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CNN Live Today

Hurricane Rita Heads Towards Florida; Military Plans to Move Ships from Storm's Path

Aired September 20, 2005 - 10:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: First, I want to call your attention the left side of your screen. CNN has teamed up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to bring the faces of children that are still missing or displaced because of Hurricane Katrina. Since we launched this initiative on Saturday morning, calls to the center have quadrupled and even more importantly, 49 cases have been resolved.
Now, let's get to the news.

Earlier this morning, we learned that three separate attack in Iraq have left eight Americans dead. Two roadside bombs killed four U.S. soldiers yesterday in Ramadi. And in Mosul, a suicide car bomber killed another four Americans, including an employee of the U.S. State Department. The State Department worker was traveling with employees of North Carolina-based Blackwater Security Consulting.

Just one day after North Korea agreed to dismantle the nuclear program, the implementation of the landmark deal appears to be in limbo. Earlier today, it was reported that North Korea said it will move ahead only if the U.S. provides a light water reactor for civilian power. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that issue will be discussed down the road and not now.

The nation's economic policymakers are meeting today, and they're expected to raise interest rates for an 11th straight time. Analysts are now backing away from earlier speculation that Katrina's record- breaking losses would prompt a hiatus interest rate hikes. The formal announcement is due less than four hours from now.

Next hour is New York, a memorial service will be held to honor the late ABC news anchor Peter Jennings. In addition to invited guests, a limited number of tickets were given to the public for the ceremony at Carnegie Hall. Jennings died of lung cancer last month at the age of 67.

And now back to our stop story. From the Florida Keys all the way to Texas, thousands are getting out of the way of the latest hurricane. It is called Rita. It's now a Category 1 storm, but is expected to get even stronger. Comments you might have heard here on CNN just a short time ago. Florida governor Jeb Bush told people that if they are still in the Florida Keys and have not evacuated, now is the time to stay put, hunker down and seek shelter.

At last check, hurricane -- the Hurricane Rita was about 100 miles out of Key West, moving West-Northwest at about 15 miles an hour. The hurricane could dump more than a foot of rain on the Keys and bring new problems to the Gulf.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Well, earlier this morning, officials in Monroe County stopped urging people to evacuate the Florida Keys. It's now too late and too dangerous to even try.

Joining us to discuss the preparations and plans for after the storm, Becky Herrin. She is with the Monroe County's Emergency Management Office, and she's joining me by phone from Marathon, Florida. Good morning.

BECKY HERRIN, MONROE COUNTRY EMERGENCY MGMT: Good morning.

KAGAN: Where and how are you riding out the storm?

HERRIN: In the Emergency Operations Center in Marathon.

KAGAN: And what are conditions like there right now?

HERRIN: Well, it's pretty windy and pretty rainy. We're seeing the bands come through and getting, like I said, just a lot of wind and rain.

KAGAN: Becky, were you happy with how the evacuations went this time?

HERRIN: Very happy. I think a lot of people got out. I think a lot of people made the decision to get out early. So they were really listening this time.

KAGAN: And you think lessons learned by watching what happened in New Orleans along the Gulf Coast?

HERRIN: Well, certainly, I think that played a big part. And, you know, we in the Keys have been doing this for quite some time now and have had a lot of practice. So I think people are getting their evacuation plans down pat.

KAGAN: But that goes both ways, you know, because people kind of get evacuation-weary and say, well, no, not this time.

HERRIN: You know, surprisingly enough, I don't think we have seen a lot of that. I think people are taking it seriously each time. I think they're deciding that it's easier to err on the side of caution and just go each time.

KAGAN: In terms of being cautious, as a local entity, what -- have you had to adjust your plans at all, seeing how things worked when, you know, local, state and federal tried to work together along the Gulf Coast?

HERRIN: Well, you know, every time we go through one of these, we adjust our plan slightly. There's always something that we find that we could probably do a little bit better. But I think we're getting pretty good at this, after as many hurricanes as we did last year and as many as we've had so far this year.

KAGAN: And at this point, with Rita, what is the biggest concern? The rain, the wind, the storm surge?

HERRIN: All of the above, of course. We're going to see throughout the course of the day today a lot of wind, a lot of rain, and a lot of storm surge. So, you know, people just need to stay inside and stay safe. And the one thing I really don't want to see is people out driving around in the middle of the storm, trying to see what's going on.

