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Louisiana Residents Face Power Outages, Fuel Shortages, Heat; Paterson, New Jersey Mayor: 300 People Rescued, Countless Cars Abandoned; The Connection Between Climate Change And Severe Weather; Fight Over Spot In Louisiana Gas Line Ends In Deadly Shooting. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired September 04, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[11:59:59]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could imagine using this on the roofs of uninsulated buildings in Asia, or Africa, India, where it's expected to be billions of (INAUDIBLE) coming online in the next 30 years. And I think we're just excited to be able to use this new technology for good.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Rachel crane, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST (on camera): All right, and now we got some big baby news to share with you about a member of the Biden administration.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten just announced the arrival of their twins.

Pete posted this photo of Penelope Rose and Joseph August. Last month, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana announced that he and Chasten were to become parents. And now it's official. There they are.

WHITFIELD (on camera): All right. Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, right now, desperation setting in as cities from the Gulf Coast to the northeast deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. At least 50 people are dead across the northeast and many are facing flood warnings again today. And we're just learning President Biden will visit New Jersey and New York Tuesday to survey the damage.

The death toll in Louisiana and Mississippi stands at 13. Many hard- hit communities there are running short on food, fuel, and other supplies.

In Louisiana, the desperation is turning deadly. A man was killed after reportedly cutting in line at a gas station. Fuel supplies are growing more scarce by the day. Police say the shooting proves how desperate people are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOSEPH LOPINTO, SHERIFF OF JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA: It is unbelievable that people can't act like adults in this situation. Ladies and gentlemen, the services aren't here. We don't have enough gas on. We don't have enough gas being delivered the states, we don't have enough generators on. The lines are long. Everybody's out of control. But for somebody to lose their life over getting gas is absolutely (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD (voice-over): And it's not just the fuel. This morning, power outages are still reported for more than 700,000 people in Louisiana. Those outages complicating recovery in communities' hard- hit by that ferocious storm.

CNN has a team -- has team coverage on the ground, monitoring the situation in the northeast and, of course, in Louisiana. We'll start in New Orleans.

Nadia Romero is there for us. So, Nadia, you spoke with people heading to evacuation centers today. What are they saying?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, Fredricka, people are frustrated, they're fed up and they say enough is enough. Just think about it. They've been almost a week now without having power, which means no AC all the food in their houses spoiling.

Some of them have major damage from their roofs being open to the elements and having mildew and mold in their home. They're just trying to find some relief.

So, take a look behind me. This is where people are coming. This is the convention center, and lined up are these charter buses that will take them away from New Orleans.

I spoke with one woman who said I've had enough I've got to get out of this state. Some of these buses are going north of Louisiana to Shreveport, others will take evacuees to Texas.

And you see there's all this staff out here helping to get them registered to figure out what their needs are.

I spoke with one man who said he has just been dealing with this for too long. He's had enough and he wants to find some relief.

Listen to the man we met earlier, Terry, talked to us about why he's leaving.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO (voice-over): What are you looking forward to? Why are you leaving your home to go on evacuation center? What are you looking forward to that they'll have that you don't have now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clothes in there, you know -- and you know, this clean bag and be cool, you know. It is too hot, you know. It's too hot, you know. You see how the weather is, you know? And you know, if you were 60 or 80 years old, how would you feel sitting there, you know, can't come down the stairs, can get in the elevator?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO (on camera): Just so tough for Terry (PH). And everyone who lives in his apartment building, he says they're all older folks. He has a limp himself, walking with a cane. He doesn't have access to his medication.

So, he got on one of these buses. The bus that he's on is taking him likely to Shreveport, Louisiana.

We've seen a three coach buses leave. There he's actually waving at me in the car -- in the -- in the coach bus right now. We've seen three of these buses leave in just the last 10 minutes. That's how quickly they're trying to get people out of here and to get shelter, food, clothing, the basic necessities. Fred?

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Oh, I know there is -- they are relieved to be on that air-conditioned bus right there for starters and are probably very anxious to get better comfort once they get to those areas.

Thank you so much, Nadia. Really appreciate that.

WHITFIELD (on camera): That Nadia Romero.

All right, in the northeast, now, many areas are still underwater this morning after the historic flooding there. CNNs Evan McMorris-Santoro is in Paterson, New Jersey, for us. So, Evan, you just spoke with the mayor. What did he tell you about what they're looking forward to in terms of recovery?

