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American Morning
The Aftermath of Hurricane Gustav: New Orleans Mayor Orders Residents to Delay Return; Palin's Disclosures Put Heat on the McCain Camp; President Bush to Address RNC; Hurricane Gustav Swamps Grand Isle, Louisiana
Aired September 02, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, everybody. Thanks for being with us. It's Tuesday, September 2nd. Glad you're with us this morning.
John is in Minneapolis once again this morning. Minneapolis/Saint Paul at the RNC convention. I'm here in New York and we begin though with New Orleans, where officials are keeping a very weary eye on the levees this morning.
So far they have held, in fact, some better than others. But the immediate threat appears to be over after Hurricane Gustav's storm surge threatened to overwhelm this vulnerable city's defenses. The Category two storm, which is now a depression, slammed into Louisiana's bayou country yesterday with 110 mile per hour winds, toppling trees, flooding roads and battering homes.
And while New Orleans barely escaped Gustav's fury, Ray Nagin, the mayor of the city is still telling residents to stay out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: We want the streets clear so that we can clear debris, we can fix power lines, and we're going to do everything that we need to do before you start to come in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Which is blamed for seven deaths in the U.S. could still spin off dangerous tornadoes. We're going to check in right now with Reynolds Wolf. He is tracking it for us from the CNN weather center in Atlanta.
Hey, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi there. Right now, the biggest story we have with Gustav is not really in terms of wind, in terms of the danger of the wind, but rather the rainfall.
Here's what we have for you, Kiran. Winds are at 35 gusting to 45. The center of this storm which is now at the time a tropical depression is about 221 miles at this point from New Orleans. A huge rainmaker with the threat of flooding, flooding in places like New Orleans, Louisiana, parts of Texas into Arkansas back into Mississippi. In fact, every spot you see on the map here, Kiran, that is shaded in green is either a watch or warning that will be in effect for much of this region and to think it's anywhere from six to 12 inches of rainfall. Some places possibly as much as 15.
Very, very quickly, we got other things to talk about. Hurricane Hanna, Category one, storm brewing just to the west or rather east of the Bahamas.
And look where this storm is expected to go. We put the path into motion very quickly. As we get into Thursday, into Friday, we're expecting rapid intensification. A Category two storm off the coast of Florida as we get into Friday then possibly making landfall between Savannah, Georgia, and Charleston, South Carolina, as we can get into midday on Friday, and then by Saturday moving well inland.
It's not the only show we're talking about. We're getting more storms out there. We go from Hanna to another one. The next one we're talking about is Ike. Ike is a tropical storm at this time, winds at 50 gusting to 65 miles per hour.
And check out the path on Ike. As we put this into motion, the path or the forecast path from the National Hurricane Center brings us to a Category two storm north of Haiti in the Dominican Republic as we get into Sunday with winds of 105 miles per hour. And then yet another storm, this one being tropical depression ten.
Putting this one into motion very quickly brings this to hurricane strength as we get into Sunday, with winds around 80 miles per hour.
So, Kiran, to put it shortly, we may be dealing with three hurricanes -- three hurricanes in the Atlantic basin as we move into the weekend. We're going to be talking about that coming up. And, of course, the biggest story we have now is still what is left of Gustav.
CHETRY: That's incredible. All right. Reynolds, we'll check in with you throughout the morning on that and as you said Gustav blamed for seven deaths in the United States. Could still spin off dangerous tornadoes.
CNN's Chris Lawrence is live in Plaquemines Parish for us this morning with more on what it's like there. Hi, Chris.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran. Yes, I am in the state's southernmost parish which sits right on the mouth of the Mississippi River. And this morning officials are keeping a close eye on this particular levee wondering just how much more pressure and damage it can take.
You know, when you take a look just over on the other side, you see how much water is built up just a few yards away from hundreds of homes. You know, the thing we are on a residential street, and that is just sitting right on the other side.
Now all the families here evacuated, but it really brings home how close this neighborhood came to flooding. The storm pushed its floodwall past its limits overtopping the head of it. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers used siphons and pumps to alleviate some of the pressure that was pushing against it.
And then a lot of the local workers were sandbagging like crazy. They had to get 2,000 sandbags from a nearby parish. They were going at it even as the back end of the hurricane was passing through. It was that frantic of an effort.
Now, this particular levee also was damaged during Katrina. Some of the folks here say that took 10 feet of water in their homes. The workers have been trying for the past few months trying to shore it up. They got it up to about eight feet but because this levee is not part of the federal system, a lot of the local officials here, it's going to take some government help -- federal government help to really get it to the point that it can withstand some really serious storms -- Kiran.
CHETRY: Absolutely. All right. Chris Lawrence for us this morning, thank you.
Right now, we're going to send it over to John in Saint Paul. Hey, John.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks very much, Kiran. To the "Most Politics in the Morning" now.
Republicans may return to their regularly scheduled convention tonight after putting politics aside for Hurricane Gustav on day one. President Bush is expected to address the delegates via satellite today. The party's nominee in waiting, John McCain, certainly could use a boost because according to the latest CNN poll of polls, it shows Barack Obama with a five-point lead now, 49 percent to 44 percent for John McCain. Seven percent of respondents remain undecided.
