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CNN Live Saturday
Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath
Aired September 10, 2005 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: It's a long and sometimes gruesome process. Street by street, door by door in New Orleans searching for survivors and discovering the dead.
And long after the water has gone, the pain will remain. Helping those who have lost everything cope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just want to help. Since there's no solution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Civil disobedience, violence and looting in the streets. Disaster drills never covered this. It's September 10th, and you're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Carol Lin.
Crews are searching for the living and the dead in New Orleans. Authorities say so far they've found far fewer corpses than feared. Biloxi, Mississippi, is showing the first signs of recovery after Hurricane Katrina. Workers are clearing debris at the city's casinos. And the Coast Guard allowed limited commercial traffic at the city's port for the first time since the storm. Biloxi residents are coming back to their homes, but many facing an uncertain future, most did not have flood insurance.
Meanwhile Vice President Dick Cheney says efforts to help Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Texas are an enormous success story. He visited some of them in Austin today and said he heard no complaints. Now this is a precious commodity right now among hurricane evacuees. FEMA said the $2,000 debit cards are now only available to people staying at major shelters in Texas. Others evacuees who found their own shelter can get by the money -- or, at least, get the money by check or through a direct deposit to a bank account. But it means filling out a ton of paperwork. For more information, go to FEMA.gov or call 1-800-621-FEMA.
And the Red Cross is appealing for help. It says it needs 40,000 new volunteers for its Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Our coverage starts with CNN's Dan Simons in New Orleans. Dan, what have you found so far today? DAN SIMONS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well hello there, Carol. Much of New Orleans still under water as you can tell on the street. But there has been some progress. Take a look at this pickup truck. You can see where the water has receded. It's gone down probably about four feet right here. And let me show you why.
Take a look at the activity going on in the city today with the pumps. The pumps are working, not all of them, but many of them are. Thirty-six pumps now actively working. And the city is making good progress in that area. We've noticed that some neighborhoods are now, in fact, dry.
Let's also show you what's going on with the searches. Crews canvassing neighborhoods all over town today looking for both survivors and looking for holdouts. It's been an arduous process in both areas. Recovering the bodies, about an hour ago, seven bodies recovered at a nursing home about a block away from here.
There's also been some progress in the area of trash. There was so much trash in those first few critical days after the hurricane, all of those folks jamming into the Superdome and jamming into the Convention Center. There was so much garbage and filth there. And today crews made great progress in cleaning up those two areas.
And also firefighters still battling fires. There was one example today of a helicopter dropping water, but watch this. The water hits and snaps a power pole. Pretty powerful images right there.
And finally, here on the street we have seen a number of dogs. And there have been some dog rescues today. And our own CNN crews aided in some dog rescues. The man bringing you these pictures right now -- right there, Emmanuel (ph). He rescued a dog right there from that peach house, and our satellite truck engineer, Ray, he got a second dog. And animal rescue crews have been doing that all up and down these streets for the past few days. Back to you, carol.
LIN: Dan, it's amazing to even see people still living out on those streets. How are people getting by? How are they getting food and water and surviving?
SIMONS: Well, I've said this a few times now. In a sense, the authorities are enabling the residents to continue holding out. Every time they see one of them, they ask them do you need food and water. And of course, they say yes. So they give it to them. And that allows them to get by for a few days. Then they see them again, and once again there's more food and water. So it's a tricky process in terms of getting these folks out. The police has made it clear they don't want to use force, but the attitude is one of defiance that they may have to use force to get these folks eventually out of their homes.
LIN: All right. Dan Simons, thank you very much for reporting in on a tough situation.
Now, today we heard a news conference by FEMA, even one of our correspondents got a tour by FEMA officials and Border Control folks trying to do the rescue and recovery operations. So by all appearances, the Bush Administration is aggressively and now very publicly on the move to help victims. That included sending the vice president to Texas. CNN's Elaine Quijano on the political recovery underway.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twice in three days President Bush has dispatched Vice President Dick Cheney to spread the message the administration is taking care of Hurricane Katrina victims.
DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everybody's got to chip in, but the federal government has a major role to play, especially financially. And just this week, we got authorized and the president signed into law another $52 billion appropriation for Katrina relief recovery. So they'll be a lot of federal help.
QUIJANO: In Austin, Texas, Saturday, the vice president met with evacuees and emergency officials in another attempt to erase perceptions of an inadequate federal response. But according to a new Newsweek poll, 52 percent of Americans say they don't trust President Bush to make the right decisions during a domestic crisis. And the president's approval numbers have gone down. Now at 38 percent in that Newsweek poll.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I can hear you.
