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Hurricane Ophelia Continues to Pound Mid-Atlantic Coast; President Bush Will Address Nation Tonight in Primetime; Parts of New Orleans to Open Soon; Iraq's President Asks U.N. for Help

Aired September 15, 2005 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, HOST: Slow and study, Hurricane Ophelia crawls along the coast. We're tracking the storm, live this hour.
Bringing back New Orleans. Big plans for the Big Easy.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Kyra Phillips is on assignment. CNN's LIVE FROM begins right now.

A glancing blow, but a blow nonetheless. Hurricane Ophelia lingers off the Outer Banks of North Carolina, dumping huge amounts of rain while declining to either come ashore or head back out to sea.

It is always hard to leave the Outer Banks. But Ophelia wore out its welcome before it even got there. Still, damage and flooding so far said to be rather light.

And CNN's Susan Candiotti can tell us more from her vantage point in Nags Head -- Susan.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka.

Right now, we're getting tropical storm force winds as Ophelia remains offshore and just creeping along the coast. Everyone wishes it would get moving. But of course, it's got to take its natural course.

In any case, we -- the skies even seem to be lightening up a little bit right now. The skies seem to be lightening up a little bit right now. They are expecting a lot of rain, but so far, we haven't felt a lot of it thus far here on the Outer Banks.

There is no evacuation order here in this part of Dare County. However, down on Hatteras Island, there is a mandatory evacuation order. And from all accounts, many of the residents there have chosen to leave that area. However, a lot of tourists certainly did get out when they heard that the storm was coming.

In this area, we've run into a lot of tourists. Kind of panning over here, you can see the shoreline. You also see the high sand dunes that stretch up about 35 to 40 feet above the shoreline. Some people out here actually coming out here to feel the effects of the storm.

I talked to an area resident who elected to stick around, ride out the storm, and I asked her whether Hurricane Katrina at least had, at the very least, an emotional effect on how she prepared for this storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JANE EUBANKS, DARE COUNTY YMCA: It played on my mind because of all the loss and the loss of preparation. But from everything I saw yesterday, with the Sprint trucks and the massive amount of Dominion power trucks that have already come here, National Guard trucks, I feel like they're over preparing just to make sure that they don't get caught.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now, you can see that flag whipping in the wind here, as we come back out to you live. I can tell you they are not expecting heavy flooding here. They do expect some, however, and most certainly beach erosion, as they do for every storm.

This is the area where we have decided to set up shop here, so to speak. This is a hotel that was built back in the 1940s. So far it has given us good refuge. The satellite truck on the other side. And so we seem to be doing pretty well at this spot.

We'll see how long it takes for the storm to pass, and we'll be riding it through as well -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Susan. I want to bring in meteorologist Chad Myers, who's in the weather center with the big picture of what to expect from Ophelia. I know it's tough to predict because this storm certainly has a mind of its own.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's been starting and stopping. It was a tropical storm and a hurricane back and forth four times and made three loops. Trying to make a loop right now out here south of Cape Hatteras.

I know there's no flooding right now on the Outer Banks, but you're going to have to watch what's called sound-side flooding. You got all this wind. It's been blowing water inland all day long. For that matter, almost all week long, from the same direction. And the water is getting through. I know this looks like a solid barrier island, but it's not. There are cuts through here. That water pouring into this area here.

When the wind stops, all that water tries to get out at the same time, and there's actually flooding on the backside of Cape Hatteras, rather than on the front side where you would expect it.

Look at some of the wind speeds here. Hatteras Village, 95 miles per hour. Cape Lookout, 92. Bald Head Island, 84. Even Cape Hatteras, right at the lighthouse, 83.

There's the storm. Not very big. Certainly not a Katrina. But look at this: something down here to the south, watching that storm there. That could be the very next storm. And we're going to run out of names here pretty soon, all way through Arlene, all through Harvey. There's Ophelia. The next one's Philippe, then Rita, Stan, Tammy, Vince and Wilma. Then you ask what happens then? They actually go to the Greek alphabet. If there is something past Wilma, it will be Alpha, then Beta, then Gamma, and hopefully we don't get to Delta.

