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CNN Live Saturday

Katrina's Children; Drilling for Disaster; Hurricane Hunters

Aired October 01, 2005 - 12:30   ET

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

GERRI WILLIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: The string of explosions rocks the resort island of Bali at least 19 people are dead, 50 others are wounded. Terrorists are the prime suspects.
And rebuilding a New Orleans: Will the 9th Ward ever be the same again? Or will some folks never be able to go home again?

And children of the store. What damage do they suffer? With their lives so disrupted, their futures so uncertain. We'll examine all of that. Welcome to CNN LIVE SATURDAY, I'm Gerri Willis. We have a very busy hour ahead. First, here's what's happening now in the news.

The U.S. military has launched a new offensive in the Anbar Province near the Syrian border. The military says operation "Iron Fist" involves about 1,000 American troops and it's meant to root out insurgents in western Iraq. So far the Marine-led mission is meeting little resistance.

And firefighters say they are slowly gaining control of a wildfire northwest of Los Angeles. The blaze in Simi Valley has scorched almost 24,000 archers. Firefighters say two houses and five other structures have been destroyed while thousands of others have been saved.

A Russian rocket has launched a millionaire American tourist into space. Gregory Olsen reportedly paid $20 million for the ride. A U.S.-Russia crew of an astronaut and cosmonaut are taking Olsen on a two-day trip to the International Space Station.

Keeping you informed, CNN, the most trusted name in news.

First this hour, terror in the south Pacific: Once again, Indonesia's resort island of Bali has been hit. Hospital officials tell CNN at least 19 people were killed. Rapid fire explosions ripped apart two restaurants, one beachside, the other in a in a center. Now, that mall is popular with westerners with stores such as Polo and Adidas. The blasts come three years to the day that bombs left 202 people dead in Bali nightclubs in the same area. That attack was blamed on Al Qaeda-linked group.

Natasha Tampublon joins us now by phone -- Natasha.

NATASHA TAMPULBOLON, JOURNALIST: Hello, Gerri, how are you in.

WILLIS: Very good, Natasha. Tell us what you're seeing. TAMPULBOLON: OK. So the latest news from the blast is that 19 people are reported to be killed in the incident, in the blast. Including two Australians, whose names are Brandon Fitzgerald and a lady named Jennifer, according to local TV station, here in Jakarta. And the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has expressed his concern on the blast and called this act as a terrorist act. As of now, numbers of victims are still being counted and the situation in Bali still remains panicked -- Gerri.

WILLIS: Panic on the streets, Natasha. We know 19 people killed in these Bali bombings. This is eerily similar to what we saw in 2002. Are people remarking on just how much the same these two incidents are?

TAMPULBOLON: I'm sorry? I can't hear you on the last part. What was that, Gerri?

WILLIS: Once again, so similar to days events to what happened in 2002 when Bali was struck by terrorists. Are people remarking on the similarities between what happened then and what is happening right now?

TAMPULBOLON: Indeed. Apparently some -- some people said that this incident -- I mean the blasts today, apparently remind them of what happened back in 2002, which also took place in October. But the same -- they said that it's a different -- there are some differences in the two, in the incident. Like, for example, there are more blasts this year than what happened in 2002, but as of now the number of victims remain smaller, as of now.

WILLIS: Natasha, Natasha, thank you for that report. That was Natasha Tampulbolon.

Two weeks before Iraqi's vote on a draft constitution a big new battle against insurgents is underway. The U.S. military launched operation "Iron Fist" today. It's an attempt to root out all Al Qaeda-linked insurgents in the rest of Anbar Province in western Iraq. CNN's Jennifer Eccleston is on the phone from that region with more details -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Gerri. It's been called operation "Iron Fist" but Marines here like to say it's a "sweep and clean mission" and by that they mean they swept through this town, street by street, house by house and they're hoping to clean it out of any insurgents -- of those insurgenting who have been operating here. And they knew it was going to be a fight and it was one from the get-go. As soon as the Marines entered the town it was about two minutes later they came under small arms fire. And as they progress into the city it became clear the very road they were traveling on, the very road that they dismounted their vehicles and walked into the city was littlered with IEDs. They were discovered by Marine engineers and detonated as a result. But it's very much an effort, as you say, the fight for to defeat the insurgency is very much at its focal here in western Anbar Province and the city of Sa'da is along the Euphrates River. There has been numerous incidents of terrorists coming and over from Syria and also homegrown insurgent in this country using this area as a staging base, as a weapons supply, people supply, moving people in and out from Syria into Iraq. And they -- very much they feel that if they defeat the insurgency in this part of the country then that will be able to stem the tide of violence that we see in the major population centers throughout Iraq, especially those in Baghdad -- Gerri.

