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Troops Enter New Orleans Bringing Relief; Laura Bush Speaks in Louisiana
Aired September 02, 2005 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: "Enter the cavalry." That's one general's word for dozens of trucks, hundreds of troops, thousands of pounds of foods and supplies, currently, finally snaking through the rancid waters of New Orleans, Louisiana. We call it "Mission Critical," and our mission is to bring you the very latest on security, food, water and medical deliveries, the uphill battle of victim relocation and the monumental paths of repairing those storm ravished levees all in the hour ahead.
And the man in charge of that mission, one very strong and very tired lieutenant general, Russel Honore. He joins us by phone right there in New Orleans, Louisana.
General, can you hear me?
LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE, CMDR., JT. TASK FORCE KATRINA (via telephone): Yes, I can hear you.
PHILLIPS: Good to talk to you again, sir. I have to tell you this has been an incredible relief for Americans to see those troops on the ground.
HONORE: Yes, it's been a big effort, and it is a hard process to collect the necessary food and water we needed. Again we're issuing water from bottles and individual packets of food. If you ever have 20,000 people come to supper, you know what I'm talking about. If it's easy, it would have been done already, but we've been a victim of the high water which restricts our routes. People have been concentrated because of the high water. It just makes it difficult. This would have been done if it was simple, as I said earlier.
I'm at the corner of Notre Dame, and the convention center, and we're here now with the first push of water and food. We'll download our trucks and go back and pick up the next load. So shortly, we'll start issuing water and food, then we'll bring the helicopters in and start the medical evacuation of those that need to be taken to the hospitals immediately.
PHILLIPS: Sir, when I talked to you yesterday, you had just gotten off your Sea Hawk helicopter, you were just getting close to the area to assess what is taking place and what you needed. When you and I talked yesterday I asked you about the dead bodies, I asked you about the people that were dying. As you are there now at that exact location at the convention center, can you give me some type of situation report? Are people still dying? Are you having to tend to the dead as well as try and save those that are still alive? HONORE: Yes. I would best describe it -- there are people who were ill before, and people who were on medication before, are -- have gotten worse. We are about to start the medevac, we have three -- two medevac operations going on now at the Superdome. We're still ferrying people there. We're doing medevac operations at a couple of the hospitals, and we're working the intersection of the Causeway and I-10, there's about 7,000 people there. And we're going in and picking up those that are sick and moving them to the hospital. And we'll start that operation at the convention center shortly.
The air reconnaissance is ongoing, the location is being picked and we're clearing the area so we can bring the helicopters in. Then we'll bring -- start taking them out immediately. In the meantime we're pulling forward the medics, EMT folks who can run that center. That center will be continuous here once we get it started. Over.
PHILLIPS: How about law and order sir? Any concerns right now about looting, about gunfire, about gang activity? Have you had to deal with any criminal activity since you've been there in that area?
HONORE: There's criminal activity all over America. The mood here, the people are anxious to get out of here. They would rather be home, and we're going to take them from here and get them to a place where they can have more of a normal life, with a place to sleep, and with some degree of comfort.
But the people by and large -- again, I'm standing at the corner of Notre Dame and Convention, and there have been some criminal activity happening, but by and large, these are families that are just waiting to get out much here, they are frustrated. I would too. I get frustrated at the cash register counter when the paper run out. This is not an instant solution.
It's hard work. They're frustrated, and in a way, we are too, but we're doing our best, we got the resources started, and we're going to continue to flow them now that we're at the convention center. Over.
PHILLIPS: Once they get in those buses, sir, where will they head to? Where exactly will you have the victims going once they're on the buses and out of New Orleans?
HONORE: Well. You know we made a flow to the Houston Convention Center. There's a operation going to Dallas and one going to San Antonio. And as we speak, there are the capacities being built to meet the requirement. Over.
PHILLIPS: You know, there's been some criticism, sir, not having enough men and women in-country to respond to this situation quick enough. Do you think the war on terrorism is affecting your troop count?
HONORE: You know, I've heard that a lot about the National Guard being out-of-country, and the Reserves. Yes, a lot of them have been deployed, but we only have 90,000 of a full force of 400,000 deployed. The difference is they're scattered about the United States. So it's not a function of not having enough, is it enough to get them here in time? You know when the storm hit land. We've got troops her from as far away as Oklahoma, Texas, Pennsylvania, Vermont that arrived here in the last 24 hours.
That's pretty easy. If you want to book a flight tomorrow some place, it will take you a while to get there. It's time and space. All these are National Guard troops, they have jobs, they were formed up quickly, they're here. We have troops flowing in from Alabama, Kansas, just about every state we're bringing troops in. So it's working, it just takes time to get here. Over.
PHILLIPS: Sir, I know you're one hell of a soldier, you have extremely strong character. I also know that this is your home town, this is where you grew up. Have you had a chance to talk with the children, to talk with the families, have you been able to interact and look them in the eye and say, look, we're here, and don't give up?
HONORE: Not to the extent. I had some warm greetings with people on the street this morning who are happy that we're here and a equal number that's frustrated that it took us so long. But, for the record, I actually come from Pointe Coupee Parish, a place called Lakeland, Louisiana, and near New Roache (ph), Louisiana, as we say in Louisiana. But my daughter lives here in New Orleans, as I told you, and I have a lot of relatives here. That is a fact. Over.
