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CNN Live Today
New Orleans Mayor Threatens Forced Evacuations; Washington Insiders Criticize Government Response; New Orleans Authorities Give Details of Relief Efforts
Aired September 07, 2005 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, HOST: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN headquarters in Atlanta. First up this hour, mission critical, an update on urgent issues in the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone.
New Orleans police officials say the city is finally locked down, but as flood waters slowly pull back and make homes more accessible, there's even more violence. Shots have been fired near Coast Guard operations in New Orleans. That situation is still unclear.
And there's been another spike in looting. Police say they have arrested a person suspected of shooting at a rescue helicopter.
An official in the mayor's office tells CNN that the flood waters in swamped New Orleans are infected with E. Coli. The bacteria causes severe stomach distress. Complications of E. Coli can be fatal in extreme cases.
The mayor is ordering officers to forcibly remove holdouts, primarily due to the threat of disease. The military says it won't be involved with forced evacuations. Fewer than 10,000 people are believed to be left in New Orleans. The mayor says many of the latest evacuees are delirious from severe dehydration.
The government is sprucing up several closed military bases to house evacuees. The latest is Alabama's Ft. McClellan. That will accommodate about 1,000 people displaced by Katrina.
And with water pouring out of New Orleans back into Lake Pontchartrain, officials say about two-thirds of the city is flooded. That is down from 80 percent. It's predicted it's going to take anywhere from 24 to 80 days to drain the saucer-shaped city.
And we're going to get back to our coverage along New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast. But up first, the nation paying its last respects to its chief justice.
Funeral services for William Rehnquist will begin a couple of hours from now in Washington, D.C. His flag-draped coffin is about to be moved this hour from the Supreme Court to St. Matthew's Cathedral. A live picture there from the plaza of the Supreme Court building. And we'll have more with our Joe Johns in just a minute.
But we do return now to our coverage of Hurricane Katrina and more confusion. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is warning of mandatory evacuations. But then we hear from the top military official in charge of relief efforts. He says holdouts will not be forced out by the military. That as concerns deepen over pollution and the spread of infectious diseases.
Our Karl Penhaul is in New Orleans with the latest now -- Karl.
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, we certainly still haven't seen any sign of the start of those forced evacuations. We're on the edge of the French Quarter here, and we do know that there are some stragglers, some people who have refused to leave still living in the French Quarter.
But we haven't seen any law enforcement officials move in there to root them out just yet. And that plan from Mayor Nagin really has had little detail so far as to who exactly would be taking these people out and how they would be forced out, especially in those flooded areas. Because you can imagine if it took a week to get survivors out who did want to come out, it's going to be a big job to get law enforcement officers into flooded areas to get people out who don't, in fact, want to come out.
But he has said that the types who can get them out are the National Guard, the firefighters, are the police. He also said that the military could do that.
But now the military has stood up, and they've said that wasn't part of their deal. They're here for humanitarian relief, and they said they'll have no part in forcing Americans out of their homes. Nor will they have any part, they say, in starving them out of their homes. That means they'll continue to deliver food and water to those citizens who choose to stay and need supplies, Daryn.
KAGAN: Let's talk about the water and just how dirty it is. And I understand you put on waders and went into it yourself. What was that like from a personal experience, Karl?
PENHAUL: Well, like we were saying earlier, it is absolutely disgusting in there. There's everything in that water. A lot of sewage mixed in with the water. But also you can see gasoline on the top there, a sheen on the surface. In some places, you can see gas pipes that have broken and the gas is bubbling, bubbling up under there. So it's a pretty fetid mix.
Also talking to one of the soldier, he said one of his buddies sustained third degree burns while in the water, and he suspects there was some kind of chemical in there. Obviously, this whole area, one of the centers of the petrochemical industry, as well. So it seems like there could have been a leak there.
But what the health officials are saying is yes, there is a risk of infection, E. Coli, primarily, and that could also lead to diarrhea and respiratory illnesses such as colds and influenzas. But what officials are saying is that more serious stuff, things like cholera, typhoid and malaria right now really aren't a serious risk, Daryn.
KAGAN: Karl Penhaul live from New Orleans. Thank you for that. Let's go ahead and take a look at some of the latest poll numbers coming in. A new CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll that was released last night. Fifty -- 56 of the -- 56 percent of the respondents, asking will Katrina ever recover? Will New Orleans ever recover? Fifty-six percent saying no, they don't believe that it will.
Forty-two percent say the city will recover completely from the disaster.
Despite those figures, a majority of those polled, 63 percent, say that they believe the city should rebuild. Thirty-four percent of the people think that is not a good idea.
We want to go ahead and check in on the White House, and our Elaine Quijano is standing by there -- Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.
Well, President Bush, we are expecting for him to be sending up to Congress another request for more money for Hurricane Katrina victims. An administration official telling me earlier today that we expect that to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $40 billion to $50 billion.