WILLIS: Jennifer, I understand you've been on the move all night long with the Marines. What's it like to be on the ground for so long with these Marines on this kind of mission?

ECCLESTON: Absolutely. It started pre-dawn, we launched in, our vehicles, with the Marines at about 1:00 in the morning. And the operation began about 5:00 in the morning and it was about a 13-hour foot patrol through the city and the Marines were a bit edgy at first, with good reason, because of the small arms attack and because of those IEDs. And incidentally, those IEDs had been detonating throughout by the day by the Marines, not by the insurgents. And as the progressed and as they came across a number of families living here as they made their coordinated search going house to house, no caches -- weapons cache's were found. No people were detained, at least in our -- the company of Marines that we've been with and they've been receiving a fairly receptive audience with those who actually remain in this town. Of course, a lot of people fled in advance of what these insurgents call upcoming violence. But because of that, because they had to face very little resistance from the residents, there was -- the mood had changed and then they were able to relax a little more and there is a great sense of accomplishment, right now, that at this stage, at this hour, that Sa'da is now secure. But the fight continues. The insurgents -- there were some of them here, they know there are more. Either they melted into society or they swept through to there villages along the Euphrates River and so the fight continues -- Gerri.

WILLIS: That was Jennifer Eccleston reporting. Jennifer, thank you so much for that report.

The architects of the New New Orleans, that's a 17-member commission named by the mayor are getting to work this weekend. Our Dan Lothian is on the battered city as parts of it are slowly coming back to life -- Dan.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Gerri. This city certainly coming back to life, but it is a monumental task of rebuilding New Orleans. The mayor, Mayor Ray Nagin, who has been under fire about this crisis about his respond to it -- response to it has, rather, has, as you mentioned, created this commission to rebuild New Orleans made up of 17 members. Essentially these are people, some from the community, some from the music industry, locally who will take part in providing ideas, giving advice, not only to the city but also to the mayor specifically. He hopes to have a final plan from them by the end of the year. But this task obviously, as I mentioned, is monumental.

Some 200,000 people were eligible, allowed to return to eight different zip codes. Yesterday, we don't know how many of those made it back home because, in fact, there were some who had ready to return a couple days before that, defying the order. Wanting to get back to see what was left. Some of them found their homes intact, others found that their homes had been destroyed by Katrina.

Next week there'll be another phase of other zip codes that -- where residents will be allowed to return, with the exception of the lower 9th Ward which was devastated. No word on what the future of that area will be. But none the less, the mayor putting out, rolling out the red carpet, appealing to all of those who might be thinking about moving away, to come home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: To all my New Orleanians, wherever you are, we want you back. We want all of you back. We want you back from the uptown to downtown. We want you back from the east to the west. We want you back from the lower 9th Ward. We want you back from Pigeon Town. Wherever you were from, we want you back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: Governor Blanco was out yesterday meeting with some of those residents who were returning. And you know, some folks are just coming to pick up their belongings or just to assess the damage before leaving and then having repairs done before they can return. Others as I mentioned earlier, their homes are intact so they can move up -- move in with just minor clean-up. But, for some -- some of their hones have been actually tagged because either the roof has shifted or the foundation has shifted and they need to be shored up, so officials -- city officials notifying these residence that they need to make major repairs before it's safe to move in -- Gerri.

WILLIS: Dan Lothian, thank you for that. It's good to see some normalcy returning. That was Dan Lothian.