[12:05:01]

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, I'll tell you, Fred, what the mayor told me is that we are still very much in the middle of this crisis here in Paterson, New Jersey.

We just got word in the CNN newsroom just a few minutes ago that President Biden will be coming to this area on Tuesday. He'll be coming to Manville, New Jersey about 50 miles south of me, and up to Queens in New York, which is where the most deaths in New York City were found.

People who were trapped in those basement apartments when the water came through, knocking walls down, and flooding very quickly.

When the President comes to New Jersey, he's going to see scenes like this one here in Paterson, where you can still see this is still very much an ongoing crisis. This water is standing here. You have cars that are submerged. This is still happening as we are watching things days gone by since this emergency flash flooding -- this historic flooding in this area.

I spoke with the mayor earlier today about what he's been going through, what it was like here, and what he thinks about the future here in Paterson. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRE SAYEGH, MAYOR OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY: About 300 people have been rescued to date, very daring rescue here in the north side of our city. There have been countless cars that have been left abandoned, about 100. We have 30 families that are at the emergency shelter that we opened up, and our streets are strewn with debris.

It's almost apocalyptic, because when you talk to your residents, and I want to reassure them that FEMA is coming to Paterson today, our congressman is on this as well. We have American Red Cross in Paterson, but just to contextualize it, it's like one epidemic after another within the banner of a pandemic that's occurring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So, you think about this. You think about this moment where, as Nadia was talking about, people seeking out shelter down there in New Orleans, they're doing it up here, too.

That's the size and scale of this crisis caused by Ida. The president coming here to New Jersey to take a look for himself. People in places like Paterson still drying out, still hoping to get rescued. It's an ongoing thing, Fred, and it's just incredible to see it and see the scale of it.

WHITFIELD: Oh, it's incredible, just by way of these images that you're showing us. I can only imagine what it looks like in person.

So, I wonder, Evan, the buildings behind you, everyone -- is there anyone in these buildings? I mean, are there people who are you know, still wanting to be rescued or perhaps don't want to leave their properties? What is the situation?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So, we know that here in New Jersey, right? There are 25 deaths, at least that we know of. That number, that may still be going up. There's rescue operations going on in other parts of the city here on Wednesday night. And the mayor telling us about that massive operation involving boats and fire department trying to get people out.

They think that they've got everybody at this point, people in some shelters. But obviously, other parts of this region are still places where active rescues are going on.

You know, time is running out for situations like that, but they're really hoping to find the people who are still alive, and maybe deal with people who are still passed away and have not yet been found. Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it's a miserable situation. Evan McMorris-Santoro, thank you so much for that.

So, Ida's massive power and widespread swath of destruction and other devastating storms in recent years, are forcing governments and around the world, in fact, to examine the role of climate change. Kim Cobb is a climate scientist, and she is the director of the Global Change Program at Georgia Tech. And, so, good to see you. So, you are one of the lead authors of the 2021 U.N. report on climate change.

So, help us connect the dots help explain what role climate change is having with these powerful storms and the frequency of these storms?

KIM COBB, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL CHANGE PROGRAM, GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Well, first, we really have to start with the basics here. United Nations report calling out greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel emissions, driving warming across the planet is unequivocal. That's not news, of course, we've known that for decades.

What is new about this report is new and stronger links between that ongoing warming and any number of climate and weather extremes, including tropical cyclone strength, including extreme rainfall.

We all saw the role that surface -- warmer surface oceans in the Gulf played in the rapid intensification of Hurricane Ida. And, of course, the havoc that was wrecked by a warmer atmosphere that can hold more water vapor and deliver more rainfall.

Both of those things conclusively linked to climate change caused by fossil fuel emissions.

WHITFIELD: So, this warmer weather is behind the strengthening. I mean, these storms, it seems to be become even more powerful. That's based on the research that you, you know, have uncovered.

So, what if anything can be done now? Because I've certainly heard a lot of scientists who said, if there was to make an impact, it should have been done 10 or 15 years ago.

So, is there anything, and what are those things that can be done now to address or perhaps even stop these storms or the frequency of such from becoming even bigger?

