Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Obama Nominates Alan Krueger to Chair Council of Economic Advisors; Vermont: Worst Flooding Since 1927; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg Gives Update on How City Handled Hurricane

Aired August 29, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And you were here over the weekend, like all of us, covering Irene.

PHILLIPS: That's right. Boy.

MALVEAUX: My goodness.

PHILLIPS: Yes, it was pretty crazy.

MALVEAUX: It was something else. I hope everybody is OK, recovering well.

PHILLIPS: Not as bad as we thought, thank goodness.

MALVEAUX: No. Thank goodness.

All right. Have a great day.

PHILLIPS: You too.

MALVEAUX: Live from Studio 7, I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Want to get you up to speed for Monday, August 29th.

President Obama, as we saw those live pictures just moments ago, live pictures right now. He's going to be bringing in a jobs pro to tackle the unemployment crisis. We're going to have that announcement live from the White House. You're looking at the Rose Garden right there. We'll bring it to you as soon as it happens.

The president is set to nominate Alan Krueger to chair his Council of Economic Advisors. Krueger is a labor economist and professor at Princeton. He served as an assistant treasury secretary until just last year.

East Coasters who stood up to Irene are hoping to dry out and clean up today. It was not the catastrophic hurricane that many predicted, but Irene did leave a severe scar. The storm took at least 24 lives, more than four million homes and businesses lost electricity.

Want to go back to the White House. The president is making his comments.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As I said yesterday, we're going to make sure folks have all the support they need as they begin to assess and repair the damage left by the storm. And that's going to continue in the days ahead.

It's going to take time to recover from a storm of this magnitude. The effects are still being felt across much of the country, including in New England and states like Vermont, where there has been an enormous amount of flooding. So our response continues, but I'm going to make sure that FEMA and the other agencies are doing everything in their power to help people on the ground.

Now, even as we deal with this crisis of the moment, our great ongoing challenge as a nation remains how to get this economy growing faster. Our challenge is to create a climate where more businesses can post job listings, where folks can find good work that relieves the financial burden they are feeling, where families can regain a sense of economic security in their lives.

That's our urgent mission, and that's what I'm fighting for every single day. And that's why today, I'm very pleased to nominate Alan Krueger to chair the Council of Economic Advisors.

Com on down here, Alan.

Alan brings a wealth of experience to the job. He's one of the nation's leading economist. For more than two decades, he has studied and developed economic policy both inside and outside of government. In the first two years of this administration, as we were dealing with the effects of a complex and fast-moving financial crisis, a crisis that threatened a second Great Depression, Alan's counsel as chief economist at the Treasury Department proved invaluable.

So I am very pleased to appoint Alan, and I look forward to working with him. As I told him, it's going to be tough to fill the shoes of Austan Goolsbee, who has been a great friend and adviser who I have relied on for years, but I have nothing but confidence in Alan as he takes on this important role as one of the leaders of my economic team.

I rely on the Council of Economic Advisors to provide unvarnished analysis and recommendations not based on politics, not based on narrow interests, but based on the best evidence, based on what's going to do the most good for the most people in this country. And that's more important than ever right now.

We need folks in Washington to make decisions based on what's best for the country and not what's best for any political party or special interest. And that's how we'll get through this period of economic uncertainty, and that's the only way that we'll be able to do what is necessary to grow the economy.

So, it's that spirit that I'm going to be calling upon in the coming days. Next week, I will be laying out a series of steps that Congress can take immediately to put more money in the pockets of working families and middle-class families, to make it easier for small businesses to hire people, to put construction crews to work rebuilding our nation's roads and railways and airports, and all the other measures that can help to grow this economy.

These are bipartisan ideas that ought to be the kind of proposals that everybody can get behind no matter what your political affiliation might be. So my hope and expectation is that we can put country before party and get something done for the American people.

That is what I will be fighting for. And we have got to have a good team to do it.

So, Alan, I appreciate your willingness to take on this assignment, and I'm looking forward to working with you once again.