As we focus on the recovery and rebuilding of New Orleans, CNN is asking you what should be done with the city. Log on to cnn.com/stories to share your thoughts and ideas.

Hurricane Katrina puts the spotlight on first responders and they were put to the test this week. Can disaster drills really help?

And children of the storm: After the trauma of a hurricane and moving far from home, how to help children cope.

Plus...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CYNTHIA WILLARD LEWIS, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: Oh, it breaks my heart because every house represent as family, and the family is not here. And so I pray that they did not lose a loved one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: Will the 9th Ward in New Orleans ever be the same and will its residents be able to afford new housing? We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIS: The battle against raging wildfires goes on in Southern California, the biggest blaze is northwest of Los Angeles and it's charred nearly 24,000 acres. Right now it's about 40 percent contained. Reporter, Amy Powell, with our affiliate KABC is with us now from Burbank.

How goes this fight, Amy?

AMY POWELL, KABC REPORTER: Well, Gerri, this morning this fire is continuing to grow. It has already burned through more than 1,000 acres here in the Burbank area and firefighters are still struggling to try and contain it. Now, this morning for the first time some of the flames have come dangerously close to several homes in one of the canyons here. Last night residents of about 70 homes were asked to voluntarily evacuate. This morning the evacuation order is mandatory. Now, fortunately most residents left last night. The wildfire is burning through several hundred acres in rugged terrain in the Verdugo Mountains, that's near Burbank.

Now, since daylight, water-dropping helicopters have made several drops. They're flying overhead even as we speak. And fire crews have been trying to get a line around this fire, doing the best in trying to get it contained. At this point, it is only about 15 percent contained. Now, weather is a big factor in all of this. Yesterday the weather -- the winds just whipped up, this fire grew from 30 acres, yesterday, to about 100 last night an again this morning it is now up to 1,000 acres. It burn through if night, they could not get it knocked down overnight. This morning the winds are somewhat calm. But again, we can't trust this because if the winds start kicking up again it could get very dangerous out here, it will carry those embers and it could carry them from canyon to canyon. There are some desresidential areas quit far from here right now, but could easily be threatened if this fire continues to burn the way it has been for the last few days -- Gerri.

WILLIS: That has to be a very scary sight for families and for homeowners. Amy Powell, thank you for that report.

Forecasters in the U.S. are closely monitoring a new tropical depression formed in the Atlantic Ocean. For more, we're going to go live to the CNN Weather Center and meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.

Bonnie, tell us about it.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WILLIS: Bonnie, I know you'll stay on top of all of those stories. Thank you so much.

It was one of the hardest hit areas. Will the 9th Ward, in New Orleans, ever be the same? Can residents afford to live there once it's rebuilt? Louisiana state legislator Charmaine Marchand joins us next. What about children of the storm? Moving to new cities, dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane. CNN LIVE SATURDAY continues after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIS: New Orleans 9th Ward is perhaps the lowest neighborhood in this city, lowest in terms of income, education, elevation. It flooded twice from Katrina and then Rita. Betsy put it under in 1965. Should the homes there be rebuild, it the big question, should the land be turned over to commercial developers? Maybe returned to the swamp. Questions for our guest in a moment, but first, here's chief national correspondent, John King in the lower 9th Ward.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The water is finally receding in the lower 9th Ward. Exposing the incomprehensible destruction and offering clues to a neighborhood now in shambles. There was a little girl with a pink bike, a woman in white shoes. If Ophelia Jackson made it out alive, she left her purse and her car keys behind. It will be a long time before the gospel choirs return. Maybe too long for the elderly who lived in the small, narrow homes.

(on camera): What goes through your mind.

CYNTHIA WILLARD LEWIS, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: Oh, it breaks my heart because every house represent as family. And the family is not here and so I pray that they did not lose a loved one.

KING (voice-over): City councilwoman, Cynthia Willard Lewis, represents the lower 9th Ward and is among those concerned what is rebuilt here will be very different from what stood here just a few weeks ago.