PHILLIPS: Have you been able to see any of them while you're there, sir?
HONORE: No, the priority is on this mission, of getting these people out of here.
PHILLIPS: Absolutely. Sir, we sure appreciate your time. Once again, while I have you here, and as we look at these pictures of your troops coming in with supplies, we have been talking about various organizations -- we've received so many phone calls and e-mails from people that want to help. You're there, you see what you need now, you're bringing in certain supplies. For those that want to help, what is it that you can do?
HONORE: Well, I think the president -- if you could help or get that word out -- has made it quite clear that the source of where the contributions have got to go to. I won't directly quote that, but I'm sure you could pull that from clippings. And I think that's the message we want to get out to America, that there's places for a lot of people to help, in just about every community in Louisiana, north of Baton Rouge, and in Mississippi.
A lot of people left New Orleans and went to Jackson, Mississippi, and there's a large crowd of people in Jackson, Mississippi, which oh by the way does not have light and water, and we're having to help them also that evacuated from New Orleans. There's a lot of people evacuated from New Orleans and they went north, where there's a traditional storm line. Now they are stuck there, and it's an equal problem.
But our number one task is to deal with the concentration of people in New Orleans, as well as those that are isolated, and we're going to get after it, and I know it is frustrating -- we all feel it, we're right here, these are Americans. These are our people. This is the purpose for which we were formed as an army to protect our nation and our people. This is what we are committed to. We all raised our right hand to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This storm has been like an enemy. It's nothing we can control. Over.
PHILLIPS: Final question, sir. Do you have a time line -- can you tell me days, weeks, when you're going to have everybody out of there, everybody tended to?
HONORE: You know, this is going to be a continuing process. This is just phase one, the evacuation of those where we can properly take care of them. We're in the rescue phase of this right now. There is a long, long, big government work to make this right, following this storm, and that's going to take some time. I would be hesitant to speculate. Over.
PHILLIPS: Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. We wish you the best, sir. We're counting on you, you hear?
HONORE: Well it's not about me, it's about the first responders and all the government workers, all the branches of service, and the great work of our National Guard, both air and ground forces from throughout the United States. It's about our great Coast Guard, policemen, Chief Compass, chief of police of New Orleans, is the battle captain of this operation. He's making it happen by pulling together the law enforcement piece. There are a lot of folks here that are operating right on the edge. We're going to make it happen because it's for the right cause. Over.
PHILLIPS: You got some pretty tough police officers there within the New Orleans Police Department. I know they'll be able -- both of you will be able to work very well together. Commander of the Joint Task Force Katrina, Lt. Gen. Russel Honore. Continue to check in with us sir, please.
HONORE: We'll see you later.
PHILLIPS: All right. We're just getting videotape in, once again, the president of United States in Biloxi, Mississippi. As we talk to General Honore there in New Orleans as troops are finally on the ground. Bringing in food and supplies to the thousands of people still desperate in that city. The president of the United States is making his way that way also, where General Honore is. But this is actually taped from earlier when the president was in Biloxi, Mississippi.
He started out in Alabama, met with people there, and surveyed the damage. Now made his way here to Biloxi, Mississippi where he talked to people in neighbor hoods, listen to their stories, tried to comfort them and tell them that help was on the way. Then we were told that he boarded an aircraft to head to New Orleans where General Honore is, where you are finally seeing the convoys of the food and water and medical help and armed soldiers coming in to attend to those that needed help for days since Hurricane Katrina devastated that area.
Now, Tishia Walters, am I saying that name right? Tishia is inside the Convention Center in New Orleans. Tishia is on the phone with us now. You know we were talking to General Honore just outside the Convention Center as he has been responding to those. Tishia is inside the Convention Center, Tishia do you hear me OK?
TISHIA WALTERS, INSIDE CONVENTION CENTER: (via telephone): Yes, I do.
PHILLIPS: All right. Describe to me where you are inside the Convention Center, and please describe to me the conditions.
WALTERS: Actually, I'm actually sitting outside; I'm watching all the National Guard and all the police presence out here. I mean it's amazing. They've come in full force, the problem is, and we just needed the help. We have people starving in there. They're bringing food and water and there are bring a lot of hope. They're coming. They are already starting taking some of the people and they're taking them away, you know, that's what we needed them. We needed them to come and they're here. They got to get everybody out.
PHILLIPS: So right now you're feeling good. As soon as you saw those troops arrive, tell me what it felt like just to see the food and water and the soldiers getting there?
WALTERS: The crowd erupted. The clapping, crying, people shouting and waving. There's like 7,000 people out here in dying conditions.
PHILLIPS: Tishia stay with me on the phone, Tishia doesn't go away. I just want to tell our viewers the videotape that they're looking at right now; we got a live picture, which is the live picture? OK, so it's the picture of the individuals at the airport. That's the live picture. Live picture there of the hurricane refugees being brought into the field hospital there are Louis Armstrong Airport. Here are live pictures right here.
