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CNN Newsnight Aaron Brown

New Orleans One Week After Katrina

Aired September 05, 2005 - 22:00   ET

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

AARON BROWN, HOST: Yes, New Orleans will be a city once again. It'll be a different city, but it'll be a city once again.
Thank you, Larry. Nice job on Saturday night, by the way.

Good evening again, everyone.

It was a week ago tonight that Jeanne Meserve described to us the rising water in New Orleans and the sounds of people trapped in the darkness. We said, after hearing her reporting, we felt certain things are going to get a lot worse before they got any better.

A week later now, that conversation seems long ago. It also feels like it was just moments ago.

Much has changed in seven days, but there is so much more work to do.

Perhaps the biggest measure of the week is this. In New Orleans, repair crews have patched one of the breached levees, and water is finally flowing out of the city.

Tonight, at least a quarter of a million storm survivors are living in nearly 700 shelters in more than a dozen states in the United States, a huge exodus that is straining the resources in some of those states.

Today, the president approved federal disaster funds for Georgia, where many of the evacuees have gone.

Tonight, just over a million people on the Gulf Coast region in the United States remain without power.

Fifty-one thousand troops have been sent to Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama to help with the relief efforts.

And of the thousands who are believed to have died in New Orleans, only 60 bodies have been recovered.

Today in New Orleans, the deputy police chief said the city has moved from chaos to organized chaos. Tonight, the city is virtually a ghost town, uninhabitable, but not empty. Not yet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN (voice-over): It is easy to begin with the bad news or the overwhelmingly sad news. There is so much of both around. But tonight, it seemed right to begin with a piece of good news.

Today, a week after the storm blew through and the levees broke down, they started pumping water out of New Orleans, back into Lake Pontchartrain.

The water is filthy, the efforts still small. It will take as long as 90 days to finish draining the city. But as images go, it is a good one, says good and hopeful things.

BRIG. GEN. ROBERT CREAR, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Today, we were able to effect, as I talked to you last night, to finish the closure of the 17th Street canal. Right now, we left it open, because, in fact, the water is draining out. And we can effect the closure when we need to.

BROWN: The rest of the news today is not so good. The work to find and identify the dead is now underway. It is slow and sorrowful work. It will go on for weeks and reach numbers unknown.

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We're going to have to go house by house. We're going to map the area and go into houses and see if there are people in houses that didn't escape from the flood. That may take a while. So I caution against speculating or guessing. It's going to be an unhappy number.

BROWN: A week after the storm, the government says 22,000 people have been saved by boat and by air. At least a quarter of a million people are in shelters, a sort of day-to-day existence with futures unknown or unclear.

Police in New Orleans today admitted that their city is, for all intents and purposes, uninhabitable. There is no reason on earth for people to refuse to be evacuated.

WARREN RILEY, DEPUTY CHIEF OF POLICE, NEW ORLEANS: There is absolutely nothing here for them to stay, no jobs, no food, or any reason for them to stay.

BROWN: But many do refuse to leave, people like Johnny Jones of New Orleans, who stays because this, as bad as it is, is known. Leaving is unknown.

JOHNNY JONES, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: The governor picking you up, telling you, Come on, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. After that, they'll drop the ball again. You're just out there somewhere. Might as well be in space.

BROWN: Outside New Orleans, the people of nearby Jefferson Parish were allowed back in, briefly, to their homes today, a chance to see what was left, salvage what they could.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, you know, we've been mobilizing. There's three of us that traveled in together. And we're definitely going to try to take out as much as we can, and paperwork and meaty stuff, and then go on. And I don't know what we're going to do. I'm a business owner here, so it's up in the air right now. BROWN: The president returned to the area today to lend comfort, something presidents do and should do in times like this. And trying to diffuse a firestorm of criticism that the federal effort was too slow, too disorganized, and too indifferent.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And this is a long-term project to help these people. And this country is going to be committed to doing what it takes to help people get back on their feet. And that's why I've come back to this state.

BROWN: The overall military commander in charge of the rescue and recovery, as he has before, defended the federal effort, and criticized the critics.

LT. GEN. RUSSELL HONORE, U.S. ARMY: And look, the storm had a vote here. It's the storm that did this. It's not anything any government did or any individual. The storm had a damn vote. And the storm is still there. The water is there. You can't vote that water out of the city of New Orleans. That's reality, folks.

BROWN: But it isn't that simple. Governments at all level, at least privately, acknowledge that the early days were a disaster, a combination of bureaucratic bumbling and missteps that made a very bad situation to begin with worse.