Eighty miles per hour right now. Headed up to the northeast, there is a potential for it to clip Cape Cod. Right now, the forecast, though, is for that not to happen -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, fingers are all crossed for that. Thanks so much, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome.

WHITFIELD: Always a great worry along the Carolina coast...

ANNOUNCER: Keep watching CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

WHITFIELD: The barrier islands, always a big worry along the coast. I'm joined now on the phone by Dorothy Toolan, public information officer for Dare County, that government there.

And, Dorothy, some places have an evacuation order in effect. Others do not. How do you make that determination?

DOROTHY TOOLAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE, DARE COUNTY: Well, we have about 100 miles or just over 100 miles of coastline here on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The southern portion of our county, which is Hatteras Island, in looking at the forecast a couple of days ago, they were the area most vulnerable to the weather that was forecasted. So that is the area that is -- remains under a mandatory evacuation.

WHITFIELD: Have you had a chance to look at any of those barrier islands?

TOOLAN: Well, certainly we're getting a lot of reports. Right now, the southern most portions of Hatteras Island are without power. They do have gusts of winds up to about 85 miles per hour.

I think the most difficult thing is the length of time they're going to have these hurricane and gale force winds, because they're going to see some pretty strong winds through early tomorrow morning.

WHITFIELD: Well, let's talk about the vulnerabilities and the concerns that you always have for the barrier islands. Even if they have been evacuated, those structures are built right on the beach. And when those waves and -- you know, kick up, a lot of times some of those homes and the stilts that many of the homes are on are just washed out.

Is this one of those storms, given that it is off the coast? One of those storms that could potentially bring on some rather severe damage to those kinds of structures?

TOOLAN: We're not expecting that. Really with this storm -- and I just heard your meteorologist speak of this, we're not as concerned about ocean flooding. We'll certainly have some beach erosion. But we're not seeing any ocean overwash. We're seeing some sand, some blowing sand that's accumulating on the roadways.

Our biggest concern is the flooding from the sound-side, which, after -- you know, that water's all pushed back and once the storm passes and the wind shift, we get all of that water that comes back from, you know we're a barrier island, so it comes back from the sound and we get flooding from that direction.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dorothy Toolan, there in Dare County, along the North Carolina coast, thanks so much. And best wishes.

TOOLAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: On the way things, or conditions hopefully will not further deteriorate there along the coast with Hurricane Ophelia.

Well, speaking about vulnerability, let's speak about some of the vulnerabilities throughout the New Orleans area. You're looking at a live picture right now in New Orleans.

Inside that crate is a dog that these rescue workers have been trying for the past 30 minutes or so, trying to coax this dog, which was quite emaciated, seemingly a dog that had been left behind because the residents had to seek higher ground and were not allowed to take their dog, presumably, with them. It's a story that's been repeated so many times over in the New Orleans area.

Well, these workers saw this dog. Through the helicopter shots we were able to view as well. Saw this dog on -- well, now you're looking at the taped picture of what was taking place previously, and it's something that we were watching were, riveted by in the newsroom.

But this dog was being coaxed to try and come down the stairway to that rescue worker. It didn't quite work. So they at least were able to put this water at that top step. The dog, obviously thirsty, was taking the water.

Now they're throwing some sort of crackers or cheese or something to that effect. The dog very gingerly started making its way toward that food and started eating it.

And then, now, this live picture, you're seeing the result of that hard work and the patience played out by these rescue workers. We don't know much about these two gentlemen, who they are representing. But we do know that they've got the loving and caring hearts of most animal lovers.

And then brought that crate up to those steps, were able to get that dog into -- and it's a pretty sizable dog. It looked like perhaps a puppy of a large breed dog. But as I mentioned, quite emaciated, very thirsty and hungry.

They now have the crate in that boat and hopefully, on their way. Now they're waving, giving the thumbs up signal. On their way to a nice meal for that dog.

Hope of another sort for New Orleans. Reopening and resettling. Mission critical for Mayor Ray Nagin, bringing people back to the city that struggled so greatly to get them all out when the levees gave way.

In a news conference you may have seen live here on CNN, Nagin said parts of New Orleans will reopen to residents, particularly business owners, on Monday, with almost 200,000 invited back by the end of this month. Much more on that in a moment.

