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Police from Across Country Aid New Orleans; Biloxi Casinos Vow to Rebuild; Crowds Form to Get Red Cross Debit Cards; Survivors Search for Family Members

Aired September 08, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARDY JACKSON, HURRICANE SURVIVOR: I held her hand as tight as I could. And she told me, "You can't hold me." She said, "Take care of the kids and the grandkids."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: One man's sorrow in the storm. This hour, what's happened to Hardy Jackson and his family since Katrina ripped away his wife.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. CNN's LIVE FROM starts right now.

Well, every day gets a little better. Ten days after Katrina, nine days after New Orleans was swallowed whole, an upbeat assessment from that city's overstretched, overstressed police department.

Again today, police, soldiers, Coast Guard and National Guard troops are trying to rescue flood victims who want to leave and persuade those who don't. Again today, they're putting off the prospect of forcing out the holdouts.

Some troops are on cleanup detail in parts of New Orleans the flood never touched. And still other from the Texas National Guard are tasked with purifying drinking water.

As for all that nondrinkable water, 23 of New Orleans' 148 drainage pumps are now up and running, up from four days (ph) this time yesterday. In hard-hit St. Bernard Parish, where engineers estimate 80 days to drain the streets entirely, water levels have gone down five feet.

More aid, more comfort pouring into the region, today in the form of dozens and dozens of military chaplains. And monetary aid, almost $52 billion worth, is almost surely coming soon from the U.S. Treasury.

Congress is taking up President Bush's second emergency funding request in a week, while his budget director warns that substantially more will be required in weeks to come.

Well, the vice president and U.S. attorney general are on the ground in Mississippi this hour. As Mr. Bush has done twice so far and will likely do again, Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales will see the damage, get a sit rep from victims, officials, first responders and take a few questions from reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the president asked me to come down, to take a look at things, to begin to focus on the longer term in terms of making certain, obviously, that we're getting the search and rescue mission done and all the other immediate problems. But we've also got longer-term problems that we need to focus on, from a policy standpoint. That's the main reason I'm here today. Let me also say...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the group will visit New Orleans and Baton Rouge later this afternoon.

Mission critical in metro New Orleans. Evacuations still only voluntary. Estimate of civilians still in the city range as high as 15,000.

De-watering, a term most of us never heard before Katrina, picking up steam as more of New Orleans' giant pumps are revived. The falling water has helped expose the dead, though even a semi accurate count is still days or weeks away. We do know that 25,000 body bags have arrived in Louisiana's health department.

CNN's Karl Penhaul is following all these developments at a makeshift police headquarters on Canal Street. Give us an update there, Karl.

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, well, we are outside the makeshift police station. It's very difficult to show you exactly what's going on. There are so many vehicles around here, a lot of them civilian vehicles, because a lot of the police officers and other law enforcement officials, have arrived here from other states across the nation.

We've talked to SWAT teams this morning from out of state who are sleeping in their vehicles. There's U.S. Border Patrol here. We've seen some DEA and FBI. And they're all kind of doing the same thing. What they do do is come here first thing in the morning, pick up their orders from the police superintendent. He will task them to do certain things. And off they will go.

Very little cell phone communication, very little radio communication. So it makes this whole task of coordinating all these different law enforcement agencies, some from the state, some out of state, extremely difficult.

But so far in terms of the tasks they are doing, no sign yet of those forced evacuations. To date, all there have been are voluntary evacuations. The police are still saying, "Yes, we are going to get around to those forced evacuations." But they haven't given any time lines, and they haven't given any details of how they're going to go about it.

Some of the agents here, the law enforcement agents, feeling a little uncomfortable how they'll go about it. The measure certainly stirring a lot of controversy, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Correct. Karl, can you still hear me, OK? I'm sorry, I had some information come in to me in my ear. I'm assuming that we're still connected.

And I was listening to what you were saying about those forced evacuations. At the same time I was being told we just got in some new pictures right now. We're looking at metro New Orleans here, via helicopter. And you can see sort of some of the dryer areas. And also, still some of the areas still submerged in water.

