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President Bush Arrives on Gulf Coast; New Orleans Mayor Orders Residents to Leave Ahead of New Storm

Aired September 20, 2005 - 11:32   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is arriving on the Gulf Coast this hour. It's his fifth trip to the hurricane zone. A sampling of Americans showing Katrina has damaged more than just the landscape. Fifty-eight percent of people in our CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll do not like the way Mr. Bush is doing his job, 63 percent don't like the way he's handling the economy, and on Iraq, a full two-thirds disapproved of the way the president is handling the war.
White House correspondent Dana Bash joining me now with a look at those numbers and Mr. Bush's trip.

Good morning.

DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, those latest numbers you show, obviously, show an American public extraordinarily down on this president. In fact, in the areas that you just listed and others at well, the president is pretty much at his lowest approval on key issues.

But as he heads to Mississippi and also to Louisiana for his fifth time, as you mentioned, there is one number that continues to give the White House pause. That is how much his number-one asset, leadership has plummeted in the wake of Katrina.

Let's look at these figures. When asked whether or not the president is a decisive leader, now just 49 percent say yes. That's down from just 52 percent a couple weeks ago, 60 percent at the end of August. That is troubling to a White House when they know that that is really what the president ran and got re-elected on, his leadership. They hope to turn that around, first of all, by having a presence on the ground, like we're going to see today, getting involved in the nitty gritty.

Also the president's aides tell us that they hope by him admitting responsibility and also trying to say that he's looking into what went wrong will also help restore his popularity. And today the White House tells us that president has tapped his homeland security adviser, Francis Townsend, to lead the inquiry, the internal investigation in the administration as to what went wrong. We are told that cabinet secretaries were informed in a memo late last week that she is going to be doing this, were told to participate, that that is a very important thing for the president.

Well, Democrats on Capitol Hill are already balking at this, saying what is needed is an independent inquiry, like they're eventually was after 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RICHARD DURBIN (D), ILLINOIS: I don't know her. She may be a very competent individual, but how in the world can we get to the truth of the question as to what went wrong with Hurricane Katrina? How can we really hope to discover the incompetence that led to all of this human suffering and devastation if the administration is going to investigate itself?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Now, Daryn, I believe what we're seeing now, we understand, is the president, or at least the president making his way to Mississippi, his first stop of this day's trip, again, in Mississippi, and then eventually on to Louisiana.

You just heard from the number-two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, essentially laying out the political strategy by the Democrats. That is the fact that they see a very weak president now, and there are essentially two ways to go about it politically. You can step back and let him continue to be weak, perhaps have the problems he's already involved in continue to boil up, or you can engage and attack and try to, as one Democratic official said, seize the moment and continue to put the pressure on, and that is what Democrats on the Hill, at least for now, are continuing to do to this president right now -- Daryn.

KAGAN: And, Dana, meanwhile, later in the week the president is going to head out again, this time going to areas where folks have evacuated to.

BASH: That's right. As I said, this is part of the strategy to keep the president on the ground, keep him present, part of the nitty gritty, really out there. This is the fifth trip to talk about the relief efforts.

As you said, at the end of the week, he's going to states like Arkansas, and Alabama and Texas. The point there is to thank the states, thank the communities who have taken in the evacuees of Katrina.

KAGAN: Dana Bash live at the White House. Dana, thank you.

BASH: Thank you.

KAGAN: Well, there is new confusion and frustration. Now we're looking at the mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin. He is telling anyone who returned, pack up and get out again.

With more on that, here is Ed Lavandera.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, they closed off all residents. They're not letting no residents in right now. OK? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry for that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not your fault.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Confusion and tension at the checkpoints leading into New Orleans. Just hours after the city's mayor ordered a mandatory evacuation, blaming it on Tropical Storm Rita, many waiting in long lines to get to their homes unleashed their anger.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every checkpoint is different! Every one has a different set of rules and regulations! Nobody has any idea what he's doing!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He gave everybody permission to go into the city. I understand if he's going to close it down. But if he gave you permission to go today he could at least let you get in there today!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, I've been in once. And you know, trying to get in for the second time. But I'm going to try an alternate route.

LAVANDERA: This man vowed to keep trying the side streets until he made it past the security checkpoints, but some have already been successful.

ROBERT CAMERON, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: I begged the police to let me come in. This is the combination of my usual debris and the debris from the storm.

LAVANDERA: Tucked behind the sprawling foliage of his front yard, Robert Cameron is living quietly in his home again.

CAMERON: No looting. No real major structural damage that I know of. I mean, the house might fall in on me when I plop myself, my fat self in on the bed tonight, but I don't think so.