Insurance is mission critical in any kind of catastrophe. Just ask the home owners who are being told their losses were caused by flooding, which standard policies do not cover unless you have flood insurance.

Today, the attorney general of Mississippi is expected to sue insurers, insurance companies that allegedly gave -- offered policyholders $3,000 up front in cash in exchange for promises for those home owners, those policyholders, not to seek more from those insurance companies.

Katrina's confirmed death toll now stands at 707 overall, 474 in Louisiana alone. But in New Orleans, Mayor Nagin vows, and we quote, "We will have life."

CNN's Sean Callebs has more on the ambitions of the mayor there.

Sean, he is talking of great hopes, particularly from the business community, to allow them to come in, assess the damage and to rebuild quite quickly.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think you're exactly right. Ambitious is probably a pretty good word for it. The mayor has grand plans, beginning this weekend, to open up the Central Business District here in the city. He'd like to open up the Algiers section on Monday and open up the uptown area on Wednesday and Friday. Then finally, the historic French Quarter a week from Monday.

This is certainly something the mayor's been looking forward to today, earlier saying it is a bright day for the city of New Orleans. The sun is shining, and clearly the mayor is very excited about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: The city of New Orleans starting on Monday, starting this weekend, will start to breathe again. We will have life. We will have commerce. We will have people getting back into their normal modes of operation and the normal rhythm of the city of New Orleans that is so unique.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLEBS: And he was surrounded by FEMA emergency officials, Department of Defense, as well. So clearly all of these entities signing off on this plan to get this city up and running.

But it could be somewhat of an ambitious plan. I want to show you, it's going to take some time. People are making plans to be here, and to be ready, to move on for the coming months.

The mayor in his news conference said that drinking water is still a long time away. Even these people coming in can't drink the water in the foreseeable future.

What we're showing you right now, the store room for the CNN employees here, settling in in New Orleans to cover this story. Fredricka, we're showing you this as an indication that people making plans to be here for a long time. If you'll look, just pallets and pallets of water here. No drinking water, so they're doing everything they can to make sure everybody stays hydrated.

Also pollutants a concern. We have plenty of these kind of particle masks for people to use when they go out, as well as every kind of non-perishable food stuff that you can imagine.

And it's going to be important, because it's going to be some time before the city is up and running. Those three areas that are going to be open basically weren't hammered by the floodwaters, as much of this area has been. And as these floodwaters continue to go down, it's leaving behind a toxic mess that has caused some concern: pollutants in the air, pollutants in the water. The mayor waiting for an EPA study.

But he wants to get the people back in the city as soon as possible -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sean Callebs in New Orleans, thanks so much.

When it comes to blame, former FEMA director Michael Brown has been front and center. But Brown tells "The New York Times" that he realized the day Katrina hit -- and we quote -- "Things were going to hell in a hand basket."

And he said as much to the White House and homeland security, as well. Brown tells "The Times" that he was hampered in setting up a unified command by state officials, beginning with the governor, who according to Brown, didn't know what they needed or how to go about getting it.

As for the faltering federal response, Brown says, quote, "I truly believed the White House was not at fault here," end quote.

Well, just a reminder, President Bush addresses the nation tonight from New Orleans, and CNN will bring you live at 9 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Pacific.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Later on LIVE FROM, covering Katrina. Will waterlogged home owners be left high and dry by their insurance companies? As Mississippi's attorney general plans to fight back, what you need to watch for in your own policy.

Later on LIVE FROM, Louisiana congressman under fire. While New Orleans residents wait for help, he gets a personal favor from the National Guard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He asked to be taken to his residence.

WHITFIELD: Next on LIVE FROM, more attacks in Iraq at a critical time. And the U.S. military expects more. We're reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The bloodbath continues in Iraq. Fresh attacks in Baghdad today, adding to the carnage of more than a dozen suicide and car bombings across the country in the last 48 hours. But as Iraq labors to give birth to a national constitution, a U.S. military spokesman calls the spike in insurgent violence predictable.

CNN's Jennifer Eccleston joins us live from Baghdad where officials are urging ballots, not bullets, over constitutional discontent -- Jennifer.

