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Is FEMA Ready?; 2006 Hurricane Season; U.S.-Iran Nuke Talks; Tragic Mix-Up; Minding Your Business

Aired June 01, 2006 - 07:30   ET

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

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Miles O'Brien.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Soledad O'Brien.

The new hurricane season officially starts today. Forecasters say another Katrina-like catastrophe is possible, of course. We know what went wrong with the response, so what's different this time around? Joining us this morning is the new director of FEMA, David Paulison. He's in Washington D.C.

It's nice to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

DAVID PAULISON, FEMA DIRECTOR: Good morning, Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: We sort of know, in a nutshell now, all the areas in which the ball was dropped by a lot of different people across a lot of different areas. So let's talk about what's improved, if there have been improvements. First, the levee system and the floodgates. It looks like the floodgates actually are not completely ready certainly in New Orleans. How prepared is the Gulf Coast to protect against a storm on that front?

PAULISON: Well, I met with the Corps yesterday, talked about some of those things. And they're going to make sure that the levees are as good of shape as they can be in. We actually briefed the president on this yesterday afternoon. So the Corps is continuing to work. Just because June 1st is here, doesn't mean they're going to stop. So they're going to make sure that the levees are as good as they were when we had Katrina last year.

However, the levees failed last year. So what we're doing is we're working with the local communities, we're working with the state, working with the parishes to make sure there's good, solid evacuation plans in place. And we've walked through those plans. In fact, the secretary and I personally went down the day before yesterday, got on the bus, went to the evacuation site, went to the convention center, got registered and walked through that whole process to make sure that it's in good shape.

S. O'BRIEN: How about communication? Obviously communication a huge problem. The towers went down. I remember the sheriff of Saint Bernard Parish said he could just see fires burning in New Orleans and he had no way to know what the heck was going on. How do you improve communication this time around?

PAULISON: Communication was a significant issue. Not only our protocols, but also a lot of the equipment. While we're working with the National Guard in Louisiana right now to make sure that they're going to put an interoperable communication piece of equipment in every one of the parish.

We are pre-deploying all of our communication equipment that we've purchased. So we'll have satellite communications. We have thousands of handheld radios that we can pass out to first responders if we need to. And also we're going to have our satellite cell phones and all those types of things that we put in place to make sure we have good communications.

But the most important piece of that is making sure that we have a unified command post set up where everybody's in the same room planning out our strategies and our 12-hour blocks. That did not happen last year and I think that was one of the biggest breakdowns in communication.

S. O'BRIEN: So having a real chain of command there.

Let's talk about staging of food supplies and any kind of rescue supplies. I mean obviously the problem is, where do you put them because you don't know exactly where the hurricane's going to hit. But they've always had that strategy and, obviously, it failed miserably in Hurricane Katrina. I mean people couldn't get water. They couldn't get food. What are you doing this time around to fix those kinds of problems?

PAULISON: Logistics is having the right things at the right place at the right time. And during Hurricane Katrina there simply was not only not enough supplies down there, but we had no ability to track where they were. We didn't know where our trucks were.

So we've done two things. One, in some cases, we've quadrupled and tripled and doubled the number of supplies that we have. For instance, our MREs, last year we had 160 truckloads and this year I already have 770 truckloads of MREs ready to move in, ready to preposition.

We've also purchased over 20,000 GPS units that we're putting on our tractor trailers. So when they leave our warehouses, we'll know exactly where they are and we can tell the state very clearly what location they're in and when they're going to arrive at their location. That's a tremendous business tool we have that we did not have last year.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, even if the drivers cannot phone in and get you.

Let me ask you a final question. There's a whole bunch of people, more than 100,000, who are in temporary housing. The kind of temporary housing that, frankly, if a category one storm rolls through, they're going to have to evacuate. I mean it's not housing that can even, you know, hold up against a relatively minor storm. What are the plans for those people?

PAULISON: You're absolutely right on target with that. Those people have to evacuate. They have to pay attention to the local emergency managers and evacuate when they're told to do so. One of our biggest concerns was the evacuation plans in the state of Louisiana. We met with the parishes, we met with the state emergency manager, we met with the emergency manager of New Orleans and we set down with them, we put technical teams down there to help them put good, solid evacuation plans in place.

We have gone through those. We've rehearsed them. We're very comfortable that those are going to work. We're identifying shelters and we're going to make sure that we have those shelters laid out. We have the amount of buses we need. We have the transportation we need to move people where they need to move out of harm's way.

S. O'BRIEN: Well, I hope all this preparation really translates into a much safer hurricane system this time around. FEMA Director David Paulison. Really a week on the job, not quite, and a busy guy. Thanks for talking with us, sir.

PAULISON: Thank you very much.