ALAN KRUEGER, NOMINATED TO CHAIR COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISORS: Thank you very much.

OBAMA: Thank you so much.

Thank you, everybody.

MALVEAUX: Want to go directly to Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange to talk a little bit about Mr. Krueger, the man that he has chosen, selected to be a head of his economic team here.

Alison, first of all, what do we know about his economic policy?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that he -- before he was nominated to this position, he was at the Treasury Department. And once he was there, what he did was he analyzed a lot of programs like tax incentives to encourage employers to hire, the Cash for Clunkers program to give incentives for Americans to buy cars. So those kinds of things, those incentive-filled programs to get this economy moving.

And really the focus that you heard the president speak about is jobs, because, you know, jobs is really what's -- the job sector is hurting this economy right now. You know, if Americans don't have jobs, they are not going to spend money, and spending that money is really the engine of economic growth to get us moving forward.

We do have a big jobs report coming out Friday. It's expected that 73,000 jobs were added in August. Obviously, that is not even enough to keep up with population growth, so you're going to see a lot of focus on Krueger. He's really going to wind up being probably more of a public voice as the president lays out his steps in how to move this economy forward.

MALVEAUX: Is there any response, reaction from Wall Street to this election?

KOSIK: You know what? I did ask several traders on the floor whether or not that is really moving the market right now. It's really not a main driver on Wall Street, but one thing that Wall Street is going to be listening for is that big jobs speech that the president is going to be having right after Labor Day. That's also why we saw the market rally on Friday, when Fed chief Ben Bernanke was at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and didn't propose any stimulus package, but the way Wall Street interpreted that was that Bernanke wasn't looking to sort of steal the thunder of President Obama on his big jobs speech that is expected right after Labor Day. So there is that expectation here that President Obama will come up with something that could help Americans, 15 million Americans, at least get some of them back to work.

MALVEAUX: All right. And Alison, we noticed that the stock is up this morning as well, so we appreciate a little bit of good news there. Thank you, Alison.

Well, some of the worst flooding took place in a landlocked state. Irene dumped six inches of rain on saturated ground in Vermont.

Babbling (ph) brooks became rushing rivers. The force of the water washed away at least four of Vermont's historic covered bridges. Now, the flash floods touched every corner of the state and receded as quickly as they arrived.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was amazing. Within a matter of maybe 45 minutes, the water went from knee high to hip height. And it was amazing. It was powerful. The power of nature is amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Rescuers are hoping to reach seven families in upstate New York today. They are trapped by raging water in Prattsville. They fled New York City to escape Irene, but flash floods washed out all four bridges leading to their vacation house. The family says they are running out of food and have just a gallon of water for 23 folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRINA NOVECK, STRANDED: There is no way to come in or come out. No one can help us, and we're stuck here. And practically nothing -- nothing could keep us going. We can not use the bathrooms, we cannot wash hands, we cannot eat, we cannot drink. There is nothing, absolutely, and it's pitch black.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A tough Monday for New York City commuters. No trains to the northern suburbs today because Irene ripped up tracks. All subway lines are now operating, but with fewer train cars. That means certainly delays. New York's three major airports are returning to normal schedules today.

The winds, the waves are gone, but the flooding danger from what was Hurricane Irene, it is not over. In Vermont, heavy rain on ground that was already saturated caused some of the worst flooding in decades.

Our CNN national correspondent Gary Tuchman is in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Gary, unbelievable pictures that we have seen. A lot of people did not expect the kind of water and flooding that they were going to get.

What is it like now? Is the water starting to recede a little bit?

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the waters are receding a lot, but the damage is now able to be seen.

This building, for example, this is an art studio. Five minutes ago, it was officially condemned. Why was it condemned? For a very dramatic reason.

First of all, the ground we're on right now is muddy, and that's because last night at this time it was knee deep. But this is why. This used to be a quiet brook right here, and this is the art studio, this is the building right over here, and this is why it is condemned.

This brook used to be about 10 feet wide, children were swimming in it as late as two days ago. Now it's a rapids. It eroded the ground under it. And this building could collapse at any time.

