Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Saturday

Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Aired September 03, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Our priorities are clear. We will complete the evacuation as quickly and as safely as possible. We will not let criminals prey on the vulnerable. We will not allow bureaucracy to get in the way of saving lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well the president makes promises to victims of Hurricane Katrina. We are waiting to hear what officials with the Department of Homeland Security have to say to help them. A news briefing coming up at 1 p.m. Eastern. Good afternoon everyone. I'm Tony Harris at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen.

Here are the latest developments right now.

HARRIS: Lets check those latest developments. Checking security the National Guard says eventually 54,000 troops will be deployed to the areas hardest hit by the hurricane. They are joined by 7,800 military personnel and 4,000 coast guard troops.

More than 400 federal law enforcement officers are also in the storm zone and FEMA has 61 emergency response teams on duty. Troops are over seeing the distribution of supplies, more than 125 tons of water, ice and ready to eat meals have been brought in.

NGUYEN: Want to update you where people are at the moment. The American Red Cross says more than 94,000 people staying in 284 Red Cross shelters all across nine states. Now, that number does not include people still in the Superdome or those in the Astrodome in Texas.

Want to get you to the floods now and the flames. Thick smoke covers much of downtown New Orleans right now as some big fires burn out of control. And this storm ravaged city, the struggle there, it continues to go on and on.

We want to check in now with CNN's Jeff Koinage he has the latest on the situation at the New Orleans Convention Center where thousands of people are still stuck. When are the rides going to come Jeff? Do you have any idea?

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we do, Betty. We can tell you; in fact, the buses are on the ground. And the evacuation is official under way. But Betty, the comedy of errors continues across the city. A few moments ago, portable toilets arriving right here at the Convention Center.

Three or four truckloads of portable toilets. And this is what the people have been complaining about the fact that there are no toilet facilities, sanitation has been one of the biggest problems here. Up until the meals and the water arrived yesterday, this was the biggest complaint because these streets have been peoples' homes bathrooms, toilets, kitchens, bedrooms, you name it.

We are still here in the streets and you can see over here there are still thousands of people, people making the sidewalks their homes. There's a family here of 15. They don't want to get into the line because there are thousands of people in line and the baking sun.

They want to wait until maybe later on when they'll be room in the buses. The buses continue to load people and take them off but it's going to take a while because there are still according to one of the National Guard generals, there are still about 30,000 people on the ground. And here we are, you can see this scene. This is what's going on. Part of the evacuation process. The old, the young, the sick, the destitute. All those, Betty, being evacuated a little at a time.

NGUYEN: Jeff, in the midst of all of this, there are fires that are burning in New Orleans. Are you able to see that smoke and are you hearing information on what's being done to put those fires out because we have heard over and over again that despite a city that is underwater, there's a lack of water to fight the fires.

KOINANGE: There is, indeed, lack of water throughout, Betty. And that's a big problem. Not just here at the Convention Center but throughout the city. As you can see, the evacuation continues. The work is getting under way. Despite the fact that it took five or six days.

I think the most positive story coming out of this is that it is finally under way. And all this may at some point be put to rest. The rebuilding process of this shattered city will begin. However rebuilding the shattered lives of thousands of New Orleans' make take years maybe even decades. Betty.

NGUYEN: Yes it could even take a lifetime. Jeff Koinange there in New Orleans, thank you for that update. Tony.

HARRIS: Well Betty, authorities are wrapping up evacuations and relief efforts today in New Orleans. CNN's Ed Lavandera is with us now from the Louis Armstrong International Airport. Ed the New Orleans suburb of Kenner -- Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Tony. Well this has been a place that's quite frankly just crazy the last 72 hours. Want to bring in the aviation director of this airport, Roy Williams. Roy, what has it been like here over the last three days? Can you put it into words?

ROY WILLIAMS, AVIATION DIRECTOR: It's been an incredible challenge to enter -- to bring modern technology to bear on this age- old problem. The evacuation from a disaster. Thankfully here at the airport, we have the resources to really begin successfully evacuating folks, getting them to safety, getting them health care. Behind us is the medical evacuation operation and it has really been going very well once we got it up and running.