How that happened, who made the critical decisions, or nondecisions, will be the stuff of months of investigation.

FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON: Yes, we failed once. But we don't want to fail a second time. Let's work on the people. Then at some point down the road, there should be a commission. We should analyze this. Everybody should say what happened, and we should draw some conclusions and go forward, just as we did with 9/11. That's the way we do it as a country, and the way we should do it.

BROWN: There will be questions not just how the federal government performed, but how state and local government did as well. And that includes the beleaguered New Orleans Police Department.

EDDIE COMPASS, CHIEF OF POLICE, NEW ORLEANS: The human sacrifice that this police department made is unprecedented in the annals of our country.

BROWN: Tonight, New Orleans is in better shape than it was last night at this time, if only by degree. More troops are patrolling more streets. Fewer people are in need of rescue. More people have been sent to shelters. It is better.

But it's not so good they needed to change the headline on the local paper's Web site. Said "The Times-Picayune" today, "7th Day of Hell."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: That's where we are on this Labor Day Monday in broad strokes. We'll zero in some now. Those who are in need of rescue have been stranded for a week, seven days, surrounded by water that is no longer rising, but is foul beyond belief. The obvious choice must seem to be getting aboard the first rescue boat or helicopter that comes on by.

But for some of those who've lost just about everything, what is left is precious.

Reporting tonight, CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Streets that are now rivers, houses that are still flooded, bloated bodies that still bob in the putrid water.

And into this festering filth wades a man desperate to be rescued. Forty-two-year-old Tommy Thomas has survived on M&Ms and chocolate bars for days now. Stunned, exhausted, he's hauled to safety and given food and fresh water.

TOMMY THOMAS, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: Water was so deep, you know, I had to come out, you know. Running out of food. That's why I came out. I was running out of food.

AMANPOUR: Locked and loaded, the Louisiana Wildlife Enforcement Agency is leading this rescue mission, going house to house in flatboats and these ducks, sightseeing amphibious vehicles, whose owners have volunteered their services.

Amazingly, even now, many of those who are left won't leave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, but why won't you come out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When this thing happened, when this thing happened, you got people shooting each other, stealing from each other. The only thing I trusted was my dog. I'm not going to leave her.

AMANPOUR: Robert is one of many who won't abandon their pets, even though rescuer Pat Maupen now insists everyone must leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are going to have to shoot me to get me to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one's going to shoot you. We're talking about disease and everything. Look, no matter how much food and water you have, there's going to be -- there -- you're not -- you're in danger. You need to come to the craft.

AMANPOUR: But it's no use. Robert refuses. So it's off to find more desperate cases, like 89-year-old America Romero and her family, eight people who'd spent three days on their rooftop.

But no amount of coaxing could get their neighbor off his front porch. And he's angry. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why don't you turn on the (expletive deleted) pumps in this (expletive deleted) city? Turn the pumps on. That will help us.

AMANPOUR: Many residents had expected the waters to subside quickly. Now, they're being told, it could take at least three months.

Volunteer firefighter Shawn Craft (ph) has come from Massachusetts. He kicks in this door because he's heard people here need rescuing. But it turns out they were taken out the day before. How was he to know?

There is still virtually no coordination or communication between all the different agencies.

As the duck bus evacuates, America and her son, Jose, they take one last look at their city in ruins, the city they still hate to leave.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

AMANPOUR: Now, even though the floodwaters are receding very, very slowly, are going down somewhat, about 50 percent of this city is still under water, still flooded. And as we've heard from the emergency people and those who are trying to band together to do what they can to rescue those who are still here, they're now basically trying to tell them that they don't have a choice. They must leave. And they can't keep coming back to places that they've already searched in order to check up on the people who are still there, Aaron.

BROWN: They tell them they must leave, but they don't make them leave?

AMANPOUR: They haven't got to that point yet. They say that they might eventually actually go in and bring them out forcefully. But they haven't quite got to that point yet. And in fact, in some of the houses, you know, it's quite precarious. We were told by one person, for instance, that in one house, there was a guy who was perhaps not all there. He was a little bit unstable, and he was, you know, potentially not going to come out peacefully.

And so it's still a little bit risky, a little bit dicey. But they're trying to do their best to coax people out, to persuade them to come out, basically telling them, Look, the waters aren't receding fast. It's going to take 80 to 90 days. You won't have enough food and water. We can't keep coming to check on you. And by the way, this filthy water is going to endanger your health.