KAGAN: Yes. Well, you see all sorts of stuff in the Keys. Hopefully you will not see that.

HERRIN: Well, unfortunately, a lot of times we do.

KAGAN: Well, we wish you well and wish you a saner head in your part of the world.

HERRIN: Thank you.

KAGAN: Becky Herrin, Monroe County. The county emergency management association that takes care of the Florida Keys. That's Becky Herrin.

We move westward, back to the Gulf Coast, as Rita will be heading in the that direction. The Iwo Jima, the ship that was moved there in order to help out, is being moved out. Our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon is telling us more now about that -- Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, just part of overall military plan now taking shape to help the military cope with the approach of Hurricane Rita. We've just spoken to members of General Honore's staff, who has been leading the military relief effort for Katrina in New Orleans. They are making some very serious plans for the approach of Rita. General Honore, we are told, is now spending 50 percent of his time today working on the military preps for Rita.

Here is what is on the table. That ship, the Iwo Jima, as well as the Shreveport, two Marine Corps amphibious ships, docked in New Orleans, now do have orders to set sail tomorrow to get out of New Orleans if the storm remains on its current track. A number of other Navy ships and Coast Guard ships in New Orleans, also ready to set sail. The current plan calls for them to head east, towards Florida, sit out the storm there and then ride it back in behind the storm and resume their relief work in New Orleans.

But what about the troops? The thousands of National Guard and active duty troops on the ground in New Orleans, who have been conducting those relief efforts, who are sleeping in tents, sleeping outside? Well, the military now looking for shelter for them, as well. They are beginning to identify sites that they might move them to if the storm track continues that could withstand up to a Category 5 storm. One official telling us, yep, that's right, the convention center in New Orleans could be a shelter point for the U.S. military. If things became really bad, they might move some of those troops north to Ft. Polk, Louisiana.

But all of this now very dependent on the storm track. The military in the same position everyone else is in. Watching that storm track, making the preparations to move. But they've got to make a decision about the ships within the next several hours, because it is going to take them hours to move out of the storm's way -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, it is fluid, indeed, literally, on the sea there. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thank you.

Also talking about the levees in New Orleans. Not the only one -- not the only targets, potential targets in Rita's path. Many of the nation's oil rigs are vulnerable, too, and that could drive up gas prices yet again. Up next, Rita's effect on the markets.

And later, delivering mail in Mississippi, a daunting task now, practically impossible. CNN takes you along for a postal worker's ride amongst the ruin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Still to come, stories of success, we're going to go live to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children with an update on the search for those missing or displaced in Katrina's aftermath. A live picture from Alexandria, Virginia as we go to break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's talk a little bit more about what you've been seeing on the left side of your screen. CNN giving you the names and often the pictures of children missing in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The aim is to help reunite them with their families. It's an enormous effort.

CNN's Kimberly Osias is following that effort from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. She is in Virginia this morning.

Good morning.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Daryn.

Well, it is an enormous effort. I mean, these volunteers have been at it for days and days and hours on end, working tirelessly to help those reunions happen. And good news out of more than 2,000 missing children, in fact, 2,393 still missing, and first-time calling coming in. There have been 883 cases that are resolved, which is certainly good, good news.

Joining me now is Robert Snow, formerly with the Secret Service. You've been a volunteer a long time.

ROBERT SNOW, PHONE BANK FLOOR MANAGER: Thirteen years. OSIAS: Long time.

SNOW: Yes, we've been here a long while.

OSIAS: So, you know, I mean, this is really a situation unlike any other there than we've experienced and a little bit more precarious, if you will, than other missing children, and some good news in that time isn't as much of a real obstacle.

SNOW: No, it's a different type of challenge. The numbers are a big challenge, but also normally a case we have abductions, time is extremely important to us. In this case we have the opportunity to at least reunite these families, and we have a little bit more time to work with it, because they're just separated, and we're trying to get the families back together.

OSIAS: And hopefully that will continue to happen. A trend will be that those resolved cases continue to rise, even as those first- time calls come in.

SNOW: I'm sure they will.

OSIAS: Tell me a little bit about the custodial issue. I know in Louisiana there are a number of children that are living with extended family. How do you all really make sure that the child is matched up with the right parent?

SNOW: Well, working with social service, working with the authorities there. When we get the reunification, we make sure that they are the proper parent, the right custodial person has the child before they'll actually do the reunification.

