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American Morning

Bush Raises Roberts Nomination to Chief Justice; Superdome Medic Was Told Thousands would Die; Houston Man Shelters More Than 40 Evacuees; Louisiana National Guard May Leave Iraq to Aid Hurricane Recovery

Aired September 05, 2005 - 08:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Welcome back, everybody.
And the rain has started to come down here in New Orleans on the corner of Bourbon Street and Canal Street, exactly where they do not need any rain today. Because, as you can see, the water starts here, and it goes on and on and on.

Today, we've been saying, the business -- the work today is essentially recovering bodies, and it bears repeating that they have no idea just what they're going to find. Any estimates at this point are truly just guesses.

This morning, Miles, we're going to tell you the story of a medic who was told that he should expect to lose 20 percent of the people from the Superdome as they worked on that evacuation. We've got his story just ahead -- Miles.

MILES O'BRIEN, CO-HOST: Thank you very much, Soledad. Live pictures, Andrews Air Force base. There you plainly see Air Force One. The president is on board, having made his announcement a little while ago, about 30 minutes ago, that John Roberts' nomination has been elevated from associate justice to supreme -- excuse me, chief justice of the United States.

The president is on his way now to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, then ultimately Mississippi for a second on the ground trip to the Katrina stricken region. We will, of course, be following that trip all throughout the day as the president makes the rounds there and tries to find ways to get people there back on their feet.

CNN's Bob Franken back at the White House now, where you might say it's a busy news environment, to say the least.

Bob, the decision on John Roberts, announcing it today, in some respects, it's almost as if they wanted to just clear the deck of that so they could be more focused on Katrina.

BOB FRANKEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as a matter of fact, everybody had speculated that might be the case. On Saturday night, the response, when the calls were -- went out about Chief Rehnquist dying, Chief Justice Rehnquist dying, were, "You got to be kidding." Here we have this catastrophe going on in the Gulf area, and then comes this other hugely significant event. And so, almost immediately, the speculation began that one of the easiest things the president could do was to elevate the nomination of Roberts to chief justice. He is already a known quantity in the United States, and with the congressional committee that has, one, already approved him, confirmed him, as has the Senate for appellate court judge and now had already thoroughly, thoroughly considered his record to be associate justice.

And the announcement came, the president making it clear that time was of the essence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The passing of Chief Justice William Rehnquist leaves the center chair empty just four weeks left before the Supreme Court reconvenes. It is in the interest of the court and the country to have a chief justice on the bench on the first full day of the fall term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Which, by the way, is less than a month on October 3. And it means that, in all probability, Sandra Day O'Connor will fulfill her pledge to stay on until she is replaced, meaning the Supreme Court has nine justices.

That's important, Miles, as we've discussed, because if you have eight and there is a tie vote, it doesn't really set any precedent; it only defers to a lower court decision.

So it appears now that, barring any unforeseen event, the Supreme Court will be constituted with nine justices and, unless there's a big surprise, chief justice will be John Roberts.

M. O'BRIEN: Bob Franken at the White House, thanks very much.

Back now to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for you. Some mission critical issues facing survivors right now.

A plane carrying evacuees from Louisiana arrived in Phoenix overnight, the first group of evacuees to arrive in that state, the state of Arizona. At least a dozen states as far from the Gulf Coast as Michigan and Massachusetts are offering to take in evacuees.

Some states are also answering a call for help from Texas Governor Rick Perry. Perry has said some evacuees have to be moved from relief centers in centers in Texas, those centers overwhelmed, carrying nearly a quarter million displaced people right now.

Volunteer physicians pouring into the Gulf Coast region to care for the sick. But red tape is keeping hundreds of doctors from getting to survivors. State health officials are trying to sort through the apparent confusion.

For information on how doctors and mental health specialists can offer their services, go to health department web site at DHH.Louisiana.gov. Hope you got that. We'll try to put that on the web site at CNN.com as well -- Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Miles. Thanks.

Well, here, the weather is quickly getting worse. Rain, which is exactly what everybody does not need because, of course, the rescuers and the surveyors of the damage don't need to be hampered by anything more than they're already being slowed by.

The National Guard troops, though, were mobilized by the state of Texas, the Texas Air National Guard. We spent time with them yesterday. We talked to Master Sergeant Ken Gonzales. His job was to support the troops, take care of their medical needs. And he found himself being forced to take care of the medical needs of some 40,000 people who were being evacuated from the Superdome. Here's his story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): Sergeant Ken Gonzales walked us down the exact route the tens of thousands of evacuees took when the help and the buses finally arrived. No sign of the people, of course, just the garbage and the barricades. And the military camped out in front of the Superdome.