And I want to get to those water levels in just a second. As we're looking at the freeway and part of Metairie here, through this helicopter camera.

But I want to ask you about the police power right now, Karl. I finally have had a chance to talk to a number of my friends from the NOPD that stayed in the city and continued this fight and didn't leave that city. And of course, they said it was hell on earth. But they managed to survive.

They told me a lot of officers had left. They had no choice, because of family and friends that they felt that they needed to get out of there. Also, a lot of them just weren't ready for the task. But a lot of them now coming back.

What would you assess with regard to numbers? How many NOPD do you think are still in the area? According to my -- according to my friends, they think close to 1,000 still there in New Orleans, working this disaster.

PENHAUL: That's about the figure we're hearing on the ground, Kyra. About 1,000 or 1,200 NOPD officers still working here on the ground. And about 500 missing in action, if you want to use that term.

Some of them, sadly, may have died, along with some of the other flood victims. Some may still be in those pockets where they haven't been evacuated yet. And some may have seen that the family needs came first and left as evacuees with their families. Others may also have been under stress by the situation and simply chosen to leave.

But we're told about 1,200 NOPD active here on the ground. And that's been backed by state troopers and troopers from out of state, as well as all these hundreds of other law enforcement officials, as well, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Karl. We're getting, again, these fresh pictures in, via the helicopter camera. And it's one of the intersections. It looks like Metairie to me. I'm not exactly sure. But you know, part of the I-10 there, submerged, still, in water. You see the boats traveling through. Definitely showing the high water levels.

But what do you know about certain areas that are getting better? I know you were telling me there were some neighborhoods, there were some parishes, where the water was dropping significantly.

PENHAUL: Even in St. Bernard's Parish, and just over the last few moment, St. Bernard's Parish was very heavily flooded. But even in the last few moments, officials are telling us that the water levels there in recent hours have dropped by as much as five feet. So it does seem that the water levels are most definitely receding.

Still about two-thirds of the city is under water. But the levels are dropping, dropping, dropping. Some of the pumps are pumping the water out. Other water is just draining off elsewhere or evaporating. So it looks like things are moving in the right direction. But again, officials are urging caution, saying it could take up to 80 days before all the water's gone, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Just an incredible task. Karl Penhaul, thank you so much, as we continue to look at these pictures, these live pictures, still coming in from metro New Orleans.

You can see, from the New Orleans Police Department, to other agencies, from the boats, to the air, to on foot, just working these areas, trying to still -- believe it or not -- look for survivors and also recover the dead bodies.

Right now, you can see them coming under the underpass here of I- 10. You can see the boats, and you can see the rescue teams here, through these new live pictures we're getting in.

We also want to remind you that the president of the United States is expected to speak in the 2 p.m. Eastern hour. That will be coming straight from Washington, D.C. Once the president begins speaking, we will take that live.

Well, "Mission Critical" Mississippi. FEMA is sending more than 100,000 trailers for temporary housing, while the governor promises that every home and business cut off from power but capable of being reconnected will be by Sunday.

As we continue to follow these live pictures out of New Orleans, we don't want to forget about Mississippi. And Mississippi's timber industry also. It's teetering, with $1.2 billion in estimated storm related losses. And the chips are down for Mississippi gaming concerns, as well.

Though reconstruction is said to be already under way at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi.

CNN's Allan Chernoff is there, bringing us more.

Well, that is good news because those casinos bring in so much money to the economy there, Allan. And I want to let you know, as we're talking about Mississippi, we want to continue to tell our viewers that we're watching these new live pictures coming in from New Orleans, as the NOPD and other search and rescue teams continue to look for bodies and, of course, survivors.

Go ahead, Allan, from Biloxi there.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll fill you in on the casino situation. Not only the Beau Rivage but most of the casinos have pledged that they are going to be rebuilding. And not only that, they're going to put some of their employees to work doing the construction.

The casino companies, by and large, have promised their employees that they'll keep paying them for 90 days, which is a huge relief. As you mentioned, the casino industry is very important here to the economy. In fact, it provides 10 percent of the state's budget. So really important for tax revenues, for jobs, almost every aspect of this very depressed portion of a relatively depressed state.