Now, this of course, would be on top of that initial request of $10.5 billion. But this money would be going to help the immediate needs of those people on the ground.
Now this development comes at a time when the Bush administration is continuing to face scathing criticism for the government's response to Hurricane Katrina. Criticism coming both publicly as well as privately from Democrats and Republicans.
In fact, last night, behind closed doors during a contentious meeting with lawmakers and administration officials, a member of the president's own party told Bush cabinet secretaries, quote, "All of you deserve failing grades. The response was a disaster."
Now already, of course, much of the criticism is focusing on Michael Brown, the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Yesterday in fact, the House Democrat leader, Nancy Pelosi, told President Bush she thinks Michael Brown should be fired. That he, quote, "brings nothing to the table."
Now for his part, the president is promising an investigation into the government's response. But he made clear he does not think now is the time for that. The White House is saying that to do so would simply pull away resources from the ongoing response efforts.
But one Republican senator is suggesting she expects public hearings for her committee to start next week.
Now today, so far, the only public event that we are expecting, or the only event, rather, on the president's public schedule is to attend the funeral, of course, the private funeral for the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The president will be attending along with the first lady. The vice president and Mrs. Cheney attending, as well. And President Bush, of course, will be delivering remarks at that private funeral -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Elaine Quijano at the White House. Elaine, thank you for that.
Let's head back to the New Orleans area. But we say area because New Orleans the city is getting much of the attention in the aftermath of Katrina. But there are some areas outside the city that we haven't heard a lot about or seen pictures from. And these are just as devastated.
For instance, St. Bernard Parish. It is southeast of New Orleans. Tens of thousands of homes are flooded there. We got some of our first aerial looks earlier this morning. The situation there is grim.
Our Gary Tuchman shows us more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It sits in ruins. St. Bernard Parish, to the east and southeast of the city of New Orleans, got outside assistance even later than New Orleans. For the most part, it was too late. People either got out, or are dead.
But there are a few exceptions. Eight days after Hurricane Katrina ripped through, a rescue takes place. A woman, her neighbor, and her dog go through the flooded streets in an airboat. They were spotted frantically waving from the second floor of a flooded out house by the men in a Georgia National Guard chopper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been flying over these houses, tree top level and stuff, and a few people have just been sticking their hands out and waving to us.
TUCHMAN: Veronica Pidoe (ph) is in good condition despite her serious arthritis and not having water for the last two days.
(on camera) We've got some water for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
TUCHMAN: OK. I hope that tastes good.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Delicious. This is better than ice cream.
TUCHMAN: I bet you it is.
(voice-over) Many people in this parish are presumed dead. It is feared that many of the missing never evacuated from a nursing home that is now under water.
Veronica Pidoe (ph) didn't realize until a couple of days ago how serious the situation is. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't think the water was going to go up that high. We have an upstairs, but the water went up about 14 feet above the ceiling on the first floor.
TUCHMAN (on camera): The rescue and recovery efforts here are hampered by the fact that much of St. Bernard Parish is still under water. Emergency vehicles just can't go down most of these streets.
You look under the water, and you see schools of small fish in the streets, which is quite interesting considering the fact this isn't just water; this is also oil.
(voice-over) Oil covers virtually everything in St. Bernard, apparently leaking from a refinery. The odor is overwhelming. So is the burden for local law enforcement.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only sheriff's department in the state of Louisiana right now that's totally homeless. All deputies lost everything they had.
TUCHMAN: The clean-up is now underway, even as the rescues and rescue attempts continue.
Gary Tuchman, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: We're going to move westward now to Houston. That's where thousands of evacuees are being accommodated at the city's Astrodome. Officials are planning on moving 4,000 of them to cruise ships in Galveston Harbor, but that plan appears to have hit a snag. A lot of them are say they're not going on any ships.
The latest now from our Betty Nguyen, who's standing by in Houston -- Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Daryn, exactly right. I spoke with several people who said there's no way that they want to get on a cruise ship, not after what they've been through.
Many of them are still very scared of water. So that is not an option for them.
But there are other options out here today. One, children are being enrolled in the Houston Independent School District. Thousands are expected to be enrolled by tomorrow, which is when school starts.
Now, there are other areas were assistance is being provided. We want to take a look at these pictures. There are long lines that are forming at the Houston Convention Center as people wait in the hot sun inside and outside, waiting to get some kind of FEMA assistance, whether that be housing, monetary assistance and all the things that are need to relocate and start their lives again.
We also want to talk about what's happening here at the Astrodome, where four of the main shelters really in line with each other here. You've the Astrodome, the Reliant Center, Reliant Arena. All part of this Reliant Park area.
Well, there are long lines here. I can see over to my left here, people are waiting in line for housing. They're waiting in line for monetary assistance. We heard today that FEMA indeed is offering up to $2,000 in debit cards, which is really going to help families get started in buying food and clothes and getting back on their feet.