It's very sad for the artists inside. There's a yoga studio inside, there are painters, there are sculptors. The people on that part of the building have not been able to recover their works. The people on this part of the building were, and it was just loaded up on that truck that you see over there before they officially condemned the building.

Now, this is what's going on throughout the state of Vermont. This is a landlocked state. This borders Canada.

The last time they were affected by a hurricane or tropical storm was 1938. People are not used to it here.

They have flooding; they don't have tropical systems. And all throughout the states, the creeks, the brooks, overloaded with powerful water rushing down, causing immense flooding problems. More than 260 streets were under water. Most of the water has now receded, but what you have here now, millions of dollars in cleanup. And worse yet, at least one person was killed. The body of a woman was discovered in a creek about 15 minutes west of here this morning -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: I understand as well that there was someone who died. And tell us how the community is actually dealing with this. Clearly, they were quite surprised and caught off guard by what had taken place.

TUCHMAN: Yes. No, people are shocked, they're stunned.

I mean, remember, this tropical system, Irene, began off of the coast of Africa. And then it went to the Caribbean, and people thought it was going to hit Florida. And it ended up hitting North Carolina. And then everyone was talking about New York City. And all of a sudden, we've seen the strangest and most elaborate destruction in the state of Vermont, the Green Mountain State. So the fact is that you might be saying, OK, well, they knew it was a possibility, why didn't they evacuate? But the problem is most of the population in this small state lives near the hundreds of creeks and brooks. And you just can't evacuate everyone to Ontario or Quebec or New Hampshire. I mean, it's not practical to do it that way.

So some people were in shelters, but you really can't evacuate a whole state. It's just not possible.

MALVEAUX: All right. Gary Tuchman, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

We are now getting some video in. Want to show you. This is from an aerial tour that was taken, New York Governor Cuomo, who actually decided to get on and take an aerial tour to get a sense of some of the damage in the area.

We are told that this is Scoheri (ph) Creek here, and Mohawk River. These are pictures, and you can just see how swollen it is, how much this has expanded over the last 12 to 24 hours, as they fly over to get a better sense of what this looks like.

And we understand, too, that the area includes Prattsville, New York, and that is where we are following a story about several families who are actually abandoned there. They had sought to leave the city, and went to a vacation home, and are trapped because of the four bridges that have collapsed around their location.

They are in Prattsville, New York, and this is an area that includes Prattsville, New York, and you can just see the amount of water that -- and the flooding that has occurred as this has taken over. You can see the shot of the helicopter as this is taken over some of the areas of New York.

We're going to have more of this and more of that story about those families that are trapped in that area after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

MALVEAUX: Here is your chance to "Talk Back" on one of the big stories of the day. The question is: Is FEMA necessary?

Carol Costello, she joins us from New York.

I guess, Carol, this debate was all the rage around Katrina, when it was such a disaster. I will never forget that.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Suzanne, I see your lips moving, but I cannot hear you. But I know what you are asking me, the question of the day. So here I go.

On the day Hurricane Irene clobbered the Atlantic Coast, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul pounded away at big government. In particular, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, calling it a great contributor to deficit financing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All they do is come in and tell you what to do and can't do. You can't get in your houses, and they hinder the local people and they hinder volunteers from going in. So there is no magic about FEMA, and more people are starting to recognize that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Hmm. That's not what New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie says, or Democratic Governors Martin O'Malley or Peter Shumlin say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PETER SHUMLIN (D), VERMONT: President Obama and the FEMA team has just been extraordinary. We have been on the phone with them continuously. They're getting us the help that we need. And between the federal and state governments, we're going to get this dug out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Not to say FEMA doesn't deserve some criticism. It performed abysmally during Hurricane Katrina. But since then, FEMA has made some changes. It now sends people in before a storm hits to work with state and local officials. That way, if state officials are overwhelmed, the feds can pick up the slack. If states need federal money to rebuild or pump out flooded areas, FEMA can assist right on the spot.

