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Magazine Street Important to New Orleans; Creole in Cameron Parish Under Water; Saving Turkey Creek

Aired September 27, 2005 - 07:30   ET

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: So much of the city of New Orleans is under repair, whether you're talking about the levees or you're talking about here, on Magazine Street, some of the shops. You can see, for example, some of them actually look OK. I mean, obviously, the store is closed but the windows are intact and the store inside looks pretty good.
There is, though, a long way to go from bringing a store that is covered with plywood and has been maybe looted, bringing it back around than just striping off the plywood and sweeping things up and cleaning things up. There are permits have to be signed from the fire department. They have to come in and inspect.

You need certificates of occupancy. All of those things require a strong government plan. Many people here say that, in fact, they haven't really seen a plan. They don't exactly know the process of bringing the street back.

Magazine Street is such an important street commerce wise. And if they don't bring this street back, it will be a big financial economic hit for the city of New Orleans. We're going to talk about that just ahead this morning, Miles, in just a moment.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Soledad, thank you very much.

Also ahead on the program, we'll go to one of the forgotten towns hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, Turkey Creek, Mississippi. People there say no one from the government came to help them when the storm ripped through. Now a one-man effort to save the community is underway. We have some amazing results to tell you about.

But first, let's get some headlines. Carol Costello with that.

Good morning, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Sometimes it just takes one.

M. O'BRIEN: Oftentimes it does.

COSTELLO: Yes. Good for him.

Good morning, everyone.

"Now in the News." Another suicide bombing to tell you about in Central Iraq. Police say a suicide bomber wearing an explosive laden vest blew himself up at an Iraqi recruitment center in Baquba. At least nine recruits were killed. Dozens of others were injured.

The man believed to be al Qaeda's second in charge in Iraq has been killed. A U.S. defense official confirming to CNN the man known as Abu Azzam was killed in gun battle during a raid in Baghdad. U.S. and Iraqi forces have launched a series of raids in recent weeks aimed at disrupting al Qaeda in Iraq.

Today Private First Class Lynndie England is expected to find out how much time she'll spend behind bars for her role in the abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib Prison. A military jury at Fort Hood, Texas, convicted England on six of the seven counts against her. England had tried to plead guilty to the same counts back in May but the judge threw out the plea deal. Sentencing gets underway later this morning.

And President Bush is heading back to the Gulf Coast this morning to get a look at some of the damage caused by Rita. The trip comes one day after the president called for Americans to conserve fuel. The president is set to leave Washington in just a short time. He'll stop in Beaumont, Texas, and take an aerial tour of the region. He's also expected to visit Lake Charles, Louisiana, one of the areas hardest hit by Rita.

Let's check on the weather because things just seem to be unusually calm today.

Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Chad, thanks a lot.

Magazine Street, a street that really dates back to the late 1700s, important for commerce when the Port of New Orleans first got started here. Important now as well as the folks in New Orleans hope to restart their economy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, (voice over): If you go to New Orleans for the shopping, chances are you'll wind up taking a stroll down Magazine Street.

JAMIE LINDLER, HOMEOWNER: It's important because Magazine Street represents the spirit of New Orleans.

S. O'BRIEN: Although battered by the hurricanes, this area drenched in history, escaped the flooding that devastated so much of the Crescent City.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

S. O'BRIEN: And now merchants along the eclectic six-mile stretch of Magazine Street are eager to return to business as usual.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know it will take a while for the customers to come back, but New Orleans has always been a big draw. The French Quarter is in good shape. Just basically this area's in pretty good shape, too. It just needs some cosmetic cleaning.

S. O'BRIEN: As neighbors pitch in to help their community rebound, they predict that magazine street will come back even stronger. But right now, even if the shops were open again, between the antique stores, the gift shops and the trendy restaurants, the thing you might have a real hard time finding on Magazine Street would be a customer.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

S. O'BRIEN: Let's talk to some shop owners this morning. Catherine Cottrell and Roux Merlo join us.

Good morning. Nice to talk to you and thanks for coming out early. The light's finally coming out and we can see in a lot of ways the good news. The street's actually not that badly damaged. The bad news is that it's all boarded up and it's far from really being the center of commerce that it was. How badly damaged was your shop?

ROUX MERLO, MAGAZINE ST. BUSINESS OWNER: Roof damaged. Minor roof damage. Everything else is all set and ready to reopen.

S. O'BRIEN: How about you, Katherine?

CATHERINE COTTRELL, MAGAZINE ST. BUSINESS OWNER: We came out smelling like a rose. No water in our neighborhood. And all of my products are in perfect shape. So we're very happy about it and we're looking forward to getting back up as soon as we get . . .