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fredricka. Well, U.S. and Iraqi forces have been warning of an increase in insurgent violence in the run-up to next month's referendum on that constitution, an effort to create an unstable environment whereby Iraqis are too afraid to vote.

Well, the insurgents didn't disappoint: 30 deaths and 55 injuries this Thursday from insurgent attacks.

While yesterday's victims were mainly civilians, members of Baghdad's Shiite community, today's target, Iraqi security forces. Three separate suicide car bombs against the Iraqi elite police commandos, two strikes within minutes of each other and another three hours earlier. Twenty police died, two dozen wounded.

Ten others died this Thursday after insurgents targeted government workers in Iraq's Shiite community. And there were funerals for some of the victims of Wednesday's multiple suicide attacks today, where over 150 people were killed.

Now, Fredricka, these attacks demonstrate just how easily insurgents can stage coordinated attacks, despite a series of high- profile, anti-insurgency military operations like the one in Tal Afar, where the Iraqis are the lead force. That operation and others are designed to show that Iraqi military and police are now better equipped to secure at least pockets of Iraq.

But the insurgents response to that: they can strike at will, not only in remote area, but in the capital city and, in the process, terrorizing Iraqis and reinforcing fears whether or not their military and police can actually keep them safe -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so it would seem that it would go without saying that this type of intimidation is likely to be successful. Many people are going to be apprehensive about the elections, the permanent -- for permanent political officials at the beginning of the year.

ECCLESTON: Well, absolutely. At the forefront of most people's minds here, I think across even the sectarian divide is whether or not there's a safe and stable environment whereby they can go out and vote in that referendum, whether they can vote down or actually approve it, which would lead the way for elections in December for a full-term government.

Given the violence that we've seen over the last two days, and these have been mainly in the media because they were tremendous attacks, large numbers of casualties. But throughout the last couple of weeks while I've been here there have been a number of attacks every day, daily attacks here in the capital, Baghdad, but across the country.

So it is something they live with on a daily basis. But, indeed, when they do see that they are being targeted and specifically the Shiite community, there is greater fear that this can only increase as there is this run-up to this referendum.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jennifer Eccleston, thanks so much, from Baghdad.

Meanwhile, the fight for Iraq loses support in Chicago. In a 29- 9 vote, the Chicago City Council called for an immediate and orderly pullout of U.S. troops.

Chicago is now the nation's largest city to seek withdrawal, joining San Francisco, 50 communities in Vermont, and others.

But the session was not without drama. A 71-year-old alderman fainted after giving an impassioned speech opposing the move. James Balcer, who served in Vietnam, says he was demoralized by the anti-war sentiment at home.

Now to the U.N. and an impassioned plea from Iraq's acting president, Jalal Talabani. He says Iraq need the world's help in defeating terrorists.

CNN's Richard Roth joins us with more on that and on a significant moment for the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, as well -- Richard.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not the greatest timing for the first appearance as president for Jalal Talabani, the leader of Iraq, before the U.N. General Assembly. Talabani appealed for, quote, "diverse international assistance" to stop terrorists from destroying his country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT JALAL TALABANI, IRAQI (through translator): They target Iraqi individuals and have declared a war of annihilation against citizens. Hence, it targets every ambition of development.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROTH: Talabani, from the Kurdish region, certainly will need the United Nations at some point. But right now, the nations who sat in front of him inside the General Assembly hall, they're not ready to commit those troops.

Later today, this morning, on the same stage, Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, who is going to be looking to the Palestinians now to do something, since he has pulled out of Gaza.

You're looking at Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan, now speaking inside the assembly hall. So a big moment for Israel's leader, though I wouldn't expect to have too much extra applause for him. There's still a lot of opposition to Israel in this 191-member General Assembly. Though Israel's foreign minister did meet with his counterpart from Qatar, that Arab nation giving indications that more countries could come out in the region to establish better ties with Israel following the Gaza pullout -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Richard Roth at the U.N., thanks so much.

Tracking Hurricane Ophelia: the slow moving storm pounding the North Carolina coast. More details on that straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They are not taking any chances. The looters still out there are said to be heavily armed, having stolen guns and other weapons from several ammunition stores.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN's Jeff Koinange with SWAT teams patrolling the streets of New Orleans.