LEWIS: I am not so foolish as to believe that other agendas are not being fashioned. I would imagine that individuals who focus on the wealth of the land, who focus on the fact that perhaps with higher integrity of the levee system, high rise buildings might be fashionable and trendy.

KING: Fashionable and trendy were not used to words to describe the neighborhood of these newspapers warning of what was coming were never delivered. Ninety-eight percent of the ward's population was African-American. The average annual income was $27.500, less than half the national average. And 54 percent of the residents were renters, giving them little say over what happens next here.

(on camera): This is the wreckage of the levee that was designed to protect this neighborhood. When it gave way the waters flooded in, destroying the homes and lives of these people with it. You see it extending for dozens and dozens of feet down the way. Again, a wall designed to protect the community now lying, a very symbol of the destruction here. But if you lift your eyes above the destruction you see downtown New Orleans just off in the distance. It is that proximity to the center of the city that has many of the poor people who lived here just a few weeks ago worried that when this is all cleaned up, people with a lot more money than they have will want the land.

(VOICE-OVER): This service is 75 miles from New Orleans. Bishop C. Garnett Henning forced to relocate to Baton Rouge because his Union Bethel Ame Church in the lower 9th Ward was destroyed in the flooding after Katrina and Rita.

BISHOP C. GARNETT HENNING, UNION BETHEL AME CHURCH: My motto is never ever give up, and that's the way we're approach it. I'm tell that to the people of our churches. If we let it go quietly, we will lose. The poor people will lose, without an advocate.

KING: Willard Lewis wants guarantees affordable house willing be built and that those forced to leave will have the first chance to move back to the neighborhood rock 'n' roll hall of famer Fats Domino calls home.

LEWIS: He could live anywhere in the world. He could live in Paris, he could live in London, but he chooses to live in the historic lower 9th Ward. On Monday fixes red beans and rice for all the brothers in the hood.

KING: The debate over what comes next is just beginning. This FEMA team a reminder of a much more urgent priority; 12 square blocks of the lower ninth have still not been searched to take a toll of the dead.

John King, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: Charmaine Marchand represents the lower 9th Ward in the Louisiana State House. She's joining us from Baton Rouge. Thanks were fog with us, we appreciate it.

CHARMAINE MARCHAND (D), LOUISIANA STATE HOUSE: Thank you for having me.

WILLIS: Now, I understand that understand representing a lower 9th Ward isn't just something you do, it's actually in the family. I read that your uncle was the very first representative of the lower ninth.

MARCHAND: That's correct.

WILLIS: So...

MARCHAND: He represented back in '77.

WILLIS: That's sometime ago. That's quite a history. Tell me, the question that people are asking today, can the lower ninth resume to be a place to be lived in by the people who have always been there?

MARCHAND: Yes, it can be and it will be. Make no doubt about it. There are those that are outside of government, that are making conversations with regard to developing it differently, doing certain things such as land filling. Every breath that I breathe, every sweat that I can expel, I will make sure that that community comes back. Everything that I could possibly do, I will work to make sure -- because you have to understand, not only do I represent the lower 9th Ward, I live in the lower 9th Ward. My law office was in the lower 9th Ward and all of my properties have been covered with water just like my neighbors, my mother's and father's, grandparent's, my sisters and brothers. We all have lost the same and I'm the only one elected official that is in the lower 9th Ward right now that is feeling this brunt of destruction to this extent.

WILLIS: Well Charmaine, that's worth repeating. You say you're the only elected official who was living in the 9th Ward at the time of the storms. So you have a very unique voice here. I think the big concern is, how do we get those people back in and rebuild? You know, obviously economics can make a very big difference here. Can both be handled? Can people afford to live in this neighborhood once all the money is spent to build it back up?

MARCHAND: Yes. It can be. But that's why we have to -- in the beginning, right now, not later on, but right now, actually fight and ask for those dollars to help seniors that are on fixed incomes to rebuild their homes. Those that do not have insurance making sure those that can get small interest loans are able to get the small interest loans to rebuild their homes. We can make a bigger and better lower 9th Ward filled with people that helped to make and build the city of New Orleans. We're talking about your carpenters, we're talking about your initial teachers, we're talking about real serious laborers that were your working class that helped to build the city of New Orleans back in the late '60s, the early '60s, back in the '50s. These are the same ones that, right now, we have to come together and help them rebuild their area and help us rebuild our homes.