LAVANDERA: Inside the airport, do you have any how many people are still here? Is it possible to count?

WILLIAMS: We estimate the terminal building has about 5,000 people in it right now. But it keeps increasing. Each day, we get more buses from the various collection points waiting to be put on board aircraft to take them to an air force base.

LAVANDERA: Is there food and water arriving for these folks?

WILLIAMS: That's another good story. We are starting to get supplies in. We definitely got water. We got food coming in. And so, bit-by-bit we are getting that under control.

LAVANDERA: Have there been any problems with crowd control and I know tensions are high. People are scared. They're nervous, they are tired.

WILLIAMS: Well, you have heard the stories from the other sites around the area. There's been violence and there has been gunfire. There's been very serious concerns. We have really, really pushed all of the law enforcement and protective agencies to give us more resources and we think we have turned that tide. But they've been stark, cold, sleepless nights for a lot of us over the last three days.

LAVANDERA: From the moment they land on the tarmac here to the moment they're put on buses or airplanes out of here, how long is does that take?

WILLIAMS: In the ideal world, it is a 30 or 45-minute transaction. Because again we shouldn't be treating them here, they should be treated elsewhere. So the way we're operating, many times they get into the triage and into our hospital activities. And be here for much of the rest of the day or even over night. We do have people who have been here two days since it is medical note. We think today we are finally getting on top of that. I think there is a big push of evacuations this afternoon.

LAVANDERA: When we met four days ago, you said it would be two months before this airport is back to normal. Do you still think that or are you pushing that back little bit?

WILLIAMS: Honest answer is, as I continue to see the devastation throughout the region, and the impact that's going to have on our economy, it does push back my deadline. We are certainly going to keep the airport operationally. I don't think that the community's economy is going to be back to, say anything resembling ordinary before the end of the year. LAVANDERA: How do you handle seeing all these -- have you taken a moment and looked at all these peoples' faces and how desperate they look at times?

WILLIAMS: I walked the crowds. I have been out on the ramp. I have been in the starkness and dankest parts of the terminal. What's so heart warming is folks with the family huddled together with them and you know if they made it here, odds are they'll make it to place of safety. On the other hand, you certainly talk to and meet people that can't find the loved ones, know they lost some loved ones. It is -- I mean, the tragedy is beyond measure.

LAVANDERA: All right. Roy thank you very much.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

LAVANDERA: Keep up the good work. The other interesting process here is that everyone's working so hard to get them out. I asked one FEMA official what happens when it's time to bring all of these people back? And quite frankly he just said we haven't begun to think about that yet. Tony.

HARRIS: OK, Ed. Appreciate it. Ed Lavandera for us. Betty.

NGUYEN: The worst adversity will bring out the best in America. Those words today from President Bush in a rare live radio address. Want to go to the White House now and CNN's Elaine Quijano with the latest. Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there Betty. President Bush in the face of blistering criticism over the federal response to the disaster chose to deliver his weekly radio address live today from the rose garden. Now, the president was flanked by Michael Chertoff, the head of the Homeland Security Department, which oversees FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Also the president joined in the rose garden by his Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs Richard Myers. Now the president today announcing more than 7,000 additional troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be deployed to the Gulf coast region.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: Our priorities are clear. We will complete the evacuation as quickly and as safely as possible. We will not let criminals prey on the vulnerable. And we'll not allow government to get in the way of saving lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: It was just yesterday before the president left the White House enroute to tour the Gulf Coast region that President Bush when talking about the response said that the results were not acceptable. Now, yesterday, the president did, in fact, get an up close look at the devastation on the ground. He took a walking tour. You see there in a neighborhood in Biloxi, Mississippi. Tried to comfort some of the hurricane victims there.

The president also got some tours along the coastline and spent some time on the ground in Louisiana, as well. He's going to be heading back to the region on Monday. We understand Louisiana and Mississippi are the states he will be visiting but unclear exactly what stops he'll be making and we should tell you, that of course, yesterday last night when the president returned to the White House, he did, in fact sign that $10.5 billion aid package to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

NGUYEN: All right. CNN's Elaine Quijano at the White House for us. Thank you for that update. Tony.

