEN: As we head to the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, do you look back and say I should have done this, we should have done that? I talked to various law enforcement officials who say my mistakes were this and this and this. You know, Mayor Nagin said I made mistakes here and here. Do you think about that?
BLANCO: We should have all gotten 100 percent of the people out of harm's way, and that's what we should have all done, and that's what we're going to do in any future hurricane events. Once you get people out of harm's way you protect life, then you can go back and deal with property damage, but I think that the first and foremost, most important thing that one can ever do, is to get life protected.
We can't really stop the ravages of a hurricane. And here in this city, where we're visiting today and honoring and commemorating all that was lost and all that has been done, we know that life is the most important thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
S. O'BRIEN: Louisiana's Governor Kathleen Blanco.
I'm going to be live in New Orleans tomorrow on the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Be sure to join us for our special coverage. We begin at 6:00 a.m. Eastern. That's tomorrow morning.
Up next Andy "Minding Your Business" -- Andy.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Miles, America's strange sense of commercialism. An outpouring of support for Pluto -- for Pluto, the planet. Or the former planet, I believe.
S. O'BRIEN: I believe it.
M. O'BRIEN: Are you pro-Pluto?
S. O'BRIEN: I'm pro-Pluto.
SERWER: Well, a lot of people are, and we'll tell you about that.
S. O'BRIEN: Me and my friends.
(CROSSTALK)
SERWER: We'll tell you about it.
M. O'BRIEN: Also ahead in the program, Kiefer Sutherland. He's probably a pro-Pluto guy. He and his show "24" were big winners at last night's Emmys. A couple of heavily favored programs came up empty, however. We'll tell you who next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
S. O'BRIEN: Big night for stars on the small screen. The 58th Annual Emmy Awards took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.
And as CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson reports, there were some surprises.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Emmy goes to "24."
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After five seasons on the air, "24" finally clocked in with the Emmy for best drama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I just don't like being lied to..
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Derek?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: But the honors didn't end there for the action series. Kiefer Sutherland won best actor in a drama for playing "24's" combustible Jack Bauer.
(on camera): OK, you've been nominated numerous times. It was finally your turn.
KIEFER SUTHERLAND, EMMY WINNER: It's humbling. It's humbling. And it's at that moment that you realize, wow, you are so, so lucky.
ANDERSON (voice-over): "24" earned a third Emmy on the night for directing.
(on camera): It was no ordinary day at the office for sitcom star Steve Carell and company. Their show took home the trophy for best comedy series as expected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "The Office."
ANDERSON (voice-over): The show's producer saluted the star of "The Office."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm proud to call you my meal ticket.
ANDERSON: But in one of the night's surprises, it was not Carell who won best actor in a comedy, but Tony Shaloub of "Monk." It was his third Emmy win.
TONY SHALOUB, EMMY WINNER: There's been a terrible mistake. ANDERSON: Another mild surprise came in the best actress in a drama race. Some expected a Kyra Sedgwick victory, but instead it went to Mariska Hargitay (ph) for "Law and Order: SVU."
MARISKA HARGITAY, EMMY WINNER: It's just overwhelming. I mean, I see it here, but it's hard to actually believe it. I feel like I'm borrowing somebody's.
ANDERSON: Julie Louis Dreyfuss, a previous winner for "Seinfield," claimed the Emmy for best actress in a comedy for "The New Adventures of Old Christine."
JULIA LOUIS DREYFUSS, EMMY WINNER: What am I doing? What are you doing?
ANDERSON: The night's most emotional moments came in tributes to ailing TV legend Dick Clark who suffered a stroke in 2004.
DICK CLARK: Everybody should be so lucky to have their dreams come true.
ANDERSON: And the late producer Aaron Spelling was remembered by many of the people he turned into stars.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Aaron.
ANDERSON: As for comedic moments, many came courtesy of host Conan O'Brien, who noted all of the moviestars coming to TV this fall.
CONAN O'BRIEN, EMMY AWARDS HOST: Alec Baldwin has a new show on NBC, James Woods has a new show on CBS, and Mel Gibson has a new show on Al-Jazeera.
ANDERSON: Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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S. O'BRIEN We'll take a look at our top stories just ahead. We've got a short break. We're back in a moment.
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