CNN's Jessica Yellin is here now to talk about how party leaders plan to get the convention back on message today. So they missed a big night yesterday. It was speeches from President Bush and Vice President Cheney. They got to truncate this whole thing. How are they going to do it?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're looking at compressing a lot of events. They're holding a meeting this morning to decide whether they can return to a normal schedule later today. That might include a satellite address from President Bush.
The first day of events here at the convention was consumed with things that were happening far from Minneapolis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: While Hurricane Gustav lashed the Gulf Coast hundreds of miles away and police in Minnesota fired pepper spray at protesters just outside the convention hall, two of the Republican Party's least controversial figures renewed John McCain's call to set politics aside in the wake of the storm.
CINDY MCCAIN, JOHN MCCAIN'S WIFE: Their challenges will continue in the days ahead. I would ask that each one of us commit to join together to aid those in need as quickly as possible.
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We're reminded that first we're all Americans and that our shared American ideals will always transcend political parties and partisanship.
YELLIN: But the focus on service was swept aside when vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin released word that her 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant and will marry the baby's father. The McCain campaign made it clear it does not expect this to become an issue in the race.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we want to see happen is the privacy of Governor Palin's daughter respected.
YELLIN: Barack Obama insisted his team won't make it one and did not force this leak.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We don't go after people's families. We don't get them involved into politics. It's not appropriate and it's not relevant.
Our people were not involved in any way in this and they will not be. And if I ever thought that there was somebody in my campaign that was involved in something like that, they'd be fired.
YELLIN: The Obama campaign did respond to other political news when Karl Rove ignored McCain's call to avoid partisan attacks and at a convention breakfast called Senator Joe Biden a "big blowhard doofus." Biden seemed amused.
SEN. JOE BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: I learned a long time ago you can call me anything you want. I don't think we'll have any trouble resuming the campaign. Either apparently Karl did hesitate to (INAUDIBLE). I guess he didn't get the memo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
YELLIN: Now, John, there's a lot of discussion going on how all this non-convention news will affect the McCain campaign. Obviously, it took them away from a day of pure Republican messaging, which the Democrats got on their side all last week.
ROBERTS: "Big blowhard doofus." Those are fighting words.
What about the acceptance speeches? Sarah Palin was supposed to give her acceptance speech on Wednesday, John McCain the following night on a Thursday. Does it still look like that? We'll be on track?
YELLIN: Yes. It's not official, but it looks like there's no reason that will stop.
ROBERTS: I guess there was some consideration into putting them both on the same night, which would have been Thursday.
YELLIN: They could still do that, but it seems things will get on back on track, which should be Palin Wednesday, McCain Thursday.
ROBERTS: Jessica, thanks so much for that. Good to see you.
Meantime, John McCain's running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, has hired an attorney to represent her in a state ethics probe that has been dubbed "Troopergate." Lawmakers are investigating whether Palin abused her power in dismissing the state public safety commissioner because he refused to fire her ex-brother-in-law who's a state trooper and involved in a bitter custody battle with Palin's sister.
CNN's Kyra Phillips is in Alaska to profile the governor and she's going to be joining us a little bit later on in this hour.
And Minnesota National Guard units and local police are gearing up for day two of the Republican National Convention after protests turned violent not far from the Xcel Energy Center where we're broadcasting from.
At least 56 people were arrested yesterday. Police fired projectiles and used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse a group of self-proclaimed anarchists. The group attacked delegates, smashed windows of police cars and threw bottles, but police say the main anti-war march yesterday was peaceful with an estimated 10,000 people participating.
CHETRY: The day after.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Much better the second go than the first. That's for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Rob Marciano on the ground in New Orleans with the latest on the damage done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR RAY NAGIN, DELAWARE: We're not totally out of the woods.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I just want to let you know, you can see this rope here. I'm tied around this pole and I've got a rope over here. We're in Grand Isle and I think we're going to have to give up this right now. We're going to wrap it up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Well, you couldn't get much closer to the teeth of the storm than CNN's Ali Velshi was yesterday on Grand Isle, Louisiana in the middle of Hurricane Gustav's fury less than 24 hours ago. The storm made landfall about 75 miles southwest of New Orleans tearing across the rural landscape but mostly sparing New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, which is still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
It was quite a day for Ali yesterday as he rode out the storm in that spit of land. All of the houses on that island became island's themselves as the storm surged washed over it. And Ali is with us now.
Ali, this was your very first hurricane experience and one I assume that you'll never forget.
VELSHI: I'm quite familiar with air-conditioned offices and having running water and electricity. Yes, it was very different than what we expected.
As you know, John, we came down here because this is the heart of oil production country. We came here to do sort of a separate story and help out with the hurricane coverage. I had no expectation that we would be right in the center of all of this.