HARRIS: And a former U.S. Senator from Chicago Carol Moseley Braun joins us on the line now. Ambassador, good to talk to you.

CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Well, I wish it were under better circumstances.

HARRIS: I'm sure you do. We all do. I have to ask you, what your impressions are. We're almost a week into this disaster. Can I ask you for your immediate and well thought out impression?

BRAUN: A complete break down of government. And, counter productive response. Response was not only late but at this time counter productive. I just heard from my family members in Baton Rouge, now, they were able to flee New Orleans.

The place is so locked down now, they're treating the people like refugees and rioters and not allowing the healthy to take care of the sick. Not allowing people to leave their homes. And get across the Mississippi Bridge. Get across the bridge over the Mississippi to get out of town. It is not only an inadequate response but at this point it borders on a criminal one. I'm just horrified. The dead are not identified and not being secured if you will. I'm told they're talking about a mass grave for people instead of --

HARRIS: Oh my.

BRAUN: Even attempting to deal with the death, the dead with some dignity. The people who are healthy are being locked in their homes told to stay in their homes. They can't leave to get food and supplies and frankly, you know, my family was appalled at the fact that when whites and -- went to stores and got food and supplies, they were seen as doing what was necessary.

When blacks went to do the same thing, they were called rioters. People should not be deferred to as refugees and rather treated like American citizens. Deserving of the support from their government to deal with this.

HARRIS: I will tell you that whole discussion of the looting and -- I'm not -- I don't quite understand how that story became the story instead of the relief efforts and what needs to be done for these people. But let me ask you something as I try to flesh out your thinking on this. Devil's advocate says this is a category 4 storm. This is a storm that totally overwhelmed -- oh, we lost her. We lost her. OK. We'll try to get her back in a moment. The former senator from Illinois, Carol Mosley Braun on the line with us. We'll try to get her back in a moment.

NGUYEN: Very interesting points and of course we are going to be discussing that a lot throughout the coming days, weeks and possibly even months as the cleanup, repair, and also the evacuation still continues right now.

HARRIS: And as we continue, floods and fire, New Orleans and all the ways that matter is still very much a city in chaos.

NGUYEN: Still to come, we have more on Katrina's aftermath and how victims are trying to sustain life in the hot, humid temperatures.

We're also going to talk to a retired general on how the military is responding to this crisis.

HARRIS: And coming up CNN tonight at 8:00 Eastern, find out how you can help. It is an all-star lineup on a three-hour special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." Larry's guests will include Eric Clapton, Magic Johnson, Harry Connick Jr, Celine Dion, Seala Ward, Bill Cosby and Terry Hatcher. Again tonight, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

Former U.S. Senator for the great state of Illinois Carol Mosley Braun is back on the line with us. And, Ambassador, I was asking the question of whether or not we had an overwhelming storm hit the city of New Orleans, a Gulfport, a Biloxi, Mobile, and can we imagine that the emergency personnel did what they thought was best? Where as in hindsight we might criticize but at the time, they were doing what they thought was best?

BRUAN: No we cannot imagine that. The response was inadequate and that's just the fact. It is impossible to dress this up. It's the old, you know, put lipstick on a pig and call it Monique, and it's still a pig. The fact of the matter is they did not their job. But frankly, there's plenty of time for us to lay blame in this situation. The immediate issue is actually providing for the people on the ground.

Letting the people help themselves. Letting them leave New Orleans. Helping -- letting people get out and not treating them, again like everybody's a rioter, or a refugee. Let the individuals, let the healthy help themselves. Let the healthy help the sick. Let people get out of New Orleans. Let them get to the other side of the river and pick them up and evacuate them. Deal with the dead with some dignity. All of these things are things that can happen now that are still not yet happening but that we can still remedy. And at least try to minimize the human suffering going on.

HARRIS: I can hear the anger and disappointment in your voice. I'm wondering where that's directed. Who are you most disappointed with and angry with?

