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CNN Live Today

Some Units of Louisiana National Guard Will be Headed Home From Iraq Soon

Aired September 01, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan. Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
Let's give you some of the latest details on what's happening along the Gulf Coast and the hurricane disaster. The Superdome-to- Astrodome evacuation is under way today. Busses filled with evacuees have arrived in Houston. Some 20,000 storm victims will be housed at the Houston arena for the next several months at least, although we're hearing updated information that they're going to encourage people to only stay there for a couple weeks and then move on to more long-term shelters. Fires and gunshots around the Louisiana Superdome reportedly hampered evacuations earlier today.

The mayor of New Orleans and Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu say thousands may be dead in the flooding in that city. Water levels in New Orleans are leaving off today. Engineers still have not figured out how to plug the breaks in the levee.

The Pentagon is sending the USS Harry S. Truman to the Gulf Coast. The aircraft carrier will serve as a floating command center for relief operations. Several other Navy vessels are en route to the Gulf to help victims.

And across the country today, Katrina's impact is hitting wallets. Gas prices are soaring out an outrageous pace. Suppliers are blaming disrupted deliveries from Gulf Coast refineries. Prices surged past $3 in many cities. Atlanta saw gas at $5 a gallon after rumors of a shortage. Things crazy in this town. Yesterday, gas lines at practically every single gas station across metro Atlanta.

We are going to check in with Carol Lin right now? All right, we'll just move on.

Some units of the Louisiana National Guard will be headed home from Iraq soon. It won't be quite the homecoming that they had been expecting. Joining me now from Baghdad -- all right, let's go ahead check in -- we're a little confused. We're just going to go with the flow. Right now let's go to the Pentagon and our Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, what you can you tell us the latest about the efforts from the military?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, there's a lot of confusion about a lot of things these days. Right now, the Pentagon is saying that the Army National Guard is going to deploy another 4,200 military police to Louisiana, in part in response to the rising lawlessness, the lack of civil order in the city with the looting, the restlessness that's going on, the difficulty they're having evacuating people because of the tenseness of the crowds. That's part of a plan to bring to about 7,000, the total number of security force there.

Here we see the aircraft carrier Harry Truman -- we saw it there for a second. The Truman will serve as a command post. The security forces are, again, trying to establish law and order in Louisiana. The commander of the joint task force coordinating the military response said that they'll flow those additional MPs in over the next several days.

By next week, 24,000 ground troops will be in Louisiana and Mississippi. The total Guard deployment, when you include Florida and Alabama, is going to reach about 30,000.

The Harry S. Truman left Norfolk today to serve as a floating command center and a platform for helicopter operations. It's going to pick up additional helicopters in Jacksonville, Florida. And Batan, which we see here, the amphibious assault ship, which had been conducting helicopter operations off New Orleans, it's been ordered to go to the Mississippi coast to conduct search and rescue there. Despite all the attention on New Orleans, Mississippi is also a very difficult problem for the military because of the widespread destruction and the number of people who are in scattered, isolated areas that need be to found. There are people who haven't gotten assistance, who haven't gotten any word or any communication for days. And they're trying to move some of the effort there.

It is a massive task. They say by the time they're done here, it looks like, at this point, about 50,000 U.S. troops will be involved. If you count the Guard on the ground, if you count the active duty forces that are supporting them in various roles, including a helicopter squadron from Fort Hood, Texas, and including all the active duty forces on the ship, including 5,000 on the aircraft carrier Harry Truman. And still, those forces are going to flow in over the next several days.

Will there be more? Possibly. They're going to assess the situation after that.

It appears that a lot of the deployments were done in anticipation of requests, even before the governors of the states were able to request specific troops for specific duties, and part of that is because of the, again, lack of communications, the inability of local officials to get a good idea of what's going on on the ground. And to that end, the military has also been doing a lot of aerial surveillance with photographs. They're going to be analyzing that and trying to zero in on the areas that need the most assistance the most urgently -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Jamie, besides just the numbers and physical act of getting the National Guard there, some questions in that news conference that I know you were in, what the National Guard and what the military will be allowed to do once it gets on the ground.