S. O'BRIEN: Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Chad Myers is in the weather center and he's going to give us a preview of how we are going to be doing our jobs. More specifically, how he will be doing his job. He took all his vacation already.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: He's ready for the hurricane season.

MYERS: That's right.

M. O'BRIEN: Chad, tell us what equipment, what new technology we have to help viewers out.

MYERS: Yes. And I also want to tell people that, you know, we're telling you all to leave the storm and 100 of us are heading to the storm. How do we stay safe when we're doing that? I'll get to that.

Here's the radar that we're going to be using. The Titan radar, Doppler radar out of Miami. Even this morning there are a couple of big cells right there along the interstate, from Miramar back down to north Miami Beach.

But the biggest story I think probably will be our ability to take you into the storm and take to you to the storm with our reporters. If you are going to be staying, and this is one of the major things we tell our reporters, at least a gallon a day per person for three to seven days. Because when that water gets shut off or if it gets contaminated, it is absolutely useless. And enough food to sustain you for the time.

Other things that we always put in our big trucks as we drive them down is a first-aid kit. And then after the first-aid kit, after the storm hits, it's very, very difficult to get up there and pick anything up at all. You need a nice set of gloves here.

Make sure your car is full of gas. In fact, I have a five gallon can at my house that I just used the last of now about two weeks ago, poured it into my lawnmower, and now I have fresh gas in it. So if you have old gas, sometimes it can go bad. Make sure you get rid of that old gas and get new gas.

Sometimes it's hard to cook. And if you have some food, especially if you have no power, you go, oh, man, I've got all this food in my frig and it's going bad, get yourself a little charcoal grill.

The insects get very angry after a storm. You want to have some kind of Off, some kind of Cutter there with you. And a lighter here to make sure that that gas grill can go.

This is a new, interesting product I just found here from -- The Home Depot dropped it off. It's a two-way radio. Maybe you can give it to your neighbor next door. But it also has the weather radio in it as well, so you can kind of communicate back and forth, you can listen to the weather radio.

A light is very important. A flashlight, obviously. The kind that I take with me -- this is my kit. The kind that I take with me actually has a glow in the dark handle to it because when it's black outside, when there's no light, you can't find this other one.

I see too many reporters without eye protection. If you're planning on staying in a storm, you need eye protection. All of our reporters take eye protection with them. After the storm, you want to put something over your face because you have an awful lot of insulation going on.

Quick things. You want to have a non-electric can opener, open up those cans. Sunscreen. The day after a hurricane is the hottest day of the year and the sunniest day sometimes. Make sure you have a car charger for your cell phone, a cell phone. And angry is the poison ivy. Maybe some poison ivy cream.

And the worst thing is you feel so dirty because you can't wash your hands, and if you do, it's polluted water. Some type of a hand wipe to get yourself clean, to get yourself sanitized if you're going to trying to eat something out there. You don't want to get yourself sick because you can't keep yourself clean. Without, obviously, water, you can't wash yourselves.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: And then go buy a bunch of batteries.

MYERS: Yes.

M. O'BRIEN: And then when you think you have enough, go buy a bunch more.

MYERS: Right. Exactly. M. O'BRIEN: Because batteries are so crucial.

Hey, Chad, is that a new office you've got there?

MYERS: This is not the new office. The new office is in construction.

M. O'BRIEN: Ah. OK. I was just checking it out. You looked like you were upgrading there. I hear you've got a fancy new place that will be online, too.

MYERS: We do. We do have a fancy place. They're actually putting the floor in today. It won't be done for probably another week.

M. O'BRIEN: All right. Well, good. In time for the season.

All right. Well, those are good tips. There are places online people can go if they weren't taking notes?

MYERS: NHC, National Hurricane Center. That's a nice place to start. Everything you ever wanted to know about staying in a hurricane. And the best thing to do is just get out of there and go someplace safe. Because, you know, so many people thought they were safe but they clearly weren't.

M. O'BRIEN: Clearly. All right, Chad Myers, good tips, thank you.

In our next hour we'll get more on the 2006 hurricane season forecast. We're going to be talking to the director of the National Hurricane Center in a little bit. Stay with CNN for the most reliable news during this hurricane season. CNN remains your hurricane headquarters.

S. O'BRIEN: Let's go overseas now. A major policy shift to tell you about on Iran. The U.S. is now offering to be part of talks with Iran about its nuclear program. Iran today says it wants to talk but will not meet the U.S. condition of freezing nuclear fuel production. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Vienna right now for talks on how to proceed. CNN's David Ensor is live for us in Vienna, Austria.

Hey, David, good morning. Exactly who's the secretary talking with this morning?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: She's talking to the foreign ministers of the permanent five members of the U.N. Security Council, plus Germany. So it's the Russians, the Chinese, the French, the British, the Americans. Altogether talking about what kind of sanctions might be imposed on Iran if it does not agree to stop its uranium enrichment and to sit down to talks and was kind of incentives it might get if it is willing to sit down.