As you can see behind me, people in this state are also getting a lot of help. The vice president a little while ago was referring to the first responders.

We've got people here from the Salvation Army, people from Papa John's Pizza. They've given out more than 12,000 pizzas over the past few days, just here in Biloxi. They're taking volunteer sign-ins over here from the Salvation Army. I personally met people who have driven hundred of miles here to help try to rebuild some of the homes.

And the folks from FEMA certainly have been on the job in terms of doing search and rescue. They've been going through the homes, through the entire neighborhood, searching to see if anybody is remaining in some of these homes, or if there are bodies in the homes, as well. They've been going through the home, putting red marks, an "x," having looked at the home, a zero if there are no bodies, or if there are, they put the number on the home.

So a very intense operation here by FEMA. But the complaint that the residents do have has to do with finances. Because FEMA has been talking about providing $2,000 in emergency assistance to people who need it. But the folks here who have been trying to contact FEMA say they've had a very different experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATRINA ROBINSON, BILOXI RESIDENT: I called them and they told me to call back in 14 days. Don't call back until 14 days.

CHERNOFF: Fourteen days?

ROBINSON: Yes. And I told them, well, might not be there. She said, "You've got to have an address."

EDWARD FARLEY, BILOXI RESIDENT: They told us that basically they will get back in touch with us. They'll send us a package. Somebody will be, you know, coming out, contacting us. And we told them we didn't have a phone, we didn't have mail. So how was they going to contact us?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHERNOFF: So the folks here certainly are getting some immediate assistance. They're getting fed here on the spot. But lots of worries about their financial future -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Yes, I think that all across the three states, definitely a lot of concern about that. Allan Chernoff, thank you so much there, from Biloxi, Mississippi.

Well, right now, we want to check in also at the Houston Astrodome, where the prospect of getting a $2,000 debit card has drawn thousands of Hurricane Katrina survivors and for a short time sparked a bit of a security lockdown.

CNN's Betty Nguyen has the latest from there -- Betty.

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/HOST: Yes, Kyra, we're still under lockdown here. Earlier, we thought the gates were opening so folks can come in. That was just temporary. Because as you can see behind me, the gates are once again closed. Evacuees who have been locked out are not being let in. We're told the only people let into this Reliant Park are medical emergency personnel.

Now this lockdown, we understand, is the result of crowd control. These crowds are gathering to get their hands on this, the American Red Cross debit card.

Now the American Red Cross is offering somewhere between $350, up to $2,000, per family. But you have to show up, prove that you're from one of the areas that were hit hard by the hurricane and the size of your family and you can get your hands on one of these.

But several people have come here today looking to find information on how they can get one of these debit cards, and it is creating a lot chaos. Long lines have formed. People who have already signed up for these cards and actually have an appointment. Also folks who have just heard wind of it are coming here to try to get on that list.

So people have been out here since 5 a.m. local time, what, about seven hours now. Many standing in the hot sun out here to try to get their hands on these debit cards.

But we are understanding that the process is starting to go. We're seeing that the lines are moving. While not extremely fast, they are moving. And once people get inside the Reliant Center, we understand these debit cards are being passed out today.

Now, here's one more thing about these debit cards. Once families do get their hands on them, they're not going to be available just as of yet. We understand it takes about 12 hours for these things to go online and the money to be readily available.

Here's another thing that we want to tell you about, as well. FEMA has just told us that its debit card, the $2,000 that it's offering for families, that is not going to be available for a few more days.

So they want that information out there so people don't get confused and they come up here looking to get both the FEMA card and the Red Cross debit cards, because there are two different cards that are being offered.

Again, Kyra, there's a lot of confusion about it. But folks are starting to get the information and the lines are moving.

PHILLIPS: So a couple questions for you. But real quickly about the cards. So you're not obviously allowed to get both. It's either one or the other, is that right?