BROWN: Christiane, thank you. It's nice to see you. Christiane Amanpour, who's in New Orleans tonight.

Alison Hodge was rescued today by a Navy SEAL helicopter unit. Ms. Hodge joins us from the New Orleans airport, where she is going to be evacuated soon. What were you doing for the last seven days?

ALISON HODGE, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: I was in my house.

BROWN: What did you do?

HODGE: I was just waiting there until I get myself together so I can get out, the best way out.

BROWN: How did they find you?

HODGE: A gentleman told me he was in the Navy SEAL, and he saw me asking for help, and he showed a sign, and he called down the Navy SEALs to come down, and they flew down, and tried to save me the best way they could.

BROWN: And...

HODGE: They put me onto the helicopter, and they slung me into the helicopter, and they brought me here to the airport.

BROWN: Did you have food in the house? Did you have water in the house?

HODGE: Well, the Marines was coming around with a little water and a little food when they can. And I appreciated that.

BROWN: Where do you go from here, Ms. Hodge?

HODGE: Well, I'm trying to get to my elder sister, who is in Ocala, Florida. But I have misplaced her number. So if she's watching the TV, please get your number out to the closest Red Cross you can get to, and they will get it down to New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Louis Armstrong Airport so I can get some help to get there.

BROWN: Do you know where they're going to take you tonight, or tomorrow?

HODGE: Not right now, sir, but I'm asking them to take me to Florida. Once I get to Florida, and my elder sister gets to see me on the TV, she will try her best to come and reach me to help me.

BROWN: Well, I hope...

HODGE: That's why I'm here.

BROWN: I hope she's watching. If she is, and she calls us, we'll make sure that the two of you get in touch. Thanks for your time.

HODGE: Thank you, sir.

BROWN: Thank you. Best of luck to you. You've had a tough week. Thank you.

As we reported at the top of the program tonight, they started pumping water out of the city. We showed you the pictures. A huge pipe, a torrent of filthy water. It is a sign of progress, not insignificant, but hardly reason to claim victory either.

Crews have repaired the largest of the broken levees, that on the 17th Street canal, and they are pumping the water back into Lake Pontchartrain. But it'll take months to complete the job.

Michael Rogers is with the Army Corps of Engineers, and he's on the phone with us from Baton Rouge.

Good evening to you, sir.

MICHAEL ROGERS, ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS (on phone): Good evening.

BROWN: How dirty is the water that's going back in the lake, by the way?

ROGERS: Sir, the water that you would see on the ground where we are is just like the lake water.

BROWN: So it's no different? It's not that it's contaminated with chemicals? It's not any worse for the lake than what came out of the lake a week ago?

ROGERS: Sir, we have coordinated our efforts of putting that water into Lake Pontchartrain with the Environmental Protection Agency, and they'll be glad to answer any questions along those lines.

BROWN: OK, we'll check that out, then. I'm not exactly sure what you're telling me. Are you telling me you're not sure if there is risk in that water, or not risk in that water?

ROGERS: Sir, we have not -- we do not know anything more about the water than most folks.

BROWN: OK. Well, here's one thing we all know is that there's no option. It's not like it could go somewhere else. It has to go back in the lake, fair enough?

ROGERS: Yes, sir. And I think that's a fair thing to say. We are at the point where we have to make a decision. The city of New Orleans is flooded in many places in eight feet of water. We must remove that water to get to a lot of people that are still trapped in the city. Our number one goal is to get that water out of the city and help protect lives within the city.

BROWN: So it may not be as clean as a mountain stream, but there's just no option to it.

We see this picture of this pipe and all the water flowing out of the pipe back into the lake. Is this a significant amount of water, or are we looking basically at a straw in the ocean?

ROGERS: Sir, that's an important stream of water. It may not be a significant amount, but that water is (INAUDIBLE) we are using, removing, to help us de-water the power plant, the pumping plant you see just behind that. And that pumping plant is key to us being able to de-water the city of New Orleans.

BROWN: So that -- the water that we're looking at, when we've seen pictures of this pipe and the water flowing through it, it's not just sort of random water coming off the streets of New Orleans. It's a very specific project that will lead to other very specific tasks, fair enough? Do I got that about right?

I think we lost Mr. Rogers there. That was Michael Rogers of the Army Corps of Engineers.