BRAUN: Again, it almost doesn't -- there's so much blame to go around and not able to get there. I'm not looking to blame right now. I mean, there's a lot of anger. But the anger isn't what we need now. What we need now is some can-do spirit. We need some compassion. We need some people taking sensible steps to deal with the residents of New Orleans with dignity and with respect.

So that not everyone is treated like a rioter. The people don't feel like they're locked down by -- by gunpoint at gunpoint, rather, in a home in which they can no longer live. Give people the ability to leave, give people the ability to take care of themselves. Let people get out of New Orleans. Provide them with the food and the water that they still need. Those kinds of fundamentals, the kinds of things that, you know, human rights groups do all over the world all the time.

Should be done here. Frankly, if it's a matter of we have to call in international human rights support; it might be to do that. Because clearly the resources we have on the ground here at home have not been adequate. Local officials are so frustrated that they feel they're pushed aside now by the national response, again, too little, too late and now that it's there, it is apparently too draconian to allow for a sensible return to normalcy in New Orleans.

HARRIS: I'm going to get yelled at here. But I want to ask you one more question; do you believe that when this story is written, that race will have played a part in this nation's response to this disaster?

BRAUN: The racism was a sin of omission. It wasn't that people intended to do this to black and poor people. It's that they don't see them and they don't see poor people, they don't see black people. They don't see or care about them and the result was that they were left to their own devices in a situation that was a national -- a natural disaster and a national tragedy.

HARRIS: Former Senator from Illinois, Carol Mosely Braun. Thank you. We'll take a break and we will come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: I want to show you some of the pictures coming out of New Orleans. Last hour we told you about a fire in a retail district on Canal Street there in New Orleans. And we believe these are those pictures. Lets listen to photographer J.T. Alpaugh as he describes the scene.

J.T. ALPAUGH, PHOTOGRAPHER: It looks to be a vent hole or attic holes on the side of this building. I am going to go down one more second here and show you. Broken out windows here. Not sure that was done from looting or that was done by fire fighters had to make entry and access to the fire. We do see tools that used to make forcible entry into these types of structure fires. Tools the fire fighters use to fight fires.

My name is J.T. Alpaugh the Helinet Aircraft this is our sixth day over Katrina. Along with Allen our flight in the aircraft. We are in an A star 350 B2 helicopter. It is capable of seating three people but right now it just myself and Allen. Because the configuration that we had that --

HARRIS: All right. We just lost those pictures. J.T. Alpaugh as you heard a photographer in a chopper who is providing full coverage of what looks to be a fire there, obviously a fire on Canal Street we believe in a retail section of New Orleans.

NGUYEN: FEMA has been highly criticized for it's initial response to the Katrina relief effort. But the military commander now in charge General Russell Honere is getting high praises. We want to talk about that with CNN military analyst Brigidare General James "Spider" Marks. Why is General Honore the right man for this job?

BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET): Betty, Lt. Gen. Russell Honore is very aggressive, very focused no nonsense, lets get the task done kind of a commander and leader. Who I have known for many years. And he is bringing that type of focus and purpose, since of purpose to the ground there in New Orleans specially.

NGUYEN: And we learned today that the Pentagon is sending another 10,000 additional troops to the area. which means some 40,000 National Guard troops could be there in a week's time. This is going to help tremendously.

MARKS: Well it really will. Combination of National Guard who have been there on the ground for a couple of days. And then active component soldiers as well as there as well providing the air lift that you have seen, both medical evacuation and then the lift capacity that exists but what this increase is, is an increase of active component soldiers from Fort Hood and Fort Bragg as well as some marines that are steaming in both from the west coast and the east coast to compliment the National guard soldiers on the ground.

NGUYEN: And lets talk about those soldiers on the ground. You have maps there. Tell us where they are. What they're doing because obviously, they have their hands full. There's still a lot of people waiting it out in hot areas, hot shelters, looking for some kind of relief and someone to come in and evacuate them.