Still, Ron Paul says there is no need for FEMA, states can take care of themselves, and people are perfectly capable of taking responsibility for their homes.

Insurance, anyone?

So the "Talk Back" question today: Is FEMA necessary?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. I'll read your comments later this hour.

I can hear you again, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Oh, good, because I was going to tell you, I'll never forget that trip we took with President Bush, and he said, "Good job, Brownie," the former FEMA head. And it was such a disaster.

So I think a lot of it depends on who's in charge there of FEMA. I'll be very interested to see what folks have to say about your question.

COSTELLO: And whether you believe government really can help you in times, or if smaller government is better all the time. We'll see what people say. MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Six years ago today, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, killing 1,700 people. Katrina made landfall as a powerful Category 3 hurricane.

It flooded 80 percent of New Orleans. Almost half of the victims were the elderly, who drowned in the flooding. Insurers say Katrina caused $45 billion in private damage alone, and Katrina was the single most catastrophic natural disaster in American history.

Well, Irene may have come and go, but the storm left a lot of damage behind, which means a lot of expensive repair work ahead. We're going to go live to the New York Stock Exchange to see what that means for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well, far inland, entire towns are under water this morning. In a moment, we'll talk with a woman who saw everything she owned get washed away, along with the bridges around Prattsville, New York.

Check out this video from Manville, New Jersey. iReporter Marcin Rogalski saw this military vehicle drive down the street with water all the way up to the roof. It seemed to be going fine, but got stuck. Another truck was brought to the rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're in trouble.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you all right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: From North Carolina to Canada, people are busy today cleaning up after Irene. The storm dumped as much as 16 inches of rain in places, washing away at least four of the old covered bridges in Vermont. And in some cases, washing over entire towns. President Obama declared a disaster there this morning.

Here's what Governor Peter Shumlin told CNN right after.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHUMLIN: President Obama and the FEMA team have just been extraordinary. We have been on the phone with them continuously. They're getting us the help that we need. And between the federal and state governments, we're going to get this dug out. It's going to be a long dig. We've got a lot of rebuilding to do. But, you know, Vermonters are tough, we're tenacious. We have good common sense.

We deal with big storms a lot. This is bigger than what we're used to. We don't usually get tropical storms up here, but we're going to get out of this one, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Want to go live to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who's giving an update on how the city handled the hurricane and the aftermath.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (I), NEW YORK: -- 1,000 New Yorkers at 25 shelters, which is down from a peak of nearly 9,500 evacuees on Saturday night and Sunday morning.

The workers and front line agencies like the Department of Transportation, Buildings and Environmental Protection deserve our thanks. And the 311 operators who handled an incredible volume of nearly 250,000 calls on Sunday, more than 10 times the normal load.

Thanks also go to the bus drivers, cab and delivery car drivers, and others who drove New Yorkers to the shelters, the people who went door to door in low-lying areas covered by the evacuation order to get the emergency message out and urge people to leave.

BLOOMBERG: The people who went door-to-door in low lying areas covered by the evacuation order to get the emergency message out and ought -- and urged people to leave. The elected officials who mobilized their offices to help us communicate urgent messages to New Yorkers. And the EMS medical and health professionals who carried out the incredibly well done evacuation of more than 7,000 hospital patients and residents of nursing homes and other residential facilities in low lying coastal areas. And the MTA workers who prevented Irene from devastating our mass transit system and then got the system back up and running this morning. And I just wanted to say thank you to Jay Walder, who leads them, and all of them. Had they not moved all of that equipment, it -- they wouldn't have been able to get it back this morning. And fortunately, they had the foresight to do it.

MALVEAUX: You're now listening to the mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg.

He was talking a little bit about those hospitals that had been evacuated. We're going to have more about those hospitals, since those patients have to be returned to the original hospitals.

And with us now is meteorologist Jacqui Jeras -- Jacqui, you were working all weekend covering this. It was not as -- as tough or intense as expected in New York. But certainly, I mean, when you talk about the rain and the flooding in other areas, it seems like it was devastating.