Also another tidbit of information that's pretty important that we learned today from the Coast Guard, Lieutenant Joe Leonard says it is his own personal plan, his own personal plan, to hopefully have these shelters close by a week from Sunday.
Now what that means is he has to find homes for all of the folks living here in the Houston area, all the evacuees. And he hopes to have that done by a week from Sunday. Therefore, he can close the shelters out here.
And, another bit of good information that we can report today. There are 100 firefighters from all across the nation who have come out here to help all the families standing in line get registered for the different types of assistance that they're going to need as they make that next move and begin their lives all over again -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Betty Nguyen, live from Houston. Thank you for that report.
Different story, different city. Washington, D.C., William Rehnquist, the chief justice of the United States. His body continues to lie in repose in the Supreme Court building. But any minute now, pallbearers will remove the casket and take it to St. Matthew's, where funeral service will be held for William Rehnquist.
Also later this hour, the plight of pets. Many were left behind, but they are not forgotten. One woman's desperate search to save them. That's coming up in a bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: Let's go live now to New Orleans. A number of city officials and Lieutenant General Russell Honore there to give the latest on the situation and the efforts there. Let's listen in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The New Orleans Fire Department. We have with the help of Mr. Bill Lehman (ph), who is the public information officer for FEMA. We have several command staff members. Chief Lonnie Swain (ph), chief of public integrity; Deputy Chief Steven Nicholas, our technical services chief. And Chief Warner Riley (ph), chief of operations.
We're going to open it up first with chief -- Superintendent Compass to give you an overview, followed by Chief Parent. Then we're going to open to the press for questions. Again, the protocol will be from my left or your right around to get all the questions answered by the press.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you have them say your names? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, when you approach, say your name and title. Superintendent.
SUPERINTENDENT EDDIE COMPASS, NEW ORLEANS POLICE: Eddie Compass, E-D-D-I-E C-O-M-P-A-S-S. Superintendent of police.
First of all, I want to thank everyone for being here. It's really a great day today, because we've made a lot of progress. We have many of our police functions up and running. We have patrol patterns going in different areas of our city.
As our city dries out, military and police personnel are being deployed. We have individuals who are still in the search and rescue operation mode. We still have thousands of individuals that have to be rescued.
We have a jail system that's set up at the Amtrak station. We have about 171 prisoners that's in that place right now from various arrests. We made three arrests last night. It was a very quiet night, a very peaceful night.
With the military presence and the police presence that we have in the city of New Orleans, right now New Orleans may be one of the safest cities in the United States that relates to crime.
We have a quartermaster system that we're putting in place where officers can be supplied. We're getting food and water on a regular basis to our troops. With the military adjusting their personnel to relieve our people, we're giving our people some R&R.
So right now, we're getting back to normal, mostly, as it relates to being a police department. You know, my men and women have fought a hard fight. And now, they're resting, many of them, and we're recharging our batteries.
I'm going to let Chief Parent speak now.
CHIEF CHARLES PARENT, NEW ORLEANS FIRE DEPARTMENT: Thank you, chief. Charles Parent. P-A-R-E-N-T, superintendent of the New Orleans Fire Department.
First of all, I'd like to send out a message to my families of my firefighters, EMTs and police. I'd like to tell them that morale is up. Your spouses are doing good.
We had a great boost. We've had 300 firefighters from New York come down and lend us a hand. We've had over 500 from Illinois, we are getting firefighters from all across the nation.
We've created our own city across the river in Algiers. And it's a joy to see the way the men are working together. Everyone's working real hard. They're getting -- they're healing through work. So we are prepared.
Yesterday we had 15 fires. We had one four alarm, one two alarm, 10 one alarms, and we had three that were inaccessible only by helicopter drops, which we coordinated through our office.
We had 111 gas leaks yesterday. And since we've started tracking, we've had 57 major fires around the city. Many of the fire companies may have had fires on their own when we were isolated and had no communications. They were isolated, but they still performed the functions of a fire department in the area that they were.
So, at this time, we are holding court. Things are looking better. We are starting our long range strategic planning for the recovery of the fire department and the city. So we'll be prepared for anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief Matthews?
CHIEF JOSEPH MATTHEWS: OK, I'm Chief Joseph Matthews. I'm the director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness.
First of all, I'd like to thank all of you for being here. And thank everyone who has donated money and everyone who has helped us in this time of crisis.
I would like to assure all of our displaced citizens out there that we are in the process of rebuilding New Orleans. It will be bigger and better when you come back to New Orleans. It's not going to be tomorrow or next week, but when you come back, you are going to find a place that has changed. But it has changed for the better.
So, just be patient. But never fret. We're doing our best to get you back home as soon as possible. And get New Orleans back to where it was.
But, city government is still operating. We have up in my office, the ninth floor of city hall and the eighth floor, a unified command. And we have all of the various decision makers within that command post. And we're working together as one to bring New Orleans back again. Thank you.