MCINTYRE: Well, the National Guard, can, under federal law, can conduct law enforcement operations right alongside police. They're under state control, and they're not affected by the so-called Posse Comitatus Act, which prevents the U.S. military from engaging with law enforcement because they're part of the state militia. So there will be a significant increase in the number of police, military police, on the ground to help restore order. You can see that that's one of the critical needs right now, particularly as the crowds are getting very restless. People are very uncomfortable. They have to put up with just awful indescribable conditions, and you can understand how frustrated they are, and that's going to take some time to sort of get people organized, get them evacuated and try to restore some semblance of order there, even as it's almost impossible to move around New Orleans because of the flooded streets.

KAGAN: Jamie McIntyre, live from the Pentagon. Jamie, thank you.

Well, let's talk about a key National Guard story. Some units of the Louisiana National Guard will be heading home from Iraq soon. They've been there almost a year. It's not the homecoming they had been expecting. Some won't even have homes to go to.

Joining me now from Baghdad is Sergeant Errol Williams. He is with the Louisiana National Guard, the 141st Battalion, the 256th Brigade.

Sergeant, thank you for joining us live from Baghdad.

SERGEANT ERROL WILLIAMS, LOUISIANA NATL. GUARD: Thank you for having me.

KAGAN: First of all, have you been able to get in touch with your family back home? And how are they doing?

WILLIAMS: Yes, ma'am. All my family was able to evacuate, maybe three days prior to the hurricane actually touching down. So everyone is safe right now.

KAGAN: That is encouraging news indeed. What has it been like for you and your fellow Guardsmen to be so far away, have the tables turned, and worried about those who are still at home?

WILLIAMS: Well, of course, when everyone found out about the hurricane, it was a big initial shock, but once soldiers were able to figure out that their families were fine, hey, we are still at war, so we had to go right back to the mission.

KAGAN: Do you expect when you do come home, that you'll be put in service to help your fellow Louisianians back home?

WILLIAMS: As of this time, I really don't know, ma'am, but if I'm called up, hey, I'll be there 100 percent.

KAGAN: And is there even a question for either you or others who you're serving with if they have homes to go to when you get back here? WILLIAMS: A lot of the soldiers have found out that their houses have been destroyed. A lot of soldiers are still wondering. For the most part, we encourage all the soldiers -- people have insurance for all types of things, for houses and automobiles. So I mean, the biggest focus right now is that we are still at war. Let's finish these last six to seven days at war. When we return back to the States, then we'll figure it all out then.

KAGAN: And what has been the role that your unit has served in Iraq the last 11 months, sergeant?

WILLIAMS: We have had several different missions, everything from perimeter guard to manning different entry control points, to even patrolling different areas. So it's been widespread. So it's been widespread. It's been a long hump, but it's almost over.

KAGAN: I can only imagine what it's been like the last 11 months and now what awaits you when you get home.

Sergeant Errol Williams, we thank you for your service over the last 11 months in Iraq, and we wish you safe travels and the best of luck when you come home to Louisiana, sir.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, ma'am.

KAGAN: Thank you for making time for us.

We're going to have more on the rescue and relief efforts in the Gulf region. Our coverage continues after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, this just in to CNN. It is news out of Texas. The Lone Star State continues to step up to help the neighbors to the east in Louisiana. Of course, you've already heard how thousands of refugees are going from the Superdome in Louisiana in New Orleans to the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.

Well, now San Antonio -- the city of San Antonio has agreed to take an additional 25,000 people that find themselves homeless in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The governor Rick Perry saying that they haven't figured out exactly where they're going to put those folks in San Antonio, but they are going to figure that out. And a news conference is expected in about an hour and 45 minutes. You'll see that live here from San Antonio, here on CNN. A bit of encouraging news there out of Texas.

Another heartwarming story about a possible reunion. Our Carol Lin has that story from our relief desk -- Carol.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, it's such a great assignment to hear from people who need help and also people who are connecting with one another through CNN.com and our air. In fact, we're posting e-mails on our Web site and we're also getting tape from people who are specifically asking for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN SAMUELS, LOOKING FOR MISSING RELATIVES: We need you all with us. Please give us a call. Please. Anybody that knows anything about any of my family members, please, help them. Help them get to a phone, help them get to a computer. It doesn't matter. Please help them.

CATHY EVERARD, LOOKING FOR SONS: I've already lost my daughter and now I don't know where my sons are or how they're faring or what they're doing or nothing. I wish they would contact me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us their names.