Now, we had a full 24 hours until last night of rain and heavy wind. And then last night you could see the stars, it was beautiful and honestly, John, just moments before we got on with you, this squall came through out of nowhere. I don't know what's going on. It's knocked out a lot of our power. We don't even have power now.
This BGAN, this unit that we used to get you this signal, it is now only on battery power. We can't charge it so once the signal goes down, that's it.
No cell phones, no BlackBerrys, and our satellite phone isn't working well either. I don't know where this came from.
I also turned the camera around this time, John, to show you, this is the house that kept us alive through this storm. We stayed here because of the fact that the man who was staying behind to ride out the storm was in this house. This is his house and he built it for a hurricane.
I don't know if you've got the video that I sent in. But what he did yesterday is he was so determined to see how his business had survived the storm. His business is about a quarter of a mile away, that he walked out without water way above his waist, and he waded through until he got to his business and then he took one of our cell phones with him and called us from his office to say that things were OK. But he was determined to get out there. He then walked around the town and gave us a damage report, and it is s quite extensive, John.
We have not been able to get out ourselves yet. We're hoping to do that today as the water recedes. He said about 90 percent of the electrical poles are down. Not a single house escaped damage. There are some houses entirely destroyed, many of them without roofs.
In fact, we had parked our cars on high ground some distance away. He said your cars -- he took our keys, he said your cars start, they're there, but he said there's no chance you're driving out of here probably for a week. So he said we're going to have to find some other way to get out if we're getting out.
So our situation is no power. We've got a generator, but no water. We've got drinking water and no ability to get out. But we're all in it together and it's certainly not a hurricane. It's a squall we're in right now. So that's our story, John.
ROBERTS: So, Ali, you're there for a week. And what is it that they say about fish and house guests? Both start to go bad after about three days?
VELSHI: Yes. The man we're staying with, by the way, owns a shrimp processing facility. So for a while until the ice is there, we'll eat well.
ROBERTS: All right. Ali, thanks very much. It's good to see you. Glad that you made it through because I'll tell you, when we saw that hurricane bearing down, I had my doubts. Good to talk to you, my friend.
CHETRY: Governor Palin's revelation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED DYSON (R), ALASKA STATE SENATE: To me it makes him more human.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Kyra Phillips is in Alaska talking to people who know the woman who could be vice president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED DYSON (R), ALASKA STATE SENATE: She's a human being like everybody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: There's a live look right now inside of the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as they gear up for day two of the Republican Convention. Day one, of course, blown off course quite literally by Hurricane Gustav.
A lot of the events planned actually were scrapped yesterday and we're still waiting to hear. We should hear about noon today exactly what they have in store today as they rush to switch things up and squeeze everything in, in light of pretty much losing day one.
Well, personal news blending with presidential politics. Senator John McCain's running mate announcing that her teenage daughter is pregnant. Sarah Palin says that her daughter has their family's unconditional love and support in her decision to keep the baby and marry the father. The Obama camp says the matter is off the table as a campaign issue.
CNN's Kyra Phillips is in Anchorage, Alaska with hometown reaction and what if anything it could mean for the Republican ticket.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, we were sent here to investigate the background of Governor Sarah Palin. And I can tell you in less than a day on the ground, politics turned personal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS (voice-over): 17-year-old Bristol is Governor Palin's oldest daughter -- a high school senior. She's been seen at campaign events in the last few days holding her baby brother, Trig. What we didn't know then, she's five months pregnant.
The father's name is Levi and they intend to marry. The parents issued this statement. "We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support."
Prominent Republicans in Alaska and beyond have been just as supportive.
FRED DYSON (R), ALASKA STATE SENATE: She's a human being like everybody else and it certainly doesn't mean that your kids are. To me it makes them more human. And my guess is that's how the public is going to react.
PHILLIPS: Aides to Senator John McCain say he was aware of Bristol's pregnancy even before he chose her mother for his running mate and didn't even consider it relevant. Nor does Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits. And people's children are especially off limits.
PHILLIPS: But to some, the 17-year-old's pregnancy is a political issue. Her mother supports strong family values and teaching abstinence, but not sex education in schools. Abortion rights activists say they won't comment on Bristol's case, but it does underscore the need for teaching teenagers about sex.
GERAN TARR, ALLIANCE FOR REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE: Even in the best of circumstances with the best family and a loving family where they've probably had the conversation that this type of thing can happen unexpectedly.
PHILLIPS (on camera): Why not support abstinence only?
TARR: It doesn't educate teenagers about how to prevent STD transmission.
PHILLIPS (voice-over): According to Tarr, Alaska has one of the highest teenage rates of sexually transmitted diseases in the country although the rate of teenage pregnancies has dropped sharply. We asked a man who knows Governor Palin well. Can she juggle being a mom and vice president of the United States?
DYSON: She's a very capable person and very bright and tough, and without being abrasive. And I don't know whether she can do it or not. Time will tell.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now the unknown. Will the revelation of Bristol's pregnancy impact the McCain campaign, if at all? And investigation number two, "Troopergate." Did Governor Palin use her political power to try and fire her former brother-in-law? The McCain camp is still adamant that she's done nothing wrong -- John, Kiran.