In any case, it sounds like they're trying to clear the water out of the large pumping station, or at least the water that surrounds the large pumping station. And it's not necessarily the cleanest water on the planet, but if you've got a better idea what to do with all of that water, I'm sure they'll be glad to hear from you. I know I will.

Coming up, life after evacuation, looking for jobs and housing.

But first, at a about a quarter past the hour, give or take, about as close as we're going to come in a week like this, Erica Hill joins us from Atlanta. Nice to see you, Ms. Hill.

ERICA HILL, CNN HEADLINE NEWS: And you too, Mr. Brown.

And we'll take- -- we actually start off with the other big story of the day, President Bush nominating John Roberts to be chief justice of the Supreme Court. The announcement, of course, following the death on Saturday evening of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Judge Roberts was initially nominated to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

In Iraq, another violent day for U.S. forces, killing 11 insurgents. That followed a mortar attack in Balad (ph). And two British police were killed by a bomb in Basra. Two Iraqi police officers were also killed at a Baghdad checkpoint.

More than 100 people are reported dead following a plane crash in Medan (ph), Indonesia. The Mandala Airways Boeing 737 crashed shortly after takeoff. Only a few passengers survived the crash. Officials fear nearly 50 people on the ground may have been killed.

And Jerry Rice quitting the Denver Broncos. He ends a stellar 20-year career in the NFL. The 42-year-old receiver made the decision this weekend, saying he's looking forward, Aaron, to the next phase of his life.

BROWN: Well, he's a good guy. We hope it all works out. Probably will.

HILL: Absolutely.

BROWN: Probably got a few million in the bank, that'll help.

Thank you. HILL: He'll be all right.

BROWN: Yes. We'll talk to you in about a half an hour.

Much more ahead on this two-hour edition of NEWSNIGHT, starting with the struggle beyond New Orleans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold it down.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just flat-out wiped this place out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Ground zero, Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad's a diabetic, and he almost passed out yesterday. So we're trying to keep him cool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody else need any MREs right now?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Thousands of people still stranded. The race to keep them alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm going to rebuild this business with the insurance and make it better than before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: In New Orleans, a resolve to rebuild. But how?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Longer term, I think this is an opportunity to really think about how to better use that low area -- those low areas within the city.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a potential crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: From gasoline, to home heating, to the food you eat, why Hurricane Katrina could take a huge bite out of your wallet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL BROWN, DIRECTOR, FEMA: The Hurricane Center at its 5:00 forecast says this could easily be a category 4 by the end of the weekend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The government knew Katrina was coming, the government promised to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We will work tirelessly to ensure that state and local authorities benefit from the full mobilization of our capabilities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What happened? What took so long?

From New York, a week after the storm, a special edition of NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: When all is said and done, this will be the largest displacement of Americans since the Civil War. Twenty-five thousand people have already arrived in Houston, Texas, scattered among shelters large and small, some with noplace else to go, many wondering where to go next. And some only know they don't want to go back.

Sean Callebs is in Houston for us tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For thousands of evacuees, this was the first glimpse of Houston. Not a crowded shelter, but a community willing to embrace them when they needed it most.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God bless you. Thank you so much.

CALLEBS: Many of the 250,000 evacuees in Texas say they want to make Houston home for good. So that means asking a lot of questions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it you're looking for? Social Security?

MONA LISA WRIGHT, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: No, FEMA, the housing, where they're going to...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FEMA housing?

WRIGHT: Yes.

CALLEBS: Today, 38-year-old Mona Lisa Wright ventured outside the Astrodome complex for the first time since arriving last Thursday. She wants to bring her 13-year-old son here from where he is temporarily staying in Mississippi and start a new life. Mona Lisa says she has 15 years' experience as a certified nurse assistant. WRIGHT: I'm going to be looking in hospitals, looking at places to find a nice area for my home, and be able to get back and forth, going shopping, getting household stuff.

CALLEBS: Wal-Mart is vowing to find jobs for any of its workers displaced by the storm, like Estelle Lewis, who is starting work in the deli of a Houston Wal-Mart. Four days ago, she was sleeping on this now-notorious overpass in New Orleans, wondering if she would live or die. It won't be easy, but Estelle says she's never going back.

ESTELLE LEWIS, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: Yes, that's my goal, (INAUDIBLE), just, you know, make Houston my home. Live here, get an apartment, which I haven't got now, because I don't have the monies to get it.

CALLEBS: Robert Eckels is the top Harris County official working with evacuees.