QUIJANO: The dynamic now is different than four years ago when President Bush faced another daunting challenge responding to the September 11 attacks. This time, no enemy to rally against, no bullhorn moment and a leading government figure in the response FEMA Director Michael Brown abruptly pulled from the frontlines. Critics say Katrina showed the U.S. isn't ready for another disaster.
TIM ROEMER, FMR. 9/11 COMMISSIONER: We have had our first post 9/11 test. And we've miserably failed. Our government couldn't drop water to the most needy citizens. We couldn't get generators to people in hospitals. We didn't go by an evacuation plan.
QUIJANO: Administration officials say lessons will be learned and suggest the relief effort is turning a corner.
CHENEY: They said things have been rough when they were trying to get out of New Orleans, the Convention Center and so forth. But have been remarkable ever since.
QUIJANO: But some say overcoming those disturbing initial images will be the ultimate test of the president's leadership.
DAVID GERGEN, FMR. PRESIDENTIAL ADVISER: If the judgment is that this has not been -- we weren't well prepared and we didn't respond well and that that happened on his watch just as he gained from that 11, he's going to pay a huge political price. QUIJANO: On Sunday President Bush will observe a moment of silence here at the White House to honor September 11 victims. He'll then return to the region battered by Hurricane Katrina, visiting Mississippi and Louisiana. Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: And just as we are recovering from one hurricane, another storm is on the way. Jacqui Jeras is tracking Hurricane Ophelia. Jacqui, say it isn't so.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well we are. But we're not looking at Katrina again, Carol. This is not the same type of storm at all. In fact, probably only a Category 1 when it makes landfall. Ophelia has just been hanging off the coast of the Carolinas the last couple of days and really has move very little. It's just kind of drifting up to the north around two miles per hour. The maximum sustained winds are at 80 miles per hour. And some slight strengthening is possible, but we're not expecting it to turn into a major hurricane at this time. Hurricane watches have been posted from the Savannah River extending on up towards Cape Lookout. And that means that hurricane conditions are possible 36 hours from now.
The forecast track on Ophelia has changed a little bit. And we are continuing to tweak the forecast track, because there's still a fair amount of uncertainty to exactly where it's going. Right now the upper level winds are so light, there's really nothing steering this system. And that's why it's stalled out, just sitting there and spinning. But high pressure should be building into the region.
We do expect late tomorrow it's going to start to drift it a little bit farther to the west and then into the northwest. Likely making landfall somewhere along the North Carolina or South Carolina state line. Somewhere within this region. Now it's looking much less likely it's going to be hitting Florida. Much less likely it will be hitting you in Savannah, but we can't give you quite the green light just yet. And keep in mind there may be more changes.
Also the forecast track has slowed it down a little bit. We were thinking Monday night into Tuesday morning. And now it's bumped back a little bit to maybe midday on Tuesday or even into Tuesday afternoon. So of course, we'll continue to keep a close eye on that and let you know about any more changes.
And Category 1, let's put this into perspective, what does that exactly mean to you? It means winds on the order of 74-95 miles per hour. Storm surge of four to five feet. It's already been a significant beach erosion event on the shores of the Carolinas, Georgia, also into Northern Florida, because of those strong winds that have been pounding on in. And one other note, Carol, today, September 10th, and that's the exact peak of hurricane season. So we're right in the middle, we're halfway through.
LIN: You bet. We want to be on the downside of this one. Thanks, Jacqui. All right. Right now let's go quickly to Baton Rouge. CNN's Rusty Dornin went along today with U.S. Border Patrol for an aerial tour of some of the devastation. Rusty, what was it like, that view from the air?
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Carol, this is the first time I have gone up in a helicopter to see the devastation. And you can, as I said, you can see it on TV screens all day long. And until you see it and can look across 180 degrees and see how much water is there, it goes on for miles and miles and miles. It is just mind boggling.
We went with the Border Patrol who was going in. They were trying to contact people who have made 911 calls in the last three days to make contact with these people to see if they do need to be rescued. Their mission was not to, of course, remove people forcibly, just to see if they wanted to leave and help them leave. We saw in the field some of the frustration they go through. That they go places that they cannot get in. It's completely locked up. It really doesn't look like there are any problems inside. There's no real probable cause to break in.