COBB: Well, first, it's never too late to turn to science to help inform cities and communities across the country about how to prepare and be climate-ready, through better preparedness, but also thinking about infrastructure, investments that need to be made to come up to speed with where we are with the climate crisis given that it's only going to get worse in the coming decades.

[12:10:11]

COBB: What we need to do is quickly move to deep and sustained cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, so that by mid-century will see a reduced risk from some of these accelerating climate change impacts. And of course, reserve the right to cool later this century. That's what's at stake right now over the next decade.

WHITFIELD: So, is it going to be your view that these areas that have been destroyed -- will some of these areas be uninhabitable, will it mean, because of the track of these storms? Or what we're learning about these storms that there just might be areas of this country that have been inhabited, that can no longer be developed for such that they really just cannot return as communities as we knew it -- knew them?

COBB: Well, obviously, that the toll from this kind of damage is lasting, in fact, it will extend across generations. And we've seen that from the devastating hits of past storms across the coastal communities in recent past.

And so, you know, these are big costs, paid by lives, livelihoods, and frankly, billions of dollars to our economy every year. And so, that's what's at stake right now that we think about how you want to invest in climate-ready communities, as well as whether you want to begin to turn the tide on what we're doing with fossil fuel emissions and get serious about what's at stake.

WHITFIELD: And we're looking right now at images of, you know, the result -- the consequences of wildfires out west.

I mean, what correlation do you see between the destruction caused by these wildfires and the kind of destruction that we are also witnessing from these flash floods, hurricane winds, et cetera?

COBB: Yes, I mean, that the term record-breaking has become and your weekly occurrence. Obviously, the wildfires out west devastating now year on year on year, and this is also conclusively linked to warming caused by fossil fuels in the new United Nations report on climate.

This is soil heating up, drying out -- vegetation drying out, and creating the kind of fuel for the rapid large fires that we're seeing out west.

WHITFIELD: Wow. I mean, it is fascinating. Kim Cobb, thank you so much, and thanks for the work that you're doing to help educate us all about what more we can do to try and improve matters as best we can. Thank you.

And as the cleanup continues from Ida, many scientists and politicians are sounding the alarms about climate change. What can we do to address the crisis? The experts weighing in, coming up at 2:30.

Also coming up, President Biden is calling the near-total abortion ban in Texas un-American, but what can the Justice Department do about that?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:17:04]

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN has learned the White House may have to scale back its rollout plan for coronavirus booster shots set for later on this month. One source telling CNN that only the Pfizer booster vaccines may be ready by then.

Moderna says it has submitted its data on Friday, but it may take a few weeks longer to move forward with Moderna's shots. The U.S. is now averaging 166,000 new COVID-19 cases each day, according to Johns Hopkins. That's a seven percent increase over last week's average.

And with the holiday weekend upon us, the CDC is urging anyone who is not vaccinated not to travel.

All right, turning now to the battle over abortion rights in Texas, A judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the state's largest anti-abortion group.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): The order blocks Texas right to life from suing Planned Parenthood under the state's strict new abortion law.

The law allows private citizens to bring civil suits against anyone who assists a pregnant one -- person seeking an abortion in violation of the law. It also bans abortions after as early as six weeks into pregnancy, and that's before many women even know that they are pregnant.

WHITFIELD (on camera): President Biden is denouncing the new law calling it almost un-American. Saying it creates a sort of vigilante system.

Joining us right now. Amy Hagstrom Miller, she is the CEO and founder of Whole Woman's Health, an independent abortion provider, with clinics in five states, including Texas.

Amy, so good to see you. So, what is your reaction to this Texas judge's temporary restraining order?

AMY HAGSTROM MILLER, FOUNDER, WHOLE WOMAN'S HEALTH: You know, I think it's a step in the right direction. It's not nearly enough protection for all of us at risk in the state of Texas from these vigilantes. I think Planned Parenthood took a smart step on it blocks one organization from suing.

Unfortunately, there are many organizations and many folks hostile to those of us who are providing abortion care, and those of us who are helping people access abortion care throughout the state.

So, like you said, we really need the administration to step in, and are legal options are far from over. We will be taking many more actions in the -- in the days and weeks to come in order to secure not only people's rights to safe abortion care, but our ability to provide safe abortion care in our communities with the compassion and dignity that people deserve all throughout Texas.

WHITFIELD: What are women saying to you, particularly those patients who perhaps had upcoming appointments or have been seeking advice? You have counseled? What are they saying within the last 48 hours?