These are the sort of critical talks really in this whole international effort to try to put the squeeze on Iran. This is the moment where these minister also going to try to finalize the package. And they're trying to come up with some fairly tough sanctions and some quite nice incentives.

They're not willing to talk about the specifics, but I know that the incentives include help from Europe and the United States on a civilian nuclear energy program for Iran, if it's willing to give up its own enrichment program, and sanctions which one official on secretary of state's plane on the way over here said would hurt, definitely would hurt. But they will not include sanctions against Iran's critical oil and gas facilities.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: The Russians and the Chinese, as you well know, have long been reluctant to even talk about sanctions. Now it seems like they're on board. How tough of a sell is this going to be for Secretary Rice? I mean what does she have to really pull off in these meetings?

ENSOR: She has to convince the Russians and the Chinese that it makes sense for them to go ahead with some limited first package of sanctions and to try and gradually convince the Iranians, put the squeeze gradually on them, eventually convince them hopefully that it doesn't make sense for them to go ahead with this program. That it will be to expensive.

But it's very difficult keeping all these countries on plan. And whether Russia and China will, in the end agree, agree, we're waiting really waiting to see. Although American diplomats are saying that they're on board so far.

Soledad.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, so far is kind of the key word. And how long that so far will last is really important.

ENSOR: Yes.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, David Ensor for us this morning. David, thanks. He's in Vienna, Austria.

Let's turn to Iraq now. Iraq's prime minister announced a plan today to complete his cabinet. The major stumbling block has been a disagreement over the ministers to defense and interior. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has decided to present his candidates to parliament on Sunday and let them decide.

Miles.

M. O'BRIEN: Coming up on the program, one college student killed, another left in a coma, but authorities mixed up their identities when they notified the families. A story of grief and relief.

S. O'BRIEN: And ahead this morning, fighting stress in the heat of battle. We're going to talk to a doctor who's treating the troops emotional wounds on the battlefield.

M. O'BRIEN: And you might think osteoarthritis is a problem only for the elderly. We'll meet one woman though who got it in her 30s. And she's not alone. Tips on what you can do in your 30s, 40s and 50s to protect your joints. Stay with us for more AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

M. O'BRIEN: Two families in the Midwest dealing with a dizzying array of emotions this morning -- grief, relief, elation, anger. Their lives have intersected over a tragic mistake and a horrible accident.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RON MOWERY, GRANT COUNTY CORONER: The one thing that I am most -- regret the most is that it did happen on my watch.

MILES O'BRIEN, (voice over): An emotional apology from the coroner of Grant County, Indiana, following a tragic case of mistaken identity. For weeks, the family of 22-year-old Laura Vanryn believed she had survived a car wreck in April. A wreck that killed four students and an employee of Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. But as the woman emerged from a coma Tuesday, Laura's parents realized it was not their daughter after all.

MOWERY: She was asked if she knew her name, which is standard procedure. She said, yes, she knew her name. And she spoke her name.

M. O'BRIEN: She said her name was Whitney Cerak. But that was one of the Taylor students thought to have died in the crash. It turns out the student who died was Laura Vanryn.

JIM GARRINGER, SPKS, TAYLOR UNIVERSITY: One family had tragedy and the other family had a sense of joy.

M. O'BRIEN: While it is unclear how the coroner confused the identities at the scene of the accident, there is no doubt there is a striking resemblance. A hospital spokesman says, "both families understand how this could have happened. We rejoice with the Ceraks, we grieve with the Vanryns." And so it is for students at Taylor University.

ASHLEY MOORE, TAYLOR UNIVERSITY STUDENT: I guess I feel like we're all starting right where we were again and just starting the grieving all over again.

TRACY YODER, TAYLOR UNIVERSITY STUDENT: It's hard to believe that there are even emotions left to take care of it because we were already numb.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

M. O'BRIEN: As you can imagine, the shock was equal but joyous for the family of Whitney Cerak. There were 1,400 people at what they thought was her funeral in the hometown of Gaylord, Michigan. Her grandfather, on hearing the news, this latest news, Amile Franks (ph) said this, "I still can't get over it. It's like a fairy tale." Of course, one family's fairy tale is another family's nightmare.

Brent Maher is the student body president at Taylor University in Indiana. Jim Garringer is a spokesperson for the university. Thank both for being with us and condolences to you all on this horrible thing.

Mr. Garringer, let's begin with you. What do we know about the mix-up? I know that's not specifically your area of investigation or whatever, but what do we know about how this mix-up occurred?