We did go to one house they were pretty sure there was a dead body inside. Someone had called three days before, but again, they did not break in because there was no real reason. It was very parent that someone was dead inside that house. The heart breaking one was a 16-year-old boy who apparently had been left in the house by his parents. His parents spoke to him two days before. We couldn't get to him. That was the other frustration we experienced. There is water in so many areas. We were in cars. We couldn't get through on the surface streets to get to where this boy, supposedly this 911 call had been made. They radioed and had a helicopter go by. And the helicopter said no, those houses are submerged. So they're going to have to figure out some way to get in. We don't know the fate of that young man. But just another very sad story.
The one thing we did see on streets, lots of police. We saw a lot of patrols, National Guard patrols. And as Admiral Thad Allen said today, that is going to be a common sight in the coming days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICE ADM. THAD ALLEN, HEADING RECOVERY EFFORT: There are a lot of people trying to help these parishes. You've got FEMA coming in. You've got the National Guard coming in. And you've got Department of Defense people that are on the ground here with tremendous capabilities. One of the things we talked about today was a single coordinating mechanism. So you could take all those different forces that are flowing into a parish, and make sure they were put to the highest priorities of those parish residents and the presidents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Now as you go through areas that are semi dried out, there are lots of National Guard forces bivouacking in different neighborhoods, and that sort of thing. So you see a military presence, definitely, in parts of the city where the water has recessed, the areas that we did see. But it's just an overwhelming task. You can see it. We did visit some neighborhoods where obviously the water had recessed a little bit. But we did not see people coming back to their houses there. Many of the streets are still deserted. It was like a ghost town in some areas -- Carol.
LIN: So sad, Rusty. All right. Thank you very much for that perspective.
I want to talk about what everyday heroes are going through, the helpful voice on the other end of the line. But when Hurricane Katrina was hitting, they were helpless.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope their families understand that we tried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: 911 operators desperate to do something.
Also, one family lost everything. They could give up, but, instead, they're giving back.
And more heroes. This time the people saving the furry ones left behind. This is CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Well, especially since 9/11, the federal government has spent countless time and countless dollars preparing for a national emergency. Disaster situations were brain stormed and analyzed and rehearsed over and over again. But as CNN's Frank Sesno reports none of the efforts came close to predicting the chaos that gripped New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Chicago, gripped by a biological terror attack. People dying from plague. New London, Connecticut, an explosion unleashes mustard gas. Seattle, a radiological device, a dirty bomb.
Each scenario a simulation, gruesome in its implications, but an important run-through for officials who might have to deal with the real thing. But none of these scenarios, none, included the kind of civil unrest we saw in New Orleans, or the disappearance of about a third of its police force. Events so dramatic, that for a time, lawlessness and anarchy framed the Katrina story around the world. And, of course, in New Orleans itself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the Convention Center they're killing people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They raping. They got rapists in there. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I begged a cop to stay here and help us. Give us some spot lights, and help us. Don't leave us alone.
SESNO: The city's police chief seemed as powerless as he was frustrated.
EDDIE COMPASS, NEW ORLEANS CHIEF OF POLICE: We had to use so much of our manpower to fight this criminal element.
SESNO: It's hard to know how bad and how widespread the unrest was, but this much is clear, it was not predicted. It had not been drilled. And it badly complicated rescue efforts.
SUSAN NEELY, FMR. HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: The big concern is the huge diversion of first responder resources to contain the civil unrest.
SESNO: Susan Neely was assistant secretary for public affairs at Homeland Security under Tom Ridge.
NEELY: What's the main thing that we say to people when something happens? Help the first responders help you.
SESNO: But that didn't always happen in New Orleans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People want help. We tried to help them. We don't get there fast enough, so they shoot.
SESNO: New Orleans is forcing many in the Homeland Security and the emergency management business to rethink how they train, plan and prepare.
ELLEN GORDON, NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL: Having the disaster victims themselves turn on the first responders isn't necessarily something that we've discussed and talked about in the past at any length.
SESNO: Ellen Gordon is a former emergency management director from Iowa. She led the state's efforts to recover from the disastrous floods there in 1993. Now, she travels the country as part of a team from the Naval Postgraduate School, teaching governors, homeland security officials, and first responders. She says there's not been a lot of focus on how social breakdown plays out in a disaster.
GORDON: But I believe now that there will be many of us that will say we've got to take time out and to discuss this and say, are we prepared to respond to this type of situation in the future.
SESNO (on camera): So the training manual itself may need rewriting. The department of Homeland Security own 15 planning scenarios from nuclear terror attack to Category 5 hurricane, barely mentions serious civil unrest or the possibility that significant numbers of first responders can't or won't respond.