JACQUI JERAS, ATS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Well, New York had a lot of impact. There are about 700,000 people in New York City that still don't have power, right?

And there was a lot of damage over into New Jersey. The winds a little bit stronger over there. Water -- that's one of the biggest stories that we have been dealing with. And our iReporters have been sending in just amazing video of that water and the flooding.

This is from Chris Cow (ph) from Fleischmann, New York. This is up in the Catskills. And, you know, you get up into the mountains and you get that extra lift from the height of that. And that makes the rain come down a little bit heavier. He said that flooding really overtook the town there and many people evacuated and most made it out there OK.

Another incredible picture here for you from Kerman Brodozauer (ph). He was visiting his family in Hackettstown, New Jersey. He said many people were stranded from their homes as the river rose and kind of kept people trapped in there. And it takes a while for all of this water to come down.

The rainfall totals are just incredible, from what we've seen, up and down the coast. This map showing you the worst of the precipitation. And, you know, it's really, from the coast, over 100 miles inland where we're seeing some of this heavy rain. Vermont, four to eight. And we had some totals as much as 16.

Let's take a look at a few of those totals, as we look at where the flood threat remains at this hour.

Major flooding still expected in many of these areas. It takes a while for all of that water to recede. So we've got about a dozen states that under flood warnings still at this time.

All right. Plum Point, Maryland, you had nearly 13 inches of rain. Tuxedo Park, New York, about 11.5. Check out Delaware. You had about 10 inches there. Here's Virginia, Suffolk. More than 11 inches for you. Newland, Virginia, about 10.5. Down here in Burlington, Connecticut, 8.7. And Walden, Vermont had 7.6.

The wind a big deal for some folks. And these were some of the highest amounts we could find -- 91 in Sayville, 72 in Chesapeake Beach, Maryland. LaGuardia, 67 mile per hour gusts. So that's pretty incredible there. And 64 in Fire Island.

That storm is out of here now. It's way up into Canada. And it's become what we call extra tropical. So no more worries about Irene other than the cleanup and having to deal with the damage that we already have.

But, of course, this is a very active time of the year for tropical systems. And we're going to be watching TD12, which is forecast to become Hurricane Katia or Katia, probably within three days -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Jacqui, thanks.

We have someone on the line that we want to go to.

We want to talk to Melissa Post.

She is in Prattsville, New York.

And we've been talking about this -- about the situation of so many people in a community of mobile homes lost their homes and ended up trying to -- to get to an area they thought was safe and the bridges flooded out. And they are essentially trapped.

Melissa, can you hear me?

This is Suzanne.

MELISSA POST: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Can you tell me where you are?

I understand you're at a -- at a shelter -- and what kind of situation you're dealing with now?

POST: Well, the shelter is very good. We have two generators running now and we have running water.

But our town is devastated. We've all lost our houses.

MALVEAUX: I...

POST: We've lost our jobs. We've lost everything.

MALVEAUX: I am sorry to hear that, Melissa.

How -- how do you know that you've lost your home?

POST: We went back down this morning and the houses aren't livable. There's fuel oil in all of them. And it's -- it's mud everywhere and fuel oil everywhere. And there's no way. The basements are still full of water.

MALVEAUX: You were actually able to go and -- and take a look?

POST: Yes. I went down to get my dog today, whom I left in my upstairs yesterday.

MALVEAUX: Is the dog OK? POST: Yes, he's all right. I've got him up here with me now.

MALVEAUX: Who are you with now?

Were you able to -- was your whole family able to -- to get out OK?

POST: Yes.

MALVEAUX: And what kind of help are -- do you need at this time?

Have you been offered help?

POST: I'm just -- we've been getting groceries from the local grocery store. They've been -- because it was flooded, they're trying to give us everything that they can. And we're just up here, just, you know, just

Trying to have everybody stick together.

MALVEAUX: What kind of shelter is this?

POST: I'm sorry?

MALVEAUX: What kind of shelter is this?

Is this a church group?

POST: (INAUDIBLE).

MALVEAUX: Or is it a...