ROBERTS: Kyra Phillips reporting for us this morning from Anchorage, Alaska. Kyra, thanks so much.
New revelations about Sarah Palin that she was discussing the investigation into possible abuse of power and as well massive earmarks for her hometown when she was mayor. A look at how all of this may impact John McCain's bid to be president.
CHETRY: Staying behind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You can get high enough to go all the way back there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in trouble.
GUPTA: Yes, we're in trouble.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Dr. Sanjay Gupta on call and in the middle of the storm, riding along with an emergency responder who refused to leave his post.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's high. That's a lot of water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have said before and I will repeat again, I think people's families are off limits. And people's children are especially off limits. This shouldn't be part of our policies. It has no relevance to Governor Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Senator Barack Obama making it clear that the candidates' families are off limits. He made the remark after John McCain's vice presidential pick, Sarah Palin, revealed that her 17- year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant. But there are also other revelations that could be a drag on the McCain ticket.
Joining me now is former RNC spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt and Democratic analyst Julian Epstein. Good early morning to both of you.
TRACEY SCHMITT, FMR. RNC PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, very early.
ROBERTS: So we want to leave the daughter completely out of this. But what yesterday's revelation raises in terms of questions is, is there anything else out there that the campaign may know about that the public doesn't know about? Will there be a kind of a steady drip, drip, drip here, regarding Sarah Palin whom most of the country knows very little about?
SCHMITT: I don't think so. Obviously McCain has a very savvy group of advisers and they vetted her fully. I think with the issue with the "trooper" if there was any then we'd be sitting here talking about vice presidential nominee Pawlenty or Romney. I don't know that it's a coincidence that all of this news came out yesterday when all the media was paying attention to the hurricane.
ROBERTS: But, Julian, if you're going into your convention, do you want these stories front and center? Or do you want the narrative about John McCain to be the lead story?
JULIAN EPSTEIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: No. I think the governor has violated the first -- the Hippocratic Oath of vice presidential politics which is to do no harm. I think she's been a big distraction now for many days. I think that if more stories begin to come out, she could become the Harriet Miers of this convention and they could actually dump where I think actually Republicans, some are thinking about, you know, what point does the pain get to be too high. It's not the daughter issue. I think that is off the table, and Senator Obama said. It is the "Troopergate" issue. We now have the fact that she's hired an attorney. There are e-mails that are surfacing.
There are issues of her relationship with the independence party which was a secessionist party. There's a fact that she lobbied for a political fork (ph). The fact that she hadn't had a passport until a couple of years ago, the fact is she wasn't vetted. The McCain team has people in Alaska right now being vetted. She wasn't vetted and that's --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: The McCain campaign says those people are in Alaska as part of a transition team to help integrate her political operation with their political operation.
EPSTEIN: Do you believe that? Do you believe that? Nobody believes that. Nobody believes that.
(CROSSTALK)
SCHMITT: And Julian knows this as well. Of course, she's going to hire an attorney. It would be foolish not to.
ROBERTS: But, Tracey, let me ask you something about Julian just said. Julian suggested that she could be removed as the running mate. Do you believe that would ever happen?
SCHMITT: No. I think -- I think that's absolutely probably not something that's going to be even remotely in the picture. What we're hearing is the complete opposite. The grassroots are completely energized. For the first time you have evangelicals and women's groups -- two factions within the Republican Party but are rarely on the same page fired up and ready to go. And then what we anticipate is going to be a close election. You need all the excitement you can get, and she's really brought it to the party.
ROBERTS: Let me make this point, if I could, Julian. You said a moment ago, Tracey, that it didn't appear to be anything there with the so-called "Troopergate." But yesterday late into the evening our Kyra Phillips, who's up in Anchorage, reported that she talked with a lead investigator who said that he has some new evidence, e-mails out there that suggest some communication between someone at the state police and someone in her office regarding this. Could this potentially be a landmine?
SCHMITT: No. I think we'll have to see how this plays out. But again, the McCain campaign obviously vetted her fully and knew all of these revelations while they were going into it.
EPSTEIN: Three quick points. First is, I don't want her off the ticket. I want her on the ticket because I think she's good for Barack Obama. She takes away the central argument the Republicans have which is the argument about experience. Secondly, there's no question that she was not vetted. There are McCain campaign people in Alaska right now vetting her. This raises very, very serious questions about John McCain's judgment.
Third question is, is because she wasn't vetted and because we know so little about her, so little about her relationships with the secessionist movement in Alaska, so little about her time as mayor of Wasilla, the media, you and your colleagues are going to be wanting to sit down and interview her for weeks and weeks and weeks. This is going to be a story and a controversy that's not going to go away. It's the last thing John McCain needs.
ROBERTS: We have to wrap it here, but we're going to bring you back a little bit later on. There are some other things to talk about including a report in the "Washington Post" that as the mayor she hired a lobbying firm to try to get some of that federal money in terms of earmarks.
A lot of things to talk about this morning. Tracey Schmitt, Julian Epstein, good to see you this morning.