BILL LEHMAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, FEMA: Bill Lehman, public information officer. B-I-L-L L-E-H-M-A-N. FEMA, we're here with a number of different locations throughout the city of New Orleans.
We have a small strike force team that's tasked with working with the Orleans Parish in New Orleans. We're working in support of the office of emergency preparedness like Chief Matthews said.
We are also out in the Algiers area. Yesterday we dropped two truckloads of food out there. There are a lot of residents out there. That is a dry area for the most part. We've dropped a lot of food out there. And it is being gathered up by the residents in that area.
We're here in support of the city of New Orleans, the parish of Orleans. We have strike teams throughout the area. And there are a lot of different areas that we're working on.
One area right now that's already in works is the debris removal. We're working with the Corps of Engineers. Also with the city on a plan to remove the water and the debris. That's taking place. And we'll have contracts going out, or the Corps has contracts in place. And that has already started in some parts of the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll take your questions now, starting on my left. And we'll start over here and we'll work our way around. Any questions over here? OK, question. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lieutenant, have you reached the point yet where you've decided to force (UNIDENTIFIED MALE)
COMPASS: We have a mandatory evacuation in place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you repeat the question, loudly?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you reached the point where you're going to forcibly remove people from their homes?
COMPASS: We have a mandatory evacuation in place. We have thousands of people who want to voluntarily evacuate at this time. We're using our resources right now to evacuate those who want to be evacuated. Once all the volunteer evacuations have taken place, then we'll concentrate our efforts and our forces to mandatorily evacuate individuals.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The forced evacuation -- what's your legal authority for the forced evacuation (INAUDIBLE)? What's your legal authority?
COMPASS: There's a marshal declaration in place that gives us legal authority for mandatory evacuations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the gentlemen there. Has FEMA started the body recovery effort yet? How's it going?
LEHMAN: FEMA is assisting in that along with the military. The general's people have been quite active in that. We're working with the D-MAT (ph) portion of the city here. And we're just one of the many people that's involved in recovery of the bodies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could the general give us any idea of what the death toll may be at this point?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: General?
LT. GEN. RUSSELL HONORE, U.S. ARMY: I have no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm wondering about the recovery effort, if there is any one organization that is in charge of coordinating it. And also how many different forces you know that have come in with boats and so forth. We've seen people from all over, from other departments, from other sorts of states.
COMPASS: Captain Timothy Yard of the federal government (ph), in conjunction with federal agents, are coordinating the boat efforts. There are boats from private sector. There are boats from federal agencies, boats from state agencies, boats from local sheriff's offices, private individuals, military. They're -- it's a multitask force of boats. And it's being coordinated by Captain Timothy Yard and the federal government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) security versus (INAUDIBLE) when will that change?
COMPASS: Well, first of all, security and protection of human life is always paramount to us. They are taking place right now in conjunction. As an area of the city dries out, we are then -- as an area of the city dries out, we are establishing military and police presence, or routine patrols in those areas and securing those areas. The clean-ups are taking place as the land becomes available for to move equipment around.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you expect to have a difficult time forcing people to leave, given the fact that in some parts of the city is pretty close to returning to normal? (INAUDIBLE) Do you expect to have a tough time getting everybody out if there are, in fact, 10,000 people left in the city right now?
COMPASS: First of all, we hope to have most of the people cooperate. We have a large enough manpower force within the Army and the state, city and federal agencies to be able to do this expeditiously and as safely as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: General Honore, will you talk about this (INAUDIBLE) operation and the differences between other operations you've been involved in?
HONORE: Well, we normally try to go break things. In this case, we are trying to fix things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question. Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
COMPASS: Could you repeat the question? I couldn't hear it with the airplane.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
COMPASS: Well, much of our equipment was under water. The roads were impassable. It was very difficult to reach these officers. That's where the training came in. You have to adapt in difficult situations. And during this entire encounter, with minimal support as it relates to supplies, we did not lose one police officer despite the numerous firefights we engaged in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question over here. Let's go around to my right. Yes, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, you say 171 prisoners are now in custody at the Amtrak station. What kind of charges are they facing? Do you believe they are the members (INAUDIBLE) going around and looting and violence?
COMPASS: Many of them are looting and illegal possession of weapons. And these are the same individuals that not only took advantage of this situation, but takes advantage of every urban city in America on a daily basis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, last night the mayor issued a proclamation apparently authorizing the department to use force. It sounds like you're going to continue the current tactics which are asking them to leave, and moving out the volunteer evacuation. It sounds as if there's a slight disagreement between you and the mayor.
COMPASS: There's no disagreement whatsoever. The mayor and I are both on one accord. We still have thousands of people that want to voluntarily evacuate. We're doing the search and rescue missions.