HAGSTROM MILLER: So, this has been a remarkably difficult week for our staff who are essential workers, who have kept our clinics open all throughout this pandemic. To this week, they have to, you know, sit with patients and look them in the eyes and deny them the very abortion care that they need.

[12:20:01] HAGSTROM MILLER: That they have decided is the best option for them with their families, and with all of the situations, I think, all of us are dealing with during this pandemic.

Many of us have had to make difficult decisions and important decisions about our families and about our education and our work. This is the context in which people face unplanned pregnancy.

And for many people, the decision to have an abortion is a very important decision that they need to have access to. And it needs to be done compassionately and promptly.

And so, these laws that are already on the books in Texas, make it difficult even before SB 84. So many people in Texas to access care, there is barriers, there is delays. And now we add this on top of it, and the vast majority of people who are coming to our clinics are being denied the care that they need, being told, basically, they have to continue the pregnancy against their will.

WHITFIELD: So, you are describing, in part, some of the short-term, anxieties. But now, what about long-term anxieties that you're hearing, expressed already from women? And even those who are working, you know, in your clinic, I mean, those who have been advocating and very proud of the service that they have been able to deliver, but then, what are you all thinking long term now?

HAGSTROM MILLER: So, the folks that work in our four clinics in the State of Texas are the same people that come in for our abortion care services. Primarily, women of color, from the community, people who are parenting already, who are trying to, you know, build the life for their families. Just like our patient side, there's really no difference. Any of us at some point in our lives, may need to face an unplanned pregnancy and needs to be able to consider the option of abortion.

We all know people and love people who have needed an abortion in their lifetime. And I just asked, is this the kind of environment we want people to encounter? Think long-term the amp damage and impact that this can have for people who are forced to carry pregnancies against their will.

There's maternal mortality, health outcomes, there is, you know, damage in the way that we all are looking at access to abortion and safe abortion in this country in the long run.

I think they are playing some political football with people's lives. And I wish the politicians, if they weren't so cruel, I wish that they could hear the kinds of anguish and the kinds of stories that our patients are telling us about what they need in their lives and the situations that they're dealing with.

And abortion is supposed to be available not just in extreme situations, is supposed to be available to all of us when we feel that we can't continue a pregnancy.

WHITFIELD: The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken. What are your expectations about what this White House department of justice can do?

HAGSTROM MILLER: So, I am encouraged that the administration is finally paying attention. You know, Governor Abbott signed this bill into law months ago. And we have seen a trajectory of ramping up of the regulation of people's bodies and surveillance and violence for the last decades, and most especially the last few years in this country.

I think we have the FACE Act, we can look at we have HIPAA violations we can look at, we have federal marshal protection that we could look at. I think, there, the Women's Health and Protection Act could be, you know, really sort of looked at much more deeply, not just in the House, but in the Senate. And we could really have some efforts from Washington that could really come in and protect those states where abortion rights are most at risk, and where people really need leadership from this administration. And from all of us.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. Amy Hagstrom Miller, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate you joining us.

HAGSTROM MILLER: Thank you so much for covering the story.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Still ahead, life after Ida. Anger, frustration, and now, violence? A man shot and killed over a spot in a gas line.

[12:24:06]

WHITFIELD: The Jefferson Parish Sheriff joining me live straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD (on camera): U.S. State Department is vowing a full review of the entire 20 years the U.S. spent fighting in Afghanistan, promising to learn from America's longest war as Secretary of State Antony Blinken announces plans to travel to the region in the next week.

The Pakistani intelligence chief was in Kabul to discuss border and regional safety with Taliban leaders earlier today, as the fighting continues between the Taliban and an Afghan resistance movement.

CNN Sam Kiley joins me now from Doha, Qatar. So, Sam, what is the latest?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, if we start with the visit on -- in geostrategic terms of the Pakistani head of the ISI, that's their equivalent of the CIA in the United States, Fred. But much more importantly, that -- than that, certainly from the former Afghan government perspective, and NATO's attitude towards the ISI over two decades, the connection between that organization and the Taliban is very tight indeed. So, this was a very significant visit.

Very well known to each other, the Taliban and the ISI. And I think arguably the ISI putting pressure on the Taliban to get it together to form a government.