S. O'BRIEN: You're a designer?

COTTRELL: I'm a designer and an antiques dealer.

S. O'BRIEN: And you run a t-shirt shop?

MERLO: Soledad, yes, I do custom screen printing. I do boards, restaurants t-shirts.

S. O'BRIEN: What has to happen before you can be up and running? I mean we were just you know, in the piece we just ran, there's no customers and there's not going to be any for a while.

COTTRELL: No. We need power.

MERLO: Electricity.

COTTRELL: Electricity more than anything because we can't do anything. We can't get on our computers. We can't use the phones. We just need some power.

S. O'BRIEN: How do you feel about the repopulation plan that the mayor has put forward? I mean you know some people are coming in and they're really they're supposed to only go to the least hard-hit areas but people are (INAUDIBLE) worst spots.

MERLO: Well, Soledad, with the mayor told us we can come in last week, so we came in. It's deja vu. We had to evacuate again. We're coming back in to do it again. It's Monday, he goes, OK, we're letting business owners back in. So I'm trying to get starred again. We tried last week. OK. I'm ready to start opening up my business. I'm ready to start printing t-shirts.

S. O'BRIEN: Besides the power, though, what has I mean besides the fact you don't have any services and, you know . . .

MERLO: We need some type of organization. The city's not giving us enough information, so I've got to take the initiative myself to open up my business. And hopefully after my business open up, my other fellow merchants will come in and start opening up as well.

S. O'BRIEN: How important is the revitalization of this street, which runs six miles?

COTTRELL: This is a really one . . .

MERLO: This is . . .

S. O'BRIEN: And this is a world renowned street. I mean people come here across the world to shop.

COTTRELL: We have designers coming from all over the United States. New York, Chicago, Texas, from Europe. Magazine Street is really . . .

MERLO: This is it. This is the only commerce street available right now. All the other commerce streets in the city have been inundated by water. This is going to be the only commercial street open in the city.

COTTRELL: We need our restaurants opening.

MERLO: Right.

COTTRELL: But they need power. They need water. We don't have potable water yet.

S. O'BRIEN: So what would you like the mayor to do? I mean, is it just a matter of let's get some information, or is it because I mean you're asking for things that actually are going to take a while. Potable water is going to take a while. Power is going to take a little bit of time.

COTTRELL: It's probably going to be a few more weeks before . . .

MERLO: I'd like to see the mayor come to Magazine Street and talk to us and help, you know? Let's get he says he wants to get the grocery stores opened. I'd like to see him come now. I've never met the mayor, but come down and show them show the city that we're up we're ready to get started, you know.

S. O'BRIEN: Do you ever think that, you know what, maybe this is a sign that you should pack up and start somewhere else?

COTTRELL: No.

S. O'BRIEN: Really?

COTTRELL: No. All of the . . .

S. O'BRIEN: I didn't even finish my question before you said no! Why not?

COTTRELL: All of the designers we were talking you know, it's a very close little society here with designers and vendors. And we talked about it yesterday. And not one person I talked to said that they were going to go somewhere else. Temporarily, a lot of people are going to Baton Rouge with the intention of coming back as soon as they can, you know, have a shop with lights and . . .

MERLO: We're also I'm going to cut you off.

COTTRELL: Yes, go ahead.

MERLO: Soledad, I've talked to two business owners that said they're going to back up and leave. One guy who's been here, he inherited the auto repair shop from his father, he says he's leaving. He's taking this opportunity to go. That doesn't sound good to me but I feel he's going to be replaced by another business owner.

COTTRELL: Oh, yes. Yes.

MERLO: I'm trying to think positive. It's hard. My house is under water. My car is under water. I've got to be positive. I'm ready to get started, open up the doors. I'm used to doing business every morning. Wake up. I've got commitments with my customers.

S. O'BRIEN: I hope you can get up so I know you already have an order for 500 t- shirts.

MERLO: As well. Right. I've had two customers pass by. The Red Cross passed by and said he needs three dozen t-shirts. Are you open?

S. O'BRIEN: Right. You need some electricity then.

COTTRELL: We need electricity and we just don't need any more hurricanes to set the whole thing back.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes. You do have six weeks in hurricane season left, as you well know.

COTTRELL: We still do. That's exactly right.

S. O'BRIEN: I'm not telling you anything you don't know.

COTTRELL: Right.

S. O'BRIEN: Catherine Cottrell . . .

COTTRELL: No, it's just . . .

S. O'BRIEN: That's a lot.

COTTRELL: You just think, you know, this can't keep happening but, you know, we know it might continue on another six weeks. But if we can stop that, having to leave, then we can get the I know it won't take that much time if they really can get the power going here and get water. You know, it shouldn't . . .