EVERARD: Kevin McIntosh (ph). He lives in Kill (ph), Mississippi. And Brian McIntosh. He lives here in Waveland. But I haven't been able to find either one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIN: We want to give people some hope, Daryn. We're also getting e-mails from someone like Dr. Leroy Graham, who says his in- laws are trapped with 300 other people at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. He said half those people need medical attention.

Also, an e-mail from Trong Huan (ph), who says that there are several hundred people trapped on the third floor of a schoolhouse at the Mary Queen, a Vietnam church on Dwyer (ph) Boulevard in East New Orleans. Most are elderly and in desperate need of medicine.

But we also have some terrific news. Yesterday, we brought you the story of a mother desperately looking for her daughter. The mayor of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Connie Moran. Well, one of the viewers saw our segment and he e-mailed us here at CNN. He said, I just heard the mayor on the radio. It sounds like she's doing well. Can you get the message to her mother. We did, and Claudia Rogers (ph), Connie Moran's mom, e-mailed to say thank you so very, very much. I just also received an e-mail, a brief e-mail from Connie herself, and she's doing OK. And she appreciates so much the help that we're doing.

And we're trying to, once again, give people some hope. We want to hear from you. You can go to CNN.com/safe to see a list of people who have e-mailed us to say that they are OK. And if you want to let people know that you're OK or if you want to report someone missing, e-mail us at hurricanevictims@CNN.com, or logon to CNN.com/stories. If you're displaced by the hurricane, go to CNN.com/relief for local information and organizations offering some help.

And, of course, check in with me at the victims relief desk. You might just see your family safe on the air -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Hopefully we can make more of those reunions take place. Good to be on the happy end of the story. Carol, thank you. Well, if you are looking for help, you can go to CNN.com. Carol told you that.

Also, our Elizabeth Cohen has put together an incredible story. Imagine being the mother or father of a premature baby and having to get that baby moved to a safer place. An incredible story. It is one you won't forget. We're going to bring it to you after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Getting new tape in all the time here at CNN. We're bringing it to you as it comes to us. Now the story of Kelly Williams. She is a woman in Biloxi, Mississippi, who tells us in her own words of losing her home.

Here now, Kelly Williams (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last night we slept here on the beach. This is Coon (ph) Street Pier. This is where me and my boyfriend met. We've been together ever since then. And it's better than the shelter, because it stinks in the shelter. There isn't no water, and At least we can be alone here and have no problems with nobody. So we're here.

QUESTION: What do you plan on doing next?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, considering -- you see that building there, we just rented a place last Friday. We went back to it, we can't even find our house. I guess we're just going to have to build up. You know, everybody's considering this like Camille. You can forget about Camille. It's not a Camille. It's a Katrina now. And it's really devastating. At least we came out of it alive.

So what we're going to do, I guess rebuild. Build it back up. There's plenty of work now. We're fishermen, but we work in seafood factories also, but we don't have a place to go to work to. And tomorrow is payday and I don't even have a building to get a check. But there isn't even any stores here either to even cash a check. We got canned food. We got water. We can go to his parents' house if we need fresh water, because there's a main spout, you know, coming out, so we take a bath right here in the salt water, wash our hair, our bodies off, and we just go on about our day.

QUESTION: Anything else you want to add?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. If you see my dad or you hear from him, tell him I'm OK. His name is Don and he lives in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Daddy, I'm OK. I'm alive. I'm standing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Well, hopefully he with see for herself that -- for his self -- himself that his own little girl is OK. Kelly Williams from Biloxi, Mississippi.

An incredible story of premature babies fighting for their lives through the storm when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Medical update for you now. Hospitals in New Orleans are facing a health emergency in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Some are operating under desperate conditions, relying on emergency generators when they have them. Officials are trying to evacuate thousands of critically ill patients from hospitals surrounded by floodwaters. The federal government has declared a public health emergency from the Gulf Coast region. The feds promise to provide 40 medical centers with up to 10,000 beds.

We're expecting at the top of the hour, in about three minutes, a news briefing from the White House on efforts to address what's happening along the Gulf Coast, and perhaps the situation with gas prices across the country as well, and for those of you waiting on the Elizabeth Cohen piece on the premature babies, we're going to get that to you in our next hour.

I'm Daryn Kagan. Our coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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