(CROSSTALK)

POST: -- Prattsville, New York. It's called -- it's Hunters -- it's on Huntersfield Road. It's called Huntersfield Christian Retreat. It's a church with big dorms and everything.

DOMINICK: And where this shelter is, is it -- are you -- are there fairly good conditions -- living conditions while you're there?

POST: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Can you tell me if there -- there are others with you?

POST: Oh, yes. There's -- there's a lot of us.

MALVEAUX: What have they told you about being able to -- to stay there?

Are you able to stay there for days, for weeks, to give yourselves some time...

POST: I don't know at this point. We can't get out of Prattsville because there are no raids...

(CROSSTALK) POST: -- no roads leading out of Prattsville at this point.

MALVEAUX: Has anyone offered to try to get you out of that area or do you feel like you're essentially going to be stuck there for a while?

POST: Yes, we're pretty much just stuck here for weeks, because there's no -- the bridge on one end is completely washed out. The bridge on the other end has -- the abutments are cracked. So we're just -- we're trapped here.

MALVEAUX: Do you have enough food?

Do you have enough water from our -- to last for -- for a while?

POST: Well, they've been bringing water for the generators and stuff. And we have a generator hooked up to the pumps. And now we have running water up here. But I don't -- who knows how long that will last?

MALVEAUX: Has anybody been injured?

Are you in good physical health and condition...

POST: Yes...

MALVEAUX: -- you and your family?

POST: -- everybody is in good physical health, just shaken up.

MALVEAUX: What is your next move, Melissa?

(LAUGHTER)

POST: I don't know. I don't know. To get out of this town. To find a place to stay. To rebuild.

MALVEAUX: Do you know where -- where you could rebuild, if you were to rebuild?

Would you try to get back home?

POST: There's -- I don't know. I just don't know. I mean it would have to be out of this town. Windham is devastated. Prattsville is devastated. I don't even know where else to go.

MALVEAUX: Have you been able to speak to anybody at the shelter who has offered help to get you out of Prattsville?

POST: There's no way to get out of Prattsville. All the roads are cut off.

MALVEAUX: Well, if there -- has anybody suggested an aerial lift or anything like that?

POST: No.

MALVEAUX: Have they offered you any type of...

POST: Not at this time.

MALVEAUX: -- information?

POST: No, it's not at this time.

MALVEAUX: OK.

Is there -- is there anything that you would like people to -- to know, who -- who are listening and -- and kind -- see you in this circumstance?

I mean, this just must be a very, very tough situation right now.

POST: It's -- we're -- we're all stranded here. We're -- there's no way out. Before, they were letting people go out over the bridges and walking. Now they're not even allowing foot traffic over the bridges to get out of this town. Were just trapped here.

MALVEAUX: All right...

POST: (INAUDIBLE) we're just trapped here.

MALVEAUX: Melissa, we'll -- we'll see if we can get some information for you, to see if there are any alternatives so that you do not have to -- do not have to stay there, necessarily, and see what kind of resources there are.

Melissa Post, thank you so much for joining us and -- and telling us your story.

POST: OK.

MALVEAUX: We wish you the very best.

Civilians -- another story -- locked in a warehouse. This is in Libya. Just when they thought they'd go free, that is when the horror began. We are uncovering the gruesome evidence of a massacre.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Rebels in Libya give Gadhafi supporters in his hometown an ultimatum -- put down your weapons or we'll take the city by force. Thousands of rebel forces are on the outskirts of Sirte, where Gadhafi was born. They've warned those loyal to Gadhafi to give up their guns and allow them to enter the city. And as rebel forces advanced across Tripoli, they discovered some gruesome evidence of atrocities, allegedly committed by Gadhafi's regime.

Inside a warehouse, the charred bodies of prisoners killed in a massacre. Now, one witness says as many as 175 people were held there. And just as they thought they were about to go free, well, that's when the horror began. I want to warn you, this report has disturbing images. It's graphic.