WILLIS: Now, the mayor announced a commission to rebuild the city. Does that commission represent the lower 9th Ward?

MARCHAND: Well, I know the mayor has to put a commission together that he can actually -- it's like an advisory team. Someone -- people that he can trust in advising them properly, unfortunately we don't have any of the little men, the little businesspeople, the regular mom and pop grocery store owner on that commission. We don't have the neighbor or the elderly person sitting on that commission. And so, no, I don't think it really represents the entire community. It does represent more of your larger economic fashions then more so than the little person in the community who really needs to have a voice. But once again, I know the mayor has to have a team of advisors that he can trust to advise him properly. So, I do understand that.

WILLIS: Charmaine, quickly, we don't have a lot of time here. But, I'm wondering how difficult it is for people who typically live in the lower ninth, you say that there's a lot of seniors there. And typically FEMA comes in with loans. Can these seniors repay these loans to rebuild? MARCHAND: We have a working class in that community and understand this, this that working class is the same class that the city of New Orleans needs. It's the cooks in the restaurants, it's waiters in the restaurants, it's your hotel and your motel staff. These working class people, if we give them low-interest loans and also FEMA assistance and grant dollars, they can also rebuild their houses as well. It can also offer opportunities for people who did not have a house before, to actually maybe possibly have their first home. But in order to do that we're going to need help from outside of the state of Louisiana. We're going to have to have help from private citizens with regard to also donations and we've got several non-profit entities in the lower 9th Ward and upper 9th Ward that are specifically for our -- for that purpose. We have a non-profit by the name of Care Corporation.

WILLIS: Right.

MARCHAND: And I'd like to really give that address for donations, which is 4138 St. Claude Avenue, Suite A. Or you can go on the Web site, which is www.carecorporation.org.

It will be up and running. And I'm asking my Lower 9th Ward and Upper 9th Ward residents, you can go on there, and go to several links, but also register yourself so I can find you.

WILLIS: All right.

MARCHAND: You can e-mail me and we can start having communication going.

WILLIS: Charmaine, thanks so much for that. It's carecorp.org is where she was referring you to.

Thanks for your help.

MARCHAND: Thank you.

WILLIS: Images of flooding and devastation. How are children coping in the aftermath? I'll speak with a Louisiana child psychologist just ahead.

And after the hurricanes, many people are wondering how well first responders perform in an emergency. A massive disaster drill puts teams to the test.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIS: "Now in the News," this breaking story out of Indonesia. A string of deadly explosions rocks the resort island of Bali. Hospital officials say at least 19 people are dead and about 50 more are wounded, including at least three westerners. The blasts reportedly happened minutes apart and all in tourist areas.

Operation Iron Fist is under way in western Iraq. It's the U.S. military's latest crackdown on insurgents in the dangerous Anbar province. About 1,000 troops, backed by helicopter gun ships, moved into the town of Sa'da earlier today.

The military says three suspicious vehicles were fired on. Two of them were carrying bombs. Marines are also conducting house-to- house searches.

And some residents are returning to New Orleans this weekend, but in many cases they're leaving their children behind for now. Schools aren't open, and there are plenty of safety and health worries.

Here's CNN correspondent Adaora Udoji.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADAORA UDOJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After the horrors of Hurricane Katrina, Lin Kennedy, a New Orleans native, still wants to go home. But she worries about her three children.

DAJANAE KENNEDY, DAUGHTER: I have a lot of friends there, and I don't know. And, I don't know. I hope they're OK.

UDOJI: Forced from their city, Kennedy enrolled her 4-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter into new schools outside Atlanta. Her fiance's homeland security job moved with them.

LIN KENNEDY, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: I don't think that we'll have that in New Orleans. I mean, I wouldn't let them play outside. They're probably terrified.