If I pull my manpower from search and rescue missions to force people to move, at this present time, many people who want to leave would die. The mayor and I are on one accord. There is no -- there is no disagreement between the mayor and I. Once all the voluntary evacuees are evacuated, then we will enforce the mandatory evacuation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question. We've come back around. Next question. Speak up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
COMPASS: There's a system in place. They are being placed with direct deposit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Question?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) There are some people who are declining to leave not only in the ward and New Orleans east, but in farther west, the Garden District. Will you eventually go into those areas as well and forcibly remove people from there?
COMPASS: We will move the minimal amount of force necessary to evacuate people out of this city to safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: no matter where they are in the city?
COMPASS: No matter where they are in the city.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
COMPASS: With the exception of Algiers. Algiers does not have a mandatory evacuation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) follow-up on the coordination effort? (INAUDIBLE) law enforcement, a lot of states, federal -- could you go over again how this would coordinated and who is doing the coordination?
COMPASS: We are doing the coordination in a joint task force effort. I went to Baton Rouge and I met with representatives from the federal agencies, from the state agencies, from Colonel Whitehorn's (ph) office. And we have gotten together now, and we're going to move the joint operations down to New Orleans. We're trying to get a physical building secured. And it's all going to run through the city of New Orleans. We're going to, in one joint collaborative as it relates to dissemination of goods, services, patrols, et cetera.
QUESTION: Yes, this one's for the fire chief. Chief, you said there's gas leaks all over the city at this point. Have you identified where exactly these leaks are and have you -- what kind of threat does it actually pose to the recovery, the search and rescue efforts?
PARENT: Well, actually, it's throughout the city. We had an episode uptown in the uptown area last night. But we were able to get -- we were able to get energy out there. So energy is still responding, but they are limited just like we are. And what we'll do if we have a gas leak at a fire, we'll put out the fire except for the gas portion of it. And we'll have to let that burn. Because, if we put that out, if we extinguish that, then we have an accumulation of gas until it finds another ignition source, and then we can have an explosion. So you may see gas fires around the city, but it's protected with no exposures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me go back to this one guy, then we'll come up back over here. Yes, sir?
QUESTION: This is also for the fire chief. We have a lot of firefighters from all over the country here. Listening to the scanners, I know it's a great deal of difficulty because they don't know their way around the city. How are you handling coordinations so you can get those firefighters out to where they need to be?
PARENT: We have what we call mutual aid. They don't go out without a New Orleans firefighter on that apparatus. And right now, we are responding in task force. So they're not going out a single engine here, single engine there, unless it's one of our engines that know the area.
And we -- while we don't have use of our fire houses in the city, we do have locations that they can respond to on a 24-hour basis from the city on Decauter (ph) and Magazine. And we're looking at identifying more places. But they respond as a task force. And that way we'll have communications with the whole task force in general, and we have logistics and we can find anything with our people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir. Can we get this question in first?
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) what type of force you'll use, if necessary, on someone refusing to leave?
COMPASS: The minimal amount of force necessary. It will vary in degrees. If you are somebody that's 350 pounds, it will take more force to move you than somebody 100 pounds. The minimal amount of force used as necessary.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am?
QUESTION: If once you eventually get to these forced evacuations, (INAUDIBLE)?
COMPASS: They are going to be as long as we need them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, ma'am?
QUESTION: The FEMA gentlemen, or whoever can answer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill?
QUESTION: Has the temporary morgue been established? Where is it? And can people who are either here still or being allowed in to check on their possessions, are they being allowed yet to (INAUDIBLE) identify loved ones that they fear are lost?
LEHMAN: I have a dispatch number.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a number he's going to give out.
LEHMAN: 225-763-5760.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could you repeat that?
LEHMAN: 225-763-5760. That's their dispatch number. I don't know any more information. I think that would be the best source.
QUESTION: Is there a morgue that's been established in...
LEHMAN: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on the interstate of I-10 and I-610. Let me go over here. Any questions to my right? Yes, sir?
QUESTION: What assurance can you give refugees (INAUDIBLE) able to come back? Especially in the (INAUDIBLE) titles of their homes or they may be living (INAUDIBLE).
COMPASS: First of all, they're not refugees. They're citizens of the city of New Orleans. They -- through the work of FEMA, we are going to rebuild this city. Through the work of federal government, through the work of citizens in this city and this state. We will build a great city to come back home to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir? QUESTION: I don't know who this is appropriate to, maybe the chief (INAUDIBLE). We've heard recourse that the Superdome is going to be torn down and not repaired (INAUDIBLE). Can you talk to that?
MATTHEWS: We can neither confirm that or deny, but I think the Superdome will stay there. And let me make this clear -- and I would like for all of you to get this. Refugee is an incorrect term. They are displaced citizens of Orleans Parish. They are also citizens of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll make one last quick around and we'll end the press conference. Yes, sir? One more sweep.
QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE) the declaration of Marshall Lawrence (ph) here. Who issued it?