Finally these flood victims could be brought in via buses to get help at this makeshift hospital. Our Ed Lavandera is actually there. I am going to come to him in just a moment. But meanwhile you are seeing the president of the United States, that's taped, that's not live pictures, mingling with those in Biloxi, Mississippi making his way we are told now to New Orleans, Louisiana. So lets go back to the live pictures in New Orleans. Ed Lavandera, you're there at that field hospital. Can you hear me?
ED LAVENDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I hear you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. Tell me, where are these hurricane victims coming in from and are they here to sleep, are they here to get food or are they here to get medical attention?
LAVENDERA: First of all, all of these people have their own stories. We've been talking to them nonstop for the last 24 hours. Many of these people either come from hospitals or nursing homes, they've been sitting on the side of the road or they've been sitting in the shelter, or they have been sitting on top of their roofs. The stories run the gamut, to be honest. All of these people are being air lifted in here, they're dropped off. As you see them, they're king of walking into this -- they are being funneled into this area, underneath the airport and what will happen, once they disappear from the live picture that we can provide you here, those who need medical attention go into the airport.
Those who don't start get shuffled onto flights out of New Orleans. So many of these people we have seen them, walking bare foot, whatever they have in trash bags or in coolers or in little duffle bags, whatever they can grab. Many people holding little children, elderly people. The looks on these people's faces is so distressing, they're so exhausted. It's hard to describe Kyra.
You can see the look in their face. This is the first time they've had in the last three or four days that there's some sort of hope that they're going to be in safer ground. Maybe this is the beginning of the end of the ordeal for them. Even thought from here they are getting shuffled off to who know where. Many people will be thrown to Houston. We heard many people being flown to Dallas, other parts of Louisiana. And every time you ask somebody do you know when you are coming back. They can't even comprehend the question; they are just so desperate to get out of here. That haven't even started thinking about when it is they are going to return.
PHILLIPS: So, Ed, they don't know where they're going, they're basically just getting in these Helos and being moved somewhere?
LAVENDERA: These people are fresh out of the city. Within the last 30, 40 minutes, they've been pulled out of the city. And once they get in here, they will start getting more information. But from everyone that I talked to in the last day or so, as they come off this tarmac, they're as confused and not sure what will be happening next, as I can possibly describe. As they get underneath here and into the terminal area, I think they start getting a little more information, and people let them know what might be happening, but it's still a process that seems very confusing to a lot of these people.
PHILLIPS: Are they surviving, Ed? Are the people that are getting off those helicopters and arriving at that field hospital, are they making it?
LAVENDERA: There are some able to walk under their own power. We've seen to have seen some of the most critical patients. Yesterday we saw a lot of the luggage convey or belt trucks that were driving around the airport grounds where there were three people to each truck on stretchers with medical assistance standing over them with IVs. Those were some of the most critical patients that were essentially in intensive care units in the hospitals when everything started to fall apart in the city. Those are the most critical patients.
We understand many of those people. It's hard to give you a figure, I wish I could. It's been virtually impossible to get an idea of how many people we're talking about that might have died just in the aftermath of this storm because they were already in intensive care unit. These field hospitals are by no means equipped to be able to continue providing the kind of medical attention that intensive care units are designed to provide. We saw more of those yesterday. We've seen less today, a lot of these people walking under their own power.
PHILLIPS: We've been hearing some incredible stories of survival. As we watch these individuals, just Ed grabbing whatever they could. Throwing stuff in thrash bags, and bringing whatever they were allowed to bring. Its just heart wrenching when you see this might be just all that they have left. As you meet them, talk to them and hear about their stories, does anything stand out to this point? Just yesterday I was talking to somebody in New Orleans, they said this woman was nine months pregnant, and she had to jump out into the water, she had to give birth right there on the side of her apartment complex. I mean it is just amazing what people are doing in this will to survive.
LAVENDERA: We saw a woman who was being pulled off a Coast Guard helicopter late yesterday afternoon who we were told was in labor as she was being shuttled inside the airport terminal. There was another story of a woman who had just gone through a kidney transplant. You can imagine the kind of medical attention you need if conditions are 100 percent. If you've just gone through a kidney transplant, this is the worst place you could possibly be. But this is the reality, they have to get them true here to get them to other hospitals in other parts of the country that can given them the attention they need.
Of course those that were in the most critical condition were the ones that got the most attention. We have seen people rolled by in body bags, if you will, pardon me for being so graphic, that's the reality of what we've seen here. We know that inside the terminal, other people have passed away. I talked to a nurse yesterday who told me that at some point they had to start deciding, who they were going to, quote, black tag, who they were going to set aside so they could use their resources on helping others that would be able to survive. Those are the kind of decisions that many of these field medical technicians are having to make this afternoon.
PHILLIPS: Now I think you as you look at the picture of the survivors, which it's fantastic. Ed, we got to hear about body bags too. Because I don't think we have any idea at this point how staggering that number would be for those who lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina, no doubt. We need to continue to follow both sides of that story.
Ed we are going take a quick break Ed. We'll come back to you though, our Ed Lavandera live at Louis Armstrong Airport. It is sort of a field hospital that has been set up there. Meanwhile you see all the helicopters, military and private, working as hard as they can to get the elderly, to get the children, and to get the families inside of New Orleans, out of those flood ravished areas to this area here at the hospital.