UDOJI: Even Mayor Ray Nagin says children shouldn't return. The city's too bruised and too abandoned. He says right now it's not safe.

Life is at a stand still. Many blocks are eerily quiet, with barely anyone around, barely any kids. There's no electricity or water or garbage pickup or fully-staffed hospitals. Playgrounds are filled with dangerous debris, hardly a safe environment for children.

L. KENNEDY: All these stories about E. coli and toxins, dead bodies, I just -- it makes me sick just saying it, just thinking about the fact that my kids wouldn't have clean water. The schools couldn't possibly be the same.

UDOJI: Many schools wreak of the rampant floodwaters that engulfed them for two weeks or more. They're empty, except for mounds of trash pulled in by the currents.

(on camera): This is the courtyard at Jones Elementary School just north of downtown. It's just one school where 900 neighborhood kids attended, and there's lots to clean up. It was under water. You can see the line all of the way around the building marking exactly where the floodwater stopped.

ROBERT ROBERTI, NEW ORLEANS PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Once we have a lot of the unknowns answered, I think it will be a lot easier for us to say, you know, when it will be safe for children to return. UDOJI (voice over): So, for now, the already poorly-performing school system is out of business. That's 65,000 children it can't teach and 3,800 teachers with no class rosters, no paychecks.

Officials are not sure when that will change. And they worry those teachers will find jobs elsewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The question really becomes how many of those children return. They're spread out over 48 states. We know there's kids as far as Alaska.

L. KENNEDY: I just know that it's just not going to be the same.

UDOJI: Kennedy might be among thousands of parents who decide as much as they want to go home, they can't, leaving New Orleans childless, at least for a while, the city recovers from catastrophe.

Adaora Udoji, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: A team at Louisiana State University is studying Hurricane Katrina's emotional damage to children. Mary Lou Kelley is a professor of psychology at LSU in Baton Rouge, and Amy Angie Pellegrin is a doctoral candidate.

Welcome to both of you. And thanks for being here.

MARY LOU KELLEY, LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY: You're welcome.

ANGIE PELLEGRIN, DOCTORAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.

WILLIS: Angie, I want to start with you, because you are actually on the ground with these children. Now, some of them obviously from lower-income households, they've lost their homes, they've lost their favorite toys. How are they coping?

PELLEGRIN: Well, I think they're coping really depends upon their sense of return to normalcy. The more these children in the shelter were displaced without certain loved ones or family members, it really took a toll on their emotional impacts. The kids that -- in the shelters that were the most withdrawn, several of them had been separated from their parents, or were possibly with a neighbor and had little to no belongings with them at all. Other ones who had families that were more intact seem to be adjusting a little better.

WILLIS: So, Angie, you're really seeing a range of response.

For Professor Kelly, what can parents, family members do for children who have been through such a traumatic event?

KELLEY: Well, there's a lot that parents can do. And what we know from the research is providing lots of social support is extremely important.

What you want to do is listen to your children's feelings, reflect on them. Let them own their feelings. Gradually return to having the routines in your life.

Allow for some irritability, poor concentration. There will be a lot of sadness. And one of the things that parents really need to do is, they're going to have their own feelings, and they need to stay healthy and model good coping, and get the help they need to be there for their children.

WILLIS: Angie, you've obviously been working with these children. What kinds of things are you trying to tell them to communicate with them, to reassure them? And do they always show right away that they're concerned or worried?

PELLEGRIN: Well, not always right away. When I was working with them in the shelters, sometimes it was very easy to identify kids who were very withdrawn. They were very quiet.

And we tried to do activities to try to get them to open up. We put on puppet shows and would have art sessions. And this was before even they were allowed to return to school or were placed in any school. But just even in the shelter, to give them a distraction was something that really -- you know, you'd finally see a child who was quiet and, you know, withdrawn and laying in her bed all day, and to finally see her light up and smile just was a really unbelievable feeling to know that you could help like that.

WILLIS: Oh, that's great work.

Professor, you have a program that you're redirecting to actually look at these kids, try to help them. Tell us about that.