ANNOUNCER: You're watching LIVE FROM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK REPORT)

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WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories, working for the weekend. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin says significant areas of his city will reopen beginning tomorrow. More than 180,000 area residents will be allowed back into their homes and businesses, according to Nagin's plan.

He also said that the city's historic French Quarter will be up and running by September 26.

That may be good news for at least a few of the 68,000 Americans who filed for unemployment last week due to Katrina. The boost in benefits claims pushed the nation's totals to 71,000 last week, the largest surge in nearly a decade. Analysts say those numbers could edge even higher once states catch up with processing all the new claims.

Chief justice nominee John Roberts has finished his public testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He wrapped up his final appearance by declaring, quote, "I am not an ideologue." The committee will vote on his nomination next week. The full Senate votes the week of September 26.

And a report in today's "New York Times" says the Vatican has dispatched investigators to review Roman Catholic seminaries in the U.S. They're said to be looking for, quote, "evidence of homosexuality" and for faculty members who dissent from church teachings.

Time now to update the status of Hurricane Ophelia. The storm continues to pound the Mid-Atlantic coast at this hour.

CNN meteorologist Rob Marciano has been tracking the storm from his post in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The scene here in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina is still blustery, still showerly and squally, but the core of Hurricane Ophelia certainly has moved up toward the east. But in its wake, certainly some damage. This is the pier we were sitting on last night. The end of this pier, past the police yellow tape, has been ripped off and taken out into the Atlantic Ocean during the high tide in the rough surf yesterday.

That same surf now low tide, obviously well off the beach, but also look how much less sand there is. I mean, this beach has been stripped of all the sand. Actually, they've been piling on here for a beach-restoration project in order to help protect these dunes, which are one of these things that protect the buildings here, an opposed to the Gulf of Mexico shoreline. These dunes protect inland building, and they did a good job with this last surge last night of six to eight feet. We do have reports of inland flooding, over a foot of rain in some spots.

Also, some flooding from storm surge on Pamlico (ph). That will be receding throughout the afternoon. There were shelters, 45 of them, over 2,000 people sought refuge in those shelters. Doesn't sound like a lot, compared to say New Orleans, but most of the communities that were evacuated were beach communities and not very populated. Ophelia continues to move off toward the north and east. Right now, no word of any casualties this with storm. Hopefully that number will remain low.

I'm Rob Marciano, CNN, Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Over on the Gulf Coast a lot of communities destroyed by Katrina will require massive rebuilding projects. Among them is Long Beach, Mississippi. Authorities there have installed barbed-wire fencing around most of the battered town. They say it's an effort to keep looters from picking through the remains of the community. Military police in the area also say there are several bodies in that town still. The 35-foot storm surge wiped out about 75 percent of long beach.

President Bush is expected to leave the White House a short time from now on his latest visit to the Gulf Coast. He plan to stop a few hour from now in Mississippi, and then later he heads to New Orleans, where he will address the nation tonight in primetime.

CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is standing by in New Orleans with a preview.

Hello to you, Suzanne.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, that's right, President Bush is going to be leaving the White House in about 45 minutes or so, and then his first stop will be Gulfport, Mississippi, where he'll survey the damage, and then on here to Jackson Square, the heart of the French Quarter, the heart, of course, of Louisiana, New Orleans.

President Bush, we're told, this morning, was practicing his speech at the White House, in the White House theater. This is a serious moment for the president, perhaps even a defining moment for him, as he looks for what many have called that bullhorn moment, that day we saw four years ago, when he went before the country, shortly after 9/11 terrorist attacks, to those firefighters and tried to rally the country. This is the kind of speech that he'll be delivering tonight.

We are told that he will talk about bold new initiatives, ways of looking forward in recovery. He'll talk about new initiatives involving housing, education, as well as job training, and even, perhaps, tax credits for businesses, those to stay here in New Orleans. These are the type of things that he's going to be doing.