ROBERT ECKELS, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, OFFICIAL: These are not the people that you're seeing looting on the streets of New Orleans. These are families with their kids, these are folks who had jobs there in New Orleans. They may have been on the lower rung of the economic ladder, but they're hard-working folks who are ready to make a new life here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like it, I like the atmosphere, I like the people. They're nice and kind. I think this is where my new life is going to start, right here in Texas, so...

CALLEBS: In the coming weeks, people are going to debate what to do about New Orleans. But like Mona Lisa Wright, many evacuees won't wait for that. They have to rebuild their lives starting right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: Our Sean Callebs. He mentioned Wal-Mart, what Wal-Mart's doing for its employees. Wal-Mart's been a controversial company for years before, will no doubt be for years again. But in this tragedy, the company has stepped up. They've given a lot of money, and they're obviously taking care of a lot of people. So good for them.

In Houston, in the Astrodome, joining us now, Priscilla Perkins and Angelina Wallace, who are sisters, and their families. And they've been living in the Astrodome.

Ms. Perkins, what's it like day to day? What do you do with your day?

PRISCILLA PERKINS, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: Well, basically, we get up in the morning and (INAUDIBLE) feed the kids and try to entertain them. The people in the shelter is very kind, and they are keeping them busy with a nursery for the little ones and activities for the older ones.

And today we had church, and it seemed to be pretty nice. BROWN: How long have you been there?

PERKINS: I've been here four days now.

BROWN: Ms. Wallace, how long do you think you can comfortably stay there? If I said to you, you're going to be there a month from now, would you say, I'll be crazy in a month?

ANGELINA WALLACE, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: I will be crazy in a month.

BROWN: Yes. So, what's the plan? Do you have any idea?

WALLACE: No, at this point in time, I really don't.

BROWN: What's it like to live that way, to not really know what's around the corner?

PERKINS: It's scary, very scary.

WALLACE: Very scary, and you don't know what you're looking forward to. You hear people saying, I'm going to help you, I'm going to do this, and just try to be patient, and live one day at a time.

BROWN: Ms. Perkins, do you expect that someday you'll go back to New Orleans and pick up your life where it left off?

PERKINS: Definitely. Definitely. I'm looking forward to it each and every day.

BROWN: What do did you do in New Orleans?

PERKINS: I was a certified CNA.

BROWN: I'm sorry, would you say that again?

PERKINS: I was a certified CNA, working with the elderly. And also, since we've been here in the shelter, we've been kind of like assisting elderly people that don't have any family members around. We've been kind of, like, feeding them their meals, taking them to the bathroom, out for a smoke, you know.

BROWN: How are the kids holding up?

PERKINS: They seem to be doing pretty fine. They're adjusting.

BROWN: Well, all our thoughts are with you and all the others who, like you, are trying to get through until tomorrow, and to see what tomorrow brings. Best of luck to you. Thanks for your time.

PERKINS: Thank you.

WALLACE: Thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

Everybody we've seen at the Astrodome looks a whole lot better in this last 48 hours or so than they did when they arrived, don't they?

Just ahead, going home, if only for a few hours. Take a good Look at what's there and, of course, what isn't.

We'll take a break first. This is a special edition of NEWSNIGHT on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Jefferson Parish lies just outside New Orleans. It too was smashed by the hurricane, and it too has battled lawlessness and homelessness and the rest every since.

Today for a time, people were allowed back in to claim what they could, to see what was left.

Here's CNN's Elizabeth Cohen.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, METAIRIE, LOUISIANA: They started lining up Sunday night. By 6:00 a.m. Monday, the line to get into Jefferson Parish was three miles long.

Residents returned to their homes for the first time since Katrina struck. In most of the parish there's no electricity or running water. For security reasons, a dusk-to-dawn curfew is in force and women are advised not to travel alone.

Water has receded from much of the area, but there is extensive wind damage. Some people couldn't get through their front door.

Others, like Ivy Trosclair, could. Ivy sells custom motorcycles. And one look at his shop told him he was in trouble.

How much do you think you've lost?

IVY TROSCLAIR, JEFFERSON PARISH RESIDENT: I don't know. A lot.

COHEN: Many of the bikes are a total loss.

TROSCLAIR: Well, there's water in the engines, the transmissions, the wheel bearings. Yes, they just - yes, they're probably total losses.

COHEN: His first priority, pay his employees. After that, think about the future.

Ivy drives his father-in-law, Barney Deselle, to the family used car lot. This billboard fell within a few feet of the lot. What Katrina's high winds didn't ruin, the rising water did. What the water spared, the looters ruined.