(voice over): In New Orleans, the chief says, 500 police officers simply never showed up. GORDON: It's very difficult to perform in any situation, let alone a high stress situation, and in the conditions that they've been performing, if you're worried about your family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Well, that was Frank Sesno reporting. And of course CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. So stay tuned for the latest information day and night.
And tonight on CNN, a CNN Special Report. Is America prepared? Lessons of Hurricane Katrina. That's 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
Now, for days we watched as rescue crews brought hundreds of stranded flood victims to safety. And now rescuers are trying to save the thousands of animals left behind in the swamped city. The Humane Society is on the ground equipped and ready to collect dogs and cats, birds, pigs, you name it. But another group, Noah's Wish, has volunteers on site, too. Terri Crisp is the founder of Noah's Wish and she is with me tonight. Terri, I understand that there are serious problems in getting to these animals. What is the holdup?
TERRI CRISP, DIRECTOR, NOAH'S WISH: Well, we have been focusing actually on Slidell, Louisiana. And we've had no problems whatsoever. We've been out rescuing animals along with Animal Control since a week ago this past Thursday.
LIN: Well that's good news, because the Humane Society out of New Orleans says they can't even get into the evacuation zone. And so pets, dogs, cats, birds are starving right now and without water. But we're looking at some hopeful pictures here, some furry friends in friendly a cages. Tell me about the rescue operation.
CRISP: Right. Well, we have been working with Slidell Animal Control. We've been in full operation since a week ago Thursday. We've had teams out in the field every single day bringing in animals. Also people are bringing us their animals. We're starting to see a lot this weekend, people who've been living in their cars to stay with their animals, people who have gone to hotels that now will not let them keep their pets anymore. And so they're bringing us their animals to take care of until they get resituated into a more permanent living arrangement.
LIN: For the animals that you're collecting and you don't know who the owners are, how can these owners find them?
CRISP: What we're doing is we're utilizing local media. We're putting up flyers throughout the community. We're working with the Red Cross. And people are starting to show up. We realize that they have scattered in a lot of different directions in search of places to be until things start to settle down. So we're encouraged, because we are having reunions occurring all day long.
LIN: Great. Well it's been more than a week now since the hurricane hit. What sort of shape are these animals in? CRISP: We actually, yesterday, that was one of our last rescues that we did where we took an animal out of a home that had been there since this all started. Of course, the animal was dehydrated and hungry. We have four veterinarians on site with us. We have a team of vet techs. We've also worked very closely with LSU for the more critically ill. And we're going to do everything we can to get these animals through this crisis, and --
LIN: Do you have any idea what goes through their minds? Do you have any idea what goes through these animals' minds and how they survived out there without their owners? It just must be heart breaking.
CRISP: They're confused by it all. And a lot of these animals that are in our care right now are ones that are used to being pampered. And they're living on their own the street scrounging for food, and it has been difficult for them. So we're trying to provide that comfort, get them back into feeling safe. And we're seeing that start to happen. And that's encouraging.
LIN: I saw a big variety in the pictures we that were just showing our audience. What's the strangest animal you've come across in a rescue?
CRISP: Well we fully expected to encounter alligators once we got down here. And I'm happy to report that hasn't happened.
LIN: Pet alligators?
CRISP: Well we realized that there would be, and also ones in the wild. So we were really concerned for our rescue teams. But thankfully we've avoided them so far. I think the most unique is that we've had two baby squirrels that were orphaned. And we've been bottle feeding them every four hours. And they're just doing great, and we'll eventually be able to be released them out back -- out into the wild. So we're happy that we were able to help them.
LIN: Terri, what rewarding work. Thank you so much for sharing your stories and maybe offering some comfort to people who are still waiting to be reunited with their pets.
CRISP: Well we hope they come and see us. Thanks.
LIN: You bet.
All right. We've got much more on the rescue of both animals as well as people. The latest developments from the hurricane zone right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: Well assessing Katrina's damage is taxing and time consuming and shocking, sometimes. CNN's Chris Huntington sends us this emotional report that gives you the story of homeowners across that region.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When Hurricane Katrina hit Goshen, Mississippi, it ripped apart this house, the home of 88 year-old Florence McGlamrock (ph) and her 83 year-old sister Grace Bush.
GRACE BUSH, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: I could have surf boarded those waves.
ANNA EATON, CATASTROPHE CLAIMS ADJUSTER: They were that big.
BUSH: This was an ocean.
HUNTINGTON: Grace is talking to Anna Eaton, a catastrophe claims adjuster for State Farm Insurance, the biggest home insurer in the states hit by Hurricane Katrina.