All of this, Fred, part of a growing strategy and an evolving strategy from the White House, to try to kind of stamp down some of that criticism, the scathing criticism, that he got for the last two weeks for not taking responsibility and perhaps moving too slowly in the federal response -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Suzanne Malveaux from Jackson Square there in downtown New Orleans, thank you.

Of course, CNN plans live coverage of the president's speech tonight. He is scheduled to address the nation live from Louisiana at 9:00 Eastern.

At the height of the Katrina rescue operation, Congressman William Jefferson managed to reach his New Orleans home and retrieve several personal items.

CNN's Ed Henry report the Congressman entered flood zone with help from a National Guard escort.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Friday, September 2nd, five days after Katrina struck, the National Guard struggles to restore order in New Orleans. People stuck in their homes desperately seek a miracle, while those who got out are languishing at the convention center, which has descended into the hurricane shelter from hell.

That same day, Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson publicly tours the devastation with President Bush. And, while his constituents cling to life, the congressman quietly uses National Guard troops to check on his own home in a pricey part of New Orleans, so he can retrieve some personal belongings.

LT. COL. PETE SCHNEIDER, LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD: So, we provided the vehicles to give Congressman Jefferson a tour of his district, and, as part of that tour, he asked to be taken to his residence.

GRIFFIN: Jefferson maintains he wanted an up-close look at the devastation in his district and only accepted the offer of an escort when National Guard officials urged it upon him for safety reasons.

With the help of a five-ton military truck and several military police officers, Jefferson visited his home, where floodwaters had reached the porch. Jefferson says his wife had urged him to retrieve personal items.

SCHNEIDER: We pulled into the residence. He departed the vehicle and went into his house and proceeded to take some things out.

GRIFFIN: The congressman acknowledges he emerged with a laptop, a large box, and at least two suitcases, after leaving the soldiers outside for nearly an hour. The soldiers waited so long, their truck got mired in the water. So, they sought help.

SCHNEIDER: The soldiers in the truck -- in the first truck, noticed a Coast Guard helicopter coming by, and they flagged them down. The diver, essentially the rescuer, rappelled out of the helicopter onto the residence.

GRIFFIN: A second military truck was dispatched to help pull the first one out of the water. And a rescue diver in the Coast Guard helicopter offered to take Jefferson, but he declined.

The helicopter, carrying other evacuees, was also able to rescue one of Jefferson's neighbors. In an unrelated case, Congressman Jefferson is currently facing a federal corruption probe, and the FBI recently raided his homes in New Orleans and Washington. When asked whether Jefferson went to his Louisiana home to remove any materials relevant to that probe, the congressman's spokeswoman said, quote: "The pending investigation is irrelevant. If they didn't get all the information after a nine-hour search, I don't know what else they could get." It's not uncommon for lawmakers to get National Guard tours after a natural disaster for official reasons. But what's raising questions is Jefferson's use of the Guard to collect some of his belongings at the height of the crisis.

Ed Henry, CNN, Capitol Hill

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And on last night's "PAULA ZAHN NOW" show, Congressman Jefferson defended his trip home. He said the military escort was the only way for him to view the damage inside his district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. WILLIAM JEFFERSON (D), LOUISIANA: I saw people at the convention center and asked them how they were, and they talked to me about the need to get buses out and so on. I then went uptown to the area where I live and to my neighborhood.

Every member of Congress went back to see what happened in their own area, as I did. I was only five miles from the convention center, where my house is located. So it was hardly an inconvenience to go there. I wanted to see the condition of my house, as every congressman who went down there did. The trouble is, as I told you, they didn't have to have guards with them and I did because they're worried about being shot. But I went to see whether it was underwater, whether it had been looted, that sort of thing. There wasn't anything especially important to retrieve from the house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Jefferson also told CNN the laptop and suitcases belonged to his daughter. He described questions that he might have taken items related to the FBI investigation as, quote, "a smear."

Still to come, lack of transportation, lack of funds, and lack of resources, but that's not stopping this man from hitting the streets. How he's using an enterprising way to deliver aid to his washed-out neighborhood.