This is a story from CNN's Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: (voice-over): They heard screams, gunshots, but it would be days before people discovered the magnitude of the horror within these walls. Munid Ohm (ph) was picked up by Gadhafi's forces, along with his younger brother, in early August. "My brother and I were in the street. They grabbed us and blindfolded us and cuffed us," he remembers. "The detainees ranged from ages 17 to 70," Munid says.

They were beaten, penned up like animals and in their last days, deprived of food and water. He says he survived by dreaming of freedom, "that one day I would leave this place."

Early last week, he thought that day had come. "The last day, they informed us that they are going to release us. We all started planning," he says, "preparing to reunite with loved ones."

(on camera): This warehouse is around 15 by meters, 45 by 30 feet. And Munid says there were 175 people crammed inside here.

At sunset, he says, the guards came and opened the door. He and the other prisoners thought they were going to make good on their word and set them free.

(voice-over): Instead, he says, the soldiers threw a grenade through the door and opened fire. Munid made a run for it. "I ran away. I jumped over that wall. But I don't remember anything else."

Though he survived, his younger brother and most of the others trapped in this hell did not. The warehouse is located in a lot on the back end of Khamis Gadhafi's 32nd Brigade headquarters, the most feared and loathed unit of his father's military. When rebels finally secured the area and people felt safe enough to approach the warehouse, this was all they found. Volunteer workers say they've pulled out the remains of at least 150 bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of the bodies, there are more than one body. Some of them four people in one bag.

DAMON: (on camera): Because the bodies, you -- you can't recognize the bodies?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's difficult because they are burned. You can't recognize them. So we have some papers. Maybe we can (INAUDIBLE).

DAMON: (voice-over): The IDs of people from all over Libya.

(on camera): Do you know why these men who were here were detained?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were detained for enough -- some of them for nothing, just to say that Gadhafi go out or just to raise the flag, the new flag, which is, indeed, a new color, a different color, not the green -- not the green flag, this one.

DAMON: (voice-over): And in another corner of the lot, the people who have gathered report yet another atrocity.

(on camera): We're being told that a number of bodies were also dug up right here. And the dirt, it's just -- it's filled. It's crawling with maggots.

(voice-over): The cost of freedom in Libya. Many of the victims will remain unknown, their families left without answers to their fate.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

MALVEAUX: Arwa joins us live from Tripoli -- Arwa, just seeing this -- this video and this story, it's just very disturbing. And I saw you with the mask there.

What was that like to be there?

DAMON: Well, it's incredibly chilling, just when you think about what those victims must have gone through, especially in their final moments. And residents in the area saying that they could heard them -- could hear them scream. They didn't know exactly what had taken place.

This entire area was a no-go zone for ordinary Libyans. They were absolutely terrified of Khamis' brigade. They knew and they'd heard of these types of atrocities being committed. But when we were speaking to a number of the rebels that accompanied us there, they said that they'd never actually witnessed anything like this firsthand. In fact, some of them were so overcome with emotion that they were trying to rush us through the location. They just wanted to get away from the horror of it as fast as possible.

And, of course, it's hardened them even more in their desire to bring Gadhafi and his family to justice -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right -- and, Arwa, very quickly here, do we have any sense of where Gadhafi is?

I imagine people are still furiously searching for him.

DAMON: Yes, the hunt for him most certainly is still on, although there has been no evidence that would indicate that he is in one part of the country or the other.

The predominant theory is that he would have fled to the south, perhaps to Subhowa (ph). That's where his tribe is from. And there is a huge chunk of the country that no one knows who is in control of. And so those are potentially areas where he could easily hide himself or find loyalists who would be willing to hide him.

The tribes in that area, pretty much, he secured their loyalty.

MALVEAUX: All right. Arwa Damon, excellent reporting, as always.

Thank you, Arwa.

Well there are a lot of people who are pumping water out of their basements this morning in the wake of Hurricane Irene.

So what do you do if your house is hit by this storm or any natural disaster?

Alison Kosik, she's got some top tips for filing an insurance claim.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Millions are still without power after Irene. The storm also flooded basements and damaged a lot of homes.