EATON: Your wind policy will come into play as well as the flood policy.
HUNTINGTON: That's crucial, determining how much damage was caused by the storm surge will have a huge impact on the pay out, because homeowners insurance typically covers damage from wind but not from flooding.
EATON: Out of curiosity, where was the tractor before it ended up here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tractor was stored under the deck where the rain would not get on it.
HUNTINGTON: This might look like a total write off, but Eaton cannot jump to that conclusion, and must record the details of the destruction and what she thinks caused it.
EATON: You start piecing it together and putting it back together.
HUNTINGTON: The sisters new Katrina was coming and that their neighbors were evacuating, but they insisted on staying along with Florence's son Wayne and his wife Julie.
BUSH: Well we thought, well this house is strong enough to over stand anything that it would throw at us.
HUNTINGTON (on camera): This house was built in 1977. So it's, essentially, modern construction. The floor sits about 20 feet above the normal level of Mississippi Sound, which is about 500 yards that way through a bayou. During Hurricane Katrina, the water level reached about here. And what the water and waves didn't rip out, the wind did.
(voice over): With their wooden house no match for Katrina, they fled to the brick house across the street. Left vacant by neighbors already long gone. From a second story window, they watched Katrina shred their house. And so there you just watched pieces flying off your house.
BUSH: Yes. Of course, by then it was getting dark. Nighttime.
FLORENCE MCGLAMROCK (ph), HURRICANE SURVIVOR: Thank god.
BUSH: Yes. So then we just --
HUNTINGTON: Grace and Florence did ignore the calls to evacuate, but they had bought flood insurance in addition to their regular homeowner's policy. The vast majority of Katrina's victims did not have it. The federal government provides flood insurance, but with hard caps on the payouts. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the house, and $100 thousand for the contents. And the government relies on insurance companies to determine the cause of the damage. State Farm could take weeks to assess, and it may limit their pay out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say the vast majority of the damages here are caused by flood.
HUNTINGTON: But there is no doubt that Katrina robbed Grace and Florence of their possessions. For that, Eaton cuts them a good sized check, the exact amount of which she could not disclose.
(On camera): Do you think you'll rebuild on this site? Assuming that you get --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think so.
HUNTINGTON (voice over): Just how much money they'll have to rebuild depends on State Farm's decision about wind and water. Chris Huntington, CNN, Goshen, Mississippi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY: We have more coverage of Hurricane Katrina. First a quick look at other stories happening right "Now in the News".
For example, the Iraqi prime minister says he is closing a border crossing with Syria in a bid to prevent crossings by foreign fighters. Also today, U.S. and Iraqi forces launched a major offensive against insurgents near the Syrian border.
At the pentagon, the public could visit a memorial commemorating the September 11th attack. There's a marker where American Airlines Flight 77 hit the building. Usually only families of victims are allowed.
Opening arguments started today for a Minnesota man on trial for killing six deer hunters in Wisconsin last year. The prosecutor accuses the suspect, a Hmong immigrant, of opening fire on the hunters after a confrontation. The defendant says the other hunters shot at him.
Now, a Nevada couple pled guilty to putting a human finger in the chili at a Wendy's fast food restaurant. Anna Iayola (ph) claimed she found the finger in her chili back in March. Prosecutors say she planned the finger to win a settlement from Wendy's.
Their lives forever changed. No home, no job, and in many cases no family. Ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY, the burdens and stresses for evacuees and what's been done to help them. >
Also, assessing the damage. We saw a lot about the insurance reporting and what's going to happen to try to get lives back in order.
And then, they were in New Orleans. Now they're making a new home 2,000 miles away. They lost everything. But they still have something to offer their new hometown.
You're watching CNN LIVE SATURDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: You've seen the devastation. Thousands of hurricane victims are now out of their jobs. But CNN's Peter Viles has the inspiring story of a family of teachers who are now looking for work and a new life in Los Angeles.
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If you walk past this California house on Friday, you heard something odd.
PEOPLE SINGING: At the twilight's last gleaming.
VILES: Odd, because this is a family that's lost almost everything. The Robertson's are New Orleans school teachers. Their homes and schools are underwater and they fear some students did not survive.
GEORGE ROBERTSON, NEW ORLEANS TEACHER: The ones I spoke with they told me that they were concerned about some people's lives. They thought a couple of the kids had died. I haven't had that verified for me, but that is what I've been told.
VILES: The other students spread across the country.