LAVANDERA: Cameron is one of the lucky Garden District residents.

CAMERON: The magic -- the magic of electricity.

LAVANDERA: He has electrical power. The water is running, but it's not drinkable. The air-conditioning works, and he says that's all he needs.

CAMERON: I'm happy, you know? I mean, my animals are OK. I'm OK. The place stinks but, you know, I'm going to get a few sticks of incense and some scented candles and start cleaning up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right now, it is closed to everybody. The mayor has closed it and evacuated again. LAVANDERA: While some have figured out a way to return to their homes and possibly remain, thousands of others are still stuck on the outside looking in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Sorry about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And showing you a live picture right now from Mississippi, President Bush arriving. This is his fifth trip since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. He's going to Mississippi and New Orleans today. And then later in the week, he goes to Alabama, Texas and Arkansas, thanking those states that were generous enough to take in many people who took refuge after Hurricane Katrina. More on President Bush in a bit.

First, Mayor Nagin saying that he's lining up 200 buses to take anyone without transportation out of New Orleans. That would happen 48 hours before landfall, if Hurricane Rita takes a turn toward Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MYR. RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: We have buses available also, but the majority of the people that are here will be a much more mobile population.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Have you updated specifically your evacuation plan now?

NAGIN: Well, we have updates. We have buses that are available for this round of evacuations, yes, sir.

O'BRIEN: So you have a new plan for evacuation then?

NAGIN: We have a plan, and we're implementing it, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: After the break, we're going to have another update on the path of Hurricane Rita. We're going to go live to the National Hurricane Center for that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Live picture there. Gulfport, Mississippi. President Bush just landing, getting off of Air Force One just a couple seconds ago. This is his fifth trip to the region. He is coming today to check out efforts of recovery. Also, later in the week, President Bush will be going to Alabama, Texas and Arkansas to see the very generous efforts that have been made to help people who evacuated to those states and also efforts to get folks that went there back on their feet. More on President Bush's trip in just a minute. Getting New Orleans up and running again will be a job that falls largely on the shoulders of city leaders. Oliver Thomas is president of the New Orleans City Council. Are we talking to him?

All right, OK, we are tracking Hurricane Rita this hour. Let's get the latest on where this storm is now and where it's headed. Richard Knabb with the National Hurricane Center, bringing us the latest. Richard, sorry for the confusion there. Good to see you.

RICHARD KNABB, NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: That's OK. Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: The latest on Rita, please?

KNABB: Well, Rita has continued to steadily strengthen this morning. We had a tropical storm earlier in the morning. Right now we have a solid Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds near 85 miles per hour. It's about 75 miles southeast of Key West, Florida, right now, moving toward the West.

So it looks like the exact center of the hurricane will pass to the south of the lower Florida Keys. But unfortunately, that northern eyewall is going to be pushing water and strong winds onto the Florida Keys during the next several hours. So it's going to be a rough afternoon down there.

KAGAN: Also, we've been talking about the impact of the east coast of Florida. But it looks like the west coast has to look for that, as well.

KNABB: That's correct. As early as 4:00 this morning when I got up at my house, we had a strong band come through that brought us some tropical storm force winds. And now we're getting strong bands, especially in the Miami-Dade County, that could even produce some hurricane-force gusts. So the tropical storm that we have for Broward and Palm Beach counties, and the hurricane warning for Miami-Dade County are certainly warranted, given how far out the winds extend from the center of this hurricane.

KAGAN: Is this storm moving more slowly than you had predicted?

KNABB: No, actually, if anything, it's moving maybe a tad faster today than we thought it would yesterday, moving west about 15 miles per hour. Some of the good news is the fast forward motion. And that would, all other factors considered equal, reduce the rainfall for it. But we still could get six to eight inches of rainfall in the Keys.

KAGAN: All right. Let's talk about the next chapter of this hurricane, as it moves into the Gulf of Mexico and where it might be headed. The latest predictions on that, please.

KNABB: All right. We think it's going to continue westward for the next couple of days and it has every chance to continue to strengthen. Could become a major hurricane later in the week. We can't rule out a potential direct impact for Louisiana, Texas or northern Mexico. It's just a little too far out to specify just yet. So everyone in those areas should pay close attention to the progress of this hurricane. No watches or warnings yet for those areas, but in the next couple days, that probably will become necessary.

KAGAN: All right. Busy times for you. Thank you for the latest on Hurricane Katrina.

KNABB: Thank you.

KAGAN: Now I want to go to New Orleans. And getting that city back, falling largely on the shoulders of city leaders. Oliver Thomas, president of the New Orleans City Council. He is in Baton Rouge this morning. Good morning, Mr. Thomas.