KELLEY: Well, in the past -- I've been at LSU about 23 years now. And a lot of my research was on Attention Deficit Disorder and parent training. And, you know, watching this on TV like everyone else, I just felt like I had to rededicate myself to helping these children and understanding the effects of the disaster on them and what might help produce a more positive versus negative outcome for them.

WILLIS: To...

KELLEY: So, we're writing grants and rededicating our research to studying these children.

WILLIS: To both of you, then, first to the professor, not everybody obviously is in the Gulf region, but many people experience traumatic events that affect their children. Can you give us some advice about what to do if you're trying to reassure your children in the wake of some kind of traumatic event -- Professor?

KELLEY: Well, I think you need to be honest, but one of the things you want to do is decrease the media exposure that you give children. You want to -- like I said earlier, you want to model coping. You want to reassure them that things are going to be OK, their life will gradually get back to normal.

WILLIS: Angie, quickly? PELLEGRIN: One of the things that I found in the shelter which was best was really just listening. So many of these kids, especially the teenagers, wanted to tell their story and just wanted to have someone listen to them.

WILLIS: Well, Angie, professor, thanks to both of you for your work. We really appreciate your being with us as well today. Thank you.

KELLEY: Thank you.

PELLEGRIN: Thank you.

WILLIS: And you can get information about trauma counseling for children at these Web sites. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, you'll find that at nctsn.com. And there's an International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies. Lot on to at ists.org.

On to "Security Watch."

First responders practice for disaster, but do the drills do any good? Some experts point to New Orleans and say no. CNN's homeland security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, how long we got to wait?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are enraged people...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need help, please!

MESERVE: ... and wounded, and dead, at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, during a mass-casualty disaster drill. A delivery truck slams into pedestrians, crashes, explodes, and releases a gas eventually identified as toxic anhydrous ammonia.

(on camera): Any indication, at this point in time, that it could be terrorism?

PATRICK FLEMING, ASSISTANT FIRE CHIEF, BETHESDA MEDICAL CENTER: I don't believe so. With the security here on this facility, and in a routine delivery truck that comes every day like this, I don't believe so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three, lift.

MESERVE: The gas drifts over a nearby school, exposing students.

With eight hospitals and 600 actors participating, this is a huge exercise.

REP. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D), MARYLAND: The events of Katrina and Rita have highlighted the importance of being prepared. And there's no substitute for being prepared than practicing together the kind of emergency that we may face.

MESERVE: Though New Orleans had conducted an exercise involving a major hurricane hitting the city, systems failed when the real event occurred.

Organizers of this exercise say they won't just identify problems, they will correct them.

LT. CMDR. CHRIS GILLETTE, NATIONAL NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER: We need to learn before the real-time event and improve on this.

MESERVE: This drill reflects a new agreement among the Naval Hospital, the nearby National Institutes of Health, and privately owned Suburban Hospital, which allows them to share facilities, personnel, equipment, and medicine in an emergency.

VICE ADM. DONALD ARTHUR, NAVY SURGEON GENERAL: The confluence of all of those assets gives us the ability to respond to whatever might happen, if it's a chemical or biological or just a blast injury.

MESERVE: Similar collaborations are being struck up elsewhere to maximize medical resources in the hope that the next crisis will not be like the last one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the number to FEMA? Somebody call FEMA.

MESERVE: Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Bethesda, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: Stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.

And while most people flee from an oncoming storm, these hurricane hunters head right into the danger. We'll hear why they risk their lives and keep going against all odds.

Plus, blasting off into space as a tourist. The successful mission straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIS: When hurricanes start forming in the Atlantic and blowing against the Gulf, most people want to get as far way as possible. But during most recent monster storms there's an elite team of Air Force pilots called the Hurricane Hunters that flew into danger.

Jim Clancy has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): While millions are fleeing the impending storm, the Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron is going in. MAJ. CHAD GIBSON, U.S. AIR FORCE RESERVE: A lot of people think we're crazy for flying into a storm. It's not a craziness. We do this because we can make a difference.

CLANCY: Known as the Hurricane Hunters, they fly into major storms to measure the barometric pressure, humidity and wind speed. All crucial for accurate forecasts.