JALONDA ROBERTSON, NEW ORLEANS TEACHER: They're all over. Texas, Mississippi, Atlanta, Baton Rouge, Memphis. They're everywhere.
VILES: The Robertsons got out before the storm and came west to stay with Aunt Odeal in Los Angeles. Here's the lucky part. The L.A. school system has a chronic teacher shortage and is cutting red tape to find jobs for all three Robertsons.
DEBI IGNAGNI, LOS ANGELES SCHOOL DISTRICT: You know, when you write a check, you never really know where your money ends up. But when George goes to work on his first day in the classroom, we're going to be able to say, we helped an individual begin to rebuild his life.
VILES: George teaches chemistry, Jalonda teaches music, and Marla pre-Kindergarten. MARLA ROBERTSON, NEW ORLEANS TEACHER: I just knew I wanted to impact lives, and I specifically wanted pre-Kindergarten, or kindergarten because I wanted to build that firm foundation that's so important.
VILES: It's an emotional time trying to settle in California while voices are already calling them back home.
J. ROBERTSON: The kids are asking already, yes, are you coming back? And they want to know if when they get home will I be there.
G. ROBERTSON: I know I can hear my principal, Jacqueline Mahatha (ph), saying Mr. Robertson, you need to come back. I can hear -- I know that's what she's going to be saying.
VILES: This is a proud family of educators, George, Senior, his wife, Melba, Aunt Odeal, Cousin Wilma, together the Robertsons have 178 years of teaching experience. For all they've lost, they wanted America to know something. That they have a lot more to give.
PEOPLE SINGING: Land of the free, and the home of the brave.
VILES: Peter Viles, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: There is hope. Young and old are doing what they can to help the victims of Katrina. They may be small, but they sure have big hearts.
And cries for help. 911 operators in Biloxi, their stories of being on the line with those who probably died.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAN SINGING: You know you used to be my honey
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Well, all six major broadcast television networks joined forces last night to help Hurricane Katrina survivors. They aired "Shelter From The Storm: A Concert for the Gulf Coast". BET also held its own benefit yesterday but interrupted it for "Shelter From The Storm". Now, MTV will hold its own telethon tonight.
Hurricane help also is coming by kids, for kids. It's called Project Backpack. So far they've collected 5,000 backpacks for displaced kids. The brainchild of 14-year-old Jackie Kantor and her two sisters. Jackie joins me now live from Washington to talk more about the effort.
Hi, Jackie.
JACKIE KANTOR, CO-FOUNDER, PROJECT BACKPACK: Hi. LIN: Hey, this is not just backpacks. You're stuffing these backpacks with all kinds of things that kids need out in the hurricane zone, right?
KANTOR: Yeah, just anything that would give them fun and enjoyment and entertainment, basically.
LIN: Colored pencils, note books. You had an idea for stuffed animals, but that was nixed. What happened?
KANTOR: No, FEMA and the Red Cross preferred it if we didn't send them because of fears of lice and allergies. And they would just be a lot more dangerous if we sent them. However, the ones that we did put in, we are sending through the school district, which is allowing them.
LIN: How did you come up with this idea? I mean, you're 14 years old, your sisters are what, eight and 11?
KANTOR: Yeah, it's not an original idea. It's been used in many situations. In Sri Lanka and for 9/11 victims. I just thought it would be a really great way to connect with these kids, you know, kids of our own country, who have just lost everything.
LIN: This became a family affair then, because your parents jumped in.
KANTOR: My parents really thought it was a great idea. They just sort of took off. By now, it's gotten so much larger than just our community. Because of so many volunteers and so much has happened.
LIN: How does it work? I mean, if somebody wants to donate to this cause, how does it work?
KANTOR: Actually, we're done collections at Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda. But now it's actually going national. So people can just make backpacks full of things that you think will really brighten up a kid's day, colored pencils, crayons, the things you mentioned before. And we're working on it on ProjectBackpack.org to spread it nationally.
LIN: So there are going to be drop points for people, they can pack these things and drop them off someplace?
KANTOR: Yeah. I think it's almost every state people are working on it. We have volunteers everywhere.
LIN: Wow. Jackie you came on such a great idea. I mean, does this surprise you how big it's gotten?
KANTOR: It didn't surprise me that it got so big in our own community. But when I was told Hawaii and Puerto Rico are interested, that just blew me away.
LIN: Yes.
KANTOR: Also, UPS and Southwest are helping us with this. I mean, to have major, major companies, that's just amazing, too.
LIN: Wow. Jackie, where do you go with this idea? What are you going to do with it?