SCHMITT: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Thank you.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Well, it's just about 30 minutes past the hour now. And this morning New Orleans looks like it escaped a direct hit. The levees reinforced after Katrina appear to be holding.
But Mayor Ray Nagin says it's still too early for evacuees to try to return home. A lot of cleanup still left to take care of. And this morning after the storm's driving rains and powerful winds, nearly 700,000 people are without power, most of them in Louisiana.
Also this morning as the winds die down and the rains stop, New Orleans breathing a collective sigh of relief. At least for a few hours, the fate of the city rested on miles of concrete slabs.
CNN's Rob Marciano rode out the storm on top of the roof of the Omni Hotel in downtown New Orleans. And this morning, I guess, a little bit of a better assessment is being done about how the city fared.
Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. Yes, and that's the big plan for today. The mayor and city officials will be doing an assessment. They'll be doing repair. The next step will be letting businesses back in and then he hope to have residents back in by the latest by the end of this week. But it has been a week of anxiety, of disbelief, and then of acceptance and then planning and preparedness. And then, well, here it came Gustav. Scheduled to be a Cat 3 or a 4. It was no Katrina, but it was certainly no lame storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): Gustav slammed into New Orleans. Knocking down trees and hurling debris through the air. But this time officials say, the big easy was ready.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The coordination on this storm is a lot better than on -- than during Katrina.
MARCIANO: Three years after Katrina, what went right? Well, this time nature showed some mercy. High winds threatened, but did not flood the crucial levees. Eastern New Orleans hit hard during Katrina suffered mostly wind damage this time. The few residents who stayed to ride out the storm say officials were more prepared this time around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Much better the second go than the first. That's for sure. Much more organized.
MARCIANO: 95 percent of the city's residents were evacuated. Normally packed streets were empty. And that's exactly what authorities wanted.
ADM. HARVEY JOHNSON, DEP. FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: We did a very good collective job in terms of response. And we'll do an equally effective job in terms of recovery.
MARCIANO: Recovery may take days. Power authorities say tens of thousands in New Orleans remain without electricity. At the height of the storm more than 100,000 customers had no power.
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: We still have several days and weeks and perhaps even months of work ahead of us.
MARCIANO: The mayor says it'll be days before damage is properly assessed and residents can come back.
MAYOR RAY NAGIN (D), NEW ORLEANS: The City of New Orleans looks like we're not totally out of the woods, but we're getting close.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Still raining this morning. We're continuing to get squalls in the south wind as this thing continuous to motor off towards the north and west. The center of the storm itself, take a look at the radar, is across parts of northwestern Louisiana. We'll be heading into the (INAUDIBLE) Region. And there is still a tornado watch out for a chunk of Mississippi and part of Louisiana until 8:00 Eastern Time this morning.
All right. What's next on the docket? It's Hanna as she's a hurricane. Winds of 80 miles an hour out there in the Bahamas, about 400 miles from Nassau and drifting to the west. The forecast is ominous for those who live on the southeast coastline. Scheduled to develop into a Category 1 and then make landfall potentially as a Category 2 somewhere along the Carolina Coast or even as close as the Northern Florida Coast. We'll have to watch that and we'll be tracking it carefully over the next couple of days.
And then there's Ike right now. A tropical storm out there in the Atlantic with the winds of 50 miles an hour. Its movement is west at 15. That also expected to grow to a Category 2 storm and should be somewhere in the Bahamas later on this weekend. Peak of hurricane season, Kiran, is September 11th, September 12th. We are very close to that date. Mother Nature is going according to the calendar. Back to you.
CHETRY: Yes. We're seeing one after the other brewing in the Atlantic. All right, Rob, thanks.
Also a look at one of the -- some of the deadliest storms to hit the U.S. in an "A.M. Extra" now. The Category 4 hurricane that hit Galveston, Texas, in 1900 still ranks as the worst. An estimated 8,000 people were killed in the fury of that storm. Nearly three quarters of the island city wiped away. Then in 1928, Lake Okeechobee Hurricane in Florida comes in second. And estimated 2,500 people killed. Katrina ranks third. The only modern storm on the list. 1,836 people killed in Katrina.
One-on-one with Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Do you think New Orleans has been forgotten?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The candidate on Gustav, Katrina and the charge that McCain's running mate has more experience than he does.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Governor Palin's town of Wasilla has, I think, 50 employees. We've got 2,500.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. You know, parts of the Ninth Ward still recovering from the devastation of Katrina. Flooding again yesterday as the surging water spilled over the levees. But in the end, the city's defense system worked and the New Orleans area survived Hurricane Gustav.
And it was the fear born in the aftermath of Katrina that drove so many people to heed the warnings and to leave New Orleans. Thousands though choose to remained, and their refusal had rescue workers risking their lives to save others.
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta spend the day yesterday with emergency responders as they made their way, street by street, making sure that people were safe.