[12:29:56]

KILEY: And I think also to try to establish and continue to head in a moderate direction so that international communications can be established across borders out of the airport, and that the humanitarian issues inside Afghanistan can be addressed before there's a flood of refugees into Pakistan, because that for Pakistan would be extremely disabling.

But whilst all this is going on, as you mentioned there, Fred also, there's continued fighting in the Panjshir Valley with the last holdout elements of the Northern Alliance. That was the tragic forces alongside elements of the -- what the ramp of the now pretty much destroyed Afghan National Army fighting against Taliban elements that follow the process of failed negotiations that have led to this fighting.

The scale of it is very difficult to establish, because there's an awful lot of disinformation on both sides. Both sides admitting that there has been casualties and indeed, there's been independent confirmation of that the local Italian hospital, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. And then Sam, I want to ask you about this very bold move, a protest organized by women's activists calling for equal rights. Well, that protest turned violent, didn't it in Afghanistan?

KILEY: Yes, sorry to talk over there, Fred. Yes, second day, in a row where we've seen these demonstrations. And there's a similar one out in the west of the country in Herat, a very important cultural nexus close to the Iranian border. But in all of these cases, they were small in number very, very brave indeed. And in the case of the latest series of demonstrations by women demanding equal rights, there were -- they accusing the Taliban of having attacked them.

One woman at least as post on social media showing injuries to her the side of her face where they were pistol whipped or whipped with electric cables or some such implements. So an illustration really, of the extraordinary bravery of Afghan women, particularly in Kabul, but not only in Kabul, testing the promises made by the Taliban, that there would be respect for human rights and particularly women's rights, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sam Kiley in Doha, thank you so much.

All right, in this quick programming note, next Saturday marks 20 years since the September 11th attacks, and we remember the heroes, the victims, and the survivors. See then Films presents /911 airing tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:37:02]

WHITFIELD: All right, desperation turning deadly in Louisiana. Police say a man was killed in a shooting over a spot in a line for gas. Gas shortages have caused big backups at the pumps following Hurricane Ida. Joining us right now is Sheriff Joseph Lopinto of Jefferson Parish. Where that shooting took place? And Sheriff so good to see you, I understand there has been an arrest and that shooting.

SHERIFF JOSEPH LOPINTO, JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA: There is, you know, went off last night on them. And basically it's excellent to turn themselves in good news, he actually did turn himself in. I'm really proud of my digital friends again. And we were actually at the person's house already, we were able to identify the car through a grainy picture where we've been enhanced to get a license plate, find it on Google Earth and actually with the car was on Google Earth at the location that we were at.

So my detectives are certainly going to catch him last night, but he turned himself in last night with the firearm that was used in the murder. And so he's now in our custody.

WHITFIELD: And certainly, you know, this is no excuse, you know, for shooting anyone in a gas line. But, you know, clearly people are very frustrated of everything that's taken place.

LOPINTO: They are.

WHITFIELD: So how are you able to address this with the citizenry? What is it that you all can do? What do you offer? I mean, what are you seeing in how people are exhibiting their anxieties?

LOPINTO: Well, gas is short, think about, 13 percent of the gasoline is produced at the refineries that are down right now in this area. So gas is going to be short for across this area, even with the power are coming back on, it's going to take a few days to get those refineries back up and running, so one of the most critical needs that we have is fuel and lines of blocks and blocks and blocks long.

And so you're seeing a lot of people trying to cut in line at the last minute, causing disturbances at that gas station. And it's, you know, been a regular call. And unfortunately, we can't be in line police. You know, something I said yesterday, I'll repeat, you know, you should have been learned in kindergarten to not cut in line.

And so when someone's in line for several hours, and when they get up to the front and someone cuts in front of them, rightfully so they're mad. And those anger has been, you know, turning into violence, whether it's someone showing a gun, in this case, an actual murder. And that's just something that's unacceptable.

We need people to act like adults. Have a little patience around here. We'll get through this, you know, Jefferson Parish will come back quickly. I have no doubt. But we need to need time to be able to get that critical infrastructure back in place and for people to have a little bit of patience.