(on camera) They told you when you got here, or they told your team, that it was likely that 20 percent of the people would not make it in this transition from there?

MASTER SERGEANT KEN GONZALES, TEXAS AIR NATIONAL GUARD: Yes, ma'am, that was correct. That was correct.

S. O'BRIEN: Twenty percent of the people; 45,000 people would die?

GONZALES: That's what we were initially briefed. We were not prepared. We did not have nearly enough supplies. We were told that we would have more assistance upon our arrival, which we didn't.

S. O'BRIEN (voice-over): In charge of the four-man medic team, Gonzales' job: to treat injured Air National Guard troops, but almost immediately he was tending to the sick and injured fleeing the Superdome.

GONZALES: Most of them extremely dehydrated. We had numerous wounds. We had gangrene. We had broken bones. We had numerous pregnant women. Primarily, we had a span of time where I had 13 to 14 dehydrated young infants.

S. O'BRIEN: Outnumbered, undersupplied.

GONZALES: And when we got to the point where we ran out of gloves, I said, "Just pour alcohol, peroxide on your hands. It's all we can do." Because we were dealing with some people with significant problems. HIV, you don't know who has hepatitis, you know? It's potluck.

S. O'BRIEN: The supplies arrived as the last patients were leaving. Overworked and exhausted, Gonzales says he's proud of his team.

GONZALES: We did not lose anybody in this area at all, which I'm very proud to say. We had zero loss of ,life which I thought, that second wave with the infants, the 13-odd babies that we had dehydration, I thought for certain we were going to lose a couple of those babies.

S. O'BRIEN: Still, this veteran of almost 19 years finds it hard to talk about what he's seen.

GONZALES: You know, I'm a father of three. I have a 6 1/2- month-old, a 2-year-old and 4-year-old. And to see the fear in those kids' eyes, the little children. And when you see a mother or a father or both wading with kids in water up to their chest and they're holding these kids, and then the condition that they come in to us in, you know, it hurts you.

S. O'BRIEN: Now, says Gonzales, the mighty Superdome is a biohazard surrounded by soldiers. No one is allowed in. And it's unclear if it can ever be cleaned up. Gonzales has the same question that so many of the evacuees had.

GONZALES: Where was the help? Had a lot of National Guard, a lot of people here doing the very best they can, but really, where was all the help?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: One of the strangest things, Miles, I have to say, was the fact that as we're having this discussion, we're standing in a shopping mall. We're in front of The Gap, is where they set up the triage. Looking at Ann Taylor over there and -- and just stores in the mall. And to have a discussion about how this looked worse than Baghdad with soldiers was pretty disturbing.

There are other stories making news today. We want to get to some of them this morning. Let's get right to Carol Costello.

Hey, Carol, good morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Soledad.

Good morning to all of you.

Now in the news, in Indonesia, at least 100 people have died in a plane crash. The Mandala Airlines jet was on its way to Jakarta when it crashed in a residential area shortly after takeoff. Some people on the ground were killed; 117 people board that plane. At least six people reportedly survived the crash.

Here in the United States, former presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton are in Houston this morning. They're meeting with some of the thousands of evacuees at the Astrodome, and they are reportedly planning to announce a nation-wide fundraising campaign for the victims. President Bush asked the pair to join forces again because of their successful fundraising efforts for the tsunami victims. Some possible relief at the pumps. International oil prices have started to come down to near pre-Katrina levels. That's in reaction to a decision by world leaders to release 60 million barrels of emergency oil stocks to ease the fuel crisis in the United States. Oil is now at just under $65 a barrel.

And another storm is brewing in the Atlantic, the 13th of the season. Forecasters say Hurricane Maria is gaining momentum with winds of 90 miles per hour. It's located about 400 miles to the east of Bermuda and forecast to head north, but Jacqui Jeras, tell me it's not expected to threaten land.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's not. Not at all, Carol. In fact, it's going to be well off to the east of Bermuda, so that's some good news.

We've got two other little tropical disturbances: one off the coast of Florida bringing some heavy rain there. I'll show you that in a second.

But first, we just saw the video from Soledad with a little bit of rain around New Orleans. You can see most of the shower and thunderstorm activity is offshore. Maybe a 30 percent chance of another thunderstorm moving into New Orleans. Of course, very hot and sticky there today with a high temperature right around 90 degrees.