COMPASS: The mayor issued the declaration, and the governor. The mayor and the governor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question. Yes, sir (INAUDIBLE).
QUESTION: We've had reports from some of the hotel owners that they've hired security firms to go in and clear out some of the hotels, the vagrants or gang members that may be hanging out there (INAUDIBLE). Does the New Orleans Police Department know anything about this?
COMPASS: This the first we've heard about that. And we are in the process now of coordinating and finding exactly what direction we are going to take with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next, Paul Murphy (ph).
QUESTION: You may or may not be able to answer the question. But as you're asking people to voluntarily leave, possibly later down the road, forcing people to leave, any idea how long you are going to have to ask the New Orleans residents to stay away from the city?
COMPASS: Until the city is safe. I can't give you a definitive number. You're talking about environmental problems? You're talking about things that can kill with disease. So, people have to understand, it's not just the threat from criminals. You have environmental threat that is real.
QUESTION: Weeks, months?
COMPASS: It hasn't been determined yet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question.
QUESTION: We've heard reports of (INAUDIBLE) rape and murder inside Superdome. What were the lapses that allowed these things happen? And where do these cases stand now?
COMPASS: First of all, that's unconfirmed right now. Those things are being investigated. Right now we're still in the process of trying to save human life. That's what's paramount. We'll do a complete investigation of the entire incident once human life is saved.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next question?
QUESTION: Yes, Chief Parent. Can I talk to the chief, please? You mention a number of fires in the city. What is the major cause of these fires? Why are they suddenly starting to break out right now?
PARENT: Well, it's -- usually it's human causes. Various causes. You have people that's displaced that's seeking shelter. They have to cook. They use candles for light. That can cause fires. We have -- even your normal household materials once mixed can spontaneously combust. We have gas leaks. There's many different causes of fire. But the majority of them would be human causes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Channel six.
QUESTION: What's the official death count at this point in the city? Do we have a number they are going with?
COMPASS: We have no idea right now.
QUESTION: Marlon (ph), or Chief, excuse me. If you -- you say the 10,000 residents roughly still remain in the city. Can they leave on their own, and if so, have you coordinated with Jefferson Parish to allow them free passage through there to get out of the area?
COMPASS: Well, there are evacuation routes that they don't really need assistance to leave. If they have a vehicle that they can leave, we are encouraging them to leave.
QUESTION: We've seen reports of numbers of police walking away from their jobs during this time. Can you characterize the circumstances of how many (INAUDIBLE) and (INAUDIBLE) that?
COMPASS: First of all, you know, we don't have all those numbers, but I think we really need to concentrate on the 1,200 that we know that stayed and defended this city. Those are the true heroes. And those are the ones that we really need to concentrate on. There are so many heroic guys, we don't have enough time in the press conference even to tell them. But the ones that's, you know, uncounted for, we are in the process now of determining where they're at.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me read this into you. I think some people asked me about the -- what gives us the authority to -- for mandatory evacuation. Let me read this to you. And this is the law that gives us. And this is from the mayor.
QUESTION: Can you tell us what section...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm getting to that right now. "Now, therefore, I, as the mayor of the city of New Orleans, pursuant to the authority granted by me, by the Louisiana revised statute 29.727 and 730.2, do hereby promulgate an issue to follow mandatory evacuation order, which shall supersede the order issued by me on August 28th of this year, which shall remain in effect for 30 days from this date unless extended by my order or earlier terminated by my order." So those statutes are the Louisiana revised statute 29, section 727, and section 730.2, which gives us the authority for a mandatory evacuation.
QUESTION: But not the governor or the president, but the mayor?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a state statute. Thank you very much. 11:00 tomorrow morning. 11:00 a.m. Thank you.
KAGAN: We've been listening to an update from a number of New Orleans city officials. The big issue that seems to keep coming back to is this mandatory evacuation order that the mayor, Ray Nagin, has issued. There becomes a question of whose going to implement that, and are officials going to follow it? The mayor is adamant that he wants people out.
You've heard earlier from Lieutenant General Russell Honore saying the military doesn't intend to be part of that. And then we are hearing from fire and police officials. They're not saying they're not going to implement it, they're saying that their number one priority right now is search and rescue and helping those who still do want to get out get out. And they will go on down to mandatory evacuations after that.
In terms of how long those who have been evacuated will have to stay away from the city, they couldn't give a timeframe. They just said until the city is safe. Not only are there criminals still roaming the city, but also environmental issues that we can see by looking at the water there, that is being described as a toxic gumbo. So folks have fled the city. A big place people have gone, Houston, the Astrodome there. Thousands of people are still there.