So, which did more damage, the hurricane or the looters?

BARNEY Deselle, JEFFERSON PARISH RESIDENT: Right now, probably the looters.

COHEN: They even stole his paperwork, so now Barney's not sure who owes him money or how much.

At Ivy's house, on the other hand, things are just as he left them, including the food, which has been rotting in the heat for a week. With no electricity, he and his family can't live here.

TROSCLAIR: We're still virtually homeless and jobless.

COHEN: Ivy fears looters will clean the place out while he's gone. If everything goes perfectly, they might be able to move back in two weeks. But the situation is uncertain and it could take a lot longer.

Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Metairie, Louisiana.

(END VIDEO)

BROWN: Still some tension, it seems, between local, state and federal government. She may not see eye to eye with the president, but the governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco, says their troops - the National Guard troops and the FEMA folks on both sides - are working arm in arm to deliver aid to the state.

The governor met with the president today for an hour-and-a-half, came out make pledges of unity. This after a weekend of disagreements, during which the governor balked at a proposal to cede local law enforcement authority to federal troops. That would tantamount to martial law, it was said in Louisiana.

Earlier today, she accused the Bush administration of keeping her out of the loop about his travel plans to the region. My goodness. The White House denies the charge.

The governor and the president may have turned over a new leaf, but there's an indication, still, that the state is not altogether happy.

The governor has hired her own advisor for disaster relief. He's the former director of FEMA, James Lee Witt, and we spoke to Mr. Witt just before the program tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

BROWN: Sir, are there critical moments in the next few days ahead? Or are we now in that kind of slow rhythm of a very long, complicated recovery?

JAMES LEE WITT, FORMER FEMA DIRECTOR: No, it's - Aaron, there's still a lot of response that needs to take place. And, you know, it's - they got some of the pumps going today in New Orleans.

We worked on - the power grid is hot now going into New Orleans. We worked with the commissioner and all the cellular people on getting wireless capability up and running for cell phones through there. They're working right now on getting some of the power restored.

But we've got to get - we've activated about 1,000 firefighters to come in to New Orleans to support the New Orleans fire department, so that we have that capability there as we start to bring power back on, so that we make sure that we don't burn any buildings down, for one thing.

And then I was down in Saint Bernard Parish yesterday. Had a great meeting with the chief of police and the fire department chief. We were able to get communications systems in to Saint Bernard Parish. We were able to get medical supplies and support down there for them.

And the biggest thing, challenge we're going to have now, Aaron, as the water gets pumped out of New Orleans, we've got all the teams in place to start looking at what we're going to have to do, how many people that may be there, victims that we'll have to take care of and process in a way that's respectful.

And so, we have everything in place. And it's starting to go well. We're - Mike Brown and I had a great meeting today, and we're actually putting together tomorrow a joint operations center.

And we're putting in an instant command system, so that everything will be seamless, everything will move forward faster. And we're starting to plan not only the temporary housing program, but also planning for the long-term housing.

BROWN: Let me go at a few of those things. Let me start with perhaps the long-hanging fruit in this one.

There is a perception out there that there's some tension between state government and the federal government, the federal government pointing the finger at the state for any number of failures.

If that were in fact true, is it still true?

WITT: Well, I think there's a huge turning point today. President Bush came down and the First Lady came down with him, and Secretary Chertoff came down.

And so, I think we had a great meeting, about a two-hour meeting. And I think a lot of things were put in place today, where that we can move forward in a partnership, and I'm really excited about that.

BROWN: Just in the remaining moments I have with you. At what point - I'm just curious about benchmarks.

When do you think you'll be able to make that cell phone call in New Orleans?

WITT: Well, my hope is that tomorrow you'll be able to make a cell phone call. They've been working really hard to make that happen.

BROWN: When do you think there will be power to those buildings that are still dry in New Orleans? WITT: Well, first thing we've got to do before anybody comes back into there, we've got to go back in through there and do some structural inspections to make sure buildings are OK.

Also, you have to go back in there and make sure that the contamination and levels are safe to go in there before people go in there. And we've got to get the - a lot of the business people want to get in there, look at their business, gets some papers and records out. And so, they're working on making that happen as well.

So, you know, Governor Blanco is just working her heart out and her staff is, her National Guard is and her - it's just unbelievable how hard they've worked. And it's really starting to come together, and I think the people of Louisiana will see a big change, and it's going to look good.