KANTOR: I'm hoping that by now, we've done it. We've done as much as we can do in our own community. I think now it is just time to let it go national. To let all these other people who want to help so much, let them make their own backpacks. Hopefully, I think we'll have enough for every kid, every kid who lost their home, maybe even more, which would be amazing.
LIN: That would be amazing. You've been watching a lot of news coverage obviously and were touched by the pictures of kids at these shelters and how they lost so much. It really is a great reminder how blessed we all are in our everyday lives.
KANTOR: Uh-huh.
LIN: Here are some of the pictures of some of the kids in the hurricane zone. Maybe some of them are carrying your backpacks.
KANTOR: I would hope so.
LIN: I would hope so, too. Jackie, good luck. And the best to your little sisters too, because I know they're working hard on this project, as well.
KANTOR: Thank you.
LIN: Your parents should be very proud of you.
KANTOR: Yes.
LIN: For many people, Hurricane Katrina ended the world as they knew it. They've been through hell. Thousands lost their homes and many more lost contact with their families. Survivors are under unbelievable stress. Kathleen Koch looks what's being done to help them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: His nickname is Lucky. And 58- year-old Charles Stewart knows he is. He made it out of New Orleans alive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the Name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, our Savior.
KOCH: But even prayers with volunteers don't erase the scenes of bodies floating in the streets. And fears his missing son, daughter, and sister may be among them.
CHARLES "LUCKY" STEWART, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: I've been doing a lot of running and running to keep my mind occupied. So therefore I won't think on these kind of things. You know? But it is like I said, it's hard. KOCH: Rick Danenhower used to sell time shares in New Orleans. He's lost everything.
RICK DANENHOWER, NEW ORLEANS EVACUEE: I just feel helpless. I don't know which way to go next. I'm 60 years old. You would think a big boy like me would know. You can't imagine what it's like.
KOCH: Experts fear the overwhelming unimaginable feelings of grief, loss, and hopelessness could lead to a mental health crisis among evacuees. So every shelter has teams of mental health professionals like Psychiatrist Steve Steury at the Washington, D.C. Armory.
DR. STEVE STEURY, D.C. DEPT. OF MENTAL HEALTH: As time wears on and they're confronting the fact that they may not be able to go home for a long time, people are getting somewhat more distressed. Also this is a very resilient group. Many people have already found ways to take care of themselves.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As you can see we're a little overwhelmed. If you're patient, the caseworker will help you as soon as they possibly can.
KOCH: At the Red Cross headquarters in Prince George's County, Maryland, evacuees are pouring in at the rate of 200 a day. The psychotherapist Janet Kuhn listens to them, cries with them, but then, helps them focus.
JANET KUHN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: People need not to get immersed in the sadness and the sorrow of what they're dealing with. They need to keep their heads working so that they can take care of themselves. And get themselves the things that they need to get some kind of stability in their lives.
KOCH: The mental health of tens of thousand of displaced children is a special concern. Experts say they take their cues from the adults around them and that routines like school are vital in their healing.
STEURY: We do note that we can create school environments where there is caring and connectedness. Kids do have -- with supports -- the capacity to bounce back. Without supports, in situations like this, it does run a risk of sinking them.
KOCH: Fragile vessels all, trying mentally, emotionally to navigate through a strange new world. Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LIN: Since the start of this disaster, CNN teams have been on the front lines. Tonight they will share their personal stories on a live special edition of "On The Story". Joining me now to tell us what to expect tonight, CNN's Joe Johns.
Joe?
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR, "ON THE STORY": Thanks, Carol.
We're on the story here at the George Washington University and in the area devastated by Katrina. How did our teams of journalists cover the story as New Orleans fell apart? Jeff Koinange, Karl Penhaul, Elizabeth Cohen and Delia Gallagher (ph) tell us the challenges that are still facing residents, rescuers -- and reporters -- in the hurricane zone. Dana Bash and I will talk about the political fallout of the disaster. All coming up live, all "On The Story" Back to you, Carol.
LIN: Looking forward to it. Thanks very much. A special edition live, "On The Story".
And I will be right back with the latest from the hurricane zone, as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LIN: By now you know that CNN filed suit to have free access to continue covering the recovery of the bodies in the hurricane zone. We think it's an important story in this aftermath. We have an update now on the government's efforts to block the media from witnessing the recovery of those bodies in New Orleans. Officials reversed their position today after legal action by CNN.
The original policy was first announced by Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore, who is in charge of the federal relief effort in New Orleans. He then said, and I'm quoting here, "There will be zero access to that operation."