Just imagine being part of this flight crew right here, having to just look at these individuals like this elderly man in the eye and say don't worry, it's OK, we're getting you to a safe place as soon as we can. We're going to take a quick break. We got a lot more for you of course as we continue to follow the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Bring you live success stories right now. And as you know finally, troops on the ground in New Orleans with food and water. We'll tell you more about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: As we continue to follow the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. This just in to CNN. We're talking about a major oil spill spotted near tanks on the Mississippi. This is what we know so far. Evidently a huge oil spill was spotted near two storage tanks right on the Mississippi River down stream actually from New Orleans, the oil was seen in a flyover actually to the Venus area by the Department of Environmental Quality.
Two tanks this is what one official says is that two tanks with the capacity of holding two million barrels appear to be leaking. No further details were given. Now you can just imagine the economic and environmental outcome of that amount of oil spilling into the Mississippi. This just coming into us via the Associated Press. We will continue to follow up and let you know more as we get it.
Meanwhile, we want to stay in New Orleans right now, we want to take you actually to Canal Street, one of the main roads there, in downtown New Orleans, not far from the French Quarter, not far from the central business district, and our Nic Robertson who yes usually see in Iraq over seas covering the war on terrorism has come to New Orleans, Louisiana. And joins us by video phone now there on Canal. Nic, quite a switch for you.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via videophone): Quite a switch, Kyra, what we've seen while we've been driving into the city today, some big highways people used to see in New Orleans, completely deserted. We see fires, about three or four fires spreading out from the business district. In fact the business district is just over in this direction here. You might be able to see that fire coming up from a building there.
What we've seen in the downtown area, however -- down here in the center of New Orleans -- is a lot of police presence. We've seen DEA agents, armed in a bullet proof vehicle riding on the back of that truck through the center of the city, we've seen military police, we've seen army soldiers on the back of big trucks, we've seen police walking the streets with rifles. We've also seen them moving along some of the people that have been walking on the streets, right before the shops just here, there were people walking, looking in these shops wondering whether they should go in. The armed police came along, moved them away.
We've been seeing a lot are these helicopters going over. We've been able to see 10 helicopters flying low over the city but the overall impression that we have here, a number of fires burning out of control, three or four in the business district, others in other areas, and a lot of security presence in the center of the city.
Perhaps some of the people you might be able to see, some people gathering at a casino back up Canal Street behind me there, people sort of gathering there wondering what to do. But the people we do see walking around, looking quite dehydrated a little disoriented, wondering what to do with themselves next. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Now, Nic, not far from you on Canal Street is the Convention Center of course where General Russel Honore is with all the men and women, the troops that have been brought in with water and food and various supplies. Do you get a sense, because that area where you are right now was just incredibly chaotic within the past couple of days, do you get a sense it's calming down more with regard to the looting and with regard to the people that basically wondering what they were going to do? Because so many of those people from Canal Street moved down to the Convention Center.
ROBERTSON: Well, Kyra, there's still a lot of people. I don't know if you can hear me, there are still a lot of people walking down the street. While we've been driving into the city, we haven't seen a lot of looting. Some people wandering down the back streets, wondering where they're going next. But the security presence that we've seen is deterring any further outbreaks of looting at this time. Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Nic Robertson there in downtown New Orleans right there on Canal Street. Thank you so much. Now we want to take you back to those live pictures at Louis Armstrong Airport. The busses, is this still the airport Mike?
OK. This is just another camera, another shot. OK, these are actually -- before, we saw the helicopters airlifting victims from inside New Orleans and bringing them to this field hospital at Louis Armstrong Airport.
Now you're starting to see those buses that had come into the city earlier today. You saw them, a part of the caravan that Lieutenant General Russel Honore is leading. These buses came in, picked up these families. These are actually doctors and their patients from Tulane Hospital. They had been stuck in Tulane Hospital since Monday.
And now, you know, a lot of people have been asking about how do you prioritize, how do you know who get first and who to bring into this hospital first. Well, you can just imagine these families holed up with loved ones and friends in this hospital with their doctors since Monday, finally getting out of there and getting to this field hospital.
Ed Lavandera there live. Ed, what can you tell us about these families and their doctors and do they have what they need at this field hospital?
LAVANDERA: Well, they're actually in pretty good shape, these folks. I've talked to some doctors who have been holed up in Tulane Hospital and they have finally completely evacuated that hospital today. The last helicopters with people being taken out of there arrived here about two or three hours ago. These people had been inside the Tulane Hospital since just before the storm hit. And many of these doctors and nurses chose to stay behind with their patients. And it is an incredible ordeal that these people have been through the last four of five days. Tulane Hospital, for those of you who don't know, is just near the French Quarter on Canal Street. And they have been holed up -- they were fortunate enough, because they have been eating the food from the hospital cafeteria, and they've been able to ration through that over the last couple of days to make it through.