BROWN: Truth is, we never imagined we'd be talking to you again. We thought you were done with this sort of thing. It's nice to see you, sir.

WITT: Thank you, Aaron. Good night.

BROWN: Good night.

(END VIDEO)

BROWN: Just as a benchmark in all of this, tomorrow - a week and two days after the hurricane - a joint operations center will be set up between the federal and state governments.

We'll take a break. When we come back, we'll take a look at what's going on in the other states, most principally Mississippi, which has been battered but under-reported in many respects, so we'll take a look there.

We have much more to do in this two-hour edition of NEWSNIGHT.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In Mississippi today, the president told a group of community workers helping in the relief effort that he believes the region will be rebuilt.

For those who have lost everything, this may be a little hard to imagine just seven days out from Katrina.

It's clear that rebuilding will take time - a lot of time - and enormous amounts of money. Right now the focus remains on caring for the survivors and counting the dead.

In Mississippi, the official death toll stands at at least 160. But everyone expects it will go much higher. There are still neighborhoods and houses to search.

More help has arrived. Up to 5,000 Navy personnel and 500 Marines based on the beach in Biloxi, helping with the relief effort there.

It may be a month or more before the people of Biloxi and in the surrounding area get electricity.

In the state of Alabama, the official death toll stands at two. The governor says there that at least 35,000 Hurricane Katrina evacuees from Mississippi and Louisiana have found shelter in the state, a state that is also struggling to get back on its feet, perhaps less so than Mississippi - certainly less so than Louisiana.

In Mobile, Alabama, public schools remain closed, at least until the 12th of September.

If it's true that chaos has become organized chaos in New Orleans, it's also true that some of the chaos is moving elsewhere. In the neighboring state, officials are scrambling to figure out how to provide shelter for tens of thousands of homeless, to reopen schools with thousands of displaced students.

The arrival of the Marines and the Navy in Biloxi, Mississippi, has been welcome, to say the least.

Reporting for us tonight, CNN's Ted Rowlands.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI: Massive hover craft brought hundreds of troops and equipment to shore, creating Camp Restore, home of the military effort to help and rebuild the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

FRANK HUGHLETT, U.S. NAVY COMMANDER: I have no problem motivating the sailors. It's unbelievable. They took one look at the devastation, and then they've been jumping the whole time.

My concern now is, they, you know, it's going to be a marathon, I think, not a sprint.

ROWLANDS: The first jobs for these troops who specialize in rebuilding will be to fix the sewage systems and get power back to the thousands without it.

They also plan to help distribute food and medical aid. Thousands of people have lost homes. Some spend the night sleeping in tents protecting their property. During the day, many homeowners come back to pick through rubble looking for lost valuables.

PAUL GLUYER, HURRICANE VICTIM: Just happy to get what we can, and we're going to try to come back down in a week or so and see if there's anything else we can grab.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, how about some shampoo?

ROWLANDS: Dozens of shelters are providing people with food and essentials.

PHAEDRA JOHNSON, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: Baby diapers, juice, crackers and soap, deodorant - everything.

ROWLANDS: The job of locating the dead continues. Piles of debris are searched with dogs and tiny cameras. ATVs comb the miles of debris-covered beaches.

JERRY MARSHALL, FIRE CAPTAIN, VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI: Sheer devastation. And you can't get away from it. It's everywhere. No matter where you try to go, it's everywhere. It's - nothing's there.

ROWLANDS: Troops deployed to Mississippi will be broken up, some staying here in Biloxi. Others already have been fanned out across the state.

As to how long they'll be here, the commander told us, "We plan on being here until the job is done."

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Biloxi, Mississippi.

(END VIDEO)

BROWN: And I suspect for most people, this was a normal Labor Day. But in this large chunk of the country, this most extraordinary, difficult and in some sense warming operation is going on as we begin the recovery from this horrible storm.

When we come back, why everyone will feel the pinch eventually, if you haven't already.

We'll take a break first. This is NEWSNIGHT from New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: We were talking to a family earlier in the hour about life at the Astrodome, and what it would be like if they thought they were going to be there another month. It turns out that a number of people who are in the Astrodome in Houston are about to be moved to Galveston, Texas.

Sean Callebs joins us. He is in Houston and can give us some detail on that - Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT, HOUSTON, TEXAS: Indeed, Aaron. About 4,000 people who have been not only in the Astrodome, but also in the Reliant Arena to my right and the Reliant Center. Another 8,000 people in those two facilities.