WHITFIELD: Yes, let's talk about, you know, the, the struggle now, this universal struggle for basic survival. I mean, CNN spoke with this young man who was holding his three-month-old baby who was relying on gas and the fuel for his car in order to get air conditioning in order to survive. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[12:40:05]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's been kind of hard, you know, with a three- month-old baby and no water, no life, nothing, it ain't really easy. We wake up every morning all morning crying all day beyond that, you know, so there's a (ph) difficulty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I mean, this is awful, you know, it's miserable. What can you do, and what is being done to help people?

LOPINTO: So, you know, on any of these storms, you know, the critical services of not only coming back from the regular services that we have, but we're distributing food, we're distributing water, we're distributed ice. That's what we asked people to leave beforehand. It's not necessarily the damage in your structure, it's having the ability to refill the needs of our community. Not everybody has the means to leave. And so people that stay, we want to be able to give them as much as we can. But they're going to be limited over a period of time.

And so, you know, I've asked people look, if you stay during this form, everything's OK, if you have the means to get out of town, leave now. Go out of town for a vacation for a couple days, give us the ability to kind of catch up. I will say it's getting better. I mean every day is a little bit better day. I have no doubt by the end of next week, you know, the metropolitan area of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish should be back to closer to normal.

You know, obviously, Grand Isle and Lafitte where some of our hard hit areas. It will go to take a longer period of time, but we'll be able to dedicate more resources to those areas, when the populated areas kind of come back. And so, you know, those are things that we're just asking, if you don't need to be here right now, get out of here. Because there are people like the gentleman you just played. They're struggling.

WHITFIELD: Yes, except sometimes we wish it were that simple. Yes. Sometimes I wish it were that sample. Sometimes people don't even have the means in order to get out. And so now here we have, you know, this level of pain and heartbreak that is taking place. And right now, people just need some answers about what kind of help they're going to get right now.

LOPINTO: And we have four pod systems open now in Jefferson Parish that distributing, you know, the ice, the water, and food, so we can get people through to get those needs. Gasoline is our biggest problem right now.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LOPINTO: We can get electricity up. We'll get more stations online. But most stations online doesn't necessarily help the gasoline problem until we get the refineries up and running. And I know they're working hard to make that happen. But we're still a week away from normalcy.

And then we just ask people to try to avoid, avoid those line. Avoid spending gas in your car. That way, you know, if you need to for later you can get it for your own generator, but you're not getting in line and causing more problems.

WHITFIELD: All right, very tough circumstances indeed. Sheriff Joseph Lopinto, thank you so much. Thanks for taking the time with us. Appreciate it.

LOPINTO: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, as the cleanup begins from Hurricane Ida, there are people in Louisiana starting the rebuilding process, actually including a 2008, CNN Hero of the year, Liz McCartney, who helped after Katrina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ MCCARTNEY, CNN HERO OF THE YEAR: Because of the timing of the tides, I think Ida have pushed a lot of water into places that don't normally experience flooding that are outside of New Orleans, but were really taken off guard.

Typically, you can go to the communities in the outlying area to access the resources to help people recover. With power out in Baton Rouge, it's become a much trickier situation. We have teams that to assist with mucking and gutting and mold remediation.

What we've been able to do at SBP is help homeowners understand how they can buy the appropriate materials that actually kill mold spores, and then learn how to dry their house out so that when they do start to rebuild it, their house doesn't have any mold in it, and they can live safely in it.

I just want to say thank you to everybody who is supporting people who've been impacted by Hurricane Ida. The immediate response is really important. The long term recovery is going to take more time and so we ask you to stick with it. Come on down and volunteer. Share your talents and help us make these communities even stronger in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:44:24]

WHITFIELD: It will be a long road indeed. For more information go to CNNHeroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: This weekend, CNN is revisiting the defining moment when President George W. Bush learned of the September 11th attacks while in a classroom of second graders. In a new special report, CNN Victor Blackwell goes back to that harrowing day through the lens of those children and their beloved teacher. Here's a preview. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: What do you do in that moment?

SANDRA KAY DANIELS, TEACHER: I cry. I pray. And I ask why. Why and how I really needed a moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We never really see her cry and it's like something definitely impacted her more than what we know what was going on. It was deepening when we're singing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We knew as Daniels as loving, caring. It's a really different thing from our teachers kind of jarring. I mean we've never seen her like this.

BLACKWELL: How long your moment?

[12:50:01]

DANIELS: It could have been two minutes. It could have been three minutes, but I knew I had to get back to my kids.

BLACKWELL: OK.