The entire hospital is surrounded by five or six feet of water, so moving critically ill patients was virtually impossible. They figured out a way to get into a parking garage right next to the building so they wouldn't have to go through water. And they cleaned up the top of the parking garage and used it as a helicopter pad. And that's what they've been using to evacuate people for the last four or five days.
And, obviously, they've gotten the most -- the most -- those in most need, they've gotten out. These folks are the ones who are probably the most healthy. And they say they've been able to manage it. What every one of these people have told me, though, in the last couple of hours is that what they're most concerned about are their colleagues and other patients who are -- and for those of you familiar with New Orleans, you'll know what I'm talking about. There's Mercy Hospital and University Hospital, which apparently are close by but are also surrounded by water, as well. And they are unable to get those people out of there.
There's also some concern there isn't a garage, or that it's a very difficult place for helicopters to land, from what they told me. So their concern is to exactly how they're going to get those out there. But these folks definitely wanted the word out that there are still people in those hospitals who desperately need help.
PHILLIPS: So basically, did they have to leave behind the patients that are in more of dire situation because they can't transport them, Ed, because, obviously, they're hooked up to various medications and machines?
LAVANDERA: Well, no, no, no. The ones that were in most critical condition in Tulane Hospital, those they have been able to get out over the last couple of days. Those have been brought out -- were brought out in the initial wave. So this was the last wave of people finally being cleared out. The police force -- the hospital's police force stayed behind. I think they told me it was about a force of about six or seven officers that stayed behind. And they were on the last helicopter out.
They basically had to guard the hospital from looters and other people trying to break into the hospital. They -- one of doctors told me that over the last couple of days, they've had to move people from floor to floor to kind of escape all the different dangerous situations that they've encountered. But the key was to get to the parking garage so they get to the top of it and start getting people by helicopter. PHILLIPS: Wow. Our Ed Lavandera there at Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans. You're looking at doctors and nurses that didn't want to leave their patients. And they had been in Tulane Hospital since hospital since Monday. Now, those buses that came in in that convoy that we saw earlier toady were able to get in there, get them out of the hospital, and bring them to this makeshift field hospital at the airport.
You know, a number of our reporters couldn't stay in various areas because of security reasons. They had to move out and around. And now some of them are working their way back in to certain parts of these devastated areas. But, you know, initially, when this all started, we had all our meteorologists, of course, tracking this storm that became a deadly hurricane.
Rob Marciano is one of our meteorologists who was doing that from the beginning, and then, once things started getting pretty hairy, well, he was back -- he actually went off to Mississippi.
And as we continue to watch these live pictures of these folks coming in in New Orleans, rob, why don't you just kind of take us back to Mississippi before seeing what we're seeing now. I mean, did you have any idea, as you were tracking this storm, that it would end up being like this?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, he had heard all the doomsday scenarios in New Orleans. And as a meteorologist, we know the scenario and we know what could possibly happen. And it doesn't necessarily have to be a direct hit. And obviously, this was to the east, but in some cases, it was worse because you got that wind blowing against that levee and that caused the levee to break.
So we knew the potential was there. And the folks who live in New Orleans knew the potential was there. So we were just hoping that that wouldn't happen now. In Biloxi, it was a different scenario. You had that huge storm surge coming on shore. So it was more of a -- came in in a six to ten hour period and receded. So these are pictures of some of the casinos. Hard Rock Cafe, by the way, was scheduled to open just two nights ago. Obviously, that's not going to happen.
I mean, it looks -- in some spots, it looks like a nuclear bomb went off. And I wasn't over there at the tsunamis, but this, from what experienced, looked pretty darn close to the tsunami. And essentially, across the southwest coast onto Mississippi, that's what it was. It was a 20 to 25 and in some cases 30-foot wall of water that was pushed up over a six hour time frame, taking everything in its path with it. I'm impressed with how many taller structures were left standing with their first two or three floors completely blown out. So what we experienced in Biloxi was different in the sense that the water was just so powerful and got out.
But what I see now, Kyra, now that I'm back and seeing the pictures out of New Orleans, it's shocking but not necessarily surprising. Because on a human front, the human toll of this disaster, you start to see the people go from civilized humans and then start to descend into their animal instincts. When they're in the blazing hot sun, which you can't sense from here -- it is so hot there, and there's no escaping it. Obviously, no electricity, barely any shade. And these people are without food and water.
At one point, one of our truck operators was -- as night fell, was being surrounded by folks eying the gas tanks on top of his truck. One guy shouting out, I'll given you $30 for one gallon of gas. So it doesn't surprise me these stories out of New Orleans of people doing some desperate things to get the things they need to survive.
PHILLIPS: So was there a point where you were concerned about your security?
LAVANDERA: Yes, but there's safety in numbers. So, I mean -- actually, in that instance, when night did fall, we lit up every light we could possibly have, almost like lighting a fire in the wild, you know, to try to keep the animals away. It was a disturbing feeling. And now that I see what's happening in New Orleans, I'm just happy that there are now troops getting in there to restore some water.
PHILLIPS: Rob Marciano, thank you so much.
MARCIANO: Sure.
PHILLIPS: Well, I know many of you at home are wondering what you can do to help. We've been getting so many calls and e-mails. And you can help. The phone numbers are on your screen for the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Grab a pen or pencil, jot these down. There's also other reputable charities that you can find information on on CNN.com. And be careful, because there are a lot of fraudulent charities out there right now. You've got to be really careful who you give money to and who you decide to donate to.