On to Florida now. There's an area of low pressure here offshore into the northern Bahamas, and it's moving extremely slowly. It's going to be spinning here and spinning for the next couple of days, bringing some very heavy rainfall. Use caution traveling. A lot of wet streets here for today.

Potential airport delays for Orlando extending down towards Miami. There is a little potential that this could become a tropical depression over the next 24 to 36 hours. Either way, it's going to be bringing in a lot of that heavy rain.

Also keeping the temperatures down a little bit across the Sunshine State: 86 in Miami, with 89 degrees in Orlando. Less humid conditions, though, as we head up the East Coast: 81 in New York and Washington, D.C. A slight risk of some severe thunderstorms across parts of the upper Midwest -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Thanks very much, Jacqui.

Ahead on AMERICAN MORNING, a Houston man opens his heart and his home to dozens of evacuees. He says he'll take more. We'll meet the Good Samaritan behind the make-shift shelter ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: About a quarter million hurricane evacuees seeking refuge in Texas alone. Many more are pouring in each day while most shelters are reaching their limit. One Houston man has made it his personal mission to take in as many people as possible. That man is Michael Allen. He joins us now. And with him is one of the evacuees, who's staying with him for who knows how long, Yvonne Fox-Magee.

Good to see you both.

And Michael, I want to start with you. First of all, how many people do you have in the house right now?

MICHAEL ALLEN, GOOD SAMARITAN: I have about close to 50. I know over 40.

M. O'BRIEN: Fifty people, over 40, whatever it is, a lot of people. You've got a 3,000 square-foot house. How many bathrooms?

ALLEN: That is correct. Two and a half bath.

M. O'BRIEN: Two and a half bath. So the wait for the use of that, I bet, is pretty long?

ALLEN: Well, it hasn't been a problem for me, because I'm in and out, so it hasn't been a problem.

M. O'BRIEN: Well, why don't I ask Yvonne? Yvonne, how is it -- how is it sharing a 3,000 square-foot place, 2 1/2 bathrooms with 40 or so fellow evacuees?

YVONNE FOX-MAGEE, EVACUEE: It's not a long wait. Everybody is on a rotation, and no one takes long. We're in and out within three to five minutes. And everyone, we're on a schedule.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. So you don't run out of hot water? You're just in and out very quickly?

FOX-MAGEE: No, no.

M. O'BRIEN: So Michael, you must be a master of organization. This is kind of like that movie "Cheaper by the Dozen." You've got to keep -- keep a tight ship, right?

ALLEN: Well, I can't take any credit for that. The ladies there have that pretty well organized. Everything is just organized.

M. O'BRIEN: Now, you're wearing a uniform because you own a security business. But do you wear the...

ALLEN: CEO.

M. O'BRIEN: ... the uniform around the house so they pay attention to you? "Sir, yes, sir," right? We know who's in charge there! Michael...

ALLEN: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: Major tip of the hat to you. What gave you the idea to do this?

ALLEN: Well, I've got a brother that lives in New Orleans, and he called me. He asked was it OK for him to come down and I said, "Of course, OK."

And little did I know, friends, friends of friends, the whole army, they started calling me and says, "Can my friend come down? Can this person come down?"

I said, "No problem, send them all."

M. O'BRIEN: Send them all. Reminds me of a sign we have hanging in our house, "Guests of guests may not have guests." But in your case, in your case, I think you have crossed that line many times over.

Are the neighbors OK with all this, Michael? Have they given you any sort of trouble? Are they going to -- for that matter, are they going to join you and invite evacuees in themselves?

ALLEN: Well, for the first couple of days, they thought maybe he's having a party. Or, I mean...

M. O'BRIEN: What's going on?

ALLEN: They had no idea. Right. But when they found out what was going -- what was happening, they became -- came to our rescue with blankets and pillows, and there's just been such great support. The neighbors are wonderful. They're doing an excellent job.

O'BRIEN: Yvonne, it is anything but a party. This is a terrible time for you and all the other refugees there. And I wonder what it's like. It's got to -- it's got to help a little bit. I mean, I know what you're dealing with are stress, compounded by stress and just sadness, deep sadness. But to run into somebody like Michael has got to help.

FOX-MAGEE: Yes. It is truly a blessing, because we were on our way to Baton Rouge, and they didn't have any hotel rooms. We were going to try and go to Jackson, Mississippi and they didn't have anything, so we didn't have anywhere to go. And he is my sister-in- law's uncle-in-law.