So what do you do if your house was hit?

Our CNNMoney's Alison Kosik has some top tips.

And she's in New York -- Alison, you know, we've been through this many times. I've been through it myself. And, boy, filing an insurance claim can sometimes be a real pain.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.

MALVEAUX: What do folks need to do to just even start the process?

KOSIK: Extremely stressful.

And you know what you do?

The very first thing you do, go ahead and report the claim to your insurance company and do it ASAP, because these claims are usually handled on a first come, first serve basis. And just a little dose of advice here. Bring your patience with this.

Next, keep good records. You know, who did you talk to?

When?

What was said?

You really need to write down everything. And -- and go ahead and keep receipts from any repairs you may make or even if you stay in a hotel, if you're forced out of your home. And you may be surprised, there may be something in your insurance policy where you can get reimbursed.

Also, get a repair estimate from a local contractor. It could serve as a good guide when you talk with your insurance adjuster -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: You know, what if you go through all that work and your claim is denied?

What do you do then?

Do you have any -- any recourse? KOSIK: Well, you can go back to the insurance company, Suzanne. You can ask them to show you the language in your policy that justifies why they denied you. And after that, you can complain to your state's insurance department. Every state has one of these. They could intervene on your behalf. Of course, the last result here -- resort here, rather, is get a lawyer. You know, this is where all that good recordkeeping would come into play -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And, Alison, what if the damage is due to flooding?

That's different than some other damage, right?

I'm that's handled differently?

KOSIK: It -- it is. It is. And you may be surprised to hear this, but 80 percent of Americans don't have flood insurance. And many people don't even know that they don't have it. You know, they think they're covered if they have homeowners insurance, but a typical policy actually does not cover flooding.

So you need to buy separate flood insurance, this separate flood insurance policy 30 days before -- before a storm would hit. That would cover the damage specifically from flooding because of storm surges or torrential rains.

Now, if you do, if you are one of the lucky ones who has flood insurance, you probably have it through FEMA and you've purchased it through Allstate and Farmers. You can contact FEMA for claims at Flood -- Floodsmart.gov for more information -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Good information. A little bit of work involved, but good information.

Thank you, Alison.

KOSIK: Yes.

MALVEAUX: Our Talk Back question of the day, is FEMA even necessary?

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, he doesn't think so.

We're going to read through some of your responses, after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We want to bring you some live pictures out of Lumberton, New Jersey. These are some aerial shots of some flooding that we can see. This is out of Lumberton, New Jersey.

And you can see how the water has really taken over some of the -- some of the areas there and buildings that were right along the water's surface, what looks like was a bridge. And If you pull out a little bit, you can just see the whole landscape there, that the water has expanded quite a bit. There are a lot of folks who are waiting for the water to recede. But, again, this from Hurricane Irene, just as -- some of the -- some of the pictures, the amazing pictures that we're getting out of the area and what folks are dealing with. As you see, the water, that it's right up against some of those buildings. They -- it looks like some of them could be residential buildings, some homes, something that looks like, perhaps, a garage. But all of that water that is just right up to the edge of those building. I imagine that some flooding is taking place there and that that water has lapped into those buildings that are right along the water's edge.

Again, this is an aerial shot that we are looking at, pictures of New Jersey flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.

Well, you've been sounding off on the Talk Back question.

Carol Costello, she's in New York with your responses -- Carol, what are folks saying about FEMA?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you know, today's question, is Ron Paul right, is FEMA really necessary?

This from Alexander: "Of course FEMA is necessary. The question is, is Ron Paul necessary?"

This from Elizabeth: "Though both FEMA and the Bush administration messed up during Hurricane Katrina, I still think that FEMA is vital. Ron Paul is just playing the political game, as usual."

And this from Velma: "FEMA is, indeed, necessary. It needs to be reformed mainly due to lack of trained damage assessors. I'm not too confident in the state being able to handle disasters in an unbiased way."

I'll have more of your responses in the next -- in fact, I'll be back in 15 minutes, as will Suzanne.

We'll be back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)