And for more information ways that you can help, you can also tune in to CNN tomorrow at 8:00. An all-star line-up joins "LARRY KING LIVE" for a special three-hour edition. "How You Can Help." That's tomorrow, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.
Our coverage continues right after a break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LAURA BUSH, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: And thank you all for coming out. You're going to give me a chance to say, to let people know around the country really, that some things are working very, very well in Louisiana, and certainly this center is one of them, as you can see. There are over 6,000 people here from New Orleans, nearly all of them from New Orleans, who have come up. They're being taken care of. Their needs are being met.
The people of this part of the United States, the Lafayette area of Louisiana, are very, very warm people. They've opened their hearts, and many of them have opened their homes as well to people from New Orleans, family members and strangers.
BUSH: And so I think what you're seeing is how a city can pull itself together and do all of these things and provide for all of these people who are here -- the ones who are here in this center -- as well as many other people who are staying with families in Lafayette.
And so I want to thank you very much, Congressman.
I want to thank the mayor.
I want to thank all the Red Cross volunteers who are here. I visited with them earlier. They've come in from around the country.
There are people, local Red Cross volunteers, as well as people from around the country.
And I want to urge people who want to volunteer and who have the ability to be able to come to Louisiana, or any of the Gulf Coast states that were affected and volunteer, to try to do that.
If you can't do it this week, there will be next week and the next week. And it's going to go on for a long time.
So we want to make sure that volunteers continue all through the months that it's going to take to let people be able to get back into their own homes and back into their own city.
They're registering children for school here. They're actually in this center -- you can register for school, and the children from New Orleans who will go to the Lafayette schools will start on Wednesday.
So I think that's very important.
It's very important to get your children in school. It gives children a sense of normalcy.
And so I want to urge people, wherever you are around the country, if you've left New Orleans or left any of the affected areas on the Gulf Coast, to go ahead and enroll your children in school. It's very important for them.
I heard a great story about a little boy from New Orleans who went to school today at a Texas school district. He was in high school, but he was sort of thin and small, and two great big football players sort of adopted him and are walking him around the campus and welcoming him to their school.
So I know school districts everywhere will be welcoming.
I want to thank the people of Texas and Houston and Dallas and San Antonio that have opened their big arenas like this to take in -- take people in, the people who've been displaced because of the storm.
And those school districts are also opening up.
So it's really important for parents to keep their -- let their kids keep going to school, get them in school, don't let them get behind and also give them a sense of normalcy for their day.
I think this is a really wonderful example of what happens when a community comes together, the logistics even that a community has to put together to try to have this little city within a city -- over 6,000 people here in one place -- to meet their needs, their needs for hygiene, their needs for food, obviously, and water, and then a safe place for people to be is really, really amazing, those logistics are.
And I want to congratulate the people of Lafayette for being able to do this in such a very quick and such a humane way of really helping people, not just giving them the basic needs, but also trying to give them the emotional support they need right now at such a very difficult time in their lives.
So thank you, Congressman, and thank you everybody else.
QUESTION: I'm just wondering in the aftermath for families, what is your sense of how long they can live like this with no...
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Well, many of the families that I met, or some of them who told me their stories, were literally stuck on a bridge or something like that. Some little girls here lost their mother. One mother I just met lost one of her children.
And they're glad to be here. They're glad to be in a safe space. They're glad to be where their basic needs are met. And they know, like everybody else does, that it will be a long time.
I think people would like to get to work. I think they would -- just like children going to school, a lot of these people would like to be able to go to work to give them both something to do during the day, as well as some money to live on while they're here.
BUSH: And I know that the Lafayette business community is working as hard as they can to try to match people with jobs, match skills with jobs so that people can go to work.
I've heard already from some people that they're ready to get to work; they want to have a normal life -- and both work and school give adults and children a chance to have a normal life.
QUESTION: Do you feel that the response has been adequate so far, Mrs. Bush? Do you feel the response has been adequate for people who are dying in New Orleans?
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Well, I mean that -- I mean, I think that is a serious, serious problem. And we're seeing that all on television.
I will say: The response is more than adequate here to these people that were able to get out. And I think that will be the case as the people who were evacuated reach these different centers in other Louisiana cities, other Gulf Coast cities, as well as Texas. QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... it's going to take a lot of money.
BUSH: It's going to take a lot of money, and it's going to take a lot of hard work and it's going to take a lot of fortitude.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... come from?
BUSH: Well, it'll come from the federal government, it will come from businesses, it'll come from a variety of places.
I don't know if you all know, but a number of countries have offered aid, direct aid to the United States, which is sort of a change for us -- we always think we're the ones giving the aid.
But I think it's very -- I'm really pleased. I think it's very, very sweet. The sister cities of Lafayette -- all the European and Asian sister cities of Lafayette -- all have already contacted the mayor. They want to help in whatever way they can here.
And so there is a huge outpouring. A lot of people have already made donations to the Red Cross or the Salvation Army or other charities that are working in the area.