And he said, "Oh, come on, just come on." And we all came. And we're truly blessed to be living in the household, because if not, we could be out on the interstate or somewhere else like everyone else.

M. O'BRIEN: So he's a close relative? He's your sister-in-law's uncle-in law? Right?

FOX-MAGEE: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: That's close enough. Final thought: how long can you go on, Michael? How long can you do this?

ALLEN: I said I think I can do it probably a couple more weeks. I mean, I can go on forever, but realistically, you know, I think people just need to -- their privacy, their own space.

M. O'BRIEN: Sure. ALLEN: It's going to be healthy for the family. I don't think it's a good idea for long-term. It's only temporary. I just wanted to give them food, a place to sleep. It took them 24 hours to get to Houston. And it's very temporary, but they're able to think straight. They had a hot meal, a bath. That was my concern, to get them off and running.

Many of them have already been employed; they're finding jobs. I mean, it's just been -- they are go-getters. They get up about 5 in the morning. They go out, and they're not lazy people at all.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. He's running a tight hip ship there. Great work. Michael Allen, we're glad you're out there. And I'm sure, Yvonne, you would agree with that.

FOX-MAGEE: Yes. Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Yvonne Fox-Magee.

FOX-MAGEE: Thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: We wish you well getting your own place soon. Thanks for being with us, both.

FOX-MAGEE: Yes, thank you.

M. O'BRIEN: Still to come on the program, will military relief workers soon get reinforcements from Iraq? We'll talk to a Louisiana National Guardsman serving overseas. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: Welcome back, everybody.

What would you do if you were serving in Iraq but watching the pictures from New Orleans, your hometown, unfold on the television before you? What would you do if you couldn't come home to help out your family right away?

That's a question we're going to put this morning to Major Brian Champagne. He's in the 141st Battalion and the No. 256th Brigade.

Nice to talk to you, Major. Thank you for being with us.

I know, obviously, in Iraq, you're dealing with enough, many things going on there, and yet, you're watching what's happening in your hometown. What's that been like?

MAJOR BRIAN CHAMPAGNE, LOUISIANA NATIONAL GUARD: Well, it was surreal at first, Ms. O'Brien. First, we could not -- we didn't realize what was really happening. And as it unfolded, it looked like a scene from a movie. But quickly, we realized that was our beautiful city, and it was in trouble. Like I said, it was surreal.

S. O'BRIEN: Tell me about your personal situation. My understanding is you're from Bell Chase. What has happened to your family? Have you been in touch with everybody?

CHAMPAGNE: Well, I'm fortunate; I have a wonderful wife who has got everything under control. She took my three children and her family and evacuated to Baton Rouge. Then she was there for about three days. Then she moved up to further up to Bastet (ph), Louisiana, and she's doing fine.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, that's good to hear that everybody is OK. What about your home? Any idea of the condition?

CHAMPAGNE: No, no one has seen it yet. I understand from here there's some damage to the homes in our area. But it appears that we did OK in Bell Chase. So I've yet to see.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, you're keeping your fingers crossed. Yet to see. You're coming back from Iraq. When will you be back here? And will you come in to survey the damage?

CHAMPAGNE: Yes, I will. The entire brigade is coming home to Louisiana in the next couple of weeks. We're anxious to get back to, first of all, get our families fixed, you know, help with their situation, get them grounded. And then we're going to immediately turn to and help our fellow citizens of the great state of Louisiana. We have a job to do and that's to help our state out.

S. O'BRIEN: I've got to tell you, Major, you know, I've been talking to many, many military men and women and some of them who have been in the service for literally decades are almost crying when they talk about what they're seeing firsthand here and just how personally devastating it is for them to see this happening in the United States. Was that your take, as well?

CHAMPAGNE: I'll be honest with you, I did shed a few tears because New Orleans is a charming city with wonderful people, and to see them suffering like that, it's hard on you. But, again, we have to keep a stiff upper lip and get back to business and help the people of our state. And we're looking forward to doing that.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm sure they're looking forward to your help, as well. Stay safe where you are in Iraq and then stay safe when you come here, as well, to take a look at what's left of your home. Major Champagne, thanks for your time.

CHAMPAGNE: Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: Back to Miles -- Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Soledad, I appreciate that. We'll have more from New Orleans in a moment.

Plus, we'll take a closer look at the day's other big story: President Bush nominates judge John Roberts as chief justice of the United States. Senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin will be here with some more insight on all that. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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