Hey, Sanjay. Let's take a look, actually.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE GUILLOT, EAST JEFFERSON EMS: (INAUDIBLE), if the levee doesn't hold, we'll be in trouble. It's scary. This is scary because this is high.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Guillot has been here through Katrina and other storms. He is one of the guys we hear about. He is one of the guys who always stays.
(on camera): The governor has been on, the mayor has been on saying evacuate. I think it's maybe fair to say you're still here. Did you think about leaving?
GUILLOT: I don't think about leaving. But I mean, I think my priority is to make sure my family, my wife's safe, my kids are safe. And as long as those things are in place, you know, I look at it as this is our job. And I don't see it as something heroic. It's just our job to do.
GUPTA (voice-over): But it is heroic. Staying. And trying to protect people from this -- an angry Lake Pontchartrain.
(on camera): The only way that we can even be out here right now is with the assistance of EMS. They have brought us out here to show us exactly what they're concerned about. And you can see it behind me. All this water over here that is really kicking out of Lake Pontchartrain. There are levees all around. The water is nowhere near close yet but the concern is that it might get there.
They're patrolling right now in some of the worse conditions to try and see if anybody needs help. But at some point, even the EMS is going to be told enough. It's time to go in. We're almost there.
(voice-over): It's been a challenging day. But this area just west of New Orleans has a better chance because Mike Guillot has chosen to stay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you all want to go back out again, we can do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GUPTA: I have to tell you, it's a real double-edged sword. As you might imagine, these rescue workers are being told to evacuate before the storm like everybody else by the governor, by the mayor. But they do stay to try and take care of people even under some pretty challenging conditions.
Mike Guillot in particular lost his aunt during Katrina. He was the one who actually went to go find her after the storm had passed. He has professional and personal reasons for being here. And it's just remarkable how many people stay and help out.
CHETRY: Yes. And we saw the same thing yesterday with the hospitals and people didn't want to leave those critically care infants in the NICU. They wanted to stay and make sure they were OK as well. So, as we watch Gustav now, a tropical depression, what are the biggest challenges ahead for the hospitals, Sanjay?
GUPTA: You know, the biggest challenges really do lie within the next several hours and days. Not during the storm as a lot of people think. The evacuations were pretty successful. And because the winds were high, the ambulances don't bring patients in. They are going to start now.
People coming back to their homes, getting up on their roofs, it's slippery, they may fall, they may step on nails, debris that they don't expect. Those sorts of injuries may be more mundane, but pretty common after hurricanes. That's what they're going to expect.
Also people who maybe aren't taking their medications are having the emotional anxiety after all that has happened. Those are going to be the biggest concerns and that's what these hospitals are prepared for. They have done this many times before, unfortunately. One of the advantages of that, though, is being ready.
CHETRY: All right. Sanjay Gupta, thank you.
Reporters on the edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Trying to anchor myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Jeanne Moos looks back at the most outrageous --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Oh, watch out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And dangerous moments inside the storm. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 44 minutes after the hour. A look inside the Excel Center here in St. Paul, Minnesota, which is the home of the Republican National Convention this week. Because of Hurricane Gustav, anything to do with the political celebration was canceled last evening. They did some business. Cindy McCain and First Lady Laura Bush addressed the audience. But we should find out in a couple of hours' time whether or not they will proceed with, if not the full program scheduled for Tuesday. At least a good part of it. They're making an assessment to see exactly what sort of effect Gustav had on the gulf area, and whether or not they could go ahead with what for all intents and purposes is a very partisan political event.
In terms of where Gustav is now and what the effects might be on this day two of the hurricane being ashore, let's go to the hurricane headquarters in Atlanta and Reynolds Wolf, who track the storm for us all yesterday morning.
So what about today, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, today, John, we have Gustav as a tropical depression. This is actually the final update from the National Hurricane Center before they let this thing go and before Gustav fades off into history.
Winds currently at 35 miles per hour gusting to 45. But even though this is a dying system, it's still packing a bit of a punch in terms of heavy rainfall. In fact, the heaviest rain now moving through portions of Baton Rouge back over to say Jackson, Mississippi and into Arkansas. And at this time we've got plenty of watches and warnings in terms of flooding throughout much of the region including places like Mississippi into Louisiana, Arkansas and even parts of Texas and Oklahoma for that matter.
However, we've got tropics that are just alive with power. Several named storms on the horizon. And by the time we get to the weekend, John, we could have three, possibly three hurricanes in the Atlantic basin. We're going to talk about that coming up after next hour. Back to you.
ROBERTS: Sounds like you are going to have a busy weekend. Reynolds, thanks so much.
Barack Obama altering his campaign schedule because of concerns over Hurricane Gustav. He speaks exclusively with Anderson Cooper about the government's response.
CHETRY: Blown away. Jeanne Moos takes us into the center of the storm, including a look back at our own Ali Velshi's first hurricane experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's it feel like?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, reporters covering hurricanes are often blown away by the experience -- literally and figuratively. CNN's Jeanne Moos has got the Hurricane Gustav edition of man and woman versus Mother Nature.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An ominous pulsating blob jiggling drops on the lands. Once again, the reporters who vie for the title of "Most Weather Bee" --
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hurricane Gustav is coming ashore right now.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There was no (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But the big concern, flooding where I am.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Whoa! There's some debris starting to blow around and we want to get out of the way.