DANIELS: So I didn't want them to think that they had done something wrong. So I had to let them know it was not their fault.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something in the way that you presented it to us, like, allowed me to understand that like the human side of it that like, I am not the most important person right now. Like he's got something he has to do. People are hurting, he has to leave. And that's OK. And it's not our fault.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think after that, that's when, you know, they cut on the T.V. for us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those Americans who are looking at these horrific pictures.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then it all came together like I grasped how serious it was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think myself and maybe other students thought it was like a movie or something.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It didn't look real.

BLACKWELL: The T.V. was here, you took them to a different room?

DANIELS: No, the T.V. -- the monitor that President Bush had, was in his office next door, their memory of it might fluctuate a little after I came out of the room. I told them what happened, the pictures and the images that they saw, they might have seen them in their door was open. But the T.V. never came in here. I was very careful about how much I expose them to. And what I said to them,

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the first day I learned word of terrorists too.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Victor Blackwell is with me now. I mean, Victor that is so powerful to hear, hear these second graders, I mean, got a lesson right away by being exposed to those images, as the teacher said, being exposed to those images and why that she thought that was really important for them at that time.

BLACKWELL: Yes, we all got a lesson that day. I mean, even as adults imagine, you know, what it meant for then seven year olds and how she had to relay it to them. You know, this is the only place you're going to see this story together on the 20th anniversary. And now 27, they're still working through this, how that day impacted their lives.

They -- some of them went off to the military, some right after Sarasota came to New York, some have had some struggles in life. But what I -- what surprised me was that there is for most of them, a sense of guilt, that they described, a survivor's guilt I compared to, where they are so intimately attached to this day, they're in the pictures in the textbooks, but they didn't lose anyone.

So they're often reluctant to talk about it. But as Lazaro (ph) said, he told me that they have a duty to tell the story to make sure that that part of the day is recorded, but they don't brag about, most of them, brag about being with the President on that day.

WHITFIELD: Did they express that it was actually rather difficult, you know, for them to relive this and telling the story and recalling what they felt 20 years ago with you? Or have they done it so many times that they feel like they've found a way in which to do it?

BLACKWELL: Well, they've done it many times. But also their memories are connected to how well Mrs. Daniels, their teacher, made sure that it wasn't traumatic for them at the moment. She told them what happened, but left a lot of it up to their parents to have the conversation at home. She actually sang to them that day. And you'll see in the special that the children join in on the song she sang for them 20 years ago.

WHITFIELD: Wow. She's the teacher that we want all of our kids to have and the teacher that leaves the most indelible mark to those of us who have a great teacher like that. All right, Victor Blackwell thanks so much. I look forward to the special --

BLACKWELL: Sure.

WHITFIELD: -- Front Row to History: The 9/11 Classroom airs tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. on CNN.

All right, so 18 years ago, a young man went fishing in Alaska and was attacked by a brown bear. Dr. Sanjay Gupta brings us his remarkable story of survival in today's The Human Factor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2003 Dan Bigley was a free spirit and a back country guide in Alaska. That summer, the 25-year-old and his friend headed out on a fishing trip. Bigley said goodbye to his girlfriend.

DAN BIGLEY, CLINICAL DIRECTOR, DENALI FAMILY SERVICES: You know, I told her that I would call her when I got off the river. And unfortunately, you know, that was a promise that I was unable to keep. I had had lots of bear encounters. And this one was very, very different, very unique.

The bear comes ripping around the corner and he was upon us. She was standing on top of me basically with either claw digging it. And she cocked her head sideways and bit down across my face. Every single bone in my head had been broken except for my mandible.

GUPTA (voice-over): But they were so remote, it would be five and a half hours before Bigley got into surgery.

BIGLEY: I can always remember them telling me that I would always be blind. I realized early on, it'd be easy to slip into a life of bitterness

[12:55:06]

GUPTA (voice-over): Waking nightmares haunted him for years. He got therapy and made up his mind to reengage in life. Six years after the attack, Bigley got his master's in social work. And today he's a clinical director working with families dealing with trauma.

BIGLEY: These experiences oftentimes cause people to disengage from life. But what I've learned is that, the more engaged, the less disabled.

GUPTA (voice-over): Bigley and his girlfriend got married and had two kids.

BIGLEY: The bigger my life gets, the smaller my disability gets.

(END VIDEOTAPE)