Plus, on the night beat on streets of New Orleans it is no cakewalk. We'll take you along.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: ... now empty and military troops patrol the streets, but police say there are still dangerous pockets of armed criminals roaming parts of the city. New Orleans SWAT teams are working to restore the order, and our Jeff Koinange joined them on a nighttime mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's 10:00 p.m. and members of the New Orleans Police Department SWAT team are going through a last-minute briefing before hitting the streets, streets that more than two weeks after Katrina can still be very dangerous at night. They're joined by teams from the U.S. military, as well as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of people use pit bull down here for protection so you get asked (ph) what you got to do.

KOINANGE: He tell us his unit has received several dozen calls in recent nights, made numerous arrests that as the water recedes from neighborhoods, armed thugs move in to steal. SWAT, with the backup it's now getting, is determined to take back the streets, determined to restore law and order in what was fast becoming a lawless land.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get a line and get me eyes and ears.

KOINANGE: They're not taking any chances. The looters still out there are said to be heavily armed, having stolen guns and other weapons from several ammunition stores.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go on speck (ph) 3. Everybody go on speck 3.

KOINANGE: Tonight, they are patrolling the sixth district, a place they've aptly nicknamed Mogadishu mile, the scene of many a running gun battle between looters and law enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Federal Express van riding around and the occupants, they stole a van and they're looters. So if we see a Federal Express van, we're going to challenge that. Alpha squad, let's walk out.

KOINANGE: They move out in single file, weapons at the ready, just in case. We agree to walk the Mogadishu mile with them. The only night sounds are the men walking and dogs barking. The only lights in the streets coming from their weapons. A helicopter hovers overhead, a bit of air support for the ground troops. In some neighborhoods, they literally go building to building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One guy down on the corner.

KOINANGE: Back on the streets, the patrol splits up. Some continue door to door while others set up checkpoints.

(on camera): I've just been handed one of these night vision goggles to take a look through, see what they see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger that, standby, let me check with ICE.

KOINANGE (voice-over): The team behind me will be out until dawn, when they'll be replaced by another SWAT Team. It will be round the clock patrols with no end in sight. Jeff Koinange, CNN, on patrol with SWAT.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Forced from their New Orleans home, now one family has to evacuate again. Why one Atlanta landlord says the evacuees are not welcome in his building. Plus, under the hot Mississippi sun, the extreme measures one man will go to just get ice to his neighbors.

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WHITFIELD: The massive evacuation from New Orleans has left thousands of people searching for shelter with family and friends. You're looking at a live picture right now of New Orleans, still in great part inundated with high water. Here in Atlanta, however, one man's effort to help his relatives may cause him to lose his own home. CNN's Tony Harris has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We asked the person, where do they live? And they said, well, I live in New Orleans. No, that's where you're from. That's where you stayed. Where you live is where you are right now.

TONY HARRIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right now, nearly 40 members of the Harvey family are trying to adjust to living with relatives in Atlanta's suburbs. Since they got here two weeks ago from New Orleans, everyone, from 85-year-old grandpa Samuel (ph), to the youngest members of the family, has been embraced by this community, until now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The evacuees being evicted.

HARRIS: Not exactly, but they may be forced to evacuate again. Just days ago, Reginald Harvey, a truck driver who has seven relatives from New Orleans now living with him in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom duplex, received a note from his landlord, George Camp.

It said that, if he has to continue providing shelter for the people from New Orleans in his apartment, then he would have to move to a new location by the end of the month.

REGINALD HARVEY, TENANT: I was just surprised. I mean, I didn't think somebody would do something like that. I mean, that's just so hateful and just mean-spirited, to know what's going on in everyone's life from New Orleans right now and then just to tell them that you have to move. So, now they feel as though they got me evicted. And it's not their fault.

HARRIS: His landlord sees it differently.

GEORGE CAMP, LANDLORD: I have compassion for the people. But I don't have a warehouse. I got a two-bedroom duplex.

HARRIS: The family is outraged.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had lives before we came here. Everybody in here had a job. Everybody in here had something to look forward to the next day in New Orleans. We're not here because we want to be here. We're here because we have no choice.

HARRIS: But the fact is, with nine people living under his roof, Harvey may have violated terms of his lease, meaning the landlord could be within his rights to end the lease and ask them to leave.

CAMP: That's the clause he's violating. Visitors can't stay but three days and two nights.