MOOS: Out of the way, but not out of camera range.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Not a lot of commercials?
MOOS: With so much danger and damage, weatherman Al Roker was lucky to lose just his hat.
AL ROKER, WEATHERMAN: And, of course, right now, the -- sorry. Well, there's so much for that hat.
MOOS: And CNN's Ali Velshi's very first hurricane.
ROBERTS: What's it feel like?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: (INAUDIBLE)
MOOS: When they came back later to Ali's deserted position --
ROBERTS: Tonight, we assure you that he did not blow away.
MOOS: Actually, he couldn't blow away. He was tethered.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We heard Ali talking a little bit earlier, Chad, about, you know, the shrimp.
MOOS: Ali wasn't the only one hanging on for dear life. Heraldo Rivera was out with his wind gauge.
HERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS: Over 50, 56 gust here. You can see into the eye of this coming storm. I don't want to get that lens too wet.
MOOS: All day, camera people were wiping...
CHETRY: Rob Marciano for us --
MOOS: Wiping...
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: All right, let's get back. MOOS: Wiping. Heraldo spotted a guy in the water.
RIVERA: You see right there (BLEEP), there's a person stranded. There's a person stranded. I'm telling the cops here. He's swimming. He's got a lifeline. He's got a lifeline. Oh, my God.
MOOS: Turns out the swimmer had intentionally gone into the water to attach a line to a propane tank to keep it from causing damage. Heraldo was fearless or foolhardy, take your pick, charging up to levees as water gushed over the top, eventually retreated.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: We're trying to get out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Back to you. This is starting to hurt. This hurts a lot, don't you think? OK, back to you guys.
MOOS: Some wind blown reporters pointed out other wind blown reporters in shorts.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Quite honestly I'm having trouble standing up.
MOOS: Beware of unidentified flying cardboard.
COOPER: Oh, watch out.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Oh!
MOOS: Better flying cardboard than flying reporters.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: If I wasn't holding on to this pole I'd probably be in the Mississippi River by now.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Sigh of relief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAGIN: We're not totally out of the woods, but we're getting close.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Fragile floodwalls stand up to killer Hurricane Gustav. The first major test since Hurricane Katrina and the next big thing in the Atlantic this morning.
And one-on-one with Senator Barack Obama. The response to Hurricane Gustav.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: A lot of the fund and planning that was done I think clearly paid off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The unfinished business from Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Make sure that we rebuild New Orleans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 54 minutes after the hour. Our John King reporting this morning that the Republican National Convention this Tuesday is going to go ahead as scheduled. Details to come. So stay tuned here on CNN. We'll get all of that for you.
Plenty of buzz today about John McCain's newly minted running mate Sarah Palin. Not the kind that the Republican Party might want to hear, though. Palin revealing yesterday that her 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant. The Alaska governor also the subject of a state ethic's investigation and, of course, lingering questions about her experience.
Nancy Pfotenhauer is a McCain campaign adviser, and she joins me now here in the Excel Center.
Nancy, it's good to see you.
NANCY PFOTENHAUER, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Oh, great to see you in person, usually it's by remote.
ROBERTS: You hit an editorial today in the "Wall Street Journal" in which you said ignore the chauvinists. Palin has real experience.
ROBERTS: Is it chauvinistic to question a running mate's experience? I mean, wouldn't that be the same thing as saying that questioning Barack Obama's experience as many people including the McCain campaign has, would be racist?
PFOTENHAUER: Well, no. I think what the difference here is there were questions about she has young children that came out. And it was from a feminine perspective or female's perspective. I found that to be one of the most outrageous double standards I'd ever seen. I mean, for example, Senator Obama has two young children. He's been running for president.
ROBERTS: But you only talk in here about her experience in running the state.
PFOTENHAUER: Exactly. But he has never been questioned once about would he be able to handle the duties of his job as a father. And so there are those types of things that have been, I think, an overt and offensive double standard.
As far as her experience, the initial reaction from the Obama campaign that they had to back away off of. Didn't even mention that she was a governor. They made fun of her for being a small-town mayor.
And, you know, my response to that was small towns are the heartbeat of this country and governors have to actually make decisions, not just talk about things and vote. And so that's why for years and years, if not a century, we've considered governors to be a really important background for somebody to hold the highest office in the land, much less the vice presidency.
ROBERTS: Well, let me ask you a question about her time as a small town mayor. You say in this op-ed, a McCain-Palin administration will not tolerate pork barrel spending in Washington.
In Washington, McCain spoke out against the "Bridge to Nowhere," a $400 million waste of the taxpayer's money. Ms. Palin made sure the bridge went nowhere, cancelling the earmark, not afraid to use her veto pen. Mr. McCain won't either."
But "The Washington Post" today has an article that as the mayor of Wasilla, she hired a lobbying firm with ties to Ted Stevens, senator of Alaska, famous for the "Bridge to Nowhere," to procure federal earmarks. And in four years, she garnered $26.9 million in earmarks for her town.