MERLO: (INAUDIBLE).

S. O'BRIEN: Get the basics that you need.

COTTRELL: It's just basic.

S. O'BRIEN: Catherine Cottrell and Roux Merlo, I thank you for talking with us, some business owners here on Magazine Street where there you know, it doesn't look so bad but there is a lot that has to be accomplished here before they can really bring the heart of commercial in New Orleans back to being the heart of commerce.

I thank you for talking with us.

Miles, let's go back to you in New York.

M. O'BRIEN: You know, Soledad, it may not look bad but it sounds bad as they describe it. And I'm wondering, they open their doors, who are the customers going to be?

S. O'BRIEN: Well, you know, that's sort of the $64,000 question. It's a question about, you know, putting the cart before the horse. You can't have the customers come if you have no businesses. The businesses have to open before there are customers. And they've got to be not only up and running but running in a way they can actually help their customers. So it's a problem and they need the services first. And all that has to come together before the heart, the engine that's going to drive the economy to a large degree here, can really be up and running. So, big question.

M. O'BRIEN: Chicken and egg questions there in New Orleans. Thank you, Soledad. Back with you in just a bit.

Stubborn flood waters still lingering in many of the towns hard hit by Rita. Fifteen feet of water still covering parts of Cameron Parish in Southwest Louisiana. Those who live there are starting come home and assess the damage. Randi Kaye got a look at what is left.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): We boarded our air boat and headed straight for the town of Creole in Cameron Parish. This is where Hurricane Rita made landfall. More than 70 percent of the homes were destroyed here. Our driver, Ben Welch, is hoping his wasn't one of them.

We haven't seen your home yet. How worried are you about whether your home . . .

BEN WELCH, CREOLE RESIDENT: Oh, I know it's not there. It's not there. It's they my home is another the grove of trees down at the end, that's a ridge and that runs up there. They just told us they still got about an ankle deep, mid calf deep water on it.

KAYE: We kept on pushing toward his neighborhood. The ride there didn't offer much hope. If Rita could do this, what were the odds Welch's house was still standing?

WELCH: My father and my grandparents always told me about what happened during Hurricane Audrey. I could I would imagine it, but I never thought I would ever see it.

KAYE: We'd seen Cameron Parish and Creole by air. But up close, the destruction was magnified and morbid. Dead wildlife everywhere. Rabbits, pigs and cows half buried in the brush. Some cattle looked like upside down ornaments in a marsh made by mother nature. Those who survived appeared wild. When a cow came running at us, Welch pulled out his gun.

WELCH: Just the trauma of all what happened and the salt water, they don't have no fresh water to drink. What it is, they're disoriented and plus the salt water makes them go out of their mind. They just don't know what to do.

KAYE: This goose appears disoriented and thirsty. We gave him fresh water and he drank it, then tried to follow us back on our boat.

WELCH: This is downtown Creole.

KAYE: Main Street.

WELCH: Main Street, Creole, Louisiana. Watch the mud. That's going to be real slippery.

KAYE: We arrived in Creole to find Main Street destroyed. The only restaurant in town closed for business. The grocery store, out of business. And the mechanic's shop in need of repair.

Do you see that yellow building right there? That's the Creole Post Office. It used to be over there to the right of that mailbox. But when Hurricane Rita came through, it spun it around and slammed it on the other side of the bank.

These guys just returned from Welch's neighborhood. He's desperate for information about his home.

WELCH: They got a Baptist church right on this side. It's still up?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, not much.

WELCH: Not much?

KAYE: Search and rescue missed his home by half a mile. Welch will have to wait another day. The water is now too low and our air boat won't make it.

How frustrating?

WELCH: Mad. I thought I was going to get there today.

KAYE: Randi Kaye, CNN, Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: Now Ben Welch says he'll try again this morning to get to his home, perhaps on a four-wheeler. He also owned an alligator farm but he was able to evacuate all the alligators before the storm hit.

Still to come on the program, we are "Minding Your Business." Senator Bill Frist under fire for a stock sale he made in June. Raises questions of possible inside information. Andy has that story and more next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Senator Bill Frist sells some stock. Days later, down it goes.

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Weeks later but . . .

M. O'BRIEN: Weeks later.

SERWER: Months later still . . .

M. O'BRIEN: Andy Serwer here with that.

SERWER: The point is, is that it's raising the eye (ph) of investigators. Senator Bill Frist, a majority leader of the Senate from Tennessee, is under scrutiny for selling stock in HCA, a giant hospital company that his family founded. And weeks later, the stock tanked.