But today, joint task force Katrina officials say they have no plans to bar media from photographing the effort or reporting from the sites of the recoveries. So joining me now on the telephone is Lieutenant Colonel Rich Steele on the personal staff Lieutenant General Honore.
Colonel, clarify for us what exactly the crews will be able to do now.
LT. COL. RICH STEELE, U.S. ARMY: OK, first let me clarify what Lieutenant General Honore meant yesterday when he made that statement.
LIN: All right.
STEELE: We are not going to ban the media. We're not going to impede them, not going to prevent them from doing their jobs. What he said was, if we have Title X federal forces, and you have to remember we are not the National Guard or under a separate command, that if we are involved with recovery operations, we will not take embedded media with us. In other words, on our seats, on our platforms on our trucks, we will not have embedded media with us. That's what he said.
LIN: Right. Right.
STEELE: He did not say we're going to ban anybody. We're not going to restrict them from any public areas whatsoever. LIN: All right. Well, Zero access certainly was interpreted as you're not going to have any access, because we don't want you watching us recovering bodies.
STEELE: Right. We don't have -- we don't have any legal recourse to do any kind of law enforcement, or anything like that in our role. So the only thing we do is we can control who goes with us on our aircraft and on our trucks and in our boats, if that applies. We are not going to take -- we're not going it allow the media, we're not going to ask the media to come with us, if we're involved in any of these operations.
LIN: Which is fine as far as the media is concerned. Because Colonel, as you know, crews are roaming freely right now, across New Orleans, watching as this story unfolds, dramatic pictures that we're getting in.
STEELE: Absolutely. That's what (UNINTELLIGIBLE) meant from the beginning yesterday. The second thing that he asked was to please, he pleaded with the media, to please keep in mind that there are families out there that are unsure of what happened to their love ones.
LIN: Absolutely.
STEELE: The last thing we want to do is put them through the pain and agony of seeing them in whatever condition they might be at this time on television.
LIN: Right. Absolutely.
Well, Colonel, we here at CNN are not broadcasting any of these pictures out of context or gratuitously. Of course, we're keeping in mind anybody might be wondering about their mother, who was in some nursing home, or still in their house. They're obviously wondering and don't want to be wondering if they're looking at a body bag at a front door. We understand that.
STEELE: Absolutely.
LIN: But you can't account really for everybody, can you? It's not just CNN that is out there covering the story. What is your greatest fear at this point?
STEELE: Well, you know, we want to treat those that were unfortunate enough not to make it, with the utmost dignity, honor and respect. And in our opinion, if you have news crews hovering around as we're doing our job -- of course, it's not our job to actually do the recovery but we could be there, part of the identification of the location -- but we just think that that is not in -- it's not concurrent with giving them the utmost dignity, honor and respect.
We aren't going to bar anybody, we're not going to be forming a human chain to keep people out. We won't be asking the media to come along.
LIN: But if you had your druthers, Colonel, you would bar the media wouldn't you?
STEELE: That's not my call.
LIN: But I hear something very personal in your voice. You're out there. Your men are out there. You know what you're looking at. What is it as these cameras roll that we have to be mindful of?
STEELE: Well, again, I think it's the most painful portion of this exercise is yet to come. As we start seeing, and as we start realizing who it was exactly that did not make it through this terrible tragedy. I think there's a lot of hope out there now that for families who might not know the whereabouts of their loved ones, that they're just in some shelter somewhere, where they just haven't been identified yet or linked up. We don't want them to find out about it on TV.
LIN: I understand, Lieutenant Colonel Rich Steele, I think we would all benefit by remembering if it was our mother in that building, how we would want it handled, in a public manner.
STEELE: Absolutely, Carol.
LIN: Thank you very much, Lieutenant Colonel Rich Steele on the personal staff of General Honore, who is running the recovery operation on the ground.
We want to let you know that CNN has a policy that we will not be running any of these pictures until they are closely examined, and we feel they have news value and information to offer. Always keeping into consideration the family's feelings.
Now, for two weeks now, CNN staffers have been working hard amid some deplorable conditions to bring you some incredible stories from the Gulf Coast. Up next, our correspondents who are going to take you behind the scenes "On The Story".
And then at 8 o'clock Eastern on "CNN Presents", is America prepared? Lessons of Katrina. And at 9 o'clock Eastern Larry King follows the newest developments from the Gulf Coast.
I'll be back at 10 o'clock Eastern, we are going to go to the polls and hear what Americans are saying about the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. A check of the hour's headlines follows a quick break. Then "On The Story".
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