PFOTENHAUER: Well, once she became governor, when she got more involved in what these programs were, she has taken a strong and consistent stance against them. And she's actually used -- exercised the largest, what they estimate to be the largest line item veto in the Alaska state history.
So, I think what all that shows is that when you get into the governor's seat where you have to do trade offs and balance things, that you make different decisions. And she has been, once she's got into the officer of governorship or into the governor seat if you will, she has made that decision. And she's been either applauded or criticized based on your perspective.
But I want to get into if I can a little bit more of what I consider to be the kind of over the top hysterical coverage that we've seen on this. The whole Trooper Gate issue.
I mean, she's been an open book on this. You're talking about a man who used a taser on his 10-year-old stepson who threatened to put a bullet in her father's head. And so, during the normal security clearances when she became governor, they said are there any threats to your family and this came up. And they took action that was recommended by the person who was the head of their security detail.
ROBERTS: Well, apparently, there may be some new information coming up about that with the investigator. We don't know all the details, but we hope to have it later today. Nancy Pfotenhauer, good to see you. PFOTENHAUER: It's a pleasure.
ROBERTS: Thanks for coming in and sorry with the mix up with your car getting you here.
PFOTENHAUER: No problem. You almost got me in my pajamas
ROBERTS: That would have been fine.
Kiran?
CHETRY: John, thanks. You know, let's get the other perspective now. Joining me is former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack. He's an Obama supporter.
Thanks for being with us this morning, Governor Vilsack.
TOM VILSACK, FORMER IOWA GOVERNOR: Good morning.
CHETRY: We want to start out with a look at a poll of polls. It's a new one out by CNN that shows Obama leading McCain 49 percent to 44 percent. There you see it. But it's only changed a percentage point from our last poll of polls which was on the eve of the Democratic convention. Were you expecting the campaign to get a bit of a bigger bounce? Millions watched the convention. And there was a lot of favorable reviews of the convention, especially Barack Obama's speech. Did you think you were going to get a bigger bounce?
VILSACK: Well, first of all, before I respond to that question, let me just say that -- how thankful we are that folks in the Gulf Coast are in good shape and better shape than we anticipated and expected.
You know, at times like this, really not time for partisanship. It's a time to basically take a look at how fortunate we are in this country. There are a lot of people hurting. People in my home state still recovering from floods. So, it's a time for reflection and thought about those folks who are hurting and what we need to do to be able to take care of them.
As far as polls are concerned, there are a million polls. Some have a much wider margin. The bottom line is that this race is just beginning. People are just beginning to focus. And as they do, they're going to be able to provide a very interesting contrast between the McCain and Obama view of the future of this country. And I think when they do, they're going to see that it's time for change. We don't want four more years of the same.
CHETRY: Let me ask you about Senator John McCain's running mate, Governor Sarah Palin. She's been under the microscope. There's been a lot of issues that are personalize particularly the pregnancy of her teen daughter. And even Senator Obama had said that should be off limits.
VILSACK: Well I would certainly agree with Senator Obama in terms of the family issues. They should be off limits. I applaud Senator Obama for taking that position. I know that this is a time when family rallies around family members, and that's the way it ought to be.
I think it raises questions about the whole vetting process in terms of the McCain team. How well did they vet the governor? What did they know? What didn't they know? This was the first opportunity for Senator McCain to exercise what would be a presidential decision. I think in this particular circumstance, he may have blinked just a bit.
CHETRY: So are you saying -- are you saying perhaps he didn't make the right decision in picking Palin?
VILSACK: Well I'm suggesting that he made a decision in which he felt the necessity of playing to the extreme right in his party by making this decision. He had a number of qualified people that were available if he wanted to varnish (ph) and brandish his maverick image -- Governor Ridge, from Pennsylvania -- Secretary Ridge, Governor Pawlenty from this state -- a number of good people.
But bottom line, you know, he's made the choice he's made. I think it's an opportunity now for the United States, the citizens in this country, to make a very interesting choice.
CHETRY: Right. But you seem to be saying that perhaps she wasn't the best pick. Can you just explain why?
VILSACK: No, I'm suggesting that he made a pick that was based on ideology. It wasn't necessarily based on what was best for the country.
Take a comparison between Senator Obama's choice of Joe Biden and John McCain's choice of the governor of Alaska. No one's questioning Senator Biden's capacity to take over the office of presidency. There haven't been questions about that. He has a distinguished record both domestically and with foreign policy. But as I say, this is an opportunity for the people of the country to make a choice between these two teams --
CHETRY: Right.
VILSACK: -- and the direction they want to take this country.
CHETRY: It is very interesting. There's a lot going on. There's talk about change, wanting it to not be the same old politics as usual in Washington. Biden's been there for three decades. Then there's the experience issue on the other side. So it is very interesting to see how this all shakes out.
I want to thank you for being with us. Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor, supporter of Barack Obama. Thanks for being with us.
VILSACK: You bet.