OSIAS: OK, great. Thank you so much.

I want to show you, introduce you to little Paul Bodin. This little boy, he was six months old when this photograph was taken. This is just one of the obstacles that these caseworkers are really up against.

And what they do is sometimes they have to digitally enhance that. They have a team of forensic experts digitally enhancing photographs upstairs as we are speaking, which will continue. And we will continue to keep showing these photographs, hoping that people will have their memories jarred and make a call into the center to help put those pieces back to together -- Daryn?

KAGAN: All right, Kimberly, thank you for that.

Hurricane Katrina literally destroyed parts of the Gulf Coast in Mississippi, so with just so few homes standing, where does the mail go? Good question. Up next, one postal worker rides his route, trying to make sure the mail still goes through.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: At this hour, President Bush is heading back to hurricane-ravaged Mississippi and Louisiana. He is scheduled to arrive in Gulfport, Mississippi, just a short time from now. He has meetings scheduled with local business and government leaders. And then Mr. Bush makes a return trip to New Orleans. It's his fifth visit to the region since Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore three weeks ago.

Well, the Hurricane Katrina virtually wiped out Waveland, Mississippi, just wiped it off the map. But some essential services are starting to return. Even mail service is up and running again.

More now from CNN's Beth Nissen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETH NISSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After days of being held in postal facilities further not north, the mail is coming into southern Mississippi again. A million pieces a day.

ROBIN WARE, U.S. POSTAL SERVICE, GULFPORT, MS: The residents of Gulfport and its surrounding areas, right now many of them don't have television, they don't have radio, they want their mail back and they want that sense of normalcy.

NISSEN: That's what mail carrier Joel Saucier is trying to deliver. With the Gulfport postal plant operating, he has mail to take to people on his route in Waveland, Mississippi.

JOEL SAUCIER, U.S. POSTAL CARRIER: My route's consisting of 1,047 possible deliveries. My route's 46 miles long. There's two small restaurants, there's a gas station, a school, a catholic church, a Methodist church, and a condominium complex. The rest is drive-up mailboxes -- houses.

NISSEN: Almost none of them still standing. Not this house on Third Street.

SAUCIER: The house is not even there. A wood house, white with green trim. They had two Corgies, used to bark pretty -- used to chase you around the yard.

NISSEN: The house across the street is gone too.

SAUCIER: Family rented it. They had -- she had two Dalmatian dogs. She used to load them up in that van all the time and take them to the beach to let them run.

NISSEN: Street after street on his route, it's the same. No houses, no people.

SAUCIER: Delivering people's mail every day, you know, 300 days a year, you learn every name for every address. See, I see a lot of these people every day. Summertime, I see their kids. I actually thought there would be a few things standing, but I guess that was just hope.

NISSEN: He sees signs that people have survived. This person even put his mailbox out with the flag up.

SAUCIER: Federal regulations say we cannot deliver mail to a house that is not occupied or is vacant. And 1,047 stops, I haven't seen one that's livable -- or there.

NISSEN: He is unable to deliver a single piece of the mail in his trays.

SAUCIER: Cable bills, mortgage payment, home depot flyer, American Express credit card, a wedding invitation from San Francisco, California.

NISSEN: He'll take these trays back to the post office in Bay Saint. Louis, Mississippi where the newly homeless can go and pick up their mail, fill out change of address cards. He's been relieved to meet a few people from his route in line, is anxious to learn what happened to a few who stayed through the storm and haven't been seen since.

He was especially worried about those who lived in a beachside condominium complex, gone now except for twisted steel beams and one set of mailboxes.

SAUCIER: It's 35 units, probably 50 people, everybody did leave. Everybody is OK.

NISSEN: It's so hard to imagine what used to be here just a few weeks ago. What life used to be like, what so many here feel like they'd give anything, just anything, to have again.

SAUCIER: I can drive down the street and see smiling faces. Give people their mail, you know. I hope people come back.

NISSEN: Beth Nissan, CNN, Waveland, Mississippi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And we have much more in the next hour of CNN LIVE TODAY. We're tracking Hurricane Rita. That storm is picking up speed and bearing down on south Florida. I'll talk to the mayor of Key West about how his town is preparing.

Plus, President Bush makes his fifth trip to the hurricane- damaged Gulf Coast region. A look at efforts to rebuild, even as the second storm lies ahead.

The second hour of CNN LIVE TODAY begins right now.

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