And that's very important. We need to keep those donations up. People need to continue to donate just like they need to continue to volunteer.
QUESTION: Is this the only place you're visiting?
BUSH: Today, this is the only place. I just came straight to Lafayette.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
BUSH: Well, one thing I have to take back is that this doesn't really look like what we're seeing on television.
And I'm proud of the people here. I'm proud of the people who are having to live here like this, whose lives are in shatters around them.
BUSH: They've lost loved ones. They've lost their homes. They have no idea whether their homes are even standing. And still they are patient and they are -- the nurses and the doctors tell me they thank them. The Red Cross volunteers tell me that these people thank them -- say that to them, say thank you for helping me.
This is just a very, very good example of what we want for all the people who are being evacuated out of any of the affected Gulf Coast areas.
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Well, no, I mean -- you know, we thought there were 25,000 or whatever in the Superdome and then, of course, more and more people have shown up.
But, no, I'm not surprised. I mean, you know that people are caught in various situations. They might be on their roof. They might be on a bridge. They might be under a bridge. I'm not surprised.
But I am very happy to know that so many cities are willing to take the people who evacuate and willing to try to work them into their lives, and that's really what Lafayette has done -- to work them into their own economies, try at some point -- each of these communities who have taken people, evacuated, will try to help people find housing, temporary housing or apartments or whatever, as well as jobs, and I think that's really, really important.
Over the next few months, before people can go back home, people need to be able to have a job, they need to try to find some sort of housing. And, of course, these can be available for months, but people are going to want to get into their own apartments.
QUESTION: You mentioned the television coverage. I'm wondering if you can say what you think it does to the United States' image in the world to see these images of New Orleans, overwhelmingly black people who are still trapped, many of them poor, who could not get out (inaudible) requirements, but simply couldn't get out.
QUESTION: What image does it show to the world that nine out of 10 of them are minorities...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: ... they are minorities that are still trapped and it looks like -- from evacuees that we've spoken to, it looks like the Third World here in the United States.
BUSH: Well, you know, this is what happens when there's a national disaster of this scope.
And every country that has suffered their own natural disaster, the tsunami countries, for instance, know this is what happens. And people are displaced, they're scared, they're frustrated, they have lost loved ones. They're in grief. They're in grief for their whole life.
Even if you didn't lose a family member that you loved, you've lost your life as you know it. And, of course, I think people understand that.
I think, in many ways, it's human. This is a human reaction to a terrible, terrible disaster. And it won't be permanent.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: It looks that way on TV. It looks that way. It gives the appearance, because so many of the faces are...
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: No, I don't think that. I don't believe that at all.
I don't think that...
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: Not enough, not enough...
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: You know, I think what happened is what always happens in this kind of disaster.
This is probably the largest disaster our country has ever had -- natural disaster we've ever had.
And when you have that many people displaced out of their homes, when you have that big of an area flooded where people can't go back into it -- you know, it's not like a hurricane where the water washes in and washes out, you know, it's still standing there.
Then that's what you see. That's just what happens in this terrible of a disaster.
And the fact is many times, as we know from watching tornado coverage or any other natural disaster coverage, the poor people usually are in the neighborhoods that are the lowest or the most exposed or the most vulnerable. Their housing is the most vulnerable to a natural disaster. And that's just always what happens.
(CROSSTALK)
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)
BUSH: Well, I know that the federal government is doing every single thing they possibly can.
BUSH: But the president said today, I think, that he -- and I was not with him this morning, I came over from Texas -- said that, you know, it's not adequate, this response is not an adequate response, this is not the kind of response the federal government wants.
We know that we can do it better and that we can get it better, and that's what every single person, not just the federal government, but the local governments everywhere are working on; and not just the local government in the affected areas, but governments, local governments a long way away.
Pittsburgh, I think, called the mayor today, and Youngstown, Ohio, is sending trucks of things.
You know, people want to help in whatever way they can.
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Bye.
Thank you all so much. Thank you for coming out.
And I hope you really will get the story out of what happens when a community like Lafayette comes together and how these people are being taken care of.
Bad things are not going on here, and I think that's really important for people to know and to see.
Bye. Thank you all.
PHILLIPS: First Lady Laura Bush there holding a last minute impromptu news conference with reporters as she is touring the Cajun Dome there. It's been set up, of course, for hurricane victims to live and to eat and receive shelter there in Lafayette, Louisiana.
One of the interesting things the first lady said, besides the fact that these individuals were getting all their needs taken care of, is that the kids are actually going to start going to school in Lafayette. So the kids that came with the families are going to be able to integrate with the schools there and start school, believe it or not, next week.
Well, another sort of last minute surprise, we found out that three individuals who were able to get out of New Orleans, they're here in Atlanta now. They evacuated their homes after the water rose. They are from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are in the Atlanta Red Cross shelter right now.
And I know you all came in via C-130. Carol and John, you're brother and sister. And you just met Williams for the first time, right? But, boy, you guys are sure sharing in the same story over the past couple of days.
I want to get what happened to each one of you. So, maybe we can start with you, William. And tell me what happened. And -- well, first of all, you didn't evacuate. You decided to stay in New Orleans, is that right?