MARKS: Betty let me spend just a couple of seconds and walk you through a few things. First of all you can see the Gulf region, let's focus in on Biloxi, Mississippi, first. And what's critical about this is the road network that exists I-10, I-20, very robust but in many cases these roads have been cut off. Let me show you something.

Right here, this bridge is a before shot that goes from by Biloxi, Mississippi, to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Let me show you now as we focus in, the shot following Katrina. That is what the damage has done. So that gives you a sense of the isolation that exists. Now lets Pull ourselves out and then go back into New Orleans. So the network of I-10 and I-20 has many places that are impassable. As we go down to New Orleans, the same type of challenge exists.

You look at the causeway over Lake Pontchartrain, 26 miles long. It is impassable. And, the other highway expansions that come into New Orleans. So in terms of evacuation, number one, you have to bypass those areas. And decisions have to be made at some very lower levels, the noncommissioned officers and junior officers in terms of where to go. Are you turning right or are you turning left? How quick can you be there? And how effective can you be?

Once you are in New Orleans, you have to snake your way out of the city. Focus in on the 17th Street levees. In this area right here, this is a before shot. This is the levee that broke. This is before the hurricane. Now let's show you the after shot. Everything to the east is completely engulfed in water. The folks are dry. You can see the breaks that exist in the levee where the Corp of Engineers are now focused to try to repair. That's the magnitude of the task at hand that General Honore and the soldiers and marines have at hand to do.

NGUYEN: You know I have to ask you this. Of course we understand that roads are knocked out. It is very difficult to get in. And there's still thousands still waiting to be evacuated. When I watch these pictures, I have to wonder how can CNN get its crews into these areas that are affected, these heavy areas where a lot of damage has occurred but troops are having a hard time getting there?

MARKS: Well the troops are getting -- Betty, the fact of the matter is the troops are getting in. Again we can get into the discussion of whether it's too -- you know, too late. Didn't get there on time but the real fact of the matter is the crews are CNN, for example, and other folks were able to get into the city of New Orleans and they were able to snake their way in. The military can and did early on but in the numbers to make a difference, you have to be able to chart your course and move out that's what's happening right now, certainly.

NGUYEN: All right. We will be watching. We thank you for showing us in detail what's happening there on the ground. Of course we're going to be talking with you throughout the day. Thank you.

MARKS: My pleasure.

HARRIS: And as we go to break. We want to show you the latest pictures from the Superdome. Just a moment ago we showed you pictures of a fire at the shops at Canal Street and those pictures provided to us by J.T. Alpaugh essentially the pool photographer showing us area pictures of New Orleans. So let's take a look at the latest pictures he has been able to provide to us of the Superdome in New Orleans. Do we have those pictures?

ALPAUGH: The crowds doing it. This morning, the crowds were about half the size that we have seen last night. And right now, they look down to about a quarter of the size that we saw yesterday. And, late -- yesterday afternoon. So, they are making progress here. And trying to get these people to safety, to shelter, to food, to water.

We're hoping food and water did come here yesterday. We saw the National Guard rolling with the vehicles and the flat beds filled with water and food. We saw that rolling in this their giant convoys. We will tilt up from the Superdome and show you where this fire is. Currently in the background. There's the bridge off to my right. I'll pan you and show you as we fly this way. Where the fire is in relationship to the background of the city. It's quite a ways. It is about two miles; we are pushing in to show you where it is. About two miles northeast, that's where the fire actually stops was right at this area where the fire boat working. Pull back out to show you about how far that is. We have a lot of pier; a lot of warehouses between there and here and those fires continue in the overnight hours like they have, that could be a problem for the river front area.

NGUYEN: Giving you a bird's eye look at the situation there in New Orleans. You can see just thousands still waiting to be evacuated. They were outside the Superdome. It is really a race against time.

HARRIS: Will help arrive for those who need it the most? And also we are standing by for a press briefing live. You see the staging area right there. Representatives from FEMA, and the Department of Homeland Security will give us the latest information or the situation in New Orleans, through out the Gulf coast, Mississippi. Not so much Alabama these days it seems, but certainly New Orleans. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com