NGUYEN: You know, it's really not understood. But I assume -- again, I shouldn't be assuming. I don't want to speculate here. But from what we are told, you can get a Red Cross card and a FEMA card, as long as you qualify. Now what it takes to qualify, that I don't know at this point. But two cards are being made available. And it all depends on the qualifications.

PHILLIPS: OK. Yesterday, our buddy Sidney Pierre, who you had that amazing live shot with, and he had his cell phone finally, and started getting all these calls. What's the latest? Has he found everybody?

NGUYEN: Well, you know, we spoke with Sidney a couple times today. And we were just hoping that he would have found his two daughters. He was looking for his two daughters. And unfortunately, he has not found them as of yet.

But I have to tell you, Kyra, because of our live shot yesterday, he has gotten so many phone calls and just hopefully one of those phone calls will lead to his two daughters.

But I can tell you -- we did speak with another gentleman who did find his daughter because of our live shot. And we were so excited to hear that news. And I can't even begin to tell you the smile that was on his face when he came over to us and told us that he was able to find her.

So we are helping find some folks, those lost loved ones. At the same time, the important thing out here is really getting that information out, because so many people are scattered here, there, and everywhere. And hopefully, someone can come across those lost loved ones, whether it be by CNN or any other kind of outlet. Because at this point many people are just so desperate.

PHILLIPS: Betty Nguyen, live from Houston, Texas, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): Next on LIVE FROM: imagine trying to start from scratch in a new city.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think this is where my new life is going to start, right here in Texas.

PHILLIPS: But will the cities offering evacuees homes also be able to get them jobs?

Later on LIVE FROM...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just everything is just leveled. It's like a bomb went off.

PHILLIPS: How can you help people rebuild their lives? Is your donation really going to help? We'll show you where you can click to check out charities.

Hundreds of thousands of displaced students.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And your name is?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lauren.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lauren.

PHILLIPS: How are they coping with new classes far from home?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to be strong and get over it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm like fine with it, you know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A precious gift to provide a priceless resource. In Atlanta, the arrival of a special drinking water generator. The Aquacube, worth more than $11,000, was shipped from South Africa, a gift from the Johannesburg branch of a German chemical conglomerate.

The company spokesperson said, "We always think of America as looking after everyone in the world. Now we have a role to play in South Africa in assisting America in one small way."

After it's set up, the Aquacube can pump drinking water at the rate of 2,000 liters per hour.

Also arriving today in Mobile, Alabama, 22 tons of hurricane relief supplies, courtesy of the U.K. and France.

Now to CNN's relief desk, with the latest in our ongoing efforts to help reconnect family members and friends who have lost touch during the massive upheavals caused by the Hurricane Katrina.

Carol Lin has more now for us

Hi, Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/HOST: Hi, there, Kyra. Remember all the massive airlifts out of various hospitals and also the New Orleans Airport? The problem is, we know those people got to safety, but now nobody knows where they are.

So we got an e-mail from Joshua Hunt. He's looking for his grandmother, Miriam Hunt. Her nickname is Mimi, just in case she goes by that out there in the field. She was rescued from her home in New Orleans a week ago today and then taken to the New Orleans hospital -- or actually, the airport. So if you have any information about Mimi, please contact her grandson.

Also, Walter Joseph Shepherd was a patient in the New Orleans Charity Hospital on the day before the storm hit. He was in the intensive care unit after emergency surgery on his stomach. His family is looking for any information about him.

And this is Cornelia Dumas Thibodeaux. She is 86 years old. She was on a feeding tube at the Covenant Nursing Home in New Orleans when the storm hit. And then after that, family members said that she was evacuated to the airport, and from there, once again, they're not sure where she was sent.

One thing that may help. They say surgical tape was wrapped around her arm with her name on it.

All right, we're getting all kinds of stories from the survivors of Hurricane Katrina. We'd like to share some of those with you right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TYLER WILLIAMS, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: I know that she was at the Superdome. She evacuated at the last minute, and she was transported somewhere, but where, I have no idea.

NGUYEN: But you do know that she is alive?