And about 4,000 from all combined are going to be taken tomorrow, beginning at 10 o'clock Eastern time, here in the staging area - this giant parking lot here - driven down to Galveston. And those people will be put on cruise ships for the foreseeable future.

So, certainly, their quality of life is going to improve somewhat significantly. These cruise ships provided by Carnival Cruise Lines.

What we're hearing here, basically they are going to begin with the elderly first, and those who really need to get some rest after what they have been through. They're going to try and keep families together as much as they can.

But for all these people, the 4,000 plus who have been sleeping on these cots that are two-by-six and eating in the giant, warehouse- like areas, they're going to get some privacy. We're told they're going to have private rooms.

We're still trying to figure out exactly how the food is going to work out, if it is going to be supplied by the Red Cross, FEMA and other agencies, or if those cruise ships will provide that, Aaron.

BROWN: And will then they - will they then be replaced by 4,000 other people in the Astrodome and in those other buildings?

CALLEBS: That's certainly what we are anticipating. That's something that the governor has said all along, FEMA has said all along. That this is going to be a short-term facility. They're trying to get people out.

This here, where we are, is the first staging area. Then they try and move people out, either to a more comfortable locale for shelters, or into private homes, and even now, completely out of this area - Kansas City and Denver.

BROWN: Do they have a pretty good idea who's there? Do they - is there a recordkeeping center there, so they know that the Joneses are here and the Davises are over there, and so on?

CALLEBS: There is. And this instant city has really taken shape over the past - over this weekend. And there, indeed, is a way where they process, is the term they use, everybody. They come in, and they were doing it in alphabetical order.

And for the first couple of days, it was very agonizing, because people whose last names started with S, T, U, V, Z - they were trying to find out if their relatives were here, but were told, well, you'll have to wait. Right now we're only up to the M's or whatever.

But right now, a very good list, we're told.

BROWN: Sean, thank you. You've done some terrific work. And again, 4,000 people from the Astrodome complex will be moved to two cruise ships off Galveston, or in port in Galveston. And that'll be a step up, no doubt, for them.

If you've gone to the gas station in the last week, it's just the beginning, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: In far less time than it took to rescue the people in New Orleans, the price of gas at pump surged. Capitalism is apparently far more efficient than government.

A gallon of gas is up 75 cents to $3.05. That would be a bargain in New York. It is still rising as oil companies anticipate shortages due to Katrina, retailers take advantage of what's to come. And what is to come is more than just higher prices. At the gas pump, here's CNN's Ali Velshi.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS, NEW YORK: Get past the sticker shock. The cost of filling your tank may soon pale in the face of Katrina's stronger economic impact.

High oil prices are the most obvious result, but it's not just at the gas pump. In 80 percent of America, goods arrive by truck - goods that now will end up costing more.

Beyond transportation, the destruction will put a strain on homebuilding supplies - asphalt, shingles, plastic plumbing pipe and some types of insulation. They're all made from oil.

These are indirect energy costs. Direct energy costs make up about five percent of the average American budget. Direct food costs are three times that amount.

The farm bureau estimates that Katrina has caused $1 billion in damage to agriculture, wrecking sugar cane and poultry farms. The Port of New Orleans, one of the biggest in the country, is devastated.

TERRY FRANCL, AMERICAN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION: We have a potential crisis if, in fact, we cannot resolve these issues and get the products flowing within approximately a month's time.

VELSHI: For example, don't be surprised to see the price of coffee going up. Twenty-seven percent of raw coffee beans imported into the United States are stored in New Orleans. The city is also the nation's main port of entry for bananas and other fruits and vegetables.

Forty percent of U.S. oysters - that's one billion oysters - and 10 percent of the nation's shrimp come from the Gulf regions.

How much more you're eventually going to pay depends on what you buy. AAA's numbers suggest the average driver is already paying about $200 more for gasoline per year than they did a year ago.

Home heating bills could be 50 percent higher than last year. The average family could end up paying almost $900 more to heat their home this winter.

So, never mind the other costs. Just the fuel for your home and the fuel for your car, you could end up paying $1,000 or more this year. That's a vacation, a mortgage payment, a refrigerator or the down payment on a new car.

They're tough choices, but choices that Americans may be forced to make.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO)

BROWN: One of the remarkable things about the story, the people in New Orleans who will not leave. There is nothing there. There's no food, no water, no power, no phone service - nothing. But they won't leave.

Our coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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