JIM GARRINGER, SPOKESMAN, TAYLOR UNIVERSITY: We heard from the coroner's office yesterday morning early that they believed there had been a case of mistaken identity. That, in fact, that Whitney Cerak had survived the accident and that Laura Vanryn had, in fact, died. And so they went to send representatives from the coroner's office to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Whitney is currently recovering from her injuries, to do dental records and some other tests. And they were able to, in fact, determine that it was Whitney. But it sounds like at the crash scene, based on the accounts I've read, that there was just a tremendous amount of mayhem. Lots of personal belongings, as well as the bodies of the students, had been scattered around.

M. O'BRIEN: So you can imagine that the identification was separated from the girls and it was a mistake that we could all understand. But given the similarities in the way they looked, you would think the medical examiner would have tried to confirm things from the outset.

GARRINGER: Yes. I'm not sure, you know, not being familiar with how that particular profession works, I'm not really sure I can address that. We, you know, had every reason to believe that it was, from the start, that it was Laura Vanryn who had been airlifted to Ft. Wayne that night and that it was Whitney who, in fact, had died. And yesterday, when we learned that this was not all now, in fact, correct, it was like a sledge hammer.

M. O'BRIEN: Brent Maher, give us a sense -- a sledge hammer. That kind of -- it speaks volumes about the kinds of emotions that are going on there. Try to describe -- I know the school is out and it's a summer session, not the full compliment of students there, but give us a sense of the emotions there.

BRENT MAHER, TAYLOR UNIVERSITY STUDENT BODY PRESIDENT: Right. Well, certainly there are those people that are devastated today because the person and their friend who they thought had, you know, lots of hope and who was progressing every day, they now found out that she's died. So, I mean, just severe grief from that. And then there are also those who are rejoicing today because Whitney is alive and on her facebook wall that people write, it's a miracle and that they can't believe she's alive. And I'm sure there's a sense of guilt to some degree there because they see their friends and their brothers and sisters grieving over Laura at the same time. Generally . . .

M. O'BRIEN: Well, you hit on a key point here because, you know, in hearing people, you know, rejoicing over the fact that Whitney is alive, it's a poignant thing given the fact that another family is robbed of a child.

MAHER: But even then we see those families communicating and loving each other. And I think it's a great example of what this community at Taylor is all about, loving each other through pain and joy.

M. O'BRIEN: Brent Maher, Jim Garringer, joining us there from Taylor University. Best to you all as you try to cope and get through this all. Thank you for your time.

MAHER: Thank you so much.

M. O'BRIEN: Back with more in a moment. Andy "Minding Your Business." Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

S. O'BRIEN: OPEC's meeting. Is there any good news for drivers in that news? Andy Serwer's "Minding Our Business."

Yes?

ANDY SERWER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Soledad, good news in that there's no bad news. How about that?

S. O'BRIEN: Oh, OK.

SERWER: Do you follow?

S. O'BRIEN: I'll take that.

SERWER: Yes, exactly.

Here's what's going on. OPEC ministers meeting in Caracas, Venezuela. Hugo Chavez, the head of that nation, has been rallying sabres (ph) about oil policy for a long time, of course. And he was talking about cutting production, which would make prices go up. He seems to be backing off that. And his fellow OPEC ministers are brushing that aside, saying that ain't going to happen. We're not going to cut production. It doesn't matter what Mr. Chavez says. And he, himself, doesn't seem to be talking about it much anymore either.

M. O'BRIEN: A bit of a loose canon, Mr. Chavez.

SERWER: That's one way of putting it.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: Yes. He's an antagonist, I think you could say also.

M. O'BRIEN: Yes.

SERWER: And here's another interesting energy story. Wal-Mart is considering getting in the ethanol business. A spokesman there . . .

S. O'BRIEN: Wow, that would change things, wouldn't it?

SERWER: That sure would. And you know you're going mainstream when Wal-Mart is in the business. Going to revolutionize that whole market. They only have 383 gas stations, but they're liable to have a whole lot more. That's a business they want to expand in. And they said they may be rolling this out at some point soon. Only 600 gas stations carry ethanol right now in the United States. So you can see that would be more than a 50 percent bump right there. No word on when they would do this. But, you know, just the fact that they're considering it is big news for that fuel, I think.

S. O'BRIEN: Yes, huge.

M. O'BRIEN: They wouldn't get in on the production end of the ethanol, though, right?

SERWER: No. Well, not right away, but they'd look at it. And if it looked attractive, they'd move into that as well.

M. O'BRIEN: Sure.

SERWER: But it's a big, big possible move there.

S. O'BRIEN: And if they're on the distribution end, well that's half the battle, I mean, really.

SERWER: Yes. Good point.

S. O'BRIEN: All right, Andy, thank you.

SERWER: Thank you.

S. O'BRIEN: We're going to take a look at the top stories right after this short break. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MYERS: I'm Meteorologist Chad Myers in Atlanta.

It's back. The hurricane season 2006. Are you ready? We are. I'll have Dr. Gray's forecast coming up.

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