Our Betty Nguyen reporting earlier that officials running the Astrodome as a shelter say they want to wrap that up by a week from Sunday. That means there are long lines of people waiting to get help. It is not an easy process of moving on to the next stop. We're going to check in with a Houston reporter who is in some of those lines and bringing us the latest on that frustration when we come back from this break. [
We're back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
We are going to get back to our state of emergency coverage in just a minute, but we do want to share this encouraging bit of news with you. CNN learned just a short while ago that a U.S. civilian held hostage in Iraq since November has been freed. The ex-wife of Roy Hallums tells CNN that he called her from Baghdad today. A Web site that's devoted to the hostage also reports his freedom. Hallums says he was rescued, but details on how that happened are still sketchy. Susan Hallums says her ex-husband has been tied and bound outside of Fallujah and couldn't walk very well. I had a chance to talk with Susan Hallums just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN HALLUMS, EX-WIFE OF ROY HALLUMS: It was just very, very early this morning, and he called and said that he was free. And I said, that's just -- our prayers were answered. And he -- I was just telling him about what was going on. He didn't know about New Orleans. He says, I haven't been able to listen to any news. And I told him about that, and he was very sorry for all the people there.
And anyway, it was just so wonderful to hear his voice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAGAN: To refresh your memory, Roy Hallums was taken hostage during a daring attack in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood. Now it's 10 months later. His ex-wife says the family is looking forward to a reunion this weekend here in the States.
Back to our coverage of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and Houston. The largest concentration of those who fled the storm and the damage are in Houston, Texas. They face some help, but also some frustrated lines. And we're going to check in with our affiliate KTRK and reporter Jeff Ehling with more on that part of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF EHLING, KTRK REPORTER (on camera): Well, hundreds of people started lining up at 4:00 this morning outside the George R. Brown Convention Center here in Houston, Texas. This is one of the county- owned facilities that's serving as an emergency shelter for evacuees from Louisiana. The folks lining up outside had heard news reports that there was going to be a giveaway from FEMA, housing vouchers and debit cards with $2,000 on them, and they were going to be given to every hurricane evacuee in the city of Houston by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. So the folks started lining up around 4:00 this morning. FEMA did not get here until 8:00 this morning. And then shortly after that, FEMA realizes there are far too many people here for the simple registration process that was actually going on. So they told people in the crowd, folks, you're not getting anything from FEMA today. There are no housing vouchers here. There are no debit cards here. This is simply a registration process for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
And in fact, most of the people in line had already registered with FEMA, so they didn't need to be here at all. This still hasn't stooped a steady stream of people from coming down here. There are authorities announcing with bullhorns that there are no vouchers down here. And as many people leave, that many more people come here to find out about vouchers. In fact, just a few moments ago, 30 people walked in front of me, and I asked them, are you here to see about the vouchers? And they all said, yes.
So the word still hasn't gotten out that there are no vouchers, there are no debit cards here yet. FEMA officials who we spoke with this morning told us that the process will probably be another week to 10 days, maybe even longer than that, before any federal assistance is available for those folks who left New Orleans. One quick word about the people you see behind me.
I spoke with a lot of them this morning. They all tell me that they were working-class folks in New Orleans. These are people who had jobs, the vast middle class of New Orleans who, folks, they just don't have any money; they have no access to get to their money at this point. They are broke, they are out of money, they are desperate, they thought they were going to get a helping hand today, and they left empty handed.
I'm Jeff Ehling, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Thank you, Jeff, from our affiliate KTRK in Houston. Now, we've been doing what we can to help with the relocation and the reunion of those that are looking for their loved ones.
For that, we go to our victim and relief desk and our Carol Lin -- Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Daryn.
We have an update on a particularly moving story that you may recall from yesterday. Here is the plea that came from a young mother to CNN's Keith Oppenheim at the Astrodome.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN ANCHOR: And, Hishaunda, you are looking for your 23-month-old daughter? Tell me about her.
HISHAUNDA RILES, SEPARATED FROM CHILD: Yes, I am lo looking for my 23-month-old daughter, Tashanda (ph). She got pulled from her daddy.
OPPENHEIM: And it was last Tuesday that her father, Joseph, was trying get her onto a bus?
RILES: Yes.
OPPENHEIM: Reporter: What went wrong going from New Orleans to wherever she went?
RILES: Well, what went wrong, he couldn't bring his dogs, so he gave Tashanda to one of his friends that he knew named Kiva (ph).
OPPENHEIM: Kiva.
RILES: And by the time he came back, they was gone. And he didn't know where they went at.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LIN: Well, she was very distraught, but here's a look at what we got later in the evening. Little 23-month-old Tashanda was reunited with her mother right there at the Astrodome. And as you can see, they were both pretty tired, but it was a happy ending.
And just this morning, our Kelly Wallace reported on a 4-year-old girl all alone in a San Antonio, Texas shelter. All we knew was that her name is Mysteria. She arrived with no parents, no grandparent, nothing. After the story aired, we got word that her grandfather is in an Alabama shelter, but he's destitute with no way to get to San Antonio. So we're waiting to hear back from state Representative Ruth Jones McClendon, who's now involved in Mysteria's case.