OLIVER THOMAS, PRESIDENT, NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL: Hey, good morning, Daryn. How are you, today?

KAGAN: Kind of getting over a cough. So excuse me and bear with me, there, please.

THOMAS: That's OK.

KAGAN: Some confusion in your city. The mayor saying please come back in, don't come back in. What is the latest, please?

THOMAS: Well, I think with Rita out there, especially given the condition of our levee protection system, I think he's err -- well, he's siding with caution, and that's a really smart thing. But at some point, the mayor, the admiral, the general, EPA, the Corps and FEMA need to get together and definitely give us some re-entry plans and some re-entry dates.

We cannot keep giving out mixed messages to people. We need to know yesterday what areas of the city are most affected. What's the air quality, soil quality? And what are the dangers in those areas? I'll give you an example.

I keep -- you keep hearing this thing about black mold. Well, you know, there was black mold in 1927. There was black mold in 1965 when I was a kid. And I'm here right now. So I don't know why everybody needs to be afraid of black mold. We just took some water and bleach, washed it down, cut out the affected areas, soaked the wood, cleaned up the house and moved back in. So, you know, I don't -- you know, everybody's got the black mold scare. Well, we've been beating up on black mold for the last 100 years.

KAGAN: So let's be reasonable about what really is a danger. Plenty to focus on, but let's stay focused. You can understand, though, the frustration of folks standing or sitting in their cars in those long line,s being told they could come back in, only to get to the checkpoint to say, sorry, changed our mind, can't come back in.

THOMAS: And that's extremely unfortunate. That never should have happened. That -- the worst thing you can do is have people feel like their chain is being jerked. Come home, don't come home. Come back today, no, come back tomorrow. And that's why the Corps, FEMA, the mayor, the admiral, the general and all of those bigwigs need to get together with everyone and come up with a solid re-entry plan that everybody buys into. You can't have all of these different agencies working in the city, working in disaster relief, and having different ideas and different plans about rehabilitating the city. That sends the wrong message to the people out there who want to come home.

And listen to me, most people want to come home. They just want to know when. If it's going to take a month, tell me a month. If it's going to take two months, tell me two months. If it's going to take six months or a year, let me know. We can't afford to discourage them.

KAGAN: Just quickly, Mr. Thomas, why is it so hard for all of these leaders to get along? Is it more than ego?

THOMAS: Well, you know, as someone who learned to use his ego like a handkerchief, you know, you put it in your back pocket until you really need it, I don't really know. I think political (INAUDIBLE) and egos and who's in charge, especially in a crisis situation -- so many dead, so many homeless, so many without businesses -- political ego should be the last thing that people are worried about.

You know, I just finished talking to Steve Perry, who's head of the Tourism and Business Bureau. You know, He wants his people to come back home to start working. You know, he wants to send them money, to give them tickets to come back home. But he wants to know when. He doesn't want to tell them to come back week, and then no, you can't come back, no, but yes you can come back. We need a definite re-entry plan that everybody buys into, all branches of government, the business community, the big Washington leaders we have right now calling the shots. Everybody needs to know when.

I mean, I wonder what Noah would have done. Get on the boat, no, get off the boat. No, get on the boat, no, get off the boat. We probably wouldn't be habitating this planet if Noah didn't have a real plan.

KAGAN: Two by two. Let's hope you can come up with something that simple and come up with a good, safe date that people can focus on. We wish you well with that.

THOMAS: Thank you, Daryn. Thank you for your reporting.

KAGAN: Absolutely. Wishing you the best. We'll be checking back in with you. Thank you.

While you've been seeing up on the screen -- over there -- the missing or displaced children, we're going to bring you an update on the efforts to try to get them back with their parents, after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Our efforts continue trying to locate children. Another success story.

For more on that, let's go to Alexandria, Virginia and Kimberly Osias -- Kimberly.

KIMBERLY OSIAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, you know, this is why we are here. We have just learned about the whereabouts of little Jamal Jacobs. A successful connection has, in fact, been made, believed to be about two or three years old. He was last known to be in New Orleans. Take a look at his picture.

Now this just shows you how scattered these families and these children have gotten. He was actually seen, reported missing by his aunt. The picture was sent in, and a Red Cross worker in Indiana actually saw his face and recognized it. Of course, face-to-face contact hasn't happened yet. That is expected to happen soon, of course. That is why we are all, in fact, here. More than 800 children have been connected, so we will have more in the next hour with the caseworker that actually got the call -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Already all right. That's why they're here. That's why we've been doing this all weekend and into this week.

Kimberly, thank you.

More on that in the next hour. And the news continues. The latest on the track of Hurricane Rita, after this break.

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