WILLIAM HALES, EVACUEE: Well, I tried to evacuate. I got blocked off from getting out.
PHILLIPS: How did you get blocked?
HALES: Well, they closed the highway. I was headed north, so I decided to go back home.
PHILLIPS: Wow. So, you went back home. Tell me what happened? HALES: I went back home. And after we went back home, well, the water started coming inside. And when it got knee deep, I decided to go up in the attic. And I had my daughter, my brother, and my mother and a dog.
PHILLIPS: Are they all OK?
HALES: They're all OK. And they are with me here in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: How did you all get out?
HALES: We got out through the roof. I cut a hole through the roof. And we went out to the roof after the policemen came on a boat to pick us up. And they took us to one of those bridges there. And we spent the night under the bridge.
And after the night under the bridge, we left that next day, Thursday, which was about in the afternoon. And they took us to the airport. And that's when we left from the airport to Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
And, Carol, you and your brother, John, were living in the same home, right? Tell me what happened, Carol.
CAROL HAMM, EVACUEE: Let's put it this way, we decide today stay because my father wanted to stay. We've been living in this home 33 years in November. And he just didn't want to leave. And I couldn't leave my father behind.
And once the water started coming in -- and believe me, this is a funny story -- I started seeing a snake or a fish. Before I got fish out, both waters from the back door and front door just rushed in, I jumped about a foot to my husband, because I can't swim.
PHILLIPS: Wow!
C. HAMM: I was afraid I was going to drown.
PHILLIPS: And what happened at that point?
C. HAMM: We went out -- we all gathered up into the attic. Myself, my brother, my husband, my son, my daughter-in-law and my father. We all went up into the attic, cut a hole, and got up and rescued by some neighboring fishermen with their boats.
PHILLIPS: And Williams, you said all of you got out. Did you and John get out with your husband and your...
C. HAMM: My husband stayed up until, I think it was Tuesday, or Wednesday? I can't remember exactly when my husband decided to join us, but he stayed behind because we had four dogs, and he wanted to stay behind and watch over them. And he did try to -- wanted to stay to take care of them and watch out over the house for looters.
PHILLIPS: Have you been able to find your husband? C. HAMM: No, we were separated. We ended up from the shelter that we were at, we left that shelter on a barge. And we were all together.
My father had an injury, back injury. I went with him. And my brother followed after -- us -- after we left. And where my husband, and my son, and my daughter-in-law, I have no clue. I'm hoping they're with my father in Baton Rouge.
PHILLIPS: Did you help your sister and everyone else got out?
JOHN BOZES, EVACUEE: Actually it was a 2 1/2-year-old lab that alerted me. And before I could really holler, everybody out, we're going under, the doors, including the ceiling -- the water just crashes in. I got trapped. And I threw her over, over a refrigerator, to get -- so she wouldn't get hurt.
And I had a choice, leave my medication behind or get crushed between the refrigerator and brick wall. So I just dropped everything and I jumped over. I was with -- I'm St. Bernard officer of emergency preparedness for 28 years, I never thought I would ever see this.
PHILLIPS: As we continue our conversation, I want to point out the president of the United States arriving now in New Orleans, Louisiana. You started out, of course, in Alabama. You can actually see him side by side there with -- it looks like the general of the National Guard, that looks like General Bloon there standing next to him. Along with other officials in New Orleans. I'll try and figure out who -- I believe the mayor might be in that mix. Is that right? You guys probably recognize him much better than I do.
BOZES: Yes. That's right.
PHILLIPS: Well, let me ask the three of you, did you feel that you had enough warning?
BOZES: There's never enough warning. You know, 70 hours, you know, it's hard. It's hard to actually evacuate a huge city in -- and then you have three parishes. Then you've got a river that divides them. It's hard.
Down where we lived, down in lower St. Bernard, people lived down there all their lives. They've never ran from a hurricane. They were down there for Betsy, Camille, they never left.
PHILLIPS: William, did you ever leave -- did you ever think it would be this bad?
HALES: No. I never thought it would be this bad. I was there in Betsy, and water never got in my house before. This was the first time.
PHILLIPS: Well, I tell you what, Williams and Carol and John, I know you're going to be hear in Atlanta for awhile. We want to stay in touch with you. And maybe we can get some pictures from you, possibly Carol. We can try and track down your husband, your son, get in touch with your sister. And same thing with you, to.
HALES: Could I mention who I want to get in touch with now?
PHILLIPS: Sure. Do you want to quickly mention that? We've got to get to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM," but if you want say the names real quickly.
HALES: OK. I would like to get in touch with my sister, Dorothy Mcfarland (ph) and my friend Rose Butler (ph) and my niece Cabrina Hales (ph) and my son Eric Hales (ph).
PHILLIPS: All right. We will -- go ahead, real quickly Carol.
HAMM: I just want to say, I know my sister was the smartest one and evacuated. I haven't -- I've been trying to get in touch with my niece on her cell phone unsuccessfully, get in contact. I want to say I love you and we're all alive. We've made it out alive. I love you all.
PHILLIPS: Stay in touch with you guys. Thank you so much. We want to take you straight now into "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Wolf Blitzer.
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