GIBSON: You fly through storms hoping that the information you get will cause these people to leave.

CLANCY: Major Chad Gibson and his colleague have a personal respect for the storms they chase. They're working Hurricane Katrina from Dobbins Air Base in Georgia because Katrina wrecked the unit's headquarters in Biloxi, Mississippi, and wrecked many of their homes as well.

Gibson returned to Biloxi a couple weeks ago to find his home destroyed. His neighborhood, shambles.

GIBSON: That odor was just repulsive. And the next day, you know, you find out that, you know, one block away there's a family of four in their house that had passed, that was killed by Katrina.

CLANCY: With Hurricane Rita they hope things will be different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But that is pretty good pinch (ph) this far out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got over 100-knot winds, too.

CLANCY: By late Friday night, as Rita has weakened to a Category 3 hurricane...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel some sense of relief. This is a powerful hurricane that's going to produce a lot of damage, but it's not the same at three than a five.

CLANCY: Flooding is still a major concern because the storm is likely to move slowly over land, dumping as much as 25 inches of rain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a lot of rain, isn't it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to the eye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't really fly around this stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, the majority of the brief today, of course, will be focused on Hurricane Rita, as well...

CLANCY: At the request of President Bush, monitoring the storm from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, the Hurricane Hunters fly through the storm for one last set of measurements.

GIBSON: Our last pass was a concern because it was three miles inland.

CLANCY: The flight over land is risky because that is where hurricanes often spawn tornadoes.

GIBSON: That is not something any plane is going to be able to deal with. The sheer could potentially rip the plane apart.

CLANCY: The mission in the sky ends uneventfully. Rite's wrath is on the ground.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: Amazing story. That report was from CNN's Jim Clancy.

Tonight, "CNN PRESENTS" follows those forecasters. Emergency officials and just plain old ordinary citizens working frantically as Hurricane Rita roared toward the coast. Tune in at 8:00 p.m. Eastern for "Monster: Tracking the Storm."

Soaring to outer space as a tourist. Can you become the next space tourist? Well, we're going to have details ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIS: Welcome back.

An American businessman is rocketing toward the International Space Center right now. Millionaire Gregory Olsen blasted into space on a Russian-led mission just before midnight last night. Now, he's only the third tourist to travel into space, and he's paying plenty for the privilege.

Here's CNN's Matthew Chance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a flawless blastoff from the Kazakh step. The Russian Soyuz rocket carrying U.S. space tourist Greg Olsen, streaking into the skies on time and problem-free.

With the U.S. Russian crew at the controls, it took exactly nine minutes to reach orbit. Ahead, a grueling two-day flight to the International Space Station.

Olsen, who is a 60-year-old grandfather and a successful businessman, has undergone hundreds of hours of training for the trip. He says he'll be conducting his own experiments in space and is more than just a tourist. Members of his family were at the launch site to see him off.

Two other millionaires have flown before him. With tickets of $20 million, paying passengers have become a crucial source of funding for the cash-strapped Russian space agency. The U.S.-based company organizing the trip says it plans to expand space tourism, offering a flight around the moon for $100 million.

ERIC ANDERSON, SPACE ADVENTURES: Over the next five or 10 years at Space Adventures we will fly more people in space as commercial passengers, as tourists and private explorers, than have flown in space in the history of mankind, over the next five or 10 years. And long term, it will definitely be private companies, alongside governments, that really open up the space frontier and make it something that the rest of humanity can benefit from.

CHANCE: The latest mission will deliver supplies and a fresh crew to the International Space Station, and after 10 days of high flying, the latest millionaire space tourist will come back to Earth.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WILLIS: There's much more ahead on CNN LIVE SATURDAY. In a few moments, "IN THE MONEY."

And at 2:00 Eastern, breaking her silence. Why did Judith Miller testify after all this time? Our legal experts will take a look at that question.

And at 3:00, it's "CNN PRESENTS." Hurricane Katrina exposed the country as being completely overwhelmed by disaster. Is America repaired for what's next, coming up after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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