Yesterday he was on Capitol Hill and he had this to say about those allegations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL FRIST, ) MAJORITY LEADER: My only objective in selling the stock was to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest. I had no information about HCA or its performance that was not publicly available when I directed the trustees to sell the stock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERWER: Now Frist, who's considering a presidential bid for 2008, sold the stock on June 13th. And weeks later, the stock dropped about 9 percent. You can see here, that's what has got the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Department of Justice investigating. They announced that last week. The stock was in a trust. And once you start looking at this story and trying to understand the communication between the trustees and the senator it gets kind of combined. Still, it's a bit of hot water for the senator.

M. O'BRIEN: This is a family business, right?

SERWER: Absolutely.

M. O'BRIEN: OK. So potentially there there is a communication line potentially and that's why there's some concern.

SERWER: That's a good way to put it.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Let's leave it at that.

SERWER: Yes.

MMO: Andy Serwer, thank you very much. Tap dancing around that one.

Still to come, some Gulf Coast communities waited for weeks for help from FEMA. But in the meantime, at least one man made it his personal mission to save his hometown. And he just might do it. His story is next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: And now the story of a man on a mission in the wake of destruction. We're headed, for this story, to the small Gulfport, Mississippi, town of Turkey Creek. Actually, it's just a community within Gulfport. Where one man is making it his personal mission to start the recovery process. CNN's Candy Crowley with this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Life in Turkey Creek has little to spare in the best of times. And these are not the best of times.

DERRICK EVANS, TURKEY CREEK COMM. INITIATIVE: Because I know these people. The poor people and the Gulf Coast people in general. If you can get them what they need, they're survivors.

CROWLEY: Derrick Evans is six generation Turkey Creek, a Gulfport, Mississippi, neighborhood founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. Hoping to preserve the area for history, he has fought politicians, land developers, and now mold.

EVANS: I became the cubs (ph) biggest purveyor of bleach, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Meridian, Hattiesburg. I've been to all of those places since arriving to fill up that truck again with, say, for instance, six pallets of, you know, germicidal bleach. You know, a couple thousand gallons. CROWLEY: In Boston, when Katrina ripped through Turkey Creek, Evans arrived several days later with trucks full of generators, gas, and chain saws. He set up a war room inside the home built by his great grandfather, assessing, filling the need of the hour.

He is a one-man band who has run his credit card debt into the $20,000 range. It was almost three weeks after Katrina and two weeks after Derrick arrived before the Red Cross set up camp to hand out checks in an area near Turkey Creek.

WILLIAM MARTIN, HARRISON COUNTY SUPERVISOR: This is the first one that's been in my hood to help my people. I know that.

CROWLEY: Standing in the 100-degree temperatures for hours, they lined up three and four wide, an ocean of need for money, for jobs, for housing, for all of the above.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The owners were being a little lenient with us. They wasn't going to charge us late fees but we still had to pay rent. And I was like, well, Vickie (ph), I mean, I don't have a job. How am I going to do that?

CROWLEY: $360 a person, capping at $1,500 for a family of five or more. Stop-gap living assistance. They need more.

BEN SMILOWITZ, RED CROSS SITE MANAGER: FEMA came and asked what our need were and said, maybe we'll suggest that they might have someone here doing FEMA work. I don't see them.

CROWLEY: They're like ships in the night. FEMA is only two miles away with loans, grants, housing voucher, legal and psychological assistance. It has air-conditioning and child care. Business is slow. Those who need the most help don't seem to know FEMA is there and vice versa.

EVANS: I will say that knowing the names of the streets and having a person in each little community or a church that I know goes straight to, to ask the question, is at the grassroots level or any level, a tremendous benefit. I didn't need to do reconnaissance. You know, I didn't need to do I didn't have to send out an advanced scout.

CROWLEY: Faster than FEMA, more nimble than the Red Cross, Derrick Evans doesn't think much about either. All he thinks about is that ocean of need.

EVANS: So there's a particular base camp over there near Highway 90. They still need bleach.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: CNN's Candy Crowley with that.

Still to come, President Bush wants a bigger role for the military in future disaster relief efforts. But this has created an odd cross current. Many conservative Republicans don't like the idea. We'll go live to the Pentagon and talk about that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.

For weeks now the city's residents have watched the images on TV. Now they're coming home to see for themselves the real aftermath of floods and chaos. An emotional scene in New Orleans. We're live there for a difficult homecoming.

In Washington, getting to the bottom of mistakes made by FEMA. The former head of the agency, Mike Brown, faces tough questions on Katrina relief as he testifies before members of Congress this morning.

And the tremendous destruction from Hurricane Rita in Western Louisiana. Shocked residents cleaning up there on this AMERICAN MORNING.

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