Just 24 hours ago, right on this program, Trina Sutton talked with Daryn and appealed to all of you out there to help find her children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRINA SUTTON, LOOKING FOR CHILDREN: I'm looking for my two kids, Maurice and Daranesha (ph) Sutton. One is 13. The other one's 10. Maurice goes by the nickname of Mo, or Mo Money. Nisha, nickname is Nisha. Daranesha's nickname is Nisha. They last was seen on St. Charles on Wednesday.
KAGAN: And how did you get separated from your children?
SUTTON: OK, while they was rescuing the children and the elderly first, and my kids left Wednesday, the boat was supposed to come back for us, but it didn't. The National Guard rescued us Thursday off the roof.
KAGAN: And when they took your children, did they tell you where they were going to take them?
SUTTON: They told them they was bringing them onto St. Charles Street to dry land.
KAGAN: And that was the last locator you had for where your children might be?
SUTTON: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIN: Well, a viewer found little Maurice Sutton's name on the Red Cross registry online, and it appears that a volunteer somewhere in Dallas -- and remember, mom's now in Houston -- helped the little boy put his name on the list. But he is not at any Dallas Red Cross shelters. So, this is an all-call out to shelter workers in Dallas. Please e-mail us, let us know if you know where Maurice Sutton is. Go directly to our public information people. It's publicinformation@CNN.com. We are going to get this sorted out because we know that Maurice is somewhere in Dallas, and his mom is waiting for him in Houston. Help us out -- Daryn?
KAGAN: Well, a step closer. Not the exact reunion we're hoping for, but we'll get there.
LIN: We're getting close.
KAGAN: All right. Carol, thank you for your help.
Straight ahead, we're talking about a different type of help. This for pets that had been abandoned, not by choice, left stranded in the flood waters. You are going to see what's being done to help rescue them and some of the heroes saving their lives.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAGAN: This just in to CNN. Ford Motor Company instituting what is going to be one of the largest auto recalls in the history of the industry. Our business -- CNN business unit is confirming Ford is recalling 3.8 million Ford pick-up trucks and SUVs. It has to do with a cruise control switch that many believe are suspected of causing engine fires.
Our Drew Griffin has done a number of stories on this switch. The recall will include 1994 to 2002 model years F-150 pick-up trucks, the Ford Expedition, the Lincoln Navigator, and Ford Broncos. Much more on this recall of Ford vehicles coming up in the next hour.
All right, now let's talk about the animals that have been hit with Hurricane Katrina. A group called Noah's Wish is busy rescuing animals stranded by the storm. The volunteers are among the heroes that demonstrate the American spirit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERRI CRISP, NOAH'S WISH: Noah's Wish, all we do is disaster relief work for animals, nothing else, period. These animals are real scared right now. The majority of them, though, they're extremely hungry and they are very grateful to see somebody. The house she came out of had a good six to seven feet of water in it, and we found her in the laundry room. Back behind the washing machine, which was turned over on its side.
DAMIEN ANTI, SLIDELL, LA ANIMAL CONTROL: We're out there rescuing animals out of collapsed houses, backyards. We have gone into houses and got birds out, hamsters out, iguanas out, dogs and cats. Any kind of animal you can imagine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's doing great. He just had a bath (INAUDIBLE) floodwater on him is off, and he's much more comfortable now. He was extremely stressed when he came in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is (INAUDIBLE) with six others, and my impression is that they have been under the water, and affected by that, so he's got a lot of infectious -- dermatitis and stuff going on in his ears, and I think he probably just has overwhelming infection at this point. We'll see how he does.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We received a phone call that he had been stuck in -- in between the tailgate of a truck, between the tailgate and the bumper. And we went out, and we had to remove the bumper to get him out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The kitten was stuck in there for an entire week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you get him out?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had to actually take the tools and all, and take the bumper completely off of the truck, to rescue him out of there. There he is.
CRISP: We have about 275 animals. We are called Noah's Wish. And that's because we feel that Noah would have liked or wished that someone would have continued where he left off.
ANTI: Without the assistance of Noah's Wish, we would not be able to do a fraction of this. I have employees that are actually working right now that have lost everything.
CRISP: Every time I walk through the shelter, I know that they're alive, because of what we're doing. That's why there needs to be someone like us, a Red Cross, for a lack of a better explanation, for animals.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: Very important work. Animal lovers out there saying thank you for that.
Meanwhile, we want to show you live pictures we're getting in from New Orleans. Other types of heroes. Firefighters in New Orleans on the scene of yet another fire. We heard in the briefing earlier this hour, 15 different fires burning in New Orleans as of yesterday. They're doing the best they can with the equipment and manpower they have available to them.
Our coverage of Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath, also William Rehnquist and his funeral, continues here on CNN. I'm Daryn Kagan. Thank you for joining me today. Our coverage continues with Kyra Phillips. She's up next. I'll see you tomorrow.
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