T. WILLIAMS: Yes. We just don't know where she is.

ENOLA MCGINNIS, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: Them the last time I saw Kevin Lee (ph) was laying in the bed. On our way up here, when the Army evacuated us, I saw his car abandoned a couple of blocks from the ferry. So I'm concerned about him, since we've been trying to reach him for a week now. I really wish that he would call me. Or something, or anybody that knows Kevin McGinnis.

BERNARD WILLIAMS, LOOKING FOR FAMILY: I was just trying to see if I could get a word out to my mother, anybody see this, just see where my mother is, let her know I'm all right. And I hope you guys are all right. And I got Max here with me, but I don't know where the other two are at. But I got this baby from Missy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: Some of you folks are actually calling us or e-mailing us that you know who these people are or want to help them. We're trying to get messages back to them out in the field.

And also, whether folks are lost or found we want to hear about your loved ones. So e-mail us at HurricaneVictims@CNN.com. And if you're looking for information, we have a list of resources at CNN.com/HelpCenter, just in case you want to lend a hand -- a helping hand, as well -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Carol. Still great news coming out of that desk. I'll tell you what: you're working it.

LIN: Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Thank you so much, Carol.

Well, straight ahead, will there be enough jobs for people who lost everything? Boy, we've been talking a lot about this. That's the question that cities are taking in. It's the question that cities are taking on, as evacuees are facing it. It's a reality for them.

We're going to sort it all out on LIVE FROM as we go out with these fresh live pictures out of New Orleans, Louisiana. The search and rescue missions continue throughout these flooded neighborhoods.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: As the tens of thousands of evacuees start looking for ways to put their lives back together, a lot of questions arise. Should they go home? And will they go home? And if not, where will they live and how will they make a living?

Here's CNN's Ali Velshi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT/HOST (voice-over): Four hundred thousand people out of work, many of them in the shelters, with no prospect of jobs in or around New Orleans to take them back home. Some of them might find work easily. Others are sure to struggle.

PROF. RICHARD WALKER, BERKELEY LABOR RESEARCH CENTER: You're talking about a majority African-American city. Most of those people will be in the lower half of the labor market.

VELSHI: They could stay in their shelter cities. Houston's pre- Katrina unemployment rate was about the same as the national average, a little more than five percent.

Or, like waves of southern workers in past generations, the evacuees could move further north or west.

The U.S. government has set aside $75 million for the nearly 40,000 evacuees in Texas. The money will be used to train survivors for new work, or to pay them to work on cleanup teams in Louisiana. That could take awhile.

Meantime, the government is giving debit card to the evacuees worth $2,000 apiece. That money could be used for food or for a bus or train ticket out of town. But some don't want to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's my goal is to just make Houston my home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think this is where my new life is going to start, right here in Texas.

VELSHI: Others may choose to move on, but not to move home. Illinois Senator Barack Obama saw this coming. He wants other states to plan for it.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), ILLINOIS: The big challenge now is jobs, housing, long-term support for these families. And it's just not clear how one city here is going to be able to be equipped to do that. So this is where states like Illinois, cities like Chicago, we're going to have to pitch in and do our fair share.

VELSHI: Chicago just doesn't have the jobs anymore. What it has is the second highest unemployment rate in the nation. The days when it was a haven for southern workers are long gone.

WALKER: There were World War I and World War II, which were massive out-migrations where there were job shortages in the north and in the west. But you don't have any -- any area of the country that has a real job surplus right now. And so the prospects for that don't look very good.

VELSHI: The Detroit area has the highest unemployment rate in the nation. A collapsing auto industry wiped out thousands of skilled and unskilled jobs.

So where can the evacuees look? Maybe Minneapolis-St. Paul, the metro area with the nation's lowest unemployment rate, often on those best place to live lists.

The area surrounding Washington, D.C., suburban Maryland and northern Virginia also have low unemployment rates. Though for unskilled workers, the D.C. area itself isn't ideal.

The Richmond, Virginia, region boasts a low unemployment rate of 3.7 percent. Las Vegas and Phoenix-Scottsdale, have seen the fastest job growth in the nation.

Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Once again, we continue to bring you these live pictures, via our helicopter cam there in New Orleans.

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