HARRIS: In fact, according to a local ordinance, landlords can actually be fined for overcrowding.

(on camera): There is what is legal and then what is right.

CAMP: I don't do nothing unless I think it's right. So, if I file for the eviction, it's because I think it's right.

HARRIS: And that you've been taken advantage of?

CAMP: I certainly haven't been showed the consideration that a landlord should be shown, with communication between the landlord and the tenant, rather than between the landlord and CNN.

HARRIS (voice-over): But even better communication might not resolve this situation.

CAMP: I don't really hold a grudge. The bottom line is doing what was right and then I let the rest of it go.

HARVEY: I don't know if I could work it out with him. I don't think I could continue to pay him every month, knowing, you know, he did something like this. It ain't like it's my friends. That's all my close relatives. And I'm going to provide shelter when I can for them and do what I can.

HARRIS: The family plans on spending the next couple of weeks finding a new home. But this is a situation that is likely to crop up again, as evacuees continue to seek shelter and landlords are faced with difficult choices.

Tony Harris, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, thousands of Katrina victims spend their days searching for relief, doing their best to survive. Still to come, how one man pushing a cart brings comfort to a Biloxi neighborhood.

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WHITFIELD: There's an old saying that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That may be true, but Biloxi, Mississippi is living through its own version of it already. So it's the road out that needs attention.

CNN's Beth Nissen, with more on the people who are stepping up to offer whatever they can, even if it's just a rusty old shopping cart.

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BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the road to recovery in the Biloxi, Mississippi, area, a truck, driven from northern Florida by three people who watched the news, saw the need, collected donations of crucial supplies and drove 12 hours to Biloxi to hand them out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is for the baby.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That means to me like a million dollars, you know. Somebody thinking about you in another city. And I appreciate it.

NISSEN: This is how James Dickey (ph), a one-time shipbuilder on disability, spends his days now. Trying to find relief, help, for himself, his kin, his neighbors.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They low. You know, because we lost everything, see. When you lose everything, everybody's spirits down low.

NISSEN: His primary daily mission, push his rusted shopping cart down to the emergency relief center run by the Salvation Army.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, man, you a lifesaver.

NISSEN: Get ice for his cousin, who needs to keep his last bottle of insulin cool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got bad heart, sugar diabetes, high blood pressure. And he couldn't go all the way out here, you know?

NISSEN: He can get ice and water here, canned food and used clothing at a local church. But he doesn't know where to go for longer-term help, fixing his van, his house, both swamped with sea water and muck.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody lost everything they had round here. You know, houses, cars, all ain't there no more, all gone. Ain't no stores no more, ain't nothing left, everything's water damaged.

NISSEN: He sees what look like help rolling in, but it always seems to pass him by. So he does what he says his people have always done: fend for themselves, watch out for each other.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. It's the best I could do, man.

NISSEN: Nothing is as it was. Nothing. . Still, he says, Biloxi is where he belongs, where he'll stay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I've been here since I was 15 years old, you know? So this is home.

NISSEN: It could be worse, he says, so much worst. Three people on this street drowned in the storm.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you (INAUDIBLE). Give me a hug.

NISSEN: All right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't you make my husband jealous, either.

NISSEN: Finally, after a long push through the Mississippi heat, he gets to what's left of the home of his cousin, Felton Farley (ph). Hands him what's left of a bag of ice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can set bags inside the ice box there, you know, it will keep it cool.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The (INAUDIBLE) got to be cool at all times.

NISSEN: The filthy storm waters reached almost to the ceiling in the house, ruined everything inside. But he's managing, for now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I (INAUDIBLE) canned goods down there. I can open up -- I can't tell what some of them is.

NISSEN: He's trying to clean up, starting with what clothing he can pull from the wreckage, hanging them to dry stiff in the sun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm hanging on in, you know, best I can do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We still coming up, you know. It ain't like we -- it ain't coming back up when we get a little more help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's all you can do.

NISSEN: Beth Nissen, CNN, Biloxi, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, coming up in our second hour of LIVE FROM, we're following a group of Katrina survivors who are surprising everyone and beating the odds. The next hour begins right after a quick break.

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